OUR LIVES, CHAPTER 44: THE AGELESS SIN
By The Binary Alchemist 2015
"You sure do have a pretty mouth." A meaty arm slung itself around Kelley Winchell's shoulder.
The writer's nose squinched up and she turned her head slightly to the left in a useless effort to avoid the reek of the inmate's armpit. "Th—thank you," she stammered. "It's Merry Cay's 'Tickle Me Pink'."
"It looks like bubble gum." The strange woman swung in closer. "I like bubble gum. M'name's Lillian. You got a girlfriend?"
"Er…no."
"You want a girl friend?"
Winchell's eyes looked like a deer caught in the searchlights of the 31st Drachman Armored Tank Division. "Ah…no…" she squeaked. "Um…wh…when d-do we get to see a lawyer?"
The older woman frowned. "You got yer one phone call, didn'tcha?"
The blonde head bobbed. "Yes—but I had to call my manicurist. She's just awful! If I hadn't rung her up, why, I'd never have gotten another appointment with-"
"You ain't real smart, are ya, doll?" Lillian shook her head, "I don't go for dumb broads. Later, Toots."
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"The Emperor arrived last night, Excellency. He is currently sunning himself on the balcony of the Presidential Guest's Suite…in his undergarments."
Roy's bleary eyes shot wide open. He untangled himself from the sheets. "Huh?"
"…and Miss Turlough is with him. She has removed her top to sun herself and asked for fresh squeezed orange juice." The butler paused and Roy could have sworn he was fighting a grin. "I took the liberty to assign Major Havoc to front guard duty and requested someone else patrol the grounds."
"That's….perceptive of you, Sebastian."
"I do my best. Oh, and I am pleased to say that both the Emperor, Miss Turlough, Colonel Hawkeye and Captain Elric have all been healed of their injuries, thanks to His Highness, Prince Sheng-"
"Al's hurt?" Ed stuck his head out of the bathroom, toothbrush jammed in one cheek, a damp towel wrapped around his lean hips.
"Captain Elric is completely recovered and in good spirits. According to the reports in this morning's papers, he was dining with Major Havoc, Miss Winchell and Colonel Hawkeye at Madame Mustang's establishment, where Miss Turlough was performing. There was an apparent…incident. Miss Winchell became…distraught—"here Sebastian was doing a masterful job of concealing his amusement, "—and threw a bottle of champagne at Miss Turlough during her performance. Captain Elric attempted to restrain Miss Winchell, who was in the act of choking Miss Turlough by her own pearl necklace. He received a deep laceration to the abdomen after being kicked with a stiletto heel-"
"Holy shit!"
"-and when Colonel Hawkeye attempted to restore order by firing overhead, the Emperor's own bodyguard—"
"Ran Fan? What's she doing here, Roy?"
"—kicked the gun out of the Colonel's hand, fracturing her wrist. The Emperor himself suffered a mild concussion and a broken nose when he was-"
"Let me guess," Ed growled. "Smacked in the face with a purse?" Roy stared at Ed in surprise. Ed wiped the toothpaste off his chin with the back of his hand. "She does that. Hurts like hell. Damn thing is full of notebooks and cameras and crap."
Roy reached into the nightstand without even looking. Pulling out a bottle of aspirins, he shook out three and popped them into his mouth, washing them down with the dregs of a bottle of stale ale from the night before. He ruffled his hair with frustration. "I do not have time to deal with this, not today of all days," he grumbled. "Where is she?"
"In protective custody at the police station. There is talk in the papers that she may be extradited to Xing to stand trial for attacking His Celestial Grace Emperor Ling." The butler offered a stack of freshly ironed morning papers. Uppermost was The Central Times, whose headlines blared "CELEBRITY AUTHOR CHARGED WITH ASSAULTING XINGESE EMPEROR" above a very unflattering photo of Maud Kelley Winchell being dragged away in handcuffs, a very furious looking Ran Fan seen arguing in the background—sword drawn—with the Chief of Police. Beside that was a photo of a battered looking Ling Yao on a stretcher, being loaded into an ambulance.
Roy stared at the headline. He glanced up at Edward. One corner of his mouth turned up. His headache had vanished. "Get dressed," he told his husband. "I never knew I could take such perverse satisfaction in preventing an international incident….."
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"You don't have to do this. I….I don't want you to do this."
"But it's the right thing to do…isn't it?"
Maes Elric tugged anxiously at his ponytail. "I don't know," he groaned. "I just don't want any…I want to keep you safe, Selim."
Calm dark eyes met his own. There was absolutely no fear in them, and that made Maes feel all the worse. Did Selim really comprehend what was going to happen to him when he testified before a closed Parliament session tomorrow about the Promised Day?
Or was he calm because he completely understood—and was ready to accept whatever might befall him?
How could anybody fail to feel compassion for this young man who was dragged into the Father's darkness while still sheltered in his mother's womb—who was never given a chance to say no or stop or even curse the unholy creature that injected the red stone into the amniotic fluids so that a normal human fetus would mutate into a homunculus?
The first time Maes heard the true story about Selim from his father the young man had vomited over and over and had needed more than a little alcohol to get to sleep that night. Collins, when the secret was shared to him, cursed in true anger and resolved to help the damaged older man as much as he could.
And then there were the glass negatives Maes and his sister had found in the tumbledown old greenhouse, negatives that were etched with the face and form of the being known as Selim Bradley, taken decades when Roy Mustang's father was still a child. Maes never intended for Selim to see those plates, but he'd found them by accident while helping Maes and Collins clean up the workshop. As weeks passed and his memory improved, Selim was even able to remember when they had been taken—and by whom.
"Nobody hit me," Selim had told them over hot chocolate one night. "They were kind. They said I was strong and I was the best." Mrs. Bradley had given a soft sob at those words and reached for her son's hand. "Am I a person or a thing, Maes?"
At those plaintative words, Maes' own eyes became damp. "All I know is that you're our friend," he had answered, his voice breaking with pity. "You're our friend and I'll do anything I can to help you, now and always."
But tomorrow Selim would tell his story before the Prime Minister, the members of the Amestrian Parliament, senior military officers and President Mustang. This hearing would be closed to the press and the public. Mustang had told the people more than Grumman ever had about the Promised Day, but he had stopped short of telling about the Sins and how they had been created. "Selim, this may seem hard to understand—sometimes I have trouble with it myself. A person can think about truth when they hear it and ask questions and find answers. But people as a group don't often do this. They get scared and stop thinking and sometimes they are so afraid they do bad things without even meaning to hurt anybody. Just like one horse can be led safely away if the barn catches fire, but a herd of horses will panic and stampede and run over anybody who tries to get them safely away." His strong, gloved hand closed over Selim's shoulder. "What was done to you frightens even me, Selim. Nobody wants to think that an innocent child was made into a Homunculus who was taught to hurt people. It's like thinking about something that is just..so…big…that they can't think about it without being hurt and scared. That's why it's best that only a few people know what happened to you, so they have time to hear your story and know you for the good person you are."
"Then seeing me scares people?"
"No, son," Roy told the younger man who was, in truth, older than Roy's own father. "What scares them is that someday somebody might try it again and hurt their children."
Maes' heart ached at the thought of what might befall his damaged friend once the story was told. That's why he'd ridden his motorcycle out to the Bradley house, David Collins at his side. Selim and his mother were genuinely surprised when Maes offered to get them out of the city and send them through the underground tunnels out of the country. "I've got lots of friends up north. My dad's friend, Uncle Pyotir, owns a dacha in a little town out in the country. Pyotir says both of you can stay there as long as you want. You could—I don't know—dig in the garden, and fish in the river. Folks are nice up there, tho' the winter gets kinda hard. But you could start again, both of you. What do you say?"
"Maes, you'll get in trouble with your father and President Mustang for even talking like this."
"I don't care!"
Finally, Selim shook his head. "No more trouble. Not for anybody. I will go and talk to them. I will tell them what I know. What I remember." His face brightened. "Will that keep people from being hurt like they hurt me, with the red stone?"
Maes buried his face in his hands, helpless to change what he feared was to come. "I wish I knew, Selim. I wish I knew…"
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"Miss Turlough—"
Gladys beamed and her nipples perked up at the sight of Ling's son. "Hi, Sheng-sheng! Lookit my neck!" Ice pink nails trailed over the ivory flesh of her throat. "Not even a mark! You're just the best! And Kingy's all handsome again. Kingy, Sheng-sheng's so smart and good and talented and all. Why'dn'cha make him the Crown Prince?"
Ling regarded her with the fondness that he might have shown a small, cherished kitten. "Because he doesn't want it—or so he keeps telling me over and over. He's the best and the brightest of my offspring, and all he wants to do is be an alchemist and a doctor. A doctor! Not even a Royal Physician!" Glancing up at his tall son, Ling enquired if it was time to dress for his appearance at Parliament regarding the events of The Promised Day.
"Indeed, Father. Miss Turlough, will you be accompanying us? It would be my honor to escort you."
Gladys gave him a saucy wink. "And leave Miss Nina alone?" She giggled as the young man offered a feeble protest. "No, honey. Mistah Alphonse will invited me to sit with him…but I'll holler if I need you, 'kay?"
As they made their way to the Presidential Guest Suite's dressing chambers, Sheng Yao confronted his father. "You won't let Ran Fan kill her."
Ling didn't need to ask who her was. "Shouldn't I?" He frowned. "She broke my nose. You know the laws of our country. To lay hands on the Celestial Emperor other than to save his life is punishable by death. The only reason her head isn't stuck on the end of Ran Fan's sword is because that Amestrian constable stopped her."
"Father," Sheng sighed, "we are not barbarians. And I have been in Miss Winchell's company frequently enough to suspect…."
Ling glanced at his son. "Go on."
Hoping the gods and ancestors would pardon him for lying to the Celestial One, Sheng Yao, took a deep breath and adjusted his spectacles. "Would you like my opinion as a physician, Father?"
The Celestial One shrugged. "Sure."
"She's—to put it tactfully—a few tiles short of a mahjong set."
"Insane?"
"Delusional….paranoid, certainly. My studies in human psychology have been very elementary but it would seem to me that the most merciful course of action would be to grant her an Imperial pardon on condition of evaluation, treatment….and a very long supervised rest."
"She broke my nose, son."
"And I fixed it. Do this for me, Father," the young prince asked earnestly. "Evaluation, rest…and then probation under a suitable officer here in Amestris." He smiled. "It would be good for your image. It might even expunge the possible implications that my Celestial Father was planning on—what was it Maes called it? 'Getting boiled as an owl'—in a public saloon and possibly disgracing himself on the dance floor with a bunch of barely-legal chorus girls and acquiring another half dozen wives who will cost him more than Miss Turlough."
Ling fingered the bridge of his nose and considered. "I don't like this…but all right. Get it done quickly and clean up this mess for me before I leave for my empire….and I'll let you off the hook and you can stay in Amestris without my summoning you back against your will. Agreed?"
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"Good morning, Maude! We've brought you something for breakfast from Il Gattina. Elycia baked it especially for you."
On the other side of the glass, Maude Kelley Winchell looked ready to spit at the President and his husband. "I don't want anything from you."
"No?" Roy was positively chirping with good will—which would have made anyone who knew him well instantly suspicious. "You don't want it? Looks delicious." He flipped the bakery box open. "It's a cake." He leaned in close to the speaker. "With a file in it."
The frazzled blonde sat up straight. "A file?"
Roy nodded. "A nail file. I'm afraid your manicurist doesn't make house calls to the prison, Maude. She's cancelled your appointments indefinitely. After all," he waved cheerily to the walls around her, "if she comes out here to do your nails, she'll have to do everybody else's. Inmates are not known to be generous tippers—and she says the prison laundry is hell for chipping polish. She'd be down here doing touch ups every day. Not very profitable."
"And you'll want to keep those claws nice and sharp," Ed added with a spiteful grin. "I hear the ladies in there are pretty fierce. Not that you'll be in there long, I'd imagine. I suspect you'll be heading to Xing."
"I'll wave that 30-day waiting period for your visa," Roy offered generously. "I'll even discount the cost of expediting it for you."
"Yeah. Half off." Ed made a sharp slashing gesture across his throat.
Winchell made a small, whimpering sound, eyes wide with panic. Roy almost felt sorry for her.
Almost.
"We'll take our leave of you, Maude." Roy rose and gathered up his greatcoat. "Have a safe trip."
Ed grinned and waved as the author began to sob, the last of her mascara dribbling down her pale cheeks.
They closed the doors behind them. "I think she'll be amenable to anything you offer," Roy told Sheng Yao. The Prince had been sitting quietly in the waiting area with his Imperial seal bearers and Ling's personal secretary.
"You figured out what to do with her?" Ed asked.
The Prince bowed his head, smiling a little. "Indeed. And I believe it might do her much good, if she is open to change."
Ed slapped the younger man's shoulder with a cynical grin. "Son, the only thing on earth that actually wants to be changed is a baby in a shitty diaper. And don't you forget it!"
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"Selim."
Nina drew in her breath. She couldn't believe the older man was actually going to tell his story before the Parliament. Glancing at her stepfather, she was just about to protest when her brother, as if reading her thoughts, squeezed her hand. "He wants to do this, Nitwit. Nobody's going to punish him. Hell, who would? All he was doing was playing out the part they made him for."
She glared at her brother. "Are you that naïve, Tinker? This is murder we're talking about!" she hissed.
"I tried to stop him, and Pops said he didn't have to make a statement. This was his choice."
"Hey, pipe down," Ed whispered sharply. "They're about to swear him in….."
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"My name is Selim Bradley and this is my testimony.
"I know that people are scared to have me talk. They are scared that people will be mad and then they will hurt me. But my mother says I have nothing to fear and that I should always tell the truth—so I will.
"You heard President Mustang this morning. He talked about the Old Man—the one they called The Father. You heard him tell about how the man who raised me, King Bradley, was taken in when he was little and things were done to him by The Father. How they tried to put the red stone into a bunch of people with needles. Mostly they died. King Bradley lived and he was more than a man. It did things to him. Bad things. I don't think he knew right from wrong. They made him a monster so he could tell the people what to do. Tell the army what to do. And he smiled a lot. He looked like he was good but he wasn't—except to me and my mother. Before he died, he even told soldiers to kill my mother. That made him a very, very bad man—but he had things done to him and so maybe he didn't know how to be good.
"I am a monster too.
"The Father said they put the red stone into a lady's tummy when she had me inside her, before I was born. It did things to me I don't remember. But I know she is dead and that makes me very sad.
"I got to be as big as a child but no bigger. I had a big person's brain. I wasn't dumb like I am now. That happened later. The Father thing showed me how to hurt people. How to make them scared.
"He taught me how to make them die..and I did. I made lots and lots of people die. I feel really, really sad about that. I don't know how I could be so bad and hurt people, but I did it.
"Then on that day when the sun was going to go all black, there was a fight. The Father Thing was so strong, but he said he needed to be even stronger so he could be a god. He needed to take power from five alchemists—the five strongest ever. Mr. Edward. Mr. Alphonse. President Mustang—only he wasn't President then. Miss Curtis-and Mr. Elric, the father of Mr. Edward and Mr. Alphonse.
"He caught them all and President Mustang got hurt. His eyes—he couldn't see. Miss Curtis helped him. I…I remember being very angry because they wouldn't help the Father thing become a god and so I fought Edward Elric. I wanted to make him die.
"He beat me. He was so strong and good and he did not want me to hurt anybody anymore. He could have made me die but he didn't want to. He knew…I don't know how he knew….that I got made into a monster before I was born and didn't know how to be good. He thought I could be good.
"When the fight was over…I felt…all small. Like I didn't know anything—but I wanted my mother.
"He gave me to her—and she has been good to me. Maybe I wasn't in her belly but I belong to her. I love her very much.
"And he and Maes and Nina and Davy and President Mustang—all of them are helping me learn. I am getting smarter now. And I know right from wrong.
"I wanted to tell the truth. I don't want you to be scared of me. I know I did wrong things but President Mustang and my friends and old President Grumman have all helped me to learn to do right.
"I want to keep doing right if you will not kill me. But if you have to kill me I still want to do right.
"Thank you for letting me tell the truth."
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"Well, old friend?"
Prime Minister Ingro studied her reflection in her cup of tea, steam wreathing her dark hands as she silently considered all she'd learned on this day of dreadful revelations.
An army of animated flesh that screamed and staggered and consumed everything in its path. An inhuman madman conspiring with the army and a team of doctors and scientists to find the true key to immortality through the corruption of alchemy. Lives spent like coins, falling through the fingers of the mighty. Every life in the country she loved was little more than a resource to be burned as fuel in the fires of one person's—one creature's—ambition.
After a lengthy silence, she lifted her dark eyes to meet Mustang's. "The Father," she said at last. "What was it? Was it human?"
Roy slowly shook his head. "Once, maybe. I don't know. What I do know is that this wasn't the first time in human history that an innocent kid was used for experiments in search of immortality. You know the tales of the Great Sage of the East? Those weren't legends. There really was a Great Sage…and he knew what this thing was and gave his life trying to stop it."
The Prime Minister looked sober. "And you know this….how?"
"Because I heard from his own lips that the immortality that was forced upon him was an unimaginable curse, when all he wanted to do, in the end, was to grow old contentedly and be buried beside the woman he loved. Everything he was—all of his knowledge—was given to put an end to the Father creature, at the cost of his marriage and the trust of his sons."
The Prime Minister took a long sip of tea. She stirred it idly with her finger. "Those…sons. Do they have any desire for immortality?"
A slightly ironic smile played around his lips. "As the eldest would say, 'hell, no'."
"What about you, Roy? And Izumi Curtis?"
She knows…or has guessed. "I don't want to outlive my good looks. And she doesn't want to live without her husband."
"And if you do?"
Now, we come to the truth, just as Priya said we would. "It's a big world out there, Cee. Easy to get lost out there. Very easy, I hear. Could take a lifetime to explore it."
"Several lifetimes, Roy?"
"Could be." Mustang met her inquisitive glance without evasion. "I sure as hell hope not."
In the distance, they heard the summoning bell. "Looks like recess is over." The Prime Minister rose slowly to her feet. "Just so we understand one another. Now, "she adjusted her glasses, "it looks like the Emperor is going to have the last word today. Let's go, Roy…."
….TO BE CONTINUED….