Hey everyone! Sorry I haven't posted in two months. It's a very busy time of year at work and it's definitely not because I was playing Witcher 3 for the fourth time and binge-watching the Netflix series, don't be silly. Also, I wanted to take my time with this chapter. I've rushed the previous ones and now I absolutely hate them and it's taking a lot to not rewrite this for the fourth time, so hopefully, you will all be able to enjoy these future chapters more. If anyone is still reading that is.
"You can't be serious!" Alphonse's outburst sent him into a coughing fit.
"Al, just listen to yourself" Edward attempted to reason with his brother.
"It's just a scratchy throat." The younger insisted.
"It's a cold." Alison corrected. "And your immune system is shit. So a cold could turn into a sinus infection. Which could lead to mucus in your lung which turns to bronchitis which could then turn to pneumonia. You are staying here."
"So I'm just expected to sit here while the two of you go out and hunt down chimeras?" Al crossed his arms over his chest and huffed.
"No. I've already enlisted the help of someone to make sure you're taken care of," Alison replied.
"What? Who?" Ed questioned. The brunette looked away and mumbled a name. "What?!"
"They have their own personal doctor! And he was more than happy to offer his help! He said his family has remedies that have been used for generations! The guy is as healthy as a horse! It must have some truth to it!" Ali defended her choice.
"I couldn't hear the name but it almost sounds like Major Armstrong is going to be taking care of me," Al said with a nervous chuckle. His expression quickly changed when he realized he was correct.
A swift knock came at the door.
"That's probably the Major now." Alison murmured and moved to the door.
"I don't need a babysitter!" Alphonse protested.
"We aren't arguing about this anymore! You're staying here, the Major is going to take care of you, end of discussion!"
Alison opened the door and was not disappointed to find Major Armstrong in all of his...glory.
"Dear Alphonse, I am honored that you are allowing me to tend to you during your time in need!" Armstrong burst through. Alphonse very much wanted to correct the major and tell him that it wasn't his idea, but he was far too polite for that.
"Are you sure we aren't inconveniencing you, Major?" Alison asked with a polite smile.
"Yes! I'm fine, really! I would hate to cause you trouble!" Alphonse piped up before stifling a cough.
"Not at all, Alphonse! It is my immense pleasure to see to your recovery! Why there are multiple healing techniques practiced by our family doctors that have been passed down for generations!"
"Yay." Alphonse sighed unenthusiastically.
"Come now, Alphonse. The sooner we get you to the Armstrong Estate, the sooner you'll be back to tip-top health!" The Major practically dragged Alphonse out of the dorm, his suitcase tossed over his shoulder as if it weighed no more than a shirt.
"Did I ever mention that Al can hold one hell of a grudge?" Edward murmured.
"I figured this would end me up on a shit list of sorts for a while." Alison sighed. "But hopefully after he's feeling better he'll find it in his heart to forgive me."
"You? He'll forgive you in no time. It's me he'll be mad at forever for agreeing to this." Ed chuckled.
The trains didn't go by their destination so the teens had to take a train that stopped in a town closest to their intended stop.
A report came down the previous day that some citizens were starting to return to the town and begin their efforts in rebuilding. A group of soldiers had managed to clear out a majority of the chimeras, making the rebuilding possible.
It was the task of the Fullmetal Alchemist to investigate where the chimeras had originated from and to snuff any remaining ones out.
The teens managed to hitch a ride with a group of builders returning to the town with more supplies.
"There's a system of caves that runs under the town." A local informed the teens. When they got to the town, they started helping out with some of the cleanups. The labor paid off with loose lips about the town. "Some think that's where the beasts are comin' from."
"Did the soldiers check them out?" Ed asked.
"Nah." The man shrugged. "They took out a dozen or so. Waited about a week. None came back so they left. The caves are mostly unexplored, save for the occasional explorers. Nothing of interest has ever been reported to be found down there." The man threw a shovel over his shoulder and wiped his brow.
"But you feel differently." Alison inferred. The man shrugged.
"Dunno where else they would've been hiding." He drawled.
"Thanks for your help." Ed shook the man's hand.
"Same to you." The man grinned.
A loud siren sounded off overhead.
"What is that?" Alison asked.
"Another one's shown up." The local frowned.
"CHIMERA AT EASTERN GATE. REPEAT. CHIMERA AT EASTERN GATE." A calm, clear voice boomed overhead.
"Stay here." Ed directed Ali and took off towards the eastern gate.
"Like hell," She grumbled and followed close behind.
When the teens made it to the Eastern Gate, a group of locals was shooting at a large chimera that resembled a cockatrice.
The beast screeched as it was pelted with bullets before it fell lifeless to the ground.
"That's the first one that's come around in a while." A local murmured.
"What are children doing out here?" The voice of a woman came from behind the teens examining the situation.
"We're not children!" Edward flung around with a glare. "I'm a State Alchemist!"
"Oh! And what is a State Alchemist doing out here? I thought the military was done here." The woman asked. She was an older woman, late fifties or early sixties. Her hair was white, tied into a tight bun, with pale green eyes.
"Mrs. Adair! I thought we told you to take a rest?" Another local approached the woman with a warm smile.
"You know I can't do that!" The woman chuckled.
"You've already done so much!" Another approached.
"And I won't stop until this town is back in tip-top shape! Now, I'd like to meet this young State Alchemist." She smiled warmly at the teens. "Leslie Adair," She extended a hand to Edward.
"Edward Elric, Fullmetal Alchemist." He replied and took her hand.
"And your friend?"
"Alison Rigby." Alison shook her hand as well.
"Well then, may I ask what a State Alchemist is doing here? Are you here to help the rebuilding efforts?" Leslie asked.
"Mostly just here to gather some information about the chimeras spotted, damages, boring paperwork, really," Ed replied with a shrug.
"I'm sure the people here will be more than happy to give you the information you need. Especially with a little help putting the town back together." Leslie said with a playful wink. "I've been leading the task force of rebuilding this town. My family has lived here for generations so I'm doing all I can to restore this place back to its former glory. Maybe I can be of some assistance."
"That would be great!" Ed smiled.
"Do either of you have a place to stay tonight? Last I saw the hotels were far from up and running." She asked.
"No, we were going to tend to the details of housing later," Alison replied.
"The two of you are more than welcome to stay at my home! I have plenty of room.
"That's very generous, thank you!" The brunette smiled.
"Nice place." Ed mused allowed as the teens followed the woman into her home. It was a large manor on the outskirts of town.
"Thank you. Though it does get lonely, alone in the big house. My husband was a skilled alchemist who did contract work for the military at times. It set us up quite nicely." The woman smiled.
"Where is your husband now?" Alison asked.
"Underground, I'm afraid." She replied.
"Sorry to hear that." Ali apologized.
"Don't be. You know, working with the military, we often rubbed elbows with some of the military's elite. We would host parties here often. Even King Bradley attended a few of our parties! It was so exciting!" The woman told the story of her home. "We built so many memories in this house, I couldn't bear to abandon it when the chimeras came."
"You mean you didn't evacuate?" Ed asked incredulously.
"To be honest, the infestation, as they called it, was exaggerated. I was able to fend off my home with an accurate shot and some ammunition. Now then, allow me to give the tour."
Leslie showed the couple around the house. The kitchen, den, library, bathroom, and where they'd be sleeping tonight. Leslie had no qualms with the young couple sharing a room. The bed they would be sharing was far more spacious than what they usually shared in the dorms.
"And now, my pride and joy." Leslie led them to the back yard. In the back was a beautifully maintained garden. Flowers of so many varieties of species and colors, perfectly trimmed shrubs. In the back was a pond surrounded by ornamental grasses.
"I used to garden before I started traveling so much." Ali murmured as she appreciated the garden. "Don't really have time now."
"I love to garden." Leslie smiled. "And my swans make for nice company."
"Swans?" Something hit the pit of her stomach.
"You don't like them?"
"I uh…haven't had the most pleasant experiences with them." Alison cleared her throat.
"I always thought their wings look like angel wings."
"Yeah, I've heard that said before…" She murmured. She subtly shook her head in an attempt to shoo the memories away.
A warm hand touched the center of her back. She looked to find Edward giving her a concerned look. She gave him a reassuring smile in return.
"I hope you're both early risers. We start work around here at sunrise." Leslie smiled. She looked at the two thoughtfully. "You two look pretty agile. Like you could climb around and squeeze in a small space."
"Um…Maybe?" Alison shrugged awkwardly.
"Would you be interested in the search groups?" She asked.
"Search groups?" Ed questioned.
"Yes," Leslie frowned. "A few children have gone missing during the whole ordeal. It is speculated by a few in town that they were playing in the woods and were picked off by some of the chimeras. Tragic, really. But several people are still searching in case the children are simply lost. Though perhaps at the very least, we can find a body for the families to bury."
"That's awful." Alison frowned solemnly. "I'd be happy to help."
"Same here." Ed agreed.
"Oh, thank you! The more eyes looking the better!" Leslie clapped her hands together and smiled. "Now, I'm going to go prepare dinner." She said and left the couple.
"The report mentioned a few casualties and injuries. It didn't say any of them were kids though." Ed frowned.
"Those poor children, getting picked off by chimeras." Alison shook her head. "Why don't we get settled in? We should probably turn in early tonight."
Ed nodded in agreement and followed his love back into the house.
Edward slept with Alison's back pressed against his chest and an arm around her waist. He was more exhausted than he thought as he fell asleep nearly immediately it seemed.
Alison relaxed against Edward and started to feel herself drift off to sleep.
Something woke her. She couldn't determine what it was. Her eyes fluttered open. Panic set in and she couldn't breathe. Suddenly, she found herself in the white expanse of the void again. She scrambled to her feet and looked around in terror.
She couldn't be here again. She just couldn't. This had to be a dream. Please, let it be a dream.
"Hello?!" She called out into the void. "Asta?!" No reply. Alison wasn't sure why she expected the princess to respond. She is gone now.
The brunette turned around once more and was startled to find an unfamiliar house standing alone in the distance. It hadn't been there just a moment ago.
Steeling her nerves, Alison trekked to the house. She walked up the front porch steps and slowly turned the doorknob. The door creaked open, as she stepped inside. The house was fully furnished but empty of a single person. The house was shabbily decorated; mostly just essential furniture without any wall décor or paint.
The kitchen sink had minimal dishes in it. Something told her that whoever lived here lived alone.
A strange noise brought her attention to a door at the other end of the kitchen. It sounded like a metal clattering. She gulped down her fear and walked to the door. When she opened it she found it led down a flight of stairs into a dark room. She looked for some kind of light switch but found none.
Holding on to the wall, she slowly felt her way down the steps. She made it to the floor and attempted to let her eyes adjust to the darkness, the only light coming from a small window in the basement. It still provided little light, it appeared to be night outside. She took small steps further into the basement. Her foot caught on something and she was tumbling to the floor before she could steady herself.
Picking herself up from the floor she saw a crate covered in a tarp in front of her. Her fall startled something within the crate. She could feel her blood run cold as the creature inside honked in surprise, followed by the sound of flapping wings.
She scrambled back, her heart pounding her chest. She'd been in this basement before. In this house. She was just too horrified to notice much about her surroundings when she was.
"No need to look so frightened." A cold voice whispered.
Alison's body ran ice cold at the sound of the voice. Her entire body trembled as she looked up. She found herself in a dark room, a figure standing in front of her. She looked back down to find large white feathers scattered along the floor. She slowly looked back to the figure in front of her. He stepped forward, allowing her to better see his features. But she already knew who it was by the sound of his voice.
"I'm going to make you an angel."
"Ali! Wake up! Ali!" Edward shook her as she thrashed and whimpered in her sleep.
Abruptly, her eyes popped open. Alison let out a gasp and nearly head-butted the blonde sitting up so quickly. The young woman was covered in a cold sweat, a terrified and bewildered look in her eyes.
"Hey, what happened?" Edward spoke softly, gently taking her hand. She squeezed his hand and closed her eyes for a few moments while she took a few deep breaths.
"Just…nightmares." Alison murmured finally. "Sorry to wake you."
"Don't worry about it. Are you going to be okay?" Edward was clearly worried about her.
"Yeah." She nodded.
She was the first to lie down, this time facing the blonde. He followed suit and pulled her close to him again. Alison took his automail arm and held it against her chest, fingers entwined with the metal digits as she held it tightly. She concentrated on the warmth of his body and the chill of his automail to ground her; to calm her mind and tell herself this was real.
It had stormed the first few days in town, delaying their search, and wiping away any usable tracks the children or chimeras may have left behind. This made the search for them increasingly difficult. The party was forced to just fan out and search.
The teens split up and went with different groups. Edward went with the part searching the eastern section of the forest, and Alison took the west.
It was a couple of hours after the searches began that Alison found herself in the southwest corner of the woods with another young man. His name was Gabriel. He was in his early twenties, a handsome young man with sandy colored hair and hazel eyes. He had lived in the town his entire life, had played in the woods as a child and hunted them as an adult. So the young man was said to be very familiar with the grounds.
"Do you hear that?" The young man stopped suddenly and listened. He pulled out a pair of binoculars and looked through them in the direction the noise came from. "It's a chimera!" He whispered. He put his binoculars away and pulled his hunting rifle from his back.
"Wait!" Alison stopped him. "What does it look like?" She asked.
"It's one of the smaller ones. Looks like some kind of large feline mixture. Panther maybe."
"It may have a habitat around here nearby. If we can follow it, it may lead us to the kids, or at least closer to them." Alison told him.
"If that thing is part cat, it's going to hear or smell us. It will kill us!" He whispered harshly.
"We follow it for now. If it attacks us, we kill it." She said thumbing to her own hunting rifle slung across her back. "We will keep a close eye on it so it doesn't surprise us."
Gabriel begrudgingly agreed. The two followed the chimera for about twenty minutes. At that point, a gunshot rang out further up ahead, probably from another searching local. It effectively startled the chimera away as it quickly took off.
"Dammit. Now we have to try and track it." Gabriel groaned. They tracked the chimera for another half hour, looking for paw prints or tufts of hair. It was near a large rock formation that they lost the trail. "Must've taken off over the rocks." Gabriel murmured. "It'll take forever to find out where it went from here."
"Hey, I found something!" Alison called.
"What is it?" He approached the woman. She was sweeping away leaves, twigs, and dirt to reveal wood boards placed neatly on the ground. She removed one of the boards to reveal it covered a large hole.
"What if this is an entrance to the cave? Do they reach this far out here?" Alison asked.
"I have no idea. They're mostly unexplored."
"No chimera covered this hole up with boards." Alison mused.
"It could have been put here by another hunter, to keep anyone from falling in."
"Maybe, It's still worth checking out though." She said and chucked the boards to the side.
"Wait, you aren't planning on going down there, are you?" He asked incredulously. "We should go get back up!"
"Fine. You go get back up. I'm going to explore this hole. And that's what she said." Alison shrugged her gun and her pack off her back. She dug through the pack and produced a series of ropes and a flashlight. She stopped and stared at Gabriel. "Go on! Go get someone!"
The man groaned in irritation and sprinted back towards town.
Alison tied one end of the rope to a nearby tree and the other to her belt loop.
"Interesting." She murmured to herself as she noticed something tucked under a rock near the hole.
She pried it up and beneath it revealed a small dugout area with a rope ladder folded up inside. She looked around and her eyes caught two inconspicuous rocks that just happened to be the same distance apart as the ladder. Further investigation found that there were instinct hooks on the underside of the rocks that the top of the ladder could hook into.
Alison prepared the ladder and tested the sturdiness of the rocks before letting it fall down the cave.
"Funny. A chimera capable of making and hiding rope ladders and cave entrances." She murmured dryly.
"Ali!" Edward called down the hole only to receive silence in response. "Why didn't you stop her?" He turned to glare at Gabriel.
"What did you expect me to do?! Knock her out and drag her back into town? She wouldn't take no for an answer!" Gabriel snapped back.
Edward pinched his sinuses. This wasn't Gabriel's fault. He knew from experience how hard it was to get her to listen to anyone. She just did what she wanted.
"I'm going after her. She couldn't have gotten too far. If I hurry I can catch up to her." Edward grumbled. "Where did this rope ladder come from?" He asked. Gabriel shrugged in response. Ed sighed and positioned himself for the descent. "Are you coming?"
Gabriel gave a strained face in response. "I'm not really a fan of small spaces." He replied.
"Fine. I guess call for help if we aren't back in an hour." Ed rolled his eyes and made his way down the ladder.
When Edward finally caught up with Alison he found her on her knees, back to him, hunched over something.
"What are you doing?!" His voice startled her and she jumped a little.
"I found this!" She scrambled to her feet and presented her findings to him. "It was behind one of the boulders over here." She pointed to the rocks she'd been hunched over.
Edward picked up the item and examined it, eyes widening. A child's shoe.
"They were brought down here, Ed! Not by a chimera, but by a person!"
"We don't know that." He started.
"What kind of chimera hides rope ladder and a place to hook it? What chimera hides a secret entrance with boards and dirt?" She had a point. But they couldn't just accuse someone in the town of kidnapping children and blaming it on chimeras.
"We need to get back up to the surface. We can bring in some people to search the caves." Ed suggested. "We can't accomplish much aimlessly searching unexplored caverns."
Alison didn't want to agree, but she still followed him out of the cavern.
"Gabriel, we found something!" Alison said as she climbed out of the hole.
"So did I." He murmured.
Alison helped Edward out of the cave before turning to see what Gabriel meant. He motioned for them to follow. He took them to the other side of the rock formation and beneath a covering was what appeared to be a shallow grave. Gabriel had already partially uncovered some of it. Sticking out of the dirt was the cold lifeless hand of a child.
"I don't know many animals that bury their kills in shallow graves." Gabriel swallowed.
"Are you accusing one of us of killing those children?!" An angered local slammed his fist on a table in the town hall. The meeting was kept fairly quiet; only a few select locals were privy to the information.
"Unless you know of any animals that bury its kills instead of eating them, then yes, that's what I'm saying." Edward stared the man down menacingly.
"Cedric, the alchemist is right," Gabriel interjected. "The entrance to that cave was clearly covered up by someone. That boy's body was intentionally hidden. No animal or chimera does that."
"Have we identified the child?" Another, older, local asked.
"Yes. Daniel Schaefer." Another said solemnly. "His family will be notified shortly."
"What do you propose we do, State Alchemist?" The older local turned to Edward.
"We need to search the caverns. Alison found a child's shoe down there. If the killer isn't keeping corpses down there, if any of the children are alive, they might still be down there." Edward said.
"So we start a search party?" Gabriel asked.
"No. It needs to be kept on the down-low. Someone in this town is guilty, and we can't afford to tip them off. They might clear out the caves or worst, kill any surviving children." Alison answered.
"Right. As far as everyone in this room is concerned, nothing involving the caverned was found today." The elder local declared. "We can't hide the fact that a child's body was found, everyone already saw the retrieval of the body. But no further clues or suspicions have been made."
"Is everything all right, dear?" Leslie broke Alison from her trance as she stared into the fire.
"Huh? Oh…yeah. I'm fine." She murmured.
The teens had returned to the Adair home for the evening. Edward was busy writing down his findings in a notebook at a desk in the parlor, while Alison sat on the couch, lost in thought and staring at the dancing flames in the fireplace.
"You seemed distressed." Leslie frowned. Edward paused to watch his companion. "Are you thinking about that child you found earlier?" Leslie placed a sympathetic hand on the young woman's shoulder.
"I've had a long day and I think I'd like to turn in for the night." Alison gently smiled while avoiding the woman's touch.
Edward watched her carefully as she exited the parlor.
When Edward returned to the room, he found Alison still awake. She sat on the bed reading a book.
"You feeling okay?" He asked.
"You know, I asked Cedric before the meeting if we should wait for Leslie." She started. "He made it clear he didn't want her involved. That seems a little strange, doesn't it?"
"Did he mention why?" Edward sounded interested.
"He didn't. I asked but he just brushed me off. She's rich, a prominent member of the community is heading the efforts to rebuild the town and searching for those kids. Wouldn't you think they'd want her to be involved?"
"To be clear, what are you getting at exactly?" He sat down next to her.
"If the town leaders can't trust her, should we?" She asked.
"Maybe they just don't like her. It wouldn't be the first time someone was excluded because they'd bumped heads with someone higher up than them." He pointed out.
"True…" She bit her lip.
"But?"
"But… I don't know what it is…but something doesn't feel right." She sighed. "Maybe it's just all in my head. Maybe this chimera stuff is bringing back bad memories and it's getting to me more than I expected."
"If it'll put you at ease we can talk to Cedric tomorrow. Find out what his issue is with her." Ed suggested. "In the meantime, let's get some rest. Don't worry, I'll keep you safe." He said with a wink and raising his automail arm in a flex position.
"I know you're trying to be cheesy, but it does make me feel better having you near." She smiled. She leaned over to kiss him gently before they settled in for sleep.