Yukio couldn't believe he was doing this. He sighed as he entered the prison and was brought down the hall to Ling's cell. The teen had been hanging on the bars. His eyes lit up as he saw the state alchemist and he smiled as he waved at Yukio. "This is the guy that claims to know you," he said, "You recognize him?"
Yukio glared at Ling before sighing. He really wanted to say no, but he couldn't. As annoying as Ling could be, he didn't deserve to be in prison. Plus, it would become an international political nightmare if he were left to rot in an Amestrian prison. The country had enough feuds with other countries to worry about for right now. "Unfortunately, yes," he admitted.
"So is what he says true? That he's visiting royalty?" the cop said, still skeptical.
"Yup," Yukio said, "You're looking at the 12th son of the emperor and next head of the Yao clan."
The cop's mouth opened a little as his eyes grew wide. "Oh!" he said, "Well in that case…" He went to unlock Ling's cell and the prince stepped out. "Sorry about that, Sir," he said, "We don't get many visitors from Xing and you didn't have an official passport so we assumed you might have been some criminal escaping from you country. Have a good day sir."
Ling nodded as he and Yukio left the building. "Phew! Am I glad to be out of there!" Ling said, "Thanks for helping me out buddy!" He slung an arm around Yukio.
Yukio's eye twitched. "Please stop," he said. Ling shrugged and let go of him. "So you didn't listen to me after all," Yukio said, "You actually went looking for the philosopher's stone...why am I not surprised."
"Yes," Ling said, "And you'll never guess what I found." Yukio raised an eyebrow. Had he actually done it? Did this idiot actually find the stone? "Your brother," Ling said with a smile, "I told you I'd look out for him."
Yukio blinked. He then groaned. "Let me guess, you mooched food off of him too," he said.
"I did not!" Ling said in offence, "He offered it to me out of the goodness of his heart! And it was amazing!" Yukio rolled his eyes. "No really it was," he said, "Your brother is a master cook! You must tell me his secret."
"You'll have to ask him that, he's the better cook," Yukio said.
"No, I mean tell me his real secret," Ling said. Yukio paused in his tracks. He turned to the Xingese prince who was now staring at him seriously. "I know you can sense it," Ling said, "His chi is phenomenally powerful. No creature on Earth has a life force quite like it, and I want to know why." 'Except for what I've felt here in central…' he thought.
Yukio gave him a dangerous look as he moved his hand toward his holster. As an Alkehestrist, he couldn't play dumb. He knew exactly what Ling had been talking about. Rin had exuded a powerful aura around him. It felt like you were facing off against a tornado. When he had first come to the hospital after Lab 5, he couldn't tell that it was Rin exuding this power, as he never had before. "If you even think about hurting him-" he warned.
"I promise I won't hurt him," Ling said, "I'm not going to sacrifice him so I can get what I want. But I do want to know what the reason is, because while I have not sensed another quite as powerful, I can feel this city bursting with similar chi signatures."
"Yukio relaxed slightly but frowned, "Sorry, but I still can't tell you," Yukio said, "But I can tell you this: Those other signatures that are like Rin? Leave them alone. If you try to seek them out, you will most likely experience a fate worse than death."
Ling raised an eyebrow. "Is that a threat?" he asked, moving his feet into a defensive stance.
"No, it's a warning," he clarified, "Please stay away from them. It's for your own good."
With that, Yukio walked away. Ling watched him leave. If he were anyone else, he might have given up looking into this city at that point however, he wasn't anyone else.
...
Rin knocked on their dorm room door. "Ed? Al?" he called, "I know you're in there! Come out!" He didn't get a response. He sighed and jiggled the door handle as he tried to open the door. Damn it. Locked. Well, at least he knew they were actually in there.. "Come on! Unlock the door!" he called to them inside. Still no response. Rin sighed. How was he supposed to get in. He stuffed his hands into his pockets as he thought. Maybe he could bust it down. His eyes widened as he felt something metal in his pockets. He pulled it out curiously and then wanted to smack himself for his own stupidity. Oh, duh. His keys. He unlocked the door and stepped inside. Ed was hunched over on the couch, glaring at the ground and Al was sitting inside the bathroom with the sink running next to him.
Rin felt terrible for them. "Ed?" he said, "Are you alright?"
Ed simply glared at Rin weakly. There was less anger in his eyes than guilt. Rin winced before walking over to Alphonse. He turned off the sink and kneeled down next to him. "You're gonna make the water bill skyrocket around here like that!" he joked lightly. Al looked up at him momentarily before looking down again without a word.
Rin bit his lip as he looked between the brothers. He didn't feel exactly guilty, as he knew this would happen either way, but he still felt bad.
"Guys...it's alright," he said, "I know you are upset, but she's safe! She's alive. Everyone is." Rin got no response. "Come on guys!" he said hopping up, "We still have to get that message to Hughes! You know how urgent it is! He's probably back in the office by now."
"No…" Ed said finally.
"Huh?" Rin responded, worry written in his face.
"We're not dragging anyone else into this again," Ed said, "They just keep getting hurt because of us…"
Rin's brow furrowed. "I told you it's not your fault!" Rin snapped, "It was his decision to get involved!"
"But Elicia didn't have a choice!" Ed shouted, looking up. "She had nothing to do with anything and now she's lost part of herself because of it!" he said, "Do you know what it's like to lose a limb?! It's extremely traumatic! No one that young should have to go through that. But once again we weren't able to protect even a little girl! If you hadn't stopped that demon that attacked them, who knows what would have happened!" Ed huffed before growling and looking down again. "We knew searching for the stone would get us into all kinds of danger...but we never thought…" Ed continued quietly, "We never thought about how this string of trouble could become a web. And now Elicia's in the same situation I was three years ago…" Ed shook his head. "It's like everything we touch gets hurt," he said, "Nina, Dr. Marcoh, the town of Liore, the Hugheses…"
"Martel and Roa…" Al finally spoke up.
"And even you, Rin," Ed finished.
Rin blinked in surprise. "Me?!"he questioned, "but I'm fine!"
"You're stuck as a demon because of us!" Ed interjected, "You quite literally lost your humanity! If we hadn't let you come with us to lab 5, you'd still be human! You would have been better off if you hadn't followed-"
"Ok, shut up!" Rin spat, "There is no way I'm letting you take credit for my shitty decisions ok? They're my decisions. I made them, not you, and there is nothing on Earth that you could have used to stop me, got it?" Ed blinked in surprise, but he let Rin continue. "Second of all, you searching for the stone or not wouldn't have changed the fact that those homunculi exist, and would have done horrible things to anyone who went looking for those secrets," Rin said, "And stop being so dramatic! Not everyone you come in contact with gets hurt. What about my dad? Or Riza? Or Winry, or Armstrong?" "Besides, you haven't caused any of this," he said, "Half of those bad things that happened to those people are completely unrelated to you. Like Marcoh! Scar would have still gone after him if we hadn't been there. We helped him in the end! As for the rest of us, we chose to follow you into this mess, you didn't make us, so if you are going to be in way over your head, at least let us be."
Ed was silent. There was a great deal of truth to those words. He had been being a little over dramatic. Still his guilt did not subside. Elisia…why did she have to be the one to get hurt? "Come on guys," Rin said, "I need to show you something. You'll feel better when you do." Rin began walking towards the door. The Elric brothers looked up at him curiously and he turned to them. "Hey!" he warned teasingly, "Don't make me drag you guys, because I will. I have demon strength after all." Al and Ed looked at each other before getting up and following him. They decided they didn't want to be literally dragged anywhere, although they didn't know exactly what Rin had in mind and were a little apprehensive about it to say the least.
…
Yukio stepped back into his office to find Winry working on some blueprints. "How's it going?" he asked.
"Good," she said, "I think I have enough designs done based on what you told me they wanted...a good, lightweight one for playing sports that looked organic...I just need her measurements and for them to make a few final decisions and we should be set to start building."
Yukio smiled at her. "Is that your way of saying you're ready to see her?" he asked.
She sighed and nodded while smiling. She rolled up her design sheets and walked down the hall with Yukio. She was slightly apprehensive, but mostly she was worried about her own reaction. She didn't want to react badly and upset her. So, she steeled herself. She had to appear as if nothing was wrong. For Elicia's sake.
They entered her room and found her on the ground playing jacks with her father. She bounced the ball once and picked up four jacks in her tiny hand. "Great job, Sweetheart!" her father cheered, "My turn!" He bounced the ball and picked up six. "Ehheh! Looks like I win this round!" He said.
"Aww...you always win!" she pouted, "Your hands are too big!"
"Sorry, Sweetie," he said, "But don't worry. Someday you'll have hands just as big!"
"No!" she said, "I'm gonna have bigger hands! Just you wait and see!"
Winry covered her mouth to stop herself from giggling. "Well that's certainly something to strive for!" Yukio said with a smile.
The pair turned to them. Elica smiled brightly at them. "Winry! Yuki!" she said, "Hiiiiii!~" she waved at them while her eyes sparkled brightly.
"Good to see you again, Winry!" Hughes said with a smile.
Winry felt her heart swell with warmth. She was still just so cute! "Good to see you Mr. Hughes. Hey little missy!" she said, walking over to them, "How are you doing?" She crouched down to eye level with the girl.
"Great!" she said, "I'm really happy you came to see me! Daddy said you had an extra special gift for me. Is it true?"
Winry blinked for a second in slight confusion. Did he mean the- "She's talking about the leg, Winry," he said, "I understand we'll still be paying for it though."
She nodded in understanding. "Yup! I haven't built it yet, but I am going to be making your new leg," she confirmed.
Elicia's eyes widened. "You're gonna build it yourself?" she asked.
"Yup!" Winry said, "I work as an automail mechanic so I built legs and arms all the time for people who need them, And now I'll be making a leg for you. I even make Ed's automail!"
"Really?" She said, getting excited, "Can you make me automail, then?"
Winry's mouth twitched at that. Elicia was much too young for automail surgery. "LET'S," Maes interjected, "wait until you're older for that, sweetheart!"
"Awwww…" Elicia said, "But I promise I'll be careful with it!"
Both of them sighed at the little girl. "That's not the issue, but that's good to note someone will be…" she muttered, thinking of one of her other clients. "How bout I make you a second one with a shiny metal casing so it looks like automail, ok?" she said.
Elicia smiled at that. "Ok!" she said, satisfied with that.
Maes was not so happy as he bit his lip and mentally calculated how much extra that would be. He didn't want to say no to his little girl, but with all the medical costs they had racked up in the past few days, he knew they were going to be a bit tight on cash. Winry caught this. "Don't worry," she said, "the second one will be half off. I know you've been through a lot lately and even though you're a lieutenant colonel you don't exactly get a state alchemist's salary."
Maes sighed in relief and smiled. "Thank you," he said, "I really appreciate that."
Winry gave him a thumbs up. "No problem!" she said before pulling out her measuring tape, "Now, let's get those leg measurements!"
….
"You brought us to the hospital?" Al questioned staring up at the building, "Wait, are you taking us to see Elica?!"
"Eyup!" Rin said with a smile.
"How is that supposed to make us feel better?!" Edward snapped. Was he trying to make them feel terrible? The last thing they wanted to see was that little girl in such pain that was all too familiar to him. Al was thinking the same thing. He didn't know if he could take seeing...that look...on her face.
"Trust me, it will!" Rin said, grabbing their hands and literally dragging them along, "Come on! Don't be such babies." With that they entered the hospital, the brothers dreading what was to come next. They made their way up to the third floor of the hospital where Elicia was. Each step seemed to feel harder to take, at the same time, they knew they had to do this. They couldn't just run away from their problems and the trouble they've caused. They had to face it. That was the only way to move forward, to accept the situation. They both took a deep breath before entering the room.
Their eyes first went to the hospital bed, where they were surprised to find she wasn't there. She was instead sitting on the floor infront of Winry as she watched her work. She turned to them as the door opened and she smiled, bright and happy. As in, genuine happy. Like there was absolutely nothing wrong in the world. "Hi Ed! Hi Al!" she called, waving enthusiastically at them.
This caused Winry to look up. She smiled at them. "Hey guys! Glad to see you could stop by," she said, "What are you guys doing here? Weren't you heading to Central Command?"
"Well we're here mostly because of Rin…" Ed admitted. The teenage half demon waved and pushed himself to the front.
"Hey guys!" he said, "Good to see you again Elicia!"
The little girl broke out into an even wider grin as Rin walked up to her. "Kitty-Rin!" she cheered, "You're back! I missed you lots!"
Everyone's eyes widened at this, Rin's especially. "Excuse me…" Winry said slowly, "But did she just call you 'Kitty-Rin'?" When he didn't respond, she took that as a yes and had to clasp a hand over her mouth to stop herself from bursting out laughing. It didn't work. "Oh my god!" she chortled, "That is so cuuute!"
While her laughter had been good-natured, Ed's and Al's snickering had been less so. "Kitty-Rin?!" Ed exclaimed, "Seriously? How'd you get that nickname?"
Rin flushed in embarrassment. "Elicia!" he hissed, "I told you not to call me that!"
"Oops!" Elicia squeaked, slapping her hands over her mouth, "Sorry, cousin Rin…" She looked down at the ground.
Rin sighed. "It's alright," he said, "Just don't do it again, ok?" Elica nodded.
Ed and Al's laughter slowly began to quiet. "You done?" Rin said.
"Yeah," Ed said, "We're done."
"Sorry, Rin," Al said, "We just weren't expecting that. If it makes you feel better, we don't think any less of you for the name."
"Sure," Rin said, rolling his eyes, "and Ed isn't going to use it against me some day. Why don't you guys come over and say hi to Elicia?" Rin got up and started heading for the door. "I'm going to go see what Yukio is up to if he's around," he called over his shoulder.
The two teenage boys left in the room then slowly turned back to the little girl, a bit awkwardly. "Hey Elicia," Edward said, a lot more relaxed than when he had walked in, but still apprehensive about her prospective response, "How are you doing?" he asked, kneeling down next to her.
"Good!"she chirped, "Winry's making me new legs just like you! Isn't that awesome?"
Ed blinked slightly. He had realized she had bounced back but he didn't realize it would be this well. She acted like she wasn't bothered by the loss of her leg at all. And the comparison to him...did she really think his automail was so great? "Yeah that is," he said, "Elicia...Have you had any problems with pain in your leg?"
She frowned a little. "Sometimes," she said, "Sometimes my leg hurts even though Yuki says there's nothing wrong with it…but they go away pretty quickly, and Yuki gives me medicine to help!" She ended with a smile.
Ed winced slightly before smiling. Phantom pains. They weren't fun in the least, but it was good to know she was handling them well. He felt himself fill with relief. No, she wasn't in a good situation. Things were going to be difficult for a while, but she was already doing really well. It had taken him longer to get back to normal, but granted, he had been dealing with the guilt of messing up their lives. Still, he there would have been a good chance he still might have been sitting in some corner somewhere, filled with nothing but bitterness at the world if Mustang hadn't come to give him his spiel about becoming a state alchemist. It was good to see she wasn't letting it bother her.
"Do you wanna play jacks?" she asked.
"Sure!" Al said, "We'd love to!"
She suddenly frowned. "No, not you!" She said, "You'd be cheating because your hands are so big! Ed's hands are much smaller."
Ed's eye twitched in annoyance. "I do not have tiny baby hands!" he snapped, though he tried to control his volume, "They are a perfectly normal size!"
"That's not what she meant, brother…" Al sighed.
….
The streetlights lit up outside Central Command as dusk set in. Riza glanced into the room where she saw Roy Mustang was packing up for the day. She looked around the office. Everyone else had clocked out. Now was her chance to talk to him. She entered the room and he looked up and smiled in acknowledgement. "Hello Lieutenant," he said, "What are you doing here? I thought you had gone home."
"Sorry, Sir," she said, "There was just something I wanted to talk to you about." She closed the door behind her. Roy frowned. What is it.
"Well…"she started, "Earlier today, when I came to get Rin, I briefly overheard your discussion." "I heard you say how someone was trying to steal Rin's sword and that he was not allowed to use it," she continued, "What I want to know is why? What's so important about this sword? And why is he not allowed to use it?"
Roy inwardly panicked for a moment, trying to keep a straight face. How could he explain it to her without telling the truth? "It's an alchemic amplifier," he explained, "The blade is made from materials that can cause an alchemist's power ten fold. It was given to me by Shiro when he requested I take in the boys. It was a gift of gratitude. However it had been stolen from my home somehow by one of those homunculi. Rin ended up finding it in Lab 5."
Riza nodded, letting Roy relax slightly. "But why not let Rin use it then? Wouldn't he be better able to defend himself?" she asked.
"Well part of it is because opening it can cause his fame alchemy to become out of control," he said, "Simply keeping it on one's person is enough to cause a boost, but opening it can cause…disastrous effects. Instead of containing ten ounces of oxygen into one spot, he'll end up containing ten pounds."
"I see," Riza said, "Thank you, Sir. That's all." She then turned to leave.
"Have a good night," Roy called.
Riza paused in the doorframe before nodding and leaving. As she walked home, she couldn't help but feeling a small, hollow feeling in her chest. The panicked look in his eye had been enough to tip her off. He had deliberately lied to her. This wasn't just him forgetting to tell her, or not having a moment to do so. It wasn't even him not believing it was necessary for her to know. He didn't want her to know.
Her fists clenched as she reached the door to her apartment. And if didn't want her to know this…then what else was he hiding? She didn't know if this meant she could continue to trust him to watch her back...but some part of her, most likely a desperately hopeful one, told her she had to keep watching his...for now, anyways.
…
Father sat on his throne an annoyed scowl on his face. All day he had felt this...pulse, coming from the earth. It was like the drip of water. And it was constant since this morning. And the worst part was, it was getting louder and louder...or well, more intense, that is. He had tried causing small shifts to make it stop, but it didn't. What the heck was it?
He tapped his fingers in irritation. How the hell was he going to get rid of this? He hopped it wasn't permanent. He was starting to get a headache from it. It was so distracting that he couldn't even listen to his children's reports.
"As so I found out from that Sheska girl that was employed a few weeks ago that Roy's been doing some digging on us in the historical records," Envy said, "He and Mr. I-can't-stop-talking-about-my-goddamn-crotch-spawn are getting really close. They might have even started finding out about the connections between the blood marks so I think we should get Pride watching them a bit closer. Also the Pipsqueak, his brother, and the other Mustang brat are back. I overheard them going to talk to Roy and the others about the whole deal with Greed but apparently the ran out of the building crying when they found out about-"
"Wonderful, Envy," Father said, massaging his temples. Why did that kid have to recite his whole day and make snide comments about everything whenever he made a report?! "Lust, your report?" he asked.
"What?!" Envy exclaimed, "But I wasn't finished!"
"Envy, I said that's enough!" he snapped, silencing the temperamental homunculus, "If you had something else you wanted to say, then tell me later once you figured out how to cut down on needless details." Envy blinked before glaring and backing off, muttering to himself as he crossed his arms. Father sighed. "Now," he said, "Lust? What do you have to report?"
Lust hesitated at Father's sour mood for a moment before speaking. "Well, I believe from the intel I've gotten from Mustang's lovesick nit-wit," she said, "his Warrant Officer Vato Falman might not be out sick like they would have us think."
"That was going to be in my report!" Envy shouted from across the room. Father glared at him, causing him to once again shut his trap.
"Anyways…" Lust said, "I also believe they might be holding someone prisoner. Someone who had been a prisoner of ours not to long ago."
Had his head been in a better he would be taking this more seriously. Who knows what kind of information 66 could have given them. "Find out their location and retrieve him at once," Father said, "Now if there is nothing else-"
"Ooo! Oo!" Gluttony said, raising his hand, "I have a report!"
Father sighed. "Yes, Gluttony?" he said, very uninterested.
The large homunculus didn't seem to notice this. "I found a man who had found one of the entrances into our home and had run away from all the guardians," he said proudly, "so I ate him!"
Father raised an eyebrow. "He was no one important," Lust explained, "Just some half drunken idiot who had fallen through an open manhole and decided to go exploring."
Father sighed in relief. "Well, if that is everything," he started. Envy opened his mouth to speak. "Which it is," he said as glared at the androgynous homunculus who pouted in return, "Then you are all dismissed."
Envy grumbled as he stalked off, feeling jealous of his sister getting his Father's favor. Meanwhile, Gluttony and Lust walked away together. "I did good, right Lust?" he asked her.
She sighed. "Yes, yes you did," she responded with her usual relaxed smile. As they walked off her mind was elsewhere. Father had seemed distracted today. Usually he just lets Envy ramble, or at least for a few minutes longer before telling him to get to the point. He usually didn't just cut him off like that. Something must be troubling him.
"Astaroth!" Father called, "Astaroth come here at once!" There was a lurching from the pipes above before the demon jumped down and knelt before him. "Yes, my Lord?" ßhe asked, "What is it you need of me?"
"Tell me, are there any demons that can create pulses in the Earth?" Father questioned.
Astaroth blinked. A pulse? It sounded familiar, but it certainly wasn't an ability of any of his underlings… "I'm not sure…" he questioned, "Why do you ask?"
"There has been something pulsating through the earth all day, slowly getting more intense," he said, "I can't stop it and it's giving me a headache. If it is demon related, I want you to put an end to it right away."
Astaroth frowned but nodded as he walked away. He swore he knew what demon it was that did that, but he was completely blanking on it...He growled in frustration. He felt like he was forgetting something extremely important….
So, who wants to place bets on what's to come? First thing to note, it's a head cannon of mine that father can sense seismic activity due to his connection with the tectonic plates. speaking of, sorry if the ending scene with father was a bit off key. I was trying to write it bait humorously, but I'm worried it ended up being a little out of character for the family. anyways. Hope you enjoyed the chapter. let me know what you think!
