Chapter 1: He's Gone
SETO KAIBA
"Seto are you done working? I want to play with you."
*Water: 35 Liters
"Go Seto! You're the greatest duelist ever!"
*Carbon: 20 kilograms
"Can you teach me to duel like you? I want to be a duelist like my Big Brother."
*Saltpeter: 100 grams
"I won Seto! I really did! Did you see? Did ya?!"
*Ammonia: 4 Liters
"I don't feel good Seto... Can we go home...?"
*Lime: 1.5 kilograms
"I'm going to sleep now Seto... I'm too tired to keep awake anymore..."
*Phosphorus: 800 grams
"It will be okay, Seto. You'll still have our friends even when I'm..."
*Salt: 250 grams
"I love you Big Brother... Never forget that... Goodbye Seto..."
*And 15 various other trace elements...
Mokuba.
Why did you have to leave me alone again?
It was too soon for you to go.
I should have been there more...
I should have been a better brother to you...
This time around, I will spend all my time with you, no matter what.
I finshed placing all the indgedents in the center.
Magic doesn't exist, but alchemy is a science, one that just may do the impossible.
If this works I'll have him back with me and no one can take him away ever again.
Not Gozabouro...
Not Pegasus...
Not Marik...
Not Dartz...
Not Yugi...
Not even death itself will keep you away from me, Mokuba.
I looked back at the notes and took out a knife.
Months of pain staking reseach brought up the things I needed... I didn't care what so ever about the world outside my home...
I only cared about this... Seeing my brother's smiling face again... Feeling his warm hug in my arm...
Nothing else mattered.
For his genetic makeup of his DNA, it needed blood, more specificly mine.
I slit my hand open and placed it in the mixture, not caring to bind my hand, I was far too impatient to do so, considering I was so close.
The Human Transmutation circle was now complete and ready for me use to bring him back.
I pulled out my locket and looked at the picture of me and Mokuba from our days at the orphanage. Before I endured the Hells of Gozabouro, when we were happy...
I whispered, "You're coming back, Little Brother. We'll be a family again and we'll have those happy times once again. I promise you that."
I sat down at the foot of the circle on my knees and clapped my hands together.
I placed my hands down on the circle and it began to glow with an unearthly blue light.
I smiled and said, "It's working!"
Then it all went to Hell...
An eye opened in the center of the circle and thousands of black arms began dragging me into the center of the circle.
I closed my eyes and yelled out as they dragged me in, "MOKUBA!"
When I opened my eyes I found myself standing in front of an anceint door marked with ancient alchemic symbols, and the names of my parents and my name as well.
In front of the door sat a figure with no specific details other than a creepy smile, covered in a eerie black mist.
I yelled, "Who the hell are you? Where am I?"
He laughed and said, "Quite ignorant, aren't you Alchemist?"
He was calling me that? I have only done one transmutation...
"As for who I am...I am the world and the universe. I am one and I am all. I am a God, and I am the Truth, that also means I am also you. I am here to show you the Truth!"
The door cracked open from behind him and a large eye opened. More of the black shadow arms dragged me in closing the doors behind me.
As I flew inside the door I felt the knowledge enter my mind as my body deconstructed. All this information... It felt like my head was going to explode!
It was so painful that I finally yelled, "STOP!"
But it didn't, I just continued flying through...
I yelled and screamed begging the pain to end when I saw it...
The Truth of Human Transmutation...
My little brother in a featureless form reaching out for me...
He was almost in my grasp when the door closed and I stood in front of Truth once more.
He laughed and said, "So... How was it?"
"I know what I did wrong... I can fix it..."
I yelled at Truth, "Let me back in there! I can still get Mokuba back!"
He laughed and said, "You can't for you have already paid your price."
I looked at him and said with a hiss, "What price? You didn't say that before."
He grabbed my arm and it began to deslove on to him. I watched in horror as Truth wiggled my arm like his own as my shoulder burned in agony.
He smiled and said, "This is the equivalaint price for your sin. You tried to play God, now it's time you learn the truth of the matter."
He let go of my remaining arm and said with a laugh, "Goodbye Foolish Alchemist. We will meet again."
I woke up in the middle of a field writting with pain.
I groaned and said, "Ah... What the Hell...? Where's my house?! What the Hell hap..."
I went to sit up and saw what had happened and why I was in so much pain...
"It was real..."
"It really happend..." I whispered.
I looked and saw my arm was completely gone straight up to my shoulder blade.
Only a bloody stub remained of my former shoulder, dripping my life blood into a small pool on the ground...
God... What have I done..?!
A teenage girl walked by, took one look at me and said, "Oh my god! Are you alright?"
She dashed over to me and began examining me.
She had long blonde hair in a high hanging ponytail, and bright blue eyes that stared right at me.
"Hey are you alright?! Respond dammit!"
I could only reply with my blank stare and a hoarse whisper, "It's gone...It's really gone..."
The girl looked at what remained of my arm and said, "You need medical attention... Now!"
She got under my remaining arm and helped me up to the best of her abilities.
We walked up to a house leaving a blood trail behind us, and the girl yelled, "Grandma! We need help! Grab the first aid kit ASAP!"
An old woman walked out with the box in hand and said, "My good lord! Get him to the work shop!"
How are these people so causal about me missing an arm?!
How this girl was talking... Maybe she's a doctor...
Heh. What are the odds of a doctor finding me...
We walked into a shop with bed in it, medical equipemt, and a bunch of metal everywhere, along with that was water bottles and a lot of bandages.
What kind of work shop is this...?
I thought she might be a doctor but all these machine parts...
A doctor who has a side job as a mechanic? Not really practical...
She sat me down on the bed, pulling out pair of scissors, and asked, "What's you name?"
I whispered out through the pain, "Seto Kaiba."
She smiled and said, "I'm Winry. Winry Rockbell."
She took off the remainer of my sleeve and examine the wound, still bright red with fresh blood.
My arm was gone with a clean cut... Almost like a blade slid right through it...
She looked at me and asked, "How did this happen to you?"
The question I was avoiding...
I let my brother die a second time... and I lost my arm for it...
That's what happened but...
I stayed quite for a while and said, "It's too tramatic to talk about right now."
She nodded and said, "I understand. Alright Mr. Kaiba you'll need to sit still. I'm going to patch you up the best I can."
For next couple of hours she began sticthing, wrapping, and cleaning out the horendus wound that remained of my arm.
She eventaully had to take my shirt off, due to the collection of blood gathered on it, revealing the painful wound to my eyes.
Nothing but raw flesh was visible and it was making me sick...
Soon she was finshed, and I was in a Hell like pain. It hurt so much I couldn't even sit up, without getting nauseous.
Winry nodded towards me and said, "Luckly you aren't bleeding bad. The wound has most of your nerves exposed right now..."
She went to some drawers and pulled out... A metal arm.
Okay what the hell does this chick do?!
I stared in awe and asked, "What is that?"
She tilted her head and said, "Strange, most people seen automail before."
I looked up and said, "I'm not from around here."
She smiled and said, "I kind of noticed that. Most people don't wear that around here."
I looked up and asked her, "Where is here?"
She responed, "This is the town of Resmbool. The country is Amestris."
I sighed and said, "I'm definatily no where near home."
She looked at me and asked, "Where's your home?"
"Domino City, Japan."
She placed the arm next to me and said, "Domino? I never heard of it."
She placed the metal arm next to my exposed nerves making my warm arm writhe at the feeling of the cold metal against my skin.
I looked at the metal arm and asked, "What are you doing? That really stings"
Winry smiled and said, "Sorry, I'm just fitting you for automail, if you want it, considering you are short an arm."
A prosthetic...
So that what this stuff is all about. She makes and installs replacement limbs.
Then it hit me...
I just lost my arm a couple hours ago an I'm being fitting for a prostetic...
Damn... Life just loves to fuck with me...
I looked at it and said, "What does it do?"
She went to the end where the nub would go and pressed on a few points.
To my amazement the fingers moved as she pressed the points, like an actual hand.
She smiled and said, "Automail is attached to your exposed nerves which allows you to move it like it was you real hand. I usually would wait for you to heal, but your nerves are in perfect condition for the surgery."
I looked at it and said, "That's incredible."
She pulled up the arm near me and said, "Perfect match."
"I had a client who had me make this but ended up bailing out on me about a month ago. He was around your size and had his arm off a nearly the same point. So Mr. Kaiba do you want the arm?"
I looked down and said, "Well I can't take..."
"To pay it off, we'll have you do some housework and cleaning... It's Equivalent Exchange."
In order to gain... Something must be given...
Something I learned ever since I was little.
Everyone wants something, so you give something up in return.
It was fair although some people are more kind with their exchanges.
I nodded softly and said, "Thank you Winry."
She smiled weakly and said, "This is going to be pretty painful, especailly after you lost your arm, and you won't be able to properly use it for about 2 months."
I looked up at the ceiling and said, "Well no pain, no gain."
She smirked and said, "I wish Ed would have the same adatude when he get's his automail fixed."
I looked at her as she began working on my soon to be metal arm and asked, "Who's this Ed guy?"
She gave a small laugh and said, "Edward Elric, The Fullmetal Alchemist. Him and his younger brother, Alphonse are close family friends of mine. If Ed breaks his automail any time soon, you'll get to meet him."
She took out a pair of plyers and said, "Here comes the first nerve."
I smirked and said, "It can be that...BAAAAAD!"
"OH MY GOD! THIS HURTS SO FREAKIN' BAD!"
She smiled and said, "Just like Ed. And that's only the first one, we still have the rest of the nerves to go."