Chapter Two

The only thing Alphonse knew about where he was, is that it was dark and silent. It wasn't the kind of natural dark and silence he had experienced before, like in a blackout, or a cave-in. Rather it felt artificial. Like wherever he was had been carefully crafted to ensure no sound or light could reach him. The worst part was he couldn't move.

No matter how long he had been here, Alphonse couldn't get used to the suffocating feeling. He couldn't move. Couldn't see. Couldn't hear. And since he had lost his body, those things were all he had. And now they were gone. He didn't need to breathe, he didn't have lungs, or a heart, but that didn't stop the feeling that he was like a flame, slowly being snuffed out.

Before this place where he was deprived of his senses, he could remember sounds. He hadn't been able to see anything, but whoever was behind this, even they couldn't cover up some things.

Like rapid footsteps, and the shifting of rock, and the labored, painful breathing coming from Ed.

Ed. Brother, where are you?

It was hard not to panic. He didn't know where his brother was. He didn't know how badly he was hurt. But there was nothing that Alphonse could do.

Except wait.

The only thing Edward knew about where he was, was that it hurt.

He drifted in and out of consciousness, never possessing enough energy to manage the task of opening his eyes. Or maybe he did. But any information obtained flitted through his mind out of reach. There was only one thought that had any substance.

Where's Alphonse?

He hurt and gave way to the darkness again.

Mustang knew a lot of things, but the only thing that really mattered to him in that moment was that someone had blown up a train to get to Edward and Alphonse.

But why?

There could be any number of reasons, but the fact that whoever was behind this didn't even try to cover up the fact that the train had been bombed, with one cart intentionally spared, bothered him. In most of the cases Mustang had come across, there was at least some attempt to cover up. This could mean that either these people didn't know the first thing about covering their tracks, or they knew they wouldn't be able to be found. Mustang had a feeling it wasn't the former.

Both of them were still alive. He had to focus on that. Even if only one of the Elric's were the target, it was more than likely the other would have been taken as leverage for their co-operation. Whatever that co-operation entailed.

Just don't do anything stupid until I get there.

This thought was mostly directed at Edward. Alphonse had proved to be the more level headed of the two.

Mustang sat behind his desk, back in his office, staring at the ceiling. He had the full reports now practically memorized and had all the facts filtering through his head. As much as he ached to get out there and track down whoever was responsible, he had to be smart about this. Whoever they were dealing with had been willing to blow up a whole train of people to get to the Elric brothers. He had no doubt they wouldn't hesitate to take down anyone else who tried to stop them.

So for now he had to wait. Everything had been immediately reported to Central and was being process by the Investigations department there. As soon as they could go forward, they would call Mustang.

Until then. Mustang sat up and picked up the already memorized file, and started to go back through it.

And he waited.

Something was moving. Alphonse still couldn't see, but he could hear something. It sounded like stone, crumbling away. A few tense seconds later, dull light filtered into his vision, and Al was no longer blind.

After so long in complete darkness and silence, it was disorienting to take in so many details at once. He was kneeling on the ground in a small room that was devoid of any objects or furniture. Though his body was free from its previous imprisonment, his hands had been bound to the floor by stone cuffs that looked like they had been transmuted from the ground. Best he could tell, he had been inside the wall, meaning one or more of the people in front of him were alchemists.

Alphonse focused his attention on the group standing over him.

There were three of them, forming a half circle above him, and glowering down at him. Or at least that's what it felt like. Alphonse couldn't really seem their faces, due to black masks that covered the lower half of their faces, which seemed very story bookish to Al.

"Hello Alphonse." The middle man spoke, startling Alphonse.

"W-who are you?" Alphonse demanded, hating the fearful hesitation in his voice. He couldn't help it though. Not when he had no idea what was going on. Not when he was so alone in this unfamiliar place. "And how do you know my name?"

The man who had spoken reached up and took off his mask, revealing a hard, square jaw, and thin mouth that seemed to go perfectly with his slitted coals for eyes.

"Now, now, of course we know your name Alphonse. We've had our eye on you for quite some time."

Alphonse internally shuddered at the implications in that sentence, but pushed them aside for the more important question. "Where's my brother?"

The man smirked. "Edward, right? He's fine of course. For now at least."

Al's soul shook, making his armor rattle ever so slightly. He was thankful, at this moment at least, for the inability of his emotions to show on his face. Not knowing what to say to that, Alphonse stayed silent and instead pulled against the stone cuffs. He strained, his armor groaning as cracks formed in the stone.

"Now, now, Alphonse. You want it to stay that way, don't you?"

Al stopped. He had no way of knowing if he was telling the truth, but he couldn't afford being wrong. "What do you want?" Alphonse growled.

The man clapped his hands, the sound echoing in the empty stone room. "I'm so glad you asked!" He crouched down so that he was at eyelevel with Al. "You see it's not every day we come across something like you." He reached out, and though Alphonse leaned away from him, there was nothing he could do to stop the pale fingers from removing his helmet, exposing the blood seal.

A low whistle. "Now that's some clever alchemy. A soul bonded to a suit of armor." His head was replaced, and the jeering face came back into sharp focus. "Quite a useful thing to have on our side, wouldn't you say?"

"I… Who are you, what do you want from me?" Alphonse demanded, repeating his previously unanswered questions.

The man smirked, "Ah yes, how rude of me. We haven't even introduced ourselves!" the man clapped his hands, an insane gleam entering his eyes. Al felt his soul shudder.

"Alphonse Elric, we will be the saviors of Amestris and you, you will help us."

Ahaa, look who's still alive!

So sorry for the long wait. My family just moved recently and the internet has yet to be set up at our new house. That's being fixed soon, so yay!

This chapter did not want to be written. Ugh, so I'm not sure it's very good but I just had to get it done so I could MOVE ON. So, sorry if it seems choppy and rushed and unrefined. Future chapters should be better?

Thanks to everyone giving this story a chance, and to all those who have reviewed, you guys are da best.

Till next time!

Peace out,

JellydiAngelo

Fir3danc3r : I couldn't reply to your reviews, but thank youu for reading! I'm glad you are enjoying the story so far and again so sorry for the wait. Hopefully I'll be better now ^^. What is Mustang going to get up to? That is the question ; ) thank youu