WOW. WOW OH MAN OH BOY. Remember when I said I was gonna try and update sooner? Yeah, that didn't happen. Im so sorry, I fell out of the fandom for a bit, focusing on other things, and I totally forgot about this for nearly a whole year! But here it is now, I guess, so that's great. Also, it's 4 in the morning atm, so I am very tired.
Enjoy~!
Human lives. Actual real live humans. Deliylah understood why Marco had blamed the Stone for death in Ishval. He must have used her people's lives to make it.
When Edward had thrown his material across the room, Deliylah had no idea what had caused him to lash out like that. She had pressed herself up against the wall in fear, dropping what she was holding and nearly crying out. When Ross and Brosh came in and asked what was so awful about it, Edward's answer made Deliylah sick.
It took a toll on the brothers, too. Edward refused to eat or sleep, or even leave the room. Alphonse stayed by his brothers side, being unable to do the those things in the first place. Deliylah also stayed with them, allowing Edward to use her lap as a pillow while he stared at the ceiling in silence. She read her book, the new information hanging heavy in the back of her mind. She payed no attention to what the boys were saying to each other, but she was pulled away from her page by the loud banging on the door.
Major Armstrongs booming voice came through the door at an alarming volume. "Edward and Alphonse?! Miss Deliylah?! Are you in there?! It is I, the Major, open the door!"
Edward groaned. "Ignore him! Just ignore him! The doors locked, so we can pretend we're not-"
Pretending did not help. Armstrong instead smashed through the door, making Deliylah jump almost to the ceiling. She expected him to maybe berate them about being locked in their room for several days straight, or maybe to demand an explanation for their introverted behavior, but instead he burst into tears and began crying about how awful the secret of the Stone was. Edward looked about ready to kill Brosh and Ross, who had sworn not to tell anybody. That was when Brosh noticed that Edward's arm was automail.
"Oh, yeah, I had- um, a little mishap back in the Civil War back East!" Edward lied. Deliylah raised an eyebrow behind her bangs, reminding herself to later tell Edward how horrible of a liar he was.
Brosh, however, fell for it immediately.
"The truth can be so cruel, can't it," Armstrong lamented, and Edward flinched.
"Ed? What's wrong?"
Ed turned around to his brother and friend, his eyebrows furrowed and his hand to his lips. "Al, Deliylah, do you remember what Marco said to us back at the station? Try to think back." Both exchanged looks. "'The truth that lies within the truth,' remember? So there must me something more…"
Delilyah took a step forward. "Maybe… maybe he was trying to tell us to figure out who ordered him to make the stone? The one behind it all?"
Ed clapped. "That could be it! Major, do you happen to have a map of Central City?"
"Of course, Edward!" He left and came back several minutes later with a map the size of the coffee table. "Presently, the military oversees four alchemical research labs within Central City. The one Doctor Marco was affiliated with was laboratory three. This is the most likely where the research took place."
Edward shook his head. "I went to all the laboratories right after I got my state licence, but I don't remember there being any kind of significant research going on there… wait, over here! What's this place," he asked Ross, pointing to a crossed out building.
"In the past, that was the fifth research lab, but they shut it down years ago. Currently the building is off limits due to danger of collapse."
Deliylah didn't understand much of what Edward was saying, although she did understand when he said that they were using prisoners to make the stone, but her real concern was when Al asked who was in charge.
"According to the registry, it's Brigadier General Basque Grand, 'The Iron-Blooded Alchemist."
"Why don't we start by contacting this General Grand?"
'No, no, please no, don't agree to this, he can't know I'm here!' Deliylah began to tremble ever-so-slightly, just enough so that the boys or the Major couldn't see it. But she felt it, just as she felt the rush of terror at his name. However, Armstrong's reply surprised her even more.
"I'm afraid that's not possible. He was murdered by Scar just a few days ago."
"H-He what?"
Edward turn to her. "Did you know him?"
She flinched. The memory was hardly a pleasant one. "I-I… yeah… a long time ago…"
"Oh dear… I remember that, too, you poor thing…" Armstrong commented softly. She nodded, he had been sitting a ways away, unable to do anything for fear of court martial.
Ed and Al exchanged looks. "Is he the guy that took you in?"
"No… but he was just as bad. I… I don't want to talk about it… You said that he's dead?"
Armstrong nodded, rolling up the map. "Scar has killed numerous state alchemists that were affiliated with military command. Among those killed, there may have been someone who knew the truth. If someone of higher rank than the Brigadier General is involved with this project, then the situation may be truly complicated. I'll investigate this on my own and report back to you when I know more.
Perhaps an hour after Armstrong left, Deliylah paced the room opposite to where Ed and Al sat by the window.
"Thinking anything good over there, Deliylah," Ed called out to her.
"A number of things. Major Armstrong may be good, but I doubt he can intimidate his superiors into giving him this information. The fifth lab is closed off, so he wouldn't be able to actually get inside without formal permission, which could take days for him to get. What are we supposed to do in the meantime? Mope around?"
"Well… we could investigate ourselves," Ed replied.
She paused her pacing to give him a stern look. "We promised the Major we wouldn't do anything to brash."
Ed smirked sheepishly. "Did you cross your fingers behind your back, too?"
Deliylah crossed her arms, raising an eyebrow. After several seconds of staring him down, she shrugged in defeat. "I honestly can't think of anything to argue. What's the plan?"
Next thing she knew, the three repelled out the window using a transmuted bedsheet and raced down the street.
The three followed the street lanes through the dusty city, passing by houses and large warehouse-like buildings until they came upon a large structure with a fence topped in barbed wire and a guard waiting out front. The street lamp was on despite the building being abandoned.
"Very suspicious. How are we gonna get in," Ed asked.
Deliylah raised an eyebrow, peeking around the corner. "I doubt we can just go ask?" Ed gave her a playful hit on the shoulder.
"We could just make our own entrance."
"They'd notice the light from the transmutation."
Deliylah looked up and tapped her friend on the arm. Ed smirked, and if Al had a face he'd of done so too.
Al clasped his hands together and knelt down, allowing Ed to place his foot in and promptly tossing him up to the top of the wall. Deliylah wrapped her arms around Al's neck, careful not to grab his helmet for fear of it falling off; she wasn't too keen on breaking her ankle. Ed lowered some wire, made a smart remark about the occasional usefulness of automail, and held it steady for Al to haul himself and Deliylah up. Landing on the other side quietly wasn't to difficult a feat, but they were presented with yet another problem. The door was barred and sealed, preventing any sort of entry that wouldn't attract the attention of the guard out front.
Careful examination of the building brought their attention to a vent. Ed stood on Al's shoulders and peered through. "It seems large enough for me to crawl through. What about you, Deliylah?"
She climbed up behind Ed and examined the vent herself. "I can get my head through, so my shoulders are no problem. It's wide enough for my hips, too, so I don't think I'll have much trouble."
Ed nodded and told Al to stay behind while he and Deliylah pulled themselves into the vent and shimmied their way through.
After when seemed like an hour of pulling themselves along and getting stuck more than once, and Edward commenting on his own height (his reaction of which gave Deliylah quite a scare,) he popped out a vent panel and dropped down into a dimly lit hall, helping Deliylah down behind him. Rubble and dirt littered the floor, but it seemed just a bit too clean, like people had recently walked through the halls.
"There's just enough light to illuminate the floor. Abandoned, huh?" He and Deliylah traded glances, smirks crossing their lips, then bolted down the hall. "Bingo."
It didn't take them very long to find the main room, a large area with a tall ceiling and pillars dotting the perimeter, casting shadows along the back walls. What was more alarming, however, was the dark circle painted in the middle of the room. Bloodstains decorated the circumference, and it all smelled… wrong. Deliylah went to the right to check and make sure there wasn't anything important while Ed made observations out loud when the clunk of armor stopped her.
"How did Al-"
But her question of answered before she finished it. The armor that entered the room was not Al. The hair was longer, and there was much more cloth than metal, whereas Al only had a loincloth.
"I don't know who you are, but you seem to know much about the stone… too much."
"Wh-who are you," Deliylah asked, her voice betraying her sudden fear.
"I have been entrusted to guard this place. For now you may refer to me as Number 48." Seconds later, Edward had transmuted his arm, and the armor lunged.
Blows were blocked and dodged, and Edward's shoulder split. Luckily his automail reached up to it and was not harmed, but Deliylah cringed at the thought of brand new armor taking such a hit. Winry would have had an aneurysm.
And echoing clang resonated through the air, not unlike when the brothers sparred. Ed paused and questioned him. "Hey, I know that sound! Could it be… you're hollow inside?"
Number 48 stopped, and Deliylah could almost see him raise a brow despite likely not having any. "Very good. How did you know?"
Ed smirked. "I spar all the time with a guy just like you. I could tell just by the feel."
"Oh? There are other like myself on the outside?"
"Heh. It makes me sick knowing that there are idiots besides me who would even think of binding a soul to a suit of armor," he replied with venom in his voice.
48 paused, then began to explain who he was, recognizing that Ed was of no small talent or intelligence. A serial killer named Slicer who had been caught and officially executed, but unofficially brought down to the fifth laboratory and given a new job. He even went so far as to show Ed and Deliylah his blood seal on the back of his helmet.
"It's awfully considerate of you to show us your weak point, old man."
"Ha ha! I enjoy the thrill of danger when I battle, and don't call me old man."
"If you're that considerate, why not just let us go? Just thought I'd ask."
"Oh please, a serial killer would never let his prey escape, would he?"
Deliylah rolled her shoulders. "If we win, would you?"
"Excuse me?"
"If we win the fight, would you consider letting us go then," she repeated herself.
"Well, I'm not sure I'd have much of a choice. Where do you think this fight will go, girl? If you win, I'd likely be in pieces on the floor, so you could go wherever you pleased. Leave or continue exploring, I wouldn't mind."
She dared to press further. "And if we… lose?"
"Then you won't have to worry about anything else, girl. Now enough chatter, here I come!"
Blows rained upon them. Deliylah did her best to nimbly dodge the blade, but soon found her shoulder throbbing and Edward in a much worse state. Her temple pressed against her skull, and it was then that she remembered her very nearly healed concussion. Edward seemed uncomfortable, favoring his automail arm rather than his now-injured real one. Finally they stopped, and both bodied people in the room were out of breath. Ed blinked blood from his vision. They needed to end this, and fast.
Edward stalled, while Deliylah moved back into the shadows, crouching and waiting for an opportunity.
"He'll never make it in time."
"...you think so, huh?" He glanced at the door. Slicers back turned. Now.
She darted forward, her shoulders back and her gaze trained on his neck. He realized his mistake and turned to the sound of her running footsteps, blade at the read. He poised to strike, as did she.
The she dug her heel into the ground and pushed back, the tip of his blade just missing her nose just as Ed swiped, taking Slicer's head clean off. It and his body collapsed to the ground.
Ed swaggered over, high-fiving Deliylah on the way, and picked up Slicers head by the hair. He only seemed mildly annoyed, like he was more inconvenienced than beheaded. Deliylah pulled up behind him, peering over his shoulder. When he refused, Delilyah was troubled, but when she heard the creak of metal joints a thrill of fear ran through her. It took only a peak over her shoulder to realize that the body was aiming the sword straight for the kill; Edward's torso.
"Edward, move!" She shove hard on his shoulder, managing to get him out of the way enough for him to only sustain a cut to the side, but it was enough to make him cry out. While in a vulnerable position, however, the blade turned and penetrated her thigh, a stab clean through to the other side. A moment of numb shock, then burning pain shot through her whole leg. She screeched, and was pulled back as hard as she could. Her head swam with pain, and she pulled herself away with only enough focus on what was around her to hear Slicer explain that there were, in fact, two killers.
'Damn! I should have known!' She felt her shoulder press up against the cold stone of the column, a jolt running through her. She payed little attention to the fight until Edward was knocked into the wall beside her. She squeezed her eyes shut, fear paralyzing her. 'I'm gonna die… I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die I'm gonna-'
A deafening bang, not unlike when Scar injured Al, echoed through the room, the volume making her flinch and cry out. Bits and pieces clattered to the ground, and when she looked up she saw that the body had been split in half. A moment later Ed slid down the wall beside her. Deliylah grasped at his sleeve, her breath ragged while she came down from the adrenaline spike.
The younger Slicer brother cried out to his elder brother in distain, but 48 just sighed. "I hate to admit it, little brother, but we've lost."
Deliylah hugged Edward, almost on the verge of tears. She'd felt fear like that before, but not for a long time. She payed no attention to any of the brother until-
SHUNK
The sudden sound jolted her back, and what she saw was even worse than what had happened before. The helmet twitched, then shuddered, then rose into the air suspended by… something…. That went right through the blood seal. The younger brother was screaming. The helmet finally stopped moving at the back of the room, and Deliylah finally figured out what was attacking them.
A woman, whose fingers had elongated to pierce the back of Slicers helmet, took a step into the dusty light. She had a figure similar to Deliylahs, though the newcomers hips and breasts made Deliylah feel a little small. Another figure, an oddly dressed, lean man with long locks of hair held up by a headband, stepped out from behind the woman. Deliylah felt more of a vibe of danger from these two than she had from Slicer or even Scar.
"Now now 48, don't talk about things that don't concern you." The woman had a deep, lustrous voice that reminded Deliylah of poisoned caramel.
"Hey! What's the Fullmetal runt and his pet girl doing here?" The other voice grated at her ears, both from the quality of the voice itself and the 'pet' comment. "Well, I suppose we'll have to fix that, won't we?"
"What troublesome children. I wonder how they found out about this place?" She glanced at Slicer, still stuck to her fingers. "I hate to do this in front of your brother, but you leave me no choice." She pulled her fingers back, and sliced the helmet in half.
"Brother! Big brother!" The younger brother continued to scream. "Dammit, we can still fight! Give us a new body! Give us a-" Deliylah hadn't even noticed the leaner man pick up Slicers sword, but she noticed when he brought it down on the blood seal with a sharp thunk. He then picked in back up, and began stabbing again and again and again.
"Just shut the hell up before you say something else you'll regret! Do you realize that the two of you almost killed our most precious human sacrifice? You don't have any clue what that means, do you?"
Edward and Deliylah watched in horror as the stranger continued ranting about 'revealing secrets' and 'wrecking plans' and eventually demanding that 42 say something despite the fact that the once-mobile armor had stopped shuddering and grown completely still.
"Envy. He's already dead." The woman spoke up, and only then did he realize. A grin spread across his face, one that made a chill run through Deliylah, as he stood up.
"Figures, that idiot had no backbone at all. Really, he's so weak it makes me sick." While he turned his attention to Edward, Deliylah pulled hers to the prospect of escaping. She barely turned away from the approaching new enemy, and looked toward the door. It took perhaps hours to enter the building, and Slicer had mentioned that the place was a maze to navigate. Both she and Edward were injured and losing blood rapidly. With her leg in the condition it was in, she wouldn't get far, and Ed swooned ever-so-slightly when he stood to challenge Envy.
It took a moment for the loud pop to sink in, but she registered Edward's automail arm going limp a moment after, and a second after that so did Envy and the yet unnamed woman. Envy bolted forward and sank his knee into Ed's solar plexus, letting him drop to the ground carelessly.
The two strangers had forgotten about Deliylah, who was still propped up against the column. Envy didn't forget about her for very long, however, as her gloved fist grazed his face.
He stumbled back away from Edward, his eyes wide with surprise. "What is with you guys and trying to fight? You can't even stand up properly," Envy pointed out, motioning to her injured leg.
Deliylah growled, rolling her shoulder, blood dripping from her fingertips. "I don't care what condition I'm in, you don't touch him." Her leg stung, as did her arm, but she didn't notice one bit.
Envy sighed, rubbing his forehead with two fingers in frustration. "Hey, Jealousy, gimme a hand, won't you?"
"Of course, Envy~" A female voice sounded from behind Deliylah.
Deliylah didn't have time to turn and see where the new voice was coming from before a boot smashed into her injured leg, sending Deliylah to the ground with a scream of pain. When she tried to sit up, her boot came back up and kicked her in the face. She felt her nose break, blood spurting from it. She struggled, pulling herself away from her new attacker who she couldn't even see. Just as she was losing consciousness after a brutal beating, she heard the first woman tell Jealousy to blow the whole place up. She looked up and saw a tattoo on the woman's stomach, and then her vision went black.
AAAAAAAAND HERE IT IS! Now lets see how long it takes Chapter 13 to come out (i do hope less than 10 months but no promises)
Leave a review if you'd like, I love feedback!