I have now redone the story, making little changes here and there to help the flow of the story. I think you'll like it.

Author's note- this story takes place (long) after the final episode of Full Metal Alchemist, and near the beginning of Chrno Crusade (before Azmaria). I will also be putting in various other animes in later chapters, but CONSIDER THIS A (POTENTIAL) SPOILER WARNING FOR ANY AND ALL ANIMES USED. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED. Ahem. Thank you, and enjoy the story.

Sincerely, Owlman.

A typical morning at Mary Magdalene convent, located in the New York countryside. The sun was shining, the birds singing, the chores being done. Everything was perfect.

"CHRNO! I'M GONNA RIP OFF YOUR POINTY LITTLE EARS AND- and- AND DO SOMETHING REALLY HORRIBLE TO YOU WITH THEM!"

A collective sigh from the rest of convent. Another idyllic morning ruined. But it was to be expected. Sister Rosette was not called "The Goddess of Destruction" (albeit behind her back) for nothing. She was not permitted to handle or clean any glass, as it seemed to shatter at her very touch. Nearly every vehicle she had driven ended up a twisted hunk of metal, and it was a wonder that the very building that housed them all hadn't collapsed, exploded, or caught fire yet. "Yet" being the operative word. So it was no surprise to the other sisters that she could obliterate peace and quiet as easily as she did material items.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorrysorrysorrySORRY!" Another common sight- the nearly omnipotent devil, Chrno, running for his life with an angered Rosette hot on his heels. However, Rosette usually had on more than a sheet. "I didn't see anything! I SWEAR!"

"WHAT IN THE NAME OF SWEET FORTUNE IS GOING ON HERE!" came a voice that both the Sister and the devil knew only too well. They froze in their tracks, still in a running position, and turned their heads to look at the newcomer.

"H-hi, Sister Kate," managed Rosette. She seemed the only one of the two capable of speech. "Chrno and I were just-"

"Were just running around, screaming like banshees, is that it?" the matronly young woman fixed them with a steely glare. "Into my office. Both of you."

"But-"

"Now." At that moment, God himself could not have frightened them more.

Gulp. "Yes, ma'am." Rosette replied, grabbed her partner in crime (who was using this little exchange to try to sneak away) and sulked into the office.

To this day, the nuns stationed at Mary Magdalene say that the walls still echo with that conversation, and if you listen hard enough, you can hear it.

"Now, WHY were you running around the halls wearing only a sheet?" Sister Kate asked as she sat down in her chair. "And it had better be good."

"Um, well, y'see-"

"I'm waiting, Sister Rosette." Again, that tone. Sometimes Rosette thought that Kate was a devil in disguise, able to make people bend to her will just by using that tone.

"It's all Chrno's fault." Rosette mumbled. Hearing his name, the devil looked up.

"Eh! How's it MY fault?" he spluttered.

"You came into my room without me saying you could-"

"I thought you had slept in again! I didn't want you to get chewed out-"

"Oh, right! You just wanted a glimpse- thought it would be funny to come into my room while I was changing-"

"What? Now you're making me out to be the Elder!"

"That's cause you've been taking a leaf or two from his book, you little pervert-"

"Me? You're the one that uses your 'feminine wiles' to get me to do things-"

"Why you little-"

Sister Kate, who had been watching the argument like a tennis match, decided to intervene. "Enough! I don't care who did what! I'm punishing both of you! You're both going to have to clean the front hall, top to bottom, using toothbrushes!" She peered at them over her glasses. "And may the Lord have mercy on you if I find so much as a single spot of dirt when I come to inspect."

Chrno and Rosette hung their heads. "Yes'm," they mumbled in unison. They got up to leave. Just as Rosette left, she heard, "Sister Rosette?"

She turned. "Yes, Sister Kate?"

The elder Sister looked as though she were about to speak, then stopped. She smiled slightly and said, "You might want to change first."

Rosette turned the colour of a radish and nodded, then hurried out the door.

Sister Kate removed her glasses and sighed. The girl wasn't intentionally disruptive, and it didn't seem right to punish her for it. But she couldn't have hooligans running around unchecked in the halls. This was a convent, not a boarding school. Order reigned supreme here. She got up and decided to start her rounds. Even if Rosette wasn't purposefully uncooperative, there were plenty who were.

"This stinks." Chrno grumbled as he rinsed out his toothbrush for the umpteenth time. His hand was sore from gripping the tiny handle, and he was only done the third tile on the floor. "Remind me to never try to help you again."

"Oh, stuff it," Rosette said from the ladder, "it's your fault, not mine." She was currently cleaning grime off the murals high on the walls that was probably older than she was. Suddenly, the ladder wobbled and she fell. Before she could hit the ground, she landed in two strong arms.

"Ooof!" She groaned as the wind was punched out of her. She looked up at her saviour.

Chrno was looking down at her with an almost lover-like concern. "Are you all right?" he asked. He leaned in for a better vantage point in which to make sure she hadn't hurt herself when he caught her. This brought their faces inches apart.

"Yes, thanks to you… " And though she would never admit it out loud, especially not to him, he smelt good. Very good. She leaned in for a better whiff…

"Ahem. I hope I'm not interrupting anything."

Rosette shrieked and leapt out of Chrno's arms. Due to the sudden loss of weight that had previously counterbalanced him, he found himself rushing face first to meet the floor. Hard.

"F-father Remington! What a surprise!" Rosette found herself in an awkward position with Chrno for the second time that day. She struggled to change the subject. "Father, what brings you here today?" Her face felt like she had spent the night in the boiler room, it was so hot. From the ground, Chrno slowly regained painful consciousness. He tried to move and groaned.

"We have a visitor. I'm here to escort him to Sister Kate." Remington replied.

Rosette forgot all about her embarrassment, and even Chrno paused trying to get up. Having a visitor was rare. Having one come in totally unannounced was unheard of.

Remington stepped aside, revealing a man nearly as tall as he was, clad in a red overcoat, floppy hat, and yellow glasses. The stranger removed the glasses, and suddenly Rosette was staring at two world-wise eyes. Those eyes looked like they had glimpsed the face of God –and hadn't enjoyed the experience.

The man bent down and helped Chrno to his feet. Rosette knew from experience how heavy he was, and yet the man hauled the devil up by the arm like a child.

"There you go." The man said, and Rosette was surprised by the tenor. Where she had expected a deep, booming tenor, it had an almost…adolescent pitch, as though he were only a few years past puberty. His accent was slight, but seemed to Russian or Germanic. The stranger turned to Remington. "I'd like to see the Headmistress now, please."

Remington nodded. "Rosette, would you bring us some tea once you're done here, please?" with that, he led the golden-eyed newcomer away to Sister Kate's office.

Rosette and Chrno looked at each other. Finding out who the man was would be much more interesting than scrubbing… and besides, the hall wasn't going anywhere. They ran down the hallway towards the kitchen.

A lone figure watched them leave. Good. They didn't notice him, so the invisibility spell was obviously working. Now, all that remained was to get the item the visitor was carrying and give it to his master to receive his new title. He grinned. Right in the enemy's nest and they didn't have a clue. It seemed that the exorcists had become so busy protecting the world that they let their own security down. He chuckled to himself. Even if he did have to walk carefully to give the spell time to compensate for his surroundings, this was going to be far too easy. With that thought, he began walking towards the office.

"Aaaah." The visitor leaned back in his chair as he sipped his tea. "I haven't had anything like this tea for a while." He looked up at Rosette. "Danke- er, thank you." Chrno, who was standing by the teacart, scowled slightly.

'So I was right,' thought Rosette triumphantly. 'German.' But that led to even more questions- Who was he? Where did he come from? Why was he here?

Apparently Sister Kate had those same questions running around in her mind as well. "Why have you come to Mary Magdalene convent, Mr. …?

The man set down his tea. "Elric," he replied, as he began to remove his coat. "My name is Edward Elric." When he had freed his right arm, what Rosette saw made her gasp. His arm was made of metal. He held it up for everyone to see and made a fist.

"I come from a place where there are two great sciences: Automail, which gives amputees limbs made from cogs and gears like the prostetic arm you see here. Many people actually prefer automail to regular bodies, augmenting anything and everything. The second science, called the 'Great Art', is… Alchemy."

Minister Remington was the first to recover. "But alchemy doesn't exist!"

"Neither do devils," Edward shot back, "And yet I'm standing in the same room with one." He gestured to Chrno, who looked shocked at being found out, having gone to great lengths to cover his ears.

Remington tried another tack. "It was found to be an unviable science and abandoned centuries ago."

Edward shrugged.

Remington, sensing blood in the water, pressed his advantage. "Besides, I've never heard of you or automail.'"

"But I have," a new voice said. Everyone turned. Standing in the doorway was the Elder, who made special weapons for the exorcists at Mary Magdalene, and quite possibly the most perverted old man in New York. He eyed Edward. "You said you were Edward Elric, correct?"

Edward nodded in assent.

"I've read about you. Brilliant, headstrong young man who, after losing his arm in an accident during the War," he eyed the younger man's shiny appendage, "made himself a new one out of bits of scrap metal. Graduated Machinist's College at the age of 14, and one of the world's leading experts on machines." The old man stepped into the room and extended his hand, which Edward carefully shook with his metal arm.

Meanwhile, Rosette's mind was spinning. He made that arm by himself? She wasn't sure whether she was more impressed by his genius or by his strength of will. Rosette was brought back to Earth with a soft bump by the sound of him talking.

"…You have to help me." He finished, looking around the room. "Someone is after me. Or rather, this." He lifted his right arm again and, with his left, pulled a latch back. His forearm slid open, revealing a container of red liquid.

Rosette stared. "What is it?" reaching out to touch it. The Elder stayed her hand.

"It's called Red Water." Edward said. He held it aloft for everyone to see. "It's the closest I've been able to come to performing alchemy.

"As I told you, someone is after this. I've notified the authorities, but they can't do anything about it. When they investigate, it disappears. Then I heard about your Order. I don't believe in God, but I do know this; You're my only chance. I need you to protect me and the Water, at least until I can get home. If I can make it there, then I'll be safe. But, if the demon gets hold of this much Red Water, it could destroy the world." He looked at them defiantly.

Sister Kate, who had been taking this all in, finally spoke up. She looked furious. "What! Why would you made something capable of putting the entire world in jeopardy?" she spluttered in her rage. "The Order is having a hard enough time dealing with the devils now, without having to worry about something like that! And now you want us to protect you? Get home yourself, you- you-!"

Edward took a step towards her. "Listen, you hag-" His right arm began to give off a pinkish glow. He looked at it, and then up. The Clock Seal hanging around Rosette's neck was also glowing, in blue hues. When Edward spoke again, it was quiet with awe. "I can't go home yet," he said, looking at the Seal, "Because the device is not yet complete. I have the energy, but I still need the means in which to use it- like needing a car when you have a tank of petrol. I need a chrono-accelerator, something that will excite the chroniton particles within the Water, allowing me to go home.

"In other words," he said, pointing to the object hanging around Rosette's neck, "I need that."

Rosette's hand went protectively towards the Seal- what he called a chrono-accerelator- that had been around her throat ever since she met Chrno.

The Seal, in a way, kept them both alive. Rosette was Chrno's Contractor- a human that made a deal with a devil: The devil would be able to siphon the human's life-force for energy, while the devil would serve the human. When the Seal was unlocked, his full powers were released and the soul-siphoning increased greatly to meet with the energy demands. For this reason it was only unlocked after much thought, and only for short periods of time. So giving it to a complete stranger was out of the question.

"Why do you need this?" she asked, her hand still grasped around it.

"Why don't you build one yourself then? The Elder said you were a genius!" Chrno exclaimed from the other side of the room. The old man looked suddenly uncomfortable.

Edward slammed his fist down on the desk with a resounding crack. He was beginning to lose his patience. "Don't you think I tried that! If it were possible, I wouldn't be here, trying to convince you tha-"

Suddenly, from out in the hall a floorboard squeaked, and in the next instant several things happened so quickly they seemed to be at the same time.

The devil, sensing he was made, dropped the invisibility spell in order to focus his energies and leapt at Edward, knocking the Elder to the floor. Meanwhile, Edward used the distraction to reach out with his right hand and grab the Seal, with Rosette's hand still around it.

There was a flash of light, and all three- the devil, the nun and the crackpot scientist- were gone.

End of Revised Chapter 1. I know it was only chapters 1 and 2 together with a few minor changes, but I have bigger plans. Trust me.