The train jolted to a start, beginning it's journey as it clattered over the railroad leading to Dublith. Alphonse had to admit; He was feeling really awkward sitting in the same train compartment as the strange assortment of additions to the trip. Edward was looking rather giddy with excitement, chatting animatedly with one of the twins but Alphonse wasn't sure if this twin was Alfred or Matthew, since he really couldn't remember who introduced himself as who.

The other twin was sitting by the window, hugging a- Was that a polar bear?! Alphonse just decided not to the question the oddities he encountered. Too much thought process required, much more than trying to decipher coded Alchemy texts with no book reference.

Lastly, Arthur was busy half glaring, half arguing at the French man while Francis, Alphonse believed his name was, simply just laughed and countered Arthur with ease, as though he had plenty of experience. Which Francis probably did, seeing how hostile the Brit was towards him, compared to the other times Alphonse has seen him.

Apparently, the French man really had a way to bring out the worst in Arthur.

"Al! You know there's someone else who looks just like me?" Alphonse blinked, now listening in to Edward's conversation with the person who he had just figured was Alfred.

"Really, dude? Sounds awesome! So, it's kinda like Mattie and me?" Alfred grinned, quite literally bouncing in his seat. Apparently, Arthur wasn't lying when he had mentioned Alfred had a lot of energy, just like Edward.

"Nope, I don't think so, since he's older than him!" Edward explained, pointing at Alphonse who jumped slightly when the blue eyes of the bespectacled blond were on him.

"You mean your brother looks like Ed? Sweet!" Alfred said cheerily. "I knew that theory of having a twin somewhere in the world was true! I wonder if he's like Ed?"

"Well, my brother has the same name-"

"WOAH! THERE ARE TWO EDS!"

"- And no, they don't act alike. Brother always frowns and has a huge temper."

"Talk about opposites! Ed's temper is like, non-existent! I don't think I've ever heard of anything like that, right Mattie?"

"A-actually, Al..."

"Huh? You say something?"

"Maple..." Matthew murmmered, burying his face further into his bear's fur.

"DAMN IT, FROG! STOP TRYING TO GROPE MY ARSE!"

"Ohonhonhon!"

Yep, Alphonse thought dryly. These people were definitely the strangest he had ever seen.

0o0

Stepping in front of a butcher's shop a certain housewife lived in, Alphonse couldn't help but feel a shudder down his spine as he just stood rooted on the spot, sweating nervously as he felt danger.

"Is everything alright, Alphonse?" Arthur asked, concerned at how Alphonse's complexion had paled to a shade that matched a certain albino Prussian's.

"Just counting down the seconds I have to live..." Alphonse was met with confused expressions, before he was met with a sandaled foot to the face which sent him flying back into a wall. To make matters worst, the wall fell on top him.

Ow. And talk about property damage.

"Well, if it isn't my idiot apprentice. You've gotten sloppy," A middle aged woman with her tied in dreadlocks stood where Alphonse had previously been, arms crossed over her chest. Even though her hair was greying, it was clear that she was no pushover, if her kick to Alphonse's face wasn't any clue. Marching over, she pulled the youngest Elric brother from the rubble, before beginning to shake him by the collar. "Where have you been?! And why have you not found your brother yet?! I want to give him a piece of my mind before I die!"

"I'm- Sorry- Teacher!" Alphonse yelped, each word coming out with every shake. "Please- Don't- Kill me!"

Meanwhile, back with the others who were watching the whole ordeal play out, somehow felt a certain sense of respect for the woman. After all, it wasn't everyday a Nation met a mortal who instilled a sense of fear in them, despite knowing humans couldn't possibly do anything to them that they have yet to feel. And surprisingly, Alfred could read the atmosphere for once. Yes, the woman was that intimidating. Edward just looked pleased that she was one of his citizens.

Finally, the woman stopped shaking the life out of Alphonse, who just collapsed on the floor, his eyes resembling swirls as he groaned, muttering something about armour before he eventually recovered enough to stand up, albeit shakily. "Er- hello teacher." Alphonse laughed nervously, wincing as he brushed himself off. "Are you feeling better?"

Izumi Curtis scoffed. "Of course I am! I feel fine enough to come out here -!" Said person paused long enough to cough out blood, and wipe the crimson substance away. "-and kick your ass!"

"Teacher! You're coughing up blood again!"

Izumi just smiled, her personality doing a complete three hundred and sixty degrees as she slapped Alphonse's back, nearly sending him tumbling over. "Welcome back, my idiot student. Why don't you tell me who your friends are and come in?"

0o0

Introductions were rather smooth, apart from Izumi's initial shock at seeing Edward. Fortunately, she knew enough that this wasn't exactly her other idiot student, seeing how completely unfrightened he was of her. Edward Elric would have been shaking in his boots if he had been there, unlike Edward Kirkland who cheerily greeted her with a pleasant grin.

Of course, since that was the case, and since Izumi had a rather soft spot for children (Even her apprentices, although that didn't show much), she exceptionally friendly towards the small boy.

Sig had been away at the time, getting supplies since Mason had come down with a severe case of the flu.

"Teacher, so what's been going on around these parts? Mustang didn't tell me much about this area..." Alphonse trailed off nervously, seeing Izumi's eye twitch.

"Are you still with those military mutts?" She growled out the word 'military' like it left a bad taste in her mouth. "Have I told you nothing about those dogs? They may have improved slightly, but they'll still be the same, no matter what."

"What's so bad about the military?" Alfred piped up, feeling slightly offended seeing as how even though he wasn't part of Amestris's military, he was part of his country's military.

"You're not from around here, are you?" Izumi asked, although it seemed more like a statement rather than a question. "Then you wouldn't know how corrupt the military is. You don't even know half the things the military has done below the surface."

Alfred then had the decency to wince, and turn away sheepishly.

"If you don't mind me asking, my good ma'am," Arthur started curiously, wanting to know what on earth had Amestris's government been doing, "But what has the military done?"

Izumi grimaced, gripping her cup tightly in her hands, her eyes downcast as she stared into the clear surface of her water. "The previous Führer, King Bradley," She spat out the name distastefully. "Issued the order to eradicate the entire race of Ishbal. And from, what Alphonse told me, the military has also been experimenting with humans using Alchemy." There was more, but Izumi knew better than to blurt everything out.

Besides, how was she to explain about the Homunculous? That information wasn't even released to the public. But perhaps she could let slip another piece of information the public already knew. "They also tried to sacrifice the country's population in an Alchemic ritual, but failed."

Izumi noticed Arthur's face pale slightly as he held on tightly to Edward, who was seated on his lap. She also noticed the different expressions on each of the group's individuals.

Francis's face held a mixture of shock and horror, Alfred looked ready to faint, and Matthew had buried his face in his pet's fur, murmuring something softly as he shook slightly.

How odd it was that all of their gazes always seemed to land on Edward's small frame, Izumi noted.

0o0

England grasped onto Amestris tighter, as if hoping the younger nation wouldn't suddenly disappear. If what Izumi said was true, then it would mean that Amestris would have nearly died.

Somehow, England just couldn't seem to imagine a life without his little brother Amestris, if he had indeed died.

"Big brother, you're squeezing me too hard!" Amestris complained, his face becoming tinged with red. "I can't breathe!"

Relaxing his grip on his little brother, England still constantly glanced down at Amestris, as if reassuring himself that his brother was indeed there.

"Édouard was there..." England heard France whisper to himself, eyes still wide. "It must have hurt for him."

England could only agree, silently promising to Amestris that he wouldn't allow anything of that sort to happen to him again. Not if he could help it. And definitely not while he was still alive and kicking.

0o0

That night, they had dinner with Izumi, who took the time to prepare the food for all of them. Arthur had offered to help, but Francis immediately shooed him out of the kitchen before aiding Izumi with the cooking, much to the Brit's annoyance ("My cooking is bloody well fine!")

Throughout the meal, Edward seemed strangely distracted as he ate, glancing out of the window during occasional points of dinner as though there was something on intrest. His kitten padded softly around his feet, mewing as it tried to get the attention of its owner. Edward had yet to name the kitten so Alfred enthusiastically suggested names, most of which were shot down by Arthur who was sitting nearby.

Alfred had pouted childishly, much like how Edward would occasionally, before proclaiming that Arthur had no naming sense, much to the said person's irritation. Fortunately, Alfred was saved from possible black magic cursing down the line by Edward, who cheerfully added that Arthur was the one who gave Alfred his name, unaware of what he just caused.

Alfred blushed a few shades of red, embarrassed, while Matthew commented quietly with a, "You did fall into that one, eh? Even if it wasn't intended..."

After dinner, Edward convinced Alfred to go outside with him, for three reasons. One, Edward was bored. Two, Alfred was really bored. Three, both said nations being bored didn't bode well for anyone else's sanity. Just ask that one human from England who bullied Edward the last time the latter had been in England. Later, the unfortunate human had been a target for payback, and an entertainment from boredom for Edward and Alfred. Alfred was certain the teenager had still been in therapy the last time they had checked, having nightmares about ketchup, a lawn mower, and apples.

Needless to say, Arthur wasn't too happy with Alfred for bringing Edward into his ridiculous schemes. But then again, it had completely been worth it, so the American hadn't complained much about being turned into a femalefor the day, courtesy of British black magic.

Plus, Edward had been thrilled to have a 'big sister' for the day, so it all balanced out.

Matthew on the other hand, had not been so thrilled.

Francis, on the other, other hand, was absolutely thrilled.

Fortunately, the curse wore off before Francis did anything stupid.

Back to the present, Arthur paid no mind to Edward and Alfred exiting the house as the Brit was busy strangling Francis. Besides, Arthur could at least trust Alfred to keep an eye on Edward. On preventing the younger boy from doing something stupid, not so much since Alfred was equally likely to do something stupid. But Alfred was trusted enough to at least prevent harm from coming to Edward.

But really, what harm could come to the two, when they had done nothing wrong?

Faint gunshots rang through the night air, and Alfred's yell, followed immediately Edward's high pitched scream disrupted the peace of the night.

[A/N And here comes the dreaded CLIFFHANGER! DUN DUN DUN! Ahahaha... I'm evil. So now all the cool action I've been planning starts! Yay! And I'm not updating until next week since I've got to finish up my exams or, to put it very bluntly, I'm going to die. Hahahaha...

Bye guys, I got to go study now, and I apologize for the shorter than usual chapter.

~ Gwntan12]