Disclaimer: I do not own any copyright to plots and characters from Fullmetal Alchemist anime/manga/games, so pls don't sue me!
Summary: Post movie and OVA, Ed and Al went to live in the real world without their alchemist ability till year 2005. It was the end of the story after their lives ended in the real world, or wasn't it? Inspired after FMA OVA. Not continuing unless there are reviews.
WARNING: FMA anime, manga & game spoilers! Rating will probably go up as the story progresses.
Characters involved: Al, Ed, Hughes, Roy Mustang, Archer, Chang Mei, Winry, Armony, Sophie, Ran Fan, Envy, Izumi, Wrath, Rose, King Bradley, manga characters….
AU: There is no made-up character in this fic though there's a lot of characters crossover for FMA manga/anime/games. I'm getting tired of doing multi-chap fanfic. Hope my interest won't extinguish before I complete this fic. Sigh...
Refer to image of FMA Manga/game casts at: http:(slash slash)i14(dot)photobucket(dot)com(slash)albums(slash)a333(slash)lysergkun(slash)othercast(dot)jpg
Hi loolala , arigato, guess you're going to continue hating me after all… hahahaha…
Chapter 05: The pursuers from Xing
The soft dripping of water in the dark tunnel did not lighten Frank Archer's tense mood as he struggled fruitlessly under the grip of a short man with long spiky hair whom he remembered was a homunculus of name 'Envy'.
"What a disappointment," a tall man in white robe shook his head as he injected some strange liquid into the captured Amestris soldiers one by one and sweeping it up whenever the subject soldier bled to death from the substance. "I'm expecting some good quality men among the troops who can withstand the Philosopher's stone. Bring in this soldier, he's a Colonel rank soldier, is he not?" The man asked Envy.
"Hm yeah, so I've heard." Envy smirked.
"He's the last in the captives we have brought, Father." King Bradley said, looking back at the pile of corpses they had disposed after the experiments.
"Here goes..." said Envy in a singsong manner as he watched 'Father' lowering the needle into Archer's arm.
Archer's scream rang the cold air.
Al looked up at the high ceiling as he followed Wrath into the underground city where they had gone to open the gate of Transmutation. Walking around, Al went to test the transmutation circle on the ground. He shook his head.
"What else do we need?" Wrath asked.
"Philosopher's stone. I should have grab some from Dante during that battle. I need to transmute myself over there with that stone as a passing fee." Al sighed disappointedly after searching the place with no result.
"I'm sick and tired of all things!" retorted Wrath: "Don't other people ever suspect why certain people were raised from dead and there's some funny things going around, I don't like it!"
"So do I," sighed Al wearily: "I need to talk to 'Truth'. I think he knows something. That's why I need to open that gate again."
"He's the guardian of the gate of Transmutation, right? That's what you've mentioned." Wrath asked. Al nodded.
Wrath continued: "Do you think we can find Philosopher's stones at the debris where Dante was last shown?"
"We've combed the area, there was not a single Philosopher's stone found." Al replied. He suddenly looked up and glanced around: "Did you feel someone watching us?"
Wrath looked and suggested: "Nope. Do you think we can go and search the stones ourselves?" Al was still staring at a direction.
"Hello, is there anyone there?!" Al called as he walked. There was no response.
"AL! WRATH!" Winry's voice called from the opposite direction: "I CAN HEAR YOU! WE CAN TALK OVER!" Al froze in his step.
"Uh-oh." Wrath said softly.
Within seconds, Winry and Ed pounced onto Al while Izumi stormed before Wrath. Armony followed behind.
"AL! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING???!!!" Ed roared angrily and shook Al.
"We... we were thinking of opening...the gate...again..." whispered Wrath from the other side before Al could stop him.
Izumi walked over to Al. Suddenly, Al felt heated pain on his cheek where his sensei's hand had went.
"Do you know what you are doing?" Izumi said in a disappointed voice and suddenly roared: "AFTER WHAT THOSE NONSENSES YOU HAVE GONE THROUGH, DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING??!!!"
"I'm sorry, Sensei." Al said softly, looking at the ground, not daring to look up: "We will not do it again."
"But-but!" protested Wrath.
Izumi glared at him: "Were you the one who started the idea?"
"I don't want all these funny things, don't you ever wonder why there are some conflicting memories whenever people interact with one another? I remember myself as a homunculus, but I don't feel myself as one anymore!" Wrath pulled off his hand band which he had wore ever since his return from death, revealing several dried scars on his wrist. "I've cut myself before and I cannot heal myself anymore! I don't even know whether I even exist in this world at all! I can't stand it, I want OUT!" screamed Wrath.
"Isn't it alright just to know that I'm your mother and I'll care for you regardless what happen? Is that not enough for you? YOU ARE MY CHILD AND THAT'S WHAT MATTERS!" screamed Izumi as she shook Wrath hard.
Wrath glanced at her in stunned silence. Izumi pulled him into an embrace and cried.
"Al, does it still hurt?" Winry asked and rubbed the hit cheek gently. Al shook his head with tears falling out of his eyes.
"I've prepared the dinner at home, Al. Let's go home before the food turns cold." Izumi said, looking up.
"Right," Ed nodded and pulled Al to his chest, fearing his younger brother would run away again. Armony was still looking at a direction where Al had last glared.
"What's wrong, Armony?" Ed asked.
"Uh-no, nothing." Armony shook her head: "I must be imagining things."
As Frank Archer remained missing. Al was temporarily transferred to Armstrong's team with Cony. Al went to apologise to Roy and Maria for the loss of Havoc, but since his corpse was not found, they could not confirm his death yet. Still, Al had an uneasy feeling that Havoc was no longer around.
The top military council held an emergency meeting about the situation between Drachma and Amestris. It was rumored that all communication lines between the border had been completely cut off when the Fuhrer attempted to communicate with the President of Drachma. Some officers were dispatched to investigate the matter.
In the meantime, Armstrong insisted Al to take a leave break. Ed followed suit.
"Hi, Ed... Al.., I'm taking a leave break with you too." Sophie said.
"Where should we go, nii-san?" Al asked.
"Shall we go to Lior to visit Rose? We've not been seeing her since our return." suggested Ed: "She'll like you too, Sophie." He winked at the female state alchemist.
"No objection." smiled Sophie.
"Let's ask Winry too," Al said.
As expected, Winry was more than happy to join them for the trip, so was Armony. Izumi was not interested in going, claiming she wanted to spend more time with Wrath and her husband in peace. A day later, they found their way to the railway station to board the train towards Lior.
Ed was still reflecting Wrath's words: "...don't you ever wonder why there are some conflicting memories whenever people interact with one another?" as well as Al's expression whenever his memory did not seem to click with his.
"Hey, Al." Ed called his brother who was sitting on the opposite seat, reading: "Do you know how a homunculus is created?"
"Isn't a homunculus created due to failed human transmutation?" Al asked, flipping his pages. He noticed his brother's surprised expression: "What's wrong, nii-san?"
"Uh.. nothing." Ed said. He recalled his last time meeting a certain person with Al, Envy and Glutton as well as that person from Xing Country and he remembered vividly that homunculus was created by injecting a Philosopher's stone from that certain person's third eye into a victim's body. He did not dare to voice out his thought for fear of provoking Al.
The rest of the trip was uneventful, except when the three girls started pestering the Elric brothers (especially Ed) until Ed ran off to hide in the restroom. Al continued to read his book despite Winry's several attempt to force him to play cards with the rest of them.
Rose was overjoyed to see Ed and Al again and insisted all of them to stay in her house for the night. The city of Lior had been peaceful since the overthrown of King Bradley-the ex Fuhrer and Rose was currently working by taking care of other children in homes.
"Looks like I'll need to buy plenty of food today. Can anyone help me carry the things?" Rose asked.
"I'll help!" Al quickly put up his hand.
"I.." Ed started.
"Nii-san, you'll stay with the rest of them and make up your mind whom you want to go with." Al whispered under his breath: "Don't make Winry wait for you forever."
"Al.." Ed said, but his younger brother had swept out of the house after Rose.
"Hm, well, what shall we do here?" asked Ed awkwardly.
"I feel so bad sitting here and not helping Rose-san." Armony said guiltily. She suddenly looked up to Ed: "Can I still learn alchemy from you? I miss your lessons."
"W..WHAT?!" Winry gasped and looked quickly from Armony to Ed.
"Hm.. well, sorry, Armony, I'm not sure if your body had managed it or not." Ed said uneasily.
"Why not?" asked Sophie, looking at Armony.
"Because of the 'wings' I think..." Armony said, thinking of her long ago past. She rearranged her face and smiled: "Never mind, it's ok actually."
"Ed, there's something I want to ask you for a long time," Sophie said seriously: "You've told me you've seen Triffany, Godoa and the rest during the last mission, right? Why are they after you and Al?"
"I don't understand about Camilla either. You've mentioned she's working under a lady named Dante?" Armony asked.
"Al told me she wanted to repair my (father) old man's body so that they can rule the world or something like that." shrugged Ed.
"How's Dante like?" asked Sophie and Armony. Even Winry looked attentively at Ed.
"Well... she's an old hag and she seems obsessive with my old man..." Ed was glad there was something he could chat with them without the awkward silence among them.
'Forget about Al's words, I'll rather not to think about this troublesome relationship matter for now.' thought Ed.
Rose carried a shopping bag in her hand and turned to look at Al who was following behind and was balancing three big bags of food which were almost covering his face: "Sorry for troubling you, Al. Do let me know if you can't handle it."
"No problem, I can manage it." Al struggled with the bags, half-wishing he could get some armor to help him with the things. Suddenly, he felt a wind of a short person rushing by him, followed by a group of masked people in black.
"What's that?" Rose gasped and yelped as another flash of black crashed into her causing her to collapse and fell onto the ground.
"Wait for me here, Rose-san, I'll go and take a look." Al said and set the things down to run after the people.
"Don't think you can get away!" A masked person snarled as he shot a flying dagger at the short figure in front.
"Try if you can manage it!" hissed a feminine voice. It was an Eastern girl with black hair and dark eyes. She looked around 13 years old.
"Let's not waste our time and finish this brat off." called another masked person and fired more daggers.
A wall boomed up from the ground behind the girl, blocking the daggers. The girl looked up to see a teenager with ponytail and red coat facing his back before her. He had transmuted the floor to help her.
"Edward Elric?" The girl said.
'Nii-san... Just how MANY girls have you known behind my back???!!' Al growled inwardly to himself and started planning how to get words out of his elder brother when he returned to Rose's house.
"Edward Elric?" The masked person echoed and pulled down the mask. It was a young lady in her early twenties.
"May I know how you are related to my nii-san?" Al asked warily.
"Your nii-san? You.. you can't be Alphonse Elric! I remember Edward's brother is an empty armor!" exclaimed the young lady. Just then, the wind blew up bit of her long sleeve, she had an automail arm: "I'm Ran Fan. We used to meet before, at least 3 years ago."
"A...Alphonse-sama?" sparkled the girl behind him, a hopping tiny panda leaped onto her shoulder: "I'm Chang Mei and this is my panda, Xiao Mei. Can you remember us?"
"Oh my..." Al groaned. He could not remember who they were at all, but how was he going to tell them that?
"Anyway, you're to accept our punishment back, whether you like it or not!" snarled Ran Fan.
"We'll see about that, woman!" retorted Chang Mei. They started fighting again. Ran Fan's helpers stood behind and waited for her instruction.
"Hey... Wait, stop fighting, you might hurt each other as well as other people!" cried Al and he ran up to interfere.
"Stop interfering with our country's affair!" shouted Ran Fan: "This girl is a traitor and is wanted by our Emperor!"
"I don't care what you people are talking about, but a few people fighting a little girl on the street in broad daylight... I won't allow it!" Al shouted back.
Al blocked several blows from Ran Fan and pulled Chang Mei into a run away from her pursuers. After turning a few corners, they came to a stop, as they did not seem to be following.
"We've met again, Alphonse." A deep voice said. Al looked up to see Scar standing a few distance away. "Lust has went to handle the people over there. You should be safe for time being, little girl." Scar nodded towards Chang Mei.
"Scar-san!" Chang Mei called happily: "That dogs of Yao family have chased me along the street again. It's their misfortune to run into you I guess." She grinned and turned to Alphonse, starting to examine him closely.
"Is there anything else?" Al asked curiously.
"Long hair... Short figure... hmmm, all right, at least you've got your face right. You do not look intense..." Chang Mei muttered: "Hey, you liar, you said you were taller than your brother and you have short, crisp, golden hair! I don't see short hair nor do I see tall figure!"
"I'm short because I'm 13 years old, you'll wait till I reach 16, I'll be at least 1.7m tall. My hair is long, because I'm too lazy to cut it short like old days." Al said frustrated: "Anyway, I'm going off, I can't keep Rose-san waiting."
"Wait, is Rose-san your girlfriend?"
"No."
"I'm coming with you!"
"I'm not following you, little girl," Scar said coldly and disappeared into the street.
"W..Wait, Scar-san.." Al called. He wanted to ask Scar something but did not know where to begin with.
"Let's go, Alphonse-sama!" chipped Chang Mei.
"Al, are you alright?" Rose ran up to him: "Let's not keep the rest waiting for too long. Who is this little girl?" She looked at Chang Mei with interest.
"I'm Chang Mei from Country of Xing!" Chang Mei chipped and pointed to her black and white pet on her shoulder: "And she's Xiao Mei."
Back in the comfort of Rose's residence...
"YOU BEAN-SIZED GIRL!" screamed Ed.
"YOU BEAN-SIZED BRAT! AND STILL SHORT AS EVER!" retorted Chang Mei.
"Ed, can you keep your volume down?" Winry asked wearily.
"Nii-san, can you please explain everything?" Al asked.
"Do you have any girlfriend now?" Chang Mei asked Al.
"Why do you ask?" Al asked suspiciously.
"It's our promise! We said we'll be together once you've got your body back!" exclaimed Chang Mei.
"Did I ever say that?" Al asked bewildered.
"Al, since when did you become so romantic?" grinned Winry.
"That's great, Al-kun!" added Armony.
"We'll fully support you, Al!" slapped Sophie on Al's back.
"Al-chan," Ed wolf-whistled happily, having finally found an excuse to tease his younger brother: "You must be responsible for your acts! MUAHAHAHA!"
"Noo... Wait, I did not say that before!" Al protested anxiously.
"That's too bad, Al-chan, looks like she'll be clinging onto you from now on." Ed laughed, looking at the satisfied Chang Mei holding onto Al's arm.
It was snowing heavily in the Central of Amestris and the sky appeared darker though it was late noon. A man with torn uniform stepped into the headquarter of the Military.
Some soldiers stared at him in stunned silence for a short while and quickly saluted to him.
"Looks like I'm back home now." breathed Frank Archer excitedly as he turned into a dark corner.
TBC
NOTE:
Chang Mei-seventeenth princess from Country of Xing in FMA manga. She had asked Al regarding his physical appearance in Issue 62 when he was an armor, but he did not expect what she was thinking in her mind.
Ran Fan-bodyguard of Yao Ling who was a prince from country of Xing in FMA manga.
'Father'-a character from FMA manga
In FMA PS Game, Armony had been unable to master alchemy because she was a creation from her father's real daughter and learning alchemist will affect the growth of her 'wings' which would lead to her death. Initially unaware of her problem, she went to learn alchemy from Edward Elric and had developed friendship with him.
AU: Actually, I'm already drafting the last 2-3 chapters of this fic so that I can have a better idea how to round up the entire fanfic chapters. I'm currently struggling with my time management. Will see if I can complete everything before my 'heat' in this fanfic cools down. Don't wanna see it ends up like my other multi chapter fanfics….