Fullmetal Exorcist – Chapter 29 – A Daydream
Ed bit his lip as he watched his subordinates walk about the prison chamber. It was only a few hours they had liberated the castle of Bradley, and only a few hours when Allen was rescued. Ed demanded to return to these chambers for extra inspection, much to he objections of both Mustang and Hohenheim (but why would he listen to Hohenheim anyway?). It was only Hawkeye who allowed him to go see the room. With the help of Road, Ed was able go back. Ross, Brosh, and Armstrong came along, with Hughes, who insisted that "a young boy like [Ed] could not go without at least several adults."
Now he was in the small prison chamber where they had found Allen. At that time, he didn't see all of the room, and he passed out right when he finished probing Allen's mind. He briefly remembered something like large circle somewhere in that stray memory. He was quite suspicious of that. What could an Exorcist like Allen would have any relation to alchemy?
Armstrong, who was accompanying him, held up a large lamp above his head. Ed knelt down, checked the floor again. It was clear. The blood here wasn't splayed randomly as if Allen would have been beaten. If he was beaten, then that would explain that corner with the blood puddles and chains. But the blood trail was far too organized, almost a clearly curved line. Unless…
"Major," Ed called out for the man. "Can you shine the light over here a bit more… this lamp is too weak to light the whole room."
"Yes, sir."
The hazy light floated over the curved line of blood, but that was all. An unfinished stroke. Ed furrowed his eyebrows. This was something bigger. He was sure of it.
"Are you ready to go, Elric?" Armstrong asked. "The stench of this place is overwhelming."
Ed shook his head. There was more! What about the walls!
He scampered to the stone, and was in the dark again. His hand fell upon the texture of chains, and cuffs. On the wall? Did they pin Allen to the wall for a short time? The smell of blood was even stronger here, and he turned around.
"Major!" He shouted. "What about here?"
Armstrong reluctantly came further and shed light on that wall, only for that lamp to drop in shock. The two were left in silence, save for the small bouncing of the lamp. Ed was pale, pupils dilating. Armstrong covered his eyes in shame. Both were trembling and ready to fall over.
"This… can't be… that circle…" Ed muttered. "Why… such extents… why…"
He shot up from the ground. "We need to tell Al before he presents that report!"
The Fullmetal Alchemist flipped yet another page in his blank travel log, or his notes. He wanted to write something about his findings and that circle in that chamber, but even after a day or two he felt sick at the thought of it. He looked at his right shoulder and then to his left knee. A human transmutation circle, that was all it took for him to lose a leg, and then lose an arm the second time. But how… how could it just appear in that chamber? And they made Allen do it, too…
"Brother?" Al knocked on the door.
"Come in."
The younger Elric stepped in, still in a borrowed lab coat, with a few folders in his hand.
"Hello, Al," Ed brightened from the misery of paperwork. "How is the infirmary?"
"Quite fine, actually," Al nodded. "I was going to leave some reports for you read."
"Oh… thanks…" Ed nodded, and the door clicked right after.
Over ten of the reports were mostly cuts, burns, bruises, broken arms and legs, and some hits to the head. Only some of the Finders were in comas. Finally… Allen Walker. The pages were lined with notes about bruises cuts and broken bones in all of the boys body. But nothing was missing. No internal organs, either… Allen didn't seem to lose anything, did he…
Ed thumbed through Allen's file once more. Al had indeed mentioned the human transmutation possibility, but there was no sign of an unusual loss of body parts. This puzzled the alchemist very deeply. If what the circle he saw was correct, then what did Allen lose?
Lenalee kept her gaze away from Neah, who was too busy whirling around to take a look at a nearby gargoyle in the hall. She grit her teeth in frustration. Should she be very welcome to an "ally" like she had been with any other new addition to the Order? Should she shun him as a Noah, like she should be? Her thoughts were muddled with the mantra: He's a Noah… He's a Noah…
"Um… M- I mean… Lenalee," Neah caught her wary attention. "I think Road is around that way."
He pointed to the small they just passed by. If Lenalee remembered correctly, this led to the Elrics' study, where she had been sitting with Road earlier. Surely, the former Noah should have gotten bored of sitting amongst books just to go outside for fresh air. But it couldn't hurt to check.
"Um… right…" She muttered as she led the 14th down the small hallway, eventually arriving at the rather grand doors of a small library. She hesitantly opened the doors, only to hear the soft purr of cats. Cats? In a study?
"Road…?" She walked in quietly, with Neah following. "Are you here?"
"Oh, you came back, Lenalee?" Road answered back. Lenalee sighed. So she really did stay here after all. "Lenalee, look at them! They're very adorable!"
Neah seemed more happy, and he rushed past Lenalee, and found his sister sitting on a couch, with a litter of kittens climbing about the furniture. Road was playfully stroking the back of a young tabby that was sitting on her lap. But she looked up at the familiar face. She seemed unfazed from any shock from recognizing Neah, excepting the small gasp.
"Road…" Neah waved his hand slightly. "Remember me…?"
"... Who are you…?" Road raised an eyebrow. Lenalee took the initiative.
"Road, this is Neah. He's the 14th Noah. He's your brother, I believe?"
"I don't remember having a brother named Neah…" Road looked up in thought. "If you're related to the Ninth, I'm sure she would remember you…"
"So you're not Road, the Dreams of Noah?" Neah asked disappointedly.
"I'm sorry, I've only resurfaced after a long time," Road explained. "The Ninth will be happy to see you, but I have yet to exercise my power to transition between myself and the Noah at will."
"I see," Neah nodded, but he immediately picked up the nearest cat that was exploring the Tiffany lamp on the small table near the couch. Lenalee wondered if Neah was trying to get rid of the sad feelings of being forgotten. "Hey, there, little fel-"
"MEOW!"
Road and Lenalee winced at the screeching and yelping of a tormented cat and man were heard. Lenalee allowed another kitten to crawl onto her lap, and she stroked up subconsciously, watching Neah attempt to pry off the cat from his face.
"It seems he's not very much like Alphonse…" Road sighed. "I wonder if animals dislike Noahs…"
Lenalee nodded.
"Hey… Al, what's with that cat?" Lavi pointed at the small calico that had a ribbon about its neck.
"It's one of my pets," Al smiled. "I tend to play some music outside, so I pick up a bunch of animals, mostly cats."
"Don't you get any other animals other than cats?" Lavi asked.
"Um… yeah, but brother doesn't let me keep them in the mansion," Al sighed. "I do get some small puppies in the backyard, some birds (mind you, that was how Mustang got a falcon for a pet), an owl (I play at night sometimes), one time I had a turtle and a pair of wolves…"
"Wolves?"
"Yeah… they're actually quite adorable when they listen to music."
Lavi was quite alarmed. "What instrument do you play?"
"Um… A flute I got from China on my travels there… It's quite nice. A very kind man who used to live in Japan taught me how to play it… I think he lives in Italy now. I think he has lots of animal friends, too."
"Hm… I'd like to meet this guy…"
"But I have lots of cats," Al smiled at the calico he held. "Brother and the General try to limit the number of cats I keep…"
Lavi paused, but then asked. "How many do you have…?"
"Around ten."
"Whoa!" Lavi backed away from Al slightly. "You keep that many?"
"Jeremy loves to feed them, so I don't mind," Al nodded, petting the calico which purred in response. "They like to hang around our study, so I set up a place for them to stay nearby. Surprisingly, nothing has been destroyed."
"Probably your brother fixes it all for you before you walk in."
"Possibly…" Al drifted off.
They entered the small corridor that led into his study. He swiftly opened the door and set the cat down on the floor.
"Here you go, little guy," He smiles, and looked up at Lenalee, Road, and Neah, who were staring at him.
"Oh, hello, Mr. Elric," Neah was still trying to get the cat off his head. "Your cats don't seem to like me very much…"
"Oh…" Al nodded. "Um… Crookshanks, you can get off of him, now."
The orange cat pounced off from Neah's face and landed on the carpet with ease, and strutted away from the group. Al laughed nervously.
"He's always like that," He explained. "He's the most intelligent out of all my cats, and he can't help but feel protective of me. He probably knows you're a Noah and proceeded to attack you…"
"Animals are all smart these days, huh…" Neah sighed. "Throughout my life, cats all hated me, and I think they're the only animals that do…"
"Alphonse, you're back from the infirmary," Road smiled. "Is Allen okay?"
"He's fine," Al nodded with a smile on his face. "He's quite well on his recovery. All the minor injuries are completely gone, and all that leaves is his broken bones. He sure recovers fast."
"That's what good about his Innocence," Lenalee added. "He gets a little boost in healing when it comes to that…"
"Well, let's hope he's fully recovered by the end of this month," Al grinned. "Then we can truly get on with business."
Road gave an appreciative smile to Al, who was pink at her gaze, and Neah looked between the two of them. Lenalee giggled and Lavi was snickering.
"Are you two together or something?" Neah asked, earning many sputters and denials from both of them.
"W-why do you ask…?" Al finally put himself together.
"Just so you know," Neah laid back on the sofa, hands behind his head. "Anything funny with my sister, and you're toast."
Lavi shivered at the Noah's cold reply, instantly reminded of another overprotective brother. Lenalee on sighed in exasperation. Road and Al only turned red. Al then snapped out of his daze and turned to Lavi.
"Oh, the training room has fixed, so you can use it now."
"But what about my arm?"
"Meet me at the infirmary," Al smiled. "I'll arrange a small treatment for you."
Lavi wasn't too sure about the offer, but he nodded in acknowledgement anyways.
Hohenheim continued his grand exploration of the Silver Shield Headquarters. Surprisingly, he saw no alchemy experiments around the Science Division, to which the workers replied that their "Colonel" Elric wouldn't allow them to do such things, but only a select few were allowed to look through his research notes. He felt accomplished anyways. Two days ago, he was able to get Ed to talk to him in a less cold tone. Hohenheim loved the progress he made.
Everyone was quite kind, especially to the fact that he was Edward's father. The scientists worked a little harder when he passed by. The bumbling receptionist smiled and bowed to him every time he approached her desk. The cook was happy to have another customer. The intel department dropped their flustered act and went to real work when he peered around the cubicles. He was beginning to feel like a small celebrity.
"That's because you're the Western Sage," someone seemed to read his mind. "Everyone knows about what you did for the Exorcist community."
He turned around, only to see his own son, Ed, standing right behind him, hands digging into his large pockets, red long coat draped over his shoulders. He looked bored and sounded more intent on shutting himself up in his little office rather than making a round about the building.
"Oh, Edward," Hohenheim smiled.
"I take you know the layout of this building?" Ed looked up at his father, who shook his head.
"Only the basics parts, though…"
A small scroll was thrust into his large hands, and Ed merely passed by him afterward, not looking back.
"You might need that map. I've heard people get lost easily in these halls."
The Western Sage watched his son casually wave a small hand back at him, and then continued walking. He opened the small scroll, finding a very detailed map of the area, with every single nook and cranny drawn out, and labeled. This must have been Ed's edition of the place.
"T-Thank you…" Hohenheim smiled softly.
With a startled gasp, Tyki jumped out of his bed. He looked about himself. He was still in the Noah mansion. He sighed in relief. The Noah traced the small line of crosses around his forehead. They were actually hurting for once. He gazed at the big mirror beside his dresser, and saw a strange imprint of human hands on his neck. Did someone strangle him before? But shouldn't these marks be fading?
Then he remembered. They did disappear, but that was a special circumstance. He vaguely remember how he even got these bruises, and he racked his mind endlessly. He then gave up, and decided to visit Wisely, wondering the fellow Noah could look through his memories and tell him how these scars returned.
He closed the door quietly behind him and traversed the long winding staircase done to the grand foyer. The Earl owned a bizarre home with multiple stairways that bent at different angles. Walls were painted a eerie purple and the paintings were that of poor humans in pain. It only appeared this way to Akuma and Noah, but to a normal human who wished to visit the Earl, it was a grand mansion with gold and crimson drapery, and large portraits of kings and queens of old. Perspective was the main focus of this little mansion, but he'd rather prefer the queen's large stupid grin than a screaming prisoner.
He went through another dark hall where the moon sometimes lit an open window, and he basked in the warmer feel of it. For some reason, it felt better than that cold dark. He wondered if it had anything to do with the fact about the Noah once being associated with the moon, and the house of Xerxes was the sun. He wondered…
"Finally…" He muttered as he approached a pair of black doors. He pushed both of them opened, and let them swing behind him as he walked through. A Noah with striped turbans was sitting cross-legged in mid air, thoroughly absorbed in a book. The Ninth Disciple looked up, and the book merely vanished from his hand.
"What brings you here, dear brother?"
"Oh, not much," Tyki smiled. "I'd like you to look through my memories of any battles that happened before… I seem to have gotten these bruises just an hour ago, and I can't seem to make them go away."
Wisely raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure? Shouldn't you be addressing the Earl about his?"
"I don't feel like it."
"Fine," Wisely rolled his eyes as he hesitantly landed on the floor and pointed at the armchair. "Sit there, and I'll looked through your memories."
Lavi watched in amazement as Al pressed a hand on the small circle he made under his left arm, and immediately, after a small jolt of electricity going through his veins, he felt the small pop of bones realigning themselves together. The long flash of light stopped, and he looked at his arm. The cast had been removed, and after some testing, his arm seemed just like normal.
"Thank you!" Al gave his friend a big hug, but then titled his head in confusion.
"You know… if you could do that… Why didn't you do that in the first place?"
"Merely healing instantly like that wouldn't help," Al sighed. "You wouldn't learn to not break your arm, would you?"
Lavi should have gawked at Al's harsh lesson, but he said nothing. He was far too grateful.
"Thanks, Al," Lavi nodded, and exited the room. Conveniently, Kanda walked in with a pile of reports to put on Al's temporary workplace. Al nodded in return, and took the first report from the top of the pile to read.
"You should have made him wait longer," He muttered. Al smiled.
"I was being nice," He answered. "Maybe you should try it sometime. You're always acting cold to everyone most of the time. You'll find Alma someday. I promise."
"I'm not being mean because I can't find Alma yet," Kanda growled.
"Then here's this," Al kept smiling. "You're afraid you think are similar to Alma will go away, just like him, right?"
"No, it isn't," Kanda shook his head.
"You're getting a bit more defiant there," Al set down his pen. "You're lying."
Kanda merely huffed and walked out the door without as much as saying a bitter retort. Al shrugged and merely went back to work.
Olivia wasn't the type to eavesdrop or spy on others. It went against her code of honor and dignity, as any Armstrong should think. She tapped on the hilt of her mighty saber strapped about her waist, as she leaned on the wall, waiting for something. All she heard were angry mutters, and a slamming of something made of glass. Luckily, nothing broke yet.
Normally, she would send Miles to do this type of job for her: looking out for people, but she somehow felt it was her duty to see the situation for herself. She peered over the corner of the door, to find a sober redheaded General slouched over on the small round table he had in his room. His favorite wine, Romanee Conti, was left unopened, and the glass was empty.
So he wasn't drunk, she thought, and she stepped in with the same proud air she carried with her all the time. She stood before Cross, who was still slumped over, his head facing the table.
"Can't bring yourself to even drink?" Olivia awakened the man from his unresponsive state. He said nothing, and she was sure she heard a small scowl.
She folded her arms, looking down at him with a stiff lip, wondering when the man would begin talking. He then wore a stupid grin.
"You know you look like you're pouting when you make that face."
At this moment, she should have bashed over the head with her sword, but she didn't bother. She was determined to get a better answer than that from the General. A few seconds, and she lost her patience. This time, she play the guessing game.
"You're depressed because your apprentice is injured."
"What are you talking about," Cross grumbled. "He's injured all the time. And I don't visit him when he is."
"I think otherwise," She pressed. "You've been under my command ever since you decided to estrange yourself the mainstream Order. And I've counted all the absences you've had to wander near the Order."
Cross didn't seem too surprised. From the woman who ordered him around since day one of his arrival to the Shield, it was expected she would know his every move. He hated looking emotional. It just wasn't his thing. The man would only scowl and grumble if he grieved and he would tease Tiedoll for bursting into tears every time Marie ends up hospitalized or losing that finger. Stupid Armstrong for butting into his personal feelings.
"So what if I did?" Cross challenged her, and received a huff of frustration. Olivia looked sideways to the window, which had been closed.
"I hate liars," She said briskly. "They aren't worthy to be subordinates of an Armstrong."
She spun on her heel and made her way for the door when she heard a rustle of a chair. She stopped short of her tracks.
"Don't even think about it," She growled, knowing Cross was going to attempt a reach at that Romanee Conti. "I hate drunks."
The Earl enjoyed watching people, but he was quite frustrated with the fact that he could no longer track down that group of Exorcists he was itching to play with. He had lost his chance to get his hands on the 14th in time. What if they had already found him? He wanted to slam his fist on the table as he glared at the crystal ball that allowed him to see all the movements of the Exorcist. All he saw were the vampire-like man, the one that could control time, and that other one that had a massive monkey. But where was the girl with boots? The boy with the sword? The Bookmen? Those three Alchemists?
He realized it. It was the same time Road had defected from the family that their names disappeared from the map. Perhaps the Noah of Dreams had cloaked them with some device that didn't allow the Earl to find them. The First Noah was now resenting the fact that he let such a valuable ally stray from his path and work against him. He cursed inwardly. But how could Road have masked the entire group? It was impossible. He was sure that those Alchemists took these Exorcists to some other stronghold, with many people in it. There was no way Road could mask all of them from him.
And what about that search for Hohenheim, that Eastern Sage he yearned to butcher. That man was nowhere to be seen. Already many centuries, and that excuse of a powerful man was able to hid his presence from him. He would rant and rave, and be comforted by Lulubell, but he still wouldn't stop. He had even asked for the help of his strongest Akuma: Envy. Envy… he was excellent replacement, but he didn't have the same qualities as a Noah. He seemed keener on killing madly, like any Akuma behaved. The very thing that set him apart was his human-like behavior. That he sought for as an ally.
Maybe he should try to get his hands on the Elrics? Surely, they'd be able to find their father. If only that stupid Road didn't mask them from him…
The doors immediately swung open, and Tyki and Wisely rushed in with urgency. Both were panting heavily, hands on their knees as they lurched over. The Earl looked up from his crystal ball, still preserving his nasty grin.
"What brings you here, Tyki… Wisely…?"
Wisely rose to his feet, shoulders sagging. Tyki was still recovering from a long run, much to the Earl's surprise.
"They're back…" He gasped. "He's back… he's back…"
"Who?" the earl asked.
"Him!" Wisely gasped. "The 14th… he's back…"
The Earl's eyes lightened. So Walker was overcome by the 14th's power, and now the final Noah had been unleashed? He was becoming more excited.
"How did you know?"
"Tyki came to me a few hours ago to ask me look into his memories," Wisely was still catching his breath. "He had marks on his necks, and I found it! The last appearance of the 14th, where he strangled Joyd to death! If these marks are back, that means Neah has come back! The Musician has returned!"
"Do you know where he is?" the Earl asked, but the two Noah shook their heads.
"We can only say that Neah is in Europe," Tyki finally spoke. "The amount of Akuma decreased substantially. That means the Order is aware of this, too, and they plan to liberate all of Europe so we don't have much chance of interfering."
The Earl began formulating his plan. Narrowed down to one continent, and all this would be a piece of cake.
"Send more Akuma in to Europe," the Earl smiled. "Try to Concentrate on Italy, since that's where the recent Order headquarters are!"
Envy silently walked in on the conversation, and he giggled silently in response. The old fool, that Adam, the Millennium Earl. He would find nothing, if he made this move. But Envy was even more satisfied. This gave him more freedom to go after those Elrics, that Sage, that Clown. The Noah were fools. He liked to think that way.
A/N: Yay! A little Xmas present for all who love this story. I apologize for the boring moments in this story, since poor Allen didn't wake up, and the Earl is acting stupid, much to Envy's happiness. I've been occupying my boredom into Kingdom Hearts, which is actually awesome (I love Disney again, now). It's sad to see people who were important and had some development in their original canon not get any development in this story, because I have to stay consistent with the elements of the story and more character development on the FMA main characters of the story, since their background is totally different from the original canon. So to ease my sorrows, I made a little scene for Olivia and Cross, but I doubt very much people will want it there at all.
I'm still writing bits and bits of stuff for my other stories. RebornXDGM is at a complete standstill because I can't think of anything at all for it. Burning Water is also on hold because I'm working on this one, and I don't have time to rewatch every single Code Geass episode (I love GinoXkallen by the way). I did update RebornXFMA a bit more. I actually felt like going back to Pokemon, so I updated some of that, too. In other words, I'm really intent on finishing this before doing anything big on anything else involving fanficiton. Please bear with me, and hope that this story will finish after all with a beautiful ending and not some horribly hastily made one (See the one about Dark Signers as an example).
I'm still playing around with that MMD software, and I got these cool models of Kingdom Hearts characters, so I'm excited to use them. I'm getting better at making motions (My walking motions are exaggerated a bit, but it looks pretty human). It won't be long before I post a video of MMD models dancing in a ballroom. I've got some people who suggested that I should distribute that motion data, and they are happy to test it out for me. After mastering motion data, I'm going for editing physics on models (because some models don't have physics, and they look stiff when they walk w/o physics). I've heard there's a new way for MMD motion data, where you use an Xbox's Kinect to record your motions, which can be recorded onto MMD. Sounds crazy, but I have no Xbox, so that idea is dropped.
Anyways, I digress (wow, haven't used that phrase in ages). Winter Break! = more sleep + study + random cold + annoying science paper = undecided time to write fanfiction. I'm surprised I don't get much free time even during break (dad's really intent on making me do all those wonderful SAT prep stuff and this community service award I still haven't finished). currently i'm trying to do my work, but conveniently my little sister got in trouble, and dad's going ballistic. I apparently am not allowed the privilege to do work in my room, so it's the living room, and I have to use my earphones and listen to my Pandora to zone out from the yelling and crying.
And then I'm very sad in thought because I'm thinking that Road sounds like a Mary Sue (suddenly I've gotten a phobia of Mary Sues). I mean her name is bizarre, but she's definitely not a self-insert character (she is not any similar to me). *proceeds to bang head on wall a few more times* Geez, I need to get over this strange phobia.
Poll's still on. So if you haven't voted, please do.