Fullmetal Exorcist – Chapter 17 – Blessed Snow
"Avalon… Dante?" Lavi repeated the strange words. That was a highly unusual name. He didn't hear names like that very often, especially in that combination.
"Yes…" Scar answered the hesitant acceptance of such a name. "Avalon was formerly an Exorcist, before fully awakening as a Noah. However, such information can only be found in older documents that cannot be accessed."
"Snow…" Lenalee muttered as she saw the small clumps of frozen water forming on her black and red sleeve. The color white… so familiar…
Roy stood at ease, letting his red swollen hands drop to his sides.
"R… Road…" Tyki stuttered. Road watched with a solemn golden eye, and an apathetic violet eye.
"I will not exhaust my time to converse with a Noah," She spoke with a delicate ease in her voice. "I have a very busy schedule."
Tyki felt a bead of sweat fall down his cheek. He had seen Road's strength, but never before with this strange ribbon. Would it be more lethal than her Noah abilities are? But… he could not take any chance, and he began to charge straight at Road, who remained standing without flinching at his sudden movement. Slowly raising the right hand that held the ribbon, her mouth parted to utter a command.
"Desist!"
The ribbon acted on its own accord as it whirled before her into a spiral, and, imitating a spring, shot towards Tyki with hurtling speeds. The Noah of Pleasure was slammed away, and he was desperately attempting to hold his ground as the abnormally strong ribbon pressed on his shield of Tease.
"Hmph," Road scowled, and she waved her arm to her left, and the ribbon reinforced its own strength by compressing the ribbon on Tyki's shield, and with enough force, shattering the white defense weapon. Immediately, like animated vines, the ribbon wound itself around Tyki's arm and torso, as if Road wanted to gift wrap him and send the man back to the Earl. The winding ribbon continued to constrict the man as the coils built up to his neck, blocking out his windpipe.
"Whoa…" Lavi exclaimed. "That Innocence is almost like Allen's Crowned Clown!"
"Silly sister…" Tyki smiled. "You think that choking me will do any good?"
"I am not your sibling any longer," Road coldly replied. "Do not address me as such."
"Of course not," Tyki struggled a while to loosen the ribbons just a bit. "I cannot call you that if you're attacking me. But this is no match for Dark Matter."
With a aura-like blade of black glowing light, he sliced away the ribbons, and Road looked on with small surprise as the ribbon sewed the seams back together again. Tyki continued his mad smile, and was just about to get off the wall when he was held by a set of strange-daggers with white tags. He attempted to walk through them, but no avail.
"It's no use," Alphonse frowned as Road found him right behind her.
"Useless Exorcist," Tyki taunted. "If I amplify my Dark Matter, I'll just shatter your petty knives."
"Who do you think I am?" Alphonse stared icily at the Noah, his dark golden eyes blazing with a small hint of fire. For once Tyki remembered the strange stare emanating from this child. The same exact killer intent, the same spiritual energy… That was thirty-five years ago… Cold golden eyes staring straight at him before he met his end…
"It… can't be…" Tyki let his guard down, and Alphonse clapped his hands together, placing them on the stone floor covered with ice, where an array had been drawn. A large gust of wind swept through the room, and everyone was shielded for cover. Road was having trouble keeping balance herself, and a pair of hands caught her shoulders. She looked behind to see Alphonse gazing kindly at her, with no remorse, or any discontent.
The minor tornado ceased, and Road saw no Tyki. The dark side of her mind presumed that he used the Gate to leave and return to the Earl. So much said for the planned gift-wrapping. Road turned to Alphonse, who was still wearing a polite smile.
"So…" he began. "You have made your decision?"
"Yes," Roads nodded meekly, allowing the boy to lead her to the others.
Lavi dropped his jaw as he noticed just how kind Alphonse was to Road. Lenalee was still trying to think where she saw the color white. Ed was still unconscious, with Roy coming to see his apprentice's wounds. Scar was handing his superior a handful of bandages.
"Hmph."
Kanda, indifferent of all the bouncing emotions, spun on his heel and walked away, possibly to report that the problem at the Lab was solved.
" A… Are…. ARE YOU MAD, AL!" Lavi shouted. "What are yo-"
"There is nothing to be concerned about," Alphonse smiled, knowing exactly how he felt. "I'll be sure to keep her in check…"
"Snow… white snow…" Lenalee muttered. Alphonse then darkened and turned to Lenalee with a serious expression. Lenalee gave a small squeak at the dangerous look he shot at her.
"I… Is… something wrong?"
Alphonse lightened again. "I'm… sorry… I'll tell you when we get back…"
Road clung onto Alphonse's arm, feeling she shouldn't let go. Roy finished tending to Ed, and turned to the former Noah.
"Road Kamelot…" He inquired, and she turned to him. "Are you going to keep your name?"
Road contemplated, and finally gave her answer. "The surname Kamelot I cannot keep. Therefore, my new name will be Road Avalon Dante. I'm only stating this to be in compromise with both sides of my heart."
"I see…" Roy smiled. "So it is possible… Ed's theory was right…"
Kanda and Al nodded understandingly, surprising the Bookman apprentice even more.
"What theory?" Lavi sharply turned to him. "Ed and Al didn't tell me about this… and Kanda? You knew this, too?"
"We chose not to at the time," Al explained. "We know about your relation with the Noah of Dreams… so we knew you wouldn't be in with the plan so easily. It was better that you knew later."
"Come on, are you serious?" Lavi demanded. "You're giving me a heart attack over this!"
Roy then stood up abruptly, while Scar scooped Ed into his huge arms.
"Come on," the General ordered. "We'll need to evacuate. Ed's already retrieved the Innocence. That's all we needed to know."
Envy was completely bored as he continued to amble down a bustling street. He was a Homunculus… in other words… a high-ranking Akuma. He has so far been the most successful… the soul he entrapped has almost been disintegrated, dangerously close to the point of no return. His character has evolved so much to be respected by the Noah family themselves, accepting him as a comrade in arms.
He was in a tricky disguise, dark brown matted hair, and weather beaten skin of a sailor. His fake bulky build was quite impressive amongst the maidens who passed by, giggling as they hid their wide grins with silky fans. His attire was so slim fitting, his supposed biceps were really the attention catcher of the day. Never mind that type of daydreaming…
He scanned the surroundings, taking in every sight and sound, noticing some nice looking woman here and there, and then he saw something quite curious.
A tall man with long red hair, was walking in the same manner as he. His right of the face was hidden by the long looks of the abnormal bright red he had ever seen in his life. Envy suspected something, but nothing was different about the man as the two passed by with no sense of recognition or attempt for a good greeting. Envy ignored the memory and continued walking.
"Wherever that goddamn 14th is…" Envy snarled in irritation. "I'll be sure to crush him to pieces… and that Eastern Sage, too…"
Two women sat side by side in a parlor. Both of them wore stern expressions, and their arms folded. Lately, a heated discussion about the next move was just about done.
The first, a stocky figure with long billowing cream yellow hair, was impatiently tapping her foot that resting on the carpeted floor. The familiar uniform of the Silver Shield was her main attire. Her rather large lips were compressed into a rather tight line, her flaming blue eyes occasionally flitting to the door ajar, scorning herself for having forgotten to close it. A secret here would easily escape.
The other, of slimmer shape, then resorted to leaning her head on her hand that was supported by her elbow that rested on the armrest of the chair. Her micro beaded ebony braids were tied into a ponytail. Her clothing, a different version of the Shield's uniform, lacking sleeves but the length of the coat stretching to her knees, reminding most people of a form fitting long coat with no sleeves.
They were waiting, currently about to lose their temper, but not fight each other. They were planning to bash someone else for being so late. Footsteps echoed at the open door, and in came a familiar redhead that Envy had overlooked. His charming smile faded to a scared frown as a steel dart was shot just past him, nearly nicking the edge of his ear. Shooting them an indifferent, he inwardly longed to just land a punch somewhere, but the enraged stares from the two women kept him down.
"You're late, Marian," The black haired woman noted by taking a quick glance at a clock.
"I was in a bit of trouble," Marian smiled, and he graciously took a seat across from the two. "Since Allen has been missing, it's hard nowadays to pay debts myself."
"That's because we refused to pay for you, idiot," the blond one snorted.
"Now, now," Marian attempted to coax her. "That's not how you should spe-"
"You are not the commanding officers of this mission," The woman cut him off. "Izumi and I are in no mood to joke with you."
"Armstrong is right," Izumi nodded. "We have to either head back to headquarters or seek help from the Order. This wild goose chase is not really helping."
"I can't object to you women…" Marian leaned back casually. "We'll just have to send a message to Mustang about the situation…"
They had arrived at the nearest town to see Komui, who took the liberty of coming to see them. Ed was in no condition to move out, and Winry had come along with Reever to tend to his automail. Everyone else had some minor injuries, and Roy's red swollen fingers needed big time healing. Once his team of subordinates came along, an entire inn was filled within one day. Alphonse healed a majority of Ed and Roy's wounds, but they still needed a few days to recover.
Ed, still unconscious, was sleeping peacefully in his bed, with Winry examining his arm. She sighed in disappointment not at him, but herself. She had missed a bolt in Ed's automail, and she screwed up his mission. Screw herself. She patiently got to work and began to clean out his automail.
"Right… before any of you start jumping to conclusions…. I will have to explain first."
Roy and Alphonse were in the process of calming everyone down from trying anything treacherous to the Noah/Exorcist. Road was cowering from the dark aura coming from Komui. Lenalee was staring disbelievingly still at her. After all, the two didn't come to good terms in the past two years. Lavi was probably was the worst of all. He had overturned a table already, and Alphonse added that table to the list of things Ed had to fix when he woke up.
"Brother and I had been studying the connections between the Eastern sage and the Noah family for a while…" Al began. "And we found information from an abandoned diary he left for us one time. Although brother didn't understand what our dad meant at that time, we kept it with us, and Roy had it decrypted for us. Apparently these diary excerpts are memoirs about the 14th's attempt to purge the rest of the Noah family. Hoeinheim and Mana were part of this, too.
"What happened was that the trio successfully got rid of the first twelve Noah quite easily. By what means, we are not sure. However, the Noah of Dreams and the Earl himself were the hardest to deal with and eliminate. When they did get the chance to kill the Noah of Dreams, Hoeinheim was given the responsibility of the execution. He spared her, at the demise of Mana but the request of the 14th. The 14th believed that she would eventually be part of the Earl's downfall if she was not killed, so they left her alone."
"And what does that have to do with Road being here?" Lenalee asked.
"I came to respect the Eastern Sage," Road answered. "He gave me the knowledge of a new technique: to balance the two sides within ourselves. Since I was formerly an Exorcist, I had been accommodated with Innocence. My Noah is counterbalanced by this opposite force, so chances of returning to my true human side is possible, in comparison to the others who were turned into Noah. For them, transformation into a Noah is permanent, meaning that the human side is completely dead. As for my case, my human side was still alive, but in a dormant condition.
"The Eastern Sage had taught me the ability to use this technique, but only by transferring information to my head secretly. Back then, I didn't know how to get access to the information, so I waited. However, only the Eastern Sage or any of the trio can open the information to me, so since Alphonse Elric is a descendant of the Sage, he has the ability to withdraw the information of the technique of sustaining the two sides of Noah. I remember almost getting access to the information when I was stabbed by a Sword of Exorcism, but my Noah repelled it."
Everyone was silent in awe at not only Road's polite language.
"That sounds somewhat strange…" Komui broke the silence. "To revert back to a living life when you're technically dead… I didn't believe Innocence is capable of doing such a thing…"
"Once again," Roy added. "Innocence is a very curious object."
"So… Howard Link…" Hoeinheim looked at the young blond man on the table opposite him. They had decided to share a room with separate beds in a town in Vicenza, a quite fine town with several sights to see. They were currently in a satisfying hotel. Since Link's connections to the Order gave them a cheap way in… he felt quite grateful.
Link looked up at the older man.
"You said you were part of CROW, am I wrong?"
Link's eyes hardened.
"I was," and he began drumming his fingers on the notebook he had written in. "I only managed to escape the CROW myself."
"How long have you been part of CROW?" Hoeinheim inquired, and the former sighed.
"Ever since I can remember," He answered flatly, and Hoeinheim smirked.
"You look and sound like those military officers I run into once in a while…"
"Heh," Link interjected indifferently. "Someone told me that two years ago."
"Two years ago?" Hoeinheim perked up in his seat. "Someone had the nerve to tell you that?"
"He never followed the rules of Central…" Link's stone rigid body loosened. "Actually… two people have said that I needed to cut slack on myself. Two years ago, I was on a mission with a fellow Inspector. He was a lot younger than me, fourteen or fifteen, I believe… He was a lot more laid back about work than I was, saying that I was too uptight about things. Also, he used to be an Exorcist, he said, and his Innocence was quite funny. All he did was clap his hands and used his hands to fix something, like a time reversal of some sort, but it was permanent…"
"What was his name?" Hoeinheim asked with curiosity of the boy's name.
"Edward Elric…" Link racked his mind of names. "I usually don't remember names very easily… but I think that's what it was… As a matter of fact you look just like him, if you subtract the years a bit more."
"Elric…" Hoeinheim thought as he sipped from his crystal glass of water. "Link… you do know that is the surname of my wife…"
"Is that so?" Link raised an eyebrow. "Are you of any relation to him and his brother Alphonse?"
"Um… yes…" Hoeinheim answered. "I'm their father…"
"Funny…" Link looked out at the empty streets past the window of the room. "I never heard him mention you…"
"I don't blame Edward…" Hoeinheim solemnly reasoned. "We haven't met for years, so he probably either hates me or doesn't remember me… By the way, who was the other person who said you were too stiff?"
"A young boy I had been ordered to keep watch on," Link answered. "He was an Exorcist at a ridiculous age of fifteen as well. He was a lot like Edward… laid back… but more friendlier than Edward… We got ourselves in little squabbles during my stay at Black Order Headquarters. He was my roommate during my stay at Order Headquarters… We then came to regard each other as brothers at some point… Eventually he was placed under a heretic trial…"
"Trial?" Hoeinheim squirmed. "What for?"
"He was suspected of being a Noah of some sort…" Link answered. "The 14th, I suppose…"
The glass shattered to the floor from Hoeinheim's hands, nearly making Link jump off his chair. Hoeinheim then looked at the braided man in deep worry.
"14th, you say?"
"Yes…" Link looked down at the floor at the shattered pieces of glass, thinking about how much trouble the maid would have cleaning it up, but the sight of the ruined flask of water reminded him of the state of his surrogate little brother…
"Oh… ah… um, I… I'll fix it," Hoeinheim stammered as he got up from his chair and knelt down beside the remains, and he clapped his hands together, and a hum of many choruses sounded throughout the room as he placed his hands on the shards of quartz. Slowly, the glass shards lifted themselves in the air, and like a puzzle, pieced themselves together to the shape it had been. Not long after, the bits and pieces sealed themselves with a crackling of blue sparks, and a small cloud circle of dust lifted in the air about the intact glass cup.
Link stared unblinkingly at the amazing feat. He couldn't believe that the older man could do such a thing… so he really was the father of Edward Elric.
"You… can do the same… as Edward?" He asked, and Hoeinheim picked up the cup and set it on the table, nodding in response to his question.
"Like father, like son," Hoeinheim smiled.
"Are you going to see him when we get to headquarters?" Link shot off. Hoeinheim frowned.
"I'm indecisive…"
"This is your room for the night."
Al presented to her a fair-sized room. Road gazed in awe at the room's appearance. For any normal person, a room like this was quite normal… Beige bedding, walls, a vase of roses or some flower in the corner, lighted by a yellow lamplight. This was obviously not like her crazy distorted taste in her Noah residence.
"Thanks… Alphonse…" Road nodded. Al raised an eyebrow. He had never been with her, but obviously, she had a great change in character.
"It's nothing…" He smiled. "I…I'll just leave you here…"
The door closed, and Road was left staring at the room once more, inspired by the contrast to her own old personality. Edging to the bed, she sat by herself in her designated room, and she nervously held onto the long ribbon she wielded the hours before. She wound and unwound it about her arm. The door opened, and in came Lenalee, who caught her attention. The girl straightened nervously, and Lenalee raised an eyebrow.
"Hello, Lenalee," Road stammered, and Lenalee nodded in response. Road could see that the female Exorcist didn't trust her just yet.
"Well, Road," Lenalee spoke in an ambiguous tone in which Road could not comprehend her true feelings. "We're going to stay here for the night, since Ed is still recuperating. I realized that you didn't have any clothes to sleep in, so I stopped by to give you this. They're all clean, so there's no need to worry."
The emerald haired Exorcist held out a bundle of clothing which Road took shyly. Road's dark purple eyes turned to the purple eyes of Lenalee.
"Um… thank you, Lenalee…" Road timidly mumbled, and Lenalee smiled.
"It's all right…" She encouragingly smiled. "I'm sure you'll feel better when we get to know each other more, okay?"
"Um… yeah…"
The emerald haired girl left shortly, and Road was left alone for another hour. She huddled against the headboard of her bed, and pulled her knees up to her chin. A strange premonition was bothering her state of peace, and, looking at the scenery outside, she decided to shut the lights out for the night.
"Someone is angry," Road muttered. "Really angry…"
The Earl was enraged at the news. His maniacal smile was nastier and nastier as the rest of the Noah shivered at the sight of their oldest brother.
"She… has… left…" He uttered the words individually and slowly, fury building up on each syllable. Lero was cowardly hiding behind Jasdevi, lazily twirling his long blonde and black hair in his skinny fingers, which were trembling as he tried to keep his composure under the dark atmosphere. Lulubell kept in herself the big gale of fear as she quivered in her chair. Wisely and Sheryl were sitting in their respective seats, saying nothing. The other Noah were just as calm, but still scared out their minds. They had lost a considerably useful member of the Noah.
Tyki stood before his family. The Earl stood up, transforming into his human form, monocle and all, and slammed his hands on the table.
"Tell me… Tyki…" He said dangerously. "Who was it you saw?"
"The Elric brothers… and Roy Mustang…" Tyki answered. "The survivor of the Second Exorcist Project was there, too, along with Bookman Junior, but they are insignificant to the scenario at the moment."
"Roy Mustang…" Lulubell spoke. "He was the one who made me reincarnate the second time after the purge of the 14th. He is still alive, I see…"
"The Elric brothers…" The Earl growled. "Our plans are getting more complicated by the minute. They and Mustang seem to know more than I thought. With an addition to Cross possibly surviving a murder attempt, and the Eastern Sage coming back…"
A patter of lazy footsteps alerted them as they saw a figure smaller then Tyki. The Earl smiled at the newcomer.
"Envy… I'm glad that you're here…"
"Nice to see you, too, Earl…" The skimpily clothed boy grinned widely. Everyone gave a nod of acknowledgement to the creature they dubbed Homunculus.
"I'm here to report to you…" Envy gave a satisfying emphasis. "That their key to finding Allen Walker is not too far away. They have more than one opportunity. Our chance of finishing the war quickly is coming soon."
"Yes…" the Earl switched gears. "I agree… I concur!"
"… I see…"
Roy was currently on the phone, while Hawkeye was standing not so far behind, keeping a sharp lookout over the vicinity. Night had fallen upon the city, and all of the younger Exorcists were asleep. Most of Roy's staff had gone to sleep, too, but Komui, Hawkeye, and Roy himself were still up. The Supervisor had gone to get a coffee.
"If that's the case, London it is," Roy nodded, and he hung up, and Hawkeye turned to him with a look he knew was asking what the call was.
"Sig called," He explained. "He says that currently, there's been some clues uncovered by Curtis's team back at London. He says that we should stop the wild goose chase, and we'll have to meet together."
"Roy," Hawkeye asked. "Does this mean we'll have to recruit everyone there?"
"I'm not sure how Komui will take this," Roy looked off to the corner where Komui had long since departed. "but I'll have to bring a fair amount of Exorcists into the Headquarters for the time being."
"That's a massive request," Hawkeye sighed. "With both Exorcists and our Shield members running around, how do you expect everyone to come in a few days?"
"Simple, actually," Roy smiled. "Izumi and Armstrong have already summoned a good portion of our Alchemists and Finders. They've recently arrived. All we have to do is bring some of the Order as well. That's why we have Road."
A sharp intake of breath coming from Hawkeye, she gazed warily at her commanding officer.
"You don't mean…"
"Yes," Roy looked at the staircase leading to the bedrooms. "For once, we'll have to place our trust in Road. Although it's too soon, we just have to make do."
A/N: Suddenly, I'm going type-crazy because I had a big load of emails in my inbox about story alerts and favorite stories. Originally this chapter was supposed to include a nice fluffy moment for al and road, but I thought that the "trust" factor was going to quickly, so I moved that to another chapter later on. the funny thing that you might notice, hoho and link are going in the wrong direction, since ed and everyone is going to the shield headquarters all the way in london, not the order headquarters. Wow... and in quite a few chapters, lenalee will learn to regain her memories, so then we'll find allen very very soon. any ideas to the story are welcome. and yay! cross is back! olivia armstrong and izumi also appear. and yes, it sounds weird, since Noah become Noah when their supposed container dies and all, but then again, i'm putting a whole bunch of weird exceptions. and i know what you all think. if Road was an Exorcist and became a Noah, will Allen be able to do that, too? That will be for later.
I've been keeping the Shou Tucker part somewhere in my computer. At first, it was Lenalee-centric, but then I wanted it to be Allen and Ed-centric.
as for the online manga i'm posting of this story, i'm still on the first chapter, but if you want to see it, the pages are on my deviantart account, so comments can be placed there.
Preview: Chapter 18: Revisited: Ed and Al receive news that they are returning to their Shield headquarters, but Winry requests a small visit to their hometown, Reesembool. Conveniently, Roy receives word that a strange uprising of Akuma are taking place in Reesembool as well. Ed, Al, and Winry panic at the thought of Grandma Pinako in danger.