Now at the tender age of five and far more settled than she had been at the beginning Ester stared down into her book on the absolute bare basics of alchemy - even though she already understood so much from her time with Truth - from the perch of her father's lap and was pleased that he had written out annotations in the margins that made the vast text much more easy to follow along with as he read it aloud.

Ester, as soon as she had figured out where and who she was, decided to advance as quickly as she could. She spoke, started to walk, and started to learn about alchemy as soon as she had the barest notion that she could pull those stunts off.

There wasn't a moment she was idle since the day her father snapped her fingers and fire bloomed from his palm.

And so far the only hurdle she was experiencing was the germanic language everyone was using. She could understand it but only at a certain pace and if her father spoke faster than she was able to comprehend than it was game over especially since he spent most of her early life only speaking the mother tongue of Xing.

She was only lucky that the Xingese her father spoke to her daily in - and thankfully used in all of his journals - was the Chinese language she had known intimately from before being the adopted daughter of citizens from that country. Though in her opinion she wished they had just used English. That would have made things a lot more bearable.

But she supposed if having to learn a whole new language was the payoff for having a comprehensive pre-knowledge of alchemy, then she was fine with it.

Shivering as the presence in the back of her head shifted, she made it a point to turn her away from the dark corner of her mind and instead focused on the hand that settled itself on the top of her head.

"You cold kiddo?" Roy asked her and she blinked.

"No." She answered as she leaned back into his chest and her father hummed. "Read some more please."

He did as she asked.

Sometimes Ester thought she knew too much and simultaneously too little about the world, courtesy of the being known as God but it was an advantage and it was one she desperately needed.

Especially if she was going to be in the middle of the shit storm known as Fullmetal Alchemist.

The first time she had found enough strength to poke that dark spot in her mind, it had spoken to her.

"Hello." It had said and Ester had startled so hard she felt a muscle in her neck twitch and pull painfully and she wasn't ashamed to admit she had pulled away as fast as could and kept her mental attention outwards for the rest of the day.

And if she could hear a smidgen of amused laughter tinkling in her head then it was best left ignored.

Months later, the second time she got as far as saying a tentative "Hello." in response before a smile seemed to form in the recesses of her mind and she shivered.

"I wondered when you would visit me." It - the smudge and dare she say it, Truth - grinned from the shadows and she, once again pulled away as quick as can be.

"Come back anytime." Truth whispered. "I enjoy the company."

Her father was there more often than not and when he wasn't he left her with a young Xingese immigrant girl who had a knack for caring for children.

Ester liked Lao, she was sure to be one of the more genuinely kind people she would ever meet in this godforsaken series.

Once she thought about applying her technical logic in a more practical way but decided against it.

She didn't know how she would explain it away if she got caught and she didn't want to find out.

For once in her five years of life, Ester was leaving her father's estate and - wait for it! - was going to work with him.

She couldn't wait for this shit fest.

Lifted up in her father's arms as he ducked out of the car walked down the hall she saw him grin at the large building in front of them with a twinkle in his eyes that probably should have alarmed her more than it currently did.

Catching the confused look that the men in the doorway were sporting she pinned them with a blank stare and was kind of amused at how they snapped to attention.

It was almost enough to diffuse the awkwardness of the hundreds of other people gawking at her like a freak of nature.

Almost.

Ester still thought this was perhaps the most uncomfortable situation she had ever been in. Staring out from the perch of her father's arms she watched as every single officer the passed attention zeroed in on her.

No one dared to look directly at her but they sure as hell were getting their money's worth side eyeing her - and consequently eyeing her mini sailor girl outfit with shorts in place of the skirt, which was mildly embarrassing despite how cute she looked.

Her father had a knack for dressing her up.

Ester clung to her father's clothes as they practically floated through the halls - leaving behind various baffled staff and soldiers - until finally, they reached the sanctuary of his office but sadly, not even that was enough to protect them from curious onlookers and noise.

And the reason for that was Maes Hughes - who barged into the room like a fucking maniac.

"Roy!" He hollered as he kicked in the entrance and Ester jumped about a goddamn foot in the air and would have fallen if her father hadn't been there. "You promised me an introduction to your adorable little tot and I demand it commence right this second!"

Kind of a drabble chapter to cover more time. The black space in her head is essentially an extension of Truth. She basically understands alchemy due to exchanging her body but studies at a normal pace anyways because she can't be totally in the know how without being a freak. Ester doesn't know everything but the presence in her mind does but Truth is fickle and won't give up knowledge so easily.

I'll explain more on that later.

I'm in the middle of finals so sorry this is short but I'm super busy! It'll be longer next chapter.

Also on a side note if you haven't heard already I need some help!

Like I've never really asked for help with anything that didn't involve writing fanfic so I hope you'll consider lending a hand! ^^

I would like you guys to follow my Instagram because I'm trying to get a paid fashion sponsorship and I need a high number of followers to do that! And I have a high amount of followers on this website so yeah! It would really mean a lot to me if you guys would do this. Like it would mean so so so sooo much if you guys could do me this favor.

So please help me out with a follow on my Instagram:slimjimsandarizonas because if at least half of you follow me I'd reach my first milestone! And if all of you helped me I think I could be eligible really soon! So pls consider it and thank you!~

(Also if you don't want to help me then don't leave rude reviews about it bc I've gotten a few rude ones.)