Hey guys! Welcome back to Frost and Fullmetal!

Thanks so much to ToadstoolWriter (Thanks! I don't think you'll be disappointed in that respect! ;) and Dan G. Panterita (Thank you so much! That's very sweet of you, and it really does mean a lot :) I hope you continue to enjoy what comes next! ;) for reviewing!

And with that, on with the chapter!

~ 6 ~

Strange New World

For the rest of the three agonizingly long days, Edward (thankfully) didn't see very much of Jack. Ever since his random dizzy spell, the older boy had mostly kept to himself. Ed had seen him only a few times, and he was always either staring off into space, lost in thought, or anxiously pacing around, brow furrowed as though puzzling over something. Ed even swore that one night, he had heard Jack walking around in circles up on the roof, of all places.

"At least he's not talking," Ed would always mutter, then go about his frustratingly boring day.

Of course, the young alchemist wasn't actually able to let the matter drop so easily. Though he was pleased enough to have the supposed spirit out of his way for the time being, he couldn't help wondering what exactly had him so spooked.

It had seemed logical enough to Edward - Jack had hung upside down for too long and suffered the minor consequences of dizziness after the fact. But surely even Jack wasn't dumb enough to not be able to see that logic, right?

Then...perhaps there was more to it that Jack hadn't mentioned? Edward had no way of knowing, of course, since he didn't intend to speak a single word that wasn't necessary to Jack, but still, it was a mildly interesting thought.

Mildly.

Really, he only granted that small mystery any of his attention because he was incredibly bored. The days dragged on with little else happening, so what else was he to focus on? Aside from, of course, wondering if Jack had really been telling the truth about the "other world" he supposedly came from.

Every science-loving fiber of Edward's being wanted to believe that Jack was either delusional, an idiot, or both. Magic couldn't exist. By definition, it was impossible.

Then again, he was forced to admit, animating a suit of armor with his brother's soul sounded impossible as well. And that wasn't even mentioning the enigma that was the Gate of Truth.

Maybe Winry was right. Maybe he should give Jack the benefit of the doubt, no matter how much it pained him.

As it so happened, it wouldn't be long before he got the answers he was searching for. When the three days were up, Winry presented him with a brand new automail arm. Though she looked exhausted from the several all-nighters she'd had to pull, she seemed to be as proud as ever of her handiwork.

"Now I'd appreciate if you didn't break this one right away, Ed!" she warned him as she prepared to connect the automail to his nerves. "In fact, I'd rather you not break it at all, but since that's clearly too much to ask, at least give it a few months before you get it completely wrecked!"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever!" Ed scoffed, rolling his eyes. "Sheesh, it's like you don't understand that I work for the military! There's always gonna be danger!"

"In all fairness, Brother…" Al sighed. "You don't exactly try to avoid that danger."

The older Elric shot his brother a withering glare. "Shut up, Al! It's not my fault that everyone wants to attACK ME - !" His complaints devolved into a shriek as pain shot through his shoulder, where Winry had unexpectedly connected his new arm to his nerves.

"I'm sorry, were you not ready?" the mechanic asked innocently, though her smirk gave her away.

Gasping for breath as he was, Edward found himself incapable of answering. Instead, he forced four of his new automail fingers down to form a fist - leaving only a certain finger standing up straight, just for Winry.

"Well, aren't you charming?" was Winry's dry response to the obscene gesture. "Though I'll take that to mean that your fingers at least are working fine. Make sure you can move everything else before you go, though."

Before Edward could offer a biting retort, a certain silver-haired head poked its way around the corner.

"Uh, am I allowed to come in now?" asked Jack, who had indeed been banished from the room while Ed endured the nerve connection. "I'm gonna assume the scream means it's done."

"Yep! We just finished, come right in," Winry replied, not giving Edward a chance to speak.

"Cool." Jack stepped into the room, an easy smile on his face. Evidently, he had recovered from whatever gloom was previously ailing him. "So! Today's the day! You can fix my snow globe up, right?"

"G-Gee, someone's chipper," Ed muttered as he worked his right arm, ensuring that he had full range of motion with it. "But yeah...I can fix it. Do you have it on you?"

The older boy nodded, reaching into the pocket of his hoodie and pulling out the snow globe, which was coated in a sheet of ice to preserve what integrity it still had. About half of the globe was mostly intact, minus a few minor cracks, but the other half was clearly split into several large shards, only held together by Jack's ice.

"Tch…" Ed scoffed, standing up. "That's an easy job. Put it down on the table there and I'll have it done in no time."

"Whatever you say, blondie." Ignoring Ed's glare, Jack carefully placed the snow globe onto the indicated table. With a wave of his hand, the ice covering the glass vanished, though most of the glass shards managed to stay balanced in place, so that the liquid inside did not spill out.

"Still gotta figure out how the hell you do that," the young alchemist muttered, stepping over to the table. "But that can wait. For now...watch the master at work."

He was just going to pretend he didn't notice everyone else in the room rolling their eyes.

Edward lifted both hands, running through a few calculations and formulas in his mind, then slammed his palms together. A soft, high-pitched whine sounded as he placed both hands on the surface of the globe, and crackles of blue electricity arced around his fingertips. Within mere moments, the snow globe's glass looked as if it had never shattered.

A smug smile worked its way onto Edward's face as he looked up to see Jack's wide eyes. For all his magic tricks, it seemed that even the supposed spirit was awed by the skills of the Fullmetal Alchemist.

As he damn well should be.

"It's...completely fixed!" Jack exclaimed, picking up the snow globe and examining the glass surface. "...and you're gonna tell me that that wasn't magic?"

Ed rolled his eyes. "Yes, I am," he snapped. "Alchemy is a science! It requires math, it requires understanding of the elements, it requires - "

"Please, please forget I said anything, blondie," Jack groaned before Ed could set off on a tirade. "Science, sure, whatever. No need for a lecture."

"Clearly there is a need for it with a dumbass like you," Ed retorted.

Jack pouted. "...I resent that."

"Could you guys maybe not do this for just a few minutes?" Al cut in, one gloved hand smacking the front of his helmet. "Soon, I'm not going to be there to supervise you! How will you get anything done if you keep bickering like this?"

Since Jack had informed them that Al's armored appearance would cause him to stand out where he was from, even more than it did in Amestris, Al had reluctantly agreed to stay home while Ed went with Jack to...wherever. Privately, Ed thought that this was actually the ideal plan. On the off chance that Jack actually was leading him into some sort of trap (or if his "world" was more dangerous than he made it out to be), then Ed certainly did not want his little brother there. He knew that Al could more than hold his own in a fight, and that the armored boy would likely be offended if Edward told him his thoughts, but he felt much better knowing that Al would remain safe at home if anything was to happen.

Not that he was actually expecting much to happen, but considering the bad luck the Elrics were so frequently cursed with, it was better safe than sorry.

"We'll be fine, Al," said Edward, waving his brother off. "So long as Snowcone here doesn't ask too many dumbass questions."

"Real original," the "Snowcone" in question deadpanned. "But whatever, are you ready to go?"

"Ready as I'll ever be." Edward grabbed his signature red coat off of a nearby chair. "So I fixed your snow globe thing. What now?"

Jack grinned. "Now, we use it to get to my world." He thought for a moment, rolling the globe in his hands. "Let's see...going to the Pole directly might be a bit overwhelming, so...I'll take you to my home first. Sound good?"

"Sure, fine, whatever." Edward turned to Alphonse, sensing the worry that his little brother was trying so hard not to display. "I'll try not to be gone too long. With any luck, I'll be back here soon, along with a way for you to get your body back!"

"Good luck, Brother!" Al replied. Ed could almost hear the smile in his voice.

It was all for Al, Ed reminded himself. And Al was worth the world, even if he had to put up with a certain icy idiot for an indeterminate amount of time. Any sort of lead was worth it.

"Try not to kill each other, will you?" Winry added. "And Ed...be careful. Wherever you're going."

The boy sighed, rubbing at his forehead. "Yeah, yeah...sheesh, you two worry too much."

"And try not to break my automail again!"

"Ugh, fine!" Turning away from Winry, Edward marched up to Jack, glaring up at him. "Okay, let's get on with it already! How does this thing work?"

"Alright, alright," Jack chuckled. "So...all you have to do is give it a location…" He raised the snow globe to his mouth and whispered something that Edward couldn't hear. "...and then toss it!"

True to his word, Jack tossed the snow globe a few feet in front of him. Instead of shattering (again) on the floor like Edward had expected, the globe seemed to burst into glitter in midair. Each shimmering particle swirled, creating a bright, colorful vortex right in the center of the room.

Edward only vaguely acknowledged Al and Winry's twin exclamations of shock beside him, transfixed as he was by the whirling light. His heart rate picked up just a bit as he struggled to come up with a scientific explanation for what he was seeing.

Was there a transmutation circle on the snow globe? No, of course there wasn't. He had just fixed the globe himself, he would have noticed a circle if there was one. No circle on either of Jack's hands either...he hadn't clapped, he hadn't snapped, he hadn't done anything except throw the snow globe, and that wasn't the kind of action that could cause a transmutation. So then...it wasn't alchemy.

"Shit…" Ed murmured under his breath. As ridiculous of a notion as it was...was it possible that Jack hadn't been lying?

Truthfully, Ed hadn't even expected that anything would happen when Jack tossed the snow globe forward. Hell, he hadn't expected Jack to be able to fly, he hadn't expected him to jump off a building and land without a scratch, he hadn't expected him to be able to encase himself in indestructible ice when they were fighting Scar...he hadn't expected anything that Jack had done thus far. And as it so happened, practically everything Jack had done was certifiably impossible in the world Ed knew.

So was Jack really from another world? Were his strange powers really magic?

Suddenly, Edward was no longer so certain of the answer.

"So?" Jack prompted, smiling widely. "What do you think?"

For a long moment, the young alchemist continued staring. Then, "...I still think you're insane." He shook his head and stepped closer to the vortex. "So, what, we just...jump in?"

Jack nodded. "Pretty much, yeah."

Edward's eyes narrowed. "...you go first. You know, so I know this isn't some sort of trap."

"Always the cynicist," Jack sighed, shaking his head. "But sure. See you on the other side!" With that, he jumped, doing a front-flip in the air (just for flair, perhaps?), and entering the portal. Instantly, he vanished from sight.

"Show-off," Ed grumbled, trying to hide the fact that his hands were shaking.

"He...he's gone!" Alphonse yelped. "It really is a portal!"

"That didn't look like alchemy…" Winry commented, slowly glancing in Edward's direction. "I...think it might be time to admit that you were wrong, Ed."

Edward's eye twitched.

"...I'll see you guys later," he muttered gruffly.

Then, without giving either his brother or his mechanic another chance to speak, Ed stepped into the swirling portal.

()()()()

For several seconds, Edward felt like he was somersaulting through a tunnel made of neon lights. Colors spiraled around his eyes as his stomach lurched several times, until finally, he stopped spinning and instead faceplanted directly into a mound of snow.

Naturally, he immediately let loose a string of curses that was unfortunately muffled by the frigid powder.

An aggravatingly familiar laugh sounded from somewhere above him. "Nice landing!" Jack called out, his wide smile practically audible in his voice. "Don't worry, though, everyone's thrown off on their first time. Just takes practice!"

"Please...stop talking to me," Edward grumbled, lifting his head up out of the snow. "Forever, preferably."

Jack, who was evidently standing right in front of him, merely chuckled. "Aw, you don't mean that. Here, need help getting up?"

"No."

With some difficulty thanks to his arms sinking into the snowdrift a few times, Ed pushed himself up to his feet. As he brushed the remaining ice crystals off his face, shivering slightly, he glared at the older boy, who apparently was perfectly comfortable standing barefoot in the snow with little more than a hoodie to keep him warm.

"Don't tell me - you don't get cold," the alchemist deadpanned.

"Nope!" Jack answered cheerily. "Winter spirit perks." His grin widened. "That aside, though...do you believe me now?"

Ed clenched his teeth, glancing around. They appeared to now stand in a clearing in a wooded area, right beside a frozen lake. Snow blanketed the ground and draped over the leafless trees - quite a contrast from the warm Resembool sun they had left behind.

Though it hurt his pride, Ed was forced to admit that they were, undoubtedly, in a completely different location. The portal had worked, with no alchemy involved. Surprisingly, signs were pointing to Jack not being absolutely insane after all.

Unless of course Ed had just lost his mind as well, but he preferred to believe that that wasn't the case.

"...fine," Edward finally grumbled. "I guess...I guess you weren't lying. Or crazy. I guess you're…" He cringed. "...magical after all."

The winter spirit smirked. "I knew you'd come around eventually," he chuckled. "Though I've gotta admit, your level of stubbornness is actually impressive."

"Shut up," the disgruntled alchemist retorted. "Just tell me where the hell we are. Weren't we supposed to be going to your home or something? Why are we at a lake?"

Jack's expression turned sheepish. "Well, uh…" He ran his fingers through his hair, chuckling awkwardly. "This...is my home, actually. Or...as close as I've got to one, anyway."

Ed blinked. Well. No wonder Jack looked homeless. He literally was.

"Ah, I guess technically one of my colleagues gave me a room at his workshop," Jack continued, beginning to ramble. "Which was really nice of him, and I definitely appreciate it, don't get me wrong, it's just kind of...awkward right now, I guess? It's like, I'm definitely part of the group now, but it hasn't really been long enough for me to feel like I am, you know? Plus I'm a nature spirit anyway, so I'm not really used to sleeping indoors? Or maybe that's just because I've never had the chance to sleep inside before, I don't know...hm…"

And Winry said that Edward lacked social skills. Unbelievable.

"...are you done?" Edward deadpanned.

"...yeah, I'm done." Jack cleared his throat awkwardly. "Uh...sorry. I kinda just feel...lightheaded, for some reason? Guess it's making me nervous or something. I'll, uh...I'll shut up now."

"Finally," Edward muttered, though he frowned, eyes narrowing in thought.

Jack was lightheaded again, was he? Did it have anything to do with his strange dizzy spell a few days ago? Had that not been caused by Jack hanging upside down for too long after all? Or...no, it was still possible that he was dizzy from the portal they'd just taken.

But what if that wasn't it?

Ed repeatedly tried to tell himself that he didn't care, that it didn't matter, but his curiosity eventually got the better of him. Besides, he reasoned, if Jack really was sick or something, it was better that they figured things out now instead of waiting until later. The last thing he wanted was to be left alone in a strange world if Jack passed out or something.

"Actually, you know what?" Ed began, barely concealing his grimace. "Don't shut up. I want you to tell me what's up with you."

The older boy blinked, glancing down at Ed. "What's up with me?"

"Yes!" Ed insisted, arms crossed. "Look, you're weird enough as it is, but ever since you randomly fell over a few days ago, you've been acting even weirder! I originally thought you'd gotten over it by now, but apparently not. So what's going on!?"

Jack managed a slight smile, though it didn't quite reach his eyes. "Aw, you do care," he half-heartedly teased. "But don't worry...it's probably nothing, I think. Either way, though, you didn't come here to worry about me. Let's get to the Pole, before…" He suddenly trailed off, his eyebrows furrowing. "...before…"

His breath hitched.

Before Edward could utter even a syllable of reaction, Jack was on his hands and knees, coughing violently. A gurgle sounded in his throat, and as liquid shot out of Jack's mouth and splattered on the snow below him, an image of his chronically ill alchemy teacher was conjured in Edward's mind. Only, the substance that Jack had just coughed up was not the thick, red blood that often spilled from Izumi Curtis' mouth.

It was water.

Both boys gaped at the ground in silence for a solid ten seconds, unmoving. Then, Ed became the first to find his voice.

"What...the hell?" he breathed. "What just happened!? Where did that come from!? What, are you melting or something, Snowcone!?"

Jack did not respond, instead continuing to stare mutely at the water seeping into the snow. He slowly shifted back into a kneeling position, lifting his head just enough so that Ed could see his face.

As well as the new brown streak in the boy's silvery hair.

"What the hell!?" Ed repeated, though with quite a bit more volume as he stumbled back in shock. "What's up with your hair!? What's going on!?"

Finally, Jack spoke, though his voice came out shaky and uncertain. "My...hair…?" He lifted a hand to his bangs and pulled them out in front of his eyes, which widened considerably upon seeing the chestnut streak.

"W-What!?" he yelped. "No...no, no, no, this is bad...this is really bad…"

"What's bad!?" Ed demanded to know. "What's happening right now!?"

Suddenly, a long shadow fell over the two of them.

"...oh no," Jack whispered.

"Well, well…" a dark voice chuckled from behind them. "What do we have here…? Looks like lonely little Frost finally made a friend."

Edward spun around to see a tall yet gaunt man standing just outside the treeline. His skin was an odd slate gray, and he was draped in robes so dark they could have been made of shadow. There was a cruel smirk on his thin, angular face, and the irises of his narrowed eyes seemed to constantly shift between gray and gold.

"Who the hell are y - !?" Edward began to exclaim, though Jack jumped up and clamped a hand over his mouth before he could finish.

"No one you want to mess with!" Jack hissed in his ear. "Trust me! Just stay back and let me handle this!"

Though Ed immediately attempted to question him, all he could manage were a few muffled sounds behind Jack's hand.

"Don't make me freeze your mouth shut again!"

The alchemist's eyes narrowed, but he relented, keeping his mouth firmly shut. As much as he wanted to demand answers from either Jack or the creepy-looking newcomer, he wasn't exactly inclined to have his speech fully taken from him in the process.

Jack released his hold on Ed, then stepped in front of him, raising his staff in a defensive position. His moment of weakness seemed to have passed, though his brown lock of hair still stood out against the rest of the silver.

"Let me guess, Pitch" Jack began darkly, more serious than Ed had ever seen him. "You're behind this?" He gestured at his discolored hair.

The man - Pitch, apparently - gave a low laugh in response. "Not so fond of the new look, are we, Jack?" he drawled casually. "Not to worry, I'm sure it will look better when it's entirely brown. I just have to snuff out a few more lights…"

Though Edward had absolutely no idea what Pitch was talking about, Jack's temper appeared to flare.

"Pitch, if you've put even a scratch on just one kid, I'll - !"

Pitch merely laughed again, his strange eyes glittering. "Funny, I wasn't aware that a winter spirit could be so fiery," he teased. "But calm yourself, Frost - this is purely between you and me. I haven't harmed a single child…" He paused for a moment to think. "Well...not physically, anyway."

Jack glared daggers at the man and lifted his staff higher as bolts of bright blue power began to arc around the hook. "Alright, then...I'll give you ten seconds to crawl back into the hole you came from," he spat. "Otherwise, I'll freeze you where you sta - "

Suddenly, he choked again, dissolving into another watery coughing fit. The power faded from his staff as his concentration broke.

"Shit," Edward found himself muttering as he absentmindedly fiddled with his gloves. Though he still wasn't sure what was going on, this 'Pitch' guy was giving off a vibe that was distinctly creepy as hell. Edward had a feeling that, one way or another, things were going to end in a fight - one that he wasn't too sure that Jack could reliably participate in.

Not that he cared, of course.

"Intimidating as ever, I see," Pitch sneered. "Now then…" He turned to Edward, who immediately felt a chill rush down his spine.

Yep. Creepy as hell.

"My sincerest apologies," the man said to him, in a tone that sounded especially insincere. "But I'm going to have to take your little icy friend off your hands. I'm afraid Jack here is far too dangerous to be allowed to run around on his own, even in this state...I won't make the mistake of underestimating him again."

Edward's eyes narrowed. "Like hell you are!" he spat, though despite his bravado, his hands still shook. "I need him! He's supposed to help me with something way more important than some gray weirdo in a dress!"

"E-Edward, seriously," Jack rasped from his position on the ground. "R-Really not a guy you wanna provoke right now…"

Naturally, Ed proceeded to completely ignore him.

"So back off and move along!" the alchemist shouted, stepping forward to stand completely in front of Jack. "I don't have time for some...some...whatever the hell you are, getting in my way!" He scowled, readying his hands to clap. "Tell you what! I'll give you ten seconds to leave before I come over there and kick your ass!"

"Edward!" Jack growled, trying to push himself back up to a standing position. "S-Seriously!"

Pitch scoffed indifferently. "Hm, such big words from such a small boy," he commented, nonchalantly folding his hands behind his back.

Something within Ed snapped.

"DON'T CALL ME SMALL, YOU BASTARD!"

"...oh no," Jack groaned behind him.

Abandoning all thoughts of performing alchemy, Ed practically flew towards Pitch, his automail fist raised, ready to brutally connect with the frustratingly tall man's face. Just before he could get there, however, a large black shape hurtled out of nowhere, slamming into Edward's side and knocking him flat onto the snowy ground once more.

"Oh, COME ON!" Ed screeched, scrambling to his feet and whipping back around to get a look at whatever had attacked him.

Right at Pitch's side now stood a disturbingly skeletal black horse, stamping and snorting with rage. Its eyes were featureless and lamplike, glowing amber in the creature's skull-like head. Strange tendrils wound their way off of the horse's mane, tail, and fetlocks, undulating in the wind and scattering traces of what looked like black sand across the snow beneath them.

Edward blinked.

Now that he thought about it, the entire horse was made from black sand.

"Easy, girl, easy…" Pitch practically purred, running his slate gray hand down the strange horse's muzzle. He glanced back at Edward and grinned with pointed teeth. "You must forgive Onyx, here. She and the other Nightmares are quite...protective of me."

From off to the side, Jack scoffed weakly, forcing a mocking smirk onto his otherwise pained face. "I-Is that why they all turned on you s-so quickly before?"

Pitch scowled in return. "That was...a minor fluke," he said delicately. "Easily resolved, as you can see." He made a point of stroking the "Nightmare's" mane while glaring down his nose at Jack.

"Hey!" Edward cut in before either of them could speak again. "I don't give a damn about your horse thing, or its stupid pun name! I have my own stuff to do, and you - !" He pointed an accusatory finger at Pitch. " - are not going to stop me! I'm taking this dumbass and leaving, and if I have to beat your ass in order to do that, I will!"

"Yes, because that worked so well before," Pitch droned sarcastically. Then, to Ed's surprise, he chuckled and smiled in his direction. "I will say, though, I am impressed that you're willing to remain in the presence of someone like Jack Frost here. Especially given your...past traumas."

Ed's eyes narrowed. "The hell is that supposed to mean!?"

"Ah, nothing," the man answered flippantly, an easy smirk on his gaunt face. "It just strikes me as odd...a boy, whose nightmares are haunted by the memories of his failure to bring his mother back from the grave, willing to associate with someone like Frost." He cocked his head to the side. "Strange, don't you agree?"

Ed's heart dropped as a jolt of fear coursed through him.

"Y-You…" he stammered, golden eyes wide as he stared at Pitch. "H-How the hell did you know that!?"

"That's the one thing I always know, Edward Elric," the creepy man taunted. "People's greatest fears, insecurities, anxieties...I know exactly what causes you to wake up screaming, what sends your mind into a veritable hurricane of terror." He gave a shark-like grin as his eyes glittered amber. "Forgive me for not making a proper introduction sooner...my name is Pitch Black. The Nightmare King."

As if to accentuate its master's words, the black sand horse at his side let out a chilling, echoing whinny, tossing its head and stamping its hooves in the snow.

It took Edward several seconds longer than he would care to admit to regain his voice, and even then, his legs still wobbled rather noticeably.

"I-I don't care about a-all that!" he spluttered, attempting to summon confidence that was just out of his reach. "W-What...w-what does all that have to do w-with Snowcone there!?"

Pitch feigned surprise, making a show of tilting his head and straightening his posture. "Oh...has he not told you yet?"

"P-Pitch…" Jack growled, though his eyes darted from side to side as though he was afraid. "D-Don't do this…"

"W-What the hell are you talking about!?" Ed shouted over Jack, still glaring at Pitch. A lump formed in his throat, but he quickly swallowed it. No matter how bad a feeling he had about this whole situation, he had to know what was going on.

Even if Pitch was screwing with him, there was still clearly something that Jack didn't want him to know about.

"I'm talking about little Jack Frost's origin story," Pitch drawled with a shadowed smirk. "He used to be human, you know - though that's not entirely unusual for a spirit. No...Jack is a bit more interesting than that."

"P-Pitch!" Jack choked out, then resumed another watery coughing fit. It looked like a bit more of his hair was turning brown.

"Tell me!" Ed demanded.

Pitch's eyes flashed golden.

"Why do you think he's coughing up all that water…? When a Guardian loses believers, they lose their magic as well. In Jack's case...well, he's becoming human again. And he's drowning."

Pitch grinned wolfishly as Edward's stomach dropped.

"Yes...it just so happens that the last time Jack Frost was human, he was little more than a drowned corpse beneath this very lake."