Hello everyone. This is my first Fullmetal Alchemist fanfic, so I hope you enjoy it. If I can keep my muse going this will hopefully be a long and satisfying story for all. This was inspired by the movie and a short OVA that basically says that Edward Elric turned a hundred years old in our world in 2005. If you would like to see this OVA (and I recommend you do) there is a link to it on my profile. The kids appear about eight or so in the OVA, but for the purposes of this story we'll assume that they are about ten (eleven for Roy).
Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist or any of the related characters or plots. Enjoy.
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Adrift
Alphonse Elric stood beside his brother staring up at the transmutation circle the Thule society had created to connect their worlds. He wasn't sure how they were going to destroy such a thing without the use of alchemy, but he believed that as long as he was here with his brother together they could accomplish anything. In truth all he wanted at that moment was to hug his brother and not let go for a long time, but there would be time for that later. What was important now was to destroy the Thule society's work before the authorities arrived.
"You never told me how they opened the gate, Brother," Al commented as he began to walk the circumference of the room slowly in search of anything that could aid them.
"They used Envy to open the gate…" Edward replied, then added quietly, "and Father."
"Father?" Al asked turning to look at his brother. Ed cast his eyes downward and nodded slowly. Al too looked down sadly and, in doing so, noticed the red stain on the floor just behind him. A gasp escaped him as he turned to face the crimson puddle. He recognized it at once to be blood. Feeling himself begin to shake he caught sight of a form in the shadows beyond the puddle. Careful not to step in the spilt liquid he moved closer. As his eyes adjusted to the dimmer lighting the figure began to come into focus. He nearly screamed when the crumpled outline became clear.
"Father!" Al cried in anguish. He tried to move to his father's side but arms wrapped around him from behind, stopping him. The warm flesh of one of these arms contrasted sharply with the cold metal of the other. Al turned into the embrace, burying his face in his brother's chest as he wept.
"He sacrificed himself to give me passage home," Ed lamented quietly, holding his little brother close. Silence rang through the chamber, broken only by Al's sobs. When finally the tears subsided Al wiped his eyes and looked up from his brother's arms. He looked around the dank dungeon of a room and then turned slightly worried eyes back to his brother. "Brother, you said Envy was involved as well. Where is he?"
Ed stiffened and turned to look around the room. Envy was no longer suspended above them, nor was he anywhere in sight. "Maybe…maybe he was swallowed by the gate as passage fee," he suggested.
"Maybe…" Al agreed. Secretly, however, he hoped that hadn't been the case. He glanced back at his father and the red stain of blood before quickly looking away again. He remembered his own encounters with that hideous gate and what it had done to him and his brother. No one deserved to die like that, even if they weren't human.
Tokyo, Japan 2005
"This is the key to opening the door to Shamballa?" the woman questioned as she looked at the symbol drawn in chalk on the floor.
"Shamballa; Paradise; Shangri-La; it goes by many names. But to answer your question: yes, this is the way to get there," the man answered.
"But this creature it requires…it may not even exist. And if it does, how will you find it?"
The man was silent for a moment. "Forgive me; I forget that you are new to us. Allow me to explain. The 'creature' was used by our founder to open the door once before many years ago, but she was unworthy. Almost all of her followers perished and she herself was cast out of Shamballa. The 'creature' escaped. Luckily, not all of the followers were lost and some remained to continue our work in secret. Equally lucky, the 'creature,' due to its size, is easy enough to track through rumors and superstitions. We have no exact location, but I can assure you that it is here somewhere within this city. You, however, need not worry about that. Only concern yourself with gathering information. That will be sufficient for our cause."
"Very well," the woman bowed obediently. As she turned to walk away the woman knew in her heart that she could not be satisfied with playing such a role. She craved a more active part and felt certain that, if she chose her timing carefully, she would have her chance and be rewarded for it in the end.
(xxx)
"This will be your classroom, Izumi-sensei," the headmaster declared, pointing to the door of an exceptionally rowdy sounding classroom. Pushing the door back, they were met with a scene just as disorganized as the noise had promised. Chairs and desks were strewn about the room unevenly; all the children were talking at once, shouting to be heard over their peers; paper airplanes occasionally glided through the air; all manner of paper scraps and pencils littered the floor. The headmaster cleared his throat for silence. None of the children paid him any attention. He raised his hand and attempted to call the chaos to order but his voice was lost in the cacophony of the room.
"EVERYONE QUIET!"
Silence fell on the room. Every child froze and turned slowly to face the door. Just as startled as the children, the headmaster coughed and muttered, "Thank you, Izumi-sensei. I'll leave you to introduce yourself." Izumi nodded to the headmaster as he left the room, sliding the door shut behind him. Turning back to the class she discovered that none of the children had moved.
"SIT!" she ordered. The air filled with the noise of scrapping chairs. When everyone was seated satisfactorily she moved to the front of the room and wrote her name on the board. "I am Izumi-sensei, your new teacher." Some children nodded, though most didn't move at all. All of them possessed an inexplicable fear of this woman, and yet at the same time an undeniable sense of awe.
Izumi-sensei appeared to be in her mid-twenties, with black eyes and long black dreadlocks pulled partially into a high ponytail. Unlike the other teachers, who all dressed conservatively, Izumi-sensei wore plain black pants, sandals, and a white shirt with the top buttons undone until it was almost indecent. Just below her collarbone lay a green tattoo of a dragon-like serpent biting its own tail. She was completely different, in manner and appearance, than any other adult the children knew.
In the back of the room a boy with blonde hair and golden eyes leaned over to whisper to the boy beside him, "She's pretty scary, huh?"
"NO TALKING!" Izumi bellowed as the piece of chalk in her hand sailed through the air and hit the boy square on the forehead. Not expecting such an attack the child fell backwards, tipping his chair and crashing to the floor. Izumi approached the boy silently. The rest of the class watched in shock, none of them daring to move for fear they would be targeted next.
"Stand up," she ordered. The boy glared up at her but stood, rubbing the red spot on his forehead where the chalk had hit. "What is your name?" she asked. He continued to glare for a moment, trying to decide if he should chance disobeying her.
"Edward," he replied quietly. "Edward Elric."
"And him?" she asked, nodding to the boy with slightly browner hair and eyes Edward had whispered to. The boy stiffened, wondering if he too was about to have something thrown at him.
"He's my cousin, Alphonse," Edward supplied. Izumi looked between them for a moment. Stooping, she retrieved her chalk and turned to go back to the front of the classroom. Over her shoulder she said quietly, "Both of you will observe an hour of silence with me after school today."
"No way!" Edward cried in protest. The chalk flew across the room again.
"Sit down, Edward!"
(xxx)
"Stupid teacher. I can't believe she's making us stay after school. It's only her first day and she's already punishing us," Ed muttered at recess later that day.
"You, Cousin, she's punishing you. They only ever punish you. You just always get me caught up in it somehow," Al stated matter-of-factly.
"Are you saying this is my fault?"
"Yes."
"Al, you're mean."
"I swear I really saw it, a real live monster!" a voice caught the attention of the bickering boys. Both looked up to discover a knot of students surrounding a boy one grade higher than them. Sharing a look, both boys began to push their way through the crowd.
"It was green with scales and had big teeth, like this," Roy Houkahi continued, extending his index fingers in front of his mouth to imitate fangs.
"Where'd you see it?" an eager child asked.
"In the cave by the river," Roy replied smugly. A collective gasp rang through the crowd.
"The haunted cave?" a small boy asked nervously.
"That's the one, only it's not haunted. It's the den of a monster!" Several of the younger children shrieked.
"Quit scaring them with made up stories, Houkahi," Ed said as he elbowed his way through the crowd.
"It's not made up," Roy shot back. "I really saw it you bean!"
"WHO'RE YOU CALLING SO SMALL HE COULD RIDE ON AN ANT!"
"Um…he didn't say that," a girl in the crowd said quietly.
"Shut up!" Ed yelled at her before turning back to Roy. "And you, stop telling stories."
"It's true!" Roy protested.
"It is not!"
"It is too!"
"It is not!"
"IT IS TOO!"
"IT IS NOT!"
"What is going on out here?" Izumi muttered as she stepped out onto the playground. She immediately felt a headache coming on when she recognized the blonde boy who was doing most of the screaming. "Him again?"
"There is too a monster and I'll prove it!" Roy roared. Ed glared at him.
'Monster?' Izumi thought, halting just outside the ring of students.
"Fine, prove it then," Ed challenged. Roy looked around and Izumi quickly ducked to hide behind the other children. Lowering his voice, Roy leaned in and whispered, "Meet me here at sunset. Then we'll go to the cave and I'll prove it to you!"
"Tonight at sunset, we'll be here," Ed nodded.
"We?" Al cried in alarm. "Don't include me in this, Cousin!"
"But Al, you have to come!"
"Why? I believe him. He doesn't have to prove anything to me!"
"You're coming, Al!"
Izumi stopped listening to their bickering and turned her attention to her own thoughts. Her hand drifted to the fresh tattoo and she wondered if she would get the chance she was seeking sooner than she had expected.
(xxx)
The final bell rang and the students left the classroom one by one. Izumi packed up her things and headed for the door. Her thoughts kept drifting back to the so called 'monster,' wondering if it could be that. In any case, she had decided to keep the information to herself until she verified the existence of any monster at all. Her hand was on the door when a timid voice stopped her.
"Izumi-sensei?" She turned to find Ed and Al still in their seats, looking at her curiously.
"We're supposed to 'observe an hour of silence' with you, remember?" Ed reminded her.
"Oh yes, well," she paused, glancing back at the door. She really didn't have an hour to waste. "It is my first day so just this once I'll let it go. But next time it will be two hours, understood?" Both boys nodded. "Good, now run along home and I'll see you ton-tomorrow. Good-bye boys."
"Good-bye Izumi-sensei," they replied in unison as their teacher left them alone in the empty classroom. Once she was gone Ed narrowed his eyes as the vacant doorway.
"She's weird."
(xxx)
Splashes of pinks, purples, and reds smeared the sky in the dying light. The street lights had begun to come on when the three children met by the deserted gates of the elementary school.
"I was beginning to think you wouldn't come," Roy teased.
"Why wouldn't we?" Ed fumed at the implied insult.
"I can think of a few good reasons," Al muttered, glaring half-heartedly at his cousin.
"May I join you?" a new voice made them turn. A girl stood before them.
'Where did she come from?' all three thought in unison as they stiffened in surprise.
"I know you," Al said, glad for a distraction from the supposed monster they were to track down. "You're in our class. Your name is Rose, right?" The girl nodded. She was an odd child, to say the least. She was neither outgoing nor shy. If anything she seemed detached as though she existed in some separate and parallel reality. Brown hair with pink bangs cascaded down her back and deep purple eyes could make any of the other children, and even some adults, shiver as they felt she was gazing right through them. She never made any effort to interact with the other children and so they likewise made no such efforts towards her. It was rumored that one of her ancestors had been an outcast from a gypsy clan.
"I heard you were looking for a monster," she said quietly, her demeanor completely emotionless. "I would like to see as well."
"Er…sure, if it's alright with him," Ed said, nodding towards Roy.
"If it's okay with the bean that it's fine with me too," Roy shrugged.
"WHO'RE YOU—"
"Cousin, be quiet or we'll get caught!"
"There isn't anyone else hiding out there, is there?" Roy asked, looking around them. Rose shook her head. "Alright then, let's go."
The children began to walk down the street; Roy leading the way with Ed stalking behind him followed nervously by Al and Rose trailing behind at her own pace. Izumi emerged from her hiding place in the bushes and followed at a distance.
Roy lead them along the road for a few minutes before taking a detour through first one alley and then another. After the third alley they found themselves staring at a road leading to a large red bridge. Pushing through the bushes lining the road, they climbed down the hill to the river bank and started walking under the bridge.
Officer Hughes was finally off duty and in a rush to return home to his wife and daughter. As he neared the bridge, however, he caught sight of several children making their way down to the river bank. Immediately suspicious of their activities and worried for their safety he started forward. "Hey, you kids there!"
"It's alright officer," Izumi stopped him as she came from the alley. Hughes jumped at her sudden appearance.
"And you are?" he asked, adjusting his glasses in an attempt to appear more dignified.
"I am their teacher, or I am for some of them anyway."
"Their teacher?" Hughes asked in confusion.
"Yes. I am following them and I promise you no harm will come to them."
"Following them? Why don't you stop them?"
"I am their teacher, not their mother," Izumi huffed, a dangerous light sparking in her dark eyes.
"Yes, but…" Hughes muttered weakly, suddenly intimidated.
"I assure you they will be fine. Now, if you'll excuse me I don't want to lose them."
Hughes watched her disappear after the children. He stood there for a moment, debating if he should follow. He shivered at the thought of confronting her again. Shrugging he turned and continued his walk home.
"I'm sure they'll be fine with that lady around. Besides, I get the distinct feeling that whatever is going on, I don't want to know about it."
"This is it," Roy declared as he stopped before a large cave surrounded by trees about half a mile from the bridge. "This is where I saw it."
"Yeah, I bet." Ed muttered.
"Go see for yourself!" Roy growled.
"I will!" Ed returned, starting for the cave.
"This feeling…" Rose whispered dreamily. Ed stopped and turned to look at her. She was staring at the cave with an odd expression none of the children could place. "There is something there…"
"Told you," Roy boasted. Ed opened his mouth to retort but the words died on his lips when Rose turned her haunting amethyst eyes on him.
"It feels like you…" she breathed, "and you," she continued, turning to Al.
"Like use?" Al asked in a shaky voice. Rose nodded.
"Yes. It feels…like it doesn't belong here…"
"Doesn't belong here?" Ed repeated. Rose turned to look at him once more.
"Like it doesn't belong in this world…"
"Like…what?" Ed asked as Al gasped.
'Is this really it? Is this really the monster?' Izumi wondered from where she hid listening amongst the trees.
Angry and confused, Ed clenched his fists and spun around to face the cave. "You're crazy! We DO belong in this world and there IS NO monster. I'll prove it!"
"Cousin, be careful…" Al warned weakly as Ed stomped towards the cave. Stopping just before the entrance, Ed stared into the darkness but there wasn't enough light to see anything. Cupping his hands around his mouth he called, "Hey! Monster! Are you going to come out and eat me now or what?"
The being in the cave lifted its head weakly. Over half a century with no access to red stones had left it weak and crippled. Moving stiffly it squinted to see the thing that was making so much noise and disturbing its sleep. As the boy outside the cave slowly came into focus the reptilian eyes widened. A surge of adrenaline filled the creature at the sight of its old enemy.
"You see?" Ed turned to face the others. "I told you. There is no—" A roar cut off the rest of his sentence. Ed moved slowly, jerkily to face the cave once more. Two bright eyes glowered out at him.
"Cousin…" Al breathed, too overcome with fright to say anything else.
"I told you…" Roy murmured weakly, taking a step back.
Rose stared silently at the eyes without any sign of fear on her face.
Izumi gasped. It was the creature. It had to be. What else could it be? Her amazement was short lived, however. She suddenly cursed inwardly as she realized that the children were now in grave danger.
"Run!" she cried in warning, sprinting towards them from the trees.
"HAGANE NO CHIBI-SAN!" the creature roared and launched itself from the cave. Ed screamed in terror as he found himself paralyzed with fight. The next second Izumi had grabbed him and scooped him under her arm. The monster, weak as it was with age, crashed into the earth where the boy had been standing and was relatively slow to give chase.
'If only I could bring it there,' Izumi thought as she ran. She noted that both Roy and Al had turned and begun to run but the girl stood motionless. Sighing, Izumi grabbed her as well and, with a child under each arm, raced down the river bank.
Rose gasped as she was grabbed, her eyes glazing over and her body going limp. One thought reverberated in her brain so strongly that she could not ignore it. "If only I could bring it there," she whispered out loud.
They were halfway back to the bridge, with the monster seeming to have lost them, when Al tripped. Unable to carry another child, Izumi was forced to stop. She placed her burdens on their feet as Roy feel back in exhaustion to sit on the ground.
"Let me see that," she panted as she knelt to examine Al's bleeding knee.
"I have to bring it there…" Rose whispered over to herself. "It's following us anyway. It would be easy to lead it there."
"Can you walk?" Izumi asked.
"I think so," Al answered as she helped him stand. As soon as he was standing, Rose grabbed his hand.
"We have to go!" She cried urgently, beginning to run and dragging Al along. "We have to lead it there!"
"Hey, let him go!" Ed shouted, running after them.
"What—?" Izumi started but was cut off as the serpent sprang from the water behind her. She dodged as it crashed into the bank, grabbing Roy and sprinting after the others.
Rose dragged her captive down the streets with Ed in hot pursuit. "I have to bring it to them…" She rounded a corner and started towards the university building.
'Why is she going there?' Ed wondered as he struggled to keep up. 'Damn she's fast.'
Pausing only a moment to throw opened the door she continued into the building, traversing the maze of hallways as though she had walked them a hundred times before.
'That building…' Izumi thought as Ed disappeared inside before her. The creature half-slithering half-flying behind her roared and she pushed her pace faster. Passing through the doors, she turned down another hallway seconds before the first virtually exploded as the monster tore through it after her.
Nearly falling numerous times, Rose clambered down a flight of stone steps with Al stumbling behind her.
"Wait!" Ed called breathlessly behind them. His foot missed the next step and he pitched forward, hitting the two in front of him and sending all three tumbling down the stairs. When they finally stopped rolling over one another they were in a large chamber that was presumably in the university basement. Strange chalk markings covered the floor. They lay in a heap at the bottom of the steps, with Ed at the bottom.
"Get off of me!" he demanded, his voice somewhat muffled. Al winced as he moved, the shift causing Rose to tumble almost lifeless to her side. She lay there blinking silently for a moment.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" Ed growled at her when he could sit up. She looked at him inattentively and sat up slowly. She looked around the room as though studying every detail before turning back to him.
"How did I get here?" she asked.
"How…how did you…" Ed stuttered in disbelief. "There really is something wrong with you."
"Cousin…" Al reprimanded. He shifted to sit on his knees but thought better of it as blood smeared on the floor from his wounded knee, the contact making him hiss in pain.
"No, Al. She just dragged you halfway across creation and then says she doesn't even—" he stopped as the symbols on the floor began to glow. Light filled the room and all three children jumped to their feet.
"What did you do?" Al asked.
"I didn't do this!" Ed cried in defense.
"Shamballa," Rose breathed.
Izumi staggered down the rest of the stairs with Roy under her arm. As they emerged into the room they were blinded by the sudden light. "This is…"
"What is going on?" Roy shouted.
The monster redoubled its efforts to reach the bottom of the stairs as a bright light became visible and it was filled with a familiar feeling. "Home…"
The monster burst into the room at the same moment that the light exploded and swallowed everything.
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So, what did you think? Love it? Hate it? Let me know. By the way, Roy's last name "Houkahi" is composed of two Japanese words. "Houka" means arson and "hi" means fire.
