Edward Elric: Homunculus

Part 4

===The Ross disaster===

Ed just stood there and looked at the scene in horror. He saw the flash of light, heard the snap and explosion. Roy had killed Ross and her charred corpse now laid in front of Ed. Ed was shaking, cold sweat running down his back, breathing uneven. He was beyond terrified but not because of the corpse. The main reason he was scared was because when he looked at what was left of lieutenant Ross, he felt nothing. No sadness, no regret, nothing, it was like he was looking at a rock or something. This chilled his blood more than anything he had ever faced.

"Stop staying like a statue there, Fullmetal. It's our work." – Roy said and walked by.

'What is wrong with me?!!' – Ed looked at his shaking hands.

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At the ruins Ed stared at Ross. She was alright and living, explaining what Mustang had done to make it look as if she was dead. He closed his mouth and squeezed his automail with his other hand, ignoring the feeling of his palm cooking on the hot metal.

"So everything was a ruse?"

"Yes, they were set on executing me for something I had not done. They did everything they could to get me out the legal way, but it didn't work, so this is what Colonel Mustang came up as plan B." – Ross said, feeling bad about deceiving someone like Ed.

"Do you know how DAMN SCARED I was?!" – Ed shouted at his companions.

Fu stood on the side, watching like always, Ross, Bread and Armstrong were looking quite guilty.

"W-we couldn't do anything else, and your reaction made the fake death even more believable. Please forgive us for deceiving you!" – Armstrong said, tears streaming from his eyes.

"Yeah! They were SO set on executing Ross! It's was like it was their mission to do so. Even we don't know how such a thing could happen." – Breda added.

"Oh, please! As if this isn't the first time the Furer has pulled crap like that." – Ed grumbled.

"What do you mean?" – Ross asked, a bit intrigued.

"Ah?! You haven't heard? When we were in Dublith, Al got kidnapped by some thugs but then the Furer swooped in and slaughtered everyone. The bastard even stabbed a person hiding in Al's armor! Good way to traumatize a child! One-eyed whacko..." – Ed stood still, eyes widening slowly with realization.

Everyone was baffled and shocked by their leader's actions. Before any of them could ask more, Ed suddenly shouted.

"AAAAAAAAAAAH! How dumb can I be?! The answer was SO obvious!"

"Wha- "– Bread began but was interrupted by Ed.

He started to mutter to himself and walk around. Everyone stared at the short alchemist.

"I think the Furer might be involved in Hughes' murder." Ed declared "The boss of the bar Al was held in was, let's say not human, the Furer offed him because the boss – Greed, had something to do with the Philosopher's stone. The way Ross was so quickly framed with murder, the death of an employee in Central can't be dismissed like the death of a whole bar of thugs and 'dead people' , so they needed someone to blame. Ross was the target for some reason and there was witness, which is concerning..." – Ed rattled on.

'Does that mean one of the othe- one of THE homunculi has some sort of hypnotic power or a transformation power? I honestly don't know which is scarier...' – Ed thought to himself, not daring to share such information to more people than needed, for now at least.

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Soon Ross, Fu and the other people waiting to cross the desert departed. Armstrong, Breda and Ed decided to take a break in the Xerxes ruins until nightfall and leave for Resembool. While the two older men decided to stay and make something to eat, other than rations, Ed decided to explore. He walked around admiring the structures, some made entirely be alchemy based on their looks. He circled around a huge wall. He was just wandering with o purpose at this point, so he decided to rest in the shadow this wall provided. He sat down and leaned back. The very moment the back of his neck made contact with it, he not only felt but saw the blue sparks of alchemy. These, however had small bits of red mixed in them.