The days efforts had seemed in vain as the friends tried to figure out the possible location of where Envy could be hiding out and as they talked amongst themselves in the living room of Belsio's; Al kept to himself in his room as he pondered the events of the past of the he and his brother's first visit to this small town. They had come to this town under orders of Colonel Mustang to investigate the town under the assumption about the Stone, but all the boys found was a town looking for away to regain their main source of economy: gold. After helping a young girl that was trapped under a mine cart they were given a hero's welcome only to be scorned by the mere mention of their names due to the fact that the Tringham brothers had stolen the Elrics names and were hiding out in Mugiar's mansion trying to finish their father's work.
The past seemed to flash forward as the boys tried to save Russell and Fletcher from the house once they found out what Mugiar had planned for a red water fountain under his home as a way to create the stone by the way of Mother Nature…as Mugiar put it, but in the end; Mugiar lost his life, his home and the Red Water was put into the trees on his property. The Elrics left and were headed toward whatever life led them to for the next three years only to find themselves lost in a desert after Edward had gotten mad at their driver for a comment about him…that was directly meant for him.
"Those had been good times….good times, but now I fear that those days of adventure and suspense are over for us….Fletcher needs our help and all we can do is hide out here while Envy could be resurrecting the Gate as we sit here on our thumbs," Al said to himself as he grabbed his coat and pulled the hood over his head as he snuck out the back and walked out into the darkened streets of Xenotime, "Forgive me Colonel for what I am about to do."
No one had heard Al slip out the back, but Belsio had his eyes trained on the back door as it swung shut silently and his mind began to race about what Al planned to do out in the streets of the mountain town, but he paid no attention to it as he listened to the others talking about a plan of action for the next day.
"Envy could be hiding in any place in this town, even the old mine on the northern side of the town," Russell said as he pointed to a map of the town that they had laid out on the table.
"That is possible, but what alchemy could you do with nothing but dirt in such an old mine…he's hiding out in a place where he can use something of alchemy like an item made of alchemy that could be molded to his own use," Mustang said as he looked to Russell and all of a sudden a light bulb lit up in Russell's head.
"He could be hiding out in Mugiar's old mansion," Lust said as she pointed to the site.
"How could that be…that place was destroyed after we destroyed his way of getting to the red water that flowed under the city," Russell said as he pounded the table.
"Maybe Alphonse knows an answer to this puzzling dilemma," Hawkeye said as stood up and hobbled over to the table.
"I'll go get him," Rose said as she headed to his room.
Rose walked to Al's room and as she opened the door to call out to the young alchemist, she was shocked at the fact that he wasn't in his room and as she dashed back to the friends she found a note on his door telling them all where he was going….he was going after Envy.
"COLONEL MUSTANG!" Rose shouted as she ran back into the room waving the piece of paper to the Colonel.
"What is it Rose, what did you find?" Mustang asked as he took the piece of paper and read it silently and then slammed it down on the table as he swore under his breath.
"What's wrong Mustang?" Armstrong asked as he picked the paper up off the table.
"Alphonse has run off to find Envy's hideout and doesn't want anyone to find him or try to stop him," Mustang said through clenched teeth.
"I should have said something earlier….I saw him sneak out the back door," Belsio said as he left the room afraid to invoke the wrath of Mustang.
Before anything more could be said Lust and Belsio were out of the room and running down the streets towards the ruins of Mugiar's old mansion in hopes of stopping Al before did something stupid if he hadn't already doing something already.
"Please Alphonse don't do this," Lust said as she ran ahead of Belsio towards the edge of the town.
Envy was pouring through old alchemy books that he had managed to revive through his workings of rebuilding the old mansion, but every book was a jumble of chemical workings and confusing alchemic solutions, but as time passed he soon figured out the inner workings of Alchemy as he poured over them and was taking notes on how to bring the Gate into this world. The last book he picked up was a book that he had seen the old woman Dante pouring over years previously in her workings of trying to bring the Gate up herself so that she could be with Hohenheim Elric. The book was complex, but Envy managed to figure out its workings and the drawings of the circles that were needed to bring it forth. He closed the book and headed back to where he had Fletcher stashed as he walked back to the room he changed into Mugiar to surprise the young boy with an old face from the past.
"Wake up young Tringham… do you want to sleep most of the night away do you?" Mugiar said as he kicked the young boy awake.
Fletcher had been awake, but he was faking it as he grabbed Mugiar by the ankle and tried to bring the man down to his knees, but as he tried he felt the man's hand change to a vice like grip as he looked up and saw the burning eyes of Armstrong staring at him.
"Little boys can't bring down strong men like me," Envy said as Armstrong as he grabbed Fletcher by the ankle and brought him to his face as he changed once more into the armored form of Alphonse Elric.
"In a short time, the Gate will be resurrected by the work of alchemy and I will get my revenge against Edward Elric, but I need someone that knows alchemy and its laws like the ever popular one, Equivalent Exchange," Envy said as he transformed back to his own form and place the boy back on the floor and then dragged him towards the room where it was going to take place.
"You won't get away with it Envy, Russell and Alphonse will find me and you will nothing more than just a mere memory, a dark memory," Fletcher said as he struggled to get out of Envy's grip.
"You keep thinking that my young friend….keep thinking happy thoughts until the end when you find yourself dead!" Envy said as he picked up his pace as he laughed towards the secret corridor to the room where he had restarted the production of Red Water.
Lust and Belsio seemed to be running in circles as they looked for the ruins of what used to be Mugiar's mansion, but they seemed to pass one old castle that was standing on the edge of town and time was running out as the night was dragging on as dawn was five to six hours away.
"Do you know if this person Envy knows Alchemy?" Belsio asked quizzically as he looked at the mansion that stood on the hill on the edge of town as he stood to catch his breath.
"He can change form and use the powers of whoever changes into…the only way he can use alchemy is through young Fletcher or by taking on the form of a State Alchemist," Lust said with a tone of fear in her voice as the two searchers picked up their pace and headed towards the location of where the rebuilt mansion stood on the mountain side.
Al found the mansion as he wondered the streets and a thousand memories seemed to flood back like a flood, but he had to hold them back like a dam as he made his way closer towards the mansion, but as he got closer memories of the final battle against the Homunculus came to life as he stood frozen as he stared at the home. Xenotime was not the place where it had happened, but the layout was about the same, the memories of Envy wanting to destroy Ed and the many people Envy had taken on in that final battle. The memories were painful as the memory of his brother laying dying on the floor came to mind as he saw himself running to his brother as he tried to save him, but as time flashed forward he saw his brother sacrificing himself to open the Gate to stop Envy as he disappeared to the other side where their father was living. The memories went back into his memory bank as he walked into the back of the mansion and found a way in as he navigated the many corridors leading to the heart of the underground of the mansion.
"I'm coming for you Envy," Al said as he navigated the corridors as he felt himself getting closer to the smell of the Red Water.
Envy brought Fletcher into the room where the final battle between him and Al along with his friends as he started to light candles in the room and the room began to illuminate like the sunlight as the smell of the Red Water became strong as they got closer to it that was now flowing towards a fountain that was surrounded by a transmutation circle.
"You see…Mugiar was unable to create the Philosopher's Stone for us because you and your brother lied to him and told him that you boys were the Elrics, but when the Elrics found out the truth about the lies you were spreading to Mugiar then the plan started to fall apart once your brother failed to do one thing that Mugiar wanted," Envy said as he showed Fletcher around the room and now and again pointed out was going to be use to make the transmutation perfect.
"My brother wouldn't do it because it was against nature and was against pregnant women!" Fletcher said as he shouted at Envy.
"I see, but now that Mugiar is out of the picture I can do what I want to gain the ultimate Equivalent Exchange….you know the law….mankind can't gain anything without first giving something in exchange, to obtain something of equal value most be lost," Envy said as he started to put the last touches on the circle to test run it as he slit Fletcher's fingertip and a few droplets of blood dropped into the water.
Back at Belsio's house, the others were getting worried about Al, Lust, and Belsio as the night seemed to drag on forever and as time was dragging, Russell saw that Mustang and Armstrong were pacing the room more and more and their moods were also changing towards that way. Rose felt helpless as she sat and tried to keep quiet, afraid to something wrong at the wrong moment with the two Military men pacing the room.
"I'm sure Alphonse is alright Mustang, we just need to have patience and be willing to wait for him to return," Hawkeye said as she tried to soothe the situation.
"The longer we sit and wait for him to return on his own, the longer it will take to find Envy's hideout and stop him before he goes forth with his plan," Mustang said as he slammed his fist on the table.
"Anger won't get us anywhere, Al has his reasons for wanting to stop Envy….he feels guilty for all the lives we've lost and for the one's that have been hurt in the process of this deadly cat and mouse game….I want to stop at all cost myself, but is worrying over him any good to us?" Russell said as he looked at the puzzled and quiet faces of the others.
The room fell silent and no one moved as the realization of what they had lost and what happened to those that had gotten to close to Envy in trying to help Al; no one had stopped to think what Al was feeling….a sense of guilt for not begin able to help those that they had lost. They all hung their heads in shame and silence as they silently, one by one, remembered the fallen and as time ran on Mustang and Armstrong could feel tears in their eyes. The pain they had felt during the Ishbal Massacre had been withheld in fear of others seeing their suffering and taking it for weakness, but now in the time that had passed between the Colonel and the Major, they knew now that such weaknesses can sometimes make us stronger if we learn to live from those memories.
Mustang had been sitting for awhile as he wept the past memories of that horrible war from his mind, but as he got up to leave the room; a throbbing pain came to his patched eye as he fell to his knees as he placed a hand to the painful eye and started to cry in pain as he could feel that Al was getting closer to Envy.
"What is it Mustang?" Hawkeye asked as she made her way towards him as rocked back and forth on his knees.
"It's Alphonse, he is getting closer to where Envy is hiding out in a castle like mansion on the edge of town," Mustang painfully said as he tried to keep it together.
"That's impossible, if he is at Mugiar's mansion there could be no possible way….that place has been nothing but rubble for the past three to four years," Russell said as he got up on his crutches and headed towards a nearby window.
"Something's wrong and Alphonse is headed for a trap," Armstrong said as he prepared to head to the door, but he could feel Mustang's eyes on him as he turned around to find the Colonel coming up off his knees and back to his feet.
"We need to stay here in case he returns hurts or in case Lust and Belsio come back without him if they run into trouble…..we can only hope and pray that nothing happens to him," Mustang said as sat down in a nearby chair.
Al had been sneaking through the corridors for what felt a long time and as he got closer to the room, he started having visions of what Envy had planned for the Red Water, the Gate, and his brother. He moved quickly as he made his way to the door and could see an illuminating glow stream out from under the door and a thousands memories and fears flashed through his mind as he remembered the awesome power that the water had possessed when used with a created stone mixed into the mix. Those memories were soon overridden as he saw the awesome power it possessed when mixed with the evil of a created creation of alchemy when used for evil. The very rush of power that rushed through his mind as he let go of the door and fell to his knees as he tried to regain his senses as he heard voices on the other side of the door as he silently opened the door slightly as he tried to sneak into the room.
"The water is flowing nicely….it's perfect for what I plan to use it for," Envy said as he gleamed at the awesome power of the water as he used it on numerous things to experience the power it possessed.
"You'll never get away with using the power of the water…that is an enormous amount of alchemy and it would require a big price for Equivalent Exchange and you know that!" Fletcher said as he shouted over the rush of water.
"I know….that's why I plan to destroy your friend's very lives and use them for the Equivalent Exchange!"
Al was shocked at what he heard from the Homunculi member and was disgusted at the mere thought of losing Russell, Major Armstrong, Colonel Mustang, Lieutenant Hawkeye and Rose to this monster and he wasn't about to let that happen as he charged forward from the shadows towards Envy.
"ENVY, YOU AND I HAVE A LITTLE UNFINISHED BUSINESS BETWEEN THE TWO OF US AND IT ENDS HERE TONIGHT!" Al shouted as he moved behind the fountain as it looked down on Envy.
"If it isn't the Fullmetal Alchemist's little brother come to destroy his OWN BROTHER!" Envy said as he moved towards Al.
"I WON'T BELIEVE YOUR LIES….YOU MAKE THINK THAT YOU CAN TEAR ME DOWN THAT EASILY, BUT BELIEVE ME I'M STRONGER THAN YOU THINK I AM!" Al said as he charged at Envy.
The two enemies were in a fight to the death as Al tried to transmute something from the walls, but he had never learned the secret that Ed had to do alchemy without the use of a circle and with each swipe of Envy's punches and kicks…Al was starting to getting frantic until at one brief moment, a spark ignited from within as he placed his hands together and transmuted something from the ground and as Envy prepared to strike Al in the heart, Al turned around and sliced at Envy's foot where he knew the symbol of the Homunculus lied.
"YOU MONSTER, YOU SLICED MY FOOT!" Envy screamed out as he grabbed his foot to examine the symbol, but it was slowly starting to disappear, but it wouldn't disappear at lightning speed.
"NEXT TIME, I WON'T MISS!" Al said as he ran from the room and as he did the room seemed to slow down as he heard the voice of Envy calling out to him as he ran for the door and began to open it, but in the shadows Envy tossed out a dagger and struck Al in the right shoulder as he opened the door the whole way.
"I'LL SEE YOU IN HELL ALPHONSE ELRIC!" Envy shouted as Al ran from the room holding his shoulder as a small stream of blood started to flow down his shoulder.
Lust and Belsio had seen the red glow from outside the grounds of Mugiar's home and there eyes were soon diverted to a figure moving down the hillside towards them slowly and in pain as they saw someone clutching their shoulder.
"Could that be….ALPHONSE!" Lust screamed out as she ran towards Al as he tumbled down the hill with the dagger in his shoulder.
"What happened to you my young friend?" Belsio asked as he and Lust picked him and they made for home.
"Not now…I want everyone to hear what Envy plans to do with the Red Water and how he plans to use the lives of the ones close to me," Al said as he found it hard to breathe.
Belsio's home had been quiet for the time that he and Lust had been gone, but it once again became a room of noise and confusion mixed with a million questions as Lust and Belsio walked into the house with Al holding his right shoulder. The friends were shocked to find the dagger not lodged too deeply in Al's shoulder as Belsio slowly removed the dagger and wrapped Al's shoulder and sat him down amongst his friends.
"What happened to you tonight Alphonse, why did you leave on your own to find Envy?" Mustang asked as he sat across from Al and questioned him privately as the friends sat to hear the story.
"I decided to go off on my own to find out answers as to why Envy has brought us this far and in doing so I found out what he has planned for the Red Water that he has resurrected from the past and how he plans to use. Fletcher has warned him of the law of Equivalent Exchange in order for his plan of using the Red Water to open the Gate to travel to the world and time that my brother is living in and destroy him and our father," Al said he slowly regained his strength.
"What is this law of Equivalent Exchange?" Rose asked quizzically as she looked to Al and the other three alchemists in the room.
"The law is this: Humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return, to obtain something of equal value most be lost….Edward, my brother and I know all to well the meaning of this law and it is the law that all Alchemists must follow, but in Envy's case….he plans to use the massive amount of Red Water and for such a large amount of alchemic formula he needs a big Equivalent Exchange," Al said as he paused with fear in his voice.
"What could possibly be the item for the exchange?" Lust asked as she tried to ponder what could be the possible item.
"All things start with a droplet of blood…." Mustang started to say.
"He plans to use our very lives to bring forth his plan," Al finally said as a silent hush fell upon the room and the others pondered what that could mean for those that had died in vain to help Al.
Time was short and the element of surprise was no longer an option as now they knew what Envy had planned, but would they be able to stop him and save this world and the world beyond the Gate in time or would it be in vain as the same as the mission?
The friends pondered what do next and a plan was set out that tomorrow they would head out towards the old mansion and hide on the grounds and at nightfall they would move into the house and try to take Envy by surprise.
"I believe that we must asked for guidance upon this journey that we are about to embark on," Rose said as she bowed her head as the others soon followed and humble prayers of help were prayed, "Dear Sun God Leto, I pray that you protect us on the journey we are to embark on tomorrow as we prepare to save an innocent life and the innocent lives of those in this town. Amen."
"Amen," was repeated simultaneously amongst the friends as they moved to their rooms to sleep what they felt would be the last sleep they would ever sleep upon this Earth.
At dinner at the Elric home, Greed had been missing and none was speaking to each other in fear of someone hearing their conversation, but the silence was becoming too much for the young Alchemist as Ed finally snapped as he slammed his fist on the table and started to scream at his father.
"You want someone to blame for our lives being endangered…then blame me!" Ed shouted at his father as Hohenheim started to move from the table.
"Edward, sit down! No one is blaming you----I ----can't speak to you," Hohenheim said as he left the table and moved towards the study.
Ed followed his father towards the study as he closed the study room doors to keep Alphonse out of their fight and from their the fight escalated into a heat argument between father and son as Ed tried to talk to his father and explain what he was doing and why he was doing it. Alphonse couldn't help not begin involved as he moved from the table and stood by the study room doors as he listened in on the heated argument that was soon in full swing as Ed started the fight.
"WHAT DID I EVER DO TO YOU?" Ed shouted as he moved towards his father who kept his gaze from his son.
"You didn't do anything wrong…"Hohenheim started to say, but emotions soon overpowered him as he kept away from his son as he tried to talk to Ed, but at this point there was no use in talking.
"NO, YOU KNOW THERE IS SOMETHING BOTHERING YOU AND YOU JUST WANT TO SAVE FACE AND NOT ADMIT IT!"
Hohenheim couldn't take his son's anger and vile hatred as he took his hand and slapped Ed across the face and as he took his hand from his son's face… a sense of fear and unknown emotions started to rise to the top as he backed away from his son.
"Edward….I'm sorry…I don't know what I did," Hohenheim said as he backed away towards the study room doors.
"No, I deserved that," Ed said somberly as he moved towards his father and embraced his father for the first time in a long time ever since his father had left home and had left his brothers to protect their mother.
"NO, a father should never raise a hand in hate against his children," Hohenheim said as he tried to reason with Ed.
Alphonse finally walked into the room after hearing his teacher and the son fighting and a look of fear and worry was on his face as he worried about the two and what the future held for the three of them.
"Professor, what are we going to do now that Professor Greed plans to expose us to the Secret Police?" Alphonse asked with a frightened tone to his voice.
Ed and Hohenheim exchanged glances of worry as they rushed to their rooms and started to pack what belongings they could carry with them in case the time called for them to leave early in case Greed did follow through with his threat and Alphonse followed his teachers lead.
"We don't have much time, but we must get ready for whatever danger now looms upon us. Let's move now!" Ed said as they finished their packing and hid them away in case the time called for it, but Ed couldn't help but think that he was the reason why his father and this young boy were now living in fear…"What have I gotten you guys into?"
I can't believe the words I hear
It's like an answer to a prayer
When I look around I see
This place, this time, this friend of mine
I know it's hard but you
Found somehow
To look into your heart and
To forgive me now
You've given me the strength to see
Just where my journey ends
You've given me the strength
To carry on
I see the path from this dark path
I see my future
Your forgiveness has set me free
Oh and I can see another way
I can face another day
I see the path, I can see the path
I see the future
I see the path from this dark place
I see my future
I see the path, I can see the path
I see the future
Envy's plan has been revealed and Edward and his father have resolved their differences, but there is still danger that looms amongst our friends….find out what happens as this story is preparing to come to a close. Read and Review and Enjoy my happy Fullmetal Alchemist fans!