Disclaimer: We're off to see the lawyers, the terrible lawyers of coyprightAnd if you think I own Fullmetal Alchemist or Harry Potter, than you need to go and take your meds! Dah dah dah, dah dah dah duh.
Chapter Three: Cart Rides and Vaults
'Really,' Edward thought, mildly amused. 'So dramatic.' The warning to thieves seemed to shift testily above his head as he walked under the large white marble arch it was carved on. He dismissed the notion and passed through the entryway, pushing open a pair of tall double doors. A wall of sound met his ears; it was a mixture of rustling papers, many soft conversations, and the clink of scales and coins. It was like the type of sounds you heard at train stations, but without the noises the trains themselves produced.
Edward looked around awkwardly for a moment, but he soon spotted an open desk manned by a rather wicked looking goblin. Now, goblins were normally rather fearsome looking creatures, but this one looked particularly vicious. Edward wasn't worried, though; he had faced much worse than testy goblins before. Walking up the desk, Edward pulled a small key out of his pants pocket and laid it on the wood of the high desk the goblin sat behind.
"Hmm?" The goblin made a questioning noise and picked up the key, a surprised expression appearing on his face when he did. He had started lightly when he touched the small piece of metal, as if he had just received a small dose of static electricity. The goblin looked down from his high desk at Edward. The goblin glared at him with narrowed eyes and no small amount of suspicion. "Take of your gloves," he said in a rough, croaky voice. "Touch the key," it finished. Edward pulled of his left glove, and—under the close scrutiny of the goblin—reached up and grasped the small golden key. Letting go, he gave the goblin a slightly smug look. Satisfied, he ignored Edward and went through a stack of papers. Seeming to find what he was looking for, he looked back down at Edward. "My name is Soonsul. I will get someone to take you to your vault, Mr. Elric."
Soon Edward was speeding through a long system of underground passageways in a rail cart that seemed far too rickety to be safe. Accompanying him was a rather small, pinch-faced goblin called Rippole. Edward looked around excitedly with golden eyes narrowed against the air pressure caused by their speedy progress. No matter how many times he went on this ride, he still found it thrilling. Turning his head to the right, he caught a glimpse of a burst of flame, a bright silver light, and a large array of wicked looking spikes before he sped past and all three things fell out of sight. Turning his head to the left, he thought he saw a part of a long, scaled body. It vaguely occurred to him that it was rather odd he could just see these things out in the open, but he was too busy enjoying the ride to care very much.
All too soon, the cart slowed and lurched to a stop, nearly throwing Edward onto the tracks. Stepping out, he almost fell over when his right leg wobbled, unused to solid ground. Edward quickly regained his composure and hurried over to join Rippole in front of a large vault door. It had spiraling and jagged geometric strands of metal spread out over its surface, covering the entire door in mysterious designs and patterns; the metal designs sprouted from the wall around the door, holding it shut. Just low enough for a goblin to reach was a keyhole with a carved matrix around it, the hole at the center of the complex circle. Below the matrix was a round, completely flat circle of metal.
"I assume you know how to open your vault?" Rippole said hoarsely. Edward only nodded. Placing the small key in the hole, he turned it two whole rotations to the right and half a rotation to the left. Then he clapped his hands and placed his left on the unmarked metal circle. As he withdrew his hand, a tiny spike rose out of the metal; below it a small hole appeared, and a shallow metal half-dish rose from the circle. Edward tugged the glove off of his left hand and pressed his index finger against the sharp spike, drawing a small amount of blood. Withdrawing his hand, he watched as the blood dripped off the spike into the dish below, trickling towards the door into the hole. Suddenly a soft white light shone from the hole and the key—which was still in the keyhole—began to glow white as well. The metal designs began to shift and recede, pulling themselves off the surface of the door to its edges, leaving part of the metal surface flat and smooth. The unmarked space was about the size of door normal doors put next to each other; the unmarked space began to break apart, the metal shifting to create a raised border around the newly made entryway.
The whole process took about ten seconds. Edward stepped through the whole in the door into the Elric Family Vault. He and his father had designed, filled, and had helped create this vault themselves—back in the day. Before all this messed-up-time and evil-dark-lord business. Aside from Gringotts goblins, they were the only ones who could open the vault door.
The vault was filled with many piles of gold galleons, silver sickles, and bronze knuts. For one person's use, it seemed like a rather ridiculous amount of money; however, compared to a certain Potter's vault, this was a child's allowance. Though Edward and Hohenheim had had many years to gather this money (Edward having considerably more time than his father), it was still a somewhat impressive amount. What was really interesting—and from some perspectives, much more valuable—was the large number of objects the vault contained. There were incredibly powerful magical artifacts, muggle machines and oddities, many magical trinkets and devices, an absolutely jaw-dropping number of books, and a rather alarming number of items that looked like pure junk. There were mountains of things, colorful and old and broken and gleaming like new. Swords, shields, and armor littered the floor; cloaks and shirts and dresses and pants and boots had their own separate mountain in one corner of the enormous vault-room. Mirrors, clocks, scales, and cauldrons were scattered around the clothes mountain. Almost an entire half of the room was dedicated to stacks and stacks of books. Small collapsed mountains, perilously tipping stacks that almost reached the ceiling, and walls of pure books that seemed to form a maze one could get lost in for hours—days if one was somewhat stupid. There were rather vicious looking devices with questionable purpose, and many useless looking items such as tea sets and old newspapers. The small piles of currency were scattered haphazardly amidst all the items, looking rather small and unimportant in comparison.
Pulling out a charmed moneybag from one of his coat's many inside pockets, Edward gathered several handfuls of wizarding currency. Replacing the bag in its designated pocket, Edward crawled over a few mountains of stuff, seemingly searching for something. Rippole glanced in through the opening somewhat curiously, but quickly returned to his post by the door, making sure no unsavory persons took advantage of the open vault door.
A triumphant cry rang out from somewhere behind a pile of weaponry and bottled liquids. "Here it is," Edward crowed. Then he squawked indignantly when whatever he had been doing disturbed the pile's delicate balance, shifting a large amount of material that slid off in several large clouds of dust. From the sound of it, some of it landed on Edward. Metal scraped and clanged, and Edward emerged from behind the pile, covered in dust and coughing lightly.
'And there's one of the disadvantages of leaving a place like this alone for eighty years.' Edward thought before a coughing fit derailed his thoughts. Looking down at his prizes, Edward grinned. One was a small silver ring worked in the shape of many interwoven vines. Framed by small silver leaves was a tiny, smooth, bright gold stone; it was almost the exact same color as Edward's eyes. The other object was a beautiful necklace: it had a long chain that looked more like silver cord than linked metal, with a small hook-clasp; the pendant was a small sphere made of a reddish-purple material that seemed to shine with an inner fire, kept on the chain by thin silver wire wrapped around it like clouds seen on the planet from space. Edward put the necklace on, lifting his hair from underneath the chain and tucking the pendent under his shirt; it was warm against his skin. Sliding the ring over his glove on his left index finger, Edward approached the hole in the door and stepped out of the vault. He turned around and clapped his hands once, placing them against the door. It returned to its former state in a flare of alchemic light. Edward removed the key, put it in one of his many hidden pockets, and turned to Rippole with a grin.
He was looking forward to riding in the cart again.