Author’s Note: Ugh, I feel horrible for taking forever with this chapter, and even worse because it’s so long I had to split the chapters in two. I hope you enjoy, because I fear I’ve lost my way near the end.

Edit: There are some serious conflicts of events between the actual events of the movie and this story. I’m not perfect, but I wish I saw the whole movie one more time before I started writing this.

XXX

Return to Shamballa / Rewrite

5 – Breath of the Chimera

The heavy knocking interrupted Brother before he could explain their plans for the rest of the week. Eyes gravitated to the door as Gracia walked to it and turned the knob.

It was Leo.

“I found an eavesdropper,” he said calmly, looking at Al and Brother. “It’s the girl downstairs.”

“Anne?” Officer Hughes asked. “Anne Deibold?”

Brother cringed. Al couldn’t blame him.

“Should we be worried?” Jackob questioned, having spotted the look on Brother’s face.

“What if she reports us?” Rudolf suddenly blurted out. “What if she heard everything we’ve said? Everything we said’s treason, and if she reports us-”

“She won’t.” It was Roland. He was still looking at the photograph in his hand. Poor Roland… “No one will listen to the words of a single girl. At least…she won’t be taken seriously.”

He smiled – or rather, smirked.

“Whatever happens, the bomb isn’t going to Berlin,” Brother said angrily. “So stop smirking, you-”

“No, Brother!” Al grabbed the older Elric’s left arm and jerked him back; Brother started choking on the rest of the sentence. “He’s not Colonel Mustang, remember?”

“I know he’s not that smug bastard, but he’s no different! You are not laying a finger on the bomb-”

“If you find it.”

“-when we find it! Got that, Colonel?”

Roland stared at the metal finger pointed in his direction. Then he sighed and glanced at Noah, who looked at him disapprovingly.

“Fine. I’ll leave the bomb’s fate up to you two. But I want to help you two find it. I need something to do.”

“Now he needs something to do,” Albert muttered.

Somewhere in the apartment, a telephone rang shrilly, and Gracia left the gathering to answer it. Officer Hughes watched her go, then sighed and rose to his feet.

“I have to go to work. I’m late and they’re going to count it against me. Figure out exactly what you’re going to do, and tell me when I come back. Oh, and keep Roland away from the beer halls.”

“Hey! Mayes, you can’t tell me what to do!”

“I can and I will. That’s what friends are for, Roland. They keep each other from doing anything particularly stupid.” Officer Hughes adjusted his cap, then, with a nod to the four former soldiers, Brother, Al, Noah, Saree, and Leo, who was standing near the door, headed out into the hall down towards the stairs.

Gracia reappeared in the living room, eyes wide and terrified.

“Where’s Mayes?”

“He went out the door,” Heinrich answered, jabbing a thumb towards the door.

“Mayes!” Gracia yelled, running out into the hall and to the stairs. “Mayes, get back here! It’s from the office!”

Al wondered what the other end of the phone said that got Gracia so flustered; until now he had never seen her as an excitable person, and nothing ever seemed to upset her. Did Officer Hughes’ boss call, demanding why the man was late to work? Oh no, he and Brother didn’t get Officer Hughes in trouble, did they, with all their talk about the bomb and what they were planning to do with it? Well, it couldn’t be entirely their fault, with Roland and their other soldier friends also gathering here, right? Roland was the one who started talking about bombing one of the cities…But Al hated the thought of getting Officer Hughes in trouble, being such a good friend and all.

“…want me to call back?”

“No, Dennis says that’s too risky. He told me what you need to know, and we only got a few minutes before they get here!” Gracia exclaimed as she reappeared, with a winded, frustrated, and hatless police officer in tow. “He said it’s a small detail, since I have a clean record and there’s no rumors up and down the streets, but just in case, we have to clean out.”

“What rumors? Is this about the Gypsies?” Brother demanded, taking charge.

“Mayes, did we get you in trouble? But why would they take the word of a simple girl?” Roland was jostling with the younger man for control.

“Dennis said she ‘knew’ people,” Gracia explained, looking at Officer Hughes significantly.

He smacked himself on the forehead. “You’re kidding me. She’s actually in with Hitler’s little group? That’s ridiculous; she’s too young!”

“When you feed fire to fresh kindling, it burns brightly,” Saree countered. “Young people are an impassioned people.”

“But I don’t feel impassioned about anything!” Rudolf protested, gesturing to himself.

Brother dared anyone with a glare to connect him with such an emotional word. Al himself didn’t know. He had been passionate about getting his brother’s natural body back…and vice versa. And they succeeded, almost.

“How far would you go to defend this former soldier boy?” Saree asked sweetly, pointing a rather accusatory finger at Roland.

“All the way,” was the impromptu reply.

The dark woman smiled triumphantly and said no more.

“What did your friend say, Mayes? Gracia?” Roland demanded, turning away from the baffled younger soldier and the Gypsy.

“We have to get you out of here. I’m sure they’ll ignore Jackob, Heinrich, Albert and Rudolf; they’re soldiers and the men I work with respect them. Ed, Al, get these three out of here and someplace safe, and make sure to get rid of all evidence from your apartment.”

“I’ll tell the other tenants about the search and what they haven’t seen. You four spread the word.”

“What if they’re the kind of people who blame us for losing the war?” Heinrich asked.

“Don’t worry. I was selective with my tenents.”

“Brother and I know a way into the alley; that way, no one can see Noah, Saree, and Leo out on the streets,” Al suggested as Brother gestured to the three named people. Roland rose to his feet while Jackob, Heinrich, Albert, and Rudolf gathered with Gracia to listen to her instructions. Officer Hughes nodded to the black-haired man.

“You should go with the Elrics. I can’t be seen with you, especially if the Deibold girl fingers you. She saw you last night.”

Roland sighed, either dejected at the situation or disgusted that he was going to be stuck with the Elrics, the older in particular. Brother didn’t look too happy as well. He kept glaring at the older man, and Al had to tap him on the right shoulder to snap him out of his hate-induced trance.

“Brother, we have to go.”

XXX

A river ran through Munich and streets crossed over it every which way. It was a beautiful moving body of water, pristine and with the occasional family of ducks paddling in it. In the morning, people who actually had jobs would be seen crossing the bridges curtly to their workplaces; in the afternoon, children with stale yesterday’s bread, sold cheap at local bakeries scattered throughout the city, would toss pieces and crumbs into the water, and laugh in delight as ducks and fish came to feed.

Roland flicked the last hard crust of bread, then his shoulders sagged and he sighed. Ed looked at him sharply, wondering what was going through his mind. Al was sitting on the bridge railing, ignoring Ed’s warning and swinging his legs back and forth.

Noah, Saree, and Leo were now staying with a local family that Ed and Al were friendly with. They never asked why these three strangers needed a place to hide for at least a day, just wordlessly invited them into the plain, unsuspecting house near the river.

Later that night, Ed’ll come get Noah to help the Elrics find the fission bomb and a way to recreate and reopen the Gate. They’ll also need Fritz’s help finding the villa which housed the Thule Society. Al had gone to the warehouse where Fritz was filming, and the large man had agreed.

A few minutes ago Albert had come running to them. While Al warded off the mongrel chasing after the heavyset man, Albert told Ed and Roland that the detail had come and combed through the entire apartment complex. The police officers Anne guided to the building had grown skeptical and a bit angry when she persisted in saying the landlady was housing a traitor, but some idiot in the neighboring building complex had come forward to back up the blonde girl’s statement.

“We’re not going back anytime soon, are we?” Al sighed.

“Never,” Ed muttered fiercely.

“You’re never coming back?” Roland asked curiously.

Ed shook his head.

“I see…”

The mother duck quacked loudly and began paddling downriver. Five half-grown ducklings followed her obediently. Roland smiled, then sighed heavily, sagging against the rails.

Ed watched the solemn man’s gaze follow the family of ducks swim under the bridge.

“Tell me, Edward,” Roland said quietly and thoughtfully, “have you ever seen the ocean?”

The ocean? The beautiful endless blue landscape that rolled and tossed foamy white hands up the sandy shore? The shimmer of reflected sunlight across its surface? The fishing boats trolling for the daily catch? The screeching white seagulls circling the wonderfully salty air?

An old man running a vendor and selling roasted fish told Ed and Al once about the ancient sea god Poseidon and his horses of white foam. Later that evening, the two brothers watched the waves and thought they could see these mythical horses charge up with the waves and then draw back into the blue sea.

“Yeah,” the older Elric answered, his voice low and husky with the fond memory. “We’ve been to it a few weeks ago. Normandy, I think, in France. Why?”

“Hohenheim,” and Roland tilted his head to the cloudy sky, “said that where he came from, there was no such thing as the sea. There were great bodies of water, and rivers, but never something like the Atlantic. He told me he’ll never forget standing on the beach, staring at the ‘endless ocean’, and feeling so small and insignificant. He’s seen and heard, spoken and done incredible things, but the Atlantic humbled him, reminded him of his place in the world, this world or the other.”

“It is beautiful,” Al added. “I don’t think I’ll ever get over it, or forget it.”

“What about fish? Ever tried the fish?”

“It’s…different,” Al began with some difficulty.

Ed jabbed a thumb at his chest. “I love it. He doesn’t.”

He twisted his wrist and pointed the thumb at the younger Elric’s direction.

Roland chuckled. “Well…I’m glad you at least got to see the ocean before you leave this world.”

“Why’s that?” Al asked.

The black-haired man smiled a secret knowing smile.

Seeing something…as majestic and overpowering as the ocean…it makes you realize how small you are compared to the rest of the world. Maybe you already knew that, but a lot of people need that wake-up call. I certainly did…we’re so small, so insignificant. No matter how powerful we become, with science and technology…and alchemy, we’re nothing compared to the whole earth. We’re just a small part of it, and no matter what we do, life goes on.”

The brothers stared at him a bit, wondering at the nostalgic feeling washing through them as they listened to his words.

“One is all…” Al said quietly.

“…and all is one,” Ed finished.

The two brothers smiled with fond remembrance.

“Uh…I don’t get it.”

The Elrics looked at Mustang’s alter ego.

“You don’t have to.”

The bell tower began to toll the hours. Al slid off the rail as Ed stood up and stretched his arms out.

“Dinner.”

And after dinner…they were homeward bound.

XXX

It was utterly unfair. He never got a chance to put in his two cents or argue his case against theirs. Just because he was so young, and had such a low rank…but it was unfair! Unfair!

So here he was, crushed between a dirty whitewashed wall and Heymans’ bulky mass. The window was right above him, casting a dim light into the room. The mattress was worn out and small, made with one person in mind. Well, this room was made for two guests, not six people and a dog.

Black Hayate yawned and stretched out on Kain’s stomach. Well, Kain didn’t mind this guest; he smiled and stroked the dog’s head. Black Hayate opened one sleepy eye, and wagged his tail.

“Can’t wait ‘till we get back to Central,” he sighed and closed his eyes, trying to will sleep to come so the rest of the night would go away. That was proving a bit difficult, though. The room was stifling.

Weight shifted on his stomach and Kain opened an eye. Black Hayate was on his feet, sniffing. His tail was rigid, ears perked and swiveling this way and that.

“What is it, Hayate?” he murmured.

The dog’s lip rose up, baring sharp pearly whites. His head turned to the window.

“Ah-ah-ah-uh…” Kain sat up quickly. Black Hayate ignored him, kept sniffing. Then he barked.

“Hayate!” the major sergeant hissed. “Hayate, what-”

“Kain Fuery!” It was Hawkeye. She was on the other bed parallel to the one Kain and Heymans was sharing. “Wake Breda. Move away from the window.”

As she whispered the command, she reached for the firearm on the rickety bedside table in between the mattresses.

Kain nodded, then pushed the dog off of him and slid towards the head of the mattress. Then he swung his legs around – taking care not to smack the second lieutenant in the head, and touched the wood floor.

“Breda, Heymans Breda!” he whispered to the man urgently. “Wake up!”

Black Hayate stood in front of the window, hair rising on the back, tail quivering, nose sniffing. His teeth were bared, and he growled deep in his chest.

The light dimmed, abruptly vanished, and returned as Black Hayate released a sharp bark.

“Shut that mutt up!” was Jean’s muffled retort from the bed sitting perpendicular to the other two. Two of the workers in the shabby inn had to push in the spare, making the place very cramped.

“J-Jean-” Kain stammered as Black Hayate barked again.

Heymans sat up abruptly, throwing blankets over the dog’s body. “W-what’s that beast doing on this bed?!”

“Breda!” Hawkeye barked as she pushed her torso up and cocked her handgun. “Heymans, get off the bed!”

Something heavy hit the outside of the inn. Kain yelped, yanked back the blankets, and freed a fussed Black Hayate, who sniffed once, barked, and leaped away as the window shattered.

“What the-” Vato sat up quickly, neatly shoving Jean to the floor, lumpy pillow, blankets, and all.

“Duck!” Kain yelled as Jean sat up with a groan, and the man quickly laid back down as something long and scaly slid into the room and swung.

Hawkeye opened fire and everyone threw themselves out of the way as the scaly tail-like thing recoiled, then lashed out at her. The arm slung over her waist tightened and pulled her down as the thing brushed by in its search for its assailant. Black Hayate barked furiously and leaped at the thing but it pulled out of the room through the broken window.

Noise outside the hall signaled that the others in the inn had woken to the commotion. Jean yelled at the voices to evacuate the inn while the others hastily tried to find their clothing. Kain had his shirt halfway over his head when Black Hayate started snarling and barking. Hawkeye cocked her handgun.

A lion’s head pushed itself into the room through the window, breaking off and showering Kain and Heymans with more shards. It thundered furiously, then massive deformed claws were scrambling, breaking off bits of the wall as the great beast forced itself into the room.

“A chimera,” Vato murmured when the beast took a breather.

“Yeah, thanks for stating the obvious,” Jean retorted as he clicked the safety off his own firearm.

“Dammit, Riza, where’d you put my gloves?” their commander demanded furiously as he went through his bag.

“In my coat pocket, Sir-get down!”

Mustang ducked as a chunk of wall flew through the space his head previously occupied.

“What is that thing?” Heymans screamed in frustration as he scrambled for his handgun.

Everyone knew what was attacking them, but it didn’t hurt anyone to demand such a question with such emotion at this time.

Kain seconded the question as he aimed at what looked like the chimera’s shoulder. It was a monstrosity on so many levels, with a lion’s head, a serpent’s tail, and deformed paws with…seven…claws, sharp and gleaming under the night light. Spikes protruded from the beast’s shoulders and back, and the bony extensions gouged the wall as the chimera pulled more of itself into the room. Black Hayate barked incessantly, then leaped up and bit down hard on a paw intent on crushing Heymans.

Vato fired at its shoulder. The chimera shuddered, then quickly turned to the Warrant Officer and lashed out; the claws managed to shred the front of the man’s shirt as he leaped back. Then Jean rolled in and shot at the chimera’s chest, and rolled out, barely avoiding the seven claws coming down on his head.

The tail was still outside the inn, and it kept slapping the wall, jolting Kain, who had been pressing his body against it as though it would protect him. He gasped, scrambled away from the wall and the falling white chips of whitewash, then quickly cocked his handgun and fired somewhere at the chimera’s lion’s main. The beast snarled, more annoyed than pained, and twisted its body towards Kain, destroying more and more of the inn as it tried to get its massive body in.

“Kain, drop!” Hawkeye ordered and the young man didn’t hesitate to obey the sharp-shooting superior.

“Hawkeye, dammit, where’s my gloves?” Mustang fumed as he continued searching frantically. His head was dusted with crushed whitewash and he shook his head constantly as he tossed clothing about, ducking at regular intervals as the beast continued trashing the room.

“In my coat pocket-Kain, get down!” Hawkeye aimed and fired, one bullet. The chimera groaned, swung its head at Kain, and he sat down abruptly, staring at the single bullet hole between the eyes, the bloody red eyes.

“You’ll…” The chimera was talking, in a wheezing deep voice. “You’ll…pay.”

The chimera abruptly collapsed, and Black Hayate leaped forward, barking shrilly as the beast exhaled.

Jean sighed and sat down on the wreckage-laden mattress closest to him.

No rest for the weary. As soon as the sharpshooter sat down, something else hit the building. Another chimera, but with a dog’s head. Scratch that. There were three, and a serpent’s tail, very thick and leathery.

“AGH!” Heymans stumbled back and fell down abruptly. “No, get that thing away from me! Argh-oh my god!”

A massive hawk’s head burst in. The three-headed chimera howled and turned on the bird, which screeched and lashed out with its cruel hooked beak.

“Unbelievable,” Jean murmured, too shocked to take aim and fire. Hawkeye didn’t hesitate, though, and shot the bird’s head through the eye. Dark liquid splashed on Heymans, who wiped at the mess.

“Disgusting-ah! GET AWAY, GET AWAY!” One of the three dog heads spotted him and growled, lunged at him as the middle head went for Hawkeye. With a yelp, the chimera went sprawling, throwing pieces of things into the air as the two of the three heads fought over control of the body.

“Ah-ha!” came the brigadier general’s triumphant cry.

Snap.

The chimera shrieked and pulled back as fire encircled it, burned it. Kain threw his hand up over his face, shielding his eyes against the bright yellow-orange glow.

“Sir, control your fire,” Hawkeye warned coldly, taking aim as the chimera overcame the shock and lunged again. Half of its body was smoking, and a retching stench filled the room. A waft of it, and Kain vomited whatever remained of dinner out of his stomach onto the wall. Gunfire, and the beast’s roar shook the room. Jean was spitting and wiping his mouth vigorously, Heymans was cowering behind one of the overturned beds, his phobia crippling him.

“Heymans Breda, what do you think you’re doing?” Mustang demanded as Black Hayate leaped at the chimera; one of its heads was limp, handicapping the alchemy-made beast.

“Vato? Vato Falman!” Jean yelled as the beast lunged for Hawkeye. “Vato, damnit, where’d you go?”

He avoided a swipe, then aimed and fired at the offending limb. The chimera screamed and lunged at him, but most of its attention was on Hawkeye, who was quickly reloading her handgun. Mustang snapped his fingers and the chimera backed up, startled by the burst of fire.

The First Lieutenant cocked her handgun and fired.

The chimera collapsed.

Coughing at the dust cloud that bloomed from under the beast’s body, Kain sat up, pushed away rubble on his lower legs. Heymans was making odd noises in his throat. Jean was swearing softly, waving away at the white dust. Mustang and Hawkeye, both grimfaced and dirty from the abrupt fight, approached the offending mass, the brigadier general ready to snap his fingers and the group’s sharpshooter aiming her handgun at the middle dog head.

The scrapped up but otherwise uninjured left head opened one right eye, and the handgun swung in its direction. Mustang marched right up to the ugly head and stared down at it with his one eye. Black Hayate emerged from somewhere, covered in dirt and dust, growling as he slowly padded up to the dying chimera.

“I know you can talk,” Mustang said coldly. “Who sent you?”

The chimera coughed; dark blood leaked from its mouth. The pool was growing rapidly; Kain scrambled to his feet and backed away from the liquid.

“Answer me, chimera,” Mustang continued. “Who sent you!”

The chimera coughed again. Its open eye, dark and clouding, looked up at Mustang, then around him. The other eye was partially swollen but opened, too; Kain gulped and tried to step out of range.

“You…you will…pay…alchemist,” the chimera wheezed. “State…alchemist…die!”

The chimera heaved itself up and lunged at Mustang, but Hawkeye and Jean were much faster. Heymans ducked behind the bed and Kain leaped back instinctively, curling himself into a little ball as two gunshots rang out and the chimera collapsed again.

Mustang glared at it, then at the lion-headed chimera and the bird-headed beast. Both were beginning to decompose quickly and the scent was spreading. Kain pinched his nose as nausea threatened to overwhelm him again; the smell was absolutely revolting.

“Vato, where the hell are you?” Jean shouted angrily as he went around the inn room, kicking at rubble. “Chief, I can’t find Vato. He’s not here!”

“What do you mean, he’s not here?” Mustang demanded. “He can’t just disappear! Falman, where are you?”

Commotion. The streets were stirring. Voices and movement, opening doors and lights in the nearby buildings – night had been interrupted.

“I hate dogs!” Heymans muttered as he glared at the rotting body of the three-headed chimera. “I hate them!”

Black Hayate barked back at the sweating red-faced man.

“Chief!” Jean pointed at the edges of the gaping hole on the side. “Chief, I think there was another chimera here. Right here…and last time I saw Vato, he was right…there.”

Mustang frowned and walked over to Jean. Kain decided to join when Hawkeye and Heymans headed to the wall as well.

When he joined, Mustang was pointing outside, eastward, towards Lior. Lights were on in all the buildings, yet the sky was blue-black. The horizon was bleeding pale blue. It was morning already for those who were awakened by the chimera.

“…that direction, now,” Mustang was saying. “We don’t have a minute to lose. Black Hayate can lead the way if we get lost.”

Said dog barked, presumably in agreement.

“What direction?” Kain asked, baffled.

Hawkeye answered as the others dispersed to salvage their belongings. “It looks like another chimera came here and took Falman. We’re leaving in a few minutes to get him back.”

“But I never saw anyt-”

“Nobody has. But the evidence says something happened,” Jean butted in as he fished out Vato’s bag. “If only one of these bastards talked before dying, everything would’ve been so much easier. At least we could find out who’s behind all this!”

“Don’t you know?” Heymans asked bitterly. “It’s Huskisson.”

Kain groaned. Jean shook his head as he pulled a bent and worn cigarette from the pocket of the jacket he pulled on over his ruined shirt; he stuck the cigarette in his mouth and said, “I’m talking about the one who made these. Tucker, I think, the Sewing Life Alchemist?”

“He could be out here,” Hawkeye suggested as she reloaded her handgun, loudly. “He could be using the kidnapped civilians for…making chimera…”

The very thought of Falman fusing with, say, a dog like Black Hayate did not sit well with Kain. He laughed nervously as he pulled out his bag from under the rubble from the wall, and opened it, looking for his jacket. “I hope that never happens to our Warrant Officer!”

“I agree,” was Mustang’s stern reply. “Let’s go.”

The superior in the room slung his bag over his shoulder and used his free hand to wrestle open the door. Quite literally blown off its hinges, it fell under pressure, and Mustang stepped out.

The others filed out after him. Kain was last, with Black Hayate sniffing around his feet. The hallway he walked out of the ruined hotel into was a mess. A few dusty frames on the pinstripe wall were violently crooked, and the few people who were in the hall when the attack initiated were sitting around, knocked out and confused. Others were still clutching to the doorframes of their rooms, staring around wildly, confused.

“What was that all about?” one annoyed person demanded.

“None of your business,” Mustang said curtly as he strode past the dark-haired man.

“Do you know what’s going on?” It was Beatrice, disheveled and wet. She appeared to have been taking a shower. “I just finished my shift, came up here to take a shower, and suddenly the entire inn shakes-”

“Confidential. Please have everyone evacuate the inn before something else happens,” Hawkeye interrupted.

Black Hayate suddenly barked at Beatrice as Kain walked by her, then bounded after Hawkeye. Kain looked back, but the woman had turned her attention to the people in the hallway, directing them towards the exits and out of the damaged building.

A thought suddenly struck him as the group filed down the rickety wooden stairs.

I thought her eyes were green, but just a moment ago, they looked…purple?

XXX

She let the people staying in the inn leave first, then went to the damaged room the one-eyed man and his party were staying at. Holding onto the doorway, she peered in, and raised an eyebrow at the damage done, including the gaping hole in the wall. As she watched, another chunk of the wall fell from the top of the gap onto the floor.

The beds were upturned, the bedside table was broken, and powdered whitewash was everywhere. She wrinkled her nose at this, disgusted at the extent of the damage, then turned and walked down the hall. She could hear the confused voices outside, the innkeeper’s booming, outraged voice, and the word passed from one to another.

“Chimera!”

Beatrice smiled, then walked into her room. She was intent on drying herself and changing. She closed the door behind her, then stiffened.

“I’m impressed. Excellent work.”

She relaxed, recognizing the voice. A toothy grin appeared on her face as she turned.

“I told you. Wasn’t I good?”

The black-haired woman on her bed nodded in acknowledgement. “As long as you didn’t give in to your…rage…everything’s just fine.”

“Aw, why don’t you trust me-”

“But you’re a bit hasty. Downside of your characteristic, I think. One of the soldier boys noticed something funny about you. Your eyes.”

The purple eyes closed. When Beatrice opened her eyes again, they were green. The waitress grinned. “Just one small slip…who’s going to believe him, anyways?”

“The brigadier general doesn’t let things go. Just be careful next time. Oh, and we’re moving. Better release the woman.”

“Already did. Sent her out when the chimera attacked. Y’know, I was hoping it wasn’t a head-on assault. Really unnerved me.”

“Get over it. Now hurry up. We don’t have much time to waste. You have your other job to get back to.”

Beatrice smiled. “I thought you told me not to rush…”

The green eyes closed, then opened wide.

Slit pupil and purple.

XXX

She decided that after they survive this chimera-induced ordeal, she was going to chew out the brigadier general about boundaries and privacy and personal space.

Yes, he did save her life early in the battle because of this, but who gave him permission to just casually sling his arm around her waist anyways?

Heck, she wasn’t even supposed to be sharing the mattress with him, or the room with all the other men in the first place. They weren’t even supposed to be in the run-down inn in the town outside of Lior; they were supposed to be on the train, passing the third night with as much comfort as wooden benches would allow them. Then it would’ve been Lior and they would’ve had places to stay in the military-run barracks. Or perhaps an inn, if they were going to remain incognito in the city. Places that would allow for plenty of space.

But somewhere back in her mind bubbled up a suggestion. No clear cut words spoken in her own voice, just a sensation, a feeling that left her a bit chilled, a bit winded.

Last night, when she first became aware of the danger outside the inn, she felt his presence right behind her, the arm around her waist, the warmth of a trusted person, and she almost relaxed, forgot the threat that first woke her. It was a disarming presence, a comfort that told her she was safe, that she didn’t have to worry, but she wasn’t, and she was glad Black Hayate reminded her of that. She had snapped out of the trance when he snarled at the presence at the window, had reached for her handgun, had warned Sergeant Major Kain Fuery before the chimera charged in and the battle exploded.

Riza wished the sudden fight didn’t have to end with a chase into the desert; her body was weary, starting to fall behind her mind and the task at hand. But she wasn’t alone; everyone was lagging, and the minor injuries inflicted during the fight with the chimera were draining them of energy.

The sun was peeking over the horizon, a flat horizon of dust and scraggly trees and footprints. Just one small puff of air, a blast of morning wind, and the traces would disappear, and Vato Falman would be lost in the desert, at the mercy of the chimera, their creator, and Huskisson.

Huskisson. Of all things, they were closing in on their target, the purpose of their mission. No big deal, right? One mission after another mission after another…

Then why did she have this strange, strange feeling that nothing at all was as it seems? What was Huskisson’s reappearance telling her? Him? Them? The people? The country?

Or was she just complicating a very simple mission? Maybe it was her lack of sleep, but she was used to that by now. The others weren’t, though.

“I…can’t…take…this…” Heymans was puffing hard, his face furiously red. As if on cue, Black Hayate made a roundabout and joined the heavyset man on his staggering jog. “Agh, get away from me!”

Riza smiled knowingly as the man sped up, trying to flee her dog.

“Where the hell are we headed?” Jean groaned. He lost his cigarette stick a while back and was very, very sour. That attitude was not lost on a grumpy Brigadier General, who rudely told the Second Lieutenant to shut up.

“I think…Lior?” Kain suggested, trying as always to be helpful. He kept pushing his glasses up his nose as he ran; each sinking step into the sand forced the glasses to slide down.

“Huskisson won’t be based in Lior,” Roy decided while the group took a quick breather. “Too dangerous.”

“You think he’s out here in the blasted desert?” Heymans demanded, not happy with the prospect of wandering in the desert after the tracks.

“Might as well. When we find him, we’ll find out. Let’s move.”

The sun was rising, the air was warming, and the tracks were leading them deeper and deeper into the unknown east. Riza began to wonder who it was they were dealing with. It was a blast from the past, seeing the scientist’s name on the file Vato had brought in several days ago. Will anything involving the young Fullmetal Alchemist ever leave them alone?

XXX

Noah led them, from one dark street corner to another, skirting around the police officers patrolling the streets and the drunken men leaving the beer halls. Sober Heinrich, silently assigned the task of Roland’s keeper, kept a grip on the man’s arm to make sure he stayed on track as the Roma woman led them towards the outskirts of Munich. That’s where the villa was, the place far removed from the rest of society for good reason.

“I hope the others don’t get caught,” Heinrich muttered worriedly when the group froze in the shadows and waited for two laughing officers to pass by.

Ed rudely silenced him with a low hissing noise.

Even if the rendezvous didn’t go as planned, nobody was going to stop the Elric brothers from finding the bomb. There was the problem of possible guards posted throughout the premises of the ruined villa; Jackob had gone scouting earlier in the day and made note of the obstacle at hand.

“The place is huge, and there’s not enough guards, but just enough to notice if something’s off,” he had warned during dinner at an obscure café in one of the shadier places in Munich.

Everyone remembered the wolf whistle aimed at Noah, who Ed, Al, and Roland had picked up on the way.

“Are we there yet?” Roland grumbled. They had ducked yet again, and the man had nearly fallen into a puddle of something nobody wanted to find out about.

“No, you bastard,” Ed retorted. Al elbowed him. “Ow!”

“Sh!” Noah hissed, her eyes wide with apprehension.

“Did Edward really hate this look-a-like of mine?” Roland asked mildly as he sidestepped the clumpy puddle.

Al nodded with the sigh of someone who witnessed the conflicts for far too long.

Noah gestured and they hurriedly followed her. The environment was slowly changing, more and more trees replacing lampposts and houses. They hadn’t seen a drunk in a while, or a policeman, although they occasionally had to duck at the sound of a car’s engine; Noah was leading them alongside a road that led outside Munich, and possibly to the villa.

“I hope the others didn’t get lost,” Heinrich muttered darkly as they walked cautiously in the shadows of the trees.

The others murmured their agreement, but tried not to think of such doubtful thoughts. It didn’t help that the darkness was slowly heightening their paranoia; Al accidentally stepped on a branch that snapped loudly, and Ed nearly went crazy thinking someone was following them.

Maybe someone was. Noah froze and the others did, too, with Roland’s foot still up in the air.

“Noah?” Ed asked worriedly.

“Sh!” She held a finger to her lips, then gestured to somewhere behind them down the road.

A car was approaching. They could see its bright lights far back down the road, and from the looks of it, the car was approaching very fast.

Heinrich took over and swiftly shoved everyone into the underbrush. Ed began to protest but Al quickly covered his older brother’s mouth as the others lay on their stomachs, elbows, and knees, holding their breaths and hoping the car would just whiz by and leave them alone.

The car was slowing down. Roland swore and Noah kicked him hard enough to make him wince.

“…swear they said they were going up this road…”

Eyes widened. Officer Hughes?

“Maybe they’re already at the villa. Let’s go-”

“Wait!” Ed burst out of the bushes. “Fritz! What are you doing here?”

“Mayes!” Roland followed swiftly, indignantly. “What do you think you’re doing? This has nothing to do with you!”

“Thought I’d help,” was the officer’s reply. “I’m up for some adventure.”

“You’ve already had one,” Al said reproachfully as he joined them. Noah and Heinrich stood up, brushing off leaves and branches.

“And you’re going to get married,” Roland accused. “Don’t go around risking your life.”

The man shook his head. “She knows. She wants me to baby-sit you and make sure you don’t do anything…ridiculous.”

Roland snorted. “I’m not that out of control…”

“Well, are we leaving or not?” Fritz asked jovially, though everyone could hear the concern in his voice. Ed nodded and leaped into the car. The others piled in; Fritz was driving and Ed was riding shotgun.

“So why are you helping us again?” Ed asked as the car began to move.

“When you’re filming an adventure, you ought to know how it feels to be in one.”

“Didn’t you already have one? Brother told me about your hunt for the ‘dragon’,” Al questioned.

“Ah, that. I had fun, until the Thule Society butted in. Now a quest, well…first I quested for a dragon, and now something different. We’re on a quest, my friends, for something we have to destroy. That’s a different kind of adventure, and a more fulfilling one, I think. A quest is a journey to achieve a goal; who knows what you’ll see and experience along the way. Exotic sights and places, and some character building…that’s why Mr. Hughes and I decided to help you. And here we are…the setting of our quest.”

The villa itself looked quite literally like ancient ruins, with ivy crawling up the walls and the broken windows. The wall surrounding the area was intact, but the iron gate blocking the road looked…

“Brother what do you think did that?” Al asked as Fritz stopped the car and everyone stared at the huge dents and tears into the metal. There was a huge gap between the two pieces, and the metal had been rolled back, as if something huge had forced its way through. Beyond that, on the empty courtyard in the moonlight was a body lying in a glistening dark pool…half a body.

“Where’s the other half?” Ed said.

“It’s got to be one of the guards,” Roland declared and jumped out of the car. “Let’s go.”

Heinrich reached for something at his waist, and pulled out an old pistol. He cocked it. Officer Hughes picked up the cue and pulled out his own standard-issue firearm. He pointed its muzzle to the ground.

The others quickly followed Roland. Ed glanced at Officer Hughes and saw he looked rather shaky and green in the bluish white light. “Officer Hughes, are you okay?”

“I hope so…” the man replied, his voice quavering. “That’s got to be the gruesome sight I’ve ever seen…”

One by one they slipped between the iron – Fritz had to fight his way through, being the largest person in the group – and Roland sprinted over to the corpse. He stopped short a meter from the body.

“Looks like something tore it in half…and dragged the other part somewhere else…” he said, staring down at the smears on the cobblestone.

“What about the other guards?” Al asked.

“What about the others?” Noah added, standing a good distance from the body. She held a hand to her mouth, her eyes averted. Ed thought for a moment, then stepped in front of the body, shielding the Gypsy from the gore.

“We should check around. Something’s here; we should stick together.”

The others nodded in agreement and quickly moved away from the guard’s body. It didn’t take long, though, to find another body of a guard, this time in the shadow of the villa. His face had been torn off and his organs were spilling out of the huge gash on his stomach. Officer Hughes bolted and retched into the overgrown ivy. This time Al stepped in front of Noah, blocking her view of the guard’s body.

“What is going on?” Fritz wondered. His dark eyes saddened as he looked down on the guard’s body. “The poor man…”

“What about the others?” Heinrich asked. “You think they’re safe?”

“Did they make it this far?” Officer Hughes asked as he looked around. He cocked his handgun and Ed flinched.

“Let’s keep moving,” Roland muttered. “Edward, how’d you get in?”

“Through the vents, but we’d better find another way in. Noah?”

She nodded. Having been brought here before, she knew where to go from the front. The group maneuvered through the abandoned and overgrown landscape, the Elric brothers carefully shielding her from any horribly torn body they stumbled upon along the way.

“What do you think did this?” Al whispered as Officer Hughes and Heinrich pushed open one of the doors into the villa.

“Something not human,” Ed answered. Al nodded, knowing they were in agreement that something sinister was lurking in the villa.

“How do you think it got here?”

“You don’t think-”

“Nothing in this world can do something like that, Brother.”

“But that bastard destroyed the circle, didn’t he?”

“Brother, of course he did! He doesn’t have a reason to just leave it alone, and you know it!”!”

“I know, I know…”

“What are you talking about?” Heinrich asked, butting in on what must’ve been random babble to his ears.

“What do you think attacked those guards?” Ed challenged.

“Ah…I…”

“Tell me,” Ed continued, yellowish eyes watching the Falman look-a-like carefully, “have you seen anything like that on the battlefield?”

The man winced at the last word, and Al threw his brother a very dirty look. Roland must’ve heard the question as well; he was frowning deeply.

“No,” Heinrich finally said.

Ed sighed. Al then suggested, “What if someone else created the circle and opened it?”

“Who? The colonel won’t just casually share the information with anyone, and the only other person who knows about the place doesn’t understand alchemy. She never will.”

“Oh…Rosé…”

The name echoed in the darkness. Al hastily drew a transmutation in the dust, bit his bottom lip hard, and used the blood and the surrounding material to make a makeshift lamp. Fritz provided a match, and soon a dim flickering yellow light was leading them deep into the villa, towards the basement where the Gate once was.

“What if we can’t find the bomb?” Al asked worriedly.

“We have to,” Ed retorted, grounding his teeth as doubt hammered at his resolve. “We have to, Al. Having that weapon on this side of the Gate worries me.”

“You’re afraid,” Fritz said wisely.

“No, worried.”

“Admit it,” Roland said as Noah and Officer Hughes led them around a corner and a hall coated with dust and cobwebs and rubble. “You’re afraid. You’re afraid of what this bomb of yours can do to Germany, and the world. What’s so wrong in admitting your fear?”

“Because he’s afraid of admitting he’s afraid,” Officer Hughes countered, and a low chuckle emerged from everyone who found it funny. Ed fumed.

“Are we there yet?” he asked briskly, ignoring the laughter as he charged to the front and Noah’s side.

She turned and looked at him, and he found her eyes were wide with apprehension. “Noah?”

“There’s a presence here,” she murmured, turning her head to look down the dark hall. “It won’t like being interrupted.”

Suddenly everyone was quiet, ears straining to hear what the Gypsy girl had to say.

“Interrupted?” Al echoed. “What’s it doing?”

“Something it shouldn’t do,” Fritz quipped. “Stick together, everyone. I can feel it, too.”

Echoes. Something had collapsed, or fallen and hit something else. Roland actually jumped, and Ed sniggered just loudly enough for the man to hear him.

“Who’s afraid now?”

Heinrich sighed and shook his head.

Another collapse. Everyone froze up; the sounds were closer and Heinrich was now pushing everyone forward, muttering nervously that the sounds were coming from behind him.

And what was that panting noise echoing throughout the hall? What panting noise?

Roland held his hand up, stiffly, and everyone stopped and stared at him, instinctively waiting for the command, whatever it was. His face was grim, and Ed understood then that the former soldier knew there was a problem.

Officer Hughes and Heinrich looked at each other nervously, gripped their handguns tightly. Al grabbed his older brother’s arm while Noah and Fritz instinctively drew to each other for comfort by number. Roland’s lips curled up in a snarl.

The heavy nonhuman breathing was so near nobody felt the courage to turn and see its source. Hearts pounding, blood pulsing, they stood there, frozen, unwilling to face the truth, that they were in serious trouble.

Behind them, something snapped, and eyes turned.

From the flickering shadows cast by the lantern a horrible scaly beast emerged. Its ugly head, a cross between a lion and a horse, tilted sideways and its beady black eyes studied its prey curiously.

“My…my god,” Fritz whispered.

As alchemists, Ed and Al didn’t believe in a god, but suddenly Ed wished there was some heavenly being who could strike down and rid of this beast. If only this world followed the same laws as their world did! Then he would’ve clapped his hands and gotten rid of the chimera – he was certain it was one, certain beyond a doubt – almost instantly.

“A chimera,” Al said, his voice shaking. “Brother, what do we do?”

A click. Heinrich had clicked off the safety on his handgun. “I’ll hold it off.”

Officer Hughes joined him. Roland watched with a blank face as his friend moved past him, then whirled around. “Mayes, don’t even think about it!”

“Hey, I’m the one with the gun here,” the man replied playfully, though his face was pale. He looked at the Elric brothers. “You two do what you need to do. Heinrich and I can take care of this…monster.”

“Officer Hughes, we can’t let you do that,” Ed said angrily while Al crouched down and hastily traced a transmutation circle.

“And I won’t let you do that, either,” the man retorted and scuffed out the circle with his boot. Al looked up at him quickly, startled and a bit angry. “Gracia’ll understand me. She always will.”

“You’re not even married yet!” Al exclaimed. He winced at the volume of his own voice, then winced again as the chimera snapped its heavy jaws.

“I hate to say this,” Fritz said slowly, his hand on Noah’s shoulder, “but he’s right. We’re here to help you two get rid of the bomb and go home. We’re putting ourselves on the line for you, and you can’t stop us. We have to go.”

“Mayes-”

“Roland, I mean it. Heinrich and I will be fine, I swear.”

Ed growled but Roland stepped forward, grabbed him by his automail arm and began to haul him off.

“Let me go, you bastard! Hey! Hey, are you listening to me? Let me go!”

Al whimpered, stared at the fixed determination in the former colonel’s face as he pulled Ed along. He then looked at Officer Hughes and Heinrich, suddenly saw the Lieutenant Colonel Hughs and Falman.

“Please don’t die,” he whispered, remembering when he first heard the news about Hughes. “Don’t die because of us.”

He then bit his bottom lip hard and dropped to his knees, smeared the fresh blood on his thumb and slammed his hands down on the circle he had been tracing with his foot.

A huge chunk of wall jutted out and slammed into the chimera, crushing it against the opposite wall. The monster gave a strangled shriek, then was cut off as bones crushed under the force.

Heinrich and Officer Hughes lowered their arms. Al stared at the chimera, then at the two men, then beyond to where his brother and the others were-they weren’t there. They had gone ahead. The lantern sat on the ground behind them, giving off continuous but frail light.

“There’s more,” Heinrich warned and raised his arms again.

Heavy breathing, panting, excitement. More beasts crept out from the darkness. Some had the same head and muscular body as the first chimera, but others looked like warty dogs, albeit with scaly smooth skin. Heinrich shuddered and Officer Hughes clenched his teeth to keep them from chattering.

“Al, get out of here,” Officer Hughes ordered as the beasts advanced, climbing over the piece of wall that crushed the first chimera.

“No, I could take them on-”

“Alphonse Elric, listen to what he has to say,” Heinrich interrupted. The young man stared at him; how’d he know Al’s whole name? “Go to the others. They’re waiting to search the bomb and help you two go home-”

“But what if the chimera already got to them?” Al asked worriedly. He hadn’t realized it until now that the others – Jackob, Albert, and Rudolf – could have already met the chimera. And if the guards outside gave any indication…

“It doesn’t matter! Go, Al! Now!” Officer Hughes said angrily. His eyes flashed to Al. “Go!”

He didn’t want to, Al really didn’t want to, but his feet were carrying him away and he couldn’t do anything as the candlelight disappeared and gunshots reverberated down the hall around him.

XXX

He didn’t even remember being abducted by the chimera. He only remembered shooting the lion-like monster, then something slammed into the back of his head and here he was, somewhere underground, arms tied behind his back and his body facing a crude cage holding tens of people. They were all staring back at him, eyes wide. Eyes that were black and brown and blue and green and red.

The kidnapped. The abducted. The ones who disappeared from the Eastern area. And the scaly lizard-like creatures sitting in a broken circle around the cage were chimera. One slender head was staring expectantly at Vato Falman and he didn’t know what to do about it.

Then he noticed the distance between himself and the prisoners. He noticed the etchings on the stone ground. He realized it was a circle, and another circle, and some geometric shapes, and writing. A transmutation circle. He was familiar with those – who wouldn’t be, if one was working for an alchemist? – but he wasn’t sure what its function was. He wasn’t an alchemist, after all.

“Awake, are we?”

He didn’t recognize the voice but it sounded rather raspy. Paper-thin. And filled with malice.

He chose to say nothing.

“I read about you,” the voice said. It was smirking. “I read about all of you. I meant to bring back the First Lieutenant, if only to draw the State Alchemist down here, but you’ll have to do. Although, I don’t know what use I have for you.”

He heard pacing, a heavy body shifting weight. The chimera were stirring, were restless. They were nervous, and Falman made note of it.

“Perhaps I’ll just have you witness it. You wouldn’t understand it like the brigadier general would, but your file said you have excellent memory. Remember what you see, then, and tell your superior about it.”

He still couldn’t see the source of the voice, but a shape was forming out of the corner of his eye. He turned his head and saw…a shape.

It didn’t look like anything familiar.

“I hate alchemy,” the voice said. Movement caught Falman’s eye and he found his visual attention drawn to the prison. One of the chimera had unlatched the door and another was dragging out a young boy, perhaps the age of ten. An Ishbalan. He was sobbing as he was brought out to the transmutation circle.

“I was taught a little alchemy before I turned to the glories of science. Imagine if you will, soldier, what it would be like if science ruled the world. We would have built up everything with our own hands and our own minds. We would have owned all the glory of success and progress, not giving it up to a power we don’t understand but know how to harness. How dangerous, to tread on such dangerous ground. But you wouldn’t understand; you’re just a petty soldier, working for a government who can’t see things that way.”

Three people were sitting on the circle, and they were all sobbing children, two Ishbalans and one Amestrian.

“I thought to bring glory to science and technology by creating the ultimate weapon for a military state. A bomb, of such immense power it could end wars with a flash of light and a heat so intense it melts flesh off bones. But I was rejected by your military. Blind fools, so willing to draw out wars just to demonstrate alchemic power against those who decry it as heresy to their Gods! There is no god!”

Another body was dragged out, a pregnant woman with tears streaming down her pale face. She stared at Falman, reached out a feeble arm and a whimpering sound emitted from her throat as the chimera pulled her over to another spot on the circle.

“Only men and the limits of their will!”

Twenty-one people were pulled from the cage. Three groups of seven, seven locations on the transmutation circle. Falman shuddered. A horrid feeling washed over him, as if he suddenly understood what this voice was going to do.

“Use the enemy’s weapon against it, don’t you agree? My enemy is not alchemy, as my file believes, but the state military that denied me. It relies on alchemy for its power and strength and support, and I intend to use that alchemy to weaken it. I’ve learned so much when I was caught behind the Gate, Warrant Officer Vato Falman, and I learned so much about everything…”

Two hands snaked their way out of the shadows and towards the circle. Falman stared at the crooked fingers, the lack of hair, and the pulsing veins. He wanted to vomit; the sight of those limbs sickened him, but he didn’t have the will to accept the nausea.

Then he looked more closely at the shadowy figure, and horror suddenly gripped him as he tried to make sense of the corners and lines of the shadow. How many limbs did this…creature have?

“Have you heard of equivalent exchange, soldier?” the voice asked wryly. “In order to gain something, you must give up something of equal value. Give and take. It is a vicious game. I’ve lost so much in order to gain all that I have now, and still I couldn’t get back the bomb it took from me. My precious fission bomb…so I decided to find a way to get my bomb back. The Gate has shown me all. Foolish thing, knowing I intend one day to destroy it so the knowledge is free to all. It has taught me so much…”

The hands came down on the outer circle of the transmutation circle.

“Tell me, Warrant Officer Falman,” the voice questioned lightly as voices began to shriek. “What do you know of the Philosopher’s Stone?”

The twenty-one voices screamed as light from the transmutation circle streamed upward and devoured the bodies. Falman had to look away, unwilling to get himself blinded by Huskisson’s alchemy.

When the light faded, he turned his head and stared at the glowing red stone at the center of the transmutation circle.

“Perfect, isn’t it?” Huskisson asked wickedly as a third arm stretched and snaked forward, and picked up the Philosopher’s Stone. “The Gate taught me, you know. It taught me all that I know now. Imagine such a powerful unstoppable weapon against your puny military. And once I have my fission bomb back…”

The shadow was turning, the hands vanishing, and the body was lumbering away. At least he was sure it was a body.

The shape stopped for a moment. Falman could see the hand casually tossing the Philosopher’s Stone up and down, followed its faint reddish glow. There was nothing remotely distinguishable about Huskisson in the faint red light, nothing human.

“I need one more Stone. Use the rest of the prisoners. Don’t touch the man on the other side.”

Huskisson left with the stone, the chimera approached to drag out the rest of the doomed people, and Falman had to look away, helpless and angry about it.

Oh when will Brigadier General Mustang come in and stop the madness?

XXX

Something out there had told him it was time to leave his father’s empire and strike out west, across the desert, and into the country beyond it.

Now crossing the desert was certainly no laughing matter, but neither was the reason why.

But they had laughed at him, when he first told them why he was leaving and what he was planning to do. Maybe it did sound ridiculous to them; when he first came up with the plan, it had sounded silly to him, but the more he reasoned with himself, the more he found a reason to believe that he could do it, that it could be done. And the key lay westward.

There was the lost city of Xerxes, for one. And then there was the country, Amestris.

Ah, Amestris. What an enigmatic country it was. It was a nation built on and thrived in warfare, and had only recently begun pursuing peaceful means of dealing with its neighbors. He remembered the delegates last spring, the men and women in their bright blue uniforms and gold braids and medals. Impressive, everyone thought.

It was in talking to one of these soldiers, during their brief stay in Xing, that he learned about the events that had wracked the nation for several years beginning with the Ishbal wars. Something about the State Alchemists. Something about the fabled Homunculi. Something about two alchemist brothers who shook up the country. Something about a red stone of immense, impossible power.

The Philosopher’s Stone, Ling Yao later learned. That was why Xerxes vanished, eons ago. Someone wanted to make a Philosopher’s Stone, and Xerxes vanished forever. Only the scraggly ruins remained, ruins he had stopped by with his two bodyguards as he continued westward.

Immortality. Ling must have it, if he was to earn his father’s favor, and gain the throne of Xing.

Author’s Endnote: Ugh again. Thoughts? Reviews appreciated. The next chapter won’t be up for quite a while.