First
off... (stabs chapter. Repeatedly.)
It gave us such a
pain.
Beta: ehxhfdl14, without who, this chapter would be utterly
unreadable…and most likely still not out yet. I got frozen after
about three sentences.
Disclaimer:
Duh. It's something I want. Which means I can't have.
Word
Count (since I've been obsessed with them since I failed Nano) : 1029
Mischievous Mustangs
Chapter Four
Roy felt his eyes widen drastically at the sight of the array that was drawn on the child's paper before him.
Carefully, his ungloved hand reached for the sheet.
--
Elysia blinked in confusion at the furious eyes of little Edward.
"Who made this?" little Winry questioned gently, letting her outspread arm say for her, "the 'Metal Wing".
"The Fuhrer did."
They all turned, not recognizing the voice. The hair on the back of Ed's neck prickled.
Standing there, armed with a rusty looking gun, he shifted inside the shadows with a smug look on his face that Ed could only sense, but was clear as day. Stepping forward, the fellow had 'malicious' stamped right across his forehead.
Ed noticed Al moving in front of Winry and tapping the heavy medallion that hung around his neck, the light from an alchemic reaction muted by his shirt and coat. Ed followed suit, inching in front of Elysia while tapping the thick band around his wrist, his finger caressing the array that was scratched in the leather. He could feel the metal under the band come to life and slide up his arm, unseen underneath his long sleeved red shirt. Feeling the familiar weight to his right arm gave him a sense of peace that he had rarely felt in his previous life, but had experienced often in this.
The man walked out into the light smirking further, closing the distance between them. His hair was shortly cropped and blond, and led Ed and Al to think of a cat-like Dorochet. His grin became even more feral (if that was even possible at this point) than it had been previously, seeing the boys' defensive postures in front of the two girls.
"Aw," he snickered. "The Flame Fuhrer taught his boys chivalry, eh?" A jackknife was suddenly in his other hand. "I guess you two would come with me quietly to spare those two girls, hmm?" He gave an even darker chuckle. "Too bad for you that I need that one girl as well..."
--
Roy's fingers curled gently around the edges of the paper, his eyes quickly scanning the things drawn underneath the array, widening as he recognized some of the names.
He felt himself pale at remembering that those names had been spoken by Alphonse, telling him of his dreams of Ed still being alive, in another world much like their own but without alchemy. He could also remember Al being confused when, after he had failed to follow Ed to the other side of the Gate (his part of the ship had fallen faster than either of them had anticipated) that the dreams had stopped, except for one last one, of an Ishivalan woman dancing by a grave, his brother standing in attendance at a funeral.
But those things had remained within strict confidence between Roy and Al—at least the names of the countries had. Looking over to Riza, she seemed just as shell-shocked as he was.
Even if Ed had overheard the names of the countries from someone within his close staff, there was still the matter of the advanced alchemy that looked for all the world like an overly complicated Philosopher's Stone transmutation circle.
Adding to the fact that it was drawn correctly over the appropriate parts of Amestris, with the focal points in the array being placed over the areas that were the bloodiest points in Amestrian history, it left several questions unanswered.
He passed the page over to Riza for her to go over it thoroughly. His eyes wandered over to the transmutated corners of Dorothy's desk, and gave a small start to see the Flamel right underneath the lip of the wooden vase.
"What...?" he tried to ask, but faltered.
Dorothy just gave a tired smile. "I honestly don't know." Her eyes traveled outside the window, noticing absently that the days were starting to get shorter. "Something is going on with those three though."
At Roy's interested look, she continued. "Even for siblings, they seem much closer than they should be. They hardly interact with the other children, and when they do, it's because one of them is getting picked on." She seemed to fold into herself for a second as she murmured, "No island indeed..."
"Well, they would be, wouldn't they?" Riza queried in the now still room. "They always were close..."
Imprinted into Roy's and Riza's mind was the image of the old Al and Winry standing next to each other, looking at the space that Ed had just disappeared into.
--
Their kidnapper marched them calmly out of the museum, hands secured separately behind their backs so as to not allow clapping. Elysia had been left behind in a closet, similarly tied up.
Their kidnapper had told them on the side that she wasn't his concern, so why should he waste more than a bit of string on her? She wasn't worth a bit of metal, surely?
He had smirked knowingly at their horrified faces.
On their way out of the museum, they passed a black-attired military policeman that just smirked at them and nodded to their captor. Ed committed the man's face to memory so that he could severely hurt the man when they got back.
Because they would be back. They would.
--
It was hours later that Elysia was found in a broom closet by one of the night security men who had quickly alerted the others. Tearfully, she had told them what had happened to the four of them just hours previous.
When they hadn't believed that she actually knew the Fuhrer, she gave them the phone codes of the security division that would be able to contact Roy.
Her first words across the phone were a choked out, "They...they never really left..."
TBC
Omake – Just because I really couldn't help it...
"So," Al said into the darkness of the cargo car. "Do you think we're going to die virgins again?"
Edward didn't say anything, as his ears went red and he thought of Heiderich.
--
Alfons sneezed, and when his brother gave him a weird look, he just shrugged his thin shoulders.
(/omake)
Tah-dah. New chapter. XD
Out
GP
