Prologue
It was a shining day in the town of Dublith. The town center was buzzing about with excitement, cleaning, eating, selling, buying. It was but an average day. Elana rose from the breakfast table and grabbed her small satchel of books and supplies. A young blonde girl, with tomboy clothes and a wrench in her hand, leaned against the wall as she watched Elana pack up.
"You're leaving now?" the girl asked.
"Yeah, Winry," Elana answered, tying her brown breast-length hair in a ponytail. "The next train leaves in 10 minutes. I have to get to East Headquarters as soon as I can."
"It's such a shame. You have to leave so early" Winry added. She stepped to Elana's side and handed her a small silver locket that Elana always wore around her neck. "You left this in your room." The small locket was a simple one, with detailed embroidering and a small sapphire stone in the middle. The locket was able to be opened, but Elana made a promise to her father to never open it, no matter what.
"Well, got to get going." Elana lifted the satchel over her shoulders and walked toward the door, but stopped when she heard footsteps from above the 2-story butcher house. She looked to see her teacher at the bottom of the steps, a lavender blanket wrapped around herself.
"Good luck, kiddo." Her teacher waved. "Oh, and one more thing. If you happen to meet a red coat shorty along the way, kick his ass for me, 'Kay?"
Elana didn't like the sound of that. The next thing she hoped for besides becoming a state alchemist was to hope that her teacher was just joking around. She looked at the time on the clock above Winry's head.
"I have to get going. I see you later!" Elana hugged Winry and her teacher goodbye as she raced for the door to catch the train to the east. Winry turned to Elana's teacher.
"You know, Izumi, I'm pretty sure she'll be encounter him, one way or another."
"Yeah, Winry," Izumi answered back. "I'm pretty sure she'll meet him..."