Hiding In The Shadows (a Full Metal Alchemist FanFic)

Darkness awaits everyone

Alphonse's P.O.V.

Human kind cannot gain anything without losing something first. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost. That is the first rule of equivalent exchange.

We thought that to be the world's only rule, until the day...

...The day we met the shadow.

My brother, Edward and I have come to Central to fix the mistakes we've made. We walked through the crowded streets of Central. With Edward now a state alchemist and a lead on the Philosopher Stone, I finally felt, in a sense, like we were getting somewhere.

"I'm hungry!" Ed whined as we made our way to the state military HQ. I sighed.

"Mustang is expecting us. We need to see him first."

"I don't know why he even makes us report to him directly. All he does is dis us and put us on another wild goose chase." Ed growled. I sighed again- wait.

Maybe we should explain a little.

I, Alphonse Elric and my brother, Edward Elric, lived in Resmbol. Our father left us when we were very young; leaving our mother to care for us. This is the reason Ed hates him. I didn't care much about our father, but I didn't hate him either. Our alchemy grew stronger with every small transmutation. One day, our mother grew very ill and died, leaving us alone when I was nine. She was our sunshine in the darkness. How could we live without her? Answer, we didn't.

Transmuting a human has always been illegal and dangerous. The both of us knew we'd need to learn more, and not small tricks. We searched out a teacher to teach us the ways.

We found one, learned, then returned home.

On one stormy night, we gathered all the elements we'd need for an adult human. That was a mistake. Ed lost his leg and I lost my body due to equivalent exchange and Ed lost his arm to bond my soul to a suit of armor which I am today. Brother obtained automail, or a metal right arm and left leg. Now we search for the one thing that ignores the laws of equivalent exchange. No, not to try to resurrect our mother, but to have our bodies returned to normal.

"We owe the information about the philosophers stone to him." I reminded him. It was Mustang that helped him through the exam to begin with!

"Doesn't mean it's right for him to treat us like kids!!" My brother snapped. I looked down at him, his body slumped in a grouchy way. We entered the main headquarters and headed down to Roy Mustang's office. As we opened the door we seemed to have interrupted Lieutenant Riza reading something to The Colonel, who was looking very interested in the matter.

"Uh, sorry sir. We can come back later." I awkwardly said.

"No no, it's only a report from an agent in deep cover over in Albacore." He replied, urging for us to sit. Ed slumped lazily into the chair, which made him look shorter, while I sat quietly on the sofa. Riza continued to read aloud to the small group of military soldiers.

".. Ah- Albacore seems, at a glance, a nice place covered with grassy fields and dotted with farmer fields. Most of the food that grows here is tough and tasteless. Some people are even more so. Roy, if I had to guess, Yuri Valire is most likely to be the terrorist you're looking for. His background shows that he got caught in one wave of the Ishbal war, causing him to loose sight in his right eye only days after he was rescued. He owns a hotel on the outskirts of town and not many people care for his company. Any other state alchemist or soldier seeking refuge at his estate are immediately thrown out into the streets. I plan on keeping a close eye on him and possibly infiltrating his hotel basement tonight for traces of explosive chemicals.