AUTHOR'S NOTE: Well, here's the second installment. I've got nothing much to say anyway, so let's start on with the story! Anyway, find out for yourself how this story relates to the main story anyway. I know some people only read FMA fanfictions just for the sake of the alchemy battles involved! XP

NOTE: The boy will have a fictional name here. So it's not REAL!

JOURNEY TWO: A STRANGE VISITOR

Previously…

Winry Rockbell was at a scene where the Elric brothers had intercepted the infamous criminal Scar. She is surprised to find out that Scar actually knows her. And when she falls unconscious, she wakes up to find herself in a completely new place with a boy she doesn't even know who finds her. Now she is on her way to finding out the place…the Ishbal region…

Winry regained her consciousness. She had not opened her eyes but could tell that the sun had risen already. The young Rockbell could feel something of a hot breath blowing across her face. Could some pervert be cozying up to her? She opened her eyes to see what had happened.

"Ahhhh!" She heard a familiar male voice as her blue eyes met that of the red eyes of an Ishbalan. She rose up to see the boy from yesterday had been looking close to her face all of this time. He had fallen back onto the ground, rubbing his back from the sudden fall he had taken. "That smarts, oneechan."

"Who's your oneechan, bouzu?" She folded her arms and started haranguing the boy on the floor. As she landed her foot on the hard floor, the boy stood up once again. "Don't you have school or something like that?"

"I…I'm running late," he replied back to her. The Ishbalan had a sling bag made of some animal felt, carrying something seemingly heavy. "I need you to take care of this house." Winry took a small step back. She had barely arrived yesterday, and this so-called Ishbalan family was entrusting the upkeep of the house to her.

"I'm off, please thank you!" He exclaimed as he went out of the doorway.

"Wait!" Winry chased after him, but it was too late. He had gone and was nowhere in sight in the far-off busy and crowded street filled with people and sandy dust. "For a young person, he's really fit…" She sighed to herself as she turned behind to see the interior of the house of the Ishbalan family.

"Well…time to get to work," she spoke to herself and retied her ponytail into a higher arching one. The Rockbell took a piece of cloth on a table and tied around her mouth. "It looks like this house really needs some cleaning……and repairing." Her eyes, with the instinct of a mechanic, caught the sight of a broken down table.

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Bouzu came running down the street back to the house. After all, he could not trust a complete stranger to attend to the house as what his brother had warned him before leaving the house. His religious class was over and he had to run back to his home from the temple of Ishbala.

He reopened the fragile wooden door to see a shocking sight within. The house had been completely cleaned with not a speck of dirt in sight. It was highly incomprehensible how a girl like her could manage to clean the house by herself when it seemed difficult to clean the heavy clutter within.

"Hi bouzu," Winry came up to him, with a flannel tied over her head. "You're back so fast?" She gave a warm smile as she walked along the room, holding a large earthen pot. He only stood there speechless, with the sling bag still swinging along his shoulder.

"How…how did you do it?" He questioned her as his red eyes traveled to hers. "Are people from the West as efficient as you?"

"Well…no," she replied back before returning to arrange the items in the house. "It's just that I'm an automail engineer, so efficiency is needed to ensure that I can allow an automail to work efficiently…" Her words trailed off as pictures of Ed began to fill her mind again. After all, his automail arm and leg were the symbol of her masterpiece.

"What's wrong?" He questioned her again at the listless look of Winry.

"Nothing…" She got back to her senses and smiled back at him. "Just some memories."

"What's your this so-called automail?"

"Oh," she wondered for a while, placing a finger on her chin. "It's something to replace a limb lost from accidents or war. And it's much stronger and faster than a human one." She returned to her housework, while humming away.

"I see," the both of them heard a strange voice coming from the open door way. They turned to see a figure in black with a dark scarf wrapped around the head. "So it's really true you're from Amestris."

"Who are you?" Bouzu demanded from the dark figure. The figure raised up its hat to reveal a woman's face with black eyes and lips. "I heard from my master. You're the so-called exile of Ishbal!"

"Exile?" Winry took a step back before Bouzu came in front of her.

"Winry Rockbell," the woman spoke out as she looked straight at her eyes. "I suppose your flow of time is somehow different from the people here." The Rockbell gave a gasp as she looked at the exile with fear.

"Fear not," the exile gave a sinister smile which made the boy more aggressive at attempting to drive her away. "I'll help you return home, only if you do something for me."

"What is it you want me to do?" Winry replied back, with a little tremble in her tone.

"Think of an object, clap your hands, and slam them across this ground," the woman demanded as her eyes widened to force her mentally to do so.

"Wait…that sounds familiar…" Winry questioned back. "Isn't that what…"

"…Edward Elric does?" The exile completed her sentence making Winry more suspicious of her. "That's right. Alchemy without an alchemic array. I want you to do it." Her mind began to search of reasons not to do so.

"But…but…" she crept closer to the Ishbalan who was protecting her. "…I have not seen the truth! Ed has seen it. He can do it, that's why!"

"Just do it, Ms Rockbell!" The exile ordered her with a raised tone. Winry nodded and closed her eyes. Her mind began to find the shape of a certain object. Slowly as she could, her hands clapped together in a sharp impact.

"What are you doing, oneechan?" Bouzu questioned her as soon as she had clapped her hands together. It was too quick for she rapidly slammed her hands onto the ground. Within a split second, the ground broke open as pillars rose up to form a certain object. WInry opened her eyes with an angered look.

"Brilliant," the exile spoke from the stone cage of hers. "So your family does carry the blood ability of those who do not need a transmutation circle. But I can do that too." She clapped her hands and pressed them against the stone cage, which slowly melted back into the ground again.

"W-what's the meaning of this?" Winry exclaimed as she looked at her own hands, which could suddenly do alchemy all of a sudden. It was something her grandmother had forbidden her to do after all, ever since the atrocities of the war in Ishbal. As she remembered of the Ishbal conflict, many memories began flowing back into her which made her give out a small gasp.

She began to remember back when the battle with Scar had made her unconscious where she awakened in old Ishbal. Her blue eyes shifted to see the concerned eyes of the Ishbalan. His arms were on her shoulders now, where she had become deep in thought. His young face, somehow, shifted to be a blurred visage of Scar.

"Are you okay?" He shook her who had knelt on the ground.

"Kukukukuku," the exile spoke as she lowered the scarf, covering her eyes. She turned behind to exit the house. "Now I have found something important. I shall take my leave now." She laughed evilly as she left the house with a shocked Winry and an angered Bouzu.

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The Rockbell reopened her eyes to meet the face of the young Ishbalan. He had brought her back to the bed and tucked her in to let her rest after she had fainted from her shock. "Here's some water," he took a wooden cup to her as she took it in her hands. "Don't believe that woman. She's an exile who is not to be trusted. And…"

"And…what?" Winry looked up to see the boy.

"Don't tell anyone what you just did with those hands," he advised her. "The people here hate the Great Art to the core. It's banned by our religion." He sat on the straw bed next to her.

"Bouzu," she placed the wooden cup on her lap. "Thank you." His reaction was the prominent red flushes on his dark cheeks. Winry gave a slight giggle at what had happened. "Why are you always flushing in front of girls?" She questioned him.

"Well…I'm training to be part of the religion," he answered her back with a tone of sincerity. He lowered his head down for a moment. "I'm not supposed to tell any outsiders about it."

"If you called me oneechan," Winry spoke back as though she knew him well. "Am I an outsider?" She placed the cup in his hands to return it to him. He looked back up to see a gentle smile by the Westerner.

"Not really…" he spoke back softly. "We've only met for one day, and I'm already treating you like someone close…it isn't appropriate…" He mumbled to himself and rose up. "I'm going to put the cup away." As he turned, he quickly walked away to avoid Winry asking him further. He had a special feeling about her, but he could not comprehend it. The only way was to wait and see what would happen. That only circulated in his complicated mind.

He returned to see her fast asleep. She had been exhausted after the terrible ordeal by the mysterious visitor. Without thinking properly, he raised his hand and suddenly stroked her soft, golden hair. A smile wore across his face. He felt something weird within him, but ignored it.

"Ed…Ed…where are you?" Winry whispered in her sleep as he was stroking her hair. He quickly withdrew, with his eyes surprised at what she was saying. "I'm all alone…I want to go home…" Tears were seeping out of her eyes as she slept soundly once again. Seeing her real emotions, he took a handkerchief from one side and swiped the tears off her face.

"Don't worry," he spoke to the sleeping Rockbell. "I'll help you find this guy called Ed." He slowly walked away, leaving the sleeping Winry on the bed. He did not realize that as soon as he was gone, Winry reopened her eyes to look at his fading back, and the familiar pattern of hair at the back of his head.

"You'll kill my parents in future, won't you, Scar?" She mumbled as she watched him walk deeper into the other side of the room.

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She reopened her eyes to see that it was night. She got up to see that the family was eating away at a nearby table. A silent family they had, she thought up in her mind. It was not before his brother caught her awake in his sight.

"Oh, you're awake," he spoke as he turned to see Winry, who had got up from the bed. "Aldes told me that something bad happened today."

"Who's Aldes?" She was a little confused at what he was saying. Her eyes shifted to see the boy eating very hurriedly, acting as if he had a huge sweat drop on his head.

"Didn't he tell you?" His brother was also surprised. He turned his head to see his brother. "Didn't you tell Ms Rockbell your name?"

"Niisan, you said it was not good to tell strangers your name," he defended himself.

"Is she a stranger to us anymore?"

"So she didn't know Aldes' name all the time?" The woman with the scarf rose up to look at Winry. She gave a slight giggle, covering her lower lip with her hand. "Or was he too shy to give his name?"

"Yes," he gave a large gulp. Turning his head to Winry, he showed an expression of attempted braveness. "My name is Aldebalan. It means the follower."

"All the more I have to give you the name bouzu then," Winry remarked. "No wonder I had the weird feeling you were some religious person." Aldes had a strange look on his face which made him confused at Winry's seemingly weird response.

"Nothing really, forget about it!" Winry replied back about it after he was unable to understand what she was talking about. Suddenly, her stomach gave a large growl. "Any food for me?" She gave a short chuckle.

The entire family laughed for an entire moment. They were, however, unaware that it won't be long before something would happen to Winry, especially when Aldes had began to know her better…

On one of the rooftops of the many houses in the city of Ishbal stood the female exile with the black scarf stared at the large temple far from the area she stood. Her sinister smile wore across her face as she looked at the full moon, which bathed the sleeping city at night in its moonlight.

"With the help of that girl," she whispered sinisterly to herself. "I shall revive the Great Art. It was a tough time bringing her here after all." She smiled one more time before closing the scarf over her face.

"That's a stupid idea," one of the figures crept up behind her. She turned behind to see a taller man with an Ishbalan's clothing. "Her power is not activated yet. Wait a while more before you take any action. We have no idea how limitless her power can be."

"As if!" She snapped back, looking at the temple once more. "Magnum Superior. Does that power actually exist?"

"We'll have to wait and see."

GLOSSARY:

Oneechan – big sister

Magnum Superior – in my story, this means some item you'll find out later in future!

(Check out the next chapter in future!)