Chapter II: 1904-1909
"I'm cold." Alphonse whispered from the place where they had been kneeling in front of the newly made grave for hours "And hungry."
"Let's get home." Ariana said in a low voice "I'll make lunch."
Finally, Edward spoke, for the first time since they'd been here "Humans are composed of the mind, soul and flesh."
The little girl closed her eyes, as her middle brother answered "It was in dad's books, I know." she really didn't like where this talk was heading
"The books also spoke of homunculus... So maybe we could revive mom."
"But the books also said it was forbidden!" Al protested, yet hope was still slipping in his tone
"Then this'll be our secret."
"This is madness." Ariana finally protested, already knowing that it wouldn't work "There is a reason why human alchemy is forbidden! It never works!"
"Yet alkahestry can heal people!" Ed contradicted
"Living people!" his sister hotly retorted "The dead are better left to the gods!"
"There is no god, Ari!"
She hadn't expected that affirmation to hurt that much.
After all, she wasn't like those powerful beings back in the Immortal Realms, that hadn't been mortal for so long they had mostly forgotten about them. But still, her body may be mortal, her soul wasn't anymore - it was a part of her now, even if she wasn't used to it yet. Hearing her own existence denied, albeit unknowingly, by her brother, hurt.
It hurt, yet it didn't surprise her, because she knew him - and Edward was a hardcore scientist who only believed in things he could explain.
By her side, Padfoot whined lowly, and pressed his head against her in reassurance, while Ed continued hotly "There is no god, but there is science and alchemy, and with it, we'll be able to get mom back!"
Ariana didn't answer – she had known that this discussion wouldn't go her way after all- she had know from the moment the notification had appeared in front of her eyes, as if mocking her...
[Life Quest! The path to knowledge
Goal : get to rank 25 in Earth Alchemy
Reward: +10XP per goal, 1 beginner tome to be chosen upon completion]
Destiny was coming for her brothers, and she couldn't avoid it. After all, she knew from the start that they had been touched by Fate, hadn't she? This was even the reason why she had been born by their side.
¤.¤.¤
The year 1905 came and went, and the Elric siblings spent most of their time nose in the books.
The first step toward their goal, the boys had decided, was to break down what made a human body.
"Water, 35 liters."
"Carbone, 20 kilograms."
"Ammonia, 4 liters."
"Lime, 1.5 kilograms."
"Phosphorous, 800 grams."
"Salt, 250 grams."
"Saltpeter, 100 grams."
"Sulfur, 80 grams."
"Fluorine, 7.5 grams."
"Iron, 5 grams."
"Silicon, 3 grams."
"And fifteen traces of other elements..."
The biological knowledge had been easy to find, down to last details – it was the alchemical knowledge that was still lacking. It had been several months since the Life Quest goal had been met, and the update had followed, making Ariana level up to mid-way to Level 7.
But the new goal, to find an alchemy tutor, wasn't one easy to met in a small countryside village like Rosembool, and Edward was still adamant that they could do it by themselves, even thought learning by the books was much harder than having a teacher...
Even thought they clearly weren't up to do human transmutation, their alchemy was still far better than the year before, and the three of them practiced it every moment they could by helping repairing broken goods and other small tasks around the village and the neighboring farms.
With the region in turmoil because of the Ishval conflict nearby, their help was well-received and much needed, and the three Elric Siblings were starting to make themselves a small reputation. The year 1906 was soon gone, swiftly followed by 1907 – and at the beginning of 1908, a few months after the State Alchemists were sent to terminate the Ishval war, news came to Rosembool.
Winry's parent had stayed behind as the Amestrians were relocated, to help the injured Ishvalians, and were murdered in their war-zone hospital.
¤.¤.¤
"What scientists lack is a lack of imagination! I mean, there was a man one day who saw milk and managed to create something as delicious as cheese! This take a special kind of inspiration, doesn't it!" Ed was crowing
"What are you talking about?" a bemused Al wondered
"The human body! If people tried before, and failed, it's probably because they failed to account for something! Just like by adding cream in a soup you make the taste richer!"
"You really do think with your stomach..." Ariana sighed, before stopping in her tracks just as they went off the bridge that went over the local watercourse
"Do you hear that?" she asked
On her head, Padfoot whined in a low voice, ears turning around, before pinpointing on a sound.
Her brothers shared a glance, and shrugged – then startled as they too heard a small, weak meow, barely audible under the water's soft and steady rumble. The next second, the three of them were getting off the road and stumbling under the bridge, and easily found the body of a lanky, dead cat, with several kittens looking just as dead around – except that they had heard meows.
Al, animal lover that he was, was torn between the natural horror inspired by the dead bodies and the will to help those still alive – as for Ariana, she was already kneeling, and feeling up the small bodies to find which ones were still breathing, having grown past the normal revulsion over dead body that most people had sometime during her first life.
Her body may have changed, her mind and her soul still remembered the horrors of the war against Voldemort after all...
She soon had found two surviving kittens, and was fumbling around for a bit of wood to draw an alkahestry circle – because chalk wouldn't hold in the mud. But there was nothing, and she was growing frustrated; she had the circle ready in her mind, she just needed something to write it!
Her hand hit the ground in frustration, and the next instant, a flash was seen, as a circle, inscribed within her fingers appeared on the ground and activated, healing the two kittens like she had wanted to.
"What the hell was that?" Ed wondered, both stunned and excited
"I... don't know..." she answered, just as surprised as her brothers "I just had the circle in my mind and when I touched the ground, it activated itself just as if I'd drawn it!" she explained
"Did you ever do that before?"
A negative head shake.
"Well, you'll have to try at home. For now..." he trailed, turning toward his younger brother that was already cradling the two small animals "It looks like we've got two free-loaders to take care of."
Despite his disapproving tone, he was smiling softly at his brother, making Ariana smile - Edward, who took his role as the eldest seriously, always felt like he had to appear less childish and be meaner than he really was for people to take him seriously, as their age tended to make adult dismiss them easily.
In the days that followed, they took care of the two rescued kittens, but it soon became apparent that if one was on the mend, the other was just barely surviving.
By the end of the week, they were making a grave behind their house for the little black kitten that hadn't survived – as for the last cat remaining, a perky little calico christened Paws by Alphonse, he was now completely healthy and was following the middle brother everywhere, the young boy having even taken to carry him around on his head just like Ari did with Padfoot, to Ed's despair.
The youngest Elric had also experimented around with the strange skill she'd found – and soon found out that as long as she had the details of the transmutation she wanted to make in mind, she didn't need to draw a circle, the palm of her hand acting as replacement for said circle.
What was even stranger was that none of her brother could do it, even if she instructed them about how she did it – and they had never heard of anyone else able to do something like that...
"Why is human transmutation forbidden?" Al wondered, hunched over a heavy book
"Because no one ever succeeded?" Ed suggested
"Or because a whole country was destroyed in a night..." sighed Ari, remembering her father's story – several times, she had been tempted to tell the truth to her brothers, so they didn't go through with this project they were aiming for
Predictably Ed rolled his eyes "The tale of the Philosopher of the East is just that!" he snapped "A tale!"
But without proof, without her father there to convince them, Edward would never believe this tale, far too stubborn and unbelieving – and Alphonse, kind soul that he was, was a bit disturbed by human transmutation as they studied more about it, yet he still couldn't abandon their goal.
Because they were before all young children, alone in a harsh world, and they dreamed about seeing their mother smile again. So, just for this small hope, Al was willing to ignore his worries, and those of his sister...
And because they were her brothers, her family, she decided that if she couldn't dissuade them from this madness, then she'd damn herself with them.
With summer, came the storms, and the heaviest rainfalls in sixty years, and soon the small river that ran near Rosembool was swelling and swelling, and every able-bodied man in the village was rushing to pile sandbags along the shores.
The siblings shared a glance – this wouldn't be easy, but they should be able to do something to help. Just as they were stepping forward, a dark-haired woman with a serious look on her face stepped forward "This is dangerous," she stated to the men nearby "You should step back."
"This is our line!" the nearest man protested "Who are you!"
The next second, with a clap of her hands, she'd transmuted a high wall along the shore by using the nearby mud and ground "There, this should last for a while."
"You guys should still reinforce the wall." another newcomer added – a gigantic man, who promptly went by the woman side to protect her from the downpour with his umbrella
"I can't believe this..." muttered one of the villagers, still stunned "Who are you?"
"Just a normal housewife." was the smiling answer he got – and a moment latter, their savior was crumbling, coughing blood
Without wasting time, Ari transmuted a stretcher with her raincoat and nearby branches, not noticing the startled look she got from the tall man, and soon the unconscious woman was brought into the nearest home.
They didn't have a true doctor since the Rockbell passed away, so a nearby farmer who knew a bit about healing was called, along with the Elric siblings – with their reputation growth, the villagers were now used to rely on them for small cough and other ailments, the youngest having kept up a bit with alkahestry, contrary to her brothers.
Without wasting time, a circle to prevent exhaustion was activated, the same one she used to make for her mother, and soon, the woman was regaining conscience.
"So you guys are tourists from the West," an impressed villager was soon stating as questions and answers were exchanged "we were lucky you were passing by."
"Are you a State Alchemist?" another asked excitedly, missing the dark look from the woman
"I'm just a butcher's wife," she denied with a bright smile denied by the cold glare she barely repressed at the question "my name is Izumi Curtis, and this is my husband." she added gesturing toward the giant man
¤.¤.¤
As for Ari, she was still deep in thoughts – when taking care of the woman, she had used two circles – the one that had sped up her recovery, and another, of her own making.
Her first personal alkahestry circle had been inspired by the first spell used by healers in her first life, as she had thought something similar would be useful – and so had created her diagnosis circle.
Of course, she never showed this circle to anyone around, partly because nobody except for her brothers understood anything about alchemy nor alkahestry – mainly because if someone did understand, they would probably class this circle as illegal.
In order to obtain or create something, something of equal value must be lost or destroyed stated the equivalent exchange principle of alchemy – and so, in order to obtain information about a patient physical state, she had to gave up blood – both hers and the person on whom she wanted the information.
It didn't take a lot of blood, since she only gained information but no solution as to what to do about any problem detected, but it was more than enough to be classed as human alchemy by some narrow-minded morons.
She didn't know if her circle would be classified as legal, but it worked well now that she had learned enough about biology and the human make-up to interpret the results that flashed into her mind when she used it - and as such, she didn't really care, after all, she had been number 2 of the largest mafia Famiglia in the world in her previous life, and she certainly hadn't managed that by embarrassing herself with useless legal restrictions...
Anyway, the results of her maybe illegal circle were quite clear in this particular case.
Izumi Curtis survival was something of an illogical miracle, as she lacked several internal organs – mainly the reproductive ones, but not only – and her insides looked as if something had wrenched out a few things and put the rest back together in a barely working order.
¤.¤.¤
While she was deep in thought, Ed had shared a glance with Al, the elder having understanding that sheer stubbornness wasn't sufficient anymore in their studies a few weeks ago, and soon both her brothers were rushing at the front of the crowd, taking full advantage of their small size "Granny! Please accept the three of us as your disciples!"
"Who are you brats calling granny!" was the hot-tempered answer, as Izumi Curtis propelled herself out of her sick bed, apparently ready to tore a new one into the kid "Besides, you don't even know how to count, and I don't take disciples!"
"We do know how to count!" Ed answered back "Who do you think healed you! You should be grateful to Ari!"
His sister was finally torn out of her thoughts when her name was called, and looked around, wondering what the hell had happened while she was thinking.
"Please take us as your disciples!" Al repeated
Oh, so that was what was going on...
Well, their Life Quest had been stuck for two years now, and they did need an alchemy teacher.
"It would be good of you to take us on as apprentice." she agreed sedately
A bit surprised by the calm voice in the shouting contest she was having with Edward, Izumi turned toward her and asked "Why do you three want to learn alchemy so much?"
"To protect those precious to me." Ari answered without missing a beat, a hard look in her eyes – after all, she had already lived enough life to know that far too often the only mean to keep her precious people safe was to take the fight to the enemy
"To make life better for peoples!" Edward answered resolutely – and it was true for him, for he really did believe that transmuting their mother back would be the first step toward this; after all people would be happy if they could get back their loved ones, wouldn't they?
The reasoning was a bit naïve of course but - Edward was only nine year old.
As for Al, he stammered, not having an answer ready – and it made Ari smile softly, for this was the normal reaction for a child this age. Her brother was young, and didn't have the elder's iron will, but in time, he would find his own path too, she didn't doubt it.
Still, it seemed that the two answers she had gotten had been enough to make Izumi pause, and she asked softly "And what do your parents think of this?"
"They are orphans." granny Pinako, not far from them, stated "I'm their guardians."
Something flashed through the dark-haired woman's eyes, so fast Ari nearly missed it – pain – and after letting out a long sigh, she huffed "Well, looks like I've got no choice." she squat in front of them "One month trial, and I'll decide if I take you on." she announced
Seeing the boys smile growing, she warned "You have to prove to me in this month that you've got what it takes for me to teach you."
"If we can't make it?" Al asked, voice trembling a bit
"I sent you back here immediately."
"And if we make it?" Ari prodded
"Then I will officially train you three."
"Granny!" Ed shouted toward Pinako "We won't be back in a month!"
"I knew you would say that." their old neighbor nodded with a satisfied smile
¤.¤.¤
[Goal complete! +10XP
Goal update: pass the trial]
[Level up! You are now level 10!
+2CP, +1SP, +1PP]
[Perk available:
- Science Nerd: double rate of learning Scientific and Alchemical Skills
- Smooth Talker: double rate of learning Communication and Awareness Skills
- Natural Killer: double rate of learning Weapon and Range Skills
- Jack of All Trade: gain 1 rank in each Skill at each birthday (note that you'll only gain half rank on slow growing skills, and two rank on fast growing skills, also works retroactively)]
Somehow, Ariana felt both elation and dread when the notification appeared – on one hand, they were moving forward once more, which was good after years stagnating in Rosembool, lacking a teacher to help them progress further.
But it was also bad, as it meant one more step toward her brothers goal of making a homunculus.
Within hours, the Elric siblings had packed light bags and Paws and Padfoot by their side, they were boarding the train toward Dublith, their new master's hometown in the South Region, and as the initial excitement finally calmed down, Ed and Al were soon crashing down under her indulgent eyes – while she used the down time to get back to the perks unlocked earlier, finally settled on the Jack of All Trade one, prompting a new notification...
[Skills updated!]
[Perk unlocked:
Open Mind 1/4(Scientific Knowledge 25): +1 Intelligence
Battle Master 1/4(Ground 25): +1 Strength
Survivor 2/4 (Survival 50): +2 Endurance
Benevolent Sage 3/4 (Awareness 75): +4 Wisdom]
[Main Characteristics updated!]
¤.¤.¤
"Are you sure you aren't the eldest?" Izumi asked, amused at the antics of the two boys that had finally fallen asleep "The loud-mouth sure doesn't look like it!"
"Ed is hot-headed, but he takes care of us well." Ari contradicted "Don't underestimate him, or any of us." she warned, eyes taking on a challenging glint
"So, the villagers were saying you healed me with alchemy?"
"Alkahestry." she corrected "I started studying it when mom fell sick."
"But not your brothers?"
"Not as much."
"So... mind telling me why it is that you can to alchemy, or alkahestry, without circle?"
At the sudden darkening of the couple's mood, Ari was confused – apparently, the ability to bypass the circles seemed to mean much more to them that to her...
"No idea." she answered honestly "I just stumbled on it by luck, and have been able to do it ever since."
The couple shared a surprised glance – perking up her curiosity "So... why is it so important to you?" she went on asking "After all, you can do it too, can't you?"
"I can." she nodded "And I paid a heavy price for it."
"Your missing organs..." she breathed, things suddenly making sense – if she had lost them in a transmutation gone wrong and her circle-less transmutation was gained as a result, no wonder she worried about how Ari had gotten her own ability
"How do you know about it?" Izumi wondered, surprised
"Well I did heal you."
"And you saw in seconds what most doctors don't see before it's nearly thrown in their face?" she asked sceptically
"Normal doctors don't have alkahestry."
Izumi felt that the little girl in front of her wasn't telling her everything, but like most Amestrian Alchemists, she didn't know a lot about alkahestry, and so she let it slide – if she took them as apprentices in the coming month she would have all the time needed to probe a bit more.
Of course, the little brat just had to stun her once more by asking "So... Since you're an alchemist, do you know anything about a Gate of Alchemy? Or Truth?"
Her suspicious were back right away "Are you mocking me?" she glared "You say you don't know how you got your ability then you ask about this?"
"So it is linked?"
Izumi frowned – the surprised was genuine, and it didn't make any sense.
"The gate, and truth, these are things my father talked about, but he didn't elaborate about it."
"So your father saw the gate, but not you?"
"I... guess?" she hesitated, not really knowing what was the point in the question
"Did you have any big accident when you where a child?"
Ariana was definitely lost now – who knew that asking a question could result in so much confusion...
"No." she answered nevertheless "So, do you intend to answer me you do just plan on asking unrelated questions and carry on looking at me as if you suspected me of gods only know what."
"The gate is what stands between Truth and us. And as long as you don't do anything stupid with your alchemy, you'll be lucky enough not to see either of them." was Izumi's clipped answer
Well, that didn't explain anything – still, Ariana let it go, because it was clear that their new master didn't like the topic, and it seemed stupid to antagonize her anymore before they even started training.
When they arrived in Dublith, they had been directly taken to lake Kauroy, a large heart-shaped lake with a small island, named Jake island, in the middle of it.
A small island they were soon stranded on.
"This is a wild island," Izumi had said while throwing a large knife at Ed "No electricity, no wells, no house, wild beasts everywhere." at this point of the description, Al didn't look too easy "You have to stay on this island for a month and survive by your own means... No alchemy too!" she stated happily
As she was already on board the small boat that had taken them on the island, she parted with a "All is one, One is all! If you can't answer this riddle at the end of the month, I'll sent you home! Bye!"
Ari was perched on a high branch, looking at her two brothers a few meters below. They had been floured at the sudden challenge – and honestly, for eight and nine year old children, this was quite harsh.
Of course, Izumi wasn't that heartless, as Ariana could already feel the pull of another soul nearby – someone had been sent to keep an eye one them, and make the challenge even harder.
Truth be told, the challenge wasn't all that hard for the little girl – because the basic lesson it aimed to teach was one she had learned long ago - lifetimes ago.
But she wasn't alone, and so she'd have to make her brothers find, and more importantly understand the answer.
"That evil old hag!" her eldest brother was tempesting "There's no way this is training for alchemy!"
"Let's sleep," Al suggested "We'll need to be rested to explore the island and find food tomorrow."
"Do you really think that sleeping out in the open in the middle of the forest is a good idea?" Ari asked dubiously, jumping down from her tree
"What do you mean?"
"Well, teacher did say there are wild animals roaming the island. And I'm pretty sure that right now we look like lunch for carnivorous beasts."
Ed and Al eyes widened at the affirmation, then they shared a glance "Well, what should we do then? We do need to sleep..."
"Why don't we set a guard!" Edward shouted, suddenly struck by the idea
"But how can we know how much time has gone by?" Al wondered, before answering his own question "A moon-dial!"
Soon, a basic dial was drawn on the ground, and Al and Ari were curling on a bed of leaves for the night while Ed took the first watch, drawing calculations on the ground to keep himself awake.
Hours went by, and avoiding to fall asleep was getting harder, as the moment to wake Al up drew closer, when a noise took him out of his musings – the next second, he was jumping out of the way of an attack while shouting "Al, Ari! Up!"
His shout was punctuated by Padfoot's ferocious barks as the small dog put himself between his mistress and the tall attacking man covered in beast pelts and wearing a monster mask.
Of course, the enemy wasn't afraid of the puppy, and aimed his heavy looking club toward him – only for the dog to be swept out of his way by a tiny hand as Ari saved her animal partner and launched herself toward the big man, weapon in hand – and where did this blade come from? Edward pushed the question out of his mind for now – he hadn't seen the flash of alchemy, yet he'd never seen the short yet beautiful blade his sister held.
But the more impressive maybe was the fact that rather than trying to escape, she had jumped toward their assailant.
¤.¤.¤
"This is my island!" roared the beastly man while easily avoiding the little girl's attack, then sending her rolling with the back of one hand "All intruders will be terminated!"
"And this is my family!" Ari shouted back – and wasn't that a shock, calm small little Ari shouting? "And no one will kill them without facing me first!"
Those words should have been laughable coming from such a small girl mused Ed, still in shock at the ferocious retort, yet they weren't – because those golden eyes that always seemed too old for a child now also seemed to burn with a resolve that shouldn't be mustered by someone so young.
And just like that, Ed and Al recovered from their surprise, and Ed was the first to answer "Don't be stupid, Ari. We're the Elric siblings..."
"What we do, we do together!" Al completed
And suddenly, they were jumping, Al sending the leaves used as a mattress flying as Edward grabbed his sister's hand "Now, let's run!" he affirmed
After a moment of surprise, Ari answered with a large smile, and a few moment later, they were hidden in a large tree's trunk.
The three siblings waited in silence, as they heard the heavy steps of their assailant pacing around for a while before retreating – and now that she was calming down, Ari noticed, to her shame, what she hadn't when she'd been woken up in the middle of the attack...
Their assailant didn't emit any killer intent, and her Soul Art was telling her it was the man sent by Izumi herself.
No wonder she hadn't been woken up - there never was any real danger.
It looked like the alchemist wanted them to learn to fight on top of learning to survive.
A smile crept on her face – finally, things were getting exciting!
By the time the sun was up, her brothers had found their earlier fear replaced by resolve, and soon, they were putting the knife given by Izumi and Ari's own blade to good use, crafting a simple trap...
"Anyway, I didn't got the chance to ask earlier..." Ed asked Ari was wilting a branch "But where does this come from?"
"I took it from dad's study."
"Never saw it there." Al muttered, surprised
"It was in a locked drawer." she shrugged "This is Fuurinkiba, a traditional coming of age weapon from an old country." she lied, having had time to think about what she'd say – it wasn't like she could say 'this is a weapon gifted to me by a kitsune in a previous life' could she? "I took it when teacher told us to make our bags. Dad always said that the world is a dangerous place..."
"It's like dad saved us in a way." Al smiled
"Bullshit, that bastard of a father didn't do anything," Ed contradicted "Its Ari who saved us, not this man."
The coming argument was cut short as Padfoot barked happily, dragging them toward their trap, in which a rabbit was wiggling and trying to set himself free...
"Yay! We caught food!" Al crowed happily
"And with such a simple trap!"
Ari watched as the logical realization downed on her brothers "But...what do..." Al started
"We have to kill it." affirmed Ed, knife in hand
¤.¤.¤
And though his hand was trembling, he tried to steady himself for what was to come – his little sister stood up in front of a man who wanted to kill them the day before, surely he could do something as simple as killing a rabbit to eat it! With that he steadied his hand, and plunged the knife it to the struggling animal, ending it's life.
Getting to start a fire, and figuring how to skin and gut the meat wasn't easy, but they finally managed – not without attracting the attention of a fox, that was ghosting a few meters away from them, visibly attracted with the discarded guts that had been left out for Padfoot but not daring approaching further.
"What is it doing here?" Al wondered curiously
"Maybe he was hunting the rabbit we got." his sister suggested without stopping preparing the meat, but her skill with beast language letting her catch something about 'food for the den' - fox language resembled a lot dog language after all
"You mean we stole its meal?" her brother asked, suddenly feeling bad
"Probably." his sister nodded "Or maybe its a female whose got kits, who knows." seeing his eyes widening "But don't mistake it... Even if we hadn't caught, we don't know if the rabbit wouldn't have manage to escape it. And this fox wouldn't pause before hunting Paws."
"But..."
"That's how nature works." the little girl shrugged as she stepped away from the fire "Carnivores eats herbivores, the strong eat the weak..."
"Its horrible." her brother mumbled despondently "It's so cruel."
"Ah, but then again, when this fox dies, its body will be used to gives nutriments to the grass and plants, and herbivore eat the grass and plants." her eyes lightened with amusement as she quoted "It's the Circle of Life!"
If she never had the chance to be a child as Harriet Potter, she caught up as Sawada Kazami, and as she grew up to become the Vongola Shadow, one of her Guardians had found an unending source of inspiration for the illusions he weaved in all sorts of animation, Disney included – thanks to that she now knew quite well a lot of animation works...
As for her brothers, who of course didn't know from where she'd gotten the quote, they were thinking about the words themselves.
"It makes sense," Ed started as he accepted a skewer with his share of the meal
They didn't have time to hear more about his thoughts – as with a whooshing sound, a club landed in the middle of the fire, and their opponent from the day before was back.
Taking advantage of the chaos, the fox that had been lurking jumped toward the skewer the eldest Elric sibling had let go of, and disappeared with it under Padfoot's ferocious barks.
As for Ari, she hurriedly swallowed the meat she'd already bit into, and took out Fuurin with her left hand, an amused smile on her lips – time to grind on her fighting skills.
¤.¤.¤
"What are you doing!" Al protested
"It's not like he's going to let us go without a fight!" she answered back, then, as the mad grabbed her middle brother's share of their hard won meal, merrily biting at the meat while dodging her attack "Or without stealing our food..." this gained the man a furious glare from Ed
And with that, the two boys joined the fray, clumsily but wildly for Ed, more hesitantly for Al.
By the time their assailant finally seemed to grow tired to play around with them and they managed to get away, they had managed to share Ari's skewer between them, taking turns with one eating and the other two keeping the wild man from him, but the portion had been far from enough for growing children like they were – even more so that all that fighting had opened their appetite...
"Let's try fishing!" an exhausted Ed suggested, not feeling ready yet to end the life of another rabbit, and too tired to do much
The other two nodded, the idea of not moving for a while equally appealing to them. Within a few hours, they had managed to catch a few fishes and eaten without being ambushed by the other inhabitant of the island, and Ari jumped on her feet, already feeling better "Now, let's see what we can do for tonight!"
And so, day after day, they fought against the fourth inhabitant of the island, struggled to catch food and not have it stolen, be it by the wild life or the wild man, went through chaotic nights as that same man attacked them at any hours.
"I don't understand..." an exhausted Al groaned while staring at the fire where their meal was cooking "What does this hellish survival got to do with alchemy?"
"I've been thinking about what Ari said that first day..." Ed mused "When you worried about that fox..."
Al glanced at his brother, not really seeing where the boy was going.
"What you said," Ed was now looking at his sister "You weren't only talking about that fox, weren't you?"
At that, his sister smiled, and he jumped to his feet shouting, more stunned than angry "I can't believe it! You knew! Since the beginning!"
"What are you talking about, brother?" Al asked, bewildered by his brother's shouts and his sister's laugh
"Carnivore eat herbivore, who eat grass, who gets its nutriments from carnivores bodies, the Circle of Life!"
"Yes?"
"Well, its the same for us, isn't it?" stated Ed "We are at the top of the food chain after all! But we'll still die in the end, and our bodies will be food for the grass..."
"Yew!" protested Al, a bit disgusted at the idea, yet starting to see what his brother was talking about
"This world is large, and we're but small existence within it," Ari stated simply, ignoring Ed grumbling about the word 'small' as she was well used about his testiness when size was mentioned "Yet it's all those small existences in the world that put together makes it alive!"
"Oh..." Al smiled "In other words, each life, no matter how small..."
"Don't use this word!"
"Calm down brother..."
"We are all part of this whole cycle of life, following the rules of this world. And even alchemy has to follow these rules..."
Ari smiled – then Al turned toward her, interrogative "But why didn't you tell us if you knew?"
"But I did tell you." a smile "You just had to understand."
Ed let himself drop to the ground, grumbling "How is it that the youngest among us is the wisest?"
"My soul is older." his sister answered with a smile
¤.¤.¤
After that, the rest of the month went by quickly – both Padfoot and Paws learned to hunt for their meal too, and were often competing with the vixen they'd seen on the first day, then her kits, as it turned out Ari had been right and it was a mother; the three siblings fighting and surviving skills grew tremendously too even if Ari always seemed to pick on things faster, which frustrated her brothers to no end...
"You always pick-up book smart faster than me," she explained with a smile "And I pick up things faster when doing them, so of course I'm progressing faster."
Ed pouted – and Al smiled, amused at his siblings antics, and threw his bone to the nearby kits, who happily jumped on them.
As for Padfoot, he was finishing his own meal, neatly licking the blood off his muzzle; and boy hadn't the two brothers felt queasy the first time they saw the dog eat his own hunted meal... At moments like that, Al couldn't help but wonder if Ari hadn't been right the day she told them she had an old soul, because her reaction had been far too accepting for a little girl.
And the fact that of the three of them she seemed to enjoy fighting the more was weird too!
But no matter – the month was over.
The three siblings smiled as they finished their meal, and the foxes around them went into hiding as the small boat that had dropped them thirty day earlier came back for them, Izumi gracefully jumping on the shore "So, brats! Do you have an answer for me?"
"All is the world!" Al stated
"And one is me!" Ed affirmed
Seeing their serious stares, Izumi snorted, then stated "Get to the boat then, the real training will start!"
[Goal complete! +10 XP
Goal update: complete Izumi Curtis's training]
[System log: Izumi Curtis is now your teacher, when learning from her you rank up four times as fast in Alchemy Skills and twice as fast in Weapon and Range Skills]
[Level up! You are now level 12!
+1SP]
¤.¤.¤
The siblings rejoiced together, and ran toward the boat – then stopped net, as a figure suddenly plopped into said boat calmly...
"What the..." Al whispered
"I had fun!" Ariana stated, reaching out for a handshake "I'm Ariana Elric, and you?"
"What the hell..." this time, it was Ed
"Ah! I knew you'd seen through it!" the wild man laughed, pulling of his man to reveal a cheerful face and dark hair
"He's an employee at our store." Izumi added
"I'm Mason," said employee answered at the little girl unanswered question "I was there to make sure you didn't die... Not that you really needed it, you boys sure are lucky to have a little sister like that!"
"Of course we know that!" Ed answered with a glare at the man, grabbing his sister to take her away from the far too friendly employee – said employee laughing at his reaction
"So... You knew he wasn't really trying to kill us?" Al asked at his sister
"He had no killer intent." the little girl answered, gaining a sharp glance from Izumi "And he held back every time."
"And you said nothing..." her brother protested
"Well, I was having fun..."
Al merely groaned at the answer "Why am I surprised? After all you are the one who knew the answer to this riddle from the get go yet let us sweat about it for nearly two weeks!" he rolled his eyes, missing the second glance Izumi sent toward his sister "Ari, you've hid it well for years, but I've pierced your secret! You're a sadistic who loves to make her brothers suffer!"
"This is my way of showing love!" the girl retorted happily
"Arg..." Izumi protested as the boat was pulling away from Jake island "Kids that age shouldn't even know what this word means!"
"Ah... But I'll miss the kits..." sighed Ari forlornly as she realized they were away
As she said this, a few yips gained the attention of the boat occupants, and they saw that said kits and their mother were on the shore, as if to say goodbye.
"These foxes really took a liking to you." Mason laughed – Ari smiled, as the man didn't realized how right he was; apparently even worlds apart, canine still recognized her as an alpha vixen and tended to like her, which was one of the reasons the small family had gotten used to them so much
¤.¤.¤
Sleeping in a warm bed and eating a homemade meal for the first time in weeks had been truly heavenly, and the next day, they had began to train under Izumi in earnest.
The alchemist, as was made clear with the stint on the lake, was of the opinion that to train the mind, one had to start by training the body, as such she had the strange habit of lecturing them while beating them into the ground.
The more vexing of it all was probably the way she was able to read when she was teaching from a book, while still being able to prevent them from laying a hand on her. She also got into shouting match with Edward regularly, but well, the siblings already knew that their eldest had what appeared to be a gift for pissing people off...
By the end of the first week, when they had their first down-time, Ari sneaked off, borrowing Mason's boat, and went back to Jake island to play with the foxes, which she had really missed – by the time she was back to the shore, Izumi was waiting for her, amused at her escapade.
Izumi was intrigued by Ariana – or rather, the girl was a walking enigma that the alchemist wanted to unravel. Her interest had been perked up in Rosembool, what with the girl's ability to do circle-less alchemy and alkahestry, the train had confirmed her interest, between her questions and her unexpected knowledge. The report Mason made of the island only added to it...
No normal child should have understood her enigma so fast, or adapted to surviving on the island so well and things probably wouldn't have gone half as well for the siblings without her.
When adding all the strange things about the girl, she had come to an hypothesis.
"Are you a successful homunculus?"
The revulsion on the little blond wasn't feigned, and surprising – she had thought her idea would be either confirmed, or the girl wouldn't even have known what she was talking about – disgust hadn't been expected.
"The dead cannot be brought back," she affirmed "Once a soul's link with its body is broken, it wont come back." she added "Ever."
The finality with which the little girl was strangely reassuring, and Izumi's thoughts strayed to her own biggest mistake...
"Is this what you talked about when you said you'd paid the price for your circle-less alchemy?" the girl asked softly, eyes full of compassion "Is it why you put such an emphasis on the fact that human alchemy isn't to be attempted?"
"How can you be so perceptive when you're so young?" Izumi wondered
"I've got an old soul." the girl answered with a smile "A soul can't be put back in its old body, but it can regain a new one..."
"You are talking about reincarnation..." understood Izumi, surprised to hear something sounding so religious from the sister of the boy who affirmed there wasn't a god
"It's just another life." Ariana smiled, before her smile faltered "But just like you made your mistake, some have to fall on their own before understanding they were wrong..."
Izumi hadn't understood that day, but as days became weeks and months, and she kept on meeting the girl on the lake's shores, she began to put things together.
Edward was a stubborn and highly intelligent child, and Al was still too kind – and they still missed their mother so much it nearly hurts physically to realize it, that much was easy to understand when living with them.
And even thought Ariana never said anything outright, when six months had gone by and she deemed the children ready to continue studying by themselves, Izumi had a feeling that the next time she saw them, she wouldn't be the only one to have seen the Truth.
¤.¤.¤
It wasn't a good feeling, but just like the little blond girl had said, this was a mistake she couldn't prevent them from making – stating she knew about their goal would only make the boys turn against their sister, and they couldn't be watched at every hour to keep them from trying.
No the only thing she could do was try to make them understand how stupid it was to try this, something she tried during the six months she taught them without success.
And now, she would pray that they came out of their mistake better off than she had.
And so, six months after they left Rosembool, Izumi and her husband were dropping them at the train station to go back to their hometown...
[Goal complete! +10XP
Goal update: reach Earth Alchemy 50]
[Goal complete!+10 XP
Goal update: craft homunculus ritual]
[Level up! You are now level 14!
+2SP]
Ariana closed her eyes tiredly at the onslaught of notification, willing them to disappear while desperately wishing her teacher had managed to beat it into her boys that reviving the dead was impossible.
And for the first time, she too cursed their father – hadn't she warned him not to go away for too long? Didn't four year count for far too long? Maybe Ed wouldn't have become fixated on reviving their mother if Von Hohenheim had come home earlier...
"Just because you've completed training doesn't mean you should let your skills drop, brats! If I hear you've become lazy I'll come and beat your asses into shape!" threatened Izumi, making the boys whiten
then, just as the train was about to leave, Mason came running "Oh just in time!" he plopped something in the youngest Elric hands "Here, Ari!" surprised, she recognized one of the by now nearly adult fox, who gave her the equivalent of a grin for a canine and yipped amicably at Padfoot, who answered in kind
With that, the train started, just as Ed groaned "Great! We are becoming a fucking menagerie!"
The three siblings arrived back in Rosembool just before the end of the year, which they spent with Winry and Pinako.
Their childhood friend was happy to see them again, and not wanting to be left behind had furthered her studies in automail mechanics – she was still far away from being able to outfit someone with her work, but considering she was only nine year old, what she could already do really was impressive.
Of course, Ari soon guessed that just like her and her brothers immersed themselves in alchemy after their mother's death, Winry used mechanic to help the ache of loosing both her parents fade...
¤.¤.¤
War.
At first, there was only unrest in the region, the Ishvalian being so very different from the Amestrians – then racism and tensions grew – and with one soldier accidentally shooting a child, things escalated into rebellion, and war.
Ishval was a harsh land, covered in rocks and sand, with a harsh people living according to the strict religious precepts of their god.
When rebellion escalated into war, they soon feel into guerrilla tactics, and the conflict was drawn out. What started in 1901 was still ongoing in 1908, and the neighboring region was beginning to suffer for it.
And by spring 1908, Fuhrer Bradley enacted Order 3066, sending the State Alchemists to purge Ishval.
"So you're here too, eh!"
Roy wasn't really surprised to see his old military academy friend – after all, there were a lot of the forces assembled in Ishval, especially so since Order 3066 was enacted; the State Alchemist may be the main weapon used to burn Ishval to the ground, they still needed a team behind them to handle the cleaning and ensure nothing had been overlooked.
What he really regretted was the new shadows in Maes Hughes eyes.
"I've got them too now," his friend smiled, resigned and having guessed at his thoughts "And I understand better what you meant at the academy too.." a sigh "We both talked about this country's future, and how we'd built a better future for the young generation, but you were the only one who really understand what it meant, weren't you." he affirmed rather than asked
Roy eyes darkened – with this unnatural understanding he'd had since his childhood about the harshest realities of life, he had known it would only be a mater of time until all the people he'd met at the academy lost their innocence - yet he still mourned it.
What he didn't expect was to see even his old teacher's daughter here.
"I'm only a first year, but since my school is in the East I was sent here." she was explaining while cleaning up her sniper rifle – the Hawk's Eye, people were calling her, and just like Maes her eyes had changed "How could you still enroll when you already understood what it would be like?" she asked, weariness audible in her words
"Alchemy is for the people," he quoted with a snort "Right now, alchemists are either holing up in the country spending their life researching and helping on a small scale, or enrolled in the military and used as weapon pointed at whomever the Fuhrer deems the enemy..." his eyes darkened briefly "And our Fuhrer deems a lot of people the enemy..."
"People enroll to protect our country, yet look at us, ordered to kill this nation civilians... Ishvalian may have a different culture but they're still a part of Amestris, the situation should have never escalated to what it is now..." Riza stated with a despondent sigh "We have all become killers..." there were no tears – these had been dried a long time ago
"And its not like the situation is any better elsewhere, the West and the South too are ripe with tensions, the simple fact that so much of the military have been sent here to commit a genocide is against any logic." Maes added
"Which is exactly why change must be brought from the inside."
"To bring change, you'll need to be at the very top." Maes noted "That's quite the dream."
"It's not a dream," the alchemist corrected with a smile that reflected the fire in his eyes "Its an ambition. One I intend to realize."
"Fuhrer Mustang, eh?" Maes laughter drily "It does have a nice ring to it, but this isn't something you'll be able to do alone."
"Ah, but I'm not alone, am I?"
His academy friend smiled back, hope mingling with the shadows "No, you're not."
¤.¤.¤
Riza's eyes widened – the shadows in Capitan Maes eyes had lightened, and suddenly, she understood better what her father had told his students before dying "Don't regret nor take pride in the blood you spill" indeed.
Killing couldn't be taken back, and regretting it was only lessening the worth of the life taken, just as taking pride in it was would lesser your own value as a human being. But this man – Roy Mustang – he already knew and understood that it was inevitable for the path he'd chosen, and accepted it.
Someone like that she could follow.
The Ishval war had changed them – all of the soldiers on the battlefield.
Monsters had been uncovered, reveling in the blood and destruction, men had been broken by the atrocities they had been ordered to commit and the life they had taken, heroes had been born under their fellow soldiers' eyes.
Roy had nearly laughed the first time he was called a hero – he knew he was but a killer, but to those that had survived thanks to him, there was no changing their opinion.
He'd also gained two loyal allies in Maes Hughes and Riza Hawkeye, but they were only the beginning.
Patiently, he assembled a trustworthy team around him.
Kain Fuery, with a gift for communication technology and compassion toward those of lower rank than him.
Vato Falman, a walking data bank, with a sharp mind and a talent for extracting any information available for an investigation.
Heymans Breda, graduated at the top of his class at the academy, hiding his intelligence and kindness behind a shifty appearance.
Jean Havoc, a hard-working man and good leader who overcame his slow-mind through sheer will, highly skilled and strong.
While he worked his way through the ranks and gained in reputation in the East, Maes was affected to the Investigations in Central City – yet they still called each other nearly every week, friendship stronger than ever and the promise to get to the top never forgotten.
As for Riza, she was by his side at every moment, heart still bleeding from the harsh awakening to the realities of the country they lived in yet mind made precisely because of it.
If she had to kill and loose sleep at night in order for the next generation to live in a better world, then she would.