Hi! Sorry for the delay!
I've no real excuse, if only that it's becoming harder to put the story in place as it progress, since there are more and more things happening everywhere on a shorter time-frame - I mean this chapter is spanning only a few days of time, when in the earlier chapters years could go by O_o
I've had someone telling me I wasn't making use of the secondary character enough, and as such they were easily forgotten - yes, guilty as charged. I always find it hard to keep track of all the character, even if I do try. I am trying to improve but well...
Anyway, I hope you enjoy the latest chapter.
XI: End of summer 1914
Ed peered out at the train's window at the landscape that was finally turning white – the ride had been one of the longest they ever took, and both Al and him acutely felt the absence of their two sisters.
Still, orders were orders, despite Ed's loud protests.
At least, they hadn't needed to waste any time by changing their automail, since the array Ari had devised to venture into the desert would do its job just as well in the cold, maintaining their automail at their body temperature.
As they arrived in the northern railway-station in the middle of a snow storm that had nearly forced the train to stop before arriving, the sight of Riza's familiar silhouette, and another, far less familiar silhouette of a tall, tan-skinned man wearing tinted glasses and the winter uniform commonly used in the north.
"FullMetal, EarthBreaker."
Noting the formal greeting, they answered in kind "First lieutenant Hawkeye."
"This is Major Miles," the sniper introduced "he is major general Armstrong's personal adjutant."
"Your C.O. Sent a letter to general Armstrong," the silver-haired man informed them while walking toward a car equipped for cold temperatures "she is waiting for you."
Ed sent an interrogative glance toward Riza, wondering what was happening, but didn't worry too much – if it was something important she would have informed them in her previous messages.
"Here," two files were held out to Al and him "the files on Scar's latest viewing, description of his possible hostages..."
"or accomplices..." major Miles interrupted calmly
"Or accomplices," she reluctantly agreed "and the Crimson Alchemist's file."
After several minutes spent speeding through their reading, both brothers shared an appalled glance "They let this mad-man out of his cage?" Ed whispered
He may already know about the colonel's theory – that was looking more and more likely by the minute – it still didn't make it any less shocking to read that man's file. No wonder the bastard had insisted on acting fast...
"You know, I get why Kimblee's here," Al muttered as their vehicle came to a stop "But Scar... Why did he head out north? From what I know there aren't any State Alchemist stationed here."
A loud laugh echoed at this affirmation and the man that was walking up to them in the blizzard answered loudly "We don't need pansy State Alchemists here!" he proclaimed "We need true warriors!" he continued, proudly exhibiting his large, weaponized automail
Al sighed, already seeing his brother's temper meting down under the cutting words – yet surprisingly, the eldest Elric didn't burst in anger, calmly answering "I see. True warrior like you I'd gather?" he rhetorically asked, blatantly seizing up the man, before snorting and turning away, clearly dismissing him, Tempesta mimicking him with her own contemptuous glare
"My god..." Al whispered to Riza, absentmindedly petting Paws, that was hidden within his coat and looking enviously at the fox, whose heavy fur coat was a much better protection for this weather than his own "I think his ability to annoy people just evolved..."
Riza barely held back a snort – but couldn't help but agree as the tall man seemed to boiled at being looked down upon like that and jumped toward Ed's back, automail ready to attack.
Except that, of course, with Ed's ability to piss people off, also came the much needed ability to know when he was attacked nearly before it even happened. He may not have Ari's bloodthirsty fighting instinct, but his survival instinct probably was the best out of the four siblings.
He dodged the heavy metal arm easily, grabbing it with his hands – clapping to activate a simple array, only for it not to have any reaction.
"Not steel then." he easily understood, remembering Winry's rant about cold temperatures and automail care "No matter."
Twisting his body around, using the hand still grabbing on the other's automail, he propelled himself behind him, nearly simultaneously transmuting his arm into a short blade while sending one of his throwing knives right into the metallic arm's joints, effectively disabling it – and making the already furious man nearly rabid.
"Yeah, real man and pansy alchemist." he commented, blade under the man's throat "I can see that."
The other nearly try to attack again despite the blade threatening him – but then, a cold, authoritative voice rang out "Stand down, captain. You've lost."
"I can still take him on, general!" the tall, heavy-built man stammered
"You stupidly underestimated him and lost, Bucaneer." the feminine voice contradicted calmly, as a tall, regal looking blond woman appeared, looking barely concerned by the snow storm raging around them "So, you're Mustang's little pets."
"Don't mistake predators for tamed beasts." warned Ed calmly, stepping back from the defeated man and calling back his knife with a thought "You won't like the consequences."
Tempesta stopped licking her paws to yip her agreement - and even the fact that she hadn't even deigned help Ed in the fight was telling, even if the tall defeated man didn't know it.
The woman laughed, the sound wild and genuine "Well, you'll fit in right in with this kind of attitude!" she turned around, clearly ordering them to follow – which they did, the captain slower than most thanks to his malfunctioning arm hampering him
And out of the blizzard, Fort Briggs finally appeared.
The two brothers' eyes widened at the enormous, impossibly high and heavily armored walls – the northern most border of their country, the bastion between Amestris and Drachma. The last bloody circle to be carved into their country for Father's nefarious plans.
¤.¤.¤
"Here, everyone has to work to earn their keep." Miles was explaining as they headed toward the general's office "And so will you." a nod at Riza, and Havoc that had joined them somewhere along the walk "Those two already do too."
"What kind of job?"
He smiled, secretly amused "You'll see soon enough."
"Our job's to clean the ice of the pipes and walls. Those things are a bloody calamity!" Havoc explained animatedly "clean them out one day, back the next with this fucking weather!"
"They are a serious problem for the Fort." Riza explained in a more sedated tone – while she didn't like doing a job that should be that of a new recruit, she did understand its importance "A breaking stalactite can easily kill an unlucky man walking by, and if not cleared from the pipes, they would break under the weight."
"And since there's no miracle solution against ice, everyone has to take his turn on the job." Miles explained "Don't think we're only doing this because you're outsiders."
"Well, you're still taking advantage of our presence to free your men from the task." Havoc pointed out
"They have their use elsewhere. You don't."
"You don't know that." Al contradicted "I mean lieutenant Hawkeye is a weapon specialist, so putting her on cleaning duty is a bit of a waste. If you must make us work, why not making us work usefully?"
Riza was thorn between agreeing and wincing.
While Al was right, she knew well enough where people like her, and the two brothers would be sent if his proposition was heard – the front. And while she would do it if needed, she had no desire to fight and kill again, nor any wish to see the two brothers, already far too jaded as they were for kids so young, discovering first hand the hell that was the battlefield.
"Responsibilities are given to trusted people." the white-haired major answered "That's why."
Ed was seemingly ready to protest – then stopped himself.
"Hn. Not like you've got any reason to trust us I guess." he admitted with a shrug "Still, don't know how we're suppose to earn that while sweeping the floor."
Miles wasn't given the time to answer, as they had reached their destination.
"So the bastard's trying to make me believe he's sending a team of four in my turf just to find some kind of run-away low-life?"
Ed and Al carefully controlled their initial reaction of fear – that woman was terrifying; in a position authority, in a region that was peaceful only in name and knowing it well. They weren't in friendly territory anymore and weren't used to it – they may have spent years traveling the East, and South, they had mainly been involved in small scale rebellion in the agitated territories, not outright war.
And there was no mistake to it – even if peace was the official state in the north, they were in a war zone.
Al was suddenly really thankful for those training session from hell that had helped them become much more used to killing intent than they had been, and their own teacher's demonic personality. Otherwise he'd have been petrified by the woman and would have spilled any and all secrets in front of her – which was probably what she was aiming for.
Still, even if they weren't there to share all their secrets, it was clear enough that she would hinder them in any way she could as long as she wasn't satisfied about their true intent for being there.
"You've already received colonel Mustang's mission order." Riza pointed out
"And this thing is shit." the general answered coldly "I'm not going to let idiots from Central fool around in my base just on that bastard's say so!"
"Ah yes, taking your anger out on us easy target while you're obliged to cater to the real problem." Ed smiled indulgently
Al winced.
There it was again – somehow he was wondering if this new evolution of his brother's natural ability to make people want to throttle him wasn't going to be even more dangerous for him...
Thankfully, while anger was clear in her eyes, the blond woman was also more in control of her temper than her subordinate and simply smiled – Al shuddered at the familiar, predatory rictus, only seen up until now on Teacher and Ari's face.
"You know, it's really funny how fast you were sent here, and that just after the explosive maniac was freed and sent up here. So, what's your problem with him?"
"No problem at all." Ed smiled "Why would we have a problem with our Fuhrer's personal envoy? After all, we're loyal Amestrians."
General Armstrong's eyes glinted, as she took the clue in the way it was intended "Major Miles, now that I think about it the Crimson Alchemist is still fairly new to the North, we should be good hosts and ensure he doesn't get lost, shouldn't we?"
"I'll organize it." said major agreed easily
The woman's focus went back on the Central team "You know, if anyone was to imply that the Fuhrer's personal envoy was a traitor to the country, one would have to wonder how it is possible for the Fuhrer not to know it..."
"We're lucky no one said anything like that then." Ed smiled "After all, it's just like you said, our country would have to worry if it's own leader was to turn against it."
Al refrained from shooting a surprised look toward his brother – even without saying anything clear, he was still revealing a lot to the general in front of them.
"This would be the kind of country where any high ranking officer disagreeing with the core of power would be sent out of the capital city just to be kept out of the way." Riza idly noted, gaining the group's attention "A bit like let's say if general Grumman was approached on a secret project, then sent to the East just after he emitted any doubt about it." a smile "But of course, this is just hearsay, I wouldn't know anything about it."
"Of course." Ed nodded seriously "We have been working in the East for years after all, we wouldn't know anything about what's going on with Central's brass. Even if general Grumman is in charge of our district..."
Al was impressed by his brother's quick reaction – especially since this tidbit about general Grumman was new to him, ad as such, to Ed too. They would have to ask more about it to Riza later, it seemed like the colonel may had uncovered some new information about Father's plan...
¤.¤.¤
His train of thoughts was abruptly cut as something new suddenly came to his senses.
"Brother!" he interrupted urgently "There's a Sin here!"
Ed, Riza and Havoc eyes widened at the affirmation, all going for their weapon on instinct – just as alarm was sounded, and running steps were heard trough the nearest gangway "We're under attack general! It came from underground!"
The woman was already up, menacingly looming toward Al "You! How did you know about this! Are you with..."
"We're not with them!" Ed shouted, finally loosing his calm "Don't be stupid, our first reaction wouldn't be to fight if we were! We've trained in Xingese martial arts and alkahestry, it helps us feel people around us."
"And that thing."
"And that thing." Al shuddered "We can't just barge in on it, it won't do any good!"
"What do you mean?" she asked already setting a fast pace toward the attacks direction
"Consider them as literally immortals." Ed grumbled "Those we've seen each had different abilities... toughened skin, nearly instantaneous regeneration, cutting length-shaping nails, general shape-shifting..."
"As long as their core isn't depleted, they'll stay alive." Al added "And there's no telling where their core is."
"And," Riza completed as they neared the fighting zone "you never heard anything about this from us and you have no idea about these things. You don't want to attract attention to you knowledge about this, trust me."
The general snorted; she wouldn't trust them, not without reason, but she'd keep what they said in mind – because they looked far too serious, and worried for the situation to be anything but risky. If there was one thing she trusted in, it was her ability to read people's reactions.
And she had a Fort and its soldiers to protect.
The lowest levels of the building were far different from the higher ones in that this was the core of the Fort – the place where the most important system was kept: the heating system; the one thing keeping the hundreds of people living in the fort from freezing to death within a few hours during the worst of winter.
When the monster had rushed out from the ground, revealing a large tunnel which they couldn't see the end of, he'd teared three of the main pipes, severely compromising the base working order.
The general frowned as she noted that, then took her attention back to the on-going fight.
If it could be called that, one-sided as it was.
A tall, bulky grotesque figure, overly muscular and without a spark of intelligence in the eyes – that was the enemy. He was barely defending himself, sweeping the soldiers out of his way in a careless manner while muttering about a job to finish, and how troublesome he found the whole situation to be.
"I'll give you two guesses about which sin he's supposed to be, and the first two don't count." Ed whispered to Al as they grimly noted that nothing seemed to go through the monster's thick hide
Al didn't even bother answering, focused on finding a way to help out – and really, with the way the creature was complaining about wanting to sleep, Sloth wasn't all that hard to identified.
"He's getting into the Development Section!" a man loudly warned
The tall homunculus finally was getting annoyed with the flies fluttering around him and one large hand wrenched out a large pipe from the wall and threw it toward a group of men busy arming a Gatling.
"Ed!"
"On it!"
Al jumped toward the group, hands clapping and a wall of dirt rose in front of them, deflecting the improvised weapon, while Ed had jumped in the opposite way, throwing knives in hands "What do you think you're going to do with these!" a nearby soldier protested "Guns don't work against him!"
Ed's grin wasn't bloodthirsty in the way Ari was, but it wasn't far behind as complicated arrays ignited off the blades crafted by their sister and, with a loud band and far more velocity than they should have, flew toward their target, deeply gouging into the homunculus shoulder – the first wound they'd even managed to land on him since he'd appeared.
Except the wound was already closing around the knives, even if they reopened said wound when Ed called them back to him.
Ed and Al shared a grim look.
Sloth was making Envy seems like an easy opponent.
Then, the growling sound of a heavy tank rolling toward them was heard, as general Armstrong loudly ordered everyone to get out of the way.
"The Development Section won't disappoint you, general!" the man driving the prototype vowed
"Fire!"
¤.¤.¤
The first shot hit the homunculus in the face, taking half of it with him and making it protest "Being in pain is troublesome!"
The second shot was aimed toward the body – and under everyone's horrified eyes, the inhuman being simply caught it, getting projected a few meters back but not even scratched while his face was already healed.
The volley of fire following did little more than annoy the homunculus, but gave enough time to let Al and Ed regroup.
"You know," Al mused, eyes focused on the being that seemed to be trying to get back to the hole it came from "Forgetting about Envy's monstrous appearance, homunculus are supposedly made with the human body as a basis."
"Which means that even if they have superhuman powers, their body composition still is the same." Ed followed his thoughts "Which means..."
"Even if we can't kill him, incapacitating him should be doable." Al nodded
"That's it we're freezing the bastard!" Ed's smile grew sharper as his mind ran ahead with calculations
"It may be cold outside but we're in the warmest place of the Fort!" his brother contradicted "It won't be that easy."
"You're a prodigy at water alchemy, don't tell me you don't see a way to convert all the steam leaking from the heat system into it's opposite?"
"I guess if I combine water and air alchemy..." answered Al, thinking about it "Dual alchemy isn't supposed to be done in the spur of the moment! It requires testing!"
"No time for this." Ed waved away his protest "I'll get rid of his body heat and use it to feed the heat system while fixing it and you freeze his ass!"
"Alright, alright!" Al snapped, stressed out by the daring plan – but not seeing any other solution
With that, the two brothers were jumping toward the homunculus that had nearly made its way back toward the tunnel it was digging – Ed swiftly drawing a complicated array on the pipes that had been thorn open, before rushing toward Sloth and slapping the other half of the array he'd thought up on his back.
Within seconds, the homunculus' movement grew more sluggish, as his body lost the heat necessary for it to function properly, and Al was activating his own array at it's feet, the warm steam that had rushed out of the broken pipes sucked out of the air and condensing into a cold column centered around the homunculus.
Finally, Sloth froze, not able to move anymore.
"Well," Ed commented, dusting himself after finishing fixing the large pipes "That's done with."
As if only waiting for his comment, an onslaught of notifications appeared
[Hidden Quest Complete! Hold the line!
You've stopped Sloth's rampage in Fort Briggs!
Reward: +250XP, Wardrobe System unlocked
Bonus goal 1 complete!
You managed to stop Sloth before the fort's staff sustained any casualty
Bonus reward: +350XP, +5 Ice affinity
Bonus goal 2 complete!
You helped with the Fort reparations
Bonus reward:+350XP, +5 Ice affinity]
[Secondary Affinity skills unlocked!
You can now develop affinity with combined elements on top of primary one, For example an Ice Affinity would previously be calculated thus (Water+Air)/4 and will now be calculated thus (Ice+(Water+Air)/4)
note that Secondary Affinity are very slow growing skill, progressing four time slower than a normal skill]
Of course, he'd spoken a bit too fast – while the homunculus wouldn't break free as long as nobody messed with the arrays the two brothers had inscribed, they still had an angry general to deal with.
"Secure the area, don't touch that thing but keep an eye on it!" the blond woman was harshly snapping while stomping toward them "What the hell was this thing! And how the fuck did you stop it?"
"Like we said earlier," Riza stressed, while coming back from where she'd been helping the shooters "we have no idea about what this was."
"We just supposed it's make-up was human and used this to stop him. Right now, he's just frozen in place with an ice array." Al added "Should he thaw, the problem would be intact."
"I'm sure any other question you have can be asked later," Ed continued "in your office."
The tall blond woman still looked furious, but seemed to decide to take on the eldest brother suggestion, and turned her back to them, barking orders around in order to get the place back into working order as fast as possible – and soon as soon as the general took notice of the reparation Ed had done, they were enrolled to help fix the homunculus' damages.
Soon enough, the large hole in the ground was all that was left of the Sin's incursion in the fort, and the Armstrong woman was giving orders to investigate the dark tunnel, under the group from Central worried glances. If, like they had recently realized, Father was crafting his array under the surface, then this was probably it – and anyone entering would risk facing another homunculus.
The general of the northern fort seemed to have come to a similar conclusion, as she instructed the out-going team to act carefully and discretely, but they feared it wouldn't be enough.
¤.¤.¤
If she hadn't been bed-ridden, Ari would probably be pacing.
While she had known that she couldn't always be by her brothers' side, the idea that the two boys were heading into danger at the other side of the country without her wasn't sitting well with her, even if she couldn't do anything about it.
For now.
And it wasn't like she didn't understand why they had to leave without her – right now she wasn't in any state to travel, and Maes' news about Kimblee was worrying enough that it had to be acted upon as fast as possible.
But it was still the first time they had been apart for any length of time, and she hadn't expect it to be so painful.
Ana, her dog's pack instinct acting up, didn't like the situation anymore than her, but was happy that Ari was still with her, and spending time with her – and even if Al was better than her sister at explaining her lessons, she didn't complain, too happy that at least one of her family members was still here.
The two sisters were spending a lot of time with Izumi Curtis, the alchemy master impressed by how much Al had already taught their youngest sibling, and learning a bit more about Ari's past while they spent their afternoon alternatively debating alchemical theories and talking about any topic that caught their fancy.
Somehow, day after day, Ariana found herself talking about her previous lifes and how she had found herself cast as the youngest goddess around with her teacher – and then, about Chaos' Game. As such, she was barely surprised when, sometime during their talks, the woman's eyes widened, as elegant green letters materialized before her eyes in a way that would soon become familiar.
And, because where Izumi was, her husband followed, Chaos' Game gained two new players at once.
While impressed by the strange new gift, Mr Curtis, down to earth like always, didn't really need it – he was a butcher, after all, and as such he considered it more like a fancy gadget than anything else, and was more happy about the fact that it symbolized the trust Ari and her siblings had in them.
Because they couldn't have a kid, and Izumi had always refused to adopt, considering herself unworthy of being a mother after her failed attempt at getting their stillborn child back, the Elric siblings were the closest the two Curtis had come to having children.
Finally, Ed and Al arrived at Fort Briggs – and what an arrival it had been! And that night, the two brothers had sent her a long message detailing the events of the day – the impressive walls of the northern fort, the harshness of the people that maintained peace a well as they could on that border, and of course, the homunculus impromptu attack.
She had been thorn between pride and worry at her siblings when she read about how they had neutralized Sloth, but was soon focusing on trading ideas with them to help them localize the Philosopher Stone that kept that monster alive.
The best bet they had, loath as she was to admit it, was to refine Al's dragon pulse enough that he could not only feel the humunculus, but even feel precisely where the souls were bound in their body, just like she could.
This wouldn't be easy for her brother, and there was no coming back from it – but she knew he could do it.
Ari was also surprised at how fast Ed seemed to be ready to let the general Armstrong in on some of the knowledge they had, but knew that not only were her brother's instincts about people quite good, he also had a better view of the situation in the north than her, since she wasn't up there with them.
¤.¤.¤
As such, while her brothers focused on the situation in the north, Ari decided that rather than rush there as soon as she was on her feet, she'd spent a bit more time in Dublith, and take advantage of that time to start thinking about a way to help Ling.
While it wasn't a top priority compared to saving their country, right now she couldn't do anything more to help the situation regarding the Promised Day.
After all, she somehow doubted that either Roy or her siblings would approve of her aimlessly wandering Central City at night until she caught another homunculus.
So helping Ling it was.
Within ten minutes, she was ready to bang her head on a wall – or the prince's head.
While under his shifty appearance there was no denying the political savvy mind, quick intelligence and elegant fighting skills of the Xingese, he knew nothing about medicine nor alkahestry, and it showed when she proceeded to ask for more details about the Emperor's state of health and what his healers had attempted.
With what meager information the prince could provide, she would have an easier time helping him take the throne by force!
Idly, she mused that she could have used a few of Mizuki's potions – there weren't a lot of illness that could resist to the wizarding world health potions. And it would give the aging emperor delusions of being back to full health even thought it would do nothing against aging – which was what Ling wanted.
But she wasn't on Earth right now, and as such her best bet was to create something similar via alchemy, or more probably alkahestry.
It would have been easier with precise knowledge about the man's condition, but some array could probably be crafted anyway.
The problem was making said array work on the emperor, after all, while she did wish to visit Xing one day, she really couldn't afford to right now – except that an array needed an alchemist to become active, and whatever array she did craft would no doubt be much too complicated for someone that wasn't either her siblings, Roy or Teacher to activate.
What she needed was a way to make an array that could be activated without being an alchemist – or maybe only the barest knowledge.
She didn't even realized that her eyes had lightened up as she started thinking about the idea, and she was already composing a message to Roy, anxious to trade ideas with her fellow alchemist and husband.
Of course, it wasn't as easy as it sounded – but that only made the challenge more interesting, and she was soon neck deep into complicated calculation and never seen before theories.
If the item she wanted to make had been for another purpose, she could have easily enough mixed her godly powers with alchemy to create whatever she wanted – but Ariana, or rather Shadow, was goddess of Death and as such a healing item was quite simply out of her abilities.
Given how opposed Life and Death were, she didn't have any natural talent or affinity for healing, no matter how much she regretted it...
Soon enough, she found a promising idea – what she was coming to call Blood Alchemy.
Using her innate knowledge of blood runes an rituals thanks to her Blood Art, and Roy, Teacher and her own vast grasp on alchemical theory, they had soon manage to blend the two into a new discipline that any skilled alchemist could use as long as he was taught to.
The idea for this, of course, had been the blood lock on her own notes, and the one found on the alchemy laboratory of old Xerxes – clearly if something similar had already been done in this world, it wasn't impossible.
The first successful blood circle was made within a few days, and the three Xingese used as test subject – Ariana had created a new variant of her diagnosis array, that once written could be activated by adding four drops of the patient's blood in one secondary circle and three drops of the doctor in another one.
A wide smile was shared by the three Xingese and the two female alchemist at their first success, and a notification echoed it.
[Personal Quest Activated! A new Philosopher!
Goal: create and test one functional Blood Alchemy circle
Bonus goal: have your circle tested by someone else than you
Reward:+500XP per goal, "The Scarlet Philosopher" title unlocked upon completion
Bonus goal reward: +750XP per goal, Teacher status unlocked upon completion]
[Goal complete! +500XP
Goal update: teach a blood circle to at least one other alchemist
Bonus goal complete! +750XP
Bonus goal update: teach a blood circle to several alchemists]
[Goal complete! +500XP
Goal update: get to rank 25 in Blood Alchemy
Bonus goal complete! +750XP
Bonus goal update: get other alchemists to rank 10 in Blood Alchemy]
[Level up! You are now level 58!
+2CP, +4SP]
Ari's eyes widened as she suddenly gained four level, a new quest and skill – and as soon as every player of Chaos' Game was contacted, it appeared that her unlocking this new quest had unlocked other personalized quests for everyone else.
Al was several goals in on his quest to become the Professor, spreading alchemy knowledge across the world, Roy was without any surprise well on his way to become Fuhrer, Winry's quest involved becoming a renowned automail mechanics, and so on...
One positive effect those Personal Quests had, even if no one voiced it was that they were outlining long-term goal – letting them see a future beyond Promised Day, something that was sometime difficult to contemplate.
¤.¤.¤
In the aftermath of the homunculus attack, hiding anything from the fearsome general Armstrong had been a lost cause – her territory had been menaced, and the predatory woman was angry.
Hearing about their hypothesis about why the Crimson Alchemist had been sent north propelled her from angry to seething – and they had won an ally.
Because sure enough, she despised the colonel, but her view on the Central commanding idiots that wanted immortality and an invincible army were even worse – and hadn't that been a nasty shock for Ed and Al, to learn the scheme Grumman had disclosed to Mustang...
To think their current country was facing the same fate as that of their father's because of the exact same reason.
Still, they had come to an understanding with the fearsome general – they would work to earn their keep, as anyone in the fort under her rule, and she wouldn't hamper their work. And because Fort Briggs answered to Armstrong and no one else, if she said they had her blessing, no one would question them – her one stipulation was that major Miles would work with them.
As said major was leading them toward the living quarters, their talk soon went to the unconventional loyalty the men had for their general – soon explained when the man removed his dark glasses, revealing red eyes beneath them.
The Central team had been surprised, even if they suppressed it as much as they could "All of us have our reason for believing in the general." a smirk "After all there isn't a person in Fort Briggs that doesn't have anything to hide." the smirk disappeared as fast as it had appeared as he added in a darker tone "You've done quite a number on my ancestors' land, Amestrians."
"Well we're from the East. You've burned our country and killed our best friend's parents, Ishvalian." Ed retorted without a pause, Al nodding along
To their surprise, the major laughed at their repartee "This is actually the first time someone answers me back!" he said while putting back his glasses "When people see this skin and eyes, they instantly draw back. As if being an Ishavalian was something to be pitied for or ashamed of." he shrugged "I'm not even really Ishvalian, only my grand-father was, but somehow the blood came out strong in me." they could guess at the darkening eyes hidden behind the glasses "I had just been assigned here when the purge started. All my relative in the East were killed, but I wasn't because I was Amestrian enough not to be killed..."
"Yet you stayed in the military?" Al couldn't help but ask
"I wanted to resign. I both hated the military and didn't want to stay and cause dissension. Yet the general kept me as her assistant, saying that she didn't care about blood, gender or age. This is Fort Briggs she said, where only the fittest survive."
Ed nodded at that – one didn't need to have known the woman for long to understand that she lived by those words.
"After that she offered to duel me one on one if I couldn't let go of my hatred for the military."
"She would have done it and sliced you in two, at that." he couldn't help but grumble
"She would have." the man agreed, somehow smiling at the affirmation
As they put their gear away in the four bed room they had been given, Riza and Havoc updated them on the latest development on their assignment – Soft J Kimblee had arrived at fort Briggs the night before, heavily injured after an altercation with Scar. The Ishvalian had managed to escape and the alchemist recovery would take several weeks.
Except that it hadn't.
While they were busy battling Sloth, the Lieutenant General Raven had shown up in the military hospital where Kimblee was – and the man had been miraculously healed and was ready to track down Scar, refusing any help from Fort Briggs.
"So they gave a Red Stone to that mad attack dog." Ed muttered, immediately coming the logical conclusion "Great."
"Well, at least we're forewarned." Al pointed out with a sigh
¤.¤.¤
While it had been easy enough to play the brother's part into defeating the homunculus as merely quick thinking from them, hiding the attack itself hadn't been possible, and lieutenant general Raven had barged in the fort, proclaiming that the inhuman thing was in fact a chimera working for Central, and not a Drachma prototype, as Armstrong had professed they suspected, and that it needed to be put back in place.
The tall, blond woman with ice blue eyes would have liked nothing more than to ignored the other general completely.
Except that he was her superior in terms of rank, and his orders came from Central – and right now, being openly rebellious against the traitorous system would probably get her expelled from her territory without as much as a by your leave, her men put under a commander officer that would have no qualm about sacrificing them for his own immortality.
So she bit her tongue on the insults she would have loved to hurl at the older general, instead steering him skillfully toward the conspiracy that she had just learned of.
And making the man speak had been disgustingly easy, the female general having only to play on her supposed womanly and motherly instincts to make him spill it all.
Ed, Al, Riza, Havoc and Miles, that were spying on her with a small team of specialists she had hand-picked, had a hard time not losing their serious as she acted.
That general from Central really must have been stupid – or abhorrently sexist – to buy in that act.
Womanly and motherly instincts? The general Amtrong had about as much of those as Ed...
Scratch that – Ed at least was in his own way motherly with his siblings!
Armstrong was anything but a woman afraid of growing old and ready to sacrifice her men for that. Sure, Briggs was the land of survival of the fittest, but it didn't mean that they abandoned their brothers in arms, on the contrary.
Finally, between Fort Briggs leader's acting skills, and the two alchemists brothers blatant lying, the general was convinced that it would take several days to thaw his "chimera".
The two brothers set to work immediately – not to free the homunculus, of course, but to dispose of it.
Clearly, they had to appear to be thawing and freeing Sloth – so they had to find a way to trace and destroy him later on.
Talking about the situation with the other alchemists that were available via Chaos' Game messaging system quickly made them come to one solution – the best solution to defeat the non-human would be to take out the Red Stone sustaining its life.
For that, Al would have to improve his dragon pulse ability as much as he could, while Ed focused on finding a way to track the homunculus.
The eldest Elric was getting frustrated, getting nowhere in his query – until Ari let it slip that she was working on merging her blood runes and alchemy on a level she never had before. That was all the help he needed – immediately asking her to sent over a copy of her notes, he went to work, having a break-through a few moments after a Personal Quest suddenly appeared in his notifications, along with the new Blood Alchemy skill.
On the fifth morning, the two brothers, generals, and a few of Armstrong's men were in the tunnel, where the homunculus had already been placed, still frozen.
Al and Ed approached the icy non-human, seemingly both working on unfreezing him – only Al really doing it, while Ed was placing his new tracking array on the Sin.
They stepped back, letting lieutenant general Raven talk to the tall and slow being in loud and exaggeratedly pronounced words, telling him he had to get back to the work Pride had given him.
And with a few powerful movement, the tall homunculus went back to the dead-end of the tunnel, and started to dig.
As Sloth soon disappeared in the darkness, working inhumanly fast, they shared a glance in the back of the old man.
"Well, general," sweetly smiled Mira Armstrong "Thanks for all your help." the fluid move with witch she unsheathed her weapon before impaling the man was so fast the two siblings would probably have missed it before they stepped up their training after the Scar debacle
¤.¤.¤
"Why ?" the man managed to ask as his blood smeared the ground "We offered you immortality!"
"Why would I want anything offered by traitors that are using our whole country as their playground?" she sneered back at him, the depth of her scorn easy to read in her eyes
Ed refrained from closing his eyes at the unpleasant scene.
While he had never killed anyone, and had no desire to do so, he understood why she had done so – the man had served his use, relaying to Central how willing to work with them she was, and had been seen cooperating with them by the homunculus; right now he was nothing more than a hindrance.
And according to the north's harsh rules, a useless man, an enemy at that, had no right to live.
"None of you saw anything." the strong woman asserted "If I'm discovered by Central, I killed him alone. Understood?"
A halfhearted acquiesment was her men only answer – and Ed would bet that none of them would let her take the fall alone if fall there was.
"Lets get rid of this trash and get back to the Fort." she continued
Eyeing the body a moment, Ed hesitated before visualizing the same circle his sister had used, years ago.
With a clap, the corpse of lieutenant general Raven burst into flames.
The elder Elric shared a glance with both Al and Riza, all three of them remembering the day they had met – ignoring the speculating look Mira Armstrong was throwing them, the intelligent woman knowing full well that while they had shared with her their knowledge of the nation-wide conspiracy it was far from their only secret.
They were ready to get back up when they heard some noise in the darkened tunnel.
With but a glance of their C.O., two of the general's men were heading ahead, their torches giving out a paltry light, that soon revealed three trembling men, visibly terrified out of their mind.
"It's coming!" was muttering one of them "The eyes in the dark!"
The three of them were covered in blood, and a few meters from them, were the scattered remains of the rest of their team. A few bits of equipment, and cut off humans parts.
Even the battle-hardened veterans of the north eyes widened with revulsion.
Whatever had done that, it had been even less human than Sloth.
The soldiers went to help their comrades still shocked and they vacated the tunnel.
A few hours later, the survivors taken care of by the Fort's infirmary and finally able to give their report – an empty report, they had merely followed the empty tunnel for a few days before turning back, low on rations and not wanting to take any risk, when they had felt something unnatural crept upon them, and the darkness thicken.
They had hastened toward the end of the tunnel, but the darkness had been relentless, and those who were caught in it didn't scream long.
Then, suddenly, it had disappeared, just as it was catching up with them, leaving only them alone.
Then the general had come, and they had thought it an hallucination at first. When they saw that Raven seemed to be working with Sloth, they'd been utterly terrified, the dark monster that had decimated their unit still fresh in mind – only when the man had been killed did they dare to try and call out, they admitted, thorn between looking ashamed of their fear and still terrified.
That night, Ed and Al bundled into the same bed, Tempesta and Paws curling with them, sorely missing their sisters.
Neither Riza nor Havoc commented, both more seasoned than them, yet still badly shaken up by the day.
¤.¤.¤
The short, terse accounting of the day Ed had managed to sent her made Ariana want to rush by her brothers side – she was pretty sure her Night Flames were trained enough for her to jumped directly to Central, and from them rush toward Fort Briggs with shorter jumps.
Except, of course, it would probably exhaust her when she was finally back in full health, and explaining how she'd made the days long travel in hours would be nearly impossible.
She cuddled with an already asleep Ana idly, the little girl burrowing into her side – she hated being held back by this world's more constraining rules, and it was at times like these that she understood why Death had been so reluctant for her to be sent here so soon.
Each use of her holy powers spent her in a way it hadn't in her previous life, and even her more "normal" powers were so alien she had to be careful while using them.
Feeling her inner turmoil, Padfoot let out a small whine, before nuzzling her reassuringly.
She wrapped her arms around the warm and furry body, thankful to her godfather for having followed her through those lifes, and feeling better with his reassuring presence by her side.
Finally, she managed to fall into slumber.
She was woken up early the next morning by a surprise call from granny Pinako.
Taking the receiver while chasing the last whisper of sleepiness from her mind, she listened to the old woman that had taken care of them for years.
Then nearly dropped the receiver, all thought of sleep chased away.
She shouldn't be so surprised, she mused, Pinako's news echoing in her head.
After all, she had told him, years ago, to come back, and he did say he would.
But they had searched fruitlessly for him for year, and she had been so used, from the start, not to have a father, that she had nearly forgotten that one day or another, he'd be back into their life.
And now, he was back – Von Hohenheim.
"I'm going to Rosembool."
Seeing the agitation of her youngest student, Izumi Curtis frowned, then retorted "We're coming."
Ari's eyes widened slightly in surprised – then she smiled, briefly hugging her teacher before stepping back and going to gather her stuffs and Ana's, while Izumi called Mason to put him in charge of the store and inform her husband of their imminent trip.
Ling, that had arrived in the kitchen as she made her proclamation to Izumi, merely nodded toward his two shadows as they too went too prepare to travel.
Soon enough, Xingeses and Amestrians were in a train toward the East, Winry sending a short message announcing she'd join them in the train at Rush Valley's stop.
The train's rumbling lulled her in with it's familiarity and she was finally able to write to her brothers, wincing just by thinking about Ed's predictable reaction to the news she was sending them.
While he did understand why their father had left, it didn't mean his anger an resentment toward the man had disappeared at all - their reunion would be explosive, she could all but bet on it.
¤.¤.¤
Roy finished his stack of paperwork with a bored sigh.
One would have thought that Riza not being here to force him to work and teasing him about Ari would be a good thing – yet he was even more bored than usual. He'd even done all his work early!
And judging by the amused glances he was getting from his team, he just knew they were enjoying his predicament.
Really, what had he thought when he decided to become a commanding officer? No field-work, and mountains of paperwork, this had to be some kind of torture...
He was really thankful to his returned memories right now – because at least, he had the message system of Chaos' Game to help him alleviate boredom, and annoying Ed worked even in written form, which was kind of impressive.
The first reports from Havoc and Riza had been both reassuring and concerning.
While Kimblee hadn't gone in a mad killing spree at Fort Briggs – yet – the confirmation that Scar was there, and ready to fight wasn't a good news.
One mad man there was enough, two mad men set on fighting each other and with no regard for collateral damages was too much. The apparent calm in the icy fortress wouldn't last.
And sure enough, on the very day of FullMetal and EarthBreaker's arrival in the north, the situation started to go to hell.
Funny, up until now he'd been pretty sure it was his bambina that tended to provoke chaos in her wake without even trying, but her eldest brother seemed just as skilled in it as her apparently.
Now that he thought about it, maybe it wasn't that surprising – heroes were supposed to have an interesting life weren't they? And the two Elric brothers clearly were this world's chosen so of course life wouldn't be boring around them.
Not like in Central.
This was the headquarter of the enemy, how the hell could life be so boring in this city?
Then again, the Fuhrer, all nonhuman that he was, had shirked his duty to visit Ariana when she was sick and left with the promise of a fighting tournament in Central City when she came back. That should alleviate his boredom a bit.
Now if only the bambina could come back...
"Colonel," Fuery interrupted his musing, a heap of sheet held out toward him "you're going to want to see this."
His eyebrow rose as he read the report.
While he'd already had his team's report thanks to Chaos' Game messages, and the daily call they'd agreed on, this was still interesting news from the north.
Scar's traveling companions weren't as first thought hostages but willing partner. And there was one more than the previous intel had let on – a man that wasn't named but that he could recognize through the words.
Why would doctor Marcoh, that had previously been lying low and traveling around in order not to be caught by Father, work with the Ishvalian killer? And why on earth were they traveling with a small Xingese girl proficient in alkahestry and her pet miniature panda?
With a shrug, he started to compose a message to his team in the north, when a torrent notification suddenly popped.
[Personal Quest activated! Long live the King!
Goal: enroll in the military
Bonus Goal: enroll in the officer academy
Reward:+500XP per goal, "Fuhrer" title unlocked upon completion
Bonus reward: 750XP per goal,
[Goal complete!+500XP
Goal update: pass the State Alchemist Exam
Bonus goal complete! +750XP
Bonus goal update: be rank among the top three in the written test]
[Goal complete! +500XP
Goal update: be promoted
Bonus goal complete!+750XP
Bonus goal update: be promoted within three years
[Goal complete! +500XP
Goal update: be posted in Central headquarters
Bonus goal complete!+750XP
Bonus goal update: be posted in Central headquarters before 30 year old
[Goal complete!+500XP
Goal update: be promoted to general
Bonus goal complete!+750XP
Bonus goal update: be promoted to general before 40 year old]
[Level up! You are now level 75!
+1PP, +2CP, +7SP]
[Perk available:
- Womanizer (1/3):+3 Charisma, (unlocks Womanizer (2/3): double rate of learning Communication Skills)
- Commanding Officer's Aura: double rate of learning Communication and Ground Skills
- Arcobaleno's gift: gain +1 Skill Point in every Affinity each 10 level, applicable retroactively]
[Blood Alchemy skill unlocked!]
[System Log: Mastery available
You are now eligible to select a mastery. Note that each mastery has a specific skill requirement to choose it, and will offer specific bonus and skill set that will add itself to your current class bonuses.
You will not be able to level up above level 75 as long as you haven't selected and gained your Mastery.]
¤.¤.¤
Roy blinked.
Did he just level up seven times for basically... living his life up until now? Shaking his head in disbelief, he went back to the message he was writing, before mentioning toward the end the new quest that had just appeared.
Then he started another message, this on destined toward his bambina, because he just knew this was linked to her – and as suspected she didn't disappoint.
To think the ideas they had just started to think about a few days ago had already been polished into a completely new type of alchemy. His alchemist's mind forgot about the rest of his day's duties, as he started to work on the notes she had sent him – and he was so absorbed by it that it wasn't until the next day that he remembered that he had a mastery to chose...
There were only two choices, and the requirement were quite high, each needing a Skill at 100, 75, 50 and 25 to be unlocked – and the choice was quick to be made.
While the Warrior Mastery would have provided a welcomed boost in Endurance, he was nowhere near the requirement demanded, and meeting them would take too much time he didn't have.
As such, he settled on the Savant Mastery and it's boost in Luck.
No sooner had he validated his choice and chosen his Mastery Perk that Fuery was calling him at the phone, Havoc calling to report – and Riza's written message being received in his inbox in Chaos' Game.
He barely refrained from snorting as he read about how Mira had killed Raven; that was typical of the woman who hated his guts.
The brothers' reaction was far less funny, but not unexpected, as neither of them were killers.
As for the three survivors from the tunnel...
The description of terrifying darkness made him think back to his first encounters with the Vindice, holders of the Omerta among the mafia in his previous life – their unearthly Night Flames making pause even the worst of the killers of the underworld.
They may have worked closely together later on in his life, he would never forget about that first meeting – and they never lost their horrific reputation.
He sighed.
Knowing his bambina, she would be barely restraining herself from rushing to her brothers' side when she heard about the day's events. He started mentally reviewing the paperwork he would need should she decide to go to them on the next day – because as much as she wanted to, she wouldn't just flame-jump to them, she was far too intelligent to do so.
By the next day he was happy that he had prepared the paperwork, yet hadn't filled it in – for WindBlade wasn't headed North just yet.
Von Hohenheim had finally been found.