Old Habits Die Hard
-Hey, another fanfic. It seems I can't stop writing new ones, and I have to focus on my others now. I'll get back to Tossed In after this. This is a year after the movie, Conquerer of Shambala, and if you haven't seen that or the original series, you SUCK. You need to know the original before I can permit you to whatch Brotherhood. Winry has her own automail shop (Go figures) and Mamoru reignites hope when he says he can bring the Elric brothers back.
Chapter 1, the One That Promises
It was an average day at Central, the streets lined with people entering and leaving shops, and those going around the city. There was one in particular, a boy who walked around with a black jacket with red sleeves thrown lazily over his shoulders like a cape over a navy blue tee shirt and black pants. His long, light brown hair was lying just over his eyes, which were grey. He took out a map with hastily drawn directions, and studied it for a minute.
It's been a year since the vision I had, witnessing the final battle the Elric brothers faced on this world. If I am right, they will be needed for this world to remain in balance, and I need a reason for them to come back.
Glancing back at the map, he headed down one street until he came upon a shop with a sign that read:
ROCKBELL AUTOMAIL
Fixes and new automail
This is the place, if anything can bring them back, it's her.
He went to open the door but noticed a sign that said she was on lunch break and she would be back in an hour. Ignoring the sign, he went in anyway.
She needs to lock the door more often. Now how am I going to spend an hour waiting for her in this shop? He thought as he looked around.
"I know, I will take apart or study the way they were made!" he exclaimed, grabbing a hanging arm and putting it on the table before taking a screwdriver and starting to dismantle it. He was almost done putting it back together when Winry came into the shop, the sound of the door causing him to jump and make a few pieces clang on the ground.
"What was-" She looked up in his direction, confused. When she noticed him, she grabbed a wrench and ran up to him and tried to hit him with the tool. She would have, if he didn't hold up the automail arm he was rebuilding.
"I came here to discuss something with you, about the Elric brothers!" he cried out as she swung again, also blocked by the automail.
"What? How do you know them?" Winry asked.
"When they resided on this world I was a fan, their way of doing things a break from the norm. Then Ed disappeared without a trace, and some thought they were dead, killed by the military for some reason. But I got visions, I could see him and follow his adventures there, but I didn't think anything of it until I saw him come back for his last battle. I didn't witness it, it was in another vision. Then the dreams started, horrible dreams of a nation in chaos, death in the streets, dying inside, and an entire military government destroyed, and I know that Ed and Al can stop this, they just need to be willing to come back. That is where you come in." he said to her.
"What did you just say?" She asked him.
"I said that I can bring Ed and Al back, but I need you to come with me." He said plainly.
"I don't believe you. And I don't even know you, how can I trust someone I don't know?" She asked, raising the wrench.
"I will take you to see Mustang and have him tell you why we need the Elric Brothers." He said and spread his feet apart. He put his hands together in a certain manner, with his middle fingers touching at the tips and his pointer fingers straight to the sides in what looks like a simplified form of the Grand Arcanum. A complex transfiguration circle appeared before him and the shop disappeared in a great light. All the two could see was the Gate. A voice came from the gate,
"You have knocked on God's door, but shall it open?" the voice asked, and the boy knew it meant a sacrifice.
"For twenty souls transport the girl Winry and myself safely to Führer's office of this world." He told the voice and held out his hand. As Winry looked, the misty forms of twenty people came from his hand and solidified into spirits. They floated into the door, and it opened and revealed the Führer in his office, Mustang going through some paperwork. The boy turned and held his hand out to Winry.
"I'll go with you, but you have to tell me your name." she said shakily.
"My name, my name is Mamoru Subete." And she grabbed his hand and he led her into the Gate. They headed through and Mustang jumped in surprise at the two people who suddenly appeared in his office.
"Get an appointment." He said, looking back at his papers.
"Yeah, Mustang. And I will also quit being a state alchemist!" he said, spinning his state given pocket watch at his side.
"It's you, Spirit, who do you have?" He looked at Winry for a moment before recognizing her,
"Winry, what's this for?" he demanded an explanation from Mamoru.
"It has to do with the Elric Brothers. You have to tell her about Tanäza. It will help with what I am doing." He said.
"Fine, I'll do it." he declared, looking to Winry.
"Lately we have gotten wind of another country that is growing very strong. It normally would not be a problem, but this country has declared open hostility towards us. There have been a few small fights between our border patrol and the country, Tanäza. It is a small problem as of right now, but it may escalate into an all out war. And with the growth of this possible threat, we might not win if a war starts."He informed her.
"And what does Ed and Al have to do with this?" Winry asked.
"I believe that with their power, we could win or even prevent a war completely." Mamoru answered for the Führer. "And I also have my own reason for going after them." He added.
"And what may that be?" Mustang asked.
"You think I'm going to say? Then what would be the point?" Mamoru retorted.
"You joined the military, you answer to me! You have to do as I say." Mustang said firmly.
"I did join the military of my own accord, but I only did it for the research that is open to state alchemists. That and everyone I met said I should, but I don't like all the rules." He said, annoyed at the reason for his inferiority.
"Well, I see that you two get along great, so can we move on to the part where I'm involved." Winry looked back and forth between the two.
"You love Edward, right?" Mamoru asked in a yes-you-do kind of way.
"I did a while ago, but I moved on." She said.
"What do you feel when you think of your memories with Ed?" He asked demandingly.
She paused for a moment. "I…I feel love for him." She finally said.
"And here is a chance to tell him how you feel about him. It is your chance, so let's go and take out any competition that may have come up." He told her, and grabbed her hand and led her out of the center of Central, and went to a large house a few minutes away. He led her inside, and took her to the living room.
"This house is huge! Do you live in it by yourself?" Winry asked Mamoru.
"Yeah, it is pretty big, it can get lonely sometimes." He said as he grabbed a book from a bookshelf. It was an old, hardcover book with a red cover and gold writing on the spine. She couldn't read what it said until he opened it and she saw a plaque on the front under the title that read:
SPIRITS AND DEAMONS VOLUME, 2
THE CCONSTRUCTTION AND RECREATION OF A HUMAN BODY AND DRAWING A SPIRIT
What a strange title for a book for alchemy.
He stopped on a page and placed his hand on the ground. Alchemic energy shot from his hand, and the book started to glow.
"May the doors open and the spirits make the way; let the portal open and an entrance erect. May the demons stay far and the offering accepted. Let the lamb be killed by the hand of god, let the blood be drank by the devil. Lest opposing forces meet and fatal wounds traded. Lest the world be thrown into chaos and heaven and earth burn. Open the path to The Gate!" He looked up at the last sentence, and the room disappeared once again and left only the Gate.
"You stand before the door of infinity, what would it want you for?" It asked.
"I will give you whatever amount of souls you want to take for a safe passage for Winry Rockbell and myself, Mamoru Subete, to the other world. Passage to Germany." He said, and suddenly starting floating. He seemed to be expecting it and went with it. He stopped rising about ten feet off the ground, and he waited for a moment. Then it seemed that souls were ripped from his body. He felt an intense pain all over his body, and let out a pained yell. Winry ran over and yelled to let him down.
"No! We need them. Don't let it get to you, I'm fine." He said, and then held back another scream. The souls poured out of his suspended body for a long time. Then it stopped as soon as it started and he fell to the floor. Without a word, the doors opened and Winry saw the other side, and rushed over to Mamoru's side to help him up.
"We need to go across, so I guess you'll have to help me walk through that." He said when they got on their feet.
"But I don't trust it; it hurt you when it did that." She said, concerned.
"You have to." He told her. She reluctantly accepted and led him through. She almost didn't go completely through because of a gut-wrenching feeling she got when she went inside the Gate. But thoughts of Ed kept her going. They made it through, and they fell into a street in the afternoon outside a large house. She dropped Mamoru and fell, falling unconscious as she went down. But before she fell completely into darkness she heard someone yell her name and Ed's face in front of her, his arms wrapped around her stopping her fall. Then, nothing.
-that's it. I couldn't go any farther in this chapter, but love will spark in the next chapter or two. Yes, things will get serious and alchemy will be introduced into an alchemy-free world.
-allanime