thisavrou_log | closed; homeward bound?

closed; homeward bound?

Who: Alphonse and Edward Elric
When: 2nd May
Where: Amissis-Re
What: Discussing potential homecomings
Warnings: Possible talk of death

[Al heard what the old woman had to say the previous day, he heard what the ones who had gone through it already had said, and it threw him into a turmoil. Should he and Ed go back when they knew it wasn't permanent? Was it even truly a way home or all a clever illusion? It sounded more like a trick than truth, but Al so desperately wants it to be real.

After thinking all night, mind in a swirl of conflicting emotion, he is still no closer to his answers.

Which is why he's sought out Ed. Even if they wouldn't have gone home together, which of course they would, it's always his brother that Al turns to when he needs guidance or to talk things over. They can reach a decision about this together.]

Brother-- did you hear what she said?

[He knows Ed will have done. There's no need to clarify which she and what was under discussion, it was just a way of broaching the conversation.]

We could go back.

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Yeah, Al, we could.

[ Ed wants nothing more than to get back home, to set things right and protect their friends. But what kind of home did they leave behind? ]

If we go back, Al, we can't stay. We can't stay there, is it worth it? [ It is, and he knows it is, but even Ed has to run through all the options, all of the possibilities. ] We have to be careful, I don't understand how taking us away from our homes and dropping us back in can have positive effects. But I guess almost anything is possible here.

[ He shrugs, both worried and intrigued. ]

What if they're still fighting Father because we went missing, because he didn't have his sacrifices? Even if we can't go for long, we have to try and help. We can't let them fight without us if there's any chance we can help.

[Though just the thought of seeing all their friends again, knowing they would have to leave again soon, it nearly broke his heart.]

It's just-- how can we be sure it's even real?

I don't know, Al. I don't think we can be sure. Not here. Everything is different here.

[ Ed frowns, folding his arms over his chest. They had to get back to their friends, their family -- especially if they were still struggling against Father. ] He can't complete his circle, not without us there, you're right. But in going back we give him that power again, so if we're going to go back, we have to go in with a plan, Al, we have to.

[ Who knows how long they'll be in there, until someone pulls them back out. That's what she said, that lady, isn't it? They need someone there to help them back out. ] I don't understand how they're doing this -- how one machine has the ability to do that for all of us. There's something wrong about this, Al, something isn't right.

I wish I understood more about the Ingress and how it manages to pull in so many people from so many different places, then we might have some more answers on how this works in the opposite direction.

[But even the people on the Moira didn't seem to understand the Ingress fully, it was very frustrating. Worrying too. He can't help but think the captains are deliberately hiding things from them.]

It's too close to a portal, where is the energy coming from for such a massive exchange to transport a whole person?

I've done some research and I've learned a lot, but I just don't see how it's possible. Not without massive amounts of energy. We're not even from the same planets as some of these people, Al. Not even the same time, and I'm not sure how it works, but you're right. It's too much like a portal.

[ Ed isn't sure what it takes to move them back and forth between worlds and times. That was never a variable in Amestris, not really. The portals themselves stood beyond their world in a way, but were rooted so deeply within them that it all tied into itself. But this? ]

I don't know. And I get the feeling that whatever they tell is, isn't going to be the whole answer, either. At least not like we can understand it. I hate being so new to this, you know? I don't get it, not yet.

I know, Brother. But we're going to get it, we just have to keep trying. Whatever they're trying to hide from us, that's what we need to uncover.

[They've been playing it too safe. Settling in, learning the lay of the ship and the other people on board, caught up in the excitement of new technology and new places to learn about. It had to stop. They had to focus. There were secrets here, ones that could help them go home for good where they were meant to be, get everyone else home too, but at what cost?]

I don't know what to do for the best.

[He rubs at his face, frustrated.]

They need us back home, but we can't risk using something that might run on the same sort of energy as a portal.

Yeah, there's too much information here not to try and use. There has to be an answer somewhere.

[ He frowns, folding his arms over his chest, trying to will his brain to work. To think his way through some of this -- could these things be portals? Did they function on human souls to transport them to and from their worlds? ]

I don't know, Al. It's a portal, definitely, but it can't be like ours, can it? There are so many people here, from so many different places and I haven't seen a single thing that's like home, here. Everything is advanced, different. Maybe this is the same -- the technology that brought us here, maybe, is the same thing here. Just not as permanent.

[ He frowns deeply. ] If it doesn't use souls, if it's not powered by a philosopher's stone, then maybe we should try to go back. Even if it's just a little while, maybe we can help them. We could win the fight, that way if we're pulled back here, at least we'll know they're safe.

Yeah, I guess you're right.

[It's a hard decision to make, especially if they find out later that the portal was powered by something as heinous and evil as a philosopher's stone. But that burden will be on them, just another sin they have to bear for the rest of their lives, a price for saving their friends and their country from Father.]

Maybe we should try and talk to others who are going back too, we can at least offer to be their anchor if they'll be ours, it's only fair. And that way we might get to learn more about the portal too.

[Not to mention seeing other worlds. Real and honest other worlds. That was still amazing to him even after being on the Moira so long.]

Yeah, that's a good idea actually. Then we won't be passing through, necessarily. But we'll see the mechanics of it. Good idea, Al.

[ Though the moment they find out just how these things are powered will be a big one -- it will determine whether they get to go home or not, what they might accomplish. ]

So gather information -- if we find out it's safe, that they're not using a philosopher's stone or alchemy of any kind, well-- we might as well try to go back. If we have a safe way to return, Al, we have to. We can't leave them there, even if we only go in for a short time.

[ They left a war, a battle, with a very powerful alchemist, they can't stop looking for ways home. ] Until then we need to learn everything we can about the ships, the captains, everything.

Right!

[Metal fingers curl into a fist, voice thrumming with enthusiasm and renewed determination. This is more what they are used to. They have a plan now, they have research to do, and they have the goal of helping people at the end of it.

Not just the ones in Amestris. Al wants to help all the people stuck here on the Moira too.]

I think we should split up. Try and find different people to help out with the portal and learn all we can. Then with everything else-- you take the captains and I'll take the ship, it will be less suspicious for you to look into the captains. I'm meant to be a bodyguard and I can't violate that trust.

[Not yet, not until they get evidence that there is reason to do so.]

Yeah, maybe we can get everyone back to their homes. Well, everyone that wants to go.

[ Ed grins, looking confident and thoughtful all at once. After all, they have a purpose, a directive now and there's a lot of work to be done. The captains are elusive to Ed, he's not seen them around too much and he isn't sure what their purpose is. So, it'll be a good challenge, to say the least. ]

I'll get to looking at them. I'll draw the attention somehow. We'll figure this out -- I'm sure we can by working together. How has your body guard job been? The labs are really quiet for me, but the people are nice. It's a nice excuse to do research on this place, so mine doesn't even feel like a job. Nothing like home, anyway.

Yeah, my job is pretty quiet too, I don't even get called up to it often unless the Captain is going down to one of the planets and thinks he needs protection. Otherwise I'm just left to do my own thing, I guess that'll work in our favour now.

[More time to investigate literally everything.]

You think some people don't want to go home?

[That's incredibly sad to him. Surely everyone has at least one person who misses them.]

What are you saying, you get a big break all the time, then?

[ He is kidding, of course, trying to lighten the mood a little bit. ] Just let me do all the work, huh? [ He shakes his head at his brother. In all honesty, he's pleased that his brother won't be out on planets and fighting too much. He doesn't understand the captains any better than most here, and he's not sure he trusts them. No less with his younger brother. ]

But it should work, yeah. I'll see what I can find out about the captains, but I'm not sure anyone knows anything of use. [ He shrugs a little bit, considering Al's question. ] I don't know, I guess it just depends on what their home is like, doesn't it? What would it be like if this place was better than where we'd come from, you know?

I can't agree with anyone who thinks that way.

[The lights within his eyes flare brightly the way they always do when he talks about something passionately.]

Amestris isn't always easy to live in, and a lot of bad things have happened to us there, but it would never have got better if we just ran away. How would those places ever improve if everyone abandoned them? This place-- the Moira, it's just a place to hide, and whatever was so bad that made anyone want to stay here won't ever really leave them alone until they face it.

[Maybe that's idealistic, maybe it's unrealistic and unfair, it's just how he feels.]

I don't know that I can agree, either, but I guess we don't know, Al. Especially here, you can't really guess what people have gone through.

[ But Ed has never given up -- not once since everything happened to them and it's much the same here. He won't give up on finding a way back to their friends and family. But he can understand how some people might need more time away, might want to hide away a little longer.

Ed had, certainly. He's felt that before, the longing to give in and just break everything. But the struggles make them stronger, and only continue to. ]

You're right. This is just a stopping point, it can't be a final destination, huh?

[He understands why people would hide away. God only knows their lives have been hard enough that both of them have nearly broken more than once, but they haven't. And that's because they kept moving forwards.]

Mm, even the ship is always moving onwards.

[He settles next to Ed, clanking to sit on the ground with his back to a nearby wall, voice getting softer.]

I think we should help the people who feel that way. We've got each other, we keep each other walking forwards, a lot of people don't even have that.

Yeah, I guess a lot of people here won't have that. I don't know, I'd say we're lucky we have each other, but we both got pulled to this place, so I don't know.

[ Ed frowns, mind working over the dilemma. They really could go back home, they could fight and finish the battle, put an end to father. ]

But yeah, we gotta do the best we can either way, huh? One foot in front of the other -- and maybe we'll have to be that person for someone else, too. [ He smiles a little up at his brother, leaning to nudge him with a shoulder. ] If anyone can figure this out, we can.

[Al feels a sweeping sort of contentment now that Ed is fired up, this is the brother he knows and loves, and now there'll be nothing that can stop them.]

I wonder if Miss DeWitt has any books on the Ingress in the library... and if she'd even let us back in there after what you wanted to do to her books.

[Or what he wanted to do. Whichever.]

H-Hey! That wasn't my idea, that was yours, you jerk! [ He means it affectionately, mostly. Ed flails his arms a moment, then folds them over his chest and huffs. ]

You have no idea what they would have done to me if they thought I would sacrifice the books! I'd never do that, Al. [ He shakes his head, frowning. ] But I guess I could have taken 'em if they came after me. Thank goodness for alchemy, huh?

Right, at least that's something we'll always have.

[It's been a shared drive between them since even before their mother died. Alchemy was like breathing.]

Yeah, I don't know what I'd do without it. It'd be pretty weird, huh?

[ He grins either way and finally lets out a sigh, stretching. ]

We better get to work, Al. We have a lot of people to talk to.

Mm!

[He reaches out and punches Ed on the shoulder lightly, galvanised for action.

It's amazing to him that Ed can manage to breathe life and fire into him without any effort, like he can't do anything other than his best when he's in the presence of his brother.]

I'm on it. I'll meet up with you again later and we can exchange notes. Be careful, okay?

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closed; homeward bound?

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