I awoke in a white void. The only things I could see were a sheet white naked boy, who was about my size, with a weird looking head, and a large metal door. On said door was what appeared to be a tree, the leaves of which had words upon them.
"Well, it appears we have another one." the boy said. "But I can see that your intentions aren't to bring someone back."
"That's right." I said. "My grandfather warned me to stay away from those types of Alchemy."
"Were you forced through?" the boy asked.
I shook my head. "Not a chance. Are you even sure there are Alchemists in North City?"
"I don't have many gates in that area, but there are few." the boy said. "Well, if that isn't the reason, what is? I don't see any reason to come here willingly other than the attempt at a Human Transmutation."
"Well, that's a bit of a long story." I said. "My parents died of a mysterious illness, and my grandparents died of old age."
"I thought you said this WASN'T Human Transmutation." the boy said.
"Hold on, I haven't finished yet." I said. "It all happened about a year ago."
ROUGHLY ONE YEAR AGO
"Stop messing with my friends!" I shouted at someone. He was probably twice my size, yet around 3 months younger than me.
"And what are you gonna do about it..." the guy, Travis, said, in a deep voice. "ya little shorty?"
I deeply exhaled in anger. "Says the skyscraper to the rabid fox."
"Pretty small fox." Travis said.
"Alright, screw it." I said, as I slid underneath Travis's legs, punching him in the crotch as I did so. Doing this made one line in the snow we were standing on.
"AGH!" he screamed in pain. "Get back here, you little brat!"
"I think I'm good where I am." I said.
"I'M GONNA KILL YA!" Travis shouted, as he rushed me. He leapt to tackle me, which I slid away to dodge, making another line in the process.
"What's the matter, you big oaf?" I asked. "Too slow?"
"I'll make you eat those words!" Travis shouted, as he ran after me to tackle me again, which I one again slid away from. At this point, I had made a triangle in the snow.
"Come and get me, asshole!" I shouted, running in a single direction for a few seconds, all the while dragging my foot in the snow. Once I finished drawing that line, I stood still, and waited.
"Are you too chicken to fight me head, Dylan!?" Travis asked. "Trying to wear me out by running in circles!?"
"Hey, it's not my fault that a snail could outrun you!" I shouted.
Travis put on his angriest face possible.
After a long while of being chased, I had almost finished. I just needed to encircle my creation. There was just one problem. I was getting exhausted.
"Why don't you just give up?" Travis asked. "There's no way you'll succeed in this fight, midget."
I knew I couldn't stop, though.
"Well why don't you come get me, then?" I asked, as I ran off, still dragging my foot in the snow, as I eventually came full circle around the thing. I was amazed that Travis didn't see what I was doing with the snow.
Once I finished circling my art, I lead Travis to the center, placing myself on the edge.
"Gotcha, you son of a bitch!" I shouted, as I placed my hands in the snow. This caused the lines and the circle to glow.
"What is this!?" Travis asked, horrified, as a large hand of snow rose from the ground, and smacked him onto the ground.
"It's science!" I shouted. "And a damn awesome science at that."
"Ugh..." Travis moaned.
"Next time, think twice before messing with my friends." I said, as I walked past him.
I approached my friends, Samuel and Rick Mustang. They were kind of nerdy, but they can hold their own in a fight if they had to.
Sam had brown hair, and he wore glasses that were designed specifically for hypothermic temperatures. His body was about a foot taller than mine, but he was also much more scrawny, too.
Rick looked pretty much the same as his twin brother, except he was about an inch smalled, less scrawny, and he didn't need glasses.
"What the hell was that!?" Sam asked. "Was that sorcery!?"
"No, that wa- wait, what? Sorcery is summoning living beings, not giant fists of snow." I said. "That was called Alchemy."
Sam and Rick looked puzzled.
"Your great-grandfather was a State Alchemist, and you don't even know what Alchemy looks like?" I asked.
The two shook their heads.
"Where did you learn it?" Rick asked.
"My dad left me my great-grandfather's notes on the subject." I said. "So I guess they're an heirloom now."
"That is what you described." Sam and Rick said simultaneously.
"I thought your family was full of automail engineers." Sam said.
"Yeah, why would they have notes on something like this?" Rick asked.
"The automail business is on my grandmother's side." I said. "Or, rather, it was..."
The three of us stayed silent for a while.
"Alright, I'm out of here." I said, walking away.
"Where are you going?" Sam asked.
"Resembool!" I shouted, not stopping.
"What!?" Rick exclaimed. "What do we do if Travis attacks?"
"Get the hell out of there, that's what!" I shouted. "'Course, you could always join me for the ride."
"Why are you going there, anyways!?" Sam asked.
"I'm going to see what the guys who bought my grandparents' shop are doing with it!" I said, as I waved goodbye.
Before going to the train station, I decided to stop by my house to do some freshening up before leaving.
I walked into my brown, dirty bathroom, and stopped in front of the mirror.
What I saw looking back at me is the same I will ever see: a 5'2", 13 year old, slouching, brown haired boy, with golden eyes. I always kept my hair cut down to a few centimeters above stubble.
After giving my face a good wash, I left the bathroom, and headed out for the train station, where to my not-so-much surprise, I found Sam and Rick.
"We're coming with." Rick said. "Friends stick together."
"Yeah..." I said. "You were scared of Travis attacking, weren't you?"
"Not at all." Sam said, the lies obvious in his voice.
"Whatever you say." I said, before looking above Sam's head. "Hey Travis."
The two twins leapt behind me, as I laughed lightly.
"That was not funny, Dylan." Rick said.
"Yeah yeah, whatever." I said, as a train drove by. "Come on, we'll be boarding soon."
ONE DAY LATER
"So... This is the country." Sam said.
"Sure is." I said.
"Smells like horse shit." Rick said.
"Sure does." I said. "By the way, what did you say to your parents before you left?"
"The truth." Sam said. "They're very understanding."
"Really?" I asked. "Last time you were taken out past your bedtime, your mom threw a knife at me."
"They're very understand of US." Rick said. "They don't like the people that cause these kinds of things."
"Remind me to never get into a fight with your parents." I said. "Follow me. The shop isn't too far."
"You say the shop isn't too far, but there I don't see a shop anywhere." Sam said.
"Well, the truth is..." I said, hesitantly. "The shop is actually a house that sells stuff."
"Sounds pretty illegal to me." Rick said.
"Just follow me." I said, as I lead the two of them to a two story house, with a nice little padio on the front. The color of the house was yellow, with a white trim and a light black roof. Above and behind the padio was a balcony.
The three of us walked up to the door, and I knocked on it 3 times.
"Ugh..." I heard someone growl. "Whoever's there, get lost. We don't want business at the moment."
"HELP! MY ARM WAS CUT OFF!" I shouted at the top of my lungs, much to the suprise of Sam and Rick. It caused me to laugh quietly, though, as I heard a bang, followed by really quick and loud footsteps, each one getting closer than the last.
"Don't worry kid, I'll give a-" a man said, as the door flung open.
"Miss me?" I asked, eyes closed and grinning my ass off.
"Well well, if it isn't Dylan Rockbell." the man said. His name was Sid Armstrong. Despite him being not much older than myself, this guy could lift a truck with his pinky.
"How's it going, Sid?" I asked. "Trashed my parents' old shop yet?"
"I'd say I've actually improved it's status." Sid said. "I guess having an owner from a billion dollar family would do that to a small business. People are coming in from all over the country."
"Billion dollar!?" Sam asked.
"All over the country!?" Rick added on.
"Yeah, it's amazing." I said. "By the way, you treating my grandfather's leg well?"
"Well the fact that it was owned by a State Alchemist helps business if that's what you mean." Sid said, laughing.
I, however, was not laughing.
"Dylan, I didn't know your grandfather was a State Alchemist." Sam said.
"He wasn't..." I said. "He told me himself when I was a little kid, shortly after I learned about Alchemy, that he couldn't perform it."
"Really?" Sid asked. "My uncle always went on with stories about the legendary Alchemist who could perform Alchemy with even using a circle."
My eyes shot open wide.
"He recognized him in the pictures on your wall that you refused to take with you." Sid said.
"Let me see." I said, shoving Sid aside, as I entered the house to look at the picture wall. I pointed to a picture of a boy with long, braided blond hair, and the same gold eyes as me. "That's him, right?"
Sid nodded. "Just look at his left pant pocket."
I looked as close as I could, but all I saw was a chain. "What am I supposed to be seeing?"
"The pocket watch." Sid said.
I looked closer. "I guess that chain could belong to a pocket watch, but so what if it does?"
"Hang on, I'll print a picture for you." Sid said, running upstairs, and I heard a computer turn on.
"Whoever invented computers was a genius." I said, as I heard a machine whirring. It sounded like a printer.
Once the picture was done, I heard a paper swiping sound, and then I heard Sid running down the stairs again to give me the paper.
I took the page reluctantly, and looked at the image printed upon it.
I saw the lion symbol, surrounded by many lines, their positions would be hard to describe. It was the pocket watch of the State Alchemists.
Pokcet watch... Of the State Alchem- Wait! I thought. "So my grandfather had one of these in his pocket!?"
Sid nodded. "He, along with your uncle Al, fought to protect this country 100 years ago. If it weren't for them, we wouldn't even be here right now."
I paused for a second. "So which one was he?" I asked.
Sid shook his head. "I was never told."
"Okay." I said, leaning towards a chair. "I think I need to sit down."
Sam and Rick grabbed me, and helped me into a chair.
"You okay?" Rick asked. "Seems pretty cool that Sam and I aren't the only ones."
"Yeah, it's just a lot to take in." I said. "I only just realized how little my parents and grandparents told me."
"You think there's more?" Sam asked.
"There probably is." I said. "I should try to figure out what, but how would I do that?"
"Wait, why do you have to figure out?" Rick asked.
"If you just figured out you knew nothing about where you came from, wouldn't you go searching too?" I asked. "Because I know I would. There's just something drawing me to do it, like I know that I have to do this."
Sid looked at me from head to toe. "Not with your body, you aren't." he said. "There is no way you could gain the information you want from this country alone."
"What are you suggesting? That I start exercising until I get your strength?" I asked. "How long would that take?"
"A few years, probably." Sid said.
I shook my head. "I can't wait that long." I said.
"Well there's no shortcut." Sid said.
I sighed, and was about to give up, until I noticed my grandfather's right arm in the photograph. "How did he lose his limbs?"
"I believe it was some sort of transmutation." Sid said.
"What if I figure out what that transmutation was, and replicate it on myself?" I asked. "It might take a while to figure out what the transmutation was, but once I did it, how long would rehabilitation take?"
"It depends on what you lose." Sid said. "An arm would be 1 to 3 months, depending on how much you lose, legs would be 3 to 6 months-"
"What about a skeleton?" I asked.
"You can't be serious." Sid said, before I shot a glare at him. "Alright, alright. A skeleton hasn't been done before, so it could take 1 year to figure out, and possibly 6 to 9 months of rehabilitation."
"Alright. So I have 1 year to figure out the transmutation." I said. "I'll start on that right now."
"You can't actually be going through with this." Sam said.
"I am." I said. "I feel like there's a reason that I have to learn this knowledge for, I just need to know what."
"Are you sure your gut can be trusted in this situation?" Rick asked.
"Well, there's no way of knowing without trying it first." I said. "I'm aware of the risk, and I will take the consequences.
"Let's not try to stop him." Sid said. "If he wants to be stupid, let him. If he needs our help, we don't have to give it."
"But you're going to, right?" I asked.
Sid grinned. "Of course I am."
I nodded, and ran upstairs.
ONE YEAR LATER
"So that's your reason for coming here?" the boy asked. "What a fool."
"I may be a fool." I said. "But I accept the consequences of doing so."
The boy grinned. "Very well. I will accept your skeleton, if that is what you wish me to take. And, as an added bonus, I will let you see into the gate of truth."
I looked at the large, metallic door, which began to open. Inside, hands made of shadows reached out to grab me, and pulled me in.
Once inside, I saw clips of all the things closest to me. Sam, Rick, Sid, mom, dad, grandmother, grandfather... Everything.
After that, it's like I was attempting to have all of the knowledge of the universe crammed into my head at once.
"AAARRRGGGHHH!" I screamed. "MAKE IT STOP! MAKE IT STOOOP!"
After a long period of time, I was thrown out of the gate.
"So since I can't get out of here without my skeleton, do you mind getting me out of this void?" I asked.
"Don't worry." the boy said. "You will leave on your own."
"Who are you, anyways?" I asked.
"I am referred to as many names. I prefer to be called Truth, out of all of them." the boy said.
"Why? Is one of them fat boy?" I asked.
"You know what? This is ridiculous. I'm taking your bones now." Truth said, as I could feel my body go limp. I saw my bones seep out from under my skin, only to enter Truth.
"See you again." Truth said, grinning.
IN THE REAL WORLD, 6 MONTHS LATER
"How do you feel?" Sid asked.
"Much better." I said. "I feel like I can actually move without my bones scraping against each other when I do so."
"Okay, that's good." Sid said. "I also got your first lead on your answers a few days ago."
"Let me see." I said, as Sid reached for some papers in his desk. He pulled out a picture, which I took. "Alright, this is definitely grandpa. Where was this taken?"
"Given how much the country's changed, I can't say for sure." Sid said. "However, given the pictures on the wall and the internet, my guess would be Central."
"Who should I look for?" I asked.
"There's an old lady who lives there. She's the granddaughter of a military man, who was killed in a phone booth." Sid said. "Her name is Elizabeth Hughes."
"Alright." I said. "Hey, your sister lives in Central, right?"
"Lay so much as a hand on my sister, and you won't be getting a new skeleton when I break your current one." Sid said.
"You could've just said 'hands off your sister' and been done with it." I said, as I walked out the door.
I walked along the path to the train station, smelling the horse shit smell for the last time in a while.
I wonder how Sam and Rick are. I thought, as the train passed by the station.
"Guess I'm out of here... For now." I said, as the train passing by came to a halt, and I boarded. "I'll be back, though."
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