Heya guys! Cool, you're still reading, which makes me happy as hell! Well, I am trying to get a chapter done from this and other stories while I have the chance because I am going to an anime convention in my home state called ShutoCon. It's in Lansing, Michigan and I am so geeked out about it. So after, I am still gonna be riding on cloud nine...perhaps died and gone to anime heaven, I am not sure yet.
Anyway, onward with the story. I read your reviews to it. I love how you guys love the fact that he's totally silent with Envy and Greed (considering what they did, I would too), and loquacious around Lust. Things are definitely getting interesting in this chapter. You really get to see the sadist sides in both Greed and Envy. It will be explored more in the next chapter, though I am certain, by the end of the chapter, you're going to hate those two even more. Yes, they did know exactly who would be in that place. (I won't say for spoilers).
Songs: "Whiskey Lullabuy" by Brad Paisley and Alison Krauss (Parts of this just remind me of Ed. Mostly the drinking to forget/be numb. I could see him drinking to this song, just not killing himself with drinking.)
"Not Over You" by Gavin DeGraw (Another Ed song.)
"Nothing" by The Script (Oh this song, this is another break-up song I could see Ed drinking to, even with Roy there)
"Scream" by Usher (Oh this song is filled with what Greed, and somewhat of Roy wanted to do with this girl)
"Stealing Cinderella" by Chuck Hicks (Ed when he's remembering Mick playing dress up, and Roy when he remembers Andi at a young age)
"Could Be An Angel" by Vic Mignogna (Just the title alone is perfect for what Ed and Roy see at the bar)
Angel followed Greed and Envy into Central city after they put her in something to go over her racer back tank and her capris. This time, it was a white oxford, much like the one Ed had worn, and Andi did for some time while she was pregnant, and a belt that hung on her waist. When Greed and Envy were done, smirking inwardly that they were still pulling something over everyone who knew Andi Elric, they deemed her ready to be shown to the world without the red jacket as a dead give-away.
"Angel, are you still there?" Greed asked as he looked to the once blonde bombshell. She was still a stunner, but a brunette one.
Angel nodded. "Yes, Greed," she said. Inwardly, she hoped she could see Ed again. There was just something about him that she liked. Even when she saw him by the bakery, she could feel something deep within her swell and make her feel happiness like she's never felt before. Not since she became a homunculous.
Envy looked back to Angel, still feeling his victory that he was causing Ed anguish. Hell, one of the reasons he and Greed were taking Angel out was to torment him a little into thinking Angel was Andi. They knew it would work too. Ed was madly in love with the one girl Roy was helping to raise since "Scar" killed him.
"Angel, are you sure you want to go out with us?" Envy asked, putting both hands behind his head.
Angel nodded. "As long as we don't go near the Devil's Nest, I'll be alright." She had always felt so uneasy about that bar; not that she would tell Envy or Greed that. Only Lust knew about her intuitions and feelings about things.
"Why not, kid? You never had a problem with it before," Greed said as he turned to her, still feeling the urge to lay her down and have his way with her, just like when he met Andi Elric, that fiery blonde that was so closely matched with the two.
Angel grabbed her one arm with her hand as she thought, I've always thought that about that damn place. "I don't know. Something tells me it just wouldn't be... I don't know... okay there," Angel said. It was probably the most she had told either how she really felt.
"Fine," Greed said, still trying to figure out what he was going to do about his growing "problem" as he thought about Angel's old bad ass side she still needed to unleash.
"We weren't going there anyway, my silly Angel," Envy said as he grabbed her wrist to put her between Greed, who was busy figuring out what thought would keep his boner down, and himself so he could keep an eye on her, watching for any sign of Andi Elric.
"Where are we going?"
"Deeper into Central. There are a few places I am sure you'd like. Since you've eaten something, you shouldn't get hungry anytime soon. So this is perfect," Envy said as he wrapped an arm around her neck, pulling her closer to him. He smirked when he saw the red tattoo still imprinted over her heart. It was like his charm for him to know that it wasn't a dream.
They had walked into Central City, and just as Envy had said, they were deep into Central. Angel began to remember places she had walked by on her own trip there. When they had passed the bakery Angel met Ed and Roy at, she felt herself get a little red in her cheeks. She was thinking about Edward again when she didn't want to.
That's when it happened. A flash happened before her eyes. It was at night. Hardly any stars shined in the night because of the dim, orange glow from the city streetlights. Angel could see Ed standing before her, as if she was the object of his affection. The look in his eyes were loving and happy. His smile mirrored the love he shared for his affection for the girl. Angel's vision looked down to worn black, heeled boots. Her hair blew through the wind. Angel could have sworn her breath hitched because her hair was blonde. Blonde like that girl's in her visions. Her eyesight perked up, seeing Edward again. He looked younger, not too much younger than when she last saw him. He muttered something. She couldn't make out the words in the least, but all she knew was that it made her turn deep red and her heart leap into her throat with happiness.
"Angel, are you alright?" Envy asked.
Angel didn't realize she had her eyes closed when she opened them, seeing the ground closer than it was before the vision stared. She looked to Envy, her eyes flashing fear before they went to their usual cool expression. "I'm alright, Envy."
"You sure, kid? You just fell to your knees," Greed said with the thought just after he said the words, not that you wouldn't be great on your knees.
Angel nodded, standing and brushing herself off. "Yeah, I'm fine. It was nothing."
Nothing my ass, she thought; for me to see that, it must have been something important. But why was Ed in it.
"Was it another vision?"
Angel nodded, letting the three continue their way. Envy and Greed looked to each other, each nodding as they silently chose what bar they wanted to visit first.
Ed walked into the bar, intending on getting buzzed. Getting buzzed was the only way he couldn't totally feel Andi's absence from his life. He sat on the bar stool, looking to the counter and his hands. He had already spent most of the way to the bar convincing himself that Mick was going to be alright for the night. He hated to let her go anywhere now that Andi wasn't there and still MIA.
She's not dead, he thought repeatedly as his thoughts drifted to her. She's not dead. She's not dead. She's alive somewhere. She's not dead.
"Ed? What the hell are you doing here? I thought you and Mick would be reading alchemy books, by now," a baritone voice asked as they walked towards the distraught blond and sat next to him. Since Andi's disappearance, he hated the mere thought of Ed being alone after something like Andi missing happened.
"She's spending the night with Elicia. They were playing dress-up," Ed said as he took a sip of the brandy the bartender had given him.
Roy smiled at the thought of Mick dressing-up, which made him turn his attention to Andi when she was living with him. She'd get into his freshly pressed uniforms and pretend she was a soldier like her fathers and family. "I remember when Andi would do the same. Though, that girl wasn't pretending to be a princess and I was some fire-breathing dragon. She was more of the realistic type, pretending to be a soldier." Roy and Ed both felt the pang of grief when Roy said Andi's name. It may have been a year and a half, but Andi was one of those people no one gets over easily. "Hard to believe considering how her father died."
Ed bowed his head more as he stared into his brandy. "You never told me."
Roy cast a sideways glance toward Ed. "Huh?"
"You never told me the new evidence in her case," he said softly, slow enough that the sadness wouldn't build up as much.
Roy nodded. "Maes, as well as Grumman now, are convinced that the people behind her disappearance weren't human. In other words..."
"Homunculi," Ed finished for him as his hand around the glass tightened. The mere thought of them laying a hand on his wife, possibly killing her, was enough for him to rejoin the military and hunt them down.
"Now, before you get all revenge-happy, listen to me, Ed." Ed looked to Roy with that fire in his eyes, Roy saw when he went to see him after he tried to bring back his mom. Roy was honestly shocked that he hadn't tried to bring back Andi when she was presumed dead. "Don't go getting revenge just on some whim. Not until you're one-thousand percent certain that you know exactly what happened to her. This isn't like you're getting your brother's body back and your guys's quest to find the stone."
"I'm not stupid," Ed said harshly.
"No," Roy said, unfazed, yet oddly relieved that he was seeing the old Edward again. He sort of missed the little brat he called Fullmetal when he could perform alchemy. "But you're impulsive. Just remember that you still have Mickaela, and I don't plan on raising another one of Andi until I'm married."
"Oh, so you're saying that I should wait until you're married before I can go and seek revenge?"
"No." Roy took a drink of his beer. "What I am saying is that I'd rather raise a kid of my own than raise yours. I love Mickaela like my own niece, but you have to understand that she's your daughter."
"And Andi's," Ed uttered as his fingertip subconsciously traced around the rim of the brandy glass, thinking about when they had her there in Central City. He couldn't think about her, which would leave him more depressed than when he came in. He hated saying her name out loud, it made everything even more real that Andi might never be coming back to his arms.
Ed topped off his glass, fully knowing that he was going to get drunk. Maybe he'd be drunk enough to see a mirage of Andi. One so real that he'd believe it was her no matter who told him differently, even Roy. Roy had always been the one to bring him back from the edge before he jumped, but he didn't want to believe that Andi was dead like Ro thought.
Ed had ordered another glass just as the bar door opened. He turned to see who it was just as he received his glass. Just before he pressed it to his lips, he saw a man, about in his mid-twenties walk in with what looked like a friend and a girl. Ed disregarded it as he took a nice swig of the brandy.
Roy looked in the direction Ed was, immediately seeing the party of three. But was caught his eye was the girl. He could definitely see himself taking her home. Even with as shadowy the bar was, he could tell the girl was a looker, a natural beauty. Her hair was done up in a ponytail, which looked messy from her wavy hair, which Roy could picture himself tearing out as he explored that creamy skin. Her skin was nearly flawless. Her boobs were a nice large, firm size, even more accentuated by the white oxford shirt that was tied just below them, showing off the blank tank under. She definitely was far from in between woman and girl.
"Angel, come on, we're sitting here," the guy in the mid-twenties said as he guided the brunette to a booth and ordered drinks for all of them.
Ed did a double take when he saw her face. He looked toward his brandy, thinking it was working faster than he thought. He saw her gentle, yet tough eyes. That body, which made him believe he'd see it before with a lot less. But when she smiled, his heart stopped and melted. He almost dropped his glass of brandy as he scanned her over again as she stood to do something, her wavy hair in a ponytail that flicked and swayed behind her as she walked. She may have been a brunette, but all Ed saw was deep gold.
"Andi?"