Chapter 92: Tempest

"…being the heir of an extremely rich family has surely advantages," Nerissa muttered into Jade's general direction as they left the train station of Barley where a chauffeur awaited them. "Or is it just that your parents wanted to make sure that you don't run away from them, Miss Emerald?"

The state alchemist rolled her eyes. "Running away from my mother would be pretty stupid – she is pretty fast and not above using violence," she said with a light smile as she shook the chauffeur's hand. "Long time no see, Julius," she said with a grin.

"And I still recognised you, Miss Jade," the man said with a bow. "You look fresh like a summer breeze."

She chuckled softly before she tilted her head. "Did mama cook herself?" she asked.

"Of course, Miss," the chauffeur said. "The first time in four years that you come home and you really think that your mother would leave the cooking to Hattie or the other servants? She didn't change her way to act when it comes to you and your brother?"

"You haven't been here in four years?" Edward asked with a frown. "But that's your, well, family."

She glared at him. "As much as I love Barley, I don't like all the memories I have from this place," she said while she looked at the peaceful little town before she started to grin. "That's my old school," she grinned. "Maybe I'll go over tomorrow and shock some of the teachers. They always said that I would never make something respectable out of myself."

"Aren't teachers nice people?" Nerissa asked while she crossed her arms once more. "But I can't believe that you tricked us into believing that you are the most harmless state alchemist the military had when it still had state alchemists. You just said that you were a code breaker … but in the train, I read some of Lynn's old mission reports – and she always made a point out of remembering everyone that you are quite capable, Mustang. So, why the modesty?"

The usually dark-haired woman snorted. "Modesty is hardly a word to describe a member of my huge family," she stated. "And my skill is not that impressive when compared to my mama. She is way faster and also much more beautiful than I could ever be."

Madame Abigail Mustang was an intimidating woman. Even taller than her daughter or her younger sister and also far more muscular and elegant than any other woman of her age she possessed the aura of a true queen. Her long black hair reached to her waist and was bound to a low ponytail. She used a hairclip in the shape of a butterfly and that was a strange contrast to her strong appearance. Her eyes were black without any hint of another colour while her dress was red as blood.

Jade exhaled slowly as they entered the living room. "Mama," she said with a bright smile. "You look great … but I believe that your ankle is acting up a little bit."

Her mother nodded in approval. "Well done, daughter," she said with a smile. "Ten seconds and you already figured out that I hurt my ankle during my training. You made progress but that was to be expected, Jadelina. I am proud of you." The woman crossed the room and hugged her daughter. "It took you quite some years to come back and now you return for a mission. Tss, that's too bad."

Jade blushed considerably. "I am happy to see that you feel good, mama," she said while she looked around with a little frown on her face. "Where's daddy? I thought he would be here too…"

"Alain is upstairs in the study with our actual student who isn't a disappointment like everyone else we tried to train since you and your brother finished your training," her mother said. "Julius brought the bags in the guest rooms, Jade. You will be sleeping in the same room as your boyfriend while Victoria will sleep in your old room." The master of Air Alchemy smiled down at the girl. "I heard from Jade that you are a fast learner, Victoria," she said friendly.

"Thank you, Madame Mustang," the usually red-haired girl whispered. "Thank you so much."

Abigail slowly raised her left eyebrow before she looked at her daughter. "She is unusually polite for her age," she said, "and as far as I can remember Lynn and Martin, they were more … far more … how shall I say it … outgoing…"

"We all wonder about the same thing," Nerissa muttered quietly while she once more crossed her arms. Edward was used to this by now because that seemed to be her way to remind herself of her – at the moment – peaceful surroundings.

Jade, however, just clapped her hands. "I am going to check on daddy, guys," she said before she ran up the stairs, leaving her mother behind once more.

"That's my little girl," Abigail said proudly while she led her guests over to the couches. "Take place, I am sure that Hattie will bring over the wine and the apple juice for Victoria," she said.

Owen Johnson, student of Abigail Mustang and Alain Tempest, was repeating equations as the door was slammed open and a flash of gold and black and green flew towards his teacher.

"Daddy!" the young woman squealed as she hugged Owen's teacher tightly. "Here you are!"

"It's not like you gave me the chance to run for cover, darling," he said gently and kissed her forehead. "But I have to say, you don't make a good blonde, sorry."

She pouted while she wrapped her arms around his neck. "If you weren't my dad and much stronger than I, I would so beat you up for that comment," she said. "But you are my dad and stronger than I, so I will let it out on Phil the next time we spar."

Alain ruffled his firstborn's silky hair. "You still beat him every time he spars with you, right? That's my little girl," he said fondly. "Well, Jade, how is your job? If you don't want any longer, just tell us and you will get a nice desk in the enterprise, don't forget that, will you?"

"Of course, daddy," she said and jumped back to her feet. "Say, are you up for a little bit of sparring after diner? We haven't done anything since I left for the military and I have some new arrays I wanted to show you, daddy." She grabbed behind her, reaching for the bowl with the oranges and peeled one of them while she took one of her many notebooks from her handbag and opened it. "What do you think?" she asked, a little bit more excited than she previously had planned to sound.

"First of all: your mother won't be happy if I would tell her that you ate an orange before diner," her father replied while he took a pencil, "and secondly I believe that this array deserves a little bit more improvement. It is already pretty good, don't worry, and far better than anything your brother could ever create since he is too lazy to dedicate so much time to a single research project but if you add one more line – like this – you would make it far more powerful." He looked up while he searched for his glasses. "I am proud of you, Jade."

She beamed at him. She knew that she had always been his favourite and even though she had never rubbed it into her brother's face – because that would have been plain mean – she still took a certain satisfaction out of it. And she knew that he wouldn't tell her mother that she had eaten an orange because if he did, she would tell Abigail of the countless times when he had done the same – because father and daughter shared their addiction towards the fruit.

Owen looked in panic from his teacher to his teacher's daughter who was really pretty in his twelve year old eyes. "Um, Master Tempest?" he asked while he stopped reading for a second.

"Tss, you and mama are still that old-fashioned?" the daughter asked with a frown while she held out her hand. "Hi, I am Jade and you have to be Owen – who is the first student who got to stay for longer than just one month. It's nice to meet you."

"Likewise, Miss Tempest," Owen muttered while he tried to avoid her piercing eyes. They were scary. It seemed like she knew what he was thinking.

"Nah, don't call me that," she smiled. "Jade is absolutely alright with me but I also react to Mustang, Tempest, Soul, Stormy and at least twenty more stupid nicknames."

Her father chuckled. "You honestly still react to Stormy?" he asked. "That's what we called you when you were a little baby – and you were very cute."

There was a soft knock on the door before Edward entered. "Madame Mustang, um, sent me to tell you that diner is ready. She also said that she would punch you into the next century when you don't hurry up a little bit," he muttered while he looked down.

"Ah…" Alain Tempest turned around to face him while he still hugged his daughter. "So, Roy told me that you are giving my little girl a hard time and I just want you to know that you will have to answer to me if you keep that up. And you can ask your Teacher when you don't believe me but I am not always that nice. I believe that Izumi has still some bruises from the last time we sparred." He got up and carefully put his daughter back on her feet. "And I warn you: back in the West, Stormy and her friend Lynn were also responsible for the interrogations and when the culprits didn't cooperate, they tortured them a little bit." He smirked. "I have four words for you: sparkly pink nail polish."

"I want you to know that it was way more effective than any pain we could cause," his daughter pouted. "And by the way, daddy, mama will get really angry if we don't hurry up a little bit."

After the delicious diner, Jade and her father got up and went for a 'stroll'. Abigail sighed deeply before she looked at her student. "Owen, could you please get me some band-aid and iodine?"

"For what?" Edward asked as he looked up. "They are just going for a walk and that cannot cause serious injuries."

The Master of Air Alchemy sighed while she watched her pupil's back. "In this case it will cause some serious injuries," she said. "When my husband and my daughter go for a walk, it means that they are going to use the training field on the western border of our estates." She sighed. "I told them to stop but they can't. They are too proud and too stubborn – just like me and Phil."

Edward frowned. "One moment, you are not worried that your husband and your daughter are about to fight each other in a serious match about honour and Truth-knows-what-else and you also say that you and your son are doing the same thing on a regular basis? That practically screams child abuse!"

Abigail raised one eyebrow. "And I assume that your training with my sister Izumi was all easy and all sunshine and butterflies?" she smirked. "You know, Iz and I used to spar with each other since she was old enough to develop anger issues. She needed something to take it out on and I needed a good and serious sparring partner. She was five when she first attacked me; I was ten when I fought back. True, at the beginning, when our brother was still alive, we often fought both against him…" She smiled at the memory for a second. "The point is that Izumi and I both believe in seriousness when it comes to training. And look at my success: I trained two state alchemists and I also beat the basics into Roy's skull. And believe me – the latter was quite a challenge."

Victoria raised her head from her equations. "Aunty Abigail?" she asked sweetly. "Can I go and watch Aunty Jade and Uncle Alain? Maybe I can learn something from them…"

Claudio chuckled softly while he looked at Edward. "Maybe you should go with Vicky," he said. "It would probably show you that Jade isn't as weak as you seem to think."

Abigail laughed out loud. "Jade is stubborn as hell," she said. "She doesn't have the technique she should have by now but she is someone who keeps getting up when she falls down. That's the reason why she is so hard to beat. I sparred with her once during her training and she kept getting up, even when her knees were bleeding. I love that stubbornness of hers."

"Roy is also very stubborn!" Victoria giggled.

Jade's arrays on her fingerless gloves glowed as she looked back at her father. "I am ready," she said while she looked for the weak point in his defence. Usually, they would decide between alchemy and martial arts but since they haven't sparred in such a long time, they would use both.

"That's good because I would hate to hurt my daughter," Alain replied while he moved forwards. He was a high-skilled alchemist who would have passed the state alchemist examinations at any point of his life but like his wife he had never had any interest in such a career. But he had no problem with his children' decision to join the army. He had, however, hated the empty look in Jade's face when she had seen a real battlefield for the first time because no matter what people said, the academy wasn't enough to prepare the soldiers.

They both Air Alchemists fought with every single move and every single array they knew but in the end, when they had used all their energy, they both laid down on the floor and breathed deeply.

"That was a good fight, daddy," Jade said while she inhaled deeply. "You nearly got me twice."

He chuckled breathlessly. "You certainly improved over the years," he said. "Phil still stands no chance, Stormy. I am really proud of my little girl."

She smiled smugly while she sat up again. "It's great to be back," she said while she rubbed her sore shoulder, "but did you have to use so much force in your punch, daddy?" she complained.

"What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Don't forget our family motto, Jade," he replied while he sat up too. "Well, let's go back, yes? I need some iodine for that scratch on my eyebrow."

"It looks very manly, daddy," she grinned while she jumped back on her feet and held out her hand to him. "Mama will love this one."

Edward who watched them along with Victoria from a safe distance gritted his teeth as he watched the playful exchange between the both. Of course, Miss Annoyance hadn't only a prefect score in the state alchemist examination and everything else anyone could want, no, she had also a very close and caring relationship with her father. He had seen it. Alain Tempest would rather kill himself before he would leave his wife and his children – and Miss Annoyance herself would fight everyone who attacked her father off before serious harm could be done.

"Well," Nerissa's calm and collected voice said somewhere behind them, "that reminds me of Rena and my dad, all those years ago." Her soft smile seemed to be glued to her face like usually when she spoke of her youngest sister for whom she had cared deeply for. "But who is that dark person?" she asked.

Edward looked into the same direction she looked and his eyes widened as he saw the glow of a transmutation and the dangerous gleam of a blade made of ice. "That's probably our target," he said.

Nerissa cursed under her breath before she collected herself once more. "Alright, Vicky, prove that you are the fastest runner in Amestris and get this Owen-boy and Madame Mustang," she ordered while Jade collapsed and how Alain went down too. "The two are out of energy. Elric, you are with me."

The blond alchemist ran behind her while he tried to catch up. "Hey, how do you think he found us?" he asked while he jumped over a fallen tree. "And that's about this timing? I hate to admit it but usually Miss Annoyance would have been able to fight him off on her own…"

"Jade and her father sparred seriously, that means that they have hardly energy left," Nerissa said. She wasn't even out of breath, years of training finally showed some sense. "And they are lucky. If they had used energy alchemy, it would have been even worse. And for how he found us … I believe that there could be a connection between the one who stole Lynn's book and the one who attacked Bea." She stopped for a moment. "I never met my mother's student," she said quietly, "but if she deemed him as worthy enough, he is probably far more insane than I could ever be." Her sapphire eyes seemed like two frozen mirrors as she took out a fountain pen and quickly drew her arrays on her hands. "That means, however, that this person is probably really strong … that means that I will take him alone … and should I fail, he belongs to you."

Edward gasped. It was new that Nerissa even considered the option that she could fail. "Much luck," he said. "The way you describe it, you will probably need it."

"That sounds about right," she said before she ran straight into the darkness of a forest.

Victoria flew through the forest, heading back to the mansion while the sound of her feet reminded of a drumbeat, giving her a more speed and driving her through the darkness, closer and closer to the house. She smirked. Nick had said that she was wasting her time with all the running she did but she didn't agree with him there.

Right now, she was proving that it had sense.

"NERISSA, watch out!" Edward yelled.

Edward's scream was, however, ignored by Nerissa. She heard it but she didn't care. She stood strong, holding up her hand against the fool who had attacked her. The most ironic thing was that her sister's technique had been able to block on of her mother's techniques. Kay and Reine had both searched for arrays which could been used in hand-to-hand combat and Kay's idea of transferring energy directly onto the palm to force back the enemy had been obviously successful. Nerissa exhaled while she directed her second hand towards the ground. The array on her hand was connected to the one on her feet, allowing her to transmute the water in the earth into creating an ice blade. Nerissa had mastered Water Alchemy at the age of eighteen after years of hard practice and Energy Alchemy when she had been even younger. Nerissa was an alchemy prodigy and was also everything but a bad fighter.

"How?" the man asked, meaning the blade she seemed to have produced out of thin air.

"My mother wasn't a bad alchemist," she said while she swung the blade through the air, searching for a way to get to her other weapons without him noticing it. "But to tell the truth: she always looked a little bit old-fashioned when compared to my sisters or my Teacher."

She heard Edward behind her but this time she knew that she couldn't turn around and help him first before she defeated the old pupil of her mother. Maybe it was some twisted kind of revenge against the woman who had destroyed her life thoroughly.

This man had been her mother's pupil. He carried, in a certain sense, something of her mother in his body. And Nerissa had vowed that she would erase her mother from the face of the world, once she had understood what exactly this woman had done to her and her sisters.

Nerissa's timing, however, had never been one of her fortes. In battle, she could nearly predict everyone's move but that was nothing special. She had been in a lot of fights even though she had never killed anyone. She had some twisted sense of moral and she knew it.

She was stronger than Kay in this point, Kay with her huge ideals who had downright failed in Ishbal when the previously so innocent redhead had erased whole villages with one move of her hand, seemingly without any regrets. Nerissa often wondered how Kay had dealt with everything before she realised that her twin had decided to ignore everything, to numb the pain.