Trials Vol.2: The Gray Sky\'s Revenge

A/N: I don\'t own FMA! Sheesh...



Roy sat at his desk, munching loudly on corn chips. Riza had the look of death on her face, but Roy was oblivious to her, to everything really except for Ed and the kids. She tried to ignore the incessant chomping, but as frazzled as her nerves were, she could not tune out the sound.

Roy looked confused as Riza jumped up and snatched the chips from him, throwing them about the office enraged. She was moments from frothing at the mouth and her chest was heaving hard. Roy just looked at her.

\"If you wanted some, you could have just asked.\" His voice had a tinge of annoyance, but he was mostly trying to keep from laughing. Then he noticed the look in her eyes and knew that this was beyond selfishness. Riza bit her bottom lip and her chin quivered. She brushed off some chip residue from a chair in front of the desk and sat down.

\"Rush ran over Black Hayate this morning.\" Riza put her head down and Roy saw her shoulders moving up and down, a sign that she was crying. Roy was torn. He hated Black Hayate, especially since the mangy mutt bit Cil on the hand a few months ago. It took Roy every ounce of reserve in his body not to get his M-16 and blow that piece of shit cainine away. Riza had had the dog for about eight years and it was her best friend aside from Rush and Maria.

\"Is he dead?\" was the only response Roy could think of that sounded remotely concerened. The loud wail from Riza confirmed the thought.

Roy walked around his desk and gathered Riza into a careful hug. He had once had a bird named Clementine and Rush killed her too by feeding her cheese. (A/N: My sister fed my bird cheese and killed her. I think she did it on purpose. WHAT BIRD EATS CHEESE?!!!!) He knew the pain she was feeling from losing a beloved pet and dared not to make fun of it. Riza wiped her eyes and smiled painstakingly at Roy.

\"What\'s this? A sexual encounter between two involoved individuals? Where is my camera when I need it?\" They both looked at the doorway to see Hughes standing there holding a green file in his hand. \"I\'mma tellit and both of ya\'ll\'s asses will be in the doghouse.\"

\"DOG!\" Riza wailed and began crying again. Roy shot Hughes a dirty look and mouthed \'Hayate is dead\' to his oblivious friend. Hughes made an \'o\' with his mouth and walked over to console Riza.

\"Sweetie, I\'m sorry, I didn\'t know. Rush killed him, didn\'t she?\" He cooed in a soothing voice and Riza nodded. Roy smirked and handed Riza her jacket. \"Take the rest of the day off as bereavement. And tell Rush to go stay with Alex and Mona if you kick her out because she is NOT coming to stay with me and Ed.\" Riza chuckled and nodded, waving goodbye to her two friends.

\"So what is that?\" Roy asked, pointing at the green file. He frowned when Hughes was looking around his desk and laughing at the bits of chips that were all over the floor and desk. Roy himself or others in his office were constantly spilling or cumming or throwing up or bleeding on his carpet, so much so that he had the steam cleaners on speed dial.

\"Did we have an accident with some Doritos?\" Hughes said in a somewhat chastising voice. \"Damnit Maes, what\'s in the file!\" Roy yelled, shoving his hand into one of his alchemy gloves. He was going to set the file on fire and then set all of Central on file. Ladies and gentlemen, meet Kimblee\'s replacement, Roy Mustang!

Hughes tapped the file and then tossed it at Roy. \"It\'s what Al and Ed have been waiting for.\" Roy scrambled to open the file and saw more fuzzy pictures of what looked to be Evergreen and Tim Marcoh. Roy frowned and looked up at Hughes for more information. \"I\'ve seen these before, Maes. So what\'s new about them?\"

Hughes smirked and pointed at one of the pictures. \"From my sources in the mountains, word has it that Evergreen actually found Dr. Marcoh about eight months ago. She had went home to the Xing for awhile to talk with her \'parents\' to confirm if what Isis told her was true. Then she set back out through the Great Desert and we lost track of her there. She resurfaced in an Ishbalan refugee camp where she became ill somehow. She was on the verge of death when some of the camp elders persuaded a local doctor to help her.\"

\"Dr. Marcoh?\"

Hughes held up his hand. \"Wait a minute, future Fueher. It was Dr. Marcoh, but he didn\'t heal her with the stone. In fact, my sources tell me that to this day she has a slight limp from her illness. She wears a shoe with a higher sole to balance out her limp, but it\'s there.\"

Roy scratched his chin thoughtfully. \"If he had healed her with the stone, then she wouldn\'t have a limp. So what does that mean?\" Hughes shrugged and sat down on Roy\'s desk and ate one of the chips lingering beside the paperwork tray. \"It could mean many things. It could mean nothing. But I think maybe Crystal has lost our Red Pony.\" Roy frowned at Hughes\' hypothesis and joined him on the edge of his desk. They sat side by side eating the chips off the desk in silence.


****Eight months ago****


Evergreen placed her hand over her eyes and stared up at the sun. It\'s merciless rays beat down on her, and she was seriously contemplating passing out and letting the vultures overhead eat her. If only she had not promised Al to find the stone! Then she wouldn\'t be on this Godforsaken task. Whoever said love makes you do stupid things never lied.She lost count of the days she had trekked through the Great Desert, she knew from thirst that her canteen had been discarded roughly two days ago and that she only had three oranges as rations. She had not anticipated her Rover breaking down in the beginning of the Desert and was unwanted back in the Xing.

\'Damn you Isis....why did you tell me who you really were? Now I\'ll never become a princess and the Shimo dynasty will end!\'

Suddenly, voices and what sounded like an engine came from over a sand dune.

\'Surely that\'s a mirage! Who would be out in the desert but me?\'

Children riding a dune buggy seemed to magically appear over the dune, riding around in enjoyment. Evergreen watched dumbly as the children rode past her and then watched as they came up to her, staring at her in disbelief. They saw the wire thin woman, blackened almost to the color of night. From the way she smelled, they knew that she had open oozing flesh wounds that probably contained maggots. They had seen many people come to their villiage in such a state and most of them were so far gone that all the villagers could do for them was to give them a decent burial. The children approached Evergreen and she was so overwhelmed that all she could do was collapse, her pretty face landing hard in the desert sand.

When Evergreen awoke, she was laying down and naked except for the bandages that were covering most of her body. A young girl with red eyes and red hair was filling a pot with water and had cakes of soap and antiseptic with her. She was admiring the alchemy tatoo on Evergreen\'s foot and turned with a smile when the woman groaned and struggled to sit up.

\"Please, don\'t move. You\'ve been in a coma for about twenty-five days. We thought for sure you were going to die!\"

\'Twenty-five days?\'

\"I\'m Sadako. My father is one of the camp elders.\" He young girl smiled again and brought a water canteen to Evergreen\'s parched lips and allowed her a long cool drink. \"My brothers Kaneshi and Kutsuro found you out in the desert. By Ishbala, what were you doing there?\" Sadako asked in a chastising voice. Then she looked at Evergreen\'s broken state and her features softened. \"Please, forgive my tone. A woman just shouldn\'t be out wandering like that!\"

\"Sadako, that\'s enough.\" Both women looked to see a wizened old man standing in the doorway with a cup of something steaming. Sadako bowed her head and quickly rushed out of the hut. The old man pulled up a chair beside Evergreen and sat down, observing her sun poisioned skin.

\"I am known as Moon. I am Sadako\'s father and one of the village elders.\"

\"My name is-\"

\"You are Evergreen Shimo, heiress to the Shimo Dynasty.\" Moon nodded at her and sipped from his cup. \"You are not Xianian though. Your eyes are red, just like we Ishbalans, which means either one or both of your biological parents are from Ishbal.\" Moon smiled at Evergreen\'s confused look and nodded again. \"Believe it or not, princess, we keep up with ALL the living Ishbalans. I even know about your mother, Isis.\"

Evergreen struggled to sit up. \"I am not Ishbalan and my eyes are not red!\"

Moon chuckled. \"They are without your contacts. Being an Ishbalan is not a crime. Even though your parents did not want you, we\'ll accept you.\" With that he turned and walked out of the tent, his words stinging Evergreen\'s heart. She lay back down on the makeshift cot and cried only a few tears, her body was still in starvation mode so it could only spare a few droplets of water.

~Elsewhere in the camp~

\"So, what could you find out from the girl?\" Fujin, another camp elder pressed Moon as soon as he stepped into their tent. Moon stared blankly at her for a moment and nodded.

\"She indeed is the princess from The Xing, the one that is in league with the Fullmetal Alchemist.\" Several of the camp elders present gasped and murmured their feelings.

\"Is she an alchemist as well?\"

\"Did they follow her here?\"

\"Perhaps we should take her back to the desert where we found her. If she is in league with the Amestrian army, then they will take care of her.\"

\"But she is an Ishbalan!\"

\"No, she refuses her heritage. She wears contacts and moved away, forgot about us. Who is she to us?\"

\"SILENCE!\" The elders shut their mouths and looked toward the newest elder, a fair skinned doctor named Tim Marcoh. He had also once been with the Amestrian army but ran away long ago. Even with what the Ishbalans knew of him, they were unaware that the woman they were bad mouthing was his very own daughter. \"I will go and see if this woman is truly Evergreen of Shimo lineage. If she is, I will dispose of her myself. If not, then she will remain here until she heals.\" Marcoh left the tent in a huff, making the elders whisper amongst themselves again.
~~~~~~
Marcoh walked to the tent where Evergreen lay and gave Sadako a smile and pat on the shoulder. \"My, my, you\'ve been such a good little nurse. I thank you for taking my place.\" He looked past Sadako and saw the tattoo on the ball of Evergreen\'s foot; sure confirmation of who she was.

Sadako smiled toothily and handed Marcoh a blanket. \"Sometimes she shivers. Its like she can never get warm. I\'m sure a hot natured person would have died out in the desert.\" She patted Evergreen\'s arm and walked away from the tent, smiling at the compliment the doctor gave her.

It was the last time Sadako would see either of them alive.


*****Two Years Later*****

\"EDWARD! ALPHONSE! GET YOUR ASSES IN HERE!!!\" Roy bellowed from the living room. Ed had been happily catching up on some sleep while his brother watched the kids. Ed valued his sleep, mainly because between studying up on alchemy, screwing Roy, and being a \'mommy\', there was little personla time; and even less time for sleep. Roy usually only screamed like that when something was important or when he saw a creepy crawly bug. Wimp.

\"Yeah yeah, I was sleeping. Just spray some Raid on it and it will die,\" Ed said sleepily, rubbing his eyes. Roy was slightly distracted by the ample jiggly breasts that were skimpily covered by a see-thru logo tee that said \'Alchemy Whore\' on it and flannel pants with lightning bolts on them. Instead of ravaging Ed in front of his brother and children, he thrust a small brown package at Al.

\"None for me?\" Ed whined, trying to see the package. Roy walked behind Ed and wrapped his arm around the boy\'s neck and kissed his ear. \"No, this is something that Al\'s been wanting and deserving for a long time.\"

\"The box DVD set of Webster?\"

Roy could have strangled Ed. \"No, shit for brains. It\'s-\"

\"It\'s a full Philosopher\'s Stone,\" Al said quietly. He held it up and saw how brilliantly it shone, and the dark black stripe of blood in the middle. \"Evergreen sent it to me saying it was too dangereous to send when you all were tracking her down. She said that it is authentic and to be careful.\" Al read further but said nothing, so Roy and Ed guess it was personal love letter mushiness.

Al turned toward Ed. \"Brother, please fix me.\"

It felt so good to hear Al say those words! \"Sure thing, Al,\" Ed whispered with tears in his eyes. Finally the wait and the pain were over. Well, the wait was. Not so much the pain....


>This is a critical chapter. The ending is so delicious, I can taste it! But we\'re like 10 chapters from that. A lemon is lurking somewhere...