HALFMETAL GUARDIAN

WAR OF BROKEN MEMORIES

Roy groaned from his end of the piece of timber next to Riza, and Riza looked at him, up and down, to assess what was wrong. She scooted a bit closer to him, the lower halves of their bodies still submersed in cold salt water, and asked what was wrong. He gritted his teeth and put his head gently onto her shoulder. "I think I got hit by something in my back..." She cocked her head at him. "Lower back, in the water." Her eyes widened and she latched onto the wood securely with one hand, reaching the other hand into the water to feel his lower back where there was indeed an open wound. She thought that it might be about half the size of her palm, and it wasn't closed; it was still bleeding. She couldn't imagine the hell he must be going through, with a wound like that submersed in stinging salt water, but the current continued to pull them along. She kissed his cheek gently. "Try to think about something else," she murmured, and Roy nodded.

Oh he had been thinking of something else this whole time; he had been thinking of sharks. Couldn't sharks smell blood trails, wouldn't he die of blood loss if this thing kept bleeding? Why weren't they being attacked? He could see the shark fins circling slowly behind them, but none of them moved closer to them than ten yards. They were keeping their distance. And if they attacked, he didn't think he could stand to see his beautiful Riza mauled by a shark, God forbid.

She shook his shoulder and pointed up to the sky, where lights were seemingly splashed across the sky, blues, yellows, pinks, purples, reds, greens, oranges... every color imaginable were streaked across the sky, glittering and... flowing... Flowing in the same direction as the current. He didn't know if that was a good omen or a bad one.

Leroy yawned and stretched in his chair. It had beena week since his father had left for Falcona, an entire week... Maes was hopping up and down, so eager was he to recieve a letter, while Ilia calmly read a book in the big cushion chair next to the floor to ceiling window, conveniantly located close bya fire. It was getting cold out now. "It says here," she read off the page, "That Falcona is an arctic country, covered in snow all-year round save for one month. That one month is used for celebrations in tribute to the royal family and it's houses, which keep heat flowing to all of the cities of Falcona all year. Amazing, isn't it? I wonder how they keep warm if all they have is snow and ice.

"It also says that special ships are required to get to and from Falcona, because the ice layer on the water is almost solid and needs a breaker to destroy. The warmest temperature ever recordedin the southern most tip of Falconais ten times colder than the coldest ever recorded in North City."

"Wow, how do they live?"

"I said that the royal family somehow provides heat to the cities. It doesn't say how, but it does say that rather than alchemy, they rely on something that can be rougly translated as chakra; the offensive implementation of this chakra is usually used by the royal family and it's houses, and is then translated and roughly referred to as Jutsu. They are instructed to learn the languages of Amestris and Rivant, but their primary language is Falconan. It says here that the king of Falcona can speak fluently in every language, and can imitate many different dialects."

"It talks about the royal family, does it? It's a recently published book then," Leroy mused.

"Yes... the king was inaugurated when his wife, the queen, died of an illness fourteen years ago. He does not have any royal blood, but his decisions are just and fair, and the rest of the houses smiled on the decision, marking that he must have been a very good man. It is rare in Falcona for spouses to assume leadership after the King or Queen dies, usually, the title goes to the eldest child.

"They have a single child, a male, who is about twenty-two to date. He's almost our age, Leroy."

"Ahh..."

"He's a bit of an anomaly in Falcona, and many houses wonder if he's of the same disposition and stock of his father, implying that they wonder if he's really his father's son. I wonder why they wonder."

"He might simply be different, either mentally or physically, I'm sure I do not know. We don't keep up with the politics of other countries, and neither do they."

"I suppose so... what are you doing, Leroy?"

"I thought I'd take a quick nap," he said, getting up and stretching. Sure he was twenty-one, but he was staying by his father's side in the mansion to help with all his paperwork, and he was the one to inherit the house anyways. Ilia had already expressed that she didn't want the house too badly, and Maes said he didn't care either way, which had been a relief to Roy. He hadn't wanted to die knowing his three children would fight over family possessions. Ilia sighed and rested the book on the armrest of the chair. "You know you have work to do."

"I'll do it later," he said, trudging up the stairs to find a bed. Ilia sighed from behind him. "You're such a slacker, Leroy."

"And proud of it,too. I think it's only fair that I get to slack, after all the hell we've been through. And-" his idea was cut off as a telephone rang racously downstairs, and he bolted back down to pick it up before Maes did and his bubbly happiness infected whoever was on the phone. He picked it up.

"Fuhrer Roy Mustang's home, Stand-In Fuhrer Leroy Mustang speaking."

"Ah! Leroy! I'm so glad you picked up! Honestly, why am I always the bearer of bad news?" Colonel Havoc hissed to Fuery and the others next to him. They shushed him and frantically told him to get on with it.

"Leroy! The ship your parents were on..."

Leroy's heart sank.

"It was completely destroyed, some of the wreckage washed up today. We haven't found their bodies, if there are any," he added quickly, "And they might still be alive..."

"So the chances are that Mom and Dad are dead?" Maes stopped his current activity of bothering Ilia and the two of them stared at him.

"Yes... I'm sorry Leroy... and one more thing."

"Go ahead."

"Ren Rivant wants a word with the Fuhrer of Amestris, next week, and he doesn't seem friendly."

"Tell him I accept his invitation."

"It wasn't an invitation. It was a summon, and you're obligated to go as a power of equal rank in Amestris. I don't think his intentions bode well, Leroy."

"I've got it, I'll be careful."

He put the phone down into the reciever and looked out the window as the sun started to set.

"Faris..."