Don the Armour
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In case of any confusion to the supposedly random title, a description of the chapter title has been included at the end of the chapter :)
Please enjoy and I'll see you with the next update!
Chapter 11 - Out of the Blue
"I won't be here to see you for the next couple of days, Ed. I have a project that needs finishing. Don't worry though; I'll bring in some apple pie for you tomorrow morning!"
"What are you up to now, Winry…"
"Working. I have a job and a name to maintain! Even if you try and keep me trapped here with these endless visits, you won't tarnish the Rockbell name."
"Where did you get that idea from? You're acting strangely, Win…"
"Of course I am to you, dummy. You don't know how to define normal. It's ok, while you are hopeless, I won't abandon you. But who would want to be an alchemy freak anyway?"
"WHO ARE YOU CALLING-"
"Take care, Ed. And Al, watch out for him for me, won't you? I'll see you both in a couple of days."
At least Winry knew where her work was leading. Al's head was close to the point of bursting. The thickset tome resting in his lap seemed to sink through the ground, weighty the sheer amount of knowledge that it contained. He subdued a sigh from the scant luck he had had over the past few days and replaced his lap with another book from the large reading pile that was looming next to him. Large…monstrous was more appropriate.
He had been here years before. Sifting through books for answers which led to the devastating conclusion that their years of searching for the Philosopher's Stone had led them to a dead end, and that the Stone was comprised of human souls. This time Al yearned that their dedication to the research would get them the information that they were seeking.
And that was…what exactly had happened at the Amestrian Games? While Mustang dug up leads at Central Command following the perpetrators of the event, Al and Ed were searching for the clues that alchemy had to offer. The books were limitless; the days were limiting. It was like they were in a dense fog which wouldn't clear, as if enigma had a personality and wanted to torment the brothers with dead ends and false trails.
Al opened the first page to The Life and Times of Alchemy, as if alchemy was a life and this was a biography for the science. He uttered a silent chuckle and placed his finger on the first paragraph and moved it along the page, like a fishing hook capturing the knowledge hidden within this book. The repetition of reaching for a book, reading it, and placing it to the side had become a ritual to Alphonse.
Ed on the other hand was deeply immersed in the same volume that he had started this morning. His legs were crossed and he was biting his lip, concentration burrowed in his face, and he sat there was a hand on his chin and the other flicking through the pages of the tattered book, oblivious to the world around him. Al cocked his head – somehow, the book looked familiar.
Al heard the footsteps of nurses bustling along the hospital corridor. He heard squirrels scampering through the trees outside and the chirps of birds huddled together in their nests. He was distracted and restless. Usually, he would go out for a walk with Ed so his brother could get a sandwich to eat if they were hovelled up indoors all day every day completing necessary research. It was the break which stopped them both from going crazy by the floodgates of knowledge flowing into their minds for hours at a time.
He peered out of the window and realized that early evening was upon them – twilight. The last that Al remembered, the sun was at its peak in the sky and the nurse had brought Ed his favourite meal with milk! It was an understatement to call Ed spluttering on milk "amusing". They couldn't leave though, not when Ed scorned at the thought of having to use a wheelchair. He wouldn't even consider it. Al remembered the heated argument with Doctor Chiron earlier that day...
It was midmorning, and Ed had just started the tattered book all the while wolfing down the apple pie that Winry had baked for him when the doctor had knocked, and without waiting for a response, he had entered the room.
The doctor had static hair that repelled from his head; brown-grey shoulder-length strands shot out in most directions. He was wearing a lab coat and a stethoscope around his neck with smaller medical instruments in his pockets; with each step he took, they would jingle merrily. Or the jingle was from loose change in his pockets for food and drink – from the wild expression of the doctor's appearance, Al suspected that this was for coffee. His hazel eyes – one more green than brown while the other was the opposite – gestured at Al and motioned to Ed.
Al took the doctor's hint, and slowly closed his own volume, and clambered over to Ed, who still had not noticed the doctor's presence. Ed's eyes were scanning across the page faster than Al could compute, and just as he was about to shake his brother's shoulder, he said, "I know what you're going to say, but I won't do it."
"It's not a matter of choice, it's a matter of practicality," Chrion responded fluidly, but his tone was not harsh, only sensible. Al knew that didn't make sense, yet it did nevertheless.
"I won't," Ed answered like a stubborn child who refused to take the horrible tasting medicine.
"You have to listen to the doctor, Ed," Al coaxed. How many times had Al questioned that he was really the younger one? Too many times.
"That old coot is more of a mad scientist than a doctor!" Ed returned and Al collapsed on the bed next to Ed completely flummoxed. How immature could the Hero of the People, the Fullmetal Alchemist Edward Elric actually be?
"I'm going to bring it in, Ed," Chiron said as he retraced his steps and brought in the contraption that spoke vulnerability, the wheelchair. It was a standard hospital issued one, wheels gleaming, and Ed would be mobile using it. But Ed stood on his own even with his lifeless legs.
Ed was absently holding onto the ridge of his ankles, seeing nothing, as his face blanked the world for a moment. He appeared to be contemplating this, lost in his deep thought that transcended reality as those thoughts dipped gracefully into the plane of dreams. A smile knitted across his features and his ton had become detached and earnest. "I won't, Doctor Chiron."
Chiron shrugged in exaggerated defeat. "Very well, my stubborn patient. If you ever want to leave Central and travel anywhere you'll need this, especially in the North Area."
"Thanks for pointing out the obvious," Ed raised his hand in a farewell gesture before his attention focused back on his book before Chiron had even left the room. A cunning smile was fully blossomed across his face. Al knew that zealous look – Ed had a lead…
Al heard the cracking of knuckles which brought him back into focus, the evening's light a gentle glow around the room. Ed cracked his knuckles again and he arched his back like a cat, rolling his shoulders in their sockets. He still held the tattered and thoroughly broken book in his hand. "Al, we're getting out of this place."
Al saw the determined expression on Ed's face, woven as clearly into his expression as stars were woven on an ebony tapestry in the sky. Hidden beneath that prickly and stubborn demeanour rested a heart of gold. Ed wasn't doing this for himself – always for Al; always for the world. That look on his brother's face meant that Ed had an urgent discovery to share with Al but away from prying eyes.
This discovery was sudden. They hadn't had any visitors today – Mustang was cooped in his office drowning in paperwork, May was chasing leads of Xingese acquaintances still staying in Central, and Winry was completing some secret project. Nobody was quite sure what her mysterious project entailed. So…there had been no visitors today, nobody for Ed to gain leads from, except for the nurses and the doctor with his utter failure of encouraging Ed to use a wheelchair.
What could have given Ed this epiphany of knowledge so randomly? Ed hadn't given any hints at all that he was onto a lead. Al hadn't pinpointed anything significant in his research either. However, Al jolted upright like electricity coursing through his armour – Ed had had a visitor today. Chiron.
Al's mind raced back to the earlier heated discussion between Chiron and Ed. The way that Chiron simply surrendered to Ed's adamant, child-like refusal to his proposal came to his thoughts, and Ed's wry smile as Chiron was leaving. Had Chiron given Ed a vital clue through their conversation like a code?
Chiron held a great respect, almost a reverence, for the General and that meant he would be willing to do a favour for Mustang. Had Chiron passed on a message to Ed from the General?
Anticipation about solving this mystery flowed through Al. He had had enough of scant research and little results to show for that work. He wanted to get out of the clammy hospital room with his brother, and doing so entailed another piggy back ride.
"Ed…" Al started, but he didn't need to finish. Even though Ed trusted Al with his life, he hated to be vulnerable around his younger brother. Al knew that feeling, because he felt the same way. He couldn't stand being useless while Ed fought to protect his own life. And now the roles had reversed, Ed was the one who needed Al to watch over him.
Al had watched his brother through his rehabilitation sessions in silent admiration. Ed would go through every exercise as if he had a fully functioning nervous system, lifting weights that Major Armstrong would have struggled with and working his legs with his arms to prevent the muscle from wearing away. He would hold onto Al's spikes and try to adjust the positon of his feet with the strength of his upper body, and even though he couldn't feel the weight anymore, he could hold the position for several seconds. Ed's resolve remained unbroken.
In truth, Al was also researching everything he could about bio-alchemy. Of course, in Amestris there were so few resources on this, but May would be a great informant. He had gained some rudimentary knowledge in alkahestry – there had to be a way to cure paralysis. That wasn't a simple procedure in itself, but there was also the dilemma of Al's spirit being entwined with Ed's now too. If he performed any transmutation on his brother, there was a risk that it could backfire and harm Ed.
He wanted to gain information from the perpetrators who had robbed Ed of his way to keep moving forward. And if Ed had a lead, Al needed to hear it.
As Ed leaned onto Al's back and they swiftly departed the hospital's antiseptic stench to welcome the scents of the evening. Not that Al could sense them, but he could imagine and dream of the summer's night. While Al wandered between trances, humming along the way, Ed bent down to Al's helmet and whispered, "If you'll stop dithering, little brother, I'll tell you the lead." He smiled that wicked grin. "We're going north."
Out of the blue - an idiom which describes an action or thought that is an unexpected notion from the speaker, typically surprising their audience
