She slowly opened her eyes and sat up on her bed, letting the damp towel fall on to her lap. The rays of the orange sunset lightly blinded her eyes, so she placed her left arm over her them. Hikaru stared at the clock and noticed that it was about 6:00 p.m. She then looked around at the room she was in, realizing that it was a small room in the Central Military headquarters.
She heard a sudden knock on the door and immediately lied back down on the bed, placing the small, wet cloth back on forehead, and pulling the thin white blanket over her body. The door swiftly opened and Hikaru saw that it was Ed, Al, and Brosh carrying stacks of files. They hurried over to the table and placed all the files down.
Ed walked over to Hikaru, smiled at her, and kindly asked, "Hey, feeling better now, Hikaru?" Hikaru felt cheery to see Ed back again and happily nodded. He removed the damp cloth off her forehead, since he noticed that she was feeling a lot better. "You can continue resting. Al and I are going to try and decode something."
"What are you guys decoding?" Hikaru curiously wondered.
"Tim Marcoh's research journal." Al answered. "My brother and I are looking for the Philosopher's stone so we can return our bodies back to normal."
"While you were resting, we went over to the main branch, found out that the only copy was burned in the fire, and was told to go to an old employee's home. There we met the old employee named Sheska and luckily she has a photographic memory, so she was able to write down the every exact detail in the research journal." Ed finished. Hikaru walked over to the table and glanced at the notes.
"It looks like a cooking recipe to me." She mentioned.
"All Alchemists keep their research journals in disguise so other people can't look into their top secret information," Al replied. "My brother keeps his disguised in a travelogue so I can't understand it."
"And the Colonel writes his using the names of women." Ed added, making Hikaru laugh for a bit.
"Well," Hikaru started, "since I'm a pretty trained Alchemist, I can help you guys with decoding the journal."
"Sweet!" Ed shouted as Hikaru sat down at the table with them. He then handed her a small stack of paper, scratch paper, and a pen. "You can try to decipher that section. Let's see what you're capable of." She looked carefully at the documents, then grabbed the pen, and began writing down the Alchemic formulas.
About four hours later, the three young Alchemists heard the door suddenly open, and they all turned to see who walked in. It was Sergeant Brosh and Sheska.
"Sorry to walk in without knocking." Brosh apologized.
"Both the Sergeant and Second Lieutenant told me that I would be able to find you guys here." Sheska explained.
"So what do you need?" Ed asked.
"I came here to thank you for giving me enough money to transfer my mother over to an excellent hospital." She answered as she constantly bowed, showing her thanks. "I don't know how to repay you for your kindness."
"It was no sweat." He smiled. "The information we received from you is worth a lot more than whatever I gave you."
"So how's your deciphering coming along?" she wondered.
"Not so well…" Ed and Al replied in gloom while Hikaru just continued on with her work. Her scratch paper was completely filled with ridiculous amounts of numbers, equations, and formulas. Sheska looked over at Hikaru's work at deciphering and was amazed at how she worked.
Sheska then walked over to Hikaru and commented, "Seems like you're getting more progress done than Ed and Al."
Hikaru laughed softly at the comment and held out her hand. "Nice to meet you, Sheska." She happily greeted. "The name's Hikaru and don't get any ideas about Ed and me, please." Sheska shook her hand and giggled at the greeting.
Ed was happy to see Hikaru getting along better with everyone around her. He remembered when they first met after the battle with Scar. Hikaru never really opened herself up to a lot of people. She mostly spent her time by herself in her lonely mansion, hidden deep within Elendia. She was alone most of time and rarely ever smiled. She was always in pain somewhere, but no one was able to come to her aid. It was almost like she's slowly falling through a black abyss of emptiness. She's fallen so deep to the point where almost no light can reach out to her.
But after the time Ed and Hikaru has spent together the light seems to be shining brighter in the dark abyss, and soon Hikaru would be able to follow it through to the exit. Ed was more than happy to see her opening up to the world around her as if she were following a path created by a shining, silver light that led her towards the real world.
Ed was suddenly snapped out of his daydreaming when Hikaru asked Sheska, "By the way, what was the title of the research journal you gave to Ed and Al?"
"I think it was called 'Advanced Cooking Recipes by Tim Marcoh'," Sheska replied. "Why do you need to know about the title, though?"
Hikaru began to think back into her recent memories and suddenly something clicked. "Do you remember seeing a small notebook attached to it?" she asked.
"Yeah," Sheska answered, "but after the journal was lost for several days and when was returned, the notebook disappeared."
Hikaru walked over to the coat rack and searched her black cape for a large pocket. Inside that large pocket was a small, thin notebook. It was old and a bit torn up, but the writing on the cover was still readable. She placed the booklet on the paper-filled table for the others to look. Sheska was amazed to see that this was the small notebook that was missing from Marcoh's research journal. Even though it was a very thin, old notebook, there was a special lock that was placed on it. The lock couldn't be unlocked by a lock pick or destruction. The only way to open it was through a special Alchemy process.
"How did you get your hands on that?" Sheska asked in complete puzzlement.
"I have absolutely no idea," Hikaru answered sadly. "I woke up only a few months ago with the memories of my past completely erased."
"Do you know how to open it?" Ed and Al asked eagerly.
Hikaru laughed a bit and replied, "Sorry, I don't," Their hopes suddenly dropped as they both stared at the floor in gloom. "But I do know that the instructions on how to open this book is written in his research journal." Both Elric brothers had their spirits raised and instantly began search through the document papers.
"They sure are full of energy, aren't they?" Sheska said happily smiling.
"Of course!" Hikaru shouted happily. "Ever since I woke up with my amnesia, I would always stay secluded from people in the real world. Whenever I used to walk in public I would never once talk or respond to the people around me. The animals only hiss and growl at me as if I were a strange creature of some sort. I felt like I didn't belong in the real world, but until I met these two crazy brothers, my life pretty much changed. They made my life a lot happier and made me feel like I'm a part of this world too. They made feel like I belong and I can't thank them enough for that." Sheska was almost moved to tears from Hikaru's small story and was really happy for her.
Suddenly the peace was disturbed when Hughes cheerfully barged through the door. Ross and Brosh stepped inside apologizing for the disturbance Hughes made when he entered.
"Yo!" he loudly greeted. "Long time no see guys!"
"Yeah it's been a while now, Lieutenant Colonel!" Ed replied with a big smile.
"The Major told me that you'd be here. I told you guys to at least give me a call if you're ever in Central." Hughes wondered.
"Our apologies, sir." Al began.
"We were busy since we got here." Ed continued. "You know, the State Alchemist Exam, the thief capturing mission, returning all the missing books, and now this."
"Yeah, I know what you mean," The Lieutenant Colonel agreed. "I got so much paper work to file through that I haven't been able to leave the office. By the way how did that thief mission that Roy assigned you go?"
"Well, it seems that the culprit is in this very room." Ed said in a very creepy tone of voice.
"Did he break out of jail or something?" Hughes shouted alarmed.
"Actually the culprit's right here." Al calmly pointed to Hikaru who was sitting in a chair between him and his brother. Hikaru gave Hughes a smile, and his jaw dropped. The Elric brothers began laughing at the Lieutenant Colonel.
"Are you guys being serious with me?" Hughes asked laughing.
"She doesn't look like a criminal, does she?" Ed said as he continued to laugh hard.
"No way in hell she looks anything like one!" Hughes shouted still laughing at the joke and patted Hikaru on the head. "Judging by the way she smiles, it looks like she's really happy to be around you guys. I'd have to completely agree with her! Other than my family, you guys are greatest people to be around. Heck, you can even make the whole world feel this great!"
"Thanks, Lieutenant Colonel!" Ed and Al both happily thanked him.
"No problem." Hughes replied with a caring smile on his face. He then turned his attention towards Hikaru and held out his hand. "I've been wondering what your name might be, kid."
"The name's Hikaru." She answered as she shook his hand.
"Are you the 'Hikaru' that entered the application form for the State Alchemist Exam without a last name?" Hughes quickly asked.
"Yeah, that would have to be me," she said, curiously wondering at what the lieutenant colonel wants from her.
"I was told to give you your State Alchemist certification." He said as he gave her a large orange envelope. "Congratulations on becoming State Alchemist!"
"Thank you Lieutenant Colonel," Hikaru replied politely and opened the envelope. Inside was a large thick piece of paper that looks to be the State Alchemist certificate. Hikaru read through the certificate and wondered why the Fuhrer chose to call her the Macchina Alchemist. As Hikaru read on further, Hughes decided to bring up other important subjects.
"Damn… that fire in the First Branch really slowed us down." He said somberly. "It was close to the court martial house, so we used it to store all of records and stuff like that." The Elric brothers and Hikaru then turned their gaze from Hughes to Sheska.
"Y'know Lieutenant Colonel," Ed began, "why don't you give Sheska here a job?"
"She's got a photographic memory," Hikaru finished for him, "and must've read through the military records while she used to work at the First Branch."
Hughes' eyes lit up as he shouted, "This kid has that king of talent?!" He then quickly walked over to Sheska and grabbed her shirt collar. "The military's going to give you an awesome salary. So let's get the paperwork done right away!"
"Thank you for everything you've for me! I hope I can pay all of you back soon!" Sheska shouted as Hughes dragged her out of the room laughing like a maniac kidnapper. The Elric brothers and Hikaru couldn't help but laugh as they went back to work.
"So how do you think we can open that small notebook, Hikaru?" Al asked.
"Well, just organize the sections of the research in order for me and the rest will be self-explanatory." Hikaru explained as they all began to search through the messy pile of documents.
Meanwhile over at the Eastern headquarters a great battle has begun to unfold. It was the Battle of the Second Lieutenants: Second Lieutenant Jean Havoc versus Second Lieutenant Heymans Breda!! In what kind of game, you ask? Why, in a game of Chess, of course! The two soldiers stared at each other with angry glares in their eyes as each of them took turns making moves on the black-and-white, checkered Chessboard.
But just when Havoc was about to make his next move the door of the recreational room was suddenly blown off its hinges and crashed right into Havoc, sending him flying into the wall.
"Second Lieutenant Havoc!!" Breda, Warrant Officer Watteau Falman, and Master Seargeant Kain Fuery all shouted in unison after the crash.
"What the hell just happened?" Fuery asked as he helped the other two soldiers rescue Havoc from underneath the door that's crushing him.
"It's obvious that the door was blown right off its hinges." Falman answered, pulling Havoc out.
"You ok, man?" Breda asked in concern.
"Yeah." Havoc replied as he back on his feet. "But who the hell–!" He was suddenly cut off when an extremely tall black haired woman confronted him. She was almost as tall as him, but just about an inch or two shorter. He didn't have to look downward much to see her frightening glare.
"Please forgive the Lieutenant Colonel for her harsh actions." First Lieutenant Hawkeye said as she calmly walked in, noticing the Lieutenant Colonel and Havoc weren't getting along too well. Havoc growled at the strange woman like an angry dog, while she merely stared at him angrily. Hawkeye sighed and had the Lieutenant Colonel sit down next to her on a black double-seated couch.
"So, First Lieutenant Hawkeye, can you explain to us who she is?" Fuery asked nervously.
"This is Lieutenant Colonel Shia Amano from the Southern Headquarters." Hawkeye explained. "She was directly ordered by Colonel Mustang to escort us all to Central."
"That means we're all transferring?" Falman asked, making sure.
"That is correct." Shia replied monotonously. "If you have friends and family here, better say your good-byes now."
"NO!!!!" Havoc suddenly shouted with tears flying out his eyes like rushing waterfalls. "I JUST GOT A NICE GIRLFRIEND HERE!!!"
"Find yourself a new girlfriend in Central." Shia responded coldly without a care about Havoc's feelings.
Steams of anger exploded right out of Havoc's head as he shouted, "YOU EVIL, EVIL BITCH!!! WHAT THE HELL DO YOU HAVE AGAINST ME?!!"
"Nothing." She calmly replied. "I really hate this pointless job. I can't understand why the Colonel would want to bring imbeciles like you four twits over to Central with him."
"I SWEAR I WILL HAVE YOU DEAD LIEUTENANT COLONEL…" Havoc threatened.
"I'd like to see you try it," Shia argued back and then shouted, "All right! Now, let's get going, dumbasses!" She then walked out of the room with Hawkeye, an extremely enraged Havoc, and the other frightened men following her."
The large clock tower of Central city rung it's bell five consecutive times as its hands read 5:00 p.m. Second Lieutenant Ross and Sergeant Brosh were both required to check up on the Elric brothers and Hikaru at this hour. When they were about to reach the hotel room, they heard a sudden loud slam, which made both of the military soldiers jump. Brosh quickly opened the door as Ross rushed in, but was blown back by a loud yell.
"WHAT THE F?!!!!!!!!!!!!! THIS CAN'T BE!!!" Ed suddenly shouted startling both Brosh and Ross. The two military officers walked carefully into the hotel room and noticed Ed's chair knocked on to the floor with paper scattered all around it.
"What the hell happened, Edward?" Ross asked in concern.
"We were able to decipher the code," Al answered for his brother.
"Then that's good!" Brosh replied happily.
"What the hell is good about it, dammit?!" Ed shouted at Brosh. "It's like the work of the devil!"
The two officers were perplexed about this, so Hikaru explained for them, "The main ingredient of the Philosopher's Stone is a living human being." Both Brosh and Ross were stunned. They couldn't believe something like this could've existed, even worse, conducted by the military. "But to create an actual stone numerous lives would have to be sacrificed."
"I can't imagine the military conducting something like this beneath our noses." Brosh shouted angrily.
"This can't go unpunished!" Ross added in.
"To make matters worse," Hikaru continued explaining, "the military created a demonic-like being or machine that can create the stone by absorbing the life of the humans it kills. The reason why Dr. Marcoh quit the military force was because he witnessed this killer machine in action. It was too brutal for his eyes to bear. We were only able to decipher a partial amount of the small notebook that contained information about it, but we've come to know that it's known as Tsubasa, the Silver Wings of Ultimate Life…"