Hey! New story! :D

First multi-chaptered Fullmetal Alchemist fanfic so hopefully it will turn alright. The name is taken the book this story is based on but I'll try to think of something better.

I'm uploading the prologue now so that I can get some feedback but the rest of the chapters won't be uploaded until later in the month or early next year. Please review and let me know what you think. :D

Summary: WhenAlfons finds Edward's diary he hopes to find out about the boy's past but he doesn't expect what he reads. When Edward starts to see someone he never expected in his dreams, he doesn't realise just how real it is.

Dark Walker (name subject to change)

It had all started when Alfons was cleaning Edward's room.

He had walked past earlier in the day and noticed that it was a complete mess. It was to be expected since Edward always had books and research documents spread out across the floor in some kind of order that was only comprehensible to him but since Alfons had finished work early today and Edward was out, he had decided to help out a little and organise the room for him. He had intended to only pick up the papers and books and stack them in less obtrusive parts of the room such as the desk or in corners but then he found it. Near the single bed in the room by the window he had found a dark brown and very tattered looking leather bound book with metal corners. It was quite ordinary looking among the sea of books in the room but as Alfons picked it up, it opened to a random page and Edward's handwriting was clear on the paper that had probably once been white but was now a pale yellow colour. Edward had a habit of scribbling notes down the side of books he read but this book was written entirely by Ed. Was he doing his own research? What about though? He read a paragraph of the text, curious as to what Ed was investigating but found it to be nothing to do with science at all. In fact, from what was written he would have guessed it was a... diary. Did Edward keep a diary? That didn't seen like something he would do but he guessed it was possible. Alfons put the little book down on the desk and continued to tidy the room but he could not stop the curiosity at what kind of things Edward would write in his diary.

Alfons had noticed recently that his room-mate had been acting strangely. He admitted that he had not known the other for very long but he had developed quite a good idea of the teen's character. If Alfons had to sum up Edward in three words, they would be intelligent, determined and contradictory. For example, he had very idealistic, possibly even naive, views when it came to justice and yet sometimes he would say something that gave the impression he had seen far more than someone his age should ever have.

It would also be interesting to see what he said about the other world he claimed to have come from. Even though Edward's descriptions and recounts of the world he believed himself to have come from were very realistic, Alfons could not bring himself to truly believe the boy's stories. It just wasn't possible!

By this point Alfons had tidied all he could without majorly disturbing the blonde's research and could still not tear his thoughts away from what could be written in that little brown book on the desk. It was like those old sayings "train of thought" and "one track mind". Right now his thoughts were a literal train; no matter how much he tried, the train was on the track and no amount of effort could make it drive anywhere else. He looked over his shoulder at the book, sitting innocently on the wooden surface and couldn't help but glare at it. He knew that if he opened that book and read even one word it was an invasion of Ed's privacy and that if Ed ever found out, he would not trust the young Heiderich again. However, he just couldn't stop thinking about it!

Edward had never told him that much about himself. Even though the elder Elric had often spoken of the other world that supposedly existed somewhere, he rarely mentioned the people he left behind and even less frequently talked about his past there. He knew that something bad must have happened, that much was evident from the boy's behaviour, mentality and also from the prosthetic right arm and left leg he had. Something terrible must have happened to his real limbs to make the "automail", as Edward had called it, necessary. As far as Edward knew, Alfons was not aware he had fake limbs so he had never asked and no explanation had ever been provided, but within that book could be the answer.

He walked toward the desk cautiously as though he feared the book itself would somehow make him betray Edward's trust in him. When he reached the table he picked the book up looked at it from all angles as though he would somehow find the answer to his dilemma by doing so.

As long as Edward didn't find out, there was no harm done, right? He would only read a page. Just to find out if it really was a diary or just a research journal and to maybe find out a little bit about his past. He just wanted to get to know the boy better.

Alfons opened the little book and began to read the first page…

Dark Walker (name subject to change)

Thanks for reading and I hope you like it so far. Review so that I know to continue it! :D

Edit (9.12.12): I found the missing part of the chapter! Hallelujah! :D Sorry for the screw up. :'(