Elric Brother: A Narrative Fiction

In the following five weeks, the Elric brothers settled into a sort of routine at Mustang’s estate. They’d wake up in the mid morning and eat breakfast, then raid Mustang’s library for a few hours before getting hungry, at which point they’d eat lunch. After that they’d read a bit more, and then they’d wander the grounds for a while before returning for dinner. Finally, they all would sit in front of the fire before retiring to bed. After one such day, Edward glanced up from his book to assess Mustang, who was staring blankly at his book and hadn’t turned the page in a while. Alphonse had gone to bed shortly before, leaving them alone in the dimly lit room.

“Hey, Mustang.” He attempted to get the man’s attention, but he only continued staring …show more content…
Edward saw a maid dart down the hall and followed her. “Coline! Hey, can I ask you something?” She stopped when she heard his voice, turning around and setting her bucket of cleaning supplies on the floor.

“Yes, sir? What can I do for you?”

Ed made a face. “I told you that it's okay to call me ‘Ed’. Anyway, where's Mustang? I haven't seen him all morning.” The maid blinked and tilted her head.

“I’d have thought that his Lordship would tell you,” she said. “He was called away by the military for something. It seemed to be of great importance.”

Edward nodded. “Okay. I wonder what was so urgent?” He muttered the last part under his breath. “Thank you. You can return to your duties.” The maid scurried away. Ed huffed and turned around, heading in the direction of the library. Mustang had given him the key the week prior, after Ed had broken in. Mustang had seemed surprised at the time, but didn’t ask how he was able to get in. He unlocked the door, stepping inside and closing it behind him. Edward made his way over to the desk that Mustang had allowed him to use and sat down, shuffling some papers so that they were in a semblance of a neat …show more content…
He felt along the wallpaper for the small seam he’d left behind last time he’d sealed the hole. He raised his head to listen for unwanted visitors, then clapped his hands. A hollow ringing noise sounded off his automail arm, and Ed pressed his palms against the square section of wood that he’d hidden. The panel fell out, and he caught it to place it gently on the floor. Ed reached into the secret niche and pulled out a small sheaf of papers. The pages were littered with complex arrays and alchemical notations. Ed stood and leafed through the papers to find the page that had book references. He was certain that he’d lucked out when he noticed the alchemic section of Mustang’s library. There were a lot of rare and difficult to obtain books that he would only have found in a military library. There were even some that he’d never seen before, though he’d read about