Author's notes!:

you all wanted an update... you got yourselves an update

*puts on sunglasses*

prepare yourselves...

"Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe."

~ Albert Einstein

Chapter Thirteen:

World-Apart

"A sound soul dwells within a sound mind and a sound body."

"Humankind cannot gain without first giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost. That is Alchemy's first law of Equivalent Exchange."

A lot of time passed, a few weeks actually… it was now April First. Students of the academy weren't prohibited to come to school today, so everyone just stayed home to get ready for the festivities. They were required to dress in formal attire.

FullMetal was deciding on either letting his moms use a spell to make him a suit, or wearing his old military uniform. He couldn't help but wonder what would happen if he were to wear his uniform... After a lot of thinking, he decided to just try on the uniform and see what vibe he got from it. The uniform was a white rimmed blue waist coat with blue pants and black boots. When he finished putting the uniform on (and washed off his whiskers), he looked in the mirror as he began to put on the badges, not knowing how he knew where they went.

Once he finished he had yet another flash...

"FullMetal, why is it that you refuse to wear your uniform? You know that it shows that you're in the military!" wasn't that the voice from his first nightmare?…

"Yeah, well so does my pocket-watch." was that his voice? "Colonel, I'm a State Alchemist, therefore I'm a legal adult even though I'm only twelve. I can wear what I want. Not to mention, just because I now belong to the military, doesn't mean that I want look the part!"

FullMetal thought about the voices that he heard… he heard the voice of a Colonel, and he also heard his own voice... He was in the military since he was twelve... Twelve years of age... He was now sixteen... Four years...

Shaking his thoughts out of his head and looked into the mirror.

Well at least he didn't feel or look sadistic... He began checking himself, making sure that everything was on correctly. He then thought that he should wear the uniform to the celebration. It was formal, not to mention that he could probably get a flash or maybe even get an opinion from Doctor Stein about the new memory that he got...

He smiled. He felt more positive about the uniform... Something told that he didn't wear it all that much. He didn't care though, he was going to wear it to the celebration. Might as well make some memories since he barely had any...

Alphonse was nervous… he looked at the research that he and everyone had done, along with the final product: a large Transmutation Circle on the floor of the basement of the factories of the military. He looked over at May Chang.

She a very small girl, a few years younger than Alphonse, with long black hair tied into two buns whilst the rest hanged in several thin braids. She had dark black eyes. She wore a pink kimono and a long pink sash that went from her shoulder to her waist which it wrapped around and it had a skirt-like extension and acted as what it looked like, even though she wore white pants. She also had open-toed sandals.

She and her half brother, Ling Yao, had helped with incorporating Alkahestry to the Transmutation Circle. He and everyone in the room didn't know what to think... they were very nervous about the thought of using the circle.

Ling Yao was a tall boy despite the fact that he was only a few months younger than Edward. He had dark eyes, and long black hair tied in a low pony tail. He had spiky bangs that hung over his face, often obscuring one of his eyes. He wore loose white trousers and a goldenrod shirt which bears white flame pattern at the base and cuffs, small wing decorations at the collar and a large bird's head marking on the back, it was worn open to reveal his bare chest and the strap that kept his sword suspended across his back in white tape. His forearms and abdomen were also wrapped in white cloth. He also had on black shoes.

Ling and May looked at the final product with an intense gaze, making sure that every Alkahestry rune was placed in the correct place, while Izumi, Mustang, Alphonse and Major Armstrong checked if the Alchemy runes were in the correct places as well.

Major Armstrong was a remarkably large man who practically towered over everyone. He had a very muscular build. His head was completely bald save for a single lock of curly blond hair just above his brow. He also had a think mustache and blue eyes. He wore the same military uniform as Mustang.

Everyone else in the room consisted of Winry, Hawkeye, May's pet panda (that was as small as a kitten) named Xiao-Mei, and Jean Havoc.

Jean took a long drag from the cigarette in his mouth. He was there for support, like Winry and Hawkeye. As he exhaled, the smoke that came from his mouth, unbeknownst to everyone and himself, the smoke twisted and curled, looking like a skull before fading away. He got a sudden pit in his stomach, he had a bad feeling… but why?

Everyone began trying to think of who would go to the unknown world that Edward was maybe (possibly) in. Alphonse had to go, no doubt. Mustang was up to the task, which meant that Riza was going. Everyone was up to the task actually, but someone had to stay behind in case of an emergency. So it was decided that Alphonse, Ling, Mustang, and Riza would go into the unknown world first, while everyone else would stay behind until they hear word that the other world is safe to enter. When that happens they'll be able to send another select few to that world. Mustang was the first to try the circle.

Roy placed his hands on the edge of the circle to activate it, when it activated, something awful happened. At first the transmutation was normal, it glowed and sparked bright blue, but then it swiftly turned a bright purple. The sparks of violet went wild, completely out of Roy's control. One of the sparks hit Winry, then Hawkeye, and lastly Jean. They and Roy then began to glow the violet color before disappearing in to thin air...

Roy, Hawkeye, Winry, and Jean looked around and found themselves in a white void. Roy knew where they were, but he didn't understand why the transmutation failed to be controlled. They all saw the Gate along with the very being that they were forced to call "god"... Truth...

Truth looked at them with it's emptiness, but when it spoke, it wasn't being charismatic... it was pointing out the obvious and being blunt... "You're all here to go to the other world and get Edward... Aren't you?..."

Roy decided to speak, "Yes, but it seems that the transmutation wasn't controlled."

"Don't worry..." Truth sighed, "It won't affect your trip too much... it will just separate all of you. I'll leave a note for Alphonse and the others about where they went wrong. Think of it as a 'thanks' for saving the world that I made..." Everyone looked at the god in utter surprise. But the god just sat in front of the gate, motionless. It continued, "In all seriousness, I was hoping that you all would've took longer, but I digress, you all are too smart, but maybe its better this way... Just be careful. The world you all are about to enter is a dangerous one. It would be wise to stay indoors at night, and if you can, try to read and gain as much information as possible... Trust me, you'll be thankful that you did..."

"Why do you say that?" Winry asked.

"The world there... It doesn't work like mine…" Truth said, "Oh, and if you all land at night, and are unable to go indoors. Pay attention to the moon, if you see blood, look for some place to go indoors, be it a coffee shop or a store, just get indoors, and don't use alchemy in public..." the Gate began to open, "You've over stayed your welcome, be careful... Good luck..."

With questions buzzing through their heads, they were pulled into the gate by black tendrils...

Roy awoke with a blazing headache. He was looking up at the dark blue sky... the clouds were a deep purple. He blinked and looked side to side. He was in a forest... a forest with extremely weird trees... the trees were a bit like normal trees except for one teensy weensy little thing... INSTEAD OF LEAVES THERE WERE ORANGE ORBS AT THE END OF THE BRANCHES! He got up and looked at the trees. The orange orbs were glowing, as if they were carved out pumpkins with candles inside. It was very abnormal.

He sighed and began to look at the path that he was at. He looked side to side. He was on a path, a path that lead... somewhere... not to mention... He was alone... alone, on a mysterious path in an abnormal forest, and- oh hey there was smoke coming from the end on one side of the path! Mustang smiled and began making his way to the smoke... As he was walking he continued to look at the trees, trying to comprehend why they were like tha-

"WHAT THE FUCK?!" he thought, wide-eyed.

Mustang stopped, and stared at the sky... He blinked... It was still there... He slapped himself... It wasn't his imagination nor was he dreaming... The moon... It...it was crescent... and looked to be the side of a face...IT WAS A FACE... one of the craters was an eye, and the friggen moon was grinning... and moving a little as if it was grinding it's teeth... What the heck was going on... Is that blood that its drooling?...

Roy then remembered what the Truth said... He needed to get inside someplace, now! But then again he was an alchemist... He could take care of himself... He wasn't in public anyways... Still, he began to quicken his pace, hoping to run into one of his friends. He was headed for the smoke. No questions asked. He soon found himself...

"Okay this has to be a bad joke" He thought.

He was standing in front of a house that looked like two giant pumpkins that were stacked on top of each other and were caved triangles to make them have faces on them and a triangle shaped door... He sighed... the smoke was coming from the stem...or 'chimney'... Might as well get himself out of the high chance of something bad happening...

He knocked on the door, and awaited an answer. Soon the door opened up to a woman... a woman with a short shirt, purple hair- wait purple? - Was that possible?- And... a very... very short skirt... Oh Hawkeye would be holding a gun to his head right now if she was here...

Holding back a nosebleed, he said in a language that he didn't even know that he knew "Excuse me ma'am, but I'm a bit lost. May I stay the night here?..."

The woman simply smiled and said in a very seductively sweet voice "Sure, besides I wasn't planning on going anywhere tonight." he was surprised that he was able to understand her, but then realized that the Gate must've planted the information into him, therefore the same should go for the others.

Mustang couldn't help but feel, that there was something off about this woman... something very off... She invited him in and he sat down on a very comfortable couch. The house was pretty big and very homey.

The woman sat next to him and said, "My name is Blair."

"Its nice to met you, my name is Roy Mustang."

"So Roy, what do you like to drink? Sake? Wine? Tea? Milk?" she asked.

"I think it would be best to stay sober on this mission..." he thought, "Do you have coffee?"

"I sure do!" she smiled, "I'll be right back."

He sighed, "How am I going to find Riza, Havoc, and Winry, not to mention FullMetal, like this... Truth didn't even say why we had to stay indoors at night... Wait..." he mentally face palmed, "Duh Roy! You're talking to a woman from this world, why not show her a picture of Ed and ask her!"

When Blair returned... The cups of coffee were floating with sugar, spoons, milk and pumpkin coffee creamer… OKAY! He wasn't going to question anything anymore! NOOOOPE!

She sat down and all of the floating items landed on the coffee table. It is also a good idea to note that the cup in front of Roy looked a lot like the top of the pumpkin house, and Blair's looked like a fish for some reason... This woman was weird... Maybe he should've gotten the wine...

He began adding the sugar to his drink along with a bit of milk. Coffee was not only a teacher's lives blood, it was the military's as well. Even FullMetal admitted it... When he was finished, he took a drink before he got out the picture of his subordinate.

"Um, Blair?" he said.

"Yes?" she said taking a drink of her coffee.

"Have you seen this boy?" he handed her the picture, "He's been missing, and I've been looking for him for several months now..."

The woman's eyes went wide and she exclaimed happily, "THAT'S MY LITTLE MOUSEY BOY!"

If there was ever a weird moment in Mustang's life… this took the cake… the giant- pumpkin shaped cake...