Chapter Text
Roy Mustang straightened the light folds on his blue uniform as his eyes wandered around the banquet hall.
He was currently at a gathering between renowned alchemists from Amestris and mages from the Kingdom of Ridill. The Royal Family of the latter had shown great interest in alchemy practised in Amestris, as its techniques and energy source were foreign to the kingdom. Hence, both parties had agreed to hold an event as the beginning of a diplomatic relationship, as well as to exchange knowledge between mages and alchemists.
Mustang, with a wine glass in hand, had stood at one of the round tables, away from the large crowds in the hall’s centre. He occasionally took light sips as his raven eyes observed the masses. As bored as he was being in formal events, this was much more bearable than the usual ones he was forced to attend for the military. With this being an exchange event between alchemists, the only soldiers who attended were State Alchemists… which were not a lot, since the recent Scar attacks had wiped 90 percent of them.
He let his mind wander, not noticing the mismatched steps approaching him.
“Hey, Bastard, I’m going back to my room.”
Edward Elric was standing beside him, a scowl plastered to his face and arms crossed.
Mustang sighed for what felt like the tenth time today. “Fullmetal, for the last time, we are not permitted to leave this place for another two hours. And here I thought you would be more enthusiastic since it’s an event related to alchemy.”
Edward huffed in response. Yes, he was interested in learning a new form of alchemy, and yes, he struck up a few conversations with the mages. But it didn’t change the fact they talked him down like a child, and none of the adults took him seriously, and Alphonse was dragged somewhere by some guy and he was repeatedly called sma—
Mustang tapped him on the shoulder. “Come on, Fullmetal.”
Mustang had begun walking towards the centre of the hall. With nothing else to do, Edward could only groan and drag his feet along.
Both alchemists approached a tall gentleman with long, braided chestnut-coloured hair. He had a monocle and wore a black robe with gold embroidery along its edges. Upon noticing their arrival, the man’s purple-grey eyes turned to them.
Mustang was the first to offer his hand.
“I am a colonel of the Amestris Military, one of the country’s State Alchemists, Roy Mustang. I am known as the Flame Alchemist. Pleased to meet you.”
The tall man took Roy’s hand. “I am one of Ridill’s Seven Sages, the Barrier Mage, Louis Miller.”
It did not take long for Louis to notice the child beside Mustang. Golden eyes intensely locked onto his. “Oh? Who is this young boy beside you?”
“This is my subordinate, a fellow State Alchemist, Edward Elric, also known as the Fullmetal Alchemist.”
Edward’s annoyed expression unchanged, held out his right hand to the mage. Louis took the hand and gave it a brief shake.
“Pleasure to meet you, Edward Elric.”
“Same here.”
Both returned their free hands into their pockets.
“Well, colour me surprised.” Louis began. “I never thought such a little fellow would attend this event…”
Mustang’s eyes immediately snapped to his side, and sure enough, his worries became reality the second that adjective escaped Louis’s lips. He made a swift move to reach for Edward’s braid.
“WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO LITTLE THAT— OW!”
A light tug was all it took to stop the rant.
With a now slightly loose braid and a bitten tongue, Edward silently cursed. I’ll remember this, Colonel Bastard.
Mustang gave Louis an apologetic look. “I apologise, Louis. He has a slight complex about his stature.”
If the mage was taken aback by the sudden outburst, he did not show it. “I suppose all young prodigies have their quirks. I happen to know one myself.”
Mustang was intrigued. “Oh, is this prodigy in the hall with us?”
“Yes… but she has a tendency to hide in social events like this.”
Far from the sea of people, large plants and decorative pillars lined the edges of the hall.
Monica Everett peered from one of said large plants to see Louis talking with a man in a blue uniform.
As if being in a hall full of people was not terrifying enough, some that stood out increased her fear tenfold. She can see a large shirtless muscular man talking to the Artillery Magician, and the Thorn Witch was talking to a large suit of armour!
Nope. She is not coming out of her hiding place.
Monica shrank herself further in her robes. It had only been an hour, but she had not been able to start a conversation with anybody!
Not that she would’ve done so anyway. She was only there because attendance was obligatory for the Seven Sages.
She had no idea where her familiar Nero wandered off either. Anxiety and panic piled up as her mind began to spiral for what felt like the dozenth time that day.
… Until a loud crack interrupted her thoughts.
Hearing nothing else later, she almost thought she imagined it.
“What… What was tha—”
Before Monica could finish that sentence, a pillar nearby her began to wobble.
A loud crack reverberated in the hall.
Roy, Edward and Louis stopped their conversation to strain their ears for other sounds.
“Did you hear that, Fullmetal?”
“Yeah. It sounded like something breaking.”
The silence then turned to rumbling. A pillar had begun to topple towards the hall’s centre. Every person there was nailed to their place, all were too stunned to move away.
Edward rushed towards the falling structure and clapped. The floor in front of him warped into hands, and it rushed upwards to catch it. To his horror, the pillar’s massive weight crushed his transmutation.
“Damn it!” Edward was about to clap the second time, but the phenomenon he saw before him left him puzzled, stopping him mid-motion.
The pillar… it stopped falling?
Edward took a moment analysing around it for any possible wires or structures holding it, but found nothing of the sort. Upon closer inspection, he can see white particles floating around the pillar. That can’t be right. Is that even alchemy?
“Brother!” A young echoed voice draws nearer with metallic footsteps. Edward turned to see Alphonse approaching him. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. Are you seeing this?” Edward looked back to see if his eyes were playing tricks on him, but there’s no mistaking it. The pillar was definitely floating in the air.
As it happened, Louis walked over to an empty end of the hall with Mustang following closely behind. Edward and Alphonse, who noticed them, followed suit. The four approached one of the large plants decorating the hall.
Behind it stood a petite girl with brown braids, wearing a black robe similar to Louis’s that enveloped her small figure. Her brown eyes focused ahead as she pointed a finger to the levitating pillar.
Oblivious to the Barrier Mage’s presence, her mind was currently filled with calculations.
Looking at the pillar’s height, the time taken for it to reach the floor would be 5.6 seconds… If I calculate the current distance between the pillar’s top and the floor and the angle of the fall, which would be 3.2 seconds… So the amount of force I need to pull it away, considering the pull of gravity, which is 9.8 metres per second…
After carefully dropping the pillar, a soft sigh of relief escaped her lips as her shoulders relaxed.
“Well done, fellow Sage.”
She looked up to see Louis smiling at her. It did not take her long to notice Mustang, Edward and Alphonse approaching them. Realising the addition of people, she turned away and stilled herself on the spot, unmoving.
Upon arriving, Mustang was the first to ask. “Is something the matter, Louis?”
“Nothing to worry about, just meeting our hero.”
Monica slowly turned to face them, she unconsciously began to fidget with her fingers.
After seconds of lingering silence, Louis cleared his throat and proceeded with the formalities. “She is my fellow sage in the Kingdom of Ridill. She is the youngest of the Seven Sages, the Silent Witch, Monica Everett.”
As if she forgotten how to breathe, she gasped before she spoke. She kept her gaze to her feet as her words came out soft and slow. “Nice… Nice to m-meet you, my… m-my name… is… Monica Everett.”
Within a split second, Edward pushed himself through to stand in front of Monica.
“How did you do that? Is it an alchemy that controls air? Or the weight? But to change the elements of that thing, you have to touch it, right? Where’s your transmutation circle?”
Monica felt herself getting dizzier with each bombarded question, and the boy’s loud volume blasting in her ears was the cherry on top of her overwhelming cake.
Everyone could see this was a one-way conversation.
Mustang exasperatedly put a hand on Edward’s shoulder, instantly snapping him back to reality.
“What?” He realised too late that Monica had paled and was currently mumbling numbers under her breath.
“13 piggies by the sixth year, 21 piggies by the seventh year, 34 piggies by the eighth year…”
Bewildered, Edward looked to Mustang and Alphonse. The colonel gave him a similar confused look, and his younger brother had nothing else to say.
Louis Miller predicted this to happen. Still, he can feel his headache settling in. “Let us head to somewhere quieter.”