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WARNING: SPOILERS!
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Edward stood in Mustang's office. The rain had finally ceased, and now it was extremely humid. All of the papers resting on Mustang's desk were damp and both him and Ed could feel the water hanging in the air. When they inhaled, it felt thick, like peanut butter on the roof of their mouths.
The clock on the desk showed that it was nearly nine on the morning. When Edward had first stepped inside the office, it had been eight thirty. They had been staring at each other, silently, for the past half hour. Neither knew what to say.
Mustang made like he was about to speak, but stopped. He didn't know what to do about the chimera. And worse yet, Ed and Al had befriended it. And even worse yet, it had a sad story and he himself pitied it. But what was the absolute worst, was the fact the he had gotten direct orders from the Fuehrer to eradicate it from the face of the planet. If he did, many of his close friends would think him cruel. Hawkeye and Havoc had been in the room when the chimera paid a visit. They heard its story and had sympathized with it as well. Why was he always stuck with the dirty work? Because he was the Brigadier General. That's why.
"Sir," Ed began. "I don't suppose that we could just let her go, right? I mean, what if she..."
"Goes on a killing spree again?" Mustang snapped.
"...yeah. But, we can't just kill her! She's human!"
"Partly."
Ed growled. "Mostly! And what if I kept an eye on her? Made sure she didn't..."
"Kill again?"
"Exactly!"
Mustang sighed. "I don't know. If someone found out, I could be striped of my title, license, and sent to jail for twenty years!"
"But this is someone's life. Not a stupid title. This is someone's life."
"What if she can't protect herself, or keep pace with you and Al?"
"She said that she was an alchemist, and we don't go that fast." Edward could feel Mustang giving in. He could tell that the Brigadier General wanted to side with him, but... something was holding him back.
"I don't know, Edward. It's just..."
"This decision shouldn't be tough, genius!"
Mustang glared at him. "You have nothing to lose! I could lose my job. And my job is all I have."
"Do what you think is right, then. Not what the Fuehrer tells you is right."
Edward knew that he had already won. He just needed the words to come out of that man's big mouth.
"Do what you will." Mustang let out a long sigh and scratched his head. "You would have brought her along anyway, right? Might as well authorize it to make it official."
"Thanks," Edward said in earnest.
"You're welcome, Fullmetal. Now, you're dismissed. And I won't need a report on the chimera incident. Let's just say it was filed wrong, okay?"
Ed saluted. "Yes, sir."
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The Military's Headquarter's young, kind secretary had been replaced by and old, fat, grumpy secretary. She was giving all who came to her a hard time, Adelina Rose not being an exception. In the most polite way, she had came up to the woman asked when the state alchemist test were. The woman replied with, "Huh. Hm. Ugh," which wasn't very helpful.
Adelina Rose tried again. "Excuse me, ma'am. I was wondering is you would enlighten me about the state alchemy exams. I know very little about them. So if you could tell me how to register and when they are, I would be very thankful."
The secretary grunted. "Look. First of all, I'm not the normal secretary. The other one got sick, so I filled in. Second of all, I don't know the date of the state alchemy exams. And third of all, I don't think the Fuehrer would allow some teenager into the military. What are you, sixteen?"
"Try two thousand," she muttered.
"What was that?"
"Nothing. Thanks for your help.
"Mhm."
Adelina Rose sauntered away from the help desk. She didn't know her way around, and had wandered away against Alphonse's better judgement. She had just wanted to know when the state alchemy exams were, and now she was totally lost.
Changing into a lion and scaring the crap out of the fat secretary would be nice pay back, but it would complicate manners. So Adelina Rose padded along the nearly deserted corridors of the Central Military HQ, trying to keep a cool air about her.
Up ahead in the hallway, Adelina Rose could see a man in a blue military uniform walking. Perhaps he could direct her to Brigadier General Mustang's office.
"Excuse! I'm lost and could use some help finding my way around." She had tried being polite.
The man turned to study her, gazing into her eyes. Adelina Rose looked at him too, grimacing at his eyepatch. He chuckled a little and walked to her, saying, "Of course I can help you get to the Brigadier General's office. Right this way."
He turned and strode down the corridor, whistling like a child. Adelina Rose followed him. He seemed nice. Or at least crazy. But it was better than being lost.
After a few minutes, the man stopped and looked around. The hall was absolutely deserted. He laughed, but this time it sounded sinister. "I thought I ordered Mustang to kill you. He's too soft."
Adelina Rose cocked her head. What was he talking about?
"To think that nobody's been able to kill you for two thousand years! Yes, I know who you are, chimera. I'm sorry, but you have to go." The man drew a short sword from his side.
"Who are you?" she growled, getting ready to fight. Adelina Rose would never have expected fighting someone in the military's head building.
The man laughed again. "To everyone in this building, I'm known as the Fuehrer. My true name is Pride, however."
"Homunculus!"
"So you what a homunculus is? I thought chimera's weren't very smart. Well, that's my bad." Pride shrugged his shoulders.
Adelina Rose changed into a lion keeping her eyes intently on the homunculus. She cringed from the pain, but without that form, she would have been mince meat.
Crouching low, she waited for the homunculus to strike first. That was her technique. Let the opponent strike first and then they are open to attack, unprepared. But Pride stood there with his sword drawn, no moving a muscle. Adelina Rose had learned patience, however. Certainly after two thousand years, one should have mastered the art of patience. And it is an art, indeed.
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"What! What do you mean, 'she wandered off'! Al, you were supposed to keep an eye on her!" Ed almost screamed as the two frantically ran about Head Quarters, searching for the chimera. Of course, Alphonse had been all apologetic, repeating how sorry he was.
"Just forget it, Al," Ed sighed as he stopped to catch his breath.
The armor patted Edward's back. "Don't worry, Big Brother. She's around here somewhere. We just have to keep looking."
A military officer ran up to Ed, panting. "Fullmetal, sir... the Fuehrer is... battling a... lion."
Edward and Alphonse looked at each other. "Where?" shouted Ed.
"In the east wing." The man had caught his breath. "The lion is huge. The Fuehrer said that only Edward Elric could kill it. I don't know why, but he is calling on you." He paused. "It's kind of a stand still. Neither the Fuehrer or the lion are doing anything. They're just staring at one another. It's pretty strange."
Ed took off down the hall. He dashed down the stairs and took a left, managing to avoid colliding with a woman turning the corner. Alphonse wasn't so lucky. He smashed into her, and she fell backwards, scattering all of her papers.
"I'm so sorry," he began. Al collected the woman's papers and handed them to her, looking at her face. He let out a gasp. It was the Fuehrer's secretary. Her long tawny hair put into a loose pony-tail and her eyes soft as ever.
"Thank-you, young man." The secretary smiled and took a right up the stairs, the way Edward he just come.
Al stared after her. "Mom?"
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A burning sensation started up in Edwards throat. The one you get after sprinting for too long. The sensation went all the way down to her chest, and his mouth tasted like blood. But nothing was bleeding, and nothing was burnt. It was only a sensation.
He had been sprinting around the basement off the east wing for nearly ten minutes. He wasn't used to that much running. Ed stopped to cough and gasp, trying to breath again. But the burning kept flaring up, teasing him by going away for a few seconds, and then coming back even worse.
Ed laughed at himself and managed to mumble, "I guess I've gotten out of running shape. Maybe I shouldn't take the train so much."
Slowing his pace to a walk, Ed continued searching the lower level of the east wing. His boots tromped onto the tile floor in an eerie manner, echoing down the deserted halls. The lights were in poor condition, some of the lights were even burnt out. It gave the lower level an ghastly look.
Edward stopped, looking around the bend in the hallway. There stood the Fuehrer fighting a lion just as the officer had said. Several other officers were surrounding the fight, jeering at the beast, whom Ed instantly recognized as Adelina Rose. It was an unfair fight. If Adelina Rose raised one claw against the Fuehrer, the soldiers would attack her or sure. But why had the Fuehrer summoned him?
It was to kill her. Ed remembered now. But why? Why did he have to kill her?
"Ah, Fullmetal! I'm glad you're here," the Fuehrer laughed. It seemed as though he had lost the interest of a lion hunt.
Edward saluted. "Sir! You called for me?"
"Indeed I did, Fullmetal. You see, it's time for your yearly assessment. And this lion would make a good fight. Why don't yo kill it for your assessment, hm?"
Ed stuttered, "B-but sir, I d-don't want to- you see I can't-."
"Is there a problem, Fullmetal?" questioned Fuehrer Bradley.
"Well, I..." Edward began. But he never finished. The lion jumped over the soldiers surrounding her and grabbed Ed's automail arm in her mouth. Then, dragging him along, the lion bolted down the hall, the officers screaming at her and chasing after.
The automail scraped against the tile making a piercing noise. It sent showers off sparks off, wearing down the metallic surface.
Edward managed to swing his other arm around the lion's neck so that he wasn't being dragged anymore. The lion looked at him, not saying a word. Maybe she couldn't speak in her lion form.
Slowly, the clatter of soldier's boots on the floor died out, leaving only the faint padding noises from the lion's soft touch on the tile. After a minute, the lion slowed and Edward dropped off of her back, sighing in relief. He looked to the lion, which was now replaced by Adelina Rose. She groaned, "You weigh a lot."
Edward shook his head. "Naw, it's only the automail. Which is now completely worn down!" he sighed. "What were you doing down here anyway?"
"Well, I got bored so I decided to look around."
"And..?
"And I was hoping to get state alchemist information so I could join," she admitted.
Edward let out a dry laugh. "You could've just asked me and saved the trouble. What kind of alchemy do you do anyway?"
Just then, Edward heard Alphonse scream. It made him jump to his feet and forget about everything else. Al was in trouble. The scream sounded again and chills ran down Ed's spine. He took off down the hallway, trying to find his little brother. Adelina Rose followed as quickly as she could.
They ran down the corridor, shouting Al's name. No more screams. No more noise. The hall was deathly silent. The hallway then had two choices; left or right. Ed chose left, trying to keep calm. Al was alright. Al was alright. He sprinted down the hall, turning awkwardly. Ed fell, an excruciating pain emitting from his ankle. He clutched his ankle, and then looked up. The hallway was spattered with crimson blood.
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I'm sorry that I haven't posted a new chapter in a while. You guys, afterall, did keep your promise. No threats this chapter, just please REVIEW!