Chapter 21 - Arrival in the North

The location of the eldest Elric child, Sara, was not terribly difficult for Mania to pinpoint. As someone with a rather intense personality, her emotional presence was fairly easy to pick out in a crowd. Granted, the farther a human was away from him the harder it was to jump to their direct location with perfect accuracy. Because of this, they did not end up rematerializing quite as close to the young woman as he had hoped.

As the air around them cleared he found they had ended up in what appeared to be a large janitorial storage room of sorts. Mops, brooms and buckets were stacked about them, with boxes and cleaning products lining the shelves on the walls.

"Where are we?" Adele asked nervously. Mania frowned in puzzlement at the question, and then it dawned on him that the girl probably couldn't see a thing. It was quite dark in the small room. He wasn't terribly surprised to note that Elmina had passed out. Her body had been pushed almost beyond its limit by the jump. He was not accustomed to making jumps while carrying a human host. A large amount of energy was released each time he made such a jump. Ordinarily this wouldn't be overly harmful to the girl. But in her current state any contact with his energy at all was detrimental. With this in mind he immediately released both of the girls from his hold, causing Adele to let out a yelp as the two of them tumbled to the floor in a heap. He stepped around them and flipped on the light switch. As the room was bathed in light Adele blinked repeatedly and let out a gasp.

"Elmina!" She cried, swiftly rolling her friend onto her back and leaning over her in concern.

"She'll live. She just needs to rest," Mania informed her, noting with resigned amusement the rising panic in the blonde. He was faintly surprised when a moment later the girl's worry shifted to anger. She turned to glare at him.

"You need to learn to control your power," She snapped. Mania raised his eyebrows. He hadn't realized the timid girl possessed a temper. Apparently she was as protective of her friend as Elmina was of her.

"Or what?" he asked skeptically, "I warned her that making another jump so soon was risky." At his tone the blonde bristled.

"You can't keep hurting her like this!" Her frustration was readily evident. Mania regarded her flatly. Of all the humans in Elmina's circle of friends and family, he hadn't pegged this one as the type who would give him a hard time. Upon seeing his expression her frown deepened. "If you don't start making an effort to be careful with her then I won't help you," she informed him darkly. Mania's expression grew unenthused. Well that wasn't the most intelligent threat he'd ever heard. After all, she had agreed to help him so he could in turn help her family and friends.

"Be careful how you choose to play this game girly. I can always just force you to do what I want," he warned.

"How?" she demanded guardedly. The red haired creature raised an eyebrow.

"Alright, try this on for size. Help me or I'll kill your sister," his tone was blunt. Adele's eyes widened and she grew pale. Clearly the idea of his using such methods to get his way hadn't even occurred to her. Some humans were so painfully naive… Sensing the panicky emotions flooding back into her mind Mania let out a resigned sigh. Elmina would have bitten his head off for making such a threat. This girl on the other hand seemed about ready to burst into tears. "Well don't have a meltdown on me," he muttered exasperatedly, "I'd really rather not kill anyone. You humans are all much more fun when you're alive. But I don't appreciate threats," his tone was pointed, a flat expression on his face, "Let me handle how I control my power. I have no intention of causing Mouse any permanent harm." The blonde stared at him for a moment before finally swallowing and nodding slowly.

"Okay. Where is my sister?" she asked uneasily.

"She's nearby. Wait here with Mouse while I get her. If I make another jump with the two of you then your friend will die," he replied. With that he fixed his attention on the nearby presence he recognized as Adele's older sister and disappeared from the storage room.

As the air around him cleared, Mania found himself in a small living room. The morning light streaming in the window was dull and grey in nature, a testament to the cold, bleak landscape outside. The girl he was looking for appeared to be in the next room. There was no way in hell she was going to react well to his presence. Though, whatever she did would likely prove amusing. The frustrated comments which her younger sister had just made back in the storeroom hovered in the back of his mind. A frown creased his brow. Despite his reaction to her criticism, she'd made a valid point. He was going to have to change the way he did things.

A resigned sigh escaped his lips. He'd never had to be so careful with one of his hosts before. It was really quite a nuisance. Losing his temper with Elmina as he had earlier was not a mistake he could afford to make again anytime soon. He was lucky he hadn't ended up killing her. Self-control had never really been one of his strong suites. Though, her attempt to block him out had driven home an important realization. He could not afford to operate as he had in his home dimension. Despair had plenty of hosts available to her in this dimension, but there was only one human girl here who he could make reliable use of. The population of this new world had not developed the genetic quirk which allowed him access to their emotions to tamper with them. He was in a very precarious position. This girl was his only lifeline. Her survival and the survival of any of her future siblings or offspring would have to be his number one priority. He was not terribly inclined to allow her out of his sight for an extended period of time again.

When it came right down to it, having to remain in her company and the company of her close friends and family really wasn't that much of a burden. They were quite a diverse, amusing group of humans. But he was going to have to learn to manage his power more effectively or his constant presence would be detrimental to the girl's health. Unless he specifically inflicted physical damage on an average human in this world, he wasn't likely to hurt them by accident. But the very genetic quirk in this girl which was keeping him alive also made her much more sensitive to him. Just touching her posed a certain amount of risk if he wasn't careful. It wasn't something he was used to. In his old world he'd lacked a physical form, and thus his presence was not concentrated to potentially lethal levels. Gaining a body had certainly changed things. Though, it had also made life much more interesting…

He felt a flare of alarmed aggression behind him and a smirk twisted his lips. Apparently the eldest Elric child had noticed his arrival. He wasn't the least bit surprised when a moment later the room was flooded with a brilliant light that would have left an ordinary human staggering around blindly for several minutes. He stepped aside swiftly to avoid an alchemic missile which flew past his head and imbedded in the wall across the room. His form shimmered and he reappeared behind his attacker as a number of large spikes shot up from the ground where he'd been standing, meeting others descending from the roof to form a cage.

"Not bad," he murmured near her ear, alerting her to his change in location. Vision was still impossible in the blinding room. At the flare of shocked consternation from the young alchemist in front of him he grinned slightly. She spun and struck out at him with an alchemically formed blade, but he caught her wrist with ease. For a human she was quite swift, but she might as well have been moving in slow motion. The day any human could match him in speed was the day he was dead and gone. His fluttering hair snaked around both her wrists, a spark of his own, unusual energy rendering her alchemic bracelets temporarily useless. Immediately the light vanished from the room. His eyes adjusted almost instantly to the change, allowing him to observe with amusement as his captive's eyes snapped open, clearly shocked that her transmutation had been interrupted.

"Who the hell are you?" Sara snapped. Her blonde hair was out of its usual ponytail and mussed from sleep, and she was clothed in only a flimsy nightgown. He raised an eyebrow at her.

"Aren't you cold dressed like that in this climate?" he inquired curiously. She growled in frustration, attempting to jerk out of his grasp. He let out a sigh, "Calm down Sunshine. I came to get your help," he informed her, and then released her abruptly, causing her to stumbled backwards, thrown off balance. She narrowly avoided falling flat on her back by catching herself against the end of the couch with a surprised gasp. An instant later she recovered, launching herself back to her feet and sinking into a guarded position, regarding him suspiciously.

"What are you talking about?" she demanded, her voice clipped with irritation.

"Your sister and Elmina are waiting for you to come get them," he replied, unconcerned by the hostility radiating off of the young woman. As he expected, his words gave her pause.

"…What? How do you know Mina and my sister?" she demanded warily.

"It's a bit of a long story," he replied, smirking as Sara stared at him blankly in confusion. Then something seemed to dawn on her as she took in his rather unique appearance.

"Wait a minute… are you Mania?" she asked incredulously.

"Indeed," he replied, noting with bemusement the multitude of emotions which tumbled through her upon this revelation. Well…he might as well let her get it out of her system, or there would be no getting through to her.

"You bastard," she hissed. Then she stepped forward and slapped him resoundingly, the sound of it ringing in the otherwise quiet room. A momentary silence followed. She glared fiercely at him while he regarded her with a flat expression. Then he slowly reached up to rub his slightly itching cheek. She'd hurt herself more than she'd hurt him with the force of that blow. He suspected her hand was still throbbing.

"It's nice to meet you too," his tone was dry.

"Why are you here?" she narrowed her eyes at him, hands balling into fists.

"Rather than repeat myself, I would advise you that attacking me again is a waste of both of our time. I could kill you easily," he informed her.

"Then what are you waiting for?" she growled. Mania rolled his eyes at her bravado.

"You know, unlike Despair I usually like you humans. Slaughtering you serves no purpose for me," he sounded mildly exasperated, "And in any case, I need you to go and get your sister and Mouse out of the storage closet."

"Excuse me?" she asked, bewildered. He let out a heavy sigh.

"They're in a closet on the floor below you. It would probably be best for you to find them before someone else from the military does. This is a military outpost, is it not?" he asked. She blinked.

"Uh… Yeah…But why on earth are they here?" she demanded.

"I'll let your sister explain it to you. Hurry up and get moving," he ordered crisply, "I'll meet you down there," with that he disappeared from the room.

Wrath stood staring at himself in the mirror, hands on either side of the sink. The tap was on, water spilling into the porcelain basin forgotten. His thoughts had been churning over the events of the previous day throughout the night. Sleep hadn't exactly come easily. Elycia's words from the previous evening continued to play through his mind, over and over like a broken record.

Quit being a coward.

With a heavy sigh he splashed the now steaming water over his face before shutting the tap off and turning to grab a towel. He'd thought he was emotionally confused before, but it was nothing compared to now. He didn't have the slightest idea how to feel. The angry, defensive wall which he'd built up as a defense was shot through with holes of uncertainty and doubt. What if she had a point? After his past experiences he'd never once stopped to consider whether his attitude towards people in general was motivated by a simple dislike for them, or by something else. His life hadn't exactly been charmed. Hell, he'd spent the first part of it as something inhuman, intent on destroying the very things which he later on held so dear. And in the end he'd destroyed them anyway. His mother never would have died if she hadn't given up part of herself to the gate in order to bring him back in the first place. That woman, his mother, had created so much hate inside of him. But when he'd finally accepted her she had brought so much healing and relief to his damaged soul. The hatred had miraculously melted into love and he'd finally felt complete. And then she'd slipped through his fingers forever, far sooner than he'd ever anticipated. So much hate, so much love and joy, and so much pain.

He wiped the moisture from his face with the hand towel and threw it aside, raking his dampened bangs back from his face in exasperation. He still cared about people. Elsie, Envy, their daughter, even the Elrics…they all held places in his heart. But how much time had he spent with them? He'd been gone from his home for eleven years. In the last two years he hadn't so much as spoken to them until just recently. He did love them. But he'd shoved them out of his mind and ignored them as much as possible for so long. Had he really just been running away all these years? The first response which pushed in past the denial was 'so what?' It was his life, and he had good reason to feel the way he did. Getting close to people wasn't worth the pain involved. And more than that, aside from the people he already cared for, he'd never met anyone else who he'd wanted to care for. Many of the people he'd met over the years were simply shallow, short sighted, wrapped up in their own problems and lacking the capacity to appreciate the pain of others. He had no desire to associate with such people. His patience with them was limited.

Do you honestly think that gives you any right to push everyone away just because you don't want to risk more pain?

Elycia's words slipped back into the forefront of his mind and he scowled. That woman… in a way she'd made him feel like the very people he disliked. Short sighted, wrapped up in his own problems, lacking the ability to see the deep, bleeding wound inside someone standing right in front of him. She was exasperatingly friendly, irritatingly cheerful, so blatantly lively and flippant, and yet she was far from shallow. She'd seen right through him, while he hadn't even bothered to realize that there was something inside her to see.

She had her own emotional demons to battle, just as painful and scarring as his own, and it didn't take a genius to see she'd been handling them better than he had. She'd been coping with just as much pain, and yet instead of running from it she'd faced the monster and fought past it. She'd forgiven Envy. That was not something he would have had the strength to do. If his mother had been slaughtered by someone he would have taken justice into his own hands, hunting them down and paying back blood with blood. He wouldn't have spared a second's thought for that person's loved ones. But Elycia had. Not only had she not taken the revenge which in his mind she had every right to, but she'd reached out and treated the people she should have despised with kindness. How had she done that? Why had she done that? And yet… he was deeply grateful that she had. If she had acted as he himself would have acted in her position, his family would have been shattered. That woman was stronger than he was and he owed her much.

He sighed heavily, walking back out into the living room and glancing around. What was he supposed to do now? He just didn't know. He wasn't ready to face her yet. But he didn't have much choice. The war would not put itself on hold until he got his personal issues sorted out. They needed to figure out what to do about Resembool. It had been a little over five hours since the bomb had gone off. Early morning light filled the room from the window overlooking the city. He suspected Roy was still at his office. He probably hadn't gotten any sleep since the attack. And he suspected the others would be there with him. Edward and Riza would be in any case. He wasn't sure about Elycia and Envy. But he might as well head to Central Headquarters and see how things stood. Any plans they made would have to take into account whatever actions the military intended to take after this assault. If Roy could get the point across that the assassin had been from Aerugo then the attack would have to be seen as nothing short of a declaration of war and their country would have to respond accordingly.

Gathering his frayed nerves into something resembling some control, he turned and made for the door.

The ringing of the phone cut through the silence which reigned heavily throughout the Mustang residence. Envy's eyes snapped open with a start. He glanced around to find the living room was empty. He must have dozed off when he'd sat down on the couch. He'd been out for a few hours if the morning light levels were any indication. Apparently Elycia and Wrath hadn't bothered to come back after their go around earlier. Why was he not surprised? He reached up to rub the sleep out of his eyes. He could feel a headache coming on. He'd have to see if he could get his hands on some coffee at some point. Something told him it was going to be a long day.

Hopefully Elycia had managed to talk some sense into his younger brother. Wrath was at least as stubborn as himself, and very set in his ways. But he needed someone like Elycia in his life, even if he couldn't see it. Obviously the woman possessed the ability to thoroughly shake him up. And as far as the green haired man was concerned, Wrath could use the discomfort. He needed a wakeup-call. If he would just open his eyes he'd realize that he'd finally stumbled across someone who could actually understand him. This was far too rare an opportunity for Wrath to simply shove it aside and ignore it. He wasn't likely to run into another person like Elycia again in his life.

At the continued ringing of the phone Envy sighed and rose to his feet, starting across the house towards it. He reached it on the fifth ring, snatching it up.

"Hello?" he asked.

"Envy," the familiar voice on the other end of the line was tense with anxiety.

"Elsie, what's wrong?" he demanded, a little surprised. He heard his wife let out a shuddering breath.

"We have a serious problem," she informed him.

"What is it?" he asked, feeling a prick of dread. First Alphonse, then his daughter… then the discovery of the impending invasion and the assassination of their country's leaders…What else could possibly go wrong?

"There is a force of Aerugans on their way to Resembool. They're coming for the shop. They found out about AJ's weapons," Elsie explained tensely. Shock crashed over Envy like ice water. The Aerugans were attacking already? Roy hadn't expected them to invade for another few weeks!

"How on earth did that happen?" he demanded, bewildered.

"Well obviously there was a leak. I suspect one of the mechanics Roy got in touch with wasn't as trustworthy as he thought," she explained resignedly. Envy shook his head in disbelief.

"You all need to get out of there," he told her urgently.

"I agree. Mania took Elmina and Adele up North, so they're safe for the time being. Winry has started warning the townspeople," Elsie replied. Envy's eyes widened.

"What?! You let Mania take our daughters?" he demanded, slightly horrified. He heard his wife sigh.

"I'm not exactly a fan of the idea either, but it's safer for them to go with him than stay here. It's a little complicated, but his life depends on keeping Elmina alive. He isn't going to let anything happen to them. He's the one who warned us about the attacking force in the first place," she explained. Envy frowned, having trouble wrapping his mind around the idea that his wife had willingly allowed the inhuman creature to take the two girls away.

"Why would he take them up North?" he demanded, puzzled.

"Adele needs to talk to Sara and Elior. Mania is willing to help us fend off the invaders if she can give him access to more people to gather energy from. And believe me; we're going to need it. They have airplanes," Elsie replied, the anxiety back in her tone.

"Airplanes?" Envy demanded, a little taken aback.

"Remember those flying machines back in my world? You got tracked down by a helicopter when you first got there, right? Well…in a way these are similar to that, just built a little differently," Elsie explained, "And these ones will have guns and possess the ability to drop bombs." At her words the green haired man's eyes widened. He vaguely remembered what she was describing. It had all happened so quickly, but the machine she called a helicopter had certainly made an impression between the flying and the noise. He'd never given much thought to whether or not such inventions would appear on this side of the gate. But if they had, then it posed a serious problem. AJ's new weapons provided an advantage, but they weren't as radical as explosives dropping flying machines.

"When will they get there?" he demanded sharply.

"Apparently the ground troops will be here by tomorrow. I'm not sure about the planes," she replied. Envy let out a slow breath, pouring over the things they'd been planning over the last two weeks in his mind.

"Is there anything else I should know?" He asked distractedly.

"Umm…actually," Elsie began reluctantly.

"What is it?" he demanded warily.

"Well…It's about South City… They've already taken it," she replied.

-Author's Note-

What to say. I usually write these in advance shortly after I finish a chapter but I haven't had time to do that lately so...guess I get to practice doing author's notes on the fly!

So you got a peek inside Mania's head for the first time. Despite how crazy he makes other people, he's actually a pretty intelligent cookie. You'll get some more scenes from his POV as the story progresses. I love switching points of view. It's so fun jumping into different character's heads! Makes things more interesting (in my opinion). Poor Wrath and Envy. I'm mean to them. x'D But when I'm mean to characters it means I love them!

Wrath: *flat stare*

Envy: *unenthused glare*

*cough* I'm shutting up now before I get into an extended conversation with these guys...

MissiB - Heheh, I kinda figured that chapter would have that effect. And you mentioned wanting Mania to get punched, so I hope him getting slapped suffices. XD *sheepish* Well, Envy got a little screen time...not...huge amounts...But he'll get more later. I promise. ^^