Fic Update - Sorrow's Dark Array Chapter three
Sorrow’s Dark Array
Author - Cornerofmadness
Disclaimer - not mine, all characters belong to Hiromu Arakawa et al, Square Enix and funimition.
Pairing - Roy/Riza, Ed/Win (eventually) Winry/OC, mentions of Maes/Gracia and Al/OC
Rating - will vary from chapter to chapter, mostly Pg-13 but will eventually contain well marked adult chapters.
Time Line - anime based, spoilers all the way through the anime and the movie and does have strong manga elements such as Armstrong’s older sister and the land of Xing
Summary - As Roy and Riza prepare for their wedding, while dodging assassins, Ed and Al try to find their way back home.
Author’s Note #1- This was written after much prodding by evil_little_dog as a sequel to the source of sorrow and is now her holiday gift even if she has beta’ed part of it. So thanks to her and lyricnonsense for the beta. You do not have to read the first story to understand this. You’ll quickly pick up that Riza has retired from the military to be Roy’s wife and bodyguard. Olivia Armstrong is now president and she’s assigned Roy as the ambassador to Ishbal; oh and that Roy was severely injured in the destruction of the Gate, requiring some of Winry’s automail.
Author's Note #2 - This is a longer work and like real relationships, the ones listed in the pairings, take time to mend and come together. They have to work at it. Hope you enjoy the ride.
Chapter One
Chapter Two
“Days of absence, sad and dreary, Clothed in sorrow's dark array, Days of absence, I am weary; She I love is far away.” - Shakespeare
Chapter Three
Where thou art - that - is Home. - Emily Dickinson
“I can’t believe you talked me into this.” Ed poked around the waiting room of some damn psychic his brother had found. He picked up a glass paperweight, turning it over in his hands.
Hughes plucked it out and set it back down. “You agreed, so stop whining.”
Ed wrinkled his nose at him. “Why are you even here? I know you found this woman but still.” Ed glanced at his brother. They had had this talk already, Ed fearing that Hughes wanted to reconnect with his lost Gracia or Al would want to bring back Ziata then Ed remembered that in this world it wouldn’t happen. There was no alchemy.
“I want to hear what she has to say.” Hughes’ eyes narrowed behind his lenses, losing his patience with Ed’s negativity. “Besides you promised to take me with you once you find a way across. I have an investment in this.” There was something in his tone that suggested he thought the boys might not have been entirely honest with him and that made Ed nervous since they hadn’t.
“We will.” Al said then made eye contact with Ed. “Meeting this woman isn’t that different from Noa.”
Ed wet his lips, thinking of her. He wasn’t sure he was ever all that comfortable with what Noa had claimed to be able to do, things he didn’t want to believe in. Still, Noa had been a help to him and Ed regretted news of her fate had come too late to help. Just before he and his brother had left for America with Hughes, they heard that Noa had been rounded up with other ‘undesirables.’ Ed doubted she was even still alive. He regretted that he couldn’t help her and rather wished she were around right now. At least she was a level of weird that he knew how to handle as opposed to this unknown medium who was probably just out to get his brother and Hughes’ money. “I know. I just don’t know what we’re hoping to do here. The last thing we were talking about were Janus myths. How does this woman play into that?”
“She doesn’t really,” Al admitted, a hint of blush on his cheeks. “And I’m still studying the doorway mythos but this woman says she can see into other worlds. I want to hear what she has to say. Hughes said she was good.”
Ed just nodded, keeping his thoughts to himself. How had Hughes already paid this woman money? Shouldn’t a cop know better? Ed knew the language. Hadn’t Houdini gone around exposing people like this? Seeing into the other world was a euphemism for ‘I pretend to talk to your dead love one while you line my pockets with lots of money.’ Ed just hoped his brother would see this person as a fraud and this would be the end of it.
Unsure of what he was expecting, when the medium came into the room, Ed knew it wasn’t this. Madame Sunty was fairly young, maybe in her late twenties, with the same dark tones as Ziata had had, so Ed figured she might be Italian as well. She had a strong nose and piercing eyes and he didn’t like how they speared him. “You’ve suffered a terrible injury,” she said without preamble.
Ed squeezed his living hand over his metal wrist, shooting a look at Hughes, wondering what he had told this charlatan before tonight. The older man’s face gave no hints of having betrayed them. Ed just shrugged as an answer.
She waved them in, her painted nails flashing. Her inner office was dark, just like Ed had been expecting, all the better to hide whatever tricks she was planning to play. Sunty gestured for them to sit around the round wooden table. “You are brothers, Alphonse mentioned this.” Her piercing eyes came up to meet Al’s. “What you didn’t say is you two are very far from home. There is something…not right with you.”
As Ed glared at her, Al licked his lips. “We are very far from home,” he admitted and Ed gently nudged his brother’s ankle to hush him. “But we were more interested in your abilities to see into other realms.”
She nodded, her thick dark curls swaying. “As you said on the phone. I’ll admit that is where my psychic abilities are weakest. The realm I can access the best is the one of the dead.” Her gaze slipped over to Hughes who looked almost uncomfortable with that admission. “And psychic healing.” Sunty looked at Ed again. “An arm and a leg, how did that happen?”
Ed tried to rein in his surprise. Of course she knew about him. Either Al or Hughes had told her. And her type was observant. That’s how they fleeced clients. Sunty probably noticed his limp since his leg was too short now and the servos half dead. His arm didn’t swing naturally any more. Sunty hadn’t said they were just gone, merely hinted they were injured. Still, she would think it odd if he ignored her. “I was hurt in the battles.” He didn’t specify which ones and she seemed to be happy enough with his answer. “I don’t need any healing.”
“And I don’t think they have anyone one who has crossed over that they want to talk to.” Hughes shot them a nervous look, not quite confident of that statement.
Ed would love to talk to his mother again, or even Hohenheim to curse at him and ask him if he knew a way home. He knew Al would want to talk to Ziata but since that wasn’t possible there was no point in thinking about it. “Al, tell her what you’re interested in.”
Al bobbed his head, his ponytail swaying. Ed hadn’t realized just how long his brother’s hair had gotten. It was a very eccentric hair style for this place and age. “We’re interested if it’s possible to travel to other realms.”
“Physically or astrally?” Sunty asked as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
“Astrally?” The word came out as a clipped laugh past Ed’s lips and Hughes shot him a warning look.
“Astral travel is not all so hard,” Sunty continued as if Ed hadn’t blurted anything out. “But it’s easier done here in this plane than traveling to others. In theory, it should be possible to travel physically to other place? There are dozens of stories in the British Isles about people being taken to the realms of the faeries. There are gateways between this world and that one.”
“It’s those gateways we’re interested in, Sunty,” Al said, his eyes glowing.
“Then you’re looking for fairy mounds,” Sunty said, her expression falling. She added in a sympathetic tone, “I’m not an expert but I can tell you where to look and give you a name of someone who can help.”
“Please,” Al said before Ed could loudly proclaim there were no such things as fairies, let alone fairy realms or mounds of earth that led anywhere but into some cave. The way Al ground his heel into the arch of Ed’s foot to keep him quiet nearly brought tears to Ed’s eyes. “Where are the gates? Are there any close?”
Sunty shook her head as she reached for her tablet. “I’m sorry to disappoint you, but all the ones I know are in Ireland. Here, I’ll write you out a list.” Sunty wrote out exotic words like Knockfierna, with the notation Donn the fairy-king and Knockmaa, home of Finnbheara, another king and Slieve Gallion then finally wrote the name and address of someone named Liam McMannus in Galway. “Liam is an expert on fairy mounds. You might want to write him. He could be more help to you than I ever could.” Her gaze swung back to Ed once more. “I’m not even sure I could heal your injuries. They are so profound.” The sympathy in her tone earned a scowl from Edward.
“I’m fine,” he said uncomfortably.
Sunty shot him a look of disbelief. “If you’d like to come back and give me some time, I can give you a list of ley lines and standing stones.”
Al nodded enthusiastically. “That would be so helpful.”
Sunty got up and held out a hand to him, clasping his hand in hers. “I’ll get it done.”
“What do we owe you for tonight?” Al asked and Ed barely restrained his outburst. Al wanted to pay for this waste of time?
“I didn’t actually do much. You don’t owe me a thing,” she said and Ed finally found himself in agreement with her.
Once Al and Hughes made appointments to return, they headed out into the cold. Ed hunched up against the winds that whipped through the hills that surrounded the city. The three rivers that hemmed Pittsburgh in made the air cold and damp. The metal in Ed’s body felt like a toothache as they walked to Hughes’ car. Ed wasn’t sure how Al or Hughes could even stand to get into an instrument of their loves’ deaths but he was glad they climbed into the car without a word. He wasn’t sure he could handle a long walk.
“That was very helpful,” Al said brightly, getting in the front seat
“No it wasn’t,” Ed scoffed, scowling at getting stuck in the back seat.
Al wrinkled his nose, glancing over into the back of the seat. “How can you possibly say that, Ed? We have places to look for gates.”
“What you have, Al, is garbage. There are no such things as fairies. Hence, there are no mounds and no gates,” Ed said in a tone that suggested a two-year-old could comprehend this.
Al made a sound of disgust. “Ed, you don’t know that. Until we saw one, we thought homunculi were myths.”
Hughes opened his mouth to ask what the hell a homunculus was but then shut it, realizing the brothers were paying him no mind.
“No one’s ever seen a fairy, Al. You’re getting your hopes up for nothing.” Ed waved him off. “You’d be better off looking into physics to see if some sort of energy source could simulate a gate.”
“I have you to do that. I’m following my own path,” Al retorted stubbornly.
“Al, you’re wasting time. There are no fairies, there is no Santa Claus, no Easter Bunny, no pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. It’s all junk the people here have made up to make themselves feel good,” Ed said, each word getting louder until it was nearly deafening.
Al twisted around on his seat, tears in his eyes. He looked pointedly out the window. “You can be so mean sometimes, Brother.”
Hughes looked over his shoulder. “Ed, sometimes, it’s all right to believe in something besides science.”
Ed turned his head, looking out the side window. No, it wasn’t. Science was all he had left.
X X X
Riza changed the record, wondering at Roy’s choice of music. Should anyone have this many melancholic cello pieces in his collection? She sat back down beside his bed. He hadn’t woken from his coma in two days. Tubes fed him, tubes carried away the waste and he slept on. The doctors were still hopeful, said the x-rays for early this morning of Roy’s head were still clear. She wasn’t sure what a bad x-ray would look like, maybe have those cloudy masses the X-rays of his gut had shown. The doctors had gone after those masses, cutting into Roy, letting the infection out, shoving even more tubes into him so pus and fluids could drain. The room smelled like death but still they told her he had a chance. Winry and Pinako refused to give her the pain killers that she could end his suffering with because they, too, still believed in Roy. And if they did, how could she do less? Riza thought maybe he did feel less warm today.
Someone knocked on the door then Winry peeked through the opening. The girl smiled at Riza who beckoned her in. Riza wasn’t surprised to see Dev with Winry. “Any change?”
Riza shook her head. “I thought maybe he felt less feverish but he’s not regained consciousness.”
Dev sat on the other bed, its rumpled cover suggesting Riza had been lying on it at some point. “I don’t like him looking this…small. I want him back and being a pain in the ass.”
Riza laughed softly. “He’s good at that.”
“Tell me about it.” Dev’s red eyes dimmed. “Armstrong came by to talk to Aris. They’re pretty sure it wasn’t an Ishbalan faction that did this. Good. I mean, they nearly killed me in a fire bomb once. That’s enough.”
“I know. Armstrong has been in to see me.” Riza said as Winry started changing the dressing on Roy’s leg. “We aren’t any closer to figuring out who planted the bomb. It’s very frustrating.” She cast a glance over at Winry. “Is it getting better?”
Winry nodded. “The defect is smaller. That’s a good sign. It looks clean.” She pointed to the beefy red tissue inside the hole that ringed around above Roy’s docking port.”
“Good,” Riza said then looked at Dev who was going green under his tan. “Why don’t you look the other way, Dev?”
Dev grunted at her but laid down on the bed, looking out the window.
“Does what I do bother you, Dev?” Winry asked with obvious concern for her future if it did.
He shook his head. “No, but I remember being in a place nowhere near as nice as this hospital, the pain all over my chest from the burns and they got infected.” He held up his stump. “Only this didn’t hurt. They said the nerves were burnt up.”
“They were. That’s why Granny and I had to remove the lowest portion of your arm to get a good graft site for the docking port,” Winry said matter of factly.
Dev rubbed his fingers over his port. “Ugh. I’m amazed by what you do but I’m not cut out for medicine, even if I’m in the sect that practices the herbal medicine. It sort of bores me. Maybe I’m a bad priest.” Dev wrinkled his nose. “Doctrine is fine but herbs don’t interest me all that much.”
Neither woman said anything. Both were well aware Dev had wanted to be a warrior priest instead of being put in the healing caste where he was now but the loss of his arm prevented that or so he said. Riza was never sure if this desire came after he had been injured or before. After the Diaspora, Riza knew Dev had little time to get the healing he had needed but had also developed an intense pride in his heritage which helped guide him into the priesthood. As far as she was concerned, Dev had a personality ill suited for that sort of work. He had Edward’s bluntness without Roy’s ability to temper it with pretty words but Ishbalans his age seemed to connect with his preaching from what little she had seen.
Another soft knock sounded on the door and Riza opened it to Havoc and Pinako which wasn’t much of a surprise. What Riza hadn’t been expecting, even though she knew she should, were the four obviously Xing-blooded ladies behind the lieutenant. Riza had never met Roy’s sisters but she was sure she could probably tell which one was which by his descriptions and pictures. Surely the one who looked younger than Roy, even though she was two years older, had to be Li-Ying the healer, though Riza wouldn’t have pegged her as one, not in her bright purple dress and her long black hair caught up in twin pony tails. The tallest of them with the stern expression and her silver-shot hair cropped boyishly short had to be the eldest, Yi-Lan. Riza knew the sisters had Amestrian names but Roy said they rarely used them and she surely didn’t know them.
“We found them out on the street, looking lost,” Havoc said with a self-satisfied smile. “So we had to rescue them.”
The tallest one shot him a sour look. “This is a confusing city.” Her gaze captured Riza’s. If Riza had any doubts this woman was Roy’s sister, they fizzled under the heat of her intense, dark-eyed scrutiny. “You must be Riza,” she decided. “Cricket told us all about you.”
Havoc’s eyes bugged and Dev sat up on the bed. “Cricket?” Havoc pointed to the general then he and Dev both burst out laughing.
Winry glanced up from where she was syringing saline into the wound on Roy’s leg, catching the pink-tinged water in a basin. “He’ll kill you for laughing, you know that, right?”
“Let them laugh. Maybe it’ll wake him up,” Pinako replied, donning gloves so she could assist her granddaughter.
Yi-Lan stepped over to the bed. “How long has he been like this?”
“A few days,” Riza said. “He hasn’t woken in at least two days.”
Li-Ying put a hand on Riza’s shoulder. “He looks so small.” She reached out and stroked her brother’s forehead. Her brow furrowed. “Your energies are a mess, little brother. By the way, since Yi-Lan will never remember to be polite, that’s Yi-Lan.” She pointed to the tallest sister. “I’m Li-Ying. They’re Hua and Jun,” she added indicating the two silent sisters. Riza needed no real introduction for Jun. She was a performer of some renown
Riza smiled faintly. “I’m glad to meet you all at last. Sorry it had to be like this.” She sighed. “You’ve met Havoc and Dr, Rockbell. This is her granddaughter, Winry, Roy’s mechanic, and his junior liaison, Dev.” She gestured to the Ishbalan.
“Oh yes, the mouthy one who reminds him of Edward Elric,” Li-Ying said, grinning at the young man.
Dev’s eyes narrowed into ruby slits. “That bastard has to get better so I can kill him myself.”
“I think you’re proving Roy’s point, Dev,” Winry said wryly and he snorted.
“I brought my kit.” Li-Ying went over to where Dev sat and opened up the bag she carried. “I hope you don’t mind, Riza.”
“Of course not. He is your brother, after all,” she said as Li-Ying pulled a stick of incense out. “Though they don’t allow smoke in here.”
“Yi-Lan will handle them,” Hua said as Li-Ying went to put the incense pot on the little altar Aris had made. Yi-Lan patted her silver bangles which were embossed.
Winry caught the motion. “Oh, you’re an alchemist, too,” she said and Yi-Lan nodded. As Winry pushed a piece of gauze into the wound on Roy’s leg, he moaned softly. Her gaze snapping up to Riza, Winry said, “I think he might be waking up.”
“Probably out of sheer fear that Yi-Lan’s here.” Jun laughed lightly.
Riza sat back down next to Roy’s bed, stroking his hair. “Roy, can you hear me?” She let her hand glide down his neck and over his shoulder. “It’s time to wake up.”
“Not signing another damn thing,” he mumbled almost unintelligibly.
“If you open your eyes, love, you won’t have to sign anything today,” she promised with a trembling smile. He was coming back to her. If he was whining about paperwork, Roy had to be waking up for real. Riza wasn’t sure she could even sit up, feeling utterly boneless.
Roy’s eyes fluttered open like butterflies in spring, finally focusing on her. “Promise?”
“Promise,” she whispered, trying hard not to cry. She didn’t want to frighten him, if, of course, he was actually lucid.
Roy tried to sit up then winced, a low moan dribbling out of his mouth. “Hurts.” His eyes shut again.
“Figures, we make the long trip only to find you lazing around in bed, as per usual,” Yi-Lan loomed over Roy but her voice was kind.
Roy opened his eyes. “Uhhhhh, why did you call my sisters? How did you even get here so fast?”
Riza cupped his cheek. “Roy, it’s been days since you were hurt. You’ve been in a fever-coma from a bad infection.” When he gaped at her, Riza was afraid he was still in that lovely place he had been seeing in his delusions and still wasn’t really with her. “Do you understand what I’m saying?”
He nodded feebly. “I feel horrible.” Roy tried to sit up again then whimpered. He reached for his injured shoulder. His hand trailed down from the shoulder over his chest, stopping when he felt rubber. He ensnarled his fingers with it.
“Roy, leave that alone. It’s a chest tube,” Riza said, gently reaching for his hand but he avoided her fingers in his quest to know his own body’s condition. “You have another tube like that in your belly to drain out the infection.”
Roy fumbled until he felt that one, too, under the covers. His hand burrowed around under the blanket and then his eyes widened immensely.
“That’s the catheter,” Riza said wryly, reading his expression.
“Don’t pull on it either,” Winry offered helpfully.
“Don’t worry,” Roy mumbled, shooting her a peeved look. “Is it supposed to hurt so much...everything, not just that hose?”
“I’m afraid so. You got hurt pretty badly,” Winry said, sympathy shining in her eyes.
“I’ll help with that later, Brother, but I think your doctors will want to see you first.” Li-Ying reached down and patted his head.
Riza twisted around to face her friends. “Havoc, can you go tell the doctors Roy is awake?”
He nodded. “Sure. I’ll tell the guys, too. Glad to have you back.” Havoc smiled. “Cricket.”
Roy’s mouth dropped and Havoc scooted out the door. Dev snickered a little more then winced, holding his chest as his bruised ribs twinged. “My sisters…evil, all of them,” Roy whined.
“You love us,” Li-Ying said, going over to Dev. “You’re in pain, too.”
“I was in the blast,” Dev said with a shrug. “Nothing got broken…well, my automail did.”
“Why does everyone always say that so casually,” Winry groaned and he rolled his garnet eyes at her.
“Take off your shirt and lie back,” Li-Ying said, moving her bag. “I’ll fix you up.”
Dev glanced at Winry who nodded so he complied. Li-Ying’s hands moved over his chest. “These scars are tight. They hurt you, don’t they?”
“Sometimes,” Dev admitted, glancing down at his scarred belly. “The ones on my leg hurt more.”
“Let’s see what we can do.” Li-Ying pulled out some needles and Dev’s eyes bulged.
He threw up his hands, the automail one spazzing helplessly. “No needles!”
Winry went over to him, “Don’t be a wimp.” Helping to keep him still, she watched, fascinated as Li-Ying worked.
Riza ignored the scene, taking Roy’s hand. There was so much she wanted to say to him but couldn’t find the words, only to realize it wouldn’t make a difference. He was asleep and she felt confident that was all it was. It looked different than the coma, more peaceful. She glanced up as a hand closed over her shoulder. Riza smiled up at Jun. “I think he nodded off.”
“He nearly died on us, didn’t he?” Jun’s delicate features wore a shroud of fear.
Riza nodded, letting the tears fall now. She wiped at them with the back of her hand. “Sorry.”
“Don’t be.” Jun rubbed Riza’s back. “You love him. It’s all right to be scared.”
“And the little brat loves you, too,” Yi-Lan said, trailing her callused fingers through her brother’s lank hair. “Even if he was an idiot about it for so long. It’s not his fault. Li-Ying dropped him on his head.”
“I was two.” Li-Ying protested, glancing up from where she was working on Dev. “You should never have given him to me.”
Dev laughed then yelped as Li-Ying shoved in another needle. “Oww.”
“Sorry, the scar tissue was thick there.” She rubbed his chest. “Okay one more.” Li-Ying put a hand on Dev’s forehead.
He grabbed her wrist. “Not in my head!”
Winry peeled his hand off and covered Dev’s eyes. She nodded to Li-Yang. “Let her finish.”
“Why are you putting a needle in my head?” Dev tensed, afraid to move any more even when Li-Yang rolled him onto his side.
“It finishes aligning your energy channels,” Li-Ying said, running her fingers along the back of his head until she found the spot. “And it helps with pain in the thorax.”
“Don’t worry.” Roy opened his eyes again. “You don’t have any brains in there for her to hit.”
“Go back to sleep,” Dev grumbled, his eyes flicking Roy’s direction. “How long do I have to just lie here like this?”
“Until I tell you otherwise. I could do more for you but I don’t think you’ll like it,” Li-Ying relied.
Dev grimaced, his nose wrinkling and the needle in the back of his head bobbed. “What could be worse than needles?”
“She would stick cotton on the tops and set it on fire. The heat helps,” Roy offered, trying to wiggle around on his bed and failing. Riza sat back, letting him get comfortable.
“And since you got into this mess from a fire and you’re afraid of needles, I didn’t think you’d appreciate me lighting you up.” Li-Ying grinned.
Dev’s tanned face paled to parchment. “I’ll just lie still until you tell me.”
Li-Ying patted his arm. “Your doctor is certainly slow to get here, Roy. I should just start with you now.”
“You should probably wait until the nurses bathe me. I stink,” Roy said, letting his eyes close again. A smile flickered across his face. “Mmmm, sponge bath.”
“And you want to marry this idiot?” Yi-Lan snorted.
Riza shrugged. “He is what he is.” She tapped Roy’s cheek playfully.
Roy’s smile widened then faded away. “Is the automail there? It feel strange.”
“It’s gone,” Winry informed him crisply, keeping up a soothing caress over Dev’s arm.
“Don’t worry, Cricket, we’ll stop the beating if Winry gets too rough,” Huo offered.
Dev snickered again. “I like your sisters.”
“Only because they pick on me,” Roy countered, trying to get an arm up to make an obscene gesture but couldn’t manage it.
“You know who he reminds me of,” Yi-Lan said, jerking a thumb at Dev. “Jian.”
“Who?” Dev asked. “Some relative of Ed’s?”
“No, my oldest son. He’s always reminded me of Cricket at that age,” Yi-Lan replied. “He’s about your age, I’d guess.”
“Is she saying I’m like you?” Dev huffed, his face reddening.
“Live with it,” Roy replied. “Riza, if I’m asleep again by the time the doctor arrives, tell him to put the IV in the arm that got messed up. I want one limb I can actually move.”
“Of course,” Riza replied, fairly sure Roy wouldn’t sleep through anything the doctors might do to him.
“I have to know,” Winry said, turning to Li-Yang. “Why do you call him Cricket?”
“They hate me.”
“It’s because when Roy was little, he was a chirpy little thing,” Jun replied. “He reminded us of crickets in the spring.”
Roy looked up at Riza mournfully. “You just had to call my sisters.”
Riza laughed as she started to cry again. If he was well enough to whine and complain, she knew Roy was going to be all right.
X X X
Judith rubbed the lotion into her hands as she rocked back in her office chair, looking out the window. The sun had finally begun to fade and the people would be coming into hear her brother speak. There were two things she liked best about her younger brother; he was an excellent, charismatic speaker, which always filled their temple and he was very easy to manipulate. Judith took great pleasure in being able to get vast amounts of work done by making other people think it was their idea to do it in the first place. It freed her up to work on her goals. “Rose!” she called, not expecting her assistant to be at the ready. She allowed the girl to keep her young son in the office, even though she knew it distracted Rose, not that it took much. Rose could be counted on for fierce devotion and one-mindedness when following a cause - look at what she helped the military accomplish in rebuilding Lior. The devotion was why Judith kept her around. She knew the stories of Rose’s mental collapse and her long silence but so long as she did what she was told, Judith didn’t care that her mental stability wasn’t the best.
Finally, the girl stuck her head into the office. Judith wondered what possessed anyone to dye her hair with just two slashes but thought maybe she could understand the need to be different and special. “Yes, priestess?” Rose asked nervously.
“Have you had any word from Central?” Judith asked, trying to look as disinterested as she could. Good help was so hard to find and when Judith had learned that the bomb she had planted in Mustang’s office had failed to kill him outright, she had been livid. Her hope was he would die of his injuries. She just wished she knew where the Elrics were so she could settle the score with them.
Rose shook her head. “It’s still the same.”
“Thank you.” Judith waved her off and swiveled back to the window. She sieved the streaming sunlight for answers. How best to find the Elrics? What to do about Mustang if he didn’t die and how to handle that huge oaf, Armstrong for his interference with Lior after the fact? Her current supporter in Central would be useless for that. Judith tapped her fingertips together. Well, she could always use Rose for handling Armstrong but how to trick her into it?
Chapter Four
Author - Cornerofmadness
Disclaimer - not mine, all characters belong to Hiromu Arakawa et al, Square Enix and funimition.
Pairing - Roy/Riza, Ed/Win (eventually) Winry/OC, mentions of Maes/Gracia and Al/OC
Rating - will vary from chapter to chapter, mostly Pg-13 but will eventually contain well marked adult chapters.
Time Line - anime based, spoilers all the way through the anime and the movie and does have strong manga elements such as Armstrong’s older sister and the land of Xing
Summary - As Roy and Riza prepare for their wedding, while dodging assassins, Ed and Al try to find their way back home.
Author’s Note #1- This was written after much prodding by evil_little_dog as a sequel to the source of sorrow and is now her holiday gift even if she has beta’ed part of it. So thanks to her and lyricnonsense for the beta. You do not have to read the first story to understand this. You’ll quickly pick up that Riza has retired from the military to be Roy’s wife and bodyguard. Olivia Armstrong is now president and she’s assigned Roy as the ambassador to Ishbal; oh and that Roy was severely injured in the destruction of the Gate, requiring some of Winry’s automail.
Author's Note #2 - This is a longer work and like real relationships, the ones listed in the pairings, take time to mend and come together. They have to work at it. Hope you enjoy the ride.
Chapter One
Chapter Two
“Days of absence, sad and dreary, Clothed in sorrow's dark array, Days of absence, I am weary; She I love is far away.” - Shakespeare
Chapter Three
Where thou art - that - is Home. - Emily Dickinson
“I can’t believe you talked me into this.” Ed poked around the waiting room of some damn psychic his brother had found. He picked up a glass paperweight, turning it over in his hands.
Hughes plucked it out and set it back down. “You agreed, so stop whining.”
Ed wrinkled his nose at him. “Why are you even here? I know you found this woman but still.” Ed glanced at his brother. They had had this talk already, Ed fearing that Hughes wanted to reconnect with his lost Gracia or Al would want to bring back Ziata then Ed remembered that in this world it wouldn’t happen. There was no alchemy.
“I want to hear what she has to say.” Hughes’ eyes narrowed behind his lenses, losing his patience with Ed’s negativity. “Besides you promised to take me with you once you find a way across. I have an investment in this.” There was something in his tone that suggested he thought the boys might not have been entirely honest with him and that made Ed nervous since they hadn’t.
“We will.” Al said then made eye contact with Ed. “Meeting this woman isn’t that different from Noa.”
Ed wet his lips, thinking of her. He wasn’t sure he was ever all that comfortable with what Noa had claimed to be able to do, things he didn’t want to believe in. Still, Noa had been a help to him and Ed regretted news of her fate had come too late to help. Just before he and his brother had left for America with Hughes, they heard that Noa had been rounded up with other ‘undesirables.’ Ed doubted she was even still alive. He regretted that he couldn’t help her and rather wished she were around right now. At least she was a level of weird that he knew how to handle as opposed to this unknown medium who was probably just out to get his brother and Hughes’ money. “I know. I just don’t know what we’re hoping to do here. The last thing we were talking about were Janus myths. How does this woman play into that?”
“She doesn’t really,” Al admitted, a hint of blush on his cheeks. “And I’m still studying the doorway mythos but this woman says she can see into other worlds. I want to hear what she has to say. Hughes said she was good.”
Ed just nodded, keeping his thoughts to himself. How had Hughes already paid this woman money? Shouldn’t a cop know better? Ed knew the language. Hadn’t Houdini gone around exposing people like this? Seeing into the other world was a euphemism for ‘I pretend to talk to your dead love one while you line my pockets with lots of money.’ Ed just hoped his brother would see this person as a fraud and this would be the end of it.
Unsure of what he was expecting, when the medium came into the room, Ed knew it wasn’t this. Madame Sunty was fairly young, maybe in her late twenties, with the same dark tones as Ziata had had, so Ed figured she might be Italian as well. She had a strong nose and piercing eyes and he didn’t like how they speared him. “You’ve suffered a terrible injury,” she said without preamble.
Ed squeezed his living hand over his metal wrist, shooting a look at Hughes, wondering what he had told this charlatan before tonight. The older man’s face gave no hints of having betrayed them. Ed just shrugged as an answer.
She waved them in, her painted nails flashing. Her inner office was dark, just like Ed had been expecting, all the better to hide whatever tricks she was planning to play. Sunty gestured for them to sit around the round wooden table. “You are brothers, Alphonse mentioned this.” Her piercing eyes came up to meet Al’s. “What you didn’t say is you two are very far from home. There is something…not right with you.”
As Ed glared at her, Al licked his lips. “We are very far from home,” he admitted and Ed gently nudged his brother’s ankle to hush him. “But we were more interested in your abilities to see into other realms.”
She nodded, her thick dark curls swaying. “As you said on the phone. I’ll admit that is where my psychic abilities are weakest. The realm I can access the best is the one of the dead.” Her gaze slipped over to Hughes who looked almost uncomfortable with that admission. “And psychic healing.” Sunty looked at Ed again. “An arm and a leg, how did that happen?”
Ed tried to rein in his surprise. Of course she knew about him. Either Al or Hughes had told her. And her type was observant. That’s how they fleeced clients. Sunty probably noticed his limp since his leg was too short now and the servos half dead. His arm didn’t swing naturally any more. Sunty hadn’t said they were just gone, merely hinted they were injured. Still, she would think it odd if he ignored her. “I was hurt in the battles.” He didn’t specify which ones and she seemed to be happy enough with his answer. “I don’t need any healing.”
“And I don’t think they have anyone one who has crossed over that they want to talk to.” Hughes shot them a nervous look, not quite confident of that statement.
Ed would love to talk to his mother again, or even Hohenheim to curse at him and ask him if he knew a way home. He knew Al would want to talk to Ziata but since that wasn’t possible there was no point in thinking about it. “Al, tell her what you’re interested in.”
Al bobbed his head, his ponytail swaying. Ed hadn’t realized just how long his brother’s hair had gotten. It was a very eccentric hair style for this place and age. “We’re interested if it’s possible to travel to other realms.”
“Physically or astrally?” Sunty asked as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
“Astrally?” The word came out as a clipped laugh past Ed’s lips and Hughes shot him a warning look.
“Astral travel is not all so hard,” Sunty continued as if Ed hadn’t blurted anything out. “But it’s easier done here in this plane than traveling to others. In theory, it should be possible to travel physically to other place? There are dozens of stories in the British Isles about people being taken to the realms of the faeries. There are gateways between this world and that one.”
“It’s those gateways we’re interested in, Sunty,” Al said, his eyes glowing.
“Then you’re looking for fairy mounds,” Sunty said, her expression falling. She added in a sympathetic tone, “I’m not an expert but I can tell you where to look and give you a name of someone who can help.”
“Please,” Al said before Ed could loudly proclaim there were no such things as fairies, let alone fairy realms or mounds of earth that led anywhere but into some cave. The way Al ground his heel into the arch of Ed’s foot to keep him quiet nearly brought tears to Ed’s eyes. “Where are the gates? Are there any close?”
Sunty shook her head as she reached for her tablet. “I’m sorry to disappoint you, but all the ones I know are in Ireland. Here, I’ll write you out a list.” Sunty wrote out exotic words like Knockfierna, with the notation Donn the fairy-king and Knockmaa, home of Finnbheara, another king and Slieve Gallion then finally wrote the name and address of someone named Liam McMannus in Galway. “Liam is an expert on fairy mounds. You might want to write him. He could be more help to you than I ever could.” Her gaze swung back to Ed once more. “I’m not even sure I could heal your injuries. They are so profound.” The sympathy in her tone earned a scowl from Edward.
“I’m fine,” he said uncomfortably.
Sunty shot him a look of disbelief. “If you’d like to come back and give me some time, I can give you a list of ley lines and standing stones.”
Al nodded enthusiastically. “That would be so helpful.”
Sunty got up and held out a hand to him, clasping his hand in hers. “I’ll get it done.”
“What do we owe you for tonight?” Al asked and Ed barely restrained his outburst. Al wanted to pay for this waste of time?
“I didn’t actually do much. You don’t owe me a thing,” she said and Ed finally found himself in agreement with her.
Once Al and Hughes made appointments to return, they headed out into the cold. Ed hunched up against the winds that whipped through the hills that surrounded the city. The three rivers that hemmed Pittsburgh in made the air cold and damp. The metal in Ed’s body felt like a toothache as they walked to Hughes’ car. Ed wasn’t sure how Al or Hughes could even stand to get into an instrument of their loves’ deaths but he was glad they climbed into the car without a word. He wasn’t sure he could handle a long walk.
“That was very helpful,” Al said brightly, getting in the front seat
“No it wasn’t,” Ed scoffed, scowling at getting stuck in the back seat.
Al wrinkled his nose, glancing over into the back of the seat. “How can you possibly say that, Ed? We have places to look for gates.”
“What you have, Al, is garbage. There are no such things as fairies. Hence, there are no mounds and no gates,” Ed said in a tone that suggested a two-year-old could comprehend this.
Al made a sound of disgust. “Ed, you don’t know that. Until we saw one, we thought homunculi were myths.”
Hughes opened his mouth to ask what the hell a homunculus was but then shut it, realizing the brothers were paying him no mind.
“No one’s ever seen a fairy, Al. You’re getting your hopes up for nothing.” Ed waved him off. “You’d be better off looking into physics to see if some sort of energy source could simulate a gate.”
“I have you to do that. I’m following my own path,” Al retorted stubbornly.
“Al, you’re wasting time. There are no fairies, there is no Santa Claus, no Easter Bunny, no pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. It’s all junk the people here have made up to make themselves feel good,” Ed said, each word getting louder until it was nearly deafening.
Al twisted around on his seat, tears in his eyes. He looked pointedly out the window. “You can be so mean sometimes, Brother.”
Hughes looked over his shoulder. “Ed, sometimes, it’s all right to believe in something besides science.”
Ed turned his head, looking out the side window. No, it wasn’t. Science was all he had left.
X X X
Riza changed the record, wondering at Roy’s choice of music. Should anyone have this many melancholic cello pieces in his collection? She sat back down beside his bed. He hadn’t woken from his coma in two days. Tubes fed him, tubes carried away the waste and he slept on. The doctors were still hopeful, said the x-rays for early this morning of Roy’s head were still clear. She wasn’t sure what a bad x-ray would look like, maybe have those cloudy masses the X-rays of his gut had shown. The doctors had gone after those masses, cutting into Roy, letting the infection out, shoving even more tubes into him so pus and fluids could drain. The room smelled like death but still they told her he had a chance. Winry and Pinako refused to give her the pain killers that she could end his suffering with because they, too, still believed in Roy. And if they did, how could she do less? Riza thought maybe he did feel less warm today.
Someone knocked on the door then Winry peeked through the opening. The girl smiled at Riza who beckoned her in. Riza wasn’t surprised to see Dev with Winry. “Any change?”
Riza shook her head. “I thought maybe he felt less feverish but he’s not regained consciousness.”
Dev sat on the other bed, its rumpled cover suggesting Riza had been lying on it at some point. “I don’t like him looking this…small. I want him back and being a pain in the ass.”
Riza laughed softly. “He’s good at that.”
“Tell me about it.” Dev’s red eyes dimmed. “Armstrong came by to talk to Aris. They’re pretty sure it wasn’t an Ishbalan faction that did this. Good. I mean, they nearly killed me in a fire bomb once. That’s enough.”
“I know. Armstrong has been in to see me.” Riza said as Winry started changing the dressing on Roy’s leg. “We aren’t any closer to figuring out who planted the bomb. It’s very frustrating.” She cast a glance over at Winry. “Is it getting better?”
Winry nodded. “The defect is smaller. That’s a good sign. It looks clean.” She pointed to the beefy red tissue inside the hole that ringed around above Roy’s docking port.”
“Good,” Riza said then looked at Dev who was going green under his tan. “Why don’t you look the other way, Dev?”
Dev grunted at her but laid down on the bed, looking out the window.
“Does what I do bother you, Dev?” Winry asked with obvious concern for her future if it did.
He shook his head. “No, but I remember being in a place nowhere near as nice as this hospital, the pain all over my chest from the burns and they got infected.” He held up his stump. “Only this didn’t hurt. They said the nerves were burnt up.”
“They were. That’s why Granny and I had to remove the lowest portion of your arm to get a good graft site for the docking port,” Winry said matter of factly.
Dev rubbed his fingers over his port. “Ugh. I’m amazed by what you do but I’m not cut out for medicine, even if I’m in the sect that practices the herbal medicine. It sort of bores me. Maybe I’m a bad priest.” Dev wrinkled his nose. “Doctrine is fine but herbs don’t interest me all that much.”
Neither woman said anything. Both were well aware Dev had wanted to be a warrior priest instead of being put in the healing caste where he was now but the loss of his arm prevented that or so he said. Riza was never sure if this desire came after he had been injured or before. After the Diaspora, Riza knew Dev had little time to get the healing he had needed but had also developed an intense pride in his heritage which helped guide him into the priesthood. As far as she was concerned, Dev had a personality ill suited for that sort of work. He had Edward’s bluntness without Roy’s ability to temper it with pretty words but Ishbalans his age seemed to connect with his preaching from what little she had seen.
Another soft knock sounded on the door and Riza opened it to Havoc and Pinako which wasn’t much of a surprise. What Riza hadn’t been expecting, even though she knew she should, were the four obviously Xing-blooded ladies behind the lieutenant. Riza had never met Roy’s sisters but she was sure she could probably tell which one was which by his descriptions and pictures. Surely the one who looked younger than Roy, even though she was two years older, had to be Li-Ying the healer, though Riza wouldn’t have pegged her as one, not in her bright purple dress and her long black hair caught up in twin pony tails. The tallest of them with the stern expression and her silver-shot hair cropped boyishly short had to be the eldest, Yi-Lan. Riza knew the sisters had Amestrian names but Roy said they rarely used them and she surely didn’t know them.
“We found them out on the street, looking lost,” Havoc said with a self-satisfied smile. “So we had to rescue them.”
The tallest one shot him a sour look. “This is a confusing city.” Her gaze captured Riza’s. If Riza had any doubts this woman was Roy’s sister, they fizzled under the heat of her intense, dark-eyed scrutiny. “You must be Riza,” she decided. “Cricket told us all about you.”
Havoc’s eyes bugged and Dev sat up on the bed. “Cricket?” Havoc pointed to the general then he and Dev both burst out laughing.
Winry glanced up from where she was syringing saline into the wound on Roy’s leg, catching the pink-tinged water in a basin. “He’ll kill you for laughing, you know that, right?”
“Let them laugh. Maybe it’ll wake him up,” Pinako replied, donning gloves so she could assist her granddaughter.
Yi-Lan stepped over to the bed. “How long has he been like this?”
“A few days,” Riza said. “He hasn’t woken in at least two days.”
Li-Ying put a hand on Riza’s shoulder. “He looks so small.” She reached out and stroked her brother’s forehead. Her brow furrowed. “Your energies are a mess, little brother. By the way, since Yi-Lan will never remember to be polite, that’s Yi-Lan.” She pointed to the tallest sister. “I’m Li-Ying. They’re Hua and Jun,” she added indicating the two silent sisters. Riza needed no real introduction for Jun. She was a performer of some renown
Riza smiled faintly. “I’m glad to meet you all at last. Sorry it had to be like this.” She sighed. “You’ve met Havoc and Dr, Rockbell. This is her granddaughter, Winry, Roy’s mechanic, and his junior liaison, Dev.” She gestured to the Ishbalan.
“Oh yes, the mouthy one who reminds him of Edward Elric,” Li-Ying said, grinning at the young man.
Dev’s eyes narrowed into ruby slits. “That bastard has to get better so I can kill him myself.”
“I think you’re proving Roy’s point, Dev,” Winry said wryly and he snorted.
“I brought my kit.” Li-Ying went over to where Dev sat and opened up the bag she carried. “I hope you don’t mind, Riza.”
“Of course not. He is your brother, after all,” she said as Li-Ying pulled a stick of incense out. “Though they don’t allow smoke in here.”
“Yi-Lan will handle them,” Hua said as Li-Ying went to put the incense pot on the little altar Aris had made. Yi-Lan patted her silver bangles which were embossed.
Winry caught the motion. “Oh, you’re an alchemist, too,” she said and Yi-Lan nodded. As Winry pushed a piece of gauze into the wound on Roy’s leg, he moaned softly. Her gaze snapping up to Riza, Winry said, “I think he might be waking up.”
“Probably out of sheer fear that Yi-Lan’s here.” Jun laughed lightly.
Riza sat back down next to Roy’s bed, stroking his hair. “Roy, can you hear me?” She let her hand glide down his neck and over his shoulder. “It’s time to wake up.”
“Not signing another damn thing,” he mumbled almost unintelligibly.
“If you open your eyes, love, you won’t have to sign anything today,” she promised with a trembling smile. He was coming back to her. If he was whining about paperwork, Roy had to be waking up for real. Riza wasn’t sure she could even sit up, feeling utterly boneless.
Roy’s eyes fluttered open like butterflies in spring, finally focusing on her. “Promise?”
“Promise,” she whispered, trying hard not to cry. She didn’t want to frighten him, if, of course, he was actually lucid.
Roy tried to sit up then winced, a low moan dribbling out of his mouth. “Hurts.” His eyes shut again.
“Figures, we make the long trip only to find you lazing around in bed, as per usual,” Yi-Lan loomed over Roy but her voice was kind.
Roy opened his eyes. “Uhhhhh, why did you call my sisters? How did you even get here so fast?”
Riza cupped his cheek. “Roy, it’s been days since you were hurt. You’ve been in a fever-coma from a bad infection.” When he gaped at her, Riza was afraid he was still in that lovely place he had been seeing in his delusions and still wasn’t really with her. “Do you understand what I’m saying?”
He nodded feebly. “I feel horrible.” Roy tried to sit up again then whimpered. He reached for his injured shoulder. His hand trailed down from the shoulder over his chest, stopping when he felt rubber. He ensnarled his fingers with it.
“Roy, leave that alone. It’s a chest tube,” Riza said, gently reaching for his hand but he avoided her fingers in his quest to know his own body’s condition. “You have another tube like that in your belly to drain out the infection.”
Roy fumbled until he felt that one, too, under the covers. His hand burrowed around under the blanket and then his eyes widened immensely.
“That’s the catheter,” Riza said wryly, reading his expression.
“Don’t pull on it either,” Winry offered helpfully.
“Don’t worry,” Roy mumbled, shooting her a peeved look. “Is it supposed to hurt so much...everything, not just that hose?”
“I’m afraid so. You got hurt pretty badly,” Winry said, sympathy shining in her eyes.
“I’ll help with that later, Brother, but I think your doctors will want to see you first.” Li-Ying reached down and patted his head.
Riza twisted around to face her friends. “Havoc, can you go tell the doctors Roy is awake?”
He nodded. “Sure. I’ll tell the guys, too. Glad to have you back.” Havoc smiled. “Cricket.”
Roy’s mouth dropped and Havoc scooted out the door. Dev snickered a little more then winced, holding his chest as his bruised ribs twinged. “My sisters…evil, all of them,” Roy whined.
“You love us,” Li-Ying said, going over to Dev. “You’re in pain, too.”
“I was in the blast,” Dev said with a shrug. “Nothing got broken…well, my automail did.”
“Why does everyone always say that so casually,” Winry groaned and he rolled his garnet eyes at her.
“Take off your shirt and lie back,” Li-Ying said, moving her bag. “I’ll fix you up.”
Dev glanced at Winry who nodded so he complied. Li-Ying’s hands moved over his chest. “These scars are tight. They hurt you, don’t they?”
“Sometimes,” Dev admitted, glancing down at his scarred belly. “The ones on my leg hurt more.”
“Let’s see what we can do.” Li-Ying pulled out some needles and Dev’s eyes bulged.
He threw up his hands, the automail one spazzing helplessly. “No needles!”
Winry went over to him, “Don’t be a wimp.” Helping to keep him still, she watched, fascinated as Li-Ying worked.
Riza ignored the scene, taking Roy’s hand. There was so much she wanted to say to him but couldn’t find the words, only to realize it wouldn’t make a difference. He was asleep and she felt confident that was all it was. It looked different than the coma, more peaceful. She glanced up as a hand closed over her shoulder. Riza smiled up at Jun. “I think he nodded off.”
“He nearly died on us, didn’t he?” Jun’s delicate features wore a shroud of fear.
Riza nodded, letting the tears fall now. She wiped at them with the back of her hand. “Sorry.”
“Don’t be.” Jun rubbed Riza’s back. “You love him. It’s all right to be scared.”
“And the little brat loves you, too,” Yi-Lan said, trailing her callused fingers through her brother’s lank hair. “Even if he was an idiot about it for so long. It’s not his fault. Li-Ying dropped him on his head.”
“I was two.” Li-Ying protested, glancing up from where she was working on Dev. “You should never have given him to me.”
Dev laughed then yelped as Li-Ying shoved in another needle. “Oww.”
“Sorry, the scar tissue was thick there.” She rubbed his chest. “Okay one more.” Li-Ying put a hand on Dev’s forehead.
He grabbed her wrist. “Not in my head!”
Winry peeled his hand off and covered Dev’s eyes. She nodded to Li-Yang. “Let her finish.”
“Why are you putting a needle in my head?” Dev tensed, afraid to move any more even when Li-Yang rolled him onto his side.
“It finishes aligning your energy channels,” Li-Ying said, running her fingers along the back of his head until she found the spot. “And it helps with pain in the thorax.”
“Don’t worry.” Roy opened his eyes again. “You don’t have any brains in there for her to hit.”
“Go back to sleep,” Dev grumbled, his eyes flicking Roy’s direction. “How long do I have to just lie here like this?”
“Until I tell you otherwise. I could do more for you but I don’t think you’ll like it,” Li-Ying relied.
Dev grimaced, his nose wrinkling and the needle in the back of his head bobbed. “What could be worse than needles?”
“She would stick cotton on the tops and set it on fire. The heat helps,” Roy offered, trying to wiggle around on his bed and failing. Riza sat back, letting him get comfortable.
“And since you got into this mess from a fire and you’re afraid of needles, I didn’t think you’d appreciate me lighting you up.” Li-Ying grinned.
Dev’s tanned face paled to parchment. “I’ll just lie still until you tell me.”
Li-Ying patted his arm. “Your doctor is certainly slow to get here, Roy. I should just start with you now.”
“You should probably wait until the nurses bathe me. I stink,” Roy said, letting his eyes close again. A smile flickered across his face. “Mmmm, sponge bath.”
“And you want to marry this idiot?” Yi-Lan snorted.
Riza shrugged. “He is what he is.” She tapped Roy’s cheek playfully.
Roy’s smile widened then faded away. “Is the automail there? It feel strange.”
“It’s gone,” Winry informed him crisply, keeping up a soothing caress over Dev’s arm.
“Don’t worry, Cricket, we’ll stop the beating if Winry gets too rough,” Huo offered.
Dev snickered again. “I like your sisters.”
“Only because they pick on me,” Roy countered, trying to get an arm up to make an obscene gesture but couldn’t manage it.
“You know who he reminds me of,” Yi-Lan said, jerking a thumb at Dev. “Jian.”
“Who?” Dev asked. “Some relative of Ed’s?”
“No, my oldest son. He’s always reminded me of Cricket at that age,” Yi-Lan replied. “He’s about your age, I’d guess.”
“Is she saying I’m like you?” Dev huffed, his face reddening.
“Live with it,” Roy replied. “Riza, if I’m asleep again by the time the doctor arrives, tell him to put the IV in the arm that got messed up. I want one limb I can actually move.”
“Of course,” Riza replied, fairly sure Roy wouldn’t sleep through anything the doctors might do to him.
“I have to know,” Winry said, turning to Li-Yang. “Why do you call him Cricket?”
“They hate me.”
“It’s because when Roy was little, he was a chirpy little thing,” Jun replied. “He reminded us of crickets in the spring.”
Roy looked up at Riza mournfully. “You just had to call my sisters.”
Riza laughed as she started to cry again. If he was well enough to whine and complain, she knew Roy was going to be all right.
X X X
Judith rubbed the lotion into her hands as she rocked back in her office chair, looking out the window. The sun had finally begun to fade and the people would be coming into hear her brother speak. There were two things she liked best about her younger brother; he was an excellent, charismatic speaker, which always filled their temple and he was very easy to manipulate. Judith took great pleasure in being able to get vast amounts of work done by making other people think it was their idea to do it in the first place. It freed her up to work on her goals. “Rose!” she called, not expecting her assistant to be at the ready. She allowed the girl to keep her young son in the office, even though she knew it distracted Rose, not that it took much. Rose could be counted on for fierce devotion and one-mindedness when following a cause - look at what she helped the military accomplish in rebuilding Lior. The devotion was why Judith kept her around. She knew the stories of Rose’s mental collapse and her long silence but so long as she did what she was told, Judith didn’t care that her mental stability wasn’t the best.
Finally, the girl stuck her head into the office. Judith wondered what possessed anyone to dye her hair with just two slashes but thought maybe she could understand the need to be different and special. “Yes, priestess?” Rose asked nervously.
“Have you had any word from Central?” Judith asked, trying to look as disinterested as she could. Good help was so hard to find and when Judith had learned that the bomb she had planted in Mustang’s office had failed to kill him outright, she had been livid. Her hope was he would die of his injuries. She just wished she knew where the Elrics were so she could settle the score with them.
Rose shook her head. “It’s still the same.”
“Thank you.” Judith waved her off and swiveled back to the window. She sieved the streaming sunlight for answers. How best to find the Elrics? What to do about Mustang if he didn’t die and how to handle that huge oaf, Armstrong for his interference with Lior after the fact? Her current supporter in Central would be useless for that. Judith tapped her fingertips together. Well, she could always use Rose for handling Armstrong but how to trick her into it?
Chapter Four