Fullmetal Exorcist – Chapter 19 – Risky Prospects
A heavy panting was heard through the halls as several burgundy robed and white-masked men were scouting a vacant building. Seeing their effort as a fruitless attempt, they retreated to their leader, a tight-lipped man with a brown mustache that resembled a toothbrush.
"Have you found him yet?" He asked anxiously. The CROW exchanged looks and shook their heads. Sighing, the man gestured a secretary to hand him a portable telephone.
"We'll just have to ask Mustang to help… He's probably already in on the case."
A silent pause, then a click of a lifting phone.
"This is Olivia Armstrong." A woman's voice resounded through the receiver.
"Armstrong?" The man asked. "Do you know where Roy Mustang is?"
"He's on leave." The answer was sharp and brisk. "But I assure you he'll be back today by afternoon."
"Ah, thank you," the man nodded. "Can you relay a message for him? Tell him that he'll have a visitor in his office."
"Who are you?" the woman snarled. The man sighed. Olivia Armstrong never changed, didn't she?
"Malcolm Leverrier…" The man answered. "But please tell him. This is very urgent."
"Very well, then," Olivia didn't soften at all. "But it's strange of you, to ask assistance from Mustang, but I'll tell him."
Roy sneezed loudly as they boarded off the train, earning a good amount of worried gazes.
"I'm fine," Roy sighed. "I don't have a cold…"
They shrugged and continued to file out of the train. Edward took his first breath of London air for the first time in ten months. Busy and bustling as usual, he thought. They clambered in a bivouac down the street, receiving welcome greetings from the locals passing by. After a small walk, they boarded a line of carriages to a more peaceful countryside. Once the party arrived at a large mansion, the large black iron gates opened familiarly to them. All Lavi could do was drop his jaw at the sight of the mansion.
A red bricked pathway from the gates winded about in a vast low forest of brush, the lawn bordered by hedges, and pansies. Tiger Lilies aligned themselves along the edge of the brick road, followed by a layer of blue bachelor's button, and bearded irises. Foxgloves filled the flowerbeds in front of the house, aging green ivy covering the existence of a flowerbed at all
A style more of a Victorian than Gothic, so obviously, the place looked livelier than the Order's home, on the outside, at least. A wide portico stretched to both ends of the mansion, supported by black marble pillars, carved with a winged design on its bases. The exterior shell, gray stone slabs to resemble a mighty fortress, contrasting itself from the ivory black shingles that shielded the stronghold from harsh weather. A turret protruded that supposedly protruded from a courtyard inside the mansion was seen towering over the rest of the building, laced with pristine white curtained windows. The doors, two grand wooden slabs of welcome, I suppose, were at the travelers' vicinity, large brass doorknobs to be opened at ease.
"Whoa…" Lenalee gasped. "What is this place?"
Roy smiled. The first time he had bought this mansion, he, too had been shock at its grandeur. Ed and Alphonse still remembered the surprised look on their teachers' faces, when the work was finished.
"May you do the honors, Armstrong?" Roy motioned to the buff subordinate, who bowed graciously and formed a crowd about him.
"Welcome to Silver Shield Headquarters," Armstrong declared with a proud air, grasping one door handle, Brosh taking the other. "Feel free to make yourselves at home."
A creak of a working hinge snapped them back to reality, and walking inside, another sight of awe was to be gained. A classical dream outside, a futuristic interior catches their eyes. The foyer, draped with the a silver and navy blue patterned banner embroidered with the crest of a roaring lion on its back legs, stood before them against a metal walled room, with bright white lamps to compensate the shaded windows. Two sets of curved stairways, carved marble white, sat below the proud banner, lined with white lamps along the way. The floor they stood on, black marble, with small veins of tan and white within its surface.
Reactions of many types flew about the room for the newcomers, along with many questions. Five minutes passed before the crowd was held at complete silence. Apparently one strange look from Hawkeye was the trick. Roy gave orders to several subordinates, while the newcomers remained silent, wondering if the other rooms were just as pretty as the first.
"As for Fullmetal and Alphonse here…" Roy looked at the two. "You two take your friends here on a tour… I've got to talk to Armstrong and Izumi at my office."
"Which Armstrong?" Al asked. Roy sighed.
"Olivia."
That earned a gulp from both brothers, and Roy nodded in agreement, paling at the same time. Riza sighed, pushing Roy away from the crowd.
"Well, let's get this over with…"
Roy continued his incoherent babbling as Al and Ed were depressing themselves. Lavi, Lenalee, Kanda, Road, Reever, and Komui were left behind.
"I'm scared to go to the office now…" Al shuddered.
"Same here," Ed followed. "I think I'll make an excuse for a break…"
"Um… guys?" Lavi called for their attention. "the tour?"
"First stop, the receptionist," Al happily narrated as they passed by a desk belonging to a young lady with short brown mousy hair, her round glasses propped upon the bridge of her nose. Like what they had seen before, this woman also wore a Silver Shield uniform. Upon noticing Ed and Al, papers were flung everywhere as she stood up hurriedly.
"Ah! Um!" She stuttered before bowing quickly. "Welcome back, Edward and Alphonse!"
"Thank you, Shieska…" Al smiled at the girl, who flushed red as he and the rest of the group passed by. Their home seemed very much the same, as it seems.
"During your stay here at Headquarters," Al continued through a hallway leading downwards, still black marble floored and metal walled, with white lamps throughout. "Shieska will probably be the best person to go to if you need to find your way around the place. She may not look like it, but she's also the librarian for our library here. Apparently, she's read every single book there, and has memorized each one."
"Whoa!" Lavi jumped. "Like… photographic memory?"
"Only in wording, not images," Edward corrected him.
"Here is the Lounge," Al labeled the room.
A nice crackling fireplace was going, surrounded a comforting set of sofas comprised of a dark blue cloth that was soft for the skin. The walls here were dark blue with a vintage flower pattern of white washed across it. Upon a small table near the door to the next room was a fair-sized Tiffany lamp, painted navy blue and cyan, with a small tinge of green. Not to mention, the rug, a dark blue as well.
"Now, on to the offices," Al continued. "On the floor below us, so we'll be taking an elevator down. They approached a pair of silver metal doors, which slid sideways, showing a compartment, carpeted neatly, and featured with steel handrails. Komui and Lavi were so absorbed in the advanced technology, Lenalee had to pull them in before the doors closed. They were also mesmerized by how smooth the elevator went, just like the one they had in the first Order headquarters… except that one actually levitated.
The second floor was significantly more plain the first, with only whitewashed walls, with few adornments. The carpet was blue, of course, and an occasional oil painting was hung upon the white plastered walls. Doors were lined up against either side of the wall. Some were opened, and Lavi could see several uniform-clad men and women busily humming away their work, a paper passed to each other on occasion. They walked through another grand set of wooden doors, and suddenly the environment switched back to the way it had been at the first hallway.
Mysterious dim lighting in metal walled corridors, but a red carpeted floor, with vintage patterns scattered across. A pink rose on some occasion, or a big orange carp on another corner, they finally approached a large room the size of a large stadium, the Exorcists and scientists were amazed at how Roy could keep such a large room right under his house.
The floor was all metal this time, as were the walls and ceiling. A metal door that probably led to a control room of some sort was placed in the far corner of the room.
"Wha-What is this place?" Komui sputtered.
"A training area," Kanda mused, surprising Lavi. "As you can see, it's large and spacious, and the place has proper lighting."
"That's right, Kanda," Alphonse continued. "Last, but not least, this training facility is for Exorcists and Finders to use. As in Finders, I mean, target practice, and advanced combat and such. The control behind the far door back there allows control of the conditions in the room. Different weather conditions, such as rain, hurricane, and earthquakes. For water, the floor is water-absorbent, so if we use the rain mode, then we just have that water for the plants in the garden up front."
"That's genius!" Komui beamed. "I've never heard of such technology! Tell me, who designed this facility?"
"I did," Ed's voice rang through the almost empty training room, and all eyes turned on the Fullmetal Alchemist. All everyone could do was drop their jaws.
"Seriously?" Lavi's eyes seemed to be bulging out from shock. "You designed this place?"
"Yeah," Ed answered nonchalantly. "Al helped with the logic, and all, but I did most of the work."
"Amazing!" Lenalee smiled.
"Heh, I am nicknamed a child prodigy after all," Ed shrugged. Al then motioned everyone through the door.
"All right, everyone," He announced. "Let's go upstairs and to the bedrooms.
"How many bedrooms do you have?" Lavi asked. Al thought for a moment.
"Exorcists live here on the two floors above ground. The Finders, the ones that are not part of Mustang's main staff, live in a large apartment complex near town reserved only for them. The trip to the main work building itself is quite short, after all, and it's best for us to blend in."
Dark blue curtains draped the blank metal walls, a Silver Shield banner placed between two of them. The room was a wide room, a series of desks joined together into a wide rectangle, and a main big desk at the far back, a few yards from the large rectangle of desks.
A low murmur outside the doors resounded.
"This can't be good…" Roy's voice was heard.
The door was opened slowly, and Roy's eyes narrowed.
Three people sat patiently before his desk in the black leather sofa featured with a glass table. All three he recognized. His subordinates hurriedly rushed to their desks to resume work once again. He himself calmly strolled to his seat, falling back on the comfy roller chair Ed had found during their travels. That was one of the things Roy appreciated from his apprentice.
"Hello, Roy Mustang…" A familiar voice echoed into his ear, and Roy smirked in satisfaction at the man before him. Izumi and Olivia nodded, receiving a welcome nod back, alerting the two women that he was aware of their presence. His eyes flitted back to the man.
"Ah," He sat up in his chair. "It's nice to see you, Malcolm Leverrier. You care to tell about that Destroyer of Time you locked away without my knowing?"
"Hahaha…" Leverrier retorted sarcastically. "Very funny, Mustang. It seems that I have a slight problem."
"Oh? What kind of problem?" the Flames of Wrath tried to keep his temper low. This was going to quite interesting…
Taking another elevator to the second floor, the Exorcists were led to the first empty room. Even then, Lenalee had to gasp at the beauty of the bedroom.
The walls were painted a tanned beige. Two beds, fitted with a puffy coverlet with strange ancient language printed upon it, and included a set of pillows, peach and red. Two closets, perhaps one for each person stood on opposite ends of the room, along with a pair of writing tables beside their respective closets.
"Apparently, the General actually bothered to put assignments." Ed grabbed a slip of paper, a note that Roy expected to be found by none other than his apprentice. "It says the room is for Reever and Komui."
Reever seemed thrilled, but Komui, on the other hand, was quite the opposite. He bent on his knees, begging for Ed to change the room assignments.
"But what about Lenalee?" Komui pleaded. "What about my sister?"
"She's going to share a room with Winry, so get up from your knees please…" Ed sighed. "I don't need any more of those people in the house."
"I understand…" Komui got up, but went haywire as soon as he was stable on his feet. "But what if that Winry does something horrible to Lenalee?"
"Calm down, chief," Reever restrained the raving scientist. "Winry's just a harmless girl, with a quick temper, of course, but I'm sure Lenalee can handle her."
Ed immediately dragged everyone else out the room, leaving the two scientists to deal with their own problems. They reentered the carpeted corridor again, and continued walking down. Lavi, still amused by the decorations hung around the house, took note of a vase of fresh lilies perched on an alabaster pedestal. Either Ed or Roy had a taste for furniture and décor… He guessed both.
"Now," Al looked at the room's plain white-washed door. "Lenalee will be staying in this room. Like I said, Winry's sleeping here, too."
Al tossed to Lenalee a key, which she caught easily. "Just open the door and Ross probably brought your stuff in there."
"Thanks!" Lenalee smiled, jammed the key into its proper place, and opened the door. Ed then ushered the two remaining boys and Road away with Al in front.
"As for Kanda and Lavi," Al sighed. "Since Roy's been told that you two don't get along really well, he's decided to have Lavi go to Brother's room, while Kanda rooms with me. We've provided extra beds."
"Question!" Lavi raised his hand. "Hey, Ed, do you have books in your room?"
"Of course I would, you idiot rabbit," Ed sighed. Lavi ignored the name and was busily jumping, excited about the books and followed Ed, who decided to go straight to his room. Alphonse, Road, and Kanda went elsewhere, approaching another room.
"This is yours, Road," Alphonse smiled, and handed the former Noah her key. She took it silently, and remaining two moved on, approaching another room.
"This is the room?" Kanda asked.
"Yup," Alphonse unlocked the door, presenting to Kanda dark green walls, a light tan wooden floor, and two beds, the bedding patterned with foliage. Two lamps were propped on these green walls, providing a warm lighting. A light green rug lay between the gap formed by the two beds, along with a wide beside table and a desk lamp in between. Two closets were placed into the walls in front of the beds, carved into a shape that imitated tightly wound bamboo. Between these closets were a bookshelf filled with books, considering that Alphonse was also fond of reading.
"So, what do you think?" Al asked, closing the door behind him. Kanda usually didn't really care about what was in the room as long as there was a bed, but for once he couldn't help but notice the pleasant feel of the room.
"It's… nice…" He mused, and headed for the closet, only to find his suitcase placed inside. He smirked. Silver Shield… sounded a lot more interesting now…
"Oh, yeah, you're free to do what you want now," Al headed for the door. "But it's already night, so I suggest going to sleep now."
"Where are you going, then?" Kanda looked through his suitcase.
"I need to check on something," Al smiled. "It's nothing, really."
The door closed behind him, and Kanda continued to look at the room again. Apparently, the Silver Shield were quite interested in art…
"Cool!" Lavi was surprised that even Ed's room was interesting. The room greatly resembled some ancient library. Dark tan walls were decorated with bronze-sconces with dragons perched upon them (they're fake, of course). As Ed had said, three shelves of books were lined side by side on one side of the room, complete with a long table and two chairs. The beds were light brown, with a gleaming quality to them.
"Let me guess, you designed this, too?" Lavi looked at the golden eyed Exorcist who grinned.
"The dragons were my touch, by the way…" Ed collapsed on his bed. "It's kinda dark already, so I guess I'll have to hit the sack a bit early. I'm so used to traveling, sometimes I'm not aware of how tired I am until I get home…"
"Works with me…"
Road had settled into the clothes she found in the spare drawers and was sitting in bed. The room was just like the one she had stayed in back at the inn, blue walled, and white to accompany.
For the first time in her life, Road relearned how to sleep. She tossed and turned in the soft white sheets of the bed. Her nocturnal Noah was refusing to surface so she could not worry about sleep any longer, so she tried to think herself to sleep.
She, Road Avalon Dante, was the responsibility of Alphonse Elric. She remembered Roy's reason that he gave before they left on the last train to London.
The power of the Eastern Sage had been split between the two Elric brothers… Edward was given the might of the Sage, therefore giving him powerful and universal alchemy along with a great knowledge of alkahestry. Alphonse was given a great amount of alkahestry abilities. Both brothers have the ability to communicate with the Noah, by that, I mean breaking and gaining dominance over all dream realms. That explains why Alphonse's Innocence was able to break through your Dreams… Alphonse has mastered this ability more than Edward, so he is the better brother to keep in check with you. From now on… He'll assist you in sustaining your Noah. Your survival, Avalon, is a lucky one. I'm sure, Road, your half-brother Allen Walker will be found…
She turned over in the bed again. The pale moonlight was striking her face, and she didn't move as a creaking of a small door alerted the presence of a visitor. Dark golden round orbs of an iris were staring down at her solemnly.
"Are you having any trouble sleeping?" It was Alphonse, holding a candlelight to his face. She sighed in relief and sat up in bed.
"I don't know how to sleep…" She answered. "It's quite embarrassing… Was I bothering you?"
"No, not at all," Al smiled warmly, setting down the candle on the bedside table, which gave a homey feeling to the honey-lit room.
"I heard your distress back in my room," He explained. "I was wondering why I heard a lot of rustles from your room."
"So I was bothering you…" Road glumly looked at the moonlit window again, and Alphonse placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Hey…" He frowned. "Didn't Roy say I was supposed to be in charge of you?"
Road didn't answer, and Al's lips broke into a faint smile. She was beginning to act just like she was when he first met her. This time she was much better, with her newly grown hair that fell to her shoulders. Her eyes were completely purple, not half gold like they had been.
"Here," Alphonse grabbed hold of both of her shoulders and set her down into the bed in a lying position. "I'll help you fall asleep."
She looked quizzically at Alphonse as he then grasped her hand, and she found herself spiraling into a dark bottomless pit of a sleek metallic material.
Road landed softly in a wide room. She discovered that she wasn't wearing the nightclothes Lenalee had so kindly given to her. Instead, she was wearing the clothes as if she were attending a party or something pertaining to that subject. She looked at stray mirror and examined her new appearance.
Her dress was a simple pure white that were held by white strips of cloth, hugged about her figure, and stretched down to the middle of her shin, cut cleanly with no loose ends at the strings. Her shoes were fitted with a pair of white heels that enclosed her toes and heels in a white velvet, a white diamond at the near end of her slippers. Her wrists were adorned with white gemmed bracelets. Violet ripples of delicate hair were knotted skillfully in a curled bun fastened by a pin of one silvery dragon's head at one end, its lengthy body wrapping about the hill of hair.
She waded throughout the sea of light observing just how spacious the room was. To think, more than a hundred people could fit in this room. Her senses awakened by the soft note that played upon a faraway piano that had no pianist to control it, or was the pianist standing in her shoes?
The time of day was still night, so the ever so white moon came down in streaks of white beams at an angle. The floor was tinted a blue marble that glimmered a reflection of her feet as they clacked across the room. Blue pillars circled the room about her, painted with splashes of sky blue and white. The walls behind the blue beams of foundation were just as blue as the floor, spanning about the room. Upon the ceiling hung a grand crystal chandelier, the metal bearings made of purest silver she had never seen before, and the crystals as clear as water.
"Where am I?" She asked the silence, and she strode over to a balcony that happened to be conveniently at her left. From there, she only saw vast snowy forests, and right below her, a happy town with cheering people, skating on the frozen pond of winter. Far off, a deep blur bay with lazily rolling waves that crawled on the white sand was in sight.
"This is the realm of your mind, Road," Alphonse's voice echoed, and she spun around to see Alphonse, wearing a black suit. A black tie could be seen in this natural light. His sandy brown hair was gleaming in the light.
"My… realm… of mind?" Road uttered the words, and received a slow nod from Alphonse. Wasn't her realm of mind a sadistic playhouse with stuffed animals and tortured souls? What about the winding mazes? What about the gothic nursery?
"This realm belongs to Avalon, not the Noah of Dreams," Alphonse seemed to read her mind. "She was very fond of dancing, if you may know, and she wanted a bit more normal life, thus this ballroom and the scenery out there."
"How do you know all this?" Road asked cautiously. Al looked at her with those deep golden eyes.
"We found her diary one time… but that doesn't matter anymore, does it?"
Alphonse then held out his hand. "So… do you want to dance, Road? You're fast asleep in the real world now… the least I can do is help you have your first dream be a good one…"
The former Noah was taken aback by this request. Dance? She could never dance. If she did, she only copied the steps of the people around her, or she watched Tyki dance with those other women who wanted to twirl around the halls with him for their debutantes. She didn't pay much attention to the sake of dancing. Why should she?
Road looked at his waiting face, and she gazed at him. Alphonse gave a small smile of encouragement. For once she looked so flawless… if Lavi were here, he would be jealous of Alphonse for landing such a pretty girl…
"I… I don't know how…" that was the answer he received. Alphonse didn't give up just yet. An Elric never gives up until the task is done.
"That's fine, Road…" Al took casual steps, with his hand still out. "I can teach you to dance…"
Once the boy was close enough, he took the girl's hand, observing her flushed face as the warmth of each other's hands were intermingled. She had never truly felt warmth before. When the Noah of Dreams had tried to hug Allen to torture his mind, he must have felt warmth for real, but she wasn't able to. A Noah was a dead body, and they could never really feel. But her miraculous Innocence brought life back to her, and she could feel once more… She had heard passing children speak of how warm their mothers' hands felt when mother and child held hands, or how lovers found comfort in the warmth of hands and hugs. Back then, she could never feel the sensation of those moments… but now she could.
"Road… are you ready?" Alphonse's face caught her eye again, and she, still overwhelmed by the touch of his hands, nodded, and he led her to the middle of the room. They came to a stop, and he held the hand he had been holding for a while, her right hand intertwined his left hand.
"Do you know the basics?" Alphonse asked. Road nodded meekly, and she took her left arm, and placed her hand on Al's right shoulder, and another warm feeling tingled in her when Al placed his right hand on the small of her back. Her red blush deepened, and Al smiled.
"Are you all right?" He asked, and Road nodded.
"I'm fine…" She smiled back. "I just feel a bit weird, that's all."
"No one has ever danced with you like this?" Al asked, his head tilting slightly. Road shook her head, earning from him another grin.
"Then it's about time you found out, right?"
The first steps usually ended in failure, with her accidentally stepping on his foot, or nearly falling forwards, only to be caught and held close by the boy again, who would laugh along with her. The blush faded away as she became more comfortable with Alphonse, and after what seemed like hours, they were whirling about the room with ease. She laughed heartily as they rocked about the room with their feet, and Alphonse smiled at her happiness.
To feel happy… this was just so strange…
"To think an Exorcist like you would forgive me for what I've done…" She said to him. "I'm appalled."
"That's nothing," Alphonse answered back. "Those events you have inflicted upon us was not you, Road. Whoever did that was not of your conscience."
She smiled. The sensation she only felt for Allen Walker two years ago came back, but with more intensity. Alphonse was not the person who was supposed to protect her, or make sure she didn't kill anyone. Alphonse Elric was her savior, the one who helped her feel, and see again.
"Thank you…" She whispered, as they were brought closer together as they continued to dance to the wandering piano keys. A ray of dawn rose from the watery bay in the distance.
"Allen Walker is not in my hands any longer," Leverrier explained. "Central wanted to give the job to someone else. I tried calling you to see if you had him, but your subordinates said you weren't at your office."
"When did Allen Walker leave?" Roy asked. Mentally swearing, he held his breath, clenching his gloved hands anxiously.
"Five months ago…" Leverrier said. "I've been searching for him with the CROWs, but I don't know who would take him in, though… And no, he didn't leave… He seemed to have been taken by force. He was in too weak a state to leave on his own will. Whoever took him was good enough to slip under my nose."
Roy paused, rethinking his situation. Hawkeye, with the second phone, stared relentlessly at her boss's anguished face. Decisions were tough, no doubt about it…
"Do you have any suspects?"
"One guess," Leverrier answered. "There are Three Head Inspectors that serve the Church, am I right?"
"Quite right," Roy gestured for his coworker to continue.
"The two of us are here now," Leverrier continued. "So that leaves one person…"
Roy nodded, already knowing the answer. "Bradley."
A/N: Whoa! Now that's some U-turn! Apparently, I have to take several summer course, some of them I'm happy, some I'm bored out of my mind, so I'm still as busy as ever. There's your nice fluff scene for Al and Road. I'm not good with writing fluff, so this is pretty good, in my opinion. When I was writing that dance scene, I was inspired by this pretty picture of a ballroom I found on DevArt, and then I heard the song from the FMA Brotherhood soundtrack, Nocturne of Amestris (both versions). As for the rooms, I wonder if I should post something on DA to give everyone a good picture of what they look like... I can do that but time's the big problem. And yes, Fuhrer Bradley is not nice all the way through, unlike the manga (he seemed like some nice grandpa at the beginning). On top of that, Fullmetal Alchemist ended (and very awesome ending). I'm just glad that my favorite characters (save for Hughes... curse you Envy!) lived happily (hint hint: Ed and Winry got married and had kids, and Roy got his eyesight back, and i think Al and May are dating, or maybe they're married, too. Hoeinheim died happily in front of Trisha's grave, which was nice, and creepy a bit, but still touching). And today, a long long long long chapter... Lately chapters for me are lengthy.
Chapter 20: Interlude and Chapter 21: The Falling Pin
Our Exorcists adjust to life at Silver Shield. Road, Lenalee, and Winry have conversations, and Kanda and Lavi get to test out the training room, ending in unexpected results. But by evening, Lenalee locks herself in her room. Why?