Chapitre deux. :D We notice We abuse commas. xD Sorreh. We luff pauses. Also... Roy's first appearance! Yay for Roy!

Full Summary: Young aristocrat Edward Elric enjoys a fortunate existence, until the day his beloved younger brother is tried as a warlock and brutally murdered. Desperate to bring him back to life, Edward opens the door to the forbidden world of dark alchemy. Is love a sin? Or is sin proof of love? Edward stands before the gates of judgement -- will he find redemption, or damnation?

Announcement: We notice there's a flame going toward Taisa's Catnip fic. Please, if you want to go off and flame someone, do it constructively next time. He can't figure out what's wrong if all you do is go "O NOES MAI EYEBALLZ". Kay? Kay. :3

Warnings: Graphic depictions of blood&gore, possible swearing

Reviews:

Rose: xD Sorry, Rosie! There's more graphic stuff in this one, too... Heheh...

Taisa: xD Well, We had to do something for him! He bugged Us enough to keep Us motivated. xD And lookit, more continuation!

loser in the gutter: Emoooo. We like emo. Glad you liked it, it was hard to do. We were writing it and being sickened the whole time. :3

Disclaimer: Don't own it! Contains ideas from Animamundi: Dark Alchemist, and Godchild, by Kaori Yuki. Summary taken from the advertisement for Animamundi, and edited to fit FMA. Song is 'Speeding Cars' by Imogen Heap.

----------------------------------------

animamundi: circle two a chance meeting

Aruphonse Elric

Age: 17

Gender: M

Killed by trials

Edward scowled at the envelope in front of him. The oak desk he was seated at had a number of stacks of books upon it, and the leather-shaded lamp was just about to fall off, it was so crowded. The envelope, on the other hand, was open, ripped at the fold by a small, gilded steel penknife. In it had been a letter of apology, and statistics and photographs of Aru's death. Edward refused to accept the apology, since Aru's death had been in vain, and besides, he didn't think it was even sincere. Now he was scanning the stats. He couldn't look at the pictures. He knew that if he did he'd be terrified. So he just looked over the things he could, yellow eyes flicking back and forth over the slightly-yellow sheet. Till he managed to drop everything, that was. It all fluttered to the floor, and he groaned, dropping to his knees from the burgundy leather chair and gathering them in his hands. One thing came out on top: a picture. One he knew to be his brother's face.

It was sliced apart, the tongue lolling weakly against the wet back of his brother's mouth, covered in both saliva and blood. It dripped down his white linen shirt, staining what Edward could see of it a sickening russet. His eyes were still alive in this snapshot , full of fear and pain. Blood was running through the small spaces between his top row of teeth, rolling down them in wet streams of fluid only to drip into the puddle of blood Edward knew would have been on the floor. Edward, viewing this from the safety of his own toasty-warm library, gagged and quickly put that picture at the back of the papers in his hand, so that he didn't have to look at it, but...

There were more.

This one was of his hand, missing all of its fingers. The bone was visible, and blood was still spurting out of it. Aru had been alive then. Looking closer with some sort of sick fascination, Edward could see his thumb had been cut clean off, down to the joint near his wrist, which was also spurting blood erratically. And Ed knew right about then that if he had been a better brother, none of this would have happened.

He was shaken out of his thoughts when he realized that tears were pouring down his cheeks, and he wiped them away hastily. He had a bit of a plan, and crying did not augment said plan any. The blonde rose to his feet, putting the contents of the envelope away on the desk. He knew now that there was only one way to go about this: alchemy. A forbidden route, but it was one he was willing to take if it meant Aru would be returned to him.

So he got up, still rubbing tears out of his eyes, and slid a book off the shelf. If he was going to learn all this, he'd have to do it properly, start with the basics. Then, maybe, he'd get some sort of teacher. He couldn't do it alone.

/Here's the day you hoped would never come/

Edward got up, flipping the book open. He scanned the page for a moment, then fetched a cup of water. A change of state, huh? Water to ice, then back, then to steam. He pulled out a bit of paper, poring over the notes typed up in the thick tome.

It is a simple matter to change liquids from state to state. It is not considered an actual transmutation, though the array is very similar to that of a basic transmutation. Incidentally, the symbol for mercury appears in both state-changing and substance-changing reactions, which leads many scientists to believe that there is a connection between the pair, more so than that of the energy which powers them. Below is a simplified version of a water-to-ice array; more complicated variations are to be performed by more skillful alchemists.

The blonde stared at the page for a moment before shrugging and dipping an eagle-feather quill into his bottle of crimson ink. The color had better not matter... He lifted the quill, blood-colored ink dripping off it for a moment before he tapped it on the side of the small crystal vial and began to trace the circle from the book. Around, three-sixty degrees, side one, two, three, four, five, six, till he had a sort of star atop the circle. That was simple enough. Now what?

To activate the circle, most alchemists will press their hands on the edge and give the circle some of their life's energy. It is very important that you do not expend more than needed, for wasting said energy can and, if possible at the time, will kill you. Therefore, it is best to begin your study of the subject with small-scale transmutation, until you can learn to handle your energy more proficiently, which will come in handy more than once. It will be explored in other chapters. Meanwhile, it would be best to practice state changes.

Okay, so most of that was unneeded information till later, but Edward decided to keep that in his memory anyway. It would come in handy sooner or later, after all. He put the cup on the circle halfheartedly, and placed his hands down with the same air of halfhearted-ness. He was half doubting it would work, after all. When he concentrated, however, the water immediately crystallized, and Edward turned the cup over just to have a chunk of honest-to-goodness ice drop out with a thunk. "So it works," he mused, picking the ice up. "But is it real ice...?" It was cold, so he supposed so. So this was a real state change. He thought on it for a moment, then decided he would try something a little harder. To turn ice into gas, you had to go through liquid form. Could he skip water and go directly to steam? It was mind-boggling, but perhaps it was possible..

The boy got up, deciding that maybe he would get some lunch in town. The day was growing late, after all, and doing nothing always got him agitated. He dog-eared the page, shoved the book back into its spot (making a mental note to remember the title) and shrugged his jacket on over his linen shirt and vest, flipping his braid out of his coat as he did. Besides, maybe he could figure out whether the media had been informed of his brother's murder or not.

/Don't feed me violins/

It was a nice day out. The town was bright, and many people were present at a restaurant and inn near the center of the city. Giant parasols shaded the tables outside, and most of the seats were full. Only a few chairs were empty, and there was at least one person at all of the tables.

He sat in the crowded outside area of the place, sipping a peach-and-lime daiquiri and mostly observing the other customers, when someone arrived that he lifted a dark brow at. A small... girl? It was hard to tell from here, but the person had a long golden braid, down to the small of their back, and a pair of chin-length forelocks. Very feminine, if he did say so himself. Then again, this person was wearing mens' clothing, so maybe not... Ah, he was getting closer. Now he could tell. The man with the daiquiri ran a hand through his shaggy dark locks, the ones the women fawned over, and stood as what he now knew to be a boy passed him. "Excuse me," the boy said slowly, looking the darkhaired man over cautiously, "But... This place. Taken? There's nowhere else to sit," he added sullenly, indicating the place. "So, um.."

Roy Mustang smirked, then nodded. "I don't mind," he replied. "Go ahead. I'm only people-watching, anyway." The boy nodded as well, then sat. Roy observed him curiously. So this was the elder Elric brother... He didn't look so much like his brother, but just his presence reminded him a lot of Aru. Sort of made him feel guilty, though Edward didn't need to know the reason behind that.

"So.." said the boy, flagging down a waiter and requesting his own drink, a virgin margarita. (Roy took this to mean that Edward couldn't hold his liquor. He was right.) "You don't happen to know anything about..." Roy leaned in interestedly, as the blonde lowered his voice. "About... my brother... do you?"

This made Roy give a secret grin, and he turned his head so Edward wouldn't see it. "Yes," he replied finally, looking back at the boy. "I was in the presence of his murderer. I... witnessed it." The boy's golden eyes widened in shock, shock Roy reveled in seeing. "I recall he was terrified." Well, of course he would be. Stupid thing to say, Roy.

"You were there?" The boy seemed to be very horrified. "Do you know who killed him?" He sounded very interested, all the same. It almost made Roy snigger. Of course, he could not just inform the teen that he did actually know. That would ruin the fun, and blow his carefully-constructed cover.

"No," replied Roy regretfully. "I don't. However," he added, and his arm snaked around Edward's shoulders, "I will try to figure it out for you." An invitation the blonde couldn't resist, Roy saw, because Edward looked rather interested. "Of course, I can also tell you... How to get him back." This temptation got almost anyone into its clutches, and it wouldn't be hard to ensnare a wet-behind-the-ears pretty boy.

Edward's face brightened, and he nodded gratefully. "I appreciate it," he replied. "I would have you contact me if you found anything out, but of course, that would be suspicious. So..." The boy paused, and Roy lifted a quizzical brow. "...I would prefer you just came to the manor. If... that's not a problem," he added, and Roy had a sense that if it was a problem, Roy Mustang would be very sorry indeed.

So Roy just smirked, nodded, and gathered himself, dropping a few coins on the table. "It won't be," he assured the boy. Of course it wouldn't be. Why would he give up a chance to be in the same vicinity as the now-sole Elric boy himself? "I trust you can pay for your bill yourself?"

"Duh," replied the boy, remaining seated and putting his boots up on Roy's vacated chair. "I'm Edward Elric. Of course I can." Little did Ed know that saying that he could would most likely bring his demise. "I'll see you later, then? You may want to give me a schedule, so I know when you're not wor--" He broke off as Roy handed him a piece of paper. "Okay, then," he said, obviously impressed at the fact that Roy had planned so far ahead. "I'll see you on... Tuesday, then."

Roy nodded, then turned away, slinging his coat over his shoulder. This would be quite the set of events...

/Just run with me -- through roses -- speeding cars/