I own nothing except the stuff I made up
The Elric Brothers
All the ingredients were in place, for the typical human body. Then a drop of their own blood for soul data, he had then put the Transmutation circle together. Both Edward Elric and his younger brother Alphonse Elric knelt down.
"Okay this is it are you ready?" he asked Al nodded. Both charged their power into the circle. But as they did a red light mixed with the blue of their Alchemy filled the room.
"Ed something doesn't feel right." Al whimpered, as strange dark hand like tendrils began to rise around them. Suddenly one started breaking down Al's arm making him scream.
"AL!" Edward screamed. Only for a searing pain to shoot through his leg as it was taken. He looked at his leg. Part of it had been taken away.
"It can't be…" he thought in horror.
"BROTHER!" Al screamed in horror. Ed looked up and saw that the hands were quickly breaking Al down. "HELP ME!" he screamed in fear tears welling up in his eyes. Edward reached for his younger brother.
"AL!" he shouted as Al reached back. Edward screamed his name one last time as his brother suddenly exploded in front of him. And his world turned white, "ALLLLLLLLLLL!"
From the distance a man in a rain coat watched as light flickered and glared from a nearby house. The strange tendrils surrounded the house. Lighting itself seemed content to strike all around it as a storm had quickly sprung up. As if the world itself was angry…..
X X X
A Clap is heard. Then a sound as if someone slammed their hands down on to the ground. Light glows in the form of a transmutation circle as buildings and several valleys with deep underground paths. Begin to spring up and form into stone like sculptures. Then the power carves out the name
Amestris
Then the strange had like tendrils come and break it down to nothing
Kiro had been barely able to keep his eyes open. One of the first things he did was crash in the warmest train station he could find. Feeling a bit more recharged he began to make his way through the town. This one was way more steam punk than Land of Sages was. The buildings were tall, but had an older style to them. The Roads were cobble stone and the buildings themselves were made of brick. Older looking cars sped past him. As he passed by a building he could hear a conversation nearby.
"Well the last thing I remember is this guy kicking me." Kiro couldn't help his curiosity. He peeked inside. There in bandages and hospital garb. Was a boy with bright golden hair tied in a ponytail with matching eyes. He looked a few years older than Kiro. But to Kiro's surprise he had a metal arm and leg. Next to him, were three figures, one a large suit of armor with a cream duster, in the front around its waist. The armor also had a menacing jagged jaw, glowing red eyes. A Long feather coming from the top of the head spiked shoulders and pointed shoes. The other two were men in matching blue army uniforms. With gold pin stripes running on the jackets. One man was large and burly with a curly blonde mustache and complete shiny bald. The other was a man about his dad's age with short cut black hair and rectangular glasses.
"It's surprising he let you live," Said the bald one. "What about the sacrifices and these other armored souls?" He asked.
"Not to mention the Ouroboros tattoos and the transmutation circle?" the younger one added. "And Doctor Marcos claims they were using the Philosopher stones in Ishval." Kiro didn't understand any of this but he knew what a Philosopher stone was from some books he read. A major precious ingredient used in Alchemy and magic. Basically an Elixir of life, so Kiro deduced they were perhaps talking about Alchemy.
"This Alchemy sounds infinitely more complicated, than the Alchemy in Land of Sages." Kiro thought. Thinking about how Ehro bought a Zombie Bane sword, from the Bazar then ingredients for a Holy Talisman too upgrade the sword into Zombie Slayer for dealing with the monsters in the Dark Ruins and Dhoulmagus himself. They used an item known as an Alchemy pot.
"Every Clue we have to work with; seems to lead, to its own mystery." The bald man surmised.
"Not much we can do about that though." The younger one hummed hand on his chin. "Any answers we could've found. Are buried in rubble back at the lab," he noted. A thick layer of dismay hung over all of them. The man grabbed a piece of paper.
"I'll run a search. And see if I can find any priors on an Ouroboros tattoo." He said. The bald man picked up his own set of papers.
"Very good, and while you're doing that, I'll continue looking into the research team. That was working with Dr. Marco in Ishval."
"I don't get any of this, it doesn't sound like I can use any of this. To, find Mom and Dad anyway…" Kiro sighed in his thoughts.
Suddenly coming in was a tall man in a similar uniform to the other two. But Slung over his shoulder was a strap with a sword at the end. He also had various medals of Honor, on his right breast. And an eye patch. And short crew cut black hair and mustache. The group that had been talking had instantly been shocked to see him. The two men instantly saluted him.
"Fuhrer Bradley, your excellency!" the bald one cried. Bradley raised his hand and smiled.
"Calm down gentlemen this is just an informal visit." He assured.
"Yes, sir," Said the one with glasses. "Though if I may ask what is the occasion sir."
Bradley went up to the teen in the middle. "This young man, you're injured." He then handed him a cantaloupe in a basket with a pink bow on top. "I thought a nice melon might cheer you up."
"Uhh I guess…." The boy replied nervously taking it, before randomly shouting, in fear of being rude, to Bradley. "Gah, thank you sir!"
"He must be this world's leader." Kiro thought. "Which means, Kaen is here, to help Corrum cozy up to Bradley," He finished. Corrum most likely knew he was gone by now. But he doubt Corrum would've cared. Kiro himself certainly didn't.
"I understand you've been checking up. On some of the senior staff, is this true Major Armstrong?" Bradley asked the bald one who looked nervous and surprised upon being asked.
"Uhh, yes sir. But, how did you, know I was-" Armstrong asked before being cut off.
"You should know that nothing gets past me Major." Bradley replied.
"And now you, my youthful, Full Metal Alchemist; what do you know about the Philosopher stone?" He asked. Kiro could hear the Full Metal Alchemist gulp. "And I hope for your sake. You don't know too much." He said ominously. Kiro shivered a chill running up and down his spine. He could tell the others in the room felt the same. But Bradley suddenly burst out laughing. Everyone looked on surprised. "I'm only kidding. There's no need to be so uptight." He said everyone calming down.
Kiro let out a sigh that had been building up in his lungs. "Geeze way to put a guy on edge," Kiro growled in his thoughts.
"I know there's been some suspicious activity within the Military lately. And I believe it's necessary for something to be done about it." Bradley said reaching for the list of people Armstrong had had.
"Oh uh sir that's just uh.." He muttered as Bradley skimmed through it.
"A list of the research team of scientists; which were researching the Philosopher's stone. Every person listed in this document has been reported missing." He said to everyone's surprise. "They all vanished several days before the collapse of the fifth laboratory. It seems the enemy is always one step ahead of us." He stated. "Even with my vast network of informants. I have no way to determine how far our ranks have been penetrated. The most we know about them. Is that they know a lot about us."
Kiro gasped in awe. He yelped when Bradley suddenly looked at the window. He immediately ducked underneath and curled up hoping to not be heard. Bradley looked outside and turned his head back and forth a couple of times. "Don't see me, don't see me. Don't see me!" he begged in his thoughts. But Bradley soon moved away from the window.
"Must have been a cat or something, I thought maybe someone was listening in on us. But it looks like I was wrong." Bradley replied. He had left the window open allowing Kiro to listen in still. But he dare not look in the window again.
"Even if there wasn't this is proving much more dangerous then we imagined." The glassed man replied.
Bradley placed down the list. "Major Armstrong, Lieutenant Colonel Hughes." He said referring to the younger man. Then to the Armor and boy, "Elric brothers, you've all proven yourself to be men of trustworthy character. From this point on I'm giving you a direct order. Forget this matter and all it concerns. At this time suspicion is our strongest line of offense. And our only form of defense is discretion." Bradley stated firmly. "Do not trust anyone. Keep this to yourselves at all costs. However when the time comes to confront the enemy, I expect you to join me in the effort." He said with a large toothy smile.
"Sir!" Armstrong and Hughes declare saluting.
Suddenly everyone including Kiro heard shouting. "Where's Fuhrer Bradley!? Did he come through here?!" the voice cried desperately.
"Gotta go," Bradley said cheerfully; as he saluted and calmly walked towards the window muttering. "Damn, body guard thinks he's my shadow." He jumped out the window. Kiro having immediately jumped behind a nearby dumpster with an Eep. "You see I snuck away to get a few minutes of privacy. Bye for now." He said to them before climbing out the window. And walking off and walking out of the alley. Kiro collapsed back under the window that was now open. He felt tears, of stress in his eyes as he took a few breathes.
"Hey Ed!" said a girls voice, hearing the door to the Full metal Alchemist's hospital room.
Kiro thought to himself for a moment. "The living Armor was unscathed so the one in bandages, the Full Metal Alchemist. His name must be Ed or Edward." He then heard the collective sighs of those who had been occupying the room the longest above them.
And a sound of confusion from the girl, Kiro managed to peek back in through a nearby window, for a second. She was muscular but lithe. And had blonde hair in a ponytail, though not the same shade as Edward's. And had blue eyes, a white tank top, and a black skirt. She also sported some silver earrings in her left ear. "What's going on?" she asked. "Did I miss something?"
"Not really just a Tornado, passing by." Edward sighed.
Kiro kept his eyes low. As Armstrong, Hughes and the Armor now occupied the window. She shut the door behind herself. "Well I don't there's anything I can do about that. But I did go and buy the train tickets you asked for." she replied.
"Thanks, I owe you." Edward replied. "Just, in time."
"You're sure a man on the move." Armstrong said sternly. "Your wounds haven't even fully healed."
"Yeah well, two days of sick people and hospital food is enough for me." Edward replied.
"So where are you off too this time?" Hughes asked looking at the tickets the girl had. "What's in Dublith?"
"Well," Edward said placing a hand on the armor. "With the way things have gone lately. Al and I decided we should go back and visit our old teacher." He said only for the armor to shake. Kiro could visibly hear the Armor rattling. Something alive was inside it that's for sure.
"I think I'm too, scared brother!" whimpered a high-pitched voice, only a couple octaves deeper than his own. "There's no way, she's not going to kill us!"
Edward started shaking like a leaf as well. Both brothers grabbed hands in fear. "Look, don't you chicken out on me now! I'm scared too, okay!" he cried. Kiro shuddered.
"What is this teacher like!?" Kiro thought to himself. He imagined, an imposing powerful figure, with large muscles. And the same aura that Dhoulmagus had; it had Glowing red eyes and the gaping toothed mouth one of the statues from the Dark Ruins had. He shivered and shook the thought out of his head. He decided he should go find the train station. As the thought hit him. "actually maybe the Philosopher stone can restore my powers. Or even help me find Mom and Dad." He thought.
With this in mind he got up and quickly made his escape. The town unfortunately was huge. It was even bigger than Argonia. The City of Baccarat he saw or even Civiti Ombrato. He got nervous right away. But he sat down and took a moment to calm his nerves. He saw a store nearby and managed to buy a map. Thankfully he had gotten more money in his travels in Land of Sages. He began looking it over and with a pencil he had on hand, traced a path to the train station. But then he saw someone out of the corner of his eye. "Kaen!" Kiro hissed. Kaen seemed to be alerted to his presence. But Kiro quickly flow-motioned to the roof he watched carefully. As Kaen looked around the street even down a bit from where he came from. He shrugged giving up and went on his way. Kiro sighed in relief. "No way, I'm going back there!" Kiro growled in his thoughts.
X X X
The Train station quickly came into view. He just had to wait for if nothing else a huge walking living armor. Al, Edward called him. He found a nice comfy place on the roof of the front of the building that gave him a good view of the whole street and made sure to prepare some magic barriers in case it rained during the night. Thanks to the map he got himself some food as well. Soon as he watched people file in and trains take off. He suddenly saw Ed and Al around Noon.
Edward had removed his bandages, and was now wearing a black outfit with white gloves and his hair in a braid. The girl was wearing a navy jacket. Kiro keeping out of sight of Armstrong and the two soldiers as well as a mother and her daughter, which had accompanied them, snuck aboard the train via Caboose. He had made sure to stay hidden there, until night fell. He got up hungry and needing to use the bathroom. He found a nearby bathroom and took care of that. Making sure to scrub his hands well, he then made his way to the food car. He saw the fridge and immediately started raiding it.
"Did you pay for any of that?" asked a voice that sounded familiar. And it made a chill go down Kiro's spine. Suddenly the ground below him was sparking with strange electricity. He could see the ground starting to rise. Kiro had to think fast. He summoned his Keyblade into the rising ground and broke it down long enough to jump away and get in front of Edward in a fighting stance.
"A Keyblade?!" Edward gasped.
"How do you know about this?!" Kiro snapped.
"I work in Amestris' army. It's my business to know. And something tells me you're not one of the friendly ones." Edward growled as he used Alchemy on his right arm. The glove dissipated into particles underneath it was a metal hand. As he slid his hand up a blade appeared at the end. Kiro got ready.
"Alright then lets fight!" Kiro growled.
Edward was fast. Fortunately Kiro had put up a barrier to block the first blow. With Edward's arm bouncing off the barrier. Kiro quickly followed up with a couple of slashes. Edward dodged out the way of one. But had been grazed by the other, he yelped in pain. His wounds definitely hadn't healed completely yet. Kiro was almost tempted to heal him then and there. But the last thing he wanted was to be beat up by this guy at full power. Edward however was still standing quite well.
"What kind of Alchemy was that?" he growled in reference to Kiro's barrier.
"It's not Alchemy its magic." Kiro replied simply.
"Don't screw with me! There's no such thing!" Edward snarled.
"Maybe in your world," Kiro replied as he threw his Keyblade then warped towards it to follow it up with a combo. Edward however enduring a hit managed to place a round house kick on Kiro. He was flung backwards. Kiro managed to soften his landing before hitting the bar table.
Kiro growled getting up. He couldn't go all out in here with his magic. Not unless he wanted to blow the car up. Kiro jumped back from another punch. The two managed to clash blades for a bit. Despite Edward's injuries he was keeping up. But then he raised his real hand up and slammed it down on the Keyblade. The Alchemy electricity appeared. But a light from Kiro's Keyblade sent them both flying back.
Both hit the wall. Before Kiro could get up however he suddenly felt something wrap around him. Edward had already done Alchemy to trap him against the wall. Kiro struggled against it to no avail. It was like he had somehow been built into the wall.
"Alright now you're gonna tell me everything about you!" Edward growled.
"Hey!" shouted a familiar voice. They both turned their heads. It was Zidane and Amei, they were here too.
"Zidane, Amei!?" Kiro yelped.
"You're friends!?" Edward yelped. Kiro charged up magic and burst himself out.
"No but we've met," Kiro replied.
"We met him a while back. What are you doing here?" Amei asked.
"He snuck on board that's what!" Edward snapped.
"He's harmless, and hopefully he'll his reasons, won't you Kiro." Zidane said his tone implying he should confess why he's here.
Kiro gave him an annoyed look. Zidane wasn't his brother. Nor his father, but he, was tired and hungry and didn't want to do this the hard way. "I was curious about the Philosopher's stone."
"That's not a toy!" Edward shouted.
"I know it's not I was just. I was wondering if it could help me with a couple of things. That's all like finding my parents." Kiro explained. Edward just turned away darkly.
"Forget about Alchemy and the Philosopher stone kid. You have no idea what you're dealing with. And unlike you're little magic tricks." Edward added glancing at his metal arm. "There are heavy consequences, for crossing lines in Alchemy that weren't meant to be crossed by mere humans."
Kiro stared in confusion. Edward sounded so sincere, and even broken when he said that. What line did he cross that turned his brother into Armor and make him lose his arm. It made Kiro feel bad to have actually gone after the stone now. Edward had left the car and headed back to his own.
"What happened to him do you think?" Amei asked.
"No idea, but it sounds like he made a terrible mistake." Zidane added quietly as Kiro got up.
"His injuries aren't entirely healed. So you'll need to take care of that later. I don't think he likes me." Kiro added.
"I don't think he hates you. It sounded more like he was warning you." Zidane said.
"If you say so," Kiro replied before realizing something. "Hey where's Nanaki?"
Amei and Zidane looked at each other. "Well, you know Edward's brother?" Amei asked.
"Al right?" Kiro asked.
"His full name is Alphonse. And he's kind of an Animal lover." Zidane explained.
Meanwhile, Nanaki was relaxing while Alphonse was scratching behind his ears as he was relaxing. Both were enjoying it.
"Oh…." Kiro said not expecting that from a suit of armor, as scary looking as Al at first glance. But he had to remember inside was a boy. But why not get out of the armor?
X X X
As Kiro got some food in him and fell asleep he woke up later to find. That Edward's group were stopping in a place called Rush Valley, which, Edward's friend the girl from before. Who he found out his name was Winry. Called the 'Holy land of Auto mail' whatever that was. Edward was also able to sort out Kiro's intrusion with the conductor. Which was nice of him, soon the sun began to rise. They were all sitting together in the passenger car. He was sitting next to Amei and Zidane with Nanaki stretched out across the seat across from them. Similar to how Ed's group across from them with Al being so big he took up a whole seat.
"So why is it suddenly so important, that you guys see your teacher?" Winry asked.
"Well there are a couple of reasons." Edward replied. "For starters I'm tired of getting my Ass handed to me."
"Wait is this some kind of combat teacher? Why don't you just quit fighting!?" Winry asked worriedly.
"I doubt it would be that easy if he works in a military. And have people who want him dead." Kiro thought.
"Oh that'd be nice." Edward growled. "But it's not as simple as that okay?" he said sternly.
"It gets him hurt but it keeps him alive." Nanaki pointed out as Winry sighed. Kiro had noticed several people on the train whispering about Nanaki, the name Shou Tucker was dropped a few times. He noticed Edward seemed to glare at the floor in disgust whenever that specific name was loud enough for him to hear. He could sense a crippling sadness from Al as well.
"Exactly but this isn't just about our fighting. Our Core needs a little work too. Right Al?" Edward asked.
Al nodded. "Exactly, I feel like seeing our teacher will make us grow and make us stronger on the inside."
"Yeah and we're going to need as much strength as we can get." Edward added.
"It always helps to go back to the beginning." Zidane agreed. Having the brothers, talk more casually about their teacher made them seem less like a monster in Kiro's mind. But he also wondered if their fear had any correlation with Edward's cryptic warnings to him. What exactly did they do!? Kiro shivered a little bit.
"So what's reason number two?" Winry asked accepting that they wouldn't just stop fighting for now.
"To see what she can tell us about the Philosophers stone." Edward replied.
"And about the truth within the truth." Al added. "We haven't gotten any closer to figuring it out. That's why we think our teacher might know something about it." He explained.
"Let's hope she at least gives us a chance to answer. So what's your guy's story, not every day you see a Keyblade wielder and some kind of talking beast on fire in Amestris." Edward asked glancing at Kiro and Nanaki. He then looked at Zidane. "And don't think I didn't notice the tail."
Zidane laughed nervously. It had just occurred to Kiro now that Zidane had wrapped his tail around his waist to pass off as a fur or even faux fur belt. He even did this to hide the fact from Charmless. Amei spoke up though. "Well, to answer your question with another question how much do you know about places beyond your home?"
"You can just say other worlds. It's something only state Alchemists, and high ranking Military know about though. But that definitely explains things." Edward replied. "Try not to draw too much attention to yourselves okay? Last thing I need is explaining to Fuhrer Bradley why everyone's in a panic. "
"We'll try." Zidane assured.
"So what's your policy on Keyblade wielders? Also have you seen someone named Sora and Kairi?" Kiro asked.
"Depends on the wielder. As for a Mr. and Mrs. Tetsuya not a thing." Edward replied making Kiro visibly sulk. Amei comforted him.
"Anyway Al, you should be more worried about explaining your appearance. Considering," Ed began to say before faltering in fear. "Considering…..she's gonna kill us when she finds out what happened!"
"It would've been nice to find a girlfriend before I died." Al bemoaned. Kiro's thoughts on the teacher. Immediately went back to a murderous nonunderstanding monster. Zidane's group looked nervous for them as did Winry.
"You guys should get a new teacher," Winry muttered, she then remembered something. "Oh Mrs. Hughes made this for us." She said pulling out a basket inside was an apple pie. Kiro stared at it hungrily. Fruit was his kryptonite especially apples. Which were rare in tropical worlds, like as his own.
After passing a slice around to everyone Edward took a bite and instantly smiled again. "Oooh this is the best apple pie I've ever tasted." He said ecstatically.
"It's so sweet and tangy at the same time! Delightful!" Amei squeaked.
"The crust is nice and fluffy too." Zidane added with his mouth semi full.
"I know right, Mrs. Hughes is a great cook." Winry said. Kiro finally took a bite. Everything they said was true. And all of this blended together into one masterful texture and taste combination.
"That's a bit of an understatement, and that quiche she made for us was pretty delicious too." He said happily. Al couldn't eat but he had written apple pie down in a little black book.
"Hey Alphonse, what's that book for?" Nanaki asked.
"It's a list of things I'm going to eat when I when I have a mouth again." Alphonse replied.
"That's a good way to keep your hopes up." Nanaki replied.
"What do you mean get your body back!?" Kiro blurted out.
"Kiro!" Amei scolded making him jolt in embarrassment.
"Oh Uh sorry," Kiro muttered.
"It's okay," Al assured, "you see, our mother died a few years ago. We missed her so much. We tried to bring her back with Alchemy. But that was taboo, and we paid a terrible price for it. My body and Brother's arm."
Kiro stared in horror. No wonder Edward had warned him away from the Philosophers stone. These were trained Alchemists this terrible tragedy had fallen upon. Imagine what could've have happened to him if that had happened.
"I see I'm really sorry to hear that. But if it makes you feel better, I know what it's like to miss parents terribly." Kiro said before wanting to change the subject quickly. "Hey have you noticed that Ed's-"He suddenly had a death glare from Edward staring right back at Kiro.
"Pick your next words, very carefully!" he said in a low snarl. Kiro felt like his life was on the line.
"Blonde!" he squeaked. Ed was much shorter than a guy around his age. He was fifteen but he could've easily passed for a twelve year old, like Kiro himself at best.
"Well she gave me the recipe so when you're back to normal I'll make it for you." Winry assured.
Edward perked up his arms rising up to emote. "Awesome thanks!" he giggled happily in excitement.
Kiro observed the three of them talking. "That horrible tragedy with no clear way to reverse it. Other than a legendary stone. And they still have so much hope. Not like me I wish I was that optimistic. But I was never anything like dad. It'd be nice if I was, then maybe I wouldn't screw up so much. I kind of envy them." He thought to himself with a smile.
"I had such a good time staying with them. They're such nice people." Winry said.
"Yeah, but Hughes is obnoxious, he doesn't know when to shut up. And he spoils his daughter rotten." Ed muttered before taking a large bite of his piece of apple pie. Kiro suspected that was his wife and child he saw when he snuck aboard.
"He did come by your hospital room to talk to you." Al noted.
"Every damn day," Edward replied with a semi-full mouth. Then smiled. "He always made it a point to keep me company, it didn't matter when. He'd even blow off work.
"He sounds very nice." Amei replied.
"We should figure out a way to thank him next time we're there." Al said.
"Yeah we should." Edward replied. Kiro was looking out the window at this point watching the lush green fields with chunks of tree clusters here and there whip past the train.
X X X
The Green grasslands had soon given way to white cobblestone. Kiro felt his ears pop as the train twisted around a few valleys and mountains. They soon arrived in a deep valley with town at the bottom.
Winry had rushed out past them as they came to the town sign. Bluish, steel in big carved letters…
"RUSH VALLEY!" Winry squealed. She looked around as did the others. Many had mechanical limbs some arms like Edward. But some also had metal legs, hands, eyes even ears and full lower bodies. "Auto mail, Auto mail, Auto Mail, YEAAAAAHHHHHH," Winry fangirled. Her eyes were sparkling brightly like stars against the night sky. She herself acted like a child on Christmas. Everyone else regretted this decision.
Something dawned on Kiro almost quickly. "I have seen this prosthetic before after all! Elrena, she said she lost her arm in a fight. And she was happy about it because in her words. The fight that took out her arm, killed a really annoying butt kisser." Kiro thought nervously about Elrena. His dad knew her as Larxene of both Organization XIII's but she hated everything about those times. So demanded to be called by her original name, her icy bossy demeanor scared Kiro a little. Not to say she was evil or bad. Just scary, "She always said she picked it because it gave her retractable claws…." Kiro laughed in his head nervously.
Zidane whistled. "Those are some pretty good looking and working prosthetics!" Zidane noted watching the people go about their day. Some, working on more Auto mail, some laughing and eating, others were playing games with their Auto mail to see who had the better arm. Auto Mail was more like a cyber enhancement than prosthetic.
"To be a good Auto mail mechanic, you need to be both a black smith and a surgeon. They connect the individual's nerves to the limb so the electrical impulses can power it." Al explained. "When you first get it, it takes a while to adjust and learn to control the limbs. But after that you can move around really easy." He added.
Winry screamed suddenly and rushed to a window. "Look it's the latest Gods model!" she squeed. Kiro glanced in the window. The arm was a lot smoother with smaller visible joints with a red insignia at the top and was carved a little for a bit of style. He moved away from Winry when she started wiggling. They all watched and sweat dropped, as she did. "I never imagined I'd behold a thing with my own eyes!" she said with a small scream.
It was finally then when they began to move down the street. Kiro could see joints and parts for sale everywhere. They looked expensive so it made Kiro wonder where Lauriam even got the money for Elrena. Especially a specialty arm that didn't overload with electricity and have retractable claws, he'd doubt he'd get the whole story later. Those times seemed particularly hard to look back on. Along with the Keyblade War Xehanort cruelly incited and the Master of Master's schemes to destroy Darkness.
"Welcome to the Holy Land of Auto mail." Al joked.
"This place is bustling!" Amei noted trying not to get lost. Kiro was trying to keep from getting lost as well; fortunately Al's armor was so tall he could spot it anywhere. Still he felt a bit claustrophobic being in such a crowded place without anyone he knew. Well anyone he knew well anyway.
Ed sighed, "remind, me why we got dragged out into this heat, to look at a bunch of Auto Mail?" he asked.
Kiro was used to the heat. And when humidity struck his Island Archipelago it was even worse. Still he couldn't help but feel it was slightly a waste of time. But Edward had only decided because Al had wanted to for Winry's sake apparently. He then noticed Edward was actually irritated. "We should've dropped Winry off at the station and headed straight to Dublith.
"It's not like Dublith is going anywhere so what's the harm in a little pit-stop?" Zidane asked half-heartedly.
"Too many overly obsessed grease monkeys." Ed replied grumpily.
"Aside from Winry it doesn't seem that bad." Nanaki noted both knowing that Winry was too far gone in her own world to really hear anything said about her.
"Hey kid come here a second." said a voice. "The blonde one with the braid!" it quickly added when Kiro, Amei and Zidane looked over. Ed finally looked over. He was suddenly surrounded by a good number of people. One of which had grabbed a hold of his metal arm and pulled up the sleeve.
"I've never seen an Auto mail model quite like this before!" the mustachioed man with an Auto Mail eye said.
"Yeah it really is unusual everyone take a look." Said an older bald man as the small group leaned in closer. Ed started protesting.
"I would die if I were surrounded like that." Kiro said wincing at the thought. To the horror of himself and Zidane's group Edward was suddenly stripped to his underwear. Edward screamed.
"Don't be so rude, they just want a look." Winry said.
"They don't have his consent woman!" Nanaki barked.
"Can I get a little help here Winry!?" Edward shouted as he cleared the crowd away and got his clothes back from Zidane while Amei covered her eyes. It was there Kiro could see that he had a metal leg as well. Another price to pay during the catastrophe of a transmutation he attempted. "Thank you." he muttered placing his pants back on. "This is why I steer clear of Auto Mail engineers." He sighed adjusting his belt. Then checking his pockets. Most of the group had moved onto Al fortunately. Since he was a Heart and Soul in an Auto mail there wasn't much they could do to him.
"I definitely spoke too soon then." Nanaki sighed, as Edward felt his pockets but realized something was missing.
"What's wrong Ed?" Winry asked.
"It's gone!" he hissed in horror.
"What is?" Kiro asked.
"Only the thing that proves I'm a state Alchemist, my Silver Pocket Watch. Gone…." He muttered in horror as he Al and Winry started panicking.
"Your Military ID!?" Kiro yelped. Zidane started looking around the area where he had found the pants. Nanaki was sniffing the ground. But one of the men from before spoke up.
"It sounds like you guys had a run in with Paninya." He said.
"Paninya?" Edward asked making Zidane and Nanaki stop their search for a second.
"A Pick-Pocket that likes to target tourists." The bald man said.
"Do you know where I can find this Paninya girl, she took something every important from me." Edward asked desperately. The two turned humming in thought.
"Let's see where was, she again?" one asked.
"I know what would jog me memory." The other asked as they suddenly got creepy dreamy looks in their eyes. "Another look at that wonderful Auto mail." In response Edward immediately used his Alchemy to grow a blade on his arm and glared viciously at them a deep angry growl emanating from his throat.
"The Auto Mail Shop run by an engineer named Dominic!" they shouted together in fear pointing in a singular direction.
X X X
Kiro had wanted to call rain to cool them off. All of them were sweating. He had seen Amei go to do it a couple of time's but Nanaki told her not too. It would just mess up the environment and they'd lose Paninya's trail. But even the heat was getting to him now. He had pulled up his jacket over his head to act as a sun shield. "Apparently this guy lives deep in the mountains. Because he can find the highest quality ore way out here. Are you sure we're going the right way? Those engineers could've tricked us."
"What are you complaining about? This is all, your fault for dragging us to that stupid Auto Mail town in the first place." Ed growled carrying a large suitcase and a red jacket which hung off his arm.
"Me?! You're the one who was dumb enough to have his watch get stolen!" Winry yelled.
"Ohohho! Is that so!?" Ed shouted back as they both glared at each other.
"You have her scent right?" Zidane asked Nanaki.
"I do, but it's faint I won't know we're going the right way until it gets stronger. And I hate to say it but she got a pretty good head start." Nanaki replied.
"Hey guys?" Al asked.
"What Al?!" Both snapped at him but he merely pointed to a bridge across a canyon.
"Could that be her?" he asked. They all turned in the direction he was pointing.
There was a girl with dark skin and hair. Dark blue eyes with large poofy camo pants low hanging cream colored belts and a black tank top both Kiro and Edward caught sight of something glimmering in her hand. Edward knew instantly it was his Pocket watch.
Edward Elric: A Short Tempered and short statured state Alchemist. He and his brother committed Taboo. Trying to bring back their dead mother through Alchemy only for it to end in absolute horrific failure losing both an arm and a leg. He is also known as the Full Metal Alchemist. Possibly because of his Auto Mail Arm. And Leg apparently. He warned me about tampering with Alchemy especially since I know more about magic than that science. He's a state Alchemist and has a pocket watch as his Military ID maybe they shouldn't use something made from a precious Ore for that…Also he loathes being called short. Full Metal Alchemist 2001
Alphonse Elric: Edward's younger brother a Heart and Soul bound to a Metal Armor. As a result he can't eat or sleep or function with a biological body but doesn't need too. Though I can't imagine what that must be like and thinking about it. It kind of sounds like Torture. He seems to have a soft spot for animals petting Nanaki but being unable to feel his fur. He's a lot more even tempered than his brother and level headed. Full Metal Alchemist 2001
Winry Rockbell: Ed and Al's childhood friend and an Auto Mail Mechanic. She's also a bit a fan girl for it. Something that comes with the territory. Fair enough I'm a bit of a fanboy with magic although I should try not to let my love of it shut down any inhibitors in my brain. Something she and the people of Rush valley seem to do. She also shares in Ed's snappiness and has a temper of her own. So they're a pretty good match. I also think they make a cute couple. Full Metal Alchemist 2001
Lieutenant Colonel Hughes: One of the men I saw with Ed in his Hospital Room. According to Ed and Winry extremely nice, but is a bit obnoxious and spoils his daughter. And apparently talks about his family with bubbling pride a lot. I actually hope to meet him next time I'm here Full Metal Alchemist 2001
Major Armstrong: A Burly bald major in Amestris' Military. With a curly blond mustache. He said he'd be looking into the team that researched the Philosophers stone. Unless he's obeying Bradley's orders. But that's all I know about him. Full Metal Alchemist 2001
Fuhrer King Bradley: The Leader of its Military and Ruler of this world Amestris. He can flip between serious and friendly in an instant. He's also sharp I'm pretty sure he might've seen me when I was listening in. He says there's an enemy within Amestris' Military and is trying to find out where they are and when the right time is to strike. Full Metal Alchemist 2001
Shou Tucker: A Famous State Alchemist that was recently murdered from what I hear. The People of this world seem to think Nanaki is his latest creation before he was murdered. Though nothing about that makes sense if you think hard enough maybe they thought he was part of Edward's group? Speaking of that his name seems to cause pain to the Elric Brothers. I wonder what? I'm not going to ask. Not now at least. Edward doesn't seem like someone you want to push the buttons of. Isn't that right crazy Auto Mail Alchemists who stripped him! In the middle of a public street then tried to squeeze another look out of him in exchange for information about his stolen Pocket watch. Seriously WTF?! Full Metal Alchemist 2001
Like with my older series some characters may get an updated Bio at a later date in a story but since Kiro is writing down these journal entries they're going to be limited to his knowledge sorry…
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