Edward poured over his project. Everything was quiet in the modest room of the small
inn except for the slight hums and grunts coming from the teenage alchemist's throat
and the taps of metal on metal. A faint grin crept upon the lips of the boy as he
shook his long blonde bangs from his eyes. His concentration was so complete that he
never noticed the hulking form enter in behind him. Ed continued his work, completely
unaware. The monster of a suit of armor stood so silently, it seemed no more than
what it was. How it got there was almost a mystery. Perhaps it was alchemy, perhaps
magic, or perhaps Ed was so wrapped up in his monotonous task that kept him grunting
and tapping away, that he paid no heed to anything in his surroundings. A moment,
two, three, a good 5 seconds of motionless observation passed before;
"What have you got there, brother?" The question was excited and child-like, seeming
sweeter and more inoccent when uttered with the young voice of the human boy's soul
trapped within the living armor.
So surprised was Ed that he started! He hopped briefly from his chair, upper body
landing over the pile of now rubbish, covering it with his arms.
"Nothing! uh... fixing... fixing it!" Ed began unsure, but ended with a confidence
that could not be undermined, unless one looked him in the face. He grinned widely,
exposing two levels of pearly white teeth that seemed to fill his mouth too full. Al
noticed the slight twitch of his brother's left eyebrow.
Alphonse Elric bent over with a hollow-metalic sound. He cocked his head and put a
finger up to his "mouth." He appeard as perplexed as the helmet could allow.
"Brother, I think it's beyond repair..."
Ed blew a long sprig of hair out of his face and it went lightly back in it's
antena-like position, wavering above the rest of his hair. He drooped his eye lids
and half-smiled at the almost ironic comment. He knew what he was doing.
"I think we should use alchemy to fix it." The younger brother continued innocently.
"Something like this is too delicate for Alchemy..." he started unconvincingly. His
face brightened even as he looked away from his brother. He closed his eyes tightly
in another huge grin, whiping his body around in his chair as he craned his neck up to
vew his kid brother. "...Which is why I have to send it to Winry!" His tone and
attitude seemed to change instantaneously. He went from nervous and unsure to certain
and cocky. That was Edward Elric for you.
Al stood dumbfounded as he listened to his brother continue with the more subtle
details as to why in the world he couldn't possibly use alchemy on such a delicate
piece of machinary and how he knew Winry would like the practice anyway. She was such
a nut over anything mechanical. Without ever ceasing his speech he pushed out from
the desk, stood from his chair, and went marching to find an envelope. Al looked away
from his perplexing older, but shorter, brother and pushed a finger through the pile
of pieces.
"Strange." Al muttered silently to himself. "It looks as if brother were
disassembling it. Maybe he thought he had to take it apart to fix it." All of the
pieces seemed so familiar to Al, but he couldn't place what this mechanical mess could
have been, so he couldn't even begin to try Alchemy on it. He was certain there were
a few crucial missing pieces and he doubted that even Winry could fix it as good as
new!
Winry Rockbell exited the house that she shared with her grandmother, Auntie Pinakko.
She waited at the end of the road as she did every day at this time for the mail to
arrive. She usually didn't get anything, but sometimes, (usually no longer than a
month apart) she would recieve a letter from Ed and Al, her childhood friends.
Winry burst through the front door and into the den. Her eyes were glittery; she
swooned and spun and jumped with pure bliss. She placed an ivory hand to her blushing
cheek and furrowed her brow in adoration as she brought her right hand up before her
to examine the package she had recieved.
"Looks like cupid hit you with an arrow, child." The miniscule Auntie Pinako
commented as she casually passed through the room, hands clasped behind her back and a
long stemmed pipe tucked firmly between her teeth.
"It's galvanized!" the blonde beauty exclaimed. From behind, Pinako saw her hug
something to her chest. The tall thin young lady turned quickly to her grandmother,
dropping to her knees and presenting the gift for inspection. "And I've never seen a
pink handle before!"
Pinakko adjusted her glasses and grabbed the tiny object. "Hmm." the old woman
sniffed. "Most girls get cards, chocolates, or flowers..." Winry seemed almost hurt
for a moment before beginning her defense.
"No no! Just look at it. This was custom made!" She held the tiny flat-head
screw-driver up to her face, so close she couldn't possibly have seen it clearly. The
metal was so very shiney and her initials were carved delicately along the shaft
against the handle. The grip itself was a flat carnation pink and ribbed for better
grip. The shaft was wider toward the handle and tapered down to accomodate a tiny
flat-head tip for very delicate jobs.
"Is that all you got? A screw-driver?" The straight-forward old woman pressed,
equally eager to hear how the two boys were doing.
Winry remembered herself once more and looked within the little box her gift had come
in. Folded tightly at the bottom was a piece of cream colored heavy weight paper
often used in expensive stationary. She unfolded it with a crinkling sound and walked
to the couch to sit and read it with her guardian.
"Dear Winry," she read aloud. "Good news! You don't have to fix my automail. It
isn't broken." there were a few scribbles right after this sentence as if the paper
had been stabbed at and the pen scrawled around. "Hello Winry and Auntie Pinnako.
It's me, Al. We are doing fine in a little town called Gishu. The military paid to
put us up at an inn. We miss you both." More scribbling and a little tear in the
paper signified another brief fight over the writting instrument. "Anyway, I was
writing to tell you I have a little project for you. Al and I made you this
screw-driver which will fit the parts perfectly. I wanted to write you first to make
sure you will be able to do this. Please write to me and I will send you the package.
You can expect to recieve it within 6 days of replying to me. Be on the look out for
it. It is very important. Sorry I can't tell you what it is or how to put it
together. Hey, I trust you! Don't let me down!
Your friends,
Edward Elric and
Alphonse Elric"
"A secret project? That sounds like fun. Hurry up and write them back! If you're
quick we can have it in the mail today and begin work next week!" Pinakko said,
rubbing her hands together greedily. Her worn skin made a rough yet pleasant sound.
"I'm not going to write them back." Winry stated.
"What!" Auntie Pinakko's hair almost fell out of its bun, she whipped her head around
so fast. "Certainly you're not angry with them! They haven't done anything this
time!"
"No, it's not that."
"Then you don't think you can do the work?" The old woman grinned smugly as she
nudged the girl in her mostly uncovered ribs.
"Oh, I'm going to do the work." Winry exclaimed, clenching her fist and staring into
nothingness with a kind of determination and a slight grin that spoke volumes.
"Then what..." Pinako began but was cut off when Winry stood defiantly, screw-driver
in hand, wrench slung through a loop in her lavender cover-alls, which were unzipped
and tied around her waist, making an interesting pair of pants.
"You heard the letter! They're in Gishu! And they're not going anywhere because they
are expecting a return letter from me! Well, I'll give them a return letter... only
I'll be presenting it in person. Anyway, I want to check up on Ed to make sure he
doesn't really need any repairs..."
Pinako simply stood up, straitened her mud-colored dress and walked into the kitchen.
"Aren't you going to say something?" Winry pressed, unsure if she liked the silent
snicker from her grandmother.
"I dont have to. Go on and get ready. You can catch the last train of the evening
from Risembool if you leave within the hour." The rough yet loving voice drifted from
the other room. Winry beamed as she bounded upstairs to pack.
"These late nights are gonna kill us, Al." Edward dragged himself in the room,
pushing through the door and practically colapsing to the floor in the darkness.
"I know what you mean. I can't feel pysical exhaustian, but my brain needs a rest!"
Alphonse returned tiredly. "Why is the military making you write all of those reports
now when they never used to?"
"Because, they don't want me to seem like I'm wasting time when we go for periods of
of studying and searching for clues. It's a cover-up. As long as I'm sending in
reports, they don't have to make excuses for me, I guess." Ed grumbled, grabbing a
chair with his metal right hand and pulling it to him. He slouched in it. "Al, turn
on a light or something, will ya?" he whined. Al lumbered to the switch near the door
and flipped it on. Light bathed the room, and with it, the figure seated menacingly
across from Ed, mere inches from where he sat. Both boys startled, gasping with
surprise.
Womanly legs crossed under a black skirt. Clutching a wrench with her right hand and
slapping it against her left making heavy patting noises she almost purred.
"So. Where's this secret mechanical project, Edward?" She smirked, and in the low
light of the cheap room's single bulb, dark shadows case over her eyes making the
woman look truely menacing.
Ed sat akwardly in his wooden chair, now clutching the seat, legs drawn up, neck
ducked down between his shoulders, eyes wide, and mouth agape. He couldn't get over
how he had sat down so close to her and still not have even noticed she was there.
Al had been surprised up front, but he quickly regained himself. With a smiling voice
he trotted over to the girl.
"Winry! When did you get here? How are you doing!" The two exchanged a hug and
both sets of eyes turned to Ed, who was only just now unfreezing from his defensive
position.
"Here. We know it's late. You're probably tired from your trip..."
"And I know I'm certainly tired from the day!" Ed interjected.
"So we set up the bed for you to sleep in. Ed and I will sleep in here." Al continued, fluffing
up Winry's pillow and turning down the blankets. Ed pulled out a spare blanket and pillow
from a small closet in the room and held it under his arm. He had taken off his long red coat
and removed his black and white over-shirt, leaving him in a clean black sleeveless shirt and
black pants. His full metal right arm reflected the low light of the other room.
Winry looked around as she crawled into the bed.
"Where's the light switch for this room?" She asked.
"Stupid inn has two rooms and one light with the bathroom down the hall. Stupid
military is so cheap they put us up in a place like this." Ed complained mildly.
"Don't worry about it too much. They didn't have to put us up anywhere. At least we
have a place to sleep and we don't have to pay for it!" The suit of armor commented,
remaining on the bright side of things.
"I guess you're right. Come on. Let's hit the sack." Ed turned and put his left
hand on Al, turning him around and walked to the door.
"You guys!" Winry stopped them with her words. "When do I get to see the project?"
"Tomorrow." Ed said, looking over his shoulder with a smile. "Since you're here, you
can work on it while we're gone. But you can't work on it once we get back. That
will give you something to do all day while we hit the books."
"Good night Winry. If you need anything, let us know." Al waved and closed the door
behind him as they left.
Winry sat up quietly for a moment before resigning herself to sleep. She slid down
and curled up under the patch-work blanket for a restful, dream-filled sleep.
Edward and Alphonse sat in the dank space. The air smelled fowely of mildew and dust.
The stagnant air of the bunker was cold and heavy. The boys could see why Roy had
sent them on this "mission." Al sat with a pile of old water-damaged books beside him
and a chalk transmutation circle drawn on the concrete floor between his streched out
legs. Edward sat on the floor across from his metal brother and leaning against a
cart of cleaned, restored books. At all times he had one in his lap, flipping
carefully through the pages, making sure to skim every part for something that might
stand out and grab his attention. He found nothing so far.
"So tell me," Al began, his voice echoing through the heavy helmet, "why would someone
choose to put a library below ground? It seems... counter-productive to me."
Edward glanced up, ceasing his page-turning for a moment. As he began to talk, his
eyes fell back to his previous task.
"This wasn't the library." He waited for a response, though, he didn't really expect
one. He blew a sigh before flipping the book closed on his gloved mechanical thumb to
keep his place. He streched his human arm comfortably, resting it over his raised
knee. He reclined and stared lazily at Al. "There used to be a library here. Well,
not here;" he illustrated by pointing to the ground before them, " the library was
above this, in that empty lot. This was originally a storm shelter or a bomb shelter
or something. The guy who took care of the library was a little fanatical about
books."
"It seems they all are." Al pointed out, extending a finger vauguely upward, as he
remembered other librarians and book-worms he's run into.
"Yeah." Ed chuckled. "Anyway, he got wind of a controversy that he feared would turn
into a war. In a panic, he rushed as many books as he could into this cellar for safe
keeping. If nothing else, he wanted the books to be saved. Of course, he couldn't
fit them all down here." He looked around at his surroundings, noticing the shelves
and stacks of books crammed into such an impossibly small area. He almost laughed at
his statement, realizing how much work lay ahead of him as it was.
Al sat strait-backed, waiting to hear the conclusion to the story.
"Well, the trouble never started a war, but it did start some rioting. It turns out,
it was the people of this town who, in a panic, planned to march out of the city to
confront their 'enemies.' During the march many people, some blinded by anger or
fear, others drunken, many both, vandalized buildings on their way. The library was
one of the few completely destroyed. The librarian burned up inside with his books.
He was still in the process of moving them out." At the end of his story, Ed flicked
his metal wrist, opening his book back to his saved place.
"That was a very tragic story. Did the rioters accomplish anything? Were the people
they were out to stop have even worse intentions?" Al asked, still intrigued and now
completely forgetting about his pile of work behind him.
"That's the funny part. From what I understand, it seems like the uproar was over
some tax the governer had implimented. It was a high tax, but not completely unfair,
it seems. I think the end benefit was going to be for restoration of old buildings in
the town. The library may have been one of them." He chuckled almost humorlessly.
"Now THAT's ironic. In the end, the tax was withdrawn. As you can see, the
restoration never took place. That's why the library was never saved nor rebuilt and
why the only inns in this town are cheaply maintained, yet over-priced." He huffed
another humorless sound.
"So over time, no one knew that many of the books had been saved down here."
"If you can call it 'saved.' There was so much damage from leaks, humidity, and
insects, even our alchemy can't restore them completely." Ed ran a gloved hand
through his bangs. Both boys were mentaly exhausted. "You're lucky, at least. You
can't smell this rank air!" Ed frowned at Al, who just cocked his head and seemed to
exeude an aura that told his brother he was grinning warmly within.
Al placed another moldy tome from his pile on the transmutation circle. He clapped
his hands together once and held them stiffly above the book as if he were warming his
hands over a fire. A blue light shown as the water was drawn from the pages and the
materials of the book were restored to an 'as good as it can get' state. The water
from the pages was transported to a glass jar at the edge of the circle. He had a
few other similar jars, filled with water and with lids screwed on tight. The now
dried and cleaned book remained. Al picked it up carefuly and handed it to Edward,
who tossed it carelessly into his pile of cleaned books he had yet to read or
reorganize.
"Will these books be taken to Central when we're done?" Al asked, keeping his sanity
during his monotonous task by keeping silences to a minimum.
"First we need to look through them all. The important ones will go to Central. The
others will be divied out to other libraries in the area."
"But we get first dibs. I mean, that's why Lieutenant Colonel Mustang chose us for
the job, right?"
Edward just sniffed a response, though not much of one. "Can we just get back to work. All
this talking is making this take longer."
The armor paused a moment in silence. He looked his older brother over once,
observing him reading each book for some clue into restoring their bodies to normal
again. Ed's life was devoted to that single cause. He had time for nothing else.
Alphonse resumed his dreary task; place damaged book in the circle, perform alchemy to
clean and restore the book, hand book to Ed, get a new water jar.
Winry woke up late in the morning. The sun was getting high in the sky and the warmth
had already spread over her legs. She streched and sat up with a stiffled yawn. The
brightness of the room startled her into full wakefulness.
"Oh my gosh! What time is it?" She jumped from the bed and pressed herself against
the window. She noted the sun and paniced for a moment before realizing where she
was.
She pulled on her mechanic's suit, ready to start work on the project. She went into
the entry room (something of a den) and looked around for signs of this mystery
mechanical job. She spied a reed basket on the little desk, the only surface in the
room, and walked over to it. On the outside a note was pinned.
"Breakfast. You'll find the pieces to the machine in a box at the bottom of the
basket. Have fun."
The young lady rubbed her chin and almost laughed at what a short and vaugue messege
they had left her. She pulled out a bundle wrapped in a red and white checkered
napkin. The contents were a piece of bread, an apple, and a wedge of cheese. Beside
the basket was a kettle of cold water. The whole thing looked a bit unappetizing, but
she wasn't normally one to look a gift-horse in the mouth. She systematicaly bit off
a chunk of apple, a chunk of bread, and a chunk of cheeze, combining them in her
mouth. Crumbs fell to the table and she brushed them away just as soon as they fell.
She tinkered with the little unimpressive box before opening it. A wave of
disappointment hit her but passed quickly. She had expected a big project. She
expected something to keep her busy for a few days. This tiny thing, though, should
only occupy her time until Ed and Al were to return. Certainly this wouldnt take any
longer than that! She was a proffessional after all!
She lifted the lid and turned the box upside down, scattering the pieces all over the table.
"This shouldn't be too hard." She started to say until, after examining everything briefly, she
concluded that there were some vital pieces missing.
"I guess I'll build until I can go no further, then I'll determine what I need and ...
make them, I guess..." She told herself with almost no uncertainty to her voice. She
pulled the little screw-driver from her pocket and proceeded to fit things together in
the most logical way.
"No wonder Ed needed me to do this. If he doesn't even know what he's making and he's
missing pieces, this would be an impossible task for anyone but myself." She bragged
to herself.
She tinkered the hours away without even realizing it. Her mostly uneaten breakfast
sat drying on the edge of the table, pushed right against the basket which was on the
verge of falling. She paid either of them no mind as she spread out and worked. She
was surprised at how little she had accomplished before she was pulled from her
concentration by the opening of the door. Ed dragged himself into the room followed
by his brother. Both boys smelled terrible. She remembered Ed saying that she was
only to work on the project when they were gone, but she tried to continue as long as
she could before he stopped her.
"Winry, let's go downstairs and get you some dinner." Al said, his mood brightening
from seeing his childhood friend.
"Well, I'm not really..." she began.
"Yeah, the two of you go and get a table. I'm going to take a bath and I'll be right
down. Save some food for me!" Edward passed through the room with a towel and a
fresh pair of black pants. Without waiting to hear Winry's protest, he walked out of
the room's door and down the hall to the bathroom.
The mechanic sighed, saddened by the abandonment of her work, but knew it would be
good to catch up with the boys for a while before they all went to sleep.
Winry and Al sat at a small table set for three. They laughed and joked and
reminisced as they always did when they were together. Winry sipped occasionally from
her glass of water. Al had one too, but his stayed noticably full the entire time.
"Thanks for waiting you guys." Ed pulled out a chair and joined the two. He noticed
his glass of water in front of him and took a few long gulps.
"We went ahead and ordered for you. We got a big plate of spaghetti and a basket of
garlic bread that we can share. I hope you don't mind." The girl smiled widely as
she brushed some of her hair back behind her shoulders. "So, can you tell me anything
about this assignment you two are on?" She clasped her fingers, creating a surface on
which to rest her chin, both elbows firmly on the table.
"Actually we can't..." Ed began until Al cut him off.
"I'm sure we can tell you about it. I mean, it's not like we're doing dangerous things and we
wouldn't have to worry about anything being taken or destroyed because it's you!" To
Alphonse, his logic was infalable, but Ed had his doubts.
"We probably shouldn't because someone might over hear us." The pint-sized alchemist
pointed out, leaning forward on the table and lowering his voice. He was looking
directly into his younger brother's eyes before he caught a glimpse of Winry in his
perifrial vision. He turned his head to the left, keeping the rest of his body still
and looked the young lady directly in the eyes. 'She's good at that.' Ed thought to
himself. She almost had tears welled up in her eyes. Her hands were planted firmly
in her lap and her bottom lip protruded in a pout so irresistable that the boy just
couldn't stand it.
"Okay. We're restoring old books that had been saved from a fire a few years ago.
It's no big deal." He dismissed, colapsing his cheek onto his fist in a defeated
posture.
"We have free run of the area, allowing us to study and search for clues as we work."
Al added. "Many of the books are alchemy books and many others are history documents
which could lead us to some answers. When we're done, we will turn the books over to
the military and they will divy them out to the surrounding libraries, but we get to
keep what we want!"
Winry rocked back in her seat, eyes widened slightly. Her mouth was slightly agape in
a small 'oh' form. Suddenly Edward and Alphonse felt hot under the colar and wondered
if they should have said anything at all. She closed her lips and allowed a smile.
Neither brother could tell if it was genuine or forced.
"Well that sounds just fine! I'm glad you've been given this golden opportunity!" the
blue eyed woman beamed. The boys were struck dumbfounded, unsure of how to respond.
On the other side of the eatery an empty booth near a wide, dark window was the only
whitness to the sound of a stomch groweling; the inceasant, spirling sound of a palet
never satisfied. A pale woman with long black hair and a long black dress pressed her
long black gloves to the window. She ran her finger tips over the spot where she saw
the Elric brothers. She half-smiled as she watched a young woman in a long apron set
a plate of food before the trio at that table. A warm smile covered the lady's face
as she bowed slightly and walked to the door. Behind her she could hear the slurping
sounds of her fat, lumbering companion as he devowered a woman who looked just like
the waitress. The server walked through the door, slowly transforming from a young,
brown-haired woman in a pink dress and apron into a lanky young boy with fair skin,
black clothes, and dread-locked hair.
"Lust! I'm still hungry." The fat man with beady white eyes whispered as he sucked
the iron-tasting blood from his plump, pink fingers. His hands were glossy with
saliva. He opened his mouth to speak once more, revealing a red tatoo of a searpent
devowering its own tail on his wide, dull-magenta tongue.
"You're always 'still hungry." the tall woman replied, cutting him off in her low,
sultry voice. Her thin dark lips glistened even in the absense of light out there in
the alley in the middle of the night.
"We've found the book." Envy smirked, understanding the weight his statement held.
He stood with his head cocked to the side, hand on hip and right leg crossed
comfortably in front of his left. He appeared confident as he chuckled in his throat.
Lust smiled her dark, exotic smile. Without another word, all three backed away into
the shadows, leaving to begin their plan.
The next two days carried on exactly the same way. The Elric brothers cleaned and
sorted through books, typed up a short report on their day's progress, Winry continued
to be fully absorbed in her little task through out the day, and in the evening all
three ate dinner together and went to sleep.
The third day was shaping up to go much the same way. The boys were out the door
before the sun had fully detached itself from the darkened horizon. Once at the
decepitvely small entrance, Maria Ross was there to greet them (She always seemed to
play nanny to the boys for some reason.) She saluted in her normal fashion and bade
them good morning. Edward dismissed her, as her shift standing post had ended the
moment they arrived. Completely alone save for one another, they opened the heavy
metal door and desended the steep, long stair way into the dark chamber, heavy with
its moldy, rancid air.
Ed held his breath when he first walked in as he always did. It was a fruitless
endevour and he knew it, because he had to breathe sometime, and when he did, he
brought in a sickeningly large gulp of stagnant air, causing him to gag and cough a
little before adjusting himself to it.
Winry awoke a few hours after the alchemists had gone. She got up, took a bath, and
resumed her little job.
She sat with her ankles crossed beneath her. She chewed on an apple that was left as
part of her breakfast. She rested her cheek heavily on her hand. Her brillliant blue
eyes drooped as she tapped the little machine with the metal end of her tiny
screw-driver. A little bit of time spent thinking proved beneficial. Her eyes
widened with a clear understanding. She put the apple core in the picnic basket and
set the whole thing on the floor beside her. She picked up the tiny mechanical
master-piece and turned it over in her hands.
"I'm missing the key." She stated plainly to herself. The answer had been so
painfully obvious, she was shocked it hadn't occured to her sooner.
"I'm going to go ask the boys if they know where it is. I'd hate to spend the time
making a new one if they have the old one stashed away." She pushed her work to the
middle of the table and got up to leave.