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Time's Scar	By : RotSeele Category: Fullmetal Alchemist > AU - Alternate Universe Views: 828 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist. I do not make any money from this story.

Chapter List
- 1-Time's Scar
- 2-Two
- 3-Three
- 4-Four
- 5-Five
- 6-Six
- 7-Seven
- 8-Eight
- 9-Nine
- 10-Ten
- 11-Eleven
- 12-Twelve
- 13-Thirteen
- 14-Fourteen
- 15-Fifteen
- 16-Sixteen
- 17-Seventeen
- 18-Eighteen
- 19-Epilogue
- 6
- 7
- 8
Seven
Alphonse watched the killer as Ed and Rhys ran for the hole in the wall, moving to intercept the killer before he could stop Ed from escaping. He couldn't perform alchemy as fast as his brother could, but he was more than capable to fighting hand to hand. So he rushed the man in black and struck at him with a right hook. Surprised, the man dodged out of the way and danced back, his attention now on Alphonse rather than Ed and Rhys. It allowed Ed to get Rhys safely out, but also trapped Alphonse inside a room with a killer and no way out.
"I won't let you escape." Alphonse said, settling into a defensive stance.
The man in black looked at him - and sighed.
Alphonse blinked, startled and confused. Was the man upset that he'd lost his target or was it something else? The man turned away from Alphonse and started making his way toward the glass window. Alphonse watched him for a moment, and then realized what the man intended to do. Alphonse quickly rushed the man, not wanting him to get away.
The man in black spun at the last second to avoid Alphonse's hit. He studied Alphonse for a long moment, and Alphonse saw those black-covered shoulders rise and fall as if the man had just tensed and just as quickly relaxed. But he didn't move to attack Alphonse. Instead, it just seemed like he was watching him.
Alphonse swallowed hard. "I have to take you in. You have to answer for all the lives you've taken."
The man just stood still. Then, slowly, he shook his head. He stepped toward the glass again and reached for it. Before Alphonse could react, there was the flash of alchemical light and the glass around the man's hand began to melt and twist, changing its form from a window to a walkway out into open air. Alphonse moved then, before the man could escape, and reached for him. His fingers snagged some of the material of the man's jacket but he couldn't retain enough of a grip to pull him back. The man escaped onto the glass walkway and moved to the very edge of it. Alphonse stared down at the street far below and the military that was there, pointing fingers and guns up at the killer and Alphonse.
"Don't!" Yelled Alphonse. "You don't have to do this! There's another way, I know there is!"
The man lifted his head enough for Alphonse to catch the flash of white skin and a sad smile. He gave Alphonse a shrug and took a step backwards. Alphonse quickly stepped out onto the walkway, noting the sudden tenseness in the man's body. He took a slow step forward, balancing precariously on the glass walkway. Below, Al caught a glimpse of blonde, and knew his brother was watching.
Alphonse focused on the killer. "There's another way." He said again. "What you've done, it's wrong on so many levels, but I know we can figure out something. We can get to the bottom of this."
The man smiled a little sadly. It looked to Alphonse like he wanted to say something but didn't dare. Then the man in black gave Alphonse a slow nod, took a single step backwards, and fell off the glass walkway.
Gasping, Alphonse gave chase, scratching out a quick alchemy circle to divert the edge of the walkway so he could use it as a sort of launching pad. He dove after the man, ignoring the cry of Ed's voice when his brother saw his fool maneuver. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Alphonse knew he was taking the life-threatening risk only because he was in a suit of empty armor and had nothing to really lose if he crashed to the ground far, far below. Ed would be pissed, of course, but what was the fun of being a little brother who did crazy stupid things to scare his big brother? Especially when the big brother did crazy stupid things to scare the little brother?
As Alphonse fell after the man in black, he caught a glimpse of a gold eye looking up at him in surprise and then there was the flash of alchemical light and what sounded like a clap of thunder to Alphonse's ears. He didn't see anything that anyone could work alchemy on, but he decided maybe Ed had managed to run toward them in time to do something. Then Alphonse saw the world tilt and thought he was falling even faster because the ground was rushing up to meet him and-
He crashed into a pile of trash bags set up in an alleyway.
Alphonse lay stunned for a moment, unsure of what had just happened. One minute, he was falling through the air, and the next he was landing in s pile of refuse in some alley that he didn't quite recognize. Faintly he heard the wail of sirens, so he was certain he was still in Central, but he certainly wasn't anywhere near the lab - or his brother.
There was movement off to his right, and Alphonse scrambled to get to his feet as the man in black rose from the garbage, brushing off the black jacket as he stepped clear of the trash. Alphonse struggled to get out of the tangle as the man began to walk away, and hurriedly scratched an alchemical circle into the street below him. He activated it and the brick walls of the buildings on either side quickly swarmed out to meld together and block the killer from escaping. The only way out now was past Alphonse, and the man seemed reluctant to even approach the younger Elric.
Alphonse set his feet and assumed his stance. "I really don't want to fight you. Just come quietly."
The man just looked at him from under that black hood. His shoulders rose and fell again, but other than that he didn't move. They stood there, facing off, and Alphonse wasn't sure if help was coming because he didn't even know where in Central he was. In the back of his mind, a little voice told him that he should just run, but like all the times before, he stood his ground. Had to stand his ground, because if he ran, the killer would get away and there would probably never be another chance to catch him. He could go to ground until the military could no longer afford to protect the people that were left, or he could begin to hunt in a new place in order to divert attention and manpower somewhere else.
The man started forward and reached for Alphonse. Despite himself, Alphonse flinched. The man patted his shoulder and then stepped past him, heading out of the alley. Alphonse stood frozen for a moment, then he whirled around and stared at the stranger's retreating back. He gave chase, following the man out of the alley and into a side street that he didn't recognize. He saw the man in black pause halfway up the street and tense. Alphonse started toward him.
There was someone else there, someone Alphonse couldn't see well. They were in the shadows, but the silhouette looked like a woman's. The man in black didn't see Alphonse approaching, but the woman did. She must've said something to him, because the man half turned to look at Alphonse, and every line of his body tensed. Alphonse didn't know what to make of it.
The woman raised her hand. Even in the dim light Alphonse could make out an alchemical circle carved into the palm of her hand. Before he could react and run for cover, alchemical light sparked around her arm and Alphonse saw a piece of the street transmute itself into a boulder. The boulder then shattered into its base elements and the alchemy changed ordinary rock into what looked like metal. Alphonse managed to cover his face with his arms before those pellets began firing at him, tearing into his armor. He was flung backward, pieces of him telling the tale of where he'd been standing and where he'd ended up. Because he had no body there was no physical pain, but the emotional pain was there because Ed didn't know where he was and wouldn't get to him in time to save him.
He hit the ground and his helmet bounced off, rolling a little ways away from his body. His mind was racing - What kind of alchemy was that? - and he could see pieces of himself littering the street and silently apologized to his brother. Then he looked back toward the man in black and the woman.
The man was holding onto the woman's wrist with a grip that obviously hurt, if Alphonse judged her expression right. It looked as if her wrist was being crushed. The man's other hand was locked around her throat, crushing her windpipe so she couldn't scream. She still tried, writhing against the man's hold as he spoke to her. Alphonse watched the man in black throw the woman to the ground, watched her scramble to her feet.
"Olivier will make you pay for this!" The woman screeched.
If the man responded, Alphonse didn't hear it. But the woman paled and bolted down the alley, leaving only the man in black and Alphonse. The man turned tore hard Alphonse, and Alphonse saw the man's body shift and relax in a way that Alphonse recognized on some subconscious level but couldn't quite place. He tensed as the man approached him, picking up pieces of armor as he went. He piled the pieces on top of Alphonse's torso, then picked up Alphonse's head.
"Wh-what are you doing?" Alphonse asked. The man just looked into his eyes and said nothing. Alphonse was shocked. Usually people who didn't know he was just a hollow suit of armor freaked out when they realized the armor was empty, save for a blood circle and a disembodied voice. But this man, not only did he not freak out, but he was acting like it was perfectly normal to be holding a talking armor that had no one inside it. He gently set Alphonse's head onto the pile of armor scraps and then pulled a piece of chalk from his pants pocket.
"Wait! What are you doing?" Alphonse asked in a panic. The man was drawing an alchemical circle around Alphonse, one that Alphonse recognized. It was the same kind of circle Edward drew when he was putting Alphonse back together. Ed had only done it a handful of times but Alphonse could recognize it well enough. Again, the man didn't answer him, only kept drawing that circle until it was complete. It couldn't have taken him more than five minutes to draw the intricate circle, less time than it took Ed to complete the circle.
As soon as it was finished, and the man scrutinized his work. Seemingly satisfied, he stepped behind Alphonse where the boy couldn't see him, and then Alphonse was blinded by alchemical light. His thoughts stopped entirely as he felt the alchemy take hold of him, felt the pieces of his body melding slowly together. It was a process he'd undergone only a few times, but he recognized the feel of the alchemy coursing through him. It seemed familiar somehow.
Soon the light faded and Alphonse found himself whole again. He spun to look for the man in black, but he was alone in that alley, standing inside the alchemical circle. Alphonse shivered, thoughts flashing a mile a minute. Who are you? Who are you that you know my brother's alchemy so well? There was one explanation that Alphonse could think of, but he didn't want to say it out loud, if only because it might confirm an impossible truth.
So he decided to keep the encounter a secret, at least until he had more evidence. Because if what he thought was true, then they were becoming embroiled in something that would shake them to the very core, and question everything they'd learned so far.
- 6
- 7
- 8
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Time's Scar