Unexpected Ally
Unexpected Ally
Colonel Elric's Office
8:00 am
Edward had arranged for Severus to meet him in his office before anyone, aside from Havoc, arrived. Ed sent Havoc to find him some coffee, because of course William had been up half the night when Ed had an appointment before official office hours.
Severus Snape was effectively a ghost. There were no records of him. He wasn't born here, he didn't enter the border, he had no documentation at all. Ed was briefly reminded of Ling, but pushed it aside. He wasn't going to like this guy or trust him. This wasn't some desperate kid trying to save his country, it was a random adult who Ed still didn't get.
He said it would take the night to prepare the spell, and to bring a personal item of Rose's with him to meet because it would be the final ingredient. Ed had agreed and gone through Rose's room last night before settling on her prayer beads. He hoped the spell didn't damage them, but Ed assumed they would be the best choice since Rose never went anywhere without them.
Severus slipped silently into the office at exactly eight and nodded a greeting to the grumpy looking Colonel. Ed nodded back before he said, "Look, I'm semi trusting you on Mei's go ahead, but I have some ground rules."
"Very well."
"First of all, I won't answer questions about my kids, so don't bother to ask it'll just piss me off. Secondly, when you go back to wherever you came from, and I know you aren't from here, do not mention my family to whoever you report to. At all. Don't even mention them in passing without namedropping. Finally, I am in charge during this raid. That means if I tell you to stay back, you stay back if I say move you move."
"Would you like me to make it a vow to set your mind at ease, Normally, it would require another wizard, but I can manage it on my own."
"…I think yes, that would go a long way toward earning trust." Edward said reluctantly. "I am still not introducing you to my sons, or giving you any information about them."
"I know what the papers say. That is all I need to know to assure me you are a devoted father, your continued insistence that we do not speak of them only confirms this." Snape said smoothly. He firmly believed this boy was devoted to keeping the children safe and happy. He wasn't certain how he felt about a child raising two babies, but the General seemed just as involved. "I know the elder one is two and the younger is under one; that thanks to recent events they have now both lost their mothers; that you have taken extraordinary steps to keep them out of the public eye… and that neither one of them look a thing like you. They must take after their mothers."
"I am grateful those boys take after their moms. They are lucky." Ed said quietly. He hoped that one day, when he and Winry had children together, they took after her.
Without further delay, Snape made the vow, binding it to Elric. It was a simple vow, but powerful. "I vow, upon pain of death, to not reveal anything Edward Mustang-Elric tells or shows me about his children to anyone. " Snape began and Ed watched with fascination as the first thread weaved around their hands. "I vow that I will only move to aide in the safety and health of any member of the Elric family, never to cause harm." A second string weaved around, as Snape took a deep breath. "I vow to do everything within my power to keep any wizards from causing harm to any of the Elric Children." The final string glowed brightly as it weaved around them before sinking into their skin.
Snape slowly let go before explaining further. "With this vow in place, I can not reveal anything about you. Even if I were given a truth potion, the vow would tie my tongue. It is now impossible for me to betray you to any wizard."
"…Good." Ed said, still staring at his hand. The power he had felt during the spell casting had felt different than alchemy, but not as different as he was expecting. Closer to the difference he felt when attempting Mei's lessons. He understood better what Flamel had written. Now was not the time to ponder this however. It was time to see if Snape could really locate Rose. "I brought you her prayer beads. She's the only one who ever touched them before today, I would be very grateful if you could manage this spell thing without destroying them; they are very important to her…I think William would like to have them when he's old enough to understand."
"They will not be harmed, though some residue magic will linger on them for a few months." Severus said as he bent over the final item in the spell and pulled out his wand. "Once I begin, it will move very quickly to lead us along. If you intended to include anyone else in this exercise, I suggest you go collect them now before I cast."
"My adjutant will return any moment, the rest of the team is waiting for word to get moving." Edward said, still not completely comfortable with his new position, but willing to use it to keep his family and his country safe. As if summoned, Havoc appeared in the doorway carrying a tray of coffee, followed by Roy holding a bag of pastries.
"You didn't eat before you left, it is bound to be a long day." Roy said with a shrug as he passed out the food, he had even brought some for the wizard. "The team is downstairs, eating next to the cars so we can leave at a moment's notice."
"Well then," Snape said as he wiped his hands clean and pulled back out his wand, "I suppose it is time to begin."
Havoc disappeared to tell the others to get in the cars, while Ed and Roy watched Severus Snape cast the spell. Once again, Ed paid attention to the power Snape was using. It felt different than his son's. Yuery didn't leave anything behind when he used it, which is a large part of why Ed hadn't noticed it at first. Ed wanted to ask about this, but he wasn't sure he wanted to ask SNAPE about it. There would be time enough for research later.
The beads glowed softly for a moment before rising off of the table and moving toward the far wall of the room. Snape reached out to gently take them before turning to the others and gestured to leave. Ed noticed the beads tugging in his hand the entire trip downstairs.
Once they reached the cars, Snape took the front passenger seat of the first car, driven by Hawkeye, while Ed and Roy climbed in the back. "Just, turn when I say. We may have to leave the cars before we find her." Snape said quietly.
Headmaster's Office
5:00 am
Dumbledore was sitting at his desk, contemplating his next move. Snape had yet to make contact, which was not entirely unexpected given the mission. The other two spies had not made their weekly report either, which was more concerning. What had him up so early however, was the arrival of his phoenix, Fawkes.
Fawkes had brought Flamel's reply, and it was not what Dumbledore had been expecting. To begin with, it was not Nicolas who replied, but his wife. Dumbledore had nearly forgotten there was a wife, having only ever spoken to her once, several years ago.
Dearest Albus,
I am afraid to inform you that Nicolas is no longer available. I can answer many of the questions you may have, but not all of them, of course.
Nicolas was never keen to answer all of your questions either, as I recall. You have always been rather intrusive in your curiosity, however, since Nicolas felt you were safe enough to entrust a stone I suppose I will defer to that trust.
As to your request. I am informing you now, undeniably, it is impossible to send the aide of an alchemist. The only alchemist to leave Cselkcess in this century aside from Nicolas was Edward Elric, and he would be unlikely to do so again.
As far as your queries about the combined use of magic and alchemy. It is possible, given the correct circumstances or years of study, but unlikely. As far as I know, Nicolas was the only alchemist who was from a magical blood line, I could be wrong of course, he was not the most forthcoming with information.
Even if another were to exist, Amerstris is unlikely to harbor him or her. The country is not accommodating to magic users. Perhaps inquiring to the Emperor of Xing may lend different results. The new Emperor is unknown to me however, and I am not familiar with his temperament in regard to other continents. I do know that one of his brothers trained at Durmstrung , however rumor has it he is NOT an alchemist.
Keep the stone safe, there are those who would use it for ill intent. Should it become necessary, feel free to destroy it, Nicolas will not be returning for it, he has no need for such an item on the other side.
Mrs. Flamel.
The woman's writing was more cryptic than her husband's, Dumbledore mused, but then she had given him as much information as Nick ever gave him in a letter. What disturbed him, was she had implied more than once in the short note, that Nick was dead. Albus had always been left with the impression that Nick was immortal.
Decided, he pulled out a fresh parchment. He would ask her directly if his… if Nicolas was dead. He'd never known how to define the relationship exactly. Nick was part teacher, part friend, sometimes they seemed almost enemies, and sometimes more… He quickly wrote a single sentence ' Is Nicolas dead?' and stared at it for hours as the sun rose. He wasn't entirely certain he wanted the answer. He needed to know, but then he already knew. The way she worded things, before he could change his mind, he sent the letter off. The whole time hoping he was misreading her and Nick simply wanted nothing more to do with wizards. As soon as Fawkes was gone, he forced himself to return to other matters. No matter the answer, there was far more that needed his attention right now.
Central
Warehouse District
9:00 am
They had been led to the warehouses quickly, but whatever the magic did so far seemed to be slowing down, much to Ed's annoyance. Snape had insisted two blocks ago they get out of the cars and follow on foot. After a brief conversation that consisted of glares and hand gestures, they agreed, but left half the team behind as back up.
They reached warehouse five, which according to record was empty, and the beads grew brighter and turned a terrible shade of purple, before fading out and going limp. "This is it." Snape said sadly. "She's in here.. Colonel, you may want to stay out here."
"What, why?!" Ed demanded. He wasn't going to be left out this close to finding her, he had promised his son.
"She's. The color, it indicates that she is no longer alive. It is unlikely that this will be a pleasant sight." Snape replied.
"…When I was five years old, I returned home from playing to find my mother face down on the floor. A week later I held her hand as she died. Alone. When I was seven, I witnessed three men being executed in the fields behind my house for having the wrong hair and eye color. The same year, I hid my baby brother in a closet so bandits didn't find and kill him."
"Ed-" Roy tried to interrupt.
" At EIGHT, they blew up the train station. Dozens of people were killed." Ed said, ignoring his dad, "When I was fifteen I watched a man turn his daughter into a monster, the sweetest little girl I had ever met. She was in pain. She was suffering. And then she was murdered. I have seen, over and over again, the vile moments of humanity. I have seen more than my fair share of corpses. I am doing this, so I can look my son in the eye and tell him that I did everything I possibly could to avenge his mother's murder. I am not a child to be coddled. I have never been a child."
"Alright, Edward." Roy said with a sigh. He wanted nothing more than to spare his son what he suspected was going to be a terrible scene. Ed was right though, he had already seen more than his fair share, even before Roy drug him into this adult world that had no business taking a child.
Roy still insisted on Ed taking the rear. The coppery smell of blood hit him first, and he threw up an arm to halt the others as he looked around the room his other hand posed to snap. No one moved inside the building. It appeared empty aside from a lump in the center of the floor that, judging from the smell, was their target.
Hawkeye pushed in from of Mustang, Breda, Flaman, Heidrich, and Ross were right behind her. Ed was being held back by Snape. They cleared the room quickly and turned on the light. Ed frowned as he pushed Snape away and walked toward the center of the room. Breda reached for him, but was brushed aside. Roy didn't bother trying to stop the boy, instead following half a step behind.
Hawkeye approached as well, while ordering Heidrich and Ross to return to the cars and call for transport. Breda gagged at the cloying scent, and was avoiding the area. It was always harder when he knew the victim. He couldn't imagine how this must be for his bosses.
Ed kneeled next to the body, glad for once that he hadn't shaken the habit of wearing gloves, as he pulled back the tarp. He sat back with a gasp, as his Dad pulled him to his chest, forcing and Ed to look away. She was dead, had been dead for a while. Roy couldn't tell how long exactly, but she had been killed slowly.
She had been stabbed, beaten, and burned. Roy had known this by the smell before the tarp had been moved, but he hadn't expected how bad. He was going to have nightmares from this, let alone his son. He should have refused to let Ed in, had pulled rank both as his commander and as his father. Hawkeye shook a tissue from her pocket to replace the tarp without touching it and confusing the fingerprints that may be on it.
A heavy hand fell on Roy's shoulder and he nearly snapped before recognizing Falman. "Take him out of here sir. We have it now."
Roy nodded as he lifted his son with a grunt and carried him toward the door while muttering for him not to look back. Ed was pale, paler than Roy had ever seen him. Roy was worried about him, he was nearly catatonic, making no objection to being carried all the way back to the cars.
Roy's body knew the memory of carrying men nearly his size in the war, thankfully, because he wasn't relinquishing his son to anyone else, even with bigger men around them. This was his child. His responsibility. Roy already made a terrible mistake in letting him be involved, allowing him to come, he wasn't going to pass this off on someone else now.
He nodded to Havoc, who hurriedly opened the back door of the car he was leaning on. Havoc stubbed out his cigarette as Roy came closer, and leaned in to place his son on the back seat, before kneeling so he was looking directly into his son's face. Ed's eyes were dry. He was shaking, and even his lips were pale. He still clung to Roy's sleeve, as Roy brushed back his bangs. "Hey. Ed. Stay with me buddy."
"S-s-s-she was torn apart, Dad." Ed said quietly, and Havoc gasped. He looked to Mustang for confirmation that Ed had seen the body in that condition. Roy gave a small nod, unnoticed by his son. "They. They- and it was because of me! I brought her here to protect her, and they killed her because of me! I-"
"Enough Edward." Roy said before Ed could go any further. "It was not because of you. It was to restart a war. Did you see what was written on the walls? The floor? They did this to enrage us so we would talk Grumman into declaring war. It isn't going to work, because whoever did this, they are just framing the Ishbalans. Ishbalans didn't do this. But I think I may know who did. You are taking a leave of absence."
"I-"
"No. You are taking a leave, and you are going home to your sons, and you are leaving this to me and our teams. You are going to stop blaming yourself, because you are no more responsible for Rose's death than you were Hughes." Roy said, as he adjusted how he was kneeling to slide into the car next to his son.
"The thing, that we thought was Mom." Ed whispered. "It looked like Rose, only in one piece."
"When you get home, I want you to go to my study. In the bottom drawer is a bottle of bourbon. Pour yourself three fingers and drink it as fast as you can, then sit down and wait for me. I'll be home soon. The others are at Gracia's. I'm going to contact them and tell them to stay there." Roy said.
"If I may." Snape interrupted with a quiet voice. "I can offer him a dreamless draught."
"A what?" Roy asked, frowning at the wizard he had nearly forgotten was there.
"A dreamless draught. It puts the patient into a deep sleep without dreams. It's used for trauma." Snape explained, as he held up his small bag that he had brought with him. "I am afraid magic can not bring back the dead anymore than alchemy, but I can offer what little comfort magic allows."
Roy thought about it, calculating. The wizards already knew where they lived, that had been obvious. The rest of his family would be kept away the rest of the day and night, so it would be just Roy and Ed at the house. It sounded very similar to medications offered by the doctors after a particularly difficult battle. Roy frowned. "What are the side effects?"
"Bitter taste. Sometimes the users will remain dreamless for several days afterward. Sleep is near instant, and the user will be very difficult to rouse for roughly twelve hours." Snape listed.
"I will be fifteen minutes behind. Don't give him anything until I am there. Fuery, Havoc, you will remain posted on the house until the trade off in eight hours. Everyone else, back to the office. Armstrong is arriving now, I will see you at home, Ed. I'll be right behind you."
Roy then slid back out of the car and Snape slid inside, along with the guards, before they drove away. With a heavy sigh he returned his attention to Armstrong, leading the way back to the warehouse. This would take hours to process, but he was handing command of the field over to Alex. Hos son needed him more than the crime scene. He did explain that once again they had found an attempt to frame the Ishbalans for the crime.
Hogwarts
Headmaster's Office
7:00 pm
McGonagall knocked hesitantly on the door. Dumbledore had not been seen all day, which wasn't unusual, however, he hadn't arrived for dinner. A quick trip to the kitchens confirmed he hadn't ordered anything for dinner. He called for her to come in, and she closed the door behind her just a quietly as she had knocked.
"No, I am not alright, but I will be." Dumbledore said without looking up from a piece of parchment that appeared to have been balled up and smoothed out several times. "I learned today that an old friend has recently passed away."
"Who if I may ask?"
"it is unimportant. You never met him." Dumbledore, seemingly pulling himself together. "Was there something else you needed?"
"No sir, I was concerned when you skipped dinner."
"The elves will bring me something when I grow hungry. If you'll excuse me, I have a lot of work."
She left with a frown but without another word, she had seen the note, which had contained only the word 'yes' written on a note from Albus that asked if someone was dead. After the door closed, a single tear escaped his eye to trail down his nose and drip onto the page before he crumpled it one final time as he threw it into the lit fireplace.