The Blade Alchemist

What Now?

Edward POV

Me and Al left Drakes' room and walked down the stairs to the front porch. We sat there in silence, trying to process everything we just learned. "Brother." I didn't hear him, I was too lost in thought. "Brother?" Al asked again, his voice sounding worried. I looked up at him and answered. "Yeah Al?" He turned and looked down the road. "Do you think what he said was true? Is there really a different world behind the gate you were talking about?" I lowered my head, thinking on that question. "There is really no way to be certain Al. He could be telling the truth, but then he could also be lying to cover up him performing human transmutation. He was found in a cemetery after all."

Al turned back to me. "Yeah, but we looked there ourselves and there was absolutely no evidence that any alchemy was performed. And you don't get teleported to a different place when you fail a transmutation." That is true, but is it really possible? Is there really another world beyond the gate? "Al. I want your honest opinion. What do you think we should do about this?" Al turned back to the road.

"I really don't know brother. I think we should help him get back on track with his life. I think we should inquire to him about getting automail. If he was really given all that knowledge of alchemy in the gate, then that means he can use it. And you might not like this brother, but I say that he should come with us after he has healed and gotten used to the automail. What else is there for him?" I stared at the ground thinking again on what he said. He was right, I didn't like the idea of him going with us. But after all he went through at no fault of his own, he deserved as much help that could be given.

"Alright Al. Lets go talk to him and see what he thinks. But keep this in mind, I don't like the idea of taking him with us." Al turned to walk inside. "Even if he does say yes, it will be at least 2 years before he will be able to travel with us." That is true. That will give me a lot of time to think on this matter. "Alright. Lets go talk to him. Hey Winry." Winry walked out of the kitchen, with a towel drying her hands. "Whats up Ed?" She tossed the towel onto her shoulder. "We're gonna go talk to Drake and inquire about some automail for his legs. Can you come with us?"

"Of course Ed. Just give me a minuet and I'll be right there." She turned back to the kitchen and placed the towel near the sink and returned. All three of us proceeded up the stairs and on to Drakes' room.

Drake POV

I was sitting on the foot of the bed with my arms laying on the window sill. I stared outside at the lovely countryside. It's nice here. It's so peaceful. Everything is undisturbed. So quiet. I heard soft knocking on my door, so I turned back around to sit facing it. "Come in." The door opened and I saw Ed, Al, and Winry all walk in. "Evening." I greeted, trying to hide the fact of just how depressed I was. "Good evening Mr. Ganters." she called back with a smile on her face. "Please, just Drake." She nodded in understanding and all three of them stopped and stood right in front of me. Ed spoke first.

"Drake, we're all sorry about everything you went through. Trust us when we say we know exactly how you feel." I had to interrupt him there."Ed, before you say anything else, you need to explain something to me." I waited for him to acknowledge my statement. "Okay, what is it?" I looked at Winry for a minuet then added, "I'm sorry, but perhaps its not something to discuss with Winry here. No offense Winry." Ed looked at Winry a moment then turned back to me. "I'm gonna guess you want to ask about the 'truth'?" I nodded at him. "No need for Winry to leave. She already knows everything that happened to us, except for all the details about 'you know what'." I sighed then carried on. "Very well. Ed, Al, I want the truth. How do you know about that….'truth'... thing? I'm gonna go on a whim here and guess that your arm has something to do with it?"

Both brothers looked down at the floor for what seemed like eternity. Finally, Ed gave a big sigh. "Yeah. We performed a transmutation that is completely forbidden. And we both paid the price for it. I lost my left leg….." Ed choked. Al then turned towards me, took his helmet off and bent down. Empty! The suit was empty! "What the hell!? What is this!?" Al placed his 'head' back on his body. "Brother lost his leg, and I lost my whole being. Brother gave his right arm so he could pull my soul back from the gate and attach it to this armor."

The whole room was in silence. All of us were now staring at the floor. "I'm sorry. I…..I had no idea. I should not have invaded your troubled past. Forgive me." The room remained quiet for moments more till Ed spoke up. "We have to leave the day after tomorrow. I work for the military, and I'm already late on my mission. We were going to inquire to you about rigging you up with automail. Winry here is one of the best automail engineers in the country." Winry smiled at that.

"I'm sorry, but I still don't understand what automail is. What exactly is it?" Winry snatched my hand and began ranting. "What is automail!? It's only the greatest invention ever thought of! It grants you the replacement of a lost limb! Automail is truly a great work of art and must be treated as such! Sigh… The humming of the finely crafted gears! The smell of the lubricating oil! The elegant craftsmanship of the body! All put together in such a magnificent way!"

I barely caught the sound of Ed sighing. "Shut up you machine junkie." All of the sudden, out of nowhere, Winry pulls out a wrench and bashes Ed's face in with it. "ALCHEMY FREAK!"she yelled at him, staring with eyes that could cut through steel. "What the hell is your problem!?" I yelled at her. She turned towards me and gave me the stare. Okay, now I've found the one thing I truly fear more than 'truths' smile, Winrys' stare! "What was that!?" she asked in a very stern voice. "Nothing, nothing, I was talking to Ed!" I said trying to calm her rage. "Oh ok~" she said in a sing-song voice.

"Sooo, to break it all down, automail is a prosthetic?" Ed stood up grasping his head. "Yeah pretty much. But don't get me wrong, it is well worth it. No offense, but you don't have to worry about the surgery since you can't feel anything. But the rehabilitation can take 2-4 years." I stared at him with a dropped jaw. "2-4 years!?" Ed nodded. "And I was taking into account of you doing both legs. If it was just one, then it would only be 1-2 years." I looked down at my stumps and thought about it. "What then? What will I do even after I heal and learn to walk again? I know nothing of this world. Or this, 'alchemy' stuff." Ed looked at his brother who nodded. He sighed then turned back to me.

"Me and Al have talked about it, and we've decided to take you with us once you are healed. But in the meantime, I strongly suggest you study up a bit on alchemy. You saw all that knowledge in the gate, so we know for a fact that you can perform alchemy. But you do need to learn just 'how' to use it. I can give you a short class on it to get you started tomorrow. Other than that, you'll have to get the more advanced stuff from books." I gave him a nod.

"Thank you, I greatly appreciate it." I turn to Winry "But there is a problem. I have no money at all to pay for this. So unfor.." I was stopped mid-sentence by Winry placing her hand over my mouth. "Don't worry about it. You need those legs, especially after everything you've been through. I'll give you this one on the house." She was smiling, but that quickly died a second later when it turned into that glare. She was also holding yet another wrench, ready to drop on my head with force. "But if you hurt it, I'll kill you! You understand!?" I cowered back in fear. "Yes maam!" She lowered the wrench and the smile returned. "Good." Ed let out a sigh.

"Well that settles it. We'll start the lessons after breakfast. Is he able to get out of bed Winry?" She moved over and looked under my bandages for a moment. "Yeah, he can go, but he needs make sure he doesn't stress himself." Ed nodded in acknowledgment and turned to me. "Well, I'll see you in the morning Jake." My eye twitched at that. "It's Drake! D. R. A. K. E. DRAKE!" Ed held his hands in surrender. "Okay, okay! Sorry!" With that, they all left they room. After the door closed, I returned to looking out the window at the open fields. Sigh….Maybe my life isn't over after all….