Chapter 1 Truth?

"Mom! Mom! Come on, mom! Let's get going!" Saige exclaimed excitedly while rushing out to the car.

"Calm down. It's just your high school choir concert." her mom, Rose, said.

"But I have a solo in it! And you know I love to sing!" Saige said.

"Yes, of course. You do have a beautiful voice." Rose replied.

Saige Tamanaka. Your average hyperactive tomboy of a girl with an amazing voice, which she used often and loudly. She has pale, almost white, blonde hair with some dyed purple streaks and bright blue eyes. She always wears a usual outfit of either sweatpants or basketball shorts with her silver, black, and whit high-tops, and either tank-tops, long sleeved sweat shirts, or regular t-shirts that were either plain or had some of the many anime she loves.

But, her number one anime would have to be Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood. Saige preferred Brotherhood over the original. She just loved all of the action and the plot with all of its' twist and turns. Along with the fact that the same happened with her father, he just suddenly walked out on her family. But that was when she was five, now she's fifteen and is completely over it. Barely thinks about it even. Saige lives with her mom and they get by just fine.

"And remember, after the concert, I want to order the biggest pizza we can get!" Saige said.

"Saige, you're almost an adult. Can't you try acting like one?" Rose said sarcastically.

"Until I hit a major growth spurt or I turn eighteen, not happening!" Saige replied with a laugh. Luckily Saige doesn't have a height complex, because she is only five feet tall.

Days like that were all regular to Saige. Sing, either for concerts or for fun, play around with her mom, and just go to school and watch anime like any other teenager. But, that all changes for her in an instant after one fated day.

"Finally! Summer break!" Saige cheered.

"Saige, calm down. I swear, one day you'll make that beautiful voice die out." Rose sighed.

"No way! My voice would never abandon me!" Saige protested.

As Saige said, she and her mom are on vacation for her summer break. They decided to take a trip up to England since, well, Saige just really wanted to go there. And since they were able to save enough money, Saige and her mom traveled to England.

"Come on mom! I want to get in a little sight seeing before we go to our hotel." Saige said.

"I'm coming. I'm coming. I wish I had your energy." Rose replied.

The two of them went to some not too fancy restaurant for lunch before actually going sight seeing. They went to see Big Ben, obviously, and just stopped to walk around London. But, as they were walking around, something caught Saige's eye that usually wouldn't catch anyone else's. It was an old abandoned building, completely fenced off.

"Sweetie, what's wrong?" Rose asked as she stopped next to Saige.

"Nothing. It's just that building is giving me a weird feeling." Saige answered.

"You're probably thinking it resembles something from an anime like you did with every black taxi car we saw." Rose said. It was true. Saige kept saying the black cars looked like ones from Full Metal Alchemist.

"Huh, you could be right." Saige said, scratching the back of her head.

"And before you ask, go ahead and take a look at it and meet at the café across the street when you're done. And don't try and cause trouble." Rose said.

"You're the best, mom!" Saige squealed. The two walked off, Saige ran, in opposite directions. Saige quickly closed the distance between her and the fence that kept her out of the building.

"Mom was right, that building does look familiar. Imagine if it was actually-" Saige began to say, but when she accidentally leaned on the fence, that portion she was leaning on gave way and she fell face first onto the ground on the other side of the fence.

"Blegh! Dirt got in my mouth!" Saige complained, spitting a few time. She finally put her attention back on the building that was now in reach. She looked around, and Saige saw no one around and no one was looking.

"More sight seeing isn't causing trouble. And it'll only be for a second." Saige thought.

With that in mind, she scrambled to her feet and raced towards the building. Luckily, the door wasn't locked, so she easily entered. All the lights were off inside, but sunlight was getting inside, so she could still see. But, what Saige saw inside wasn't exactly impressive, but it was also puzzling. Book shelves on every wall, books and paper were scattered on the floor, and there was one sole table in the middle of the room. And door was right across from Saige, but she didn't intend on going any further.

"I know it's abandoned, but they could've cleaned this place before they left." Saige mumbled.

She walked towards the only table in the room and soon saw that something was sitting on it. It was something in a small glass bottle and in a circle that was carved onto the table's surface. The substance in the bottle was bright crimson red.

"What the heck? Has someone been hear recently?" Saige questioned out loud. She was about to say something else, but when she saw what the circle on the table actually was, she actually didn't say anything. Now, Saige was actually trembling and her face grew pale.

"W-wait a second, isn't that...a transmutation circle?" Saige said. And she was right. The bottle filled with the red substance sat dead center in a small transmutation circle on the table. She easily recognized it from Full Metal Alchemist.

"Ok, I must be going crazy. I mean, if this a transmutation from Full Metal Alchemist, then this would be..." Saige trailed off.

She slowly moved her hand and carefully grasped the small bottle. But, she apparently wasn't careful enough. The moment Saige grabbed the bottle, the liquid and transmutation lit up the whole room. It became so bright that Saige had to shield her eyes from the harsh light. It took a few moments for thee light to die down, but when Saige opened her eyes again, if her face could get any paler, it did. Because, she was no longer in the same room as before. Saige now stood in a clear white void. Nothing and no one in sight as far as the eye could see.

"Wh-what on earth?...Isn't this...It can't be..." Saige muttered. For once, Saige couldn't figure out what to say.

"Hello." someone said. That made Saige look straight ahead, only to see an outlined white figure with only a mouth being visible.

"Truth..." Saige breathed out.

"Oh good, you know who I am. That makes things so much easier." Truth said. Just like in the anime, Truth's voice was mainly someone else's with her own mixed in.

"...What's going on? How is this even possible?" Saige asked.

"You're the one who found the Philosopher's stone, you should know." Truth answered.

"So that was the stone?" Saige said.

"Exactly. And since you were the one who found it, you'll apart off this little game." Truth said.

"G-game?! What are you talking about?" Saige said, just barely shivering.

"The game of life and death of course. In this game, if you die, you lose everything. But if you live, you win everything." Truth said.

"Wait a minute, what does that even-" Saige said, but her voice stopped coming out, literally. Her mouth moved, but nothing came out. Saige quickly realized this development. She continuously tried moving her mouth, trying to make at least so much a peep, but nothing. Her voice, it was gone.

"My voice! What happened to my voice!?" Saige mentally panicked.

"Come now. You should know what is going." Truth said, but it's voice, it wasn't the same way it was a few moments ago. It was her's. Truth took Saige's voice.

"It's the law of equivalent exchange. So don't worry, you'll gain something in return." Truth said.

"What!? What is he talking about!?" Saige thought.

"Now, I think it's about time we begin out game. And don't worry, you'll learn the playing field very quickly." Truth said.

When he stopped speaking, Saige began hearing a slow creaking sound behind her. When she turned around, she saw a massive door slowly opening behind her. Her own gate of truth. When it fully opened, the eye inside of it opened and many black arms shot out from the darkness within the gate. Saige couldn't even scream as the arms began to pull her into the gate, she could only struggle and squirm. And just like that, the gate closed, pulling Saige into a world where she must fight to survive.

The next thing Saige knew, she landed flat on her back on the hard ground that was all wet. She slowly sat up and, after making sure her dark blue tank-top, black sweat pants, and her high tops were on right, she began rubbing her head.

"Damn, that hurt!" Saige thought, also tried saying. But, she was quickly reminded of the fact that Truth took her voice.

"That's right...Stupid Truth! Why my voice, of all things!?" Saige thought.

But, she actually felt like crying. Her voice was very precious to her. And it's it not like she knows sign language, so how would Saige communicate with people? Carry around a pencil and note pad? After calming down though, she looked around and Saige was surprised to see where she landed. Not only did she realize it was raining, but she was sitting in some random alley way.

"Great. Just where the heck did Truth drop me?" Saige thought.

Before she could focus on that, she heard a few people scream, followed by loud thuds. Saige looked down the alley way and ran towards where she hear the noise. All she had to do was turn a few corners, but what she saw almost made her throw up. Two full grown men in uniforms were lying on the ground, dead, with blood pooling under them.

"Oh god. I think I'm gonna hurl! No, calm down, calm down!" Saige thought. She looked closely at the uniforms, trying to ignore the blood, and recognized them instantly.

"These uniforms, they're from the Military in Full Metal Alchemist. Then I really am in Truth's world!" Saige concluded. She looked at the house that the now dead men were in front. With the conditions of the area and the way the house looked, Saige was finally able figure out exactly where and when she was.

"Scar. He did this. And since that's Tucker house, he must be inside...Nina!" Saige realized.

Without even thinking, Saige ran inside the house, only thinking about saving Nina, even if she was now a chimera. Saige easily found the room Scar was in. But, Saige was already too late to stop Scar from killing Tucker. Tucker fell to the floor just as Saige found the room. Saige placed one hand over her mouth in pure horror. In real life, the way Scar killed people was much more gruesome. Saige was able to see Nina move towards Tucker's body.

"Daddy's hurting...Daddy hurts...No daddy..." Nina said, tears streaming down her face.

"You poor creature. Once you've been given this form, there is no way of separating you again. At least, your passing will be in peace." Scar said, placing his hand on Nina's head. When Saige saw this, she jumped into action. She ran right at Scar and was able to shove him hard enough to make him stumble away from Nina. Saige then stood between Scar and Nina.

"Just what do you think you are doing here, little girl?" Scar asked. Unable to, Saige didn't answer him.

"So, you refuse to speak. Very well, but if you interfere, you will be destroyed as well." Scar said, cracking his knuckles.

"And I know he's serious. Still, it doesn't matter. I won't let Nina die, not if I could help it!" Saige thought.

Scar then lunged at her, trying to do the same thing he did to Tucker. Saige got as good as tight of a grip she could get on Nina and, aiming for the window, Saige jumped out of the way with Nina in her arms. Luckily, Saige made it to the window. Saige made it so Nina landed on top of her, also causing Saige to land on the shards of glass from the window. Without her voice, she couldn't even grunt or scream from the pain.

"You helped me?...Are you a friend?..." Nina asked, looking up at Saige.

Saige looked down at her, and she didn't need her voice to answer her. She easily smiled and nodded her head. Saige quickly snapped back to reality and began getting back onto her feet, still carrying Nina. Even with shards of glass in her legs and arms, Saige had run while carrying Nina. It was even harder since she had to worry about tripping in the rain.

"I have to find Ed and Al! They're in danger! Let's see, they were on the steps of the military base here in the series. So I just have to find it. Please let this be easy." Saige thought. Luckily, it was. She easily saw the military base from a distance. Saige was still running with Nina, but when she thought about something, Saige slowed down to a complete stop.

"Wait a second. What am I doing? If I warn them about Scar now, who knows what'll change. And Nina, she was meant to die. What's going to happen when they see her alive?" Saige thought.

"Big sister..." Nina said. That snapped Saige out of her trance. She looked down at Nina and smiled. Saige carefully set down Nina.

"I wish I could still talk, then I could reassure her." Saige thought.

"Can we play? Can we play now?" Nina asked. Saige's smile became more sad as she patted Nina on the head.

'Let's keep moving' Saige mouthed. Luckily, Nina seemed to understand what Saige was trying to actually say because as Saige walked towards an abandoned place to stay dry, Nina followed her.

"Tomorrow I'll meet the brothers. My heart is racing. But, without my voice, I wonder how this'll all work out." Saige thought.

*The Next Day*
(with Ed and Al)

Ed and Al were on their way to talk to Riza Hawkeye about what was going to happen to Tucker and Nina. They just caught as she was leaving.

"What's wrong you two? You're up awfully early." Hawkeye asked.

"We...need to know. What's going to happen to Tucker and Nina?" Ed asked.

"Mr. Tucker was scheduled to be stripped of his certification and stand trial for what he did to Nina. But, he's dead." Hawkeye answered.

"Dead!?" Al said. Ed was left completely speechless.

"You'll find out anyway, so I might as well tell you. He was murdered." Hawkeye said as she was leaving.

"What about Nina!? Is she okay!?" Ed asked frantically, followed the Lieutenant.

"We don't know. Her body hasn't been found. I was just heading over to the scene now." Hawkeye answered.

"We're coming with you." Al said.

"No." Hawkeye said flatly.

"Why not!?" Ed said. That was when she stopped and turned to face them.

"You don't need to see this." Hawkeye answered. With that said, she took her leave.

"What do you think could have happened, brother?" Al said.

"I don't know, Al. But, let's just hope she's ok." Ed answered.