Chapter 95: Moving

"…and this is where Aunty Jade and Uncle Phil grew up?" Laila asked very interested as the car stopped in front of the mansion. "If I were Jade, I would have never left this place."

"My aunt basically threw them out to make them get a life," Roy said while he grabbed Riza's hand. "So, I really want to know what this is about."

"Hey, Roy-boy," his aunt Chris smirked as she opened the door. "You are late. I didn't raise you to be too late every time something important is going on."

"What are you doing here?" he asked. "I thought Jade called just me…"

"The times she relied on your brain are over. This is something important and she needs every brain because we are trying to track down a genius," the lady said while she tried to lighten a cigarette, just to have it taken away by her youngest sister seconds later.

"Roy, Riza, Jade awaits you, Nick and Laila in the library," Izumi said. "Jade is trying to break a code without knowing anything about the base the code was made of. She throws a fit everything five minutes and I strongly believe that my husband will never think that she is small and innocent again."

Roy sighed. "Nothing against Sig but the person who needed this long to figure out that Jade isn't small and innocent has to be a little bit dense, Izumi. She blackmails everyone who is dumb enough to make a mistake as long as she is around," he said. "Well, the library it is."

"We are all going to die," Nick said unusually pessimistic he followed Roy down the hallway.

"Oh yeah, I can already hear her," Roy smirked widely as Jade's loud voice nearly shattered some windows.

"…I REFUSE TO BE BEATEN BY SUCH A SIMPLE CODE!" she yelled. "DAMN THIS! I AM OUT OF HERE! I NEED TO SMOKE … OR TO CRY … OR TO EAT TONS OF ORANGES!"

"Ah, it looks like something isn't going the way she wants it to go," Roy said relaxed. "Well, maybe we can help her … but kids, be careful, yes? This Jade isn't the one you know. This one is going to rip off your head when you provoke her. The best thing you can do is staying close to me or your mother." He turned to look at Izumi. "How bad is it this time?" he asked quietly.

"Oh, it's not that bad," his aunt shrugged. "I saw her in worse times. This time she is just yelling and throwing pens at Phil so far. Alain keeps her calm with oranges and Claudio made her sleep trice so far. Bea is taking care of Phil, Owen and Vicky are keeping a low profile and hide under one of the desks, Abby is having the time of her life with all the guests, Olivier is laughing at Jade's obsession and plays with her son and the rest is trying to help Jade somehow."

"Who is Owen?" Riza asked with a slight frown on her face.

"Abbs' student," Izumi said with a smile. "The boy is friendly and keeps Victoria save. Oh, and Edward is trying to keep Nerissa from getting up but so far it's more dodging her crutches than doing anything productive. Winry is more successful so far, she keeps Nerissa busy. Alphonse and Mei were making out the last time I saw them and right now we are waiting for Jade to have the most brilliant moment of her life. I am sure that if there is someone who can beat the code, it's Jade but she is making it harder than necessary for herself. You know how she can get when codes are involved."

Roy snorted. "Oh yes, a blood hound on the chase has nothing on her in these times," he said before he stopped. "And did Jade already smell blood?"

"If she smelt it, it was probably Edward's," Izumi said. "No, I don't think that she has the slightest clue on whatever she is trying to figure out. I mean … she excels in breaking alchemistic codes and usual codes but now she tries to figure out a codename, an alias."

Riza's sharp eyes narrowed. "Why would Jade want to figure out a codename?" she asked with a slight frown. "I believe she was the one who said that she stays away from stuff like that."

"That was before she felt personally offended, Riza," Abigail sighed as she passed them. The owner of the mansion smiled brightly as she hugged everyone tightly and than she grabbed the twins. "I am taking care of them while you try to help Jadelina, alright?" she asked.

"How can someone personally offend Jade anyway?" Roy asked with a scoff. "Did someone insult her brain?"

"Hundred points for the candidate," Izumi sighed. "Jade feels very insulted that someone probably faked her own death and now Jade wants to track her down and probably strangle her."

Laila huffed. "But faking the own death is so last season," she muttered under her breath.

"The point is that this happened three years ago and we wouldn't even know about this if some Aerugian fanatics hadn't tried to murder Nerissa, Vicky and Owen," Izumi replied. "One of them had a necklace in the pocket that belongs to our now missing friend. And right now I am betting with Edward if Jade or Nerissa will kill her first."

"So, who is our missing person?" Riza asked as she raised her eyebrow.

"Oh, you both know her too," Izumi grinned. "I believe that the name Serena Hamilton means something to you both, right? We heard from Olivier that her body was never found."

Roy froze. "You have to be joking, Izumi," he whispered.

"No, I am not," she said. "There are some things I would never joke about."

He rolled his eyes before he sighed. "How many percent did Jade give the chance that Serena is still alive?" he asked while he scratched his neck.

"Thirty," Izumi said with a shrug. "That means that she has to be really sure. I would have thought that she would say twelve when I first asked her … she really surprised me with her optimism this time."

Laila crossed her arms – just the same way Nerissa would do it. "Thirty percent is low," she said.

"Thirty percent on Jade's scale equals eighty-seven on Phil's or any other sane person's," the housewife said while she opened another door. "Jade believes that it can't come worse when she always counts on the worst possibility. This way she is always surprised in a good way."

Finally she opened the door to the study. Laila tackled her younger sister in a hug before she narrowed her eyes at the sight of Victoria's exhaustion. She was supposed to be on a vacation for Truth's sake – but on the other hand, with no one to control her, Victoria probably read all night long. Next to the young redhead sat an older boy, maybe twelve, with reddish hair and a bright smile. Nerissa sat on a chair with her leg propped up and her crutches were on her side. Her messy hair was partly braided and she looked younger than usually. Phil leaned against the window and read something while his arm was casually wrapped around Bea's shoulders. Alain Mustang stood on the desk, frowning at some files while he ate some oranges. Edward was – once more – drinking Abigail's hot cocoa without realising that he was drinking milk without any complaints but neither Winry nor someone else cared to tell him.

Jade paced around in the study, hastily peeling another orange. Her dark eyes were narrowed and directed at the wall where a huge card with all the small villages and the big cities hung. "I'll find her – and even when it is the last thing I'll ever do!" she hissed.

"It's a challenge, sister dear," Phil tried to calm her down. "You can do this, I know it."

Nerissa sighed deeply as she applied more make-up on the purple-greenish bruise on her right cheekbone to hide it. "Serena is a true genius; there was never a hint of doubt about this. To track her down will be really hard – especially since she did nothing wrong. Any soldier is allowed to leave his post without any consequences when he is attacked by a superior, an equal or a subordinate," she said while she looked in a mirror for a moment. "And should Envy have used the outer appearance of Raven like we assume it at the moment, well, Serena left without breaking a single law."

"That mean we have – technically – no real reason to hunt her down," Alain said while he put both hands on his daughter's tense shoulders. He knew her and he knew about her feelings quite well. She hated to lose more than anything else and in her eyes she had been losing the game against Serena all the time because she hadn't been able to realise the illogicalness of the story she had been told.

"Wrong," Edward said while he put down his empty mug and sat down next to Victoria on the couch. "I believe that we have a very good reason: Serena is Nerissa's last remaining sister. And they are both the last ones left who have a clue about Water Alchemy."

Victoria nodded slightly while her fingers tapped on the smooth surface of the table. "And she is a state alchemist after all," she said while she crossed her arms. "My mother always said that state alchemists are the ones who even need to act their position when they don't want to."

Jade coughed and it sounded suspiciously like "Ishbal" and Roy nodded in agreement with both.

"So what will we do now with this knowledge?" Nerissa asked with a deep frown on her pale forehead while she poured new hot cocoa in Edward's mug. "What are our possibilities at the moment, Mr Chancellor?"

"Even though it could be helpful, Serena did nothing that would justify the involvement of the police," Roy said. "And even if it would be reasonable, I wouldn't do it. No police man in this country is a match for an angry state alchemist that feels cornered and I don't want a scandal at the moment."

Owen nodded while he held his head down. "From what I gathered, Miss Serena is extremely smart, so I doubt somehow that it would have any use to ask the police to find her," he muttered.

"I agree," Roy smiled at him before he looked at his daughter. "Vicky, I believe you followed the whole discussion for a longer time than I … what's your opinion, darling?"

She raised her head and a faint smile crossed her face as she rubbed her eyes. "If I was her, I would hide somewhere where no one would ever expect me," she said calmly. "She isn't stupid after all…"

Riza snorted. "One of the few people I know who had excellent scores in every test she took," she said while she rubbed Laila's back in a comforting manner.

Roy sighed. "She even had an incredibly high score during her state alchemist exams, every freaking year she beat me," he said. "When she first became the Mermaid Alchemist, her score even beat Jade's: one-hundred-and-seven percent to my cousin's one-hundred-and-three. She's skilled, that's a fact."

"And very smart," Bea who had known Serena a little bit added. "She's one of the smartest."

"Alright," Alain said as he closed the book he had been reading. "Let's figure out the alias now."

"Okay," Jade sighed. "Fullmetal, any ideas?"

"From what I heard, Serena was always silent and you know what they say about still waters," the blonde said with a wide smirk.

"They are pretty deep," Alain smiled.

Nerissa raised her head and the braided tresses of her golden locks slipped down her shoulder as she slapped herself. "I am so stupid," she said with a frown. "Serena's nickname, the name hardly anyone knew because she had hardly people she really trusted." She held up one of her most trusted knives and mentioned towards the wall with the card. "Kay used to call her Little Lioness."

Riza nodded slowly. "So you think the same thing I think right now, yes?" she asked.

Jade's dark eyes narrowed as she looked at the point Nerissa's knife had pierced. "Lionnenburg in the Western Area," she muttered calmly. "The last place on earth where I would hide."

Roy nodded while he walked over to the both younger women. "Lionnenburg it is," he said while he pulled out the knife and handed it back to Nerissa. "You have surely your way with a knife," he said.

She scoffed, like always when she was complimented. "We may know where she is but we don't know her name yet," she replied coolly.

Riza smirked. "Well, I believe it's time for us to head home, Nerissa," she said, "because if we want to get Rena back, we should start to search on a place where she spent a good deal of her time."

The red-haired woman sat up in her bed and rubbed her eyes before she got up and walked downstairs to drink a glass of milk. She had had a nightmare once more, dreaming of her former fiancé – and his death in the cold emptiness of the Briggs. She rubbed her arms to create warmth but it was a lost cause. She sighed deeply as she put the empty glass in the sink where the housekeeper would find it in the morning. The red-haired lady herself, however, took a shower before she got into her oldest clothes, her mission clothes, before she left her mansion in the eastern hills of Creta.

"…it's your move," the man's calm voice said as he put down his black knight.

"Let me think a moment," the woman replied as she circled around the table with the chessboard. Long golden strands fell down her back and touched her waist. "Oh yes, now I see it," she grinned before her white bishop beat the queen of the man. "Pay more attention to your queen, boss," she said smugly.

"The only real problem you have now that I will take your knight," he replied.

She hesitated a moment before her rook mercilessly defeated his knight. "What did you say?"

"You know that you can't run from everything forever," he said while he leaned back.

She chuckled darkly. "It's funny to hear this from you," she said. "Didn't you do the same? Have you any clue how much you hurt the ones who loved you? Your wife…"

"…couldn't care less about me," he said. "No, I knew what I was doing and I did what was the best I could do for my country. Don't forget that, Lily Blue."