[Action / Voice]

[automailed]

[Talk about one hell of a morning. Waking up to the draft is bad enough, though truth be told he's kind of grateful for the distraction. But when Edward goes to visit his father's room to fill him in on the news in case he's unaware, he finds it empty, lacking any sign of the man ever living there. He stands in the doorway for a long moment, mulling over how exactly he's supposed to feel about this, then opts to push those feelings aside, shutting the door behind himself and returning to his own room. After the draft, he'll start packing; he isn't sure where he'll go just yet, but he knows that he won't be staying in this house anymore. There's... nothing left for him here. The last of his family is gone.

In his room, he goes to his journal, scrawling out a quick filter directed at his superior, but it fails. He frowns, tries again, only to get the same result. He has no idea where the colonel lives, but the malfunction seems to be answer enough about what's happened.

So. Moving on. Stubbornly he stuffs the journal into his coat pocket, shrugging it on and heading over to the house across the street, to check on the Hughes' family. With Elicia on the draft as well, certain things will need to be discussed. Unfortunately, more bad news will await him once he reaches the door.

All three. All three of them in one day, just... gone.

It isn't until later on that he finally returns to the journal, this time with a public announcement.]

Van Hohenheim, Roy Mustang, and... Maes Hughes... have all returned to their world. Just wanted to let everyone know.

If anyone's looking for a sparring partner to get ready for the draft, I'll be at the Battle Dome. Second room, assuming it's open.

[And true to his word, that's where he'll be for most of the afternoon; the rest of the day will be spent at the Hughes' house trying to help what's left of his (extended) family deal with this painfully familiar loss. He can be found at any of the locations mentioned and will be seeking out certain friends and castmates.]

Comments

[automailed]

You're the one who can sense how many souls someone has. At the end of the battle, he said he only had one left- his own. Think it could've been true?

[Because he can't imagine Hohenheim lying about that.]

[avaricious]

[He frowns, thinking back to then. It wasn't something he had really thought about at the time, but...]

After the death of Greed and Father, I could no longer sense any pools of souls. Only the stone in Ran Fan's possession.

[Hohenheim had so many. It was impossible to miss.]

[automailed]

So it's true.

[Ugh... he'd been looking for confirmation, but at the same time he hadn't wanted it.]

After the fight- after I got Al back- he disappeared.

[avaricious]

He still had the soul he offered you, right? Maybe he simply had other things to do first.

[Though Ling is inclined to trust Ed's instincts here. Still. He rather did like the old guy.]

[automailed]

Other things... heh. [Edward's laugh is short-lived and insincere.] Well, it's not the first time he's walked out on his family.

[avaricious]

The victory in Central was a costly one. I'm sorry if you've lost him.

[Sincere. He has no trouble relating the loss of a father figure like that. While his own father may not be alive for much longer when he returns to Xing, it's Fu he thinks of.]

[automailed]

[A pause. Ling doesn't often get sincere, so when it happens, it's worth taking note of it.]

...Thanks, Ling.

[avaricious]

[He nods.]

So. About that sparring?

[automailed]

...Yeah, come on. [Jarred slightly out of his mood, Edward heads over to the nearest room's panel, punching in the start of a program for the moon.]

[avaricious]

[And then they went and beat the crap out of each other in Zero G!]