To clear some things up: Aerugo is a canon country to the south of Amestris, and alcheneria is the completely uncanon form of alchemy that I made up for that area. The 'eneria' part comes from the Greek word for 'energy', since I equate Aerugo with Greece in my strange little mind :3

All cleared up? Awesome! Let's get going! :D

The room was ablaze. Incandescent tongues of heat licked greedily at the walls, the tables, the chairs. They even attacked the pair of bodies sprawled on the floor's wooden panels. Fat sizzled and skin crisped, the dead eyes steaming as their fluids began to boil. Half-dried blood stained the floor, almost obscuring the recently used human transmutation circle.

Aura Lydios stared in horror, her eyes wide and frightened. Her gaze shifted to the nearest corpse, and a jolt of recognition flared through her. Is that… Alexander? Oh my god… Then that means…The twelve-year-old looked at the desiccated, warped figure in the center of the circle. That has to be Sybil. She doesn't even look human anymore…Tears were streaming from the young girl's maroon eyes, and not just from the smoke.

My two best friends are dead. That one thought resonated through Aura's hollow core, stunning her into mute shock.

The girl's feet were rooted to the floorboards. The air, noxious with smoke and the iron tang of blood made her feel sick. The flames loomed like hellish demons, waiting to drag her soul to the underworld. It was like Aura was outside her body, viewing the scene as a third person. She felt removed, separated.

The flames…

For a brief moment, their beauty swept Aura away. It was almost hard to believe that something so gorgeous and ethereal could be so deadly. She could feel fear at the fire's steady approach, but it was far away, like a distant scream meant for everyone but her. As time ticked on and the air grew hotter, the thought of just standing there until she died seemed better and better. If Aura escaped from all reality... She wouldn't have to face the fact that her closest and arguably only friends were dead.

They're dead.

Dead and gone and lying in pools of their own blood and I'm standing here watching them.

Somehow, that thought startled the young girl back to some semblance of reality. The glassy stare disappearing like a frightened fish, Aura sucked in a deep breath of foul air as she felt panic flood her veins. By that time, smoke had nearly filled the cramped room, making Aura cough on the noxious fumes, and she flung her gaze around for the door.

Door… Door… Where the hell is it?! How do you lose a door?! For some reason, the notion of losing a door caused her to giggle with an insane pitch as she stumbled over the floorboards. Aura's hands pressed against the wall now and then, but then immediately darted away as the hot wood scorched her palms.

Laughing is a sign of hysteria and lack of oxygen, Aura's rational side told her in a calm tone. It would be best to get out as soon as possible.

Shut up. I lost a door. The rest of her mind replied, before throwing the girl's body into another fit of wheezy chuckles.

At that moment, Aura heard another sound, almost masked by the crackling of fire: the creaking of timbers.

The thick beam supporting the roof, already weakened by the flames, was stressed beyond the point that it could stand. With a slow, crumpling sound, it fell, scattering chips of wood everywhere. The beam came crashing down to the hard floor right in front of Aura, almost breaking through the panels. She yelped, throwing up her arms to protect her face as the girl stumbled back.

And then-

An agony like nothing she had ever felt before lanced through the twelve-year-old's right eye. Aura tumbled onto the ground, hands clutching at her face with what felt like ice singing through her veins.

Ithurtsithurtsithurtsithurts please somebody help me- please- anybody come and help me-

I'm going to die.

I'm going to die.

Sobbing brokenly, Aura curled into a ball as the flames loomed ever nearer, scalding her lungs with every breath she took.

I'm going to die just like Alex and Sybil, and our bodies will all be burnt to ashes and dust.

Will anybody be able to tell us apart?

Will mom and dad miss me?

I don't want to die.

That was the last thought in Aura's mind as she blacked out.

There were voices.

Voices and pain.

What happened here?

I have no idea- wait, is that a girl?!

It is!

Poor thing…

Oh my god- is she still breathing?

Rough hands were suddenly gripping her far too tight, making the pain worse. Aura shifted, whimpering.

She's still alive!

It's a miracle…

Thank god…

Look at her face. This is no miracle. This is a curse. She'd be better off dead, with marks like that.

Her eye-

Her eye's completely gone! Will she even want to live like this?!

Shut up! This girl is alive, and that means we need to take care of her!

… Aura?

Her consciousness faded back away to darkness. There were too many voices.

There was too much pain.

Five years later, Aura Lydios awoke covered in sweat, her empty eye socket throbbing from the nightmare. Sitting up, the teenager pressed a hand to her forehead while crossing her legs under the blankets. "Jeez… I've been having that dream for years by now…" She grumbled to herself, inhaling deeply through her nose.

Scratching at her nose, Aura swung her legs off the mattress and stood, blinking at the bright window pane. Another day of travel through Aerugo… Fun. Even though I was born in this country, it sometimes feels just as strange as it did when I first left home... Grabbing her worn eye patch off the bedside table, the girl tied it on in front of the mirror, her fingers fumbling with the knots. She then ruffled her boyishly cut hair so that it would cover the traces of burn scar showing above the flap of leather and iron. .

The girl grinned lopsidedly at herself. "Still just as ugly as ever, I see." She muttered, then turned away to grab her customized gloves, emblazoned with alchenerian symbols. Alcheneria, the art of manipulating and extrapolating various forms of energy. Electric, solar, thermic, kinetic… Aura fingered the steel claws that tipped the gloves. And, of course, magnetic; my personal specialty.

Setting the cloth gauntlets back down, the alcheneress instead donned her specialized clothes. Consisting of steel boots, spiked wrist guards, and a black tailcoat topped with a hood, her outfit was nothing to dismiss. It was even threaded with iron fibres, to both give her extra protection and to provide a last-minute weapon.

Finally turning to the gloves again, Aura brushed her fingers across the symbols painted onto the fabric. Immediately, the complex circles flared to life, crackling with static electricity. Let's see… The runes give the steel claws a charge, which I amplify by drawing currents from the Earth's magnetic field. From there, I can manipulate those currents to effect the objects I want them to. With a sudden grin, the girl yanked the cloth over her hands and flexed her fingers to make sure they fit properly.

Holding out her right hand, Aura pulled energy along with the glove and sent it spiralling out towards the iron doorknob with a flick of the fingers. Let's see, that hand is negatively charged, so…. Twitching her opposite hand, the alcheneress wrapped the other half of the knob in a positive charge. Alright, so now if I just give them a turn… Moving her hands in a circular motion, she shifted the energy threads stemming from her fingertips, and twisted the knob from the other side of the room. Perfect. Everything seems to be in order.

Taking large, confident strides, Aura Lydios left the room and stood outside, in the bright of day.

Hello there, Aerugo. Here I come. Let's both try to survive the experience.

"Winry! Do you really have to yell that much?!"

"Oh, shut up! I warned you that you'd need to take care of your leg, didn't I? And did you? Noooo, you just had to go ahead and bash it over every single hard surface you came into contact with! My automail is art, not some metal toy!"

"Art, my ass! Was it necessary to hit me over the head with a wrench the moment you saw me?!"

"Brother, maybe you should calm down a little… You too, Winry…"

"Stay out of this, Al!" Winry Elric yelled, her eyes flashing with frustration. Glowering, she turned her angry gaze back to Edward Elric, who suddenly cowered under the force of his wife's death stare.

"You've been gone for eight months without letting me know anything! Anything! Edward, you could have been dead for all I knew! How dare you leave me to worry like that! Would it really be that hard to send me a letter once in a while, just to let me know that you're alright? Would it?!"

Ed averted his golden eyes, his mouth twisting into a guilty expression. "W-well… No, but- Well… Um… Gah." He ran a hand through his long hair, eyes flicking back up to meet Winry's nervously. "I'm sorry that I made you worry, okay? I'm sorry, Winry."

His wife tried to maintain an angry expression for a few moments longer before giving in and wrapping her arms tightly around Edward's waist. "I missed you, idiot…" She whispered, a smile beginning to curl across her face.

Grinning, Ed pressed his mouth to Winry's forehead, before pulling back and instead pressing it to her lips.

Alphonse stood awkwardly in the corner as the couple embraced. "U-uh… Brother… I'm still here… You haven't said hi to me yet…" He said, with a forlorn note.

With a chuckle, Ed detached himself from Winry and hugged his younger brother. "I missed you too, Al." He replied with a wide smile. "It's really great to see both of you again!"

"And it had better be! Come on, let's get you into the house so that we can repair your leg, alright?" Winry laughed, grabbing Ed's hand and tugging him along. "How were your voyages in the west?"

Immediately, the blonde ex-alchemist perked up, his eyes gleaming. "It was amazing! I didn't manage to get anywhere past Creta, but even that place is beautiful! The people are so lively, although not always welcoming. There's nothing new alchemy-wise, though, so I'm thinking of going south to Aerugo next…"

Edward's voice trailed off as he disappeared inside his home, arms moving as he chattered on about his travels.

Alphonse watched the two go, smiling. It's so nice to have Edward back again… I can't wait to tell him about Xing, even though I doubt that I'll get in a word edgewise…

"Hey! Al!" Ed popped his head out of the door, grinning. "You coming or not?"

"Be right there!" Al called back, then started across the lawn, enjoying the feel of sunlight on his skin.

Everybody's back together at last.

Yay, it's a first chapter for a new thing! Hopefully, it wasn't too horrible :3

And how was Aura? Not too annoying? Vaguely likeable?

How about alcheneria? Not overly weird? Not hideously uncanon?

Give me your thoughts or feedback with a review! I can't wait to meet all sorts of new people with this fic~! :D

See ya next chapter!

Wuvs~