Beggar's Banquet Chapter 16
The light was as she remembered it, thick and golden and vaguely opaque, the air sharp and sweet as October in the hills and sheep meadows of Resembool. She'd spent some time there with the Rockbells, recovering her strength before boarding the train with Sig and Alphonse and Mason back to Dublith to resume the boy's training in the art and science of alchemy. I just left here, I think. Odd. A blink of an eye, really. Only she'd been in the flesh again and wore again the shape of an infant. She found that annoying, but no worse than that. The memories of a tender brown haired woman and a devoted blue eyed man were still in her waking awareness. She'd been torn out of their arms so soon…too soon.
Nothing ever goes as we plan, Mother, she sighed. Tricia would be inconsolable, and she was grateful for once that the Elric brothers were safely on the Earth side of the Gateway where the temptation to try to bring her back through alchemy would be thwarted by the laws of that world.
As the massive Gate creaked open, she turned to see a boy emerge. No—not a boy, but one not long out of his boyhood. Twenty summers, no more than that, surely. He still wore the uniform of an Amestrian military cadet, and his cheeks had lost all of the dreadful gauntness of the last decade of his mortal life.
She stumbled towards him, and he caught her as she fell, cradling her against his chest. She had forgotten, oh, only for a moment, mind you, how terribly small she was right now, and how vulnerable.
*It's all right*, he assured her. *You've just forgotten. That's hard to imagine, though. You've only just left us here.*
*Please*she begged, *You have to send me back.*
He shook his head, smiling a little. *I'm sorry, child. You, more so than most, should understand the truth of Equivalent Exchange.*
*Mother needs me. And Edward and Alphonse are depending on me to help keep the knowledge of alchemy alive on the Earth side. You have to help me.*
He laid a gloved hand gently over her eyes.*I –am- helping. Even if there was a way to go back to Earth, you don't have the strength. You've undergone the trauma of murder. If you want to try and get back to the Elrics, you'll have to do as I say for now. And for the moment—* he sat down and draped her across his lap, pulling the folds of his black overcoat around them both * --I want you to sleep.*
*But if I sleep, I'll forget them.*
His voice purred pleasantly in her ear as he rested his cheek against her silky black hair. *It's a possibility. Depends on how strong your will is to be with the ones you love. Your love for the Elrics. Your love of Sig and Wrath. Ultimately, it's up to you alone if you find them again, just as it was up to me to find Edward. Nothing's impossible, and time is of no consequence…so close your eyes now. Rest and heal.*
*Yes, Father…*
AT THE GATESTONE, RANAMUERTEThe only thing—the only thing—that had kept Edward from trying to sever Envy's loathsome head from his shoulders with his bare hands was that he was terrified of harm coming to Izumi. But with one slash of a pitiless blade the infant had stepped forever beyond the homunculus' grasp, Tears slid down his cheeks as he took grim comfort that since Izumi couldn't be hurt any more it freed him to find out once and for all if one of these monsters could be killed for good on this side of the Gateway.
"Al!" he shouted, "Stay back. He's mine. Take care of the others."
"Brother! No!" Alphonse pleaded. "You can't—"
"I will." His eyes flicked towards Edwin, who was clinging to a wildly struggling Teddy. She was trying to fling herself towards the creature who had just snuffed out the life of her child, so enraged she was beyond grief. "He's going to be my sacrifice—for Izumi. A life for a life." He managed a bitter smile. "Then I'm going in and getting that son of a bitch Mustang back. If he thinks I'm putting off our wedding tomorrow, he's got another thing coming…"
Envy grinned nastily. "You think you can take me out, Pipsqueak? Fine. I'll fight you—at the Gate!" The razor flicked again. A drop of blood touched the surface of the Gatestone. It flared to life , just as it had when Josh Tringham had touched the Colonel's blood key to the stone at the Alchemy Museum on the Amestris side of the Gateway.
He held his prize aloft with one hand, razor swinging wildly in the other. "Come on! You want what's left of your precious brat? Come and get her, Pipsqueak. Or," he leered at Teddy, "maybe I'll take her back and feed her some red stones. Lust is still around—but there hasn't been a Sloth since Edward killed you the last time, Tricia Elric. You wanted your brat to follow in your footsteps, right? So let's see what kind damage she can do to this world of yours as a homunculus!"
"Nein! Das ist genug! I will not allow you to harm my loved ones!" Alphonse Elric spun around." What the—"
Wholly transparent now, the stone framed a tall, fair-haired man whose fine features were twisted with fury, fists pounding against the surface as if he would burst between the worlds and rip Izumi's killer to bits.
Alfons…my god…it has to be! Alphonse couldn't tear his eyes away from the shimmering figure with the blazing eyes. Alike—but not alike. My god…he's been watching over us all along, trying to help—but there's nothing he can do.
"What the hell?" Envy glanced over his shoulder, saw Edward's old lover and laughed so hard his wicked lavender eyes began to glisten. "Ohhh..that's perfect! Look who's run to rescue! Not only are you a pipsqueak, you're a brotherfucker! Tell you what—I'll make a deal with you. I'll give you this—" he gestured towards Izumi with his razor, "---if you give me a little demonstration of brotherly love. C'mon…you can't tell me that every time you sucked on that piece of German sausage you weren't fantasizing about your own little brother. Hmmmmm? Admit it, Edward. God, you're sicker than I am, and that's saying a lot. "
"It's a lie. Ed knows it—and I know it." Alphonse held out his hand to the doppelganger who could now see him clearly through the stone. "And he knows it too, now. So don't even try it. I'm sorry, Mischief," he turned to his daughter, still fighting against her restraints. "You've lost the most important thing in the world—you've lost your child, and there's nothing we can do to bring her back. But what we aren't going to let happen—" he nodded to his brother and to Alfons, "—is allow this son of a bitch to make her into something inhuman."
Edward didn't turn his eyes from his enemy. "Teddy—Remy, I swear, he'll have to kill us both before we let that happen."
The razor flickered as it spun through the air, sinking into Al's shoulder. His cry of pain distracted Ed for an instant. When his eyes turned back to Envy, something red was sparkling between his fingers. "Open up, kid," Envy jeered at Izumi, holding the stone to her cold lips. "I hear there's a story in this world about a man who could raise the dead back to life. I guess that makes me a Messiah around here, huh?"
THOKKKKKKKK!
The handle of a Swiss Army knife sprouted between Envy's brows.
Hughes had finally gotten himself loose. "One shot in a million," he panted half to himself. "Had to make it count this time…"
It wasn't a killing blow. It couldn't be. Edward knew damn well it was a useless gesture. Only a fragment of Envy's own original body could be used to bring the monster down.
Stunned, Envy staggered backwards, leaning against the stone as he scrabbled angrily at the blade lodged in his forehead. A pair of translucent hands slid through the surface of the stone and locked themselves around Envy's throat, yanking him backwards. "NO!! God, Alfons! What the fuck are you---"
"Er ist meiner, dieses. I learned much of your alchemy, between the worlds. I learned it from Izumi. She taught me how to fight—" Envy was flailing and spitting curses as he sank beneath the surface, "—and you, meine lieber Freund, taught me to be stubborn. Leave him to me!"
And they were gone, along with the moral remains of Izumi Jean Elric.
INSIDE THE GATEWAY"Great. Now what?"
Taisa Roy Mustang scratched his head and stared around him in disgust. The smoking ruins of the Alchemy Museum of Central had vanished. So had Josh Tringham. Hopefully the little idiot had run for it.
Unlike the Shinkansen stations, there were no handy-dandy "You Are Here" guides to show him around. Nothing to show the novice traveler the ins and outs of the Gateway. And speaking of ins and outs, he'd better get his ass back home before the wedding tomorrow evening or there damn sure wouldn't be any in-ing and out-ing with his gorgeous and infuriating husband-to-be. "Little bastard might do something stupid and desperate and try to force his way in after me. Better get back before Ed winds up in some third unidentified space time continuum with his head jammed up his rectum.
Glancing around quickly, even though there was nobody around, he clicked his heels together three times. "There's no place like home." And home is wherever Edo is…
STATE ALCHEMY MUSEUM, CENTRAL"Run like fuck", Mustang told him as he disappeared through the Gate Stone. Not a bad idea, but not as damned easy as it sounded. The power was out and there was only the reddish glow of the safety lights to guide him towards the fire exit.
He'd run down one level before a muffled explosion filled the stairwell with flames. "Crapshitfuck! I gotta get out of here!" Stumbling through the first door on his right, he found himself in what was left of the restoration lab where Mustang had fooled Gluttony into attacking his own mannequin dressed in the civilian clothing he'd worn when he fell through—correction, when Josh dragged him—the Gate. The dummy was gone. So were three of the walls. Josh staggered through the smoke towards the gaping hold in the side of the wing. Glancing down about a story and a half, he calculated whether he'd prefer to break his neck risking a jump into the relfection pond or getting charbroiled like an Ishballan during the Colonel's war years. He was about to look for a third option when something greenish and vaguely glowing shifted under his left shoe. It was a flat stone, roughly as large as his palm, and in the flickering light he recognized it as being made from the same damned material as the big Gatestone I the gallery. "If it's glowing, that means somebody's using it—maybe I better go back. Aw, shit!" The building rocked and flames and smoke began licking the edge of the shattered windows. The fires from the Alchemy Garden had reached the propane lines that fed the torches around the reflection pond as well as the Colonel's statue, plus the gas grills in the food court. The Museum had just turned into a bomb. "Fucksake, Kimblee couldn't have done a better job," he swore and stumbled back up the stairs to the Gatestone Gallery. Crawling his way through the smoke, he tripped and landed face down on top of the stone, scraping his shins raw. He began slapping at the cool surface frantically. "Hey! HEY! Somebody! Anybody! You gotta let me in there---I'm gonna die in here! Mustang..MUSTANG, you bastard! Come back here!!! CAN ANYBODY HEAR ME??"
THE LAIR OF EYES-OF-GOLD, RANAMUERTESoon as they were untied Teddy and Remy flung themselves at the stone, screaming for Alfons. Give her back! they cried, please, oh god, Alfons—give her back, take us to her…please…ohh god…mon dieu…my baby, oh, Izumi…
And this is my fault. All of it. Dad is dead. Izumi—fuck, he killed her like a damned animal! And Aunt Tee—what she did—she did that for her daughter's sake…
Tricia…oh, my love. Maybe you don't want to remember what I can't forget. You've found Havoc. You were so happy with him and your baby. And once again I've torn your world apart, made my family suffer…
They had finally withdrawn from the stone, the little knot of family huddled together and sobbing, Alphonse with his arms locked around both his daughter and son in law, Edward screaming and cursing in fury at Alfons for not leaving Izumi with them, Hughes holding up Jeanne-Marie, who had become deathly pale from shock as if the old woman's heart was about to burst, filled to the brim with more ugliness and horror than she'd seen in all her many years. You wear a different face this time, Pinako, but I'd know you anywhere. You saved Edward's life, gave my son new limbs and a grandmother's love and a home. And in this life, for a little while, you knocked some real sense into me.
Thank you, Pinako, old friend.
Thank you, my sons, for giving me another chance, even if I blew it yet again.
Thank you, Nash, old friend, for being my father. I'm sorry I let you down.
Edward…Alphonse…you are the reason I will never quit trying to make amends for all the damage I have done on two worlds…Ohhh, Tricia…
"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING??"
"Edwin! Get the hell away from—ohh god, put down the knife—"
Edwin Hohenheim Elric was smiling now. "Everybody is born for a reason," he said slowly. "I remember mine now. Edward," he turned to Tricia's firstborn son, "It was no sacrifice in Munich to die the way I did. It brought you and Alphonse—" here he smiled at his youngest child, "—together again. Now I'm going back for your sister, for Izumi—Tricia…forgive me…"
He make a small gash in the palm of his hand, slapped both palms together and laid them on the stone.
"MY LIFE FOR HERS….MY LIFE FOR IZUMI'S. I INVOKE THE GREAT TRUTH OF EQUIVALENT EXCHANGE!"
And he was gone….
THE LAIR OF EYES-OF-GOLD"I want you to listen very, very carefully to me."
Hughes took Tricia's hand. He took Havoc's hand, kneeling before them in the dirt and blood in the horrible silence that followed Edwin's—no, Hohenheim's—disappearance through the Gatestone. "Envy killed Ed in Amestris. Stabbed him clean through the heart. Al, you saw him die, right? And you sacrificed yourself to bring him back. Ed?" he glanced briefly over his shoulder, "You gave up your life for Al's. You would up here. And Edwin just gave himself to the Gate to get Izumi back. Truth is," he smiled faintly up at his friends, "we don't know what is going to happen, but I do know this: Two innocents have just gone through the Gate—and I'm not willing to assume that they won't come back. Taisa is over there now. Ed, you know what a pigheaded son of a bitch he is. He'll be back, and if there's a way for Izumi to return—and Edwin, too—he'll find a way. Now, Teddy—" he gently wiped the tears of her cheeks, "—if you've learned any damn thing at all, then you've learned that this death business doesn't work quite the way they taught us in Sunday school…oh, that's right, you're an Elric. Elrics don't go to Sunday school, they go to chemistry class…c'mon, now that was almost funny, but I'll forgive you this time for not laughing. Baby, I know it hurts—hurts you both. But if I'm not willing to give up on Izumi, you shouldn't either. Listen, Denny said he could hear the Colonel through the stone, right? Then I suggest you guys get over there and start calling. If she can hear you, you know she'll answer back, right."
"Mays….she's just a baby," Remy whispered.
"Is she? Maybe here. But I seem to remember Ed saying she was one rough, tough ass-kickin' alchemy teacher who scared the living shit out him half the time. I don't think that lady would give up too easily, do you?"
The Elrics just stared at him. After what felt like an eternity, one corner of Ed's mouth curled in something that almost resembled amusement. "Al…how much exactly to we pay this moron as his yearly retainer for legal services?"
If Havoc hadn't been distracted by grief his jaw would have bounced off the rocks at the number of zeroes in the figure Alphonse quoted.
"Add another zero when we get Izumi home."
"Yes, Nii-San"
"And Cowboy Roy," Mays added. "Al? What about Edwin and Fritz?"
Al didn't answer. "I don't know, Hughes," Ed's voice was full of regret. "I know Fritz must have been at the Gate, waiting for him. Maybe Fritz will find a way to send him back."
"Or maybe Mom will." Teddy rose unsteadily to her feet, stooped down, and kissed Mays on the forehead. "Thanks, Piledriver."
"Don't mention it, Ted-o. While there's life, there's hope, right? Remy? Listen, I know you don't want to leave Teddy, but," he leaned in and lowered his voice, "I wanna get your mom off the mountain. Simon and Nigel need to take a good look at her. Does she have any heart trouble?"
Remy shook her head. "Not unless it was something we don't know about, but—"
"Remy, he's right." Teddy smiled faintly at her husband. "Get her down safely. Get some supplies—and tell Uncle Simon and Nigel and Ai why we didn't come back. Make sure they're safe."
"See if you can get them on a flight back to the States. Get them to Atlanta. Go phone Gracia and see if she can go pick them up. Should be safe to go back to Resembool South. Call that Falman guy—have him check things out." Ed dusted off his hands, rose wearily and walked over to where Jeanne-Marie lay. "Hey, old lady—you'd better not die on me. I absolutely forbid my best alchemy student to kick off on me. 'Sides, Izumi's gonna need her grandmother. "
Jeanne-Marie struggled to sit up. "Edouard, Izumi is—"
"—not on this side of the Gate, right. But the kid made a sacrifice. He offered himself and the Gate took him. You want him to do that for nothing? And if he comes back you'll get to kick his ass—and I'm gonna sell tickets. Whaddya think?"
It was the kind of logic the old woman could accept. "I think Remy and I are headin' down the mountain," she agreed. "I do the callin'. I talk to Taisa's family. I don't think Ai gonna need to much of an explanation. I t'ink she already figured you out, Alphonse. She may not know the details---but she's no fool, dat one. Better stake your claim before someone else runs off with her, non?"
It didn't lessen the horror of what had happened, but doing something was always better than doing nothing. Teddy choked down some bottled water, then planted herself by the Stone, one hand resting on it as she mentally called her daughter's name—and invoked the help of the child's father.
"You know I'm going in after them, Al?" There was no compromise in Ed's expression. He had that unmistakable heels-dug-firmly-into-solid-rock tone to his voice.
"Only if there's no other way, Brother." Alphonse shook his head. "But you damn well better come back, Ed. I've lost two grand children and a great-grand son. I can't lose my brother on top of all that…"
INSIDE THE GATEWAY"Guess the 'What Would Dorothy Do?' option doesn't work in alternate realities." Glenda the Good must have been chasing down Munchkins or something, because the 'There's No Place Like Home" chant didn't land Taisa in Kansas, Oz, or more importantly, at the mouth of a cave in a Caribbean hell hole with more poisonous flora and fauna per square foot than anywhere else on Earth.
So..how did one get out of the Gateway?
He thought about the most recent Gateway disaster, when Al and Teddy got yanked back to the deathbed of Colonel Roy Mustang. If they hadn't gone, he himself wouldn't have been born. . Izumi had formed literally a bridge of love between the worlds so that Ed's spirit could be reunited with that of his old lover and the old geezer—
Waitaminute. That 'old geezer' was me. There's half of me still here, unless I've been reborn in Amestris—and that's hardly likely. If I had been alive I'd have marched right down to that god-awful bronze statue of Edo in the playground at the Alchemy Museum and transmuted the damned thing into...I don't know…a solid bronze Port-o-Potty, maybe? God knows it would have been appropriate.
"Half of me is on this side," he told the golden luminescence. "All right…if that's the case…could half of—"
Half of Edward. Gods below, was that possible? What was it Edo had told him?
"My soul passed into the body of an English kid who looked almost identical. His name was Edward and he was living with my Dad in London. He was burned to death in the wreckage of the Blitzkrieg only minutes after Dad drove off to a meeting with Churchill. He saw the crash, drove back but it was too late. That's why my name is carved on a London war memorial as a victim of the Blitz. Since he was an orphan that Dad took in, Al and I have claimed him as a fictitious relative—as a red herring to throw off people researching our family history a little too closely."
"Like who?"
"Interested parties who've read about the Thule Group experiments or Shamballa. People who research unexplained phenomena. Some of the 'tin-foil-hat' crowd and New Agers. And some folks in Europe who want to make sure we don't have any unwanted 'visitors' from the other side. There's a group from the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce. There's a group in Wales—kind of a black ops crew with government clearance. Oh yeah, and this spooky-assed guy from the FBI—I didn't want to tell him shit, but he said he'd get to the bottom of it eventually. 'The truth is out there, Professor Elric. I'm going to find out about Munich eventually.' Finally had to get a restraining order on the son of a bitch."
So…if the other side of Edward was here, how the hell would Taisa reach him?
In the end, the answer was pretty dammed obvious, even if it made him feel slightly ridiculous.
You told me—or rather quoted your father as saying—that we have a Gateway inside ourselves. That's not the only thing I carry inside me.
I carry YOU, Edowado. When I traveled from Amestris to the Gate to Earth last time, it was my determination to find you that guided me to find a mother—to find Ran Fan, who was more than willing to welcome me as her child. If I can go through all that crap—even getting beaten half to death so that your niece would find me and take me under her wing and decide that maybe we might be good for each other—if we can make it through all that bullshit, then going home is not going to be quite as hard as I had feared.
He sat down. There was no surface beneath him and that unnerved him a little.
His eyes slid closed.
Le Cote de Saint Jacques in Joigny had been a dream after the nightmare of homophobia that greeted them in Paris. The doors to the balcony were flung open and the night breeze off the Yonne river was heady with the scent of late summer roses and fresh, growing things. They'd spent the afternoon in the vineyards, feeding each other tangy clusters of wine grapes and getting slightly tipsy on the local 'ordinaire'. Arm and arm they made the long dusty hike up a country road back to the hotel, stopping off at a roadside café for the best damned cassoulet and pear tart he'd ever eaten in his life.
The massive claw-foot bathtub was so high off the ground Ed had to negotiate a little to climb in without busting his ass, but it was perfect for making love in a cloud of scented bubbles before tumbling together into that rosewood four-poster.
He'd curled his long body around his lover, tossing Ed's damp hair over one shoulder so he could nuzzle his face into the soft nape of his lover's neck. The scent of warm, clean skin, damp hair, machine oil and night air…the quiet murmurs of contentment Edward made as he drifted off to sleep. He'd held off sleep as long as he could, savoring the day in his mind, deciding that if this was what turning fifty felt like he wouldn't mind growing older, so long as this glorious madman was snoring in his ear, hogging the pillows and occasionally farting in his sleep…
What was it…that memory from just before his body died in Amestris/ When Teddy chalked out the spiral array on the floor of the cave and he literally had to drag his fragile body to its heart to lie down so she could…she..
I was so weak I could barely undress myself, let alone help chalk out the array. She was so shy about what we were about to attempt. But it would pass her energy into my body and open the Gate so that Edward and I…
"I'm Edward's blood…call him…call him, Roy. He is touching you with my hands. Through me…he loves you again…this…is from Edward…"
Closing his eyes, he allowed his loved one to take shape in his mind:
Under the trees it's cooler this afternoon, and there's a shady slope away from prying eyes where we can spread our blanket. There are still a few apples in our basket, tiny golden apples and a melting bit of brie that needs to be shared. You tilt the wine bottle, peer comically down its neck and mournfully announce that there's only about a good swallow left. We argue good naturedly over who is entitled to the last dregs. You turn the bottle up, let the sweetness fill your mouth, then lean in to pass it from your lips to mine, before throwing a steel knee over my body and sitting up on my hips, grinning down at me, your hair tangling in the breeze. Laughing, I reach up, lace my fingers though yours and pull you down, then yelp in surprise as you pepper my throat with hungry little nips that make me shiver and arch up under you. You press your groin against mine—"It'll keep," you tell me, and your cheek fits just so, right into the curve of my shoulder, as you rest in my arms. "Autumn is coming," you murmur into my chest. You're right…there's a faint tinge of gold and brown on the lacy edges of the leaves that flicker overhead. Autumn is coming and you are ageless and in a few months I will officially be a half-century old. I will age. I will die, and you, my golden friend, will place my bones in a wooden box and burn incense before them. And then the waiting will begin again.
You hear my thoughts—or at least you feel the tension in my body. "You can't be lost, Roy," you tell me softly. "We may have to wait some time, but we'll find each other again. You proved it in Amestris. You can't lose someone who's a part of you. Now quit worrying about it. There's beauty in the autumn and winter. Don't be afraid, okay?"
Between the worlds, Taisa became aware of a warm, comforting weight draped across his chest, and the familiar complex of scent he knew to be Edward…save for one thing: the odor of steel and machine oil was gone.
*What did I tell you, Taisa? You can't lose someone who's a part of you.*
The hair was shorter, softer and not quite so unkempt, but the eyes peeking out from under the golden fringe were the same shade of warm topaz. He kissed and twined himself around Taisa with the same ardor as the ageless alchemist who was waiting on the other side of the Gatestone, laughing softly as two strong hands carded his dark hair with unmistakable affection. "EDWARD??"
Damn, but it was impossible not to respond. Edward was..oh god, was this Edward? And what the hell should he do about that lively tongue that was feathering across his lips and why couldn't he stop himself from sucking on those fingers that had absolutely no right to be attached to his lover's hand or from tugging back that crisp linen shirt to stare at the oddly symmetrical shoulders—where was that suture scar below the right nipple? So odd not to hear the faint creaks and whirrings or to smell the unmistakable odor of well oiled automail.
The fingers curled, turning his face gently to meet the gaze of the seductive stranger. *Look…closely…as you touch me, you touch him*
The topaz eyes became translucent windows, just as Teddy's eyes in Amestris had turned from blue to golden, and within their depths he could see a small, dejected looking figure huddled by a campfire, pale and filthy and spattered with what appeared to be blood. "Al, like I said, I'll give them twenty-four more hours, then I'm going in."
Going in?? "H-how can I stop--?"
The arms and legs wound tighter, the molten eyes wider, so wide they seemed to swallow everything, even the endless horizon of mist that surrounded him. He is touching you with my hands. Gods below, he though, here's hoping Teddy got it right…
His lips gently traced the curve of an ear that seemed nearly identical. "Ashiteru, Edowado," he breathed softly. "Wait for me, you son of a bitch. God…please…if you've never listened to anything I've ever said to you, Edo, please.."
On the Earth side of the Gate, Edward's rant was cut off so abruptly that Alphonse was alarmed. "Brother? What--?"
Ed gestured sharply for silence. "I…I could have sworn I heard…"
*It's working. Tell him again*
"Edward…I'm coming to you. Stay where you are."
Edward's head jerked sharply in the direction of the stone. "Taisa? Taisa! Where are you? Teddy? Remy! I think can hear Mustang!"
"Tell him to find Izumi," Remy begged. "Tell him to find Edwin."
"Or at least tell them goodbye," Teddy whispered as the tears began to well up in her eyes again. She turned her face away and laid her cheek against the stone.
Taisa shook his companion's shoulders. "Izumi? Edwin? What happened? Where are the children?" he shouted.
The Edward of the Gate regarded him with pity. *Izumi was murdered by Envy, just as my other self had been killed. Edwin sacrificed himself for her return. Edwin's sacrifice was more than equivalent. Instead of saving one life, he has saved two.*
Taisa's stomach churned. "Ohh god…Izumi's dead?"
Edward of the Gate shook his head gently.*Oh no. Not now. Edwin's sacrifice will permit her to return when you return*
"SACRIFICE?? What the hell…?"
Edward of the Gate looked sober. *Young body. Old soul. He gave his life for Izumi and was met at the Gateway by his father, Fritz. They were very old friends, you see. Last time he walked in Amestris, Fritz Elric was known as Nash Tringham, and Edwin was Hohenheim reborn. Nash's descendant was causing serious trouble, opening the Gatestone in the museum in Amestris. His tampering and meddling will cause loss and suffering in that world just as Edwin Elric caused loss and suffering on Earth. Josh Tringham was to have died in the fire at the Alchemy Museum, but because of Edwin this young man will have a second chance on Earth.*
STATE ALCHEMY MUSEUM, AMESTRIS"This must be the place. Just like Dad said it would be. Jeeze. Hey! You! Tringham! Wake your ass up!"
But Josh didn't respond. The elegant green and gold carpet in the main lobby outside was smoldering, and the toxic fumes had combined with the carbon monoxide and smoke to make the air too toxic to breathe for long. The teen was sprawled across the face of the stone, blood caked around his nails proof that he'd been frantically scrabbling at the stone in the last conscious moments of his life.
Edwin wasted no time. Pressing his still-bloody palm to the stone's surface, knowing that Aunt Tee and Remy were still touching the stone, still trying to reach Izumi, he was gratified that the surface began to spark and grow transparent again.
All it took was one good shove and Josh Tringham sunk through the surface. "Give my love to Great-Granddad and Edo," Edwin shouted after him. "Cripes, now where the hell are the stairs?"
Fritz had told Edwin step by step where to go. *Don't forget to run through the Mustang Exhibit. Taisa left something behind. Check his pockets*
There…"Don't want to let this baby fall into the wrong hands," Edwin shuddered, shoving the faintly glowing stone into his pocket, alongside the folded up envelope containing his credentials. Ed had warned them that if they should ever wind up in Amestris to be sure to carry the sealed documents that would identify them to the Amestrian government so they wouldn't get locked up as loonies—or worse, as spies from another country.
The mini LED light he'd shoved in his pocket provided just enough illumination through the smoke to help him across the hall to the Elric exhibit.
The glass case containing the dummies of young Edward and Alphonse in their scarlet coats had been smashed open, and Al's coat was missing. Ed's, on the other hand, was intact and nearly exactly the right size for a 14-year-old. "It's gonna burn up anyway," Edwin reasoned as he slipped it on. "Might as well put it to good use..."
WITHIN THE GATEWAYTaisa lost all awareness of how long he'd walked, or even in which direction. All he knew for absolute certainty is that this Edward was holding his hand, guiding him with a certainty that Taisa had to leave to trust since he didn't have a clue in hell where he was being taken, other than 'out'.
*Oh, there's a definite path here*., his companion had gently chided. *You just don't know how to use your eyes here. To find your destination, hold the other in your heart* He was smiling now. I'm thinking of Teacher. She's guiding us to her. Can't you see where she's been playing?*
Taisa Roy Mustang stared down. Somehow the endless golden void of the Gateway was showing faint traces of silver, like a child's scribbles, beneath their feet. "What the hell?"
*We don't use chalk here*
No, it was a silvery mist that seemed to glow softly on his fingertip when Taisa reached down to trace it. *If you could see it from above, you'd recognize the Labyrinthine Array that Tricia uses. Izumi's making something to take home to her mother, just like at nursery school*
Taisa grabbed at Edward's shoulder. "Nursery school?? Then, who the hell is teaching her?"
"I am." The voice seemed almost deafening in the sensory deprivation of the Gate, where vocal speech was cumbersome—hell, even carrying on the illusion of a physical body was a pain in the ass, Taisa guessed.
The scribbles and spirals led them to the very steps of the Gate, where a tall young man in an Amestrian army uniform was down on one knee, peering over the shoulder of a young girl of about ten or twelve summers who was laboriously scribbling away with the tip of her finger. She was unconsciously gnawing on her lower lip and knitting her dark brows together in absolute concentration—and expression he'd seen on her mother's face a thousand times whenever Teddy was struggling over a new piece of music.
Finally satisfied, she sat up, wiped her hands on the seat of her pants, then spat into her hand before laying a ruby-red pulsing jewel upon the heart of the spiral array. "See Father? I told you Envy wouldn't make me eat that stone. That means I'm free to go home with Taisa, doesn't it?"
Colonel Roy Mustang rose and helped the child to her feet. "I suppose so. Let's not make me late for my own wedding, child. Take Taisa home to Fullmetal."
…TO BE CONTINUED…
You rise like a wave in the oceanAnd you fall gently back to the sea
Now I want to know how to hold you
Return to me
Return to meAMESTRIS, 2001
"So…what do you think?"
"I think I'd kill for a Big Mac right now." Edwin Hohenheim Elric sucked a bit of Flame Alchemist Sauce out from under his fingernails and made a sour face. "And if you think I'm drinkin' Gatorade out of some bald guy's head—"
"Strongade," Brian Breda corrected him.
"—you're out of your fuckin' mind, man."
Breda grinned at his companion. "Yeah, you're a damn Elric for sure, kid." Boy had a mouth like a sewer and a brain like a steel trap—and a cat-like propensity for surviving when nearly everybody else had been killed in the explosion that rocked the State Alchemy Museum. Breda had come back to the scene because he'd left his cell phone in his office. He'd been knocked off his feet by the blast, but the biggest shock was the small body he found crumpled in the parking lot behind the dumpster. The boy had stared at him wildly, unable to struggle to his feet. "P-please—I gotta see President Hawkeye!" He had a blond pony tail, a tattered red coat and wasn't much taller than a 12 year old—not a surprise, since he turned out to be barely fourteen.
The kid had documentation out the wazoo—even more shocking, he had a letter signed in the actual blood of the Fullmetal Alchemist. DNA tested and verified. They tested the kid, too, using strands of hair from Alphonse's hairbrush—a dead-on match.
Six weeks in military detention—oh, they were careful not to call it that, of course. But President Hakkim wasn't taking any chances, either with risky info about the Gatestone leaking to the press or with the kid's own safety.
Worst part was the Tringham family. That was terrible, hearing that their son was near death and the only way to save him was to shove him through the Gate. "He'll come out on the other side, where Ed and Alphonse are. I know they'll take good care of him." Hmmph. Small comfort for the grieving parents who frankly wished the little Elric kid had died in Josh's place. Mrs. T took it hardest, screaming that Edwin had possibly killed Josh or allowed him to die—even setting the fire himself to lead a false trail of evidence. However, the security feed clearly showed Josh Tringham activating the Gatestone—gods knew how—and the monster that came out of it, hot on the heels of what appeared to be Colonel Roy Mustang. It was Mustang's firebombing that had started the blaze, but thankfully there were no signs of the homunculus in Central, far as anybody could tell.
President Hakkim and the Parliament believe Elric's story. They had to. The evidence was incontrovertible. The big question was what to do with the kid. "I can't go back," he told them. "It was Equivalent Exchange. My life for Josh and Izumi. If I go back, that throws everything out of balance. Besides," he added with a faint grin, "it would be good to have an Elric alchemist living in Amestris, right?"
Soon as he named his alchemic legacy, the government had an answer. He was the direct disciple of the Spiral Alchemist, Trisha Elric, who had been Colonel Mustang's disciple. Since the Colonel had stipulated in his will that his estate and goods were to be held in trust for Spiral or her own pupils that crossed the Gateway, a tidy fortune dropped neatly into Edwin Elric's lap. More than enough to pay tuition to the State School for Alchemic Art and Sciences for all six years. Might take him some catch-up work but the kid was unquestionably bright. However, the kid would need some sort of family to look after him. The Rockbells had been contacted in Resembool, and Winry's daughter Sara had generously welcomed the boy into her home. "Mom and Great-Grandma Pinako would have wanted it this way," she told the authorities. "No Elric is homeless if there's a Rockbell with a roof."
However, someone else had taken an interest in Edwin Elric—someone who hadn't much time to wait for a visit. This was why they were crowded in the back of a taxi motoring to a private nursing home outside Central.
"Wipe your mouth," he cautioned. "Got Flame Sauce all over your chin, buddy." Climbing out of the taxi, Breda gave the boy a once-over. His long blonde hair was neatly braided and out of the way, and he looked fine in his new black student uniform, edged in white that identified him as a freshman. The red coat was a bit much—but in view of his family history it was completely understandable.
"Yeah, you'll do. C'mon—there's somebody you gotta meet…"
She trembled slightly, and the hand that stretched out to clasp Edwin's was as dry and crackly as old parchment. The eyes, though—those were still keen and kind and the smile she offered the young man was as warm as the smile she'd offered his great-grandfather the last time he'd visited her in Central, just before the skies tore open, the ground heaved and the roof came down, making her an orphan.
"Edwin Elric, may I present Miss Elicia Hughes?"
INSIDE THE GATEWAYEverything I tell you has been spoken
And everything I say was said before
But everything I feel is for the first time
And everything I feel I feel for you
She was a beautiful child. She would, in time, become a beautiful woman, her sire's elegant good looks cast into a delicate mould. But beneath the feathery dark fringe the black eyes crackled with animation and her smile was full of devilry. Teddy and Remy are going to have a time with this one, he laughed to himself.
Izumi slid her hand in his. *You told my mother to think of me as yours, Taisa. That day you were with Mother and Papa and Edo, making plans for my birth. Do you remember?*
*You mean you know about the night we talked about--?*
*I was there, wasn't I?* She flashed her dimples at him.
The Colonel nodded in recognition. *Rather dangerous when she does that. Be careful. She'll have you in her pocket in no time*
Taisa knelt down beside the child, fondly brushing her spiky black hair back out of her eyes. * She's had me since before she was born.*
Izumi nodded. *The Colonel is my Father,* she explained carefully. *Jean-Remy is my Papa. And you are my Otou-Chan.*
*And your Oka-Chan is waiting. Now, since you're so clever, why don't you tell me how to get you home to Teddy and Remy?*
The elfin face screwed up comically as she concentrated. *There's a memory we all share, you, me, Papa, Oka-Chan and Edo. You know the one I mean. You need to think on it as hard as you can. Go back to it. And then we go together.*
"Taisa, you monitor her breathing. Make sure she stays in rhythm. You and Remy will have to watch her. If she gets into trouble I have to know, d'accord? Edouard, where the hell are you?"
"But she's my niece! I—I mean, I…I can't look between her—"
"I DON'T GIVE A MOTHERFUCKING GODDAMN WHAT YOU SEE! Help me, Edo!"
"Teddy! C'mon! Don't tense up! You're doing beautifully."
"That's it, Petite…stop pushing…she's almost here…"
"Mama…help me."
"Ohhh shit….ohhh shit…Hey! She's got black hair! Hey, kiddo. Welcome back, Teacher!"
"Alphonse, you have her? Let me get this tied…there. Now cut the cord."
"Ohhh god, Mischief, she's so beautiful!"
"Al, c'mon! You're wibbling all over the baby!"
"Fuck off, Ed! This is MY grandchild--
"Jeeze Al—did you just tell me to fuck off???"
"BOTH of you tais-toi! Give Teddy her bebe!"
At that point who was kissing who was utterly irrelevant. I kissed Teddy. I kissed Izumi. I kissed Havoc—open mouthed, passionate and oddly appropriate. Thank god I remembered to pull in my tongue before I kissed Alphonse and Jeanne-Marie. "Come here, you!" I told Ed, pulling him close and locking my fingers around the edge of his automail. For some reason I was ready to devour the little bastard, I was so happy. Had we been alone I would have tossed him down on that pallet of half-inflated Colt Commando love dolls and fucked him cross-eyed. In spite of the awful cold he was sweating, shaking and though he would loudly deny it later, rivulets of what looked suspiciously like tears tracked down both cheeks and his nose was running. "You're getting snot all over my collar," I murmured as he burrowed his face into my neck. He punched me in the ribs. "Go to hell," he sobbed, biting me sharply on the collar bone.
From the love of my life, that was as profound a declaration of devotion as one could hope for….
AT THE LAIR OF EYES-OF-GOLDI am here calling the wind
I am here calling your name
I am here calling you back
Return to me…Return to me…
He worked his fingers into the crevices etched into the stone by his father's hand. It was rough and cool against his sweaty forehead. "After all we've been through," he whispered harshly to the rock, "after all that bullshit, I am not gonna let you be lost, Roy. Get your ass back here. Grab the kids and come home."
Nothing. Not even a shimmer.
"C'mon…I know you can hear me. If you can't hear me, I know you can feel me inside. I feel you, swear to god—and I don't even believe in god." He squeezed his eyelids shut, his wet lashes brushing the stone's surface. "Please. God…you're killing me. Can't lose you. Can't loose Izumi or Edwin. Taisa…," his lips pressed against the roughness, "I love you. Come back."
He heard a muffled sob from Teddy. He knelt down and pressed her tightly to his chest. "He'll find her," he swore. "He'll bring them both home. She's his blood. It'll pull them towards each other. Remember, " he settled his back against the stone, arms around Teddy and Havoc, "the night she was born? How we had to make you a bed on the counter of the Hentai shop out of those blow-up sex dolls? I never told you this—" he was chuckling now, "---but that Colt Commando was a dead ringer for Fuehrer Bradley, Roy's old boss. Eye patch and everything. I stole one of 'em and took it home and told Roy, 'well, here's your chance to stick it to the Fuehrer!'"
Teddy blinked up at him. "You didn't."
"The hell I didn't! I said, 'he's got three holes—we can call in Havoc and Hughes and you boys can get even once and for all!"
Havoc smiled faintly. "What did Taisa say?"
"Well," Ed chuckled, "I'd had the damned thing stashed in the closet, fully inflated and loaded with batteries. I pulled it out , tossed it on the bed and told Taisa to have a go. He was dumbstruck. Just for the hell of it, I jumped on it—and the air valve wasn't too tight and it started escaping out the asshole—"
"What the hell are you talking about, Brother?" Al wiped his eyes and stared at Ed, who was beginning to laugh. "How can you laugh when—"
"—and the Bradley doll just ripped one off—god, it was so fucking loud. And Taisa said, 'Ed! Lay off the broccoli!' and I said, 'that didn't come out of MY ass, it was the doll!'. And he said I was full of shit and I told him, 'all right, give the damn thing a squeeze and it will do it again!' So…so…here we were, running around the bedroom with this…this…thing…squeezing it and trying to make it fart…just as Ai-san came in with the laundry…"
"---Ai saw you?" Al was aghast.
"Ai lost it! She completely lost it! She was laughing so goddamned hard I thought she'd hurt herself.
"You're one sick bastard, Uncle," Teddy was giggling now. "Actually, it was pretty comfortable giving birth on a pile of love dolls…god, what a night."
"Are we ever going to tell her the story?" Havoc asked hopefully.
"Well, we sure as shit can't tell her she was born in a manger! We'll wait until she's eighteen."
"By the way," Ed added slyly, "your husband kissed my husband when Izumi was born. On the lips."
Teddy gave her uncle a knowing grin. "I know. And??"
Ed's eyes grew wide. "Heilige scheize! You don't have a problem with that?"
"I shared him with Hughes—oh, I'm kidding! French men are always snogging other guys. He and Remy used to give me my pre-natal massages together and there was no sense bothering with clothing, since we ended up massaging each other and there was oil everywhere….oh, Daddy, don't get your father-feathers all ruffled! Nobody was getting a hard on. Believe me, I'd have noticed. It was all good clean fun."
"Was that where Taisa got the idea of the hot stones?"
"Oui. I gave them to him as a gift. He would help me massage Teddy, then he'd work on my bad back, where I was stabbed. He is very good, your husband."
Edward leaned back against the stone and smiled. "He is." Instinctively, he reached for Teddy's hand, then Havoc's. "Let's tell him…"
INSIDE THE GATEWAY
I know what it means to be lonely
And I know what it means to be free
Now I want to know how to love you
Return to me…Return to me…
*WAIT…someone is coming*. Izumi lifted a slim hand, looking off in the distance.
It was a tall young man in jeans and a faded denim work shirt, a basket of fragrant herbs in one hand, while the other clasped the arm of a pale youth who seemed stunned or drunk and unquestionably confused. *Attente, s'il vous plait, Taisa. Il doit venire avec toi.* He looked to be about fifteen, and his long, angular face and shock of blonde hair left no doubt who had sired him. *Grandmere will take good care of him, and Edwin will prosper in Amestris, guided by Fritz. Perhaps you will see him again sometime, non?*
The youth who bore a remarkable resemblance to his father and his grandmother handed the dazed boy to Taisa. Then he hugged Izumi tightly and kissed her on both cheeks.*Donnez mon amour a notre mere et pere, Izumi. Je vous verrai plus tard.*
*Subsistance observant, Django!. Ja ne, Otouto-chan!*
*Matta ne, ma soeur!*
Django Elric—or the soul who would bear that name when he would take birth as Teddy's son—smiled warmly at Taisa. * My brother will be safe with Jeanne-Marie. We have a debt to pay to the Elric brothers. It will be hard not to have the skills of plant alchemy, but we will find ways of managing. And Grandmere will teach me the art of the Traiteur, just as Uncle Nigel will lead me to a career in medicine. I will study alchemy with my sister and Josh and the three of us will help the Brothers guard the Gateways. Thus the Tringham brothers will have paid their debts to the Elrics—and to the dead of Xenotime, lost because of the Red Water and our family's foolishness. Our father Nash was Fritz Elric, and his son Edwin had once been Hohenheim. Much harm came from their discovery of the Red Water. Now they will begin to balance that harm as Edwin rebuilds the Elric alchemic dynasty in Amestris, guided by his father's spirit. For it was Edwin that was to die at Envy's hand. Fritz offered his life in exchange. He always knew more about the family than Alphonse thought. Comprennez-vous ce-ci?*
Taisa nodded, not really certain if he comprehended or not. "Let's go," he said aloud. "Edward is waiting…"
###
I am here calling the wind
I am here calling your name
I am here calling you back
return to me
return to me
Something slammed into Edward's back so hard he was pitched forward into the dirt, pinned down and fighting for breath. There was a wild, frantic cry from Teddy and a kicking and scrabbling inches from his face. He lifted his head and caught a boot in the mouth. Spitting blood, he leaped to his feet, staring down at the scuffle on the ground, not allowing himself the luxury of relief. Instead, he planted his boot in the upturned backside with as much force as his human leg could manage. "Goddamn you, Roy Mustang!" he bellowed.
Roy was laughing as he rolled over, eyes wet with relief. He unbuttoned the front of his blue uniform jacket and handed a squirming bundle to Teddy, swaddled in a red coat stolen right off the wax dummy of Alphonse Elric in the Alchemy Museum.
"Shut up, Ed," said Taisa Roy Mustang. "You'll wake Izumi."
….. TO BE CONCLUDED…..
("Return To Me" by The October Project)