Chapter 1: A lesson in mistakes.

Maes lay on his desk staring at his left palm. The circles were now etched into his hands were now scars, the burns still ached in the back of his mind as he listened to Edward droning on about the circles he clearly already knew about. Growing up under the great war hero and current Fuhrer Roy Mustang he learn everything there was to know about circles.

The circles he carved and burned into his hand were his proof of this – rather than wasting precious time drawing circles he could just tap his hand to transmute at any time; just like his father could.

Maes' question was how his father did so. He knew there was a flame circle seared into the back of the hand, but no others were present anywhere to be seen. Everything needed just a clap for him and Maes wanted that power for himself.

'Maes! Maes! Ed's asking you a question!' It was Bernard interrupting his daydream, but for good reason. Ed had a short temper at best.

'Thanks for rejoining us Maes, Now would you please answer the question.' Ed queried rather matter of factly.

'What question?' Maes replied – knowing he'd been rumbled.

'Why do we need circles for alchemy?' Ed asked, 'Except in your father's case of course.'

Maes sighed, the answer being so basic the vast majority of the class already knew, him moreso than most. 'The circles provide a circuit for the power to flow through, and to contain it, allowing it to be focused onto the target.'

'Correct.' Ed affirmed, 'Now who can tell me why the power needs to flow?'

But by this point Maes had already stopped listening – that had made him realize something he never had before – the clapping his father performed, it formed a circle through the arms and heart. Maybe that was the secret behind it?

Maes knew he had to try it and immediately clapped his hands together with intent.

This was a bad plan.

Forgetting for a second he had already etched several circles into his hands – circles that activated all simultaneously as he brought his hands together. Suddenly smoke spewed and gas fumed from all around as both he and Bernard came coughing and spluttering down the aisle. No-one looked surprised by any of this: Maribel and the rest of her troupe rolled their eyes, Tony shook his head and Jack just sat there as normal.

Despite it being rather standard at this point Ed still got angry. His voice rose to unreasonable pitches and it seemed more a blur than anything else.

'Show me your hand.' Ed demanded after calming down, 'Now!'

Maes held out his left hand for Ed to see. Ed's eyes lit up in fear at what he saw.

'What the hell were you thinking!' Ed screamed! 'Do you have any idea what this could do long term? You clearly already burnt the flesh around away, it may not even heal at this point.'

'My father claps to transmute, I figured this must be how.' Maes replied, treading carefully to avoid enraging him further.

Instead Ed just blinked then burst out laughing. 'You think thats how this works? Ed asked, miming his old spear pulling trick, but to no avail.

'See you can't do it. Only the Fuhrer can.' Maes said rather pompously.

'You think so? Let me tell you how that works. Get back to your seat and I'll explain it for you right here.'

Maes and Bernard exchanged excited glances, then rushed back to their seats.

'Transmuting without a circle is something I hope none of you ever gain the ability to do. Only 5 people I am aware of have ever gained that ability: my brother, out teacher Izumi Curtis, our father Van Hohenheim, Fuhrer Roy Mustang and myself. It took something from each of us: from me, my leg.'

Ed pulled his robe revealing his automail leg. Half the class gasped – disbelieving in what they saw.

'I got off lightly! My brother lost everything, his body and his soul to the gate. I had to bind it to a suit of armour for years for him to even survive. All we got for that was ability to clap and transmute.' Ed was clearly bitter, and he wanted that his students to recognize that.

'But sir, you can't do it now. Why not?' Maribel asked, hoping to continue this lecture.

'I can't do any alchemy anymore. I was possibly the best alchemist in all of Amestrys, but I gave it up to get Alphonse his body back.' Ed whispered, visibly shaking at the response.

Everyone at this knew the issue had been pushed to far. Ed was not comfortable at this point – all the students knew of the great civil war in central 20 years ago, and knew Ed dealt the decisive blow in the end. Everyone knew this was not an issue to press

Not Maes.

Transfixed by his own desire he leapt out of his seat, shouting 'But what did you do!?'

'Human transmutation.'

The whole class was suddenly silent, the taboo was so strong it wasn't even talked about.

'Me, Alphonse and Izumi tried to bring someone back from death' Ed replied, his tone and cold as ice. 'Your father was a little different, but he still went through what we did – and so paid the price.'

A darkness hung over the room, no-one said a word. What could they say?

Breaking the silence Ed spoke again, pain across his face as did, 'If you listen to anything I say, make it this: When someone dies, they are dead. You cannot bring them back – and trying could cost you everything.'

The class remained stunned for a few seconds until the bell rang. The hour was up and no-one could continue anyway. As the students slowly left Ed collapsed into his chair and glanced at his photo of Al before picking up the phone. He needed to talk to Roy – and soon.