Chapter 19
Edward entered the forest, and as he traveled down a beaten trail that snaked through the woodland, he came across a weird looking sight. Standing in front of him, in front of a tree that had been torn by its roots and dropped across the path, was a large wall of dirt, and in the middle, was a large round hole, that looked like it had been carved out by some sort of sharp object.
Al erected this, he was almost certain.
Suddenly, he jerked his head as he heard the sound of crunching twigs underfoot. He clapped his hands together and transmuted part of his right arm into a metal blade. If it was Envy, he'd need to be ready.
Someone burst out of a hedge thicket and to Ed's surprise it was Al. Al collapsed to his knees and breathed out heavy, out of breath, as if he had been running away from something or someone. Was Envy chasing him?
"Al!" Ed called to him, and ran over.
Al turned his head towards his brother's voice. He then produced a thin smile. But from behind all the bruising and blood on his face, it was hardly visible.
Seeing his brother battered and bloodied, and his clothes caked in mud, Ed crouched down beside him, and said, "Al, look at you. What the hell happened?"
"Envy," he straightly said. "We got into a fight."
"Who won?" Ed asked.
"It was a draw, and I ran away after enclosing him in an pillar of dirt. It won't hold long. He's probably after me right now. I'm glad you're here."
"Where is he now?" Ed asked.
"Don't know," Al said, finally calming down. He got to his feet. "I never looked back. I never concerned myself a coward."
"You did the right thing, Al," Ed assured him. "Judging by your injuries, you were smart to run from him. It appears normal Alchemy won't work with Envy."
"That's why we need father's sword," Al said insistent.
"What's so important about father's old sword? It can't stand up to Envy's morphing ability or his bag of dirty tricks."
"Yes, it can!" Al stated firm. "Remember when father came back to Resenbool Village and you hit him because you hated him for leaving us. . .and I choose to spend the night with him because I wanted to get to know him further? My soul was still bond to the armor, but anyway. . . He told me something about the sword that could help us. After I told him all the trouble we were having with the Homunculi, he told me he attached a sacred and powerful Alchemy spell to the sword that gave the wielder unlimited power."
"Unlimited power?" Ed said.
Al nodded. "That's right," he said. "And I'm hoping we can use this power to finish off Envy for good this time, if we can find it. But I don't know where I put it. Everything looks so different now since I was a kid. The foliage has overgrown and the trees have gotten a lot taller and fuller. I used to know exactly where I hid it 'cause everyday I used to practice with it."
"I know, I saw you," Ed said.
"You did? When?"
"Everyday." Ed smiled. "You were never a good lair. You told mom that you were going to practice your Nature Alchemy in the forest, but the strange thing about it was, when it came time for you to show Mom what you practiced, it was like you never practiced at all, 'cause you were playing with the sword."
"Practicing, not playing, brother," Al corrected him. "I was homing my skills with father's sword because I knew I'd never be as good an Alchemist as you were, are, so I had to affix another skill. I wanted to be a skillful swordsman, so could match your skills in some other way. I was jealous of you."
"You're not the jealous type, Al."
"Back then I was, and I'm still a little now. In these last two years, even with Teacher's help and your return from the other world, I'm still not as skilled an Alchemist as you are."
"But you're a dog of the military, Al," Ed said. "They wouldn't have chosen you if you didn't have what it takes to be a State Alchemist."
"I think they choose me because you were missing and they thought I'd be just as skillful and powerful as you were when you were a State Alchemist. They'd rather have me on a leach, then allow me to roam free, I think. Sometimes I think they demand too much of me, however. My first mission wasn't as rosy as yours. And like you, I too was assigned a mission to investigate a mine."
"You call overthrowing a money-hungry dictator an easy mission?"
"You wanna know what my first mission was as a State Alchemist?"
"You told me. They had you inspecting the Mines of Cala, in the Western district, in the remote town of Cala. The people rebelled against their military overseer and killed him. You managed to quiet the rebellion by capturing the rebel leader and settled it diplomatically."
"That was the official story, but the truth was much more grim. They captured me anddragged me into the Mines of Cala,where they stripped me naked and hung me up by my thumbs, and whipped me until I almost unconscious for being a State Alchemist. They said I had nocause for being there and this was payback for the State's interference."
Edward's eyes widened with shock. "You never told me that?" he said.
"I never told anyone, and I never wrote it down in the official report. If the State knew what they had done to me, there would've been questions and it could've resulted in a mini civil war. I didn't want to be the cause of something like that, so I kept it hush-hush; and promised the rebel leader leniency if he cooperated and surrendered peacefully after I broke free and threatened to destroy the mine, ruining the town's livelihood. That was not so long ago, too. I still have the scars on my body to prove it."
"Once this is all over with Envy, I wanna see those scars."
"What for?" Al said. "It's all in the past now and I don't regret anything. Besides, after watching you all those years, from what I could remember - my mind is still a little foggy about things - you rolled with the punches, too. You took a few licks and didn't tell Mustang. So, I'm taking a page from your book." Al shrugged his shoulders. "Anyway, I'm a State Alchemist now, and it's part of my job description. I know the risks when I'm assigned a mission."
"But you're obligated to report any infractions and--"
"Stop it, Ed," he told his brother. "We off track here. You wanna discuss my first mission in more detail, then fine, we can do it later at Winry's, but only after we get her back safe and sound, and kill Envy."
Ed was a little unnerved by Al's desire for revenge. He had always been the pacifist and choose to settle things by some sort of diplomatic solution. But now he was seeing a whole new side of his brother and it scared him a little. Maybe it was because he was a little older and mature, and perhaps the discipline of being a dog of the military chilled his heart from the outspoken, kind-hearted brother he once knew. Those two years away from him had changed him. But he looked more confident wearing his old clothes. The black jacket and pants and boots to match, and the red jacket. He had even grew a ponytail.
"Fine," Ed said, his tone a little angry. "We can discuss the past later, but we will discuss it. You're right. Getting Winry back is our top priority. But where is Envy?"
"Probably stealing what he can from that traveler he killed," Al said.
Ed looked at him in awe. "Envy killed someone?" he said.
"Yeah, and he never saw it comin'," Al said. "His name was Noah Mahjongg."
"Noah Mahjongg," Ed said thoughtfully. "Now why does that name sound familiar?"
"You know him?"
"I'm not sure, it's just the name sounds familiar, like I've heard it before." Ed quickly snapped the fingers of his left hand. "I've got it. Noah Mahjongg was the name of Alex Louis Armstrong's nephew." He said. "And Envy killed him?"
Al nodded.
"Are you positive Envy killed him?"
"I saw it with my own eyes," Al said. "He put a hand on Noah's face and sent some sort of unknown power through his body. Noah dropped down dead."
"Armstrong's gonna be devastated when he hears about this. Noah was his favorite nephew. And he was such a skilful, and up-and-coming Alchemist, too."
Al looked at him strange. "Wait a minute, before Noah died he said he had no Alchemy skill," he said.
"That would be Noah all right," Ed said. "He preferred no one knew his lineage. He preferred to live an estranged life. His family wanted him to join the military and become a State Alchemist, but he refused and left his home town."
"How do you know all this about him?"
"Armstrong told me about him one time. You know how proud he is of his family. And he asked me once if I ever came across him wandering the countryside to say his family misses him."
"You never told me that," Al said.
"It wasn't important enough to mention, and besides, we never met him."
"But we're brothers and brothers should tell each other everything."
Ed smirked thin. "Like you told me about being tortured on your first mission, eh?" he said.
"Fine," Al said. "From now on, no secrets, okay?"
"Deal," Ed said, he smiled. "Now, let's go find dad's sword. I know exactly where it's hidden."
Al's eyes widened with surprised. "You do?' he said.
Ed nodded. "Yup," he said. "Like I said, I was watching you."
"Then where is it?"
"It's over here," he said, and lead Al to a large tree with a gapping hold in its trunk. Ed reached inside and felt something hard and wrapped with rawhide. He pulled it out and Al's eyes lit up with excitement as he saw his father's sword for the first time in nearly eight years. The blade was a little rusty, but in his eyes, it gleamed of beauty. Ed gave it to him. "Okay Al, the ball's in your court."
"The ball's. . .where?"
"Sorry, it's a metaphor from the other world," Ed said. "It means, it's your show now. Whatever Dad told you to do with the sword, let's do it! Let's find Envy and save Winry!"
Al smirked happy. But suddenly his brow frowned as he looked at the blade of the sword.
"What's the matter, Al?" Ed said.
"Dad never told me how to use the sword's power, he just told me that the sword held an unlimited power."
"You mean, you don't know how to generate the sword's power?" Al shook his head, agreeing with Ed. "Then we'll just hafto go about it the old fashion way and fight Envy with good old fashion brawn, steel and Alchemy." He patted his automail arm. "And, I have a surprise for our so-called Homunculi brother. It's time to partake in a little revenge for everything he's done to us."
"What do you have in mind, brother?" Al asked.
"First we have to find him," he said, "then I can put my plan into action."
Just then, Ed heard a noise, the sound of twigs snapping underfoot, and it was coming from the same direction Al had come from. He put a finger to his lips and quietly lead Al's gaze to a set of tall shrubs. The boys took a couple of steps back, and Ed readied his automail blade, and Al readied the sword.
If he couldn't use the power within, Al thought, then he'd use it as just a plain sword.
The leaves shook and blew in the wind, and suddenly, to the boys stunned eyes, Noah Mahjongg stepped out into the open, alive and well.
To be continued...
