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Drabble the Seventeenth: 5th Lab: Memories

It had been several minutes since Scar and Alphonse had last exchanged a few brief words; something about this place was oppressive, making even Alphonse reluctant to break the silence with speech. The atmosphere of the hall had gradually become so unsettling that the two of them had drifted quite a bit closer together than they had been when they started out, although they were still several feet apart. Scar squinted into the gloom in front of them, noticing something vaguely different about a portion of the hall some distance away…suddenly he realized that it was the end of the passage, and that there was a door. A wave of utter relief washed through him, and he had to mentally restrain himself from sprinting towards it.

About a minute later, the door was much closer, and Alphonse spoke up nervously, "Um…Scar-san…?" a small pause, as though the boy was steeling himself for something, "Would you please stop going after niisan…?"

Scar nearly sighed; he had known this subject would have to come up sooner or later, "This is Ishbala's will. He is a cursed alchemist who seeks the Philosopher's Stone."

"Why is alchemy bad? Your right hand…although I've never seen anything like it before, it's a transmutation circle," the boy reasoned.

Scar narrowed his eyes; he didn't want to be reminded, "It's the brand I gained in exchange for receiving the mission to destroy all State Alchemists."

Scar heard Alphonse stop walking, "Also, he's not trying to find the Philosopher's Stone so he can use it in battle. It's to return me to my normal body."

Scar stopped in surprise, and turned his gaze back towards Al for a second. So that was their reason; a noble one, but still…he narrowed his eyes, glaring at the ground in front of him. When he spoke again, his voice had an undertone of sorrow, "You two don't know how dreadful the Philosopher's Stone is."

Al looked up, speaking earnestly, "We do! You're referring to the legend that those who get close to the Philosopher's Stone perish, right? But we can't gain anything if we're afraid!" he paused, then looked at the ground, voice thoughtful., "Come to think of it…I've heard a rumor that Ishbal perished because it got too close to the Philosopher's Stone…"

"That's wrong!" Scar cried out, shoulders hunched forward as though to ward off the pain of the memories, clutching his right arm with an anguished expression on his face, "Ishbal didn't perish on its own…it was destroyed by another!"

Memories that he'd tried to hold back, tried to lock away, tried to forget…they all welled to the surface of his mind, flooding it and pushing out all other thought. His brother's failed attempt at human transmutation…the thing that his brother had created…his brother walking away, walking out into the destroyed city alone, naked and covered in alchemic tattoos, while Scar could do nothing but watch and scream for him to come back…his brother…

Suddenly Scar was aware of something gently covering his left hand, and the Ishbalan stared, surprised, up at Alphonse, his crimson eyes still filled with pain and sorrow. He realized how tightly he was gripping his right arm and slowly relaxed his hold. It had been a long time since his memories had gotten the better of him; why did it have to happen here, in front of the boy?

"Scar-san…" Alphonse sounded sympathetic; pity was the last thing he needed, Scar thought with more than a little annoyance. But somewhere, a small part of his mind was glad for what little comfort the boy could offer. Alphonse continued, sounding a little more serious, "I know that the Philosopher's Stone might be made from humans. We came to confirm that. If it's true, we'll…"

What they would do Scar would never know, because at that moment a sultry female voice, one that Scar recognized immediately with a swiftly growing feeling of horror, interrupted, "Oh my. We sure are getting a lot of interruptions today."

A/N: Yes, I am back on the canonical track, and on a major drabble roll! Y'know, every bit of dialogue is directly from what was actually said in the series (I love that scene, and didn't want to change it or mess it up in any way); I watched that scene again and wrote down everything the subtitles said, then did my best to get lots of Scar introspective in. Major, major character bonding time here…man, I sound like a camp counselor with all my talk of 'bonding'. Heh. Love all your reviews!