Ed knew that Roy was going to be pissed. Worse, he could feel his anger, betrayal and despair on the other end of their Fighter/Sacrifice link like a physical wound. He steeled himself to ignore it. I promised to bring Al back. Whatever it takes. I can't let Roy interfere again. Al is too important.
He followed Ritsu through the door, reminding himself to scan the room for potential exits like a good little soldier. At least he can be proud of me for something. Ed knew it was important to stay alert. There was something about this place that just didn't smell right.
Ritsu lead him into a small kitchen, where a tea set was sitting on the table, all properly prepared. "Tea?" he offered, taking a seat at the table and gesturing to Edward to take the seat opposite. He was the very picture of forced cordiality.
Ed stood where he was, his fists clenched. "Look, you bastard, I'm not here to have a fucking tea party. You said you have my brother. So where is he? Spill it."
Ritsu chuckled. "Ah, of course. Right to the point. Just like your father. Though he was a bit more soft-spoken."
Ed was taken aback. "There's no way you could know… that guy."
"No? Hmm." Ritsu leaned back with his teacup, crossing one leg over the other, as if they were simply sipping tea on a Sunday afternoon with no particular agenda. "I suppose you imagine that you are the first to ever travel between our two worlds. Your father thought he was the first, too. Bit egotistical, don't you think? When it comes down to it, there's really nothing new under the sun. Your father liked to think of himself as a great explorer, uncovering new territory and all of this. Very interesting man, Hohenheim of Light."
"That… that guy… was here."
"Mmm."
"So… so when you say I have the Blood of the Father…"
"That's right. You are related to all of the Fighter and Sacrifice pairs here, Edward-kun, because they all sprung from the same seed. That of your father."
"Wh-what?" Ed sat down hard on the chair. His head was spinning.
"He was rather… prolific, I suppose you could say."
What the hell was this schizoid talking about? That guy… here? Sprung from the same… seed?
"So… so you're saying I'm related to Ritsuka and Soubi…"
"Ritsuka, yes. Soubi, no. He's… different."
Ed was having to seriously fight to keep his focus. He was starting to doubt the wisdom of ordering his Fighter to stay behind. Roy was much better at this deductive shit than he was. He would know what questions to ask, how to get the answers he needed. Ed felt like he was being swept downstream very quickly, and he was concerned that there just might be perilous falls ahead.
"So, wait... when was... that guy... here, exactly?"
"Oh, I'd say it was about… 200 years ago. Give or take."
Two hundred years…? Ed was familiar with his father's bizarre history, but somehow it always seemed fantastical him. He wasn't quite over the shock that his father was actually more than 400 years old and had been keeping himself alive via alchemy all this time, never mind the idea that he might have traveled to other worlds and fathered children there, too. No wonder the sleazeball never came home; apparently Al and I were just numbers to him. World A, kids number 56 and 57. Great. Like I needed more reasons to hate that asshole.
"And… that was the last time… you saw him. Two hundred years ago."
"Yes."
"So you… you're…" There was something about this place that just didn't smell right. Shit. "You're like my father."
"Yes. And that's why I need your help, Edward-kun."
"My help? What the hell do you expect me to do?"
"I need to travel to your world and contact your father. He is a great alchemist, greater than myself or anyone here. I require his… assistance."
I'll bet you do, you creepy bastard. Ed was concentrating hard on forcing his human limbs to stop shaking. That smell. Rotting. Death. I hate that smell. I hate it… He shook his head, trying to clear it. Taking a deep breath, he recalled Roy's words to him: It's better to wait, gather information, and then make your move. Right.
"So… let me get this straight. That guy came here 200 years ago and… fathered children. And those kids became Fighters and Sacrifices?"
"Yes. Your father and I started an alchemical academy here, though we did not give it that name. We called it Septimal Moon, after the Seventh Stage of Alchemical Transformation, which is symbolized by the Moon, as I'm sure you'll recall."
Ed did know. The Seven Stages of Alchemical Transformation were part of the basic tenets of Alchemy. "But… how does the whole Fighter/Sacrifice thing come into it?"
"I'm sure you are familiar with the concept of the Alchemical Marriage?"
"Of course. The coniunctio, the unification of opposites, fire and water, male and female, fixed and mutable, sun and moon."
"Correct. The Fighter and Sacrifice Pairs of Septimal Moon are each in themselves a microcosmic Alchemical Marriage. Hohenheim and I created this grand experiment, hoping to eventually produce a pair so powerful that they were able to perform a literal, macrocosmic Alchemical Marriage, thereby producing a literal saxum philosophorum."
"The Philosophers' Stone." Damn it, no matter where you go, these bastards are always after the same thing…!
"Exactly. Only… it has yet to work."
"Look, I hate to break it to you, but I'm out of the business of trying to manufacture Philosophers' Stones. Been there, done that, bought the T-shirt, sung that song, wrote that fucking book. I'M DONE. There is absolutely nothing you can say that is going to convince me to take part in anything involving the Stone at this point, not even for Al's sake. Already been down that road. So you might as well not even bother."
"Slightly bitter about this, are we?" Ritsu smirked. Edward was not amused. "I was not suggesting that you take part in a ritual to create the Stone. What I want from you is much simpler, and much more reasonable. I only want you to open the Gate so that I may step into your world."
Ed snorted. "For someone who's supposedly a 200 year old alchemist, you seem to know surprisingly little about this process. One does not simply 'open the Gate'. The Gate demands a sacrifice in order for someone to cross through. Even if I were to open it – and I'm not saying I even know how – that doesn't give you free license to jump through. Even if it did, you wouldn't be able to control where you went. The Gate leads to many different worlds…" Ed trailed off. The memories of his experiences with the Gate were still raw, painful, and frightening to him.
"Oh, I am well aware of that. But you can leave that complication to me. All you need to do is open the Gate and retrieve your brother, Alphonse, who is currently trapped between the worlds."
What? "Al is… trapped?" He knew something had gone wrong when he and Roy had ended up in this world, and he remembered having a dream that Al was trapped somewhere, but to think that he'd been stuck inside the Gate all this time… Ed shuddered involuntarily.
"Yes. The summoning process was incomplete, due to the intervention of your overly-assertive Colonel, I presume."
"Summoning…?"
Ritsu nodded, picking up a matchbook and lighting a cigarette. "I summoned you. I was trying to summon your father, but you were the closest thing The Gate could locate."
This made no sense at all to Edward. Summoning someone from the other side of the Gate? He'd never heard of such a thing. "How on earth did you…?"
"The details are immaterial. The point is, your brother is stuck in the Gate, and I presume you are interested in freeing him. I myself am interested in Gate-traveling, so I will voluntarily step into the Gate as a sacrifice. All you have to do is open the Gate and pull Alphonse out."
Ed was not convinced. "That sounds entirely too easy."
"Well, there is one small catch. In order to open the Gate from this side, you need to complete the ritual of the Alchemical Marriage with Aoyagi Ritsuka."
"WHAT??"
"Don't worry, I'm not asking you to do anything… inappropriate. You simply need to blend your energies together so that you can create enough power to open the Gate."
"You have got to be kidding me."
"Not at all. I never jest."
Why am I not surprised. "Look, even if I were willing to perform this… ritual… with Ritsuka, how would I be sure you were going to uphold your end of the bargain? How do I even know you are telling me the truth about Al?"
"You don't. But you will see him once the Gate opens. And it only stands to reason that I would not know his name had I not sensed his presence there."
Unless you are a lying bastard and this is all just a bunch of bullshit.
"This makes no sense. Why do you need me? If you have all these other Fighter/Sacrifice pairs around who could conceivably perform this ritual –"
"You were directly conceived from Hohenheim. Your power is therefore exponentially greater. The other pairs are much weaker, their blood having been diluted many times. Aoyagi Ritsuka is also incredibly powerful, as the blood ran strong in both his mother and his father."
"Hang on – Ritsuka's parents were genetically related?"
"Yes, as is the case with most of our little family. We couldn't let the strain die out, after all."
The wheels in Ed's brain were spinning furiously. This conversation just went from kinda frightening to seriously batshit fucking crazy. They're all inbred…? Well, that's certainly one way to explain Ritsuka's nutjob of a brother. If that even is his brother. Shit.
"There is something else I still don't understand. If all of the Fighter/Sacrifice pairs are related to… that guy, and that's why they retain alchemical powers, what about the ones who aren't? Like Soubi, or like Roy? Why did Roy and I become linked like that when we crossed over?"
"That is something I was wondering about as well. There are some parts of this process that are very organic and seem to take on a life of their own. If I had to guess, I would say that it must have something to do with your relationship. If I'm not mistaken, it was the Colonel's concern and affection for you that drew the two of you together as a pair as you passed through the Gate."
Roy's affection… for me? If I wasn't sure this guy was spouting bullshit before, I certainly know it now. He slips around conversation about Soubi like a shifty snake. Wonder what that's about. Ed sighed, putting his fingers to the bridge of his nose, unconsciously channeling Roy. I really have no choice, here. If even part of this is true, if there's even a chance I can reach Al…
"All right, here's the deal. If you take me to Ritsuka and show me where Al is, I'm willing to go as far as trying to pull Al out if that's possible. But one wrong move from you and I'll wreck the whole thing. If you have ulterior motives, now would be the time to admit them. I may look like I'm just a kid, but back home, I'm famous for fucking shit up, alchemically speaking. And my partner, Roy, isn't fucking around either."
"The one you ordered to stay out of this."
"True enough, but I can call him back any time I want. I'm serious, pal. Don't fuck with me. You'll regret it."
"So noted. Shall we?"
As Ed stood up, a cold shiver ran through his entire body. No doubt about it, this undead motherfucker is lying through his teeth. But what choice do I have? Al, can you hear me? I swear I'll do everything in my power to get you back. I'll never give up on you. Not now, not ever.