Alchemy Academy
AU FMA
Yup so here as promised is part two of the angsty history section of the story. Next chapter will be the awesome Halloween special along with a few fun plot twists that I'm sure you'll all love. I know I do ^^ aaaah I love being a bitch to AU characters. It's my third greatest love! Anyways commissions are still open and the warnings for this include the usual so language, mentions of sex, alcohol and drug abuse, minor gore and insanity if you really see it that way and violence. I do not own FMA, enjoy!
Chapter Four Part Two: Family of 1.5
Flopping back onto my bed, I picked up the picture as simply staring at it didn't really suffice at times like this. I had to touch it, hold it, run my fingers over every burnt, singed and charred corner and or edge of it to remind myself that everything that happened eight years ago really DID in fact happen. And it was all my fault dammit….Shaking my head as my breathing got shallow and tears threatened to fall, I looked back up and stared at dad's face. I even remembered the day it was taken…and I remembered every day since.
My dad's name was Beaux J. Kimblee, I know Beaux's kind of a weird name but he did it justice at least. He was tall in stature and thin but well built, not a man to pick a fight with. His hair was a bit more dark then my own blue black hair which is more similar to Mom's anyways but I share his high cheek bones and sharp Amestrian nose. He would always have the goofiest happy go lucky smile you'd ever seen and he chose to show it often especially at work and around his loving wife and son. He was a state alchemist with a wonderful talent and amazing abilities though after I was born he branched off into investigations sometimes of criminal background.
The day the picture was taken was the first time I'd ever asked my father about alchemy. He'd been working at home that day on his computer and at the age of four I was quite the curious toddler. I had been stumbling around upstairs and ran, or as dad used to tease face planted, into one of his old bookshelves which he kept mostly anything involving his research. Mom was out buying groceries so I nursed a bruised forehead on my own wanting to be a big boy when I noticed a book had sprung free from its confines during my fall and had landed on its spine opening up and letting its untold spring of knowledge run forth.
Looking back now it was probably a book on basic transmutation, a how to on alchemy for idiots more or less, but either way I was fascinated with the vast variety of seals and circles on display from page to page. Shakily balancing it on my head, I stumbled into my dad's room where he'd been working and let it fall on the bed with a heavy thud. "Daddy! Daddy! look what I found!" Turning his head and almost comically balancing his reading glasses on his forehead, he peered over at the book before rolling over in his swivel chair, medium length dark hair tied back in a small ponytail.
"Well now! What has my little adventurer dug up now eh? That's a pretty cool book there Zolf" he replied with his usual happy smile, picking me up and setting me down in his lap as he pulled the book forward. Nearly bouncing up and down on his lap, I was always a very giddy child, I beamed up at him with shining golden eyes simply bursting with excitement and curiosity. "Isn't it? I found it on a bookshelf upstairs! What do all the pretty circles mean Daddy?"
Laughing softly at my enthusiasm he took off his glasses and held me up so I could get a closer look as he traced each circle on the page with his index finger. "These aren't just regular shapes Zolf, they're called transmutation circles. Which means they're also the outline for basic forms of alchemy in other words my work!" Tracing a few, he described to me what they meant and what they could do.
"See this one with the rectangular shapes means earth or a fabrication seal so when combined with this one with the moon which means silver or water, it can create a solid object when given enough materials in exchange isn't that cool?" My eyes must've been the size of dinner plates as Dad rambled on and on about alchemy. I couldn't have been more hooked. My excitement only doubled as dad grabbed some charcoal from the small stove that was kept in the room for the cold winters. "Here take a good look Zolf, let your 'ol man show ya how it's done!"
Trying not to giggle at the notion of Dad being "old" I watched intently as he drew a moderately sized circle on the hardwood floor and a few of the shapes he mentioned earlier. Making a few notes on his fingers and palm, he placed a small paper weight that he kept on his desk close to the middle of the circle the stepped outside of the lines. "Alright Zolf now focus your eyes on the center yeah?"
Nodding, I sat cross legged as my dad pressed his palm down on the edge of the circle, gasping softly as all the symbols and shapes started to glow from a strange light. As if I couldn't be more surprised at the time, the paperweight started to tear apart piece by piece as something was formed at the center. With a puff of white smoke, a small ceramic bird sat in the center with the paper weight completely gone.
Too amazed to even move, I stared as Dad got up from his position on the floor and picked up the small bird placing it in my hand."See Zolf? By giving up the paper weight, I got this bird which is of equal value in exchange. Pretty crazy huh?" He smiled down seeming amused by my overall reaction to the little display. Turning the bird around in my hands, it felt warm as though it was still full of that magical power it had gained through its creation. Nodding enthusiastically I suddenly blinked as I noticed a key difference in what he had said.
"But Daddy! This bird is nowhere near the size of that paper weight so how is that equal?" I inquired causing him to raise a dark brow at the question. Kind of understand his confusion, most kids at that age just talk about messages they see in their cereal. Scratching the back of his head, he tapped his chin as he sat down with me on the floor. "Well see Kim for every transmutation made, a little bit has to be taken away from the overall product. And to be honest, a lot more detail goes into a bird then in contrast a simple paperweight. Do you understand…?"
Nodding and going back to looking at the bird, I realized then not only were there still secrets to this "alchemy" that even my dad didn't know about but also how utterly intrigued I was with the whole thing. Scrambling over to where my dad sat, I picked up the bit of charcoal he had used. "Hey Daddy, can I give it a try? I'm probably not as good as you or Mommy but I bet I could do it!"
Looking at me stunned and a tad bit curious that a child would want to learn so quickly my dad merely smiled and gave me two thumbs up. "Go for it Zolfy boy! Make me proud son!" Nodding, I placed the little bird down on the floor and drew a circle around it. Having noticed something in dad's process before that I didn't much care for, I simply drew the transmutations on my small hands using a few of the shapes and symbols I'd seen from the book with the charcoal.
Once I found each transmutation to my liking, I clapped both hands together making my dad chuckle softly at first. Hell I'm sure I looked like I thought it was just a big game of Patty Cake or something. But chuckles soon turned to shock as a small spark of alchemy was let out and I pressed my palms onto the lines leading to the circle I'd drawn previously. But something went wrong…
Instead of the smooth steady light my dad's circle had shown before, a burst of light whizzed through the lines with a soft crackle like some sort of fuse on a fire cracker as the charcoal literally broke apart from the lines on the floor and turned to dust. As if that wasn't bad enough, as soon as the reaction reached the circle a loud boom filled the air and dark smoke enveloped the room as my poor little ceramic birdie was blown to smithereens.
Coughing and wheezing from lack of fresh air, my dad threw open his window as the smoke cleared out slowly. After getting nearly pegged by a flying soup can from that old busy body Pinako who lives just down the street and apologizing as she ranted that he was just a "No good military dog interrupting the peace and quiet with his darn fancy shmancy magic tricks an his music" He turned to look at me. Knowing he was surely disappointed and ashamed of his son for my first and failed attempt at alchemy, I tried hiding my face in my hands, charcoal effectively smudging my face as I started to cry over the loss of my bird and of my dad's reaction to the whole mess.
What I didn't count on was being heaved up and swung around through the air by my doting and at the moment laughing father. Frightened by his odd reaction, my face flushed in embarrassment under all the black dust as I tried to stutter out a response "Wha..? Buh!-!" I was cut off as he simply broke into laughter again at my face. I must've been a pretty priceless sight, crying blushing and covered in charcoal. "Zolf! That was amazing! I've never seen a reaction like that before! It was like the destructive power of a rebound but controlled! You're my pride an joy alright!"
Flabbergasted and utterly confused, I finally gathered enough of my wits to blubber out a gargled reply through all my sobs and altered breathing. "B-But it blew up! How isat good? I wanted to make something like you did but I killed the birdie an-! And..?" I tried to hide my face once again before calming slightly as my dad hushed my crying and held me close until my breathing was steady again. Carrying me over to the bathroom, he ran a washcloth in cold water and cleaned my face of the black smudges.
"Zolf, it was your very first try at alchemy ever. Lots of people have problems when they were just starting out, some can't even get a reaction but look at yours! It was amazing and you're only four years old!" Picking up each of my hands, he ran the cloth over them gently, pausing to peek at the symbols I'd drawn before smiling pointing out the different symbols on each palm. "And look closely here Zolf, in my transmutation. I used the symbol for earth combined with the moon for water. The circle you drew here is more similar to the mark of the sun or fire and again the moon for water on your other hand."
Nodding to show I understood so far, he picked me up again once I was clean and carried me back to his room, the smoke now more or less cleared away. Walking over, he sat down with me on his lap in between our two transmutations. "You see Zolf when water and earth come together, they create or build up from the original object given." he motioned his hand over to the still very neat and easily recognized lines of his circle. "However when you put fire and water together, that creates a destructive reaction like yours did which could take anything that I could make like the bird for instance or even the charcoal you used to draw with and break it apart at a molecular level. Isn't that amazing?"
Still more than just a bit confused, I suppose he noticed by my expression and sighed before untying his hair, letting it fall around his neck and ears. "What I'm getting at here my little adventurer is that there are many different types of alchemy out there. There are tons of alchemists out there who can simply create stuff like me from a few raw materials and a spare transmutation circle here and there…" He spoke softly and calmly to me like any good fatherly figure would as he reached up and smoothed out my hair that had gotten frizzy and singed from the explosion.
"But there are only a handful of alchemists in the world that can do what you can, and take it all apart piece by piece.." he annunciated the last part by tying my hair back in a tidy ponytail "…by piece. And open up doors and windows of opportunity for discovery and so much more. So do you understand now my little alchemist..?" He smiled then as my eyes widened at the new nickname before nodding and finally smiling happily, bursting with pride at my newfound abilities. I knew right then and there I wanted to grow up and pursue those new discoveries so I could really make him proud one day…
The creak and clunk of the door opening and closing told us both Mom was home. And for me that means food! and for dad well…. "Beaux Jonathan Jae Kimblee! I smell smoke! Do not tell me you were transmuting on my good hardwood floors again! How many times have I told you! NO ALCHEMY IN THE HOUSE!" You know when she uses his full name there's going to be trouble…Both of us flinched as we heard the dangerous rap of her wooden spoon against the counter before we both rushed out at attention, Dad twiddling his fingers nervously and me, well I just simply did what any four-year old does when Mommy gets home and all but jumped into her arms.
"Mommy! Didja have fun at the grocery store? Mr. Sid better not have ripped you off on lamb prices again!" I declared with a slightly jealous pout that such penny pinching men would have the gall to take my time with my mom away. Laughing in that sing song voice, she smiled and heaved me up into a big plushy soft motherly hug and nuzzled her cheek against mine. "Hmm there's my precious little robin! And no Mr. Sid was nice today and gave me a good deal on some yummy chicken we'll have for lunch doesn't that sound great?"
Nodding at her response and grinning as my tummy rumbled at the prospect of roasted chicken stew for lunch, my dad finally spoke up, fearful eyes of my mother's wrath hidden behind his glasses. "N-Now darling flower, I w-was merely showing our little pride and joy here how to use alchemy. T-That's all! I p-promise I'll clean it up dear, honest!"
Mom seemed to scowl and grumble though we all knew she could never really be mad before smiling and sighing softly. "Well that's alright I suppose, as long as no one got hurt." Wriggling out of her embrace, I tugged at her pastel colored apron to get her attention before smiling proudly and puffing my chest out with glee. "Hey Mommy! Dad showed me all this cool stuff today about alchemy and he says I have talents and many potentials!" Never really did have a good grasp on grammar when I was a kid but eh I was four. "And, I've decided I wanna be a state alchemist when I grow up just like Daddy an make you both so proud!"
Blinking at the sudden change from my usual four-year old range of conversation and looking over at my dad who actually gave a confident nod as if reassuring my progress, her dark blue eyes seemed to sparkle with joy and pride as she clapped her hands smiling as if she'd just won the damn lottery. "Oh Zolfy that's wonderful! You're such a smart brilliant child, I know you can do it! But you know, to be an alchemist you have to pass the state alchemists exam so you'll need to study a lot and no more skipping out on your veggies young man."
Scrunching my face slightly at the vegetable part, damn Brussels sprouts…, I nodded and smiled taking both their hands as Dad and I walked back to show her what we had done. "I will Mommy! Promise! And when I pass the exam, I'll work real hard so you and Daddy will never have to worry about money or getting sick or hurt ever again and it can be just the three of us!" My mom smiled down at me and returned the look of love she was receiving from Dad over their aspiring son. "That sounds perfect son, we'll both always be there to back you up…"
Mom decided to take a picture of us both standing in the middle of the transmutations we'd drawn after that. She'd joked saying she'd be able to take it out and brag that she knew me back then after I'd become a rich and famous alchemist. You can still see the faint scratches on the floor under my feet from where my alchemy had burned through in the picture even now. After that day, time seemed to just fly by. The next four years, I put my heart and soul into studying and developing my own signature alchemy with Dad as my mentor leading me here and there but mostly letting me break out and go at my own pace.
I remember it all as if it was yesterday…my room and walls littered with notes, old books and scribbles and doodles of more circles and transmutations…On my sixth birthday after I blew out the candles, my dad gave me a huge volume on materialization and destruction in alchemy as a gift, I was so excited I nearly started reading it almost immediately after all the cake and frosting was gone from my plate…
Two years later jumping up in glee with my palms shaking in excitement calling out to dad from my room simply shouting about a big breakthrough over and over…hearing that wonderful jarring sound as the boom ricocheted off my walls then feeling something splash across my neck from my right side… calling over to Dad and getting no answer looking up…just…just..blood...everywhere, across the wall and dripping from the ceiling…Mom running in to see what the noise was and screaming, or maybe I was screaming…The lights from the ambulance flashing all throughout our street and Mom clutching my hand tight as we drove off with dad, or at least what was left of him to the hospital…
Even then at eight years old, I knew Dad was dead before the doctors even finished their analysis. There really was no greater hell though, knowing that yet still waiting there with Mom holding me close and whispering repeatedly that he'd be okay. Afterwards when we got home that night, Mom was an absolute wreck sobbing and crying on the sofa, face buried in her hands. Officer Zanpano's words kept circling through my head as I raced up the stairs to my room stumbling slightly from everything that was going on. It's not your fault kid, don't blame yourself. It was an accident Kim nothing more. They happen all the time…I'm so sorry kid…
But this didn't happen all the time, not this kind of mistake not like this! Screaming and yelling, I ripped all the notes and writings from my walls, mental breakdown only getting worse when I saw the pale stain left on my floor where the crime scene investigators hadn't been able to completely mop clean. In all my thrashing, a book fell open from my desk. It'd been the same book he'd gotten me for my birthday two years ago.
Eyes red from crying, I glared at the text before looking closer at the page it had fallen on. Human transmutation… I remembered what little Dad would say to me on the subject. Basically apparently if you bring together the basic components of the human body together and perform the transmutation, one could hypothetically create life. But as there is always a catch, there were no recorded cases of success whatsoever and the failures were ghastly to say the least.
But I'm better than most! Dad even said so and he was great! Grabbing the book I ran down the stairs, thoughts racing through my head. Water thirty five liters, Carbon twenty kilograms, ammonia four liters..Tripping on the last step, I cursed loudly as my knee throbbed hitting the hard floor when I fell. Lime one point five kilograms, phosphorus eight hundred grams… Standing back shakily on my feet, I ran back over to where Mom was still crying now softly though. Salt two hundred and fifty grams, saltpeter one hundred grams and various other trace elements…
A concept I had mentally mocked not only for its sheer insanity and gravity of consequence but also fairytale based cause and effect, a living breathing human being born from practically nothing, seemed to come together right before my eyes as I rambled on and on to my mother who just sat there dumbstruck the whole time. Grabbing a pencil I moved to draw out the symbols only to have my hand slapped away and the pencil sent flying across the room.
Looking up in slight shock and despair, I saw that my mother was crying except this time it was out of fury as she yelled at me for the first time in my life. "Zolf J. Kimblee, I forbid you to speak anymore of this madness under my roof! The fact that you would even suggest this is just a… A CRUEL STUPID JOKE YOU FOOLISH BOY!" Her hand flew back this time, hitting me right across my face shocking me so badly I stumbled and tripped before falling over the coffee table landing badly against the corner and crying out in pain as I curled up on the floor, the right side of my face now red and bruised and the back of my head throbbing from hitting the corner of the table.
Holding my head, I looked up terrified as my own mother seemed to just crumble before my very eyes still yelling hysterically at me. "THIS FAMILY HAS BEEN PUNISHED DEARLY BY SUCH AN AWFUL TRADGEDY BUT THAT GIVES YOU NO RIGHT TO GO AGAINST WHAT YOUR FATHER AND I HAVE TAUGHT YOU AND-!" Clapping her hand over her mouth, she finally seemed to realize what she'd done before sinking down onto the floor next to me and hugging me tight whispering how sorry she was and that she'd never hit me again. And as I sat there eight years old, bruised beaten and crying, clinging to her for dear life…I actually believed that…
Not long after and before mom really started to drink, I ripped out that page and burned it with my very own alchemy. I'd never felt more at peace then when I watched that small piece of paper crinkle and burn into dust at the clapping of my hand. I had known Miles before it happened so he'd helped get me through all the nightmares and drunken beatings from mom after that with few incidents.
Seeming to jar from my thoughts, I sighed and logged onto my laptop checking the Academy calendar and smiled when I realized that the annual Infinite Alchemists Academy Halloween Carnival was just one short week away. As Mom teetered in with my snack which consisted of cheese and crackers with some iced water, I smiled wistfully and thanked her for the treat even going so far as to kiss her cheek like I used to as a kid. Sitting back in front of my computer I mused absentmindedly to myself as I nibbled on the crackers about what my costume should be for the carnival and if a certain shark faced individual would join me and the group in the festivities…
Woo! Another long chapter but I'm happy with how this one came out. :3 next up is the much anticipated Halloween special and I'm trying to come up with a few funny and entertaining costume ideas that a few characters would wear. Anyways hope you enjoyed and please comment or review! Next chapter should be up soon so stay tuned! ^^
