Girl's camp is funfunfun! If you are invited to go, I suggest you do! (Unless you're a guy, of course...) I got the camp name Rhythm there! :3 The only cute nickname from it I can think of is Rhyrhy (Reh-reh), but I feel like maybe it's a bit of a stretch. ._.

One more chapter before I go on a plane to a distant land... I think this is one of the longest chapters for VH so far. I think.

I've wanted to introduce a character I made the same day as Rillie, but didn't find a spot earlier to do it. As for what was to happen in the rest of the chaper, I eventually thought, "Hey, how 'bout I mug 'em?"

On with the story!


Despite what seemed would be a crammed schedule, the brothers had managed to do everything that day and still have plenty of time later to check out the library. It had been difficult to stick to the mission with so many other books distracting them, sadly, and they didn't get much done before going to the hotel to sleep again.

The next morning, a certain gray-haired girl (who had worn a more casual dress and left her hair down) caught them after they finished breakfast and tagged on to their walk to the library again. (Though she was glad to see people still reading books, she thought it was a strangely lame way to spend their time in a foreign country.)

Ed and Al took in the sights calmly again, now that the city was relatively peaceful after the festivities a few days before. They walked on the edge of a park, evading joggers on the sidewalk, and breathed in the air. Despite the obvious pollution, the government was doing a pretty good job of keeping the air cleaner.

The nice morning walk was disrupted, however, as a loud, obnoxious sound started sneaking up on them. Before they knew it, a big breeze whooshed by, hitting them on their sides that were facing the road, as an ambulance noisily made its way by. They watched it take a sharp right turn at the next intersection, the only evidence it was near being the now slowly fading sounds of the siren.

"Hope they're okay," Rillie mumbled quietly, referring to whoever the ambulance was rushing to save. She turned away as if to say 'What can ya do?'

Ed didn't follow her, though. He stood, staring, as the realization he'd had a few weeks ago came back again- the one that had made him and Al spend extra time with their Sensei.

Amestris was not a paradise.

It was just as much of a dangerous place as their native country- in fact, maybe even more dangerous for them, because, while there were plenty of similarities, who knew if there were any threats they were not prepared for?

Did they really know what kind of place they were messing with?

"Wait, guys!" Rillie interrupted his thoughts, bringing him back to the present. He glanced to see that she was pointing to the other end of the block. "The ambulance stopped just over there!"

"Woah," Ed heard Al whisper, and he silently agreed with him. They'd never been so close to an accident before- besides a car wreck every few years, but usually the kind where no one actually got hurt. Then there was Ryan.

But that's why we're here, he reminded himself quickly. To hopefully find something that'll help her that isn't available in the US.

"I-I don't know if I want to see what happened," Al said timidly, and his brother blinked, having gotten lost in thought again. Rillie must have asked if they wanted to check it out while he was out of it.

"But we can't ignore what is almost right in front of us!"

So she would get off Al's back (and his, too, since he didn't particularly want to go either), Ed pointed out, "We might get in the way of the paramedics' work."

She frowned and grudgingly agreed. Joining the small crowd that was already forming wouldn't help in the slightest. They might not even get to see what happened, anyway. She wasn't even sure why she wanted to see, considering knowing she was just a short walk away from a potentially bad accident of some sort already made her feel uneasy.

Rillie turned back to John and Matt, who both looked just about dying to get away from there (which made sense, but also meant they did not realize this could be their chance to see emergency alkahemy in action), and once more towards the flashing lights streaming through the trees, before sighing and continuing on the sidewalk as they'd been doing before.

A minute or two passed by of silent walking, her leading the way, but her step faltered when she heard the brown-haired brother say something behind her.

"What was that guy thinking?"

She and the blond brother followed the direction Matt's eyes stared out to and simultaneously burst out laughing.

There was a grown man struggling to get out of a baby swing in the playground.

Said man looked over to her, and when she realized she recognized who it was, she wasn't sure whether to get mad, cry, or just laugh harder. She stuck with the final option until she was close enough to him to help him out.

"Meet my older brother, Milo."

{Milo: 21 years old. Has brown eyes, medium skin, and white hair pulled back in a ponytail- his haircut reminds the author of Len Kagamine, but if you do not know him, then just picture CoS Al's hair with a shorter ponytail. He has quite a tacky taste in fashion, and so is currently rocking a green and gold "Amestrian Pride" shirt.}

"Sup, Rillie!" he greeted, relieved yet even more nervous at the same time because she was the one to catch him in the aftermath of doing something idiotic.

"Why did you think this was a good idea?" she sighed as she studied his current predicament.

"I was bored, and I recently lost some weight. I was curious if I'd fit now," he explained lamely with a slightly sheepish and apologetic smile.

"You'd have to weigh 10 pounds to fit in that thing," Ed deadpanned.

"10 what?" The Amestrians looked at him funny.

"Oh, uh, 4 or 5 kilograms," he corrected himself after a quick estimated calculation in his head- knowing conversions was useful at times.

"Yeah, and you weigh more like a hundred," Rillie berated her brother, who still was stuck in the swing. How he even managed to squeeze himself into it all the way was quite a baffling mystery to everyone.

"No I don't! I'm almost down to 80!" Milo whined.

"You won't be anymore if you keep eating like a pig."

"Are we gonna help him get down?" Al interrupted the sibling banter; even though it was amusing, he was worried about the poor man's health.

"Oh, right. Ed, Al," she quickly introduced the two to her brother, who waved in a carefree manner with a friendly grin. "How do you think we can get him out?"

"It'd probably be unsuccessful if we tried to haul him out the way he is now..." Ed stated as the gears in his head turned, "...so maybe if we tipped him over?"

"What?" Milo suddenly sounded alarmed.

"Right, Brother. He might just slide out."

"Onto my head!"

"You won't if you are careful," Ed waved off his concern. He and his sibling silently agreed upon holding onto Milo's legs, leaving Rillie to take his upper body. Despite his protesting, both brothers prepared to tip him over.

"1...2...3!" They heaved up his legs at the same time while Rillie pushed his chest down, then the three worked together to push him out of the seat and let gravity do the rest of the job.

"Oof!" Milo grunted as his body made impact with the ground, and he rubbed sore spots pitifully.

"Hey, that was actually pretty easy. You're lighter than I thought," the red-eyed girl commented, seeming to have not thought of the fact that maybe he seemed not as heavy because the brothers were stronger than they looked and took most of the grunt work.

"What, did you think I was fat?" Milo pouted, not looking at all like he was the oldest person there at the moment.

"Say thank you," Rillie chided her brother as she helped him off the ground.

"Okay, okay. Thanks, guys. I don't know what I would've done if I ended up stuck there for any longer," he chuckled. "In return, I'll buy you guys food if you're hungry. I'm starving!"

Not wanting to be rude, they accepted the offer- on the conditions that it was in a few hours for lunch since they already had breakfast, and that they ate in a restaurant, not the street. Al was not about to go through food poisoning again.


"You won't tell Mom about this, right?"

"Who do you take me for?" Rillie waited for Milo to sigh in relief before continuing with an evil grin. "Of course I'm gonna tell her."


"You seriously love meat, don't you?" Ed commented to Rillie as they sat by the restaurant Milo had chosen for lunch. The weather was quite nice, so they'd chosen to eat at a table outside.

"Yeah, you ate more than him." Al pointed his thumb to his brother, who in turn was annoyed by the accusation yet agreed that her ravenous appetite was surprising.

"It runs in the family," she chuckled. "We all have four stomachs like a cow."

"Duly noted," Al joked back. He glanced at his watch and did a double-take. "Wow, we've been here for an hour now."

"We should probably start heading for the library again," Ed sighed as he and the younger Elric started to get out of their seats.

"Thank you guys so much," Al repeated the gratitude they'd already shown more than once before.

"You're really going in there again? I'm gonna have to come back and drag you out to dinner, too, before you starve yourselves to death!"

(She really had to come and drag them out of the building to eat because they were so focused they didn't notice how late it was getting.)

"Don't get so worked up; we'll be fine!"

"At least wait till my brother comes back from paying for the food," Rillie huffed.

Ed glanced through the window into the establishment, then raised his brow to the young woman. "I don't know... From the looks of it, he's flirting with the cashier. Who knows how long he'll take to get back here."

Rillie understood his point, even if it'd be a little rude to leave without saying goodbye to him. She knew how much Milo liked to chat, especially with cute girls. "Fine, knock yourselves out with all your books about... whatever it is." She waved them off, and they waved back before walking away.

She sighed and rested her chin in her hand as she leaned her elbows on the table. She watched the backs of the boys as they walked away. They were a bit of a mystery, weren't they? She barely knew anything beyond their personalities (and there was an inkling of a theory within her that Ed had a small crush on her), which was frustrating even though she'd only met them two or three days ago. Not that she knew very many studious people, but it didn't seem normal for high school boys to go researching something in another country (what country were they even from?!).

But those thoughts flew out the window when she witnessed the Elrics (now nearing the end of the block) suddenly get pulled off the sidewalk, vanishing into an alley.


"Psst," he whispered to his right-hand man. "Look at those two guys over there," he ordered, pointing toward a pair of teenagers that just barely started walking away from a restaurant. "Looks like they're not from around here, probably tourists. And with those big backpacks, they probably carry everything around, including a big wad of cash."

{Mr. Mugg and Rob: Just came up with their names. Hehehe. Two grimy men with no families, nothing better to do, and no desire to be in organized crime.}

"But do you really wanna rob two kids like that?"

"Just means our job is easier," he smirked. His partner smiled back and both lied in wait in the alley, waiting for the teens to come by to strike. A minute later, a shadow was seen on the sidewalk, and the men whipped out their arms and violently pulled in the two that owned the shadow. They threw the smaller bodies against the nearest wall.

"Where's your money?" the first man threatened with a scowl.

They expected the two to blink in shock then go into one of the other varying reactions their victims usually had, but they didn't even do that. One immediately jabbed his knee into Rob's stomach while the other threw his elbow across Mugg's face like it was instinct.


"Al!" Ed yelled after he hit the guy's face, glancing to the side to see that his little brother was busy escaping the other man's grip. He elbowed the robber's face again before snaking around to try to hold the man's arms behind his back.

"Round 1, Brother?" Al yelled back. That was their name for the flipping-someone-over-your-shoulder move, a move the younger Elric had basically mastered. He even managed to do it to Sensei once. However, by asking this, it wasn't just for permission to do the move- it was to ask whether they should stay to fight in general or just try to run.

Ed didn't even know why he was asking. Considering the question was directed to John Edward Elric, he must've known what the answer would be.

He quickly threw off his backpack and tossed it to the side, somehow maintaining his grip on Mugg's wrists.

"Dingdingding!" he rang like a bell signaling the beginning of a wrestling match. Thus, the two began to put to practice what Sensei had taught them before they came to Amestris.


Rillie burst out of her seat, heart starting to beat faster as she realized the brothers suddenly disappeared out of her sight- and probably not of their own choice. She quickly considered telling Milo to go help them, but then shook her head. First, she should see if they'd even need the help. No need to get her brother worked up if it's really nothing.

Though I doubt it's nothing.

She sprinted down the sidewalk to the spot they'd last been at and veered into the alley, expecting the Elrics beat up on the ground or gone or maybe even worse!-

She gaped at the scene that was actually before her. This was the last thing she expected.

Ed and Al were beating up the strangers, not the other way around. And quite thoroughly, it seemed, since she witnessed the younger brother actually flip one of them over his shoulder like it was no big deal.

Neither seemed to have noticed her presence, which didn't really surprise her much. Their job was almost nearly done, in fact, as both men were now on the ground, groaning in pain, as the boys loomed over them.

"Leave us alone, okay?" Ed said to them with his arms crossed, giving them a look that made them know he was serious. She doubted they were going to come near the Elrics again anyway.

"And don't do this to anyone else, please?" Al added, sounding like a disappointed mother in a way. It would've been funny if they didn't all now know what he was capable of. Ed nodded his approval for his brother's statement before turning away to fetch his backpack. Even though it was farther into the alley (unintentionally), he thought it was safe enough for him to just get it and put it back on. He was wrong.

Once the straps were on his shoulders and he turned around, he faced the knife of the first man, who looked quite pissed off. Mugg, who Ed had thought was down and out for the count, had somehow gotten back up to threaten once again. He backed the Elric against a wall again, still pointing the knife toward the blond.

Ed was now pretty worried, unsure of the best course of action- after all, the knife added a new element of danger. Sensei had never really liked weapons and thought true men fought with their fists.

"Brother!" He turned quickly to find that the other man had basically put Al into the same position. They must've been pretty resilient and just faked giving up before so they could take the upper hand now.

Seeing Al in danger seemed to spark something within Ed. Before he even knew what he was doing, he clapped his hand and slammed the right onto the wall beside him. Blue sparks flew from his hand and travelled down to the ground, which morphed and jabbed upwards to make the men fall backwards. Ed quickly kicked Mugg's wrist, making him let the knife go, while he was still on the ground, and stomped on the man's stomach for good measure. He turned to signal to Al that they should go, but paused when he finally noticed a witness to everything- Rillie.

Al glanced over and gasped as he saw the girl's presence, too. He then had an apologetic look on his face as he ran right past her, followed by his older brother.

They ran crazy hard until they reached the library, just in case the men decided to follow them. They didn't know that, once she got out of her stupor, Rillie flagged down the nearest cop and got the criminals arrested for armed robbery.

They also didn't know what she thought after the whole ordeal. They just barely gave themselves a moment after catching their breath to be amazed by the fact that not only could Ed (and probably Al too) now perform circle-less alchemy, but he did it as instinct.

It wasn't that that Rillie was shocked by, though. It was the implication it brought.

Ed and Al committed the taboo.


*that one cat in Puss in Boots that's like "OOOOOOOH!"*

It was a bit after I made Milo that I remembered there's a country called Milos near Amestris. XD He is not named after the country! Though I may end up using that coincidence for future jokes. (Also, I recently realized he's kinda Ling-y. We all need a Ling in our lives.)

P.S.- Scaehime, that's genius. I don't know why I didn't think of that before. If it's okay to barf cats over all my work more than is already there, then BE PREPARED, GUYZ!~

I don't know why I love the image of Al channeling Izumi in the way he fights so much. And "Round 1!" seemed to fit for me. If I was a wrestler or something, I'd totally do something like that as soon as possible. I feel like it'd be pretty fun if I was strong enough. XD

Okay, so I'll be back in a few weeks, hopefully with a lot of writing done! I've already been mentally planning for the next one or two chapters...

Have some final feels in the next alternate, which happens to be below this AN!

K bai!


Alternate (Ending) G:

A few seconds later, Lily was suddenly filled with anger again and she exploded at them from across the almost-empty hall. "It's because of idiots like you that women live longer, ELRIC!"

Ed and Al were putting on some final touches on their transmutation circles when a phone buzzed on the concrete nearby. Al raised his brow to his brother, wondering if he should answer or not, but the other just said nothing. He took the lack of response as yes, and answered the call.

"Hello?"

"Oh... gosh. Thank... Oh, gosh. I'm so glad you answered."

"Is that you, Lily?" Al glanced back over to Ed, who seemed to be listening.

"I... caught you before you actually tried it, right?"

"Uh... yeah?" He suddenly yelped as the phone was grabbed from him.

"You aren't going to change our minds, if that's what you're thinking," the new holder of the device, Ed, stated stubbornly to her.

Lily seemed to stutter and have a hard time choosing her words on the other end. If that wasn't a cue something was wrong...

"L-look, there's no point for you to go there anymore," she decided on, sounding like she was about to cry.

"What? We have a frickin' good reason, whether you think it is or not!" Ed replied angrily.

"I know," she retorted quickly. When Ed then heard her start taking shaky breaths, his frustrated expression dropped. He glanced to Al, then quickly took the phone away from his ear and put it on speaker so both could hear what she had to say.

"Wh... when you guys were already gone from school," she began again, "...I got some news."

Well, clearly, from the tone of her voice, it was the bad kind. When neither Elric said anything back yet, she pushed herself to continue.

"Um... You guys can't save Ryan."

Ed and Al's eyes widened. No. NO. DON'T TELL ME!...

"She's...?" Al started quietly, wide eyes fixed on a spot on the ground.

"Yeah. Gone." Lily's voice had turned into a whisper.

Ed hung his head. "It's too late..."


Alt G: Ryan passed away earlier that day, saving the boys from a potentially fatal transmutation. They cleaned it all up before their family could see. The funeral happened a week later. They stayed friends with Lily, but the Elric brothers put away alchemy and their family history for good.