(08/16/23) Hey guys! This story has undergone a massive rewrite in 2023! I hope you enjoy all the improvements and updates! There are less chapters now, but that doesn't mean there's less content...actually there's more. The core story is still the same, but it's been imbued with some better pacing, details, and understanding of the fma universe :D
This chapter combines the original chapters one and two!
(original A/N, 2021)
Hey guys! Welcome to this new story! It's my first FMA chapterfic (even though I have like four oneshots finished that I need to post) and I hope you all enjoy it!
Here's some basic background info before we get started: this story is Brotherhood/mangaverse compliant. It doesn't align with any canon episodes, but timeline wise, would take place at the beginning of season 2, probably soon after the Lab 5 debacle.
With that in mind, i hope you all enjoy this story!
The train was packed, humming with tired yet excited voices longing for home. This wasn't unusual for this rail; the line that ran from East City to Resembool had two types of conversation, depending on the direction of travel. Heading northwest, it was about business. But heading southeast, it was about going home. People just didn't take this rail if they didn't live in one of the towns along its path.
This was the first thing Roy Mustang observed during the several hour journey. The second was that despite several passengers apparently recognizing the two boys across from him, not one said a word to them. For a town described as one of Amestris' friendliest, this behavior confused Roy immensely.
The colonel frowned at the pair seated in front of him. Edward, swallowed by his obnoxious red coat, was leaning against the window, chin in his hand and eyes focused on the countryside passing by. Alphonse, in his hulking suit of armor, was almost creepily still, the light from his glowing eyes currently snuffed out. Roy would never have expected this kind of behavior from them when he gave them a mission in their hometown.
A recent string of fires in the rural settlement had garnered suspicion, and who better to send to investigate than the Flame Alchemist himself? Roy wasn't typically involved in field work, but with his expertise in combustion, he didn't mind getting out of a few days of desk work. And, in his infinite generosity, he ordered the Fullmetal Alchemist to accompany him, and get a chance to visit home. So when the Elrics showed up in such a foul mood, Roy couldn't for the life of him figure out why.
Edward was irritable by nature, in a way that always seemed to target Roy's pet peeves, but his irritability usually manifested itself in his words—or rather, his rants. He'd never encountered a silently irritable Ed… And as for Alphonse, the boy had never been anything but polite to the military. He was harder to read, given his lack of physical expression, but his body language suggested he was just as moody and brooding as his brother.
Then there were the other passengers. Roy knew recognition when he saw it, and at least half a dozen of the commuters recognized the kids. Yet, no one gave so much as a greeting to them, and every once in a while, Roy would catch the women sending sympathetic glances their way. What was going on?
The train made its stops, and the number of passengers slowly decreased until only the ones headed to Resembool remained. The conductor announced they were approaching their stop, and thus, the end of the line, and began slowing down again. Then, with a hiss, the train came to a stop. Passengers gathered bags, continuing their conversations as they stepped out into the station. Alphonse's glowing eyes returned, shifting toward Edward, but the fifteen-year-old made no move to get up. Roy waited a moment, annoyed at his subordinate's lack of interest, before speaking.
"Fullmetal. Get your stuff and get moving."
The boy did, still not making a sound. He didn't even send a glare in Roy's direction; he just pulled his suitcase out from under the seat and left the train. Now Roy was really angry; he did not want to deal with Edward's mood and lack of respect.
Roy trudged onto the platform after Ed, hearing the clanking that signaled Alphonse followed. "Hey! Fullmetal!" the colonel shouted after the retreating red form. "I don't know where I'm going in this town! You better get back here!" Edward didn't stop, earning a frustrated growl from his superior.
"Just let him go," Alphonse's voice spoke out. It sounded bitter and not at all like the sweet fourteen-year-old Roy was used to. "I'll show you the way."
Al began walking, and Roy followed. The suit of armor had no physical emotions, but Roy could feel the burning tension radiating off him like a fever. "What's the matter with you two?" he asked before he could stop himself.
Al made a small noise like he'd been caught doing something he wasn't supposed to, but he said nothing. Roy waited, but it was clear the kid wasn't going to answer, and unlike with Edward, he couldn't order Alphonse to talk.
Roy sighed and pulled out his notebook, checking the itinerary. "Well, I suppose I should get our rooms checked in at the inn. You're sure you wouldn't rather stay at home while we're here?" he asked.
"Positive," Alphonse replied curtly.
"Alright." Roy ignored the boy's tone. "Where are we headed?"
"Not far. The inn is in the town proper, which is all around here."
Roy nodded, following as Al continued to walk. It was definitely strange, being in a town where most of the population didn't live in the settlement itself, but rather around it. He glanced up from his notes, finding he could no longer see Edward ahead of them; the kid really had run off. He sighed again.
The inn was a modest two story building, with white painted brick and a chimney curling out smoke. If not for the small sign out front, Roy would have thought it was just someone's residence. The woman inside was older, with kind eyes on a weary, life-worn face.
"You must be Colonel Roy Mustang," she said upon his entrance. "Welcome to Resembool. You can call me Eve." She flipped through a few papers. "Two rooms, correct?"
"Uh, that's right," Roy answered, unsettled by how much she knew.
"We don't get many visitors. I always know when one's coming," Eve said, seemingly noticing his apprehension. "Here's your key. Ed came through a few minutes ago and got his, but he's already gone."
Edward already came and left? What was that boy's issue today?
"Did F—Edward say where he was going?" Roy asked.
"No, but if I had to guess, you could find him either at the cemetery or Pinako's."
Roy mumbled a thanks, stuffing his key in his pocket.
"Up the stairs, second door on the left," Eve said. Roy turned to leave, only for her to speak again. "Colonel, sir?" He turned back. "How are those boys doing up in East City?" The question was meek, as if she were nervous to ask it.
"They're doing well, I can assure you," Roy replied, unsure of how much townsfolk knew of the Elrics' situation.
"That's good," she said quietly. "We're always so worried about them. Especially with how little news we get out here." She sighed. "Well, I hope you can get to the bottom of our arson problem. Have a nice stay."
Roy nodded, heading up to his room and feeling entirely unsettled. He put his bags down, then went to fetch Alphonse and settle in for the night.
Whatever was going on with those two boys, he would get to the bottom of it. It all started tomorrow.
…
Edward was gone again when Roy got up in the morning. When he'd gone to make sure the boy was awake and getting ready for the day, he'd only been met with the younger Elric. The colonel grumbled, returning to his own room to get ready; his subordinate was supposed to be helping him with the investigation, not running off to who knows where… But despite himself, Roy couldn't help but be a little relieved at the kid's absence. He and Edward weren't the best at working together on a good day, and he would rather inspect the interest sites on his own anyway.
That didn't mean he wasn't a tad bit worried, though.
Roy shook his head; Edward was more than capable of being on his own, especially in his hometown. There was no reason to get worked up.
Roy knocked on the adjacent door again, Alphonse opening up in seconds.
"Colonel." The boy's voice was even more sullen than yesterday. Roy had a feeling this would be the case, and praised himself for his forethought as he pulled out a map of Resembool and its surrounding areas.
"Alright, Alphonse, I have a list of places I need to investigate. If you can just mark them on my map here, you'll have the rest of the day to yourself."
Al made a surprised noise; clearly he was expecting to be the colonel's escort today. "Oh. Okay." He took Roy's paper, working quickly to circle each location. Once it was back in Roy's hands, Alphonse spoke again. "Thanks, colonel. If you don't need me for anything else, I'm going to go find Ed."
"Actually, I'd rather appreciate that. If you find him, send him my way. He's not getting out of work that easily," Roy joked lightly, hoping to ease some of Al's unusual tension. The armored soul didn't seem to notice, however, and Roy left without saying anything else.
He found the first marked location with ease; Alphonse obviously knew this town like the back of his hand, and the circles he drew on the map were precise. And even if they weren't, it would have been hard to miss the still-smoking remains of a barn in an open field. The structure was entirely decimated, leaving not much more than a pile of ash and charred beams. Roy searched every detail of the remains, noting some odd scratches in the dirt right beside the site. He made a note of that.
The next site was much the same, but was older than the first since all the smoke had settled. Again, those marks in the dirt. Strange.
The third, fourth, and fifth locations yielded the same findings. Roy was puzzled; the arsonist clearly used the same method for burning each building, given how utterly destroyed each one was, but he couldn't figure out how each one was burned down without anyone noticing until it was too late. It couldn't be flame alchemy, that was for sure, but he couldn't rule out alchemy entirely; changing the composition of the buildings could let them be reduced to nothing in minutes. But that would require a pretty powerful alchemist to achieve, and why would they waste their time with farm buildings? It didn't make sense.
Roy scanned the countryside, cross checking his map. That was when a particular location caught his eye. He was pretty close to the Elric and Rockbell houses, the only places in Resembool he'd previously been. He looked back from the map to the scenery, spotting the yellow shape of Rockbell Automail in the distance. But when he shifted his gaze to the hill where the Elrics' house was, he didn't see it.
Roy frowned. He was positive that was the right hill. How could he forget the location where he'd seen the remains of attempted human transmutation? The colonel began walking toward the hill.
When he got close, his heart skipped a beat. This was the correct location. He recognized the tree, the walkway… but in the spot the house had stood was nothing but a mess of charred wood. The Elrics' house had burned down.
Roy blinked, looking frantically over his map again. This wasn't one of the places mentioned in the arson report! What happened? Did the perpetrator just do it? Roy looked at the rubble again. No, there was no way; the debris didn't match any of the others. Plus, it was overgrown with weeds and sapling trees; it had been like this for a while.
Did the brothers know about it? Probably… they'd been back in town a few times since Ed's certification. So that at least explained why Edward had said they couldn't stay at home for this trip… but it didn't explain why they couldn't stay at the Rockbells.
Roy needed to get to the bottom of this. His assignment could wait.
The colonel made his way down the road to the Rockbells. The door was answered by the girl Edward's age, a look of confusion crossing her face.
"Lieutenant-Colonel?" she asked, looking a little unsure thanks to his civilian clothing.
He didn't correct her; last she had seen of him, that was his rank. "Miss Rockbell."
"Ed and Al aren't here, if that's who you're looking for."
"I was actually hoping to speak to your grandmother."
The confused expression deepened, but still the girl turned and called for her. The tiny old woman appeared a moment later.
"Thought I'd seen the last of you…" she grumbled. "Get in here."
Roy did, taking a seat on the family's sofa. The granddaughter (Winry, he was reminded) came back with a cup of coffee, which he accepted.
"Ed came by earlier. Said he was on some kinda mission with you," Pinako said, her tone stony and bordering on accusatory. "You're not running that boy into the ground, are you?"
Roy didn't know how to respond to that. If anyone was running Edward into the ground, it was going to be Edward.
"So what're you doing here, anyway?"
A bit frazzled by the crotchety woman, Roy stuttered, "I—I came to ask about the Elrics' house."
Both Winry and Pinako's faces dropped, a motion that didn't go unnoticed by Roy.
"They didn't tell you?" Winry piped in cautiously.
"Tell me what?"
"About the day they left for East City," Pinako clarified, hands clasped around her own coffee mug. "They burned down their house."
Roy was stunned. "...They did that themselves?"
"It was Ed's idea." Pinako eyed Roy. "And I'll bet you didn't even realize…"
Realize what?
"They left for East City three years ago today."
Oh... Oh. The implications clicked in Roy's mind. It was the anniversary. That explained everything. Why the boys were so reluctant to come. Why they didn't want to stay at the Rockbells. Why Edward had run off, and why Alphonse was in such an uncharacteristic mood. It was the day they burned down their own home. Roy stood, hardly taking the time to thank Pinako before rushing out the door. He had to find Edward.
Dammit! He'd been so unintentionally cruel in bringing the Elrics here. How could he make it up to them? Would they even want him to make it up to them? They didn't exactly have a close relationship or anything. But still, Roy couldn't help but feel guilty for worsening an already traumatic day.
"Colonel!"
Roy looked up; that was Alphonse's voice, and it sounded desperate. The suit of armor was sprinting over, with no red-cloaked companion in sight.
"Alphonse?" Roy took in the panic radiating from the fourteen-year-old. "Where's Fullmetal?"
Al wrang his hands together, voice in near hysteria. "That's just it… I—I don't know!"
I hope the improvements are noticeable! The most significant changes don't come in until later, but i still fixed a few things here...
(Original A/Ns, 2021)
(Ch 1) And there's our start! What could possibly be ailing our favorite brothers? If you read the description, then you already know, and this question is stupid. But nonetheless, sorry for the rather expositiony opening. It will get more intense pretty soon, I promise!
See you all next chapter!
(Ch 2) Cliffie! Ahaha I'm evil.
Little appearnce of the rockbells there; we're in Resembool, I couldn't just leave them out! And don't worry, Mustang will get a chance to talk to them about their house... but first we've got some drama!
Hope to see you next chapter!