Return to Amestris
Return to Amestris
Resembool
Edward and Winry arrived just after breakfast, looking travel weary, dirty, and tanned. Winry also looked a tad pale under her tan as if she were feeling ill, but both assured them that she was fine. No one had met them at the platform, partly because no one was supposed to be on the platform unless they were on the train, and partly because they were a week early.
This happened thanks to both leaders of Drachma and Creta keeping the meetings short, in fact the president of Creta, Stephan Vaugh, had informed Edward that "Honeymoons are for the couple, not diplomatic missions. I know you're young son, and new to all this, but don't let your grandfather pressure you like this. You'll make a great leader yet." And then hung up on him.
Roy and Riza were surprised but happy to see them, though Yuery and William made everyone else look indifferent in comparison. The boys clung to their parents and refused to let go for the first twenty minutes they were home. Eventually, they managed to get a shower and change in shifts.
Once Winry was in the shower, and Yuery was sitting with his blocks instead of on Ed's lap, Ed asked quietly what had happened to cause the change in security.
Roy sighed momentarily. "Right now, it's just a precaution. There have been problems in Kappa, others who felt the need to threaten soldiers with attacks should we continue to occupy the area. I've been addressing it to the best of my ability."
"How much is left before the city is livable?" Ed asked sounding tired himself.
"The city itself is livable now. There are some areas that still need work, and we received word yesterday that outside of the 'children of the sun' no help would be accepted from the other two cities. Essentially, the restoration is complete. However, it has been decided by the Council of Twelve and Fuhrer that Resembool should remain a military outpost for at least the next year. Luckily the Resembool town council agrees. "
"So, are we here for that time, or do we get to go home?" Ed asked. Central had been home most of Yuery's life at this point, and Ed thought of it more as home than this place, though he would be keeping this house too of course.
"Grumman asked us for three months. TO help establish trade and to help the new Colonel settle into his post." Roy said. "He arrived yesterday. Colonel Anton Hest. He's from Briggs, has worked with Miles and Armstrong since the Occupation. He's been completely vetted."
"Good. Are the barracks good for their needs or are they going to need expansions before we go?"
"No, everything is set. We just are crossing Ts and dotting Is at this point."
"So, three more months, then it's over. Yay."
"Yup, three months until your promotion." Roy said with a smirk and laughed as Ed groaned.
"I'm not old enough to be a stuffy old general!" Ed whined to the ceiling, before remembering he and Winry agreed he wanted to break the news to his dad himself so he could tease the man. Winry had shaken her head at their strange relationship but was used to it at this point and had demanded the right to tell Granny herself then.
"Hey, I'm not old and I was a General for a while there." Roy said, mock insulted.
"Well, you were young, but that was before you had three grandkids, Yeye." Ed said still looking at the ceiling but watching Roy from the corner of his eye.
"What did you do this time Edward?" Roy asked. He hadn't seen Ed smuggle in a kid, but he seemed to be with kids like Al used to be with cats.
"Winry's pregnant. We're having a baby." Ed said with a smile. "So, three grandkids for you."
"That's great news Edward!" Roy said excitedly. Ed smiled and Riza came in to see why Roy had yelled, so Ed let Roy tell her. By the time Winry made it back downstairs everyone was excited, though the boys didn't understand why, they were quick to jump into it. Winry was quickly swept into a hug by Ed and the boys followed by Roy and Riza. She excused herself a few minutes later to go pass on the news to her Granny before the woman somehow guessed.
Hogwarts
Headmaster's office
Late evening
He had finally opened the letter from Nicolas' estate. He had been asked not only to pretend Nick was still alive, but that he was still in contact with Albus on a regular basis. He was to continue this until a time which he could find a legitimate reason to destroy the Stone left in the Gringotts Vault, and he was then to pretend that Nick and his wife died of old age now that the Stone was gone.
Albus sighed heavily. He had no intention of betraying Nicholas' trust. He had agreed to these things' years ago, well before Nick had left again when he had helped Albus keep the Lupins safe. At that time, he had been entrusted with the key to the Vault and promised to never open it himself. That when the time came, he would send someone who would not try to use it.
He understood better than anyone why it was important to keep powerful artifacts out of his own hands. The temptation of the Hallows had cost him his sister and by extension his brother. He would not fall into the trap again. He also understood why Nick made him swear. Nick had known what Albus had done, knew his deepest shame, and still trusted him. Still cared for him. Even if he had never loved him…
Sighing once more, Albus called for a house elf to bring him a bottle of wine. The elf apologized repeatedly as it reminded him that he had ordered them to refuse the request, before slapping itself. He ordered it to stop at once and sent it back to the kitchen with the order to not further punish itself. It wasn't the elf's fault that he was weak after all.
He stood, sweeping the letter into his desk, and headed for his door. He would simply have to walk down into town to collect a bottle. He was halfway to the village when he realized that someone was walking beside him, pulling him from his thoughts. Half a step behind him walked Severus Snape. The man had likely seen him leaving the castle and decided to follow to 'save him from himself'. This annoyed Albus more than he could explain. Severus was to take care of the students. He was a spy, a tool. He didn't need the man to act as his guardian!
Severus said nothing the entire trip into town. He said nothing when Albus ordered the bottle of wine from the Three Broomsticks and carried it back out, wrapped in brown paper. He said nothing all the way back to Albus' office. It wasn't until Albus had poured them each a glass when Severus finally spoke. "I told you before sir, I won't let you drink alone. The world needs you to be strong, so I won't let you kill yourself."
"Do you hate me Severus?" Albus asked, afraid of the answer but feeling the need to know.
"I hate you for failing to keep your promise. I hate you for what you may be intending for that child. I hate you for dragging me away from my despair. I pity this mess you've become." Snape said with a sigh. "I pity the life you've built on layers of lies, and I pity myself for repeating your mistakes."
"You started down a dark path and pulled yourself away before you went too far Severus. You act as a double agent at great personal risk. You have not darkened your soul as I have." Dumbledore replied.
"I started down a dark path that led to the death of the person I love most in this world. I helped lead the most evil creature I have ever met in the direction of murdering an innocent child. My soul is far from clean." Snape said with a shrug. "Though I'll relent that it is likely cleaner than yours. "
"When I learned the child was dead, I was relieved. I didn't have to choose. To further blacken my heart." Dumbledore said quietly. "Then Kingley brought the news of his survival, and I was angry. Angry that the one time I was not expected to make the choice it was thrown in my lap anyway."
"So, don't choose. We saw them. They care. And they're strong. Don't choose. Leave it alone." Snape said, begged, the best he could with his tongue tied. For the first time in a long time, he regretted making a vow, if for no other reason than if he could speak freely, he was fairly confidant he could convince Albus to walk away from Harry.
As the sky grew darker and the bottle lower, Snape got the courage to ask the question that had been taunting him since the meeting between wizards and alchemists. "Are you intending to let the child die?"
"I don't want him to die, but we may have no choice if we want to save the world." Albus says before laying his head on his crossed arms slumped over his desk. "If only there was another way."
"Why?" Snape asked." Why must he die?" He had no intention of allowing anyone to harm the child, but he wanted to understand Dumbledore's reasoning.
"Tom made him a horcrux. All of them must be destroyed to stop him." Albus whispers. "No one can know. It's the darkest of magics."
"Horcrux? Those are a myth Albus!" Snape said.
"All myths have a grain of truth." Albus muttered. "Hallows are a myth, but the Elder Wand is real…and so is the Cloak."
"Go to bed, you're making no sense." Snape said with a snort. This was insane, but it also was outside of the vows power so he could warn Elric. He would warn Elric. After he slept himself.
Snape considered force feeding a potion down Albus' throat again, but after their conversation he wasn't feeling overly generous, so he left a different one on the desk. It would allow Dumbledore to work tomorrow, but unlike the usual cocktail it wouldn't remove the hang over, just help him work around it.
Afterward, he stumbled down to his own rooms, and drank a potion himself that would ensure that he would wake up sober and remember the conversation. He also left himself a note to visit the Elrics in the morning. He had to warn them.
Resembool
Early Morning
Mustang-Elric Residence
After talking to Grumman about his early return, Edward had established that his upcoming promotion would leave him stationed in Central. With a new baby on the way he was not comfortable being sent anywhere else, except perhaps left in Resembool, and even then, he would prefer to have his parents nearby. Winry had said the same when he had talked to her about it.
Luckily, Grumman intended to have Edward stay in the city. He wanted Ed back in charge of the Alchemist program directly, as well as the labs. Edward hated the labs, but he agreed. After all, if they were run the way they were billed to the public it would be a good program. As far as the alchemists went, as much as both he and his dad hated it, they admitted there was advantages to having some alchemists trained in combat.
They would not be changing the program therefore, aside from adding the legal agreement that combat alchemists would be a last line of defense, and that they would not be required to be used as weapons, anymore than any other fighter. Combat may at some point be unavoidable, however between the new rules in place and their treaties, hopefully it would remain a theory and not an action that they had this group.
Ed was sitting at the dining table working on the plans to slowly shift the operation over to the next group coming in and the paperwork involved in the State Alchemist Program. He wondered briefly what would have happened with all of this had he gone ahead with retirement as he had originally intended. He shook his head at this though, those thoughts were brought on by stress not desire.
A familiar qi approached the house, followed by a sharp knock on the door and Ed sighed. For a man who intended to stay out of their way Snape did seem to stop by a lot. Ed opened the door before Snape could knock again and wake his wife or sons. Snape looked a bit ragged. Ed sighed but stepped aside, gesturing for him to come in.
Ed cleared up his paperwork quickly placing it back in the correct folders that he set on top of the fridge. He gestured for Snape to sit at the table as he poured them both a fresh cup of coffee and pressed one into Snape's hand. "You look like you need it. This isn't avoiding us you know."
"I discovered Dumbledore's reasoning behind his actions recently. It's insane. No. Insane is to kind of a word for what it is Dumbledore has fallen into." Snape began. "I needed to let you know what you were up against, but I wanted to come before the boys were up considering our agreement."
"Okay, so what can you tell me then?" Edward said as he sat down next to Snape.
"It's truly insane. He thinks Voldemort not only created horcrux but put one inside Yuery, even though Horcrux are a myth. He said, 'so are Hallows' and he's right. They are a myth."
"What is a horcrux? I've never of it." Ed said with a frown and a sinking feeling.
"A piece of a soul. They are created by murder. When someone commits a violent crime so cruel as to rip at their soul, it is said that this piece that has been ripped off can be placed in a vessel, but it is only myth." Snape said. "As for the Hallows. It's a children's tale. The three Hallows, when combined, allows the owner to cheat death."
"Yuery…had a parasitic soul when I brought him home." Ed said after a few moments of thinking. Snape could pass on anything he was about to say, so there was no reason to hide or withhold information at this time. "You say horcrux and hallows are myths, but so are Philosopher stones. The stones are real, they aren't worth the price, but to some they still do it. The price of a stone is murder, mass murder."
"Horcrux…if they are not a myth…" Snape began, as he paled at the idea. "If they are not a myth, Voldemort is the closest to immortal I've ever heard of."
"Homunculi are worse." Ed said with a shake of his head. "They have to be, they were nearly impossible to stop."
"What's that?" Snape asked, not entirely certain he wanted to know.
"An artificial human, with a philosopher's stone at its core. They can be killed. It takes an incredible amount of skill and luck." Ed said, as he rubbed his hand down his face. "Like everything else we've discussed, they are believed to be a myth, or were until Promised Day… actually the majority of people never knew exactly what happened there so even after Promised Day."
"Everything comes back to legend then." Snape said with a tired sigh. "That complicates the research."
"Don't I know it." Edward said ironically. He had spent three years chasing myths after all.
"I need to learn more about these horcrux, and homunculus if there's any chance they could become a threat. Because if there is anyway to make one, Voldemort will try, all he cares for is gaining power. It has been believed that he must be dead; however, if he did create these things, and your evidence implies he did, then we must concern ourselves with his return."
"Life flows one direction. There is no way to bring back the dead."
"Absolutely. Provided they were truly dead. However, the theory behind horcrux prevents actual death." Snape said. Then sighed. "It is hard to explain exactly, imagine if you had someone you cared for die in a horrific accident, but instead of truly dying they became trapped inside an object able to sense things around them but as far as I understand it, they cannot truly interact with the world, unless a person were to interact with it first…though I need to look into them more."
Ed nodded, frustrated but understood; Both men sat in silence after a while Snape managed to shake off his shock. He was ready to return to the school before anyone had noticed his departure. The idea was terrible. That it may be possible, probable even, that horcrux are real and the baby Harry had been made one. He needed to think about this. According to Elric, the boy was no longer one, but that meant there were more, as much as he had loathed the idea of continuing his association with Dumbledore upon learning the man's intent to allow this child's death… he had to help find and destroy these horcruxes, because if the were real and active…Voldemort was effectively immortal.
Edward, meanwhile, was equally disturbed by the conversation. Horcruxes, from his understanding, differed from homunculus but were of the same mindset. These things, if capable of interacting with the world, could potentially cause another tragedy like Hughes. Edward's first instinct was to take this newfound threat to his Dad, but then he thought of Envy. Of how close he had come to going over the edge thanks to Envy.
Edward didn't know what to do. Dad had promised to not hide things from Edward anymore. Edward may not have made the same promise, but he had felt it was implied. He feared what could possibly happen if Dad were to receive this information
A/N
For anyone keeping track
Hohenhiem's Lovers listed in order
Unnamed probable relations pre journal*
Hiro Yao
Maria
Unnamed woman
Perenelle Flamel
Demetri Le Crosse (affair)
Gabrielle Flamel (alias Perenelle Flamel)
Alias Perenelle, original name unmentioned
Alias Perenelle 2, original name unmentioned
Ping Yao (affair)
Alias Perenelle 3, original name unmentioned
Albus Dumbledore (off and on)
Dante (alias Perenelle Flamel) Hohenhiem
Probable unnamed persons during various years in journals*
(implied) Millicent Lupin (briefly)
(implied) Pinako Rockbelle (briefly)
Trisha Elric