Chapter 6 - Two sides of Two very different Coins

The battle ceased for a moment as everyone looked at each other. Movement was minimal as blinking seemed rare in these seconds of silence. Then, all hell broke loose.

"Hey! What were you thinking!" Ed angrily yelled at Charles who backed away into and bumped into Al.

"I-I'm sorry kid-" Charles bumped into Al and looked up sheepishly. "Uh-h-h...sorry"

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SMALL YOU CAN'T SEE HIM OVER A PIECE OF GRAIN?!" Ed swung his (metal) leg into Charles' face, blowing him across the room.

"I don't think he meant it that way brother.." Al chided his sibling while Ed seethed in place. Luke was convinced that smoke was rising from his head.

"Uhm, excuse me?" Flora tried to get a word in but was cut off by a scream from Charles.

"FLORA, LUKE WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU GUYS?!" He got out of bed and slid over to them to inspect them.

"They fought some Chimeras in the back alleyways." Al explained. Ed looked up at him curiously while handing him his helmet back.

"Chimeras?" He asked, interest rising inside of him. "What would they be doing here?"

"I'm not sure about that brother but-" Al was cut off by Charles yelling once again. Luke wondered if Charles ever get a noise complaint with how loud and frequent he yelled.

"OKAY, OKAY, WHERE'S THE WINE JEWEL!" He cried while searching through his desk for it.

"Charles." Layton said calmly. "Can we all take a moment to figure out what's going on?" He walked over to the end of the bed and sat down.

"Okay...fine." He sighed as he put down the jewels. "I always put one in every room." He whispered but nobody heard him.

"Professor?" Luke piped in. "What's going on exactly?" He looked around the room, which was now looked like a bomb went off inside of it.

"That's what I'm wondering as well." Layton put his hand to his chin and thought about it. "Well, I suppose we should start off by asking who you two are?" He gestured towards the pair of brothers, who looked at each other.

"I'm Alphonse Elric." The armor began. The blonde haired boy didn't introduce himself until Al nudged him.

"Fine..." He sighed and then adjusted his sleeve. "I'm Edward Elric."

Layton nodded his head. "It seems like both of you boys have been through a lot." Ed averted his eyes and then turned back to Layton.

"I guess you could say that..." He laughed but it wasn't out of joy.

"Brother.." Al began but Ed shook his head. The two sat in silence.

Layton wanted to say something to comfort these two but decided not to. He switched the subject once more. "What exactly happened in that alleyway?"

"We left the library around 6ish." Flora explained. "And we caught a glimpse of something shiny!"

"We started to run after Al when we got cornered by these two big monsters!" Edward seemed to be in a thought-provoked daze now. Frantically writing something in his notebook.

"Luke got thrown against the wall while we were fighting so he injured his back and leg pretty badly." She pointed to his bandaged leg, which was slightly more bloody than before.

"We'll get you patched up." Charles pointed to the bathroom door behind him. "I have a first aid kit for emergencies." He seemed almost too excited about this.

"Edward?" Layton asked him, who was flipping page after page in his notebook.

"Brother?" Al leaned in to see what he was writing.

"Chimeras Al! Chimeras!" He finally closed the notebook and set it down on the desk behind him.

"What are Chimeras?" Flora helped Luke over to a stool to sit down on so Charles could bring out the kit.

"It's when an alchemist takes two or more creatures and alchemically merges them together to make a new living creature." Ed explained, he seemed pretty ticked off by telling them this.

"Really? Eew.." Luke grimaced at what Ed said. Charles gently cleaned Luke's cuts with soap and water, which hurt like hell to Luke. "It's suppose to sting, right?"

Charles, who was just a moment ago screaming and yelling was now calm and had softened almost. He was being careful not hurt the boy too much and was quietly humming to himself. "Yes, slightly that is."

Layton was carefully watching Charles and Luke while chatting with the brothers. "Now, my main question is how you two got here?"

Ed looked up from his writing and put his hands in his pockets. "Well, I'm not really sure to be completely honest." He glanced at his watch, which didn't seem to be working anymore. The hands just spun and spun. "I was tracking Al down and also helping investigate an alchemist."

Charles excitedly glanced up from Luke's leg. "Alchemists?!" He grinned a childish smirk as his eyes lit up like a child in a toy store. Layton looked at his friend who seemed to have changed his focus and wouldn't change back to his previous personality without them talking about alchemy.

"An alchemist?" Layton raised an eyebrow at the boy. "Why were you investigating him?"

"He had done some pretty crappy stuff like kidnap some alchemists to do his bidding and stealing a good chunk of money from some old man." He crossed his arms like a sassy teenager as he grumbled some curses to which Al chided him about cursing.

"He seems to swear a lot doesn't he Professor?" Flora gently whispered in Layton's ear. "Should we say something?" Her face went from teasing to curiosity.

"I don't think so." He shook his head. "It's not our place to comment on one's speaking habits." Layton glanced briefly at Charles, who was tending to Luke's leg again.

"Continue." Charles grinned politely to urge Ed to go on with his story, to which he did.

"I went to his home base alone to find him." It began to storm outside the window as the clock struck eight, yet time didn't seem to matter now. "When I went inside, there he was! He had a huge pool of blood surrounding the house and some random items strewn about." He recalled. "I began to confront him and he teased me." He shook his head. "We eventually got into a fight and in the middle of it, the circle began to glow...and then that's when my mind goes blurry." He finished.

"So that's what happened." Al looked towards his brother. "I have to admit my story is a little less interesting than yours." He laughed shallowly.

"I don't think that at all Al." Layton spoke. "This could actually help us figure out what's going on." Luke looked curiously at the professor.

"Really?" He looked curiously as Charles finished bandaging his leg.

"Alright!" Charles clapped his hands in proudness. "Can you stay still for a moment?" He asked.

"Uh, yes?" He nodded before Charles dashed off to some other room.

"Well.." Al began. "It all started the day when we were looking for Mei. While you were distracted, some guy told me that they saw her in the alleyway." Flora began to think.

"Mei?" She asked. "Who is Mei?"

"She's from Xing and knows a lot about Alkahestry." Al briefly explained.

"Alkahestry?!" Layton raised an eyebrow. "What is that, if you don't mind me asking."

"I'm not entirely sure yet but it's a type of alchemy usually used in medical settings." Charles came back carrying armfuls of bandages and a weird device.

"Uh-What's that for Mr. Charles?" Luke exclaimed, a little bit shocked at what he was carrying.

"This?" he raised up the device. "It's a portable x-ray! We can check what you may have damaged in the bones." Luke scooted back a few centimeters.

"Uhm, will it hurt?" He was very cautious of this machine, which made weird noises and beeping.

"Nope! It just scans over you." Charles displayed it then by raising it up and then down to get a scan of his body. "See? Now can you stand up?" Luke reluctantly nodded and slowly stood up, though it hurt.

"So-OW!" He exclaimed as he got up, clutching his sides. "How long will this take?" He tried to stand up straight again.

"Erm. Not very long I believe." He switched the thing on and it began to whirl as the screen on the back flashed on and the small bulb on the front turned on. "Stay still."

Luke stood up straight and stiff as Charles rotated around him holding the strange machine and muttering to himself. "Up there….down…."

"Mr. Charles?" Luke quietly said. "Are you…almost done?" Charles was now standing close to the back of his head. The machine made one last beep and then a ding as it printed out a piece of paper.

"There we go!" He grinned as he tore the paper from the machine. He looked at it for a few seconds and then turned to see Luke and Layton's concerned faces. "It's nothing bad, really!" He explained defensively. "It's just a few broken ribs that's all."

"A few?!" Luke gasped. He hadn't ever really broken any bones so this was a strange first for him.

"I'll just have to bandage you up around the ribs to help them heal." He grabbed one of the rolls of bandages and began to work.

"Alright, let us continue." Layton turned back to Ed and Al, who were deep in thought about something. After hearing Layton's voice they snapped back to him.

"Well, I asked him where she went and he showed me to some back alley." Al started once more. "Then about five different guys ambushed me but I managed to defend myself." Ed looked confused now.

"What?" He exclaimed. "So that's where you were?" He sighed and face palmed.

"Sorry brother, I should have told you." Al apologized.

"No, no that's not the issue..." Ed went back into deep thought.

"Anyways...Then when I tried to leave, I triggered a transmutation circle and somehow ended up here." Layton nodded his head and unrolled a map of Barcrombe.

"Could you please point to where you landed?" Layton asked, walking towards the brothers. Al looked at the map for a few moments, trying to find the location before pointing to a small alley.

"Here I believe." Al lifted his figure to show the streets.

"Between Archer and St. Micheals." Layton whispered as he tried to find connections with the locations.

"All done!" Charles clapped when he finished bandaging Luke up. "Now be careful, you can't fight or run too much." He chided him.

"I won't!" He stood up and walked over to Layton, who was studying the map now. "Professor?"

"I believe we'll need to do some more exploring before we can figure this out." Layton looked outside, which was now nighttime and raindrops gently tapped on the window.

"Oh! I need to help with the festival tomorrow so you guys can come with me!" Charles pointed out. "I don't really want to go by myself..." He laughed shallowly.

"That sounds fun!" Flora excitedly clapped. "I love festivals." She began to swoon. Suddenly there was knock on the door which made everyone jump.

"At this hour?" Charles sighed as he left the room and walked down the stairs. Everyone else just stood there and waited for Charles to come back.

"So-" Flora began but then everyone heard Charles shriek. Everyone opened the door and ran down the stairs to go check on Charles.

"Charles!" Layton called as he pushed open the kitchen door to see his friend standing in the hallway, getting wet from the rain.

"Mr. Charles...?" Flora asked, her voice getting quieter as Charles turned towards Layton, a letter in his hands.

"..." He didn't say anything as Layton carefully walked towards him. His face was shrouded in darkness as the lighting outside flashed.

"Mr. Charles!" Luke called as he carefully ran down the stairs.

"Is...everything alright?" Layton asked him, as he carefully walked towards him. Charles blinked a few times and then finally said something.

"Wanna go to Marianne's?" His eyes lit up as everyone realized that the letter was an invite from his sister and sighed in relief. This was going to be interesting.