Hi!
Sorry for the delay, I had a bad writer block at around three quarter of this chapter, I just couldn't write a word after the passage with the Fuhrer even though I knew exactly what I wanted to happen next... And finally when I managed to write the last part of the chapter, what I wanted to write somehow changed, but thankfully not so much that I don't know where I'm going next.
Thanks to all my followers and reviewers and happy new year to all!
Chapter XIII : 1914-1915
The convocation to Central Headquarter didn't come as a surprise to general Armstrong – after all a high-ranking commanding officer from Central had disappeared in the region that was under her command, they had to be seen doing something.
And it gave Central a good excuse to put its own men in charge of Fort Briggs.
Olivier Mira Armstrong repressed a snort.
If those lazy idiots thought replacing her would be enough to loose her her men's loyalty, they were sorely mistaken. Miles had been clearly instructed, and on the same day as the search for Scar was declared a lost cause in the north, she was in a train headed for Central, the two Elric brothers and the rest of Mustang's team coming along for at least part of the trip.
A few days after her arrival in Central City, news of the first battle against Drachma were already coming from her domain – just as that infuriating Mustang had guessed, blood was to be shed in Fort Briggs.
She smirked.
At least, most of it was that of the enemy – her men were prepared after all.
She would trust her men to stay alive and hold the Fort, as for herself, she was heading into the lion's den and laying the trap.
¤.¤.¤
Riza smiled at seeing Roy waiting for them at the train station.
"So eager to ditch work, fratello?" she joked
The alchemist's surprised but pleased reaction at this title made it more than worth having asked about it to Ariana.
"You wound me sorella! Is anyone in this team still respecting me?" he complained without any harsh feeling beside the words
"We all respect you colonel," corrected Havoc, amused "We just are also very aware of your shortcoming." he added, amused, before dodging the spark of fire aimed at him with the ease given by practice
Once more, Riza reflected that gaining back his memories had made her long time friend even more irreverent toward the established hierarchy, which in turn had brought him closer to his subordinates.
"Tchh. What are you doing here, you eyesore?"
Roy twitched at the contemptuous greeting from the Armstrong elder sister. He knew well the problem the woman had with him – she though him too weak-hearted, not willing enough to make use of his reputation gained during the Ishvalian rebellion to rise through the ranks. He of course disagreed, as he had merely chosen a safer and more politically savvy way to reach toward his goal.
"It's so good to see you as always, Mira dear."
"It's general Armstrong to you, stupid playboy."
"Of course Mira, how silly of me to forget." he agreed easily, avoiding he sword the next second with a smile while saying to Riza "Black Hayate couldn't wait any longer to see you, so I had to skip work to let him see you earlier."
"How considerate of you." Riza nodded, amused, crouching toward the dog that was finally free to run toward her – carefully avoiding the scary blond from the north on his way
"So the colonel really is able to take care of a pet." Havoc mused, awed
"I told you!"
"Colonel, your pet is a lizard. That's not even remotely close to a dog."
"Leon isn't a lizard, he's a chameleon." said colonel muttered as they exited the station, the chameleon on his shoulder making faces at Havoc
"Is you team some sort of menagerie unit?" Armstrong wondered, curiosity nearly managing to erase the natural animosity in her voice
"Sure seems that way sometime." Roy couldn't help but agree "And you haven't even met Padfoot..."
As they neared the two military cars – one for the general Armstrong, the other for Roy and his team – they finally saw the reason why the colonel had come.
"Rebecca!"
"Second lieutenant Catalina had some reports to submit to Central," Roy explained "she dropped by to see you, but of course you weren't there. Since your train was due any moment, I volunteered to drop her to the station."
"My train isn't in another hour," said lieutenant said to Riza "Let's find a cafe."
"You sure are easy going on your subordinates." Armstrong criticized "You really are a laid back lazy-ass."
"Yet I was called to Central first, wasn't I?"
"A simple oversight from Headquarter, I'm sure."
While the two officer made their way back to the Military District, Rebecca and Riza spent their hour gossiping about whatever had been happening in Central and East City – the two were after all long-time friends, and friendly rival.
By the time second lieutenant Catalina was in her train back to the East, Black Hayate had a barely noticeable slip of paper hidden in his collar.
¤.¤.¤
"So, what's with the message?"
Al smiled – he hadn't been sure whether the two men would come, but he had to try – and given the readiness with which Zampano and Jerso, the two chimera that had been partnered with them, had defected from under Kimblee's control, he had to try and help the other two chimera remaining in the Fort.
"Your two colleagues didn't head toward Drachma."
The two men shared an unsurprised look.
"They decided to try their chance and defect then." the blond – Heinkel – stated
"I didn't think they'd have it in them." the other – Darius, a brunette – added
"They probably wouldn't have if we hadn't given them an out." Al shrugged
He could see hope warring with distrust and doubts in their eyes – but in the end they had to know.
"What do you mean?"
"You aren't the first our government experimented on." Al explained "And some of them escaped, and eventually found each other. There are nearly two dozens of chimeras living and working somewhere in the country."
"Somewhere?"
Al gave them a small, contrite smile "While I do want to help you, I can't put them in danger. But I can point you toward someone that can accurately decide whether you can be trusted with their location, or would just be selling them to the government. And if she decides you won't sell us, she'll tell you where to go."
The next day, Heinkel and Darius didn't make it back to the Fort at the end of their patrol.
Al smiled – Ed snorted, and called him a soft-hearted brat.
And finally, the search for Scar was recognized as ended in the region, and they could hop back into a train – back to Rosembool.
Neither Al nor Ed could quite believe that at the end of their trip, their father would be waiting for them...
¤.¤.¤
In the days that followed their reunion, Ariana introduced her father to Chaos' Game – Anastasia enthusiastically adding her own, not always understandable, explanations on one part or another of said game.
And their first time in the Arena had been a revelation.
Oh, sure enough, a simple Observation had long ago told Ari the inner strength of her father – but numbers weren't everything, a lesson one had to remember when living with Chaos' Game. So she had taken the [Von Hohenheim (Living Philosopher Stone) LvMAX] with a grain a salt.
She shouldn't have.
Because her father may not be a fighter at heart, he had still lived throughout four centuries, learning and forgetting more about alchemy than anyone else along the way, but not only. Von Hohenheim didn't like to fight, and avoided using the souls within him as much as possible, but he still had so much knowledge and experience that he was on another level compared to her.
He reminded her of her first life, and of the awe she had felt during the one battle she had witnessed during Voldemort and Dumbledore – because just as the old headmaster hadn't liked to fight yet had been a fearsome opponent when provoked, Von Hohenheim wasn't to be underestimated for his peaceful ways.
That realization had been humbling for the fight-loving girl.
And it made something else clear – if her peace-loving father was that scary in a fight, then the non-human Father that could plot the demise of an entire nation without a second thought could only be worse. In that moment, a decision was made – pacifist or not, Von Hohenheim would fight, times and times again in the Arena, to teach her, and when they came, her brothers.
Convincing the man hadn't been easy, but Ari had one powerful weapon in her sleeve.
Puppy-dog eyes.
And four centuries or not, Von Hohenheim fell to them like any other father.
So for the days preceding her brother's arrival in Rosembool, Aria, Teacher and Von Hohenheim had fought in the Arena, Ana and Mr Curtis watching from the Observation Zone, the little girl doing her daily written assignments at the same time.
On the afternoon, they watched the little girl practical work while doing their own theoretical research – without surprise for one so ancient, Von Hohenheim shared most of Ari's knowledge about the different elemental alchemy types; what came as more of a surprise was that he was less knowledgeable in the practice of mixing two element together, and of course completely ignorant of Ari's own Blood Alchemy, and fascinated by it.
Naturally, the rest of the house wasn't idle while they trained, Ling, Fu and Lan Fan using the morning for their own training, while Winry took advantage of her time off from work in Rush Valley to spend time with her grand-mother and share her latest learning with her.
It was to this calm yet studious atmosphere that Scar and his party arrived, four chimeras in tow – apparently, Heinkel and Darius both could move much faster in their animal form, and as such had easily caught up with their group.
The meeting had been tense, neither Ari nor Ana having forgotten about their previous meeting with the vengeful Ishvalian, and Winry acutely aware that this was her parent's murderer standing in her courtyard.
But just as Ed and Al had been able to put their griefs to the side for the hope of another ally in their fight against Father, so did the girls.
On the other hand the Xingese were far less controlled and had all jumped into fighting position upon seeing each other.
Yes, even the panda.
Then, after several tense seconds, Ling put his dao away, gesturing to his bodyguards to relax too, and bowed toward May. Ari noted that the bow in itself was telling – a lot of Xingese traditions were similar to Asians ones, and having been born and raised Japanese in her previous life she could easily read this bow as respectful and acknowledging the young girl as an equal, something she clearly didn't expect.
"I'm sorry, princess," he said while straightening back up "that was rude of me, I'm not acting as a prince of Xing right now, and as allies in the fight to come, we should respect each other."
"I am just as much as fault, prince." the girl answered back after echoing his bow "You are right, with the current situation we should enact a truce between our clans."
"Who knew panda girl could do fancy talk?" Scar couldn't help but grumble – breaking the tension, and gaining him the ire of said girl's furry partner
Meanwhile, seeing the people relaxing around her, took advantage of it to close her eyes, and let her hold on her holy powers recede – focusing on her Soul Art, she turned her gift toward the four chimeras, taking a deeper look into each of them.
This was something she usually didn't do, as she saw it as a major breach of privacy, but Ed and Al has asked it of her in this situation – they couldn't sent untrustworthy people toward Shan Feng after all, it would put all his people and himself at risk.
Thankfully, her brother had been right in his gamble, and she reopened her eyes with a satisfied smile, not realizing her eyes were glowing an unearthly AK green.
"They're good to go." she smiled toward her Teacher
Izumi Curtis nodded along "We'll get home with them then." she smiled "We've left the shop alone for long enough, and it'll let us regroup with Shan's group."
"You're taking us to the other chimera?" Jerso asked, uncharacteristically hopeful
It was Ana that recognized his tone for the same feeling she had had the first time she met – others like herself.
And so, without a second thought, the little girl let her illusion drop, Izumi following suit with an amused smirk "You can say it like that."
¤.¤.¤
While the Curtis couple, four chimera's in tow, had left Rosembool, Scar had finally revealed the worn notebook that had been behind his travel to the north.
"While as a warrior sworn to Ishavala, I was highly revered by my people, my brother was always different..." he explained, absentmindedly running his fingers along the book's cover "He was fascinated by alchemy, and latter alkahestry, and soon faced a problem..."
"There is nothing about alkahestry in Amestris." Ari couldn't help but end – after all she had faced the same problem younger, and had never found anything about it other than what Xingese travelers could provide, and her father's books
"Exactly. But instead of letting it go, he paid the men that made the travel across the desert to bring him back books, and studied further." he went on "And one day, as the rebellion finally caught up to our village, he came to me, both arms tattooed."
His left hand went to his own tattooed arm, sorrow briefly flashing in his eyes "This was the result of his work, he said, a fusion between alchemy and alkahestry. On arm to deconstruct, the other to reconstruct." his eyes were far-away, probably back to that day "But most of all, he told me to protect his notes because he had discovered something terrible, something that concerned the whole nation, and he'd found a way to counter it."
It was Marcoh that took over "And we think that what his brother realized was that the circle that's being carved throughout the country isn't just an array for the Red Stone."
This affirmation was a big surprised for everyone – just as much as the one that followed.
"It's also a way to cut off alchemists from the earth. When we escaped Central, there was a moment when May could use alkahestry, yet my own circle were completely unresponsive."
Silence stretched for a long moment, everyone taking in the implications of this new element. Finally, it was Ari that broke the silence, her voice more cheerful than she really felt "Well, I guess we'd better start to study these notes then!"
Scar nodded "I can translate Ishvalian when needed." he said "May already went trough what she could."
"The language barrier doesn't help." the young princess admitted "But it's clearly brilliant theoretical work on the alkahestry side. The problem is that I don't know a thing about alchemy."
The following days, the afternoon studies were replaced by Von Hohenheim and Ari pouring over the notes with May Chang help, and Scar's translation.
To the Xingese girl's envy, the Von Hohenheim Inheritance was shining through, both father and daughter gaining a surprisingly fast grasp on the language – but the admiration went both way, as the two golden-eyed alchemists were impressed by the young girl talent, that was impressive too.
It was the first time for Ari that she met another child with such advanced knowledge about alchemy, or rather alkahestry, other than her family.
But as brilliant as Scar brother's research were, there was nothing in them that hinted at the secret the man had said he had stumbled upon.
Until Ana, tired of her own work, had asked about the peculiar placement of the different diagrams in the notebook.
"Of course!" Ari sent a fond smile at her sister "It's encoded."
"Well, of course it's encoded, all alchemists encode their work..." Von Hohenheim mumbled, a bit lost at his daughter sudden enthusiasm
"No, I mean it's encoded a second time! But not in words like we were looking for!"
With a swift movement, the binding of the notebook were undone, sheet scattering around her "Here, we're going to group them by keywords."
A few minutes later, the spread sheet were depicting an all too familiar array...
"I can't believe he saw it with just his own knowledge and intuition." Von Hohenheim couldn't help but whisper "Even knowing Father, it took me decades to guess at what he what doing!"
"To be fair, he wasn't nearly done back then." Ari tempered "But it is still impressive," she added, bowing her head toward Scar "your brother was someone to be respected."
"Still, it there's got to be more to it, or he wouldn't have been so insistent that his notes be kept..."
Ari nodded, thinking the same, and let her hand hoover above the circle for a moment, before her eyes widened, and struck by inspiration, she flipped the sheet near her. Catching on, the other helped, and soon another array was unveiled.
"He made use of Father's own circle to create a counter to it."Ari finally managed to whisper after studying the new array in silence for a moment "With this, the link to the earth of alchemists won't be cut."
Her own notes appeared in her hands, not even caring that Scar saw her taking things out of her Inventory, and a map of Amestris on which the Stone array was drawn in red was placed next to the new array, and black ink-pen in hand she started inking it on the map.
¤.¤.¤
Ari sighed as she tiredly pushed her personal notes against the edge of her bed. The discovery of Scar's brother's array had been exhilarating, and the Ishvalian, to her surprise, had even agreed to contact the refugee throughout the country to put it in place – maybe it wasn't that surprising, now that she thought about it, it was after all his brother's life work.
No, the real surprise had come when the Ishvalian had asked her to ink the second tattoo crafted by his brother on his left arm – she hadn't thought he'd trust her or anyone in their group enough to do something like that, they had been enemies just a while back after all.
To her surprise, his eyes had strayed toward Ana while she was pondering this – and doing the long prep work to ink the tattoo she'd carefully drawn on his arm, and he had whispered "I'd have killed her as an abomination, you took her in as a sibling... Something like that... I can see my brother doing it..." a frown, as he admitted "This goes against everything we of Ishval believed in yet I'm sure my brother would have approved."
She could see the conflict in his eyes – conflict between the Ishavalian beliefs, his brother's nature, and his own thirst for revenge.
"What you fail to take in consideration, when you say that alchemists go against the natural order, is that alchemy works only thanks to nature itself." she couldn't help but comment "What we do with our circles and arrays isn't different than what you do with your own two hands."
"Yet alchemists denies to gods. You did too when we met."
"Alchemists rely on scientific evidence to learn more about the world and progress in their craft. Because of this they sometime forget about the higher powers. But any good alchemist come to realize that our existence is small, compared to the universe around us. How can we deny the gods when we understand this?"
He looked at her silently, and she guessed what he wasn't repeating.
"I did not deny the gods when we fought. I mocked you for hiding behind your god's precepts to justify senseless bloodshed. Something just as stupid as an alchemist refusing to understand about higher powers."
He frowned at this, but kept still as she continued to work, and she could see that he was not only hearing, but also pondering her words.
"So you believe in a god?" he finally asked
"I believe in multiple gods." she contradicted "I believe in Life and Death, in Peace and War, Order and Chaos, Knowledge and Oblivion, and countless others..."
He eyed her a moment, then nodded.
Polytheism wasn't widespread in Amestris, but being part of a minority himself with his belief in Ishvala, he could accept it, even if it was surprising.
"And which of these gods gave you the power to see in the soul of people like you do?"
Ari spluttered, really not expecting this question, as he added thoughtfully "I've felt our priests powers countless times during the years of my training. Never did I feel such a strong holy connection."
She wondered a bit, then like often, opted for honesty, not even knowing that once more her eyes had bled into emerald "Death."
Scar had been mostly silent after that, Von Hohenheim ambling by and talking with Ari about her Blood Alchemy, which they hadn't had time for while they worked on the notebook. The golden blond girl had recently opted to focus more on Winry's demand for array compatible with automail, than the healing array for the emperor, as she had already made a good portion of the work with her existing array for automail.
Von Hohenheim had as such spent part of the evening examining one of the array engraved in one spare-part available in Winry's workshop while his daughter worked on Scar nearby, and with the genius characteristic of their family, managed to produce a working blood array that would allow anyone to engrave a charged, working temperature-regulation array on a piece of metal with only the simple knowledge about activating the blood trigger Ari had worked on for Ling.
As such, after a few explanation given by Ling himself, Winry had been able to take an array written with blood ink on a paper, and transfer it on a simple piece of metal. The technique to transfer it on small pieces, or less straight pieces, like the one for automail would have to be refined, but the basis were there.
With this, Winry would soon be able to make automail that could go in the desert just as well as the cold northern weather for as long as she had a stock of already written and charged array - and her squeals at the idea had given everyone in the house quite a fright...
As for Ari, she hadn't been able to refrain from looking over her father's work after finishing Scar's tattoo, despite the late hour, which is why she found herself drained, but satisfied as she closed her notes and eyes to the chirping of the earliest risers among the birds nesting nearby, not without having acknowledged her latest Personal Quest goal update...
[Goal complete!+500XP
Goal update: write a comprehensive essay about Blood Alchemy's basics
Bonus goal complete! +3*750XP
Bonus goal update: write a book about Blood Alchemy]
[Level up! You are now level 62!
+4SP, +2CP, +1PP]
She had barely chosen the last part of the Spirit of the Pack Perk, Chinook's gift and it's Endurance bonus, before passing out on her bed, a small but satisfied smile on her lips.
¤.¤.¤
Ed and Al jumped out of the train before it had even come to a stop, the elder one leisurely stretching while the second one bent down to let their youngest sibling jump into his arms.
"Missed us?" Ed teased to hide his own happiness at having the four of them finally reunited
"As if." his sister answered with a smirk, before hugging him and remarking "You've grown. Since when are you taller than me?" she complained
"Of course I'm taller! I'm the elder!"
"Yet you haven't been taller than me for years..." she muttered as they walked out the station "Everybody's home, they figured they'd let us have our reunion first." a smile "And Winry's made an apple pie!"
Ed smile, that had been replaced by a frown at the word 'everybody' grew back at the mention of pie – or Winry, Ari was pretty sure it was a combination of both...
"It's good to be back," Al commented with a smile, waving at the friendly faces welcoming them home "The north was really cold." he added with shudder
Von Hohenheim was waiting for them a bit before the Rockbell's house, which probably was for the best as Ed's first act was to punch him.
With his automail arm.
"That was for abandoning us, and leaving mum alone, bastard." he stated after the punch, before lending him a hand to get back up, to the man's surprise
"I'm sorry." Von Hohenheim said while accepting his hand – something evident, they all knew he could have evaded the punch, from what Ari had said of his abilities
Ed stared at him for a while "You better be." he finally agreed, before starting back toward the house, Tempesta on his heels
"Wow. That went better than I expected." an awed Al couldn't help but state
"Ed grew up a lot since that day..." Ari answered simply
Al nodded.
While Ed still had the most anger toward their father, he was also the one who remembered him the most – the one who missed him the most, then the one that had felt the most the weight on the world on his shoulders as he found himself, at five year old, the man of the family.
All taken in, Ed's attitude had been surprisingly mature.
Finally, he turned toward the elder blond that was patiently waiting for his attention – and his judgment.
"Welcome back, father."
There was a bittersweet quality to the man's smile that Al had only ever seen in Ari's smile before, as he answered "I'm home."
¤.¤.¤
"Alright, this time we're getting the bastard!" Ed grunted as he picked himself up after a particularly nasty blow
Well, not really a blow – more of an unstoppable wave of dirt and rocks that had downed him for the third time in this Arena session. They had been at it for barely half an hour, yet it felt like hours under the colonel bastard's sadistic training – and their opponent didn't even like to fight! This was infuriating, yet Ed couldn't help the respect grudgingly growing for his father.
Or rather Von Hohenheim – he still couldn't really think of the blond as a father, not after he abandoned them, but as a man, he could respect him.
"Any idea?" it was Al that first reacted to his affirmation, recognizing it for the call to fall back and plot a counter-attack it was, and jumping back to his position
"Not at the moment." he admitted reluctantly as Ari, who'd had the most experience fighting against him, was still dodging Von Hohenheim's attacks
It was looking at their fight that made him realize that the man wasn't a natural like their sister was – he wasn't even really a fighter, not even a defensive fighter like his brother.
No Von Hohenheim was a survivor.
Just like him.
"He relies more on hindering his opponent than violence, or any proper fighting style." he remarked as Ari finally managed to join them
"And it's really effective, mainly because he's able to predict most of his enemy's reaction with a frightful accuracy." she acknowledged
"And Father will probably be able to predict people just as easily."
"What we need are things he won't be able to predict then." Ed concluded with a slightly maniac smile "You did said combination alchemy wasn't his forte, and blood alchemy a complete unknown? Let's focus on that, then!"
"We aren't really combat ready with either type of alchemy..." Al protested, while remembering that he had managed to improvise an Ice array against Sloth
"We've got about six months to get ready." Ari argued back, Ed's enthusiasm gaining ground "We'll be ready. And right now is the time to train!"
Al couldn't help but let his siblings motivation contaminate him too – and Von Hohenheim, that had been patiently waiting for them to be ready to fight back, couldn't help but feel that things were about to get more interesting as three pair of glowing golden eyes focused on him with a new-found determination.
Al took advantage of the heat of the last summer days – and just as an unnatural fog had helped them while hunting for Scar, the steam rising from the ground was soon making their battleground of the day much more dangerous, as Ari took advantage of the change in visibility to call her Night Flames to her and jump behind Von Hohenheim, Fuurin dropping into her finger with ease, the blade's edge nearly biting into Von Hohenheim's back before he abruptly dodged, more on instinct than because he'd seen her – but of course Ed and Al too had taken advantage of the steam, and the living red stone didn't dodge the icy shards that came toward him next, and fell right into Ed's explosion.
"We win this round, old man." he affirmed smugly, before hunching his shoulders "I can't believe I used part of colonel bastard's circle..." he mumbled, face turning ashen "He's never going to let me live this down..."
"I'm sure Roy will be very... flattered." Ari sniped back with a sweet smile
Ed turned toward Al "This is for all the times I interrupted their sparring time, isn't it?"
Al patted him on the back with a smile, knowing better than to say anything that would brought his sister's vengeance toward him too.
As for Von Hohenheim, a bit surprised at their effective teamwork and inventive way of fight, he was smiling indulgently while letting them talk, happy to just observe the children he'd left alone for so long.
And he couldn't help but wonder a bit at the man that was called a bastard even more regularly than him by his elder – the colonel that had recruited the three of us, from what he knew, and a man that was in their growing group of vigilante that were preparing to take the fight to the homunculi from the shadows.
It was, after all, clear that this colonel wasn't only a commanding officer to them...
With this, the first training session since the siblings had been back came to an end, and they were out of the empty Arena, Ari leisurely stretching "Well, at least Roy is interesting to fight," she answered to another disparaging comment from Ed "This was interesting but not enough of a training session now that we're back together."
Ed and Al shared a glance, panic rising in their eyes as their sister's eyes took on a familiar glow "We really should do something a bit more challenging today, or Roy's going to think we were slacking off at home... and we wouldn't want that, would we?"
"No, of course not!" Ed gave her a shaky smile, just knowing she was coming up with something evil "You're right, let's train a bit more!" Al nodded along, silently praying for their survival
"It's decided, then!" she crowed happily "Let's fight all the Homunculi Bosses !"
Al whimpered – Ed barely restrained his own protest at the outrageous affirmation.
While they had already fought the homunculi, in the Arena as well as in real life, it didn't change the fact that they were exhausting opponents – and you couldn't just take their Red Stone out in the Arena, it would have been far too easy...
Von Hohenheim had met up with Ana in the Observation Zone, taking over her lessons for the day as Ari dragged her siblings in fights against Lust, Greed and Sloth one after the other.
Exhausted, the tree siblings let the Arena fade away around them, stumbling in the garden and not moving from the ground. Finally, as they finally felt better enough to move a bit, they turned their attention back to the notification that had popped up as they exited the Arena.
[Challenge Complete! Troubles always come in threes!
You've fought three successive Bosses of the same level in the Arena
Reward:+500XP, Crimson as Blood Perk (+10 to Blood Affinity)]
[Level up! You are now level 63!
+1SP]
"Chaos' is mocking us, isn't he?" Ed deadpanned, as he dismissed his own level up
"Shh, don't complain..." Al hushed him "Free XP!"
"That's not free! It's a reward for letting Ari torture us!"
"At least she's not as bad as the colonel..."
"No one is as bad a the colonel..." the eldest Elric agreed with a shiver
¤.¤.¤
The four siblings had spent a few more days with the Rockbell before their permission came to an end, and they had to report back to Central City.
During those days, they had gotten news from Dublith – Teacher and Mr Curtis had introduced the four transfuge chimeras to Shan Feng and his gang, and they were adapting well enough. Shan himself, now aware of Von Hohenheim's resurgence, and their alliance with Scar, had confirmed his own participation in the rebellion of Promised Day.
The chimera were training underground, and would discreetly make their way toward Central in the Spring, where they would help the Ishvalian put in place the last of Scar brother's counter-array.
From Scar himself, they wouldn't hear anything more for months, as he traveled with the Ishvalian refugee across the country to take care of the more out of the way parts of the array.
As for Izumi, her husband and she hadn't wasted anytime leaving town, as they had heard that the military were looking for her quite insistently.
As Von Hohenheim had confirmed the Elric siblings' theory about the inner layer of the Red Stone circle – in other words that Father intended to use those that had seen Truth in the transmutation of Promise Day – she had no intention of coming quietly.
Teacher had thus decided to go on a training trip, heading north where she could transmit quickly any last minute instruction to the men posted there, while waiting for Promise Day.
Von Hohenheim, that didn't want to be seen in Central too early on, would travel too, first following Winry, and helping the girl around by making the blood array that she would use for her high end automail, then trailing back toward Central City a bit before the fated day.
On the morning before leaving for Central, Ariana had presented Ling with a large scroll carefully wrapped.
[Secondary Quest Complete! A Prince from a Faraway land...
Reward:+100XP, Enhancement System unlocked, +1 item-leveling token]
[Level up! You are now level 64!
+1SP]
The Xingese prince had guessed what it was just by looking at the solemn expression Ariana had.
Bowing deeply, he took the precious scroll with caution, before turning to entrust it to Lan Fan.
"You promised to help me find a way to the throne, and you did." he said gratefully
"With this, you are free to go back to your country."
"We won't." he contradicted
"I know." she acknowledged with a smile
The three Xingese hadn't been on the train to Central with them – but they knew that come Promised Day, they would be there to fight by their side.
And finally, the four siblings were back in the heart of enemy territory.
¤.¤.¤
"Welcome back, WindBlade! I'm glad to see you're better."
"Thank you, sir." Ariana answered mechanically, still reeling in – she had expected Roy to be waiting for them at the train station, maybe with Riza
Not the Fuhrer himself.
And the man – or rather, homunculus – was looking mistrustfully around him, most of his face hidden in the shadows of his uniform's collar. A suspicion rose in the back of the girl's mind – and she couldn't help but voice it...
"Did you escape your ordnance and bodyguards again?"
"Of course not! I just went back to headquarter ahead of them!"
"The train station isn't anywhere near headquarter..." Ed sighed, having some trouble believing the homunculus could be just as much of a slacker as their colonel
Al patted him on the back, silently commiserating with him – no way he was voicing their thoughts in front of the most powerful man in the country after all...
"We still have a tournament to organize after all!"
"Another tournament?" Roy and Riza had finally arrived, the latter latching on the comment "The one General Grumman authorized was a very good way to check if everyone was keeping up with their training as well as they should!" she couldn't help but remark
With that, the Fuhrer had easily taken the lead of their small group, and four very bewildered Elric siblings were soon in a car with him, Riza enthusiastically explaining how Roy and Ari's fight had been such a welcome change in the everyday monotony that the general had ended up organizing a whole tournament in the Eastern Headquarters.
As such, as the days of the State Exam came by, the latest applicant to have gone thought the three traditional tests found themselves arbitrarily enrolled in Central's State Alchemist Tournament, one of the three tournament to be help at the end of September – the second being a tournament for more traditional fighters and the last, opened only to the top ten of each previous tournament, a free-fight type tournament where all blows were allowed.
Needless to be said, most of the fresh out of the exam alchemists were steamrolled by their more experimented predecessors, and even while hiding most of their abilities, all three Elric siblings and the colonel Mustang easily made it it the top ten of the tournament.
Of course, Ed and Al only took part in said tournament under duress – their colonel was sure it would be a very good opportunity to fight against various type of fighter, something they needed in order not to become too used to fighting each other.
Ari's and Roy fight in final had been memorable, and both had barely remembered they were supposed to hide their abilities. Ed was also pretty sure most of the people that saw that particular fight had to know there was more to the two's relationship than just superior and subordinate – it was pretty evident to him.
And indecent too, he was adamant about it.
Ed's own fight against major Armstrong earned him the third place in the tournament, while Al's defeat against a veteran of the Ishvalian rebellion made him sixth in the ranking.
The second tournament had been another story.
Of course, Riza taking her place in the top ten hadn't been surprising.
What had been more surprised had been the one against whom she lost the top spot.
The King himself.
And Riza knew that if they hadn't trained so much recently, she'd never lasted so long against the frightening man and his mastery of blades. Truly, it was no wonder he wanted a fight against Ariana – both were completely inhuman while wielding anything with a cutting edge.
As for Ari, she wasn't all that sure she could afford to hold back against this man – because he fought as if he had no blind spot – which made her suspect what truly was hidden under his eye-patch.
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"There's no way this isn't rigged." Ed muttered as he looked at the matched up that had been drawn for the third tournament
"Well the Fuhrer did say he wanted to fight against sister." Al pointed out "So of course he arranged the fights in order to face her."
"The only contestants that could have been dangerous to her aren't in her bracket." the eldest Elric muttered again "This is clearly favoritism. What is it with this girl's ability to attract attention from dangerous men?" he wondered, unknowingly parroting his sister's brother of another life
Al didn't answer, looking distracted – Ed stopped looking at the first match of the tournament, not all that interested in seeing Ari trash another weakling to focus his attention to what was currently unsettling his brother.
And eventually spotted it.
"What is this old bastard doing here? It's dangerous!"
"Well, I doubt anyone's going to recognize him." Al pointed out as they observed the currently gray haired man that was in the civilian part of the public
At first glance he looked like any middle-aged, graying man. The two brothers knew their father well enough that they recognized him easily enough under the simple but effective arrays that changed just enough of his features to make him unrecognizable to anyone that wasn't looking for him – Al had spotted thanks to his dragon pulse, Ed thanks to his brother's attention on the man...
"Tch, not like it's my problem anyway." Ed decided, turning his attention back to the fighting – his turn was coming fast after all
The colonel bastard had been right, he had to admit after a moment – fighting against different opponents was good, even if he knew that he could beat most of them easily was he going all out.
Riza's fight against Roy had been interesting, especially since the colonel mainly used Leon in his favorite firearm form during the fight – that and his traditional explosions, his gloves back on to make it look as if he still needed a written array to use alchemy. But in the end, the outcome had been pretty clear, and Riza was out of the fight, and Ed up against the man in his next round.
"He isn't going to make that easy isn't he?" Ed couldn't help but sigh as he headed toward the fighting ground
Al smiled in his back, amused – and glad not to be in his brother's place, because judging by the amused glint in the colonel's eyes, Ed was quite right.
The next few minutes were just as painful as the eldest Elric had feared, Renato bleeding through Roy's fighting spirit.
"What did you say the colonel was in his previous life again?" Al whispered to his sister as the girl sat on the bench, having just finished her own opponent easily
Glancing at the ongoing fight, Ariana smiled, amused, as the tall man that was currently running circles around her brother, with an amused smile that was making girls swooning in the audience was more hit-man than colonel in her eyes.
"Why Al, didn't your sister tell you?" the colonel answered himself while entering back the waiting zone with a grumpy Ed trailing along "I'm the best hit-man in the world."
Al, who was in his sister's bracket contrarily to Ed, went up easily against all his opponent – until of course, came his fight against Ariana. While they made a good show of it, there never had been any real doubt about the outcome and soon enough, their sister was the winner of their bracket, and up against the Fuhrer, who had just finished his own fight against Roy.
That fight had been the longest up to date, and while Roy had made a good show, his loss had been inevitable without ending up revealing too much of his abilities.
And even like that, it had been hard not to reveal them, the Fuhrer's aggressive fighting style and obvious enjoyment in their fight making it a really challenge not to let himself getting swept in the fight's euphoria.
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Ariana stepped lightly into the arena, already erasing all the loud noises of the enthusiastic public from her mind and focusing on the tall man standing in front of her.
To her senses, while King Bradley was clearly not human, he wasn't that similar to the other homunculus she'd met either – while the others had so clearly felt wrong to her thanks to her link to Death, Bradley had a more mortal feeling to him.
With that, she broke into a sprint, Kiba held lightly in her left hand, a few of her throwing knives already sent toward her adversary with the right hand – without any surprise, Bradley easily dodged around the first blade, deflected the second with a precise strike of his own saber, and caught and sent back the last knife.
"What a beautiful blade." the Fuhrer commented as they crossed sword for the first time "I've never seen anything like it."
"Fuurinkiba is one of a kind." she agreed easily, while jumping out of the path of his second sword, her hand touching the ground just long enough for a wall of dirt to be raised in the arena, cutting her from his line of sight
Of course, she immediately stepped out of the newly created wall's shadow, several throwing knives of different sizes, all freshly made, rushing toward Bradley, who easily side-stepped most of them.
Two blades found their mark against the Fuhrer – one which Ariana knew the man had seen; but his body hadn't been able to move fast enough to avoid; the other he hadn't seen, as the blade had been hidden within the shadow of a larger knife.
Surprisingly enough, her opponent had been truly surprised at being touched – he had after all managed to breeze through his fights while getting touched by his opponents only once; and that opponent had been Roy...
But rather than react in fear, or anger, Bradley's reaction proved that, just as Ed had said a few weeks earlier, the Fuhrer really was just like Ariana herself – and his eyes came alive as his interest was truly sparkled, and his movements became much more precise; and lethal.
Ariana winced, as against the flurry of strike that followed, pure speed wasn't enough, but she didn't even bother to wipe the blood slowly seeping from the cut on her cheek, wondering absently at the strange luck that made the blade run along one of the stripes that marred her face when she let her illusion down.
It really was a shame, that she couldn't fight this man as he deserved, going all out and granting him a warrior's death before she sent the soul he held within him back to Truth – because even if she didn't knew yet how to win against him, she would, for she had sworn to free all the souls still trapped within the Red Stone like the one she could feel in him...
"Don't look so crestfallen, WindBlade. We'll be able to cross sword again soon enough. After all, you're not one to go down without a fight, are you?"
Her eyes widened at the affirmation – was it possible that the homunculus knew of their knowledge about Promised Day? As if guessing at the unspoken question, his smile widened "Spring seems like a good season for a rematch, doesn't it?"
And suddenly, any fear she had had that this homunculus would share his suspicions about her and her siblings with the others vanished.
King Bradley may not be human, he still was first and foremost, a warrior, one in an aging body, that had found the one opponent against whom he wanted to go all out. He wouldn't say anything, if only to fight her again.
A smile.
"Spring it is, then."
The next attack, she barely parried – and the follow up with his second saber, she didn't escape.
While the civilians weren't surprised at their beloved Fuhrer's victory, they still cheered loudly for the young girl that had fought so bravely.
As for the military, they could see beneath the appearances, and those smiles that seemed so benevolent to the public, they knew were in fact bloodthirsty - to think such a young girl could go up against the strongest man in the country and smile like this!
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Helping the young girl up, Bradley led the youngest alchemist toward the fighters waiting arena where the rest of the competitors were waiting, amused by the frown and the glare colonel Mustang was barely repressing.
The homunculus had always found the colonel interesting – the one man among his subordinates that seemed to see through his front of benevolence, and yet could still stand tall in front of him, eyes full of defiance.
How fitting, really, that this man that aimed to steal his position had found such a unique partner in the WindBlade – because whatever the humans around him had seen, that fight between those two had clearly been a dance of seduction rather than a fight.
He probably would have felt jealous of Mustang's prize in this girl, had he been younger – but he wasn't, and besides he was proud of his own wife, the one choice that hadn't been dictated in his life.
That didn't mean he wasn't going to mess with the man that was looking him with such mistrust, ready to snatch the little alchemist out of his grasp as soon as he could.
"I do hope you intend to wait until she's fifteen before doing anything more than fighting, colonel."
Whatever the dark-haired man had thought he'd say, that hadn't been it.
The astonishment on the Fire Alchemist's face was very amusing indeed – just as the eldest Elric comment of "See, I told you this fight was indecent!"
As fun as it was to mess with humans, the tournament was over – and as such it was time to get back to work.
With a parting comment toward the blond girl of "Don't forget about our date, WindBlade!" he was off
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Realizing that the Fuhrer himself had grown interested toward Ariana hadn't been that surprising for Roy in retrospect – after all, he already had one life to get used to the fact that the girl he loved tended to attract dangerous people of all kind.
It was precisely because of this that he'd first been attracted to her.
And thinking about it, it was easy to see that the homunculus had played him perfectly – the colonel had been both vexed and amused when he realized this.
But the worst in that situation had probably been the gray-haired man that had joined them just in time to hear Ed's rant and add his own thoughts about it...
"I wouldn't go as far as qualifying that fight of indecent, but it was quite... telling." the disguised Von Hohenheim said mildly, sharp eyes contradicting his easy-going tone
Had he been a lesser man, Roy would have gulped.
A four hundred year old immortal from a long gone kingdom was a far more formidable father-in-law than the Vongola number two had been. As it was, he met the man's glare with an amused smile "There is nothing to tell that isn't already clearly known by the bambina and I."
"And the bastard's ego is back." Ed drawled, dodging without a thought the fireball carelessly thrown his way
Von Hohenheim had let the topic drop – it really wasn't the best place for an interrogation after all – but didn't forget about it, silently studying the man that so clearly meant more than he'd known to his daughter.
The fact that his sons both seemed to know and accept it, yet hadn't said anything about it to him was, once more, telling – just as telling as the colonel's refusal to seek any kind of approval from him.
He was still a stranger in the Elric family, and while they'd each welcomed him back to a certain point, Von Hohenheim was in no way the patriarch of the family – that role fell upon Ed's shoulders, a fact accepted not only by the siblings but by the people around them.
The immortal didn't stay too long in the city, in order not to catch Father's interest, but his short stay was more than enough to let him see more about Roy and Ari's relation. And those few days were telling enough that he was barely surprised when he learned that the dark-eyedman had followed his wife from a previous life – the kind of easy understanding they shared was one seen only in old couple that had spent decades together and knew all about each other.
Of course, it didn't meant he wasn't going to threaten the colonel anyway – and his eyes had a hard glint when he calmly announced to the alchemist that he'd kill him if he ever hurt his daughter too bad. Roy's eyes were just as serious as he nodded his agreement.
Before Von Hohenheim left Central City, Ariana called him, Roy, Ed and Al for a talk that she couldn't avoid anymore.
"I've completed the ritual."
Roy's eyes widened at that statement, while Al and Von Hohenheim shared an uncomprehending glance, not knowing what the young goddess was talking about – something she explained next, since to her knowledge Roy was the only one knowing anything about it.
During the months it had taken her to blend her arithmancy, runes, and alchemy knowledge to create that ritual, she had sorely missed Mizuki, or rather Luna Lovegood, the Ravenclaw faery's extensive knowledge about ritual something that could have really helped. But while she had sworn to her friend that she'd search for her again at each rebirth, that could only work as long as she was reincarnated in the world she was first born in...
Still, even without the help of her last friend from the wizarding world, she had done it eventually, taking in account the similar ritual she had once performed on Mukuro and Chrome and adapting it to work with alchemy and holy energy.
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On the night of December 21st , the Elric siblings, Roy and Von Hohenheim were assembled in the basement of the house of their childhood – performing this ritual in Central City wasn't even considered, the energy surge that would follow a sure way to alert Father, as such the old Elric home had been chosen.
Once more, the floor had been inscribed with a large, complicated array – the difference only evident for alchemists, as alchemical symbols were mixed with blood runes and the calculations behind the structures were made using both mathematics and arithmancy.
Three secondary circle were evenly placed around the outer ring of the main circle, where Ed, Al and Von Hohenheim would all be using blood alchemy to power up the array and maintain its stability.
In the inner circle, right into the center of the complicated array, Ariana and Roy were face to face, both barefooted and bared up down to the waist, FuurinKiba, blade out of its sheath, planted in the ground between them.
"To save me, you'll have to kill me."
To say this statement had provoked chaos in its wake would have been an understatement – but Ariana had explained further, and none of them could find any other way.
The ritual that linked Chrome and Mukuro was one that had been created to save someone with a deadly injury by linking said person to another. Flame scientists had spent years studying it to reproduce it without magic, and when done, it had went on to save countless Flame-users life.
But the need for one of the two participants to be on death's door in order to start the ritual, they never managed to get rid of.
Ariana released the tight hold she usually kept on her powers, eyes bleeding into a familiar green as an ethereal aura of powers not meant to exist in this world filled the array, that started to pulse lightly, then stronger and stronger as the seconds tickled by and the moon rose, alleviating one of Ariana's main concern.
The date and time for this ritual hadn't been chosen lightly, and she had long debated between All Hallow's Eve and Yule for it – the first was the one day in the year when the Gate that cut this world from the Immortal Realms could be opened the easiest, while the other was traditionally used in rebirth rituals; as such powering up the ritual would have been easier on the night of the 31st of October, but said ritual would work better on the 21st of December.
Simply by feeling the power gathering around them as the night started, the young goddess knew she had made the right choice.
On her nod, Roy took the dagger and buried it in her chest in one clean and steady move, the assassin's training evident in the economy of movements – his eyes never straying from her own.
As one, the rune-chain drawn on both chests, curling around their arms in order to be linked by their fingers came alive, and the whole array followed, no longer gently pulsing but alight with a wild power trying to break free from its bonds.
No one had really known what would happen at that point – but they had all expected for at least Ari and Roy to be taken to the Gate, or in the worst case, all of them.
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No one had expected time to freeze and a large and familiar archway to appear, three silhouettes appearing through it, careful never to get past the edge of their side. Of the three, Truth was recognized by all, while only Roy and Ariana recognized the other two.
Death and Life.
And both seemed so utterly amused, the young goddess, who was no longer dying but just was, couldn't help but wonder what error she could have made that resulted in the visit of two gods looking so entertained.
"When I made the hit-man into my champion to allow him to follow you I knew he'd eventually ascend." Life said lightly, forest-green eyes sparkling with mirth "But I didn't think it would quite that fast..."
Ascend.
The word echoed in Ariana's mind before its sense finally caught up with her.
Her eyes widened.
"Your ritual was sound." explained Death with a reassuring smile "But you made it with two mortals in mind."
That statement explained it all, she realized – because she lived her life as a mortal each time she was reincarnated she considered both herself and Roy as mortals to enact the ritual.
Except of course, she wasn't mortal at all, her soul simply wasn't the same as theirs, having evolved to accommodate the ability to live an eternity without going mad, and powers completely different from theirs.
She should have known – after all those gifted with the ability to sense life had all known her to be immortal in her previous life.
"Between your status as a goddess of Death and his as my champion," Life explained, confirming her suspicions "you triggered his ascension. Just as Death and you share the same gift, so will he share mine."
The gobsmacked look on Roy's face as he too understood what was being said was one Ariana hadn't seen before – but then again, it wasn't everyday one was told he'd just accessed to godhood; and to add to it the former hitman was to be a god linked to Life!
"The power generated by both the ascension and the ritual was enough to open the Gate, so Truth gave his accord for us to come and explain to you what was happening, rather than just being told via Chaos' Game." Life continued to explain, seemingly unperturbed by her new godly sibling's astonishment "As for the primary goal of the ritual, it did work... just a bit more permanently than you expected."
"We'll see you both when you're back in the Immortal Realms." Death concluded "Enjoy the rest of your life!"
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With that, the Gate grew transparent, and started to disappear, Truth being the last to disappear, still laughing – and with the last flash of light of the disappearing arch, time started back, and the runes glowing upon both Ariana and Roy condensed into two familiar symbols, the Arcobaleno pacifier and the Deathly Hallow, each imprinting itself on top of their heart, slowly pulsing to the same rhythm – that of Roy's heart.
The energy rampaging around them focused on the symbol, and the array darkened.
All fell to their knees, utterly spent.
[Event Completed! Blood of my Blood...
Your life-span is now linked to that of your husband
Reward:+ 1000XP, soul-bounded title "Two are One"(so long as your love shall last, you will share your strength: Soul-mate Shield unlocked)]
[Level up! Your are now level 66
+2CP, +2PP]
[Grimoire update! Soul-mate Shield
When two people are bonded through soul, blood and spirit, they can protect each other via an intangible shield that can absorb part of the damage coming at them.
Chaos Game 2.0 Shield Points will deflect half of any incoming damage until depleted and are calculated thanks to both HP. Their regeneration rate is calculated the same way.]
"Well," Ed was the one to break through the stretching silence "The bastard's now a god, and Ari will live." a shrug "Good enough for me."
Ariana nodded slowly, still in a daze about what had just transpired – as for Roy, he stated "I don't really feel all that different."
"I didn't either." Ariana explained "The change to the soul happens naturally, and gradually, so you won't really realize its happening contrary to when Chaos mess around his Game. You should just unlock a new skill line which develop your powers like my Hallow skill."
The Flame alchemist nodded, having already dismissed the notification about his new Pacifier skill – and really, how typical of Chaos to have chosen this name!
Ana, who had been waiting for them with Padfoot, Tempesta and Paws, smiled as they came out of the basement, relieved that her family was back, and alright - the little girl had been told to stay at the Rockbell's but had refused, and they had eventually relented.
A few moments later, the group of five exhausted alchemists and one little girl was fast asleep in the living-room, the couch having been transmuted into a large mattress by Ed, who was the first to drop asleep, Ana snuggling into him following within seconds. Al smiled at his elder brother's antics as Ari and him soon followed, their sister preventing Roy from leaving by snaking a hand around his wrist, pulling him into the pile – and as Von Hohenheim was leaving, Ed commented "All the sheets have been gathering dust for years, just stay here you idiot." before shifting on his side, already back asleep
From each side of their elder brother, Al and Ari shared an amused glance.
It was a bemused Winry that found the the next morning, before being playfully pulled into the pile by Ed – and only the fact that the rest of the siblings were so entangled with him saved him from the wrench she regularly hit him with.
All five alchemists spent the following days regaining their energy, all of them drained from the ritual – and as December was replaced by January, the Elric siblings and the colonel Mustang went back to Central, each day bringing them closer to Promised Day.