Fullmetal Alchemist Fan Fiction ❯ The Spirit of Alchemy ❯ "Let's Go, Already!" ( Chapter 4 )

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

"Do you know anything about the Philosopher's Stone?"

Michi's heart beat fast, as she looked into Ed's inquiring eyes. The Philosopher's Stone... Where had she heard that before..? Somehow, those two words had a big connection to her. Could it be the thing she needed to fix her mistake...? To repent..? Somehow, she thought so. She blinked, staring off into space, trying to concentrate on those two little words. "Ah!" she said.

"What? Do you know anything about it?" Ed asked, sitting upright in his chair, and staring at her intently.

"Shh!" she waved at him, trying to focus on the image in her head. She saw her father, he was talking to her... Holding out a sheaf of papers, pointing to them... Michi blinked. The people in front of her melted away, and that memory came to the front of her mind, blocking out everything else. Her senses, everything, it was as if she was back to that time and day.

Michi, aged eight, looked up at her father. "Huh?" she asked, tilting her head curiously.

"These papers.. You know how important they are?"

Michi shook her head slowly, putting her hand up to hold her sunhat in place, as the wind blew around them. Her bright yellow dress blew in the wind, and her short hair was in her eyes. She brushed it back with her free hand, and continued looking up at her father. "What are they?"

"They're very important. They are the final solution. The solution to making the Philosopher's Stone..."

"Philosopher's Stone, daddy?"

"Yes. The Stone. It can amplify an alchemist's powers, giving them the ability, it's said, to even do human transmutation -- Not that that's always a good thing to be able to do." He smiled at her. "Usually, you have to have a large amount of humans killed, in order to create the stone. The souls and blood of those people -- it's what creates it. These, however..." he gestured towards the papers, "..are the alternative. No people have to be killed to make it with this."

".... Aren't they dangerous?" Michi was old enough to know very well how power-hungry alchemists could be.

"Yes, very. That's why they're being scattered around, to some of my colleagues. That way, not all of them will be in one place. Anyone who wants to read it will have to consult all of us -- and there are quite a few. Of course, not every paper is important. There are a lot of duds. This is too important to let everyone know about. Can you imagine what would happen, if anyone could make a stone? Utter chaos.."

"Is that why you're hiding them, daddy?"

"Yes. The papers are being scattered tonight. Come on, let's go inside, and eat lunch."

"Okay!" Michi said, laughing as her father picked her up, and carried her inside.



The next day, the fire broke out, and both the papers and the alchemist seemed to be gone forever.

"What is it?" Ed said, now standing, sounding very impatient.

"H..Huh..?" Michi asked, blinking and rubbing her eyes.

"You were zoning out. What is it that you know?" Ed said, very impatiently.

"I.. I was? I was just thinking... Remembering..." Michi said, sounding dazed. She half sat, half collapsed into a chair.

"Brother, have patience. We are guests here, after all. If she wants to tell us, she will when she's ready. Are you alright?" he added, looking at her.

She nodded, and leaned her head back against the chair, closing her eyes with her hand over them. "Yeah.."

They both were staring at her now, waiting for her to continue.

"My father.... He used to work on a project. He did research, and recorded his findings, and reported them to his colleagues. They were all working on a project... A Philosopher's Stone that didn't require people to be killed in order to make it."

"H-He was?! That's just what we were looking for!" Ed interrupted, unable to contain his excitement.

Michi stopped her story, and looked at him. "Yes. They had found the answer too. My father had all the papers describing them.. He was the leader of the project, asked to do it by one of his close friends. He never told me who that was, but, anyway..

My father had the papers, and he was going to spread them out between himself and the other people working on the project. He had them all ready to go, but..." She stopped, staring directly into Ed's eyes. He felt a sudden chill, and an unexplainable sadness.

" 'But...'?" he echoed, curiously.

"But.. Early the next morning, the house burned down..."

"..Burned down?" Al said, interjecting for the first time since Michi had started speaking.

"Yes. Meaning......."

"..Damnit! Meaning the papers.. They didn't survive...!"

Michi nodded. "No, but, there was one person who knew the content of them. That was my father's friend, who started the project."

"But you don't know who the hell that is?! So now what?" Ed asked, motioning angrily. His arm knocked over the photograph on the table, of Michi's father. It went flying, hit a wall, and fell with a crash.

Michi ran over to the photo. Ed had an expression on his face that basically said "Oh shoot. I'm in trouble."

"H-hey.. I'm sorry, I didn't mean t..." Ed trailed off.

Michi picked up the photo slowly, and turned to look at Ed. She didn't look mad at all, in fact, she looked happy.

"Wh..Wha?" Ed looked at her, plainly thinking she was insane.

Michi smiled. "Look!" she said, holding the photo out to him. He took it, and looked at it.

"So?" he asked, puzzled.

"Look on the back."

Ed turned the photograph over. In the bottom left-hand corner, there were two words.

"Hoshi*..... Namura..." Ed and Michi said, at the same time.

"Hoshi Namura?" Al asked, looking at them.

"Yup!" Michi smiled. "My father's friend! I'm sure of it!"

"Well, that's great, but just where the hell does he live?"

"Her house's location is probably written on the other photograph," Michi said, pointing to the table.

Ed went over to smash that frame too, but Michi grabbed his arm, pulling him away. "Are you a barbarian?! We can remove the picture!" she said, doing so.

"Oh..."

Michi sighed, shaking her head, just wondering who this psycho person is. She pulled out the photograph, and read the back. It did have a town name.

"Does it say?" Al asked, curiously.

"Yes, it does." Michi looked at both Ed and Al, thinking. "Hmm..."

"Huh?" Ed and Al said, looking at her.

"Alright. I'll tell you where it is, if you guys take me with you."

"What?!" Ed said, looking at her like she was insane. "Are you kidding?!"

"Nope. You need me, anyway. She should know me, so it'd be easy to ask her about it. Without me, you guys haven't got anything to go on, have you?"

"What about if you tell us, and we go, and tell him you sent us?"

"Then I will track you down, kill you, and tell her you were a lying idiot."

Ed blinked, taken back by her reply.

She smiled, and laughed. "Kidding! I wouldn't kill you, but I'd be very mad. Besides, I'm a good alchemist, it's not like I'll be some defenseless little girl you have to watch all the time." Michi sounded confident, but inside, she was shaking. What if they didn't take her? She wouldn't have the courage to go talk to this person alone. Wandering around aimlessly was one thing, but actually going to meet someone, was completely different.

"Alright, alright. We'll have to take you with us, I guess." Ed said, casually leaning his head on his hands, which were behind his head.

Michi smiled. "Really?"

"Yeah, yeah."

Michi looked relieved. She took both her father's photographs, and put them into her shirt pocket. 'Father.. We're going to go find this stone.. Maybe I can make you come back...'

"Come on, Let's go already!!" Ed said, running out the door.

"H-Hey!!" Michi said, running after him. She paused at the doorway, and walked back into the room. She looked around for one last time. "I'm really leaving..." she muttered to herself. "I'll be back some day, I promise... Maybe then, I'll have more to bring with me than just these photographs.." Smiling, she ran out the door, chasing after Ed and Al. They ran down the path to the train station. Michi was happier than she had been in ages. Laughing, she ran faster, disappearing down the path.

*Hoshi is a boy or girl name. Ed has interpreted it as male, while Michi has claimed it as female.

AN: Okay, so here's chapter 4! Written mostly because of Makii, since she DID write two chapters yesterday, after all.. Technically, I've written two today, as well. I still think these chapters are really short, but, eh. Some day, they will be longer, I swear! Anyway, yeah, nothing much to say, except PLEASE R&R! I've noticed that my first chapter has 53 views, but I've only had two reviews, and both were from Makii! Come on you guys. If you read it, you should review too! Please? XD