The Water Alchemist

The Price of Freedom

Welcome back to The Water Alchemist. I don't own any of the intellectual property of Fullmetal Alchemist.

Chapter Twenty-Six

The Price of Freedom

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"You know, I was counting on you coming to investigate miss sacrifice, but I never imagined you'd get the Colonel involved," Envy said with a sigh, addressing me. I sucked a sharp breath in through my teeth. Of all the outcomes I had imagined when rescuing Hughes, this wasn't one of them. Envy seemed to share the same sentiment. He directed his gaze to Mustang, a vein in his forehead throbbing. "How'd you even know it wasn't Hughes?"

"Hughes cared more about his life than his station," Mustang said plainly. "That was my first clue. My second was how you talked about his wife and daughter. The Maes Hughes I know can't shut up when it comes to them."

I looked back to Envy, mentally kicking myself. Mustang was as perceptive as they got, but how had I missed that? I chalked my terrible interpersonal knowledge up to just being relieved to see Hughes alive. But I was on guard now.

"Hmm, what an annoyingly observant man. We always knew you'd be a handful," Envy said, inspecting his nails.

"Marina, is he a part of the group that took you and Hughes?" Mustang asked in a whisper, his eye trained on the man still behind the bars of the cell, partially hidden in the darkness. "What does he keep calling you a sacrifice for?"

"Yeah, he is, and it's a long story," I said. Envy shot me a look.

"What happened to keeping quiet, huh?" he asked, his hands on his hips.

I gulped. I figured it wouldn't make much of a difference if I told him right in front of Envy. If I recalled correctly, they considered Mustang a valuable candidate for sacrifice, so it was lucky of me to have him by my side.

"Where is Hughes," Mustang asked sternly, ignoring Envy's previous gripe with me. Envy frowned at the Colonel.

"You were supposed to be satiated by our little ruse. The Colonel gets his proof Hughes is dead and stops snooping around— that was the idea. Yet, here you are, causing trouble!" he sighed exasperatedly.

"Where is he," Mustang growled, cocking the gun. Envy raised his arms in surrender, pumping them as he spoke.

"Woah there, Colonel. Hughes is just fine, don't you worry. There's no need for a fight. I just came here for the girl," he said, pointing at me. I tensed up, pointing at myself incredulously. Me? I thought. Why does he want me? "If only you'd handed her over to that Private, my job would be ten times easier, but no, you just had to take her yourself, stubborn man." I blinked a few times. Had Envy tried to nab me earlier as that Private we met?

"What business do you have with the girl?" Mustang asked, taking the words from my mouth. My tongue felt too numb to ask for myself.

"Father would like to get a good look at her for himself," he said casually. My eyes widened slightly, but I quickly averted my gaze. I wasn't supposed to know who Father was, I remembered. "Wrath saw something... interesting about you."

I furrowed my brows, trying to understand just what was going on. My heart was racing, and my mind was failing to keep up.

What exactly had I done to garner the interest of Father? I wondered. Was this the reason behind this show, to draw me to them? Did they know I'd come here to check on Hughes? I looked up to Envy, a little unconvinced. If that were the case, they still didn't seem to plan for Mustang's involvement. Mustang shuffled in front of me, interrupting my thoughts.