Chapter 10—Ferrous Molkenbloder…Again?

The earth rumbled in protest to the boy that had pushed it, wrenched it out of shape. It shuddered, sending shock waves thousands of miles, shock waves so small they didn't register even on the most sensitive testing equipment. The waves traveled outward from their epicenter, across the marsh, beneath large and small towns, under lakes and rivers and oceans, through rock, around trees, gradually losing force until only the smallest tremors remained.

The earth shuddered for a final time, causing the tiniest of the tiniest of tremors to push past a large cave covered in snow and ice in northern Russia. The occupant roused from his sleep and raised his head, gently licking the air with a forked tongue. He smiled crookedly, revealing fangs as long as a man's arm. He stood, stretching his long body before sauntering to the entrance of the cave. He unfurled his wings with a cry that reverberated across the barren land, a cry that that spoke of anger, of pain, of hunger, of excitement.

The earth shuddered again as the dragon pushed himself into the air to fly away toward a small marsh somewhere in Great Britain. And the earth kept shuddering. For it knew the thing that had just cried was not supposed to be. It was unnatural, a man-made monster immune to the effects of the rogue Dementors that joined it in it's flight. The earth trembled again, and the dragon-shaped monster gloried in bringing fear to those that, unlike himself, had a soul. He cried out again, sending a chill down even his companions' rotting spines.

He was excited.

It had been a long time since the Homunculus had tasted alchemy on the wind.

"Do you think we explained our case to Luna enough so she'll leave him alone?"

"Harry, we don't have a case."

"Oh, yeah, Hermione. Silver arm and leg, snake on the back of his coat and his watch, with October mentioned inside of it. Definitely not a case."

"Harry, it could just be coincidence, like Luna said."

"I don't know, Hermione. Dad said she could have been Confunded, but it's too hard to tell with Loony."

"Don't call her Loony, Ron!"

"Sorry."

"She certainly didn't want to go home, though. I wasn't expecting her to put up that much of a fight when the Petrifying curse wore off."

"I know what you mean, mate. My left knee still has a bit of a bite to it. Wish the teeth would hurry up and go away."

"That was a really cool curse, though. I wonder where she learned it."

"Probably from her dad, git that he is."

"Ron!"

"Sorry."

"Anyway, Harry, why don't we just let the Ministry deal with this. Mr. Weasley said that delegates from a few different Departments should be coming soon."

"Yeah, that's just what we need. A bunch of big heads strutting around, making pompous assumptions that don't help anything."

"You're only making assumptions as well, Harry."

"Yeah, but mine…"

"Please continue Harry. I'd love to see what you can come up with."

"Well, his aren't pompous."

"But they still aren't helping anything, are they."

"Mmf."

"And Kreacher's still watching for when he wakes up?"

"Kreacher will watch the little boy that serves his master's enemies, oh yes he will."

"Thanks, Kreacher."

"Yes, Master."

"Um, Kreacher?"

"Yes, Mistress Hermione?"

"Why are you out here if you're supposed to be in there watching for him to wake up?"

"Master Ron requested a sandwich, Mistress."

"Ron!"

"Sorry."

Ed kept his eyes closed. In general, when you are captured it is best to keep ahead of your enemy in some way. Given that he was gagged, his hands were tied so his arms were perpendicular to his body, and his feet had been chained, the only way he could think of to keep ahead was to stay 'asleep'. Ed kept his breathing deep and calm, occasionally twitching a finger or two. The room had a dank, moldy smell that penetrated the blankets on his bed. He smelled old musty wood and a metallic smell that he only assumed came from the chains holding him down.

Ed felt light hitting his face from two directions, which he hoped meant there was a window in his room. Windows always made it easier to escape. Much less messy than, say, knocking down a wall. But walls had their own charm. Most people—especially guards—didn't expect their prisoner to try to run through the wall. Ed heard a noise outside his door, and he listened.

A conversation was taking place outside his room. He recognized Harry's-, Ron's-, and Hermione's voices, but there was a gravelly one that he didn't know. He made out most of the conversation, and almost sighed in relief when he heard that Luna was safe, followed by a brief surge of pride that Luna had fought back.

Okay, so there were some Ministry people coming to see him. And there was something named Creature that they had guarding him. The Creature came back into the room, and Ed judged from his footsteps that he wasn't the biggest being Ed had every fought. But Ed knew better than to judge something by its size. Creature was probably hugely powerful. Ed listened to the thing's wheezy breathing, almost wishing he could open his eyes for a few moments to see what he was up against.

Alright. He couldn't really do anything about that now. What he really needed to be doing was making plans. If they released his arms, then he could use alchemy to escape. What if they didn't release him? He had a few secrets stuffed up his sleeves, compliments of Winry's 'customizing' his automail, but alchemy was so much easier. Whatever. 'Easy' had never been a part of his lifestyle. If an opportunity came, he was taking it.

It was nice that Luna had been released. If he knew her—Ed was guessing that he knew her better than these people did—then she would try to rescue him armed with Gurdyroots and copies of her father's magazine. Luna would probably try to escape in much the same way. It was nice Ed didn't have to worry about finding her and trying to get them both out.

Ed hated pretending to be asleep. It wasn't his style to just sit there and not immediately jump into action, whether that action was doing some kick-butt alchemy, throwing a few punches, or shooting curse words right and left. He was about to go crazy with boredom when a loud CRACK resounded throughout the house.

"Stupid ministry officials," Ed heard the Creature mutter in his gravelly voice. "They think all Apparating at once makes them more official. Well, where were they when my Master was destroying the Dark Lord, hmm?" The Creature continued to mutter on about the stupidity of politicians in general (of which opinion Ed could heartily agree) and didn't even stop when said politicians entered the room. Loudly. With much flair and flapping of their robes. From the noises they were making, Ed guessed there were about five. It seemed as though some of the Weasleys, Hermione, and Harry had joined them.

After a few jokes about his height that had Ed grinding his teeth, the Ministry people got down to business.

"Weasley, do you want to wake him up, then?" one politician said. His voice sounded as though he didn't open his mouth when he spoke—a kind of tired voice that wheezed through his teeth.

"I would luff to," said a haughty female voice that Ed had at first mistaken for a Ministry worker. So she was a Weasley…funny…Ed hadn't thought the rest of them had an accent…

"Levanseta," said the woman. Ed felt the spell settle around his shoulders and waited for himself to be forcible 'awoken.'

Nothing happened.

"Fleur, are you sure that's the right spell? He should be awake by now, shouldn't he?"

"Of course eet ees ze right spell, Hermione," Fleur said scathingly. "Ze spell did not wake ze boy because he ees already awake."

"But I have been watching the boy! Master commanded that I watch him and inform him if the follower of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named woke up! He has been breathing heavily and twitching his fingers! He could not possible awake."

Ed almost smiled. He'd always been a convincing fake sleeper. Even Al, who'd been traveling with him for ages, was still fooled by it. It seemed as though the Creature had been fooled, too.

The Creature didn't really like being faked out. It prodded him very sharply with a pointy finger.

"He could not be awake! He could not be!"

Ed tried to decide if he could keep up a convincing fake sleep while being jostled by an angry thing. Evidently he took a little too long deciding.

"Alright, we know you're faking. Open your eyes, boy," said a voice Ed didn't recognize.

Ed opened his eyes and came face to face with a pair of muddy, watery eyes that were even bigger than Luna's, with none of the ethereal, slightly kooky beauty that hers possessed.

Ah, thought Ed, THAT's the Creature.

Yuck.

Ed took a gander at the other people in the room. There was Harry looking suspicious, Ron looking hungry, Hermione looking thoughtful, more Weasleys looking red-headed and freckled (all except Mrs. Weasley, who Ed assumed was probably feeding the baby), a fat man in a plaid robe with a squashed nose and tiny mouth, a thin man in a green robe with a long nose and big ears, a thin woman with pursed lips, a red-haired man who could be a Weasley (his face was too scarred to tell if he had freckles), and standing right next to his bed was—

Wow.

Ed had never been a hand at poetry. But he had read a bit, and he remembered vividly reading one book written in poetic alchemic code. Horrid. Al had written a poem once, which was titled something along the lines of "Kittens are great and I want one". Ed had never even attempted to write anything even remotely close to a rhyme. But looking at this woman standing over his bed with an amused and irritated face made Ed feel like forcing out a verse or two.

"My face, it eez beautiful, no?"

Ed squeaked.

Ron snorted.

"Well, getting on with things, then," said the fat man. Ed tore his eyes away from Fleur and tried to focus on what the man was saying. "My name is Pecksniff, and I'm from the Department of Magical Malfunctions. These are my coworkers, Jenepur," he pointed to the big-eared man, "who is an Auror, and Heglebey," he pointed to the woman, "who works in Information." Pecksniff paused, as though waiting for Ed to tell him his name.

Ed simply stared, trying hard not to blink.

Pecksniff sniffed and scratched his squashed nose. "We already know who you are. You are Edward Elric, travelling under the guise of a muggle."

Ed decided that warranted a response. "Not guise. I am a muggle."

"You used previously unstudied magical techniques."

Ed sighed. "Whatever." There was no way he was going to tell this guy anything, especially give him a lecture on the difference between magic and alchemy. "Where's Luna?"

"Miss Lovegood has returned home."

Ed sighed again. These guys were ridiculous. If it had been a homunculus interrogating him—well, they didn't really interrogate, so that was a moot point. They liked to maim. And kill. And brutally dismember. Not really interrogate.

Ed realized Jenepur had just asked him a question. "Wha—!" Heglebey poured a small vial of liquid down his throat. Coughing and spluttering, Ed glared at her. "What did you do that for? Trying to poison me?"

Heglebey didn't even look at him, but pulled out a roll of paper and a quill pen. "Continue, Pecksniff."

"What is the color of your coat?"

What? Was he blind? "Uhhhh….pink with blue polka-dots," Ed drawled.

Pecksniff frowned. "What is the color of your coat?"

Ed almost laughed. More ridiculousness! "Silver stripes with one long gold one right in the—Red." Ed's eyes bulged. His mouth had answered by itself.

Pecksniff seemed pleased.

Crap, this is not good, though Ed.

"What is your name?"

"Edward Elric." His mouth! His tongue! His face was forming words, and he didn't even think about the answers! What was happening?

"Are you known by any other names?"

"The Fullmetal Alchemist. The People's Alchemist. Will Parker. Tom—"

"That's enough." Ed was shocked. Those had been his childhood heroes, people he had pretended to be when playing alchemy with Al before their mother had died.

"Why do you carry a pocketwatch with a serpent on it?"

"To make sure I never forget." Ed couldn't control his own responses. The truth was coming out of his mouth, and he was powerless to stop it.

"Forget what?"

Ed didn't want to tell him. He struggled against the Truth Liquid, but he had to say something. "The day I burned down the house."

There were a few murmered comments at this as Heglebey scribbled down what he said.

Ed closed his eyes, waiting for the next question.

"Whose house?"

"Mine."

Pecksniff was silent for a moment.

"What is your connection with Lord Voldemort?" Harry jumped in. Pecksniff glared at him.

"No connection."

Harry looked disappointed, but pressed on. "How did you get silver limbs, then?"

No. Ed was not going to answer that. He. Was. Not. Ed felt an answer growing in his throat. He clamped his mouth shut, struggling against the choking feeling, closed eyes seeing memories flash through his mind of his mother, Al, Winry, biting his tongue to prevent the Truth Liquid to take over his mouth, to force answers out of him. It hurt, fighting it. Ed could feel tears threatening to leak out of the corners of his eyes. Ed would not tell these uncaring, unfeeling strangers his greatest secrets. He had beat their magic before—he could do it again. He could do it again.

He could do it.

He could do it.

He could.

Ed scrunched his eyes further closed, so tight he saw spots. But he was losing. He could feel the power of their magic moving inside him, causing his tongue to loosen and his memories to travel through his head to the roof of his mouth where they hovered, waiting for his lips to part and reveal Ed's largest secret.

Ed's eyes parted, defeat written on every feature. He looked right, left, glanced briefly at the warm sunlight streaming through the tiny window in his prison, and let his eyes rest on the beautiful woman standing coldly at his bedside.

Ed opened his mouth.

"I am a Ferrous Molkenbloder."

And all hell broke loose.

Well, there we go. Chapter diez. This one is a bit longer, I think. Maybe not, though. I'm not sure. Does anybody really care?

Classes suck. Just started and already I have a monster load of crap to do. Which is why I'm not doing it and writing instead. No, really, though, I'm not just doing this because I have so much other stuff to do. I decided to upload a chapter in celebration of having a wonderful day! Today really was fantastic. I don't even really know why. Well, actually I think I do. I'm going to talk to the girls for a moment. Boys, I guess you can read too if you like really girly moments...

You know those days when you wake up and you just feel like feeling more gorgeous than usual, but then you try and fail miserably? Well, this was not one of those days. This was one of those days where you wake up, want to feel drop-dead, stunningly, beautifully gorgeous, and somehow everything works out and you do!! I don't know about many of you, but I don't have those days a lot. Usually when I want to look really good it flops, but today was like the best hair day ever!! I wore flippin' cute clothes that were even comfortable, had new earings and everthing!! Woot!! I felt like a million bucks even if I didn't look like it, but I don't care if I didn't. I felt like I was gorgeous, and that's really all that matters.

Okay, I'm done with that. But, on this momentous occasion, I decided to give all my wonderful readers, and especially my reviewers a treat. Because, let's face it guys, whenever I open my email and see a little Review email in my Inbox, I feel like a million bucks all over again.

Here's to you guys, may you always feel like a million bucks, too.

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churu

Wow, long Author's notes.