Chapter 64: Another chaotic day
Charlotte was awake when Riza visited her. "My little girl," the old lady said as she sat down. "I never wanted you to see me like that … it is embarrassing. What the hell was I thinking when I stepped over to the window?" She covered her eyes with her hand. "I am such a failure."
"You aren't," Riza said as she sat down. "You are a strong woman who made it possible for many other women to go their own ways. Never say that you are a failure. You are wonderful, strong and smart."
"Wonderful!" her grandmother laughed darkly. "Look at you, my darling. You are the wonderful one. You won't lose your children the way I lost mine. Jeanne … she hates me … I can understand her … I would hate me too if I was in her place … I destroyed far more than I created."
"Don't be foolish," Riza said. "You are an idol for so many young women. You are really happy that Olivier isn't here at the moment because she would yell at you for thinking so low of yourself. You are such a wonderful person, grandmother, and so many people love you. I saw the flowers they sent you when they heard that you are in the hospital. You are loved by many and are still mad about the fools who are too dense to accept a strong woman?"
The First Lady sat up. "Maybe I would see it the same way you see it if I wouldn't have had a visit from the former First Lady who accused me of staging the coup d'état to make your grandfather Fuhrer. She was pretty hysterically and I really pity her. It has to be hard to lose a husband and a son…"
Riza nodded slowly. "So she still doesn't believe that they were homunculi," she muttered under her breath. "That's tragic. She will always suffer because she chose to lie to herself."
Jun Li was cleaning some tables in her restaurant as she suddenly felt a tinge of discomfort behind her. It was the only warning she got before she felt a cold blade on her back. She calculated her chances and decided to risk it. She jumped up, got a hold on the wood-beam ceiling and swung for and back before she let go and landed gracefully on the counter where she hid her old swords.
"Impressive," the attacker said in her native language, "and it was the last prove I needed to make sure that you are really the former bodyguard of Emperor Jun Yao. Just an Imperial Warrior can do that."
She exhaled deeply as she grabbed her swords even tighter. "What do you want from me?" she hissed.
"I think that is quite obvious," the man said. "Just the bodyguard of an emperor knows the secret passages in the palace. I need to know where they are."
"I took an oath that I will never tell anyone about it," she said. "And honestly, I served the emperor for sixteen years. I am still loyal to him and I don't intend to break any promises I made."
Even the idea to go back on a promise she made was terrible for her. She had always been a woman who had valued honesty and integrity above money and fame. She was proud of being loyal.
"You are overestimating your value, woman!" the man hissed. "I am not afraid of killing you. I am very interested in knowing where the entrances are but … I am sure that you aren't the only one who knows them. When you force me to kill you, I will find someone else who will tell me."
She inhaled deeply. "I highly doubt that," she whispered as she jumped again. Her feet hit him on the chest and threw him onto the floor. She landed graciously and walked over to him. "I had sixteen years of service, idiot," she stated, "and I dealt with opponents who were far stronger than you."
"So," the man said, "bring it on."
"I don't think so," an old, soft voice said and Jun Yao swung the frying pan to knock the opponent out.
Jun Li lowered her swords as she started to chuckle. "You should consider a career as a professional tennis player," she stated while she sheathed her swords again. "You have the skills."
"Ah, you are flattering me again, my dearest lily," he smiled before he paled. "You are injured."
She waved dismissively. "I am fine," she said before she looked at the unconscious man. "What will we do about him?" she asked.
"We will call the police which will lock him up in a nice little cell – something he deserves for hurting you, my precious lily," the old man said darkly.
Phil handed the files over to Bea after he had read them and looked at Leroy. "I understand," he said with a short nod. "A simple mission: find the target, incapacitate it and imprison it. I get it."
The Fuhrer sighed deeply. "I don't need to tell you how important this mission is," he said calmly. "The people want to see punishment. The parliament requested a quick solution for this problem. I don't need to tell you which consequences a failure would have." He looked out of the window and sighed deeply. "Charlotte is a very popular person in this country – she has nearly no enemies because most of them who disliked her once died over the years. Brigadier General, Major – you are from the West."
Bea nodded slowly while she put the files in her bag. "There is no one in the Western Area who doesn't know how important she is," the woman said calmly. "We will focus on bringing Hakuro down, sir."
She had been a subordinate of Charlotte and she was more than angry that someone had dared to attack her old leader. Even hours after the call which had informed her about Phil's involvement into the whole affair she felt how ice ran through her veins and she knew that despite all the orders they had gotten so far … should Hakuro hurt Phil, she would kill him personally. She would rip him apart with her bare hands if necessary.
"I see," Leroy said with a smile, "Well, you will get absolute clearance for every military base in whole Amestris. The last time that a Fuhrer wrote a Carte Blanche for a state alchemist ended badly since it was Major Kimblee who was a lunatic but I hope that you know your place, Brigadier General…"
"I have Bea with me," Breeze Heart chuckled, "and she used to keep gangs of cadets in line. I am sure that she has her ways to make sure that I am a good little boy."
She rolled her eyes while she carefully looked at the two white cards her superior handed her. "Never thought that I would come across one of these in my career," she muttered under her breath. "I mean … no one would have ever considered giving me a card that allows me to ignore the rules."
It had always been a problem for her that she wasn't Amestrian – especially under Bradley. Now it was much better and that it was common knowledge by now that she was engaged with Phil Mustang who was a hero of the Promised Day, her social status had gotten better than ever before.
Roy was pretty proud of his home.
He loved the rooms he had made for the children he had adopted. Laila's room was painted in yellow and white – her favourite colours. He stopped in front of the door before he entered. Laila had tidied everything up before she had left – not voluntarily but Riza had made quite clear that the rooms had to be clean when the children left. He smiled as he looked around. Laila had a unique style and it was obvious in her room. On her desk were stacks of books on alchemy. He recognised some of Kay's former favourites as well as he noticed that Lynn's old notebooks were present. Next to the books stood Laila's favourite pictures and he smiled even wider when he saw the official wedding picture. Next to it stood an old picture of Olivier and Bendix – most likely the picture which had been taken when they had graduated from the military academy.
He carefully closed the door behind himself as he walked on to enter Victoria's room. This room was different from Laila's room – like Victoria was different from Laila. The walls were painted in a pale purple and the covers on the bed had the same colour. Victoria's room was always neat and clean, so she hadn't had any trouble before her departure. He chuckled. Victoria was truly like her biological parents. Martin had hated it when his files where in disarray and Lynn had had the neatest notes of all alchemists Roy had ever known. He was excited to see which kind of alchemy Victoria would specialise in later on since her mother had had two skills: Water and Organic Alchemy. It was rare for an alchemist to master to different skills but Lynn had been exceptionally gifted even though her first transmutations had caused more disarray than anything else. He grinned widely as he spotted an old picture of Kay on Victoria's desk. He had been the one who had taken it and he had to laugh about it. She wore a emerald sundress, her hair was up in a neat bun and on her ears sparkled eight golden studs – on each earlobe. She had been a rebel after all.
Roy then walked down the hallway to Nick's green paradise. He had everything in the right order, from his books to his always wondered who his only son was taking after but one gaze around in his room told him everything. Nick had taken after his great-uncle, Berthold Hawkeye – in a positive sense. He was a perfectionist and quite bright, at least as bright as his twin – if not brighter. He was just as underappreciated as his late mother Lynn who had never gotten the attention she deserved. And Nick had inherited Serena's interest for languages and art. Roy was not sure how Nick would react to the news of two more sisters but he hoped that the little boy would take it like a proud brother.
Roy closed the door and smiled as he passed the wedding pictures of Kay and Charles and Lynn and Martin in the hallway. 'You know,' he thought, 'you managed to stay alive somehow. They are taking after you – even without knowing you properly. I bet that they will rock the world as much as you did.'
He slowly opened the door to one of the empty rooms of the house before he sat down in the middle of the room and closed his eyes. He could imagine it. Pink walls, pink cradles – it would be perfect.
"No pink," his wife's voice shattered the silence. "I don't want any clichés, Roy."
He got up and turned around before he hugged her tightly. "Ah, c'mon, sunshine," he said. "I bet that you and your cousins had pink paradises as babies."
"I am sorry but I have to disappoint you. Kay had a green and golden paradise, Nerissa's colours were golden and blue, Lynn's violet and silver and Serena's red and gold," she said before she kissed his nose. "And I had a red and silver cradle – the Grumman-colours, you know?"
"I thought your mother didn't agree with her family's opinions?" he frowned slightly. "Isn't it a double standard if she puts her innocent little baby girl in a cradle in the colours of the devil?"
She laughed lightly. "I guess that it was partly to annoy my aunt," she said while her face darkened a little bit. "My dearest aunt didn't agree with anything my grandparents did. You remember that she was a state alchemist too … but she shared Kimblee's beliefs and wished for more action. Grandfather and grandmother tried to keep the missions of their state alchemists on a low level – and my aunt didn't like that at all. She was, however, the reason why father hated the state alchemist program that much." She sighed deeply. "And my mother and my uncle kept remembering her of the higher-ups who held her back whenever she wanted to use her power to the fullest."
"I never met your uncle, did I?"
She shook her head. "He died when I was six," she said, "four months after my mother. He was great. He was father's best friend but he was never that grumpy. I never understood why he was married to a snake like my aunt." She shrugged. "Kay looked a lot like him," she added before she tilted her head. "I think we should paint that room yellow and orange," she said. "Bright, happy colours…"
"If we paint it orange we risk that Jade will move into this room," he warned. "It is one of her most favourite colours after all…"
"See on the bright side – we would have a nanny and a babysitter for free if she did."
