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He opened his eyes to the blank space, a place he had speculated was truly an endless plain that went on and on forever instead of a box. In a way it comforted him as his anger and fatigue were starting to get to him, “I take it you’re here to retrieve your brother, just how do you plan on pulling an entire human out of here?” Truth sat in front of him as he stared down at the entity that he would barely see the outline of and that smile. That damned smile…
“What’s your payment? Do you intend to offer your own body?” Truth could but grin that toothy smile that even with Edward’s neutral face made his blood boil, even so a smirk crawled on his own face. “Yeah, I’ve got your payment right here! So go ahead and take it!” Edward couldn’t help but smile more when Truth’s mouth seemed to drop, “This thing is my personal portal of truth, so I get to make the decision on how it's used, that right?” Truth then started to laugh.
“Sorry that's wrong” Truth’s grin seemed to widen and stuck out his hands to cross his fingers into an X, “Not that it is was truly wrong but I just don’t want you to let it go, I. It would “Truly” be a waste so I offer you something else..-” Edward was having none of it, “So you’re saying that just have me pay with something else and not give back my brother’s body!?” Edward was infuriated.
Truth shook his head, “No I will give you your brother’s body back in the end, now… I want you to go to a domain I have little influence over and I need you to solve it by destroying a man trying to play god while attempting to be a puppeteer in his world. I. I can not let this happen.” Truth for the first time seemed angry and now without a smile on its face as its face was only empty. That really gave Edward chills down his spine and quickly quelled, “What do you mean domain…? I would think that any land in the world would be judged by you in the end?” Edward was genuinely confused, how could Truth not handle it?
“It is not a land here alchemist it is a whole “new” world that I have little influence over, and I need assistance, I will be sending you to another world to send down another man trying to play god.” Edward quickly retorted, “I get that, but what do I get out of this?” Truth smiled at him, “I will give back your brother, I will also give back your leg, and I will leave your alchemy untouched… how does that sound?” Truth had just offered to give back his life. Edward still couldn’t decide, “I don’t think I deserve to get my leg back… or my alchemy… I just came here for my brother, nothing else.” Edward wasn’t sure if he would have a chance like this but he knew that it was just.
“You truly learned alchemist, but even so those are just equivalent exchange since you are helping me with a whole world where I’ll basically be dropping you in blind without any information. I'll leave your leg with me and I will give you information and knowledge in exchange. Now tell me alchemist how much do you want to know other than there are wizards that have magic?” that completely threw Edward out a window.
Wizards? Magic? What? “I’m sorry what!?” Edward couldn’t comprehend what Truth was trying to say, “I’m saying the rules that I don’t have any control over” Edward needed to know more to know how much shit he was in.
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It turns out he was in deep shit, great.
Edward and Truth talked for what seemed to be hours confirming details and giving Edward info, sometimes outright not saying a thing to Edward. What he could confirm and details of this “mission”: Destroy these horcruxes that are the fragments of the guy named Voldemort, destroy the deathly hollows, and kill Voldemort.
He will be in a world where magic was hidden from those who couldn’t do magic and both were separated and they have the Voldemort character who seems to be manipulating the government. Great. These horcruxes are scattered around Europe and this school in Scotland and also in England so he would have to look up these places sooner or later. Truth would even give him a “little” magic to make sure he interacted with the “magical” world and not to screw him over.
Even though Edward thought it was bullshit and that this “magic” had to be some sort of alchemy he didn’t really want to argue with the universe, at least not right now. He just couldn’t wrap his head around them not following the rules of the world essentially, they seem to ignore equivalent exchange completely. But if it was just energy like Truth said it can be manipulated with alchemy and so on can be used to strengthen alchemy as a whole if he did it right.
He also didn’t have a time limit, all he needs to do is kill him eventually so he was glad Truth was giving him some slack. Once Edward leaves time will stop and not even a second would pass once he completed it, “I think that’s everything I need to know” Edward seemed determined to finish this quickly, “Well then goodbye little alchemist, I’ll even give you a few years so you have a little more time! I’ll see you soon” and with that, he was pulled back into the gate with small hands not dragging him like before when he was 11 years old but guiding him and a flash of bright white light obscured his sight before he could ask what that meant.
However, just like when he was 11 the same rushing of information came for him as if pressure was being pushed into his head but unlike last time some things were familiar but soon it stopped.
He shut his eyes tight as he slowly opened them again. Was this the qi that Alphonse talked about?
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November 1989
“Huh?” Ed opened his eyes to see the blue sky and tall buildings that looked weird as if he was in a city alley, he slowly got up and shakily stood on his two feet. He held onto the wall for dear life, it was almost like getting up in the morning only to fall on your face once you got up. It was almost familiar… Ed glanced at his hand only to not feel the cloth of the glove on his hands, “Don’t tell me….” Ed quickly took off his right glove and stopped when he saw that beautiful shine of metal.
He had his automail back. “Is this some sort of sick joke...?” Ed was kinda furious at how Truth gave back his prosthetic arm however, it seemed a bit different from the one he had in the battle but he couldn’t put his finger on it. Ed shook off the feeling and started to look on himself to see if Truth and kept to his word, in his pocket he found colorful paper that had numbers that were somewhat similar to the Cens back home.
“This would be enough to get something to eat…” Ed murmured under his breath and saw what he was wearing, “It’s kinda bland for a dress shirt and some slacks that's good enough” Ed found it somewhat familiar but brushed it off as he noticed something a slight itch on his neck and reached for his neck only to feel nothing. “The hell?” inspected his hand to see if something came off of anything but nothing, he planned to ignore for now.
Ed slowly made his way out of the alley and onto the street, it was loud. It was bustling with life and cars that looked more sleek and small than the ones Ed was used to, “Where can I get a newspaper… hmm” Ed walked around.
Ed then caught the whiff of something good, “Mmm that smells good!” Ed couldn’t help but follow the scent, it reminded him of freshly baked bread and dessert. Ed soon stopped at a big window and an open door the glass read Kowalski Quality Baked which sounded nice, but then he noticed himself in the mirror.
He wasn’t 16 and he didn’t look it, he looked so much younger than before… he looked around 12 or 11 he couldn’t tell and kind of just stared at the window in awe, this was probably the reason he had his automail arm he just got his prosthetic one at this age. “I guess this was what he meant when he gave me a few years… damn Truth.” he noticed how his hair touched his neck and barely touched his shoulders and his braid was wrapped with a red ribbon, oddly reminiscent of his red coat.
The ribbon seemed to have some black embroidery that he couldn’t tell what it was but it looked familiar. He was about to reach for it but then his thoughts were interrupted when someone tapped his shoulder, “Hello young man do you want to get a pastry?” Ed was interrupted from thought and he noticed she was speaking a different language and sort of just stared at the woman absentmindedly.
The woman smiled softly as she looked at him fondly, “Don’t worry I’ll cover it no need to pay, you could say it is on me” the woman gently took his hand and led him inside, “N-no I have money you don’t have to I just-” he didn’t even notice he started to speak the woman’s language and pushed that thought away for now, the woman simply took him inside not listening. “Oh nonsense now here you are” the woman smiled as he handed him one of the pastries he was probably staring at, it was actually cute.
Ed couldn’t help but smile a little bit, it looked like a small sort of hedgehog without quills and had a ball of chocolate in his hands it was so very cute. “Oh I didn’t introduce myself excuse me, my name is Donna Kowalski my great-grandfather owns this bakery but he’s in New York with my mother and I’m taking care of the shop here in Paris” Ed’s face contorted slightly but quickly turned neutral.
“I’m Edward Elric…” Ed kept it short and took a bite from the pastry that was surprisingly sweet without having any outside sugar, “This is good!” Donna smiles gleefully as she leaned on the counter, “I’m glad you like it dear” Donna spoke warmly as she started to pack some of the pastries in a small bag, Ed soon finished the pastry. “I’ll get going… thank you Miss Donna” Ed had decided to end their conversation here to start looking for clues on how to start, “Oh then take this I’m sure you will like it” Donna handed Ed the bag.
“Oh no I couldn’t…-” Ed attempted to push it back into her hand but she persisted, “No please just come back next time!” Donna smiled sweetly as Ed finally accepted the bag of pastries, “Okay…” Ed then quickly placed the money on the counter and ran out, “Thank you bye!” Ed made a dash for the street and then slowed down. “Thanks, Miss” he mumbled and he held the pastry bag to his chest and started to eat them, Ed soon stopped at a group of people surrounding something.
He decided to take a closer look, “What is it?” Ed spoke since he couldn’t see anything over all of the adults, one of them turned to him and answered him. “Oh it's some loony fu- man. Who is trying to spread lies about “witches”, now run along boy you don’t need to listen to it” they shooed him away and Ed lost disinterest after not getting them to let him on what was happening. Ed noticed how he now had no money and he was essentially homeless and an orphan. So…
“I guess I can start by doing what I do best…” Ed smirked as he eyed a few things, a man with a broken watch, a boy with a broken toy truck, and a woman with a ripped sleeve, “Or I could just start a circus… but I need more than me for a circus so I guess just some fireworks… damn I guess Mustang taught me something.” Ed couldn’t help but chuckle under his breath at the sour thought, “No alchemy and not aware of magic… they really don’t have anything. Am I going to become a fucking magician-? Or wizard? Ugh, this is going to be weird.” Ed mumbled under his breath as he continued to walk away from the crowd.