Last time an incredible discovery was made on Metamore; proof of extraterrestrial intelligence. Will was awed at the archeological dig that proved that an alien race called the Krell once lived on the planet. Even better, the Krell had built a dimensional gateway that allowed them to travel from one universe to another. But the best part was what happened next. On with the show!
"Human kind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. 'To obtain, something of equal value must be lost.' That is Alchemy's first law of Equivalent Exchange. In those days, we really believed it to be the worlds' one and only truth…"
from 'Fullmetal Alchemist'
Chapter 2: First Contact
To her surprise and shock, Will saw two figures emerge form the gateway; one rather short, the other rather tall. With a crackle of energy the gateway faded and the pylons went dark. With the glare from the gateway gone Will could see that the taller figure was completely covered in metal armor form head to toe. The shorter one was a boy about her age, maybe a bit younger. He had shoulder length blond hair tied up in a braid and amber eyes. He wore a red coat; black pants and wore white gloves on his hands.
"Well here we are, Al," said the short boy. "We sure are brother," said the one in armor, "I hope we find what we're looking for in this dimension." The two began to walk from the pylons. "I wonder if there are people here?" asked the one in armor. "If there are," said the short one, "I hope they're friendly."
Just then Caleb, Vathek and the guards emerged from their hiding places and pointed their weapons at the two newcomers. "Don't move or you're dead!" exclaimed Caleb. Will swore the metal mask the taller one wore changed its expression from a normal helmet to a look of surprise. "Um," said the armored one as he and the shorter one raised their hands up in surrender, "We come in peace."
"You're gonna leave in pieces if you try anything," said Vathek, "especially you, small fry." "What did you call me!" exclaimed the smaller traveler. "Calm down brother," said the armored one, "We don't want any trouble with these people." "Well they're going to get trouble if that blue man, thing, whatever he is calls me short again," said the small one.
"Is that a threat pipsqueak?" asked Vathek. "That does it!" raged the smaller one. He clapped his hands together, slammed his left hand to the ground, and drew a large metal spear from the ground, "Let's go you big blue thing, or whatever you are!" "I'm a person you runt!" raged Vathek as he raised his sword. "Stand down Vathek," said Elyon as she stood between Vathek and the newcomers, "That's an order."
"As you command my Queen," said Vathek reluctantly. "Look," said Elyon, "I can see that you're stressed out from what's happened this week, we all are. Why don't you take some time off, relax for a while." "Is that an order as well?" asked Vathek. "It's a request," said Elyon, "I'd rather not it be an order. Besides, Caleb, Will and the others are here, I'll be fine." "Then I shall do as you have requested, my queen," said Vathek. He bowed and left the dig sight.
"Sorry about that," said Elyon as the guards relaxed, "We've all been under a lot of stress lately." "I can tell," said the small one as he lowered his spear. "Now," said Elyon, "Who are you and why have you come here?" "Who are you to command such authority?" asked the armored one.
"She asked you first," said Caleb, "And for your information, you are in the presence of Elyon Brown; Queen of planet Metamore and The Light of Meridian." "It's a pleasure to meet you, your majesty," said the armored one as he knelt, the smaller one also knelt, "and I guess I owe you an apology for our sudden appearance."
"We're sorry if we caused any trouble," said the smaller one as he and the armored one rose, "I'm Edward Elric, but everyone calls me Ed. This is my brother Alphonse, but everyone calls him Al." "The pleasure is mine," said Elyon, "But I must ask why you have come here?"
"My brother and I are looking for information," said Ed, "We're under orders from The State to explore and discover. But mostly we're looking for information on Alchemy." "What's that?" asked Irma. "Alchemy, my little tater tot," said Martin, "Is the art of changing something into something else." "If you call me one more of your stupid pet names," raged Irma, "Just one more, and I'll rip your nose off and shove it down your lungs!"
"It's more complicated than that," said Ed, "Alchemy is a mixture of magic and science. In order to transmute or change an object into something else, one must first learn what that object is made of. Then the object is broken down into its most basic structure. Finally, the object is reconstructed into something else."
"There's more," said Al, "Alchemy has strict rules that have dire consequences if broken. Most important is the first law of Equivalent Exchange: To obtain, something of equal value must be lost. Usually that something is energy, but there are times when a much higher price must be paid."
"Well," said Elyon, "I believe I may be able to help you find what it is you are looking for. My," she cleared her throat before continuing; " older 'brother' had several books on Alchemy in the palace library, though I believe he never used them." "Good thing he didn't," whispered Hay Lin to Taranee, "If Phobos knew Alchemy, our lives would be very different right now." "You got that right," agreed Taranee."
Not long later the two Alchemists found themselves in the palace library. "Check it out, Al," said and awed Ed, "This place is huge!" "This time, brother," said Al, "This time I'm sure we'll find what we're looking for."
While Ed and Al pondered over the books, Cornelia, Irma and Taranee were talking with Elyon on the latest happenings back at Heatherfield. "You're serious?" asked Elyon, "Half the city is without power?" "You got it," said Taranee, "Everything electrical at school blew up during last night's lightning storm." "To make matters worse," said Cornelia, "The mall has been closed, no cable TV, no Internet and no cell phones."
"Good God almighty!" said Elyon, "That really sucks." "It'll be at least a week before everything's back to normal," said Taranee. "I don't mean to sound rude or anything," said Irma, "But would it be okay if we were to hang out here for a few days?" "You girls are always welcome here," said Elyon, "Any day of the week."
"You're beyond wonderful, Elyon," said Irma. "So I've been told," said Elyon, "Anyway, I just remembered something; when you talked about the lightning storm yesterday, the time you said it happened was about the same time several small earthquakes were recorded here on Metamore."
"Was anybody hurt?" asked Taranee. "No," said Elyon, "They were just minor tremors, very little property damage. But the strange thing is that the quakes happened at the same time as the storm on Earth. It's probably a coincident." "Well if it isn't," said Irma, "Then we're right where we need to be to do something about it. Things have been so boring back home; I just need a change of pace. I think these two Alchemists and what they're looking for might just be what the doctor ordered"
"I know something else the doctor ordered," said Martin as he walked up behind Irma. She turned around and held her hand in front of his face. "Stop right there, Martin Tubs!" exclaimed Irma, "Or this time I'll really carve my name onto your ass with an ice pick!"
"Why can't you understand, Irma?" asked Martin, "Can't you see that I truly care for you?" "I care about you too, Martin," said Irma, "You're a good friend, but that's all. I just don't feel that way about you the way you feel about me." She paused before adding, "I'm sorry." It was then that a look of clarity dawned on Martin's face. "No, Irma," said Martin in a somewhat calm voice that threatened to spill over into anger, his eyes on the verge of tears, "I'm the one who's sorry; sorry to have wasted so much of your time and so much of mine!" He turned around and disappeared around the nearest corner.
"I think you really hurt him this time," said Taranee. "I believe you," said a stunned sounding Irma. "Well don't just stand there," said Elyon, "go after him before he does something stupid like throwing himself off the balcony." "He wouldn't do that," said Irma to herself as she hurried after Martin, "He'd never do that."
"How much longer is she gonna keep deluding herself?" asked Cornelia, "She does love Martin, she's just too stubborn to admit it to herself." "I'd give it another week before they're together," said Taranee, "Ten days at the most." "Fifty bucks says they'll be kissing by this time Sunday," said Elyon, "that'll give them four days." "You're on!" said Cornelia.
The end of chapter 2. Next chapter, we chance scenes to revisit some old friends, The Ramblers. See you next time!