Here is the long overdue chapter off The Next Generation! I know it's been a while, but I will try to update more often for now on. Please tell me if I made any grammar errors or spelling errors since I have a hard time detecting those. And tell me if any characters are OOC.

Responses to Reviews

Daninuyasha: I like interesting and unusual stories! And I think so many stories out there are so cliche and boring that I like to give you guys a much needed breathe of fresh air.

Alchemistlover: Wait till you see what I have planned for the rest of the story ;)

Thanks to all those who favorited and alerted

Daninuyasha

Alchemistlover

GHSessh-Inu

Now on with the chapter!


Roy Mustang's P.O.V

Riza shakes my shoulder and tells me to wake up. I open my eyes slowly and remember I have a meeting with Edward this morning. I get out of bed and change into a nice black suit and comb my snow white hair. I hate its' new color, but it's a part of aging. Riza made me a simple breakfast of eggs and bacon. I eat most of it because my stomach isn't as big as it used to be and I'm nervous about this meeting. I could be recognized by the military and executed.

"Roy, are you OK?" Riza asks as she sits next to me at the table.

"Yes dear. I'm just a bit nervous about being spotted in public."

"Don't worry. No one will recognize you and where did this fear come from? You gotten more fearful as you've aged, Roy. Be that man who saved Ametris so long ago and you'll be fine." She says sweetly.

I smile and kiss her on her forehead. Dante and Lyra decide to joins us for breakfast, which is rare. On the weekends, they're usually sleeping until noon. They get some of Riza's food too and sit at the table with us.

"Grandpa, why are you dressed like that?" Lyra asks.

"I have a meeting today and I want to look nice for everyone that is going to be there."

Lyra starts to laugh and Dante starts to choke on his food. "What's so funny?" I say.

"You never go anywhere. Why do you suddenly want to be social?" Dante says.

"It's an important meeting. If it wasn't important, I would be staying home."

I hear our doorbell ring and I decide to answer it. It's always risky for me to answer the door because you never know if it's going to be the military coming to arrest Riza and I. I open the door and find that it's not the military, but a taxi cab driver. He must be the man that Edward sent to get me. That means that he has an alias that Edward came up with.

"Hello, can I help you?" I say politely.

"Yes, are you Mr. Jack Ass?" The man asks.

"What did you say?"

"Your name is Jack Ass, right?" That must be the alias Edward gave me. He hasn't grown up at all. He's lucky I'm not in the military anymore.

"Yes, unfortunately. Let me get my things and I'll be outside in a little bit."

I close the door and grab a brown briefcase. I put one of Riza's pistols in the case and a pack of bullets. Ever since our arrest warrant were issued, Riza began keeping many guns around the house. Every time someone answers the door, she stands behind the wall with a pistil in her hands, ready to shoot at any moment. I close the case and go to the back of my closet and get a silver case. I wipe the dust of the case and open it. Inside are many pairs of my old flame alchemy gloves. It's been years since I've worn these, but today is a special day. I put them on my hands and put an extra pair in my suit pocket just in case it rains.

I say good bye to Riza and our grandchildren and go outside to the taxi. I get in the car , the driver starts up the car and we drive off. I don't know how long the drive is going to take, so I get comfortable. To my surprise, the drive only takes about fifteen minutes. I thought Edward would have left Central, but apparently that's not the case. The taxi drops me off in front of a tall apartment building and I walk inside to the front desk. I ask the woman at the front desk for Edward's apartment number and I have to tell her my horrible alias. She immediately gives me his room number as if she knew I was coming. I ride the elevator to the tenth floor and knock on Edward's door once I find it.

"Who is it?" A voice says.

"It's me, Roy."

"What the password?"

"Enough Ed! Just let me in!" I blurt out.

Edward opens the door and I'm taken aback by his appearance. His gold hair is now slightly gray and his skin is full of wrinkles. He also looks very frail. The only thing unchanged about him is his eyes. There still the same gold as they've always been.

"Good to see you Roy." Edward says with a smile. He holds out his frail hand for me to shake. We shake hands and we go inside. Alphonse and the Xingese girl, Mai, are already there. Alphonse's eyes light up when he sees me, but he remains professional and shake my hand instead of bursting into tears and suffocating me with a hug. Mai gives me a soft hug. Both her and Alphonse look different too. Alphonse's hair is the same color as Edward's, but he looks healthier and less frail. Mai's long black hair is now snow white and kept in a bun at the back of her head instead on the long braids she wore when she was younger. She also looks much younger than she really is. If I didn't know her, I would say she is in her late fifties instead of her early seventies.

"Let's get started." Edward orders. We all sit down and the meeting begins.

"So what are we going to do?" Alphonse asks us.

"I know that the alchemist lives here in Central. The alchemy is coming from the east side of Central, near the cemetery where Armstrong, Elizabeth, and Hughes are buried." I say.

"That's not far from here! It's only a few blocks away!" Edward exclaims.

I look over and see that Mai doesn't look well. "Mai, are you alright? You don't look well." I ask.

"I'm fine. It's just the philosopher's stone is very close. You see, when alkehistrists and alchemists get older, they gain the ability to sense all alchemic and alkehistric activity. This includes homuculi and philosopher's stones. In Xing, we are taught to read the dragon's pulse, so we've grown out of this ability. But when a alkehistrist is taught alchemy or vice versa, they get this ability back. So since Alphonse taught me alchemy and I taught him alkehistory, our ability to sense these activities is twice as strong than normal alchemists and alkehistrists. This makes old people like us a bit uneasy when strong activities come up." Mai explains.

"I see, so how close is this stone?" Edward says.

"It's just down the hall actually. You were exactly right Ed." Mai says.

"So back to this alchemist. Do we even have an idea of who this person is? I mean, they obviously have access to alchemy related books, so do we know any alchemists that left behind books for their relatives?" I state.

"The members of the Armstrong family could have some," Alphonse suggests," After the major died, he gave all his books to Olivier and she kept some and gave some to the other siblings. The rest she put in a vault in her home.

"It could be one of the children of the Armstrong siblings. But what about Elizabeth? She left all her books to her daughter, Loretta. I don't think Loretta would be stupid enough to try alchemy. But she does have a daughter. Maybe her daughter got her hands on some of the books, got curious, and tried alchemy." Edward says.

"But what is these people got rid of all their books," I say in a loud voice, "They could've burned the books in order to escape the military. Hell, the only books on alchemy left could be in the military's possession!"

"It could be a Xingese immigrant! A few Xingese families have moved to Amestris for jobs and we allowed our citizens to learn about alchemy. Someone could've their books across the border and started to learn alchemy." Mai adds.

"Enough with trying to figure out who this alchemist is. We have to come up with a plan on how to stop this alchemist without the military!" Edward yells.

"We should show them all the bad things that could happen if they go to far with alchemy. Things like Human Transmutation would really make someone want to stop alchemy." Alphonse suggests.

"Yeah, we should do that. And if they don't stop then, we may have to use force instead." I say.

"So that's our plan. Scare them with all the horrible things in alchemy and if they don't stop then, use force. It's good for now, but we may need to adjust once we find out who this guy really is." Edward says.

We all agree on the plan and we relax for a little bit. Alphonse and Mai start to tell stories about all the adventures they had in Xing. I guess that prince turned emperor is doing well. What was his name? Ah yes, Ling Yao. According to Mai and Alphonse, he married his bodyguard, Lan Fan, and they had a son and daughter. The son is going to be the next emperor and he already has an heir. A daughter who is fifteen years old and is currently being groomed into the perfect future empress. After a few hours we all decide to say our goodbye for now. I say good bye to Alphonse and Mai, who say they are temporally staying in Central until the alchemist is found and stopped. I leave Edward's home and go to the taxi cab that waited outside the building until I came out. I got in the cab and drove home.


Tasha's P.O.V

My mother woke me up early this morning to prepare for all the people that were coming over. She said I had to look very nice, but not too nice. I have no idea what that means, I'll do the best I can. I shower very quickly and straighten my hair so I can pull it back in a ponytail. I apply a bit of concealer and a little bit of eyeliner to make me look somewhat awake and lively. I change into a white t-shirt with a simple flower design and denim jeans. I was about to leave my room when I realize I forgot to put on my new necklace. I don't even have to search for it since the philosopher's stone's energy is so potent I can feel from across my room.

I leave my room and to my surprise, people are already here. There are 4 adults that look to be between the ages of 50 and 30 sitting at our kitchen table with my mother. There are about 4 young children between the ages of 3 and 9 playing with all me and Raymond's old toys. Ad there are two teenagers that look my age, a boy and a girl. The girl looked Xingese with her eyes and black hair, but her eyes were a popping gold instead of the usual dark brown that the Xingese usually have. The boy have golden hair, but the dark Xingese brown eyes. I sit down on the couch next to them so I can hopefully start a conversation with them. After a few minutes in silence, the girl speaks up.

"Hi, my name is Nina Elric and this is my cousin Alex Elric. You must be Tasha! Our grandfather said that you would be helping us watch our younger siblings." Nina says enthusiasticly.

" Yeah I'm babysitter girl. I watch your great uncle's grandchildren all the time, so these little guys won't be a problem." I say.

"You'd be surprised. Our little brothers and sisters can be pretty rambunctious." Alex says. One of the little children tugs on my lap and I let him climb on. Another child, a little girl, comes up and gladly climbs on too.

"That's my little brother, Denny, and the little girl is Alex's little sister, Maria." Nina says.

The two children are adorable. Denny has brownish gold hair and big black eyes. Maria has black hair and grayish gold eyes. They both look to be about four or five. They happily sit on my lap until Maria grabs my philosopher's stone out of curiosity. Maria becomes tense and looks like she's about the throw up. Denny grabs it to and looks the same way. Denny jumps of my lap and pulls his cousin off too. They get the attention of the other children and point at me like I'm dangerous. The children quickly relocate to the other side of the room to get away from me.

"What was that all about?" I ask.

"Beats me. Maybe they are just a bit-" Alex stops talking and his eyes go straight to my necklace. His face goes into a look of shock and amazement. Nina gives him a strange look, bit then she realizes what he's looking at and she goes into the same state he's in.

"What kind of a stone is that?" Nina asks in a shaky voice. They better not be trying to steal my stone. I can't just go back and get another one! What ever happens, they are not getting their hands on this stone.

"It's just a stone I found and I thought it was pretty so I had it made into a necklace." I lie.

"Really? You know, since we were raised in Xing we can sense the power of that stone. You don't have to lie about it. We need to take this conversation somewhere more private." Alex says.

Nina and Alex drag me off the couch and we barley escape before my mother catches us. She immediately asks us where we're going and I lie to her and say I'm showing Nina and Alex my room. She lets us go and we go into my room. I quietly shut the door and my interrogation begins.

"Where did you get that philosopher's stone?" Alex says with a harsh tone in his voice.

"I'll tell you if you promise not to take my stone away or tell anyone else about my stone." Alex and Nina nod their heads in agreement and I tell them my story about how I found the stone. They look utterly shocked.

"But I thought Amestris banned alchemy and anything related to alchemy 30 years ago?" Nina says with bewilderment.

"They did, but my stone was made in 1915 which was 30 years before the ban. I don't why they were under the library in the first place or why they didn't destroy them after the ban. All I know is that there are a bunch of them under them library and there could be more of them."

"You could get in huge trouble if someone in the military finds out about that stone. I suggest you don't wear it around your father and since you go a school that is sponsored by the government, don't wear it there either." Alex says.

"I won't wear it here, but I'm going to wear it to my school to show my friend, Vienna, and to make me more energized through out the day. I know I'm taking a huge risk by wearing this stone, but maybe if I keep wearing it, it will encourage people to become alchemists and then alchemy will come back to Amestris."

"It's your funeral girl. We'll watch your back until the military come to get you, then we're gone. We don't want to be blamed for your actions. And don't get around our grandma and grandpa with that thing. They are both practice alkehistory and they get very hostile around philosopher's stones. Don't get around any members from the Xingese royal family either. They'll kill you on the spot if they see that you have one of those things."

"Thanks for the warning Alex. I promise I'll be more careful."

"We will be going to your school for a little bit while our family is in Central. We'll be able to keep a much better eye on you then." Nina says.

We leave my room and continue to watch the children, who are still on the other side of the room, in complete silence. I hope Vienna won't react the same way they did . Vienna will be more understanding and won't question me at all. She'll be completely fine with it. I'm sure of it.


Vienna's P.O.V

My transmutations are getting more and more complicated each time I transmute. Alchemy quickly became a second a nature to me. I went from transmuting cans into little animals to transmuting copper coins into gold coins. I think I'm progressing pretty fast for having learned alchemy only a few days ago. The books helped a lot. I've already read half of them, which is a lot considering I found over a hundred books in my mom's crawl space. I now know how to transmute all kinds of things like water, earth, air, and other elements like sulfur and mercury. I've even tried transmuting some of my dinner from last night. My meal of pasta is now a meal of bread.

My mother didn't notice that I raided her room, so I avoided trouble with her. I hope the government doesn't notice what I'm doing. I'm not going to stop either way. Once someone has the knowledge of how to do alchemy, then all they need is a transmutation circle. But what is there was a way to do alchemy without a transmutation circle? Is that even possible? In all the books I read, it said that alchemy was impossible without a circle. Something about that troubles me. All my life, my grandmother has told me stories of alchemists that could do alchemy without a circle. These alchemists were targeted by a group that wanted to use this ability to take over the world.

Something tells me it goes much deeper than that. How did they gain this ability? My grandmother never mentioned that in her stories. There must be a reason that it's not in any of these books. Is it something no one knows about? Or it is taboo? The only books that have touched upon this are the books written by these people called the Elric brothers, the former fuhrer of Amestris, Roy Mustang, some books written by an Ishvalan with no name, and some books in Xingese that I could only understand with help from a Xingese translator book.

I must find out the secret behind this. I want to know how to do alchemy without a circle so that if I am arrested, I can do alchemy so I can escape and start a revolt against the government. I have to dig deeper. I won't find the information in books so I'll have to look elsewhere. I can scratch the government of my list. My mother probably won't know. I can't go to Xing since I'm too young and I can't speak Xingese. I can't go to any of my grandmother's old friends since they are all most likely dead. I guess I'll just have to figure this out on my own, without anyone's help. I sincerely hope that Tasha and mom don't react badly when I eventually show them my alchemy. If they do react badly, what am I going to do? I guess anything is better than getting arrested by the military. I mean what can be worse that that?


Third Person P.O.V

A fast black figure hops across the rooftops of Central. It's been traveling for days to get this far. It can sense the alchemy coming from the east side of Central. The figure has to stop the alchemy in order to prevent war. The figure's tools shake as it hops across the rooftops. Kunai, shuriken, daggers, bombs of all kinds, even the small katana strapped onto it's back makes noise as the figure tries hard to be stealthy. Suddenly, he figure senses something strange. The figure recognizes this chi. It's sick and twisted, just like the chi that came from its' grandfather long ago. The figure realizes that this chi is a greater threat to it's country that the alchemy. It's coming from the western part of Central, where a family the figure knows well is right now.

The figure narrows it's black eyes in the directions of the chi. The figure knows it must kill the person in possession of this chi and destroy the chi itself. The figure gets a better idea and instead of destroying the chi, it will take it back to it's country and present it to its' grandfather so he can destroy it himself. The figure turns itself in the direction of the chi and flies towards it, ready to destroy anything that gets in its' way.


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