Full Summary: It's been two years since the fated Promised Day, and life in Amestris could never be better. Tensions have fallen and remained at a quiet simmer, and Ed is doing all he can to enjoy his freedom and his future. But such a peaceful, calm time can never last very long. Despite Mustang's warnings, Ed is kidnapped, only to land in a situation he never could have imagined before. Amestris' peaceful outside was nothing compared to its dark underbelly, he is about to learn. Practically a prisoner in his own body because of an unfamiliar and taboo alchemy, he can only watch as war erupts and the corruption of human trafficking is paraded across his eyes. But he has to get out. Mustang is waiting for him to lead this war at his side. One twisted alchemist won't keep Ed away from his duties to his country, and he sure as hell wouldn't have his own future stolen, not after everything he's already lost.
As the summary said, this will be psychological, graphic, and contain boylove- and eventual RoyxEd-, so if you are opposed to any of that, I highly suggest you turn tail and run now. This content won't be thrown in your face right away but I am in the middle of writing Chapter Seven and things are turning ugly. Soooo you have been forewarned.
By the way, I am using single quotes when characters are speaking- I'm currently having issues with my main shift key so it's just easier for me that way, sorry! So speech will look like: 'Lieutenant Hawkeye, bring the car around.' Get it? Hopefully. Again, sorry for the inconvenience.
On to the story!
Chapter One
Sunlight peeked through the steely dawn, rays reflecting off precipitation-damp cobblestones as the city began to awake. A deep, resounding chime rang through empty doorways and off stone walls to signify the beginning of yet another peaceful day in Central City. The same exact way it had rung for the past two years.
Today, though, the morning was disturbed by a flash of gold and black that whipped through the streets, crashing into walls before ricocheting the other way, loud voice muttering and cursing in panic.
'Better hurry, Mr. Elric!' 'Late again, Fullmetal?' These amused calls followed the blonde and other than growling in annoyance, he didn't bother answering.
The final toll of the bell rolled over him and he hung his head even as he continued sprinting. Late for the third time this week. He was never going to live this down. He just prayed Mustang wouldn't hear about this. He could already imagine the bastard's smug smirk,
'What was that, Fullmetal? You were late how many times? I understand that without a normal stride it may be harder to get places on time, but...' or 'Show yourself some SMALL amount of respect and be on time, at least,' or the worst, which he'd gotten once or twice before... 'Don't worry, Fullmetal. It's not like they actually noticed you were absent- they probably can't even see you over your desk.'
Edward Elric's jaw clenched at the memory. General Mustang had received a broken nose that day, but still Ed had been fuming as he left the pub. It wasn't any of that asshole's business anyway. Ed had been separate from the military for nearly a year and a half now, Mustang had no control over him. Or so he liked to imagine. Ed still returned to do an assignment if the general requested him, it didn't matter if he was no longer a military dog. He had a special arrangement, that, after his service and in helping with the Promised Day, no one would refuse.
He was still in the military, but could accept or refuse whichever assignment they wanted to give him, and usually they only requested him if it was something serious that he was really needed on. So usually he was only officially dealing with the military once every couple of months.
In the evening hours, however, he had formed a sort of ritual in joining Mustang or other members of his team in a relaxed night at the bars of Central.
Sometimes he would kick back with Hawkeye, which he tended to enjoy the most, as she was relaxed and calm and they could talk and reflect in a haze of reminiscence. Other times he found himself trapped with Havoc, Breda, Falman, and Fuery, which he didn't mind that much but was a little too much excitement at times. Most of the time, though, he found himself with Mustang. Who he'd grown to respect and even consider as a friend. That didn't mean the bastard wasn't still insufferable at times. Like the teasing, which hadn't even begun to slow down, even though Edward was now nineteen and obviously no longer a child. Or the strict reprimands, even though Ed wasn't at his beck and call anymore, and wouldn't reflect badly on the General. Hopefully.
The slight, grimacing smiles were the thing that got to the blonde the most though. They would be talking, and Ed would say something uncharacteristically serious or profound, and Mustang would fall silent, dark eyes simmering with some kind of dangerous look. That smile would twist his lips gently, the air would turn dense and suffocating, and Ed wouldn't be able to break away from Mustang's smoky gaze.
Shaking himself from the reverie and looking up with a flushed face, Ed realized he'd reached his destination.
Central University rose above him, monolithic and rivaling even the enormity of Central Command. His gloved hands clenched into fists as his breathing leveled out and he lost himself in the sight.
I'm just a man...
Smiling faintly at the reminder, he made his way through the front gate and onto the campus, heading straight for the building on the left. As he made his way through the halls, his smile remained while he listened to the bustling sound of classes commencing behind the doorways he passed. All was right in the world, and especially here, where futures shined brightly and full of promise. It was one of the biggest things that kept him here- this environment so filled to the brim with hope. Not even he could be pessimistic on even the most miserable days when his automail twanged and ached and his heart yearned for his brother.
Reaching a classroom near the middle, he stopped outside the door and listened in, insecurities fading when an uneasy chorus of mumbles reached his ears.
'Where do you think he is? He went out with the General again didn't he?' 'Yeah, maybe they had a fight!' 'Doubt it, that would have been the word on the street this morning.' 'Well maybe he drank too much and got hung-over.' 'This is the Fullmetal Alchemist we're talking about. You know that, right?'
Shaping his features into something a little less gleeful, Edward cleared his throat and entered the room, closing the door quietly behind him.
'Who didn't do the assignment?' he asked immediately, ignoring the bright calls of "Good morning!".
A few miserable-looking students raised their hands and Edward grinned, making the class wince sympathetically.
'Great! Come on down to the front of the room, will you?'
Despite three of the four students being older than Edward- which was an accurate representation of the age range of the rest of the class as well-, they all looked like scolded children, already humiliated before punishment even began. The rest of the class was practically climbing up on their desks to get a good view of the show, which was a needless action considering the room was arranged in pantheon seating.
Ed turned his back to the class, finally having a moment to string his long, waist-length hair up into a golden ponytail. He then stripped off the large black overcoat and lay it over the back of his chair, aware of the eyes tracking his movements as he rolled up the sleeves of his dark crimson dress shirt, revealing his automail. Glancing up to confirm the wrong-doers were now waiting glumly near his desk, Ed retrieved a piece of chalk from the top drawer of his desk before moving to the side of the room nearest the window, to the right of his desk.
There was a large slab of blackboard that covered the floor here, stretching the thirty feet from the side of his desk to the windows, and the fifteen feet width from the edge of the students' seats to the blackboard on the wall. This was the first thing that Ed had asked for upon reluctantly accepting this teaching position over a year ago. He was more comfortable with drawing arrays and transmutation circles on the ground, and if he was going to be able to teach these people anything, he knew he needed to find his own comfort zone.
He knelt down, his students leaning forward excitedly as he quickly sketched four circles along the blackboard's length, filling in the different arrays with symbols and ancient words. By the time he stood back, his black pants were covered in white smudges and there was a streak of dust across his cheek but he didn't seem to even notice as he turned to the four students standing and staring down at the arrays in amazement.
'Each of you pick an array,' the blonde said and glanced up at the rest of the class, who obviously knew the meanings of the symbols on each of the arrays, if not the use of the array itself.
Each of the four students chose an array, confusion written on their faces.
'Jennings, Stevens, Brown, Nyuhen. Do you recognize what your specific array does?'
The three young men shook their heads but the one girl of the group squinted down at hers, eyes locked onto one of the symbols, 'Is it... that means magnet, doesn't it?'
She pointed at a symbol of something that looked like an arrowhead with a thick, blunt edge opposite the point.
'That's right, Nyuhen. So based on where that symbol is in the array, and what I place in the center-' Ed stepped forward and dropped a small cube of iron in the center, letting the sharp, metallic cling speak for itself as he backed away, 'what do you figure this array does?'
'It... makes that into a magnet?'
Ed smirked, 'We'll see!'
He then placed a glass cup full of murky water in the first array, a larger cube of iron in the second, and left the third empty.
Grinning cheerfully, he backed away several paces towards his desk, 'Alright! Go ahead and activate your transmutations!'
Four pairs of fearful eyes snapped to him in disbelief.
'We can't activate an array without knowing what it does!'
Ed's expression abruptly pinched into something feral, yet he was still smiling, 'I guess you should have done your assignment then, huh? If you had, you'd know what these do. Activate the arrays or leave this class.'
'But sir, that's dangerous...'
The smile faded and searing gold eyes narrowed, 'Alchemy is dangerous. It's not a game or something you can do just because you can. It takes discipline and knowledge, and passion- without which you can never become a great alchemist. Without these traits, you're like an artist without paint or the will to create. Nothing. So,' he put his hands on his hips, his automail clinking ominously, 'if you don't have what it takes, and you'll know, leave. Don't waste my time.'
Silence settled over the classroom like the hush at a funeral, somber and thick, as the Fullmetal Alchemist, for all his reputation of having a short stature, loomed over the prospective alchemists in judgment.
Nyuhen was the first to kneel on the floor and touch her hands to the edges of her array, confidence and determination written across her features.
The men soon followed her, all varying degrees of nervous.
White and blue light crackled around the room as the transmutations sprung to life. The air became tinged with the scent of burning metal that seemed to coat everyone's mouths with the taste of copper. This was just a ghost of what Ed was used to using though, so he only realized the alchemic energy was affecting his students by the twisted and awed expressions on their faces.
Seconds passed before the transmutations faded away and the light dissipated, leaving a glass of clear water in the first array, a melted blob of what used to be metal in the second, a mound of blackboard that had grown into a tiny mountain in the third, and no apparent change to the cube of iron in Nyuhen's circle.
Edward crossed in front of the four students, eyeing each product and nodding in approval, 'Very good,' he murmured and stuck his hands in his pockets, 'these look decent. Do you know what your transmutations are used for now?'
Jennings nudged his foot towards the cup of now clear water, 'This was a purification transmutation.'
'Do you know which symbol is used to purify?'
The man hesitantly pointed towards an image that depicted a spear with a line that weaved around it in a looping caress.
'That's right,' Ed moved on to the second array, 'Stevens?'
'It's an array used for melting,' the brunette motioned toward the melted iron and then a symbol of two circles stacked with a horizontal line attached at the top, 'that's the symbol for melting, which is attached to the center and surrounded by energy inhibitors to restrict the alchemic reaction to the object in the center of the circle.'
Ed didn't have to respond, just gave an agreeable nod and moved onto the third. Brown explained how the transmutation caused the floor to rise by thinning the material of the blackboard around it. Nyuhen picked up the cube of iron and used her thin steel bracelet to show how it was now magnetic. Ed sent them back to their seats after they cleaned up their arrays and took his place at the front board, drawing a large circle and labeling each part of the array.
'Today we'll be learning about the mechanics of a transmutation circle. You've learned about the symbols and grounding the alchemic power, but how do these things actually work after being added all together in the circle?'
The nineteen year old continued the lesson, surprised at how difficult it was to go back through every tiny function of a circle. He'd learned this so long ago and it had become so natural to visualize the hundreds of different transmutations that it was refreshing to go back through the actual science. When broken down, it seemed less like the magic many people confused it for, and more like the complex, headache-inducing science it was.
When there was ten minutes before the hour and a half long class ended, Ed put down his piece of chalk and stared out of the class of nearly forty students, watching as a few hurried and completed their scribbled notes.
'Your assignment tonight will be to go over what we talked about in class today, and to think about the significance of placement inside the circle. Because, like I said earlier, if one tiny detail is out of place, the transmutation will backfire. We'll be talking more about backlash tomorrow.'
'Have you ever been hit with backlash before, Ed?' a voice called from near the back of the room.
Golden eyes locked onto the speaker and Ed smiled smugly, 'Of course not. Good alchemists never allow a single mistake in their work.'
Another voice rose up near the middle, 'Will you tell us more about your journey?'
It's something Ed had been doing for the past few months of teaching- steadily telling the tale of him and his brother that had led up to the Promised Day. It had begun when he caved after being harassed by these people for months about his participation in the whole event. Rumors were all over the country of course, and the legend of the Elric brothers were spread wide. Unfortunately, some of those rumors were so ridiculous that Ed finally just decided to tell them all the tale and set the facts straight. There was no harm in the truth anymore, after all.
Before, he had skirted around how Al had gotten into a suit of armor, but, as Mustang had pointed it out to him just last night- the new Fuhrer had granted him an official pardon for all the actions of his past. The dark-haired General had also thrown his own words back at him- "Knowledge is power- the more people know about the consequences of such horrendous things, the fewer will attempt." Ed had grumbled his hatred for the bastard General while Mustang just smirked at him kindly.
' "Like Achilles, the hero who forgot his heel, or like Icarus who, flying close to the sun, forgot that his wings were made of wax, we should be wary when triumphant ideas seem unassailable, for then there is all the more reason to predict their downfall." '
Ed bowed his head for a moment before looking up at his class, scanning their eager and curious faces, 'I think you guys are ready to hear how all this started with me, huh? Well, I grew up in Resembool, as I'm sure a lot of you know, with my brother Al...'
He continued on, describing how they began to learn alchemy almost as soon as they could read, and the bell tolled, ending the class, right as Ed was reliving the death of his mother.
Stopping, he began to wipe the board clean, only to realize none of his class had risen to leave for their next class yet. He huffed a sigh and gave a small smile, 'Listen, guys, I'll tell more tomorrow, but class is over. Go on, now.'
The students reluctantly stood and filtered out of the room, frustration like a virus that swept over their faces, spreading from one to the next. They whispered to one another and the next class battled their way in, baffled by the other peoples' low, troubled voices.
Ed smiled and stood in front of his second class, ready to repeat the previous hour all over again.
The day passed much like this, second and third classes going without a hitch. Well, except for a man in his third class that Ed didn't recognize. He wouldn't have even noticed the man, except for the fact that the guy was grinning widely when Ed forced the students who hadn't completed their assignments to perform alchemy.
He had dark red hair and sharp blue eyes and he was wearing military uniform, which unnerved Ed at first. The blonde expected him to get up and intervene, but he quietly sat with his arms crossed at the back of the room and got up after the end of the lecture, leaving with the rest of the students without comment.
The strange appearance was still preying on Ed's mind as the alchemist stepped out for lunch.
Was there some kind of military detail on him now that he wasn't aware of? Had he met the man before? Was the guy an alchemist?
He was so intent on his thoughts that he almost missed the figure standing at the gate, only awakening from his mind when a gloved hand wrapped around his automail arm.
The quote that Ed relays in class is by Dwight Longnecker, so I definitely do not own that and am citing his brilliance for you fine people to enjoy!
Well, guys, that's it for the first chapter! Sorry, I know it's a bit boring so far but I just want you guys to get a feel for the world after the events in the anime before diving into my story. I hope you enjoyed it enough to follow along, I know that it's a bit odd and pretty choppy right now, so any constructive criticism would be greatly appreciated! And please, if you are a beta and are interested in this story so far, please please please leave me a message through PM or even a review if possible- I would love to have some help in brainstorming and editing! A soundboard goes a long way.
Thank you for reading and see you next chapter, which should be posted tomorrow at around the same time!