"So this is it, huh? It looks, er…"

"…Terrible"

Edward finished his little brother's sentence with a more blunt word than he was sure Al was looking for. He never did like to 'beat around the bush' and there was no better word for the way this town now looked.

When they had arrived a few years prior, it had been an extravagant and flourishing town. Lots of promise when you looked at it. There were tons of shops opening up and plenty of tourists. Now…

Well, now, it looked disastrous. Windows blocked with thick slabs of wood, while the doors almost all read, 'Sorry… We are closed.' Few people walked the streets that now seemed to be only lined with beggars and the homeless with a handful of broken-down merchants.

"What happened? Has it really been that long?"

Al asked, his voice echoing his concern from deep in his armor. No one seemed to have noticed their arrival since no one seemed to be staring at his abnormal suit.

"Who cares? It's not our problem, right? We're only here for one thing. Don't get sidetrack- Oh! Look, they're selling Bocchan Dango!"

Edward squealed loudly and made a beeline to the seedy concession stand, leaving Alphonse staring ahead of them at the people.

He watched a pair of homeless child run around their elders, weaving around their legs as they played tag. If he could, Al would smile at the scene but got distracted as he caught his brother in the corner of his eye about to devour a rather suspicious looking dumpling.

"Brother, don't! That doesn't look that good!"

"Shut up, Al! I'm hungry! The food on the train wasn't as good as last time."

"You lie! You didn't even eat on the train, remember?"

"…Oh yeah. Heh. Well, I'm still hungry. Back off. Hey! HEY! I said back off! Stop it! NO! It's mine! AL!"

So, trying their best to the opposite, the brothers have successfully attracted all eyes onto themselves. Edward was clutching at the neck of Al's armor with one hand, the other froze in the space above his head where Al kept his skewer just out of reach while both legs pressed, propped on his steel hip to give himself leverage. Al, also froze with one arm pushing Ed away and the other overhead, chuckled nervously as the crowds pulled in close to the boys.

"Brother… We need to stop. Look."

He stage-whispered but his hesitation gave the blonde boy his opening. Pushing up with his feet, Ed flew over Al's head, snatching the food out of his tight grasp and landed on the low rising roof.

"Ah-ha! Success!"

Beaming proudly, Al's words just settled into his mind and Ed blinked down at the crowd that now murmured loudly amongst themselves.

"Did you see that?"

"What's with that suit? It's weird."

"Look, he jumped like a monkey!"

"Foreigners, I wonder where they came from…"

Everyone repeated nearly all the same questions and Edward rolled his golden orbs at them, annoyed. Deciding not to deal with it, he raised his head, looked around then set out to walking along the roofs.

Al hung back, answering some of the strangers' questions while asking some of his own but the townspeople seemed to be more and more uncomfortable with the newcomers and quickly moved on. The children Al had seen earlier stuck around in his shadow and gazed at him with identical wide eyes.

"Erm, Hi?"

Al implored carefully, worried he would scare them off.

The smaller one, with dark brown hair, tilted his head a moment before his dirt-caked face broke out with an uneven smile.

"Huh, this is so much better. I can see everything."

Edward walked calmly along the rooftops, gnawing on the now empty skewer, hoping to give his stomach a false sense of food as he was still very hungry.

He now felt slightly bad for abandoning Al again but really? A giant suit of armor crawling on houses would only bring more panic. Ed was more… compact, so to speak. Anyways, from here, he could look for Vince's old house from here. Though they couldn't really forget what happened back then, for some reason the man's house completely slipped Ed's mind and it pissed him off. Hopefully the familiar sights will spark some memories like…

"Hey, the water tower! … Oh."

What use to be the water tower that only added to the beauty of this countryside now contributed to its ugliness while was, ah, Edward's fault. The shiny white painted sides were now tarnished and dented in while other parts were mutated with alchemy to create a hose that he had used in battle. Even the legs that held it up was bent and twisted, causing the water container on tower to bend low over the house near it, also destroyed by… Edward.

Chuckling nervously to no one, Edward scratched the back of his neck, remembering everything about that.

"Well, I use Mustang was right. Went a little over board, I guess. Oh, well. It was worth it, right?"

He asked no one in particular and the silence around him seemed deafening with a bit of nagging guilt. Looking once more for any witnesses, Ed sighed and slithered his way down to the base and rolled his shoulders in preparation. Slapping his hands together and then to the ground with lightning speed, Edward used his talented alchemy send sparks at the fallen form, giving it life and support as the water tower now stood erect as it should and just as it did all those years ago.

"Brother!"

"AH!"

Nearly jumping out of his skin, Ed felt a bit embarrassed that he clung to the tower's ladder (that was now much closer to the ground than before) after being startled by his kid brother and jumped down; kicking his side in revenge though he wouldn't feel it.

"Dammit, Al! Don't walk up on me like that! I though you were some one else."

He growled angrily but Alphonse hardly seemed fazed, choosing to ignore him politely.

"Brother, meet Charlie and Liam."

With a light shove, two boys are carelessly placed in front of Edward. Both seemed scared but the tiny one stood up straight and faced Ed stubbornly, studying him a moment before turning to Al.

"He's your big brother? But he's tiny!"

"Why, you…! I am not tiny!"

Ed was about to throw a fit but the boy managed to slip away, giggling as he ran.

"Liam, don't tease strangers! Liam!"

The other boy called out nervously.

A moment later, Ed had Liam under his arm, giving him a hard noogie as he carried him back to the others before dropping him rather harshly to the ground.

"Al, why did you bring these kids, anyways? We got something to do. We can't have them following."

"About that. They can help."

"What? How?"

"Because…"

Charlie interrupted carefully, lifting his brother off the ground.

"We knew Mr. Marshall and his wife."

"The house is right up here."

"Are you sure, pipsqueak? I don't remember it being this far from town."

"Do you wanna lead the way, or what?"

"Don't you get smart with me!"

Edward was grumpy. Not that was anything new but the torturous walk and the nagging of two nine year olds only seemed to make his mood fouler with each step. And he definitely had a weird feeling about where they were being led. None of it seems to feel right and Ed glanced at Alphonse to see if he was feeling it too but was ignored as Al watched after them, running after the tiny one when he would try to do something dangerous. In a way, the kids did remind him of themselves when they were young and Ed forgot how attached his baby brother could get to stuff like that. Then again, he didn't want to be the one to crack the illusion and hurt his feelings so he decided to follow along quietly, watching the shadows; watching the kids.

Closer… Closer…

They are so close yet so far.

They have no idea! This is brilliant!

"We're almost there. We must have a little fun before the main event, don't you think, Edward Elric?"

The voice wheezed gently as trembling hands coaxed the telescope lovingly before shoving it away to face his prized possession; his special piece to his personal chest game. He grinned menacingly at the fragile, limp pile on the floor and bent down to toy with a strand of beautiful blonde hair.

"So close… I can practically taste the victory… and blood."