The Almighty Alchemist

Ch. 1

Deconstruction

It's a quiet Fall afternoon. The sun nears the horizon, casting a bright orange hue across the land.

In a tiny home, on the outskirts of a small village called Resembool, a family of three go about their business. A mother works outside, hanging clothes and sheets out to dry. A father sits in his study combing though books and documents of varying sorts while his young son sits on the floor nearby reading books the man has already finished.

"Hey dad?"

The father, Van Hohenheim, stops his reading to answer his son. The man's hair is golden, coming down to his shoulders and tied back in a pony tail while a beard with thick sideburns and a pair of glasses adorns his face. He's dressed in a smart brown vest with a white button shirt, brown slacks, and a black tie. His eyes, the same brilliant gold as his hair, peer down to his son.

"What is it, Son? Another question about the book?"

During the times Van would hold up in his study his son, Jaune, would usually join him and read through the dozens of books that adorned the shelves of the room. At first, they were to hard for him to grasp, but it seems the young boy was a prodigy in the field of science.

"Ya! It's about this thing here about Carbon. It says that it's one of the weakest materials in the world, but this other page says it's one of the strongest. How can it be both?" The boy's own golden eyes look to his father for an answer to the question that's been plaguing him.

A small smile comes to the father's face as he gets up from his chair and kneels next to his son. "Well, Jaune, while it's true that Carbon has varies degrees of hardness, it's in the way in which the atoms are arranged that allow this. By aligning the atoms in single layer hexagonal lattice, the bonds between the atoms makes the allotrope known as graphene, but if you have multiple layers of the same pattern it creates graphite, which is what pencil lead is made of."

"Does that mean it's possible to arrange the atoms in a way that makes them even stronger? If it has such varying forms, it should be possible." Jaune looks back towards the book, carefully looking over every detail of the research shown.

"Hahaha. You might just be right. We still don't know much about every element we have now. Each time we think we understand something about them we learn there's only more questions to answer. I'm afraid I don't have a definite answer to give right now."

Jaune looks a little discouraged at first, but eventually he shakes it off. "That's okay. Even if no one knows right now I'm sure we'll know someday. And if no one else figures it out then I'll just have to do it myself." The enthusiasm Jaune's giving off seems inspiring at first, but for the most part it simply looks like a childish promise. Whether or not that ends up being the case is up for the future to decide in the end.

"And I'm sure you will someday. You are your father's son after all." A new voice calls from the doorway revealing Trisha Hohenheim. Her hair is a bright chestnut color and her eyes are a vibrant green that helps complement her angelic face. She's wearing a simple purple dress with a white apron over the front.

In her arms is a basket full of the family's clothes that she pulled from outside. Van stands up and walks over towards his wife to help her. "Let me get that, Sweet heart. You've been running around all day doing housework. Let me at least do something."

Trisha hands over the basket and brings her hand up to the side of his face. "My, how lucky am I to have married such a perfect gentleman. And so handsome too."

Hearing the praise his father received Jaune gets up and runs over. "Me too! I wanna help mom too!"

"Not just one but two great men that wanna help me? My luck must really be great today." Trisha gives her son a pat on the head in appreciation as he stands under the basket and tries to carry it. From his expression it looks like he's trying his hardest to hold it up when Van's the one taking the bulk of the weight.

The three convene to the family room to fold the clothes together and relax as dinner draws near.

"By the way, the Rockbells and Arcs called earlier to ask if we wanted to come over for dinner tonight." Trisha informs the other two as they lounge in the living room.

Van reads over the newspaper, checking in on anything recent. "Oh, they did? What did you tell them?"

"I said we'd come if nothing happened. It'd be nice to have dinner with everyone. Plus, Isabella is about to have her second pair of twins and then there's Sarah and Yuriy's first kid. I heard they're both having girls. It might be the last dinner we can have with everyone in a while."

"I still find it hard to believe Michael and Isabella are actually about to have 5 children. We have enough on our plate dealing with this one here." Hohenheim rubs his sons head while he continues to read.

Jaune's face turns red as he smacks the hand away. "Hey, I'm not a bad kid. If anyone here's a naughty kid, it's you! Always holding up in your study reading. At least I actually go outside and play sometimes."

Trisha silently laughs at her son's rather accurate depiction of her husband. The insulted father, on the other hand, does seem like he's gonna let that go. "You call being dragged off to play dress up and being left at the mercy of the Arc girls as playing? Forgive me son, but I fear for your future if this is how you are now. Either being bossed around by women or locking yourself in the study to read. Not a great social life if you ask me."

The veins on Jaune's forehead start to pulse almost comedically as the two continue to bicker back and forth between each other. Meanwhile the matriarch of the household just looks on with a pleasant expression.

*Thump*

A loud crash comes from outside the domicile, breaking up the fight between the father and son. Trisha was closest to the window and decides to see what the commotion was. Peering outside she notices black figures moving along the tree near the house. Most of the land in Resembool is open fields for farm work, but there is a forest farther to the west, where the Hohenheim residence presides.

Trisha grows worried as she identifies the black beasts. The Grimm. Dark, malicious beings that spread death and destruction wherever they go. "What is it, dear? What's out there?"

It seemed the Van knew the answer to his own question when his wife turned to him with a dark expression. He gets up from his seat and heads over to the windows to close the shutters, hoping to keep themselves hidden from the threat. While he's doing this Trisha quietly walks over to her son and makes him get up.

Jaune looks at his parent's actions anxiously as he's unaware of the situation. "Mom? Dad? What's going on?"

His mother's hand covers his mouth as she puts a finger to her lips. "Sshh. Be quiet sweetie. We need to head down to the cellar quietly." Her words only cause Jaune to grow more anxious as his mother's worried eyes look at him. Realizing she's only scaring her son she calms down and forces herself to smile. "Jaune, I need you to be a brave boy for me. Can you do that?"

It seems like the smile was enough to calm him down as Jaune nods, assuring that he understands. "Alright. I can do that mom."

All three of them make their way to the cellar door when another crash is heard from the previous room. From the sound of it one of the windows broke. Low growls can be heard from the room along with pounding footsteps. It seems they've entered the house.

They finally arrive at the cellar entrance in the supply closet and start to fiddle with the lock when one of the monsters, a Beowolf, enters the hallway. It notices the trio and lets out a howl to alert the rest of its group. Van grabs a nearby shovel and prepares to defend his family.

"Get down in the cellar, quickly! I'll try and hold them off until you do." He charges at the beast while Trisha opens the cellar and places Jaune inside. Several more sounds come from behind. She turns and sees the downed from of her husband as blood starts to pool around him while the monster he was fighting tries to pick out the shovel lodged in its throat. Two more Grimm enter the hallway and make their way to the supply closet.

There's little time for Trisha to act so she decides to close both the supply closet and cellar door before throwing anything heavy nearby on top of it. Seeing that his mother just sealed him inside the panicked child starts to bang on the door.

"Mom! What's going on! Hey, Mom!" His tiny fists pound against the door as the supply closet is breached. The sudden burst startles him, causing him to tumble down the stairs and deeper into the cellar. The fall seems to have given him a slight concussion along with a low ringing sound in his ears. If not for that he might've heard as the Grimm tore his mother apart.

Jaune sits in the cellar in a stupor as he tries to get his bearings. While he's doing so the remaining beasts seemed to have caught a whiff of him and start to tear up the debris in their way.

The monsters are almost through when Jaune final regains himself. Realizing that very soon those horrendous creatures will break through he crawls towards the back of the cellar in a vain attempt to hide.

The cellar door finally breaks, allowing the two monsters inside. They crawl down and see the shivering form of the boy. One prepares to lunge at him while Jaune continues to shake in fear.

'I don't wanna die… Please just go away…. Mom… Dad… Please… Help me…'

The lunging Grimm throws itself at him, preparing to erase the last remnants of the family from the world.

"I SAID GO AWAY!"

As the boy screams a bright red light fills the room. Red bolts of lighting surge across the ground between him and the attackers. Suddenly, several spikes of earth shoot up and pierce the beast in the air through it's body while the other one receives a spike to the skull.

Neither creature could possibly survive the wounds inflicted upon them and soon fade away into black particles. Whether it was from the Grimm attack, the unknown condition of his parents, or the sudden event that just took place it was all too much for the young boy to take and he soon falls unconscious.

Not much time has passed after the Grimm descended upon the Hohenheim household. The pack that had attacked was rather small, only holding 5 in total. A passerby had seen the three that entered the house and ran to the village square to alert the town. While no Huntsmen lived in the village they had enough people with regular guns and weapons and headed towards the Hohenheim house.

When they arrived, there were two Beowolves prowling outside and surrounded them. It didn't take much to kill them and the group could enter the home. Some stayed outside while the rest entered, lead by Michael Arc and Yuriy Rockbell, who came to treat any wounded.

As the party makes their way through the home they come across the body of Van. There's no need to check his pulse as the surrounding pool of blood is a clear indication that he's passed. Going further in they see the remains of Trisha. Though remains might be a bit generous.

The scene was bleak, but Michael was still pushing on the group to continue.

"We still need to find Jaune! He could still be alive and injured." The large farmer uses a flashlight to peer down into the cellar for any sign of movement. "I'm gonna check things out down here. You all stay up here and see if you can find the boy."

Michael heads down alone and examines the basement. As he looks around he notices the rather large spikes that have appeared from the round. Their construction is rather strange. There's small patches along them, groves that go along the entirety of the construct.

'I didn't know Van even had a cellar. He's never mentioned it before.'

As he continues to look he notices that the room is rather sparse. There's nothing down here. Not even a single box for storage. As he peers past the spikes the light reveals the unconscious form of Jaune Hohenheim.

"Jaune!"

The soon to be father of 5 rushes over to check on the boy. After checking his pulse he's relieved that at least he's alive. He gathers the small child in his arms and takes him upstairs. Yuriy is waiting at the top of the steps and has Michael bring Jaune into the nearby bedroom to be looked at.

Using his medical instruments that he brought with him the doctor begins to do an inspection. Several more minutes go by as the doctor finishes up his check-up. A sigh of relief leaves the man's lips, letting the other occupant in the room know that the boy's alright at least.

"He's gonna be alright. Just a small concussion and minor bruises. Nothing major." Yuriy begins to put his tools away and picks up the still unconscious boy. "I'm gonna take him back to the village so we can get a better look, but I think we should be alright."

The remaining party members report back that no other Grimm have been spotted in the area and they all make their way back to the village. As the group draws near the village the large stone walls surrounding the town come into view. After passing through the gate everyone goes back to their business, a little more stressed than usual.

The two leaders enter the local doctor's office and set Jaune down on the table. Another person enters the room. This time it's a woman with two braided twin tails and dressed in a doctor's coat with a very pregnant belly showing.

"What happened?"

Yuriy grabs his own coat from a nearby rack and starts to get the necessary equipment. "A small group of Beowolves attacked the Hohenheim house. Jaune was injured and has a slight concussion."

"What about Van and Trisha?"

Michael, who at this point has stepped away to give the doctors room to work, speaks up. "It's not good Sarah. I'm afraid the monsters got to the before we could get there."

Sarah's expression turns sullen before she refocuses back to the issue at hand. She makes her way over to the table with her husband and start to go over the injured boy again, though the most she can do is assist from the side right now. Another half hour passes by before the pair stop.

"We should be in the clear now. All that's left to do is have Jaune rest and recover." Sarah walks over to the sink and wipes her face and hands. "I'm not sure when he'll wake up but for now all we can do is wait."

The three place Jaune in an empty cot and shut out the light.

The couple part ways with Michael and head into their home next to the clinic while the farmer makes his way home. It doesn't take long to get home. His family lives just outside the walls, not nearly as far as Van and Trisha did.

The house is rather quiet when he enters. His family was brought into the walls when the sighting was reported and they most likely decided to remain quiet out of fear. Footsteps are heard coming down the stair case. Isabella Arc, Michael's wife, is standing at the bottom of the stairs with a similar shape to Sarah.

"I heard about the Grimm. Is everyone alright?" There's nothing said at first. Michael's quiet for a full minute before he speaks.

"The Grimm were spotted at the boundary of the forest near Van and Trisha's place. We went to check it out, but by the time we got there…" Nothing else needed to be said. The result was obvious. A loud thud echoes through the home as Michael slams his fist against the wall. "Damn it. I knew something like this was gonna happen. Why couldn't they have listened to me and just moved closer to the village!? So what if that house has been in his family for ages. It doesn't mean he should've put his family in danger for something like that…"

Isabella stands silently for a moment as she lets her husband fume. When he's calmed down some she walks over and hugs his arm in reassurance. "You know he wouldn't have moved even if you begged. Van was thick headed like that."

"But still… if he had just listened then him and Trisha would still be alive, and Jaune wouldn't be left an orphan."

Isabella holds his arm as tight as she can without stressing her stomach. "Maybe it'd be best to look on the bright side. At the very least Jaune survived. That's a blessing in it of itself." The sentiment might not seem like much, but it appears to serve it purpose as Michael relaxes his body.

"You're right. I suppose we should be happy." The calmer man frees himself from his wife's grasp and sits in a nearby chair. "But now we have a bigger concern. How are we gonna tell Jaune that his parents are dead after he wakes up? It's not exactly something easy to say to a child."

"And then there's the matter of who will take care of him. The only blood relative he has is his aunt on his mother's side. And even then, we don't know how he'd adjust to it. Sierra isn't exactly going to be in the best condition after hearing the news." Isabella walks into the kitchen and grabs something strong for her husband to drink.

When she comes back she hands her husband the alcoholic beverage and takes a seat next to him. Michael practically chugs the thing and sets the empty glass on the table. "I suppose we can deal with all that when the time comes."

The couple soon turn in for the night, but not before closing the blinds and securing the doors for extra security. They even made sure to keep a loaded gun in the bedroom before going to sleep.

In a darkened room a lone boy tosses in his sleep. The boy doesn't move much, but his head is thrashing around rather violently, the owner's blond hair swaying back and forth as it does so. Bright gold eyes shoot open as he rockets forward. Cold sweat washes over his body, dampening the sheets he's resting on.

"Arghhh!" The former resting boy looks at his surroundings in a panic. He struggles to get himself out of bed and weakly tries to make his way to the door. If he was more cognizant he'd would have realized this was the same clinic he visited whenever he required a check-up, but his mind was in too much of a frenzy to know that.

As he walks to the door he ends up knocking over a small movable table, scattering the medical instruments across the floor. Loud, metallic clanging startles him, nearly giving him a heart attack. The noise seemed to have alerted the other occupants of the adjacent household as footsteps draw near. The door opposite of the one Jaune was heading towards bursts open as Yuriy Rockbell enters.

When he sees his patient, he rushes towards him. "Jaune!" He barely makes it in time as the dazed boy collapses in his arms. The doctor inspects his pulse and notices the increase in his heart rate. Yuriy picks him up and carries him back to the cot he was previously resting in.

Once he's placed the child back in the cot, Yuriy grabs his tools and does another inspection on the child's condition. While he does this Sarah and another older woman enter the room. The newest arrival is rather short, almost the same height of a child. She has faded gray hair that's slicked back to form a strange version of a pony tail that stands straight up. This woman is Pinako Rockbell, Yuriy's mother and Sarah's mother-in-law.

While the doctor looks over Jaune, memories of yesterday's events start to play back in the boy's mind. The sounds of intruders breaking into his family's home. Of a large black figure charging down the hall at him and his mother while his father lay motionless on the floor. His mother than placing him in the cellar before closing the door and leaving him alone. More of those black figures breaking into the cellar and trying to attack him. The rest from there is a blur as his mind starts to go hazy.

Yuriy continues to use his stethoscope to listen to Jaune's body when his hand is grabbed. Jaune's own hand is tiny compared to the grown man's own, but the strength behind it is enough to give said man pause. Jaune looks to the doctor in a panic. His eyes beg for the man to tell him it wasn't true. "My parents. Are they… are they?"

The man realizes that Jaune completely remembers the tragic event and wants confirmation. He could very easily lie to him. Given Jaune's current condition anymore stress could be dangerous to his body. It'd be possible to keep him in bed under the belief that his body need rest and that his parents would see him later. At least that'd buy them a day or so for him to recover more. But, if he did that, it would only cause more pain later when they tell him the truth. "I'm sorry Jaune. Your parents are gone."

Nothing happens at first. It's like the calm before the storm. The tears in Jaune's eyes start to tear up before finally erupting. The child's wails are heard throughout the house. Sarah comes over to the other side of the cot to hug the boy and try to ease his pain. Pinako stands in the doorway, silently watching as a child she helped give birth to suffers over the loss of him parents.

The crying continues for several more minutes until there were no more tears to shed. Even though he's no longer crying his grip on the man never let's go. The two doctors stay there until Jaune eventually let's go and lays back in silence.

The couple shares a look and breaks away. "Jaune, we're gonna give you some time. We'll be in the house if you need us and you're welcome to have breakfast with us when you want to." Sarah gives the boy one last pat on the head and follows her husband and mother-in-law into the adjacent house.

Jaune sits in the clinic alone, coming to terms with the knowledge that his parents have past.

It took another full hour for Jaune to make any attempt to move. When he finally joined the Rockbells they had just started eating breakfast.

Nothing was said at first. Only the clinks of forks hitting plates could be heard as everyone silently ate their meals. While the rest ate their meal Jaune sat quietly, picking at his eggs. Not a single bite had been taken yet by the silent child as the others started to finish up.

Finally, not able to stand the silence, Pinako speaks up.

"Eat your food, Jaune. You need it to get your strength back."

Wearily Jaune looks at the elder woman and appears to listen as he starts to eat his meal. It takes another 5 minutes until he's cleared his plate, leaving only his milk. The soon to be grandmother notices this and speaks up again.

"And the milk. You need it for your bones. Plus, it'll help you grow up big and strong."

"….. I don't wanna…" In a surprising show of defiance, the child refuses to drink the white liquid.

A tick mark pops out from the older woman's forehead. She stands on her chair and pushes the glass forward. "You will drink this milk. The calcium is necessary for your recovery."

The glass is pushed back as Jaune continues to defy her. "I'm not gonna. It's gross. It comes out from a cow's dirty place."

"I don't care if it comes from a cow's butt. You will drink this milk."

"I said I don't wann—"

*BAM*

A loud bang is heard as Pinako slams the glass on the table in front of the stubborn child, the contents shooting into the air and landing perfectly back in the glass.

"Drink. The. Milk."

The glare directed his way caused the boy to shrink. "O-okay…"

As a show of defeat Jaune downs the entire glass while under the watchful gaze of the short woman. When the glass was emptied he thanks the family for the meal and takes his dishes to the sink to clean them.

Yuriy takes charge of cleaning the dishes while Sarah rests on the couch. Still depressed over the recent events, Jaune sits quietly next to her. Seeing the dejected child causes a maternal string inside the pregnant woman to be pulled. She wishes to do something to help.

Suddenly, there's a small thump from her stomach and she comes up with an idea. "Jaune, the babies starting to kick. Would you like to feel her?" He looks up and nods somewhat reluctantly before moving his hand to her stomach.

He feels around for any sign of life, but there doesn't seem to be anything. 'I guess… I'm just not good luck around living things.'

*Bum-bump*

A pulse emanates from Sarah and travels along his hand. When the surge reaches Jaune a strange feeling starts to come from his chest. It's tight, almost like somethings being grabbed, but it's not painful. It's warm. Almost like a hug.

'Just like the hugs mom used to give.'

With the feeling of a new life in his palm he reaches over with his empty hand to get a better feel. Again, a pulse is felt and the feeling in his chest grows. As more and more pulses are sent out his chest grows tighter and tighter. It almost feels like it's trying to suffocate him.

"She's saying him." Sarah speaks up as the child looks in awe at her belly. "She probably knew how sad you were and wanted to tell you it's gonna be alright. At least, that's what I think."

It seems her plan worked as the gloom Jaune was emitting moments ago starts to leave. It won't be able to get rid of I entirely, but, hopefully, it can help.

Now I better spirits Jaune looks up to the mother. "What's her name gonna be?"

Sarah starts to rub her stomach as she responds. "We've decided on Winry. It means blessed. Plus, it sounds like the perfect name for a strong-willed person who'll stand up for what they believe in."

Jaune hums in agreement and continues to rub her stomach. The morning continues like this until around noon. Yuriy left to attend to some work in the clinic while the other three sat in the living room watching television. The cartoon on the screen seems to have something to do with a purple dog living in the middle of nowhere with his elderly owners and gets caught up in a wide variety of wacky events.

Earlier they were informed that Sierra would be coming by to check in on her nephew to see how he was doing. She needed to take the morning to deal with some things. To pass the time they decided to let Jaune watch whatever he wanted to take his mind off things. Meanwhile, Sarah and Pinako were looking over recent research in automail and prosthetics, the elder of the two smoking a pipe while doing so. As a side business they do prosthetic work for those that've lost limbs. Over the years people have seen the almost obsessive nature the family has when it comes to anything to do with automail and dubbed them gears head because of it.

Soon there's a knock on the door, but Jaune was too focused on the t.v. to notice. Pinako gets up and makes her way over to the door to see who it was. When she opens the door a boy who appears to be around 15 or 16 is standing there. He has a darker set of blonde hair from Jaune and blue eyes.

"Hello Jean. I suppose you're here for Jaune?" Pinako steps out of the way and ushers the teenager inside.

"Ya, mom said she'd be over in a bit. Had a few more things to take care of before she could make it, but she wanted me to see how Jaune was." As the teenager steps in he notices said boy sitting in front of the television. "Speaking of which, how is he? Does he know?"

Pinako closes the door and leads Jean into the living room. "He knows. Yuriy told him this morning after he woke up. The poor boy was crying his eyes out when he remembered what happened. He's calmed down since, but there's no telling how he'll be later. For now, I suppose we should just be happy that he's alright."

"Let's hope you're right." Jean silently walks up to the preoccupied boy and prepares his attack. When he's standing over his target he launches into action. He strikes at each of the child's vital spots. His armpit, the back of his neck, his ribs, his belly, etc.

"HAHAHHAHAAHHA- stop- AHAHAHA- stop it!" The tickle attack launches Jaune into a laughing fit. His body thrashes around while his attacker smirks overhead. Having enough of torturing his cousin Jean lets off to let the kid breath.

"How ya doin Goldie?"

Jaune recognizes the voice and looks up to his cousin. "Big bro Jean!" The kid jumps up so fast you'd think he was gonna go to the moon. He wraps his arms around the taller boy's waist in a tight hug as he welcomes him.

Jean pats Jaune's head in his own greeting. "It's nice to see you too." He expected the kid to let go of him and fight back for the ticking earlier, but the hold his cousin has on him only tightens. Jean breaks away from the hug and leans down to look Jaune eye to eye. "I heard about what happened. I'm sorry Jaune."

Jaune's eyes start to tear up again and he throws his arms around the older boy's neck. Jean reciprocates and pulls Jaune into a tight hug. This time the crying lasted much shorter as they soon break apart. The younger boy rubs his eyes before looking back at his cousin.

"Where's auntie Sierra? Is she not coming?"

Jean stands back up and rubs the back of his head. "The old lady said she'd be here later. Had some business first. Shouldn't be more than another hour."

*Knock Knock*

"… Or now. Guess she got done faster than I thought."

Pinako takes a puff of her pipe as she looks the teenager over with a knowing gaze. "Or, maybe someone decided to take a little detour to that nice flower shop girl and flirt for longer than he thought?"

"Geh!" The teen looks in shock as the short woman was able to figure out exactly where's he's been. Sometimes grandma Rockbell's insight into such things is so accurate it's scary.

Pinako proceeds to berate the flirtatious boy, leaving Jaune to answer the door. As he turns the knob the door is forced open, knocking him to the ground. A woman with familiar features enters the home with an anxious look.

"Where is he!? Where's my little baby Jaune!?" The new woman's demand is answered when she looks down to the sprawled form of her nephew before her. "Oh no, little Jauney! Who knocked you down like this?" She doesn't seem to realize that she herself is the culprit for his current predicament.

Jaune is quickly helped up by his aunt, Sierra Havoc. Sierra has brown eyes like her sister, but her hair has a mixture of blonde and brunette mixed into it. She looks over her nephew for any signs of harm before dusting him off. "Oh, little Jauney. I'm just glad you're okay. When I heard what happened I… I…"

Sierra pulls her nephew into his third hug of the day. This one was less about him and more about brining some measure of comfort for the woman who had just lost her little sister. Their embrace lasts for another minute before she lets go. The aunt wipes her eyes and smiles at him.

"Well, you're alright now. That's all that matters." Sierra stands up and walks with Jaune over to the rest. "Thank you for looking after him. It means a lot to us to know that Jaune is in good health."

Sarah politely waves off her appreciation as she gets up to greet her guests. "There's no need for that. Jaune has always been like a part of this family. It wouldn't sit right with us if we did nothing when we could help."

The two mothers continue to discuss matters while Pinako finishes her lecture to Jean. The teenager rubs his ear as he joins his cousin on the couch. Jaune starts to describe the show while they wait for the others to finish and make small talk.

Eventually, Yuriy joins them after finishing the work in the clinic and the group start to prepare lunch. As they're guests in the house the Havocs assist where they can in preparing the food. The meal goes by rather uneventfully along with the rest of the afternoon.

The evening sun starts to set in the horizon as Jaune prepares to leave with the Havocs. It's been decided that Jaune would stay with them for the time being until permanent accommodations can be made. Few the next few days he'd still have to stop by to have the doctors look at him, but it seems he's in fine health. Better than they imagined.

"Well then, we'll be going now. Say your goodbyes Jaune." Sierra and Jean wait outside the door as Jaune bids goodbye to the Rockbells for now. While he's not going far, just the other side of the village, it's still the polite thing to do.

Jaune runs up and gives his two saviors a hug before leaving with his remaining family. "Thank you, Mr. and Mrs. Rockbell." The couple pats the child and bids him farewell.

The three finally leave the home and begin their way towards their own. As they pass through the village passing residents look on at the group with sullen expressions and sad eyes.

Word had spread about the event at the Hohenheim house. Van, while somewhat of a recluse, was rather well liked in the village. A disease outbreak several years back hit most of the villages east of Vale, Resembool being one of them. Van's family had been apart of the village since before its founding, so it became very concerning for him when people started to fall ill.

Despite not having a degree in any medical or chemical field Van was very adept in medicine. With the assistance of the Rockbells in gaining materials and helping with developing a cure he eventually made a remedy to the disease. When it was proven to work in their town they distributed it to neighboring villages suffering under the same affliction.

Van asked that his name be kept out of the gossip as he wished to remain out of the public eye and gave the credit to Sarah and Yuriy as the were essential in creating the cure. While others outside the village might not have known about the third member of the team those residing did and kept quite out of respect. Though that didn't stop them from dropping by his home every now and then to drag the hermit from his hole to go drinking.

Needless to say, it was a stress reliever the man was in desperate need of. It was during one of these 'forced' outings that he met Trisha Elric, the woman that would eventually become his wife. Trisha worked at her family's department store and was loved by all for her caring personality. It was on a night where she was helping her drunken father home when Van offered to assist.

From there it started out as just a few casual meetings that eventually grew into outings to Vale and finally marriage. Another couple of years later and their son was born into the world. If you asked anyone who was there when the child was born they'd say it was the happiest Van had ever looked. The second being the day he was married to the woman he loved.

And now, those kind people were gone from this world. Taken like so many others by those horrible creatures.

"Auntie Sierra, where am I gonna stay now? Can I go back home?" Jaune walks while holding his aunt's hand as they walk through the village.

Sierra can't meet her nephew's eyes. She continues to walk in silence before speaking. "I'm afraid you can't sweetie. It'd be dangerous for you to stay there by yourself, plus it's too far away from the village. Would you really wanna be that far away from everyone?"

"But I already did live that far away from everyone. It wasn't that far in the first place. Also, dad said that his family has lived there for years. Why is it a problem now?" His whole life he's lived in that home. His dad, his dad's dad, his dad's dad's mom. She really fought hard to keep her last name apparently.

"You lived there because your father insisted on it." Sierra huffs in anger. When she heard her sister was going to live in that house so far away from the walls of the village she nearly threw a fit. If it wasn't for Trisha's hard head it wouldn't have been such a headache to deal with. There was an entire year of silence between the two sisters before they reconciled. Which was weird considering Trisha had to go to the general store her family ran to pick up groceries. Made making orders incredibly difficult. "No, you'll be staying with us for now. We don't have an extra room right now so you can bunk with your cousin."

"Ya! Sleep over with big bro Jean!"

The older boy sulked at the order of the sleeping arrangements. "…Great. How am I supposed to get a girl in the mood when there's a kid sitting in the corner playing games?"

A sharp pain comes from Jean's knee as the back of his mother's heel jabs him. "I'm sorry honey. What was that?" Jean sweats under the pressure and tries to ignore her question. "I could've sworn you mentioned having some floozy in the same room as my sweet little Jauney."

"Ughhhh, I mean. Ahem. Of course not. There's no way I would ever do that in front of Jaune. Right little buddy?" Jean looks towards his cousin for help out of this dilemma.

Jaune tilts his head as he tries to think. "No, I don't think I've ever seen you with a floozy." A sigh of relief escapes the older boy's lips as he narrowly escapes certain death. "Though you do always hang around those pretty girls. Sometimes you even go off somewhere saying you have things to do. Then you come back kinda sweaty and tired."

Before Jaune could finish the marked teen had already stated fleeing. Sierra stood there with an unexpecting pleasant smile. She watches as her soon makes a run to the house while her nephew watches in confusion.

"Jaune dear. I suggest we get home soon. It's getting late and we still need to get dinner prepared for you, Jeramiah, and myself."

"What about big bro Jean?"

Sierra laughs rather menacingly. "Oh, he's not gonna be eating with us tonight. Or anytime soon I'm afraid. Ohohohohoho."

A creepy aura is left in the wake as the pair continues home.

HEY Everyone! Guess who made another new story! I've decided to try getting back into writing and have made a better schedule of one story every week. It could be any story but the only one's I'm doing right now are Light of Remnant, Blonde Swordsman, and this story. For the other stories they need some work and I dont have the time because of my job. Unless I start a . If i was able to do that I'd probably charge like a dollar for each chapter I put out. Let me know what you guys think.