Fullmetal Alchemist Fan Fiction ❯ Strangers Like Me ❯ Introductions ( Chapter 2 )

Strangers Like Me

[Chapter Two] Introductions

 

Disclaimer: I make no claims to ownership of Fullmetal Alchemist, nor am I making any profits from the writing of this fan fiction.

 

A/N: I'm pretty sure Edward is supposed to be around fifteen at this point in the anime, but for selfish personal reasons he's being bumped up to seventeen.

 

 

 

______________

 

 

 

Selene chewed on a straw she'd taken with her from the café she and Taya had eaten lunch at, waiting for the boy who'd agreed to meet them in the lobby of the hotel he was staying at. So far Selene was being made to wait for the second time that day. Fullmetal was nearly fifteen minutes late and was starting to look like he would be a no show.

 

Taya was amusing herself with the book she'd checked out, reading it though it had no information in it that she didn't already know. The blonde watched her sister read for lack of better entertainment, musing over the differences in their appearances. From what she could remember of her parents, they'd both had fair hair like she and her brother. But Taya was nothing like any of them.

 

For one thing she was pixie-like in build, with a delicate facial structure that didn't at all match the rest of the family. Her hair was thick and hung down her back in waves, the color a dark brown that turned black in the light. Her eyes were as dark as her hair, perhaps even darker.

 

Selene was almost the exact opposite; her hair was a pale blonde, sometimes seeming almost white. Her eyes were an interesting mix of blue and gray, though more blue than gray. Her nose was long and straight, where as Taya's was small and slightly up-turned at the end. Her lips were full—Taya's thin and as tiny as the rest of her features.

 

People had never thought them siblings; not one had a person immediately recognized them as siblings, always mistaking them instead for close friends.

 

Selene never liked to think about the things that had happened in the gate to change the baby who'd gone in. If…If Taya was even the baby her brother had offered up to the gate. Selene frowned at herself, mentally waving the thoughts aside. It didn't matter anymore if Taya wasn't her true sister because she loved Taya.

 

The years they'd spent together, growing up in a world dominated by being pushed from family member to family member had strengthened their bonds. The only member of their family who'd never taken one look at Taya and her otherworldly appearance and thrown them out was their grandmother, who had passed on that summer. Selene knew Taya was taking the woman's death much harder than anyone else. Their grandmother was the first human besides Selene to show the mostly-human girl true compassion and love, and Taya had adored her ever since.

 

But even their grandmother had been wary of Taya's growing…talent and urged Selene to stay with her sibling—protect Taya from whatever lay ahead. Selene had never broken a promise to her grandmother, and she didn't plan to start.

 

Selene looked to the doorway as the sound of metal clanking loudly drew her attention. Coming through the archway and into the hotel lobby was a tall suit of armor and a smaller boy with blonde haired pulled back into a tight pony-tail. The boy she recognized from her research. Edward Elric scanned the room, his eyes stopping on Selene as she stood to meet him.

 

Selene wasn't very tall, though she seemed to be at least an inch taller than Fullmetal. She stored this fact away for later enjoyment. Selene was almost never taller than people—Taya being one of the acceptations, but she was practically a midget and didn't count—so she was going to enjoy being taller than the boy.

 

The Fullmetal Alchemist stared at her for a few minutes, seeming to take her in before stepping around and taking a seat on the sofa she'd been sitting on previously. “Alright,” he said, motioning for the armor to sit as well. “I'm here. What's the news from Colonel Mustang?”

 

“You don't seem surprised he sent me.”

 

Edward shrugged nonchalantly. “Weirder stuff has happened.”

 

“In that case, I'll start by saying this: I lied.”

 

“You lied?”

 

The boy was on guard now, his athletic form shifting into preparation to defend himself should she attack. Instead, Selene merely plopped down beside him and glanced at Taya, who had stopped reading. The girl cleared her throat and waited until Edward looked over to speak.

 

“We apologize for lying, but we didn't have any other way to make you come. I'm Taya Phisher—Selene is my sister, and we need to speak to you about the homunculi.”

 

The alchemist stiffened his eyes full of distrust. “The homunculi? What do you want to know about them and why?”

 

Taya set her book on the table and stood, walking the few steps to where Edward half-sat, still ready to bolt. She turned at the last moment and knelt with her back to him, lifting her heavy hair away from her neck. Edward stared at the scar marring her pale skin, turning away with difficulty to look at Selene. Taya dropped her hair instantly.

 

“Explain,” he demanded.

 

“It's a long story,” Selene replied, looking around the hotel. “And this isn't a safe location.”

 

The boy stood before she'd even finished speaking, looking at his own brother before glancing back at Selene. “My room then; I can soundproof it.”

 

The blonde nodded. “Okay.”

 

Both girls followed his brisk pace, keeping close to one another as they filed into the elevator. The armor still had yet to speak, hovering over the mortal boy, his stance protective. Edward thought of something as they waited for the elevator to reach their floor.

 

“How did you know I was Fullmetal and not think it was Al?”

 

“I do my homework,” she told him, keeping most of her attention on Taya. Taya looked a little uncomfortable, but she was handling it well. Since she'd come out of the gate, Taya had never handled the dark or small, tight spaces very well. As a child she'd had attacks when left alone in her room at night—she and Selene had been sleeping in the same bed because of this for as long as either could remember.

 

But her breathing sounded easy and un-constricted, so Selene didn't worry overly much. The elevator beeped loudly overhead and lurched to a sudden stop, throwing everyone slightly. Taya went even paler and hurried to get off the elevator. Edward followed with a bemused expression, probably correctly guessing why Taya was looking a little sick to her stomach.

 

“This way,” he told them, turning to the right and stomping towards his room. Al hung back, looking at Taya with obvious worry, though he had no face to express emotions with.

 

“Don't worry,” Taya said to Al, her voice so faint that Selene—nearly ten paces away to keep in step with Edward—could hardly hear her. “Just a little motion sickness; it'll pass.

 

Al nodded and his helmet creaked with the motion. “If you're sure.” He said in his boyish voice that echoed strangely through the empty armor.

 

Taya shot him a small but brilliant smile, already returning to a more normal pallor. “I fix fast, Alphonse.”

 

“You know my name too?”

 

“Of course,” she replied, tone surprised. “You and Fullmetal are famous, don't you know?”

 

The boy scratched his metal head, laughing in embarrassment. “Come on.” Edward called to them. He had the door to his room open and Selene had already disappeared inside. Both hastened to catch up, Taya ducking through the doorway without hesitation to any traps that may lie beyond. Selene was waiting for them in the tiny lounge area, her eyes on the view to the city road below.

 

“Alright,” the girl said, crossing her legs and waiting for the new arrivals to sit. “How much do you really know about the homunculi, Edward?”

 

“That they're impossible to kill. They want a philosopher's stone as much as Al and I and not much else.”

 

“I was afraid of that,” Selene confessed. “We don't know much ourselves—only what Taya remembers from the gate and the things we've been able to research.

 

“The gate?” Edward's voice was a whisper. “You remember the gate? Wait—how did you see the gate?”

 

“I was born in the gate. It is my creator and my death.”

 

Al fidgeted, “I don't understand.”

 

“It's not easy to.” Selene told him. “I suppose we should start from the very beginning, though I'm sure you both know enough about human transmutation that I can skip through the gory details.”

 

“Human transmutation?” Edward couldn't keep his eyes off Taya.

 

“Our mother died giving birth to Taya and, just a few days later, Taya she, er, died too.” Selene didn't look at her sister, who was silent and as still as Alphonse in his armor. “It was too much for my brother and I. To lose our beloved mother and precious sister in such a short amount of time. He—my brother—had already been planning to bring back out mother…I'm not sure why he switched to Taya; he probably figured the likelihood of a successful transmutation was higher.

 

“He offered her body to the gate in return for his own. They took everything.”

 

“Everything?”

 

Selene nodded grimly. “Yes. Noah gave Taya to the gate in offering, but something went wrong and she didn't come back out—he was bleeding; lost his eyes in the original transmutation. But he couldn't let her go…Noah knew that somewhere inside the gate Taya was now alive.”

 

“So he tried again?” Edward guessed, still staring at Taya, who he was now beginning to realize was probably the first miracle of alchemy.

 

“Yes. And this time Noah understood why human transmutation fails. When one opens the gate, searching for giving life to the dead, a soul is necessary for the transaction to be successful. Noah knew Taya's body was in the gate now being preserved; waiting for a soul to give it life.”

 

Edward finally looked to Selene and then glanced rapidly to Al. “So...you're saying that human transmutation fails because—”

 

“Humans fear death about all other things in this world. Their selfish desires to not be alone are what push them to attempt human transmutation. But it always fails for the simple reason that, in the end, their desire to live out weighs the desire to not be alone. They cling to life in that final moment and the gate rejects them.”

 

Selene took Taya's hand into her own and squeezed, smiling encouragingly at her sister. Taya's smile failed as she tried to return it.

 

“My brother abandoned his life in the pursuit of giving Taya life and because of this, he succeeded.”

 

“Mostly succeeded,” Taya argued. “I am not really a human, not really a monster either—just somewhere in between.”

 

“This is all fascinating.” Edward said, meaning it. “But I don't understand what this has to do with us. We're not going to try and bring our mother back ever again.”

 

“I'm aware Fullmetal. And that's not actually why we're here.” Selene took a large breath, scooting forward and locking eyes with the boy. “I need your help, protection if you will. The homunculi need you alive, probably even fear you and I think you can keep Taya safe because of this.”

 

“The homunculi are targeting her?” somehow he didn't seem overly surprised.

 

“Dante, more so than the homunculi.”

 

“Dante?” Edward didn't recognize the name, unlike Mustang, who knew the army's history better.

 

“The leader of the homunculi.” The girl waved a hand. “We can discuss this after we have your answer. Taya has information that you might like about the Philosopher's Stone. We'll give it to you in return of a year of protection. One year and we'll give you the answers.”

 

“One year?” the boy said, trying to keep the excitement out of his voice. A year was a long time to wait, but if she could truly give him the answers to finally getting Al his body back...

 

“One year. That's all we ask of you.”

 

Edward looked at Selene carefully. “Why one year?”

 

“Dante has to change bodies,” Selene explained, sighing as Edward frowned in confusion. No doubt that would need to be explained too. “If we can hold out for a year, she'll be forced to take someone young—and we'll have a few years at least to plan for our next move.”

 

“I'll need more answers than just vague explanations.” The alchemist crossed his arms over his chest. “I'll wait for information on the Philosopher's Stone, but I won't wait for information on the homunculi. If I'm going to help you and keep my brother safe than I need to know everything you know.”

 

“Fine.” The girl leaned forward, blue eyes dark with some unknown emotion. “Do we have a deal, Fullmetal?”

 

Edward studied her and sighed. “It's a deal. But stop calling me Fullmetal; I have a name.”

 

Extending a hand out to shake, Selene smirked. “Very well, Edward.”

 

The boy took the offered hand and shook, casting his gaze to Taya. The girl was still obviously uncomfortable with their choice of conversation, but he still needed to understand some things about her, or this arrangement wasn't going to work.

 

“You're not a homunculi.” He said as Selene released his hand. Taya looked up sharply.

 

“No. I'm not.”

 

“But you're also obviously not really human.”

 

Taya shook her head slowly. “No.”

 

“Can you do alchemy? Or something similar? Envy changes his appearance, Lust's fingers turn into spikes.” He demonstrated by flexing his fingers out sharply.

 

“Neither,” she confessed. “I've never been able to do alchemy, and I don't think I have any weird powers.”

 

Selene looked away very suddenly, paling slightly. Edward followed the movement, but didn't remark on it. He still wasn't sure this was a good idea. He had no way of knowing if these girls were telling him the truth. This could all be a trap and he was walking Al into danger. But he didn't have any other options. After the fire Scar caused at the library, it wasn't going to be easy finding research material.

 

He needed their story to be real. He needed Taya to remember the gate. If she couldn't defend herself whatsoever, it was going to make keeping her safe that much harder. He glanced at Selene.

 

“Can you do alchemy?”

 

“Somewhat,” Selene told him. “I need special arrays and they take time to draw, so it's more of a nuisance than an actual gift.”

 

“Very well.” Edward licked his lips, planning out his next move. He and Al still needed Sheska to finish putting together Marcoh's notes before they could decide what to do. “We're going to stay in town for awhile, until we find out next lead. You might have information on the Philosopher's Stone, but I'm going to continue my search.”

 

Incase you're lying. He didn't say it, but everyone could feel it implied.

 

“That's fine. We'll stay here until you're ready to travel again—I'll go set up a room for us.”

 

Edward nodded. “I'm going to head back to the base to talk to someone. Are you coming Al?”

 

The armor nodded. “Of course, brother.”

 

Selene smiled slightly at the boys, though it was tense and strained. Both parties in this agreement were relying heavily on their instincts and the need to trust one another, so it was to be a strained relation. “We'll see you boys later, then.” The blonde girl finally said, motioning for Taya to follow her out.

 

“It was nice to meet you.” Al said politely. He turned his empty helmet to Taya and inclined his head forward. She bowed deeply in reply and, when she straightened, her beautiful face was strained.

 

Selene tugged gently on her sister's arm. “Come on Taya. Let's go.”

 

The brothers watched them leave, Alphonse waiting until the door had clicked shut to look down at Edward. “Is this wise, brother?”

 

“I'm not sure, Al,” he sighed. “But I really hope so.”