Wayward Son

Epilogue

*rrrrring... rrrrring...*

Colonel Mustang picked up the phone.

"Hello?" he said.

"Colonel Mustang?" the receptionist said. "You have a call pending on line 1."

"Oh, right," said Mustang, who already had a pretty good idea who it was. "Thank you. Put them through."

He waited for the lines to connect.

"Hey, Roy-ma-boy, how're things out in the East?"

'How did I guess?' thought the alchemist.

"The same as always, Hughes," he reported nonetheless. "The sun still rises, the grass still grows, and people still call me on military lines when they most likely still have work to do."

His subordinates smiled to themselves. These calls always led to entertainment, usually at the Colonel's expense.

"What are you talking about?" Lieutenant Colonel Maes Hughes casually asked. "I almost always call you when I'm working!"

"Cut to the chase, Hughes," said Mustang. "Is this about your daughter again? Because if it is-"

"Actually, it's about something a little different this time."

Mustang was, despite himself, genuinely surprised. These calls were almost always about Elicia Hughes' latest adorable exploits.

"I'm calling to check up on a certain disappearing teenager," said Hughes, now more serious than he had been before. "It's been about two days since he came back, after all. How is he doing?"

The Flame Alchemist sighed. He'd hoped to not have to think about this anymore.

"Although somewhat delusional, and aside from slight exhaustion and a few first-degree burns, the Fullmetal Alchemist was and still is in peak physical condition," he explained. "Don't ask me why or how, because I know just as much about this whole affair as you do. In any case, since there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with him, I've sent him to investigate some strange goings-on in Liore, north of here."

"Wow," Hughes responded. "Has anyone ever told you that for somebody called the Flame Alchemist, you can be pretty damn cold sometimes?"

"It's not like I'm asking him to save the world or something," Mustang objected. "It's just a basic investigation, and anyway, we've had reports of disturbances and bizarre events in that town for months now. Besides, he's perfectly healthy, so I didn't see any point in confining him any longer than was necessary. If Liore's anything like I've heard, it should be a walk in the park."

"But is he still insisting that he was transported to another world?"

Mustang paused.

"And more importantly," Hughes continued, "do you think we should believe him?"

The Colonel pinched his brow. He'd hoped he wouldn't have to deal with this anymore.

"Honestly, I don't know what to believe," he confessed. "Major Elric was missing for over a week and he reappeared - he literally rematerialized - right in front of me. With his condition, it was pretty clear he hadn't just been stuck in some empty void for all that time, but I'm not sure whether he could have been in a sort of stasis or if he really was somehow transported to another world. Personally, I'm just glad he's alright. I wasn't looking forward to attending a funeral."

"Then you might be interested to hear that the lab boys finished analysing that stone he came back with."

"And?"