Chapter 32: Blue Hour
"You Incompetent Fools!"
Lust winced, and she noticed that Envy had done the same. Pride's shadow danced along the wall, the many different red eyes glaring down at them as they sat on the large pipe, only a few hundred meters from their Father. Pride had been unable to show up to the emergency meeting physically, but he had managed to do so with his shadows while his body remained up in his "room". Gluttony was also there, sucking on his finger, as he looked worriedly at Lust.
'He hates it more when I get yelled at than when he does,' she thought to herself, 'Poor little fool.'
"Maes Hughes should be dead now," Pride continued to chastise them, drawing Lust's attention back to the amorphous shadow of teeth and rage, "But because you two couldn't kill one pathetic little human, centuries of planning might be revealed any moment now."
Lust felt the urge to rub her forehead, the thought of Maes's knife cutting through her skull...exciting her, but she pushed it down. Such feelings could be dealt with later, when the chance of punishment was less severe. Still, the strike had been enough to knock Lust out for a a moment or so, and let Maes escape into the main hallway. She hadn't pursued because she had taken a fatal wound, and had she gotten up it might have been enough for Maes to alert more about the homunculi. Better to let Envy handle clean up duty.
Of course, then Envy had been tossed around by a car, and suddenly Maes Hughes was alive in a hospital somewhere. They had no idea how much information had got out, and where he might even be. They'd put out a slight call for where the Lieutenant Colonel might be, but nothing too major so as not to alert anyone something was wrong.
And Lust couldn't help but feel some shame in this. All this planning, all this work, and by the morning it could be nothing but ash. She'd often considered herself superior to her fellow homonculi, that she had better control over her emotions. But she'd contributed to the groups greatest failure. And as she looked towards the massive chair in the middle of the room, the shame only grew heavier and more disgusting in her gut.
"Calm yourself Pride," and Lust suddenly felt her eyes widen, before looking up and seeing Wrath emerge from the shadows. There were a few singe marks on his uniform, but overall, he appeared to be the pure picture of calm. He waltzed into the room, and raised his hand towards the rest of the homonculi, which out of habit Lust returned.
"Don't think you have the right to order me Wrath," the shadows that made up Pride swirled in rage, something that was quite...ironic, "Why are you so late. Do you not reali-"
"Realize that Father's plan may have been compromised," Wrath cut the swirling morass of eyes and teeth, his face not even changing at the pressure the monster he was talking was exuding. As he finally walked into the circle of the homonculi, he smiled, and then added, "Not to worry though, I've managed to take care of it."
"Is this so Wrath?"
Lust felt his spine snap straight. She didn't dare look around to the voice that had just spoken up. The tall blonde figure merely slouched along his chair, his eyes still closed and several massive pipes steaming as they stuck out from his back. He was tapping his right index finger into his cheeck, and despite everything, he seemed completely serene to the world around him.
"Of course Father," the man known as Fuhrer King Bradley nodded, before pulling out a small beaten up sheet of metal, and tossing it on the ground, "Using the license plate number from the car, I was able to locate our enemy's safe house, and eliminate one of his allies and whatever assets he had there," Lust was able to recognize the clear numbers on the steel plate that clanged to the concrete ground beneath them, "Thank you for that Envy, could not have done it without your tenacity."
Envy nearly threw back an insult, clearly considering that it wasn't actually a compliment, but kept his mouth shut. The thought of angering father was enough to cow even the mouthiest of the Homonculi, and the fact he had helped in the end would probably mean his failure would be less likely to result in a harsh punishment. Though Lust could still see he was seething at having the youngest of the Homonculi having to save him from humiliation.
"That is a positive development," Father continued, again, not opening his eyes, "But I'm afraid that while eliminating our enemy's resources is a victory, the survival of Hughes is a great danger to our goals."
"Which is why it was good I was able to use the phone records of the last call to find out what phone was calling the man at the safe house," he then pulled it up, "It was a phone booth, and using a bit of guesswork, we were able to identify the clinic that Maes Hughes is located at. I have called into that clinic, and confirmed a man in his late twenties came in with multiple gunshot wounds with the help of another man, and a couple of bribes later was able to determine that we have Maes Hughes, and the identity of our little gunman," he pulled out a small little photo from his pocket, and showed it to the homonculi. It was of a tired looking man in a green suit with some blood specks dripped over the coat, "A Dr. Lloyd Forger," he then smirked over at the morass that was Pride, "The father of that girl who gave you quite the punch that first day of school."
...
Lust had to do everything in her power not to snort out loud. She had failed after all, and feeling the rage from Pride, she knew he wouldn't hesitate to devour her for her insolence if he could. Pride simply growled, and all that anger and rage was squarely placed on Wrath's shoulders, which was honestly just fine for Lust.
"I know of the man," the oldest homonculi growled, "So, I take it you've already had them dealt with then?"
"Oh, I haven't killed them yet, if that's what you are asking."
That caused Lust and the other Homonculi to nearly jump up. Lust just stared at Wrath, who remained calm as his fellow homonculi began to interrogate their youngest sibling.
"You haven't iced them yet?" Envy nearly shrieked, pointing a finger at Wrath, his teeth gnashing together in frustration, "They know about the Country-Wide Transmutation Circle."
"If they are allowed to live, they could reveal it to the whole of the country," Pride cut in for Envy, "Such a revelation would be the end of centuries of planning. We will not be able to obtain the power of God if they discover it and interfere in the circle's operation," the eyes began to narrow, "What sort of foolishness are thinking Wrath?"
"The sort of foolishness," Wrath continued, "That allows us to actually meet our goals."
The room became silent, as Wrath looked over at Father, ignoring the rest of the homonculi. The others, noticing his gaze, followed it to also look at Father, who remained slouched on his stone throne. For a few moments, he sat there, with his eyes closed, almost appearing to be asleep. He then waved his hand, and Wrath nodded, allowed to continue to explain his plan. The other homonculi returned their eyes to the Fuhrer, who began his explanation.
"We are still missing the five candidates to be sacrifices for the Promised Day," Wrath began, before raising a fist to the air, "We already know we have Edward Elric as a completed sacrifice," he raised one finger to the air, "And we are fairly sure that Alphonse Elric will be able to be a sacrifice as well, considering his circumstances," a second finger raised into the air.
"The brats," Envy snarled beneath his breath, though one look from one of Pride's massive eyes quieted him.
"Then there is the mystery child that already opened the gate in Selim's class," Wrath ignored the comments around him as he raised a third finger. His one visible eye twisted over to Pride, and his mouth grew into a far too large smile, "Now, unless I missed something, you still haven't found out the identity of this child, have you Pride?"
The massive pile of shadows seemed to convulse. Small, razor edges seemed to ripple along the black cloud, and the red eyes stared at Wrath with hate. Lust did the best she could to pull herself away from the "Father" and his "Son" because if they came to blows, she was quite sure she would end up as collateral damage.
"I'll take your silence as a no," Wrath continued, "And then we have guesses about three different possible sacrifices. The first of these three would be the woman known as Izumi Curtis. She was the Elric's Alchemy Master, and has seemed to already have opened the portal. I've been trying to recruit her for years, but she remains out of my grasp," he sighed, the fourth finger was now raised, "But, we at least know where she is, and should push comes to shove, we should be able to nab her. She's only a housewife after all," he then looked over specifically at Father, "The second of these possible sacrifices would be your brother, Van Hohenheim."
The room stopped, and once again all attention returned to Father. Their source finally opened his eyes, though they still seemed mostly disinterested in the whole thing. Though Lust could see that Father was actually quite interested, from the increase in frequency of tapping his finger on his cheek, and the sudden slight growth in the length of his frown.
"We know he would be a good sacrifice," Wrath continued, a fifth finger raised, "But we have no idea of his whereabouts, and without knowing it, he might not even be in Amestris itself. We cannot rely on him being our fifth sacrifice," he then raised his thumb, "And so, that brings us to our project, Colonel Roy Mustang."
The Handsome genius that had been Amestris's greatest weapon in Ishval. He'd long been proposed as a supremely high quality candidate to become a sacrifice. They had been trying to get him to Central for ages, but he seemed to be for the moment content in his space," he shook his head, "I thought his ambition would bring him to us, but he's been remarkably hard to wrangle."
"And why does Roy Mustang matter at the moment?"
"He matters because Maes Hughes is Roy Mustang's best friend," Wrath said simply, "Why would we get rid of an asset that might help us get one of our precious sacrifices? As long as Maes Hughes is in our hands, we can control Mustang's movements, and keep him ready for the Promised Day."
"And what happens when Maes Hughes reveals to Roy Mustang our plan?" Pride shot back.
"Well, first and foremost, my men have already isolated the two of them in their hospital room, only allowing one nurse to see them," Bradley said, "And from what I've heard, Hughes still hasn't woken up from his wounds, so he the chances of anything of actual note being shared are close to as low as they could be," he then smiled, "As for how I'll manage to keep Maes Hughes and Lloyd Forger in line, I have some ideas," he then returned his attention fully to Father, "I can use Maes Hughes to deliver you Roy Mustang, Father. Just allow me to implement my plan."
Father remained quiet for the next few moments, still clearly thinking over the situation. Finally, he sighed, and then looked Wrath directly in his one good eye.
"As long as you know what you are doing Wrath," he said finally.
"FATHER!"
"Pride," Father cut off his oldest child, "At the moment, it is true that we need to begin to build up our sacrifices," Pride seemed to wince at the rebuke, "And at the moment, only Wrath has made actual progress in his goals at an acceptable level. If he believes that this is the best way forward, then I shall trust him to undertake it."
"Bu-," yet Pride withered under Father's eyes, before finally saying, "Yes Father," and beginning to slither away into the shadows. Then, taking that as a sign to leave, the other homonculi began to withdraw from the group too. Lust and Envy looked at one another, and sighed in relief that the whole meeting had ended without either of them getting in too much trouble. As they began to walk out, Lust couldn't help but look over at Wrath, who was beginning to walk back to his palace with his hands behind his back.
'What could be your plan?' she asked herself, as they all slowly retreated to their current missions.
'God,' Maes Hughes groaned, his eyes surrounded by darkness, 'What I wouldn't give for some water,' his throat was incredibly dry, and it mixed with the blackness of his vision to remind him of the time he'd been in an Ishvalan Sandstorm, 'I wonder, have I died. Is this hell I've been sent back to?"
Slowly, however, light began to creep through his eyelids. He groaned for a moment, desperately wanting to reach up and cover his eyes now that it was beginning to hurt to see. Finally, after several moments of laying there, he forced open his eyes, breaking through what felt like a crust of sleep keeping his eyes closed. Though even when his eyes were open, he was only able to see a bright light up. It took several more moments for the light to begin to have any kind of definition, and once he did begin to see, it was only a bunch of squares above him. Finally, after far too much time trying to figure out what had happened, he could see he was staring up at a ceiling, a fluorescent light and a bunch of tiles above him. Though, without his glasses, he was really only able to make out the shapes, rather than the details.
"Where am I," he barely croaked out, his throat undeniably dry.
He twisted his head, and looked down, and saw that his head was on a pillow. He then saw that he was covered in a hospital blanket, and that location was only confirmed when he looked over, and saw an IV stuck in his left arm. The IV was continuing to drip, the sound of the dripping telling him more than the sight of the bag, and he saw he was being kept alive from the infusion of fluid.
And then he felt the pain. His side where the strange woman had pierced him was hurting, but that wasn't as bad as his shoulder. It felt like it had almost been split in two, and that it was barely being kept in place. As he tried to keep from yelling in pain, he pushed himself up, and managed to get it so he wasn't applying any pressure to that upper wound. It took him a moment, now sitting, to finally regain control of himself, he looked up, and saw the only other occupant of the room. ANd while he couldn't see all the details on the man, he could see the blonde hair and the green suit.
Lloyd Forger, Agent Twilight, was sitting in a chair on the other side of the room, his head laying back against the wall. With the lack of movement, Maes would have to guess he was asleep at the moment. His hand was laying on the chair next to him, and Maes could make out a metal device laying in his palm, most likely a gun. For a few moments, Maes just stared at the younger man.
'So this is the guy I've been looking for for the past few months,' he thought to himself, rubbing his forehead, 'Man, I thought I was good at this, but I had a spy literally as my next door neighbor, and I only just got it,' he stared at the young man, 'I mean the Forgers just moved in about two mon...'
"Forgers," he croaked out.
...
"GOD DAMNIT!"
"Wah!" Lloyd had woken up from the shout, but Maes couldn't say anything, as he was now having to place a hand over his mouth to try and containe the coughing. Lloyd looked around, and waved the pistol for a moment, before seeing Maes sitting up, and lowering it back onto the chair beside him. He let out a massive sigh, before rubbing the back of his head, "Oh, good, you're awake."
"COAgh, cuh, Hack, CU,COugh!"
"Yeah," Twilight pushed himself to his feet, and walked over toward the side of the bed. He grabbed up a pitcher on the small table, and a glass of water, and handed the glass to Maes. Just as Maes though he'd managed to catch his coughing, Twilight nodded at the glass, "Drink up, after everything you've been through, you're going to need to rehydrate."
Maes nodded, before doing his best to quiet his throat. After a few moments, the coughing was over, and he began to sip on the water. The liquid quickly began to spread down his parched throat, and whatever need to cough he'd had before began to dissipate. Over the next couple of minutes, he would stop, drink a few sips of water, and then wait for himself to make sure he didn't accidently cough and send the water down the wrong pipe. Finally, after an eternity, his throat was feeling normal again, and he was able to shake his head. He rubbed the back of his head with his good remaining hand, and then blinked when he saw Twilight's hand extended forward, a thin metal frame sitting in his palm.
"Ah, thanks," Maes smiled, as he picked up his glasses, and put them on his head. He blinked, and smiled as all the details came into view...and this certainly was Lloyd Forger. Maes could tell it was him, and not another shapeshifter, mostly because he already hadn't been shot, and because he'd seen Lloyd when he was tired and exasperated, and this was too perfect a copy for even the monster he'd met at the phone booth.
"Glad to help," Twilight nodded.
They stayed there for a moment. Maes looked into Twilight's eyes, and Twilight looked back, and yet...neither could quite find what next to say. For a solid minute, the only sound in the room was the dripping of the IV.
"Okay," Maes finally said, "Might as well get this over with," he smirked, "Am I the first one to figure our you're you?" making sure to not use the name Twilight in case anyone outside was listening in.
"Now Mae-"
"Don't try to bullshit me," Maes groaned, and Twilight sighed, "Besides, after last night, it's not like I'm going to turn you over. I'm not about to stab the guy who saved my ass in the back that easily."
"Fine," Twilight groaned, before walking back to his chair, "The answer your question, yes, you are the first one to have ever figured it out," he sat down, and slouched over, allowing his body to rest even if his mind couldn't, "Though I must ask what was it that gave me away? This is the second time I've been found out, and I wasn't doing anything with records this time."
"You mentioned you'd been in South City," Maes said, and when Twilight blinked, "During your conversation with Yuri, you more or less let me know you'd started in the South, and then I sort of combined that with what we knew about your travel," he then gave a smirk, "But really, if you'd just kept your face better, I probably was only able to pull off the question because you let your guard down."
"Damnit," Twilight rubbed his temples, "Well, when you see something like that...thing," Maes cringed at the thought of the monster that had attempted to kill him with his wife's face, "You'd be pretty out of sorts too," he then stared down at his gun, "I put nearly a dozen bullets in that thing, and it was like I was hitting it with a pillow."
"More than that," Maes added, "Clearly, it did damage to the thing," he winced, remembering how the bullets had ripped into him as well, "Though yeah, that thing could regenerate itself with some strange energy," he shook his head, "Alchemy, ya know?"
"I fucking hate it."
"I get that," Maes laid back against the pillow, "So, where are we?" He looked around the room, "This doesn't look like the main hospital, so I'm guessing you did took me to a clinic that was closer, right?"
He was asking if he'd been taken to a non-military doctor. Best to not even speak like this had anything that might damage the military, since they would still likely be after him.
"Yes," Twilight nodded, "You were losing a lot of blood, so I made a decision to go to the nearest one, which was only right."
Yeah, Lloyd had decided to do so to avoid the military. Good, they were thinking on the same wavelength. If this was going to work, they were going to have to speak like this, only vaguely hinting at what they were actually trying to get across. Even if they weren't in a military hospital, they could avoid any kind of incriminating evidence against them.
"So," Maes sighed, "Last night, the research I was doing was really kind of tough," he said, and Twilight leaned forward, his eyes sharpening. He was clearly ready to get across whatever Maes was about to tell him, "I was dealing with spies and conflicts around Amestris, let me tell you, staring at a map makes the whole thing a pain in the ass."
"I can imagine so," Twilight nodded, and then began to dig into his coat pocket. He pulled out a small little booklet, and then opened it, showing Maes a map of Amestris. Maes nodded, and then smiled as Lloyd turned the booklet around, and raised a finger over the map, "What were you doing that needed you to look at a map?"
"I was helping the Elric brothers," Twilight's eyes widened a bit, "You know those boys, always traveling around. After all, they are trying to figure out the philospoher's stone," and then Twilight went stiff.
'Okay, good, he knows enough about the stone to sort of guess why this might be important,' Maes thought nodding to himself as Twilight stared down at the map, a bead of sweat beginning to fall right along his brow, 'Need to pull this off right.'
"Kids like that, they don't know how lucky they are to still see travel as something to enjoy, rather than something to just serve as another bit of work or misery," he stared directly at Twilight, "When I was in Ishval," Twilight's finger came down, and Maes nodded, "It basically killed most of my love of travel. Though even when those boys end up in a place with a lot of conflict, they come out well. Just look at how they handled Liore," the finger slide upward, and Maes nodded more, "Though, I have to tell you, if they ever headed up to Briggs, the cold would probably set them straight," and the finger went diagonal, "Though, I could understand that Pendelton out west," Twilight cringed, and then Maes winced remembering what that city would mean to a citizen of Cresta, "Might have similar impacts," the finger went down in a diagonal, "Of course, even Fotcett in the South would be trouble for a group of kids like that," and straight down again, "That's just how Amestris is though, all those places besides Briggs have had massive losses of life, that's what happened in Ishavl after all."
Twilight's finger came across, and he stared down at it, blinking for a moment. He mouthed "A Pentagram" before shaking his head, he looked over at Maes, who blinked. Maes thought it was obvious, but...perhaps if it was as obvious as he thought, someone would have noticed it. Even without knowing the exact pattern of the Philospher's Stone Circle, he would have thought that the battles being so evenly spaced out would be noticable. Of course, you would need to know that the border was a circ-
"Ever notice how strange Amestris's border looks?" he said aloud, trying his best to sound loopy, "Like it's almost a complete circle?"
Twilight pulled the map back, and then his eyes widened again.
"Shit," he said beneath his breath, "The philosopher's stone?"
"Yeah," Maes nodded, "I guess Ed and Al are going to go to wherever they can to find a way to get back their bodies, though with everything that's going on," he shook his head, "I guess there are just some things that seem like normal humans just can't achieve."
Twilight continued to look at the map. He then got up, and stared at a small medicine cabinet on the side of the room. He opened it, and pulled out a large cylinder of moisturizing cream. He looked over at Maes, and walked over to his left side, and then opened the top of the cylinder, and looked at Maes, before announcing.
"You look like you are beginning to chafe a bit, let's use this to get your arms less dry," he then slapped a massive glob of it onto Maes's forearm. Maes blinked for a moment, before Twilight then reached down with his right index finger, and began to twist and turn it around in the glob rapidly. Finally, Twilight pulled his hand back, and suddenly Maes could see words.
The Entire Country a Circle?
'Probably means a Transmutation Circle,' Maes thought, before putting his own finger into the glop. It made sense, if anyone came in now, they'd be able to rub the message away into Maes's skin, something that wouldn't work if they used paper and pen.
Yes, for PS.
SHIT!
Maes almost laughed at the cursing in writing, before shaking his head, and watching Twilight write in another thought.
We get you to Cresta.
That...was likely where this was going to have to go. Maes couldn't stay in Amestris anymore. Not with the military likely to be out to get him. His information was too terrible, too shocking, too horrific to not put him on the hit list for whoever was orchestrating this plan. Hell, he wasn't even sure who might be orchestrating these things. It certainly could be the Fuhrer, but some of the conflicts he'd researched began before King Bradley had ascended to the throne. Though he certainly wasn't doing anything to stop it.
'Still, need to set the ground rules,' Maes then stuck his finger back into the gloop.
Not without my family.
Of course.
Maes sighed in relief. Twilight nodded, and continued to write.
As soon as I can get to my contact, I'll be able to arrange a train for you to the West by tonight.
Maes was about to ask about a train, but Twilight continued.
We'll disguise you up and give you fake ids. You'll be out of the country in three days.
Maes partially winced, after all, he was about to betray his country. To an enemy he'd personally been fighting and bringing down for the past five years. But with everything he'd seen, he'd need to get out of Amestris, with his family, so he could provide the intel to the world, and then use their resources to spread the word around as much as they could. It was risky, but at the moment, it was the only way to make sure that he'd be able to try and save his country and his family.
When will your contact get back to you?
Don't know. Got disconnected, but he should pick up when I next go out for a call.
Maes nodded. Twilight grabbed his wrist, and furiously rubbed the rest of the gel into Maes's skin. Now, their writing was gone, and no one would be able to see their planning. Twilight quickly darted over and placed the cylinder back inside the cabinet, and then placed his gun into his coat. As he did so, he kept his eyes moving. He was clearly somewhat nervous about going out again, but for their plan...okay, general idea, calling it a plan was too generous, but for their idea to work he needed to get in contact with his assets. That meant Maes was going to be alone again.
'Still,' Maes looked at his wounds, 'I guess I should just be glad to be alive at this point,' he then cringed as he again felt pain through his body, now down in his leg too, 'Though this will make it harder to jump the train when we need to,' he then gritted his teeth, 'Come on Maes, after living through last night, you can handle a few pains and stitches no problem,' he closed his eyes, 'Just...just think of your daughter, and how happy you will be to see her, to hold her, to hear her scream-'
"DADDY!"
The door opened to their room, and Elicia Hughes rushed through. She was clearly upset, with barely dried tears along her eyes, as she ran up, and nearly tried to jump up into his bed. For a second, Maes could only stare in shock, and out of the corner of his eye, he could see Twilight's jaw had dropped open too.
"Elicia?" Maes asked, barely able to get the word out.
"Daddy!" she was now doing a mix of crying, laughing, and hiccupping. It would be really cute if it wasn't so shocking.
"Elicia!" suddenly, Gracia rushed into the room too. She looked barely put together, a coat over her night gown. It was only at noticing this that Maes could see that his daughter was in her pajamas. He suddenly realized that it was still likely morning, and that his wife and daughter had jumped out of bed and rushed over to see him, "Oh god, Maes," Gracia raised her hands up, and placed them on Maes's face, "I was so worried when you didn't come home last night," she was about to reach over to hug him, but then saw his wounded body, "I, um."
"Don't worry," Maes laughed a little, "Just being near your beauty is all I need."
"Oh god."
Maes finally returned his attention to Twilight. The spy's face was in his palm. Well, while this may be unexpected, at least they were all in one place. Once they could get in contact with
"Well, if it isn't one of my favorite officers."
And it was only then, as that very familiar voice carried into the room, that Maes realized that Twilight hadn't been reacting to his family. Because right behind Gracia, standing at the door with several guards on each side, was a tall mustachioed man with one eye, smiled at Maes as he stood in the doorway of his hospital room.
"As soon as I heard you were injured," the Fuhrer said, his arms held behind his back, "I came as soon as I could," he then opened his eye at Maes, their gazes fully meeting one another.
"After all, I couldn't risk anything happening to you."