Chapter 1

*** Author's Note ***

This is my first time writing on here so sorry if it's not perfect but i still hope you like it. I don't have much to say so enjoy. (If you were looking for it, this is the rewritten version of the first chapter/prologue.)

First person

It was cold out today. The clouds covered the sky shielding us from the sun. We were all gathered around a headstone, a fresh pile of dirt lay at our feet. People, most of which i didn't recognize, were all around me dressed in black. Mother was crying and i remember clinging to her leg through the fabric of her dress. Her dirty brown hair hung in loose curtains of curls framing her red rimmed hazel eyes. Loud sobs racked her body and a few people tried to console her. Every few minutes someone was sending a sympathetic look my way, some even tried to tell me mommy and daddy would be okay.

It was as though they thought i didn't understand the fact my dad was dead. Even to this day i don't really know how i understood that fact. That his body was lifeless and cold and buried 6 feet underground never to be seen again. I wanted to cry so badly at the time and just shut out the world. To hide and let out all of these emotions my tiny seven year old mind couldn't comprehend. I would have broke down right there if it weren't for this unexplainable want to stay strong for my mother.

One of the men my dad had worked with offered us a ride home. I believe his name was Zack or Zeke but i can't recall now much more than a blurry image of a man in a uniform. My dad was a officer in the Military, First Lieutenant Daniel Ridel.

Once we were in the car gloom started to come down in the form of light rain drops. I watched as the drops raced each other down the window. Back, and forth, back, and forth again, everything else outside the window passing in only a blur. We pulled up in front of my house, my mother offering the officer thanks before we proceeded into the house. I ran to my room and slammed the door. I heard mother enter into her room and quietly shut her door. Soon i couldn't distinguish any sound other then my weeping and the light pitter patter of the rain against my window pane. That night i lied down on my bed and cried and cried. Wishing for nothing more than to have my dad there to hold me and whisper reassurance that everything was going to be okay. For weeks after i cried myself to sleep and wished for my dad to be home with me. Nothing was okay and it was only going to get worse.

I was seven years old.

Mother was in a perpetual bad mood afterwards. I think i heard it called depression somewhere and i now i find myself thinking that was probably what it had been in the beginning. Her days consisted of leaving the house early, appearing some time in the afternoon again then drowning her sorrows in whatever liquor she could find. At first it was difficult to adjust to her odd new behavior but soon it was just everyday life. One day something changed. I'm not sure what happened but she became enraged. She found her favorite outlet for her anger in her daughter.

It didn't hurt much in the beginning but i would cry and scream because i didn't understand why she was angry with me. It didn't make sense. What had i done? How could i make her stop? No one ever answered my questions, not that i actually voiced them.

As time went on she got more violent and i learned that crying and showing weakness only fueled her so i stopped. What else could i do? I put up a mask, kept a straight face, and just bared it. It wasn't the best situation in the world but i learned to cope.

The only escape i had was Alchemy. It was wonderful and intriguing and just down right amazing. I kept all my books and materials at an abandoned house two streets over from my own so mother wouldn't find out. I was to worried if she found out she would react badly or force me to stop. Even worse both.

I found i was very good at Energy Alchemy and so i turned my focus mainly on that.

As it be one day while i was walking over to that very abandoned house i stumbled upon a puppy. The thing was shivering and cowering in an alley way looking as though it was just at the wrong end of a beating. Being the stupid eleven year old i was, i quickly ran over to it and grabbed it up completely forgetting the dangers this could cause. It squirmed and thrashed as best the potato sized dog could. It looked terrified and for what? It's not like i could do it any harm. It also looked from what i could tell to be a German Shepherd.

It was so young still and i couldn't leave it outside all alone. I continued on my way to the abandoned house, the pup safely wrapped in my arms.

Latter that day i was sitting reading, in what i assumed used to be an upstairs bedroom. The pup i found was sleeping in an old crate i found with a torn, tattered blanket lying inside. I know it wasn't the best but, there wasn't much more i could do for him at the time. I certainly couldn't run all the way home just to find him something better to sleep in.

Currently my attention was absorbed in an ancient Alchemy book that more so focused on the basics of Alchemy. All of a sudden a loud thump sounded around the room. Being the jumpy child i was, for obvious reasons, whipped my head around to see what in Amestris happened.

There sprawled out on the floor was the pup, a tipped over crate, and a whole deck of loose leaf cards. I chuckled to myself. "Look how worked up you got me" i spoke to the pup as i made my way over to the closest card, glancing at it as i picked it up. The Ace of Spades. "Ace, hmmm" i looked over at the pup. "Well if you stick around that'll work just fine" a smile graced my lips. No i was not talking to myself in this abandoned house but possibly, my very first friend.

I was eleven years old, four months before i became twelve.

Today was the day, i was going to do it. I had it all planned. I was going to bring my dad back to life with human transmutation. The past three months i had been studying the process of human transmutation and was ready. As soon as i had heard it was possible i found as many reading materials for it as i could and studied when ever i could get away. This was it, this was the solution to all my problems. Use mother to bring dad back and i could be happy again.

Mother had passed out from drinking too much. Nothing new. I was going to use her along with some other materials to bring my dad back. Dad was coming home.

I had everything prepared. The circle used for the transmutation was drawn on the kitchen floor. Pushing mother off the couch, i pulled her over to the middle of the circle. I couldn't wait to see my dad again. His smile, his kind eyes, his bubbly laugh. It was all going to reappear in my life and fix everything. I just knew he would make it all better.

After making sure she was positioned in the right spot, i walked over to the middle of the circle. Picking up a blade from the place i left it on the counter, i sliced a small cut in the palm of my hand. Blood slowly dripped onto the pile of other ingredients in the center of the circle. Moving over to the outer rim of the transmutation array, i mentally prepared myself. It's now or never. I won't fail you dad.

Taking a deep breath, i pushed my hands down to the circle producing a loud slapping noise as my blooded hand made contact with the hardwood floor. I watched in awe as the mesmerizing electric blue sparks of Alchemy swirled around me, effectively lighting the room. The sight left me speechless, for words could not convey the magnificence of what i was witnessing.

Suddenly the electric blues turned to threatening purples and treacherous blacks filling me with fear. I looked around the room, what was going on? Was i supposed to feel so scared of something meant to bring me happiness? Outside i could hear Ace barking and scratching at the back door seeing as i tied him up there before i started. Did he sense it too? What was going on? Next thing i knew there was an eye looking at me from inside the transmutation circle. I screamed and tried to run as millions of little black hands grabbed me and pulled me back to the eye. Correction, into the eye. Ace's barks grew more frantic and worried as he scratched the door with even more vigor. I was still screaming at the top of my lungs as the little hands finally succeeded at dragging me into the eye. Every sound became muted and distorted like being submerged in water.

It was black everywhere and my leg and arm were being devoured (opposite Edwards). I cried in pain like never before. No beating or emotional turmoil could compare to the pure agony i was feeling now. Then all i could see was white and all i could feel was the pain of where my limbs used to be. In front of me stood a being that was completely white with nothing more than a black outline and a mouth. Truly something out of a nightmare. Behind it stood an enormous door or possibly a gate. It was intricately designed but i wasn't really focussed on what it depicted at that moment in time. The being smiled at me before opening it mouth, "welcome Elizabeth". Such a disturbing sound like no other spilled from its mouth as it uttered those words. "Where am i ? Who are you?" my voice showing just how horrified i was. "I am truth, i am god, i am one, i am all, yet i am no one, and i am you" its grin grew ever bigger furthering my unease. I stared, terror and confusion plain as day on my face. What was that even supposed to mean? "Why am i here?" I asked. "To pay the tole and see the truth" was the things reply. I looked around again before the door/gate opened and pulled me into its darkness. The last thing i heard was the thing speaking in a mocking tone "goodbye for now ".

I don't remember much of what happened after that besides being dragged through a dark tunnel. All assortments of knowledge crammed into my head at once. The world's secrets flowing by like a real of film unraveling.

Next thing i know i'm bleeding on the kitchen floor. Ace and someone i can't clearly see in my haze, are coming to my rescue. The thing in the transmutation array, what ever monstrosity it was, appeared dead. Dear god i hope it was.

I'm still not exactly sure what happened in that house. Whatever occurred while i was with that thing the Truth is a blank. To this day i'm still grateful to Ace and that man who saved my life.

I was twelve years old.

The only true family i had left now was Ace and honestly i learned to accept that fact. Being alone wasn't such a big deal and nothing was going to stop me from achieving my new goal. I was going to become a State Alchemist. I was going to go into the Military just like my dad, find some answers, and repay an old debt. It took a lot of hard work and about 2 months but i reached my goal.

I was a month over thirteen years old and a certified State Alchemist.

*** Author's Note part 2 ***

It was more of a prologue than a chapter really but that's fine. I'm just giving you a little background info for our main character, yet don't be fooled that's nowhere near the full story. In the next chapter i will introduce our main character to Edward and Alphonse as well as get to meet someone new :).

For all the luck that rains down from the clouds I'll see ya next time!

TheDreamFlareAlchemist