Ed didn't say anything as he stood up again, frowning at how badly this place was taking its toll on her. The mansion soon came into view as they entered a clearing. The place was huge, bigger than anywhere they had ever seen before. Al knocked on the front door, wanting to hurry up for the sake of Nova. He didn't like the way she seemed to fade, or the sound of her cough. She was starting to sound like Elisa. Nova couldn't remember the last time she felt this bad. Whether is it was in the water, or even in the air, the town wasn't healthy. When they reached the mansion, no one answered. Nova shifted her gaze to the mansion and stifled a frown. "Guess no one's home.. Should we look for another way in?" She asked quietly, just as the door opened.
A tall, blonde hair, young man opened the door and glanced at the trio. "We're not open for vistors." "Please, can you help us? We were sent here to help the Elric brothers. The three of us are alchemists, but our friend is ill and we were told that there wasn't a doctor.. do you think you could help us?" Al spoke first, his voice pleading for help as Ed shifted a bit so the kid could get a look at Nova. "Come on, you guys gotta know how bad the shape the town is in… they said you could help anyone." Ed tried looking pleading, but he was never good at that type of stuff. Russel raised an eyebrow. He could easily see who they were, having looked into the brothers very carefully, even their past. Or as much of as it he could find, but their friend didn't look good..
After little thought, he nodded and opened the door for them. "Lay her on the couch, and be quiet." He said sternly, not wanting Mugear to hear them. The brothers felt relief at being allowed in, and followed him inside. Ed did as instructed, knowing he and Al were being watched by the guy. "Thanks, we don't know what's going on…" he said quietly keeping his voice down. "Do you know what's going on and why everyone is sick?" Al asked, just curious, but also in concern for the townspeople. Russel simply shook his head when the boys spoke. "No, but that's why we're here. We want to cleanse the town and help the people revive their town." He said calmly, lowering down beside the couch to examine Nova, then stood and walked off.
He came back and placed a damp rag on her forehead, only pushing her hat up a little so it wasn't in the way. They had to get the fever down, first. The brothers tensed when he moved her beanie up, glad he hadn't taken it off. Listening as he spoke, Ed nodded his head as he sat on one of the arms of the couch. "I see… what have you figured out?" he asked softly, looking down at Nova in worry. "We hear that the town suspects is caused by the mine… but…" Al shrugged a little. The brothers didn't know a lot about mining towns. Russel stifled a smirk. So that's what they thought, that it was the mines. He shook his head and glanced at the boys. "From what we've gathered, the townspeople aren't wrong.. But we still don't know what's causing it." He said with a sigh. "..and I'm sorry to say, but you can't stay here. We'll look after your friend, but you two best head back to the inn for the night."
The brothers shared a look, Ed frowning at the way this guy spoke. "Look, we appreciate your help, but we're not leaving her alone. It's nothing against you, but we trust very few people with her." Ed said slowly. He was not moving from this spot until Nova was better. "She's a dear friend of ours, and we've never seen her like this before, so we rather be at her side." Al explained a little better. "Plus, she often sleeps against me since my suit is cool." Russel looked at the boys. "I understand, but I still can't let you stay here. If Mugear, or his officers sees you, he'll have you arrested." He said. It wasn't his choice, Mugear was paranoid and greedy. If he knew the real Elric brothers were here, there'd be real trouble for both brothers.
"We'll stay out of sight and keep quiet if we hear anyone coming. We're not leaving her." Ed stated simply. He wasn't about to be pushed out just when they arrived, and he especially was not leaving Nova in the hands if these fakes. "We won't even leave this room. Promise." He would say just about anything if it meant they could stay. Russel listened to how dead-set Edward was on not leaving, so he tried thinking of something. He needed the boys to leave, but no idea came so he caved. "Fine, but you've got to be as quiet as a mouse, and don't go snooping around." He warned. "We promise, we'll be so quiet you'll forget we're here while we stay." Al agreed, glad that they finally got him to agree. Whether or not his bother decided to stay put was up in the air, they wanted to look after Nova first and foremost.
Russel nodded an left again to see if they had any herbs to help Nova's fever since the rag would be a slow process. He hoped the older brother of the two wouldn't wander off, it'd be trouble if he found the library.
For now, Ed was going to stay put, he wanted to make sure Nova was well before snooping. He didn't like how pushy the guy was about them being there. Something was up, and he wanted to figure it out. Russel came back with a glass of water with a small leaf in it, and lowered down beside the couch as Nova opened her eyes. "Think you can sit up for me? This will help bring down that fever." He said, offering her a small smile. In his eyes, she was pretty cute. Nova nodded lightly and slowly sat up, carefully taking the glass and drinking the water. It was bitter, but otherwise tasteless. Once she drank it, she handed him the glass back. The young man then left the room once more. It was getting late, and he needed to get as much work done on the research as he could before going to bed.
Ed and Al stayed in the room the entire night, watching over Nova until Ed fell asleep. He only awoke when a loud snapping sound echoed in the mansion, causing the brothers to look at each other. They both knew it wasn't normal. Nova woke up several times during the night due to constant footsteps and pain coursing through her.
When morning came, the sound of snapping woke her with a jolt due to memories of the lab, her anxiety spiked. Which was never a good thing. Ed and Al did their best to keep Nova's temperature down throughout the night. Seeing her eyes snap open, Ed saw something unfamiliar in her eyes. "Nova, it's okay, it just the pipes in the mansion." Al explained to her. "You're okay." He said quietly, trying to get her to calm down. Nova blinked when she heard her friends, and glanced at them. "Ed.. Al.." She murmured softly. She was looking better, but not a hundred percent. "What could be causing the pipes to sound like that?" Ed smiled softly at Nova, glad Al took over in talking to her. "We don't know, but it's been like that all night. Want to investigate?" he asked with a grin.
They had kept their promise by staying quiet and in the room all night. "How you feeling by the way?" Nova lowered her eyes. "Still pretty crummy..but I think my fever's gone away, just like he said it would." She murmured, then she glanced at them and nodded. "Let's, but let's not get caught." She mused with a light smirk. Ed grinned, glad her fever finally passed as he held a hand out for her. "Come on, let 'find' the kitchen and get lost." He joked, looking over Al, who nodded in agreement. Nova nodded lightly and gently took his hand and stood. Ed grinned and led her through the door they saw the guy from the night before use began their search. Nova stuck close to the boys, keeping on high alert in case anyone came.
When she did hear someone, not too long after they began to wander, Nova ducked into another room. She soon realized it was a library. "Oh wow.." She murmured quietly, amazed by all the bookcases filled with books. The brothers kept an eye on Nova and when she ducked into a room, they followed. They didn't want to get separated from her in this place even if she could sniff them out easily enough. Seeing that they found the library, the brothers were in awe with the amount of books before them. It had been some time since they saw this many books in a personal collection. "Wow…" Nova quietly closed the door and approached one of the bookcases. "Ed.. You might be able to find something about that stone you're looking for, in here." She said quietly, given all the books. They all seemed to be about the philosopher stone.
Ed turned to her, blinking a bit before nodding. "Yeah, we just might." He agreed quietly and the brothers began looking through the shelves looking for something that could help them. Nova smirked some and sat down, since she didn't really know what to look for. The brothers looked through the shelves finding a few interesting books, but nothing that could really help them with answers. Nova suddenly stood when the door opened and the young man from last night came in. "I figured you'd find this room eventually, you guys hate sitting still. Don't you?" He asked with a small smirk. "I told you not to go snooping around." He mused. Nova frowned some. "Who are you, and what research are you conducting up here? I bet it's the reason the townsfolk are sick." She said, earning a frown from the young man.
Ed grinned at the guy. "We got hungry and found this place instead of the kitchen. Some pretty interesting stuff you got in here." He said then motioned the viles near the back. "Like that for instance. Not something you typically find in a place of knowledge." Russel stifled a frown. "It's time for you to go." He said. "Your friend is feeling better, no?" He spoke. "Get out of town before the medicine wears off." Ed hummed at the guy, tapping his chin a bit. "And what if we need more medicine? I think it would be better if we stayed here and wait for ever is happening to her to pass. But as she said, we do bet you're up to some no good that's causing the sickness in town… so we'd rather stay."
Like the older of the Elric brothers, Russel also had a short temper. "Nice try, Edward." He mused with a light smirk. "I know all about you and your brother, and I know you're looking for the stone. You won't need anymore medicine, and if you do all I gave her was some herbs. You can find them anywhere, really." He said. Nova stifled a growl. "Bastard.. Your research is killing the town, and you don't even care." She said, thinking of the little girl. "Don't be over dramatic." He said, glancing at her barely in time to dodge her fist. She had charged at him to land a punch. "We're trying to help the town, not kill it." He said, move if again to dodge her. Nova was ticked, and on the offense. "You're a liar!"
Edward shook his head at the guy. "You really have no idea about us, do you? If you did your research, you would know we care for people and do our best to help them, not hide away in some mansion and potentially hurt the people. Have you even talked to them? Seen how they're living or how badly they're suffering?" he questioned, annoyed that this kid was taking their reputation and ringing it through mud like this. Russel grabbed Nova's hand the next time she tried to hit him. "Calm down, let me explain." He said to her, then looked at Edward. "If the officers hear, they'll come running and then there will be trouble for all of us." He said. "We've talked to them, we know the state the town is in, that's why we're trying to finish it. We can't stop now." He said.
A smaller boy poked his head into the room, after hearing his brother. Edward stepped forward, gently placing a hand on Nova's shoulder. "Tell us everything. There might be a way we can help." He told him, wanting to understand everything that was going on. Al noticed the boy and tilted his head, not expecting someone so young to be here too. Nova jerked her hand free and calmed down a bit when Ed placed a hand on her shoulder. Russel shook his head. "I can't do that, Edward." He said quietly. "It wasn't supposed to be like this.." The smaller one murmured, ducking behind the door some. "All we wanted was to help them.. Our father started the research, with his friend Belsio. But he vanished a long time ago.." Fletcher spoke, causing Russel to blink and look at him with surprise.
"He could tell you more, if you wanted." Fletcher added. Listening to the kid, Edward looked at them both. "Just tell us what's going on, okay? We won't try to stop you from completing your father's work, but maybe we can help you finish it without harming the rest of the town and the natural world around you. I saw the decaying plants on our way up here, something is harming that life too, and if you truly care about others, rather than your stubborn pride, we can help everyone." He stated, frowning while he did. "Please, we just want to understand what you're trying to do." Al asked, looking between the brothers. Russel remained quiet and Nova blinked. "Edward.." She murmured, glancing at him. The officers were coming, which meant they had spent enough time trying to reason with this guy.
Russel raised an eyebrow, but decided against saying something. Edward nodding his head at Nova's warning. "Look, we tried giving you a chance to let us help…" he said and motioned for Al to follow them. "But, believe me when I say this. Trying to seek approval from an absent father won't bring him back." He told the elder brother coldly. "Let's go." He made his way over to one of the windows and jumped out with Al following behind. The window wasn't far from the ground.