Chapter 1

A blue sky, nothing else. No clouds, no nothing. Today should be interesting. But, what else to expect in the middle of a desert? I looked around, squinting, trying to make out any civilizations nearby, but to no avail. I hoped that there was somewhere nearby that I could sleep comfortably and not need to transmute whenever I needed water. But, as I said, I'm in the middle of the desert and I don't expect to find even a nomad wandering around here- there's not been even a blade of grass since about three days ago, and I'm tired of eating whatever I can transmute from sand.

As I walked over a dune, sweat soaking my clothes through, I spotted a little town a little ways away, and made my way there full speed, which, I would like to inform you, is not very fast in my present dehydrated state.

Oh yeah, introductions. Name's Anna- Anna Price, to be exact. I'm an alchemist from Dublith, South Amestris. My alchemy teacher's name is Izumi Curtis. Now, I'm not telling you anymore personal information except that I'm fourteen and am preparing to become a "dog of the military", but there's something standing in my way- my train on the way to Central HQ crashed and now I'm stranded in the desert. Well, I was stranded up until I saw that little town down there.

Water. The only thought on my mind, aside from sleep and food. It kept running around my head, dizzying and urgent. Urgent enough to trick me into accidentally trying to scoop out some strange brown liquid

"Hey, you!"

I spun around to see an older man with a graying mustache and wearing an apron come striding towards me, shaking his head. "How many times do I have to tell you people- don't touch that stuff! It can barely be called wine anymore!"

I stood there, blinking at him, at a loss for words.

"Oh, you must be an out-of-towner! Sorry 'bout that… How about you come over here and take a load off your feet. I'll fill you in on where you are."

Sitting at the little bar the man owned, I ordered a cup of water for eighteen cenz. A pretty good deal, if you ask me. But before anything else, I needed to make something straight with this guy.

"Sir, about how old would you say I am?"

The man looked at me, surprised. "Well, um, I'd say you're about twenty, give or take a few. Why?"

"Aww, crap. Sorry sir, but I'm fourteen. But," I added at his expression, "I get mistaken for someone older all the time, so don't worry." He rubbed the back of his head, apologizing fervently.

"Good morning, everyone! I hope everything's going fine here- I just helped clean up the remnants of an uprising a few blocks down."

"Ah, Rose! Glad to see your spirits are up! I knew something was going on down there- I doubt anyone in the all of Liore slept last night!"

A girl wearing a simple white, sleeveless dress and sandals came walking up to the bar, her dark brown hair and pink bangs swishing to the rhythm of her steps. "Rose, I'd like you to meet…"

I stuck out my hand ad she shook it. "Anna. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Rose Thomas. How'd you wind up here?"

I grinned, shrugging. "It's a long story, really."

"Well, how about you come to my place, and you'll tell me what happened. Three visitors within a two-month period. It's a record! Not to mention faux prophets."

In Rose's house, I sat down in her kitchen and told her how I found my way here, all the while filling and re-filling my cup of water.

"So, that's it. Nothing too interesting."

Rose smiled. "Well, you were able to cross the desert without help. That's a feat in itself!"

"Well, now that that's that, would you mind if I washed up? There's sand in places I wish it wasn't…"

"Sure, follow me." Rose led me into the bathroom and set up a bath, humming.

"Say, Rose? You mentioned an uprising, what exactly did you mean by that?"

Rose turned to me, a frown dancing on her lips. "Last month, two boys came meandering into here from the desert, like you. Their names were Edward and Alphonse Elric. A year ago, a man named Father Cornello came into town, claiming to be the Sun God Leto's emissary. He fixed up town, which at the time was almost a dirt hole with buildings, and brought us prosperity, all the while tricking us into following a new religion- Letoism, which was just a trick for him to have an "army of soldiers that wouldn't be afraid to die for him" so that he could take over Amestris. Eventually, Ed and Al exposed him as a fraud who was just using the Philosopher's Stone to trick us into thinking he could do miracles. Now, he's returned, or so some people think, but I know better. It's a fake. Some people are on the same mind track as me, but some believe that he's actually back, and that's what the uprisings are about. Anyway, your bath is ready, and I set out some clean clothes for you to wear when you get out- if they don't fit, just tell me."