The Price of Life [Fullmetal Alchemist]

Chapter Forty

Not Absolute Fools

•••

One alchemist woke up comfortably. Warm and snuggled up in two layers of blankets and curled against the wall of a cell, blissfully unaware of the cold as he opened his eyes. The other, however, woke up a shivering mess, clinging to her only heat source - her green coat.

Once her body recognized she was awake, she immediately sat up to perform a fit of sneezes. Sonia might have regretted her actions from last night. Just a smidge. Her head spun as she looked to Edward and Alphonse.

"I told you," the suit of armor chastised gently.

"Huh?" the older brother asked, dazed. He realized she had no covers and examined his own. He had two.

"You looked cold," she stated simply, hoping her face was already red from the sickness so they wouldn't notice her embarrassment. Her voice was terribly stuffy.

Ed didn't know how to react. "Oh," was all he could say, completely baffled.

"You're-" she sneezed "-welcome."

He handed back the blanket. They touched hands briefly during the exchange and the boy noticed how cold her hands were.

"It did no good to have you get sick."

"Rather have just one of us sick instead of both of us. You looked like an ice cube."

"I'm telling you, Edward, you should really get your automail checked out for the cold," another voice popped up from outside the cell. It was the medical woman from yesterday, and she was holding a steaming cup of coffee. Sonia's eyes lit up; she loved coffee! She couldn't remember the last time she even had any. The other girl had noticed this and raised her eyebrows, then offered it to her. With her restraints, it was hard to grab, but she took it gratefully and gulped it down, it giving her warmth to battle the cold atmosphere.

It was black coffee, her favorite. Not that she had too many chances to try any other type of coffee since all Roy drank was black.

While the hot drink helped, Sonia's body quickly reminded her of her current illness as she coughed and set the empty mug on the floor. It was strange that the year was 1915 and still neither alchemists nor doctors could figure out a true cure for the common cold.

"That's gonna be 100 cenz, little lady," the woman chirped.

Sonia leaned back onto the wall in exhaustion.

"Seriously?!" She started fishing through her pockets, but Ed raised a hand and took 100 cenz out of his suitcase.

"On me." He answered the question before it was asked. "For last night and stuff."

"Thank you."

"You can thank me by feeling better," he dismisses, then looks back to the one outside of the jail cell. He hands her the money and she pockets it. "Do you have any idea when we can get out of here?"

"Well," she starts, "I heard the General wants to see you again to have a little chat. She'll eventually get what she's looking for out of you, y'know."

Ed grimaces at her, but she just smiles then walks away, humming a tune on the way out.

"So what now?" Al inquires, his tone disappointed.

"We wait."

•••

Sure enough, General Armstrong comes down personally to speak to the teenagers once noon rolls around, along with Captain Buccaneer. She finds them playing tic-tac-toe and other childish games on the wall and floor with old chalk that Sonia originally used for transmutations back before she learned to perform alchemy without a circle. She merely scoffs and gestures for her subordinate to unlock the barred door.