Chapter Text
Edward Elric hated being double booked. It didn’t happen very often. Usually it had something to do with a mission from Colonel Mustang, usually a boring mission that did absolutely nothing to help him research the Philosopher’s Stone. It was usually just the bastard throwing him at problems to make them disappear, so he didn’t have to leave the comfort of his office in East City.
Edward hated being sidetracked from his goal, but somehow this double booking was worse. He was going to miss the annual alchemy conference in West City. He wasn’t too bothered about missing the crowds of people he would have to struggle to see over, or the merchants selling cheap, worthless goods, or the lame alchemy displays that he could beat one-handed. But he was going to miss the panelists, experts in their fields, talking about bio-alchemy, metal transmutations, and other research that would have been so much more interesting than heading to some backwater town in the middle of nowhere.
But there was going to be an alchemist in that backwater town that was notoriously hard to pin down. And word had it that this alchemist had information on the Philosopher’s Stone. Information that would come at a price for sure, but he had even heard that this alchemist’s prices weren’t that bad. He had to be in two places at once, which was impossible. So the two brothers went for the next best option.
“Have you got all your luggage, brother?” Alphonse asked him. They were standing on the platform waiting for the train. According to the large clock standing in the middle of the station, they only had about 3 minutes until the train pulled in.
“Yup, I’ve got everything.” Edward said, bouncing slightly on the balls of his feet. “You?”
“Yes, brother, I’ve got everything.”
Not like Al would need as much luggage as Ed did. Not needing to change clothes or eat anything made him a lighter traveler.
Edward glanced at the clock again. 30 seconds had passed. Beside him, Alphonse huffed quietly.
“I’ll be fine, brother.” He said. “It’s only a week”
Edward couldn’t help the nervous laugh that escaped his lips. “Right, just a week. We’ll only be separated for the longest we’ve ever been apart.”
When Alphonse suggested they split up, Ed had reacted by shutting the idea down as fast as he could. Thinking about being apart from Al made him deeply uncomfortable. There would be no one to stop the questions, and if his helmet was taken from him for some reason, he’d have no backup. The thought of Al’s secret being found out by some goon while Edward wasn’t there to protect him made him slightly nauseous. It was simply a terrible idea.
But they hadn’t been able to find any other solutions to the problem. The conference was in West City. The alchemist they were looking for had last been seen in a small town near East City. They couldn’t trek all the way across the country in time to avoid missing either. So Alphonse insisted they split up. It was more efficient. Ed knew that. But still, thinking about Al, in West City, all alone, it made him lose his appetite.
He glanced at the clock again. Another 30 seconds had passed.
“We’ve been separated when you do those missions for the Colonel,” Al said, trying to soothe Ed’s nerves.
“Those were just mine inspections and small errands,” Ed shot back “Nothing like this. You’ve never been alone this long!”
“That’s not true, brother” Al’s voice was softer. Shit, had Ed hurt his feelings? Had he been too overbearing? “You were gone for a week while you did your state certification.”
Ed went quiet. He had forgotten about that. It had been a stressful week for him, and Al had been safe back home in Resembool. This was different, no one would be with him, not Winry, not Granny, nobody. He didn’t say that out loud in case he had already hurt Al’s feelings.
He glanced at the clock. Another 30 seconds.
The train blew its whistle in the distance. This was the train headed East. Edward’s train. The two brothers watched the train pull into the station, neither of them moving until the crowds of people around them pushed forward. Ed reluctantly picked up his luggage, sending what he hoped was a confident smile back at Al.
“See you in a week, Al” He said. Al lifted a hand to wave.
“Stay safe.”
“Hey, that's my line!” Ed said, walking backwards towards the train, not wanting to look away from his brother.
“It is not!” Alphonse laughed, “You’re always getting into trouble!”
Ed grumbled to himself, and turned back towards the train, ignoring the sinking feeling in his stomach as he stepped onto the train. He quickly found his seat and stored his luggage, and looked out the window to the station. He could see Alphonse still waving. He waved back. Before long the train lurched forward, pulling him away from his brother. Al stayed on the platform until he was out of sight, and then Ed had no idea what he did. He settled down into his seat, trying to get comfortable on the hard wooden bench of the train. Usually there was someone with him he could lean against. He leaned against the window of the train, ignoring how cold and uncomfortable the glass was, and how much it felt like Al’s armor.
Before long, a train attendant came by to check Ed’s ticket. She gave him a sickly sweet smile as she took the ticket.
“Traveling alone?” She asked, in a patronizing tone. This was something Ed had never had to deal with before. It was annoying. He slumped down into his seat and scowled slightly at the attendant. He didn’t answer her question.
“Well there’s nothing wrong with your ticket, dear,” She said. “You know which stop to get off on?”
Ed sighed “Yeah, I’ve done this before.”
She seemed to accept this, and thankfully didn’t ask about Edward’s parents. He thought that would make him snap. And without Al there to calm his temper, it could get ugly.
'This was a terrible idea' Ed thought. Already he could picture him getting kicked out of hotels, being denied food because of his silver pocket watch, and his anger issues would not help his case. It had happened often before that people refused him service because of his ties to the military, but Al was always there to sneak him food if he needed.
“Fuck” he muttered to himself. He had been so worried about Al being without him, he forgot to worry about himself. That was ok though, he was the big brother, he could handle it.
The train continued to move through the countryside quickly, trees and bushes flying by as a blur. Ed soon felt his eyes drooping. Train rides always made him sleepy, something about being stuck sitting for hours, and the gentle swaying of the car on the tracks lulled him to sleep. He fought it for as long as he could though. Al wasn’t here on lookout. If someone wanted to rob him while he slept there would be no one to stop them. So he forced his eyes open, only for them to droop immediately afterwards.
'Dammit', Ed thought to himself as he vigorously rubbed his face. 'Don’t fall asleep you idiot.'
He forced himself into a less comfortable, upright position and pulled out his notebook and a pen. Maybe writing would keep him awake. He wanted to go over everything they had compiled about this alchemist he wanted to find. Last night him and Al had written notes about what they knew, and maybe he could piece together more information before meeting this alchemist, like pieces of a puzzle.
1. Leo Davidson
They had found mention of the alchemist from an article the guy had written. The name was all they had to go from. No picture or anything. But the name was burned into Ed’s mind. It could be the clue they needed.
2. Not a state alchemist.
That wasn’t that big of a deal, not every alchemist became state certified, but it was becoming rarer. Most people were struggling with the current war-torn economy, and the military pay was too good to pass up. But when they found that article, tucked away in some small scholarly journal, there was no military title. Just a name.
Music?
The journal was fairly new, about Musicology, or something like that. This Davidson guy seemed very knowledgeable about music, specifically folksongs, and claimed to have been traveling around collecting recordings of people singing the songs of their towns and cities. Most of the article had only been mildly interesting, talking about collective histories passed down through music, something which Ed didn’t really care about. He was about to stop reading when he saw mention of Xerxes. There were songs about Xerxes, and if these songs were to be trusted, they knew more about the fall of the city than the history books knew. Which was why Ed was now hurtling towards some dingy town called Droyford to find this scholar.
3. Moves around a lot.
Davidson and The Elrics had this in common. They moved around a lot for their research, although it made him hard to track down. They only knew he was in Droyford because they heard it from someone who was supplying recording equipment to Davidson. Ed wasn’t even sure that Davidson would still be in Droyford when he got there. He didn’t even know what he looked like
4. Ties to Central
This fact was not very useful on its own. The journal mentioned that Davidson had studied in Central, which probably meant he knew the library fairly well. This could maybe mean ties to the military, even if he wasn’t state certified. This could be a benefit for Ed. If he had ties to the military, he would be less likely to throw him out on the streets upon realizing Ed was state certified.
There wasn't much information. Just 5 short points. They didn’t know if this alchemist could be trusted. They didn’t know what he looked like, or how to find him. They didn’t even really know that Leo was his real name. But just like everything over the past 2 years, they jumped at any possibility to find the philosopher’s stone. It was their only chance to go back to normal.
Ed slumped into the uncomfortable wooden bench again, worrying about what would happen when he got off the train. He worried about Al too, and hoped that he found something useful at the conference. Before long, his eyes were drooping, and this time he didn’t have the energy to keep them from closing.
*******************************************************************
Edward woke up on time for his stop. Nobody had robbed him, thank god, but he cursed himself for falling asleep so easily.
Droyford was bigger than he expected. It was no Central, not even as big as East City, but it was much bigger than Resembool. It was a bustling sprawling town, with a market right near the train station. The market stalls were covered in brightly colored cloth, and Ed thought it looked hand-woven. Children ran around, laughing shrill laughs that made Ed cringe. Somewhere someone was playing music. Beyond the market there were more permanent buildings, what looked like a town hall, or something fancier for rich folk, as well as bars, a general store, an inn and plenty of houses for residents.
Ed grabbed his suitcase and made his way through the market, ignoring the vendors attempts to get him to buy their wares. He needed to secure a place to sleep. Already the sun was starting to sink in the sky. He had a few hours before it would get dark.
As he moved into the town, he started to realize how claustrophobic the buildings made the town feel. While it wasn’t big, the buildings were tall and densely packed near the town’s center, and the shorter houses and businesses sprawled for what felt like miles, even though it didn’t look that big from the train.
He felt uneasy as he walked, trying to find a hotel or inn. His skin prickled in a way that made him feel like he was being watched, but when he glanced behind him, there was no one there. The alleys were getting dark already though, and he imagined enemies in each dark corner, waiting for him. He took a shaky breath and forced his jaw to relax. He was a highly skilled alchemist, and a member of the military. Who cared that he was only 14? He was way more dangerous than most 14 year old's.
He saw a hotel near what he had guessed was the town hall, but there were guards stationed outside, and when they glanced at him, he knew they weren’t going to give a room to some weird kid. He wondered if he could pull rank and force his way in, and decided to keep that in mind as a last resort.
He continued wandering, making his way into what seemed like a poorer part of town. It wasn’t quite as ragged as some places he had seen, but the wood of the buildings needed repainting, and some roofs looked as though they needed repairs. People gave him wary looks, but over all ignored him. His breathing came a little easier here. He never liked the fancy hotels he would stay in in central anyways. He always felt out of place there.
He found a hotel. This one didn’t have any guards standing around, so he opened the door. There was a fireplace crackling one one wall, opposite a man seated at a desk, flipping through some papers. There was plush seating set out around tables, to make a sort of cozy restaurant-type feel. Old worn-down paintings and photographs hung on the walls. The wall paper was peeling and it smelt faintly of cigarette smoke, but it felt very comfortable in here
He walked up to the counter. The man looking at the papers didn’t acknowledge him.
“Excuse me?”
The man put down his papers and peered at Edward. He hated how small the man’s gaze was.
“Whaddya want, kid?” His voice was hoarse from smoking. He must have been the source of the smell.
“I need a room” If this guy wasn’t going to care about pleasantries, neither was Ed. Al would’ve cared, Ed thought grouchily.
The man raised an eyebrow at Edward. “You gonna pay for that? Its 100 cenz per night.”
Edward rummaged in his coat pocket and pulled out the money. “100 cenz.” he repeated. “Enough for one night?” He would pay more when he knew how long he was staying.
The man counted the money, and grunted in affirmation. He grabbed a key from behind him and led Ed up the stairs. The building got significantly less cozy as they moved upstairs, the walls were no longer decorated by paintings and photos, and instead just had bare, peeling wallpaper.
'God I hope this place doesn’t have bedbugs', Ed thought to himself. With his luck it would.
The man led Ed to a room that seemed clean enough. As soon as Ed took the room key, the hotel owner turned and walked back downstairs. Ed took stock of the room. It was pretty bare. A bed, a dresser and an uncomfortable looking chair.
He dropped his suitcase on the ground and flopped onto the bed. Despite his nap on the train, he was already feeling tired. He knew that if he stayed on the bed any longer he would lose the rest of the day to sleep. The sun had moved closer to the horizon, but it was still light out, so he forced himself up and out of the room.
The streets were starting to come alive. The market seemed to have spread from the train station, and people were still setting up small stalls. He glanced at the wares. Outside the inn’s doors there was a jewelry vendor, someone selling some sort of kitchenware and someone setting out delicately carved candles. Nothing he was interested in. But they still might have something useful: Information.
He walked up to the candle merchant. She was young and energetic. When she saw him, her eyes brightened.
“Looking to buy?” She asked, sweeping her hand across the display of candles. “Genuine beeswax, we’ve got scented and unscented, carved and simple, all sorts of colors. We’ve got honey too.”
“Ah no thanks,” Ed said, stopping her from grabbing the jars of honey. “I’m actually looking for someone.”
The merchant furrowed her brow. “Not sure I can help you there, I don't know many people in this town.”
“He’s a scholar, Leo Davidson?”
She shook her head. “Sorry, can’t help you.”
By now someone actually wanting to buy candles had showed up, so Edward moved onto the kitchenware shop.
“Hey kid,” The gruff man selling the pots and pans said as he walked up. “Parents need anything?”
Edward felt his mood sour slightly. “My parents are dead, actually”
“You need anything?” He said without skipping a beat.
“I’m looking for a Leo Davidson. Know anything about him?”
Edward didn’t miss how the man’s eyes hardened.
“Nope.”
He was lying. Edward could tell. Before he could call him out on it, someone else came up to the counter, and the man turned away from Ed.
With a glance back towards the lying man, he moved onto the jewelry stand. The woman behind the counter was old, and stared out into the distance with glassy eyes. She was blind, Edward realized.
Before he could say anything, she spoke.
“You’re looking for the Dancer.”
Edward glanced behind him, think maybe she was talking to someone else. There was no one around.
“You’re looking for the Dancer.” She said again, leaning forward.
“Who, me?”
“Yes, you.” She reached and pointed out into the crowd. “I can hear him. The Dancer.”
Edward strained his ears. He heard people milling about. He heard the motor of a car. In the distance someone was playing music.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” He grumbled, slightly annoyed. “I’m looking for a Leo Davidson. As far as I know he’s a music scholar, not a Dancer.”
She shook her head. “The Dancer. Leo the Dancer.”
Ed frowned. They had found Leo’s name in a scholarly journal. He wasn’t expecting this man to be known for his dancing. But, a lead was a lead. “Thanks, I guess,” He said as he walked away.
The woman behind him said something else, but he didn’t hear it. He walked back into the center of the street and listened again. The music was louder now. There was the strumming of a guitar or something, a flute was being played and a tambourine was jingling on the beat. Someone was singing as well. People were moving towards the sound, excitedly chattering. Edward decided to follow. The crowds of people stopped too far away for him to see anything.
'Curse all these tall people!' He grumbled. 'Freakishly tall he told himself.'
He pushed through the crowd when he realized that standing on his tip toes wouldn’t help at all. People muttered angrily as he pushed through. He heard one man saying something about selfish brats. His wife laughed and said something about the small children wanting to see better. He nearly gave them the finger.
Finally he got to the front, and to his surprise there were only two musicians. A teenage boy with some sort of flute-like instrument in his mouth, which he would take away every once in a while to sing. When he stomped his right foot, a tambourine strapped to his foot would jangle, keeping the time. He wore dark glasses and a hat, even though the light from the sun was fading. Next to him was a person with a full skirt and goggles on the top of their head. They had a small guitar-like instrument and were singing loudly as they strummed.
Edward didn’t recognize the song, or the words. It must have been in some other language. But these people were young, especially the boy. This couldn’t be Davidson, he was a published scholar! He turned to move away, but then a thought occurred to him. If they were musicians, maybe they knew Davidson. It seemed like a bit of a long shot, these guys seemed to be more like street musicians than scholars, but it was worth a shot. Better than asking more merchants.
The song changed as he watched. They stopped singing, instead starting to move around in a circle. The guy would stomp his right foot, and drag his left along the ground. The other musician would do the same, on the opposite side of the circle. Then they stopped moving in a circle, and their movements got more intense. They were dancing a strange dance, like tap dancing, but without the metal in their shoes to create the tapping sound. And they were dragging their feet a lot. They leaped through the air every once in a while. It was sort of hypnotizing, especially as they continued to play, the music getting faster and more frantic as they danced. Suddenly, the music stopped suddenly. The boy made a dramatic bow, his fingers brushing the ground.
Water erupted behind them. It sprayed up from a bucket that had been unnoticed behind the performers, and cold little droplets went flying out, raining down over the crowd. The people watching cheered.
“That’s alchemy,” Edward muttered to himself. “But where’s the array?” the performers hadn’t stopped to draw a circle, and he didn’t see any tattoos on their hands or arms. They weren’t wearing gloves like the Colonel did. He glanced at the ground, and sure enough there was a transmutation circle, clear as day. It was clearly one for manipulating water, which would explain their little trick. He glanced back at the musicians, and narrowed his eyes. It was possible they had drawn the circle there before, but he felt like he would have noticed it sitting there.
The crowd was still clapping and cheering, but the teenage boy looked down at Edward, and his smile brightened.
“We’ll be here all week!” He said.
The two musicians put away their instruments as the crowds dispersed. Edward stayed. They were alchemists, tricky alchemists, and he wanted to know how they had done that. He also had Davidson to find. The two alchemists were whispering to each other. The one in the skirt turned to look at Edward, and quickly turned back to their little whispering. Edward felt his patience run thin.
“Hey!” He shouted. The boy sighed, but when he turned around there was a smile on his face.
“Hey there, what can we do for you?”
“How did you do that little trick with the water?” Edward said, crossing his arms.
“Alchemy” The musician in the skirt replied.
“I know that,” Ed grumbled. “I can see the fucking circle. When did it get there?”
“Now, now, now,” The boy said, making his way over to Edward. He walked with a strange light quality. The Dancer, Edward thought. “A musician never gives away their tricks”
“Isn’t that a magician?” Ed smiled a cocky smile. “And there’s no such thing as magic. You said it was alchemy yourself.”
“Music’s kind of like magic,” The boy said. “I mean, it summoned us a tiny little blond gremlin.”
“I am NOT TINY!” Ed shouted. The teenage boy laughed. The one in the skirt smacked him on the arm
“Don’t make fun of the kid” They scolded.
“AND I’M NOT A KID!”
“Sure thing kid,” The boy said “You can’t be much older than 12, but ok.”
“I’m 14,” he grumbled, “besides, you’re just a teenager yourself.”
The boy slumped forward dejectedly. The musician in the skirt laughed.
“I’m 22! When will people realize that? I’m 22!”
This took Edward aback. He studied the musician carefully. He didn't look that old, was he really only 7 years younger than Mustang? He looked like a teenager.
“You want an ID to prove it, kid?” He asked, looking tired.
“I don’t care,” Ed said, folding his arms over his chest. “But I do have some questions for you.”
“Alchemy questions?” The 22 year old was taking off the tambourine on his foot. Ed studied him again. He needed to figure out how he had drawn the array without Ed noticing.
“I’m looking for a Leo Davidson.” Ed said. The musician tilted his head to the side, a small smile making its way across his face. “I read an article of his, and I want to talk to him”
“Ah, we have a budding musicologist here,” The man said. The other musician rolled their eyes.
“You know him?” Ed asked, his heart beating in his chest. Soon he’d have another clue to the philosopher’s stone.
“I sure do!” The musician laughed. “You’re talking to him!”
******************************************************************
Leo took the three of them to a pub not far from Ed’s hotel, reassuring Ed that they served things other than alcohol there. Ed didn’t really care, saying that he had been around alcohol before. It was true, the few times he had been to the Colonel’s place there were alcohol bottles on the counter, in various states of fullness. It wasn’t a secret that Mustang drank, although he had never gotten drunk in front of Edward or Alphonse. Ed didn’t really care though, he had seen worse. Leo’s musician friend did care though.
“He’s fourteen,” they had said, making Ed bristle up. “Shouldn’t we take him to a more family friendly place?”
“I’m not a kid!” Ed had grumbled under his breath, but it fell on deaf ears.
“They won’t give him alcohol,” Leo assured his friend, “They still card me, and I look older than the kid.”
“Not by much,” Edward grinned up at Leo, “I don’t even think you’re 22.”
Leo grinned back at him. “I don’t have to look like an adult to look older than you”
“Hey!”
Leo’s friend laughed. Scarlet, Ed reminded himself. Their name was Scarlet. Leo had introduced them as his ‘partner in crime,’ but had quickly amended that.
“Not actual crime, just musical shenanigans.”
Edward understood Leo better than he understood Scarlet. Leo treated him like a kid, sure, but Scarlet flipped between babying him and seeming afraid of him. They had reminded him to look both ways before crossing the street, and Edward swore they would’ve held his hand if he had let them, but they looked confused and lost while Edward and Leo bantered. He didn’t get them at all.
The pub was dimly lit, but seemed clean, and they found a table pretty quickly. Even in the dark lighting, Leo didn’t take his sunglasses off, but did take his hat off. His short hair stood up at odd angles, showing that he had been wearing the hat for a while.
“So kid, you’ve got questions for me?”
Ed’s mind swam with questions he wanted to ask the musician, and he struggled to think of what to ask first. Finally his mind settled on the transmutation he had seen them perform.
“When did you draw that transmutation circle? You didn’t stop playing, meaning your hands were full, and there was no one else performing with you.” He stopped and thought for a bit “Not that it would have mattered, you didn’t even look at the circle. If someone else had drawn it for you, you would have had to look to see what you were transmuting.”
Leo leaned back in his chair, putting his hands behind his head. He absent mindedly rubbed the back of his head while he talked. “True, We were the ones to draw it. Today was more successful than some of our past attempts. We’re still perfecting the water transmutation.”
“But how did you do it?”
Leo bent down and took off his shoe, presenting the sole for Ed to inspect. There was a small alcove carved out of the heel and the toe, with a piece of chalk stuck in each hole. “It’s part of the dance,” Leo explained. “Draw the circle with your feet while people are distracted, and the transmutation looks like magic. It’s all sleight of hand”
“More like sleight of foot,” Scarlet joked. Ed rolled his eyes, and Leo laughed while putting his shoe back on.
He had to admit it was clever. But he had a hard enough time drawing circles with his left hand, let alone his feet. He couldn’t imagine the amount of control they would have to have to get the circles correct without using their hands, let alone while playing music.
He voiced this concern to them. Leo chuckled
“Lot’s of practice, little guy,” Leo said. “Choreographing it into a proper dance helps. Plus the songs help me remember the steps.”
“Plus the music is all muscle memory,” Scarlet chimed in, “Leo can play those songs in his sleep.”
“You give me too much credit. I can’t literally play in my sleep.”
Scarlet leaned forward to Ed and whispered “I’ve seen him do it.”
“Whatever” Leo laughed. Ed saw that he was blushing a bit with the praise. “Did you really drag us here just to ask how we drew arrays?”
Right. Ed was getting sidetracked.
“I read your article. About the folk songs.” God he hoped that was specific enough. He didn’t remember the name of the journal. Thankfully Leo nodded.
“Glad someone’s reading it. So you are here to talk music.”
“You mentioned music about Xerxes?”
Leo’s eyes lit up at this. Ed got a sinking feeling in his chest that he was going to be here awhile.
“Oh, interested in Xerxian music? It’s fascinating. Most of the songs about the fall of Xerxes come from the Xingese side of the desert. The songs about Xerxes are different from the other folk songs in the region, using a 7 note scale instead of the traditional pentatonic scales, and different intervallic structures, more commonly found in Amestris. But!” Leo leaned in, as if sharing some deep meaningful secret. “The scalar makeup of these songs aren’t found in traditional Amestrian songs either, except for the songs found near the desert. The scale is made of two transpositionally combinatorial hexachords, like a double harmonic scale, but with slightly smaller semitones. Not quite quarter tones, but distinct enough that it changes the sound significantly. Nowhere else in Amestris do you find scales like this, especially not in folk songs.”
Edward’s head was spinning. He was a smart guy, but half of these words meant absolutely nothing to him. Pentatonic? Penta means five, so five tones? Intervallic? Like, ratios and stuff? And then there were the tranpositionally combinatorial hexachords… Hex means 6? But the other two words he was completely lost on. He guessed these were music terms, but never before had he felt so lost while doing research. His stomach dropped as Leo went on.
“And the chords are completely different too, nothing like the triadic harmony that we find in either Amestris or Xing, more like quintal and quartal harmony. Like a-” he snapped his fingers as if trying to remember something. “(025), or (027) or something. But always in open spacing. Lots of pedal points with melismatic top lines. And the symmetry!”
Leo pulled out a pen and was writing on a napkin now. Triadic: Three, Quintal: Five, Quartal: Four. Then there were the random numbers Leo had spouted 0, 2, 5, and 7. He had no clue what those meant, along with pedal points and melismatic lines. He made a herculean effort to understand the scribbles on the napkin. At first he thought it was a strange transmutation circle, but there was no array inside, just 12 ticks along the outer edge and regular intervals. It looked like-
“A clock?” He asked out loud. Leo looked back at him with a fire in his eyes. It was kind of scary. Was this what Ed looked like when he was talking about alchemy?
“Right, a clock, now look at this.” He started circling what seemed like random ticks on the clock face. “0, 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 and 11. If we draw a line through the root note 0 here, both sides are symmetrical. The most common scales in both Xingese and Amestrian music are not symmetrical, being the anhemitonic pentatonic and its modes, and the diatonic and its modes, respectively. But! The axis of symmetry isn’t there on both sides, only on the root note, not on the tritone. Which is just interesting, it probably doesn’t mean anything. I’ve never found folk music that is this compositionally complex,”
Ed wasn’t going to give up on understanding this, even if he had understood next to nothing so far. He took the napkin from Leo. Sure enough, the strange clock had a vertical line down the center, and the circles were symmetrical on either side. But what did that mean? And how was this music? He had always thought music was horizontal lines on a page with black dots on them, not whatever this clock stuff was. And the words Leo said like they were common knowledge. Anhemitonic Pentatonic? What was that supposed to mean? He racked his brain. Pent means five. Hemi means half. Tonic means… His brain hurt.
“You’ve lost him” Scarlet said, breaking Ed out of his thoughts. Scarlet was smiling pityingly at him. Leo stopped his rambling.
“Sorry kid, I guess I assumed you knew a lot of music theory.” Ed felt his face burn in shame. “My bad.”
Ed was almost always the smartest guy in the room. He knew alchemy well, he could talk circles around Mustang and any of the team. He could even keep up in talking about radios with Fuery. He could read super advanced books and understand almost everything perfectly. But this? He had no clue.
“Don’t worry about not understanding,” Scarlet said “No one really understands him”
But this was important, he wanted to yell. This might be the clue that helped get Al’s body back. He needed to understand what Leo was saying in case it was the missing piece to the puzzle. He needed to understand all this jargon to show that he could solve anything that the universe threw in his way. Anything that Truth threw in his way. Also, deep deep down, he wanted to prove to Leo and Scarlet that he wasn’t some dumb kid. That he was worthy of his state certification. He wanted to understand to prove that he could.
He glared down at the napkin with the clock scribbled on it. He opened his mouth to give some witty remark, but Leo interrupted him.
“Tell you what kid, tell me what exactly you want to know, and I’ll dig up the songs that might help you. I can work through them with you, and hopefully help all of this make sense.”
Ed thought about the proposal for a moment. It wasn’t a terrible idea. Work with this alchemist on his research? It could prove useful, and maybe he would understand what those big words meant in the end.
“I’m looking for the philosopher’s stone.”
Leo’s eyes narrowed ever so slightly. Ed’s heart rate picked up, would Leo tell him it was a fool’s errand, like so many before him? Would he rescind his offer and refuse to help him? Ed balled his hands into fists, getting ready to argue his case.
“You sure?” Leo asked.
“I’m sure. I know the dangers. I have no other choice, I-”
“Ok kid,” Leo relaxed back into his chair, reaching up to scratch his chin. “I have some old songs about the philosopher's stone, plus a newer string quartet that might prove useful. What was it called, The Grand Elixir? Could be nothing, but I can pull it out. There was that old symphony that I never finished analyzing, as well as some specific songs about the fall of Xerxes.” He fell quiet, seemingly thinking about other material that could be useful.
“You’ll help me?” Ed asked, wanting to make sure. Usually he was kicked aside as soon as he mentioned the stone, this was a surprise.
“Yeah, most of what I have is probably myth, legend or unrelated, but I’ll help you sort through it.” He slammed his palms on the table in front of him, making Ed jump. “Y’know what? This might be fun!”
Scarlet rolled their eyes “Fun for you, maybe. What about your gigs?”
“There’s lots of time, plus you can do the busking without me. It’ll be great”
Leo smiled at Ed, a bright excited smile with fire back in his eyes. He gave Ed directions to where he was staying, and stood up, stretching his back. Ed winced at the loud cracks of his spine. Maybe he was an adult afterall.
“Let us walk you home,” Scarlet said, and Ed bristled. He did not want to be babied.
“No thanks, I’m good.”
“No buts about it!” Leo said cheerfully. “Gotta make sure you get home in one piece.”
As they were making their way towards the door, however, the bartender called Leo and Scarlet aside, saying something about wanting them to play on Saturday. With a ‘stay here’, The two musicians turned their back to Edward and started talking to the bartender. When 30 seconds stretched into a minute, and the adults started arguing about prices, Ed realized that he could slip out without their knowing. And he really did not want to be babied. After the humiliating experience of having no clue what Leo was talking about, he just wanted to go home to his hotel and sleep. So he slipped out.
It was darker than he realized when he stepped into the street, the last rays of the sun disappearing behind the buildings. He could still see the street ahead of him just fine though, so he made his way towards the hotel.
He was deep in thought as he walked, wondering about scales and clocks and intervals, all things he regretfully didn't understand, so he didn’t notice the guy who stepped out in front of him until it was too late.
Strong arms grabbed him around the neck, and a foul smelling cloth was shoved over his mouth. Instinctively he kicked back, his automail leg hitting hard against flesh. The guy holding him cried out in pain, and the arms around him loosened. Ed broke free, and started to run, but he didn’t get far until the man in front of him grabbed him again. Edward kicked again, his heart pounding in his ears. Just fight your way out of this and make it back to Leo, He thought. Just fight. His breathing caught in his chest and his leg hit his captors leg, and a hollow metallic clang rang out. Fuck, more automail.
He clapped, preparing his alchemy. He just had to touch the concrete of the building next to him and he could pummel these guys and make a break for it. But the man with the automail leg pulled him away from any concrete. Ed cursed and let the transmutation fail. He went to clap again, to turn his arm into a weapon, when someone grabbed his arm, pulling it firmly away from his body. The movement of his arm was so sudden he didn’t have time to redirect his hand to clap. He tried again. Even if his one hand was pinned, the other one wasn’t and he could reach that far. But someone had grabbed his other hand and pulled it in the opposite direction. He thrashed and pulled against his captors hands, but they held fast. That foul smelling cloth was up against his mouth and nose, and he breathed it in. 'A drug?' He thought as dizziness flooded his brain. He tried to pull his face away from the drugged cloth, but whoever was holding it held it tight against his mouth. He held his breath, hoping they would pull it away before he had to breathe again.
The cloth stayed where it was, and eventually, he had to gasp for breath, the drug filling his lungs, making the dizziness worse. His struggles got weaker and weaker as he felt his consciousness failing.
He wanted to call out for Alphonse. But he wasn’t in Droyford, he was in West City.
He wanted to call out for the Colonel, but he was god knows where, the closest he could be would be East City, which was still miles away.
He wanted to call out for his mom, but she was dead and gone.
Leo! He put his last effort into struggling to rip his mouth free from the cloth, to yell and scream for Leo to find him, so get him out of this mess, to call the military police, or something. Anything!
Finally he ripped his mouth free, but all he could manage was a weak cough before he plunged into unconsciousness.