Resembool, Amestris, sometime during the early days of the Ishbalan civil war
"Big brother, big brother!"
Alphonse Elric raced up to his brother, Edward, who was slowly drawing an Alchemical circle in the ground. An expression of intense concentration was plastered across his face. Edward finished scraping the last symbol, then turned to Alphonse. His blonde hair was plastered to his head with sweat from hours of work.
"Yeah? What is it Al? Did you prep the sulfur yet?" Ed asked, wiping sweat off his brow.
Al nodded quickly. "I also got my hands on some of the water. 35 liters exactly. But...Ed. I was just thinking. Wha...What if this goes wrong?We could die."
Ed gazed at his brother for a few minutes. He couldn't pretend he hadn't considered that possibility. All the Alchemy books they'd studied had one de facto rule. No matter what the circumstances, never, never, attempt to transmute a human soul. Such an attempt could end in death. Ed tugged at his brown jacket nervously.
"C'mon, Al. It's just a bunch of theories. I mean, has anyone ever actually tried? We'll bring mom back. We're doing this for her, remember?"
Alphonse looked at the small platter of ingredients, then added the sulfur and water. then he looked back up at his older brother. "Yeah..." he said, trailing off awkwardly. The both knew what would happen if they failed.
Ed nodded, then walked over to the platter, and with his brother's help, lifted the ingredients and put them in the center of the Alchemical circle Edward had drawn. Edward drew out a small knife, and cut his finger with it. "Water, Carbon, Ammonia, Lime, Phosphorus, Sodium, Potassium, Sulfur, Fluoride, Iron, Silicon, and...part of our soul."
Ed held his hand out over the Alchemical ingredients, grinned at Alphonse, and let one drop of blood fall into the platter.
East City HQ, Roy Mustang's personal office _
Roy Mustang flipped through a thick, yellow-sleeved file. It was labeled with the seal of the Military. His eyes scanned over one page, then he scowled and flipped to the next one.
"Name: Leonard Grey, age 40, Alchemical skill, rated 8%? Ugh!" Roy slammed the file on his desk, then groaned an buried his head in his hands. "These new recruits are nothing but a bunch of second- no, third hand Alchemists with almost no skill whatsoever. How am I supposed to win a war like this? We lost the Temporal Alchemist last week. Without any reinforcements to take his place, the entire east garrison will be overrun in a matter of weeks..."
Maes Hughes sat across from him. Hughes was on a delegation mission from Central to see how things were going in the East. He looked at the helpless, desperate Alchemist before him, and sighed.
"The Fuhrer said these are some of the newest recruits, nothing more than a 50% and a 40% but, if as you say, you're in need of reinforcements..."
Hughes tossed another file across the desk. This one was thin, and bore a crude handwritten name on the front.
Elric.
Sighing, Mustang opened the Elric file and scanned it briefly. His eyebrows raised as he looked over the profile.
"Edward and Alphonse Elric, huh? Get me on the next train to Resembool, Hughes."
Resembool, Amestris.
Almost immediately, a swirl of blue alchemical power swirled around the two brothers. "ED!" Screamed Alphonse "What's happening?"
Edward stumbled back. His brother's screams seemed like a distant, distant reality to him. Suddenly, Al started to disappear. "AL!"
Ed made a lunge for his brother, but Al vanished. and then...darkness
The Gateway of Truth
Edward woke, his eyes fluttering hazily. "Wake up, little sleepyhead." said a voice in front of him.
Ed scanned his surroundings. He was in a pure white area. A large dor covered in Alchemiscal scribblings rose behind him. In front of him was a humanoid figure.
"W-who are you?" murmured Ed."Where am I? Al? Al?"
The thing grinned. for some reason, it's smile sent shivers through Ed's body.
"I am what you might call...Truth. The world. Some might call me...everything. Welcome...you arrogant fool."
The door behind Ed opened. "Wait..what..?"
Tendrils snaked out of the gateway. Black, oily tendrils. they wrapped around Edward, pulling him in. "Wait..WAIT!"
"No! Don't...HELP ME!"
The tendrils pulled Ed in with one final yank, and the large doors slammed shut.
