Chapter One: Time In My Hands
"WHAT!" Ed screamed in frustration.
"You heard me Fullmetal, don't make me snap you know i will" Colonel Mustang raised a gloved hand.
"Brother we should just go" Alphonse said to Ed.
"Fine, come on Al lets..." Ed trailed off. There was a girl standing in the door way. She gave an awkward salute.
"Sir, you wanted to see me?" she asked.
"Ah Time, good your hear come in; this is Fullmetal" Mustang said as the girl walked in the room. She looked at Ed and bowed.
"Nice to meet you Fullmetal but if you don't mind i would like to be less formal, you can call me Aryona" she looked at Ed who looked right back. Aryona had golden eyes and brown hair.
"Uh, you can call me Edward or Ed" he said, "This is my little brother, Alphonse" he finished.
"Good now that the introductions are done, Fullmetal go help Time pack she's going with you" Mustang said turning back to his paperwork. (A.N. wow he's actually doing paper work) The trio left the room, Ed grumbling on his way out.
"So why was he calling you Time?" Ed asked as Aryona lead them to her room.
"That's my state name, The Time Alchemist" she said, "I heard you became a state alchemist when you were younger, I've only been one for about a year now" she finished.
"How come we've never seen you around H.Q. before?" Al asked
"Oh I've been off doing my own thing for a while, my dad died...and you probably don't want to know about that, well we're hear" she pulled out a key and opened the door. she seen that the room was in shambles and quickly clapped her hand and went to work; she cleaned, straightened, and organized the room and went back to were Ed and Al were standing, she clapped her hands again and walked into the room followed by a stunned and shocked Ed and Al.
"What did you do two seconds ago, the room was a wreck now its spotless" Ed said looking around the now much cleaner and much bigger room then his and Alphonse's.
"How did you do that?" Alphonse asked, after finding his voice.
"That is my specialty, time" Aryona said as she picked up her suit case, she opened it and looked around, got a few odd and ends and closed it again.
"But you didn't draw a circle, did you?" Ed asked
"Nope, and you don't either, or so Mustang says" she said
"Could you explain how it works?" Alphonse asked her
"Sure, when i clap my hands the alchemy i use allows me to revolve the air around me thus time around me goes faster and slows down everywhere else so in plain English i get faster and the world around me slows down at least that's what is looks like from my point of view" she said grabbing her jacket, "Ok I'm ready, oh do you guys know a good automail mechanic? I could use some maintenance"
"You hear that Al she asked if we know a good automail mechanic" Ed pulled up his sleeve of he right arm, "of course we know a good mechanic" he finished.
"Good we'll need to stop there first, are they here in central?" Aryona asked.
"No, she's is in our home town of Risembool, were childhood friends" Alphonse said.
"Ok then, lets go" Aryona said.
"Let me get your suit case for you" Alphonse said. He picked it up and they left the room.
"Great another two hour train ride" Ed groaned as they sat down on a bench to await the next train to Risembool.
"Who said it would take that long Ed?" Aryona asked him. Ed got a wicked grin on his face.
An hour later the train pulled in to the station and they got on. soon the train began its slow way from central to Risembool. "Hey, can you speed up the train?" Ed asked.
"Hmm i wonder if i can" Aryona clapped her hands and put them on the train. The air around the train looked hazy like looking over a dessert and it "waves."
"There is no difference, i don't feel anything" Ed said looking around and at himself.
"You won't see any changes on the inside, but i say we will be there in 30 minutes" Aryona said.
"WHAT! 30 minutes! Al i think we just found our new best friend" Ed said patting Aryona on the back. About 25 minutes passed so Aryona slowed the train so they wouldn't blow by the station. The train stops and they get off, Aryona looks around.
"This is a small town, wow" she exclaimed.
"Come on, it's this way" Ed said as he started to walk up the road. After a few minutes of walking they were meet by a black and white dog with an automail leg. "Hey Den, Winry home?" the dog barked twice and ran up the road.
Soon all of them seen a sign that said 'Automail Rockbell'. "So Aryona what...?" Al was about to ask.
"My left arm and right leg" she said before he could finish.
"That's opposite brother" Al said. They walked up to the door and knocked.
"Coming" said a voice, the door opened and a small pink haired woman was standing in the door way. "Oh, Ed here for more automail?" she asked him.
"NO! But she needs maintenance" Ed said thumbing behind him to Aryona.
"Are you the one that dose the maintenance here?" she asked. The short woman walked into the house.
"No that's Winry" she said "well come in I'll get her" she called over her shoulder. The trio walked in "Winry we have guests" the pink haired woman called up the stairs.
"Oh granny Pinako this is Aryona, Aryona this is granny Pinako, she's Winry's grandmother" Al said. A blonde girl walked down the stairs.
"Ed, Al, oh who are you?" she asked.
"I'm Aryona or more formally the Time Alchemist" Aryona bowed.
"I'm Winry, your a State Alchemist?" the blonde asked.
"Yup" Aryona said, "so your the one that dose the maintenance here?" she asked.
"Yeah, you have automail?" Winry asked.
"Yep, i might actually need a new leg i feel like i have been limping for a while" Aryona said.
"Well were not cheap" granny Pinako said, "and Ed you should get yours looked at while your here" she said turning her attention to Ed.
"Do i have to?" Ed groaned looking at Winry.
"No, i will probably be busy if she needs a new leg" Winry said to him, "uh Aryona, can i see your automail?" Winry asked her.
"Oh sure" she took off her jacket and unbuttoned her shirt. Ed an Al sweat-dropped. Aryona let her shirt fall from her shoulders to reveal her tank-top clad upper body, she took off her shoes and unbuttoned her pants and let them drop to reveal her panty clad lower body.
"We're leaving!" Ed yelled as he ran out the door with Alphonse behind him.
"Guess they're not used to seeing girls like this" Aryona said laughing.
"So you said you might need a new leg, well to make sure could you stand on that leg" Winry motioned to her human leg.
"Ok" she stood on the human leg and the automail leg was off the ground by a 1/2 inch.
"Looks like you were right, we'll have to measure your legs to be sure its not just the automail though" Winry said standing up to get a tape measure. She came back to Aryona and placed the tip of it on her hip and put it flat against her leg to the floor. She did it to her other leg when it was on the floor. "yep a 1/2 inch, you were right it is shorter; alright you can put your pant back on I'll get the guys" Winry walked out of the room and Aryona slid her pant on, the others came in as she was buttoning her pants.
"Good you have pants on!" Ed said.
"Whats that suppose to mean shorty?" Aryona commented angrily.
"WHO ARE YOU CALLING A MOUSY LITTLE PIP-SQUEAK!" Ed shouted. After Alphonse came in Winry started to look at Aryona's arm.
"It feels like there might be a few springs broken" Winry said while moving her arm around.
"Ok then" Aryona says, she detached her port and pulled out her arm. Ed cringed in pain as she cringed. "I hate the next part, it hurts like hell!" The part she was talking about was the detaching of the nerves from the arm. She pulled her arm out the rest of the way and yelped in pain.
"Brother she's as strong as you" Alphonse said watching Aryona give Winry her arm. She pulled up her pant leg, sat on the floor and detached the port on her leg. "This one hurts worse" she pulled out her leg this time letting out a slight scream.
"Here, so your not just sitting all the time" Winry said handing her a different leg, Aryona put on the leg and stood up, it was a prosthetic so it didn't put her through any more pain.
"Wow even though its a prosthetic it's much more comfortable" she said walking around.
"Aren't you in pain, it normally takes Ed a few days to recover from getting his leg taken out" Winry said.
"Oh, yeah i am but what doesn't kill you makes you stronger right?" Aryona said as she put on her shoes, "well I'll see you guys later, I'm gonna go explore the town" she opened the door.
"Wait I'll go with you, you wont mind if i go alone would you Alphonse?" Ed asked.
"Of course not i can help out around here while you guys are gone" Al said.
"Ok then lets go Ed" Aryona said walking out the door, Ed followed behind her. After a while of walking Ed stopped.
"Aryona" he said, she stopped and turned around already knowing the tone in is voice.
"Yes Ed?" Aryona asked.
"Can i show you something?" Ed asked her.
"Sure" Ed turned up the road and Aryona followed him, after about 30 minutes they came upon a burnt structure.
"This is ware me and Al lived with our mom but she died and we wanted to bring her back. So when we were old enough we left to get taught to be better alchemists. After we came back we tried to bring her back but we failed, Al lost his body and I lost my arm and leg. So after i recovered from getting the automail me and Alphonse went to central to take the state exam and i passed. Before we left for central we burned down our house so we wouldn't remember but looking at the remains and the ashes my memory just goes back to that night." Ed sat down in the road, Aryona sat next to him. "Can i ask you something?" ed asked.
"Yeah" Aryona said softly.
"Did you see it, The Gate?" Ed asked her.
"Yep, the first time they took my arm and the second they took my leg" Aryona said to the ground.
"You've seen it twice?" Ed asked.
"Hm-hm, i tried to bring my dad back but it didn't work the first time so nothing happened that's when they took my arm, i tried again and that's when they got my leg." She told him still looking at the ground.
"Wow" Ed said glumly he looked up at the sky, "It looks like its going to rain, we should get back to the house" Ed stood up, Aryona did also.
"It seems that we have similar history, maybe that's why mustang had me go with you guys" Aryona said.
"Yeah maybe" Ed said, it started to rain lightly. Ed clapped his hands and grabbed a branch that was on the ground turning it into a wooden umbrella witch he gave to Aryona. She took it but didn't use it.
"I like walking in rain" Aryona tilted her head back and let the water hit her face. Ed looked at her and shook his head what kind of girl is this he thought. Aryona accidentally walked into someone "sorry I was..." she trailed off.
"Its alright, be careful next time" the guy said, they continued to walk on until they reached the house.
"Good Aryona your back, I fixed your arm and oiled the gears" Winry said as they walked in the house.
"Thanks Winry, your great" Aryona told her, she blushed.
"Oh its no problem I'll have your leg done in a couple days" Winry told her Aryona took her arm and Winry helped her put it back in. This resulted in another yelp of pain.
"Hey Ed can I talk to you? Al can come its about the guy I bumped into on the way back" she asked, she took Ed by the wrist and led him and Alphonse out onto the porch.
"What about the guy you bumped into?" Ed asked.
"He looked exactly like my dad that is why I trailed off when I looked at him" she replied.
"But you said it didn't work what did he look like after the second transmutation?" Ed asked her as they came inside, it had started to rain harder.
"I looked but he was just a body no life" Aryona said as she remembered.
"That's the way mom looked but she moved a little, wait a second are you saying you did a human transmutation Aryona?" Al asked as it hit him.
"That's not important Alphonse, Aryona you made a homunculus!" Ed said as he grabbed his jacket.
"A homunculus, whats that?" Aryona asked.
"An artificial human they are created when a human transmutation was tried and failed" Al said for Ed was already gone.
"I'm coming too, I can help" Aryona grabbed her jacket and ran after Ed. "Ed wait!" she cried when he was in sight.
"Aryona, go back to the house" Ed said as he stormed on in the rain. All of a sudden Aryona was in front of him.
"No, you need my help whether you want it or not; you hear me!" she told him.
"Fine, we don't even know if he knows what he is" Ed said.
"Maybe we should leave him alone, if he doesn't know then who will tell him." Aryona says.
"If he comes and try's to kill us I am blaming you." Ed says as he stops walking.
"If he comes and try's to kill us then I will take care of it." Aryona says.
"Alright then lets go back to the house, come on Alphonse." Ed and Al go walking back to the house, Aryona however lingered back and waited to see if she could see him again.
"So did you find him?" asked a silky voice.
"Yeah, he was in his home town he was with a girl; I can't help but feel like I should know her." said a mans voice.
"The Fullmetal pip-squeak travailing with a girl, how weird." said another voice.
"Hey! What are you doing in..." the voice faltered a spear stuck in his throat.
"Can I eat him lust? Can I eat him?" a voice asked with eagerness.
"Be sure to clean up when your done gluttony." lust told him.
"That's disgusting," said the mans voice, "I'm leaving." The man got up and left the room making sure not to step in the blood on his way out.