"It was foolish and stupid! You all could have died!" Olivier screamed.
"We had to do something! We couldn't just wait while you guys decided what to do!" Maes shouted back.
"It was childish and reckless, Levy barely made it out alive," Ed added. "You lot claim to care, but she could have died."
"It was her idea! We all knew the risks but we just couldn't stand it anymore," Trisha defended.
"Do we look like we care whose idea it was?" Al asked. Winry stood at my bedside not telling anyone that I had woken up.
"That enough from all of you," Winry said and everyone looked at her and then noticed me awake. I was breathing easy and there was only a minor pain in my stomach, I was unsure what had happened here. My memory was either gone or blank. "You have room for judgment of them?"
"Win-" Ed said but Winry held up her hand silencing her husband.
"You're trying to tell me that the two of you would not have done the same thing? Because I cannot count how many idiotic and reckless things you two pulled when you were their age. And Olivier you jumped and still jump into an alchemist fight without thought. They did not take my daughter because she could be injured. The two strongest alchemists were left to fight and it was a mistake that led to Levy's injury. Ed, how many time was your arm destroy? Or one of you was close to death? Hell Alex is half dead and took no risks that these kids did. So stop judging and yelling at them for something you yourself would have once done," Winry lectured.
"But we're smarter now," Al said.
"Hindsight is 20/20, Al. Levy, would you still have made the decision to go if you knew you would almost die?" Winry asked.
"Yes. Those alchemists are safe and so are Mustang and Maes and Trisha," I replied.
"Well then, that's the end of it," she said.
"Win-" Ed began and this time she just glared at her husband.
"That. Is. The. End," she said and no one argued with the mechanic. "Now Levy, May and the doctor were able to most deal with your injury, but you must take it easy in case something was missed and you are not 100%, so you will not be coming with us."
"Not going where?" I asked.
"To end this," Selim said, I hadn't realized he was in the room, but he was there in the shadows. "Father is angry and no longer trusts me, for obvious reasons. We need to finish it now or we will never be able to."
"And the tunnel?" I asked.
"We got part of it," Maes said. "But when Mustang and Selim came to us after what happened down there, we knew we had to come back. We didn't finish the area."
"But it'll slow him down," Trisha added.
"Well, you're not leaving me behind. There's no way in hell that's happening," I said.
"Levy, you need to heal," Selim said.
"Like hell I do. I'm fine, it doesn't hurt that much and I'm as much in this fight as anyone else, so I'm not going to sit here while you all go off and fight," I argued. "I'm using my alchemy, I won't even have to move around that much and if I keep Selim by my side, he'll keep me safe."
"Becuase he did so well last time," Ed muttered.
"Last time he was still acting like he was on the other side, and as soon as I got hurt he dropped everything and came to me," I defended. "You guys are not leaving me behind."
"She'll find a way to come," Olivier said. "It's what she does."
"So fill me in on the plan," I instructed and Olivier took over the conversation. Father would have to be in the middle just like the last time, which meant we were going to Central. The original fighters were not too excited about going back under, back to the place where the first fight began. They all had their own traumas down there, but it was our best bet to face Father.
"His kid ninjas will be down there, we need to make sure that people who can fight without alchemy or without the use of alchemy circles," I said.
"He'll also have alchemists," Maes added.
"And we'll deal with them both, at least he doesn't have any homunculi this time," Olivier said and the others agreed with her. I read about the other homunculi and how they were taken down, but it was hard and horrifying, I was sincerely glad that Selim was with us. But that meant they would be trying to kill him. All of us. They would be trying to kill all of us.
We left the North in turns so a whole bunch of powerful alchemists and military personnel didn't just arrive in Central, that wasn't smart. We had people watching over my uncle so we didn't have to worry about him.
The other State Alchemists were coming out of hiding and going to destroy the other parts of the tunnel, while we focused on Father and getting rid of him once and for all.
I was part of the second group to go down. I was riding the train with Sara, Selim, and Winry. Ed, Al, Maes, and Mustang were already there. My mother, May, and Trisha would pick up Izumi. The Mustang family and a few other choice friends were coming from other areas.
Sara was curled up in her seat fast asleep and Winry went to go stretch her legs, leaving Selim and me alone. My mother told him that if he left my side that she would personally kill him. Selim was taking that very seriously. He had his arm around me and I leaned into him, enjoying the last few quiet hours we would get.
"I can't convince you to stay away from the fight, can I?" he whispered to me.
"No. Everyone I love is fighting, I'm not going to hide," I replied.
"You've done your part, Lev, really, you've done enough. We got this," he said.
"Sel-"
"No. Listen, right now. I couldn't breathe when you got hurt. I thought you were dying and I... I couldn't do anything to help you. I couldn't think. And I couldn't even begin to think what would have happened if I lost you. I-I can't go through that again Lev, don't make me," he pleaded and I looked at him.
"It's not in me to not fight Selim. I gave up once. I almost died, I stopped speaking. I'm not doing that again, I can't do that again. Not when everyone I care about, love is fighting. I won't be able to stop worrying, and that's not good for me. You can't ask me to stay behind."
He shook his head. "I told you that I couldn't convince you."
I chuckled. "Get used to losing arguments."
"I'm okay with that, but I'll win a few. You know I will," he teased.
We met in the Armstrong house in Central, it was the best space for our rather big group to meet. The Mustangs, The Ishvalan and Miles, Ed and Al, Maes, and the people on my trip. The last group from the North would be down in a couple hours. And in twelve hours our attack would begin so we were finishing the details of the plans.
"Well we need alchemists dealing with the ones attacking us and after Father," I said.
"Al, you, and I will go after Father," the Fuhrer said.
"I'm helping," Selim said. "And per Olivier's orders, I don't leave Levy's side. If I'm not with her she doesn't fight."
"Selim comes as well," Al said. They went into great details about where people will be and what they would be in charge of doing. May and Riza would be in charge of keeping everyone inside of a perimeter and everyone else was split up into groups of how and who they should engage. I watched when Ed walked out, people were arguing so no one really noticed. I got my spot so I followed him and caught up.
"Let's take a walk," I said linking my arm through his.
"Levy," he said obviously he wanted to be alone.
"No, you made me tell you what happened. You made me talk Edward Elric, now it's your turn. You were angry that whole meeting, what's going on in that head of yours?" I asked as we got outside.
"My little brother, you, the Bradley kid, and the Flamehead are in the thick of it. God Olivier and my wife and my children are going to be in the fight more than I am," he said. "I was an alchemist, Levy. A state alchemist. I was a kid and I was great, there wasn't a fight that I wasn't in. And now? I'm not an alchemist. I'm not even a fighter. I was basically told to stand in the background and not get killed."
"So you're mad that you can't fight with us," I said.
He nodded. "It's my kids. My wife and brother. His wife and his daughter. My friends. And I can't help them. I can't fight with them. And I might lose them because I can do nothing."
"How did you lose your alchemy Ed?" I asked. "The records I read, they never said."
He took a deep breath. "I made a deal."
It was chaos. We were attacked as soon as we began our walk down and already the plan was going to hell, Father had more reinforcements than we had thought, but we were going to manage and we were going to finish this.
"We have to keep moving!" Fuhrer Mustang shouted. Selim grabbed my hand and took me into the darkness, it was a moment of peace during the battle.
"Don't let go, I'm grabbing Al and the Fuhrer next, I'll take you right to him," Selim whispered to me.
"Selim, grab Ed too," I instructed.
"It's too dangerous for him with no alchemy," Selim argued.
"Trust me."
"Very well, now hold on tight," he ordered. I nodded and grabbed onto his arm. The guys only fought for a second when Selim grabbed them, old habits mixed with the adrenaline of the fight but once they realized it was me and Selim the three of them calmed down.
"What's Edward doing here?" Fuhrer Mustang asked.
"Shut up and trust me," I replied.
"Is everyone ready for this? Because that was just the beginning, his best alchemists and fighters will be with him. He can't fight in this state, but that doesn't mean it won't be dangerous. We have to get through them before we can reach Father," Selim said.
"We know Selim," I sighed.
"I still don't like you or Edward being here," Fuhrer Mustang reminded with his arms crossed over his chest.
"Well deal with it," I replied. "Selim has my back."
"And my brother?" Al asked.
"Don't worry about it."
"You're not telling us everything," Fuhrer Mustang commented.
"Nope, especially since I don't if it'll work, if it does then you'll know," I replied.
"That's not the answer I want," he replied.
"Enough. While we stand here and talk about this the people you care are fighting, so we need to get going," Selim ordered and no one argued with him. So we kept moving and as we stepped out of the darkness the alchemists and the little kids were already poised to fight, they were expecting us to use Selim to get through the fight.
Mustang and I stepped forward sending out walls of fire and ice on our respective sides before they even had the chance to attack us, but they recovered quickly and their attacks began in full force, we couldn't even make it within ten feet of Father and Ed was just barely able to dodge their attacks. But it was only when my arm was partly destroyed and hanging on by a thread that I decided it had to be done now.
I moved back away from the fight, I watched as Selim looked back at me. I knew he'd keep his promise and keep me safe. And so I knelt on the ground, clapping my hands together and setting them down. A column of ice shot up and broke through the stone, I watched as the sun hit the ice make the column shine. Part one, done. I moved over just a little clapping my hands and setting them down again, this time an alchemy circle was carved into the ground.
"Selim!" I shouted getting his attention. He turned and looked at me.
"No one breaks the circle!" I shouted.
"Levy! No!" Ed shouted just as I set my hands on the edge.
"Hello Truth," I greeted. I was in the white room, with my gate behind me and Truth sitting in front of me.
"Levy," he smiled.
I sat down in front of him. "I've come to make a deal."
"Everyone who comes here comes to make a deal."
"Mine isn't difficult. Quite simple compared to the deal made with Edward Elric all those years ago."
"And your deal?"
"I want my arms back. Take my other leg I don't care, but I want my arms. I don't want to worry about not being able to use alchemy."
"That's all?"
"If that was all I wouldn't be doing this. I won't give up my alchemy. Ed jumped the gun doing that, but I don't want the knowledge you gave me when you first took my limbs. In return I want Selim to be fully human, he can have his memories, but he's not Pride anymore. And please don't do that until the fight is over, I can't leave him defenseless. Also, Father never gets out again. Ever."
He turned his head to the side. "You're willing to give up that knowledge for a half being and the destruction of its creator?"
"Selim is a person and he's the man I love. I'd give everything for him, and I know what he would do to get me back. As far as Father goes, if I can prevent the death of who knows how many people by getting rid of him then I'd give you everything. But I know you work on equality and it doesn't take everything I am to do this. So yeah I'm willing to give it up because this won't be the last time I have this knowledge. You gave me the knowledge and so you took your price, but that means that knowledge can be learned, can be earned. I won't take the easy way, I never have."
"Deal." His hand stretched out towards me.
"One more thing."
"Yes?"
"Did Sara make her deal?"
His smile grew. "She did."
"Then it ends today." I shook his hand.