run, i'm a natural disaster
42. Roots
When they're crossing the desert to get to Amestris, they stop at the ruins of Xerxes. It's not the best place they could've stopped at, despite their guide's opinion. They've seen the monster that Xerxes created, was sacrificed for. Hell, Ed's father- that creepy Hohenheim guy- was perhaps created from the ashes of the lost civilisation. The stones stand as if a mass grave, looming above them with the old alchemical carvings. None of them feel comfortable with this- all they can think about is that this was the fate of Amestris and its people if Father had succeeded.
It's worse for Ed though. All she can think about is that in the desert, under the sand somewhere, were her relatives. She could have had an uncle, a grandmother, a granddad, an aunt- a family bigger than just her and Al. People who could've cared for them as well as their mother, after their bastard of a father left. Maybe they wouldn't have committed the taboo; maybe they would never have joined the military. Maybe none of the ordeal with Father would've happened.
It's not just the desire for family that drives Ed to mourn- for all she knows; Hohenheim might have been an orphan, friendless and alone. It's the fact a culture- her culture, a part of her, has been erased from the earth. Science, religion, language… all of it gone. Things she should've been taught since birth, things that should be a part of her identity are gone without a trace.
Her golden eyes glisten with unshed tears. Golden eyes that mark her as a descendant of Xerxes. Al is the only one with eyes like her now. She looks at the alchemical circle, tracing it with gloved fingertips, careful not to damage the stone. There are thousands of cracks in it already, soon it will be dust, like the rest of Xerxes.
Heinkel and Darius press into her sides, Darius regaling both of them with over-cheerful trivia he gleaned from history books on their journey. Greedling spars with LanFan a short distance away. The sundry servants busy themselves with cooking, preparing tents and looking after the animals. Ed turns away from the place she could've been from and instead looks forward. They're halfway to Amestris now.
She escapes from Heinkel and Darius' embrace-that-is-not and instead joins in LanFan and Greedling's spar.
She has a place where she belongs, and what ifs and maybes are not parts of it.
A.N: I'm uploading this from my friends house because I have wifi problems on the computer where ALL OF THE REMAINING CHAPTERS OF THIS STORY ARE
So all I have are the chapters I managed to email myself when the computer was feeling malvolent
THIS IS THE ONLY REASON I BROKE MY PROMISE I AM SORRY FRIENDS
All of the people that have favourited and reviewed it I love you and if you have any solutions to my problem (beyond waiting for the new cable to be put in which could take months) I am metaphorically all ears
I hope you all had a good yule and good new years
2 more chapters for you in a sec