Disclaimer: Don't own FMA or Secrets. Don't kill me.
Sophie yawned, stretching her arms, and then blinked. "So this is Munich," she muttered. Josh gave her a playful punch.
"Well, what did you expect? Everyone to be blond and blue-eyed and be wearing vests and lederhosen?"
"That's not fair, Josh!" Sophie protested, pouting. "That's accusing me of being racist and the kind of person who subjects everyone else to stereotypes." Josh laughed.
"Calm down, Soph. I was just kidding!" Bantering done, they studied their surroundings in silence. Actually, it was a lot like Paris... only German. Flamel walked up.
"Unfortunately, cities have a bad habit of attracting Elders and immortals, so to be on the safe side, we're going out to the country. I know someone who lives in the town of Risemburg. We'll be staying there.
"Anything we need to know about this 'someone' before we meet them? Stuff that might be taboo in front of them? Maybe names that shouldn't be mentioned, or curses that they may be under?" Josh asked, clearly remembering his tactless remarks regarding Hekate. He scowled. It wasn't his fault! How was he to know about the whole three-faces-a-day situation? Sophie gave a small giggle at the recollection, and Josh glared at her. Perenelle chose that moment to walk up behind her husband. Her face showed faint wrinkles, and her hair already showed traces of white and grey, reflecting on the strain of magic and the effects of everyday spent without the Elixir to restore youth. Nevertheless, she walked firmly and steadily, with dignity and head held high. Her eyes showed knowledge and wisdom your average person wouldn't even dream of. She turned to the disgruntled boy and answered.
"No, he's human, or was. He's probably dead by now. What my husband has forgotten was that that was back in 1923, so like I said, he's no longer living at this point." ("Ack... how could I have forgotten?" mumbled Flamel under his breath.)
"So why-" Josh was cut off by Perenelle, who resumed speaking as if Josh hadn't spoken. Josh merely grunted in annoyance. "However, we're still staying in Risemburg. He may have had family or friends that'll help us and give us a place to stay. We need shelter while searching for someone to teach you elemental magics. Our cover story will be that we, meaning Nichola and I, are physicists traveling around doing research. Our friend mentioned studying under this man, so we came to look at his research notes. You'll be our assistants for the summer." The twins thought this over.
"Seems reasonable enough to me," said Sophie at last, breaking the heavy silence that had ensued. "But why physics?" Josh agreed. Physics wasn't exactly his strong suit, whereas natural science and other archeology-related subjects were. This time it was Flamel who answered.
"When we first met this man, he was a government scientist also working as a professor of physics in a university in Munich. At that time, we were starting our jobs as scientists in physics, which eventually led us to making an atomic bomb in Arizona, if you recall. Anyway, we studied for a bit under him, and once we started our own research, swapped notes with him the way two housewives might swap recipes. After a short period of time, we became fast friends, but we fell out of touch after World War II. I actually hadn't realized so much time had gone by already, or the fact that he's probably dead by now. I wish we had remembered sooner, and at least said good-bye." Nicholas Flamel's eyes glimmered slightly, as if unseen tears were fighting their way to the surface. The twins sat in silence while digesting all they had learned, while Perenelle stared out of the window of the hotel room. Then Josh finally spoke up.
"But what was his name?" He asked. "You never mentioned it." Flamel smiled sadly. Perenelle turned around to regard the twins, then, looking directly at Josh, answered.
"His name was Van Hohenheim."
Author's Note: Nrgh... wasn't too pleased with the way this chapter turned out. Way too short, for one thing, another was that all the phrases seemed awkward, and couldn't get the plot to flow properly. I also apologize for any character OOC-ness.