Wierdo: I'M SO PROUD OF MY SELF!
Winry: Why?
Wierdo: I ACCUALLY UPDATED WITHIN A WEEK OF MY LAST CHAPTER!!! YAY! (does happy dance) And thank you, those of you that reviewed, or favorited, or put my story under the alert thingy! THANK YOU!!!
Ed: She's very happy, should I be scared?
Al: I don't know.
Ember: Wait is your sister here again?
Wierdo: No.
Ember: Then why are you so happy?
Wierdo: GAH!!! DON'T YOU PEOPLE LISTEN?!?!?!?!
Ed: It depends, are you talking?
Winry: (throw's a wrench at Ed, knocking him out) EDWARD, BE NICE!
"Here it is!" Sheska said with a big smile on her face. "It was a really big book so it took me a few days."
"That's okay," Al said to her kindly.
"It's a cook book," Ember said looking at the cover.
"Yeah, well, you know what they say, alchemy was born in the kitchen," Ed said.
And so began the very long research period of the two brothers, with Ember on the side reading any fiction novels she could find in the library. Surprisingly there were very few.
"Why don't you help?" Ed asked one day, looking over to Ember who was sitting next to a bookshelf.
"Because all I know about elements is how to read the periodic table and that you don't light magnesium on fire if you don't want to be blown up, I would just slow you down," She said, turning the page in her book without looking up.
She's almost as bad as Brother when she reads, Al thought. But she acknowledges the world around her…
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She was skipping through the house to open the door, and found a blonde boy on the ground with Alexander on top of him.
"No, Alexandwer," She scolded him and received a bark and a tale wag.
"Nina, come back inside," her father told her.
Then the scene changed, it was snowing – flowers? She let laughed in delight, "its little big brother!" She exclaimed to the large suit of armor she was sitting on.
Now she was back in the house, looking at the sad face of the blonde boy and the suit of armor, "Will you com pway wiff me?" She asked them sadly.
"Of course we will," the armor replied and the boy nodded.
After they left she went to her father's study, "Daddy, you're gonna do good on your test?"
"Yeah, sweet pea, Daddy's going to do just fine," he replied, bending down to hug his daughter.
She was now sitting in a circle – like what big brother made for her once, but this one was different – with Alexander. "Daddy?"
"Don't worry, Nina, you're going to be just fine," he said, bending down to touch the circle…
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"DAMN IT!"
"Hhnna?" Ember said, jolting out of sleep by the yell from across the room – but just this once, she was thankful for the rude awakening.
"How could this be possible?" Ed questioned his hand over his face.
"I don't know," Al answered.
"What is it?" Ember asked.
"All this time, all these years of searching, and this is the answer we get?" Ed said, his voice shaking with every word.
"WHAT IS IT?"
"The secret to make a philosophers stone, the only way to make it work; lives, human lives, and in mass numbers."
Ember gasped.
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"Why don't we look at it again?" Al suggested later that night in the room they were staying in.
"No, I've looked at it enough," Ed said from his spot in the couch. Ember looked up from where she was on one of the beds with her knees pulled up to her chin.
"But what if our code is wrong? What if we missed a paragraph with a loop-hole?"
"I SAID ENOUGH!" Ed said turning around, hitting a tea cup that was sitting on the table and sent it flying into Al's face.
Everyone paused as the pieces of porcelain and the papers in Al's hands fell to the floor. "Brother?" Al said in a heartbroken voice.
"Is something wrong, sir?" Ross asked coming in, but stopping when she sensed the air of unease.
"It's just a broken cup, back in the hall," Ed said indifferently. "Sorry, Al."
"Yeah."
"So that's the end of it? You won't regret it then? Giving up before you're finished?" She asked, bending down to pick up the fallen papers. "I didn't realize that what you were searching for was so incidental that you would abandon it this easily." Ember got up and began to help her along with Al.
"Stop going on like you know what you're talking about," Ed said without turning around. "You don't know anything."
"You're wrong, Ed," She replied. "I know that what you're looking for is the philosopher's stone," Everyone in the room looked at her, even Ed sat up a looked, "and I know that it's created by sacrificing human lives." Bloch looked truly surprised at this. "I know it was uncalled for, but I was listening through the door."
"Well, if you eavesdropped, then you must know, it's pointless to go after it now, leave us alone," Ed said, turning back around and laying down on the couch.
"You really are a child aren't you?" Ed started up and looked at her with angry eyes. "You're scared of it; you're terrified to admit that everything you've done was wasted effort. Am I wrong?"
Ed put his auto-mail hand over his face. "It's okay to feel lost, and not have reasons," standing up as she said it, "verifying if Marco's research was the truth or not it worth something in its self, if you ask me. After all, what you're looking for is a lot bigger than you, or Al. Why don't you keep searching for a while? Without worries about the end result."
Ember smiled, Ross was good people in her book. Just for that. She was the kind of person who see's the silver lining in the clouds.
"You're right; it's just like a book. Just because you're mad and stop reading doesn't change the end result," Ed said.
"Yeah," Ember agreed.
"That's right!" Al added.
"We've had plenty of road blocks and we've conquered them all, I'll be damned if we give up now," Ed continued.
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"Dr. Marco's research is sound in theory, but it's still never made a perfect philosopher's stone," Ed said.
They were all currently surrounding the coffee table in the middle of the room.
"So there still might be other methods," Al commented.
"Right, but let's check his method first. I want to see the truth of it with my own eyes," Ed agreed. "Wait a second," He pulled out a piece of paper and looked at it. "At the bottom of the page, like an afterthought."
"Hmm?"
"Genuine truth, behind truth… Of course! He was saying there's still something more!" Ed exclaimed.
"Like what?" Ember asked.
"I need a map," he informed them, and once they had one laid down on the table he said, "According to the data you would need a massive facility, a whole complex."
"Well, there are currently four alchemic laboratories running under the military's watch," Bloch said. "They're all pretty big. I know Dr. Marco was assigned here," he pointed at the map, "The third lab."
"No, I already went to all four labs in the city, and there wasn't anything remarkable going on, just a lot of fast talking bureaucrats," Ed replied.
"Hey, what about this?" Al pointed to a spot on the map labeled 5th Laboratory.
"There used to be a fifth lab, but they closed it down years ago," Bloch said.
"That's it," Ed said in a confident tone, "Look, there's a prison right next door."
"So they had a spacious lot of federal land, what are you getting at?" Ross asked.
"Because you need human lives," Ember said in realization.
Ed nodded, "And wouldn't it be convenient to have a state controlled supply?"
"You don't think they used convicts?"
"Why not? You couldn't have a cleaner plan. Take the condemned prisoners, say they're executed, and then use them for experiments. Who was running this Laboratory?" Ed asked.
"Lab five, it was run by General Gran," Ross said.
"And he was killed by Scar, as you're obviously aware," Bloch added.
By looking at the look on Edward's face Ross could clearly tell what he was planning, "Now hold on a minute, don't you go running around Central. Scar is still on the loose and this is grown-up's work from here on out," Ed opened his mouth to say something but was cut off by Ross, "Bloch and I will go look around the area, if we see anything out of the ordinary we'll come back with a full report. It's our duty," she said the last with a bow.
"She has a point," Al said.
"Yeah, she does," Ember agreed.
"Alright, I clearly can't argue with you," Ross looked up with a smile. "You guys can take care of it."
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"What happed to 'You guys can take care of it'?" Ember asked as Ed lowered a rope that he had transmuted out of the window.
"I change my mind," Ed said. "Now are you coming or what?"
Ember sighed, "Okay, okay. Just, one of you go down first to catch me. Gravity is not very fond of me."
"I'll go first," Al said.
Will I ever get my life back to normal? Ember thought as she carefully lowered herself down the rope.
Wierdo: So waddya think?
Ember: Well...
Wierdo: Why do you always do that?
Ember: Do what?
Wierdo: SAY 'well...' EVEN THOUGH I TELL YOU EVERYTIME THAT I MEAN THE REVIEWERS!
Ember: I'm your creation, it's not my fault I have short-term memory loss.
Wierdo: SHUDDUP!!! Please review, my wonderful readers...