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Post by Edward Uzumaki on Apr 16, 2011 22:28:42 GMT -5
The emperor rolled off of the creature, stunned. "That's Roy!?"
"GENERAL!!??" Alphonse yipped, jumping three feet back.
"Y-Yes..." He picked himself off the floor and looked back at his former pack... his former family. "I'm sorry... I had to... I had to make things right..." Slowly, he floated over to his new masters and collapsed on one knee. "Let's go... I don't want to stay here anymore..."
"Say no more, my pet..." Bertram chuckled. He placed his hand on Mustang and they all disappeared in a puff of thick smoke.
Ling coughed into his sleeve and looked back up on the stage. "He's gone..."
"He traded us... for this?" Alphonse asked, picking up the pearl with his talons, "Ed... what is this, do you know?"
"It's what kept Edward from being a merrow in his were form," Sierra answered, pulling her shirt down. "Sorry about the delay, there was hotel staff out there wondering what they were hearing in here. I thought it best to keep them out myself. So... what did I miss?"
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Post by Edward's Alter Ego on Apr 16, 2011 22:36:36 GMT -5
"THAT IDIOT!!!!!!!!!!" Edward yelled and hid his face in his hands, letting the tears he couldn't hold back slip. He was angry at both Mustang and himself. "This is all my fault... WHY? Why did he do it for me??" he asked, frustrated.
Izumi quickly knelt down next to Ed and pulled him into a hug. "This is not your fault, Edward. Don't you dare think that!" she said, cradling him and 'shushing him as she rocked back and forth to comfort him.
"B-But... this never would have happened if it wasn't for me..." he sobbed into her shoulder.
Cathy was in tears too, grabbing Sierra's pant leg and tugged on it since her legs were jelly and she couldn't get up. "Roy's gone... He went with Selman. He's a d-demon now..." she said, hiccuping through her sobs.
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Post by Edward Uzumaki on Apr 16, 2011 22:51:24 GMT -5
Sierra shook violently. Did she predict this? Yes, of course with her calculating mind she figured that. Would the impact be devastating? Again, yes as expected. But did she expect to cry as well? No... but she did. She collapsed and held her sister, tears streaming from her only visible eye and blood staining her patch. Never had she cried so hard in her life, not even when she was a girl or in the midst of war. Roy was... now her brother. She had to accept it if Cathy was her sister. And now he was gone.
Alphonse whined and wandered over to his brother, leaning against him. He had left his pendant at the Mustang's house, so he couldn't hug Edward like he wanted to. He placed the pearl in Ed's hand and tried to lick away each tear that came to his chin. "Brother don't... don't Brother... I'll cry too and I don't like it when my fur gets wet..." But it happened anyway as he was cuddled by both Ed and Izumi.
"Lan Fan..." Ling managed to get out, grabbing her hand for comfort. "What can we do now? Just watch as our friends suffer? Maybe I can sniff out where they went..." But the idea was defeated silently as more sobs echoed through the hall.
Sig Curtis, being the strong man he was, picked up both Elrics and his wife in his arms. "Let's go home. Boys, do you want us to take you home? Or do you want to stay with Izumi and I for the night?"
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Post by Edward's Alter Ego on Apr 16, 2011 23:03:10 GMT -5
Ed held Al in his arms, and clung to Izumi as close as possible. He didn't care where he went right now. All he wanted was for this nightmare to end. "I don't care..." he mumbled, still feeling ashamed of himself for being the cause of this. And what's more was he couldn't help Roy. He was useless AGAIN.
Izumi looked up at her husband. "I think they should stay with us for the night..." she said, clutching Ed tightly. She knew now how much pain they were all going through and no one would dare hurt her boys.
Lan Fan frowned at Ling. "There's not much we could do right now, Young Lord..." she said sadly. "It'll take some time to find them again and everyone's exhausted and upset."
Cathy was shaking slightly as she clung to Sierra. "Ed...? Can I stay with you tonight?" she asked, hearing that he and Al were staying with Izumi and Sig.
Ed looked at her surprised. "W-Why?"
"Because..." she said, looking down then looked at Sierra before looking back at Ed. "I don't want to lose you too..."
Ed's face stretched with guilt and sorrow and he couldn't bare to look at her in the eyes. "Alright..."
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Post by Edward Uzumaki on Apr 16, 2011 23:13:46 GMT -5
Sierra and Cathy stood up at the same time and she shooed her sister off with the Curtises. "Ling and Lan Fan will come by in the morning to give Al's pendant back," She choked out before collapsing her head into Havoc's chest and gripping onto his shoulders desperately. "Take me home, Jean... and stay with me..."
"We'll go with them, it's best that way," Ling said, motioning over to the General and the Lieutenant.
Sig nodded and carried his family out of the grand hotel to a much more modest one, bidding good-bye to the others. Upon reaching their room, he put his wife and 'adopted sons' on one bed and sat on the other, guarding them. He watched as Cathy joined in the snuggling... not minding having a daughter to look after as well.
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Post by Edward's Alter Ego on Apr 16, 2011 23:36:15 GMT -5
The next morning, Ed woke up with his arms around Cathy, their faces not even an inch apart. He blushed deeply, seeing that she wasn't wake yet and not remembering falling asleep in this position to begin with. In fact, he forgot where he was. He then felt the bed dent a little, like someone sat down on it and felt a hand brush aside his bangs.
Ed blinked and looked up to see Izumi sitting there and smiling. "Morning," she whispered. "Feeling alright?"
Ed shrugged, suddenly remembering everything that happened the previous night and frowned. He then noticed that Al was sleeping soundly at his feet, still in his were form. He then looked back up at Izumi and frowned. "I guess..." he mumbled. Honestly, he didn't feel alright at all. Even with sleep, he felt like shit. And he guessed that Cathy was still upset too, judging by the harsh look she had on her sleeping face.
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Post by Edward Uzumaki on Apr 16, 2011 23:44:36 GMT -5
A light knock came at the door and Sig opened it. It was Ling and Lan Fan, still dressed from last night, but it was clear they had slept in those clothes. The emperor held out a fist. "Here... it's Al's pendant. Might wanna slip it on him before he goes outside today."
~~~
In the Mustang home, Sierra rolled over in her bed, her patch was replaced with now bloody bandages and her clothes gone. She draped her automail arm over the body next to her and nuzzled her head into his chest. "Thank you... for taking care of me last night, Jean..." She kissed him on the chin before burying her face again in him and the covers.
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Post by Edward's Alter Ego on Apr 17, 2011 0:04:20 GMT -5
Izumi smiled up at Ling and Lan Fan, going over to take his pendant from them as Ed sighed and closed his eyes again for a few more minutes. "Why don't you two come in?" she asked, motioning for them to enter.
Lan Fan nodded. "Thank you. How is everyone in here?" she whispered, seeing Ed went back to sleep and Cathy and Al were still snoozing.
"Holding up, I guess..." she said sadly.
~~~
Havoc smiled and leaned over her, kissing her on the forehead. "No problem..." he said before kissing her passionately on the lips. He then pulled away and sat up. "We should check on Hawkeye... I'm sure she's so broken up about this," he muttered, knowing that Riza was alone in another room in the house.
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Post by Edward Uzumaki on Apr 17, 2011 0:14:34 GMT -5
Alphonse rolled over onto his back and kicked his feet in the air again as his tongue lolled out of his mouth. Ling couldn't help but giggle at the silly creature.
"We wish there was more we could do," The emperor said again in a more serious tone and the smile from his face gone, "But last night, I tried using my nose again and nothing of the General or any demons came up. Lan Fan and I went to bed empty handed as expected."
"Your nose?" Sig asked.
"Oh, well, I'm a huli-jing, so I have just as good a nose as Alphonse."
"Ah, I see."
~~~
"She's in the guest room. I refused to let her drive home last night." Sierra said, slowly getting out of bed and putting a robe on. "She could have flown home too if she wanted, but I guess she was so tired and beat up about Roy she didn't argue." She went into the bathroom and grabbed her brother's robe for Jean. She clung onto it for a while and held it against her face. She used to think his cologne was vile... now it was the sweetest scent she ever smelled next to Havoc's after-shave and Cathy's shampoo.
Retreating her nose, she slowly brought it back to her beau. "Here... let's not startle Hawkeye for a second time in the span of twelve hours..."
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Post by Edward's Alter Ego on Apr 19, 2011 23:36:17 GMT -5
Izumi sighed as she walked over to Al and placed the pendant around his neck. She gasped and jumped back a bit when Al turned back to normal, laying on top of Ed.
"AL! Y-You're... HEAVY!" Ed complained, being jerked awake by his brother who was only a small creature just a second ago, now back in his human form.
"Oops... Sorry, Ed. Maybe I should've woken him up first," Izumi said, sweat dropping.
Cathy sat up and yawned, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. She then looked over at Ed to say good morning, but blinked, noticing Al was laying on top of Ed, the two back to back, and Ed was struggling to get free. "What are you two doing?"
Lan fan couldn't help but giggle.
~~~
Havoc nodded and slowly slipped on Roy's bath robe. He felt a bit awkward and guilty for using the General's robe, but he didn't want to just walk in on Hawkeye butt naked either.
As the two exited the bedroom, they ran into Hawkeye in the hallway. She looked sleepy and her hair was a mess. "Oh! Morning, you two..." she said, letting out a large yawn.
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Post by Edward Uzumaki on Apr 19, 2011 23:50:38 GMT -5
Alphonse suddenly woke up and rolled over to let his brother go. "Oh, sorry Edward! I-... How did I get my pendant back?" He then noticed the Xingese. "Oh good morning!"
"Sorry about the rude awakening, we just came to do what we promised." Ling said with a bow.
"Aww, that's alright. We needed to get up anyway..."
~~~
Sierra blinked and tugged tighter on her robe. "Good morning, Lieutenant... you're awfully... uh... unphased today." It seemed just like any other morning to her. Had she spent the night at Roy's before? She really needed to get out of Briggs more often and visit if stuff like that was happening behind her back.
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Post by Edward's Alter Ego on Apr 20, 2011 1:03:58 GMT -5
Ed sighed and sat up, giving his brother a good morning hug before leaning over and pecking Cathy lightly on the lips. He then turned to Ling and Lan Fan. "So what's going to happen today? Has Sierra conducted a brilliant plan or what?"
Cathy sighed and looked down at her lap. "I hope Roy's okay..." she said sadly, trying to hold back the tears she wanted to shed for her brother.
For once, Izumi didn't know what to do. She had never been in this type of situation before and to think it was her best, no, former friend's fault.
~~~
Riza shrugged at Sierra and Havoc. "I didn't sleep last night," she said, scratching her head. Havoc could see the extremely tired look in her eyes. "I hope you guys had a better night...""
Havoc blushed and looked at Sierra. "Er, well... Not that much. We were mostly worrying over the General..." he said, pulling in Roy's robe tighter around himself. He still felt awfully awkward for wearing it and didn't know why he didn't just put his normal clothes back on.
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Post by Edward Uzumaki on Apr 20, 2011 1:14:53 GMT -5
Ling shrugged, "Beats me. We left before she and Havoc woke up."
"So the Lieutenant did stay with her last night? How do you know?" Alphonse asked.
The emperor's face turned bright pink and he looked away. "When I was out sniffing for clues... I couldn't help but... hear things..."
Al's throat tightened and he tugged on the collar of his shirt to show how uncomfortable he was.
~~~
"Not much else we can do," Sierra added. She then noticed Havoc's discomfort and elbowed him in the ribs, "If you're going to be a baby, then fix it." She then led Riza into the kitchen, "Come on, I'll make you some coffee..."
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Post by Edward's Alter Ego on Apr 25, 2011 22:58:19 GMT -5
Ed slapped his hand against his face and sighed. He knew what that meant. He then looked at Cathy and blushed a bright red, looking away. "Well, why don't we all just head over there then?" he asked, getting off the bed and stretched. He was still in the clothes from yesterday and didn't bother to change out of them. He then put his hands in his pockets and felt something hard in one. 'That's right... I still have the pearl...' he thought but didn't say anything.
Izumi shrugged and nodded. "Hopefully they'll be awake by the time we get over there..." she said and sighed.
Cathy shrugged. "Sounds like something Sierra would do..." she said, blushing as well.
~~~
"Oof!" Havoc said quietly and shrugged. "A-Alright..." he muttered and blushed, running back into the bedroom to change.
Riza sighed and followed Sierra into the kitchen. Her mind kept drifting to the General, and she couldn't help the upset look on her face. Would they see him again? What were those monsters doing to him?
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Post by Edward Uzumaki on Apr 25, 2011 23:07:09 GMT -5
"It's unfortunate that you know that..." Alphonse sweatdropped, looking at Cathy with concern.
Ling nodded and sat down next to Edward. "Can I see it? That thing that caused all this I mean. Maybe Lan Fan can do something about it..."
~~~
"Black, cream, or sugar?" Sierra asked, as she started the pot and got out the grinds. She left the kitchen for a brief second to collect the milk and newspaper on the porch. She snickered as she placed the paper down. "Looks like we made the front page... 'Uninvited Guests Attempt to Assassinate Foreign Millionaire'..."
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