The Golden Sun: Chapter Twenty-Two: Mergence

AN: A lot of excitement, I see! More Trisha flashbacks may be in store! There's one of the day she died that I'm interested in implementing ;) I'm glad everyone enjoyed Olivier because she was literally the reason it took so long to update, I was worried about getting her voice right. And it seems there's a lot of people freaking out about a small tidbit I dropped last chapter ;) don't worry, all will be revealed in time.

Special shoutout to babyslutgreed for the beyond iconic phrase I read with my own two eyes: let me give more kudos or square up so help me god. XD


Everything was so much harder to do without her arm, Lanfan had come to realize. She'd depended on it for so long that being without it had almost cost them when they'd snuck over the border, past the men patrolling in the uniform that Lanfan remembered Ed hated.

Thankfully, Grandfather had pulled her back before she could overbalance and send them all sprawling out into the light.

Comparatively, sneaking atop the train to Central was much easier than anticipated, which was a relief.

Then came the hard part, but at least it was a hard part that Lanfan had been prepared for. Ed had shoved a name and a number into her hand the last time she'd seen him, to call in order to reach him. Still, she didn't know if housing three illegal Xingese aliens was included in his 'if you need anything'.

Grandfather was keeping Ling hidden in the shadows while Lanfan waited for Ed to arrive, body aching, left stump in complete agony; really, Lanfan had to be congratulated on managing to remain upright, because it was taking about all the strength she had to do so.

Then came the sound of rushing feet and Lanfan squinted in the darkness, sensing the warmth of Ed's chi as he came barreling into view under the street lights. Her call must've caught him off guard, because it looked like he was just wearing his blue uniform pants with black top that he must've been wearing under the jacket and just hadn't bothered to throw it back on after heading out the door.

He recognized her immediately, coming to a stop so fast that he almost skid across the ground, quickly taking in how she was clutching at her opposite shoulder and the lack of an arm she had.

"What happened?" was the first thing out of his mouth.

"Political unrest in Xing," Lanfan said vaguely with a grimace that was mostly from the pain. "The Emperor is dead."

Ed had to pause and think about that. "Is that a bad thing?" And Lanfan would give him that, the Emperor was not well-liked, but at the very least, he'd kept Xing functioning; with Xing Ying in charge, she was much less sure of the state of her country.

"Think assassinations galore," she offered helpfully.

"Ah," Ed said.

"I'm not sure if helping illegal aliens is what you meant when you said to call if we needed anything, it's okay if you can't but even just a day—"

"Shut up," Ed advised, shooting her a glare, "of course you can stay."

Lanfan almost sagged in relief. "Oh, thank the Sage, because we're really tired and I'm in a lot of pain right now and the only thing keeping me going is possibly sleeping on a bed."

Ed almost smiled and she knew that he understood; Ed was missing two limbs to her one, he had to still remember the pain of losing his. She remembered how his face had twisted as the rain came down on them as they'd crossed the Eastern Desert, the pain at his ports silencing him for a long stretch of time.

But then he had to jump wildly as Grandfather and Ling seemed to materialize out of the shadows. To his credit, his eyes barely lingered on Ling, only growing more concerned. She was certain the three of them looked quite the sight; exhausted, sweaty and clothes dirtied by sand and blood (in Lanfan's case).

"Lookin' for a place to crash?" Ed asked like they weren't had Lanfan stifling a snort.

"We would be more grateful," her grandfather bowed his head in respect, but Ed waved him off.

"Don't worry about it, it's an 'I help you, you help me' sort of thing."

Lanfan appreciated that, but, personally, she thought that has was the one giving her help more than the other way around, but at this point she was so exhausted that she'd give that to him.

"It's a little bit of a walk," he said only to pause at the sound of an echoing stomach growl. His lips twitched faintly, "I think we've got some leftovers, too."

The three of them were grateful beyond words at that point, so he led them on, down the street, passing every so often under lamplight. It was almost difficult to keep track of him with how tired she was and how he moved by comparison, but even in the darkness, his blond braid was easy to see.

It seemed like an age had passed before he turned off of the road towards a modest house that seemed incredibly nondescript and rather similar to the houses beside it, but Lanfan wouldn't complain.

"Just sit down in the living room and I'll get upstairs set up…I don't think Al'll mind that you're bunking in his room—"

"Where is Al?" Ling asked suddenly, the first time he'd spoken in a long time.

"He's visiting our alchemy teacher in Dublith." Ed waved his curiosity off. "He'll be back tomorrow…there's some food in the fridge if you want it or if you'd rather just—"

"Rather just sleep," Ling sighed to himself, despite how his stomach was gurgling at him.

"That's fine too." Ed's eyes cast towards Lanfan, lingering on her arm. "Lanfan, I'm gonna get them settled, then I'll look at your arm."

Lanfan looked up in surprise. She hadn't been expecting that, well, that wasn't quite right. Ed cared aggressively, like he did just about everything else in life, she remembered that from how he'd splinted her arm the last time she'd been in Amestris. So, she settled into the couch, almost lulled to sleep as Ed set up the room for Fu and Ling (she suspected that her grandfather had requested them remain in the same room because of how on edge he was about Ling at the moment).

"Lanfan? You still awake?"

Lanfan blinked her eyes tiredly to see that Ed had returned down the stairs to sit on the coffee table in front of her, a first aid kit beside him, holding out two pills and a glass for her to take. It took Lanfan a moment to remember that she couldn't do that simultaneously, which was immensely frustrating. Ed didn't say anything about how long she stared at the two pills and the glass of water, merely waiting for her movements.

At long last, Lanfan reached out and took the pills, throwing them into her mouth before grasping the water and taking a swig.

"It'll take awhile to kick in," Ed admitted, "we don't really have any pain meds in the house that work immediately…which would be really nice on rainy days, we should invest in some of those."

Lanfan smiled faintly. "Really, Ed, this is great, more than I expected."

"Eh, don't worry about it." Ed tried to wave her off, but she grabbed his with her only hand, forcing him to look her in the eye.

"I'm serious," she told him, her heart in her throat, "what you're doing for me, for us, it means so much, really."

Heat flooded Ed's cheeks from embarrassment and his eyes shifted away, probably not knowing how to react to that kind of gratitude. He cleared his throat loudly. "Um, anyways, I'll take a look at your arm, if that's all right."

She offered her arm to him, which sent a spike of pain up to her shoulder and Ed must've notice her wince, because he unwrapped the binding slowly and carefully, which Lanfan appreciated.

Lanfan must've lost a lot of blood in the desert by the time she'd actually reached the Ruins of Xerxes but she was surprised to find that whoever had found her (and then subsequently left her) had actually stitched and cleaned her wound before binding it with a bandage (Lanfan had thought it best not to fiddle with it unless it was physically bothering her).

"Looks pretty clean," Ed admitted, "a little bloody, but it's a recent wound, so that's normal…I'm pretty sure." He didn't sound convinced.

Lanfan snorted.

"Our best friend is an automail mechanic and she deals with a lot on the medical side in her line of work, but I can call her tomorrow and ask if she'll make a house call."

"You really don't have to do that," Lanfan assured him, "I'm sure it'll be fine."

That made Ed give her a look. "Amputation injuries can turn nasty real quick, that's why you've got to monitor them so closely…besides, you'll probably want an automail consultation anyways." Lanfan was the type of person who would get her arm cut off and then immediately look for a replacement.

Lanfan couldn't deny that was the immediate thought that she'd had after cutting off her arm had been that she needed a replacement.

She winced where he covered the stitches with a gauze pad, winding the bandage around to keep it covered. "Did you have that problem with yours?"

Ed snorted. "Right after I lost my arm and leg, Al carried me to her and her grandma's house. I didn't leave it until I did the State Alchemist Exam, let's just leave it at that. But I've gotten infections and inflammation at my ports, though, and Winry and Granny always liked to stress that I needed to get them looked at as soon as possible. I listen to them about that. If it goes away in a day or two, I don't worry about it, but at day three, I'm dragging myself to the nearest hospital."

Somehow, Lanfan thought he took that more seriously than actually being injured, given how Al had been lamenting about his stubborn nature when they were in the hospital. Vomiting up blood? Not an issue. Infection to his ports? Head to the hospital! The dichotomy was startling and equally sad and amusing.

(Either that or Al was the one dragging him the hospital and he was just trying to save face now, which was a possibility and Lanfan honestly wasn't sure which one it was that was the truth)

"But you're probably all right to sleep on it until I can call her," he told her, though he didn't sound sure; but he didn't strike her as much of a medical person, so that she could understand.

"I've been walking through the desert for days," Lanfan replied dryly, "I think I can handle one night."

Ed rolled his eyes for good measure, his lips twitching as he helped her stand up, directing her up the stairs, but instead of taking her to the room he had undoubtedly placed Ling and Fu in. Lanfan barely had the time to look around but the room seemed to be slightly personalized to the point that there was a small kitten snoozing in a corner on a bed that looked a bit out of place (and had actually been borrowed from Al's room in an effort to keep Nitro from wandering over Ed while he slept in Al's absence, rather unsuccessfully), but she was so tired that she let Ed steer her over to the bed and pull the sheets up over her.

The last thing she remembered before she fell asleep was Ed's blond tail down his back as he left the room.


Ling roused slowly, simply staring at the side of the wall where he had found himself facing after rolling around during the night. The clouds outside were casting eerie shadows across the wall and he couldn't help but feel like the weather was reflecting his mood.

He missed Xing, far more than he thought he would, but it was his home, it was where he grew up. Now he was back in the foreign land that he'd barely been within and had read about their militaristic totalitarianism and their actions in committing genocide against members of their country that had been deemed lesser, and all Ling wanted to do was go home.

But where was home even now?

He forced himself to sit up, listening to Fu's even breathing as he tried to collect his thoughts. There was no telling how long Ed would let them stay; Ling loved his soulmate, but he knew hardly anything about him, other than the fact that he was super cute and had literally survived an assassination attempt (hadn't they both at this point? It was pretty much a requirement in order to be alive in his country). Maybe he'd want them out as soon as possible.

Would he let them stay? A voice in the back of his head wondered. He and Lanfan got on so well and Al was so kind…would they let them stay?

Ling stood slowly and carefully, moving out of the room silently so as not to awaken Fu, moving forward slightly to the room they'd passed the previous night that Ling was sure was Ed's, only to see Lanfan's slumbering form within.

A frown creased his brow in confusion and he descended the stairs to take note of the blankets and pillows on the couch that Ling had last seen Lanfan on before going to bed, looking as though it had been well-slept on.

"Yeah, I know it's early, Winry," came a dry tone and Ling looked over to see Ed leaning against the wall with his back to Ling, a phone to his ear. "It's kinda important, okay?...No, Al and I are fine, yes, I'm sure!...No, I didn't mess up my automail again…oh, shut up…can you make a house call?...Not for me…do you remember the Xingese assassin I told you about, the one who kicked ass…no, I'm not telling you if she's pretty or not! You have a girlfriend! Anyways, she's had a recent amputation and I was wondering if you'd come look at it…that's not really an option…it was looking a little inflamed yesterday and she had a fever during the night that just broke…yes, I'll pay you, you know I'm good for it…fine, bring Paninya if you want…you realize I barely know her, right?...fine, next train, got it."

He hung up with a loud sigh.

"Who was that?" Ling asked out loud and Ed jumped in surprise, twisting around wildly to realize it was Ling that had spoken.

"Best friend," Ed offered helpfully, "she's an automail mechanic and knows a lot about amputation injuries…I figured at least someone professional should get a look at Lanfan's arm."

"And you…you slept down here?" Ling was still trying to wrap his head around everything.

"Well, yeah," Ed rubbed at the back of his head, "I thought it would be better for Lanfan to have her own bed to sleep in."

It hit Ling like a brick, he realized, Ed's kindness. He didn't have to take them in when Lanfan called, but he had; he didn't have to make them spare beds with his alchemy, but he did; he didn't have to set Lanfan up in his room, but he did; he didn't have to get her medical help, but he had.

Oh, fuck, Ling was falling even harder than he had before and it just wasn't fair…Ed wasn't even doing any of this on purpose!

"There's food in the fridge, and some kedem, if you're thirsty," Ed offered helpfully, pulling his red coat up over his arms and sliding his gloves into place, "I've got to go interrogate someone about chimeras."

He seemed to be in a bit of a rush, Ling thought, but he'd probably had plans before Ling, Lanfan, and Fu barreled into town. And there was something almost unsettling about the look on his face, uneasy and pale.

"Do you…" Ling paused, not knowing what to do. "Do you want some company?"

He didn't know why he even asked when all he wanted to do was crawl into a fetal position and sob his heart out about losing his home country to the likes of Xing Ying and how his actions had upended his life completely.

Ed was thrown briefly, fairly surprised by the question, and Ling could see him weighing the pros and cons to the suggestion in his eyes.

Ling was almost relieved when he said "No."

"It's probably not safe for you guys to wander around until I can transmute some fake citizenship IDs for you," Ed admitted and Ling had to agree that was a pretty good reason. What was the point of walking down the street with his soulmate if he was going to get stopped and tossed in jail for his trouble? (Ling had noticed that Ed had shoved a card in the back of his pocket that must've been his own ID; Ling guessed that he'd been stopped more than once himself, despite growing up in Amestris, simply for his coloring) "I'll get to work on it after I'm done with this shit," Ed promised.

"You don't need to do it right away," Ling assured him, though it was still probably preferable to get an ID as soon as possible, given Ling's tendency to pass out in random and disastrous places. "Just, you know, whenever you've got the time…if you want to, I mean."

Ed was doing an awful lot of things that he didn't have to and Ling was starting to feel awkward about it.

Ed waved a careless hand. "When I get back," he promised, taking one step forward and then pausing, "and don't step on Nitro's tail, he won't like that," and then he was out the door, his braid flying behind him like a victory banner.

Ling's heart thumped painfully in his chest.

"Mrow!" came a plaintive mew from his feet and Ling looked down to see a slate grey kitten with bottle green eyes looking up at him with obvious interest; Ling supposed it hadn't gotten a good look at him the previous night.

"Nitro?" he presumed, asking the cat like it could answer.

Nitro let out another mew as he rubbed against Ling's leg before making his way towards his food bowl. Ling's stomach growled and he supposed getting himself breakfast as well was a good course of action.


Professor Sarmad Magnus of Central City University was the foremost expert on bioalchemy, that was a well-known fact and several military officers had attempted to convince him to join the military over the decades but Magnus had never had the inclination towards using alchemy with violence, and after the debacle that was the Ishvalan Civil War, he was very glad that he'd never said yes to them.

Still, a State Alchemist coming to him for his expertise, that was something new.

"Elric, huh?" he said, considering the boy. He couldn't have been more than fourteen or fifteen. "Like that Glacier Alchemist?" What was her name? Magnus couldn't even remember, she wasn't as big of a deal in Central City as she was in North City, that was for sure.

"My mother," the boy said stiffly.

Magnus hummed, taking the folder from him and trailing his fingers across the words to keep from skimming. "Chimeras? That's…new, well," he had to concede, "not really."

"What makes you say that?" Fullmetal furrowed his brow in confusion.

"Making a chimera is the oldest trick in the book," Magnus told him, leaning against his desk to read the contents in the folder more fully, "maybe not the most successful product of alchemy, but certainly the most attempted…it never seems to come out right…the formulas are so delicate that you mess up even one variable, you basically just have a bloodied mess on your hands. It's essentially performing Human Transmutation, only without the taboo, since most alchemists are melding simple animals."

Fullmetal looked away, seeming, to Magnus, extremely uncomfortable with the subject; odd for someone who'd decided to become a State Alchemist, but, then again, he was a child.

"But this isn't quite what any decent bioalchemist would call a chimera," Magnus admitted.

"What d'you mean?" Fullmetal asked.

"Well, a chimera is a creature synthesized by alchemically 'marrying', so to speak, two or more dissimilar living beings into a new, complete form displaying attributes of its 'components'," Magnus explained. "In fact, I'm sure there's an old Cretan myth about a creature with the head of a goat, the body of a lion, and tail of a snake that bore the name of Chimera…but this is…wrong."

"Like…how wrong?" Fullmetal asked cautiously, shifting his weight from one leg to the other.

"For one, these formulas are off, they're not the ones you should use if you're attempting to create a chimera," Magnus informed him, "it's a Mergence Formula, but one to create a chimera from what appears to be a canine source…and a human."

"Human and a dog?" Fullmetal looked sick.

"That would make sense for how it could even speak, it's got a human voice box." Magnus handed the folder back to Fullmetal. "Whoever this was…was sick enough to experiment to experiment on a living, breathing person, and I will personally stake my name on it."

Fullmetal was still looking pale when he left Magnus' classroom and the man shifted his tinted spectacles that hid the golden irises from view.

"Well," he said with a smirk, "this will be fun."


"I'm heading out!" Al had the files Teacher had given him safely tucked into a briefcase, ready to head over to the train station to wait for the train to pull in to take him back to Central, to Ed, and he had so many things to tell his brother.

"Don't be a stranger, Al," Sig warned, reaching up to pat the top of Al's helmet in a manner that always made him feel pleased and warm, if that was at all possible.

"I promise!"

"Al." He'd turned away, but turned back to see Teacher up and about, looking thin and ragged, a shawl around her shoulders. She must've been feeling a little better that morning, because it was the first time that Al had actually seen her vertical since the day he'd arrived in Dublith. "You be careful, you hear me?"

"I promise," he repeated, almost quailing at the severe look on her face. "Look after yourself, Teacher."

Her lips twisted in dark amusement, but she raised a hand in a wave that he returned before turning and beginning to walk.

The sun was shining above him and for a moment it seemed to overtake Al's sight entirely. He narrowed the glowing orbs that counted as his eyes in the glare to see something strange within the white. It was a great grey slab fashioned like doors…bearing a familiar pattern that Al couldn't quite recall, but everything about it seemed so familiar…

Everything faded away and Al pitched forward, unmoving, into the ground, and the last thing he heard was a shout of "Al!"


AN: Al was barely in this chapter, but you'll be seeing more of him very soon ;) and Roy lmao, that bitch wasn't even in this chapter.

From what I understand, Kedem is a kind of grape juice, and, as always, if I inaccurately portray the Jewish community, please let me know so that I can correct it!

As always: PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW!