Alrighty! Here it is, number 8! On Quizilla this one isn't even out yet, so be grateful LOL! My stupid internet doesn't work with Quizilla considering I'm bumming it off of the Denny's across the street LMFOA! So, with our further a due! LF #8! Enjoy! Oh, Greed part 4 is still under construction since I'll be starting on it tomorrow, well, the rest of it...And The Missing Keepsake for Ling should be out by sometime tomorrow...So until then! Yay!
Disclaimer: I hate these things...I'm sure a few of these Disclaimies say that...But...I do not own FMA, FMA:B or it's manga! Poo~
Chapter 8: Faded Reality
Everything seemed to hurt…Muscles ached & heads felt dizzy from the booze that was drank at the bar, unfortunately for Lily, she knew she was a light weight, & groaned at the throbbing headache she began to feel as she awoke, sprawled across the bed in the nothing but her birthday suit…
Alone….
She jumped up, still forgetting about the headache as she nursed her head with goofy 'nya' before squinting her eyes open to the bright sun beaming in through the window…
When her vision cleared more she could see that Kimblee had vanished from the room.
"Zolf?" Lilia called out hoping for a response, but as her heart fluttered with worry she noticed a white piece of paper pinned to the darkened pillow next to her. She pulled the small pin out of the satin sheet & held it to her vision as she began read the letter quietly.
Her eyes scanned the familiar hand writing.
Her heart felt more at ease that Kimblee didn't just up & leave without giving her a hint to where he left to.
~Time to rise & shine, Fancy-Face.
Better start thinking of an explanation, if you want to pass 'You-Know-Who's' worries.
P.S.
By tomorrow, we'll disappear.
In the bitter snow.
So, Dress Warm. Get that Jacket of yours tailored while you're at it.~
Lilia could only fall back on the sheet with a smile & a giggle as she nuzzled her face into her pillow with the feeling of excitement filling her soul.
She couldn't explain why she felt that way she did, but deep down inside her heart, she knew this wasn't the time to smile…She had to think of what to say to Miles…
That thought alone made her heart jump again, this time in sadness & anxiety.
A part of her did love him, it's just, she realized she wasn't over Kimblee like she thought she was, & this was a huge problem considering she just basically cheated on him. At the realization, she sighed heavily & laid the back of her hand on her forehead before gazing up at the ceiling.
"Dear God…Miles, what've I done?"
Just then, another thought came to mind, back when they had their fight, she faintly remember Miles was already under the assumption she was going to betray them. He had no trust for her, & that still made her angry.
How could he have known the out come of what she would've picked? And after their six years together?
She knew they didn't trust her once Kimblee showed up, & that definitely helped make up their minds about her.
In a way, it broke her heart deep down she wanted to cry after all the times they had together, but even a lively night & a warm cup of coffee, couldn't help them trust each other now.
With an angry puff she jumped up & began to get dress, not wasting any time to get back to work & definitely not afraid to show her face to the man she thought she cared about, only knowing that when she would return, everyone she thought as another family would be waiting on her, watching her with their hawk eyes on her at all times. After all, Lilia was still a Major…
Well, for now.
Finally being prepared physically & mentally, Lilia found her keys she eventually found under the couch & began to fiddle with her key chain to get the one for her car that she used to get down town, but, something filled the air with soft whispers around her ears…
At first, she hardly noticed it, until a soft giggle took the air causing her to gasp loudly & twirl around to miss shadows slightly wiggling away…She could feel the cold sweat kicking in…
Damn it, why is it that my instincts are telling me that I'm not dreaming…? Her eyes scanned the room carefully, beads of sweat started to trail down the sides of her face when she awaited for something to come out & spook her, but it never came.
She slowly double checked the room fully on guard & heavy minded the whole time with her hands ready to use her mystic alchemy on her intruder. Even if she couldn't really feel a presence, she was beginning to sense a tinge of fear for some odd reason. Actually, she wasn't sure what she was feeling at this point all she knew was she should stay on guard.
This sixth sense she was getting was so different, it was heavily eerie.
….Frightening even….What ever it was her eyes caught a glimpse of, it definitely wasn't a human, that was for sure.
She thought maybe she was going insane again, that the stupid bug that use to tick at the back of her skull was at it again, or maybe it was her mind playing tricks on her after being under so much stress.
Unfortunately, a little voice in the back of her head told her it was none of the above.
But when nothing came for a while, Lillian thought she could drop her guard finally, she turned back to the window to take one last glimpse outside before a huge darkness snaked & swirled around the gleaming windows, blocking out the sun light & everything to be shown out in the glistening snow.
Millions of eyes appeared within the darkness, only to have a wide & vicious grin appear as the monster of darkness stared at her.
"I….I…uh-,"
She wanted to scream, scream at the top of her lungs in shear horror of the creature taking away the light, but she was frozen from the inside out, her body tensed up all over, falling cold as ice as her face fell instantly pale. She couldn't even blink away the tears that began to show in the corner of her eyes, which made the monster chuckle at her reaction to him; it amused him.
"Lilia Nelliel Smith. The notorious White Lotus, I presume?"
Lily couldn't reply, all she could do was swallow the fear that was lodged in her throat & free her body from a new feeling she was experiencing.
How was it that the darkness knew here name?
What was it?
…What did it want with her?
Instinctively, she knew she didn't want to stick around to find out, & with a quick turn of her entire body, she sprinted for the door & ran out of the room, ran as hard & as fast as she could down the stair well only hearing the creature's echoing laughter throughout the open door above her.
She wasn't going to look back, she wanted the exit! Which is what she found finally after three flights of stairs, not in the slightest bit exhausted from the leaping & sprinting she was doing.
And even if she could feel tired, the fear stained to her wouldn't slow her down.
Instead, she only dropped her Briggs jacket to the ground to speed her self up in the two inches of snow. It was sunny out, so the cold spiking air didn't harm her heated form in the least, & at this point, she just needed a car to get back, she didn't care which one or who's.
All she knew was, head straight for Briggs.
Lilia's heart had never beat so hard against her chest before. She could literally hear the unsteady rhythm ringing in her ears, & her lungs were burning like the flames of hell but she couldn't careless, she had never seen something so terrifying.
Nothing that frightening, & inhuman.
She thought all these years, she was afraid of herself…Of her past & bad dreams, but this was something much, much worse…
…Maybe even worse than the homunculi?
Miles was already pondering on talking to Lily finally after their fight. He tried looking everywhere for her, to her room, which looked like it hadn't been slept in, & the roof, which she usually was when she was troubled by something, & even the balcony was empty. She was no where, & that worried Miles, just for the fact that he never meant to anger her the way he did.
Or say the things he said.
He couldn't get yesterday out of his mind. The way she had been acting, the slap she left him with clouded his mind.
He didn't say anything about it, but he had to admit, it hurt even worse when he found out that Kimblee & her were not just partners, but much, much more than that when they were destroying Ishval.
It made him sick…
Deep down in his heart, he had to think long & hard about whether this was right to keep this going...
The relationship that seem to be unthreading itself from the seams quicker than he had expected them to, "Lily…"
Miles didn't really know what he was doing right now; he was mostly just walking around aimlessly at this point, hoping to find Lily somewhere eventually.
Because this wasn't the only thing that was on his mind.
Briggs wasn't necessarily falling apart, but now even their station had been taken over by Central & their General had been taken into custody already for the murder of General Raven. Already the war was coming into place. The day would have to come when they would rise up against Central & they'd have to take over, considering Olivia's plan was probably to get in with the higher up's after finding out about the philosopher stone & the intent they had for Amestris.
It began to make Miles fill his mind with the idea of could Lilia really want to follow the other side knowing what their true intents are? Or is she just a follower, for the fun of destroying, like Kimblee? He didn't want to believe it, it hurt him too much to think that the woman he knew for so long, & fell deeply in love with would actually be in wars just for the 'fun of it', but deep down it had to be just his paranoia.
Just then, & unfortunately, all the while that Miles made his way to the balcony for the 4th time, he heard a voice walking passed him in the hall, "Morning Major."
Kimblee…
That's when his thoughts turned venomous when he turned around with a glare to the Red Lotus.
"You…You know where she is, don't you?"
Kimblee just kept the soft smirk on his face, never changing his expression.
"What're you talking about? I just got here. And if you don't mind, I have somewhere I need to be. I still need to get Full Metal to help us with the search for Scar. We have to search Scar. Get my drift...Otherwise, he'll escape out of the North before we know it, & I don't feel like trying to track him into Drachma if that becomes the case."
After the silence, Kimblee continued to walk in the direction of the cells, finding his next assignment before the big search was to commence for the rest of the day.
There was much to be done before today's end, & Kimblee wasn't going to let anything stand in his way…
Not after recruiting back his partner into the circle again, everything was going as planned. But Kimblee wasn't concerned about recruiting Lilia back.
No… that familiar, & exciting flare within him was vibrating throughout his very core. He could feel it in his toes & finger tips to every nerve in his brain, & these sensations he was feeling, came right from none other than Lillian herself.
The sensations he was starting to experience began to fade away & rise again when he saw a crowd of the soldiers passing by in groups, preparing for the next couple of days as usual, shifts changing for others to have their final breaks, but among that crowd he noticed a familiar thoughtful face that was gazing around the Fort for something, or someone.
She blended in well with them, but not well enough for his sharpened, trained eyes.
What other woman would there be in a Fort full of men, besides General Olivia, right?
That signature smirk finally appeared on the Crimson's lips as he pulled himself into a hole in the wall near where the soldiers were walking, & awaited for Lily's presence to snatch her up…
But as he continued to observe her more, her face looked troubled the closer she approached his hiding spot, & the closer she approached him, the slower she began to start walking suddenly stopping in front of him altogether.
That's my queue…
With one swift motion, Kimblee whipped his arms around Lily waist making her gasp softly when he pulled her into the darkness, only to twirl her into bruising kiss as he cupped one of his hands on the back of her head, making her a little more incapacitated.
Lily attempted to strike the person with all her might, but Kimblee just chuckled grabbing her wrist in mid swing…
And the moment his chuckle reached her ears, Lilia sighed relaxing in complete relief into his embrace, kissing him even rougher before biting his bottom lip hard, which caused him to gasp out & lick away the blood as he stared back into those big green eyes of hers that were already glaring back at him, "You… Bastard…! You scared the living shit out of me!"
Kimblee only laughed in the process of sucking on the wound she left him so harshly, just before flicking his tongue against her nose to make her giggle.
"Well, you look like you needed something to distract you…"
His face gave her a cocked brow, which Lilia could only lower her head & blush to, gripping on his jacket shoulders tightly, "Something's bothering you…What is it? You want to leave already? Getting cold feet?" He joked.
"No, actually." She mumbled lowering her voice before placing her forehead on his collar bone.
"Then tell me what it is." He made her look at him, seeing a weird expression fill her face while her eyes began to mist before him.
She looked like she was about to cry, but she held it back only to have the clear tears fall down her face.
She gasp back a sob so soft the crimson's heart nearly jolt at the sound of it. Whatever it was she was crying about it really upset her. A lot more than usual.
"What happened? Did something happen on the way over?"
"I don't know, &…Yes…" That's all she could whisper shaking her head in his hands that held & caressed her face the more he made her look at him.
His eyes were so intense, & yet a sense of concerned showed within his pools of crystal blue, "Tell me…I thought we're agreeing no more secrets?"
"We never-,"
"We didn't have to say it. I can read your expression loud & clear, Fancy-face." He put his forehead to hers hoping to find his answer within those big, doughy eyes of hers.
And she wanted to tell him, he could see it, she wanted to tell him what she saw back there in the hotel room, but how could she describe it without sounding like she was literally going insane…
"If I tell you, you'll just laugh at me. You won't believe me." She laughed softly trying to hide her shaky voice, which was more like her fear, behind her, but she already knew that Kimblee wouldn't bite, & with a shrug his shoulders, he caressed her cheeks with his thumbs so softly she could only lean into his hands even more as he chuckle through his nose…
"That's your opinion, Fancy-Face. Well, you can tell me anything, you know that…So, let me know when you're ready to tell me what you saw…Gather your mind, alright? We still have a job to do." She nodded with a smile of relief, making her sigh as she did as he told her. "And you still haven't talked to Miles have you?"
Lilia shook her head looking down at his tie, fiddling with it in the end to straighten it out.
"No. But don't you worry about that. I know what I have to do." She shifted her eyes back up him with a smile, which made her partner return her sincerity with a smirk, knowing he had nothing to worry about. He could trust her to not go back on her word.
Once they were done talking, Kimblee pulled away & placed his hand behind her back to assist them in their path to wherever the halls would take them.
"So, then I guess you won't want me to be there when you talk to Miles, right? Do you want to just meet up with me with the Full Metal Alchemist, then? He'll be released any minute now from his mechanic, & I need to be there when he's been released."
"Yeah, that's fine. Where'd you see him last? Miles, I mean."
"Probably coming this way, since our search for Scar starts today he'll most likely be heading in my direction. By the way, there's been some bad news about your General recently while you were away. She's been taken to Central under the orders of King Bradley." He was about to leave her with that little information, but she only sped up to keep up with his pace.
"Wait, wait, wait-, What? She what? Why-,?" She gasped with realization, "They found out didn't they? About Raven…" She whispered the last part so softly it was only audible to the both of them.
Kimblee confirmed it with one of those signature smirks in response to Lily's analysis.
She was so silly when it came even to the most serious of situations, "Which means…" She trailed off not saying the rest, whatever was going to happen in Central was going to happen within a few weeks, maybe even a few days at this rate!
"Yep, so, let's get to work, eh?" With that he patted her back softly before she lowered her head to it.
As Kimblee walked away into the shadows, leaving Lilia to wonder the halls alone now, among the soldiers she began to scan her eyes upon them.
Many were walking by to greet her, & she could only respond with a soft smile & a wave of her hand.
Deep down in the depths of her heart, she was going to miss all of them, miss all the times they ate together, worked together, sat together & drank when they could let their guard down some what & enjoy life, but…She knew she couldn't stay, not the way things were going for her. She couldn't let them see her fall apart, but Kimblee, he's already seen her deepest darkest secrets, he knew her all too well, & that's why she was so comfortable with him; even though at some point in the six years that Lily & Miles had known each other she felt some comfort ability with him, but it just wasn't the same.
…It was never the same.
She admitted finally that she had been lying to herself & it wasn't just that, she knew deep down that now that he knew about her & Zolf, he wasn't sure if he could trust her, so, technically he was right all along not to trust her.
It made her smile sadly to think that but it was nothing but true. She used those six years to hide herself over Kimblee's supposed execution. Well, she should've waited, knowing maybe they would've released him, but how would she have known? She would've waited her whole life for him to come back to their old home, holding his outfit in her hands like she did the very day she was gone.
She gripped that suit so hard her own palms began to bleed on the fabric because she didn't want to let go of him.
Not ever!
That's what scared her the most, was that she would wait for a dead man to come home to her. She shook her head of the depressing thoughts only to remember he was here now, & alive at that, & after today they were going to leave with their lives back in tact once again, just like before.
At least she hoped so, after their jobs were done.
Like he said. When the job is done. She took a deep breath fixing up her jacket as much as she could considering the buttons were missing, then she began to walk down another hallway only to suddenly bumped into the one person she was looking for, Miles.
"Hey…I-I've been looking for you." He said.
She only frowned looking up at him with a stern gaze, "I could say the same to you."
There was a small pause when Miles seem to notice the way she was looking at him, & he knew it couldn't be good.
"We need to talk." She finally sighed fiddling with her fingers before she grabbed his hand & led him to a corner where they could talk in private, "I couldn't find you anywhere, where'd you disappear to?"
"Don't worry about it, I have something to say…And…I don't think you're going to like it." She tried to stare into his eyes when she told him this, trying hard not to feel anything when she spoke the words to him, "I think, I think there's been a lot going on since-,"
"Please, Lily…Don't do this…" He already knew what she was going to say, but Lilia only put her finger to his lips, trying subside the pain she felt in her heart, the one tiny spot she did truly hold for him.
"You're right to be suspicious about me, Miles. But even so, that means for the last six years you've never trust me…Fully, as well as you thought you did."
By the way his body tensing up, she knew it was true, but she needed to hear it from him.
" Did you?…..Did you ever…Once trust this." She pointed her fingers to the floor between them.
"Us?"
She tried to hold her smile, but it only made Miles sigh with sadness, only knowing that it hurt Lily in some way that he truly couldn't entirely trust her. He wanted to deny his feelings of doubt, but it only saddened him more. Knowing he hid it from her for so long.
"Lilia…What should I do? I want to trust you…" He trailed off before grabbing her hands in his with a tight & desperate grip, trying to hold back some of his true feelings on the situation…It scared him. It scared him to let her go, "I really do. With my very being! I've never loved until you. You have been the only woman to ever show me what this new emotion & passion is that I'm experiencing within the depths of my soul."
She wasn't heartless, her eyes began to water over as her eyes lids lowered to close shut. The waves of tears began to show from behind her eyes as she held his hands tighter as well.
"But my hands…Are stained…With Ishval's blood…I'm not going to deny that." She choked back a little & attempted to leave before she headed for the door, releasing his hands that seem to grip at her before releasing her hands, so she could reach could leave.
But…Something inside Miles urged him to reach for her. At least one last time, if she was going to leave him like this…
He wanted at least wanted a good-bye kiss…
So, he forcefully turned her around & slammed her against the wall she once turned her face to, her eyes widening as he roughly crashed his lips against hers, mustering up every piece of love, lust, & passion he could feel throughout his soul.
"Miles…No…" She attempted to push him away, but he only pulled harder & harder until she gave into it, tears of sorrow rolling down her face as she kissed Miles one last time.
But something was wrong…She, couldn't enjoy it.
It felt wrong…
So wrong, she ended up cutting it short pushing him away with tear staining her cheeks, but Miles didn't care he forced her to look at him with a cup of her chin, "After this, we won't be allies…Will we?"
She swallowed a couple times to make sure she could speak without breaking, "I don't know…I guess we'll see…"
"Well, know this…If you do decide to become the enemy…Don't you dare hesitate to kill me…Because I won't hesitate to kill you…When the time of war approaches…Just know…That I will always have that place in my heart for you…And only you…"
God damn it! Why did he make this so hard?
Why did she make it so hard for him?
She didn't know why, but the way his voice shook, & how deeply loving his voice cooed, it only sounded so fitting in the line of work they did.
"Dido…I wouldn't have it any other way…Major Miles…" She smiled up at him, kissing his cheek, before wiping away her tears as she walked away from him, feeling his hand aching not to release her, but finally swayed to his side as she walked away from him…Only fate to decide where her heart would lead her.
Apparently, it was heading right towards Kimblee. She really wanted to see him now, she knew what she did was the right thing, for the sake of sparing his heart any more heart ache than it had already endured from her recklessness. And again, she still felt heartache none the less, just the fact that she couldn't break up with him before sleeping with the man she truly wanted to stand by, & the closer she was getting to him, the more she started to feel just a ting bit better, a little, considering all the excitement that had already gotten her so worked up from this morning.
She finally got to the room the others were crowded in awaiting full orders on Kimblee, but before the others could start, they were missing the two people they needed. For the first time, she actually got to meet the Full Metal Alchemist for the first time when she opened the door. Unfortunately, it wasn't in the proper way you would've expected an Alchemist & Major to, considering he came flying through the air at her when she opened the door to the large lounge, "YAAAAAH!"
"AH!"
Like a head on collision, they both hit the wall with a large thud, everyone in the room came running towards the two, mostly for Lily since she got the blunt of the force, basically breaking the Full Metal's fall.
God he was heavy!
More than likely, from his auto mail, of course.
Wasn't it suppose to be chrome?
"Lily!" Kimblee's voice called to her from her short black out, "Oh my god! Major Smith! I'm sorry! I'm so, so, so, sorry! Are you alright! EDWARD GET OFF OF HER, YOU IDIOT!"
"H-Here, brother, let me help you."
The boy's brother in armor assisted him off of Lilia who was leaning against the wall nursing the side of her head where the hard metal hall made contact with it, & as she opened her eyes to try to focus her vision, there was already a familiar face, squatting down in front of her, examining her to make sure she was still in tact.
"You alright?"
"Um, the world's spinning, & my head feels like it's been put THROUGH the wall but other than that I'm okay…No real damage…"
It'd been awhile since she had felt pain like that, being nearly put through a wall, but it was good to know she still had a high pain tolerance, she was beginning to think she was loosing her touch since she hadn't really been hit since a couple of years ago or so, since she trained against the General herself.
"I'm so sorry Ms. Smith! I really didn't mean to, I wouldn't have done that if I've known you were coming through the door."
Winry looked so sad & scared, well, until Edward gave a demonic flare of rage.
"OH GEE! THANKS A LOT WINRY!"
"SHUT UP, ED! YOU'RE THE ONE THAT STARTED IT! REMEMBER! AND BESIDES, SHE SAVED YOUR ASS BY TAKING THE BLUNT OF THE FORCE YOU MORON!"
So, she noticed.
Lilia could only smile softly with a gentle laugh when she patted the girl's shoulder, bring Winry's attention back to the Major.
"It's okay, really, I'm fine. I've taken worse, trust me. I'm built like steel…Well, almost. Not really…" She looked back at the wall behind her, getting a small laugh out of Winry, & a smirk out of Kimblee before the Crimson put out his hand.
"As long as you're alright, do you need a hand up?"
"Oh yeah, let's help her up." Winry cheered helping Kimblee get Lilia to her feet.
"Sorry about that, Major…Wait, you're a Major?" The blonde haired boy widened his eyes at Lilia, who just smiled back at him with a proud grin.
"Yeah…Just got promoted a day or two ago…I forget which one, Heh, there's been so much already going on, I'm sure the General gave you the run down of what we've been up to lately."
"Yeah, definitely. I heard you were also the one to escort her up here with Kimblee?"
"Yeah, apparently we also knew her parents as well, back when Kimblee & I were just soldiers in Central."
Speaking of Kimblee, once everyone got into the room they were once cooped up in, he seemed to notice a look in the blonde kids face.
Almost a fear of knowing for some reason….
What's that look for? He thought to himself, only to have Lilia basically just repeat his question out loud,
"What's that look for?" She asked tilting her head curiously, a sense of curiosity only matching her expression.
"Oh, n-nothing. I spaced out, so uh, cool! You knew Winry's parents, that's truly something." He grinned hiding that odd expression that seem to leave Lilia suspicious a little bit, but she brushed it off thinking maybe it didn't concern her.
"Okay, so, I didn't probably introduce myself to the infinite Full Metal Alchemist, right? I'm Lilia Smith, 3rd Major in line at Fort Briggs, at your service."
They both gave each other a strong hand shake, smiling at one another, "Edward Elric, likewise."
"So, are we all just about ready to go on this little journey, I do have somewhere I need to be, you know?" Kimblee was already itching to get Scar, the woman could feel it as she smiled to hide her own anticipation, & tried hard to ignore the Major that just walked in with a solemn expression on his face.
Miles was serious, is what he was.
God she wish her heart would stop tugging at her like this…!
But just then, she looked to Kimblee who seem to notice the Major as well.
Again with the smirking!
"Major, I think everyone's raring to go on this scavenger hunt for Scar…How about you?" Kimblee just kept smirking at Miles only getting the Major to turn away without a word, signaling the boys to follow him.
"Come on boys, we don't have time to waste. Let's get out there before the night falls decides to come & freeze us all to death."
Everyone gave a grim expression to the command, but followed none the less, & Lilia followed as well without a word.
Yet, the sensation of that monster from earlier still never shook itself off of Lily's nerves & with a quick pace in her step she began to walk between Kimblee & Edward, scanning the walls like a hawk for the enemy.
"What're you looking for?" Edward was the first to notice as Lilia's eyes shot down at the cocked brow boy.
"O-Oh! Sorry just always on guard, you know."
"Yeah…I understand." He almost sounded like he didn't believer her.
Who could blame him? Kimblee didn't even believe what she said, but that was already a given, yet the alchemist had yet to say anything else about…
Once the groups feet hit the snow, they all piled up into cars, after another agruement between Ed & his girlfriend, Winry, the silence took over again, & while Kimblee & Lilia shared a car with Miles, it seemed that Kimblee still needed to ask a question out of curiosity…
"So, what was it that you were looking at the corners of the walls for?" Of course, since Miles was actually driving in the front seat, he couldn't really hear anything but the sound of the wind blowing between the creases of his driver's window…
"Just…Keeping my eyes open, Zolf. Just keeping my eyes open…"
Next- Chapter 9: Monster
We all have a demon inside us
It is when it is up to you on whether or not you want to tame your beast...
Or let it control you...
That...That was fun...I liked this chapter...It's creepy & pride made an appearance. He's such a cute little Homunculus... Well, until next time guys! I won't let you down!
