Note: All characters in this chapter are original. I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist, just the characters in this chapter.

Chapter 1

"A Mark of One's Past"

"Argh, damn this hurts."

"Well, you were the one who wanted to get the tattoo, so you gotta deal with it."

"I know. I'm going to push through this; for my family," replied the teenager as he sat in the chair.

"Whatever, kid. I'm just here to pump ink into your skin, not hear about your past."

The boy lowered his gaze, almost in an attempt to glare at the tattoo artist. However, the glare was quickly lost, as he realized that the man was right, but that didn't stop him from flashing back to what he was going to tell the guy about. If anything, it would keep him from thinking about the pain shooting from the backs of his hands.

"To think it was only a year ago…" he remembered.

~J~J~J~J~J~J~J~

"Come on, big bro. I want to play hide-and-seek," a young boy said, as he struggled to keep up with the older boy in front of him.

"I can't right now, Mike; I've got to study," the older one, carrying a stack of books, said, "Besides, you just turned 12. Shouldn't that be enough of an indicator that hide-and-seek is getting a little too childish?"

"Awww, come on, Jeff. I just turned 12 last week; can't we have one last game? I promise to go easy on you," Mike chirped, attempting to bait his brother with a challenge.

Jeff turned around at that little quip. "Alright, you spoke the magic words. I'll play one last game with you."

"Alright! You go hide first. I'll count."

"Good luck trying to find me, little brother."

At that last statement, Jeff ran off to find the perfect place his brother would never think to look. Not to say that Jeff was an immature person; he had just finished puberty, but his inner child could be easily brought out by the simplest of phrases or actions. It's what makes him seem younger than he is.

The house was pretty big; not a mansion, but not a shack. Jeff ran into the foyer, stopping right on top of the Kaiser family crest. He looked up to see a bunch of rafters, thinking that they would be perfect.

Out of his pocket he pulled a sheet of paper, a pen, and what looked like a tree seedling. On the paper, he drew an intricate symbol; the pride and joy of his family, the Plant "Transmutation Circle," as he had learned it. It was different from other plant transmutation circles in that the formula didn't seem to add up, and it caused something different to happen; something that a normal plant transmutation shouldn't be able to do.

That didn't stop Jeff from placing the seedling in the middle of the paper and activating the circle. Out of the seedling, a beanstalk-like vine rose up, carrying Jeff to the rafters, where he hopped up and redrew the circle on the vine. He activated this one, returning the vine to its state as a seedling. He had successfully removed any trace that he was on the ground in the foyer.

He knew that it was the perfect hiding place. It was so crafty that he ended up falling asleep.

~J~J~J~J~J~J~J~

"JEEEE-eeeeeeffff, where are you?" Mike howled into the halls of his family's house, running almost at top speed looking for his older brother.

Just as Mike was turning a corner, he bumped into the figure of a man and fell to the floor. In front of him was the figure of his father, Lieutenant Colonel Verde Kaiser.

"Son, what did your mother and I tell you about running in the house?" Verde said with an annoyed tone.

"Only run if you are being pursued by the enemy," Mike replied, with a tone that was seething with monotony.

"Oh, darling; he's just a boy. Let him have some fun," said the voice of another figure behind Verde.

"I know, Sarah. But you know how much I hate having to repeat that the boys shouldn't run in the house," Verde replied.

"Oh, hi Mommy," Mike chirped in. "I'm playing hide-and-seek with Jeff."

"See dear, the boys are just bonding like brothers should. I wish I'd done the same with my brother," Sarah said to Verde, matter-of-factly.

"Fine, fine. Go back to your game, just don't break anything," Verde said to his young son.

"Thanks, Dad. I'll make you proud."

Mike ran off, remembering that the only place he hadn't checked was the foyer; completely forgetting that his brother could use his odd alchemy to hide in places a normal human could only hope to reach.

As he arrived at the foyer, Mike was able to notice that there was a pen lying in the middle of the family crest. He picked it up knowing that his brother had to be near.

Just as he was about to look up, there was a knock at the door. Mike, being raised to open the door to see who knocked, did just that. The man standing there was not anyone that the 12-year old had seen before in his life. By default his question ended up being an emphatic: "Who are you?"

The man standing there looked down at the child in front of him, completely emotionless. Without warning, he took his left hand and thrust it straight into the young boy's chest, dead center, cracking through sternum, and the entire rib cage. The sound of the boy's chest shattering would be enough to make the bones of the dead shiver, but nothing would compare to the sound of the man's other hand making its way through the boy's stomach area; rupturing several internal organs.

"It doesn't matter."

"Son, who's at the d…" Verde spoke as he entered the foyer area, stopping right in his tracks to see the sight of his son, impaled on the arms of the man. In the two seconds, it took him to process what had just happened, his face changed from shock to pure rage.

"Zero…You bastard!" Verde growled as he tore off his left sleeve. Underneath the sleeve was an intricate tattoo, not unlike the one that Jeff had used to get to his hiding place. Just as the sleeve hit the ground, the tattoo started to glow green.

"Ah, the fabled alchemy of Verde the Sorcerer," Zero said, as if he had expected this to happen. He added, "This is the whole reason I'm here right now."

"What do you mean?"

"You'll soon find out."

Verde charged at Zero, clutching a seed in his left hand. As he approached Zero's vicinity, the seed grew and expanded to become a sword. Zero stood motionless as Verde charges. Just as the second the blade got close to his neck, Zero ducked and delivered a powerful blow to Verde's chest.

Verde was thrown back to the wall he charged from. He looked up to see Zero's hands glowing.

"VERDE!"

Verde turned to see his wife running to his side. She knelt next to him and noticing the wounds. Silently, she confirmed what has happened and started her work. With her hands wrapped around medicinal herbs, she pulled out a cloth with another odd transmutation circle on it, and began using it to heal her husband.

"Honey, now's not the time to be healing me. He's right behind you," Verde said just as Sarah's healing began.

Sarah turned to catch the sight of Zero moving his glowing hands in an intricate fashion, not unlike the tattoos on Verde's arm, but more intricate. A look of fear ran across her face, until she noticed the lifeless body of her son at Zero's feet. Words could not describe the rage and fury that flew across her features when she realized it was Mike.

"You monster," she whispered, shaking with rage.

Zero stopped the motion of his hands, still emotionless.

Sarah then flung herself headlong at Zero brandishing poisonous plants in her hands. As she ran at Zero, she shrieked at the top of her voice, "I"LL KILL YOU!"

The sound of her scream was enough to wake Jeff up, who looked down to see the sights that left their mark on him for all eternity.

He looked down and saw his mother, no more than two feet away from Zero, poised to kill. At that moment, one of Zero's hands released a focused burst of light energy that pierced straight through her forehead; the other hand released a similar burst of energy that went through her heart. She fell to the ground, and she died the very instant her head hit the floor.

Zero turned around and headed straight for the door.

"Get back here, you shithead," Verde spoke, his sword raised.

Zero only paused.

"There's no further need for me to be here. Everyone who could get in my way is dead." He replied coldly.

"What are you talking about? I'm still alive."

"No, but when I struck your chest earlier, I placed a Rune over your heart. Pretty soon, your body will reject your soul, and you will suffer and die as a body without a soul. A death such as this is fitting for the only other man who can utilize the powers of That Place," Zero said, turning only his head.

"Get back here, so I can ki…" Verde started. He was unable to finish that sentence, as his body started to convulse in throes of pain.

"There we go. Now you will not stop any of my plans," Zero said, walking away.

Jeff, still in shock, froze with the fear of the man who had just walked out. This man had killed his mother, and sent his father spiraling into a torturous pain. If his father's screams of agony hadn't snapped him out of his state of unmoving terror, he would have remained upon the rafters for the rest of his days.

Jeff used his alchemy to make his way back down from the rafters, just as his father had stopped convulsing, and was lying in a pool of blood; his, his wife's, and his other son's.

"Dad, are you alright?" Jeff asked his father.

"Jeff…No. I'm going to die right here on this floor," sputtered Verde, barely conscious by this point.

"Who was that scary guy?" Jeff asked.

"That was an old rival... from the military. His name is Zero; better known… as the Null-Void Alchemist."

"Why did he come here and kill everyone?" Jeff asked, ready to break down.

"It's… because of the blood that…runs in my veins and…by extension…yours. We… have the blood of…the Runists," Verde spoke, his tone weakening.

"Runist? I-I don't understand," Jeff stammered.

"The family library will tell you all…you need to know. I-I'll give everyone… your best… in the afterlife," Verde said, starting to tense up.

"Dad, what should I do?" Jeff inquired, knowing he wouldn't get the answer.

Verde relaxed one last time, giving his last words, "Whatever you feel… is right. Goodbye son." Verde closed his eyes, just as he convulsed again. Within the next 10 seconds, his body gave out; and he finally died.

Jeff sat there for five minutes, surrounded by the lifeless bodies of the people he knew and loved his entire life. He let out a scream that could have woken the dead; would only have been that simple. He broke down, soaking in the blood of his family. It was only after several passing moments that he finally got the strength and courage to stand up. A change happened at that moment… seen in the boy's eyes; a complete turnaround from the calm and childish person who played nicely with his younger brother. In his place, there stood a dark, fiendish monster. He was a creature…one with a grin that showed the dark revenge coursing through his mind.

~J~J~J~J~J~J~J~

"Huh…GYAH!" Jeff sighed, but was interrupted as the tattoo artist finished his work.

"There, you got those weird symbols tattooed like you wanted. What are you gonna do now?" asked the man as he stood up and began cleaning off his tools.

Jeff looked at the backs of his hands, now branded with the same markings as his father.

"I'm going to get some answers."

In his eyes, you could see the determination and the hatred that filled him. He held his hands up to his face, ready for action.

The tattoo artist turned to see the kid, poised for battle, staring towards the great unknown. Shaking his head, he reached to the blue wall in front of him.

"Whatever you say, kid…weirdo."