AN: The characters and concepts of FullMetal Alchemist belong to Hiromu Arakawa. This story revolves around the first anime of FullMetal Alchemist, not the manga. Do not flame because of that small difference, I've read the manga and seen the real anime that follows it, but the first anime is what captured my heart about FMA, so this story is tribute. Enjoy the story. The lyrics below are from the song "Love The Way You Lie Part II" by Rihanna ft. Eminem, I do not own the lyrics to the song. - Carrie.

"On the first page of our story, the future seems so bright;

And this thing turned out so evil, I don't know why I'm still surprised.

Even angels have their wicked schemes, and you take death to new extremes;

But you'll always be my hero, even though you lost your mind."

Wind whips through the trees at an alarming pace. Stars shine against the night sky. The cool crisp air filters through the windows of the living room. All furniture sits against the walls. Sighing, the girl wipes the back of her forearm across her brow. "That should do it," she smiles at her handiwork. An old porcelain tub sits in the middle of the transmutation circle. She looks up at the hole in the ceiling, leading to the bathroom above. "I'll be able to fix that once you come back," she smiles again, walking over to the tub. Inside the vessel, many powdered elements lay on top of one another. Locks of flaming red hair poke through the top of the pile. Reaching out, the girl brushes against the hairs.

"I can't wait any longer," she exclaims. Scrambling back to the edge of her transmutation circle, she kneels. With a deep breath she claps her hands together and places them on the circle. A low humming fills her ears as yellow sparks shoot off the circle. Her smile grows wider, her faded pink hair whips around her face. The sparks change in color. Dark purple lightning crackles and shoots past her face, red sparks flying around her. "Wait, what is this," she turns, panicking. Looking down, her left hand begins unraveling at the fingertips. Her cry dies in her throat as her body falls. Floating, she lands in front of a large gate.

Blinking from the bright yellow scenery around the gate, she stares forward. Stone figures climb up the pillars on either side, lining the top of the gate as well. On the front is the image of an eye, text surrounding it. Carlina squints and steps forward, trying to read the text. The gate swings open toward her. She takes a few steps back. From within the darkness she sees a pair of eyes. A large grin appears in the space below them. Black tendrils shoot out from the gate, grabbing her. She screams as it pulls her into the darkness. Opening her eyes, she sees the black objects are actually arms.

Images pass by her at high speeds, like film reels curling past her head. Looking down, she sees small black beings swarming her left arm. "Hey, wait," she tries to shake them off, but fails, "Wait! You can't, please!" Her next sensation is pain as she finds herself staring up at the hole in the living room ceiling. She screams as the pain shoots through her body from her left shoulder. Writhing, she rolls herself onto her stomach, pushing up with her right hand. Looking down, she sees the stump where her left arm used to be. A wheezing sound comes from in front of her. "Jeremy," her eyes light up, pushing herself to her feet. She clutches the stump, teetering forward on shaky legs toward the tub. "Brother," her voice cracks. Carlina smiles as a leg flops over the side of the tub.

Her heart plummets as she gets closer, the smoke beginning to clear. In the tub sits a wriggling mass of organs and muscles. Ribs stick out of the skin at various angles. The leg that was hanging over the side of the tub connects to the spine of the creature. As she stares in horror, a head rises from the tangle of flesh and limbs. The flaming red hair sticks in patches to the skull, blue eyes dull and empty. A wheezing echoes from deep in the creature's chest cavity. "Brother," she begins to cry. The creature moves vigorously, causing the tub to tip. Wet sounds reverberate off the walls as the mass spills out. Groans rattle from within it, turning the head at an unnatural angle to look at the girl.

"I'm sorry," sobs break off the rest of her words. Carlina staggers toward the phone on the wall, her vision blurring. Reaching out with her hand, she manages to grab the phone before crashing to the floor. Yanking with all the strength she can muster, the rest of the phone rips out of the wall. The device crashes against the floor, bouncing into her chest. She ignores the pain and struggles to dial the number she's memorized many times. "Rockbell Automail," an old woman's voice filters over the line. "Granny, help," the girl grips the phone between her shoulder and cheek. She applies pressure back on the wound, unable to make out all the words on the other end of the line. "It's Carlina. I'm sorry. I'm at the summer home. I'm sorry, I wanted to see his smile again," she begins crying again, her vision blurring more. The phone slips out of her hand as she slumps against the hardwood floor. Her final sight is the creature dragging itself toward her.

Bright light presses against her eyelids. She takes a deep breath and opens her eyes. Recognizing the smell of pipe tobacco, a faint smile spreads on her face. Granny. Her brow furrows as she tries to remember how she appeared in the Rockbell home. Flashes of the events with the transmutation assault her brain. She attempts to clutch at her head, feeling a hard object touch the top of her skull. She lowers her hands and looks down. Her eyes widen as she stares at the automail where her left arm used to be. The door to her room opens, the Rockbells step inside. "Carlina," Winry rushes to her side, frowning when tears stream down the other girl's cheeks. "Hey, what's wrong," the blond wipes some of her friend's tears away. Carlina opens her mouth but no sound comes out. She shakes her head and puts her human hand against her throat.

"Winry. Leave us please," Pinako waits until the door shuts before she approaches the bed. "I cleaned up the mess, returned what was there into the soil behind the house. I've heard that if someone experiences traumatic events, they can go mute. Circumstances aside, you will not be leaving this house. Your parents trusted me to watch you, and I failed. They willed that if any of their children required automail, we were to install it. I'm sorry if it isn't to your liking, but you were out for days and I needed to operate as soon as I could," Pinako looks at the girl. Carlina makes a writing motion, waiting for the woman to hand her paper. The girl's tongue pokes out of the side of her mouth as she writes. Am I a prisoner here? Pinako chuckles at the words, taking out her pipe to light the tip.

"No such thing, child. You would be free to leave whenever you want, but I would advise against it. If you prefer to think of me as your captor, that is fine. The fact is you are free to leave whenever you wish. To my understanding, your other godparents work for the military. I would hate to see you leave, but the choice is yours," the woman takes a drag of her pipe before she turns to leave. Before she exits, she hears banging on the bed frame. Turning, the woman reads the note written on the notepad. How did you get me here from the summer home? She smiles, "One of our other guests helped us bring you here." The woman leaves as the girl starts writing something else on the paper. She looks up and realizes she's alone. Laying back against the pillows of the bed, she lifts the automail to view it in the light. Ten years old, and I'm already missing an arm, her thoughts cut off as tears rolls down her cheeks again.

-Four Years Later-

The sound of dishes clinking together filters through the first floor of the shop. Flitting around the table, Carlina stacks the dishes to balance them all in one armload. "Would it kill you to take it easy for once," Winry teases, appearing behind her friend. Carlina rolls her eyes but smiles, continuing to stack the dishes. Following behind her, Winry braids her pink hair in loose tendrils. "You know, you should stop dying it for a bit. Let it go back to blond," the girl makes the suggestion. She freezes at the pain she sees in her friend's eyes. "I know, I'm sorry, I know it reminds you of your sisters. In any case, could you pick up some spare work around town? The materials to mix the dye aren't cheap, and it needs touch ups every few weeks," Winry ruffles her friend's hair. Carlina scrunches up her nose, continuing her task.

A knock echoes from the front door. Winry moves to answer it, stopping when Carlina shoves the load of dishes into her hands. The pinkette sticks her tongue out, taunting her friend from the earlier comment. She wipes her hands off on her apron as she approaches the door. Opening it, she looks between the blond boy and the suit of the armor. Seeing the boy, his face looks familiar, but she doesn't remember. Nodding her head and smiling, she grabs for the boy's right arm to lead him to Winry in the kitchen. Grabbing the end of an empty sleeve, her eyes widen and she blushes. She knocks on the wall a few times, stepping back.

Winry appears, smiling from ear to ear when she sees their guests. The other girl takes a few steps back, trying to slip upstairs. She stops when a hand grips her shoulder. Rolling her eyes, Winry spins her around to face the visitors. "Lina, this is Edward and Alphonse Elric. Al is the little brother in the suit of armor," she points at the brothers. "You're Carlina right," Alphonse's happy voice floats from inside the suit of armor. The girl nods her head in response, shuffling her feet. Ed looks at his brother for a moment before sighing, "Al, how did you even know that? Does she talk? I understand being shy, but at a certain point it becomes rude not to say anything." Glaring at Ed, Carlina rips herself out of Winry's grasp. She storms off into the kitchen, beginning to wash the dishes.

"Ed, haven't you read any of my letters all these years? And you've met her once or twice! She keeps to herself, but I know you've seen her around," Winry chastises Ed. "Yeah brother, she was here the time-" Al's voice cuts off by his brother. "Oh, I guess. It's been a while since we've been back is. I don't usually read the letters for every detail," Ed's voice gets louder as the group walks closer to the kitchen. Carlina turns her face away from them as they enter, not wanting to look at the brothers. "You were rude Ed, Winry has told us before that she's mute," Al's voice drops lower as he speaks. "Hey, Carlina," Ed grabs her shoulder. Wiping her hands off again, the girl turns to face him. Something catches her eye and she closes the distance between them.

Grabbing the silver chain, she recoils when the State Alchemist watch falls out of his pocket. She pushes herself away from Ed, stumbling over her feet and crashing to the floor. Carlina scrambles away from him, backing against the wall. "Ed, why do you always bring that thing around," Winry looks at him in annoyance. "You know I have to carry the watch around with me! Plus, she shouldn't be grabbing things that don't belong to her. It isn't a surprise that she's learning bad manners from you," Ed fumes. The two stand with their faces almost touching, glaring. "Brother, Winry," Al trails off, pointing at the girl against the wall. She grips the sides of her head with her hands, staring at the pocket watch hanging out of Ed's pocket.

A hoarse sob erupts from her heaving chest. Winry takes a few steps toward her, stopping when she sees tears in her friend's eyes. "Carlina? Did you make a sound? What's going on," Winry stares, blinking as Carlina sobs harder. The girl tears at the sleeves of her dress. Her right arm experiences small nicks and tears from her automail fingers. The left sleeve of her dress only suffers minor tears, the gleam of automail peeking through. Taking another step forward, Winry freezes when Carlina looks up at her. "Winry," Carlina rasps, clearing her throat, "He's a State Alchemist. Like mom and Dad, Carlton, Isabella, and Aimee. Like Jeremy would have been." Her sobs take over her voice as she finishes speaking. Passing out against the wall, Carlina's arms flop next to her sides. Winry rushes forward, repeatedly calling the girl's name. She shakes the girl and panics when there is no response. "Don't stand there, get Granny," she snaps at the brothers, fanning Carlina.

AN: And there you have it, chapter 1. I know it took a while to update, but from now on things should be updated more frequently.