鋼の錬金術師 (FullMetal Alchemist)
Chapter 5 Through the Mines.
The train stopped.
Ed was shook off of his sleep by Hope, who smiled, and helped him get up.
The group walked out to the platform, and started stretching their legs.
Lust was still quiet at a side, and Hohenheim got close to her.
"It wounds deep within, right?".
She sighed.
"Lust… We can bring him back. You have to calm yourself. Running away from soldiers is no way of doing so. Head back to central, and rest for a while". Hohenheim said.
Lust got a ticket, and went onto another train.
"I'm going with her". Ran Fan said.
Winry looked at Ed, and kissed him.
"I'm going, too. Alchemists were encomended to accomplish this task, and a mechanic will just be a burden".
"Bu- But…". Ed blabbered, silently.
"I know you're coming back". Winry said smiling. She hugged him, and kissed him again.
"Hope, go with them". Ed ordered.
"Why?".
"I'll be better knowing you can warn them if there's any danger. I just fight dangers through".
"Well… No point arguing that". Hope got a ticket and went into the train, too.
"I'm going with them". Seig sighed.
"Why?". Izumi asked.
"There are enough muscles here". He said, looking at Armstrong, who smiled widely, and started posing. "Take care, son". Seig said, picking Wrath up, and hugging him.
""I'll be good… Unless someone asks for it".
Seig let him down, and kissed Izumi. Then, he left.
o0o
"Where's the rail road?". Envy asked.
"A sandstorm must have covered it. We can't go on". A soldier said.
Envy looked at them, and turned around.
"Everyone, to your knees. I forbid you to see. If anyone dares, I'll take care of him".
The men started talking, wondering what was the emperor going to do.
Eventually, everyone knelt.
Envy shifted into a giant bird, and flew all the sand away. The rail road was easy to find.
Envy saw a soldier taking a glance at him, terrified.
He shifted back to Ling, and walked up to the soldier.
"Silence". He whispered.
Envy lift the soldier in the air, and took him to Gluttony's cage.
After leaving him there, he looked at the army again.
"RISE!". He shouted.
The soldiers looked ahead, and saw the rail road.
"Push". Envy ordered.
The trip went on quite steadily.
o0o
Ed, Al, Izumi, Wrath, Hohenheim, Paninya and Mei Yang, with Xiao Mei, walked around the town.
Many of the houses were destroyed, and some others had been set on fire.
"What happened here?". Al said, horrified.
Xiao Mei groared at an alley, and everyone looked at the place.
Some footsteps going away echoed because of the wall.
"Someone's here". Ed said, starting to run behind the spy.
"I'll get him". Paninya said, surpassing him.
After a minute chase, they all heard Paninya catching someone.
"DON'T KILL ME! I'LL DIE FIGHTING!". A boy shouted.
"Calm down, Kayal". Ed said.
"Full Metal, sir! You've grown tall!".
-spark-.
"WHO ARE YOU CALLING AN INSIGNICANT CUT PIECE OF AN ATOM?".
"Brother, calm down! You have grown taller!".
-spark-.
o0o
The group followed Kayal up to the mines. Mei Yang walked by him, smiling and laughing together.
"They're cute". Izumi said.
"Much like Ed and Winry when they were younger". Hohenheim added.
"Hey, Kayal". Armstrong called him.
Kayal turned around, and walked up to the landmark.
"What is it… Sir?".
"Why are we going to the mines? And more over, why is the town wrecked?".
"The answer for both is that we were attacked by soldiers. A small group, but they must have been specialists. They destroyed everything in less than an hour, and we had to escape to the mines. They are waiting for my return in order to escape to Lior by a mountain path".
"And where are these soldiers?".
"We hope to have lost them inside the mines. The whole town is in there, so it's hard to move".
They climbed up some rocks, and entered the mines.
Kayal walked silently, and everyone tried to imitate him.
After a while walking, almost in the dark, Ed transmuted a rock into a torch, and lit it with the stones in the floor.
Kayal picked one of those rocks, and started hiting it against the wall, making repetitive sounds.
"Ah! It's that morse code thing, from the other side!". Al said, enthusiastically.
"What?". Kayal said.
"Uhm… It's a code based on long and short sounds, right?".
"Yeah…".
"Keep it to yourself. The military can't have any more power. We have to stop growing". Ed cut in.
"You say this because Roy is the fuhrer now". Al said, smiling.
Away, from the cave, some long and short knocks were heard.
Kayal rose his hand, and made everyone stop.
After hearing the message, he smiled, and ran. Everyone followed, and they soon found the people from Youswell.
o0o
"How's the army going?". Roy asked to Riza, who was with her hand on her forehead, still saluting him.
"Most of the troops have been gathered. Many people came from Rush Valley, too. They are auto mail users, and thy've insisted that they can be of much help".
"Well, they can… Have thay been recruited?".
"Most of them".
"Any news from Full Metal?".
"He seems to be doing well, sir. A train arrived a while ago, and his girlfriend and some friends came in it. They have also joined the army".
"I'll create new positions. Army Mechanic, Army Metal Users, or stuff…".
Riza kept silence.
"So the army's doing good…". Roy sighed.
He looked up at her, and his face changed, becoming much more serious.
"And how are you doing?".
Riza closed her eyes.
o0o
"Ah, Kayal! Your father's been worried sick! Oh, the Alchemist!".
"Yeah! I found him with other alchemist friends of his! Where's my dad?".
"He's in the front of the line".
"Go tell him I found Edward, and that I'm staying here to guard the back".
"We'll go with you". Ed said.
The group moved forward through the tunnel.
Many people recognized Ed, and they started clapping.
Once they got to the front, Kayal's father looked terrified.
"STOP CLAPPING!". He shouted.
A big group of footsteps could be heard running to them from the front.
"They're here!". A man said.
"Not to worry". Ed said, clapping his hands.
A wall grew, made of solid rock, and the right half of the tunnel.
"I've created a cave, so they'll think we're down another tunnel. Once we go through this side, I'll block them in". he said, smiling.
o0o
The sun shined strongly, as Ed came out of the cave.
"That was quite a long time in there". He said, rubbing his eyes.
Halling came out and walked through a little path that lead through the mountains.
"It's a path to Lior. We can be there in an Hour. Maybe more".
"Let's start walking, then". Al said, passing his brother.
As they moved, the road got wider.
The sun got past their heads, and started setting, when they reached Lior.
Ed walked up to the bar with Al.
Hohenheim, Armstrong, Izumi, Paninya, Wrath, Xiao and Mei took the people to the train station, and explained the situation.
Ed and Al sat down, and looked at the radio on the shelf.
"It's still there". Al said smiling.
"It's almost as if everything started here… This was our first clue to the stone".
"What can I ge- It's you!". The grey mustache barman said.
Ed smiled, enjoying his surprise, and asked for a glass of orange juice.
"One for me too, please". Al said.
"Hey, boy, where's the suit of armor everyone confused with you?".
"You do have a good memory, man… It's him". Ed said, pointing at his younger brother, who smiled.
"You stopped carrying that armor around? I thought you'd be bigger! But you're just a kid!".
"Well… It's a long story… Interesting, though. I may tell it to you one day".
"Hey, can you get me some water, please". A woman asked.
"Sure! How's your son doing?".
"He's fine, growing fast!".
"Rose?". Ed said.
She turned around, and looked at the Elric brothers.
o0o
"I made a question, Hawkeye. I'm the fuhrer, and I expect answers when I make questions".
Riza lowered her arm, and looked at Roy.
"The question was how was I doing, right?".
Roy nodded.
Riza sighed, and looked at Roy.
"I'm pregnant".
She smiled, and got close to Roy. He was surprised by the answer, and received her hug without really realizing.
"I'm having a son…". He thought to himself. "With Riza…".
Hayate barked.
o0o
"I can't believe you're alive! And I can't believe you came back! It's been Two years! Two years…". Rose said, bursting in tears as she hugged the Elric brothers.
"You haven't seen me for over two years. Al wasn't gone for half a year". Ed said.
"Still… Come, quick". She said, excited.
She grabbed their hands, and ran with them up to the temple.
They walked in, and looked at the massive statue of the sun god, Letho.
"Rose… You didn't convince me six years ago, and you're not convincing me now".
"It's not God… It's him". She said, pointing at a man who was repearing some cracks on the statue, using alchemy.
His grey hair was still short, and his left arm had one large decontruction tattoo. He turned around when he heard Rose, showing his X shaped scar, created by a madman who called it 'his masterpiece'.
"Edward. Alphonse". Scar said, smiling slightly.
o0o
The night had fallen. Ed and Al had been invited to dinner at Rose's house. Scar sat down with a glass of water, talking to them. Rose had gone out to look for their son, who was at a friend's house.
"Once I found Rose, we got married right away. I know what you did to me, Edward. You left my feelings for Lust on the other side… Anyways, I met my son, and we got married right away. She invited me to live here, and I started working as a repairman, paying for some things, and living peacefully".
The Elric brother's sighed.
"That's what we want to discuss".
Scar's face abandonned his recently acquired relaxed expression.
After explaining and telling the story, they waited for his reaction.
"I can't… I can't risk what I have here. I will never kill again…".
"If you don't fight for your own freedom, fight for the lifes of Rose and your son".
A loud scream was heard outside. Many footsteps walked around, and the lights of the town illuminated the street, where a troop of Xing soldiers.
"HELP!". Another scream was heard.
"ROSE!". Scar shouted.
Without thinking it twice, he jumped out through the window, and ran through the street.
Many soldiers move around him, carrying spears, and aiming at him.
He laid his hand on the floor, and a red lightning crawled up the street lamps.
Te light bulbs were crushed.
Everything was left in darkness, except for the ocassional red shines of Scar's alchemy, that were followed by the sound of crashing bone and flesh, and scattered blood.
The lights were reconstructed by Ed, who had come down of the house.
"That's it for the Longtan Assasins". He whispered, looking at the pieces of corpses and the blood.
Scar was holding Rose and his son, who were very scared, and cried to his chest.
His face was in shadows. His red eyes shined.
He looked up at Ed, and regained his serious, and ever-angry face.
"I'm in".
