Chapter 7: Results…
It wasn't long until they realize that nothing was in the middle of the circle. Nothing. The clothes they offered were even gone. They produced nothing through the circle. As hard as it was to draw and as hard as it was to understand, they created it. But they got nothing in return for their hard work. It was beginning to show them that equivalent exchange was not the same when it came to the Dorai Circle.
Ed sighs and stands up, walking towards his bedroom door and opens it for Al. His younger brother got up and left the room without saying another word. Closing the door behind his brother, Edward trudges to the wind and claps his hands to repair it. After doing that he goes over to his bed and lies down, slowly drifting to sleep.
The morning came quickly as if the sky dreaded the time its beautiful sky is transformed into a blackish blue blanket with tiny stars. Ed groans and rubs his eyes as he enters the bathroom. Slowly, he brushes his teeth and hair. He puts it into a ponytail and walks into the kitchen where Al stood, waiting at the door like a puppy that was dying to be taken out for a walk. A happy smile was almost drawn onto his face as he follows Al out the door, he couldn't help but be proud of his younger brother.
Exiting the apartment building quickly, they head off in the direction of the main State Alchemist Government building. Ed shows a fierce annoyed looked as he and Roy met eyes as they walked into the room where the celebration was to be held. They took their seats, Roy making sure he sat across from him at the other end of the room.
General Haruko got to his feet and approached a podium that was just in front of him, Roy, Riza, and Armstrong. The other many alchemists were sitting on the sides of the rooms in their uniforms, except for Edward who was dressed in the clothes that he used to wear when he was younger, only it was remade to fit him. It was the red outfit. Haruko began at a high tone then his voice got softer as he spoke, "Attention! Today… is an amazing day where we give an incredible Alchemist state certification. That Alchemist, is Alphonse Elric. The Producing Alchemist." He looks at Al and smiles, "Come up here…" Haruko says quietly.
Al slowly gets to his feet and walks over to the podium. As he approaches it, Haruko steps off a little stand and comes to him, pulling a pocket watch out from his coat pocket. Handing it to Al, he smiles. Al quickly accepts it and bows his head gratefully. Haruko turns to look at almost everyone else. "Everyone… Alphonse Elric… is going to be dubbed as The Producing Alchemist. Those of who that are his superiors are allowed to call him by his real name, and only his superiors." The General stops and pats Al on the shoulder as he straightens up.
Getting to his feet suddenly, Roy exits the room and walks up a staircase to the second floor of the building. Ed walks up to Alphonse and congratulates him hundreds of times before leaving the room to tail Roy. He stops at Roy's office and peeks through the partially open door. There was a woman with brown hair and a state alchemist's uniform on sitting in a chair. They were talking about something that he had missed the beginning of. All he caught was, "Yeah… when we get to use them, we'll show the world who we really are…." Ed slams himself against the wall in utter shock. Quickly, he runs back down the stares so fast that by the time Roy left the room there wasn't even the slightest feeling that someone had been there watching and listening in.
Reentering the room where the celebration was being held, he sees Al walk out of a little room dressed in the state alchemist uniform as well. He smiles and gradually, the feeling of anger and grief left his body. Stepping towards his brother he shakes his hand proudly. "Good job Al…" He says happily. Al pulls him into a hug and thanks him many times for allowing him to have the opportunity to take the exam for the first time after thousands of times asking.
They un-embrace and a happy smile crosses each of their faces. Slowly, Roy walks in and stares at everyone after receiving confused expressions. "Yes?" He asks getting the feeling of irritation in him.
General Haruko sighs and walks up to Roy. "Colonel… it was a big celebration for Edward's brother. You should have showed the both of them respect. Ed even left the party to find you…" His voice trails off seeing a slightly angry expression on Roy's face. "Somethin' wrong Colonel?" Haruko asks curiously trying to examine his face.
Shaking his head he walks over to Ed and pulls him to the side. He grabs him by the collar of the shirt and slams him against the wall. Everything went quiet as Roy's angered face moved closer to Ed's almost clueless one. Al watches in complete confusion, he had no idea what was going on. "What were you doing following me Edward!" He says in a screeching whisper to only Ed who practically had a hard time hearing as well.
A slight grin crosses Ed's face even though he was having a pretty hard time breathing with Roy's left hand at his throat and his right hand gripping his red jacket collar tightly. "Someone's… a little defensive today… eh Colonel…" his voice was raspy as he began to gasp for air a little. "What are… you hiding… Mustang?" Ed questions spitting at Roy's face.
Ed's saliva drips down Roy's face slowly. Dropping Ed to the ground, Roy wipes the spit off his face with his gloved hand. He glares at Ed and kneels down to look at him. Ed was quietly gasping for air as if it were a sin. "You really are the Hagaren No Baka aren't you Edward…." Roy pronounces to him softly so that he didn't get the pleasure of embarrassing him in front of every single last one of the State Alchemists that had shown up. "You probably heard a little bit of what I said, and you're making a big deal out of something that was probably nothing." He adds quietly and meets his eyes, a sly smile on his face, "What did you hear me say HNB?" Roy asks putting strong emphasis on the nickname segment.
Smiling as though he knew he finally had Roy caught, Ed responds quietly, " You said something about showing the world who you and that woman really were! What's that suppose to mean, Colonel!" He places the same emphasis as he speaks his rank.
Roy sighs and stands up kicking at Ed's auto mail leg gently so that he doesn't hurt his own foot. "Edward… you shouldn't eavesdrop… if you can't get the facts straight. We were talking about showing the world that we were the best of the best in alchemy." He says plainly and looks down at Ed.
Struggling to his feet, Ed gets in Roy's face. "Yeah… and how are you gonna show the world Colonel!" He says loud enough so that Riza –who was just behind Roy- could hear.
She continues to listen to their conversation, curious about what their quarrel was on the subject of. Her arms were gently folded across her chest as she glares at the back of Roy waiting for him to respond to Edward.
"Look, you Full Metal Idiot…. The state is the government now; we can make a big announcement and have some sort of contest. Plus, we have the papers you stole. We can become known by creating the circle…." Edward quickly cuts him off.
"IT DOESN'T WORK! THE DORAI CIRCLE IS A FAKE!" Ed storms past the both of them, saying 'bye' to Riza and Maj. Ross before leaving. Al was following quickly behind Edward.
Inside the building, everything was quiet. Movement was beginning to be something that was rare. Finally, Riza stares at Mustang and slaps him across the face. "You should listen to those boys for once Colonel…. You may learn something about being trustworthy and having faith in things that are false." She walks away leaving the building through the same door as Ed and Al. Everything –once again- was quiet as if someone had just died. Mustang rubs his face a little, his eyes wide in shock.
Moving quickly down the street, Ed and Al head into the apartment building their room was in. Going upstairs hurryingly, they enter their room and head to their respective bedrooms.
As Ed walks into his bedroom, rubbing his eyes he lays on his bed. Lying on his side, eyes closed as he faces the direction of the circle that was completely useless, he rests his head comfortably on his pillow. He sits up, keeping his eyes shut since he was way to lazy to open then he takes the red jacket off and tosses it to the side. Normally, he'd hear the sound of it plopping to the ground in the middle of the room, but this time it sounded much more like a gentle Swip. Sighing he stands up and opens his eyes, they grew large and he fell back onto his bed, crawling backwards keeping his eyes on the center of his bedroom. He backs into the wall in shock, surprise, and fright.
Another chapter began and finished! WooT!
Special Thanks to:
Lucia: Thank you once again! I'm glad you enjoy stories like this! Please continue to read and review.
WriterToTheAngels: I'm happy that you like that scene. It made me laugh a little too, I tried to add more depth the way the characters speak and stuff. Wow! I'm u think I'm ur favorite author? Wow... thanks...lol. If you like Fruits Basket I am in the middle of typing 'Aikyou'. So... if you like Furuba then I hope you'll enjoy that. Other then that, I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as the others!