CENTRAL
“Congratulations, Colonel Mustang!” And with a salute from the Fuhrer, and a cheer from the assembled ranks, that was that. Roy matched the salute, and smiled behind his eyes. The Fuhrer nodded to the rest of the assembly ground. “Dismissed!” The soldiers present turned with perfect poise, and marched out.
“Walk with me a while, Colonel.” The Fuhrer strolled down the steps, gloved hands behind his back.
“Certainly, sir.”
Odd. Mustang thought to himself. The aura this man has… The ability to make it seem like he knows all your worries and dreams, and reassure you that those are his concerns as well. All without opening his mouth or saying a single word.
If I reach my goal, if one day I’m the one handing out the promotions, will I be able to pull off that same air?
Roy let himself smile, as they strolled through the yard. The Fuhrer chuckled to himself for a second.
“Sir?”
“Ah, just letting my mind wander. Tell me Mustang, what do you perceive as the biggest threat to our nation at this minute?”
Roy pursed his lips. “Dorakan from the North?”
“Hm!” The Fuhrer nodded, seemingly impressed. “Not many people know about the troubles at the border yet. But no, that wasn’t the one I was thinking of.”
“No, I’ve been more concerned recently with traitors. Traitors and saboteurs.”
Mustang nodded. How much to reveal here? Perhaps a bit. Don’t want to get Hughes in trouble.
“Would this have something to do with the military action in Central four days ago?”
“Very perceptive, Colonel. Yes, actually, it would. We’re still dealing with the loose ends from that, I’m sorry to say.”
“And you’d like a few more hands working to tie up these loose ends?”
“You’re two for three, Colonel. In fact, this is one of the reasons that I’ve asked you here. I need good, loyal, reliable officers in places that I can trust them. You’re one of them, and I need you here at Central.”
Roy nodded, letting his thoughts uncurl. I half expected something like this… Good, now I don’t have to kick it off myself. But…
“I have a few people I’d like to bring with me from Eastern. And I’ll need a briefing on the specifics of these loose ends we need to tie up.”
“My secretary is putting together a dossier as we speak. And you’ve got carte blanche to bring in anyone from Eastern.”
“Good. Oh, one more thing. Who is going to replace me in Eastern?”
“I’m appointing Lieutenant Colonel Archer to that post. He’ll also handle the rest of the uprising in Liore. That little spot of trouble is well within his capabilities.”
Archer… It only took Roy a second to put a face to the name. In the military, if you were serious about landing your general’s stars, you kept an eye on the competition. It paid off to know about your fellow officers. In this case, he remembered a serious man with a quiet, almost smug smile, and sharp eyes. Quick to make decisions, and quick to command his subordinates. Never less than polite, very efficient, but still… The man’s shifty. His ambitions aren’t too far from mine, I think. He’s coming in from military intelligence, too, and that’s not a branch famed for its scruples. Hughes is the only one I trust in that lot…
Well, it’s better that he’s heading to Eastern, then. I’ll have to work fast, before he gets promoted again. As long as I stay ahead of him, it’ll be for the best.
Roy nodded. “I’m sure he’ll do a good job. Still, I’d like to meet with him to discuss details about his new command, let him know about the area…”
“Oh, Lt. Colonel Archer’s a bit busy right now, helping me with a minor task.” The Fuhrer smiled. “I’m sure you’ll have time to talk later. And speaking of business, I’d best be going to attend to some of my own. Take care, Colonel.” The Fuhrer smiled, and breaking tradition just a bit, offered a handshake.
Roy kept his face neutral. This is an unexpected honor! A handshake, and a public one, no less… In front of the courtyard, and the drilling troops, he shook the Fuhrer’s hand.
The metal hand came down on the table, scattering the papers. Guts grabbed the edge and leaned across the table, looking at the thin man across from him with his glaring eye.
“You’re repeating questions.”
The thin man across from him offered a quiet, smug smile. He gathered up the fallen papers, one by one, taking his time and letting Guts seethe before he replied. “Oh, I just want to make sure I have everything down correctly. You’re from the East, you said?”
“Yes. I told you this before.”
“How is it that we’ve never heard of any settlements out that way?”
“I’m not from a settlement, I told you.”
“And you claim to be a mercenary, but I’ve never heard of the country you fought for. Midguard, was it?”
“Mid-LAND.”
Archer shook his head, and sighed. “I really don’t know why you’re bothering.”
“Look. You ignored the last time I asked. Where is Caska?”
“Ah yes, this woman you’re looking for. Why should we tell you? You haven’t given any solid reason as to why we should let you see her.”
“I’m all she’s got left.”
Archer smiled, pulling out a file case with a SNAP. One by one, he moved the papers into the folders, before standing. “Well. I think we’re done here.”
“Hey. Don’t jerk me around. Where is Caska, and when can I see her?”
“Your story’s full of holes, you’re quite obviously a highly dangerous man, and you either cannot or will not tell me anything about her background. At this point, it would not be prudent to let you anywhere NEAR her.” Archer crossed the floor of the room, and knocked on the door. The guard cracked it open, nodded to him, and resumed his post.
Guts glared… And concealed his smile, as Puck used the opportunity to zoom in under Archer’s nose.
Archer, oblivious, continued. “Tell the guard to find me, if you feel like being a little more forthcoming about the facts. Until then, don’t waste my time.”
He left, the door closed, and Guts waved at Puck. “Yo.” He muttered.
“I think I have something… How’d things go?”
“Not good. They’re askin’ too many questions. Can’t give them the answers, they wouldn’t believe’em.”
“Yeah… Anyway, listen up. In the basement, there’s two guards in front of a heavy door. I mean, it’s a solid slab of steel. I listened to one of the guards talking to the other… One asked what was in there, and the other said that they couldn’t talk about it on the outside. He explained that the Furrier goes in there sometimes, and you can hear a woman screaming while he’s there, if you listen at the door.”
“Furrier?”
“Yeah. Beats me, they didn’t talk about it anymore. Just told the new guy not to repeat it anywhere, or he’d be peeling potatoes for the rest of his life.”
“A woman, screaming…” Guts considered, for a long minute. His face darkened.
“You checked out the rest of this place?”
“Everywhere I could get to. No sign of her.”
Guts nodded, walked over to the bed, and pulled his sword over to the table. With his other hand he dug out a whetstone, and started sharpening the blade.
“Uh, shouldn’t we be going to the rescue?” Asked Puck.
“Yeah. But we can’t do this one stupid. They took my bombs when I showed up, and the blackpowder I had on me. And there’s that guard on the door. How many guards between here and the cell below?”
“At least twelve. Scattered around, too. And that’s not counting soldiers moving through the building, at least on the upper floors…”
Guts nodded. “And you’re not sure that it’s Caska. Didn’t see her?”
“Nope.”
“Then we wait. We wait, and we take the first chance we get.”
SHING, went the whetstone along the blade, as Guts clenched his teeth, and his eye gleamed.
“And if it IS Caska down there, I’ll cut our way out. And I won’t stop cutting until nothing alive’s left in our way…
Night was falling on Central, before Roy finally made his way back to his assigned Officer’s quarters. In one hand, he was carrying two rolled-up posters. The other held his pocket watch. He studied it for a long minute, then snapped the case of the watch shut, tucking it away. Lt. Hawkeye strolled along beside him, keeping an eye on the shadows. She held the door open as Roy headed in.
“Nine o’clock…”
“And all’s not well,” rumbled a deep voice from the direction of the kitchen. Major Armstrong carried a pot away from the stove, resplendent in a “Kiss the Cook” apron and pair of oven mitts, over his dress uniform. “So, I felt that a belly full of beef would fortify us for the troubles ahead.”
Hawkeye wrinkled her nose, and refrained from comment. Oh god, they’re pink. His oven mitts are pink and fuzzy…
Roy sniffed, at the delicious odor of meat and vegetables. Dinner! His stomach reminded him, and he sat down at the table. “You know, dinner wasn’t quite what I had in mind when I asked you to show up. But frankly, that smells too good to pass up.”
“I’ll pass, thanks. Already eaten.” Said Lt. Hawkeye. “But go ahead, please. It smells wonderful.”
“I haven’t. And I’m hungry!” Roy fished a spoon out of the nearby dishrack.
“I merely used the delicious pot roast preparation skills passed down through the Armstrong family for generations. Besides, I haven’t eaten either.” The major ladled out the savory stew, and the two of them ate silently from bowls for a few minutes. Finally, Colonel Mustang sighed, and put the two posters on the table. “Great. But we’d better get down to business.”
Major Armstrong nodded, and watched the posters rolled out with silent eyes. He blinked at the two faces revealed.
“I don’t know the man. The woman… You recall that picture that you sent through a few days ago?”
“Yes. Caska, according to our local mysterious dark wanderer.”
“Caska… Very well. We brought her here, to the Palace, after rescuing her from the Laboratory. But shortly before you arrived, she was kidnapped. Someone slashed the gas lines, which cut out all the lights in the Palace. They used the cover of darkness to break in and grab her. A lieutenant in my charge was injured during this process, she’s still recovering.”
“Damn! So she’s gone?”
“Apparently. Lt. Colonel Archer had some information about their likely destination, but by the time we arrived there was no sign of Caska. However…”
Armstrong tapped one of the wanted posters with a meaty finger. “We hauled the body of this woman out of the wreckage. It appeared there had been a serious struggle there… Traces of blood around, but no other bodies.”
“Hm. Dead end, then. That leaves only one. What happened to the body?”
Armstrong shrugged, removing his apron and mitts. “Dropped off at a morgue, I presume. I was tasked with making sure the building was structurally sound, and looking for clues.”
“Then all we’re left with is the fat man here. Not much to go on.”
“Sir, I might have something there, if this description is accurate.” Mustang glanced over at Hawkeye and nodded as she hesitated, then continued.
“Several of the sentries around the palace grounds have reported seeing a fat, short man sniffing around at night. Every time they tried to apprehend him or shoot at him, he’s run away.”
“Why haven’t we been briefed on this?” Asked Mustang.
“I couldn’t say. The sentries had orders to keep things quiet. I only found out after I got one roaring drunk.”
“Why lieutenant, I never knew you had such skills at espionage…” Murmured Mustang, grinning.
Hawkeye flushed, and looked away.
And froze.
“Major, Colonel…don’t look. Don’t turn your heads, and keep on talking normally. Act like nothing’s wrong. And tell me what to do here, because frankly I have no clue.”
“You see… the fat man on the poster? He’s at the window. Pressing his nose to it. And his drool is eating holes in the glass.”
Gluttony was not having a fun day.
Gluttony was LONELY. Lust was nowhere around!
He tried to eat Envy, just like she said… Even though Envy was SCARY. But that other one, Greed, had stopped him. They’d all fought, and then the soldiers had shown up, and they had to run. Because Lust said not to let the soldiers see them, or make sure that any who did got eaten. And there were too many to eat all at once.
So Gluttony was good, and Gluttony ran. But this time, there was no one to rub his head and tell him “Good Boy.”
No Lust.
He cried for a while, then he decided to find her.
Her smell took a while to find, and it led to the big building that Pride lived in. But Pride was bad now, so he couldn’t just walk in. He had to be careful.
And her scent was fading, after a day. He wasn’t happy at all, and he kept running into soldiers when he tried to look further.
He was miserable. His last meal had been a stray cat yesterday, and it wasn’t filling at all.
He had to find Lust. She would feed him! He was SO hungry…
He got better at sneaking, and tried sniffing around the houses near the edge of the big building.
And then, he smelled IT. The most WONDERFUL THING he could ever remember smelling. Of course, his memory wasn’t that good, but this smelled DELICIOUS!
So he went in for a closer look. And he saw the soldiers, sitting around the stew. It was right there, but they weren’t eating it any more. Their bowls were EMPTY. EMPTY! They had stew and they didn’t even want it! This was not fair.
Then there was fire all around him, and the big one had torn his shirt off. “Surrender! And you’ll not be harmed.” He said. The blonde one was pointing a gun at him. The black-haired one had gloves on now, and was waving his hands, shaping the circle of flames surrounding Gluttony.
Gluttony sighed.
Then he SURGED forward, slamming through the wall and feeling his blubber sizzle a bit from the fire, and the fight started.
Gluttony was not having a fun day.
Ed put down the book, eyes wide as he leaned back in his seat. He and Al were the last patrons in the Central Library, and the librarian was shooting them nasty looks. She wanted to go home, and only Al’s begging had kept them open this late.
“What is it, brother?”
Ed closed Dr. Marcoh’s “Cookbook” with a shaking hand, his face wracked with sorrow. “Al.” He whispered. “The Philosopher’s stone…”
“Yes? Is it in there?”
“It’s made from people. The equivalent exchange is human souls… Human pain, human lives. It’s…”
Ed buried his face in his hands, the metal one gleaming in the lamplight.
“No…” Whispered Al.
Ed was silent for a long moment, and Al fidgeted.
“I… I guess I can stay like this. I’m okay, I’m used to it… But, your arm, and your leg… Well, we’ll have to find another way, that’s all. We’ll grow you flesh and blood ones… I don’t know…”
“No.”
Ed straightened up, glaring at the book in front of him.
“No, I refuse to give up. We’re going to get you your body back, Al. We’re going to make a philosopher’s stone.”
“But…”
“No buts. And we’ll find a way to do it without killing! There’s GOT to be another way!”
Al nodded. “You’re right!”
“We just haven’t found it yet, is all!” Ed slid the book into his jacket, and stood.
“Brother, what are you doing?”
“Borrowing this book. Let’s go.”
“But… isn’t that stealing? We don’t have a card, I mean…”
“Did you see the dust on the cover? No one will miss it. We’re the first to check it out in-“
There was a distant BOOM, and a flash of light from the north. Fiery light.
Ed dashed to the window. “That came from the Palace!”
“That can’t be good!”
“You said it! Let’s go…” And as the Librarian gaped at the distant fire, the Elric brothers ran towards the far-off flames…
Rumble.
It was only a slight vibration, but Lust felt it through her chains. With her arms and legs broken and held tightly into place, she didn’t have the option to NOT feel the room shake.
Lust sighed. This was getting tiresome. And worse, she was getting to the point where she had no new pieces of information for Pride. She wasn’t sure what would happen then, but with no Dante around to punish the homunculi, it would probably be lethal.
She twisted her lips. More likely, he’d simply leave the rib at the foot of her chains. The proximity would let the memories overwhelm her, until she couldn’t tell the present from the past and the pain drove her mad.
Could it kill her?
Lust thought it possible. Very possible.
If only she could get her fingers free… She’d managed to shift the chains a little, with time. Unfortunately, every time Pride came down there he checked them over and readjusted them. His eye was too good, and she couldn’t hide what she’d done.
All she could do was wait.
Thinking it over… She couldn’t blame Pride. After all, had they been in the same situation, Lust thought she just might do the same thing.
And then, there was a yell from outside the door. A sudden THUD, as something hit the doorframe.
She stared.
The door shook again. “Too solid.” Said a muffled, high-pitched voice.
“Yeah. Stand back.”
“You’re kidding, right? That metal’s at least a foot thick. Even for you, that’s tough.”
“It’d be tough if I tried to break the door, yeah. That’s why I’m doing THIS.”
A horrendous noise, of metal on stone. The doorframe bulged on the left-hand side, and the door shook.
Lust watched. For a second, she had a flicker of memory of an emotion. Was it hope? It was a good memory…
Another screeching CRASH, and this time part of a massive metal blade protruded through the wall. With a grunt, the unseen attacker forced it down, crunching out stone as it went, carving through the area around the door…
Then silence. And a faint shadow against the revealed light, as a hand reached up, grabbed the door, and PULLED. Hinges popped, screws gave, and the door twisted aside and fell with a slam, as the lights in the corridor flickered.
He came in sword first, filling the light from the doorway with his bulky silhouette. But Lust’s eyes were on the blade that he kept in front of him at all times, as he looked over the cell. And her.
It was far too big to be called a sword.
Too heavy, too thick, and far too rough, it was more like a heap of raw iron...
“Well, hello there. Nice entrance.” She murmured.
And then she blinked, as a tiny green winged figure flew out from behind the big man.
Am I losing my mind? Is this some sort of hallucination?
“Damn. All that work and it’s not her. Just another demon-thing.”
Demon-thing? Lust wondered. “I’m sorry, were you expecting someone else?”
“Yeah.” The man glared at her with his one good eye, and slid the sword onto his back. She looked a little more carefully, as her eyes adjusted to the light. Auto-mail… Both an arm AND a leg. This man’s either very lucky to be alive or very foolish…
“Poo. She’s not here. That means that she’s not in the palace… Oh man, we better get moving before someone comes to check on the guards. Whatever that explosion was, it won’t keep them busy forever…”
“Yeah. Come on.” He did not look happy at all.
And the big man turned to leave, his tattered cloak swirling in front of her.
“Wait!” She yelled.
“Why should I?”
She watched, as thin drops of blood oozed their way down his neck, from a burned mark. A very familiar-looking burned mark…
“You can’t leave me here. They’re going to kill me soon.”
“Good. One less monster in the world.”
Her lips thinned. “I’m hardly a monster.”
“This says otherwise.” He tapped the mark, then started out into the corridor…
She decided to gamble.
“That woman you’re looking for. She has brown skin, doesn’t she?”
He stopped.
He turned around, and his eye was hard as it glared at her, hard and suspicious.
“Tell me what you know.”
“She’s got a mark on her breast, exactly the same as the one on your neck.”
The flying green thing grinned. “That’s her! You’re the first one to mention that-“ The man cut him off with a wave of his hand.
“Okay, so you’ve seen her. Where is she now?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then you’re of no use to me.” He turned. Was he bluffing? Lust couldn’t tell. And she couldn’t take the risk.
“But I do know the people who have her. The monsters that have her. They’re like me, but worse. And believe me, her life means nothing to them.”
He glared at her. Then he drew, and the sword licked out, once, twice, and again. She barely had time to blink before her chains were fragments flying through the air, and gravity caught up to her. She collapsed to the ground in a heap, and grinned as her arms and legs, held misshapen and broken for so long, began to snap once more into place and mend.
He watched the process with his eye, grunting as she stood. “Good. I’m not gonna carry you.”
She smiled, and stretched. With a final crack, the last joints fell into place, and she could move her fingers again. Casually, she pointed three of them at the stranger’s head.
It took only a second to make her decision.
I still need to escape. Pointless to get free of the cell and be recaptured two floors up… He’ll be a suitable shield between me and trouble.
I work better with backup, anyway. And until I can find Gluttony, he’ll do. Besides, he might be able to answer a few questions about Pet, or Dante…
She turned her pointing fingers into a wave.
“Lead the way.”
She was shocked when he grabbed her arm, and threw her into the corridor. She nearly tripped over the prone bodies of the unconscious guards, and recovered, clicking on her heels as she trod on the fallen door.
“You think I trust you behind me? Don’t be stupid. Get moving, we need to get out of here.” The stranger snarled.
“We’re leaving the palace?” Asked Puck. “Where are we going now?”
“We’ll sort that out when we’re clear. Now move, Lady.”
Lust swallowed her retort, and fled up the stairway.
In his office, Pride put down his cup of tea, and studied the raging fight in the courtyard. Through the flames, he could see the squat form of Gluttony, as the fat Sin dashed back and forth between Mustang and Armstrong, with Hawkeye shooting his legs out from under him whenever he got too close to one of the alchemists. He scowled and reached over to the wall, picking off two sabers, and buckling them into his belt.
Sloth put down the phone, as he moved through the office, pulling on his harness as he went. “Sub-basement guardpost A isn’t answering my calls.”
“Deal with it. I’ve got Gluttony to bring down. If it’s Lust, make sure that the two of them do NOT reunite.”
Sloth nodded, and followed him out, picking up a bag as she did so.
The two of them left, following their respective paths.
And below, Lust ran on, not knowing what followed behind her…