wow...this is a long chapter...ok, you've waited long enough...here's the next chapter! ...hehe, i like the end...:evil grin:

Disclaimer (seriously, these are over-rated...) no, i don't own FMA...neither do Ember and Kira, the real authors of this story...wahhhhhhhhhhhh! i don't own it:sniffles: oh well, i get to complain about it!

Kira: about what?

Ember: we are ALL POWERFUL! we didn't do anything wrong!

Me:sighs: yeah, you did...:points out ... 999,999,999,999,9... (keep adding 9's...my fingers hurt...) grammer mistakes on the last chapters:

Ember: WHAT! i didn't type that!

Kira: yeah, you did...ne ways, enjoy the story!...since Ember-chan's to proud to admit it may be bad...

Ember: WE ARE PERFECT! HOW COULD WE MESS UP!

Me: yup, she's full of herself...

"Hurry up, Angel-chan! Al, c'mon!" Bella shouted, racing off the train.

"Jeez, Bella," Rei said. "The library's not gonna run away."

"You don't have to be in such a rush…" Al said.

"Just hurry up and come on!" Ed said, running after Bella. "We're finally in Central!"

Rei sighed. I hate this place…way too crowded…she thought.

Bella glanced at her. "What's wrong?" she asked.

Rei shuddered slightly. "I hate this place. It's too damn crowded."

Bella grinned, but before she could say anything, a man and woman in military uniform came up to them, saluting. "Major Armstrong, we've come here to escort you," the woman said.

"Thank you, Second Lt. Ross. And you too, Sergeant Brosh," Armstrong said.

"Oh!" the man – Sergeant Brosh – said, looking at Al. "And this must be the Fullmetal Alchemist?"

Rei grinned slightly and Bella started laughing, as the woman, 2nd Lt. Ross, said, "My name is Maria Ross. It's an honor to meet you, sir!"

"Denny Brosh," Sergeant Brosh said, "reporting, sir. I can see where you get your nickname! Very dignified!"

Ed got an anime vein, as Al pointed to him. "Hm?" Ross said.

"The little guy over there?" Brosh said, disbelieving.

Rei held Ed back, and Bella kept laughing. "Al…the Fullmetal…Alchemist!" she gasped between laughs.

"P…please accept my apologies!" Ross stuttered.

"I didn't mean little, per se…that is…" Brosh quickly added.

"Well, I had best head over to Central HQ to file my report," Armstrong said, with the cursed little pink sparkles around his head.

"EH? So this is good bye!" Ed shouted, forgetting his anger.

"Thanks for your help. Drop us a postcard sometime!" Bella added. "Bye bye!" she tried to run away.

Rei quickly stepped aside as Armstrong grabbed Bella and Ed in a big hug. "I will miss you as well! Ahh, the good times we shared on the road!" you could hear their bones snapping. "Until we meet again!" he finally let go. He turned to the officers, saying, "Well, then, I'll leave them with you!"

"Yes, sir!" they replied.

"Whaaat?" Bella shouted. "More bodyguards!"

"But of course!" Armstrong replied. Bella and Ed sighed, and they all started walking to the cars that had been provided.

"According to the reports from Eastern Headquarters, the assassin known as "Scar" is still at large," Maria said. "Until that situation is resolved, we have been instructed to be your bodyguards."

"We may not be as dependable as the major," Brosh added, "but we are confident in our ability to guard you, so please, feel at ease."

They arrived at the cars and Armstrong left in the first, leaving Rei, Ed, Al, Bella, Maria, and Brosh to ride in the other.

Oh great…Rei thought weakly. "Uh…" Bella said. "How are we all going to fit in one car?"

Later…
Eventually, they all got into the car. Al was on the left, with Bella stuck between him and Ed. Rei sat on Ed's lap ("Because she's smaller," Maria said.), and Maria and Brosh shared the other seat.

Lucky…Bella glared slightly at Rei, jealous. She gets to sit in Edo-kun's lap, while I have to get smashed! Why can't I sit in his lap? she fumed silently.

"Well, I guess we're stuck with you," Ed sighed.

"Don't you mean, "Thank you for your help," big brother?" Al responded.

"Big broth-?" Maria shouted. "So…the person in the armor is the younger brother…?"

"But why do you wear armor?" Brosh asked.

The four alchemists exchanged glances, until Ed finally said, "It's a hobby."

"A hobby?" Brosh whispered to Maria. "Second Lieutenant, what sort of hobby are they talking about?"

"How should I know?" she whispered back. "Who are these kids?"

"HEY!" Ed shouted, pointing out the window and almost hitting Bella, snapping her out of her (:cough:evil:cough:) thoughts.

"There it is! I see it!" she screamed, forgetting her thoughts and instantly happy.

"Ah, yes. That's the National Central Library. It houses more books than any other library in the nation," Maria commented.

"They say it would take more than a hundred lifetimes to read the entire collection of books contained within," Rei added.

"The first branch, where you four are headed, is just to the west of here," Maria continued. "Research data, historical records, and lists of names were stored there…" everyone froze in shock of what they saw. "…however…just yesterday, the entire collection was incinerated."

The building was but ruins, not a single book left unharmed.

"We haven't completed our investigations," Maria sighed, "but it appears to have been arson."

Later (again…)…
"Tim Marcoh…let's see…" the bookkeeper said, searching through the lists of books. "I don't see any research journals by a Tim Marcoh in our records. Certainly nothing about the "Philosopher's Stone". Any new acquisitions, whether kept in the main building or the other branches, should be on file. It it's not here, it either means that it doesn't exist or it was destroyed in the fire the other day."

Rei sighed, and both Bella and Ed collapsed with "DOOM" in big letters whirling around their heads.

"Uh…hello?" the bookkeeper asked.

Bella stood up, saying, "Thank you for your help…" in a kinda dazed voice. They started walking to the door.

"Hey, are you all right?"

"Do we look all right?" Ed responded sounding like a robot.

"Hey!" one of the librarians called. "Sheska might know something. You know, the girl who used to work at the first branch…"

"Oh yeah! I could look up Sheska's address for you. Would you like to meet her?"

"Who's that?" Bella looked slightly more hopeful. "Someone who knew a lot about the books at that branch?"

"You could say that…She's a real bookworm."

AN (Me: wait...i can't call it that...i didn't write the story...ok, PN! for Poster's Note! Kira: ...ok...that sounds odd... Me: so what? it works!): srypeoples, just realized i had never posted the first part of this chapter...probably 'cause it was so short...so this is veeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrry long...oh well, now you can't complain for a while::smiles happily:
Later...
Nok nok.

Nok nok.

"No answer," Ed sighed.

"Maybe she's not home?" Bella suggested, knocking on the door impatiently.

"The light's on," Rei responded, "so she should be here."

The door swung open, creaking slightly.

"Hello...?" Bella said cautiously. "WHOA!" she screamed. "What's with all the books?"

"Someone actually lives here!" Ed exclaimed.

There were thousands of books, stacked in towers, filling up the room.

"Ms. Sheska!" Ross shouted. "Are you here?"

"Hello!" Ed and Brosh shouted.

"How could anyone live with this much clutter?" Al asked himself.

"...elp..." a faint voice issued from a fallen pile of books. "Somebody...Heeelp..."

Rei glanced at the pile, then grabbed Bella, who had been running unhelpfully in circles. "What!" she shouted, getting mad. Rei pointed at the pile, which shifted slightly.

"HEY! ED! Do you hear that!" Bella screamed, forgetting her anger. "Someone's buried under there!"

"Dig! Dig!" Ed shouted, scrambling to shift the mountain of books.

...A While Later...
"Aaaah!" A girl, about average height, knelt on the ground. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry! I accidentally tipped over the mountain of books...I thought I was going to die under there! Thank you very much!"

The room was a mess, due to a certain young alchemist...or two...

"Yes, I'm Sheska," the girl said. "As you can tell, I really love books, so when I got a job at the library branch I was ecstatic! But...because I love to read so much..."

"You would forget you were working and get lost in the books," Rei finished.

Sheska nodded. "I need to work hard so I can put my sick mother in a better hospital, but..." she sighed. "I'm no good at anything but reading, so no matter where I go, I can never keep a job. It's true. I'm the most useless person in the world! The scum of society!"

"Uh..." Bella sweatdropped. "Is she really all right...?"

"We just wanted to ask you one question," Ed said. "Do you know anything about some research documents by Tim Marcoh?"

Sheska looked thoughtful for a moment, then smiled. "Yes! I remember. His notes were the only handwritten documents among all the printed books. Someone had filed them incorrectly, so I remember them quite well."

Bella looked disbelieving. "So...it really was in that branch..." she said. "And that means..."

Ed collapsed. "It's burned to ash..." He staggered toward the door with Bella. "We're back to square one."

"Thank you for your time," Al said politely.

"Guys, wait," Rei said, grabbing Bella. She looked intently at Sheska, who looked flustered.

"I remember what was in them," the bookworm said. "The whole thing."

Ed, Bella, and Al froze. "HUH?" they shouted, spinning around.

"No, you don't understand...I have a photographic memory. All I have to do is read something once, and I can recall everything. Every word, every phrase, without error!"

Rei let go of Bella, and Bella and Ed jumped up and down in celebration.

"It'll take some time, but would you like me to transcribe it for you?" Sheska offered.

Bella grabbed Sheska's hand. "Thank you bookworm!" she shouted as Ed waved some victory fans around.

A Few Days Later...
"Sorry it took so long," Sheska said, putting down the papers, "but there was so much material that it took me five days to write it down. Here you go! Tim Marcoh's research notes, to the letter!" She pointed to the proudly.

"She did it..." Bella said, amazed. "She really did it..."

"There truly are some amazing people in the world, huh, Bella...?" Ed said dazedly.

Rei stood behind them, a small knowing smile on her face.

"Now it makes sense. Marcoh couldn't run away with his notes because of the sheer volume of the material," Bella's eyes were wide.

"And you're sure all of these are Marcoh's?" Ed asked.

"Yes! Without a doubt," Sheska replied. "Tim Marcoh's recipe book - "1,000 Meals for Daily Living"!"

Ed, Al, and Rei smiled/grinned, but Brosh, Ross, and Bella (who was being stupid that day...I dunno) were confused.

"A tablespoon of sugar with a few drops of water..." Ross read. "It really is just a bunch of recipes!"

"Hey!" Brosh shouted. "What are you trying to pull, lady? These can't be the right documents!"

"But...!" Sheska protested. "I just copied it down exactly how I remembered it!"

"There must have been someone else writing under the same name," Brosh said apologetically. "I'm sorry, you four. It looks like this was all a waste of time."

"Now, Sheska," Rei said, ignoring him. "You're sure that this is a flawless reproduction of Marcoh's notes, down to the last word and phrase?"

"Yes!" Sheska assured. "There are no mistakes."

Rei grinned. "You're amazing. Thanks a lot."

"All right!" Ed shouted. "C'mon, Al, Bella. Let's take these back to the main library." He grabbed the nearest stack.

"How will these help us?" Bella looked lost. "And why doesn't Angel-chan have to help!"

Al ignored her. "Good idea, brother. We can use their reference books."

"Second Lieutenant Ross," Rei said, scribbling some stuff on a scrap of paper. "Take my pin number, signature, and the silver watch as ID. Go to the State Alchemists' office in the presidential prefecture, and withdraw the amount I wrote down from my research grant and give it to Sheska." She grabbed the last stack of papers and walked to the door.

"Yes, ma'am," Ross said.

"Sheska, thanks again for everything," Ed shouted. "You're a lifesaver!"

"See ya!" Bella added. They walked out the door.

"From her research grants, huh...?" Ross said, as she and Sheska looked at the paper.

Outside
"EYAAAH!" Sheska's voice could be heard. "DOES THAT SAY WHAT I THINK IT DOES!"

Ross's voice entered. "WHO IS THAT KID THAT SHE CAN HAND OUT THIS AMOUNT OF CASH!"

Central's Main Library

""Alchemists work for the people..."," Ed said. "That's our order's motto. Alchemists have always strived to use their powers to benefit ordinary people."

"State Alchemists go against that motto," Bella said, "which is why we're called "Dogs of the Military"." She sighed. "But that doesn't explain how recipes can help us find the Philosopher's Stone!"

"At the same time," Rei added as if Bella hadn't said anything, "We have an obligation to keep our trade secrets out of the public arena."

"Oh yeah!" Bella shouted in remembrance. (...she's really out of it today...)

"I see..." Brosh said. "You wouldn't want your knowledge to fall into the wrong hands."

"You got it," Ed replied. "Which is why, to keep that from happening, we alchemists keep our notes in code."

"This may look like a normal recipe book to most people..." Rei flipped through some pages, "...but in reality, it's a high-level alchemical document written in a code known only to the person who wrote it."

"But..." Brosh looked thoroughly confused. "If only one person knows the code, how can you hope to decipher it?"

Ed sat down. "With knowledge, inspiration, patience (something someone...:cough: Bella :cough: doesn't have...), and good old-fashioned hard work."

"Jeez...I'm getting tired just thinking about it!" Bella complained.

"These notes may be easier to decipher because they're disguised as a recipe book. After all, some people say that alchemy originated in the kitchen," Al said. "Big brother logs his research notes in the guise of a travelogue, so when I read it, I can't make heads or tails of it."

Bella brightened. "Oh! So that's why Angel-chan uses those crazy characters!"

Anger flashed in Rei's eyes. "They're not "crazy characters", as you called them. It's Japanese, and I'd appreciate it if you didn't insult my people."

"Whoops. Sorry!" Bella said.

"Ok..." Ed turned back to the notes. "All right! Let's crack this code and find out the truth about the Philosopher's Stone!"

One Week Later...
Ed and Bella leaned on the table, looking tired. Rei sat against a wall, with some papers next to her and a notebook in her lap. Al sat next to Ed, equally frustrated.

"Why'd he make it so damn hard...?" Ed asked for the billionth time.

"Maybe we should ask Marcoh directly?" Bella responded.

"No," Rei said, still writing. "We've come this far - don't you want to finish, and know you've done something great?" There was very little sarcasm in her voice.

"But we still don't have a clue..." Bella whined.

Rei held up a paper with her neat handwriting on it. "I've got -"

"Um..." a voice came from the door.

"Sheska...?" Rei asked, surprised. Ed and Bella sat up.

"I'd heard that you four would be in here..." the girl said. "Thanks to you, Miss Reian, I was able to transfer my mother to an excellent hospital! I really don't know how to thank you..."

"It was nothing," Rei looked away, slightly embarrassed.

"But I feel bad about accepting so much money..."

Rei grinned, tapping the notes she was reading. "Compared to the secret in these, we got off cheap."

Later...
"I see...so those aren't just recipes...are they?" Sheska asked. "So...how is your deciphering coming along?" Everyone but Rei adopted a gloomy atmosphere.

"Have you found a job yet?" Bella asked, attempting to lighten the mood. Sheska looked even gloomier.

"Well, I'd better go. Thank you so much for everything. And not just the money...It makes me so happy that a nobody like me, who's never been good at anything, was able to help out. Thank you," Sheska stood up to leave.

"You're not a nobody," Bella said. "I think being so passionate about something is a talent in itself," she grinned. "Plus, with that amazing memory of yours, I'm sure you'll do all right."

Sheska stood there for a moment, then smiled. "Thanks!"

"YO!" a tall man shouted from the door.

"Lieutenant Colonel Hughes!" Bella called.

"I heard from the major that you'd be here. I told you guys to give me a call if you were ever in Central!"

"Yeah, we've been kinda busy ever since we got here," Bella said.

"I know what you mean! I've been so swamped lately, I haven't been able to leave the office!" Hughes laughed. "There's been so many incidents lately, the court-martial office that I'm in charge of has really been bustling. And we still haven't closed the Tucker chimera case."

Everyone's faces darkened at the reminder, and Hughes hastened to add, "Oh, sorry about that. I didn't mean to bring up a sore subject."

"You were able to take some time to see us in the middle of your busy schedule?" Bella asked.

"Nah," Hughes replied, shaking his head. "I'm just on break. Thought I should drop by and say hi. I've gotta get back to work in a minute." He sighed wearily, "Sheesh...It's been busy enough as it is without the first branch burning down like that. I can't take much more of this."

"The..." Ed started.

"...first..." Bella continued.

"...branch?" Rei finished.

Hughes nodded. "It was close to the court-martial office, so we used it to store our records. Incident logs, lists of names, that kind of thing." He sighed again, "As you can imagine, the fire's really slowed us down."

"Hmmm..." Bella got a mischievous glint in her eyes, and looked at Sheska.

"WHAAAT!" Sheska yelled. Calming down, she added, "Well, it's true I did read the military criminal records...and of course I remember them...but..."

"Whaddya think, Lieutenant Colonel?" Bella said, leaning back in her chair. "We're trying to find her a job."

"Huh?" Hughes sat up straight. "This little girl has an amazing talent like that! She could really help us out! Let's get the paperwork out of the way, right now! We're gonna give you a great salary!" He laughed manically, grabbing her and heading for the door.

"Huh!" Sheska gasped. "But...um...really! Uh...you guys! Thank you so much! I'm going to be more confident in myself and try my hardest! Thank you so much for everything!" Hughes dragged her out the door.

"He looks like a kidnapper," Ed commented, as they waved goodbye.

""Being so passionate about something is a talent in itself"?" Rei smiled slightly. "Very true, Bella."

Bella blinked, then jumped up and down. "YAY! Angel-chan smiled at me!"

Rei sweatdropped, and returned to her work.

"That reminds me...Angel, you were saying something before Sheska came in...?" Ed asked/said.

Rei nodded, and handed him the paper she had been working on. "I think I've got the basics decoded, so we just have to decipher the rest."

Ed smiled at her. "You're awesome, Angel!"

Rei blushed, and looked away. Seeing this, Bella laughed.

"What?" Ed was annoyed and confused.

"Oh, nothing!" Bella said in a sing-song voice. "I think an angel's just fallen for a -" A book collided with her head. "Owie...Angel-chan, why'd you have to throw that at me! And why'd you have to have such good aim..."

Three Days Later...
Gonng

Gonng

Gonng

"It's that time again," Ross sighed. "They've been at it for ten days straight...and still no progress."

Brosh opened the door. "All right, you four. Library's closing. Time to pack up."

"TH...THIS CAN'T BE!" Bella shouted.

"Is...is everything all right!" Brosh asked. "H-have you been fighting? Please, just calm down..."

"No, that's not it," Al said, sounding shocked.

"Then, are you frustrated because you can't decipher the code?" Ross asked.

"We deciphered it..." Bella said. "We deciphered the code, all right." She gave a short hollow laugh.

"Really!" Brosh said. "Then that's good!"

"THERE'S NOTHING GOOD ABOUT IT!" Ed slammed his fist on the floor. "DAMMIT!"

"This really is the work of the devil...Dammit, Marcoh...what the hell were you doing!" Bella slammed her hands on the table.

"What's wrong?" Brosh asked Ed.

But it wasn't Ed who answered.

"The main ingredient for the Philosopher's Stone..." a hollow, emotionless voice came from the girl by the window. "The reason they're all dead..." Rei turned around, her empty eyes unfocused. "A living human being..."

ooohhh...wait, the reason who all is dead:confused: ...ah well, Kira's never gonna tell me...:pouts: oh well!

hehe, keep reviewing! the authors love it!