Halfmetal Alchemist: Chapter 35

Ultimatum

Ultimus groaned in his sleep and tossed and turned, hands scrabbling madly at his chest. They were coming, he was sure of it; his father and the others were coming... Maes sat up quicklyand shook his shoulder gently. "Edgar... wake up, what's wrong?" he asked. He opened his eyes slowly, their cold hard expression softening at the look of concern on the young boy's face. "It's nothing... nothing Maes... just a little... pain!" he grunted and held his chest again, panting for breath and rolling onto his stomach so Maes couldn't see what was afflicting him.

The eye on his chest was moving again; it unnerved him now, like it was a part of him that he wanted desperately to be seperated from him. He wished he could, he wished dearly that he could just rip it out and he could; but it would only regenerate back to the way it was before. It would do him no good at all. Maes sat on the floor and petted the little fox that he had befriended in the cave. It was an orphan, a tiny little fox that had warmed up to Maes almost immediately and stayed with him ever since.

Ultimus found that his mind was in turmoil. Was this what it meant to love another person? It was not an intimate relationship feeling, but an overprotectiveness that overcame him, made him want to protect the little boy with all of his strength. Maybe it was compassion, maybe a kind of almost parental love. Whatever it was, he did not desire a name for it, he only desired that it remain.

He also wished he could change his awful fate.

Maes had gone back to sleep and he ruffled his hair gently, placing his coat over him to protect him from the cold, got up and walked outside. His eyes scanned the horizon of Rivant again; such a beautiful country that he had destroyed. He regretted it now, but perhaps it was not too late to save it. Perhaps it was not too late for his father to save it from him.

The eye burned again, this time much more acutely, and he doubled up in pain, gasping as the pain grew and multiplied until it...

Stopped.

He blinked again and stared at the newly opened eye, then his eyes widened as convulsions wracked his body, as his skin felt like melting off of his body and sliding to the floor, like he was being... transmuted... into something else... the horrible recognition struck him and he flailed futilely, helplessly. What could he do? He was melting away, being formed into something that was controlled by only the deepest and darkest parts of his mind. His limbs lengthened until all four touched the ground, his back bent, his head came forward, broadened and lengthened and a protective blue shield was erected atop of it, two eyes blazing to life on it. His haunches came down, tails flared in the likenesses of the elements; he was a monster, the monster Ultimatum.

And he could not think, could not control; his mind thirsted for blood and destruction, and that was exactly what his body was going to give him, his new beastly body that resembled nothing ofa human being at all, but of a abnormally large lion, a beastly lion from the depths of hell.

He roared and barreled down the slopes of the mountain, never looking back.

Anri and Vergo had exchanged pleasantaries, hugged, said how much they missed each other, then were at a loss for words. Anri could not believe how much his little boy had changed in the ten years that he had been gone, just could not see how his son had grown into a man in the years that he had been gone. He was about to open his mouth to say something to Vergo when a bloodcurdling roar interrupted him; he froze and turned slowly to Faris, who's eyes were closed tightly, head in her hands, while Leroy tried to soothe her.

"What is it, Faris? What the hell was that?"

"A-a chimera... a huge one... a powerful one unlike the kind I have seen before, Sir Glenn. And... two smaller ones... Sir Glenn..." she looked up at him, frightened. "It wants us to go to Rivant." It was almost too obvious to him that she was holding something back, but he let it drop and looked at Vergo apologetically. "I've got to go, Son. I'll be back soon, I hope." Vergo caught his sleeve, a determined look in his blue and black eyes. "No Dad, I'm going with you too! It's about time we did something together, old man." Anri gave him a grim grin. "Suit yourself, just don't cry to me when you don't like what you see. This is a long shot from Flameball matches, kiddo."

"It doesn't matter, I'm still going with you." Leroy nodded, a concerned look on his face. "Hurry, Uncle, you're the best we've got!" The others were already breaking into a run for the train station, and Anri nodded and followed with Vergo. He stopped short and looked at Lira, who was trailing at his heels. "Lira... you should stay home, a battle's no place for you..." She put her fists on her hips defiantly and stared up at him. "Oh, so a battle's only for men then, huh? Well I'm not sitting around while my husband and son go into a fight like this! I'm coming with you, and I'm not changing my mind, Glenn Anri Mustang!"

Anri sighed and shrugged one shoulder. "If it's what you want... I don't want you to get hurt Lira..."

"I can take care of myself!"

He nodded slowly. "Yes... yes you're right..."

After three long days on a train and one by boat, they arrived in Rivant. It was a beautiful country, untainted by heavy machinery and vast metal cities, the skies were clear and the water gleamed. But it was here that rested an even greater danger than humans themselves; here lay in wait Ultimatum.