Fullmetal Alchemist: The Newest Members of Fairy Tail

I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist or Fairy Tail

Chapter 1: So Many New Rules

Edward Elric stood in front of the being known as Truth for what he hoped would be the last time. While he knew it would be difficult to live without alchemy, saving his brother's life was well worth the cost. All he had to do was clap his hands together and use his Portal of Truth as the cost for his brother.

At least, that was the hope, but Truth was never one to let things be simple for the Fullmetal Alchemist.

"While the use of your own Portal is enough to bring you and your brother back, there is the simple problem of equivalence," Truth stated, his toothy grin never leaving his face.

"The hell do you mean?" Ed asked, some anger escaping as he spoke.

"The portal of truth's value well exceeds the cost of a single life, as such there is an imbalance in the price being paid. As such, the sacrifice cannot be done," Truth explained to the young alchemist.

"So what? Alchemy requires a sacrifice of equal or greater value, meaning the price I pay shouldn't matter!" Ed exclaimed. He was not going to let Truth beat him this time, he would get his brother back, no matter what.

"Well, there is another option for you, little al-chem-ist," Truth said, still sporting a large smile.

"Yeah, and what would that be?" Ed asked.

"Firstly, the price for your brother's soul will still be the same, meaning you will have to give up your arm again. However, in order for you to bring his body back, all you have to do is take the long way back to your home."

"Long way? The hell do you mean?" Ed was getting frustrated that he just couldn't get a simple answer for once in his life.

"There are more worlds out there than what you are aware of. Some are similar to the world you inhabit, while others have completely different sets of rules and laws binding them. The long way would be to send you and your brother to a world completely different from your own, and for you to find a way back on your own." The grin on Truth's face seemed to widen further, if that were even possible.

"What about the people waiting for me and Al, we can't just disappear for who knows how long without them knowing? And for that matter, what do you mean different worlds and different rules, you're the Truth, and everything has to follow the rules you created!" Ed exclaimed.

"These worlds still do follow the rules I laid out for them, they just have other aspects that change how they interact with the world around them. As for your friends, don't worry too much, time in this world flows differently. A single minute in Amestris is the equivalent of ten years in this new world. And even if you spend an entire lifetime trying to find a way back to your own world, you will return the same age as you were before leaving."

Ed couldn't believe what he was hearing. Not only were there worlds whose laws were different than the ones he knew, but he would have to find a way to get from this world to his own if he truly wanted to save his brother. Plus, if the rules of this world were different, then maybe he could find new information about alchemy while there, maybe enough to help those who need it back home, or even prevent another tragedy like with Nina. Before he accepted this news, Ed realized something.

"If I have to give up my arm again, wouldn't I just die from blood lose, and even if I don't, if this world is so different, I may not be able to get a new set of automail to replace it." Ed would not go into a new and potentially dangerous world without being completely prepared for what came ahead.

"Since I am dropping in without the knowledge of the world, I will return your automail arm to you once you have entered the world. That is, of course, if you accept the offer." Truth's grin was now as big as it could get, the clear joy of what was happening obvious to Ed.

"If it means saving my brother, I will go through hell and back to save him. I am going to return to Amestris with my brother's body and soul together once again!" The determination in Ed's voice echoing throughout the white void the two stood in.

"Well then, I will send you and your brother off. Have fun in Earthland, and good luck coming back!"

With those words spoken Ed felt himself being flung through what appeared to be a portal of truth, and suddenly everything wen black.

Slowly waking up, the pain from his fight with Father immediately began to catch up with him. His left arm was numb from the stab wound he received, and his entire body was riddled with aches and pains. Ed then looked to his right and saw the familiar glint of metal. His returned right arm was gone almost as quickly as it was returned, and in its place was what looked like a brand new automail arm, identical to the previous one he received at Briggs.

"Ugh…. brother?"

Immediately, Ed turned his head around and let out a sigh of relief. Sitting next to him was his brother Al, back in his original body. To anyone else who would look at Alphonse Elric, they would think he was a walking skeleton, thin and frail with little to no muscle on him due to being stuck behind the portal for so long, but Ed was just glad to see his brother had a body again.

"Al, your okay. And look you got your body back!" Ed exclaimed happily.

Al quickly looked himself over and smiled, happy to actually have a body again, but then noticed his brother's arm.

"Brother, your arm is automail again. Does that mean that…"

"Don't worry Al, I can live with an automail arm. I've been doing it for years now, so there really is no issue." Ed said, smiling to his brother.

"Still, that doesn't help to explain where we are now brother." Al said, looking around their new environment.

Surrounding them were large trees and bushes as far as they could see. The place looked to be that of a forest, with different wildlife roaming the area. The first thing that Alphonse noticed, however, is how some of the wildlife looked completely different what he knew, with creatures that looked like chimeras, yet they seemed to occur naturally.

"Brother… where are we?"

Ed sighed, "Al, we are in another world."

Ed quickly explained to Al all that had happened with Truth and how he made the decision to come here in order to ultimately save his brother.

"Brother, do you have any idea on how we are supposed to get back to our world? We know nothing of this world and how it works, and from what Truth said to you, it could take us a lifetime just to figure out how to get back!" Al couldn't believe just how reckless his brother was for making such a decision, and without his say for that matter!

Ed sighed, "Al, this was the only way for me to get your body back. I know it is going to be hard, but we have handled so much since we started searching for a way to restore you body, this can't be any worse than that!"

"…. I know Brother, it's just frustrating that nothing ever seems to be easy for us." Al said, sad and upset that this was there best bet to finally have their lives back.

"Yeah it sucks. Regardless, I think the first thing we need to do is find you a doctor. While you may have your body back it clearly isn't in the best shape it could be. Plus, it could help us get an idea about how this world works in comparison to ours." Ed also thought that he could use a doctor with the wounds he had gotten from the fight, but his brother came first in that regard. "Also, I should probably give you something to wear for when we find it. I doubt there is anyone out there that who just walks around naked like that."

Somewhere in the world, a shirtless, raven haired teen sneezed loudly.

While he didn't want to show off his automail arm in fear of how the residents of this world would react to it, the shirt he currently wore did little to cover it up, so Ed decided to us the rest of the cloth from it to make a small pair of pants that Al could wear while they walked. After taking off the shirt, Ed clapped his hands together and slammed them against the cloth, blue lightning sparking as he did and it quickly reformed the torn shirt into pants.

Ed than helped Al stand up and supported him as they started to walk around the woods, hoping to find some form of town or home to help them. They had to stop regularly, what with Al's weakened body and Ed having to try to attend his wounds so he wouldn't inexplicably pass out from blood lose. Despite this, the brothers were slowly able to make progress, walking a good few miles after a few hours. Eventually, they came across what appeared to be a house in the middle of the woods. Standing in front of the house was an elderly woman with pink hair and an angry scowl on her face, as she watered the plants around her house. She had yet to notice the brothers walk up until she heard the leaves rustling as they approached.

"What do you want you dirty-" The women stopped talking once she saw the condition the Elric brothers were in, eyes widening slightly in surprise at the state they were both in.

"Sorry to bother you, but we were wondering if there was a city nearby. We're kind of lost and I'm trying to get my brother here to a doctor asap." Ed explained.

The women seemed to silently judge the boys that had stumbled upon her doorstep. While she was unsure of where they came from, who they were and how they got injured, she could see that they meant no harm to her in their current condition. Sighing, the women opened her door before calling out to the brothers.

"Get inside, I'm a doctor and since I'm feeling generous, I will help you two out this ONCE." The women stressed the last word indicating that this would not happen again.

"Fine by me, Al lets go." Ed said nonchalantly.

Walking inside, the boys were surprised by how simplistic the house seemed, with no forms of electricity or noticeable tech that the boys could recognize. There were some strange objects and plants scattered around the house, but they just assumed they were used for medical purposes.

"Both of you, in one of the beds. Now!" the women barked at the brothers, causing them to almost instantly move to the beds in front of them.

After this, the women began to look over Al thoroughly, making sure to get a full view at his condition and trying to figure out just how he got this way. Based on all of her medical knowledge, the boy in front of her should be dead. His body was malnourished beyond belief, his muscles were incredibly atrophied, and he seemed to be suffering from starvation and dehydration, yet despite it all, the boy had a look of happiness on his face and didn't seem to care, almost as if living was all he cared about. She then briefly looked over at the boy's brother, and what was most concerning about him was his right arm. In all her years of medical expertise, she had never seen a prosthetic like the one this boy had, with it seeming to be built into his body, and from the looks of it, he seemed to have had it for quite some time if how he was easily able to move it around were anything to go by. She also noticed the many smaller cuts and wounds the boy had, including what looked like a fairly serious puncture wound on his upper left arm. The most shocking thing she noticed about the boy, however, was the large misshapen scar on the left side of his torso. The scar was very large, and based on what she could see, the wound that the scar came from went out the boy's back as well. Very few average people, and even very few mages could survive a wound like that naturally. The only way that it could be healed would be for the wound to be healed by magic, but the boy seemed to have survived the wound naturally. This raised the immediate question of who these boys were, and if they were a potential threat.

After finishing her initial check of Alphonse, the women walked over to some shelves that housed different jars full of varying substances. She pulled certain items off and began to mix them together in a cup, until the end result resembled that of black tar. Walking back over to Al, she handed him the cup.

"Drink it. It will help your body start to put on more weight and help your muscles recover. It won't fix the damage but it's a start."

"Hold on," Ed interjected "How do we know that stuff won't kill him? For all we know you could easily be a serial killer who is taking advantage of our situation."

"Brother!"

"If I were to a murderer why would I waste time checking over your injuries first instead of just killing you the instant you came into my home you damn brat," the women snapped back at Ed.

"Brother, it's fine, she is just trying to help us!" Al pleaded to his brother.

"… Alright, but if anything happens to Al there is no medicine out there that can save you from what will happen." Ed muttered, glaring at the women while doing so.

Sighing, Al started to drink the mixture. His face instantly scrunched up, the taste not only terrible, but overwhelming to Al who has not tasted anything for the past years. Swallowing the first sip, Al turned to the women. She expected him to complain, but to her shock, the boy smiled brightly before saying, "It tastes terrible" and finishing the rest of the drink quickly.

"Thank you for your help Miss…"

"Porlyusica, now be quite while I work on your brother," Porlyusica said, clearly annoyed with the boys' presence.

After patching up Ed's wounds, she told the boys that they were to get some rest immediately to help them recover or she would throw them out. Not wanting to cause any trouble, the boys decided to get some well-deserved sleep after everything that had happened to them today.

While the two unknown brothers slept, Porlyusica went into a separate room and, after grabbing a communication lacrima, began to make a call to an old acquaintance of hers. Shortly after the call was made, the image of a short, elderly bald man with a white mustache appeared inside the lacrima. The man looked up to see Porlyusica and smiled at the face.

"Well this is certainly a surprise Porlyusica, have you decided to finally move out of the woods and move closer to see your old friend?" the old man said, slightly chuckling afterwards.

"You know damn well that I can't stand humans Makarov, and the reason for this call is something you are going to want to come and see." Porlyusica snapped at the man.

"Oh, and what would that be?" Makarov said, raising an eyebrow in the process.

"An hour or so ago two boys showed up to my doorstep, and they looked like hell. One of them is like a walking skeleton, no muscle, pale skin, and thin as paper. The other was mildly injured, but what sticks out about him is that his right arm, and from what I gathered while looking over his condition, his left leg are completely gone, replaced by two strange prosthetics. The kicker: the two of them are only teens. As of right now both are asleep and probably will for a while with how exhausted they seemed, but I feel as though you should come done and see what their problem is."

After explaining the situation, Makarov's expression darkened. Two teens with this grave of conditions? What could have possibly happened to them for them to become this way? And why would they just show up by Porlyusica's house so suddenly? Several more questions were racing through Makarov's head, but one thing became clear; he needed to see the boys immediately.

"I see. I will be down there as soon as I can. Thank you Porlyusica," Makarov replied before ending the call between them.

Porlyusica sighed before turning back to the room where the Elric brothers slept.

"These two brats are causing me too much damn trouble," Porlyusica thought.

After a few hours, Ed slowly began to wake up. His memory of the last day was still a bit hazy, but he eventually was able to recall everything that happened to him and Al. Ed's eyes then darted over to Al, who was still asleep at the moment, but what shocked Ed the most was Al's condition. While Al was still sickly and thin, his body seemed to be less pale, and even looked like a small amount of weight was added to his thin frame. Whatever was in the medicine Porlyusica gave them, it seemed to have been working. Ed smiled, knowing his brother was okay.

"So, you have finally woken up," an unknown voice said behind Ed.

Ed quickly turned his head around to see who was talking. What he saw was a short elderly man with a white mustache, and what Ed could only describe as some incredibly ridiculous clothing, with the orange jacket, strange symbol on his shirt, and orange and blue striped hat. The old man seemed to by friendly enough, but than again so did King Bradley, and Ed knew how that turned out.

"Oh, sorry to startle you young man, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Makarov. It is nice to meet you." The elderly man said while smiling brightly.

"…. So are you the old women's husband or something cause if not then I would have to assume you were breaking and entering," Ed deadpanned.

The old man looked shocked for a second before bursting into a fit of laughter, startling Ed and causing Al to wake up.

"HA HA HA ha ha, oh sorry about that, I haven't heard something so funny in years. But to answer your question, no I am not Porlyusica's husband, I am just a friend who she thought might be able to help you two, so she contacted me the other day," Makarov replied, calming down.

Ed raised an eyebrow after hearing this. "And how can you help me and my brother? Unless you have a way to magic us a house, enough money to live off of, and a library, there is not much that can be done to help in our current situation."

Makarov sighed, "I am afraid no such magic exists, but I can still offer some help. I am leader of a guild called Fairy Tail, where young mages can gather. We offer jobs that people can do in order to make money and can offer you and your brother some temporary housing until you two get back on your feet, both figuratively and literally as it seems. Would you be interested?"

Ed's eyes widened after hearing what the old man said. The big thing that came to his mind was how he specifically said the word mage to describe the people in this 'guild', which implied they were able to use magic. But that shouldn't be possible, ever law that alchemy had basically made it impossible for magic to even exist, and even if Ed and his brother were in another world, Truth still was the one in charge, and magic could not be real in any world were Truth called the shots. Then there was the fact that this old man was so willing to let both of them stay at this place, despite not knowing who they were and if they posed a threat to his guild. Red flags were going off throughout Ed's head, he needed to know more about this world before he made any decisions that could negatively affect his chances of returning home, and right now joining this 'mage guild' just seemed to much of a risk.

"I… appreciate the offer, but there is I lot of things me and Al need to figure out before we decide to join this 'guild' are talking about. We just need to get some information and a place to stay, and that should be good," Ed finally answered after his minute of existential crisis was over.

"But brother, Mr. Makarov here just wants to help, can't you at least hear him out for a little, and he might have information that can help us!" Al knew his brother would be skeptical of this old man, and while Al still had several doubts as well, there was a part of him that seemed to know that the old man's offer would be beneficial in the long run.

Makarov then cleared his throat, returning the boys attention to him, "There is one thing that is bothering me though, and that would be your conditions. What happened to the you to give you such horrible injuries and to cause Al's body to be the way it is. You clearly aren't to blame Ed, as you seem to want nothing more than help Al no matter what, but I can't help but feel as though there is more to the two of you than meets the eye."

Ed and Alphonse remained silent for a second after that, knowing exactly what he was referring to, but neither of them truly felt comfortable talking about what happened to them, especially in a world they knew nothing about.

Before either of the boys could say anything, however, Porlyusica burst into the room they were in, and after handing Al some more medicine to take, spoke up to the two.

"You brats better tell us what's going on with you, otherwise I refuse to keep helping Alphonse over here recover from his condition. He is stable enough that he won't die from exhaustion or the like, but without my help it will take him far longer to recover, so speak up now if you want him to have a fully recovered body within the next month."

"What the- the hell lady? My brother still needs a doctor and you just plan on throwing us out if we don't tell you our own personal shit! What the fuck is wrong with you?" Ed ranted incredulously to the old doctor.

"While I don't appreciate his language, I have to agree with Ed on this one. Alphonse does still need medical attention and to simply refuse him just because the boys do not want to share what could be very personal information is ridiculous," Makarov chimed in once Ed decided to calm down.

"Well if I am going to keep helping him I need to know how he got into this condition in the first place. For all we know the boys body might react negatively to some of the other methods I have all because I couldn't prepare for the proper conditions." Porlyusica spat back at the other members in the room.

…

…

"…. Old man, I want you to promise me something." Ed finally said after several moments of silence between them.

"And what would that be?" asked Makarov.

"I doubt you will believe what I am about to say, but even still I want none of what I have to say to ever leave this room. No one else needs to know about this, got it?" Ed said, his tone hard and serious to emphasize his point.

"Very well then. Now, what were you going to tell me about" Makarov answered, already expecting the boys to want to keep what happened to them a secret.

Taking a deep breath, Ed then began to explain his and Al's story. He omitted parts he wasn't ready to reveal just at that moment, such as their attempt at human transmutation or how Al did not truly have a body for years because of it, but still went through as much as he could, until he eventually came to the present.

"….. And in order to save my brother, I was forced to send us to this world, with the hopes of us finding another way back using the resources available in this world." Ed finished, waiting for a response from the old man sitting in front of him.

"Hm, while I doubt that the story you told me was the full picture, I do have enough to know now to be able to help you on your journey. After all, this isn't the first time someone from another world came to Earthland." Makarov replied with a smile.

Ed and Al's eyebrows shot up after hearing that. Someone else from another world existed on this world, now known as Earthland, and Makarov knew that. No wonder he was so understanding of the brothers' situation. But who was this otherworlder, and could they help them?

"Makarov, why did you have to blab about my past to these idiotic brats? Now they will never leave me alone." Porlyusica stated while glaring at Makarov.

"WAIT YOU'RE NOT FROM-" Ed started to scream before getting slammed in the head with a broom.

"Will you shut up? And to answer your question, yes, I am from a different world, but no, I can not help you return. Your world is far different from mine, which is far similar to Earthland, and the only way to my world is through magic I don't have much knowledge about," snapped Porlyusica.

"Well that's just great, the first possible lead we find, and it means jack shit," Ed proclaimed, mumbling about his 'typical luck' under his breath.

"Regardless, I feel that it would still be best for you to join my guild for the time being. You can use the resources available to find a way home, and we can provide support while you are stuck here," explained Makarov, smiling to Ed and Al.

Ed thought about it for a few minutes. Any helping to get home was certainly welcome, but he was still wary about joining this 'guild' Makarov talked about. For one, he didn't know if there was a commitment to stay in the guild, and if he was going to leave that would cause problems, not to mention he had no idea how the rest of the world reacted to guilds yet, so for all he knew they were illegal and would just cause more problems. However, the fact that this was his only possible help to get home at the moment made his options limited.

"Alright, I will go with you to your guild, but me and Al are not going to join yet. For one we don't know if it will take us a few days or a few years to leave this world, so until we know we are here for the long haul I don't want to do anything too permanent. There is also the fact that we know so little of this world that joining the guild out of the blue would be a rather hasty action. Is that alright with you?" Ed finally said, finished with his own personal dilemma.

"That should be fine, though is there anything else you need?" Makarov asked after getting up.

"Just two questions. First, is there a good library in the city?" asked Ed.

"My boy, Fairy Tail has a large archive at the guild hall, full of information. You should be fine in that regard. What was your second question?"

Ed smiled and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, "Do you have any extra fabric I can use? I kinda need to get some new clothes for me and Al."

Early in the morning, Lucy began to walk up the street to where Fairy Tail's guild hall was located. After her latest mission with that flamed head Natsu and the blue cat Happy went bad, she just wanted to start the day on a good note.

Not two seconds after she entered the guild hall was that idea ruined when she saw Natsu and Gray in the middle of the guild hall, tearing the place apart.

"Take it back you damn stripper!"

"Make me, you ash mouth asshole!"

Lucy sighed. Honestly, she should have expected this much from the two of them, they could never go a few minutes without butting heads.

"Lucy, how are you today?" a voice said behind her.

Turning around, Lucy was greeted by a girl around her age with bright blue hair with a ribbon tied on the top of her head. She wore a orange dress and was quite a bit shorter than Lucy in terms of height.

"Levy, I was doing fine, until I saw what these two idiots were doing," Lucy replied, still upset about the fight happening in front of her.

"Well I have some interesting news you might want to hear," Levy said, smiling widely afterwards.

"Oh yeah, and what would that be?"

"It turns out the master brought someone NEW to the guild hall the other day!" Levy exclaimed. "From what the master said, he isn't a member as of yet, but he will be staying around the guild hall for a bit. Apparently, the master offered to help both him and his brother get on their feet since they seem to be new to town and have nowhere to go."

"Wow, that's interesting, but where is this new guy?" Lucy asked, "I don't see him around the guild hall, and wouldn't the rest of the guild try to interact with him already?"

"Well that's the thing, from what I have heard he seems to be in the archive, and he hasn't left yet, despite being here since yesterday evening. Master has also basically said to leave him alone until he decides to come out of the archive," Levy explained. "The master didn't say, however, that we couldn't go to the archive. And if we accidentally run into him, its not our fault." Levy had a mischievous grin on her face, heavily implying what she planned to do.

"Levy, do you really think that's a good idea? If he wants to interact with us he will on his own, shouldn't we just let him do his thing for now?" Lucy pleaded, not wanting to start anything with a potential new guild member.

"Come on Lucy, all we are going to do is see what he is like, what could go wrong?"

Sighing, Lucy slowly began to follow Levy to the Fairy Tail Archive, where the guild stored large amounts of information about the world and magic. Admittedly, she was curious as to what the new person was studying in the archive, but still thought it was best to let him say when he was ready. Once the two girls reached the archive, they almost immediately saw what they came for, and were shocked by what was in front of them.

Sitting at a table was a teen around there age, with long blond hair tied into a braid on the back of his head. He wore a long red jacket with a strange symbol on the back along with a black shirt and pair of black pants. He also had large leather boots that were propped up against the table and he was wearing white gloves on both of his hands. What was shocking to the girls, however, were the books that surrounded the boy. On all sides of the newcomer were large stacks of books, covering various different topics such as the different types of magic, the history of the country, and what magic was, and from what they could tell, the stack on the boy's right were of books he had already finished. Despite only being at the guild for less than a day he seemed to have read well over twenty books on varying subjects, and just kept going. Occasionally the boy would write into a notebook in front of him with his left hand, while still holding the book and reading with his right. The boy in front of them was so engrossed in his reading that he didn't even notice the two approach him or watch his routine.

Leaning a little closer, Levy decided to be the first to speak. "You really must like reading to have gone through this many books in such a short time."

The boy in front of them barely reacted to Levy, slightly turning his head to see the girl but then almost immediately returning to his book.

"Uhm, my name is Levy, and the girl next to me is Lucy," Levy continued, slightly thrown off by how focused on his research the boy was.

"H-hi there," Lucy replied nervously. She was somewhat intimidated by both the boy's appearance and his unwavering focus.

"Edward Elric, but Ed works," the boy, now known to be Ed, said, still focusing on the book in front of him.

"So, Ed, why are you reading so many different books? Do you just like to read?" inquired Levy.

Ed shrugged, "I just want to learn as much as possible about the world as I can. I enjoy learning and the books here have a lot of interesting things to say."

"If you just are interested in learning so much, how did you end up here at Fairy Tail?" Lucy asked.

"The old man is helping me and my brother out, nothing special," replied Ed nonchalantly.

"Wait, how do you know Master Makarov?"

"We don't. He just found us and decided to help with our problem. Can I get back to my reading now?" Ed deadpanned, not once even looking away from his books.

Sighing the girls both began to walk away, feeling a little defeated after coming to meet the new arrival. However, right before they left the archive-

BOOM

Breaking through the doors of the archive, Natsu suddenly crashed into the table Ed was sitting at, knocking over the books he had and breaking the table underneath him.

"Gray you damn icy bastard, watch where you hit me with your weak-ass ice magic. I could have hit the new-"

Before Natsu could finish his statement, suddenly Ed slammed his right fist into Natsu's gut, causing the boy to collapse almost immediately.

"YOU KNOCKED OVER MY BOOKS YOU PINK HAIRED BASTARD!" Ed screamed, pissed that his research was interrupted.

"Ha, Natsu got beaten with a single punch, guess that goes to show which of us is-" Gray started to say before Ed ran up and slammed his fist into Grey's face, sending him tumbling back several feet before he lands and passes out.

"AND YOU'RE THE ONE WHO KNOCKED HIM INTO MY BOOKS! KEEP YOUR DAMN FIGHTING AWAY FROM THE DAMN ARCHIVE YOU NAKED IDIOT!" Ed screamed.

Lucy and Levy watched what had just unfolded before them with a mix of awe and fear. Ed, the guy who just seemed to appear the other day, had just knocked out both Grey and Natsu simply because they interrupted him while he researched. They shuddered to think what would have happened if they got on his bad side while asking him questions.

After throwing the two boys out of the archive and slamming the door shut behind him, Ed walked over to broken table. Sighing, the girls watched as Ed did something strange. He clapped his hands together, making him look as if he were praying, then placed them over the table. Immediately after he did this, blue lightning crackled around the broken table before it seemed to reform itself into its original state.

"WOAH, how did you do that!?" Lucy exclaimed, never having seen any form of magic like Ed's before.

Ed paused, suddenly remembering the two girls that were still present in the archive, before he turned to them. "My… magic… allows me to break down and reconstruct materials to form new shapes and objects. I simply used the broken parts of the wood to fix the table." Ed seemed to hiss out the word magic, as if he hated the word or something.

"But, there was no magic circle when you did it! How is that even possible?" Levy exclaimed.

"When I clap my hands together, I form the circle in my own body instead of needing a circle itself. It was something I picked up on a few years back." Ed replied before sitting back down to continue reading.

The girls left shortly afterwards, still trying to process what had just happened with the newcomer to the guild. One thing was certain for both of them about Edward Elric: he was interesting.

Ed couldn't help but sigh. After the brief introduction to Lucy and Levy, and the incident with Natsu and Grey, Ed continued on with his research into this world of magic.

So far, he had an understanding of how this world functioned and what made it different from his own. He knew about the government system set up in Fiore, and knew how the guilds systems worked, along with the technology differences between each world.

But the thing that Ed was truly interested about, and the part that still alluded him was the most important part of the world: the magic.

After starting his research, Ed was able to learn about how people were able to use magic in this world, with them having what they called a 'magic container' that stored their internal magic energy for them to use to do whatever magic they specialized in. The main problem that Ed came to was the substance that magic was made of.

Ethernano, the base substance that all magic was linked to, appeared to be an entirely unique element that this universe had which was abundant in nature and people stored inside their magic containers to use at any time. What Ed couldn't understand, however, was how Ethernano was able to do what it did. From the research on different forms of magic he did, it appeared that Ethernano somehow had the ability to change its form to match whatever its user desired, allowing for the vast amounts of 'magic types' that existed in this world. Despite this, none of the books Ed had read contained even the most basic idea of the structure of Ethernano, or how it was capable of essentially changing itself into whatever matter it wanted. It frustrated Ed beyond belief to not know anything about it, especially after hearing from the old witch (in this case both figuratively and literally) what had happened to Ed and Al.

Somehow, when they had passed into this new world, their bodies started to form their own magic containers, something that Porlyusica said should be impossible. This meant that both Ed and Al, if they were to try hard enough, could eventually learn how to use magic. While Ed refused to believe that what was happening was magic and thought of it as this world's version of alchemic processes, he had to admit that being able to use magic might just be the perfect solution to their problems. If the Elric brothers could just figure out enough about magic to be able to utilize the strange Ethernano that was around them, they could, theoretically, use it to get home.

"Al, we might be here for a little longer than I anticipated, but with the new information and options available to us, we just might find a way home," Ed thought, before grabbing another stack of books, prepared to study as much as he could and find out everything about this world, hoping it could lead him to a safe return home.

So this is the first chapter of my first fanfiction. I doubt that the quality is very good, but I just decided to write this story out for fun.

As for the next chapter, I am not sure as to when it will be ready, but I have ideas about how it will go already.

Now, there are two things I want to address that I am probably going to be asked about during the making of this story, one major and one more minor.

The major element, of course, being Ed and Al's magic container. Now before anyone asks, no, Ed will not be learning something like Dragon Slayer Magic or the like, that wouldn't make sense. The main reason I gave them the ability to use magic is because of later in the story, where characters become much stronger and without magic the Elrics would be at a massive disadvantage in comparison to some of the mages. I don't plan on having either of them using magic anytime in the upcoming chapters (the earliest I can think of them using it is during the Battle of Fairy Tail, and that is only Ed because Al hasn't researched as much). With that said, I also wanted to ask you all something. What magic should the brothers use? I have an idea ready for Ed, but Al I'm not as sure about. If you do have an idea, feel free to tell me in a review.

Now the more minor element: Ed's height. From what I gathered, during the promised day, Ed's height was around 5'6", with his boots adding an additional inch to his height (Ed needed to look taller when he was younger and that was the best way to do so). This would mean that Ed's height is actually very close to many members of Fairy Tail, with him being as tall as Lucy, Erza, and Natsu, meaning he wouldn't get called short by most members in the guild. That isn't to say he won't be called short, such as against antagonists or with Laxus, but it does mean there won't be as many short outbursts in this story. Sorry but them's the breaks.

Feel free to review, as any feedback will help me while I write, and don't be afraid to ask some questions or make suggestions. This story is kind of freeform for me, so nothing as of yet is set in stone going to happen.

Thanks for reading, and I will see you next time.