"I still remember the world from the eyes of a child, slowly those feelings were clouded by what I know now."

Evanescence (Field of Innocence)


Chapter Seven:

The Memory Flashes


"A sound soul dwells within a sound mind and a sound body."


"Humankind cannot gain without first giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost. That is Alchemy's first law of Equivalent Exchange."


FullMetal shot up in a cold sweat, his heart was racing and he was panting, he felt like looking for someone and calling their name... But who? Who was he going to call? He then realized why he was like that...

He had the nightmare again. The very same nightmare he had gotten the second day of school. Speaking of the second day of school, today was Friday, the day he was supposed to head out of town to go Keishin Egg Hunting. He sighed. His dreams just had to make his days start off on a bad note, didn't they...?

He got out of bed to start the morning ritual, trying to forget the nightmare even existed...

As he was getting his clothes so he could take a shower, a ruby cloak fell to the closet floor as he was trying to get a shirt... He stared at the cloak... As if it was taunting him for fearing the dream and considering said dream a 'nightmare', the cloak was in such a way that it's emblem was shown... He swiftly put it back where it belonged and got the rest of his clothes and continued on with the routine.

After he had finished his routine and ate breakfast and he still had an hour to pass. He didn't have much to do... He remembered that his moms had put some apple pie in the fridge, so not really thinking, he got a slice of pie.

After he took a bite he stopped and suddenly thought, "This tastes familiar...hm maybe I ate apple pie a lot when I had my mem-..."

Before he could finish the thought, he felt a small headache and he mentally saw a flash of white...


"Hey Ed!" a girl said.

From what FullMetal could see, which was from the nose down, the girl had blond hair and she wore an outfit that reminded him of a mechanic...


Startled by the sudden memory flash, FullMetal fell backwards in his chair, taking it with him as he fell to the floor. To add up how startled he was, his fork had flew out of his hand when he fell and when it landed, it landed near his face. It was so close that it grazed his check, leaving a small cut.

Strangely,... even though, inside he was having a bit of a panic attack,...he felt- calm...

He got up and got the fork and threw it into the sink with such accuracy that he would've impressed himself, but his mind was else where. Without thinking he went back to his bed room.

"Who was that?" he asked himself, "Who was she? Who's this 'Ed' she was talking to? Was that a nickname she gave me or something?" he looked in a mirror that was above one of the dressers.

He stared at his reflection as he hissed at the cut. Suddenly, out of pure instinct, he pressed his hands together as if he was going to pray to Death, then a strange formula echoed in his mind:

"Water: thirty five liters, Carbon: twenty kilograms, Ammonia: four liters, Lime: one-point-five kilograms, Phosphorus: Eight-hundred grams, Salt: two-hundred-and-fifty grams, Saltpeter: one-hundred grams, Sulfur: eighty grams, Fluorine seven-point-five, Iron: five, Silicon: three grams, and trace amounts of fifteen other elements..."

He touched the wound, there were small sparks of blue light and the wound... disappeared... He was shocked. Then another word popped into his mind:

"Alchemy..."

Alchemy? What was that? Why did it sound so familiar? He just stared at his hands for a moment. He didn't even know what he did, he just couldn't help but feel that this Alchemy was important to him, something that he needed to use for a cause. But what? Why did he need this Alchemy? Was he a healer? A doctor like Professor Stine? Or was it beyond healing? Something more... A piece of something bigger perhaps?

He then got an idea, but it was a crazy idea... "If the old me knew how to do that, and knew that girl in the vision, then what would happen if I try to look like the old me?", he got his old clothes and changed into them, boots, gloves and all. He even got the pocket watch and booklet. He also washed off the Mizune whiskers so he could look the part. He then went back to the mirror and looked at his reflection, scanning himself...

He took a step back.

"I-... I look sadistic..." he muttered.

Something in the back of his mind told him he was... he didn't know how long he had been standing there, staring into his own reflection, fearing himself. He then realized... the clothes were light, the only heavy thing that he wore was his cloak, but that was it. He could wear those on the hunt! But he didn't like the sadistic look he had, the look of pure... dominance and intimidation, looking as though he demanded respect. The reasoning to the feeling that he had gotten from the clothes was beyond him...

He looked at the clock... It was six-forty. He needed to head out now.

The Alchemist sighed, grabbed his bag, took one last look back into the mirror and thought, "My friends are not going to recognize me, while I look like this... But then again, who else has gold eyes, besides me and Kidd?"

He walked out the door and began making his way to the school...

As he walked down the street he couldn't help but walk as though he was a solider in the military, head up, back straight, and confidant, no room for screwing up. It was practically second nature. To his surprise, he saw Maka on the ground picking up several papers as Soul was just watching her...

"Damn it, Soul! Are you going to help me?!" Maka growled.

"It's your mess, not mine." Soul drawled.

"Rude much?" FullMetal thought. He walked up to the fellow blond and said, "Hey, want some help?"

Maka turned and looked at him curiously, as if she was expecting someone else. She swiftly turned to glare at Soul Eater, "See, Soul! At least someone is a gentlemen!" she looked back at FullMetal, "Oh, uh, sorry, what's your name?"

FullMetal sweat dropped, "Really, Maka? I know I look different, but I don't look that different!"

Soul's and Maka's jaws dropped and they both said, "FULLMETAL?!"

"C'mon, now you two are exaggerating! Who, other than me and Kidd, have gold eyes?!" FullMetal crossed his arms, he didn't know why, but he did.

"Its not just that!" Maka said, "Its the tone of you're voice!"

"Yeah, you sounded... different!" Soul said.

"Different, how?"

"You sounded as if you were straight out of the Military." Maka stated. "Not to mention the way you look now..."

"...It almost as if you're an entirely different person." Soul said.

FullMetal huffed and looked away, "Well geez! I know we've only known each other for a few days, but what the hell?! Its not like my personality did a complete one-eighty!"

"You're certainly acting like it." Soul said.

"No I'm not."

"Yes you are."

"No I'm not!"

"Yes you are!"

FullMetal glared at him and Soul glared back.

"Makaaaaa...CHOP!"

Before the two boys could even react, both of them found themselves on the floor, holding their aching heads which had been hit with an extremely large hard cover book that was held by Maka. Both of the boys has smoke coming from their heads.

FullMetal glared at Maka, before suddenly getting another mental flash...


"ED, YOU IDIOT!" a girl yelled furiously as she threw a wrench at FullMetal.

From what he could see, which was - once again - from the nose down, the girl had blond hair and she wore an outfit that reminded him of a mechanic... she was the same one from the other flash...

The wrench hit him and then...


"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR, WINRY?!" FullMetal growled.

Maka stared at him then looked around, "FullMetal... Who's Winry?..."

FullMetal went wide eyed... "I...I...uh..."

"Wow, Maka," Soul said eyebrows raised, "You hit him so hard you knocked a memory back to him!"

*Bash!*

Maka hit Soul a second time, but she hit him so hard that he had fell back to the cement and was barely moving while smoke rose from the impact, the smoke slightly formed a skull before disappearing. She sighed and looked over to FullMetal who was still nursing his head. "Why did you call me Winry?"

The Alchemist thought about it, "I-...I really don't know..."

She sighed, "Just help me get my papers and just forget this ever happened..."

"Agreed." FullMetal huffed.

FullMetal and Soul obediently did as Maka asked, after they were done they headed to school...

The Alchemist had a hard time trying to stay awake during class, though he did take notes on Soul Wavelength, Soul Resonance, and more. He finished his homework in class, beating both Maka and Ox Ford in both time and grade. He didn't even miss the trick questions, he got a hundred, Maka and Ox tied in grade, which was a ninety-eight. It was then that the bell rang signifying that it was time for lunch.

As they were all walking about the halls, FullMetal couldn't help but notice that many girls were looking at him weirdly before giggling, he didn't see what was so funny, he wasn't wearing anything that was given to him by him moms, nor his Mizune whiskers, meaning that he was wearing the complete outfit that he had worn when he had his memories... His hair was properly braided...He rolled his eyes and ignored them. "...women..."

During lunch, Soul brought up what had happened that morning,...FullMetal and Maka weren't pleased...

"You all should've seen it!" Soul chuckled, "I seriously think that Maka hit him so hard that she knocked a memory or two back to him!"

FullMetal simply ignored him, reading a book he had gotten from the library, it was passed the subject that Stein was teaching currently... he didn't know why he was still reading all the books in the library, but he brushed it off...

Patty, barely realizing who he was, said "OH! Mizzy you look so cool! I didn't even recognize you! You're like a master of disguise or something!"

He looked side to side, "Mizzy?"

Liz sighed, "That's the nickname she made for you." she explained, "That's the best one so far."

"But why Mizzy?" he asked.

"Its short for Mizune." Kidd said.

"Mizune's are just a bunch of overgrown rodents!" Ragnarok said, "I don't see why you'd want to hang out with them. But then again, you're as short as one!" the melted weapon cackled.

"At least I'm not as small as you are," FullMetal said calmly, " 'cause if I was, I wouldn't want to draw attention to myself..."

"Well someone certainly grew a spine, didn't they?" Ragnarok chuckled.

"Good for you," FullMetal smiled, "I'm sure Crona would love to throw a party for you to show that you finally have courage!"

Everyone went wide eyed seeing how different the Mizune was acting.

"WHY YOU LITTLE!" Ragnarok growled.

The demon sword made Crona's arm go up and get the black blood to come out creating Bloody Slicer, slicing down at FullMetal, but the Alchemist held up his right arm blocking the attack. When the attack hit the arm there was a loud klank, as if the Bloody Slicer hit metal.

FullMetal didn't even seem fazed, he just said, "Oooh, how mature! As if you couldn't be anymore childish, but I guess that's expected. Crona you should really try to control that little goblin before it gets you into some deep trouble, after all, you are the dominant soul. Not to mention, Ragnarok, I know house wives that can put up a better fight than you..."

The Alchemist then noticed the way Maka and the others were looking at him, he realized that he had used his Automail arm to block a blade attack... they didn't know his arm was metal... He got up and moved his arm away from the blood blade, held the arm, covering the metal and said, "I'm going to see Stein..."

As he walked away he heard Black Star say, "What's his deal?"

"Dunno, he's been like that since this morning." Soul responded

"I blame you, Soul." Maka muttered, "You're the one who angered him!"

The two were about to get into an argument when Tsubaki intervened, "Wait! You all are being irrational."

FullMetal then got out of ear shot, he kept walking and walking, only to find himself far away from the cafeteria. He couldn't help but think, "What if they're all right? What if I am acting different? What if its my old self? What if its the Keishin side of me?! What if I end up ki-" he shook the thought out of his mind and began making his way to Stein's infirmary that was on campus.

When he got there and walked in, he saw Stein smoking a cigarette... the smell of the smoke was very familiar...


"Hey, Chief!" a man called.

From what FullMetal could see- which was like the other memory flashes, only from the nose down- the man wore a blue military uniform and his hair was short and a combination of blond and brown.


FullMetal blinked, he looked at Stein, realizing that he, did in fact, need a medical professional...

"Can I help you, FullMetal?" Stein asked.

The student nodded and began telling Stein about what was going on though out the day, starting with the "nightmare", he even mentioned the memory flashes to what had went down with Maka and what had happened in the cafeteria. Stein listened carefully as he turned the screw in his head which caused FullMetal to flinch and ask him if he was okay, which Stein said that he was fine. Stein continued to listen to the Mizune's words and turn his screw as he processed the information. When he had finished telling the doctor about these "memory flashes" and the nightmare, he said, "Professor, I don't know what's going on with me, I... don't know what to think... What's wrong with me?"

Stein thought about it for a good while then said, "If anything, I think what's going on is that your memories are triggered by similar events, like the one you had when Maka hit you with the book, you did say that you remember being hit by wrench that someone threw at you, and how you remember someone who also smokes like me."

"Personally I think Havoc smells like a fucking ashtray..." FullMetal muttered disgruntled-ly, it took him a moment to register what he said, he swiftly covered his mouth. He put his hands down and said, "Sorry..."

"Its okay, I curse every once in a while too, but now you see what I mean by how your memories are triggered by similar experiences. Just let them come to you over time, okay, so there's nothing to worry about." Stein smiled.

"Thanks you, Professor." FullMetal smiled back.

"Here, let me patch up that sleeve of yours," Stein said, "I'm sure that you don't want anyone seeing that for a while..."


When FullMetal left the infirmary, Stine slouched in his seat and pulled out the Gold-Scythe's file and began reading.


FullMetal Alchemist:

Gender: Male

Age: sixteen

Hair color: Gold

Eye color: Gold

Weapon form: Triple-bladed Gold Scythe (chain in handle that can be broken at will of both Weapon and Meister)

Wavelength: unspecified...

Family: unknown, adopted by the Mizune Witches.

IQ: unknown...

Blood Type: -O

Height: 4' 11" (149cm)

Status: former Keishin, student

Class: E.A.T.

FullMetal Alchemist is the adopted son of the Mizune witches, he currently is in the E.A.T. (Especially Advantaged Talent) Class and is a well honed student who, both fortunately and unfortunately has amnesia. Reasoning being that he was becoming a keishin and needed to be stopped, which the Mizunes had purified his soul, causing his amnesia. Not much is known besides that...


Stein frowned at the paper, that was all that was known about the student. He sighed and thought, "Well honed indeed, his fighting skill is far greater than Black Star's, I wouldn't be surprised if he could beat Kidd with a blindfold on. I saw how he threw Black Star when he tried to attack him when he was reading... it was like if all that skill was drilled into him... not to mention his soul...it rivals mine in almost every way possible... but that wavelength it gives off... its worse than Crona's and Ragnarok's... but that was just throughout the week,...now... now its different... its almost as if-"

Suddenly the door opened. It was Spirit, or as he is more commonly known as "Death Scythe". Spirit looked a Stein with cold green eyes, "You and I know that the boy isn't fine. What's really wrong with him?"

Stein sighed, "I know you've been listening the whole time, you know he's not your responsibility."

"That may be true, but I can't let him fall down the wrong path, and if there is something really wrong with him, I want to know. He doesn't have a real family at this moment, so I want to make sure that he has someone to come to if he can't go to the Mizune's for one reason or the other!" Spirit shot.

"Simple fatherly instinct..." Stein thought, "You won't like it..."

"Shoot."

"I think my theory might be correct... I just need more evidence..."

Spirit went wide eyed as his jaw dropped, "And you're still letting my daughter and Soul go on a mission with him?!"

"It's the only way to collect more data..." Stein replied.

Spirit grit his teeth and looked to the floor, "I just hope that theory of yours is wrong... No one has gone though...that since-... -the time Asura had first became a keishin..."

"I know... and I also hope its wrong..." Stein muttered, "...but it all depends on the data..." "And the data alone..."


FullMetal stared at the large board in front of him that was in the hall. It was the mission board, all the missions all dealt with Keishin Eggs and Witches. FullMetal scanned them all and frowned every time he saw one labeled "Witch Hunt", the words that Mabaa spoke to him echoed in his mind every time he saw the witch hunting missions. He hoped that Maka and Soul didn't have ninety-nine Keishin souls yet. He didn't want to hunt a witch...

He looked to his side and saw Maka and Soul looking at the board while several of the E.A.T students did the same. He recognized some of them, there was Ox Ford, Harvar D. Éclair, Kilik Rung, and the Pot Twins. They all were looking at the jobs, which were all labeled with ranks, Meister Ranks. From "One-Star-Meister" to "Four-Star-Meister", and even "Death Scythe". FullMetal understood the ranking and everything fairly well, he read enough books on the subjects...but did he really know them as well as he thought?

For the first time, he pulled out his little black notebook and turned to the first page... he looked at the book shocked... Somehow he had coded everything he had written! All of his notes were written as a Travel Journal - yet he could understand everything! His mind decoded it all for him. He flipped though all of his notes and found that everything was in fact coded. He saw that he had everything right so he put the book back in his pocket.

"Ah!" Maka said, "Here's a good one!" FullMetal looked up as Maka got a mission down from the board. The Meister smiled, "It's a mission in a town near Death City called Eagle's Pass, it says that there are two Keishin Eggs that have been terrorizing the town and run off to the cemetery. It seems simple enough, not to mention the two of you will both get a soul. Its perfect!"

"Sounds good." Soul grinned.

"If you're fine with it, I'm fine with it." FullMetal shrugged.

"Then its settled," Maka smiled, "We're going to Eagle's Pass!"

"Lets get to the train station so we get some tickets." Soul said.

Maka and FullMetal nodded and they all began making their way outside... but something tugged at the Alchemist's heart... What was it that was tugging at him? He almost wanted to breakdown and cry, yet he felt like running to go find someone... But who?... Was it this 'brother' that he felt that he had?... maybe... But he'd never know... He just continued to fallow Maka and Soul as his red cloak fluttered as he walked, as if it were flag in the wind...