Chapter nine

Roy parked the car on a parking lot surrounding what looked mostly like a stone shed. They got out of the car and walked up to an iron gate with a large, red symbol of the Ouroboros surrounding a hexagram. Above the gate was a sign reading 'The Church of Eternity'.

Roy acted calmly as ever, but on the inside he felt like bursting out laughing. They walked down a long set of stairs with torches sticking out of the walls at intervals.

"Feels like we're about to either meet our doom or discover some hidden treasure, huh, Sergeant?" Roy said jokingly.

Hawkeye smiled a bit at that. "I'd say it's more like a torture dungeon, sir."

"Cheerful as always."

"Yes, sir."

They reached the end of the staircase and came to a large stone congregation room. Or Roy guessed it was. There was a large stone throne in the middle of the room where a man dressed in white robes was sitting, his eyes closed as he leant his head in his right hand. There were a few people about, most of them meditating although one of them seemed to be praying while standing on one foot while another one was standing on his head while leaning against the wall. There were even a few children there.

Roy assumed a straight face just like Hawkeye did and then they walked forwards to talk to the man that was bound to be this 'Father.'

He had never been involved in a case concerning the Church of Eternity and its members because of how the then DCI Grumman had more or less swooped down on him from day one after the Academy and he had been immediately dragged into CID and had started with murder cases, which, unfortunately, happened more than often enough in this city.

"Who are you?" an incredibly fat and basically malformed man asked. He was bald and wearing some strange black clothes, just as everyone else in the congregation. They turned towards the man, he looked very innocent in a way. Like a gigantic child of sorts. "Are you here to talk to Father?" He tilted his head sideways as he looked at them curiously.

"Yes. That's him, right, sir?" Hawkeye asked kindly.

The man nodded eagerly. "Yes! That's him right there! Are you planning to join?"

"No, we're police officers. We need to talk to him about one of your members."

"Oh! Then you should talk to him!" Then the man simply slumped down on the floor where he sat looking like he was in deep concentration and it left him a bit confused.

Roy just nodded at his sergeant and then walked over to the man on the stone throne.

"Sir, if we could have a word?" Roy asked.

The man opened his eyes and looked up at them, his head still resting in his hand. It was clear to them that this man thought that they were a waste of his time. That they were beneath him. "What is it?"

"I'm DCI Mustang and this is DS Hawkeye, we'd like to talk to you about one of your members."

"I see. What has happened?"

"Solaris Bailey was found dead yesterday. We were told that this was the place to go if we wanted to learn more about her."

"I was not much concerned with her. I am merely spreading the knowledge I have obtained myself. We work as individuals."

Roy had to say that the man hardly made sense, but it was mostly just annoying with how little he seemed to give them. "Were there any members who were often in contact with her?"

"There's Chris Karbowski over there. She seemed to have a soft spot for him." He pointed towards the fat man they had just talked to.

"So you would know nothing about any potential enemies yourself?"

"No."

"Thank you. May we have your full name in case of any further inquiries?"

"It's Kent Van Hohenheim."

Roy froze. He remembered the surname from the Elric file. Roy was sure, however, that the first name had not been Kent.

"Are you by any chance a relative of John Van Hohenheim?" Hawkeye asked, looking slightly unnerved. Roy could understand why, if this man was the boys' only living relative, then he had a right to know about them, especially as he may be interested in adopting them.

Roy had to say that he really didn't want that to happen. This man did not seem at all the type of person you would like to leave two children to be raised by. Especially when they had been through a lot of trauma. There was no way that they would want to stay with a man who was related to their father anyway, judging by what Hawkeye had told him about the man.

"He is my identical twin. As a matter of fact he disappeared eight years ago, you haven't found him, have you?" There was no joy, no real interest. Just coldness. Roy found himself wishing to get away from the man's presence as soon as possible.

But he still had a right to know, however. "Are you aware that he had children?" Roy began. He would only give the man any information about the boys after seeing how he reacted to learning about their existence.

"His progeny is of no consequence to me. They will not help me further achieve my goal."

Roy felt like punching the man. Hawkeye looked ready to shoot him.

Roy swiftly thanked him for his time and then went over to the fat man. "Mr Karbowski? Am I right in understanding that you knew Solaris Bailey?"

The man looked up at them, smiling slightly. "Yes. Solaris is very kind to me. She doesn't laugh like the other ones."

Roy felt pity sink into him at those words. "Mr Karbowski, I am afraid that Solaris Bailey was found dead yesterday."

The man put his right index finger in his mouth, looking lost as a little tear made its way down his cheek. "Dead? But she can't be. She's always there."

"I am very sorry, sir, but she is."

The man then stood up and walked away, muttering to himself about how she couldn't be dead, and Roy felt very sorry for him.

He looked over at Hawkeye who seemed to still be rather shaken by what Father had said. "How about we call Havoc, Breda and Falman and ask them to interview the rest, Sergeant?"

"Yes, sir."

They walked back up the staircase and out into the daylight. It looked so strange after having been underground for all that time. They went over to the car and sat themselves inside. "Are you okay, Hawkeye?" Roy asked. He was angry about that remark, but she had spent nearly a week with the Elrics.

"He didn't even ask for their names. Not their ages, gender, anything. Not even why the police knew about them. How can someone care so little for one's own nephews?"

Roy turned towards her, looking straight into her face. She was looking hurt and near tears and he imagined that this had something to do with the recent separation. He didn't know exactly how things had gone between her and her previous husband, but she was obviously the one who had felt like she'd been stepped on and had been discarded like she didn't have any feelings. He recognised the look from quite a few cases. He should probably talk with her about that later, just to make sure that she really was as mentally stable as she seemed. A cop snapping at the wrong time could lead to deadly results. And Roy already found himself caring for this woman for some reason. He had just immediately felt like she actually understood the way his mind worked. Like there was a kind of connection that hadn't been there with his previous partners since his promotion to DI. He sighed heavily. "I honestly don't know, Hawkeye. I really don't."

"I can't tell them about this. They've had their father run out on them, their stepfather tried to kill them, I can't tell them that they have an uncle who didn't even want to know their names. It's not right. They deserve so much better and life just keeps giving them hell."

"If it helps, Sergeant, at least they had luck in that they ended up with you." Roy smiled at her warmly, trying to get a little chuckle out of her, just something.

Unfortunately it just seemed to make things worse.

"How can it be considered luck that they end up with a woman who can barely afford to keep them? I'm a mess, sir! The only reason that things are nearly working out is because we're bonding over being messes, but that will only get us so far! I'm not the strong, parental figure that they need! I'm a woman who is only old enough to be their sister and is trying to keep it together because I need this!"

She then looked up at Roy and her eyes widened. She had obviously him a lot more than what she had planned. Roy would only have expected her to feel like that however, so he wasn't too worried about her, but he'd be keeping an eye on her even so.

It seemed that the Elrics weren't the only ones having troubles with their past.

So ... I went with Karbowski because Gluttony gets eaten by Pride, so I thought it sort of fits.