"NORTH CITY! NORTH CITY STATION!"
After a long train ride, the trio stepped out onto the platform. Manami and Ed could already feel how much colder the air was, compared to Central.
Ed kept his long red coat, though he added some fur to the lining thanks to some alchemy, while Manami used alchemy to extend her black coat to be the same length as Ed's; she even even added a felt lining to the inside of it.
Frankly, Ed and Manami did more fabric shopping than clothes shopping. It was more cost effective to alter their clothes instead of buying new clothes entirely. Ed only needed some undershirts and leggings to wear under his pants. Manami needed the same, as well as a blue turtleneck sweater to wear under her black coat, a gray pair of gloves, and snow boots that went up to the knee.
They hurried excitedly out of the train station, and Ed looked up to see snow lightly falling from the sky.
"Guys look! There's snow!" He gasped, with a big grin on his face.
Al and Manami caught up to him and then stopped to look around, admiring the view. The whole courtyard was covered with a thin layer of pure white snow.
It was beautiful..!
Manami looked over to notice Ed start walking down the steps of the train station, Al following behind him. She glanced over to see a small pile of snow at the base of a pillar and smirked devilishly.
With a quick scoop of her hand and packing the snow together to make a rounded shape, she chucked it to hit Ed square in the back of the head.
"Gah!" He yelled out and lost his balance so that he fell down the last three steps on his butt.
Manami didn't mean for that last part to happen, but she couldn't hold back her laughter nonetheless. Before she knew it, she was straight up cackling and holding her sides.
"Manami!" Ed yelled, rolling to sit on his knees and rub his bottom while shooting her a glare.
"I-I'm sorry..!" Manami managed to say through her giggles. "I-I didn't know you'd fall..!"
This was a rare moment where Al was glad he didn't have a face, otherwise his brother would see that he was struggling to hold back his own laughter.
"Al, help me up..!" Ed groaned. "I might've busted my tailbone and all she can do is laugh..!"
"I don't think your tailbone is broken, brother…" Al said softly as he went to help him up.
"I mean it, Ed... I really didn't know you were gonna fall. I'm sorry." Manami had finished laughing and came down the stairs without so much of a slip or stumble.
"Whatever. I'll get you back for it." Ed muttered and turned his head. "I need a minute to sit…"
They found a bench with ease and Ed plopped down on it, still rubbing his lower back.
"You know, brother… it would've helped if you were more coordinated." Al said, sitting down next to him.
"Shut up." Ed snapped. "You're supposed to be on my side. It was just a little slip…"
"Sorry again, Ed." Manami said, actually feeling bad that he got hurt at this point. "I couldn't help it… we don't normally have this snow back home."
She went look up at the sky, the Elric brothers following her gaze.
"That's true..." Ed hummed but then suddenly remembered.
"Ah, you guys remember that one big snowstorm we had?"
"Huh?" Manami blinked while Al looked up in thought.
"Oh, yeah! I remember!" Al jumped in. "We had a snowball fight!"
"Yeah!" Ed grinned. "And we made a big snowman!"
"..." But Manami couldn't remember.
"What year was that..?" Ed thought aloud. "I think it was…"
He then remembered. Manami understood once she saw his smile fade.
"After I left." She said quietly, managing to hide any trace of disappointment in her features.
That would explain why she didn't remember.
"Sorry…" Ed could only offer a quiet apology, but she shook her head.
"It's okay. My own fault." She said, forcing a believable smile.
She thought it would be a good idea to change the subject, and quick.
"You hungry at all, Ed? I am, and we got some time before our train to Briggs takes off."
"I guess so…" Ed went to stand, followed by Al, and the three of them went to walk.
The trio reached the more northern area by train, and then found a gentleman on horseback that carried a long wagon that offered to give them a ride to where they needed to go. While Ed and Al sat on the edge of the wagon to where their feet dangled off the edge, Manami laid on her back with her legs crossed and her arms resting behind her head.
She had been quiet since their last conversation…
"Alright, kids. This is your stop." The man called to them, as his wagon came to a halt.
Manami and the Elric brothers got off the wagon and looked around, only seeing a wooden archway that led down a snowy path.
"Follow this path here and it'll take you straight to Fort Briggs."
"Thank you." Ed and Manami answered, looking back to bow their heads.
"One more thing… you, in the armor." The man looked to Al, who pointed at himself questioningly.
"Yes, you. Is that automail?"
"No…"
"Okay, good. You should be alright, then." The man nodded to them before setting off once again.
"..?" Manami tilted her head.
"Should we have mentioned… that you have automail, Ed?" She asked quietly.
"Beats me." Ed shrugged. "He's too far gone now to ask now—"
"Stay on that road if you want to live!" The man suddenly shouted back at them, before he disappeared under the snowy horizon.
"..." Manami swallowed. "Is it too late to go to Xing instead..?" She asked.
"Way too late. Come on, we'll be fine!" Ed went to walk under the archway and lead the way down the snowy path.
Of course, it wasn't a pleasant walk in the park...
Probably in the middle of their trek, the trio got caught in the middle of a thick snowstorm. Manami considered it a blizzard… they could barely see a foot ahead of them. She and Ed were freezing down to the bone. If any of them spoke, they had to yell as loud as they could to even remotely be heard over the whirling wind around them.
"Can't you make this wind stop?!" Ed yelled to Manami, who raised her free hand to her ear. He was only a few feet away from her and she still couldn't hear him over the heavy gusts.
"MAKE THE WIND STOP!" He yelled louder, and her face twisted to a scowl.
"I CAN'T DO THAT!"
"WHY NOT?!"
"YOU STOP AN EARTHQUAKE AND THEN GET BACK TO ME!"
Ed groaned.
"HOW DO WE KNOW IF WE'RE EVEN ON THE ROAD STILL?!" Al asked.
"WE'RE FINE!" Ed yelled back. "TEACHER WAS THROWN OUT HERE AND SHE SURVIVED… IF SHE COULD DO IT, SO CAN WE!"
"THERE'S NO WAY!" Manami shook her head.
"SHE DID!" Ed barked back at her. "SHE TOOK DOWN A BEAR AND EVERYTH—"
They heard a loud THUD behind them, which they would have questioned if they didn't feel it as well… they slowly turned to look back to see a dark silhouette towering over them, even taller than Al, his breath misting in front of his gritted teeth.
"GAAAAH! BEAR!" Manami shrieked.
Ed quickly transmuted his automail arm into a blade as the bear lifted it's arm, but instead of a paw, they saw something shiny. It looked like metal...
"..?" But before they could think anymore on it, the beast slammed it's arm down towards them, which they narrowly dodged by jumping in different directions.
"That's no bear!" Ed yelled out, but before either Al or Manami could respond, there was a BANG! Manami quickly looked over to see something shot at Al and knocked him over.
"Alphonse!" Both Ed and Manami cried, seeing that Al was now tangled in a net and pinned to the ground.
Manami looked over to the giant who shot the net and got a good look at him. He was a burly man that was mostly bald except for a black mohawk down the middle of his scalp, with a long matching braid whipping behind him.
"Hold on a second!" Ed yelled. "Is that a military uniform?!"
"It looks mediocre, but that looks like automail too, isn't it?!" The man yelled back, making Ed and Manami blink in confusion.
"Mediocre?!" Ed gritted his teeth. "Just because it's not big and tacky like yours?!"
"Ed!" Manami yelled. "Don't argue with him now!"
"Obviously you don't know what you're looking at!" The man roared. "This right here is the M1913-A: The Crocodile!"
He pointed the claw-like automail at the two of them. "Now surrender, you miserable Drachman spies, or I'll show you first-hand what this baby can do!"
"Spy?!" Manami and Ed raised their eyebrows.
"Wait a minute, we're not spie— WHOA!" Ed barely managed to dodge a swipe.
"Hold on!" Manami yelled. "We're not spies!"
She then noticed Ed reaching to hold his shoulder, his teeth gritted. He looked like he was in pain…
Oh no… not another malfunction…
Before she could act, the man used his claw to clench down on Ed's automail arm and flip him over in the snow.
"Brother!" Al yelled, still unable to get out of the net. Manami gritted her teeth as she reached for her pockets and grabbed hold of her fans. She bit her lip as she whipped the fans open, already feeling the resistance of the wind against it.
She knew that she could work with the wind if it was stagnant or at least blowing in the direction she wanted, but if it was whirling all around like this, it was too unpredictable...
The man pulled Ed up out of the snow, dangling from his automail hand still in his claws. He then yanked what looked like a string, and Manami and Al saw smoke eject from the claw. Sparks then began flying out from in between the two automail prosthetics.
"WAIT! STOP!"
"Your automail will be too easy to destroy!" The man roared.
"No…" Ed went to reach his free hand to clap with his automail one.
"I'll break YOUR automail!"
Manami's hopeful smile disappeared as quickly as it came on, because once Ed touched the claw… nothing happened.
"Huh?!"
"Is that supposed… to hurt?" The man cackled.
"WAIT! WAIT STOP!" Ed flailed about, now out of options.
"!" Manami needed to do something, and fast!
She just had to get him down, or at least far away enough to maybe get Al out of his net. That was the plan.
She quickly ran to the side to try to circle the man, but he had close eyes on her. She was making the wrong move, because once he turned to where his other hand was hidden, he quickly pulled out the same gun that shot the net at Al.
"Manami! Look out!" Ed yelled, seeing the gun in plain sight.
BANG! The gun shot as Manami ran straight for him, and waved her fan to blow the net aside. She smiled as she readied her next attack… but only for a moment, for Manami didn't see that the wind carrying the net had whirled around and changed direction, bringing the net back to catch her from behind.
"Oof!" Manami fell face first into the snow and flailed in the net in frustration. "Are you SERIOUS?!"
"Brother!" Al had finally managed to get out of his net and removed his helmet to throw to Ed.
"Thanks!" Ed caught the helmet. He then slammed it down against the claw to where the string attached to the helmet got tangled in the claw's teeth and tangled it.
Ed landed and made it over to Al, who was now helping Manami out of her net.
"Are you okay, brother?" Al asked him, and he nodded.
"Other than my arm… maybe I should die here— because if I make it out of this alive, Winry's gonna kill me!"
"I'd like us all to live, thank you!" Manami yelled at him.
"Well, that was impressive." The man looked up from his claw to see them. "But it's all over now…"
Manami blinked, noticing that the snow and the wind were letting up. More and more by the second, the environment around them became more visible… and her eyes widened at the sight of several men surrounding them. Other than the black pistols they were aiming at them, they camouflaged perfectly in the white snow around them.
"..." Manami swallowed and slowly went to raise her hands, Ed and Al following suit.
"Yet another gun stuck in my face…" Ed looked down the barrel of the gun closest to him with an unamused expression.
"Buccaneer!" A woman's voice filled the cold and silent air, coming from above. "Who are they?!"
In front of them they could see a gray wall. The man with the mohawk stood at attention and faced where the voice came from.
"I apologize, I didn't see you there, General Armstrong!"
Armstrong..?!
The trio looked around the wall now until they saw someone with long, flowing blonde hair. She was far away, but even so they could still see the sharpness of her eyes.
"This is…" Ed breathed. "Who the Major sent us to meet… Olivier Mira Armstrong."
"He has a sister..?" Manami asked quietly.
"They don't look related…" Al couldn't help but point out.
"I'll ask again, who are you?!" Olivier yelled down to them, her voice as cold as the winter wind.
"I'm the FullMetal Alchemist, Edward Elric." Ed answered. "With me are my brother, Alphonse Elric, and…"
"The Wind Alchemist, Manami Kami." Manami introduced herself.
"Major Armstrong sent us here to meet with the General in charge of this post." Ed explained.
There was a pause, to where Manami wondered for a moment if she heard them…
"Search them!" Olivier suddenly yelled, and Manami and Ed exchanged nervous glances.
"W-Wait! We're with the military!" Ed protested as the guards started patting them down.
"Anyone can say they're in the military. I need proof."
"We have our silver pocket watches!" Manami tried this time.
"Like those can't be easily replicated?!" Olivier wasn't having it.
"Whoa… he's hollow!" One of the soldiers got to Al.
"So you noticed…" Ed groaned. He wasn't happy about this at all.
After Ed and Manami got patted down, they were asked for their belongings to search next. They couldn't say no…
As one guard went through Ed's suitcase, another went through Manami's knapsack. Her eyes narrowed the moment the guard searching her bag pulled out her journal.
"I-If you could please handle that with care…" Manami stammered, her frown growing deeper as a weak attempt to hide her nervousness.
The guard didn't respond, but Manami still noticed that he didn't handle the book roughly. He scanned every single page carefully and even taking out the photos to examine each of them.
He saw the music written on the sheets, as well as the three pictures she valued most. Ed and Al had no idea about this journal, so she wouldn't be surprised if they asked about it later… she didn't mind showing them the photos, but... she wanted the music to be kept a secret.
And a secret it stayed, for the guard stuffed the photos back in the journal and then put it back into the knapsack, without comment.
"Didn't think you were the 'diary' type there, Manami..." Ed cracked a weak joke, to which she forced a smile.
"Y-You got me..." She stammered.
Ed was much more comfortable than she was, at least considering the guns around them. He had nothing to hide, and he even felt better once the guard found the Major's letter and went to bring it to Olivier.
"That's a letter of introduction from Major Alex Louis Armstrong. Read that, and I know you can trust us."
They watched as Olivier examined the envelope on both sides.
"This is Alex, alright…" She mumbled, suddenly tearing the envelope in twos… fourths… eighths…
"What?!" Ed shrieked. "Aren't you even going to read it?!"
"A letter of introduction means nothing to me." Olivier said simply as she continued tearing the envelope into tinier and tinier pieces.
"I don't value others' opinions of a person. I prefer to judge them with my own eyes."
And with that, she tossed the shredded paper back over her shoulder to be carried away by the wind. The trio watched it fly away, but then got distracted by how much the gray wall covered their line of sight. They looked further and further up, to where they had to tilt their heads back.
"Whoa…" They all gasped in astonishment.
"Enter, FullMetal and Wind Alchemists." Olivier spoke before turning to walk inside.
"I-I can't believe how big this wall is…" Manami picked up her knapsack and threw it over her shoulder.
"It's huge!" Ed added.
"Quit gaping like idiots and start walking!" Olivier yelled back at them, making them both shrink in intimidation.
"Don't be mistaken. I'm not here to babysit or coddle you just because you're children!" She warned them.
"This is the Mountain Fortress Briggs! Here, only the strong survive."