Hagane no Renkinjutsushi - Volume 1 - Chapter 3

CRIMSON WATER

EDWARD spent the next morning fretting over what he would do if Mugear had them followed. And then one of the mansion guards appeared at their encampment.

“Good morning. I’m glad I found you.”

The guard’s greeting took Edward by surprise. He appeared to be sincere. After what had transpired the night before, Alphonse and Edward had decided it would be too much of an imposition to stay at Belsio’s place again, so they had camped a little distance outside town. This poor man must have been running around frantically since dawn trying to find them.

“Let me guess—you’re here to arrest us, right?” Edward said.

“Absolutely not! My employer, Master Mugear, would like to apologize to Master Edward for any inconvenience caused by the impostors. In fact, he’d like to invite you to the mansion so that he may have the opportunity to apologize to you in person.”

Edward gaped. “Master” Edward? Me?

“S-so you found out about us—or rather, you found out about the other two?”

“Yes, sir. Don’t worry, we’re keeping the impostors under lock and key in the mansion cellar.” The guard smiled. “They won’t bother you again, Master Edward, Master Alphonse.” He nodded to the brothers in turn.

Edward and Alphonse looked at each other. Neither of them had much enjoyed being ridiculed by the townspeople, but now that the tables had turned, they couldn’t bring themselves to gloat.

The guard led them back to the mansion grounds, which they entered through the front gate for the first time. When they arrived, Mugear greeted them personally. They had launched two assaults on his residence and heard much about its owner from the townspeople, but this was their first meeting with the man himself. Yet he smiled at them as though he’d known them for years.

“Welcome to my humble abode, Master Edward and Master Alphonse. I must apologize for the inconvenience this whole affair has caused you. I feel somewhat responsible … Might I make it up to you with a meal?”

Mugear led them personally into his lavishly decorated dining hall. Edward tapped Alphonse on the shoulder and whispered, “He wants us to do research for him!”

“I bet you’re right,” Alphonse whispered back.

Mugear turned and gave them a winning smile. The fact that he hadn’t mentioned their two incursions onto his property made it clear that he had an ulterior motive. They sat down at his table, where a hot meal was brought before them. Edward began to eat while enduring the full force of Mugear’s beaming smile.

“Those impostors certainly had me fooled!” Mugear exclaimed. “I regret that you unjustly suffered the censure they deserve.” He raised an eyebrow at Edward. “Won’t your brother have something to eat?”

Alphonse politely excused himself from partaking in the meal as Mugear launched into his explanation about the impostors. He told them the boys were the sons of a man he had previously employed. He avoided implicating himself in the matter. Edward took a sip of vegetable soup and interrupted him.

“Er, you do know that we broke into your property, right? Twice. Are you sure you don’t want to throw us in the cellar too?”

“Wouldn’t dream of it!” Mugear said, still smiling broadly. “The only reason you did so was because you learned of the impostors and wished to set matters straight, no? Why, I certainly can’t blame you for that!”

So he was going to overlook their transgressions—perhaps in return for them overlooking his own highly illegal plans to transmute gold.

“I have to wonder, though … What am I to do now that I have no alchemists? Where will I find someone to replace them? Someone skilled enough to fashion a Philosopher’s Stone?”

“Do you mean us?” Edward asked bluntly, cutting to the chase.

Mugear scratched his cheek and appeared embarrassed. “I would offer you forty percent of all the profits. In return for you not notifying the State, of course …”

“Oh, keeping it a secret wouldn’t be a problem,” Edward assured him with a conspiratorial smile.

“It would only be until we excavate a new gold vein in town. This community has all the mining equipment it needs to dig real gold. It’s just that … it’s been quite arduous trying to find that next vein.”

“And expensive, I’d wager,” Edward added with mock concern. Mugear didn’t seem to notice.

“Well, what do you think? I’d guess that—as a scientist—you would leap at the opportunity to work on creating a Philosopher’s Stone, yes?”

“Well … ”

Of course Edward had no intention of working for Mugear, but he wanted to glean some more information before letting on. And besides, he enjoyed watching Mugear squirm.

“Is there a problem?”

“No, no, just … it’s a point of pride with me not to step into someone else’s work midstream. Maybe you could tell me a little more about this Nash alchemist?”

“Ah, now, there was a talent! He even received a posting at a military facility as the apprentice to a renowned State Alchemist.”

“If he was so talented, why did he disappear? I’m sure you offered him protection from the military too, in case he succeeded in making a Stone …”

“Yes, well …” Mugear appeared to be choosing his words carefully to avoid saying anything that might implicate him. “To make a Stone requires a great deal of trial and error, no? You need to experiment with all manner of methods and materials. However, Nash failed to distinguish himself as a researcher of great caliber. He ignored my suggestions, and, not wishing to waste my limited research funds, I had him think things over for a while in the cellar. Of course, being an alchemist, he fashioned a door and escaped quite readily.”

Edward snorted.

“After that, the few alchemists remaining on staff attempted a variety of experiments, but they quickly lost the thread of his research. That’s when Russell and his brother arrived. Russell claimed that the distillation process they had been using was wrong—or something like that—and he succeeded in making some progress with the test samples his father had abandoned.”

Edward and Alphonse nodded, impressed. If it was true, Russell had accomplished quite a feat. To fashion even a trial Stone from his father’s work without a list of materials or methodology was no mean feat.

“However,” continued Mugear, “failure after failure reduced our remaining materials to a handful. So he attempted to learn how Nash made his creations.”

“I see.”

Mugear looked at Edward eagerly. “Well, what do you say? Will you join me? Can you decipher what went into making the Water?”

Edward frowned and rubbed his chin. From what he had seen last night, he was certain that reverse-engineering the Water would be impossible. He kept that information to himself.

“We’d have to talk to Russell, wouldn’t we, Al?”

Alphonse nodded. “It’s the only way,” he agreed.

“May we?” Edward guessed correctly that Mugear wouldn’t refuse them such a simple request, especially when he believed he was so close to acquiring new talent to work on his research.

“Of course, of course,” Mugear answered with a smile. “They’re behaving themselves in the cellar right now. Russell can perform a bit of alchemy, of course, so I posted a guard.”

Mugear offered to take them down, that broad smile still pasted on his face.

THE AIR in the cellar was cool.

Mugear opened a heavy iron door to reveal a corridor running down the center of the room, with cells on either side.

“The far one on the right.”

The guard posted in front of the door was notice enough. Edward and Alphonse asked to speak to the impostors alone. They stepped inside, and the iron door closed heavily behind them.

In the cell, they found Russell and Fletcher seated behind a wall of bars, their wrists bound in handcuffs.

“Edward! Alphonse!” Fletcher saw them first and came running up to the bars.

“Fletcher! You’re hurt!” Edward burst out, seeing the bruise on the younger boy’s temple.

“It’s nothing. I …” Fletcher lowered his eyes. “I know it’s late to be saying this, but … We’re really sorry. Really.”

Behind him, Russell sat in silence, not even looking up at their visitors.

“Hey, Russell, you seem kind of down. Where’s all that youthful energy from last night?” Edward teased. Russell didn’t move.

“Why have you come?” he asked in a low voice.

“Mugear asked us to. From the sound of it, he wants us to pick up where you left off. Man, he’s even slimier than I thought!”

“So? Are you going to do it?”

“Well, he offered to give us forty percent of the profits, and I do want to make a Philosopher’s Stone …”

“It’s going to cost a lot more money than that … And you’ve seen how hard life is for the townspeople already.”

“That didn’t stop you.”

Russell frowned. “I …” Russell began to rise, but then just as suddenly sank back down. “I was doing it for them.”

“So you were making a Stone, limitless gold … all for the townspeople?”

“Yes, the Stone and … the Water of Life.” Russell’s voice grew fainter and fainter. Everything he had done, everything he had worked for—it was all over. He shut his mouth tightly, unwilling to give voice to his failure.

“So wait,” Edward continued, thinking out loud. “This Water of Life—you made it to bring greenery back to the village? I suppose that would help the people.” Edward put his hands on the bars. “You really thought you were doing the right thing?”

Russell didn’t respond.

“Say it, Russell.”

Russell was silent. Edward took his hands off the bars and leaned back against the opposite wall. “Your father was Nash Tringum, right? He worked in some military lab? You need to be good to make it to a place like that. Your father must have been pretty talented. That explains you knowing all the alchemy you do … and Fletcher being able to use it too.

“So,” continued Edward, “you wanted to be like your father.”

Russell gave a drawn-out sigh. “I wanted to … But look what happened.” He raised his shackled hands. “What about your father, Edward?”

Edward’s face twisted into a scowl. He had little good to say about his father. “Who knows? I can’t even say if he’s dead or alive.”

“So he’s missing—like ours.” Russell leaned back against the wall. He looked tired. “We were born in a town far away from here. Our father spent his days studying alchemy, and I wanted to become an alchemist like him. He wasn’t a strong man, but he knew more about alchemy than anyone. He wasn’t that good at performing it, but in the lab, his skills were second to none. He always said he wanted to use his knowledge to help people—or, at least, to support another alchemist who could practice the art to help others.

“That’s why he apprenticed himself to a famous alchemist in a military lab. But something about the application of their methods disagreed with him. He couldn’t take it any- more, so one day, he took off. After that, our whole family lived every day as fugitives. Our father lived in a state of constant fear. He used to tell us over and over that he was through with alchemy. He made us promise to never touch the stuff.”

“Where was this military facility?” Edward asked.

“I don’t know. He would never tell me.”

“Too bad,” Edward said. “I guess I won’t be able to pick up his trail there, then. What about your mother?”

“Our mother died. She was so exhausted from all that running … After she was gone, our father told us there was a town he wanted to show us—the town where he was born. He told us to wait on the outskirts while he went ahead to scout things out. If it looked like there was a place for us there, he would send word.”

Fletcher looked sad. Listening to his brother talk about his father, their life as fugitives, and the break-up of their family was painful. He had his share of hard memories.

“Our father sent us a postcard,” Russell continued. “He said he’d found work here. There was a good lab, one where he could study in peace, where the military wouldn’t find him.

“He said he’d come get us … ” Russell paused. “I’m sure he had a reason for leaving, but he never told me what it was. We never saw him again.”

After a pause, Russell went on. “This was his home. I wanted to make it like it was when he was young—green, and full of life. I don’t know where he went, but I thought that would give him a reason to come back. The Water of Life was the key. With it, we could bring the green back, and the townspeople would see that there was more to life than just goldsmithing.”

“So that’s what you were trying to do.” Everything was finally starting to make sense to Edward and Alphonse. But for all of Mugear’s ambitions, Russell’s hopes, and the townspeople’s dreams, nothing had come of any of it.

“I thought I was following in my father’s footsteps, but in the end, I was going nowhere. I just wanted to do something for this town, to make my father proud,” Russell said bitterly.

Edward didn’t try to comfort him. “Maybe you were going about it the wrong way.”

“Huh?”

“If you want to help the townspeople, you don’t need a Philosopher’s Stone or the Water of Life. You have two hands—use them. If you want to make the town green, start moving rocks. I’m sure that would make your father proud.” Edward grasped the bars of their cell. “Whatever happens, you’re not going to get anything done by sitting here moping. You’ve got to move on. Don’t make me ashamed of you, okay? Especially if you’re going to use my name!”

The bars suddenly bent in Edward’s hands. Edward stepped through the gap into their cell, went to the prisoners, and broke their handcuffs. He walked out without so much as looking back. He wouldn’t pull them out by the hand. When they went, it would be of their own free will.

“Let’s go, Al.”

Alphonse nodded. He glanced back at the bars, bent wide enough for a boy to easily walk through. Inside the cell, Fletcher stood close to his brother. He noticed Alphonse looking at him, and lifted his chin. His eyes filled with strength.

Alphonse gave him a nod. He knew that even if Russell resisted, Fletcher would get himself and his brother out of there. He would take them to a better place and find a new way. Satisfied, Alphonse turned and left.

“RUSSELL,” Fletcher said softly. “The cell’s open. Our handcuffs are off. If we’re going to leave, we have to decide now.”

Russell stared silently at his hands resting on his knees.

“I’m getting out of this place,” Fletcher continued, “and I’m going to apologize to the townspeople. Then I’m going to learn more alchemy. I’m going to get really good at it. We might not be able to turn this place into a paradise overnight, but we can sure help move some rocks. You know, Russ, maybe you’ll like that kind of work more than alchemy.”

Russell looked surprised.

“Do you know what this means?” Fletcher asked. “You’re not in chains anymore. You don’t have to follow in Father’s footsteps anymore. You can do what you want. You don’t have to hold yourself back!”

“Fletcher … Since when did you become the older brother?”

“You know,” Fletcher replied, “you always looked up to Father, but there’s someone I look up to, too. I think to myself, ‘If it will help him, I can be stronger.’ ”

Russell raised an eyebrow.

“Maybe you don’t know this,” Fletcher continued, “but I’ve always looked up to you.”

Russell glanced into his brother’s eyes and smiled. He stood up and put his hand on Fletcher’s head. “You’ve grown.”

It was a familiar gesture. He used to do it all the time when their family was still together. He would put his hand on Fletcher’s head and say “You’ve grown,” and his eyes would say but you better not get taller than me. Fletcher would look up at him and reply, “Watch out! I’m gaining on you!” and the two would laugh.

Today, Fletcher knew that Russell was talking about more than just height. Feeling his brother’s hand on his head, Fletcher smiled. “Watch out, I’m gaining on you.”

The two walked out through the bent bars. They would go apologize to the townspeople. They would accept their punishment, and then they would help restore the land to its former verdure.

AS THEY WALKED through the bars, the mansion’s main hall rang with laughter. One of Mugear’s servants was passing him chunks of broken rock, which he proceeded to turn into gold. “Ha, ha! Even I, who knows so little of alchemy, can do wonders with this Stone!” Though he knew the gold would only last for a moment, watching the rock transform before his eyes had become an addiction. He couldn’t stop transmuting.

“We may not have much Water left, but it’s more than enough to continue my research. With that genius Edward working for me, I’ll have a Philosopher’s Stone completed in no time … And when the townspeople see the gold I make, no one will think I’m squandering their money.” Mugear rocked back and forth with glee. He was very pleased with himself. He was about to perform more transmutations when he heard a voice call out behind him.

“And when the gold is gone, the townspeople will be as badly off as they were when they started.”

“Master Edward!” Mugear turned to see Edward standing behind him.

“So this is all the Water you have left, huh?”

Mugear gasped. Edward held the flask in his hand. It sloshed audibly as he rocked it from side to side. “I find it hard to respect a man who would hold a whole town hostage for just a few drops of liquid.” Edward looked around. “This mansion of yours—it’s pretty lavish. Where’d you get the money to pay for all this? I suppose you’ve been skimming off the top of the proceeds of the mine and the research funding all along … Yeah, that would make sense.”

Mugear didn’t even hear Edward’s rebuke. His eyes were fixed on the gently sloshing Water in the flask in Edward’s hand. “Master Edward, please … give the Water back to me! Without it, my research is finished!”

Edward stepped aside deftly, avoiding Mugear’s grasping hands. “Your research is finished anyway. You have no data, no methodology … The fact that you even got this far using someone else’s half-finished experiments is a miracle.”

“Please, don’t say that,” Mugear begged. “Ah! It’s the money, isn’t it? How does fifty percent of the proceeds sound, eh?” Mugear seemed to think Edward’s refusal to work for him was just a negotiation tactic.

“Actually,” Edward said, “there is something that’s been bothering me.”

“What’s that?” Mugear asked, the smile returning to his face.

“You.”

Mugear coughed. “What?”

“I don’t believe you would just let Nash walk out of here in the middle of his research—and with all of his research notes, at that.”

“Oh, those? Nash disposed of them. There was nothing to take.”

“Uh-huh,” Edward nodded. “So where’s Nash now? If he didn’t have any notes, you would have gotten everything you could out of him before you let him go. But you didn’t … So what gives? He didn’t leave, did he?”

A scowl darkened Mugear’s face.

“Where is he? In another one of your cells?”

“He’s not here,” Mugear said, flinching under Edward’s hard gaze.

“Not here? So you just let him go? Or else … No, you didn’t!” Edward finally figured it out. “You killed him!”

Mugear’s silence was as good as any confession.

“Is there no limit to your greed?”

“I simply asked him where his research materials were,” Mugear blurted out. “And I might have tried to soften him up a little. He didn’t have a strong constitution, you see …”

“What?” Edward, cut him off. “You think that absolves you?” Edward was furious. “Sure, the townspeople and Russell deserve some of the blame for what’s been going on around here, but I knew from the start that you were the worst of the bunch. And to think I was going to cut you some slack.” Edward ground his teeth. “Not anymore.”

Mugear seemed unruffled. “You would judge me?”

“No, the courts will do that. I just want to kick your ass.”

“I’m afraid neither of those options appeals to me much. There will be no trial. I will take back my Water. And, I rather think that, with this, I can defeat a State Alchemist.” Mugear held up the glimmering red Stone. “Sorry, but there’s no chance of you leaving.”

Mugear thrust his hands onto the railing of the stairs. There was the telltale flash of an alchemical transmutation, and when he lifted his arms, he was cradling a giant rifle. By the time he swung around the huge, two-barreled cannon, Edward had already shaped his right arm into a sword.

“Come and get me, Alchemist! I’ll turn you into a honeycomb before you get within arm’s reach of me!” Mugear shouted. Laughing maniacally, he began firing his gun.

Edward ducked behind a thick pillar. Mugear fired at it, chipping the plaster. “You can’t hide from me!”

“Keep shooting and you might just hit something!” Edward yelled, covering his ears against the roaring of the gun. He waited until the stream of bullets had eaten away half the pillar, then swung his arm-sword fast. It sliced clean through the rest of the pillar.

“What the—?!”

Edward cupped one hand to his mouth and shouted, “Tim-m-m-ber!” He didn’t intend for the pillar to crush Mugear, but it would force him to scramble out of the way. Mugear would be easy enough to catch in the ensuing rubble. Mugear stared wide-eyed as the pillar began its descent. As it fell, it took a section of the ceiling with it, raining chunks of stone upon the floor.

Edward stepped back to the safety of the entryway and watched the pillar fall. “There she goes … Now where is he?” Edward swung his arms around, trying to clear some of the roiling plaster dust that filled the air. He expected Mugear to have ducked into the corner by the stairwell to avoid the pillar, but he wasn’t there. Edward was just craning his neck to check behind a pile of rubble when he heard a crunching sound to his right.

“Huh?”

Just below the spot where the pillar had landed, a low dome hugged the floor. As Edward watched, the dome split in two, shoving fragments of the pillar to either side. From beneath the dome Mugear emerged, a new gun in his hand.

“Crafty of you to drop that pillar on me,” he said as he pulled the trigger.

“Whoa!” Edward leapt and rolled to the side as the muzzle of Mugear’s new weapon tracked him. The Stone gave Mugear the power to generate an endless stream of bullets.

Edward ducked behind a pile of rubble from the collapsed pillar, but the hail of gunfire soon tore away what little cover it provided. He turned and placed his hand on a nearby wall to create a spike, but that too was reduced to dust in moments. Edward was at a loss. The bullets were endless—it was like fighting a small army all at once.

“What’s the matter? I’d have thought a State Alchemist would be more of a challenge!” Mugear laughed. He was fashioning an even larger cannon as he spoke.

“I’ll show you what a State Alchemist can do!” Edward shouted, dashing towards Mugear. He moved so fast that he reached him before he could raise his cannon. With his arm-sword, Edward sliced the gun’s barrel in two. Taken off guard, Mugear stumbled back. Edward saw his opportunity, clenched his other hand into a fist, and smacked Mugear in the jaw.

Mugear swore and began forming another cannon as Edward dodged back and planted his hand on the floor to form another wall. The stone of the floor arched up, revealing earth and the twisted roots of plants beneath. When the floor was perfectly vertical, Edward kicked it with all his strength. Seeing the wall toppling towards him, Mugear formed another half-dome to block its fall.

“Hah! You’re wide open!” Edward shouted, running to grab the remaining stair railing. There was a flash of alchemical energy, and Edward pulled away a long, heavy pole. “I’ll crack that dome in half!” he vowed, charging Mugear’s shield. But as he brought his pole down as hard as he could, the top half disappeared with a horrible screech.

“Huh?” Edward gaped at the dome. Plaster dust hung white in the air. The dome opened before him, and there stood Mugear, bearing another cannon. He had completed it while sheltering inside the dome. Edward realized his pole hadn’t disappeared—it had been vaporized by a blast of Mugear’s firepower!

Mugear sat up inside the remaining ring of his dome-wall. “Time to end this!” he shouted, as he squeezed the trigger.

The gun missed its mark. A great Waboom! echoed through the mansion as a giant cannonball smacked into the far side of the hall. Cracks ran through the wall and the entire room shuddered.

“Yikes!” Edward shouted. “This place is gonna come down!”

“Bah! I can build another mansion, but never again will I have the opportunity to put a State Alchemist in his place!” Mugear fired again and again. A cannonball landed at Edward’s feet, knocking him off balance. Edward lurched to the side just as another flew straight at his face. At the last moment, he swung his arm-sword and cut the cannonball in half. A tingle ran up his arm and his shoulder went numb from the impact. He knew from the speed and weight that he had gotten lucky. He would not be able to knock the next shot aside. Running was not an option either. He would tire long before Mugear ran out of ammunition.

Edward threw up another wall, sturdier than the last, yet still it shook and cracked with every strike. Edward swore. “If only I could get closer, I’d have the upper hand.”

Suddenly a door opened behind him and a voice called out, “Edward!” It was Russell. He took the devastation in with one glance and ran to his aid.

“Stay back, dummy!” Edward shouted over his shoulder. Bullets were flying everywhere. Before his wall completely disintegrated, Edward made a new one behind it while yelling to Russell, “Hide! Now! You’ll just get in the way.”

Mugear saw Russell and aimed a spray of bullets in his direction. “Too bad you don’t have a Stone anymore! You won’t be able to join in our little game.” A giant cannonball hurtled through the air toward Russell. He dodged it by a hair and ran to Edward.

Another shot flew at them.

“Russell!” Edward shouted, taking his eyes off Mugear for a second. It was the moment Mugear had been waiting for.

“Now it ends!” he shouted triumphantly.

Just behind Edward, a spike rose from the floor and flew at him. Edward didn’t have time to block its formation. He saw its deadly sharp point heading right for his eyes. Desperately, he swung his arm-sword and managed to cut off the tip, but it wasn’t enough to stop the advance of the rest of the spike. Edward braced himself for an impact that was sure to kill him—but the malicious spike came to a halt not an inch before reaching him.

“Who was it you were saying would just get in the way?” asked a voice beside Edward.

“Russell?”

Russell stood with his arm stretched over Edward’s shoulder, the severed end of the spike firmly in his hand. Edward saw something else, too—winding roots coiled around Russell’s arm and extending out to snake down the length of the spike. That was what had halted its momentum.

From Russell’s hand, the roots traveled down his arm and back down into the ground under the ripped-up floor. The signature of alchemy was obvious. Russell shook out his hand, and the roots crumbled and fell away.

“I-impossible!” Mugear gasped. “You have another Stone?!”

Russell raised both hands. They were empty, but in each palm was drawn an intricate transmutation circle.

“B-but how … ?” Mugear stammered.

Edward stared at Russell, his eyes wide. “You can use alchemy naturally?”

“I consider myself a third-grade alchemist at best, but, yes, I can.”

“No, I’ve seen your research notes. You know more than you let on. I suspected as much at first … But when I saw you using the Stone, I thought you were relying on it because you had no power of your own.”

It had taken split-second judgment and reflexes to stop that spike. It was clear that Russell possessed incredible raw talent. He might even be Edward’s equal.

“I never used my alchemy, because I knew it would upset my father. I started using it again when I came here, but I still had my reservations. So I decided on a compromise. I would use alchemy, but only through the trial Stones I made. That way, I could still do research and hopefully help the town without really going back on my promise to my father … Or that’s what I told myself, anyway. In the end, it was alchemy all the same, but I needed that excuse to keep going.”

Russell spoke in a calm tone. “Now I realize it’s all right for me to use alchemy. I never understood why he wanted me to quit—especially since you can do so much good with it.” Russell’s expression brightened. The sorrow that had shadowed his face had lifted. “I’ve decided I will use alchemy—as long as it helps others.”

“So I’m the first to benefit from your change of heart, huh?” Edward laughed.

“I guess so!”

The boys smiled at each other.

“You think you can beat me without a Stone?!” howled Mugear.

Russell was unperturbed. “Of course. All you have is the Stone. Once we get into close range, it’s all over for you.”

Edward shook his head with a sigh. “You know, Russell, even though you’re using your powers for good now, you’re still pretty arrogant.”

Russell nodded. “Get ready. He’s coming.”

“Huh?”

Mugear charged, firing his cannon straight at them.

“Whoa!” Edward dropped down and the shot streaked through the air right above his head.

He felt Russell’s foot tap his shoulder. “Well, what are you waiting for? Go get him.”

“What? You want me to go at him alone?” Edward asked.

“Well, obviously you won’t be able to close the distance between you with just alchemy. So why don’t you worry about getting to him, and I’ll worry about covering you on the way there. I’m better at defense, anyway.”

As he spoke, light streaked from his hand along the torn-up floor and the roots beneath came alive, snaking and twisting through the cracks and crevices. Russell’s technique was similar to the one used in alchemical medicine, only instead of manipulating human cells, he was manipulating the cells of plants.

Edward had his hands full before just holding off Mugear’s attacks, but with Russell’s help, the tables had definitely turned in his favor. Where Edward’s attempts to dodge and cut Mugear’s spikes in half had failed, Russell’s strategy of containment and defense seemed to be working.

“Right, well … make sure you keep an eye on me,” Edward said.

“Good luck. Put him in his place.”

The two locked eyes and nodded. With that signal, they turned as one to the half-shattered wall Edward had thrown up in defense and pushed it over.

“There you are!” shouted Mugear, firing at Edward. “Come and get me!”

Russell’s hands found a root stretching beneath the floor. The root bucked wildly, and innumerable tendrils shot into the air, catching the bullet and stopping it dead, midway to its mark. Mugear fired wildly. The shots were all blocked by flailing roots. The hall shook with the boom of cannon fire and the writhing of roots under the floor. The cacophony reached its peak, and a great cloud of plaster dust rose in the middle of the room. Edward hurtled out of the cloud above Mugear.

“Gotcha!”

Before Mugear could raise his weapon, Edward’s sword came down, cutting his cannon clean in two. And before the pieces hit the ground, Mugear was out cold, knocked unconscious by a well-aimed punch to the side of the head.

Only when the guards dragged Mugear out the front gate did he discover that, while he had been fighting Edward and Russell, the two younger brothers had set fire to his alchemical laboratory and burned it to the ground.

“BEAUTIFUL, isn’t it?” At sunset that evening, Edward watched shafts of light slanting over the outskirts of the town. The wind wasn’t blowing, and the sky was clear. The late-day sun glimmered in the clear air.

“It’ll be even more beautiful soon,” Russell said. He sat down next to Edward. From their vantage point, they could see a single set of rails leading back into the town behind them. Edward and Alphonse were back where they started. This time, they were walking away from Xenotime and returning to the station. Russell and Fletcher had come to see them off.

On behalf of the townspeople, Belsio had apologized to the Elric brothers. “Don’t worry about it, it was all their fault,” Edward replied, grinning and pointing at Russell and Fletcher.

“Hey, we apologized!”

“Not enough!”

Russell scowled. He had apologized dozens of times, but it would never be enough for Edward. Impersonation was a serious enough crime to land Russell and Fletcher in jail, but neither Edward or Alphonse wanted to take matters that far. In lieu of punishment, Edward had appointed Russell his personal masseuse and luggage porter.

“Are you sure you’re okay? We could speak to the townspeople on your behalf,” Edward offered, flashing Russell a look of concern. The townspeople were furious over the Tringum brothers’ deception. Who knew what they would do to them when they got back to town? But to Russell’s credit, he didn’t seem afraid to face them.

“I’ll take what’s coming to me. Everything has to start from there.”

“You too, Fletcher?” Alphonse asked.

Fletcher nodded. “I’m going to stick with my brother. It’s just the two of us now, and I’ve got to watch out for him … But I think he’s doing the right thing … this time.” He gave his brother a little grin. Russell’s face remained set and determined, but he didn’t look unhappy.

Even when Russell had heard the truth about his father’s disappearance, he held his emotions in check. He just put his arm around Fletcher’s shoulder and said it was only what they had suspected all along.

Then he thanked Edward for all that he had done for them. Edward protested, “Stop that! It feels weird having you thank me!”

“Oh, so you’d rather I tell you what I really think of your alchemy powers?” Russell scowled.

Edward squinted up at Russell. “You putting me down?”

“‘Putting you down’? You already are …” Russell replied, standing on his tiptoes for effect.

“Ha! You’re still a jerk, after all.”

NOT FAR from the bickering older brothers, Alphonse was saying his farewells to Belsio, who had accompanied them to the edge of town. “Thanks for all your help, Mr. Belsio.”

“Come visit us again sometime soon. I just hope we’ll be able to offer you a little more hospitality next time.”

The town had been in an uproar since the authorities dragged Mugear off to jail. Lemac had been the first to organize the disillusioned townspeople, proposing a town meeting to decide how to allocate the remaining research money and what their next move should be. Belsio was in charge of the town’s field restoration project, and Delfino was in charge of organizing the goldsmiths who remained. Everyone had something to do. It was the start of a new era.

Fletcher held his hand out to Alphonse. “Thank you.” It was Alphonse who had given him the courage to stand up to his brother, and Fletcher knew he would never be the same. “I’ll keep at it until Russell relies on me as much as Edward relies on you, Alphonse.”

“I just hope he doesn’t only rely on you to buy him bandages!”

“I just hope he keeps himself out of fights.”

The two smiled at each other. Beside them, the older brothers had finally stopped trading insults. Russell handed the traveling trunk back to Edward.

“Thank you. Really.”

Edward grabbed the hand Russell extended and gave it a firm shake. “Good luck. You know, if you wanted to, you could probably become a State Alchemist. You’re good enough to pass the exams in a heartbeat. Oh, but that attitude of yours might be a problem.”

“Really?” Russell said. “It didn’t seem to be a roadblock for you.”

“Yeah, yeah …” Edward grinned.

Now that they had finished putting each other down, they both felt sad that they had to part. The setting sun painted the land around them a deep red.

“Well, take care. I hope you find what you’re looking for.”

“Thanks. You too.”

With that, the real Elric brothers left Xenotime and their new friends behind them. The Tringum brothers turned around and headed back down the railway, their true names restored. And so ended the incident of Xenotime’s impostor alchemists.

ON THEIR WAY back to town, Russell and Fletcher stopped in front of one of the trees Belsio had planted. It looked frail and thin against the darkening evening sky, but Russell said in time it would grow tall and bear fruit.

“Are you sure?” Fletcher asked.

Russell nodded and withdrew a flask from his back pocket. Inside, a few drops of crimson fluid sloshed, reflecting the light of the setting sun and glowing brighter than ever before.

Russell unstoppered the flask, bent over, and poured the liquid by the base of the tree. The Water that had meant so much to them for so long disappeared into the parched soil. They looked up at the tree, but nothing happened. It was as though the tree and the Water were telling them that all the work they had done, all of their effort, was to no avail. Russell straightened up. The chains around him were finally gone for good.

“Let’s go,” he said. He glanced at his little brother.

“Yeah, let’s go.”

They draped their arms around each other’s shoulders and walked the last stretch to town. The future they walked toward was uncertain, but it was a future they were choosing for themselves.