The three all looked up to the roof as the reamins of Sloth faded away into nothing as her Philosopher's Stone landed on the ground before disintegrating away effectively ending Sloth.
With that all of the 7 Homunculi had finally been defeated.
Whatever was left no one knew.
For now though, peaceful times were coming for HQ, at least, that's what Akari thought until Edward had approached her and said something that Akari didn't wanna hear.
Turns out Edward still hadn't gotten over what had happened between him and Alex as he looked at her.
"No offense to you Ms. Akari. I'm truly grateful for you helping me and my brother out. However, what happened yesterday is something I just cant let slide by so easily regardless of whether or not Alex was lying or not. I gotta tell him something now. Take me to him." Said Edward.
Akari sighed and reluctantly agreed. "Fine. But first let's rest up for a bit. We're all pretty tired." She said.
Edward agreed as he and Alphonse followed Akari as she took the two to a nearby resting area to ease themselves for a bit.
After spending a few hours resting, Ed got up and dusted himself off. "Time to go." He said.
Akari sighed fearing on what could happen but also got up herself as well as Al.
The three continued their trek back to the city.
Eventually they made it to a crossroads when Alphonse said that he wilks infrom Roy of Sloth's defeat.
Ed and Akari nodded and the two continued to make their way to back to the apartment complex until eventually they had walked up the steps to the front door.
Akari took a deep sigh and opened the door as she and Edward both walked into the apartment room.
It was quiet and seemed empty until Akari heard someone from the hallway approach the living room.
That ended up being Alex who initially was happy to see his mom but frowned the moment he caught glimpse of Edward as the two just stared at one another, Akari ready to prevent another altercation at a moment's notice.
The two slowly approached one another and stood face to face as the feeling in the room was palpable to say the very least.
"Wanna take another shot at me? Go ahead. I'll allow it this time." Said Alex as Ed merely chuckled.
"Alex. Me and you have fought through tough circumstances and situations throughout out whole lives. We've had to go up against the toughest of adversaries and enemies on a frequent occurrence. Through the years we've both grown alongside each other, becoming the two shining beacons of Alchemy. You, being the nephew of the Flame Alchemist and apprentice of King Bradley. And me, being the young upstart alchemical prodigy. We're both prodigies. Deep down, I had a feeling it would happen one day, though with less tension. After what happened though, I can't hide it any longer." Said Ed going on a long speech.
Akari was just thankful nothing serious had happened while Alex was just waiting for Ed to get to the point.
Edward's next choice of words though would shock the two as he took a deep breathe.
"Alex. You've been someone I've wanted to fight the most for a long time now. I'm throwing down the challenge now. Alex Mustang vs Edward Elric. Alchemical Prodigy vs Alchemical Prodigy. What do you say?" Asked Edward.
Akari was shocked to hear this as Alex kept quiet initially.
Admittedly he had also wanted to fight Edward for a while now but he has hoped that it would be a friendly sparring match than a full blown duel fueled with bad blood between the two.
Alex knew since their intial brawl that their relationship wasn't just gonna go back to normal without at least one more confrontation.
It seemed Edward had thought the same since he himself wanted this fight.
Alex took a deep sigh before nodding in agreement.
"Alright then. Challenge accepted Edward. In two days, Planeptune Coliseum. See you there." Said Alex already with the location and date in mind.
Edward nodded himself in agreement as the two shook hands making the duel official between them.
"I'll go set up the match with the organizers then." Said Edward as he walked out of the apartment room before looking back at Alex one last time. "See ya till then."
With that Edward left, closing the apartment door.
That left Alex and Akari in the living room, with the former looking at the latter and giving her a reassuring smile.
"Don't worry. It'll be okay." He said before he walked back to his room.
Akari sighed knowing that this was unavoidable regardless on whether or not she had wanted it to happen.
She had already been through enough for today as she decided to go to her room and rest for the remainder of the day.
[The Next Day]
Akari was currently sitting at a cafe drinking a cup of coffee enjoying time to herself.
The day had already gotten off to quite the start when Akame had informed her that Alex had left early that morning seemingly to train for his big fight tomorrow afternoon.
Shortly after that Akari heard from Alphonse that Edward had done the exact same thing that morning.
It was clear that to the two that this fight could easily be the most important in their lives, especially with the fact that a large audience would be watching the two.
As she was pondering to herself she saw Roy arrive and sit in front of her.
"Well well. Did you stalk me like a creep? If you wanted a coffee date you could've just told me." Jokingly said Akari as Roy chuckled.
"Nah. I just felt like enjoying a cup of coffee myself. Saw you at the window so I thought why not. Anyways, I assume you've heard of the fight tomorrow." Said Roy as Akari nodded.
"Obviously. I was the location where the fight was first made after all." She said.
"I see. Any thoughts about it? You seem a bit off judging by your body language." He said.
"Well, I'm just worried. The two were really good friends. Brothers in arms basically. And all it took to split them apart was me being an idiot even if I didn't intend to be one. What if, the two don't ever repair their bond?" Asked Akari.
Roy took a moment to answer before he finally did.
"Listen to me Akari. I'm pretty sure the two boys know where their bond stands. Whether it gets repaired or not is up to them. They know this fight more than just who wins or loses. It's about proving a point to one another. They won't care that they're being watched. Their only focus will be on one and the other. Whatever the result is we just gotta accept it." He said.
Akari thanked him for his words as she understood it all now.
Now matter what happened, this was their bond now.
It wasn't ever gonna be the same after last time.
Maybe it'll be fixed.
Maybe it won't.
The only certain thing was that the fight was approaching.
Chapter 38: End