I'm Just a Sheep Farmer!

The Sacrifice.

How many years has it been already since I came here? Five, Six or was it already a decade? I don't know and honestly, I don't really care, I built a good life here.

I have a best friend who is a brother in all but blood, both of us trying to look into the deeper mysteries of alchemy. My best friend's wife, who was like a little sister that I never had. An energetic pair of godsons and a cute goddaughter, all three of whom I love and care for with all my heart. A few good neighbors who were always up for a good debate which usually escalated into an argument and then into a brawl. Life was good, though it was also a bit weird, what with me knowing everything that is about to come.

I'm not sure how I ended up in the world of Full Metal Alchemist, but I can say that so far it wasn't so bad.

When I first appeared not far from Resembool, I was lost. I didn't know where I was, I didn't know how I got there and I most certainly did not know the local dialect. The person who saved me back then now has the honor of calling himself my best friend, his name is Hohenheim Elric. In certain circles, he is also known as Von Hohenheim, but even he didn't know that I knew about it, otherworldly knowledge is convenient like that.

The newlywed man and his bride took me into their home, care for me and taught me the local language and customs. Within the year, I was indistinguishable from the locals and could proudly call myself an honorary Resembool-en, you would be surprised how fast a man can learn when thrown in at a deep end. When Hohenheim, Trish or anyone else for that matter, asked where I'm from or what my name was, I did what any sane man in my circumstances would, I claimed amnesia.

But I couldn't run around without a name, so I became known as Adalbert Bauer. Why might you ask? Well, Adalbert just sounds cool and Bauer because I became a sheep farmer. Oh, laugh it up, sheep farming was actually a very lucrative profession in Resembool as it exported most of the wool to the military. With a small loan from Hohenheim, Trish and Rockbell family, I was able to open my own sheep farm and was able to pay back the money they loaned me within the first year. So joke's on you, I was swimming in dosh, or cenz as they call it here, with only my first shipment.

Edward, Alphonse and Winry loved me. I had the hearts and minds of those cute innocent kids within my grasp! I did what any sane man in my situation would do, I spoiled them rotten. What? You think you would do thing differently? Sat to the three pairs of the most adorable puppy dog eyes that you won't buy them cotton candy because it will spoil their appetite for dinner, I dare you!

It's now year 1904, everything slowly started to fall apart. One day, Hohenheim simply disappeared. I knew that he would do that, but I thought that he will at least have the balls to tell me he is leaving to my face. Trish was devastated but we slowly worked through it and got back on her feet for the sake of her children. Edward and Alphonse were never quite the same after their father left and I can't blame them.

1904 was also the year that Yuriy and Sarah Rockbell decided to go to the front lines to treat the injured. I tried to talk them out of it, knowing what awaited them there, but they were both very stubborn about it. Before they left, they asked me to help Pinako take care of Winry should something happen to them, I agreed, I was her godfather after all. Winry was sad about her parents leaving but she still had Pinako, Ed, Al and me, so she bounced back relatively quickly.

At first, it seemed like everything will go back to how it was before, barring a few people missing. But after a few months, things started to go to gutter again. Despite the measure I took to make sure that Trish does not contact any illness, she still got sick. In fact, the illness was growing rampant in Resembool. I got together with a few like-minded businessmen and spent a large amount of money to get the best doctors from all over the Amestris to check this illness. None of them knew what it was or how to treat it. So we did the only thing we could do, we bought the best medicine we could and prayed that something worked. Trisha was dead by the end of the year.

I got full custody of Edward and Alphonse, the pair of kids had to watch as their mother slowly died in front of their eyes. I tried to do my best for them, be there for them and Winry as much as I could, both of them loved me but I wasn't their father. They did not say it outright but I could see in their gaze whenever we spent time together. I did not try to stop them when they threw themselves head first into alchemy, but I refused to teach them when they asked me. At this point in time, I was probably one of the most skilled alchemists in this whole region but I did not have the heart to teach them knowing what it will do to them. Since they were going to learn alchemy I decided that they do it the right way.

I wrote a letter to Izumi Curtis and her husband, both whom I got to know through my constant business dealings in Dublith. Quite honestly, they had the best damn prime cuts in the whole of Amestris, from what I tried so far. I sent the letter to them, with an introduction to both Elric brothers and that I wanted Curtis couple to take care of them and for Izumi to teach them alchemy. I was rebuffed several times, I then went with a low blow. I took Elric siblings with me and we went to Dublith. Izumi and Sig could not refuse them after they saw the pair of children or their puppy dog eyes that I told them to aim at the pair.

I found out about what happened to them last year, both the miscarriage and even the 'taboo' that Izumi committed. As we were both self-taught alchemists Izumi and I got along great, like water and oil, but we both knew that we could trust each other. Sig and I were both business partners and good friends, though there was a slight misunderstanding with him thinking I was hitting on his wife when we first met. That incident was dubbed Papa Bear and the three of us swore to never speak of it.

Frankly, I was scared for my life whenever Izumi glared at me during my visit with Elric siblings, but you should've seen how much she doted on the kids. Sig and Izumi both cornered me later that day when Ed and Al went to sleep. I explained to them that I loved the Elric brothers like my own, but they need a family to ground them. While, in my humble opinion, I was sure I would make a great father figure, I did not have anyone who could take the place of their motherly figure. Also, after Sig and Izumi went through their tragedy I felt that this would help as much as it would help Elric brothers.

They both accepted my reasoning, well, after they beat the hell out of me and got me to agree to send a stipend to them in order to help take care of the kids. The next day I had my tearful see you later with Elric siblings, I told them that I would visit every month, on holidays and I would even bring Pinako and Winry with me.

I went back to Resembool that same day and got an earful from Pinako and Winry. Eventually, I was able to get them to forgive me and even accept that this was for the best.

I concentrated on my business, Winry and Resembool as a whole. Resembool and my business were booming. The town was growing larger fast, the profits were increasing even faster and Winry proved to be just as much automail fanatic as her parents. The small business association that I accidentally created during the time Trisha got sick grown into a full on organization. The organization, Businessmen for Resembool and Amestris Association, also known as BRAAA, heh, set up our own bank and several other businesses in Resembool.

I brought modern business practices into this archaic times and made our organization one of the most respected in Resembool and even Amestris as a whole. We made sure to donate money to the city and to the military. We created and sponsored our own orphanages, temporary housings for homeless, soup kitchens and several other goodwill organizations. All of this was very highly publicized and we even got a public commendation in newspapers from Fuhrer, saying that we are the example that other businessmen should strive towards. I was quite conflicted about that, knowing what I know but decided to take it at its face value.

In 1907, another disaster struck. Several Ishvalan terrorists got past the borders and attacked the Resembool. They blew up the train station and everything within several block of it. When one of the terrorists was later interrogated it was found out that they did that because our whole town was prospering due to the fact that we heavily assisted the military.

I screwed up, I totally forgot that this happened, it seemed like such a minor detail in the show but it had a great effect on the city and population as a whole. Due to BRAAA, the city and the military pooling our resources the train station and the surrounding area were rebuilt quickly, but the damage was done. Resembool became even more pro-military and an anti-Ishval sentiment was planted in the city. Several of my acquaintances were killed in the explosion and even I had a hard time not developing such sentiments. I knew it was wrong and I knew that I could not blame all of the Ishval for the actions of a few individuals, but I guess I was more affected by grief than I knew.

I worked through that phase and worked with BRAAA to halt the anti-Ishval sentiment that was slowly spreading in the city. To a certain extent we succeeded but there will always be some exceptions.

In 1908 another blow was struck against my adopted family. Pinako and I received news that Yuriy and Sarah Rockbell were found dead in their small clinic. We both grieved for a few days, but most importantly we did not know how to break the news to Winry in a way that won't shatter the last of her childhood innocence. When we did break the news to her, I think that we failed, I saw it in her eyes. The first few months were toughest, she said a lot of things she did not mean, or that's what I told myself.

By the end of the year, she recovered, just in time to receive the news that the Ishval Civil War was over. There was a wide celebration going on all over the Resembool and BRAAA made sure to sponsor the celebration.

A couple of peaceful years passed by. Edward, Alphonse, and Winry were growing fast, I still remember when they were small enough to be held in one arm. The year was 1910, I would soon be 32 years old and yet I felt much older than that.

It was the beginning of autumn when Elric brothers decided to come over for a visit, but I knew the real reason they came back. They probably felt like they were strong and knowledgeable enough to attempt to resurrect their mother. But they needed the books on human transmutation that Hohenheim left in his study. Out in the open, might I add! Over the years, I agonized over what to do in order to prevent the tragedy that will take place. I loved those boys like my own but what they were about to do was just stupid. I went over the Hohenheim's formula on human transmutation and the bastard actually coded it. I think he did it in order to prevent anyone from successfully doing it, but I do not think he expected that to harm his own sons.

After the welcoming party was over everyone went to sleep, besides me and Elric brothers, who pretended to fall asleep. They sneaked past my sleeping form in the living room into the study and started to try and enact the ritual. That's when I caught them, I pretended that I heard them walking past me and followed them. After I saw the transmutation circle and the book on the floor I pretended to make a shocked expression before I erased promptly erased part of the pentagram with a swipe of my leg.

I pretended to demand to know what they were doing and told them that human transmutation was a taboo. A huge argument ensued, both sides refused to budge on the issue. I knew that they would try it again and next time they would be smart about it and make sure no one was around to stop them. So I did the stupid thing, I agreed to help them. Honestly, I did miss Trisha and the price that was needed to be paid is something that I could live with. But when I agreed to help them, I told them that they had a wrong formula and that I would be the one who would do the transmutation.

After I decoded the formula for them, they saw that the formula was a lot more different and they realized that I prevented a disaster from taking place, I also taught them decimals because apparently they didn't know what that was. I converted the real formula to be in kilograms, just for convenience.

The Real Human Transmutation Formula

Oxygen 31.958 kg

Carbon 20 kg

Hydrogen 4.570 kg

Nitrogen 3.325 kg

Calcium 1.775 kg

Phosphorus 0.8 kg

Potassium 0.039 kg

Sulfur 0.08 kg

Sodium 0.097 kg

Chlorine 0.152 kg

Magnesium 0.019 kg

Iron 0.005 kg

Fluorine 0.0075 kg

Zinc 0.0023 kg

Silicon 0.003 kg

Rubidium 0.00068 kg

Strontium 0.00032 kg

I gathered all the required materials and asked both Edward and Alphonse whether they were sure that this is what they wanted. They both said that they were ready to do anything to get their mother back. I smiled back at them and told them to go upstairs and bring some clothes for their mother. While they were there, after that I quickly made a small cut on my palm and drew a circle on the inner neck of the familiar armor. They soon came back down, their mother's clothes in hand and I started the transmutation.

Moments after I started a strange atmosphere started to fill the room. I did a quick transmutation with my gloves and created restraints for Elric brothers, I also created a blindfold for them and a gag around my mouth. They did not need to see or hear what was about to happen and I could not let them come into the circle lest they pay a price in my stead. Alchemy was after all about equal exchange and I suspected I knew the type of price needed to pay in order to bring Trish back.

Soon black tendrils started to come out of the floor and a giant eye opened in the middle of the circle. The black tendrils reach for the stuff I put in the middle of the circle but after they were finished with that they reached for me, I let them. An indescribable amount of pain soon filled my body, I was glad I was smart enough to put a gag in my mouth cause if I didn't my agonizing screams would've woke up half the Resembool as I was slowly disintegrated. I let the pain take over and lost consciousness.

I woke up in a white room with a giant gate in front of me. A chilling voice soon filled my head, it went on about its many titles but then finally settled on Truth. It said that I knew the kind of price I needed to pay and what I would get in return. Then another group tendrils came out of the gate and pulled me inside. It showed me things, such simple and complicated things, it showed me the truth. My head was bursting with the amount of information I knew it could not handle, but soon I saw the silhouette of the person I came here for. I reached out for her and pulled her with me.

Again I was in the white room and Truth was enraged. It screamed that I tricked it, I did not pay the full price. That the exchange was no equivalent, but that voice soon faded.

I woke up in the study, a woman's hand in mine. Tears of joy streamed down my cheeks and replaced the tears of pain and agony.

Trisha was whole and she was breathing, she soon opened her eyes and saw me. I tried to smile but I think the only thing that came out was a grimace. Her eyes widened and I heard screams from behind me.

I turned and saw my godsons watch in horror as my body slowly disintegrated in front of their eyes. Before I could try to smile or even say anything, darkness took me.

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I woke up… but I felt different… I felt empty… I felt inhuman and then I remembered what happened. I would've smiled if I could, but being a soul trapped within the armor made that impossible. But the feat I accomplished deserved some form of celebration so I silently celebrated being the first being to successfully trick Truth. I got the cake and I ate it too.

AN:

This is something that I got an inspiration from watching one of The Film Theory's recent episodes. It was about how the formula on what the human body is made up from that Edward recites in FMA is actually wrong. It's just something that brought inspiration to me and the muse refused to let go till I wrote it down. This is just an outline and I don't think I'll make this a full story but I might change my mind if it receives some positive attention. But if anyone else wants to make this into a full blown story, go ahead, just pm me first.