Fullmetal's Hunting Experience

by TheOriginalDuckLord

Summary:

Edward finally saves Al, but as the gate pulls him back, he's thrown to another world. He doesn't know if Al's okay, and doesn't know if he'll ever see Al again, but he has to try.
Oh? What's this? The hunter exam? Might as well try it out.

Notes:

FMA, not FMAB. End of FMA when Ed brings Al back by sacrificing himself.

Chapter 1

Amestrian

Japanese

Edward felt fear. It shook him to his core as he felt the familiar shadow hands wrapping around his legs, and making its way up to his arms, dragging him into the gate. He felt the excruciating pain of his body being deconstructed, again. Everything that makes up his body, being torn apart just to be shoved into another dimension where he would be forced to see more of the Truth that he never wanted to see in the first place.

Soon, Ed saw the vast gate of Truth, and fell through to another world.

Edward shot up, gasping for air. He was in the middle of nowhere, and trees shot up to the sky for miles. Ed was so confused, where the hell was he?

It all came back– Al sacrificing himself for him, and Ed… Ed sacrificed himself to bring Al back, but now Ed is never going home. He’s stuck in another world, but not the other world. Not London… no. This is somewhere else, he could feel it.

Ed sighed, and he felt his ports throb with pain, and he had automail again. All that he gained back, he lost again. Actually, now that he thought about it, his entire body hurt, and there was an ache settling behind his eyes. He looked up, and the orange-pink sky indicated either sunrise or sunset. He honestly hoped for the former, as he wanted to be able to see where he was navigating. He needed to find a town or settlement, any sign of living people as soon as possible.

After one last sigh, Edward picked himself up and on his feet. He began to walk, and after a while, he noticed the sky getting brighter, and turning blue. At least that was one thing he could count on.

Not before long, he found a cabin. It seemed empty, but just to be sure, he knocked on the door.

“Help!” a voice cried from behind the door. It was different from his own language, but he understood it. Truth must’ve given him knowledge of this language and how to speak and write it. He broke the door down, and some creature held a woman, and a man was on the floor, bloodied. Then the creature turned and ran out the window, breaking it in the process. 

Ed rushed to the man, “Please, it took my wife! Please, you have to help her!” he begged.

“Okay!” Ed said in the same language, and ripped off the sleeve of his jacket. He bandaged the wound as quickly as he could. “I’m sorry it’s not better, but I will be back. I’ll go get your wife.” 

Ed rushed out the broken window, and looked up to the branches the creature climbed on when it left. Ed noticed the dirty claw marks on the trees, and followed. He jumped from branch to branch with ease, despite his automail and aching body. He wouldn’t fail to save this woman. Ed felt surprised, and looked at his hands, he could use alchemy here.

He started to see the creature in the distance, and made a quiet approach. Then he hit the creature over the head. It dropped the woman out of surprise, and Ed landed on the branch, clapped his hands together, and transmuted the tree to catch her. 

She landed safely, but then “You hit me… you actually hit me! You got some balls for a little kid.” Said the creature.

“Who are you calling little?!” Ed yelled, but then realized… it spoke. “Wait, what? You… you spoke.” 

“Sure did kid, follow me. I think you passed.” It said to him.

Now Ed was confused as hell. What the fuck?

“What’s going on, what do you mean passed?” Ed asked. 

“It means that you have passed to be able to take the Hunter exam. That’s what you wanted, right?” One of the creatures asked (the son), after explaining their family. 

Hunter; an occupation that allows adventurers to get top of the line information and quality materials. It requires the person to pass a vigorous test, but afterwards they have access to research no one else does, and money no one else can make.

Edward cringed at the memory of Truth, but said “Yeah, exactly!” He could find a way home the quickest this way. Maybe he could see Al again… unless– Al was not dead. There was no way in hell Al of all people would possibly die.

“Well then, I’ll escort you to the testing grounds.” The son smiled. 

After Ed was led to some city by the creature, he was sent to a room in the back and he could tell something was off. After the door shut, the room slowly started dropping downwards. Ah, elevators, he thought as he waited. Once he made it to the bottom, the doors opened, and he walked in. The people there were intimidating, he could tell from the way the other applicants held themselves. Not too long after, a little green bean man gave him his tag. The room was dark, dirty, and just overall a dingy place. It also looked like a tunnel that just cut off randomly.

“ Number 203, eh ?” Edward muttered in Amestrian. He sighed, and just went to sit to the side until the exam started, afterall, his ports were more than beginning to ache with the pressure change of being so far down underground, and he didn’t think that the others knew of automail in this universe based on what he saw from Truth. He’d just have to hide it for as long as possible.

“Taking the exam, kid?” Asked a stranger. He had a darker complexion with his hair slicked back and a wide nose. 

“Yeah, what’s it to you? Got a problem?” Ed asked, trying to stay cool. He just wanted to end this interaction so he could rest before the exam started.

“Woah, take it easy. I’m just trying to be nice, my name’s Tonpa.” He said, overly cheery. 

“Nice, I’m Ed.” 

“You a rookie?” 

“Yeah, figured it would be good to try.”

“Yeah? Hey, why don’t we make a toast to friendship?” Tonpa said, offering a can of juice.

“No thanks, I barely know you.” Ed brushed him off, and after some less-than-kind words were exchanged, Tonpa left him alone.

Ed observed the other applicants. They all had an intimidating air to them, and seemed to be a master of different subjects in their own right. And that guy, number forty-four, something seemed off about him. Ed would make sure to steer clear of him, and try his best not to interact with that guy.

Ed shut his eyes, and just waited.

Ed was startled awake by the sound of a man screaming. 

Ed looked over and heard a voice say, “Oh my, looks like this man’s arms have turned to flower petals.” number forty-four was already causing trouble.

It shook Ed, and he wanted to speak up and say it wasn’t right to do something like that, but he knew if he did, there was a real chance he could end up like that. He didn’t want that, he just had to stay out of trouble, get certified by the examiners, research a way to leave safely, then get the hell out of this world. He did not want to get involved with all the nitty gritty politics and ethics situations of this world. It took everything in him not to intervene with anything going on.

Not even fifteen minutes later, the examiner told the group it was time for the test to begin, and to follow him. The examiner did not move like a human. Before Ed knew it, he wasn’t walking anymore, but jogging. Ed didn’t like running, especially because of his prosthetic leg, but he could run for up to ten hours if he really had to (all a part of military training). He would just be sore for a long time afterwards. It’s okay though, he’d do anything to see Al again, and he knew Al would do anything to see him again… which is why he had to do this.

After a while, the rhythm of his running and the others around him became background noise. He was able to think clearly for the first time in a long time. He thought about how the confrontation with Dante went, and how he could get back to Al, how Envy was apparently his brother, and he thought of alchemy and its negative and positive affect on his life up to this point. He was so deep in thought, he almost didn’t notice a blond kid running next to him. He had gray eyes, and was wearing some type of formal clan wear (red and blue tabard) over a white training shirt and training pants. 

It seemed he wasn’t the only teenager. Ed said nothing, as he didn’t want to disturb this kid. He looked kind of like Al would though (despite the kid being older), though the shade of blond was different and the eyes too. He just had a similar face shape to that of his younger brother, and maybe a similar spirit too. Ed didn’t want to find out though, he didn’t want to take chances with the applicants here. 

Then Ed noticed something up ahead; stairs. They had to run up stairs? 

“ What bullshit… stairs… I’m gonna be in so much pain after this shit. ” Ed muttered in Amestrian as he began to make his way up.

“Did you say something?” Asked the kid next to him.

“Oh, sorry, just talking to myself.” Ed apologized.

“There’s no reason for that, I’m Kurapika.” Kurapika introduced with a smile.

“I’m Ed.” He responded with a similar smile.

Then, a man (who looked to be in his late 20s early 30s) ran up next to Kurapika, and he was pulled into conversation. Their conversation started to get deep, and Ed didn’t want to intrude on personal business. 

After what felt like forever, a chunk of the group reached the top, and somehow, two little brats made it up there first. 

Ed sighed, and brought his arm to his shoulder, massaging it to try and alleviate the pain at his ports from the pressure difference. The group (as Ed dubbed it, with Kurapika, the man, and the two brats) walked over to him.

“Hi, I’m Gon!” One of the kids said enthusiastically. He had green hair that defied gravity, and he had light brown eyes with an optimistic warmth.

“I’m Killua,” Said the other kid with the white hair and sharp blue eyes. They were electric, and Ed knew, this kid had to do some… unsavory things. It was the same look the General had when he reflected on the Ishvalan Rebellion. 

“I’m Leorio, that’s Mr. Leorio to you!” The man said.

“I’m Ed.” He said plainly. That’s all these people needed to know, he wouldn’t be in this world long. He needed to leave this world as soon as possible.

“So, how old are you?” Asked Killua. 

“I’m sixteen, turning seventeen in February. What about you all?” Ed asked them.

“We’re twelve,” the brats said in unison. 

“There’s no way you’re sixteen!” Said Gon. 

“Why’s that?” Ed asked, a little snappy.

“You’re just kind of… short… is all.” The other kid finished with a smirk.

“Who’re you calling so short you need a microscope to see him?!” Ed shouted, annoyed, and swung his fist (his right fist). The pain reminded him why he shouldn’t do that, and he sucked in a deep breath, trying to make it look like he was calming his aura instead of calming pain. “What about you two?” Ed turned to the older of the group.

“I’m seventeen,” Kurapika responded.

“I’m nineteen,” Said Leorio.

“I’m gonna go with no on that one.” Ed said to him.

“Hey! I don’t look that old, do I?” Leorio asked, annoyed.

“I thought you were in your thirties.” Ed shrugged.

“Hey!!”

The examiner got everyone’s attention about the next portion of the test. Then there was this whole mix up about the man-faced ape.

When Hisoka killed the ape trying to trick everyone, Ed could feel his bloodlust radiating (and he was sure it wasn’t even a small portion of it), and that feeling was eerily similar to how he felt around Envy, who killed him (and then was brought back to life by Al). 

As the applicants made their way into the swamp, Ed could feel his ports ache, and the pain in his body intensified. He just wanted this to be over with, despite his doubt if he even could do this. No, he knew he could. He’s passed military training at twelve years old with a prosthetic arm and leg, he survived a month on an island with his brother as training with little to no food, he could make it through this fucking test and pass with flying colors. That was guaranteed the second he stepped foot in this world, and will be the truth the second he steps out of it. 

Ed overheard a group of people talking about taking down Hisoka, which Ed wanted no part of, so he began to move up to the front. The marshy terrain made it more difficult, but nothing he couldn’t manage, afterall, he is the youngest State Alchemist. He kept the examiner close in sight. 

And after forever, he reached the end of the first test. As the thick fog began to lift, he could feel the pressure changing at his ports. It was too painful to ignore, but he couldn’t let the other applicants know his weaknesses. He went into the trees, not too far, but not too close, and he vomited, groaned in pain, and vomited again.

“Are you okay?” Asked Gon, who was passing by. 

“ Ye– Yeah, just peachy, kid.” Ed rasped out, then vomited.

“You’re sick, why are you taking the exam if you’re sick?” Asked (more like demanded) Kurapika.

“It’s nothing too bad.” Ed said, “I had a surgery a while back, and drastic changes in pressure still bother it.” Ed said, grasping more onto reality now. 

“You should see a doctor. C’mon, let’s take you to Leorio, he’s pre-med, maybe he can help.” Kurapika insisted.

“I’m really okay,” Ed said as Gon dragged him along. 

Once the boys got to the group, Gon looked at Hisoka who pointed them to Leorio.

“How the hell did I get beat up so badly?” The man whined.

“We probably shouldn’t tell him…” Ed heard Kurapika whisper to Gon, to which he agreed was a bad idea.

Then the other kid came over and said that he was worried that Gon wasn’t going to make it. 

Damn, this entire place felt like a fever dream to Ed, and he just wanted to figure out how to get back to his brother.

The examiner announced the next portion of the test, and how it would go down. Thank Truth the next part of the exam began before Kurapika and Gon could mention to Leorio that he was “sick”. This is where Ed figured out that Gon acted the most like Al.

Chapter 2

Summary:

Ed's taking phase two of the hunter exam

Notes:

OMG MORE CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT TEHE

Amestrian

Japanese

 

Ed ran into the woods with the other applicants, but split off a while ago. He had remembered the recipe a while ago to make pork stew. It was his mother’s recipe, given to her by granny Pinako. Ed had made it a few times, after mom died but before The Transmutation, and knew he didn’t make it bad (it surely wasn’t outstanding like mom’s though). Afterall, he had to know how to cook a little. He was an emancipated minor back home and he did take care of himself, so cooking was an essential skill (albeit, he didn’t cook often). So after he got his pig (after following the lead of Gon), he began roasting it, and setting up his area to make the stew with the ingredients he scavenged. After the pork was done roasting, he took it and cut it up into small pieces (which took forever because the pig was bigger than him). The other applicants began failing out, left and right because they didn’t make an actual dish. 

Soon, his stew was done, and all the other applicants already turned in their dish. Ed brought the stew over and some bowls with a server. 

“Finally, something other than a roasted pig.” Said Menchi, the examiner who hadn’t taken a bite of anyone’s dish so far. Ed served them both a portion of the stew.

“It tastes good, but the pork is slightly overcooked, and it seems you boiled the stew for too long.” Menchi said after trying it. “However, you are the only one who did something different than the others, and the only one who seemed to actually try at this phase. What’s your name?”

“Ed.” He responded.

“Your full name, kid. Tell me your full name.” Menchi said.

“Edward Elric” He gritted out.

“Seems you’re the only one to pass, Edward Elric.”

“Hey, that’s not fair!” Yelled one of the applicants, he looked like some type of wrestler. 

“He’s the only one who even remotely tried anything different, or new.” Said Menchi. 

“It’s not new, it was my mother’s recipe. I got it from granny, so it’s not new, as you say. It’s old.” Ed said to her.

“It was still more innovative than anyone else here. You scavenged for the rest of the materials for the stew which shows determination and great foraging skills, and you used prior knowledge to your advantage.” She stated.

Not too long later, the chairman of the committee dropped down, and said there would be a redo of this portion since she can’t fail almost everyone this early. They gave Ed the option of redoing, and he said he’d make the decision once he saw what the next option would be. 

Once the applicants got on the ship, the group approached him “It’s so cool that you passed when no one else could!” Gon exclaimed.

“Thanks, kid. Cooking is an important skill, so it’s good to know.” Ed responded.

The group began talking and theorizing about the next task, and Ed chimed every so often. He was beginning to bond with them, and fall into easy conversation with them.

Ed was starting to like this group, but he didn’t want to get too attached. Afterall, he needed to figure out how to leave as soon as he could. He couldn’t afford setbacks.

“So, I haven’t asked yet, but why do you want to be a hunter?” Gon asked, and the rest of the group perked up and looked at him curiously.

“Uh… I just want access to the information it has, and all the resources. I’m pretty good at researching, but with more material available I’ll be able to know more.” Ed said, and it wasn’t a lie. It just wasn’t the full truth. He wants all this knowledge to figure out how to go home. 

“Why though?” Killua asked, “Why do you want all this knowledge?” 

“Hm… I’m just a naturally curious person. I need to know things and understand them to understand the world around me. That’s just how I am.” Ed responded.

Not too long after, the airship landed on a mountain. He decided to skip out on this part, he doubted he would float up to the surface as easily as everyone else considering he’s half metal.

Everyone soon got onto the airship, and after the chairman addressed the crowd to be ready for tomorrow, he went to sit by a window, and watch the world go by like he did with Al. As the world grew darker, and the sights below and above prettier, Ed felt comfortable. 

He eventually began drifting to sleep, and then he heard, “Ed?” 

Ed blinked his eyes, to clear them from drowsiness, “Oh, Killua? What’s up?” he asked as he yawned.

“I gotta ask, what’s your real reason for taking the hunter exam?” Killua asked as he sat down next to him. 

“Hm… I gotta find… information.” Ed said vaguely as his brain was waking up again.

“Why? Are you sure you’re not from my parents?” Killua asked, eying him warily.

“What? I don’t know or care who your parents are, kid.” Ed said as his eyes drifted from the cold ones of Killua to the outside world.

“Then where are your parents?” Asked Killua. That’s when Ed stood up to leave, but Killua grabbed his sleeve, and pulled him back down. “You’re hiding something, and you better not be dangerous, otherwise that’s how I’ll treat you.” He said before letting go, and leaving, probably to goof off with Gon.

“Why does this shit always happen to me, Al ?” Ed muttered in Amestrian to the air. “ I just gotta find my way back to you.” He said, like he always repeated to himself. 

After a little while, Ed decided he’d actually explore for a bit, before he came upon a room. The chairman, and Killua and Gon were playing a game that looked like keepaway.

“Looks like we have a visitor,” Mr. Netero stated as the boys were out of breath. “Care to join us for the game?” He asked. Ed opened the door and walked in.

“Depends, what’s the game?” Ed asked.

“I have the ball, and you have to take it from me.” The chairman said.

“Ok, I’ll give it a try.” Ed said with a smile.

“That’s what I like to see, and if you do take it from me before the ship arrives, you’ll be a hunter on the spot. Looks like you have eight hours left.” Mr. Netero said. 

Ed looked at the clock, and the other two boys. “I’m guessing it’s my turn before one of you two tag in?” Ed asked, and Gon nodded.

Mr. Netero stood on one leg, and looked at Ed as if he were analyzing him. He held the ball under his right arm, and quite frankly, the ancient man reminded him of a crane. 

Ed rushed him, seemingly going to attack head on, but at the last second he danced around behind him to kick the man with his left leg when he was caught.

Ed pulled his leg back, and put some distance between him and the man. Ed calmed himself, and ran forward again, this time going for a punch with the right that was dodged, and almost falling forward onto the ground. Ed caught himself and kicked up to where the man’s stomach should be, but was caught by a hand that threw him to the side. He hit the wall and slid down, slumped over to his head.

Ed stood right back up, feeling like he was futilely fighting Teacher with Al.

“Hm, you fight very well indeed. But that left leg of yours… It's peculiar.” Netero asked him as he stood up. Ed could feel Killua and Gon staring at him.

“I guess.”

“That right arm too.” Netero said.

“I guess, I just have a lot of… muscle.” Ed said, lying through his teeth.

“Why do you want to be a hunter, Mr…?” 

“Hm? Oh, Edward. Edward Elric.” Ed responded.

“Mr. Elric,” 

Ed knew he couldn’t brush this off or lie. He knew that the man would know and wouldn’t ever pass him this way, so he said, “I’m looking for information on how to get to a certain place.” Ed said, only allowing himself to meet the man’s eyes. 

“Hmm… strange indeed. Care to continue?” Asked the man, casually. To which Ed agreed, and worked with the brats. He could feel Killua watching him closely the whole time. 

After some time Ed said, “I’m beginning to get tired, and I’d like some rest before tomorrow.” 

“Oh, alright. See you tomorrow Ed!” Gon said optimistically. As Ed left the room, he heard Killua snap at the old man and Gon. He heard hurried footsteps following him, and could feel the broody twelve year old sulking from behind him.

Ed sighed and asked “Yes?” while turning around.

“Where are you looking to go?” Killua asked him, seriously as if threatening him.

“Quite frankly, that’s not your business.” Ed said, nonchalantly. 

“If it’s my home, I’d say it is my business.”

“What makes you think I’m trying to go there? Out of curiosity.” 

“You followed me earlier to the game with Gon, so you must be trying to sweet talk me into telling you how to get to my house to get jobs from my parents.” 

Ed straightened his posture. “I stumbled there by accident. Listen, drop it. I’m not ‘looking for your home’ or whatever you think. I just wanna find a way to my home.” Ed said.

“Huh?” 

Ed relented… this kid wasn’t going to stop suspecting him unless he told him, so Ed told him a half-truth. “I’m not gonna tell you what happened, but I need resources before I can get myself home, and the best way for me to do that is to become a hunter.”

“...Oh…”

“Yeah, oh. You guys are nice and all, but I’m not gonna get too close to you guys. I can’t afford it, I have to see this through.” Ed said to him while walking away.

Chapter 3

Summary:

Phase three of the hunter exams, suckers

Amestrian

Japanese

 

When they were forced onto the roof of a ridiculously tall building that was apparently a jail, Ed hadn’t expected falling through a trap door.  It was a small room, and he was all alone. There were multiple vents.  

Suddenly a voice came through a speaker and said, “your task is to find your way to the bottom without dying, alone, within the time limit. Good luck.” 

Ed sighed, he was seriously getting tired of this shit. First things first, he had to find out which of these vents were safe, as most of them were probably traps.  Ed counted the vents, and there were seventeen. After that he clapped his hands and transmuted seventeen balls. He rolled each of them through one of the vents, and closed off the ones which were traps. There were four options. He ended up going with one on his right that was closest to the ground. He crawled through, and it seemed that this was one of the times in which his small body was useful (he angrily admitted to himself).

After what felt like forever of crawling, he finally reached an exit. He was in a huge library, and he was overjoyed with the familiar scent of old books, however he realized that it was a maze. 

First things first, he tried climbing the bookcases, but it seemed to go all the way up to the ceiling, and proved to be useless. Ed started wandering , but made sure to mark where he went by pulling out books on his left side, so he knew where he already went. 

After a little more than a half an hour of walking, he came face to face with a man that reminded him of Kimblee. The confident, commanding aura, the evil aura. This man enjoyed destruction, Ed could tell. 

“Oh, you’re here. You’ve reached the exit to the maze… but first, you have to defeat me.” Said the man. He had long, dark red hair that reached midway down his back, and was dressed in prison garb. He had handcuffs on that suddenly disconnected and dropped off his wrists. “Too bad, I don’t think you can, boy.”

The man cracked his knuckles as Ed prepared a battle stance. After a few seconds, the man rushed him with incredible speed. Ed barely dodged, but as Ed turned to go behind him, he was met with a fist to his stomach and went flying back. 

He hit the wall, and got back into a fighting stance as the man was once again in front of him, though this time Ed saw an opening in his swing, and hit him with his right hand, sending the man flying back. The two kept fighting for at least fifteen more minutes, and then Ed knocked the man across the room. The man got back up, and charged again, this time Ed jumped up and kicked up with his left leg, connecting to the man’s jaw, swiftly knocking the man to the ground and probably giving him a concussion. 

Ed bent down and punched the guy in the head with his right arm, knocking the man unconscious. Behind Ed, the door opened, letting him in. Once he stepped in, the door shut behind him. He stood in a dark room with a large, glowing, body of water, and on the other side was an exit, however, there were fish in the water, and not normal fish… they had razor sharp teeth. Good thing Ed was half metal.

See, Ed really hated swimming because it meant that afterwards he’d have to reconnect his automail and empty out any water that got into the ports, however, as long as it didn’t dry, Ed would be fine. Ed could also just… transmute a boat. Ed smiled, clapped his hands, and transmuted the ground he stood on to a rowboat. He pushed it into the water and began rowing.

He got about halfway to the door when suddenly, water started filling his boat, and he could see why… the fish had slowly been eating away at the bottom the entire time. They finally broke the surface, and now his boat was swamping. Ed began to panic. 

“ Shit ” he said as he jumped out and started swimming as hard as possible. Fish bit at him, but he blocked them from biting flesh with his metal limbs, until one bit his left shoulder. He cried in pain, but once he made it to the platform, he ripped the fish off his shoulder and threw it back into the water. He saw his boat at the bottom of the water from the platform, and was suddenly glad he got out of there quicker.

The door in front of him opened, and he walked through. He had many more challenges ahead of him– settings included but not limited to dungeons, a weird-ass hospital, what looked like the inside of a home, and a lab. After defeating some wacko scientist trying to kill him, the voice said through the speaker, “this is your last challenge before you finish.”

The room was empty, except on the opposite wall from him had eight buttons on it. They each had a different symbol.

“It’s simple really. One of these buttons opens the door, and the rest are tricks. You get one try.” The voice said before wishing him luck.

Ed examined the buttons closer. One of them had a pair of angel wings that were melting. 

“ Oh, these refer to different myths. I guess I gotta choose the myth that’s the least dangerous .” Ed muttered to himself.

The second button he examined held the symbol for a hydra. Yeah, not that button, he thought. All of the symbols were ones he recognized, but the last button struck fear in him– he’d seen it in his father’s alchemy books. It was a cross between the sun and the moon. The sun represents masculinity, and the moon represents femininity, and when they cross, they reach a state of perfection, the state of being god. Ed stared at it, and his hand moved closer, he could tell the button was calling to him. He pressed the button, and expected maybe a giant hammer to crush him, but instead, the door opened to a dingy room. 

They announced his name, number, what number he was to finish, and how much time had elapsed for him to finish. He ended up finishing in eighteen and a half hours. He was the tenth to finish. Ed knew his right arm had been thrown out of its port during one of the challenges and was likely filled with water.  He dried the water the best he could with what he had on hand, but it wasn’t much use, as he didn’t take his arm out of his port.

He had time to kill, and no way to kill it. He figured he’d just sleep. The slop that was given for meals did little to satiate his hunger. 

When the timer was counting down to the last five minutes, he was disappointed to see that no one from the group made it. He sighed. Suddenly a door opened, and someone dropped out, dead. 

Not too long after, Gon, Killua, and Kurapika walked through one door, and then not too long after Leorio and the shady guy (Tonpa?) walked through too. 

“Oh! Ed! You made it too!” Gon exclaimed, walking over to him as the group gravitated towards him too.

“Hm? Yeah, I did. I thought you guys weren’t gonna make it. I didn’t see you guys and got worried.” Ed said.

“Yeah, well we got stuck with this guy sabotaging us!” Leorio exclaimed pointing a finger at Tonpa who was backing away slowly.

Ed glared at Tonpa, then said, “Is that so?” and his face pulled into a devilish smile. He was going to terrorize Tonpa.

Chapter 4

Summary:

And phase four, at last

The next phase of the exam was explained, and Ed couldn’t be more bored. He took off his badge after it was explained, and slid it into his glove to later make it safer. After many of the other applicants went up, Ed pulled a card.

Afterwards, when Ed pulled off the sticker, it was one-hundred-five. This wouldn’t be hard. Ed’s been trained for situations like this. He’s part of the military, of course he knows how to deal with hiding out. Plus, he knows his target’s face… he knows everyone’s face. 

The applicants set off on a ship, and after the attendant failed miserably to talk to the applicants, Ed hoisted himself onto the roof of the ship. The first thing he would do on the island is find a place to clean his ports quickly, but also safely. 

He remembers the last time he had to reattach his arm himself in a hurry… he was running from a murderer. Barry the Chopper, he called himself. Ed and Winry had been kidnapped, and Ed’s arm was on the table, and Winry was being threatened. Ed tried to get Barry’s attention by taunting him, and then he bursted the chains off by scratching a transmutation circle onto the chains and activating it. After that, he ran. He still has the scar on his left shoulder from where the knife dug in, and the small scratches running down his arm too that Barry managed to land on Ed as he was dodging and running. 

Ed remembers it quite well, but this would be different. He would do it efficiently, and away from the prying eyes of the other applicants. No one would know. 

Soon they arrived at the island. The announcer told them to leave the boat one at a time in the order they completed the third phase with two minute intervals between each departure. That meant Ed had about twenty minutes before he left. Ed jumped down from the roof, and landed with a heavy sound. 

“Hey Ed, what time are you leaving?” Kurapika asked him as he landed.

“I think in like… twenty-ish minutes.” Ed responded.

“You finished tenth?” Kurapika asked in a tone that meant he was going to start psychoanalyzing Ed.

“Yeah, why?”

“Oh, nothing. That’s very impressive.” 

“Thank you Kurapika.”

The two boys sat against the wall in silence for a while until it was Ed’s turn to leave. Once Ed left, he immediately started sprinting, looking for a cave to hide. He found three, but after investigating one of them more, he realized someone already resided there, and took to using one of the other two caves. He grabbed some firewood and went in, and blocked it off with alchemy. This was not going to be fun, but Ed took off his jackets, and transmuted something nearby into a towel. He couldn’t see what he was doing, but then transmuted the logs so they’d be burning. Ed then went through the complicated process of taking his arm off (undoing some of the necessary locks and screws) until it finally dropped to the ground with a clank, and water drained out.

Ed began cleaning the arm with the towel he’d made, and scratching out all the bits that may have rusted. After a little while, he was finally done, and then came the part he was dreading… reconnecting. 

Ed mentally prepared himself, and bit down on the sleeve of his jacket to muffle his cries of pain. He positioned the arm right at the port, and began locking it into place. With each nerve that connected, it became harder not to scream. When the last nerve connected, he dreaded doing the leg, but knew it was necessary. 

He repeated the process with his leg, and was happy to say he didn’t scream at all from the reconnection. Before Ed left to find his target, he pulled his badge out of his glove, and then put it into his pants pocket, clapped his hands, and transmuted his pocket shut. There, it won’t fall out now, and it’s also harder for anyone else to get it. 

Ed stood up, and left the cave (covering it before he left), and scouted out for his target. He found his target in a field of long grass, and snuck behind him. Ed was careful not to let him see. Ed reformed some of the grass into a bow and arrow, and aimed. This wasn’t his preferred choice, but he’d make use of what he had. Ed shot him twice in silence, effectively pinning the other to the ground. Ed walked up to him.

“I’m sorry…” Ed said, as he looked for the other’s badge. He found it, and left, but not after knocking the man out and applying bandages to his wounds. 

After that, Ed was wiped out. He went back to his cave, and covered it. He used his jackets to make a pillow for him to sleep. He could do this for a week, hell, he’s been stuck on an island for a month and was fine.

Ed reopened his transmuted shut pocket back open, and put in the other badge, and shut it again. He was all set. 

The next day, Ed went to the river to get some fish. He had transmuted a spear, and was just going to stab and get some that way. It was early morning, and unlikely anyone else was awake.

Once he got there, he sat and fished for a good few hours, and then GOn came along. “Oh, hi Gon. I wasn’t expecting to see you here.” 

“Hey Ed! I’m just practicing so I can catch my target.” Gon said, while casting his fishing rod to the sky.

“Aren’t you supposed to catch fish?” Ed asked, while stabbing a fish through on his spear.

“Hmm… yeah, but I figured that it would be useful training this way.” Gon said, casting again.

“Oh yeah, who’s your target anyways?” Ed asked.

“Hisoka”

“That nut job?!” Ed had no encounters with the man personally, but the other applicants talked, and number forty-four was decidedly scary. Ed never wanted to have a run-in with the man. Ever.

“Yeah. I know I can’t win in a fight head-on, so I figured I’d win this way.”

“Good choice… Also, you’re not my target, don’t worry. I already got my target’s badge.”

“I know.”

“H-huh?”

“I watched you. That’s what gave me the idea of a surprise attack.” Gon smiled.

“Speaking of surprise attacks, there’s someone following you.” Ed said while taking his haul of twelve fish in a bucket he transmuted. Once Ed got back to his cave, he knew he was set for the week. He cooked one of the fish, and then froze the water so the fish would stay fresh for later.

It was a pretty boring week, overall. Ed passed with no problem. He met up with the others at the starting line, and was glad to see they were mostly okay.

Chapter 5

Summary:

PHASE FIVE, DOES HE PASS???

Amestrian

Japanese

 

Once the final phase became apparent, Ed just had to sit and wait to be called in for his interview. Ed sat, watching the scenery go by. There was a peaceful feel to the way the sun sat in the sky, and Ed could appreciate it thoroughly. It’s been a long time since he had, but he just wished Al was there with him.

Soon, his number was called out for the interview. The questions were easy. ‘Why do you want to be a hunter? Which applicant have you been watching closely? Which applicant would you not like to fight?’ 

Ed’s answers were as follows: ‘To find a specific place. Number forty four and number four-oh-five, and the same as last answer.’ 

Then when the matches were announced, Ed was to match off whoever lost between Gon and Hanzo. 

The first match was pretty much just Gon getting beat up gruesomely. It was awful to watch, but when Hanzo broke Gon’s arm, that’s when Ed got really mad. This boy was so similar to Ed’s brother, and Ed knew that this kid had determination and spirit just like Al.

Ed stood, seething in anger as he heard Kurapika and Leorio say they wouldn’t stop each other from hurting Hanzo.

Then, Gon kicked Hanzo in the face, and his little soliloquy about seeing his dad sobered everyone up to laughs, including Ed (not Killua though). 

Gon was knocked out, and passed the exam because Hanzo withdrew. Kurapika and Hisoka’s match was peculiar, but it was kinda boring to Ed. The third match was over before it began because Killua immediately withdrew, and then was Ed’s match.

He was against Hanzo. The first few minutes of fighting were easy, like a warm up to Ed. Easy blows being exchanged by equals (like how he was with Al). 

Then the pace started picking up. Hanzo began throwing quicker punches. Ed dodged most of them, until there was an unexpected kick towards his left leg. It almost made Ed lose his balance, but Hanzo jumped back and checked on his shin.

“What the hell is your leg made of? Steel?” He asked incredulously, as a large purple bruise started forming.

“ Close enough… ” Ed muttered, and then continued “Can we just finish this already?”

This angered Hanzo and he stood up. The two began circling each other. The silence in the air was thick. Within a second, the other was right in front of Ed. The shinobi went to chop the back of Ed’s neck (like he’d done to Gon), but Ed threw himself forward onto his hands, and kicked up into the other’s stomach which was blocked roughly, the man grabbed Ed by his left foot, and went to throw him across the room. Ed went rolling across the floor.  Ed quickly found himself getting out of the way of another blow. Soon though, Ed somehow got caught in an armlock, and Hanzo probably meant to break his arm. 

Ed couldn’t let that happen, especially considering that the arm he held was metal and not flesh. Hanzo wouldn’t be able to break it unless he was superhuman. Ed used his left arm to push up his own body (and Hanzo’s, perks of the military) and Ed found himself projecting his body upwards to fall over onto Hanzo’s. Ed smashed his head up into Hanzo’s nose, effectively allowing Ed to do this. Now Hanzo was pinned under Ed, and effectively couldn’t get out. 

“I suggest you give up, unless you want me to get serious.” Ed said, loud enough so only Hanzo could hear. Ed let a peak of his automail arm show, to demonstrate what he meant. Hanzo quickly understood that Ed had been going easy on Hanzo, and agreed, quickly surrendering.

Ed got some ‘good job’s’ from his friends, and smiled in response. 

Next was Hisoka versus Bodoro, and Bodoro was beaten quite badly. Leorio and Bodoro’s match was postponed, and the real interesting one was Killua versus Gitarakur. 

Turns out the pin-freak was actually the kid’s brother. Ed could one-hundred percent see the manipulation the man was pulling on Killua. It was awful to think the kid had such a hard time at home. When Killua relented with a fight from the man, Ed could instantly see that something was wrong with Killua. He was hardly responsive at all. When Leorio’s match began, Killua killed Bodoro, and left. Ed felt bad for the kid, but was also upset that Killua was able to kill the man with no heart at all.

When Gon burst into the briefing and had his angry outbreak at Illumi, Ed knew he’d help the kid with anything asked of him. Gon’s sense of justice reminded him of Al (though Gon was a little more forward than Al ever was).

So after the briefing, Ed followed Kurapika and Leorio to confront Illumi, and get Killua back. They were directed to Kukuroo Mountain, and Illumi doubted they could even get there. Ed would split ways with them after this. He had to get home to Al.

“Hey Ed, can I talk to you for a second?” Hanzo asked.

“Sure, what’s up?” Ed responded.

“It might be better to talk in private…”

Ed sighed and said, “Okay,”

Once they got to a more secure area with no one else around, Hanzo asked, “What’s with your arm?”

Ed had no choice but to reveal it to the man, “I lost it in an accident, and my left leg too.”

“It’s a miracle you survived, let alone passed the hunter exam.” Hanzo said.

“I guess, I don’t know. After the surgery I went into the military of my country, and was there for a while, so I guess I’m pretty fit physically.” Ed responded to the man.

“Eh? Aren’t you like…twelve or something?” Hanzo asked him.

“Hey! I am not! I’m sixteen you douchebag!” Ed yelled in response. Hanzo widened his eyes at that, and really asked if the kid was a child soldier to which Ed responded, “You really can’t say anything about that. You’ve been training to be a shinobi for your entire life, like you revealed in your fight with Gon.”

“It wasn’t military though. Military is an organized system with more faults than that which trains the shinobi, the lifestyle of a shinobi is just that… a lifestyle. Military is part of the work force that keeps you on a leash, and takes over your life to a different degree.”

Ed shrugged and walked back to his friends, and other new hunters came up to talk to the group, and were friendly, especially to Gon. Soon Gon was pulled away to talk to the examiner from the first phase of the exam, and then after Gon came back, they booked their tickets to Killua’s country.

Then they almost missed their flight, but ran to the airport. Everyone seemed on edge, and kind of down. Gon seemed the most out of it, though. 

Chapter 6

Summary:

Time to save Killua

The gate of Zoldyck estate was huge. It was as big as the gate back at Central Commande, and that was hard to match.

After hearing Gon’s question on how to get inside, the tour guide snapped, “If you go inside, you’ll never come out again! It’s an assassin’s hideout.”

These two shady men began to threaten the guard of the gate, and then after they went in, the guard said, “Aw darn, the master hates when Mike snacks between meals.”

Then there was screaming. A few moments later, a claw dropped two skeletons resembling the men from before outside of the gate.

Everyone besides the group ran away, screaming. The guard yelled to Mike not to blame the extra pounds on him.

“What was… that thing?” Kurapika asked, startled.

“Apparently a pet…” Ed muttered. After a while, it was figured out that the guard was actually a janitor for Mike– the guard dog. Then, the group was told about the testing gate vs. the locked gate. Then the janitor called up to the house to talk to the butler, and then Gon talked to him. Gon got pretty angry pretty quick, and tried to climb the wall. After a little, he got down, and then they were offered a chance to look at Mike. When they did look at the giant beast, shudders ran through his body. 

They began training to open the gate under Mr. Zebro and Seaquant. After a little while, they made the gate open slightly, giving them hope.

Soon, when they finally made it past all the training and the gate, they met an apprentice butler who drew a line and told the group they wouldn’t get past her. Gon told them not to move, and kept trying to get past, but kept getting hit back. Soon enough, the apprentice broke, and told them to help Killua, but she soon collapsed (shot?) and a woman came out from the bushes with a kid and said that Killua is glad they came, but can’t see them. This didn’t add up, and Ed knew the kid wouldn’t deny seeing Gon. Maybe it wasn’t really from him? 

Leorio checked her pulse and stated, “She’s okay, she just lost consciousness.”

The woman stated that she was Killua’s mother, and the kid was Kalluto. She said Killua couldn’t see them because he was in solitary confinement. She then told a story that Killua had stabbed his brother and ran away from home (which was a repeat to the story told at the exams, always leaving Ed horrified), then the woman cried out to someone not to do anything as he’d just returned. She stated that something just came up, and began to run off before Gon stopped her. He said they’d be in town for a while, and to tell Killua. Then the woman ran off. 

The little kid stayed and asked them who they were, to which Gon replied “We’re all friends with Killua.” The kid questioned it and ran off after the woman shrieked to hurry up.

“It goes without saying, but these people really creep me out. And I bet they were lying about Killua not wanting to see us. Gon, we can’t go back there just yet. Maybe we should tail those two.”

“Yeah, but if we go follow them, I’m worried that it would mean a whole lot of trouble for her later on.” Gon responded, gesturing with his head to the knocked out girl.

“Yeah, good point.” Leorio said.

Suddenly, the girl spoke, saying “I will… take you to the butlers’ quarters. There’s a phone that connects directly to the mansion.” She sat up and held her head where a bruise was forming. “If Master Zeno answers it, you might–”

“Who’s Master Zeno?” Gon cut off.

She responded saying that he’s Killua’s grandpa. They were led to the butlers’ quarters through the woods for a good few hours. A good distance away (after being led through a twisty, misty path), Canary (the apprentice butler the group had learned the name of during the walk) pointed out the destination which was still a good distance away. 

“Hey, Canary, aren't you going to get in a lot of trouble with your bosses for bringing us here?” Gon asked her.

“They are perfectly aware of what I’m doing. I am quite certain of that. I’m prepared for the consequences.” Canary replied, eerily calm.

“If there’s any trouble, I’ll take responsibility.” Gon said to her, as reassurance. Kurapika looked at said boy wearily along with Canary.

“No. I am merely serving as a guide for Master Killua’s friends.” She began walking again. Gon hummed and smiled, following her.

When they got there, Ed looked at the big-ass manor that had awesome architecture that Ed could appreciate. Ed admired the color of the after-sunset-sky before he got to the house. It felt like a betrayal to watch it without Al…

Al, I’ll be home soon, just wait, Ed thought towards his brother.

The butlers were lined up outside the house, menacingly. Not creepy at all, Ed thought. In sync they all bowed, with the middle butler saying, “Welcome gentlemen.”

They were led inside, and began a soliloquy about how they were sorry for their previous treatment while Gon was patched up. Ed wasn’t interested very much in the conversation, blah blah blah, ‘only here to see Killua,’ blah blah blah. Ed was, as much as the others, there to see Killua, but also there to support Gon. Gon had a fierce spirit, not unlike Al, and Ed would die before letting the semblance of someone like his brother slip through his fingers. As similar as the two were, Ed couldn’t discredit the fact that Al was definitely a lot smarter than Gon, and wasn’t as forward with his opinions, but they had a similar passion to do what’s right, and that’s what made them so similar in Ed’s eyes.

Ed began spacing out as the butler asked about a coin flipping game. Ed began reciting the elements and their atomic numbers and properties, along with other formulas. After a bit, he tuned back into the conversation.

“...ll honesty, I despise you for attempting to take him away. Well? Which hand? Answer.” The aura of the butler had turned to something akin to bloodlust. 

“The left hand” Kurapika answered in a pinched voice as the butler opened his hand to reveal a bent coin.

“The Lady’s voice was a bare whisper. Her son is leaving, and it’s breaking her heart. I can’t forgive you.” There was a pensive silence. “Before Master Killua arrives, I shall test each of you by my own methods. You have no choice.” The main butler said as the other’s unsheathed short-swords. One of them was held up to Canary’s throat.

“Canary!” Gon shouted. 

“This is her punishment for defying orders and bringing you here.” 

“This isn’t right! It’s not our fault that Killua wants to leave! If you guys weren’t so shitty to him, he’d want to stay here, but instead, you’re forcing him to do stuff like kill people.” Ed ranted at the man.

“We never forced him to do anything. Allow me to explain the rules. If you answer incorrectly, you are out. Should you all be disqualified, which is quite possible, then I shall tell Master Killua that you left. And that he will never see any of you again.”

“Killua’s–” Gon began.

“Silence. Your very lives hang by a most delicate thread. Answer my question. I will not ask again.” The butler said while flipping a coin up. The man’s hands danced around to catch the coin for a little. Then both hands still into fists, “Now, which hand?”

The group looked at each other.

“And time is of the essence, you only have three seconds.” The main butler then ordered the one holding Canary to slit her throat after three seconds. 

Leorio and Ed shouted out left, Gon picked the right, and same with Kurapika. 

The man opened his palm to reveal the palm and just stated that two had been disqualified. He then repeated the action, just keeping the coin in the air for longer. Gon chose the left hand while Kurapika chose the right.

The butler glared as if sizing up an opponent. Gon told the man to wait before asking for Leorio’s knife. Then Gon stated he wouldn’t use it for anything stupid before taking off his eyepatch. He then proceeded to use the knife for something stupid; cutting his eyelid to reduce swelling from being punched there. 

The man once again flipped the coin and then mixed it up in the air, and then caught it. He asked which hand and Gon said that it was the left hand.

Then they used three people and a sword to mix up the coin. They stopped their movement abruptly and asked who had the coin.

“Now, which hand?” asked the butler.

Gon just chuckled and pointed his thumb saying, “That guy, right behind me.” 

He then opened his hand to reveal the coin. The butler chuckled, and Gon got a round of applause with the butler saying, “Splendid. Well done!”

Killua came into the room, and the friends were happy to reunite. 

“Gon, you were already here? And this guy, Kurapika!”

“You remembered…” Kurapika muttered.

“Reolio!” He exclaimed.

Ed laughed while Leorio raged, saying his name properly.

“And you- why are you here, actually?” He asked Ed.

Ed muttered in his native language some swears, then turned to Killua to say, “Nice to see ya, kid. I was here to help Gon, and also cuz a kid doesn’t deserve to be forced to stay with a shitty family.” The last part was said in a grouchily embarrassed way.

Killua seemed to accept that, and turned back to Gon to say, “It’s been so long, but you made it. Wow, your face is a mess.” 

“Back at ya!” Gon exclaimed, and the two began to laugh.

Killua began to scold the butler, and then said they were leaving. Gon stayed back a moment, and then joined the rest of the group at the door. 

They were walking through the quaint town not too far off from the Zoldyck property, and talking about the coin trick. Kurapika explained the trick to them, dumbing it down. They kept talking, and even though Ed wasn’t actively participating in the conversation, he enjoyed the company of the group (even the brats).

They were on the blimp, and Ed said he’d sit separately from the group (as it was four to a grouping of seats). It reminded him of Al (despite the modernity of this vehicle and that it was in the air).

Ed was just glad to be going back to whatever country they came from before getting Killua. He definitely needed geography lessons, and they wouldn’t come all by themselves, so Ed would have to do some research. 

While looking out the window, Ed hummed a lullaby his mother used to sing to him and Al under his breath. Ed was going to go home to Al.

Once the blimp landed the group discussed how they were set to meet up again in Yorknew City on September first for an auction. Ed would probably go there anyways, as with his little research on the ride, it was one of the most populated cities, meaning that there would be lots of information to gather there (more people = more books). 

“All right, I’ll be leaving now.” Kurapika stated.

“Huh?” Gon questioned.

“We all got to see Killua again, so my work here is finished. I’ll be needing a lot of money if I’m going to attend the auction, so from here, I shall search for a patron willing to employ me as a hunter.” Kurapika stated.

“Really? I guess I should head back home then.” Leorio stated.

“Wait, you too?” Gon asked.

“I haven’t given up on becoming a doctor. If I’m accepted to med school, then this will pay for the outrageous expenses. I need to get back and start hitting the books.” Leorio said, holding up his hunter license.

“Best of luck, Leorio.” Gon responded.

“What about you?” Kurapika asked Ed.

“Oh, I’m gonna find a place to conduct some research, probably Yorknew City. We’re all gonna be heading there anyways, and there’s probably a lot more research material there.” Ed stated.

“Awh, you too?” Gon asked.

“Yeah kid, I gotta hit the books as well.” Ed said with an easy smile.

“Can’t you just come with us? I mean, you’re just researching, right?” Killua asked, and for a moment, he thought it was Winry asking him to stay one more night after a tune-up on his automail.

Ed knew his eyes softened, but said anyway, “Sorry, as much as I’d love to accept the offer, I can’t go with you guys. I’ll see ya at Yorknew City though.” with a faux salute that was relaxed (yet eerily similar to the one he did for the Colonel before he realized the man was just a bastard). 

“‘Til next time.” Leorio said. 

“Yes, that will be…” Kurapika started slowly before everyone (including Ed) chimed in, “September first in Yorknew City!”

Then the three walked off, leaving Gon and Killua to their own devices. 

“See ya later.” Leorio said.

Chapter 7

Summary:

Ed's on his own in the world? How's it going with him?

Awful. Obviously, but good too.

Ed reached Yorknew city by dusk, and needed a place to stay. The city was bustling, even at night. Ed walked for a little while before he found an apartment up for rent. He walked in to secure the lease. Once he finally secured his apartment (with a very nice lady), he was happy to have a base set of operations. 

He’d definitely need to do some decorating, as even if this was just a temporary place to stay, he didn’t know how long he’d be staying there. The apartment was nice, and his hunter license took care of a lot of the up-front payment needed, but he’d still need a more permanent job.  There was a kitchen right as he walked into the apartment, and then a small living room with a bedroom off the side of it, and a bathroom right next to the bedroom (also coming off the living room). Overall, for an apartment, it was pretty big. It was already furnished with some basic furniture, but if he wanted to change any of it, he was given permission to, as most of it was falling apart (apparently).

Ed locked the door behind him, and slept easily that night (despite the bed, which was worse than military barrack beds). Once he woke up in the morning, he began searching for a job in typical attire. He went downstairs, to the first floor of the apartment complex, and went out to look for a job, soon he found an employment agency for hunters. At first, he was turned away, but then the receptionist did a full one-eighty and asked him a question.

“What does this mean to you?” She said while sliding over a sheet of paper with the symbol Flamel on it (the symbol on the back of his coat).

“It’s the Flamel symbol, and represents my relationship to alchemy.” Ed said.

“Alchemy, huh?” the receptionist asked. “Care to demonstrate?”

“...Sure…” Ed said, pulling over a blank piece of paper on the desk and a pen. He drew a circle, and then transmuted the paper to a crane. He didn’t want to reveal all his secrets.

“Hmmm… you may not know Nen, but this is very unusual…” The receptionist said, and then stated, “I’ll give you an interview. What kind of job interests you?”

Ed stated that he wanted a job at a research facility. She found one, and secured him an interview as a guard for the place. The date was set for two days later. Ed would be okay until then, as to get some pocket change, he’d just fix things for people. In those two days, he got about ten-thousand Jenny (about one hundred USD). He stocked the fridge with that, and bought two books before that money ran out. He was employed on the spot with an agreement that he’d get access to research materials too, but in his working hours he’d be a guard. 

The next three months were easy for Ed in routine as there were almost no attempts to break into the facility, and the one time there was, the man gave up easily. Ed had a lot of money saved into his account, and often worked overtime for that extra pay. 

Ed walked into his apartment one day, and again, realized the blandness of the place he lived. What did he do? Obviously he went on a slight shopping spree and refurbished his apartment. It looked more like a home after that. 

Ed kept researching, and found little to nothing, until he found a book about Nen. After reading up on it more, Ed theorized he could probably enhance his alchemy with Nen. After reading that one book on it though, Ed looked for almost any other book out there, and crossed-reference, making sure his information was correct before developing a method in which he would learn it. Ed didn’t want to learn it wrong, and he had to take this necessary step because when he learned alchemy, those sources had already been filed down by his father, but now no one had crossed-referenced this collection, so Ed made it a point to do so for his own. 

At his home, he had quite the collection of books in his bedroom/study. He had two full book cases full of books on Nen, geography, coding, and a little bit on alchemy (the little knowledge this world had on it). 

Ed thoroughly coded his notes with his language, also as a recipe (thank you Dr. Marcoh), and then a few other codes. Was Ed paranoid? Yes. Was it for a good reason? He didn’t know. He also had a theory that Envy could be in this world, after Ed confirmed his father wasn’t. There was no city called London, and Ed couldn’t find any of the political turmoil that had been going on when he went through the gate to his father. If Ed got here, it was also very possible that there were many other worlds, and the gate wasn’t just one-way to the other side, but like a big circle of gates that went on for infinity. 

If that was the case, Ed would need to figure out how to intentionally pass through the gate of his choice, and that meant Ed would likely need an anchor from this world, as well as an anchor from that world. Ed figured his blood relation to his brother was probably as good an anchor as any, and seeing as his father’s world cannot use alchemy, Ed could draw his transmutation circle in his own blood to transfer him to his home world and be fine.

Although, Ed needed a lot of time to make an array that could actually work with this theory. He couldn’t do what he did in lab five and come up with it on the spot, no… this array could only be created after many months of careful research, plus with the added variable of Nen to enhance the alchemical reaction. Ed needed months of careful research, and experience on Nen too. 

Some of Ed’s notes uncoded look like this:

• Nen is ability to control aura
• Aura is life energy
• Four principals are:

• Ten - build up and contain life energy
• Zetsu - shut off flow of aura
• Ren - allows you to make more aura
• Hatsu - release aura and carry out a function

• Aura dwells in all people
• Aura nodes in a person's body are likely closed and must be awakened
• Meditation to learn how to sense aura (or shock into awakening)

Ed began his meditation to slowly begin the realization of his aura. It was a pain for him to do, but he wanted to be thorough. He could be patient if he wanted, he learned that through alchemy training. After a week, Ed could sense his aura around him, and how it flowed so Ed began to master Ten, as now that his aura nodes were open, he’d need to keep his aura contained. After that, he mastered the other four principles, and he began looking into how to train, and came up with this method to determine his type of Nen involving a glass of water and a leaf. He was sure his type would be transmutation with his advanced knowledge in alchemical transmutation. After a while of nothing happening, Ed decided maybe he’d taste the water. It definitely changed the taste, meaning he was a transmuter. As he’d thought. The water was kind of bitter with a sweet aftertaste.

Ed trained his Nen in an abandoned warehouse. He trained up his alchemy to keep it sharp, and then began incorporating his Nen into his alchemical reactions. He changed the quality of his Nen to that of an igniter and catalyst,  it made him uneasy though. He used it to balance out certain parts of equations he wasn’t able to before, and using this energy to do so felt almost as if he was cheating. Almost… it was his own life energy after all. 

As the auction drew closer, Ed began looking at the different items to bid on. He found an underground auction that held a load of disturbing things– body parts, old relics, and more. The craziest thing was that he recognized a book up for auction– it was a book his dad had in his study before he left. A book he took with him when he left.

It was crazy though… Van Hoenheim wasn’t in this world! Van Hoenheim was stuck in a world without alchemy, and no way home.

Had his father already figured out the secret to traveling intentionally to different worlds with alchemy? Ed didn’t know, which is why he needed that book.

Within six months, Ed had become a master of using his Nen to reinforce his alchemy. It was almost time for the group to meet up.

Chapter 8

Summary:

Gon and Killua?

It was two weeks before the group was supposed to meet up, and Ed was sitting in a coffee shop that had quickly become his favorite. Their apple pie reminded him of Winry’s apple pie, and he just couldn’t get enough of the treat that made him feel closer to home. It was nearing the end of the day and Ed found two boys sitting at the fountain that reminded him of Gon and Killua. Then he realized they didn’t just remind him of Gon and Killua, they were Gon and Killua.

“Gon? Killua? What are you guys doing here?” He asked, approaching them.

“Ed!” Gon exclaimed.

“Oh yeah, I forgot, you said you were gonna stay in Yorknew City.” Killua stated.

“Yeah, do you guys need a place to stay? I have an apartment with two couches and a bed.” Ed said to them.

“That would be great! Thanks!” Gon exclaimed happily.

“What are you guys planning to do about the auction?” Ed asked, walking with them towards his apartment.

“Ah, well, you see…” Gon started.

“We’re going after a game. It’s called Greed Island, heard of it?” Killua asked.

“Yeah, I have. I read about it in one of my books. Why are you going after that? Isn’t it ridiculously expensive?” Ed asked.

“Yeah, we’re trying to get it to find my dad.” Gon said.

“How much more do you guys have to go?” Ed asked the two.

“A lot…” Killua stated, dejectedly.

“I have at least two hundred billion in my account, I could lend you some. Not a ton of it, as I am looking for something at the auction myself.” Ed stated, sheepishly.

“Really?! You’d do that?!” Gon exclaimed happily.

Killua just looked shocked and asked, “How did you get that much in just six months?!”

“Well, I work as a guard at a research facility guarding some top secret research or something, so it pays pretty well. Plus I fix stuff for people on the side.” Ed listed off his jobs.

“Wow…” Killua stated. Once they got to the complex and made it there, the three walked into the room.

“Are you guys okay with sleeping on the couch?” Ed asked them, as he untied his braid, and pulled off his shoes.

“Yeah,” Both responded simultaneously. 

“Okay, I’m gonna make a simple dinner, you guys want any?” Ed asked.

“Sure, we’ll have some.” Killua responded then asked, “Hey, where do you keep the extra bedding?” 

“Linen closet is the first door on the left.” Ed responded while pulling out the necessary things to make the dish.

It was simple spaghetti and meatballs with sauce, but it was his mother’s recipe, so he wouldn’t downplay the deliciousness of it.

Within an hour, the sauce was done, and the pasta had cooled enough to eat. The three sat down to eat, and the two boys just looked grateful for the food. 

Ed took off his red coat, leaving on his black one, and they ate. 

“I’m gonna be going into my room to study, the bathroom is the door furthest right, the TV remote is in the center drawer on the TV stand, if you two need anything else just knock on my door.” Ed said while entering the center door.

Ed studied well into the night, and many times heard the two boys laughing and talking. Around midnight, Ed came out of his room quietly, and crept to the kitchen to get a snack.

“Oh, you’re still up?” Killua’s voice asked from one of the couches.

“Yeah, just taking a little break from studying.” Ed stated, opening a cabinet, and pulling out a snack. 

“You’ve been studying that long?” Gon asked, astonished.

“Yeah.”

“Why don’t you watch a movie with us?” Killua asked.

“I think it’s time for you two to sleep.” Ed said to them.

“Awh, but why?” Gon asked, and Ed couldn’t help but be reminded of how he and Al were when they were younger.

“...Alright, fine. One movie.” Ed said, “then you’re going to sleep.”

The three sat on the couch and turned on a horror movie, but it wasn’t all that scary. They all laughed at parts they were supposed to be scared at.

Then, the two younger boys did as they promised, and fell asleep. Ed went back into his room, and continued studying.

The next morning, Ed had woken up well before the two kids, and made breakfast for them when they woke up. He left a note saying he’d be back later, and they could go where they wanted as long as they left a note saying where they’d be, and to be back before dinner at eight.

Ed’s work hours were kinda weird, one day he’d be working all day, and the next day his hours would be from after lunch to like six o’clock. He wasn’t complaining though, his job made good money, and with that, he could get good food, and good research materials to help him go home.

Chapter 9

Summary:

it's September first is that Envy?

Amestrian

Japanese

 

When it was finally September first (the first day of the week he had specifically requested off from work), he walked with Gon and Killua around the Yorknew City marketplace. 

“Wow! Look at all the people!” Gon exclaimed.

“The whole purpose of this market is to swindle the visitors who have come for the auction.” Killua explained.

“Wait, so this isn’t the auction venue?” Gon asked.

“ No , of course it isn’t.” Killua responded. “Yorknew’s Dream Auction is held once a year, in the world’s largest auction house. They say that tens of trillions of Jenny exchange hands during only ten days of official bidding.” 

“Tens of trillions? Really?”

“Yeah, something that sells for ten-thousand today, could go for a hundred-million tomorrow. Bam! Instant fortune. It’s where dreams come true.” 

“Wow!”

“Well anyway, that’s a big part of the reason why so much of the underworld auctioning happens at the same time.” 

“That’s awesome!” 

“So hey, you think Kurapika and Leorio are gonna show?” 

“They’d promised they’d meet us here today, so I’m sure they will.”

“Right… they might try to contact us, so… Gon! You really gotta get a phone! Every hunter needs one!” Killua scolded. Killua was right of course, even Ed had a phone. 

“Yeah, I know.” Gon said, rubbing the back of his head. 

They soon found a vendor selling phones, and Gon was looking at a phone as Leorio came in to make sure Gon wouldn’t be swindled out of his money. Leorio exclaimed at the awful price.

“Leorio, I got it. Let me pay.” Ed said.

“No, my pride will be wounded.” Leorio said.

“No, Ed’s rich. Don’t feel bad.” Killua said to him.

“Rich? How rich…?” Leorio asked, skeptically. Ed then pulled up his bank account on his phone, and Leorio practically fainted at the sight of all the zeroes.

They all walked around, and eventually sat at a place to eat. Leorio was astonished at Gon and Killua’s accomplishments (as was Ed).

“So, what have you been up to, rich boy?” Leorio asked Ed, taking a bite out of his food.

“Work, studying, training. All that fun stuff.” Ed said to him.

“Where do you even work to get that much money in less than six months?”

“Some research facility. I’m a guard there, and since whatever they’re researching is top-secret, I get paid the big bucks.” 

“I wonder what kind of research requires that amount of guarding… the hours must be terrible though!”

“They are really weird.” Killua chimed in.

“Oh yeah? How would you know?” Leorio asked.
“We’ve been staying with him for the past week and a half.” Killua responded.

“Ehh, they’re not that bad.” Ed said, remembering how bad the military hours were (seriously, for training they were doing dawn to dusk, with only a break for lunch, and no free time).

“Did you learn Nen, Leorio?” Gon asked him.

“You better believe I did.” He responded in a rasp.

“That’s awesome!” Gon said.

“Seriously?” Killua asked.

“Why the hell would I lie about that? It’s building up a shroud of aura, making your own life force even stronger!” 

Ed and Killua sighed in sync. 

“That’s Ten actually, one of the four major principles for learning Nen.” Gon said.

“What?!” Leorio gasped, astonished. “Are you saying there’s more to it?!”

“I figured it’d be something like that.” Killua said, looking off to the side.

“Oh yeah, forgot to ask. Ed, did you learn Nen too?” 

“Ish, I taught myself the basics and stuff, and got pretty good with the exercises, and I started figuring out how to use my transmutation abilities, but that’s about it.” Ed responded.

“You learned from books?!” Leorio gaped.

“I can learn almost anything from books, which is why I have to go to this underground auction to get an old book.” Ed said as they began walking back to his apartment after paying for food, and putting on Ed’s card.

“Why would you go that far for a scrap of disintegrating paper?” Killua asked.

“It has information that I seek.” Ed said, not wanting them to get involved.

They turned into Ed’s home. Once they got in, Leorio exclaimed, “Woah, your apartment is so nice!” 

Ed made some tea, and they sat down to talk about Greed Island, and used Ed’s living room computer (he also had one for his study/bedroom). 

“While you guys talk about Greed Island and stuff, I’m gonna go study some more.” Ed said, leaving them to discuss their goals.

“You’ll die with your head in a book with how much you study.” Killua grumbled.

“Yeah yeah, kid. Sure. It’s just some minor studying.” Ed said.

“That’s what you said last night after dinner, and then came out well after three AM!” Gon exclaimed at him.

“See ya!” Ed said while closing the door because, really, Ed needed to figure this out quickly. He was becoming too attached to these guys, and he was afraid he wouldn’t be able to leave if he got much closer to them, and he… he was getting tired of keeping them away. He also never let Gon and Killua into his room, purely because of the mess it was from his studying.

Books were scattered across the floor, with many towering high above the ground. There were sheets of paper also scattered across the floor with failed transmutation circles, and notes that didn’t contribute to his main journal were ripped out into paper balls thrown on the ground. Books were thrown about in his bed, and weakly drawn pictures of friends from back home were also thrown about.  He bet this was a tame version of Sheska’s house. 

Tonight was the auction Ed was to be at for the book, and Ed knew a while had passed since his friends last saw him, so Ed walked out of his room with his jackets (his outside jacket being an alternate version of his red one with a hood and white fur hemming it) and gloves, and also grabbed a mask he had made earlier with alchemy. He wanted to arrive a few hours early to scope out the area.

“I’m going out, I’ll be back well after midnight, so don’t wait up. There’s food in the fridge if you get hungry, and–”

“Ed, we’ll be fine. Don’t be such a worry wart, we’ll probably be out anyway. We’re gonna have people arm wrestle against Gon for money.” Leorio said to him. 

“Huh… uh… okay.” Ed said as he left.

Ed realized he could just go in alone after examining the website more on the walk. It was three people in a group, max. Before Ed got to the auction site, he put on his hood and mask.

The mask had the shape of his brother’s helmet, and had mesh in the parts that would’ve exposed skin so it would show nothing. Once Ed got there, he was asked what his name was.

“Alphonse Heidrich.” Ed said, as he had signed up with his brother’s name, and another name mentioned in his father’s work. The person nodded, and let him in (as Ed had miraculously gotten the name on the list).

Before the auction even started, he was led away by someone. 

“ Hey Fullmetal, long time no see .” The sinister voice of Envy chimed in the safety of a private room.

“ What do you want, Envy ?” Ed asked with an edge of frustration.

“ I know what you’re looking for, and I know what your goal is. I simply want to make a deal .” Envy responded, which was unusual. Envy didn’t make deals… at least not with those sharing blood with Hohenheim.

“ What kind of deal ?” Ed asked, and he knew he had changed as a person. Before, Ed never would have considered making a deal with Envy .

“ You help me get to Hohenheim, and I’ll help you get home. Sounds like a fair deal ?” Envy asked, extending his hand.

“ Before we make this deal, I want you to know that Hohenheim isn’t in this world, and you can’t kill him .” Ed stated.

“ I figured as much .” Envy responded then asked, “ So, do we have a deal ?” 

Ed nodded, and shook the homunculus’s hand. Soon enough, Envy came back with the very book that was supposed to go up for auction, and the two left with no trouble. 

As Ed walked home with Envy, he saw a hot air balloon in the sky, and then Ed arrived home with Envy, who was transformed into his original form (Ed’s brother, which Ed still flinched at). Ed no longer had his hood or mask on, and held the book at his side. When he opened the door, he noticed the lights were still on. 

He walked in and his friends were chatting about an earlier arm wrestling match.

“Hi Ed! Who’s that?” Gon said immediately upon entering.

“This is my older brother, his name is Friedrich. Drie, this is Gon, Killua, and Leorio!” Ed introduced and corresponding to the people, bullshitting the name, and knowing Envy would hate the chosen name and nickname.

“Nice to meet you, Friedrich!” Gon said, enthusiastically.

Envy waved, stunned.

“Sorry, I forgot to tell you guys he was coming to visit because I almost forgot.” Ed said sheepishly.

“ Ed, we need to talk. Now .” Envy stated, pulling him into the bedroom. Ed just gave a little wave as they walked away.

“ Yes ?” Ed asked.

“ You never told me you had friends here. You just said I could stay here .” Envy ranted angrily.

“ It’s my apartment you fucking asshole. If I have other guests over, it’s my business. You better get used to acting like you actually like me, because I’m going to be introducing you as my older brother since we need a logical reason to stick together. This is as logical as any other. We are technically brothers by blood, so suck it up if you want to leave this world alive .” Ed lectured.

Envy was silent for a few moments before answering, “ Fine, but just know I absolutely despise the name Friedrich, and hate the nickname Drie even more .” 

Ed laughed, and patted Envy’s shoulder and opened the door to the living room (after stripping off his jackets and gloves). “ Rest up, you’re going to need it, and don’t give me the bullshit of ‘oh, I’m a homunculus, I don't need rest,’. Even you can benefit from this time to gather your thoughts or something. ”

Ed closed the door after announcing that he and Friedrich (Envy) were going to bed. Ed cleared the bed of his books, and took one side of the bed, and Envy took the other. It was way less than comfortable considering less than a year ago Ed considered the homunculus an enemy. Eventually though, both fell asleep (well, as asleep as a homunculus could be).

Chapter 10

Summary:

Ed finds out something he doesn't want to

Amestrian

Japanese

 

Ed heard about what happened at the auction site, and was glad he left before he got caught up in what happened there. Ed decided to see what his friends were up to, and went outside the apartment to see a crowd gathered around Gon and his arm wrestling table, though that soon dispersed when a man offered the trio to be able to make big bucks in a more professional setting. Ed shrugged, and went back to his apartment. 

Ed was studying the book that Envy stole, and Envy was sitting on the couch, watching him make notes on a separate piece of paper. 

“ So… any idea what that bastard was studying ?” Envy asked for the millionth time.

“ For the last time, I’m still cross referencing this chapter within itself to decode it! Shut up !” Ed shouted in an annoyed tone.

“ Just thought I’d ask, pipsqueak …” Envy muttered.

“ Hey! I’m not short you piece of– ” Ed began, but then the page flipped with a draft, and he saw an array on the next page, and it clicked why he was struggling with the chapter. This chapter was about the inside of the gate– not the outside.

“ What is it, half-pint ?” Envy asked, and Ed ignored him, and began furiously scribbling notes. Ed went back to his room, and got his two other research journals and set them out to piece it together with his own research. 

After about forty-five minutes, Ed confirmed that his theory about the gate being infinitely sided was correct. Which is why his own variable in the equation wouldn’t work, it would have to be switched out for infinity meaning it unbalanced the equation on both sides. Ed was back to square one… he’d never find an energy source that could overcome this imbalance. Even if he anchored himself to his original world, his soul, mind, and body would ultimately be consumed by the Truth for energy to try and overcome the imbalance. The only reason it worked the first time was because he was pulling someone out, and then fell through to this door, which was already opened. That wouldn’t work this time because Ed intended to find his home gate, and not fall through whichever gate was open.

Ed felt like throwing something or crying or both. It was just like he felt after he realized the philosopher's stone was made out of human souls. Ed instead whispered, “ Damn it ..”

“ What ?” Envy asked, confused.

“ I’m going for a walk. Don’t follow me, I need time to think. ” And Ed pulled on his black cropped jacket and boots, and walked out the door. 

Ed stayed out overnight, and sat in a park. He was beginning to think it was possible that he was never going home, and he hated that. When Ed got back to the apartment the next morning, his friends and Envy were asking him questions as soon as he got through the door.

“Hey Ed, you didn’t come back last night, and we got in pretty late.” Leorio mentioned to him.

“Yeah, just had to clear my thoughts.” Ed said.

“Well, in anycase, you should explain how you have that book considering the auction got called off, and people were killed.” Killua said.

“I worked at the auction, and stole the book before I overheard that some stuff was due to be transferred. I made the executive decision to take the book, seeing as I knew Ed would be after it.” Envy said to them in the form of Friedrich.

“Why that book though? You never told us what’s so special about it.” Gon responded.

“It’s the only thing that confirms my research.” Ed tried, as he got to the living room desk, he noticed a sheet of paper there with a list of people on some type of bounty– there was writing on it (Leorio’s, assumedly), and it said ‘The Phantom Troupe’.

Then, Envy’s face began to show worry because, now he got it. “ We can’t go back, can we ?” 

“ The power variable has to be infinite… and that’s something we don’t have, currently .” Ed said to Envy.

“ You said you could get me to see that piece of shit, and now you’re telling me you can’t even get home ?” Envy asked, eerily calm. Their spectators watched them carefully.

“Care to fill us in?” Leorio asked.

“It’s nothing, don’t worry about it.” Ed said, walking to his room with his research. “ I’m going to look at more of the chapters… I was only halfway through the only relevant section, so there could be more .” Ed said to Envy before he closed the door.

Ed studied for most of the day, and was getting into the section talking about Nen’s effects on alchemy. Gon, Killua, and Leorio had gone to get some more money by going after the Phantom Troupe for money, as they now had a bounty on their head.

Ed was getting worried when he looked out his back window and saw many pillars of smoke rising up in the air. 

Ed walked into the living room, and Envy, Leorio, and Mr. Zepile already had the TV on, playing the news that the Phantom Troupe was attacking. Leorio and Mr. Zepile was drinking.

Ed couldn’t sit by, so he got up to leave as Envy said, “You shouldn’t go there.”

“What?! You were planning to go over there?” Leorio asked, incredulous.

“I am going to go help. There’s gonna be destruction.” Ed said, implying that he’d help rebuild. 

“It’s a warzone out there, you really wanna risk that?” Leorio asked him, serious– well, as serious as he could be when he was delirious from alcohol.

“I can handle warzones, I can handle myself. I know how to fight and I know how to beat the odds. I’ll be okay.” Ed said, resuming his pursuit in putting on his boots and cropped jacket.

“Just… don’t get yourself killed, okay?” Leorio stated as Ed pulled open his front door to leave.

“I’ll be fine, plus, Gon and Killua are out in that mess, so I’ll make sure they get back safely.” Ed stated, closing the door behind him. 

Ed walked around for a while until he saw Killua angrily yelling into Gon’s phone, then shoving it back into Gon’s hand. As Ed approached, he noticed Gon talking more to the phone, and by the time Ed reached them he just heard Gon say, “So please, Kurapika…” Then the phone was hung up from the other end, and then Gon spotted Ed.

“Ed!” Gon exclaimed as Ed walked up to the two.

“We were just heading back to the apartment.” Killua said to him. 

Ed nodded, then said, “Alright, I’ll walk you back to make sure you get there safely, but I’m gonna then come back out to aid reconstruction.” Killua and Gon began telling Ed about what went down today, and where they were. Ed was only half listening.

His mind was on the ash in the air, and how the fires seemed to burn infinitely. It reminded Ed of October third, painfully so. He could still see the red and orange of the flames reflecting off his younger brother’s body– the suit of armor Ed bound his brother’s soul to in a moment's notice.

The air began to freshen once the trio approached Ed’s apartment, and Ed let them in. He immediately left though. There were craters, and fire rising from them. Ed did the best he could with debris in the area to fill in the craters, and make it look as if they’d never been there. Bodies were lying about, and it made him think of how Ishval must’ve looked after the war, and Liore. Once he got through a few destroyed sites, he went back to his apartment. He opened the door, and was immediately greeted with Gon talking about how Kurapika said the Phantom Troupe was dead, and then hung up.

Friedrich (or Envy) was nowhere to be seen, and Ed closed the door, and walked into the living room. “Anyone seen En–Friedrich?” Ed asked.

“He left about an hour ago, said he was gonna go looking for you.” Mr. Zepile provided.

Oh, so that meant that Envy would be back soon.”He’ll be back then…” Ed muttered. “So, what’s this about the Phantom Troupe?”

“Kurapika just called to tell us that the spiders are dead.” Killua said.

Chapter 11

Summary:

Kurapika oucasts Ed because he doesn't trust him?!

Ed, Killua, and Gon were waiting in the park for Kurapika. They had a ton of food, and were excited to spend time with their friend (whom they hadn’t seen in forever). Envy hadn’t come home last night, and it worried Ed (even though Envy was a homunculus, and they had a bad history together). Ed knew, logically, there was no way the homunculus got himself killed, but he was just worried because the two of them had to stick together. Ed needed Envy because with each passing day, it became harder not to disregard his research and use brute force to get through the gate. Envy kept him in check by just being a physical reminder of what was at stake.

“Ready… go!” Gon shouted, pulling Ed out of his thoughts, and suddenly Ed was very thankful. Thankful for friends, and that those two could still be kids at the end of the day.

Although, it was kinda gross how much food Gon and Killua were shoving in their mouths. Gon shouted “Kurapika!” and spat food out all over Killua. 

Gon ran up to Kurapika and started saying, “I’m happy for you!”

“Huh?” Kurapika asked.

“The spiders are dead, and that means you can finally focus on your main goal, right? You have to go out there, and find them. The eyes of your people!”

“Gon…”

Gon gave a nod and a hum, and started to say, “And if there’s anything we can do to help you out, just–” and then a pie was shoved in his face by Killua.

Gon launched the pie towards Killua who ran away, and they began fighting with food. Kurapika just laughed.

“We haven’t seen you in a hot second.” Ed said to Kurapika.

“Your hairs got longer.” Kurapika said to him, and he was right. Ed’s braid used to reach upper to mid back, but now it was at his waist.

“Not like you can talk, your hair makes you look like a dog with floppy ears!” Ed said. 

Kurapika chuckled, but Ed noticed the melancholy air that Kurapika held. It was one that the boy didn’t have before.

Ed looked to the sky, and the bright blue with the light breeze made it feel like Resembool in the summertime. 

“This park is my favorite.” Ed said, with a small, genuine smile.

Kurapika then called Leorio, and they agreed to meet-up at Ed’s apartment. Kurapika and Ed gathered the two rascals, and started making their way back to Ed’s apartment.

“So, I’m just gonna tell you now that my apartment is a bit of a mess, thanks to these two rascals…” Ed said to Kurapika, pointing a thumb at said rascals.

“You offered.” Killua said to him.

“You’re right, I did, and I still won’t rescind it.” Ed responded with a small smile. “It’s been nice living with someone else for a bit.” 

The two kids exchanged looks, and Gon asked, “You lived alone?”

“A while ago I had to be on my own for a bit.” Ed responded. “All good now though.”

When they finally reached the complex, Envy was waiting outside the door to be let in.

“Finally, I was waiting forever, pipsqueak.” Envy said to him.

“Not a pipsqueak, you giant. If you had a phone, you could’ve called, and I would have let you in sooner.” Ed said to him.

“Who’s this?” Kurapika asked, walking into the apartment behind the two.

“My stupid older brother.” Ed said, while going into the kitchen to make tea, and stuck out his tongue at said man.

“Hey! I’ve been alive longer than you have been in your entire life! I am not stupid!” Envy protested. 

The trio laughed at the brothers’ bickering.

“It’s been awhile since we were all together!” Gon said, excitedly.

Ed could agree, as Envy shot him a goofy look, and retreated into the bedroom as Leorio walked into the apartment.

They began light hearted talk about Nen, and learned how to master it like Kurapika had. 

“You… don’t want my advice. I’m afraid it won’t do you any good anyway.” Kurapika said to them, looking off into the distance.

“Why not?” Gon asked, curious.

“Because my power can only be used against the Troupe.” Kurapika stated, as everyone grunted with anticipation as to why.

“I made a contract with myself with conditions that I must follow to have this power. That was one of the conditions.”

“A contract with conditions?” Gon asked.

“Yes, your mental state has an incredibly powerful effect on your Nen. The more determined you are, the more powerful the Nen. But, the risk incurred is great as well. In exchange for stronger Nen, I vowed that I would only use it against the spiders. And I established a rule for myself.”

“Oh yeah? What kind of rule is it?” Leorio asked. 

Kurapika made eye contact with Leorio before answering, “My chains must be used exclusively on the spiders, or I will die as a result.”

Everyone gasped at that, and the atmosphere became noticeably tenser. 

“Hold on! What do you mean?” Leorio asked him.

“There is a Nen dagger in my heart. If I break the rule, the blade will pierce through, killing me. The rule proves my resolve. That’s the contract with conditions. My ability is the product of my pure and unadulterated hatred. It will only work when used on the spiders. I’m telling you this because I trust you. Don’t tell anyone else.” Kurapika said darkly.

Killua stood up, asking “What the hell…” beating Ed to the punch. “Why would you tell us something that’s so damn important?!” 

“Huh?” Kurapika asked. That’s not what Ed was thinking, but okay… “I’m not really sure… maybe I felt dispirited because their leader is dead now.” 

“It’ll be fine if we keep it quiet.” Leorio said to Killua.

“No, it won’t. One of the surviving members has the power to read memories. If the spiders find out about this, Kurapika’s a dead man!”

“But… she didn’t learn anything last time.” Gon stated.

“You’re right, but that’s only because we didn’t know Kurapika was the chain user back then.” Killua said, bringing the issue to light.

Gon made a small surprised noise, and Leorio said, “Okay, so that means we just have to stay away from them. Since they’ve already checked you out, that means that you’re clean.” 

“There’s also a guy called Nobunaga, he’s really dangerous. He’s looking for Kurapika, but he’s still trying to get me and Gon.”

“But, he doesn’t know that you guys know Kurapika. Does he?” Leorio asked.

“No,” 

“Well then, what’s the problem? Just keep your distance from the memory reader. You, and everyone else who knows Kurapika’s the chain user.”

“I’ve… also been in contact with Hisoka.” 

Everyone gasped at this.

“With Hisoka?!” Gon asked.

“He knows that I’m the chain user as well. We had made a pact about his target. The leader of the Phantom Troupe is dead and gone now, so I have no idea what he’ll do.” Kurapika said, as a storm began brewing. The pressure around Ed’s ports began to hurt more from the pressure change. 

“What do we do? Now that we all know about Kurapika’s secret, it’s dangerous to wait. If Gon or I get captured again, we won’t be able to escape. But we do have Kurapika with us now, so we need to take them out, before they can recover or run. And we know where their current base is. If we take too long, it’ll give them a chance to get away. That means we need to move fast.” Killua said, and then looked to smile at Gon.

Kurapika was pondering, and Ed wasn’t sure he wanted to be involved anymore. They wanted to kill the Troupe members, and though the Troupe was a band of awful people, they were still just that. People. Just like Ed, just like Kurapika, just like Gon, just like Al. Al was a person, despite being trapped in armor for so long. 

Ed had killed a total of three people (could the two homunculus really count?). He accidentally killed Mahjal in a fight, and trying to protect Claus, he fought to kill Greed (but really meant to incapacitate him), and then killed Sloth (she impersonated his mother). Ed couldn’t say anything on murder, but he would never condone it. The guilt he felt when he had done it himself was immeasurable, and didn’t want his friend to suffer like him.

“They could be making a getaway plan as we speak. We don’t have time to overthink it.” Killua emphasized, trying to get the group to see the urgency in the situation.

“That woman, the one who reads memories is a threat. But now that their leader’s dead, I’ll do what Gon suggests, and focus on recovering my brethren’s eyes.” 

“Seriously?!”

“Yeah.”

“And you’re sure about this?!” 

“Look, it’s obvious he’s made up his mind.” Leorio said, trying to calm Killua’s angry outbursts. “You can try all you want, there’s no changing it now.”

“I’m sorry, but thanks, I do appreciate the information.” Kurapika said. 

The conversation began to veer off the topic of the chain user, Nen, and the Phantom Troupe. When Ed got up to get some snacks for the group, he hadn’t noticed that Kurapika caught sight of the book Ed accidentally left out. 

Only when the teen asked in an eerily calm voice, “Where did you get this book?” did Ed realize he forgot to put it away.

“Before the auction started, Friedrich stole it. He overheard a phone call saying that everything would be relocated, and he knew I needed the book, especially since it’s from an author I like.” Ed said.

“Nobody knows the author of this book, so you’re lying. No one even knows the language it’s written in, and the entries in here that were decoded were from over six hundred years ago to thirty years ago.” Kurapika said, looking at the two. “So, Ed, are you actually a spider? Is that how you got this book?” 

Ed said, “No, I’m not.” 

“Let me check your back for a tattoo.” Kurapika said.

“What?! No.” Ed said, defensively. He didn’t want anyone to know about his arm.

They left it at that, but his friends no longer trusted him. Kurapika’s phone began to ring, silencing the commotion around Ed. 

“It’s from Hisoka.” Kurapika informed. When Kurapika read the message, pure fear and anger held the space of a kind boy.

“Kurapika?” Gon asked.

“The corpses were fake.” Said boy replied, and the tone left nothing to the imagination. Kurapika was pissed.

“You mean the Troupe members…?” Leorio asked, his nervous tone shining through.

“Yeah! The ones we thought were dead, aren’t! Of course, a conjurer could’ve pulled that off easily. Damn it! Why didn’t I realize this sooner?!” 

“The situation has changed. Now what? We’re here to help.” Killua asked with the reminder of the group’s help.

“Right,” Gon nodded, and Kurapika looked at the kid.

“Yeah,” Leorio said, and Kurapika looked at the man.

Ed didn’t know if he should say something. If he did, he was agreeing to help with murder, but if he didn’t, he was letting his friends think he betrayed them. “You have my help,” Ed said, not agreeing to help kill. Not agreeing to do anything more than help.

Kurapika nodded, still eyeing him suspiciously, and then got another call. The person on the other end was someone named Melody, and then after hanging up with her said that the reward for the Phantom Troupe had been rescinded.

Then there was also the mention of the Phantom Troupe coming from Meteor City. Leorio talked about how Meteor City was a dump that people took to living in, and none of them were ever registered citizens, so the official population was zero, despite almost ten million people living there. Ed thought back to the slums that the Ishvalans were being forced to live in, and how awful it was. 

Gon and Killua began to argue whether or not they’d capture the Phantom Troupe. Killua was against it, and Gon was for it. 

Then they argued about getting money for the game.

“I can literally give you money to get the game, you guys.” Ed told them.

“We don’t want your money!” Killua shouted at him, annoyed.

“Okay, chill. I was just offering.” Ed said, putting his hands up.

Then the two ran off to talk to Kurapika. Ed followed, as he did want to help Kurapika. Kurapika said they’d discuss the methods of help. 

Killua was going to watch the Phantom Troupe’s base, Kurapika asked for a driver (Leorio), Gon was to create a diversion. 

“What about me?” Ed asked. 

“What about you?” Kurapika asked, defensively.

“What do I do?” Ed asked.

“I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but none of us really trust you anymore.” Kurapika stated. Ed looked down, he knew it was his own fault, but he didn’t need them knowing so much about him. 

“You know what, fine. I’ll just help in any other little way I can.” Ed said, and he knew this plunged them deeper into suspicion. Even if not under suspicion of being a Phantom Troupe member, he’s under suspicion of hiding something serious. Ed won’t help it though, he doesn’t want them to know. He doesn’t want anyone else to know. His arm and his leg and his past are his business, and his alone. 

The strategy was to use Gon as a diversion, and then capture Pakunoda when they’re distracted and escape. They had six hours until the auction, so sometime before then would the Troupe do something. 

Kurapika’s resolve is stronger now, and he’d do anything to kill Pakunoda, and eliminate the threat she holds to him. Kurapika was asked by Gon if he could use the Nen dagger on Gon, and Kurapika responded that the risk would be greater. Ed, Killua, and Leorio just left. 

They heard the explanation Kurapika gave from the other room.

“So, do you think it’s worth it?” Killua asked Leorio, ignoring Ed.

“Yeah, we’re doing this job together, so we’re gonna risk together. Afterall, teamwork makes the dreamwork.” Leorio said, and Killua nodded.

Ed followed as he heard Leorio ask for three Nen daggers to be made.

“Make it four.” Ed said, emerging from behind. Kurapika didn’t even blink an eye, and the others ignored his existence. 

Ed was outcast, and didn’t know what to do. Had his friends really thought so little of him that the second something slightly suspicious came up, they’d abandon him? Is that really all? Ed grit his teeth in frustration, and left, just walking down the street in the rain. If they didn’t want his help, they wouldn’t get it.

They’d get nothing from him, and no goodbye when he left.

Chapter 12

Summary:

Oopsies, Ed makes a tiny mistake guys.

Amestrain

Japanese

 

Ed was walking through the rain, and the skin and the pressure at his ports changed painfully. Ed’s slight limp that was mostly un-noticeable (unless you observed him very closely) was becoming more prominent, and the rain soaked his hair, water dripping down his back. Ed wanted to scream, cry, and throw things, not for the first time that week. The feeling of the cold water sent shivers down his spine, and the sensation of it with the pain at his ports made him want to vomit. Ed sat down at the park he was at with Kurapika, Gon, and Killua earlier, and just sat on the bench. It was like when he was home, and took a cold shower to clear his mind.

This park made him miss home more, miss Al more. The green grass, and the scattered trees. It felt like a piece of his heart had been taken out, and a thread connected the pieces left behind, and was drawing him home. Slowly tightening, and slowly beckoning him back. Ed wanted to go home, and it was stupid because he didn’t have a home, he destroyed it with his own hands. He burned it to the ground, and now he wanted it back. He wanted it all to be as it was before, and he knew it could never be that way. Death was permanent, and his mom was dead. Death was permanent, yet he fucked up his own life to try and play god and do the impossible.

He wasn’t any better than those he hated. He wasn’t any better than those who hated him. He was horribly selfish, and trying to keep what he couldn’t have. Equivalent exchange dictated his life, and so trying to deny and cheat that was pointless, and at the same time, Ed wanted to go home. He wanted to unburn his house, and he just wanted to sleep in the study with Al like he used to. Ed just wanted home, and not a cheap memory of it. He wanted to revel in the real thing.

Ed eventually got up, and began walking nowhere. Before he knew it though, he was in front of some random hotel. Ed saw through the window that Gon was being held by his feet, hanging, and Killua was being restrained. Ed could easily get them back by using his alchemy from a distance, but he could get caught instead, and Kurapika surely wouldn’t care enough to get him back. Kurapika thinks Ed betrayed him, but if Ed saved them, it would also prove his loyalty to his friends. Ed made a decision. He stayed outside, and clapped his hands, put them to the floor, and pushed the woman holding Gon with a hand made from the floor tiles, and put up a wall between Killua and the man restraining him. They were surprised and caught off guard (Gon and Killua too), and it gave the boys the chance to run. The spiders gave chase to the boys, but once the kids got out of the building, Ed put up a wall between them and the spiders. The wall was kicked down, and Ed was noticed. 

With Ed’s limp, he wasn’t very fast, and when he ran, he was caught quickly. The weight of someone on top of him held him down. Being held down in the rain increased the pain of everything else he felt, that being the pain at his ports. He felt incredibly dizzy, and something akin to a fever. More people were arriving, and he heard a phone ring distantly. 

“It’s from the boss's phone.” The man said. A few moments later he heard the man say, “We only have one hostage.”

Then a few minutes later it was handed to the woman (Pakunoda), and she had to walk away. It was then handed off to another man, then handed back to her, and she walked away. Pakunoda left, and there were some tensions within the Troupe whether to let her leave or to follow her. 

The tensions grew, and soon Kurapika called again.

“Hi,” Ed said.

“Ed, what are you doing there? Also, are they all there?” Kurapika said.

“Well Gon and Killua were in trouble and I decided to help them, and right now they are, but they’ve been thinking about going after Pakunoda.” Ed explained. 

Kurapika sighed and the phone was taken from his ear. The two were talking for a bit before they hung up. The pain increased at Ed’s ports, especially with someone holding him down. Ed quickly lost consciousness after that. 

Ed woke up, not too long after in an old warehouse. There was a broken stained glass window skylight, letting water drip in, and his torso was wrapped uncomfortably with chains. Thankfully, they hadn’t noticed that he had two prosthetic limbs. 

He could easily break off the chains, but in favor of letting them think he was weak, he didn’t. He could just push his hands together, and touch the chains, and they’d be off no problem. He just sat there and waited.

Ed became bored, and observed the skylight. It was a circle, but the closer he looked, the more he realized it was a transmutation circle… just not one he’s seen before. It was similar to Ed’s own array that he had come up with for the philosopher’s stone, with seven points and everything, but the runes were different, and the symbol taking up a ton of space in the middle was different. 

This was the missing piece. This array was why his own wouldn’t work to get home. He needed at least two circles (one on the ground, one of the ceiling), he needed to use different properties, and if his own Nen became as indestructible as his will, he would have the infinite power needed to pass.

That was it. After this was over, he was coming back here to examine the circle in closer view. 

Soon, Pakunoda walked in. 

“Does he really expect us to simply accept those conditions?” A mean looking blonde man asked harshly. “Tell us where he is, Paku. We’ll kill the kids and go deal with the chain user.”

“You're insisting?” A girl with pink hair asked.

“Damn right I am. If you don’t tell us, then you are not leaving.” The mean man said.

“I refuse to tell you anything, and I’m taking the hostage alone, end of story. Don’t interfere.” She said rudely.

“Screw that! If anyone is interfering it’s you!” 

“Go ahead Pakunoda, we can stop them, so don’t worry.” Pinky said.

“Stop us? How insulting.” An emo looking kid said.

“You’re serious, aren’t you? I don’t get it. Have you all lost your damn minds?” The mean man from before asked.

“I think the chain user got to him before he arrived. He’s probably under his control.” The emo kid said. “We’re wasting time. I’ll make him talk.” 

“Are you really that dense?” Ed found himself asking. 

The mean blonde just looked at him, with something akin to confusion.

“You don’t understand why Pakunoda (that’s her name, right?) wants to leave without telling you anything? You don’t understand why Pinky’s trying to stop you? Jeez, and I thought you guys were smart enough to be world renowned criminals! They obviously want to save your boss, and rescue their friend. You’re idiots for believing otherwise.” Ed insulted.

“Shut up, pipsqueak. You’re just desperate to leave!” The mean man spat out at him.

Ed broke the chains with his alchemy, and stood up. “I could easily walk out if I wanted to, but then your friends wouldn’t get your boss back, like they want you fucking idiot. Get it through your thick skull that something is more important than the rules, and begin thinking in terms bigger. Can you even do that though with your brain being as small as it is?” Ed asked, mockingly.

“I’ll rip your head off the second you take a step.” The mean blonde man said.

“Then I won’t, I’m not that dumb.” Ed said. “Kurapika isn’t like you. He’s relatively calm, so he wouldn’t lose his composure so easily that he’d kill someone. He’s not a murderer! He makes promises and keeps them no matter what. Ask Pakunoda, she knows. She’s talked to him, and probably made a deal. She knows. If you just do as asked, your boss will be returned.”

“I’m getting real tired of your crap, kid! Shut up!” The mean blonde man roared. 

“Knock it off!” A tall muscular man with long earlobes and scars said. “Just let Pakunoda go.”

“What, you’re siding with them now?”

“Hey Shal, what do you think our worst case scenario would be?” Stitches asked.

A friendly looking blonde answered, “Hmm, that the boss is already dead. And Pakunoda and the rest are being controlled. That we won’t be able to locate the chain user, and the hostage finds a way to escape.”

“You’ve got it all wrong… the worst case scenario is that we all die, and the spider perishes. What you’re talking about would be pretty pleasant by comparison. Am I wrong?” Stitches asked.

“Hm… no, you're right.”

“Whatever your reasoning, you’re relying way too much on the boss. And if the Phantom Troupe falls apart as a result, that’d be more of a betrayal than anything else. Keep bickering like this, and it might just happen. So calm down, and let them have their way. Pakunoda can take the hostage, if the boss doesn’t return, we’ll kill the members who are being controlled. And start rebuilding the spider. It’s really that simple.” 

“I’m fine with that, if it’ll satisfy you.” Pinky said. “Though, I’m not being controlled, and killing me won’t be easy.” 

The mean blonde man scoffed as a phone rang out. “Yeah, hel–” he began.

Ed caught the phone when it was tossed to him, and put it to his ear, the friendly blonde yelled out not to break it. 

“Are you okay? Are they there?” Kurapika asked with a tinge of worry slipping through his voice. 

“Yeah, they’re here.” Ed said, and tossed the phone back.

The blonde yelled again to be careful.

“Look, we’re following your orders.” The mean blonde said, and then Ed was led out into the rain.

As he walked, he could feel the pain in his body radiating. It was an awkward, silent walk. Only the rain sounded, and distantly Ed could hear frogs.

When they got to the airport, they were ordered to board the aircraft. Then Hisoka came out, and started talking on the phone, striking a deal with Kurapika. 

They landed on the stone peaks somewhere nearby. Ed walked over to Kurapika, and the leader walked towards Pakunoda and Hisoka. Leorio extended his hand for a high five, and Ed took it. Gon and Killua were there, Kurapika was there, and a short person with a hat and hamster teeth was there. 

Once they got on the airship, Killua badgered him, “What the hell were you thinking?!”

“Woah, calm down!” Ed said, trying to calm Killua.

“No, you idiot. You could’ve died!” Killua said.

“I don’t die easily Killua.” Ed said, truthfully. His arm and leg were proof.

“Thank you Ed,” Gon said with a smile. Ed returned, and had no clue why Gon was thanking him.

“Seriously though, we need to talk.” Kurapika said to him.

“Okay,” Ed said, sitting back in the airship as it took him towards the airport.

“Why did you let us think you betrayed us? Are your secrets really more important than our friendship?” Gon asked, as if he was reading Kurapika’s mind.

Ed looked out the window, and the world looked tranquil below. “You don’t need to get involved. It’s not your problem.” He said, calmly.

“It may not be… but you’ve helped us. Why won’t you let us help you?” Leorio asked. Ed stayed silent.

“I’m going to be going home soon. You won’t see me ever again. There’s no point.” Ed said, and Killua already knew this. Ed had told him during the hunter exams.

“Is that really what you think? Were you really just going to leave without saying goodbye?!” Killua asked, angry.

The short person looked almost scared from nearby, and tugged on Kurapika’s clothes to whisper something in his ear. 

Kurapika’s face contorted with something akin to anger and sadness.

“Your arm, is that why you…? You wouldn’t show us?” Kurapika asked. Ed didn’t know how he knew.

“You… how do you…?” Ed began, struggling to string together a question.

“Melody told me. She has a hell of an ear.” 

Ed sighed, and then said, “Yeah… that's why.” 

“Why wouldn’t you tell us?” Kurapika asked, the others were just confused.

Ed didn’t answer, and when the aircraft landed, he got off as soon as he could.

The group walked back to the apartment in thick silence. Envy was sitting in the kitchen when they got back.

“ I found the missing variable …” Ed said to him.

“ Will we be leaving soon ?” Envy asked.

“ Tomorrow .”

Chapter 13

Summary:

Ed is going home

Amestrian

Japanese

 

The group slept well, and Ed left his money to the group, splitting it as evenly as possible. Ed wrote his letter of resignation from his job, and put it in his mailbox, and set his lease to end within the next week, all before the rest of the group woke up.

When they did, they walked into the kitchen to see Ed and Envy chatting over coffee, obviously in their home language.

“So, when do you leave?” Killua asked him.

“Today.” Ed told him.

The group looked upset about that. The day after tomorrow would be the auction, so Ed changed the subject, “I’m giving you each an equal portion of money before I leave.” 

“You don’t have to do that…” Killua muttered, and Ed just smiled. 

“ C’mon. You’re taking too long, let’s go! ” Envy rushed him.

“ Calm down ,” Ed said to him.

“ I’m impatient .” Envy said. Ed looked at him, not amused.

Ed spent some time with the group before he had to leave, going out to lunch with them, and when he split ways with them, he made his way with Envy back to the warehouse.

“You ready?” Ed asked, walking through the grounds, and Envy nodded. He knew the Troupe could still be there, but it was unlikely. They likely moved somewhere else.

When they arrived, the warehouse was empty. Ed looked at the stained glass.

Ed transmuted a knife from the ground (leaving a small crater), pulled off his gloves, and rolled up his left sleeve.

“Fullmetal, what are you doing?” Envy asked.

“I need to slice open my arm so I can draw the circle in blood. My blood will anchor me to Al, also anchoring me home.” Ed explained.

Envy didn't answer, and Ed began tracing the shadow of the transmutation circle above in blood. Ed ripped off his left sleeve and wrapped it around his wound when he was done.

The two stood in the center of the circle, and Ed pressed his hands down and activated his Nen, making it infinitely strong. The circle lit up, and he knew the gate was opening.

Before the gate fully took him, he heard people shouting his name.

Gon, Killua, Leorio, and Kurapika. 

“Don’t step into the circle!” He shouted before he was gone.

Chapter 14

Summary:

Yo, Ed can show them the world.

Amestrian

Japanese

 

Ed groaned as he woke up. He looked at the yellowish reflection of the light on the ceiling, and sat up slowly. It was the ballroom he was last in before he was forced from his home by the gate.

“ Took you long enough .” Envy said, leaning on a pillar. Then he walked towards Ed.

Ed stood up, and dusted himself off, and nodded. He walked up to the circle he used before he left, and transmuted it into one to reopen the gate. Ed wouldn’t need to use blood this time as the homunculus could last longer in the gate than a human.

“ Make sure you’re in the form you want to be in when you see him. You can’t change there, and you can’t go back .” Ed mentioned before he activated the portal. 

“ I know .” Envy said, and nodded that he was ready. Ed did the same, and Envy began dissipating. 

After Envy had fully faded, Ed stared at where he had been. Ed used to hate the homunculus, but he couldn’t anymore. Ed couldn’t deny that he bonded with Envy throughout his time in the other world. Ed just clicked his tongue, and then a groan sounded out. He looked behind him, and saw his friends scattered there.

“Ed? What’s going on?” Kurapika asked as he sat up, letting his eyes settle on Ed.

Ed was suddenly furious. He told them not to step into the circle. He took a few calming breaths, and said, “You’re in my world now…”

Kurapika looked a bit surprised at that, but didn’t react much otherwise. Once the other’s were up and demanding answers though, Ed said, “I will explain everything later. I just need to get you guys home.” 

Ed knew what worked for Envy wouldn’t work for them. They were human, Envy was a homunculus. Ed began walking out of the ballroom.

“Well, are you guys coming?” He invited.

They walked in silence for a while, and eventually they saw a whole city.

“Woah! Is this whole city underground?” Gon asked, astonished at the surprisingly nice view.

“Yeah, it is. It was pulled underground after a massacre. No one lives here anymore.” Ed said, continuing walking until they reached an opening in the dirt-colored stone. They walked through the narrow staircase, and it was almost completely dark. 

When they reached the end, they heard a clap, a flash of blue light, and then actual light. 

They walked out into a church, but it was old, and broken down.

“Woah, that window is so pretty!” Gon exclaimed. 

Ed smiled. “First things first, before I can get you guys home, I have to pay a visit to my mechanic.” 

Most of them just looked confused at that, except Kurapika. 

Ed led them out of the church, and they walked through the sunset-worn streets. Eventually, Ed stopped somewhere, went in, and came out with a suitcase.

“What’s that?” Killua asked.

“This is the money for my visit.” Ed suddenly looked a little nervous. “She’s gonna kill me.” His arm was in such disrepair, Winry was sure to be pissed. His leg at the port was also messed up from the rain. 

Ed began walking to the train station, and it was weird to do so without Al.

“ Five tickets please ,” Ed smiled to the man.

“ You’re… you’re the Fullmetal Alchemist .” The man stated, handing the money over.

“ How’d you guess ?” Ed said, taking the tickets.

“ You’ve been all over the news lately. The military has been going crazy trying to find you. Something about General Mustang and needing to question you about him .” 

Ed just hummed in response, thanked the man, and left. When they got on the train, they sat in silence for most of the way.

“I’ll explain once we get to Resembool.” Ed told them. And by nightfall, they got there. The sky was a brilliant dark blue, and the moon shone brightly.

The countryside was beautiful, and they noticed that everyone they passed knew Ed, and they also, somehow understood the language. 

They understood when he was asked, “ Where’s Al? Isn’t he with you ?” 

And Ed had to answer, “ Not today …” and smiled. They finally made their way to a house that said, “ Rockbell Auto Shop ” and then after a few minutes, Ed was knocked to the ground by a woman.

“ You idiot! We thought you were dead! When Al came back, and you didn’t… we thought the worst. You can’t do that !” She shouted at him, crying into his chest.

“ What’re you crying for, Winry? I’m okay, aren’t I ?” He asked, and she just pulled out a wrench, and hit him over the head.

“ Hey! I just got home !” Ed yelled, clutching his head where she hit.

“ Whatever… let me see your– who are they ?” She asked.

“ They’re my friends… I promised I’d explain some stuff to them –” Ed began.

“ After I see your automail .” She ordered. 

The group made their way into the house, and suddenly, she was stripping Ed down to shorts he had on over his boxers. The group now understood why he wouldn’t show them his back during the conflicts with the Phantom Troupe. Kurapika knew this about him already though, thanks to Melody.

“ Have you even been oiling it? Seriously Ed .” She scolded. “ It seems that I’m going to need to rebuild your leg, you’re an inch taller than when I last saw you. Makes sense with that limp… I’ll need to rebuild your arm too. What have you been doing that’s gotten them this bad ?” She asked, exasperated.

“ Hey! Just be glad it’s not in pieces !” He said, and she hit him over the head again with the wrench. 

The group was almost impressed at the bickering, if not for the fact that they didn’t know he was missing two limbs ten seconds earlier.

As the limbs were detached, and a temporary one was put on, she asked, “ How about a week ?” and Ed couldn’t do that.

“ No, these guys gotta get home by the day after tomorrow, and I just have to have both arms for that. Not both legs .” He said.

She sighed, “ Looks like I’ll have to pull a double all nighter …” and then suddenly “ Al is asleep upstairs .”

Ed’s eyes widened as Killua asked, “ So, are you going to explain ?” 

Ed nodded, “ It’d be better if we were sitting for this .” 

After a few minutes, they were lounging in the living room, on the couches and chairs. 

“ Where should I start ?” Ed asked them.

“ The beginning ,” Kurapika stated, and Ed nodded.

He took a deep breath in to calm himself. “ I guess it started when my father left, really. My younger brother and I were pretty young at the time, and my mom was melancholy from it. When we started learning alchemy from his books, she became happier, and was proud of us, so we sought to learn more .” Ed began.

“ Alchemy ?” Killua asked, he’d heard of it, but only that it was a fragment of the past that barely existed anymore.

“ Deconstructing and reconstructing matter by understanding the chemical makeup of an item .” Ed explained. “ Anyway, my mother’s illness (which she apparently had all along) got worse, and died a few years after my dad left .” Ed was silent, it was always hard to talk about this part. 

“ I’m sure she was a great woman ,” Kurapika comforted. 

Ed shyly smiled back, and continued after his face dropped to something more sad. “ I felt like I couldn’t live without her… so me and my brother went into alchemy training, and got better and stronger at it. Then we attempted the taboo… ” Ed told them.

“ Taboo ?” Gon asked.

“ We attempted human transmutation to bring her back… I lost my left leg, and Al lost his body. I then gave my arm to pull him from the gate, and bind his soul to armor .”

The silence was thick enough to hear it. “ A guy from the military apparently heard of two brilliant alchemists living down here, and came to check it out. That’s when I was recruited into the military .” Ed said.

“ Why would you join something like that? Was it for money ?” and Ed shook his head to Leorio’s question.

“ It was so I could help research how to get my brother’s body back. I’m not going to go into too much detail about these next parts, but basically, a homunculus is created from alchemy. It looks like a human, but doesn’t have a soul… There were a bunch of those running around for a while trying to get any alchemist dumb enough to create a philosopher’s stone .” Ed explained.

“ Philosopher’s stone? I thought that was just a theory ?” Leorio asked.

“ It’s real here, and it’s made from thousands of human souls. That underground city you saw? The emptiness there is the result of creating a stone .” Ed explained.

“ How could someone do something like that…? ” Gon gritted out angrily. 

“ People will do anything for power. Or immortality… My brother Al’s suit of armor was made into a philosopher’s stone for a little while, and the homunculus were after him. When I went to go save him, I died and ended up in another world, came back, and then ended up in another world again .” Ed summarized.

“ Another world… Do you mean ?” Killua began.

“ I do. I can get you guys back, but almost seven months is a long time to be gone .” Ed said.

The group talked for a little while longer before soft footsteps were heard on the stairs. When they reached the bottom step, a gasp was heard, and running.

“ Ed !” Al shouted, throwing himself onto his brother.

Ed fell over sideways, and Al held onto him tightly, Ed’s eyes were quickly tearing up. He found one tear slipped out, and down his face, dripping off his chin… Al was okay. Al had his body back… Al had his body back .

“ I thought you were dead! I thought you were gone, and I couldn’t find you, and I’m sorry. I’m so sorry !” Al shouted, talking way too fast. 

Ed stroked his hair, and said, “ Calm down. I’m here now. ”

Once Al had calmed, Ed asked, “ Why are you ten? ”

Al pouted and looked off to the side, and then his expression got sadder, “ I lost my memories …”

Ed looked sad for a moment, before he began catching his brother up on where he's been and who his friends were.

It was the next day, and the group was enjoying their stay in Edward’s hometown (even if no one would tell them why there remained a burned house on the hill), and the fresh air. Al showed them around the town, and the farm animals. Winry and Granny Pinako were really rushing to finish the automail together, but they somehow did it. 

Winry was bugging Ed about taking care of it, and Ed said, “ Relax, I’ll still be here .” 

The group walked out to the backyard, and Ed began drawing the circle in the dirt, then he cut each of their arms and took a little blood, filling in the circle with it.

“ Before I activate this circle, stand in the middle, ” And they obeyed. “ Now, power up your Nen, make it infinitely times stronger than you .” 

They all did, their overpowering auras swept Ed’s hair around.

“ This is goodbye… Thank you all for everything. Don’t lose sight of your way home, anchor yourself to a strong emotional bond in your world, and run through the gate like hell .” Ed ordered, and then, they were gone. 

Ed was left standing alone, at the edge of the universe. He was okay though. He was more than okay. He had Al, Winry, Pinako, and he couldn’t be happier. He had the smell of warm apple pie. He had the feel of Al’s hugs. Most of all, he had a family again.

Notes:

I'm really just exploring the characters in this chapter. Can you tell?