Chapter Text
Being a magic prodigy, an amazing alchemist and a pioneer in the half elf, half half-foot community, Edward Elric truly couldn’t understand why he was struggling so much with finding a decent meal before delving into the dungeon.
In his life, Edward had struggled with a lot of things. Losing his mother at a young age, and then subsequently losing his leg and brother. Getting his brother back, at the cost of his arm. Joining the Amestris adventurer’s guild at the ripe age of twelve. Constantly searching through every nook, cranny and hole in the dungeon to try and find a magical cure for Alphonse. Consulting every magician on The Island with any information about how to retrieve Al’s body.
But this was a particularly shitty week, as he was currently dirt poor. Him and his brother, Alphonse, had gone to see a magic user who claimed he could transport souls from vessel to vessel. The brothers thought he could be a help with Al’s… condition. Turns out, he was full of shit, and ran away with Edward’s wallet.
Normally Edward would have no trouble beating these senseless criminals up, and stealing back his money. Unfortunately, before he even realized he was being scammed, his money was already long gone. So, not a great few days for the Elric brothers.
To add worse to a bad situation, Colonel Mustang— Edward’s superior and asshole extraordinaire— had decided this was the best time in the world to assign him a mission. He had just been doing his monthly paperwork drop-off, when the bastard had decided to throw more work at his favorite victim of child labour.
“I’ve got your report, right here,” Edward had said, carelessly throwing the stack of paper onto the man’s desk.
“Your work is late, Fullmetal.”
“Yeah yeah, I know,” Edward waved off dismissively.
“And written in children’s crayons.”
“You just said it had to be legible this time, right?”
The colonel pinched his brow and sighed. “Look, Edward, you’re the only adventurer I have right now that isn’t on some dungeon delving quest. This ‘orc problem’ has been causing me stacks of paperwork, and I would prefer it be dealt with immediately.”
Edward picked up the sheet, and briefly skimmed over the details. Orcs had been seen living in lower levels, and terrorizing less experienced adventurers. They needed an above average adventurer’s party to ‘neutralize’ (read: kill) the threat. Atleast, the task had a bounty to claim after dealing with the issue.
“And this is my problem… why?” Edward asked, arching an eyebrow. He heard Alphonse sigh exasperatedly behind him.
“Because I’m your superior, and this paperwork is easily grounds for immediate expulsion from the Amestris guild,” he said, pointing to Edward’s mess of a report. “If you want to keep your job, I suggest you deal with these orcs by next Friday at the latest.”
Which is how Edward found himself stuck with one of the worst assignments on The Island. It’s not like Edward even liked his job. The Amestris guild was an easy source of money and work for alchemists like him. And being able to dive into the dungeons’ hidden secrets was always an added bonus.
The two brothers were currently walking through the village closest to the entrance of the dungeon. Edward felt his stomach growl, staring wistfully at the tavern which’s food he couldn't currently afford. Without resources, food, or supplies, Edward wouldn’t last long. On the other hand, Alphonse could probably last forever. An advantage of a metal suit of armor only piloted by a soul.
“If Colonel Bastard hadn’t assigned me this mission at such a poor time, we wouldn’t be scrounging for pennies so we could afford some stupid rations,” Edward groaned.
“Sometimes, we’re lucky that I don’t need to eat,” Al said, always the ‘glass half-full’ kind of guy.
“So we’re broke, resourceless, and that asshole wants us to take care of the ‘orc problem’ by next week. I don’t even get paid until the end of the fucking month!” Edward angrily ranted.
“So, what do we do, brother?” Alphonse asked.
“I’m gonna run into that dungeon, jump straight to the fourth floor, tell every orc and their mother to piss off, and then come back and demand that Colonel Bastard pay me extra for the fast and efficient work.”
“And how do you plan on getting to the fourth floor without food? I could go alone. I can easily survive a dungeon on my own, and I don’t need to eat or sleep,” Al offered.
“No! What if someone breaks your blood seal? What if you get kidnapped again?”
“The kidnapping was one time, brother!”
“That’s one time too many, Al!”
“I’m an adventurer too, y’know? I may not be a part of a guild like you are, but I can still hold my own in a fight.” Alphonse wished he could join a guild with his brother, but that would require removing his armor. Which he couldn’t quite currently do in his condition.
“...I know, Al. I’m just worried.”
A brief silence fell over the two brothers, who were both deep in thought. Suddenly, Alphonse was struck with an idea. If it was possible, a little lightbulb would have appeared over his head.
“Oh! I got it!” the armored boy lit up. “We could join another party! I’m sure, when we get into the dungeon, we can find a group of rich adventurers with some beef jerky to spare.”
That was not actually the worst idea Edward has ever heard. A lot of less experienced adventurers tended to like to hire more advanced adventurers to clear out the monsters so they could claim all the loot and glory. In the adventuring world, this is what the community affectionately dubbed as a ‘hard carry’. He was sure with his track record, lurking around some of the markets on the first level wasn’t the worst idea.
“Great idea, Al! Let’s get going, right now!” Edward tried dragging his brother away, which proved to be quite a hard task when your younger brother was seven feet tall and made entirely of metal.
“Brother,” Alphonse deadpanned, leaning his head towards the building across the street.
Edward groaned as he set his eyes upon the building. ‘Rockbell Automail’, the shop of his beloved childhood friend, Winry. Normally, he’d be over the moon to pop in for a visit but he knew the true reason Alphonse wanted him to enter.
“I don’t need maintenance! My arm is fine!”
“It doesn’t hurt to check! You’re going to be fighting monsters all week, and I don’t want to have to come back because you busted your arm one day in.”
“Fine!” Edward huffed, and stomped towards the automail shop.
As he heard the familiar sound of the bell chiming as he entered, he was greeted with the smell of oil and heavy machinery. He stuck his tongue out, grossed out by the strong odor. The store was full to the brim, every wall and surface possible covered in mechanical arms, legs, hands and feet. Any limb that could be mechanized was found in this shop.
“Edward!” Winry greeted from behind the counter.
“Hi Winry…” he gritted out.
“Brother was just here for his automail checkup! Think you can look over his arm before we go?” Alphonse asked, polite as ever.
“No problem!”
Edward walked over, and draped his arm across the counter. He watched as Winry pulled out a screwdriver, and pried open his arm. She took a quick look at the mechanical innards, and pulled out her pliers. She fiddled around with his arm, and poked a couple wires around. Or something. If Edward knew how automail worked, he wouldn’t be in this shop. With a satisfied hum, she closed up his arm and brushed her hands against her tracksuit.
“You’re all good! I can tell you haven’t been oiling the joints though. You’re gonna get rust at this rate.”
“...Thanks, Winry,” Edward said, a gentle smile making its way onto his face
“How’s your leg holding up?”
“Same old, same old. Still walks, still kicks. All I can ask for in a good leg,” he commented.
“Good? Your leg is excellent! The pinnacle of my automail career. The balance between agility and power is a delicate thing. Not many automail engineers are as good as me!” Winry pridefully exclaimed.
“Yeah, yeah. You’re amazing, we get it.” he said, pausing slightly before continuing. “Well, me and Al should go now. The dungeon doesn’t defeat itself!” Edward proclaimed, and began to slink out the door.
“What about my payment?” Winry yelled out after them, but Edward was already booking it down the street. Alphonse simply shrugged at Winry, and began to follow his brother.
Alphonse continued to follow Edward down the street. Edward slowed to let his brother catch up, and they began to walk towards the dungeon. After a few minutes, they had reached the end of the cobblestone leading to its entrance. Both the brothers looked down into the darkness, eager to once again delve into the dungeons' depths.
The ancient magic flowing through this complex labyrinth was unlike any magic that could be found on the surface. Edward believed that the answer to retrieving Al’s body could be found within its stony confines.
“Well nowhere to go but down, right Al?” Edward nudged him, even though his brother couldn’t feel it.
“Nowhere but down,” Alphonse echoed.