3.

"GONE WHERE!" Edward fumed, grabbing Roy by the collar of his uniform, and pulling him down to face him.

"This is hardly intimidating, Fullmetal." He said, informingly.

Colonel Riza Hawkeye leaned passively against the back wall of the office and nodded her head. "I'm sorry that you missed her. I sent my assistant Daniel with her. She said she was headed to Paris."

"I knew it!" Edward grumbled, releasing the colonel and clenching a fist in front of him. "That bitch is gonna try and beat me there!"

Exchanging equally interested glances, Roy and Riza looked to Ed.

"Beat you?" Hawkeye asked. "Beat you to what?"

Stamping his foot, Edward said, "To Flamel's grave! I can't believe her…That's it! Al and I are leaving for Paris…NOW!"

Smothering the urge to laugh, Roy stuck one hand in his pocket.

"Alright, then. So. I suppose you also support the Elixir theory?"

Suddenly completely still, the boy turned his head from its downward position upward to face his superiors. "She thinks it's an ELIXIR! It's called the Philosopher's STONE! I can't believe her! She's totally impossible! That fact that she can even USE alchemy is a freaking fluke! I, for one, can't understand how she passed the test in the first place…You should have never let her pass certification!"

And with that said, he left the room, grumbling to himself the entire way.

Exchanging bemused smiles, the two colonel's went about their work.

"To Paris, Brother?" Alphonse asked, "That could take forever, though!"

Edward picked up his suitcase as their train approached. "What's more important to you, Al; getting our bodies back or how long it takes?"

Al scratched behind his head nervously. "No, no I didn't mean that! I just think that maybe we should wait to hear from Lark when she gets there."

Beginning to board the locomotive, Ed turned his head to look at his brother. "Lark doesn't have the slightest clue as to what the heck she's even LOOKING for! She thinks alchemic art is scary! She'll probably wimp out before she can even make a rub of the grave!"

Still unsure, Alphonse followed Edward onto the train. "But, don't you think that Lark would have at least said goodbye to all of us before hand? She didn't even tell Professor Ivy that she was going."

"She knows that her mother would have told us exactly what she was up to!" Sitting down, Ed crossed his arms. "We'll catch up to her and this Daniel kid and when we do, then she's really in for it!"

Lark sat in her room at Central, finishing a couple of telegrams she wanted sent out, and smiled, proud of herself. "I knew he'd take the bait!" She crooked her neck around and looked at Daniel. "Do you know what this means?"

Daniel shook his head. "No. I don't even know what you're trying to DO…"

She rolled her eyes. "Does anyone else get weighted down with assistance on their first trip?"

Frowning, a little insulted, Daniel folded his hands in his lap. "I'm sorry."

Lark smiled, and stepped over beside him. "Now, now, don't be that way." She said, giving him half a hug. "I don't mind if that's the way they do things around here, it's just…I don't know how much use you're gonna be when we get to India."

Daniel's face got suddenly heavy. "INDIA! Why are we going to India?" He felt hopeless. He wanted desperately to have been able to stay where he was to investigate the door he had found in the far reaches of the library. He had to tell someone and quickly, before he ended up all the way in India!

"Because rumor has it that Nicolas Flamel is living there. I plan on finding out if that's true or not. I mean," she smiled slyly at Daniel. "What's the point of going to Paris to look at symbols I'm not going to recognize anyway, right? So if I just find this guy, I can threaten the old goof into telling me exactly how to make this Great Elixir!"

Dan felt as if she were entirely too close to him and shifted a little left on the couch. "I-uh…I think I may have found something strange in the library, but I'm not sure who I should tell…So, before we leave for…" he swallowed hard. "…India I'd like to see if we can have someone look into it."

This perked Lark's interest. "Found? Like what?"

"It's really strange. In the back of the library. I think we should tell someone about it. There…" His eyes grew wide. "There's something IN there…"

The doorway slid open once more and as it did, Hawkeye took a gun out of its holster as a precaution.

"I'll go in first." She announced, pulling back the action. "Mustang, stay close."

Daniel peered, worried, from beside Ivy. "Should…should I do something to help?" he asked.

Ivy smiled. "No, I'm sure they have it." She waved. "HAVE FUN!"

Lark rolled her eyes and watched as Roy stepped in through the corridor. She followed close behind. Lifting a hand she placed it over the top of one of the torches and lifted it once more, lighting it with white flame. She made sure the famous Flame Alchemist saw her feat, grinning.

"Don't push it, Johansson." He warned.

Lark extended her hand, flame billowing in her upraised palm. "Don't call me by my last name like I'm one of your lackeys, MUSTANG." She emphasized his last name mockingly and blew out the fire she held.

Hawkeye turned sharply. "Both of you." She warned. "We don't know what to expect down here, so be on guard."

As they moved their way down the dimly lit corridor, Lark setting fire to all of the torches she passed, it became increasingly apparent that there was something there. Whether or not it was alive, however, was a different story. Stepping sideways to avoid a small dead rodent in her path, Riza grabbed a torch off of the wall behind her and held it out to light the way before her, holding her gun up beside it.

The air was thick and dank, carrying the smell of death and decay, and it was stronger the farther they went. The corridor was not wide. In fact, it was rather narrow. This was becoming more and more apparent as they went along their way. The hall was getting thinner, but as it did, it also got brighter and Lark noticed something she hadn't seen before. Markings in the stone on the ceiling.

Peering up at them, she also did not notice Colonel Mustang stop in front of her and she bumped him harshly.

"Ouch, what gives?" she complained, holding her nose

"There are pictures carved into the ceiling." Hawkeye said, pointing upward.

"Yeah, I saw them." Lark said.

Now her shoulders were touching the sides of the hall and being stopped in the middle of it was making her feel Closter Phobic. Lark wished that Hawkeye would keep moving but just as she was about to say something, the ground beneath their feet began to rumble slightly, almost vibrating. Roy turned around to see what was causing it and his eyes grew wide. Concerned, Lark turned her head (as not to stand with the man behind her) and saw that the wall behind them was closing together on either side, separating the three of them from their exit far beyond.

"MOVE!" Mustang ordered, pushing Lark toward the shrinking doorway.

But as she rushed forward, it closed and began to slide toward them fast, causing the floor to shake violently. It was all they could do to stay on their feet. Frantically, Lark turned and shoved her superior forward in the opposite direction, but it was to no avail. He ran straight into Colonel Hawkeye, who was facing a similar fate on her side of the hall. The two barricades came screaming down either end of the passage toward them, closing the distance.

Lark cried out and latched her arms desperately around Roy's neck, closing her eyes tightly and awaiting her impending doom. The thing pressed against her from behind, but strangely she felt as if she were being pushed from her companion's side as well. Hesitantly opening one eye, Lark saw that the blockades had stopped and now the three of them stood pinned within the confines of the hallway. Moving was not an option.

Still clinging to Colonel Mustang-as she had no room to put her arms down any longer-Lark sighed with relief. "We're ali-i-ive!" she cried, though she noticed that something had pushed up under her rump, suspending her feet in the air. She kicked her legs a bit, hoping it wasn't what she thought it was.

"Don't rejoice just yet." Riza warned, pressed uncomfortably into her companion from the other side. "We may be alive, but just how in the hell do you think we're going to get out of this mess, Johansson?"

Lark shifted a little and, looking at Hawkeye over Mustang's shoulder, cocked an eyebrow. "Well…" she began. "ALCHEMY maybe…" The girl shuffled her body around experimentally to see if she could wriggle her arms out from around the neck of the man before her. "Maybe…" she repeated.

Roy sighed. "I refuse to die this way, Johansson. Figure something out."

"Oh yeah," she began with a laugh. "Pinned between two beautiful women? This has to be really stressful for you! I'm sure that ISN'T your hand on my butt either!"

Two hands grappled clumsily at the hem of Lark's skirt and she squealed.

"No, it isn't" he marked. "I was about to reach around to push you behind me, but this damned wall moved too fast…" He wriggled, letting go of the girls clothing. "Damn it all to hell, Hawkeye…can't you do anything back there?"

"I'm working on it, Mustang."

Lark, who had been squirming around all this time, let out a small, "yes!" as she freed her elbows from the walls and raised her hands upward, touching the ceiling. As she tapped into the power of the earth transmutation circle on her back, it began to glow a soft, pale, green. The ceiling, however, instead of pushing upward, glowed blue around the edges of all of the pictures inscribed upon it. Gasping, she drew her hands back down.

"What did you do?" Hawkeye asked hurriedly.

"I-I don't know!" stammered Lark, "I was going to lift the ceiling and get onto the colonel's shoulders to give me more room to move the walls, but-"

Just then the barricades lurched and rushed back to their places, separating at the middles and disappearing into the walls they emerged from. Lark was now able to stand on her feet once more, and looking to Roy gleefully, kept her arms around his neck as she said, "I told you. Alchemy!"

With that she released him and looked back along the walls once more, noticing that the rushing compresses had knocked down about three torches and realized that the side they came from looked less like an option than before.

"I'm getting a little sick in here." She announced. "My head hurts and between you and I, I don't much care for small spaces or Colonel Mustang." Lark dusted at her behind and arched her head upward to peer curiously at the runes above them that still glowed with a faint light. "What do you suppose that's all about?"

Unexpectedly, a harsh and ragged breathing sounded from the end of the passageway. Hawkeye pivoted on her heel, ready for action, her gun pointed unsurely into the hazy distance of the hall. The breathing continued, deep and shaking and soon it was accompanied by footsteps. They dragged across the dusty floor, echoing only slightly in the small space allotted them.

Slowly, a figure came into their view, and as they did a maniacal laugh began to

sound from one of the most foul creatures any of the three had ever laid eyes upon…

"A telegram?" Edward inquired, taking the paper from the worker who had handed it to him. "Who's it from?"

The man shrugged and stuck out a hand to catch his balance as the train pitched around a corner. "I don't know, sir."

Alphonse looked over at the letter inquisitively. "Open it, Brother."

Shrugging, the little blonde slipped his finger under one edge of the envelope and slid it across to pry it open. He took the letter out and read it carefully. His face coiled up into a scowl and he handed the parchment over to his younger brother.

Al read it out loud.

"Dearest Edward;

Please excuse this, as it may be the last time I communicate with you. If all goes well in India then I may find no reason to return to Germany at all. I will be sure to inform Mr. Flamel of your efforts, regardless of their futility, and place specific emphasis on your personal alchemic skills. I will send to you and Alphonse a small sample of the elixir once I discover how to create it for myself but will only send enough for one use. Choose wisely.

I express my gratitude once more for your help in Central that time ago. If my mother had not felt the camaraderie that all dwarves feel toward one another on that train, we may have never met. I also thank you for your correspondences this past year. Your counterfeit friendship has been indescribably damaging to my self esteem.

Sincerely,

Miss Lark Johansson"

But just as he finished, the same man returned and handed a letter to Alphonse. The boy waited a beat, and took the envelope, then, opening it, read his letter out loud.

"To Al,

Hey! Sorry that you got dragged into this crud with your hot-headed, midget brother! By the time you get this, my assistant and I will be on our way to India. I'm going to find out if the rumors about Nicolas Flamel living there are true or not. If I find anything out about the Grand Elixir or the Philosopher's Stone you'll be the first one to know! Love and best wishes!

Your friend,

Lark"

After a moment's hesitation, Al shook a little bit, his armored exterior clattering gently as he laughed.

"This isn't funny, Al!" Edward fumed. "We've wasted an entire day's time already! And then, on top of that, we have to go back and get a new lead! AND WHERE DOES SHE GET OFF CALLING ME A DWARF AND A MIDGET!"

"You brought it on yourself, being so rude to her, Brother!"

"What do you care! She LIKES you! What a waste of time!"

As he got a hold on his temper, Edward realized that they were going to have to get right back on the train headed to Central when they got off of this one. He groaned and slid down in his seat.