Fullmetal Alchemist Fan Fiction ❯ Fullmetal Alchemist : A Summoning ❯ Sacrifice ( Chapter 1 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

IVX: Ok, so I know I said I didn’t want to start a new story until I finished the naruto/inuyasha cross over, but I just couldn’t wait anymore. It’s been killing me and I am having trouble with ETK even though I’m excited to write the ending, maybe fellow authors will understand my feelings, but those who don’t, just know this will help me get my will to write back. I will do my best to update them equally, so ETK will actually be concluded soon ^_^. Well, I hope you will enjoy reading this as much as I will enjoy writing it...^_~

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Fullmetal Alchemist. They belong to J. K. Rowling and Hiromu Arakawa respectively.

Setting: This is set after the anime and movie (CoS) for Fullmetal Alchemist and in the fifth HP book (OoTP). There is a slight difference in the fullmetal universe concerning the ending of the movie, but that will be covered as you read.


~Ch 1 - Sacrifice ~

Two figures clad in blue military uniforms walked down the center of a darkened street. The buildings surrounding them appeared rundown and lost to time. The town they were current tracking through had been abandoned for quite a few years now and looked every bit the ghost town it was. However, the lack of illumination from street lamps nor the creepy feeling of the town would deter the duo from their destination. Even as the sky opened up and rain fell heavily upon them, they kept heading steadily forward.

This was it. The end to another very long battle they had somehow gotten them selves mixed up with. Of course, having been involved in the last debacle with these vile creatures only helped to ensure their involvement this time around. When all was said and done, they were the resident experts on the soulless human wanna-be’s, but that didn’t mean the military officers enjoyed dealing with the man created monsters. In all reality they had hoped the last time would have been just that, the last time. Unfortunately life isn’t fair. A sentiment the pair of state alchemist new all to well.

The shorter of the two reached up and rubbed his right shoulder tenderly. The other mad looked over and spoke in a sympathetic voice. “Is the moisture making your ports hurt again brother?”

The other man scoffed softly before answering. “I’ll be fine.” His voice held an agitated edge to it.

The tone of the shorter man’s response made the first man flinch a bit. “Sorry.” He mumbled.

Amber eyes looked up into forlorn hazel pools and the smaller of the two sighed before looking away. “Sorry Al, this weather... and this case are just getting to me. I’m not mad at you.” He apologized, but just as Al’s features started to lighten, “...even if you are a mother hen.” added the golden eyed young man in a mumble.

Al stopped in his tracts and gave his brother an indignant look. “Mother hen? I’ll have you know if it weren’t for all my fussing, you would have been down and out for the count long ago... Edward.” He crossed his arms and stuck his nose in the air. “And I am not a mother hen. I just worry about a brother that doesn’t worry for himself.”

Ed’s eyes narrowed. “And just what is that supposed to mean?”

“Exactly what I said.” His brother huffed. “You don’t take good enough care of yourself.” The tone of Al’s voice slipped from one of anger to concern as he relaxed his stance and made eye contact with Ed. “I’m not the only one who’s noticed, you know.”

“I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself.” Edward said with a humph as he continued walking. “I’m a grown man. I don’t need you or your old woman...” Here he paused out of reflex, awaiting a flying wrench, but quickly continued at the absence of said tool. “ ...thinking you need to mother me.”

“Brother, even General Mustang noticed.” The taller blond dead panned.

“I didn’t think the Fuhrer would notice a lowly Brigadier General like myself.” He said with a smirk.

“He isn’t fuhrer yet, but that’s besides the point. If even he’s noticed, while busy with all that, then obviously I have cause to worry.” The annoyance slipped back into his voice as he spoke.

Edward turned to look at Alphonse with equal annoyance. “I don’t see why you all have your panties in a bunch. I’m alive and I feel fine.”

“Fine isn’t the word for it. Ever since this new bunch of homunculi showed up, you’ve been in a self destructive, downward spiral. You barely sleep, you barely eat, and frankly... you look like crap.” His brother got a small tick mark on his forehead, but he continued anyways with a slight smirk. “Not to mention, your constant slouching makes you look even shorter than you already are.” As soon as the words left his mouth, the younger brother jumped away.

The sound of a clap had been nearly simultaneously with the word ‘shorter’, but the stone hand that had risen from the ground only grasped air. The shorter alchemist cracked his neck as he stood and straitened his uniform.

The other blond chuckled. No matter how much his brother grew up, there were still some things that would never change. “See,” he said as he fell back instep with his would be attacker. “Even your reaction time has slowed.”

Edward smirked even though his eyes were still narrowed from the jab at his height. “The only reason my reaction time has slowed down is because I’m out of practice at dodging all those wrenches.” His smirked widened. “How is your head by the way?”

Alphonse chuckled nervously. “She has been a little moody lately, hasn’t she?”

“I’m just glad she has a new target.” Joked Ed and the mood between the two seemed to lighten a bit.

Al smiled for a moment longer before it faded from his lips. “You know I can’t help, but worry. You won’t even tell me what it is that has you so bothered.”

Edward waved his question away. “Ah, don’t worry about it. After we deal with this last one, we’ll be past all this and I’ll be in a much better mood.” He reassured his brother, but in all honesty, he wasn’t really sure that was true. As the pair walked on in silence for a bit, Edward reflected on exactly why he had been neglecting his own well being.

It had all started after the two of them had sealed the gate to the other side. Sure, at first he had been happy. He was finally in his own world and even though he had to be fitted with automail again, his brother was there with him... in the flesh. Edward could live with his own deformities because they were almost as much of a part of him as his alchemy now. The important thing was that Al had his body back and they were together.

The rush of everything working out for the best started to fade with time though. The things he had seen and done had finally caught up to him, darkening his thoughts constantly. Slowly, but surely he was becoming more and more distant to those around him. His constant depression weighed him down, but he thought he was doing a good job of hiding it. Well, until the damn homunculi showed up again. They were new ones, but the parallels with his old battles tipped the scales and pushed him over the deep end, so to speak.

Up until then, he had taken care not to let his heavily laden mind interfere with his job or health. Now, however, he hardly found the strength to care. He was just so damn tired of fighting these stupid pointless battles. Why were these things so hell bent on causing him personal trouble anyways? Ed sighed, Al’s right. I really should snap out of it. It could end up hurting my fighting and getting one of us killed. That thought sent a shiver up his spine. No, he couldn’t let that happen. If there was one thing he couldn’t handle in this world, it was losing his brother again. He would never let that happen so long as he was alive. He would rather die than live in a world with out him.

Ed smiled softly as he looked over, and slightly up, at his ‘little’ brother. Besides, there were other reasons he had to make sure nothing happened to him. The number one and most important reason being that Winrey would kill him. The other was one that even the Golden Knight Alchemist didn’t know. The newly appointed Lieutenant Colonel was about to be a father. Ed couldn’t be happier for him. At least on of them was living a fulfilling life. Even if it is as a State Alchemist. Ed thought grumpily.

Edward hadn’t planned on going back to the military when he returned to Amestris, but it ended up being one of the only options open to him. He had spent so long fighting and researching that he didn’t really feel he fit in anywhere else. It wasn’t until his brother made the choice to join with him that he regretted his decision. There wasn’t anything for it though. Even when Ed threatened to go quit altogether, Al had stayed firm in his decision. It turned out that him and Winry had grown quite close in Edwards absence and were planning on being married. Alphonse had wanted to provide for his soon to be wife while doing something he loved. Seeing Al’s resolve in the matter, Edward had grudgingly accepted his decision, but made sure that he was directly under his command once he passed the State Alchemist certification.

It was only a year after that the homunculi showed up again. Apparently there were rumors of a successful human transmutation and an upsurge in attempts at duplicating the miracle turned for the worse. For the second time in his twenty-one years of life, the Fullmetal Alchemist and his brother were in a covert war with creatures thought to be mythology.

Ed came back to the hear and now as they approached an especially wicked looking old factory. He turned to his brother with a dead serious look. “Let’s end this here and now.” He said with conviction to which the Lt. Colonel nodded with a battle hardened smirk.

-

An hour later found the two alchemist panting heavily and covered in blood and sweat. Who would have though that Lust, of all the sins, would have been the toughest this time. Maybe if it had been a woman like last time, it would have been more of a repeat, but this masculine Lust was down right frightening in a battle. The brothers had to hid to catch there breath and come up with a new battle plan. They had expected the unnatural powers, having dealt with them before, but what they hadn’t expected was another alchemist with their ability to be helping him.

“She must be the one who created him. It was a smart move of him to use her love for her lost boyfriend to manipulate her... damn him.” Ed cursed.

“Yeah, since she’s seen the gate she can keep up with us in a fight. The two of us could have taken him, but having her around complicates things.” The Golden Knight Alchemist looked forlorn as he peeked around the edge of the rubble they were hiding behind. Not finding any sign of their pursuers, he turned back to look at Fullmetal. “What are we gonna do brother.”

“Don’t worry, we came prepared this time. We have his bones and all we need to do is get rid of the girl so she can’t keep destroying my circle. She keeps removing it before I can get the bones...” Edwards eyes lit up. “That’s it.” He said clicking his fingers.

Al looked on excitedly at the expression on his brothers face. “What did you...” He started, but never had the chance to finish his sentence.

Both brothers eyes widened as they stared at each other in horror. A splatter of warm liquid colored Edward’s face crimson and the both alchemist looked down. A long black spike was protruding from the younger brother’s chest...

With a sickening slurping sound, the makeshift weapon was retracted from the young man’s body and an evil laugh filled their ears. As Al slumped forward in pain, Edward rushed forward and held him close. “Aw,” chuckled the dark haired man as he looked down at them from a large piece of mangled scrap metal. “How cute. Look Elisa, They’re cuddling.”

Edward ignored anything the abomination had to say. He had tunnel vision now. His brother was laying in his arms, Dying! “Alphonse, Alphonse! Look at me. Stay with me!” He said frantically as he tried to keep his brother conscious.

“Oh my, it seems I did a sloppy job. Let me just put him out of his misery Fullmetal. Wouldn’t want Golden Boy to suffer now would we?” He said with another sinister chuckle.

That got his attention. Edward’s eyes darkened in rage. “You Bastard!” He seethed. “You’ll pay for this.” He gingerly laid his brother on the ground and stood with an aura of pure hatred radiating from him.

This only made Lust laugh harder. “And how exactly do you plan on making me pay, shorty?”

The reference to his stature didn’t even phase the man, but he answered the question with his eyes. Golden pools went from glaring daggers at the homunculus to staring intently at the female alchemist beside him.

The humonculus could care less if the girl died except for the fact she was a valuable weapon, but he had to keep up the appearance of love if he wanted to keep her at his beckon call. “You wouldn’t dare.” He mock raged, barely able to keep a smirk off his face.

Edward was on the woman in a flash. He only attacked her with hand to hand combat for a moment before turning back to Lust, who was approaching his fallen brother, and tackled him to the ground. A quick clap and a circle later, Elisa was jumping into the alchemic array with hands at the ready to remove the markings. However, the second her foot touched down, Edward activated the circle with one hand while the other held a pistol at the ready. Before Elisa’s hands could touch down, the Brigadier General made his first ever killing shot with a gun.

As Lusts head snapped back and he fell to the ground Elisa removed the circle. She looked on with bated breath, waiting for her love to get up. He never did. After a moment she turned her fury on the blond man that had caused the second death of her beloved David. “What did you do!” She shrieked. “I never gave you the chance to add his bones.” She said as she clapped her hands, ready to attack.

“You added the final ingredient.”

The tired voice stopped her in her attack and, as her long brown hair fell around her face, she saw it. The man had snagged it in her hair, his broken bone fragment. She had been the reason her regained loved lost his life. It was all her fault and she fell to her knees on the hard, stony floor. She looked up at the man with unseeing eyes as he pointed his gun at her.

He watched as she clapped her hands and Edward prepared himself to pull the trigger on a human. She raised her hands to either side of her head and the blue electricity of alchemy illuminated his face as he had to turn his sight from the grotesque scene. He grimaced at what she had just done, but he didn’t have time to dwell on it. His brother needed help and he needed it now.

Ed rushed back to his dying brothers side and ripped his uniform shirt open to get a better look at the wound. His stomach dropped at what he already new to be true. He had known at the angle the elongated finger had been protruding from his brothers chest that it was fatal, but he had held onto hope that he was wrong. He bowed his head as tears stung his eyes.

Al coughed violently and opened his dulled brown orbs. Edward turned frighten eyes on his brother and Alphonse knew his end was near. He smiled sadly as his brother as blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. “It’s ok brother. I was lucky to... have lived as long... as I have.” He said resignedly with a soft rasp coloring his voice.

“No!” Shouted Edward suddenly. “Don’t you give up on me. You can’t die here... not now, not like this!”

Al sighed and his lids slowly sunk. He felt so tired... “Brother, I studied... human anatomy along side you. I know... and it’s... ok. You have to live on... and look after Winry for... me.” He said between labored breaths.

“No! Don’t you understand? You’re gonna be a father, so see? You can’t die yet.” He stated with a teary smile. “You have to be there to raise your kid. I can’t let them go through what we did.”

The conviction in his brothers voice scared Alphonse, but he didn’t have the energy to argue. He did smile at the fact that Winry was carrying his child. His biggest regret was that he would never see his son or daughter be born and grow into a wonderfully unique person. His vision was getting blurry, but as he lay there he saw Edward create an array. With all the strength he had left he focused to see what it was exactly. The hauntingly familiar circle gave Alphonse one last burst of adrenalin driven energy. “No...” He coughed weakly. “No brother... you can’t.” He said reaching for him, willing him to stop, but the weakness consumed him and he slumped back down. As the blackness ebbed at the edge of his vision, he saw the sadly smiling face of his brother above him.

“Alphonse,” He said tenderly, “you are the light that keeps me going in the dark.” He closed his eyes and put his forehead against Al’s. “With out you I can’t go on.” Edward sat back and as he placed his hands over the marks on his body, he sighed at the irony of the situation. Not an hour ago, he had already played this scenario out in his head and now the dress rehearsal was over. Now he would preform his final act and finally be at peace with the knowledge that his brother was alive and happy.

As Alphonse’s eyes slipped shut against his will and all thought slipped from his mind, blue light illuminated him. When the light faded there was no trace of the mortal wound... or Edward.

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IVX: And there we have it. The first chapter of my hp/fm cross over. I hope it was as dramatic as I was going for, please give me your thoughts and feelings. I love to see the emotional reactions in reviews. But, don’t kill me just yet or you won’t know exactly how Edward ends up back on earth... ^_~