So I decided to try my hand at Fullmetal Alchemist while I'm in a slump with my normal writing. I've recently started reading it over again, so bear with me if some things are wrong I'm going off the anime and the movie, but I'm throwing in elements of the manga as well. In which case... It's a whole new homunculous situation, seeing as how they died either at the end of the first series or the movie. Yep.

Summary: Confused as to how they got back to Amestris, Ed and Al are looking for answers. Meeting two traveling alchemists changes all that. They're hiding a big secret that has the homonculous after them. And just when they thought they all were free... EdXOC, later AlxOC

Disclaimer: I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist. I just own the plot and my OCs.

Prologue

Alchemy is a science where one understands the structure of matter, breaks it down, and rebuilds it. However, it is not omnipotent, as one cannot create something out of nothing. If one wishes to gain something, one must first present something of equal value. This is the concept of equivalent exchange, the fundamental basis of alchemy. However, there is a taboo in alchemy.

Human transmutation.

One must never commit this act.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

It was too quiet after the brilliant flash of light that followed the transmutation. At first, the girl could only hear the sound of her shallow breathing, too shocked by what had just happened to feel her own pain. Her right sleeve was splattered with blood- her own due to the missing limb. The same went for her left leg. She wasn't screaming at all. She just sat, shocked, at the edge of the transmutation circle.

"What just happened?" asked a shaky voice. The girl turned to see her older brother staring at her, his body in a similar state to her own. Instead of missing his right arm and left leg, he was missing his left arm and right leg. "What did we do?"

"Something Mom and Dad told us never to do…" The girl's blue-grey eyes were wide, gaping at the dark mass she could just barely see in the gloom. "Jon, we just broke the taboo. Oh, my God, we tried-"

"Human transmutation," Jon said. He looked around them. "Allie, where's Doctor?"

"I don't care!" Allie cried, visibly trying to hold back tears. "That bastard made us do this! I told him a million times...!"

She started crying. Jon heard through her crying, "Mom, Dad, I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!"

Jon heard someone in the house above them. The basement was made of brick, a lower level, and there were steps that led up into a corridor that led to the room above the basement. He could try yelling and hoped desperately that someone would hear him. Already Allie seemed weak from blood loss.

"Help! Someone!" Jon screamed at the top of his lungs. He heard the footsteps again, running towards the door. A small girl threw open the door. Although unable to see the face, Jon knew who it was. It was Melia, the Doctor's daughter. She was carrying the stuffed cat that had been given to her earlier that day, at her birthday party.

"Jon…?" Melia said uncertainly. "What-"

She screamed when she saw the blood. Jon waved his right arm frantically, trying to keep conscious. "Melia, Melia, listen! Please, just listen! Allie and I are very hurt. Find Claire and tell her that we need help."

"Daddy?" Melia called. She sounded frightened. "Daddy? Where are you?"

"Melia!" Jon yelled over her. "Find Claire NOW!"

Melia stood shaking in the doorway for a few seconds more before turning and running. That was all Jon needed to see before he fell unconscious.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Jon didn't know what had happened to the Doctor. When he was allowed to, he begged Claire's husband to carry him back to the basement. However, Jon didn't allow him to go down the steps. Jon slid down the steps and leaned against a wall. He grimaced at the sight.

With the lanterns dimmed, it was hard for Jon to see anything. When he turned up the three closest ones, he saw what he and his sister had done. There was a large transmutation circle that the Doctor had drawn before… Jon didn't even want to think about. He saw the large dried puddles of blood where he and Allie had been laying before Claire hurried over to save them. He saw the larger pool of blood near the middle of the circle. There was a mass there that could be barely recognizable as the human they had been trying to bring back to life. In the gloom beyond the reach of the three brighter lanterns, Jon wondered if the body of the Doctor was even there. Had it, too, been used as a sacrifice, just like his arm and leg? Or maybe he had just lost a limb, like Jon. Whatever the outcome was, Jon hoped that the Doctor was dead, for Allie's sake.

He struggled back up the steps and collapsed into Claire's husband's arms. He didn't go to sleep when Claire told him to. His thoughts were too active.

The Doctor betrayed them.

He had harmed Allie.

That thought brought rage to Jon. He had never let anything this bad happen to her. In a second, the Doctor had taken away their lives. He had taken away everything that meant something to them. To Jon, this was his legs, although one still remained. He could be glad for that. Allie lost one of her arms, something that had always been important to her as an alchemist. That stupid Doctor, thinking he governed human lives!

Melia.

"Claire!" Jon said, careful not to wake Allie. She hadn't once woken up since the transmutation five days ago. "Where's Melia?"

"Iris's child?" Claire said, poking her head into the room. "I haven't seen her since she came to me."

Jon had a look of horror on his face. When Claire realized what he was thinking, she was horrified too. "She ran away!" Claire said in shock.

"More than likely," Jon said softly. He clenched his right hand. "Damn!"

"Jon!"

"What? I'm thirteen. I can say that."

"Not that," Claire said. "I'm-I should've watched her instead of leaving her in the house alone!"

Jon wanted to comfort Claire. No one save for Claire and her husband knew exactly what had happened that night, and Jon wanted to keep it that way.

"You did fine, Mrs. Claire," Jon said. "I think it's my fault."

"No, it's not."

Jon wouldn't budge on his stance in Melia's escape. He was keeping the blame on himself. To him, Melia was like another younger sister. On occasion, while they had been playing tag as little kids, she'd call him 'Nii-chan'. Allie never minded sharing him because Allie thought of Melia like an older sister. He lay down on the bed, staring at the ceiling. He watched as the candle threw dancing shadows across the ceiling. Then he turned his head to face Allie. Claire was afraid that Allie would die.

And Jon wasn't going to let that happen.

He struggled out of bed and went to sit on Allie's. He put a hand on her black hair.

"I promise that I'll get you back to normal, Al," he said. He clenched his fist and kept his tears from falling. "I promise!"

He heard Allie say, as faint as it was, "And I promise you, Bro."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Present day

The nineteen-year-old girl sat with crossed legs at the edge of the room. Her ginger red hair was unkempt from days of traveling.

"Miss, is this going to work?" she asked, clutching the black stuffed cat closer to her. A woman wearing a very revealing dress nodded.

"Don't worry, this will get you closer to finding your dad," said the lady. The girl nodded, watching with unwavering green eyes at what was going on.

Three men were tied to stone pillars. The woman stood to the side of the one to the far left.

"You're going to give us exactly what we want," the woman said for all three men to hear. "Do you understand that? Three alchemists of state qualification should be enough. It's that equivalent exchange you alchemists keep prattling on about. You know, I think you'll die painlessly. When you see the Gate, call out the names of the Elric brothers. What? You don't know? Their names are Edward Elric and Alphonse Elric. Come on, now, it isn't that hard."

"I refuse!" the man on the far right said. Both ladies looked at him in disgust. "The dead stay dead!"

"Oh, but they're not dead," said the woman. Before she did anything, the shadows around the man moved. She decided to remain still to watch what the girl did next. Three daggers were embedded in the ground around the man. They were the central point for the shadows. They wrapped around the pillar and the man. The others could hear choking sounds coming from him as the shadows constricted around the man's throat.

The teenager stood up, her eyes holding a kind of insanity the men had never seen before. The cat doll hung from one hand, a dagger was clenched in the other. She said every word carefully like the men were idiots. "Do it. Otherwise, you'll die a slow, poor, unfortunate death just as this man will for speaking out. I'll bet you've never seen shadow alchemy used before. It's not just a legend, boys. Anyone can use it."

"Now, now, don't get carried away," the woman said, waving her hand in front of her face. "We need three to make sure that those two will come back."

The girl paused for a few seconds. The only sound was the man's choking. Soon the girl grabbed all of her three daggers and the shadows faded. The man took a deep breath, but he didn't need it. The woman held her index finger to the first man's temple.

"Remember what we told you to do!" she said cheerfully before her finger became razor sharp and extended. It penetrated all the men's skulls. She swiped downwards, cutting off the top part of their heads. The girl didn't flinch when all the blood splattered onto the floor. It reminded her of another scene she had seen years earlier. The woman saw disappoint written all over the girl's face.

"It's probably going to take a while," the woman said. "Let's go bother Envy. He's still self-conscious about his appearance. He's just like the old one, I swear."

"Yes… Lust," the girl said, following the woman out of the room. She glanced back once more to see if anything happened before leaving the room for good.

It was only several hours later when two young men dropped to the floor. One had honey blond hair. The other had bright blond hair and a prosthetic arm.

So? How was it? Comment and critiques welcome! If you don't like it, while, there's a little red X button in the top right hand corner. Click on it.