Author's Note
It's been a long time coming! Thank you so much for bearing with me for the past eight (?) months. I'm hoping to be able to update more regularly, which... I mean, the bar's pretty low, so.
Hope this was worth the wait! The next chapter will be kind of a shorter filler form Ed and Al's POV! :)
The walk back to the inn is long, arduous and painful. The sun is setting by the time I finally close the door behind us all. My feet ache, my head is throbbing and my body feels like lead. I'm not used to this amount of adrenaline rushing through me at any given moment, really. After the rush job I did fixing Edward's shoulder, I'd at least had several hours to sleep.
I all but throw myself onto the couch in the living area and leave the brothers do what they would. Until morning, and until we can go pick up Enton, there isn't much for me to do but sleep. Maybe do some thinking, in between.
"What do you think, Anna?" Ed calls. I'm startled both by his saying my name and by the realization that it only took a handful of minutes for me to be halfway to sleeping.
"Sorry, wasn't, uh, paying attention?"
"Food. Dinner. Steak. Yes?" He articulates slowly. From anyone else, it would've sounded condescending.
"God, yes," I answer thankfully, stomach rumbling to illustrate how starved I am. It's only now that I realize we haven't really stopped to eat at all after breakfast and I'm absolutely famished.
I'm surprised to learn this place has some kind of room service, though I don't know why. It's nice, but really nice. There's a kitchenette and a separate bedroom and everything.
Alphonse hunches over a stack of books at the dining room table, and until there's a knock at the door a half hour later, only occasionally pipes up to ask a stray question to his brother.
A small, dark wooden cart is rolled in and left for us. I can't help but feel awkward; even though it looks like Ed asked for everything this place even has to offer, the thought that Alphonse just has to sit there and watch us…
"What're you waiting for?" Ed asks around a mouthful of what looks like a chicken leg, not even bothering to take a single plate off the cart and eating at it like a starving animal.
"Slow down, you're gonna give yourself a stomach ache," I say offhandedly, having to uncover a few plates before finding the steak—large, juicy and smelling absolutely heavenly—and bringing it back to my spot on the couch with a fork and knife. The plate is almost too hot in my lap, but it's a welcome change from the cool evening air I endured all day outside.
"Have you thought about what you'll do once we get to Central, Anna?" Al asks, carefully closing a book and pushing it away from him. He turns in his seat to look at me.
I think about it around a mouthful of potatoes, considering it for a few seconds. It's clear to me that I can't stay there for much longer than the brothers, so I'd have to find a way to make some connections of my own in order to stay and still have access to the knowledge I need. That... sounds like an extremely daunting task, especially if the Elric brothers only stick around for a few days.
"Honestly, I haven't, actually," I eventually concede, picking at my plate. "How long do you guys plan on staying there?"
The look they give each other doesn't inspire a lot of confidence.
"A few days," Alphonse answers hesitantly. He fiddled with his hands in his lap and his head turned down. He doesn't look at me.
"Don't worry about it," Ed pipes up around a mouthful of... whatever plate he's on. "Schiezka'll probably put you up for as long as you need if we ask her."
Alphonse straightens up and again I'm surprised by how easy he is to read despite habit actually having any facial expression. Has he always been this expressive? Has he just learned to convey emotions differently since he's been in that armour?
"That's right! I'm sure miss Schiezka won't mind! She's a bookworm just like you are!"
He slaps his hands over his helmet comically, and I can't help but laugh at the resonating sound it makes. You brush off the hasty apology.
"It's fine! I've put you through the trouble of taking me all the way to Central and you're already thinking of where I can stay," I answer, feeling something bubble up in my chest. It feels a lot like elation. "I'll have to find a way to pay you back for all of it."
For a second, the food looks infinitely more appealing, until it strikes me. I'll be staying in Central for medical research. I stare at Alphonse for a second, and then look to Edward.
His thoughts and expression probably mirror mine.
"...I'll definitely find a way to repay you."
The promise feels almost tangible.
Ed comes running out of HQ so fast my heart leaps into my throat every time he trips. Once he gets to Alphonse and I, he's hardly out of breath, but he speaks so fast the words come out jumbled and incoherent.
It sounds incoherent to me, anyways. Alphonse seems to understand his brother perfectly fine. They both remain quiet for a moment and the expression on Ed's face unsettled me.
"Um, anyone care to fill me in?"
Both brothers startle like they'd forgotten I was there. Ignore the sting and look back and forth between them.
"He's gone," Ed says, finally. "Someone said I came by earlier to pick up Enton."
"Bu—What? Wait, that's not even possible, you were..." I trail off when Alphonse turns to look at me. There's a cog spinning loosely in my head. I get the feeling I should be jumping to a conclusion.
"It's probably one of the homunculi," he says quietly. Sombrely. The tone doesn't suit him.
"The one who can shapeshift! Envy, right?" Both brothers nod. I feel a shock of pride for remembering, but it's quickly swallowed up by the implication. My face, I think, mirrors Ed's. "Oh. No, this—we have to find out where they went."
"We don't have to do anything," Ed says rather sharply, and the stern declaration makes me take a step back to look at him. "You need to go back to our room and wait there. It's too dangerous for you to come along with us."
Indignation burns in the back of my throat and it's a struggle not to founder in my anger. Too dangerous? For me? They're dealing with deadly plants and it's too dangerous for me? I bite the inside of my cheek and twist my tongue seven times while I think.
"But brother—"
"It's alright Alphonse," I reassure, lifting a hand in resignation and throwing him a smile I hope is at least halfway to convincing. I turn back to Edward. "I'll do my best to stay out of trouble, but don't expect me to sit back and do nothing."
Ed looks like he wants to snap back with something, but ultimately closes his mouth immediately after opening it. He looks past me, eyes darting back and forth while he thinks. Eventually crosses his arms and looks away.
"Fine. Just don't follow us and if anything happens, come right back here."
I tighten the hold on my bag's strap, bounce on my feet. "Ditto, short stuff."
Edward's rage follows me after I turn to rush back toward the inn.
I have research to do.
The table and chairs back at the inn are comfortable enough to sitting down and eating, but not so much for prolonged use. After only an hour of sifting through books, I can feel the numbness creep down my thighs and up my spine. I feel a swell of jealousy for a second—Alphonse can sit there for so long?!—before catching myself and moving to flop face-first on the couch.
It's despairing and abysmal is what it is; the line between alkahestry and human transformation is so thin, and information of the former so scarce, that it's hard to tell what falls into the "taboo" category. Is it all transmutation performed on living flesh? Obviously not, otherwise I would have been missing several limbs and/or organs by now. It can't really be about the human soul, either; as far as what I know about alchemy, everything is tethered to the soul. It's part of every circle I've seen so far, even if it's just a vague illusion.
I'm screaming in a cushion on the couch when I start to hear some kind of commotion from outside the room. And then, slowly, loud conversations are heard through the window.
Curious, I get up and pull the curtains apart a little more. There's a fading plume of orange-red smoke in the sky a fair distance away. When I push open the windows, I can hear people talking to each other.
"What do you think that is?"
"Are the military performing a drill?"
"Absolutely not, they would have told us."
"Hey, doesn't that look like a flare?"
A flare. I'm about to consider the notion completely ridiculous until an actual, bright flare rises up in the sky. Same orange-red in colour. Once it fades out after beginning its descent, I run to the table. Grab the map that was haphazardly folding and throw and open it up. It takes some adjusting and spinning, but eventually I can find where I am, which direction the window is facing, and where the first flare might have come from. It's a lot of guesswork…
But maybe an educated guess is good enough.
I try and make as many things as I can in preparation of whatever might happen. If they really are handling jequirity beans, I need something to clear airways and—the thought makes me nauseous, but something to perform an emergency and extremely rudimentary tracheotomy wouldn't be a bad idea.
It takes a few minutes, most of it spent on transmuting things that may be relevant. I dump the contents of my shoulder bag on the couch before stuffing my hastily-gathered and made supplies into it. Shove my feet back into my boots and rush to the door. My hand pauses at the doorknob.
I run back to the table to grab the map before running out the doors, down the steps, and out onto the street.
It's more crowded than I had expected; though most people have started to return to their business once they noticed that there would only be two flares, there are still quite a few curious onlookers. One woman I have to shoulder past gives me pause. It's not fair to say she looks familiar, but she certainly feels like someone I've met before.
I apologize quickly and she waves me on my way with a smile.
There's still a faint plume of smoke, quickly dissipating, that I can follow. Keeping my eyes on the sky and navigating the main road is a pain. I quickly dart into an alleyway, make sure it's not actually a dead end, and keep going. I can't really afford to run all that much, but I walk as fast as I can. Having been a student alongside a doctor for the past little while, my stamina isn't… the best. I'll have to remember to work on that. Maybe get up with the sun and go for a jog in the mornings.
It takes another fifteen minutes of intermittent walking and sprinting before I hear something that isn't quite an explosion. The ground rumbles under my feet. There's no smoke rising up; at least that means there's probably nothing on fire.
Once I finally come out of a cramped alley, I come face to face with a warehouse that has clearly seen better days. The two large, main doors are still faintly swinging by whatever that earlier shockwave was. The side wall to my right has a bunch of spokes sticking out of it, like someone has transmuted a bunch of handholds to scale the wall. From the light shining on the dust inside, probably to get in through a window.
Once the dust begins to settle, I can somewhat make out a few shadows. There's a stack of old wooden crates by the door I dash to hide behind. Edward and Alphonse might be able to handle any kind of combat, but I'm certainly not.
I can feel my heart beating in my throat and my hands feel like ice. I clench my fists to try and keep my hands from shaking too much.
Breathe in.
Breathe out.
I can make out Edward shouting something, and the sound of metal scraping against… something. Whatever it is definitely doesn't sound like it's made of metal. Once I gather enough courage to look around the corner, I can't manage to pull away.
The woman I had shoved earlier is dancing around Edward looking absolutely bored. Her fingers dart back and forth, extending and retracting, glancing off of Edward's arm. I don't have the time to realize that he's transmuted his automail into something lethal; behind him, in the warehouse, I can see what I think is Alphonse fighting off someone absolutely enormous. Whatever it is looks like it's starving. His tongue keeps lolling out of his mouth.
What I don't see, though, is Enton.
Something goes flying past my face—not sure if it's debris or a ridiculously overextended claw, but it makes me retreat and slam my back against the crates.
I'm not entirely sure what I signed up for, but I'm relatively certain this hadn't made the shortlist of things that could happen. I clutch my bag tightly to my chest and try to decide what to do. The brothers had set out to find Enton, and clearly had walked right into a trap.
Calm down. Breathe. Think.
I pull the map out of my bag and unfold it about halfway; I'm trying to take as little space as possible to make sure no part of me is visible beyond the crates. I grab the pen from my bag and hastily draw a circle over the general area where the warehouse is. I look directly across the city from it, but there doesn't seem to be anything in disuse there that could easily be used by the sketchiest people known to man.
I try to look for other warehouses in the area, but most of them seem to still be in use, or have been torn down.
I bite my lower lip. It's a stretch, but maybe…
Maybe that old military barracks? It's not too far. Maybe a few blocks east. And the other homunculus isn't here, right? The shapeshifter. The hungry one and the claw woman probably aren't it… but I'm assuming they can only do one strange thing each.
I lean my head back against the crates. This is stupid. This is so incredibly stupid and dangerous and I really shouldn't be doing anything without warning either of the Elrics, but…
Something else whizzes past the wooden crates. I try not to think about how it almost looked like a severed limb.
Shove the map back into my bag without folding it along with the pen, and slowly make my way due east. While minding my step and trying to stay out of sight of the open doors, I keep reminding myself to breathe. And I don't know what I should hope for: to be right, and find Enton with his possible captor, or to be wrong and have taken myself away from a fight that I probably wouldn't have been able to help with anyways.