Chapter Text
“The war outside our door keeps raging on
Hold on to this lullaby
Even when the music’s gone”
- Safe and Sound, Taylor Swift
~
Once upon a time, there was a city of people so faithful that beings called angels lived among them.
Though the angels often appeared to be no different from their human neighbors, they possessed great power and enormous wings like eagles, capable of flying all the way to their true home beyond earth’s ceiling of azure skies.
The City of Angels encircled an oasis in the vast desert, welcoming weary travelers from the distant lands that would one day be named Amestris and Aerugo, Xing and Xerxes.
Like the angels themselves, the people who dwelled in their city had bronze skin, snowy hair, and eyes like flame.
“Nina, it’s time for dinner!”
Nina Tucker closed the book with a sigh. That story was her favorite in the collection of folk tales. It was not a happy tale, but she didn’t mind because that made it seem real.
“I’m coming, Mother!”
She leapt lightly onto the bannister, spread her arms for balance, and fell from the second story hallway. Nina unfurled her wings and glided to the floor with practiced ease, deep brown feathers gleaming burnished gold and white feathers glowing where the lamplight touched them.
“Were you flying in the house again?” Her father asked when she stepped into the dining room
Smoothing her ruffled hair and clothes, Nina nodded apologetically. “You know that I can’t really fly yet. I was only gliding.”
He gave her a look.
She knew better than to glide in the house, flying or not. “Sorry, Daddy.”
He smiled at her. “How could I be mad at you for wanting to use those perfect wings? Just don’t tell your mother.”
She got to have dessert with dinner! Mother explained that Nina earned the treat for her “excellent performance for General Grand” at the lab.
The state alchemist was so impressed by the Tuckers’ chimera girl that he invited the whole team out for a drink after work. Dr. Martinez-Tucker forbade her husband from joining them. They had an important experiment to conduct that evening, and she would not allow him to transmute while drunk. Shou would simply have to earn another invitation, for it was common knowledge that General Grand needed little excuse to visit the local taverns.
If they were experimenting on each other tonight, Nina had nothing to worry about. She turned to Alexander, their mostly-dog chimera. “Good boy, Alexander! Who’s the best brother?”
He woofed once. Yes.
“Did you miss me while I was at school?”
Woof.
“Do you have any doggy friends to keep you company when I’m not home?”
Aroo. No.
“Let’s go upstairs!”
Alexander whined happily and ran circles around her.
“Mother, may I be excused?”
She glanced up, irked by the interruption. “Yes dear, go back to your books.”
Nina trilled happily at Alexander and raced him back up the stairs to her room.
It was 19:30 hours when she heard the lock click in her door. Experiment time. She flopped onto the soft bed, grateful for the reprieve from participating.
The next morning, she woke to the smell of burnt toast. Why was Daddy making breakfast? Mother often said that he couldn’t cook to save his life.