-Some people believe that when Edward Elric returned from the world of the gate, following the destruction of the hidden city, that he was on the opposite side from which he entered, and that the Homonculus Envy had followed him, only to be destroyed by the very beings of the gate who first gave him life. This is half true. Envy is no more.
"What happened?" A teenage boy with red hair that was pulled back into jagged points asked his companions. A tall woman stepped forward, pushing aside some tree branches that obscured her vision. She stared at the sight before the group and after a moment spoke a single word, her voice gentle and caring, but full of power as well.
"Alchemy." At this a thin woman nodded. Her long, slick digits wrapping around an oar with several odd circles drawn on it.
"Indeed, powerful alchemy." She looked to the group. "Of a level well beyond a normal human."
"Gate Aware?" A shaggy looking woman with grey hair, dressed in black fatigues, asked, looking up from her spot of rest beneath a tree. A man dressed in black seemed to drift down from the branches, obscuring the grumpy woman's view.
"Iv not zat, zen vhat elsh?" He said in a strange lisp caused by two very large canines that protruded over his pale lips. The red haired boy let out a yell as his eyes caught sight of something. Even though it was over a mile away, he could still make it out from the cliff edge.
"There's someone floating down there! He's face up, but it doesn't look like he'll stay up for long." Three pairs of eyes shot to the thin woman while the boy leapt down from the cliff onto a jutting piece of rock, the first in several that led to the bottom.
"What?!" she asked, offended at the accusation in the stares. "I haven't done anything...yet." She mumbled, before leaping after the boy, her oddly thin legs taking her farther than any human could leap. The others followed, each watching the wide lake intently, just two hours ago there had been an impressive mountain blocking there path; one of the tallest in the known world. Now, it was a wide lake surrounded by a lush valley field and only two things amongst the deep blue of the lake: a small island of stone, on which a stature of an angel casting a ruby to the sky stood; and a young man of sixteen, floating naked and face up, blond hair spread across the surface of the water, his right arm and most of his left leg gone.
FULL METAL ALCHEMIST
The Second Stone
A fan fiction by Adam Zero
Based on the anime, which was based on the original manga,
by Hiromu Arakawa
All Characters, Concepts, Settings Copyright their Original Creators.
Act One: Pick Up the Pieces
Chapter Zero: Full Metal Returns
"He's not dead?" came a rough voice above the blond boy's head. His eyes were shut, he felt utterly soaked to the marrow. He tried to clench his fists, but only felt his left responded.
"Look he's moving!" Came a light, masculine voice. He tried to move his legs, and felt his body shift in a sadly familiar way, his left leg was either gone or broken again.
"Winry's gonna kill me..." He grumbled.
"Who's Winry?" The masculine voice asked.
" Heez lover I' zeepose" Another, odd voice broke over the blond's darkness. He was starting to get annoyed. He tried opening his eyes to the sun, and found it obscured by something tall and broad.
"Armstrong?" The blond laughed. "What're you doing here?" His eyes focused and saw the figure was actually female, with dark skin, wearing a heavy jacket, her eyes glowing green in the shade. What the...CHIMERA! Immediately the boy rolled to the side, despite his lack of limbs, he succeeded in getting some distance from the woman, and in the process knocked over two others. He found his back to something cool and flat. He looked up to see the statue of the angel.
"What?" he asked noone in particular. "I'm still here..." He looked at his hand, then back his gaze shot up to where he'd just been laying. The tall woman was staring at him with what the blond could only discern as genuine worry. He sighed and opened his mouth to apologize, when the yelling started.
"Zou DAMN Idziot!" A tall man dressed up like it was the fall festival of spirits stormed up and grabbed the young man by his loose hair. "Vhat do zou zink zou are doing?" he asked, and the blond got an up close look at some very inhuman fangs.
"STAY BACK!" the blond yelled, kicking the man with incredible force. The man took the kick but it was clear the wind was knocked out of him.
"Ow..." was all the came from the man's mouth before he dropped the blond. He backed off and clutched his chest, before hobbling off out of the blonde's sight.
It was then the young man realized he was naked, but disregarded it as he was without either of his automail limbs and, if he guessed right, surrounded by Chimeras. The sort that blended Man and Beast.
"Easy, kid. We ain't bad guys." A red haired boy not much older than the blond said with kindness. "Oh," he reached into a pack on his back and tossed something green at the boy, it landed on his lap and the blond looked down. It was a pair of boxers. "I just got those, so you don't have to worry about hygiene or any skid marks." he laughed. The blonde just stared at the red haired man, his muscles were thin but coiled tight and his face was pointed, like a wild beast. "What? You like being naked?" He asked with a smirk. The boy just grumbled and jammed the boxers on. After a long silence, in which the blond observed two older women, one in a military uniform he wasn't familiar with, and another in dressed in blue holding an oar with several water based transmutation circles on it, the blond asked:"Got any pants?" To this the red head laughed.
"A few, but first some questions."
"Questions?" The blond's eyebrow twitched up.
"Yeah, this lake shows up where a mountain was and you and Miss Marble there are smack in the middle of it. My all accounts you should know something bout it. I'd ask her, but she doesn't seem the talking sort." The blond sighed and leaned back. He spoke plainly and quickly.
"A crazy alchemist who was body hopping over the centuries had her stronghold here. I came here, defeated her and her minions, and to seal away any chances of her evil weapon ever being used again, I destroyed the city and reversed the mountain." The group of Chimera stared at him for a long moment before the giant woman spoke.
"Concise." Then she was silent again.
"Groovy," the redhead smiled, "That just raises more-"
"I don't wanna talk about it." The blond scowled and the redhead paled at the glare.
"Okaaay." The red head looked to the silver haired woman who was sitting near the edge of the platform on which they sat. She shrugged and pulled a large pair of loose pants and tossed them to the young blond. He caught them and tried to jam a leg in, but found it difficult to get the his stub of a left leg to not get caught on the waist, especially without his right arm to help him.
After a moment the tall woman moved closer to help him, and the blond cringed. She looked at him with a look of hurt, and the blonde's heart ached. He relaxed and mumbled and apology, at which she smiled and helped him with his pants, tying off the loose material of his left pants leg. She immediately hooked her right arm under his left and hoisted him up. Before he could get out a word of protest he was in her arms like an infant in a mother's embrace. He blushed hot red at the proximity to her rather...ample..chest. The redhead laughed again.
"Aw, don't worry, Abby's done that to all of us at one point. Really a mother type she is." He got up and looked to his group. "So should we head out of here? If we're traveling one extra our food won't last much longer."
"Then we hunt." The silver haired woman stated as she stood up and started down a pure white pathway that led from the platform to the shore. The blond could see the dark man halfway to shore, his dark mood evident from there. The blue woman pouted.
"Hold up, we don't even know his name yet." At this the blond felt a strange pressure, and found it was the woman hugging him, so she could shift her hand as she held it over her chest.
"Abigail" She said with a smile before looking to her comrades. The redhead smirked.
"Good point, it's rude to ask for someone's name without giving your own first." he looked at the blond and saluted, "Name's Marcus." The grey woman stopped and turned to speak her name, "Gabriel", before started off again. The blue woman sighed, but smiled.
"I am known as Rashi, and the gentleman whom who so rightly kicked was"
"VLADIMIR CRISCORI NORMSVECH, THE EIGHTH!" Came a shout from the walkway. The blue woman held her face in her hand, sighing.
The blond just blinked and smiled. "Well, I'm Edward Elric. Nice to meet you."
The blue woman smiled and the redhead laughed again as they set off, quickly catching up to Vlad and Gabe, who was consoling the offended gentleman.
Edward wondered why he hadn't left this world like he intended, he tried to look around Abigail's arm, but it was far too wide, though she turned so Edward could gaze on the statue of the angel. She let Edward stare in silence a moment before asking, "Who?"
"My mother." The blond answered, quietly.
"Beautiful." Abigail smiled, her eyes shining.
"Yeah, and she really was an angel you know...no matter what she was always there for me and my brother..." A few tears welled up in his eyes, memories of recent events, and a being who took on the shape and memories of that angel, a being Ed's hubris had brought into this world, and his determination had taken the being out of it. Abigail saw the tears and turned back toward her friends and the shore, humming a soothing lullaby. To Ed's surprise, it sounded a great deal like one his mother had sung to him in his youth. He smiled and rested his head in Abigail's shoulder, breathing his thanks as sleep took him.
Marcus cast a smile over his shoulder. He looked Rashi with a grin. "I can't believe we found his kid, you think he can lead us to the witch?" The blue woman shook her head.
"If the city is gone, then Dante is defeated. Now we can move onto the final stone-bearer."