True to his word, Roy and Riza found a telltale sign of forced entry: the guards stationed near the pass had been knocked out. The two guards of the small shack where they had been stationed were replaced by Gregor, who waved when he spotted them.
"He always did like to hit people," Roy muttered as they made their way through the snow. He nodded in thanks as Gregor pulled the door open for them, but stopped just inside the doorway to stare.
Auren was lounging at a small desk, leaning back in the wooden chair as he indulged himself with a bottle of beer. Spotting his old friends, he rested the bottle on his leg, grinning. "Ladies, so nice of you to join us!" Auren motioned to Erik, who looked positively bored out of his mind, despite the open book in his lap.
"Are you drinking again?"
Auren shook his head at the incredulity in Roy's voice. He thought better of offering a swig. "To warm me from the cold. The trek over the mountain isn't pleasant." He glanced at Riza, not missing her disappointment. "It's hardly enough to even get a buzz." He finished the last bit in the bottle, tossing it into the garbage carelessly. "We're going straight to Risembool?"
"Yes." Roy sighed, turning for the door. "Let's move, it's a few miles to Xolemir."
"Czekan, go with them. Begin the walk to town, I'll join you shortly." Auren held his hands up to the protests of all three, giving them his usual glare. "I said go."
"Let's give the General what he wants," Roy said with a sigh, leaving with Hawkeye and Erik. Since he's become so accustomed to it. They began their trudge through the snow after Erik relayed Auren's message. Gregor sent the three on ahead, saying his General needs a good run-through of sense before disappearing into the shack.
Roy decided the train station would be the best place to wait for the wayward General. He bought Erik a newspaper to keep him appeased, as he had mentioned on the walk in that he loved to read, but no sir Colonel, he couldn't hide his accent well enough and yes, he'd stay quiet so as not to arouse suspicion.
"There they are, sir." True to her namesake, Riza spotted Gregor and Auren arriving. Gregor had a half-smile plastered on his face as Auren walked beside him with a slight limp.
"Did you injure yourself on the way in?" Concern won out over amusement as they neared.
"Automail and cold, Colonel." Auren's words sent Roy reeling, as they were devoid of the Drachman accent.
"Edward?"
"As we're in Amestris, I believe my accent would be best left to private," Auren snorted. "Don't look like you've seen a ghost."
"Naturally. Ed's rude, but not to your level," Roy muttered, earning a narrowed glare from Auren. "I have our tickets. I've gotten us a private cabin."
"Three days with you?"
"Two. Trains have become at least a bit faster in a decade, Emil."
"Two is still too long," he sighed in reply, but sucked it up at the round of disapproving looks from all but Erik, too absorbed in the Amestrian language to pay attention.
"Just can't wait to get home to Risembool and tell Al and Winry what you've been up to, can you?" Roy didn't miss the paling of Auren's already sun-deprived skin, though he didn't expect tense silence in reply. He should've known better than to press the issue, but it was becoming rare for Auren to allow someone else to talk. "Don't worry, you'll have time to chat with us first. There's still some details that you haven't told us, right?" Roy didn't notice Gregor and Erik tensing up. "And what I do know, you told me through a drunken haze. I think that as your friend I deserve-"
"Iyach!" Auren snapped, ordering Roy for the second time to shut up. He formed a fist, but it fell as he noticed a few looks turned his way. Quickly calming himself, he made sure to keep the accent from his voice. "Stop. Not now. Not out here."
Auren caught the scolding look that Riza sent to her superior, but it didn't put him at ease. He made his way quietly onto the train with the others, Roy leading the way and Riza tailing at the back of their odd little troupe.
Five people sat comfortably in the spacious cabin. Roy and Riza were naturally seated side by side, with Auren, flanked by his men, across from them.
The silence as they traveled was remarkably peaceful. Erik referred to Auren for a few words in the newspaper, receiving unending patience, much to Roy's surprise.
The peace was shattered once Roy spoke.
"General. Emil," Roy tried to soften his tone as Auren nearly cringed at being singled out. "You haven't told us the full story of your time in Drachma."
"Can it not wait?" Safe in the privacy of their cabin, the Drachman accent was back in Auren's words. He looked rather pale and nauseated quite suddenly, shared by his previously-relaxed men.
"Until when? Until we're in Risembool and you have to describe it to even larger an audience? I'm sure there's parts you'd rather not share with Winry and Alphonse."
"Ya, but…" Auren sighed and slouched in his seat, less the prideful General he had made himself to appear. "...You're right, why tell you now? I can save all the stress and explain once instead of twice."
"If you can't even tell us, how do you expect to tell them?"
"Don't accuse me of weakness!" Auren shot right back, anger flashing across his features.
"You just admitted to being stressed," Roy retorted, crossing his arms. "I'm not an idiot, I can see that you're trying to avoid the subject."
"Well wouldn't you? I'm sure you would love to tell everyone about your time in Isvar in detail!"
Roy held his hand up to preemptively silence Hawkeye, keeping a level tone to his voice as he spoke.
"We're not here to judge you. We all support you; we'd just like to know what happened so that we can understand you better. We are, after all, friends."
Auren nodded briefly, straightening himself as he shakily began the tale of his past.
"You know when it began. Ten years ago, on the battlefield with you." His golden eyes locked onto Roy's. "Everything was going normally until an explosion hit. I woke up in a dark room, seated at a table; bound, bloody, and freezing." His eyes flashed dangerously, though he made no move to slow his words or hide his emotion.
"They were Drachman. I knew from their uniforms. They interrogated me. They knew who I was, and they wanted to know my part at Briggs. They didn't believe that I was only dragged along." Auren sighed, his usual fire completely gone. He looked beaten. "I told them the truth. I told them nothing of importance, for I knew their end plan. How could they let me live? I had killed their men in battle, and I was a threat.
"They tore at me, cut my hair, sliced at my skin, shattered my bones, slammed my head into the wall. They took my automail and carved at the skin underneath the ports." His voice had grown harsh and raspy, his accent wavering as the raw memories spilled out. "They told me I was Amestrian trash, that the military I worked for was corrupt and cared nothing for my life. They threw me into a stone cell and left me to bleed out and die. That is… is where I broke." His voice shrank to a whisper, trembling words hesitating before he continued, unaware of the shocked stares of his old friends.
"I was dying. I would never see Alphonse or Winry, or Mustang; none of my friends. I was going to die, cold and alone in the cell. Nobody came for me. Only their Drachman doctor… who stopped the bleeding so that I could slowly die of hypothermia.
"I knew what my sentence was, death. I was ready to die. I made peace with my past. I didn't look up when the Drachman men came to my cell to drag my broken body back to their interrogation room.
"They sat me in a chair. They gave me a blanket. They slapped photographs in front of me. I was horrified to see Winry and Alphonse. Of everything they had threatened me with, this was the worst."
Roy's hand squeezed Riza's as they watched their old friend return to them, suffer again, and dissolve tragically.
"But a threat wasn't what they proposed. They asked me to join them," Auren sneered disdainfully. "Why waste my talents on Amestris, on a military that would only use me? Stay in Drachma, a proud and beautiful land with good and loyal people. Join their military and do something great with my life." He laughed bitterly.
"It was that or die."
"They were so very convincing. I told them to kill me. I was ready to die anyway." He released a shaky breath, wringing his left wrist all too tightly with his overpowering automail hand. "But as I stared at the pictures of my family… I wanted the assurance of their safety. I wanted to know that no matter my choice, they would be safe."
Auren's voice fully gave way to Edward's, though it didn't seem to surprise his men a great deal. "They promised me, but I wanted to be sure. I was too afraid.
"In… in that moment, I knew how I could keep them safe. If I joined the Drachmans, I could try to facilitate communication and peace between the two nations." His voice wavered, the accent seeping back into his words. "I transmuted a false corpse to cover my disappearance and joined their military. I changed my hair, my language; I began life as a Drachman man. I took a new name, and forsook my past relationships in Amestris. I had to focus on my goals in Drachma and not be held back by old memories." He sighed raggedly, staring at the window as the evergreens flew by. "I have met many wonderful men and had a damn good time in the country I now call home." He gave Gregor a joking shove, nearly knocking him off the seat. "And I am sorry for the pain I have caused those of you from my past."
"The pain you caused us?" Roy uttered in disbelief. "You were tortured and coerced into treason!"
"You sacrificed your life for everyone else," Riza said quietly, admiration in her voice.
"I do enjoy my new life," Auren assured them. "And once a treaty is put into place, I will be able to visit my old friends more often!"
"I expected your choice to remain in Drachma. Just don't expect the Elrics to take it as well."
Auren nodded uneasily, remaining restlessly in his seat for an entire minute before excusing himself.
"General?"
"Sit down, Erik. I don't need an escort to the bathroom."
"Y-yes, sir."
Once the door slid shut, Roy turned his inquiring gaze to the Drachman men across from him. "Well, what's your side of the story?"
"I'm sorry, Colonel?"
"The General has told us the story of his past, but you two barely cringed. You've heard it before, haven't you?"
"...Not from him," Erik admitted. "Gregor has told us. Emil told Gregor his story many years ago; he has in turn told us."
"I am one of the original lucky men to join the General's team," Gregor chuckled. "I have put up with him through the good and bad. He may be brash and arrogant, but he is honest and a man who will do anything to help those in need."
"He always has been like that," Riza said with a smile. "I remember when he was just a boy, saving lives and towns at such a young age."
"We only know of his past from what we read," Erik explained. "Will you tell us more about what he was like?"
Riza smiled as the memories returned to her clear as day. Just as she was about to speak, Roy stood.
"He's been gone a while. I'm going to go check on him." With only a supportive nod from Riza, Roy left to find Auren.
The bathrooms were in the next car, and out of the four available, Roy found Auren's easily.
It was the loudest.
"Emil?" Roy knocked on the door, answered by a bang and a harsh command to go away.
"It sounds like you need some help in there," Roy replied, amusement absent from his voice. "Open the door."
"I said to go away Colonel."
"You idiot," Roy muttered; "you do not use Drachman in Amestris." Roy clapped his hands, unlocking the door with ease before slipping in. He relocked the door in seconds, turning to reprimand Auren. "Are you stupid? You don't speak-"
"Go away," Auren gasped, head clutched tightly in his hands as he stood bent over at the sink. His dirty-brown hair was half out of his ponytail and poking through his fingers, adding to his disheveled look as he breathed heavily with eyes squeezed shut from panic.
"General?"
"I said leave me," Auren replied, a whine snaking into his voice.
Roy placed his hand on Auren's back. "Not until you tell me what's wrong."
"What do you think is wrong!" Auren whipped around, throwing Roy against the door with a burst of rage. "Do you think it's easy to relive the pain?! And I have to share it again!" He stepped forward, glaring up at Roy as his automail hand clutched Roy's throat dangerously. "I dread meeting them, Colonel. As I did you. You cannot just let me leave that life behind." His hand released Roy before it could be forced away, Auren turning to suck in an anxiety-riddled gasp.
"Now you see me… in pain… could you not have just left me alone here?!"
"Stop being so prideful, Edward!"
"I am not Edward!" In a flash, Roy found himself slumped between the toilet and the wall, Auren towering over him. Roy had seen that rage on Edward's face before, but never mixed in with such raw anguish. "Edward is gone, he is dead, he was tortured and murdered, all you have now is a Drachman general and I'm sorry if that is not good enough for you!" An automail fist connected with Roy's face, knocking him unconscious instantly.