The unlikely pair of a short boy and a giant suit of armor had been mistaken for a variety of things by a variety of people. It was only natural to assume that the taller one in the armor was the older of the two. And if they didn’t introduce themselves as brothers right away, people leapt to all sorts of conclusions. They had been taken for wandering troubadours, a legendary pair of rogues, a boy from a royal estate and his knightly guardian—but never before for a father and son.
“He’s not your father?” the man asked. He seemed taken aback by Alphonse’s response. He glanced at Edward, who smiled.
“We’re brothers,” Edward said, enunciating clearly.
“‘Brothers’?!”
“Really?!”
“It’s true,” Alphonse said. “We actually look a lot alike.”
“I guess your voices do sound similar.”
“Sorry!”
“No problem,” Alphonse said, waving away the apology with his armored hand. “Happens all the time.”
“Well, I’m still sorry I called you his dad!” the man said, reaching over to slap Alphonse on the shoulder. “You’ve probably got enough to worry about watching out for your little brother without being taken for your father!”
A long silence.
Finally Edward said—a little too loudly—“He’s my little brother!”
The crowd was surprised again.
No matter how many times this happened, it never failed to get on Edward’s nerves. Alphonse gave him a sidelong glance and sighed. Having compounded misunderstanding upon misunderstanding, the townspeople didn’t know what to say.
“Daddy, I’m home!” A bright voice cut through the tension.
“Welcome back, Elisa!” Lemac spread his arms and a little girl flew into them.
“This is my daughter, Elisa. Elisa, say hello to our guests.”
The girl turned around. “Hello!”
Edward waved, and Elisa’s eyes grew big. “Hey, it’s that alchemist boy!” she shouted. Once again, the townspeople were startled.
“What did you say, Elisa?”
Elisa turned to her father, her eyes sparkling. “He knocked over our crane, but then he used alchemy to fix it! I saw the whole thing. There was a big flash of light. It was so pretty!”
Lemac looked at Edward, the doubt in his eyes plain to see. “You’re an alchemist?”
It wasn’t something Edward had to hide, but he was suddenly wary of revealing too much. “Sort of.”
“And that’s why you’re interested in the lab?”
“That’s right,” Edward replied. Quickly, before anyone else could say it, he added, “I know it’s hard to believe someone so young could be an alchemist.” He’d told people of his abilities a hundred times, but most adults didn’t believe him. To his surprise, however, no one in the tavern seemed to doubt him at all. Instead, hope shone on their faces.
“Really? You’re an alchemist? Then you should go to Mugear’s lab right away!”
“Huh?” Edward was stunned by their sudden change in attitude.
“You can help them make the Philosopher’s Stone! Do you know how? That’s okay, even if you don’t, you might be able to nudge them in the right direction!”
The townspeople took turns shaking Edward’s hand.
“To think you can perform alchemy at such a young age. You know what they say about a youthful imagination, though! You should go!”
“Please! For us!”
The men continued to urge the two to go to the laboratory as soon as possible. They seemed to respect them now.
“Well, Al? What should we do?”
“I guess we better check out the lab!”
Finding the Philosopher’s Stone was the goal of their journey, and if this team of researchers was working on creating one from scratch, there was no question of their eagerness to see it. They would have found a way to sneak into the lab, if necessary. To be openly invited was a stroke of luck.
“All right,” Edward agreed.
The men smiled warmly, perhaps in response to the gleam of excitement in Edward’s eyes.
“I’m sure a fresh perspective will do those researchers a world of good.”
“There seem to be a lot of young alchemists these days,” Lemac said. “There’s one up at the laboratory right now.”
“Really?” Edward said, his curiosity piqued. Alchemists as young as himself were few and far between. “How old is this one?”
“How old are you?”
“Fifteen. My brother, Alphonse, is fourteen.”
“You’re kidding!”
Everyone looked Edward up and down from head to toe. He knew what they were thinking. Alphonse looked on anxiously, hoping the townspeople wouldn’t mention his brother’s height.
“Fifteen! You look so much younger!”
“Aye! Seems alchemists are getting younger and younger these days. The one up at the laboratory is around the same age, isn’t he?”
“He’s my age? Really?”
“So tell us, boys,” Lemac said, refilling their coffee cups, “what are your names?”
Edward nodded his thanks for the coffee. “Our name’s Elric. I’m Edward, and this is Alphonse.”
Everyone stiffened. The atmosphere in the room shifted.
“What was that?”
It was a surname that anyone who knew anything about alchemy was bound to have heard before. Edward was used to the look of shock when he introduced himself and Alphonse as the famous Elric brothers. This time seemed no different, so without a second thought, he repeated himself.
“I’m Edward Elric.”
This time he was greeted not by surprise, but peals of laughter.
“You’re Edward Elric? Do you really think you can impersonate him?!”
“Aren’t you a little old to be telling fibs, boy?”
Edward stuttered. “ ‘B-boy’?!”
“It’s understandable that you’d envy him. Master Edward is a State Alchemist, after all.”
The townspeople said his name—“Master Edward”—as though they knew him!
“What do you mean by that?”
“You gave us a good laugh, lad,” Lemac said. His voice had suddenly grown a little cold. “Now tell us your real name.”
Nobody believed Edward. He repeated himself until the townspeople looked as though they’d heard enough.
Lemac scowled, gazing down at Edward as if he were a recalcitrant child. “I understand why a boy would want to emulate his hero, but there’s such a thing as going too far. If you were any older, I’d knock a little sense into you right here and now.”
Elisa looked sadly at the two brothers.
“What’s your problem!” sputtered Edward.
Lemac ignored his outburst. “Look, you think on this son, and come back when you’re ready to tell us your real names.” He pointed toward the door. When they didn’t move, he guided Alphonse and Edward out of the tavern, and tossed their traveling trunk out onto the street after them.
“I told you my name! My real name! I’m Edward Elric!”
“And I’m Alphonse Elric,” added Alphonse meekly.
No one listened.
A voice drifted out from the tavern. “I thought there was something strange about those two from the start!”
“What?!” Edward shouted. “What’s gotten into you people?! We aren’t lying! I’m Edward and this is Alphonse. He’s my brother! Why won’t you believe us?”
“Ed, wait!” Alphonse held his brother back. He knew Edward was spoiling for a fight, and that was the last thing he wanted.
“Let go of me, Al!”
“Wait,” Alphonse repeated. He turned to the small crowd gathered at the tavern door. “Listen, this is all a misunderstanding. We really are the Elric brothers. I know it’s hard to believe, but it’s true.”
It was a noble effort, but Edward grabbed Alphonse’s arm and yanked him back. “Let’s go, Al. I don’t want to talk to these idiots anymore.”
“Ed!”
“What do you expect me to do?” Edward continued, not caring who heard him. “We’re telling the truth, and they don’t want to hear it! We’ll just go on our way. If we want to go to the lab, we’ll go to the lab.”
“Was that it, son?” Lemac asked. “You lied to us so you could see the laboratory? If you’d just told us your true names, we’d have let you go.”
Edward glared at him. “We told you our true names. It’s not our problem you won’t believe us.”
As Edward picked up their traveling trunk, Alphonse handed money to Lemac. “For the food. Thank you.”
Lemac sighed. His disappointment was palpable. He had hoped these boys could provide a breakthrough in the town’s alchemy research.
“I wish you’d had a better lie,” Lemac said. “But claiming to be the Elrics … ?!” He pushed the other customers back inside.
“Why are you so convinced we’re lying?!”
Lemac turned around. “Because the Elric brothers are already at the laboratory.”
He quietly shut the door and left them standing in the street, dumbfounded.
edward and alphonse sat under a withered tree on the outskirts of town. They looked at each other, and Edward scratched his head.
“What’s going on?” Alphonse asked after a long silence. “How could we already be here, Ed?”
“It’s obvious. The laboratory needed alchemists. Someone must have pretended to be us to get in.” Edward picked up a dry stick. “People know me because of my title, but they don’t know my face. It’s the perfect cover if you want to sneak into a lab.” Edward began to scribble on the ground with the stick.