"C'mon Al, we're gonna be late!" Edward said impatiently, "I'm going to be getting another lecture from Mustang before this day's over." He muttered.
"Well, it's weird, having someone in m— in here." He changed his words quickly as a group of soldiers walked by. "Are you okay in there, Winry?" Al whispered.
"Yeah, I'm great; I'm inside one of my best friends who happens to be a suit of armor. Everything's excellent." Winry's voice came from inside Al. "Although the joints of the armor look so interesting from in here"—
"Don't touch anything!" Ed knocked on Al's chest a few times, making an echoing noise that numbed Winry's brain. "Machine junkie."
"Alchemy freak." Winry countered, looking at the blood seal inside of Al. "It's almost like witchcraft, what you can do."
"Well, if you don't want me to do it, you can have my arm and leg back, and your best customer will be stuck in a wheelchair, going in circles because I can only turn one wheel." He said sarcastically, and then turned his attention to where he was walking. "You know, judging by the military personnel, I'd say we're here."
"Why are we here though?" Al asked, receiving looks from everyone. "I thought only high-ranking officers could have a say in who becomes a state alchemist. What is your rank anyway, Brother?"
"………I don't know."
"Well, that's really sad, don'cha think?" They all turned around, Havoc was standing there, with his typical grin and a cigarette practically glued to his mouth. "I think you have to be eighteen to get a rank."
"They let me in when I'm twelve, but I don't get a rank?"
"Or maybe it's because you haven't gone around begging for a promotion like everyone else around here." Havoc shrugged. "Actually, I heard you're equal to a major."
"Yeah, that's great." Ed said dismissively. "You're not even an alchemist, what are you doing here?"
"Paperwork."
Edward's face twitched, why does he even bother? Oh, well. They would all just have to stick around for the performance part of the exam, anyway. As long as it wouldn't interfere with his search for the Philosopher's Stone.
111111111111111111111111
"Are you crazy?" Mustang growled, standing up and pounding his hands onto the Fuhrer's desk.
"I think it could do Full Metal some good. After all, he's been distant from the military for quite a while; it could bring him a bit closer to it, some responsibility." Fuhrer Bradley said with his permanent smile plastered to his face.
"But giving him a subordinate?" Mustang asked. "There is not one person in that group of possible state alchemists under twenty-one, and the chances of any of them listening to him are slim to none, he could even put them in danger."
"You seem quite attached to the Elric brothers, Colonel. You fear for their safety, which is good, seeing as I placed them under your command. But you can't allow them to keep chasing after the Philosopher's Stone, it's too dangerous. With someone else with them, the chances of them straying off track go down quite a bit."
Mustang's face was stiff, he was apparently doing all he could to avoid yelling. He saluted the Fuhrer, and then he turned around and walked out the door, closing it behind him.
"I take it the Fuhrer's decision remains the same." Lieutenant Hawkeye said calmly, looking at Mustang.
"Just wait 'till I'm Fuhrer…" He grumbled. "Where are they?"
"The boys are with Lt. Col. Hughes."
Mustang sighed heavily. "Poor kids."
1111111111111111111111111
The Cafeteria…
"She's getting so big, isn't she!" Hughes said, enjoying his captive audience, and showing off his ever-growing photo album. "I have trouble believing she's grown so quickly!"
"I have trouble believing all those pictures fit in that one album." Edward's head collided with the table.
"Oh, don't be ridiculous, we've got about thirty of these!"
"…yeah. So, when's the last part of the exam?"
Hughes looked at his watch. "Oh, it starts in about twenty minutes."
"Well, that's not short notice." Edward said sarcastically.
Al turned his head with a 'clink'. "Do you think that man got that far?"
"Who knows? His alchemy was pretty impressive on the train, but if he failed the written exam he's probably on his way back to wherever." Ed brought his head back up.
"You met one of the applicants on the train?" Hughes said curiously.
"Yeah, an Ishbalan that uses ice alchemy." Ed muttered, taking a bite out of a piece of chicken.
"That's odd." The Lieutenant Colonel said, closing his photo album. "I thought the guys in the office were kidding about an Ishbalan applicant."
"He looks a lot like Scar." Al said as a tiny 'clink' came from inside him. "…Winry, what are you doing?"
"Oh, nothing!" Her voice responded all too quickly.
"You hid your girlfriend in your brother?" Hughes raised a brow.
"SHE'S NOT MY GIRLFRIEND!" Edward yelled, scaring quite a few soldiers. "Jeez, can anyone just be friends!" He turned his attention to Winry. "What are you doing?"
"Nothing! I just, ah, bumped my head!"
"In Al's arm?"
"Oh, come on, Ed, I can't help it. It's just so amazing how his arms and legs can move without any gears or hinges or anything like that!"
"I told you not to mess with him!" Ed growled at his brother's chest plate.
"Well, you also told me there were people that needed automail here!" She snarled.
ALL APPLICANTS AND STATE ALCHEMISTS, REPORT TO THE COURTYARD IMMEDIATELY FOR THE LAST PART OF THE EXAMS.
"That's my cue." Edward said, standing up. "See you guys in a bit." He said as he walked out of the cafeteria.
111111111111111111111111111
The Burned Up Central Library…
"I thought you were going to watch him." A silky voice spoke, a woman's, came from the dark.
"He's a big boy; he can take care of himself." Envy said as his own body emerged from the shimmering light that had been a military officer seconds before.
"Do you even know which 'him' I'm talking about?" The woman stepped out of the dark and into the little amount of light that managed to come into the room. She had long black hair and wore a long black dress and long black gloves. On her chest was a tattoo of oroboros, and just like Envy, she had violet eyes with slits for pupils.
"Lies, of course." Envy said, putting his hand on his side. "After all, we know what Greed's up to: sitting around with his little chimera pals attempting to act like a human when he says he doesn't want to even be one!" He kicked a pile of ashes angrily. "Lust, when do we get rid of him?"
Lust sighed, crossing her arms. "You have to admit, he did get the best deal out of the seven of us. His desire, his own sin, is what makes him close to being human."
"Money, women, fame, and power." Envy chuckled dementedly. "So what, the only thing stopping him is the fact he likes the ability to grow his head back; big deal, he's his own torture device."
Lust looked at Envy interestedly. "Jealous?"
"OF COURSE I AM!" Envy yelled. "My curse, I fawn over what I can't have! Just like you can't actually become attached to anyone because that contradicts lust, a temporary desire! We are the poster children for damnation, and we can't help it!"
"Calm down, Envy. At least with Lies on our side, when he gets into the military, he will have easy access to what we need for a Philosopher's Stone, and he can make it without a conscience kicking in."
"Says you." Envy breathed. "Every time someone gets close to making the stone, it ends up getting screwed up because of guilt and the shock of the ingredients list. We might as well dig ourselves up and finish each other off." Envy looked around the charred room. "Speaking of finishing off, where's Gluttony?"
"Eating the ashes, and walls." Lust said. "Do me a favor and keep the fake stones away from him, we can't have him eating our little gifts for our newest member."
"And where are you going?" Envy raised a green brow as Lust put on a jacket.
"I'm going to watch the exam." She half-smiled as she walked out of the building.
111111111111111111111111
"An Ishbalan alchemist, huh?" Mustang said, standing next to Ed. "It sounds like the military's trying to act like they don't still have a grudge against their people."
"Do you think he'll get in?" Edward asked, looking at the applicants who were walking into the area that had been alchemically altered so that there was a lake, a small forested area, a snow-capped mountain, and an area that was made to be like a desert. There were rocks and almost anything you could need for a wide variety of transmutations.
"Who knows?"
"I was on the train with him when a guy I guess was another applicant attacked him. He froze the moisture in the air and encased the man in a giant block of ice. He also made a blade of ice around his hand."
Mustang smirked slightly. "Not bad?"
"Yeah." Ed looked back at the people coming into the courtyard. He caught a glimpse of dark skin and white hair. "He made it through."
Mustang stared at the Ishbalan intently, narrowing his eyes. "He looks just like Scar."
"He's not, he's missing the scar. And he didn't have the urge to blow me up, so he can't be that bad." Ed grinned.
Just then, the Fuhrer walked up and faced all of the applicants. "Congratulations for making it this far. Feel free to use whatever resources we have to offer, and make whatever you see fit." And with that, he walked back to the rest of the military officials.
A man with dark hair walked up to the sand and drew a circle in it. He placed his hands on the circle and a light came from it as a large glass pillar emerged. The man pulled out a knife and etched another circle on the pillar, this time; he broke down the glass back into sand, and created a flurry of sand that hid him from view.
There was a scoff heard from one of the alchemists. A bald man went up to the pile of rocks and rummaged through them until he found some coal. He drew a circle on the ground with a stick and placed the coal in the center. He put his hands onto the circle and when the bright light faded, there were several diamonds in place of the coal.
"That's guaranteed money right there." One officer said.
Ed snorted. "Only if the diamonds are pure. One little incompletion in the transmutation and they're worthless."
There were a few other alchemists after the man who made the diamonds. One of them made a small blimp (Edward recognized him as the same man from back when he took the test). There was another man who turned a tree back into its seed form, moved it into the sand area, and grew it back twice as big. And there was a woman who took the rocks that were lying around and turned them into a stone building. There was only one person left.
The Ishbalan walked to the lake, oblivious to the snickers that were coming from a few people. He scanned the rest of the area with his red eyes that were hidden behind sunglasses. He kneeled down and placed his left hand at the edge of the lake. There was a bright light as a crackling sound echoed in the courtyard. When the light faded, the lake was frozen solid. He then placed his hand on the ice, making the ice crack in several different parts.
"He's making a giant circle." Mustang said quietly. "He better know what he's doing."
The Ishbalan then walked into the center of the frozen lake, clapped his hands together, and placed them on the ice. The light that came from it was practically blinding. As it faded, ice rapidly spread throughout the courtyard, covering the trees, sand, rocks, and the diamonds and stone building. The ice spread up the small mountain and continued until it stopped just at the feet of the military officials and other applicants. And then, after a few seconds, the ice shattered the trees into glistening splinters and the stones broke into shards. He silently walked off of the lake and just as he took his last step off of it, he put his right hand to it, and it was liquid again.
"Impressive." The Fuhrer said with a grin. He turned to Mustang. "I think they'll get along just fine." He walked up to the Ishbalan and held out his hand. The Scar look-alike shook it. "Pardon my ignorance, but in the midst of all the applicants I tend to forget names."
"Lies Chaos, sir." He said.
"Well, then. I'm quite proud to welcome you into the military, Lies Chaos."
11111111111111111111111
A Bar…
Lies sat at the bar, he wasn't drinking or anything, he was just sitting there. He didn't feel like getting a room at a hotel just to sit there until he got tired, so sitting in a bar in the middle of Central seemed like a way to relax and tick people off at the same time; at least the anti-Ishbalan ones.
"Come here often?" A woman said as she sat down next to him. Lies looked at her. Long black hair, black dress, a beige jacket, and black gloves. Her eyes and lips were violet.
He snorted a laugh and turned his attention back to reading bottle labels. "No." He said shortly. His eyes darted in her direction as she adjusted her jacket slightly. He caught a glimpse of a tattoo of a winged serpent on her chest. Oroboros, he thought.
"I don't blame you. The military always comes in and out of here, all the formalities get old."
"And you would know about that, Lust?"
She stared at him for a moment, and then shrugged it off, smiling. "I see Envy filled you in quite a bit."
"Hardly." Lies muttered. "He mentioned you in passing. I just used common sense. You should hide that mark; some of these people must know what it means."
"You're branded as well; don't you think your new alchemist friends might know?" Lust asked.
"It's hidden." Lies turned so she could see his face as the mark of oroboros appeared on his face, then vanished again.
She gave him a doubtful look. "Don't get too cocky. The Full Metal boy is aware of our presence. You do know what you're supposed to do, don't you?"
"Act like I'm being a good little lapdog while working on a stone to make us human." Lies sighed. "I know what I'm doing, don't worry about it."
"I doubt it. Just your race will have the military breathing down your neck at all times, it won't be easy."
"Which is why there will conveniently be trouble when I need it; I have a few ideas of my own to keep them from being too nosy."
Lust chuckled slightly and closed her eyes.
Lies looked at her with confusion. "What's so funny?" He said with an offended tone.
"It's that same attitude that condemned one of us to being in a prison for over one hundred years." She opened her eyes and had a smirk on her face. "And he's been sentenced to death for having his own ideas."
Lies looked at her much more intently than earlier. "Which of us is that?"
"Greed, of course."
"And what exactly did he do?"
"My, curious, aren't you?" She signaled the bartender to get her a drink. "He decided to go off on his own, in pursuit of immortality, women, money, and power. It's not what the rest of us want. We don't need a race to the Stone, and the best way to ensure victory is to eliminate the competition."
Lies stood up. He muttered a 'see you later' to Lust as he walked out of the bar and down the road. A homunculus whose death was marked for wanting eternal life… Perhaps he should keep his own ideas to himself for now. He found the fact he was hard to kill quite useful, and didn't want his 'brethren' to kill him. He had a feeling that Lust wasn't giving him all of the details, and that was what he wanted. The best way to get more details: hear both sides of the story. After he was fully registered with the military, he would find Greed and pay him a visit.
111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111