Love Will Tear Us Apart, Again
A fic by Dark Zodiac
Disclaimer: I don't own FullMetal Alchemist or the characters or anything. The only character I claim as my own is Gareth Sinclair.
A/N: Welcome to the next chapter of my FullMetal Alchemist fic. I hope you enjoy! R&R please! Holler. Xoxo
- Chapter II:Descending Angel-
"Uhhhh," moaned Edward Elric as plopped to the ground under the shade of a tree. "Why does New Haven have to be in the middle of nowhere? It's a huge city! Why doesn't it have a train station?"
"Stop complaining," chided Alphonse Elric. "New Haven was established as a safe haven for people during the war. They don't want any outside interference and I guess they consider a train station outside interference."
"I feel like we left Driessgart days ago. I can't believe they're the nearest town with a station. And how can New Haven be a city without a train station?"
"Look!" Al exclaimed as he stood atop the next hill on the path. "I can see a city!"
"Let's hope it's New Haven or I'm going back to Driessgart and heading back to Central."
"Ed."
"Yeah, Al?"
"Shut up."
Al sat down next to his older brother under the tree and they both remained silent. Ed slid his hands behind his head and reclined on the grass as Al stared off into the distance.
"Edward," Al said, finally breaking the silence. "I just wanted to ask you about what happened at the inn last night."
"It was nothing," Ed insisted as he shot up, his face bright red. "That guy just got the wrong idea. We were just talking and...he kissed me."
"Because it's okay if you prefer men over women."
"I said it was nothing! Drop it!"
"Sheesh."
"This is so pointless," he said as he stretched out onto the grass again.
Al stood up and walked back to the sign, his eyes fixated on something in the distance.
"Ed! Look!"
"Oh, what is it now, Alphonse?" he asked as he left his spot under the tree and walked up the hill.
The Elric brothers stared in awe as they saw smoke rising from outside the city. Lush black clouds pushed up from the ground as they filled the air. The pale blue mountains provided a deeply contrasted backdrop to the smoke rising in front of New Haven. Ed and Al rushed down the hill and ran as fast as they could to where the smoke was coming from. As they neared the gates of the city, they saw an all-out melee between men dressed in ragged crimson clothing and city dwellers.
"Al! We have to help them!"
"Yeah!"
Ed quickly transmuted a blade onto his automail and the two brothers dove into the battle, attacking anyone dressed in crimson that got near them. Suddenly a wing figured carrying a staff emerged from the gates of the city and started helping the people of New Haven to safety behind the gates. Soon the winged man made his way to where Ed and Al were fending off the crimson clad men.
"Who are you?" he demanded as he knocked an attacker to the ground with his staff. "Friend or foe?"
"My name is Edward Elric and I'm here on official military business. We saw people under attack so my brother and I thought we'd help."
"I thank you for your help, Edward, but please get the citizens into the city gates. Our guards will take them from there."
"Sure! What's your name?"
"Seraph. We can chat later. Go!"
Ed and Al tore through the attackers, fending off the attackers as they helped civilians to safety. As the number of civilians in the battle decreased, Ed ran back to Seraph who was fending off a large group of the crimson men. Suddenly a flurry of feathers surrounded Seraph and a ball of light exploded from where he was standing. When the feathers and dust had cleared, he saw Seraph standing there, unharmed.
"How'd you do that?" Ed asked excitedly.
"My wings are a natural catalyst for alchemy. I'm also a skilled alchemist. Get down!" he screamed as a man came at Ed from behind.
Seraph held out his staff and a glowing alchemy circle appeared in the air. A beam of light exploded from the center of it, knocking the man away.
"Whoa. I owe you one," Ed thanked him as his face blushed slightly.
"Heh...no problem," Seraph replied, blushing slightly as well.
"What are we gonna do about the rest of these guys? And where's Al?"
"I have to end this, now," he said as he flapped his wings and ascended into the air.
Seraph plucked a few feathers out of his wing and clapped them between his hands. An enormous column of light exploded from his hands straight into the air. Suddenly smaller beams of light twisted and twirled to the ground, causing explosions wherever they landed. As the dust settled, Seraph addressed the men in crimosn.
"Men of the Crimson Moon, cease your attacks now or you will be shown no mercy. You bandits will be killed like the scum you are."
The men of the Crimson Moon heeded the winged man's words and began gathering their wounded. Slowly they began making their way away from the battlefield. Seraph plucked another feather from his wing and tossed it into the air. A strong wind and flurry of feathers swept the retreating bandits off their feet and pushed them even further away.
"That was amazing!" Ed exclaimed as Seraph descended to the ground. "How...did you do that?"
"I don't know. Using my feathers I can do just about any alchemy using light or using the feathers as a weapon."
"Where did your wings come from?"
"I have no idea. Listen, we can chat later. I'm gonna do a sweep of the area to see if any civilians are wounded. Here," Seraph said as he handed a small pair of metal wings on a chain to Ed. "Show these to one of the guards and he'll take you to the hospital. I'll meet you there shortly."
With that, Seraph had flown into the sky and Ed started walking back to the city gates.
"Ed!" Al yelled as he came running up to his older brother. "Are you hurt?"
"Just a few scratches, Al. Let's go to the hospital."
A guard escorted the brothers to the hospital and they took a seat in the waiting room.
"Ed, I think that's the guy the Lieutenant Colonel wants us to find."
"But Mustang said the guy's name was Gareth Sinclair, not...Seraph."
"He also said he had wings. I haven't seen anyone else with wings here. He could've changed his name or something."
"We'll ask him when he gets here."
Al sat in the waiting room while the doctors bandaged Ed up. A few minutes later, Seraph walked into the waiting room and upon seeing Al, he went over and sat down next to him.
"How are you holding up, Al?"
"I'm fine, but how did you know my name?"
"New Haven may be somewhat secluded, but we have stellar intel. You're Alphonse Elric, the younger brother of Edward Elric, the FullMetal Alchemist."
"Glad that's over," Ed commented as he left the examination room and pulled his red jacket around him. "A few scratches can't stop me. Oh, hey Seraph."
"Hello, Ed."
"Is there somewhere we could go and talk? I have a few questions I need to ask you regarding our assignment."
"Of course. I have a private residence on the edge of town."
The three of them started their walk to Seraph's cottage. On their walk, he showed them the statues and fountains that stood in the New Haven Square, the center of the city. They walked past the schools as well as the town hall. After half an hour of walking, they finally made it to a small field away from the buildings of the city. Wild flowers bloomed everywhere and in the middle of the brightly colored field was a large yet quaint cottage. Seraph made tea as they sat in the kitchen.
"So what exactly has the military sent you here for?
"We're supposed to confirm rumors of some kind of ore that negates the effects of alchemy."
"Ah yes, Alnegite Ore. Only rumor about it has left New Haven. No one's been able to get their hands on it since we discovered it in the mines. I'm the only one who has a sample of it, I mean, besides the scientists who've been studying it."
"Can we see it?"
"Sure. I'll be right back," he said as he went upstairs.
Seraph came back to the kitchen a few minutes later with a piece of rock in a glass test tube. Ed and Al, unimpressed, took the glass tube and looked at the ore.
"This...is it?" Al asked, somewhat disappointed.
"Yes. What were you expecting?"
"I dunno. For it to be glowing or something."
"Here," Seraph said as he took a flower from a vase and placed it on the table. "Transmute this into something, but use an alchemy circle."
Ed drew an alchemy circle and placed the flower in the center. As he pressed his hands on the edges, the circle began to light up and Seraph rolled the test tube into the glowing circle. Suddenly transmutation stopped.
"That's amazing!" exclaimed Ed.
"No wonder you don't let it out of the city," Al commented as he picked the tube up again. "If this got into the wrong hands it could be a dangerous weapon."
"Exactly. That's why those men in red attacked today. They're called the Crimson Moon and they're a group of good-for-nothing bandits. That's the third time they've attacked in the past two months. So is there anything else I can help the military with today?"
"We were also instructed to find someone and bring them back to Central."
"Who?"
"There's a man named Gareth Sinclair who disappeared during Ishbal. He was a revered state alchemist, the Holy Seraphim alchemist, and was also a close friend of Roy Mustang who's now a Lieutenant Colonel. Gareth Sinclair also had wings."
"I'm sorry. I'm the only person I know of who has wings."
"We were also given a picture," Ed said as he reached into his jacket and pulled out a picture of Gareth and Roy in their military uniforms.
"Who...I don't understand..."
"What's your last name, Seraph?"
"I...I don't know."
- End Chapter II:DescendingAngel-
A/N: Well, I hope you enjoyed the second chapter. Who is Seraph? Is Gareth Sinclair alive? All these questions and more will be answered in upcoming chapters! So please R&R! I look forward to reading everyone's feedback! Holler. Xoxo