Summary:
Alphonse, who has run out of money for hotel fees in Central City, phones Pinako in Resembool to find that Edward has not yet arrived at the Rockbell house. However, Pinako notes that while Ed hasn’t shown up in town, someone else has – the boys’ father, Van Hohenheim.At the Resembool cemetery, Ed angrily confronts his father, who replies that Pinako already explained to him about their human transmutation accident. As Hohenheim continues to silently mourn in front of Trish’s grave, Ed reiterates that there is no place for him anymore, prompting Van to question why the family home is gone. Edward explains that he burned it down a few years ago so he and Alphonse couldn’t turn away from their goal, but Van dismisses this claim by saying that the real reason Ed burned down the house was to hide all traces of his sin. escape from painful memories. Further angered by this insight, Ed denies that Van knows anything about it, but Hohenheim quietly replies that he does understand. Edward rushes towards the Rockbell house and Van follows, explaining that he might as well stay with Pinako since his house burned down. When Van notices Edward’s hot-tempered behavior, he remarks that he was exactly the same at that age.That evening, as Ed lies in bed, Van goes to him and, remembering his son as a baby, moves to touch him, but stops and leaves the room. However, Ed just pretends to be asleep. As Hohenheim discusses the accident with Pinako in the next room, he questions why Van has been gone for so long, stating that if he came home, Ed and Al wouldn’t have to watch their mother die twice. Van doesn’t answer, but noticing that the door to the bedroom where Ed sleeps is now open after he closed it himself, he asks Pinako if the thing that Ed and Al transmuted was really their mother. Pinako replies that the creature couldn’t even be called human, but Van elaborates on whether the creature’s eye and hair color match Trisha. Shocked by his implication, Pinako wonders in horror if the creature the boys destroyed their bodies to construct was something completely unrelated to them or their mother. Edward, who has been eavesdropping on the conversation as Hohenheim has deduced, is equally horrified by the possibility.The next morning, Van prepares to leave the city by train and refuses to let Pinako go to wake his son up to say goodbye. However, before Van leaves, he spots a family photo of the Elrics from many years ago and asks Pinako if he can take it with him, as it is the only photo of the four of them together. She complies and he in turn solemnly advises her to leave the country because something terrible is going to happen very soon. Pinako calmly declines, noting that this country is no stranger to horrific events and that many people rely on her presence in this city. Hohenheim lets the matter rest and heads out the door, but whenever Pinako invites him back for a home-cooked meal, Van laments with quiet gloom that he’ll never be able to break bread with her again.Back in Central, Al explains to an inquisitive Ling that he hasn’t seen his father in ten years, and although he barely remembers him, he would like the opportunity to discuss alchemy, as Van Hohenheim was very knowledgeable on the subject. However, he complains that it is likely that Edward is trying to fight Hohenheim instead of trying to get information. When he and Winry question whether Ling is close to his own father, the stranger gives an unexpected answer, revealing that the reason he hasn’t had the chance to know his father is because the man is Emperor Xing. Ling and Lan Fan explain that there are twenty-four princes and nineteen princesses in Xing because each of the fifty ethnic clans is required to give their eldest daughter to the emperor as a concubine to bear him a child. As Ling’s mother was a concubine representing the Yao clan, Ling is the current emperor’s twelfth child. The emperor had recently fallen ill, and all the clans had begun to fiercely fight for power, and that was why Ling had come to Amestris – to find the secret of immortality and use it for the emperor’s favor in the fifty thousand people of the Yao clan. However, Ling notes that the mystery of Al’s metal body seems more promising than the legend of the Philosopher’s Stone; since Al’s inorganic form never dies, the young alchemist has the closest thing to immortality. But Alphonse replies that this is not the case and that the circumstances of his current existence make it uncertain whether he will ever manage to have a normal human life; his metal body is like a ticking time bomb.At a nearby hospital, Roy Mustang is recovering on a couch reading a stack of books while Lt. Hawkeye stands guard. He will be welcomed by Dr. Knox, the coroner who autopsied the fake body of Maria Ross, who is casually sitting at the other end of the sofa, secretly notes that he had a funny feeling when he heard that the “corpse” had been burned by the “Flame Alchemist” and therefore identified the dummy through Ross’s dental records, even though he knew it was never actually a living human being. He states that any other doctor would have caught Mustang in the middle of his plot, but Roy explains that he knew Knox would be on duty the night of Ross’ escape. Knox questions why Mustang expected him to cover for him, and Roy replies that they were comrades in Ishval, but Knox comments that they were closer than “buddies”; on that bloody battlefield where the people the Mustangs were ordered to burn became the subjects of medical tests for Knox to dissect, the two were rather “accomplices”. Knox warns Mustang to be more careful before suffering a painful awakening, and when Roy replies that he already is, the doctor notes that all the books Roy is studying are about spinal anatomy. Roy mentions that one of his subordinates has suffered spinal paralysis and asks if there is anything that can be done, but Knox replies that it is unlikely that the soldier in question will ever return to active duty. In his room, Jean Havoc talks to Heymans Breda and explains that his paralysis cannot be fixed with automail because the nerve signals from his brain have been completely cut off from his lower body. Breda remarks that Jean is unfit for retired life and steps out to speak with the Colonel. He suggests to Mustang that Tim Marcoh might be able to use his medical knowledge and the Philosopher’s Stone to heal Jean’s legs, and Roy sends the 2nd Lieutenant to find the elusive doctor.In his hometown, Dr. Marcoh surprised to see a uniformed Breda on his doorstep and even more surprised to learn that a man has arrived.