The Phoenix and His Demons

My apologies for the long delay in updating, had to get my fiancee moved in and we\'re still not done. Thank you all for reading and reviewing. I\'m going to be a bit slow in updating for a while till things settle down. This chapter is a bit short, and i haven\'t had time to edit it, so forgive. Without further ado, enjoy!

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Hope


Russell woke with a soft groan, the ache in his hands making it near impossible to get any rest. His whole body was starting to hurt from being trapped in such an uncomfortable position and what little shifting he could manage only seemed to make it worse. Tired eyes looked around his confines; nothing much had changed except he couldn\'t detect the presence of his captor. The only sounds in the small cell were the occasional drips and the slight grating of his shackles against the stone wall. It was morning or afternoon, he wasn\'t sure which only that it was daytime according to the thing rays of light that fell across the room adjacent from his; cracks from the door he assumed.

The stillness of the room was getting to him. It left him with nothing else to do but think and thus his mind was racing constantly. The young alchemist was vaguely aware that he was starving; how long had he been here? A couple of days probably. He\'d been in and out of sleep and consciousness several times and remembered waking up to the light at least once before but how long had he been out in between? It could\'ve been hours, or minutes, he just didn\'t know. He did know that he had to get out of there, before that maniac returned; the only question was how?

The jerk had broken his fingers to prevent him from drawing transmutation circles, but it was more a deterrent than anything. Just because it would hurt like hell didn\'t mean he \'couldn\'t\' draw them. Turning his head, he could see the shackles were connected by a chain that was looped through an iron ring that anchored him to the wall. Said wall was covered with a thin layer of slime and algae; which wouldn\'t appear helpful to most but to an alchemist, especially one that specialized in plants, it was perfect. He didn\'t have much room to maneuver, and the initial jolt of pain that shot down his arm as his fingertip met the cool wall was almost enough to make him re-think his decision, almost. Russell Tringham was stubborn, obstinate, and terribly desperate; giving up just wasn\'t an option. He bit his bottom lip and pressed on, the pain growing steadily as he completed a simple circle from memory. Soft whimpers strained to break free as teeth continued to ravage his lip until the final stabs of pain subsided. It was only then that he realized he\'d bitten hard enough to draw blood and almost retched at the coppery taste in his mouth.

His little rest didn\'t last long and as soon as he could move again without fear of screaming against the pain, he placed his fingertips gingerly against the circle and concentrated. A bright flash of light was his reward as he willed the algae to grow and expand; loosening and cracking the bricks to the point he could dislodge the anchored loop. His success sent a rush of adrenaline through his system and all pain and fatigue were forgotten now that he had hope. Quickly he got to his feet and made his way to the neighboring room; eyes darting furiously in search of the door. \"You\'re almost there Russ, just a little more.\" His soft whispers did little to still the pounding of his heart, however. Once he found the door, he had a new problem; opening it. If he thought it had been torture to draw that circle, this was ten times worse and yet somehow, he managed. It worried him that the door was open, that it wasn\'t locked but he didn\'t have time to ponder it; he didn\'t know when the bastard would be back. The newly opened door revealed stairs that led up to what appeared to be a cellar door. At least now he knew where he\'d been kept, or rather in what he\'d been kept. He raced up the stairs and used his shoulder to try nudging the cellar door open. It didn\'t budge, and from the outside he heard the distinct sound of a chain rattling against his efforts. Groaning in frustration, he cursed himself silently. He knew this escape had been too easy so far. He wasn\'t trapped, however, he could still use alchemy to open it but if anyone was outside and in view of the door his plans would be shot to hell and he\'d be caught. Still, that didn\'t deter him, he had to chance it. So once more he suffered the pain as he drew a circle in the dust on the stairs and warped the wood of the door until it fell off its hinges. The sudden intrusion of the midday sun\'s bright light blinded him momentarily, though when it wore off he realized just why this escape was going so smoothly. He was in the middle of absolutely nowhere. There were no houses around, no points of reference; just a lot of green and golden fields for as far as he could see. \"Shit. I knew that was just too damned easy.\" Giving a frustrated sigh, he started walking in the direction he believed to be east. He only had two choices, walk blindly and hope to find help or wait to be found by the only person that knew where he was. The second sure as hell wasn\'t much of an option.

Neither brother had slept much on the trip to Xenotime, nor had conversation been present. The uneasy silence was enough for them to communicate their mutual concern for their friend. Al had seen the imposter Elrics once in the last years, but with no memories of them, he hadn\'t really paid attention. He\'d come to the town to follow leads on some of their research and had introduced himself using his military designation, not as Alphonse Elric. He\'d learned quickly those first years that his name caused one hell of a stir thanks to exploits he couldn\'t remember and he couldn\'t explain why he didn\'t remember people he should. He felt guilty as hell about it, after all Fletcher was a friend and now he was going to have to explain that he\'d forgotten him. The more he thought about it, the worse he felt.

\"Al?\"

The questioning voice of his brother brought him out of his sullen reverie. \"Yes brother?\"

\"You okay? You didn\'t answer me a minute ago and you whimpered.\" Edward was sitting up straight on the hard bench across from his brother, obvious concern dancing in his golden eyes.

\"Yeah, I\'m okay. It\'s just.\" he sighed and Edward gave no response, the earlier question forgotten and unimportant. He simply waited for Al to continue. \"I saw them once, about four years ago when I was following up a report on some agricultural research to see if it could help in the rebuilding of Lior. I didn\'t know them then, we were strangers, but now.I feel so bad.\"

\"I know Al, it\'s gonna be hard after all this time. They think I\'m dead and this isn\'t exactly the way I\'d want to meet up with old friends, especially not under these circumstances.\" Al nodded and that was that. They would be pulling into the station soon and wouldn\'t have time for such thoughts and doubts, they would be too busy trying to find their friend and make sure he was safe.

Fletcher stared at the wall, idly listening to the authority on the phone next to him. He only caught bits and pieces, but he knew that two State Alchemists had been sent to help find his brother and that they were supposed to arrive any time now. It had been two days since his Russell had gone missing and while the town had been eager to make sure he\'d been taken care of, he hadn\'t hardly eaten or slept the whole time. He\'d never been on his own before, not like this and he was scared. No, he was terrified. He was afraid for his brother, afraid for himself and for the town itself. Their efforts had helped many of the ill in the town and while he had the natural talent, it would never have been possible without all of Russell\'s hard work and research. They hadn\'t yet been able to come up with a cure for the sickness the red water mess had caused but they had developed a treatment. It was something.

Excited voices and the sounds of people bustling about suddenly snapped him back to the present. The local official was talking to two people in blue uniforms; two people with blonde hair. A little nagging feeling at the back of his mind told him it was possible, but there was no way it should\'ve been. Edward was dead. He had to be imagining things. No, he had to get a better look. \"Right this way, sirs. The missing man\'s younger brother has been waiting for your arrival. He can give you more details about what happened.\"

\"Younger brother? Then it\'s Russell that\'s missing? Shit.\" The man seemed surprised that they were acquainted with the pair, but he didn\'t get a chance to comment on it. Fletcher recognized that voice, but damn it, he was supposed to be dead. He half jumped out of the chair and shoved past anyone in his way only to end up stopped dead in front of the eldest.

\"Edward?\" His voice was shaky, tearful and yet there was hope in it. Fletcher didn\'t wait for a response before he threw himself at the older blonde. \"You have to find him, Ed, you just have to.\"

\"Shh. It\'ll be okay Fletcher, we\'ll find him, won\'t we Al?\" Arms wrapped comfortingly around the boy, though Ed supposed he wasn\'t much of a boy anymore. Fletcher looked to be about the same age as Al. Well, the age of Al\'s body anyway since technically Al was as old as Russell.

\"Ed\'s right Fletch. You know we won\'t give up until he\'s back safely.\"

\"Well I see you boys don\'t need any introductions, so I\'ll leave you be. If you need anything, be sure to let me know and I\'ll do what I can.\"

\"Sure thing.\" That was Ed\'s way of dismissing the stranger while Fletcher composed himself and looked for Al. He\'d made the mistake of looking for a suit of armor so the look of confusion on his face as his eyes settled on the younger of the pair was understandable.

\"Al? But.I.didn\'t you? I mean, weren\'t you the one who came here a few years ago?\" Al flushed slightly and shuffled nervously.

\"Um, yeah.heh. About that, it\'s a long story. I wasn\'t trying to ignore you; I just didn\'t know who you were.\" That came out badly and the hurt look on Fletcher\'s face proved it. \"No, I mean, I didn\'t remember.oh! I\'m just making this worse.\"

\"Relax Fletch, he had an accident when I disappeared and had amnesia. It\'s a long story, but he\'s fine now.\" Al could\'ve kissed his brother for that save, but the relief on both Al and Fletcher\'s faces was enough. \"We\'ll tell you all about it once we find Russ, I promise. For now, why don\'t you take us to the house so we can look around and get to work?\"

Fletcher nodded silently and headed for the door. Now that the Elrics were involved he couldn\'t help the little smile that found its way to his lips; the first one in days. He was a bit relieved and all hope that his brother would be fine returned with a vengeance.