This is essentially a rewrite of "All the Clouds in a Sunny Sky", only way better ('cause that one was pretty shit, and it got abandoned for being pretty shit...) It's based mainly in the Brotherhood/manga version, with a few little bits from the first anime like the Tringhams (unless they're in the manga, in which case ignore me). Don't worry if you're confused here - the characters don't know what's going on either.

It starts right at the end of the final battle with Father.

Disclaimer - I'm not Japanese, and my self-portrait is not a really awesome cow. So no, I'm not Arakawa-sensei, but I do borrow her characters for abuse in non-profit products of boredom such as this.

Prelude

Dust was still falling when Roy opened his eyes. They ached, and his hands felt stiff when he tried clenching and unclenching his fists. Nearby a chunk of wall collapsed with a crash, and he heard people moving and speaking. A bird was singing in the distance. He sat up and stared around him – why could he see? – and saw destruction. Bodies surrounded him; most were breathing, but a lot weren't. Almost all were bloody. A hand touched his shoulder.

"Colonel?" It was Hawkeye. "Colonel, are you okay?"

"I'm fine." He looked at her. "Completely fine. Don't know why, but under the circumstances I'm not going to complain."

Her eyes softened, and Roy pushed himself to his feet. He stood still for a moment and waited for the headrush to pass before walking around to check on the soldiers. Armstrong was sitting on the ground next to his sister, and both were staring around at the devastation without moving. They both looked exhausted.

"Are you okay?" Roy asked.

"Was that you?" Armstrong pointed behind Roy.

Roy turned. A transmutation circle had been scorched into the ground, and there was a rapidly-congealing pool of blood in the centre. He approached it slowly.

"No," he said. "It wasn't me."

As he got closer the hairs on his arms and the back of his neck rose with the alchemy in the air.

Hohenheim was standing nearby. He looked tired, and years older than he had just minutes ago. "Whatever this was, it was powerful."

"Any ideas?" Roy asked.

Hohenheim shook his head. The relative quiet was shattered by Mei screaming. Roy turned and sprinted over, along with anyone else who was still able to move well. She was kneeling next to Alphonse's broken armour and clutching at something inside. As Roy got closer he saw a boy, barely more than a skeleton, unconscious and lying inside the remains of the armour. He was wrapped in Fullmetal's distinctive red coat. Roy turned in a circle, his eyes searching through the crowd of people.

"Can anyone see Fullmetal?" he shouted. "Does anyone have eyes on him?"

A murmur spread across the broken battlefield; Roy could see people shaking their heads and craning their necks to look around, but no-one spoke up. Slowly, he turned towards the blood-stained transmutation circle.

"What did you do?" he whispered.

My history with regular updates prevents me from promising a next chapter by a specific date, so I'll just say subscribe and be pleasantly surprised when it appears...