Halfmetal Alchemist: Chapter 33

The Eyes that Hide All

"Central... Central City is... is... gone?" Roy howled into the phone. A stammering Jean Havoc nodded, then remembered that his superior couldn't see him nod, and said, "Yes! It's all gone, Roy, everything! It's just a bunch of rubble... ashes... there's nothing left! And now we have a rather large refugee camp at East HQ's doorstep." Roy's heart stopped and he cast a glance at Riza, making sure he was out of her earshot. "Havoc... what about Gracia? Elysia and Maes?"

"... none of them have turned up, Roy... we took roll of all the refugees. I-I'm sorry... but Maes wasn't there..."

He took hold of the counter to steady himself, then gave up and sank into a chair. "Y-You're sure...?"

"I checked over and over until I fell asleep on my feet, Roy. Maybe they'll still turn up, you never know. I'll keep looking for them, okay?"

"Thank you, Jean... try to find them soon..." He put the reciever back into its holder and buried his face in his hands. He couldn't let any of the others know, not now, especially not his family. If they knew now... it would crush them, and Riza...

He could not bring himself to tell Riza, could not bring himself to crush her happy atmosphere and tell her that their youngest son might be dead. He walked over to her and hugged her from behind using the excuse that he was nervous of the upcoming battle. She sighed and said that she understood and kissed his cheek, then bounced off happily to converse with Leroy and Ilia. He wasn't sure exactly why she was happy, maybe just for the sake of being happy. He dragged himself into the living room and flopped onto a couch, lying on his stomach, face in the armrest, wishing he'd just die of suffocation and be done with the horrible world.

Anri sat next to him. "Why so glum, kiddo?"

Roy said nothing, just grunted and tried harder to suffocate himself. Maybe he should look on the bright side. There was always the off chance that nothing had happened to Maes, that he was fine and had gotten away. He could also try to delude himself completely and say that Jean Havoc had pulled his leg, and that today was national Play-A-Cruel-Trick-On-People-Named-Roy-Mustang Day.

He decided against deluding himself.

He sat up and declared to the household, "We're hot-footing it to Central; Ultimus just leveled it."

At the top of Pheonix Mountain in faraway Rivant, Ultimus sat crosslegged on a flattened out rocky outcropping, concentrating on the heap in front of him. Still devoid of a shirt, since he had fled the pro-Central scene as fast as a rabbit flees a fox, the symbols of Earth, Fire, Water and Light glowed in the twilight sun of Rivant. Sweat coursed down the side of his face and his mind was full of questions, questions that he could not answer.

Then the heap shifted, and a mournful cry issued from it. Ultimus straightened immediately, jumped up, and shook the heap gently. "Hey kid, are you okay?" There was a pitiful groan. "I want my mommy..." Ultimus smiled, relieved. "Of course you do... what's your mommy's name?"

"Uh... Riza... Mustang." Maes sat up and rubbed at his head thoughtfully. "Are you the guy at the top of the hill?" Ultimus nodded, then looked around quickly, putting a finger to his lips. "Sssh! If anyone finds you up here, I can't protect you from them."

"How did you hide me the first time though?"

"An illusion and clever acting. It helped that you stayed perfectly still as well, so I could blend you in with the ground."

"Oooh... was it alchemy? Daddy said he'd teach me Flame Alchemy when I get bigger, and he'll teach me how to use daggers like Uncle Maes did. Where's Elysia?" he asked suddenly, swiveling his head from side to side. "You're the only one I picked up..."

"My name is Maes!"

"Alright... you can call me Edgar." Maes quickly jumped onto the shoulders of his new-found protector and seized his bangs, pulling viciously. "Yay! Another Ed-Monster!"

" 'Ed... Monster'?" he asked.

"Yeah! I used to play with my big brother Edward all the time! He's the original Ed-Monster, but since he's not here, and you look kinda like Ed-Monster, you can be Ed-Monster now!"

"Oh, okay... I guess... you said he's like me? What's he like?"

"Ed? He's short, but you're kinda tall.And he doesn't like people calling him short, and he's got a metal arm like yours..."

"A metal arm? Which arm?"

"His left!"

Ultimus thought for a few moments, staring off into the sunset, until Maes gave him a harder jerk. "Ow! What?"

"You were ignoring me..." he said unhappily, and Ultimus laughed. "Starving for attention, eh? Oh, wait a second... quick! Hide over there!" he cried, pointing to a hole in the corner. Maes obediantly clambered off of his shoulders and jumped in, curling himself into a ball.

"We're leaving, Ultimus."

"Really, Envy, why?"

"Why? We're only going to meet the Fuhrer, Mustang, and his reportoire. We'll crush him at last, so let's go to Central already."

"Why don't you bring him to Rivant? It would be easier than fighting him on his home ground; you lost the last time you did that, I'm sure you remember. You do that, and I'll wait here for them."

Envy considered his words, concluded that they made sense, and didn't like it. "Fine," he hissed. "But by the time we come back, you'd better be ready in Ultimatum form, got it, circus freak?"

Ultimus decided that it was best not to argue at this point and let Envy leave. He fingered the transmutation circle on his chest uneasily, and twitched as the open eye near his stomach swiveled its blood red eye around. His powers had been growing and multiplying, and the eyes had been restless: Before the revelation that the Fullmetal Alchemist was his father, he had been willing to let them open, but now...

Now he desperately wanted them to keep closed; he didn't know what kind of twisted horrific power would come with their opening. He had three that were still closed, but he always felt the one on the left wing spasmodically twitching, and he feared its opening.

He did not want Ultimatum released onto any battlefield.

Review! Please -T A

PS- The sequel to this story will be under a different name, between Faris Leroy and Maes! I'm not sure what to call it, but it will have HM2 in the title, that's for sure. It'll be decided by the last chapter of Halfmetal Alchemist, so I'll tell you the name of the sequel by then.