So this is an AU I've seen a lot for various fandoms. I decided to throw my hat into the ring, including my OC for Fullmetal Alchemist.

This chapter is setting the basis for the rest of the story. As a result, this chapter will focus heavily on Winry, Catherine (Rin), Edward, and Alphonse.

Enjoy the first chapter!

Long ago, there was a kingdom known as Xerxes. This kingdom was well-known for its technological advancements, but sadly, it fell in a single night as the result of a coup. The kingdom burned to the ground in the ensuing chaos, even trapping the conspirators that had set the fire in their own stupidity. Only one man survived, and his name has been lost to time. However, that man, with the knowledge of Xerxes that he possessed, eventually founded a new kingdom. It was called Amestris, and the man became its first king.

Like all people of Xerxes, the man had hair and eyes as golden as the sun, a trait he passed to his son, who passed it on to his children. And so, the royal family of Amestris was marked by the golden hair and eyes of their first king, something that nobody else in Amestris or anywhere else possessed. What with the skill and intelligence of the people of Xerxes passed down the family line, nobody dared question their rule, until now.

"Princess Catherine!"

Catherine slowed down and turned around to see her personal guards, Maria Ross and Denny Brosch, chasing after her.

"Your Highness, you can't run ahead of us like that," Maria panted. "What if someone tries to harm you?"

"Pfft. It's not like I'm allowed outside the castle walls," Catherine retorted. "Plus, the guards keep the palace more guarded than the borders. Who would hurt me with that much security?"

"Well, I'm afraid you have to stay with us, Your Highness," Denny sighed. "King Edward's orders."

"Ed needs to remove the stick from his ass."

"LANGUAGE, YOUR HIGHNESS!"

Maria snorted. Princess Catherine had never been easy to deal with, especially since she'd become a teenager. She was irritable, restless, unladylike, and… well, an Elric. The royal family wasn't known for their manners and etiquette—no, they were known for their intelligence and strategy. And the golden hair and eyes. In that way, Catherine took after the absent King Van, but otherwise, she was certainly the daughter of the late Queen Trisha—long hair, large eyes, and a pretty face. Maria had no doubt that the princess would have no shortage of suitors once she came of age, but most of them would be either scared off by her brash personality or run off by her two brothers, Edward and Alphonse.

"I don't need babysitters," Catherine insisted. "I can take care of myself."

"Again, it's the king's orders," Denny retorted.

Catherine puffed out her cheeks in annoyance. She stared at the ground before looking at the sky above. She proceeded to close her eyes and turn to Denny and Maria.

"I'm afraid I have a headache. Would you kindly escort me to my room?"

"Certainly, Your Highness," Maria replied.

Catherine walked willingly with her two guards, fully prepared for the night ahead.

In the village below the castle, however, a girl not so different from the princess was going about her job. Her name was Winry Rockbell, and she ran an automail shop/tavern with her grandmother, Pinako. Sure, the automail business brought in a fair amount of gold, but not many people in Resembool needed prosthetic limbs, and those that did had already bought them. Hence, the tavern brought in most of the Rockbell family's money, which was more than enough to keep them afloat for a good long time.

"Hey, Winry!" Jean Havoc called across the tavern. He was sitting with Kain Feury, Hymans Breda, Roy Mustang, Vato Falman, Maes Hughes, and Riza Hawkeye, his normal group for after-work drinking.

"Good evening," Winry greeted the group, a smile on her face.

"How's business?" Kain inquired.

"Good enough. We can still afford to pay Scar and Rin, so we won't be closing for a while."

"Speaking of Rin, is she working tonight?" Jean asked. "I wanted to talk to her."

"Yes, she is, but I don't think she'll want to talk to you."

"Havoc, I told you," snorted Roy. "Rin is too young for you. How old is she, now?"

"Sixteen," Winry replied.

"A sixteen-year-old girl isn't your style."

"Well, I'll still let her know you asked about her." Winry waved just as the street musicians came into the tavern, as they did every night before sunset. She smiled.

It's almost time.

There were several things Rockbell Tavern was known for—ale, food, the security, automail, music, atmosphere, and, most recently, Rin.

Rin and Scar were the only two employees of Rockbell Tavern that weren't family members of the Rockbells. Scar was a large, intimidating man with an 'X'-shaped scar on his forehead. He had no other name, and he served as security for the tavern, stepping in when a patron was too unruly, rude, or handsy and promptly showing them the exit. Rin was an orphan girl who had shown up six months prior, looking for a job. She'd quickly proven herself as a hard worker, serving tables and the other thing she was known for, which was about to begin.

The lead musician began playing his fiddle, a loud, bouncy tune that had plenty of energy. His fellow musicians joined in, playing the same energetic melody. Rin, her long blonde hair flying, hopped up on an unoccupied table and began stomping her feet to the rhythm. As if on cue, the patrons of the tavern began clapping to the beat as Rin started to dance. She lost herself in the music, almost becoming a part of it, until the song ended. Once it was over, she hopped back to the floor and went back to work.

"That was amazing, as usual!" Winry complimented.

"No, it wasn't," Rin giggled. "It's easy to dance if you have a sense of rhythm. You just let the music control your movements."

"Well, you must've had a good teacher."

"Yep. Her name was Experience. No better teacher."

"Ha!"

"Who knows? Maybe that's why you turn down every guy who asks you out."

Winry blushed.

At eighteen, Winry was in an unusual situation for a girl her age. Most girls were either dating a man, in the military, or married by the time they were eighteen. Winry had no such prospects, and no desire to date a man who came to the tavern to get drunk before he asked her out. Rin knew that, but she still teased the older girl at every opportunity.

"Get back to work, Blondie."

"Same to you, Blondie."

Winry swatted Rin's arm with a dishrag.

Catherine let out a sigh as she entered the secret passageway under the castle wall. It was such a pain in the ass sneaking back into the castle at night.

Yes, sneaking back into the castle. Any girl Catherine's age living in a castle with even a modicum of intelligence knows that secret passages exist, and if, like Catherine, they're tired of being cooped up, they find one that leads outside. Catherine had, several months prior, and she used it nearly every night. By day, she was the temperamental and rather brash Princess Catherine Elizabeth Elric, but by night, she was the sweet and bubbly Rin. She thanked the stars above (and Ishvallah, whoever he was) that her secret hadn't been discovered yet.

She pushed aside the painting door that led into her room and landed lightly on the floor. Quickly, she changed out of her shirt and pants that made her 'Rin' and into one of the silk nightgowns that she slept in. Right on schedule, Denny and Maria opened the door to find her in her bed, reading a book on alchemy.

"Good night, Your Highness," they told the princess in unison.

"Good night, Maria and Denny," Catherine replied.

Edward let out a groan of frustration as he banged his head into the desk.

"Something wrong, Brother?" Alphonse asked.

"This damn paperwork," Ed grumbled, holding up one of the offending documents. "This is the worst part of being the goddamn king—the fucking paperwork."

"Maybe you should consider delegating," Al suggested. "I'm happy to help, and I'm sure Rin would love to do something to help our country."

"Nah, I'm the king. It's my job."

"Well, it's not your only job."

"I know. How's Rin doing, by the way?"

"She still hates being under guard all the time."

"You know damn well why we can't let her be on her own."

"They haven't made a move in years, Brother. They won't get into the castle."

"They did before."

"And that's why we have guards."

"That's why she has personal guards."

"I heard her arguing with them earlier. She said you needed to take the stick out of your ass."

"PFFT!" Ed burst out laughing. "YEP! THAT'S OUR RIN!"

"She gets it from your bad habits, you know!" Al was laughing too. They didn't notice Maes Hughes and Roy Mustang entering the room.

"Laughing, Your Majesty?" Roy asked.

"Sorry. Alphonse told me a funny story about Catherine."

"I see."

"Any word on the Ouroboros Society?"

"None so far, Your Majesty," Maes replied. "We're planning to station somebody at Rockbell Tavern, since Resembool is the closest village to our town."

"Rockbell Tavern?" Al asked. "I've never heard of that place."

"It's a fantastic place to let loose after work… or have a small meeting," Roy explained. "The owners wouldn't mind the extra help, I'm sure, considering that one of the waitstaff is off in the daytime and only shows up in the evenings."

"Hmm… good idea, Mustang," Ed complimented. "You come up with it yourself?"

"Yes," Roy lied.

"Nope!" Maes interrupted. "Sorry, Roy, not letting you take the credit for the Lieutenant's plan."

"Hughes…"

"Listen to Hughes," Ed chuckled.

"At least he isn't short-tempered."

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SHORT?!"

"Nobody, Your Majesty. That's all we have to report."

"Good night, then."

Maes and Roy left the room.

"Jeez, I thought they'd never leave," an all-too-familiar voice laughed. Ed turned to see his sister emerge from behind a bookshelf.

"Rin!" he yelped.

"Shouldn't you be asleep?" Al asked.

"Nah. Denny and Maria left for the night, and I had a few minutes to kill. I'm not ten years old anymore. I don't need a bedtime." She narrowed her eyes at Ed. "Besides, from what I've been seeing the past few days, you haven't been sleeping, either."

"It's part of being the ruler of a country," Ed muttered.

"Yeah. What good are you to your people if you don't get enough sleep?"

"I know what I'm doing. I'm not going to go off and abandon everyone, especially not you two."

"You mean you're not going to be like Dad."

Al's low voice made Ed stop and turn.

"Dad wasn't a good ruler," Al continued, "but you're already better than him. You're devoting as much time as possible to your people. And your family."

"Plus, if Dad was still on the throne, I'd probably be engaged to some prince by now," Rin added. "I love him, but I'm glad he left so I don't have to take stupid etiquette lessons every day."

"I hate those, too," Ed agreed.

"Well, I'd better get back to my room before the night guards show up." She dragged both her brothers into a hug. "Both of you go to sleep, too, or you'll never hear the end of it."

"Yeah, yeah, Rin."

"Okay, we will."

Yeah, not much to this chapter.

There's a reason Rin is referred to as Catherine in this chapter by everybody who knows her true identity, and that's because it's a sibling-nickname thing. She chooses to go by it outside the castle because it's a quick and easy way to avoid detection. Also, yes, I've always seen her as taking more after Trisha than Hohenheim.

The Ouroboros Society, in case you didn't guess, consists of the Homunculi and the people we saw loyal to them in the series. There wasn't much EdWin, but it's coming.

I just need to figure out a way to chop off Ed's left leg without alchemy.

So long and thanks for all the fish!