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[ Rushing headfirst into a conflict with only a minimal plan and hoping it works is truly the Elric way.
That is to say, following Wrath down to the ruins of the underground city was enough of a gamble. Wrath may have spent the past three years living in the woods outside of Risembool like an angry feral kitten, but he was still, you know, one of the homunculi. Though, Rose had told Alphonse that he had given them some vital help against Envy and Dante, so what little remains of Al's kiddish gullibility these days extended to thinking okay, I'll give him a chance, what do I have to lose at this point?
Uh. A lot, apparently. He was not expecting to have to deal with the 100 foot tall abomination that used to be Gluttony trying to eat them both, nor was he expecting Wrath to just...lay down and die. "You were willing to sacrifice yourself to get your brother back, right? I'm not going to let that happen again."
(Look. Look. It's not his fault that he and Ed have the kind of relationship where they'd jump in front of a train for each other, it's the sheer amount of bullshit they've been through. Which, a few years ago, included having to dig up their mom's grave and use one of her bones to kill the homunculus wearing her face, who they made, by the way, that was nice to find out. Not that Al remembers that at the moment, but he will momentarily. Truly, nothing nice ever happens in the 03 universe!!)
When Alphonse puts his hands down, he's not sure how this is going to work, or what's going to pop out of the other side--well, he's hoping to suddenly have Ed tumbling out, of course, but things never happen the easy way. For all he knows, it'll be Ed but catatonic, or it'll take half of the environment around him, or the worst of all--nothing. To have gotten this far and sacrificed this much and just have no result...it might break him a little.
Still, he's holding out hope. He may have become an unhinged little gremlin in the 3 years since Ed vanished, but he's still Al, which means he's still got his ever-present optimism! It's just...you know, less blind optimism, now.
Anyway. There are lots of hands. There's always so many weird, grabby little hands when the Gate is involved, and it skeeves him out, because he can remember the hands grabbing him that night when they were kids, pulling him away from the basement and out of Ed's grasp, past a doorway that no one was ever meant to cross more than once.
And yet.
And yet.
Here he is crossing it a third time.
The circle flashes again, and he's being subtly tugged past the threshold. His feet skid into the blackness beyond the doors, and he almost screams, but--he finds a hand inside that's solid, one that's attached to a real arm and not a spindly tendril. Putting all of his weight into tugging on the arm, he throws himself backward, back through the doorway, and lands on the concrete courtyard hard enough to knock the wind out of him.
He doesn't register the fact that he's still gripping Ed's arm with more force than is probably necessary, but uh, give him a minute. Three years worth of stuck-in-a-suit-of-armor memories just zoomed back into his noggin and he needs a moment--several moments, maybe a few months worth of moments for the entire thing with Sloth--to process it.
So, um. Welcome to the empty underground city ruins that Definitely Isn't Xerxes, Ed?? It was already in pretty bad shape, but Gluttony and Wrath wrecked the surrounding area even more, and there's a waterway nearby filled with red stones. Al is laying on his back kind of staring at the sky with a raptured look on his face, but he's breathing, at least. ]
That is to say, following Wrath down to the ruins of the underground city was enough of a gamble. Wrath may have spent the past three years living in the woods outside of Risembool like an angry feral kitten, but he was still, you know, one of the homunculi. Though, Rose had told Alphonse that he had given them some vital help against Envy and Dante, so what little remains of Al's kiddish gullibility these days extended to thinking okay, I'll give him a chance, what do I have to lose at this point?
Uh. A lot, apparently. He was not expecting to have to deal with the 100 foot tall abomination that used to be Gluttony trying to eat them both, nor was he expecting Wrath to just...lay down and die. "You were willing to sacrifice yourself to get your brother back, right? I'm not going to let that happen again."
(Look. Look. It's not his fault that he and Ed have the kind of relationship where they'd jump in front of a train for each other, it's the sheer amount of bullshit they've been through. Which, a few years ago, included having to dig up their mom's grave and use one of her bones to kill the homunculus wearing her face, who they made, by the way, that was nice to find out. Not that Al remembers that at the moment, but he will momentarily. Truly, nothing nice ever happens in the 03 universe!!)
When Alphonse puts his hands down, he's not sure how this is going to work, or what's going to pop out of the other side--well, he's hoping to suddenly have Ed tumbling out, of course, but things never happen the easy way. For all he knows, it'll be Ed but catatonic, or it'll take half of the environment around him, or the worst of all--nothing. To have gotten this far and sacrificed this much and just have no result...it might break him a little.
Still, he's holding out hope. He may have become an unhinged little gremlin in the 3 years since Ed vanished, but he's still Al, which means he's still got his ever-present optimism! It's just...you know, less blind optimism, now.
Anyway. There are lots of hands. There's always so many weird, grabby little hands when the Gate is involved, and it skeeves him out, because he can remember the hands grabbing him that night when they were kids, pulling him away from the basement and out of Ed's grasp, past a doorway that no one was ever meant to cross more than once.
And yet.
And yet.
Here he is crossing it a third time.
The circle flashes again, and he's being subtly tugged past the threshold. His feet skid into the blackness beyond the doors, and he almost screams, but--he finds a hand inside that's solid, one that's attached to a real arm and not a spindly tendril. Putting all of his weight into tugging on the arm, he throws himself backward, back through the doorway, and lands on the concrete courtyard hard enough to knock the wind out of him.
He doesn't register the fact that he's still gripping Ed's arm with more force than is probably necessary, but uh, give him a minute. Three years worth of stuck-in-a-suit-of-armor memories just zoomed back into his noggin and he needs a moment--several moments, maybe a few months worth of moments for the entire thing with Sloth--to process it.
So, um. Welcome to the empty underground city ruins that Definitely Isn't Xerxes, Ed?? It was already in pretty bad shape, but Gluttony and Wrath wrecked the surrounding area even more, and there's a waterway nearby filled with red stones. Al is laying on his back kind of staring at the sky with a raptured look on his face, but he's breathing, at least. ]
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[Their father specifically? Ed isn't aware of the particular relationship and history there with this world's Envy and Hohenheim. So of course he's oblivious and confused as to Al saying that. Specifically pointing out Envy wanting to target Hohenheim like that.]
Well. Then...then we figure another way. Like I was doing back home.
[Because he doesn't exactly want to make a new Stone. And he assumes neither does Al, given his talk of the trouble with the Gate when one needs a Stone to open it. So of course they will just have to figure a workaround somehow.]
[Ed shifts in approaching more, reaching a hand to Al's head almost instinctively in some attempt to reassure the other. Because of course he does. He's the older brother. That's his job. To help reassure and support Al. To look after him. To take on that responsibility. This might not be Alphonse from his home, but that doesn't matter. It's still Al.]
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He crumples. ]
There aren't any other ways. [ Funny, now he really doesn't want to cry, and it's happening anyway. ] There are no other ways...! A stone can open the Gate, but there aren't any left! The only other option is to give it one of its kin back. [ He wipes at his eyes with his coat sleeve, but it doesn't help much. He's completely forgotten to answer the question about Envy at this point. ] And there aren't any homunculi left here, either. Wrath, he...he led me down here so I could use him and Gluttony to open the Gate.
[ A noise that sounds like a hiccup goes through him. He motions to the destroyed city around them, as if saying "well, here we are." ]
That's it. I don't know what else we can do. I've spent the past three years looking for a way to get to you, and I found nothing, Ed. [ Ah, the rare use of his actual name. ]
I'm sorry. I'm so sorry...
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[Ed puts a hand to Al's shoulder, when the other starts to cry. Listens to him. He isn't sure what to make of the idea of Wrath helping them, but maybe some things were different here for all he knows. There certainly seem to be some differences for all that their worlds seem similar in some regards.
It's the apology that gets Ed. That has him finally reaching to Al's back to pull him in closer. The first proper hug in how long now? Years. Probably longer, for this Alphonse. As far as Ed can figure at least. He may not be the same Edward, but that doesn't matter. Not right now, for him to be able to try reassure the other.]
Hey. We'll figure something. Together. I'll help. If there's a way he ended up in that place with the rockets, and I ended up here. We gotta be able to replicate that. Just. Without the homunculi. We'll figure something else.
[They have to. He can only imagine his own Alphonse getting furious at Gluttony right now back home. He can't be sure how long it's been already. But he has to get back. Just. After this. At least he has this moment of hugging Al again. After so long.]
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And then he's practically knocking Ed over with his own hug in turn, drawing in a shuddering breath.
It's not like they hugged particularly often as kids. He remembers there being more getting irritated and pushing each other around, if anything. But this stirs a calm feeling in him, one that reminds him of being so little that the face he matches it with is Trisha's.
...he thinks, vaguely, he remembers Ed and Trisha fighting, hearing Trisha tell Ed to stop hitting him with books, but he doesn't know if it's real or something his mind cooked up to fill in the gaps of 'which one was it? which one of them was ruffling his hair that day? which one of them made sure he ate even when he was feeling sick? which one of them went to the ends of the earth and back for him?'
One of those people he can't touch anymore, but the other is standing right here. ]
...I'm sorry. I don't know why you ended up here, but...I missed you so much.
[ He says it quietly, still crushing Ed with his hug, because he doesn't want to let go quite yet. He thinks he earned a slightly longer-than-normal hug from armor time served. ]
I don't know what else I can do, here. But I'll give it my best effort.
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[It's a close thing that Al doesn't cause Ed to actually stumble back. He does step back in bracing himself a little though but doesn't actually fall, luckily. In managing just to support them. For all the times he had tried to compensate for the armor in still giving Al some physical affection and touch through the years. This was something he had missed. A lot. Something he hadn't realized could even be taken to be able to be missed.
After the initial displeasure of having to share in Trisha's affections, it hadn't taken too long after that talk with Hohenheim for Ed to turn things around. To be a supportive older brother. Which isn't to say there was never any disagreements or banter and bickering between them. But it was never really about anything that important. That actually mattered. Generally, they were a team and agreed, for the most part.
He just. Hasn't hugged Alphonse in years. This might not be the same Al as the one waiting back home for him but. It's still an Al that needs this. Besides that Ed himself needs this and has missed this. For all that he didn't hug too regularly.]
We'll figure it together. It'll be alright.
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(Can't believe Hohenheim actually managed to impart a vital life lesson before he left to get cigarettes. While sitting on the toilet, no less.) ]
I want to believe that. I really do.
[ The 'but' is left unsaid. ]
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Why can I just hear you continuing and saying 'but......'
[Yup. Ed knows Al too well. Still though. He's doing his best. And that means trying to help out and doing what he can for Al. It's what a big brother does. In taking responsibility. Looking after him. Taking care of him. It doesn't matter if Ed might be only a year or so older. Which isn't that much. Let alone that he hasn't exactly calculated how old this Al might be yet.]
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I'm used to things not going our way, at this point. It's easier to assume the worst and be pleasantly surprised if we actually do succeed.
[ A dry, mirthless chuckle, and he motions for Ed to follow him up the stairs again. ]
I'm curious about something, though. The things you've said about Envy...is he not trying to find Dad, in your world?
[ That's what it seems like. He's wondering what happened that changed. Did they hug it out?? Maybe?? Please. ]
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[Probably a more realistic sort of outlook if anything. Given their situations they have found themselves in. Ed follows when the other gestures for them to continue, one foot in front of the other. It isn't like he isn't used to walking. To travel. He just isn't necessarily quite as used to this many stairs. But he isn't complaining.
Yet.]
Not as far as I know? I don't know why he would care about Hohenheim in particular....?
[Because Ed is still oblivious to that relationship. That history there in this version of Amestris.]
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Remind me to look in the old church when we get there. I'm pretty sure there's leather on the prayerbooks in there. To make a replacement for your shoe.
[ Al makes an uncertain-sounding noise. ]
We didn't find out until things got pretty bad, so I guess that's not surprising. [ His voice dips, like he's not sure he should be telling Ed this. Muttering secrets he shouldn't be spreading. ]
Well. He's angry that Dad abandoned him. For us.
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[That seems easy enough.
Except that the mention of the church and replacing his shoe definitely goes in one ear and out the other at what Al says next. Hohenheim abandoning Envy? For them? Ed is confused but also feels almost a little unsettled about that. Even if he isn't sure why and isn't necessarily immediately picking up on the implications there.]
Huh? Why would he have had anything to do with Envy?
[Ed has yet to have had his meet up with Hohenheim that the other gets the chance to explain everything about Xerxes and the Homunculus. But then again even if he had gotten to hear all that, it wouldn't necessarily match up, here. With what Al was saying.]
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Um.
[ Maybe if he takes the stairs two at a time he can climb away from this topic. ]
He's our brother, Ed. Dad had a son a few hundred years ago, and he died, but...when Dad tried to bring him back, he got Envy.
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[Sure. They had tried to bring Trisha back. Izumi had tried to bring back her baby. That....hadn't resulted in either becoming a homunculus though? It doesn't really track. At least. Not for Ed. Let alone the implication of being Envy's.....brother.....? Actually being related? Considering the number of times they had fought and all. Even being well aware that the homunculi were not allowed to kill either of the Elric brothers and that they had used that to their advantage.]
Brother?
[Give him a moment here, Al. He might have just. Stopped. Literally.]
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Half-brother!
[ AS IF THAT MAKES IT ANY BETTER ]
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[At all. Not once. He has no idea who Envy's mother might be and isn't sure if he even wants to know. They probably died a long time ago so it's probably not relevant at this point anyway, if it was that long ago, well before Hohenheim had even met Trisha.]
And what, you're implying Envy became a homunculi because Hohenheim tried to bring him back....? Because that's not....that would mean.....
[No...nope. Ed doesn't want to think about being confronted by a homunculus of their mother.]
1/2
[ ......... ]
Anyway.
2/2
That's how homunculi are made, Brother. Here, at least.
[ He knows exactly what Ed is thinking, and he's going to try and nip it in the bud. ]
She's...not around anymore. Okay? She's resting for good, this time.
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[Of course. Hohenheim had his reasons. A very good one in wanting to stop Father. But Ed doesn't know that. All he knows is that he and Al were left with Trisha to raise them alone. And that Hohenheim hadn't even returned for her funeral. He's not sure how to reconcile this. This notion of Envy being related to them. Let alone....
This. The way homunculi were apparently created here. That really hits Ed. Hard. He still doesn't want to imagine it. Trisha being one of them. That he -- and Al, did that to her. It isn't often Ed gets quite this worked up about something so quickly. Gets this upset. This bewildered and confused. But of course this revelation is going to do it.]
But that's not...I never meant...? What....?
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[ Al goes quiet for a few tense moments, slowing enough to walk in pace with Ed rather than leading him up the stairs. He sounds kind of numb about the whole thing. Having your older brother be the person you trust the most in the world, and only to find out that one of your worst enemies is also an older brother of yours is world-shaking. Al didn't have a lot of time to process it in the moment, given that Ed straight up died a few moments later, so this is the first time he's even talking about it with someone else. Rose was there, too, but Al wonders if it's even a good idea to broach the topic with her given her trauma. ]
It makes sense. He hates everyone, but...it always seemed like Envy hated you and me a lot more. I could never put my finger on why, until then.
[ He reaches over to squeeze Ed's shoulder. On the topic of Trisha, he continues: ]
That's what I keep telling myself. How could we possibly have known something like that would happen? But I guess that's why it's a forbidden art. Not just because of what it takes from you, personally.
[ Compared to how he was just talking about Envy, Al sounds positively detached. Clinical, almost. ]
I'm sorry you're finding out, this way. I assumed it was the same for you. [ Can he please live in the world where this never happened? That'd be great, thanks. ] If you want me to tell you what happened, or if you don't want to hear anything about it, it's fine either way.
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[Things went badly. Hm. Well, things didn't always exactly go the way they wanted, according to plan. So Ed isn't surprised there. But he also isn't necessarily likely expecting what actually happened when Al says that. That Envy killed him.]
I just...I thought that Father guy created the homunculi? Not that....?
[It's a lot. To try and process. To reconcile when it seems to conflict with what he does know or has been able to vaguely figure out back home so far at least. Ed gives a nod, considering. He's not sure how much of this, what of it, might be important to be aware of, while here at least. What might come up later or might be vital in figuring a way back home, getting this Al his Edward back. Let alone everyone else, their reactions if they see him while he is here figuring all this. That he isn't....their Ed.]
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Not me fumbling the pronouns for the specific Envy they're talking about. You saw nothing.Al makes a noise in the back of his throat that sounds apprehensive. ]
His usual appearance? With the dark hair and the purple eyes, right? [ He mimes the dumb palm tree haircut Envy has, since he's not entirely sure how to describe it. ] Sharp teeth, the ouroboros mark over here. [ He taps his leg. ]
I think that's just how he prefers to look. [ ..... ] If he's that furious about Dad, I can see why he wouldn't want to see Dad's face whenever he looked in the mirror.
[ Al supposes he got the good luck of looking mostly like a blonde version of Trisha. He remembers Ed reacting negatively when someone said he looked just like Hohenheim. ]
It could not be the case for you, anyway. I've never heard of anyone calling themselves "Father." The one commanding the homunculi was Dante.
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[He gives a nod, confirming Al's idea of Envy's appearance. Well, the usual one Ed was used to seeing. He could shapeshift after all. The form he saw when they were in Gluttony. Still, he supposes Al has a point. If Envy were related to Hohenheim but hated the guy, it would make sense to take on any other appearance than that of their dad.
Still, Ed looks the most like him. With the longer hair and all. The lighter hair, the same gold eyes as Hohenheim. This Al, he does note, seems to have hair slightly darker, eyes a little more reminiscent of Trisha's.]
Dante again?
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She was Teacher's teacher, actually. A veteran alchemist who lived in the woods. We went to see if she could help us when our research into the Gate hit a dead end, she seemed so kind and willing to help...
[ Al scowls. He feels so stupid when he thinks about how easily she played them. ]
She's Envy's mother.
[ THAT SHOULD SAY IT ALL, REALLY. ]
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[Ed doesn't recall if there were a name he got for whoever it was that taught Izumi. He's not sure it ever came up beyond her mentioning training up North. The bear. Living off of the land, like she had wanted him and Al to do on that Island. He isn't so sure that the homunculi have parents in that same sort of sense. But then. Envy did, apparently, or at least, this Envy?]
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[ It sounds like a funny one. ]
--did Teacher wrestle a bear in the snow?
[ SHE WOULD ]
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