To the Stars
The disclaimer is in the first chapter.
Thanks for all the reviews!
Chapter Six
The students in the Munich University were buzzing with activity. Trunks were being packed, rooms cleared of garbage and other debris. Cars pulled up in the cold, frosty air to pick up students to take them home for vacation. Buses loaded to the brim brought them to the train station. It was time for Winter holiday.
There was one person in the throng though, that did not appreciate the happy, buzzing atmosphere the students were feeling. Edward Elric pushed his way up to the front desk. His hair was bound behind him in the usual ponytail. His brown long tailored coat hung around his frame, and a scarf was draped around his shoulders, quite forgotten in his own frenzy.
"Excuse me," He called, taping his fingers on the smooth wood of the desk, liking the feel of it through his gloves.
"Yes, can I help you?" A young woman in a dark-brown business suit asked, coming up to him.
"Do you know if Alfonse Heidrich is here?"
"One moment please," She said, shifting through the messages on her desk. "I'm sorry, but no, he signed off campus earlier this morning."
"Damn it, he should have waited!" Edward cursed quietly, running an exhausted hand through his hair.
The woman looked at him with concern for a moment. "If it helps, I know that the Heidrich's always leave for their country house this time of year, to spend some quality time away from the city."
"Really?" he gasped, his golden gaze narrowing in on her in excitement. "Do you know the address?"
"One moment," She said, writing on a piece of paper. Edward could barely contain his excitement. "Here you are." Edward took the paper from her outstretched hand and clutched it tightly. "However, there have been wired reports of a heavy snow storm out in that direction all morning."
"That's fine," Edward murmured, hardly even hearing her. He thanked the woman absently and rushed out into the chilly air. He almost stumbled over the stairs as he raced down them, now in as much of a hurried frenzy as the university students around him.
He shoved the door to his home open and took the car keys from the table. Moments later he was in the car, starting it and pulling out of the drive. The engine roared, loud and obnoxious to his ears.
"Ready or not Al. Here I come."
-x-
As it turned out, driving a car was more difficult than Edward had first imagined. It was hard to figure out the controls to the vehicle, and there were so many petals under his feet that it was most confusing. A few miles out of Munich he encountered a new problem. A snow storm. It roared across his vision, and the white was so thick he could hardly see two feet in front of him.
It should not have been at all surprising when Edward hit a rut in the road and the car sputtered and died. "Shit." He hissed, opening the door and exposing himself to the harsh elements. He hated snow. Why the hell was this world so COLD?! He'd been in snow in Amestris, but it had never been this cold there. In this new world that was now his home, it was consistently cold. The food was dreary, and the place just didn't have much color. It was just so . . . insipid. That he had to live the rest of his life here was almost unbearable. That he might have to live it without Alfonse . . . that was living hell.
He'd already lost his brother (although he hadn't given up on the rocket yet), who was the closest person to him in all the worlds. Now he was stuck in this war obsessed country, with the one man whom he hated more than even Shou Tucker. Strange how Hohenheim - whose name he cursed countless times, was now his crutch in this world. The old man was far more experienced with this type of thing, and Edward supposed the man was getting his dues, rotting from his own soul.
Edward wrapped his coat around him, doing up the bottons, which he'd left undone all this time, and wrapped the scarf around his face. He stepped out and felt his boot crunch the solid snow. Hefting himself out of the vehicle, he made his way to the hood and lifted the metal cover, straining to see. Bending low to the engine, he examined the parts. Finding nothing wrong with it, he dropped to his knees in the snow and laid his face in the snow.
His cheek almost instantly numbed. He squinted at the parts beneath the car, cursing as he noticed what had happened. The gas tank had a leak and had dripped away the precious fuel. He regained his feet with a sigh, turning to the snow storm with an unpleasant look. Of course it had broken. These cars were not nearly as developed as the ones back in Amestris.
"The old man is going to murder me." Edward moaned. And of course, with the inflation, its not like Hohenheim's status in society could get them a new one for cheap. The auto business was definitely on the verge of collapse. Everything was becoming so much that no one could afford to buy anything! Even apples were expensive.
The elder Elric moaned. "I really hate this world . . . " he started making his way through the storm, steadily plodding along. At least if he was moving he'd keep slightly warmer. "As long as these prosthetic joints don't freeze on me, I should be safe." Edward's voice sounded muffled behind the scarf. "This reminds me of that time Al and I had to walk to Liore." His voice choked suddenly and he looked around the blur of snow for a distraction. "But it was a desert back then . . . not . . . freezing cold." He went on, finishing the sentence. "Amestris was . . . far warmer. It seemed like every time we had to walk somewhere it ended up being either desert or some kind of plain . . . " He scowled, "The complete opposite of this freezing cold world."
He went on with his senseless tirade for a while, trying to think of warm places and not of the cold that was slowly but surely seeping through his clothes to his flesh. Soon he felt himself shivering, and he felt himself wishing he'd had a hat. His ears felt like they were about to fall off, and he found himself missing his old boots. The brown, cheap shoes that were the fashion in this world were certainly not practical in the slightest.
He lifted his hands, one was freezing, the other was bone chilling even through the fabric of his gloves, and pulled the collar of his coat up closer to his neck. He needed to find shelter. The storm had gotten even worse. The wind pulled his body everywhere and he fell more than once, losing his step on the deceiving snow-covered ground. He found the ice his new great enemy, knocking him over more than any fight with Scar ever had.
It became dark without his knowledge, as he was focusing on moving his feet steadily forward. Just when he felt he was about to collapse from exhaustion, in the distance he could just make out a driveway. Squinting, he noted a few buildings, one of them looking suspiciously like a barn. Edward felt like throwing his arms up and shouting with joy, but he didn't. Instead, he snuck off the road into a large snow drift, feeling the chill even through his already frozen fingers.
Creeping stealthily, he snuck to the side of a small shed, looking over the corner to check for any people or watch dogs that were braving the storm. No one --the coast appeared to be clear with everyone in their snug little houses. But he didn't blame them. In the darkness he could just barely make out a kerosine lamp in the downstairs window, and a very faint glow from a fire roaring in a fire place. It seemed cozy. It brought back ancient memories of his mother reading to them by the light of a fireplace during a late storm one night. If they hadn't frozen, unbidden tears might have sprung to his eyes.
No! No, he wasn't about to start getting all nostalgic now of all times. He had to get to that barn. He only hoped that these people had animals in it that needed care and a nice warm environment. Edward tucked his feet under him and dashed for the side of the wall. He tried the door, hoping that it would be unlocked, but no such luck. He circled the barn carefully, taking in the schematics. He tried all the animal stall doors, and even the great door of the barn, but no luck. They were all locked. Looking up, he saw the rope to the hay lift. The door had been left partially open, possibly for air circulation. All Edward needed to do was make his way up there.
Calculating his plan, he took the rope to the lift in both hands and pulled to test it, hoping that no loud noises would startle the farmers into coming out. After all, he was trespassing. He climbed the rope slowly, his gloves helping with the friction he needed. He swung a leg up and onto the metal bar that reached out over the ground, and pulled himself into a laying position on it. Inching is way forward, he reached the loft window and pulled it open farther and slipped inside the barn, closing the window tightly behind him before he fell into the dry hay.
For a moment he floundered senselessly, until he regained his feet and sat up in the dry grass. He looked around through the darkness. The barn smelled like Cow manure. Somewhere below him he heard the 'moo' of one of the animals. But what concerned Edward most was that it was warm. Whether he believed in God or not, he still felt like shouting with happiness.
But of course, he had more control than that. He flexed his digits, feeling them come to life as he lay there in the hay and sighed. It felt so good to be warm again. He pulled his hair out of a ponytail and let himself collapse into a slumber. He didn't want to do more than doze lightly, but the lack of sleep from last night had finally taken its toll, and Edward found his tired eyelids collapse from exhausted, spiriting Ed away to the world of dreams.
Edward found himself in the lush green grasses of his childhood. The sky was a bright blue, with fluffy white clouds, instead of the grey, desolate ones he was used to.
"Brother!" Ed turned and immediately felt the air crushed out of him by a pair of flesh arms around his waist. "You've come back brother! I knew you would!"
Golden eyes wide, Edward turned to see his younger brother, Alphonse smiling down at him. He took in a sharp breath. "Al . . . "
"I knew you'd come back, Ed!" Alphonse beamed, hugging him. "Hehe, and, I'm still taller than you! Even without the armor!"
Edward suddenly felt whole again. Forget why he was there, he just was. He spluttered indignantly. "Who are you callin' the size of a pea?! You're just wearing tall shoes is all!"
Alphonse lifted up a fleshy pink foot and wiggled the digits of his toes. Behind them a light started to flash in the window of a home, as though someone was flicking it on and off. "Come on Ed, time for dinner!" He grasped his older brother's arm and pulled him toward the house.
Their house. "Al . . . what . . . ? It's our house!"
"Yep! Don't worry brother, everyone's going to be so glad to see you."
"Everybody? Who's everybody? Why aren't we going to Winry's? Al, what is going on?" Edward was starting to feel panic rise in his chest. He didn't want to go into that house.
"Winry's? Why would we go there? Aunty Pinako and Winry are always over at our house on Fridays, I thought you knew that Ed!"
'...it's the same...the same as before...' Edward's eyes had gained a haunted look as they approached the house of their childhood. The clothes were out on the line. Winry's house was down the hill, and there was the tree that he buried their mothers remains under. And there was the lantern in the window, and...
Edward came to a dead halt. There was Hughes, flicking the shutter open and closed. As he watched, the man smiled and gave a lazy salute, disappearing from the window. Looking down at the porch as the door opened, his breath caught in his throat as his mother stepped out of the open doorway, holding her arms open wide. "Edward, welcome home." She smiled, embracing him warmly.
He felt his mothers arms around him, but he could only stand rigidly in her embrace. "This can't be real..." he whispered. "Your dead..." He gasped. You're all dead..." His throat tightened.
"Hmm, the pipsqueak can't take it." Lust's voice sounded from behind him, and he stiffened. "We thought you'd be glad to be back." She smiled, here purple eyes shone lustily. "Now you can give us our own bodies, right pipsqueak?"
Edward tore away from his mothers grasp, backing up a few paces in alarm. He bumped into something soft. "Roof!" Alexander barked and pounced on him, pinning him to the floor.
"No Alexandwer! Bad doggie!" Nina appeared, resting her hands in Alexander's fur. "Nina missed big brwother." She said, hugging him as he stood up.
"Nina..." Edward looked at her and all of them with haunted eyes.
"I say we kill him." Greed's voice grinned from somewhere to the left. But Edward couldn't move his head to see any more. Nina...why was Nina here?"
"Heh, your sense of fashion sure hasn't improved much pipsqueak." Envy's gloating voice sounded.
"I'm glad you went to that other world Edward Elric, now I don't have to kill you." Scar's voice sounded. Edward's world was starting to spin. What was up and what was down? Why were they all here? What was happening?!
"Edward..." Alfonse Heidrich's voice sounded hurt and subdued. "You'll never have to see me again..."
"Our parents want us to marry."
"Brother, what's wrong?"
The world was spinning faster. He couldn't keep his footing. The faces blended together. Why was everyone here?! They were all dead?!
Alphonse, are you dead too?!
NO! Nonononono! It can't be true!
No...
"NO!" Edward screamed, sitting with a start. What if it was true? What if his brother had died, even though he sacrificed his own life? But...Edward was still alive.
Equivalent Exchange. If Ed was alive, then...the transmutation must have failed... His breath came in short gasps. He heard the wind of the storm outside and looked towards the ceiling. It was still dark. Tying his hair in a braid swiftly, without taking the care to realize, he shoved open the loft window and looked down. Wind took the door and slammed it against the side of the barn, keeping it there by force.
The metal of the hay lift shook so much that after a moments thought Edward decided that it would be safer to just make a jump for the ground. He kept all his thoughts away from the nightmare. He always had some type of nightmare every time he slept. Why was this time so violent?
The fall to the snow covered ground was brief. Edward felt snow invade his body and send chills to every point of contact. With teeth chattering, he left his shelter and carried on with his journey.
About an hour after he started walking again, the sun must have come up, because everything gained a lighter sheen. As Edward rarely saw the sun in this world, it was difficult for him to tell the time. However by noon, he found the lane that was described in the directions, and took it. He felt relief flood through him, even though his eyes were starting to blur and his bones must have ached. That wasn't so bad, as his limbs were all to numb to tell.
The address wasn't so hard to find after he'd discovered the road. He stumbled as he climbed the steps of the grand country house and fell into the deep drift of snow, to tired to catch himself. After a moment of laying there, collapsed on the porch, Edward decided that he ought to move and hauled himself to his feet. He knocked on the door and collapsed against the side of the house.
After a long pregnant pause, which Edward spent drifting between this world and the next, the door finally opened.
Edward could feel darkness closing in. But he still heard the echoing sound of Al's voice.
"Edward?" The voice brought him back to his mission.
"Al," He croaked, swimming through layers of darkness. "You don't...know what your...talking about." He murmured. "I love you...way to much to let you go." His legs buckled out from under him, sending him toppling forward. The rational part of his mind expected to slam into the hardwood floor, but soft, warm arms had caught him and held him close. He smiled as he drifted off, knowing he'd be safe finally.
TBC...
Sorry this chapters rather short. I hope you can all enjoy it nonetheless. Yes, I know I forgot characters in the dream that had died, please don't point them out to me, as I already know. And yes, I know that Alphonse Elric is alive.
You and I may know that, but Edward does not at this current time.
Thank you for reading!
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