Ishbalan Alchemist
Ed and Al where rejoicing, today was the day that they had been waiting for their entire lives. The day that the military where going to come to the slums where the orphaned Ishbalan lived, the day the Further was going to fix everything they had been through. At the time Al was only five and Ed was six. Being born Ishbalan had always been a curse to the two brothers often they wondered what their life would have been like if they had been born Amestrians? but they weren't, and one thing that they were constantly taught at school was to look forward, not backward.
Ed and Al weren't exactly popular, well behaved students. They were in a small class with ten other Ishbalan children. Out of the ten they were only friends with one, an Ishbalan girl who was a little bit younger than them both. They treated her like a sister and she acted like they were her brothers. When the military finally arrived and they were let out of class a crowd of other Ishbalans swept through the courtyard in the small meeting place of the Ishbalans gathered to pray. Edward and Alphonse both remembered being swept apart in the chaos searching the small figure of their friend, Edward spotted her and started running towards her as a dark figure cloaked in military garments approached the little girl, holding a gun to her head.
As the gun fired the courtyard was stained red with Ishbalan blood and Ed and Al's friend fell lifelessly to the ground. The rest of the time was a blur, he remembered Al calling out his name as the courtyard erupted in chaos. Ed could only stand there watching the bleeding body of a girl he once considered his sister pass into oblivion. Then everything processed and he ran toward the sound of Al's voice, hoping that even if he could never forget that sight at least he could spare Al from having that image branded into his head. As Alphonse came into view Edward grabbed his hand and raced out of the courtyard. Later he heard that the military had killed every Ishbalan found in that area. Edward was glad that he had kept running.
After that day Edward had planned revenge against ever Amestrian, he was sick of being looked down on, Alphonse on the other hand only felt hatred toward the military, but one thing that they could never forgive or forget was the callous and unjust murder of an Ishvalan child. So when they discovered the formula for human transmutation they eagerly jumped at the prospects of bringing back the innocent child that they had known so well.
Though it took many years Edward and Alphonse had finally perfected the formula to human transmutation. Ed's memories of that day where spent doing the final calculations so he didn't have much time to discuss his thoughts with Al. Maybe if they had talked things wouldn't have ended up the way the where. The next thing Edward remembered was having his leg ripped apart from the inside. He remembered screaming. And then, as if to torture him further he could see his brother being ripped into oblivion, Ed reached out praying he could reach his brothers hand, hoping that maybe, just maybe if he reached him in time he wouldn't be left alone. Just before he could reach him, his brother was pulled apart before Ed's very eyes.
The next thing Ed remembered was standing in a white landscape the pure white was only broken by a large stone gate "Al? Where am I... What was I just doing?" A ghostly voice broke through the sound of Ed's voice "Hello." Ed spun around, no one there. "I am right in front of you as Edward focused in front of him he saw the outline of a white figure sitting on the ground. "Who are you?" Edward felt detached from his own body like he was floating just above the ground. "I'm so glad you asked. I am what you would call the world. Or the universe. Or God. Or truth. Or All, Or one. And... I am you." He felt the gates behind him open and hundreds of tiny hands grasped him, pulling him back. "Welcome, you arrogant fool."
As the hands pulled him into the darkness he could feel himself screaming, crying out. "Hush now. This is what you have been waiting for. I'll show you the truth." As the hundreds of pieces of information flowed through Ed's mind he felt like he was going to split. Going to break into a million shattered pieces pulled in hundreds of different directions. As Ed was pulled out of the Truth he knew that his plan for human transmutation was not wrong just flawed, he felt like he was on the edge of everything. Inches away from knowing everything. "So was it worth it Alchemist?" Ed jumped and turned to face the truth "Worth what." The truth smiled "You know the law of equivalent exchange don't you, Alchemist?"
Every nerve in Ed's body seemed to be screaming in pain, but there was only one thing he was thinking about was Al. He could feel himself whispering his name but no sound came out. As Ed dragged himself over to the suit of armor in the corner of the room he could feel the blood pouring from the stump of his leg, creating a bloody trail behind him. As he pulled the armor down it clattered down to the ground. "Give him back," he dipped his finger in the trail of his blood, "He's my brother, he's all have left!" his vision flickered and blurred "Take my arm or my leg, or even my heart if you have to!" He painted each symbol onto the armor with his blood "Give him back!" "Back again are we? You really are a fool."
After Al's body was destroyed and bound in a suit of armor Edward felt an overwhelming sense of guilt. Though Al had tried to convince Ed that it wasn't his fault, being the oldest brother Ed would always feel a sense of responsibility. So Edward decided that he would find a way to restore what Al had lost. After two years of research Edward had finally found it, the one thing that could restore Al's body for good, the philosopher's stone.
The one problem was that Ed had no idea where to find it, the book's that mentioned it only said that it was rare and came at a large price. The only place that had records about it where in the military librarys "Damm." Edward had been reading for hours and his pure white hair had fallen out of its plait and was falling into eyes. He yawned, it was unlikely that he would find anything else today, so he picked up his crutch in one hand and hobbled his way out on his one normal, one wooden leg.
The way home was a long weary trip through the dank and dark streets in the slums of central city. Having a wooden leg and one arm didn't help the situation. By the time he finally made it home it was already nearing eight o'clock and the moon was completely buried behind the clouds as he let himself into the house he saw Al sitting in a corner reading. Ed snuck around trying not to bother him. He felt another twinge of guilt, it was his fault that Al couldn't sleep after all. As Edward got changed and got into bed one thought was running through his head, he was going to have to become a state alchemist.