A/N:TW: This chapter contains descriptions of a horrific accident.

Ed didn't stop to consider that they were no longer in their house. He had momentarily shoved away thoughts about what he had just experienced. The strange white land with the stone gates and that horrible thing. All he thought about was that the gate had taken Al from him, and there was absolutely no way he was going to let that happen. He ignored the pain in his leg—or what was left of it—swearing as he looked around. He was in a stone hallway. Light streamed in through the side windows, dust particles swirling toward the stone floor, worn smooth by years of footsteps. The hallway was unadorned except for a row of old suits of armor, lined up across from the windows.

His eyes alighted on the nearest one, and, gritting his teeth against the pain, he pulled himself over to it, using his head to knock the feet out from under it. It worked. The suit came crashing down with an almighty roar that echoed through the cold stone. Ed growled, took off the helmet, and stifled his scream as he dipped his fingers in his own blood and scrawled a transmutation circle on the inside of the armor.

Then he clasped his hands together and slammed them down, screaming, "GIVE ME BACK MY BROTHER!"

Professor Mustang was in the middle of a Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson with the third years when he heard a crash in the hallway, followed by a shout. He couldn't tell who it was, couldn't make out the words from here, but he could hear the pain and desperation.

He looked at his class, all of whom had flipped around in their seats and were staring, wide-eyed at the door to the hallway. Several had begun to whisper, and many were looking frightened.

He let out a puff of air. "All of you, stay here," he said, sternly. "I'll be back momentarily."

He whipped out of the classroom and into the hallway, robes billowing behind. He followed it to the left, noting the distinct absence of sound following the two rather loud ones that had led him to investigate. However, as he continued, a new sound reached his ears.

Someone was crying, "brother?" softly, over and over again, in a sort of metallic, hollow voice. It sounded like a little kid.

Mustang pushed his legs, his strides getting longer, and rounded the corner…

Only to be brought to a halt by what he saw.

There was blood… so much blood, covering the stone floor of the hallway. One of the suits of armor had been knocked over and was lying in a heap, blocking Mustang's view of the source of the blood.

The voice continued, "Brother?"

As he neared, he got his first glimpse of the source of the blood, and had to shove his own bile down. A small boy was lying, pale as death, on the floor, one arm and one leg missing. They had been brutally torn off and he was rapidly losing blood from each extremity. He didn't recognize the boy –how had he gotten through the wards? But there clearly wasn't time for questions like that, for the boy was surely dying.

Mustang squared his shoulders and prepared his wand for triage, and nearly jumped out of his skin when the suit of armor moved.

It came up from its heap and stood erect, turning toward him and assuming a defensive posture.

What in the hell was going on? What kind of magic was this? Mustang was vaguely aware of some spell that would awaken all the suits of armor and statues in the castle, but this seemed to be the only suit that was moving, and it was moving in a very… disturbingly human-like manner.

"Who are you!?" Came the child's voice again. "Where are we, what's going on?"

Mustang looked around for the source of the sound, and then looked back at the suit of armor. Then his mouth dropped open as he made the only logical leap.

"You –" he managed, before looking back toward the bleeding child on the floor. "You—" then he held up his hands, schooling his features into a passive face and holding up his hands, trying to edge closer. The blood had seeped into pools around the boy's missing extremities. That kid was going to die, and if he didn't play his cards right, this suit of armor – or whatever it was – may not let him help. That was no good.

"I'm not going to hurt you," he placated.

"Who are you?" The suit demanded, and Mustang was struck again at how young the voice sounded. It was not the same voice he'd heard in the classroom. Did that mean—?

"My name is Professor Mustang," he said. "This is a school." Then he pointed to the small boy lying on the ground. "Is that your brother?"

The suit of armor seemed to relax somewhat at his words, then turned back around and dropped to its knees. "Brother?" the voice asked. "Can you hear me?"

The suit's face turned back toward Mustang, and Mustang could hear the desperation in its voice.

"Can you help him? I don't know what to do!" the suit cried. "I don't know where we are, I'm so confused, and brother… I think he's dying."

Mustang took that as the invitation it was and took several steps forward, coming to kneel by the injured boy's side. He wasn't the most practiced at healing spells, but a simple sealing spell should help until he could get the boy to Madam Pomfrey. He performed the spell and was pleasantly surprised to note that the blood immediately stopped flowing. The boy was deathly pale, and his breaths were coming in short pants, and his brow was a sweaty mess. He needed the hospital wing… now.

He performed a simple diagnostic spell and was glad to note that there were no other pressing issues.

"We need to get him to the hospital wing," Mustang told the suit of armor.

"You have an entire hospital?" The voice replied, sounding surprised. "What kind of school is this? And what were you doing with that stick?"

Mustang ignored the implications of those kinds of questions, and stood up, instead, lifting the injured boy carefully. "Come with me," he said, and they rushed off toward the hospital wing.

Al had no idea what was happening, but at least Ed's wounds had stopped bleeding. He followed the strange man through what could only be described as a castle. They reached the end of the hallway, and then went up several flights of stairs through a large open stairwell whose walls were filled with portraits. Al could have sworn some of them were moving.

But the thing that filled most of his current thoughts was this strange body he seemed to now be inhabiting. He had noticed it right away when he'd awoken on the cold stone. It wasn't his body. He couldn't feel the coolness of the stone underneath him, in fact, he could hardly feel anything at all.

When he'd looked down, he'd seen only a hollow suit of armor beneath him, but when he moved his arm, the suit's arm moved. When he stood up, the suit did too.

He'd made the obvious conclusion that he was now a suit of armor.

Which didn't make him feel any better.

But then he'd seen Ed, lying in a pool of his own blood, two limbs missing, and all of his own troubles had gone whizzing out of his mind.

But now, the immediate threat to Ed was gone, they seemed to have found someone who was going to help, who was taking Ed to a hospital, and now all Al could focus on was that he felt wrong.

He was stuck inside this suit of armor. He could feel its edges, he could feel the hollowness inside, and when he spoke, his voice rang like it was coming from the inside of a bell. He felt much too large and clunky and was having a hard time balancing. Every step he took made an ugly screeching noise, a clang of metal against stone.

This was all wrong.

What had happened? What had gone wrong? Had they succeeded? And where in the world were they?

They were walking through another corridor, when a tall, stern-looking woman caught sight of them.

"Roy? Isn't-" She trailed off as her eyes alighted on Ed's unconscious form, hanging limply from Profressor Mustang's arms. "What is going on?"

Professor Mustang gave a short shake of his head. "Will you fetch Albus, and Maes, and meet us in the hospital wing?" he asked.

She looked again at Professor Mustang and then her eyes flicked toward Al, standing behind the Professor, and they widened with surprise. She finally seemed to regain some composure, and then nodded brusquely. "At once."

And then she was off, her legs taking her somewhere as quickly as they could. Al had no idea who Albus or Maes were, but at least they were still heading toward the hospital. Hopefully there would be someone there who could help his brother.

After a few more corners turned, Al found that he was completely lost. If you had asked him to navigate back to the hallway he had woken up in, there's no way he would have been able to. This castle was huge, and maze-like. They wound around until they finally came to a large pair of double doors, ornately carved with some sort of creature that Al didn't recognize. Some sort of bird.

Professor Mustang waved the stick he held in the air, and the doors opened. Al frowned. Or at least, he tried to frown, only to find that the suit of armor wouldn't allow him to make facial expressions. So instead, he narrowed his eyes. Somehow, that still worked. What was that stick the Professor held, and why did it seem like he was doing some sort of alchemy with it? It wasn't any type of alchemy Al had ever heard of.

When the doors opened, however, Al got his first look into the room, which was lit by floor-to ceiling windows along each wall, and the ceiling was high, almost two full stories, and domed at the top. Lining the walls were beds, each made up to perfection with white sheets, pillows, and very normal hospital-looking blankets.

Al heaved a sigh of relief; this was definitely a hospital.

Professor Mustang rushed to the nearest bed, "Madam Pomfrey!" he said loudly, and a short, plumpy woman appeared from out of a side office. Her face drained of color when she saw Ed being laid out on a bed.

"Who is this?" She asked, immediately rushing to his side and pulling out a stick of her own, waving it over Ed. But she sounded worried, not suspicious, so Al just stayed back. "What happened?"

"I'm afraid I have no answers for you, yet," Professor Mustang said. "I discovered him in the hallway outside my Defense classroom, after hearing a disturbance in the middle of my class."

Madam Pomfrey was still waving her wand over Ed, and Al found himself too transfixed to move. There were small lights coming from her wand and spreading out over Ed's body. But Ed's pallor seemed to be improving, and his breathing seemed to have evened out somewhat. What kind of alchemy was this? Al had never heard of Alchemy that could heal like that.

"Two severed limbs, shock, he's lost a lot of blood," Madam Pomfrey was saying. "Got to seal these up properly, the sealing spell was you, I presume?" She spared a glance at Professor Mustang, who nodded grimly, still staring at Ed.

"I'm afraid I'm rather out of practice with my healing spells."

"This was well done, for a first measure. It's only that it's a bit flimsy. I'll just do something a bit more permanent." She waved her wand, and Al watched in a sort of horrified relief as the grisly ends of his brother's limbs began to close, and his skin began to grow over the ends rapidly, until there was nothing but a stump that looked like it had been healing for months. It still looked inflamed, and the skin hadn't completely sealed, but it looked so much better than it had.

Ed seemed to be in much less pain now, the clenching in his jaw had eased somewhat, and his breathing almost sounded normal.

"I think some blood-replenishing potions are in order," Madam Pomfrey declared, striding over to a nearby cabinet. When it opened, Al could see a plethora of different types of bottles, all with differing liquids inside, ranging from bright pink to black. "We'll need to keep applying essence of dittany," she continued, picking out a deep red potion from the cabinet and striding back toward the bed. "And continue administering blood-replenishing potions, and of course, we've got to keep those wounds clean."

She popped out the cork and poured a little of the liquid into a smaller cup, and then held it against Ed's lips. To Al's surprise, the liquid disappeared, and his brother swallowed.

"I think he's out of danger," Madam Pomfrey said, just as the doors opened, and three other people walked in. One was the tall woman Professor Mustang had spoken to earlier, and the other two were, Al presumed, Albus and Maes.

One of them was very old, his tall spindly form covered in bright blue velvety robes, and had a head of long white hair, and a long white beard to match. He peered curiously over half-moon rimmed glasses at all of them, his gaze taking in every detail of the room with an aura of perfect calm.

The other was a much younger man, with brown hair, and a much shorter, brown beard. He, too, looked calm, although underneath the calm exterior, Al could see his eyes blazing with curiosity, and worry.

The old man came to a stop just in front of Professor Mustang, and his gaze flicked between the Professor, and Ed, and then came to rest on Al. Al averted his gaze, feeling an intensity he didn't like.

"Minerva told me something has happened," he said, simply.

"Albus, thank you for coming," Professor Mustang said, and then turned back toward Ed. "Yes, something has happened, but I'm not entirely sure what." He admitted.

Albus turned back toward Al. "What, indeed?" he said, softly, and walked toward Al, who was still getting used to being tall and not having to look up at the adults.

"I don't know what happened," Al said. "One moment we were in our house, and then…" he intentionally skipped over the part where they had tried to perform human transmutation. He had no desire to get himself and his brother thrown in prison, so instead he said "I don't know what happened, I woke up here… like… like this…" he gestured down at himself.

Albus's eyes softened in sympathy. "Indeed. This must be very distressing," he said. "Do you mind if I ask you a few questions. I think I may be able to discern some of what has occurred."

Al nodded quietly, trying to ignore the squeaking the armor made every time he moved. He didn't know who these people were, but they had helped Ed. Surely, they could help him, too?

He sat on a bed when Albus gestured for him to do so, and Albus pulled up a chair and sat across from him.

"Forgive me for not introducing myself earlier," the man said kindly. "My name is Albus Dumbledore. I am the headmaster here."

Al nodded. "Where is here?"

"Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry," Albus answered plainly.

Al couldn't help it when his jaw fell slack. "Wh—what?"

"I know it must be a bit much," Albus continued. "Can you tell me where you were before finding yourself inside the castle?"

"Resembool," Al answered, seeing no reason to lie.

Albus's brow furrowed a bit. "What country?"

Al looked around to find that all the adults in the room were frowning slightly. Where exactly were they? "Amestris," he answered.

Albus's eyes lit up with something akin to surprise, but Al could see that the rest of the professors were still just as confused as they had been. "I see," Albus said. "And what were you doing before you found yourself here?"

"I was—we were—" again, he refused to say it out loud. Shame burned in his face, and sadness. What if it had worked, and now they had been transported here and their mother was left alone in the house? What would she think? He felt tears spring to his eyes. He knew why Ed had lost his limbs; he knew why he had lost his body. The price of human transmutation had been greater than either of them could have imagined. "We just wanted to see her again," he forced out, through the sobs that had begun to wrack his body. "We didn't mean to—I don't know what happened!" His sobs hitched. Although he didn't have a throat, or eyes, somehow, he was crying. There were no tears, just… sounds.

Albus laid a comforting hand on his metal knee. Al could see the hand, but he couldn't feel it, which distressed him even further. When he looked up into the old man's face, he found only a devastated sort of understanding, and sympathy. "I see," he said.

He turned to the rest of the professors. "I believe I have discerned some of what has occurred," he told them.

"Please enlighten us," Professor Mustang said at once. "What is going on?"

Albus took a deep breath, and then plunged in. "This will have to remain between the four of us for now," he said. "It is, I believe, very sensitive."

They all nodded.

"I assume that none of you have heard of the country of Amestris?" he asked. They all shook their heads, and he continued. "In the 1500s, there was much contention between magical and non-magical people. In response, magical people throughout the European continent came together and established a country – Amestris. In an attempt to live in peace, it was magically hidden in between Poland, and Germany – although they were not called as such back then."

Al blinked, listening to the story, uncomprehendingly. He was speaking of Amestris, but certainly not the Amestris Al knew, and he had never heard of Poland or Germany before.

"The people in Amestris had a magical specialty in alchemy. However, the country was torn apart by civil war in 1904-1908, and subsequently was taken over by a band of extremely dark wizards in 1915. The entirety of the European magical community came together to wipe them out, and the whole country was abandoned shortly thereafter." He looked sadly at Al.

The rest of the professors then looked toward Al as well, their faces ranging from horrified to sad.

Al shook his head to clear it. What… what was Albus saying? "But…" he said.

Albus looked sad when he asked a final quiet question. "What year is it, in your reckoning?"

"1910," Al answered, feeling sick as understanding was beginning to dawn for him. "What year is it now?"

"1991," Professor Mustang supplied when the rest were stunned into silence.

Al swallowed, his head reeling, unable to absorb or process all the information. "And… Amestris. It's… gone?"

A/N: Hi everyone,

Welcome to this weird little story of mine. I feel like I need to explain that Mustang and Hughes both exist naturally in the HP universe for the purposes of this story. This is before Ed and Al met them in FMA universe, but I reeeeaaallly wanted them in this story, so...

Anyway, hope you enjoyed! I have most of this story written out, so hopefully I'll be able to update regularly.

I would love any feedback you have to give.

Thanks!