HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!
A return to the classics. FMA. Happy Birthday Greed-Sama.
Al had never given up on his brother. He knew, in that way that only brothers or lovers can know, that Edward was alive and working on a way to come home. He couldn't remember the years he'd lived as a suit of armor, but the tales, the awe and rumors and evidence folders he found without hardly trying, all painted a vivid portrait of his personal past.
Edward had sacrificed so much for him, had worked so hard for him, that *not* believing in the impossible was simply unthinkable. So Al knew his brother was coming home one day. He just had to be patient and wait.
Waiting was easy as long as Al kept himself occupied. An alchemist never had problems finding work and the love of the art was buried in his bones. Mustang helped sometimes, giving him advice, pointing out books that Edward had read, showing Al the projects that Ed had worked on while chewing over the issues of the philosophers stone and human transmutation.
One such project Al found, hidden in a lab Mustang had warned him not to go to, was Nina. Or what was supposed to be Nina. It looked like her, from the photos he'd seen in a file he'd found in a box he wasn't supposed to know about. He didn't feel much for her besides pity and a strange sort of melancholic ache. She was a pretty little girl, made out of things that weren't remotely human wearing a face he didn't remember. She sat naked in a cage, vacant eyes staring into nothing, kept alive solely by the power of the stone that had created her.
Perfected her. Almost.
Al knew that his brother was coming home. Edward would never leave him alone to face the world for long. And Edward might remember the time Al had forgotten. Would almost certainly remember because he hadn't been lost in the gate for years, wasn't there now, couldn't be because he was coming home which meant he was elsewhere somewhere.
If Edward remembered those years then he would remember Nina, and this mockery of the girl they'd known. Edward would hate this shell, blame himself for it's creation, try and return the base components of the alchemy back to their original form perhaps. Edward was like that. Edward would make it a quest; return Nina's dignity to memory.
Al looked at Nina and made a decision. He wasn't as good as Ed, he wasn't as talented or artistic, but he could do this. One array, one transmutation, and the blank eyed girl twisted, her flesh and form rippling, reverting, changing under his will. Sensei would never speak to him if he tried human transmutation again. Nina was dead.
The thing in the cage wasn't human. He wouldn't let it hurt brother.
Bird wings and dog paws, a serpents scales shining next to kitten fur. He stopped the transformation there, unwilling to break the whole into dead pieces. It was still alive, still vaguely humanesque. He wasn't a killer, he didn't like hurting things. He couldn't save this creature, couldn't give it a soul or make it into the girl it was supposed to have been. But he could... he could...
Edward was coming home. Al knew Edward was coming home. But the nights were so cold without brother or mother, the nights so quite and the world so strange. Nina was dead. Edward was coming home. For now, Al needed someone. Someone not Winry, who he could talk to and hold.
He drew another array.
Golden slit eyes watched vacantly as Al stripped for bed. No one had questioned Al's request to keep the stray chimera once it had proven itself completely docile. The avian/feline/canine/serpent was fearsome in appearance, but Al assured everyone he was simply working on a way to undo it safely. It was almost brain-dead he said, a possible side-effect of the alchemy backlash which had destroyed the lab and creator.
The beast had a chain collar with an array etched into it's id tag. On the one hand, if the beast ever did become dangerous, all it would take to destroy it would be to activate the array and stop it's heart. The other hand was, it allowed Al, in the privacy of his room, to change the creature into the form he'd spent hours in the secret lab perfecting.
Roy would find out eventually that Nina was gone. He might also put two and two together and come up with Al's new pet project. No doubt he'd be furious.
Bird wings, serpent scales, dog paws and kitten fur shifted; melted together into new arrangements. Golden slit eyes stared from a near human face as Al carded his fingers through silky strands too fine to be hair.
"Come home soon brother, I'm lonely."
Al had never given up on his brother. He knew, in that way that only brothers or lovers can know, that Edward was alive and working on a way to come home. He couldn't remember the years he'd lived as a suit of armor, but the tales, the awe and rumors and evidence folders he found without hardly trying, all painted a vivid portrait of his personal past.
Edward had sacrificed so much for him, had worked so hard for him, that *not* believing in the impossible was simply unthinkable. So Al knew his brother was coming home one day. He just had to be patient and wait.
Waiting was easy as long as Al kept himself occupied. An alchemist never had problems finding work and the love of the art was buried in his bones. Mustang helped sometimes, giving him advice, pointing out books that Edward had read, showing Al the projects that Ed had worked on while chewing over the issues of the philosophers stone and human transmutation.
One such project Al found, hidden in a lab Mustang had warned him not to go to, was Nina. Or what was supposed to be Nina. It looked like her, from the photos he'd seen in a file he'd found in a box he wasn't supposed to know about. He didn't feel much for her besides pity and a strange sort of melancholic ache. She was a pretty little girl, made out of things that weren't remotely human wearing a face he didn't remember. She sat naked in a cage, vacant eyes staring into nothing, kept alive solely by the power of the stone that had created her.
Perfected her. Almost.
Al knew that his brother was coming home. Edward would never leave him alone to face the world for long. And Edward might remember the time Al had forgotten. Would almost certainly remember because he hadn't been lost in the gate for years, wasn't there now, couldn't be because he was coming home which meant he was elsewhere somewhere.
If Edward remembered those years then he would remember Nina, and this mockery of the girl they'd known. Edward would hate this shell, blame himself for it's creation, try and return the base components of the alchemy back to their original form perhaps. Edward was like that. Edward would make it a quest; return Nina's dignity to memory.
Al looked at Nina and made a decision. He wasn't as good as Ed, he wasn't as talented or artistic, but he could do this. One array, one transmutation, and the blank eyed girl twisted, her flesh and form rippling, reverting, changing under his will. Sensei would never speak to him if he tried human transmutation again. Nina was dead.
The thing in the cage wasn't human. He wouldn't let it hurt brother.
Bird wings and dog paws, a serpents scales shining next to kitten fur. He stopped the transformation there, unwilling to break the whole into dead pieces. It was still alive, still vaguely humanesque. He wasn't a killer, he didn't like hurting things. He couldn't save this creature, couldn't give it a soul or make it into the girl it was supposed to have been. But he could... he could...
Edward was coming home. Al knew Edward was coming home. But the nights were so cold without brother or mother, the nights so quite and the world so strange. Nina was dead. Edward was coming home. For now, Al needed someone. Someone not Winry, who he could talk to and hold.
He drew another array.
Golden slit eyes watched vacantly as Al stripped for bed. No one had questioned Al's request to keep the stray chimera once it had proven itself completely docile. The avian/feline/canine/serpent was fearsome in appearance, but Al assured everyone he was simply working on a way to undo it safely. It was almost brain-dead he said, a possible side-effect of the alchemy backlash which had destroyed the lab and creator.
The beast had a chain collar with an array etched into it's id tag. On the one hand, if the beast ever did become dangerous, all it would take to destroy it would be to activate the array and stop it's heart. The other hand was, it allowed Al, in the privacy of his room, to change the creature into the form he'd spent hours in the secret lab perfecting.
Roy would find out eventually that Nina was gone. He might also put two and two together and come up with Al's new pet project. No doubt he'd be furious.
Bird wings, serpent scales, dog paws and kitten fur shifted; melted together into new arrangements. Golden slit eyes stared from a near human face as Al carded his fingers through silky strands too fine to be hair.
"Come home soon brother, I'm lonely."