The Sunset Alchemist, Ch 12
It was pouring. The rain pelted down on the rooves of the Military vehicles in front of Shou Tucker's house. Sadie sat on the tailgate of one of the trucks, shivering in Ed's soaked red coat. Alphonse sat beside her and rubbed her back, trying to soothe her tears. Every few minutes or so she would retch onto the dirt at her feet until there was nothing but acid in her stomach. Edward sat in the mud by the walls surrounding the house and sobbed. He didn't save her, Nina. He could have taken her with them, and kept her safe from her father's grasp; but he didn't, and now she was gone.
"The Sewing Life Alchemist is secure, Sir." A soldier shouted by the gates, standing at attention.
"Good," A tall dark skinned man clearly decorated as a Brigadier General answered. His hands were clasped behind his back but Ed could see two silver gauntlets on his hands with transmutation circles embedded in the metal. The man noticed Edward's staring and looked down at him disapprovingly.
"What, boy? Have you never seen a State Alchemist before?"
"We are State Alchemists," Edward said roughly, pointing at him, then Sadie. The tall alchemist inspected him for a moment, and then inclined his head.
"Brigadier General Basque Grand at your service." He intoned, "Now if you'll excuse me I have to deal with this miscreant inside." Ed's eyes narrowed,
"Let me come," He all but pleaded. "Tucker needs to pay for what he's done I need-"
"You need to do nothing." Grand interrupted him, "From what I've heard you've already left your mark on the Sewing Life Alchemist, haven't you?" Ed stood his ground.
"I was avenging his daughter." Grand threw back his head and laughed, and Edward had a sudden desire to punch the Brigadier General in the gut.
"No, Fullmetal." The older alchemist surprised Ed by using his title. "I order you to stay outside."
"But-"
"I outrank you, boy. You will follow orders." Grand growled threatingly. Edward grit his teeth as the Iron Blood Alchemist disappeared into Shou Tucker's house.
After what seemed like hours, Grand exited the house. He gave a curt nod to the two sentries at the gate and they hefted their guns, ready to pepper anyone who tried to cross the threshold with bullets. Edward sprinted to catch up with Grand in the driving rain.
"What happened to Tucker and Nina?" The Brigadier General scoffed at the younger alchemist.
"They have been dealt with."
"And what does that mean?" Grand glared at Edward, but he didn't flinch.
"They have been dealt with, Fullmetal. Now if you will excuse me-"He pushed by and resumed walking, but Ed saw traces of red on the Iron Blood Alchemist's gauntlets being erased by the rain.
"Grand!" He called after the retreating man. Grand stopped a few paces away and slowly turned.
"What now, Fullmetal?" Edward pointed, angrily.
"Why do you have blood on your hands? Whose is it? Tell me!" The Brigadier General quickly closed the distance between them. With one easy blow he knocked Ed off his feet and let him fall into the mud.
"Don't ever speak to your superiors that way, boy." He spat. Edward coughed violently, and small flecks of red sprayed the dirt.
"Brother!" Alphonse rushed to help his older sibling. Sadie slid off the truck and stumbled over to the Elrics.
"Pathetic," Grand sneered. Ed growled at him furiously but Grand just laughed and disappeared into the pelting rain.
"Edward! Are you alright?" Sadie fell to her knees in the mud beside him, trying to pull him to his feet unsuccessfully. Fullmetal wiped the blood from his mouth and pushed himself up.
"We're paying Nina a visit."
"What? Brother, there are guards! They'd shoot you before you even passed the wall! And I don't think it's a smart choice to see Nina and Mr. Tucker." Alphonse worriedly looked at Sadie, still wrapped in Ed's muddy cloak. She shook her head.
"Al, give me a boost over the wall right here." Edward rounded a corner out of the guards' line of vision and inspected the eight foot wall. The suit reluctantly knelt down and threw his brother into the air until Ed was level with the wall. Edward landed gently on top and turned to his companions.
"Wait here." A few moments later Sadie and Alphonse heard muffled grunts and a clang. Edward poked his head around the corner.
"Clear."
The entire house was dark, so the alchemists had to navigate the entire complex from memory. They were on their way to the library when a small moan attracted their attention from behind a locked door. Edward and Alphonse broke it easily and rushed inside, Sadie trailed behind them.
Large splashes of blood pooled at the alchemists' feet. Sadie covered her mouth with a whimper. Alphonse gasped and shuddered. Edward staggered farther into the room.
Shou Tucker lay collapsed beside a simple wooden chair. It looked as if he had been struck on the head with considerable force.
"I think he's dead." Al said quietly. Sadie whipped her head around frantically.
"Nina! Where's Nina!" A soft whine came from the far corner. Sadie turned and slowly treaded to it.
Nina/ Alexander was huddled against the wall, whimpering quietly. Sadie sank to her knees in front of the chimera and held out her palm. Nina moved her snout forward to sniff Sadie's hand; then she looked up and moaned,
"Sis-ter?" Tears that Sadie had thought she had run out of dashed into her eyes.
"That's right, Nina. I'm Sister." Nina/ Alexander slid down the wall a few inches to lie on the floor and Sadie was horrified to see a smear of crimson on the wallpaper behind her.
"Ed, Al! Nina's hurt!" The Elrics came running over to them.
"What's wrong with her?" Al asked hurriedly.
"Turn her over; I think she's hurt on her other side!" Sadie answered. The chimera growled lightly when Edward or Alphonse attempted to roll her over. She turned to Sadie pleadingly.
"Sis-ter, pwease."
"Let me turn you, Nina, that way Sister can help you get better." Sadie begged. Nina whined softly but complied as Al and Sadie gently rolled the chimera onto its back. Dried and crusted blood matted the fur, and fresh waves of red pulsed out at a quick pace. Sade fell back, gagging, and Ed moved forward to take her place.
"Al, I think her ribs are all broken on this side." He stated, "I'll bet Grand did this…" Ed trailed off angrily, and then he turned to Nina/ Alexander with determination on his face.
"Bear with me, Nina; I'm going to fix you." He raised his hands, ready to clap and transmute, but was stopped by a whisper from across the room.
"You can't do that, Fullmetal." Ed turned to see Shou Tucker clinging to the chair, stained in his own blood.
"Why not?" The Sewing Life Alchemist smiled at Edward's naivety, his teeth were stained red.
"They're fused to the core; you can't separate them now, or you'll just make it worse!" He laughed maniacally. Edward clenched his fists in fury.
"You can't reverse it, Fullmetal. This transmutation is permanent." Nina whimpered softly and Sadie crept back over to the wounded chimera.
"Sis-ter, it hurts bad." It whined, tears leaked from her eyes as she held the maimed animal in her arms.
"Ed, can't you do anything?" Sadie asked him. Her eyes were filled with tears, and it broke his heart to tell her no.
All night the Elrics and Sadie sat in the empty room with Tucker and Nina. Tucker passed on around three from his wounds, and Nina soon after. Sadie slept with Nina in her arms, whispering to the animal words of condolence.
Alphonse gently shook Sadie awake. She stirred and looked down at Nina/ Alexander. The chimera's chest no longer rose and fell with heavy breaths, it- they were dead. Sadie cried into Alphonse's armor again, and Ed walked to the window to give her privacy. He saw about six military vehicles pulling up in front of the Tucker house and soldiers piling out of them.
"We need to go," He told his brother. Al nodded and picked Sadie up gently. She tried to escape his arms and run back to Nina but he wouldn't let her.
"Sadie, she's gone, now. We have to leave." The Sunset Alchemist went limp and allowed herself to be led out the back door of the house and back to the Elrics' room.
Gone. Gone, gone, gone. Nina was gone.
And there was nothing they could do. Alphonse felt so helpless. Nothing he did or said would draw Ed or Sadie out of their depression. They sat around the room, Edward always with his face in his hands, and Sadie shivering and sometimes sobbing.
After three days of darkness, Alphonse gave up on trying to revive his brother and Sadie and succumbed to his own grief.
"Elrics!" Mustang burst through the hotel door loudly, Hawkeye trailing softly behind him. "Where the hell have you been, Fullmetal, Sunset? You have assignments that need to be done down at Command!"
"Colonel," Riza said quietly, eyeing the slumped over alchemists sympathetically. "They don't look to be in fit conditions to work." Edward looked up at Mustang through a gap in his hair.
"What do you want, Roy?" Mustang was surprised that Ed called him by his first name. Hawkeye walked in front of the Flame Alchemist and crouched by Edward's face.
"Is it because of Tucker?" She asked him soothingly. Ed gave a barely perceptible nod and the Lieutenant stood. She walked to Sadie, who was wrapped in a pathetic blanket and sank down beside her on the floor.
Sadie's eyes were red and puffy, and her lips were cracked. Tear tracks stained her face hopelessly, and it was then that Riza felt the depth of her pain.
"Tucker is dead and his daughter as well." Hawkeye said softly. Sadie pressed her palms to her face, trying to forbid tears to spill. "He'll receive a burial, but not one of a State official or alchemist. Nina will be buried as well, wouldn't you like to visit her and say goodbye?" Across the room, Alphonse stirred. Mustang quickly strode over to the suit and tried to speak in comforting tones like his assistant- failingly.
"I think Nina would appreciate it if you came by for the funeral." Riza continued. Sadie raised her head wearily.
"Why would she get a funeral? I thought the State 'dealt with her'." Her voice turned bitter, and tears ran freely down her cheeks.
"It's just us- Mustang's division." Hawkeye amended, "We thought it proper to give her a sendoff like she deserved; Tucker's funeral is being funded and executed by the military. I don't think many people are going."
"We should go, Sadie." Alphonse said suddenly. Edward looked up through his dirty hair at his brother.
"Why, Al? It's like saying 'we couldn't help you, that's why you're dead'." Al sighed,
"Exactly, Brother. We need to acknowledge that it wasn't our fault; we didn't know that Mr. Tucker was going to transmute and create a chimera that day. It wasn't our fault! Sure we could have offered to bring Nina with us, but then Tucker would have insisted that she stay! Nina and Alexander's deaths are not our fault!" He was shouting, now; and Ed and Sadie winced at the first loud noise in quite a few days. "I think it would be good for all of us," Al dropped his voice again, "I mean- we could pay our respects and let go of all this grief dragging us down. Remember, Brother- we have legs, so we need to use them- for Nina." Edward sighed heavily as though the world rested on his shoulders.
"Fine, Al. Whatever you say." The suit turned to Sadie almost pleadingly.
"I think it would be good for you, Sadie- I really do. Please?" He begged of her. After a moment's hesitation she gave a strangled "yes" as an answer. Hawkeye rubbed the younger woman's back before standing and reverting to her military style façade.
"Nina and Alexander were innocent, loving souls," Second Lieutenant Vato Falman stated at the burial of the chimera. "They brought light to those who met them and-"He faltered, not really having met the girl and her dog, and stumbled back from the makeshift podium and back into the small group. The setting sun threw its last fingers of warmth over the ground before the earth would be shrouded in cold darkness. Sadie's mind was being fought over by warm memories of Nina and remorse, guilt, and grief for her terrible end. Nobody walked forward or stepped up to take Falman's place in creating an oral obituary. Alphonse walked forward.
"Nina and her dog, Alexander were amazing," He said strongly, "They had loving hearts, and never saw a rainy day as a dark day. They'd run and splash in the puddles, and they'd bring sunshine wherever they went." Al's voice was thickening, and Sadie took a small step forward. Beside her, Edward's head was bowed. "And I- I think that they both changed all of us, and for those o- of you who didn't have the privilege to meet Nina Tucker and Alexander… I'm sorry." With that the empty suit stood back and clanked back to his spot beside his grieving brother. Sadie took another, larger step forward. The group of Mustang's team and a few other Central-dwellers turned and began to leave; taking it that there was nothing more to be said.
"Wait!" Sadie shouted, stumbling forward. The crowd looked back at her, some of them sympathetically. Sadie stood in front of the congregation, trying to desperately grasp the right words.
"Nina- Nina was a sweet girl, and in the few days I knew her she became like a sister to me. I loved the way she'd look up to me or just smile as she'd bound into a room. She was an amazing little girl, and-" Her eyes teared up, and Sadie brushed at them with irritation. Next thing she knew Ed was standing beside her, grasping her free hand and holding it steady.
"-And none of us will forget her. Ever." He finished strongly for her. The small crowd gave nods of agreement and even a few murmurs of prayer. Sadie turned to look at Ed; he was standing tall beside her in the last rays of the setting sun, his head held high and his eyes focused ready to take on the world. He turned to her with a weak smile and whispered in Sadie's ear. She nodded, and the two of them turned to Nina and Alexander's grave. Edward clapped his hands and Sadie held her palms out in front of her, silver sparks and shocks of lightning arced across the ground at the head of the sepulcher. The earth twisted and danced, remolding into a small statue of Nina embracing her white dog with a content smile on both their faces. A small engraving at the bottom read: to the ones who loved the world as if it was theirs to hold. Sadie stood and wiped her eyes, Ed led her back to the group of enthralled and touched onlookers.
They left, in the beginnings of twilight, just before the night froze the ground and the warmth turned cold with warmth in their hearts and light in their souls. Sadie walked with Alphonse and Ed, speaking quietly to them. The two brothers embraced her suddenly, and all the tears spilled once and for all, releasing the grief over Nina forever; but she smiled happily, thankful for the Elrics' comfort.
A.N.- I have to go, but I hope this was good! My uncle just got married this last weekend and in the pamphlet they mentioned a bunch of dead relatives and I was genuinely shocked to see Ryan Lewis Hobbs there. Love you all and byeee! R&R plz!
