Cast Iron Alchemist

chapter 5 : the components of an alchemist's heart

Alicia walked through the dark forest by herself, lost. All the trees looked the same, there was no visible path. When she looked forward in the distance she saw a figure. Anthony was standing there in his red jacket, he smiled at her and held out his hand. She smiled back, waved, and began running toward him. She stood in front of him, laying her hand on top of his. Suddenly, his face changed to pain, and a sword dug it's way through his abdomen. She backed away in horror as she saw Fuhrer King Simon standing behind him, an evil smile across his face.

Alicia woke up with a gasp as she looked around. She was laying against her seat on the train. Across from her in the booth was Anthony, sleeping soundly. His bandaged hand was visible. Alicia curled up a bit, worrying about him. He had nearly died and yet still they were trying to save this country. It was clear from the start it wouldn't be easy, but she never considered someone might die. Everything was happening so quickly, it had only been about two months. She stared out the window of the booth at the passing scenery. Their destination was Risembool. Anthony didn't want to thin out his armor and risk it being too fragile to fight with, so they were going to Winry for a tune up.

Fuhrer King Simon sat in his office, rubbing his eyes, still sore from the flash bomb. He stared out at the courtyard, contemplating the recent events. The mysterious alchemist with the fake cast iron arm, the green alchemist that came to rescue him, and the reports from the guards of the alchemist that could start fires with the snap of his fingers. A man walked in, carrying a record book. "You wanted to see me Fuhrer King?"

Simon stood up and turned around, crossing his arms behind his back. "I need you to do some facts checking for me."

The sun shone bright in the skies over Risembool as the four friends walked out of the train. Anthony stretched his legs. "Man, it's good to get out of that crowded booth."

Trevor nodded, stretching aswell. "Yeah man, no room in there."

Alicia giggled as she walked by with Jennifer. "Alright you two, let's get going, we're on a tight schedule."

the four walked through the town, breathing in the fresh country air. Up the ridge was Winry's house, kindly rebuilt by the townspeople. Anthony knocked softly on the door. Winry answered, wearing her green overalls and bandanna, an automail arm on her workbench. She smiled as she looked and saw Anthony and Alicia. "Well, long time no see you two, looks like you've brought some friends with you too. Come in, come in."

she walked over to her workbench again, sitting down on her stool. "So what brings you two back this way?"

Anthony smiled and set his backpack down. "A little maintenance work."

he held up his armor, covered in scratches and sword marks. The smile left Winry's face and was replaced with an angry frown. She gripped the screwdriver in her hand tightly. "You Elrics...Is your one goal in life to destroy my gifts?"

she dropped the screwdriver and reached for her wrench. Thinking quickly, Anthony ducked. It was a bad call, however, as the wrench knocked his shin and forced him face first to the ground. He got up slowly and rubbed his sore shin. "ow..."

she got up and walked over, taking the arm from him and examining the damage. "Well you're out of luck, I have to order the cast iron from a special provider, it won't be in for two or three days."

Anthony nodded and handed her the group's money pouch. "Here, use this to pay for it."

She looked at it and shook her head. "I don't need your money."

He layed it in her hand and closed her hand around it. "It's my fault it broke, it's my responsibility to pay for repairs."

She looked down at the money, then back up and him, looking at the seriousness in his eyes, and finally nodded. "Alright, I'll prepare some beds for you."

the four nodded and brought their backpacks up to the two empty rooms that Anthony and Alicia had once occupied, two fresh beds waiting in each room. Trevor looked around at it and then at the two beds. "Looks like she was expecting us."

Anthony nodded. "She knew we were going to be going out to build up the brigade, it makes sense she'd prepare extra beds if we ever came back."

Trevor nodded and layed back. The four had a long day and began preparing for bed.

Alicia woke up in the middle of the night from another nightmare about Anthony. She sat up and got out of bed, walking downstairs to get a drink. Winry was sitting there with the automail arm from earlier, working on it's inner mechanics. She stopped and turned when she heard footsteps coming down the stairs. "Oh, hi Alicia, couldn't sleep?"

She nodded and walked over to the kitchen for a glass of water. "Nightmares."

Winry set her tools down and sat down next to her. "Really? You haven't had a nightmare for years."

she shook her head and sipped some water. "It wasn't about my parents Miss Winry. It was...Anthony..." she said, blushing a bit.

Winry nodded and leaned back. "Why don't you tell me about it."

She took a deep breath and explained about the events in Central and the nightmares of Anthony and her. "I just don't know what to do Grandma Winry, it worries me that he takes so many risks."

Winry took a deep sigh and nodded. "Elric men have that effect on girls." she told her with a small giggle. "Listen, Anthony is like his grandfather, no matter what anyone says he's going to take those risks. All you can do is make the risks less risky. I helped Ed in that way with my automail, you need to use your own methods to make sure Anthony doesn't lose his life doing something reckless."

she nodded slowly and finished her water. "thanks, I think I'll be able to sleep easier now."

she put the glass away in the kitchen and went back up to bed, trying to get some rest.

Anthony slept in late the next day, walking downstairs. Jennifer was sitting on the couch, reading a healthcare book. He walked over and yawned. "Where is everybody?"

Jennifer flipped the page, adjusting her glasses. "Miss Winry is on a service call, and Alicia and Trevor went out to the market."

Anthony nodded and walked to the kitchen to make a sandwich, coming back out and eating. He leaned over and looked at the book she was reading. The page was covered in skeletal and muscle diagrams. "What are you reading?"

She flipped the page again, studying it carefully. "Medical book, I'm studying human anatomy so I can optimize my medical alchemy. When I was working on healing your wounds it was so unfamiliar to me, I won't deny that I wasn't sure you would be able to use your arm."

Anthony nodded and looked down at it, still bandaged. "Yeah, thanks again."

he stood up and looked out the window, thinking. "I'm going out for a bit." he said, putting on a shirt.

Jennifer nodded, not looking up from her book as Anthony left, leaving her alone in the house.

Reading his grandfather's book from memory, he found his way to the burnt pile of wood that once was the Elric's house. He looked around at the burnt debris. After reading back through the page dedicated to the burning of this house, Anthony knew he had to come here. He walked around the rubble, he could almost feel the intense heat from the former blaze. Amongst the charcoal and soot, a small brown chest layed, a survivor of the flames. Moving the wooden beams aside, Anthony opened the box, breaking the lock with alchemy. The chest was full of precious memories, the Elric's emergency fire box. Anthony dug through the photographs of his ancestors, some of them going as far back as Ed's great great grandmother. Near the bottom Anthony found a picture of his grandfather's family. His great uncle Alphonse, being held by his mother Trisha, and the tall Hohenheim, holding Ed awkwardly. He smiled, looking at the distracted expression on his young grandpa's face. He pocketed the picture, sealing the chest back up. Fashioning some wheels on it, he was able to push it over to the tree. There he left it, in the shadow of the sunset, as he made his way back to Winry's house.

The next day the cast iron arrived, and Winry and Alicia got right to work repairing the arm. The three waited in the living room while Winry and Alicia worked in the other room. The two came out with the arm, which Alicia handed to Anthony. He slid it slowly over his still bandaged arm, taking a couple quick punches at the air. "Good as new." he said, smiling.

Winry took his hand and put a 3x3x3in block of cast iron in his hand. "Here, so you aren't coming back here every time you need a repair."

Anthony nodded and put it in his backpack. "Alright, let's get going."

the four walked out the door and toward the train station, Alicia stared at Anthony's back, moving her vision down to his wounded arm. 'No matter what,' she thought to herself, 'I will protect you.'

the military detective made his way to the Fuhrer King's quarters, knocking on the door. Once he got permission to enter, he walked in and set some papers down for Simon. "the first of my reports Fuhrer King, I've managed to track down the identity of the Mustang look alike. His name is apparently Trevor Hughes, though I can guess that was merely a ruse his mother thought up to protect the Mustang heritage."

Simon picked up the report, skimming quickly through it. "Excellent, please continue with your reports, What have you come up with for the other two?"

the detective shook his head. "for the Botanic Alchemist, only theories and wild goose chases. As for the leader, the Cast Iron Alchemist, we haven't been able to find any clues or leads. No family lineage, place of birth, nothing."

Simon nodded and dismissed the detective. He got up, walking over to his window. "I will find you Cast Iron Alchemist, your knowledge of me will follow you to the grave." he said to the night sky. "Even if I have to do the job myself."