Summary; The Elric brothers have lived a tragic and prolonged, yet joyously fulfilling adventure. "Father" and the other Homunculi are defeated. The Promised Day is over and done, and yet strange happenings are still occurring all over Amestris, even all over the world. And what is this? Edward and Alphonse may have extended family living out west? Are they connected to these strange happenings? Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist, is about to find out.
Disclaimer: Fullmetal Alchemist; Brotherhood and the Fullmetal Alchemist Manga are owned and copyrighted by Hiromu Arakawa and Square Enix of Japan. I'm just having a bit of fun with the characters and story!
Please help inspire me!
Spoilers; If anyone out there has not read the manga, or seen Fullmetal Alchemist; Brotherhood, I suggest you start. You may also want to check out the movie; Sacred Star of Milos. This fan fiction will have serious spoilers for all three, particularly the ending of Brotherhood and the manga. So be forewarned!
Oh! And if I can find out if I can pull some files off of my computer, I may also reuse some of the elements of the original series. The scene where Edward and Winry actually encounter Barry the Chopper as kids was quite intense. I may need to rewrite it in such a way that they never quite learn who the guy is, which makes Al's revelation that he had never hear of Barry valid. But…we will see.
For now, just enjoy! ^^
Fullmetal Alchemist; Brotherhood
A New Kind of Alchemy
Chapter One
From the Sky Came Fire
An Unkown Region of Space
3,500 Years Earlier
It was such a joyous sight. The red hue of alchemic energy twisting and bending, arching and striking at the very world he had come to hate. At times intense ribbons of white energy lanced the sky in defense, either harmlessly hissing passed his protective energy shield or bouncing straight off of it entirely. He laughed at the sensations it created. Never before had he witnessed or felt such power. He had lived a hard life. Born with a rare genetic condition, he had watched those he had once called friends grow tall and proud while he remained short and stumpy. Even with medical advancements and treatments he barely grew above four feet tall.
As a child he was often laughed at, mocked and even beaten for being so vastly different. His parents, well, he had never known them. They had abandoned him as a baby, leaving him with some church run orphanage and no one to turn to when other kids his age mistreated him or threatened him. That was not to say he did not have loving individuals who supported him or were there to offer a kind word or some sound advice with each struggle. It was just wasn't enough.
The only thing that got him through all the turmoil of social failures, were his incredible advancements in the field of science and medicine. In particular, he had excelled in the art of Alchemy; a rare, and considered by many, sacred gift that worked with Gods Laws of Nature. His peers never wasted an opportunity to applaud his successes, but very few congratulated him on even his worst failures. Few encouraged him to keep going, to keep trying.
Except One.
For a moment, the grin of madness on his face faltered. If not for their arguments in later years, the different paths they had chosen, they might still have been friends. They might still have been working for a better tomorrow. But life was not so kind. And neither was God. Everything was taken from him. Everything that should have been his was given to someone else.
He meant to take it back.
He meant to have it all!
"This is God's will," he growled out in a gruff voice. His lips split into a hideous grin nearly reaching from ear to ear, revealing over sized teeth. "This is MY will! At long last this world will see me for what I am. A God among men! All the power and glory that was denied me, I will take!"
He laughed maniacally and spread his arms wide. He was covered in cuts and bruises. His robes were tattered and torn. His wide golden eyes opened wider in a state of euphoria. His golden hair thrashed in the wind around him. He radiated power and heat, power which he sucked from the planet and the people upon it. Few would escape his wrath. All the world would pay for not seeing his genius, for not bowing before him.
"That is enough!"
Startled, he looked below him as thick clouds billowed beneath his feet. Through the growing storm he saw several figures approaching, each struggling to reach him against the forces assaulting them. At first he was not sure what they were, until he recognized the strange creature in the lead.
He laughed out loud, hardly believing what he saw. "Grum, you old fool! I had thought for certain your new form would vanquish you. Alas, you surprise me again!"
It was indeed a strange sight that greeted him. A dragon like creature, though humanoid in form with a man's eyes glaring out at him beneath a scaly ridge and down a long, sloping snout. They were piercing, a brighter gold than most, especially against those dark green scales. The rich robes of high status and power, torn and gouged and dirtied from a painful transformation and days of endless fighting seemed to barely cling to the creature's bulky figure.
The creature, a newly formed dragon chimera, snarled at him.
"You are the fool, Albendan!" The voice that roared at him over the roaring storm of natural and supernatural powers was both human and inhuman. With every syllable spoken there was a growling, garbling undertone like the dragon he was fused with was trying to speak along with him.
"Am I, Grum? Behold my power!" He laughed maniacally and splayed his fingers, allowing the crackling red energies to gather and merge with flesh and bone. His skin prickled, his muscles trembled and his bones cracked with the terrible power now convulsing within him. The world grew brilliantly white with heat and pain. He thought he heard himself scream but when he beheld his old friend's face again, he was laughing more maniacally than before. The maddening terror and shock of hearing billions of other voices added to it made him claw at his own flesh until he acclimated to the sensation.
Even so, his breathing remained erratic and his heart rate was dangerously elevated. When it finally began to slow, sweat glistened on his skin in addition to the now pounding rain. The tinkling sensation was still there but it felt different. He felt different. It was like he had become the sun ad these poor pitiful survivors who so admirably sought to defeat him were no more than dusty little rocky worlds eagerly waiting to boil away in the void of space. He could see the horror and disbelief on their faces, particularly on Grum's.
"It is over, Grum," he gasped out, and the sound of his own voice was horrible indeed. It was like a legion of men and women now spoke with him. He felt the echoing energy of their souls and identities crawling around inside his head and in his skin like insignificant little ants he could crush when he no longer needed them. "I have taken this world. And all of those who remain will finally bow to me!"
Lightning as thick as Scale Tree's four foot diameter trunk crashed overhead. The shock and power of it should have knocked Ablendan from the sky, but his impossible shield held. The resulting thunder nearly blew their ear drums.
"Albendan!'
The shorter of the two dropped instinctively as the much larger, mutated being soared past him with a furious roar, his newly formed talons slashing at the sky where he had been. All around them the world was deadly silent now; black and still. The only things moving were themselves, the storm and the automated battle drones waiting to strike.
Albendan, once an aspiring scientist, glared up at the new chimeras in distaste. They should be dead now like everyone else on the planet. The circle was complete.
"What have you done!?" The dragon chimera shrieked furiously, staring at the planet below. He could sense the stillness and it terrified him. "Is this really what you wished for? Why? It will change nothing!"
Albendan regarded his old friend coldly. "They have learned too late never to cross me again. For most of my life I have been laughed at, my name smeared and all power taken from me because of this ridiculous deformity! I was made the laughing stock of every thing I ever did. Not any more!" He lifted a hand and much to their amazement formed a fist sized polished diamond with a flash of red alchemic energy. "Behold, Grum! I have done it at last! I have formed matter out of nothing! I have done what everyone on this world was too afraid to do! I own their very lives now! I am their God! No one will step on me or refuse me again!"
"Noooo!"
Grum dove at his friend and to everyone's astonishment pierced Albendan's force field. The two grabbled together, tumbling through the sky as Grum's four companions dove after them, flanked by the drones. They plummeted through the storm, grappling for the other's throat or slashing, punching or kicking. It didn't matter how hard Grum bit or clawed at his one time friend with his new claws and teeth, no gash or bruise would form on Albendan's flesh. Not a bone would break no matter how he twisted a limb, or backhanded hard enough to break a rib.
Albendan's terrible grin widened, and Grum feared his end had come. He had always seen the darkness and impatience lurking beneath the hard working good man he had known for so long, but he had ignored it. He had tried very hard to encourage the good in his friend, to support him in all that he did. But in the end, the darker desires in his friend's heart had made themselves known with every advancement and achievement he made, until it had finally culminated to this moment; an entire world sacrificed to give him ultimate power and eternal longevity.
"I did not want to do this, Grum," the madman snarled as he wrapped his small hands around the dragon chimera's much larger throat, knowing he would normally be unable to do any damage this way. It didn't matter, however. Grum's natural gifts, easy charm and high social standing had given him greater success than Albendan could ever hope for. "But you leave me no choice! You may have been my friend once, but after your betrayal, even this form is to good for you! I will take your life energy and add it to my power! Goodbye, Grum!"
Grum's eyes bulged as his lungs froze. His muscles convulsed and his heart seized in his chest. He let go of his friend and tumbled helplessly. He heard Albendan's freakish laughter as the other chimera were also seized by that evil light and left to helplessly fall to their deaths while Albendan floated above them, shielded and protected by the storm despite the drones now making a valiant effort to blast him out of the sky.
With dying strength, Grum pounded at a small device on his chest and snarled through the pain, "Hermione, NOW!"
The response was instantaneous. Even through the gloom of the storm on a darker night than usual, several dozen strange, glowing symbols contained in alchemical circles began appearing all over the continent directly beneath him. Thousands of fires burned in every city as vehicles both on the ground and in the air suddenly crashed into oblivion, killing all inside as Albendan's dark alchemy consumed the life force of every living being on the planet. Yet as he watched that terrible process was reversed. A brilliant white light spread over the planet and extended mist-like hands to the sky slowing his fall and easing his pain. He coughed and gasped as air rushed into his lungs and with a mighty grunt arched his way skyward again.
"Father, Redemption has been delivered," said a frantic voice into his communicator and he smiled. "Are you all right, father? Please respond!"
He chuckled and after rejoining his companions circled back around to find Albendan. "I am all right, my dear. That was too close."
"Agreed! Let's not repeat it!" came the relieved, if not somewhat strained reply. "You were right about what would happen, father. Your cautionary measures have saved many lives, and protected us here at Command. But will it be enough?"
"We will know shortly," he said grimly and circled around a moment as the storm's ferocity began to subside. He was tired and glad he no longer had to beat his wings quite so hard, but he knew he would need to land soon. This body was still far too new to him to keep at this exhausting display much longer.
"I do not see him," one of the other chimera's noted frantically, scanning both the skies above them and the city below.
"There! I see him," the fourth chimera said, pointing to a spot of light hovering a few dozen feet above them in a particularly dense patch of cloud. "It looks like he is caught in the web. It deployed!"
"That is fantastic!" said another, and they all fought their way skyward to apprehend their deadly enemy. When they found him, he hovered dazedly between at list seven different drones, each firing a constant beam of energy that not only held him in place but blocked his ability to wield his unholy dark alchemy. In a small compartment on the top of each drone's dome was a pebble sized gleaming white stone, streaked through with brilliant red. It's gentle power radiated more fiercely than the terrible energies Albendan had unleashed, yet it carried a gentleness to it, a warmth that made them feel safe.
Grum sighed as he attempted to keep his balance in the air but it was getting harder and harder by the minute. "Bring him to Command Center. The Council of the Kings will decide what to do with him."
"Yessir!"
One of the other chimera's made a gesture before diving towards the city below. The drones followed him keeping perfect formation while holding Albendan between them. Grum relaxed only slightly as he wheeled around and flew slightly above and to the left of his one time friend. A great gust of wind buffeted him but he managed to hold his course as they zeroed in on a landing platform in the city's command complex. He could hear sirens blazing, people crying and screaming. He could feel their sorrow and their pain, their horror and shock. The confusion was palpatable as he soared over the streets, drenched from nose to tail. He squinted in the blazing city lights and with vision acuity greater than that of birds or cats, saw the results of Albendan's terrible attack.
Cargo transports, city transports, pedestrians, motor vehicles and bikes of all varieties and sizes had crashed into buildings, other vehicles or even driven straight off bridges when their life force energies were ripped away from them. Many of these people, many thousands, would never draw another breath. Their life force energies were restored too late. Their reversal process could not undo natural death. Some might still be saved via modern medicine or the healing arts which had proven so beneficial since the days of their ancestors. But would it be enough? So many buildings were destroyed.
He glared at Albendan when the miniature 'demi-god' as many would undoubtedly begin calling him, laughed quietly to himself. His golden hair whipped wildly at his face in the dying winds. It was impossible to tell if the shock Grum felt radiating from him was the horror of seeing exactly what it was he had done, or the dark satisfaction of his limited success.
"Do you see the damage you have caused, Albendan?" he growled out, grateful his tears of rage and grief were hidden by the wind and rain. "Does it horrify you as it should, or does this satisfy your blood lust? Was it worth it? Killing all these innocents for your own greed?"
Albendan was silent a moment, his wide eyes taking in everything around him. Slowly, his maddening smile spread wide and large over his square face. "They are cannon fodder, suitable for no other reason than to be food for my strength!"
Grum felt the bile rise in his throat and felt a deep chill in the thick scales now covering his body. The rain did not seep that deeply yet, but this terrible horrible…
"You have gone made, Albendan! Truly mad! When did this monster of a man take your flesh from you? What changed?"
Albendan did not answer him. He only laughed. His insanity could go no further.
Two Days Later…
Grum sighed heavily as he gazed out the viewing platform of the capitol building. Huge construction drones were still busily at work clearing away the wreckage of collapsed buildings. Streams of decorative ribbons and banners, flower wreathes and holographic images of those lost to Albendan's madness were everywhere; strung between buildings, broadcast on the teletran in City Square, littering the sites and street corners where the innocent had lost their lives and even cluttering the halls of homes, businesses and churches. In some cases the bodies of many victims were not recovered. The fires had claimed so many, and it seemed the destruction was not over.
Albendan now sat secured in a high security cell, guarded day and night by not only powerful military grade combat drones, but also the best warriors their world had to offer. Every one of them was gifted with two or more of their sacred Prayer Stones which seemed to nullify whatever power remained in his one time friend. No sound, no ranting or raving, no complaint of any sort had come from Allbendan's mouth since his capture. He remained seated seated on the single cot in his tiny prison cell, barely moving, only smiling to himself while he sat in an almost meditative trance.
Grum frowned. He was at war with himself. He wanted to visit his friend, he wanted to understand why this had happened. When had the change come, and why? How had he been so blind so as not to see it? Had he created this catastrophe by not being as understanding to his friend as he should? Had he gotten too caught up in his own success to truly mourn the biased attitudes aimed at Albendan's simple deformity?
The grief, anger and helplessness was unbearable. Albendan had doomed them all.
Not only had he created a new form of chimera out of spite to hide his real intentions and spread further fear and discord among their own people, but he had somehow struck a devastating blow to the planet itself.
After returning to begin re-establishing order two days ago and set aside a time for the King's Council to come and voice judgement against his friend, they had dedicated their time to aiding the families who had lost loved ones on that terrible night. He had been afraid of leaving Albendan with security but the madman had not attempted any further deadly stunts. Though it was frustrating and disheartening to be viewed as a monster with this new form, it did have some benefits. His physical strength had more than quadrupled since the painful transformation. What had once taken ten men to lift, or even a crane, he could lift on his own. He used his talons to dig through debris. He smashed broken columns to manageable pieces, and even used his massive wings to carry people or equipment or anything else required to a place of safety or a junk heap to be recycled later.
That was when the earthquakes started.
The first had completely leveled the Imperial Capitol of the Ishvalan Province of the neighboring continent. It was a smaller continent than that which his homeland inhabited, but it a lush place. Bordered by vast, hot and dry deserts to the west its east coast was a virtual tropical paradise and extended all the way to its southern borders. The destruction of the Imperial Capitol had shocked not only the nation of Ishval, but the nation of Xerxes as well. Now two separate nations united under one common banner of brotherly love and goodwill towards their fellow man, not only had to attempt to restore peace and order within their own borders, but within their neighbors borders as well.
Initially, the nation of Ishval had not suffered as badly from the alchemic attack as Xerxes had. The worst of it had been focused on Albendan's own homeland out of spite, but to ensure he gained as much power as possible he had chosen a few target cities in Ishvalan territory as well. Though the nations leaders had survived many others were not so lucky, and their outrage and confusion was palpable. It had taken hours for Grum and the King's Council to tame their anger and fear, but only barely.
The earthquakes were worsening, though the worst was in the sea. Satellite details had revealed several islands sinking beneath the sea within the last twelve hours. Some of those islands were vacation destinations, many permanently inhabited. Each now gone forever.
Furious and feeling defeated, he punched the window. A spider web of cracks encircled is fist. "Damn you, Albendan! What have you done! Were you so full of hate that you would destroy everything? Did you not think this would destroy you, too? No matter how powerful you are, you are not a god and will never be a god! All this 'soul' energy you have amassed would spend itself within a few days trying to survive alone in space. You are still a man, and a man can only maintain an artificially generated atmosphere for so long without the right equipment. Do you think God would allow that? Oh, you great, incorrigible fool!"
He relaxed his fist and let his hand slide down the window. The talons released an ear piercing screech as they cut against the glass. He winced, and sensed the individual behind him do the same.
"I always did hate that sound," said a soft voice behind him and he smiled.
"Hello, Estelle," he said softly and turned to face his only child, only to frown when she flinched at his appearance and looked away. "I know. I am monstrous! And there is no way, as of yet, to reverse this. I have warned against this sort of experimentation many times before. I warned against experimenting with human transmutation, even if they hoped to use it as a means of cloning individuals." He shook his head. "It only ends in death, and even if one is lucky enough to survive, he is permanently disfigured." He sighed and looked out the window again, taking in the beauty of the skies, the rooftop gardens and the bustling signs of life all around. "God allowed us this gift so we could learn and grow. He allowed us a kind of god-like power to all his children, but being the foolish mortal children we are, we have sullied that gift. We have let our love for the science of it, our egos, to get the better of us. We have began to worship our own gifts and powers and in so doing have forgotten our God. In this we and the Ishvalan peoples are in agreement, and yet . . ."
Estelle hugged herself and glared angrily at the polished marble floors as workers, civilians and maintenance drones busied themselves in the open observation deck. "I hate him! I trusted him!"
Grum shut his eyes tight. "As did I. If only I had seen the path he had fallen onto sooner, none of this would have happened. This is all my fault!"
Estelle shook her head. She was so much like her mother; long, beautiful golden hair so common among their people, glistened like liquid gold in the gentle breeze created by the air conditioning system. Her pale golden eyes shown with tears which now trickled down her cheeks. She was twenty three years old and already a fine scientist like himself, but also a budding warrior, just like her mother.
"This is not your fault!" she snapped. "He was evil to begin with. Even as a child I felt something stirring in him, something dark. I never liked being around him because of it." Her eyes softened. "I do feel badly that he thought it was because I was afraid of his weird stature, being so deformedly short and all, but that was never it! I never meant any hurt to befall him. But even if I had, what he did was still wrong! Horribly wrong! One small offense does not merit his deciding to try to become god by killing innocent people! He will never be God!"
"Indeed," he sighed and reached out to place one of his triple sized hands on her shoulder. She jumped so high it was like she'd been scalded and he withdrew his hand. "I am so sorry!" he said sadly. "This thrice accursed form! Such monstrosities should not…!"
"It's not that!" she cried, feeling horrible as she threw her arms around him. This new form was strange indeed. Even while wearing all these thick, handsome robes she could feel the hard scales against her cheek and shoulders. His shape was so unusual; still somewhat like a man but animalistic. "You're still in such pain. I felt it go right through me when you touched me. But you are not a monster, do you understand me!? You are not the one who chose to become a monster in human flesh. Your twisted alchemy did not … it did not kill my mother! HE did!"
He wrapped his arms around her and wept quietly. "Yes, you are right, of course. Thank you, my dear. I promise you, somehow we will survive this! I will find a way to reverse this!"
He felt her smile and squeezed her as tightly as he dared. These new arms could crush her in a heartbeat if he was not careful. "I would not expect anything less from you, father," she said and they parted, both gently wiping the tears from the other's eyes. "Besides, it's not so bad. The Green Dozer Dragons are some of my personal favorites, didn't you know that? Very handsome creatures with such a lovely shade of green to their scales."
He laughed and kissed her brow.
"Estelle? Beloved, where are you? The council is meeting – oh! There you are!"
Both turned as a handsome young man approached them. He was a Xerxian citizen by birth, but an Ishvalan by nationality. His parents had visited the country on their honeymoon, spending weeks touring the best cities and National Pars the country had to offer. Xerxes was well known for their own lush tropical forests on their southern borders, the vast open plains, majestic rocky mountains and the towering forests of red wood pines, some so vast aerial communities had been erected in their canopies. His parents had fallen so deeply in love with the country that four years later they moved to live in capitol city and one year later he was born.
He smiled as he caught Estelle in his arms. "I was wondering what had happened to you. It seems you found your father after all." His smile faded when he saw the tears she was fervently trying to wipe away. "Are you all right? What's wrong?"
She smiled and kissed him. "It's nothing. I'm fine, Jerome. But thank you."
He smiled back and kissed her knuckles before turning to face the transformed man who would one day become his father-in-law. "And you, sir? Are you all right?"
Grum sighed and offered the young man his daughter had chosen a grateful smile. "As well as can be expected, considering," he replied and started back the way Jerome had come. "I believe I heard you say the council is gathering? Does that mean they have reached a verdict?"
"Yes," said Jerome as he and Estelle followed after him. "But they have called others to add their voices, as well, including officials, scientists and military leaders from our brothers in Ishval. Everyone is eager to know what to do next, and what the proper punishment should be for that maniac."
Grum nodded and glanced back at Jerome. He had been fortunate enough not to lose his parents, but many of his friends and classmates from the university had tragically lost their lives. As the sun began to set, throwing up prism of colors on the alabaster walls of the capitol building, he realized that his soon to be son-in-law was just as hurt as they were. He was no scientist, as was Estelle. He was an aspiring artist and writer, deeply in love with the fairy tales of old and eager to create his own fanciful worlds to inspire and delight the minds of young and old alike. He had an appreciation and curiosity for science and the natural world but he did not quite understand it the way Estelle did. Nonetheless, he had a good, gentle heart and an intelligent mind and a playful streak that had made saying no to a first date very hard for Estelle.
I swear on my life all three of us and his parents will make it out of this madness alive, he thought as they turned down a corridor and entered a lift that would take them straight to the council chambers. I will see my daughter and this good hearted man celebrate a joyful union, or die ensuring it DOES happen! Albendan, my poor misguided friend, you have not yet won.
To Be Continued . . .
Author's Note; Someone once suggested that I try to introduce a plot to the story that would signify things to come, to create a 'conflict' of sorts. I have attempted to do that with a new idea that will hopefully work with the ideas I already had. This fell into place a little quicker than inspected but there is a lot to cover, so I am splitting up this part of the story arc into two separate chapters. Maybe three, but I don't want to drag this out too much longer before getting to the heart of the story. Ed and Al and Winry and several others are still the main characters for this story, but Grum (his real name will be revealed later) and some of the characters here will be majorly important in helping Ed save his planet, so please bear with me as I tell their story here. There are other characters yet to be introduced, one of which will be an important villain character who will work alongside Albendan. We will get to that later, however.
I am excited to finally get this moving again. Please let me know what you think! Suggestions, comments, ideas and even critiques. I have a lot to learn but sometimes writing for fun is its own reward. I hope you will stick with me until the end.