Chapter Text
Roy Mustang was an idiot. Somehow the man had no idea what the word ‘retired’ meant. At least, not when it came to Ed’s retirement.
Seriously! He had no alchemy! Who had ever heard of a State Alchemist who couldn’t do alchemy? And when Ed had reminded Mustang of this, quite frankly, very reasonable explanation of why he couldn’t continue to be a State Alchemist, the bastard had just laughed! Who even does that?
“We’ll discuss your position when you and Alphonse are cleared from your physical therapist,” Mustang had said, like an absolute bastard, completely ignoring his claims of retirement from the military.
He was pretty sure Hawkeye had been the one in charge of informing Mustang that, yes, one had to have alchemy in order to be a State Alchemist. Thus, when he and Al walked into Mustang’s office, a year after the Promised Day, instead of Mustang trying to insist on Ed staying as his original position, he offered them both positions as heads of alchemic research for the military. It gave them access to restricted research materials but it also meant they had to act on call for the military if they were called out to the field to analyze any potential alchemic arrays that strayed too close to taboo. And thus, Roy Mustang managed to continue to ignore the meaning of ‘retirement’ and kept both Elric brothers on retainer for the military.
The sky was clear and the sun was beating down on the four of them - Mustang, Hawkeye, Al, and him - as they stood in front of a debilitated cottage. It was settled in the western outskirts of central. The cobblestone pathway leading from the road to the front door was cracked and overgrown with greenery. A few windows had boards nailed in place, covering the lack of glass panes, and vines crawled up the sides of the outer walls. Perhaps it had once been painted a bright and homey color, however any paint had long since chipped off, leaving the plain foundations behind.
“So what’s it this time, General Bastard?” Mustang had been unusually tight lipped about what the newest issue he and Al were getting called away from their research for was.
“You’re here to determine if there’s any signs of two alchemists.” Ed glanced at Al, who had raised an eyebrow at the response. Good. He was also questioning the secrecy of the mission. What the hell had been found that even they didn’t have security clearance? With a shrug of his shoulders, Ed entered the cottage, figuring they’d find out once they saw the alchemy research.
Al gasped and Ed let out a curse as they stepped into the cottage’s basement.
“What the fuck-” A transmutation circle was carved into the floor, outlined with something that might have been white paint. Upon first glance, it appeared to be a circle used for human transmutation. The base was exactly the same, but upon closer expectation, the branches were completely different and it was almost as if the circle was incomplete.
“Is that-”
“No. Look.” He pointed to the branch on the right. “That’s the symbol for projection. It should be a congelation symbol. And look at that.” He pointed to another branch with an unexpected symbol etched.
“That… is that the alchemical symbol for Truth?”
“Yeah, and see how it’s connected to the projection branch?” Al tensed, his jaw wavering between falling and clenching.
“Fullmetal-”
“What the fuck is this?” Ed demanded, whirling back around to face Mustang, choosing to ignore the man continuously using his no-longer-applicable-title. “Who the fuck lived here? If this circle was finished- I don’t even know what would happen! It’s absolutely absurd! How did they even know the symbol to represent Truth?!” Mustang sighed.
“That’s why we called you two here. And why this mission is completely off record.” Ed glanced between Mustang and Hawkeye, taking in their grim expressions.
“Fine. Ok. My best guess? Someone was stupid and arrogant enough to think that they could send another person to their gate and not have the backlash that comes with human transmutation. That’s why they made a branch in order for the circle to be activated remotely, but that couldn’t possibly work because the circle isn’t finished-” it was a simple coincidence really. He just happened to glance at the wall as his body was at the correct angle to notice the splash of white behind the stack of journals. But that was impossible… “Get out of the room-!” With a crackle of electricity, the basement disappeared in a flash, and the four of them stood in a white void, facing a static figure, grinning from ear to ear.
“Hello. Little Alchemist~”
“Truth.” A simple acknowledgement was all Ed could muster within him. “What is this?” Because that's what it was, ultimately. Truth wanted something. And that thing wanted it from the four of them, otherwise that circle would have never worked. It wasn’t complete. Even if the alchemists had been working on making the entire room a circle, there was no way such a modification would work with the base they carved into the floor.
“Oh, Little Alchemist. You do grow ever smarter each time we meet. It’s like you’ve grown closer and closer to the Truth.”
“Get on with it, bastard. What do you want? Why bring us here?” He wasn’t sure if the grin grew wider, or if the foreboding atmosphere simply managed to grow thicker in the void they were trapped in.
“All I need from you is to do a teensy whittle favor. Nothing too drastic, the exchange will be perfectly equivalent.”
“Just explain, you bastard.” And so Truth did. It described another world where a man with powers nowhere close to alchemy wished to continue to go against the Law of Equivalence. A world where he continued committing the ultimate taboo despite paying no price for it. How the man sealed himself from his own gate.
“Bring that man and his research to me, and you’ll have the toll paid for your journey home. And as payment for dragging you here to do such a favor, you shall gain the knowledge necessary to navigate that world. And Little Alchemist, you’ll need your gate for your duration in that world.”
Truth snapped, and the white void behind them was filled with the stone of his gate suddenly looming above them.
“That’s not equivalent,” Ed protested. “Even if it was an equivalent exchange, you’re giving me more than the rest of them.” Ed gestured to the others standing behind him. “How is that in any form equivalent?!”
“I assure you, Little Alchemist, it quite is. Now, bring that man back to me, and until then, toodaloo~” The gate opened and hundreds of black hands swarmed them, dragging them into the dark expanse. Images flashed before him. An entire world’s history digging itself into his memories. He learned of Quirks, how they developed, how they became legal, illegal, hidden, common. He learned of Heroes, of the Hero Commission. He saw the Commission's experiments. He became an experiment. He saw a villain rising amongst the shadows. He Knew the victims. He Knew how they suffered. How they became a sludge of souls shoved into a creature called a homunculus Nomu. The Nomu had the same powers, and the government did nothing. Simply continuing their experiments on children. Continuing to raise children into soldiers Heroes.
A sharp gasp left Ed as he opened his eyes once more. He was laying in some sort of booth, made from a strange hydrocarbon polymer. He couldn’t recognize the material. Whatever it was, it wasn’t something they had in Amestris. How was it made? Who made it? None of the gate’s knowledge indicated the presence of alchemists. Just strange people with strange powers.
“Brother?” Al’s voice snapped him out of his thoughts. “Are you alright?” Finally, he noticed that Al was crouched in front of him.
“What did you see?” Ed asked. He needed to know if they knew. If they had seen what he saw. “Where’s-?”
“They woke up before you. They’re investigating the building.” Al gestured to the area around them, which seemed similar to the dining areas in the restaurants in Central. “Apparently Truth provided us with a place to work and live. Oh, and we have actual papers cementing our identities in this world!” Ed frowned. Truth had given them far too much for any sort of equivalent exchange. Surely there had to be a catch?
“So, you’re finally awake then, Fullmetal?” Mustang entered the dining area, having exited what seemed to be the kitchen, Hawkeye following directly behind him. “What were you shown?” Reporting to Mustang was like settling into a pair of worn boots that surprisingly fit after years. He described the history of Quirks. The rise of All for One. The Hero Commissions. The experiments performed by both parties. How the knowledge of Japanese settled into his head like it had always been there. He went into gruesome detail of the creation of Nomu. How he himself had become one and subsequently died as one.
None of them looked surprised, so Truth must have given them all the same knowledge.
“The gate that Truth formed… did it really give you your alchemy back?” Ed nodded. There was an energy lingering beneath his fingertips that hadn’t been there since the Promised Day. He didn’t have to perform alchemy to know what that energy meant. That gate had been his. He had his alchemy back. And while he may have thought about hypotheticals and all the experiments he would have done had he had it the past year. He… couldn’t help but draw a blank on what he would do with it now.
“Did you guys learn anything else?” Ed asked.
“I learned how to bake,” Al offered.
“I learned how to brew coffee and Mustang learned the laws regarding running a business within the food industry.” Ed raised an eyebrow towards Hawkeye’s referral towards the General Bastard.
“Consider us undercover in this world, Fullmetal. We no longer have a military background.” Mustang handed him a stack of papers. “And according to this, we’re just a simple family who decided to open a coffee shop.”
“You have to be fucking kidding me.” Ed flipped through the papers, but unfortunately, the bastard wasn’t lying. “No one is going to believe we’re a family! Al and I look nothing like the two of you!”
He was going to strangle Truth the next time he saw that bastard.
.
.
.
“... And if we’re no longer military, stop calling me fucking Fullmetal, you bastard!”