"So you're telling me that this banshee thing has been 'stealing your children'?" Ed leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest and eyeing Colby skeptically.

Colby nodded, leaning forward eagerly and asking,

"So will you help us?"

Ed weighed his options. While Colby had been telling him about the banshee, Al had taken the liberty to read the case files. Apparently, the military had found some reason to suspect that the townspeople weren't just a bunch of superstitious bastards and had a legitimate reason for their worries.

But what Ed was hearing sure didn't seem legitimate at all.

From what he was grasping, they hadn't even seen the banshee yet. They had just heard a woman singing eerily before and after a child's disappearance. This had apparently scared the townspeople enough for all of them to move into the town's giant inn, allowing them to 'keep their children safer', or something along those lines.

So Ed could either call them all liars and report back that the townspeople were worrying over nothing, or he could stay and show them that there really was no such thing as ghosts.

Ed heaved a sigh. It couldn't hurt to stay a few days to figure out what was really going on in the town, could it?

"Fine, I'll help you catch your 'banshee'."

Colby leaned back into his chair with a sigh of relief, and Al made a small sound of happy approval from where he was sitting on the other side of the room.

"So, anyways," Ed began, standing up and shoving his hands into his pockets, "How many people have gone missing so far?"

"Four." Ed nodded slowly, glancing up as Al hauled himself to his feet and walked over, case file in hand.

"How old were they all?" Al inquired, handing the file back to Ed.

"The first one that was taken was 10. The second and third were twins, both 8, and the last one was 7. They were all taken on different days, and there's no visible pattern to the disappearances."

"Well that's just great." Ed muttered sardonically.

"So we just have to wait for the banshee to come to us?" Al rolled his eyes at Ed's comment, turning his attention back to Colby.

"Yeah." He confirmed grimly, "We just have to wait." After a moment, Colby heaved himself to his feet with a light sigh, obviously trying to break the bleak mood that hung over the room. "Anyways, I'll get you guys a room to stay in. You don't mind sharing one, right?"

"It's fine," Al said after a glance at Ed for his approval, "We do it all the time."

Colby nodded and gestured for them to follow him. He walked through the large, arched entryway out of the large living-room like space and led them up a curved staircase, revealing a long hallway with many doors on either side of the walls. Pulling out a set of keys from his pocket, he continued on his way until he found an unoccupied room, unlocking it and opening the door for the Elrics.

"I know it's not much, but it's all we have right now. We're not exactly the most financially stable at the moment."

Ed internally groaned when he saw the state of the room. It was very similar to the rest of the town's interior decorating (if it could be called decorating at all). Antique, with a hint of everything falling apart or already broken.

Colby seemed oblivious to the brothers' disappointment, handing Al the key to the room and heading out, shouting over his shoulder, "I'll let you two know if anything happens later tonight."

The door closed with a subtle slam, leaving Ed and Al nothing to do but continue to wallow in their disappointment about the room. Ed trudged over to the bookcase, running his fingers over the spines of the books on each shelf. Once he found one that didn't sound completely boring, he plucked it off the shelf and flopped onto the bed lazily. Al followed in his lead, grabbing a book and settling down against the wall on the right of the bed.

The brothers skimmed the pages of their books half-heartedly, only processing some of the words they read. Both were only truly interested in finding out who - or what, as the townspeople kept insisting - was really behind the disappearances of the children.

"Brother?" Al said after a while of indulging a book about different types of medicines, "Do you think it's real?"

Ed finished the sentence he was reading and then set the book aside, turning to face Al. "What?"

"The banshee," Al repeated, "Do you think it's real?"

"I doubt it." Ed assured him. "It just doesn't add up. Ghosts don't even exist, let alone steal children for no damn reason." He stared up at the ceiling for a moment before a thought came to his mind. "And Colby didn't even tell us how the banshee or whatever steals them."

Al racked his memory for a moment. Now that he thought about it, they never did ask Colby about that.

Or maybe Colby had never intended to tell them.

Al shrugged the thought off. In a time like this, he supposed it would be easy for it to slip the man's mind.

"I can go ask him about that now, if you want." Al suggested, glad to do anything that would free him of the boring, repetitive sentences that made up the medicine book.

"Nah, it's fine," Ed replied sleepily after a moment, waving him off, "We'll do it tomorrow." Al returned to his book, and Ed did as well, but Al couldn't help but laugh when he saw Ed's futile efforts to stifle a yawn.

"You're supposed to sleep when you're tired, brother." Al giggled.

"Shut up," Ed mumbled around another yawn. "I want to be up in case anything happens."

"I'll wake you." Ed was obviously enticed by the idea, sparing a longing glance at the window before he sighed, kicking off his shoes.

"You better." He mumbled, grabbing the fluffy, white pillow that now seemed so much more welcoming and burying his face into it. Al didn't even have time to tell him to take his jacket off before he fell asleep, his back rising and falling slowly to the pattern of his breathing.

Al shook his head, his red eyes glowing with mirth. Glancing from his brother to the abandoned medicine book on the floor, he stood up quietly, slipping out into the hallway and closing the door as silently as he could. He could see light coming from the first floor, so he crept along the passageway and padded down the stairs, hoping that the little noise he was making wouldn't disturb anyone trying to sleep.

Once he was at the foot of the stairs, he scanned the room for Colby. Finding no one, he peered outside through the window for a moment before walking into the living room. Al quickened his pace when he noticed Colby sitting next to the fireplace, tending to the flames and throwing in pieces of wood every now and then.

"Um, excuse me, Mr. Perks?" Al called quietly from underneath the arched entryway, not wanting to startle the man with a sudden entrance. Colby turned around to see the polite, yet slightly awkward suit of armor with him in the room.

"Oh, Alphonse," Colby greeted him with a warm smile. "What is it?" Al took his welcoming as an invitation to sit with him, settling down next to the man.

"I know this might be a touchy subject, but I was wondering how the banshee took your children." Al began nervously. "You never got to explain it to me and Ed before."

Colby paused in his fire-tending duties as he mulled over the question. The flames reflected in his brown gaze and flickered around wildly before he turned to face Al again.

"Well-"

"Daddy!" A high-pitched voice cried out from behind the two, interrupting Colby and stealing Al's attention. A boy, who looked no older than five or six, was standing underneath the arch, hugging his pillow and wearing the most pitiful look Al had ever seen. "Daddy, I'm scared!"

"Troy, you should be asleep by now." Colby scolded, getting up from his seat at the fireplace and heading over to the boy.

"I know, but Lina was telling me that I was gonna get stolen because I haven't been nice to her today. And then mom wasn't with us in the room so I got even more scared!" Troy whimpered, clinging to Colby's leg as if it were a lifeline. "Am I gonna get stolen, daddy?"

Colby leaned down and pulled Troy into a comforting hug. "Of course not. No one's going to be taken anymore because we have people here to help us." Colby glanced over his shoulder at Al, pulling away from the hug and pointing to him. "See? That's Alphonse. He's here to keep us safe from the banshee."

Al gave a small wave, laughing a bit when Troy gaped at his armor in awe.

"Ok, Troy, I'm going to go upstairs to tell Lina not to tease you anymore. Will you be able to sleep then?"

Troy shook his head stubbornly, walking over to Al with his pillow still in hand.

"I wanna stay with the armor guy." Without asking anyone's permission, he plopped down into Al's lap and began examining the chinks and spikes in the armor. "Mr. Armor Man?" Troy asked while curiously examining his leather gauntlets, "Why do you have armor?"

Al noticed Colby give him a small smile and slip upstairs to scold "Lina", who he guessed must have been Troy's sister. When he looked back down at Troy, his huge, chocolate brown eyes were filled with interest. "Why?" The boy repeated.

"Um, well…" Al began nervously, scanning the room for anything that could help him come up with an answer. "I use it to protect myself." He said as his eyes wandered over to a lone rifle leaning up against the front door. "To protect myself and my brother."

"Does your brother wear armor too?" Troy inquired, climbing out of Al's lap to sit across from him on the floor.

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because… Because he's much stronger than I am." It was a lie, and both Ed and Al knew it. Ed had never once beaten Al in a fight or a sparring match.

But Troy obviously did not know this, so he responded with a simple, "Oh."

Troy opened his mouth to speak again, but he was interrupted by Colby as he returned down the stairs.

"Troy, I told Lina not to tease you anymore. You have to go to bed now."

Troy looked like he wanted to argue, but in the end he just grabbed his pillow and hobbled off in the direction of his father. Before he made it all the way up the stairs, he turned and waved.

"Bye, Mr. Armor Man!"

Al giggled and waved back, watching as Troy disappeared into the darkness of the hallway. Colby sighed and ran a hand through his hair, chuckling to himself. He made his way towards the fireplace, throwing a small log into it before turning and heading into the kitchen.

"I'm going to make some tea," He called over his shoulder, "Want some?"

"No, that's alright." Al replied, getting up and following Colby into the kitchen. With everyone else in the inn asleep, he supposed it wouldn't hurt to make small talk for a while. He watched in silence as Colby got out a kettle and began to pour water in it.

"So, how old are you two?"

"Huh?"

"You and your brother," He motioned to Al nonchalantly, "How old are you?"

"I'm 14, and Brother is 15." Al said as he took a seat at the large dining table in front of the kitchen.

"That's a little young to be in the military, don't you think?"

Al shrugged. "I guess. But Brother's an alchemy genius, and we don't really have any family left. So when a Military officer came to our home and gave him the option of taking the State Alchemist Exam, he jumped at the idea." Al finished. It wasn't a direct lie, just a very… stretched version of the truth.

"That's a shame." Colby shook his head sullenly, setting the kettle on the stove and turning it on. "I would never wish that upon any child. To join the Military, I mean."

Al nodded silently in agreement. Joining the Military at such a young age was hard for both of the brothers. After a minute of silence and Colby becoming very interested in his tea kettle, Al glanced at the clock. 12:58 AM. Colby should have been asleep by now, shouldn't he?

But as Al began to speak, he was interrupted by an ear-splitting screech coming from outside. Colby froze in his spot, staring at the window in horror before darting out of the kitchen and grabbing the rifle that had been leaning against the front door.

"Go get your brother!" He commanded before racing outside, leaving Al with nothing to do other than race up the stairs, with only one thought in his mind.

The banshee is here.


Ed was woken up abruptly by large hands shaking him. He groaned, rubbing his eyes and making an attempt at shoving the hands away.

"What?" He mumbled as the world came into focus. Al was leaning over the side of the bed, an aura of fear coming off of him in waves.

"The banshee!" Al hissed, "The banshee is here!"

That got Ed's attention. He jumped out of the bed, grabbing his shoes from off the floor and wrestling them on as he hopped out of the room after Al. Curious people poked their heads out of their rooms, and Ed warned them.

"The banshee is here!"

A gunshot sounded from outside and Ed sped up his pace, his black boots thudding against the thick wooden floor. He took the stairs two at a time, practically flying through the living room and out the already open front door. Al was right behind him.

But as Al took his first stride out the door, a tug at his loincloth held him back. He peeked over his shoulder, craning his head back to meet the bulging eyes of Troy. Apparently, between the time that Al had rushed up the stairs and come back down again, Troy had already made it there first.

"Troy, I really need to go; right now," Al said anxiously, glancing out the door then back down to Troy. Al snapped to attention again when he heard Ed call his name from outside, interrupted halfway by Troy's wail.

"Please don't go, Mr. Armor Guy!"

"Don't worry," Al reassured, leaning down in front of Troy and ruffling his hair, "We'll be back in no time."

And with that, he was out the door and on the way to help his brother.