"Ed! Slow Down!" Al yelled chasing his older brother into a small restaurant. They both sat down at the counter. They got the same strange looks as usual, but they were used to that.

"So this is Tengoku…" Ed muttered looking around. It was an odd town, desert on one side, yet a forest on the other, truly amazing, and completely run down. Half of the houses were nothing but rubble, and the other half could do with a paintjob.

"Ed, are you sure that Mr. Shigawa's here? It doesn't seem like a Alchemist like that would be in a place like this…"

"I don't know Al; we'll have to find out."

"Find out what?" asked a boy around Ed's age, 15. He was tall, well, taller than Ed, with short brown hair and a dirty brown cloak over his navy blue outfit.

"I don't believe I was talking to you." Ed said rather annoyed.

"Sorry, shrimp."

"WHAT DID YOU CALL ME!" Ed yelled as Al held him back.

"WHY I OUGHTTA KICK YOU SO HARD THAT-"

His rant was interrupted by a giggle from a fairly pretty girl, 15 as well. She had long jet black hair and outfit just as dark. It consisted of a short black skirt and tank top that didn't reach farther than her belly button; all this however was covered by a black cloak a lot like Ed's. "Please forgive him. He's just like that. He didn't mean anything by it, honest."

"Cierra, don't-I could've taken him…. "

"Kai, do you know who that is?"

"Who, him? No? Should I?"

"Let's examine this, he's 15, traveling with a suit of armor, carrying a state alchemist watch….he can't be anyone else but Edward Elric, am I right."

"I've gotta hand it to you, you know your alchemists." Ed said less eager to punch the guy's face in than before. They were now walking out of the diner and down the road, although to where, they weren't entirely sure.

"Thanks." She said with a smile. "So, what brings you to Tengoku?"

"I'm looking for a State Alchemist named Kioku Shigawa." The instant Ed said that name the girls face got Dark as she lowered her head and turned away.

"Get out…" Kai mumbled with the same lowered dark face, although still facing Ed with Clenched fists.

"I don't-"

"GET OUT NOW!" He yelled looking up at him.

"What the hell is wrong with you! I didn't even say anything!" Ed yelled back, more than slightly confused.

The girl took off running the other way.

"Cierra, wait-" Kai started, but stayed to talk with Ed. "Who the hell do you militarians think you are? First, you barge in here, torch her house, and with it her entire family, then, you have the nerve a year later to show up here again, this time, asking for someone you killed!"

"What?" Al was trying so hard to follow what he was saying, but it didn't make any sense.

"You won't find Kioku Shigawa here. Cierra Shigawa's father was killed a year ago, along with the rest of her family, she's only one left." He said quietly as he walked away.

Cierra sat at her window, looking down at the two foreigners. Her fingers played with the necklace around her neck as sighed at Kai yelling at them, it wasn't their fault. She took off the necklace and placed it on her desk. It was a beautiful piece of work, her father's work actually. It was barely bigger than a marble, but it was covered in transmutation circles and glowed magnificently. Cierra sighed, as she turned her attention to the book in front of her. She had been working on translating her father's journals into English seeing as they were in a language with no key or way to figure out, and eternity code, if you will, but Cierra had known the key for as long as she could read or write.

It was mostly boring stuff, e mc squared, nothing extraordinary, except for the last 2 books. They were intense to read. It was all about human transmutation, souls, the physical makeup and more complicated things like that. Both books were filled with equations and formulas, and the finished product…was hanging around his daughter's neck.

Cierra closed the book as she check to see if they had left. However, the short alchemist and his giant brother were both sitting on the curb wondering what to do. She at least had to tell them that her father wasn't coming to meet them anytime soon. She snatched the necklace off the desk and latched it around her neck once again. She tucked it into her shirt as she ran out to meet them.

"Cierra, was it?" Ed said before she could say anything. After she nodded Ed continued. "Listen, I'm sorry about your father, I had no idea…"

"It's fine, how could you have known, it's not like you're the one who did it." She shrugged; her voice was quaky, like she could burst out in tears any second, though she didn't. "It gets pretty cold after dark, maybe you should stay with me, but just for tonight." She added on quickly at the end to make sure it was a one time only thing, at least until they could get on a train the next day.

"Really? That'd be great!" Al said standing up.

"Head's up!" A boy yelled as a massive dog ran right passed them.

"Tsutchi!" Cierra yelled as vine that seemed to come out of her hand wrapped itself around the dog and brought him back to her, just after that, the vine disappeared. "Here ya go." She smiled as she handed the boy the leash.

"Thanks, Cierra." He said as he walked off with the dog.

"Wow! How'd you do that!" Al asked, amazed.

"By the looks of it, you condensed the element into another form and used a transmutation circle to call it out at will, it disappeared just now because ti went back to its original form, right?" Ed said pulling her hands out from her sleeves to reveal the circles, if there were any.

"Nice try." She said, smiling yet again walking back to the house.

"But then-"

"It's a secret." She winked holding the door open as the two went in, Ed arguing the whole way.

"Tell me!"

"Nuh uh. "

"Damnit! I'll kill you!"

"Well, then you'll never know, will you?" She teased showing them their room and getting them set up, she was still arguing with Ed until he finally fell sleep and she did too.