Yay~ I really buffed this chapter up, huh? Anywho, hope you like! Don't let me stop you, go ahead and enjoy!

DISCLAIMER: -_- Really? I still have to do this? Would I have a second-hand laptop if I owned the stories and were rolling in cash? No. I don't think so. I would also have already bought a chocolate bar bigger than my body. And I would be OMNOMING like there were no tomorrow.

Edward was tapping his foot impatiently. He was stuck in the Stupid Colonel's office, and he really wanted to leave. He and Al had just come across a new lead on the Philosopher's Stone and he was eager to see if it was real. He knew the truth of the stones and he felt terrible still trying to look for it, but this one felt different. It seemed to hold all promises, without the consequences. As an Alchemist, having been raised on the method of Equivalent Exchange, this was a ridiculous idea. But he had hope. If it didn't pan out, then it would just be one more false trail. Nothing that hadn't happened already. Hope was the only thing they had left. The hope to restore their bodies...

"Well?" Ed said tersely, wanting to get on with his life.

"I don't know shrimp, it's not really my place to say whether or not you go." Colonel Mustang was lounging in his chair, reveling in the anger spreading across Edward's face. Just waiting for the fuse to reach the bomb.

"DON'T! CALL! ME! SHRIMP!" "Bingo" thought Roy as Ed continued to yell profanities at him until he finally got to the point.

"What do you mean, it's not your place to say?" Ed crossed him arms in front of him, waiting.

"The government doesn't care so long as you come up with viable research." Mustang turned in his chair, his elbows now on his desk, hands supporting his chin, a grin on his face.

Ed's eyes widened as he got the implications. He smirked and said, "Well then, I guess we'll just have to make sure it isn't a bust." He was about to burst from the room when he heard Mustang say something peculiar.

"You've read about this place, haven't you?" At the blank look on Ed's face, he continued. "It's said to be a magic school." Ed stared at him for a few seconds before exploding in laughter.

"HA! You really think so? Magic is an impossibility, everything can be explained by science. They're probably using some form of Alchemy and just don't know it."

"I'm not so sure, they may have caught on to something. But anyway, I should warn you that we're still going to check up on you from time to time. To make sure you're not slacking off of course." Roy gave a sly sort of smile before turning his chair back to the window.

Ed let out a halfhearted, "Shitty Colonel."

"One last thing Edward. You have to remember that we aren't recognized as a country by anyone besides our immediate neighbors. We don't have much power outside Amestris." There was a tone of warning in his voice. Ed knew that they wouldn't be able to help him if he got in to too much trouble. "Now leave, I'm a very busy man. I paperwork to not do." He waved hi hand in dismissal.

Ed was grumbling about "Fucking slackers," as he left the office. Mustang's smile faded.

"You've got a lot of work ahead of you, small-fry."

Allen was still in a bad mood as he and Lavi made their way towards the station. It didn't help that both had to wear disguises. Allen preferred not to hide anything from the general public. He had had to dye his hair brown, put some of Komui's "potion"(what the hell was it anyway?) in it, and then wear make-up to cover his curse. His hair was currently tied behind his back in a loose ponytail. Allen was also very tempted to scratch at the make-up covering his scar. They were dressed in regular attire, forfeiting their uniforms so as to blend in more. Allen was wearing faded gray jeans topped with a white hoodie, and a plain pair of black boots that were scuffed and dirty. His hands were shoved into the pockets of his hoodie, inside they were encased in a black pair of woolen gloves.

"Quit complainin." Lave whispered to him. Lavi's hair had been shortened except for some bangs that hid his eye, for the lack of his eyepatch, and was now a vibrant blonde. He didn't have his usual head-bead and he had switched out his orange scarf for a tie of the same color, even though it clashed with his hair. Said tie was tucked inside a forest green vest riddled with the same pattern found on his head-band that was set against a powder white dress shirt. He was also sporting a pair of light blue faded jeans and a pair of vibrant orange converse. Lavi certainly knew how to stick out in a crowd, it was almost counterproductive. But he had told Allen of how it was just the opposite. People would identify him for his eccentric clothing and not what his face looked like. As long as he never wore the outfit again, no one would be able to recognize him. It was quite clever.

Lavi also, being the master of disguise, had adapted a completely new accent and was helping Allen learn it as well. Allen had never heard dialect like this before and he couldn't quite place where it came from.

"Don' wanna encounta any students and have 'em recognize us when we come back, eh?" Lavi had whispered to him, when Allen had questioned him about it. Allen had agreed and was now using the accent fluently himself. But he was still curious as to why they had to hid their identities when they weren't even going to be this secretive with their next mission. It was a mystery he wasn't likely to find out. No one really questioned Komui's orders, at times it didn't seem like it, but he was still the director.

Allen was snapped out of his thoughts by a comment Lavi made. "Least we don' hafta dress as girls." Lavi gave a wicked grin. Allen had to restrain himself from laughing.

During one of their missions, Allen, Lavi, and Lenalee had had to be costumed for the sake of safety. It had been a mission in Belfast, Ireland. The people there were suspicious towards Exorcists and hadn't trusted the Finders at all. It had seemed that it was because of a very nasty batch of Akuma had once attacked the town and when they had contacted an Exorcist for help, said Exorcist had ignored them and hadn't done anything to help. At least they had had a reason for their mistrust. But because they hadn't gotten any information the only option was to send a few Exorcists on re-con. They had already gone out once using the costumes and had returned to their temporary base when Komui had called...

"My darling little sister will never hide her beautiful face from me!" Komui had yelled into the Golem as a Finder near by was commanded to take Lenalee back to HQ. Lenalee had protested all they way back to HQ but had made no attempt to stop her brother from being his overprotective self. She didn't really like it in Belfast, and had been eager to get the mission over with. But they couldn't continue the mission without her. What to do? They would have to get another Exorcist, but it had to be female. They were in a precarious position with the people of Belfast as it were, and adding another male to the group would only push them over the edge. The population of Belfast was particularly fond of females. They found males not from within their society to be rakish and uncivilized. (Even Allen with his perfect gentlemanly behavior.) Unfortunately, there had been no female Exorcists available. They would have to resort to desperate measures...

The only one able to fit into Lenalee's costume was Kanda. Here came the unfortunate part on several different party's account. Much to his displeasure, Kanda had to replace Lenalee in the mission. Allen was almost volatile in his objections, he would've been okay, if a little disappointed, to have Lenalee go back, but to trade her for Kanda? Not bloody likely. After much begging, pouting, bribing, and injuries later (mostly on Komui's part, even through the Golem), Kanda was in the costume, and Allen had been calmed down. Everyone was surprised to find that Kanda made for a very pretty girl, though no one dared say so. There had been a shocked silence for several moments before Allen had to restrain himself from laughing and had excused himself from the room. An evil grin had spread across Lavi's face as he couldn't help himself. He had to joke about it. How could he pass up such an excellent opportunity?

"You look so pretty, Yuu~! 3" He was dieing of laughter on the inside, but he kept a strait face. Smiling big with innocent eyes. He only received a silent glare. He could actually feel the murderous intent. "Your ribbon looks so cuuuute with your dress Yuu~! 3" The hatred emanating from Kanda was almost palpable. He knew what was coming, but it was going to be so worth it...

They then had to abort the mission altogether, because Lavi had sustained many serious wounds, and there had been no available Exorcists around to take his place and Kanda had refused to continue the mission with Allen whom he knew would comment just the same. It turned out that there had been no Innocence in the town of Belfast anyway, it is still unknown as to why several Akuma had attacked the tiny town, but the knew now it wasn't Innocence. Komui was also sent to the infirmary after Kanda discovered that he had worn a dress for nothing, and had come back for vengeance.

Allen couldn't help but let loose a chuckle at the last part. Lavi blushed as if it had been him in the dress. Allen raised an eyebrow but said nothing on the subject, he was polite enough to leave well enough alone.

They soon reached the space between platforms nine and ten. They were still being rushed by the crowd, pushed about as if they were loose twigs in a rushing river and they were going to be drowned if they didn't move with the flow. It was hard to stand still as they tried to figure out a way to get to the station they need. Obviously they weren't going to find platform nine and three-quarters here.

"Wha' now?" Allen questioned Lavi. Hoping that the elder knew what to do, he usually did.

Lavi shrugged. Crushing Allen's hopes in one swift movement.

"You mean you don' know where ta go?" Allen was very much disliking this mission, the growl of his stomach concurred.

"No." Lavi was smiling. Smiling! Allen groaned internally, why him?

"Wha' were ya plannin to do? Ask someone for directions?" Allen asked incredulously. He was already in a foul mood from malnutrition, Lavi was making it worse.

"Yeah." Lavi grinned. He enjoyed riling up Allen as it was so easy to do if you knew how.

Allen sighed, shaking his head. Lavi was being ridiculous on purpose and he wouldn't let it get to him. He would just have to politely ask one of the nice people working here...

There seemed to be a large red-haired family heading towards them. Bustling about and in some cases arguing, while in others, joking. "All right everyone! Let's go, you know how to get there!" A large bunchy woman seemed to be shouting to the children. It looked like she was the mother in charge and the children quieted down, for the most part. They were unnoticed by the bustling crowd.

"Ge' where?" Allen asked him, curious as to what was going on. They were standing right between platforms nine and ten, you couldn't get a train from there...

Lavi shrugged again, nonchalant and irritatingly calm.

"Fred! George! Hurry up! Trust me, you don't want to miss this year at Hogwarts!" They did a double take. Had she said Hogwarts? That was where they were going...

Allen and Lavi exchanged looks. "Found a ride." Lavi whispered, grinning from ear to ear and acting as if all had gone according to plan. Allen gave him a look, sometimes, especially when he was hungry, he just couldn't find his friend's humor funny.

Five trollies loaded with luggage were, one by one, rushing towards the barrier at an alarming pace. A pair of twins were the first to go through, laughing as they raced each other to the brick wall.

Allen almost rushed to try and stop them, but Lavi held him back. Allen struggled, but Lavi kept a firm grip. "Wait a sec'." There was a gleam in his eye that made Allen think twice and he tried to stay still.

Allen crossed his arms but was still otherwise, he was dubious towards the fact something other than crashing was about to happen. He watched in amazement as the pair went through the wall. They had vanished into thin air, gone right before his eyes. How?

"Knew it." Lavi smiled. How could Lavi had guessed such a thing? Had he seen things like these before? The shock and copious amount of questions were replaced by irritation.

Allen gave an exasperated sigh. 'He could've told me beforehand so I wouldn't worry.' His gaze returned toward the wall as more of the family disappeared into the wall. Was this evidence of the magic they had been told about?

"Ready?" Lavi's wicked grin was aimed towards Allen. Lavi was obviously eager to try it out.

Allen gulped, and nodded. It wasn't like he could avoid it, but he really didn't know what was going to happen if they crashed. He had been through worse, but it would still be unpleasant.

They rushed towards the wall, trollies bouncing wildly as they approached the brick wall.. Allen braced himself for the crash, screwing his eyes shut. Though at times he couldn't seem to avoid it, he didn't like pain. It was rather uncomfortable and he didn't want to cause himself pain when it wasn't necessary. Holding his breath, he knew the trolly should be about to make impact with the wall. Nothing happened. He slowly opened his eyes. His trolly was no longer in sight though he could feel his hands grasping the bars. He was swathed in blackness, and could see nothing but himself. Lavi had disappeared, and the red-headed family wasn't anywhere near either. Had something gone wrong and he had ended up in some horrible place?

He was startled out of this line of thought as a tingling sensation slowly spread all around his body. It was similar to an electric current, he could feel it wrapping around him but never getting to close so as to shock him. Then it made contact. Warmth flared in his feet, as if he were on fire, but there was no pain. It felt more like dipping one's feet into a warm bath, but not having had let it cool. Burnt but pleasant. The sensation left his feet as it glided up along his legs. It felt like it was searching for something. For what, he could not tell.

Would the strange thing let him pass if it found what it was looking for? What was it looking for? Did he even have it? What if he didn't? Would he be pushed back into the station? What about Lavi? Had he already made it?

The sensation had made it to his left arm when the pleasant warmth turned into a painful burning feeling. If there had been flames, he would have sworn he was on fire. Searing heat enveloped his arm before it vanished. He was breathing heavily and leaning on his invisible trolly. Suddenly he was blinded by light and he found himself in a bustling train station full to the brim of strange looking children.

He shook his head and pulled out his left hand, checking to see it it were still there. It showed no sign that anything had happened. He sighed and placed his hand on the trolly's bars. Magic was not as innocent as he had hoped. He glanced to his side to see Lavi looking stunted beside him. Lavi returned the glance and shrugged. Allen then returned his gaze to the place at large. He was amazed to find children of various ages running about with strange animals and other odd magical phenomenon, Allen and Lavi were stunned by place, magic had to be spectacular if one could about in madness such as this and find it normal. Suitcases were boarding themselves on the train. Some children were posing for pictures in front of cameras that flashed and set of multicolored bursts of smoke. They took in the sights and were pulled out of their stupor only when the train whistle blew loudly. They quickly boarded the train, heaving their luggage behind them.

Okay, so... BWA ;A; I'M SO SORRY! The story is officially on Hiatus. I am uncertain how long it will take for my beta-reader to get a new laptop and right now, I really can't release new chapters! Hehe, I'm also Revamping the whole story, as a while ago I received a review and I got a good kicking to the metaphorical balls. My eyes were opened as to just how many things I needed to work out about this story, and I needed to go over it and fix these things. This is half of chapter 2 as I had made it so long I needed to split it up. Anywho, I hope you like it! Oh, and I suggest you wait to read the third chapter if you don't want to re-read it. You will have missed a bunch of info anyway. But not to worry! It will be up soon! I'll let you know as well, it will probably be up tomorrow and it will be under a different name. Anyway, reviews are appreciated and question will always be answered!

~Abiki