Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Magnolia.
June, x785.
The next morning, just before sunrise, Edward Elric, who had booked a hotel room with his brother, Alphonse, slowly opened his eyes.
"Good morning, Brother." Alphonse said while sitting cross-legged on the other bed in the room.
"*Yawn* Good morning, Al." Ed said as he wiped his eyes with his right hand. "What time is it?"
"The sun should rise soon." Alphonse replied as he moved to sit on the edge of his bed. "You should probably get cleaned up. Lt. Colonel… I mean Mr. Hughes should be here soon."
Last night, before parting with the Elrics, Maes made sure to correct their term of address. Since he was no longer a member of the kingdom's military, he asked them to stop calling him, Lt. Colonel. He asked them to call him Maes, instead.
However, as an elder both Edward and Alphonse respected, they could not bring themselves to call him by his first name. So, they opted to call him Mr. Hughes, instead.
"Yeah, I know." Edward said as he pushed himself up from the mattress. We're supposed to go and watch the wizards of Fairy Tail train today. And that Alfonzo guy said he was going to have a fight with someone after that, right?"
"That's right." Alphonse replied with a nod. "And to be honest, I'm really curious about the way they train. I wonder how different it is from the way we train."
"Yeah, I'm kinda curious as well." Edward said as he finally got out of bed. "Besides, I want to see how strong that guy really is. I mean, there are a lot of rumors about him floating around the kingdom. ON top of that, someone who claims that he could send something into orbit should be pretty strong, right?"
"You'd think so." Alphonse replied.
With that, Edward reached his luggage, pulled out a change of clothes, and made his way towards the bathroom.
"Anyway, I'll get washed up real quick." Edward said as he pulled the bathroom door open. "Then, we can wait for Mr. Hughes and maybe have breakfast together."
A moment later, Edward closed the door behind him, leaving Alphonse to wait while he got washed up.
About half an hour later, Edward and Alphonse were making their way down to the hotel's dining room. However, just as they finished climbing down the stairs, they caught sight of Maes, who was waiting near the stairs for them with a smile.
"Hey, boys, good morning." Maes said as he straightened up and approached the Elrics. "Were you about to have breakfast?"
"Good morning, Mr. Hughes." Edward replied. "That's right."
"Did you come to join us?" Alphonse asked.
"Sort of." Maes replied with his smile widening. "I came to bring you to have one of the best meals you'll ever have in your lives."
Hearing that, both Edward and Alphonse looked at Maes skeptically. On top of that, Alphonse was giving off an envious aura. Since, for obvious reasons, he would not be able to partake of such a meal.
"Now, don't look at me like that, Al." Maes said, his smile turning wry as he spoke. "You'll be able to add it to that list of things to eat once you get your body back."
"Yeah… I guess." Alphonse replied.
"Anyway, let's go." Maes said as he turned around. "Let's go before it's too late."
With that, Maes led Edward and Alphonse out of the hotel. Then, they made their way to the Fairy Tail guild hall.
"Seriously?" Edward asked as the trio approached the guild hall. "You brought us here?"
"Hey, trust me, Ed." Maes said with a smile. "You'll thank me for this later."
A moment later, Maes, Edward, and Alphonse entered the guild hall. And Edward and Alphonse were thoroughly flabbergasted when they did. For no other reason than the fact that there was a brawl going on when they arrived.
"What the hell is going on?" Edward asked in shock.
"Oh, don't worry about that." Maes said with a shrug. "This happens at least four times a day."
Hearing that, Edward and Alphonse turned incredulous gazes towards Maes. Meanwhile, Maes was scanning the guild hall for the person he was looking for. Then, when he finally found him, he raised his voice over the ruckus.
"Hey, Alfonzo, I wanna use my points!" Maes shouted loudly. "I need two meals for breakfast."
In fact, since Maes doesn't go on quests, it should actually be impossible for him to accumulate points. However, as a member of Fairy Tail, Alfonzo and Ur thought it would be unfair if that were the case. So, they worked out a deal that he would get points equivalent to an A-Class quest per week. And if he damaged any guild facilities during a brawl, his points would be deducted at the same rate as the other wizards in the guild.
"Oh, are you going to treat the boys to breakfast, Maes, Darling?" Gracia said, approaching the three men from behind with Winry and a sleepy Elicia in tow. "I think they would love Alfonzo's cooking."
Hearing the words, "Alfonzo's cooking," the little Elicia's sleepiness was blown away. Then, she looked at her father expectantly. Even Winry, who had not tasted Alfonzo's cooking since he stayed in Resenbool for the Techno Organic Metal quest, had her eyes light up, as well.
Turning back when he heard Gracia's voice, Maes was just in time to see the change in little Elicia and Winry's expressions. Then, with a wry smile, he turned back towards the guild hall.
"Actually, better make that four meals, Alfonzo!" Maes shouted.
"Got it!" Alfonzo shouted over the ongoing brawl while slapping aside Jet, who was sent flying towards him as he walked towards the kitchen. "*Sigh* Can't these guys wait until after breakfast to start fighting?"
With that, while Alfonzo made his way into the kitchen, Maes led Winry, Gracia, little Elicia, Edward, and Alphonse to a table that had not been knocked over during the brawl and took their seats. And just like the Elric brothers, Winry was thoroughly confused at the sight of the brawl that was taking place.
"Winry!" Sun shouted just as the group of six took their seats.
Hearing the familiar voice, Winry smiled as she turned her head towards the voice. At the same time, the other five also looked in the voice's direction.
And when they did, they saw Sun approaching. Though, she was dodging between all the flying attacks with a level of grace that made it look like she was dancing.
"Oh, she's pretty good." Edward said.
"Yeah, she's making it look easy while moving through all this chaos." Alphonse added.
"Big Sis, do you know Big Sis Sun?" Little Elicia asked curiously.
"Yeah, she and Alfonzo came to my house for a quest a while ago." Winry replied as she stood up from her seat at the table.
"She's the girl that called me short last night." Edward muttered while glaring at the approaching Sun.
"Technically, she only repeated what she heard from Granny." Alphonse replied.
A moment later, Sun had arrived by the table. Then, without hesitation, she pulled Winry into a hug.
"It's been a long time, Winry!" Sun squealed happily.
"Yeah, it really has." Winry replied, sounding just as happy. "How have you been?"
"Great!" Sun said with a smile. "I was even a candidate for the S-Class exam last year."
Like that, Sun and Winry continued to chat, pausing briefly so that Winry could place her order for breakfast. However, their happy conversation was cut short when a plate came flying from the brawl, smashing apart on the side of Sun's head.
Immediately, Sun's atmosphere changed. Then, with her head lowered and her bangs covering her eyes from view, she turned towards the ongoing brawl.
"Hey, Winry, I'll be back in a few minutes." Sun said in a menacing tone. "I need to give some of those guys a piece of my mind."
"Oh… Okay." Winry replied, clearly taken aback at Sun's change.
A moment later, Sun charged into the battle while Winry, Edward, and Alphonse watched blankly. And when they saw Sun bulldozing through the other brawling Fairy Tail wizards, they did not know how to react.
"Go, Big Sis Sun!" Little Elicia cheered happily as she watched the brawl.
Meanwhile, Maes and Gracia could only watch with wry smiles.
Eventually, Alfonzo, with a metal platter floating behind him, arrived at the table. Then, he placed a plate in front of each of the group of six.
"Hey, Hughes." Alfonzo greeted with a smile. "Since you were treating our visitors and didn't wanna use up all your points, I threw in breakfast for you and Gracia, too."
"Really?" Maes said while looking down at his plate with surprise.
"Yeah, but don't tell anyone, got it." Alfonzo added with a smile. "I don't wanna deal with the hooligans in our guild if they ever found out. And you know if they start pestering me, things will get even worse than what's going on right now, right?"
"Don't worry, we won't say anything." Maes said in a solemn tone. "But still, thanks for doing this, Alfonzo."
"Don't mention it." Alfonzo replied while waving off Maes thanks. Then, he turned to Alphonse, who he knew would not be able to eat the food on his plate, and leaned close to his helmet. "I already know you don't have a body in there, Al."
Hearing that, Alphonse stiffened instinctively. Unbothered by Alphonse's reaction, Alfonzo continued.
"I've actually done a lot of research on the soul in the past few months." Alfonzo said. "On top of that, I've also done a lot of research on giving people their senses back with my Automail. So, don't ask any questions, for now. Just pretend to eat the food somehow, trust me, you'll thank me for this."
With that, Alfonzo patted Alphonse on the shoulder before he walked away. At the same time, Alfonzo made a slight modification to Alphonse's armor with his [Metal Magic].
"Alphonse, are you okay?" Edward asked with concern while switching between looking at his brother with concern and glaring at Alfonzo's retreating back. "What did that guy say to you?"
"He knows…" Alphonse muttered. "but how?"
Hearing that, Edward narrowed his eyes. Then, he glanced at Hughes, who was engaged in conversation with Gracia while eating his food.
Meanwhile, Winry, watched her childhood friends with concern after seeing their reactions to what Alfonzo whispered to Alphonse.
"Hey, are you gonna eat?" Maes asked while subtly eyeing Alphonse's plate, knowing that he would not be able to eat it. "You don't wanna let the food get cold, do you?"
Snapping back to the here and now, Edward turned his attention to the plate in front of him.
"We can talk to him about that later, Al." Edward said as he picked up his fork and knife. "For now, I wanna see if all the hype was worth it."
"Yeah…" Alphonse said blankly. Then, he remembered what Alfonzo said about pretending to eat the food. "I guess I'll just give it a try. It's not like poison can hurt me with a body like this."
Then, Alphonse picked up a fork and the plate in front of him, surprising all those who knew his secret, before turning his back to the table and facing the wall. A moment later, after a bit of hesitation, Alphonse raised the face guard on his helmet before shoveling the food into his empty suit of armor.
"Alphonse, what are you doing?" Edward asked in a worried tone with his first forkful of food inches away from his mouth.
"Oh my, I think this is the first time I've ever seen Al eat something." Gracia said in surprise. "Usually, he eats away from the eyes of other people."
Meanwhile, the little Elicia simply ate her breakfast happily. But Winry and Maes were just as confused as Edward. However, before they could question Alphonse any further, Alphonse had already finished his plate of food and flipped his face guard back down. Then, with the plate still in his hand, he stood up explosively.
"It's so good!" Alphonse shouted, loud enough to be heard over the ongoing ruckus in the hall.
Hearing Alphonse's loud shout, the brawl stopped momentarily. Then, they realized that the one shouting was one of the people who came In with Maes and realized that it must be that guy's first taste of Alfonzo's cooking. So, they simply returned to the brawl without missing a beat.
Gracia and Elicia, on the other hand, were surprised by Alphonse's loud shout. However, they simply smiled knowingly in response. At the same time Winry, Maes, and Edward were completely confused.
However, Maes recovered quicker than the others, only because he was made aware of the guild's exclusive detection spell, [Magic Power Detection], after joining the guild officially. So, he was able to piece together that Alfonzo had done something to make it so that Alphonse could taste the food. Though, he had no idea what he could have possibly done.
Meanwhile, Alfonzo had finally reached the table where he and his friends usually sat. Though, he did have to knock out a few people on his way. Then, when he took a seat, Elicia jumped over the table and sat down next to him.
"Did you just do what I think you did, Fonzie?" Elicia asked incredulously.
"Yeah, I did." Alfonzo replied with a smile as a plate lowered itself in front of him from near the ceiling.
"How does that even work?" Elicia asked curiously.
"I'll tell you about it later." Alfonzo replied while raising a finger to his lips. "I don't think everyone knows yet."
Hearing that, Elicia looked around and noticed that Laki, Levy, Mirajane, Bisca, and Marin, who had not participated in the brawl, were looking at her and Alfonzo with curiosity. Then, she simply nodded her head as she pulled her plate over to her new seat with her threads.
Meanwhile, after realizing that Alfonzo and Elicia were not going to continue their conversation, the other girls clicked their tongues in disappointment before they continued to eat their own breakfasts.
And just like that, breakfast continued peacefully… Well, as peacefully as a breakfast at Fairy Tail could.