Silent Song
Chapter 20: Downfall
Disclaimer: I do not own FMA, but I do take credit for the original content in here.
"A pleasure to meet you. Or should I make that goodbye, Lieutenant Colonel?"
"That's one sexy tattoo you've got there, babe."
There was a grunt, and then a cry of pain.
Envy tsked, and ran around the corner, shooting at the injured Lust and inanimate Sloth. "Run, sir!"
Maes Hughes clutched his bleeding shoulder, and hurried off. Following him, in the form of Maria Ross, was Envy. As Envy passed the two female homunculi, he muttered, "Useless."
Hughes rushed out of the hotel, unsteady from the pain of his wound. Envy marched after him, arranging Ross's face into a worried expression.
"Lieutenant," Hughes gasped. "The enemy's moved very close to the fuehrer, and they've infiltrated deep enough to make large scale decisions." Hughes glanced back. "They've made calls not to make the stone directly."
That was something he already knew. Envy suppressed the smirk he usually had. Oh, what fun this would be.
Hughes stopped moving, and did a double take on the person behind him. "What? Never mind, let's go."
"Sir."
Envy watched as the injured man hobbled to the nearby phone booth, blood dripping a trail. Hughes fished through his pocket, uprooting coins and other things stuffed inside. He jammed the coins inside the phone, and dialed frantically.
"Damn it! This is taking too much time!"
A picture that had fallen from his pocket caught Envy's eye. He picked it up, examining it cautiously. A woman with short brown hair and green eyes smiled at him, her arms wrapped around a little girl. It was the man's wife and child.
"What?!" Envy heard Hughes yell into the receiver. "What do you mean, he's gone?"
The answer in the other end did not satisfy the man, and he slammed the phone down.
"Damn it, Roy. You're acting stupid again! Listen to me! You could go straight to the top!"
At this rate, Hughes would awaken the surrounding neighborhood. As much as he wanted to cause another uproar, Envy knew that this business had to done cleanly.
"Lieutenant Colonel," He suggested to the panting man. "We should go somewhere safe."
"Yeah, you're right," the man responded. "It's not like I've lost any evidence here."
Envy turned around, waiting for the man to follow. Hughes kept talking.
"But now, there's something I'd like to bring up with you." Envy felt the sharp teeth of a knife press against the side of his throat. He didn't react, waiting for what was next. "Lieutenant Ross has a mole under her right eye."
Envy almost laughed out loud. Such a ridiculous thing for a man to notice! But an important one, nonetheless.
"Oh, is that so? How careless of me." Envy stood to face the man, swiping a finger under his eye. A white glow trailed it, and left a mole in its wake.
Hughes stared for a moment, but his eyes hardened. "Tch. That's an amazing talent."
He was done playing games. Envy reached for the gun hidden inside his jacket, but like a snake, Hughes struck out and slashed Envy's neck with his knife.
The move startled the homunculus, who didn't had time to react. Blood poured down, and his body fell to the ground. Pain caused red to cloud his vision, and he sputtered on the blood. His body convulsed on the ground, slipping and sliding on the blood pooling around.
Hughes stood above him, watching with a calm demeanor. "I hope you'll forgive me, but I've got a wife and kid waiting for me back home."
As the man turned around to walk away from the scene, Envy finally felt his body fuse back up. This time, he was angry. A puny human had managed to cause late scale damage to him, and thought that he could walk away.
There was no way in hell that was ever going to happen.
Wife and kid? Two weaknesses men were stupid enough to leave unguarded.
Envy reached down, picking up the bloody gun that he had dropped. A crackle of electricity enveloped his body, and Envy felt his body soften and become more curved than Ross's.
Hughes saw his shadow spike up from the light, and whirled around. Even in the retreating glow, he could see who it was. Hughes face paled as he looked into the eyes of his beloved wife.
Slowly, Envy pointed the gun at the frozen man. He opened his mouth, relishing the words that he let out.
"It's alright, Hughes. Maybe this is a more fitting end."
His finger squeezed the trigger.
There was the ear splitting bang of a gunshot, and Maes Hughes crumpled on to the cobblestoned ground. Scarlet liquid seeped out, leaking into the cracks between the stones, and staining everything that it touched.
Envy watched as the blood trickled toward him, taking a step back and shifting back into his preferred form. In a strange sense, the scene before him was beautiful.
Moonlight and a faint glow of a street lamp shone on the liquid, like a red ruby. Shadows illuminated the face of the man, peaceful in death. His glasses lay beside him, splattered with his own blood. To add to the image, the photograph of his family became dampened in the surrounding liquid.
"Admiring your work?"
Without turning around, Envy recognized the voice of his fellow homunculus.
"As if," Envy scoffed. "These pathetic humans aren't even worth that."
He faced the newcomers, Sloth and Lust. As usual, Lust had a confident air around her, and Sloth made a diminished presence.
"Well, Sloth. Haven't seen you in a while." Envy said almost mockingly. He despised Sloth. She followed all of Dante's orders, and even stooped low enough to listen to Pride. In his book, that made the woman weak.
Sloth simply looked at him apathetically, and then asked Lust, "What do you want to do with the body?"
"We leave it here," Envy interrupted before Lust could begin. "You called us to take care of it discreetly, but this is the best that we can do, apparently."
Lust narrowed her eyes, sensing his accusation. "Envy's right. We'll just have to leave it here. I'm sure Pride can take care of the rest."
"Just like how he took care of Lab Five?"
Sloth was bitch when she wanted to be, but Envy only grit his teeth, and answered, "That's why Dante put him there, isn't it?"
"If you keep on going like this, then it won't be long until someone catches on," Sloth glanced at the body of the man. "In fact, he had already started investigating. He was getting too close to the truth, so Pride decided to get rid of him."
"Aren't you chatty today?" Envy shifted his stance and smirked.
Lust let out a soft sigh, choosing to pretend he hadn't made a snide comment. "How close was he getting?"
"Maes Hughes was acquaintances to Fullmetal, and he was able to find out about us and the Eastern Rebellion. He was also involved with the data in Levington and Hearst's files." Sloth replied in a slight monotone.
"You don't mean the Vine and Healing Alchemists?" For once, Envy was taken by surprise.
"Yes," Lust's eyes watched him cautiously. "They just so happen to be the parents of Lark Levington, the girl we're after." She then faced Sloth. "Did the files reach the girl?"
The other woman looked lost for a moment. "I don't know. I barely even know what is in the file."
"Now that I think about," Lust intoned. "I don't know anything about it either."
Envy remained silent. If Hearst and Levington were really her parents, then...
Impossible. There was a large piece that didn't complete the puzzle.
Lust glanced at him. "You're awful quiet, Envy. What do you know?"
"This was before either of you were made," Envy answered in a clipped tone. "It's none of your business."
Sloth's outward expression did not change, but Envy could see the suspicion in her eyes. She didn't say anything. Lust didn't either. Her lips just flattened to slight annoyance.
That moment seemed to last a long time for Envy, seemingly endless. He felt as if he were having an inner conflict with the two homunculi, each accusing him of something. The same emotion that had come to him back in Liore resurfaced, a snake slithering in his mind.
Finally, Sloth broke the uneasy quiet.
"It would be best if we left now. This will attract attention soon, and I need to manage it." Sloth took a step back, body starting to liquefy. "You two know what you're supposed to do."
With that, Sloth melted into a stream of water, sinking into the ground so she could turn up somewhere else. She was slower and weaker than the other homunculi, and that was her only attribute. Worthless
Lust looked up at the night sky, as if gauging the time by the position of the moon.
"We should meet up with Gluttony and head back to the master. This new information could be helpful."
Even though a few sharp remarks formed in his head, Envy chose to keep his mouth shut. Something bothered him, and he wasn't willing to find out.
It was a peaceful night, something that rarely happened. Unfortunately, a gut feeling told me it would not last long.
It had been three days since we left Central. Edward, Alphonse, Winry, and I were heading to an Ishvalan refugee camp in the south. To the military, Ed had claimed that they were heading south to visit their teacher. They had allowed him, but Winry wanted to come along. She wanted to see Rush Valley.
Rush Valley was a dream come true for mechanics. They had the most recent models of machinery, along with some of the most talented engineers. Winry had pleaded with Ed to bring her along to see the haven.
Ed couldn't say no to his childhood friend, so this was where we were now.
After a day of frantic running about the streets, chasing a thief who had stolen his watch, Edward was completely tired out. For once, I stayed out of it. Normally, that would have been a recipe for disaster, but it turned out to be Winry getting her revenge on Edward for taking her automail for granted.
The two of them needed to communicate better, I decided. Both were stubborn, and extremely motivated. They refused to admit what they were feeling, and always locked horns. When I mentioned to Alphonse, his only reply was, "They might fight all the time, but deep down inside, they really care about each other."
I already knew that, but I was tired of constantly mediating them. Which was why I was in the bathroom, rereading files, while Winry and Ed were looking at his automail.
It wasn't just Ed and Winry's relationship that was troubling me, it was the profiles. I had finally finished reading them, and the result was not what I had been expecting.
The reason why the book had been published in 1900 was because my parents still worked for the military then. They were still listing assignments, all the way up to the year 1904. That meant both Glory and I had already been born by them, and the Ishvalan Civil War had been going on for three years.
The news had shocked me. For most of my life, all I knew was Percole. If I tried to think of a time before that, all I drew was a blank.
Something else gave me worried me. Around the time the encyclopedia had been published, but more importantly, my sister's birthday, my father had been taken out of the field and sent to work in Lab Two. At the same time, my mother had been transferred to Lab Four. Of course, by then, they were already married and had me, but it was a strange career move.
I turned the file over in my hands, reorganizing my mind. Despite how many times I thought about, I always came up with the same answer: I needed more information. The file was extremely vague: a report here, a certificate there.
Suddenly, a crash sounded from the main room, and I bolted out of the bathroom. When I exited, I almost tripped over Edward, who was lying on the ground. I straightened myself up, and found a woman standing in front of me, a menacing aura around her.
She was strong and beautiful, in a way that I could never hope to be. Her hair was micro-braided, and put up in a messy ponytail. She wore a shirt dress, the top few buttons open to expose a Flamel tattoo on her collarbone, matching the one printed in Ed's cloak and Al's armor.
She stared down at Ed, and said a threatening voice, "Just where do you think you're going, Ed? You've always been so predictable."
I didn't like the way she was glaring at him, and managed to insert myself in the space between them, hovering a little protectively over the boy.
"It's okay, Lark."
I looked at him over my shoulder, surprised by his reaction. I moved out of the way to crouch beside him, still wary.
Ed winced and picked his head. "Hello, Teacher. What are you doing here?"
Teacher? Judging by the way she was glaring at him, I was pretty sure she wasn't here to have tea with us.
"That's your teacher?" Winry was just as astounded as I was. "But that means she's-"
"An alchemist," Ed finished for her. "Taught us everything we know."
The woman looked about the room. "Where is Alphonse?"
I scrunched my brow. Alphonse was standing by a large man, armor shaking in fear. But the woman didn't recognize him.
"Ma'am!" He cried, straightening up.
Their teacher walked over to them, a polite demeanor settling over her earlier one. "Oh, I'm so sorry. Well, I want to thank you so much for escorting us here. Do you know where I can find Alphonse?"
Ah, so she didn't know.
"Um..." Al mumbled. "Well... I'm Alphonse."
"That's right. Of course you are. Now as I was saying-!" she stopped mid-sentence, just then noticing the getup.
Before Al could speak up, the woman had grabbed his arm, and threw him to the ground. A loud clang sounded out, along with Al's scream. I began to worry that the hotel manager would kick us out for causing so much noise.
"So you're hiding in disguises now?!" She spat. "Don't worry, I've had plenty of stories reach me about how my idiot apprentices- breaking away from everything I've taught them about- to become scum of the military!"
Ed ducked behind Winry and me. I could feel his trembling.
"Isn't that true?" The woman questioned.
"Yes!" Ed squeaked, his voice pitching up an octave.
"That's it," the woman cried. "You're coming with us!"
If it had been anyone else, Ed would have immediately fired back an opposing response. But their teacher obviously scared the wits out of him, reducing the Fullmetal Alchemist to a little boy being scolded by his mother.
Finally, she looked satisfied. Just as I started to relax, the woman turned her attention to Winry and me. Her ferocious aura dimmed, and she managed to appear civil.
"I'm sorry about that. I'm Izumi Curtis, the Elric boys" teacher. And this," she pointed at the muscular man that Al had brought in. "Is my wonderful husband Sig Curtis."
She glanced at him lovingly, and he returned it just as emotionally. Winry and I looked at each other, completely confused and slightly uncomfortable to be in such close proximity to something intimate.
Winry spoke up first, being the only one who could. "I'm Winry Rockbell, and this is Lark. We're traveling with the boys."
Izumi took her attention off her husband. "Really? What sort of trouble are they causing?"
It was a good thing I couldn't answer. Just the ones in the past week would take the entire night.
"Are you sure you're going to be alright, guys?"
Winry stared worriedly at the tied up brothers. They had tried to run away in the middle of the night, but, unfortunately for them, Izumi had caught them and tied them up to prevent further escapes. Even after we got on the train that afternoon, she refused to undo the bounds. Secretly, I agreed with her. Knowing the Elric's, they would have caused a giant scene.
Now, we were in a private compartment, Winry and me sitting across from Al and Ed. Izumi and Sig had gone down to the dining train to eat.
"Yeah," Al reassured us. "We just didn't expect her to come looking for us."
"Damn it. She took my watch," Ed complained. "And I can't say I'm comfortable like this." He eyed the passing scenery. "It looks like we're headed for Dublith, too."
I perked up. Dublith? That was where my father was born, according to the profile. I assumed that he was brought up there as well.
Sure, it wouldn't give me too much information on his case, but I wanted to find out more about where he was raised. What he was like.
"I'm kind of surprised," Winry interrupted my thoughts. "For some reason, I always figured your alchemy teacher would be some old crone, but she's a beautiful lady."
"How are you surprised? You met her years ago, Winry." Ed began fidgeting with the ropes.
"We first became her student in Resembool, back when we were boys." Al finished for his brother.
"I don't remember that."
"Sure you do. It was that day when it wouldn't stop raining."
Winry frowned, deep in thought. Then her mouth straightened out again. "Oh yeah, so you stayed with her."
"There, got it. Much better."
Without us noticing, Edward had undone the ropes. He stood up, the bonds falling to the ground. Sliding open the door, he peeked down the hall.
"Let's move out."
His plan was halted when he stepped out, and was instantly nailed in the head with his state alchemist pocket watch.
"Brother!" Al cried in alarm.
I was starting to think that Ed had developed immunity to getting concussions.
Izumi and Sig stood down the hallway, Izumi obviously being the one who had thrown the watch. She shook her head.
"All that work, and you still haven't learned a thing, have you boys?"
Ed babbled unintelligibly from the ground, still disoriented by the blow to his skull. Al became just as mute as I was, waving his hands around frantically.
About one uncomfortable hour later, the train arrived in Dublith. Izumi immediately piled all of our luggage into the arms of the boys, the weight preventing them from sprinting away. As we walked into the town, the boys grumbled.
"So much for our escape plan." Al muttered aside to his brother.
"I know," Ed sighed. "I've got chills just thinking about what's she's going to do to us now." Even though he was walking behind me, out of my sight, I could imagine Ed shivering.
The streets of Dublith were clean, and children were running around. A few kids pushed past us on their way somewhere, giggling without a care in the world. One little girl walked up to Izumi and greeted her cheerfully.
"Teacher!"
Izumi smiled down gently at her. "Hey there, Manny. So, how's Chico doing?"
"She's going to have babies soon!" The little girl pointed to a cat dozing in her door step. The feline's belly was swollen, indicating life inside of it. She looked just a mere minute away from giving birth.
"Goodness," Izumi exclaimed. "Your house is going to be crowded."
Manny nodded. "I can't wait for them! I bet Chico will be happy, too!" A call sounded from inside the house and the girl ran off with a wave.
We continued through town, others greeting the ever popular Izumi. One young man strolled past us, carrying a large sack of flour. He stopped when he spotted us.
"Izumi! You're back!"
Ed apparently recognized him, because he answered happily, "Hey there, Mason!"
The man squinted. "Is that you, Edward? Haven't seen you in a while!" He approaches the boy, patting his head roughly. "So you've finally grown a little bit, haven't you?"
"He loves to piss me off." Ed muttered.
Mason stared at Al, not registering who is was. "So, uh, who's your big, armored sidekick?"
"It's me, Mason. His little brother Alphonse."
"That's one heck of a growth spurt!" Mason cried as he gaped at the boy.
Al chuckled softly. "Um, yeah."
Izumi cut into the conversation. "I was just about to come see you. How have you managed?"
Mason shrugged his broad shoulders. "Business is up and running. I took a break at noon so I could run a few errands."
Before I could ask, Al explained for me. "Teacher and Sig run a butcher's shop. Mason is their assistant. Whenever they go out of town, he takes over."
I nodded, trying to keep track of the others' conversation. Izumi had invited Mason to lunch, saying that he could catch up with the boys.
Lunch was noisy, everybody, except for me, was chatting. Al didn't eat anything, and I could see that Izumi had noticed. She didn't mention it, but I could feel the gears turning in her mind.
After lunch, the boys recounted some of their misadventures. I added something once in a while, the brothers translating for me. When they were done, everyone was staring at them in surprise.
"Wow, it sounds like you two have been on one brutal journey since you left." Mason remarked, eyes wide.
Sig shook his head in disapproval. "You shouldn't be getting into so much trouble."
Winry, Al, and Ed immediately burst into laughter, and I couldn't help but smile. The boys were practically the personification of trouble.
"Well, it hasn't been all bad," Al admitted. "We've helped out several people along the way. Seriously. We even helped deliver a lady's baby a few years ago!"
"Please!" Ed interjected. "You call that helping? We just ran around screaming our heads off, thinking she was about to die."
Everyone chuckled at the thought of them.
"I guess so," Al said. "But the point is, we did our best. It's was like that old proverb, 'When a mother gives birth, she risks her life. And when a baby is born, everyone around her is blessed.'"
Izumi nodded thoughtfully. "I guess that's true. I'm sure it was the same way when your mother gave birth to you. You boys should be thankful for the life you have."
"And what about you, Izumi? Do you have a child on your own?" Winry questioned.
Mason slammed his hands in the table and stood up abruptly. We eyed him curiously, startled by the interruption.
"Uh, I'm sorry," Mason awkwardly slapped his hands on the table a few more times. "I was just... Uh... You've improved your alchemy, right, Ed? Can you show me?"
"Sure, if you want," Ed replied, ignoring the gracelessness of the man's words. "Let's go."
I tried to dismissing it as well, but it still bothered me. I swore I had seen Sig's eyes darken as soon as Al mentioned a baby. It seemed to be a sore topic with them.
Outside the house, on the dirt path, Al began drawing a transmutation circle. I sighed as I watched. I had almost forgotten what a hassle it was to draw a circle. I didn't have to use them anymore, so alchemy was a whole lot more handy.
When he done, Al set his palms on the ground. "Alright, I'll start."
Blue light enveloped the area, and slowly, died out. In its place was an elaborate stone horse.
"Hey!" Mason laughed. "You have gotten better!"
Al giggled In return. Ed smiled boldly, and rubbed his hands in anticipation.
"Okay, my turn!"
A few children ran into the yard, pushing past us to get to Izumi, who was standing in the doorway with her husband.
"Welcome back, Teacher!"
"Yeah, welcome home."
One of the children held up a toy train. "My train broke while we were playing. Now it doesn't roll right. So, can you fix it?"
Izumi took it out of his grasp and examined it. "One of the axles is broken. Okay, give me that." Without waiting for a reply, she plucked a stick out of the child's mouth.
"Hey!"
"Come on!" Another cried. "Can't you just fix it using alchemy?"
"No," Izumi said without looking up from her project. "You shouldn't rely of alchemy all the time. If you can fix it with your own hands, you should."
A minute later, she handed the train back to them, the stick jutting out. "There you go. All fixed."
"Yeah, but now it looks all ugly." The child made a face as he looked at his repaired toy.
"There are far uglier sights," she reminded him. "In the future, if you want all your things to be so beautiful, then I suggest you don't break them in the first place."
The children nodded, and ran out of the yard.
"Bye, Teacher!"
"Thanks a lot!"
"I'll be back if it breaks again."
"Let's try to keep it to once a day, please." Izumi called after them.
Then, like a never-ending flow of children, Manny came running in.
"Teacher!"
The girl ran right up to her, eyes frantic. Izumi caught her enforce she could bump in to her.
"What is it, Manny? What's wrong?"
"It's Chico," Manny cried. "My cat!"
Chico had gone into labor. Unfortunately, it was then a dog strayed chasing her. The cat had escaped on to the roof of the house, but the dog kept there. Al was able to scare the dog away just by his sheer size.
Edward climbed up the side of the house to reach the cat.
"They're up here!" He yelled.
Suddenly, he jerked sideways. He clapped his hands and slammed them into the stone. A hand transmuted off the side, and a small bundle dropped off the roof, on to the palm. Beside me, I heard Izumi gasp.
"Nice catch!" Winry cheered.
Edward slowly climbed down, the cat in his hands. Immediately, I ran forward, doctoring instincts taking control.
I knelt down on the green grass and gently laid the cats down. The little kittens were mewling, and churning their paws on their mother's belly. They looked alive and healthy.
However, Chico was another story. Her entire body was covered in scratches, blood still oozing out. I felt her fur. Cold. There was no rising or falling of her chest, and no warm breathes came out of her mouth.
She's dead.
Edward and Alphonse were the only ones who could understand me, but the others got the hint. However, Manny didn't.
"Chico! Chico!" She cried, pulling the cat on to her small lap.
I handed the kittens to Winry, and she held them close to her, keeping them warm. Izumi crouched down next to the girl, hand on her back comfortingly.
The little girl turned her head to Izumi. "Is Chico broken somewhere?"
Izumi shook her head sadly. "No, Manny. Chico's dead."
"But you can make her better, can't you, Teacher?" The girl begged, tears threatening to fall out of her eyes. "You can fix anything. You can fix Chico, too."
"No, I can't." Izumi looked down. "Lives and things are different. And I'm not a god. Chico's life has ended. She's isn't ever coming back."
Manny began to cry, holding the dead animal close to her. "But... She's... She was just here!"
"I can't bring Chico back, Manny," Izumi said softy. "But I can help you make a grave for her, okay? How does that sound?"
Manny nodded her small head, sobs wracking her body.
We buried Chico on a hill outside of town, under a tree. Manny's tears slowed down throughout the process, until they became dried tracks down her cheeks. She held on to the kittens, the only things left of Chico.
As the sun set, the wind began to blow coldly. We headed back into town, all except for Izumi, Edward, and Alphonse. I waited for them at the edge of the hill, the others taking Manny home.
I watched the dying sun, the fading light turning into night. I remembered how when I first learned alchemy.
I had felt invincible, like I could do anything. All my problems were over: I could solve them with anything. I held the world in my hands.
How quickly I had fallen back down to Earth.
Hm, that last sentence turned out so preachy. Did not mean for it to do that, but, you know, when the mood hits you, it hits you.
Speaking of moods, it took me quite some time to get into the one for the first excerpt. Anyone who says they didn't get hit hard by Hughes' death is a lying idiot. Then the mood got out of control, I may have gotten a little murder crazy (Not in real life. Just figuratively), and may have actually enjoyed writing it...
Thanks to those who reviewed, followed, and favorited (Over 60 follower, damn!). To those who didn't: Please do.
For guests: it would be nice if you got an account. If you wrote a more elaborate review, I like to answer to them. It's kind of hard to reply to them because I don't like leaving them here. You don't have to. It's just a suggestion.