Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters of Fullmetal alchemist. They belong to their respective owners and not me.
Shadows of the past.
Thunder rumbled, a rumbling so loud that it would have been enough to shake a mountain.
The sounds reverberated through the dark grey clouds that coated the skies in a blackening abyss that made the entire world have this gloomy and lonesome atmosphere as the rain had started to fall down to the heavens and thus soak everyone in the skies tears.
The earth below was quite empty as far as the weather was concerned, though, so everyone had managed to evade getting a good old soaking from the falling rain.
The concrete roads and pathways were becoming flooded as the rain had started to drench everything in its own brand of wetness that managed to engulf anything and everything in a presence darker than any enemy.
It had been almost four years since the famous full metal alchemist, Edward Elric, and his loyal little brother, Alphonse, had brought a form of peace to the world;
The two brothers had been on a quest to restore their bodies after a very serious mishap with alchemy went terribly wrong and resulted in Alphonse's soul becoming tied with a metal suit of armour and Ed losing his arm and leg. They had, thankfully, managed to get life back to the way that would meet their satisfaction after such a long struggle with fate and other threats.
Now a new beginning was beginning to shine brightly in the horizon. Everyone was happy with this change, of course, and would never replace it.
No one was even crazy enough to go out into such a stormy weather.
...All except one man, a man who gone by the title of colonel Roy Mustang.
The blind expert of fire alchemy was wrapped in a black cloak of silk that hid his identity, slowly strolled through the rain without a care in the world. As he could not reply on his sight to aid him, he had to rely on his trusted companion's dog, Black Hayate. The black Shiba Inu sniffed at the ground whilst pulling Mustang towards the proper place.
The colonel kept his head down as if hanging it in shame and he even constantly wrung his sleeves to get rid of the moisture that made them heavily sag towards the floor. He didn't say a word, nor make a sound except for the clicks his shoes made when they touched the ground.
The rain battered the lone phantom-like figure although it seemed to have no effect on him as he boldly passed through it without a care. The roads he took were like a labyrinth or a maze as he crossed each street that was already soaking wet with rain.
The narrow straits of roads and pathways were quite easy to navigate through and each building that decorated the streets, the towering rectangular buildings huddled up together to highly resemble penguins huddling together during a severe arctic blizzard.
Tightening the grip of the lead that made him keep hold on the black dog, Mustang let himself feel the cool moisture brush against his face as he inwardly shivered from how chilly it was. He could easily remember how beautiful the outside world looked, he wished to experience his sight and he desired more than anything to be able to see the future one of his trusted allies, Fullmetal alchemist Edward Elric, had built.
He kept walking until he reached a small bar that was huddled up randomly, sandwiched between two separate apartments.
It resembled a small shack but the man paid no heed to it as he simply knocked on the door in a peculiar rhythm, gaining some attention from the other men inside the building.
Of course he didn't see them, but he could most definitely hear the constant voices chattering from left and right and he could hear the wine glasses make metallic 'klink' sounds.
It sounded like a typical everyday bar.
Feeling around his head, he reached for his hood and pulled it tighter around his head to try and hide his true identity from those surrounding him.
Without someone to properly guide him and tell him what to ignite into flames within a simple snap of the fingers, he would be a sightless man without a means to defend himself.
He loathed that feeling of vulnerability but he was also shadowed by it.
"Hmmm...now, where could my lieutenant be?" He mumbled to himself, looking around even though he couldn't see a thing but the pitch black world he had learned to call his whole entire view of the world.
Admittedly, he missed seeing the world in colours then seeing everything in a complete field of darkness and he wanted to see people's faces...especially her face.
He could feel Black Hayate nudge his muzzle against his knee, breaking him out of his train of thought and causing it to crash temporarily. He didn't need to ponder on the woman's whereabouts for long and Roy Mustang almost sighed in relief of having someone familiar by his side instead of being in a place filled with unfamiliar people whom he couldn't see and therefore discern their characters.
Hawk eye seemed to have walked up to him and grasped his gloved hands in hers, capturing his right hand as she gently guided him over towards a table.
Lieutenant Riza Hawk eye knew that her commanding officer had to hear this piece of news but it was also a very delicate matter that had to be solved immediately and she knew that, without a doubt, Mustang had to hear it.
She didn't know how this situation could have escalated into such a dangerous level but she knew that she couldn't let it go on.
So, pulling Mustang towards a table and sitting him down, Hawk eye glared her beautiful yellow orbs seriously at the man as she heard him ask her with a hint of irritation present in his voice "Alright, lieutenant, tell me why you brought me all the way out here with your mutt?"
Upon being mentioned, Black Hayate perked his head up and let out a soft whine.
Reaching down to scratch her dog behind the ear to calm him down, Riza started to speak with a free hand tucking some long locks of her blonde hair behind her own ear whilst she noticed that Mustang didn't look very impressed.
Even though her superior wasn't known for his patience, especially considering that he was dragged out of the nice warmth of his dry office, the woman knew that she had no other choice but to talk to the man about this. She just had to choose her words very carefully.
Mustang could feel a serious aura gather around her, accumulating and multiplying as a long few moments of silence between them had passed. He had no clue as to knowing when the woman would spit it out and he heard her inhale as she presumably opened her mouth to speak.
Eventually she did start talking.
"Sir, you may not believe this but I have reason to believe that we have a new dangerous enemy on our hands..."
The colonel didn't speak, nodding to urge her to continue.
However he was incredibly intrigued upon he heard this since it had been awhile since a real threat had popped up, making his life just a little bit predictable and boring but he didn't like where this was going either.
He could tell by the sound of Riza's voice that she was deeply worried for whatever reason.
Ever since he had lost his vision, the flame alchemist had figured out that his hearing had very much improved and he had even learned to discern the tone of people's voices and be able to figure out shapes by touch.
So being a blind bat did have its advantages.
Riza continued, glancing away momentarily from the colonel "...we know next-to-nothing about this character except that they're extremely skilled with alchemy. They could even rival fullmetal in a dual!"
Colonel Mustang listened intently and hung on every word that poured from Hawk eye's lips.
He was starting to become more and more intrigued about this mysterious character that sounded actually kind of interesting, but he wondered how this guy was a threat and what he could have been doing to catch Riza Hawk eye's attention.
However, as he reached for an unknown glass that was perched on the table in front of him and raised it to his lips, Mustang heard something very disturbing come out of her mouth:
"They have been hunting down Fullmetal, sir, and have been mortally harming innocent civilians by using dark powers to interrogate them!"
That was it.
Instantly after hearing that, the drink that the colonel had been sipping at the time was sucked down into Mustang's trachea and he started to cough violently. His eyes shot open in terror as he pounded his fist roughly against his chest to try and bring up the rest of the drink he had swallowed.
He had no idea what he drank but he could swear that he had swallowed something with a vinegary tangy taste.
Whatever it was, it tasted disgusting.
After spitting out the liquid all over the table and on Riza, Mustang panted heavily to try and get over the shock of what he had just heard.
It turned out that his coughing had even attracted a lot of attention as everything went silent and tension poured into the atmosphere, it was easy to tell that all eyes were on the pair as they stayed silent for several moments.
Nobody dared to speak a word as the colonel had just waited for the news to sink in. He couldn't believe it...how could an alchemist match the strength of Edward Elric, how was that even possible...and how could such an apparent threat harm
people in such a vague yet horrifying manner in this age of peace?!
Suddenly, all the peace that was there before had been sucked dry from the air.
Neither Mustang nor Riza said a word, they just let the horrifying tension sink in as they tried to ignore the multiple pairs of eyes that were set on the both of them.
The colonel and his sharp-shooting Lieutenant felt their hearts grow heavy as they stared directly at the empty wall in front of them, trying to momentarily cleanse their minds of all obstructive thoughts so they could think clearly on the right course of action.
After recollecting his thoughts, Roy inhaled deeply before exhaling out all his scrambled and disorganised thoughts before he opened his unseeing eyes to look directly at his most trusted friend.
"...Lieutenant, tell me. Alphonse Elric is nearby, is he not?"
Riza looked confused. Why would the colonel ask something like that...unless...!
Nodding, she frowned seriously yet kept her voice low to make certain that none of the people looking at them would overhear "Yes, would you like me to send for him?"
"No. Just tell him to go and visit his brother, he could be our little messenger pigeon in a sense..."
Hawk eye understood what her superior was getting at. He wanted her to give Alphonse a message to give to Edward and tell him what was going on, but why not tell Al? Wouldn't things be safer if Alphonse was told about this too? He had a right to know, he was the dude's brother and if something was hunting down his brother then he would more than likely have a strong desire to protect him.
But still...why not tell Alphonse, it made no sense to her.
"But sir-!"
She started to argue but only for Colonel Mustang to sharply cut her off.
"That's an order!"
As all the happiness in the air plummeted to the floor with a heavy thud, the duo both turned their heads towards the windows when a sudden rumbling sound preceded by a snap of lightning had brought their attention.
The wind howled from outside and the darkening world grew ever darker whence the heavy rainfall kicked up and it delivered a serious blow to the minds of everyone present in the bar.
Just who was this new threat? Everyone was thinking about who it could be as rumours flew around.
But they knew one thing:
The culprit was out there somewhere, on the move.
A/N: I'm so sorry this chapter sucked, guys. Hopefully the next chapter will be much better and I am kind of new to the FMA fandom but I have got the gist of it, I think.
Im still not very well because my stomach is still sore. My health sucks.
Anyways, here's the prologue and I shall edit it soon if this isn't good enough. Please be kind enough to review, everyone, and I'll upload the first official chapter just after this one.
-Chloemcg