one: i know a lot of peops aren't fond of chris but bear with me on this. i promise you'll like what's coming
two: since mustang is 'no more' that means that chris will act like a teenager... teens know everything, at least they think they do.
The meeting was pretty quick to the point and not as drawn out as Edward thought it was going to be. The Fuhrer was adamant about one thing: they would need alchemists again to push back this threat but he wouldn't send them unless they made it past not only Fort Briggs but the Northern Army and the Eastern Army combined. If that happened, he would have to enact another decree to exterminate the Drachman soldiers just like Ishval. There were a lot of shocked people, for many of them had been a part of the Ishvalan War and hoped to never have to go through with it again.
Armstrong cried.
The Fuhrer insisted that it was a last resort but Edward could tell in his tone that last resort to him was somewhat different than what Edward thought. He knew he would have to go out there and he knew that Chris would have to go out there too. He wasn't able to control his alchemy, that was true, but a wildfire does more damage than controlled flame. The Fuhrer wanted to destroy this nation, not scare them, and sending an unskilled flame alchemist out there with the ability to not have consequence to setting things on fire was not a good thing. It could only do two things to the boy: scar him or harden him; and neither was something Edward wanted to think about. You picked a fine time to leave us high and dry Colonel Dickface! Edward yelled in his head. I'm not even sad that you left, I'm pissed off! You left this poor kid to suffer… I know you didn't know what was going to happen, but your timing is impeccable, you bastard.
Alphonse grabbed Edward's leg and he looked at his brother.
"What's wrong?" he whispered.
"Nothing that can be fixed right now." He grumbled.
"Stop with the leg, you're disturbing everyone in the row."
"I'll tell you later."
"Shh!" someone said.
Edward glared at his brother as Alphonse smiled sheepishly.
After the meeting Alphonse, Riza, and Edward met up at the back of the room in a small huddle of their own.
"A lot of young soldiers are going to wish they never joined the military." Riza said, folding her arms.
"Most of them only did it because of family tradition or they didn't have a trade." Alphonse said.
"I need to tell you guys something… It's about Chris."
The two of them looked at him expectantly as Edward tried to figure out how to tell them. He sighed and put his hands in his pockets.
"I actually got to talk to Mustang a couple of nights ago. As in, the persona of Mustang."
Riza's eyes widened and Alphonse nodded.
"What happened?"
"Well first that jackass tried to blame us for what happened."
Riza smirked. "Sounds like him…"
"But… well… I guess I should let you all know that Elicia knows about Chris being Roy."
"How did she find that out?"
"She went with Chris back to Teacher's house and he had an episode there. She said she was trying to calm her nerves and was looking for a spoon when she came across the letter I had sent Teacher about Chris in one of her drawers where I guess she must have been reading it. Elicia came to me and told me about it."
"What does she have to do with you talking to Roy?" Al asked.
"He wasn't sure if he should fight or not but I couldn't tell him the answer, of course. He said he met up with Elicia and they talked for a while and he made up his mind… He's gone."
Riza's face seemed to lose color as Alphonse gasped.
"Gone? What do you mean?"
"I'm not really even sure… I mean… he just said he had decided and when I woke up, it was clearly Chris and only Chris. I don't know if the Colonel is 'dead' or what… The whole situation was so complicated and for some reason they couldn't coexist… I don't know… All I know is that Chris is Chris and that's all there is to it. I need to let you guys know that because instead of at least having the Colonel in the back of his mind or something, if alchemists get called to the front lines-"
"Chris goes too." Riza answered.
"And the only thing this war will do is harden him or devour him."
"Or it could drive him crazy." Riza said softly. "We know his personality, but sometimes the taste of blood drives a man wild with bloodlust instead of disgust. We have no idea how Chris is under this type of stress, flight or fight."
"How was the Colonel?"
Riza sighed. "He somehow could keep a level head but I know he had nightmares about the screams of people he burned alive; families. The sounds of children screaming because they had been abandoned or left as orphans. Blood all around him and charred bodies in a heap… the Colonel could hardly take it. If not for Maes, I don't think he would have made it."
"Chris is kind of sensitive." Edward commented.
"This isn't good."
The next meeting had a very different tune to it. Edward could feel the buzz of excitement and nationalism rising with every word the Fuhrer spoke. The young men and women were itching for something to hone their skills, test out their military training. Like Alphonse had said, half of them were only here because of tradition or no trade, so sitting behind a desk for too long made going into the field a welcome distraction from the piling paperwork.
Once that meeting was done, there were a lot of kids talking about how they were going to defend their country best, bets on who killed the most men, bets on how many ranks they would rise…
Such innocence…
Such idiocy.
Edward watched all of these kids from his seat, wondering why they thought this was fun. War was hell on earth, if not Hell itself. True, he had never been in a war but he had had his own share of fights and he saw the massacre of Lior, the constant trail of wounded men that had traveled in front of his house back to Eastern Headquarters after the Ishvalan War… maimed men who could never be who they once were… traumatized… Yes, defending Amestris seemed admirable, but at what cost?
"Uncle Ed?" Edward looked up at Chris. "What's wrong?"
"I'm contemplating the way everyone is happy we're going to war."
"I'm kind of excited." He said with a small smile.
"You won't be when your leg gets blown off from a mine or infected and have to be amputated from a shot to the thigh."
Chris made a face. "You're always such a downer, you and Auntie Riza."
"Colonel Hawkeye was in the Ishvalan War. She literally saw firsthand what went down there. She was a sniper and killed many men."
"Don't listen to that old windbag." A voice said and Chris turned.
He smiled. "Hey, Crimson. I thought you were on suspension?"
"War calls for desperate measures. I'm an alchemist so I have to show off my skills." Crimson looked at Edward and gave him a sardonic smile. "Colonel Elric, my cousin was in the Ishvalan War and he said that it wasn't as bad as people make it out to be."
"He must have been psychotic." Riza said.
Crimson smirked. "They say he was a bit off the old rocker. They say I get my good looks from him."
"Some looks…" Chris teased and snickered.
"Anyway, I'm looking forward to it. Get some target practice at least… I have to go meet up with Father of Mine so I'll see you later."
He walked off and Chris looked at Edward, who was watching him leave.
"You don't like him, do you?" he asked.
"There's something not right about him. I don't know what, but he seems to get you into trouble."
"I'm in trouble?"
"You will be if you hang around him too much. I know he's your friend but he's not the best of kids. He is too reckless with his alchemy."
"Maybe you're too stuffy." Edward looked at Chris as he lifted an eyebrow at him. "What? You are… I've never really seen you do any alchemy even though I hear you're this amazing alchemist. I mean, you have the coolest name! Fullmetal Alchemist…" he said with a pose. "That's a really awesome name and yet you don't do anything."
"I did what I was younger. I had my time to shine."
"Then why didn't you?"
Edward set his jaw. "I had things to fix that my own stupidity got me into. I was cocky, like you and like Crimson, except I got myself into a bind that took me years to get out of. I'm surprised I was even able to do it, but I did. After something like that, you realize that the prize isn't always worth the pain and I just want you to realize that as well. I'm trying to keep you from the pain."
"Well how am I supposed to use my alchemy if I don't get to practice on it? I tried to practice but I burnt someone and now I can't even do it in war?"
"I'm not arguing with you, Chris." Edward said, starting to walk off.
Chris ran after him and blocked him from leaving.
"That's not fair! I can help out and use my alchemy to keep the Drachmans from invading and yet you want to keep me safe and sound while everyone else fights?"
"I never said that. You're not listening. I never said you couldn't use your alchemy, or practice, or even go to war with it. All I said was that Crimson is not the best influence in regards to self-control."
"But he's the only one with an alchemy similar to mine! Who's supposed to teach me?!"
"I don't know, Chris. Truly… I just don't want you to end up a berserker with no remorse."
"And you think Crimson is like that?"
"I think Crimson is headed in that direction. He has no sanctity of life and only cares about what he can do and how big it can be. That's no way to treat something like alchemy… especially one as unpredictable as yours."
Chris glared at him. "You're wrong, Uncle Ed."
Edward sighed. "Of course."
He walked away, unsure what to do now.
"He's a child." Riza said.
"He's acting like a spoiled brat. I know that Teacher would have never brought him up like that." Edward growled, pacing Riza's office. "I mean, he was such a little… I don't know!"
"A teenager?" she said with a small smile.
"I was never like that."
For the first time in a while and the first time for Edward at all, Riza burst into laughter that reached her eyes. It had been a long time since Edward had seen some fire in her eyes and he was happy to see she was doing alright despite the news of Mustang's disappearance.
"I think you need to check with every person in this office and your wife on that notion, Edward. You were about as belligerent as they came and when you and the Colonel had differences? It was like trying to calm down a pair of rabid raccoons! The problem is that now it's backwards: you are his commanding officer, you give the orders now, and he's your subordinate. The roles reversed but it looks like the attitude is the same."
Edward crossed his arms in defiance.
"Well, it doesn't matter. The issue is still the same."
"True, and I wish I knew how to help you, but Roy learned from my father and he died before Roy went into the war. My father regretted ever teaching him flame alchemy because Roy broke his promise to never use it for war."
"What would he say about this? The Colonel?"
Riza leaned back and thought for a moment. She hadn't had to think for her superior for years.
"He would do what he was told but he would try to find a way to not use his alchemy to kill unless he absolutely had to. I believe that that's what he would have done… then again, it's been so long that I don't really remember. I know he wouldn't want to go back into another war but he wouldn't leave the military. He had a lot of things to do… but he wouldn't sacrifice his humanity again."
"Yeah, I think so too… I don't want to be a part of this. I mean, I know I kind of set myself up for it by being in the military but I never wanted to use my alchemy to destroy people."
"Then don't." Edward looked at her as she smiled softly and leaned on the desk. "You and Alphonse have a unique alchemy that allows you to only think of what you want and be able to create it. If you don't want to kill people with it, then you don't have to and you have control over that aspect. Instead of annihilating the Drachmans, you can entrap them in the ground or build huge walls to keep them out. There are ways you can defend Amestris without killing."
"And you?"
Riza shrugged. "I'm a sniper. Always have been, always will be. I used my gift of accuracy to take up my superior's back and I will still do that. Even if he's a snot-nosed little brat at the moment."
Edward smiled and just hoped that things wouldn't go past the three armies. He knew it was a very, very, very long long-shot but he had to hope in something.
He knew that Chris couldn't handle this war.
come on, ed you couldn't have forgotten how headstrong you were... and still are. ah the pot and the kettle...
and just to clarify: i am not trying to say that people who join the military are unaware of what will happen and stuff. i'm basing the energy off of the way i've seen the young boys portrayed before the starts of both world wars in movies/documentaries about it. the propaganda was high with those wars and these kids only thought about defending their countries and learning how to fight and etc. they were kids who just wanted to help and didn't think about what could come. but then again NO ONE knew what was coming out of those two wars. either way, FMA is slightly paralleled to around the same time period and i've always thought of the Ishvalan War is something comparable to WWI. so this war that I'm doing, would be comparable to WWII.
so yeah...