REALLY IMPORTANT! PLEASE READ THIS Author's note!:
Alright, I know, I know I haven't updated in a long looooong time and there are some valid reasons but one main one... the two valid reasons are school and work. After I got a job, my time to spend writing has been cut down, and school wasn't helping that either - however that still doesn't excuse this. However the real honest to god reason is: I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT TO WRITE! I got the worst writer's block... like... you don't even know... I... I just...
Writing is my passion - its fun for me... but... I wrote myself into corner... I just can't find any inspiration...
No song, story, or friend has been able to get me out of this rut. So, with this in mind and my determination to finish this story - I look to all of you; HELP ME WRITE THIS STORY!
Now when I say "help me write this story" I'm not saying to out right write it and expect me to copy and paste it to make a chapter - NO! I refuse to stoop to such a level. No, what I'm saying is to throw your ideas out there! Inspire me! What do you think will happen in this story? WHAT ARE YOU CROSSING YOUR FINGERS AND HOPING TO HAPPEN?! Tell me - I might just put it in.
Its your input that will likely drive me to continue writing - I don't want this to be another... Leaf Fairies... Please help me! Please don't be afraid to throw your two cents into the mix and think that its stupid, you never know if your input will inspire me to the point that I'll take the idea or get an idea from it! Also, for those whom inspire a chapter, I'll put your screen name at the top of the chapter as a shout out and a thank you.
Thank you for taking time out of your day to read such a story.
Thank you for your kindness and for the support.
Thank you for your patients and not giving up on this story.
Thank you for everything, all of you.
Merry Christmas, to all of you. And for those whom don't celebrate this holiday - Happy Holidays!
I love all of you.
- TailsGothicAngel
"Finally, someone let me out of my cage! Now time for me is nothing 'cause I'm counting no age. Now I couldn't be there, now you shouldn't be scared. I'm good at repairs, and I'm under each snare! Intangible? Bet you didn't think so I command you to! Panoramic view; Look, I'll make it all manageable! Pick and choose! Sit and lose? All you different crews, chicks and dudes, who you think is really kickin' tunes?" - Gorillaz (Clint Eastwood)
Chapter Seventeen:
Doubt of Friends and Family! Who is right and who is wrong?
"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."
The train rattled a bit as it headed toward Death City. FullMetal stared out the window in annoyance – he wore the clothes he had on last night when he was talking with Ling – he couldn't sleep after that – though he changed his cloak back to the red one so the others wouldn't be suspicious. He could feel the tension growing between them, it was practically there since they arrived.
This morning, Mrs. Curtis had thew, yet another, hatchet at him – which he caught. Alphonse had been staring at him for a while, while May and Curtis were glaring at the Mizune. Ling however was trying to start up a conversation – mainly asking the same questions that he already answered both last night and the ones that the other group (Hawkeye's group) asked.
"Um, Ed, do you mind telling us what that thing was – you know the one that we fought last night?" Ling asked.
The Mizune cursed under a breath before stating, "That thing was a Keishin – its an evil human that eats human souls to gain power. The more power it gains the more likely that others are going to appear as well because they literally radiate pure insanity."
"But you said that it wasn't human-" "They start out human but after a number of souls consumed they lose their humanity – however it also depends on the strength of their souls and the strength of the souls they eat – the stronger the soul the more souls it will take for them to consume to lose their humanity. But its best to kill them off right away." the Mizune interrupted his brother in order to avoid being scolded.
"But – they were still human before." Al said, "Why would you kill them?"
"Its my job now – you're going to have to deal with that, Al." FullMetal said, "Not to mention its my assignment – if I don't hunt them down and kill them – I wont get paid not to mention expelled."
"So is this like another military?" Izumi asked, "If it is, I will skin you alive."
FullMetal got a slight chill down his spine, "It isn't a military – but in a way somewhat similar. They wont send us out to war. The DWMA just stands as a defense against Keishin and evil Witches. If we don't then the whole damn planet will fall to chaos and madness. No laws, no morals – just pure and utter anarchy."
"Did you literally just say witches." May said surprised.
"Yes – and no I'm not joking." the Mizune sighed. "Witches and Magic exist – and if you don't believe me you can ask the others, but if you still don't believe me you can even ask Lord Death about it. He is the founder of the school."
"We'll make sure to do just that." Izumi said.
FullMetal looked into her soul. The woman was dead serious. She thinks that he was brainwashed, as if he was a puppet and Lord Death was the puppet master. He rolled his eyes and continued to look out the window – waiting to see Death City.
"Brother," Alphonse said, "are you sure about the founder of the school? What if he is like the guy that ran Liore by using a fake religion?"
He couldn't help it – the Mizune laughed at the question. "Oh god thats rich! – ah – Al, I'm sure I'd know if there was corruption in the school! – The most you could say thats corruption is the fact that Professor Stein is a psychopath, but thats been true since he was our age! – if you don't believe me you can ask my friends from school, and they're the best meisters and weapons the school has!"
The others were confused by what Fullmetal had said. It didn't falter how Izumi or Alphonse felt about the school, however.
"B-brother, what do you mea-" "Al, don't worry about it!" Ed said, interrupting his little brother, "Trust me, once we get there, you can see it for your self."
Alphonse nodded worriedly, though he didn't know that Edward was able to see straight through everyone's souls, knowing that each and every one of the Amestrians thought that he was fooled into believing something that wasn't true and becoming someone's puppet.
Oh how wrong they were.
When the train stopped the group got off and began to walk about the strange city known as Death City. Ling couldn't help but mutter about how unsettling the sun looked, but the Mizune merely rolled his eyes. Soon enough FullMetal got them to the school dormitories.
He pointed at the dormitories and said bluntly, "Alright, here are the dormitories. My room number is five sixty-four. Winry and the others -"
Suddenly a wrench was thrown and he caught it. They looked up to where it came from and sure enough, Winry was looking out an open window, glaring.
"EDWARD ELRIC! GET OVER HERE RIGHT NOW!" she hollered.
When Alphonse looked over to his brother, he was nowhere to be seen. He sighed. Edward had made a run for it. He guessed that Ed had known that this was going to happen. Figures. Soon enough Winry and Hawkeye had came down and asked where Ed went.
FullMetal walked up the staircase that led to the school. He knew that he was going to be in a lot of trouble when he got home, but who said that he couldn't stall it for a bit? When he got to the top of the staircase he saw his friends and he greeted them only for his day to slowly go down hill.
"I WANT A REMATCH!" Black Star exclaimed.
FullMetal looked at him with a mixture of shock and annoyance, "Again?!"
"Yeah again! I want a rematch and I'm going to bet you this time for sure!" Black Star grinned.
"Black Star, I don't know about this..." Tsubaki said.
"Yeah Black Star," Maka agreed, "FullMetal has beaten you once already, can't we just leave it at that?"
Black Star shook his head, "No! Besides we never finished our first rematch!" he grinned and looked back at the Mizune, "How about we finish it?"
Might as well...The Alchemist took a deep breath and sighed. He wished that this day would be over soon. "Fine. We'll finish it." This shocked Maka and Tsubaki.
FullMetal put his bag down and stretched while Black Star popped his knuckles. Soon enough, they charged at each other. No one knew that, making their way up the stares, was Alphonse and his team accompanied by Hawkeye.
Black Star made several swings at FullMetal, who dodged them with great ease. The weapon didn't attempt to make any strikes at the meister. He was biding his time. Waiting for the perfect moment to strike at his prey. It wouldn't take long. Black Star tried to attack with his Soul Wavelength but the weapon dodged, got behind him, grabbed the meister's wrist with one hand, with the other he grabbed Black Star's head and slammed it into the ground with such a force that the tile on the ground cracked. The meister tried to get up but the scythe stomped on Black Star's back, forcing him back to the ground.
"BROTHER!"
FullMetal looked in the direction of the voice. He cursed under his breath. He just couldn't get a break, could he? He saw that Alphonse, along with Izumi, Mei, and Ling, were looking at him in shock. He guessed that they either never saw him engage in meaningless fights or never seen him be so brutal with an opponent. He didn't bother responding to them.
"Hey Black Star, do you give up?" Ed asked.
The Dark-Arm Meister grit his teeth, "Hell no!"
The Weapon sighed. He put some more weight on the meister to ensure that he didn't get back up.
"EDWARD ELRIC!" Izumi glared, "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!"
Ed felt like his spine was in a blast chiller. He looked at his 'teacher' nervously, "W-well, y-you see, he challenged me to a rematch – we didn't finish the one we had last week."
For a house wife it was amazing how much she looked like a lion...
"Now there's no need for of that." Stein's voice called. When they all looked over at the school doors they saw the professor – FullMetal was grateful that Stein was there.
Izumi's rage didn't falter, she watched carefully as Stein walked up to them. He held out his hand to her and said, "I'm Professor Franken Stein, I teach the E.A.T class here at the D.W.M.A. I'm guessing you're one of FullMetal's friends – or are you one of his parents?"
FullMetal bit his tongue.
"I'm not his and Alphonse's mother, but I am one of the closet that they got." Izumi stated, "I'm Izumi Curtis."
Alphonse went over to his older brother, pulled him a short distance away from the conversation and whispered, "Brother, who is that?"
Ed sighed, "Thats Professor Stein, he's the teacher of my class."
"Ah, I'm guessing that you're Alphonse." Stein said looking over at the younger Elric brother. "Its nice to meet you."
Alphonse nodded, "Likewise." he got a really weird feeling about that man.
"You know, your soul looks really well tuned," Stein said rather casually, "have you ever thought of becoming a Meister?"
Al gave him a rather confused look. "Um... No..."
"Well why don't you come to class with your brother, you might like it." Stein smiled.
"You should come!" said Maka, "Its really interesting, and besides FullMetal is a weapon, you two might make a good team."
Al looked over at Curtis who nodded in approval. He sighed and said, "Okay."
"We'll see you guys in a couple of hours." FullMetal said.
As they began to walk away. Izumi muttered "This isn't over..."
While they were walking to class Alphonse looked at his surroundings in awe. He was surprised by how neat everything looked. As he, his brother, and his brother's friends walked past what looked to be a bulletin board that a bunch of kids were looking at, he saw that some of posters on it said 'Keishin hunt' and 'witch hunt' on them – reminding him of what his brother said and how he killed that chimera. Soon enough they got to class and everyone took a seat, Al made sure to take a seat next to his big brother.
When class began, the man known as Professor Stein began to talk about something that gave Al a chill down his spine. He talked about something called Soul Perception – an ability that some Meisters and even Meister-Weapon Hybrids have. It apparently gave them the ability to see a person's soul and tell what kind of soul it was. Very advanced Meisters could even tell a lot about a person by looking at their soul, from their characteristics to even a bit about that person's personality. Even the size of their soul was taken account for!
Al did take notes because he wasn't sure what to think about this information – plus he could tell Teacher and the others about it. The more he listened to the lecture and processed the information the more he began to realize that it was a lot like sensing chi. Maybe thats what they were talking about... but Stein said that they could SEE souls...
When class ended Al began to ask Ed about it and see what he thought... He had been here for a few months now, he surely must know.
Edward sighed and said, "Its a bit different than that. Like you said, Ling and Mei can only sense chi, but they can't tell much about about it – what they're most likely sensing is the Soul Wavelength instead of seeing the soul."
"There is a Soul Wavelength?" Al asked.
"Yes..." Ed stopped and looked at his younger brother. "Do you want me to check out a book for you? There's plenty of books on the topic of the soul, trust me."
There was those words again... Trust me. Al couldn't help but get a strange feeling that he was talking to a complete stranger, but at the same time he felt like he was talking to his brother. It was hard to trust his brother who was now fallowing this cult-like school.
"Sure." he said.
He fallowed his big brother to the library that was beyond impressive. There was so many books that they reached to the roof and stretched throughout the room. He watched as his brother picked out a book and ask if that one was okay. Alphonse was honestly expecting for Ed to be cryptic and just check out that book without even letting him see it – this surprised him. Al looked through the book and saw that it was fairly heavy and thick, he skimmed through the pages and even saw that it was written by the very teacher that taught the class – that meant that the teacher was highly educated and probably the best person to teach the class. When he skimmed the book he saw that almost every other chapter was about something different about the soul, from this wavelength that Ed talked about to even the soul itself.
"Yeah, this book is good."
Ed checked it out of the library and they began to head outside. But then... Ed stopped again. Al looked at him in curiosity.
"Um... Brother... are you okay?" Al asked. It seemed that the young Major had something on his mind.
Ed sighed and said, "There's something we need to talk about."
Before Al could say anything Ed grabbed his hand and dragged him off to a desolate park. When they got to the park Ed let go of Al's hand, the older brother seemed to be a bit unsettled. He sat down on a park bench and Al sat beside him.
Something was really off.
"Brother... what's wrong?" Al asked. He was now very worried.
Ed stayed quiet for a moment. He seemed very troubled as if there was something he needed to get off of his chest but didn't know how to say it. He tugged at his gloves in thought and seemed to grow very distant in that single moment.
Alphonse was now more worried. "Brother?... Come on, you can tell me anything..."
"I know..." FullMetal said, nodding. "but..." he paused for a bit, causing his younger brother to become a bit unsettled, "I'm sorry, this is... a bit hard for me to talk about..."
"Why?..." Alphonse ask. He knew it must be very serious, Edward would only get this distant a quiet when it came to wanting to protect him from the truth. "C'mon you can trust me."
"I know." the Mizune said. He continued to tug as his gloves and then looked over at his younger brother, "Okay... you gotta promise me you... you wont freak out or anything."
Al was now a bit confused but nodded and said, "Promise."
FullMetal took a deep breath, "Well... you see... I..." he slightly looked away, "I have amnesia..."
Alphonse was a bit stunned. "W-what do you mean?..."
FullMetal began to explain what had happened. He told Alphonse about what had happened, what he knew, and even how he met Winry. He then told him about how Ling knew about the amnesia. He explained everything carefully trying to get his little brother to understand where he was coming from. Soon enough he finished explaining..
"I – I'm sorry, Al..." FullMetal said looking at his shocked little brother, "I really am."
Al sighed, "I–its okay... I understand..." he stared at the park, "I mean, I knew something was off but... I didn't expect this..."
"No one did." Ed said.
Al nodded, "But it... it is something you can't help... so..." he shrugged, "But, why didn't you tell me sooner."
"I didn't know how..." FullMetal said, "I was planning on telling Winry when the party was over but Tsubaki told her for me, and I didn't expect Hawkeye or Havoc to come along!" he sighed, "I wanted to get away so I took a job from the mission board and then I ran into you and the others... I... I felt trapped. Overwhelmed... I knew that you and the others didn't know because you all didn't drag me by my arm and force me to explain anything so... I figured you'd be the one I explain this to, since more than likely, Curtis and the others already know thanks to Ling and Winry.."
"Yeah, thats true." Al nodded, "I was there with you at school so it makes sense, they had several hours to talk about this..."
"I just hope that they don't offer to tell me what happened in my past," FullMetal said.
"What?" Al looked at him confused, "D-don't you want to know about it?"
"I do," FullMetal stated, "but I want to remember on my own. I already remember some things on my own, sooner or later its all going to come back to me... Think of it like this, would you rather read a book on your own, at your own pace, or would you rather have someone read it to you at their pace?"
Alphonse blinked, he thought about it for a second. "Good point."
"Now you see why I feel the way I do?" FullMetal sighed. "I don't want their help when it comes to this. I just... I just want some time to think... some time to myself..."
"I understand." Alphonse said, still trying to comprehend the fact that his big brother had amnesia.
The Mizune looked up and saw that the sun was slowly starting to set. He sighed and said "Al, you need to get to the apartment, its getting late."
"What?" Al said confused, "Don't you mean we gotta get to the apartment?"
The weapon shook his head, "No, I'm gonna take a walk, you on the other hand need to go to the apartment. Its dangerous being out at night."
"Then thats more of a reason as to why we should stick together!" Al argued.
"No it isn't." Ed said.
"Yes it is!"
"No it isn't!"
"Yes it is!"
"No it isn't! You're not even a Meister!" FullMetal stated.
"I have Alchemy!" Al argued.
"You cant even take the life of a Keishin!"
Alphonse went silent for a moment, he almost didn't know how to respond. He then said, "How does killing someone matter?!"
The older brother sighed, "Al, they aren't people. Sure in the day, they seem like normal people but at night they show their true form. They're Keishin, not humans. They gave up their humanity when they started killing–"
Alphone's anger got the best of him. Unexpectedly he yelled, "Well what does that make you?!"
There was deep silence around them. Ed stared at his younger brother in shock. It took Alphonse a moment to register what he had said. Ed ran off, Al covered his mouth for a second before shouting after his brother.
"I DIDN'T MEAN IT!" but it was too late, Ed was gone and Al was standing alone in the park. "I'm sorry..."
FullMetal found himself in the forest that was in Death City, he was playing his flute.
He had learned how to play it fairly well. He knew how it worked and how the notes string together. The tune that he currently played was a bit haunting and echoed through out the forest like a mockingbird. But something about the tune didn't work... he didn't know what it was but it was annoying to think about. His soul was barely calmed at this. Suddenly thunder roared. It was about to rain...
He sighed. He couldn't get a break, could he? He began to walk into the city as he hid the instrument in his sleeve like always. Soon enough his form was painted with the lights from the street lamps and the occasional flash of lightning with it's howl gracing the silent city. Something caught his attention, however. It was a large building, it was tiny compared to the DWMA, but it was still pretty large. A cross decorated it's front doors, showing that it was, in fact, a church. He wondered...
He checked the doors and found that they weren't locked. He walked in, saving himself from the inevitable rainfall. The main room of the church was large and had several rows of wooden seats. Far off, near the podium where the preacher would stand, was a church organ. That was what he was wondering about...
He walked up to the instrument and sat down on the seat in front of it. His fingertips gently graced it's keys like a spring breeze against a blooming flower. He pressed on one key, getting a low howl of a note, causing him to hear how eerie the instrument could be if he wanted it to be...
A small mad smile spread across his features. What if?...
He put both hands on the instrument, he took a deep breath and began to play his song as the rain began to poor, thunder roared and the grandfather clock ticked in the background.
A haunting tune began to enter the atmosphere. It's notes were repeated a few times but would continue as if they were new, on the third time they were repeated, they did in fact become something new. The thunder would add onto their haunting aria and the rain would seemingly merge into it making it all the more sinister.
He could feel his soul sing with the music, it's madness fading away like smoke in the air. It was relaxing.
Like the thunder out side, the music began to echo loudly, as the keys were hit and the sound coming from the pipes crashed and merged into the music dramatically before fading into the slow pace that it was before then going back to the dramatic slightly fast pace that it had left behind only a moment ago.
"I get the feeling that you were wanting some alone time..." said an all too familiar voice as the clicking of the door closing echoed with it.
FullMetal stopped playing the instrument and sighed. His mind recognized the voice all too well, he responded as if they were an old friend which is what that person was.
"Wow Colonel, what gave it away?" the Mizune said, sarcasm dripping off of his voice like acid.
"The dark ambiance you're playing," Mustang replied, "So FullMetal, do you remember me?"
He didn't respond for a moment, he closed his eyes and his mind was taken back to the past...
He was in that dreaded black and scarlet outfit, slouching in a chair in an office.
"Another mission?!" he growled, "Seriously?! Colonel, you know that I'm already as busy as it is! Can't you give it to Armstrong or someone else?!"
Colonel Roy Mustang smirked, "Nope, you're the best one for the job now get going."
Ed growled and swiped the mission off the desk and left, angered.
"Colonel Roy Mustang, the Flame Alchemist... my superior officer..." FullMetal said in a slight dazed drawl.
"So you remember my name and state name?" Roy said with a small smile, "How sweet."
"Oh shut up." FullMetal shot, "I don't know why but you irritate me for some reason."
Roy gave a small chuckle, "Some things never change..." he gave small sigh and changed the subject, "So why are you here?"
The question caught the Mizune off guard, he looked over at Mustang and asked, "Al didn't send you?..."
"Why would Alphonse send me? Wasn't he with you?..." after he said those words the Colonel knew what was up, "You two had an argument... didn't you..."
Edward grit his teeth and looked away, "Yes... we did..."
Alphonse walked through the streets, his mind flashing back to the stupid argument that he had with his older brother. It was so stupid but it bugged him to no end. Sure this wasn't their first fight and it wasn't their last but it didn't make him feel any less guilty. He looked up at the sky. The moon was grinning at him as if to mock him.
Mocking him for being a bad brother...
suddenly he saw two shadow block the glow of the satellite. It was of a chimera and that one girl from Ed's class... Maka Albarn, she was wielding a scythe expertly. With a swift swipe she killed the creature and it turned into black ribbons. With the grace of a fluttering fairy she landed on the ground before him and a red orb, which absorbed the black ribbons, floated beside her.
Spotting him, she gave him a small smile and casually said, "Oh hey, ...your name is Alphonse, right?"
He nodded. As if to surprise him even more the scythe glowed a bright blue and suddenly transform into... that boy that sat beside her in class, the boy with the strangest name ever, Soul Eater.
"Geeze Maka, and you call me an idiot." Soul joked, earning a glare from the blond girl, "Hey Al, what are you doing out here so late without your brother?" Soul grabbed the red orb and...ate it.
"Um... that orb..." Al muttered, getting completely off topic, "Thats a soul, is it not..."
"Yeah so?" Soul said with his mouth full.
"Why are you eating it?" Al asked.
Soul swallowed and gave the Elric a curios look, "Why am I eating... Didn't your brother tell you about this type of thing? I mean he is a Weapon, you gotta know the first thing about this!"
Maka hit Soul with a book which came out of nowhere, giving Al the impression that Maka and Winry got along very well.
"Don't be rude, Soul!" she growled before turning to Al, "So, you really don't know..."
Al shook his head, "Not a clue..."
"Lets take a walk, I'll answer any questions you have." Maka said with a small smile.
"Thanks..." Al said, genuinely.
The three of them began to walk about the city.
Maka began her explanation, "Well, the reason why he was eating a soul is because we collect them for Lord Death. Meisters need to feed their Weapon ninety-nine Keishin souls and one Witch soul turn the Weapon into a DeathScythe, a weapon of Lord Death."
"But Keishin are human aren't they?" Al asked.
Soul let out a 'tsk' and said "You kidding, they gave up their humanity when they began eating human souls."
"Soul is right," Maka nodded, "Keishin are people who fell into the madness and began eating human souls, after so many souls they lose their humanity and crave power which they get by eating more souls. To keep the balance of good and evil intact, its our job to collect their souls."
"So... they aren't human..." Al muttered, his heart sinking horribly.
Maka shook her head, "No, they're pure evil. They may look human at day but by night they show their true form."
Those were nearly the exact words Ed said the other night...
Al felt even more guilty now, it must've been very obvious because Soul asked "You okay?"
Al shook his head, "I just... don't understand... I mean no offense but... isn't it technically cannibalism?..."
"I never really thought about it that way..." Soul muttered, "Well... I don't think so since we're technically two different breeds of people – I'm a Weapon, they're monsters."
"I don't think I'll ever understand..." Alphonse sighed.
"Don't worry about it," said Maka, "Just take a few more classes, maybe then you'll understand this more."
Alphonse hoped she was right... Wait... did Soul say that he was a Weapon... then that means...
Oh god...
He could tell that Edward was far from displeased with his presences there but that didn't matter – he was... eating human lives, if what that... 'god' said was true. Like hell, he'd believe for a second that that thing was a god and these 'Kieshin' weren't human and people transforming into weapons, what kind of sick transmutations was this place using?
WARNING! IF YOU DIDN'T READ THE AUTHOR'S NOTE AT THE TOP OF THIS STORY, PLEASE DO! I REPEAT, PLEASE, IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY, PLEASE READ THE AUTHOR'S NOTE AT THE TOP OF THIS STORY! THANK YOU AND MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY HOLIDAYS!