Chapter 4, Yay!

So life is getting busy… I may slow down with the updates just so everyone knows.

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In Search of Knowledge

Chapter 4

The map showed the city- Ederbrack- in a little expanded area, set on a background of the larger map of the South Area of Amestris. Her finger then jumped across to the book Roy was reading, to point to a date and place stamp on the article. The names matched; Ederbrack was both the place on the map and the site of the murder that had happened two years before.

This couldn't just be a coincidence, there had to be some connection there between why the history book and the Bledcaugh case had happened in the same place. Ederbrack wasn't known for any sort of military scandal or cover- up; there had been no horrific massacres or natural anomalies that Roy knew of. Yet, there seemed to be some sort of information he should remember, something important that was just barely out of his reach. The thought seemed to hover at the edge of his mind, but he couldn't get a hold of it and therefor decided to let it be since it would come to him eventually.

"I wonder…" Riza began, "I wonder if perhaps Bledcaugh had military connections, such as working for someone. That would be the only explanation for his files being there."

"Yeah, the only problem is finding out what his connection was." Havok weighed in.

With Aerugo being the closest country to Ederbrack, the records for the area were sometimes sketchy, with things often lost due to the near constant fighting. This, combined with deep corrupted the military had been ruled by up until recently made finding any valuable information very difficult.

"I am sure we will find something." Roy stated. "For now, I will read over these carefully and see what I can find."

His men saluted and headed out, discussing the strange case among themselves. Lieutenant Riza stayed behind allowing the others to go on ahead. She came around to Roy's side of the desk, pulling her chair close. She was so close Roy could smell her, an interesting mix of scents that intrigued him. She smelled of freshly washed uniform interspersed with the sharp scent of gun cleaning oil, all overlaid with something very Riza, nothing he could lay his finger on, but something he could always identify.

He supposed it should frighten him maybe that he could so identify her scent, or that he put so much time and thought into it. But then again he spent countless hours everyday thinking about nothing but her, so it stood to reason that he would have applied thought to the way she smelled. She was forever complaining about his lack of work ethic, claiming he never did any work, when really she was the main issue. How was he supposed to accomplish anything with her always being so damned attractive and fascinating?

With a possible removal of the fraternization laws, it was literally all he could think of. He had already planned where he would take her for a first date; the only problem lay in the fact that she showed no interest in him whatsoever! He didn't understand. He had known her longer than anyone else, they worked together almost everyday, they worked well together, he himself was charming, handsome the perfect man for her…

He was jerked abruptly out of his thought into one of those awkward moments when you know the other person has asked you a question, but you have no idea what they might have said. Rather than hazarding a guess and answering, he did the intelligent choice of looking her straight in the face and saying;

"Sorry, I wasn't listening. What did you say?" Perhaps maybe not the smartest move, judging by her facial expression of extreme annoyance. No matter, at least he hadn't gotten himself roped into bathroom cleaning like the last time he had answered without confirming the question.

"I asked, Sir, if maybe this was something to do with research, maybe along the lines of Lab Five. The article says here that Bledcaugh was a history professor at University, as well as working on archaeological sites. Maybe he was doing research and found something he shouldn't have."

Roy scratched his chin in thought. "That's a good point, Lieutenant. We should look into it further. It interests me to see what this manuscript says about alchemic history. If he was a history buff, maybe this might have tell us why he felt the need to travel all the way to Ederbrack."

Riza nodded, then the two of them bent back over the books, one to thoroughly read and make careful notes, the other one not so carefully do the same.

"I think that's everything." Ed announced, jostling his way through the crowd as he created a path for his younger brother. Having recently recovered his body, Al was easily tired and walking for any distance- especially against such a mass of people- tended to be difficult for him. The two brothers were leaving an automail parts store, with both boys carrying large bundles of things Winry had claimed were highly necessary.

In Al's opinion, the amount of things Winry needed was ridiculous, who needed five wrenches, all exactly the same? But since she was In Charge, he and Ed would be more than willing to fetch the supplies. He was looking forward to seeing everyone. It had been almost six months since their last meeting, and although letters went back and forth and the phone was always available, it just wasn't the same as seeing everyone face-to-face.

"Let's go put everything at the hotel then head over and say hi to everyone." Al looked so expectant and hopeful that Ed could in no possible way say no. Plus he wanted to see all of his friends also, no matter how much he refuted it.

"Alright you sentimental dork, our hotel is down this way."

Al grinned. "I knew you missed the group as much as I did! I can't wait to see if miss Riza and Roy are together yet. Oh! And they haven't heard about you and Windy, I am sure they will be thrilled to find out."

"They aren't gonna find out!" you could almost see the steam coming out of Ed's ears, "what Winry and I do is no business of the bastard colonel!"

"You do know he is a general now, right?" Al continued to tease his brother as they walked down the less crowded sidewalk. The familiar pattern of teasing was fun and refreshing, both of them playing their respective parts in the teasing war.

The door to Roy Mustang's office slammed open with a dramatic flair. Both the lieutenant and the general jumped, nearly banging their heads together, having been so engrossed in studying the books laid out on the table. Roy looked peeved when he saw who it was interrupting his work.

"Do you ever knock?" He glared daggers down at Edward.

Edward returned the favor by glaring and was about to make a rude comment in return when Al interrupted him. "Hello miss Riza, general Mustang. We had to come to Central to make a supply trip for Winry and thought we stop in to say good afternoon. I hope we aren't interrupting anything." He smiled his soft, almost childlike smile.

Riza in a rare moment of softness, returned his smile, conversing with Al as though Roy and Ed didn't even exist in the same room. "It's been good here- we are working on a difficult case at the moment. But we are always glad to see you and your brother."

Roy glared at her in dismay. How could she so abandon him, he obviously needed back up and here she was being so nice to the boys! But then again it allowed him to see a side of her he hardly ever saw, the side of her that was kind, almost motherly. He turned back to see Ed pick up the alchemy book from the table and begin flipping through it. He snorted in amusement.

"Have you started reading good for nothing legends?" Ed flipped rapidly through the pages.

"What do you mean?" Roy queried.

Ed waved the book at Mustang. "This is nothing but fairy tales, legends for greedy alchemists. We read this when we were far younger. But the whole story couldn't possibly be true, or else someone would have found Knowledge long before now."

Roy jerked to attention, as out of the corner of his eye he saw Riza do the same. "Knowledge? That's what the man in the street said to find."

Ed squinched his eyes, trying to understand. "You mean someone told you where to find knowledge? But it's just a legend… I thought"

"Yes, and this article," Riza held it up, "has some sort of connection. We were just trying to figure it out."

"We also want to know what this knowledge is exactly. Is it knowledge in general or a specific type?" Roy explained. "We read some of the book, but parts of it are in Aerugonian, and my knowledge of that language is limited."

Ed looked intrigued. "Knowledge isn't a specific knowledge of a subject, it is knowledge itself. Legends say an alchemist in ancient time tried to access the Gate of Truth, in order to barter for access to all knowledge. He gave a sacrifice he shouldn't have, one he didn't have the authority to give."

"The alchemist gained all Knowledge," Al said, taking up the narrative; "but it drove him insane and he died within a few days. It is said he couldn't stop screaming, the amount of information he gained just destroyed his mind. We had always thought it was just a legend to dissuade alchemists from attempting anything of that sort."

"But it couldn't possibly be true." Ed insisted. "there is no way one person could hold Knowledge. I mean, opening the Gate grants Knowledge, but not full and complete."

"I want to know," said Riza, "what it was that he sacrificed? We know the Philosopher's Stone was made from millions of lives, what could be worse so as to dissuade alchemists to not attempt it themselves?"

Roy picked up the book, as Ed and Al did their best to look everywhere but directly at Riza.

"I think this might explain." Roy laid the book open on the table as he pointed to a picture on one of the pages. It was a crude drawing of a young child, seemingly all thin arms and legs and wide, innocent eyes. The child was lying in the middle of a complicated transmutation circle, blood running in rivules away from them, staining the floor in crimson streaks. The child's expression- even in death- was one of puzzlement, eyes stared unseeing out of the page, as though they were silently asking what happened to them.

End of chapter 4. Hope everyone likes it! And thank you to everyone who has favorited or followed!