(Right before the group said their good-byes for the night)
"Hey, Ed?"
"Yes Ren?"
"I need to ask if you can do something for me, can you come over here?"
Ren lead him inside the house and put an old towel on the kitchen table.
"You've seen blood before right?"
"Uh, yeah." The question caught him off guard.
"Ok, Chanty told me you can transmutate your arm into a blade, yes?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Well, I." Ren nodded his head around before answering. "This single antennae is driving me nuts and I look weird with only one. I was wondering if you could cut it off."
"Um…sure. This is kinda've an odd request but ok."
It didn't hurt nearly as bad as the last time, mainly because it was being snipped instead of ripped out of his head. Only thing that made the two of them feel a bit queasy was the antenna dependently twitched on the table for a while.
The next day Mustang agreed to come to the manor instead of making Ren and the others feel uncomfortable going into public. Hawkeye came with him carrying a recorder in case anything that was said could be a clue they didn't want to forget. Ed and Al went along just for the sake of going but Chanticleer stayed behind. The thought of Caradon's bizarre clue stuck to him like a leech and he knew he'd never be rid of it unless he tried to make sense if it. So he stayed behind at Central and did what he could to riddle out the clue.
Lets see, I'll bet it's like a word scramble, but is the answer going to be a real word? Oh well. Lets just take this one step at a time. First word,
Lod. It could be just that or
Dol
Old
Or does it tie in with the next word to make a longer one? Is there supposed to be an added letter?
Lilm
Limb?
Mill?
Ilm?
Lets see, Doll Limb doesn't really make sense for a sleeze like that guy. Old doll? Doll Mill? Old mill? Well the last one makes the most sense out of all of them. I'll just assume that's the right answer. So, Old Mill at what?
Catercaller?
What the heck is a Cattercaller?
Caller Cat?
Caterpillar?
Nah, definitely not! Geesh! By the time I'm done with this I'll be an old man.
A half hour of a nagging headache past without much getting done. Whatever he could unscramble to make a word or words didn't make any sense at all with what he'd previously done.
No that doesn't work. No I've tried that and it doesn't work either. God, brainwork like this had to be what inspired aspirin.
It was only after a short nap to relieve his brain of the toxic vapors that had built up from thinking too hard did he try spelling it backwards.
Catercaller backwards is…
Old Mill at Rellacr…
The answer nearly made his heart stop.
That's not possible…there's no way that can be right. I have to be wrong!
But there was no way around it, this was right and nothing was going to change it.
Rellacretac.
"Caradon is hiding out at my fathers mill…"
Feeling extremely light-headed Chanticleer fell on his bed as everything pieced itself together way too quickly.
Uncle Steve must have been the man working with Caradon. Double or nothing he made the Gem and knew what kind of power he'd created and didn't want a man like Caradon to get his rat paws on it. Knowing he'd likely end up dead from double crossing a gang leader he came to us not as a friendly visit but to see us for probably the last time. Giving the Gem to me as a gift to make me feel better was probably just an excuse to get rid of it. Or had he given it to me thinking it would be safe? Who'd search a kid for something that powerful anyway? He and dad were twins so that's why our town was destroyed…Caradon did it…he was looking for the Gem.
The monster of fury had slowly begun to creep up on him and was only seconds away from pouncing.
"The man that hurt my friends destroyed my home and life."
Now he felt torn, Caradon destroyed the only thing he'd ever known but if that hadn't happened he'd still be left an orphan taking care of his little brother. Who can honestly take having their world ripped from beneath them taken lightly?
"But if that hadn't happened I'd never made it to become a State Alchemist, met Ed or Al or put to justice the man who did this to me."
He looked at his clawed fingers.
But I guess that now I'm here I can make sure Caradon gets everything he's ever known and worked for ripped from underneath him…. after of course I break his jaw. Oh great, now I have to tell Brody and everyone else about this. Perfect, Mustang to know that I know where Caradon is hiding.
"……I don't know if I can do this. I'd love nothing more than to put my boot print across his nose but will I be able to go back to the ruins of my old home without a mountain of memories thrown on me? I doubt the good and happy memories will be able to be to overpower the sad and painful ones."
Those sorts of thoughts haunted him the rest of the day. Deep down he knew he had to face the memories of the past but the question still remained if he was really ready to do it.
Later that afternoon"Hey Chanticleer, we're back." Al announced. "Oh, would you mind unlocking the door?"
No answer.
"Hey could you open up?" Al started knocking hard on the door.
After the fifth pound the door opened and Al nearly hit the Chanticleer in the face. But how he was greeted really surprised him. The Dawn's hair looked more matted than usually and his expression looked exhausted.
"Do you have anything against people sleeping!" he snapped.
This was far from the greeting Al expected.
"I'm sorry. I didn't think you'd be in bed this early."
"No one's paying you to think!" and he slammed the door.
Blink, blink.
"What'd I do?" Al turned to Ed who was paralyzed with shock from what he'd just seen.
"To make him mad? No idea."
Me - Did you know that…. NOW you know! See? Even though the clue was funny I still know what I'm doing! Now that's out of my hair I'm gonna go get ice cream.
Chibi me – WHAT! You can't just leave them hanging like that! You need to say something else! What kind of a preview is it when all you say is you know what you're doing!
Me – ok, ok if it makes you happy. Now the big question is, will Chanticleer tell Mustang that Rellacretac was his old home and possibly be left out of the mission…
Chibi me – They know you wouldn't do that, I know you wouldn't do that, You know you wouldn't do that!
Me – FINE! He, Ed and Al check out this town, we know that. Now what's going to be the main fear of our rooster friend is, will Caradon somehow find out about the Gem? If he does, what will he do to get it? And just to make Chibi happy I'll say this, soon after arriving the trio find themselves in an unsuspected snag.
Chibi me – NOW YOU'RE GOING TOO FAR!
Me – (mutters) why do people have to be so dang difficult to satisfy.