Chapter 21
The Uprising
Ran Fan dragged Edward down the dim, musty hallway that continued from the room he and Teresa had been held. The depressed faces of the families and guests that had once inhabited the ancient building in the photos on the walls thinned out the farther they went. Ed wondered if, like him, they'd been captured and forced to give up all they cared for to suit the Thule Society's needs.
Only Envy and Ran Fan escorted him this time – Envy strutting in front of Ed and Ran Fan, keen on his abilities to suppress Edward if he got free. There was no chance of that happening, of course. The stockade binding Ed's wrists behind his back separated his palms so performing alchemy and escaping was not a possibility, and he was in such a battered condition that even if he got free, there wouldn't be much he could do in resistance before collapsing from exhaustion.
Once they'd gone a certain length in the hall, the photographs on the walls disappeared entirely, as did the facetious gold and red wallpaper and the dusty, carpeted floor, all to be replaced by nothing but hard stone. There were a few more doors that they passed in the hall now. And just as Ed saw an end to their endless, dreadful journey, a low rumbling about fifty feet ahead brought his attention to the metal door there. Every step, Edward felt the rumbling getting louder, and in return, his legs went slower. Ran Fan pushed him forward, but somehow Edward knew he wouldn't want to find out what was waiting for him on the other side.
Envy got to the door first, putting one hand on the metal handle and glancing once more toward Ed and his ninja-assassin escort before opening it, – or actually glancing somewhere behind them – and Ed soon found the bad feeling in his gut had been one-hundred percent justified.
A thick crowd of people – all familiar to Edward – stood around the circumference of the tall and cylinder shaped room, each shooting him their own aura of guilt, pity, or nonchalance. Sometimes, a mix of the three. The ceiling of the large, cylinder space, Ed saw, extended to six or seven more floors, circular balconies lining the circular walls supported by large, white marble pillars. More people – members of the Thule Society – peeked over to the pit of people below. What the rumbling had been, Ed did not know.
As he was directed through the crowd by Ran Fan, Envy leading the way, he realized what everyone was standing around: the edges of a circle; a white transmutation circle, painted on the ground.
Halted by Ran Fan, Edward glared at the circle, feeling the perspiration on his face condense, dripping behind his dirty, gold bangs, appalled to be in the presence of such a thing once again. Envy went to stand in the center of the circle, hands on his hips, looking left from the direction of the door they'd entered. Noticing him, Edward did too.
"The time has finally come," said Dietlinde Eckhart, descending the stairs at what could only be the "head" of the room. Two enormous, white-marble pillars on either side of her, many guards followed with Fuu, who still had ahold of Teresa around the wrists.
The mass of guards marched in front of Dietlinde, Fuu, and Teresa, standing around the transmutation circle, separating Envy, Ran Fan, and Edward from the crowd of Von, Alfons, Wendy, Officer Hughes, Officer Hartmann, and the other men Ed had worked with during his job at the rocket company – which had turned out to be the Thule Society in the end. He had helped their cause to bring about worldly destruction without even knowing it.
The guards parted a moment to allow Dietlinde and Fuu and Teresa to enter, then quickly re-sealed the tight circle. Fuu shoved Teresa brutally away from him and onto the ground, her palms hitting the stone floor, echoing up to the high circular ceiling of the room. And as she rubbed the red skin around her wrists, Edward felt Ran Fan unlatching the lock on his stockade.
Of course he pondered escape. Until Dietlinde took a previously-concealed pistol out of the holster at her side, cocked the hammer, and pointed it at Teresa's head. Teresa glowered at Dietlinde, a dark shadow over her face from her mussed, blood-stained brown bangs, clutching her red wrists. Dietlinde took no notice.
"I can tell you're thinking about escaping," she stated, smiling coldly at Edward. "You should know we have zero tolerance for time-wasters in the Thule Society."
Ran Fan removed the stockade from Ed's hands, allowing him to bring his arms in front of his chest, popping the joints, flexing the ache in his muscles. Finally free of all repression, – even it was hopeless, – Ed felt stupidly confident. "You sure went out of your way gathering everyone to welcome me when I first arrived, but since then I've been treated more like a prisoner than a guest," Ed replied reproachfully, giving Dietlinde an equally cold stare.
Ed was sure he heard Ran Fan stir behind him from the comment, but Eckhart gave nothing in response, pretending as though she hadn't heard him at all. (No way the sass of some arrogant teenager wouldn't ruin her flawless composure.) "Fullmetal Alchemist. Back in your world, you may have been respected, treated as a pinnacle for the new generation, –"
"Yeah, right," Ed muttered, recalling the various number of reactions he received when he told anyone he was a Dog of the Military.
"– but here, we are the hierarchy of authority. You defy us, and you'll be punished. Your friends will be killed. Everyone you care about. Gone."
"What good would that do?" Ed called smartly. "Everyone I cared about here was only doing so under your command. Why would I care what you do to any of them?"
Dietlinde pressed her pistol harder into Teresa's head, and Teresa closed her eyes, lines of strain appearing around them. "Why don't I pull the trigger, then?" Eckhart inquired coolly, smirking slightly.
Damn. She had him. It was Dietlinde's game, and she had Ed cornered. He couldn't possibly be the cause of Teresa Heiderich's death. Or was it Teresa Elrick? Did Teresa and Von's marriage even count or... had that all been a setup of the Thule Society's as well...? Is that why she'd seemed so content with marrying him when they'd first met, or was that for another reason? Neither really mattered, because she had still deceived and used him at her own expense. But again, he thought of her family, Mr. and Mrs. Elrick, their jubilant smiles as their daughter informed them she'd be married soon.
Ed remembered something else then. Something he hadn't taken much notice in before. Mr. Elrick hadn't seemed all that thrilled when Teresa had first announced her and Von's engagement. If anything, Ed would have described his reaction as somewhat reserved and disapproving. And only after the reassurance of Mrs. Elrick did he seem more open to his teenage daughter being the fiancé of a 40-year-old man.
Nevertheless, Edward's choked silence as he glared at Dietlinde convinced her that he did still care for Teresa. He hated that she could still use the very people that'd used and manipulated him as leverage, – especially since Dietlinde had been the one ordering them to use and manipulate him, – but Teresa's life was more important than his pride.
Envy's colorless cheeks curved upward into a broad sneer, and he spread his arms wide. "Well, no need to waste any more time," Envy said, sighing. He gestured behind him with one thumb to Von, Alfons, and Wendy behind the wall of Thule Society guards. "Why not show your buddies what you've been hiding all this time?"
What I've been hiding? Ed thought, confused. However, feeling the weight of his right arm, exposed from the torn, singed, and rolled up sleeve of his white button-up undershirt, he realized Envy meant his alchemy. But that was weird. And Ed hesitated, because the expression on Envy's face wasn't full of malice and mockery as it usually was when he was forcing someone to participate in something they couldn't escape.
Eckhart took Teresa by the arm and yanked her to her feet, twisting her arm behind her. She pressed the pistol to Teresa's head again. "What are you waiting for?" she boomed. "Do you want your friend to die? Open the Gate of Truth, or I pull the trigger."
"Friend"? There was something strange again. Dietlinde used the Heiderichs as threats to manipulate Edward into doing what she wanted, but did she know why they meant as much to him as they did? If so, why wouldn't she use that as her trump card, not the fact that they'd known each other for a mere three months and had become close friends by chance?
She must not know Teresa looks like my dead mother. And that made Edward wonder, How much did Envy actually tell her?
"Did you hear me? Don't you care about your –?"
Envy chuckled – a raspy, taunting cackle, – which echoed up to the domed ceiling high above and back again. Short, but enough to confirm Ed's suspicion.
"Y'see... about that," Envy said, the hint of feigned guilt in his voice. "My father has different plans for you and the Thule Society."
"What did you say...?" Dietlinde asked slowly, as if testing her ears. Her composure remained in her voice, but her body language suggested nothing of the sort. Her arms and legs trembled, pistol clattering against Teresa's head, eyes wide as radishes.
"Sorry, Eckhart," Envy apologized, shrugging and sighing. "Unless you don't want your only ticket into Shamballa to cooperate, your little 'society' thing is under my command now."
Contrary to Edward, Eckhart didn't waste any time to respond to what Envy had said. The barrel of her pistol went from being pointed at Teresa's head to being pointed straight at Envy; Dietlinde's wrath rained upon Envy through the bullets of her gun. Her composure was a thing of the past – in her fury, she forgot she could still bend Edward into opening the Gate using Terry.
BAM.
"YOU LIAR!"
BAM.
"YOU PROMISED US AN ARMY OF ALCHEMISTS!"
BAM.
"YOU PROMISED GERMANY GLORY!"
BAM.
"YOU PROMISED US OUR PEOPLE WOULDN'T BE LOOKED DOWN ON ANYMORE!"
BAM. BAM. BAM.
"AND THIS IS WHAT WE GET FOR ALL OUR HARD WORK?!"
BAM. BAM.
"IT'S DESPICABLE!"
Focused on her unrelenting anger toward the Homunculus, Teresa wriggled out of Dietlinde's twisted grasp on her arm, and just as she did so, Envy shook off the bullets Eckhart had put in his body, lunging for her. Eckhart dodged his attack by stepping to the side, and Envy crashed into the tightly lined up guards surrounding them, breaking the circle.
Luck was on Edward's side. Without pausing to think about it, he dashed through the opening of the circle, coming upon the cluster men he'd worked with while building rockets. They didn't look too keen to stop him in his progress, but packed tighter together just in case they'd be punished for not at least trying, raising their fists. Ed bit into the skin on his left thumb where he had before when he'd fought Envy in the abandoned hospital. Spreading the warm blood to both of his palms, he clapped his hands, transmuting a tacky sword from the stone ground below. Poising the blade toward the group of men, he screamed, "MOVE IT!" the sound of more bullets being shot drowning him out. The workers got the message without needing to hear him.
Ed ran between them only to realize he was being followed. Once halfway up the stairs to the doorway he hoped would lead to freedom, Ed spun around and got his sword ready to swing at whoever it was.
He stopped, seeing it was Teresa.
Edward's pause was not rewarded; back at the center of the human transmutation circle, miraculously unscathed, Dietlinde had ordered a group of guards to go after Edward and Teresa, Ran Fan, Fuu, Officer Maes Hughes, and Officer Rachel Hartmann among them, another group of guards staying back to try and contain Envy. But they were failing miserably; Envy hacked away at them left and right – all they were doing was slowing him down.
Even if they ran as fast as they could, Dietlinde was sure to have more guards waiting for Edward on the other side of this doorway – or maybe not? Knowing what he knew that Dietlinde must not, Ed got a wild idea. He grabbed Teresa by the arm and brought them up the rest of the stairs. Once they were at the top, Ed turned her around and choked her with one arm, the other holding the blade of his sword at her throat.
The guards stopped at the foot of the stairs, looking to their commander for orders, but she had none.
It was all a bluff! They do need Teresa for something else!
There would be time to think about that later. Teresa threw herself about wildly in Ed's grasp, but he was determined not to let her go. If she did, there would be no escaping for him. He trudged along toward the doorway, using her as a shield, then turned and bolted, still holding one of her arms to take her with him.
"ED –?! WHAT THE HELL?!"
Ed ignored her cries of confusion and gasps of soreness, for her wounds had still not healed or been treated. Edward felt his metal limbs stiffening up again at the sudden and rigorous movement, but that was irrelevant.
Freedom. Freedom was the only goal right now. To get away from the spider web that only led to one outcome: the destruction of Shamballa and Earth.
The doorway Eckhart had exited, at first, was nothing but a large, dark hallway, much like the one Ed had come from, and he felt he was running blindly through darkness. The soft, swift patter of two figures chased Ed and Teresa into the hall, and Ed assumed them to be Ran Fan and Fuu. When he turned, throwing Teresa ahead and renewing the cut in his thumb, he clapped his hands to create a wall impassible to them – and he found he was right about their pursuers being Ran Fan and Fuu.
They would get through it, he was sure, but not immediately. It would give them time; time to find a way out, and keep Dietlinde from getting word to the other Thule Society members of what had taken place.
Or, for all Edward knew, all of those he had seen on the balconies in the cylinder room had been all of the members there were, and they had all come to witness the event of Edward opening the Gate.
As Ed ran past Teresa, where she'd been thrown on the floor, he took her by the arm again and kept on going.
Now that their dominating source of light from behind had been sealed off, Ed was able to spot their exit. After a right turn, a white door with a tiny window shined brilliantly in the dark hall.
In the five-hundred feet it took to reach the door, Teresa shook free of Edward's hold and ran ahead. He was sure she'd try to trip him or slow him down in some way, but instead, when she got to the white door, – and despite being just as badly bruised as him, – she reached it in ample time and held the door open for him.
Ed kept a watchful eye for another of her betrayals, but that was hard, having heard the wall he'd transmuted burst open – from a bomb or some other artillery, no doubt, – to grant passage to their ninja-assassin pursuers.
Beyond the shining, white door was a garage, and inside was every mode of transportation possible – save maybe a spaceship or a bus.
Edward weaved around the machines, running at top speed, toward the black automobile model he'd seen most frequently around the streets of Munich to give them the best chance of blending in, but Teresa grabbed his arm before he could climb in. "No, wait," she panted.
"Why?!"
Teresa was in no position to dictate what vehicle they should take, and Ed would leave without her if he had to. When he saw her grab a couple of bikes from the opposite side of the garage and stow them into the backseats of the car, Ed understood.
"Know how to drive?" Teresa asked, climbing behind the wheel.
"Not really," Ed murmured. He didn't want her to drive, but it didn't look like he had any other choice.
The door to the garage flew open right as Teresa revved up the engine and put it into gear. She pressed the pedal to the floor, careening them onto the test-drive tracks of the garage, where thankfully there was a door to the outside open. Ran Fan and Fuu came hopping over the wings of a biplane as Ed and Teresa swerved out into the open air, onto a dirt path away from the – when Ed looked back – mansion-like building they'd come from. But Edward realized it was way too big to be a mansion for one family.
Great plains stretched all around the "mansion" and the dirt road leading to it. In the distance, where the road led, what looked to be a small town lay below the sun, which was just starting to sink behind the horizon.
"We'll be able to make it before they're too far onto us," Teresa said, her hands clutching the steering wheel with much strain. Her entire body was tense.
"Have you ever driven before?" Edward probably should have asked this before he'd let her get behind the steering wheel.
Terry turned and smiled at him, nothing reassuring about her expression. "Nope."
"EYES ON THE ROAD!"
Their car missed a large rock in the middle of the dirt road by swerving out onto the grass for a moment, giving both of them a minor heart attack.
"I THOUGHT YOU SAID YOU KNEW HOW TO DRIVE!"
"WE HAVEN'T CRASHED YET, HAVE WE?!"
Yeah, Ed couldn't argue with that. But still... Teresa was helping him, when she still hadn't earned back his trust. Was this wise?
I'll ditch her the first chance I get, Edward decided. As soon as I get my bearings and know what I'm gonna do next.
The mansion seemed to be eons away from them now. As Edward viewed the sunsetting over the small town that would be their refuge, all thoughts of betrayal and the fate of his and Teresa's worlds drifted from his mind. They had escaped the Thule Society for the time being, but the real freedom was being outside again, knowing that time still passed.
Ed rolled down the front windows of the car, the cool wind whipping through his sweat-crusted hair. Teresa seemed to be enjoying it too.
Ed laid back in his seat. Eight miles behind them, five Thule Society cars pursued at top speed, gaining ground, full of members who would capture and imprison them again if given the chance. But for the moment, Ed had never felt more free.