So, hi. It's been years and you probably thought this story was dead. Sadly, I thought so too. Once upon a time my computer went RIP and I lost all my progress on all my incomplete stories. I didn't think I would ever be in the mood to rewrite. But sometimes I still think about this story a lot, and even though I might never finish it, I can't rest well knowing I never got to get to a more satisfying point. A point with some HOPE. So here is an attempt to resurrect it. I'm sorry in advance for potential plot holes, as I don't have time to reread everything and all that. Just wanted to say, thanks to all of you that kept sticking around or sending me reviews and wishes of optimism (and even scolding me :D), it's greatly appreciated!
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CHAPTER 14: REFLECTION
Towards the day of the prime moon, the nights were as much of a challenge to get through as the days. Often he couldn't sleep at all and lay staring up at the ceiling, worrying about biology projects, English essays and chemistry tests almost more than performing the upcoming transmutation that would hopefully be the end of all their hardships. Al didn't hate this life he had stepped into. He liked school, his new friends and Alfons, and this world wasn't so different from his own as he had first anticipated. In the beginning, he hadn't cared much about where he were, figuring that anywhere else than Munich would suck since Edward likely would look for them there if he managed to return on his own. He knew now, Edward wouldn't come back on his own. The Gate was too powerful. But if only he returned, everything would be perfect. It didn't matter where they were.
It wouldn't be easy, but Al felt optimistic. It just had to work out. If not, nothing ever would.
"What is the first thing you will do when Brother returns?" Al asked one day while they ate dinner. He had wondered about that, since he in fact couldn't remember having seen Alfons together with Edward before.
Alfons blushed a bit. "I guess I'll hold him... and let him know that he's back for real."
Al sensed that Alfons held back a little, careful not to be too sappy in his presence. But he smiled. "Same here."
"And I'll give him Gracia's Christmas present," Alfons added.
The red scarf... Brother would like that. Al smiled vacantly. Then he felt something snuggle against his leg and curved down under the table to see the cat craving attention as usual. "I hope my brother won't mind having a cat."
"I'd be more worried about the opposite," Alfons said. "The cat must rather get used to having another attention-sick creature in the house." Al laughed at the truth in the words and Alfons couldn't help smiling as he said it since he loved giving Edward his attention. If Al took care of the cat, he'd make sure to take care of Edward.
At night when Alphonse didn't struggle with falling asleep, he struggled with unpleasant dreams. They had come more and more fiercely lately, ever since he had managed to open all the floodgates of energy inside his body. The dreams were flashes of the past, of memories he yet hadn't sorted out in his head, albeit they felt real enough to be actual memories. However, because of all the holes where Alfons was supposed to be, the flashes easily changed into something completely different where he was thrown into one situation after another. The essence of the memories got mixed into each other and Al was never entirely sure if they came in the right order or not.
One of his dreams had led him onto a train. He remembered that he had been there, but not exactly why he had been there. An armed man in civilian clothes stood before him with a grin, and as Al saw his face he remembered him by the name of Thomas Peterson. He had been from Thule Society, but disguised himself as an Amestrian soldier and fooled the whole military. In the next moment he was at an office, and Thomas Peterson was still there with him. As was someone else.
The shadow. Al knew, that meant Alfons was in the room too. Even if he couldn't see him, he felt him. He concentrated on the memory, wanting to know as much as possible since this was one of the memories the Gate had wanted to erase.
The surroundings were wavering in front of his eyes, making him dizzy. Though, he recognized the part where Peterson directed a gun at him, and the shadow moved quickly forward, pushing Al back behind himself to protect him. Alfons had done that?
There was a short conversation between the shadow in front of him and Thomas Peterson, though Al couldn't hear anything of it. At least not from the shadowed Alfons. Peterson's words were in contradiction there, but they were slurred and incoherent. No matter how much Al struggled to listen, he couldn't remember what had been said.
In the next moment he was tied up, his head hurt and he was lying alone on the floor. The shadow and Thomas Peterson were gone, and he struggled to get free. The situations kept changing, and Al kept seeing the face of the man he had hardly even remembered until now. All around him followed dead bodies, blood, explosions, ruins of cities, flying machines, and Schiller.
Al jerked awake with a short gasp and sat up in his bed, damp sweat sticking to his face. He felt nauseous. Not a single image from this dream had been merely a dream. All of it had been memories. He brought his knees to his chest and hugged around them. He had seen so many people die; caused by the time Thule Society had attacked his world. He felt like the Gate had left him with these memories to make them haunt him like this. Al could hardly remember anything good that had happened.
"The one you shouldn't have remembered was me," Schiller muttered from the window. He was sitting on top of the windowsill and rested his back against it.
Al turned his head and looked in his direction, feeling a knot in his stomach. "Did you see that?"
"I felt it."
Al drew his eyes away and pushed the covers off him. He had to get up in ten minutes anyway. It was Friday. Just another ordinary school day.
"Are you ready for tonight?" Schiller asked knowingly.
Al took a deep breath. Was he? It felt like this day couldn't have gotten fast enough, still it felt unreal. Soon, it would be over. Bronze eyes hardened in determination. "Yes," he said.
That day, concentrating at school was close to impossible. He was tired and worn out already, and knew he had lost his chance to catch up on some sleep before the transmutation. Performing alchemy in this world was much more exhausting than in his own. Though he should've known better than paying his body back some sleep debt in the middle of chemistry class.
"Alphonse Elric, are you listening?"
Al's head dropped to the flat of his desk after slipping from his hand, and he started into awareness. "Yes, Professor!" he squeaked.
The class laughed and Professor Kiehle stood with his arms crossed by the blackboard. "As I thought, you're just like your brother. I should give you detention for this disrespectfulness, don't you think?"
Al straightened up. Detention? Not today! He was supposed to start making the transmutation circle ready the minute he came home.
"But I'll let you off for this time," Professor Kiehle grumbled. "It's Friday and I have no more interest in sitting here with you until 6 o'clock than you do." He snapped his pointing staff down on Al's desk a couple of times, making the rest of the class fall into silence. "Can anyone name some of the most poisonous chemical compounds for me?"
No one volunteered.
"As I thought," Kiehle muttered. "Tom?" He pointed at his victim with his staff. "No clue, have you?"
Tom shook his head.
"Pity."
Al raised his hand slowly, surprising all his classmates as well as his Professor.
"You have something you want to say, Alphonse?" Kiehle offered, daring him to try and he'd be damned if he didn't stick to the subject.
"Tetanus toxin," Al said. "It's the most poisonous chemical compound. Although, everything is poisonous when it comes to it. Water will kill you if you drink too much of it, and oxygen is a deadly poison, yet we need it to live. But then there are some chemicals that will do damage to the body once you get in contact with it. After tetanus come botulinal neurotoxin, shigella, palytoxin and diphtheria. Most of them are bacteria." With that he hoped he had managed to redeem himself after dozing off.
Professor Kiehle snorted. "Yet another supercilious answer from the young Elric. That was indeed enlightening. The rest of the class should really learn to be as knowledgeable as you, don't you agree?"
Al struggled not to succumb to the urge of slapping his palm in his own face, though he mentally did. The Professor didn't help him much getting liked by the others in the class, by addressing him as an arrogant know-it-all. At least Mei sent him a look in admiration.
Lunch break couldn't come soon enough, and Al tried not to worry about anything. It was hard. He was undeniably nervous. Every half minute he had come up with yet another thing that could go wrong during the upcoming transmutation. And for the love of... Why was he even thinking like that? He had never been nervous of doing alchemy ever before!
"Hey, is something bothering you, bro?" Ling poked him in the shoulder in the lunch line.
Al shrugged. "Not really. Just tired."
Ling flattened his expression and arched an eyebrow in return. "Really? To me it looks like you're about to face the Headmistress again."
"It's not that bad," Al drolled. "Seems like I've waited forever for this weekend."
"Tell me about it," Ling sighed, assuming Al was talking about school. "Nothing beats a couple of days off this place. Are you up for some chicken noodles after school today?"
Somehow 'chicken noodles' had become their secret code name for martial arts training, though Al couldn't really tell when that had happened or why. "Not today."
They received each portion of stew and went to find a table. Mei was already seated in a corner of the cafeteria and the two boys joined her.
"Are you okay, Alphonse? You look worried!" she stated.
Al stared at her. How could everyone tell?
"That's what I said too," Ling said. "See? I can practically become a fortune teller too." He made a very dramatic wave of his hand towards Al's face. "I sense that you are in need of sugar-induced foods!"
"I didn't use my cards to see it this time," Mei said.
Al sighed and rested his cheek in his palm, picking at his stew. "I'm not in the mood to talk about it. I appreciate your concern, but I'll be just fine. There's just something I have to do and I can't screw it up, no matter what."
"If it's more important than chicken noodles then you better not," Ling smirked.
Al cast a glance at the stack of cards sitting next to Mei's plate of stew, and debated with himself whether or not he should ask. Mei couldn't possibly decide whether or not he would succeed with his transmutation, could she? Sometimes she was specific, other times not. He might look too much into it.
Oh, screw it.
"Mei," he started hesitantly. "Could you read me again?"
Mei looked unsure. "I can tell, this is something that is very important to you, Al. I don't want to ruin your confidence in case your card isn't a good one."
"I'm not feeling very confident right now," Al admitted. Even if he was determined, a hundred of 'what ifs' brawled inside his cranium and it was driving him insane. He needed some reassurance. Mei had been right before. Heck, she was always right!
"Okay then," Mei said. She shuffled her cards and sprawled them out over the table.
"Are you sure about this?" Ling asked. Even he was uncertain about this one.
"Yes," Al said.
"Okay, pick one," Mei said.
"No," Al said. "I can't pick one. It still works if you pick one for me, right?"
"Well yes," Mei said confused. "But why?"
"I think you bring more luck," Al beamed softly. If Mei picked the card, the circles on the cards wouldn't influence his choice. The closer he was to the prime moon, the stronger he could feel the energy from circles whenever he touched them. Besides, last time there had been a spark as he touched them. He couldn't draw any unnecessary attention to him again.
"If you say so." Mei closed her eyes and let her hand trail over the cards. "Tell me when to stop."
Al waited for a half minute before taking a deep breath. He needed to get some encouragement. Now. "Stop," he said.
Mei's hand froze above the half circle, and picked up the card directly underneath. She turned it and looked at it with a face void of any expression. Al fidgeted a bit and waited for her to say something. It didn't seem good so far.
Mei gazed at him. "Does the moon mean anything to you?"
"The... moon?" Al echoed in shock. The moon was the whole clue. The missing piece in the puzzle. "Why do you ask?"
"That's what you got," Mei said. "The Moon." She turned the card and held the image for him to see. The picture showed a dark night sky with a glowing yellow full moon, though it was parted into a half moon inside the circle and the half moon had a displeased facial expression. Underneath it there was a wolf, howling up towards it.
"It's not very good, is it?" Al sighed.
"Well," Mei said, "in every way, no matter what card you get it isn't certain if it means good or bad. Right now, I'm under an impression that you're getting a warning. It could be helpful."
"A warning?" Al asked interested.
"People see light as a good omen, though the term 'moonlight' is misleading because the Moon does not emit light of its own, it simply reflects the light of the Sun. That simply means that something might not be as it appears to be." Mei regarded him thoughtfully. "There is no sunlight to guide you, because you're the only one in the world who has the necessary knowledge to do what you're about to do."
Al averted her eyes, and it was about then Ling scowled at stared knowingly at him.
Mei went on. "If you have second thoughts about the way you're going, you can wait until the sun rises again to light up the way, but then it's possible your way has changed and the opportunity could be lost. You have to rely on your own inner source of light to lead you to your goal. Any hesitation, any doubt, and that light will be extinguished forever. But if you just believe, your own light will shine as brightly and eternally as the sun."
There was a silence before Ling finally cleared his throat. "Okay, enough with that religious bullcrap. I'd rather root for your ch'i."
Al noticed the hidden message. Ling was giving him advice. He smiled. The reading hadn't been as bad as he had thought. It hadn't made anything worse. "Thanks," he said. "I think I understand now."
"Light is energy," Mei said, addressing Ling. "It's not religious, it's a term of use. If ch'i is energy, then ch'i is the same thing as the source of light within you."
"True," Ling admitted. "But light is visible, and ch'i is not. Ch'i is something you feel."
"Like warmth," Mei said.
"Kind of..." Ling admitted again.
"Then I rest my case," Mei said.
Al frowned. "That's it, isn't it? The light that reflects from the full moon is a circle. An enormous, three-dimensional circle."
"Is it?" Ling asked confused.
"Yes!" Al straightened up eagerly. "What we see of the moon is the reflected light of the sun, and when the moon is full it reflects a giant circle of light down to the world."
"I suppose so," Ling said. "But why is that important?"
"That's probably how my brother found out," Al said, more to himself than the other two. "When we were little we studied the relation between those two astronomical objects, and discovered that they are related in an alchemical matter. The Moon is feminine, and the Sun is masculine. Together, they are the perfect entity. Whenever their paths cross..."
...alchemy could be possible and the Gate would definitely reveal itself.
Al was so excited he could hardly sit still. All doubt and bad feelings were permanently washed away from his heart. Now that he really understood his brother and father's concepts of alchemy performance in this world, he was fully confident that he could succeed in it too. He couldn't wait to tell Alfons all about it!
Due to some overtime work the last few days, Alfons was home an hour early that day. There was an excited lump in his stomach. The thought that he might see Edward again tonight of course refused to leave his mind. He closed the door behind him as he came in with a determined sigh, regarding the living room. As soon as Al came home from school, they would start drawing up the array on the floor to make everything ready. There was a lot to do, but they would have plenty of time before the full moon revealed itself.
Still Alfons decided to start right away. It was probably better the sooner they started, in case they were to discover some kind of flaw and that the time would be up before they managed to do the transmutation. So the more time they had to prepare the setting, the better. They would need the entire living room space, which was conveniently almost quadratic. But to do that the furniture had to be removed.
He started with the sofa and pushed it along the creaky floorboards towards his bedroom as the most suitable place to clear it out of the way. He was glad Mr. Cotton wasn't home yet. He'd hear that something was going on and would probably start wondering why Alfons was shoving the furniture all over the first floor. Alfons still was a bit worried about how the sound of chalk scraping against the floor would sound like to their landlord, but they'd have to worry about that later. As long as the man didn't go up to check what they were doing... That would be hard to explain.
Just a little occult magic ritual... nothing serious!
He placed the sofa in the corner of his bedroom (on the side so it could fit) and went back to the living room to start on the kitchen table, when it suddenly knocked hard on the door. Alfons froze and scowled with immediate worry. He wasn't expecting anyone. Maybe Cotton was at home, after all? At least he could say he was going to clean the floor properly and that was the reason why he removed the furniture. (He had intended to do that anyway).
He stepped over to the door, which knocked again, and opened it wide. It wasn't the person he had thought it would be. He was left staring questionably up at two unfamiliar men in their late forties, dressed in nice brown suits and hats.
He backed a small step and cleared his throat. "Can I help you?"
They regarded him sternly, and the next second Alfons' eyes misted with concern. It couldn't be... How had they found them? No, he was coming to too rash conclusions here. There was no way Dietrich could've found them here. Or, was it? Alchemy would work today, and that man needed Al. This was too much of a coincidence.
"Good day, Mr. Heiderich." Both of them showed him a badge. Alfons blinked at it. Police? And not just any police. They were German. Alfons felt a little relieved, but not too much.
"I'm afraid you'll have to come with us," the first officer said.
Come with them where? Alfons swallowed and he was already thinking of possible escape routes. He couldn't press himself past them, though there was a window on the backside of the house. There was a far way down to the yard, around 5, no at least 6 meters. He could break a leg, but more importantly, did he have time to run all the way to the backside of the house before they caught him?
Unfortunately, the two men had already looked right through his fidgeting and the one to his left swiftly stepped over the doorframe and caught Alfons' arm as he did. The minute the man touched him, Alfons panicked.
"GET OFF ME!" he yelped and tried to pull away and run for his life, but he was swiftly held back and an arm captured him around his waist. Yet he kept struggling. He was not going down without a fight! If they so had to take him away kicking and screaming... Who were they? Imposters dressed as policemen? Dietrich's friends? Were they after Al? He'd never let them touch a single hair on his head!
"I'll NEVER tell you where he is!" Alfons bawled. "If you try to touch him it will be the LAST THING you do!"
"You'll never tell where who is?" the other man asked offhandedly.
Alfons stopped struggling for a second and just stared broodingly at him. Were they playing dumb with him?
Then he was brutally swung face-first into the nearest wall and gasped at the brutal encounter with the wall as he got his arms twisted behind his back. While he moved to wring himself out of the grip, the man put his entire weight on him and squeezed him into the wall. The other man who had spoken earlier stepped closer and fastened a pair of handcuffs around his wrists. Alfons clutched his eyes shut and his lips parted to scream again, though a deep voice growled in his ear, warning him to keep quiet.
"Alfons Heiderich, you're under arrest for resisting a police officer and betraying your own country," the one that had put on the handcuffs on him said.
"What?" Alfons gasped in disbelief. Under arrest? What were they talking about?
"Please come with us quietly without any resistance."
The policeman pulled him away from the wall and directed him towards the door with a firm grip around his captured arms. The other officer went first down the stairs from his apartment, and being totally powerless now, Alfons had no other choice than let them take him.
"Where are you taking me?" he wanted to know. "Clearly not the American police station? What gives you the right to come here and arrest me?"
They ignored him completely and push him towards a parked automobile. Alfons tried to stay calm, but that wasn't very easy. Here he was either getting arrested or kidnapped, he didn't really know which, at a time that couldn't have been much worse. He had to be there when Al did the transmutation. He had to be home when Edward returned!
"Get in," the officer ordered and pushed Alfons into the backseat of the auto. Alfons trembled as he was flattened out on the leather fabric and the door slammed shut. Where were they going? How could he escape?
The two officers seated themselves into the front of the auto, and soon the vehicle raced down the street. Alfons rolled awkwardly onto his side, not finding much balance of the way his arms were locked. He pushed his knee up to his stomach and supported himself to sit half-way up on one elbow and shoulder while resting his back against the leather seat. What the hell was really going on? How could this happen now? What would happen to him? How had they even found him? So many questions.
He scowled up at them, seeing half of their severe faces from his position, and tugged uselessly at his handcuffs. The tight bracelets were chafing his skin raw, but he ignored it. Were they really real police officers? They hadn't bothered covering their faces, and what he had made out of their badges had seemed legit.
Though, they were already far away from the police station, which wouldn't make sense that they brought him to anyway, since it was in fact an American police station. They had spoken perfect German, the most genuine dialect. Were they from Berlin? Or did they know Maes Hughes?
Still, the way it had all happened, bothered Alfons. He hadn't even gotten any time to dress into something warmer than a plain, white shirt, still it didn't prevent his body from clamming up and make the fabric stick to his back. On top of that, they had given him no proper reason for bringing him in. He might have assaulted them a bit, but what had made them come here in the first place? Was he in trouble because of his profession? He had his suspicion that that was the case.
Alfons had so many questions, but he didn't dare speak before he knew where they were taking him. If they weren't on their way to the police station, then where were they taking him? He found out after about a half an hour's drive, that they were in an area of foreign embassies. How ironic, he thought. Wasn't the embassy supposed to help their citizens?
Some minutes later the auto parked outside a large building, and both of the assumed police officers stepped out of the vehicle and opened the door to bring Alfons out. They led him up the stairs, inside a great hall and further deep into the building. When they came to a stair underneath ground level, Alfons grew even more concerned. He'd had bad experiences in the past with dim underground places. They followed a long corridor, and somehow he managed to remain calm until the two men decided it was far enough and chose one of the many doors along the corridor.
The room was dim and claustrophobic with plain white plaster walls and a table with one single chair. Alfons was led a little roughly to the chair and seated down on it. He tugged nervously at his handcuffs, but they made no effort to have them removed. Despite the dire situation, Alfons kept his head up and searched the eyes of the two officers attempting to read exactly how much trouble he was in. But it was nearly impossible to read anything from any of their cold steel eyes.
"Now," the first officer said strictly. "You're going to answer our questions honestly and throughout."
Alfons deliberately changed tactic. "I got nothing to hide."
"Oh, is that so?" the first officer said, leaning forward with his palms on the table. "Then what did you mean about 'I'll never tell you where he is'? Who were you talking about?"
"My half-brother," Alfons said. "I have reasons to believe that someone might be after him. But, this isn't about that, is it?"
The officer snorted. "Tell me, Heiderich, what do you do for a living?"
"Aerospace engineer." So that was what this was all about. Figures.
"Engineer," the officer tasted the word. "How long have you considered yourself proficient in that field?"
"I'm still learning," Alfons replied, trying to cover over his nervousness with humbleness. "But I started at the University at 16. I'm turning 18 in a couple of months."
The officer ignored his modesty. "How long have you worked within the field in the states?"
"For about two months," Alfons said. "Look, I know it might sound suspicious, but I—"
"Only answer my questions, Heiderich," the officer cut him off. "You're only at liberty to speak when spoken to."
Alfons closed his lips and stared tensely at him.
"You're aware of that the agreement of working in the states without an American citizenship is four months, right?" the officer said.
"I'm aware," Alfons said.
"Good. Because if you choose to stay, that will be considered deserting. The punishment for that would be really severe."
"I haven't done anything wrong," Alfons said. "Why did you take me here?"
"We found it necessary with a small... reminding, just in case," the officer said. "You suddenly left without telling many people, after Vato Falman died. He was well-known within the field, and you worked with him. It all seemed like you were running away from something with the intention of not coming back, after what I got out from your friend, Officer Maes Hughes."
Alfons remained silent, absorbing the information. So that's how they had found him. Maes Hughes hadn't been able to lie to them for him, and Alfons couldn't blame him. He didn't want Hughes to get trouble because of him.
The officer continued. "If you're thinking about applying for an American citizenship before the contract goes out, I'd reconsider it if I were you."
"Why is that?" Alfons frowned. It almost sounded like they were threatening him.
The officer leaned closer. "Because you're an important German citizen, and when your contract expires you will return to Germany and bring with you your working experience from your time here back to us." He smirked.
Alfons faltered. Were they turning him into a spy of some sort? "I'm not sure where we'll go," he said carefully. "We haven't decided anything..."
"Don't misunderstand me, Heiderich," the officer said and straightened up. "I'm not asking you. I'm telling you."
Alfons gawked at him. "I don't understand..."
"If you choose to disobey your own government, Heiderich, we will find you. No matter where in the world you might try to hide," the officer informed. "Any developments and breakthroughs the US might have within your field within the next two months, will be shared with Germany. Isn't that only fair?"
Alfons looked away. "Alright, as you want. But the development goes slow, so don't be surprised if there isn't any."
"I'm simply making sure you're not running away and get yourself into some unnecessary trouble," the officer smirked.
Feeling disturbed and at loss, Alfons simply nodded. He would just tell them anything they wanted to hear and deal with the rest later... Right now it was more important to him to get home.
"I understand. I won't run away. All I want to do is to build rockets... It doesn't matter to me where I do it."
"From now on, it matters," the officer ordered. "You're doing this for Germany. We're simply making sure the talented masterminds aren't lost to en eventual enemy."
Alfons looked away bitterly. "Are we done here?"
"Yes, that may be all. Just one last question, why exactly did you leave Germany in the first place?"
"There was a man in a white suit called Dietrich," Alfons said, figuring he had no reason to lie about that. "I don't know his last name. I think he killed Falman, and is after my half-brother. So I brought him here to protect him."
"What a cute and noble reason," the officer said sarcastically.
Alfons ignored the unfriendly response. "You don't happen to know anything about this man, do you? Or if he's been caught?"
"No," the officer said shortly. "Besides, we're not settled in Munich with Maes, but Berlin."
"Then can I please borrow the phone?" Alfons asked fast. "I wish to talk to Officer Hughes, please."
The officer stared puzzled at him. "I suppose that can be arranged." He nodded at his comrade and the other officer stepped over to Alfons.
Alfons let out a deep, relieved sigh as his handcuffs finally got removed and he gratefully rubbed his wrists. He had almost thought they'd never free him. "Thanks." Standing up and feeling somewhat calmer, he followed after the officer out the door and back up the hall the way they had come.
They showed him to a new room where he could borrow a phone, and didn't waste his time requesting the conversation to be a private one. They probably wouldn't have agreed to that anyway. The tune was distant and it took time to reach through as he had dialled the number correctly, but he waited patiently. In Germany it would be about 10 o'clock in the morning, so hopefully Hughes would be at the police station.
Eventually someone picked up the call, and Alfons asked them to put him over to Hughes. The voice of his older friend crackled in the phone. "Hello, this is officer Maes Hughes."
"Officer Hughes," Alfons said fast. "It's me, Alfons."
"Alfons? What a surprise! Are you calling from all the way across the Atlantic?"
"Yes," Alfons chuckled, glad to hear the friendly voice. "I don't have much time. I'm actually calling from the German embassy in Boston," he quickly explained. "They say I have to go back to Germany within two months..."
"I see," Hughes said. "I'm afraid they came and asked me about you. I'm sorry, but there was nothing I could do about it."
"I know. I was actually wondering if you've caught Dietrich yet," Alfons said, fiddling with the phone cord. "If he was out of the way, it wouldn't be a problem bringing Al back."
"That's true," Hughes sighed. "But I'm afraid he hasn't shown himself for weeks. The last we heard from him was that he visited Gracia's flower shop the day you and Al left. He only asked for you, and when he realized you weren't there he simply disappeared."
"Oh," Alfons managed.
"But don't worry. He can't possibly know where you are, and we're doing everything we can to track him down."
Alfons nodded, even though he knew Hughes wouldn't know that he was nodding. "I understand, sir. Thank you for the update."
"Don't mention it. Are you okay over there?"
"Yes," Alfons replied fast. "We're getting by."
"That's good to know. Good luck further on, Alfons."
"Thanks. Goodbye." Alfons hung up the phone and leaned his forehead against the top of the phone for some seconds. All of this was starting to tear him apart. He didn't feel much better after speaking with officer Hughes, though this wasn't what he was supposed to be thinking about right now. It was brining Edward back. Tonight. There would be time for everything else afterwards. For now, nothing mattered before tonight.
He turned back to the two officers who had been monitoring him. "Could you please drive me home now?"
He received a nod and a complying grunt for a reply, before they headed back to the automobile.
The way home seemed unbearably long, and he couldn't wait to get inside the door. Though when he had finally climbed the stairs to the front door, he hesitated a little, his hand shaking a bit as it reached for the door knob. The air was frosty and his fingers had turned numb.
He couldn't tell Al about this, he realized. At least not until they had brought Edward back. Yes. Nothing else existed but that task. Al was going to concentrate fully on the operation they were about to do until everything else started to matter again. Anything could happen, Alfons was aware. But this was their very last grasp of hope.
With a deep intake of icy air, Alfons opened the door and stepped inside their flat. There was an obvious change in their living room, and after closing the door he was merely standing there, staring at the floor.
All the furniture in the living room had been moved into the bedrooms. It had left the place with a fairly large empty space on the floor. Alphonse was sitting on his knees in the middle of the room, in the middle of a large drawn circle. He was working on some symbols in the middle of the array with the round piece of chalk he had brought from his own world.
He looked up as Alfons came in, staring a little quizzically at him. "There you are! What took you so long?"
Alfons snapped out of his short trance and removed his jacket and shoes. "I had to head back to the factory for a bit, but it's all okay now."
Al shrugged and went back to the alchemy circle. "I'm about halfway done here."
Alfons knelt down outside the circle, eyeing the patterns. He could hardly even believe how close they were. "How does this work?"
Al's eyes were deeply focused as the chalk scraped against the wood. "I've constructed this circle with help from my father's journal. After studying it, I've come to a better understanding of how alchemy is possible in this world."
Alfons studied the symbols and tiny writings inside the array. There were symbols of the moon, the sun and the four elements spread around in a circle inside the circle. "It's the prime moon, right?"
Al nodded. "The combination of the moon and the sun is a legendary matter of alchemy. The sun is the masculine entity and the moon is the feminine entity. Combined, they are a symbol of the perfect being. This theory is essential when it comes to human transmutation."
"But," Alfons started, mildly confused. "It's not a human transmutation, right? We're doing the transmutation at night, so there is no sun. No matter when we do it, we'd be without one or another since we can rarely see the sun and the moon at the same time."
"You got it wrong," Al said. "Even if we can't see the sun at night, doesn't mean that it isn't there. We're taking the whole universe into consideration, not only the place where the array is. And no, we're not doing a human transmutation. That's impossible. But, we're opening the Gate, which requires the same theoretic components."
"Okay, so, why are we doing it when the moon is shining and not the sun? Either way, they would both be there," Alfons reasoned.
"Because the key is the combination," Al said. "The alchemy power of this world is caused by the result of the position the moon and the sun is shown in from where we are."
"And what is that?"
"A reflection," Al said. He picked up a small sketch from the floor, showing the positions of the sun, the Earth and the moon during a full moon. "During full moon the light from the sun reflects from the moon's surface towards the Earth." He pointed at the moon. "This reflection is a whole when the moon is full, and forms a three-dimensional circle of light. By combining this circle with this array, I'll be able to open the Gate."
Alfons stared in awe. A tremendously large reflected light circle? It was nearly too big to even imagine. This circle was possibly covering nearly half of the surface of the Earth. "Th-this won't affect anyone else, will it?" Alfons asked.
Al shook his head. "No. I'm simply getting my brother out."
Alfons still had questions. "But why is the number of the date important for the transmutation? Why does it have to be a prime number?"
"It's how this transmutation circle has been constructed," Al explained, gesturing to the eight cornered circle. "I've simply used prime numbers to decide the structure of the array and position of the elemental symbols. That's how everything is linked."
"You're amazing, Al, for figuring all this out on your own," Alfons said astonished. He was getting more confident than ever that they could pull this off.
"I didn't do it on my own," Al said. "I couldn't have done it without the guidance from my father's notebook. Good thing you brought it with you from Germany."
Alfons stood up with a soft smile. "Alright. Let's do this."
Edward, we're coming for you soon. Just hang on for a little bit longer.
After dark had settled and Alfons could spot the full moon through the kitchen window, they moved to stand on each of their side of the complete array. The room was illuminated by candle lights and the soft, silver hue of the moon shining through from outside.
Al took a deep breath and looked up at Alfons. "All set."
Alfons nodded. "But if I've understood the law of alchemy right, we'll need something to give up in exchange, won't we?"
Al nodded. "Don't think about that, I got it covered."
"What about the red stone?" Alfons asked.
Al was silent for a moment. "Long ago my brother and I promised each other we'd never use it for ourselves. So I won't use it."
Alfons nodded slowly. As far as he had understood, the stone was made of human souls. It was strange to think about. "Now what do we do?"
"Step inside the circle," Al instructed quietly.
They both stepped into the middle of the large array and sat down in meditational position on the floor opposite of each other. Al picked up a knife from his pocket and reached out his hand. "Your hand, please."
Alfons offered Al his hand.
"Our blood will bind his soul to this world," Al said, carving the blade into Alfons' hand as neatly as he could, drawing blood. He brought Alfons' hand over to the alchemic symbol for sacrifice in the circle placed between them and let his blood spill down on it, staining it with drops of crimson. After he was done, he handed Alfons a handkerchief to cover up his wound while he repeated the same procedure with himself. After cutting a small tear into the surface of his palm, he added his blood to accompany Alfons' onto the symbol.
"His soul is connected to the both of us," Al continued, wrapping up his own hand to stop the trail of blood. "It will lead him here."
Alfons nodded. That made perfect sense in a strange way.
Al closed his eyes and relaxed, like he was meditating. Inside he focused on everything he had learned about opening all the floodgates of energy. "My brother is inside the Gate, but since a part of his soul exists inside us, I'm confident that I can go in and find him. I know he'll guide me to him."
"Be careful," Alfons said timidly.
Al nodded. "You ready?"
"Yes," Alfons said. "Do it."
With that, Al clapped his hands together. How it reminded Alfons of a prayer to God, ironically enough. He wouldn't mind believing in God right now, no matter how much Edward grimaced at the whole concept of religion. But if it would only make a difference right here and now, Alfons would never stop believing ever again.
Al still had his eyes closed, his hands locked in the position in front of his chest. Abruptly he moved and pressed his palm against Alfons' heart, the other one against his own. Connecting their hearts. Searching for Edward.
Alfons almost jumped when the transmutation circle underneath them started to glow brightly blue. He wanted to close his eyes too, but couldn't take his eyes off the bright energy light. It was beautiful and it reminded him of the other world, of Edward, of everything he wanted back. Alfons felt him then. The portion of Edward's soul surfaced. He could feel that he knew exactly what they were trying to do.
He was standing in between them, transparent like a ghost, slouching a bit and his head lifted upwards to look up at the ceiling, his eyes looking dreary and sad. Alfons didn't like what he was seeing. Edward had never looked that miserable even as a soul. He looked through Edward to stare at Al, who was still deeply focused.
Should he follow his bad feeling in his stomach stop it now while he still could?
Suddenly a bright light formed above them, and Alfons followed Edward's gaze up into the ceiling and gasped. The Gate had taken form. It wasn't as big as Alfons remembered it, though maybe it was taking the form that could fit inside their living room. He shuddered a bit of fresh memories from the Gate coming back to him. How those dozens of black hands had snaked around his body.
Al opened his eyes, still pressing his palms at both of their chests and looked up at the Gate, glowing yellow and pulling at them, making his bangs and ponytail blow up in the air. He stared at his brother's image, his empty gaze directed up at the Gate, and Al felt a trickle of worry.
"Use my soul," Schiller's voice whispered inside his mind. "What's left of it, that is."
Al gritted his teeth. "Won't you die?"
"You know I'm already dead. But it will give me peace. Let me go, and I'll lead you through to your brother. It will be my soul for his."
"Equal exchange," Al whispered. "I see." He closed his eyes again, and felt how Schiller's ghost slipped from his own soul. As he opened his eyes again, he could see Schiller's image disappear into the huddle of black hands that reached down towards them from the opening. He could hear voices, laughter sounding like children. He shuddered.
The black hands didn't stop as Schiller's image finished dissolving. They snaked around Edward's appearance and pulled him back towards the Gate. Somehow Al managed to keep his cool and closed his eyes again.
Where are you? he thought desperately. Come back. The opening is there now. Find me!
A new voice spoke. You again?
Al opened his eyes and gasped. That voice... Where did it come from? His own mind? Everywhere? He recognized it from his dreams. Truth?
I need to thank you properly for coming to give back what's rightfully mine. Come back to me, stupid little human.
Before Al could even speak, the black hands snaked around his throat and everything went black before his eyes.