This is my first fanfic. All reviews are welcome! Enjoy!
Disclaimer: Full Metal Alchemist is not mine.
Noontime was the busiest time in Munich. People were bustling everywhere to do things ranging from selling goods to delivering a message, or just having fun and talking to their friends. Ed and Al were walking to a mechanic's shop to get some oil for Ed's automail. A person passed them. Suddenly Ed stopped.
"Al, did you just see that?" Ed asked.
"See what?" Al stopped, too. "All I see is people doing their everyday things."
"Envy." There was malice in that word. Ed started to move in a different direction than the one to the mechanic's shop. Al grabbed Ed's shoulders to halt him.
"Wait Brother, stop and think for a moment, how could Envy be here? He's a green dragon and he can't shape-shift as long as he is trapped at his side of the Gate, remember?" Ed ignored his brother's pleading.
"I don't care. All I care about is that I. Just. Saw. Envy!" growled Ed. He tried to shrug Al's hand off, but Al only held on tighter. "Al, let go before I lose track of him." That was said with forced calmness.
"Are you sure that was Envy?" questioned Al, trying one last time to stop his brother from running into trouble.
"Yes, that was Envy. That person had long dark hair, and was wearing short dark clothes." With a sudden burst of energy, he tore Al's hand from him and ran in pursuit. Al ran after him.
When Al caught up to Ed. He was panting. It was late in the afternoon. They had been running for an hour now.
"Brother, are you sure you're right?" Al carefully asked.
"Yes," Ed defiantly answered "that is defiantly Envy." Envy ducked into an alley.
"Now's our chance." Ed ran into the ally and tackled him to the ground. "Alright Envy, how did you do it?"
"Excuse me, but I think you have mistaken me for someone else. I don't think my name's Envy, and what exactly did this person do to make you act like this?" said the person on the ground.
"What?" Ed owlishly blinked. He let the person up. He could clearly see the person now. First of all, he was not a he. He was a she. Second, although her hair was dark colored, it was obviously not green and shared a great resemblance to a palm tree. Only the bangs were spiky-like. Third, she didn't have the smirk that Envy usually had on his face. And fourth, she didn't have the Ouroboros mark on her.
"Ha, Brother, I told you it wasn't Envy!" Al said, triumphantly.
"Alright, alright, so I made a mistake." Ed grudgingly said. "But she does look like Envy." He added.
"You should apologize." Prodded Al.
"Stop it, Al!" Ed grumbled, "I'm not." Al glared at Ed. "Okay, okay, I'll apologize." He turned directly to the person and said, "I'm sorry. There, I said it. You can go home now."
"Apology accepted. Now, who's this Envy person that you mistook me for?" the girl asked.
"Brother, should we tell her?" Al whispered.
"No." Ed whispered back and in a louder voice, he said, "It's none of your business."
"Yes it is. You mistook me for a person that I have no idea who he or she is."
"You don't need to know."
"So, just tell me."
"No."
"Please."
"No."
"Please."
The banter continued until Ed gave up and agreed to tell her.
"Oh, why not, it's not like we're going back anyway. The gate's destroyed. But Al, you're telling her." Ed said. Al happily complied, glad that they settled the argument.
"Let's see, where to start." He said. "It's quite a long story. Why don't you come to our apartment? The story might take a while."
The girl appeared to think about it for some time, and then agreed.
There was silence; only a clock's gentle ticking on the wall was to be heard. Then it broke.
"So, what exactly do these transmutation circles look like?" the girl asked. Al rummaged on his desk for a piece of spare paper. Ed had fallen asleep in the middle of the narration.
"Here, this is a transmutation circle looks like." He drew one on the paper. "This one, for example, is for creating fire in the air."
"Like the one that Colonel what's-his-name had on his gloves had of ignition cloth, or something?"
"Yes and his name is Mustang. Colonel Mustang. Al paused and looked outside. "Won't you're parents be worried about you?"
The girl's eyes avoided him. "No." For the first time, she looked like she was uncomfortable in his presence.
"Really?" Al was surprised.
"They're away." She quietly answered.
"Where?"
"They're gone to somewhere. I don't know where."
"I'm sorry." Al was sympathetic now.
"Don't be, they're better off without me."
"How can that be?"
There was a pause, and then the girl decided that the conversation was getting too personal for her. She swiftly changed the subject.
"I think I saw a transmutation circle somewhere in the town."
"Really? Where?" Al was excited. All thoughts about the girl's past were gone. The last time he saw a transmutation circle on this side of the Gate that was not drawn by him or his brother was the one that opened the Gate on this side, but that wouldn't work anymore. The one the girl mentioned couldn't be the one that Eckhart used. That area was guarded too carefully. If there was another circle here it might help them get home! "Can you show me right now?"
"I would show you where it is right now, but its pretty far away, all the way across town and it's already nightfall." Al sighed. She had a point, the story did take a long time and it was dark already. Trying to be patient, he thought Brother and I have been waiting for five years, we can wait for one more day. He motioned to his bed.
"You can use it. I'll sleep on the floor."
"No, I'll sleep on the floor, you live here after all." She protested. Al tried to persuade her to use the bed and he use the floor, but she kept on protesting, until at last, they agreed that Al would share a bed with Ed, and she would sleep on Al's bed.
In the morning, Al told Ed the news and Ed insisted that they went now, but the girl warned them.
"I would advise you to eat now. It's all the way across town." Ed wasn't happy, but he knew she was right.
After they ate, the girl asked, "Do you want to go the fast way, which is a little dangerous, or do you want to go the slow way, which is completely safe."
"Wouldn't the dangerous way be, well, dangerous for you?" asked Al. The girl shook her head.
"No, I've done it countless times before. I'm just worried about you two."
"Are you sure about this?" the girl asked worriedly. She had just explained what the fast way was and what the slow way was. The fast way was jumping on the rooftops of the houses and shops. You could fall and break an arm or leg, or worse. The slow way was just walking across town, which was completely safe.
"We'll be fine." Ed said impatiently. "Right Al?" Al just nodded and sighed. Sometimes his brother could be a little reckless.
They took a left turn into an alley. The girl pointed at hole in the ground.
"We're going in that. Any protests?" There was none. "Good." And then, jumped in. "Yes! I love this." She exclaimed. Her voice faded away. About a minute later, there was a soft thump. "Hey are you guys coming or what? Just jump. It's perfectly safe.
"Brother, are you sure about this?" Al had explained what happened last night to Ed.
"Yes," but he didn't look to sure himself. Jumping down into a hole with the thought of he didn't know what was at the other end doesn't really appease to him, even if it was tested already.
"Oh, what am I waiting for?" And he jumped.
"Brother, wait for me!" And Al jumped, too.
The tunnel ran sharply down until it was nearly vertical. Add in the minute time span, you get a whirlwind of terror. Just when Ed when about to seriously panic, he landed to see a girl laughing.
"Oh, you should have seen you face!" she choked out, "it was priceless!" Al slid to stop next to Ed.
"Did I miss something?" he asked.
"Ye-" Ed cut her off. "No, you didn't." He turned his head to face the girl. "Now, where's the transmutation circle you were talking about?"
"Oh, right this way." She ran into one of the 3 tunnels in the wall. "Are you coming of not?" said her voice, echoing in the tunnel. The two brothers glanced at each other and ran after her.
"How long is this tunnel anyways?" whined Ed. They had been going on for a long time now.
"Not long."
Pretty soon, a white speck appeared. As it grew larger, Ed and Al saw a huge room. The walls were all smoothed to make a dome appearance. And right there in the middle was what they had been looking for, the transmutation circle. It covered the whole floor. Ed's breath was blown away by its complexity. Al was already kneeling on the floor retracing the circle with chalk.
"Brother, come and help me." Al broke into Ed's thoughts. Ed withdrew a piece of chalk from his pocket and began retracing the circle, too.
"Um, can I help?" she asked.
"Yes, if you want." Al said, and snapped his chalk in half and handed a half to her. "All you have to do is trace the circle over. The important thing is to trace it precisely." She nodded.
"There, finally done!" Ed smiled. "Reminds you of the old times, doesn't it Al?"
"Yeah," Al said softly, "but do you think it will work? We did trace it over, but we still can't use alchemy on this side of the Gate."
"Oh, let's just try it for the sake of it the old times." Ed knelt down and placed his hands and the circles edge. Al was right next to him doing the same.
"Um, should I do that too?" asked the only person that wasn't kneeling on the ground.
"Sure, it's not like it's going to work. As Al said, alchemy can't be used on this side of the Gate. It can only be used on the other side, which is impossible to go to anymore since we destroyed the Gate on this side and I bet Mustang did the same on the other side." Said Ed. The girl knelt down too, mirroring the brothers. Ed and Al exchanged glances.
"Ready Al?" asked Ed. Al nodded. Then they said in unison, "One, two, three." They pressed down on the ground.
"I guess it really doesn't work." Said Ed sadly. "Oh well, it wasn't supposed to anyways. Suddenly, the circle began to glow blue.
"Brother, I wouldn't say that too soon." Al exclaimed. The light flared and enveloped the whole room.
The Gate appeared in the middle of the circle. It creaked open, black hands stretched out and grabbed the three. Thousands of eyes looked at them. There was muttering. The three could very faintly distinguish what they were saying. They were saying something about a toll, a payment. Ed and Al where wearing horrified expressions and the girl had a confused and horrified expression. Now, they were being pulled in, frozen in shock. The Gate slowly creaked closed, and disappeared.
"Brother! What are we supposed to do? The circle wasn't supposed to work. We didn't bring anything to pay for the toll!" yelled Al, but Ed couldn't hear him, they three were separated in the Gate.
"Al, Al, where did he go?" Ed was frantically calling Al's name. "Where did that girl go to, too?"
"Brother are you alright?" asked Al worriedly. They had just come out of the Gate. In the distance, thunder crashed
"I suppose," grumbled Ed, "Where's that girl?" He got up and started walking around, looking for her.
"Oh no!" Al was mortified, "I forgot all about her!" Then he began running around looking for her too. Later, Ed felt something tap on his shoulder. He glanced, and then inwardly groaned. It was raining.
"Al, we better find her quick. It's starting to rain." Ed told Al, quickening his pace. They frantically searched. Finally, Ed called out, "Al, I found her! Hurry! She's not looking too good." That was a huge exaggeration. Al soon found that out. When he came to the scene, Ed was adjusting the unconscious girl onto his back.
"Brother, what are you doing?" Al's face was pale. The girl's arm was missing and bleeding, thickly.
"We need to find some shelter and find out where exactly are we." Ed stepped away in a direction. "Come on, we need to find a tree or something."
The two searched and was granted by the sight of a huge tree looming in front of them. It was perfect for shelter. It was so massive that an area around the base was entirely dry, and nearby, there was a pine tree where they could gather some pine needles to lay on. They quickly constructed a makeshift bed and set the girl onto it. They could now see that the bleeding had slackened. Ed white shirt and brown vest was covered with blood on the right side now.
"Al, we can't do anything, can we?"
"No, Brother. We can't do anything except rest and wait for the rain to stop."
"Brother, wake up." Al shook Ed. Ed swatted his hand away. "Brother!" With a groan, Ed cracked his eye open, taking note of their surroundings.
"Al, where are we? We're not at home." He yawned. Then realization hit him like a bullet. "Al! The rain stopped! Why didn't you wake me?"
"I tried, but you kept on saying five more minutes." They fought a bit more for a minute or two. Then Ed interrupted the argument.
"Oh, what are we doing, we need to get moving, now!" They both talked for a while deciding on what to do. They agreed on Al scouting the area since they didn't think that the people nearby, if there were any, would want to help if they saw Ed's bloodied shirt.
Soon, Al came running back. "Brother, Brother, we're in Resembool!" He came shouting. "We're back home! We're back home!"
"Al, stop joking. Now really, where are we?" said Ed seriously.
"I'm not joking!" protested Al. "Take a look around." Ed inspected their surroundings. The houses, the trees, the valley side, they all seemed familiar. Sure, it was a little different, but it was Resembool. Suddenly, Ed was nervous.
"Al, if we're in Resembool, which means that Winry's here too!" Ed said horrified. He winced noticeably. He could imagine it now, Winry holding a wrench and yelling at him for being gone so long, and then hitting his head with the wrench causing him to have a concussion.
"Well, we have no choice. We have to face her anyways." Al commented. "Besides, we can get automail for the girl." Ed grumbled for a bit, and then unhappily agreed. Trust Al to find the worst decision and make it seem like a good one with logic.
They waited until nighttime.
"We should be there in about 15 minutes or so." Said Al.
"Just as long as we get there." Ed grumbled.
Knock. Knock.
"Grandma, can you go get the door?" called Winry from inside the house. Footsteps approached the door.
"Yes?" Then, the pipe dropped from the woman's mouth when she realized who it was. Al caught her before she could fall to the ground.
"Grandma, who is it?" Winry came stomping downstairs. Immediately, she had a wrench in her hand, ran to the ones at the door, and hit them all on the head. When she was going to hit the girl, she stopped.
"Who is she? I don't think I know her. And her arm! How could you do that to the poor girl!" Winry continued the wrench banging with no mercy. Finally Ed spoke up between the wrench throw.
"Winry, if don't think this is a good idea. We need to get this girl treated as soon as possible." Winry stopped, realizing the seriousness of the injury.
"Come this way!" Winry let them to a room and then shooed the boys out.
"Grandma! I need help here!" Pinako went rushing into the room and closed the door.
"Brother, the only thing we can do now is," Al was cut off.
"Yeah. The only thing can do now is wait. Again."
Hours passed. Ed had lost track of the time. Al had fallen asleep. He deserved it, but Ed was wide-awake. He couldn't sleep. He was thinking about what Winry said. It was his fault that the girl was injured, and he didn't even know her name! All she did was help him and his brother. And what she gets back was the exact opposite! At last, the closed door opened. Pinako came out.
"Well, boys. It seems like she lost a lot of blood, but the wound itself was not too bad overall since it's the same as yours was and now we know how to treat it. Winry came out.
"You can come in and see her, but don't expect an answer yet." She warned. The two went in. What they saw was the girl neatly bandaged, sleeping on the bed. Thankfully, looking healthy. Ed looked close to the girl's face. Then, he yelped.
"Brother, what's wrong?" The girl moved.
"Ed, Al? What happened?"
"We were at the transmutation circle when it activated, remember?" She frowned.
"Sorry, but I don't think I remember. Now, to think about it, I don't remember anything besides your names. I don't even remember my own name."
"Then well just have to give you a name, right?" Al excitedly asked.
"Fine, but it has to be a reasonable name. No ridiculous names. If I don't like it or think it unreasonable, then it is not going to be my name. Got it?"
They nodded.
The group tried to find a name for the girl, but none of them matched her. Before long, Pinako noticed it was nighttime already.
"Alright everybody, go to bed, its dark outside already." There was some grumbling.
"Where am I going to sleep?" Ed asked. The room he just came out of was the room he usually slept in when he was staying at the Rockbell's house.
"You can sleep on the couch downstairs."
"Why the couch?" Ed complained, but he was too tired to actually protest.
"All done!" Winry proudly showed everyone the new automail arm she made for the girl. It was like Ed's except it was smoother and slimmer. Winry positioned the arm next to the port she installed the other day. "Ready?" The girl nodded. Winry connected the arm to the port. The air hissed as it forced itself between the clenched teeth as the nerves connected themselves. Surprisingly, it didn't hurt as much as the girl thought it would.
"Ed, Al, help me get her onto the bed." The two hurried to help Winry. After that, Winry went to the door.
"Come on, we don't want to wake her." The girl had gone to sleep. Ed and Al followed Winry and the room was empty except for the girl. The girl opened one eye. She looked around. There was nobody to be seen. She quietly got out of the bed and quickly ran across the hall outside of her room looking for an open window. She found one and jumped down, flipping in midair before landed softly on the ground.
Later, chaos would spread.
Thanks for reading the Prologue of To Be! Please review.