X: Summer 1914
As the train was slowly approaching its stop, the two Elric brothers were afflicted with something quite common for them – fear of seeing their teacher again.
"Why are we going to Dublith again?" Ed muttered despondently
"I don't know..." Al answered back, loooking just as pale as Ed
"We're too young to die!" the eldest Elric loudly wailed , his brother echoing him
Ling was starting to seriously worry about the two boys.
"Why are big brothers crying?" Ana was asking innocently to her sister
"Because boys aren't as courageous as girls." Ari explained
"Who is teacher?"
"She is the one who taught us alchemy. She is a very kind housewife, whose husband runs a butchery."
"Stop feeding our lovely, innocent little sister lies!" Ed protested "That woman is the devil incarnate!"
"Hmm... Should I tell teacher what you think about her?"
"Please don't." her cowed eldest brother immediately replied
"And Al, must I remind you you're the one who wanted to come?"
"Can I plead temporary insanity?"
"No brother, you can't, you have people to heal and that's why you're here."
"Oh, right."
Ari sighed – Al looked like he had actually forgotten. Settling on ignoring her lamenting brothers, she engaged Ling in a conversation on Xing, surprising him with her mastery of the language.
"I'd like to visit one day." she said wistfully "I used to go talk to the men that traveled back and forth between Xing and Amestris when I was a child." she explained as he asked where she'd learn to talk Xingese "My dad had alkahestry treaties, but I couldn't read them so I learned with those men to read those books... then came back for the stories."
"Why the interest in alkahestry?" the prince asked, genuinely curious "After all, I never heard of Amestrians alchemists taking an interest in it."
"That's because with the current regulations, obtaining books from Xing is all but impossible." Al explained, somewhat calmer than earlier – and now going over his notes on alkahestry
"That and our alchemy is vaunted as more powerful that alkahestry. Which, of course, is complete bullshit..." Al grumbled "Still, the way alchemy and alkahestry are taught are completely different, so most people think they cannot be learned together."
"When truth is, you just had to take a look at the in-depth theory to realize that there are a lot of similarities between the two."
"Well, most people aren't geniuses like you, Ed." Ari contradicted "What we did in months would have taken years to be done by any other alchemist."
"Well, of course I am a genius!" her brother proudly answered back with a smirk "After all, I scored the highest score ever on the State Alchemist National Exam!"
"That you did." Al mourned "And your ego really didn't need the boost..."
Ed was preparing a witty retort – but was interrupted by the train's whistle, as they entered the station and moment later, the group was disembarking, looking for the tall figure of mister Curtis, whom wasn't too hard to find.
"You've grown Ed." the man commented after looking at the group for a moment "And you too Al." his eyes settled on the two sisters "And..."
"This is Ana, our sister." Ari said "She's with us since our trip to the desert."
"I see." the man nodded, satisfied "And those?"
"Friends from Xing." Al simplified "They are sticking with us."
"I'll make another room when we get home." noted Mason who'd stayed silent up until now "Its good to see you kids."
"Let's go, Izumi is waiting for you."
"She's sick again?" Ari asked with a frown – only being bed-ridden would forbid their teacher from greeting them at the station after all
Mister Curtis somber gaze was more than answer enough – it was just as she'd though, their teacher's state was declining more and more. Al clenched his hand reassuringly – he had spent a lot of time with his water alchemy, at first to help the human-chimera rescued by Shan Feng, but then he'd talked with her about their teacher's health.
He had no perfect solution, for Truth's price had been a hefty one for the Curtis housewife, but he felt confident enough that they could help her...
¤.¤.¤
Ling, for all his easy-going attitude, was serious enough when he met Izumi Curtis – it was easy, despite all their protests about it, to see that the siblings loved the bedridden woman.
"So," the woman was eyeing him with intelligent and suspicious eyes "What's with the stray?"
"A Xingese prince." Ed shrugged "You know those two."
Izumi nodded along with her eldest student in commiseration – Ling felt vaguely insulted.
"I guess you didn't come here just to see me?"
"Ana, release your true form." Ari instructed
With an uncertain glance at the unknown woman and Xingese prince, the little girl bite into her thumb, and let the blood smear across a small tattooed array on her wrist – and immediately, furry ears and a tuft tail appeared.
"You managed to create an array that hide a human-chimera animal characteristics." their teacher understood, eyes widening in surprise "This could change the life of Shan's men!"
"You can go and play in the backyard if you want." Ari instructed her sister "Just..."
"Don't forget to change my appearance if I go out." the girl nodded, used by now to the instructions "I know." she smiled, knowing it was her siblings way of caring, before rushing out, Paws lazily following her
"The array's been done for a while, but we were a bit busy." Al explained, sheepish
"And the girl?"
"We adopted her." Ed answered, brow creasing just by remembering Ana's birth father "Her father was the Life-Binding Alchemist. He used his wife to get his silver watch, then used her when he couldn't get enough results with only animals."
"What kind of monster could do this to his own daughter?" Ling couldn't help but ask, disgusted
"And this is the improved result." Al added "If Ari hadn't interfered..." he shuddered, thinking about the vision of horror it had been, their sister in the middle of the bloodied room, with the inhuman thing, alive despite all odds, in her arms
Thankfully, Ling didn't ask anymore, what he read on his face more than enough for the prince – and this was the kind of thing that were going on behind the scene in this country, he understood why they told him his quest was dangerous.
The discussion shifted from Al's array – they would go see Shan as soon as possible – to Scar's attack, Roy's and the teams promotion to Central City.
Then Ari announced "We met two of Shan's siblings."
"What happened?"
"One is dead. The other bastard got away." Ed muttered – Izumi nodded but didn't ask anymore in front of the Xingese prince
As for said prince, he understood that there was more to the story – but the siblings had no reason to trust him for now, which he understood well enough, used to power-play and political maneuver like he was.
"Anyway," Ari smiled "let's get down to business." she looked around her "Everyone out, Al, stay here."
She nipped her finger, then Izumi's thumb, and a small circle flashed alight under Al's attentive eyes – she had trained him in her diagnostic array while he was looking for ways to help the Dublith's chimeras. As the circle activated, images flashed behind Ari's eyelids.
"It's as I thought." she said after a moment "Your survival after your encounter with Truth was somewhat a medical impossibility, but since in the spirit of equivalent exchange he couldn't let you die, he made it work." a frown "But what he did is failing away as your body is trying to get back to its natural working order."
"Which won't work, since my natural working order would kill me."
"Exactly."
With that, Al made the same array as her, looking at what she had just explained – they had decided that Ari would do the diagnosis first because she had already performed the circle on their teacher.
"Right now," he took over his sister's explanation "Alkahestry couldn't cure you, but could help you. Basically, I could craft an array to strengthen what Truth did to keep you alive."
"But it would soon lose its effect too." Izumi guessed
"Even faster than what Truth did." admitted Al "Even with Ari adding blood runes, your body would still fight against it."
"To truly heal you, there are only two solutions right now." said Ari darkly "Neither ideal."
¤.¤.¤
"The first would be to use a Red Stone."
"So that's out."
A nod.
"The second?"
"To provide the missing material and replace it with something else."
"I guess we aren't speaking about stealing another woman's inners, so what are you suggesting?"
"Making your into a human-chimera."
Izumi stayed silent for a bit, stunned about the proposition, but still thinking about it.
While she had seen Ana and knew that she could hid it thanks to Al's work, she still had Shan's workers in mind, and how being experimented on by the military had changed their life.
"I need to know more." she finally admitted – after trying, and failing to bring back her newborn daughter, she stayed far away from anything related to living alchemy
Even talking about become a chimera was making her hair raise on her arms – not because she was disgusted by them, the chimera she knew were still people in the important ways.
No it was the idea of messing with life that made her wary – but the fact was, she wasn't ready to leave her husband alone in this life; she still wanted to help her students fight against the being that was controlling their country from the shadow.
She wasn't ready to die.
So, if Ari who had tried for years to convince her brothers not to mess with human alchemy to bring back their mother was considering this a viable solution, then she would hear them out before making a decision.
"The first thing to know is that it would basically completely rebuilt your whole body. So on top of setting your organs back into working order, all your body would be new. So no old scars, or other infirmities will be left."
"The second thing is that because your body make-up will be mixed with that of an animal, you will take on some traits of this animal, and not only physically, but also mentally."
"For example, Ana who is a dog chimera can understand canine, is very loyal, playful and also tend to see our family as her pack. She also became a bit more aggressive toward people she consider a danger to her pack, and won't hesitate to fight to defend those she love, while she was a very peaceful and non-aggressive child before."
"The third, important thing is that the animal you'll be merged with have to be alive, and that you will possibly gain some memories from it. Ana remember playing with her dog before the merging from both point of view apparently..."
"The fourth point is that, whatever had been said about alchemists needing a soul to practice and as such animals being incapable of alchemy is bullshit. Animals do have a soul. As such, you won't become any less of an alchemist after the process."
The two siblings shared a glance.
The next point was probably the more important.
"Finally, you must understand that all the chimera rescued by Shan were made with the help of the Philosopher Stone. That's what made their creation so successful, while Ana and her mother before her looked inhuman and were barely viable."
Their teacher was far from stupid, and had known from the start that Ariana was very different from her siblings.
As such she understood that whatever they were struggling to explain right now had a link with it.
"You asked me once if I was a homunculus." the teenage girl stated calmly, ignoring her brother's shocked gasp "Physically, I'm completely human."
Of course, Izumi noted the use of the term "physically".
"And out of physical boundaries?"
"Something similar to Truth." she said, before cautioning "But I'm not all-powerful, don't mistake it. My powers are limited by my human form."
"Godly powers aren't meant to be used by a mortal." Al added, unknowingly echoing Roy – after speaking with his sister about her gifts, he had understood that easily enough
"But you're powerful enough to make the change." their teacher guessed
Suddenly, the reason why the little girl had never said anything about her strangeness was crystal clear – this wasn't the kind of secret you shared with just anyone, and she would bet that her brothers didn't know the truth when they were younger.
She smiled softly - the simple fact that the kids were sharing this with her was proof of their devotion to healing her.
She really couldn't leave those brats alone.
"I'll do it."
"Great!" "Good!"
Both siblings seemed suddenly far less stressed, tense shoulders relaxing as their teacher announced she would live. They had talked about it, debating whether to tell her the whole truth about the process, and soon coming to the conclusion that she was far too skilled an alchemist not to understand something more was going on if they lied to her.
And while straightening Truth's work would have worked for a time, it would have still left her weakened, and with barely a few years left.
They wouldn't loose the one they called Teacher like other children would have called a beloved aunt Aunty.
"We'll let you talk with mister Curtis and think about what kind of animal you'd like to use."
With that they were out the door, Ed waiting on the other side seemingly nonchalantly – a wide grin on his face when he saw the smile lightening his siblings' relieved posture.
¤.¤.¤
The rest of the afternoon had been spent relaxing in the garden, Ana having found a few local children to play with while the others were spread of the grass, reading, or chatting.
"Simon called Shan," Ed was saying "We're going to stop by his newest restaurant later."
"Good to see he took my advice." Ari nodded with a self-satisfied smile
"Sister," Al sighed "We already talked about it, military officer aren't supposed to help underworld boss becoming better."
"Mister Feng is a very respectable business man." she protested innocently, making Ed snort
"You know," Ling thoughtfully said "I really didn't expect the first State Alchemists I'd met to be geniuses kids dealing with the underworld and probably neck-deep into some kind of nation-wide conspiracy I don't know a thing about. This country is really strange!" then, eyes slowly opening in realization "In fact... the whole country feel strange... No... wrong..."
The Elric siblings nodded as one, not even realizing it, Al shuddering "It's hard to ignore it once you've felt it, isn't it? The wrongness under our feet?" a sigh "It's even worse once you know what it is..."
Ling was even more surprised "I'm surprised you're feeling it, I thought you Amestrians weren't trained in feeling the dragon pulse."
"We usually aren't. But we taught ourselves when we got interested in alkahestry." Ed explained "Al is especially good at it."
"So you can feel the wrongness of your country, and you know what it is?" the prince was seizing them up speculatively "And you chose to help me, so I'd guess it must have something to do with the stone?"
"In a way of speaking" Ari confirmed "And if you weren't set on finding something to bring back to your clan, I'd advise you to turn tail and get out of this country as fast as possible."
Ling nodded, appreciating the honesty he could read in the girl's body language.
But he wouldn't be afraid so easily – he had a duty to his people, and even if things got dangerous, he'd weather it for them. Which apparently the geniuses siblings had clearly understood.
Probably because, in a way, they were the same.
It was just an intuition, but in the way they acted and spoke, sometimes, he could feel the same weight pressing on their shoulders as on his – the weight of countless people's life.
Somehow, even if it wasn't his country, and he didn't know those kids well, it made him want to know more about the situation, to help them, just as they had promise they'd help him.
"Ever since King Bradley became Fuhrer," Ed was later explaining "We've been at war, be it with border countries, or within our own nation. Most people tend to look down on alchemists who work for the military like us."
"Military dog, weapon of war, traitors to our craft..." Al enumerated idly "We've been called all of these names, and more."
"People don't seem to understand that it's from the inside that we'll be able to change thing."
"And you've already changed things."
"Teacher!" Ari exclaimed, happy like her brothers to see her up and about, if only for a moment
"I promised myself I'd give you a beating the next time we met when you told me you'd taken the exam." the two brothers whitened, while Ari winced "But the fact is, even in the South we've heard of the famous Elric siblings, the People's Alchemists. Your colonel sent you out to remind people of what we alchemist could be... should be... and it worked." a smile "It made me want to go on the road again, like when I was younger, to help people where I could. I'm proud of what you became, proud you three brats convinced me to train you all these years ago."
Ed wiped his eyes stubbornly – he definitely wasn't crying about what that devil of a woman was saying, no way about it; it was just something in the wind.
Still, the grin on his face was just as wide as the one on his siblings'.
Thankfully, no one said anything about it.
"Let's go." her husband commented "Shan's has a private room reserved for us, he'll eat with us."
With that the group was off – Izumi warning "You'll have to tell your two companions to stop hiding and walk with us, Shan's men are very distrustful, and they won't be able to hide from their senses."
Ling was surprised, but still signaled for his bodyguard to obey.
"Ariana! You've grown even more beautiful since last time we met!"
"See! I told you he was a pedophile!"
"Just because I can admire your sister's beauty does not make me a pedophile." the underworld boss haughtily bit back
"It's been a long time, mister Feng." Al greeted "Meet our new sister, Anastasia Elric."
"Yet another lovely young lady." smiled the other back, then, as the private room closed on them "And one not entirely human, if I'm not mistaken?"
"How the hell can you tell?" a bemused Ed wondered
"Ariana may have been kind enough to free me, making me mortal in passing, I did retain my powers and superior senses. A dog chimera?"
At her little sister's questioning glance, Ari nodded – and the little girl happily canceled the array hiding her true features under the former homunculus impressed eyes.
"You managed to hide her true self with alchemy?" he couldn't help but ask, impressed
"Al has been working on this ever since we met your subordinates." Ed explained, smug on his brother's behalf "That's why we're here. That, and informing you that we killed your beautiful and bitchy sister."
The man's eyes widened.
"You managed to kill Lust?" he snort, correcting himself "Of course you did what with your little Shadow here."
"I'll have you know that we did it completely with normal means." Ari felt compelled to protest, before admitting "And it wasn't easy at all."
"Which made us come to the realization that we should probably get rid of the rest of them before the Promised Day if we can." Ed added darkly "Facing two of your siblings one behind the other was a bitch. The second nearly killed us ad escaped alive."
"Which one was it?"
"Looking like a teenage, long spiky hair, and shape-shifter."
"Envy." the former Greed named "A nasty bugger." he added with a wince "You're lucky to be alive."
"We are." Al admitted
"So I can see why you'd want to get rid of them, just... why not earlier than that?"
"We spent too much time looking for our father, chasing and killing any rumors about the stone and trying to avoid the blood-sheds." Ari admitted
"But well, we can't wait to fin the bastard anymore," Ed took over "Promised Day is approaching, and we have to do something to stop it event without that man there to help."
Ling was listening attentively.
He knew that the siblings had made a choice by speaking before him of a seemingly secret topic – they were letting him puzzle what was going on around them bit by bit, and confirming it had something to do with the Philosopher Stone.
The prince couldn't help but wonder why they were trusting him so easily; he had after all no way to know that Ari's Soul Art let her have a pretty good idea about someone's character, and whether to trust them or not.
"Anyway, we'll have time to plan this during our stay," Al was saying "For now, what we can do is applying the same array Ana is using to your men."
"It can be done now? How does it work?"
"It's blood-based." explained the blond boy "In simple terms, it separated the human and animal component of the body make-up, and bring the human part to the front. But don't mistake it, it's only skin-deep, it doesn't really change the chimera back into a human. The array is tattooed in a blood-based ink made with your own blood, and once the tattoo is made, it can be activated or released by smearing it with your blood only."
¤.¤.¤
Al, Ed and Ari were spent.
When they saw the joy at the idea of being able to go out without hiding once more of the more animal-like chimeras, no one could just go home for the night and make them wait even another day.
Everyone helped to make the ink, which was simple enough, and the four alchemists at hand went from one chimera to the other, inking the tattoo and checking that it did link with the holder's blood to activate.
The night was long, but successful, and Ana had been really happy to meet so many other people like her – even if she loved her family, knowing she wasn't the only one was liberating, the little girl feeling a lot less like a freak, and a lot more simply like a member of a different specie.
It was four AM when they finished their job among the many thanks of the chimeras, and a notification flashed before their eyes
[Hidden Quest Complete! Hidden in plain sight...
You've given the chimera a new chance at life by helping them blend in with the humans
Reward: +1000XP, +1 mutation unlocked, +10 beast language]
[Level up! You are now level 52!
+2SP]
[Mutations available:
- Cat's Eye: your eyes are sharp and sees just as well in the dark as in broad day light
- Fox's Pad: you walk silently, never heard before hitting your prey
- Wolf's Claw: your nails are now dangerously sharp claws
- Dog's Nose: your sense of smell cannot be fooled
- Bat's Ear: your audition is so god you could walk with you eyes closed
- Cheetah's Paw: you run faster than any human
- Snake's Fang: your body produce a potent acidic poison that can be leaked by your canine or nails
1 available]
The siblings were stunned by the notification – they hadn't helped the chimera for a reward, but now that Chaos' Game was giving it to them they certainly wouldn't refuse it!
And such a reward at that!
Hearing a half asleep Ana mumbling about already having a good nose, they half-smiled, half-winced while wondering what the little girl would get up to with the new mutation she apparently had unlocked too.
Still... they were exhausted, just as the rest of their group; and so they pushed the notification to the back of their mind, resolving to think about it after a good night – or day – of sleep.
When they woke up hours later, it was to messages from both Winry and Roy and Riza, informing them that they too had gained the huge XP reward and mutation.
Ari couldn't help but have the feeling Chaos really was having fun by messing with them...
Then, she shrugged and settle on the Cat's Eye mutation.
The choice hadn't been easy, all mutations being interesting in a way or another, but the idea of seeing in the dark appealed to her assassin's instincts.
It was a few days later, as they were lounging on their bed in their usual puppy-pile, Ana working on her alchemy with crayons under Al's vigilant eyes, Ed working on some alchemy theory or another, if the schematics and lines of calculations were to be believed and Ari lightly napping, that Teacher entered the room.
"A fox." she announced "I'll merge with a fox."
¤.¤.¤
Money exchanged hands, as Ed let out a disgruntled moan and Al smiled serenely.
"Easy enough to catch one around here, a good silent hunter, a canine, which would be useful since three of you understands them." none of the siblings were really surprised she had noticed "Of course, I'd have preferred something a bit more powerful, but I really don't feel like wrestling with a bear just right now." that last bit made Ed drop his head in disappointment
Ari nodded and got up "Well, seems like we've got ourselves a fox to catch."
"Need some help?" Al volunteered, not really thinking she did but asking anyway
"Don't bother." she denied as expected "I'll just pop by Jake Island and speak with them."
"Of course alpha, take care." her brother nodded with a smile
The girl extracted herself from the puppy-pile, and got out of the house, turning into a dark and empty alley before calling her Night Flames to her. Even if she hadn't been there in years, she still remembered the island clearly enough that her flames would get her there without problem.
Once on the island, finding the foxes living there was easy enough.
She was momentarily surprised to see an old, limping vixen come up to meet her, before recognizing her for Tempesta's mother. With her brother's familiar not aging like a normal fox thanks to his bond with Ed, she had forgotten that his mother probably was getting in on her years as a wild fox.
And yet, despite her age, here was Tempesta's mother welcoming her back on Jake island. Ari smiled at the old vixen, then went on to explaining why she were here in words simple enough to be understood by the wild animal.
"Take me to your sick pack-mate." finally declared the vixen after having understood the situation as well as she could "I'm old and not afraid of dying. And saving a pack-mate of Alpha is a worthy enough reason to give my life-force."
Ariana accepted, thankful to the fox that quickly said her goodbye to her den before trotting back to her, ready.
One Night Flame jump later, the two of them where back to the Curtis household, and back into Izumi's bedroom "This," explained Ari "is Quick Paw, vixen of Jake island's den, and mother of Tempesta. She volunteered herself."
Surprised, but grateful, Teacher inclined her head respectfully toward the old lady. A few hours later, an array was drawn in the basement, Izumi and Quick Paw each in a secondary circle, Ari at the center powering the ritual under her siblings and mister Curtis' watchful eyes.
Eyes glowing like emeralds, the young goddess let alchemy, Blood Art and Soul Art mix freely in the red-glowing array, the flash of alchemical reaction blinding everyone for several agonizingly long seconds – enough time for the two silhouette on the secondary circle to have disappeared, and a new, familiar yet different form to have appeared in a third secondary circle that had been, until now, empty.
Apart from the pointy ears standing on her head, and the long fluffy tail lazily waving in her back, their teacher didn't seem all that different – except in the most important way.
Never before had they seen Izumi Curtis looking so healthy.
The siblings shared a satisfied look, before the two brothers went to help their sister, who was kneeling in the center of the powering down array, exhausted and eyes slowly fading back into gold – letting mister Curtis hold his wife in his arms, tears falling silently from the rough looking man's eyes.
"I'm pretty sure teacher will be able to to do the concealing array herself after all the practice she got in the other day," Ed commented with a smirk "Let's get you to bed."
Ari nodded gratefully, having only enough time to wonder when Ed had grown enough to be able to carry her so easily before falling asleep in her brother's arms.
She wouldn't see the notification from Chaos Game that appeared in front of her at the same time as her two brothers until the next day...
Hidden Quest Complete! The circle of life...
You've cured Izumi Curtis from Truth's price
Reward: +1000XP, +1 mutation unlocked, + 5 earth alchemy, +5 fire alchemy, +5 air alchemy, +5 water alchemy]
[Level up! You are now level 54!
+2SP]
[Mutations available:
- Fox's Pad: you walk silently, never heard before hitting your prey
- Wolf's Claw: your nails are now dangerously sharp claws
- Dog's Nose: your sense of smell cannot be fooled
- Bat's Ear: your audition is so god you could walk with you eyes closed
- Cheetah's Paw: you run faster than any human
- Snake's Fang: your body produce a potent acidic poison that can be leaked by your canine or nails
- Hawk's eye: you can see very far, and pick out movement from the corner of your eyes
1 available]
¤.¤.¤
Following her usage of holy powers to reconstruct their teacher's body, Ari spent nearly three days bed-ridden – three days that were more than enough to settle on Fox's Pad as her new mutation, then spent her time alternatively resting, and chatting with all the people that came to see her.
"It's like the whole town knows I'm sick!" she eventually jokingly complained to their teacher
"Well all of mister Feng's men are extremely grateful to us, Al and you especially, and they are more than happy to go out now that they can..."
The teenage girl couldn't help but smile at that - truth was it always warmed her heart to see how much happier the chimera were now that they could go out again without worrying about a gust of wind blowing their disguise off them. In a truly ideal world, they wouldn't have to hide their appearance - but Ari didn't think that such a world existed - prejudice was sadly universal.
"As for the Xingese prince, he seems genuinely worried about you." her teacher continued with a smile "Should I scare him away from my lovely, and much too young for him, student?" she asked with a predatory grin
"Don't worry about that," Al laughed, entering the room with food on a tray "the colonel is more than scary and possessive enough."
"The colonel?" Izumi lifted an eyebrow "Something you forgot to tell me Ariana?"
The young girl groaned, and glared at her brother.
Then she spent the next hour enduring their teacher's interrogation, with her amused brother enjoying the scene. Their teacher's questions only stopped when Ed barged in, Ling in tow "What's going on?" he wondered, taking in his brother's hilarity, teacher's glare and sister's sigh
"Teacher is trying to decide whether the colonel is good enough for sister." Al managed to answer before bursting out laughing
"Pff. The colonel's a smug arrogant bastard, but he's also the only one worthy enough of Ari." Ed answered as if it was the most obvious answer – which it was, for him "And even if he wasn't he would be the only one she'd accept, so the point is moot."
If there was a bit of disappointment in Ling's eyes, nobody said anything about it, and Izumi sighed – Ari was way to young to be romantically interested in anyone, goddess or not! But if even Ed was agreeing, then she really couldn't do anything about it...
Ah well, nothing prevented her from still checking the man's skills when she'd meet him.
He may have Ed's and Al's approval, he hadn't earned hers yet.
"Anyway," Ed interrupted her silent plotting "something happened."
Seeing that he had all of their attention, he announced "The Fuhrer is doing an inspection of the South, he'll be in town tomorrow."
"Well, I know we we talking about getting rid of Shan's siblings but..." Al hesitated
"But can we really afford getting rid of King Bradley just now?" Izumi completed "He may be bloodthirsty leader, right now he's also the one preventing our country from falling into civil war."
"Because he's planning to use the whole fucking country as a sacrifice for that bastard's Father!" Ed hotly protested, momentarily forgetting about Ling's presence
"The true question is, can he be turned from Father's plans?" Ari mused
"So what do we do?"
"We watch him, talk to him without letting on too much about what we know if possible." Ari shrugged
Ed groaned. He didn't like it at all – but the others were right.
"We've got to warn Shan." he said "He didn't know the Fuhrer was one of them but that doesn't mean the Fuhrer doesn't know his face." a sigh "It's good we did those arrays on the chimera earlier this week."
Ari leaning against her pillows a bit more, weariness taking over as the rest of the conversation went back to safer topics – she wasn't satisfied anymore than her brothers, even if she hid it better. Their victory against Lust had been hard won, and Envy had nearly killed them; they had to weaken Father's side before the Promised Day, and their only way to do this was to get rid of his Sins, one way or another.
But it still didn't help them against the man himself, and if his children were so powerful, how the hell were they supposed to fight against the man that made them?
With these dark thoughts cluttering her mind, she fell asleep once more.
The next day brought a surprise with it.
Ari woke up early, an unpleasant feeling pulling her out of her dreams as a not unfamiliar homunculus made his way into town – the Fuhrer, it seemed, had arrived. And... Was coming toward them? Uneasiness welled up, and she called her siblings, soon alerting the household to the approaching threat.
Everyone continued on their daily activities in order not to arise any suspicious, but all were tensed, and ready to fight for their life if needed.
"Hi!" Ed couldn't help but stare at the Fuhrer that was patiently waiting on their door-step, a basket of fruits in hand "I brought a get well present, I heard your sister was sick!"
"How did you..."
"Well I heard in South City that you had been a great help to them last year, and that your teacher was a resident of Dublith."
"That would be me." Izumi confirmed "Please stop blocking the door and let our guest enter Ed."
The teenager nodded dumbly, a bit out of his depth with how surreal the situation felt. A few moments latter, King Bradley was drinking tea with the Curtis around the small kitchen table. Ed was pretty sure he'd been mistakenly sent into a parallel universe somewhere along the day and hadn't noticed until now...
"You've done a good job with those siblings," the Fuhrer was praising "They are among our best elements."
"Are they?" Izumi's smile had gained even more of a predatory quality ever since she became a fox chimera "It's good that they're making themselves useful."
"With three brilliant pupils as them, how is it that you never took the National Exam?" the man wondered "It would be our country's honor to have such a skilled alchemist as you in our ranks."
Ed winced at the question – and knowing their teacher as he did could see the barely noticeable temper mark on her brow.
He was impressed with how well she was repressing her famous temper.
"Oh, don't flatter me, I'm just a housewife." a sweet, dangerous smile "But I'm sure you didn't travel here only to try and recruit me under the pretense of seeing my darling apprentices?"
"Of course not!" the other man laughed loudly "But what can I do, I am the leader of this country, it would have been shameful not to take advantage of the situation, wouldn't it?"
"Of course, of course."
Ed sweat-dropped a bit at the curiously intense chat between Teacher and Fuhrer – to think Ari didn't believe Al and him when they said that woman was scary! Here she was calmly refusing the Fuhrer personal request of entering the military – the same ruthless Fuhrer that had led their country from one bloody victory to another ever since he was inducted...
"Anyway, you're here to see Ari, aren't you?" a smile "Please follow me."
Soon they were in the siblings room, Ari and Al idly talking, the boy having found himself a place beside his sister in the bed and both visibly working on some alchemy formula or another.
"You should really be resting rather than working," Ed couldn't help but protest – despite knowing the protest that would come
"But I'm bored!"
"Well then you shouldn't have gone and gotten sick!" he retorted easily – before remembering why he was in the room "And you've got a guest."
Ari and Al, even thought they had known the man was in the house, still felt as dumbfounded as Ed at the sight of the Fuhrer with his "get well" basket of fruits in hand.
"Here!" he plopped the basket in the girl hands, who automatically thanked him while he found a place on the nearest chair "I can't believe I haven't seen any of you since you went through the exam!"
"Well," Ed couldn't help but point out "You're the Fuhrer, your job is quite busy and we weren't in Central City all that often."
"True, true, thought I've heard you've been posted there recently?"
"We have." Ari confirmed "The colonel has been posted there, and since we're part of his team..."
"Ah yes, colonel Roy Mustang. That was quite a risky move from him, sponsoring you when you were so young."
"Well, he thought we were older at first, otherwise he wouldn't have bothered. Some kind of misfiling from the Recruiting Department, I think. Then he decided that our age didn't matter since our skills were more than sufficient."
"That they were." the Fuhrer agreed "Even if the jury was a bit doubtful about your respect for authority since all three of you attacked them, and me during your performance."
"Well wanting us to show of our skills in an empty arena was a bit useless." Ari shrugged "They should change that part of the exam."
"Ah but all State Alchemists aren't always on the field like you three are."
"True enough, I guess." Ari mused "But then again, they should be ready for it if they enter the military. After all, weren't all of the State Alchemists sent out in the field during the Ishvalian conflict?"
"Ah, yes, Order 3066. You disagree with it?"
"Honestly?" Ari asked rhetorically, before surprising her brothers with her answer "Yes and no."
The Fuhrer too seemed surprised by her answer "Oh? Do explain! Most people are either completely against it and too afraid to admit it in my face, or agree with it."
"Becoming a State Alchemist means being part of the military, so of course we should be ready to be used as weapon of war. What I regret is that State Alchemist are only military... There should be some kind of civilian division of the State Alchemists for all those old geezers working in laboratories. Those people are useful as State Alchemist, but putting them out in the field..." she snorted "Useless!"
Bradley was looking at her, thoughtful "You did think about it a lot."
"I did." she nodded "After all, we're from Rosembool, we saw what war is when we were young and understand it better than people that live in more peaceful regions. I understand the need for fighters in a country, but I also understand the fact that not everyone is born to fight, and that fighters alone don't make a nation."
The talk went on on the same serious vein for a while – and even if they didn't say anything, all thee of the siblings were surprised to see how genuinely interested the man was in their opinion.
Ed suddenly understood better why Ari had insisted on watching the man first – they had forgotten, with their near death experience that even if they weren't humans, the homunculus were living being too, each different from the other.
The Fuhrer wasn't only a non-human creating bloodshed throughout the country – he also was a highly intelligent man, who knew how to listen to opinions that differed from his if they were constructed enough, and had invested decades of his life in shaping their country.
That was a disconcerting realization – even if it shouldn't have been, after all, hadn't Greed fled from Father, thus proving that the Sins did each have their own personality?
"You know," the Fuhrer was saying, glancing at his watch "I've heard about your duel with colonel Mustang in East City..."
The girl blushed – and Ed barely refrained a derogatory comment against the pedophile bastard that was their superior officer.
"We should do something like that in Central City one of these days!" the leader of their nation enthusiastically declared "We can't let people stationed in Central become rusty! And a good spar is always refreshing!"
The fiery glint in the old man's only eye was far too familiar to Ed and Al.
This time, the eldest Elric sibling couldn't help but protest "he's just like them Al! Another fighting freak!"
"Just because you can't see the beauty in a fight between two skilled opponent doesn't mean we are freaks." his sister haughtily retorted
"Then it's decided! We'll do something like this when you're back to Central!" another glance at his watch "Eh, I should go. I escaped during the visit of the nearest military base, my guards must be wondering where I am by now."
With that, the Fuhrer was leaving – by the first-floor window.
"That," Al deadpanned "was strange."
"The enemy seems far more human, suddenly." Ed muttered "I don't like it at all... but its good..."
"Because with these talks about getting rid of Father's forces, we were forgetting that we were talking about killing." added Al "Just because they aren't human doesn't mean they aren't...humans..."
"They are still living, sentient beings with emotion, even if somewhat unbalanced." Ari nodded, happy about her brothers needed awakening call
They weren't assassins like her - they shouldn't speak so easily about killing people, be they homunculus. At least now they remembered - and even if it would made it harder on them as they fought against Father, it also meant that they wouldn't become as hardened toward death and battle as she was.
"Still, one thing is clear." Ed sighed "Just like we already knew, killing that man without any explanation is going to make our country implode even if we do manage to get rid of Father." he frowned "He may be a war-mongering leader, but he's a leader nonetheless... One that's bizarrely caring about the country for all that he's plotting it's destruction...
"That's why we've got Roy and his team." Ari answered serenely
"What do you..."
"Well, we've always been out on the field during all those years, but what do you think the colonel and his men were doing behind their desks?"
"Oh." Al understood suddenly "They've been working on the aftermath of Promise Day, haven't they?"
"They have." Ari nodded "The plan is somewhere along the lines of declaring that the Fuhrer died a hero in the line of duty, killed by a nasty terrorist. Then the same terrorist will be brought down by all of us..."
"Boosting even more the bastard, and our reputation. With that the post of Fuhrer will fall into his laps."
"Well probably not that easily, he's not high enough in the ranks quite yet... But whomever is nominated before him will have to give him a promotion."
"And then, he'll be high enough."
"Exactly."
Ed sighed "You do realize he'll be unbearable once he's Fuhrer, don't you? I mean he's already an arrogant bastard, and he's still only a colonel!"
Al and Ari laughed at the depressed face their brother was sporting.
¤.¤.¤
"Here it is Roy-boy."
The colonel didn't even protest the nick-name, knowing it would be useless – Madam Christmas would only do as it pleased her, like always – instead he merely opened the file she had slide toward him from across the empty bar.
"Well," he finally sighed "looks like we've found one more, and it's the nation favorite child."
"I must admit I didn't expect anything to come out of this investigation when asked me to dig around the Fuhrer a bit but this... This is only the largest of a string on incoherence all more suspicious one than the other." the old woman said "I know something fishy is going on, Roy-boy, I've known for years, but this..."
"This is dangerous." nodded the colonel "And it'll only grow even more dangerous. This is why I asked you to be ready to leave town."
"You won't get rid of me without explaining anything to me, child, you should know this."
Roy sighed.
Of course he knew – Chris Mustang was one of the few people able to go against him and win, but well, that was to be expected. She did, after all, raise him in stead of his deceased parents.
And so, he told her the truth of what was going on without touching the subject of Ari's powers and past. After all, the woman was shrewd and intelligent, and was the one that taught him the art of spying – she would understand.
"I see." she finally whispered as he finished fleshing out what was going on in their country "And of course, rather than getting the hell out of here you're trying to save the whole fucking country." a sigh "I raised you to be a good man, Roy-boy, but I don't want it to cause your death."
"Then I just have to win." he stated, as if it was that easy – it wasn't, they both knew, but they also knew he'd do his damn best anyway
"Do that." she instructed with a glare that couldn't really hide her concern "I'll have the girls out of the country by the end of the year."
"And you?"
"I'm not abandoning you, child." she forcefully stated "I didn't when my brother died, I didn't when you took that damn Exam, and I won't now!"
He couldn't help but smile at the answer, not having expected anything else.
"Now that the serious topics are out of the way, tell me... who is she?"
This time he was surprised, and thought he hid it well, he didn't fool the woman that had raised him up "Don't look at me like that, brat, don't you think I've noticed the only girls you're taking out now are mine? So, who is she? The one that somehow made you settle down and that I still haven't seen?"
Somehow he doubted that explaining that he had realized he had feelings for his not yet fourteen year old subordinate would cut it – Madam Christmas would kill him, he was pretty sure of it. Explaining that he remembered the girl as an adult woman and of course wouldn't touch her before she was older probably wouldn't cut it either.
He was doomed.
Doing the only thing his survival instincts were instructing him to, he fled.
"Ah I've still got it!" his adopter mother laughed, alone in the empty pub "You can run, Roy-boy, I'll still get it out of you!" and even if he didn't talk, she didn't have the best informant network of Central City for nothing, did she?
In his car, already heading to his home, the colonel shuddered.
Maybe fleeing hadn't been the best of his idea, in hindsight.
¤.¤.¤
"So," whispered Havoc, looking at the opened door between the colonel's office and theirs' "What's wrong with him? This isn't his usual 'I miss WindBlade' attitude, this is even worse!"
"I don't know." admitted Riza with a frown "Let me investigate."
With that, she entered the office "Here!" she caught the file her oldest friend had sent her "I went to Madam Christmas yesterday."
Just like that, everything was suddenly clearer "So, what did you say when she asked you about your lack of dates?"
He whitened, and looked around him cautiously.
Riza sighed.
"So you ran."
"I didn't run! I just temporary retreated..."
"You ran. And now you're afraid of her retribution." a sigh "You know you shouldn't have done that."
"I realized it too late. And even then, what was I supposed to say?" he protested "She'd roast me alive!"
Riza rolled her eyes – it always amazed her how any rational thinking seemed to flee the man when it came to his adopted mother - and him gaining another life's memories certainly hadn't changed that. With the mystery resolved, she walked back into the office where the rest of the team was impatiently waiting for her.
"Don't worry," she smiled "He's just afraid of what his mother figure is going to do to him once she finds out about WindBlade."
The team laughed – but wondered what kind of woman had raised their officer into what he was. After all, no ordinary woman could have produced the strange man that was Roy Mustang.
Then it was back to work, and Riza dived into the latest information Madam Christmas had unearthed for them.
Without surprise, most of the Fuhrer's background story was false – the address for his deceased parents a military ground, the school he was supposed to have gone to long since abandoned, and so on. No true traces of the man's existence could be found before he suddenly appeared in the military at twenty-one and stared his rapid ascension through the ranks.
But what was more surprising was the identity of another homunculus laying innocently in the file – in the form of several old pictures, all depicting the same boy.
Selim Bradley, the long awaited son of King Bradley, and most beloved child in the nation was an homunculus – and probably the unknown homunculus that had been roaming around Central City.
Riza sighed.
Selim's death would be nearly as bad as his father's for the nation's stability.
She was finishing reading Madam Christmas' file when Maes barged in.
This wasn't unusual by any mean – ever since they'd finished moving in their new office, the man had been a regular fixture, dropping by at any hour for real or invented pretenses – making Riza wonder if Ed hadn't been right when he affirmed that the colonel's laziness had probably infected his whole class at the academy.
"Good morning! Roy, boy, you look far too jumpy for this glorious day!"
"Stop hugging me, Maes! What the hell are you doing here?"
"Maybe I just wanted to see my best friend?" the familiar noise of fingers snapping to ignite something echoed "No no no, don't do this Roy!"
"What. Are. You. Doing. Here?"
"No need to be so mean." the other pouted, before answering more seriously "I've just got news from my investigation squad from the East. Apparently Scar isn't as dead as we previously believed."
"No real surprise there."
"An anonymous informant told us he was hiding in the refugee camps, which was true, but he managed to flee. We think he's got the informant, a former military that fled after some kind of bribe scandal in some East mining town, and a small Xingese-looking girl, as hostages."
Roy frowned.
"Where are they fleeing?"
"North, apparently."
Far, far away from the Elric siblings. The colonel sighed, this was good.
"I've already alerted Fort Briggs."
"Then what's the problem?"
Maes frowned, giving his best friend a small strip of telegraph message.
"Apparently someone in Central already knew of Scar's escape, and sent someone to track him in the North. Someone not from my Investigation department." the frown deepened "Someone that should still be rotting in the deepest level of the military prison."
Roy felt wariness rising at the anger clearly audible in Maes' voice – there weren't a lot of people capable of provoking such anger from the rather joyful man, and most of them fell into two categories: those plotting to bring the country down during the Promised Day, and the monsters born in the flames of the Ishvalian war.
¤.¤.¤
"The Crimson Alchemist has been released."
Yes, he had spoken too soon - this was not good.
Both Riza and Roy's eyes darkened, Maes irruption into their office suddenly so much more understandable.
After all, that man, Soft J. Kimblee, had been one of those people that had thrived in the chaos and destruction born from the Ishvalian war. When the Flame Alchemist had been, in spite of his protests, hailed a hero by his fellow soldiers on the front, Kimblee had been at the other hand of the spectrum, a master of alchemy-created explosions that left no survivors behind, be them rebels, civilians, or even soldiers fighting under his orders.
With the end of the war, he had been judged in front of the martial court, and confined in a high-security cell, just like the beast he was.
That man had killed any and all that fell in front of his eyes, and professed no remorse for it.
He had been one more proof, in Roy's eyes, that something was rotten in his country...
Roy frowned again.
Kimblee wasn't the sort of man that changed in prison, there was no way he'd been freed for behaving himself and expressing remorse for his acts. No the weapon of war had been drawn by someone for a reason, and Scar probably was but a pretext.
The question was – what was so important at Fort Briggs that the Crimson Alchemist was needed there? A quick background check on the region coupled with the human transmutation schematics acquired by the Elric siblings in the Fifth Laboratory was more than enough for the colonel to have an hypothesis.
Fort Briggs was the most northern fort in the country, host of regular skirmishes with the Drachman military – but thanks to the iron-gloved hands of its General those skirmishes had drastically reduced in number.
Blood.
There wasn't enough blood being shed in the north for the nation-wide circle – this was why they had released the Crimson Alchemist; and this was why he had to be stopped.
But – but his usual response team was at the other side of the country, the WindBlade herself bedridden.
"First lieutenant Hawkeye, second lieutenant Havoc, you're heading North to apprehend the fugitive, former first lieutenant Yoki of the mining city Youswell. He is still wanted to be tried in court martial." the two of them nodded "You'll report every twenty-four hours via telephone once you're at Fort Briggs. FullMetal and EarthBreaker will meet you there as fast as they can."
"Yes, colonel."
"Drop by my house tonight, I've got the old reports on the fugitive there." he turned toward the rest of his team "You know how to work to relay information to a field team, get to it!"
A few hours later, Riza and Havoc were at Roy's door, Black Hayate in tow.
"You'll take care of him when I'm gone?"
"Of course, sorella." a smile "Come in."
Two masks were waiting on the kitchen's counter near a pile of black clothing and other such attire "You're the Queen, sorella, Havoc will have the Knight." Riza nods along, not surprised at the choice "Just like Alpha, Fox and Cat's masks, it'll hide your voice."
She observed the mask, and it's not insignificant bonus of +2 Agility, +1 Strength – Leon's work was excellent, like always.
"Stealth clothes." he explained in front of the pile of black clothes - there again, no surprise
A jar of dark material "Hair concealer." Riza winced – her blond hair were easily noticeable, she knew it well, but concealer always was a bitch to get out of it, she remembered that well from Ishval
Roy looked at her seriously "Don't take unnecessary risks, Scar can deconstruct anything he lands his left hands on and you remember Kimblee."
She did – and her colonel, her brother went on "You know how Kimblee fight, and the two brothers have improved a lot since our fight against Scar. Stay alive and come home, all of you."
With that, his subordinates were off, and he was left home to worry.
Going out and shooting first, asking questions later was much easier than holding the commanding position, Roy mused– he had never wanted to be more than a hit man in his first life, for the freedom it gave him rather than by lack of skill for anything more. When his memories came back in this life, it was too late – he'd already took charge and had people following him, he couldn't just stop in his tracks; and he didn't really want to.
He was still a mafioso at heart, and he couldn't abandon his Famiglia after all...
He just missed the freedom of not being the one in charge.
With that, he relaxed in his living room, a glass of alcohol in one hand, nonchalantly accessing Ari's latest message with the other.
He really shouldn't be surprised that the girl he loved somehow managed to have a friendly chat with the man leading their country, and a challenge from said man for a fight in Central City, yet he still was.
It really was no wonder that Chaos had taken such a liking to her – he couldn't take his eyes of her for a few hours without some kind of life changing event happening! With that, he started to write back to his bambina, not forgetting a suitably insulting side-note for her brothers.