Rebuilding Home
Rebuilding Home
Resembool
Edward crested the hill that the foundation of his childhood home still laid. Roy followed closely behind, still not completely comfortable with this idea, along with Severus Snape. They had discussed it at length and agreed to allow Snape to continue to aide them as much as he could to get them back on track after the explosions. This included Snape offering aide however he could including building the house and the new compound which would be located here in Resembool instead of Kappa.
The train would have a commuter trip every morning and again every evening, leaving the majority of the team away from Kappa to avoid further upsetting the balance of the treaties. This also meant that Grumman intended to send more people to help, though they were considering more civilian contractors.
Roy was here primarily to ensure that Edward did not overwork himself again. Edward had not been sleeping well, since losing Falman. Edward, like most seventeen-year-old, thought he was a lot closer to invincible than he was in Roy's opinion. It didn't help that the boy was powerful, smart, and stubborn. Edward had done amazing, impossible things. He'd also nearly killed himself more than once doing these amazing impossible things.
"Are you sure about this Edward?" Roy asked as they reached the site.
"I'm not rebuilding the same house, it should be fine. Worse case, I can't stand living here and end up giving it to whoever gets stationed here as family housing." Edward replied as he slowly circled the foundation calculating the arrays he would need.
Snape watched nearby as he recalled the spells that may be needed to reinforce and otherwise improve the building as it went up. He sensed magic in the ground surrounding the foundation. Whoever had built this house to begin with had used magic to construct it. Snape frowned at this, it was not unheard of for magic users to be born in Cselkcess, however magic was so strictly controlled in Amestris it was shocking to see any form of magical residue. "Who built this house before, do you know?" Snape asked in his usual quiet tone. The others nearly missed it.
"Well HE loved to call it his house, but my mom's family helped build it according to Granny." Edward said. "I don't know much about my mom's family. None of them were around, I never met them."
"Is it possible one of your grandparents was a wizard? Perhaps one of your parents? There is magic in the ground here, someone cast protection spells in the foundation of the house." Snape said as he moved closer to study the remains.
"Protection against what?" Roy asked, curiously as Edward frowned.
"Basic pest repellants, basic weather protections, hmm… there is something…old magic. It will take a moment…" Snape said as he slowly circled the stones that once made up the cellar. Edward and Roy frowned, but chose to remain silent to allow Snape to concentrate. He frowned deeply as he crouched closer and touched one of the stone directly. "I have never experienced this one… though given the behavior of the Amestrian government under the last leader it does seem logical…"
"What is it?" Edward asked, growing impatient with the cryptic man. Roy frowned, also annoyed.
"It appears to be a complex series of spells to block the Trace, very similar to the amulet I left with the child's caretaker." Snape said standing back up and brushing off his pants. "Any child born in this house would be Traceless."
"What does that mean exactly?" Roy asked, wanting to confirm it meant what it sounded like.
"It means, simply put, that anyone who was born a witch or wizard in this house would not be found in the normal manner. It is very unusual, unheard of completely in fact. A wizarding family would have to want to hide what they were born completely. No government or school would be aware that a young witch or wizard lived here at all." Snape said with a frown. "It is also still active. Should a child with the Trace live in this house, it would weaken the Trace, a wizard would have to be close and already know who they are looking for, but should one be born, they would have no Trace at all. Do you still want to rebuild here?"
"I do." Edward said with a nod. "I want to know the limits. If we were to live in this house, would the wizards be able to find my son here?"
"Yes. As I said it would weaken it, not hide it. Should you have a child born here, it would be hidden…mostly. Actually, any magic the second child preformed would be attributed to Harry." Snape said.
"Why would someone…" Edward started with a frown, he knew very little about his mother's family. He still knew very little about his father, though from what he had read so far of the journals, the man did not seem to have been a wizard himself, though he seemed a bit obsessed with magic. Was it possible then that his mother had known magic? Had she kept that hidden from him and his brother? "I need to see if any of the journals survived the explosion."
"I'll go with you, there should be a train coming through tomorrow, we can just have them hold it at the station until we have finished the search." Roy said. He didn't want Ed going there by himself after what happened.
"If I may?" Snape interrupted. "I could apparate to the location or create a portkey. A portkey might actually be more efficient than apparating." Snape noticed their confused expressions before he nodded to himself. "It's a form of instant travel."
"Makes a loud snapping sound?" Ed asked, and Snape nodded. "Alright. It's how you get around so much right? Go ahead."
Snape looked around for a minute before picking up a battered watering can near what had once been his mother's garden. He muttered a spell and a blue glow came over the can before fading. "Please place a hand on the can, it will relocate us to Kappa in one minute." Roy and Edward both placed a hand on the can as it glowed again. They both felt an unpleasant sensation of something grabbing them just behind their belly button and jerked forward.
An instant later, both men staggered away from the can, finding themselves inside the walls of the former compound. Rubble laid where the main building once stood, and off to the side the apartment that had been their temporary home was a standing skeleton. Luckily, it had not rained since the incident though this late in the season that was not unexpected.
Together, the three men walked toward the apartment. Hopefully they could salvage some of their things, especially the journals, but Ed wasn't going to overlook any photographs or things belonging to his sons. It could take awhile to look through it all, but Edward was determined to at least try. Roy knew that expression, it was the same look that would cross Edward's face back when he would demand leads on the stone.
It was a look of hopeless desperation. It had, at the time, driven Roy to search out leads and it had him now sifting through burnt debris, thankful that everyone was accounted for so he wouldn't be coming across any bodies. Edward had begun in the area that had been his bedroom, Snape the main living area and Roy his bedroom. Roy had moved the journals to his dresser, to give Ed a break from reading them, so if they had survived that should be about where they were located.
Edward was happy to locate Yuery's stuffed rabbit, and William's stuffed mouse. Most of their toys were still back in Central, along with most of the family's personal items. They had brought along very little aside from a handful of items because this wasn't their home, it was temporary. Both father and son were now grateful for their choice.
Roy was able to locate the journals a couple of hours into the dig. Twelve of the thirteen were located together, and were relatively intact, minor damage around the edges but overall still in the condition his received them. The final journal had been located by Snape, it had been in the living room area on the end table. He was also able to explain their condition by stating they had protective spells on them.
"While we're here, we should see how much damage was done to the housing district." Roy said after the books were placed in a bag along with the boys' toys. "We need to know what kind of work we're looking at. Then we should head back if we want to get anything done on the house today."
Severus and Edward agreed, though Severus also realized right away they were trying to distract from him asking about the journals that had the same strange traces of magic about them that the house had. It was the same signature at least. He decided not to push the subject and hopefully he could find the answers later.
They made their way over to the residential district, and discovered that thankfully it wasn't as much damage as they had feared. The locals had already begun fixing the damage as well, and Sham spotted them on the way back toward the compound. She stopped them to ask after the injured, before Roy explained the new game plan on rebuilding. Sham agreed it was for the best to avoid any future incidents. She didn't question how they had arrived, or how they intended to return. It wasn't so far away from Resembool that is raised any questions. Sham assured them that they had found everyone involved in the attack, and that the soldiers would be perfectly safe when they returned in a few weeks. Snape received a few odd looks, no one had seen him before and he was dressed in black which was an odd choice for the desert. No one actually said anything to the man however, and he waited in the background as the others discussed the plans for the future.
Resembool
Eventually, they made their way back to the building site, and Edward began construction. Roy waited nearby watching for signs of strain to take over if it became necessary. Snape waited until the building was finished before adding both protection spells as well as finishing up some of the work. It was decided before they began that Edward would be waiting until at least tomorrow before beginning on the new compound.
Edward had decided that the house needed to be bigger than the one he had grown up in, he didn't want it to remind him of his childhood, but he also wanted to be sure there was enough space to house his entire family including his brother and his dad and any future children that came along. He also wondered if his Dad and Ji Mu intended to have more kids. He didn't know if he should ask, and though part of him felt the idea of having siblings younger than his children seemed strange, he also thought that it would be nice if they were able to have kids. His Dad was great with babies and clearly loved them. No matter what the man thought of himself, he was a wonderful father, one Ed hoped to be like himself.
They finished the house and headed back to the Rockbelles to check on the patients, Ed also intended to call the hotel and talk to Winry about the boys for awhile. Now that the house was done, he felt better about bringing her and the children back to the area.
East City
Military Hotel
Hawkeye-Rockbelle Suite
Winry had gone downstairs to accept the call from Edward, leaving Riza to watch over the boys. Yuery was busy playing with his blocks and William was looking through a book. Riza sat out the couch watching over them as she filled out paperwork.
"Nainai drink please." Yuery said from his spot next to his blocks. He didn't want to move because William usually would knock over his buildings as soon as Yuery left them.
"One moment, Yuery." Riza said as she finished reading the file she needed to sign. Yuery sighed heavily, and looked over at his brother.
William seemed like he was busy so Yuery stood up, confidant William would leave his tower alone. He wandered into the bedroom, and looked around before seeing the cup next to the bed that Nainai had given him at naptime. He pulled it off the table, then frowned when it was empty.
Yuery sighed heavily, then walked into the bathroom, the light was off. Yuery didn't like the dark, but he was big now. He used the potty and he only took one nap. He knew his colors and numbers! He was the big brother. He was not a baby and could get his own drink. Yuery nodded to himself and stepped further into the room.
Unfortunately, when he stepped in he bumped the door and it swung shut behind him. He was now trapped in the dark bathroom. As soon as the door closed, Yuery forgot all about being big. He let out a loud wail and dropped his cup, which broke against the hard tiles.
Yuery stepped toward where he thought the door was but something hurt his foot. He fell down on his bottom crying louder. He was scared and his foot hurt, and when he landed it made his leg hurt again too. He didn't want to be big anymore, he wanted Daddy!
Moments after Yuery gotten up Riza heard his muffled cry from the other room. She jumped to her feet and rushed to the bedroom. Yuery was nowhere to be seen but the bathroom door was closed. She opened the door, and saw him right away. He was sitting on the floor next to his broken water glass. A shard had left a small cut on the heel of his left foot from the looks of it and he was crying. She flipped on the light as she said. "oh sweetie what happened?"
"Ow Nainai. I want Daddy!" Yuery said as he held up his foot with a pitiful frown. His large green eyes swimming in more unshed tears. Riza's heart broke for the poor child, but she remained firm as she picked him up and carried him out of the bathroom.
"Now Yuery, you know Daddy isn't here. You must be a big boy for NaiNai and Mommy like Daddy said, alright?" Riza said as she sat the boy on the edge of the bed to get a better look at his foot. Yuery nodded as William wandered into the room in search of the others, two of the blocks in his hand.
"Liam, mine!" Yuery said when he saw the blocks. He tried to wiggle down to get the blocks back from his brother.
"No mine, Yu." William said before sitting on the floor next to the bed and pounding the blocks together. Riza sighed, but continued to examine the injured heel while the elder toddler was distracted.
It wasn't a deep wound, and there was no glass left behind so she was able to treat it with disinfectant and a adhesive bandage. She then left the boys to their argument while she cleaned up the mess in the bathroom and filled a new water glass for Yuery.
Winry returned just as she managed to get the boys back into the sitting room area, and divided the blocks so both boys could play with them without the argument. Yuery spotted their mom first, sticking his foot up in the air as he yelled for her to look. Winry bent down to take a closer look as William came over to see the bandage as well. "What happened here?" Winry asked, showing the frown Yuery was expecting and ruffled his hair. Soon both boys had returned to the blocks.
"Yuery decided not to wait for help and went to get himself a glass of water, unfortunately somehow the bathroom door closed behind him, leaving him in the dark. At some point, presumably after the door closed as I did not hear anything, he dropped the glass and stepped on a shard. It is not deep and should heal within a few days." Riza said in her normal matter of fact tone. Winry nodded along.
"Well, I did get some good news. It appears Broch and Ross both are on the mend, and the house is completed aside from furniture so once we are done gathering supplies and have some stuff ordered for shipment we can head back to Resembool. It looks like we'll have more room now. Ed said the barracks will be done tomorrow and the offices the day after that." Winry said, changing the subject altogether. She knew as well as anyone how quickly her boys could get into trouble, they took after their father and uncle as far as she was concerned.
Imperial Palace
Guest Suite of Alphonse Elric
Ling admitted in his time in Amerstis he had formed a closer friendship to Edward than Alphonse, but he liked the younger brother as well. He was now intent on getting to know him better, because since they had arrived at the palace it had been apparent to Ling that it was only a matter of time before Alphonse began to court Mei. They were clearly smitten with each other.
Ling couldn't imagine that it would become an issue, this was Edward's brother after all, they were very likely to have similar morals and beliefs. Still, Ling considered it a good practice to get to know the young man better. With that in mind, Ling had been setting aside time everyday to visit with Alphonse personally.
In addition to these private meetings, Ling, Mei, and Alphonse had been meeting formally to discuss the plans on the school. Chen often joined in these talks, though she was still learning, she had a lot to say on the matter of training. In particular that she thought it was a bad idea to teach magic and alchemy in the same building.
Mei had agreed a few months ago to teach Chen, but had left part of her training to another teacher during Mei's trip to Amestris. Now that she was back, she had taken over the lessons for now too. Al would also sit on these lessons as Mei's other student, so Ling had to schedule his meeting with Al around training programs, as well as his own duties ruling the kingdom.
Today Ling had set aside the entire afternoon when he learned his sisters intended to visit the bathhouse, leaving Alphonse to his own devices for the afternoon. Al had been intending to spend the time studying, but was willing enough to set it aside in favor of visiting with his friend. "We expect the rail lines to be completed this month." Ling said as Al set up the chess board.
"Once they are established it will make travel easier. Do you still intend to travel back to Amestris this summer?" Al asked.
"Next summer. I believe it would be better for the children to wait until they are older." Ling replied. "Additionally, I need to ensure no one is going to cause trouble while I am away."
"Perhaps once the lines are done Brother can visit again. Without the danger of the desert as an issue. He might find some of these writings I've found in the libraries interesting."
"You still haven't said what it is you're searching for aside from information on the Sage." Ling replied.
"That is all I am looking for. As you know, he was our birth father. I guess I'm just trying to piece together who he was, since I never really knew him. He was my first father after all, I should know something about him."
"I am not sure I agree with that thought though. Some men do not deserve their children's curiosity. Given how Ed felt about him, it's possible your father was one such man."
"I know. If not for my concern about…other aspects… I would let the matter drop. I don't want Ed looking into this, so I'm doing it. It's time someone other than Ed take on the burdens of the world. I am no longer a child anymore than he is."
"I see. Well I can only advise to not allow your father's shortcomings and world view to damage your own life. It is hard, believe me I know, to keep you separate from them."
" I have Roy to fall back on. Whenever I begin to feel overwhelmed by the vast information I am finding, and not all of it is pleasant, I think of Roy. He's not my birth father but he is my Dad. Which to me means a lot more. I'm sure that Huan will feel the same way."
"That is very kind of you to say, thank you Al. I love both of my sons. One day when you are a parent, you will understand hopefully how much I love them."
"I am sure I will." AL said before clearing his throat. "I wanted to speak to you on a similar subject. If that's is alright?"
"Of course."
"I wish to seek your permission to court your sister. I already know I love Mei, but we still need to do everything properly, including courtship." Al said, before blushing. He hoped he hadn't sounded to desperate or forward.
"I grant you permission as the Emperor to pursue the princess. However, as her brother personally, as long as you have no intent to hurt her it is not up to me what happens. I will leave the final decision to her." Ling said with a smile. "Now, you are a few weeks off of sixteen correct, and Mei just turned fourteen, so you have plenty of time for a good long courtship, because I would not grant my blessing for engagement until she has a couple more birthdays."
"Of course! I'm not Brother, I wouldn't scream a proposal after just one half a date. He's known Winry all his life as well, which didn't help matters when they discussed courtship as they already knew almost everything about each other which made courtship pointless since getting to know each other is the general idea." Al said and Ling nodded, satisfied with this answer. He then offered his permission to try once again before taking his leave, as he knew he had other things that needed his attention today.
Journal Ten
1835-1840
12/12/36
It has been far too long since the last
Time I turned my attention toward my
Friends in Europe. Kendra is dead.
Percival is also dead, but gone long before
That from his family. They had three children
Together.
The youngest, Ariana is also dead. She was
Tormented by to insanity, so her brother tells
Me. Aberforth. He told me the entire sordid tale.
Albus is gone, he does not know or care where,
But I must find the poor man.
His suffering is, in part, my fault. Had I returned
In a timely manner, this may have all been prevented.
I can only imagine what is going through that poor boy's mind.
_T.B.V.N.F.H
02/03/37
Just when I feared I may never locate poor Albus,
I found him when I was at the party to meet Romulus's
New son Nikodemus, Albus as there in the edge of the
Crowd. His auburn hair stood out in the crowd, and the
Power coming off of him would have drawn my attention
Without the hair. His dark mood emitted like a cloud, I
Couldn't help but approach.
He seemed so lost, and alone. Albus was diminished.
I invited to come with me back to my house. I am taking
Him as a student. As limited as his potential is, I am still
Drawn to him. I should not allow myself to become distracted
So close to the end. He needs help, or he could end up in a very
Dark place. Possibly as dangerous as the lesser men I have
Stopped in Xing.
_T.B.V.N.F.H