Chapter 18
There was a tremendous banging inside Pinako's room, then came a dog's scratch from the inside of the cloest door, and barking. This is where Envy had stashed Winry's grandmother and dog, Den. They had not gone to town as he had claimed. Of course.
Pinako couldn't move her arms. She was tied up with rope with her hands behind her back, and her mouth was gagged with a bandana. Den had fallen unconscious when Envy hit him on the head with a steel pipe. Such a hard blow to a dog might have been fatal, but Den was an unusually strong mutt. He had been through a lot in his life. But even so, he was a lucky dog.
Pinako grunted through the bandana and Den went over to her, pulling the cloth down from her mouth. It dropped around her neck. "Thank you Den. Now how are we going to get out of here?" Den gave was could only be determined as a sigh. But then he reached behind her and gnawed on her robes. After about a minute, she was free. Pinkao unraveled the robes and opened the closet door. "We have to find Edward and Alphonse. . .and why Winry did this," she said.
They left her room and crossed the living quarters and workshop to get to the front door. Opening the door they were witness to a shocking sight. Edward was sitting next to the house on the ground chained up like a dog and his wrists were trapped in a thick piece of ply wood, separating his hands. Den ran down the stairs to him, and Pinako followed suit.
When Ed saw them, he breathed out a deep sigh of relief. "Mother Pinako," he started to say smiling, "I'm glad you're safe. Where were you?"
"We were locked in my bedroom closet. Winry put us there. What happened to you?" she asked, looking at him. It seemed that the thick piece of ply wood was transmuted around Edward's hands and there was steel choker collar around his neck to keep him secured. As he couldn't perform Alchemy without his hands, he was trapped. "Something's wrong with Winry," she then said. "Why would she attack us like that and then lock us in the closet?"
"Because Envy is inhabiting her body."
"Envy. . .but how?" she said, looking shocked.
And Ed told her the entire story from beginning to end.
"If that Homunculi hurts my granddaughter, there's gonna be hell to pay!" she said upset and angry. "You must help her, Edward."
"I know, but I'm a little tied up at the moment. Any help would be appreciated."
"Hold up your arms," she said. Ed did so. And with a swift karate chop, she broke the piece of wood in two. Edward was astounded. "When I was a kid, my parents thought it would benefit me if I took martial arts lessons. You didn't think this old woman lead a completely mundane and boring life, did you?"
Edward smiled. "The thought never crossed my mind," he said. With his hands free, he clapped them and touched the wood, transmuting it into tiny blocks. Then he clapped again and touched the steel collar around his neck and transmuted that into scrap. Free, he got to his feet. "I gotta go find Al," he then said. "Envy wants his body, and for some reason he thinks Al has the Philosopher Stone."
"The Philosopher Stone? Why would he think that?"
"Because when Al's soul was bonded to that suit of armor, Scar turned him into the Philosopher's Stone using thousands of soldier's lives. I never told him this, but Scar used nearly 9,000 soldiers to refine the stone." Pinako was shocked to say the least. "I know. And I don't want Al to know. If he did, who knows what he'll do. He'd probably have survivor's guilt."
"Then you must catch up with him before Envy does," she said. "And bring back Winry safe and sound." He nodded agreed, but how he was going to do that he didn't know yet.
Envy wanted a human body to live again and he knew Envy wouldn't settle for Winry. He wanted Al's body so he could get his hands on the Philosopher Stone. For which Al didn't have.
The stone disappeared when he made an equivalent exchange to restore Al to life, which quintessentially took him to that alterative world. For two years he tried to get back. And if it wasn't for Al's determination and the real Envy's stupidity trapped in an Ouroboros, he would've never gotten back.
He thought for a moment and remembered the events that transpired in his mind, especially the swamp battle, where Envy controlled him like a puppet to fight his brother. Al had transmuted the elements of his surroundings into a sword to fight Envy with, but instead used it to defend against Envy's puppeteer influence over Ed. Ed remembered that sword. Al treasured it, it was their late father's samurai sword that he kept on two hooks in his office in their house.
Al didn't think anyone was watching him when he took into the forest to play with it. But Ed knew and watched him in secret. From what he saw, Al was a skilful swordsman. He played - or practiced - with it almost on a daily bases until their mother's death. He stashed it in the hallow portion of a tree trunk near the entrance of the forest every night before he'd come home.
Ed found books on swordsmanship hidden underneath Al's bed. He never told Al that he knew, but he wondered if that's where his brother went. . .to retrieve the sword. Why, he didn't know. With Envy's morphing abilities, the sword would be almost useless. But it seemed the most likely place he would go. And where Envy would follow. Besides, there was no where else to go but the forest.
"I think I know where they are," he said.
"Where?" Pinako asked.
"In the forest, over there," Ed replied, and he pointed. "They have to be there. The rest of the countryside around here is pretty barren. That would be the most logical place they'd be and it would be the perfect battleground for Al. Al is a naturist and he uses Nature in his Alchemy more than anything. I'd bet my automail that that's where they are. Al probably knew he hold Envy off there."
"Be careful, Edward. I feel your battle with Envy isn't over and the worse is yet to come."
"Why do you say that?"
"Woman's intuition. Please find Winry and bring her back safely. Promise me."
This time he had to give her an answer. "I promise," he said. But he didn't know how truthful that answer was.
He then ran towards the forest, and hoped things hadn't escalated out of control before he could get to them.
"Al, I'm comin'," he said. "Please still be alive."
To be continued...
