Allen took a deep breath and let it out as silently as he could. This was going to be tough. He never had to explain turning his father into an Akuma before. No one ever asked. He was only a bit surprised that Lavi didn't ask because of his ever-so-annoying curiosity. But it was like everyone knew better than to ask about it. But, to a bunch of people who didn't even know what Akuma were...it was unavoidable. "You see, when I was younger, my left arm looked...odd." Allen started, looking over at Timcanpy expectantly. Timcanpy opened his mouth and previewed one of the times Allen was bandaging himself from an Akuma attack when he was younger. His left arm was a dark, red, color with what looked like veins sticking out. In his left hand was embedded a green crystal. "Because of it, my real parents abandoned me when I was just a baby. I somehow grew up on the streets and found myself in a traveling circus. Of course, I didn't have Timcanpy with me then, so I can't exactly prove that to you. You just have to believe me. I suppose it's up to you whether you believe me or not." He paused. "Anyways, the ringmaster and other clowns weren't as fond of me as anyone else either and often called me Red because of my arm. Then, I met my father's dog." Allen scratched his head a bit embarrassingly. "His name was Allen, actually."
"Wait, you were named after a dog?" Edward snorted, earning a whack from Winry's wrench. He grumbled to himself.
"You could say that. Anyways, Mana was also a clown. One of the clowns that was really mean to me was jealous of Mana and how many people loved him. So, he decided to kill the dog, since the dog was Mana's pet and helper. He asked me personally to kill it. Of course, being it's friend, I refused. He took it upon himself to kill it. I visited it's grave and met Mana there. He wasn't crying, which I found odd. I wasn't exactly a soft person back then, and the dog's death made me cry because it was the first friend I ever had. I asked him about it and he made a stupid joke and attempted hanging himself or something. I didn't really understand the joke so he was honestly a nut job to me. But, he decided to take me with him and I adopted the name 'Allen' and became his new helper. A long time passed after that and he was killed in an accident. Mana was the first person to accept me for who I was besides the dog and also my father so...I didn't know what else to do. Then, the Millennium Earl approached me and offered to bring him back."
Allen sighed; he hated this part. He found himself burying his face in his right hand. "Of course, I was only ten at the time and accepted it. All I had to do was call out his name and somehow he could take the soul and bind it inside a killing machine that followed his every will. After that, he ordered my father to kill me. Mana had no choice and attacked me. He cursed me, inflicting a wound on my face." Allen parted his bangs to focus his left eye, which was gray at the moment, only because he chose it to be. Without activating it, he couldn't see Alphonse's soul. "After that, my arm activated on it's own. I wasn't used to activating it and didn't know how, but it was like it was only trying to save me."
"Activated? What do you mean?" Alphonse asked. Allen looked over at Timcanpy and once again, the small golem opened his mouth to show a mission he was on when he slayed his best friend's, Narain's, sister as an Akuma. His left arm grew twice the size of his body into an extremely large, silver claw and he sliced the being in half.
"Inside my left hand was a crystal called Innocence, as I explained before. If I ask it to activate, depending on my bonding ratio with it, it will activate anytime I ask. However, at the time of Mana's death and after it, I didn't know how to control it. Then, my arm activated on it's own and destroyed him." Allen sighed once again. "Mana was begging me to destroy him, so I first suspected that they were always in pain. Then, when I first activated my left eye, I saw that they were in pain. My left eye only activates whenever I see an Akuma or if I'm near one...or..." Allen's left eye turned black and red rings formed around it. The gears weren't turning, only because Allen didn't want Edward to see his brother's soul. It would be heartbreaking. The soul shown what Alphonse looked like now, wherever his body was, and the boy's face was pale, his hair was long and looked to have a few knots in it, his entire form was fragile. "Someone who's soul has been bonded to an object." They all looked at Alphonse and Alphonse's, along with everyone else's, eyes widened. "I can see Alphonse's soul." His eye returned to normal and he smiled. "However, unlike the others', Alphonse's soul isn't suffering."
Edward was left gaping.
"So that's why you weren't surprised when my armor blew to bits..." Alphonse mumbled, smiling a little. "You already knew." Allen nodded. "I did. When you two walked through Colonel Mustang's office, I realized at that point. I first thought you were an Akuma, but the chains around your body that binds you to the armor wasn't strangling you and your soul wasn't a skull like all of the others. Not to mention you could talk. Level one Akuma can't talk and when they're level two, they can talk, but their soul mutates so that they can control a bit of their body."
"Allen, whenever you destroy an Akuma...what happens?" Edward asked curiously. "I mean, to their soul. Do they...disappear forever?"
"Well, they're sent to Heaven." Allen paused. "Or what you might call, the Gate. It seems like there's different rooms of the gate and depending on what goes on there, religious people separate them, calling them Heaven or Hell. Truth, or God, is the one who decides where to send them. So, in a way, Heaven and Hell are real. They're just different rooms inside the Gate. Then you get reborn and all that." Allen said, waving his hand dismissively. How does he know so much about the Gate if he didn't perform Human Transmutation? Edward wondered and shook his head, dismissing it.
"That's insane..." Edward mumbled. Allen paused and turned to Edward with a stern gaze.
"You performed Human Transmutation, didn't you?" He asked seriously. Edward's mouth fell open.
"How did you..." Allen smiled and closed his eyes.
"Lucky guess." He lied. "I suppose it could only explain how your brother ended up in that state."
"Allen...what does Alphonse's soul look like?" Winry asked softly.
"He looks a bit like Edward." Allen answered, opening his eyes. "You can definitely tell you guys are brothers, but, he can't really care for himself there I'm guessing because his hair is long and not taken care of."
"That's going to be one hell of a haircut..." Edward muttered. "So, I suppose it's only fair to say that we're in the military to get our bodies back." Allen chuckled and nodded his head.
"It seems impossible but, for some reason, I think you two can manage it." Edward smirked and crossed his arms.
"Of course! Who do you think you're dealing with here?" He asked boldly. Allen raised an eyebrow.
"You sure are full of yourself for being so short."
"Allen..." Alphonse muttered bitterly. Allen let out a soft giggle at Edward's raging. He was screaming some nonsense of being the size of an ant or something.
"Well, I mean, if he wants to get in trouble for hitting Colonel Mustang's soon-to-be subordinate and get himself into a bunch of trouble, I suppose that's his problem, hm?" Allen asked, his smiling widening just a little. Evil...Alphonse thought.
"Soon-to-be?" Winry questioned. "Are you going to be Edward's body guard or something?"
"As nice as it sounds to be escorting this little time bomb, I'm unsure. All I know is that maybe I might be able to find my way back home if I join. Where I live, there's a different currency, so I'm obviously not in it for the money. I just hope that on a mission I might be able to find my way back. The colonel told me that ever since he found me, the whole case of purple lights flickering around Amestris was closed. I'm starting to think that maybe I had something to do with those lights, honestly. I remembered one of my enemies could open a portal and teleport somewhere, so I'm thinking maybe they just keep walking into the wrong world..." ...unless...are they trying to take over this world? But that would be stupid since they've got our world to take over...then again...this world doesn't have exorcists...maybe they followed me back here to try and destroy me? But Colonel Mustang said he found me after the purple lights so they've been going on before I came here. I shouldn't worry too much since they've stopped, but I've got to keep my guard up.
"So, you're going to be a military dog soon, huh?" Pinako asked. Allen guessed that calling someone a 'military dog' was offensive since Winry gave him an apologetic look. "That means you need a new arm right? Not only that, you're going to get money and not need it? I suppose we can make you an arm and give you surgery for free, but," She slammed her pipe on the ash tray to dump out leftover ashes and grinned at him. "It's going to cost you afterwards."
"I can agree with that." Allen smiled.
"The surgery's pretty tough. It's known to make grown men cry." She taunted.
"Pain isn't a stranger to me." He simply replied.
"It'll wear you down, it's pretty heavy."
"Well, I mean, that kind of explain why Edward's growth is stunted. But, I've done my growing so I don't mind." He teased. The blond looked furious and began to shout, but he didn't lay a hand on him. Oh no, he'd wait until later. When he had an arm and could protect himself. Yes, he would wait, for now.
"Well, kid, it's your choice." Pinako replied. "Now come on, we've got some measurements to take." She paused and smiled. "I apologize in advance since longer limbs take a longer amount of time since we need more materials, your arm will get done some time after Edward's. Also, we have to start both from scratch."
"I don't mi-"
"Awe, come on! We gotta get to Central soon!"
"We...do?" Allen asked, tilting his head.
"Al and I need to check some things out at the library." Edward explained.
"Well, I don't think the library is going anywhere..." He mumbled, but no one but Alphonse heard him.
"Well, you guys might have to go on ahead of Allen. It takes years for the surgery to-"
"Y-years?!" Now Allen was the one to be impatient. "I don't think I can wait that long."
"The least someone managed was Edward and that took a little under a year." Winry scolded. "He was coughing blood." Allen shook his head.
"Coughing blood is nothing for me." He said, crossing his arms stubbornly.
"He was coughing a lot blood back in East City..." Alphonse pointed out.
"That can't be good for you. You'll die an early age." Pinako scolded. Allen shrugged. Because of his Parasitic Innocence, he was going to die early anyways. What was a couple years more?
"Because of my past Innocence being Parasitic, I'm destined to die an earlier death than others. Of course, I don't have it anymore, but that doesn't mean all the years it took from me already are suddenly gone, it still took energy from me. A couple more years won't kill me too soon." He assured.
"Great. Another idiot who cares not to risk his life." Alphonse murmured.
"Being here now, I can't help my friends. Timcanpy can't just know if they're okay every minute I waste here. I have to get back and help them as soon as possible. World domination is a pretty bad thing, you know; and he's not even dominating the world, he's destroying it. His mind has more screws loose than Mana's. He thinks only 'perfect beings' should exist."
"But if everyone's dead, he'll just die later on. What's the point? He'll just be alone forever." Edward replied.
"Well...not necessarily..."
"There's more?" Edward asked incredulously. Allen nodded.
"The Noah Family are those that control the Akuma. However, the Millennium Earl is the one who controls them all. There's fourteen of them I think. They're immortal."
"Whaaat? Your planet is doomed."
"Thanks for the encouragement, Edward." Allen mumbled. "Still, I have to at least help them. The only thing that hurts the Noah is Innocence. Only Exorcists have the power to hurt them and if we collect more Innocence, we find more suitable Exorcists...however, Exorcists are just ordinary people with tough weapons so they can die too if left vulnerable..." Allen's eyes slightly closed, remembering the incident with Suman, whose Innocence betrayed him because he betrayed it by helping the Noah. "Before I left my world, I saw an Exorcist get eaten alive by small golems before my very eyes. The Noah named Tyki Mikk, the one who destroyed my arm, killed him. He infested those cannibalistic things inside of him and they bred to the point that he was just a hollow shell. I tried to save him, but all I could save was his body. And even then, it was useless. I don't want anyone else to suffer like he did." For once, Armstrong stayed quiet. In such a serious case, he couldn't break down the door and let his emotions get to him. Right now, he wondered if he should report this to HQ or if he could pretend that he didn't hear all of this. If he reported this, there was a chance they would take Allen and his golem to be experimented on and he couldn't let that happen. Roy seemed to trust this boy, so maybe he should too.
"Well, what are we doing all sitting around on our behinds? Let's get to work." Pinako said, standing up and walking away. The others followed except for Alphonse and he was stuck there until the major took him somewhere. He felt so useless. Is this how Allen felt without his arm? Alphonse wondered. They went into the living room and began measuring. Pinako pointed out that Edward had grown a bit, seeing his right leg was longer than the other. Just a couple of centimeters. Allen thought with a soft chuckle. Edward gave him a dangerous glare. Winry measured his stub and frowned, touching the sensitive skin. It looked like his arm lead up to his port.
"Allen, was your arm paralyzed at some point?" She asked.
"Hm? Oh, yes. I couldn't move it as a child but I slowly learned how as I grew."
"Yes, the nerves seem to be slightly numb on some parts and sensitive on others. It might increase the pain during surgery if you're still up for it..." She mumbled. Allen nodded.
"It's fine."
"If you say so..." She mumbled and continued measuring. They gave Edward a temporary prosthetic so they could work on his leg. Pinako lead him to the room he would be having surgery on and he laid down on the bed, wondering how bad this was going to hurt. Probably as painful as his arm being torn from his body.
"We'll work on cutting right now and connecting to parts where your nerves would be located. Then I'll make dinner and we'll rest for the day. Are you good without lunch?" Without my Innocence zapping energy from me? Definitely. Allen nodded and waited for her to begin the procedure. "After today, you'll have to eat healthier and every part of the day to keep your energy up." She said sternly and Allen nodded his head, waiting for her to continue. He clenched his teeth slightly when she cut into his skin and started the operation.
Meanwhile, Edward was sitting next to Alphonse, laying in the grass. "What do you think of Allen's story, Brother?" Alphonse asked.
"It's a lot like ours, huh? He had it a bit easier though."
"Easier? Brother, he had to kill his father unwillingly...we didn't have to kill our mother, she was already..." Alphonse trailed off and they both fell silent.
"Yeah, yeah." Edward mumbled, closing his eyes. Still, it seemed unreal. He believed Allen, he really did. Why would anyone make that up? Usually nut jobs couldn't tell other nut jobs apart. He didn't seem crazy in the head. I wonder what it's like in his world. Is there just destruction everywhere? Are they hanging onto their existence or is it just like this place? And why didn't he say so sooner that he could see Alphonse's soul? We'd have no choice but to believe him because of Al's state. He wondered. Allen Walker...who are you?
"You should visit Mom's grave before we leave." Edward stayed silent at Alphonse's comment, but he knew he would anyways.
"Maybe you can too, after I get you fixed up." Edward finally replied. Alphonse nodded, making a slight creak with his armor.
"Yeah."
The days passed slowly, and every so often Edward would go in and check on the automail Winry was making until she kicked him out of the room for good. He had nothing better to do and decided that he'd play with Den or work out. On the third day, Winry finished his automail with three all-nighters. Allen was still in the surgery room and Pinako refused everyone from entry, including the Major. Once Alphonse was all fixed up, Alphonse insisted on them visiting Allen to make sure he was alright. He wasn't completely sure if his plan would go very well since they refused to let him see Edward whenever he was in surgery. He always thought that it was to protect Edward's pride, but sometimes he thought that maybe she was trying to protect him from seeing his brother in so much pain. However, they weren't related to Allen, so maybe she'd let them see him. After all, Armstrong was in the military and that could be the reason why he wasn't allowed in. "Granny, please?" Alphonse begged. "I just want to make sure he's alright. He must be lonely in there..."
"No, Alphonse. He has plenty of company with me in there with him."
"But-"
"I said no." She hissed. Alphonse sighed and looked down. It was a sudden flash, but she could have sworn she'd seen Alphonse's face, looking extremely distressed and worried, saddened as well, as he looked at the floor. However, it was gone within in an instant. She sighed; her heart was growing soft. "You can see him one time after you part back to Central." She muttered, passing by him. "The door's locked so don't even try it, otherwise I won't let you see him again!" She snapped.
"Thank you, Granny." Alphonse said, smiling though no one could see it, and followed her back to the dining room table. They all sat at the table and enjoyed dinner together. Alphonse didn't eat, but he stayed there so he felt like he belonged. After dinner, they went to bed. All except for Alphonse. He confronted Pinako and asked if he could see Allen since he wouldn't be doing any sleeping tonight. Pinako sighed, but let him. She gave him the key and then headed off to bed. Alphonse did his best to stay quiet and slowly opened the door to what had been Allen's room for three days. He closed the door as softly as he could and made his way over to the wired boy. The only detail he could see other than being hooked up, was that there was a cloth over his eyes to protect them from long exposures to light.
"Alphonse? What are you doing here?" Allen questioned.
"Eh? How did you know I was-"
"Soul, Alphonse." Allen answered. "I was awake when you came in."
"Oh..." Alphonse moved a chair over towards Allen and sat down in it. "I can't sleep in this body since it doesn't require normal things a human should."
"I suppose that makes sense. Akuma can't eat or sleep either. All they do is kill." He replied.
"Allen, what's your life like?"
"Eh?"
"I mean, your world. Is it like this one or are you struggling to survive?" Alphonse asked.
"Oh, no, it's not like that." Allen chuckled. "It's the same as this one, I suppose. However, Akuma take on human appearance, so no one knows where they are. The Millennium Earl only goes after people who are suffering and are in a dark place. But, he makes Akuma everyday so I think it's best if I manage to get back as soon as possible."
"So, it's kinda like a kid's world? Without all the death? Like there's monsters hiding at every corner and they don't know about it?"
"Exactly like that. The only one who's ever been able to see souls out of the exorcists are me. Still, I loved the Order. It was a nice place there. Hughes reminds me of our supervisor, Komui. He's really protective of his sister and often tries to make robots that he calls Komurins...I was caught by one of them once." He grumbled. Alphonse chuckled.
"Yeah? That sounds crazy." He paused. "You should probably get some rest."
"If you want, I can let you borrow Timcanpy." Allen said softly.
"Huh? What for?"
"You can't sleep, right? Only if you want, you can borrow him and watch all that he recorded after I met him. I suppose some things are a little personal, but you can leave all that out, can't you, Timcanpy?" Allen asked. The golem nodded and flew upwards and landed on Alphonse's arm.
"Thank you, Allen..." Alphonse said, smiling. Allen smiled back.
"You're welcome." He paused and began to speak again when Alphonse started to leave the room. "Alphonse...I'm not coming with you two tomorrow, but I'll catch up with you as quickly as I can, alright?" Alphonse nodded and walked out of the room, closing the door. He headed off to the room he and Edward shared together, watching the memories Timcanpy supplied him with. Sunrise came sooner than he thought and with that, he let Timcanpy rest. I suppose Allen's life wasn't so hard; he had friends that were there for him...maybe on our journey, we can help him return home.
"Good morning, Al." Edward yawned.
"Good morning, Brother." Alphonse greeted back. Edward blinked and rose an eyebrow at him. "Isn't that Allen's golem thing?"
"Yes, he's letting me borrow it."
"O...kay..." Edward said slowly. He stood up and got dressed before heading out. Pinako informed Edward that Allen was sleeping at that he most likely wouldn't wake up anytime soon and would sleep through some more surgery. Winry was also asleep it seemed, but, as he headed out, she was able to say goodbye before greeting her grandmother.
"How's he doing?" Winry asked, joining her and passing her a tool as she worked on the wires.
"Better than I expected. He coughs and sweats here and there, but his surgery is progressing a little too quickly, especially for someone his age. With your help, I think we can manage to get his surgery done in two weeks."
"TWO WEEKS?!" She shouted and her grandmother scolded her, not wanting to wake Allen up and deal with holding a bucket for him to cough into.
"Yes, Winry. Two weeks. I was surprised myself. It'll take him about three days to recover though, so we have to stress him not to fight within those three days. Basically, since he's already got three days down into the surgery, it'll be exactly eleven days until he's off to Central."
"I can't believe it...I expected months since he said he could recover faster than Edward, but two measly weeks? Incredible." Pinako nodded and stared down at the sleeping boy.
"It's weird, but it almost seems like something keeps healing him."
I'm so, so, so, sooo sorry for those of you who were actually waiting on this story! I'd been so busy lately *covers face with embarrassment* I'm sorry. Ugh. Stupid Beta. Not telling me when to update.
midnightstardust: *glares* that is not my job.
Stupid Beta's aside (midnightstardust twitches with anger in the background), Here's the fourth chapter! Originally I was going to go to bed because I feel like I'll have a lot of things to be doing tomorrow because of this 'horrid' thing called a birthday. Everyone wants to do something. Well, friends do anyways. My mom probably be like "yeah want a cake. cake is cool. you eat cake right?" xD I'll be turning 19 tomorrow. Woo. Almost 20. Sounds exciting. *twitches*so, yeah, lotsa apologies. Also, many thanks go out to ultima-owner (well, only when it helps him I guess), banapples2018, Star Angel7169 (oh, dear, you don't know. If I don't give myself a deadline, I won't update period. I mean, have you seen my other stories? Heh...), CaptainoftheRirenShip (exactly. The whole Truth thing. Yeah.), DeeRoseWalker, miuruzeny, Brystak2000, yukixvongola, and egefriend2 for reviewing. Thank you to all that followed and favorited as well!