"It's so curious: one can resist tears and 'behave' very well in the hardest hours of grief. But then someone makes you a friendly sign behind a window, or one notices that a flower that was in bud only yesterday has suddenly blossomed, or a letter slips from a drawer... and everything collapses." – Colette
Chapter Twenty:
Things Left Behind
Annora stayed quiet during the little walk back to the office area, not really paying attention to anything as her thoughts whirled about wildly inside her mind. She was too preoccupied to even notice the fact that Ed had stopped walking a few yards away from the office door until he reached out and grabbed her arm, gently pulling her to a stop.
"Hey, anybody home in there?" he asked quietly, teasingly waving a hand in front of the girl's face. Annora gave a half-hearted chuckle as she brushed her friend's hand aside.
"Ed, knock it off."
The teenage alchemist gazed at her for a few moments before the look in his golden eyes became serious, and he gently put a hand on the other teen's shoulder.
"Annora, do you want to wait out in the hall while I get the books?" he asked before he flashed a faint shadow of one of his usual cocksure grins. "I can probably carry them out by myself. You don't have to go in there if you don't want to."
The sixteen-year old looked at her friend thoughtfully for a few moments, inwardly grateful for his offer, before she smiled softly at him.
"Thanks for the offer, but I should probably go in with you," she admitted, brushing a few strands of hair out of her face. "I should apologize to that poor guy anyways since I probably scared the crap out of him by running away like that. Besides, I can't keep hiding from him if he works here with Havoc and the others."
"Facing your fears, eh?" the alchemist commented wryly, arching a golden eyebrow upwards, and Annora smiled faintly as she nodded in agreement.
"Yeah. Winston Churchill always said that 'The only thing we have to fear is fear itself'," she said jokingly before a frown crossed her face. "No, wait, that was Franklin Roosevelt… I think. Churchill was the one who said that 'I may be drunk madam, but in the morning I will be sober, and you will still be ugly'."
Ed stared at her for a split second in disbelief before he burst out laughing.
"Where the hell did you get that one?" he asked after he got his laughter under control. Annora gave an evasive shrug as she cast an apprehensive glance over her shoulder at the office door before she returned her attention to the Fullmetal Alchemist.
"My dad, I think. He always had this tendency to say stuff like that, especially while we were eating dinner. That was before he and Mom left for China though…"
"You miss them, don't you?"
The sixteen-year old gave a sad smile as a wistful look entered her chocolate eyes, and she absentmindedly rubbed her right arm.
"I miss a lot of things," she admitted finally. "And the funny thing is that the things I miss the most are the simple, regular, everyday things that I never even thought about before. After Ethan left for first boot camp, and then later on Iraq, I missed his smart-ass comments and consistent teasing, even though a few years before I would have given anything for him to have left me alone. I miss the simple knowledge of the fact that my day would consist of nothing more than the usual high school drama, with the monotony broken by Katie coming over to my house after school every once and a while. Now… well, now I don't know what will happen. Everything just seems to be changing so fast, almost too fast for me to keep up with."
"You miss being a normal kid with normal problems," Ed inserted, and gave Annora a knowing smile at her startled look. "I've had that feeling too sometimes, when I miss what life was like for Al and me with our mom, when we were kids. But we can't go back to that, no matter how much we wish we could. It's part of growing up, even if we don't like it."
The girl nodded quietly in agreement before she let out a sigh and gave her friend a half-hearted grin, obviously attempting to regain her usual cheerful attitude. "Well, let's go and grab those books and get back to Al before Mustang comes in and busts our asses. He's probably still pissed about the whole 'thong' incident."
The State Alchemist snickered at the memory of his CO's humiliation. "That was still brilliant by the way. I wish I'd had a camera to see the look on Colonel Bastard's face when Hawkeye came after him with her gun."
"Ed, if you'd been there, you'd probably be dead."
"Only if he had caught me."
The sixteen-year old rolled her eyes upwards as she and Ed walked into the office, only to come face-to face with an irritated and slightly bewildered Havoc.
"What the hell was that all about?" he demanded, fixing the two teens with an intense look. "Both of you just ran out of here for absolutely no reason."
"Well… to tell the truth…" Annora began hesitantly, casting a nervous glance over at Eric out of the corner of her eye. "I-"
"She hasn't been feeling well lately, and she felt like she was going to be sick," Ed broke in with a straight face. "Sorry about that. I didn't mean to shove all of those books at you, Havoc."
The older man waved it off, accepting the lie, while 'Eric' watched the two teenagers intently, a slight frown crossing his face. Why did he feel like he knew that girl from somewhere?
"Well, it's been a while since the last time you two were here," Havoc mused as he looked over at Ethan, mistaking his slight frown for a look of confusion. "Anyways, allow me to introduce you to our new Private, Eric Thomas."
"Thomas?" Annora squeaked involuntarily, her brown eyes going wide as she immediately looked over at the twenty-year old; completely missing Ed's shocked obscenity as she stared at him. "Your last name is Thomas?"
"Yeah… it's a pretty common name though," Ethan said, slightly bewildered at the girl's reaction. Almost immediately he felt bad for having said so as the teenager smiled sadly in response.
"That's true," she muttered thoughtfully before she forced a cheerful tone into her voice. "It's still kind of weird though, since that's my last name too."
"Really?"
"Yep. I'm Annora by the way," the sixteen-year old said as she held out her right hand. "Nice to meet you."
Ethan hesitated for a second before he took her hand and shook it. Something told him that the girl was acting as though nothing was wrong, even though it was obvious that something was bothering her. A slight frown crossed the man's face as he turned around to face Havoc, only to find the older man questioning Ed.
"So, what caused you three to leave Central in such a rush?" the chain-smoker asked calmly, arching a sandy eyebrow slightly. The teenage alchemist scowled as he crossed his arms in front of his chest, his entire body tense.
"Mustang decided to pull a prank on Annora as retribution for the flyers that she passed out," he explained tersely. "He gave her a…"
"A what?" Breda prodded, and Annora rolled her eyes upwards as she joined the conversation.
"He gave me a thong," she stated bluntly as she frowned. "I was less than thrilled with it, and so I regifted it to someone who might have a better use for it."
Havoc, Falman, Fuery, Breda, and 'Eric' all stared at the girl incredulously before Havoc let out a low whistle of surprise, his blue eyes wide in disbelief.
"So that's why Hawkeye was so mad at him that day," the Second Lieutenant muttered as he ran a hand over his hair nervously. "No wonder the Colonel pulled a disappearing act."
"Why was he dumb enough to give a thong to a kid anyways?" Ethan piped up seriously. "If you ask me, that's looking for trouble right there."
"Since when is the bastard Colonel ever smart?" Ed retorted snarkily, ignoring Annora's warning look as he started straight at the new recruit. "You really haven't been here long, have you?"
"Shut up. I could ask you the same thing, runt."
"Runt?!"
"Yes, runt. How old are you anyways, twelve?"
"O-kay, I think we need to get going," Annora jumped in, clapping a hand over Ed's mouth before he could explode into one of his infamous 'short' rants and hooking an arm underneath his armpit to restrain the alchemist. "We'll just take those books and get out of your guys hair, lots of research to do."
The sixteen-year old removed her hand from her friend's mouth, shooting him a warning look as she released him. Ed immediately opened his mouth to launch a foul reply to Ethan's jibe, only for Annora to stomp down on the toes of his right foot, hard.
The Fullmetal Alchemist almost used every single obscenity that he knew as he fought back the howl of pain that threatened to emerge from his lungs. He directed an incredibly dirty look in his friend's direction, only for her to silently mouth 'do it and die', accompanied by a murderous look. Deciding that discretion was the better part of valor, Ed managed to keep his threats to himself, barely.
"Y-yeah, lots of research," he managed to croak instead, trying not to let anyone know that he'd just had all of his remaining toes smashed as he grabbed the stack of books that he had abandoned earlier. Annora watched him carefully for a few seconds as he limped out the door in a way that showed he was trying not to look like he'd been attacked before she grabbed her own pile of books and headed towards the door to the hallway.
"Bye guys!" she called out over her shoulder as she followed the slightly limping alchemist back to the room that they had left Al in. As they left the room behind, the teenager tried to put the man that looked so much like her brother out of her mind, only to fail miserably.
She knew that while Ed and Al were doing research on the Philosopher's Stone that day that she'd be conducting a little research of her own on the stone gate that kept appearing in her dreams.
--
Havoc and the others waited for a few minutes until Ed and Annora were gone before the Second Lieutenant started to chuckle.
"Well I'll be damned. I never thought it would happen, but it looks like Ed's gotten himself whipped."
"Hey, that's not fair guys," Fuery protested. "There might be something else going on."
"Like what, the kid's just a friend?" Breda asked with a grin. "Bet you anything they're dating."
Ethan arched an eyebrow as he looked between his superior officers for a few moments before he finally voiced his thoughts.
"What the hell are you all talking about?" he demanded. "And who were those kids? Not to mention why were they here in a military base? Are they the kids of some of the officers or something?"
All four of the men blinked at the new recruit as they fell into a stunned silence. Finally, Falman was able to gather his wits together as he looked at the younger man in surprise.
"That wasn't just 'some kid'," he stated seriously, looking Ethan straight in the eye. "That was the youngest State Alchemist in history, the Fullmetal Alchemist. He's a real child prodigy, since he joined the military at the age of twelve, and that was four years ago."
"WHAT?!" Ethan yelped as he stared at the Warrant Officer like he had lost his mind before another thought struck him. "That kid… he's the Fullmetal Alchemist?!"
"You got it."
The Private muttered a curse under his breath and nervously ran a hand through his sandy hair before he turned around and headed out the door.
"Hey Eric, where are you going?" Havoc called out as he rushed out after the younger man. Ethan turned around and looked over his shoulder at the Second Lieutenant before he responded.
"I need to go talk to Lt. Colonel Hughes about something," he said before he started walking down the hall. "Don't worry, I'll be back soon. It shouldn't take long."
"Why, what's up?"
"I forgot that I needed to ask him something."
Havoc arched an eyebrow at his friend's evasive comment, but before he could ask him anything else, the younger man had vanished around a corner. The moment Ethan was out of Havoc's sight, he broke into a fast trot, excitement surging through his veins.
'I don't believe it. That kid was the Fullmetal Alchemist, and I didn't even think to ask him about that girl he traveled with,' the twenty-year old realized as he stopped at the corner of yet another one of the maze-like hallways. 'Hmm… I wonder if she was that girl that he was with, Annora. But they seemed more like friends than anything, so it might be someone else too.'
Either way, he had a lead to how he got to Amestris in the first place and maybe even a way to get back as well.
--
'Gate, Gate, where's any entry on something called the Gate?' Annora wondered silently as she flipped though an alchemy book that she had selected at random from the huge stack that she and Ed had brought back from the library. Her brown eyes scanned over the words printed on the page rapidly, searching for any mention of the thing that she was now convinced had something to do with her presence in Amestris.
The sixteen-year old was practically oblivious to anything else going on, except for the gradual numbing of her feet, seeing as Twilight was currently sound asleep on top of her shoes.
"You know you'll go cross-eyed if you try to read any faster," Ed remarked nonchalantly, causing the girl to look up from her book and give him a dirty look.
"I'm looking for something specific, dummy," she grumbled, returning her attention to the printed words in front of her only for a moment before she was interrupted once again.
"Since when are you so interested in alchemy anyways?"
"I figured that it might be useful to know some of the actual technicalities behind it instead of just doing stuff blindly."
"Bullshit."
"Cows shit too, but they don't brag about it," Annora retorted offhandedly. "Why are you being so suspicious?"
"Because all of a sudden you're seriously interested in alchemy, and before all you really wanted to do was learn kids stuff," the teenage alchemist pointed out seriously. The teenage girl paused for a moment before she snapped her book shut and set it down on the table before looking straight into her friend's fey eyes.
"You think I'm desperate enough to try human transmutation," she stated simply, ignoring Al's shocked gasp as she frowned at the Fullmetal Alchemist. "Ed, I'm going to tell you the same thing I told that bastard Envy when he offered me a chance to bring Ethan back. First of all, I'm not that dumb, and second, you and Al didn't succeed, so how the hell would possibly I be able to? Besides… even if I had some sort of guarantee that something wouldn't go wrong, how would I know that Ethan would still be the same person?"
"Oh," was all Ed said, and he had the decency to look ashamed as the sixteen-year old returned her attention to her book. "I'm sorry."
"Don't apologize; it was a perfectly legitimate concern. I just thought that you knew me better than that, that's all."
"That sounds like something that bastard Mustang would say."
"Speaking of Mustang, I wonder how the hell he got out of his office to escape Hawkeye anyways," Annora mused thoughtfully, only for a chill to crawl down her spine at the sudden ominous presence that manifested itself right behind them. Noticing the stunned and terrified looks on Ed and Al's faces respectively, she came to a sinking conclusion.
"He's right behind me, isn't he?" she asked faintly, and was given a slight nod of ascent in response.
"You bet I am, and try that I escaped by jumping out the window," the Flame Alchemist growled threateningly, causing the girl to flinch before she chanced a glance over her shoulder at the angry Colonel.
"Oh, hey Colonel Mustang," she said with a slightly sheepish grin, noticing with a definite hint of unease that he was wearing his ignition-cloth gloves. "How are you doing, sir?"
"Well enough, in spite of your previous attempt on my life," the older man stated coldly with a scowl. Annora let out a nervous laugh as she rubbed the back of her head before she decided to try to lighten the ominous mood hanging heavily in the room.
"You know, if you keep glaring at the floor like that, it'll only be a matter of time before there's a hole in the floor and smoke starts drifting up to alert the smoke detector... Hawkeye'll really be after you then," she joked, only to quail under the fierce stare that Mustang sent her way, his onyx eyes practically boring into her very soul.
"Shut up," he muttered before he switched his gaze over to her friend. "I have half a mind to put the both of you on KP duty for the rest of your natural lives."
"What?!" Ed yelped incredulously as he shot up out of his seat and glowered at Mustang defiantly. "You can't do that!!"
"Fullmetal, as your commanding officer I am more than capable of assigning you to assist the cooks as punishment," the Flame Colonel pointed out smugly before he smirked at the older Elric. "Any use of alchemy of course, would be forbidden."
Ed snarled out an obscenity as he made an attempt to lunge at Mustang and strangle him, only to have Al grab him by the shoulder and force him back down into his seat.
"Brother, calm down," the possessed suit of armor admonished as his older sibling squirmed about in his seat, glaring daggers in Mustang's vicinity. Annora looked over in her irate friend's direction and shot him a warning look, and then twisted around in her chair as she returned her attention to the dark-haired alchemist behind her before she smiled at him.
"Sounds fun," she said cheerily. "I like cooking."
Mustang blinked in surprise as he stared at the girl, obviously not expecting her obvious enthusiasm. Ed just stared at her like she had grown another head, disbelief evident in his golden eyes.
"Are you insane?!" he hissed. "Do you not know what KP is?!"
Annora opened her mouth to issue an appropriate retort, only to be interrupted by a loud yap, followed by a very juvenile-sounding growl as Twilight came out from under the table and started growling at Mustang's boots.
"Oh shit," the teenager whispered hoarsely, the blood draining from her face as she stared at her dog in stunned horror. "Twi, no! Get back under the table!"
The Colonel merely stared at the small black and white puppy for several moments before he knelt down and picked her up, holding the collie up at eye level.
"Dog, huh?" he asked slowly, causing Annora to cringe at the thought of the lecture she was probably going to receive about bringing pets into the military HQ. Instead, a smile crossed the older man's face as he looked at Twilight. "I love dogs!"
"Huh? You do?" the girl muttered unintelligently as she gawked at Mustang in complete and total disbelief. The Flame Alchemist… the man who she was more than convinced hated her guts… was a dog lover?
"Of course!" Mustang crowed as he started waving Twilight around, a fanatical gleam in his dark eyes. "They're the embodiment of loyalty! They follow their master's command above all else! Loyal canine, how we salute thee!!"
'Oh, he only appreciates them for their loyalty. Figures,' Annora realized before she turned around to look at her friends, who both looked like they had been hit upside the head with something, or were at least wishing they had been. "He's crazy."
"And you figured this out when?" Ed asked, sarcasm practically dripping from his tone and pooling into a puddle on the floor. "You're gawking by the way."
The sixteen-year old stared at him for a few moments before she trusted herself to respond.
"Your sarcasm is dutifully noted and ignored," she stated simply as she turned back around to look at the Colonel, and found him giving Ed a speculative look.
"Fullmetal, how can a girl not gawk in the intelligent glow that radiates from my being?" Mustang asked as he gave the boy a smug look, completely missing Annora roll her eyes upwards in exasperation.
"Sorry, there must be something wrong with my eyes then," she retorted sarcastically before Ed could say something. "All I see are dumb people. Actually, nix that. I only see a dumb person."
The Colonel turned around and gaped at her, the wind blown completely out of his sails before he let out an offended snort and started fawning over Twilight again while Ed held back a snicker. Annora decided that it was probably best to change the subject as she arched an eyebrow curiously at the older man's infantile behavior. "So, you only like dogs because of their loyalty?"
Mustang stopped swinging Twilight around and looked down at the teenage girl, an indescribable look in his dark eyes as he automatically shifted the dog back into a more appropriate holding position in his arms.
"Dogs are called man's best friend for a reason Miss Thomas," he stated simply, all traces of his earlier nuttiness gone. "They provide you with unconditional love, can be trained to perform specific tasks without any need for a reward, and serve as excellent protectors, all for the promise of your affection and approval. Dogs are magnificent creatures, and are more than deserving of the title that they hold."
"And I just thought that they were fun to have," Annora muttered before she looked up at the Colonel. "Can I please have my dog back now? I think she needs to go outside."
Mustang glanced down at Twilight and found that the puppy was indeed doing the universal dance that all things do when visited with the urgent need to visit the closest available bathroom in his arms.
"I think that you should have just let her pee on the Colonel," Ed grumped suddenly, a scowl on is face, and Mustang immediately smirked at the younger boy.
"Are you volunteering for latrine duty, Fullmetal?" he asked knowingly, only to have the blonde give him a dirty look.
"Screw you," the teenager muttered rebelliously, causing Annora to cringe. For some reason, she had a feeling that she knew what was going to happen next.
"Why Fullmetal, I didn't know you swung that way."
"Okay, gotta go," Annora said as she snatched Twilight from Mustang's arms and bolted from the room, slamming the door shut behind her, before Hurricane Edward could strike. Fortunately she was able to make it outside before the State Alchemist exploded with an unparalleled fury, his voice riding up to a furious shriek that rivaled a dog whistle in pitch, only anyone unfortunate enough to be within city limits could hear it.
"WHAT WAS THAT, YOU SKIRT-CHASING OLD BASTARD?!"
"Oh yes Ed, that's wonderfully subtle," the sixteen-year old muttered as she crouched down by a tree, waiting for Twi to do her business so that she could go back inside the warm building. "Why don't you just call him a wet match to dig yourself in even deeper?"
There was a muffled 'boom' somewhere around where the research areas were, and Annora was fairly certain that a loud-mouthed alchemist of her acquaintance had just gotten barbequed.
"Idiot," the teenager muttered as she watched Twi amble over towards one of the snow-covered bushes and do her duty… or doody. "Okay, let's go back inside now. I'm freezing my ass off out here."
Just as the girl was about to stand up, a loud 'crash' resounded from the other side of the block wall behind her, followed by a steady stream of creative curses.
"God dammit, I hate this stupid fucking ice!!" a familiar voice raged. "Ow… I think I broke my ass."
"I told you not to run," another voice, this one Annora recognized as belonging to Lt. Colonel Hughes, stated. "It's not like the records room is going anywhere."
"But-"
"No buts, Eric. I know exactly where that file is, so it's only a matter of pulling it out and reading it. There's no need for you to be so anxious."
"…"
"You don't agree with me, do you?"
"No sir. I'm just… a little nervous, that's all."
"There's no need to be. All it happens to be is a document, a typed account on what was said, that's it. I wouldn't get your hopes up though. You may find nothing."
"I can live with that sir. At least I tried."
"Good idea. Now let's go find that folder!"
Annora arched an eyebrow as she straightened up and looked over in the direction that the Lt. Colonel and Private had gone, a slight frown twisting across her pursed lips. What the heck was that conversation all about? The teenager thought about it for a little while before she gave a shrug and headed inside with Twilight trailing behind her heels.
"The Lt. Colonel probably drafted him with helping him clean the records room or something," she mused with a grin. "That poor guy. He's probably going to die from overexposure to pictures of Elysia in the process."
Shoving the incident out of her mind, the sixteen-year old made her way back inside and down the hall, where she became aware of the strong odor of burnt hair permeating the air. Annora almost immediately clapped a hand over her mouth and nose in an attempt to block the offensive stench, trying not to gag as she did so.
"Gah, it smells like something died," she muttered. When the teenager entered the research room, she found Al trying to put the singed room back into semblance of order, gathering up scorched papers and re-stacking them back up on the table. Oddly enough, Ed was nowhere to bee seen.
Arching an eyebrow, the girl shut the door behind her and started to help the younger Elric with cleaning up the room. Al looked up at her in surprise before he relaxed slightly and continued with straightening up the disarray.
"Hello Annora. Brother and the Colonel kind of… got into a fight," the fifteen-year old said hesitantly as a way of explanation.
"So I see," Annora commented wryly as she brushed some ash off of the tabletop, letting out a soft sigh of relief when she saw that the library books weren't damaged. "It almost looks like someone set off a crapload of firecrackers in here."
"Not that you would know anything about that, right?"
"No, not at all."
"Why do I have the feeling that you're not telling me the truth on that?"
"I plead the Fifth. I have the right to remain silent so as not to further incriminate myself," the sixteen-year old commented seriously as she tried to look innocent. Al shot her a reproving look as he set a couple of books on the table, his red eyes narrowed slightly.
"Annora…" he said warningly, and the older girl gave him a sheepish shrug as she smiled.
"My brother was an explosives nut. What do you expect? I just kind of picked some stuff along the way through osmosis as I watched some of his… experiments."
"I can only assume that these 'experiments' you're talking about were something like what Brother and the Colonel do when they go at it."
The two teens looked at the destruction around them, and then at each other for a few moments before they both said the exact same thing.
"They're both idiots."
--
"Hmm… Thomas, Thomas… it should be right around here," Hughes muttered as he shuffled through a stack of files in one of the many file cabinets pushed up against the walls of his office. Ethan gave the older man a skeptical look as he gazed around at Hughes's office, arching an eyebrow slightly as he took in the mounds of manila folders and paperwork stacked up on the Lt. Colonel's desk.
The young man glanced at the numerous framed pictures resting on the wooden desk among the piles of paperwork curiously for a moment before he realized that they were probably pictures of the Lt. Colonel's family. When he leaned forward slightly for further inspection, Ethan immediately recoiled in slight disgust as he instantly recognized the face of Hughes's daughter. He had seen more than enough pictures of the four-year old to last him a lifetime, and he didn't need more shoved at him after being caught looking at one of the photographs.
Silently hoping and praying that Hughes hadn't seen him, Ethan turned around to watch the older man go through the documents once again.
"This place looks like a paper bomb went off in it," the twenty-year old remarked, disbelief obvious in his tone as he eyed the filing cabinet Hughes was digging through doubtfully. "Don't you think that it might be on your desk?"
"No, I know that I put it here in the 'T' section," the Lt. Colonel insisted over his shoulder before he returned to rummaging around within the confines of the filing drawer. "I handed the folder to Sheska and I watched her put it in this very drawer. There's no way that it could possibly be anywhere else."
"Do you think that maybe someone else pulled it out and took it?"
"That's impossible. Sheska and I are the only ones who have the keys to these cabinets since I'm the head of the Investigations department, and she's my secretary and research assistant. Someone would have had to have gone to one of us to pull out that file, and I would remember it being taken."
Ethan sighed as he looked at the older man, a mixture of confusion and worry on his face as he glanced around the office.
"So… what you're saying is that it's impossible for this file to have gone missing, but it still isn't here anyway?"
"Correct."
The twenty-year old frowned as he directed his gaze over to the window, and his hazel eyes widened marginally for a moment before a strange look entered his eyes.
"Is it possible for someone to have broken into here and stolen it?" he asked quietly while staring fixedly at the window, a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. Hughes stopped shifting through the files in the cabinet for a moment as he looked over his shoulder at the new recruit, an eyebrow arched questioningly.
"And what makes you say that?"
Ethan hesitated for a second before he pointed over towards the window, an odd expression on his face.
"It's just that… well, that window almost looks like it was forced open by something. And well, not to sound smug or anything, but I could probably pick the lock on the filing cabinet with the right tools," he stated cautiously. Maes Hughes frowned as he strode over to the window and examined the wooden sill closely before he hissed out a curse underneath his breath.
"Dammit, you're right," he growled as he straightened up, anger shining in his golden-green eyes as he clenched his fist tightly. "But what I don't get is why someone besides us would even want that damn file."
Ethan paused for a moment before realization hit him, and he immediately went white with shock as he looked over at the Investigations officer slowly.
"Whoever it was, they were looking for the folder for the same reasons we were," he stated quietly, fear evident in his hazel eyes. "They wanted to know about this girl, Annora. Well now they have it, as well as the knowledge that she's not exactly from around here."
The Lieutenant Colonel froze as the implications of Ethan's statement hit him, and he let loose a word that he would have never allowed anyone to use around his daughter without the direct threat of death.
"This is bad," Hughes muttered grimly as he held his hand over his mouth. "If whoever stole that file brings the fact that Annora's not an Amestranian citizen to the attention of the military, all sorts of things could happen as a result, and none of them are even remotely pleasant to think about."
"Like what?"
"Well, for instance, she could be arrested as a spy. I can guarantee that the higher ups will make sure that she disappears permanently, and the last time they did that they sent political prisoners and condemned criminals to a secret laboratory as human guinea pigs for alchemic experiments. She could also be tortured and executed."
"You have got to be shitting me," Ethan said incredulously as he stared at the older man before unease crossed his features. "What kind of a fucked up country is this place anyways?! If what you told me is true, they could possibly execute an innocent sixteen-year old girl whose only crime is not being born here!! This is bullshit!! In the United States we'd never pull this kind of crap!"
"But we're not in the United States kid," the Lieutenant Colonel reminded the younger man gently, his expression grave, "you need to remember that this isn't your homeland. Things are different here, and as much as you may hate that, you also need to keep in mind that you need to watch out for you as well."
Ethan scowled as he looked away from Hughes's stern gaze, but nodded in agreement.
"Well this bites little green doggy dicks," he muttered acidly under his breath as he glared down at the carpeted floor, and for one brief second he had a mental glimpse of a young girl around twelve or so with lively brown eyes looking at him with an aghast expression on her face before she burst into peals of laughter. Ethan blinked in surprise as he straightened up, only for the memory to disappear as fast as it had come up.
The Private cursed silently at his inability to remember, only to jerk in surprise as Hughes cleared his throat loudly.
"Hey, are you okay?" he asked. "You looked a little spacey for a bit there."
"Yeah, I'm fine," Ethan said as he waved off the older man's concern. "I just thought that I remembered something right then, but it's gone now."
"As long as you're sure," the Lt. Colonel pointed out before he let out an annoyed sigh and ran a hand through his dark hair. "Look, you'd better get back to work. I need to go and tell Roy that we've had a breach in security so that he can bring it to the attention of the proper officials."
"Great, politics. Just what we need, more bullshit to deal with."
"Hey, that so-called 'bullshit' of yours is part of our job, so don't knock it," Hughes scolded before he arched an eyebrow and gave Ethan a friendly grin. "You weren't all that great with the diplomatic process, were you?"
The younger man wrinkled his nose to show his disgust before he responded with a slight smirk. "What I know about diplomacy is that it's telling the other delegate to go to hell and making the trip sound fun."
"You really need to work on your delivery."
"I'll try. I was usually more occupied with not getting shot by some towel-wearing bastard looking forward to his seventy-two virgins than conveying my sarcastic comments to the prick and making them sound diplomatic."
"That wasn't blunt."
"Neither was that."
"Touché."
Ethan grinned slightly at Hughes as he followed the higher-ranking man out of his office before a thoughtful frown crossed his face. Someone out there, maybe even someone in the military, was looking for Annora, and he wanted to know who and why.
--
A couple blocks away from Central HQ, a lanky androgynous figure sat perched up on a roof and lounged with his back up against the brick chimney, his slit-pupil amethyst eyes scanning the words printed on the page in front of him. Envy frowned reflectively as he picked up the folder he had stolen from Hughes's office and paged absentmindedly through the other papers inside the military standard-issue manila folder. None of what he was seeing here was making any sense to him, and that alone was quite a feat.
Originally he had broken in to see if he could dig up any information on other State Alchemists interested in the Philosopher's Stone, and had stumbled across the folder labeled 'Thomas, Annora' inside one of the filing cabinets. He had taken it on impulse just to see what kind of dirt he could possibly dig up on the brat who had humiliated him so badly, only to find something far more serious and interesting.
"Name: Annora Thomas. Date of Birth: November 16th, 1899," Envy muttered before he frowned and rolled his eyes upwards. "Nothing interesting here. All this is is some stupid record of the mundane crap about that little bitch's…" the homunculus trailed off as he read the line below that, and a slight smirk crossed his face. "Place of birth: Flagstaff, United States of America. Additional note: Despite extensive searching on all existing maps, neither the city of Flagstaff nor the country of the United States can be found to actually exist. Ms. Thomas is quite fervent that she is from there, and refuses to accept any possibilities of a regional mistranslation in the name of her hometown. Possibility of her lying to hide her origins, except for the fact that she believes that she is telling the truth. Psychological analysis may be needed at a later time to determine why she feels the need to lie about her place of birth."
The Sin paused as he re-read the report that had been filed, as well as the information listed about her family. Apparently she had an older brother who she insisted was in the military, yet there was no record of him, as well as her parents who were supposedly in some country called 'China', which also did not exist. Envy assumed that the brother was the same one that she had talked about earlier, the one who was dead.
"Hmm… so the brat says that she's not from around here, eh?" the homunculus sneered before he let out an eerie chuckle. "Well that's a stretch. I wonder… maybe I can use this."
Envy smirked as he shoved the papers back into the file before he pulled out a box of matches and struck one on the side, causing the sulfur head to flare up in a blaze of light. Chuckling slightly, he held the burning match up to the bottom corner of the folder and waited until it had caught fire before he extinguished the match. The homunculus held the burning file folder in his hand until it had crumbled into ash, ignoring the pain from the flames as his flesh charred and healed at almost the same time.
Once the file was nothing more than blackened soot, Envy crushed it in his hand just to make certain that it was destroyed before he leapt off the rooftop and headed towards where Lust and Gluttony were staying. He had a plan, and if it worked… his Master would be extremely pleased.
--
Well, it looks like things have gone from confusing and frustrating to… pretty freaking scary. Envy has an idea as to where Annora's from now, and he's planning something. And meanwhile, Ethan's remembered something, but he's gone and forgotten it again right afterwards.
I hope that you're all not plotting to kill me for that nasty little cliffhanger… (laughs nervously). Then again, I probably have an entire mob heading to my house. Just please do me a favor and don't walk on the grass, otherwise my brother will have a shit fit since he just spent the last few days watering it and mowing it to make it look all nice. And if you feel the need to drag me out of my room, take off your shoes and leave them at the front door before you enter the house.
Ed: You are one sad person.
Wandering Hitokiri: Well, I wouldn't have to lay down the rules for angry mobs coming to my house if somebody hadn't told them where I live.
Ed: Consider it payback for all the crap you've put me through.
Wandering Hitokiri: I'll tell you right now that anything you do to me will be returned with interest. How do you like them apples?
Ed: I hate you.
Wandering Hitokiri: Yes, we've been over that already. Go find something constructive to do, like entertain my little cousins or something. Those little brats are driving me up the wall, and I'm done with entertaining them.
Ed: Why?
Wandering Hitokiri: You know why, Elric. Hell, you were laughing your ass off when three of them tackled me demanding that I play with them. Anyways, I'm sorry for all of my reviewers for making them wait, but I was unexpectedly delayed since I had to make a trip all the way to Florida to attend a funeral for my grandmother. This is the first time in a week that I've been able to even think about touching a computer, and I'll be stuck here for another week helping my grandpa take care of some stuff. Sorry for any delays, but there's nothing that I can really do about it.
Reviews:
agent000: Thank you so very much for your input on the last chapter, and it made a lot of sense. I actually went back and deleted all of the song lyrics from the last chapter and re-submitted it to fix the flow of the chapter as you mentioned. As for Annora and Ethan figuring things out… that may take a while, but the situation will become less complicated in the near future, within the next few chapters or so, I promise ;).
anime.storm: I'm glad that you liked it. Friendship is about as far as things will go in between Ed and Annora for now, with maybe an itty-bitty bit of fluff thrown in every once and awhile. Ethan's memory loss is going to be a bit of a problem for a while, but hopefully things will work out.
Mei Fire: (Arches an eyebrow) You're gonna eat the chapter? If you're looking for fiber, that's the wrong place to get it. Not to mention the fact that if you want a sugar rush, actual cotton candy works so much better. Bad spelling is EVIL!!
Goldenfightergirl: You got that one right.
Cougerstar: Thank you very much. I know that it's hard to make a story be both serious and funny, but I wanted to make it realistic. Hence some of the extreme sarcasm on my part. (Hands Cougerstar a crowbar and a sledgehammer) I don't mind you hitting Envy, but I think that these will work a lot better on him than that canoe paddle. Have fun.
Envy: I am going to murder you for this.
HeeHeeHee01: Hughes did put two and two together, but he just didn't remember the name of Annora's older brother, which was part of the reason why he and Ethan were looking for that folder. Happy birthday by the way.
Ed: I AM NOT CUTE!! I WAS JUST TRYING TO GET HER TO STOP CRYING!!
SoundzofSilence: Yes, what Annora said earlier is one of the reasons why she didn't tackle Ethan before crying in relief and smacking him for making her think he was dead, mainly because it's a sign that she accepts that there is no force on earth that could possibly bring her brother back.
tiggeranddash: Ed was tricked, plain and simple. I'm glad that you liked the part with the camera.
MyDarkSideHasAWayOfHerOwn: I definitely agree with you on that one. Hmm… stabbing Envy with chopsticks… that's a new one.
Envy: Don't even think about it, you brat.
Shadowess 88: Wow, talk about dedication. I'm so glad that you enjoy my story that much. As for Annora's lack of payment to the Gate… that's one of those things that you won't really find out about until the end, and the reason behind Ethan's payment will come into play later on. Katie isn't stupid enough to send Annora yuri because she knows that Annora will do everything and anything to kill her as payback.
Al: Brother, what should I do with this sword?
Ed: Get rid of it before you hurt yourself. (Greed runs by and snatches the sword from Al's hands)
writingdreamer13: How can you read this if you're in the Funny Farm? As for the soldier who caught a glimpse of the Gate… he's just being treated for shell shock.
Lulu4ever: Nope, not gonna be the case.
Zilo Sugarpill: I'm pretty sure that my entire story is built on insanity at one point or another. Thank you so much for the awesome picture that you did of Envy offering Annora the chance to bring Ethan back… I love it! Yes, Envy the Grouch does indeed have a nice ring to it, despite a certain homunculus's opinions on the subject.
Envy: I hate you all. You're both going to pay in blood for this little stunt. And I'll stab anyone who even thinks about sealing me in a garbage truck.
Cantata: I'm very glad that you enjoy this story so much, and I hope that you like the later chapters as much as you like the earlier ones. As for the humor, it's more sarcasm than anything. Happy reading!
richard9311: (Smirks) I like throwing people for a loop every now and then. Plot twists are a lot of fun.