I still don't know how this story got deleted. But, I'm glad that I had it saved on a separate drive. So, please enjoy once again the few chapters I had updated before.

0o0

1

0o0

Silence. It encompasses everything, and seeps into the souls and bones of humans. Blank gold eyes stared ahead as that very silence seemed to envelop their owner like the loving, cold embrace of death. Death is what had happened. Death is what they had witnessed. One million people, with lives, jobs, and families were gone within seconds. Those gold eyes saw it all and had missed nothing.

They hadn't been the only ones to do so. They watched until all that they saw was darkness, and then a bright white that burned their eyes. Finding themselves in an endless white void. Alone, and afraid.

"I'm bored." Those were the first words to greet the owner of the gold eyes.

"I'm…sorry?" It came out more like a question, how were they supposed to react, or respond?

"You are going to entertain me."

Gold eyes blinked for a few seconds before a small mouth opened in surprise. Entertain…them? They studied the strange creature that had spoken those words. A white figure where they couldn't make out the gender, or any features. But, they could make out a grinning mouth. That horrible grinning mouth filled with blunt teeth.. In their twenty-two years they had never seen such a thing. They swallowed; their throat too dry to form words.

"Why? Why me?" They asked, their voice a croak.

"Why?" The white figure taunted, their grin growing to the point where their face seemed like it was going to split in two. "Because that is only a part of your toll for your fathers' actions."

"The sins of the father should never be placed upon the child!" They argued, their voice growing stronger.

"Yet, you had guessed what that circle was, and you did nothing to stop it from being built," Those words stopped any protest. "You who stood so proudly, I want you to be the one to entertain me."

"I'm afraid I'm incredibly boring, one of my brothers would've been a better choice," They muttered.

"That is true, but you have more potential."

The owner of the gold eyes tugged at the golden shawl covering their long hair of the same hue. It slowly slipped off and rested on the small shoulders. Revealed the face of a young woman with haunted eyes and pale skin, the skin around those eyes was dark with the telltale bruising of missed sleep. The woman chewed her split bottom lip in thought.

"Who are you?" She asked, and the white figure's grin slowly turned into something less malicious.

"I am god, I am the ultimate truth," It answered. "I am the one who upholds the laws of alchemy, and punishes those that don't follow them."

A soft sound of fear caught her attention and her eyes widened slightly. That had been the sound of a child. She slowly turned her head, one of the sashes around her waist slipping as the rest of her turned as well. There, there stood a child of her people. His own gold eyes were wide with horror as he looked at Truth, not even seeing her. She blinked in horrified confusion before looking back towards Truth.

"Why can't he see me?" She whispered the question as the boy screamed.

"I willed it," Truth answered, and she looked down at her sandaled feet with a grimace.

"He's one of my people, I want…I want to protect that boy!" She stated, hysteria rising up in her.

She had failed a million people, but she could do right by a small boy. She knew she could. Truth let out a laugh and she felt her body pitch forward, as though she no longer had two legs to stand on. It felt so slow, like time had slowed down for her. Her eyes were wide again as she slowly looked back towards Truth. A steel door engraved with the tree of life appeared before her falling grinned at her as she turned her attention towards the door. The branches of the tree filled with a script that was unfamiliar. She couldn't understand what was written on the door. A creaking sound filled the silent void as the doors opened, the darkness held within a stark contrast to the never ending white.

"Then let's begin," Truth stated as something shifted in the darkness. "Do right by them, and entertain me."

"R-Right…" The woman stuttered.

The darkness shifted and tendrils shot through the opened doorway. Her eyes were wide in horror as she felt the small hands attached at the end grabbing her and pulling her through. Once she was through the doors slammed behind her. The next thing she knew was an influx of information. She began to understand the laws of alchemy, the different branches on her door. The truth of what had truly been done to her people. She felt her hands tremble as she took in all the information like a sponge. Her eyes watered as it became too much for her and she attempted to shut them, but the tendrils of shadow shifted from her skin and forced them back open, making her watch all the information and retain it. Even information she felt hadn't happened yet. She just wanted it to end! Make it end, she chanted in her mind as she watched flames envelop a white haired, red eyed, dark-skinned man. Make it stop! Her people falling to the ground, completely lifeless, her own father frozen in the moment of pure bliss and ecstasy as he believed that his plan for immortality worked. Even though he had been aware of the betrayal of that creature. Make it stop!

And it did.

Crying and the metallic scent of blood caused her to jolt out of her thoughts. Someone was begging for their brother back, they wanted them back. She slowly looked around, her harsh breaths coming out in white puffs from the freezing temperature of the new environment she found herself in. It lit up in blue as sparks flew around. She recognized it for what it was. Alchemy.

"Brother!" The exclamation caused her to start to move.

"Is he all right?!" She asked, and a startled sound was the only answer she got. "I asked a question, you need to answer, the smell of blood is too much, if that's coming from your brother then he needs medical help!"

"Who are you?!" The voice asked.

"Someone who wants to help," She answered in as calm of a voice as she could. "I can explain later. Right now we need to help him."

She slowly moved her legs into a crouching position, except she didn't. She slowly looked down towards her legs and was met with heavily bleeding stumps. Ah, so it wasn't just the boy. She blanched and the young voice let out a startled sound as she grew paler and paler. He seemed to snap out of it and picked up his brother before grabbing the unknown woman. She was ready to help his brother, and she looked…she looked just like them. There had to be a reason for that. He ran into the rain, not even feeling it, and hurried down a dirt road.

"Sorry, I couldn't help more," He heard the woman say as she looked at the muddied road. "That was…I'm sorry."

She recognized what they did. He panicked internally as he came across the two story house that he had rushed to. He placed the woman on his shoulder, and she wrapped a hand around one of the spikes on the pauldron as he hammered against the door with his now free hand. A small elderly woman opened the door with a pipe in her mouth. She stared at the three with a bewildered expression, the pipe slowly falling out of her mouth and thumping against the floor.

"Granny! It's me, Al!" The young voice stated. "Please help them!"

The old woman ushered Al in, and gave the young woman hanging from his shoulder a skeptical look before noticing her characteristics. The hair that was too similar to an old friend, it was one of the few reasons behind her reluctant help towards the unknown woman. She was the quiet patient, the other kept apologizing and wondering if his brother hated him. Al nervously stood before the unknown woman as she stared at the stumps where her legs had been. She brought a hand down and gently touched them letting out a pained sound as she felt her whole body reject the pain.

"You said you'd explain," Al softly said.

"I did, sorry for the wait," She quietly confirmed, bringing a small hand up and motioning towards a small chair nearby. "Please take a seat. It might take a while, and I'm not too sure where to start."

She watched as the large suit of armour, with the name of Al and voice of a child too young to have to suffer through such horrors, sat down in a tiny chair beside the makeshift bed she was borrowing. He watched as she gently ran her hand through some blood stained gold cloth that was in her lap. It was as though she was trying to calm her nerves. He placed his hands on his knees and made a thoughtful hum, she smiled slightly at the sound.

"Why not start with who you are and where you're from?" He suggested. "I've never seen anyone else that looks like me or my brother."

"Alphonse, may I talk to her first?" The old woman questioned, and Al hesitated before nodding.

It was quiet in the room as the two listened to the sound of Al walking to his brother's bed. The young woman gave the door a sad look before looking back towards the cloth in her lap. The old woman took a shaky puff of her pipe before sitting the recently vacant chair. Studying the young woman. Figuring out the younger personality.

"I'm Pinako Rockbell," The old woman introduced.

"Ailne," The young woman answered with a tiny smile before it dropped. "Will…will the little one be okay?"

"Don't let him catch you calling him little," Pinako snorted, watching as the younger woman gave her a surprised look. "That boy has a temper when it comes to his height."

"Oh, I meant his age. I wasn't trying to make fun of anyone's height," Ailne panicked and Pinako noted the genuine nature of it.

"You came from the same place he did, didn't you?" Pinako muttered and the young woman tilted her head in confusion.

"I came from…the eastern desert…what year is it?" Ailne quietly asked.

"Nineteen hundred and ten," Pinako answered, and she watched as the younger woman stilled and did mental math.

"I…I see…" She quietly said.

"A friend of mine is just like you, except he hasn't aged in the decades since I've known him," Pinako explained. "He's the father of those two boys, Edward and Alphonse Elric."

"They seem like great boys," Ailne found herself saying before frowning. "It seems I also have questions for them…I am sorry for imposing on you like this…oh, hello."

Pinako wondered if the woman had a few screws loose before turning to see her granddaughter standing at the door with a worried expression on her face. She sighed at that and Ailne gave a look of understanding before smiling softly at the young girl. She knew what it was like to be worried about family. All too well. Pinako let out a puff of smoke and watched as the young woman's nose twitched at the scent before scrunching slightly. It was always easy to mess with others when doing so. Those who couldn't stand the smell of tobacco typically showed it through facial expressions more so than words.

"Hi…" Her Granddaughter cautiously greeted back.

"Hmm? Am I that scary?" Ailne asked Pinako and the old woman let out a bark of a laugh.

"No, Winry's just a cautious girl," Pinako answered and Ailne nodded her understanding at that. "I'm curious as to what you'll do next. We can fit you Automail legs, but your next moves are yours."

"I want to help those two," Ailne stated with a determined look. "Maybe it's sentiment, or maybe it's because I have nothing else to go back on, but I feel as though they'll need everyone they can get on their side."

"The winds have started to blow from the east again," Pinako wisely stated, puffing on her pipe. "Whatever they choose, I want you to promise me one thing."

"Anything," Ailne confirmed.

"Make sure they remain as safe as they can," Pinako softly said.

Ailne nodded her confirmation and looked down when a small hand entered her peripheral. Winry had a pinky up and Ailne blinked before linking her's with the child's. Her smile was tiny but there was some concern. She knew that boys could be stubborn, her own brothers had gotten many broken bones and bruises in their youth. She could try and make sure they don't get too hurt.

"I know boys pretty well, those two will be a handful," Ailne stated with a smile. "I'll do whatever I can to make sure they'll come home."

That was as good as Pinako was going to get and she knew it. The woman was right about boys being like that. Edward was force of his own and had a temper to back it up. They left the room and Ailne stared at the ceiling until her eyes grew heavy. The loss of her legs weighed heavily on her mind; her fighting style relied heavily on them. If this Automail couldn't recreate the sliding that her feet could, then she wouldn't be able to fight anymore. She'd have to improvise, and she was terrible at doing so. She closed her eyes for a few seconds and brought her hand up to push her long fringe away from her face. Information and chemical chains flashed through her mind, not even closing her eyes granted her freedom from a suddenly overly busy mind. She opened her eyes again and let out a soft sigh.

Things were getting too complicated. She didn't like that too much. The second things got to that point she would find herself having problems. She looked at her hands and watched as they shook when pain erupted from her stumps. She clenched her jaw as she fought the urge to scream from it. Sweat began to from on her face and her jaw began to ache. She refused to show weakness, never again. Her breath came out shaky as she took deep breaths to calm down. Each exhale seemed to make her heart race even more as she felt anxiety beginning to rise up in her. She hadn't felt such things since she learned the horrors of the women her people went through. Marriage at young ages, no autonomy, it was horrible. She didn't have it as bad as the reset of her people. For as great as she thought her country had been, it had great faults.

"Oh, you're still awake."

It had been softly said and Ailne turned to see Winry standing at the door. She had worry in her large blue eyes and watched as the young woman slowly sat up to give her complete attention. Windy found it so strange that an adult would give her such attention, save for her granny and…parents. She slowly padded onto the dark room and took a seat next to the woman's bed. She couldn't help but be curious about the strange woman that appeared from thin air if Alphonse was to be believed. He never had a reason to lie before.

"Your shawl is pretty," Winry complimented.

"Thank you, my mother gave it to me when…I was betrothed," Ailne quietly informed her, looking at the golden cloth.

"What was he like?" Winry found herself asking.

"He wasn't a good man," Ailne truthfully answered, finding the girl easy to talk to. "I'm glad that I never truly had to marry him."

She didn't have to keep the cloth, but that was the last gift she had been given by her mother. She'd never see the beautiful middle aged woman again, never hear her sing. Winry watched as tears began to go down the woman's face as she realized that. Her father may have been a man that wanted to live forever, but her mother had been proud to grow old, to watch her nine children grow.

"Did you lose her?" Winry asked.

"Yes, a long time ago," Ailne stated, and it was true in a sense. "You lost someone dear to you as well."

"My parents were killed during the Ishvalan war," Winry softly said.

Winry felt something gently press on her head and looked up to see gold eyes softly looking at her. Ailne knew what it was like. She knew that no words would help with that grief, with that loss. Pinako called for Winry and the girl gave the older woman a small smile before rushing off. Ailne let out an amused sound through her nose. Children were always able to bounce back, not always as fast but quick enough. She turned to look at the window in the room she was staying in. She saw her gold eyes and hair almost glint in the dark. She was what was left of her people, besides the two Elric's, and she would continue to walk forward. She clenched the white top sheet in her hands and gained a determined look.

Her mother would be proud of her, to know that she'd protect what was left of their people with everything she had. She would keep moving, never giving up on those boys. Edward and Alphonse were the closest thing she had left of family. She would let them slip through her fingers. She wouldn't let it happen again. Never again.