„Who are they!" Edward yelled furiously. „Who are those bastards that have captured my mum?"
His father stepped over the puddle of blood and reached for a cloth to wipe the floor.
Ed froze at the sight of blood dripping of the soaked cloth as his dad wringed it out over a bucket.
"They, you ask?" his father looked like traumatized.
"They…are an organization called "Der Bund". A german organization. They original purpose served to study alchemy. But what was hidden beneath, the purpose that it had served hundreds of years ago was about to seek through again to the top. Only a few had actually access to what were actually the roots of "Der Bund"."
"So, what was this purpose then? What did those people do?" Al asked. He had sat down next to his father and helped him clean the floor.
"Experiments on humans. Cruel sacrifces. Cross-breeding. Anything one can think of. They had the skills, the knowledge and the power."
"Power, you say?" Ed pushed further on the matter. He was more than only curious as to what those people really did.
"You know. People thought of them as being wise, bound to god and the miracles of nature. But actually, they were nothing but men, that took anything as possible. They often met up near churches or in old wine cellars. Anywhere where it was dark and noone could disturb."
He wrenched out the cloth again.
"Why are you sure they wont kill mum?" Al mumbeled to his right.
"Because." He wrapped an arm tight around his son."I used to be in this organization. And I believe that someone is trying to bring it to a fall and now they do anything they can to take revenge on those that quit. Quitting was a hard procedure, but I did it for the sake of myself, for my sanity. I've seen many go insane there, many falling into serious depressions. If you think the battlefield alone is cruel already, you have not seen yet what a human can do with his own hands."
He got to his feet again and poured the bucket full of blood into the basin.
"This organization goes back to the days where women were still burned for being witches, or so people believed. Their religious belief is stronger than any I have ever seen. Some refer to them as "The Crimson Monks". If possible to trace them back to their roots, it could only be done through thourough research and a lot of luck. It's like a game you play. With every step you get closer you get a step closer to death too. Whoever you associate with might already be dead by tomorrow."
"You will try to save her wont you!" Ed yelled.
"Of course." Hohenheim smiled.
"Alright!" Al jumped to his feet "Well then, where to start, we are ready!"
"Ohoho." Hohenheim laughed quietly. "I doubt-"
"We will help you dad. We are not kids anymore. You can't expect us to sit and wait." Ed interrupted.
Their father sighed and dropped the bloody cloth into the basin. "Yes yes I figured you aren't kids anymore. If that's the case. Help me. But keep in mind. From here on now, you should not rely on what you were taught to believe anymore. There is nothing like a law to someone who doesn't want to abide it."
"So where are we going to start?" Ed asked full of energy.
"First off we will go to bed and sleep."
"And tomorrow?" asked Al who had ran up to his father.
Hohenheim took the first few steps upstairs and then turned around facing the floor.
"Then, we will wait for them to give us the first hint. Only those that accept the path they are led on, will also get the chance to start the game." Hohenheim said camly and turned around again to climb the rest of stairs.
His sons followed him upstairs and went to bed in their rooms.
"Edward?" Al asked as they lied in bed.
"Yes?"
"What do you think they did to Mum?" he asked.
Ed twitched a little. "I hope, nothing bad. Go sleep now. If what Dad said is as bad as he meant to make it sound, we wont have it easy on solving this puzzle." Edward rolled onto his side. "Good night."
It was early in the morning that Hohenheim had awaken. He could not sleep when he was left in the unknown about his wife.The bed felt so empty. He missed warm skin agains this, missed her gently kisses. The smile that woke him up every morning, that smile that greeted him and made him feel good.
Absent-minded he carried himself down the stairs and sat down in the empty kitchen. Scars of yesterday still tainted the room.
It knocked.
Hohenheim got up and dragged himself to the main door.
"Who is it?" he asked.
"It's me, Colonel Mustang."
"Mustang, eh?" he repeated and opened the door greeting him warmly. "Now what the hell is driving you here?" he smiled.
"I can not stay for long. I thought it would be best to deliver this letter to you personally."
Hohenheim sighed and shut the door behind the Colonel. "So it really is them."
"Is whom?" Roy repeated.
"Der Bund." He whispered. "Those that captured my wife. The game has begun." He dragged himself to the couch and thudded onto it. Mustang took a seat right on the opposite.
"You say, those who you have been working for are now out to ruin you? I can not believe that."
Hohenheim chuckeled.
"You'd better believe it." He looked over to the doorframe straight into the kitchen where the bloody hand prints were still left untouched.
"See those prints over there?"
"Yes I noticed." Said Roy looking onto the floor. "Did they leave you any message it was truly them? I've heard of cases where they do."
Hohenheim chuckeled once again. "They do not always leave the same message as you call it or traces. After all, they do not want to be associated with these "sudden" dissapearings or "sudden" deaths."
Both paused for a moment.
"Well then, how are the kids dealing with it?" Roy asked leaning back.
"They are dealing better with it than I imagined them to. I should have known that this peace would not stay. Their organization just couldn't last forever." The blonde said bitter.
"I will help you." Roy said sternly closing his eyes.
"What?" Hohenheim snapped out of his daydreams. "Hah. Don't be reckless. I can't even garantuee I will survive this. No way I want to drag you into that." He took the glass standing on the couch table and began twirling it a little watching the liquid inside.
"I've been after this organization for a while. Besides, if there is any way to help you, I will. Not as the Colonel, but as a friend." He smiled softly.
"Thanks a bunch. To be honest, I've been waiting for these words. I can not bear with this on my own. I don't want to drag my kids into this too deep. I will merely let them do the outside research. Nothing that will lead them to any places. You should be aware of how deep this does actually reach." He raised his eyes from the glass and faced the man sitting opposite.
"Yes, I very well do. But tell me, what do you expect this letter to say?" Mustang asked curiously.
"Honestly, I would not know. Neither do I dare to guess. I suppose we should just open it and see ourselves." He reached for the wooden-coloured paper and started to rip it open exposing a white letter.
Thouroughly he opened the letter and started to read.
"Just as I thought." He sighed. "They know I'm a former of them. This is an old graphic way of writing. I know a little of it, but in no book other than the hidden scrolls they hold dear themselves you would find the accurate translation. There are many rumors as to what this can be translated to, yet they are all wrong." He folded his hands in front of him.
Hohenheim leant forward and showed the letter to Roy. "See this?" he pointed at one of those dozen symbols. "It means grave. And this in the bottom line stand for letters of our Alphabet. A.R. Initials I believe."
Roy smirked. "What else would one expect of the Great Hohenheim."
"Don't get too cocky over it. Just because we have this few information doesn't prove anything yet. This could be associated in any way. I would need to translate everything to get a short insight as to what their game is going to be like. Still we could do many mistakes. Any step we take might be one forward or backwards. You can not simply say how those things associated with each other. But everything we can do at this point is start searching for a grave with the initials A.R."
"I will head back to Central and search for any deaths. I will be back and report to you as soon as I can." Roy stood up and saluted.
Hohenheim just grinned. "You know…I'm not much in that salutation stuff, buddy." He got up too and hugged Mustang.
"I'll be waiting for you to report to me."
Hohenheim walked into the wall and shut the door behind his friend carefully.
In the meantime his sons had occupied the kitchen.
"Oh Edward, you are cooking breakfast today?" Hohenheim said surprised.
"Yes! I often do it. We never wanted Mum to have the burden of cooking alone." Ed explained and started serving some scrambeled eggs and orange juice.
"Seems a lot more changed in the year I was away than I imagined."