What a week! Seven nights straight on an air mattress, sharing a room with four of my siblings as we went to say goodbye to Grandpa until we meet again. Missing Grandpa, but picturing him having lots of fun meeting all the people he researched in the career as a professional genealogist that he loved so much. Helping Grandma around the house as she worked with our difficult family, the funeral director, and our church to plan Grandpa's funeral. Helping scan almost five hundred lost family photos that turned up after Grandpa's death. Fasting and praying that the extended family would be nice to each other at the services (God granted us that miracle).

Anyways, I'm grateful to be home and grateful to have writing as a means of keeping myself sane.

Chapter IV

Al woke to his brother's calls. The servants' quarters were still only very faintly lit by the night's natural light coming in from outside, so what could be happening at this time of night? Al thought he heard something about a snake.

Forgetting about the seal his brother had put on the door, Al went to go help with the creature. It didn't take a prince or a knight to deal with a wild animal. The moment Al put his hand on the door, there was a flicker of red, which disappeared as Al pushed the door open. "Where's the snake?"

The snake, strangely quick for the cold weather, stuck out at Al's left leg. It would have gotten Al too if Ed hadn't kicked at just the right moment.

The snake was knocked aside, hitting the cold floor with a soft thud.

Ed looked at his brother, mouth starting to open as though he wanted to say something, but he shut it and turned his attention back to the snake instead. "Al, get me a pillowcase or something – I'm gonna catch it."

Al ran into the servants' chambers and snagged the rough, grayish pillowcase off of his flat pillow. Glancing around, he found a stray stick that he though the cook's boys might have brought in as a make-believe sword at some point and grabbed it too.

He went and handed the pillowcase to his brother, pointing the knobby stick toward the snake himself.

The young men cautiously approached the snake, dodging its strikes. Al poked at it and used the stick to block attacks – all aimed toward him – many times.

They continued the dangerous game until Al managed to pin the snake down with the stick just long enough for his brother to catch it in his pillowcase. Ed tied pillowcase up and threw it out a window, where there was a decent fall down to the castle's snowy grounds.

The younger prince noticed his brother looking around the shadowy hallways again before Ed even spoke to him.

"You okay?" Ed asked.

"Yeah, thanks."

Ed threw a sour face at the servants' chamber door. "My barrier managed to keep Father's shape-shifting helper out, but it was weaker than normal, just like my magic this afternoon. And the barrier disappeared entirely when you touched the door Al. I really wanna know why."

Al hung his head. "I forgot about the barrier, but I guess I shouldn't have touched it and made it weaker since you've been having trouble with your magic lately. I messed up again, didn't I?"

"It shouldn't have disappeared just by being touched." Ed went and put his hand to the plain wooden door. Lingering for a moment, he shook his head. "My spells don't just weaken on their own, and I know you didn't do anything on purpose. I don't understand what happened. I can't pretend that a spell actually giving out is just me being tired."

He pulled the door shut, not saying anything to Al to tell him to get back inside. Al watched his older brother, picturing all the things that could happen to the two of them if there really was something stronger than his brother interfering with his brother's magic.

Both boys tensed as they heard crisp footsteps coming down the hallway, but it was just Mustang. "Ed," he greeted. "Alphonse?"

Ed turned to Al with a smile. "We're going to see the real King Van. Since you're already up, wanna come?"

Al quietly nodded and followed Mustang and Ed through the castle. The unfamiliar halls seemed smaller at night, their contours different than the day his brother had shown him around, but the two he was with knew the castle well enough to find their way. It just reminded Al of all the things he didn't know, even if he'd been born a prince.

It was a small journey to go visit their father once they'd left the servants' chambers. Moonlight sent silhouettes of bare tree branches into the hallways, shapes twisting around as if to ensnare one of Al's party.

Even once they'd passed the sleeping guards with the strong smell of flowery herbs on their breath, it seemed miles through the cold, freezing dungeons. The place smelled of damp earth, perhaps like the inside of a grave.

It didn't help Al's nerves any that the only light he saw was the flickering light of the small ball of flames that Mustang was maintaining with his right hand. He imagined the dungeons actually would be pitch-black without it.

Rubbing the spot of his clothing that his charm lay under, Al glanced at his brother. He was there with him, and soon he'd have his father's company too. Relaxing a bit, Al allowed himself a smile.

Ed walked beside Mustang as they covered the last length of hallway before reaching his dad's cell at the far reaches of the underground network of dungeons. He was familiar enough with the awful sight of how skinny his father was, but he thought he heard Al break the silence by letting out a gasp behind him.

Ed knelt down, close enough to the bars that his hands could just reach through and touch the icy hand of his sleeping father. "Dad."

Hohenheim opened pale eyes that Ed knew would have matched Al's and his own had they been healthy. "Edward? You didn't visit me that long ago."

"I know." Ed nodded behind him to where Al stood. "Things happened faster than expected."

Hohenheim's gaze turned to Al and lingered there for a moment, blinking. "Alphonse?"

Al mumbled out some formal pleasantries, almost as though he were a shy peasant meeting his king. Ed glanced back and saw him shuffling his feet on the grimy floor. His lips turned downward. He'd thought Al had started to get used to royalty over the past few days!

Hohenheim was also frowning and Ed sensed he owed his father an explanation. "I lost my personal servant shortly after I sent Mustang out to teach Al who he really is, and Al came to fill the opening. He said he wanted to be here with us, and I couldn't say no to him, even though I knew he'd be safer in Dublith." He paused, closing his eyes and inhaling slowly. "The enemy already know who he is, and my magic's not protecting him as well as it should..."

Hohenheim waited for his oldest son to finish explaining the situation before he said anything. "I hate to say it, but the problem probably lies with Al."

The damp dungeon air suddenly seemed a bit colder than it already was. Al? It couldn't be, right?

Unfortunately, it made sense.

Ed and Mustang both looked at Al, who glanced at them both, as well as at Hohenheim, and nearly stumbled half a step back.

Hohenheim spoke from inside his cell. "Alphonse, do you know of any reason why magic would be weaker around you?"

Al stuttered out a weak no.

"Did you perhaps bring anything magical with you that could be interfering with other spells?"

Al brought a hand toward his chest and slowly curled his fingers around something under his clothing. "I do have something, but it shouldn't be causing problems, should it? I haven't even used it."

Ed's eyes narrowed. "What is it?"

"It's one of your charms, Brother. Mister Cornello sold it to me, saying you'd put a spell on it to make a wish come true. I bought it because I really wanted to know who my birth family was. I'd meant to ask Sir Mustang to write my wish on it for me, but I never got a good chance."

"A charm to grant wishes?" Ed asked. "Al, I don't make charms to grant unknown wishes – I want to know how my magic's being used."

Something pricked at Ed's heart, the prince suspecting what his younger brother's wish had been, but he couldn't allow Al to keep the charm. Ed held out a hand, scowling at an imaginary Mister Cornello – probably some fat guy in a silky cloak, using his charisma on unsuspecting villagers. "Give me that charm."

Al reached a trembling hand under his shirt and pulled out a simple money bag. He handed the whole thing to Ed.

Ed opened the drawstring and removed the wooden charm. His eyes grew wide and he turned to look at his father. "I feel weak."

He did. He felt as though he'd been covered in leeches, all wedging themselves between Ed and his inner gate to the magic realm and sucking away at the reservoir of magic he had as a half-sorcerer.

"Edward, give it to Sir Mustang."

The small chip of carved wood slipped through Ed's fingers and dropped to the floor with a light clink.

Mustang bent over to pick it up, despite Ed's protests. Didn't Mustang know it would weaken his and his supplier's magic off as well?

The knight waved Ed's worry aside with a hand. "I'm fine, Ed. It's not doing anything to me."

Hohenheim's weak voice carried from behind Ed. "The charm can only affect one source of magic at a time." On hearing his father's voice, Ed spun toward the cage and saw words continue to pour past Hohenheim's chapped lips. "The charm will weaken spells that call on your magic, but as I am the one who's given Sir Mustang access to his magic, it won't affect him."

Ed saw motion out of the corner of his eye. Al was trembling, crying into his sleeve. He took a step toward his younger brother. "Al?"

"Why?"

Ed crossed his arms. "Al, I don't understand. Why what? What are you crying about?"

"All I wanted to do was meet my family, and that charm was supposed to be from you."

Ed understood. "It's not like you knew. There was nothing wrong with wanting to meet us, but someone used that against you. You were tricked, plain and simple."

Mustang coughed into the hand he wasn't suspending a fireball with, now holding the wooden charm. "We're all worried about young Prince Alphonse's safety here. I believe we came to discuss what to do about it?"

"If Father didn't already know about him, we could try sending him back into hiding, but I do not believe the same trick would work twice, not if we hid him anywhere in this realm." Hohenheim looked at his youngest son, a subdued tone to his voice. "However, if we sent him to the other realm, he would never be able to come back, and how could I deny him forever the one thing I came here to gain? Family."

Ed gave a small nod – no human being could go through the Gate more than once, and no one could physically start a family in the magic realm. Al would be alone in a place where he'd never taste death.

Al took a step closer to him, his eyes pointed toward where Mustang was starting to burn the draining charm.

"Speaking of going to another realm, I never understood why Father came here. What could our realm offer a sorcerer but a chance at a family?"

"He didn't come to this realm," Hohenheim said. "Both his parents came here from the magic realm, and he was born here in a neighboring country. He's never been interested in the magic realm – why would he when he is comparatively much more powerful here?"

Ed scowled at a clump of mud on the floor. He'd heard before that Father allowed his dad to live in order to impersonate him, but he'd never understood why Father wanted to come to this realm and take over Amestris in the first place. Father being from this realm made a little more sense, but why had he invaded Amestris?

He almost missed his brother's quiet complaint. "I don't understand what's going on."

Ed looked up. "How so?"

"Other realms. Reign of Amestris."

"I don't know why Father wants to rule Amestris either, but I can tell you about realms. You see, magic comes from another realm, another earth, much like this one, and its power can only be accessed here through people who have come from there – sorcerers like Dad. It's in their blood."

Al glanced at the unwashed king chained to an equally unclean floor. "I thought you and Dad were born in Amestris?"

"I was – same as you – but I lucked out on inheriting magic from Dad. Dad, when people say he's an Amestrian born with magic, they don't mean he was born here. He was made an Amestrian because he defended this country for so long – the last king named him his successor when he was unable to have children of his own."

Al nodded.

Ed looked at their father. "I don't get it – why Amestris. This place must have been harder for Father to take over with another sorcerer on the throne."

Hohenheim seemed to slump in his shackles. "Revenge. While he was gaining political power through his rising military ranks in his own country, I stopped his advance when I led our troops to turn his army back. He swore he'd come and kill our family, taking all our knowledge of sorcery for himself. I bet he's busy working to diminish our power in this realm to the point where even the magic in this family won't save us – like with the wishing charm."

Ed's voice dropped to a whisper. "Magic is fueled by belief. Father thought Al was dead until today, so there's no way he could have known the charm would end up in our household. He must be trying to undermine the people's belief."

He spotted Al moving back and forth on his feet out of his peripheral vision, so he smiled at his brother. "Thanks, Al. If you hadn't brought that charm here, we might not have known about it."

Ed kept smiling at his younger brother as Al looked up from the floor.

Al slowly smiled back. He wasn't smiling a very big smile, but he was smiling.

Ed looked at his dad. "With that charm gone, I think my magic might be able to protect Al a bit longer. Maybe even long enough to teach him how to protect himself from Father and those creatures he summoned through the Gate."

"Brother, if there's something Father can do to weaken your magic, then there might be something that can be done to strengthen it, right?"

Al was right.

"Strengthen our magic?" Ed became more animated. "Mustang, I need you to organize a campaign to keep people believing in the Hohenheim magic."

The knight smirked. "Of course."

Smirking back, Ed spun around and grabbed Al around the shoulders. "As for you, come with me. I've got just enough magic left right now to make you something."

Ed called a goodbye to his father as he ran out of the dungeons with Al, Al barely having the breath to do the same. Ed released him when they got to the main halls and led him up to the princely chambers, where the older prince pulled a silky, white blanket off his bed. Moments later, Al was presented with a scrap of white cloth, written on with something dark. "Here. Keep it where you kept Father's charm."

Al complied, drawing his purse closed when the charm was safely inside. "What is it?"

"It's a protective charm. It should lessen the effects of physical attacks against you. It will work to the degree you can bring yourself to trust me and my magic."

Al closed his eyes and sent himself back to the mental exercise his brother had used in teaching him how to summon a helper to protect him. He could still see the Curtises and Mustang in the role of his savior, but he guessed he just didn't know his brother well enough to see him there yet.

Who did he trust most in the world? He trusted the family that had raised him, but he hoped he trusted his brother to love a lowly commoner like him enough to protect him too.

Al held his woolen moneybag in one hand and felt magic coming off the charm it contained. It felt loving, trustworthy, and warm, much like he'd felt when his brother had given him access to his magic. Smiling, he tucked it underneath his clothes. "Brother, thanks."

If Father tried to attack Al again that night, Mustang's protective barrier did its job in keeping him and his helpers out. Al had an hour or two of precious sleep after the previous night's excitement before he had to be up and attending to his duties.

He was jumpy all through the morning. He was jumpy as other servants tried to talk to him about the snake they'd heard about. He was jumpy as he ate some warm bread for breakfast. He was jumpy as he walked through the drafty corridors and up the winding stairwells to report to his brother's chambers.

On the way there, Al automatically took up the defensive stance his parents had taught him as he bumped into someone, but it was just a little boy. He relaxed, laughing a bit. "I'm sorry about that."

The boy looked up at him with a large smile stretched up toward his dark eyes. "Prince Edward really did get a new servant. You're him, aren't you?"

"Yeah, I'm Al Curtis."

"I'm Selim. I'm the son of one of King Van's advisers."

Al looked at the dark-haired, dark-eyed little boy in front of him. Did the inhuman things his brother told him about have families too? Realizing he was gawking, Al mumbled out, "Are you really?"

"You really are new, aren't you? A lot of new servants have a hard time meeting the highest castes for the first time."

Al nodded almost absently to Selim's question as his mind returned to the single-roomed stick and mud house, large for a commoner's living space, where Mustang had told him that he was a prince of Amestris. He hadn't entirely believed it then, and he had certainly felt nervous when he came to get a servant's job from his brother, even having been told that he himself is a prince.

Yet, he had seen his brother's golden eyes – same as his – for himself. He'd seen his brother goofing off, and he'd even seen his brother helping with chores. If Al hadn't known better, he wouldn't have known there was a real difference between Ed and any of the village boys in Dublith. But he knew his brother was the crown prince and a sorcerer, not a regular person.

"I bet you'll soon be wondering what the difference is between the castes really," Selim said. "I mean, someone like you could easily have been born with the crown prince's responsibility, and soon you'll see that even those of us in the highest castes can mess up. Just recently, one of Prince Edward's charms failed to protect a little servant girl that he thought was cute, letting her dad partially transform her into a talking animal."

Al unconsciously reached for the charm around his neck, noting that the weight of the wooden trinket was off compared to what it had been the night before. Would that mean there was a chance his charm to reunite his family wouldn't have worked, even if he had used it?

As Al's hand reached the bag at his neck, he felt that its contents were more flexible than wood and remembered that the charm in there had been changed. But still, if this kid were telling the truth, it had been one of his brother's protective charms that had failed. Not a comforting thought.

Selim's eyes went wide. "I've got to go! I promised my dad I'd help him with something." Selim darted down the stairwell, and Al continued on his way.

He was distracted as he helped his brother put on mail and armor.

"Al? Al? Alphonse."

Al finally noticed the intense look Ed was giving him. Ed's golden eyes drilled into his own eyes that had been disguised as brown. Al blinked and looked away with an awkward smile. "I'm sorry about that – I guess I'm a little distracted today. What is it?"

"I was trying to tell you that Mustang's going to give you a reading lesson while I'm out training today. I still haven't found a way to let you keep up on your own physical training, so I'm hoping you could get closer to being able to read our sorcery books instead."

Ed's eyes ran across his brother's face, his lips turning down into a frown. "What's bothering you?"

Al shifted.

"Is this about last night?"

"No."

Ed put his hands on his brother's face and turned it toward him. "You can tell me anything."

"I was thinking about a little girl named Nina Tucker."

Ed released his brother's face and mirrored his expression. The remainder of their time together that morning passed with very few words exchanged between them.