A/N: Again, forgive me for the wait, I just never seem to find a time when I want to write a new chapter x.x Please review, you've all helped me so much by doing so!
CHAPTER TEN
"I beg your pardon?" Hohenheim questioned, eyebrows raised high as the newcomer grasped his hands.
"Lord Hohenheim Avaris," Anthony repeated breathlessly, still not letting go "I have traveled many leagues and faced many a danger to bring myself before you today. Please, if your lordship will permit it, may I humbly ask for some medicine before I explain everything? You see, I took a bullet to the leg during my last escape. Nothing too serious, it merely grazed it, but I fear without proper treatment infections will spread into the wound."
"Y-Yes, yes of course," he replied, altogether stunned by this plethora of news spouted out rather hastily by the man who had not even introduced himself properly. However, one look at the blood stained cloths around the man's leg was enough to make him swallow all questions and immediately run in for medicine. The man had seated himself on the ground, waving away his host's protests for him to sit on a chair, and leaned back with his eyes closed as if a great rush of relief had just run through him. Hohenheim was back within minutes with a small bottle containing medicinal herbs for injuries, and some fresh cloths for the wound.
"Thank you ever so much," Anthony said over and over as Hohenheim took it upon himself to dress the injury. "You do not know how great an honor it is to be aided by the great Lord Hohenheim."
"Pray forgive me, but I believe you are sorely mistaken about that," he interjected finally after the first aid was complete.
"Are you not Hohenheim Avaris? The great alchemist known throughout our time for his persistent research on the legendary Philosopher's Stone?"
"My name is Hohenheim, but my surname is not Avaris. I have no surname, for my parents forbid me from using it. It was the worst thing they could do without disowning me entirely. I am, however, an alchemist, so perhaps I can help you with something?"
This information made Anthony's expression turn from joyous and hopeful to absolute shock in seconds. "So...you mean to say that you are not the great alchemist? That I traveled all this way for naught, risking life and limb at every stop?"
"How did you even find me in the first place?" He watched as the man reached in his bag and brought forth a worn piece of parchment that looked as though it had been torn out of a book. Anthony carefully smoothed it out and handed it to Hohenheim.
"Hohenheim Avaris is very well known in the world of alchemy, but unfortunately I could find no information regarding where he lived or where his current location was. I began to ask around during my travels, for the great alchemist Hohenheim, and as soon as I heard of a Hohenheim living here, I made for this town straight away." Here he paused and gingerly put weight on his hurt leg.
Hohenheim scanned the parchment carefully with his brow furrowed and his mind working rapidly. How could people living outside of the town possibly know about his alchemy when even those living in his own house knew nothing about it? What's more, the date of birth and date of death for Hohenheim Avaris were written across the bottom of the page. He pointed this out to Anthony, who looked as though he was cursing himself inwardly. "How on earth could you miss it?" he questioned.
"I-I am really not sure," was the reply, strained by the internal conflict now taking place inside the young man. "I could have sworn that I have read this page over and over...perhaps it was on the account of my hopes were so high of finding him that I somehow managed to convince myself that he is still alive."
"Also, how is it that people living in distant towns know about my alchemy? There are precious few here that are even trusted with that information." His thoughts immediately went to Dante. Did she know who Hohenheim Avaris was?
"Perhaps the Hohenheim I was looking for also resided in this town for some time. Are you, by any chance, related to him, or maybe your parents named you after him?"
"My doubts of that are very high," he answered shrewdly, positive that his parents would never had named him after an alchemist. "Nevertheless, it is possible he lived in this town. I will have to look into it sometime. Please, might I inquire your name my good sir?"
"Yes...yes of course, I am Anthony Laturia of the town called Hallows." Hohenheim had the impression that the man was quite distracted. He guessed it was out of embarrassment and disappointment for not finding the right man, and what's more, being completely unaware that the man he sought was already dead.
"Hallows? That is certainly quite a distance from here. Did you cover all of it on foot?"
"No, I took the train whenever possible, or if I was lucky I could catch a ride with someone who was going by carriage or wagon in this direction."
"Tell me, why is it that you sought Hohenheim Avaris?" Anthony did not answer straight away. He diverted his gaze to the bandages on his leg, even childishly toying with the cloth as if buying time while he decided on something.
"A secret," he murmured after a while, causing Hohenheim to jump slightly "a terrible secret that I was entrusted with."
"And you were told to pass on this secret to Hohenheim Avaris?"
"No no, you have it all wrong. After a while this secret began to haunt me so much that I knew it had to be passed on to the right person, as I was told to do. Therefore, I came across in my reading the great alchemist Hohenheim and somewhere in my mind I knew he was the one to tell. But now..." He stopped and looked up with wide eyes at the man before him. "Now I do not know if I...I..."
"You can tell me the secret, my good sir I assure you that I am trustworthy enough to keep it." Silence plagued the still afternoon air as the two men sat in the grass behind the bush, each waiting for the other to speak.
"Hohenheim?" a new voice called out, breaking the silence and startling the two. Hohenheim, however, was the first to recover, and his heart skipped a beat when he recognized the voice.
"Over here, Dante!" he called, standing up and walking out from behind the bush. A smile graced his features as he watched her, beautiful as always in a stunning yellow dress, run towards him. "Forgive me I forgot that you would be coming here today. Please, come here for there is someone I would like you to meet."
"Who is it?" she asked as he led her around the bush, a small frown forming on her brow. Anthony, who was attempting to climb to his feet, looked up at Dante and bowed his head to her politely. They stared at each other for a few moments before she cried out, to Hohenheim's great surprise, "Anthony!"
"Dante?" Anthony questioned in shock. "Is that you? I can hardly believe...after all these years..." Apparently forgetting his pain, he stood up hastily and rushed to her, grasping her hands and staring at her with a look of utmost joy on his face.
"Your family moved all the way to Hallows. Why on earth are you here again?" inquired Dante, looking both pleased as well as shocked to see him.
"I came here on my own to seek someone...I had forgotten that you also lived here."
Hohenheim looked from one to the other, altogether quite baffled at why the two knew each other. "Er...Dante? How do you know Anthony?" he asked finally.
"Anthony's brother Jonathon Laturia was my fiancee before he died a few years back," she explained, a touch of pain in her voice. "After Jonathon's death, his family moved to Hallows in order to ease their sufferings of losing him. Anthony was to be the best man at our wedding, and we rather became friends."
"You had a fiancee?" He felt somewhat disheartened by what she had just told him.
"Yes," she answered, turning slightly pink. "He was the first of many. My parents were constantly changing them, whether I wanted them to or not.
"Poor girl, I never quite agreed with your parents' methods," Anthony said with a frown "trying to marry off their daughter so young..."
"I was not the first, nor the last young woman who was to be married off at so young an age," Dante pointed out "believe it or not, I have heard of girls getting married even younger than I was. But never mind all that, what I would like to know is why you are here again, and in such poor condition." She gestured at his bandage-covered leg, which was bent slightly from the weight he was putting on it.
"We should discuss this elsewhere, my dear parents could come out at any moment," Hohenheim announced, glancing at the open doors on the veranda. "Let us go to the library, we can talk privately there. Anthony, can you make it on your injured leg?"
"Yes, if it is not too far, I just might." He took a practice step, wincing slightly when he put weight on the leg. Hohenheim put an arm around him for support and gestured wordlessly to Dante for her to follow them. He was not sure whether to be angry at her or not for failing to tell him of her previous fiancees. Still, now was not the time to argue. Anthony's announcement that he had a secret roused his interest and curiosity and he was eager for him to share it. Questioning Dante could come later, right now Anthony's secret beat out any other thoughts in his head.
At the library, the threesome headed for the alchemy section and settled themselves down onto the cushioned wooden chairs scattered throughout the room. Anthony took a deep breath and then said what Hohenheim had been waiting in anticipation for him to say: "And now, I shall entrust the two of you with the secret entrusted to me by my elder brother, Jonathon." The arrival of Dante seemed to have boosted his confidence, for he no longer seemed so anxious about the secret he was keeping. Two pairs of eyes watched as he reached into his traveling bag and pulled out a large book. Three hearts beat fast as the book was opened, and a folded sheet of parchment was removed and carefully unfolded. One hand reached out to receive the sheet that its owner was being given. Hohenheim brought the paper close to him and began to read.
As he read further and further, his eyes widened and his lips parted. "This..."
A/N: OMG CLIFFHANGER!! Yeah, I'm gonna stop it here, this chapter's getting kinda long. Please let me know how you like it!