(Central Library/First Branch)

**Ed P.O.V**

        What should’ve been a few days by train turned into almost two miserable months jammed in the back of a clunky military truck. With the rails being down, we had no choice but to crawl across the countryside... Detours for washed-out roads, collapsed bridges, soldiers waving us off another ten to twenty miles every other day.
        Every stop just dragged it out more. Armstrong would barter with farmers for fuel, Al would try to keep me calm, and me? I spent half the trip yelling or punching the dash just to keep from losing it. Almost three months wasted on dirt roads and cheap inns, while everything important kept slipping further away from us. So when Central finally came into view, I thought, "Finally." Finally, we’d catch up. Finally, we’d get answers.
        And then we pulled up to the library. Or… what was left of it.
        Nothing but blackened rubble, the place burned to the ground just the night before. I just stood there, staring, then I lost it. Again.
        “You’ve GOT to be kidding me! Two months of this crap! Two months of sleeping in barns, choking down mystery stew, wasting time, and the one place we needed, the one place that mattered, IT’S GONE?!”
        My fists clenched so tight they shook. I wanted to scream, to smash the ruins apart myself, but what good would it do? The trail was gone. Everything we needed, everything we’d pinned our hopes on; up in smoke.
        "All of Dr. Marcoh’s research… It’s all gone!" I shouted, my voice cracking.
        “I can’t believe it…” Al muttered.
        Al and I started looking through what was left of the library, like idiots searching for scraps, trying to find something that survived. I picked up a burnt book only to have it instantly turn to ash.
        “There’s nothing left here but ashes... Everything’s gone.” I muttered.
        “Major Armstrong!” A woman's voice came from behind the three of us.
        We turned to see two soldiers in uniform, saluting stiffly.
        “Well, Second Lt. Ross and Sergeant Brosh, to what do we owe this pleasure?” Armstrong asked.
        “You have been ordered to report back to the Command Center, sir!” Ross said, while Brosh said, “We will be taking over the supervision of Edward Elric and his brother immediately!”
        “Hmph… Very well then; they’re yours,” Armstrong said with a sparkle appearing around his head.
        “What is this?! Just when we think we’re home free, they saddle us with more bodyguards. This is getting old!” I complained.

~~~***~~~***~~~

        “All might not be lost; there was a woman who was well acquainted with the materials in the First Branch.” Ross told us while we were all sitting in the back of a car, “Unfortunately… she's no longer working there.”
        “That sounds incredibly helpful…” I muttered, crossing my arms and glaring out the window.
        “Something wrong?” I heard Al ask.
        “Oh, it’s nothing… Although if you don’t mind me asking, why're you wearing a suit of armor?”
        Al and I froze. Our eyes met for half a second, then we both looked away at the same time.
        “It’s a hobby!” we blurted out in unison.
        Ross and Brosh exchanged confused whispers, clearly not buying it. I elbowed Al, desperate to change the subject.
        “So… What do you think, Al? Nice view, huh?”
        “Oh yeah,” Al said immediately, “it’s gorgeous!”

(Mysterious Woman’s Place)

        We had finally reached this woman’s place, knocking on the door, only to push the door open into… books. Piles and piles of them, stacked floor to ceiling, leaning in precarious towers with barely enough space to walk. Thin little paths wound between the stacks like a maze.
        “There’s got to be hundreds in here!” I said, amazed.
        “Is there really someone living in this place?” Brosh asked while we all began to squeeze through the piles of books, searching for the girl. “Ms. Sheska, are you here?” Ross called.
        “Um…brother…?” Al's voice came from behind me.
        I turned just in time to see him pointing. Sure enough, from beneath one of the mountains of books, a single hand was sticking up and waving weakly.
        “There’s someone under there!” I exclaimed.
        All four of us scrambled forward, clawing at the piles and digging until, sure enough, we unearthed the poor woman, Sheska herself, half-buried under her own library.

~~~***~~~***~~~

        We all sat down on the floor as the girl scrambled upright, bowing so fast her glasses nearly fell off.
        “I’m so sorry! I got myself trapped under a mountain of books!” she blurted, fixing them nervously. “I thought I was going to suffocate under there; thank you so much for saving me!”
        “So, are you Sheska?” I asked just to confirm.
        “Yes.” She nodded.
        “And you worked at the library?”
        Her whole face lit up, hugging herself with this starry-eyed look. “Yes! It was beautiful! I’ve loved books ever since I first learned to read; being surrounded by them every day, it was heaven!” Then, just as quickly, her expression crashed. “But I could never stop reading, even when I was supposed to be working… so they fired me. And if I can’t find another job, I’ll never get my poor mother into a better hospital. I’m hopeless. The only thing I’m good at is reading. I’ll never be hired again as long as I live! I’m useless!”
        The room went awkwardly silent as Al, Ross, Brosh, and I all exchanged glances.
        “There was actually one thing we wanted to ask you,” Al said gently.
        “Yes?” she asked, wiping her eyes.
        “Do you remember seeing anything by a Tim Marcoh?” I asked, leaning forward.
        "Let's see..." She thought as she tapped her chin. “Tim Marcoh… Marcoh… Oh! Yes, of course! Now I remember!”
        “Really?!” Al and I shouted at the same time.
        “Oh yes, I’m absolutely positive. There were some handwritten notes tucked into a bookcase where they didn’t belong.”
        “The notes were real after all!” I said, my chest surging with relief, only for the high to plummet. “… Which means they burned up with everything else.”
        “Did you want to read them? Is that why you’re asking?” She asked.
        “Yeah, but it’s too late now. It’s nothing but ashes…” I muttered.
        “Sorry to bother you,” Al added, turning for the door.
        But then her voice piped up again. “I remember everything that was in them. If that would help?”
        We froze. Spun around and ran up to her wide-eyed as she continued, “It’s just the way I am. I’m able to remember the contents of any book I’ve read. It’ll take a while, but I can get it for you.”
        Al practically danced on the spot while I rushed forward, grabbing her hands. “You’re amazing, bookworm!”
        “Uh… you’re welcome?”

(Time Skip/Sheska’s Place)

        “Here you are! Complete copies of Tim Marcoh’s notes!” Sheska exclaimed, dropping several thick stacks of paper onto the table. She looked exhausted, but her eyes shone. “Sorry… I know a week was a long time to wait, but it was quite a lot to write down.”
        “Unbelievable. There are some amazing people in this world.” Al said in awe.
        “These are really his notes?” I asked, thumbing through a stack. “They sure are; come and take a look at them. Written by Tim Marcoh, 1000 Easy Recipes!”        
        Al, Ross, and Brosh all froze with wide eyes.
        “... What part of this made you think it was an important document?” Brosh asked flatly, looking through the stacks.
        “Eh? Is it not what you wanted?” she asked.
        “Sheska,” I pressed, leaning forward, “you’re absolutely certain this is a perfect reproduction of what you read?”
        “Oh yes! 100 percent certain!” she declared, chest puffed out proudly.        
        “… Then thank you very much,” I said with a small smile. “You’re incredible.”
        I scribbled a number on a slip of paper, then handed it and my pocket watch to Ross. “Here, Lieutenant. That’s my registration number and ID. Withdraw that amount from my annual research grants, and make sure Sheska gets it.”
        Ross nodded firmly. “Understood. I’ll take this straight down to the State Alchemist's office.”
        “Good. That should cover it,” I said, scooping up a few of the stacks.
        “You’re a lifesaver, Sheska. Thank you!” Al added as we left the apartment.
        The door clicked shut behind us, and then, a beat later, came the sound of Ross and Sheska's panicked shouting echoing down the hall.
        I smirked to myself as Al, Brosh, and I continued on our way.

~~~***~~~***~~~

(Central Library/Second Branch)

        “I don’t understand… These are cookbooks.” Brosh said, scratching his head.
        I was flipping through some of the packets while Al was near a bookcase, grabbing a few.
        “What could they possibly have to do with alchemy?” Brosh continued.
        “Alchemy’s a powerful art,” I said, showing him a page filled with strange ratios. “It can be incredibly dangerous if misused. That’s why research is always encrypted. What looks like recipes…” I tapped the margin, “…are actually coded alchemic notes.”
        “They’re designed to be hidden in plain sight,” Al added, setting a stack of books down. “Only the alchemist who wrote them would know how to read the key.”
        “If they’re so heavily encrypted, then how will you decipher them?”
        “It won’t be easy,” I admitted, though I couldn’t help the fire in my chest. “But with everything Al and I know about alchemy, we’ll figure it out.”
        “Wow, sir. That sounds really complicated,” Brosh said, clearly out of his depth.
        I ignored him, scanning another page. My eyes caught on a passage. “Al, there’s a section in here about green tea…”
        “Green tea? Brother, are you thinking what I’m thinking?”
        A smirk spread across my face. “Yeah. Could be a reference to the green lion.”

(A Few Days Later)

        “Why does this encryption have to be so damn hard?!” I shouted, slamming my pen down so hard it nearly ripped through the page. My brain felt like mush from staring at these notes for so long.
        “I don’t know. Maybe we should just ask Dr. Marcoh directly?” Al suggested, voice calm as ever.
        I glared at him. “No way! That’d be admitting defeat! We’ve made it this far; we’re cracking it ourselves!”
        Al tilted his head. “Honestly, it’s not as bad as Tucker’s lessons… remember? Back when Nik would leave us those notes about alkahestry and healing transmutations? Remember that arm she tried so hard to get us to heal?”
        I groaned and rubbed my temples. “Ugh, don’t remind me. Those things were brutal. It’s like she wanted to fry our brains on purpose. At least Marcoh just hides everything under fake cookbook garbage. Nicole’s notes? You’d spend a week just trying to figure out where to start.”
        Al chuckled. “Yeah, even then, she’d tell us we were still doing it wrong. Healing alchemy is… way more complicated than deciphering.”
        “Tell me about it,” I muttered, tapping the page with my pen. “Compared to that nightmare, this should be easy. Just stupid. And slow.”
        “Um… excuse me?”
        Al and I turned toward the doorway. Sheska stood there, half-hiding behind Brosh, her glasses sliding down her nose.
        “Sheska.” I sighed.