Summary: The journey continues. This time we stop in the city of Regen. It appears that the brother just can't find a work now involving coal or the railways, but Edward has a plan to use these to their benefit. Czechoslovakia is close and they need an excuse to cross the border after all. Meanwhile Noah's visions decide it would be funny to give them cryptic hints.
Notes: The name of this chapter is a German pun. It means "Snow and Rain," but Regen is also the name of the city we have now reached. The Czechoslovak politics scene for this chapter is a bit of an infodump, so it is marked us such and can be skipped without causing to many problems later on, if you are not into discussions of Interbellum European Politics. The end of this chapter involves some visions from Noah. Both relate to plot points present in the next story. Although given the direction they are heading in some may be able to determine the subject of the second vision.
Alphonse woke up first out of the three of them. The room was almost frigid, and his breath came out as a thick cloud of steam. After a few moments he slid off the bed, while he kept the blankets tied around him so that he looked like a small pile of bedding with a human head as he moved around. The heater ran out of coal hours ago, and its metal felt colder than the air itself. It took him several minutes to start another fire.
Edward and Noah sometimes moved slightly, but continued to sleep. He then moved to the small window so he could look outside. The glass was covered by condensed steam. He swiped at a bit of it with his right hand and nothing changed. He did it a few more times and still nothing appeared to change. "Oh, great," he muttered as a person in a thick coat suddenly came into view. The weather apparently decided to dump a thick layer of snow on them.
He slowly slithered back to his bed and lay down for a bit longer. Noah woke up next. "Did you start another fire or did it last the whole night?" "Nah, it was absolutely frigid before I started another one." He turned around under the blankets to his side, so that he could look directly at her. "I am also giving my brother a piece of my mind. The entire village is under a thick layer of snow, so that's going to be very fun to walk through."
"Argh! I am absolutely joining you in that case," she agreed. "I can hear you two," Ed suddenly announced with his eyes still closed. "Would you mind explaining why I get sworn at for a snow storm? I seriously doubt anywhere around here is better. At least we have a roof over our heads and blankets to cover us." "And we will continue travelling how," his brother asked with a daring tone. "Are we going to sledge down into Regen?"
"Maybe we could sky down the hill," Noah offered. "You can ice skate down there if you want to," Edward sassed them both back and still kept his eyes closed. "I've seen a store that offered winter sport supplies on the way here," he added as he turned around and still refused to open his eyes. His brother noted that his eyelashes had either water or ice on their ends as they twinkled. "I think we should take care of breakfast first," Noah suggested.
"Bread with jam. Done. Next," Al quickly muttered. "We can have more than that, Alphonse. If we are going out and heading straight into Regen, then we will get there with leftovers anyway. You know that bread can spoil, right," she pointed out. "Actually, I did think about some of that fruity aspic we bought. It looks a bit weird, but also tasty," Edward said as he finally opened his eyes and moved to get his suitcase.
They each took a cut of bread and Ed cut the fruit aspic into segments before putting the rest back inside the can. "Hm. More tasty than I would have expected at first," his brother noted as he took a bite. "However, the texture leaves something to be desired." "Al, are you really complaining about food texture in our current condition," Noah asked. "Oh, I am well aware I should be thankful for anything we get to eat at all. I am merely stating my opinion."
"Speak of," Ed started. "I had consulted with the other wondering workers about what Regen and Zwiesel offer. If the weather continues to be like this, we may need to find employment there and stay put for another bit. They claimed that the cities have more generic industry and would likely allow us to find work that does not consist entirely of shovelling coal until we feel like dying. Would you be willing to consider something like that?"
Al gave him an unimpressed look. "You just told me off for being picky, despite being poor. Now you ask my opinion about doing the only work I can?" "What kind of work you do is a choice," Noah pointed out. "Poverty, unfortunately, is not a choice for people like us. I feel like you two will always be able to find work. It's just going to be completely manual and pay barely enough to live off of." "There is another benefit to choosing this line of work," Edward pointed out. "Local freight trains generally run right into Czechoslovakia."
"Are you suggesting we use them to cross the border? Won't they check the cargo before crossing over from one country to the next," Al asked for clarification with an unimpressed tone. "I mean, if you two are going to work in the railway sector, you could always pretend you work at the station and then hide the moment no one is looking," Noah argued. "If anybody should be concerned with getting caught, it would be me. The best I could hope would be working as part of the cleaning staff, and even that might raise eyebrows."
"There is a big difference between the Grosser Regen Valley checkpoint and all the other ones along the border. The Elisenthal train station is on the border itself. The station building is cut in half by it, no less. Any person working there is not questioned to provide documents since that is considered a prerequisite to working there," Edward explained. "That still sounds like a very optimistic plan, Brother." "We will have time to improve on the details. I have thought of using the weather to our advantage."
"Dare I ask how," Noah replied. "We simply wait until a particularly heavy snow storm and then board a train. Then, at the Elisenthal train station, we will act like we are newly employed and use the dense fog to hide from prying eyes." Alphonse scoffed. "That may be the most over the top plan I have ever heard of! What people work with their suitcases?" "Railway Post clerks," Noah pointed out, and Al stopped in the middle of his rant. "That is a good point," Ed agreed.
"It's low level grunt work and not hard to impersonate the people who do it," Al admitted. "I will grant you that was not among the possibilities I thought of. But it still seems oddly optimistic." "We'll iron out the details in time. For now, is, either of you against trying to actually get to the city?" "I doubt waiting will improve our odds," Noah said, and Alphonse gave a sigh and a nod. "Let's go. If necessary, we'll use the suitcases as proxy skies."
Ed and Noah giggled, but they all took their suitcases and started to leave. "Did you enjoy your stay," asked the hotel clerk as they came down the stairs. "Yes, we did," Edward answered curtly, and without another word they all tried to get outside. The path from the front door to the road was actually cleared already, but on either side were several inches of snow cover. They got blasted by a gust of wind and all three immediately shivered.
"Walking in autumn clothing during early winter is great," Noah muttered. "I hope none of us get ill because of this." "Noah, out of the three of us, you would have the least problems with getting sick. We have to keep working, while you can, at best, rely on the goodwill of the people," Alphonse pointed out as he tried to ignore the cold his feet felt trying to walk through snow with his shoes. The snow gave loud crunches, and they were only too glad that the path to Regen first went downhill and then followed along relatively flat ground.
It took them almost an hour to reach Fahrnbach, the next village along the road. The path had criss-crossed layers of snow piled atop it as the wind patterns had shifted during the night. Few locals had been insane enough to follow the same path they had taken. Since they followed a road formed from a path carts had taken in older days, the trio missed a snowed in sign pointing out a shortcut and accidentally added over half a kilometre to their journey.
When the snow beneath your feet changed from crunchy firm to cold quicksand at random, this was not a little thing. A man in Fahrnbach itself asked if they wanted to be taken downhill with his cart, since he was himself heading in the direction of Regen, and they showered him with thanks. "Kids, you truly chose a bad time to pass through the Bavarian forest," the old man said as they pulled blankets out of their suitcases to cover themselves. Noah had hid herself so deep inside her own hood, she was barely visible.
"We know," Ed forced out through chattering teeth. "But we didn't have much of a choice. We need to work somewhere." It was almost noon, when the horse-drawn cart with sleigh parts attached finally reached the city. Even from a distance, they could see dark smoke rising from the many chimneys above the city. Admittedly, at least some of that was from the residential areas, but some of the industrial chimneys towered above the rest of Regen's skyline.
The man brought them to the corner of Bahnhofstrasse and Zwieselstrasse, where they had to get off. He pointed them towards the railway yard and then turned around to head several blocks back and across the Schwarzer Regen River to reach the Old City, where he intended to purchase supplies for two weeks. That same day, they found the freight yard was willing to hire help. Both brothers tried to not roll their eyes too much, when they found out that instead of delivering coal with the carts, they would fill them up from the wagons instead.
Their new employer offered them one of the flats in a building owned by the railway as a place of temporary residence for free in return for their labour, however Noah's continued presence was dependent on paying rent. Fortunately, every large industrial sector of a city needs a pub and the local one agreed to hire her as a help on condition of good work ethic and not causing complaints from their guests about the food or service. In this country and economy, the Elric brothers had to admit this was better than they expected.
WARNING: This part of the chapter describes a government meeting of Švehla's Cabinet, where Beneš and Udržal give a report on the political situation in Europe. By its very nature this constitutes a kind of INFODUMP. This part exists to give some context for the current state of Czechoslovakia and its politics and as such is intended for those of you interested in such things.
Almost directly east of Prague Castle and just across the Vltava River lies the Rudolfinum, a late 19th Century concert hall and museum building named after the Austro-Hungarian Crown Prince Rudolf. When the Monarchy collapsed, the new Czechoslovak Government sought a building to use for its Parliament, and they chose this place despite the tonal incongruence. Thus, it was inside a Neo-renaissance building, with sculptures of various artists atop, that Švehla's Cabinet met for their end of month meeting.
Beneš and Udržal came to give their reports regarding matters of national importance. "I have already discussed French memos regarding further political and economic co-operation with President Masaryk, Mr. Švehla. He is in favour of continuing our current approach to mutual relations in that area. I assume you are as well?" "Indeed I am, Mr. Beneš. What about the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union? Has any news come from them?"
"I believe that will be a topic for December," Udržal noted. "Last I heard, the United Kingdom is approaching a snap general election, which is to take place on next Thursday." "That is indeed the case," Beneš agreed. "Under usual circumstances such an election would not be called until three years from now, but the sudden death of Bonar Law and his replacement by Stanley Baldwin has caused great political disturbance.
Mr. Baldwin seeks to reform the Conservative Party's economic stance from free trade towards Imperial Protectionism, and has thus called a snap election to ask the populace for a mandate. Our Consulate in London has sent conflicting information, but it is currently expected that the government will fail and Baldwin will be succeeded either by Ramsay MacDonald of the Labour Party or by H. H. Asquith of the Liberal Party, who was Prime Minister during the first half of the war."
"Mr. Beneš, are our men certain Mr. Baldwin will not manage to get his mandate," asked Ladislav Novák, Minister of Industry, Trade and the Economy. "Do not worry, Mr. Novák. The current trends seem to be again him. He has not acted wisely in the diplomatic arena, and his negotiations of debt owed to the United States and failure to normalise relations with the new Turkish Republic have nibbled away at his support base. We are unlikely to suffer adverse trade related effects."
"I assume the Soviet Union is currently in a passive state," Švehla inquired. "Correct. The retirement of Vladimir Lenin from active politics and his awful health have brought forth rifts between Trotsky and Jughashvili and their respective approaches to implementing Bolshevik Doctrine," Beneš explained. "Only the French are currently fully active on the World stage, because their elections are slated for May. Mr. Poincaré has been quite concerned, however, since he fears the potential electoral success of the left-wing Radicals under Mr. Édouard Herriot."
Švehla nodded in understanding. "And what of our more immediate neighbours and allies," he continued. "Yugoslavia and Romania are mostly without change. So there is little to report on among the Little Entente. The most recent news is that Gustav Stresemann has swapped with Wilhelm Marx, the Chairman of the Central Party. President Ebert has thus established a new Cabinet. Nobody in the diplomatic corps is expecting an immediate change, since the parties are exactly the same as previously.
We reckon that they will continue to mainly work on their hyperinflation and keep to the status quo in terms of foreign relations." Agreeable murmurs passed through the room. "They have enough trouble with their own issues. I think we don't need to change our positions either," Udržal stated and Švehla nodded. "I concur. Is there any news from Hungary?" "The Hungarian frontier seems calm at the moment and the attitudes among the ethnic Magyars inside our nation are currently calm," Udržal announced.
Beneš started to go through his many reports and slowly wagged his head. "So far it appears that Prime Minister István Bethlen is keeping the Regent from acting too rashly and the country relatively pacified. They keep outwardly respecting the Treaty of Trianon." The Prime Minister gave an approving nod. "I bet it's because Bethlen seeks aid from the Brits to help reconstruct his fractured nation. He is probably waiting for the aftermath of the general election as well.
It is good news indeed for our projects in Slovakia. We will certainly speak more of this afterward. For now, we still have our other neighbours to cover," Švehla judged. "Then I shall continue on with Poland. My counterpart Roman Dmowski seems agreeable to further improvement of our relations. However, the case concerning the Těšín district is still an elephant in the room." "Do the Poles still recon they can win," Udržal asked with a tired tone.
"I doubt it. The Council of the League of Nations is getting ready to deliver its verdict in early Spring, and all seems to indicate that they will recognise the border on the Olše River." "And what about Northern Slovakia," Švehla inquired. "That seems to be a more difficult question for them to settle. Javorina and Ždiar seem to be safe, but Nižná Lipnica and some areas around Orava will probably pass to the Poles." Švehla thought for a moment and then gave a nod. "You know what? I think that is probably the best we could hope for."
Many other cabinet members nodded in affirmation. "That only leaves our former overlords in Vienna," Beneš began. "Ever since that failed putsch in Bavaria, the fights between Socialists and Nationalist have greatly abated. Admittedly, the country still seems heavily polarised given the Christian Socialists got 44 and the Social Democrats got almost 40 percent of the vote last month." "And what of the German Austria project," Udržal promptly asked.
"Ignaz Seipel seems to be respecting the Treaty of Saint Germain and has attempted to stomp out such rhetoric. Despite being directly opposed to the government and doctrines of Karl Renner, who signed it, and now his successor as leader of the Socialists, Karl Seitz, due to being on the opposite side of the aforementioned polarisation, all three seem to despise the Greater German Rhetoric that seeks union of their nation with Germany."
"That is good news for now," Udržal argued. "However, both nations are, as you mentioned, filled to some extent with supporters of Pan-Germanic tendencies. Ultimately, the Treaties of Versailles, Saint Germain and Trianon are worthless if there is no power to enforce them. France has acted in the Rhineland to press Germany, when they were unable to pay reparations. Do we have genuine guarantees that they or perhaps the Brits would give more than just political support should local conditions worsen?"
"Mr. Udržal that question can only be questioned if such a thing actually happens," Beneš responded and Švehla immediately interrupted with "And I believe everyone here earnestly prays that it does not come to pass." Much louder murmurs of agreement emerged from around the room. "I believe that concludes this part of the meeting. Does anyone else have any question they wish to ask before we properly move on?"
There was silence for a moment. "Now, Mr. Beneš and Mr. Udržal have a matter of internal concern they wish to bring to us. Mr. Malypetr, your opinion will be appreciated," he added with an emphasis to the Minister of the Interior. "Normally we would not involve the entire Cabinet in this discussion, but after the events that have transpired this winter – May God grant Mr. Rašín's soul peaceful rest – we feel we should," Beneš began. "I already do not like where this is going," Jan Malypetr told him.
"This matter concerns a visa grant to a German national named Karl Harrer. For the last two years the man seems to have acted as a law-abiding citizen and the wording of his requests seems benign enough, however this man has been affiliated with the far-right movements we have mentioned previously. Indeed, he was a co-founder of the German Workers' Party before publicly splitting with them," Udržal explained, and Malypetr was now heavily frowning.
"Both President Masaryk and I have given conditional approval after Mr. Udržal promised to maintain constant oversight over this man during his presence in our nation. We believe he does not intend to act contrary to our Law on the Defence of the Republic, but none of us wish to be lax," Beneš added. "I really do not like this," Malypetr stated, and then remained quiet for a bit. "If you are absolutely certain nothing bad will come of this, I would allow this." "As would I," Švehla stated.
"Let us return to this point later. I feel like this is a difficult discussion, and we have more important points to get through first," Malypetr declared. Švehla looked around the room. "Is anyone against us continuing on for the moment?" Several people wagged their heads, and others did not speak at all. "Very well. For now, we shall move on matters of internal economics. Mr. Bečka has prepared a report regarding the current state of the Economy and I believe you will be most pleased, because I certainly was, with the shortened version of it."
The Czechoslovak economy, which Mr. Bečka was so heavily praising to his superior and colleagues, flourished thanks to the vast investment the Habsburg family had dumped into the Lands of Bohemian Crown. After they had lost Silesia to Prussian Conquest the dynasty had turned the Czech lands into their new main industrial region and now after the collapse of their multinational monarchy it was this part of Czechoslovakia that produced a vast supermajority of the national GDP.
However, the countryside was resource poor and as such Czechoslovak industry demanded a constant supply from international trade on account of the lack of national infrastructure to be able to draw from their own sources. Edward and Alphonse quickly noticed that Regen consumed only a fraction of the vast amount of natural resources that passed through. "Another passing coal train," Ed noted as they were shovelling. "Why do they even send them through here? I thought they mined coal in the Rhineland?"
"Do not underestimate the hunger of our neighbours," one of the older men muttered. "The hunger of our neighbours," Alphonse repeated with a questioning tone as he wiped coal dust from his brow. "The Czechs pay handsomely for our resources and in return we provide," the man explained. "Plus now that the French control the area they get premium rates. Their southwest built up a lot of industry and then the area ran out of its own coal, so they reached outside their borders to feed themselves without draining their own," another added.
"I still say we give it up as easily," one of the younger men called out during the brief break between two carts swapping positions outside the railway car. "After Hamm gets this hyperinflation back under control, he should demand more for our hard labours if we just sell it all to the Slavs," he added in reference to the newly appointed Minister of Economic Affairs after Stresemann's appointee Joseph Koeth was not reinstated in the First Marx Cabinet.
"Slavs? Isn't a quarter of the country German," Alphonse asked before he thought about how good of an idea it was to say that in the current political climate. "What good will any of that fuel be to those poor brethren of ours," the same man asked in a tone laced with sarcasm. "The country is ruled by Slavic degenerates and Jewish swine that keep the Sudetenland under constant occupation." On account of their true background, neither brother could particularly empathise.
Edward had to forcefully keep his mouth shut and not say that, if this was how Germans treated other nationalities, he was not surprised most of those nationalities wanted to suppress the hell out of them. Not even ten minutes after the previous train, another one came from the direction of Deggendorf and that one carried tree logs – one of the few resources the Bavaria itself exported. "Just look how much goes in that direction and how little comes back," the man started up again.
Both brothers struggled with a desire to stuff the man's mouth full of coal, so he would shut up for a bit. Ed had a more difficult time. He had been forced to listen to Germans moaning for over a year at this point. Many times he wished he could just scream at them for being blatant hypocrites that with one corner of their mouth screamed about their racial superiority and with the other bemoaned how the entire world trod them under foot. They were only too happy when this cargo wagon was finally empty and they could move elsewhere.
After several hours of this, they finally found time to head for lunch. The sole pub in the industrial district was always full, and that had been a great blessing for the trio, alongside the owner's approach to doing business. Much to the annoyance of some "colleagues" of theirs, Noah's employer – a balding man in his sixties with a rotund figure – only cared about running a successful business and profiting in this time of economic instability.
"As far as I am concerned, your friend is the best investment I even made," he once told the brothers, when Alphonse questioned his supportiveness of the Romani girl. "I don't give a fuck if she's a gypsy or not. She works hard and asks for little pay." They could see the Dollar Mark signs in his eyes. "Race traitor," someone yelled from the other side of the pub. The man calmly stood up and reminded that individual that "My establishment reserves the right to refuse service to anyone.
If you can find some else, who won't throw you out because you are covered in coal dust and soot and would therefore ruin their seating, then go ahead and start eating there. Also, my dear man," he added, and both brother could hear the mockery in that voice, "good look finding some as cheap as I am." The man quickly shut up and got back to eating his pork with dumplings. "Maybe I should tell him your friend made that. Might change the taste somewhat," the owner whispered to the brothers, who failed to fully suppress their snickers.
"Hey, Noah, your two boys are here," he told her as he passed the door to the kitchen. "Tell them, I'll bring them their food in just a bit. I reckon they are having the usual." "Of course they are. Just don't overdo it too much. If you have a preference for quests, then make sure it is not obvious," he instructed her. She nodded and despite that made sure to sneak some of the large dumplings on their plates.
She knew well that he was giving her a lower wage than would be normal, so she made sure to occasionally use her position to scrape off some stuff and keep it for herself or the brothers. Fortunately, Mr. Krüger – Nominative determinism for the win! – was only good with money and not estimating how many supplies they should consume for the amount of food their kitchen produced. As she entered the front of the pub with two plates, she could feel the annoyed stares.
"Are we hungry today," she teased as she approached their table. "Have you tried shovelling coal for several hours," Edward sassed back and they shared a laugh. "The knowledge, that your cooking awaits us at the end of our shift, is what keeps us going," Alphonse told her and dug in. "Say, is it not a bit tiring that you are the person that cooks EVERYTHING they sell here," he asked her with an odd tone and made sure to particularly emphasise that word. She was confused for a moment.
Then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw the man that had called her employer a "race traitor" push his half-finished plate away with a look of disgust. Mr. Krüger suddenly appeared and with complete poker face asked, "Are you finished?" The man gave the most passive-aggressive "Yes" that any member of the trio had ever heard, and the owner took the unfinished plate of food away.
"That is why this pub asks their guests for payment in advance," Al quietly whispered between bites and Noah went back to the kitchen to start preparing another food, so the pub had some variety on offer. "He looked like you instantly poisoned his food, Brother. Nice job," he added after he swallowed another piece of pork. "I try," Ed replied as the man angrily stomped out of the front door while he quietly cussed out all four of them.
Slowly the days had advanced and with December came the Advent Season. Alphonse was somewhat confused by an association of gift giving with the Winter Solstice, and even more by some of the foundational parts of this Christianity. The very idea that religions could have regional monopolies throughout the world seemed an alien concept. The days in which their own world had national religions had been relegated to the distant past. Meanwhile, here, the world seemed much more unified.
The whole concept behind Saint Nicholas' Day, which was today, was even more confusing, especially the presence of the demon Krampus. On the other hand, it meant a slight increase in their daily payment due to additional sales of coal, so who was he to complain. "I've learned not to ask a question. It's not our World, so how could we ever really understand all of its weirdness. I doubt they would not find Amestris weird too," Edward told him, and he found himself agreeing.
"Having seen enough of Amestris through your memories, I can very much confirm that," Noah added. "Your home world is incredibly weird for some so used to this one's own manner of weirdness." Snow storms came and went and the layer of snows piled up and receded repeatedly. Slowly they fell into a predictable pattern, but they were always looking out for an opportunity. Edward still searched for a way to pass across the border. By this point, they had returned to their temporary lodgings.
"I feel like we're getting stuck in place, too," Al suddenly declared. "We've only been here for seven days," his brother argued, and Alphonse gave a shrug. "Maybe I'm just getting a bit paranoid, but it feels like we have somewhere more important to be." No sooner had those words left his mouth than Noah suddenly collapsed on the floor. "Noah! Are you good," Ed immediately screamed and started to pick her up. She seemed out of it for a few seconds, and then quickly blinked and seemed to regain her senses.
"Yeah, sorry. My powers decided it would be funny to have me drop like a marionette without the strings." Alphonse offered her a flask of tea. "Thanks. It was seem weird vision too. I guess your brother is right that we have more important places to be, because that definitely seemed connected." "I am not certain I like the fact your powers agree. Especially if this is another cryptic bullshit like that vision you had when we reached Deggendorf."
"I'm afraid it was very similar. I saw a quartet of people in weird clothing." "What was the vision back then, again? A praying boy," Ed asked. "Yeah, he had his back toward me and I could hear him, but the words were lost to me. It was language I could not grasp at the moment and don't remember any more," Noah reminded him. "And what vision was my outburst greeted with," Al asked. She sat down on her bed.
"They looked really familiar, and I think I may have seen them or some really similar individuals in your memories. The first figure was a dark-haired woman clothed in a green dress and with a red cape across her back. She was admiring herself in a mirror with a golden trim. Next was an old guy with glasses and a flat hat. He was grinning with teeth like a dog and wearingly an expensive looking velvet cloak. He had a walking stick in his left hand and a bag of money in his right, which he kept jiggling.
The third was an old man in his fifties that I think had a turban and appeared to be playing some kind of tiny guitar. It was not a violin, but a plucked instrument." "A lute," Ed offered. "Maybe? The last figure was another woman. She was really old and looked more like a corpse than a living person. She had an hourglass in her left hand and a bell in her right, and she was swinging them both with a loud laughter." There was silence for a moment.
"Can I just say, with all due respect, that your visions sound like somebody drugged you," Alphonse declared in a tone that made him sound like he was about to go into hysterics. "Especially that ending... It sounded like you saw actual Death, and I am now really concerned what lies in our future." Edward gave firm nods in agreement. "Sorry, I am very much aware my abilities are a pain in the ass that refuses to give anyone a straight answer." "We know, Noah. But we like you anyway," Ed declared.