Disclaimer and Legal stuff:
Fullmetal Alchemist®, including Alphonse®, Edward®, Fletcher Tringham®, Roy Mustang®, Riza Hawkeye®, Russel Tringham® and others are registered trademarks of Shonen Jump. Based on characters and comic books created by Hiromu Arakawa.
This story is written purely as a side-story to Fullmetal Alchemist® and not meant for any commercial profit or infringement on copyright. This story will immediately be removed if Shonen Jump wishes so.
The story, is copyright © 2010 by Jalon Dee Stock (ChaosDisorder).
Warning: This story is rated M due to mild course language, violence and sexual references. If you do not like yaoi, then don't read this story.
Trapped Soul – Chapter 9 – Heart to Heart
PREVIOUSLY: "Uh, not this time... I wanted you to tell me about your brother."
Then everything went silent.
---
"Uh... Al?"
"No, no, it's ok..." Al reassured but I wanted convinced by the sniff that followed, "It's ok... I knew you'd ask eventually..."
"Oh, uh, you don't have to tell if you don't want to! Don't cry!" I said in a frenzy of waving my arms around in a pathetic way of reassurance, since I couldn't really do anything else in this condition, 'I only asked because teacher said to cut our ties with the past is all! Sorry Al! I won't ask again..."
"No, wait-" Insert sniff here, "-It's ok, really, I wanted to tell you, honest."
"Are you sure?" I asked with furrowed eyebrows and a worried look on my face, "100% sure?"
"Yes," He started with a hearty chuckle, even though tears were rolling down his face, "I'm sure. Now shut up and listen, ok? I won't say this twice..."
"Alright." I said carefully as I got myself into the most comfortable listening position I could on this leaf-bed –Al was sitting on a hammock he'd weaved and strung up about an hour ago- since I can't really go anywhere.
"Good... It all started when I was 5 years old, when Brother and I found this old alchemy text in Father's room..."
---
((A/N: This is Al's mind's eye, and it'll only be it during the flashbacks, Ed will gain control again soon))
"Brother... we're not supposed to be here... Mother said we're not allowed in Father's room..." I muttered with a scared look in my large silver eyes while my brother just chuckled and got up onto the bucket, before he turned the knob and open the door. He's always been short for his age...
"Don't worry, Al, it'll be alright, we're just going to have a small look around. Mum won't mind." He said with a grin as he hopped off of the silver bucket and into the dark room. I then followed and used the bucket to get myself high enough to turn on the light. After the light was on, Brother closed the door.
"But Brother... I'm scared." I muttered as his warm golden eyes met my own silver ones, before he chuckled and ruffled my light brown hair.
"It's ok Al, we're just coming to look around, we're not really going to touch or take anything." He said as I pulled a sceptical face... who knows what he had planned, he was my older brother after all.
He had a tendency to be mischievous.
'I know I'm not going to... but what about you, brother?' I mentally asked as I watched from the door as he walked over to Father's desk and crawled onto his hair, before standing up and I think he was examining his desk or something.
"Brother...?" I asked after a particular period of silence... it was unnerving me...
"Al, come over here! You've gotta check this out!" Ed said in a loud whisper, obviously he wanted to shout it out but help enough restraint... good.
I, the good little brother, did as I was told –reluctantly- and walked over next to him, before I was suddenly pulled up to stand next to him and I gaped in awe at what was on the desk.
Carved into the wood there was a big transmutation circle with an alchemy text book next to it on the desk, open to the page that held the picture reference.
Mother told us about them, but she also said alchemy was bad and you could get into a lot of trouble for doing it. She said that the military thought it was tampering with god or something like that, and thus didn't let us perform alchemy. But Dad preformed alchemy?! Wow!
"Father... was an alchemist?" I asked my brother, who just shrugged and picked up the book, "Brother?"
"Al-kah-mee... Alchemy f-oh-lloh-wehs... no... follows... Alchemy follows the l-ah-w o-feh eh-que-ih-vah-lent eh-x-chah-n-geh-eh... Alchemy follows the law of equivalent exchange. What's that mean?" Brother read out before asking me. Amazing! 6 years old and he can read texts that small! My brother definitely was a genius!
"Uh... I think equih-vah-lint exchange means you give something for something else. That's what mother said, she said that if something is equih-vah-lint that means its equal!" I said, proud of myself as Brother grinned at my before ruffling my short hair and then tapping his chin, he was thinking.
"Hm... Let's try it." He finally said before I gaped.
"What-? Brother, alchemy is forbidden!" I said as he grinned mischievously at me... Of course Brother would want to do alchemy; he loved breaking the rules...
"That's why, besides, I still wanna try it just for fun. C'mon Alphonse, it'll be great!" He said with an enthusiastic face while I just let my head drop down. I knew we were getting into trouble, but none the less...
"Alright... but what are we going to transmute?" I asked as he chuckled and picked up a box of nails that were sitting on the other edge of the desk –it's probably what was used to carve the circle with- before he poured them all onto the wooden circle with a grin, "Nails?"
"Nails are metal, so we're making something metal! Uh... let's try and make a spoon!" He said with a grin as I gave him an incredulous look.
"A spoon? Ugh, alright, Brother. We'll transmute one spoon then no more alchemy!" I said with my mother impression on my face –it always had a good effect, is why-.
"No guarantees." He said with a grin before he claps his hands together, "Ok, Al, you ready?"
"Yup. As ready as I'll ever be..." I said with a sigh as I placed my hands on the circle on my side, he then did the same, "Make sure it's a plain spoon."
"Sure, now I think you focus your energies on the circle or something." He said with a thoughtful look before he seemed to start concentrating on the circle.
"I feel like we're performing witchcraft or something..." I muttered before I too began to focus on the circle.
That was when the weirdest thign happened! The circle began to glow a blue light before it seemed to recede a bit and then bam! It filled the whole room, it was so strong my brother's and my own hair was flapping around as we watched the nails melt down into a metallic blob before it began to split into two and form two spoons. I began to focus on the one closest to me as I formed a plain spoon, with a small floral pattern on the end –and not the mention the kitty tip- while Brother went all out and created some weird medieval devil spoon with a mini gargoyle on the end.
Then the transmutation ended and then the two spoons crashed onto the wood, while me and Brother stared at the circle and spoons in awe.
Who cares about taboo or all of that? This was amazing! I just loved the feeling it brought me! Wow...
"That was... awesome!! C'mon Al, we can't stop now, we should become alchemists!" Brother said with a big grin as he picked up his devil-spoon and waved it at me, "It's amazing! We made these out of nails! Nails! This is really awesome!!"
I picked up my NORMAL spoon and sighed.
"Alright, sounds good. But on one condition." I stated as he raised an eyebrow.
"What is it?"
"I get to become an alchemist too!" I said with a grin as he almost giggled in delight, he then crush-hugged me in his giddy mood and bounded off the chair.
"Awesome! We'll be the best alchemists in the land! Edward and Alphonse Elric, famous alchemists!" Brother said happily as he bounded around the room, obviously proud of that spoon, "And we'll get really good! We can be the youngest famous alchemists ever! We'll defeat the military and let alchemy be used by all!! How's that sound?"
"U-Uh... great?"
"Alchemy! Alchemy! We love alchemy!!!"
---
(Three months later....)
SLAM!
The door to our small house was slammed open as my brother and I watched from the attic window as all these military officers barged into our house. They were looking for the alchemists who town fountain last week, I just know it... because it was Brother who did it.
"Brother... I don't want them to take you away!" I cried out in a loud whisper as he just pulled me into a tight protective embrace.
"I don't want them to take me away either, but it's better me than you." He said in a quiet voice as we listened to the officers storming through the lower layer of the house, "They'll be up to the second level soon..."
"Breda! Falman! Check upstairs!" I booming voice yelled out as two sets of feet began to trumpet to the level below us, while I clung closer to my older brother.
"Shh, shh, don't worry Al, you'll be fine..." He muttered s he began to rock us back and forth. I didn't want to lose Brother! He's my big brother! He can't leave!
"You can't leave us!" I said as I began to sob onto his white shirt, "You can't be taken away! We should've never did it..."
"Al..." He suddenly muttered as I looked up at him with a confused look on my face.
"What?"
"Take this, and don't ever lose it. I'll come back to get it from you one day, I promise!" He said with a solemn smile as he gave me his devil-spoon, I hugged it instinctively before hugging him, "We'll be together again, I promise Al, we'll be together again and then I'll never leave you,"
"You p-promise?" I asked with big eyes as he nodded with a grin.
"I swear my life on it, I promise."
That was when the attic door was busted open and two tall military officers entered, both with guns.
"I'm looking for Edward Elric." The taller, skinnier of the two said with a stern face as my brother growled and stood, pushing me behind his back.
"What do you want?" He growled as I heard the military officers gasp.
"He's just a kid, Falman, we can't take him..." The shorter, chubbier of the two said with a sympathetic voice as I clung to my brother's shirt.
"I'm sorry but orders are orders... though I never expected for him to be such a kid... how old are you? 8?" 'Falman' I presume asked Brother as he growled.
"No, I'm 6. I'll go with you on one condition, and that is you don't harm my little brother." Brother growled as my eyes grew large. He was... protecting me? No!
"Six!? Wow... pretty young for an alchemist. Fine, deal, we won't hurt the kid. Come with us, Edward Elric." The taller of the two said as Ed turned to me and smiled kindly.
"I'll be back one day, I promise."
And that was the last time I ever saw my brother's face again...
---
((A/N: Back to Ed's POV Now))
"...I... Wow..." I stated, stumped for words as I held a sobbing Alphonse to my chest, stroking his hair with my human hand, "I hope he survived the institute..."
"I know he did... Brother was a genius." Al said with a sniff as he detached himself from me and sighed. I just ruffled his hair with a gentle smile.
"Don't worry, Al, it'll be alright, we'll find him together." I said but blinked when I heard a stunned gasp come from Alphonse, "Alphonse? Are you alright...?"
"Y-Yeah, sorry, you just reminded me a hell of a lot of my brother just now..." He said with a shake of his head before wiping his eyes and looking up at the setting sky, "Wow, I think we just spent 2 hours talking about my pathetic past... sorry."
"Nah, it's alright. I had nothing better to do anyhow..." I said with a shrugged as he let out a chuckle, which sounded off from his blocked nose.
"Of course... Well, I still have that devil-spoon of his, I carry it with me all of the time. It's creepy, but still..." Al said as he rummaged around in his pocket before pulling out an old spoon with a devil-like medieval look to it, only he scooping part of the spoon looked use-able, but damn, it looked awesome.
"Wow... that's one awesome looking spoon!" I said with a grin, "When I meet your brother I'm going to tell him how much of a genius he was! Hey, what was his name, by the way? You didn't tell me it."
"Huh? Oh, right, it was Edward... Edward Van Elric."
And that was when I fainted from memory-overload.
A/N: NO I'M NOT TRYING TO MAKE ED SOUND LIKE VAN HALEN OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT!!!!! His middle name's 'Van' because that's Hoenheim's first name: Van Hoenheim. Haha! Ed finally remembers... something. O.O Who knows what he remembers, but he remembers something important! Haha! I'm going to keep you all on this cliff hanger for now until I'm finished the next chapter and all of Ouran High School Host Club -kyaa! what an awesome romance it is-
Enjoy XD *sorry for not posting it yesterday... I forgot*