Fullmetal Alchemist Fan Fiction ❯ Guilt ridden II: That F'ing stone! ❯ Half of what remains ( Chapter 4 )

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Full Metal Alchemist, just a fan here folks.

 

Warning: LEMON scene's, Language, violence & other stuff.

 

Summary: It isn't a sequel to my other Guilt ridden, more a different set of events with a similar, but not quiet, idea. EdxWinry, RoyxRiza, AlxRose (Implied).

 

Chapter 4: Half of what remains.

 

The more things change the more they stay the same.

Despite it being several years since he was last inside a military building Ed already knew his way around the Lior military HQ. Well you know why that is don't you? He thought to himself it's because they always use the same bloody building plan, I swear that if you put all the armies high commands brains together they wouldn't have an original plan between them now that just made him want to chuckle, and yet it was totally accurate as he well knew.

It truly was `sad but true' (A/U: International horns l..l too anyone who tells me where I got that from) that the army didn't exactly encourage independent thinking. This was why Ed was sitting on the rather plush couch in the eastern generals office listening to Mustang getting chewed out, and enjoying every second too!

“First of all I don't remember giving you orders to leave eastern command Major Mustang, your no longer a Colonel so stop behaving like one and secondly since when is it acceptable for civilians to be allowed on base other then for family matters or for shelter?” the generals vein in his throat was throbbing as he dressed down a non-plused Mustang and his spittle was flying across the overly large desk and hitting the white marble floor.

Ed felt a small amount of respect for Mustang as he watched how calmly the man stood there, even when a large glob of spittle somehow travelled the impossible distance from the general's mouth and struck Mustang in the face. Man I thought I used to look unconcerned when Mustang yelled at me but Mustang? He looks like he couldn't care less what the man has to say Ed thought.

“So Mustang, what do you have to say for yourself?” the general asked his face slowly starting to come down from the dangerously deep red colour it had been. “Two things sir” Mustang replied unconcerned. “Well them tell me major” the general said still close to exploding, clearly.

“Firstly, my orders came from the senate and were personally stamped by the Fuhrer himself and secondly, this civilian as you said is the only living man who knows the location and how to use the philosophers stone, the former Full Metal Alchemist Edward Elric” Mustang said simply.

Ed had to stifle the sharp barking laugh of amusement that threatened to escape his mouth when he saw the generals face pale at the mention of the Fuhrer then turn sheet white when his name was given to the general by the almost bored looking Mustang. The general was clearly lost for words as he stared wide eyed at Ed.

Ed watched in amusement as the implication of Mustang's words sank in and a small greedy smirk appeared on the mans face. “My sincerest apologies for having lost my temper in front of you Mr Elric, should you require anything at all simply come and ask, I hope you enjoy your stay in Lior” he said as he moved around the desk to speak to Ed, Mustang completely forgotten.

“Yeah sure” Ed replied nonchalantly as he tucked his hands into his pockets. “If you'll excuse us sir we have serious issues to attend to” Mustang said with a salute. “Huh? Oh yes of course don't let me keep you” the general said as sweetly as he possibly could, to Ed of course.

Ed was actually left having to scurry after Mustang who seemed to want to put as much distance between himself and the general as possible. “Remind you of anyone?” Ed asked as he caught up to the hurrying Mustang. “Not now Ed” Mustang mumbled tensely.

Ed instantly realised that Mustang thought he was going to start arguing with him again. “Oh no, I meant he seems like…… Yoki” Ed said defensively as Mustang still refused to look at him. “Yeah, now you see why I really didn't want to come to eastern HQ” Mustang replied flatly.

“Yeah, well there's a reason I wanted to come here, so shut ya mouth and follow me” Ed said marching off down a side corridor. Mustang followed, purely out of curiosity nothing more, with a huff of annoyance. This better be important, we can't afford to be wasting time going around military bases we have to find the stone.

Down one corridor, then another, then another until they were left standing in front of a rather disused looking records closet. “And why are we in front of the records closet? You know everyone uses the records for anything other then `diplomatic chess'” Mustang said still trying to forget the stupid paper pusher of a general and his harsh words.

“You just wait here, I'll show you in two seconds” Ed said with a cocky `I-know-everything' kind of grin. “Fine, just hurry the hell up” Mustang replied grumpily resting his back against the grey painted wall and folding his arms, his one good eye now fixing itself on a point on the hideously bleached white marble floor tiles that irritated him so much.

Ed ducked into the closet for whatever reason and Mustang simply let his mind wander. Can't understand why he'd want to go in there, there's nothing in there except pa-His thought was cut off when a milk jar containing a deep pink liquid was held in his path of vision. Mustang had seen this liquid before, in Ishbal and also in the classified documents containing to lab 5.

“T-that's the stone?” He asked, his calm collected exterior cracking as Ed pulled the jar away from his outstretched hands at the last second. “No not really, more accurately it's half of what's left of the material used to make the stone” Ed explained his eyes almost glazing over as he held the jar in both hands and stared deeply into the liquid it contained.

“Wait I don't understand, half of what's left? You mean you didn't hide it all in the same place?” Mustang asked trying to keep from sounding annoyed by what was clearly one of Ed's little games. “You hungry?” Ed asked tucking the bottle into his coats inside pocket to keep it from plain view “'cause I'll explain over lunch”.

 

The mess hall was nearly totally empty.

Ed was surprised: it was the wrong hour for there to be anyone in here so he was left to explain the state of the raw stone material to Mustang in peace and quiet. Taking a large bite out of his sandwich Ed chewed silently as Mustang sat impatiently waiting for some explanations.

“Well?” Mustang said clearly annoyed. “Give me a second” Ed said holding up a hand as he swallowed the piece of his sandwich “this stuff sure isn't any easier to eat” he stated flippantly before dropping the half eaten sandwich onto the tray and pushing it away slightly.

“Now, about the `stone'” Ed said folding his arms and staring right across the table at Mustang. “Yes the `stone', why isn't it solid? And why isn't there more of it?” he asked wanting to hurry things up. “God, there's no foreplay with you is there Mustang?” Ed said with a smirk before holding up a hand to silence the retort he knew would be coming his way.

“First of all the `stone's' not solid because after what me and Al used it for there wasn't enough `raw material' left over to forge a solid stone” he said deciding to elaborate, given the confused look on Mustang's face. Must remember how he looks there Ed thought amusingly to himself.

“There wasn't enough `raw material' because it apparently takes hundreds if not thousands of souls from the philosophers stone to successfully perform a complete human transmutation” although Ed's skin crawled at the thought of referring to all the unfortunate lives used in the making of the `stone' he knew there was no other way to explain them in a logical way then as `raw material'.

“And so when you consider that we were forced to use it twice, once to resurrect myself and once to get Al's original body back, you begin to understand that there wouldn't be enough `raw material' left to create a whole stone, even if Scar used the Grand Arcanum method which requires many, many more souls then our more `refined' method would” Ed said his body rejecting Scar's name like it was a violent intruder in his mind.

“So that's why there's only enough `raw material' left to fill a milk jar” Mustang said, he thinks he knows the truth Ed thought to himself as he saw the small `I-know-everything' smirk that was bonified Mustang appear on the man's face. “I should have realised you'd hide it right under my nose, that's just total classic Edward that” Mustang said his smirk turning into a full on Cheshire cat-esque grin of cocky amusement.

“Well you're half right” Ed said, enjoying the look of confusion that appeared on Mustang's face a little too much, “while it's true that I hid this jar right under your nose the other I hid somewhere much more securely, after all would you think I'm dumb enough to hide them both in the same place?” Ed `asked', this time it was his turn to grin.

“So where's the second jar Ed?” a new voice called out making Ed's head snap around in surprise. “Long time no see….. Riza” Ed said looking at the blond haired brown eyed, firearm wielding `side-kick' of Roy Mustang. “How much of all that did you hear?” he asked genuinely concerned, the last thing he needed was a hundred loose ends to tie up before getting back home to Winry.

“Enough to know that your holding half of what could be the biggest threat to the state and that you have to go and get the second half, and that Roy will be stuck following you in the mean time” Ed sighed as he stared at the amusement twinkling in Riza's eyes.

“Don't worry boys, I'll keep this `little' secret as long as you let me tag along, it's far too quiet around here without you ticking off the general every couple of days Roy” she stated kissing Roy on the check in a open display of affection in the otherwise empty mess hall.

“Sorry Riza, too dangerous besides I'm sure our illustrious general has other duties for you to deal with” Mustang said, letting everyone who would have heard him know exactly what he thought of the general in a very sarcastic, non-flattering manner. “No way your saying no this time, especially after what happened before when you went off on a dangerous mission by yourself” Riza replied coolly as she stared into Roy's eye challenging him to still say no when she had already made up her mind, after all Riza was a very stubborn women as everyone knew.

“Don't worry Riza, it's just a simple pick up and disposal trip, more like a vacation really, so nothings going to happen” Ed said, wanting to put his side of the argument out there. Truth be told he wouldn't mind Riza tagging along; she had the ability to not only handle herself but also keep both his and Mustang's considerable ego's from conflicting to the point of a full blown fight.

“You don't seriously believe that do you Ed?” she asked looking between Ed and Roy in slight surprise, so he didn't tell him she thought to herself. “Well of course, after all I'm the only one who knows the location of the stones remains so who else could they get to dig them up?” Ed said chest slightly swelling with pride, despite his reluctance to really get involved in the mission outside of what absolutely must be done.

“And do you seriously believe the senate and the Fuhrer would need to dig up the stones remains if it wasn't dangerously vital to the states safety?” Riza said coldly as she stared down at Ed.

Ed's mind screamed to a halt, what the hell `dangerously important'? Just what the hell has Mustang gone and got me tangled up in? Ed wondered before letting out a somewhat overly dramatic sigh of defeat. “All right fine, tag along if you want Riza since I know you'll be able to handle yourself but juts remember that both myself and Mustang were opposed to this so it's on your shoulders if the shit hits the fan in a way your not comfortable with” Ed replied dryly.

“Fine, I'll pack the few things I'll need and meet you both outside” Riza replied before turning on her heels and striding from the mess hall, a barely noticeable spring in her step. “Did you have to be so confrontational?” Mustang asked once Riza was out of hearing distance.

“Yeah well you didn't want her coming along either” Ed replied turning his attention back to Mustang “and what did she mean by `dangerously important' anyway? There's something you're not telling me isn't there Mustang?” Ed `asked' his voice letting Roy know there was no escaping this.

He's like a dog with a bone Roy thought staring into Ed's defiantly hard gold eyes just won't leave the bugger alone once he's got wind of it “I'll tell you on the train to….. Wherever it is we need to go next” he said with a beaten, defeated sigh as he pushed back from the table and stood “but don't blame me when you don't like what I have to tell you” He said marching off purposefully.

 

A/U: Yeah, yeah and yeah! Finally got around to adding a NEW chapter to my `sequel' FMA fanfic and about time too I might add! Okay so Riza was pretty O.O.C with the open display of affection to Mustang but it sort of demanded it be written that way, and who am I to argue with these characters? Other then that I'm happy with it, the stories unfolding nicely as Ed is only now starting to wind of the real reason for the mission, and I'm hoping you won't know at this point why either, I have a few ideas but I'm not saying! Anyway, please pretty, pretty please review and I'll see you LATER………