The elevator ride felt longer than it was, considering it was in almost complete silence with the three teenagers alongside the homunculus, who was carefully watching the needle that told them how high they were going. Amelia was pretty quick to notice the elevator didn't have a "stop" function as it was just a lever. She remembered how, back during the time her parents must have been born, elevators were operated by a single lever and you had specially-trained operators to get you to the right floor without misstepping. The only reason she knew about it was because she had watched a couple of old movies that had elevators featured, and she had been curious about their development afterward since she was only familiar with the button-push kind. She guessed this was a similar level for everyone here as Envy seemed to keep a careful watch on it. The year was 1915, after all…
As they started to slow down, everyone jumped as Envy's form changed to that of a young man in a military uniform. He didn't have a particularly recognizable face, but Amelia saw that he had ranked himself as a First Sergeant. He stepped out of the elevator, and the three of them followed, looking at their surroundings and noticing just how familiar it all was, and scarily so. As they turned to look out the window, Edward and Alphonse rushed over, and Amelia joined them because she didn't want to be sure that this really was the place that they thought it was, but as she looked out the window and recognized the courtyard she had walked through with the Major a hundred times over, she knew there could be no doubt.
"It's Central Command…" Alphonse gasped out, "We were right below it!"
Before any of them could process this rather shocking news, and the elevator that had taken them directly from Father's Lair into Central Command, Envy turned around.
"Hey," His tone was snappy as he looked at them, "You guys are plastered with filth." Amelia and Edward looked over each other as he mentioned it. Amelia admittedly was still wearing her clothes from yesterday, which had more than a few grass and dirt stains from when she had slept on the ground, and Edward's clothes were encrusted with dried blood, on top of the fact that it had been about a day since either of them had actually showered. Edward's long hair was pretty greasy, and the bandage that covered his forehead was clearly stained from his sweat. Amelia couldn't find a mirror, but she imagined she only looked just slightly better than he did, or more likely just the same. "If I get caught bringing you guys in like that, Wrath's going to throw a fit. We're making a stop first."
They didn't question it as they were taken aside to a bathroom, complete with showers. Amelia couldn't deny that she was looking forward to washing up. "Clean yourselves up, I'll grab you some clean clothes." Envy commanded before slamming the bathroom door shut. Amelia and Edward glanced at each other, and then at the showers that lined part of the walls.
"Honestly, a shower sounds so good right now." She said, starting to walk towards one.
"Yeah, it really does…" Edward sighed in agreement. Their fatigue was starting to catch up to them, but this was an excuse to relax. Unfortunately, the showers didn't have a lot of privacy, as the doors only covered people from the waist down - these were obviously men's showers - so she picked a spot that was farther away from Edward before she stripped down, putting her clothes aside and turning on the showerhead. She let out a massive sigh in relief as she felt the warm water cascading down her body and washing away the dirt and grime from the last two days, as well as just taking a moment to relax in the warmth of it. There was a bar soap that was waiting for her, which she used eagerly to clean herself up even more, though no shampoo… so more bar soap it was for her hair. It was a little gross, and she didn't like it as much as she would have normal shampoo, but at the moment, soap was soap and she just couldn't get enough of it.
She could hear Al's armor clanking as he moved to sit down, and the sound of water rushing from another shower, Ed's. "God, this feels amazing!" She sighed out as she washed herself clean.
"Yeah! Who knew a shower could feel so nice?" Edward commented, "Especially after walking knee-deep through an ocean of blood. This feels great!"
"An ocean of what?!" Amelia rushed to her door, sticking her head out over it, and Alphonse immediately turned his head away, clearly embarrassed to have caught sight of her skin, though she had covered herself with her arm.
"Amelia! You're indecent!" He exclaimed in the high-pitched tone of an embarrassed teenager. Edward, for his part, didn't turn around, though he was incredibly stiff.
"What the fuck do you mean an ocean of blood?!" Amelia demanded, not caring for the brothers' embarrassment as she wanted to know what Edward meant.
"Inside Gluttony's stomach, it was just an ocean of blood." Edward said, "Envy told us he was a failed experiment by their Father to create his own portal of truth. I guess it turned out the way he imagined it? It was dark and there was just… blood everywhere. We had to trudge through it." Amelia relaxed a little bit and went back to cleaning herself off. "What were you guys doing while I was in there?"
"We were trying to figure out how to get you back." Alphonse said, "Well… we were trying the morning after you…" He trailed off, and there was a pause before he spoke again, "We were both a little… shocked. It took both of us while to get over it." Edward let out a sympathetic hum, "We didn't know what had happened to you, but Gluttony mentioned he had a Father, and… well, we went to go see him, to see if he would bring you back because you're a 'sacrifice.'"
"It was a long shot, but it was our only shot at the time," Amelia admitted.
"Right… Well, I guess it was good you were close to Gluttony when it happened." Edward said, "But still, I had no idea we'd end up here."
"I know! I can't believe they've been there this whole time." Alphonse said, "I never would have guessed they were beneath the Command Center."
"So, maybe it's not just the Fuhrer," Edward said, "The whole military might be involved."
"That's not a comforting thought," Amelia replied with a grimace. After she rinsed herself off, she turned off the shower and wrapped her hair up in a towel, making sure to dry that off first before she wrapped it around her body.
"I know," Edward replied in turn, his shower also shutting off, "But there is some good news in all of this." He smiled at his brother, "I had to go through the real portal to come back here, and when I did, I saw your body, Al."
"You saw it?! My body's still in there?!" Alphonse was in disbelief; his body was alive in the gate!
"It is," Edward confirmed, "I tried to reach out for it, but it said that it couldn't go with me since I wasn't its soul." Amelia stepped out of the shower, wrapped up in her towel as she heard all of this.
"My body…! It still exists! Yes! Yes!" Alphonse couldn't be more thrilled to hear this news, doing small, victorious arm pumps as he thought about it.
"Yes!" Edward joined him, pressing up his hair between his palms so that the little antenna he always had poking out of the top of his head stood up straight. Amelia frowned a little at that, always thinking that had been an accidental cowlick from how he slept at night, but nope. He did that on purpose.
"But was that all you saw?" She asked, "You didn't see anything other than Al's body?"
"I think my theory that we were connected was more or less accurate," Edward replied, stepping out of the shower with a towel wrapped around his waist. Amelia couldn't help gawking a little at Edward's shirtless torso, seeing just how many muscles he had been hiding under his clothes, her cheeks turned a little red as she realized she had been shamelessly staring at him, and she quickly tried to get her composure back. "That must have been the reason I saw it." He glanced at Amelia, his eyes going down to her exposed legs, as the towel just barely went down to her thigh (again, men's showers, men's towels just meant to cover the important bits) and turned away with a red flush on his cheeks.
"But you didn't see a girl?" She asked, "If Al's body was in there, then couldn't Katie still be in there, too?"
"I didn't see her," Edward said, pointedly looking away from her body as he spoke, "But I'm sure she must be in there if I could find Al." He looked over at his brother and smiled, "And now that we know that it's there, we're one step closer to getting it back!" He paused as he noticed something on his brother's shoulder, something that shouldn't have been there because it left them down in Father's lair. "Al, what's that weird little cat doing in here…?" The little panda cat had taken up residence on Alphonse's shoulder and was staring at Edward almost looking embarrassed.
"Uh…" Alphonse couldn't help stammering a little bit, "Well, you know that little girl?" He pointed to what would have been the stomach of his body.
"Are you serious?! She's inside your armor?!" Edward couldn't believe he had done that, and Amelia was a little surprised too. Neither of them had given much thought to her escape with Alphonse, but apparently, she had been too injured to go any farther, and with Alphonse being the kind soul that he was, he couldn't turn her away…
"Brother! Stop yelling!" Alphonse said, keeping his voice quiet, clearly trying to keep this from Envy, who could very well be waiting for them outside the door, "And while you're at it, will you put on some pants?"
The door slammed open to show the disguised Envy from before, "Hey! What's the hold up?! Get a move on!" He snapped, clearly having grown impatient.
"Jeez!" Edward jumped, and so did Amelia, "We just finished!"
"Just put these on and let's go!" Envy snapped, tossing a laundry basket onto the floor and shutting the door. Amelia and Edward went over to it, seeing it held two pairs of clean pants, two clean button-down shirts, and two coats. They each took one pile and started to dress themselves as quickly as they could. Amelia figured out pretty quickly that the clothes didn't fit her right, and she could only guess they must have been part of some standard civilian uniform or something like that at Central Command that Envy had just grabbed at random.
Once she got everything covered, and she had grabbed her old clothes, she tied off the end of the large shirt so she wouldn't have to worry about it being too loose on her. She put the little knot off to the side, and smiled at herself, thinking she had made her look a bit more stylish. She put on the coat over it and looked over at Edward, who was wearing the same shirt and pants she was, and they didn't fit him much better than they had on her. He saw the knot that rested on her side and frowned disapprovingly.
"Really? Why did you go and do that to a perfectly good shirt?" He asked.
"What are you talking about? I made this look loads better on me." She replied and was met with an eye-roll from Edward, "Oh, don't you dare act like that when you walk around in black leather pants all goddamn day!" She snapped.
"I make leather look damn awesome!" Edward snapped back.
"Sure, with a bright red fucking coat, too! Gawdy-ass little weirdo."
"At least I'm not the one trying to pass off as some kind of wannabe fashion model in her boyfriend's clothes! You look so boring!"
The two of them glared at each other, before one of them snickered, and they both broke out into laughter. Their accusations of poor fashion forgotten as they just laughed at their arguing and how ridiculous it was given their situation. They had both been through veritable hells, facing things they didn't want to face, and now they were arguing over something as petty as clothing choices. It was comical to have both of them so worked up after they had been forced into insane battle situations. Regardless of each other's thoughts, they were clean, and their clothes were clean, and they definitely felt refreshed after all they had gone through. It was a brief respite under the enemy's watch, but a welcomed one.
They all got out, with Alphonse making sure to hide the cat in his armor again to join its owner before they left to meet with Envy. He scoffed impatiently as he led them down the halls, which were mostly empty given how early in the morning it was. The Command Center was active, but not thriving like it would at its peak.
"Al, I can understand why, but I don't think you had to bring her along with us," Amelia whispered to the armored boy.
"What else was I supposed to do?" Alphonse retorted, "She's hurt pretty bad."
"Hey!" Envy's voice snapped them out of their quiet conversation as they saw him standing in front of a pair of heavy-looking wooden doors, "Wrath will take over babysitting you now. Right this way."
"Wrath…?" Edward repeated the name, it had been spoken a few times, and they could only guess it was another homunculus. As Envy opened the doors and the three of them passed the threshold, they saw who was waiting for them at a large, round table, looking over the edge of his teacup as the three of them entered. It looked like they would be meeting with Fuhrer Bradley, whose real name was actually Wrath.
Amelia noticed pretty quickly that, among the seats, there were actually four of them, and one was currently occupied by another individual. It took her only a brief second to recognize the Colonel from the night before. Had he come straight here after what happened at the safe house? But why was he caught up in all of this? Surely his method of investigating was a little more discreet than just demanding that the Fuhrer say he was a homunculus…
They all walked in, with Edward going over to Colonel Mustang, "What's going on?" He asked, wondering why he was here.
"Where should I begin?" Mustang crossed his arms before glaring up at the Fuhrer, "Feury's been shipped south, Falman's been sent up north, Breda's been reassigned to the west, and Lieutenant Hawkeye is now a personal assistant to the Fuhrer." As he spoke, the doors creaked and Amelia glanced back to see Envy closing them, giving them all complete and total privacy as Mustang revealed what had happened to his men.
Edward glared at the Fuhrer as he heard this news, Mustang's men were officially being held as hostages, and there wasn't anything they could do about it now. For his part, Wrath seemed indifferent to their angry glares, looking as calm as ever, though not the contented, happy grandfather look that he would have normally displayed prior to them discovering his secret.
"Go ahead and take a seat." He invited them, and they all reluctantly sat down as he poured them all a cup of tea. Amelia recognized the blend from its somewhat pink appearance - the same raspberry tea that she had shared with him that first day she was in Amestris, and was brought to his office for a cup to talk about her new deal to avoid prison. That day seemed an eternity away from now, where she knew so little and cared so little about what was going on around with the others near her. Now, she was caught up in the middle of a huge conspiracy, the leader of this country wasn't human - maybe he never was - and he was leading the entire nation to its doom for the sake of his creator. How long had this been going on? And how much longer would it take before they reached the end times?
In the silence as they all settled in, she couldn't help but take notice of their privacy in this situation. The guards had left them alone. There were four of them and only one of him. His only weapon was a single sword resting on the table beside him, but easily within reach. Was he that confident he could defeat all of them at once if they jumped him together? After she had seen him fighting Ling, she knew he was quick on his feet for his age and definitely plenty agile. She didn't want to fight him alone, but could they beat him altogether? In the back of her mind, she knew there was a chance, but it wasn't a very big one.
The sound of a light cough broke the silence, a cough from Al's armor, which he quickly covered up by making his own coughing sounds to attempt to hide the girl inside of him, though it wouldn't be easy now.
Edward took the moment to add to the distraction, bringing his automail arm up on the table as he spoke, "Fuhrer…!" He had snapped at the man to get his attention, but relaxed a bit once he met his eyes, "So what was that in the hospital that day? When you came to visit me," His eyes narrowed, "You really had us going, didn't you?"
"I don't recall lying," Bradley answered, "I instructed you to suspect everyone, and not to meddle any further." He looked up at Edward as he put down the teacup that he had been sipping from a moment before speaking, "The only thing that you need to know is that you're important to us, and there's no need for you to dig any deeper. Accept the importance of your role and keep your heads down. You do that, and no harm will come to you."
"Well, that's great for us, but what happens to all the people who aren't lucky enough to be considered 'sacrifices?'" Edward asked.
"There's nothing you need to know that I haven't already told you. Is that clear, Fullmetal Alchemist?" Bradley replied his tone calm, but commanding. He knew his rank and power and spoke like a true leader, firm in his orders.
Edward's expression shifted into a wry grin, "You chose that as my title. Heh." He reached for his pocket watch, looking at it, "I only joined the military because I thought it might help us get our bodies back, but now?" The grin fell away as he gripped at the watch, glaring at it, "Now I know what the State Alchemist Program really is. You're using it as a way to recruit your sacrifices." He spat out his words with venom, glaring up at the Fuhrer, "Well, I'm not gonna let you use me to accomplish your sick goals!" He threw the watch on the table, the little device sliding over in front of Bradley, "I resign my title as a state alchemist!" Amelia's eyes went wide as she heard him declare this. Did he not understand what that meant for her?! He was her alchemy teacher! He was the one that was keeping her under the military's watch! If he wasn't a state alchemist, it meant she would be reassigned to someone else, or worse, thrown back in jail.
Before she could find the voice for her protests, Bradley's voice cut through, "The symbol of the dog, fittingly crusted with blood." He commented on the state of Edward's watch, which had no doubt picked up some bloodstains from his time walking around in Gluttony's stomach, and his own injuries.
"Your plans are gonna fail, I swear on my own grave that I'm gonna stop you." Edward continued threatening Bradley, "I'll warn the other state alchemists! I'll tell them-!"
"It seems you'll be moving custody, Miss Seymour." Bradley's voice cut him off as he spoke to Amelia, who went pale as he put his attention on her, "Of course, we won't be able to just have you wandering wherever you please while you wait for a reassignment, considering you're not an Amestrian citizen." She shrunk underneath his cold, green gaze as Edward froze as he seemed to realize what this meant for her, "We'll have to place you under military custody, and I think I'll see to that myself, to help speed up the process. I'm sure we'll find you a comfortable cell to wait in until someone answers that summons. I'll make sure to personally pick out your tutor myself." She shrunk further, looking down at her lap as her heart began to beat painfully fast in her chest from fear.
"You can't do that!" Edward snapped, jumping to his feet.
"I'm afraid that decision is out of your hands," Fuhrer Bradley replied. "She knows too much not to be a threat, I may just gut the unique pardon I placed to allow her to roam outside of prison to begin with."
Edward's hand gripped at the table angrily, "She's innocent in all of this! She hasn't done anything against you, and she has nowhere to go! You can't just dump her in a prison cell like that! Just leave her out of this!" The Fuhrer let out a small huff that would have appeared as just a small laugh to the undiscerning eye, but it was clearly irritation at Edward's stance on this. Amelia looked up at Edward as he defended her, glad that he was trying, but she wasn't hopeful. The Fuhrer was right, she knew far too much to not be considered a threat, and with nothing to benefit them by keeping her with an uncertified alchemist who had renounced his certification, she was ultimately doomed.
"Well, that's up to you," The fuhrer said, taking Edward's watch and sliding it back towards him, "If you'd rather not take it, then I'll simply have to go ahead with transferring her into a cell, and holding her until someone truly worthy of our goals comes along. She might just be stuck in a cell for a long while before then, though." His threat wasn't subtle, he would keep her imprisoned for as long as he could. He wouldn't even allow her to transfer over to someone else.
Edward scowled at the Fuhrer, taking his watch and stuffing it back into his pocket. He looked over at Amelia apologetically as he sat down. In his outburst of disgust at their plans, whatever they were, he had forgotten just how fragile her position was in this country. She was at the Fuhrer's disposal much more than she was at Edward's, and it left her in a very vulnerable position with her knowing as much as she did about the country and everything that was happening in its government.
"How thoughtful." Wrath smiled as he watched Edward sit down, he turned to Amelia, "I hope you'll continue to take lessons with Edward Elric, Miss Seymour, and improve on your alchemy skill so that you might open the portal as well." She looked down and away from the Fuhrer, a telltale sign that she was keeping something from him that he picked up on right away but didn't say anything about it. "If it takes too long, of course, we can always involve your previous teacher, Major Armstrong." Her head shot up as he mentioned her old teacher's name so casually, "I'm sure he would be a proper motivation for you. I'm sure his family would be of great support to that effort, as well. I understand you all became quite close when you were staying under his custody." She felt a chill rush down her spine at the thought of the Major being hurt, or killed, just as 'motivation' so that she could open the portal.
"Uh, sir?" Alphonse's voice broke through, "You don't have to worry about us, or Amelia, we'll keep an eye on her, but I have to ask: if we're going to continue to serve under your watch, will you please allow us to continue to search for a way to get our original bodies back? Please, sir."
The fuhrer took a sip of his still-warm tea (and was really the only one with enough stomach to drink any in this meeting as no one else was touching theirs), and turned to Alphonse, "I don't see why not, as long as you don't interfere with our plans." He looked over at the Colonel, "And what do you have in mind, Colonel? Surely, you wouldn't do something so petty as to quit the military?"
"Good question," Mustang took a moment to think, his hand on his chin, "I'm on a short leash here, but I still find that preferable to giving up." He gave Edward a pointed look as he said that last part, "And I still have my ambitions, your plans don't change that." He relaxed his arms as he seemed to come to a conclusion, pulling out his pocket watch to show him, "So I'll hang onto this, and I'll retain my rank, too." Wrath smiled again. The more Amelia looked at it, the more it became clear that it was a false smile. Something meant to put them at ease, but it wasn't genuine.
"That's fine with me." He replied, "We have nothing more to discuss." With that clear dismissal, they all began to stand up so they could leave.
"I would like to ask you one question, sir." Mustang's voice became cold as he addressed his superior officer.
"Would you, now?" Bradley's calm voice replied. "Go ahead."
"Are you the one who murdered General Hughes?" Edward, Amelia, and Alphonse all looked back at the fuhrer to see the answer to his question. His death affected all of them, but Amelia would have never thought to ask that of Bradley. Now that she thought about it, the night he died, he had been asking her for information about the country's history, pulling different binders off the shelves that contained the documented military actions over the years. It's possible he already knew what was going on before the rest of them did and was subsequently killed for it soon after.
"No, that was not me." The fuhrer replied calmly.
"Then who did?"
"Colonel," The fuhrer spoke in a firm tone, "I agreed to one question."
Mustang frowned, but nodded, "We'll be leaving now." As everyone began to turn around to leave, the fuhrer stood up.
"Ah, just one moment Alphonse," The armored boy turned back to see the fuhrer coming at him with his sword unsheathed, driving it into the side of his armor and out the other side, shocking the trio as they knew who was hiding in his armor, and it seemed he was aware of them now. He had just tried to kill that little girl! Well… "tried" being the key-word, as there was no visible sign of blood on his sword. He pulled it out, looking at the blade suspiciously.
"Uh… is that all?" Alphonse asked nervously.
"That's all," Bradley replied as he sheathed his sword again, "You're now dismissed." They stepped out of the room, Colonel Mustang closing the door behind them, and they all took a moment to express their panic quietly, letting out groans of relief as their blood drained from their faces.
That had been way too close! As Amelia heard Alphonse's armor shaking, she could hear something in his leg that gave it a bit more solidity - smart girl! She was small enough to hide in his massive leg and avoid getting killed!
But once that moment had passed, and they had gotten over their fears from the sudden attack, Amelia looked over at Edward, "The Major…!" She was clearly worried about her old teacher when Fuhrer Bradley had threatened him, and Edward nodded.
"Hey, Colonel," The man looked over at him as Edward stepped forward with an outstretched hand, "Help us out, have you got any change?"
"You want my money now?" He grumbled as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a handful of cenz, which Edward snatched away to count up.
"Just give it!" He counted it and looked unimpressed, "Jeez, is that all you got? Really?"
"It's apparently more than you've got!" Mustang snapped.
"Sure, whatever," Edward pocketed it and they all started to jog out, "See ya!"
"Hey!" The colonel didn't understand why they were suddenly running off, after a meeting like this, it would be best for them to strategize and figure out their exact next move.
"Sorry Colonel, we'll explain everything later!" Alphonse promised as the three of them ran down the hall and rushed out of the building.
Colonel Mustang just watched the three kids rush off, left behind, "What the hell's with them…?" He asked himself but was quickly reminded of who had been waiting for him in all this time and started to rush to the front gate of Central Command to check on the Lieutenant, who was just transferred to be Bradley's personal aide. Had she left her post, or was she still waiting for him? He rushed outside to the front gate and immediately skidded to a halt as he came to his car.
Instead of the usual stoic, but comforting figure of Lieutenant Hawkeye standing there waiting for him, he found the extremely imposing, massive silhouette of Major Armstrong. He stared at him for a second, his disappointment overwhelming before he went over to rest on a stone post at the gate.
"Is there something troubling you, Colonel?" He asked, "You seem slightly discomposed."
"Just how do you expect me to appear?" Mustang muttered, "I had hoped a young woman would be standing there, not a mustachioed muscle man…!" He heard footsteps and looked up, at the same time the person walking over happened to see him.
"Colonel?" Mustang felt a wave of relief as he saw his loyal lieutenant standing in front of him.
"Lieutenant…" He stood up a little straighter, glad to see she was well.
"I was getting worried…" She felt some relief of her own, before she stood at attention, "Ah, sorry!" She reached up to salute him, "Lieutenant Hawkeye reporting back to post from latrine break, sir! Major Armstrong happened to be passing by. He was nice enough to watch my post for me," She turned to Armstrong, "Thanks for everything, Major. I appreciate it."
"No trouble at all," Armstrong replied.
"So… you didn't run off." Mustang commented as he looked at his lieutenant, having thought that the news of her reassignment would have sent her far away from her post and getting ready to work for her new "boss" as it were.
"Someone once told me to never give up, no matter what." She replied in a soft voice, "And once was all I needed."
The Colonel was a little surprised to hear his own words that he had said to her so long ago tossed back at him, amazed that he had that much of an impact on her, and truthfully, it was a little heartwarming to hear it, not that he would ever admit it out loud in front of the Major or any other subordinates. He smiled and reached one hand up to push some of his dark hair back, "Just don't ever tell me you wished you'd run when you had the chance, alright?" He turned around to go back to his car but still looking over his shoulder to see his lieutenant falling in step behind him, her face bearing an amused smile.
"It's too late for regrets." She replied. As they made their way back to the parked car, the Colonel stopped and looked up at the Major, who intended to see them off.
"Do you have any important work to get to, Major?" He asked him, and the Major shook his head.
"No, since I've reassigned Miss Seymour, my work has become easier to handle, and it seems I've fallen back into my usual routine." He replied.
The Colonel paused, remembering how the Fuhrer had openly threatened the Major in front of Amelia, and he remembered seeing how pale she had become at the thought of him being hurt or killed. "If you've got some spare time, how about you join us for a drive?" He asked, opening up the door to the back seats for him, "There's something I've been meaning to ask you about your former apprentice." After seeing all that they had done against the homunculus from the night before and knowing how she had only been with the Elric brothers for a short time, but still involved, he wanted to make sure he had as much information as he could about his potential allies, and maybe gather more.
The Major was a little confused by the offer but nodded and went in with him and the Lieutenant, the car turning around and driving away from Central Command to a quieter place where they could talk.
Amelia had rushed with Edward and Alphonse to a phone booth just outside of Central Command. After confirming that she remembered the phone number for the Armstrong estate, she rushed in and used the spare change from Colonel Mustang to start it up, dialing in their number in the old rotary phone and waiting as she counted the rings. One, two, three…
"Hello, Armstrong residence, who's speaking, please?" Amelia's eyes widened as she recognized the voice.
"Katherine, is that you?" She would have expected Horace the stone-faced butler to answer the phone, or Bernice the salt-of-the-earth cook, but not Katherine.
"Oh, um, yes?" She sounded nervous, "Who is this?"
"Katherine, it's me, Amelia. Listen, I was calling because-"
"Amelia! Oh, how good to hear from you! You haven't called us at all since you were reassigned!" She sounded thrilled, and she could hear her voice growing quieter, probably holding the phone away to shout out, "Strongine! Amue! Amelia's on the phone!"
"No, Katherine, I didn't call to talk-!"
"Amelia? Is that truly you?" Amue's voice cut her off, "It's been so long! Did you know we had a phone installed in the parlor room since you left? I'm talking to you on it now!"
"Yes, hello, Amue," She greeted her, still trying to be polite, "Listen, I don't know how long I can talk, but-"
"It's about time you gave us a call, we've been so worried!" Strongine's voice cut her off and Amelia listened as the three sisters started talking over one another as they spoke to her over three different phone lines, rushing out questions and telling her about everything that had happened since she left the estate. The entire time she was being badgered by these questions, Edward and Alphonse listened in from the open phone booth door.
"We've been so eager to see you-"
"-And we had another phone put in the living room!"
"Katherine's lessons are going well-"
"-Alex tried to give us the number for your hotel-"
"You need to make sure to get your teacher to let you visit-"
"-despite your absence, she's still improving-"
"-But of course, he couldn't remember your room number-"
"-We have so much to talk about! The latest book came out early-"
"-But it's not the same without you! You must come and-"
"-And he didn't know if they were keeping you in the same room, or-"
"-It's more than I could have dreamed! Everything between Rose and-"
"-Perform with us, again! Or at least send over some more of your music-"
"Okay, that's great, girls, but-" Amelia could hardly get a word in over their talking.
"-I keep meaning to set aside time to visit you, but-"
"-because if we had your music there's more we could practice-"
"-Damien's become such a terrible tease in the story-"
"-What do you bring to a hotel? What kind of gift would you like?"
"-and you're such a lovely composer, your pieces are so charming!"
"-and now there's this new romantic rival! She's so dastardly!"
"I could bring over some cake, or some pie, or another bouquet?"
"So, I really must insist on a visit, with all your sheet music-"
"Oh! I haven't even told you the best part about what's happened-"
"Can I say something, please?!" Amelia nearly shouted over the phone, and the three girls suddenly quieted. She sighed, "I'm sorry for yelling, but I called for a reason. Is Teacher there?"
"Alex?" Katherine's voice came through, "No, he left for work just a short while ago, you just missed him."
"Oh," Amelia couldn't deny being a little disappointed at that.
"I told you he was her favorite," Amue's voice piped up.
"Oh, you hush! You don't know what you're talking about." Strongine snapped back.
"I don't really have a- Anyway, that's not what I called to talk about." Amelia got back to the point, "Have you guys noticed anything strange happening at the estate lately? Or when you're out in town?"
"Strange how?" Strongine asked.
"Well, like… someone on the staff that you don't know, or someone suspicious following you around?" Amelia was worried about them, too. They had all grown close in their time together, and she didn't want anything to happen to them.
"I don't think we've hired anyone new…" Amue said, "If we did, Mother and Father would have mentioned it to us, or announced someone's retirement."
"Yes, I'm sure we would have been made aware if that happened." Strongine said, "But you don't need to worry," Amelia heard her taking on a softer tone of voice that told her the young woman was smiling, "Everything is fine. We're Armstrongs, after all! If our security detail doesn't catch them, then we'll deal with them ourselves with the methods of self-defense that have been passed down through the Armstrong line for generations!"
"Oh, yes, just like Katherine did when we had that intruder," Amue said.
"Oh, girls…" Katherine bashfully replied.
"You would have been so proud, Amelia! We had this intruder come into the house roughly a month or so before you came. A spindly little man all dressed in black, and Katherine scared him away with the family piano!" Amue continued proudly.
"Mother was so mad when she found it against the wall, though," Katherine said.
"A small price to pay for your safety," Strongine replied, and Amelia smiled.
They had hardly changed since she left, and that was so oddly comforting to her as she let them continue to talk. Picturing tiny Katherine using a piano to throw out an intruder was a strange image, but she let the girls talk a little while longer, just because it was good to hear their voices after her time away, and after all of her time dealing with crazed homunculi and insanely dangerous situations. A little of the mundane was refreshing after all that.
"Oh, and we should tell you that Strongine's been seeing a suitor!" Katherine said excitedly, "With the intent to marry!" She practically squealed.
"What? Strongine, that's great! Congratulations!" Amelia replied.
"Oh, thank you. He's really quite a gentleman," Strongine said, "We've been exchanging letters for some time now, and he's so sweet and charming. And he's the loveliest poet, I think I'm head over heels for him."
"She definitely is, she's been talking about their upcoming meeting almost non-stop." Amue replied in an annoyed tone of voice, "I've never seen her so chatty. It's almost scary."
"I don't want to hear that from you, Little Miss Book Club!" Strongine replied.
"Just make sure his feelings are true, and he's not after your family's money." Amelia advised, "As pretty as you are, you need to be sure."
"But of course!" Strongine replied.
"By the way, Amelia," Amue spoke up, "We've been getting letters addressed to you from a Richard Wallace? They're not many, but-"
"Richard!" Amelia had completely forgotten, letting out a small groan, "I know exactly who that is, I still haven't replied to his first letter…" She felt terrible, she wasn't even sure she had that copy of his letter anymore, "I don't remember where I put it after I got it… oh, Jesus, it must have been a month ago by now."
"Well, it seems he's still faithfully sending you letters," Strongine said, "Should we write him back and tell him you've been reassigned? We could give him your hotel address."
She let out a small sigh, "I mean… I guess that could work? I would appreciate it."
"We'll have the letters sent to your hotel where you're staying," Strongine said.
"That would be nice, I've just been so busy, and things have been so crazy lately…"
"Well, perhaps we can discuss them over tea and cakes?" Strongine suggested.
"Ooh, yes!" Katherine agreed, "What sort of tea cakes would you like? There are so many flavors! My personal favorite is the strawberry ones, I love those best."
Amelia smiled, "I don't know when I could, but I'll get back to you when I can. I promise." She let out a small sigh, "And don't take this the wrong way, but it's been really nice to hear all your voices again."
"Even after you yelled at us?" Amue asked in a teasing tone of voice, and Amelia's cheeks turned red.
"Yes, and I said I was sorry about that." She said, and the girls all laughed.
"Very well, I'm sure you're very busy with your new tutor, so we'll let you go." Strongine said, "As long as you promise to come and visit before winter sets in."
"Alright, I'll do my best to come over before then." She promised.
"Is it true the Fullmetal Alchemist is teaching you?" Katherine asked, "I think we met him when we were moving in your things, he's so popular these days! And he fills out his armor so well for 14." Amelia couldn't hold back a snicker and looked back at Edward and Alphonse, with Ed just looked irritated that someone had made that mistake again.
"I'll be sure to tell him you said that." She said, "But you're sure everything's okay at home?"
"Oh, yes. Everything's fine." Katherine reassured her.
"If something was wrong, we would tell you," Strongine said.
"And we'll let Alex know you're worried about him, too," Amue added.
"Okay, thank you, girls." She said, "I'll try to talk to you later, okay?"
"Alright, goodbye Amelia!" Strongine said.
"We miss you!" Amue said.
"Call us again soon!" Katherine said.
"Alright, goodbye." She hung up the phone and let out a big sigh of relief as she turned around to face the brothers, "They're all okay. I think they're still safe, for now."
"You know," A voice popped up outside of the phone booth, "It's that kind of desperate worry they're going to manipulate you with." They turned to see the body of Ling leaning against the phone booth with his elbow propped up, and his hand resting on the side of his head. They hadn't even heard him walking over! He shocked all three of them, and the last thing they wanted to see now was yet another homunculus!
"Ling!" Ed called out.
"No, it's Greed. Still." He shot back with that big, toothy grin that Ling would never wear on his face.
They all got their guards up, ready for a fight, "What do you want?" Edward asked.
Greed reached out with his unpropped hand, showing a long piece of cloth that had something written on it in what Amelia thought were Chinese characters that spanned the length of the cloth. All of it seemingly written in blood. "Your pal asked me to bring this to you." Greed said.
"Ling did?" Edward took the cloth and looked it over, unable to make out what was written at all. "What does it say? It's in some other language." He looked up at Greed, who shrugged.
"Yeah, it is…" He answered, "But he just wants you to deliver it to some girl."
"You mean Lan Fan?" Amelia asked.
Edward glared at him, "Is this some kind of trick? Because if you follow us and try to kill her…!"
"I've got more class than that, alright?" Greed scoffed, looking a little offended, though it shifted into a playful grin, "And as a rule of thumb, I don't fight women." He gave Amelia a little wink, and she met him with a frown.
"How about if I punched you in the gut, would you fight me then?" She asked, crossing her arms.
"Ha! Sweetheart, you'd be lucky to tickle me." Greed replied.
"Sexist." She shot back and was met with another shrug from Greed, who decided to drop the subject. He looked over at Edward and Alphonse, who still had their guards up, ready to fight and take him down if they needed to, still holding onto Ling's note.
"And another rule of mine is to never tell a lie, but hey," He turned around and dismissed himself with a wave, "It's your call." He walked away from them, and Edward turned to watch him go.
"Hey, wait! Ling!" He called out to him again.
"It's still Greed, kid." The homunculus called back without even turning around. As they looked back at the note, Amelia glanced at it.
"Looks like Chinese," She couldn't help commenting.
"What?" Edward looked at her in confusion.
"It's the language from this country called China back where I'm from," Amelia said, "It's this huge country that's been around for thousands of years, I think they have Mandarin and Cantonese as the official names, but I can't read or speak either of them."
"Well, I can't speak Xingese, either," Edward said as he glanced at the note and let out a small sigh. He looked up, and Greed was gone from sight. "I guess we'll just have to deliver it." He looked over at Alphonse, "Here, Al. You take this with you and go see Dr. Kocs and Lan Fan, he can check out that little girl, too."
"Right," Alphonse took the cloth, folding it up and holding onto it, "What are you going to do, Brother?"
He sighed, "Well, I've been absent since the MPs came looking for us after that Scar fight, I'm sure they want me to go around and make up for my missed work." He wasn't particularly happy about the idea.
"I can help you out, if you want." Amelia offered, "Technically, I'm supposed to stay under your watch, anyway."
"Yeah…" Edward glanced away from her awkwardly before he looked back at Alphonse, "How about we meet back at the hotel, okay?"
"Sure, Brother." Alphonse agreed, and the two separated, with Amelia joining Edward as they headed away from him.
"Are you seriously just going to walk into the military office like you didn't just talk to Fuhrer Bradley?" She asked, a little surprised he wanted to go back after that talk.
"Well… no. But I'm sure the MPs are swarming the place where we fought Scar, we probably left a bit of damage behind." He sighed as he stuffed his hands in the pockets of his loaned coat. "I should at least go back and fix up as much of it as I can."
"I'm sure there were other alchemists who have fixed it up by now." Amelia said, "It's been… well, it's been almost a full day by now."
"Maybe, but it still couldn't hurt," Edward replied, and Amelia nodded and continued to walk with him for a few more steps. Edward kept glancing between her and where he was walking before reached up to scratch at the back of his head, "Um, listen… about before," Amelia looked over at him, "I wasn't thinking about what would happen to you. I just went with my gut and I… I almost put you in a really bad place. I'm sorry."
Amelia knew exactly what he was talking about and she stopped walking, with Edward doing the same to look over at her, "I know you are. You have this really bad tendency to act without thinking first." She frowned at him, "Like jumping in the line of fire at your own risk, and then you end up getting swallowed by a homunculus and leaving me and Alphonse alone thinking you were dead." Edward looked down guiltily as she mentioned it, "And doing that on top of trying to quit the military when I've been categorized as someone that needs almost constant military supervision? We can just add that on to the list of stupid things you do without thinking at all, you goddamn mutton-head." He wilted a little under her glare, knowing that she was right as she called him out on his actions. She still glared at him for a silent second longer, but after a moment her expression softened, "But… I know you do everything because it's what feels right with you, your gut is an annoyingly good gut." She stepped a little closer, "And if I'm being honest, I'm really just glad you're alive and still with me." She moved her arms around him, and Edward's cheeks turned red from the strangely intimate contact as she gently hugged him. "We were really scared, Ed. I was genuinely afraid I couldn't do anything but run away… so please don't do that again."
He hesitated a moment before moving his arms around her back and returned the hug. He did feel guilty for what he had done and worrying them, but it was good to know that she understood his reasons why, even if she didn't approve of his behavior, "I'm sorry." he apologized again, "I'll try to be a little less reckless from now on."
"A little?" Amelia lifted her head up to look at him with a disapproving frown, like a strict nanny might look at a child who had just said the wrong word as she pulled away from him.
The sight actually made Edward laugh, "Alright, I'll try to be a lot less reckless from now on."
"Or just not reckless at all," Amelia replied, still keeping that look.
"Well, I can't promise that." Edward shot back, earning him a painless kick to his automail leg.
"God damn it! I keep forgetting which leg is fake!" She cursed, and Edward just laughed more, which earned him a punch in his flesh shoulder.
"Hey, ow!"
"I remember which arm is real, though." Edward glared at her and grumbled, Amelia just let out a laugh at his pouting face. After a moment, he relaxed and chuckled along with her, the two of them continuing their walk down the road. It was good to have things feel normal again.
"Fuhrer Bradley is a homunculus?!" Armstrong couldn't believe his ears as he heard this news from Colonel Mustang. He had driven them just off of the main road into a shaded street that didn't have many people walking down it and had told him everything that had happened. He told him about how Amelia had been involved in the capturing of a homunculus, how he had been told about Fuhrer Bradley, and how he went back to Central Command to see if it was the truth, only to find out the entire senior staff not only knew this, but were working with the Fuhrer and his plans.
It was a lot to absorb, but Mustang had left nothing out, not even the part about him being used to threaten Amelia's progress to 'open the portal' and become a 'sacrifice' like the Elric brothers had, "It can't be… The only thing I've ever wanted to do was protect my fellow countrymen…" His fist clenched tightly, "And I'm not the only one… So many soldiers have put their trust in the military… And this? This is the truth?" He hung over his lap, his shoulders shaking as he tried to fight back the tears that he felt for his fellow soldiers, knowing they were fighting pointless wars for the sake of some goal that had yet to be met that would likely doom all of them. Not to mention that Amelia had gotten caught in the middle of this as well, she had the enemy's eye focused on her. Amelia who, for all he tried to train her, could barely fight off a sandbag, let alone a powerful homunculus.
"You could resign, Major." The Colonel suggested, making him freeze for a moment at the idea, "With your disposition, I'm afraid you'll suffer otherwise."
The Major took a moment to think it over. While it would be easy for him to run away, resign and call it a night… it wasn't right. He had run away before, he had been distraught over the things he had done. He had come to his commanding officer carrying the corpse of an Ishvalan child who had been no older than Katherine at the time. It horrified him, and he pleaded his case, saying that the war was wrong, that they were killing innocents alongside insurgents. He should have said that they needed to be more organized than an attempt at genocide, but he had been too distressed and overwhelmed to form a proper argument at the time. His commanding officer simply looked down his nose at him, dismissed him and sent him home to Central while they called in a replacement for him. In hindsight, he was lucky not to have been court-martialed for disobeying a direct order, but his time at home was spent wallowing, remembering, and going through some of the worst parts of his experience over and over again. His family had to pull him out of his room to speak to them, and to find himself again slowly over a period of months.
"I collapsed in Ishval, I couldn't bring myself to stay and fight… The military's methods were ghastly, I could see the malignance. But still," He frowned, "I chose to turn away and run when I should have fought to protest their actions!" He looked down at his hands that had once cradled the child he didn't know, the one that had died in front of him and shocked him to his core that he began to cry and beg for the end of this fight to his superior officer. "That decision… it's haunted me every day since then, it makes me sick that I abandoned my beliefs." He clenched his hands into fists, feeling his body becoming filled with a new determination as he thought of his past shame for being dismissed, "And now that I face the military again," He sat up straight, looking ahead as if facing the troubles and toils that were undoubtedly in front of him, "I have to fight. I couldn't live with myself if I ran away now!" He had people to protect, and if the military he joined was his enemy, so be it. He wouldn't let them hurt his countrymen, he wouldn't let them hurt his parents, or his sisters, or least of all, Amelia. They wouldn't get the chance to hurt her, he wouldn't let them.
The Lieutenant looked over at Colonel Mustang, who had listened to everything Armstrong said without looking at him, instead staring out the window as he watched a platoon of soldiers march by across the street.
"And how do you plan on handling all of this, Colonel?" Lieutenant Hawkeye asked.
"The Fuhrer asked me that," He began, "I told him I wasn't going to quit or give up my ambitions." His answer shocked both of his companions, amazed that he had been so upfront with the Fuhrer about his own goals. They knew full well that he wanted the Fuhrer's seat, it was his goal to rule over the country of Amestris from Bradley's position. "The Fuhrer seemed like he was downright eager to reveal his true nature as a homunculus to me. It appears he wants me to know there's someone even more powerful giving him orders." He turned away from the window and looked down in his lap, threading his fingers together in front of him as he took time to think about this new development, and the new strategies they would need to form, "Seems they're testing me." He looked over at the Lieutenant and the Major, "I have to admit, I'm honored."
"You seem surprisingly calm." Hawkeye couldn't help commenting. Most people would take the news of having a target on their back with a bit more alarm than the Colonel was presenting. It was, frankly, a little disturbing.
The colonel grinned, "I don't know. It's just…" He leaned forward in the passenger's seat, resting his elbows on his knees as he collected his thoughts for a moment, "Well, it's similar to how I felt during the battle with Lust. I've been called a human weapon, and a monster. Maybe I deserve it, but I can tell you this much." He looked up with a fire burning in his eyes, "I never feel more human than when I'm fighting real monsters." The declaration was still a bit disturbing, but both of his companions could understand that.
"What do you think the chances are that they'll try to force Amelia to open the portal?" Armstrong asked, and the colonel sat back.
"Actually, she's already opened it."
"What?!" The Major couldn't believe what he was hearing, "She performed human transmutation?!"
"No, I don't think so." There was a confused silence following his answer, "As far as I can tell, if she opened the portal, nothing was taken from her like with Fullmetal and his brother. However, I did see her perform alchemy without a transmutation circle, so some kind of toll must have been paid. The only question is what?" He looked back at the Major, "She didn't have any health problems under your watch? Anything to suggest she lost organs?"
"No, nothing of the sort." The Major answered, "At most, she experienced night terrors, but that was admittedly after the rather traumatic event of finding General Hughes as he was dying." The colonel crossed his arms, as did the Major. "As far as I'm aware, she was perfectly healthy. No sign of anything missing, and she performed well enough at physical exercises… if there was a toll paid, it wasn't from her body directly."
There was a beat of silence as they tried to figure out how it was possible to do something like this without paying some kind of toll. From what they understood with their conversations with Edward, there was always a price for the knowledge you were given. It couldn't be avoided.
"...didn't she say she came into this country with someone?" Mustang spoke up, "I remember Hughes had a sketch in his office of a girl, with freckles and short hair."
The Major tilted his head as he tried to remember, "Yes… I think you're correct. She blamed a companion we never found for her trespassing. I believe she said her name was Kate." He jumped a little as he started to realize what the Colonel was saying, "You don't mean to suggest that-?"
"If she blames her friend for the transmutation that forced her trespassing, there's a very real chance her friend paid a massive toll." Colonel Mustang said, "It's entirely possible that she was the one that paid, and Amelia was the one to receive all the benefits."
"Amelia would never be so cruel as to sacrifice another person for such a thing!" The Major exclaimed.
"Are you sure about that, Major?" The Colonel looked back at him, "She may have stayed with you, but I know she caused you trouble. She took advantage of your trust on two occasions to escape: The first was at the Tucker house when we were investigating his murder, and the second was when she was trying to steal a map from your room as you slept. She could have been manipulating you to create this specific image of her in your mind, one that would absolve her of her guilt if she got caught." The Major looked a little horrified at the insinuation that he had been manipulated by her.
"She failed both those attempts to escape," Armstrong pointed out, as if that was able to defend her.
"Just because she knows how to work people doesn't necessarily mean she knows how to organize an escape attempt." The Colonel rebutted, "I don't think it's out of the realm of possibility that she sacrificed her friend to take advantage of reaping the rewards of the portal. You can't deny that most alchemists would kill for the ability to perform without a circle, maybe in her case, it's true."
"I refuse to believe that!" The Major said, "If that was her goal all along, then how could she have acted the way she did over Hughes's murder? She was completely distraught over being unable to help him. The EMTs even informed me that she had gone catatonic as they took her to the hospital. That was no false act, she went into very real shock."
The colonel let out a sigh, "I don't know. The psyche is a strange thing, Major. But I don't think it's possible that she's as innocent as she claims to be. Maybe she does have the personality you perceived, but I'm sure there's more to it." The Major let out a heavy sigh, taking in the weight of this news about his former student. "Maybe she's more ambitious than she lets on. If that's the case, she's smart to hide it. It would make it easier for her to find what she needed and get it done."
"Like yourself, sir?" Hawkeye asked, and Mustang barked out a laugh.
"Perhaps. I have no idea for certain, though." He sighed and sat back, looking ahead of them. "In any case, she's keeping all of her cards hidden well. I'm not sure what she expects to gain from keeping that information from them, but it will be interesting to see what happens."
Amelia walked with Edward through the district where he had his fight. The place was pretty undone, covered in rubble and clearly a complete and total mess. Edward and Amelia had come across a pair of MPs who had been cleaning the mess since yesterday and hadn't made much progress with it.
"We're so glad that you've returned, sir!" One said to Edward as they were walking over to the damaged site, "We've been at a loss as to how to clean up this mountain of rubble…"
"Right…" Edward sighed, "Sorry I made such a mess."
"A huge fucking mess," Amelia commented, earning her an elbow from Edward.
Edward looked over at them, slowly recognizing them, "I think… weren't you guys there when I was fighting Scar? You got knocked out, right? You okay?"
"Oh, sure!" The bigger, mustached man said, with his companion smiling in agreement, "Just a mild concussion, we're both as fit as ever!" Edward let out a small sigh in relief, hearing that, "But what about you, sir? You were the one Scar was after."
"Oh, um… I'm good." Edward said, not particularly eager to relive the events of the day following his fight with Scar, "Nothing's broken, just surface stuff." As they rounded the corner, they came to the alleyway that he had been fighting in, which was in desperate need of repair as it was just mountains of rubble from Scar's transmutations, and from Edward's and Alphonse's work, too. "Honestly, I'm just tired…" He hadn't exactly gotten a lot of sleep inside Gluttony's belly, and while their shower this morning had been refreshing, it wasn't enough to keep him going forever.
They came to the alleyway and Edward looked over at Amelia, "Hey, why don't you help me with this?" He asked, surprising her.
"Huh?"
"I'll take the left side of the wall, you take the right?" He asked, and Amelia nodded.
"Um, sure…" She wasn't really sure if it would work, neither of them had tried to use their alchemy since they left Father's lair, where they had been unable to. She brought her hands together as Edward did, going over the quick exchanges and changes that would need to be made in her head before pressing her hands against the wall, watching as everything came back into place. The cement walls no longer cracked, the bricks were stacked back, the street became solid and firm again, street signs came back in place uncracked and undamaged.
Within a minute, the alleyway looked almost exactly as it had before, with some minor changes here and there at the discrepancy of each alchemist. Amelia instantly noticed the differences on Edward's side, "Why is that pipe covered in horned skulls?" She asked.
"I thought I'd make it look a little better," Edward replied with a shrug.
"It's so tacky… you've got to have the tackiest sense of style I've ever seen in my life." Amelia said with a disapproving frown.
"Oh, knock it off!" Edward groaned and the two of them walked away to move on to the next repairs to be made, but all the while, they couldn't stop thinking about one thing: They were able to use their alchemy again, with no real changes to themselves. Amelia's first thought was that their alchemy had been limited in the space of Father's Lair. She wasn't sure how, but he must have done something to make it so that alchemy wasn't possible in that room… at least to some extent, but that was her only theory for the time being.
They kept going through most of the day, and as the sun started to set, they reached their last spot. The balcony of the apartment of a woman and her family, which had been damaged, but luckily no one had been hurt, as no one had been home at the time it had happened.
"Thanks for taking the time to come by." The woman said to Edward as they looked over the damage - a massive hole in the concrete floor of her balcony, the windows shattered, the guardrail little more than rubble - what a mess! "I'm actually surprised you came, I was honestly starting to get a little worried."
Without much word from Edward, he fixed it up, "improving" everything with his own personal touch, which Amelia despised. "Dude, that's not exactly something you'd use for a family-friendly environment." She said as they walked away from the woman as she looked over her new skull-covered balcony with obvious concern and clear dislike, though she wasn't about to complain to the alchemist that just fixed her home.
"Whatever, their kid will appreciate it."
"She said her son was 5."
"...He'll appreciate it when he's older." He looked down at his hands, "But our alchemy's back to normal, isn't it?"
"Yeah, I have no problem with it now." She said as they moved out of the building, "Maybe it was just something in Father's lair?"
"Sure, but how would he even do that?" Edward asked.
As they were discussing it, the two MPs from earlier approached him, "Hey, very nicely done up there!" Said the mustachioed one, while his companion was just gawking at the repairs and Edward's decided taste about everything he had fixed, "That takes care of all of our repairs for the day."
The younger man with him nodded, "Yeah, you can always rely on a state alchemist. These other alchemists around here just can't compare!"
"What do you mean?" Amelia asked, not understanding since alchemy was something most everyone was capable of, as long as they understood it.
"You should have seen those guys," The younger man said, "We had a couple of local alchemists helping us with repairs this morning. All they really ended up doing was looking foolish, though."
"They came strolling in here like they were the very best, and the next thing you know: Their alchemy wouldn't work!" The mustached man and his companion shared a laugh over their encounter with incompetent alchemists, but this news just added on more information to Edward and Amelia's theories about the loss of their alchemical abilities.
If it had happened that morning… then wouldn't it have been around the same time they were fighting Father?
"Mr. Alchemist!" The woman from the apartment called out to Edward as she lined up some laundry to dry, waving at him with a friendly smile, "Thank you!"
Edward looked up at her, and then away, looking a bit uncomfortable as he started walking down the street, "Come on, Amelia." She followed after him.
"What's with you?" She asked as they started heading down the street together, "Are you just cranky because you need a nap?" Edward scowled at the question as a cranky child might.
"No! It's just… A lot has happened since yesterday… I just need to talk about it a little." Edward looked over at her, "You mind listening to me for a minute?"
Amelia stared at him for a moment, a little surprised, and blinked twice before she answered, "Sure, we can talk."
She listened as Edward gave her details about what had happened in Gluttony's stomach, that he had spent most of his time trying to escape with Ling, and then his experience discovering everything he found from Xerxes in Gluttony's stomach and gathering what information he could. That desert town they had visited so long ago had been sacrificed to create a philosopher's stone, as far as Edward could surmise, and it seemed that was more or less the plans of Father and the homunculi - to create another one. He explained that, in order to actually get out of Gluttony's failed portal of truth, he had to use Envy's Philosopher's Stone as the toll so he wouldn't get hurt, nor would Ling.
"You used a stone? After all that talk of never touching one again?" She couldn't believe it.
"We didn't exactly have a lot of options, and I wasn't happy about it, either." Edward said, "We did what we had to do to get out… and I know that Envy said they were just mindless energy, but I can't really stop thinking about it… one of those bodies that came out of him? It thanked me as it was deconstructed, like it knew it was going to be used and die."
"Oh…" Amelia thought that was a little disturbing, and it must have shown on her face.
"I know, I felt the same way. It was eerie." Edward said, "And I'm not convinced that they're not still… there. He said they were mindless, but I find that really hard to believe."
"Maybe? But I'm not really an expert on the Philosopher's Stone, and neither are you."
"Right… and we definitely have more important things to worry about than that if these guys' plans are anything like what happened in Xerxes." He sighed, "Though if he can just take away alchemy, that won't make it easy. And if what those guys said before was true, then it wasn't just us who couldn't perform it."
"Which leaves out my theory about it just affecting the immediate area if it affected us above ground, too." Amelia didn't like that.
"...Even still, Scar and that little girl were still able to use their alchemy." Edward said, "How could their alchemy be different from ours?"
"I'm not sure," Amelia admitted, "But… I think given that the little girl was probably from Xing - just based off of her appearance - do you think it's possible she was using alkahestry? Ling mentioned that was their version of alchemy."
"Yeah, I remember. I don't know how different it is from ours, though. The only difference he told me was that it was made for medicinal purposes." He stuck his hands in the pockets of his coat and stopped walking when he reached inside and pulled out the Lieutenant's gun. "Oh… that's right, I should probably give this back to Lieutenant Hawkeye." He put it back in his pocket with a yawn, "I can do it tomorrow."
"Sure," Amelia agreed, though she paused, "Um… doesn't she start working as the Fuhrer's assistant tomorrow?" Edward froze, grimacing at the thought of them having to face the Fuhrer again after that morning.
"Yeah… um… I'll give it to her tonight." He said, starting to walk at a brisk pace that Amelia tried to keep up with.
"Do you know where she lives?" She asked.
"No, but I think I know someone who can tell me." He rounded the corner until he came to a payphone, bringing out what little change he had and dropping it in to call someone, "Lieutenant Breda, hey. I'm glad I didn't miss you… Yeah, I heard about you getting shipped out west." He paused and listened, "Well, I was actually trying to get in touch with Lieutenant Hawkeye, is she there? ...Oh, well, do you know where she might be?" He grimaced a little at the question on the other end, "Kind of? I have to return something of hers, and I'd rather not do it in front of the Fuhrer..." He pulled out his notebook, quickly writing down the address he was being given, "Got it. Okay, thanks, Lieutenant. I hope you have safe travels… Right, bye." He hung up, "Alright, we'll make a quick stop by the Lieutenant's, then how about we go back to the hotel and get some rest?"
"Personally, I'd rather grab some dinner. You don't mind if I order room service, do you?" Amelia asked as they started to head down to where the Lieutenant was staying.
"I guess not… just don't make it excessive." Edward said with a frown.
"Relax, I'm not Ling-level hungry," Amelia promised, earning an amused smile from Edward, though it disappeared as he thought about what had happened to his friend. Amelia grew a little somber, too, as she thought about it. "...Do you think Al got the message to Lan Fan okay?"
"I'm sure he did." Edward said, "And she's probably freaking out about it right now, anyone would be…"
"Probably…" Amelia let out a small sigh, feeling sorry for Lan Fan, knowing she had done so much for Ling and now she couldn't protect him anymore, much less get him back from inside of Greed. "Are you sure you saw him in there?"
"I'm positive. He's alive in there, just… not in control." Edward said. "I don't know what it would take to get him back in control, though… that's a whole other problem aside from what's going on with us."
"Yeah, that's right… I guess we need to prioritize what's going on." She said, crossing her arms, "So… priority number one: I'm guessing that's you and Al getting your bodies back, right?"
"Yep, for sure." Edward said, "But that's not exactly feasible when we don't really know how… Except maybe with Philosopher's Stones."
"Okay… so first priority, and sub priority to the first priority is…?"
"Figuring out how to beat that bearded bastard and stop whatever his plans are," Edward said. "And the first thing we need to do is figure out how to do whatever alchemy Scar and that little girl were doing."
"Right. So first sub-priority is figuring out new alchemy, right under restoring your bodies." She said, "So… how would we do that? Is there anyone we can go to for learning alkahestry?"
"Not that I know of… we might be able to find some information in the library, though. Otherwise, we'd have to try and make them teach us."
"I feel like we'd have an easier time asking the girl than asking Scar." Edward nodded in agreement. "Even if she said… what was it she said?" She grinned teasingly, "You toyed with the heart of a fair maiden?"
"I don't even know what she was talking about…!" Edward groaned, "I've never seen that girl in my entire life!" Amelia laughed.
"Okay, so we've figured out our first priority, and we can figure out the rest later," She said, going back to their original subject.
"Right…" Edward sighed. He looked over at Amelia, "Um… would you… would you not tell Alphonse about me using a stone? I think by now, he's probably figured it out, and I don't want to provoke a lecture about it…"
Amelia frowned a little, "You sure? It's not like you to keep secrets from your brother."
"Just this once," Edward said, "There's… a couple of other things I never told him, but that was because it wasn't something he needed to know. Our goals are still the same, and that information won't change anything."
"What else have you not told him?" Amelia asked, and was met with silence from Edward, and a glare. She backed off, "Alright, I won't prod. It just… seems out of character for you."
"I know, but I think him knowing that I used a stone would bother him, and I don't want to make him think about that when we have more important things to worry about," Edward said.
Amelia nodded and the two carried on in silence, though it was a relatively comfortable one. They said what they had to say, they knew what they needed to do, the question now was just when could they start? The answer was probably "after returning the gun and getting a good night's rest with a full stomach."
"How far is Hawkeye's place from here?" She asked after a moment.
"Not far, it'll just take us a minute after I get a cab off the main road," Edward said, and the two of them rounded the corner onto the main sidewalk and continued their journey onwards together.