Shadows of Rain

Roy Mustang

probably plotting something
Level 6
Level 5
Joined
Aug 1, 2018
Messages
131
Awards
10
Essence
€19,340
Coin
₡29,800
Tokens
60
World
Cevanti
Profile
Click Here
Faction
Cytokine Industries
The world was ending.

It wasn’t hyperbole. It wasn’t dramatization. Mustang stumbled about dazedly as the ground flung itself upwards in massive boulders. The rock chunks tearing in twain with air-rending crashes, stratifying into smaller specks as they stretched into the sky. He fell to one knee as solid earth pitched underneath him. He stared up in slack-jawed horror as the very sky itself seemed to split apart, the blackness of cold space eager to rush into the opening. It would be only seconds before there was nothing left now. Mustang wanted to scream, but by that point the air was already gone. He breathed in the void of space, staring up at two immense, cold, red eyes.

Mustang jolted awake with a clap of thunder. Rain was pounding the window outside the branch office. Mustang pushed himself up from his desk with a startled bleariness, fishing in his uniform for his silver pocket watch. Three in the morning. Had it been supposed to rain tonight? Mustang rubbed a hand across his face then yawned. He turned his chair to look out the window. It really was pouring down out there. Markov never truly slept. Even here in the deep night, and amidst a torrential downpour, it insisted on the lights of life and activity. It persevered.

The branch’s door slammed open suddenly and a startled Mustang swung his chair back around abruptly. Lieutenant Hawkeye paused for a half-moment in the doorway, then saluted and continued into the room, crossing to one of the cupboards. She clearly hadn’t been expecting to see him here. Her hair was up, but less than tidy. She’d been in a hurry…

“Morning, Lieutenant.” Mustang stood up a bit stiffly, stretching as though he’d been sitting for too long, “You’re in a bit earlier than expected today.”

“And you’re here a bit later than expected, sir.” Hawkeye responded without judgment, then returned to digging through the shelves.

“What’s happened?”

“There was a building collapse right on the edge of the unused part of sector three.”

“Well, this is quite the storm.”

Hawkeye set a pair of large box-shaped flashlights on one of the nearby desks, glancing back to Mustang.

“That’s what the initial reports are blaming. It could just be the storm, but one of our patrols broke up a ring of unmaking cultists in the same building last week.”

Mustang’s eyes narrowed as Hawkeye crossed to a different closet, grabbing a heavy-duty raincoat, then another. He was still missing something about this situation.

‘Well, that certainly doesn’t sound like a coincidence. But what makes it so urgent you’re here at this hour?”

“Because, Lieutenant Colonel, Sir.” Came a voice from the hallway. The potential severity of the situation clicked into place as soon as the goat-boy Asriel stepped reluctantly into the room.

“Chara’s not in her room either…”

---

“Damn it all. She had better not be out here!” Mustang grumbled. He pulled the cowl of his raincoat forwards as the three of them trudged through the downpour. Their flashlights played off the raindrops and the mountains of rubble that reared up in the darkness. The building had been thoroughly demolished, though the collapse didn't seem like an explosion from what they could tell in these conditions. Unfortunately, it didn't seem likely that it had been caused by the current storm either.

“I know I don’t have the burden of being some kind of immortal child that somehow knew all this was coming, but this is foolishly childish!”

"I hadn't intended to notify you until after we had found her, sir." Hawkeye answered calmly, scanning the ruined structure for any sign of life.

Mustang didn't respond to that, continuing further into the rubble.

'Watch your heads in here... we don't know for certain the place is finished falling over all the way." He spoke, though the rainfall was so intense he practically had to yell for either of them to hear.

“I’m sorry sir, she does this sometimes…I was just going to look myself but-” Asriel began, but Hawkeye talked over him.

“Colonel, you said yourself that we didn’t want her wandering too far on her own. There’s still a strong chance the unmaking has agents within our organization, we can’t dismiss anything out of the ordinary.”

Mustang snorted, “She’s a living weapon that seems able to come and go on a whim, Lieutenant. If that girl has even half the power she boasts, I highly doubt that the unmaking has many agents capable of kidnapping her.”

“You’re assuming that Chara was opposing them, sir.”

A thunderclap served to emphasize Hawkeye’s point, and Mustang stared up at the rain with a frown. The Unmaking wasn’t just an external threat, it was true. It got into your head, made you believe that you were out of options. He’d been betrayed by men he’d thought trustworthy over it before. Career soldiers that he would have claimed were far more stable than either of the Dreemurrs.

Damn.

“Asriel,” Mustang turned his flashlight towards the younger Dreemurr, keeping it tilted down so as not to blind the poor boy, “At times, the unmaking has seemed capable of clouding people’s judgment, influencing them, even controlling them. Has Chara-”

“Definitely.” Asriel answered with a frown, “I think she’s been dealing with it for a while now… maybe even since Naussicaa? Chara doesn’t really… talk… about those kinds of things. About what she’s struggling with.”

“And why the hell is she keeping that kind of problem to herself!” Mustang grimaced, “I can hardly be expected to help with issues that I don’t know are happening! Putting on a brave face is all well and good, but only if you can handle it!”

Hawkeye was watching Mustang as he spoke, her face impassive. She started, her flashlight whirling back out into the rain. Chara was standing there in the midst of the rubble, hair plastered down by the rain and eyes glowing red enough to cut through the darkness and the rain.

“Are you implying I can’t handle it, Roy?”

Mustang turned to face her, his frown deepening. Hawkeye took a half step in front Of Asriel, her free hand dropping closer to her holster. The Dreemurr girl stood at a distance from them and made no move to get closer. An eager, almost hungry smile spread itself across her face.
 

Chara Dreemurr

The Chihuahua of Flirting
Joined
Nov 22, 2021
Messages
72
Essence
€12,703
Coin
₡18,950
Tokens
10
World
Opealon
Profile
Click Here
Data-sets.
LV’s.
HP.
Limbs.
Humans.
sinners.

The nest of cultists were gone before I could stop them. An explosives plan that had been built around blowing a hole into a nearby hospital, of making a symbol that not even Markov was safe.

In the name of serving Darkseid. Killing off no valuable targets, exposing fortunate vulnerabilities, breaking their foothold and cutting another tendril of his will.

Unfortunately for Darkseid, his men did not understand strategy. Their plan held no true genius, no spark. They did not do this to honor their great god. He was an excuse.

They wished to kill because it made them feel powerful. They wished to kill the weak and sick because it was easy. They wished to fall under Darkseid’s banner because they feared the idea of the same happening to them.

Saren, for all of his brutishness, all of his swagger, had joined Darkseid for reasons of twisted compassion. The beasts before me were twisted into unmade ghasts, parodies of the human form, because of their own cruelty.

Darkseid had increased their strength, their speed, their killing instinct, their power. But a weak soul…

Well. There was a reason this wasn’t my blood spread across my hoodie.

Perhaps that was why the pistol was being levelled by the LV 8.

Perhaps that was why the LV 10’s body had gone stiff.

Was that why the LV 1 was shaking?

The LV 1.

Asriel.

My hand gripped the knife tighter, and the LV 8’s hand dipped lower. What the hell was I doing? Something from Darkseid?

No, I realized. No trace of unmaking fell in this one. There was simply a suddenness in this instance. After seeing such naked evil, I’d traditionally had a nice death in between to cool my head. Mine or theirs.

The LV 8-

No, I forced myself, as I willed the coding across the Cevanti officers away, Riza Hawkeye had every reason to be concerned, looking as I did.

Or did they simply have every reason to be concerned?

The thought gave way to an easier smile, as the glow faded from my face, and I dropped the knife lazily on the ground. Mom always taught me that if I had a gun on me, you didn’t slowly lower it to the ground. You pretended the weapon was on fire and dropped it as fast as you could.

Yet I couldn’t quite wipe the smile from my face, and Asriel’s eyes had widened. He was undergoing a form of panic. Riza’s hands hadn’t come back up, Roy seemed ready for… something. Worse yet, he was focused, more focused than he usually was, and I couldn’t stop.

I was scaring them.

I was scaring him.

That thought was enough to force me to blink, as my eyes turned to hazel and my face turned passive.

Roy turned to me, “This display doesn’t prove anything to the contrary.”

I had replied to him earlier, but only now was my brain catching up. Until now, I hadn’t thought I had. He was concerned. His face was furrowed, his brow was creased, his eyes had dilated, but not fully. He had tensed his body.

I sighed. My misconduct, as aberrant as it was, was unimportant for the moment. There were more important things, as I turned to the things on the floor,

“We had an unmaking problem. I have eradicated the issue.” She mentioned, gesturing to the misshapen things on the floor. “4 former cultists. Twisted into cannibalistic fiends by some foul unmade object they’d brought through the walls. Every single one eliminated.”

Roy’s scowl deepened at that. “And any particular reason you handled it on your own?”

“I teleport. And I can see this form of corruption easily with my unique eyesight. You know as well as I do that Unmaking can spread quickly from the smallest root.”
Roy looked ready to snap at that, but the commander met her gaze and relented, knowing this was true. That this was right.

To my surprise, Riza did not. “And how much of the local area can a teleporting, Magic wielding teenager spread it, if they’re held down and unmade! Especially with your ‘unique eyesight’?”

She took a step forward, and to my surprise, I took a step back.

“Likely quite a few, but we will not have that issue.” I answered honestly, “I have been careful.”

“Is that so?” Riza responded, and I saw the professionalism fall to concern - and frustration - for just a second.. “If you’d been careful, you would have told Asriel where you were going, at least! You would have made sure there was back-up in case this was a trap! For god’s sake, you have a phone, Chara!”

The smile fell, and I imagine I looked as shocked as Roy did. She…

Was right, of course. But no one else needed to get involved in this fight.

Common sense started to return to me. This had been quite a bit more property damage than expected. I had acted outside of the bounds of the law, which was not unusual for me in Cevanti, but I neglected to factor in Roy and Riza’s recent monitoring. They showed worry, concern for my moral standing, for my mental health.

All of this was a colossal error on my part. In chess terms, I had thrown away a pawn and put one of my bishops in jeopardy. Part of this could have been blamed on sleeplessness, certainly, but I had also grown far too comfortable without correctly assessing my surroundings. I did not know Roy Mustang or Riza Hawkeye’s emotions, actions and responses nearly so intimately, yet I acted without thought to their place in my decisions today.

Most of all, this had ramifications for them and their focus on the situation. And… my brother’s.

As though the thought had signalled something, a soft fire spread across the corpses of the unmade beasts.

“Even a little bit of them is dangerous, right?” Asriel asked, his voice much softer. “So my fire would be more helpful in this situation, since it can help remove the bodies before they can infect anything.”

Asriel’s tone was chilling. Had he… ever spoken like that before?

“So maybe you should have brought me, right?”

For the first time since I was ten, I froze completely.

Asriel wouldn’t look at me, Riza had that condemning face, and I just… stood still, unsure of what to say.

It was eventually Roy, who spoke up.

“I trust you were attempting to do the right thing, here, and I appreciate your service to Cevanti. All the same, I cannot overlook your recent behavior. So I’m going to ask you to accompany me tomorrow, so I can monitor that behavior.”

I looked to Roy, as his eyes met my own, and the usual confident facade broke into a tired stare. “I was planning to visit Toriel’s grave. And I’d want both of you to come with. I think she deserves a visit before Hiro finishes decoding that data, anyways.”

Data? Damnit! I was so busy going through Saren’s files earlier, I’d forgotten all about it! That itself felt… unnatural, too. Looking at Asriel’s unreadable expression - something I didn’t know he possessed - Roy’s pointed stare, and Riza’s cautious look, I felt much like someone in a dream, about to give a big speech but lacking pants.

I had work to do, but… That could clearly wait. Or rather, I was not fit for it without a good night’s rest. It had been a good three days since I had one of those, and I’d just went through pitched combat.

“Sure. Tomorrow, right?” I asked, and I’m sure Roy answered, but it seemed I’d hit my limit as exhaustion struck me like a gong, and on my next blink, my eyes simply refused to open.
 

Roy Mustang

probably plotting something
Level 6
Level 5
Joined
Aug 1, 2018
Messages
131
Awards
10
Essence
€19,340
Coin
₡29,800
Tokens
60
World
Cevanti
Profile
Click Here
Faction
Cytokine Industries
Mustang sat on the waiting room bench, arms crossed and one leg propped over the other. His head was bowed somewhat in thought, frowning faintly. He wasn’t dozing, but this early in the morning he was not feeling as alert as he’d like in a public place. Much longer and he’d have to stomach a mug of the hospital’s terrible coffee.

A rustling to his left caused Mustang to crack open one eye. Asriel sat next to him, ostensibly reading the book the goat boy had open in his lap. He’d only turned two pages in the past half-hour. The kid was a bundle of nerves but Mustang supposed that kind of thing was bound to happen when the thing you were most reliant on was as volatile as Chara.

“Is this out of the ordinary?”

“Huh? What?” The goat boy started out of whatever mental circle he had caught himself in. He looked towards Mustang in confusion.

“For her. Is this kind of collapse out of the ordinary? She seems quite determined to act out of impulse, even when it’s a fool’s errand.”

“Oh, uhm… I mean… Chara is probably pushing herself too hard… She doesn’t… She hasn’t ever… I’m sure it’ll be fine, right?”

Arbiters, but this one could stress himself out! Mustang stared the boy down for a moment, weighing his options. Toriel might not have liked what he was about to say. She’d clearly intentionally fostered the sibling bond between the two of them.

“You never know with these kinds of situations. She was engaging in renegade vigilantism against a crossroads-wise malevolence. That kind of recklessness produces results, but it can only take you so far before it sends you headlong into a pit. She doesn’t die like normal people, I know, but that doesn’t make her a perfect warrior. Hell, the enemy doesn’t even need to kill any of us to beat us.”

Asriel’s nervousness was drifting closer to fear by the sentence, but Mustang was now determined to break through to him. The Dreemurr girl was not reliable enough for the level of trust he was putting in her.

“She may be fine today, or she may turn out to be the Unmaking’s newest champion pawn. If she’s not fine, do you know what you would do?”

“Wh-what? Without Chara? I’d… I…” Asriel stared wide-eyed and unseeing at the tile floor of the waiting room.

Damn. He didn’t have the first clue… Did Toriel think they’d be glued at the hip their whole life? Surely she must have seen…

No… Mustang had to remind himself. This situation was not Toriel’s fault. She hadn't expected any of this, really. She'd probably counted on being there to help them for several decades yet. These kids were just trying to pick up the pieces of their lives. Lives that had been shattered by choices made during the Siege of Markov. Who was the one making assumptions here?

“Asriel. If…”

Lieutenant Hawkeye stepped through the doors to the waiting room with a measured pace and Asriel leapt from the bench, book discarded in haste as he rushed over to her. Mustang bent over to collect the book from the floor, then followed behind the monster boy. Asriel had already rushed back through the doors after a few quiet words with Hawkeye, who now stood at rest, waiting for Mustang’s approach.

“Over-exhausted? Or actually a problem?” the state alchemist asked, scratching the side of his head as he fought the urge to yawn.

“It’s not her blood on the clothes. She’s not showing any signs of exposure to the unmaking either, although the doctors have been a bit leery of touching her ever since I mentioned where she was at when she collapsed. It may just be exertion, Lieutenant-Colonel. She's practically a child still.”

“Are her eyes still red? That looked bad.”

“No, Sir. Though I’ve seen similar coloring when she uses her abilities at times. Why do you ask?”

“Mm, Just a hunch. We probably shouldn’t leave them unattended for too long. They're both good at getting into and out of places they shouldn't be able to and I’ve a feeling Chara will not be interested in remaining in a facility like this when she’s awake.”
 

Chara Dreemurr

The Chihuahua of Flirting
Joined
Nov 22, 2021
Messages
72
Essence
€12,703
Coin
₡18,950
Tokens
10
World
Opealon
Profile
Click Here
Chara’s eyes lanced awake, scarlet streaming as she looked around. Blackness surrounded her as she searched for something, anything to hold onto, but there was nothing. That was, of course, because she was in nothing. She couldn’t move. She couldn’t breathe. Terror filled her as she realized where she’d drifted. Who she was seeing again.

WE HAVE FAILED TO GIVE YOU APPROPRIATE TOOLS, JUDGE

THIS WILL BE RECTIFIED! CONTINUE YOUR WORK!

She couldn’t move.
She couldn’t run.
She couldn’t-

Chara woke up with a start, Lurching up only to be caught by her brother.

Asriel turned to her with a ferocity in his stare… for a second. Then he handed her…

Ahh. Hospital tea.

“Good morning. Are you feeling okay?” Asriel asked her, looking supportive.

“It’s the first sleep I’ve gotten in four days. But I also saw something I haven’t for a long time, so no, not really.”

Asriel frowned. “I do wanna talk about-’

Chara gave a look to him with a frown. “-me keeping secrets? Not telling you where I’ve been? Acting like a general git?” She asked.
Asriel looked at her, surprised, but then gave a nod. “You’ve been acting like when you were eleven all over again. But a lot worse.”

Chara gave a sigh, opening her mouth to apologize-

And getting it filled with a lollipop to her surprise… and a bit of bemusement.

“-but you get yourself up and ready to talk about it, okay? I’m not going to ambush you in a hospital bed. Mom taught us better than that.’

Chara gave a stiff nod. “...For what it’s worth, I wasn’t intending to go off alone on that trip. It’s not an excuse, because I should have let you know where I was and what I was doing, but I was running off two days of no sleep at that point.”

Asriel gave her a sharp look. “We’ll talk about it after. Besides, if you’re feeling better we can get out of here and you can let Roy and Riza know you’re okay.”

Chara stopped mid-drink of her tea, almost choking. “They’re here? Why?”

Asriel slapped two fluffy paws on Chara’s face, turned it around like a wheel, and looked his siblings in the eye. “Army reasons. Technically. But also. They’re just worried about you.drink your tea.

Chara looked into Asriel’s eyes with shock, as she heard her brother and just… wordlessly nodded. When had he gotten so… mature on things like this?

“Okay, okay. Sorry Rei. I’ll be a good little patient from here.”

“You better.” The younger dreemurr teased.

---

Roy did not look happy as she came out, and Chara flashed an uneasy smile, feeling Roy and Riza’s stare.

She had figured by now Roy preferred to set the pace, so she chose to be silent and let him.

“Are you okay?” he finally asked.

“Docs seem to think it’s just sleep deprivation, after a few tests. High stress situation with no gas in the tank.” Chara would admit honestly. “...No injuries, though. Nothing in me or on me.”

Except that one gnawing, scratching feeling of him, but that was fading with her lack of connection to the unmade, even if it had reared it’s head.

“So the thing with your eyes wasn’t linked to that?” Roy asked with a frown.

Chara frowned, remembering the scene they’d seen beforehand and sighing.

“Right. That wasn’t for a medical reason. Technically.” she admitted, looking a bit shocked. “...that face is something you’ve been around in combat before, but I’m not surprised that you didn’t notice. We tend to be busy shooting things when that appears.” The mage admits. “The details we can go into later, since… I think we have a date with a gravestone. But…”

Chara relaxed her shoulders, letting go of her concentration as the glow returned. “These are technically my real eyes. Went blind about six. It’s part of how my magic works.” the mage admitted. “Kind of figured out how to reclaim my vision, but they turn on when I’m doing magic… or not paying attention.”

Mustang’s glare returned, but there was a visible perturbment. Chara had never been open about who or what she was to him, so she got it. She hadn’t spoken to him in a few days since Saren at length, so neither he, nor Riza knew of anything she’d thought or planned. And how could they? They had no idea of her role in previous events, let alone the role she personally saw for Mustang. And the distrust returned to their eyes.

Asriel, luckily, stepped up for her, standing up as he put on a more studious tone, “I can confirm that, actually.” He’d admit. “I was around for when she started training in magic, and learned a lot of the history about it in school the same time she did. It’s basically magic pooling in her eyes. To have it naturally was either considered either a blessing or a sign of demonic influence in ancient human culture, as well as in-”

Chara flinched despite herself, but made a glance towards the hospital exit.

“-some modern cultures, aaaand I’ve overshared.”
Chara gave a shrug, closing her eyes as she took the mental second to switch her hazel eyes back on, and to return the world from numbers to colors. “It is fine, Rei.” She mentioned after a second, “We are off fighting evil gods. Islander bigotry is minor by comparison.”

Her smile turned to a frown, as she added with a grumble, “And if some asshole reporter living in The City off Hope gets to know, I'm fine with Roy and Riza knowing.”

She opened her eyes after a moment to realize the two were staring at her curiously.

Flashing an easy smile, she did add, “What time is it? I figured we were planning to visit mom’s grave some time soon. Any chance we could at least stop for something better than hospital tea?”

Roy gave a frown, but it seemed more directed to himself than to anyone else. “You seem… more at ease than before you fell asleep.”

Chara gave a shrug. She’d grown terrible at lying so she figured he’d give a half-truth, in this instance, “Roy, when would be the last time you talked to me where I was not working?”

Riza raised an eyebrow, and Chara knew that while Roy might just buy it, Riza could see through the plastic. Knew there was more to this.

That was fine. She’d know eventually. A hospital just… wasn’t the time or the place.

“But seriously man, we need to bounce.” Chara volunteered, pointing her thumb at the door. “I know a good Crossbucks near the entrance. And I still have to check in on how Lilith did this Deathgame.”

“I hope she’s dead!” Asriel volunteered suddenly, with an eerie happiness. It took a few moments for the Fluffy prince to notice three sets of wide eyes looking with shock at him.

“Am… am I not supposed to want that to happen?” the Dreemurr Prince asked, looking around confused.
 

Roy Mustang

probably plotting something
Level 6
Level 5
Joined
Aug 1, 2018
Messages
131
Awards
10
Essence
€19,340
Coin
₡29,800
Tokens
60
World
Cevanti
Profile
Click Here
Faction
Cytokine Industries
The storm had lessened by the time they reached the memorial, but not abated. Instead it seemed content to drench the world in a drab and sodden gray. Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye pulled the vehicle to a stop at the edge of the memorial. Mustang and the Dreemurrs stepped out with the same silence that had dominated the trip to the monument, The kind of stoic resignation that came with approaching something that had already been avoided for too long. Even though it had been his suggestion, Hawkeye knew that Mustang had been avoiding the place as well.

The memorial was on the edge of the city, near to the point that the Zoid invasion had come closest to breaking through the defenses. The rubble had been cleared into a flat area, where the great energy barrier had been recreated in miniature, perhaps twenty feet tall at the top. Mustang walked through one of the archways that provided access to the interior of the space, his overcoat draped over his shoulders. Asriel paused at the periphery, his hesitance apparent. Chara turned back and offered him her hand, not smiling but resolved. The monster boy took it and the two passed under the dome of energy.

Hawkeye remained outside for a moment, taking note of the surroundings. They were still inside the energy barrier, but on the relative outskirts of the city. As Chara had so effectively demonstrated last night, they were not immune to the Unmaking’s interference here. There were a few vantage points nearby that could be used for a surprise attack, but the world seemed content to sit in rain-drenched quiet for the time being. With the most likely avenues of attack in mind, Hawkeye turned and followed the other three into the memorial.

The miniaturized energy dome was more tightly resonated than the actual thing, and the raindrops that hit it overhead provided a near constant thrumming, like the distant echoes of a far off bell. The other three stood around the central spire of the dome. The generator for this energy shield, emblazoned with the names of the valiant fallen. Asriel approached and began to search the list for Toriel’s name.

“That they might protect this memory as they protected us all.” Mustang read off the plaque at the base of the monument, “We didn’t have the least idea what we were facing when the siege hit. A single misstep, the slightest hesitance, and we would have lost everything.”

Chara watched silently as Asriel continued to search.

“We lost, Roy. We could have lost worse, but Asriel and I weren’t the only ones to lose a parent that day. Every name on that list is a hole in the lives of the people who cared about them.”

Mustang eyed Chara, “Wars don’t happen without loss. No matter how much we might wish otherwise. We keep as many people alive as we can. That’s all we can do.”

“That’s all you can do, yes.” Chara commented.

The alchemist grit his teeth, “You’re no arbiter, Chara. I don’t pretend to understand the extent of your abilities, but I don’t need to know what you can do to know that you’re in over your head! Stop pretending you’re the only one responsible for keeping the crossroads from falling apart, before you end up making a mistake without any of us around to cover for you.”

Mustang and Chara glared at one another, neither one speaking.

“Um…” Asriel was the one to speak up. Hawkeye was gratified to see it as she doubted that her interceding would have been as effective.

“I don’t think that this is the place for that kind of talk.”

Mustang’s gaze slid over to the monster boy. He closed his eyes, and adjusted his uniform, circling around to another part of the monument, leaving Chara there with her hands in her pockets. Chara stood still, looking more like a tired young girl than Hawkeye had remembered seeing her before. After a bit too much of a delay to be the casual response she meant it to be, Chara turned towards the goat boy.

“Yeah, you’re right, Rei. Here, let me help…”

Hawkeye sighed inwardly at the exchange. The Lieutenant Colonel had evidently not made his own peace with his part in the Siege, but combatting the Dreemurr girl would help neither of them to do so. Mustang had not elaborated on his specific motive for this visit but if he was hoping to better ground the Dreemurrs he would need to be less sensitive to their behavior. Just because someone’s childhood had been ended, did not mean they had finished growing up.

“Well this is unexpected.” A voice from the entrance to the dome caused all four of them to turn. Lieutenant Colonel Maes Hughes was closing his umbrella as he walked forwards, a bouquet under one arm. Hawkeye turned to face him with a salute.

“What are you doing out here, Hughes?” Mustang squinted with evident suspicion.

“I could ask you the same thing, Roy.” Hughes smiled faintly as he set down the bouquet at the monument’s foot, “I just came here to spend some time with an old friend, figured she might like a story or two. But you’re the one who went and brought her kids. Hey you two, find her name yet?”

Hughes walked over to the surprised Dreemurrs with a good-natured smile, as though he had been part of the group to make this trip from the very beginning. Mustang rubbed the back of his head, then walked over to Hawkeye with a lowered tone of voice.

“Did you know he’d be out here this morning, Lieutenant?”

“The Lieutenant Colonel was quite close with a number of people who were lost during the Siege, Sir. He’s mentioned making these trips to me before.” Hawkeye answered with a matter-of-fact tone, “It seemed a distinct possibility.”

Mustang turned back to watch the other three, crossing his arms. Hughes was telling them both about some of the stories Toriel had mentioned to him. Even when he was staying relatively somber, Hughes’ friendly nature had already dispelled much of the previous tension merely by his arrival. Mustang sighed, glancing up at the energy dome above them and watching the rain ripple across its surface unceasingly.

“Well, I suppose it’s for the best. I wasn’t making much progress getting through to either of them. He’s much better at handling… this sort of thing.”

“Which sort of thing is that, sir?” Hawkeye asked.

Mustang glanced back at her, his shoulders slumping somewhat. “...You know what I’m saying, Lieutenant. Alchemists aren’t the people you need when it comes to sentiment and such matters.”

“Of course, sir.”
 

Chara Dreemurr

The Chihuahua of Flirting
Joined
Nov 22, 2021
Messages
72
Essence
€12,703
Coin
₡18,950
Tokens
10
World
Opealon
Profile
Click Here
“You’re no arbiter, Chara. I don’t pretend to understand the extent of your abilities, but I don’t need to know what you can do to know that you’re in over your head! Stop pretending you’re the only one responsible for keeping the crossroads from falling apart, before you end up making a mistake without any of us around to cover for you.”

Chara felt a little bit of a whimsical smile cover her face despite it all. While it was sour grapes and she knew, to some degree, he was right, and to some degree, he was concerned…

She was also happy he didn’t notice her bit of thievery, as she spoke with hughes, and the two swapped stories. It was all very cheerful small-talk, as stories were swapped: how mom was, how the flowers were, how she was the only one that listened in rapt attention to Hughes speaking of his wife and little girl.

It was the sort of family she worked to protect, a long time ago. Now she settled for snapping at the military, getting in pointless squabbles, and occasionally being a mild help against Darkseid.

Forget her body, Chara herself had rusted, and she knew it. Her bite was dull, her edge had faded, and her brain…

Well, Darkseid had found multiple ways to use it against her, recently, against others. Against Saren.

An ache struck her as she looked to Asriel and Hughes. What was she doing, having these conversations. Acting like another ordinary person, losing herself in her…

“You seem distracted over there, Chara. Something on your mind?” Hughes asked, snapping Chara out of it.

“Oh, sorry, I was just-”

Hughes held up a finger. “Listen, don’t worry about it, I already know.”

Chara’s eyes widened. Had she been found out. Was he talking about the intrusions into her father’s lab? With how she’d accomplished it, she was certain she’d at least got past the regular security, so how would Hughes… come to think of it, Hughes was intelligence-

“And while I obviously am not on the market, I’ll admit I am very flattered. You’re going to be quite the catch for whichever young man or woman you do end up marrying, and It does an old dad’s confidence good to hear-”

“Asriel Gerson Dreemurr, you absolute-”

“I didn’t say anything! I promise! Not a word!” Asriel quailed, throwing his hands up in the air like a boy held up at gunpoint.

Hughes just gave a chuckle. “No, I was just listening in on comms. Give your brother a break, I’m sure he wouldn’t just tell all your secrets. He clearly cares about you a lot, you know? She did, too.”

Chara gave a smile back, not quite willing to say anything to the man. She loved her mother deeply, and she was certain she cared for her too - had seen the evidence, before her death, so many times now. But at the same time-

“-You didn’t make it easy on her, I know.” Hughes cut in, and Chara’s heart stopped for a moment. Had he read her? Or was that just coincidental. Hughes smile was like a brick wall Chara had never seen before, and it brought back memories of, well, someone similar she’d found dropped on the road, back in Snowdin.

Chara’s stunned silence was filled by Hughes’s warm tones. “She talked about both of you, ya know? She definitely favored bragging about your brother, but… she was always between a rock and a hard place with you.” he commented, as Chara felt her spirits drop, before hughes placed a hand on her shoulder.

“She was really hard on you, I know. She regretted it sometimes. But she loved you. She thought you were intelligent and caring. She also thought you were rebellious and going to get yourself in too much trouble for you to handle, one of these days. And that was really hard for her to try and face, because you reminded her way too much of yourself back in the day. She used to say it was vengeance from your grandmother!” Hughes added with a cheeky smile, a chuckle falling into his speech. “And whenever I pointed out how proud she still was that you took after her, you should have seen her face!”

Chara blinked at that, surprised. She hadn’t asked too much about how her parents used to be, what they were like before they met. “Toriel was the rebellious type?!” She asked, shocked at the thought.

Hughes gave a smirk. “Oh, she gave your father all sorts of problems. But he was also the reason she calmed down and got to see the simpler side of life. I guess I’m not surprised she didn’t tell you two… but I’m sure she would have, now that you’re both adults. I think she wanted to preserve that angelic image Asriel had just a little longer.” Hughes added, causing Asriel to blush a bit.

“But I kind of think that’s… really cool of her!” he added, looking almost mystified at the thought. “Did she own a motorcycle?! Or smoke?”

“Yes to both!” Hughes volunteered.

no!” both siblings said at the same time, matching looks of disbelief… before giving a laugh on both their parts.

“Well, now I know why she was so concerned We might pick up the habit, at least..” Chara added, giving a wistful smile.

Hughes gave a sigh. “She loved you. And if she had any actual complaints about you, it was that sometimes she felt like you didn’t let her in. That you were a tough nut to crack when something was bothering you.”

Chara gave a sigh. She didn’t have any reason to distrust Hughes, but something about the words sounded hollow. Off. Wrong. The fact she couldn’t place it disturbed her - not in some supernatural fashion, just… somewhere else.

“Oh, right! I think she had one other complaint.” Hughes added with a smile. “She really wanted you to stop blending in with the room at some point. Or at least give singing a bit more of a chance.” the Lieutenant Colonel added, a statement that caused Asriel’s eyes to light up… and tears to flow.

“She… we talked about it a few times.” Asriel stuttered, holding his arms close to his torso. “You singing, I mean.” He added, with Chara raising an eyebrow.

Chara’s eyes flitted around, and suddenly the wear of time really sank in. She hadn’t been able to check in and modify and learn everything about every day in well over a decade, and as this conversation moved, well…

The world had moved without her permission for a long time now. People had grown and changed, but she…

Well, as she looked to Asriel, and Hughes, saw Asriel, really saw him. How much taller he’d gotten. How much taller she’d gotten, even if it wasn’t all that much. Standing in front of a grave of parents she hadn’t really kept getting to know once she’d left that cavern.

The world that had kept on moving left her behind. And now she was startin to realize how much she’d paid for it. How much perspective she’d lost. And how much she had paid for it.

“Hughes. Asriel.” The girl added, pulling up her hoodie. “Give me a moment. Please.”

Hughes looked up, apologetically. “I haven’t upset you, have I?”

Chara just shook her head, giving them a very tired smile. “Not at all. I have upset myself. And I am about to do it a little more.”

Asriel looked up with concern. “Chara, you don’t need to do things without me anymore-”

“It’s not that. It’s just… If I apologize to Roy with you standing next to me, that might look very suspicious, would it not?” Chara asked with a chuckle. “And it is hard enough for me to do in private.”

Hughes read her face with his glasses tilted up, and it didn’t take Chara too long to recognize that sly face behind the mask. She wondered how alike they were?

…Probably not as much as she would have liked. The care Hughes showed his family, and the work he did in spite of what he was condemned to do as a military man showed a far lighter soul than she would ever personally bear.

The young mage lightly patted her knife, a lone friend in so many battles before now. Battles she was ready for. Battles she was made for.

Now, as she observed Mustang, took a deep breath, and walked forward slowly, one thought resounded in her mind. A resounding defeat, one that Darkseid herself had never given her.

Hughes had proven that she was stuck. That she had let things slip between her fingers. And now, the judge of all things, the mage of determination, the Final boss.

Just. didn’t. Have it.

Not alone, at least.

And as she approached Roy, frown framing her face, she knew that to make it right, she would have to make the hardest choice possible. She would trust Roy with her life, with the lives of everyone in the crossroads, and this time, in this world, she would hope against all hope that it would not end up being the death of her.


Her approach was slow, ponderous, leisurely, the wind picking up behind her as she walked, hand still in her pockets.
“Mustang.” Chara called out, looking to the man lost in his own thoughts. “Roy.” she finally settled.

The lieutenant looked up to her, a glare softening with dificulty from his features. At her? At the situation? At the loss of his friend? At himself? For once in her life, Chara didn’t know, and didn’t care to for the moment.

“Chara.”

“You are right.” Chara replied with a soft exhale.

“What?” was Roy’s response.

“I cannot do this all on my own.” Chara replied. “I used to be able to. For a different situation. A different time.”

“The unmaking only showed up a few years ago, Chara…” Roy replied, though his heart seemed to sink as she spoke.

“Here, yes.” Chara replied after a moment. “I believe i may have first met it a decade ago.”

“You’ve been fighting since…” Roy added, before giving a glare. “Don’t you think this is a little distracting from your actual purpose here?”

Chara gave a smirk, though this one held neither venom nor happiness within it. “I had debated discussing it with you here. And you may be right. But thanks to your principles, the epitaph holds true.” Chara added with a sigh.

Roy’s eyes flitted, needing a second to remember as he studied Chara’s face, and then remembered,

May they protect this memory as they protected us all.

The young Dreemurr’s smile faded. “...They correctly believe you would never utilize a visit to a gravestone for a military meeting, I imagine. It’s a solemn practice, one that you respect. I lack those concerns.” She added with a frown, one that left Mustang to glare.

“I’m going to hope that this is something worth this nonsense, because I’d like to believe this isn’t some bad attempt to get out of-”

“-Saren turned, in part, because of this information. Information I unknowingly supplied. Information that could turn many heads in the Markovian military, and the crossroads as a whole. Information I’m…”

Chara’s stare broke slightly, as he looked between Roy and Riza, who’d gone oddly quiet.

“Information I’m betting I can trust you with. So please.” Chara replied, looking up to Roy with eyes that had stopped holding their usual intensity. Tired eyes that had seen death barely after life had first started. There was a bit of self-hatred in that, because she had seen the same from him in fractional moments. Views of a fellow human being who lived with the burden of the lives he’d taken, the acts he had done. And tired as he’d realized he had a long career ahead.

She hated the idea he’d recognize that, not because he would judge her differently, but the idea he might recognize it and treat her just the same.

Roy’s stare met hers and the glare seemed to melt almost instantly, to Chara’s own frown.

“...Okay.”
 

Roy Mustang

probably plotting something
Level 6
Level 5
Joined
Aug 1, 2018
Messages
131
Awards
10
Essence
€19,340
Coin
₡29,800
Tokens
60
World
Cevanti
Profile
Click Here
Faction
Cytokine Industries
Chara spoke quickly. The telling was clearly hard for her and Mustang only stopped her for the most pertinent clarifications. For the most part he was just trying to make sense of it all. When she had finished, the only sounds were the quiet conversation between Hughes and Asriel and the sizzling of the rain on the dome above them.

It was almost too big for him to really process. Chara stood silently, perhaps waiting for his response. Hawkeye was similarly quiet, arms clasped behind her back in parade rest just off to the side of the two of them, keeping an eye on the entrance to the monument. Mustang turned and sat down on one of the benches, staring at the polished marble flagstones. A nervous grimace of a smirk spread onto his face despite himself.

“Arbiters damn it, Chara. I don’t know whether you’re the victim or the monster in all that.”

Chara considered this for a moment.

“Both. And neither.” She finally replied with a faint shrug.

“How tightly was Markov engaged in that level of black operations?”

“It was mostly out of my hands by then. But that is not the point. Darkseid has-”

“Not the point? Chara, do you even realize the level of absurdity you were explaining just now? You’re dealing with abstract concepts using scientific precision! If Nico or Hamada were to come to me with a story this far-fetched I wouldn’t buy it for a second. The only reason I believe you is because I saw what we’re up against on Nausicaa.”

Chara didn’t respond to that, though her eyes seemed to flash for an instant.

“So we’re going to lose?” He asked after a time.

“In all but the most remote likelihoods, Yes.”

“Well then.” Mustang hunched forwards, resting his chin on his hands in thought.

Chara was watching him intently now, likely trying to judge what his intent would be now that he knew. She trusted him, she had just admitted that she needed help, and desperately. But she had also just explained how rational logic in the face of their threat had led Saren to what he had done. As he continued to consider he could almost sense Chara’s tension rising.

He had thrown a rope to someone he’d seen drowning. It turned out he was in water just as deep himself.

“We have to just defy the odds? Is that all you were able to find? Put the whole of the crossroads at stake and roll the dice? Contingencies aren’t… No, you wouldn’t have done all this if there were better options.”

Chara gave a wan smile looking all the more tired.

“I am sorry to share this with both of you.” She said, casting a glance towards Lieutenant Hawkeye then turning back to Mustang, “You did ask, but this is not pleasant knowledge.”

“Why didn’t you say something sooner, Chara? I know you keep your cards close to the chest, but if I am going to formulate a strategy I need to know what I’m working with!”

“Roy, do you know what a judge’s role is? It is the assessment of threats and the danger they pose. Saren was not the first.”

The tired girl was gone just as quickly as she had surfaced, replaced by the enigmatic being that treated the laws of physics more like guidelines.

“To better understand how to deal with them, we have the ability to read the sins of those around us. Their LV, their Level of Violence. A measure of what harm they have inflicted on others. How much blood they have on their hands.”

Mustang slowly frowned deeper. He did not wilt under Chara’s unrelenting stare, but he had to suppress the instinct to do so.

“I am out of options, Roy, Riza, so I am trusting you both. But understand that my reluctance is not only because of my nature.”

A second period of silence spread over the monument and the rain continued to pour down onto the dome above them.

“The only thing available to us now is the fight coming.” Mustang said with a sigh, getting to his feet, “Whatever obstacles we have to overcome, we can only try to take measure of. Impossible or not, I refuse to back down in the face of this threat. With that decision made, all I can do now is move against it, with whatever means I have at my disposal. Can I count on your aid, Chara?”

“Yes, in most cases.” Chara replied easily.

“Then that’s what I have to work with.” Mustang straightening his overcoat, then slipped his hands into his pockets, “Hughes!”

The Intelligence officer glanced up from his conversation with Asriel with a casual smile.

“Can you see the Dreemurrs back to the compound when they’re finished? I can’t spend all my time babysitting.”

Hughes snorted and gave a casual half salute “Sure thing, Roy.”

Mustang nodded, and stepped out into the rain, Lieutenant Hawkeye in tow. She didn’t say anything, but Mustang spoke up regardless as they approached the vehicle.

“It’s quite something, but we don’t have the luxury of second-guessing ourselves at this stage. All we can do at this point is put the crossroads itself up to wager and roll the dice.”

He paused, staring up at the rain with a furrowed brow.

“And keep the stakes in mind when it comes to just how far we’re willing to cheat.”
 
Top