Chapter Ten
The call from last night had been on Winry's mind almost all morning while she got back working.
When she had listened to Anna's voice from the other line, her heartbeat quickened. Her request for Ed to bring the notes with him left Winry uncomfortable, afraid something might happen to him. She still didn't think he should go alone.
She knew Ed wanted to decipher the code as soon as possible, but feared he would overstress himself. During breakfast he hardly touched his food, briefly mentioning his concern if there was something he overlooked. That prompted Winry to check on him around an hour later. She was greeted with the sight of him staring down at his books in irritation, staying long enough to see him leaned back on his chair as he gave a heavy sigh. It pained her to see him like that.
Because of her thoughts over Anna and Ed, Winry wasn't able to focus on the leg she needed to finish assembling. She never had any trouble returning to work after being away a while before, yet today it was difficult for her to get back in the swing of things.
"Something bothering you?"
That question caused Winry to flinch. She swung around to see Joseph staring worryingly at her. The drill press he had been using was turned off. Before speaking, she titled her head back and fixed her eyes on the ceiling.
"Ed's displeased with not cracking the notes yet."
Joseph offered her a supportive smile. "I'm sure he'll be able to figure it out."
Winry believed so, too. She only wished it wouldn't consume Ed this much, and it would get worse with him needing to go to Dublith soon.
Without warning, Esther rushed inside the workshop and smiled widely at the pair.
"Dad solved the code!" she said, clapping excitedly.
She and Joseph reacted at the same time, looking at one another in stunned surprise. They rose from their seats and hurried out of the workshop with Esther. Her daughter led them to the study room, where Jane and Ed had been waiting for them. Henry was the only one not present.
"Where's Henry?" she asked.
"I'll get to that in a minute." A smug grin stretched across Ed's face. "I've just deciphered the documents. To put it simply, you need carbon."
"Like the carbon fibers used for automail?" Joseph asked.
Already not liking that suggestion, Winry placed her hands on her hips and stared at Ed. "You better not use one of the prosthetics to test this out!"
Ed snorted. "Don't worry, I won't. I'm thinking something that'll be much easier to transmute, like the charcoal sticks artists use for their drawings. I had Henry go to the store across from here to see if it has any."
A moment passed by until Henry stepped inside the room and joined everyone. He carried with him a small box.
"I got the charcoal sticks, Dad!" he said, handing his father the box.
Winry watched as Ed pulled out three charcoal sticks, each one in slightly different length. Smirking, he used a finger from his free hand to point downward. She looked down and only now noticed an array drawn on the floor. She had no idea over the meaning of the alchemic symbols present, but trusted Ed knew what he was doing.
"I drew a basic transmutation circle that the kids can use." As he dropped to his knees, Ed placed the charcoal sticks in the middle of the transmutation circle. He then straightened up and said, "Since Esther did two transmutations back at Aerugo, you get to do this one, Henry."
After stepping forward, Henry stopped to study the array. He kneeled down, his palms touching it. When a blue flash lit up, Winry and the others took a stepped back. The light soon faded and in front of the group was a small diamond that glimmered. Henry picked it up and beamed.
"That's amazing!" Joseph praised.
Jane gazed at it in admiration. "Pretty…"
"It's great that you finally deciphered the code, Ed," Winry said, turning her head to offer him a proud smile.
"Been a while since I solved these kind of documents, so I'm glad that's over with. " Ed paused a short moment, his face turning serious. "I'm not bringing the notes with me to Dublith tomorrow."
"I'm sure she'll ask why you didn't listen to her," she said. Very likely Anna would threaten him for the notes, something that troubled Winry since she called them.
"If she does, I'll say because she clearly wants them for herself."
The family hadn't fully settled in home from the long trip yet and already Ed needed to leave. He didn't want her to join him, so all she could do was wish for him to be safe.
xxx
Even though the train ride from Rush Valley to Dublith only took a few hours, Ed still felt as if he was crossing Aerugo once more. Being alone, with no one else to talk with, time seemed to slow down.
Dublith hadn't changed much the last time he visited. A few new shops had been built while some of the ones still running got remodeled. The temperature stayed warm when the sun began to set. Ed passed by someone every few steps, but the town was fairly quiet as he predicted. Never been to Sweet Delights Café before, he asked the next person he spotted where it was and got directions.
He managed to find the café a short while after. The outside patio had two people seated at a table, neither of them Anna. Ed went inside the building and stopped after taking two steps to glance around. A few more people had occupied the seats, and he swallowed hard. He immediately spotted Daria sitting at the corner, her automail arm resting on the table—his guess that she would be here too was correct. As he headed over to her table, Ed caught her gazing at him in surprise.
"Ed! What are you doing here?" she asked when he stood in front of her. Before answering, Ed grabbed the chair and sat down across from her.
"Anna called me to come here. I take it you got a similar phone call."
"Yes. Apparently she wants us together. While I'm glad we'll get an explanation, I can't help but think she's up to something."
Ed stole a quick glimpse of his watch, ten minutes until seven. They were early, then. During the lingered silence, he remembered the promised he had made to Daria. Now was a good time to let her know.
"I managed to decipher the notes yesterday," he said, dropping his voice.
Daria shot him a flabbergasted look. "That's great!" Covering her mouth slightly, she then whispered, "What did you figure out?"
"Carbon is what's needed to transmute diamonds. I had Henry experiment with charcoal sticks and it worked."
"That's interesting." There was another brief silence and Daria frowned, her eyes growing with concern. "What will you say if Anna asks you about the notes?"
Ed was about to answer, but his mouth was left open when he heard footsteps nearby. Twisting around, he saw Anna approaching their table. She halted, shooting him and Daria a wicked smile.
"Good, the both of you are here already," she said and sat down in an empty chair.
Narrowing her eyes at her, Daria asked straight away, "How did you get a hold of the last pages in my father's journal?"
"My own father was a student of Mr. Russo. He had stolen some of the travel notes and went off to Aerugo to find the treasure. Unfortunately, he had an accident while there and was unable to find it, leaving the pages to languish. I stumbled upon them a few months ago and decided to plan a trip there."
While Ed listened, he already had one question in mind. "How about when you visited the museum? Were you already aware Daria was in Aerugo also?"
"Actually, I didn't. It was pure luck that I stumbled upon all of you, though I recognized Daria right away." Facing Daria, she then said, "Immediately the idea of working with you came to me."
"You didn't want us to figure your true intentions," Daria said, sounding bitter.
"Of course not. If you guys knew I had the pages with me, I would've been asked to hand them over."
He gave Anna a sharp glare. She was right they would request that. It still upset him she had been playing along all this time and they fell for it.
"After Winry found them in your hotel room, you ran away," he said.
"Yes. I realized they were gone and rushed out of my room to avoid being asked."
"Why are you explaining everything to us now, then?" Daria pointed out.
"The both of you deserve it even though I had been already found out. " Anna shrugged, as if not sincere when she said that. "Now that I answered all of your questions, let's move on." She fixed her stare at Ed. "Have you deciphered that code?"
"I have, but I'm not so stupid as to tell you. That's why I didn't bring the notes with me."
A disappointed look crossed Anna's face. "I figured you would say that. Fine, you can keep them…for now." She rose out from her seat, made a few steps, and paused to look over her shoulder at Ed and Daria. "I'll snatch those notes very soon." Anna returned heading to the door and left the café.
Daria arched an eyebrow. "That's all? I guess she didn't want to cause a scene here."
"You're probably right. I also believe she already thought out how she'll steal the treasure from me."
That meant he had to keep an eye on anything suspicious, then. She wouldn't give up until she had the notes.