Chapter one of my first multi chapter fma story! Surprisingly I decided to write something based off of Shamballa as my first multi chapter work. Anyhow, please note that all relationships in this story are meant to be viewed as platonic, so please no comments about romantic love between the characters in this work, thank you.


"ALPHONSE! LET GO!" The twelve year old didn't even have time to think before instinct told him to latch onto the suit of armor being lifted into the sky toward an ominous black abyss. In retrospect it probably wasn't a very good idea.

Alphonse looked down as Rose shouted at him, jumping and trying to grab his legs. "GET BACK HERE! I PROMISED YOUR BROTHER I'D KEEP YOU SAFE! THIS IS NOT A SAFE SITUATION!"

Alphonse looked down at her, clutching to the armor, "I can't just let it go! My soul's attached to it! I have to call it back to me!"

"Hurry!" the worried girl below called with urgency.

Al used all the focus he could without falling from the suit of armor to bring the piece of his soul back to him, but by the time he sought to get down it was a bit too late. He watched in fear as a cold, empty feeling enveloped him and he entered the dark mass which quickly closed behind him.

It felt like seconds, hours, and days had gone by all at once as time passed, he could feel his entire body being deconstructed and the pain was so overwhelming he was numb. He clung to the suit of armor, feeling like he was suffocating as he willed his body back together. He had to stay alive, he had to, for his brother. His head was spinning a million miles an hour as he feared he would be stuck in the abyss forever before a bright light shone all around him. He was suddenly falling again in a very different environment, a tall room with stone walls, along with transmutation circle on the ground. He pulled the armor over himself to use as a shield from the other suits of armor falling on top of him. The ringing in his ears subsided as he could make out the shouts of men and gunshots.

Al froze in fear as he heard some of the armor begin to shift. "Are they looking for me!?" Al thought in a panic as the sounds grew closer to him. His heart pounded as the clanks and clicks grew even louder. He took a deep breath and prepared to defend himself when a familiar face gazed at him.

Al's pupils dilated as he began to tear up, "Brother?" his voice cracked. There he was. Right in front of Al, his face was more mature than he remembered, his shoulders broader, and his hair longer too. Yet there was no mistaking those eyes and hair.

"Al?" Ed whispered in shock.

Alphonse couldn't help but to beam, "BIG BROTHER!"Adrenaline aided him in shoving aside heavy suits of armor as he tackle hugged Ed. He nuzzled into Ed's chest as he began to happily ramble. "Brother! I'm so glad you're okay! I was so worried! How are you!? Are you hurt!? I'm so happy to see you!" Ed was taken aback at his younger brother snuggling up to him. In the excitement of the situation however, Al had completely forgotten about the gunshots he heard before.

"It's from Shamballa! Shoot it!" Al squeaked in surprise as Ed pulled him down under the armor pile to evade the bullets.

"What's Shamballa?" Al uttered in thought.

"No idea." Ed responded, "But these people are obsessed with it. We can figure out what you're doing here later, first we've gotta find an escape route."

"You haven't changed brother, still causing trouble." Al uttered, a little shaken and irritated.

"Save the lecture Al, we've gotta get out of here…" the dirty blonde smirked as an idea entered his head after Ed's words.

"Leave it to me brother, I've gotten pretty good at Alchemy." he leaped out of the pile and smacked his hands together.

"Al! Wait-" Alphonse planted his hands on the suits of armor below him with a grin as the whole room was silent and staring.

A few moments passed and nothing happened.

"What's wrong with my alchemy?" he clapped again to try it once more, only to hear a bullet ricochet agaist something with a clang. Edward held out a metal chestplate to protect them as he dragged his brother behind him, rushing down the nearest hallway.

Ed held up the chest plate as a shield as he and Al rushed down the hallway. Al heaved and wheezed, "Brother, w-wait." Al exhaled weakly. Ed, concerned, quickly hoisted Al up on his back and carried him.

The footsteps of men got closer as Ed thought quickly, jumping out a window with his chest plate shield. He winced as shards of glass cut his face, but still managed to land with Al still on his back, as he took off into the city.

"They're getting away!" a man called after Ed's running form.

"That's enough." Dietlinde Eckhart stepped up behind him, "We know how to find him without wasting bullets."

Ed kept running until his legs could take no more as he sat himself and Al down near a riverbank, "I think we lost them, now what's wrong?" Ed asked, looking him over, "Did they get you?!"

"No…" Al trailed off, suddenly looking embarrassed, "I'm actually… asthmatic."

"Oh…"

"Yea…"

"You weren't before…"

"I know, some things have changed since… the transmutation." Al looked down and hugged his knees to his chest.

"Yea a bunch... How did you get here anyways?"

"Well I was heading to a desert town, Liore in my search for you. Then a bunch of suits of armor just kinda fell out of the sky from a big portal thingy and started to attack, and I had to do something cause the city was still being rebuilt." Alphonse rubbed the back of his neck, "So I used some of my soul Alchemy on the suits and had them fight each other."

"Soul Alchemy?" Ed questioned.

"Yea! I can transmute pieces of my soul into inanimate objects!"

Ed silently stared for a moment, "Oh... w-wow."

"Yea! So after I defeated them, the portal thing opened again and my soul was still attached to one of them, so I couldn't just let it be taken. I grabbed onto it and by the time I got my soul back... it was a bit too late."

"Oh..." Ed cleared his throat, "You know you really shouldn't mess with your soul like that. It can be dangerous Al."

"It isn't that dangerous, the shards of my soul always return to my body, and it just comes naturally."

"I can probably guess why..." Ed uttered, "But you have got to be more careful in general, you almost got yourself killed back there."

Al offered a sheepish look, "Well how was I supposed to know I couldn't do alchemy? Why couldn't I anyways?"

Ed frowned and looked solemn, "Alchemy doesn't exist in this world, it doesn't work."

"But what about the transmutation circle in that room we landed in?" Al questioned, "That looked like Alchemy."

"I'm... not sure Al," Ed sighed, "Not really about anything."

"Oh.."

"Yea." a beat of silence passed and Ed took a good long look at Al, "You know, you look pretty young for being seventeen."

"I'm not seventeen." Al chuckled, the idea of that was laughable.

"Well yea your body is probably around twelve right now right? But you're mentally seventeen." Ed chuckled, "Is that weird?"

Al frowned, "Brother… I'm not mentally seventeen… I only have twelve years of memories."

"What?" Ed's breath hitched.

"I woke up in a ballroom after we tried to bring mom back… and this girl Rose… and her baby were there. She couldn't really answer any questions I had so she led me up a staircase where two brothers were waiting. They told me that I knew them, but I swear I had never seen either of them in my entire life… then I made my way home to Granny and Winry, but Winry was older. I had missed five years." Al sniffled a bit as tears grew in his eyes, his body began to shake.

"Al… so you don't remember, the time we spent traveling?"

"None of it." Al whimpered as he inhaled a shaky breath, letting tears fall freely.

Ed scooted closer to Al, "H-hey, don't cry little brother! It's alright! You're still Al!"

Al gripped his coat and sobbed into his brother's chest, "Y-yea but I missed, I missed five whole y-years." he inhaled with a wheeze and began to violently cough. Ed quickly readjusted their position so he was rubbing Al's back as the young alchemist spat out his phlegm into the river.

"Sorry." Al sniffed.

"No need to apologize Al, your body had to get rid of the junk in your chest, nothing to be ashamed of. I'm glad you're okay." Ed grinned encouragingly as he gently patted Al's head. Al grinned a little at the affection and leaned into a hug with his brother.

Ed sat there and ran his hand through Al's much longer hair than he was used to. He found himself accidentally brushing out the already loose hair tie, letting it all fall free. It was then Ed realized Al's choice in outfit looked as familiar as his hairstyle.

"Hey Al," Ed gently chuckled, "You take a couple fashion tips from me? You're wearing what I used to wear, and your hair is longer too."

Al shyly smiled up at Ed, "Well… I wanted to have the same drive in my journey to find you that you had in your journey five years ago. I found some of your old things and put them on, they ended up fitting perfectly too. I wanted to be just like you! And I did it!" Alphonse nuzzled his chest, "I found you." he sighed with a shiver.

"Hmm, it's chilly out isn't it?" Edward helped Al stand, "We'd better get to my place, it's a lot warmer inside."

"Okay." Al grinned as he followed his brother, "How far away is it?"

"Not too far," Ed replied, "Though, you should know about some familiar faces around here…"


"So that means you are gonna have a lot of explaining to do."

"Yep."

"Well at least my, other self? Will believe you now?"

"I hope this will get him to finally realize that I'm not just making things up. I just hope he doesn't mind another roommate."

The two walked into the flower shop as Ed waved to Gracia who looked at Al in surprise. "My goodness," she chuckled, "How many more friends are you gonna take in? For a second I thought he was Alfons, looks like someone has a doppelganger."

Al smiled anxiously and looked away as Ed explained, "Oh, actually he's my little brother! He really needs a place to stay for a while if you don't mind."

"Of course. As long as he doesn't mind helping me around the shop a bit." Gracia smiled and winked, "Any company is welcome as long as it doesn't get too crowded up there."

"Thank you miss." Al offered a shy smile as Ed led him upstairs.

Ed heard quiet chatter as he turned to Al, "Okay, just take things easy and try to be friendly with everyone." Ed carefully pushed the door open,"I'm back."

"About time." a woman resembling Rose commented, looking up, she quirked an eyebrow, "Who's this?"

An older boy sighed as he stacked some dishes. He brought up a hand to his face, "Geeze Ed, when are you gonna stop bringing friends home?"

"This isn't a friend Alfons, this is my little brother!"

The blonde's eyes dilated as he gazed at the younger boy who looked an awful lot like him.

He looked obviously bothered, his jaw clenched and his body tense as a single word escaped his mouth.

"What?!" several dishes came crashing to the ground.


Thank you for reading! I would really appreciate any feedback you would like to give!