Ed stood in complete darkness. He couldn't even see the back of his hands. He tried to walk. He tripped.

"What's the matter, Mr Alchemist?" he heard a familiar voice echo all around him. "Lost?"

Ed punched at the ground in frustration, but only came in contact with the darkness. He tumbled through the world, and found himself inexplicably upright again. "Where the hell am I?"

Truth faded into his vision. He extended his arms, as if reaching for a hug, and uttered a lone, solitary word, the grin never leaving his face. "Home."


Edward woke up with a jolt. His body shined with cold sweat, his heart pounding with adrenaline. Damn that bastard... He was supposed to be guarding the Gate, not tormenting his dreams. And 'home'? Amestris was his home. And he was not in it.

Noting that there was still ample time for breakfast, Ed got dressed and ready, grabbed another of Flamel's notebooks and headed to the Great Hall. As usual, he exchanged some coarse words with the painting of a knight before reaching his destination.

More students filled this hall than when Ed was here the day before, but he probably didn't notice the extra wave yesterday. The Hall's talkative mood became hushed when he walked in, many eyes following him from the entrance to his seat. Ed locked eyes with the Malfoy kid, who did an awkward combination of both sneering at him and averting his gaze.

He sat down, did his ritual of forking ungodly amounts of food on his plate, and started reading. This one seemed to be about the basics of alchemy, so Ed wasn't as interested in it as he was with the book before.

He wished that wasn't the case. A disgustingly sweet throat clear came from somewhere in his vicinity, belonging to a certain toad-like professor. I'd hate to be the guy who has to deal with this shit, Ed thought, a small smirk on his lips, pitying whoever she was going to talk to.

"Ahem." The throat clear came again. A blob of pick appeared at the edge of Ed's vision, stopping directly in front of his table. His smirk disappeared instantly. Please don't tell me...

"Professor Elric," the sweet voice called. Ed closed his eyes, feeling a migraine hitting him like an oncoming automobile. Crap. I am that guy.

"Professor Elric!" Umbridge sternly called, voice somehow an octave higher.

He put on his best 'get away from me' face before looking up at her. "What? I'm busy here."

She, however, was not fazed. "Might I have a word with you, Professor Elric?"

"You've already had..." Ed counted with his fingers, mockingly, "nine words, that's more than enough, right?"

If she was annoyed, she didn't show it in the least. She walked around the table and sat beside Edward. "Professor Edward, I have heard rumors of your... interesting class, to say the least," Umbridge said, a mixture of contempt and satisfaction in her eyes.

"Yeah? Well, you didn't sign up for it, so I'm afraid there are no more spots." He gave her a cheeky grin, holding back the urge to vomit. "Better luck next time." Another piece of delicious bacon went into his mouth.

The slightest of furrows appeared on her forehead, though her demeanor remained pleasant. She tried another method of approach. "I'm sure that you are familiar with the conduct of which the Ministry expects of their teachers here at Hogwarts."

"Sure," he mumbled, mouth full of food. He lied.

"So you must also be aware that threatening students with physical violence is against Ministry policies," she said, and waited for a response.

Edward took his sweet time to chew and swallow his food. Umbridge, however, remained patiently waiting, that smile never leaving her face. That irked him. "What do you mean?" he asked, feigning innocence.

"Do not play games with me, Mister Elric." Her voice took on a more venomous tone. "Just because Dumbledore has seen fit to appoint someone as young as you to be a professor, does not mean that the Ministry approves of you."

"You can take your approval and shove it," Ed retorted. She reeled back, visibly flustered now. "See, you don't really have any power here. All you can do is just throw around your connections with your precious Ministry an hope it makes an impression."

Her facade vanished, hearing the fifteen year-old alchemy teacher show absolutely zero respect for the Ministry. "Now you listen here-"

"Struck a nerve, have I?" Ed interrupted, a lopsided smile on his face. "So the only thing you love more than power is your government itself, huh? Sounds like you're a genuine dog of your Ministry."

Umbridge stood up abruptly, throwing the chair on the floor. Those students that didn't already hear the not-so-hushed argument now turned to look at her. Her rage lapsed temporarily as she glanced at the students in the Hall. Straightening out her pink cardigan, she tried to reapply her gentle and sweet pretense. "We shall speak of this matter another time, Professor." She spat out the last word, before striding out of the hall.

"Bring your leash next time, maybe I'll take you for a walk!" he called out to her. Her stride paused only for a split second.

Ed stretched in joy. It had been awhile since he felt the rush of sticking it to someone. Usually that person was Roy, but Ed thought this was better. He couldn't wait to see what she would do next.

Until that time, though, Ed would just have to keep busy with his other duties. He spent the rest of that morning and most of the afternoon in his class, researching, though he learned nothing that he didn't already know.

So it was a welcome disturbance when a certain bushy haired friend of Harry's entered his class."Professor?" Hermione asked. She closed the door behind her, alone.

"It's not class time, Hermione, so don't go calling me that." Ed waved a hand, as if lazily swatting a fly.

"Umm... okay, Edward...?" she tentatively said, obviously uncomfortable with treating a professor so casually on Hogwarts grounds.

"Don't you have other homework or whatever you need to be doing?" Ed asked. He casually stuffed the notebook into a desk drawer.

"Well, that's actually what I'm here for," she announced, exuding confidence now.

Ed raised an eyebrow, curious. "Alright, I'll bite." He sat on the table. "Take a seat," he suggested. Once the girl was properly seated, he got down to business. "So, you got a guess for the riddle already?"

She nodded. "I think the riddle means that we're all connected."

Edward looked somewhat impressed. She seemed to have gotten close. "That's a little vague. Is that all you got?"

"Well, 'All' has to mean everything, and 'One' has to mean me, or an individual, right?" Hermione reasoned. Once Ed gave his approval, she continued. "Then 'All is One, One is All' has to mean that the world is part of me, since it basically created me, and I am part of the world, since everything I do gives back to it."

Now Ed was really impressed. "You got that all in just one day?" She made a noise of confirmation. "And you're not sharing this with Ron or Harry?"

"Well, Ron is Ron, and since this is not compulsory he doesn't seem to care, and Harry's..." Hermione trailed off.

"Lemme guess, he's in trouble cause he mouthed off to the wrong people at the wrong time?" Ed said. She nodded again. "Typical."

"It's not his fault," she immediately defended. "Well, it was, but Umbridge was claiming that Harry was lying about You-Know-Who being back and that he was making all that stuff up just for attention and so Harry stood up in front of the whole class and yelled at her and she gave him detention-"

"Whoa, slow down. Don't forget to breathe," Ed stopped her. She was like a machine-gun, rattling on and on without pause. Hermione looked embarrassed, then took a few deep breaths. "Okay, first of all, I don't know you-know-who. Explain."

She looked shocked. "Oh, right, you're not from..." Seeing the look on Ed's face, she didn't finish that sentence. "You-Know-Who is the most powerful Dark Wizard to exist, and he tried to kill Harry when he was a baby."

"He got a name?"

Hermione cringed slightly, then whispered, "Voldemort."

"That's the guy Harry was pissed about back then," Ed recalled out loud. "What did you mean by 'tried to kill'?"

"Well, the curse he used on Harry backfired on himself, and he died. Up until last year, when Harry saw him coming back to life." Ed laughed, and this startled the young witch. "What's so funny?"

Ed gave her a face of disbelief. "Oh, come on. You don't seriously believe that resurrection is possible, do you?"

"Are you saying that Harry was lying?" she asked, offended.

Ed rubbed the bridge of his nose. Do people think that their magic can do everything, even if it's against the laws of nature? "Alright, let's just not talk about this and get back to the riddle, okay?" Hermione looked displeased, but agreed anyway. "Your definition could use some refinement, but you got the general gist of it. You got it right."

Her face lit up, though the negativity on her face still remained. "You said you would give the students who got it right something special. What is it?"

"Yeah, about that," Ed scratched his head. "I didn't think anyone would be able to solve it, so I don't have an actual prize yet."

"But..." Hermione stuttered, face one of severe disappointed. Ed felt terrible for her. She must have put in so much work to get ahead of her class or get some recognition, and now she had nothing to show for it. Except knowledge she had what it took to be an alchemist, but Ed had a feeling she wouldn't be happy with just that.

He sighed. "Fine, fine, here's what I'll give you." She perked up. "One question. You get one question to ask, and I'll answer it to the best of my ability. You can take it back, think about it, don't even have to use it if you don't want to."

Hermione thought deeply for a full minute, with Ed fidgeting about impatiently after the first three seconds. Then, she finally spoke. "Why don't you believe Harry?"

Ed rolled his eyes. "You really want to waste your all-encompassing question on that?" She thought about it for a moment, then shook her head, and went back to contemplating. Ed groaned, looking up at the ceiling. She then mumbled something, too quietly for him to hear. "What was that?" he asked, leaning closer

"What was that song you were singing about?" she repeated, only slightly louder. Ed, realizing what the question was, stared at her, stunned. "I'm sorry!" she exclaimed, getting up, immediately regretting her decision. "We didn't mean to walk in on you that night, we just wanted to check if you were okay and then we heard you singing that beautiful song but we didn't understand it because it wasn't in English but it sounded so sad so we've been thinking about what it could mean and-" she inhaled deeply.

"No, it's okay," he assured her, stopping her panic attack. "It was about my brother."

"You have a brother?" Hermione asked carefully. She seemed to know it was a sensitive subject.

"Yeah. Alphonse. He's a year younger than me, and we are all that we got. Our dad left when we were young and our mom died a few years after. Bastard didn't even come back for the funeral," he hissed, contempt lacing his voice.

"I'm sorry," she squeaked.

"Don't be," Ed said. He shook his head. "Al and I get by just fine without him."

Hermione paused, thinking of the next thing to say. "So your brother's waiting for you all alone at home?"

"Not really. If I know Al, he's probably looking for me by now. Maybe even with the help of the colonel," he chuckled.

"Colonel? Like in a military?"

Ed's brow furrowed and he blinked rapidly, coming out of the short trance talking about Al set him in. He got off the table. "You've already used up your question, and got more than one answer out of me. I think that's more than enough."

Hermione looked bewildered, like she just heard the biggest cliffhanger to a story ever, before bowing her head in acceptance. "Yes, professor." She strolled to the exit, slowly, as if she was hoping Ed would change his mind. When it was clear that he wasn't going to, she turned around once more. "I'm going to find out more about your story, Ed. Mark my words."

Ed grinned. "You can try."

Hermione returned the smile, and left his line of sight. He sat down, retrieving Flamel's notebook. That small chat with he girl reignited his motivations to get back home, and he wasted no more time getting back to it.


The moment he was informed that Ed was missing, Al almost lost it. He stormed into Mustang's office, yelling at the colonel. Al wasn't angry with anyone in particular, but Mustang did sent Ed alone to investigate without backup, and Al latched onto that fact.

The Flame Alchemist informed Al that he was sparing no man in the search for the older Elric, and even if something did happen to Ed, the boy was nothing if not capable of defending himself. Al trusted the colonel; he cared deeply for his subordinates, including the extra sense of responsibility he had for the Elric brothers, even if he didn't show it. That did nothing to ease Al's mind.

The wait throughout the second day was hellish. Al camped out in the library, just like he'd promised. The books kept Al company, if only for minutes at a time. Every time the doors opened, Al expected Ed to waltz in, a shit-eating grin on his face, all battered and bruised and saying something like 'Sorry to keep you waiting, little brother' before collapsing on the floor. Nope. As soon as he heard the doors creak, Al's expectations flew through the roof, then got dashed just as quickly.

At the end of the day, he'd gone to Mustang yet again, to try and find out if anything relating to Ed came up. But, once Al saw the untidy mess of papers around the desk and the dark circles under the colonel's eyes that were still burning with resolve, he backed out. Self-directed anger filled Al. His brother was missing, everyone was working non-stop to find him, and what was he doing? Sitting in the library, waiting for the world to bring Ed back. No. That wasn't how Elrics did things.

So, when night came, Al made a hole in the back of the compound, snuck out, then resealed it perfectly with alchemy. He silently moved away from East City, and when he was far away enough, ran full speed towards the forest, disappearing from the view of the city.

Now in the forest, Al kept low, not wanting to attract the attention of whoever had his brother. It took quite a bit searching, but Al managed to uncover a small dirt figure of him hidden underneath leaves and twigs. Ed was here. And it did give Al an idea.

Now, with leaves and twigs covering his body, Al hoped that he looked like an over-sized bush as he followed the trails of little Als. He came across a small patch of blackness on the ground and realized that it was a small piece of black cloth when he picked it up. Al put it in his armor's chest cavity for safe keeping.

Progressing further, Al couldn't find any more little hims, deducing that this was probably where Ed got taken. So he hunkered down, disguised as a bush, waiting for someone to come by.

And his patience paid off. No later than thirty-four minutes and twenty-seven seconds later (Al was counting), a man in a full black robe and hood walked out from deeper in the trees and started stood around. A guard. Al kept still, waiting for this man to lower his defenses.

This man was a terrible guard, as not more than five minutes later, he started fidgeting and moved away from his post. Al got ready. As soon as the man slowed down, Al broke into a full sprint, shaking off the leaves and twigs that disguised him. His full, uncovered armor pummeled into the man, sending him headfirst into a tree. Before the man could get up, Al grabbed him and slammed him against the tree. "Where is my brother?" he growled.

"Wha...?" the man mumbled weakly through a white mask that had slits for his eyes and mouth. Al didn't find this answer acceptable, and he threw the man on the ground. The robed figure found his bearings, and tried to crawl away, eyes affixed on the armored monster approaching him.

Al pinned the man to the ground with one hand. "Where is my brother?" he asked again, emphasizing each word slowly.

"I-I..." the man stammered.

"Wrong answer," Al announced. He punched the ground next to the man's head, and felt the man flinch hard. "Don't make me ask again."

"W-wait!" he held his hands up defensively. "Are you talking a-about that little blond alchemist?"

"Yes!" Al said, feeling excited at the prospect of finding his brother.

"H-He disappeared..."

Al would have felt his stomach drop, if he had one. "What do you mean, 'disappeared'?"

The man was trembling now. "W-We captured him," he paused, as if expected an outburst, "then he tried to use some alchemy and activated a magic circle and disappeared and that's all I know!"

Al looked at the man in disbelief, though he couldn't show it. No transmutation array that Al's heard of could make someone just vanish into thin air. "Take me to it," he commanded.

With Al's vice-like grip on his arm, the man led him further into the woods, avoiding the other guards in the area. They came to a large mansion, which astounded Al. It looked old and decrepit, but the strangest fact was that Al had never seen this before, not from East City and certainly not from the edge of the forest.

The inside of the house didn't look much better than the outside. Cobwebs, rotting wood, creaky floorboards were common as Al and the man moved through the house. For a place in such disrepair, though, the floor was suspiciously dust-free, and Al didn't sense any insects or bugs nearby.

Al's hostage led him down into the mansion's basement, quietly. It had a completely different feel compared to the house above, constructed out of what looked like smooth concrete, without any seems, cracks or lines in the walls and floors, apart from the metal doors even spaced out

"It's this one," the man whimpered, gesturing to a door in the middle of the hallway.

Al placed a hand on the door, trying to push it open. When it didn't budge, he looked at his captive. The man shrugged. "Don't move," Al ordered. Clapping his hands, the Armored Alchemist placed them on either side of the metal doors, creating a larger set of double doors that easily opened. The room inside was dark, devoid of any thing other than the concrete walls. Al looked at the man. "You said there was a circle here. Where is it?"

"I-I don't know! We didn't know it was there until that brat activated it, then it was gone as fast as it appeared!" the man said, flustered.

Al glanced back into the room. "Wait here." He meticulously entered the room and searched every inch of the wall and the floor, looking for any trap doors or mechanisms.

The moment Al stepped into the center of the room, he felt a surge of energy. The same kind of energy he feels whenever he uses alchemy. The room glowed with white light as the runes below Al came to life. He looked to the man standing in the doorway. "What did you do?" The man didn't seem to hear him, but his eyes widened behind the mask. "Hey!" Al yelled. He tried to reach out for the man, but his hand was met with some sort of invisible force, repelling him back into the circle.

The man shuddered, looking around at something that wasn't there, then ran away. "Hey!" Al yelled after him, but he was already gone.

Unlike his brother, Alphonse didn't get a good look at the circle before it took him.


The next day started just like any other for Edward. Woke up early, went down for breakfast with notes in pocket, scolded the painting on his way there.

Umbridge was nowhere to be seen that morning, which Ed took to be a huge blessing. The teacher's table at breakfast was quite full this morning. Either everyone's stomach seemed to be empty at this time, it was a Wednesday tradition for all the teachers to gather and have breakfast, or that Umbridge's absence meant that they could all come and eat in peace.

He took the only available seat next to a man dressed in black, with shoulder-length black hair and a permanent scowl on his face. All throughout breakfast, Ed caught the professor giving him disapproving glances.

After the eighth glance, Ed turned to the professor and, with a mouthful of food, confronted him. "You got a problem with me, tall, dark and greasy?"

The man's face scowled even more, if that were possible. Edward had the feeling that he'd already made this guy's dislike list. "You will address me as Professor Snape, is that clear, Professor Elric?"

"Yeah, whatever you say, Snape," Ed dismissed.

The professor's eyes narrowed. "Arrogant, impertinent, foolhardy."

"Excuse me?"

Snape's eyes locked with Ed's. The alchemist felt a chill run down his spine. "You have all the qualities of a conceited fourth-year, and none befitting that of a professor. I fail to see why Dumbledore would allow you to teach here."

Ed tore his eyes away from the man, focusing on Flamel's notebook. There was something unnatural about Snape, and Ed didn't like it. "Whatever. Why don't you go ask him yourself?"

Snape's mouth twitched, as if trying to hide a smile. Or trying to smile. "Perhaps I will. In the meantime, unlike you, I have lessons to prepare for." He got up and walked out of the Great Hall, black robe billowing behind him, leaving the Fullmetal Alchemist unconsciously rubbing his automail.

Ed, again, spent the rest of the morning in his classroom. This set of notes gradually talked about the possibility of the use of, what the people call here, magic.

Flamel confirmed Ed's theory that the magic in this world could have been just another form of alchemy. Or maybe a distant cousin. Ed thought of the possibility that alchemy and magic were just different ways of using the raw power that flows through every world, like different branches on a massive tree.

He didn't have time to assess his new findings, however. Ed's eyes grew wide in horror as he decoded the final page of book. He took off, faster than anyone could say 'Flamel was creating a Philosopher's Stone'.

He got a lot of disapproving exclamations and hushes as he dashed across the Hogwarts premises. "Acid Pops!" Ed yelled at the gargoyle, sprinting up the stairs when the thing finally shifted high enough.

As Edward reached the top, entering Dumbledore's office, he saw the end of a discussion between the headmaster and Snape. They both looked at him. "Ah, Professor Elric, to what do I owe the honor?" Dumbledore asked, smiling.

"I need to talk to you," Ed said. He glanced at Snape. "In private."

The headmaster and Snape shared a look. Wordlessly, Snape walked past Ed, not acknowledging his presence, and left the two of them alone. "Now, Professor, I would appreciate some notice before you come barging into my office next time," Dumbledore chuckled, sitting behind his desk.

"Yeah, well, this is important." Ed walked up to Dumbledore's desk and plopped the notebook on it. "Did you know that Flamel was trying to create a Philosopher's Stone?"

Dumbledore stroked his beard, amused. "My boy, he didn't just try. He succeeded."

Ed gritted his teeth in anger and disbelief. "Does he still have it?"

"Unfortunately, no. After an incident with Voldemort a few years ago, Flamel and I agreed that it was best destroyed to prevent it from getting into the wrong hands," Dumbledore explained. At seeing Ed shaking in anger, he asked, "What is the matter, my dear Edward?"

"Do you know what goes into making a Philosopher's Stone?" Ed said, his voice dangerously quiet. "Live humans."

Dumbledore's smile faltered for just a moment. "That's not possible. I knew Nicolas, and he was not the kind of man to sacrifice people for his personal benefit."

Ed paced the room, frustrated. "It says right there," he pointed to the notebook, "on the last page, that he was going to attempt to create another Philosopher's Stone, possibly to try and get home. He had his own notes on Amestris when he tried to do the same thing."

"But he did not go home, even after he created the Stone," Dumbledore deduced. "He lived a long and happy life with his wife here. Perhaps circumstances changed, Edward. He may have found another substitute for... human lives."

"No, no, no," Ed denied. "The Stone allows the user to bypass Equivalent Exchange by using human souls stored in it during its creation. Nothing is more precious than souls. Unless..."

"Unless?" Dumbledore asked, curious at the boy's train of thought.

"Unless you know something more valuable than the lives of human beings."


Author's afterword: Yay, slightly longer chapter + plot progression!