In Times of Trouble

Chapter Seven

Breakthrough

Xerxes Academy

Lupin's Cottage

The thick fog covering the memory was difficult to wade through and had taken nearly a week before finally Snape was able to get to the memories.

When Jones turned around to the figure a flash of light accompanied his inability to move, before he lifted off of the ground into thin air and floated into his apartment. Once the room was secure the figure cast another spell and all of a sudden it made no sense to Jones to struggle. He relaxed completely as the voice from the shadows spoke, as it began the instructions.

Jones was to, as soon as opportunity arose, kill the soldiers working in the Fuhrer's office. Then, once that was done, he was to attempt to kill the Fuhrer himself. Once done, he was to travel to Resembool and kill the rest of the Fuhrer's family.

The person who gave these orders was still masked in shadow, suggesting Jones had never seen their face. However, the list was rather short of who knew of the country AND could enter. The magic surrounding the country still protected it rather well from the outside, so whoever this witch was, she had already been inside.

This did nothing to calm Snape's fear for the family. He would need to go warn them straight away. This was not a situation to be taken lightly, the wizards had made a move and Snape had no idea which set of them it was. He swept quickly from the room, intent on warning the Fuhrer and family. Jones could wait another day before being released from the spell wove around him.

Severus ignored Lupin's questioning look as he swept into the room to hastily light the fireplace. Remus nodded to himself a moment later. He hadn't been invited along to explore the memories, however, Snape hadn't asked him to leave, instead mentioning he was welcome in his own home.

Snape had trusted him enough to bring the young man here. This in itself had been an interesting twist. Remus smiled at this before schooling his face into a professional would help to put everyone at ease. He needn't have worried since Snape was very preoccupied and no one else knew who was here with Severus just that someone was.

Lupin checked in on Jones, and offered him food and water, which did nothing to help the situation since the man seemed to be in a hunger strike.

Resembool

Elric- Mustang residence

Yuery was teaching William and Maes how to play cards like Breda taught him. They were sitting in a circle on the floor in the living room while Tad and Trisha napped in the corner and Mommy and Nainai worked in the kitchen.

Daddy and Yeye had gone out a little bit ago, so they had to stay inside and play. They were trying to be extra good so that they could go exploring later like Daddy and Yeye had promised.

The biggest problem, Yuery quickly learned, with teaching William and Maes to play the game was that Maes was still only little, and he kept trying to eat the cards. Yuery sighed as he took the card out of Maes mouth for the third time. Sometimes being a big brother was hard. William liked to argue with him, Maes liked to stick stuff in his mouth, and Trisha liked to sleep. Just sleep. SO far, she was cute but boring.

Then there was Tad. Tad wasn't his brother, but his uncle. Unlike Uncle Al though Tad was almost as boring as Trisha. He just laid there usually. Right now, he was sleeping in the little basket in the kitchen. Yuery took another card out of Maes mouth and decided they should play blocks instead because Maes didn't understand the game. Blocks didn't get all ruined like cards, so he took everyone's and put them back in the hutch before pulling out the blocks for his brothers.

Maes was not happy with the change in game, and he started crying. Because he was only little, Yuery supposed that Daddy had told him to behave before he left but didn't know that eating cards was bad which is why Yuery had to take them. Mommy was busy chopping stuff up for the stew. Nainai was busy stirring the stew for Mommy. Yuery didn't want to bother them, even though Maes was being mean and trying to steal the cards back out of the drawer.

Yuery tried to get Maes to come back over and sit with him and William, but Maes kept telling him no. It was starting to make him angry. He was stomping his foot and telling Maes to come with him when all the plates in the hutch broke. Both boys jumped at the sound and both began crying, William joining them a moment later.

Mommy rushed right in to find out what had happened, Nainai right behind her. Yuery was still staring at the broken plates and hoping he didn't get blamed for it. He hadn't even touched the hutch since putting things away this morning.

Mommy was now busy telling William and Maes everything was alright, while Nainai swept up the glass into a pile. "It's only plates Sweetheart. They're replaceable. It was an accident." Mommy said to Yuery's fallen face as he turned his large green eyes in her direction.

"I didn't touch the hutch Mommy, I promise." Yuery said as a tear ran down his cheek.

"I know, honey. I know." Mommy said. "Daddy will be home soon."

"Mommy I didn't break anything, it just broke!" Yuery tried again to his mother's sad smile.

Nainai shooed William and Maes from the room as Mommy sat in the rocking chair and pulled Yuery into her lap. "You were mad, yes?" Mommy said and waited for Yuery to nod. "Baby, sometimes when you get mad or scared, the power inside of you slips out. It isn't your fault, and you aren't in any trouble, but its important for you to know so that you can help us help you to stop these slips."

"But Mommy- "Yuery began, not really knowing how to argue. He couldn't have broken something without touching it! Even Aunties Mei and Chen had to draw special circle to break things without touching them. "I wasn't there! I was all the way over at the table! It just broke."

Mommy sighed. She hugged him tighter and rocked in the chair with a sad smile. Yuery didn't understand. Sometimes stuff broke when he was mad, but how could he break stuff? Mommy didn't have power inside her, maybe she was wrong. He would ask Daddy or Yeye! They would know and tell Mommy it couldn't have been him and then Mommy wouldn't look sad anymore.

Daddy and Yeye came in a few minutes later, and Daddy smiled at him before taking him off of Mommy's lap. "We're going to go visit Gramma Trisha. We'll be back." Daddy said as he carried Yuery out of the house.

They walked down the path, Daddy still carrying Yuery, as they made their way toward the graveyard. "Don't worry Yu. Yeye is going to fix the plates like new. It doesn't matter, but we need to talk about your anger."

"Daddy, I promise I didn't touch it!" Yuery said sadly.

"I know baby. I know. Here, lets sit for a bit." Daddy said before setting Yuery on the stone wall next to the road and sitting next to him. Daddy stared out into the sky for a few minutes. With a heavy sigh he began. "I was hoping to wait until you were older, but these accidents are happening more and more these days."

Yuery nodded, still not understanding but he knew that tone. That was the voice Daddy used when he was going to tell Yuery something Very Important. It was the voice Daddy used before teaching Yuery anything new with alchemy, or when he said that he must never talk to anyone with an accent like Mr. Snape's or when he made Yuery promise to always have a grown up with him before trying any new circles.

"You remember baby when I told you that you had a first Mommy and a First Daddy, and that they loved you very much?" Daddy began as he smoothed down Yuery's hair. Yuery nodded. He remembered Daddy told him the story about how they loved him so much that they would do anything for him, and they died to protect him, but Daddy had promised to be his Daddy and Mommy had promised to be his Mommy and they loved him just as much.

"Well, you're first Mommy and Daddy were special Yuery. You can break things without meaning to because you got magic inside you that you got from your Mommy and Daddy." Daddy explained. "Now, I'm going to do everything I can to help you learn to keep the magic inside where it belongs and teach you to use it the right way. There's going to be accidents. But Daddy and Mommy need you to try to keep your temper as much as possible."

"Okay." Yuery said. He stared at the clouds with Daddy for a few minutes, before he thought of something. "Daddy. Do William and Maes and Trisha have to worry about getting mad?"

"William doesn't have magic inside him. I don't know if Maes and Trisha do yet. We'll have to wait a bit to see. I think Maes might. He has some of the same accidents you did when you were a baby." Daddy said with a sigh. "Learning alchemy will help control the magic until you are big enough to learn to use it."

"Okay." Yuery said. "Daddy. Is this a secret? Like how I used to have a different Daddy?"

"For now, it is. I'm sorry it is so hard." Daddy said. "Come on let's go see Gramma."

"Daddy. Do you miss Gramma?" Yuery asked as they walked along the road.

"Not as much as I used to." He said. "One day soon, I'll tell you the story. But not today."

The two walked over to the stone with the name Trisha Elric on it. As usual, Edward cleared any debris from the area, which was never much, and added new flowers. They sat next to the grave for a few minutes before Edward glanced at the stone next to his mother's. Originally, he would begrudgingly clear it too out of respect for his mother and his father's sacrifice. Then he had read the abridged journals.

Someone still came by to clean it once in a while, he suspected Granny Pinako, but Edward himself never touched it. After everything he'd learned he just couldn't. He hated having the grave so close to his mother's now that he knew. It was bad enough, when he was younger and knew his father only ever wanted him as a tool. It was worse when he was older and learned his father had hurt so may people along the way. Including his mother. Especially his mother. If Edward could he would have the grave moved to the far corner of the cemetery and forgotten all about it.

Today, with his fear of the future so raw, he couldn't face his past like this. He didn't want his son to know he was upset though, so he smiled down at the small boy next to him before standing and helping the boy up. "Come on. I think it's time for you to see Mommy's parents too."

He led Yuery to the graves sitting not too far away. Yuery Rockbelle and Sarah Rockbelle they read as clearly and cleanly as his mother's read Trisha Elric. "Yuery, this is Mommy's Mom and Dad. They were very brave. They were doctor who were willing to help anyone. When Mommy was very young, they had to go away to help people hurt during a long fight, and they died helping people. Which makes them heroes."

"Oh. He has my name!" Yuery said as he reached out to trace the letters.

"Yes, he does. I named you after him because he was a good, good person. Just like we named Maes and Trisha after people." Edward said.

"Was William named for someone too?" Yuery asked. Edward was spared trying to find an answer to a question he had never asked himself. Severus Snape crested the hill as Yuery asked.

Edward waved and got his son to follow him over to the wizard. It was still a bit strange to Edward to trust one of them enough to let them near his children, but Severus had proven that he meant them no harm.

"I am on the way to your house." Severus said as they reached him. "I got the information we were looking for."

"Okay. Come on Yuery, lets get home. I bet Mommy missed you." Edward said as they made their way down the road.

Once they arrived at the house, Edward sent Yuery to go find his brothers to play with for a while. Then, he called his Dad and Winry and Ji Mu to join them out on the porch to listen to Severus. Tad and Trisha joined them outside, and they could hear the boys in the living room, as they all sat around the table.

Severus waited until they were all settled and certain the boys were preoccupied before he began. "I finally managed to get to the actual memory of the curse. Unfortunately, he doesn't remember who it was that cursed him or never saw them to begin with, however, I do know the details of his orders. He had been instructed to kill everyone in the family starting with you Roy."

"No." Winry said as she clutched her daughter closer to her chest.

"Win, why don't you go in with the boys?" Edward said without looking up from the tabletop, his face covered in shadow. "You should be with them, don't leave them alone right now."

"Okay." Winry said before leaving the table still pale and shaking.

"What all do we know?" Roy asked once the young mother was sent away.

"I suspect I may know who gave the order, but I cannot prove it. It is just a suspicion." Severus said with a frown. "The voice sounded familiar, but I have only met her once."

"Who?" Edward demanded.

"Dante Flamel." Severus said.

"That bitch." Edward yelled.

"How certain are you? Don't worry about proof, just certainty." Roy said, his voice cold.

"I am certain." Severus said with a nod.

"Do you know where this took place?" Riza asked.

"She came up to him just outside of his apartment, then stayed inside for an unknown period of time." Severus said. "The way it was worded… I believe she picked Jones because she assumed, he would fail. To what end I do not understand."

"That makes no sense." Roy said with a frown. "To what advantage would sending an assassin to fail?"

"To scare me. To make me suffer." Edward said, finally looking up. "She told me herself she hates me, that I remind her of HIM. She's punishing me because I have his blood."

"That would be in line with the comments she made about you when I asked for access to the library." Severus said with a nod.

"Well, then, we need to find this woman and stop her before she does anything else." Riza said.

"Dante isn't just a Flamel by marriage, but by birth. I looked into her after her disappearance. She was born into a powerful magic line, the Flamels are not well known but they are old. It seems that the eldest daughter, Dante, disappeared some sixty years ago shortly after her seventeenth birthday. If she is the same woman, then she is a witch." Severus said with a frown. "She would be able to move between here and France rather quickly, she may already be gone already."

"He never gave any details in his journals, referring to his wives all as Perenelle, but it would make sense if he kept marrying into the same line since he wanted to hide them by their similar appearance." Roy said thoughtfully.

"She's an alchemist though, right? How can she be both? It's supposed to be really rare." Edward asked.

"It is rare. What is extraordinarily rare, even for those who are both, is for them to fully access both abilities. It was what Hohenhiem was hoping for, to have someone who could fully use both. From what his journals said, none of his wives could. Most of them had one or the other, a couple had partial use of both, and one lover, your mother, had neither though she had the bloodline." Roy said as he leaned his elbows on the table, clasping his hands in front of his mouth with a frown. "If she's a powerful witch as Snape is assuming then she would be a weak alchemist from my understanding. We have no way of knowing right now though."

"Sure, we do. I'll call Teacher and have her come for a visit." Edward said before standing to walk into the house.

"Well, that would be a good way of finding out." Riza said.

"Meanwhile, we need to know what she's planning. I agree with Edward, she is trying to punish him for having the same features as his birth father." Roy said, making Severus squirm slightly. He admitted to himself when he first saw the boy and how much he looked like James Potter, he prepared himself for a terrible child. He had since learned the child was far more like Edward than James.

"What shall we do with Jones?" Severus asked. "You said you wanted to keep the true nature of the attack quiet, so you can't very well put him on trial, and he can't stay tied up forever."

"Is he truly safe and free of the spell now? Can you promise that with absolute certainty?" Riza asked.

"Absolute? No. If there was a second buried set of instructions it is possible to retrigger the state." Severus said. "It is unlikely but possible."

"I'll reassign him to Briggs, under strict instructions that he is suspect of plotting a coup." Roy said with a nod. "Olivier will keep him under her thumb."

"Well, I need to go lay this one down for a while. Let me know if anything changes." Riza said before heading into the house.

"Would you like to stay for supper?" Roy offered as Ed excused himself to check on Winry.

"Thank you, no. Cissy and Drake are expecting me. I'm afraid I've been a terrible host, disappearing constantly since they arrived. I haven't yet had a chance to show the around the area, and they've been stuck inside all week." Severus said with a frown.

"Very well. I'll make the arrangements for Jones and let you know when he can be moved." Roy said.