InuYasha Fan Fiction / Fullmetal Alchemist Fan Fiction ❯ In Pursuit of the Green Dragon ❯ The Bone-eater's Well ( Chapter 7 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Tokyo, May 1925

The following morning, Ikeda showed up just after breakfast, which consisted of grilled fish, soup, pickles, rice, and more of that pale green tea. Fortunately, there was also coffee, much to Ed's relief, though he and Higurashi were the only ones who drank it.

Ikeda was fairly radiating anxious interest under the practiced sourness of his expression as he led Higurashi, Al, and Ed outside, and that was just fine with Ed.

It had taken Ed a long time to fall asleep last night, and more than once, he had contemplated sneaking out of the house and investigating the shrine grounds on his own. Only Higurashi's genuine fear of Ikeda's wrath had restrained Ed, but he hated being thwarted.

Ed saw that the large open terrace in front of the shrine's main building was now piled with guns and rope and sacks and even a harpoon, a short, wickedly barbed spear of metal and wood with a long tail of rope coiled underneath. And there were guns. Lots of guns.

And he fucking hated guns.

"What the hell is all this?" Ed demanded, just barely remembering in time to ask his question in English.

Ikeda blinked at him, and Ed nudged a rifle with the toe of his shoe.

"Ikeda-san," Al said, with his usual courtesy, and Ed felt rather than heard Higurashi's relieved sigh. "Brother and I would like to know: why have you brought all of this equipment?"

Ikeda made an odd grimace, and Ed realized two things: one, Al had forgotten to speak in English; and, two, that grimace was meant to be a smile.

Ikeda was smiling at them.

"Alphonse-kun," he replied, slowly, still smiling that shark's smile. "I must compliment you on your Japanese. And seeing how little baggage you brought, my associates and I did not want to send you on your dragon hunt bare-handed."

Out of the corner of his eye, Ed saw Higurashi bow. "That's very generous of the Special Higher Police, Ikeda-san" he murmured, every inch of his frame radiating an exquisitely courteous fuck-you.

Ed gaped in awe for a moment--maybe there was something to this killing-with-courtesy thing, after all.

Not that he would ever have the patience to play that game. Ah, well, everyone had their limitations. Ed liked to think he had grown up a little since his days of storming around Amestris, his adolescent temper perpetually on a short fuse.

"And do you, Elric-san, also speak Japanese?" asked Ikeda shrewdly, in that language.

Ed blinked, and thought about lying. Then he said, in Japanese, "Yeah. I do. Sorry," he added, belatedly.

Ikeda glared at Higurashi. "What is the meaning of this?" he demanded, and Ed remembered his first impression of the man.

Higurashi spread his hands. "They meant no harm, Ikeda-san. It was simply that although they are both excellent students of our language, neither Ed-kun nor Al-kun wanted to lose face by making mistakes on their first meeting with you. Nothing more," he said, soothingly, and even Ed nearly believed him.

Maybe Higurashi was more like Colonel Mustang than Ed had thought.

In any case, his explanation seemed to soothe Ikeda's ruffled feathers. He drew himself up. "Now, if you please, Professor Higurashi, you will show our two guests how the dragon escaped."

oo0oo

Ed and Al followed Higurashi into a small, newly-rebuilt shrine building that stood to one side of the terrace. The dim interior of the building was still redolent with drying paint and freshly-cut wood. Just inside the entrance, steps led down to a floor of hard-packed earth, and to a simple, square, wood-rimmed well in the center of the building.

Conscious of Higurashi's nervous eye and the eager gazes of his younger brothers, who had followed them into the well-house, Ed swung his legs over the edge of the well, feeling splinters dig into his right thigh--the flesh one--through his woolen trousers. There was a rope ladder fastened to the inside of the well, and Ed began to climb down, followed by Al's lanky frame.

Finally, he reached the bottom, and stood for a moment, looking around the enclosed, stone-lined space.

Unlike the other places they had tried, Ed could feel the ground under the soles of his shoes, eager somehow, and pulsing gently, like a living thing. He drew a shaky breath, trying to push down a sudden, ridiculous surge of hope.

Al seemed to feel it, too. He stood for a moment, swaying slightly, then turned his face to Ed. "Brother, this place is different."

"Yeah." Ed gave a curt nod, and waved at the eager faces overhead.

A second later, a familiar, heavy roll of canvas came crashing down between them.

Ed and Al dragged it into position, and began to unroll the stained cloth on the hard-packed earth at the well's bottom. Ed realized almost immediately that the bottom of the well wasn't big enough to accommodate the transmutation circle, even if they ruthlessly trimmed the unmarked edges of the cloth.

He cursed in German, the language with the most satisfying mouth-feel for swearing.

"Is everything all right?" Higurashi called down.

"Just a minor hitch, Professor," Al answered. He kicked experimentally at the dirt floor of the well, and said, in a lower voice, to Ed: "We could scale down the transmutation circle and just scratch the pattern with sharpened sticks."

"Chalk would work better," Ed said, thinking. He tilted his face up, and yelled, "Hey, Professor, do you think you could put your brothers to work? We need a bunch of powdered chalk in a bag, and a couple of paper cones."

They climbed back up the ladder, after re-rolling the canvas and tying a rope around the bundle to haul it up after them.

Ikeda was displeased at the delay, but the younger set of twins, Kaoru and Yoshi, set to grinding up sticks of chalk, using mortars and pestles with great enthusiasm.

While they waited, Ed and Al picked through the gathered supplies. By unspoken agreement, they both avoided the guns--not that they would be useful for stopping Envy, anyway--but some of other items looked useful, like the rucksacks, blankets, and rope.

Ed lifted the harpoon and hefted it, then added it to the pile. That might come in useful, he thought, recalling how Envy had been captured by the Thule Society in the first place.

When a goodly amount of crushed chalk and the requested paper cones were ready, Ed and Al climbed back down the rope ladder to the bottom of the well, and set to work.

First, they traced the outer perimeter of the transmutation circle, using a stick and string as a primitive compass. When that was completed, they started to sketch the symbols that comprised the transmutation equation, using the cones to provide a steady trickle of chalk to outline the patterns they marked in the dirt.

That's when they began to run into problems.

"Damn it, Al, would you watch your fucking elbows?" Ed snarled, after his brother had bumped him for the third or fourth time. This time, he'd gotten a sharp jab in his eye that made his vision dissolve in bright speckles.

"I'm sorry, Brother," Al said, meekly. "But it's an awfully small space in here."

"Wouldn't be a problem if someone hadn't decided to turn into a giant all of a sudden," Ed grumbled. "Look, Al, there's only room for one of us down here, and I've got the transmutation circle memorized."

He did not add, And I'm smaller than you are, and it'll be easier for me to move around down here.

Al looked crestfallen. "But, Brother--"

Ed held up a hand to forestall his protest. "Why don't you go finish picking out the stuff we'll need? For all we know, we might be camping out in the wilderness somewhere, so make sure you pack plenty of food."

"Okay," Al said, doubtfully.

"It'll save time, if you're doing that while I finish filling in the transmutation circle," Ed said, and relenting under Al's kicked-puppy look, added: "I'm not mad, honest. I just want to get this done and over with."

"Okay," Al said, but this time he looked happier.

oo0oo

Two hours later, they were done. The transmutation circle, limned in white chalk, seemed to glow from the dim depths of the well, as Ed and Al donned a pair of now-bulging rucksacks, and prepared to descend the rope ladder one last time. To their surprise, Higurashi joined them, his rucksack dangling from one hand.

"Ikeda-san and his associates have kindly offered to care for my brothers while I accompany you and assist you with retrieving the dragon," he said, tightly.

By which Ed understood that Ikeda had ordered Higurashi to go with them, and was holding the younger boys hostage again.

Bastard, he thought, not daring to look in Ikeda's direction. If he made eye contact, the temptation to clock the policeman with an automail fist might prove just a little too tempting.

Ikeda stood at the well's rim, peering down, his hands clenching the wood. "Are you certain you don't wish to take even a pistol?"

Ed shook his head. "Wouldn't help much against a dragon, and besides, I have an idea of how to bring him back in human form. If nothing else, that'll make him easier to carry."

"Human form? The dragon is a--a human?" Ikeda was openly incredulous, and even Higurashi looked doubtful.

"Envy is a shape-changer," Al explained, as he swung one long leg over the rim of the well. "He can take any shape he likes, but there's a price. Brother and I think he was trapped in dragon form in this world because alchemy doesn't work here."

"But we need a dragon," Ikeda said, his mouth thinning.

"Don't worry," Ed said, with deliberately insolent cheerfulness. "I'm sure we can convince him to change into a dragon, or elephant, or whatever, once we're back. But I'm not carrying a fucking dragon up this rope ladder."

Ikeda exhaled. "I understand. But if you return with someone who cannot change shapes, then it will go badly. For all of you. Do you understand?"

Should have decked that bastard while I had the chance, Ed thought, but he merely nodded, and followed Higurashi down the ladder.

Once they were at the bottom, the three of them flattened against the cold stone walls of the well in an effort to avoid stepping on the lines of the transmutation circle, Ed pulled out his pocketknife and scored his palm.

“Okay.” He grinned nervously at Higurashi, feeling that odd sensation underfoot again, like a giant, subterranean beating heart. "Moment of truth."

Across from him, he saw Al's intent look as he bent over the transmutation circle, his own hand dripping red.

"Ready, steady, go," croaked Al, and both brothers bent and slammed their hands down on the white-drawn lines before them.

The transmutation, when it sprang to life under their hands, was absolutely blazing.

It's going to work this time! It's really going to work!