Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for Isabella.
*Isabella's POV
The two of us are in Mustang's office when he digs something from his drawer. "You should take these with you." Roy said as he tossed the two pocket watches to us Ed and I caught the in our hands and looked at them. We both sighed at this. "You know Isabella and I were picturing a more poignant ceremony. Trumpets, or something." Ed said to him. "Sure, Edward. Congrats. You and Isabella are both dogs of the military now." Roy said to us as we look on. "Lieutenant Havoc, take them home." Roy said to him. "Yes, sir." Havoc said to him.
No POV
Nina, Al is outside with Alexander as Tucker watches from the window at the scenery. "Nina," Tucker said to himself.
"Humankind cannot gain anything, without first giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost. That is Alchemy's first law of Equivalent Exchange. In those days, we really believed that to be the world's one, and only truth."
*Isabella's POV
Ed and I are in the car with Havoc driving and we both look out the window. I was happy that I got that pocket watch, but Ed looks like he was ready to explode with his face like that. "Come on, Chief and Kapitan, you two look like the sky's falling down. Don't let the Lieutenant Colonel get to you two, his mind's on a case now." Havoc said to us. "What case?" I asked him.
"There's a serial killer around, only targets women." Havoc said to me. "Ooh, sounds scary. What's he gonna do, chop me to death?" I mocked him. "Sounds like police business. Why does he care?" Ed asked him. "It's the military's backyard, it's dishonorable. Mustang cares about that stuff." Havoc said to him.
"Or wants a promotion." I said as Havoc stops the car making me and Ed fall backward. "It's true, kids, Mustang's no political novice, he'll do whatever he has to, to move up the chain around here. But if that's all he was about, we wouldn't follow him." Havoc said to us. "Tell us then, what else is he about?" I asked him. "You'll learn soon enough." Havoc said to me as he continues to drive."
*Night of the Chimera's Cry*
*FF*
"Check it out!" Ed and I said as we revealed our pocket watches to Al, and Nina. "Whoa, are those the real things?" Al asked us as Alexander ran up to Ed and took his watch while I kept mine. "Hey! Give that back, you stupid mutt! Does that thing have a big tag on it that says "Alexander"?! Does it smell like rawhide?!" Ed yelled as he chased Alexander. I started laughing at this.
"Guess he's still Ed." I said about his idiotic persona. "Look, I promise I'll make you something. Maybe a twenty-pound bone. Whatever. Just give it back, Alexander. Nice and Easy." Ed said while chasing Alexander and Tucker came and Havoc saluted. "Your two tenants are becoming stars. Who would've thought that two twelve-year-old kids could pass the exam, right?" Havoc said to him. "They are prodigies. Hopefully, that's a blessing." Tucker said to him.
"Alexander!" Ed yelled in the background as Havoc looks confused at Tucker's words. "So, to honor Ed and Isabella's ground-breaking achievement, we're going to have a feast." Tucker said to us. "Hooray!" Nina said happily. "Are you serious?" Ed asked like he was a mess after chasing Alexander to get his watch back.
"Mm-hm. Would you like to join us, Lieutenant?" Tucker asked Havoc. "Sorry. Full schedule." Havoc said to him. "Is that so?" Tucker said to him. "Oh, Mr. Tucker, the Lieutenant Colonel asked me to pass a message along. Your assessment day is coming up. He says he's looking forward to it." Havoc said to him. "Yes. I'm sure that he is." Tucker said as the four of us look on.
*FF*
Nightfall came and the three of us are having dinner with Tucker and his daughter to honor mine and Ed's achievement in becoming State Alchemists. "This assessment deal, is that something the state does?" Ed asked Tucker as he nods. "If I don't submit meaningful findings from my research this year, they'll revoke my certification as a State Alchemist." Tucker said to him. "Wow. That's a lot of pressure." I said to him as he chuckles.
"Last year, I didn't exactly get a positive assessment. So this year, it's done or die." Tucker said to me. "Let 'em have it, daddy!" Nina cheered as I chuckled. "I know. Why don't you make another talking Chimera?" I said to him. "Yeah, and we'll be around to see it this time!" Ed said to him. "Well, that is what everyone asks for. I promise. I'll let you all see the result." Tucker said to us as he faces his daughter and she giggled. The three of us chuckled at this.
*FF*
I was in Ed and Al's room thinking about something, while Al is reading and Ed is writing something with his left hand. But then Nina came in and came up to Ed. "Ooh, a letter. Who are you writing to?" Nina asked him as he hides it from her. "A person, it doesn't matter." Ed said to her.
"Oooooh. It's to Winry, isn't it?" I asked him as he started spazzing. "Hey! It's just a simple report! Just past the Alchemy Exam! How'sthe weather, that whole thing, okay!" Ed said to her. "Winry's a pretty name, is she your girlfriend?" Nina asked him as he started to explode. "As a matter of fact..." Al trailed off as Ed started spazzing again.
"She's not! She's not! She's not! We're friends!" Ed stammered at him. "I know. I'm gonna write a letter to my mom, too." Nina said as she moves to the floor with her things and begins to draw something. "So your mom lives far away, doesn't she Nina?" I asked her. "That's right. She told my dad, he was a good-for-nothing alchemist, who couldn't do anything right, and she went to live with her parents." Nina said to me as Ed looks on. "Hopefully, she'll send a reply this time..." Nina said sadly as she continues to draw and Al stood up and pat her head.
*FF*
Nina fell asleep after she finished her letter, I looked at her like it was nothing. 'She looks so cute when she sleeps, not to mention innocent.' I thought as Tucker came and picked her up. I picked up her drawing and looked at him. "Here." I said to him while giving it to him. He takes it and looks at it and then faced us.
"My wife...she just couldn't stand being poor, and she left us. As luck would have it, I joined the State Alchemists practically the next day." Tucker said as we look on. "The state's been good to me these years, they've given me this mansion, this entire lifestyle. If I don't pass the assessment, we'll go back to the way things were. I sometimes doubt we could." Tucker said to us. "Daddy, you can pass it, just like Ed and Isa." Nina muttered as we all chuckled. Then Tucker returned back to his studies.
*FF*
*The next day*
Alexander was barking about something. "You're barking, I get it. You wanna go for a walk, right?" Ed said while holding Alexander's leash. "Hold on, Ed, I'll come with you." I said to him. But then he notices something from inside the dining room. "What's wrong, Ed?" I asked him as we went inside. Ed then picks up the burned-up paper as Alexander seemed to notice this as Ed opens it up to see that it was the letter that Nina wrote last night. Our eyes widen at this. "Who would do something like this?" I asked myself as Alexander started barking.
*FF*
Ed and I are at the library in Central. "Listen to us, we don't want this simple stuff. We need info on the talking Chimera that Shou Tucker made two years ago." Ed said to the dark-skinned woman. "Hey, Schiezka. Know anything about this?" The woman asked the brown-haired girl with glasses named Schiezka, who is holding a heck of a lot of books in her arms.
"The Tucker reports are restricted, sir and ma'am. You two don't have access." Schiezka said to us. "Well, would you check on it, please? We're not some normal kids." I said to her as Ed and I showed our watches. "Those watches are what got you two in here, but you need clearance from the Brigadier General to read those files." Schiezka said to me as she fell to the floor along with the books she was holding, leaving me and Ed questioning at what she said.
"Brigadier General, huh?" I questioned that name. "Surely you've heard of him, the Iron-Blood Alchemist? He's the authority on adapting alchemy for military tactics. If his name is attached, it must be some military secret." The woman said to me. "This is getting interesting." Ed said about those words. "Yeah." I said to him.
*FF*
Ed and I came out of the library and see an MP blocking a dark-skinned man with sunglasses from getting in. "I'm telling you, you can't go. This branch is for Military use only." The MP said to him as that man tries to go passed him, but he stopped him. "Stop! If you want to access it, you got to get a pass." The MP said to him.
"I was told this was the only place to find out." The man said as he walks passed him. "Stop!" The MP called as Ed and I walk passed that man, but Ed grabbed his arm. "What now?" That man said to him. "Sorry, passed the test like everyone else." Ed said to him. "Same here." I said as that man walks passed Ed and me and he grabbed his sleeve until it started to rip.
His arm had tattoos on it. That man's eyes widen at this while Ed did the same. I was gasping when I saw this and that man took back his sleeve and runs off, with the MP running after him. "Hey, come back!" The MP yelled as Ed and I stood there like nothing. "What just happened?" I asked him. "I don't know." Ed said to me.
No POV
That dark-skinned man with sunglasses ran into the alley and started panting, then began looking at his arm. "My brother. What is this? Why did you mark me so? This vile sign. What do you want me to do?" That man said while gripping his arm.
Isabella's POV
*Hughes' house*
Ed and I made it to Hughes's house, and Hughes was holding his daughter Elicia. "Look, Elicia! Your big brother and sister Ed and Isabella are here!" Hughes said to his daughter in a baby-like tone as Ed and I sweatdropped. "Honey, they're trying to tell you something, you're not listening." Gracia said to him as she takes Elicia from his hands and started holding her. Ed and I look on at this.
"Hello!" Gracia said to her daughter in a baby-like tone. "Take your time, you know I don't mind holding her," Gracia said to him as she leaves. Then Hughes sighs at what she did and faced us. "Back to work. You two were asking about Tucker's Chimera, right?" Hughes asked us. "Yeah. You being in the Investigations Department, we thought you could tell us." Ed said to him. "You two did live with the guy, why don't you two ask him?" Hughes asked him.
"You know. He's too busy, with the coming assessment and all." I said to him as he sighs. "I don't know too much about him myself. I know that Chimera he fashioned got him into the alchemy program. First one ever that could speak the human language." Hughes said to me. "You're sure it was real?" I asked him. "Definitely, but it only spoke once it said, "I want to die." Hughes said to me as Ed and I look on.
"It wouldn't eat after that, and died." Hughes said to us. "It was in pain. But, why would he make such a miserable thing?" Ed asked him. "Who knows? But someone in the military thought it had some sort of relevance. How do you two think he got that mansion?" Hughes asked us. "And what happened to Tucker's wife?" I asked him.
"What do you mean? She died before he arrived here in Central." Hughes said to me as Ed and I gasped at what he said. "Is that wrong?" Hughes asked us. But then the phone started ringing and he got up and answered it. "Yeah, go ahead." Hughes said through the phone. But then his eyes started to widen. "Serial kill... Are you sure? Ah, hell!" Hughes said as Ed and I gasped at this.
*FF*
The two of us looked at what happened, and see a boy crying on the covered body with Hawkeye comforting him. "Mom." The boy cries while Hawkeye comforts him. "That makes five," Hughes said disgustingly. "Hasn't investigations found anything yet?" Roy asked him. "Don't blame us." Hughes said to him as Ed and I look at the boy crying.
But Hawkeye picks him up while the boy held the cover and removed it while crying to reveal the corpse of his mother and Ed stared at it. But it seems to have reminded him of something he did while I look at him with worry in my eyes. "Ed, what's wrong?" I asked him as he didn't respond to me. His eyes widen and he passes out. "Ed? Ed?! Ed?!" I called out. "Ed? Pick him up." Hughes ordered the soldier. "Sir!"The soldier said to him.
*FF*
*The Tucker Estate*
After I took Ed back to the estate and placed him on his bed, Tucker was with me while Ed was unconscious. "Ed. Oh, please be okay. Ed." I said as he opens his eyes fast which made me jump a little. But I calmed down at this and sat on the end of his bed. "Sounds like you saw something pretty awful, huh?" Tucker said to him.
"It's no big deal," Ed said to him. "You were crying out for your mother the whole time you were asleep. And you kept saying you were sorry." Tucker said to him as Ed looks on. I look on as well. "What do you mean?" I asked him. "I've had my suspicions about you four ever since I saw your bodies. Now I'm sure." Tucker said to me as we look on.
No POV
Al and Nina play the entire time when they noticed someone coming.
Isabella's POV
I was in Ed's room with Tucker while he continues his conversation. "What you kids did, it's strictly forbidden. But I can understand. Science is a powerful thing, capable of so much. When you can. it's difficult not to try." Tucker said to us. "Who are you? What do you want?" We hear Al's voice say.
*FF*
After Ed got his clothes back and his hair back in its place, the three of us went downstairs to see this Brigadier General person in front of us with his entourage. "I don't know what Roy Mustang's been filling your head with, but the research of Shou Tucker falls under the jurisdiction of me, Basque Grand!" Grand said to us. "The Brigadier General. So that's you." Ed said to him. "The Iron-Blood Alchemist." I said to him as well.
"The Sewing-Life Alchemist is one of my top priorities, and I know you've been snooping around. I can no longer permit you four to take shelter at his estate." Grand said to us. "Say what?!" I asked out of shock.
*FF*
After the three of us packed our things, we were facing Tucker and his daughter. "Where are you going, big brothers and sister, are you coming back?" Nina asked us. "Don't worry, we'll come to play with you again real soon." Alphonse said to her. "Really?" Nina asked her. "Mm-hm." Al hummed as Nina turn to face me and Ed. "Yeah." Ed said to her. "We will, I promise." I said to her as her eyes looks like they were watering. "Don't forget!" Nina said to us. "Right, we won't." I said to her.
No POV
Ed, Al, and Isabella leave while Grand watches them from outside the window. "Don't they just eat at you? I hear when those kids show off their transmutation abilities without the use of a circle, the King actually opened up his mouth and complimented them. Now that upstart Mustang's getting points for discovering them, my points, Tucker." Grand said to him. "I'm sorry if they caused trouble for you, sir." Tucker said to him.
"I smoothed things over for you last year when you turned that pile of trash and called it research. Fail it again, and I'll get the heat for endorsing you." Grand said to him. "But, General..." Tucker said to him. "What, Tucker? Would you rather have the alternative approach? Do you want to pass the title of Sewing-Life Alchemist to that boy or that girl and go back to your old life? Drifting the streets of some backward town with ideas and an empty stomach? Your assessment's in two days, it's time to show or roll over." Grand said to him.
*FF*
Tucker is in the dining room thinking about his assessment when Nina and Alexander came in. "Daddy, are you hurting somewhere?" Nina asked her father. But then her father stood up from the chair and hugged her, making her look confused by this. "I'm at the end of the line here, Nina." Tucker said to his daughter as she closes her eyes at what her father said. "Daddy..." Nina said.
Isabella's POV
The three of us came back to the estate after we tied up the guards. 'Sorry, but we've gotta put you guys to sleep just for a moment.' I thought as the four of us walks down the hall. "You think this is a good idea? What if you and Isabella both lose your certifications for this?" Al asked Ed. "If that's what it takes to prove us wrong tonight, then so be it." Ed said to her. The three of us made it to a room filled with the Chimeras that Tucker has in cages, and they started roaring when we see them.
"Over here." We hear a voice say as we went into a room and see Tucker here. "Come on in, kids." Tucker said to us as we walked in. Ed then sees some transmutation circles all over the whole room, and a book on Tucker's desk. "I told you I'd let you see." Tucker said while moving aside to see a Chimera in front of us.
"It's a perfect version, a Chimera that knows the human tongue." Tucker said to us. "Listen, dear. That's your friend Edward, and your other friend Isabella." Tucker said to the Chimera. "Edward, and Isabella. Friends?" The Chimera said to him.
"Yes, exactly. That's very good." Tucker said to it. "That's ve-ry go-good." The Chimera said again. "Unbelievable. It really can talk!" I said. "I'll have no problem getting the funding now. I can't believe I didn't see it, the other one was too old to adapt." Tucker said as Ed walked up to the Chimera and kneels in front of it. The Chimera then sniffs at him and moves to his watch and pulls it out making it fall, but it was attached to his belt at least and he looks down sadly.
"Edward. My friend." The Chimera said to him. "Yeah...that's right," Ed said to it. "Edward, why does it hurt here?" The Chimera asked him as Ed stood up while growling and I recognized that tone. 'It was Nina.' I thought out of shock. "Brother?" Al said. "Edward?" I said as well. "So, Tucker..." Ed trailed off. "Something wrong?" Tucker asked him. "When was the first time you made one of these, human-speakingChimeras?" Ed asked him. "I thought I told you. It's been two years now." Tucker said to him. "And when exactly did your wife leave you?" Ed asked him. "Two years ago, why?" Tucker asked him.
"And those letters...that Nina wrote, did any of them ever reach her?" Ed asked him. "What are you getting at?" Tucker asked him. "Tell me this: Where have Alexander and Nina gone to?!" Ed asked him out of anger Al gasp at this, while I do the same. Tucker sighs at this and faced him. "I hate prodigies like you and Isabella, Ed. Too damn perceptive." Tucker said to him as Ed grabs him by the collar straight against the wall. Al and I are surprised by this.
"Edward!" I called out. "Brother!" Al called out also. "This guy used his own wife, guys!" Ed said to us. "A-and this time?" I asked him. "His daughter!...and his dog! He transmuted them into that thing!" Ed said to us as we gasped at this. "Oh no..." I said out of fear. "An easy process when you use people, right?!" Ed asked him out of anger. "Why are you so upset, Edward? It's the nature of scientific progress, animal testing, experimentation, trial, and error! All advancements have - a price." Tucker said to him.
"Shut up! I'm not gonna let you rationalize this, you monster! That was your own family, damn it! You've been toying with people's lives!" Ed said to him. "Toying with lives?" Tucker asked as he chuckles. "What?! Like your arm and leg there? Or your brother's body? Or your blonde-haired friend who lost her parents in the Isvalan Civil War? Or trying to bring your mother back? That's toying, isn't it? You don't really think you're any different from me, do you, Ed?" Tucker asked him as he punches him in the face. He started chuckling as Ed got ready to punch him again, but I stopped him by grabbing his wrist.
"Why, Mr. Tucker? The whole point was to pass the assessment and continue your way of life. But now your family's gone. What life is left?!"I asked him. "That's the funny thing, I didn't have a reason." Tucker said to me as Ed gasped. "I fully understood, no matter what I did, my life would be ruined. I could either do it with the science, or without. And so I chose science, to see if I could." Tucker said to me.
"What kind of man..." Ed trailed off. "When you have the power to do something, it's hard not to try. Isn't that what we agreed on, Ed? Aren'twe so much alike?" Tucker asked him. "No!" Ed shouted at him. "Sure, part of me did it for respect and this house. Just as you partly did it for your mother. But there's more. You're desperate to put your mind to use, Ed. To see what you're capable of, to put the world under your fingers...that's the essence of alchemy. You did it for knowledge...control. Above all, you did it just to prove you can." Tucker said to him as he punches again, sending him to the floor.
"You're wrong. Alchemy isn't meant to be... I'm not like you!" Ed said as he repeatedly punches Tucker. "I'm not! Not! I'm not!" Ed said while punching him. "Brother, you'll kill him!" Al said to his brother. "Please stop this, Ed. If you continue like this, he'll die!" I called as Ed yells out to punch him again, but is stopped by Nina. She was growling at him to stop, and Ed looks on at this and she lets go of his coat. I started tearing up when she sees this.
"No, big brother." Nina said to him. "Nina, I want you to bear with me, okay? This may hurt." Ed said to her as he got ready. "What are you doing? You're not planning to split them up, are you? You don't know how." Al said to him as Tucker began chuckling. "The Chimera is a perfect transmutation, fused to the core. There's no way to separate them now. Careful, you'll just do to them what you did to your mother." Tucker said to Ed as his eyes widen and placed his arms back to his sides. Then Nina faced me and I kneels down to her level.
"You promised you'd come to play with me." Nina said to me as I tears up and hugs her. But then Grand and his entourage came into the room. "Assaulting army personnel? What the hell's going on?" Grand asked one of us. "Spare us, sir. He used his own daughter." I said to him.
FF
The three of us are outside with Grand as his entourage are taking both Tucker and Nina with them. "Mr. Tucker will face a court-martial, and we'll take the Chimera with us. Naturally, you're to tell no one what you saw tonight." Grand said to us. "Yes, sir." I said to him as Ed protested with one soldier pulling him back.
"What?! You just wanna cover it up, you knew about this! You wanna make some half-beast arm-" Ed was cut off when Grand hits him in the head via his alchemic fist, knocking him out. "Let's go," Grand said to his men. "Yes sir!" His soldiers said as he and his entourage leave the four of us here. I knelt down and shook Ed to wake him up. But he got his consciousness back to him.
"Damn it. I'm not gonna let them turn her into a test subject!" Ed said as he used alchemy to make the street bounce and one of the cars got turned over by it, letting Nina go. Ed got up on his feet and we looked at her. "Nina!" I shouted as she ran off. Ed and I are shocked by this and ran after her. "Brother! Isabella!" Al called out.
No POV
The dark-skinned man is in the alley and sees Nina panting and walks over to him. He started placing his hand on her making his arm glow. "Your make-up. Yes, you're made up of one part human and one part beast. But I don't understand. Brother, how do I know that?" That man asked himself as Nina pants. "You poor thing. You're a sin against nature, and your body is in so much pain." That man said placing a hand on her head. "Oh merciful God, who shapes us all. Please return these scarred souls to your unending womb." That man prayed as his arm started glowing.
Isabella's POV
Ed and I ran towards the alley looking for her. Al catches up to us. "You see her?" Al asked us as Ed turns to the inside of the alley and sees something. "What is it? What do you see?" I asked him as I turn to see something. We all gasped and see that she was killed with her blood splattered all over the wall. Our eyes were wide when we saw this.
No POV
The dark-skinned man with sunglasses began walking down the streets of Central holding his arm as he remembers what he did to Nina. 'God, I understand now, the reason why my brother gave me this cursed arm. So that I can find the alchemists, who have fallen from your path, and with their own demon arts, destroy them.' That man thought as he continued to walk.
Isabella's POV
The three of us are in front of the blood-spattered wall looking at it with sadness in our eyes. Alice began tearing up when that happened."How can that be...? How could it...?" I said as I mourned her death. "It's like an alchemist deconstructed her, but who? I guess it doesn't matter. Even if we did find him, it wouldn't bring her back." Al said sadly. "Sorry...Nina. I'm..." Ed said out of sadness. "Brother, don't..." Al said as Ed started breaking down in tears until it began to rain and he started crying.