HoS: LG : Discovering Illusions

[bard_linn]

Discovering Illusions

“Mrs. Curtis?” Izumi looked up at the nervous soldier. “Um, Major Armstrong said that he found who you were looking for.”

Izumi stood, abandoning the documents on the table. “Where is he?”

“At the South Entrance-”

Izumi left before the soldier finished. Her feet quickly led her to the door. “Did you find him?”

Armstrong nodded. “Tucker is a chimera, so he is difficult to hide.”

“Then let’s go.”

Armstrong stopped her with a gentle hand on her arm. “Mrs. Curtis. We can not officially investigate this. Tucker is considered dead to the government. You will receive no support.”

Izumi shook the hand off. “From the look of his work, a non-alchemist could easily capture him. I’ll be fine.”

Armstrong watched her leave. The Elric brother’s teacher was an extremely strong person. They’d been lucky to bring her in under a ‘consulting’ case on some rare documents she was familiar with. That allowed them to keep her involvement reasonably secret. But it also limited the amount of help they could give her. With State Alchemists still in existence, they would never allow an outsider on such a case. But as the Elric’s teacher they could trust her, unlike many State Alchemists who would do just about anything for fame and money. The Strong Armed Alchemist only hoped she would be safe.

Heedless to Armstrong’s worries, Izumi wandered deeper into the city. She found the abandoned house without difficulty. Slipping inside, she surveyed the scene. From the state of the kitchen there was clearly more than one person living here. An abandoned toy revealed that at least one of them was a child.

Izumi heard a muffled thud. She carefully treaded towards the sound, alert for any threat. She entered the room that had been serving as the alchemy lab. Her eyes widened. There was a complex chalk diagram on the floor. Thick black candles burned at each of the four major corners. A strange sent tainted the air, some sort of incense, mixed with the smell of burning blood and something she couldn’t quite identify. A little girl sat next to a tall chimera in the center of the diagram, her dress covered in blood. She stood and ran into Izumi’s arms. “Help! Papa’s dead! He’s dead!!”

Izumi carefully scooped the child into her arms. She didn’t even notice that all of her suspicions vanished the moment she touched the girl. She no longer wondered why the child hadn’t screamed, who had killed Tucker or even felt the need to question the small form in her arms.

As the alchemist carried her from the room, Nina allowed an extremely satisfied expression flash across her face. Her eyes flashed violet once as she glanced at the ruined body behind her. Yes, this would work perfectly.