"Secrets have a way of making themselves felt,
even before you know there's a secret."
-Jean Ferris
Three weeks had passed since the reunion. There was plenty of apologies from the Armstrong sisters after they had learned that Amelia had been overwhelmed when they pulled her up to the stage to play along with Amue. She told them that it wasn't really anything to worry about, that she just needed some time to relax and come back to herself, but she did notice that Strongine had stopped bringing up anything about concerts or her playing publically.
However, in all that time, Armstrong's paperwork hadn't lessened, and he was going into the investigations department for the same long hours day in and day out, with no sign of change. And worse yet, the one day they had planned for their alchemy lessons, she got some unfortunate news…
"You're going out of town?" It came at the end of her lesson, and it only made things worse, "When?"
"I'll be leaving tomorrow morning to join the Fuhrer on his inspection of the southern headquarters," Armstrong said as he put away some of her textbooks. "It should not be too long."
"But our alchemy lessons!" She said, "I've only got a year to figure this out! We're down to just two days a week with your workload." He didn't look any happier about the situation. He let out a small sigh of frustration as he stood up, and Amelia only stared up at him, "There has to be something. Can't you call out sick?"
"The Fuhrer personally assigned me to this inspection, I can't leave." He said, "But… it should just be routine. I don't think there would be any harm in having you join me." Amelia didn't like the idea too much.
"I don't think you bringing me with you to work is going to really help in my alchemy lessons." She said. "What if you took some leave time or something?"
"It's true that I can take a leave of absence without giving a reason." He said, "But if I were to abandon my post to help you, my work would only be waiting for me upon my return. If anything, it would make this situation much worse than it already is. I'm afraid mixing my work for Amestris and my work as your teacher is the easiest option we have at this time." Amelia frowned, but she couldn't deny that she had no other ideas on what to do to help with this situation at all.
"How long would you be there?" She asked.
"The inspection takes a day, but it would take us about two in order to travel there and return, so you best pack for three days." He said, "It shouldn't be anything that's too difficult to deal with. Southern Headquarters has had a few troubles here and there, but it has never been something that cannot be easily fixed." He assured her, "It should be an easy inspection and we will have plenty of time that night to go over some more training for you." She nodded, a little satisfied with that, though she wished they had more time.
She set about packing later that night, though she remembered something as she was putting away some clothes in a bag. The last time they had seen the Elric brothers, they mentioned they were going southward to a town called Dublith. She briefly wondered how they were doing, and she tried to remember what it was they were doing there. The conversation had become muddled in her memory since she last saw them, but she hoped they were doing well with whatever it was.
She paused for a moment as she thought about everything that had happened before they left. They had been to the Fifth Laboratory, and Hughes had just begun his investigations of the place. Did… did they know about his death? Had they heard about it? The thought of telling them wasn't a pleasant one. Especially if they found out that she had been there when it happened and couldn't help him. She imagined Edward would blame her first and foremost, and she could see Alphonse defending her somehow, but she didn't think he would do it because he believed she had nothing to do with it… Those two would probably turn on her the second they knew she had been there. She should have done more than she did…
"Miss Seymour?" She looked up to see Bernice at her door as she was packing, "It's almost time for lights out. I'll wait while you go and change."
"Oh. Thank you, Bernice." Although she was no longer leaving the Armstrong estate in handcuffs, her curfew was still in effect, so she got about getting ready for bed as she put the last of her things on the suitcase she had borrowed and went to change for the night.
As she was getting ready, she made a decision that if she and Armstrong were to somehow come across the Elric brothers, she wouldn't tell them that she had been involved in Hughes' death.
Coming up to the train station, Amelia could see a lot of uniformed soldiers hanging around one of the cars. She walked behind Armstrong through the crowds of people, all of them seem to be right around the soldiers. She thought some of them must be family of the soldiers that were going coming to wish them goodbye. As they got closer, she could see that most of the crowd was focused on one person, and she grimaced a little in dread at the sight of him.
Fuhrer Bradley was smiling kindly at the people as they approached him, shaking hands and thanking them for performing their duties for their country. They were telling him what jobs they did, and he highlighted the importance of that line of work as he shook their hands one by one. It was very personal, and she was a little surprised to see him taking part in that kind of thing, but he did strike her as a very kind individual, at least from how often he smiled.
"Major, who is this?" She turned at the sound of someone's voice, seeing that Armstrong was speaking to someone she had never met, but by the stars on his uniform, she knew he had to be a higher-ranking officer.
"This is my alchemy student, Amelia Seymour." He said, standing at attention as he spoke to the man, "Due to some unfortunate timing, I thought it might be best if I took her with me on this inspection."
"And who approved this, Major?" The man asked sternly, "We can't have a known criminal traveling with us in the Fuhrer's private car!"
"Now, now, General Hakuro," The Fuhrer came up to his side, and Amelia glanced back at the crowd where he had just been, seeing them dispersing as some soldiers urged them away. "There's no need to be so quick to judge. I happen to know Amelia Seymour." He smiled at her, "How are you doing today?"
"Um, just fine, sir. How are you?" She asked.
"I'm ready to get this inspection over and done with so I can come back home to my wife and son." He replied. He turned to the man he spoke to a second before, "General, I'm certain that Amelia won't be any trouble as we perform our inspection, and I think it would be good to have a civilian's point of view on things."
"But…" General Hakuro looked like he still wanted to protest, but he wavered under the Fuhrer's gaze, "Yes, sir."
"Well, glad that's settled." He turned back to Amelia, "You know, I still have some of that raspberry tea. Maybe I can come and perform one of your routine check-ups sometime and we can share a cup?"
"That, uh… that would be nice." She was saying it more to be polite, she really hoped he didn't ever do that.
"Good, I look forward to seeing our progress at our next alchemy exam." He said, and he left to start boarding the train, and Amelia let her shoulders slump a little bit and relax. At least she wasn't being told to leave.
The train ride itself was actually rather nice. The inspection team had its own car, and the Fuhrer had a private car where he was sitting with the highest-ranking officers in attendance. Apparently, General Hakuro was stationed in the Central Headquarters but had formerly been part of the southern one. He wanted to see how things were currently being run by the general in his place so he was part of the entourage and Amelia didn't have to see him for the duration of the ride.
She met some of the other people that were joining the inspection, who all seemed very friendly with her and the Major. But she noticed not one of them ranked below a major at all, everyone aside from herself on that train was of major-rank or higher. She guessed they could only have the best for the leader of their country.
The best part of the trip was that their car was first class, so they had access to some complimentary snacks as well as some nice luxuries that she hadn't had on previous rides, like cushioned seats and plush carpets on the floors. As she let the Major do some catching up, she joined a card game with a couple of others, listening as they taught her the different ways to play poker. She didn't really manage to win anything, but they weren't playing with real money. Apparently, gambling was outlawed in a good part of the country, so playing with real money on the Fuhrer's train was a stupid decision.
Once she finished up her third round with a full house that lost out to a straight flush, she was taken aside by the Major who would begin her alchemy lessons while they were traveling. The trip down south would take about a day or two had they been under normal circumstances, but with this being the Fuhrer's private train, they were heading there non-stop so they would be there by morning tomorrow. In that time, they would need to do some catching up on her alchemy.
She spent some time learning to transmute new materials, changing platinum metal into silver and the opposite, and turning wood into different shapes and sizes, learning to use what amount she had and learning to compensate when she had to. A lot of them were a little haphazard, but she felt that she was doing decently as he helped her to learn the importance of calculating for the amount that she had. "This is all because of the first law of alchemy, what is it?"
"The law of equivalent exchange is the first law of alchemy. It states that you cannot… um…" She tried to think, "If you wish to obtain something, something of equal value must be given. So, in terms of transmuting, you can't create something more than what you have already at hand." She looked up at him for confirmation, "Right?"
"Yes, and try to be more confident in your answers." He smiled at her, "You are doing splendidly." She smiled back as she continued her lessons for the better part of two hours. When that was finished so they could take a break, she took a little time to pull out her phone and listen to a little of her music as she read from the next book in the Golden Rose series that she had brought with her. It was a back and forth of lessons and break time for a long while on the train and in a moment of break time, she began to do some more thinking about everything that had happened recently. With Hughes' death, and that party she attended as well… she briefly wondered how Richard was doing, if he had gotten home safe to his bookstore.
"Strong Arm, sir." She looked up as one of the officers on the train addressed her teacher, "The Fuhrer has requested lights out, we would like to ask you to take the first shift." She frowned a little as they called her teacher by the wrong name, but he didn't seem to mind as he nodded.
"Thank you for informing me, Lieutenant." He said, standing up, "Would you make sure my apprentice gets to bed?"
"This is an overnight trip?" She was a little surprised to be sleeping on the train.
"Yes, South City holds the Southern Headquarters for the inspection, it's a town very close to the southern border." Armstrong explained to her, "It will be just one night here and back, you should be alright. I will be nearby if you need me." He bid her adieu before he made his way into the Fuhrer's private car. She guessed he was there to stand watch while the man slept. She got up with the nameless lieutenant and was directed to a part of the car where they had some fold-out cots for first-class riders that she was able to climb into. She didn't change into her pajamas, but she did manage to get comfortable and eventually the rhythmic sound of train tracks helped to lull her to sleep.
The next morning was somewhat chaotic, with everyone going back and forth in preparation of the train getting to its destination. She didn't really feel great, mostly because she was still in the same clothes she wore yesterday, but the Major promised her a shower once they got a chance so it was enough to satiate her for the time being. They were given a quick breakfast and then she walked with the Fuhrer as he was escorted off of the train. Since she was a civilian, she wasn't really able to walk up front with the Major, but she was sure she would more comfortable being in that same risky position than walking beside the man next to her now. She looked up at the Fuhrer, who seemed perfectly content as he walked between the group of uniformed men, with a smile on his face.
On the outside, he looked almost like a friendly, young grandfather with a little war experience with his eyepatch. She could easily picture him in front of a fireplace sharing war stories with his grandchildren, but knowing just how much power he had in this country made her uneasy. It was just off-putting to look at this man with a warm smile on his face, and know that he could sentence her to death if he wanted.
"I have to admit, it's a surprise to see you joining us on this inspection, Miss Amelia." He said, "Are you that interested in seeing how the military runs?"
"Well, it never hurts to get educated on the local government." She replied with a shrug. She didn't want to say that it was because she couldn't get proper alchemy training otherwise, she didn't want him to take it as an opportunity to reassign her to someone else for her alchemy lessons. She liked living with the Armstrongs, and she didn't want to leave their family behind if it could be helped… though things were starting to show that it couldn't really be helped if the Major's workload didn't lessen.
They went to headquarters, and things were pretty simple, a lot of it was just the Fuhrer listening to reports of progress on different things, as well as checking in on different departments and work here and there. At least up until a certain point when they were checking on some reports of local crimes. Something came up that caught the Fuhrer's attention and he started asking for more information about it, and everyone started bringing everything they had to him. There was apparently a local gang in the town of Dublith that had been stirring up some trouble. Most of it involved just small things, like vandalism, and some burglary, but there was also some targeted attacks on military officials. Some of the descriptions of the gang members had them as… inhuman, almost. Amelia was a little surprised to overhear some of it.
There was one thing that seemed to catch the Fuhrer's eye, and he made a gesture to Armstrong, "Major, come have a look at this." He handed him a file, and Amelia couldn't read from over his shoulder (who could? It's basically impossible, the man was at least 7 feet tall) but she could see his eyes grow wide before he handed the paper back to him. It seemed to be a page describing one of the gang members, Amelia caught a bit of the sketch that was included as it was passed between the two of them. It was a man with some square jawlines and a hooked nose, but the biggest, most noticeable thing was the sketch of his hand.
It had an Ouroboros tattoo.
Within an hour, everyone was mobilized to fight against this gang, and Amelia had to wonder if these were the people responsible for the fifth laboratory. She couldn't be sure, but at the same time, it was nerve-wracking to think that this was the place where it all started. She rode the train out of South Central Headquarters to the town of Dublith. There was no reason for them to think they were confronting them, so they had the advantage of surprise.
Soon enough, they came to where the group was hiding, which was an underground club called The Devil's Nest. Apparently, the group hid out there often by bribing the bartender that owned the place and they worked out of the back rooms. The Major had suggested she join them as it would be a good opportunity for her to further understand and practice the combative uses of alchemy. She stayed close to the Major as the Fuhrer looked up at the entrance. He was outfitted for fighting, but with four swords rather than guns. She felt this wasn't the best way to go into a fight, but no one said anything against it. She supposed it didn't matter, the leader of the country was surrounded by bodyguards, they would do the fighting for him, wouldn't they?
"What an interesting discovery for such a routine inspection." He said as he looked up at the sign before looking back at the soldiers from Southern Headquarters that had joined him on this raid, "Move in!" They were quick, rushing past the Fuhrer and into the club, the Major staying back as protection as the Fuhrer made his way casually down the stairs, and Amelia followed behind him. "First, we'll clear this place out of civilians, take them in for questioning. Major Armstrong, I don't know what we'll come across in there, so you'll need to be alert and aware, understand?"
"Yes, sir." He said, and he looked back at Amelia, "I want you to stay close to me, you understand?"
She nodded in agreement, and she could hear some yelps and screams as people were pushed out, jumping out of the way as a few girls and men rushed up the stairs beside her. She was surprised that the Major wasn't telling her to go and join them since she herself was also a civilian. She watched a man in a bartender's uniform rush past them, and the club was emptied out. Soldiers were already moving in quickly, and some were giving reports back on what they had found, which was that they had secured a boy and a woman who were also civilians and badly injured.
It wasn't long after that they heard gunfire and shouting. Amelia stayed close to the Major as she heard the noises as they went through the back rooms. The ground shook for a second and Amelia could see a few men being pushed back in the hallway. The Major picked up the pace and she stayed close behind him.
She didn't see soldiers escorting Edward and his teacher Izumi away, or that Edward had caught sight of her back as they were walked down the hall while the Major ran towards the danger around the corner with her following.
"Wait, what's she doing here?! She's a civilian!" He protested with one of the guards, but they ignored him, told him to keep moving so they could get them somewhere safe. When Izumi threw up blood, he wasn't given much choice but to agree with that.
When Amelia got around the corner, she and the Major came across a man as massive as he was, with long gray hair pulled back into a ponytail, with a pair of gray sideburns, but the thing to note was that he had a massive mallet in his hands, with one end cut down to a point. He had been using the flat end to knock a few men back before they managed to fire. "Stay here, Amelia!" He said before he charged into the man. Armstrong lifted his gloved fist and brought it straight into the mallet that the man had been pulling up, hitting it and Amelia winced as she knew that had to hurt his knuckles, but she could see the glow of an alchemic transmutation.
When she looked back, she saw the mallet had been formed into the likeness of the Major from the waist up. "Behold! You have just had the rare pleasure of witnessing the Armstrong Statuary Technique!" He said to the man, who looked like he could care less before he tossed the weapon away.
"Well then…" He spoke in a gruff, deep voice as he reached up for the collar of his jacket, ripping it off to expose the black undershirt he wore, "I guess my ordinary methods aren't gonna work." He took in a deep breath, and then his body started to change before their eyes. His muscles grew bigger, his hands almost became claws, he even seemed to grow slightly in size, but the biggest surprise was seeing a pair of horns sprouting from his forehead.
"Now that's certainly peculiar!" Armstrong commented before the man growled at him, throwing a punch that the Major managed to dodge, but left a sizable crater in the wall behind him.
"Teacher!" Amelia called out for him, watching as he brought his fists up to uppercut him and push him back, hitting him directly in the face with his spiked gloves, something that normally would have taken someone out, but the man held his ground and hit right back. Amelia could hear the sound of automatic gunfire in other parts of the halls, and soldiers shouting commands at each other, but her focus was on Armstrong. She looked around at her surroundings, trying to figure out a way to help him as he fought this monster of a man.
Okay, these walls… are they cement or concrete? Cement is made with calcium oxide, water, sulfate, silicon dioxide, iron oxide, and- She was cut off from her thoughts as the Major was pushed back against a wall before he managed to hit the other man back, and she decided to go with her gut, iron should do it! She looked around, finding a piece of rubble that had managed to get close to her from the walls, quickly drawing a circle to manipulate iron like she had been taught, taking her only a second to get the matrix right. It was all from memory, and it was a little messy, but when she clapped her hands and pressed it down to the circle, she watched as the transmutation moved through the walls and brought out a solid block of iron that hit the horned man in the head, giving Armstrong the chance to punch him again.
He looked back at Amelia, seeing the transmutation circle she had made, and gave her a thumbs-up. He was about to praise her when the man came up and grabbed him by the throat, pushing him against the wall, and she quickly went to perform another transmutation to try and stop him, but she missed as the man began to drag the Major by the neck, the side of his face shoved into the wall, being pushed hard enough that the concrete came apart as the man ran down with him towards where Amelia was standing. Armstrong quickly brought his palm out and knocked the man back off his feet before coming at him with another punch, landing it before he could strike back. They exchanged more blows back and forth until they both staggered back and had to take a moment to breathe.
Amelia could see blood dripping down the side of the Major's face from where he had been pushed into the wall, and started to rush over to help, "Teacher, your-!"
"Stay back, Amelia!" She was startled by the sudden harshness in his voice, seeing him almost glare at her through one blue eye. It wasn't out of anger, but he obviously didn't want her anywhere near this man, it was out of urgency that he spoke that way. She did as he said and kept her distance, staying close to the circle she had made. Armstrong looked back at the larger man, both of them taking a second to catch their breath, "You are a most commendable adversary, sir." He said as he wiped away some of the blood, but he was only able to see through one eye at the moment.
"And you're just as tough as ever, Major Armstrong." Amelia's eyes widened at the sound of him calling her teacher by name. Did they know each other? The surprise was shared by the Major before the man went on, "The last time I saw you in action was the Ishvalan Civil War."
"A former ally, eh?" The Major looked at him through new eyes. Though he didn't recognize the man in front of him, he respected his time served to their shared country, "Even more reason to end this now. No need for such bloodshed. Surrender!"
"And just let myself be killed?" Before the Major could get in a response, there were footsteps that caught Amelia's attention, looking back and seeing a platoon of soldiers coming in armed and ready to shoot.
"Major!" one of them called out to him, and he jumped back, grabbing Amelia and holding her to the wall as the guns fired on the horned man, who held up his arms defensively as bullets seemed to graze him, and hit him, but his skin almost seemed like a thick hide. They weren't going through as easily as they might for someone else. She could see that much from where the Major was hugging her against the wall.
He met her eyes for a second, and then the shooting suddenly stopped with the sound of… slicing? She couldn't see what had happened, but she heard someone calling out, "Roa!" before a man with a sword rushed through past the men he had cut with his blade, hitting a pipe that shot out hot steam into the room. The remaining soldiers fired into the shadows, but the steam grew too thick. The last thing Amelia saw was their silhouettes as they got up and ran away. Once the steam cleared and the soldiers could see they were gone, they started moving in to go after them.
Amelia looked up at the Major when he didn't move, "Um… Armstrong?" She looked up at him, seeing his face contorted in pain, "What's wrong?" She looked over him, not seeing any injuries beyond the one on his face, but when it seemed that the gunfire had stopped, he collapsed down onto his knees with a groan. Amelia could see his back, and see there were plenty of red marks across it, some of the bullets must have grazed him in the narrow hallway, but one went right into his side. "Shit!" She ran around to look at it, hissing through her teeth, "We need to get help." She looked up, calling out, "Hey! Help! Help us!"
"Amelia," She looked back at his voice, "I'm alright, I just need help standing." She nodded and moved under his arm to help him up as a soldier came rushing towards them.
"Major! What happened?" He asked, seeing his state.
"I was hit with the crossfire, I need medical attention." The soldier nodded and helped Amelia to get him out of there. One thing she noticed as they walked around was the lack of a specific someone.
"Where's the Fuhrer?" She asked, looking back over at the soldier.
"The blueprints of this place show there's a direct way into the sewers underground. He's gone to block their escape route." He informed her.
"By himself?!" She was surprised they let him. "But he's an old man! And the leader of your country!"
"The Fuhrer is one of the most capable fighters you've ever seen. He's fine, but we do have a platoon heading in there after him." He assured her as they walked the Major up the stairs and out the door. There was a small team just outside of the area, but the ways into the street had been closed off, and it was gathering a small crowd of people who wanted to see what was going on. She walked the Major over to a tent where a couple of others were already receiving some medical attention, one of them she recognized.
"Ed?" The blonde turned his head at the sound of his name, messing up the bandage that was being wrapped around his head, "What are you doing here?"
"That's what I should be asking." He said in response, looking over the Major, "What happened to him?"
"He got hit with some friendly fire on accident." She said, watching a couple of doctors come over and pull him over to the side to treat him. She looked back at him, seeing there was another woman with him as well, who was lying back on the bed and taking steady breaths as they cleaned around her mouth. "Who's she?"
"Don't try to get around the question, I asked you what you were doing here." Edward said firmly, and she scowled at him, "You're a civilian, what are you doing on a military raid?"
"The Major thought this would be good practice for me." She said, and she jumped as a doctor rushed over to her.
"Are you injured anywhere, Miss?" He asked.
"No, no, I'm fine. I never got hit or anything." She said quickly and the man walked away to get back to the others that needed his attention. She looked back at Edward, who seemed to be scowling at her. "What? I didn't get hurt, these freaks didn't even bother with me."
"You could have gotten seriously hurt, you don't know how to fight chimeras." She balked a little at his words.
"What are you talking about? They weren't chimeras…" She said, looking back at the building, trying to think over what she had seen. That man did suddenly grow horns… but she had been told the only human chimera that had been made was that dog-looking one from the Tucker residence. "They didn't look like it."
"I didn't think so, either." He said, "Still, you should have come."
"Well, gee, no need to be grateful or anything." She said sarcastically, crossing her arms. "The Major just took a bullet to try and help keep you guys safe is all." And that's when she noticed something else, "Wait, where's your brother?" He and Ed were normally inseparable, she had only seen them apart that one time Alphonse came to give her a gift.
"That's why I'm here." Edward said, "These people kidnapped him." He grunted as the doctor working on him tied up his bandages tightly, "Their boss wanted to know how to transmute souls." As soon as the doctor finished, he got up and he started to head back in.
"Hey!" Amelia followed after him as he rushed to the club, "What are you doing?"
"I need to get Al and make sure he's safe!" Edward said as he rushed down the stairs, "Stop following me! I don't want to get in trouble if you get hurt!"
"You're the one that's hurt, you should get back to the medical tent!" Amelia shot back as she went after him. Edward couldn't get all the way through the club before he was pushed back by another soldier.
"Sir, you're seriously injured, you need to get back up to the tent."
"Get out of my way! I need to go find my brother!" Edward snapped back at him.
"No need to worry, he's been found." A voice came up from behind the soldier blocking Edward's way in. The Fuhrer gave him a friendly smile as he came out. His uniform was wet and stunk a little from the sewer water, but he seemed perfectly fine otherwise, "I'm afraid he's not in the best state at the moment. When I found him, there was a dangerous woman hiding inside his armor. She's been taken care of, but he seems to be unconscious."
"Oh, no…" Edward ran around the soldier and the Fuhrer before rushing down the stairs, and Amelia rushed after him, wanting to make sure Alphonse was okay.
They came down the stairs to see a couple of soldiers propping him up against the wall. He sounded different, and she could guess it was because of the person inside of him, normally he sounded more… hollow. Edward ran past them, but Amelia kept her distance as she watched Edward try to call out to him, calling his name over and over as he checked him over. She walked a little closer as he started opening up his chest plate, and she gasped as a woman's body came tumbling out. She had been stabbed through the neck, blood covered her chest and her shoulders, and there was plenty of it inside of Alphonse's armor, too. The thing that disturbed her most was she could see her eyes, wide open and almost looking right at her. She couldn't help but be reminded of when she saw Hughes's eyes lose the light in them, and she turned away from the sight of it, "Jesus Christ…!" She felt like she was almost going to be sick.
It wasn't much longer before the Major came down, bandaged up and feeling better as he went to help Edward get the body out of Al's armor. They had to take her arms out of Alphonse's, and the same with her legs, but they managed. Amelia couldn't look at her the entire time as they pulled her still-dripping body out of Al's armor. She did glance at her when they lay her down, seeing her face one more time before her body was covered with a tarp. "Who was she…?" She asked quietly, to receive no answer from anyone as Edward started calling out to his brother again, who hadn't woken up once they got the body out.
"Hey, Alphonse!" He shouted at his blood seal, "Al, wake up! Al, say something! Al!" The light seemed to come on inside of Alphonse's helmet, two little glowing lights that looked like eyes, turning to recognize Edward.
"Brother?"
Edward sighed in relief, "You okay?"
"Are you okay? You're covered in blood!" Alphonse said, looking over Edward who hadn't stuck around to let the minor cuts on his body be treated like the huge one on his forehead.
"He's not the only one," Amelia spoke up, looking at Alphonse's open chest cavity, and the armor looked down, seeing a trail of blood coming from his chest to the body hidden under the tarp.
"We thought it best to open you and remove her before you awoke." The Major said gently, kneeling down to Alphonse's eye level.
The suit of armor was quiet as he looked at the body, and brought his hands to his face as he let out a whimper, "I couldn't save her…" His body seemed to tremble, and the sounds coming from him… Amelia was sure he was crying. Edward and the Major both had a somber look on their faces as they all felt how upset he was, trying to protect this woman only to have her die like she did… It was a horrifying thing to think about.
"You can't blame yourself, Al." Edward said in a quiet voice, but then he gave Alphonse a smile, trying to make him feel better, "Come on, let's go home, 'kay?" Alphonse didn't move at first, he had quieted but it was clear that he wasn't over what had just happened, "Al?" Edward's voice grew more concerned, and that was when Alphonse let his hands fall away to look up at his brother, before letting out a sigh.
"Hold it, you two." The four of them looked up to see the Fuhrer coming over to them, "There are a few questions I need to ask both of you before you can leave." The Major stood up to salute him, and Amelia and Edward stood up as well, though they didn't salute. "Have either of you have any previous dealings with the man who referred to himself as Greed?" Amelia's nose scrunched up a little at the name, who called themselves something like that?
Edward shook his head, "Of course not."
"Did you happen to trade any manner of information with him?" The Fuhrer asked.
"None at all." Edward answered, "Nothing that would benefit the military. It wasn't even mentioned, not once."
"That isn't my concern." He said, and Amelia noticed that the soldiers he had with him were pointing their guns at Edward, though none of them had been cocked, "Let me be more specific: If you arranged a deal or shared any knowledge with him, then I'll execute both of you right now." The words carried a heavy weight, and it was clear he was very much serious in his threat as the others around Edward and Alphonse all had their guns ready and aimed at them. They were surrounded, if there was a chance of getting out of this, it was an impossibly small one. The Fuhrer looked down at Edward with his one good, green eye that seemed to pierce right through Edward's golden gaze, "I'll ask again. Did you share any knowledge that might affect the military?"
Edward turned and looked the Fuhrer right back in his eye, "No." He said firmly, "Can we go now?"
The Fuhrer didn't look convinced, "I am curious about your steel arm and leg, and your brother's armored body." He said, "Is there any connection between the two?" The tension in the room could be cut with a knife as Edward's body stiffened at the mention of it. Amelia looked up at the Fuhrer, wondering if he knew the truth about the Elric brothers and what they had done. If it was true, there was a good chance they'd both be arrested for committing human transmutation, Edward would be stripped of his status and Alphonse… well, she couldn't imagine what they would try to do with a soul attached to a body that could fight endlessly, feel no pain, and never die of injury or old age. After a silent, tense moment of Edward and the Fuhrer staring each other down, the old man smiled and chuckled, "You really are an honest kid." The anti-climactic end to it brought Amelia some relief as the man turned around, leaving them behind, "Alright men, pull out." He looked back over his shoulder as he walked, "And you make sure to take good care of your younger brother, Edward." The older Elric didn't respond as the Fuhrer walked away.
When they were left alone, and the other soldiers had left, Edward held out his hand to his brother, "Come on, we should get you cleaned up." He said, offering to help him stand. Amelia looked over Edward, getting a closer look at the damage he had taken. His automail arm had come apart in a few places, but it still seemed to be working as Alphonse grabbed it and used it to help him stand.
"And you should probably get treated for your injuries, Brother," Alphonse said as he walked out with him, Edward carrying his chest plate as the Major and Amelia walked behind them.
"How's your side?" Amelia asked the Major, surprised he was treated so quickly.
"It's a small patch, but it's been numbed." He said, "They removed the bullet and closed up the wound, I should be back to myself in a week or two."
"Wow." She could only guess they had some doctors that knew alchemy if he was fixed so quickly. Still, she was glad that he was recovering quickly, it seemed. She stayed beside him as he finished getting treated, he had apparently gotten up as soon as they said he could stand and rushed after her, and Edward got the rest of his cuts and wounds treated before he and Alphonse left to get him cleaned up more thoroughly.
Amelia did end up meeting the woman that was getting medical treatment with Edward, she was a little surprised to find out she was Edward and Alphonse's alchemy teacher. Still, she made some idle small talk with her until they came to her home, which was also a butchery, apparently. Her husband was quick to get her to bed, as she had been coughing up a lot of blood and needed rest. Edward got to work on helping his brother clean up, and Amelia decided to help out a little bit with that. She ended up washing some of the blood out of Alphonse's loin cloth, which would have been weird if it was his actual clothes, but she didn't see it that way with him.
It was slightly disturbing to see the red suds coming up from the fabric as she washed it in the sink, and it was hard to look at it directly when it got on her hands since it just reminded her of what happened when Hughes had died. She tried to get it done quickly and she managed to finish soon enough. By the time it had dried, Edward was finishing up the last of cleaning Alphonse's chest plate. She and the Major had talked to him about what happened, with Alphonse describing his experience with them, telling about how they had threatened to let everyone know about his body if he didn't, kidnapping him, and how their leader was named Greed, and how he claimed to be a homunculus.
"What's a homunculus?" She asked, not familiar with the term.
"It means an artificially made person." Armstrong defined it for her, "But it's impossible to perform successfully. We don't have any record of that being done successfully, but in alchemical theory, it's possible."
"Yeah, he was nuts." Edward said, "But I couldn't deny how weird his body was…"
"How was it weird?" Amelia asked curiously.
"He could harden his skin at will." Edward said, reaching for a little container of polish and starting to put some on the front of Al's chest plate in front of him, "Oh, and there's something I forgot to mention. Greed had an Ouroboros tattoo, like the ones on those guys from the lab that I told you and Colonel Hughes about, remember? I'm pretty sure he's with those guys connected to the Philosopher's Stone." Edward looked back at Armstrong over his shoulder before getting back to the polishing.
"Colonel Hughes…! I…" Armstrong hesitated in saying anything else. With the way Edward acted, he didn't know about Hughes's death, and that meant he should tell him about it. Amelia looked up at him, seeing the conflict in his eyes before he moved around to put his hands on Edward's shoulders to get him to look him in the eyes, "Listen, Edward Elric," The boy looked a little flustered from Armstrong's sudden seriousness, "Do not do anything rash." Edward looked back at him, blinking a couple times before nodding.
"Sure…" He said quietly, and that seemed to satisfy the Major for the time being. He stood up and looked over at Amelia.
"Come Amelia, you must be tired after today." He said, and she started to walk with him, waving goodbye to the brothers as she walked with him away from the butcher where they were going to stay the night. "Good night, Elric brothers."
"Good night…" Edward said, looking back at him with a little confusion, but didn't really pursue it too much.
Amelia looked up at the Major as they walked, "So… a homunculus leading a bunch of human chimeras to do some petty crimes…" She thought out loud a little, "We didn't know that going in… and I don't think that was in the description of any of the guys, was it?"
"Not that I can remember," Armstrong said.
Amelia walked with him in silence a little while longer before she spoke up again, "Something's bugging me about that ouroboros tattoo, how it's all connected to this stuff going on…" She said, "Remember how you guys talked in Central? About unrest in the ranks because of the Philosopher's Stone or whatever?" The Major nodded, "And it was connected to those guys with the tattoos? Well… I get wanting to make sure that whatever they're doing is stopped, considering everything we know about the stone… but why did he give orders to have everyone killed? Why not keep some of them around for questioning? He said he wanted to get information on those guys."
The Major let out an uneasy hum as she spoke her thoughts aloud, but she continued, "Even more than that… He led this raid, I don't know if that was coincidence or what, but it seems kind of weird to have the most powerful man in the country take out a small-time gang that hadn't been caught for anything more than some accusations of vandalism and burglary. He should have just sent the investigations department to take care of that, right? Why did he deal with it himself?"
"I don't know the answers to the questions you're asking, Amelia." The Major said, "But I don't know that they should be something you ask out in the open." She sobered up a little at that and nodded, but it still didn't sit right with her. Something about this was wrong. She knew it, the Major knew it, and she was sure Ed and Al had figured it out, too. "I don't like what it insinuates… but I want to believe that the Fuhrer knew what he was doing."
"I'm not denying that." Amelia said, "But I just want to know what it was he knew that he was doing." She crossed her arms, mulling over it for a while longer as they walked back to the hotel.