Stand Up and Walk

Yet Another Destruction

"I still have too long a life ahead to get rid of these feelings, right? I want to try doing over the things I've left undone. I thought I was running after something carried over from my dreams, yet I'm stumbling into people on this narrow, winding road. It's not like I want to go back to the way things were back then; I'm just searching for the sky I've been losing. Here's hoping you'll understand. Stop making that sad face as though you were a victim. Sins don't end in tears; you have to carry the pain forever. Who am I waiting for in this maze of emotions with no way out in sight? I want to purge myself more simply, as if writing in a blank notebook. What is it I want to escape from? ...Is it reality? It makes me want to scream that we're alive for things to come true. Can you hear me? I can't put up with playing it safe. ...I've got nowhere to go home to! I'm always grateful for kindness; that's why I want to grow stronger (I'm on the way). I even welcome this pain for the things I miss."
—Yui, Again
...

The sound Ed makes when you reach the library would be comical, if the situation weren't so depressing.

All that remains of the once-grand, stone building is some charred bits of rubble. At some point—likely recently, judging from the scent of smoke that lingers faintly in the air—there was a fire in the library—one that managed to consume, it seems, the entirety of the building, leaving it ruin.

"Doctor Marcoh's research!" he wails. "It's all gone!"

You wade through the wreckage, searching for anything salvageable, but what few items left that hadn't gone up in flames crumble as soon as you put your hands on it.

"There's nothing here but ashes," Ed mutters, dragging one finger along the sooty ground. "Everything's gone."

There is a beat of silence, and then a woman's voice rings out. "Major Armstrong!"

All of you turn to see two officers standing at the edge of the destruction, arms lifted in a salute. One is a man and the other is a woman; both wear the blue uniforms of the military.

"Ah!" Armstrong greets, sounding a bit surprised. "Second Lieutenant Ross and Sergeant Brosch; to what do we owe this pleasure?"

The woman—Ross, apparently—stands stiffly straight at attention. "You've been ordered to return to the Command Center, sir!" she says.

The man, Brosch, standing equally as stiff, continues. "We will be taking over supervision of Echo Slade, Edward Elric, and Alphonse Elric, effective immediately."

The Major bows his head and a large sparkle appears next to his face. "Very well," he consents.

"What is this?!" Ed complains, holding the back of his neck. "Just when I think we're home free, they saddle us with more bodyguards?! This is getting old!"

...

It's a tight squeeze in the back of car, what with you, Ed, and Al, as well as both Ross and Brosch, all jammed in the back like a clown car.

"All might not be lost," Ross informs you and the boys. "There is a woman who's well-acquainted with the materials from the First Branch. Unfortunately," she continues, "she wasn't working there anymore."

Ed scowls out the window. "That sounds incredibly helpful," he says sarcastically.

Silence falls over the group. After a few moments, you notice that Brosch is staring right at Al with an odd intensity.

Al realizes it, too. "Something wrong?" he asks the blonde-haired man.

"Oh, no, it's nothing!" Brosch says hurriedly. Then he hesitates. "But...if you don't mind me asking...why are you wearing a suit of armor?"