4Only two weeks into the New Year had passed and Lynne Somerstone had already broken her first resolution: don't kill anyone.
The fifteen-year-old had experienced an unexpected burst in alchemic power and had tried to contain it by hiding herself away underneath the porch of what seemed to be an abandoned house, hoping to ride out the shocks and wait for it all to end.
Unfortunately, someone- you could call the poor guy a good Samaritan- heard her faint whimpers of effort and had reached out to touch her, hoping to help, despite her cries not to. The alchemic energy proved too much for him and overexerted his nervous system, thus killing him.
She wanted to keep her promise to him, the only one she could love without the fear of being judged. He accepted her, knowing what she was and what she had done to her sister. What she had done to their older brother's memory. Shivering in the cold and unrelenting rain, she began to sob, thinking about how unfair it all was.
She really wished that she hadn't managed to be captured that day, bastardized by the military as their sickening experiment. The scars on her arms reminded her everyday what foreign substances they introduced into her bloodstream.
The unsettling squirming sensation, followed by the electrifying pain that traveled excruciatingly slowly throughout her body. Their souls could be heard to this very day, whinnying, barking, roaring, screaming; whichever way they could communicate to get their anguish across.
The side effects of their experiment had been deadly.
Her organs weren't able to function normally, and she would go into coughing fits that caused her to regurgitate blood, painfully convulsing until her body decided it had expelled enough of the substance to continue on.
And if she allowed the charge of alchemic energy to consume her in excess, she was turned into an artificial human being, otherwise known as a Homunculus.
The Homunculus could be classified as a split identity, which constantly battled for the control of Lynne's body. She called herself "Apathy", given her uncaring and relentless personality. Lynne would thank her for the silence she provided her with whenever she became active, if it weren't for her insensitive commentary.
"Edward…I'm sorry," the troubled girl murmured, watching as the dead man's body began to lose its color. Blood started to form a haunting halo around the body, spreading and staining Lynne's shoes. It was a shame too, because Edward had bought her those the first day they met…
A droning voice chuckled dryly at the brief memory.
Maybe if you had changed them from time to time, this wouldn't have happened, Apathy commented.
"Maybe you wouldn't know the significance behind them," Lynne snapped back.
It seemed ages ago…
"Colonel Mustang's niece?" Havoc practically shrieked.
"Calm down Havoc. She's here to visit her uncle that's all." Riza replied.
Lynne peeked out from behind Riza. She was 12 years old and pretty shy. Being at the military was a new experience, and all the noise and people crowding and greeting her made her shrink further behind Riza, feeling self-conscious and embarrassed.
As Riza and Havoc began talking, there was a loud crash from behind them, that made her jump, letting out a quiet gasp. Riza and Havoc disregarded it as though it were typical, but she found her curiosity piqued, and turned to see what exactly had happened.
She found a most intriguing sight behind her.
A huge pile of armor was lying haphazardly on the ground, and beneath the metal pieces was a blonde boy with his hair pulled back in a braid.
After a moment, she raced over to the boy, laughing under her breath quietly. She began pulling the pieces of armor off of him, trying to help him get free as they looked pretty heavy. Once she got to the helmet, however, she was met with a surprise.
"Thank you for helping us, miss!"
She screamed and dropped the helmet on the ground, jumping back a step and staring in shocked horror at it.
Riza came running. "What happened Miss Somerstone?!"
Lynne pointed at the head and stammered, "I-it t-t-talks!"
Riza couldn't help but smile at this, holding back a laugh, opening her mouth to reply, only to be cut off by the blonde who had been covered in the armor beforehand.
"Of course he talks, he's my brother! My name's Edward, Edward Elric. Also known as the Fullmetal Alchemist. Perhaps you've heard of me?" He asked, grinning at her proudly.
The suit of armor (which had been piecing himself together) sat up and reattached his head. "My name is Alphonse Elric, but you can call me Al."
Lynne blinked once and cautiously moved closer to the two boys, walking around Edward in a circle once, then bursting into peals of laughter. "Wow! A pipsqueak like you drives Mustang nuts? That's my job!"
Edward blushed and began yelling at her "WHO ARE YOU CALLING A TINY, PUNY PIPSQUEAK?!"
Lynne smiled and replied coolly, "You, duh!" Then she turned, laughing, and walked into Central.
Ed stood there stunned for a moment, then followed her in.
"Oh Uncle Mus~tang!" Lynne sang out.
Mustang turned around in his seat at his desk, and groaned. "Oh no! Not now!"
A/N: The introduction to Lynne was written by Beryl Bloodstone. To all my readers, be sure to check out Beryl's stories. I hope you enjoy!