But Kip didn’t see any of this.
“No … It’s a lie … It has to be.”
In a daze, he took one step back, then another, then turned and staggered out of the room, muttering to himself.
“It can’t be true. Not Luon … He’d never … He’s been looking for my real parents … He wouldn’t kill them … He’s lying …”
Then the picture book he carried—the one Luon promised that his real father would read to him—began to feel very heavy. It slid out of his hands and fell onto the floor with a soft thump.
An incredible booming sound thundered from the floor above, and chunks of the ceiling fell down around him, but Kip stood still, his eyes wide open, staring into space.
Then he heard someone calling Luon’s name on the floor above. Kip reached out for his book, but instead his fingertips found a piece of rubble the size of his fist.
Grabbing the rock tightly, Kip began walking slowly up the stairs.
luon opened his eyes and groaned. He was lying on the third floor landing, where he had fallen—along with much of the floor—after the fight with Edward. He had been unconscious for only a moment. The dust clouds kicked up by the collapse of the ceiling still swirled around him.
Luon lifted himself out of the rubble and tried to stand, but he quickly fell to his knees. He groaned. A searing pain shot through his chest. It was the same place where Edward had struck him, but his agony ran deeper than Edward’s blow.
“The only father Kip will ever have …” Luon whispered, looking down at the floor. The thought never occurred to him before. For so long, he had believed that the only kindness he could offer Kip was to bring his real parents back—not as some kind of atonement, not to win forgiveness. He merely wanted to restore the family he had torn apart.
The one who should hug Kip was his friend, not him.
This unwavering truth was all that drove him, until Edward’s words turned that truth into pain that gnawed at Luon’s heart.
“What do you want me to do?” he grimaced, driving a fist into the floor.
If Luon told him everything, Kip would be devastated. Edward had said that, as long as he was alive, he could still make things right. But how could he when he had only sadness and misery to offer the boy? The thought made him hang his head in shame.
As Luon lay there, pain burning in his chest, he heard the sound of footsteps coming through the rubble. He lifted his eyes expecting to see Edward and Alphonse, but standing before him was …
“Kip?”
Kip was in Lambsear. He couldn’t be here. For a moment, Luon was too shocked to think, but then he remembered they were in danger—the military had the building surrounded.
Luon reflexively ran toward Kip, but then he stopped short.
Kip stood motionless, a stone clenched tightly in his hand. He stared up at Luon with an unwavering gaze.
“Did you kill them, Luon?” he said, his voice lacking any warmth. “Did you kill my mom and dad?”
Luon stood frozen, unable to move or speak.
“You lied to me! You said you’d bring my real father home!” Kip shouted, hefting the stone in his hand above his head. Yet he did not throw it.
His knuckles white, his fingers clenched around the stone, Kip began to cry.
He knew in his head what the old man had said about his real parents, but he didn’t know in his heart. All he knew was the Luon who held him in his arms and read him book after book whenever he came home.
He wished he could forget that. He wished he could think only of his real parents. He wished he could throw the stone.
But he couldn’t do that to Luon—not kind, gentle Luon who had always cared for him.
Kip choked back a sob, unsure what to do. He just wanted someone to stop him, to hug him. He wanted a father. He glared at Luon, and tears began to stream from his eyes.
Even when the first wailing sob broke through his lips, he didn’t lower his stone. But when the second sob came, he threw the stone aside and ran into Luon’s arms.
“Dad!” Kip shouted at him, wrapping his arms around Luon’s neck. He didn’t know whether he was calling to his dead father or to Luon. It didn’t matter. He just wanted to cry.
Luon’s eyes burned. He could see the storm raging in Kip’s heart.
He had been prepared for anything. If Kip threw the stone, he wouldn’t step aside. No matter what Kip said, what Kip called him, he knew he deserved it, and he would stand and take it. But all Kip did was cry.
“I’m sorry, Kip,” he said at last. “I’m so sorry!”
He didn’t want forgiveness. He didn’t even feel like he had a right to comfort this boy. It was all Luon could do to whisper “sorry” over and over again.
The box holding his old uniform and a part of his old friend lay on the ground by his knees. It was a sturdy box, but the impact of the fall had cracked it open.
Luon gazed down at the tiny urn and noticed it was trembling.
For the first time, Luon became aware of a little sound like the howling of wind and deep vibrations running through the floor beneath their feet, growing stronger and stronger. He looked up with a gasp to see an almost indescribable thing bearing down on them.
A creature was crawling through the rubble, its shape vaguely that of a man. Yet its gelatinous form grew with every inch, picking up pieces of rubble and chunks of stone as it came.
“Wrrrroooor!”
The creature roared. Then, to Luon’s amazement, it spoke. “Tee hee hwwwor! See the power of the augmented blood? So strong! Tee hee! Look, Egger! Can you see? I can walk without my cane … It’s perfect … perfect!”
The voice belonged to Balerea Dell, even though the body did not. As Luon had feared, Dell must have injected his augmented blood directly into his body. The blood had taken over, driving him completely mad.
Now Dell’s cells were hungry—and growing. Something that might once have been a hand began reaching toward them.
Luon pulled Kip away from the groping tentacle, hugging him in his arms. There was no time to use his alchemy to fight back. The tentacle struck, knocking them to the floor. Luon gasped, as the impact had knocked the wind out of him, but still he held Kip firmly in his arms. Then he stood and began to run. He had to get the boy to safety.
“Run, Kip!” he shouted, but the boy wouldn’t let go of Luon’s neck. “Kip, you have to run,” he shouted again. “I’ll get Dell’s attention. Please!”
“No!” Kip shouted, burying his face under Luon’s arm. “No! I want to stay with you!”
Back by the river, Alphonse had told him that if he liked living with the Eggers, he should stay with them—and Kip loved Luon. He wanted to be near him, and he wanted Luon to stay. Part of Kip was afraid that, if he let go now, Luon would leave again, never to return. With his parents dead, Shelley and Luon were all he had now. He didn’t want them to leave him.
“I want to stay here with you!” he shouted again.
“Kip …”
Sobbing, Kip hugged Luon even tighter.