January 25th, 1974

Even in the middle of winter, Resembool had plenty of social gatherings and meeting places that kept people from getting bored in the evenings. This year that also meant a lot of chatter and, in the case of the two mayoral candidates, endless opportunities to socialize with the constituency and possibly win votes.
Or at least, that was the commentary that Aldon had gotten from Ed at the very beginning of their strategy sessions. Tonight, Aldon wasn't particularly out to push his political agenda. He was happy to talk to anyone who wanted to talk, about any subject they wanted to bring up, but he was more enjoying the chance to chat with his neighbors and friends; business as usual.

And, for once, he didn't have most of the family with him. His parents were home tonight, and Cassie was home helping Callie with a school project. Reichart and Deanna rarely ventured out in the cold winter weather –and this winter was proving to be one of sleet and slush-, not with another little one on the way, and helping out on the cattle farm always meant early rising so they didn't usually stay up late.

That left Urey and Ted, who were both likely also eyes-deep in studies; Ted for school and Urey –who was almost always ahead- in alchemy.
Aldon had enjoyed a long chat with Ollie –Kit was home with the kids, though Aldon suspected that might translate into 'Kit and the kids decided to go over to your house'– but Ollie had left a few minutes before, and Aldon was beginning to consider it time to go home.

Not that it was overly late. It was only about eight o'clock, but the kids had school in the morning, and he had new designs to finish and a meeting with Deanna's father about the new milking machines he had designed that they were ready to begin construction on. They couldn't replace all hands, but they could do the work of several with only one, and it was exciting to be giving that a try. It should cut milking time in half to start. Aldon was fairly certain he could get that down even more with fine-tuning adjustments.

He moved through the crowded room with his thoughts drifting to that project more than the conversations around him. Scanning the groups, Aldon felt he ought to make one last pass in case there was anyone else who wanted to talk, when he heard whispers, and noticed a couple of women looking furtively in his direction. Years of practice made it fairly easy to pick their voices out while he looked as though he was just refilling his apple cider.

"-real shame about the family."

"Indeed. Do you think he knows?"

"How could he not? The girl looks nothing like him. It's obvious."

"Maybe it's denial."

Aldon almost sputtered, the cider to his lips. He didn't like the sound of those mutterings. He managed to swallow the mouthful without spraying it everywhere. Were they talking about Callie? Of course she looked nothing like him!

"Maybe he's the forgiving sort."

"But how could she?"

His ears began to burn. It was Cassie they were slandering… more than him. Gathering as much calm as he could muster –at least on the outside- Aldon turned and casually made his way towards them through the crowd, making sure not to look like he was heading for them.

"Only a real hussy would do that… especially after five."

"Can we be sure they're all his too?" the second woman asked.

Aldon couldn't help but wonder if they were just truly this bad at whispering, or if they wanted others around them to hear. He wasn't a violent man, but the urge to smack those words out of their mouths hit with surprising force. They were questioning the parentage of his children, the loyalty and integrity of his wife, and his own mental faculties. The first two insulted him more than the last. How dare anyone say a word against Cassie, especially something so vile and uncalled for!

"Good evening, ladies."

They jumped, having apparently missed him when he had moved further into the crowd. Guilty looks turned to too-sweet smiles.

"Good evening, Mr. Elric," the first asked and, up close, Aldon could see that neither of them were ladies who had been in town for more than a few years. In fact, he was pretty sure the younger of the two –though neither was 'old'- had only been around a few months, since he couldn't recall her name right off. "How are you this evening?" she asked, straight-faced now, as if she hadn't just been saying truly horrible lies.

"Very well, thank you," Aldon replied. "Miss Rivers… Miss Turner," he said, the name finally coming to him. Neither was married, he remembered, though they were cousins. "Enjoying yourselves this evening?"

"Yes… thank you," the first –Miss Rivers- nodded. Of the two of them, she was the one who looked like she feared being found out.

Well, they would find quickly that Aldon could keep his temper better than his father, at least in public. "I'm glad to hear it. I'm afraid I need to be getting home. It's about bedtime, and I always like to tuck the younger ones in at night. They look forward to it." As he turned to go, his voice dropped lower as he commented very clearly to them both, "And for the record… my daughter is adopted."

The horrified looks on their faces as he walked away were worth it.

Despite the hour, Cassie was still bent over the kitchen table with Callista finishing up her diorama of insects of the Resembool ecosystem. Not that she ever minded helping her children with school work, but Callista's project had turned into quite the art exhibit, because her daughter had decided that everything had to be perfect, and the details were going to be amazing, no matter how much extra work it took. So every bug was hand crafted out of fast-dry modeling clay, and then painted with details. And there were over two dozen bugs, plus the background and the ground which included modeled puddles, leaves, flowers, and twigs.

As an artist however, Cassie could not have been prouder of her daughter's insistence on getting it just the way she wanted, because it was beautiful.

"One more and I think we're done, Callie," she smiled as she watched her little girl set a butterfly in place on a flower, with just enough glue to hold it there, and then held it while it began to dry.

"I hope Teacher likes it," Callista beamed as she sat still, waiting for glue to dry with impressive patience.

"I'm sure she'll be very impressed," Cassie replied honestly. They had been working on the project for three days in the evenings, so it was hardly as if she had procrastinated.

The door opened, and slammed with such force the entire floor underneath them shuddered.

Cassie looked up in time to see Aldon, with a thundercloud expression, stalk through the kitchen, rip open the fridge, shut it again, and vanish into the hall. A moment later the back door slammed, and she was sure he was heading for his workshop.

Callista sat there, a little wide-eyed.

Cassie stood. "When you finish, go ahead and get ready for bed all right? I'm going to go talk to your father."

Aldon barely heard the workshop door creak open and shut. Familiar footsteps told him without turning around that Cassie had followed him. Not that he had really expected any different, not the way he'd blown through the house before his temper could let itself loose.

"Don, is something wrong?" she asked, and he felt her slender arms slide around his shoulders.

He finished the bottle of ginger ale in his hand and sighed. He didn't want to tell her. It didn't matter that the rumor was stupid, and obviously false. The fact that women were bandying it about in a public setting made him furious, and he didn't want to have Cassie's feelings hurt by something so cruel. Worst off, he had no idea where the rumor had started. If he'd been thinking, he might have asked, but then he might have just looked guilty, or like he was trying to cover something up.

There were moments he hated politics.

"Aldon… I know you're upset. You had better tell me why."

He turned to look over his shoulder at her, and found her face by his ear. "You never used to be so demanding," he commented glibly.

"I've had years to learn," she replied smoothly, and then kissed his cheek. "Let me guess… you heard the rumor."
The next words died on his lips as Aldon felt stunned. "You knew?" How could she be smiling at him, knowing what they were saying?

"Of course I know," Cassie replied with a casual little shrug. "Kit and I had a good laugh about it over coffee this morning with the other girls at the hospital. I mean really, Don, it's ludicrous. Anyone who's been around and pays attention knows Callie's not even really ours, and it's not like Callie isn't aware she's adopted, and she's never cared. No one's really going to believe it, not for long. I have several loud and staunch supporters in our community you know," she added, smiling more broadly. "Every mother whose baby I've helped deliver, or child I've soothed through an illness, or helped administer medications to… all our friends and neighbors. It doesn't bother me that there's a little mudslinging going on, and I don't want it to bother you. Not when it's something that doesn't hold any water at all."

Her common sense approach to it all made Aldon feel foolish at first, and the fury drained out of him as he stared at her bemused, and a little impressed. "You're something else, you know that?"

"That had better be a compliment," Cassie replied, her arms tightening around him.

"Always." Aldon turned the chair around and shifted them both so Cassie was in front of him, and he pulled her down onto his lap with a firm tug that made her chuckle. She felt good right there. "You're utterly irresistible."

"So you've told me," she replied, her tone softening even as there was a light flush of pleasure on her cheeks. After all these years, Aldon loved it when he could still make her blush. It wasn't nearly as easy as it had been when they were nineteen. "But I never get tired of hearing it."

"Good, because I never tire of failing to resist you." Aldon kissed her then, warmly and passionately, grateful as always that the thrill it brought him was just as deep and wonderful as when he had first fallen in love with her, if perhaps a trifle more tamed and controlled. A little…

When their lips parted, Cassie snuggled against him. "Don't let it get to you, Don. It'll all be over after the election, and everything will settle down again."

The thought that he should drop out of the running had crossed his mind repeatedly on the way home, but Aldon was still mildly surprised that Cassie had picked up on his unspoken thoughts. Though he wasn't sure why he hadn't just assumed she would know what he was thinking. "If you say so, it must be so," he smiled. Not that he wasn't going to make every effort to find out where the rumor had started and squash someone –or have them squashed by someone else, maybe Ollie- but he felt the knots in his shoulders relaxing, and his better frame of mine returning. "I love you. And you're right, I shouldn't let it get to me."

"After all," Cassie grinned at him playfully. "I'd be the one who should be more concerned if Callie *did* look like you."
Her meaning caught him utterly off guard. "But I'd never-" he sputtered, staring at her. He'd never even thought about cheating on his wife!

"Now there's my, Don," she cut him off with another kiss.

He'd been played… but oh how oddly good it felt when his wife did it. If it were anyone else, Aldon was sure he would be furious.

February 1st, 1974

Al couldn't remember ever –forget the last time- being crammed on a bus with so many enthusiastic –and relatively boisterous- teenagers. Elicia had usually been the parent available to chaperone field trips, when Al was busy with missions.

Now he was beginning to understand why she'd been grinning at him when they got on the bus. It was his turn to try and keep them in line, reasonably calm, and well behaved. Something he would not have thought difficult with his particular group of students, especially not from a highly academic private school. He had not counted on the amount of boredom that could creep into even the most well-behaved and academic of students. Come to think of it, Al wasn't sure why he felt that way, given he'd raised his own children, and Ed and he had been far worse about sitting still for long periods, especially Ed. Though travel had been something they enjoyed as much for the trip itself as the destination a lot of the time. So maybe that was the difference.

The ride down along the coast, even on a bus, held a view that captured Al's attention and imagination and, several times, tweaked his memories of another time… and another life. Creta was a lively, vibrant, unique culture that Al always enjoyed, but sometimes he found himself catching sight of something that just reminded him exactly of Italy, or Greece… or the south of France. Not that he and Ed had spent much time on the French Riviera. Something about naked swimming had left them both a little uncomfortable at the time.

Now… well Al wouldn't mind finding a private beach and a little skinny dipping with Elicia, but that wasn't happening on this particular trip. Instead they were escorting teenagers –who would probably try, at least once, to sneak off for the same kind of trouble- to look at the ruins and artifacts that often set of Al's déjà vu the most. Funny how so short a time could leave so many indelible memories.

"What are you looking at, Grandpa?"

Al looked up to find Minxia turned around in her seat and watching him curiously. He smiled. "The ocean."

"I don't see much of anything out there," she admitted as she glanced that direction. "We've been passing the ocean for hours."

"I see a lot of things," Al countered. "Not just the waves, and the whitecaps, and the seagulls, and the sand, and the clouds… but adventure, and possibilities. Imagine being on a boat on that water, sailing across it to who knows where? Or putting on an air mask or using alchemy to keep air around you, and swimming down underneath it? There's a whole other world of possibilities under that ocean and on the other side."

Minxia's smile had broadened as she looked with excitement at what had, moments ago, likely appeared to be little more than yet more brilliant blue ocean. "We're going to get to go sailing and diving on this trip. You think we'll find something?"

"I'm fairly sure we will find something," Al chuckled. "I can't promise it will be particularly unique, though it should be fascinating." Even the experience would be that. Al hadn't ever done much under water diving at any depths. Sinking to the bottom of things as metal armor had never counted in his opinion. That was a sensation he had never quite forgotten either.

Minxia turned back around and Al heard the rustling of pages, and suspected his granddaughter had her nose in a book instead of out the window. Though given all of the students had been required to bring school work with them, he wasn't entirely surprised, even if Minxia was one of the few at the moment who seemed inclined to work on anything.

Al turned his attention back out the window as he considered everything to come, but didn't think about it too hard. The trip was planned down to the last detail, and all he really had to do for the moment was enjoy the last few hours of the drive.

:I can't believe you're studying,: Angelique commented, more amused and playfully exasperated than actually annoyed.

:Who says I'm studying?: Minxia commented, looking up from the booklet in her hands. :This is the brochure that talks about all the things going on in the area around the dig! As well as the highlights of the ruins as far as the tours know, but also talks about what they're doing. It's really fascinating stuff.:
:Wait… there's other things around?: Angelique's interest was immediately piqued.

:Well yes!: Minxia rolled her eyes. :There's a town not too far away. I mean, it's not walking distance, but it's not so bad either. Just about a ten or fifteen minute drive.: She wasn't surprised Angelique was as interested in what the local shopping or night life might offer as their research trip, even though she knew Angelique really enjoyed archeological dig sites as much as Minxia did, even if they did have different interests. Angelique was as enamored with the beauty and jewels and artwork that might be found in a dig, as Minxia was with rock and carving and minerals and alchemical elements as much as she was with the clues to history.

:So we should all go hang out some night,: Thrakos suggested, poking his head over the seat in front of them and leaning on his elbows on top.

:Not you too,: Minxia groaned. :What about research? And scuba diving? And sailing?:

:Oh we'll have plenty of time for that,: Thrakos laughed. :But that doesn't mean we can't have some fun too, Minx! I mean look at that ocean? Don't you want to try surfing those waves? And we can dive for fun too, not just class.:

Minxia felt a twinge of envy at the carefree note in his voice. And sighed, and smiled up at her friend. :Oh I know… and yeah, of course we'll have a good time. But I'm looking forward to the work too! Is that so wrong?:

:Nah,: Thrakos shook his head, his dark hair falling in his eyes. :I bet we discover something fabulous on this dig.:

:Something the archeologists have missed?: Angelique asked, teasing.

:Sure,: Thrakos nodded as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. :After all, we're all great talents, and a fresh set of eyes!:

:And muscles,: Minxia pointed out. :We'll be digging till we're sore. If we find anything, it will be because they worked us harder than we've ever worked before.:

Thrakos stuck his tongue out at her before he sat down again. :Spoil sport!:

But Minxia's mood wasn't dampened. She was too keyed up to be bored like some of the other kids on the bus. Miles and miles of potential adventure unrolled before them, the real thing, not just a museum, but a real dig like she hadn't seen in years. How could she possibly not be completely absorbed in learning everything she could about the half sunken city of Malathos?

She was so absorbed in the history of the area that it was several seconds after the bus stopped before Minxia became fully cognizant of the fact that they were no longer moving, and the chatter had picked up, and everyone was starting to get up from their seats.

:Settle down everyone!: Grandpa Al's voice filled the bus, and the chatter minimized as people put up their stuff and pulled down bags. :And remember the rules. I don't want to hear that anyone did something that I have to send them home for. The Archeologists working this dig have been kind enough to let you come and take part in the work and learn from them. Let's show them gratitude and respect.:

Minxia would be more than happy to do both, as soon as she actually got to meet them! She tossed her bag over her shoulder and shuffled through the narrow bus aisle, crammed between her classmates, until she joined the ones nearly falling out the front of the bus onto the strip of road along the sand beyond.

It was late afternoon, and the sun was low, but not touching the horizon yet, with a couple of hours left of light. Minxia really hoped that meant they weren't done working for the day. Yes, it was lighter longer this much further south than home, but not by a huge amount. The brilliant red and gold light glinting off of a jagged, broken pillar nearly took her breath away. For a moment, the world faded into myth and history as Minxia looked down the hill and out across the shattered remains of time poking out of the sand, backlit by sparkling ocean.

"Pretty, isn't it?" Grandma Elicia asked softly from behind her.

Minxia nodded. "It's amazing."

Soon they were all shuffling down a long path between the dunes, sinking from the road down towards what looked like an oddly misplaced village; modern if distinctly beach-style cabins, set in circular clusters, near the Easternmost side of the ruins, farthest from the sea and closest to the road.

There were three clusters of cabins, about five or six each, and a larger one in the middle of the three circles where they almost intersected, which Minxia took to be the main offices, or a dining hall. It was large enough it might be both, but she wasn't willing to bet on it just yet. They had been told there would be lodging, so she wondered how many of those cabins were empty, and how many of them would fit in each one.

Her curiosity about them was not immediately sated however. Though she didn't really mind when she saw the cluster of people waiting for them!

Her Grandpa and Grandmother were speaking with a gentleman in faded blue jeans and a t-shirt, though he wore a more rugged shirt over it, open at the moment, in khaki. The man was Cretan, hale and strong, but Minxia guessed him to be fairly middle-aged, about her father's age maybe. He certainly had the healthy, tanned look of someone who spent a lot of time out under the sun.

:This is Doctor Damon Filios,: Al introduced him to the group of students. :He is the Lead Archeologist on the Malathos dig, and it is by his invitation that you are here.:

There was a loud chorus of thank yous and clapping from the students, which Minxia joined in with great enthusiasm.

They were then quickly introduced to Doctor Damon's –as he said they could call him- other lead staff on the dig. Two other major archaeologists, both nearly the same age as Doctor Damon, though the woman looked several years younger. Then there were the college students also here working on the dig, as they were majoring in archaeology. The two of them, with whom the high schoolers would be doing a lot of work, were Rakaela Minette and Paoulo Tikkon. Paoulo, who was a college sophomore, nineteen years old, had a smile that even made Minxia feel slightly warm for a moment, though the look on Angelique's eyes said her friend found him even more attractive than Minxia did. He was okay… but he wasn't an ancient city!

Unfortunately Rakaela, with her dark southern skin, darker curly hair, and toned figure seemed to have the same effect on the boys.

:Stop drooling.: Minxia smacked Thrakos upside the head with the booklet she'd been reading earlier.

Thrakos rubbed the back of his head. :Geez… a guy's allowed to look at people he's going to be working with, isn't he?:
:If you look like a hungry puppy, she's not going to take you seriously.:

:I wasn't drooling!:

:Like I believe that.: Minxia snorted, then relented at his sour expression. :I'm kidding. Come on, or we'll miss getting good bunks.:

After introductions, they were led to the group of cabins left open for the twenty students that had come on this trip. As it turned out, they were barracks style, with bunk beds, five to each cabin, and a single bed in each for the chaperones.

So that was why she'd heard Grandpa grumbling to Grandma about the sleeping accommodations. Minxia felt a little sorry for them, having to sleep separate for the whole trip, but she figured it was probably better to have them in there, especially with the guys!

Minxia took a top bunk, above Angelique, and they claimed one right by the windows looking out onto the ruins themselves instead of inside towards the other cabins. Minxia couldn't stop grinning as they rejoined the boys outside for what was going to be a cursory tour of the dig site before dinner!

She suspected it would have waited until after if it wasn't already getting noticeably darker.

It proved to already be a fairly extensive site. While they hadn't started digging down around every pillar or chunk of ancient wall, there were a lot of areas where digging was actually taking place, and several more archaeologists than they had met. Not that they were working now, but it was clear from the number of cabins and the sheer amount of available tools and ground covered that this was not a small operation. Minxia wasn't surprised when Doctor Damon –who was giving them the tour himself- informed them that there were fifteen archaeologists working on the Malathos site, and nearly sixty more support staff made up of college students, assistants, historians, researchers, and a few cooks and office staff, other more normal staff that helped keep everything in order. Though most of them were just as familiar with the work, and in the case of the primary cook, he was actually a retired archeologist.

Minxia found herself looking forward to meeting all of them, but the people were far less interesting at the moment, now that she was down among the pillars, which towered above her, reaching towards the sky, their broken fingers stretching for some unseen goal, but –broken- never making it. It was a sad, forlorn, yet majestic image. Minxia found herself jotting down notes and ideas even as she walked, scribbling them in a notebook. She was rarely inspired so much. She might, she thought, actually try putting the scene into poetic form later.

They meandered their way through the site, avoiding the deeper holes, some fifty feet long and twenty or more wide, until they came down to the beach, where the nearby cliff simply stopped, and the ruins seemed to march right down into the ocean, until the last visible pillars looked more like tiny islands, and then they vanished beneath the waves.

This time, she couldn't blame Thrakos for staring, because she was too, at the sheer beauty, and magnitude, and ancient grace of their surroundings. She felt a little warm inside when he finally opened his mouth and spoke.

:This is the coolest place ever.: