[incomplete]

[winterarmstrong]

Who: Olivia and Ed
When: shortly after Olivia arrives
Where: outside the temple
Rating: PG at most
Warnings: None really
Summary: Olivia expects answers from Ed. The only problem is that Ed can't give her the answers she's looking for.

Comments

[winterarmstrong]

Yes, going to a clinic would be best, but she had other things to attend to first. She wasn't going to rest until she was sure that the building had been secured and that things were relatively safe. Most of the homunculus had been taken care of, but there were still the undead soldiers to deal with, as well as the Father himself. As much as her body wanted rest and treatment right now, she knew she couldn't do it yet. Not if she wanted to carve this military into her view of how it should be.

Still, she couldn't help but grin a little at Edward's statement. Yes, she was injured, but considering she had not only faced down but also helped destroy a homunculus for good she really was doing pretty well. Her wounds would heal, and she would live to fight another day. It was more than she could say for others who had fought alongside her. "I'll be fine," she insisted, "What's more important is securing the area. There are still troops loyal to the Fuhrer around, as well as those undead soldiers, and they must be taken care of immediately."

Even though she was injured she could still stand up proudly, just like both a general and an Armstrong should. A strong leader needed to look strong, even when she was injured and should be getting medical treatment.

[alchemyxfreak]

Clearly explaining on the way wasn't an option. Stubborn seemed to be the common factor uniting everyone in the Amestris military, because even though she knew something was amiss, she was going to hold onto the mentality that this area needed to be secured. He was going to have to think fast, to keep her from doubting him.

"There's nothing to secure here." Edward explained, glancing around before looking up to the Plate covering the Lower Level. He had to make her understand that she wasn't in Amestris anymore without making her suspicious of him, and that might be tricky - especially with her already blaming him for her arrival in a strange place. "Look, you're not in Central anymore. There's no Fuhrer, and you're the only soldier around here." He pointed upward to the plate, "There's no sky above us, and we're outside - I don't know what fight you came from, but trust me ... you're not there now. At least there's nothing in Central anything like this that I know about."

He sighed, "You're not in any immediate danger, and there's nothing you can do to help the people you were with before you arrived here. As someone that's been here awhile, I can tell you that before you worry about anything else you should have your injuries looked at."

When Ed returned his gaze to the General, he blinked. "Wait, did you say... undead soldiers?"

[winterarmstrong]

If it had been any other soldier, Olivia would have been more willing to believe it. After all, she had lost a lot of blood, and it was possible that she had zonked out while she had been moved or something. And it certainly was quiet in this area, after all. But this was Edward telling her all of this, not some random soldier. At the very least, Edward should have known who she was and what they were trying to do in Central. This was all too suspicious.

But then she had a thought. What if this wasn't Edward at all? One of the Homunculus had the ability to change form, so it could have possibly been him. It would explain why he was acting so weird, at least, and Olivia didn't know that Mustang had already taken care of that one.

So she decided to watch Edward carefully, waiting to see if he made any funny moves or not. At the very least, she could be prepared for the inevitable attack if this WAS that Homunculus. "Yes," she said with a calmness that would seem strange on anyone except her, "They were released on my forces by those loyal to the Fuhrer. Soldiers that cannot die are very difficult to kill, after all."

[alchemyxfreak]

What Olivia wouldn't realize was that dead or alive, Envy could still wind up in this place too. The fact that Mustang had killed him in the time and world that she was from didn't guarantee that he wouldn't arrive here. Of course, Edward didn't explain that to her, because not only did she not voice her concern out loud - but it wouldn't help his case any.

"What is the Fuhrer doing with an army of undead soldiers?" He muttered, more to himself than to the General. He frowned as this all made less and less sense, the more they talked - ensuring that everything he said probably sounded as unbelievable to her. "These undead soldiers... Are the homunculi?" It was a stretch to assume that this woman even knew what a homunculus was, but something that wasn't believed capable of dying was a close enough description, that he had to ask. Al and Wrath never mentioned undead soldiers when they talked about what happened in Edward's apparent future. If he could just figure out when and where she was from, maybe he could make sense of what she was saying - even if she didn't understand or believe him.

"This is going to sound strange, and I know you're probably not going to believe me," He started to explain, watching her carefully for any sign of hostility as he spoke. After all, everyone had their own unique reaction to being told where they were. "But we're not in Amestris anymore. We're on a completely different world, and if I didn't see it happen repeatedly I wouldn't believe it either - but this place... Takes people from their own world, and we don't really have the luxury of going home whenever we want. You're not going to be able to help the people in Central, you can't even get back there right now."

[winterarmstrong]

Well that definitely sounded strange. Olivia didn't want to believe it at first. How could something take a person from one place to another without them realizing? And furthermore, how could there be another world? Olivia frowned at Edward, her distrust very clear now. What had happened to the Edward she knew that would make him spout such nonsense?

Then again, the whole deal with Amestris and the Father had sounded like too much to believe at first, and that had come true. Maybe he wasn't lying after all. Edward wasn't one to lie like this, after all. At the very least, she could give him a chance to prove that what he was saying was true. That's what she did, after all. "Let's say that you're speaking the truth right now," she said, "How do you intend to prove it? I'm not going to believe everything you say at the drop of a hat without a very good reason."

She was a little annoyed, but she wasn't fully angry yet. That annoyance was enough to get the point across, though: Edward better prove himself quick, or there would be nasty consequences.

[alchemyxfreak]

She wasn't going to believe him, and that suited him just fine. It didn't make anything easier on him, but he wasn't sure how he'd feel about this woman just blindly taking his words for the truth, either - she definitely didn't seem the sort, even if she apparently did know him... somewhere.

"Just look at this place," He answered evenly. Probably not the best argument but it was a logical starting point. "There's no running water or electricity anywhere, the sky is blocked out completely - does it look anything like where you came from? You don't have to take my word for it, ask anyone you come across. They'll tell you where you are, and why you're here - hell, go back into the Temple and ask the people there." He motioned in the direction of the building, folding his arms over his chest. "They can tell you what you did to land here, everyone else will only give you the general information."

He sighed, watching her warily. Things had changed since his arrival, a lot, so he wasn't positive she was unarmed - but even so, that hardly made her harmless. "Any abilities you had before coming here are gone, so if you're an alchemist you could try transmuting something... There isn't really anything I can say that's going to prove my point, but everyone eventually learns that it's true the hard way, just like I had to. I really think right now you should be more worried about getting your injuries checked, it's not safe to be weaponless and smell of blood down here."

[winterarmstrong]

Well, he definitely had a point there. Olivia had never been in a city that completely blocked out the sky like here. And he was also right about the danger of being bloody down here, too: if this place really was deserted, then there would be wild animals here, and even a rat could be dangerous to an injured man. She was really going to have to go along with him for now, even if she still didn't fully trust him. This didn't sit well with her, but she had very little choice here.

Fortunately Olivia did know Edward well, even if Edward was saying that he didn't know her. And from what she could see, he was acting like the Edward she knew. It didn't explain how he didn't know her, but it did make her a little more willing to give him a chance. After all, Edward was Edward, even if he had been knocked upside the head and had amnesia. After a long pause she said, "Alright. Take me to the clinic."

She wasn't going to say that she fully believed him yet, though. She wanted more proof, and it seemed like she was going to have to see it for herself. Not that she minded, of course. Olivia was the kind of person who preferred to see the truth for herself, rather than leaving it up to others to tell their skewed versions of the truth. But for now, getting bandaged up was important.

[alchemyxfreak]

Considering the clinic was on the other side of the Lower Level, it wasn't the shortest walk from the Temple on the East side, but if he wanted to see to her getting healed it was the best - and probably only - option. "Right." He answered, leading the way, without another word.

He kept an eye on her, in case she seemed to need any help - positive that if she didn't, she wouldn't accept it, and if she did she certainly wouldn't ask for it. He had to admit, whoever she was, she had his interest. Of course, a year and a half in Purgatorium taught a person better of getting too curious about the unknown. Edward also factored in that she could be a part of this place, just as she had wondered if he wasn't a homunculus in disguise.

Within the clinic Edward found someone to aid with her injuries - not wasting any time before explaining that she was a new arrival with multiple injuries from their own world, causes unknown. He knew that if she wanted to explain for herself she was more than capable of doing that.

For now he figured the rest of their conversation could wait until they had somewhere private to discuss things. The kind of secrets a person kept in Purg were rarely the same secrets that they kept on their home world, but a new arrival wasn't going to know that - and he wanted to stay in her comfort level as well as be cautious, himself.

[thisis_myworld]

Tsukasa had been cleaning off some of the surgical tools, left over from stitching someone up, but when Ed and Olivia came in he had moved them quickly to seats. He gently inspected her wounds and shook his head, sighing.

"I can heal everything except the arm. That needs to be popped back into place, and I'm not sure if I can do that on my own. I'm still new at this job, and I wouldn't want to heal it and have it set wrong."

He picked up his staff and held it up, concentrating. "This might tingle for a moment. Pha Repth!" The staff glowed, and then the spell settled around her, closing her wounds. He closed his eyes and leaned back against the wall for a moment, catching his breath.

[winterarmstrong]

Thankfully Ed had managed to explain magic to Olivia, or at least he had done it well enough that she knew that magic and alchemy were not the same thing, so she didn't resist when Tsukasa healed her. She sighed in relief as the pain left her body, and while the bloodstains remained she did look better then she had moments ago. She gave a nod to Tsukasa, and she said, "Good job," which would be the closest he could get to a thanks.

But there was the problem of her arm. Well, if these two couldn't fix it, then she would. Olivia had been trained about how to fix that, though it would be more difficult to do on herself than someone else. First she carefully removed her coat, leaving her in her black undershirt, so that the heavy sleeves wouldn't get in the way. Then she took in a breath of air and bit down on her lip (and almost hard enough to draw blood, too) as she snapped it back into place.

It took her a few moments before she could speak again, but when she could she just looked up to Tsukasa and gave one order. "Put a splint on it now."

[alchemyxfreak]

He was used to the concept of magic, as most people at least talked about it in Purg if they weren't also capable of it themselves. He did watch the healing closely, if only to satisfy his own curiosity about it - since so many people insisted that it was the same as alchemy, and he had so little experience seeing how it worked in a world that it could work.

Edward was, however, much more thrown off by what followed. Gaping as the General snapped her own arm back into place and making sure to stay out of the way so that Tsukasa could splint the injured limb. Just watching that happen made him wince, and he was glad he didn't have to go through the ordeal himself.

[thisis_myworld]

Tsukasa's eyes went wide, and he scrambled to get a splint. He managed to hold it in place and tie it off without dropping it. When it was finally done, he backed off, unnerved by Olivia.

[winterarmstrong]

Not too surprising, she thought to herself. They were both young, and it was likely that they had never seen something like that before. And truthfully Olivia would have had one of her soldiers do it for her, if they had been here, since it was difficult to do to yourself. But she didn't care much for how the kids were reacting. It was part of survival, and they would learn to deal.

And now it was time for the next part: questions. Olivia had a lot of questions for Edward, but she couldn't ask him here. She didn't know if this Tsukasa knew about the homunculus or not. So instead she looked to Tsukasa and said, "Who are you?"

[alchemyxfreak]

In all honesty, Edward wanted to get Olivia somewhere safe and private to discuss matters with her as well- as he was also interested in getting things cleared up, and now that the injuries had been taken care of that became top priority. It wasn't that he didn't trust anyone to hear what they were saying, but he knew that she wouldn't.

The alchemist decided to let Tsukasa answer for himself, wondering momentarily if he should suggest to Olivia that they leave now that she was better - or wait to see if she had questions for the healer, as he was someone else from this world that she wasn't familiar with.

He waited for Tsukasa to answer before speaking, himself. "You're going to need to find a place to stay now that you're healed." It was more an invitation for her to let him know when she was ready to leave. "I can probably clean your uniform too."

[thisis_myworld]

Tsukasa tried to look friendly, though probably ended up looking more awkward than anything else, and responded. "I'm Tsukasa. I work here at the clinic, and I also work at the tavern. What's your name?"

[winterarmstrong]

A place to stay? But she had a home in Central, and she intended to go back there shortly. For her, this was a temporary thing. She planned to tell Ed as much, too, but first she wanted to answer Tsukasa. "I am General Olivia Armstrong of the Amestrian army," she said, and though she did not give a greeting other then that, the way she left it as just her name implied that a simple introduction was enough.

Then she looked to Ed and said, "I will only need temporary housing. I plan to go back to Central as soon as possible."