Fullmetal Alchemist Fan Fiction ❯ Technicalities ❯ Strange Weather ( Chapter 1 )

AN:

sugarpony: Hello, all! Yes, I’m starting another fiction. Again. Hey, I can’t help it if I think too much!

Tsuki: You need to write Family Secrets.

sugarpony: And having my yami bugging me isn’t helping one bit. Well, without further ado, here’s chapter one!


Standard Disclaimer: Sugarpony does not own Fullmetal Alchemist.

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Technicalities

Chapter One

Strange Weather

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It was another brilliant day in Central. The crystal clear blue sky was unusually calm, and people would often stop to admire the beauty of the afternoon. In the Central Library, however, were two people who could care less about the wonderful weather than anything else. Edward and Alphonse Elric were currently waist deep in books- literally.

“Whose stupid idea was it to put the most important book on the top shelf, huh?! If it hadn’t been so high up, this damned bookcase wouldn’t have been knocked over! Now I have to go through all of these books again just to find the right one! And if that isn’t enough, the damned librarian is going to bitch at us for making a mess in here again! When I get my hands on the person who arranged this shelf-”

“-Calm down, nii-san. It won’t take too long to put all of these away. After all, we’ve been through most of these, so we know where they go already.”

The empty suit of armor stood, causing several more books to land on his elder brother’s head, placed the shelf upright, and began to replace the books one at a time.

The shorter sighed. “Can I at least sue them for brain damage?”

The pair of brothers was once again searching for a way to restore their bodies. They had been cursed after an attempt to raise their mother from the dead had gone horribly wrong, and now they were looking for a way to fix things. Currently, they were attempting to find books that may lead them to the legendary Philosopher’s Stone; unfortunately, they had a bit of an unlucky streak.

Before long, all the books were returned to their rightful places, and it was 6:00. Al dragged his brother away from the place of research and towards the military’s dining hall; Edward had not eaten anything since the previous morning, and his otoutou was not going to let him continue starving himself.

The mess hall was a large room with several rows of long tables for the personnel to eat at. Several state alchemists were gathered in the room, but most of the men and women were regular military men. As the duo entered, a man with short black hair and glasses approached them.

“Ed, good to see you actually eating for a change! How long did it take you to drag him away from the books, Al?” The lieutenant colonel cheerily greeted the pair before thrusting a photograph at them. “Look at how beautiful my Elysia is growing up to be! Isn’t she just the cutest little three year old you’ve ever seen?!”

Edward cautiously raised his hand to his superior officer, backing away slowly. “Uh, yeah, Hughes. Gee, Al, will you look at the time? It’s been over a day since I ate, and boy am I starved! Come on, let’s go!”

They hastily ran towards the food line, scrambling to get away from the obsessed father.

Once Ed had finally sat down with his food, however, he was once again ambushed before he could enjoy his dinner- this time by the man he least of all wanted to see.

Colonel Roy Mustang, also know as the Flame Alchemist, strode over to the two young boys. He had a look of utter annoyance and disbelief on his face- something that did not often occur. He spoke quickly, as if rushing to get through with the interview as quickly as possible.

“Edward, you and Alphonse come to my office now.”

“But I haven’t eaten yet!”

“I said NOW, Fullmetal.” And with that, he quickly strode away once again, leaving the two boys to stare confusedly at his retreating back.

Grudgingly, Edward sighed, discarded his food, ignored his neglected stomach, and slowly marched to whatever awaited him in the Flame’s office. Alphonse trailed behind, lingering a moment to look at the darkened sky outside.

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Clouds began to gather outside the office of Roy Mustang, threatening to break the cheerful, sunny day. Inside, the cheer was already gone.

Mustang sat at his desk, staring out the window. He was waiting for the Elric brothers to arrive, though he wished that the meeting never had to happen. A young woman sat on the sofa behind him, sipping at a cup of coffee, patiently rifling through some documents.

The silence was abruptly broken.

The door was slammed open as Edward marched into the room, seethingly mad. The giant suit of armor followed, as always, closely behind.

“Alright,” yelled the former, “what’s the hell is so damned important that I had to come right up to your damned office without eating a single damned bite of my damned dinner?!”

“Nii-san,” pleaded the latter, “just calm down and listen to what he had to say.”

The blond forced himself not to murder his superior. “Alright. What do you want, Taisa?”

“Dear me, you do have quite a potty mouth, don’t you, Mr. Elric?”

The pair of brothers turned around, noticing for the first time the lady sitting behind them. She had long brunette hair in a tight bun. Her cold, gray eyes bore into them like knives as they stared each other down. She slowly placed her coffee on the table, stood, dusted of her tan, tweed suit, and turned fully to Ed in order to speak to him.

“Well, we’ll just have to get rid of that. Colonel, I presume things are in order?”

The man heaved a long, slow sigh and turned around to face his guests, avoiding the young boys’ gazes. “Yes, Midori-san, just about.”

As the Fullmetal gazed quizzically between the Flame and the woman, many different, confusing thoughts ran through his head. “Wait a minute,” he said, “what the hell are you two talking about? And if you were just going to ignore me, then why did you ask me to come here in the first place?!”

The conversing pair glanced at Edward for a few moments, and they then began their meeting once again. The strange woman and the colonel ignored him as much as possible.

A harsh gaze. “You haven’t told him?”

“Not yet. I was just about to.”

A frustrated sigh, an oncoming headache. “Mustang, you can’t put this off forever.”

A soft sigh, a pregnant pause. “I understand that, Midori-san.”

“You do realize that you won’t have full control of him anymore?”

A few more moments. “Of course, Midori-san.”

“Get on with it, then.”

A defeated sigh. “Hai, Midori-san.”

Once again, they’re focus became the short alchemist. Midori gave one final, stern glance to the Flame and then walked to the corner of the room.

Mustang began to speak. “Edward....” He suddenly paused, as if wondering how to continue. He once again sighed and began again. “Edward, the government had deemed Central an unfit environment for you to live in. Midori-san will take you to your new residence.”

The blond gave his superior a strange look. “Mustang, I thought the military was the government.”

“No, Fullmetal. It’s not that simple.”

“I don’t see why not, Mustang,” Midori interrupted. “The political government has decided that Mr. Elric is not in a proper environment in which to be raised. Therefore, we, social services, have come to take Mr. Elric to an orphanage- where a child with no parents should be.”

“What?!” Ed was outraged. “Tell me this is some kind of sick joke! Mustang, you know very well that Al and I-”

“Alphonse shall not be coming,” Midori stated. The brothers jerked at her words. Her gaze wandered to the metal body. “A soul with no body does not need food, water, or anything else to sustain it. Therefore, we do not need to waste resources to house him.” She paused to sip at her coffee. “You will gather your things and come with me- alone.”

The small teen was speechless. He kept looking back and forth between the colonel and the social worker, half expecting one of them to break into a smile, jump at him, and yell, “Surprise!” After a few moments, eyes wide, he slowly backed away from the rest of the small crowd. He shook his head, as if trying to deny that this was actually happening.

“No,” he spoke in a small voice, still backing towards the door. “NO!”

And he took off in a sprint out into the hall, shoving people out of his way as he ran through the maze-like corridors, not daring to look behind him. He kept running, letting his feet guide him by mere instinct. He let his pounding footsteps ring through his head, somewhat muffling the loud words that kept repeating over and over again.

Finally, he came to a stop. The young boy found himself at a dead end, in an area of the building he had never before seen. He clapped his hands together and slammed them on the ground, creating a barrier between himself and the rest of the world.

The young boy began cursing and punching the newly constructed wall. “Damn that Mustang! How the hell am I supposed to get the Philosophers Stone and return Al to his body from a damned orphanage?! Damn- that- BASTARD!!!” He emphasized each harshly spoken word with a punch until he finally tired himself out.

He then backed himself into a corner and slid down the wall, landing softly on the ground.

And then, Edward Elric cried himself to sleep.

Outside, a heavy rain began to fall, thunder booming.

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AN:

Oi vey. This is such a crappy sappy chappy. Anyway, it’s okay if you don’t mind reading something poorly written and depressing. My first attempt at an FMA fic, so tell me what you think. Good or bad? It’s like 1:30 in the morning, so maybe that’s why it’s so bad. Constructive criticism will be much appreciated, and all flames will be used to cook smores!