A/N: This is the first time I have ever written a Full Metal Alchemist fanfic, so please do go easy on me. Suggestions are always welcome, so do give them whenever you have an idea.
Multicolored
Two years ago…
He sat alone in the corner of the train car asleep, leaning against the window. Sunlight reflected dimly from a silver necklace that hung tightly from his neck, as though there was something heavy attached to it.
Edward Elric could not help but notice the other boy across the train car, who was alone in his seat, unlike the rest of the packed train car. The boy had dark hair and looked around Ed's own age.
"Is there something wrong?" Alphonse Elric asked from his seat across from Edward.
"No," Ed replied, glancing back to his brother. Gesturing to the other boy with his head, Ed asked, "What do you think he's here for?"
"Going home probably?" Al suggested. "This train goes only to Central after all."
"He's not dressed like someone who lives in Central," Ed noted.
"Interesting traveling cloak," Al observed, gesturing with his head toward the other boy's dark clothing. "Looks like there's writing on it."
"They're probably decorations," Ed snapped tiredly. "I'm going to sleep."
A sudden commotion erupted near the front of a car. Several armed men had surrounded a single man who was armed with only a pistol.
The boy stirred, roused from his sleep and opened his eyes, revealing a pair of very unusual eyes. His left eye was a vivid red, brighter than those of the Ishbalan, but seemed dim when it was calm. The right was a deep blue, with a sharp tint of purple when light reflected at an angle off the eye.
"Annoying…" the boy muttered, rolling his eyes. "What a way to start the day."
Edward Elric had gotten out of his seat and into the aisle, only to be pointed at with a weapon.
"Put your hands up!" the man yelled. "Return to your seats and remain there!"
Ed just started to raise his hands when there was a sudden flash of light from behind him. He turned back to look, and the man suddenly screamed. Whirling around, he found the cause for the shout.
The armed man was impaled with what looked like hundreds of metallic spikes from head to toe. Blood poured from the wounds rapidly like a slashed cactus.
A sudden dash of movement caught Ed's attention. The boy sitting behind them had leapt up onto the chairs and was sprinting rapidly over the seats toward the remaining man in the front of the car.
"An alchemist!" the man roared, raising his machine gun and opened fire.
The entire cloak covering the boy suddenly flared with light, illuminating a complex alchemy circle that covered the entire cloth. The bullets that hit him shattered into shards of light, blinding the gunner momentarily and caused him to pause his fire. But it was enough time.
The boy leapt and twisted over the gunner, landing behind him. Lashing out with a foot, there was a sharp crack as the kick broke the man's left knee, driving the man to the floor. He slammed his foot onto the man's chest and extended a hand from within a sleeve of the cloak, preparing to deliver the finishing blow.
"Don't kill him!" Ed shouted, rushing forward.
The other boy turned toward him and his hood slipped off.
Ed skidded to a halt, nearly causing Al to crash into him, who was following closely.
"Uh…" Ed stared directly into the eyes of the other boy, startled. "Colors…"
Laughing, the boy extended a hand. "Alexei Vel," he said, shaking Ed's hand. "Sorry about that. I tend to have that effect."
"Huh?" Ed said blankly.
"My eyes," Alexei replied. He frowned, glancing down at Ed's hand. "You're hand's automail? Or is it your entire arm?"
"Arm," Ed replied faintly, still entranced by the eyes.
"Hey!" a voice cried from under a seat. "Get me out of here!"
Ed moved quickly, reaching under the seat and pulled out an irate military-looking man.
"Who're you?" Alexei asked, peering at the man.
"Falman," Falman replied. "Military."
"What is the military doing on this train?" Al asked, untying the ropes that bound Farman.
"We're escorting General Hakuro back to headquarters from his vacation," Falman replied. "These men must be rebels…"
"If they're here," Ed said as he started to understand. "They must be after the general!"
"I wonder why," Alexei thought aloud. He suddenly gasped in pain and clutched his side, sliding down onto the floor.
"Alexei!" Ed called in alarm. "What's wrong?"
"My cloak's defenses are very powerful," Alexei grunted, pulling away his hand, which was soaked red in blood. "Anything that comes in contact with the outside aside from air is converted to pure light energy." His breath hissed through his clenched teeth as he pulled a strip of cloth from his cloak to press over the wound. "I activated its defenses a little late."
"You're not going to die are you?" Al nearly cried.
Alexei gave a harsh bark of laughter, then groaned. "Of course not. Nothing vital was hit." He closed his eyes momentarily. "I'll be fine. Go after the general!"
"You're sure?" Ed asked again, looking at Alexei concernedly.
"I'll turn your hair green."
"You'd better be fine when I get back!" Ed snapped as he quickly left the car followed quickly by Al.
Falman attempted to stand, but collapsed as his leg gave out.
"Damn leg," Falman complained. "Rebels twisted it at the knee." He glanced at Alexei's wound, which had seemed to stop bleeding. "You're going to need help."
"Oh I'll be fine by the time you get back," Alexei said sarcastically. "Like I'll die from this." He traced a few symbols on the blood of his palm and pressed it onto his wound. "I've got to be more careful next time."
Alchemic light flared from his palm as he started to heal his wound.
"Say, what's his name anyway?"
( 0 0 0 )
The wind blew over the train like a gale, threatening to tear Ed from the top of the train.
"Maybe this wasn't such a good idea," he muttered, though the wind blew away all his words. "Oh well. Al's going from the inside anyway."
Abruptly, he caught sight of a low hanging tree rushing toward him rapidly. No time to dodge!
Instinctively, he tried to duck, but the branch caught onto him and pulled him off his feet. He hurtled back over the roof of the train, desperately reaching for a handhold.
Just when he slipped off the roof, a hand caught the back of his shirt.
"You okay?" a voice called. "I'm impressed that you came out here."
Ed glanced up and found the source of the voice. It was a man who looked around his thirties.
"I'm Hughes," he said. "You're Edward Elric?"
"Yeah," Ed replied.
"I've heard about you from Lieutenant Colonel Mustang," said Hughes.
Just then, the door behind them slid open.
"So you've been hanging here the whole time!" Alexei shouted over the wind. "Alphonse is ahead of you!"
"Alexei!" Ed shouted back. "You're okay! What happened to your wound?"
"Healed it!" Alexei yelled back. He glanced over at Hughes. "You're military?"
"Name's Hughes!"
"Then let's go!" Alexei yelled. "Don't want to keep the general waiting!"
(0 0 0 )
The guards watching the engine crew stood bored as they waited for further orders from their leader, Bard.
Without warning, the cabin exploded with blinding light, causing the guards to drop their weapons and stumble around, clutching at their eyes. Hughes dropped in from one window and knocked one to the ground. Ed dropped in from the other window and knocked the other to the ground.
Alexei entered through the door dusting coal dust off his hands. It appeared that he had transmuted a chunk of coal to make the flash.
The two members of the engine crew looked at them three curiously.
Alexei looked at them, then to the two groaning rebels on the floor.
"Have fun," he said.
The engineers smiled.
"What was that about?" Hughes asked good-naturedly, climbing into the communications room through the window. Alexei slipped in easily after him, clutching his cloak against the wind.
"I didn't see anything wrong about it…" Alexei replied sheepishly, bringing his hands out of his sleeves. "Hey, what's his name anyway?" He gestured with his hand at Hughes' waist level.
"Hmm?" Hughes glanced at Alexei. "Oh. That's Edward Elric. The other guy in the armor is his little brother Alphonse."
"Little?" Alexei muttered. "I wonder…"
A sudden flush of water seeped from the bottom of the door. "That would be Ed," Hughes noted. As the water ceased flowing, Hughes opened the door, drawing a short throwing knife from somewhere.
Alexei watched curiously as Hughes exchanged a few words with someone on the other side, then moved back in alarm as Hughes hurled his knife and slammed the door shut, but not before he was grazed by a bullet from a machine gun on the other side.
"Hughes!" Alexei cried. Quickly, he inspected the wound. "It's alright. You were only scratched."
"Only?" Hughes growled. "It hurts!"
A crash outside came to their attention. "That would be Ed," Alexei observed. "He can take care of himself." He placed his hand over Hughes' wound. "Now I'll take care of this." Light flared for a few seconds, and then Alexei took his hand away.
Hughes touched the wound in wonder. "Amazing…" He looked at Alexei intently. "Your name's Alexei Vel?"
Alexei nodded. A deep gong of metal sounded from through the door, interrupting Hughes.
Reaching out, Alexei opened the door and found the rebel leader Bard out cold on the floor.
"Alphonse punched him huh?" Alexei asked Ed, who was standing in the corridor.
Al chuckled sheepishly from the side.
"By the way," Alexei said. "Where's the general?"
Hughes gestured down the corridor. "Second door. I'll bring you."
Alexei nodded his thanks and left for the room.
"General Hakuro?" Alexei called as he entered the cabin.
Hughes stepped in from behind him and said to the general, "Sir, he's one of the three who helped us bring down the rebels."
General Hakuro was pressing a bloody cloth to his ear where a part of it was apparently shot off. He raised a hand to wave them off, but Alexei quickly spoke before he could.
"Sir, I can heal that," he offered.
Hakuro glanced at Hughes, who nodded and pointed to his shoulder, where he saw the bloody torn cloth but undamaged skin.
"Alright," Hakuro consented, and lowered the cloth. Before his wound could start bleeding again, Alexei had already pressed his hand against the wound and begun the process.
Seconds later, a look of astonishment appeared on the general's face as Alexei took his hand away.
"That's quite a remarkable ability you have there, son," he said, looking gratefully at Alexei.
"Thank you sir," Alexei replied. "I do what I can." He felt a tap on his shoulder and turned around toward Hughes.
"Would you mind helping us clean up the mess?" Hughes asked, smiling.
( 0 0 0 )
As Alexei, Ed, and Al exited the train, they were greeted by a tall officer, whose markings identified him a colonel.
"Excellent job in apprehending the rebels and protecting the general," the colonel said, tilting his head toward them. "I am Colonel Roy Mustang."
"It's you," Ed grumbled, glaring at the colonel. "It was you that had us go on this train so soon!"
Roy smirked. "I had confidence in your abilities."
Ed's eyes widened. "You mean you knew that they were there?"
The colonel only smiled. "Either way, you handled the situation very well, and the general is impressed by your performance." He paused, letting the words sink in. "Therefore, he's granted the three of you the unique privilege of taking the State Alchemist Exam," he said, looking at all three in turn.
Edward sputtered, looking at the colonel in shock. "You…"
"Now aren't you glad that you got onto the train?" Roy chuckled. He turned to Alexei, who had covered his head with the hood of the cloak. "I haven't met you before. What is your name and where do you come from?"
"Alexei Vel," Alexei replied, lowering his hood. As expected, the colonel froze, staring at Alexei's eyes. "I'm afraid I don't know where I came from."
"Um…" Roy shook himself visibly. "We'll have to look into that. Otherwise, congratulations on…"
"Watch out!" Alexei suddenly shouted, moving so quickly that even Roy had a hard time keeping track of.
Bard had cut out of his ropes with a hidden blade from his broken automail arm and was charging toward Roy, his eyes crazed with rage.
"I'll take care of this," Roy said, pulling on a white glove. There was an alchemy circle drawn on the back. He put his fingers together.
Alexei leapt up into the air and delivered a blinding fast kick to Bard, once on his chest and then another on his head, dropping him to the ground effectively. But the rebel was not easily deterred. Bard pulled himself back up onto his feet and raised his arm, preparing to skewer the colonel.
At the exact moment Roy snapped his fingers, Alexei whirled around with his cloak illuminating with light. The energy coalesced around Alexei's hand as coils of fire started to appear around Bard's body.
Then, in a combined flash of fire and light, Bard was blasted onto the ground with tremendous force, fracturing a small part of the ground.
"Amazing…" Ed whispered, mainly at Roy's firepower.
"I was going easy on you Bard," Roy said, looking down at the charred rebel. "You are not as injured as you look." He looked appraisingly at Alexei. "That's quite an interesting type of alchemy you have. I suppose your cloak is the key to your alchemy?"
"Partially," Alexei replied. "Your fire alchemy is quite impressive as well. I've never seen any other like it."
"I'll take that as a compliment," Roy grinned.
"HEY!" Ed shouted, glaring at both Roy and Alexei. "Don't start getting friendly here!"
Roy simply smiled.
( 0 0 0 )
"This house…is huge!" Alexei stared up at the mansion. "Are you sure we're in the right place?"
"I don't make mistakes like that," Roy sad stiffly, knocking on the door.
A man opened the door, sunlight reflecting off his glasses. "Oh, you're here."
A sudden cry of distress came from Edward as a massive dog (from his perspective) knocked him to the ground.
"Hey! That's not nice!" the voice of a young girl came from the man's knees. She looked about four and was looking at the dog sternly, to no effect.
"Nina, I thought I told you to keep Alexander tied up!" the man said. "I'm sorry about that."
"That's no problem," Al said, rubbing the back of his head.
"NO PROBLEM?" Ed roared from beneath the dog. "GET THIS MONSTROUS THING OFF OF ME!"
Alexei laughed and shooed the dog away, only to have the animal run up and take a bite of his cloak.
"Hey, get off!" Alexei protested, trying to free his cloak. When the dog refused, Alexei sighed and sent a bit of power through the cloak, causing the dog to yelp and drop the material as a small electrical jolt coursed through his mouth.
"Hey, that's nice!" the man said, regarding Alexei's cloak approvingly. "Creative."
"Thank you," Alexei said.
Roy waved to get their attention. "This is the Sewing Life Alchemist, Shou Tucker, as I've told you earlier. You'll be staying here for now. Take this time wisely to study for your exam."
Five minutes later, Edward was staring open-mouthed at the vast amounts of books stored on the bookshelves in the back of Tucker's house.
"What I have here is only a small fraction to what the Central library has," Tucker said. "You'll be granted access to it once you become a State Alchemist."
"Whoa…" Ed said in wonder, approaching a shelf. Pulling a book off, he was immediately immersed in it.
"Brother, we can use all this to…" Al tried to say, then noticed the lack of attention from Ed.
"Completely oblivious to what goes around him once he starts working on something…" Tucker noted, a small smile on his face. "He's going to become one great alchemist someday."
"No doubt about it," Alexei agreed. "Tucker, can I speak to you alone?"
Tucker glanced at Alexei curiously. "No problem. We can use my workroom."
"So what do you want to talk to me about?" Tucker asked as he closed the door.
Alexei stepped over to a worktable and examined a few sheets casually before turning back around.
"You transmuted your wife to create the chimera two years ago," Alexei stated plainly.
"W-what are you talking about?" Tucker protested nervously. "How can you say such a thing?"
Tucker reached slowly toward the doorknob behind him.
"Don't bother trying to escape," Alexei said. "It only confirms your guilt."
"How did you find out?" Tucker demanded, smiling grimly as he moved away from the door.
Alexei abruptly focused both of his eyes onto Tucker's, causing the alchemist to freeze a halt.
"My right eye," he said, gesturing to the red one. "Sees your life, its essence." He gestured to the other. "My left sees the alchemy that runs through not only your essence, but of all and beyond." Sparks crackled from his open hands and into the floor under him.
Tucker started moving back, his bravery crumbling. "What are you?" he whispered as a cold light started gathering around Alexei's body.
"It is too dangerous for you to continue living with your daughter," Alexei said, ignoring Tucker's question. "You, who puts your work ahead of your family, are no longer fit to remain here." The light around him turned red and suddenly snapped outwards, flexing and bending around him until it formed a spherical alchemy circle that surrounded Alexei and Tucker. "Shou Tucker, you will be replaced by another who still has his family whole, and has within the true care he was meant to have."
Tucker could only watch in horror as a massive stone gate suddenly appeared in front of him. The gate opened, and countless arms of shadows snaked out.
Screaming, Tucker was pulled in.
The gate closed.
"I hate bringing the gate here like this," Alexei grumbled. "It's too far of a strain."
Soundlessly, the gate vanished along with the alchemy sphere. Alexei suddenly stumbled, a hand clutching over his chest painfully as he staggered to the wall, his breath ragged.
"Alexei, are you alright?"
Alexei's head snapped up, taking in the view of the new Shou Tucker. Nodding to Tucker, Alexei sighed, waiting as the pain slowly passed.
"I'll have to be more careful next time," he said, straightening. Glancing at Tucker, he said, "I'll be fine, just lost my breath."
Tucker looked at him concernedly, but nodded. "You had something to say to me?"
Inwardly, Alexei smiled. This new Tucker created by the gate was a perfect replica of the original, who was now being agonizingly torn apart by the forces within.
"I just wanted to know how you created the chimera two years ago," Alexei said.
"Well," Tucker replied, scratching the back of his head. "I used a several species of animals as close to the essence of humans as I could find. I think I used an incompatible pair that somehow worked together for a short time before it decided to die. I still have no idea why it did that."
"It was the first successful chimera," Alexei said. "There was bound to be something wrong."
"Huh. I had never thought that would be the case," Tucker replied, rubbing his chin. "Would you like to work with me on my research?"
"Me?" Alexei sputtered. "But I…"
Tucker laughed and rubbed Alexei's hair, causing the boy to protest. "I have perfect confidence in your abilities, given that you are this young to become a State Alchemist."
Reluctantly, Alexei agreed. There was only one more thing that he had ordered the gate to perform…
( 0 0 0 )
While Ed and Al studied in the library for their exam, Alexei was on the second floor discussing different techniques of transmutation with Tucker, creating new innovative ideas that gave the Sewing Life Alchemist hope with his own upcoming yearly assessment.
"You're helping me accomplish more in a single day than I have in years!" Tucker said happily, patting the pile of freshly written documents.
"I'm not the only one deserving credit," Alexei said, scratching out a line on Tucker's paper and wrote another. "That's a better technique."
Tucker glanced back down. "Such remarkable ability! Of course you deserve the credit!"
"You taught me!" Alexei tried to protest, but Tucker's joy was simply too great.
Quickly though, the two were buried in their work. Abruptly, a knock from the lower floor caught their attention.
"Who could that be at this time?" Tucker wondered, scratching his head. "I'll be back." He left the room. Moments later, there was a shout.
"Amelia!"
Alexei smiled openly this time. The gate had done its job most perfectly.
"Nina! Edward! Alexei! Alphonse! Everyone come here!" Tucker yelled.
Hiding his smile and putting on an expression of confusion, Alexei went downstairs to the front door.
A kind motherly woman stood at the door, looking tearfully at Tucker.
"Everyone," Tucker said, his voice threatening to break. "This is my wife Amelia."
"Mommy!" Nina screamed, running into her mother's embrace. "I've missed you so much!"
"It's a pleasure to meet you," Alexei said, shaking Amelia's hand. "We've heard so much about you."
"Where have you been?" Tucker asked, almost begging. "Why did you take so long to come back?"
"That doesn't matter now," Amelia said. "I'm sorry for leaving you like that. If only I had known…"
"Since everybody's here, why don't we all go inside to talk?" Al offered.
No one disagreed.
( 0 0 0 )
That night, they had a celebration for the return of Tucker's wife Amelia.
"…research has been advanced for years," Tucker was saying to Ed. "He's been most helpful…"
"…considered what might be in the exam?" Al was asking Alexei.
"I suppose we'll have to simply study and do our best!" Alexei said encouragingly, reaching out for a cake.
"Promise you'll never leave again?" Nina asked Amelia.
Amelia kissed her daughter on the forehead and smiled. "Don't worry Nina. I will always be here for you."
"…so now my assessment will be easily passed!" Tucker finished. Reaching for a glass, he said, "A toast to all the future State Alchemists here, and especially Alexei here for transmuting these glasses…"
Alexei leaned over and tapped Alphonse "Is Tucker drunk?"
"I think so," Alphonse replied, watching Tucker sway slightly. "It's kinda funny."
"I wonder what Ed looks like drunk…" Alexei thought aloud.
"What was that?" Ed asked from across the table.
"Oh nothing."
Ed stared at him suspiciously, but returned to his conversation.
"So!" Tucker abruptly shouted, startling everyone. He slammed his glass onto the table, nearly breaking the glass. "Why's a trio of kids like you looking to become State Alchemists?"
Ed looked startled. Tucker had better not reveal his secret in his drunken stupor!
"Shou please!" Amelia begged, placing her hand on Tucker's arm.
"It's alright," Ed said. Tucker looked drunkenly at him, interested. "I want to become a State Alchemist because I want to gain back what my brother and I lost."
"NOBLE!" Tucker roared. He took another swig from his glass. "I admire you," he added, raising his glass.
Alexei stared at Tucker in amazement. "I never thought he was capable of this…" he whispered.
"You've got a point there," Al replied, watching Tucker laugh drunkenly as he tickled his daughter.
"How about you?" Tucker sputtered, waving at Alexei.
"Me?" Alexei's face became clouded. "I just want to do something worthwhile before…" he trailed off.
"Before what?" Tucker asked. The table had fallen silent; everyone's expression was on Alexei.
"Oh nothing!" Alexei laughed, scratching the back of his head. "Just a random thought!"
The drunken Tucker blinked at him through thick eyes, but seemed to accept the explanation.
"Anyway, did I tell you about how my research has progressed Ed?" Tucker slurred, draping an arm over Ed's shoulders.
"Alexei," Amelia asked, glancing concernedly at her husband. "Could you do something?"
"Sure," Alexei replied, pouring some water into a cup. Grasping the container, the alchemy symbols on his sleeve of his shirt, not his cloak, glowed faintly momentarily. "This should cancel out the wine." He waved toward Tucker. "Here, try this."
"Oh?" Tucker turned his head toward Alexei, slowly focusing his eyes onto the cup in his hands. "Sure." Taking the cup, he put it to his lips and drank deeply. The effect was instant.
Tucker sat up stiffly in his seat, his mouth snapping shut sharply as he became aware of his surroundings.
"I didn't do what I believe I did, did I?" Tucker asked in a near whisper.
"I'm afraid so," Alexei replied, sitting back into his chair as he picked up something a fruit from the table. "But don't worry, we stopped you in time before you could be carried away."
Tucker looked at them apologetically. "I don't know what got into me to drink so much."
Abruptly, Ed laughed and slammed his cup onto the table. "Don't fret about it so much! It's the first day your wife returned to you after two years, so have fun tonight!" He glanced at Alexei. "Just make sure you have more of that stuff just in case!"
Alexei spat his drink back into his cup in a burst of laughter. "I most certainly will!"
( 0 0 0 )
As the date of the examination drew nearer and nearer, Edward and Alphonse dove deeper into their studies and spend longer hours in the book room. Alexei continued to help Tucker develop more innovative techniques and ideas on chimera transmutation.
It finally came to the point where they no longer had time remaining as the day of the exam finally arrived.