" "The truth." Dumbledore sighed. "It is a beautiful and terrible thing, and should therefore be treated with great caution." "

~J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter and Sorcerer's Stone)

Chapter Fourteen:

Amnesia unknown! Ed's Big Secret

"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."

Jean walked somberly through the weirdest, yet creepiest city he had ever seen. He had already flipped out about the moon and how it was drooling blood, and he was just plain lost. He was even muttering in a language that he didn't even know.

"I'm gonna die here... ugh this is all that gate's fault, but what am I supposed to do... I'm lost, I'm cold, I haven't had a successful date in all my life... Oh this is not going to end well..." he muttered.

"-someone must've taken it out already." said a woman in the distance.

Jean began looking for the source as he listened to the voices.

"I guess you're right, Nygus." said a male voice.

Jean was getting closer, he just needed to pick up the pace, the moon was still drooling blood, and it was down right creepy, he needed some beer and a nap to get over it because his cigarette wasn't helping. But then, with a loud bang, he tripped.

"Sid, did you hear that?!" said Nygus.

"Yeah," said Sid, "Lets check it out."

Jean soon found himself staring at a woman with a lot of bandages, and a man that was a zombie... Just what kind of sick world did he get sent to?...

The zombie sighed, "Its just a civilian..." the zombie was none other than that Sid person... Sid looked back at Jean for a moment, "Wait... you're from a military! What are you doing in Death City?"

"Who names their city 'Death'?" Jean thought, "I doubt that they get many tourist because of that name…"

Nygus looked at him curiously, "Are you okay."

"No..." Jean got up, "Uh... yeah, I'm fine, its just that I'm looking for a good friend of mine... Neither one of you would perhaps know someone called FullMetal, would you?"

Sid looked stunned, "FullMetal Alchemist? Yeah, he goes to the academy."

"And he's one of the best students in the DWMA," Nygus added, "Besides Maka and Ox Ford, that is, but either way, why are you looking for him?"

Jean scratched the back of his neck, "He's been missing for a long time now, my friends and his little brother have been looking for him ever since the first day we noticed that he was gone..."

"What's your name?" Sid asked.

"Jean Havoc..."

Sid looked like he saw a ghost... For a zombie that is... Little did Jean know was that Sid knew things that he didn't. The zombie couldn't help but think about how Stein told him about FullMetal's returning memories... specifically one about a man called 'Havoc' who FullMetal stated to smell like an ashtray.

Winry walked about the streets of a city that she noticed, through knowing a language that she somehow learned, on a sign that said "Death City". She thought that there was something creepy about this new world just by how the sky had a grinning moon. She was tired and was really mad at Edward. He was a smart guy, so why the heck has he not found out how to get back to Amestris already? When she sees him, her wrench and his forehead were going to have a nasty comeback...

Suddenly there was a blood curdling scream... She then saw that the moon began drooling blood... that was bad... She began to pick up her pace... She had a horrible feeling... a really horrible feeling. Before she could even react, there was a chimera-like-creature that stood about eight feet tall, with metallic spikes leading up it's back, and an arm that had canon like structure on it. It had a nasty grin that revealed teeth that were as sharp as knives. In a dreaded voice it said "Want- more - power!"

But before the creature could attack, five blades impaled it's chest. It didn't move. Suddenly the blades retracted with a golden light. The creature's entire form went pitch black, and then turned into black ribbons that surrounded a floating red orb, then the ribbons went into the orb. And there behind that orb… was her savior...

*THWACK*

It was Edward Elric. Winry was holding her wrench high above her head and Ed was nursing his now aching head. She was glaring at him, she did notice that he was wearing his military uniform - for whatever reason - but she had a bone to pick with him.

"ED, YOU IDIOT!" she roared, "DO YOU KNOW HOW WORRIED AL AND I HAVE BEEN?! YOU HAVE A LOT OF EXPLAIN-" she paused.

Ed looked at her... not only in surprise... but sorrow as well... Something about his golden eyes told her that scolding him was a bad idea. He was still holding his head, and shyly looked away.

"Uh...its...n-nice to see you too,... Winry..." he said in a bit of a whisper as he stopped nursing his head.

She blinked. Did he... did he stutter? No... not Ed, he was always confident... Maybe he was just tired. Yeah, that's it...that guy just seems to never get enough sleep! Seriously, he has five naps a day, you'd expect him to be a least three inches taller from that!... but something's different...He looked down and kicked the ground, not even making a bit of sound. He was giving off a strange vibe... Was this the Edward that she knew?

She took a deep breath, "Do you know how worried we've been? What happened? Why- HOW did you disappear on us?"

FullMetal knew that the girl before him was Winry, he was able to tell by simply how she called him 'Ed' and also an idiot. But he didn't understand her question... What did she mean that he disappeared? Why would he?… He needed to get his memories back in order to answer the question... Memory... He needed to tell her about his amnesia and the Maddification!... But how would he do it? Just blurt it out? No... that would be cruel… Maybe after the party… yeah… Just let her have some fun at the celebration then when the two of them get to his dorm, he could tell her... she might be sad... or mad... but its better than keeping it a secret forever... But first he needed to make an excuse... Just a small one... That wasn't the only problem though... what about the soul that was floating right there in front of them... Does she know that he's a Weapon?... He had a feeling that she didn't...

"Um... my memory is a little hazy... But -...uh... Winry..." he said. "I...I was on my way to the DWMA's anniversary party... Do you want to come with me?..." Maybe he could get away with eating the soul as they made their way to the celebration... He grabbed onto the soul, holding onto it tightly.

Winry blinked. She shook away all of the swarming thoughts, she had a strange feeling about his answer, not to mention the orb. She decided to humor him for a bit, before taking out her scorn on him again. "Sure, I have nothing else to do..."

She began to fallow him, as she was fallowing him she asked, "What does 'D.W.M.A' stand for?..."

Ed seemed to be surprised by the question, he said "It means Death's Weapon Meister Academy..."

"Whats that supposed to mean?" she thought, "Oookay... so why are you going to their anniversary?"

He rubbed his arm nervously, "Well... I've been attending their academy for a while now..."

She smiled, that was just like him, "Let me guess, you're doing it for the same reason why you joined the Military. Just to gain access to the library."

"I became a military officer just so I could use their library...?" he thought, "Uh... Sure...Yeah... That's why..."

She looked at him curiously... Was he lying to her? She decided to ignore it for now... "So, what was that orb?"

"What orb?" he asked.

"That red orb that you're holding on to..." Winry said.

"Oh..." he suddenly went silent... How could she not have known that it was a soul? This meant that she didn't know that he was a Weapon... This was bad... How was he going to explain such a trivial thing to her?... "uh... I'm supposed to collect them for Lord Death..."

"Who?" Winry asked. "I don't think I heard you correctly."

Oh for the love of- FullMetal slightly raised his voice, "I said that I'm supposed to collect them for Lord Death. You know, God."

Winry blinked and stopped in her tracks. "I thought you were an Atheist."

He looked at her, "I WAS A WHAT?!". panic was surging through him but he didn't move. He slowly calmed his mind and swiftly exclaimed, "A-lot-has-happened-and-I'll-explain-it-later!-Now-lets-just-get-to-the-party-already!"

He turned away and slowly began walking away, Winry tailing behind him. After a long walk they were almost at the school, they were making their way up the long fleet of stairs.

"Ed are you okay?" she asked, "You've been acting a bit... off."

"I'm fine." FullMetal said, "I... I just have a lot on my mind... okay..."

She stayed quiet.

When they got to the top of the stairs, they were greeted by Death the Kidd and the Thompson sisters. They looked surprised at how FullMetal was dressed and how he had Winry with him, since they didn't know who she was and were positive that she didn't go to the academy.

"Hi Kidd, Liz, Patty." FullMetal smiled, "I'd like you all to meet, Winry Rockbell. She's an old friend of mine. Winry, this is Death the Kidd and the Thompson sisters. They're some of my friends from the academy." he didn't know how he knew Winry's surname, he just blurted it out. He was - in a way - grateful that he did, leaving Winry blissfully ignorant... for now...

"Its nice to meet you." Kidd smiled, he seemed irritated though. Probably because of Winry's bangs.

"Likewise." Winry smiled.

"GUYS!" a voice exclaimed. It was Maka, behind her was Black Star, Tsubaki, Soul, and Crona.

FullMetal introduced them to Winry, hoping no one would point out his amnesia or his Maddification. Praying to Death that they would leave her oblivious to it. He wanted to tell her himself.

"Hey Winry, would you like me to lend you a dress?" Tsubaki smiled sweetly.

"Sure, you and I seem to have about the same dress size." Winry said. She walked up to FullMetal and muttered, "Don't think you got out of your Automail check up, Ed. When we get home, you're getting a check up and that's final..."

She left with Tsubaki. FullMetal sighed and fallowed the rest of his friends back into the party - he ate the soul. He began hoping that the check up would be as painless as possible... but the wrench made him think otherwise...

Winry and Tsubaki walked into the dorm in which Tsubaki and Black Star lived in. Tsubaki lead Winry to her room and began looking through her closet for a dress that the mechanic could wear.

Winry couldn't help but ask "So... Uh... FullMetal-" she didn't like to use Ed's state name... It felt wrong… But his friends were using the state name instead of his real name. She didn't have a choice, "- said that he's been going to the academy... What do you all study there...?"

"Oh, we study souls. The DWMA stands as a defense against forces of evil - you know - Keishin Eggs and Witches - that sort of thing. Maka has fought an immortal Werewolf once. We collect souls for Lord Death." Tsubaki said, "But you can only do that sort of thing if your in the E.A.T class, which is only a small portion of the school and only has one teacher. The majority are in the N.O.T class, they merely just train and do homework. Me, FullMetal, and all of our friends are in the E.A,T class."

Winry processed the information. Witches? Really? Ed didn't believe in magic, yet now he dose and even fallows some sort of religion that's god is Death! What happened to him?

Tsubaki then said "I'm surprised that he didn't tell you this when he told you the news."

"What news?" Winry asked, "You mean the anniversary?"

Tsubaki went wide eyed and turned to the mechanic. "He... He didn't tell you?..."

"Didn't tell me what?" Winry asked.

Tsubaki put a hand over her mouth as tears welled up in her eyes, "Winry... I think you should sit down..."

Riza walked about a city that she didn't know. She didn't know what to think about it. She saw that the moon was drooling blood and knew that she should get inside a shop or something but from what she has seen - everything was closed. With every step she took she felt like she was being fallowed. She knew that she was being fallowed. Deciding that she wasn't going to play this little game she waited for a good moment when the stalker was confident before she made her move.

Swiftly - she pull out a AMT AutoMag V (a single action semi-automatic pistol) as she spun around and pointed the barrel at the person's head. The person who was fallowing her didn't move but stayed calm. The person was a man with a large screw in his head and grey hair.

He smiled and said "I figured that you'd do that... You don't know how to hide how your soul acts with your thoughts - do you?"

As confused as she was by Stein's words, she simply glared and asked "Why are you fallowing me?"

"You're looking for FullMetal correct?" he asked.

She blinked. "How did he know?"

"Simple, the uniform was a dead giveaway. After all - he's wearing one just like it..." Stine said as he began turning the screw clockwise a few times.

She blinked again. She began to glare at him, ready to grab another one of her hidden guns, "Who are you?"

"Oh, how rude of me," he said as he stopped turning the screw, "I'm Doctor Franken Stein. I'm a professor from the academy." he noticed the confused look in her eyes, "Death's Weapon Meister Academy..." He decided to get a better look at the woman's soul.

The Hawk's Eye's soul was a glorious sight - if she was a Meister she would be one heck of an opponent. Her soul was large enough to surround her entire body - she practically nearly challenged his own. The shape of her soul was very interesting - it had the wings of the animal that her code name had and it had several bullets around it. Her soul gave him the impression that the gun that she was holding wasn't just for intimidation... She was ready to kill him on the spot... As for the wave length, he would say that if the woman had enough training she'd be able to attack with her wavelength.

"Who might you be?" he asked.

"Riza Hawkeye."

"That explains the codename even more..." he thought. "Well, Riza, you can put the gun down. I'm not going to hurt you..."

She didn't budge. "Not until you tell me how you know FullMetal."

"I thought it'd be obvious," he said plainly, "he goes to the academy. He is one of the best student's there, with top marks as well."

"He's been going to school?...hmm...Probably to gain access to the library..." she thought, "How do I know you're telling me the truth?"

"Well today is the celebration of the founding of the academy..." he said, "Why don't you accompany me to the celebration? I'm more than sure you'll see him there..."

Hawkeye thought about it... she sighed, and slowly put her gun away before saying, "Okay - but one move - put one foot out of line - and if I find that you were lying to me - expect to be filled with bullets..."

He simply reached into his pocket and pulled out a cigarette, lit it with his soul force and took a long drag of it. For a moment the smoke he exhaled took the shape of a skull. He then smiled and said "Then I'm perfectly safe. You can even ask Lord Death and the students if FullMetal goes to school there. You'll find that I'm being honest..."

She began to fallow him to this academy that he spoke of - waiting to know whether or not she'll have to shoot him. Suddenly Stein blurted out, "You have a very interesting soul..." she looked at him curiously as he continued, "Your soul shows that you're very authoritative and care for your comrades - including FullMetal - but there is someone whom you'll protect far more than anyone until they reach their goal. Even though that that one person is currently not here with you - you still focus on your current goal which is finding FullMetal. You're so focused and serious that you still don't trust me or even show a sign of relief even though that I told you that he is currently in the academy. Yet your soul looked confused when I made the statement about the Academy and Lord Death... I wonder why..."

She felt sweat drip down the back of her neck... "How-... how do you know all of that?"

He gave her a smirk, "I'm able to see souls."

"How is that possible?" she thought, "Its defiantly not Alchemy...Is this what Truth meant by that this world is nothing like ours. Sure the moon has a face...but I thought that that would be it..."

She stayed quiet and continued fallowing Stein to the school. It wasn't long until they got to the school - Hawkeye was awestruck at the sheer symmetry and how big the building was. Even though she was impressed - she didn't show it yet she had a strange feeling that Stein knew she was impressed. As they were making their way toward the building she saw a familiar face.

"Winry!" Hawkeye called.

The mechanic looked her way and gave a small smile - though she looked like she was holding something back - something emotionally. There was a tall girl - Tsubaki - was behind her.

Stein noticed this he gave her smile, "A friend of FullMetal's I presume?"

Winry nodded.

Tsubaki looked over at Stein. They made eye contact.

"Tsubaki, go check on Black Star, I'll go get FullMetal." Stein said. Tsubaki simply nodded and ran off. The professor looked over at Winry, "Why don't the two of you stay out here and catch up... I'm sure you both have had a long day..."

With that he walked off. As Hawkeye walked over to Winry - the mechanic sat down and curled up somberly.

"Winry, what's wrong?" Riza asked.

"That - ... That idiot…" she whimpered. "How -... why? Why didn't he say anything?"

"What's wrong Winry?" Riza pressed, "What's going on?"

There were footsteps behind them. Riza turned and saw that it was Edward, he looked at her surprised but he stayed calm… though something felt off about him.

"Edward." Riza said relived. But before she could say anything else. Winry threw her wrench at him, which - surprisingly - he caught.

"YOU IDIOT!" Winry growled, tears streaming down her cheeks. "WHY?! WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME YOU HAD AMNESIA?!"

There was a long pause, FullMetal's eyes were wide, Riza's jaw dropped… Out of everything that the sniper thought was wrong - amnesia wasn't it. FullMetal rubbed his arm nervously. The moon kept it's toothy grin while blood trickled between it's teeth and its light just seemingly making the lighting of the area all the more somber.