Title: A Fangirl's Dream
Summary: With an anime loving best friend, Ivy has heard plenty about whatever show of the week they're into. But when she manages to cross the gate during an attempt to take a shortcut home, she finds herself in a frightening position. The main character in an Another World fanfiction trope; and with reluctance, she finds herself teaming up with the main characters to get back home.
Pen Name: FanfictionIsMySideHustle
"Do you seriously expect me to believe that cr-"
"I crossed some gate in my hometown trying to take a shortcut." Ivy cut him off, heart beating the hardest its ever beat. "And when I went back because I thought this shortcut wasn't worth shit, it was gone. I don't know what that thing was but it wasn't anything from my world."
There was another long pause for the umpteenth time that day as Edward's face contorted into one of disbelief. "Are you serious right now?"
"As serious as the fact that alchemy and automail aren't even things where I'm from." Ivy rubbed her arms awkwardly. "I don't know too much about this place other than what Winry and Pinako told me. But that's all the information I can give you right now. I'm not from here. And I'm just trying to go home."
"... Brother, I don't think she's lying."
The tension between the three bodies in the room was so thick, Ivy was sure that not even a knife could cut it.
She gulped nervously as Edward's lips trembled into a frown and he pinched his nose as he sat back down in his seat. "You're actually serious."
Ivy inhaled shakely. "I wish I wasn't." She stayed where she was standing but she kept her voice hushed, paranoid that anyone could come down the stairs and hear them. "I've been stuck here for a month now running around the place, hoping I'd be able to find that gate and see if it'd take me back home to Vallant. My hometown. But it never popped up." The truth rolling off her tongue didn't make her chest feel any lighter. "And even when I went to the general store and found this book on alchemy, there was nothing about it that popped up. So I thought that maybe this was a freak incident for a while and that this gate thing just… didn't exist here."
"No it exists." Edward sounded as if his throat had been clenching. "I'm just finding it hard to believe that I'm seriously talking to a girl who says she's from another world."
Ivy chuckled nervously. "Same?" Her mind drifted to Miles Morales all of a sudden. "Who would have thought the multiverse was real, amirite?"
"The multiverse?" Alphonse spoke up.
"Oh um, I guess that hasn't been talked about here then." If anything, I'm pretty sure that this entire world just basically focuses on alchemy. Well, if 'If anything' meant going off of Akasha's ramblings. "It's basically like… imagine your world and then another where things are kinda the same but also slightly different?"
"So like alchemy and automail not existing where you're from?" Alphonse's voice was tinged with a lot more curiosity than his brother was displaying. It was odd communicating with him. Kinda of like one of those emotionless characters in a show except this time the poker face was unintentional as life had dealt the guy a bad hand.
"Yeah, like that." Ivy replied trying not to mind the dryness of her mouth. "We have chemistry and prosthetics but surprisingly even though I'd say my world is a lot more technologically advanced, our prosthetics aren't nearly as advanced as the ones here." It'd put the real world version of prosthetics to shame.
Edward sighed but Ivy could see his eyes glinting. "And you've been hiding out in Resembool this entire time after ending up here?"
"Well the gate thing automatically lead me here like I was walking down a path from home, alright?" She barked out defensively. "And when you get to an alternate universe (riddled with fictional characters) and find out your world's currency is basically shit here, you get stuck." Pinako had caught sight of the bills once and asked if they were some kind of strange cloth that Ivy had made herself. "I don't know anything about this place either. The only reason they even think I'm from Central is because I panicked when they asked if I was from there and since it was a city they knew I figured why not go 'yeah'."
The golden eyed alchemist raised an eyebrow. "That's kind of a reckless decision, don't you think?"
"I was out of options, alright?" Ivy would like to see the guy do better if he ever woke up one day realizing he was in the modern world Ivy was from. He'd probably be a mess too.
"Okay okay, I don't think we're gonna get anywhere if you make fun of her, Brother." Ivy sighed. At least one of the brothers was a sweetheart. "Maybe we can help? You know about the Gate, right?"
"Yeah but…" Edward looked from his brother to the girl standing in front of them. "I don't remember seeing anything in the Gate about alternate dimensions." Ivy held her tongue. She wasn't sure if it was something that Akasha would just blurt out, but in that moment, just telling two boys that their entire world was made up just felt harsh. Even if it was just an anime where she was from, Ivy had constantly been confronted with the fact this place was real.
In her morning jogs and in the daily and plain life she had been living up until that morning.
"So, basically I'm stuck here." Ivy wanted to squat down and wallow.
"Hold on, I didn't say that exactly." Edward raised his flesh arm up clumsily. "I'm just saying that I didn't see anything about it when I saw the Gate. And our experiences are completely different when it comes to it anyways. You just… walked through it completely fine and unscathed and you didn't even purposely make a transmutation. It's… odd."
Ivy bit her lip as Alphonse gasped softly. "He's right. When my brother saw the Gate, it was because…" He trailed off awkwardly.
The silence returned.
The day they lost their bodies. Ivy thought with a surge of realization. She raised her hands up this time. "Look, you don't gotta tell me anything that you don't want to." Her lips turned awkwardly in what Ivy hoped looked like a reassuring smile. "I get it. You've got baggage. I don't want you feeling like you have to tell me something that you're not comfortable with."
Edward and Alphonse shared a look before gold and red looked back at her. "It's fine." Edward closed his eyes, his arm covering his chest as if he was attempting to cross it to an invisible limb. "You told us about how you ended up here. It's only fair that we tell you about our bodies."
"... I guess I should take a seat then." Ivy mumbled, pulling a chair out slowly.
"I'm guessing you don't know much about alchemy?" Edward's entire frame seemed to harden as if he was trying to present his most calm and cool self. "You mentioned doing some reading?"
Ivy shook her head. "The most I could understand in that thing was something about not making gold, equivalent exchange, and that there's no Gate mentioned." She felt sheepish in her admitting. "I'm guessing that alchemy and I just weren't meant to mesh."
"Well logic says that if alchemy was what brought you here, alchemy is the thing that should take you back." Edward remarked, nodding over to his brother. "That's what Al are intending to do, but with our bodies."
Ivy held her tongue as the elder Elric continued with his story.
"It all started with our mother dying. "We already knew a bit about alchemy but after the sickness came and took her… Al and I decided that we'd try and bring her back.
"It took the better part of a year. A lot of self training and eventually getting our own teacher but one day, we thought we were ready enough to make the transmutation…. I thought we were ready. Even though we knew transmuting human life in any degree was illegal, we went through with it. But… the transmutation went wrong. I lost my left leg and Al ended up having his entire body taken."
"But my brother still transmuted my soul to this suit of armor." Alphonse added solemnly. "But he lost his right arm in the process to bring me back. We've been researching countlessly since then trying to find the Philosopher's Stone, a kind of amplifier to alchemy to see if we could override the rules of human transmutation to get our bodies back. He saw the Gate you were talking about but-"
"It's completely different circumstances." Ivy finished with clenched fists. "... I'm really sorry about your mom and your bodies. I can't imagine anything like that happening to me." Even if she had heard the basic gist of it countless times from Akasha back home, it felt more wrenching having to hear it from the boys themselves. The universe dishing out it's unfair punishments was absolute anywhere, it seemed.
Edward's voice brought Ivy brought to reality. "We don't you pitying us." For once he didn't sound like he was trying to be harsh. Just firm. "We made a mistake and we're gonna fix it on our accord."
Ivy smiled and nodded her head, "I wish you guys the best then. Give the universe hell."
"Oh we plan on it." Edward affirmed, for once a smile adorned his face. Well, smirk. But it was a win in Ivy's book. "And if the Philosopher's Stone could bring our bodies back, that means that it should be able to open up some kind of portal to take you back home."
Ivy bit her lip. "Even if there's nothing like mutliverse whatever alchemy in your world?"
"It's the Philosopher's Stone, it should be good for something." Edward shrugged but he sounded confident. "We'll just have to pick out the details when we finally get to Central and look over Dr. Marcoh's research notes about it. We should be able to find something about it there."
"About the Gate?" Ivy asked excitedly.
"Just the Stone." Edward's reply made her enthusiasm level drop slightly. "If anyone else has seen the Gate, they never documented it in any alchemical texts. Or they're not alive to tell the tale. It's just odd. You came here through the Gate somehow but didn't have to pay a toll."
I honestly think the toll is just being here. Ivy kept the comment to herself, hand twitching as an image of her phone came to mind. The thing was on it's last legs at 20% since the last time Ivy had turned it on, which had been a while. She resigned herself to the fact weeks ago that she just wasn't going to get a signal or some miracle call from her mom. Mom. She's probably worried sick… "I… I just wanna know, if I can come with you guys."
"You wanna come to Central? Even though you know nothing about it?"
"I have to, don't you think?" Ivy gestured to them. "Say if you find this stone thing and you can only summon or open up this gate thing at a specific time and I'm not there so I miss it?" She'd seen enough movies and experienced enough bus karma to know how this worked. "Besides, Pinako already thinks I'm leaving. She kinda knows that some things I said about myself didn't add up." But the woman's overall reaction had been more soothing than not, encouraging even.
Alphonse tilted his head, "Are you gonna tell Granny and Winry everything you told us?"
"Of course not." Ivy barked out. "How could I?" The soothing memory escaped her. "She told me to just visit when I could instead of downright forgetting to check in. How can I tell them that I'm planning on disappearing forever when... " Ivy sighed, resting her forehead onto her hands. "I really liked being here." Her conversation with Pinako despite the encouraging nature of it felt more melancholic than not. And the offness of her morning with Winry once the boys had shown up had taken it's own toll.
Ivy might have passed it off as wanting to let Winry get some work done without any distractions. But that brief 4 seconds of staring had been unsettling and resigning herself to Pinako's workspace had seemed like the smarter option in that moment. "It just makes me feel bad for wanting to go, then I feel bad that for feeling bad. I just- I just wanna get the bandaid pulled off and hope… I just disappear like I never existed here in the first place." That the world here just resets back to normal like I never even showed up.
"... We won't tell Granny or Winry anything for you then."
Ivy raised her head, relieved. "Thanks."
"You're gonna need one solid alibi, though." Edward added and Ivy sighed again, nodding in agreement.
"Already on it." Her mind swam with everything she had said before in regards to her fake family life in Amestris. She was from a city called Central and was having a rocky time at home so she randomly chose a location on a map and fled without so much of a warning. Then she arrived at the Rockbells and had an argument with her mom over the phone that ended up lengthening her stay. "I've been thinking about since this afternoon. I think I just might say that I'll try reconnecting with my relatives and if anything comes up with Winry or Pinako, I'll say that the attempt blew up in my face and that I'm traveling with you."
"... Well we don't keep in contact often over here so I don't think you'll have to worry about us accidentally outting you." Edward stood up. Ivy guessed that the evening's conversation was over. "We should get some sleep then."
"Good because I'm beat." Ivy stood up herself, lifting her chair slightly to try and avoid a skidding sound. "Where are you guys sleeping?"
Edward gestured his thumb in the direction of the living room. "Couch. I was gonna try dragging Al there too so he didn't have to be here by himself."
"I don't mind staying in here by myself, Brother." If he was able, Ivy was sure that the boy would be smiling comfortingly as his older brother looked at him worriedly. "Really. You shouldn't strain yourself trying to lift me up."
"I can help too." Ivy blurted out before she could really think about it. "I do sports back home, so I'm fit. I can help with one side and we can both take him closer to the couch?"
Alphonse attempted to protest, "You really don't have to-"
But his elder brother cut him off with a smug expression. "Well considering I'm gonna be the one paying for your ticket, I like the sound of you paying back your debt through armor lifting labor."
"If it weren't for your brother being nothing but an angel right now, I'd leave you to suffer on your own."
(Ivy went to bed with a sore back that night. Sure she and Edward managed to get Alphonse settled in front of the sofa… But at what cost?)
By the time Ivy found herself settled against the door frame of Winry's work space, the depressing feeling in her chest seemed to temporarily subside. She was back from her jog, running out further than she had done normally (all the way to town). Then she walked back slowly, hoping that the rush would cool her head. All she really got in return was a head of undefined curls turning into a frizzy mess of an afro from all the sweat and sun.
Now she was back in the Rockbell house, hoping that her rehearsed lines would manifest itself in courage. But now that she stood outside of the space she had gotten familiar to over the past month and a week, Ivy felt words leave her mind.
The familiar sight was almost calming; Winry perched at her desk in her jumpsuit as she carefully tended to whatever project she had been given. So far, what had been amassed of Edward's arm-in-progress was the skeletal frame of a hand and fingers, an array of red, yellow, and blue wires falling from it.
"That's a fine arm." Ivy whistled, finally taking a step forward.
The blonde mechanic's eyes were obscured by her work goggles, "Oh hey." In one hand was a small plate, a sanding tool rested in the other. "You missed the start of the crafting from yesterday. Right now I'm detailing the back of his hand to make indents."
Ivy nodded and bent over Winry's shoulder to take in a good look. "Any reason for that?"
"I like doing it so it's easier placing the knuckle joints for the fingers."
Ivy nodded one last time, taking a seat next to her friend and Winry set back to work. The silence, usually a comfortable one, made the anxiety in Ivy's chest return. Her brown eyes made quick work of skimming over Winry's work table for any kind of distraction.
It was a bit of a mess, various wrenches and screwdrivers askew alongside a large bundle of wires and fasteners and a tin of oil. Winry wasn't really one for keeping a steadily clean workbench, Ivy had quickly learned during her month living with the Rockbells. It eventually got tidied, things being put back in their original places when the storm of work was over. But for the most part, it was usually covered in something.
It was a miracle if the thing could go more than a day without being covered back up in tools or study materials from Winry's fiddling.
Ivy reached for a catalog close to her.
Rush Valley's Finest, the title read, the most recent issue. She thumbed her way to the page labeled 'God's Studio' with a small smile as she looked at 9th and 10th generation models.
God's Studio:
One of Rush Valley's most prominent automail ateliers, God's Studio is one of the largest automail powerhouses in Amestris. With three separate locations across the country, Rush Valley, Apelfel, and Huttsee, it's still currently in major competition with Wear and Tear Studio for combat models.
It feels like just yesterday when the damn thing arrived.
"Yo, Winry!" Ivy called out from the kitchen, eyeing the purple tinted catalog curiously. "I think you and Pinako got something important in the mail!"
It was only them and Den in the house that morning, Pinako leaving about an hour earlier into town to look over an irritable stove top of a neighbor. So when a delivery man knocked on the door to deliver a catalog with an intricate sketch of a steel arm and some tools, she took only two seconds to decide that she'd automatically ask Winry what it was for instead of trying to guess.
"Coming!" Came a cheerful chime and the sound of sandals scurrying closer. "What is it?"
Ivy pointed at the book, its feel more akin to a magazine than typical novel. "The delivery guy brought this-"
The giddish squeal erupting from Winry's throat prevented Ivy from finishing her sentence as she ran over to snatch the magazine from the girl's hand. "It's here!"
Ivy snorted, moving a stray coil from her eyesight. "Wanna tell me what it's for?"
"It's a catalog from Rush Valley!" Winry swooned like the catalog was something heavenly. "I've been waiting for so long to get this! Every few months they make a new one!" She dived for a seat at the dinner table, gesturing at the chair next to her enthusiastically and Ivy snickered.
"You're like a kid at Christmas."
The smile on Winry's face faltered, her gaze curious. "Christmas? What's that?"
The offbeat pause offered no hint of joking or humor.
Oh she's serious. She was in a world where Christmas didn't exist. What a load of bull. "Nothing." Ivy waved a hand. "It's a phrase of a friend's great aunt. I honestly think it's a word she made up cause senile-ism. Watch out because Pinako might be right around the corner to joining her."
Winry choked out a laugh and gave Ivy a strong shove. "Don't say that around, Granny, or she might take away dinner."
"You were thinking it."
"Yeah but you said it!" Winry shook her head but her smile remained as she finally flipped open the catalog to reveal image after image of automail parts and limbs, each with their own mini description. Winry sighed dreamily like she was seeing a One Direction member, "It's all so lovely." The blonde eyed a particular piece, a machine gun of all things, in pure admiration as the model (some janky man with an eyepatch, his one visible eye sketchy to all hell) posed for the shot.
Mil Mi-28 [20,000 Sens]
An automatic machine gun rifle conveniently accompanied with a concealed bladed weapon designed for combat. Brought to you by the engineer, Lorenz Dussel.
Ivy gave an impressed whistle. "Are you buying automail or something? Kinda weird for an automail shop."
"No no." Winry shook her hand. "Sometimes we do buy some of the tools shown in the catalog but for the most part," her face contorted into one of flushed joy. "I just like looking at everything that's being made in Rush Valley right now." Gearhead alert! Gearhead alert! Her inner grease monkey comes forth! "One day, one of my works is gonna be in this thing!"
Ivy laughed and clapped her hands. "Good luck with that!"
"You think the newest God's Studio line is gonna come out by next catalog?" Ivy asked offhandedly, as she skimmed over the models that had practically been burned into her retinas. Winry had been anticipating the release of their newest line for months and had been pretty disappointed when she got to the catalog's pride and joy and saw only the old models riddling the page. (Ivy had instead found herself ready to have a heart attack when she saw the God's Studio price tags.)
A.W.38 [95,000,000 Sens]
Legs built to last from Rush Valley's very own God's Studio! Crafted from the finest steel and processed with copper and nitinol for the tough and crackling terrain of the battlefield!
The limb depicted was hulking, the base of the foot thicker than the rest. But the finishing polish made the thing shine even brighter than the Major's own head. Finally on the knee plating, the tell-tell sign of the automail's origin came in the familiar red Cancer-like ornament. God's Studio was the type to brand all of their works.
"I hope so." Winry replied, a whine in her throat and Ivy chuckled softly.
"Need me to play my tiny violin?"
"Oh don't be an ass." Winry lifted her sanding tool threateningly. The addition of the goggles remaining on her face only served to make her look more threatening in a Disney villain kind of way.
"And would you look at the weather we're having today? It's a beauty!" Ivy coughed, looking towards the door. "Nothing sand tool or wrench throwing worthy at all."
"Pff!"
The relaxed air between them didn't seem to last as the feeling in Ivy's chest returned. She had to tell Winry she was leaving eventually and the longer it took, the worst it was going to be when she had to finally bring it up. Rip off the bandaid, my ass, Carter. Ivy swore to herself.
"... Hey, Winry?"
"Hmm?" Was the absent minded reply, Winry not glancing up. The only sound between them being the sound of her sanding tool functioning and curving to where the next knuckle joint would be placed on the hand plate.
"... Have you eaten breakfast yet?" Ivy wanted to kick herself in the ankle.
"Granny brought some up this morning while you were out jogging."
"Oh. Cool." Glancing past the girl, Ivy could spot an empty plate decorated with crumbs and a used fork laying atop it. "I'll take that down for you."
"Got it."
The silence returned again and Ivy swore again, turning her brown eyes back to the catalog. Her eyes, ironically enough, landing on a sentence on how God's Studio prides itself on its integrity and honesty in getting out the best automail prosthetics around the country. 'Quit being an ass and say something' was the message that Ivy felt like she was receiving.
"..." Ivy glanced up from the catalog, chest feeling heavier than it did when she had finished her jog. "Um, Winry?"
The mechanic took her finger off the switch of her micro sander, setting it down with the plating before taking off her glasses. Her eyebrows were furrowed, blue eyes sharp. "Ivy, it's really hard concentrating on Ed's arm when you keep distracting me." Ivy bit the inside of her lip, the comment stinging more than it would normally as she indignantly couldn't help but think: It never bothered you before if I talked while you worked.
The offness from yesterday's four seconds hadn't completely gone away, after all. It was there, just under the surface waiting to be poked and prodded at until it was finally time to confront it.
"I know, I just... " Ivy trailed off, her right leg beginning its familiar bounce. "I needed to tell you something important."
The sharpness never left Winry's gaze. "Yeah?"
Ivy took a deep breath, trying not to flinch and cave under the unwavering blue looking back at her. "I think I'm gonna be leaving back to Central soon." She said at last. "I wanna try and make up with my mom."
Winry's reaction wasn't immediate and to Ivy, that only served to make it worse as the seconds ticked by and Winry stared blankly at her. Until Winry, looked down at her knees. "I knew it…" Her voice was barely louder than a whisper. "I thought you sounded different yesterday when Ed talked about you becoming a gearhead. You sounded really defensive and even if you didn't say it would be immediate… I kind of knew from right there that you weren't planning on staying in Resembool anymore and that you'd be leaving soon."
Ivy felt like she was swallowing a thousand pin needles. "I'm really sorry, Winry." She whispered back, staring down at her knees. "I pushed it off enough already. It isn't that I hate being here with you and your granny or that I don't wanna learn about automail, because I do." The interest in the metal limbs had genuinely been blossoming to a level rivaling that of Ivy's interest in volleyball. "I just… I have stuff in Central that I need to do and hearing Ed and Al talk about going there just made me realize that I need to get off my ass and go back home."
"... I understand." Winry replied after a few heartbeats.
"B-but I'll call everyday!" Ivy coughed out before she could stop herself. "And write too if you want. I know that you said those dweebs suck at it, so I'll call twice as much to make up for it and-" Ivy cut herself off as a pair of arms wrapped around her shoulders, breath quivering. Ivy could only hug back. "I'll call, I promise. And I'll visit whenever I can."
"You'd better." Winry's voice was muffled in the crook of Ivy's neck. "Or I'll hit you with a wrench the next time I see you."
Ivy huffed. "I'll make sure that I don't forget. I think seeing Ed sprawled out on the floor the other day really sells that threat."
"It's not a threat, it's a promise." Winry mumbled, squeezing tighter. Ivy squeezed back. "I'll really throw it at you."
"... Yeah."
"A-and no cheating on our automail and trying to get apprenticed by someone else." Winry added with a hiccup.
"I'll keep my eyes strictly focused on Rockbell-specific designs."
There was a sniffle and neither girl made an attempt to move. "Wanna hug for a while?" The fabric of Winry's bandanna shifted against Ivy's chin as she nodded and Ivy gave her back a small pat. "Only for a little bit so you can work on Ed's arm…. I'll do the all nighters with you too."
Another nod.
Ivy breathed a quiet and shaky breath of her own as she stared at the wall across from her. On them lied various blueprints and planks for holding cords and wires. Another familiar sight she'd be saying goodbye to in only a few couple days.
"B-but I'll call everyday!"
"I'll call twice as much to make up for it!"
"I call, I promise. And I'll visit whenever I can."
Ivy bit her lip harshly, the sting feeling like a well deserved punishment for the things she had let slip out of her mouth.
What on earth are you getting yourself into, Carter?
Author's Note
And here's Updated Chapter 6. A transitional chapter before Ivy finally sets off with the Elrics like she's Eep from the Croods getting ready to leave the cave at night for the first time. I really wanted to emphasize the emotional impact between the two of them and Ivy's affections for Winry that she personally considers a hindrance because having an attachment to anyone here is a bad idea since she has to leave eventually. Their relationship is personally one of my favorites to write and the Elrics as well which you'll see more of in future chapters when they have to begin living with each other.
That aside, I mentioned in the original author's note that I hoped people would get the references I made this chapter and I don't think anyone did. But like how Hiromu Arakawa named her military cast after specific weapons, I took the weapon names and turned them into names for specific automail pieces in the catalog from Rush Valley. I thought it was a nice but subtle homage!
If you're still reading this, I hope you liked the small changes.