Live for yourself this time around, Little Alchemist
Chapter 003
Author: Black Dragon on the Rocks/Animealam/Alandrem
Rating: T
Disclaimer: Nope, the characters here don't belong to me. I'm not making any money out of this, and it's for my own enjoyment and that of those who read it.
Summary: Truth did not accept Ed's alchemy as payment for his brother, instead It asked for Ed's body and two favors. Ed would be able to do what no male alchemist could, bring forth life. The favors? Save a world were his counterpart died during the Human Transmutation, and live for herself this time around. Ed agreed, he'd do anything for Alphonse, even becoming a girl. Not Mpreg, no slash.
Characters: Edward Elric, Roy Mustang, Riza Hawkeye, Truth, Jean Havoc, Heyman Breda, Kain Fuery, Vato Falman, Granny Pinako, Winry, King Bradley, Various Homunculi, Alphonse Elric, Van Hohenheim, OCs, Mentions of the Avengers, Maybe some Avengers, Tony Stark almost a given.
Warnings: Time Travel, Dimension Travel, De-Aging, Fem!Ed, Violence, Angst, Drama, Gore, Mentions of Rape, Mentions of Child Abuse, Child Neglect, Alternate Universe, OOCness, Explicit Language, Ed swears... a lot,
Pairing: Future Fem!Ed/Roy... maybe.
Timeline: Mixed timelines. Starts with Brotherhood - Post Promised Day, then it's mostly Anime 2003 until after Youswell, Some Brotherhood, Starts - Post Ed's 1st human transmutation, Avengers Movie.
Author Notes: I want to thank everyone for their comments/reviews, as well as kudos. Those make me happy, and let me know if my writing is appreciated.
I'm posting this early because last week we had a big scare, my mother was presenting COVID-19 type of symptoms, and frankly I was terrified for her since she has several risk factors. This was also the second time it happened, she was negative that time. Thankfully the test results were negative this time as well, and so I'm celebrating that and the fact her symptoms are miraculously gone, just like the last time. Now we just have to find out what's making her sick every couple of months. I won't be posting on Monday or Tuesday next week, but I might have the next chapter by next weekend.
For this chapter, I went back to watch the anime of 2003 (on Netflix) to check people's ranks. If the translations are good, then the ranks of the military stated here are following that anime and not brotherhood.
As to those who want to know if this will be a crossover with the Avengers, that's the plan. I was not sure whether to include the first movie or not, but I decided it's the best place to introduce the world as to what State Alchemists can do. It won't be for a few chapters, and everything will return to Amestris after the movie events, which is why I did not post this in the crossover section. Might do that in AO3, but not sure if I will in .
Words with Notes: 5,913 (W/O Notes: 5,418) (Notes: 495)
During the months Ed was in Resembool, he took the time to write at least for a few minutes each night in a coded journal. He slowly filled it with the memories from the first time he went through everything, there were a few things he only knew about because someone told him as he had not been involved in them, but Ed considered them equally important, and something he should take into consideration whenever possible.
He planned to use the contents of the journal he was writing as a guide, as well as a reference as to what he might be able to change with little to no repercussions, and those events he probably should not mess around. He layered the small journal with different kinds of protections—for which he discovered magic was specially well suited for, even when he initially had a difficult time accepting it—to keep it from being destroyed, but also to keep anyone else but him from reading it.
Ed was certain it would be very important to keep the timeline from deviating too much—if at all possible, which knowing him, was a very big IF—and he was not really sure how much Mustang's early appearance had already changed. He frankly did not want to muddle through everything a second time blindly... or to make things worse instead of better, even if he had already seen the kind of differences he could expect.
Thankfully his memory was quite good, and the knowledge gained from the Gate told him the wizards the bastard had copied his magic from had created something known as pensieves to view memories—and that had actually sounded like a really fucking useful thing to have. Hohenheim did not have one of those contraptions amongst the things in his study, but he had the instructions to make one, and so Ed made himself a pensieve—using a mix of alchemy and magic—as well as a few other things to help with his second chance.
The journal was Warded with magic, and would only open for Ed—although he might add Mustang and Hughes later on, perhaps letting them read it 'accidentally' would take care of telling them he was a Dimension and Time Traveler without having to say it aloud—so he knew that whatever he wrote in there would be safe from prying eyes. Ed gained the knowledge of how to cast and make Wards when he crossed the Gate to this world, but had needed to go through several books on Ancient Runes, Arithmancy, and Wards to actually be able to do it.
When the time to leave came around, Ed chose not to leave at the end of September to take his State Alchemist Exam like he did in his original Dimension. He needed a bit more time to ensure the house would still be standing—and in good condition—the next time he returned home, as he had decided not to burn it when he left. The reasons he had back then no longer applied, besides, they had been back to Resembool more than once since he became a State Alchemist, and this time Ed rather not keep imposing on the Rockwells whenever he ended in his hometown.
Besides, hidden under the house was Hohenheim's true study/lab, and Ed had not really had a chance to fully explore all it contained. There was an amazing amount of books and scrolls he brought from the different Dimensions he visited, as well as technology Ed knew was probably centuries more advanced than anything found in this very modern world. He hoped to find the time to investigate everything available, as some things might end being useful to fight the homunculi.
Ed also discovered, after he found the hidden lab, the house was protected more than lab five had been by powerful Wards, knowledge of which Ed got at the Gate, so everything in there would be safe once he properly charged and activated them. There were very valuable and old books from this world in Hohenheim's study, as well as manuscripts. There were also the bastard's notes on what the man did to her, plus precious metals—some gold included—jewels, and cenz. Ed took a very good amount of the later, which he planned to use once he became a State Alchemist.
He had been stationed in East City for three years with Mustang and his team, before the Colonel was transferred to Central City, and he had taken his men, woman, and alchemist with him. This time Ed was thinking he might buy himself a decent place to live, instead of staying in the officer's barracks, because he had to admit he would not feel comfortable living on his own there.
More than once he had to deal—or rather Alphonse did—with a few drunken soldiers on leave stumbling into his room in the middle of the night when they were back in East City for whatever reason. He had never reported them, but this time Ed did not have a seven foot steel armor to act as bouncer, and he was no longer a he.
Ed was not naive to believe finding a girl living alone would not be a temptation for some of those men. As to living amongst civilians, Ed knew being a Major would give him the freedom to do so, as officers were allowed to live off the base. He had just never seen a reason to since they had traveled so much, and rarely stayed in East City for more than a couple of weeks.
Ed finally left Resembool on the mid day train heading for East City on October 5th, he decided not to call in advance until he had reached the city, as the last time Mustang had been in Central. He had only learned about it when he reached East Headquarters and asked for the bastard. That had been in late September, and he could not remember when the still Lieutenant Colonel returned to East City. So Ed wanted to be certain of Mustang's whereabouts. He never did learn why the Colonel Bastard had been there, but he suspected it had something to do with his job, which the man usually tried to procrastinate.
The train arrived at East City in the evening, after office hours. It was later than the first time he traveled there, as there had been an unexpected—and not explained delay—at one of the stops on the way to the province's capital. Still Ed chose to first call the bastard's office, sometimes Hawkeye, or one of the guys stayed to finish pending paperwork. Mustang was not there, and neither were the members of his team, which surprised him.
The secretary was allowed to inform him the whole team had been temporarily transferred to Central Command Headquarters, and there was no date set for their return. East Command was still their base of operations, they had just been loaned to Central Command for some time. The secretary could not divulge what their assignment was though. Ed found this temporary transfer odd, as that too had not happened in his original Dimension, at least he did not think so. He did not remember the guys ever talking about a mission in Central.
After ending the call, Ed began wandering about the station as he decided on what to do. He was rather worried the timeline was too different from his own for the foreknowledge he had to be useful. Yet the faceless bastard had told him the main events were the same, so Ed could only conclude all this, along with his certification as a State Alchemist were not part of those events, and he would have to wing them as best he could. He did not like it, but had no choice but to do it.
As Ed wandered aimlessly about the station, he absently took in his whereabouts. East station had always been one of the prettiest displays of Amestrian architectural design in his opinion, although he would have liked it more if there had been one or two gargoyles, and a few skulls. He had to admit the place had changed quite a bit since he last saw it, and while it was much more modern, with many screens showing the arrival/departure itinerary, and a lot of little stores, as well as cafes, it did retain most of the old design.
He stopped at one of the many screens showing the departures. Ed was surprised there were actually several more destinations than he remembered, a good number of those towns had not been big enough to merit their own stations in his Amestris. The only way to reach those towns had been by cart, car—for those few, or the military, who owned them—or by walking. Alphonse and him ended usually going on foot... perhaps he should demand someone taught him to drive this time around. Walking to those places on his own, while he looked like a lit... young girl was probably not a good idea.
It took him a while to make up his mind, and Ed chose to leave for Central City on the next train. Unfortunately, there were none leaving that night, the first one out of East City was at seven thirty the next day. Ed contemplated what to do, he had money to pay for a hotel room, but he rather not wander East City's streets at that hour trying to find a place to stay. It would not be the first time he slept in a train station, though.
"Mustang," Roy answered frowning at the unrecognized number calling him, as he walked away from the team so he could answer privately.
It was past ten, and he was still at the borrowed office in Central Command with part of the team planning for Major General Halcrow and his family's return to Central. The man had not made any friends while he stayed in the East, and they had had a few informants mention the General and his family might be in danger during their travel.
It would have been much easier on him, and the whole team, if the man had actually accepted to take the military plane offered to him, but it seemed the wife preferred to travel by train. The woman liked watching the changing landscapes, and believed it would be a good experience for their small children. Unfortunately Halcrow traveling by train made his job harder.
He already had Warrant Officer Falman, from his team, and Major Hughes—his best friend—from Investigations, along with thirty of the soldiers from his battalion at East Command already on the train dressed as civilians to act as the General's escort. They had left late that afternoon, and they would travel the whole night from New Optain, where Halcrow had been posted, to East City were they were to make a stop. He had also Master Sergeant Fuery take care of instructing their people at communications in establishing a station on the General's car, and he could trust Fuery to do a good job at making their connections secure.
Halcrow was traveling on a private car, which had not been easy to get on such a short notice, but his people had managed to obtain it. The private car had been ready at the New Optain's train station earlier that morning, and was at the front of the train since it would be easier for his men to keep it secure.
Some of his people were to keep guard while they made a stop to refuel and fill their tanks with water for the engine at East City. Their job was to ensure there were no attempts at sabotage, although Roy believed a kidnapping would be more likely. There were a few disgruntled groups who wanted members which had been recently apprehended freed, Halcrow was... valuable enough to the military for such groups to take the risk.
"Lieutenant Colonel?" The young voice of a child asked, making him frown. Why was a kid calling him so late, actually why was a kid calling him, period?
"Yes, this is Lieutenant Colonel Roy Mustang, who's calling?"
"I'm Edward Elric, Sir," and Ed frowned not liking having to sound like a respectful kid. Unfortunately he could not speak to this Mustang like he was used to. They did not have the history they had in his world, and frankly Ed was not sure they ever would again.
"Miss Elric, what can I do for you?" Roy frowned. He did remember the girl, how could he not after that remarkable use of alchemy? But he was not expecting to hear from her for at least a couple more years, if not until she turned sixteen, which was the minimum age to join the Military Academy.
"You said to call you if I decided to become a State Alchemist, and I have. I've decided to take the exam, and I'm at East City's train station," Ed told him.
Roy was rather shocked to hear that, it really was unexpected, specially the fact the girl was already in East City. "Correct me if I'm wrong, Miss Elric, but doesn't recovery from automail surgery take about three years?" The girl was around twelve now if he was not wrong, a bit too young to take the exam without someone important sponsoring her.
"Er... Yeah, usually," he admitted. "But I managed it in one. So I called your office, but they told me you were in Central."
Roy's mind had a bit of trouble wrapping itself around the fact the girl had managed what adult, hardened soldiers could not. From what he knew, automail surgery was extremely painful. Then an idea popped into his mind, he knew she was a powerful alchemist, but was she able to deal with a stressful and frightening situation?
"Miss Elric, take the seven thirty train out of East City. My time is in rather high demand at the moment, so don't miss the train under any circumstances," he stressed. "Call me when you arrive at Central."
"Ok, so I'll be able to take the exam?" Ed asked. The last time there was no problem, but with things being different this time, he wanted to make sure.
"We'll talk about that in detail once you're here," he hedged. There were no exams programmed for a few months, so he needed to think what to do with Elric until the exam dates.
Roy knew he might be putting the child in danger by asking her to board a train that might be hijacked, but if she was going to be a State Alchemist, Elric needed to learn how to deal with stressful and dangerous situations... well, different kinds of stressful situations. Because surviving a double Human Transmutation with which she tried to bring back her mother, and her brother, as well as saving herself after losing two limbs was stressful enough. Roy just needed to know she was not one to panic and hide. State Alchemists were not very popular after Ishval to begin with, and there was usually some danger no matter how boring a mission might look on paper.
"Ok, I'll get the ticket, Mustang," Ed agreed easily, it was what he planned to do after all.
"Are you calling from a public phone?"
"No, this is my phone," he responded frowning.
"Good, I expect to see you tomorrow, Miss Elric." The girl hung up, and Roy added her number to his contact list so he recognized it when she called tomorrow, and then added a reminder on his phone to give the number to Hawkeye later.
The case they had been working on had him too distracted on top of dealing with Halcrow's travel arrangements. This serial killer was simply too clever, or way too lucky, as he left no evidence at the scenes where they found the bodies, although at least they had been able to confirm he/she was not killing the victims on site. Whoever it was, took his/her sweet time chopping the poor souls up.
Maes—Hughes, his best friend—who was in charge of the investigation, was going insane trying to capture the killer, and now he was at East City, acting as an escort for Halcrow. In Roy's opinion it was a waste of resources and precious time they could be using trying to capture The Chopper, as the people were calling the serial killer.
After hanging up, Ed was going to one of the tickets stands to buy one for the seven thirty train to Central as the bastard asked, when there was a commotion coming his way. A guy had stolen some woman's purse, and was running away from one of the police men patrolling East City's train station.
The thief was coming his way, so Ed had no trouble using a bit of alchemy to stop the guy, and temporarily trap him in a cage. The police man, and the purse's owner arrived shortly after he captured the thief. After being thanked profusely by the woman, and gotten a big sandwich and a soda from her in gratitude, Ed managed to get his ticket. Then proceeded to find a relatively comfortable place to sit, charge his phone, and play a few games on it to pass the time.
He saw the same police man, an officer Beck, doing his rounds several minutes later, and asked him if there would be any trouble if he slept at the station, since it was already too late to look for a hotel, and he was leaving early in the morning. He did not expect there would be, as there were a few people scattered about who seemed to be doing precisely that. Officer Beck told him there was no problem, and he would even keep an eye on him during his rounds to ensure no one tried to take advantage of him.
Ed woke up around six thirty, and gladly accepted the chance to take a shower at the station guard's common room. He had to hurry though, because the shift ended at seven, and then it would be crowded with those getting ready to go home. He thanked officer Beck for the offer, and was grateful to wash off the sleep, and muck of a day on trains.
He had then enough time to have a decent breakfast in one of the many cafes around, and was ready to board the train on time. Ed was only carrying his back pack, so he did not have to worry about documenting any luggage. He did notice there were more soldiers than what he believed was normal, specially close to the train going to Central, but he paid them no mind. Who knew? It might be normal in this Amestris.
He was lucky, as there was no one in the seats beside and in front of him, and frankly modern train seats were magnitudes more comfortable than those back in his Dimension. Ed got comfortable, took some more photos to send to Winry—as he had taken a few of the station last night—as well as a couple of selfies, then simply got his headphones out and put on some music.
Knowing him and trains, Ed was going to be asleep as soon as they left East City. The trip to Central took ten hours, so he would probably get some food on the dining car later, once he got hungry. As he waited for the train to fill and depart, Ed got thinking about all that happened in the year since he arrived to the Dimension.
He was well aware the first time around he had had Al as backup, and together they were able to take down most of the enemies they had faced, but now Ed was alone and needed a way to best his opponents on his own. It was a rather daunting prospect, but thankfully he did have some experience being on his own, as he and Alphonse had been separated for a time during the events leading to Promised Day. Ed did not think he had done too badly on his own. True, he was now 'enhanced' but Ed was not stupid, and knew there might be times when it would not be enough. He could be objective... some times.
In a move which would have surprised most people who knew him, Ed had sat up at his desk at the house, and actually planned ahead. It really was something he was not known for, but in his current situation it really could not be avoided. Ed needed new ways to protect himself, and even be stealthy should it be necessary—which he was forced to admit had been more times than he wanted to contemplate. It was also something he probably needed to get used to, since going through things a second time meant Ed could see where he did something wrong, and hopefully he should be able to find a way to correct whatever it had been.
While Ed had been recovering in Resembool, he watched a lot of television, action movies, and read a few ebooks as well—he had always been a voracious reader, just never had the time to actually read novels of any type and genre. He had first been too busy trying to learn all he could to get their mother back, then too busy researching the Philosopher's Stone. There really had not been much to do while he got well enough to actually do something more productive.
On MySpace he found videos about Iron Man—and frankly, Ed wanted one of those suits, they were just so cool—as well as any martial arts he could find to add to what Teacher had taught him in both Realities. On the Internet—and he believed that was probably the best thing in the futuristic Dimension he was now living in—Ed located as much information as he could about past Stark Industries weaponry, since they were no longer producing them, hoping to get some inspiration from them.
In the end Ed was confident he came up with something which would be quite useful for someone like him. He ended designing a trio of dart guns, two of which he integrated into his automail arm, one of them, the smaller one used his index finger as the exit point. His glove had a tiny little hole at the top of said finger so he could shoot without having to take it off. It was perfectly concealed, and no one would ever suspect Ed was armed, and ready, at all times. The best thing was, even if it had been the most difficult to achieve, he did not need to use alchemy to use that particular gun.
The other gun in his arm—the more powerful—was larger, and required alchemy. He had all parts already integrated into his arm, so there was no need to thin the material of said arm to transmute it, unlike he did with his blade. The secondary gun—as he was calling it in his mind—used larger projectiles, which would be used on things, and not people as the first gun was to be used.
The third type of gun could use both types of projectiles, but was hand-held to use when he could not use the ones in his arm for whatever reason. Ed had actually created a hidden compartment in his automail leg—since it had been rarely damaged or removed—for one of his dart guns, plus a couple of knives. He was not going to be caught unarmed again if he could help it, Ed had had enough of that to last him a life time.
The dart guns—Ed chose to transmute a few of these as a precaution—looked very similar to a normal semi-automatic gun, the likes used by this modern Amestrian military, but it was smaller to fit his current size and not look ridiculous. Once he was back to his proper size—because Ed refused to believe he was not growing to the height he had when his body had been sixteen—he planned on making something much more impressive.
Winry had not been happy to see him messing up with their creation, but she had added her own input once he explained to her why he was doing it. Ed actually admitted to her he could not always depend on alchemy to get out of dangerous situations, and as a State Alchemist he was sure there would be some... to put it mildly. Ed also used this excuse to prepare her for the fact his automail might get damaged, even if it would really be very, very difficult for it to happen. Hopefully this time around he could avoid so many wrenches to the head.
Ed and Winry had added a few extras, which thankfully did not add much additional weight to the member. He still used some magic—he actually carved some runes on it—to keep the arm lighter while Winry was not looking. The finished guns were really work of arts, Winry and him were actually quite proud of the end result. The adamantium alloy had been a bitch to transmute initially, thankfully it began 'remembering' the shape of his transmutations after several tries, and stopped fighting the changes.
The darts to use on humans had also been difficult to come up with. He needed something small, but powerful, capable of knocking a very large man in seconds, because Ed could not afford to give any of his enemies the chance to react. He also did not want to kill anyone, so normal bullets were to be a last resort kind of thing.
He had already been mobile by this time, so several visits to Hohenheim's secret study had been in order. He still did not know how the bastard had managed to get all those books and scrolls on magic across the Gate—probably at the cost of some of the xerxesian souls he carried—but Ed was happy Hohenheim had actually experimented with Dimension Travel.
Ed discovered the magicals from which his own magic was based on had a discipline called Enchanting, which would make objects perform a magical action, or set of actions the Enchanter desired. With the knowledge he had of his new Dimension, Ed could equate that with a programmed set of instructions, like the code a computer programmer used. After many nights staying late in the study poring over Enchantment textbooks, a lot of fights with Winry and Granny Pinako, and several tests, he came up with something very useful.
He had been able to create the Enchantments for the darts to do what he needed. Ed came to the conclusion he needed three different attacks for the time being, later he would play a bit more with magic, and see what else he could make his darts do, or whether he could simply Enchant them as he went depended on the situation. Ed decided he needed the darts to be able to Stun, Petrify (paralyze), and Tase, not all three at the same time, of course. So there had to be three types of darts.
Ed knew he had to justify what he did, because Amestris alchemists were not yet ready to accept the existence of magic, and he was not ready to show them either, specially because as far as he knew, he was the only one in the whole world who could do it. So he had to tell them he was doing something else, in fact, Ed would be expected to share at least a bit of the process used to create the darts. Mustang would probably demand it, as he was a bastard that way, and perhaps later on Ed would confide in him about magic, though not initially.
He spent quite a lot of time thinking, and decided—after browsing a few bio-alchemy texts, plus some on alkahestry—Ed could say the substances were transmuted from several others, and alchemically placed in the darts. The substances needed were easy for a kid his age to access... including a few poisonous mushrooms and other plants which only grew in the area around Resembool.
Ed would imply the exact formula, as well as the alchemic array, were his own creation, and a secret to keep anyone from discovering an antidote, or a way to replicate them without his permission. He had actually developed those substances, and they had really been a bitch to create, but the knowledge he gained at the Gate helped a lot. Ed had actually been surprised to know quite a bit about botany, in conjunction with chemistry, anatomy, and medicine. Since he had also learned alkahestry, the later two came in handy.
The supposed 'antidote' was going to be another dart with the Incantation to end the Enchantments, but he also had to create the real thing, it had been double the work, but Ed was quite satisfied with the results and the learning experience. He was also grateful, although he would never admit it to his face, the bastard who sired him had an excellent laboratory in the hidden study.
Once he had perfected his design, it had been time to get proficient with the darts. Being a lousy shot would only make him more of a target, so Ed had trained hard, until he became almost as accurate with the darts as Hawkeye. He practiced with his arm guns, the second of which could use normal bullets should it be necessary—Ed actually learned how to make them himself in case it was needed—although he rather never use them, and a few combinations of explosive ones he came up with, as well as the hand held versions.
Ed could say he became very quick to draw with all of them. He carried the hand-held versions in an apparently tiny pouch hanging from his belt. In truth the pouch had an Undetectable Expansion Charm, as well as a Feather-light Charm. It took him a while to come to terms with those physic laws defying charms, but once Ed managed to wrap his mind around it, he realized they gave him quite an advantage.
He actually carried a lot of useful things in that pouch, as well as his backpack—which he subjected to a similar treatment—and most of his luggage as well. He had included several reference books—on both alchemy and magic—from the bastard's hidden library, as well as a few carefully preserved and protected xerxesian scrolls he was dying to read, but had no time to with as many other things he had to take care of. Hopefully things would not be too hectic the first few months after taking the State Alchemist exam so he could dedicate time to read.
The now girl knew Hawkeye would have nothing to criticize him for as he had become nearly as accurate as she was with his own weapon. He also worked on a way to avoid being shot, and his Protego shield was strong enough, although he had also used Runes on his clothing to make them bullet proof—and he had had to learn how to embroider things, it was not as difficult as he originally thought because he already knew how to sew.
He usually repaired his things using alchemy now, but there were times when he was younger—before the transmutation—when he had needed to patch his and Alphonse's clothes. He planned to justify the Protego as it being an Air Shield, which he was actually working on re-creating with alchemy. It was a work in progress, but the current prototype worked for one shot before breaking. It was still progress.
Ed knew such a shield would be dead useful, and might save several people from Scar. He just needed to find the correct array to have the shield reconstruct after the Ishvalan deconstructed it, and have it done on a loop without any input from the alchemist using it, until stopped by the alchemist. In a life or death fight, constantly reactivating the shield manually could end being a fatal distraction. But there was time for that, at least he expected there was.