Fullmetal Sorcerer
Standard Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Fullmetal Alchemist stuff. I do, however, own the rest of it.
Chapter 1: The Array in the Desert
Edward Elric heard a pair of familiar footballs echoing down hall to the tiny office he had rented. Two years ago he and his brother had moved to Chicago, Illinois in the United States of America. They had hoped to use the city of a kind of base of operations to stop the mad physicist Huskisson from spreading the knowledge of his atomic bomb. Ultimately, they were not able to keep that knowledge secret. Fortunately, this United States government at least did not seem to want to actually use the bomb. Many groups of scientists even seemed to be trying to harness the power of the bomb and use it as a source of electricity. Perhaps everything would work out for the best.
The glass in the doors windowpane that read "Elric Engineering" rattled as Alphonse Elric threw the door open. He was slightly out of breath, his cheeks tinged with the tale tell color of exertion. Alphonse had changed quite a bit over the last two years. His face squarer, and build quite a bit stockier. He was taller too, almost 5'8". His eyes still shone with the same kind of boyish innocence mixed with hard gained wisdom they always had. Ed hadn't changed nearly as much. His frame was still small, though he was only a couple inches shorter than his brother.
"Ed, look what I found!" Al said holding up a manila folder, excitement punctuating his every word.
Ed eagerly held up his hand, and Al gave him the folder. He quickly opened it up, knowing that anything that would make his brother this excited would be worth knowing. Inside were aerial pictures of some desert. The pictures were freshly developed, probably only hours old.
"The good ones are in the middle." Al said.
Ed flipped through the pictures until he came to the middle. When he saw the picture Al was talking about, he could almost feel the rest of the world stop around him. Clearly drawn into desert were lines. Lines that made a very familiar pattern. He looked up immediately to see Al's smiling face.
"That's a transmutation circle. Where were these taken?" Ed said knowing that he was now sounding every bit as excited as his younger brother.
Al nodded. "The Tule desert, Arizona. Look at the next one."
Ed studied the pictures for a few more minutes. Each time he saw a new one that same feeling of having his reality redefined was hammered through his body. When he saw the last one, his hands were shaking so badly he dropped the folder.
"Al, it's the same kind of circle that brought us to this world."
Al nodded again. "Do you think this means we can go home?"
" Who knows? But attaching that camera to a nimbus was a total stroke of genius," Ed said. "Come on. Pack. We're going on a trip."
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The Nimbus II hummed through the night sky. The twin-engine passenger plane was based on the design of the Nimbus I that had earned the Elric brothers a small fortune. It had room for six passengers, and was the fastest personally owned aircraft currently available on the market.
Ed was trying to sleep, but couldn't do anything more than stare at the ceiling. His mind kept racing as he thought of the photos, images carved into his mind. In one of the seats behind him he could hear the fortuneteller Noa snoring softly. He wondered if, when the time came, she would follow them back to their world or remain in this one. She would probably go where Al went. The two of them had become quite close over the last couple of years. Ed kept wondering when his brother would put a ring around her finger.
Giving up on sleep, Ed stood up and made his way to the cockpit. A small light bulb burned in the cockpit, illuminating the instruments. He sat down in the co-pilot seat next to Al. "We close?" He asked.
"Another hour 'til we land. Then it's another 4 hours by car to where these were taken. How's all the equipment check out?"
"It's fine. If this is what we think it is..." Ed left the rest unsaid.
Al's face fell just a little. "I know. But let's not get our hopes up. The chances of this being real are almost none."
Ed shook his head. "I think they are better than that. Much better. I've been going over these pictures for the last couple of hours. This transmutation circle is genuine. I'm certain. It's a transmutation circle that leads to the other world. I've seen these before, and there is no mistaking what it is."
"But it's so big" Al said.
"I've been thinking about that. Alchemy takes energy to work. Something like going to another world would take lots of energy. Now, the circle is made up of black stones placed in lines on the desert surface. I think the rocks absorb the heat of the sun and convert it into energy to be used to work the transmutation circle. Also, there is one line out of place. If we were to move the line into place starting at sunrise, then by the time we finished it would be near sunset. Or when the rocks were at their hottest."
"That would give us enough power to work the array?" Al asked.
"Probably. That's my theory anyway. And look at the center of the Array. I've never seen a pattern exactly like it. But if you had to guess, what would you think that this array would do?" Ed asked.
Al took the picture and studied it for a moment. Ed watched him work his lips, silently muttering to him self as he worked out the possible purposes for the array he was looking at. Like someone flicking on a switch, Al's face brightened in comprehension.
"It would let someone in the center of the array travel through the gate safely! Wow. Whoever designed this was a real genius." Al said.
"So, it should work!" Ed said.
"If you think it will work, I'll trust you. Who knows more about Alchemy than you, anyway?" Al said.
Al didn't say anything else after that. Ed watched the night moon for a minute. It was a bright full moon, a moon that he and his brother had trained so hard under for so many months. It was one of many things that were the same in both worlds. So many things were the same in both worlds. The landmasses were the same. As far as Ed could tell, all the people in the world had a counterpart in his world. So many things were different too. This world was so much more peaceful. That was one of the main reasons he wanted to return to his world. This world just did not need him as badly.
"Hey Al, want me to fly for a while?" Ed asked.
"No thanks. Remember Cairo?"
"Hey! I'm a much better pilot now!"
"Oh yeah, what about Los Angeles?"
"Ancient history."
"That was two weeks ago!"
The brothers bickering continued until the plane landed.
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The truck they rented looked more than sturdy enough to carry them out into the dessert and back. A quick inspection did not reveal any mechanical problems. Ed kept saying that taking the extra tanks of gas was a waste of time because they would not be coming back, but you could never be too careful.
Al double-checked the map one last time. The directions he gave Ed were perfect. In four hours they would reach the edge of the transmutation circle. Al wished they had outfitted the truck with proper tires. If this turned out not to be a gate back home, that was one innovation he was going to be sure this world got, post haste. Two hours after they started, Ed pulled over to relieve him self.
As he left Al asked Noa "Hey. How do you feel about all this? About leaving this world."
Noa sighed. "Al, we've had this talk before. I don't have anything here other than you and Ed. Even in this country people still treat me badly. I'll follow you wherever you want. I just want to stay with you."
Al felt a pair of spots on his cheeks even warmer than the desert sun. Noa could usually make him blush just with a look. When she was trying, he didn't have a chance.
"Yeah. Me too. I'm glad you want to come with us Noa. I love you."
"I love you too Alphonse Elric."
"Now lets cut this mushy stuff out. Ed is coming back. I don't want to get teased all the way through the desert."
Noa giggled.
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"Hey Al, check this out. The line we need to move is made up of individual black rocks that form a line because they are all touching. But look at the rest of the circle. It's one big piece. I wonder who made this." Ed said.
Al let out a low whistle, clearly impressed. Making something like this without the use of alchemy would have been hard. Ed thought that maybe this had come from his home world too. If that was the case, then it probably was made with alchemy. Still, even with alchemy it would not have been an easy construction to make. The construction was made from black rock and stretched nearly as far as the eye could see. The size of the array was immense. Not since Scar had made the array that resulted in Al turning into the philosophers stone had Ed seen such a construction.
"All right, we'll set up camp and then get to work fixing the array so it will work." Ed said.
Ed wanted to double-check the pictures before they started moving the rocks that made up the transmutation circle. He was confident in his ability to finish the circle, but he knew it wouldn't hurt to have his brother check his work. Ed was probably the second best alchemist of the age.
"I'll handle camp. You two get to work figuring out your circle" Noa said.
Al started to protest, but Noa cut him off. "I've been setting up camp since I could walk. I can handle it. I can't help you two with the circle. Let me do what I can."
Ed smiled watching the two of them. He wondered if his mother and father were like that in the past. They were so cute together.
Ed asked Al to draw a picture of what the thought the finished transmutation circle should look like. As Al drew the circle on one of the pieces of paper they had brought, so did Ed. When they compared the two, they came up with exact drawings. By the time they finished, Noa had already gotten camp set up and a fire going.
"Ok, so we move the base line four degrees to the east, and make it so it has a ninety degree turn here." Ed stabbed a line on one of the pictures.
Al hung his head. "That line is a mile long." He said.
"1.12 miles actually." Ed corrected.
"We'll have to start early in the morning if we are to get it all moved by Sunset." Al complained.
"It won't be that early. If we start moving rocks by 9:00 we should be done in plenty of time." Ed said.
"At least you won't be hungry. I make good campfire breakfasts," Noa said.
Ed stood up and walked over to the truck. He removed a tool kit and walked back to camp. From the kit he removed a screwdriver and a small wrench.
"Hey Al. Could you help me with my arm? The articulator in my ring finger is sticking again."
Ed had been wearing his prosthetic automail arm and leg for a long time now. It did not fit quite as nicely as they did when Winry first gave them to him. She built them to grow with him with only minor adjustments, but without a major tune up the arm and leg just did not work as well as they used to. Ed figured he had about two more years to learn how to tune them properly or he would be stuck with a wooden leg and hook for an arm. He was capable of minor repairs, but that was the extent of his auto mail abilities. It would all be a moot point in a day or so anyway when they were able to get home, but it was a concern. Ed thought that even after he had Winry tune his arm, he would still learn to do the repairs.
Al helped his brother remove his arm. Ed added a couple drops of oil to the malfunctioning joint, and tightened a screw had come loose. He examined the remainder of the major parts, tinkered a little with the elbow joint and then replaced his arm. Then he did the same thing to his automail leg. It was in slightly better shape. Ed tended to punch things more often than kick them.
Ed checked his pocket watch and saw it was only four in the afternoon. The desert heat was brutal, even in the shade of their tent. He lay back on his bedroll.
"So, what should we do to kill the next few hours?" he asked his companions.
Noa spoke up. "Why don't you guys tell me a story about your world?"
"Why bother. We'll see it soon enough." Ed responded.
"We won't see the whole thing will we? Come on, I want to hear it." She said.
Ed sighed. "Fine. Al, tell her about the state alchemist exams."
Al started to tell Noa about their adventures in Central City. As Al droned on, Ed's thoughts drifted back to the past. He had a lot of good times in central city, but a lot of hard times as well. It was there, for the first time, that he saw how truly ugly humankind could be. Eventually memories of the past combined with his brother's words lulled him to sleep.
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Ed awoke with the taste of dust in his mouth. He spat on the ground next to him, and then rose to go get some water. Outside his tent, the sky was pink with a desert sunset. He took a small sip of water from one of the water jugs to wash out his mouth and then spit it on the ground. Then he took a much longer pull. The desert air was dry and it had burned his throat as he slept.
Al and Noa were still talking. Noa was cooking some kind of stew in a pot. He watched her add the milk and wondered how something that tasted so bad could be an ingredient in something that tasted so good.
He approached the pair, and heard Al still telling stories. Noa was listening intently as she cooked. Neither acknowledged him until he took a seat around the fire with them.
"Good nap?" Al asked.
Ed rubbed a cramp in his neck. "Hot as hell. I miss the cool European nights."
"Hey Ed, what is the first thing you are going to do when you get home?" Al asked.
"I'm goanna go find Mustang. Last time I didn't have time to show him I was still the best." Ed said.
"I think we should go see Winry first. I bet she misses us." Al said.
"Yeah" Ed said.
He hadn't really though about Winry in a long time. He tried not to. Thoughts of her always made him feel both bad and good at the same time. Noa kept telling him that he had a crush on her. After four years, he was pretty sure he just missed a dear friend.
Ed noticed he had a goofy look on his face. He did that sometimes when he though of Winry. He also realized that Noa and Al were whispering to each other. He grabbed a small rock and bounced it off his brother's head. "It's not polite to whisper about other people. Especially right in front of them!"
"Al's told me a lot about Winry. I can't wait to meet her." Noa said.
Ed's anger diffused once he started thinking about going home again. He saw Al smile, but then saw his smile fade just as quickly. Ed was never really that good reading peoples emotions, but his brother was an open book. He could tell when something was wrong with his brother even when he was stuck in that suit of armor. "What's wrong Al?" he asked.
"I can't shake the feeling that something is wrong with the Array." Al said.
"Don't worry. We both went over it thoroughly, and came up with the exact same changes needed to make it work. I'm the best alchemist in a hundred years. And you're about as good as I am. We can't both be wrong, right?" Ed said.
As shifted his weight a bit "I guess not. Maybe I'm just getting excited about going home." He said with a small smile.
"Damn right you are!" Ed said.
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Ed's wind up alarm clock woke the three of them up at promptly 7:00 in the morning. Al complained that it was too early. Noa complained that she needed a bath. Ed laughed at them both claiming that wealth had made the two of them soft. Secretly he wanted to use the hammer in their toolbox to shatter the alarm clock into tiny noiseless bits.
"It will be a shame not being rich anymore." Al said while waiting for breakfast.
Ed smiled. If his brother was talking like that it meant he did not doubt that they were going to go home soon. Ed would never say it, but having his brothers confidence in the project made him fell a lot better. If both he and Al believed in it, there was no chance to fail.
"Yeah, but we will be able to do Alchemy again. I think it's a fair trade." Ed responded.
Al didn't have a counter argument to that. Both brothers missed doing alchemy terribly. Al claimed to find engineering every bit as exciting as alchemy, but Ed knew he was lying. After spending a lifetime learning the science that was alchemy, anything else just failed to measure up. Engineering was exciting, especially when flying through the air using a newly designed jet engine. It would never bean the exhilaration of turning a pile of stones into a building in an instant.
Noa whipped up a campfire breakfast that was every bit as good as she promised it would be. There were little sausages that came out of a can mixed in with some beans, rice and a couple of things Ed could not identify. She also brewed a pot of very strong black coffee. The desert night was still cold, and not enough of the daytime heat had made its self known to make drinking a nice hot cup of coffee an uncomfortable experience. All in all, it was not their normal breakfast fare, but it was good.
As they ate, they talked about the task at hand. Ed wanted Noa to help Al out. Even though Al had much bigger muscles, Ed was physically stronger because of the auto mail. The artificial arm could lift more than both of Al's admittedly much bigger arms could together. And the automail would never get tired. Besides, Ed knew that Al would take any alone time he could with Noa. No one knew where in the world that the transmutation circle would place them, so they potentially faced a journey of a couple weeks or more. Alone time would be scarce for a little while.
Once breakfast was done, Ed took the truck and set out to the other side of the giant circle. It took him a couple of minutes to make the trip. The damn thing really was over a mile in diameter.
Once he reached his end, he started to get to work. He only had to carry each rock about five feet, and each rock only weighed about twenty-five pounds, but there were hundreds upon hundreds of rocks to move. It was early in the morning and already the day was getting hot. Ed cursed a couple of different gods and then started to move the first of about a billion rocks. Al was right. This was going to be a long day.
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The work, as Excruciatingly boring and tedious as it was, actually went faster than Ed originally thought it would. It seemed Al's large muscles were made of sterner stuff than he though. Soon the brothers and Noa found themselves standing at the center of the array. Both Elric brothers had soaked their shirts and pants through with sweat. All three of them had their hair plastered to their scalps thanks to the day's exertion.
"Last one." Ed said.
"Yeah. We'll know if this will work in just a minute." Al said.
Ed picked up the last rock and walked it over to where it needed to go. "Moment of truth." He said.
Then he dropped the rock. Almost immediately Ed could fill the familiar buzz of power that came from standing inside of an array fill his body. It was as powerful an array as he had ever felt before in his life. He could tell by his brother's smile that he could feel the same thing.
"All right!" Ed said throwing his hand in the air.
"It's really going to work. We are really going to go home!" Al said.
Ed grabbed his brother in a hug. "We did it. Come on. Lets get our things and then lets go home."
Only the tangible heat kept them from running back to their campsite to collect the few things they wanted to take with them. None of their supplies were really necessary. After all, both were masters in alchemy and could easily fabricate anything that they would need for a journey. They couldn't help them selves in running back. Even Noa had to run to keep up with them.
All three of them were badly out of breath when they got back to the center of the Array. Even though as a group they were in fantastic shape, running through the desert at five-o-clock on a hot afternoon after having moved rocks all day was difficult. Each took a long pull from the jug of water they had brought. A few moments passed while they caught their breath.
"All right guys. I'm ready to see your home now." Noa said, sounding nervous and excited at the same time.
Ed looked into Al's eyes and smiled. "Ready to go Brother?"
Al smiled back. "Yeah. Lets go home."
As one, both Elric brothers clapped their hands together. Ed could feel the power of the transmutation circle flow into his body and through his arms. He could the feel the nearly unlimited potential in the palm of his hands. At the same time, both brothers slammed their hands down on the surface of the array.
For the space between moments nothing happened. Then a brilliant white light erupted from the array. Ed felt a pulse of power shake his whole body. The light intensified, causing him to close his eyes and turn his head away from the array. A few seconds later, the light dimmed. He opened his eyes and saw that world previously around him was gone. Instead of miles and miles of desert, he only saw a million different colors swilling madly around him. It was so different from the time he traveled through the array in the rocket.
Noa gasped. "So beautiful," she said.
"This is wrong." Al said sounding panicked, "It's not supposed to look like this! Where is the gate?" He was getting more frantic as he went on.
Ed opened his mouth to tell his brother everything would be fine. However, before the sound could come out, Ed felt a giant pressure on his whole body. If felt like being buried under a thousand pounds of rock. The pressure forced the air out of his lungs. He felt someone grab his hand. It had to be Noa. Al was still a couple of feet away from him. Ed tried as hard as he could to get close enough to Al to grab his hand. Inches felt like miles as he got closer. Seconds felt like days. When his hand was four inches away from his brothers, the array flared up again. Light as bright as the sun blinded him. The pressure got worse. He felt his fingertip brush against his brother's seconds before consciousness left him.
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AN: Well, here it is. The first work that I have had the guts to post. Please feel free to review it, critique it, or flame the hell out of it. If I get positive responses I'll post more. Also, this IS in raw form. I don't have pre-readers of any kind, so if you see a glaring mistake feel free to point it out. I'm doing this to improve my writing skills as much as anything else.
Thanks for reading :-)
Andrew Cross
