Disclaimer: I do not own any FMA or Crescent Moon O/Cs.
Mr. Bat soared above the trees, occasionally looking back at the group of three to make sure they were with him. He was following orders, using the bare light of the moon, mingled with the lights of the city to guide him. He heard the quiet panting as the three tired, but kept going. Nozomu had told him it was urgent that they reach them. He flapped his wings, feeling fatigue take over his muscles, but he kept flying. The moonbeams shone dappled lights on the ground as they passed through the trees. The moon was truly beautiful tonight, and he felt remorse at the knowledge that he would have to go inside soon.
When they reached the outskirts of the city, Mahiru heard a soft squeak as Mr. Bat flew down to the ground. She could she, just ahead of them, two figures approaching through the dust kicked up from the ground by the cool wind. She inhaled and gagged on the powder, coughing uncontrollably. Akira came over to her to make sure she was all right as she watched the approaching figures. She could see their outlines better now, one rather short but lean, and one taller and bulkier. She coughed again, finding it harder and harder to breathe as the wind picked up. She fell to her knees, and put her hands to her mouth. Before she knew it, the smaller of the two had run up to her and tried to help, but she found herself slipping unconscious.
Ed walked alongside Al, in pursuit of the giant beast that had escaped from them earlier. They had reached the edge of the city, wind blowing dust in their faces, when they saw three people, two boys and a girl, entering Central. The girl was coughing on the dust. She's obviously never been here before… He thought. He kept his eyes on the ground. He ran towards the three travelers, wanting to help them in return for any information. He ran up to the girl. "Are you alright?" He asked carefully. She looked feebly up at him, and fell over, blacking out. He looked at the two boys. One of them looked concerned about the girl, one merely looked uninterested in being there altogether. "We should get her somewhere safe." He started, eyes darting into the many alleys.
Akira walked alongside the stranger, but Mitsuru kept his distance. Ed tried to strike up a casual conversation, but could feel the tension, the distrust pulsing from 'The Quiet One.' He looked at the one walking beside him. "I'm Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist. It's nice to meet you…"
"Akira Yamabuki." Akira was surprised at the words coming out of his mouth. He didn't recognize the language, or any of the words, the boy called Edward was speaking, but he understood him. It was strange. He thought it might be English, but he didn't speak English. It must be something to do with this dimension. "And that's Mitsuru Suou. Where are we?"
Ed stared at Akira. He didn't recognize the language he was speaking, but he understood him. He doesn't know where he is… could he have come through the gate? "This is Central. Where are you from?" He looked over at the Quiet One. Mitsuru Suou… he should be watched carefully while he's here. These two remind me of the other foreign kids back at Headquarters.
Mitsuru spoke for the first time. "We're from Japan." He stared at the puzzled look on the stranger's face. We're not really from Japan, but you don't need to know that. He was seething. He hated meeting new people, and he hated being asked questions. He just wanted them to leave him alone.
The party walked along in silence until they reached the Headquarters. Edward led them up through the magnificent door and hallway, to a prepared room for them to wait in. There was a separate room where he knew the girl wouldn't be disturbed, a spare bedroom. He opened the door so Al could lay her on the bed, then retreated, closing the door behind him. He went and sat with the two boys, waiting for the colonel to finish interrogating the other two. "Who was the girl you were with?"
"Mahiru Shiraishi. She'll be okay won't she?"
"Yeah, she just breathed in some dust. She'll be fine." Akira looked relieved. Ed couldn't help but stare at the many things protruding from the boy's face. His brown hair and pale skin contrasted against the silver things that were piercing his skin. He imagined how much it would hurt. Mitsuru seemed uninterested in whether or not Mahiru would be okay.
Mitsuru glared out the window for a while before turning his gaze back to the short blond boy seated in front of him. "Metal arm and leg…" He wondered aloud to nobody in particular.
Catching this brief statement, Ed turned to the boy and let out a pained chuckle. "That's an old story I'm afraid…"
XxXxX
"What do you want with us?" Roy watched as one of the boys, the short one with long dark hair and glasses, asked him this question rather more forcefully than he had anticipated. "Honestly, why are we here? How could we help you?" His hands clenched into fists and the other boy leaned over, whispering something in the boy's ear. The shorter one relaxed, and this sudden change in mood made Mustang tense up. There's something about these two…
"How could you help me?" Roy felt his teeth beginning to clench, his muscles seizing as he went from laid-back to alert in the space of about five seconds. The boys seemed to sense this, as the short one tensed a bit, and the tall one recoiled. Sighing, Mustang put a hand to his forehead. "I've already explained this. You can tell me what I want to know."
The taller one, with the blond hair and the blue eyes, leaned forwards in his chair. "I'm sorry sir, but we're confused. Why do you think we know anything about these Teardrops of the Moon? We have no idea where we are, who you are, or what you're talking about. We only came towards this big, official-looking building because we had hoped you could help us find a place to stay for the night." Roy's instincts told him the boy was lying, but something about his tone suggested sincerity beyond question, and innocence. Or maybe you're going soft. The boy looked absolutely puzzled. "If you could help us gather our bearings, maybe we could do something for you."
Roy looked down at the boys. They did look puzzled. He glanced out the window at the full moon, still thinking about the strange creatures he had sworn he'd saw. A were-wolf, a vampire, a kitsune, beasts all of them. And they had simply disappeared. It seemed that Ed had chased after the were-wolf, but he had returned minutes ago with no sign of a beast. All that Roy had found where these creatures were spotted, outside HQ, were these two strange looking boys. "My name is Colonel Roy Mustang. You happen to have been taken in by the military, and you are lucky, we have a few rooms to spare. If you would be so kind as to tell me your names everything could be arranged."
The short one spoke first. "My name is Misoka Asagi, and my friend here," he gestured to the tall one, "is Nozomu Moegi." Misoka looked reproachful. "Are our names all you really need to know?" He looked rather inquisitive, but guarded. His eyes shone with distrust behind his wide glasses, but Nozomu look cooperative.
When the Colonel spoke again, he addressed Nozomu. "Your names will suffice, for now. Edward!" He called out to the door, and a short blond with a red coat appeared at the door instantaneously. "Take these two to a spare room. And make sure they don't leave without checking with me first." He looked sternly at the two foreigners. "This city is… dangerous, to say the least. Don't go wandering around again. You could find yourselves in deeper trouble than you've ever imagined."
Nozomu and Misoka joined the boy at the door, and left, with one last glance back at the Colonel.
XxXxX
Mahiru woke in a strange room, on a cold bed. She blinked her eyes into focus, staring out a black window. It was still night, the crickets clearly cutting through the stillness with their chirping. She propped herself up on her elbows, looking around the barren room. She slowly rose to her feet, and with a soft cough, managed her way across the room to the door. She found herself in a hallway, with many doors. Every door looked the same save for the one at the very end of the hall. It was a double door. From where she could she could hear the snoring and fidgeting of her 'neighbours' as they slept.
As she approached the double door, she could hear faint noises of conversation. She could just recognize some of the voices, but two were foreign. She tentatively opened the door, and was immediately pulled into a crushing hug. "Mahiru!!!!" Akira screamed her name as he hugged her. She saw, behind a wall of Akira's short brown locks, Nozomu and Misoka come to their feet to greet her, smiling. Mitsuru glanced at her from the window, then resumed his pose of staring into the blank night.
Mahiru let a small frown of hurt and disappointment creep onto her face. As Nozomu hugged her—rather more gently than Akira—Misoka bowed his head and murmured "Princess." The blond boy in the corner looked puzzled at the way Misoka greeted her. She smiled at him.
"Hi, I'm Mahiru. Did you bring us here?" The boy nodded. "Thank you very much."
"I'm Edward Elric, The Fullmetal Alchemist. You were lost with these boys right? You're no doubt wondering where you are." Mahiru nodded, but Edward looked less than slightly interested. He had obviously explained all this to Nozomu, Misoka, Mitsuru and Akira. "This is Central City, the headquarters of the military, more precisely." He turned to the others. "It's getting late, we should all probably sleep. My brother Alphonse—" He gestured at the armour, "And I, will show you to rooms where you can stay. You shouldn't leave here alone, it's dangerous, but I can meet you all back here in the morning."
The group followed the brothers throughout the twisting hallways of identical doors, marking the path in their minds. When Ed had dropped off the last of the visitors, Mitsuru, to his room, he retired to his own temporary quarters. He lay on his bed, looking up at the moon, and thinking about Mahiru, Princess, they call her, he thought he saw the face of the full moon. And it was crying.