Chapter Six: Library Findings
Ed and his double climbed the steps of the library.
"Hold it! Only state alchemists are allowed in here!" a woman said. Ed showed her his pocket watch and the woman blinked in surprise. "Wow... You're the shortest alchemists I've ever seen."
"We're not short!" both boys yelled simultaneously.
"Hey... Are you twins?" she asked with a smile. Edward pulled his cap farther over his face.
"Uh... Kind'a..." Ed said.
"I'm taller than he is," Edward triumphantly pointed out.
"No you're not!"
"I'm sorry I asked..." the woman muttered as she watched the scene.
After a few minutes, the two boys entered the library and went to a desk. "Give me anything you have on alternated realities," Ed told the librarian.
"Sorry, but that's confidential. You need special permission-"
"Call Mustang. He'll give me permission," Ed said.
"Who's Mustang?" Edward whispered to his double.
"The guy who explained to me that this wasn't my dimension," Ed whispered back. The woman talked on the phone for a few minutes before asking Skeska to find the requested material. She came back with a small manuscript.
"This is all we have," Skeska said as she handed the notebook to Ed.
"That's it?!" Ed exclaimed.
"Quiet! You're in a library, you idiot!" Edward yelled at Ed and elbowed him in the ribs.
"Apparently, there wasn't much research done on that topic," the woman said apologetically. She didn't say anything, but hoped the two of them wouldn't yell anymore. Ed sighed and walked toward a table to look at what he'd found. Edward followed him.
After about four minutes, Ed had read through the work twice and handed it to Edward. "I can't believe there isn't anything else here!"
Edward began to glance through the paperwork as he said, "There isn't anything in this that could help you?"
"Not that I could tell," Ed replied. "I guess the only thing I can do is try to find that guy I had been chasing..."
"What guy?" Edward asked, looking up from the page he was on.
"Back in my dimension, I chased him into an alley and he opened some type of portal, I guess. He jumped through a wall and I followed. - That's how I got here."
"Oh, yeah... I think I remember you telling that story." Edward finished the manuscript and flipped it closed with a sigh. "It looks like it says that there's evidence of some type of substance that's able to create a dimensional rift, but that the results of the testing was inconclusive."
"Technical mumbo-jumbo," Ed mumbled, rolling his eyes. "All that means is that the substance can do something, but they can't control it, so they can't make it work."
"Well, it looks like someone learned how to control it," Edward replied, referring to the man Ed had followed.
"Yeah... I wonder if he's even from this dimension or not," Ed said.
"How many dimensions do you think there are?"
"I don't know. - At least two... Maybe thousands..."
"Well... I guess we should return this," Edward said, pointing at the manuscript, "and see if we can find that guy, if he's still in this world."
'I guess I might as well ask about Marcoh's research while I'm here...' Ed thought.
As Edward stood to return the book, his eyes fell on the front cover of the document. He widened his eyes slightly and he pushed the notebook to Ed's side of the table. "Hey, isn't that the name of that guy you saw on the way here?"
"Huh?" Ed asked, looking at the cover. His eyes widened. "No way..." he breathed. He stared at the words 'Tucker, Shou' and decided, once again, that Marcoh's research could wait.
--End Chapter--
My original chapter notes (bold words are new):
Heh... I had no idea he was the author until it popped into my head at the end. But, now I have some ideas for the next chapter or two. (Hmm... Is it just me, or is there more talking and less happening in this chapter? Maybe next time that happens, I should make it longer...)
(--It's amazing how much that "Shou Tucker" author idea helped form a plot for this story! And even more amazing is what I found out when seeing the first several FMA episodes again! - Tucker did do research on the philosopher's stone. Ed found that out a little after the Nina incident, when he was ordered to sort out Tucker's stuff. The philosopher's stone isn't the same thing as the portal stuff, but it has something to do with it - which is why the portal was reddish - but I didn't think of that link until... Next chapter. Oh, and one more note: I added Sheska to the chapter, since I thought it would help me with the timeline at the end of the sequel - the sequel hasn't been finished as of yet. I have the seventh chapter up, and am planning on going through and seeing if anything needs adjustment like this one did.)