Finally, its the first! I've been waiting to get this published and I'm really excited to be back. I hope everyone had a great holiday season and didn't get a bad haircut 'cause that really sucks. Anyways, I know I usually put long A/N at the end, but this one is important enough to be out in the beginning. Please bear with me and stand by as I get some important news and information out to you guys that have to do with this story.
Okay, first thing is first. There is a small issue with the notes I made while planning this out. Now, they are in a notebook and not on a napkin at some shady little convenience store on the corner of scary dr. and don't wanna be here rd., however for whatever dumb reason, they are written in brown sharpie and because of my awful handwriting, is now kinda illegible plus I don't remember what exactly I wrote down either. Now, before you panic and start setting fires, don't worry. The notes I couldn't read had nothing to do with the actual plot, but a couple of details of the Edward in this story as well as how I decided magic and alchemy work together. So, I brainstormed a bit and got some new and better ideas that I personally really like. However, the changes I made might clash with the ideas presented in the first part.
So, in short, there might be some contradictions. Whatever you read here on out is part of the story so anything said last part the contradictions here don't count. And before you ask, yes I will go back and tweak the first part (again) but it won't happen anytime soon, which is why I'm making this note.
Second thing...second? I've noticed that a lot of y'all really like my use of 'souls' in this story. Because so many people like them so much, I've decided to, for the first time ever, open up a poll on my profile! As of now, the 'souls' are used every once in a while when needed or as added comic effect, however, as of now, that can change. The poll will be open till the end of February (that's two months) giving you guys plenty of time to vote what you guys want. Most likely, these votes won't affect anything until...whatever chapter I happen to be on at the time! But, since I'll be tweaking the first part anyways, I'll go add the chosen option to the first part as well.
Also, if you haven't noticed, I got rid of my hiatus/story-on-pause note on the last chapter because it's not needed and I also renamed and edited the chapter a bit so it's just cut scenes. Besides the hiatus note, y'all seemed to like the cut scenes from the original baby drafts of this story so I might write out more original scenes if I get writer's block or if I'm just being slow again to post to tide you guys over.
Last thing I need to point out: Updates. It's going to be a new semester in school for me, but since band has gone back to concert season for me and because I'm in a low band 'cause I suck at clnarinet, that's more time to write! Usually, second semester isn't as bad as the first so hopefully I'll be able to write more!
Oh, and I also want to thank Kazaru13 for betaing this chapter. You're awesome!
Anyways, thank you for holding with me this long for this ridiculous A/N. Hope you enjoy the chapter!
~~0~~0~~0~~
"Isn't it lovely outside today?" The brown haired man said to the smaller, golden-haired youth that sat before him, motioning for him to repeat.
"I-Iz-en it lov-vy out zide today?" Edward stuttered, lips and tongue struggling to grasp the new found language.
It had been three months since the man took Edward into his humble home. Though he had been suspicious and confused for a while, the man had gained his trust by patience and showing the youth that he could be trusted. Nicolas was grateful that he had been the one to find the boy. Dark times haunted the world and Nicholas was lucky to be born a wizard. Who knows what would've happened if superstitious muggles saw the boy fall from the sky. Probably would've burned him at the stake, blaming him for worshiping Satan. Witch hunts and trials scared Nicholas to death and even though he absolutely loathed the muggles whom participated in such evil activities, he couldn't bring himself to hate all muggles. Not all of them tried to murder innocent witches and wizards.
Nicholas glanced out the window. Seeing the bleeding clouds in the cold sunset, Nicholas decided that he had taught Edward enough for the day.
"Come." Nicolas spoke to the youth, making the universal hand gesture to go with his word.
Standing up from his wooden chair, Nicholas stepped through the doorway of his study and into the main living quarters of his home. Glancing around briefly at the slightly worn, wooden walls and the rough rug that clung to the partially rotted floor, Nicholas shuffled through the small room to the even smaller kitchen.
Moving towards the partially broken wooden cupboard, Nicholas pulled out two stale pieces of bread. Shifting through some other cupboards, he also pulled out two slightly grimy cracked plates. Turning around, Nicolas saw that Edward had already taken his seat at the small table that was crammed into the corner. Putting one of the plates in front of the youth, Nicolas took the only other seat, which sat across from the boy. Crickets and other outside noises started their serenade of the night as the two humans started their pitiful dinner. Staring down at his bread, Edward sighed. He missed Amestris. He missed the food there, the warm air. And he missed Al most of all.
Nicholas watched as the teen before him shook his head violently before hiding his face behind his odd golden hair. Despite the teen's best struggles, Nicholas knew he was crying. Biting into his bread, Nicholas felt a small twinge of frustration hit him. He could teach the boy all the English he wanted, provide him with shelter, food, and water, but he couldn't get rid of the pain Edward held in his heart.
Something told Nicholas that that pain wasn't going to go away anytime soon.
~~0~~0~~0~~
"Damn that wizard." Ed growled to himself. "Damn him to the deepest depths of Hell."
Ignoring the souls who reminded him that he didn't believe in Hell, Edward crumpled the tissue in his hand, hating the portkey he had ended up with. Dumble's letter was crunched up and in the waste bin, no longer readable due to the abuse it sustained from the blond.
'It shouldn't be too much of a problem. You enjoy riding trains, correct? Besides, multiple teachers ride the train; you're not going to be alone and some students like you anyways.'
Well, what did that old bastard know? Edward didn't want to hang around with a bunch of snot-nosed kids on a train for hours on end. Sure, he enjoyed riding on trains. It beats cars and planes any day. However, riding with a young bunch of kids? Not something he'd call fun. On top of that, he was seen as a professor. He was sure he would be asked at least a dozen trivial questions across the whole ride, not something he enjoys hearing. All he wanted to do is sit down and continue his work on his old Alchemy - Magic Theory, not be some sort of encyclopedia to kids who don't know how to crack open a book.
Double-checking his trunk, Edward made sure to scribble a reminder onto a sticky note, 'check A&M notes, papers 343-344-brickwall block', and stuck the note onto one of the many stacks of stapled paper neatly organized into his trunk. Closing the large trunk filled with all his documents for his research, Edward rolled it out into the living room. Grabbing his suit case filled with needed items such as his automail repair kit and some clothes in the same hand as the tissue, Edward watched his clock, waiting for the portkey to activate.
As he took one last glance around the messy flat, a gut-wrenching tug took hold of his navel as what was once his boring and cluttered flat started to spin around faster and faster. Unable to do anything, Edward simply stood there, paralyzed and unable to move. Red lighting flashed and flickered around him, as always. Though it no longer terrified him, it sill made Edward feel worried for the souls inside him. His navel started to feel, well, stretched out.
Finally, he felt his feet slam back onto the ground. Collapsing slightly, Edward used his heavy trunk to stop himself from completely falling down flat on his face. Hissing out some curses underneath his breath, Edward straightened out his back and took a glance around.
According to the sign above him, he was now on Platform 9 ¾. A large, new-ish ruby red train sat before him proudly on its tracks, belching out a few puffs of dark smoke. Kids of all ages ran around him, talking, hugging, cheering, shouting, yelling, crying, and much, much more, ready for a new year at Hogwarts. For some; their first, for others, their last, but all were equally excited.
Glancing down, Edward quickly checked himself. No burns, no tears, and no alchemical lightning. Everything was in order.
Letting out an exasperated sigh, Edward gripped his trunk tightly in his metal fist and dragged it towards the train, dropping the charred ash that once was the portkey. Dodging in-between kids, some much taller than him, unluckily enough, Edward made it to the congested entrance to the train where kids and parents alike simply stood in and near the entrance inside, not moving due to the importance of their most likely ideal chatter in the wrong place and the wrong time.
Barking out orders to "move out of the way" and "not block entrances", Edward made it into the train with only a few angry glares and complaints hitting his back. Hissing slightly in annoyance and confusion, Edward walked down the aisle, trying to find a quiet enough place to sit down and relax.
"Look, it's Professor Elric!"
"Hi Professor Elric."
"I didn't know Professor Elric rode the train."
"Me neither. He must live far away, then."
"Hello, Professor!"
As the children's greetings and passive questions bombarded him on all sides, Edward felt a strange mix of enjoyment and anger. Anger at Dumbledore that he had to ride with a bunch of children instead of teleporting to the castle, which would make a lot more sense, but enjoyment from all the kids who seemed to genuinely happy and excited for him to return.
Giving proper greetings to his alchemy students and even stopping to exchange a four-sentence pleasantry with Luna Lovegood, Edward finally made it to the back of the train where no one seemed to be yet.
Lightly sighing in relief, Edward passed the last seemingly populated compartment which only held what looked like another, sleeping, teacher who seemed to twitch slightly as he moved pass.
"At least I'm not the only teacher that rides the train." Edward muttered to himself. It wasn't that he was embarrassed about riding the train. He'd gotten over public humiliation a long time ago. However, riding a train with a bunch of young teens ready to blow up from excitement made him wish to be anywhere but the Hogwarts Express.
Nudging an empty compartment roughly seven compartments down from the sleeping teacher, Edward stacked his luggage on the opposite seats, a universal gesture to show that he didn't desire company. Swinging the door close, it didn't take long for Edward to open his luggage and pull out a clipboard and a pencil from the top.
Squirming slightly in his seat to find comfort, Edward twirled his pencil lightly in his fingertips, his mind already focused on his research.
Well, trying to focus, at any rate.
Usually, Edward could block out the constant whispering of the souls within him. He had grown so used to their chattering that he no longer understood what, well, silence sounded like. Which, considering what silence was, was very confusing indeed. Almost an oxymoron when one thought about it.
Though his souls were usually somewhat quiet in his mind, especially when he was trying to focus, today they were talking up a storm. Excited conversation exploded inside his mind. Even though the souls didn't have bodies of their own, they could see and feel Edward's experiences and returning to Hogwarts was a very exciting thing. Though many have reached eternal patience and understanding, there were just as many that were as restless as they were back when Edward first met them hundreds of years ago.
"I love going to school. Its so interesting!"
"Especially a magic school."
"Yeah. I love this century."
"Better than other ones have been."
"Hmm, I wonder if we'll get to meet anyone new?"
"We never meet people."
"That's not what I meant and you know it!"
"Why would want to meet other people? They're annoying. Just like those red-headed twins from hell."
"What are you talking about? Those two are so funny!"
Edward groaned as the souls inside him turned from talking about the school to the different students and teachers. Edward had never been a fan of gossiping and that fact had not changed however he could understand the appeal it held for the souls within him.
Furrowing his brow, Edward did his best to further his thoughts from those of the souls. Though never all that useful in the past, it did help his focus some.
Getting some of his focus back, Edward dived into his work with a new fury. His pencil danced across the lined paper, filling the already messy page with crammed in diagrams, nonsensical numbers to the untrained, naked eye as well as more scribbled writing in Amestrian, a language not known to the world. In fact, Edward was so focused and busy with his clipboard and notes from the night before that he failed to notice the compartments steadily filling up as the time ticked by.
It wasn't until two familiar red-heads popped into the compartment and decided to interrupt that Edward really realized where he was again and how much time went by.
"Hey! Look George, is that Professor Elric?" Fred crowed as he slid the compartment door open.
"Why, I do believe so, my dearest brother!" Fred said, exaggeration lacing his voice.
Edward didn't look up. He didn't even notice the two mischievous twins until Fred decided to lean forward, putting his head close to Edward's to stare at his clipboard.
"Hey, Professor." Fred muttered into Edwards face, getting into his line of sight.
"Huh? Whaa-" Edward said, surprised. Realizing how close the twin was, Edward jerked his head back, knocking it hard into the wall behind. Pain filled the entire back of his head. Hissing, Edward rubbed the back of his head, dropping his pencil in the process. He turned to glare up at the still-standing twins, completely irritated. How the twins managed to already annoy him before the train even left the station for Hogwarts was beyond him.
Some people simply had a gift. A really, really, annoying gift.
"What are you two doing here? Don't you have some other stupid friends to go bother?" Edward spat. However, despite his words, Edward felt an odd warmth flood through his heart. Edward gritted his teeth. For whatever reason, Edward didn't want his emotions to play across his face.
"We have plenty of stupid friends to bother." George said pompously.
"But you looked a bit lonely, professor." Fred added, backing up from the golden haired man.
Edward groaned. "I'm not lonely. Now beat it."
Both the twins laughed at him and proceeded to put their much less heavy trunks away and shoved Edward's trunk off the seat and onto the floor. As expected, the trunk stayed tightly locked and made a large thunk as it hit the ground.
Edward stared down at his trunk, eyes widened slightly. He was grateful it didn't land on his feet. He didn't know what he would do if his automail got bent up to the point of no repair and no way to explain his healing.
"Hey! Watch it, you almost broke my feet." Edward scolded.
"Almost, Professor-" George started to state.
"But we didn't." Fred finished.
"Besides, we could have patched you up easily enough." Both twins chimed at the same time, brandishing their wooden wands.
Edward merely groaned. The souls inside him snickered.
Slipping their wands away, both twins sat down in their seats. "So, how was your break, Professor?" George asked.
Edward didn't look up from his work. "It was fine."
"Oh, come on! Something interesting must have happened. Well, besides the whole Harry-breaking-the-law thing." Fred added.
Edward's eyes snapped up to meet the twin's playful ones. "How do you know about that?"
"Why, Harry of course!" Fred replied.
Edward cocked a small eyebrow at the ginger-haired twin but said nothing, simply going back to his work.
Though the twins continued to fire more inane questions at him, Edward always had a gift of being able to slip easily into the world of books and knowledge, ignoring the majority of things around him with great ease.
So, it wasn't a surprise when Edward slipped back into his work, leaving the twins to their own devices.
"Look at 'em, George." Fred whispered.
"Yeah, I know. Completely gone, isn't he?" George replied.
The twins watched as Edward wrote quickly and carefully. The blond was bent over his, well, the twins weren't sure what it was, but it seemed to help the professor write without a table fine. The golden man 's eyes stared down at his work with pure obsession and concentration. Though the twins have seen Percy study hard at home, the focus that Elric had for his his work was like nothing the red heads had seen before. The two twins took a few seconds to watch their professor work on whatever it was that had him so obsessed before diving into a conversation about Quidditch, pranks, and other fun things they could do at Hogwarts.
~~0~~0~~0~~
"Professor? Professor Elric?"
Edward blinked as he glanced up. George stopped shaking his arm as Edward's gaze met the twin.
"Huh?" Was his oh so intelligent reply.
"I know you were kinda in your own world, but do you know why the train has stopped?" George asked, uncertainty poisoning his voice.
"The train has stopped?" Edward replied, looking around a bit. Sure enough, The Hogwarts Express had fallen still, oddly enough. "Are we at Hogwarts already?"
"No, it's way too early." Fred said. Turning, the red head stared out the window into the black night. The darkness had swallowed up any sort of light that might of pierced it, leaving the outside of the train a complete mystery.
Edward and George joined Fred in staring out the window. Silence fell upon the smallish compartment as the three stared out into the oppressive night.
As Edward stared out, he heard the souls shuffle around his mind. All of them were muttering about inane things with one another, however a single, small girl's voice broke through the muttering, filled with uncertainty and fear.
"Mr. Elric, what is going on out there? I-I have a bad feeling." The girl whimpered.
Feeling very conscious and protective of the people inside him, Edward did his best to calm the girl.
It's going to be okay, Ruth. Don't worry. Nothing will happen. Nothing can hurt you. Edward responded, keeping his thoughts as clear and calm as possible.
Ignoring the smart-ass and cruel remarks of himself from some of the more rude souls within him, Edward fell silent, eyes growing wide as he saw ice start to stretch across the window. Winter's fingers grasped the glass as intricate but mindless patterns were made.
"Ice? But it's not winter yet..." George muttered, definite fear sneaking into his tone.
Edward narrowed his eyes. He felt as if he'd seen this before. Shivering, the golden man pulled his red jacket tighter around him, small swirls of cold mist twirling out between his lips.
"Whaa- what the bloody hell was that?" Fred cried out in panic. "I-I saw something move out there, I swear!"
Fred reached out and grabbed his twin brother in fear, quick, shaky, and see-able breaths escaping his lips. George held onto his brother as well, Fred's fear rubbing off on him.
Before Edward could say something or move, the lights started to flicker ominously, casting twisted, dancing shadows onto the wall. Without a single sound or thought, the lights in the entire train died, plunging everyone into deep darkness.
And, as predicted, as soon as the lights spluttered out, all hell broke loose.
Screams of surprise, fear, and even excitement, oddly enough, filled the train. Male and female mixed together in a loud and unneeded crescendo of noise.
The twins, as expected, joined the other students in the train with expelling there lungs with unneeded noise.
"Shut up you two!" Edward barked, leaning over and clasping the twin's mouth's shut. "That is completely uncalled for."
After making sure the twins wouldn't continue their shenanigans, Edward released their mouths. "Will you be quiet now?" Edward asked, cocking an unseen eyebrow.
Though Edward couldn't see it, he knew both twins were nodding.
"Good. Now, let's try and remain calm. I'm sure it's just a technical issue." Edward reassured the boys.
Despite his calming words however, the twins still remained high-strung and Edward once again turned and stared out the window. Edward knew for a fact it wasn't a technical issue and the souls inside him were very aware of his lie, but Edward wanted to do his best to try and avoid panic.
Just as Edward was about to get up and tell some other compartments to stop screaming, everyone fell strangely silent, all at once. All that could be heard was faint but quick breathing that matched the sound of fast-paced heart beats perfectly.
Before he could question what just happened, however, Edward felt it hit him, the reason for the silence.
Edward vaguely heard a nearly inhuman screech of both pain and pure depression before his mind was taken away from him and he fell into comatose.
~~0~~0~~0~~
Thick columns of smoke stretched high, poisoning the sky with it's toxic fumes that carried the smell of rich, burning flesh quite well. People were all around him, screaming incoherent things about witches and devil-worshipers, terrifying him to no end.
"Ma! Ma! No!" He cried, trying his best to fight the crowd, to reach his mother who was tied up, burning brightly.
Slipping in between legs and confusion, the young boy fought up to the front, met by a ghastly and horrifying sight.
Her skin glowed brightly as flames consumed the poor, frail women. Her head was thrown back, her now dry and cracking lips letting loose screams of agonizing pain and misfortune. The flames only crackled and laughed, consuming the women even more.
The boy screamed.
~~0~~0~~0~~
She stared down at her father, thickness crawling in her throat.
"Pa, don't leave us. Please. I love you, don't leave me!" She cried.
The man stared up at her, he tried to smile at her, tried to reach up and caress her dirty face, but strength eluded him. Choking, he fell back down against the cold church wall, light rapidly fading from his eyes.
"No! Pa!" She screamed out, anguish taking hold of her. Bending down, she gripped her father tightly by the shoulders, her own wracking with sobs.
"He's in good hands now, young child" A man told her from behind, lightly placing a calming hand on her back. "He's in God's domain now. No harm will befall him there, now that he is with the Lord."
The young girl could only sob ever harder.
~~0~~0~~0~~
He coughed hard, his lungs tying their best to grasp at the dirty, sickness filled air.
Leaning against a wall, the man watched as people hurried to and fro, used to the sick homeless that plagued the streets just as they were used to the slowly mounting dead that also filled them.
The man coughed again. He felt feverish and weak. Not only that, but his flesh was looking sicker and sicker as time passed by. Thick growths slowly but surely grew from under his skin.
The Black Death had taken him.
~~0~~0~~0~~
She stared into the bedroom, thickness choking her. Tears welled into the woman's eyes as memories washed over her, once happy thoughts and feelings turned to pure venom by betrayal and heartbreak.
Staring into his horrified, yet beautiful face, she couldn't believe that all those memories; all those times had been for naught.
"Now...it's not what it seems. I-I promise you-" He stuttered, fear gripping his heart.
Her voice started out quiet at first, but grew angrier and louder as time passed. "Not what it seems? Not what it seems?! Oh, I know exactly what I'm seeing you good-for-nothing...!" Her voice lost its power at the end as grief took her. Clutching her not noticeable baby bump, the woman felt hot, miserable tears streak down her cheeks, the bitter water burning her skin. Getting weak kneed, the woman leaned heavily onto the door frame, her insides churning at the thought of her baby and what the future held.
The whore, a voluptuous young blonde who set the woman's veins on fire saw her chance. Sprinting out of the bed, the naked woman made a mad dash, slipping past the pregnant woman and out the door, not to be seen again.
Staring at her husband...no, EX-husband now, the woman turned her eyes to the ground.
"Get out." She growled softly under her breath.
"Ex-excuse me? The man said, surprised.
"I said, get. Out." The woman repeated, punctuating her words in an icy tone.
"Now see here" Her husband started. "This is my home and your just a woman-"
"I said GET OUT!" She screeched at him, balling up her fists. Rage-filled tears leaked even faster out of her eyes, hatred and pure venom filling her entire being.
The man, fearing for his life, jumped out of the bed, just as naked as the whore before him and ran out of his own house, unsure what to do.
The woman collapsed heavily onto the ground, sobs wracking her body as she wrapped her arms protectively around her middle, unsure and scared of where the future would take her.
~~0~~0~~0~~
Edward stared down at the bodies before him, horrified.
Stepping into the camp, Edward kept to the wall, looking for survivors of the Nazi's cruelty. He'd heard of the things that happened in camps like these, whispers of evil and pure hatred that flew on the wind, barely making a noise.
Watching carefully for an left-over Nazis that hadn't heard the news of Germany's defeat, Edward made his way through the Death Camp, sticking close to the walls.
Crunch, crunch, crunch.
Edward whipped around. He knew he heard footsteps, but couldn't tell if it was friend or foe. Glancing around, Edward dived forward into a squat concrete building, making sure the heavy metal door closed behind him as quietly as possible.
Turning around, Edward stared at what lay before him, sickness choking him.
He'd heard of some of the horrors that lay inside the walls of Nazi Death Camps but seeing was much different than faint whispers.
Edward could easily imagine people being lined up inside, told to strip and take a shower, not knowing what lay before them. He could imagine the innocents lined up, ready and unsuspecting. He could see, in his mind's eye, the slow turn of the faucet, hell, he could almost hear it. And those poor, poor people, expecting dirty water, got something so much worse. Suffocating gas that plugs the lungs, makes the eyes water. He could see innocents grasping their throats uselessly, grasping for life and air that was no longer there. See some of the stronger people run to the door and try to yank it open, only for nothing.
And Edward could almost hear the laughter of the Nazis.
And it made him sick.
Regret and misery filled him. Here he was, a doctor and immortal and yet he couldn't save them. He couldn't save these innocents, only the people that had incurred this inhuman pain...
Edward walked the trenches, the smell of death rising up and sickening him. How could this happen?
How could the entire world fall into war?...
Red lightning was everywhere, the screams of his souls echoed in his ears.
Realization came over him. He was killing his souls.
There he was, in his graveyard before it became his graveyard, dying over and over again in a mad lust to be gone, to prove to himself that he was still human. That he wasn't a creature like Envy...
Envy stared down at him, laughing. "Look at you, little worm! I'm going to have fun gutting you..."
The gate was before him, dragging him towards its large maw. Black hands of the damned reached out to grab him, hug him, strangle and destroy him.
"No! No! Al!"
"Brother!"
Al stared at him, his beautiful, beautiful eyes staring at him for the first time in years.
"I promise I'll be back, Al! I won't leave you! We'll be together again soon! I promise!"
Sparkling tears leaked out his brother's eyes. "I know, brother. You always keep your promises."
Edward screamed as the Gate closed, spiriting him away from Amestris and all he had known.
Truth merely looked on...
Edward stared down at his small, boyish hands.
"Ready, Al?" Edward asked.
"Yup." Al replied, smiling slightly.
Glancing upwards, Edward did a quick check on everything before him. All the ingredients in the correct amount were piled in the middle of the grand transmutation circle he and his brother created.
Exchanging excited looks, the two boys greedily placed their hands upon the circumference of the circle. Almost immediately, the circle started to glow a bright blue. The ingredients lifted into the air and started molding to create something, their mother, right before their eyes...
Until everything went wrong. The blue light quickly degraded into a terrifying blood red. The brothers watched in horror as a giant, almost mystical eye opened up, staring at nothing. Black hands flew out from the center, grabbing the young boys.
"Ed! Edward!" Al screeched as he was dragged toward the eye, his body visibly degrading.
"Al! Al no! Don't!" Edward cried.
Edward's dire pleas fell into horrified screaming as pure pain flashed through both his arm and leg.
Both limbs were gone.
~~0~~0~~0~~
Thank you guys for waiting for me! Y'all are all awesome people! Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed. Drop a review if ya want too! Reviews are better than Italian cream cake!