Disclaimer: Fan Fiction

AN: Sorry this took so darn long. I don't have much of an excuse this time. Writers block that's all. All info on the Cairo Museum and all its contents were only guessed at. Alphonse P.O.V; actual plot chapter.

August 6th 1924

Cairo Egypt

Day eleven out of fourteen.

"Land! Hello land! I love land! No more boat!!" Noa's squealed excitedly. She wore a long, loose khaki skirt and white blouse; hair down. She apparently wasn't aware of the attention she was attracting.

"Didn't you say a while back that gypsies originally came from Egypt? So wouldn't this be like your home land?" Ed spoke up at last.

She froze suddenly. "… First of all don't call me a gypsy here. Second of all, that's just a rumor."

Ed apologized, feeling slightly stupid.

"Its fine" She assured, smiling. "How is Winry by the way?"

Suddenly Ed got all flustered for some reason I still don't understand. "uuh oh um… She's fine uh"

"Wow! This place is so pretty! You wouldn't expect it to be since it's in the middle of the dessert…." Winry seemed just as excited to be here as Noa. I looked back at Ed He looked so nervous. He refused to make eye contact with her. He…He was SWEATING!! It bothered me now. What happened in that room darn it!

Winry was wearing a beautiful white dress, made of some kind of light material that came down to her calves. Her hair wasn't in the usual pony tail but a loose braid.

"Um… right, well the first thing we have to do is find a hotel of some sort" I began.

"Afterwards we should check out the Museum"

"Were not here on vacation Noa."

"There might be information there and it's closer than the Pyramids anyway." Noa

persisted. It amazes me how knowledgeable Noa is. We probably wouldn't have gotten as far as we did without her.

The Hotel was easier to find than I thought. Still, by the time we finished checking in and settled it was 3:00.

"How late is the museum open till?"

"I wouldn't know for sure, but I don't think it would be open for much longer today."

"Great."

"Go ask the front desk, I'm sure they get that question a lot."

"Nah, I'm pooped." Ed declared free falling onto the hotel bed.

"What? It was your idea to come here in the first place!"

"Oh calm down I just said I was tired I didn't said I was going to pack up and leave!"

I was exasperated with him but I still had to smile. He was still the same Ed. Thank goodness.

"Fine, I'll go ask." I said trying to sound angry.

"… Wait, I'll go with you." I looked back at him curiously. Wasn't he just complaining that he was tired? Then I looked at the two remaining residents. Oh. That's why.

"Fine, whatever."

It turns out the front desk was indeed used to that sort of question. I guess those who come here on vacation (a very rich few) usually go there first thing.

"What time is it Ed?"

"A quarter to four. The place is about a half hour away or so, and closes at 7:00….Meaning even if we left now, we'd only have three hours. That's hardly enough time to do a decent search."

"So we wait till Tomorrow."

"I guess… Noa said something about pyramids… What are those?"

"Dunno. Why are you so nervous around Winry?"

"It's weird."

"That's rather funny coming from you."

"I mean I can't tell if that's really her or not."

"What do you mean?"

"She acts a lot like Adelaide during the day and more like herself at night."

"…. How many days do we have till the dead line?"

Ed began counting on his fingers…

"Oh damn! We only have three day's left!"

"That's all?!" That came out louder than I wanted, but at the same time… three days… Winry has only three days! What did that mean?! What would happen if she stayed past that? What would happen if she didn't?

"In that case, we need to find out as much as we can as fast as we can!! Come on Al, We need to get to the Museum as fast as possible!"

August 6th

Cairo, Museum.

Same day 5:15.

It took awhile, but we got there, and had time to spare much to our surprise.

Noa told the director that we were looking for artifacts during We were directed toward the middle kingdom section. We spent the next hour looking through all the artifacts trying to find something that looked like this Emerald Tablet thingy. Or for that matter anything resembling alchemy in the least, hoping it said something about a gate or another world or how to get there. No matter how hard you might think that is, it's harder still.

"You sure we'll find what we're looking for in here?" I asked, growing ever the more irritated with coming up with nothing.

"What ARE we looking for?" Winry (I think) asked.

"We're looking for a way to get you back home safely, Winry." Ed replied from up ahead.

"You sure you can decipher it when you do find it? How would you know if you found it or not?"

"Al, there's still a positive thinker among us! She said when not if!"

"…But you never answered my question…"

"The Alchemy symbols seem to be identical to those in our world just older. I figured if I went on that knowledge, the rest should be easy enough."

"Older? Try prehistoric…"

"Yeah well what do you want? Alchemy hasn't worked on this side of the gate for centuries…. One of us should recognize something…. Somewhere in here…"

"I think I might have found something! Over here!" Noa called.

Ed and I rushed over and Winry followed us at a slower pace.

"There's something about this tablet….. There's a weird symbol on it."

"Aqua Regis…Aqua Fortes… hmm… interesting…"

"What do you mean brother?"

"There was a text book in the Tucker's Library, if you can believe it… There was a page, half torn out. It basically said the same thing… that, and the letter The Tringum's gave me…. Well, awhile ago. They all seem to be part of the same puzzle. Hold on moment. Let me copy this down then we can go back."

"Even if you copied this down… you don't have the other two do you?"

"Actually yeah I do."

"… You kept the note Russle gave you and the half-a- page from Tuckers' Library"

"They were in my pockets when I got here ok?"

"Winry? Winry are you ok?" The concern in Noa's voice was more than enough to draw the attention of both Ed and I. Winry looked somewhat dazed for a bit till at last her attention snapped back.

"Hmm?"

"Err… Are you ok? You looked some-what dazed"

"I'm fine. I'm just a bit tired. I've been out of it all day."

"We did just get here after a long boat ride."

"Right, we do need to rest at some point. Sorry, I guess I just got excited."

We then left the museum in search of a restaurant.