Xerxes language is based off of Egyptian Arabic.
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6
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"Children of god who dwell on earth, there is no salvation without prayer and faith," a male voice spoke over the radio at the stand the Elrics found themselves at. "The sun god Leto will illuminate the path. Behold! The lord descends from his heavenly throne to save all from their sins."
"What a load of crap," Ailne muttered into her cup of water.
Alphonse let out a surprised sound and looked down at his older sister. She had a deep frown on her face as she looked at her plate of collard greens and a few pieces of beef. She set her cup of water down and listened carefully to the broadcast. The teachings of Leto sounded like complete nonsense. It took parts from other religions and used them, granted she couldn't help but think all religions did that.
"A religious broadcast?" Alphonse couldn't help but mutter in thought.
"Emissary of the sun god?" Edward questioned, putting a bite of his potatoes into his mouth. "What the heck is that?"
"Actually, I was going to ask the same thing about you three," the vendor stated and they gave him their attention. "Are you guys street performers or something?"
Ailne heard Edward choke on his drink a bit and thought about it for a few seconds. She didn't blame the man. Alphonse was easily explained, but Edward was wearing his red coat with white gloves, and she was wearing a military uniform. People either loved or hated the military, and she found that the further she got from central the more they hated them. She scratched her cheek in thought and gave the vendor a small smile while Edward coughed.
"Wait a minute, pops!" Edward exclaimed. "What is it about us that makes you think we're street performers?"
"Well, I mean what else could you be?" The vendor asked. "I've never seen your faces around here before, you three on a trip?"
"Yeah, we're trying to track something down," Edward explained.
"Excuse me, but what's with this broadcast?" Ailne asked, and Alphonse felt a surge of pride at how assimilated she had become with their help.
"You've never heard of father Cornello, miss?" The vendor questioned in confusion.
"Who?" The three asked in unison.
"Father Cornello, the sun god Leto's emissary," the man answered.
"He's the founder of the church of Leto, he can work miracles," another man informed them. "He's a wonderful man who came to this town a few years ago and showed us all the way of god."
"Yeah, he's amazing," a different man agreed.
"They're real miracles! It's the work of god!" A final one stated.
"You're not listening, are you kid?" The vendor asked, noting how the woman of the group was looking towards the radio with a skeptical look.
"Nope, I'm agnostic," Edward admitted. "Thanks for the food, let's get going."
"Right," Ailne agreed, getting off the stool she had been sitting on.
Alphonse joined, and accidentally bumped his head on the roof of the stall. He let out a soft sound of apology as the vendor yelled. His radio had been on a small alcove built into the roof and had fallen the second Alphonse bumped his head. The vendor let out a soft cry and Alphonse rubbed the back of his head apologetically. That had been a complete accident, but he still felt bad about it.
"Hey, please be more careful, sir," the vendor stated. "Frankly you shouldn't be walking around wearing that suit of armor."
"Our bad, don't worry we'll fix it right away," Edward told the man, and Aline gave a small smile when the vendor looked at them in disbelief.
"You think you can fix it?" He asked.
"Yeah, just sit back and watch," Edward said as Ailne handed Alphonse his chalk.
"Just trust us," Ailne stated, and the vendor turned towards her in surprise.
He caught sight of the silver chain attached to something in her pocket and his eyes widened. The military uniform made him think she was just a random soldier, but that silver chain. She was a state Alchemist! No wonder she had faith that they could fix it. Alphonse readied himself and brought his hands together over his transmutation circle. The crowd that had gathered the second the vendor started to yell flinched when the blue sparks of alchemy filled the area.
"Listen to gods teachings," came out of the fixed radio.
"That's amazing!" The vendor said, looking at his radio.
"Can you work miracles?" A man nearby asked.
"Miracles?" Edward asked in disbelief.
"We're just alchemists," Alphonse informed everyone.
"We're the Elrics," Ailne stated, putting her hands into the skirt pockets of her uniform.
"A lot of people have heard of us," Edward added.
Ailne wondered if that was a good thing. She blinked when their titles were shouted at them and the crowd pressed in. Her spine straightened and her heart began to pound. How long had it been since people had done this to her? A few years? They had stopped doing so when her father had begun his search for immortality. She didn't like being crowded, her personal space a wonderful luxury that her brothers had helped her to achieve. Alphonse gave a look towards his siblings and noted the discomfort on Ailne's face and Edwards' upset expression that was slowly turning towards anger when he redirected them that way. Being called 'little' was the best way to set their brother off. Ailne was quick enough to hold Edward back when he slowly inched his way towards the crowd. It wouldn't do for him to get them arrested.
"Good morning!" A cheerful voice chirped as a woman hurried towards the stall. "My, you're busy today."
"Oh, hello, Rosé," the vendor greeted. "Going to the temple today?"
"Yup, with some offerings," Rosé confirmed, holding out some money. "Oh, some new faces?"
"Yeah, they're alchemists," the vendor stated, getting her items together. "They say they're looking for something."
"I hope you find what you're searching for," Rosé chirped and Ailne wondered how she was so damn cheerful. "May Leto bless you!"
"Rosé has become so happy lately," the vendor commented with a happy smile. "It's all thanks to the father."
"How would it be his doing?" Ailne asked, and the vendor blinked at her.
"That girl has no family and lost her boyfriend last year," he answered and he watched as a look of sympathy appeared on her face. "It was hard to see her so sad."
"That's when she was saved by Father Cornello!" A bald man stated. "He taught her about the sun god Leto."
"Preach on! He raises the dead and the souls of his faithful live forever," a bearded man added.
Edward narrowed his eyes at the raising of the dead part. He shared a look with Ailne. Her own eyes were narrowed, and he could see the muscle in her jaw pop due to how hard she was clenching it. Alphonse felt the atmosphere shift and nervously looked at the happy civilians that were talking more in depth about Father Cornello. He had the feeling that something bad was going to happen. He heard a soft thump on metal and looked towards Ailne. She was gently rubbing his head, a tiny smile on her face as she tried to show a face of confidence. She was the only person that still treated him like a kid, always had.
"Thank you," Alphonse quietly thanked as they walked away from the stand.
"Don't thank me for treating you like a normal kid," she stated, giving him an amused smile. "I'd do the same to Ed, except he would think I was picking on him…you two deserve to be treated normal."
Maybe it was because her own family was gone, or because they needed the extra familial figure in their lives, they had all grown close. He put himself into the shoes of an outsider that didn't know their mother's age, he could full heartedly believe that they were all siblings. He had wanted a sister, and he didn't mind an older one. He looked around Liore in thought, the desert village most likely comforted her.
"What do you want to do once we get our bodies back?" Alphonse asked her, and Edward looked back in surprise.
They'd never asked her that before. She blinked in shock that he would ask and she looked up towards the blue sky in thought. What did she want to do? Her research grants were ridiculous, as were Edwards, so she could do just about whatever she wanted to. She watched a wispy cloud move across the endless blue.
"I think…I want to bring the history of Xerxes to light," she stated, surprising them completely. "I would never be able to even think about coming forward as a citizen of my country, but I can show our stories and culture."
"You don't want to reinstate your country?" Edward asked, tilting his head.
"No, Xerxes wouldn't survive the current world climate," she admitted with a wistful smile. "If someone wants to move into the ruins of my country then I will happily help them, but I will not bring it back."
Alphonse looked at the dark look in her eyes and he let out a quiet hum. Edward felt as though she would stay in Amestris after bringing Xerxes culture to the modern era. She wanted people to know what happened to the country, and she needed to know what happened. He knew that the holes in her memory had been caused by something, his best guess was trauma more than the price for traveling through the gate. She paused outside the doors of the giant church and let out a soft sigh before turning towards them.
"I won't leave you two," she told them. "Even without a biological tie, you two are still my brothers."
It was the fact that she had been so sure of it that made Alphonse relax a bit. He hadn't noticed that he was tensing up. Constantly losing people was starting to get to him. Edward gave a grin as she reached for the doors and gave a strong push. Her heels slid a bit from the force and her mind came to a conclusion. She needed to replace her heels soon. It had been a while since she got them.
"Oh, it's you three again," a cheerful voice greeted them. "Are you going to join the church of Leto?"
"No, I'm not religious," Edward denied immediately.
"Sorry, I have more belief in truth than anything," Ailne admitted, giving Rosé an apologetic look.
"That's not a real answer," Rosé informed them as Edward contemplated the reality of Ailne's answer. "If you can believe in god, you can live with hope and gratitude every day, it's wonderful! And if you have faith you'll grow taller for sure!"
"She's not saying that to be mean," Alphonse informed Edward as he got ready to fight the young woman.
Edwards' siblings grabbed onto him and held him back, not allowing him to attack Rosé. Ailne was starting to wonder if people had a second sense when it came to him. They all liked to comment on his height. It wasn't his fault he was a little shorter than most boys his age, he just hadn't hit his growth spurt yet. Actually, it was a bit odd now that she thought about it. Even her youngest biological brother had hit his first growth spurt at fourteen. Maybe something else was stunting it.
"Do you really believe that?" Edward asked, calming down enough to start questioning the woman.
Rosé watched as the two blondes sat down on one of the pews. The teenage boy slumped as he sat and the young woman sat up straight, a poise that was difficult to achieve. She blinked as the woman observed her, those gold eyes piercing in a manner that was almost unnatural. Alphonse wondered if Ailne knew that she was being incredibly intense.
"I do," Rosé admitted.
"One of his acts is raising the dead," Ailne commented as Edward went into his coat for his journal. "Does that not bother you?"
"Water, thirty five liters," Edward began to read off, confusing Rosé but astounding Ailne.
She hadn't realized that they had gone to such lengths to bring back their mother. No wonder it had been so easy for them to be confident they would succeed, everything listed could be bought at a local stall. Except the one ingredient that she knew would be missing. A human soul. Her heart skipped a beat and her world turned red and the floor below her opened up to reveal an eye. She could hear muttering and her heart began to race in her chest.
"Humans are pretty cheap," Edward stated and Ailne's world returned to normal.
"People aren't objects!" Rosé chastised Edward. "That's an insult to the creator! God will punish you for saying things like that!"
"Alchemists are scientists," Edward informed her. "We don't believe in unprovable concepts like God. We strive to uncover the principles of creation in the matter of this world, to pursue the truth."
"It's ironic really," Ailne commented and that drew everyone's attention. "That alchemists are quite close to god themselves with how they're able to create through science."
"What arrogance," Rosé observed. "Are you saying that Alchemists are gods equal?"
"It's like that myth about the hero that made wings of wax so he could fly," Edward stated. "But he got too close to the sun, too god, and the wax melted, sending him crashing to the ground."
0o0
Ailne sat on Alphonse's shoulders as Father Cornello held a service outside. She was taller than Edward, but even she couldn't see over the sea of people. She rested her chin on her brother's metal head and held in a wince. It almost burned her because of the sun heating it up. Still, it made him feel normal and she wasn't going to take that away from him. He was also nice enough to allow her to do it, so she couldn't complain. Her eyes narrowed as Cornello used alchemy. It was the red hue of it that caught her attention. That wasn't the normal color at all. He tossed out what he had created into the crowd and it ended up back where they were. The hand of a young man came into her peripheral and she blinked. He was giving it to her? She accepted with a kind smile. He quickly scampered off when Edward sent him a glare. He was doing his duty as a brother.
"It's real," Alphonse said as they both studied it.
"I haven't seen this flower yet," She quietly admitted, speaking Xerxian to make sure no one knew what she was saying.
"It's a sunflower," Alphonse informed her, glad for the practice.
"It's pretty," she muttered in thought.
Alphonse would smile if he could. A good three years later and she still had an innocence to her that was endearing. He tilted his head in thought and her weight shifted to keep her balance. When was her birthday? She knew theirs and had happily celebrated with them by making food from her country, Om Ali. It was surprising that Edward had liked it due to the fact that it had milk in it.
"No matter how you look at it, that's alchemy," Edward stated.
"Yeah, but how is he bypassing the laws…" Ailne muttered in thought.
"See, he does have miraculous powers," Rosé pointed out, leaning forward a bit so she could see all three with ease. "Father Cornello is the sun god's child."
"Cornello's a fraud," Edward bluntly stated.
"We just don't really know how he's bypassing the laws of alchemy," Ailne kindly explained. "Basically, you can't make something out of nothing…so, how is he doing this?"
"Huh?" Rosé asked.
"In other words the basics of alchemy is equivalent exchange," Edward added his own explanation. "That means to obtain something, something of equal value must be lost. But he's making too much out of too little, that's breaking a law."
"He doesn't have a rebound either," Ailne observed.
"I think we've found it," Edward stated. "Miss, I'm starting to get interested in this religion!"
Ailne hadn't realized how naive people could be. Rosé had believed him without a second thought. Edward shot Ailne a look and she slowly moved her shawl to hide her rank. She was a major, and that was a higher rank than most women made. The major general Armstrong notwithstanding. Most female state alchemists left after a year or so, having found husbands or had a child. She refused to be a part of that cycle. She felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up when they came back to the church. A large man with dark hair greeted them with a smile that made her stomach churn.
"His holiness is very busy," the man informed them as they were welcomed further into the church. "You three are quite lucky, it's not that easy to get an audience with him."
"I'll try not to talk for too long," Edward promised, his grin letting Ailne know he was lying through his teeth.
"Yes, let's end it right away," the man stated, and her eyes widened when he pulled something out of his uniform. "Like this!"
Alphonse's head flew through the air following a loud bang. The others watched in horror as the low light in the room made it seem even worse. Alphonse looked at his siblings and noted the horror change into something else. It was time to be a bit dramatic, and take some inspiration from Edward. He let his body fall back and Ailne let out a soft wince at the sound. She then moved back when two blades made themselves known to her.
"Brother Cray! What are you doing?" Rosé questioned, watching as the two remaining alchemists assessed the situation.
"Rosé, these are heathens that were trying to entrap his holiness, they're evil," Cray stated, and Ailne looked down towards the ground.
That may be true of her, but not of her brothers. Her eyes narrowed, they weren't evil. She spared a glance towards Alphonse's head and watched as some smoke came out of his eye. Her brows raised a bit, she hadn't expected that from such a short distance. She needed to learn more about guns, they were different from the arrows she had been used to.
"The father would never let you do this!" Rosé shouted at Cray.
"He did allow it," Cray countered with a smirk. "The words of his holiness are the words of god. This is the will of god."
"I guess there's some really bad gods out there," Alphonse stated, startling Cray as he easily reached up and grabbed the man's gun.
Ailne shifted her weight on her feet and felt the metal move with ease as she slid into a defensive posture. She grabbed onto the spears and pulled them forward, the two men holding them slamming into one another. Edward grasped onto one of the men and easily threw him into the other. He stooped down as Alphonse took care of Cray with a solid punch. Alphonse's head went sailing through the air again and slammed into a fleeing guard.
"So, something was going on here," Ailne said as she dropped one of the spears and tapped the bottom of the other one in thought.
"What is this!?" Rosé shouted in fear as she pointed at Alphonse.
"Nothing special," Edward answered, banging on Alphonse's chest as Ailne went over to his head and picked it up.
"It's just what it looks like," Alphonse admitted, accepting his head back and putting it on.
"But it's an empty suit," Rosé countered, putting a hand out her mouth in complete horror.
"You could say that this is what happens when you commit the greatest sin, when you trespass in god's domain," Alphonse said, shaking his head to make sure it was on correctly. "My big brother and I.."
"You too…Edward?" Rosé asked.
"Let's just save that story for another time," Edward stated and turned towards Ailne. "I guess their god showed their true colors."
"More like Father Cornello did," Ailne sighed, rubbing the back of her head in thought. "Let's get this fraud."
Rosé blinked as she rested inside of Alphonse. She had been brought along and they placed her inside the armor to keep her safe. It allowed her to listen to the group's footsteps. Edward had a strange gait where one step was heavier than the other, and Ailne's steps were incredibly heavy for a woman her size. She felt a small drop of sweat go down her face as she jostled a bit when Alphonse moved.
"What do you think he's going to do?" Ailne asked Edward as she readjusted her grip on the spear.
"Spill his guts," Edward shrugged. "You saw how he was during his service."
"I don't think it's going to be that easy," Alphonse stated, Ailne nodded her agreement.
They came across a pair of plain double doors and it made Ailne suspicious. It was different from the rest of the church. She scratched the side of her cheek in thought. A philosopher's stone…the item that Edward and Alphonse were looking for. The very idea of it made her sick to her stomach and she couldn't figure out why. She felt her legs ache and took a deep breath. It had to do with why she went into the gate to begin with. The doors creaking open made her stop that train of thought, it wouldn't do to think too much about what she couldn't remember. It made her head hurt.
"I guess that means come on in," Edward stated, looking at the doors in disbelief.
"This country is steeped in theatrics," Ailne said in amusement, and Alphonse let out a tinny snort.
The door slammed behind them as soon as they entered the room. It was dark inside, barely lit by torches. Ailne looked at the tapestry, the sun patterns. One could learn quite a bit from the patterns and art of a country. Xerxes showed their abilities in Alchemy through their square designs. Her own clothing had designs made to tell stories, which was the norm for women. The sound of someone clapping drew their attention and Ailne felt an intense dislike for Father Cornello now that she was closer.
"Welcome to the great church of Leto," Cornello greeted. "Did you come here to hear me preach?"
"Yeah, by all means, teach us," Edward smirked at him. "Like how you use your lame alchemy to deceive your followers."
"I"m not sure what you mean," Cornello said, giving Ailne a strange look. "Please don't confuse my miracles with alchemy…If you saw for yourself, you'd believe."
"Yeah, I've seen it all right," Edward dryly commented, getting Cornello's attention and allowing Ailne to move through the room in silence. "And what I couldn't understand was how you're able to do transmutation that goes against the laws."
"That's why I'm telling you it's not alchemy," Cornello stated, scratching his head.
"And then it hit me, the philosopher's stone, that's how you can do it, right?" Edward observed, and Cornello stopped scratching his head. "Like maybe…just maybe it's that ring?"
"The government sure gets its money's worth out of you, doesn't it?" Cornello asked and Ailne brought the spear back in preparation to throw it. "You're correct! The philosopher's stone, this is the amplifier of all alchemical processes, with this I can conjure at the minimum price for the maximum result."
"How long I've searched for that…" Edward growled.
"What's the jealous look in your eyes?" Cornello taunted. "What do you want the stone for? Money? Honour?"
"What do you get out of it?" Ailne asked, her soft voice stern and startled her brothers. "It can't be money, so what is it?"
"Smart girl," Cornello leered and she bristled at being called that. "What I really need are followers who will happily give their lives for me. Think about it! An invincible army of fanatics with no fear of death!"
Edward watched as Ailne listened to the maniac, but at the same time gained a bored expression. She waited for his next move, for him to mess with the man. He inwardly grinned at that. She enjoyed their theatrics more than she let on, even though she played the part of responsible adult. He let out a laugh and motioned with his hands.
"That's fine and all, but I don't care," he informed Cornello, making the man sputter in disbelief.
"Don't you dare belittle my ambition by saying you don't care! You better care! You're a member of the military after all!" Cornello yelled at him.
"You know to be honest I could care less about my country or the military," Edward admitted and he got looked at by Ailne and Alphonse. "I'll be blunt! Give me the philosophers stone! If you do that I'll keep my mouth shut about the scam you've been pulling."
Ailne lowered her spear for a few seconds as the man dug himself further and further into a hole. He didn't know that they had Rosé with them. He didn't know that his greatest believer was listening to him admit that he lied to the citizens of Liore. Ailne fixed the shawl that covered her hair, moving it back a bit to make sure her line of sight wasn't blocked.
"Yeah, your followers won't listen to a word I say, they'd ignore Ailne completely due to her uniform," Edward said, clapping his hands with a grin. "But, what about her words?"
"Rosé?!" Cornello shouted, seeing the young woman being revealed as Alphonse removed his breastplate. "What is the meaning of this?"
"Father, is everything you just said true?" Rosé asked, leaning out of Alphonse. "Were you fooling us this whole time!? Your miracles aren't real? The power of God can't grant my wish? You can't bring my darling back again?"
"It's true I'm not gods emissary," Cornello admitted. "But with this stone it is possible to transmute living beings where so many alchemists have tried and failed. Rosé I will resurrect him."
"Don't be stupid," Ailne stated, her voice cut across the silence that followed his words.
"If you go, you can never come back," Edward informed Rosé.
"You belong with us," Cornello stated.
Ailne knew religious manipulations well. She had seen them time and time again back when she was still in charge of something in her country. Ailne had been in charge of agriculture, and religious fanatics had taken over one of their wheat productions one year. That had been a pain to deal with, and they had lost out of a good sized harvest. She brought the spear back when Cornello pulled a lever and opened a metal door.
"A chimera…" Ailne muttered in thought. "How horrible."
"C'mon, let Ed fight," Alphonse said, coming up behind her and tapping her shoulder.
"Right," Ailne agreed before throwing the spear her brother's way. "Ed use the spear."
"Don't just go and throw things at me!" Edward shouted at her and she let out a sigh.
"Just fight," Ailne and Alphonse stated in unison.
Ailne and Alphonse moved quickly to avoid the chimera as it tried to figure out who to hunt down. The sounds of something screeching against the stone floor made everyone wince. The worn down heels of Ailne's shoes were horrible to hear. Edward was so glad that they hadn't had to fight on stone before now. He ducked down as the chimera flew over him and he brought the spear around before smacking it with it. He brought his leg back too late and got a claw to the automail, the pants tearing with ease. His arm came up next, a smirk pulling at his lips. The chimera hadn't been expecting metal limbs while attacking him.
"Rosé take a good look," Edward stated as he ripped off his torn coat. "This is what happens when you use alchemy on humans. This is what happens to sinners who trespass in gods domain!"
"Full steel prosthetics," Cornello observed, looking at the boys automail limbs before glancing towards the officers legs. "So that's why, they call you the Fullmetal alchemist!"
"Come down here and face me, you third rate fraud!" Edward yelled at him. "I'll show you there's no comparison between us!"
"He's lost it," Alphonse stated and Ailne let out a soft laugh.
"But he has a point," Ailne said, grinning a bit. "It's time for us to get serious…we need to oust him."
"You think we can broadcast him?" Alphonse questioned as Edward and Cornello went back and forth.
"We can use alchemy to do so, this church had a bell," Ailne thoughtfully said. "The problem is getting him to spill."
"We'll leave it up to Ed," Alphonse stated and she chuckled a bit. "Father we'll ask you one last time. Give us the stone before you get hurt."
"You fools are the ones who came too close to god and fell to earth," Cornello laughed, his red alchemy lighting up the room. "If that's the case, then this time I'll make sure to send you to god permanently!"
Ailne made a mental promise to herself to learn more about guns. She clapped her hands together as he aimed at them. Her palms hit the floor and the light blue light that followed went by faster than Cornello's transmutations."
"Nice!" Alphonse complimented as they stood behind the wall.
"Sorry, god doesn't like me very much," Edward informed Cornello. "Even if I went he'd probably chase me away."
"Alphonse, I'm going to search the rest of the building," Ailne informed him. "I'm going to try and find more information as to how the father got his stone."
"Don't get into too much trouble," Alphonse nodded. "I'll make sure Ed knows."
She gave him a wink before rushing off, the sounds of her heels echoing against the room as she clapped her hands and pressed them against the wall, making a door with ease. Well, he could say one thing about her style. It was incredibly simple, or incredibly ornate there was no in between really. Ailne looked at the group of men in her way and brought her hands together once again. This time she wanted to fully use her xerxian alchemy. It used both the earth's energy and the cosmic energy. The stone bent to her will and the men let out sounds of fear as it captured them and slammed them into the walls and kept them there.
"You guys stay there for a while," she cheerfully ordered.
She took off like a bullet and hurried through the halls. She was ignoring the presence in the building that was giving her a bad feeling. She turned down one corridor and came across a door, one that was ornate stone. She opened it with little difficulty and frowned as she heard people coming after her. She closed it behind her and let out a soft sigh. It was a small reprise from running so much.
"This…" she softly muttered, looking at the books sitting on a table. "Isn't anything useful…he reads romance novels?"
She held in her laugh at the fact that the evil father read romance novels of all things. Ailne traveled further into the library and saw more books, and a few journals. She pulled those out of their spots and sighed. They were checking books, and he kept good records of his money use. Actually, that could be useful for east city command and central. Roy would have a field day with her report about this. She didn't have a code yet, but she could figure something out. She looked back towards the romance novels and an idea came to her. Ah, that could work. A smirk pulled at her lips as she grabbed the checking books, and what seemed to be a personal journal. Those went under her arms.
"You little Runt! You're not getting away!" Those loud words made her blink, so Alphonse had been able to pull off their plan.
"I better head back," she sighed.
She paused at the sight of two books. Amestrian history, and a theoretical book on Xerxes. She snatched them, knowing that no one was going to use them in an Investigation. She tucked them under her arm with the others and ran back to the door. It was easier to open this time. Edward and Alphonse were waiting for her outside and she spared Rosé a glance as she hurried past. The young woman was crying.
"Did you two make her cry?" She asked as she came to a stop.
"Not on purpose!" Edward defended himself.
She sighed at that and looked down at the books.
0o0
"What's wrong, sir?" Riza asked Roy as he glared at a piece of paper in his hands.
"Gunmetal's report of the incident in Liore is…incredibly different from Fullmetals," Roy answered, his eyebrow twitching.
Riza was able to look at it and held in her humor at the sight of it. Picking out certain sayings had been easy and informed her of the false philosopher's stone and the false church. The fact that it was a love letter was not lost on her, leave it to the eldest Elric to be the worst when it came to messing with their superior officer. All she could say was that it was better than her brother's chicken scratch handwriting that they had trouble deciphering.