572. Van Hohenheim

Van Hohenheim was a deceptively ancient and extremely powerful Alchemist as well as the estranged father of Edward and Alphonse Elric. Van Hohenheim was also known as slave #23 and was a citizen of Xerxes and a regular human being who was employed by King Xerxes' alchemist.

This alchemist was an experimenter and managed to create a being, the Dwarf in the Flask, as a result of alchemy while using Hohenheim's blood.

Unknowingly, this created a bond between the Dwarf and Hohenheim.

The Dwarf gave the slave a name, Van Hohenheim, before allying with him in order to turn the citizens of Xerxes into a philosopher's stone without Hohenheim's knowledge. Once this was successful, Hohenheim, as a human, had over 500,000 souls within his blood, giving him great power and a body that never ages.

After that, in despair, he aimlessly went east and reached the country of Xing. When Hohenheim's alchemic knowledge was combined with the rudimentary form of alchemy being studied in Xing, Alkahestry was born. The Xingese people called him the "Sage of the West."

Eventually, Hohenheim left Xing and spent centuries abroad accumulating knowledge regarding the world's different customs and practices. He also continued his communication with the thousands of souls trapped within him, 536,329, until he learned all their names and heard all their pleas.

Once all of them had been heard they finally calmed down giving Hohenheim some peace of mind and he continued his endless journey throughout the country but continued speaking to the souls within him to keep them calm. He later arrived in the growing country of Amestris and settled for a time in a small East Area town known as Resembool.

Due to his devotion to Alchemy and his own internal conflicts, people around him seemed to have an impression that he was cold, but instead, he was an unexpectedly softhearted, kindly individual who was quick to give compliments but loath to accept them. Even after so many years, he still loathed himself because he thought of himself as a monster because he became a Human Philosopher's Stone.

He was resolved to find a way to end his immortality and grow old and die together with his beloved Trisha, but also feared failure and watching his family die.

Unfortunately, while perusing countless Alchemical texts in order to find a way to reverse the effect of what the Homunculus had done to him, Van made a shocking discovery, that the very nation of Amestris was built and designed from scratch as to be a much larger and more devastating repeat of the tragedy that had befallen Xerxes - a gigantic Transmutation Circle for the purpose of turning all of the country's inhabitants into a new Philosopher's Stone. So, to protect his loved ones, he decided to stop it.

After explaining to Trisha that he was leaving and promising that they would die together, Van Hohenheim departed from the house and Resembool in 1904.

But, sadly, that day never came as Trisha died much earlier than him. The regret and self-loathing in his heart increased for himself as he knew that if he was there he could have saved her and what was worse that his two sons were left alone after that.

He stood by the grave of his wife again before heading to the Central. ~Trisha, forgive me. I couldn't keep my promise to you. I wish that heavens exist so I can meet you there, but I also know that I'm not a good man. I would never receive heaven after my death. But I promise you, I will protect Ed and Al, even if it costs my life.~

With that promise, he left for the Central.

...

It was not just him, all the major Businessmen, Government and Military officials, General in-charge of Aerugo and Creta and also the President of Drachma were headed to the Central City.

It was obvious that something was going to be announced that day. Something that would probably shake many people.

...

Edward, Alphonse, Hats and Ajax were also in Central and they were just chilling at the Mustang's office.

"Meow... give me some milk." Hats demanded.

Mustang's eyes twitched, "Get out of my office, this is not a circus."

Ajax quickly defended Hats, "Come on, Colonel. How can you be so heartless? He's just a cat."

"No, he's not just a cat. Cats don't speak and they certainly can't fight a Homunculi and kill it with bare hands." Mustang barked.

Hats huffed, "Huh, if you stay being this grumpy, you will never find a girl to mate with. How will you further your bloodline? I recommend you change your attitude, young man."

"Who are you calling a young man? I am older than you." Mustang argued.

"Mwahaha... no one in this room is older than me." Hats laughed.

"Oh really? Then how old are you?" Edward asked in ridicule.

"I am about 1,223,456 million years old." Hats honestly replied.

Hearing that, everyone except Ajax laughed loudly.

"Do you even know how many zeros are in a million?" Mustang ridiculed him.

"Huh, stupid humans." Hats scoffed and went to sleep.

"Colonel, we must find this Father guy, who knows when he will activate that circle?" Edward asked, changing to the mood of the room back to seriousness.

"I know, Edward. I have sent people in search of him all around the country. He must be inside Amestris somewhere." Mustang assured him.

Ajax quickly interjected, "Hey, why don't you guys try to look under the Central City? I mean, I've read in comics that many times the big bad guy has a secret lair under the place where nobody expects them to be."

Mustang's eyes stayed open for a while as he looked at Edward for a second.

-_-

"DAMMIT," Mustang got up and stormed out of the room and called his bodyguard, Riza Hawkeye.

...

Meanwhile, a huge crowd had gathered below the stairs of the Central Command building. A big platform was set there and Alexander had invited Lt. General Grumman, newly promoted Lt. General Armstrong, Lt. General Iroh, Lt. General Dobby and Lt. General Leonidas.

All of these were the closest allies of him and he knew that they would not turn bad. The crowd of people had gathered there to listen to him. Many who knew about the man in the long coat and weird hat were shocked. They didn't know why the President of Drachma was here.

Fuhrer King Bradley also had a seat for himself. He looked calm from outside but he wasn't able to move his body at all and not open his mouth on his own. It was as if a ghost had taken control over his body. He couldn't imagine it being Alchemy as he had not seen such ability before. Too bad for him, it was magic.

Alexander went to the podium and started speaking.

"My beloved people of Amestris, I have a big good announcement to make but also bad news." He started.

[You can see Dwarf, Hohenheim and the central command on my Discord - https://discord.gg/DgHkrAn OR see them on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/mister_immortal_novel]

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