Danny: 11/12 reviews! Guys, thank you so much!

Me: I think this is our new record, Danny. We should celebrate by replying nicely and smiling all the time.

Danny: Yes, yes we shall.

DoctorWhotaliaandtheOlympians: Well, if you say you're not, I guess you're not. But you can have a tissue anyway.

Anne Camp aka Obi-quiet: Really? Maybe… *shrugs*. A lot of stuff was kind of building up before and I think it was just his own way of letting it out. Here's more for you!

D12T: Thank you! Here's another non-Korra related thing for your inbox :)

Candycanelover: You think so? Well, that is just his character. Ed was kind of a brat towards Hoho… here's another chapter for you! It involves aliens! Well, kind of…

Awesome: Thanks so much! There will more than just a few more chapters. I would like to make this as long as possible, but not so long as to start boring people :)

Harryswoman: Thank you- I'm glad to hear you liked it! Here's your update and thanks for your answer, too :3

RubytheJewel: Does this count as soon? I don't think it doesn… but the next chappie after this will be VERY soon :)

Mdotaku: here's more! Thanks for the review!

Violetlight: Did I tell you when the winners will be announced via PM? I don't remember… XD

Adjacent to Addiction: Cheeky XD thanks for all the lovely words! I adore long reviews, they make me feel the happiest and when people submit them I love reading every word and I feel all warm inside :) really looking forward to your fic!

soulevans31: Here's an update! And Soul Eater was my first anime when I actually knew what anime was, so your pen name is awesomesauce :)

Chapter 7: Signs of Shadowed Minds

It took Maes a while to come to his senses after that.

Sniffing, he blinked a few times and pulled his hands away from his face. He would have groaned, but Edward and Alphonse would have been able to hear him from the other side of the door. Instead he just frowned, feeling like he should kick himself. Letting emotions get the better of him wasn't what he was supposed to be doing.

He clenched his fists, frustrated. Tears were still tricking out of the corners of his eyes. This was all his father's fault again, making him cry and all that. And now he was starting to feel guilty about wanting to know the answers. He knew some now, he finally knew some, but his brain was too full to comprehend what he had learned. Stupid Edward.

Silently, he shook his head and stood up, trying to breathe more evenly and get the redness off of his face. He didn't want to look so flushed when he saw his father and uncle again. How long had it been anyway? He looked down the corridor at the grandfather clock at the end.

He raised his eyebrows in surprise. It had been a whole hour! How could he have sat for so long, just crying? Pathetic.

He wiped the last few stray tears from his cheeks and set his right hand on the door handle, the metal suddenly seeming colder and more unforgivable than before. He winced.

Get a hold of yourself, Maes, he thought firmly.

Without bothering to knock, he pushed it down and let the door open before he could tell himself otherwise.

The first person he saw was Alphonse, who was closing the windows and drawing the curtains.

"It's five o'clock," he said to Ed, who Maes saw sitting on a bed with his nose in a book, "we should go and find Maes. Dinner's in a quarter of an hour."

Ed grunted tiredly in response, closing what he was reading.

It appeared that neither of them had noticed him yet, so Maes sniffed one final time and glanced at a mirror behind him, checking once again that his face was more normal-looking.

"Hello?" was the only thing he could think of to say.

Alphonse turned round first, "oh, Maes, you're back. We were actually about to come and find you."

They both looked towards Edward, who was fixing his hair into a tighter ponytail.

Maes ran through everything his father had said in his mind. There was so much information he could get from it, but even now, staring into his face (which had no sign of the sadness that was apparent earlier), everything was still jumbled up. Like alphabet soup.

The boy smiled a bit at the thought and Ed gave him a strange look, obviously wondering why his son whom he had had an argument with an hour ago was grinning. Realising what he was doing, the boy quickly set his face to a small frown, hastily looking back at his uncle, who was now putting his shoes on.

"Time to go," Alphonse said, "it's going to be cold out tonight, so get your coat out of your suitcase, Maes. You'll probably need it."

Maes nodded and walked over to his case as his uncle once again glanced at Edward. "Brother!" he said, frustrated, "you've got something gross on your shirt."

Edward looked down at his top, frowning, "right. Probably from the apple pie earlier. I'll change." He waved his hand at his son, "Maes, pass me a new shirt, will you? My case is just over there."

The boy said nothing, but chucked him one anyway.

"Thanks," his father muttered softly.

Edward slowly began to peel off his top, being careful not to get any of the sticky substance on his face or in his hair, "ugh," he grimaced, "gross."

Suddenly Maes looked up again, a flash of something metal catching in the corner of his eye. He stared, wide-eyed at his father, who was still unfolding his new shirt.

There, attached to his right collarbone, was a large bolt. Maes blinked. Scars and more metal scraps seemed to wrap around the beginning of his arm and the edge of his chest like a dark bandage.

One look and he knew he'd seen something like that before, almost every day down in the basement of his own home.

Automail scars.

But where was the automail?

"D-dad," Maes started, "your chest – it's…"

"So, Elysia, what would like to eat?" Mrs Bradley smiled from her end of the table.

The girl replied with not much more than a frown, green eyes scanning over the menu.

The food on offer was really too high class for her, unusually small, full of exotic ingredients and given strange-sounding names. Well, she wasn't surprised. Where she had been invited to eat, after all, was a stylish restaurant that seemed to been in the favour of the military higher-ups – Fuhrer Olivier often visited on the weekends and she was even in here now, finishing her starter.

Elysia glanced at Selim, who was seated in between her and the Fuhrer. Olivier seemed to follow him everywhere now, or maybe General Miles if she was out on business.

Just by looking at the woman's face, she knew something was wrong, although on the other hand Selim, whom she seemed so interested in, seemed strangely oblivious to everything. He stirred his soup slowly with his spoon, eyebrows cynically raised with boredom as he did so. Elysia was worried about him – the boy had been acting so strangely ever since she saw him at the mansion a few weeks ago.

"Elysia...?" Mrs Bradley's voice became slightly more impatient as the girl stared blankly at the food options, but that seemed to bring her out of it.

"Uh… yes!" she flushed bright red, embarrassed, "I'll have the…. the…"

She paused again, still having no idea what half of the food on the menu was.

"Have today's fish," Selim said without looking up, "it's salmon. Good stuff."

Elysia agreed instantly, wanting to escape from the awkward situation. "Yeah, I'll have the salmon, please."

The waiter gave her a funny look, obviously not used to seeing someone like her come to such an expensive restaurant. But, nonetheless, he shrugged and wrote her order down in his notebook.

Elysia suddenly wished that the cliché about the floor swallowing someone up was real.

As he left, the girl glanced back at Selim. He was now at least trying some of his soup, taking small sips and then wiping his mouth with a napkin.

When he felt her gaze, the black haired boy stared back at her blankly.

"What?"

Elysia jumped, startled, then quickly composed herself. Her face fell to a look of concern. "Selim, are you feeling OK?" she asked quietly.

He gave her a puzzled look, "of course. Why?"

"You're acting," she glimpsed around to check that no adults were watching their conversation before finishing, "really weird."

The boy added a frown to his expression and put down his spoon. "Weird? How?"

Elysia half-shrugged, "you're usually much more… uh…" she trailed off.

Selim looked unconvinced.

"And look," she carried on, thinking of something else and pointing to his starter, "leek and potato. That's your favourite soup and you've barely touched it."

The boy blinked, staring down into his food, then back up at the girl. "I'm not hungry," he stated simply.

"Oh really?" Elysia raised an eyebrow, "when was the last time you ate?"

He suddenly became even more distant and appeared to be thinking hard, eyes wandering up to look at the ceiling as he did so.

His mouth opened and he went to say something, then stopped, clearly changing his mind.

"I don't know," he admitted casually, "yesterday, maybe?"

"And you're not hungry?"

"Pardon?"

"You just told me you weren't hungry, Selim."

"Did I?"

Elysia sighed. She wasn't sure what to think. Should she be frustrated with him because he was being so unresponsive, almost on purpose? Or genuinely concerned, because maybe he wasn't meaning to be so detached?

"Selim, I know something's wrong. What is it?"

The boy just stared at her.

Elysia sighed again.

"Excuse me," she said to everyone at the table, standing up and nodding to the Fuhrer.

She quickly located the toilet and walked inside, going straight to the sinks. She washed her face to try and cool down, not really sure what she was doing. She just needed a break, but she didn't know why. Was it her worry for Selim? He was definitely ill or something.

Elysia yawned and checked her watch. She groaned when she realised it wasn't even half past five yet. She was already so tired and she hadn't had dinner.

And what was all this worry for anyway?

Selim. But why was she worried about Selim?

She knew why. Yes, she knew very well why. That memory, the one of him, her and Thomas walking to the front door of the Armstrong mansion. Every time she played it out she could see the chilling, unnatural grin spread across his face like some sort of a twisted circus clown clearer and clearer.

That was not the boy she had known for years.

She took some lipstick out of her purse and applied another thin coat, turning her lips a darker shade of red.

Elysia knew she needed to find a way to get through to him, because it was obvious that he was at least distracted somewhat, and whatever it was, it was what was causing him to be so… withdrawn. And as for that smile, she didn't know. She shuddered. What could have caused him to react like that, and then suddenly become so unresponsive all of a sudden?

She jumped as her make-up bag was knocked to the floor and turned round to see a woman standing next to her, not much younger than her mother.

"Sorry!" The lady exclaimed, bending down to pick it up, "I didn't see you."

"Oh, that's fine," Elysia replied as she took it back from her.

She shook her head in embarrassment, her long black hair falling around her face. "It's a good thing these floors are clean," she laughed sheepishly, "bathrooms are sometimes so dirty."

"Absolutely," the girl agreed, putting her lipstick back into the purse.

"I'm Rebecca," the woman smiled as she leaned over the sink to wash her hands.

"Elysia," Elysia replied.

"Elysia? Well, that's a lovely… oh," Rebecca paused, suddenly turning round to face her. "You wouldn't happen to be Elysia Hughes, would you?"

She nodded, "yes. Why?"

The woman frowned, "I never thought that I'd meet you, but here we are over a decade later and you've grown so much."

"Excuse me?"

"I knew your father from when I was in the military," she admitted sadly, "it was such a shock when he was shot, I tell you-"

"Wait. My father was murdered?"

Rebecca's eyes narrowed in confusion. "Your father, Maes Hughes. Yes? I remember seeing you with your mother at his funeral. You were both too out of it, so I didn't come over to give my condolences. Come to think of it, Riza stayed behind with General Mustang for a while instead of going back into town with me as well…"

Elysia shook her head, unsatisfied, "no, that's not what I meant. No one ever said my father was killed. I was never told how he died."

The lady let out a small gasp and took a step forward, putting her hands on Elysia's shoulders. "Elysia," she whispered, "I'm so, so sorry."

"No, please, Miss Rebecca, it's OK," she replied, lightly pushing her away. "I'm fine. I just," she tried to stop the tears that were suddenly forming in her eyes from falling, "…I just want to be alone now. Thank you. I'll say hello to my mother for you."

"Of course," Rebecca nodded her head quickly and quickly left the bathroom, too uncomfortable to say anymore.

Elysia felt her back press against the wall and she slid down until she hit the floor, ignoring the cold from the tiles. She wiped her face to try and get rid of the tears, but her hand came back smudged with red from her lipstick.

She let out a small whimper and put her chin to her knees, trying to curl up into as small a ball as possible.

Shaking her head to herself, she tried to calm herself down. She knew this emotion wasn't good for her and the stress was starting to take its toll already.

It's not like this new information about my father is any more important, she told herself, it's not like I can do anything with it. It's not like knowing the cause of someone's death can bring them back to life. It's not like I remember him very well anyway. Just carry on helping Selim. He's alive. He's more important right now, he-

"Elysia Hughes," a voice spoke from the other side of the bathroom.

"Please, Miss Rebecca, I just want to be alone for a…" she trailed off when she felt something pressed against her face.

It was more freezing and hard than the floor. Small, and maybe somewhat sharp as it dug into her cheek.

She didn't have to look up to know it was a gun.

"If you're quiet," the voice spoke again, "this doesn't have to be hard at all. Just come with us and we promise we won't hurt you. Father just wants to ask you some questions."

"Who is 'Father'?" she heard herself ask in a mutter, still keeping her head down and very focused on her shoes.

"You do not need to know that. I'll repeat. Come with us, Elysia Hughes."

And that is exactly what she found herself doing.

"Not a word." Alphonse had said to him as he was rushed out of the dorm door, "We'll talk later. Go

down for dinner now and don't say anything."

The next thing Maes knew was that he was at the dinner table with General Mustang seated one side of him, and his uncle on the other.

He didn't want to say anything. He didn't want to even think about it.

All of these questions were actually starting to scare him.

Something wasn't right, and deep down in his subconscious he knew that he had to find out more, to finally get to the bottom of what was really up with his father – his relationship with the Fuhrer, military school, the whole 'Fullmetal' thing. And the automail. No one could grow an arm back. It wasn't physically possible. One would have to be an alien or something.

His eyes widened. Was his father an alien?

Did that make him an alien? Or half-alien?

He paled considerably and put his menu down.

"Maes, are you OK?" he heard the General ask him, "you look like you're about to be sick."

"No, I'm fine," he insisted, shaking his head. Although that was more for himself. Aliens didn't exist. He was acting stupid again.

Trying to calm down, he sucked in a deep breath and stared at the food options for the hundreth time, trying to pick a starter. He needed to distract himself, and trying to work out what all of the food was was the best option. He frowned. The food in central was so different from the things his mother had fed him back in Resembool.

"I'll take some garlic bread with cheese, please," Alphonse said to the waiter. Maes decided to copy.

"Yes, me too, please."

"Just to let you know, her excellency Fuhrer Olivier is here this evening," the waiter said to the table as he finished writing down everyone's orders.

"The shemale...?" Maes glanced around, looking for where she was seated.

"Shh," Alphonse elbowed his side, "don't say things like that, Maes. It's rude."

The blonde replied with a smirk and shrug, but then he stopped when his eyes fell on Edward.

Maes whitened again when he could just make out the edge of the scar sticking out of the collar of his father's shirt.

"So, tell me about yourself, Maes" the boy turned to see Mustang looking at him, a curious expression on his face, "what's it like with Fullmetal as you father?"

"I don't really see him much," Maes admitted, glad that someone was almost giving him something else to do, although he didn't really like the fact that Mustang wanted to talk about his father, "but I guess he's… OK. He's always out on long trips and when he comes home he's all moody. It gets annoying and we argue a lot."

"I see," the general's voice didn't display any reaction, "I guess that's expected. Edward never was the kind of boy to stay in one place for long. He's been to so many places around Amestris. I argued with him a lot, too."

"Really? I guess my dad kind of does that to people. Although he doesn't really do anything like that with my mum. They get along well."

"How is Winry?"

"Mum's fine. She's at home with Nina right now and May Chang. You know Alphonse's fiancée?"

"Yes, I've met her before a few times. And your sister's called Nina, you said? Nina and Maes…" Mustang trailed off, appearing to be in deep thought. Suddenly his expression came to somewhat of surprise and curiosity and he shot a look at Edward.

"What?" The blonde asked, irritated.

"You called your kids Nina and Maes." It was more of a statement than a question

"Yeah, so what?"

Mustang just stared at him, a hint of a frown on his face.

"Sir, is there anything wrong with my name?" Maes looked up at him.

"Oh, no, of course not," Mustang replied rapidly, "it's absolutely fine. I just knew a Maes and Nina, that was all."

Alphonse decided to speak up at this time, pointing to a table not too far away. "Look," he said, "there's the Fuhrer, sitting there."

Maes quickly turned to where he was indicating and saw her talking to an older-looking woman, a casual but distinguished expression on her face.

"And it seems like Selim Bradley's with her, too," Ed noticed, "he was talking to a girl just now, but I couldn't see her face from here and she just left."

"Selim Bradley? Where?"

So he was here? Maes craned his neck to get a look.

His eyes fell on a tiny black haired boy, seated next to Olivier. He looked depressed and somewhat cold and Maes noticed that he had barely eaten any of his soup.

The boy's face softened for the first time in ages. Poor guy, he thought, those nightmares really look like they're taking a toll on him.

He almost fell off his chair when saw the boy was suddenly staring right back at him. Selim's expression stayed neutral for a moment, eyes blank and distant, and then ever so slowly it started to develop into a crooked grin that Maes didn't think he would ever forget.

Danny: Oh, Hayden, all that anime with rich people has gone to your head. It's not doing you good and now it's leaking into your story.

Me: … I can watch Black Butler if I want to, OK?

Danny: But then there's Ouran

Me: I finished that in December

Danny: And Tegami Bachi

Me: That hardly counts!

Danny: Or the rich girl in Birdy the Mighty…

Me: Just drop it.

Danny: *smirks* I'm not giving in, Hayden.

Me: *Pulls out Fenton Thermos and sucks Danny inside* Heh, I've never thought of using that before. Anyway, since it's summer, updates are guaranteed to be on Sundays from now on, or maybe even sooner! And did you know that the main antagonist in this fic is actually a canon character? It's not the Father, by the way. He's dead like he should be at the end of canon :) But can you guess? It's not obvious at all XD I'm actually really pleased with how this chapter came out – I was so panicky about writing this one, seriously, Maes' character was so difficult here. But looking back, I'm happy with how it was finished. So review and I'll see you soon! And tomorrow's the start of the Olympics! Yeah!

Danny: *Muffling from inside thermos* No responsibility is claimed by MiniHayden for giving people nightmares trying to imagine Selim/Pride's smile. Yeah, Hayden drew it so she could picture it better and now I'm creeped out too.