Chapter 4 - Fullmetal be thy name...

A whole summer had passed since that fateful night of Edward and I's encounter. It wasent the fact I could no longer cross paths with Ed that totured my soul...it was that he no longer knew I existed. But it had to be done, erasing his memories of me that is. Nevertheless I overcame my sorrow and kept a diligent eye on him and his younger brother Alphonse. I had to admit, that woman Izumi Curtis was quite the knuckle scraper. She put these boys through training that would drop even myself from exhaustion. Not to mention the relentless pop quizzes on alchemy itself that she sprung on their poor minds. But they did want to excell at their knowledge and strength; so it couldnt be helped. When their training ceased, they returned back to their home in Risembool. But my mind began to become uneasy when they began to purchase odd items from their allowance once back home. Not to mention they had distanced themselves further and further from Winry when she would ask them what they were up to. I wished time and time again I had stopped them...their screams through that stormy night still haunt my ears.....

Raziel perched quietly upon the branch of an old oak tree, eyes slipping shut from time to time as he cast them on the quiet and timid house. The winds howled wildly through the night skies as the rain soaked the landscape, lightning searing through the clouds every now and then.

"Strange...they should be asleep by now. What are they planning in that basement? Are they reading up alittle more before they call it a night?" Raziel asked himself aloud while he scratched at his soaked black hair. He didnt get quite suspecious yet...after all the boys had been up the past few nights later than normal reading up on alchemy in their father's basement study. However, the fear in his chest skyrockted when a purple glow began to pour from the basement's window. Jumping up, he had to shield his eyes when the light became too bright and started to fill up the whole house. Then Edward and Alphonse's screams greeted his ears. It was then that he knew what had taken place.

"Dear god...NO!" Raziel said aloud in horror, leaping off the tree's branch as he dashed towards the building. They had done it, they had committed the ultimate forbidden art amongst alchemists...human transmutation. Of course; how could he be soo blind? The desire to train themselves further in alchemy, the ingrdiants, the intense reading sessions...they were preparing themselves to bring back their mother! No no no why hadnt he stopped them sooner?! Why didnt he steal the ingrediants until they were flat broke? He was soo foolish, and now these two were suffering the wrath of the higher powers unseen to human eyes because of breaking such a sacred rule. He growled in anger when he started yanking at the door to the house, it wouldnt budge for some reason. Had they locked it? "Dammit let me in!" he called out, slamming his clawed fist into the door's window as he reached for the inner lock. Then an unseen force slammed into him, knocking him onto his back as he yelled in pain. Coughing, the wraith forced his pain aside, glaring up at the glowing house.

"Let me pass!" He called up angerily, summoning up his wraith blade as he took another mad leap towards a window of the house now, blade at the ready. But once again he was knocked back by that same unseen force, a dark laugh filling the air.

"You arent going to interfere bone bag. Until I get what I want...you stay there like a good angel of death. After all, I have to teach these naughty lil boys a lesson of what happens when you try to take a soul back from me. After that...I'll let you have what's left hehehe..." The voice exclaimed in sheer amusement. Raziel growled more, glaring up at the sky as he heard the dark voice.

"You bastard, you get some kind of sick thrill harming two innocent boys for merely wanting their mother back?! Face me and I'll show you what happens when you anger a servant of death himself!" Raziel hollared, clenching his fist as his eyes glowed a bright whispy blue in the darkness of the storm. The voice merely laughed in response to this as the wraith was sent flying hard into the side of the house, enough to leave a dent.

"Dont make me laugh...Acheron is a pushover comapared to me. And you are merely an ant that serves him. Infact, Acheron serves ME im that powerful. I govern the gate unlike him, im the one who decides the fate of those who pass through my domain, where they go after they die. Do they go to God, or do go to Acheron's turf? And it is I who decides the fate of those who use human transmutation, shall they live with a crippling loss..or shall they die for their sins? Besides, those boys will learn the hard way..you cant get without giving right? But nonetheless...we will meet someday little wraith..just pray I am in a good mood when we do. Til then tata." The voice called back, laughing as the voice faded as Raziel screamed angerily.

"C...COWAAAAAAAARD!" Raziel hollared, blasting a torrent of ice from his reaver blade towards the heavens as he then dashed back towards the door of the house, slamming his fists time and time again at it as an invisable barrier kept him at bay. "No..no..no. Please dont die dammit! Why...why?!" Raziel yelled with each hit, fear rising in his whole body as his hitting became more and more desperate. He didnt even care for the condition of his hands, which were starting to become cut and bruised, his blue blood soaking through his bandages now. Thirty to forty minutes of this dragged on until he sunk down low to the steps infront of the door, his hand weakly tugging at the door's handle now.

"Edward...for..forgive me..I wasent..there..for you and..Al..Please be alright. Please..survive. For..Winry...Pinako...and me. My dear little friends." Raziel said weakly. And for the first time in all of the centuries he was alive, he could feel tears escaping from his pupil-less eyes and streaming down his burnt blue skin, staining the already soaked ground below him. It shocked him at first, to have wept for these two, but then he would have thought it heartless not to have done such a thing. After all, they had only wanted their mother back..and this unseen heartless fiend had punished them for it. He swore he would find this god or whatever he was, and destroy him.

A few more minutes passed until Raziel heard the door in the basement leading up to the backyard open up. He quickly rose to his feet and snuck around the side to see the condition of the boys...praying they were in one peice. His eyes widened when he saw what came out. It was a suit of armor, stained in blood that came out. He had recognized the armor from earlier snoops around the house when everyone was asleep. It had stood quietly next to the door of Hoenhiem's study. But now here it was, moving about as pinkish white eyes illuminated inside the helmet, acting as eyes. In the armor's arms was Edward, and Raziel's heart sunk when he saw the boy's condition. He was missing a right arm and left leg, and was bleeding profously. So that's what he had lost to the gate..but where was Alphonse? He pondered this for a few moments until horror washed over him..no it couldnt be...could it? His fears were then realized when the armor spoke down at a semi concious Edward.

"B..brother hold on. I'll get you some help! Dont die on me please!" The armor cried out, his voice was none other than Alphonse's. Raziel fell to his knees, though still out of sight of the armor when he heard his voice. The horror of it all, Al had lost his whole body and Ed his arm and leg, barely hanging on. The armor turned then and dashed down the hill that lead to Pinako and Winry's house, vanishing into the roaring storm as his footsteps rang through the air. Raziel couldnt believe such a tragedy that had unfolded..all because they missed their poor mother who was snatched from them far too soon. The mother...what had become of her during the transmutation? Raziel didnt like the thought, if these two had been reduced to this..what was her condition? Forcing his unease aside, the wraith rose to his feet and slowly stalked towards the open celler doors. Creeping down in cautiously, he coughed and covered his eyes as smoke greeted him. Making his way down into the celler's main room, he looked about a few times, his heart aching when he saw the countless blood spatters that stained the floor..along with the remnants of Alphonse's cloths that laid in a pile next to the huge transmutation circle drawn in chalk. His eyes rested on the center of the circle, and a horrid sight greeted them. There was a half mutated corpse of...something that was supposed to be human. It's insides were splayed out and it's ribcage was wide open and jutting outwards. It's head was upside down and it's matted black hair was stained in blood. It didnt even look as if it had skin let alone a reasonable body, it's eyes were a semi pink color and it's dark black tinged muscles looked and smelled as if they were burnt. It's one hand was stretched outwards towards Alphonse's clothes and the blood spatters...no doubt it was reaching for Edward and Al during the few first and last moments of it's short life.

"You poor thing...ripped from this world once more soo quickly from your sons. I shall prey for you to have a safe journey. Do not fret though..your sons are safe. And please forgive them...they only wished to have you back because they missed you and love you dearly." Raziel exclaimed to what he supposed was no doubt the attempted transmutation of the boys mother. Turning then, he dashed out of the celler, to go see how Edward and Alphonse were faring.

Upon reaching the Rockbell house, he scaled a nearby tree and watched as Winry and Pinako attended to Edward's severe wounds as Al sat outside in the hall quietly. He had learned through Edward's guilty cries of "I'm sorry Alphonse please dont hate me." that Ed had no doubt sacrificed his leg or arm in an attempt to keep his brother's soul and bind it to the armor. Such a noble act, and such love he had for his little brother. It touched him deeply that Ed was willing to risk life or limb to save his brother. None of his brother's had done that for him...and it made Raziel a tad jealous. Once he was sure the two Elric's were resting well and ok for the time being, he called out mentally for Acheron to summon him. Then in a flicker of light, he was transported to Katoteros; Acheron's home in Greece in the planet called earth. He stormed angerily through the gold and black halls of the ancient yet brilliant structure, kicking open the doors.

"Acheron, I require and audiance with you; NOW!" Raziel yelled, fury evident in his voice as Simi; Acheron's adopted daughter and Cheronte guardian demon servant squawked and glared at the wraith from where she sat watching her tv. She looked much like her adopted father in looks, her black and red hair matching his along with her gothic fashion sense. Though the only exceptions were the facts she was pale with skin tone, her eyes were blue not silver, and she had a tiny set of red horns on her forehead while her tail and wings were a mix of red and blue.

"Simi trying to watch something Razzy-chan. Dont be soo loud and Akri's home!" She exclaimed, giving him an annoyed look. Raziel didnt fear the look, stalking over as he pointed one of his claws at her.

"It is rather important that I speak to Acheron now Simi. So please get him for me. We have business to discuss about the savior of Amestris and his current condition." Raziel said, doing his best to be nice to the girl. However she did have a habit of getting on his nerves from time to time, especially when she would threaten to eat him with her dreaded barbaque sauce. Simi frowned before seeing the serious look in Raziel's white hues. Giving a nod she hopped up and skipped towards the throne room. After a few minutes she reappeared through the double doors, allowing Raziel in. There atop his black throne trimmed with gold and a symbol of the son with three lightning bolts in it's center sat Acheron. He was in his usual black trench coat with black boots and a shirt, both being adorned with skull symbols. His long raven hair was streaked purple this week while his silver hues hid behind those ever present dark sunglasses. He was currently strumming his electric base guitar to the melody of "Sympathy for the devil."

"So what's got you in a tizzy Raz?" Acheron asked, still strumming along to the dark melody as Raziel glared, his anger boiling over. Edward was missing his limbs while Al lacked a body and all this bastard was doing was sitting there?! The lack of compassion sent him into a blind rage. Using his tk, he yanked the guitar from Acheron's hands and set it flying out the nearby window. Acheron quirked a brow from under his glasses, sitting up fully in his chair now. "Ok..you have my attention." he stated, in a more serious tone now.

"What has me upset, is the fact you are sitting here on your duff, while Edward is in pain from missing an arm and leg, while Alphonse has to suffer from the fact he no longer has a human feeling body! Not to mention you are doing nothing to punish the bastard that did this to them!!" Raziel hollared, pointing an accusing finger at Acheron who merely sighed rubbing his forehead.

"Raz...relax. I know what happened and who did it. But it's out of my hands. Im in just as helpless a situation as you." Acheron exclaimed as Raziel became even more angry, eyes glowing blue now.

"You are the god of death! You govern the souls of the worlds, dont give me that nonsense that you cant do a damn thing!" Raziel hollared, Acheron glaring abit now behind his glasses as he growled.

"I govern the souls of the DEAD Raziel, plus I do not rule the domain that stands within the realm of truth, knowledge,destruction, and creation. This realm is also known as The Gate. Another entity rules over this area, and it lies with him on what happens to those who barter with him when they make a forbidden transmution of the dead. And due to his cruel nature, he never let's a transmutation be sucessful most of the time. Or if it is brought back..it's never for too long, or you wouldnt recognize that person. He outranks me in power and status, otherwise you would be damn sure I'd help those two out. Infact I kinda bent the rules myself so dont say I didnt sit around doing completly nothing!" Acheron retorted, anger in his voice now as Raziel blinked, looking to the god.

"What do you mean?" the wraith asked, as Acheron looked off to the side.

"I kept Al from reaching my realm and let him be stuck near the gate just long enough for Edward to reobtain his soul. Plus I put a temporary spell on his body to last and not rot away waiting for him outside of the gate. I only put a tiny bit of this spell on him though...so that entity doesnt catch on that I am interfering in his turf. This does mean though that Ed will have to move his @$$ and help Al get his body back along with his limbs before it fully vanishes from lack of food. I could only do soo much for it after all." Acheron stated, leaning back in his throne as he rubbed idly at his forehead in frustration, this complexed the wraith further though.

"What do you mean...get his body back and Ed's own limbs? I dont understand." Raziel asked, as the god of death sighed.

"He has two ways to re-obtain Al's body and his limbs...the philosopher's stone, or getting my servitude by obtaining the crimson blood stone." Acheron said as Raziel was very surprised by his latter statement.

"You..your servitude? You mean as in serving under him? But how could such a stone do that?" Raziel asked in surprise as Acheron shrugged.

"Long ago, in an attempt to make a philosopher's stone, an alchemist who thought he could outdo Nicholes Flamel crafted a stone that far exceeded the original stone's power. For inorder to create it, the man sacrificed the lives of thousands of dark entities, demons, dragons, and a few powerful warriors here and there. When this stone was finished, it gave the wielder a god-like status and made him practiclly invincible. The ruler of the gate cursed this stone however, turning the weilder of the stone into a vampire. He was soo distraught at the fact he couldnt go to heaven that the man killed himself..but the curse still remained upon the stone. So whoever would dare lay claim to such a dark stone would be turned into a vampire as a price for weilding it. Not only that, but the recent stone that was made by a Vlad Tepes, had obtained the ablity to force me to work under him as a servant. The reason behind this is due to the fact he obtained some of my blood and fused it into the stone, and passed the remnants of my blood along to his servants who also made stones of the same fashion, forcing me to work under them as well. Most of these stones were destroyed..though only two remain. One is in Amestris being held by a powerful vampire alchemist, and another still belongs to Vlad Tepes." Acheron explained as Raziel scowled.

"Such a horrible thing, forced to serve another against your will." Raziel muttered, knowing well how Acheron felt when having to be forced to serve under someone you hated as the memories of the Elder god's cruelty reeled in his mind. Acheron nodded to this while he stood up and made his way off the throne, picking up another guitar that layed near the base of the large throne as he began to tune it idly as he chuckled.

"Yeah but at least they dont bother me too much...they kinda are afraid I might turn on em. Well the vampire in Amestris is that is. Vlad however is a real pain in the @$$, made me spread the black plague across Europe one time he was that cruel. But anyways, least Edward gained something from this tragic night." The ravenette god stated, not noticing Raziel glare at him as he folded his arms.

"If you mean a half mutated corpse of a mother than that wasent funny. Those boys loved their mother and to have that greet them after all that work...just unfair if you ask me." Raziel said sharply as Acheron shook his head.

"No I dont mean that. I meant something else, something that cant be seen but felt." Acheron stated as Raziel quirked a unseen brow, tilting his head.

"What is it then that he gained through all this?" Raziel asked as Acheron chuckled.

"I'm not telling you. You'll have to see for yourself with your inner eye. Dont worry you'll find out soon." Acheron said with a grin as Raziel scowled.

"I hate when you act like an all seeing oracle then tell me to figure out things for myself when I ask about your jibberish's translation. It really tans my skin." Raziel retorted in annoyance while looking off to the side.

"It's 'tan my hyde' you meant Razz." Acheron corrected as Raziel hissed in response.

"Whatever." he replied, whirling around as he headed out the doors to leave.

"Just keep an eye on them ok? No worries they are much stronger than you think. And make sure they dont get into too much trouble." Acheron called after the soul reaper as he flicked a wave towards the god of death, leaving into the nearby portal that Acheron had set up for the wraith seconds after he gave him that final advice. Raziel was still angry about this whole mess...but he just hoped the god of death was right about Edward and Alphonse's strength.

Three years had passed since that tragic night, and Raziel had kept a close eye on them through the years that progressed. Edward had obtained an automail arm and leg, courtesy of Winry and Pinako. Though he would have just sat in that wheel chair for the rest of his life, had it not been for a man of the military by the name of Roy Mustang. He had gone to see them a few days after the dark deed and was surprised to see it was two young boys who had done the transmutation. It was then that he had offered Edward a job at the military, encouraging him to get out of that chair and move forward. Then the next day, Ed had asked Winry and Pinako to give him a set of automail limbs...seems he was much stronger than Raziel thought. After the rehabilation process and much more training, the young alchemist and Alphonse were ready to head out for central. Even Raziel was surprised that Ed would take up Mustang's offer, considering the harsh things that Pinako had said about the military men; how they were dogs of the military and sent out to attack whenever their master's tugged on their leashes. But Raziel knew Edward wanted to join for another reason...to find a way to help Al reobtain his body. And Al was joining him on his journey for he wanted to help Ed find a way to get his limbs back. Such dedication and powerful a bond these two brother's had, even in the face of certian death they were unafraid. After the long train ride to central, Raziel followed the pair to where they would take the alchemy exams. After a few intense encounters here and there; Edward finally became a certified state alchemist. Being one more step closer to obtaining his goal of returning his and Al's bodies back to normal.

Raziel watched as the blonde male had headed into Central Headquarters to recieve his watch and papers, standing on a nearby balcony out of sight of the guards, arms folded as he chuckled to himself. Due to his powerful hearing..he had heard the title Edward was given; a second name that State Alchemists had went under. Fullmetal. It struck Raziel as odd, for he had heard Acheron say this name when referring to Edward once before during the past three years, though he said he called him that due to his automail. Though he knew now why. Not to mention the other thing that had kept bothering him since three years ago.

"I now understand what you meant that day long ago Acheron. A lesson without pain is meaningless. That's because you to need to sacrifice something in order to gain something else in return. But, once you have withstood the pain and overcome it, you will gain something stronger then anything else. You will gain a fullmetal heart." Raziel said aloud, he just pondered now that he thought further about it..if that sneaky god of death had anything to do with Edward obtaining this oddly conviniant title. Shaking his head, he turned and stared up at the sky now, a pleasent mood washing over him.

I now know Acheron pegged you right, having bestowed upon you through Bradley the title of Fullmetal. I dont how long it would be til we met again. But I know we will. For beyond the path without you is a forgotten promise to keep. We may have walked side by side, but now we go on back to back. And though our paths may not cross, all paths are connected somewhere. When I arrive at where you are to aid you again, we may not appear to be as we were..but we'll make another promise to keep...my friend the Fullmetal Alchemist.

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