Zilo: Well, I'm not having the responses this time, because somebody complained.
FMA Characters: Phew!
Zilo: SHUT UP! However, I like them, so I'd like to know: what do you think? Should I keep the responses as is? Keep them but shorten them? Or scrap them all together? Your voice is important, so don't just stand there!
Risty: But please know that we read and appreciated each and every one.
Zilo: Especially the funny ones, or the ones where someone got hurt!
Roy: Well...blowing Envy up while he was sealed in a barrel of gasoline WAS pretty fun.
Zoe: And so was watching Napoleon try to fend off a make-out session.
Zilo: But anyway! Here's the next chapter!
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
AKA "Caught!"
AKA "Don't Get Arrested Without A Plan"
"This is bad," Risty May said once they were safely inside. "How did they get here so fast? Who told them? It couldn't be Ed."
Zoe determinedly helped Risty May pack. "It doesn't matter now. What does is getting out of here. You know this world, Risty; where do we go?"
"Um..." Risty May looked uncertain. "I-I guess we could go to Risembool. Ed's automail mechanic Winry lives there. She might help us."
"Risembool it is." Zoe zipped her backpack up. It held the essentials and a couple of changes of clothes. Risty May's suitcase held the same. "Let's do this."
Risty May gulped. "Okay."
Zoe gave her a one-armed hug. "It'll be okay. We'll just sneak out, make a break for the station, or, if that doesn't work, hitchhike."
Risty May looked down and nodded. They left the room together, planning to sneak out the back door, cut across the backyard, and run.
When they reached the back door, Zoe opened it a crack and peeked out. She saw no one, so she opened the door wider and stepped out. Risty May followed, nervously clutching the suitcase in both hands. They started across the backyard, and Risty May let go of the suitcase handle with one hand to clutch the necklace around her neck. She tried to gather Izumi's strength from her birthday present.
"Halt!"
Both girls froze. Zoe swore under her breath. Risty May could feel her hands trembling, and forced them to be still.
"Put your belongings down and put your hands in the air!"
Risty May looked over her shoulder and saw a military officer standing at the junction between the back and side yards, his gun leveled at them. Slowly, she set her suitcase down and raised her hands over her head. A glance out of the corner of her eye revealed that Zoe had done the same, fists clenched in anger.
The officer slowly made his way over to them, gun still pointed in their direction. "You're Marista Fernandez, aren't you?" he said.
"Who?" Zoe demanded, sounding indignant. Risty May was too frozen to speak. "I don't know who this 'Marista' is, but that's not this girl!"
The officer held out a picture, and Risty May's heart dropped to her shoes. It looked like one of the ones where she was posing with Zoe, but Zoe had been cropped out, with only her arm around Risty May's shoulder. "So you're trying to tell me these two girls aren't the same?" the officer said.
Even Zoe was unnerved. "Well...no, I don't think so. Let me see that picture; I don't think it looks alike!"
Obviously a bit frustrated, the officer held the picture about an inch from Zoe's nose. "Look familiar now?" he challenged.
However, Zoe didn't really think that it was two separate girls. She only wanted the officer close and off-guard. With one quick move, she had used an upward kick to knock the officer's gun out of his hand. He reeled back with a shout, and Zoe drove an elbow into his stomach.
When the guard doubled over, Zoe grabbed Risty's arm, and the two raced for the street. They had made it about halfway when a car came flying down the street and screeched to a halt in front of them. Two officers got out, with guns, ordering the girls to stop. Zoe let go of Risty May and clenched her fists, prepared to fight.
Risty May, however, had had a backup plan. When getting ready to sneak out, she had drawn her best circles on her palms, in case anything went wrong. She now clapped her hands and slammed them onto the ground. There was a loud BOOM, and a huge dust cloud engulfed the immediate area.
Unfortunately, now Risty May couldn't see Zoe. Holding her sleeve over her mouth to keep the dust out, she tried continuing in the direction she had been facing, hearing coughs and shouts all around her. She just caught a glimpse of Zoe's hair through the dust cloud when a firm hand clasped around her arm. Risty May let out a squeal and tried to break free, but her other arm was grabbed, and soon both were twisted painfully behind her back.
Zoe had heard the squeal and turned back. Risty could now see, through the slowly clearing cloud, that the officers were recovering and beginning to surround them. If they were both caught, there was no hope. "Run!" she cried. "Run away!"
"Hell no!" Zoe exclaimed.
"I mean it!" Risty May yelled in her firmest voice. "Go get help! Talk to E--talk to Napoleon!"
Zoe paused.
"Don't move!" the officer restraining Risty May yelled at Zoe.
"You can't help if they catch you!" Risty May said urgently.
Even through the dust, Risty May could see the pain on Zoe's face before she turned and ran. She used a few moves to get past two of the guards and escape.
"Find her!" one of the officers yelled.
"Call for backup!" another said.
The dust took almost five minutes to clear. Risty May's arms were starting to ache, but she didn't struggle. She saw that the officers weren't having much luck in finding Zoe, and with relief realized her friend must have escaped.
Finally, the officers seemed to give up. The woman who had been questioning Sig arrived on the scene with two more officers. Her blue eyes appraised Risty May. "This is her?" she said.
"Yes, Major Ferson," the officer restraining Risty May said.
The woman, or Major Ferson, strode over, scowling at Risty May. "You're wanted for questioning by the Fuhrer King Bradley," she announced, "and now you're charged with fleeing, and resisting arrest."
Risty May swallowed hard. Somehow, in the midst of this turmoil, she still found the tiny inklings of a plan forming. A really dumb plan, but a plan nonetheless. How did his keep happening to her?
The back door opened, and there stood Izumi, just back from the post office. Fury was etched on her face, and she took a step forward, her hands one second away from clapping.
"Miss Izumi, wait!" Risty May exclaimed. "Don't do anything!"
Izumi looked surprised at this.
"Please, I'll be fine, I promise," Risty May begged, seeing that most of the officers now had guns trained on Izumi "You don't need the military against you. Don't hurt them, please."
Izumi glared at each officer in turn, then seemed to shift back a bit. "You had better be right," she said dangerously, though her anger wasn't directed at Risty May.
"I will. Thank you. And I'm sorry if they destroyed any property," Risty May said. She smiled bravely at her teacher.
"Let's move," Major Ferson barked.
Izumi glared at the woman. She still seemed poised to jump into action. Risty May held Izumi's gaze as her arms were released from the painful hold, and a rope was tied around her wrists. She tried to convey how she felt into her eyes: Thank you for everything, Miss Izumi.
Zoe wanted to hit herself repeatedly. Why did she leave Risty May? Like her friend had said, they might never see each other again, if the Homunculi were so desperate to do whatever it was with Risty. But she had to trust that Risty May was using her expertise with this world to formulate a plan.
Whether she was or wasn't, Zoe had to talk to Ed and Al and get on the first safe train back to Central. She waited until the military personnel had taken Risty May away, having to tamp down every instinct that screamed at her to perform a rescue operation, and then took a circular route back to the Curtis household.
Izumi was still out on the back doorway, her gaze turned in the direction the military had gone. Zoe was still afraid of the violent woman, but this was no time to let her fear get the best of her. She approached, and Izumi must have heard her footsteps, for her head whipped around, a fierce look on her face.
"Tell me she's got some kind of a plan," Zoe begged.
Izumi heaved a sigh, and unclenched her fists, which had been poised to pummel the entire time. "She does," she said. "I don't know what possessed me to let her go, though. Perhaps it was the look in her eyes, what she was trying to tell me without words."
Zoe was still afraid. "I know she's the expert on this place and everything, but she said herself it was dangerous to get caught. What on earth can she have in mind?"
"I don't know, but if it doesn't work, I will kick her ass after I finish demolishing the Central Headquarters," Izumi said dangerously.
"She told me to talk to Ed. He must be a part of the plan--but what can he do that you couldn't? I'm confused, and I'm beginning to think I should've let myself get caught with her," Zoe sighed.
"Well, it's too late now," Izumi said, turning and striding into the house. Zoe followed. "You had better call Edward and tell him what's going on."
Zoe nodded. "Right." She pressed her lips together, then smacked her forehead. "Damn! I don't know the number to Central Headquarters!"
Izumi glanced back at her. "Then you'd better have a plan B," she said.
"I might. What's the number for the operator?"
Edward knew something was wrong the moment Zoe vanished off the face of the earth. He asked Al about her, but Al had no idea where she had gone to. They waited around at Headquarters' entrance for a few minutes, waiting for her, but when she didn't show, Ed decided to go ahead and head up to Roy's office.
"We can't waste time," he said, striding determinedly through the doors. "Risty May's counting on us, and Zoe's flakiness can't delay us now."
"Maybe she's just out looking for her again," Al guessed.
"Maybe. Who knows? Let's go."
When they made it to Roy's office, he was on the phone, and he looked grim. He motioned Ed and Al up to the desk with a hand as he continued to listen to whomever was on the phone. "Now how long ago did they leave? ...About an hour. Hmmm."
"What's going on?" Ed asked.
"It's Risty May's friend on the phone," Riza supplied. "She's calling from Dublith to say that Risty May has been taken into custody."
The first shock was hearing that Zoe was in Dublith, when Ed had just spoken to her last night. The second shock was that Risty May had been arrested. "What?! But how?" Ed exclaimed, mostly to both statements.
"But Dublith is two days away," Alphonse said. "Zoe was just here last night!"
"How did they find her so fast?" Ed yelled.
Riza shrugged.
"Let me talk to her!" Ed demanded, snatching the phone from Roy's hand. Roy opened his mouth to protest, but Ed cut him off. "What happened?!" he demanded of Zoe.
"The military came and carted Risty off!" Zoe yelled back just as loudly.
"Dammit!" Ed exclaimed. "How did they figure out where she was?"
"I have no clue. She said she didn't tell anyone but you. Somehow someone must have found out."
"I didn't tell anyone but Al and you--and speaking of which, how long have you been in Dublith?"
"What? A day or so, why?"
Ed froze. A day or so? Then that could only mean the Zoe that had been with them wasn't Zoe, but instead...
"Envy."
"What?" Al, Roy, and Zoe exclaimed at once.
"Envy was impersonating Zoe for at least three days," Ed said to the room. "He must have been trying to figure out where Risty May was, then tipped the military off so they would go and arrest her."
Zoe gasped. "But why?" Al cried. "Why would he go to all this trouble?"
"I don't know, but whatever the reason, we've got to do something." Ed set his mouth in a firm line. "Zoe, you said the military officers left with Risty May an hour ago?"
"Yeah," Zoe answered after a moment.
"Then they probably won't get here until tomorrow morning," Roy said.
"What do we do, Brother?" Al asked worriedly.
"What else can we do? A breakout."
The curtains were drawn over the window of the private booth Risty May was sitting in. She knew there were two guards on the other side of the door. Her transmutation circles had been washed off of her hands, and there were ropes around her wrists again, though she was allowed to have her hands in front this time. She stared down at them silently, trying frantically to fix up a plan. She had managed to ward off both Zoe and Izumi with the promise of a plan--now she had to come up with one.
How long had she been on the train, she wondered absently, and how long until they got back to Central? Would they stop, like she usually did? Or would they keep going to avoid her escaping? Like that would happen. And then what? Would she be turned over to the Homunculi as soon as they got in? Or maybe just killed? The possibilities were endless, and all unappealing.
After what seemed like yet another eternity, the door opened, and in walked that woman--Major Ferson. Risty May glanced up at her for a second. The woman seemed young, maybe in her mid-twenties, and had very long black hair that was pulled into a braided bun. Something about her seemed familiar, and Risty May realized that the woman reminded her of Rose Fernandez. But she looked a little different, like she was only related to Risty May's mom.
In any case, Major Ferson sat down on the bench across from Risty May, hands clasped in her lap. Risty May noticed absently that the woman wore gloves like Ed. Ed. Would she ever see him again?
"If I'm right, I have about five minutes to talk to you before one of the 'soldiers' comes in," Major Ferson said. Something about the urgency in her tone made Risty May look up and focus on her. "So listen to me closely, all right?"
"Um...yes?" Risty May ventured.
"I know you're trying to come up with a plan to escape," Major Ferson said. Risty May's eyes widened. "And failing, I believe. Well, scrap that. Your main focus needs to be staying alive. Do whatever it takes to live, not to get away."
"What...are you talking about?" Risty May said in shock.
Major Ferson smiled, and Risty May realized the expression was incredibly familiar to her. "You probably won't get it until I tell you who I really am," the woman said, reaching down the top of her military uniform. She pulled out a silver necklace around her neck, then opened her palm to reveal the pendant.
The world around Risty May seemed to freeze at the moment. Her heart felt like it stopped. Dumbstruck, she stared at the silver oval with a flamel etched into it. The silver was a bit worn and tarnished, and a couple spots were scratched, but it was undeniably a duplicate of the necklace she wore at that very moment. Izumi had told Risty May that she had made it with alchemy, not bought it at a store. So how...?
Then, a terribly wild idea came into her head. It was insane, ridiculous even. But it explained the necklace, the resemblance to her mother, and the familiar sound of the voice, though it was a few octaves lower. But it was impossible. However, Major Ferson confirmed it.
"Believe it or not, Risty May," Major Ferson said, "I'm you."
Others: YOU DID IT AGAIN!
Zilo: W-Well...it just kind of happens! I don't plan it!
Zoe: More people complained about this than the responses.
Zilo: They know they like it! More later!
Lust: Twelve bucks says she's dead by the next update.
Others: You're on.