Capítulo 381: The Elric Brothers
Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Magnolia.
June, x785.
"Ed? Al? Winry?" Maes asked in a confused tone after he was called. Then, after catching sight of the new arrivals, he smiled as he continued. "What are you three doing here?"
Hearing what her father had to say, the little Elicia also turned around. And when she saw the three people, Winry Rockbell, and the Elric Brothers, she smiled brightly. Then she took her new book from her father's hands and rushed over to Winry.
"Big Sis!" Little Elicia shouted as she ran over to Winry, much faster than a six year old little girl had any business to move. "I missed you!"
"Elicia... You're so..." Winry muttered in confusion.
A moment later, just as she was about to jump into Winry's arms, Alfonzo appeared next to the little Elicia and caught her, stopping her in her tracks.
"Huh?" Elicia exclaimed in confusion. Then, after looking around for a moment, she noticed that Alfonzo was holding her. And with a slight pout, she continued. "Alfonzo, what are you doing? I wanna hug Big Sis."
"Elicia, I don't mind you hugging your big sis, but you were using your magic power to move just now." Alfonzo said as he put Elicia down. "You know you have to be careful."
Hearing that, the little Elicia's eyes widened in surprise. Then, she looked at Winry apologetically.
"Sorry, Big Sis, I wasn't being careful." The little Elicia said in a sincerely apologetic tone.
Meanwhile, the new arrivals, Edward 'Ed' Elric, the short young man, Alfonse 'Al' Elric, the man in the large suit of armor, and Winry looked at Alfonzo in shock.
"Hold on a minute... Did you say she was using magic power?" Edward asked in disbelief. "But she's just a normal little girl."
"Nope, her magic power was just never discovered." Alfonzo replied while patting Elicia on the head. "She's actually quite the talented little wizard."
"Ehehe." Elicia giggled under the head patting and praise.
"Anyway, it's been a while, Winry." Alfonzo said, turning his head towards Winry. "How ya been? Got any better at making Automail?"
Snapping out of her daze at the fact that Elicia was now a wizard in training, Winry's eyes lit up when Alfonzo asked her about Automail. Then, she yanked Edward by the arm and pulled him in front of Alfonzo.
"Ed, take off your coat and let him see your arm." Winry ordered.
"And why the hell should I do that?" Edward asked indignantly. "I don't even know this guy."
"You don't know Alfonzo Marcus?" Winry asked in disbelief. "He's only the most famous magic item crafter on Ishgar."
"I don't think that's what he meant, Winry." Alphonse said, standing up for his brother. "I think he meant that he's never met him."
"So, why does that matter?" Winry said uncaringly. "I need to show him that the Automail I crafted is better than the one he's wearing."
"Huh? What are you talking about, Winry?" Edward asked in a confused tone while shaking off Winry's grasp. Then, once he was free, he pointed his left index finger at Alfonzo's arms, which were on full display because he was wearing a short-sleeved shirt, as he continued. "He doesn't have any Automail. What are you trying to compare it to?"
Hearing that, Winry came to a complete stop. Then, she mechanically turned her head towards Alfonzo, paying extra attention to his arms.
"Ahh~~~~~~~~~~! What happened to your arm?" Winry shrieked in horror. "Where did that beautiful piece of Automail go?"
Hearing that, Edward and Alphonse stared at Winry with weird expressions, though no one could see Alphonse's face thanks to the armor's helmet and face guard. At the same time, Maes and Gracia looked at Alfonzo with similarly strange expressions. Meanwhile, Macao, the only one of the onlookers who knew the whole story about Alfonzo's arm, could only smile wryly.
"Winry, are you feeling okay?" Edward asked as he reached up to feel Winry's forehead. "Why the hell do you think he should have Automail? His arms look just fine to me."
At the same time, Maes looked at Alfonzo with a confused gaze. In response, Alfonzo mouthed the phrase, "I'll tell you later," before continuing to watch the interaction between Winry and the Elrics.
*Smack!*
Before Edward could touch her forehead, Winry slapped his hand away in annoyance.
"Don't talk to me like I've lost my mind, Ed." Winry said angrily. "I met him more than three and a half years ago, and he had an Automail left arm back then."
Hearing that, instead of showing an expression of understanding, Edward wore a guilty expression.
"*Sigh* I really should be more careful with my arm from now on." Edward said in a tone filled with self-blame. "She clearly has to spend too much time repairing it. I mean, she must be totally exhausted. Otherwise, there's no way she would be this delusional."
"Um... Brother..." Alphonse said warily when he felt the atmosphere around Winry change.
Before Alphonse could warn his brother any further, however, a large wrench, whose origin no one could explain, appeared in Winry's right hand. Then, while Edward continued to lament her fate from overworking, Winry slowly and deliberately raised the wrench over her head before...
"Ed! You idiot~~~~~!" Winry shouted.
*Bang!*
... swinging the wrench down on Edwards head with all her might. As a result, Ed fell to the ground with blood flowing down his face.
A moment later, Alphonse appeared next to his brother, just as what looked to be Edward's soul seeped out of his mouth. Then, Alphonse somehow managed to catch the soul before pushing it back into Edward's mouth, something that all the characters originating from the Fullmetal Alchemist Franchise did not seem to pay attention to in the slightest.
However, when Macao saw Alphonse handle what appeared to be a soul with his hands, his eyes almost popped out of their sockets.
"Ugh... I think I should cut back on the alcohol." Macao said while rubbing his temples. "I'm starting to see shit that should be impossible. Anyway, let's head home, Romeo, it's about time for you to go to bed."
"But I don't wanna go." Romeo said with a pout. "I wanna show Natsu my new scarf."
"Fine, go show him." Macao said, waving Romeo towards the guild hall. "But after that, we gotta get you to bed."
"Okay~~~!" Romeo shouted happily as he ran back into the guild hall, followed by Macao at a much slower pace.
"It's almost time for you to go to bed, too, Elicia." Gracia said a moment later.
"But I wanna play with Big Sis." Elicia whined.
"Well, if it's okay with your mom, I can come and stay at your house tonight." Winry said with a doting smile on her face.
Hearing that, the little Elicia quickly turned towards her mother with anticipation written all over her face.
"Of course, Winry, you're always welcome in our home." Gracia replied with a smile of her own.
After hearing her mother's response, the little Elicia's face lit up with happiness. Then, with her new book in one hand, she grabbed Winry's hand with the other. Then, she started pulling her towards the town to take her to the Hughes residence.
"Come on, Big Sis!" The little Elicia shouted energetically. "Let's go, I'll show you our house! It's so big."
Surprisingly, Alfonzo did not have the urge to retort with "that's what she said" or anything with similar effect when he heard the little girl's exclamation.
Meanwhile, Winry could only smile helplessly as she allowed herself to be dragged away by the energetic little Elicia. Similarly, Gracia wore a helpless smile, as well, as she followed the two from behind.
"It looks like things are going well for you, Lt. Colonel." Alphonse said after tending to Edward, who was no longer bleeding from his head.
"Yeah, after retiring from the military, you even look younger than before." Edward added with a chuckle as he picked himself up from the ground.
Instead of responding to Edward and Alphonse's pleasantries, Maes expression hardened after seeing that his wife, daughter, and Winry were no longer within earshot.
"Although I'm sure that you boys were genuinely concerned with my well-being." Maes said while adjusting his glasses. "I'm sure that's not why you're here. And if I had to guess, it's probably because of the homunculi, right?"
Like Maes, the atmosphere around Edward and Alphonse also changed once Maes exposed their reason for making the trip to Magnolia.
"Well, if you want to know about them, I'm really not the one to ask." Maes continued. "After all, the only interaction I had with them was when they tried to kill me."
Hearing that, Edward's eyes widened while Alphonse's whole body stiffened.
"Luckily, Alfonzo here saved me." Maes said with a smile as he glanced back at Alfonzo, who was closing the trunk of the Escalade.
Hearing that, Edward and Alphonse shifted their gazes to Alfonzo.
"So, if you want any more information about them, you should ask him or a couple of his fiancées." Maes added. "It was them who fought and killed two of them, after all."
Hearing that two of the homunculi had been killed Edward and Alphonse showed even greater degrees of shock. At the same time, however, they looked at Alfonzo skeptically. They had both fought the homunculus before, after all. So, they knew just how hard it was to kill a homunculus for real.
"Well, I guess they don't wanna talk to me." Alfonzo said with a shrug after a few moments. "I mean, they've just been staring for a while. So, I'm gonna go home, Hughes."
That statement was enough to snap Edward and Alphonse out of their dazes.
"How did you manage to kill one of them?" Edward asked skeptically.
"I shot him into orbit." Alfonzo replied casually with a shrug.
That response caused the Elric Brothers to look at him even more skeptically.
"But getting something into orbit needs a lot of force." Alphonse replied after a moment. "It would need to be moving at, at least, twenty-two times the speed of sound to reach escape velocity."
"Well, I use both [Metal Magic] and [Electromagnetism Magic]." Alfonzo replied, completely unbothered by the Elric's skepticism. "Besides, it wouldn't be the first time I've sent something out of the planet's atmosphere, either. I mean, didn't Winry tell you how I dealt with that metal causing the virus in your hometown?"
"To be honest, that story sounded a bit too farfetched." Edward replied. "And it still does."
"Yeah, I guess without seeing it for ourselves, it's just hard to believe." Alphonse added.
Shrugging his shoulders in reply, Alfonzo turned back towards the guild hall.
"Well, there's nothing I can do about that, for now." Alfonzo said as he started walking back towards the guild hall. "Anyway, I've been working on a job for the last month and I'm fucking exhausted. If you wanna talk about the homunculi, you guys can come see me and the others later. But for now, I'm gonna go get my girlfriends and go home. I miss my bed."
Hearing Alfonzo mention his girlfriends, Edward wore a look of jealousy on his face. Not that he was jealous that Alfonzo had more than one girlfriend, though. Instead, he was jealous that he was about the same age and still single.
"Oh, and your little pink-haired admirer is in the guild hall, Ed." Alfonzo said while waving his hand. "Oh, it's alright if I call you that, right?"
"Uh… Sure." Edward replied with a confused expression on his face. "But who are you talking about?"
"A girl named Meredy." Alfonzo replied. "She said she met you in Dublith when Al was kidnapped by that Homunculus, Greed. And she hasn't stopped gushing about you since then."
Hearing that, the light of realization flashed across Edward's eyes. At the same time, he recoiled slightly.
"Oh, I heard about her crush in my time here, too." Maes added with a teasing smile. "So, what's the deal with that? Does Winry know?"
"Shut up, Lt. Colonel!" Edward shouted in response.
"Aww, don't be like that, Ed." Maes said as he approached Edward. Then, he threw an arm over Edward's shoulder as he continued. "Come on, tell me. What do you think of our little Meredy? She's one of the guild master's favorites. You could get some real good backing if you were to hook up with her."
After saying that in a teasing tone, Maes' expression hardened.
"But if you do, don't play with her heart." Maes continued in a solemn tone. "Trust me, you don't want that angry ice lioness hunting you down for making that little girl cry."
"Stop it, Lt. Colonel." Edward replied while pushing Maes away. "It's not like that."
Meanwhile, as Maes continued to tease Edward, neither of them noticed the depressed atmosphere Alphonse was exuding.
"*Sigh* I really want my body back." Alphonse muttered to himself while squatting down and drawing circles on the ground with his finger. "I'm never gonna be able to get a girlfriend with a body like this."
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