Disclaimer: I don't own FMA.
"General Armstrong." I saluted her as I entered her office. She gestured for me to sit down, and so I did.
I had erased all traces of my earlier depression, leaving me with tired-looking eyes. I kept my poker face as I sat down, being professional.
"Do you know anything about that creature?" She asked bluntly, referring to Sloth.
"I do not. Although, I have ascertained that the Elric brothers have knowledge of the situation. I only have my observations to go by, and all that I could tell is that creature was not human, despite its human-like traits, such as its bodily construction." I barely gave a hint to Armstrong, and that felt safe. She stared at me with narrowed eyes, and I courageously stared back into her eyes.
"You've got guts." I heard her mutter.
"To survive in the military as an adolescent, I'd have to have courage to some degree." I said, "But if you are going to interrogate the Elric brothers, my assistance is at your disposal." I looked away from Armstrong and down at the table.
I was nervous. If I followed Amrstrong and the Elric's while Armstrong interrogated them, we'd be fetched by a soldier who would announce that General Raven and Kimblee had arrived at the fort. If they recognized me, it's all over. My cover is blown, and I loose trust from not only the Elric brothers, but Armstrong and Briggs soldiers too. I needed...
"Your assistance will be required. Have someone show you to the hole the creature made. Interrogation will begin at four hundred hours, so arrive there at that time. You are dismissed." Armstrong said, weaving her fingers together and resting her chin on them. I stood up, saluting again.
"Yes sir!" I said before marching out of the room. When the door closed behind me, I let out a big sigh of relief. I glanced around suspiciously, sneaking off to the hallway to my right, pulling out my map.
I had a plan.
/
"Mary, is that you?" Ed asked as I approached the hole, where some soldiers were lowering horses into it. Armstrong, Buccaneer, Falman, Ed and Al were gathered by the tunnel opening.
"It's me." I said nervously, my palms sweating. I was on edge because I was unsure about my appearance.
"What happened to you?" Al asked. I forced myself to grin at them.
"Oh, I change my style all the time. I thought it was time for a new look." I said.
I had snuck into the storage rooms earlier and searched through them before finally locating some buckets of different color dyes.
And so, I changed my hair from blonde with a red highlights to a dark maroon color with the dye I had found. After that, I took a shower. To my delight, the dye didn't wear off, so after my shower, I had braided my hair. Now I had very wavy, fluffy hair, with my hair pulled back into a pony tail and my bangs just barely hiding my blind eye. For my big scar on my eye, I took some makeup I had bought in North City and covered it up, making it look like I had no scar at all. With that, I wore a lot less layers, making me look thinner. And so, my transformation was complete.
I hope Kimblee and Raven won't recognize me, I thought nervously as we were lowered into the hole.
We mounted out horses, and with me, as knowledgeable with horses as I was with directions, had a hard time controlling my horse.
Finally, Armstrong ordered us to get off our horses, and we stopped a ways into the tunnel.
"There are no prying eyes here." Armstrong said, staring at the brothers intensely, "So explain."
The Elric brothers explained, an explanations which I felt no need to pay attention to. It felt like a review of everything I already know. I mean, I had read the entire manga series over again before I left for the North.
At one point, I started to nod off, leaning back against the wall of the tunnel while Armstrong and the Elric brothers figured out the transmutation circle that surrounded Amestris. I yawned, sleepily gazing at Ed as he realized what was going on.
I jerked up to the sound of footsteps approaching, and my gaze darted over to a soldier that ran down the tunnel heading toward us.
"General." The soldier saluted, "General Raven had arrived at Briggs fortress. He requested to meet with you immediately." The soldier said. I sweated nervously as people started to pick up their things to leave.
"You may use my horse." I offered soldier that came down to get us. He must be tired from all that running, I thought. He looked at me.
"No, it's fine." The soldier rejected my offer. I sighed.
"Take it. That's an order from a Major." I said, because from his uniform, I could tell he ranked lower than me. I knew he felt uncomfortable, but he thanked me as he approached the horse. I smiled to myself, walking forward to get a head start while everyone was still getting their stuff all set.
"Wait." Someone grabbed my hand, stopping me in my tracks. My heart skipped a beat as I turned around to find Ed looking at me, holding onto my hand.
"Yes?" I asked, surprised at his sudden action. My heart beat rapidly in my chest, but I ignored it.
"We can share my horse." He said, and I turned away so he wouldn't see my face heat up.
"You don't have to-" I started, but he cut me off.
"It's fine, just come." He said, stubbornly tugging me over to his chestnut-colored horse.
Mounting the horse was extremely awkward, even though the saddle was a two-person saddle originally. My face was hot the entire time, even as we started back off down the tunnel.
My body touched his back as he led the horse onward, and I could tell he was blushing too. I bit my lip as tears welled up in my eyes. I tilted my face up so the tears wouldn't fall.
No matter how hard I try, I end up falling for him all over again, I thought, I love his smile. His laugh. His irritated face. His milk and short rants. His personality. His everything, I keep falling in love all over again.
It's painful, isn't it? I heard the voice in my head,my version of Truth, say. Yeah, it is. I admitted. You finally realize you love him, but you should give up now,Truth said, You should go back to your world before you cause more trouble than you intend to. My eyes widened in shock.
I... Should go back? I thought, distressed. Falling in love with him will only give him more problems, Truth said honestly, So it would be better if you weren't there.
My heart cracked, and I took a deep breath. I couldn't cry here. Not with the others here. I only had one option, and that was to bottle it inside.
I had to leave. Leave him, and the others. I had to leave myself behind, only to retreat back to my world in a soulless body, empty, missing the biggest pieces of my heart. I had to leave.
But why did I have to? Did I really have to listen to Truth? That's when I decided on something.
Truth, I'm going to stay. You can try to make me leave, but nothing will stop me. I'd rather die, I thought viciously. Before Truth could reply, I distracted myself while we dismounted the horses and were lifted up out of the hole.
I grinned at Ed and Al, then glancing over to Armstrong. I leaned in to whisper to Armstrong.
"Raven is part of the senior staff, the root of the evil in the military. So, why don't we do... Lets say, somewhat of an interrogation?" I whispered before pulling away. Armstrong thought for a moment before the corner of her mouth tilted up slightly.
"Lets do that." She said. I nodded hard.
"Your office?"
"Yes. Quickly."
"Yes sir." I saluted, before dragging of the Elrics along with Buccaneer and Falman.
/
Sitting down by the speakers, the Elrics, along with Falman, Buccaneer and I, listened to the Generals conversation. The Elrics had helped me install a microphone that rested on the vent above Armstrong's office, which was connected to a radio speaker a few rooms away, where we were all crowded around.
"I was going to torture the truth out of them, but I couldn't bear to harm children." Armstrong said, making Buccaneer and I snort.
"Even the impregnable 'Northern Wall of Briggs' has a soft spot for children." I heard Raven say, making me snort again.
"Soft spot my ass." I chuckled.
"She's got a heart of ice." Buccaneer agreed, laughter laced in his voice. We listened closely as Armstrong continued to lead Raven on until he finally asked her about the legion of immortal soldiers.
Right after his words, someone knocked on the door behind us. As everyone looked, I hurriedly gestured for them to stay, I cracked open the door to peek out at the person. But it wasn't a person I saw.
A squeak escaped my mouth as I darted through the door, abruptly closing it behind me and staring wide-eyed at the creature in front of me.
"You stupid girl! I thought you died!" Shela said, clearly upset. I snatched her from the air where she hovered and hid her in my jacket, looking both ways to make sure no one else was around.
"Stupid! Why are you here?!" I whispered frantically. She looked up at me with narrowed eyes.
"Why are you here? How are you even healed?" Shela said in shock.
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"Do you even know who found you when your throat was slit? Me, that's who!" Shela cried, "I thought you were dead. I got help, but it took me a while to go and see you because I was captured by soldiers who planned to ship me to a labratory, and I had to escape. But when I finally reached there, you were gone! What happened?"
"I'll explain later." I said hurriedly, "We need to get to my room." So, hiding Shela in my jacket, I sprinted down the hallway, whipping out my map to head to my room.
I don't know what's going on anymore.
Hey guys! Sorry for not updating soon! Been really busy lately, between boosting my grades before report cards, and now I have to study for semester exams! Ugh, such a pain in the ass...
ALSO, CELEBRATING 30,000 VIEWS! I only started this is October, and in about three and a half months, I have 30,000 views and almost 100 followers! Thank you for supporting me and my story, and thanks for sticking around! I love you guys! 3
Anyway, I skipped a lot of dialogue in this chapter because I felt it was unneeded and I needed to get to more important things. Kind of a boring chapter, well, except for one part...
TRUTH TOLD HER TO GO BACK! What is going to happen next? Who is going after her? Will the brothers discover her real identity? Will she finally break down for good? Find out in future chapters!
My lovely readers, please review~
Thanks!