TRUTH AND CONSEQUENCES

CHAPTER 6:

REST AT RESEMBOOL

"Sirius spoke about you a lot," Winry said as she examined Edward's automail arm, tutting slightly at the scratches and dents (well, those remaining after the latest transmutation). "I didn't ever think we'd meet you. I think he mentioned Luna in passing, though, as being one of those who were with you in that Department of Mysteries place."

Harry nodded. Pinako had made some tea, and he had to admit, it was quite good. "I'd always thought he had died. I tried to torture the bitch who had sent him through the Veil."

"Yeah, he talked about her, too. His crazy cousin Bellatrix," Winry said. "Sirius, my parents, and those two Ishvalans talked to me about a couple of the State Alchemists they knew in the war. There was some crazy guy like her called Kimblee..."

"Solf J Kimblee, the Crimson Lotus Alchemist," Armstrong supplied. "He was arrested and put into prison for mutiny and murdering superior officers. Noted for a highly developed amoral philosophy, as well as alchemy used to create explosions. I…met him once. Perversely, he did me a kindness during the Ishvalan War, although I cannot appreciate it, given the cost. When I allowed a couple of Ishvalans to go free, Kimblee murdered them, and told me, surprisingly kindly, that I was fortunate that no superiors had spotted my actions."

"A mind like his would have considered it a kindness," Luna remarked.

"The war was hell," Pinako remarked as she examined Edward's leg. "The irony is, it helps us earn our money, as there were a lot of people, particularly those demobbed from the military, who lost limbs. Some want just prosthetics, others want automail. We're lucky my son and my daughter-in-law managed to survive that mess. Luckier still they weren't considered traitors for giving medical attention to the Ishvalans. When Colonel Mustang came here to see the boys after…the incident, he was quite sympathetic towards my son and daughter-in-law. Well, as much as he could be, being part of the State Military." She looked at the leg critically, and said, "Believe it or not, Ed, your body has grown. A little." As the blonde alchemist scowled, she continued, "I'll have to remove the leg and adjust the casing and mechanism. Thankfully, no repairs are really needed."

"A few minor repairs are needed for this arm," Winry remarked, "but nothing too bad. Just as well. We can get it done overnight, more or less." She scowled when she looked at the knuckles. "…Is this dried blood?"

"Long story short, I had to beat up an asshole," Edward said. "It must've soaked through my glove."

"Is that Tucker you're talking about?" Harry asked.

"Yeah. Though there's a word rhyming with his name that should be his name," Edward scowled. On seeing the Rockbells' looks, Edward said, "Long story short, we had to save his daughter from him and his…experiments. I don't think I can say anything more."

"It's a moot point," Armstrong said. "Tucker is dead, and Nina is alive. His research on so-called talking chimeras, based as it was mostly on false premises, is doubtless already in the newspapers in Central. Central would want to make a loud example of Tucker, if only to distract from their own dark researches."

Winry and Pinako were appalled when they were told the full story of what happened to Nina Tucker, and what Shou Tucker's crimes were. As they finished, Pinako muttered, "I need a very strong drink. I didn't think it would have been easy, undoing that alchemic fusion between Nina and her dog."

"It isn't," Alphonse said. "It's partly to do with how entropy affects the alchemic process. It's rather like baking a cake, and then trying to get the ingredients back. Even with alchemy, it's extremely difficult. We needed the original transmutation circle to even try."

"If there was ever anything that was the Devil's work in this world, Shou Tucker's experiments were definitely it," Armstrong added solemnly. "The world is well-rid of him and his deeds…"

Edward had had his automail detached for the time being, and was given a fairly normal prosthetic leg to walk on. While Armstrong stayed behind to help chop up some firewood (with his bare fists, as was his wont to do), the Elric brothers and the former mages left, with the Elric brothers intending to pay their respects to their mother.

The grave was simply marked. Trisha Elric, the gravestone read, with her year of birth and year of death. As the Elrics looked down at the grave, Harry thought about what happened when he had given Edward the Resurrection Stone. The Elder Wand was now useless, really, but the other two Hallows were not. He was surprised that the Truth hadn't demanded the Hallows in tribute, especially as they were magical artifacts. Maybe the Truth had been satisfied with Harry and Luna's magic alone.

The shade of Trisha Elric had actually berated her children for what they did to try and resurrect her, but in the way a mother scolds her children for doing something dangerous. And while she was worried about Edward being a State Alchemist, she nonetheless said she was proud of them both, especially for trying to help out people where they could. She was even pleased to meet Harry and Luna, even if only briefly.

Trisha also had pointed out something interesting: she didn't remember being resurrected, and as a spirit, she could actually remember her entire life with clarity. Which raised the horrifying possibility that the grotesque body the Elric brothers had created didn't hold the spirit of their mother, but something else, at least before it expired.

Even so, they still considered it to be a second cadaver of their mother. Hence their paying their respects, regardless. Trisha Elric was dead, and it was virtually certain that that state of affairs wouldn't be reversed any time soon. The Elrics were more concerned with getting their bodies back than engaging in any attempts at resurrecting their mother.

After a while, Edward muttered solemnly, "What can equal the value of a human body and soul?"

"Perhaps only another one," Luna remarked. "Always assuming Equivalent Exchange is at play. I lost my mother when I was young too. And Harry lost his parents before he turned two. We would give many things to have our loved ones back, but not anything or everything."

"What do you think Marcoh wanted us to do when he wanted us to track down his notes?" Harry asked. "He could have just left the issue alone."

"He wants us to find those behind the Philosopher's Stone and stop them," Luna said. "I think he was trying too hard to be subtle, albeit out of fear. I think I know who they were. Bradley, Lust, and Gluttony. They felt like the Stones. I think they have some in them. It'd explain Lust's stamina."

Harry didn't know whether to groan or not at Luna discussing their sex life, even at one remove, in front of the Elrics. But Edward ignored the innuendo. Instead, he said, "If Marcoh wanted us to find something, something truly diabolical behind the Stone, then I intend to find it. If only to prevent more being created. Marcoh at least felt guilty about what he did. But if anyone is continuing this, then we'll stop them."

After that rather solemn interlude, they went back to the Rockbells, stopping by briefly to take in the burnt-out shell of what was once the Elrics' home. Edward and Alphonse had burned down the home, to act as a spur to ensure they didn't let up in their quest to get their normal bodies back. Harry wondered why he never did the same to 4 Privet Drive back home, especially once the Dursleys moved elsewhere.

They returned home to find Armstrong having completed his wood-chopping duties. Winry's parents had arrived back, and were pleasantly surprised to finally meet Harry Potter. Harry found himself liking them immediately: they were very much principled doctors who took their oaths seriously. And they also were, of a sort, parental substitute figures to the Elric brothers. Not full surrogate parents, but the Elrics certainly treated them in a more friendly manner than Winry or Pinako. Not that his attitude was filled with any malice: Winry and Pinako merely rubbed him the wrong way a little, with Pinako loving to push Edward's buttons, and Winry preoccupied at times with the damage he did to the automail.

Winry's parents were also horrified to learn about Shou Tucker from the Elrics. Yuriy, her father, muttered, "That's one of the sickest things I've ever heard. And having worked in Ishval, that's something of an achievement."

Sarah Rockbell, Winry's mother, looked over at Harry. "But the girl is all right now?"

"Yeah, though it was a close thing. I'm surprised the alchemy we used to reverse the transmutation worked. The last we heard, Nina's being adopted by Maes Hughes," Harry said. "He seems like a doting sort of man. She's in good hands."

As his daughters, one by blood, the other by adoption, got into a screaming row about their favourite toys, Maes Hughes sneezed. He hoped he wasn't catching a cold, he thought, as he went to stop the argument…

"You sure?" Sarah Rockbell asked.

"Believe me, I was raised by people who would rival Shou Tucker in the 'horrible guardians' category. If they could turn me into a pet they could kick around, they would," Harry said. "Anyway, Luna tends to get a vibe from bad people."

"They're infested with wrackspurts and malsnorters," Luna said cheerfully.

Seeing their looks, Edward said, "She's like that. Luna's harmless…well, except to people who piss her off. I get the scary thing she might have done things to Shou Tucker if we didn't need to save Nina first."

"I was considering whether I could replicate the effects of Ebola using a little transmutation," Luna scowled.

"Ee-Bowler?" Yuriy Rockbell asked.

"It's a virus from our world," Harry said. "Makes you bleed from just about every orifice you have, and some that you never knew you had. It's pretty rare, though, thankfully. Believe me, when you piss Luna off, you might as well write your will. She gets…creative. Like this one time Draco Malfoy tried to force himself on her. Let's just say that he's cooling off."

Back on Earth, Hermione went to the fridge (the Department of Mysteries had more than a few Muggle appliances around) to get a bottle of iced tea. As she reached in, she heard a voice say, as it said every time she opened it, "Kill me." As it had been lately, it was in a flat, resigned tone, knowing that its request for mercy wouldn't be granted.

Hermione looked into the eyes of Draco Malfoy, his head (which, incidentally, was all that was present in the fridge) attached to a magical collar, all that was keeping him alive. The rest of him was elsewhere. Quite a few elsewheres, actually.

After a moment, Hermione smiled sweetly, and gave her usual response. "Later," she said, before shutting the fridge door, Draco's resigned groan of irritation the last thing she heard from him this time(1)…

Edward looked at Luna warily. "You know, you're pretty damn scary, you know that?"

"What, little old me?" Luna said with a winning smile that did nothing to reassure the Elrics. Or anyone else present, but Edward and Alphonse had more exposure to Luna's insanity. Admittedly, so too had Harry, but he loved her for it.

And it wasn't like Draco Malfoy hadn't had it coming. The half-inbred moron had wasted the opportunities Harry and his friends had given him to reform. And it wasn't like he couldn't breed anymore. IVF was one of the Muggle technologies that Magical Britain embraced after Hermione and Harry championed it. The fact that the Malfoy line wouldn't technically end with Draco gave his mother Narcissa and his former fiancée Astoria Greengrass some small cause for relief, and before they left through the Veil, Astoria was apparently pregnant. Harry could only hope that said child wouldn't be like their father or grandfather.

Deciding to get off the uncomfortable topic, Yuriy asked, "So, Edward, where are you off to next once Mother and Winry are done with your automail?"

"Central. I've been told there's something interesting at a library there," Edward said. "I can't say much more: secret State Alchemist stuff. Sorry."

"Okay, but don't get in over your head," Yuriy said.

Edward's eye twitched. "Did you say that because you think I'm short?"

"Edward, it's a medical fact. And frankly, if you drank milk like we told you too, you wouldn't have these issues," Yuriy said calmly, not intimidated in the least by Edward's temper. "And all that aside, you do have a habit of blundering into messes, even if you don't cause them. Just try not to do anything too rash. Think of us here. We give a damn if you and Alphonse get hurt."

Edward subsided, nodding. And Harry smiled. As much as Edward and Alphonse valued their independence and their drive, it did well to remind them that they had a family here. A family that Harry would have loved to have himself…

CHAPTER 6 ANNOTATIONS:

Sorry again for the long wait. This is going to be one of those infrequently-updated ones, but at least you've got another chapter now.

I haven't got much to say here, beyond the review-answering, so I might do, as is my wont to do lately, to plug some of my other fics, some of which have been updated alongside this fic. For more Harry Potter and Luna Lovegood having sojourns in another world, check out The New Cetra Heritage: Imago, while for more insane Harry with weird science and mad magic mixed in, try Is Your Great-Aunt an AI?! and Resident Evil: Basilisk. For Harry passing through the Veil into another world, and having insane adventures on the other side, try Nitimur in Vetitum and Newport Mage. For more humorous stories, try Final Fantasy VI: The Abridged Series, and The UNIT Bulletin Board, my humorous takes on Final Fantasy VI and Doctor Who respectively.

I'd also like to plug one of my latest stories. Inspired as this story was partly by the works of sakurademonalchemist, I would like to plug Haemophilia, which was based partly on sakurademonalchemist's attempted Harry Potter/Hellsing crossover, It's in the Blood. I asked for her permission to write and post a story which uses a similar starting point and plot elements, and she agreed. This was after I learned that, despite posting the first three chapters of It's in the Blood to her pilot chapters compilation, sakurademonalchemist lost the other chapters due to her laptop packing it in.

Review-answering time! Alchemical Guest: I probably won't do that. There are probably better works of fiction out there that explore the ramifications of immortality applied to society as a whole. Two immediately spring to mind: Torchwood: Miracle Day, and the novel Mogworld by Ben 'Yahtzee' Croshaw of Zero Punctuation fame.

patrickdejong94: We'll have more Martel in the future, when I get around to it.

1. I took this little gag, darkly comic as it was, from the Team Fortress 2 promo video Meet the Medic. This seemed like the sort of thing Luna would do to take revenge.