moonstone glows: Ironically yes, I was still alive, you almost lost me this round though. I'm told that the fever I had should have been quite a bit more dangerous than what I had to suffer through. I'm so glad that a mutant scorpion was not part of my hallucinations though. And if Roy's not careful, Riza will be finding such a mutant scorpion and setting it upon him.
Batty: Just wait for the day I tell you that Roy is wearing absolutely nothing but steam and shower water.
Zaabeth: Why thank you, I live to torture Ed and Roy in a variety of ways.
Keisuke Sora: You don't know how hard it was for me to make this continuing little desert adventure devoid of Ishballans popping out of the ground. I was sorely tempted.
Fireotaku18: Yay! I love fuzzy feelings. I love causing them.
accident prone: Honestly I'm not sure I'd be allowed to stop if I wanted to. Too many of the readers know where I live, teehee. Not that I want to, this is too much fun! I have far too many cliffhangers to engage in!
Eli: Nope! You're completely incorrect! They've gone to Areugo! Because that's what madness happens when I write on At Gate's Edge and Glass Walls together. Weirdness happens.
RubySapphireMoon: I know I do, I really do wish it didn't take so long. This is the stuff that makes me happy at the end of a long week.
RealityDidMeIn: Actually I'm really happy you still find the jokes funny! Sometimes I doubt my sense of humor, it can be a bit... strange. And we may yet discover what Ed did to Grand. There's plenty of torture in store for the man yet. Plenty of time for flashbacks.
Koneko: And just you wait until the next Pokemon games come out. I think I'm going to ask for a week off work, because I'm not sure I'll surface from them before then. That's what I actually did in order to get my life sorted again and find time again for my stories. I'm currently in the middle of eight days off of work. Yay for stay-cations!
DormantDrake: -offers tissues- Trust me, if not now, you'll need them eventually. Can't imagine why.
Alchemylover19: How I wish Roy were the sort of romantic to kidnap Ed to a brothel. That would have been amusing. Maybe in a remix version.
MegatronLove: I'm happy you're happy I updated. I'm happy too... I get worried about people trying to murder me the longer I make them wait.
LeFay Strent: Thank you so much. Really. I really love how enthusiastic you are, and that you're understanding that sometimes it takes time for me to get something up here for all of you.
Clow Angel: I think I shall hug you.
pearlsXofXsin: Nah. I don't do abandonment. A person should take responsibility for everything they do, and see it through to the end.
The Second Hand of Time: I like your necromancy idea. But it should definitely involve tying a naked Roy to an alter as a "sacrifice".
beltloop: Thank you! I love the caps enthusiasm XD
Cheru: Ugh, cavities. Don't remind me. I still am on a baby food-esque diet. And I should put up a picture of my car, it looks like a Feliciano. I affectionately call him Feli, of course, now and then after he's smoked a Mustang.
blessed24 7: This last time I wasn't sure I would make it. But I'm determined not to have to finish this story as a ghost myself.
Soaha: Thank you!
secret25: Yeah, I was told I updated during finals time. I had several cyber objects thrown at me for the distraction. I honestly didn't plan it that way, but I find it funny. And now I'm updating just after V-day. I don't plan this stuff, but it's fantastic timing.
marylover: Roy in leather will end world hunger.
blame-my-ADD: Yes. I am sure that you did admirably on the final exams you were studying so hard for. The break probably saved your brain from crashing XD
kittycat5261: Yikes that was a long time ago, but I miss it too. If only that place I was working at hadn't closed. I was making some good money and able to work on the fics in between clients. Now I just get asked inane questions by customers and have almost no time to work on fics.
Aghony: Oh no, don't tempt me with 'where' it might go. I'm known to pull up some maddening cliffhangers to throw a story about a bit. Put it backwards through tumble dry, so to speak.
FMAsonlyAlice: No, don't get sad! Be happy. Here, have a Roy plushie to shoot darts at. That'll cheer you up.
Alex: Of course it was cheesy. This is Roy we're talking about here. He's a bit awkward when you dig under his layers.
Faia: Then use 'page down' it does the same thing. This is what I've always done, readers have said that it helps them connect more with the story to see what the interpretations are of others. But if it doesn't help you, I won't be offended if you don't read and skip straight on down.
Geckoshan: Haahaa I wouldn't doubt it. I think in my Word file it's on page 588 right now. Somewhere around there. It has evolved into one lengthy story, and I actually have a longer one that I'm working on. Maybe one day I'll write a oneshot again, but I'm not sure I recall how XD
DarkPhoenix713: Thank you! I love writing the OC's. On my first OC I admit I was a bit nervous, because OC's kind of have a reputation of not being appreciated, but I'm so happy with the response I've received for them. I'm not sure if there's a secret to writing them... but maybe one day I'll sit down and do an OC analysis.
Kit Ninja: Oh dear, that would make Roy angry to no end. And would make me laugh quite evilly.
JanusTheUnlucky7: I didn't update, it's a hallucination! A planned hallucination. Yes. That is what I do.
foxinsocks92: Oddly I never plan for the fanfics to be as long as they end up being. I've always said I have a strange idea of numbers, time, all that stuff. I just don't ever visualize it properly. But with fanfics, I hardly think that's a bad thing.
softdreamer: Spoilers are only slipped when I'm tipsy. The wine I had earlier wore off about an hour ago XD
Kasaki Kihoya: I think one of these days I want to do a fic where I go in depth and create some Drachma fun. One of these days. I'm working on Areugo right now, so the other countries have to wait.
diskidi: It's kind of fun to make your parent's wonder about your sanity. Just tell them that they should be glad you're reading. Parents always respond well to that.
YokuMiya: I would never send them there... XD
Yeah, it took me awhile to get back here again. Like a lot of people, I was rather sick for a while there. Actually had a fever at 111F for a while. And then the same day I finally forced it down I thought I'd try and be tough and go to work. Yeah, bad idea. No one ever do that. One of my cats was actually so worried for me that she stuck with me all night whenever I had to get up and tried to groom me to make me feel better when I'd collapse. She now gets her own pillow on my bed.
Now as of late I've been getting some queries about when I might update, if anything is on hiatus, if I plan to finish everything I've started. I am going to put this in my profile at long last, but for now, I'll just say that for those of you who don't quite know me that well yet, for whatever reason, the answer is 'when I can', 'nope', and 'yep'. These fanfics are my therapy from the reality I live in, I need them. Fear not.
In other notes, I finally have the finishing touch to my Roy cosplay that I never thought I'd feel dorky enough to have. I have a stuffed Kang. He's a whole 15 inches tall! And I may have a stuffed Hazel too... yeah, judge me. Goodness knows I've already been over the level of narcissism this can qualify as. I revel in my craziness.
I am also working on setting up my own archive. I'm a bit tired of having all of my works for multiple fandoms spread out over three different websites. Especially since FFnet is actually the only one I recall the password to. I'm transferring many of my recipes, including ones from the fanfics, over there as well. It doesn't have much done on it yet, compared to all the works I have floating around everywhere, but we'll get there.
And now, everyone, I leave you all to your reading. I, on the other hand, am going to attempt to get some sleep. My mouth is still killing me from the dentist and after attempting to have a cheeseburger, it hurts even more. But I wasn't sure I could make it to day three living off just bananas and brownies. And remember, next chapter is the carnival date-that's-not-a-date!
I hope you enjoy the chapter! ( It's unbearably fluffy )
Chapter Forty-Five
Edward was alert once more well before sunrise. He predicted it wasn't that far off, the sky had recently gone a shade darker as it did right before the graying of predawn. Yet he didn't stir from where he sat curled under Roy's leather jacket, Roy's head next to his thigh as the man slept on inside the sleeping roll pulled from his suitcase. Briefly he scanned the horizon, watching for any discrepancies that might merit him waking Roy up sooner than he intended.
He'd been watching throughout the night, knowing that while this was relatively safe ground for them – according to Roy – they also weren't safely at home.
Not seeing anything he brought his gaze back around to Roy. The man had barely stirred throughout the night, Edward could only imagine how tired he must be. The previous few nights hadn't exactly been generous with hours of sleep, and while he didn't know the specifics of what had occurred the previous evening with that spy, he imagined such things to be emotionally draining.
Roy had been so distracted since it had happened.
Edward tilted his head as he considered the man, it was not a good time for Roy to still be distracted by anything. He only hoped that by the time everything came to a head, that Roy would have shed all remaining preoccupations. Until then, however, Edward was determined to be even more dedicated in his ambition to protect Roy.
It was all he really could do.
Edward leaned his head back against the solid earth behind him and went back to watching the horizon. The sky was beginning to gain flecks of color through a dove gray that had begun overtaking the darkness. Soon it would be dawn, and he'd be allowed to wake Roy up. The excitement began to rekindle inside him with the knowledge that soon he would be able to learn why Roy had brought him here. Why Roy had been so cryptic.
So he waited with waning patience until the sunlight had thrust up over the horizon, spreading pale fingers of light across the waking desert.
Edward's face broke into a grin, and flinging the leather jacket around so he could tug it on properly he shifted to kneel at Roy's side. Although he knew neither of them would be able to feel it, he still rested a hand at Roy's side as he leant down a bit more.
"Roy!" He insisted firmly, not knowing what else to do. He'd never really had to wake the man up before.
"Roy!" He intoned again, when no response was forthcoming.
Edward smiled when he got a faint twitch of movement. He was being heard now, but it didn't appear as if it was fully breaking through Roy's deep sleep. Thinking briefly back to how Hazel always managed it, a small laugh escaped him. He couldn't exactly run his hands through Roy's hair or nuzzle him with a wet nose, but it was about time Roy learned to wake up to a different voice than a squirrel's chatter.
"Roy, I know I'm not cute and fluffy, but you really should wake up." Edward whispered with amusement before raising his voice to normal again. "Roy!"
Roy groaned as he stirred further awake, pulled up out of sleep by the familiar voice. Slowly he turned his head and blinked blearily up at Edward, iridescent in the growing dawn light. "Good morning," he yawned and smiled a sleepy smile up at the spirit. "And you don't need to be cute and fluffy to get me to wake up."
Edward spluttered silently a moment as Roy smirked sleepily before he fixed the man with a solicitous look and sat back, crossing his arms over his chest. "Then how do you propose I wake you up when I need to?"
A rumbling hum of consideration came from Roy's chest as he worked on sitting up inside his sleeping roll. Once he'd managed it, and oriented himself to sitting, he ran a hand back through his hair to muss it thoroughly before glancing over at Edward with a smile. "Just call my name, I like hearing your voice."
Edward's arms slowly fell back away from his chest to land his hands in his lap as he studied Roy with an unreadable expression before slowly a smile began to slip onto his face. "I don't think you've had enough sleep. You want five more minutes?"
Roy chuckled faintly and gave a small shiver as he began to rub his hands along his arms. "I can sleep this weekend." He reassured Edward before taking a quick but thorough look around them, assessing their surroundings with the cautious eye of a trained soldier.
"It's all okay. I've been keeping an eye out all night." Edward offered, catching on to what Roy must be looking for. "Nothing's moved out there." And he looked off as well, scanning it again quickly.
"This place is barren, and I don't mind." Roy murmured and began to extract himself out of his sleeping roll.
Edward shifted aside to give Roy room, and catching Roy giving another shiver he lifted his hands to the jacket he wore in concern. "Do you want your jacket back? If I take it off now it shouldn't take too long for you to be able to touch it again."
Roy had just finished standing up and he shook his head with a smile as he leaned down to grab up his sleeping roll so he could pack it away before catching Edward's eye again. "Only for the trip back to Central. I'll warm up soon enough, so keep it."
Edward tugged it tighter around him in smiling response. He couldn't feel it aside from the slight pressure he always felt from the inanimate world, he couldn't feel any of the warmth it must provide, he couldn't even smell what he was sure was genuine leather with a hint of Roy's aftershave, but even so… he was unexplainably content to wear the jacket that dwarfed his slighter frame.
So he waited, leaning against the earthen wall they had camped beside for a windbreaker. It appeared he wouldn't have to wait long. Roy clearly was not rusty in a soldiers skill of breaking down a camp within the shortest time frame possible.
Deciding to leave the man to it, Edward at last turned away and began to walk out around the desert as he saw that it was now much better lit. He wanted to take a better look at where they had ended up. It was as he had suspected. A sea of sand and scrub brush, skinny trees armed with needlelike thorns, weathered rocks, and not much evidence at all of any animal life. It was most assuredly a land where only the hardiest and best prepared survived if they were to live here in this barren strip of land.
No wonder no one wanted to lay claim to it.
And he said as much when he heard the faint crunch of Roy's boots on the sand come up behind him.
"It's not just the condition of the land. Large parts of Ishbal are like this, and yet the Ishballans covet their country as much as we do ours." Roy said frankly as he stepped up beside Edward and took a look around as well. "And now I understand this place a lot better than I did before I met you."
"What exactly is it that you want me to see here?" Edward asked, turning towards the man with a suddenly firm desire to know. Not excitement. Not confusion. Just the strange, gripping feeling that he needed to know.
Roy smiled faintly and nodded. "Come on then. It should be all lit up by now, and if not, we'll just place some mirrors around you like your own private illumination funhouse." He said lightly as he offered out his arm to the apparition at his side.
"I am not a lamp." Edward deadpanned before linking his arm in with Roy's at the same moment he took to hovering at a better height for it.
"No. Lamps stay in one place. You don't do that any longer." Roy agreed fondly, weeks later still glad that Edward had been freed to stay with him. And he led them back towards the rocky rise of earth and the spot where it began to incline towards the plateau they'd been on last night. It didn't take long to reach the top, and when they had he didn't look ahead, he looked at Edward.
Edward had stopped dead in midair, his arm slowly falling through Roy's as it came back to his side. He knew Roy was looking at him, but he couldn't seem to tear his eyes away from the massive structure rising from the depths of the sand.
"I'm afraid I don't know what it was for… but it's all that's left."
Edward heard him, but couldn't seem to drag his attention away long enough to respond. Instead he found himself floating towards the imposing structure that had snared his focus.
It didn't appear to be anything more than a lost relic of time. Nothing more than a simple, stretching curved wall with a strange amount of healthy green ivy encasing it, holding it up against ravaging sandstorms that had sheared it to a bare shadow of what it must have been.
But the moment Edward laid eyes on it, he knew it was hardly anything simple.
Now underneath the remaining dome that tapered off into jagged points where sections had fallen off, Edward spun carefully as he looked around at the wall and then upwards towards the remaining dome. After a certain point, alchemy symbols had begun to serpentine their way up towards the dome, and he found himself following their progression, his mind rapidly putting them together until he reached as far as he could go on the dome's apex where he could see the outer circle of what must have been a massive alchemy array.
It was at that point he let out a soft exhale of sound and a slight, almost nervous smile that vanished almost instantaneously. "This is…" he flung his gaze upwards again past all the symbols dashed with vines of ivy back to the dome.
Roy had followed after him at a somewhat more sedate pace, casting a careful look around them as he went. But still seeing nothing amiss he soon came to stand beside the ghost who had rested one incorporeal hand against the ivy-covered stone. "When I first stumbled onto this place, I didn't think for a moment that I might be standing here again with you."
"Am I where I think I am?" Edward asked, turning a wide-eyed look on Roy.
Roy smiled then, "I believe it's been a very long time since Xerxes has had one of its own inside its borders."
A hitching breath expelled from Edward as he looked at the stone underneath his hand before giving a wry laugh. "And to think I thought my father had destroyed it entirely. It seems he failed."
"He destroyed it, for certain. But I believe this desert has been taking care of the evidence he left behind." Roy considered what remained of the wall with a thoughtful expression. "I truly believe that the only people Xerxes has seen have been lost passerby's and soldiers. And what people believe to be only a rumor of how it was destroyed in only a single moment of time is all the basis needed for superstition."
Edward tilted his head at Roy questioningly, "that explains to me how you came upon it then. You were in the Ishbal war the first time you came here, weren't you?"
Roy smiled wryly and turned his shoulder against the wall to lean against it as he focused his attention on Edward. "I was. I overheard some other officers describing this wall, and how bad luck seemed to come to those who went into its shadow." He finished a bit overdramatically, though to Edward's smile. "Then one day, in the midst of a sandstorm and an all out shooting barrage between our forces and the Ishballans, I was ordered to cover the retreat of some of the generals back to one of the stronghold camps. On my way back I must have taken a wrong direction, for I found myself here. I didn't know where I was, and since the sandstorm was only getting worse, I decided to wait it out in relative shelter."
"And then you realize you're in the realm of bad luck?" Edward smiled. "Well, you did get landed with a troublesome half-Xerxian ghost. Some might consider that bad luck."
"Only if that person is Grand." Roy smiled back fondly. "Anyway, when I realized where I was, I was alchemist enough to see past the uneasiness of a simple soldier in unfamiliar territory, or that of a lost traveler, and see the truth of where I was. That I was in a place that is no more than a last standing testament to a country that was fading into a myth told in primary school. I've never been afraid to be here, it sheltered me when I needed it. And I've come back a few times since, although I can't explain why..." he trailed off a moment, something clearly still on his mind before he focused back on Edward with a spark in his dark eyes. "And if so-called bad luck helped to bring me you as well, I'll take that too. With gratitude."
Edward felt a lightness creep into his chest that had nothing to do with his incorporeal state, and his smile reflected that happiness. "It's just a wall, Roy. I can assure you of that. But as for my staying with you, you're welcome. I'll take full credit."
"Why does that not surprise me?" Roy chuckled softly and heaved out a long breath as he glanced towards the cold stone against his shoulder than back at the spirit as he let his head fall against the stone wall as well. "But just a wall or not… I thought you should see what remains of Xerxes, before the sandstorms erase it entirely."
Edward let his head fall back as he gazed upwards along the wall. "Yes… this place surely taught alchemy correctly. They just taught it to the wrong person. It's a shame… I would have loved to have come to such a place one day, had everything not gone wrong after father left."
"You wouldn't have been able to. Had he not destroyed this place and become a philosopher's stone, you'd never have been born." Roy said with a hint of displeasure in his voice. "And as cruel as it sounds, I'd rather have you, than one less massacre in the historical documents."
"But you wouldn't have known me. You can't miss what you don't know." Edward pointed out, just for the sake of the theory.
Roy lifted his head suddenly to stare at Edward with penetrating black eyes. "No. I'd know something was missing. I may not have ever discovered what, but you think too little of how you've affected me."
Edward found theoretical argument disappearing from his mind as he locked gazes with the man, feeling a strange urge to shiver under the intensity of the look he was being pinned with.
Roy's expression softened in an instant, a lopsided smile beginning to slip onto his face as he caught the expression in Edward's eyes. That stunned, uncertain, and just a little bit awed light that made Roy fall in love a little bit more. But now was not the time… as much as he wanted, and needed to tell Edward everything, and as much as he wanted it to feel natural… he wasn't confessing on top of the ruined remains of Xerxes. There was, however, something else he could do, and he held out his hand with that same smile. "That doesn't matter right now, though. Shall we?"
Edward's head tilted in confusion, not having noticed the distraction for what it was. "Shall we what?" He echoed, even as he reached out to Roy and floated nearer to him.
"Explore." Roy suddenly grinned with an almost childish enthusiasm.
Edward suddenly understood, and instantly he found himself mirroring the enthusiastic grin as he darted into the air in his eagerness. "As the only Xerxian here, I hereby give us full permission to do one of the things alchemists, present and former, do best… discover!"
Roy laughed and began to turn, making immediately to where he felt they might find more ruins buried under the upheaval of sand brought here to rest by the many sandstorms. "Being that you are who you are, I feel slightly less apprehensive that I'll be cursed for it."
"It'd have to get through me, first." Edward said in a moment of forced seriousness before bounding through the air after Roy. "Where shall we start looking? I know we don't have shovels or anything, but you're better than dynamite."
Roy chuckled and motioned around to the rise of earth and sand that they walked on at present. "I've always believed this hill was made by the sand packing in around structures related to that wall back there. I've never really thought to explore it before now… I suppose that now it doesn't feel so much like desecration."
"I give you permission to help me desecrate Xerxes." Edward allowed, before rolling his eyes. "Apparently it's what the Elric family does. So I'll be the genius and tell you where to blast, and you blast for me."
"That's so very technical of you, my ghost." Roy commented dryly, still trying not to shake his head at Edward's interpretation of his familial duty.
Edward smirked in self-satisfaction and with a glance back towards the wall to determine the scope of it, quickly figured out the parameter it might have once been. If he was right about the alchemy symbols on the wall and the remaining portion of the dome, he was fairly certain that the entire wall, whatever it may have encompassed, had been circular the entire way around. It was as easy as breathing once was to decide where and how deeply Roy might want to blast away the earth in order to potentially gain access to more of the ruins.
So with his measurements in mind, Edward hastened after Roy who was nearly almost over the edge of the rise to where they had left their things. Ignoring the narrow trail that Roy took down back to the desert floor, Edward quickly floated his way down to meet the man at the bottom. "Admittedly," he began with some regret as he looked over to meet Roy's eyes, "I don't know how exact you are at controlling the flames."
Roy's lips pulled into an almost devilish smirk, black eyes glinting with a trace of amusement. "Don't be concerned about that. Just give me an approximate distance you think I should blast inwards, and I'll take care of the rest."
Edward stared at him a long moment, eyes slightly narrowed, torn only for a moment on whether to believe it was the truth, or just arrogance. It only took him a moment to remember that this was Roy he was considering before he concluded that it was a large part of both. Shaking his head, he smiled before bounding a few paces to his left and pointing towards the wall. "Try six meters."
Roy didn't react, save for adjusting his gloves as he carefully looked over the packed earth and sand. While this wasn't exactly mining he was about to do, nor any form of allowable archeology, he still needed to be cautious about the integrity of the rest of the hilly structure and what it might contain. He might, legally, be answerable to no one in this venture, but he knew he was damn well answerable to Edward if he put himself in danger because of shoddy blasting. "Just do me a favor and go completely incorporeal."
Edward tilted his head in confusion at first as he stared up at the man's profile, and then darting a look towards what Roy was about to explode into, and then back to Roy, he quickly nodded as he understood. With a laughing smile he reassured the man as a questioning look was turned on him, "don't worry. I'm not about to be knocked into by a flying boulder or anything." But he quickly began to frown as a thought struck him. "However that does cause me to worry about you."
Roy chuckled faintly as he faced forward again, taking a few steps back before setting his stance as he faced off against the inanimate, innocent wall of earth and sand they were about to explore. "Edward, my ghost, I am quite capable of defending myself from return fire. Even from dirt."
Edward scowled at him before shuffling just a bit behind him. "Cocky bastard." He muttered.
Roy allowed himself a brief laugh before he raised his hand, giving Edward a quick backwards glance, "yours." He reminded the apparition, before abruptly facing forward with what could only be termed a cocky smirk, and snapped.
Edward's hands flew hard over his ears as the resulting fiery explosion sent shockwaves out over the desert floor, rattling the very ground and thrumming through his body despite his being completely incorporeal at the moment. Idly he supposed he'd never been around shockwaves of that magnitude before, and could only wonder how Roy could look so unaffected by them.
Then again, Roy was looking highly unaffected as he snapped his fingers again and again to blast aside with upsurges of scorching fire the chunks of earth and rock that were sent flying their way.
Edward returned his eyes towards the rise of earth, which at present was still shadowed in billowing waves of flying sand and smoke that flickered with embers and thin streams of remaining fire. "If we ever install a fireplace into our house, you're not allowed to light it."
Roy broke into a laugh, causing him to need to duck an errant ember as it whizzed past his head. Yet the upheaval he'd caused was beginning to settle as he looked back towards Edward in fond amusement. "You're the one who wanted me to blast that deeply. I have finite control, and you know it."
"No wonder you scare the shit out of people." Edward murmured under the look that if anything, grew even fonder.
"So if we were to install a fireplace you wouldn't object?" Roy asked solicitously.
Edward laughed quietly, directing his gaze up to Roy at last when he realized that no other debris was about to fly at the man and catch him unaware. "If you can handle sooty little squirrel tracks all over the house when Hazel gets irritated with you."
"Not far from what I handle normally. Especially with the addition of you." Roy remarked dryly, then grinned under the annoyed look Edward gave him. "Now then, shall we go inspect the damage I did?"
That was all it took to shift Edward's focus, and without pause, the ghost was eagerly darting over towards the massive crater that had been blasted into the earthen rise. The smoke and sand were finally clearing or had settled enough to begin seeing it properly, and without wasting time to investigate, Edward was quickly looking around at the new surfaces that had been revealed in order to find something that would give him a clue as to where they should blast next, or even if they should.
Roy followed at a much more sedate pace after a cursory look around. However the sprawling desert of what was once Xerxes remained empty of other signs of life, much to Roy's satisfaction. He didn't want to attract any attention with all this exploring. Satisfied for the moment, though, that they were still quite alone, he met up with Edward so they could confer on how they should proceed.
Several scowls from Edward later, and several laughing smirks from Roy, they had succeeded in artfully removing a large portion of the built-up sand that had accumulated around what Roy had suspected. Ruins. Roy had been correct in his assumptions. No wall that large, and that thick, which still partially stood even after hundreds of years of war and violent weather, could vanish entirely from erosion. Sometimes, erosion wasn't always able to get to everything before the sand had concealed it.
Which was how, somewhere around mid-morning, they had created what was a decent sized clearing cut out of the sand-swept hill. It wasn't entirely level, some parts of it still dangerously steep, but neither of them cared for that. It was what had caused a cease fire in Roy's operations that they cared for at present. For Edward had gotten his approximations correct, and they had found blocks upon blocks of fallen stones, and large spires that had once been part of support pillars for a wall that Edward was only now beginning to realize the extent of. They were only to the closest part they could have blasted to, and Edward was beginning to believe that with the presence of support pillars, it had at one time, been a multilevel structure.
Yet it was not the shattered columns that Edward cared for at the moment. At present he was gleefully trying to wriggle a very dented and rusted box out from under a rather large and jagged section of fallen column. Nearby all of this were the gilt fastenings that Edward recognized as having once been on book bindings to secure them, but as the leather covers and the paper inside were long gone, he was hoping that something inside this box might have survived for a better fate.
Roy was chuckling to himself as he watched Edward struggle, and to be quite honest with himself, as much as he wanted to help, he was having too much fun watching Edward try on his own. The view was hardly a poor one as he caught himself, without as much as a flicker of guilt, tilting his head a bit to get a better perspective on Edward's wriggling around on his knees as his hands clamped tightly to the box he was attempting so valiantly and actively to free.
Edward knew Roy was behind him somewhere, he could sense the man. And as the desert was completely quiet save for his scuffling around in the sand, he knew that Roy was just standing there. With a huff he let his head fall forward as his movements stilled, "so help me, Roy Mustang, if you don't help me –!"
"Helping!" Roy quickly interjected with a grin, and after a parting, appreciative look to the wonderful sight Edward presented like this, he inwardly sighed at the loss and moved to help his ghost. Crouching down beside the pillar he looked back over at Edward, "I'll lift and you pull."
Edward shot him a deadpan look from underneath the cascade of his silver hair over his eyes. "Next you'll be telling me how to do addition."
Roy smirked at Edward's attitude, and stamped down on the urge to laugh. "That would be suicide, and I doubt you'd be too fond of me attempting that again."
Edward sent him a stony look that made Roy's lips twitch in a smile. "Just lift, you idiot."
Roy smiled wider before turning back to the task at hand, literally. As his gloves found purchase on the chipped stone column section, he lifted it up gradually until Edward had successfully pulled the box free with a noise of pure delight in his success.
Edward eagerly sat back on the sand and pulled the worn box onto his lap with an eager look on his face. Brushing his hands over the surface to remove most of the sand and dirt he cautiously checked for anything on it that might indicate what had been, or hopefully, was inside. When Roy sat down beside him, their legs nearly passing together and one of the man's hands reaching over, Edward quickly jerked the box away with a laugh and a smirk towards the man. "My box." He claimed playfully.
Roy laughed, and letting go a sigh he would claim was brought on by lack of sleep, he wondered if it was healthy to feel jealous of a box. Yet obedient to Edward's claim, he instead settled his chin in one hand as he gazed over at the ghost. "Then why don't you open it so we can see if all that lifting on my part was worth it."
"You should work out more, you lifted it rather slowly." Edward felt the need to point out with a smirk.
"Next time, you lift the big rock. Then we'll see what you say." Roy bantered back cheerfully enough before turning his attention back to the box. "Are you going to open it, then?"
Edward laughed faintly and turned back to the box curiously. "I expect I am." And tilting it back so that he could get at the latches, he flipped them open much to the agony of the box which creaked sharply in protest. Pushing up the lid, Edward angled it back down so that he could see inside. Only to have his eyes widen substantially as the harsh desert sunlight illuminated what was inside.
Roy only had to take one look inside the box, and with a frown look at Edward's face, to know that the ghost knew exactly what was inside. His frown more pronounced at this, he looked back inside to the crystalline object inside. For the battered state of the box it had been in, the clear crystal cylinder that came to narrowed, almost deadly points on both ends, was only covered in a slight film of sand. It didn't appear at all as if it had ever been damaged in the gradually falling ruins. Yet try as he might to search his memory of alchemy for a remembrance as to what this might be, he couldn't come up with an answer. At least, not one that would explain Edward looking at it with such wide eyes. It clearly wasn't just a pretty stone memento.
"Edward?"
Edward startled from his staring, looking up into Roy's eyes as a smile slowly began to overtake his face. "I didn't think one of these would actually still exist, since my father never had any." He said with a bit of a laugh to his voice, it was a laugh of amazed happiness. "I only ever read about them in one of father's old books. One of the ones I suppose came from here. He always did have some astonishingly old ones… naturally he forbade us from touching them, but that hardly stopped us."
Roy snorted at that, he would have expected nothing less from the ghost he knew.
Edward turned from Roy then, reaching carefully down into the box to grasp the crystal and withdraw it into the sunlight with care. "These are storage devices, for alchemy recipes." He said in a distracted voice as he turned it this way and that, watching the sunlight reflect off the faceted surfaces. "Honestly I'm not sure how it's done, but in one of father's books they were mentioned. I'm sure my father knows how to make them…" he mused before shaking himself out of his distraction and facing Roy. "They stored information on certain alchemic processes. The same as an alchemy recipe in a book, but these," Edward waggled the crystal, "were used by only the master alchemists. A show of wealth, I'd expect. These do kind of look fancier than dusty books."
Roy frowned in interested consideration, and reaching out, took the crystal from Edward's willing grasp. "How do you make it work? Or does it even have anything inside of it? Can you tell?"
Edward smiled and set the box aside, out of his lap. "I'm assuming it does. As for how to make it work, I'm not sure. You'd have to ask my father about that. The book I found them referenced in was very brief in mentioning them."
Roy nodded, giving the crystal a spin with nimble fingers before offering it back to Edward. "Then should we run into him again, we'll ask him, right after I practice a left hook against him."
Edward chuckled softly, silver eyes glinting in amusement as he gazed at the man beside him. "Forever my hero." He murmured, and held his hand up to wave aside the crystal. "Keep it on you. You have more pockets than I do, but you'd better not lose it!"
"I would never lose your discovery from our desecration of your half-homeland." Roy informed him gravely, before letting slip a brief, amused grin. "Shall we do some more digging about? See what else we can find?"
Edward nodded eagerly at the suggestion, and soon enough, they were back to it with enthusiasm. They continued to explore until Roy announced that they needed to be heading back soon. Edward only had to quickly check the position of the sun to realize that he was right. They did need to start going back to Central soon if they were to make it back home before it was too late for Roy to get any amount of decent sleep before the carnival the next morning.
So with some reluctance on both their parts, for all that it had been a long morning, and a dirty one as far as Roy's clothing went, they had had fun despite coming away with only having discovered mostly more of the wall in its fallen state. Yet the crystalline storage device that Edward claimed to have found was carefully packed away, cushioned among Roy's dirty clothes for the moment.
"We'll leave as soon as I change." Roy said, beginning to pull free a change of clothes. He wasn't about to ride back to Central looking like he'd just been rolling about in a smoky, sandy field.
Edward looked over at Roy quickly, about to make some form of protest that Roy was dressed just fine for a drive back home, when his eyes caught on Roy shaking out another pair of leather pants that made him falter such that he abruptly connected with the ground.
"Yes?" Roy asked with a decidedly sultry smirk over to the ghost who was staring at him with wide eyes. If he'd known sooner that wearing leather pants would have affected Edward like this, he'd have worn them before now.
Edward nearly fell over the rocky dirt in flustered haste to turn himself around, feeling a strange wave of apprehensive panic wash over him and the sensation that he'd be ten shades of red right now, were it possible. And yet, through all that, he couldn't help but feel the shaky warmth that pooled inside his chest. "N-nothing." He stuttered out, and stared wide-eyed at the ground.
Roy smiled fondly, feeling an outpour of love to the flustered ghost. Feeling a determination like none he'd ever felt before, to make Edward his own. In whatever capacity he could. To say it didn't weigh on his heart that he couldn't touch Edward would be a lie, for in varying degrees, it always had. But he was willing to go through with an absence of touch in order to have Edward's love. It wouldn't be easy… but Edward was worth it.
Edward had always been worth it.
Quickly Roy changed out of the shirt and jeans he'd put on for their exploratory adventures today, and changed into another pair of leather pants and a clean shirt for the road. After quickly fastening his belt he called over to Edward. "Time to get going. Go ahead and put my jacket inside my suitcase, I'm thinking I should be able to wear it again by the time we get back to the main road."
Edward turned, having for the most part managed to smother down his flighty emotions. As soon as he caught sight of Roy, however, he was forced to battle them once more as his fingers fumbled with the jacket. Quickly casting his gaze down, he fought to get a hold of himself before continuing forward.
"Next time we go out somewhere together, I'll wear that shirt you like and some leather pants." Roy entreated as Edward finally managed to cross back over to the motorcycle.
Edward spluttered, feeling suddenly, shockingly shy. "Just as long as you don't wear them to the carnival tomorrow. I'm not sure Maes would approve." He finally managed to get out, and promptly did as he'd been told with the leather jacket before quickly clambering into his sidecar.
"You'd not approve of anyone else admiring me." Roy corrected as he straddled the motorcycle and fished the key from wherever on his person he'd been concealing them.
Edward remained stubbornly silent, even as he had to wonder at the part of him that was agreeing.
Roy smiled down at the silent ghost, and deciding to stop while he was ahead for the moment, he turned on the motorcycle. He needed to get them back to Central. He could use a long, hot shower and some sleep before the carnival in the morning.
So with a roar of the engine, Roy guided the motorcycle back the way they had come. For now they'd leave behind this place. Xerxes. And while he knew that it was long-removed to be a part of Edward's home, he knew they'd be coming back soon enough. The matter of Xerxes, and the protection of what remained of that ruined country, was giving him something else to consider for when he eventually took control of Amestris.
Yet such matters were useless to consider now. He had more pressing, immediate concerns on his horizon. And one that was very dear to his heart.
Edward stared straight ahead as they drove away, willing himself with each needless breath to calm down. When had he lost control of this again? This game that they had begun playing with one another. When he thought of it as a game, though, it felt as if something leaden had taken up residence in his chest. Didn't he want it to be a game? This back and forth attempt to fluster each other until one of them caved? He let out a weighted sigh.
Turning his head just enough, he caught Roy in his peripheral vision and found himself wondering the question that thus far, he'd been successful in ignoring: if he didn't want it to be a game… what did he want it to be?
He wasn't honestly sure that he could come out on top of this again, and fluster Roy so thoroughly it shut the man up for days. Honestly… he wasn't sure he wanted to try.
Closing his eyes, Edward turned away again.
It wasn't until the motorcycle suddenly came to a rather more abrupt stop than he was accustomed to that Edward opened his eyes again in confusion.
"I was hoping we wouldn't run into this, but it seems I was wrong." Roy sighed, but quickly swung off the motorcycle with purpose. "So much for a change of clothes."
Edward floated up out of his sidecar uncertainly. "What's wrong?"
Roy looked up from his digging through his suitcase long enough to smile reassuringly at Edward. "We're almost to the road again, but we're about to go head-on with a sandstorm." He said, pointing westward. "I can't outrace odds like those."
Edward quickly looked towards the horizon, a slight frown coming over his face as he saw the subtle brown hazing growing closer towards them. "That doesn't look so bad, are you sure it's enough to force us off the road?"
Roy pulled free a rather extensive tarp and gave it a rough shake to begin unfolding it. "Don't worry, we won't lose much time. I'll just get a bit of rest while it blows over us. Trust me, a sandstorm is not something you want to drive through if you can help it."
Edward briefly forced himself to consider Roy's background in desert conditions like this, and then had to decide that the man probably knew best. "Okay then. What can I do?"
Roy smiled and pulled free the steel stakes which he quickly attached to each corner of the tarp. "You can help me drape it over the motorcycle. It'll give us enough of a tent. And enough protection from the sand."
Edward started forward immediately, and began helping Roy create their temporary shelter. Something that he was shocked to see they were managing barely in time. When he'd first looked at the horizon, it seemed as if the sandstorm might take hours to reach them, but already he could see wind whipping at the tarp and tugging at Roy's hair and jacket. Not more than minutes from them, was a wall of brown that was completely negating the sunlight. "That's amazing…" Edward whispered, not entirely concerned for his safety facing such a thing. It couldn't touch him if he didn't let it.
Roy, on the other hand, was already slipping underneath the tarp. "Amazing, yes. But also very dangerous. Get in here so I don't worry about you getting swept away."
Edward smiled after him, and taking one last admiring look at the sandstorm that was moments from being upon them, he darted through the top of the makeshift tent as it flapped wildly. Settling on the sand just in front of Roy he shifted around until he was settled in beside the man, leaning up against the man's suitcase with him which was propped against one of the motorcycle tires. "I won't get swept away."
"It's not so much logic, as it is my peace of mind." Roy replied quietly despite the howling around them and the battering sand against the tarp. He knew Edward could hear him, and he slung his arm over the back of the suitcase to allow Edward nearer. Something the ghost took advantage of instantly, though he wasn't certain Edward was cognizant of it. It made him smile tenderly even so.
"It's nice…" Edward murmured after a moment, his head dipping towards Roy's chest. "Having someone to worry about me. I thought it would be more of a burden… but you don't seem incapable of not worrying over me. I'm… glad of that."
"I've rescued you a few times because of it." Roy replied with a reminiscing smile, before looking down at the silver hair of the only true source of light here in their makeshift shelter. Edward was so close to him… so very close, and closing his eyes briefly, Roy let himself believe once again that were it possible to take Edward into his arms, the ghost would come willingly. "You're not a burden to me, far from. I'm actually not sure what I'd do without you, anymore."
Edward couldn't help but smile as he continued to look down at their legs. One of his was nudging through Roy's, it was an odd contrast to look at. "Think this sandstorm will start covering up what we did today?"
"I'm not sure that Xerxes was ever meant to remain, except for people like you." Roy theorized, "I've never been a superstitious man… ironically enough," he gave a brief laugh, which Edward echoed, "but I do believe that there are some who are meant to go places where others are not."
"Are you still not a superstitious man, Roy Mustang?" Edward asked with a bit of a laugh still in his voice as he tipped his head back to meet the man's eyes.
Roy felt as if his heart was about to fail him, with only mere inches separating them and Edward looking up at him with those soulful silver eyes. "I believe in you… and that we were meant to find each other. That's enough for me."