Fullmetal Alchemist Fan Fiction ❯ Seals of Time ❯ Mystery ( Chapter 2 )

Seal 2: Mystery

 

Can you keep a secret?

 

“What do you mean, you're the Shadow Alchemist?!?!” Ed yelled at the young alchemist. Roy was standing next to Ed, silent. The three alchemists were facing each other in the basement of Duo's house. “Someone like you can't be him!!” Ed's anger was rising.

Duo simply grinned. “And why not? There's no law that says I can't be a State Alchemist. And the proof is on the watch.” Duo held up the silver pocket watch to show them. On the back, the words “Duo Maxwell, Shadow Alchemist, October 2nd” were craved into the metal. “The military now puts both names of a State Alchemist and when they were enlisted on the back of the watches. That way, no one can impersonate a State Alchemist, because the alchemist has photo ID and other vital information at all checkpoints.”

Roy finally spoke up. “So what you're saying is that you'd willingly tell two strangers anything they'd want to know about your research?” He inquired. Duo looked at him. The violet eyes seemed to pierce Roy's soul.

“Why, would you like to learn about anything else?” Duo said, his grin still on his face. “I got a whole library on all my research. Would you like to read some books? I mean, if you got enough blood to survive a few days; it wouldn't hurt to take a rest.” Duo began to walk up the stairs. The vampires followed, cautious of the braided alchemist's openness.

Duo reached the top of the stairwell and moved through the front hall to a simple door in the back of the house. He waited silently as Ed and Roy made their way to him. “You have to promise me that you'll keep the books safe. I spent a lot of time making those things.” He pushed the door open.

Inside, a miniature library dominated the space. Full shelves lined the walls and created aisles through the center of the room. On the ends of the bookcases the subjects were written on pieces of wood. There were books on chimeras, legends, alchemists, transmutation circles, seals, the Ancient civilization, elemental alchemy, and alchemic amplifiers. Roy and Ed took a few steps into the room, shocked that such a young State Alchemist could have researched all of this. Roy went over to the “Alchemists” section. Grabbing a book off the top shelf, he opened it to the first page.

It was an index with just about every famous alchemist ever to have lived in the past 300 years. He looked through the list and saw Alphonse Elric and Edward Elric under the Es. He began to feel hopeful. Skipping the next 7 letters, he came to the Ms. There it was. Roy Mustang, right under Hedara Musica and above Sayo Muto. Roy flipped to the page mentioned and saw a lot of information on him, including State name, rank, specialty, and wars fought in among other things. Roy sat down to read his own biography.

Ed went to the “Alchemic Amplifiers” shelves. He glanced at each title. Soon he found a book on the Philosopher's Stone. In it were diagrams of transmutation circles, descriptions on the stone itself, and how to make a complete stone. Ed looked up and saw a few more books on the legendary amplifier. He snatched those and went over to a small table with a comfortable chair next to it. He grabbed a pen and small notebook out of his belt sack. He set the books down and began to read.

Duo smiled as he left the two vampires to read in quiet. Remembering that they had not brought in their travel bags, he went outside to get them. The three bags were placed in the shade of a small tree. Duo walked over there and picked them up. Or tried to anyway. The things weighed a ton! Duo sighed and put them down. He went a few feet away and crouched down. He grabbed a small stick off the ground and began to draw a large transmutation circle on the ground, moving every once in a while to make it the proper size.

After the array was done, he threw the stick to the side. He placed his hands on the circle and pressed down. The circle glowed a silver-white light, and Duo watched as a small cart grew out of the ground. Duo decided to make it a little stronger so it could be used to harvest the crops tomorrow. Soon the cart was complete. Duo pushed it over to the bags and placed them on it. He began to push it back to the house.

In the library, Ed was taking notes on the Philosopher's Stone. He was impressed at the sheer amount of data Duo had managed to compile into 6 books. He wrote increasingly faster as he became engrossed in the topic.

Roy was quietly sitting on the floor, reading his own little section in Duo's State Alchemists book. Right now he was reading about the Lior Incident, where a man named Cornello claimed to be God's prophet and built a large following. Ed had intervened, and his actions caused Cornello to disappear and the city to erupt into war. He really like how good Duo made him feel. He continued to read the biography.

Duo stopped the cart in front of the door. The bags shifted slightly as it stopped moving. He grabbed the nearest one and began to move it into the house.

Everything was quiet, Roy was reading, Ed was taking notes, and Duo was bringing the vampires' luggage inside. Ed swiftly turned the pages of the 3rd book. His pen scribbled on the piece of paper. His writing would have been illegible to anyone but himself.

Roy reached the 5th Laboratory Raid. He stood up, unable to sit on the hard wooden floor. He paced around the room, constantly reading.

Duo rubbed the small of his back as he stretched. The last bag was in the house. He walked toward the library to tell the vampires that he was about to start cooking lunch. His hand was extended near the handle when a loud crash echoed from inside. He opened the door.

The library was a mess. The shelves were knocked over; the books were scattered all over the floor. Duo rushed inside, thinking the shelves had fallen and the vampires were in danger.

“Roy!!! Ed!!!” Duo yelled as he tried to make his way through the room. He couldn't see very much, because the lamps had been taken out. Duo found his way to a window and pulled the curtains open. He heard someone quietly sobbing and another trying to reassure the crying person. He looked in the direction of the noises. Duo froze at the sight barely illuminated by the one window.

Ed was in a corner, Roy held in his arms. Roy was the one crying, a terrified expression on his pale white face. He was mumbling something to himself. Ed was trying to calm the alchemist without success.

“I'm glad you're both safe….” Duo said, nearing the vampires. Ed glanced up at him; they shared worried looks. Roy was still sobbing, his mummers broken. “Roy? Roy? Can you hear me?” Duo reached down and touched the dark-headed vampire on the shoulder.

Roy's violent reaction caused Duo to take a step back. A wailing scream rose from the alchemist's half-open mouth, and he tried to scramble away from the pair. Duo didn't move to catch him, but Ed did. Ed quickly captured Roy in his arms. Roy fought to be released, but Ed took the beating and held on. Soon, Roy stopped, only shaking like a leaf, sobbing.

“It's okay, Roy,” Duo heard Ed say to Roy. Violet eyes surveyed the scene. “She can't hurt you anymore…. I'm sure of it.” Roy seemed to have heard, because he nodded. “She can't hurt you anymore….”

Exhausted from the events of the day, Roy fell asleep. Duo stared, slightly horrified at the way the vampire acted. He looked at Ed. “Do you have a spare room? Duo?” Ed asked, moving Roy into a more movable position. Duo nodded. He stood up, waiting for Ed to pick Roy up.

Roy looked like a child. Ed was carrying his commanding officer on his back, leaning forward and holding Roy's long legs under his arms to avoid dropping him. Roy's head rested on the small blonde's shoulder, his breath causing Ed's hair to blow around his face. The remnants of tears and sweat ran down his face.

Duo led the pair into the room across from the library. Inside were two beds, a dresser, and two bedside tables with lamps on each of them. Ed carried Roy's unconscious body to the nearest bed and set him down. The man curled up and clutched the pillow like it was the last thing in the world.

“Ed, I don't want to bother you, but can you help pick up the library with me? Perhaps, you can tell me what happened.” Duo turned and left the room. He hated see the confident Roy he'd met earlier in the morning turned to a child. He approached the open library door. He sighed and stepped into the destruction.

A few minutes later, Duo heard Ed enter the room. He turned to look at the blond. Ed stood there, staring back at him, before he knelt down and began to pick books up. “How's Roy?” Duo asked, curious about his condition. Ed shrugged.

“He's asleep. Hopefully.” Ed sighed.

Duo's curiosity got the better of him. “What happened? Tell me, Ed. What happened to Roy to make him like that?” Duo stared at the vampire, a stern expression on his face.

“It happened a long time ago,” Ed said, placing the books he'd collected down in a pile. “Back before we were changed. Roy had been sent to the Northern Continent to find out what happened to some State Alchemists who'd disappeared. Of course, he'd been given no back-up; it was supposed to be an undercover mission.

“After a month, we didn't hear from him at all. Some of us were worried, naturally, but the higher-ups didn't. After two months, some slightly higher ranked people took notice. This went on for months… After about 4 months, we got the OK to go there ourselves.

“The village was empty. No one lived there anymore. The freaky thing was the fact that the village was like a museum. It was as though everyone stopped what they were doing and disappeared.

“As we moved towards the nearby castle, we saw remains of people who'd died. It really creeped us out, like it was a sign for what lay ahead of us. The castle gate was open. There were corpses… everywhere. Women, children… all of them probably from the village. Their bodies were in various states of decomposition, from half-rotted to full skeletons.

“As we infiltrated the castle itself, we noticed that it, too, was empty. We steadily moved up the floors. No one was there. We became frustrated. We began to wonder if Roy's body was one of the ones on the side of the road.

“One of the soldiers we'd brought with us found a secret staircase leading downstairs. It could be accessed from any floor. The dungeon raiding party consisted of Hawkeye, Havoc, Hughes, and me.

“The dungeons were dirty; the air was stale. The smell in the dungeons was horrible. It reeked of death and decay.” Ed stopped to take a long breath before he continued. “There were few lights, so it was dark and damp.

“There were people there, Duo. Thin as twigs. Most just sat there, but some ran up to us, trying to grab onto our uniforms. I could tell they wanted to be free, that they were hungry. They were so thin.

“I heard them saying something. They were talking to us… about Roy. After we got some lights in, we could see the scorch marks on the walls and ceilings. It was obvious whatever was happening to Roy at the time, he definitely wasn't going quietly.

“We ran down the stairs, increasingly worried that it was too late to rescue Roy. He could be dead. The lower dungeons were empty except for corpses. Thankfully, none of the bodies was Roy's.

“Finally, we reached the last level of cells. We could tell this was the last because there was only one door. It was detailed and gold-plated. There was a lock on the door. I broke the lock. When we pushed the door open, a sweet smelling burst of air washed over us. We felt for a light switch; Havoc turned the lights on.

“There was a fancy bed, desk, bathroom, everything one could expect from a very fancy mansion. You never would have expected to find something like this at the bottom of an abandoned castle. The lights weren't bright; their glow made the room surreal.

“Roy was sitting on a chair. It was almost like he didn't hear us. He didn't look at us. Hawkeye ran forward. We all knew of her feelings for Roy, so we didn't stop her.” Ed stopped for another breath. “She reached him, knelling next to him to look into his eyes. Roy pushed her away.

“Hawkeye looked extremely hurt. Not physically, but emotionally. Roy stood up. He slipped a glove on and aimed at her. I ran forward to knock him down while Havoc moved Hawkeye. I transmuted cuffs and put them on Roy. I took his glove off. After looking through his pockets, I couldn't find the other one. I assumed he'd lost it in the fight upstairs.

“I left Roy shortly to help Havoc and Hawkeye. She was softly crying into Havoc's uniform. Hughes had entered the room; he'd stayed upstairs to help release the other prisoners. He looked around, staring at Hawkeye. He was obviously worried. Hughes asked us where Roy was.

“I turned around. Roy had managed to move into one of the dark corners. I stood up and walked to Roy. I heard him crying quietly. I saw Hughes coming from the corner of my eye. I could tell he wasn't happy with me, but he hadn't seen what Roy almost did to Hawkeye.

“Hughes knelt down next to Roy. He said something to the cowering man, and Roy looked at him. The look in his eyes was so… hopeful, like he didn't believe they were real. I wondered what had happened to him. Roy seemed so lost, like a small child.

“It took an hour for Hughes to convince Roy to get up and out of the dungeon. I'd released him, thinking he was unarmed. Roy clung to Hughes, never once letting him go, even when the medical team had to check up on him.

“Roy never told me what happened in those four months. I think he told Hughes though; Roy got better the more Hughes was around. But deep down we all knew that Roy wasn't the same.” Ed took a short breath. He was done with his story. “Now you know what happened.”

Duo thought for a while. He'd never read about this in the reports. “I think I understand.”

Ed sighed and began to put the shelving units upright again. After he did this, Duo told him to go take care of Roy. Ed nodded and left for the other room. Duo stood up. He had to make lunch still and later he had to harvest the vegetables.

Duo went into the kitchen. He grabbed a bag of bread and some ham and cheese. He used alchemy to heat it to just the perfect color. He picked up the golden-brown sandwich and put it on a plate. He ate it quietly. His thoughts were still on Ed's story. What had occurred in the four months he'd been held prisoner? Could it be…?

 

 

To Be Continued…

 

 

Looks like Roy's got some bad memories. The incident will be told from Roy's point of view later.

I know I said there would be NO male pairings. I realize know that that could be a little hard to believe. I just want people to know Roy, Ed, Hughes, and later Havoc are VERY close. Could it be because they were all there when Roy was rescued?

I also seemed to have made a nifty little pairing. How's a Havoc and Hawkeye pairing sound? In the story you notice Havoc was the one to save Hawkeye… It'll be interesting to see what happens to them in the future.

Duo wasn't a major character in this chapter obviously. This chapter is solely about Roy and his mental state.

 

Here are the relationships going on (in the past):

Hawkeye loves Roy.

Roy, Hughes, Havoc, and Ed are soldiers together.

Roy and Hughes are super-close friends.

Ed and Roy bicker all the time.

Havoc loves Hawkeye.

 

It's going to be a pain to tell the past story in this one. This story will mainly involve Ed, Roy, Duo, and several other characters introduced later into the storyline. I plan to write at least one sequel with an Ed and Winry (who isn't in this story) pairing.

READ AND REVIEW!!!!! PLEASE!!!!!

 

 

 

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