We Were the Cost-Chapter One

 

We Were the Cost
Chapter One

"No! No! May!"

pzzzzzzzzzzztttt!!

Edward Elric let out a sigh. "May, please don't destroy my house."

"Geez, Ed. I'm just playing with the kids."

"Yeah! Daddy! Auntie May is the best!"

"Ho, what are you calling her 'Auntie' for?!" Edward growled at me. I laughed.

"Father," I cried, holding my arms out, signaling for him to lift me. He took me in his arms, and held me there. Mother looked over from the porch and smiled. Her long blond hair blew across her pale face in the breeze. The wind spoke to me, too. Caressing my face, it blew long gold streaks across my face. Father collected them, and slicked them back with his hand.

He looked over at mother, and subconsciously shifted my weight in his arms, from holding me under my arms, to codling me like a baby. I looked over at Sarah. She was crawling around on uncle Alphonse's lap. He had a black and white bear cat, little Xiao May. I sighed, watching them. This was contentment. The happiest days of my life.

"Yo! Theo!" I heard Uncle Al call out. "Come! I want a good hug!"

Father let me down and I ran to him. He held both me and Sarah for a good long while, before setting us on the ground and petting my head.

Addressing strictly the adults, he held May's hand and said,"Well, we best be off now. We're headed back to Xing, just for a while. It needs the 17th Princess of Xing, and heir of the Chang Clan." He hugged her and she kissed his cheek.

"Oh, Alphonsama..."she crooned. I smiled at them. Little Sarah tugged at my hand, pulling me to the ground. I looked at her big blue eyes, and while I did so, I missed Uncle Al and Auntie May leave. I missed his last words. I missed his smile.

That was the last time I ever saw Alphonse Elric.

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"How is she doing?"

"How do you think she is doing, Edward?! She's been stuck in that bed for almost a year now."

"...Winry...Maybe it's just her-"

"No! No! I refuse for that to be the only option Edward!! Why is there always only two options with you? It didn't used to be that way! You weren't so black and white all the time!!"

"Are you saying I'm changed?"

"Ya!"

"What about you?!"

I shut the door. I looked over at Sarah, her hands over her ears and her blue eyes shut tight, but the tears still passed through. I crawled on the bed with her. I tried to hug her, but she shoved me off. You could still hear mother and father screaming.

"Pinako is going to die eventually, Winry!!"

"No! No! I-"

"EVERYONE DIES!!"

"YOU THINK I DON'T KNOW THAT?!!" Something glass shattered. I heard mother crying. I heard father apologize and she stared to scream again. Sarah sobbed harder, but she made no noise. She had learned to do that.

It had been 10 years since the day uncle Alphonse left. Great-Grandmother Pinako was dying. Father and Mother were always fighting. Sarah, now 13, was always crying. I was always alone. Father wouldn't talk to me. Mother talked to me, but only to vent on how she felt Father had changed, which I didn't want to hear.

It was the middle of the night, and the window was open. I welcomed the cold. It numbed whatever was awake inside of me.

"Close the window." Sarah said from under her covers. "Close it, Theo. It's cold....CLOSE IT NOW!" She threw something at me. It didn't bother me. She was just upset. She would get over it. I had cried during their fights before too.

She rose from her bed, came and crawled onto mine to stand, and stood on tip toe to reach the window. She closed it, locked it, and wiped her royal blue eyes. She blinked and seemed frozen for a moment.

"Get off my bed, idiot."

"Theo," she breathed,"someones coming up the drive."

I stared. "Is not, you liar. I-" I saw the person too. He had one a blue military uniform.

"I don't want to go and tell mother..."

"I'll go get it," I told her.

"Let me come with you."

I sighed. "Fine....You can't let me do anything alone, can you?"

"Hush up! I'll hit you!"

"Yeah, yeah."

I opened the door to the man. He looked around me when I enter, but then saw me. He laughed.

"I'd always heard the Fullmetal was short, but wow!"

"Who are you calling short, fattie!!" I yelled at the man. He narrowed his eyes.

"Telegram for Mr. Elric."

I lied. "Speaking."

"Hmm. Here you go, Fullmetal. I'd give you some sarcasm, but I guess, we'd all be dead without you." He left.

Sarah looked at me, her blue eyes wide. "What did he mean by that?"

"I don't know, but we have a letter to read."

"That's for Father! I think...what did he mean 'Fullmetal'?"

"I don't know, that's why I'm reading the letter!"

We went into our room, and shut the door and locked it. Sarah lit a candle, and put a cover over the blind. I looked at the signer.

"It's from Central! And,...eh?!"

"What?! Theo! You're pale! What is it?"

"...It's from Fuhrer King Mustang!"

"Liar!"

"Am not! Look!" Sarah's face went pale.

"Read it!"

Fullmetal,

Yo, I am sorry to contact you this way, after so long and with such news. My attempts to rebuild the Ishvalan community have not been successful, as you know, and more groups have cropped up than ever. One group-whom have yet to release some revolting name-have taken scientists working in the east. Your brother, Fullmetal. Alphonse Elric has been missing for a year now, and has been confirmed missing. We request your help in Central, as we need all the help we can get.

Your friend,

Fuhrer King Roy Mustang

"Theo...I just had a heart attack...what does this mean?" Sarah cried. I stared at the wall, the fear on my face clear.

"Uncle Alphonse..."

"Theo? Theo? Theo...please...you're scaring me."

I got up off the floor, and opened the suitcase under my bed. I opened my drawers and pulled everything out.

"Theo? Theo?! What are we going to do?"

"We're going to Central."

"Theo!! Father...Mother...Pinako?"

"Uncle Alphonse!" I screamed.

She stared. "Don't I get a say?"

"No."

"Yes I do!"

"Then say before I leave you here!" I growled, packed and ready.

"I..."
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(SARAH)

"I..." I stuttered. "I..."
"Make up your mind!" Theo shouted at me. It wasn't an easy decision to make! Us leaving the only place we had ever known, and everyone else? It seemed ridiculous!
"...Y...yes.. I'll go to Central..." I said finally.
"Good. Pack up and let's get out of here." Theo put on his coat and shoved the letter in his pocket while I hastily packed some necessary items into a bag.
"Brother, why do you think that the Fuhrer called Father 'Fullmetal'?" I asked.
"For the 100th time, I don't know!" he snapped at me.
"Was Father ever in the military?" Honestly, we didn't really even know anything about our father's past. He would never tell us anything. Not the truth anyway, just stories that he made up, but once we were a little older he didn't even tell us those anymore since Mother told him to stop filling our heads with that stuff.
"With how much Father says he hates the military, I seriously doubt it." Theo sighed. "Now can we get going?"
"I want to get some information before we dive into this mess!" I said. I didn't want to jump blindly into something we didn't know anything about at all. And I knew exactly where to get the information we needed. I got up and exited the room.
"Where are you going?!" Theo said in a loud whisper, as not to catch the attention of Mother and Father in the other room. As if they could even hear us over their screaming.
"Father's study! Shh!" I walked quietly across the hallway until I made it to the door. It was locked, of course. "Help me with this."
"Why are we even doing this?" Theo questioned as he knelt by the door, next to me.
"Shh! Just help!" I yanked on the door handle as hard as I could. I knew that it wouldn't help anything, but it was worth a try.
"You're not going to get it like that--"
"I'll hit you!"
"I'm just saying!" he stammered. He stood up. "Get on your hands and knees."
I was taken aback by the awkward request, but obeyed.
Theo stepped up onto my back and reached for the top of the door frame. He jumped down and held out the key for the door. "I've only seen him put it up there a million times." Theo grinned.
"Why did he do it in plain sight if he was trying to hide it?" I said, but thought about it. "It's because you're so short and couldn't reach it on your own!" I giggled. Theo hit me on the top of my head.
"Shut up!!" he growled. "Just hurry up and get whatever the heck it was you wanted."
I stood up and ran into the study. There was a candle in the room that was still glowing from the last time Father was in there, but it was still difficult to see.
"I was hoping to find some information about dad in here." I said to Theo. "There has to be something we can learn from all of these books and papers." I dug through a few sheets of paper on the desk, then made a cursory examination of the bookshelf.
We hadn't noticed, but Mother and Father's screaming had stopped. We only realized it once we heard footsteps coming toward the study. "It's Father! He always comes in here to settle down after fighting with Mother!" Theo said. "Way to go! If he sees us in here he's going to kill us!" Theo walked over to the window on the far side of the room and lifted it open. "Come on!"
"Wait a minute!" I tried to stall, but the footsteps kept getting closer and closer. Frustrated and pressed for time, I grabbed random books and papers and made my way to the window. I followed Theo out of it and shut it as best I could from the outside. We ran for as long as we could, as fast as we could, hoping that Father wouldn't look out the window and see us. Once we were a safe distance away, we sat down by a big tree to catch our breath. The cold wind felt good in my burning lungs.
"Well, now you've done it!" Theo hit my arm. "We had to leave without even being able to grab any supplies that we'll need! All we have is those stupid books!"
"I'm sorry!! It's not my fault!"
"How would it not be your fault!?"
"Whatever! I'm sorry."
He sighed. "... Well, at least we didn't get caught." He took two books from my stack of five. "So, what are these books, anyway?" he said as he looked at the cover of one. It was too dark to read, but you could make out some sort of strange circle on the front of it.
"I don't know. I didn't have time to look at them." I said, rubbing my arms to try to warm myself up. I really wished that I had grabbed my coat.
"Well..." Theo looked over at me. "Whatever they are, I'm sure they'll get us one step closer to finding Uncle Alphonse."
I looked up at him, surprised that he would approve of me getting the books. Theo took one arm out of his coat and put that part of it around me, so we were both bundled up together. "It's late and we should probably get some sleep." he said and leaned back against the tree. It didn't take long for him to fall asleep. It took me longer; I was worried sick about what we were about to do, and what might happen. Sure, we might get Uncle Alphonse back, but at what cost? Father used to always talk about how the world revolves around 'equivalent exchange'. I didn't know what to think. All I knew was that I was getting drowsy and that all of that stuff...could wait...'til...tomorrow...
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(THEO)
I woke in the middle of the night, a habit I had. It was always around 4 a.m. when I woke up. Normally, I would rise, get a glass of water, and check on Sarah. Today, there was none of that. I couldn't get water from the leaky sink faucet, or pull the green worn blanket tighter around Sarah. I didn't even have any idea how we would get money for food or a train ride to central. I felt terrible. I should have left Sarah at home. Aw, Sarah....I didn't want her to get hurt, that was for sure. She's so young and small...taller than me...but she was strong. Strong enough, anyway. I knew we just had to make it to the train station, and we'd be fine.
I walked there and back, and Sarah had my jacket wrapped around, still sound asleep like I'd left her. She looked innocent, and didn't look like she could hurt a fly. I got us tickets for Central. They train left in an hour. I hoped father and mother hadn't noticed we were gone yet. Dawn was just 3 hours away.
"Sarah," I whispered, shaking her shoulder. "Sarah!"
"Hi!!" she jumped and popped me in the jaw.
"Yoouuu!" I growled. "'Mmm. We need to go. The train for Central leaves in an hour."
"How did you get money for tickets?" she asked sleepily, rubbing her eyes with the jacket sleeve.
"Heh, I told them to put it on a 'Alphonse Chang's' tab."
"Theo!"
"I couldn't put it on father or mother's! If they contacted them....Sarah, you may not like it, but we have to be careful here on out. Okay? We may not be able to tell the truth. At this point, we can't let father and mother know were we are. Some other point, it may be someone else. Sarah, this won't be easy, us on our own. But I will protect you, even if it means skinning someone else's hide.What's that look for?"
"Is that what Uncle Alphonse would say? He was always looking out for others, Theo! Always..."
"Ya...C'mon. Let's get down to the station, you can sleep on the train."
"Theo?" she asked. I had started walking, she was behind. I wasn't going to stop for her, she needed to learn to keep up. "Theo?" I heard her gentle foot falls behind me.
"Ya?"
"...What were Papa and Mama's last words to us?"
"...I don't know."
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(SARAH)

I don't know... The words hung in my head. Neither of us knew the last thing that Mom or Dad had said to us. And maybe we would never hear anything from them again. We had no clue what would happen in Central, much less how violent the people who had kidnapped Uncle Alphonse would be, if we were to come face to face with them. It struck me that we may never see our family again. It made me tear up a little. I blinked the tears away so Theo wouldn't see. The last thing we needed was a crybaby on this trip. I promised myself to be tough, for Theo and Uncle Alphonse's sake.
We made our way to the station and waited for the train. There was an awkward silence as we sat on the bench, waiting. I guess neither of us wanted to talk about the situation, which I was perfectly fine with.
Theo finally broke the silence. "...I shouldn't have dragged you into this. You can still go back."
"There's no way I'm going back! I want to help Uncle Alphonse just as much as you do! And, plus, you're useless without me!" I replied.
"That was uncalled for." Theo stated, angry.
"...I know, I'm sorry. I'm just stressed out." I sighed and looked down at the books on my lap, all with papers shoved inside of them. I picked up the book that had had the weird circle on the front. The top of the book read--
"'Alchemy'?" Theo said, just as I read the title. "What's that?"
"I'm not sure..." It's hard to know a lot of things when your parents try so hard to isolate you from the world. I flipped the book open and turned to a random page. More strange circles. 'Transmutation circles', as the book said they were.
Theo took the book from my lap and flipped through pages. "Woah... This is so cool..." he gasped.
"It's odd... Why would Father have this book anyway?" I wondered aloud.
"Maybe he studies 'alchemy'?" Theo suggested. "I don't th--" The whistle of the train cut his sentence off. "Train's here." Theo stood up and put the book back on my lap. I grabbed the books, got up, and followed him to the train.
The passengers got off of the train and we got on. There were some people who gave us odd stares because we were so young to be on a train without an adult, but we just ignored them.
We found seats near the back and sat down. Theo told me to get some rest, but I was too excited to get to Central. That was the first time we had ever left Resembool. I was excited to see something other than the endless green fields of our home. I imagined Central would be a wonderful way to learn more about the world.
"So, once we're in Central, are we just supposed to walk in and see the Fuhrer?" I asked. Surely they wouldn't just let us walk in there very easily.
"We'll just say that 'Fullmetal' sent us." Theo said, giving a grin.
"Speaking of which, we need to look through these papers and see what the whole 'Fullmetal' thing is about." I said, pulling some of the papers I had shoved in the books out. I glanced over them, scanning for the word 'Fullmetal'. I tossed the alchemy book to Theo. "See if you can find anything useful."
"What am I looking for exactly?" he asked as he caught the book.
"Something useful!" I yelled.
Theo rolled his eyes and opened the book.
I kept scanning the papers. Some of them were some sort of reports. Some of them were letters, some in envelopes. And some of them were pages torn out of books. Some words and phrases kept repeating over and over. 'State Alchemist'. 'Colonel Mustang'. 'Philosopher's Stone'. 'Original bodies'. 'Van Hohenheim'. 'Liore'. 'Homunculus'. 'Fuhrer King Bradley'. 'Automail'. 'Xing'.
Most things were vaguely familiar, but others were entirely foreign. 'Original bodies'? What on earth could that have meant? And what was a Homunculus? I groaned in frustration. "Would you happen to know what the heck a Homunculus is, Brother?" I sighed, not expecting an answer.
"I've seen that word in here a few times. Let me see..." He flipped trough a few pages. "Here it is! It says "'... Homunculus: an artificial human being made with alchemy.'"
"But we still don't even know what alchemy is." I stated.
"Let me look..." He flipped to the first page. "'Alchemy. The art of recognizing, decomposing, and reconstructing matter with the use of transmutation circles.' ... That answer your question?"
"I guess it does, a little." I said and kept searching through the papers. More words I didn't understand. It was all so frustrating!! "Screw this!!" I shouted and threw the books and papers on the ground.
"Sarah!" Theo yelled. "Be careful!" He got down to pick the papers up.
"I'm sorry!" I said. "There's nothing here that makes sense!!"
"Yeah, well--" Theo stopped and looked at what was in his hands. One of the books had been a scrapbook, filled with pictures, which had opened as it hit the ground after I threw it. Theo sat down next to me and turned to a random page. Three little kids playing. "Mother, Father and Uncle Alphonse..." Mother and Father looked exactly like us. It was almost eerie.
Another picture showed all of them again. A lot of the pictures had only them playing. It was odd to finally see something of our parents' past. As we flipped through the pages, something caught my eye.
"Wait! Look." I said and pointed to a picture. It was of Father. He had a metal prosthetic arm... That didn't make sense. How could he have a real arm now if he didn't then. We knew he had a prosthetic left leg, but we also knew that he wasn't missing his right arm.
"What the...?" Theo said in disbelief. "How...?"
"I don't know.." I said. "This is all decreasing in the amount of sense it makes..." More pictures of Dad, Mom, and Uncle Al. And a picture of armor? That seemed random. Who on earth was big enough to fit in that bulky thing? This was all so strange.