Chapter 1.

Entrance to the Bradley Residence. August 1928

Fuhrer Alexander Louis Armstrong, now in his 9th reign as leader of Amestris, disembarking from a nondescript vehicle. He reminisced about his processor as he approached the Bradley Mansion.

Triad reference: Chord Calculator (click on the keyboard to generate the triad). be advised some profanity used.

After the Promised Day, General Grumman assumed control of Amestris as Fuhrer and established a provisional government. He sought to reform and make self-sufficient the various institutions of power in order to provide a framework in which the next Fuhrer could build upon. After 4 years power was transferred and now, he, Alex Louis Armstrong, the great Strong-Arm Alchemist, has assumed control of Amestris as its Fuhrer. Under his leadership, Armstrong continued to build up the limited democracy inherited by Grumman, with its bicameral parliamentary system comprised of an upper parliament comprised of military officials and a lower parliament comprised of a civilian who advocated to the upper parliament about issues in the regions ranging from infrastructure, hospitals, and civilian light industries. Although the military still had control of power in the country, there was a loosening of power and limited regional autonomy. Inshval reconciliation had occurred and Ishval had been reintegrated into Amestris, with full autonomy still under the current leadership of a man who once was known by Scar. Police and military forces remained in the control of the Amestrian government, but it was staffed entirely of Ishvalen volunteers and tasked to with solely defend and maintaining order within their territory. The military police had been reformed as well, with localized enforcement conducted to a civilian gendarmerie attached to a separate department of the military police. The Military police would still maintain regional and national policing duties, tasked with manning the border, investigation, and maintaining the security interests of the country. Overall Amestris had advanced and becoming a regional superpower with a bustling economy, strong military, and nascent military and civilian aviation fleet, extensive trade networks and alliances with the Kingdom of Xing under the rule of the Emperor, Yao Ling.

Your excellency. Addressed the butler Madame Bradley and the young master are in the garden they anticipate your arrival. Fuhrer Armstrong snapping back to reality replied, Oh Yes! Let me go see how the boy has progressed. In his usual jovial and deep voice.

Armstrong approached the direction of the pavilion where the Mrs. Bradley had been sitting, overlooking the fields below drinking tea, He saw Selim Bradley playing in the fields with Dr. Marcoh, his personal physician and private instructor. Selim was kept within the premise of the Mansion grounds. As he approached the pavilion and ascended its steps, he gave salutes to the military police assigned to the Bradelys insured with their protection another set of eyes to monitor the boy. Armstrong greeted Mrs. Bradley:

So how is Selim so far? Has he kept aging and growing as normal?

Yes, it's reassuring to see him growing up normally again. It was so hard for him when he stopped growing 6 years ago. I was so concerned about his development. Even Dr. Marcoh was dumbfounded. Replied Mrs. Bradley, relieved that Selim was doing better now. Armstrong had read those reports, Dr. Marcoh reported that Selim had stopped growing both physically and mentally, he remained at the age of 4 for 4 years before his development resumed. Those years took its toll on the young boy.

The Good thing is that he's growing and healthy now. How is his academic performance this year anyways?

Armstrong sat down on the steps and drank from a large thermos of tea the butler prepared for him in advance and drank directly from it holding it in one arm.

His performance with Dr. Marcoh is progressing well. He's able to do simple arithmetic now and his temper tantrums are getting better controlled now. There was a sense of concern in her voice. After Selim started growing again, it was difficult for him to grow and develop cognitively. He was still the sweet little boy who loved animals and had a heart of gold, but academically, it became difficult for him. Armstrong read reports of Selims severe ADHD and how educating with proved difficult even with individualized instruction by Dr. Marcoh. It was difficult for him to learn basic concepts and his mid seems to wonder and Selim found it difficult to focus. His confidence suffered as a result, Selim would constantly break down crying and get angry when he didn't understand something, saying it's too hard and shutting down. Without the reassuring words of Dr. Marcoh, it seemed a miracle that the boy could retain anything.

That's good to hear. I'm Glad he's doing well for his age. Armstrong maintained his politeness, but inside he thought Usually children his age should already know how to not only do their arithmetic, but other math like fraction and think more independently. Selim seems to still be reliant on Dr. Marcoh.

They stared into the distance, appreciating the sights and sounds of the mansion grounds. Everting seemed peaceful…Almost too peaceful. In the distance their heard a shout.

It's too hard! I can't do anything! Selim shouted. His black Bermuda shorts stained with dirt as he knelt with Dr. Marcoh in front of a simple alchemy array.

Selim. I know you're having difficulty with the array, but no one gets it right the first time they do something new. Replied the doctor, hoping his calm and encouraging words could console Selim's frustration.

I can't do it, nothing happens when I touch it, nothing works?! Aghhh! Selim punches the ground angry.

Tears start to well up in his eyes

I don't know. I don't know. He sobbed. A part of him wanted to do it so badly. It seemed like so much fun when Dr. Marcoh turned his wooden cube into a pretty bird toy. But when he tried to do it nothing happened the stupid block stayed the same and there was no magic glowing like when Dr. Marcoh did it. He was angry he wanted to break something to blame something else instead because it wasn't his fault he couldn't do it. He desperately wanted to do it to show anyone or at least someone that he could do something by himself instead of always needing help.

Selim, please don't get angry, we can do this another day. Why don't we get ice cream instead you like ice cream. Marcoh signaled a nearby servant, who hurried away to get ice cream. Usually something like mentioning ice cream or reading him a story would cause Selim to get distracted enough to start to calm down, but today it didn't seem to work. As he stared at Selim, whom he considered his own son at this point due to the time he spent with him, it didn't seem to work.

Usually when Selim heard he was getting ice cream or a story from Dr. Marcoh, he would sudden perk up and look forward to it, but right now, instead of getting better, he felt angrier, it sounded like Dr. Marcoh was mocking him even though Selim knew he didn't mean it like that.

Anger swelled within in he wanted to show him and everyone that he could do it and everyone be damned if he couldn't. As those thoughts raced through his head, his mind went blank, and he saw a flashback.

He was staring down at the palms of his hands, filled with intricate symbols and images tattooed onto it. He looked up and stared a large group of brown skinned women and children with bright red eyes, trapped by a wall that seemed to rise up from the ground after a brilliant flash of light, entrapping them. The were staring at him in fear cowering from him as if afraid of death. Suddenly, he raised his hand and clapped them together, the alchemy array activating as he felt the energy start to build up and strangely enough, he began to sense the noises for the first time, a faint hum from the dirt on the ground to the sound of groaning coming from the stone wall to the creaking coming from the sweat of the people cowering before him. It was a cacophony of sound with tis eerie sounds. He should have been overwhelmed by the different sounds coming from everywhere around him even himself, but to him it was a symphony of noises, each more wonderful than the next. There was something calling to him the hum from the dirt, the groan from the wall and creaking from the sweat seemed to call to him like an orchestra playing the final bars of a suite all holding the final note and building momentum, holding off and waiting, for he the conductor, to give the downbeat for the final note and tie it all together. He felt the array on his hands glow bright blue. The sounds seem to beg him to give to down beat and give them respite as if they were holding the sustain note too long and straining against his leadership. He as the master of ceremonies, would give them the respite they so desired. He slammed his hands into the ground, and he could hear a harmonized triad emanate from his hand and race down into the women and children trapped in the wall. His mind then, suddenly cleared and he was staring at the alchemy array he traced on the ground. Except now something was different.

It was as if he could he was a deaf man who could hear again, there was so much noise and whirlwind of noises coming from everywhere. He could sense the low groans of the grass around him, the high-pitched drone of the dirt, the number of different sounds were endless. He didn't know which notes to pick, but he wanted to show Dr. Marcoh and everyone around him that he could do something. It felt as if he was born to do this. All of a sudden, Selim felt drawn to a few distinct sounds that seemed to grab his attention. He heard and even felt now a large humming noise that seemed to drown out the rest of the noises. He didn't notice the words coming from Dr. Marcoh's mouth. He couldn't hear anything except a deep low droning sound coming from the distance. He soon realized the noise was coming from the lake a few hundred yards away. Finding his low note, he now needed a higher pitched note, he remembered about the dirt and a patch of dirt closer to the lake seemed to call to him as if telling him "Pick me pick me!". He focused on the two sounds; all he needed was a high-pitched noise. Looking down he heard it in front of him a noise even higher pitched than the grass beneath him- It was the paper. He now had his triad-the lake, the dirt near the lake, and the paper in front of him. He knew what he needed to do. He focused on those three notes-the low note from the lake, the middle note from the dirt, and the high note in front of him. He lifted his hand and clapped his hands together and to his surprise his hands glowed blue and he could hear the triad from the notes he picked out (C# diminished Triad). It was the most beautiful thing he heard, like a symphony of chaos. He slammed his hands on the ground and heard a loud rumbling. The sound of the triad rushing towards the lake. Selim was so full of ecstasy that he wasn't able to see the shocked expression on Dr. Marcoh's face. His face white as a sheet.

Armstrong and Mrs. Bradley were suddenly jostled from their moment of bliss as they both heard a loud crackling sound coming from near the mansion. Then, all of a sudden, there was a giant rumbling emanating from the lake, water in the suddenly boiled and was vibrating violently when Boom. There was a explosion, the water seemed to sudden implode on itself and combust. The fireball was 20 feet by 20 feet. There was a deafening roar as it flared up, followed by a large shockwave which shook the entire mansion. The ground split in multiple directions near the lake while Selims alchemy array had all but burnt to a crisp. Multiple windows shattered throughout the mansion and the explosion sending a tidal wave of water flooding parts of the field. The light was so bright that it blinded everyone temporarily. When they recovered, all that remained was a billowing cloud of smoke and soldiers rushed rushing onto the field unsure what had just happened Amidst all the confusion and chaos was Selim, with the biggest shit-eating grin on his face, that would show them He thought to himself.

End of chapter 1

Author's Note: thanks for reading fanfic. it's mostly a stream of consciousness. I don't know when i can publish the next Chapter but i will eventually. Thanks for coming. Without Gemini Advanced AI I wouldn't be able to understand the mechanics of Alchemy or have a good framework to build off of.

-LC