Fullmetal Alchemist Fan Fiction ❯ Wolves of Fire, Eagles of Ice ❯ Words engraved in silence ( Chapter 2 )

Author note: thanks for the reviews. I kept the prologue short by purpose, it was more a teaser to see how you would react at my idea. Glad you liked it. You can also noticed that I changed the title from “Elemental Alchemy” to “Wolves of fire, Eagles of ice”, the reason for this change is to avoid confusion with a story published before mine, which title is “Elemental Alchemist”. As you can notice the two title are extremely similar (but not the stories). I did forget that there was a story by that title, and I’m sorry for the inconvenience. Just few more notes: this story will develop in an AU, and that means: no death on Hughes! He will actually play an important role in the story. Enjoy it and let me know your thoughts. Everything is welcome! As usual: I do not own FMA!     Chapter 1: Words engraved in silence     After finding the record on the Elemental Alchemy in his father travel book, Ed spent the rest of the day in Central Library with the hope to find more leads and maybe a way to reach this mysterious place where it was practiced. He found nothing. No other book cited anything that was even vaguely similar to what he was searching for. It was as if  the Elemental Alchemy did not existed at all for all the others alchemists. Ed went back to the riddle he found in the book and tried to dissect it word by word. “An alchemy that can not be learnt”: could that means that it was too difficult to understand it by anyone? “An alchemy that can not be taught”. So you can’t either learn or teach Elemental Alchemy, probably for the reason that it is “written in blood”. Than was really creepy. Did it meant that you need some sort of sacrifice to have access to it? But that would be in contradiction with the first two lines, because in some ways you would be able both to learn and teach. “Written in blood” had to mean something more. But what? More Ed was thinking about it more he felt confused. He was so concentrated in trying to understand his father writing that he didn’t noticed his brother approaching him from behind. He only felt a cold hand touching his left shoulder. The feeling was so unexpected that he reacted purely by instinct. He quickly turn on himself to face his enemy and at the same time he alchemized his right arm into a blade and struck hardly. He found himself face to face with a headless suit of armor. “Brother…” “Al!?” “Who else? Haven’t you heard me coming near? It’s not that I can go easily unheard when I walk around. What did I do to you? Are you still pissed off at the cat that I found the last week? I’m sorry Ed but he was so lonely and it was raining. How could I have left him there? He called to me! I’m really sorry, but you know how much I love cat. Don’t you think that you are a little bit over reacting? It was only a cat…” “Al?” “And anyway now is with the Hughes. Elysia just love cats as much as myself, and Gracia is such a caring person. I promise brother, I will try to not pick up any other stray cat from now on…” “Al!” “Yes brother?” “Your head is missing…” Ed said pointing at the helmet left forgotten on floor. “Oh, sorry.” Ed observed his younger brother gently picking up the missing piece and place it back on his metallic body. They were getting desperate on their search, especially after the devastating discovery on the Philosopher Stone. They would never take a life just to satisfy their own selfishness. As long as only themselves were on the line, or rather, as long as only himself was on line, he did not care about dangers and death. But innocents people? And in a great number. No. This was far too much for him. “Al, its me that should be sorry. I was so concentrated on my research that I’ve not noticed you. To be honest, I’m a little over the edged recently. I’m sorry. I truly am.” Alphonse looked intensely to his brother. It saddened him to see how much easily he could get frustrated recently. Since they came back to central, it was just like this. Ed would spend hours and hours in the library searching for whatever clue he could get to have back their body. He had tried everything to convinced him to relent at least a little, he even suggested to go back to Resenbool to visit their old friend. The suggestion was easily dismissed by a grunt from his older brother. “Ed, is ok. You don’t have to worry for me. If there is no other way, it think that we should just give up…” “No way! I won’t give up on you!” He couldn’t, and never will. “Besides, I just found something interesting, but I don’t know if it will be useful.” Ed explained to his brother what and where he found informations about the Elemental Alchemy. Al was as clueless as Ed about the significance of the riddle, but if their father wrote about it, it must have been something special, especially if he concealed so much informations. “Brother, I was thinking that maybe the Colonel could know something about it. May be we should ask him.” As expected, the suggestion didn’t settled nicely with Ed. He started ranting about how much arrogant and obnoxious he was, how he used him for making career in the military, and never giving them good leads on the Philosopher Stone. Even though, he had to admit himself that the “Bastard” often knew things that no one else was aware of. “Fine, let’s give it a try. But I doubt that for once he will really help us.” “Brother, you know that it is not true. He is keeping our secret and allowing us to go were we need without complaining too much. He gave us a place to stay when we are here in Central, and not all the leads were so useless, we learned a lot on the Philosopher Stone thanks to his leads. You should be more grateful to him.” “Hmf, whatever. He still is a bastard.” “You are just pissed off at him because he always tease you for your height.” “I’M NOT SHORT!!!”     “So Fullmetal, the library attendant complained to me for you lack of proper behaviour. Was it so difficult to reach books in the upper shelves? If so why haven’t you asked your brother to pick them up for you?” Dark haired with almond midnight eyes, colonel Roy Mustang was a young and gifted state alchemist. His intelligence and determination led him to quickly climb rank after rank, so attracting envy and jealousy from the higher ranking officers on one side, and admiration and love from all the women in Central on the other. Roy Mustang was also famous for his obsession for miniskirts and for continuously teasing a certain state alchemist under the code name of Fullmetal. And as the colonel expected, Edward fell for the bait. “Who are you calling so short that even a book is taller than me?!” “Brother, he didn’t say that!” Roy Mustang could not help but laugh at the scene, he had always found that somehow the youngest of the Elrics was far more mature than his age. He admired his determination mixed with kindness, but most of all his being always true to himself. He never hided his feeling, a luxury that he could never afford. Too many secrets were concealed behind his smirk and easygoing behaviour. “So Fullmetal, what do you need from me? More money to feed your bottomless stomach, or for some crazy mission of yours?” “No thank you, we have enough money for the moment…” “So what is it?” At his question both brothers become serious and looked at each others in agreement. “In the Central library I found a travel book from my father. Most of it was just an account of places and people that he met, but at a certain point he became vague, writing in riddle.” At that point Edward showed the colonel the passage about the Elemental Alchemy. “We haven’t found any other lead on this Elemental Alchemy, so we were thinking that maybe you could know something about it.” Roy took the book in his hands, looked at it carefully and than he did something that both Edward and Alphonse would never imagine: he threw the book in the near paper bin and with a snap he incinerated it. “Forget about this so called Elemental Alchemy. It won’t help reaching your goal, and it is more likely that it doesn’t exist at all. Now Fullmetal, I want you here tomorrow morning at 8 am, I will have a new mission for you and your brother that will be more useful that this fantasy of yours.” “Wait a minute! You just burn the only copy of my father travel book!” “I though that you used to hate him, for abandoning you, your brother, and your mother. And if the library will complain about it, let them come to my office, I will take all responsibility and I will pay for the damage.” “But colonel?! How could you?! What if that riddle will bring us to some kind of knowledge that can restore our body?!” “Fullmetal, this is an order. You won’t search for any other information about the Elemental Alchemy. If you won’t follow my order I will have to take severe measurements. I’m losing my patients with you and your insubordinations. This time you better do as I say. Dismissed” Edward could not believe what just happened. Not only the colonel destroyed the book but for the first time since he joined the military, he was giving him clear orders to not follow a lead. He started to think that he might know more that he was letting out. “What do you know about it?” “I said that you are dismissed.” “I won’t leave this room till you tell me all you know about this Elemental Alchemy.” “Leave now if you won’t to be able to continue to research for the philosopher stone.” “NO WAY!” “Alphonse, please take your brother out of my office before I lose completely my patient.” Alphonse felt like be squeezed between two walls. His brother was right, the way Mustang was behaving meant that he knew something and for some reason he did not want to share the information with them. Or may be he could not. If this was the case that meant that forcing him to talk would probably put him in a dangerous position, and them with him. “Brother, we really should go. If we have to leave for a mission tomorrow, we better get ready.” “Are you creasy Al? Don’t you see?! He is hiding something!” “Brother, we have to go.” Al tone left no choice to Edward. He greeted the colonel, took his brother on his shoulders, and with a very pissed Fullmetal, trying with all his strength to get free, he left the office.