The Waterstone of the Wise [6]

[scriveyner]

.:Chapter Six:.

The whistle of the train cut through the station sharply, echoing loudly above the general clatter of passengers boarding and unloading. Alphonse Elric leaned against a pillar, a folded newspaper under his arm and his hands in his pockets as he watched the crush of people moving around the station.

The others were already on board the train, stowed away safely in their compartment. They had all cleaned up, arriving at the station well before the scheduled departure time so that fresh clothes could be bought and something light to eat could be obtained.

Nicholas was still weak, but could move under his own power. His face had been pale and gaunt and color was slow to return to it, but his eyes were bright and his voice strong. Alphonse still was not sure that he really believed that the man was the famed Nicholas Flamel - that bit of alchemy he had performed was no proof but the fact that he was an alchemist. However, Edward seemed to have no trouble believing it, and Alphonse trusted his older brother, so he was going with it … for now.

This whole thing was a mess of ridiculous proportions. The fact that this German, this Nazi alchemist had their father's research notes was troubling. Alphonse did not remember much of their father, just faint memories from a far-too brief childhood. He had been sent through the Gate to Germany before Alphonse was restored to flesh, and by the time he too made the journey through after his brother, their father was already dead. He had little picture of what the man was like - he was a famed alchemist, certainly, but all he knew of Hohenheim of the Light was his legacy. Edward, who had spent the better part of two years with the man as an adult, spoke rarely of him.

Despite the fact that Alphonse had grown content with his life here, the fact that his father's research notes were out there sent something stirring in his stomach. The alchemy was in his blood, even if the processes no longer existed to connect the two, and to just read, and see, and learn the things their father knew was a whole adventure unto itself. Maybe within these notes was the key to opening the Gate.

He caught himself again - there was no need for that. He had built a life here. He had family, a future, the possibility of children. Beyond the Gate lay the world he came from, but they had both chosen to make their homes here.

Still. Alphonse could not help but wonder that perhaps Edward sacrificed because that was all he knew how to do. If he was happy, or content with his life then something would come along and take it all away from him, so he lived this quiet, miserable existence of self-loathing and guilt because it was all he could do. Alphonse knew that his brother was broken, and had never known quite how to fix him.

One thing to deal with at a time. If Nicholas had slivers of the Philosopher's Stone, that all but proved alchemy could exist here, within the confines of this world. It meant that they had to get their father's notes back from Eiselstein any way they could, because there was no telling what was contained within. Then and only then Alphonse could concentrate on dealing with his brother's malaise.

The train whistle blew again, a final warning to those passengers lolly-gagging on the platform that it would be departing shortly. He had been watching this entire time and had not seen Eiselstein - or anyone that particularly reminded him of the League of Shadows - boarding the train. That was particularly worrisome - what if the itinerary had been false, specifically to throw them all off the trail?

Alphonse straightened and started across the train platform, dropping the newspaper into a bin as he passed. If Eiselstein was not on this train they would catch up with him elsewhere. That was just going to be the way it had to be.

~ * ~

The train compartment was small and cramped - it was barely made to seat six and there was hardly any room to breathe with five of them in there. Edward was squeezed between Indy and Alphonse, being the smallest, while Sofia sat beside Nicholas.

"There's too many of us," Indy was saying. "We stick out like a sore thumb at this point, we need to split up."

"I agree," Nicholas said. He had been growing gradually stronger, and seemed to be almost back to the same state that Edward had met him in. "I can't ask any of you to go any further with me. I appreciate your assistance but our paths must part when this train arrives at the station."

"Oh, piss off," Edward said.

"We are too large a group," Alphonse said.

"Well then you and Sofia can stay behind and go vacation or what the hell ever," Edward snapped at Alphonse. "I'll just go clean up dad's mess on my own, I'm used to it."

"That is not what I just said."

"Sure as hell sounded like it to me!"

"Boys!" Sofia snapped angrily. "No one is staying behind!"

"I don't even know what Jones is still doing here anyway," Edward said, glaring at Indy. "Didn't you have some dig or something to go get to, wasn't that why you were tagging along in the first place?"

"No, I'm tagging along because your buddy Ling is the best in I've got to the League of Shadows," Indy said right back. "And watch it, pal, this little partnership has worked so far but I am getting real tired of your attitude."

"Oh, you're getting real tired of my attitude?" Edward's face was starting to go red. "You know what? Fuck you!"

"Brother!" Alphonse said.

"No, and fuck you too Al." Edward stood up, yanking his coat out from under Alphonse at the same time. "I'm tired of this shit, I'm talking a walk." He yanked the compartment door open and stormed off into the hall, sliding the compartment door shut behind him hard.

"Brother!" Alphonse called after him in irritation, then sighed deeply. "Five years, and he hasn't changed a whit."

Sofia bumped Alphonse's feet with her own. "It's fine, Al, he's under a lot of stress."

"We still need to decide what to do," Indy pointed out. "Alphonse didn't see Eiselstein or Ling get on board this train. We could be headed the exact opposite way that we want to be going."

"No, I am fairly certain we are headed in the right direction," Nicholas said, glancing out the window. "I have never been to his castle, but I feel we are on the right path."

Indy snorted. "What, do you have some sort of psychic link to your wife or something?"

Nicholas gave him a dark look. "You are mocking me."

"Of course I'm mocking you, this whole thing is patently ridiculous."

"Anyway," Sofia interrupted. "The point of the matter is that we aren't going to split up, and no one is going to be left behind. We're all in this together, so we need to decide what to do."

"Well, I'll go get brother," Alphonse said, starting to stand up. "Because despite his temper tantrum, if we try to figure out what we're going to do next without him, he'll get pissed and go do his own thing anyway like the idiot he is."

"You should be kinder to your brother," Nicholas said suddenly. "He's dying."

The compartment grew suddenly quiet. "What?" Alphonse said dumbly, although his stomach had tightened at the words.

"Those false limbs he has." Nicholas' eyes were sharp and clear, and were locked on Alphonse's. "They're draining his life. Can you not tell? I thought it was clearly obvious."

Sofia had covered her mouth with her hand in horror. "Ed's dying?"

"He certainly hasn't said anything about it to me either," Indy said. "He's just been favoring the real limbs over the fake ones, the same sort of thing anyone in his situation would do I thought."

"Does Ed know?" Alphonse's voice was rough.

"I think he suspects," Nicholas seemed unperturbed by everyone else's reaction to his words. "But there is no way to tell without asking him plainly."

"How do you know?" Sofia asked.

Nicholas smiled but there was no warmth in the expression. "I can see a lot of things that you cannot," he said simply. "It comes with the experience of living beyond your years."

"I'm going to get him," Alphonse said. Without another word, he opened the compartment door and shut it solidly behind him. Sofia watched him go with concern, the absolute anguish that had shot across his face at the thought of Edward dying had made her want to run after him.

Unexpectedly, Nicholas' hand covered Sofia's on her lap, and she looked to him in surprise. "I apologize for upsetting you," he said. "But your husband and his brother - you understand how special they are, I hope."

Sofia nodded her head once, looking at Nicholas' hand curiously. "I do, I mean - Al means the world to me, and I don't know Ed all that well but Al loves him so that's all that matters to me…"

Indy let out a long, aggravated sigh and Sofia glared at him. "Do you have a problem with that, Doctor Jones?"

"Lady, I've got a problem with everything to do with this little adventure, starting with your pal there the supposedly-immortal-alchemist and ending with heading straight into Nazi Germany." He crossed his arms and glared out the window.

Sofia patted Nicholas' hand gently. "It'll all work out, I know it will. We'll get your wife back, and Al's father's book, and all of it. It's going to work out."

Nicholas smiled gently at her. "I hope you are right."

She smiled back. "Me too."

~ * ~

Edward had not gone far. He had stopped at the next train car up, a second class cabin full of bench seats. There were not a lot of people in this carriage, and they were mostly clustered toward the front of the car, so Edward seated himself in the last bench seat, sliding up to the window so he could brace his elbow against the ledge and rest his chin in his hand.

He watched the scrolling scenery silently. They had come so far, at this point, only to be thwarted by, what? Being thrown off by a false itinerary. It was aggravating how easily Eiselstein had ditched them. And then, Alphonse had shown up with his wife in tow! Al should not be here, not at all. He was supposed to be happily oblivious in his new life in London, Edward did this sort of thing to protect him, not to end up dragging him along. His automail shoulder twinged and he sighed, rubbing the joint through his several layers of clothing before replacing his chin in his hand.

Eiselstein had no use for either him or Alphonse now, and that made Alphonse and his wife a liability. Now that Nicholas Flamel was in the mix, the ante had been upped considerably. Although, what Eiselstein could do now with the knowledge that the Philosopher's Stone could no longer be synthesized was completely up in the air. All Edward knew for certain was he had to either get his father's notes from the man - or destroy them. The greatest fear of course led that he might have copied the notes already; but if Eiselstein was a true alchemist - and given his vanity, there was a strong argument for that being the case - he would follow tradition, and that mean obscuring and keeping the translated notes out of the hands of other people. And with his involvement with the Nazis, that would mean keeping the only copy of the notes - the original ones - on his person at all times to prevent his own redundancy.

Edward was overextending himself. The automail dug heavily into his skin, paining him more when he thought about it. Caught up in the moment it was just like old times, but given the chance to sit, and to rest - he felt like a hundred years old.

He looked up when Alphonse sat down across from him on the other unoccupied bench. For a brief moment Edward remembered that hulking, noisy suit of armor and he could not help but smile wistfully. Another life.

Right now, though, Alphonse looked as tired as he felt. The skin was pinched around his eyes, and his short blond hair was in need of a good combing. He leaned forward, propping his elbows on his knees and kept his voice low, for Edward's ears alone. "Ed, how are you doing? Really?"

Edward opened his mouth, the prepared bullshit response on his lips - and then he closed his mouth and sighed. "It's been too long, Al," he said instead. "It's really been too long."

Despite the solemn expression Alphonse wore a smile did quirk across his face. "You're the one who ran away to America," he said. "It's a pain getting across that ocean."

"Shut up, it was for a job - as you well know, you feckless roustabout," Edward grunted. "At least one of us tries to pull their weight in society. Besides, your wife hates me."

"Sofie doesn't hate you, she just doesn't know you like I do." Alphonse rubbed the side of his face with one hand. "Besides, with displays like that-"

"I'm not going to go back and apologize."

"-I didn't ask you to, brother."

Edward glared at Alphonse, and then sighed again. "What are you doing here, Al?"

"I came to rescue you." Alphonse folded his hands.

"I don't need any rescuing."

"You never do," Alphonse responded dryly. "But, I thought I'd come lend a hand anyway."

"With your wife."

"I couldn't leave her behind, you know that." He glanced out the window a moment, and then to the floorboards between them, before back at Edward's face. "How's your automail?"

Edward considered this question, watching Alphonse watch him right back. "It hurts."

"It didn't use to, did it?"

"It's always hurt." Edward sat back on the bench seat, his left hand on his shoulder. "It's just never been unmanageable."

"I didn't know," he said. "I'm sorry."

"Eh, I didn't want you to know." Edward shrugged. "You'd blame yourself, somehow, and it's not your fault."

"It is, kind of. I got my body back and you didn't."

"Why are you asking about my automail, anyway?" Edward said, steering the course of the conversation away from memories he would rather not relive. "You've never bothered with it before."

"Because I'm worried about you," his brother said seriously. "I'm worried that you've been sitting at home drinking alone in the dark for five years obsessively rereading the handful of alchemy notes you dragged with you through the Gate. That part of our life is over, Ed."

"Clearly it's not, because we wouldn't both be sitting on a train bound for Germany with an alchemist in possession of the Philosopher's Stone - or what's left of one - if it was," Edward snapped back. "I'm happy for you, Al, with your perfect wife and your perfect life - but that's not meant for me and you know it."

"Then what is meant for you, Ed?" Alphonse asked, frustrated.

Edward smiled and put his elbow back on the window's ledge. "I don't have any idea."

~ * ~

Edward moved slow, now, on the train. Alphonse watched his brother with thinly veiled concern - he did not allow his limp to be pronounced, but it was there all the same. Nicholas' words haunted him - he was not so sure that Edward was dying, but he was definitely in a great deal of pain, and masking it as well he could. Alphonse was opening the door to the compartment car when someone else was trying to exit the car at the same time.

That person exiting the carriage car was Ling Yao.

They stared at each other for a split-second of surprise - clearly Ling had not been expecting to run into one of, never mind both of the Elric brothers - and Alphonse used that to his advantage, rearing back with his hands braced on the door frame and planting his foot in the middle of Ling's chest. Edward yelled something from behind him that he did not quite catch, as Ling used the momentum Alphonse had inadvertently given him to turn a flip and land back on his feet. Ling's face was bruised and the one eye hidden by the flip of his hair was swollen nearly shut - but his expression was far more menacing. "It was only a matter of time before I found you again," he said, his accent leaking through thicker than ever. "I knew you had to be on this train somehow."

Alphonse reacted first, shoving Edward back into the open-air vestibule between the cars. Edward staggered against the outside of the car, catching on to the thin railing that separated them from the scenery flying past. "Hey!" Edward snapped, as Alphonse turned to the side, catching Ling's kick with his arm and twisting. With Edward outside Alphonse could focus on Ling, who escaped from his hold and put some space between the two of them.

Ling was watching Alphonse warily. Alphonse was more of a skilled fighter than Edward - Edward relied on both martial arts and street fighting to make his mark, he had to mix up his styles if he wanted any hope of beating Alphonse. "You are better than your brother," Ling remarked, moving his feet slightly as he changed his stance. "I was not expecting that."

"Yeah, I should mention that we've been sparring partners since we were toddlers," Alphonse said, stepping into the tight hallway of the compartment car. "And that Ed has never once won."

Ling did not speak again, moving forward with a hand strike so swift that his hand all-but disappeared. Alphonse blocked the strike neatly and again the one that came behind it, stepping into Ling's space and using his feet at the same time. Alphonse connected one glancing blow to Ling's face as Ling twisted them both, bracing a foot on the wall and using the tight space of the hallway against Alphonse, who was larger and more limited in his movement. Ling drove a knee into his gut as they grappled.

And then Edward was through the door behind them. With Ling twisted around Alphonse it put Edward between him and the door. Ling doubled back, straight into Alphonse's right hook. Somehow he recovered from that nearly instantly, grabbing Alphonse's coat over his shoulder and switching their places so that he had nothing but the rest of the empty hallway behind them. "Suddenly this fight is less than fair," Ling called. "I'll be making my exit, for now."

Alphonse made a grab for him but Ling ducked under it, dashing up the hallway compartment. Edward shoved his brother in the back. "Go, Al, don't let him get away!"

"I'm going," Alphonse said, swiping the blood that was leaking from his nose with the back of his hand. A few of the compartment doors had slid open, occupants curious about the commotion in the hallway - one of them, their own compartment.

"Al!" Sofia said, eyes wide at the blood on his face. "Are you all right!?"

"Ling's here," Edward explained, shoving Alphonse past her.

"We're following him, you and Indy protect Nick," Alphonse yelled back at Sofia.

Sofia's steel-blue eyes flashed in acknowledgment. "Got it!"

The door to the outside vestibule had bounced off its door frame and hung open. Alphonse navigated the space between the two cars carefully - and halfway across a weighted chain wrapped around his shoulders and neck and yanked him off his feet and into the air.

"AL!" Edward yelled as Alphonse vanished from before his eyes. Alphonse felt all the air go out of his lungs as he slammed flat against the roof of the compartment car. Somehow, he had acted unconsciously and thrown his hand up to protect his face, so when the chain wrapped around him it didn't break his neck.

"Hm, fishing's pretty good today," Ling called, his voice almost lost in the wind as the train shot along its tracks. "Snared a big one."

Alphonse snarled something, trying to free himself but the chains were pressed so tight into his skin it was tearing both cloth and skin. He was effectively restrained. "Al!" Edward's voice carried as he hauled himself up on top of the carriage car as well - aching automail fortunately did not seem to impact his actual athletic ability.

"I don't need two Elrics," Ling shouted. "The order was for only one!" He had a revolver in one hand, the end of the weighted chain in the other.

"Ed!" Alphonse yelled, as Ling opened fire.

Edward ducked, his hands the only thing visible as Ling shot at him. Alphonse tried to struggle to his feet but he had no purchase. Ling emptied the revolver and shrugged, as Edward started to climb back on top of the compartment carriage. "You're dead weight either way, I'd rather you didn't struggle the whole time," he explained to Alphonse, reversing his grip on the revolver. Alphonse's eyes widened and he twisted his head, trying to shield but he couldn't do much to block the blow, and then everything went black.

~ * ~

"AL!" Edward yelled again, this time managing to get his foot on top of the roof off the compartment car and finally haul himself up for real. He tried not to think about how much trouble he had pulling himself up when he used to climb drain pipes and run up walls like there was no such thing as gravity and instead focus on not losing his balance against the wind that was whipping his hair around like crazy.

"Don't worry, your brother's not dead," Ling said. He had Alphonse slung up over his shoulder in a fireman's carry. "Of course, he could very well be if you don't stop right there. I bet you wouldn't want me to just throw him from here, hm?"

"What do you want with Al?" Edward yelled at him.

"Idiot, what do I want with either of you?" Ling's nose was bleeding still from where Alphonse had punched him. "Come to Eiselstein's castle. Flamel knows where it is, don't let him lie to you."

"You-" Edward said, and Ling pointed behind Edward, the direction that they were going in.

"I would advise ducking, there's a tunnel ahead."

Edward turned around, and indeed the train was advancing on a tunnel. He barely had time to flatten himself against the roof of the train so that the low tunnel ceiling did not take his head off. The noise of the train was deafening, echoing against the tunnel walls as Edward kept his head down - but the tunnel was brief. Once he was able to get up on his knees again Ling - and Alphonse - were gone.