Amelia sat on the couch with Havoc and Hughes, the soldiers all a little tired from their clean-up of the city in the aftermath of Scar's attack. They still intended to investigate his escape route, so they had left that untouched for now, but otherwise they had cleaned up the bits of battle that had happened because of the Major fighting off Scar, cleaning up the spikes and fixing the walls and all that.
Amelia had been watching at the time, feeling a little useless in that she couldn't really help with clean up, and just stood in the Major's trench coat as she slowly warmed up. She was disappointed in herself for that fight, feeling like she had been so useless, even if Alphonse said otherwise. She should have been able to do something other than scream and get caught, but she couldn't have really learned how. She was lost in her thoughts of that moment, replaying it over and over again in her mind to try and figure out what she could have done better to fix it, but it never really ended well. The major had noticed her unfocused gaze and furrowed brow, and he figured she needed some encouragement. It was very quickly denied as he stripped and showed her his body, and she screeched, "Stop that! Will you please put some clothes on?! I don't want to see that!" And she covered her face with his trench coat to block the sight of her teacher half-naked.
"BEHOLD! THIS METHOD OF ENCOURAGEMENT VIA EXHIBITION HAS BEEN PASSED DOWN THE ARMSTRONG LINE FOR GENERATIONS! SEE HOW THESE MUSCLES PULSE WITH PRIDE AND VIGOR?"
"Oh, my God, shut up!" She threw the trench coat on him to cover him, "It's an exhibition, alright! You're a freaking exhibitionist in the weirdest possible sense! Good God!" She shouted at him, her hands going into her hair in frustration, "You are so weird!" When he laughed, she looked up at him, watching as he dressed himself with the trench coat she had thrown at him.
"If nothing else, at least it gave you your energy back." He said, smiling at her, "You should not dwell on what has already happened, Miss Seymour. You did all that you could, and the past cannot be changed." She relaxed a little as he spoke to her, sounding wise in a way that she hadn't really expected from him. "For now, you are my student, and I intend to teach you well enough to do more in situations like these in the future. At least then, you won't need to dwell like you are now." He promised her, one hand coming down to tousle her hair in a way that no one had ever done before. She wasn't used to such affectionate gestures, and her cheeks warmed as she shooed his hands away.
Now she sat on the couch across from her teacher, looking over at the Elric brothers as Roy Mustang had ordered an emergency meeting with his officers and everyone involved in stopping Scar, as well as figuring out what the Elrics will need to do next. In their current state, there wasn't much that they could do. Edward was missing an arm, and Alphonse's body was in too many pieces to go anywhere, he only had one arm and leg that he could use. Amelia found herself staring at the part of his armor that had been covered up, like it was a bandage almost. Though it was more likely that it was there to catch whatever pieces of him that might fall off if he was jostled too much. Still, he was an empty suit of armor, her first thought was robotics, but this place barely had good radios, robotics was out of their league in terms of technology.
"So, what are our next steps with this?" Roy's voice cut through her thoughts, bringing her attention to him as he sat at his desk, Lieutenant Hawkeye behind him. "If he's an Ishvalan, he might be hiding out in the ghettos with the others." Amelia was lost quickly, still not knowing what it meant for someone to be Ishvalan.
"It's as good a place as any, but those communities aren't exactly easy to find." Hughes said, "Trust me, they'll do everything they can to avoid Amestrians, especially the military, and I can't say I blame them."
"Um…" She wanted to ask about Scar, what all this talk was.
"That's true…" Roy muttered as he leaned forward on his desk, looking troubled, "And he's slippery, up until now we just knew about the scar on his forehead, and he had already killed ten alchemists."
"Excuse me…" Amelia tried to speak up again.
"Exactly," Hughes said, "So he might not be hiding out with any other Ishvalan communities, it's more likely that he's alone and on his own somewhere."
"Excuse me." She spoke up a little louder to get their attention and they looked over at her, "Can someone please explain what an Ishvalan is? Totally not from this country, I have no idea what anyone's talking about. Why is this guy being an Ishvalan an explanation for motive? I don't get it."
The room was quiet for a moment as she waited for someone to answer her question, and then Roy sighed, "It has to do with the Ishvalan rebellion a while back."
"Well, tell me about it. I don't want to be left out of the loop." Amelia said, wanting some context for this murderer.
"The Ishvalans were a race of people who lived to the east of us," Roy started to explain, "They believed their god Ishvala was the one absolute creator. Even after they were annexed into the country, there were still conflicts between us and them. Then, thirteen years ago, a military officer accidentally shot and killed an Ishvalan child. And that led to a full-blown civil war." Amelia's eyes widened a little bit, she didn't really know this country could have civil war like that, but she remembered someone mentioning something about the Ishvalan war, when she spoke with Strongine a while back. This must have been it. "One uprising led to another, and before long the rebellion had spread to the whole eastern sector. After seven years of this, an order came down from the military high command to exterminate Ishval." Roy shifted a bit in his seat, as well as the major and the lieutenant colonel. None of them were fond of those memories, "Many state alchemists were brought into act as human weapons. Needless to say, the state alchemists produced striking results. That man is an Ishvalan survivor. In a sense, his revenge is justified." And Amelia had to agree with that statement, just a little.
"No way." Edward's voice caught everyone's attention, seeing the young man scowling at the floor as he had been through most of the story, "There's no justification for taking revenge on people who had nothing to do with it. He's just dressing his ugly lust for vengeance in the mantle of his god and calling himself an agent of justice."
"Still, the fact is he's coming at us with full force," Mustang said, "We can't let ourselves be killed for his cause." He looked out over his soldiers, "Next time, there will be no more talk, got it?"
"Yes, sir." Said all the soldiers but Lieutenant Colonel Hughes, who wasn't Mustang's subordinate like everyone else. He didn't intend to fight Scar, either. Not when he had a wife and child to go back to.
Hughes looked over at the pair of brothers, "Well, Ed? Alphonse? What are you two going to do now?" He asked. "What's the plan?"
"We're going to keep moving," Edward said with a determination that Amelia hadn't heard in his voice earlier, "We can't just sit around, not as long as we're still alive."
"Brother…!" Alphonse's voice sounded happy and relieved to hear those words, and Edward smiled at him, putting his hand on the tarp-covered shoulder.
"Before we make any headway on getting your body back, we have to get my arm back to normal," He said, "After all, I'm the only one who knows how to bond your soul to the armor."
"Uh-huh." Alphonse agreed, and though he couldn't make an expression, Amelia could swear he was smiling.
"We've got no choice," Edward sighed out, "It's been a long time, but we need to pay a visit to our mechanic." He moved his hand up to the port where his automail arm used to be, "I'm not going to be able to perform alchemy without another arm."
"Well, that's an interesting predicament, isn't it?" Breda said with a small grin, "If the Great Edward Elric can't perform his own special brand of alchemy…" Havoc grinned as he caught onto his friend's joke.
"Then he's just a teen with a grumpy-ass attitude." Edward glared at the man who kept smiling, knowing he couldn't really do anything about his words.
"So, where's your mechanic located?" Hughes asked.
"Resembool, we'll take a train out," Edward said.
"Resembool, that's quite some ways away…" Hughes sighed, "And with Scar around, you'll need some protection. I'd volunteer but with Scar in East City, this investigation is officially out of my jurisdiction, so I have to go back to Central." Amelia noticed how the major straightened up a little at the mention of protection, and she grimaced a bit.
"And Scar's investigation is officially in my jurisdiction, so I can't leave until we've found something substantial," Roy said as his excuse not to go as protection.
"And I need to make sure the colonel doesn't slack on his paperwork." Hawkeye said, earning an irritated look from her superior, but no denial of what she said. Amelia could almost see the major's muscles twitching under his uniform…
"You could send me, but I don't know how much help I would be against a fanatical Ishvalan serial killer." Havoc said as he crossed his arms, with Falman, Breda, and Feury all raising their hands as they voiced their agreement with that statement. Amelia could almost swear that her teacher had an unusual sparkling glow around him as he straightened up.
"Then that settles it." Armstrong said before stripped off his jacket to pose and show his own strength, with Amelia yelping as his jacket landed on top of her on the couch, "Send me! I'll protect the boys on their journey for repairs!" He declared.
"Excuse you!" Amelia's voice cut through as she threw his jacket back at him, "Stop doing that, we don't want to see your muscles right now!"
"Actually," Hughes spoke up, "We could send Armstrong, but that would interfere with his duties as your alchemy teacher…"
"Then Amelia can come with me!" Armstrong said as he reached over to pull her up from her couch, placing her in front of him as he posed again behind her, and she couldn't look back because she knew what he was doing and she didn't want to see him being like that. "I can certainly multi-task my duties while travelling! The ability to care for multiple children at once is a parenting skill that has been passed down the Armstrong line for generations!"
"I'm not a child!"
"Who are you calling a kid?!"
Amelia and Edward spoke at the same time as they were called children, both glaring up at the Major. He was a little surprised at how quickly they had gotten angry at the titles, but then he was composed in an instant. "Children should listen to their elders, this is for your own good."
"We don't need an escort!" Edward snapped.
"So, what are you going to do if Scar shows up again?" Hughes asked, and Edward faltered, "You're not exactly in the condition to fight." He glanced at his missing arm and sighed, relenting.
"Fine."
"And, hey, you can forget bringing me on this trip." Amelia said, "I could stand to take the break from alchemy." After seeing all the horrors of chimeras, she wasn't eager to learn, "I'd rather stay at the Armstrong estate."
Roy chuckled, "Right, because they would just leave you alone in an estate filled with civilians who have no formal military training." She looked back at the colonel with an indignant glare.
"Why not? I've been there long enough that they don't mind."
"It's not a matter of whether or not they mind," Hughes began, getting her attention. "You need to remember your place, you're not a free citizen of Amestris, you have to be under constant supervision as a convicted felon and as a student of Armstrong's alchemy."
"Well, what if I decide I don't want to learn alchemy? What if I just quit?" She snapped.
Hughes shrugged, "Then the deal you made with the Fuhrer is gone, and you go back to prison." Amelia's confidence was shaken at the news and even more by his nonchalant attitude in his answer. It was jarring to remember she wasn't free in this country, not under these circumstances. "Is that what you want?" He asked her, genuinely curious if she wanted to stop learning alchemy, after her reaction to chimeras he wouldn't be surprised if the idea left a bad taste in her mouth.
"No…" She turned away and sighed, "Fine, I'll go on the stupid trip."
"Then it's settled!" Armstrong said firmly, "We'll take the first train out of Resembool."
The next train wouldn't come until tomorrow morning, so Amelia ended up spending the night in the same inn as Major Armstrong. The room they had was a two-bed room, but the beds were in the same spot so that the Major could keep an eye on her. She ended up changing into some nightclothes and went to bed, and spent most the night trying to fall asleep despite the major's bear-like snores. She ended up spending that time awake both hating the major for his noise, but also hating her surroundings in this country. She hated that she couldn't go out on her own without supervision, and the more she thought about it, the more she hated being without her freedom in this country. Technically, yes, she was a prisoner, but she still wanted to be able to have some say here and there. Though she had to admit, she felt a lot like a dog with a muzzle and an extremely short leash. She felt like fighting for anything was going to end up with her choking on her collar until she couldn't go on.
When the major finally turned over in bed and stopped snoring, she managed to get some sleep, though her dreams were filled with images of dogs, either snapping at her feet, or someone grabbing her by her muzzle and dragging her along to a table to be made into a chimera. Once the nightmare was over and she did manage to get some sleep, it was suddenly time to wake up or they would miss their train.
She got dressed and met Edward at his hotel, where they worked on getting Al in some mobile transportation since he couldn't walk. They had put him in a crate the night before when they left to go to the hotel and Edward had carried him (with some help from the others until he could get to a car). Now the major carried him on his shoulder with the rest of the luggage as they made their way through the train station. She was walking behind the major, and so was Edward. The major separated from them to put Al somewhere safe on board the train since he wouldn't be able to join them in the passenger compartment in a wooden crate, so he left Edward to help Amelia board the train.
She got on and sat across from the alchemist, looking his outfit up and down once she had a good look at him. She remembered seeing that red coat the first time they met. She hadn't thought anything of it at the time, but now that she saw his outfit up close - red trench coat, leather pants, leather boots, and a smaller leather jacket underneath the red coat - she thought it was pretty tacky, even a little bit of an eyesore to look at.
"So, you sleep well?" Edward asked, trying to make some small talk with her until the major got back.
"The major snores." She said curtly, "Didn't sleep so great."
Ed was quiet before he grimaced, "I can see him snoring."
"You should hear it," She said, "He sounds like a damn bear." Edward nodded, still with that grimace as he looked out the train window, they still weren't moving, and probably wouldn't for a while. Amelia noticed it was a steam engine train, she didn't know how long it would be until they got to this place they were supposed to go. "Do you know how long it'll take us to get to your town?" She asked, figuring she may as well make an effort for some small talk, just to occupy the space until her teacher came back.
"It'll be a couple of days traveling, we should be there around 1:00 or 2:00 tomorrow." She grimaced at the sound of being on a train with these guys for so many hours since the train was set to depart around 10:30.
"A whole day…" She muttered, knowing that the major was going to push some alchemy lessons in her face during that time, "How fast can this train go?"
Edward shrugged, not knowing the answer, "I think about 70 or 75 miles per hour." He said.
"You think if I jumped off this train at that speed, it would kill me?" She asked with a dry tone, and Edward gave her an odd look, wondering if they were still making small talk or if something weird was going on with her.
At that time, however, the major came back and took a seat beside Edward, "There we are, all the luggage is packed away, and Alphonse is safe and sound." He said.
"Are you sure?" Edward asked, "You're absolutely positive he's on the train?" Armstrong nodded with certainty.
There was a knock and the two teens looked over to see Hughes at the train window, "Hey," He greeted them through the glass and Edward opened up one part of the window so they could talk, "The folks down at Easter Command Center were a little too busy to make it down here today, so I came down to see you off instead."
"Great, and thanks for getting us an escort, too," Edward said sarcastically, looking over at the major as he took his set at the other end of the bench where Edward was.
"The major's here to help," Hughes said, and he shrugged, "Just try to grin and bear it."
"Children can be so stubborn," Armstrong said, and Amelia laughed as Edward was called a kid again.
"Shut up! I'm no child!" He snapped at the major, "Anyway, you're sure Al made it on board?"
"Of course," Armstrong said, "I made sure he was put somewhere he might be comfortable."
"Where?" Edward asked firmly.
"There was a car full of sheep that's headed to Resembool, they all seemed perfectly friendly, so I put him among them." Amelia couldn't help cackling at the idea of that suit of armor stuck in the middle of a crowd of sheep. "I thought he might get lonely without a little company."
"My brother isn't some kind of farm animal!" Edward snapped, only to be interrupted by a ringing bell that signaled it was time for the train to head off, hearing the train rumble as the engine got ready, the horn sounding off.
"Well, it's time." The Lieutenant Colonel stepped back from the train, giving a salute as it slowly started to make its way out, "Okay, you boys have a safe trip. Stop in and give me a shout the next time you make it to Central." Edward saluted with his left hand in return, as did the major. "And I'll see you when you return, Miss Seymour."
"Hoo-ray." She said dryly, giving him a two-fingered salute before relaxing back on the train bench, watching as he slowly went farther and farther away as the train moved out of the station and onto the tracks, headed to their destination in Resembool.
Once they were out a bit more and the station was out of sight, the major pulled out an alchemy textbook, "Now, since we'll be traveling for a few days-"
"No." Amelia cut him off with a glare, crossing her arms, "It's not happening." She turned away from him, and the major sighed a little, having expected resistance still after what happened with the Tucker estate.
"Amelia, you have already been told what will happen if you don't continue with your alchemy training." Edward perked up a little as he listened to the major trying to convince her. "If you don't continue, I'll have no choice but to have you arrested for trespassing on military property."
"Why the hell should I learn something like that anyway?" She snapped at him, "It's a stupid science!"
"It's not stupid," Edward came to the defense of alchemy quickly enough, "You're the one that's stupid if you don't want to learn it."
Amelia frowned as he called her stupid, "I don't want to learn this weird science that decides it's okay to fuck with the natural order of things!"
"What are you talking about?" Edward looked over as the major sighed a bit.
"She's acting this way because of the chimeras she saw at the Tucker estate, she apparently didn't like that particular part of bio-alchemy." He explained to the younger state alchemist.
"Because it's fucked up!" Amelia said, raising her voice a little, "I mean, you're basically cutting a puppy and a kitten in half and sewing them together in the hopes of making the perfect pet! It's fucked up and I don't want to learn a science that thinks that's justified!"
"I can't say I blame you." Edward said, getting Amelia to turn to him in surprise, "Chimeras are seen as abominations in a lot of cases, and I know there are plenty of people who prefer to ignore the fact that they exist because it's easy to think it's cruel to use animals in that way."
"Thank you! Finally, someone's in agreement with me on this!" Amelia said, and she glared back up at her teacher, "You can't make me learn this stuff, and I hate that you're actually forcing me to learn it with the threat of jail."
"Amelia, try to see reason," Armstrong said pleadingly, "I am only doing my duty in teaching you, and it was you who agreed to do this."
"Well, now I'm regretting it," Amelia said, shifting in her seat and looking out the window with a scowl.
Armstrong put his hands in his lap, trying to think of something he could, "I would rather not see you put back in jail if I can help it, and I can't force you to learn something," He conceded, "But as your teacher, I can tailor your lessons and change the curriculum." Amelia looked back at him suspiciously.
"Meaning…?"
"Meaning that if you don't wish to learn bio-alchemy, I will remove it from your lessons and we can focus on other branches of the science." He offered, "This way, you are still keeping your agreement in place."
Amelia shifted a bit in her seat before she sighed, "Alright, I guess." Armstrong held out an alchemy textbook for her and she took it, noticing it was a different copy from the one she lost - she basically said she lost it in the heated battle with Scar, and he accepted that as her excuse - and opened it up. "So, where are we starting?"
"We're going to be speaking of the importance of the matrix within the transmutation circle today," Armstrong said, beginning his lecture on alchemy. It went well, with Amelia taking notes here and there, and Edward eventually got up to try and sneak his way over to the cargo car to talk to Al, but he never managed to find a way in, so he ended up coming back and listening as the major explained some things about alchemy that he already knew.
He would mostly just stare out the window on the other side of the car, or try to think about how he could talk to Alphonse through the cargo car, but every now and then he would look back over at Amelia. He watched how attentive she was, although reluctant to learn at the start, she still concentrated. Every few minutes, she would ask a question, or ask the major to clarify something. He watched her scribble down her notes on top of the textbook, which no one seemed to mind. He was guilty of scribbling in textbooks while taking notes, too. It was interesting to see how different she was from when they first met. She had been exceptionally rude to him (he was still going to make her pay for that short joke she made, damn it!) but since then she had not only stepped in to try to save his life, but now she was an attentive student.
He smirked a little to himself, thinking it kind of funny that her brain was still eager for knowledge despite all of her protests against it an hour ago. He watched her at work with Armstrong, the two of them going back and forth for almost two hours before Amelia started to get quieter, her questions less frequent. She started to stare at the textbook, not focusing on it, and the major decided she needed a break from studying and lecturing.
"There will be plenty more opportunities to learn on our trip," Armstrong assured her, only to be met with a shrug from Amelia as she closed the book.
"Whatever, I could do with a break." she moved over on the bench, taking advantage of the fact that she had it all to herself and lying back on it, reaching into her pocket for her phone and the headphones she had made sure to bring with her. Edward watched curiously as she stuck the earbuds in and just lay back, closing her eyes as she held the little box thing to her chest.
"Major, what is that?" He asked.
"Oh, Amelia calls it a phone, though I don't know why." Armstrong said, "She normally uses it more like a phonograph for herself, though. I understand it has music in there somehow." He looked over at Edward, "It's an incredibly unique piece of technology from her home, I've never seen anything like it. Its main components are simply some copper wiring and silicon."
"You're kidding." Edward was amazed that something like that could function, though he didn't understand why. His curious mind looked over at the device, leaning over to get a closer look at it. From here, it just looked like a mess of plastic, he might have even mistaken it for a weird toy, but knowing what it could do intrigued him. "Hey," He tried to get her attention, though her eyes stayed closed. "Hey," he spoke a little louder, but nothing.
"She can't hear you." Armstrong said, "Once those little things are in her ears, she can't hear anything." Edward looked over at her, waving his hand over her closed eyes and seeing no reaction. Maybe she was falling asleep? He wanted to get a closer look at that little device, and he reached out for the cord that was stuck to the bottom of it, giving it a little tug and freezing when he saw it fall off the device.
Amelia immediately opened her eyes and sat up, bringing her hand down on top of Edward's as she held her phone to her chest.
"Ow!" Edward pulled his hand back, glaring at her, "That was a little unnecessary."
"It was not, why are you messing with my phone?" She asked as she put the cord back where it was, and Edward was glad he hadn't broken it somehow.
"How is that thing a phone? It's not connected to anything except your ears." He didn't really understand how it worked with the phones he saw, and his only answer was a glare before Amelia touched a couple of things on the shining screen of it and going back to the position she had before, closing her eyes. Ed frowned at her rude refusal to answer him and decided if she was going to be stubborn, he wasn't going to bother asking. He sat back and decided to leave her be as the sun started to set beyond the horizon of the mountains as the train kept on its path.
Soon enough, Edward had grown bored and leaned on the edge of the seat to nap for a while. And Amelia took her earbuds out when she got tired of listening to music and sat up. She looked over at the napping Edward and looking up at her teacher, who seemed to be reading a book. He looked up when he noticed her eyes on him and smiled, "Ready for more lessons?"
She shrugged, "I guess so." She didn't really have anything else to do on the train ride. So, her teacher closed his book and they got into the lectures once again, which lasted for a while before Armstrong realized his student was just as tired as before, so he decided to put a stop to it for a while and offer her something else to do. Amelia stared down at the little book he offered with a quirked brow, "Is this my next textbook or something?" she asked as she opened it, and read the title inside with a wrinkled nose. "The Heart of the Golden Rose?" She looked back up at her teacher, who only beamed at her, "What is this?"
"It's a novel, I thought I might pack it for you for the trip." He said, "It's a personal favorite of my sister's, and I've read it as well. It's quite the enthralling read."
"Is this a romance novel? Because I don't really do romance novels." She said, and she watched as her teacher pulled out another book, "What about that one you're reading? What's that?"
"Oh, this?" He pointed to his book, "This is the fourth book in the Golden Rose saga, I don't think it's best for you to read it unless you read the other three."
Amelia's jaw dropped, "This thing has a saga? And it's four books long?" She knew romance books brought in big bucks, but still!
"I assure you, it's much more than a simple romance book." He said, "But it's entirely up to you if you want to read it, I'm afraid I don't have much else to offer you in terms of entertainment until we arrive." She let out a displeased hum, looking at the novel in her hands.
Well, she might as well just make jokes about it in her head while she reads, no harm in trying to make it fun.
Night had come and passed and Amelia, Edward, and Major Armstrong were waiting while the train refueled at a station near a small town out in the country. It was a small grouping of brick houses all lumped together at the foot of a hill, but it was still full of life. There were people boarding and getting off the train at this station, seeing family, friends, or just to stretch their legs a little.
Amelia would have noticed it if she had looked up from the novel she was reading. Her nose was inside the book, reading over every word as she was half-way through it, reading the tale of Rose and how she tried to win over her beloved Damien who served as a knight in a fantasy kingdom. She had been reading it through most of the night until she was too tired to keep her eyes open. And once she was awake, she started reading this book that she thought she would have hated, but somewhere after chapter three the dry humor about the impossibly handsome Damien and the unbelievably kind Rose didn't seem appropriate and she found herself captivated by the enchanting story of Damien going off to war with Rose disguising herself as a boy to be his page.
She had just gotten to the part where Rose had confessed that she was a woman who followed him into battle, and she gasped as she read Damien dismissing her with a cruel wave. The noise caught the attention of both of the men across from her, Edward giving her an odd look as he saw the offended expression on her face, and Armstrong smiled.
"Where are you in the book?" He asked, feeling a little proud in that he had gotten her to like it.
She looked up at him, "I just got to where she tells Damien the truth about who she is, and he just dismisses her! I mean, what the hell?" Armstrong nodded along in agreement as she vented her frustration towards the character, "After all that she's done for him? All of a sudden, the fact that she's a woman makes her unable to perform her duties as a page? She healed this loser back from the brink of death and has sworn her life to him, and he when he finds out she's a girl he just says "Go home"?! What an asshole! I was kind of rooting for them, but now I hope he gets what's coming to him." She grumbled as she opened up the book again.
"Why are you getting so worked up?" Edward asked, "They're not real." Amelia turned to him with a glare and brought her foot up to kick his shin, only to hear a metal clang meet her shoe, "Hey!"
"You have a fake leg, too?" She frowned at her inability to get him to feel a little pain. She kicked the other one and smiled when her boot met flesh underneath the leather pants.
"Hey, ow!" Edward glared at her as he reached down to hold the spot she had kicked, "What was that for?"
"These characters may not be real, but that doesn't mean my feelings about the situation doesn't matter." Amelia said, "So don't make it sound like it doesn't matter."
"What? But it's all fake, why does it matter when none of it is real?" His answer was another kick to his flesh leg, "Ow! You better cut that out!"
"Or what?" In their bickering, the two teenagers didn't realize that Armstrong was staring at a man walking by the train station through the window.
"Or I'm gonna make you sorry for doing it!" Edward snapped back.
"I'm not afraid of you! Bring it!" She swung her legs out in front of him with a smile, "I got two real legs that are ready to kick your tiny ass." That struck a nerve and Edward could feel his blood boiling.
"Who are you calling small, you-?!" Ed was cut off as Armstrong suddenly put his head through the opening in the window to call out to the man passing by, pushing Ed up against the window as well.
"Doctor Marcoh!" He called out to the man, "Doctor Marcoh, that is you, isn't it?" The man turned around to see the Major's face sticking out of the window, "It's me! Alex Louis Armstrong, from Central!" The man's expression quickly changed to one of horror, and he took off running from the station.
"Friend of yours?" Edward asked, a little curious about the man as he ran off with his briefcase.
"He's from Central, a talented state alchemist," Armstrong said, "He was researching into possible medical applications of alchemy. But after the Ishvalan Civil War, he went missing. Just disappeared…" He still watched the man's back as he ran away, turning a corner and getting out of sight. Edward, hearing the news this man had experience in using alchemy for medical uses, suddenly forgot his anger with Amelia and moved out from underneath the major to head off the car.
"Let's go, major." He said.
"What for? This is the last stop until Resembool." Amelia was eager to get the trip over with and didn't want to make an unnecessary stop.
"Because a guy like this doctor might know some useful things about bio-alchemy." He gripped at the empty spot where his arm was gone, and Amelia wondered if Edward planned on getting his body back to normal through alchemy. She wasn't really sure, but since Edward was the reason they were travelling, they did what he suggested. And Armstrong seemed pleased at the idea of seeing someone from the old days. After getting Alphonse and getting off the train, they made their way into town, with Armstrong taking a moment to scribble something in a notebook as Amelia held it steady for him since he only had one hand while he carried Alphonse on his shoulder.
"There we are, thank you." He said as he tucked away his pen and took the sketchbook from her. Amelia stole a peek to see it was actually a very well-drawn portrait of the man they had seen at the train station from the neck up. It looked just like him.
One of the villagers walked their way, and Armstrong approached him, showing the picture, "Excuse me, but do you know this person, by any chance?" He asked the man, who took a moment to look at the picture.
"Wow, Major. You can really draw." Edward said, a little impressed at the man's skills, but also a little confused as to why he had them to begin with.
As if answering his silent question, Armstrong proudly said, "The art of portraiture has been passed down through the Armstrong family for generations."
"That man looks like Dr. Mauro to me." The villager said.
"Mauro?" Armstrong repeated in confusion.
"All of our town's doctors were drafted to help on the battlefields during the Civil War. And then Doctor Mauro came here. He's really been a life saver." The man said.
Another younger man came up to him, "He's a great doctor, he never turns down a patient and he never gives up on them, either. We're really lucky to have him here." The two had nothing but praise for their town's doctor, "No sooner do you see a flash of light, and then you're cured. It's really something."
The three of them frowned a bit at the mention of a flash of light. Could it be that Doctor Marcoh was using alchemy to cure these people?
They showed the portrait around town, and everyone recognized him as Doctor Mauro, with similar stories they heard from the first villagers, talking about how he was a great doctor and had really helped their town. How he wouldn't turn down anyone and seemed to be able to almost instantly cure any ailment you had after a flash of light.
It became pretty apparent that Marcoh was using some form of alchemy to cure these people, but Amelia was skeptical. The idea of using alchemy to cure the common cold wasn't really something she had figured could be done, but could someone use alchemy on a cellular level? Change a virus into a blood cell? She wasn't even sure people in Amestris knew about the cellular level of bodies and science, or what materials were used to make cells period. She wasn't even sure about it herself. Theoretically, she knew it wasn't impossible to change a cell into something else organic, but it was still kind of strange to hear.
Eventually, someone pointed them in the direction of Dr. Mauro's home and office where people would go to see him, and they made their way up the stairs to the front door. Edward, being eager to know about the doctor's skills in bio-alchemy, was the first one up, with Amelia behind him, and Armstrong behind her, still carrying Alphonse's crate on his shoulders.
"This should be it." Edward said before he knocked on the door, only to get no response, "Um, hello-!" He stopped when a gun was pointed in his face and he jumped back to avoid the bullet that was shot out, with Amelia and Armstrong freezing up at the sight of Marcoh with a revolver in his hand.
"Alright, tell me what you three are doing here?!" Marcoh demanded, looking up at Armstrong as he carefully stepped in front of Amelia, "Have you come to take me back?!"
"Please, Doctor," Armstrong held up his free hand in a non-threatening manner, "Calm down."
Marcoh's hands shook as he held the gun, "I don't ever want to go back. Anything but that!"
"That's not it, please listen…" Armstrong still tried to reason with him.
"So, you're here to silence me, then?!" Marcoh glared at Armstrong, who only shook his head.
"No, nothing like that…!"
"I won't be tricked by you!" Marcoh still held the gun on Armstrong, who was starting to become fed up with Marcoh's hysterical behavior.
He took in a deep breath before he launched Alphonse's crate to him, and Marcoh let out a surprised yelp before he toppled back with Alphonse on top of him, "I'LL ASK YOU ONE MORE TIME, PLEASE CALM DOWN!"
"Alphonse!" Edward cried out for his brother, hurrying to get the crate straightened up and off of Doctor Marcoh, with Armstrong kicking away the handgun before the man could reach it. "What the hell, Major?!" Though when Armstrong handed the gun back to Marcoh, everyone was quiet as they waited for him to react.
"We're not here to silence you or take you back," Armstrong said, and Marcoh calmed down as he took the gun back and stood up.
"I'm sorry…" he said, turning around to put his gun away on a shelf, "It's just been so long since I've seen anyone from Central. I was hoping no one had any reason to come out this way." He looked up at the major, "I haven't seen you since you were dismissed."
The major nodded, "Yes, it was a difficult time for all of us." He agreed solemnly, and Marcoh sighed before inviting everyone in, offering them seats at his table.
"I'm afraid I don't have any tea, I get guests often, so I run out very quickly." Marcoh apologized as he took a seat.
"That's perfectly fine, we don't really have the time for it," Armstrong said as Amelia and Edward sat down at the table, with Alphonse's crate right near his brother's seat.
Marcoh sighed once more as he sat down, looking down at his hands as they rested on the table. "I've been terrified of the thought that someone from Central would find out who I was and drag me back there. I just couldn't go…"
"So, you changed your name and decided to live in hiding way out here in the countryside." Armstrong gathered, and Marcoh nodded briefly. "If the rumors I've heard can be believed, when you disappeared you took top-secret materials with you."
"...I couldn't handle it anymore," Marcoh said, "Order or no order, to have to dirty my hands researching that thing was too much…" He said the word with such disdain and disgust.
"What 'thing' is that?" Edward asked.
"...It took so many lives," Marcoh said, ignoring Edward's question, "During the civil war, so many innocents died because of it." He hunched forward slightly, as if he was in pain, "I could spend my whole life trying and still never atone for the things I've done. But I had to do something, so I came here to be a doctor and save lives instead of taking them." There was a silence following his statement, and Amelia looked at the man pitifully. He had been so torn up over what the war had done to him, he clearly felt a huge amount of guilt for whatever it was that he was looking into.
"Doctor," Armstrong's voice came gently through the silence, "What exactly was it you were ordered to do research on? What thing?"
Marcoh lifted his head slightly, though he still stared down at the table, glaring at his hands, "The philosopher's stone."
Edward's breath hitched and he straightened up, Alphonse put his attention on him, and Amelia looked at the doctor with wide eyes. She remembered reading in her textbook about it, that the philosopher's stone was meant to be a massive alchemic amplifier, made to get rid of the idea of equivalent exchange entirely. With a philosopher's stone, an alchemist could easily become a master in any subject of alchemy despite a lack of knowledge because the stone would make up for any loss. It was incredibly powerful, and it was the most coveted item among alchemists, though it bordered on legend on how hard it was to find it, or even create it.
"The top-secret materials I took were my research documents." Marcoh continued, "And the stone itself."
"You mean you still have it?! It's here?" Edward asked, standing up from his seat at the news. Marcoh looked up at Edward, putting his full attention on him for a moment before he reached into his coat, pulling out a small bottle with a red liquid inside, and Edward's brow furrowed in confusion, "How can that be the stone? It's a liquid." Marcoh didn't answer as he opened the bottle, and began to pour out the contents onto the table. They gasped at the sight, thinking that Marcoh was trying to get rid of it, only to watch the liquid come together to form a droplet on the table, not moving or sinking into the wood.
"'The sage's stone,' 'the grand elixir,' 'the celestial stone,' 'the red tincture,' 'the fifth element,'" Marcoh listed off different names for the philosopher's stone as the others observed, Ed reached out and poked at it with his gloved hand, watching how the red liquid shifted back from the touch in a way that reminded Amelia almost of jello. "Just as the philosopher's stone is called by many names, so it can take on many forms. It is not necessarily a stone." The doctor reached forward for the stone and Edward pulled his hand away as he watched Doctor Marcoh put the stone back inside the bottle, "This is an incomplete product, however. There's no way to know when it will reach its limit and become unusable."
Edward hadn't lost hope, though, "Finished or not, it demonstrated plenty of power during the Ishvalan Civil War, right?" Marcoh looked up at Edward with a horrified expression at the mention of it, "It's just like the stone that false priest had in Liore. It was incomplete, but it still amplified his powers considerably." Edward grinned at the excitement of just how close he was to his goal, "If imitation stones this powerful can be produced, who's to say a complete product can't be created?" He looked up at Doctor Marcoh, a fiery determination in his gaze, "Please, Doctor Marcoh, I need access to your research materials."
Marcoh stared at Edward in silence for a moment before turning the Armstrong, "Major, who exactly is this boy?" He asked.
"This boy is a state alchemist, Doctor," Armstrong answered him, and Marcoh's eyes widened even more.
"What? But he's only a child." He turned to Amelia, "And you? Are you a state alchemist as well?"
She shrugged in response, "In training."
Marcoh sighed and reached to pinch at the space between his brows, "After the war, there were many state alchemists who turned in their certifications because they refused to serve as human weapons anymore. And now a child…!"
"You think I don't know what I've signed up for?" Edward growled out, and Marcoh's head lifted to look up at him, "I know what I'm doing, but I don't have any choice." Edward gripped at the space where his arm should have been, "If this is a mistake, then it's a mistake I have to make, there's no other way!"
Marcoh looked at Edward, and he let out a small breath, "Why are you seeking the stone? What possible reason could you have to make such a terrible mistake?" He asked.
Edward looked back at Alphonse, who turned his head to meet his brother's gaze, his helmet nodding briefly before Edward looked back at Marcoh, glancing at Armstrong and Amelia, all of them patiently awaiting his answer, "Because it's the only way we can get our bodies back to normal after what we did."
"And just what did you do?" Marcoh asked, pressing him further.
Edward looked down, feeling a little ashamed of saying it out loud, "When Alphonse and I were younger, we committed human transmutation in an attempt to bring our mother back to life." Amelia's eyes widened at his words, and Edward squeezed at the empty sleeve of his coat a little tighter, "I ended up losing my leg, and Al lost his entire body. I sacrificed my arm in order to make sure I could get his soul back, and I bound it to that suit of armor." He gestured to him, and Marcoh's gaze followed him, getting up from his seat to get a closer look at Alphonse.
Amelia knew the words 'human transmutation' because they were listed in the first chapter of her alchemy textbook. It was an expressly forbidden practice in alchemy, considered a taboo worthy of damnation to the deepest depths of hell. Not only was it incredibly risky, but very few people had managed to do it successfully, if they had managed to live through it. It never resulted in a successful human being made. Amelia looked at Edward's body with new eyes when she heard this, knowing now that his arm and leg were the results of something terrible that he had done, and poor Alphonse… She looked back in her chair as Marcoh looked into the helmet, seeing the small glow there that was Alphonse's soul inside of it. Alphonse lost his entire body, and was now nothing more than a suit of armor. It explained why they were the way they were, but at the same time she couldn't fathom why they would want to bring their mother back to life. Then, she mentally chided herself that her mother wasn't really the best example of mothers period, and perhaps the boys just tried in a misguided attempt at happiness without really thinking. Edward had mentioned that they were younger when they attempted it, and he wasn't very old now, not much older than her. Still, she would agree with the idea that the dead should stay dead no matter what.
"I see, so you've committed the taboo." Marcoh said, still looking over Alphonse's armor, "Amazing… the ability to transmute a specific person's soul like this…" He stood up, "Maybe one as talented as you would be able to produce a complete philosopher's stone."
Edward's face lit up with a hopeful smile, "So-?"
"But I can't show you my research." Marcoh cut him off and Edward's smile quickly fell into a scowl.
"Why not?!"
"You must not seek after the stone!" Marcoh said, turning away from him.
"Not even if it's to get our bodies back?" Edward asked, glaring at his back.
"Never!" Marcoh said, "This is the devil's research, if you chase the stone, you will go through hell." As he spoke, Edward's scowl only deepened, getting frustrated with the doctor's lack of cooperation when they had come so close to finding what they wanted.
"I've already been through hell!" He almost shouted it out as he stood up from his chair. It clattered to the floor behind him and Marcoh looked back. He could see the furious look on Edward's face, and then looked to the major and Amelia before sighing.
"Please…" He said quietly, "Please, just leave."
They were silent, and Amelia looked back to her teacher before he stood up, coming around the table to pick up Alphonse's crate again and shoulder it. "Thank you for inviting us in, Doctor Marcoh. It was good to see you again." He said, before he made his way for the door, Amelia trailing behind him, and Edward reluctantly doing the same, but not without still glaring at Marcoh before they closed the door. Once the man was out of sight, Edward's shoulders slumped a little at the thought that he wouldn't be able to retrieve the stone, even though it had been sitting there right in front of him, tempting him with everything that he could ever want. It was a terrible loss for him, to be sure, but he couldn't force the doctor to just hand it over, it wouldn't be fair to Alphonse, despite how easy it would have been. They didn't want to force anyone else to make their bodies for them. They got themselves into the situation they had now, and they were going to be the ones to get themselves out of it.
The walk back to the train station was in silence, with Edward moping over the loss of the stone, and Amelia compiling all this new information in her head. She knew human transmutation existed, it was one of the things explicitly warned in the first chapter in regards to forbidden practices, right after it was the law against turning metals into gold as that was considered counterfeit. Still, the idea of loving a parent so much that you would try to bring them back from the dead… It was an idea she couldn't completely wrap her head around. Her parents weren't the best parents on earth, there was no doubt about that, but she didn't care for them enough to try and bring them back from the dead for some reason or another. She looked over at Edward as he walked, wondering just what kind of person his mother was that his childhood self would have given himself that kind of risk if it meant bringing his mother back.
"Did it work?" She asked him, and Edward looked over at her confusedly.
"Did what work?"
"Human transmutation." Amelia specified, "Did you… make your mother?" She watched a dark expression come over Ed's face and he turned away from her.
"No. We weren't able to make our mother." He said shortly. Amelia wanted to press him for details, but from the way his jaw was clenched, she decided against it. It was clearly a sensitive topic for him, and she wasn't surprised. After all, if that news got out, he would probably be arrested for creating a person, which was against Amestrian law for alchemists. At the very least, he would be court-martialed and cut off from his resources as an alchemist of the state. She turned back to her front as she kept walking, the rest of the trip was in silence.
Once they got to the train station, they had to wait for the next one to take them to Resembool, taking a seat on the empty benches as they waited for it to pull up.
"Are you sure about this, Ed?" Armstrong asked the younger alchemist, "Even an incomplete philosopher's stone could be useful. You could have taken it from the doctor by force."
"Yeah, I wanted it so badly I could almost taste it." Edward sighed out. "But, still…"
"But still, we don't want it so badly that we would be willing to deprive this town of their only doctor to get it." Alphonse finished for him.
"We gained plenty just by finding out the philosopher's stone can be made." Edward said, smiling a bit as he looked up at the countryside's clear sky. "Now, we'll just have to look for some other way to do it." They heard the blaring of the train whistle, and Amelia leaned forward to see it coming down the tracks towards them. They all got up from their seats and Armstrong shouldered Alphonse once more as the train came by, rushing closer as it made to make a stop here. "What about you, Major? How do you feel about not reporting back to Central on Doctor Marcoh's location?" Amelia was a little curious of this, too. Armstrong was so fiercely loyal to his country, but at the same time Marcoh was also a friend who was desperate to never go back to Central.
"I met a simple, small-town doctor today. Can't see any real reason to report that." Armstrong said, and Edward grinned at his answer.
"For such a big guy with hard muscles, you're a real softie," Amelia said with a small laugh.
"Wait!" The group was surprised at the voice, seeing Marcoh running down the station towards them, out of breath as he came to a stop, resting his hands on his knees.
"Doctor Marcoh?" Edward stepped forward, his eyes wide, and feeling the little sparks of hope as he looked at the man, did he have second thoughts about his research?
Marcoh reached into his jacket and pulled out a folded piece of paper, holding it out to Edward, "This is where my materials are." He said, "If you're certain you won't regret looking for the truth in the end, start looking here." Edward took the paper, though when Marcoh wouldn't release it just yet, he looked up at the doctor, "Look closely, maybe you'll find the truth hidden within the truth." He let go of the paper with a small smile, "But, I've said too much already." He turned around, starting to make his way back home with a friendly wave, "I hope the day will come when you're able to restore your bodies." He wished them luck and Edward smiled, bowing forward to thank the man as he walked away, with Armstrong giving him a salute.
The train's brakes squealed as it came to a stop and they got on, with Edward insisting that Alphonse join them in their car instead of being stuck in cargo again. Alphonse thanked his brother for intervening and he was put in the seat across from Edward and Armstrong, with Amelia taking a spot next to the crate. They made sure all their luggage was in place, and soon enough the train started moving forward again, on to Resembool.
"Brother, what does the note say?" Alphonse asked eagerly, wanting to hear about this information that would help him in getting his body back.
"'National Central Library - First branch'." Edward read off.
"I get it, like hiding a tree in a forest." Armstrong said as he looked at the note, realizing why Marcoh hid his notes there, "Finding one book in that giant library will be difficult indeed."
Edward only grinned as he folded the note up again, "Finally, another clue about the stone." He looked up at his brother, "We're one step closer to getting our bodies back, brother."
"Yeah," Alphonse said in agreement.
Amelia sat back in her seat, crossing her arms as she looked out the train window. It was good that those guys had another chance to get back to normal, though she wondered about her own chances. Alchemy was a complicated science, but with something like the philosopher's stone being real and within their reach, she couldn't help but wonder…
Could the philosopher's stone help her get back home?