Edna did a slight twirl in her new (and much, much warmer) outfit. Idia certainly appreciated it, especially since they were in matching outfits. Edna found it amusing that everyone had immediately voted her to have a cat plushie, so she picked the fabrics that were as close to Grim's colors as she could.

She was particularly happy that they were going to split up for a bit once they registered their team. Having even a small date with Idia always cheered her up. He was looking forward to this too.

"So what should our name be?" asked Epel.

Edna didn't even hesitate with her answer.

"Team Applepom, because anything else is going to start an argument and we'll never agree to anything otherwise. Plus it's a nod to the festival and the town."

Epel perked up at that.

"Considering the average attitude of students at Night Raven..." said Idia.

"I agree. It's simple and easy to remember," said Jade smiling. And Edna was entirely correct that if they tried to come up with a name they were almost certainly to bicker about it for hours.

"So we're agreed? We'll each spend about an hour or two at the festival, then we'll go do some practice runs since the only one of us who's done this before is Epel. That way we'll have all worked out an appetite for dinner," said Edna.

It was a sound plan, and meant everyone could enjoy the festival.

Epel would stick with Malleus and Jade, since he didn't want to interrupt Edna's date with Idia. That, and to prevent any major misunderstandings.


Edna kept an eye out, and found even more evidence that Harveston was likely founded by the survivors of Amestris...especially those from Resembool. It made her feel like she was home, however briefly.

Idia made a beeline for the puzzles, which made her grin. She found doing them rather relaxing, and while the replica of the Fairest Queen's castle was a bit much for her, the one of the cat made her laugh.

She looked through the wares and found one that strongly reminded her of Grim. She was sure he'd get a kick out of it. Then her eyes fell on one that made her pause.

"What's this?" she said with an odd note in her voice.

"That? It's a fair representation of the lost hero," said the merchant cheerfully.

"Lost hero?" said Edna.

"There was an alchemist back in the old country that brought hope wherever they went. Even though everyone else who held that rank was known as a 'Dog of the Military', the lost hero never stopped fighting for the little people. There's even a story where she deliberately tricked a corrupt official and gave back the town to the miners living there," said the merchant. "However one day she went missing, and the monsters that had been moving behind the scenes rose up and caused a great catastrophe. Story has it she will 'find the gate' and return to set the wrongs right again."

The figurine in her hand was a rather unrealistic representation of herself. The automail arm and leg were a pretty big indicator of that. Not to mention her old coat, and the obvious pigtail.

Though the thing that amused her the most was the fact that the figure was much taller than she was in real life. It was about the same size as Idia to scale.

Idia immediately bought not just the figurine, but also the cat puzzle and the small armor puzzle that Edna had her eye on. He also bought the replica of the Fairest Queen's castle, as he knew the twins would enjoy the challenge.

As they were heading to another stall, Edna caught a whiff of something that had her make an immediate beeline for the source. Idia followed her, partly out of confusion.

They found themselves not at a stall, but at someone's porch.

"I'd know that smell anywhere," said Edna cheerfully. "That's Shepard's Stew, isn't it?"

The old woman blinked for several seconds, before beaming broadly at Edna.

Idia...was very confused as Edna chatted cheerfully with the older woman about this stew, and Edna admitting she knew the older recipe by heart. Apparently it was something of a local specialty that Winry had passed on from Resembool to Harveston.

Coincidentally when Marja (Epel's grandmother) found out Edna had the "lost recipe" for the original Shepard's Stew, she declared the girl an honorary member of the family alongside Alphonse.

Epel was particularly pleased, since he considered Edna and to a lesser extent Alphonse his cousins already.


With Alphonse

Alphonse was glad for the break. Modeling was much harder work than he originally thought.

"So Epel is related to Winry?" he said.

"Yeah, apparently they're descended from her. I've talked to several people around Harveston and from what I can tell, a good chunk of Resembool resettled there. Should have seen their reaction when I presented the 'lost' recipe for Shepard's Stew. According to Marja, Epel's grandmother, they've been substituting ingredients for over a century because they forgot how it was made."

"So how was the race?" asked Alphonse.

"Hasn't started yet," said Edna. "But none of the group has crashed in over thirty minutes, so fingers crossed. Oh, and apparently a group from the RSA is here to race as well. I overheard Neige's name earlier."

Alphonse winced, as he cast a glance a bit further away to Neige. He honestly didn't see why people were so obsessed with him. The guy was pretty enough, but Al could tell that in a real fight, he would be a liability.

Something about Neige gave him the impression that he was all flash, no substance as Vil had put it.

Needless to say Al stuck rather close to his cousin rather than try to have any real connection to Neige.

As he laid down in the hotel room rented by Vil's manager, he knew Edna and the rest were racing all throughout the night.

He woke up to a message from Edna which was full of good cheer for the most part.

'Barely won the race, but it was a lot of fun. Was rather awkward having to share a sled with Idia, as he kept getting...ideas...while trying not to freeze.'

Alphonse chuckled at that. Idia was very good for his sister, and he was happy for her. He was also waiting for Idia to man up and finally propose to his sister, because it was blatantly obvious the two would end up together at some point.


In Harveston

Upon learning Winry had left behind several books before her death that had been taking up space, Idia cheerfully brought out a laptop and a high-quality scanner.

No one in Harveston could read the things, and considering how obsessed Winry was about her art, Edna was almost certain that most of the books were about automail.

Marja was a bit dubious about the idea of scanning their matriarch's legacy, but Epel was able to convince her after talking with Idia. Scanning the books would insure the information wouldn't be lost, and Edna had no problem translating the books so that they could be properly enjoyed.

More importantly, there was a high chance that one of the books would have enough details on the surgery required for automail to make it publicly available to everyone once again.

It took Idia at least three hours to thoroughly scan the books, though some Edna left out because they were more "personal diaries" instead of books on automail. She had to hold back tears after reading one, because it had a letter Winry had left for her personally.

Epel's next visit home had him bringing the older set of automail that Idia had studied extensively before giving Edna her current set. It was soon placed in a spot of pride, since it was another remnant of their beloved matriarch's handiwork. All the other examples had been lost to the ages, or were mistakenly broken down for scraps.


It was the hottest game on the market. A game both mundane and mages could enjoy, provided they could pay for it.

Alchymia was set in an ancient kingdom, and the cover art was of an impressive looking gate and a mysterious figure peaking from inside. Idia had gotten a rare Beta tester slot, and had found it fun and engaging.

He had chosen to be an alchemist, mostly to experience even a little bit of what his girlfriend and Alphonse had in their past.

It was fun, but he was unsure how his girlfriend would react to the game. One of the NPC's looked and acted a LOT like how this...Mustang had in the descriptions Edna had given him.

Hell, there were several NPC's that behaved and had the general appearance of people Edna and Al had once known.

It wasn't until he saw the automail NPC after he 'lost' his arm that he realized with some horror that perhaps there was something going on about this game.

Idia attempted to log out, but found himself trapped by the game.

He was unable to warn Edna and Alphonse about the possible horrors contained within.

Outside the game...

Edna looked at her boyfriend's unconscious form. Idia had been trapped inside the game for over a week now, and she had to wonder if this was how he felt every time she landed in the hospital.

Any attempts to remove the VR headset caused his vitals to spike dangerously. His magic pen had been steadily darkening, and from what they could tell, something was draining his magic to fuel something. Something sinister.

The second Edna saw the 'gate' and the 'figure' of the game, her heart sank.

She knew that gate, intimately. So did Alphonse.

"It's the Gate of Truth," said Edna.

"Truth?" said Crowley.

"The Gate is a source of endless knowledge and understanding. However it's not a place humans are meant to go, and to step forth in that place means that you've likely committed the Taboo. There's a reason Hades was so pissed with me," said Edna quietly.

"It's also the reason Hohenhiem stopped trying to return to our mother. Edna is the only one who has the capability of putting down those monsters," said Alphonse.

"I still find it ridiculous he's relying on someone barely seventeen," said Vil.

"Actually, he's not. Several have tried to end them, especially after the destruction of Amestris. The problem is that only someone with a certain resonance with the stones can kill them permanently," corrected Alphonse.

"A resonance?" said Vil.

"Edna has a special resonance with the stones, and with the Gate itself," said Alphonse. "She's the only person who has survived going through that Gate not once, but multiple times."

"There must have been others," said Edna.

Alphonse shook his head.

"Nee-san, after Amestris fell, alchemy fell out of favor and automail was almost forgotten. Those that did find the old circles were never skilled enough or had the right ones to break the Taboo. You were the only person to have gone through the gate multiple times and who has the skill level to create a stone. Once you disappeared, no one was able to deal with them."

"What about..."

"Do you have any idea how hard it is to contact grandfather, even now?" said Vil, shaking his head. "When you mentioned how he up and vanished for over a decade, my only thought was how it wasn't the least bit out of character for him. The only reason he took me in was because it was temporary and because grandmother had died. Father was busy with funeral arrangements among other things, and it was only for a few months, nothing else," said Vil.

Even then Hohenhiem was incredibly closed off from his son and grandson. He only taught Vil how to speak the language to keep him occupied and to be an ass.

Edna looked at Idia's comatose form, then at the Ortho twins.

"What do we need to do to bring him back?" she asked.

Vil had given her the riot act, with several others chiming in, over the last time she ended up in the hospital. While he understood her drive to protect family, he was beyond annoyed she kept ending up in the hospitals from being so reckless.

In her defense, she was not used to having actual back-up beyond Alphonse. And when she did have back-up, things were usually so hectic they were of limited help or having to deal with their own problems. Or worse, were limited because they were military and having to deal with a higher up.

Vil considered it a win that Edna said "we" and not "I" for a change.

He still wasn't happy when Edna put on the special headset, and dove into the game.