Alchemy is the science of understanding, decomposing, and reconstructing matter. However, it is not an all-powerful art. It is impossible to create something out of nothing. If one wishes to obtain something, something of equal value must be paid. This equivalent exchange is the basis of alchemy. Alchemists have a taboo, and it is human transmutation. It is that which no one must commit.
The memories, the pain, the cries. Everything he ignored. I remember living in Resembool with Edward and Alphonse; we would play outside for hours. Then when dusk came... I feared, feared my own home. I was the blame that she died. It's always the youngest. Father was proud of my brother with him being in the military and all. Father called me useless. I was 7, how could I be useless, there was nothing he would trust me with. If I was home late, I would be thrown into the basement for days without being fed. The Elric brothers worried about me. At least someone did. My older brother did care, he tried to stop father but was sent into the military and couldn't. Then ... brother changed, he would come home from work but would even look at me. He stopped caring. I cried for him, he failed to answer. Soon I became more independent, when I went over to the Elrics, I learnt about alchemy as we all grew we could do amazing things and we grew even closer. Then IT happened. It broke my heart. After that event, nothing was the same. The only thing that was kept... was the relationship between me and Elrics.
The train journey has been a long one; there had been rumours about a priest using a Philosopher's stone. So we thought we'll go and check it out.
"Brother..." Al said breaking the silence, making me jump.
"Hmm" Replied Ed from his day dream, looking at Al.
"What do you think about stories of this priest in Liore?" Al questioned.
"About his miraculous works? They say he can transmute flowers out of thin air, right? It could be simple sleight of hand." Ed replies.
"Supposing it's not, though."
"Yeah. Supposing it's not, then it just be, huh?"
A smile grew on my face, I loved their determination. Sometimes I think I could never be like them even though we are so close, I felt so far away. I loved them both, They've always been there for me. I wish I could understand them. I went back to looking outside. My mind then went blank and I thought about the past, thinking about how determined the boys were from a child.
Flashback.
"The celestial stone that destroyed Xerxes in one night. The grand elixir, sealed away by the Eastern Sage. It goes by different names, but in short, It's something that intensifies alchemy. That's the philosopher's Stone." A seven year old Edward Elric read from an old alchemy book sitting in a wheelchair. His golden hair was short and spiky but his striking eyes were as sharp as ever. He wore a light blue top covered over with a green shirt; one sleeve just hanging where a right arm should be, his legs were covered in grey trousers; a trouser leg hanging where a left leg should be and he had a black boot on his right foot. Next to him was his younger brother Alphonse, who sat with his back to looking out at the sheep grazing in the sun. Alphonse had nothing but a large grey metal suit with no-one on the inside. Standing next to Edward was a girl of 7 with short brown curly hair that just reached her ears, her ocean blue eyes were filled with interest in what her best friend were saying about this stone. She wore a pale blue long sleeved top; both sleeved just hanging there with no body parts within them, and over the top of the top (Does that make sense?) was a white summer dress that just reached her knees, her feet didn't have any shoes on as Alphonse carried her to the field. This young girls name is Rebecca Noir, she has been friends with the Elric brother's since she can remember. No-one could split them up, they were a trio. "If only I had that, I might be able to get your bodies back; Al, Rebecca." He mumbled to himself. "DAMN! Write more information about it, will you?" Edward shouted while waving his left arm around in the air.
End of flashback.
I could tell that Edward was thinking the same as me from the little smile he had on his face. He then turned to Alphonse saying; "Al?"
"What?" Question Al.
"I sure hope this is it this time."
"Mm-hmm, right." Was Alphonse reply.
Edward then looked at me and smiled. I smiled back and looked back out the window.
Resembool, 10 years earlier.
I slowly strolled up to the light green door of the Elrics home. Even though I'm nearly over there nearly every day, I still can be quite shy around them. Even though I had sprint over here as fast as I could to get away from my father, I still took caution in walking up to the door. Something else I had learned to do from my father's doings. I quietly knock on the door and wait a second before seeing the door being pulled open by the Elrics brothers mother; Trisha Elric. She has dark green eyes with hazel coloured hair that was pulled into a loose side ponytail with wore a purple dress with a white piny-fore over the top. She smiled gently at me. "Hello Rebecca, How are you this morning?"
She welcomed. I smiled shyly before replying. "I'm good thank you. Is Edward and Alphonse here?"
"Of course they are, I think there in their father's study again, let's go find them." I love how gentle she was with other people. Mother was like that before she died, after she died, My father wasn't gentle at all. "Ed! Al! Where are you?" Trisha called as she walked up the stairs with me behind her. We did find them in their father's study.
But.
"Oh my." Was all Trisha could get out. I burst into giggles at the mess of the study before walking in. Books were all over the wooden floor, Alphonse was lying on his stomach reading and Edward was trying out a transmutation circle. "Messing up your dad's study again?" She questioned as I picked up a book and started reading. "No, you mustn't scribble there like that." She scolded Edward not knowing that the circle was to do with Alchemy. "It's not scribbling!" Edward protested. "Watch." He commanded. He then placed his hands on the circle, blue lightning bolts flashed around the room. Trisha's eyes widened in question; "That's alchemy, right?" she asked, looking at the little wooden bird made out of the floor boards. I nodded and grinned at her as she placed down her tomatoes and kneeled on the floor with us. "Did your dad teach you that?" She asked.
"How can we learn anything from someone who's not here?" Edward said strongly
"We read the book, and it was written in there." Alphonse chirped in.
"It was written in there?" Trisha spoke up. The three of us glanced at each other and looked to the floor. "Should we not have done it?" I asked quietly.
"Not at all!" We all looked up. "Amazing! You're your father's sons all right!" She shouted with joy.
"Your mum is so proud of both of you."
The smiles on our faces grew bigger as we looked at each other.
Mum praised us.
We were so happy about that, that we became caught up in alchemy.
But the summer of that year, there was an epidemic, and Mum passed away.
3rd person.
Edward and Alphonse sat at the grave of Trisha Elric, the sun had almost gone down and the cold, bitter air was starting to come in. "Brother, I'm hungry." Alphonse mumbled. Edward ignored him.
"It's cold. Let's go home." Alphonse whined again. Al looked at the grave again. "Once father comes home-"
"Don't you talk about him!" Edward shouted. "That guy is not our dad! He didn't even come home for Mum's funeral!"
"Rebecca didn't either." Al mumbled. Ed looked at the grass then back at the house where Rebecca lived.
"It's her dad again, I wish we could stop that." He mumbled. "The bruises on her are horrible. She's covered in scares from him. She would've come to Mum funeral but she wasn't al-"
A scream suddenly cut through the air from the house. A scream in pain. Her father once again was beating her. "She was so upset when Mum died and now she's getting a beating for it." Alphonse mumbled.
"There's nothing we can do about it."
"I wish there was!"
Silence fell over the young boys for a moment.
"I wonder if we can bring mum back." Edward mumbled.
Alphonse looked at Edward. "But it was written in that book that creating people was something you're not allowed to do." Alphonse mumbles.
"That's why it will be out secret."
"What will be your secret?" A timid voice says from behind. The boys turn round to see a bruised girl with blood dripping from her head and lip. "Rebecca?" Edward and Alphonse shout at the same time. "Are you okay?" Alphonse asked quickly.
The girl nods and runs up to the boys hugging them both. "What will be your secret?"
"You can be a part of it, Rebecca."
"Huh?"
"We're going to being Mum back."
Rebecca gasps. "But the boo-"
"It doesn't matter what the books say. We want to see mum again and we know you do too!" Edward shouted. Rebecca finally nods. "okay, fine."
"You're here again." Another voice speaks up.
"What do you want, Winry?" Edward asked rudely.
"Grandma says that every time you think of a dead person and cry, the more tears you shed, the more the dead person in the next world feels sad, too." She mumbles looking at all three of us.
"We're not crying!" Edward screamed. "What about you? Your mum and dad are always out somewhere, and you cry because you miss them." Edward shouts. Winry eyes widen at Edwards words. "I-I don't cry!" she shouts back.
"Are you sure?"
"I was worried about you for nothing! If you're slower than me, you don't get any supper!" Winry shouted before running off towards the house.
"What's that for? Wait up!" Edward shouts before running off.
"Ah" Wait!" Alphonse shouts running after Edward.
Rebecca stands there watch the three run off before jogging after them through the pain with was in.
"I gratefully accept this meal." Four young voices shout from the dining table. Alphonse and Rebecca take a big swig from their bottles of milk. "Come on, Ed, you drink your milk, too." Pinako commands. "I hate milk." Ed mumbles stubbornly.
"If you don't drink it, you'll stay short." Pinako answers back.
"Here they do again." Rebecca whispers to Alphonse making him giggle.
"Who are you calling a run, you sawed-off old hag!"
"What was that, you little bean sprout?"
"Minimum hag!
"Micro- peewee!"
"Baby-ant-sized!"
"Atom-sized!"
The school bells rang loudly as the four youngsters walked to school. "your reading a book that's not from school again. You have to listen in class." Winry says motherly to Edward and Rebecca as they strolled to school. "Leave us alone" Edward whined.
"Say, what sort of book are you reading?" She questioned.
"It's a secret." Rebecca said with a smile on her face.
"It's none of your business, Winry."
"No fair! You three always keep secrets between yourselves!" Winry shouted.
Alphonse giggled before leaving Rebecca and Winry to cross the bridge. "Bye now" He says catching up with Edward. That's when Winry remembered something. "Ed! Al! We're going to be having stew tonight!"
"All right!" Alphonse cheered.
"Yeah, see you later." Edward called waving backwards.
"you know something, whoever invented stew is great. It even has milk in it, and it still tastes of good." Edward said thoughtfully.
"What do you mean by that?" Rebecca asked, making a face at the boys.
"The idea of sticking milk into vegetable soup is amazing." Alphonse's eyes widened. "A scientist needs those kinds of leaps of imagination, too."
"Maybe your right." Alphonse said.
"Sure I am! I'm sure a leap of imagination is what we need for human transmutation, too." Edward spoke proudly.
From then on, we looked into what we would need to perform human transmutation, to bring Mum back to life, and honed out skills under an alchemy teacher. Rebecca's dad disappeared so she spent every single day with us to help us. It took years and years, but we wanted to see Mum's smile, and we wanted to love happily with Mum again. With those thoughts in mind...
The smile grew on his face as he finished signing the paper. "Done"
"Water, 35 litres; Carbon 20 kilograms; Ammonia, 4 litres; Lime 1.5 kilograms; phosphorus, 800 grams; salt, 250 grams; saltpetre, 100 grams; sulphur, 80 grams; Fluorine, 7.5 grams; Iron, 5 grams; Silicon, 3 grams..."
After putting in all the ingredients, fear started to raised within Rebecca. She started to get nervous about the transmutation. "All right, now to write the constructional formula." Edward said to us.
They all drew the circle on the floor. "Now, we just need some soul data." Edward said while cutting his finger. Rebecca and Alphonse copied his movements and did the same. Rebecca started to shake in fear. "Rebecca." Edward said. She looked up into his eyes. "It's going to be okay." He mumbles before pulling her into a hug. "Let's do this." Rebecca says confidently. The three kneel on the floor and place their hands on the chalk circle. "Here we go, Al, Rebecca." Edward says.
"Mm-hmm."
Yep" Was his replied from Alphonse and Rebecca.
A blue light shone through out the basement and lightning bolts sparked around the circle. Suddenly a dark mist lifted around the circle and the place turn a dark purple. "Brother, there's something strange here." Alphonse whimpered.
"Edward, I don't like this." Rebecca says looking around in fear.
Suddenly a huge eye opened up in from within the circle, making the ingredients disappear and what looked like black arms appeared. One of them touched Al's arms making him scream in pain. "AL!" Edward screamed before his left legs was taken. He then screamed in pain.
"Edward, Alphonse!" Rebecca screamed at the top of her voice. Edward collapsed on the floor in pain. A piercing scream hit Edward's ears. He looked up to see that Rebecca's arms had been completely ripped off and blood was all over her. She carried on screaming before she passed out. "It can't be... A rebound?" Edward questioned himself.
"Brother!" Alphonse screamed as he was being pulled into the circle. "Brother! Brother! Brother!" He wouldn't stop screaming and thrashing. His body then starting dissolving into the black arms. "AL!" Edward screamed as he reached out for him. But it was too late, as Ed's hand reached Al's... he had gone completely. Suddenly Edward ended up in what looked like a huge white room with a large grey door with alchemy patter all over it. He looked around confused. "Al? Huh? What was I doing, again?"
"Hey"
Edward jumped out of his skin, he looked in front of him to see a black figure surround by a black mist. "Who are you?"
"Oh, I'm glad you asked that. I am what you call the world or perhaps the universe, or perhaps God, or perhaps truth, or perhaps all, or perhaps one, and I am also... you."
The door behind Edward opened and the huge eyes appeared again. "Welcome, you stupid fool who doesn't know his place." The black arms then reached out towards Edward and gripped onto him. He kicked and thrashed to get away from them, He then was pulled within the door. "Pipe down. This is what you wanted isn't it?" Edward carried on screaming. "I will show you the truth!" The door finally slammed shut, leaving Edward in darkness. Strips of Edwards past flung past him as he floated within the darkness.
It was like a tremendous amount of information was being stuffed directly into my head.
"Stop! My head's gonna split open!" His arms and legs were being pulled apart. "I'm being broken down... No! Stop it! Stop!" He then realized something.
It felt like my head was going to burst open. But suddenly, I understood. This was the truth.
He then could see a silhouette of his mother. "M-Mum..." He said reaching out to her. He was so close to reaching her. But it was too late, he was thrown out of the gate. "How was it?" the thing asked as Edward was frozen in place. Edward turned round and walked towards the gate. "Yeah... My theory of human transmutation was not wrong!" He slammed his hands on the gate. "But it's missing something. What I seek was just ahead... the truth about human transmutation! Please show it to me again!" Edward shouted as the thing stood up.
"I can't" It spoke, making Edward turn round. "I can only show you this much for the toll you've paid."
"Toll?"
"Yes, toll" It spoke as it took Edward left leg. His eyes widened at the sight. He turned round to find the thing in his face. "It's an equivalent exchange, right? Alchemist?"
Edward was then back in the basement screaming in pain and clamping his hands over his leg. The clothing of Alphonse just lay there on the ground and Rebecca was there in a heap surrounded in her own blood. "Damn! This can't be happening!" Edward screaming as he crawled forward. "It wasn't... It wasn't supposed to... Damn it all!" He screamed while glancing at his missing leg. "It's been taken away!" He screamed. "Help! Someone! Mum! Mum..." The light went and Edward opened his eyes to see... a thing that wasn't his mum. It had the form of a human being but bones stuck out from its body and blood was everywhere. It lifted up its arm but the arm snapped spilling blood everywhere. The arm fell on the floor in a sickening 'Splat'.
"No... this is wrong... this isn't... this isn't what we wanted! Al... Alphonse! Rebecca! This is my fault!"
"E-Edward." A voice stutters. Edwards eyes widen as he looks up at the body of a Rebecca in front of him. She looks up at Edward with tears rolling down her face. "It hurts Ed, It hurts." She mumbles out. "W-Where's Al?" she asks through the pain. "He's been taken away!" He shouts once again. The girls eyes widen then she falls onto the floor, passing out from blood lose. A huge metal armour is pushed onto the floor with the head taken off. Edward uses his blood to create the bonding seal. " Take my leg! Take my Arm! Take my heart! You can have it! So give him back! He's my only brother!" Edward shouts with tears rolling down his face. He then claps his hands together causing a white light...
A/N: This is part one because I think if I carried on with the rest of the episode then it will be too long for readers to read. I know that I'm bringing out the chapter really slowly but its takes me about 4-5 hours to write them and I'm doing my exams at the moment so I need time to revise for them. I really hope your enjoying this story so far. I'm quite proud of it even though this is chapter 2 part 1 Haha, I even may be drawing a picture of Rebecca and when I do I shall think of a way to show you (: Tsuki x