"Oh no." Colonel Roy Mustang mumbled as he stared at the unconscious, one-armed boy.

Lately there have been sightings of purple flashing lights all around Amestris. The military was constantly getting complaints about it, saying that the alchemists had to've been running wild. No one knew what to expect of these purple flashing lights. The only kind of purple transmutation was Human Transmutation, and everyone knew that was forbidden. So, the state was required to check it out. Since, (for once in his how many years of working in the military) Roy had completed all his paperwork that week, the Fuhrer decided to send him out on a few missions around Amestris to figure out what was going on. He would have rather sent his subordinate, Edward Elric, but the Fuhrer seemed pretty persistent on sending him. He said that the Elric Brothers shouldn't get involved in Human Transmutation or they might "start thinking of trying it themselves." Roy almost laughed at the irony.

But only almost.

Every time he left to check out where a purple light sighting was, he was left with nothing. There were a few footprints and then just...nothing. They were gone. It was like they vanished into midair. He was literally getting no luck on this case, even with the Investigations (more namely: Hughes) in on this as well. They couldn't find anything either. No signs of transmutations. No alchemy at all. Just...flashing lights. If someone was over here setting flares off, they'd at least be able to find the footprints of who was setting them off. But there was literally nothing. Just two to four footprints and then nothing. Roy would guess that someone might be transmuting farther away, but there was literally no evidence of something being created or deconstructed. Which could only mean that either one, this person was skilled enough to not leave any transmutation marks, or two, there was no alchemy going on at all. None of this made sense.

Later on that night (what was it, the twenty-second day?) there was a bright flash. It wasn't purple. This time, it was just a bright white color. It shone so bright Roy could see it from the window where he and his crew were staying. It seemed that everyone coincidentally had been sleeping. So, Roy took it upon himself to see what was up. He woke up Lieutenant Havoc just in case he needed backup on this. They slowly walked to the scene, not making a single noise as they did so. Once they were a few yards away, Roy caught sight of something and ordered Havoc to stay. He nodded and waited for Roy to return. Said Colonel approached the dying light and froze at the sight of an injured boy. There was blood everywhere and he was missing his left arm.

"Oh no."

"Colonel!" Havoc half-whispered, half-shouted to him. "Is it safe?!" Roy looked down at the boy. He looked safe enough. Unless he had a bomb on him. Roy gave him a 'stay put' signal and knelt down, feeling for any type of weapon. The boy was clean. Well, not literally considering he was covered in blood and mud. It looked like there was some kind of black uniform he was dressed in, though it was severely shredded. He took one of the buttons and observed it. Pure silver? He questioned. How were they able to afford something like that? He turned it over and was a bit surprised to see writing on the back. Allen Walker? Is that his name? Or perhaps the person who made the uniform? Roy took his glove off and pressed his fingers against the side of Allen's neck, searching for a pulse. He found one, but it was dying quickly.

They had to move fast if they wanted answers.

Roy reached down and picked the lifeless body up, bringing it over to where Havoc stood. "What the h-"

"This is the only evidence that there was something there to begin with. We have to interrogate him. He's dying fast so we need to get him to a doctor and quick." Roy grumbled. Havoc nodded and lead him quickly to the family doctor down the street. It was a small town where most of the buildings were built out of shabby wood (which could explain why the residents did not appreciate them being there) and little food. He banged on the door a few times and tapped his foot impatiently. The door opened after the fifth knock. There was an old man who looked extremely tired.

"Whadaya want so damn late at...who's that?!" He shouted, pointing at the unconscious teenager in Roy's arms.

"There's no time for introductions. He's dying and needs medical help." Roy commanded, barging in without the old man's permission.

"Stupid military dog..." The man uttered darkly, but lead Roy to a medical room anyways. He laid the unconscious boy down on the white bed and watched as the old man (irritatingly slowly) started to perform surgery almost immediately. Havoc looked away, but Roy continued to stare. He'd seen enough blood back in Ishval. "Give me some space, you military rats." He snapped. Havoc stood up to defend them, but Roy held his hand in front of him and they left the room.

"If we get on his bad side, he might purposefully kill the boy." Roy explained. "We need answers to get off this damn case already." Havoc sighed, but nodded his head, rubbing his eyes.

"Well, Colonel, I think I'm going back to bed. If you need anything, wake me up." Havoc informed, saluting briefly before leaving the shabby, old, house.

Hopefully this place is sterile enough so that he won't get an infection. Roy thought and sat down on the couch. It creaked under the weight and Roy began thinking to himself about this boy. He didn't look like he was from around here, honestly. His skin was a ghostly pale (but that could just be because he lost a lot of blood), had stark white hair (he didn't look old), and a jagged, red scar down the left side of his face. On his forehead it looked like an upside down star which, in most religions, was the sign of satanism. He did look quite different. Roy could only guess what kind of fight he'd been in to have his entire arm blown off. He didn't know how many hours he sat there, playing out the different situations of when the boy woke up. If he was a spy from some other country, he could try to attack. But, he could also wake up with amnesia. Roy thought of the idea that he just might be a resident in this town, but he was pretty sure the old man would have recognized him since the town was so small. His thoughts faded away when Hughes entered the room. Roy didn't even realize the sun was up until the door opened.

"Yo. Havoc told me about the boy. I went to go check out the scene and I found...this." Hughes lifted up a jar that concealed a butterfly. It wasn't just any butterfly either. It had purple and white stripes and a large mouth with very sharp teeth. "Little bugger tried to bite my hand off. What kind of butterfly do you think it is?" Hughes questioned, handing him the jar. Roy held it up in front of his eyes.

"I'm not some bug scientist, but it certainly doesn't look normal." He paused before shaking the jar. It clanked. They both blinked. "I'm pretty sure butterflies aren't metal. Or...that didn't exactly sound like metal...but it's made of some kind of hard, yet flexible material. We'd need to examine it." He replied, passing it back to Hughes. Hughes sat down next to Roy and looked over at him.

"No sleep?"

"Well, I can't just leave. The old man might do something with him."

"Roy, Havoc said he was, what? Fifteen? Sixteen?"

"I'm not sure how old he is, he was unconscious when we found him, but he does look to be that age." Roy nodded.

"We're going to have to interrogate him. He might not like our questions, he might not even speak our language."

"I know." Roy muttered. "But, we have no other choice. The only other thing that we've got is a butterfly and I'm pretty sure it doesn't talk at all."

"Don't get your hopes up, Roy. Judging by the blood back at the scene, he was bleeding badly and for a long time too. He very well may be-" Hughes was cut off when the door to the medical room opened. The both of them stood up and the old man simply glared at them and walked off. Roy's throat constricted. What did that mean? Was he dead? The weight on Roy's shoulders increased with each step he took towards the room, but he made sure that his face was completely blank. The two officers walked in the room and stood over the boy, who was sleeping soundly. Both Hughes and Roy sighed with relief.

"Thank goodness...at least we've finally got a lead."

"Yeah, but we have to report back to East City before the meeting tomorrow. We're going to have to leave shortly to arrive there in time. It is a three hour trip back. I also have a report I'm getting from Fullmetal later on in the evening. Ugh, today's going to be a long day." Hughes laughed and smacked his back.

"Have fun."

Two hours later, he rounded all the officers up and they left town. They first dressed the boy in decent clothes and folded his uniform, putting it in a bag to serve for DNA and be sent to Investigations. Once on the train, he left Hawkeye in charge of guarding the unconscious teen as they made their way back to East City. Roy was overlooking his file when the young boy emitted his first words where Hawkeye was at (they were in separate compartments). She was clipping her hair back up when she heard him stir. Her hand hovered over her thigh, where a holster for her gun lay. He only turned on his side and whispered a few words. "...Mana...Lavi...Kanda..." Either he was speaking a different language, or he was speaking names. Still, the accent in his voice did prove that he wasn't from Amestris. After he went quiet again, Hawkeye took her hand away from her holster and sat down on the bench across from the boy. He looks so young. She thought, gazing at his bandaged port. How is he even alive? Luckily that rundown town had enough blood to supply him with. He did have the same makeup as a human...

Three hours passed by quickly and the boy didn't make another move. Hawkeye informed Roy of the words he spoke of in his sleep and Roy made sure to write them down in his report. The young teen was escorted to the hospital and they all went back to the headquarters, back to the office. They couldn't do anything but wait until the boy awoken. For now, they'd just have to keep quiet and do their work. He would be contacted immediately if anything were to happen. Since he was the one who found him, Roy had to take the responsibility and enlisted himself as the teenager's guardian. It was a bold move since he could be a spy and that would kill his reputation, but it was a risk he had to take. It was also a chance to earn himself a promotion if the boy had information they needed. So far, the doctors weren't able to find anyone enlisted in the files that this boy was Amestrian. Roy really hoped that the boy would wake up soon.

Two weeks passed since they first arrived back in East City. The boy had yet to wake up. Hughes took it in his care to watch over him until he woke up while the "higher ups" of the Investigations examined the black coat thoroughly. The coat itself costed well around enough to buy a house. He could only imagine how much it costed if the coat was in one piece. Who could wear such expensive fabric? Just where is this boy from? Hughes wondered as he stared at said unconscious boy. His parents must be worried sick. There haven't been any recent rewards posted for a lost boy...it's literally impossible for him to be Amestrian. I'm positive of- Hughes' thoughts were cut short when the young boy began to move slightly. His face contorted from slight pain and, ever-so-slowly, he opened his eyes. They were a mercury color. He looked around, drinking in his surroundings. He sat up and cringed, grabbing his left arm. He seemed a bit surprised that there wasn't an arm to begin with. Hughes could see the realization followed by sadness in his eyes.

"Good morning." He greeted. The young boy let out a small shout and looked over at him incredulously.

"Who are you?" He asked. Or well, from his tone it sounded like he asked. Hughes had no idea what he was saying. I had a feeling he wouldn't speak our language...but...it did sound like our language...just by a little.

"I'm guessing you're not Amestrian then." Hughes replied and the poor boy looked so confused. Hughes hummed to himself and rolled over to a desk, taking out a pencil and a piece of paper before writing down, My name is Maes Hughes. and handing it to him. He looked down at the paper.

"Maes...Hughes..." Ah. He does speak our language. His accent is just so thick you can't realize it. Hughes observed. The young boy laid his hand on his chest. "Allen Walker." He introduced.

"Allen Walker." Hughes tested the name on his tongue and Allen nodded. Maybe I just have to talk slowly for him to understand. Hughes hoped and spoke more slowly this time. "I'll be right back. I need to phone my friend, the one who saved you." He informed.

"Saved...me...?" Allen asked. Hughes nodded and walked off, not feeling the mood to explain what happened just yet. Well, at least he's not a spy. He doesn't have amnesia since he knows his own name. Hughes thought, dialing up Roy's number and giving them his code. The receptionist finally transferred the call and he sighed with relief.

"What is it, Hughes?" Roy asked on the other side of the phone.

"The boy woke up. He does speak our language, but his accent is so thick that it's hard to understand. His name is Allen Walker. Have you heard of anyone like that before?"

"He's awake? That's great. I'll be over there in a second...and Allen Walker? One of the buttons on his coat...that name was carved into it." He paused. "Keep an eye on him and make sure he doesn't try to leave." Hughes nodded, despite that Roy couldn't see him.

"Roger that. I'll see ya in a bit." He chimed and hung the phone up, walking back to Allen's room. The boy was staring out the window with much more dull eyes than earlier ago. It was like he suddenly realized his situation. "Well, Mr. Walker-"

"Allen." His accent wasn't as thick as before, like he tried testing his voice in a different way for Hughes to be able to understand him. "Call me Allen." He explained.

"Right, Allen." Hughes replied, sitting down. "And you can call me Hughes. Only my wife calls me Maes. Sometimes Roy does when we're away from work." Hughes supplied. He was used to people calling him by his last name because of formalities in the military.

"Where am I?" Allen asked.

"East Central Hospital." Hughes answered.

"East...Central...?" Allen's eyes narrowed. "Where is that?"

"In Central, in Amestris. Where are you from?" He asked back.

"Not from Amestris." Allen replied, wondering if he was even in his own world anymore. Amestris wasn't on the world map, he was pretty sure. "England." Allen answered, seeing the expected look from Hughes.

"England? Where is that?"

"In Europe."

"Where's-"

"Far away." Allen replied before Hughes could ask. It has to be far away if I've never heard of it. Hughes thought.

"Anyways, do you remember what happened?" Allen's eyes grew darker and he grabbed his left port and nodded. I'm not in my own world anymore...but how am I supposed to tell these people that? They're wearing uniforms so they might have some part of Science Division and try to experiment on me.

"A man...he...destroyed my arm...after that...I don't know what happened..." Allen explained. "I just woke up here and that's it."

"That's not exactly helpful." Hughes sighed. "Have you heard of any...flashing purple lights? Of any sort?" Allen frowned at him. "I'll take that as a no." He hummed, thinking about what else to ask him. "Oh, that's right. You were mumbling in your sleep? Do you recognize the name Mana? Lavi? Kanda?" Allen stared at Hughes for a long time before looking out the window, nodding. "If you don't mind me asking, who-"

"Mana was my father."

...was?

"Lavi and Kanda are my friends...or...were...I don't know where I am...I don't know what they're doing right now, let alone if they're even alive. The last time I saw them was...on a boat? We were attacked by..." Allen trailed off. I can't tell him about Akumas and what they are. He'll think I'm insane. But, he could never have heard of them before if I'm not in my own world.

"By...?" Hughes gestured for him to continue.

"Our...enemies..." He explained. "They're called Akuma."

"You were wearing a uniform when we found you." So he doesn't know what Akuma are...Allen observed as Hughes spoke. "Were you part of some military?"

"Uh...I guess you might be able to call it that." He hummed to himself. "We kill Akuma. They're like machines that hurt the souls of people. It's really complicated. They're almost like demons in human skin. But they're machines..." Explaining this was so hard.

"Why are you telling me this? I could be an Akuma." Allen smiled and shook his head.

"You're not an Akuma. I'd be able to tell."

"How so?"

"Because we learned how to tell." Allen replied, not wanting to give away his curse. He didn't know if he could actually trust these people yet. Hughes could tell he was hiding something, though. Being in Investigations, he learned to watch body movement and tell signs of lying. Allen wasn't lying, but he was most definitely hiding something. He wouldn't bring it up though. He could almost taste answers on his tongue.

That was when Roy came through the door.

He stormed through the room and hovered over Allen like a cat would a fish. His demeanor was definitely different from Hughes'. "Allen Walker. My name is Colonel Roy Mustang and I believe I have some questions for you." Allen wasn't sure whether to smile or frown so his lips were set in a firm line. How did this guy know his name? Did Hughes tell him?

"I'm already at that point." Hughes said, raising his hand with a grin. Roy glared at him.

"What else did you find out?" Talk about rude. I'm right here. Allen thought, but decided to stare out the window instead. How was he going to get back home? How did he get here? And what about his Innocence? Was it really destroyed? He supposed, if he went back to the order they would erase his memories. He was no use to them anymore...unless he asked them to forcefully inject Innocence inside him. There was always a chance that he could die, but...he didn't care. He had to keep walking until he died. He had to keep moving forward.

"Allen." Hughes said louder, catching his attention.

"Hm?"

"What do you want to do?" Roy asked firmly.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"You said that you lived far away from here." Hughes started. "Did you want to go back?"

"I...don't know...it's very dangerous there...perhaps...I can wait..." I'm not in my own world. Everyone knows about Akuma. Right now, I should just wait it out and the opportunity to leave will show itself. I just have to wait...but I can't just sit here and wait the whole time...I have to do something. I have to find my way home.

"Say, Allen. Do you know anything about alchemy?" Roy asked, sitting down in the chair next to Hughes instead of standing over him like a predator. Allen wanted to say no. But after Roy said that word, it was like a bunch of memories came flooding into his head all at once. It wasn't memories, per say...it was more like...truth? He wondered. That's what it was called...right? He remembered seeing a white figure, a large gate, and suddenly he knew everything about what this scientific alchemy was. Apparently it had an entirely different meaning in this world. Allen wanted to find out how he knew this truth. Yes. That was going to be his goal. He needed to find out why he knew about the truth and maybe...maybe he could somehow find a way to go back home.

"Yes." Was the automatic answer that came from him.

"Really? Would you like to show me?"

People who have not seen the truth, do not know how to create alchemy without circles. That being said...I should use a circle. Not all alchemist have seen the truth. If this colonel hasn't seen it...won't he suspect me? Allen thought and grabbed the pencil and paper that Hughes had written on before, turning it over and drawing a circle. He was never good at drawing, so he was surprised with himself when he could make a perfect circle. He drew the marks truth had shown him and pressed his hand against the paper (he couldn't exactly clap since he only had one arm). He made a small, paper Timcanpy and gave it to Roy. Roy took it and observed the model. It was pretty unique and reminded him of Edward's odd tastes.

"I see. It's quite a fine piece of artwork. Do you practice alchemy where you're from?" Roy questioned. Allen hesitated. They didn't, but he would never find that out...right?

"Yes." He lied.

"Weird...alchemy is more of an Amestrian thing. I didn't know anyone outside of Amestris used it." All Allen could do was shrug. If he said something, it might damage his lie. "How did you get that scar?"

"An Akuma gave it to me." ...my own father to be precise. Allen finished in his head.

"Ah. Akuma. These machines in human skin, as you explained?" He looked to Hughes and Hughes nodded. It's a lot more than that...but I can't tell them anymore. If they knew they were soul-operated and could only be created by bringing back the dead, they'd think I'd've gone nuts. "With such fine alchemy. You could become a State Alchemist. We'd have to overlook that you're not a current citizen and pull some strings."

"State Alchemist?" Allen questioned.

"Yes. They're alchemists that work for the military." Hughes informed. "Their rank is equivalent to a major and I'm sure that if we got you another arm, you'd be able to get in no problem." Hughes complimented.

"A...another arm?" Allen asked. What, could these people just slap on arms any time they wanted? Were they not human? What's going on?

"Another thing about Amestris is that we have the finest prosthetic in the world. Automail. It's an arm made from machinery that you can get from surgery. The surgery is intense and causes a lot of pain to the user, but you don't seem like a stranger to pain." Roy smirked and stood up. "If you get your arm back and join, you might be able to find your way back home. You said you lived far away, right?" Allen nodded. "Well, your higher ups will send you on missions. From there, you might be able to find your home." I'd at least be able to walk forward with a new arm...Allen thought, grabbing his stub. He nodded and decided on his first goal. You had to take baby steps to start walking.

He was going to replace his arm.

Okay, yes, I know...I shouldn't be posting any new stories! But I have actually been working on this one for awhile and I have a beta to hit me if I don't work on this one in particular. It was supposed to be posted yesterday, but I was quite exhausted after hanging out with a friend so I kinda just *snore* and then woke up and yeah...I don't think my beta was up at that time because she wasn't answering any of my messages so I had to wait for her to wake up (because I needed her little beta note in the A/N) and then she was all "Oh I don't have one you don't really need it" ...-3- reeeeally, Star-chan? So we (more like her) decided she would just be in the background...

midnightstardust: I hear you talkin' shit over there.
Vira: This is your fault *crosses arms*
Tyki: Um, hello, are any of you going to fill me in on who this random chick is?
midnightstardust: I'm not rando-
Vira: *interrupts* she's a beta.
midnightstardust: Yeah, not rando-
Tyki: Lame. You don't need one.
Vira: You don't understand...I do...
midnightstardust: Oi -3-
Tyki: Whatever you say...
Vira: I can also give her power over you, you know.
midnightstardust: *gave up on trying to say anything to the arguing pair* Since Vira didn't say it at the beginning, she does NOT own Fullmetal Alchemist or D. Gray-man
Vira: *looks at her* They know that. Would Hoshino really make fanfiction? I mean come on, she could always-
midnightstardust: Shut up
Tyki: I changed my mind I might actually like her now
midnightstardust: You too.
Tyki: Just kidding.
Vira: Yeah, she's rude, right?
midnightstardust: *knocks both of them out with a certain friend's shovel* :3 Anyways, thanks for reading! See ya next time!