The Frost Alchemist

Chapter 9: Promise

Three weeks passed and I drifted in and out of consciousness because of the pain. At the end of the third week Winry attached my new leg. It hurt worse than it ever had before. People came in and out. Alex and Alphonse guarded me 24/7, there wasn't a time of day in which one of them wasn't at my door or in my room. Miles had gone back to Ishval during my second week of recovery. Fuhrer Mustang refused to hear me out. I was still off the case.

"I want to go to her grave," I said to the entire Elric family. "I wasn't allowed to leave to attend her funeral. I need to pay my respects to Alexis. I owe her that."

"You still need to heal, I'm not sure you should be walking," Winry said.

"When will you all stop treating me like I'm fragile! After all I've been through now you decide to treat me like I'll break?! After I've finally found my voice again?!" I screamed at them. I was sick of being treated like this.

"You almost died Levy!" Edward yelled.

"You're one to talk! How many times were you an inch away from death?" I yelled at him. It was a low blow, but it was the truth. "I am not some fragile girl. I am a State Alchemist. I was raised in Briggs. The Ice Queen is my adoptive mother. I've had to work harder than anyone to get where I am. An innocent girl was killed trying to protect me. So I am going to her grave and I am going to pay my respects and then I am going after her killer and anyone who tries to stop me be damned, because I am not going to give up."

"You know, Ed, you would've made the same argument when you were her age and you went through less than her," Winry admitted.

"That's a lie," Edward protested.

"Really Brother?" Alphonse asked and Edward glared at him.

"You're not much better Al," May added and Alphonse glared at her.

"I'll take her, besides Aunt May and Uncle Al have been teaching me their alchemy, I can protect her," Maes offered.

"I'll go to. I can monitor her that way if something happens I'll be there to help," Sara added.

"Very well, but you're riding in a wheelchair. No standing on that leg for another half a week," Winry conceded.

"Fine," I lied. Everyone shuffled out and I pulled on a skirt (Winry wouldn't approve of pants) and a shirt. I called for them to come back in and Maes rolled in a wheelchair. He and Sara helped me into it and then we left. We didn't talk on the way to the cemetery and when we got there Maes and Sara knew where to go, they had attended the funeral. I asked him to stop about ten feet away from her grave. I moved my legs and set them on the ground.

"Levy," Sara warned.

"I'll be okay," I replied and I pushed myself to stand. I swayed back and forth a bit but stayed standing. I slowly walked over to her grave quickly adjusting to my new leg and base. I knelt in front of her grave.

"I'm sorry Alexis. I'm so sorry. I should've looked at you, I should have turned around, maybe you would still be alive. But I didn't and you're dead and you couldn't even be buried. I'm sorry this happened, I'm sorry you were assigned to me, this should have never happened.

"I'm supposed to be stronger than this. How can I help anyone if I can't protect one person? I'm useless. I couldn't save you. My automail got destroyed. I almost died. I could do nothing to stop it, I'm so damn useless."

"You aren't," Sara said as she placed her hand on my shoulder. I didn't acknowledge her. "My mom told me about the countless times my dad and Uncle Al almost died, sometimes multiple times in one day and don't get her started on how many time they both ended up in pieces. But they ended up saving the entire country."

"And they also lost people. My namesake is just an example they also lost a little girl named Nina," Maes said. I knew about both stories. Maes was in the military, he was close to the Fuhrer and was killed by a homunculus (Oliver didn't like keeping secrets from me) and Nina was the daughter of a State alchemist and he combined her and her dog for his experiment, they were killed out of mercy by Scar. Edward and Al were close to both of them.

"You're a brilliant fighter and an even better alchemist, but someone is always better," Maes said.

"I'm going to find him. I'm going to make him pay for what he's done," I murmured quietly.

"Then we better stick around," Sara said and I looked up at her. "I've been training with my mom since I was a kid, I can build and repair automail just as easily as she can, I also know a bit of alkahestry that Aunt May taught me."

"And you could use another alchemist with you," Maes said.

"I can't drag you two into this, you could die," I replied as I stood up and faced them.

"Hey we're Elrics, either we go looking for trouble or trouble finds us, it's about time we live up to our name," Maes replied and I gave them a small smile. 

"Then I guess we're working together now," I replied.

"No, now we get to convince our family," Sara corrected.

"You want to do that?" Maes asked me.

"Why me?" I asked in return.

"Because you can actually speak out against them," he replied.

"Fine," I conceded. "We should head back." I stepped away from Alexis' grave, I looked back once again. I'm not going to let your death mean nothing, I promise.