Fullmetal Alchemist Fan Fiction ❯ Amalgamation ❯ Amalgamation ( Chapter 1 )

Disclaimer- I don't own FMA. Never did, never will.

 

Amalgamation

By A Guy Named Goo

Beta'd by moonfairyhime

 

The first thing Alphonse remembered feeling was cold. Cold, coupled with hardness. Not the most pleasant of sensations to be felt, but when one had not been able to feel his surroundings for nearly five years, even the cold hard floor was as welcome as warm velvet, and he ran his hand over the surface, savoring it. Black and white dust came off on his fingers- his real, flesh fingers- and he felt it between them. Chalk, some of it burnt by the transmutation reaction. Gritty and powdery and solid between the pads of his fingertips.

 

It took a long time for it to occur to Alphonse that he should get up, as he lay on that floor, marveling at the soot and chalk dust between his fingers. It was a pained cough that startled him out of his reverie, and made him push himself up into a sitting position, not bothering to examine his newly regained body.

 

“Brother?” he asked plaintively, his voice sounding deeper and alien to him. He scanned the dim warehouse for any signs of Edward. No, he couldn't have...someone had just coughed, right? “Brother!” he cried, scrambling out of the transmutation circle. His hand came in contact with something soft, warm, and wet, and he pulled his hand back, examining the crimson stain.

 

Alphonse looked down where he had just touched, blinking a few times to adjust to the darkness inside the warehouse. He wouldn't have been able to make out the figure on the floor if it weren't for the nearly ghostly pallor of his left hand and face, which made the gold of his hair and eyes seem almost supernaturally bright. A dark trail was falling from his mouth, and as he coughed again, more blood tumbled out. So much so, Alphonse's first reaction was to turn Edward onto his side to keep him from drowning in his own blood.

 

“Brother...” he said softly, as he realized that his hands, which were placed on Edward's side, were being covered with fresh blood.

 

“Al...” Edward choked, his voice barely audible. The short word sounded wet and painful coming out of his mouth, and made Alphonse wince.

 

“Brother! I-I'll get you help!” Alphonse told him desperately, standing and realizing he was naked. It mattered little to him. He'd gladly run naked through the city if it meant saving Edward's life.

 

Edward making a choking noise that didn't readily resemble any words that Alphonse could think of, but it was enough to send him to his knees, hovering over his brother once more. He couldn't leave Edward like this. If he couldn't save him, he didn't want him to die alone. He gently lifted his body, feeling pieces of him missing and trying not to think about it as he ran outside with him.

 

The sun was blindingly bright. Alphonse had expected it to be dark or overcast; weather befitting the situation at hand. But instead it was sunny and warm and seemed to imply that elsewhere, people were happy and enjoying themselves. He squinted in the light and took in his location, and it suddenly occurred to him where Edward had taken him: he was in the old factory district where he had destroyed Sloth. Which meant...

 

All of the factories and adjacent warehouses looked alike, save for their numbers. Alphonse trusted his memory of the address he had been given, heading toward a factory as fast as he could and praying that he would still be there. It wasn't the kind of help Edward needed, but it would be better than nothing. He would never make it back to the city in time, after all.

 

Alphonse charged through the still-open doors and looked around frantically. “Mr. Tucker?!” There was no sign of him. Only his work: books and pieces of paper scattered around, empty tanks, arrays...

 

Alphonse looked down at Edward's body in his arms, ignoring the blood dripping down his own naked form. Edward's eyes were open, but they were dull and lifeless. His breathing was growing increasingly labored, punctuated by coughing and blood spraying from his mouth onto his brother's chest.

 

“It sounds like someone's come to see us...” a hoarse voice said in the empty factory. It was barely above a whisper, and Alphonse wouldn't have heard it had he not been listening.

 

It was like a sort of twisted mirror as the creature that was now Shou Tucker stepped out from behind a piece of machinery, cradling the soulless doll that resembled his late daughter. Her empty eyes were turned toward the new arrivals, although no signs of comprehension graced her features. Edward's own dull gaze, which was quickly becoming as empty as the Nina-doll's, turned to meet hers.

 

Tucker stroked her cheek affectionately with one claw. “Look, Nina, it's Edward. And who is that with him?”

 

“It's Alphonse! Mr. Tucker, please, you have to help us!” Alphonse begged, tears springing to his eyes. It was the first time he'd cried since getting out of the armor, and it didn't take long for it to evolve into gasping sobs. “Please, you have to do something!”

 

Alphonse stare into Tucker's upside-down gaze, trying to find any signs that he had penetrated his delusions and madness. After a long, tense moment, Tucker walked over to one of the conveyor belts and sat the Nina-doll carefully on it. “Stay here, Nina. Your papa has to do important alchemy things.”

 

“Alchemy? Like medicinal alchemy?” Alphonse asked, confused. He didn't know what he expected Mr. Tucker to do for Edward. Really, all things considered, he should have known that he wouldn't have many options other than alchemy.

 

Tucker stepped forward, lifting a corner of Edward's damp shirt to reveal a dark, gaping wound. “He is missing too much for that. Medicinal alchemy is not my specialty, and even if it were it cannot replace things that have been lost.” He let the shirt go, and it fell into the cavity in Edward's body. “You will need to replace those parts somehow. My specialty may be of some help there.”

 

Tucker walked over to a pile of forgotten books, picking them up and scanning their contents. “Find something to combine him with and I will do it.”

 

Alphonse widened his eyes. “You mean make him a chimera?”

 

Tucker continued to scan the books. “The military has had some success with using chimerism on dying soldiers to replace failing organs in the past. I have many of those notes here, so I believe I can duplicate the methods used.”

 

He pushed away a stack of papers and lifted up a piece of chalk, then leaned over and began sketching. “Go find something. I need to know what I am combining to finish the array.”

 

Alphonse couldn't believe what he was hearing. He looked down at Edward's limp form, listening to the breaths getting fewer and farer between. “I'll never be able to find something in time...”

 

“There are plenty of stray cats and dogs around here. I take Nina out to play with them sometimes. Either one would work.”

 

Alphonse looked at the entrance to the factory. “I don't want him combined with an animal. Brother wouldn't want that.” He looked down at Edward to see if this was true. His eyes were sliding closed.

 

Tucker looked up from the array he was drawing. “Then he will die.”

 

Alphonse bit his lip. “What about another human?”

 

Tucker's eyes went wide. “No one has ever tried to make a human-human chimera. Not that one has ever been recorded, anyway. It's considered a human transmutation.”

 

“But is it possible?”

 

“I honestly don't know.”

 

“Then try it!” Alphonse stepped forward, holding Edward's body against his own. “Please, just try it! I don't care what happens to me, but I can't live without him!”

 

Tucker bent down and continued working on the array, then moved to another part of the floor and began to draw another. “Put him into this array,” he ordered. Alphonse walked over and obediently put Edward on the floor. His eyes were closed now, and only the occasional gasp of breath signaled that he was alive.

 

Tucker drew another array as Alphonse gently arranged Edward on the second, then walked over to the first. “Now get into that third array,” he ordered. He tossed the chalk to the side as Alphonse did as he was told, sitting inside the array.

 

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Tucker asked. Alphonse simply nodded, and with that Tucker touched off the transmutation...

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

It felt like hours had passed before he opened his eyes. His mind was racing, trying to collect itself. What was the last thing he remembered? He was going to get back Al's body...no, wait, he'd done that. He was going save Brother, whose life was draining away in his arms, and he'd come to Tucker...wait, who was he?

 

He sat up in the array. Which array? The first one. Tucker had touched it. Where was Tucker? The replacement Nina was still on the conveyor belt, watching with dead eyes. He knew Tucker and Nina, at least. Nina, the poor girl...her father had ruined her life and ultimately lead to her death...

 

He looked at his hands. Two hands? He only had one. For a while he'd had none. Not real ones, anyway. But neither of those thoughts seemed right, either. Who was he? Why couldn't he get his mind together enough to figure it out?

 

He stood up on two legs...should he have those? He couldn't come to an answer again. Where was his brother? Did his brother forgive him? He couldn't live without his brother...

 

He looked over at the Nina-doll again. Where was Tucker? Did he survive the transmutation? He couldn't see him.

 

He felt cold suddenly. His brother was gone. His brother was with him. He was his brother. He was both Edward and Alphonse Elric. A wave of overwhelming and inexplicable loneliness overtook him, a desire to reach out for his brother for comfort, but his brother was gone. He was his brother now.

 

He couldn't live without his brother. And he would never have to. But he would never stop feeling that loneliness...

 

The End