Oshitaris_Bet's Xanga

And~ yet ANOTHER Plot Bunny

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 15:24:19 GMT

I have a new plotbunny... --sighs--

Why must my brain be such a plot machine?

It's a FMA/Jurisdiction/GW x-over.

A teenager with golden hair and golden eyes awakes in a Bench Federation hospital with no memory of who he is or how he came by his strange injuries, especially the prosthetic right arm and left leg which resemble nothing recorded in the Federation Patent Inventory. Fleet Commodore Treize Kushrenada, to satisfy his curiousity since the child resembles a childhood friend, orders a DNA test, and the tests come back with startling results. The child shares the same genetic structure as the sole Prince Inherit of the Emelese Foundation, Edward fa Vedris who had gone missing after an assassin murdered the Royal Family of Emelan almost two years gone.

The child is startled and confused when the Commodore enters the room and hugs him and blathers on about how happy he is that he's alive punctuated with a great many "Oh! Edward!" To assuge the child's confusion, the Commodore tells him his story.

Treize Kushrenada, as Ducal Monarch of the Martine Judiciary which consists of five habitable solar systems, is a Commodore of the Martinese Fleet of the Federation of Worlds. They first met when they were thirteen and five respectively when Treize's father, then Duke Monarach, took him to the Snow White Gala, in celebration of the Three Hundredth Year Anniversary of the Emelese annexation into the Federation. The two became fast friends despite the age difference, and Edward was crushed when Treize left for the Military Academy at the age of sixteen. By the time Edward was twelve, Treize was already a Major in the Fleet, and was being pushed by his father to begin training as a Mobile Suit pilot.

Edward, being the Prince Apparent of the Emelese Foundation, was given the chance to enter the Military Academy early, and it was when he was on leave, visiting his family in Hyde, an exotic planet that is a known tourist destination that an assassin made it into the Royal Suite and self detonated a set of explosives, killing the family and wounding twelve retainers. The only good news was that the body of the thirteen year old Prince was never found.

Having discovered his "identity", Edward fa Vedris is put through the wringer, startling Federation tutors and old family retainers alike at the speed with which he picks up his lessons as before his disappearence, Edward was by all means known as a lazy student. Popular opinion is that with the loss of his memories, Edward was eager to regain a part of his former self, which is why he is picking up his lessons so quickly. Trieze is not so convinced as base personality traits do not simply disappear and appear as something else altogether, but DNA does not lie. Lieutenant Une suggests that maybe the trauma of the attack and spending two years whereever he had been had changed Edward. Trieze is still not entirely convinced, but ignores it in favor of taking care of his old friend, and helping the Prince of the Sanq Kingdom, the estranged Prince Milliardo Peacecraft in the building of the identity of Zechs Marquise, a Knight of Sanq.

The years pass and Edward fa Vedris has proven to be a prodigy in many feilds, and Treize is more and more convinced that although the DNA is the same, that this child is not his childhood friend, but has come to be fond of him nevertheless. When Edward is seventeen Trieze confesses his suspicions to Edward, and Edward tells him that he agrees with the observation due to discrepancies in reports in his childhood behaviors and current behaviors, even with exceptions made for the inclusion of trauma and amnesia. They discuss this with Zechs and turns their attention to seeking the whereabouts of the true Edward fa Vedris, and seeking Edward's true nature and past. In the meantime, Treize is rising in the ranks of the Fleet and is due to be promoted to Admiral of the Matinese Fleet and Edward is a Captain and is due to graduate from Mayon Medical with a Bench Medical Certificate before undergoing Judicial Inquisitorial Training. Zechs has since attained the Rank of Major and is due to recieve a promotion to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. At the same time, the Romefellar Foundation is gaining power as is the Alliance of Humankind, while discontent grows in the Bench Artifical Habitats, also known as Colonies, and war looms on the horizon for the Bench Federation of Worlds.

When Edward acheives his Bench Medical Certification and undergoes the Inquisitorial Training at the age of twenty. Zechs, recently promoted to Lt. Colonel, recieves word from Edward concerning a student who claims to be a part of a shadowy secret society. Zechs investigates and discovers that Romefellar has been funding an organization known as the Thule Society for reasons unknown. Une, since promoted to the rank of Colonel, makes a suggestion to Treize, and the four pool resources and influence to create the Order of the Zodiac, a military alliance between Martine, Sanq and Emelene which would serve as the Judiciary Special Operations with Treize as Commander General, Zechs and Une as trusted Lieutenants, and once his Certification is complete, Edward as Inquisitor.

Edward celebrates his twenty first birthday by graduating from the Judicial Inquisitory Training Facility with full honors and a promotion to the rank of Major. The degraded body of the true Edward fa Vedris is found, and Treize, Zechs, and Une decide it may be best that the discovery is not made public to keep unrest from breaking out. Edward agrees to the plan, and the body is destroyed with noone the wiser.

War breaks out between the Colonies and the Federation. The Romefellar Foundation and the Alliance of Humankind side with the Federation. Edward, serving his fifth term as Ship Surgeon on Battleship Chronos, is forced to defend Secured Medical while his Bond-Involuntaries are out ensuring that insurgents do not penetrate the Breach Hull. The firefight detonates several canisters of compressed oxygen. Edward seals off Secured Medical to contain the blast, but a stray bullet brings him down. A Bond-Involuntary, Officer Shou Tucker is sent to investigate the lack of response from Secured Medical, finds Edward, who is transferred to Secured Medical on Battleship Daedalus for treatment. Captain Faye Verne of Battleship Chronos punishes Edward's six Security Bond-Involuntaries when the full extent of Edward's injuries is realized. In the meantime, Zechs and Trieze intercept a communication from the Colony Liberation Society to the Thule Society which raises concern for the course of the war.

Plans are made to send Edward to Secured Medical in OZ: Emelan. In the meantime, Edward's condition degrades into a coma. Treize and Zechs make plans to ensure the Autonomy of OZ for the future. In another world, Corporal Roy Mustang of Amestris finds his self imposed exile to a distant outpost in Briggs haunted by the Spectere of the Late Lt. Colonel Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist. Assuming that death is the cause of the spectre's amnesia, Corporal Mustang tells him the full story of his life, or what the Corporal knew of it. The Alliance of Humankind falls apart due to in-fighting and OZ absorbs the remnants of the Alliance, taking the resources for themselves. The Romefellar Foundation issues a complaint to the Bench, which is disregarded. Dissatisfied Romefellar leaders issue a request for a public detente with the Colony Liberation Society. The Federation issue an order to ambush the detente with a forged Romefellar Writ of Arrest. The CLS, believing themselves betrayed, fall back to the Colonies, and Romefellar turns on the Federation.

In Amestris, the spectre of Edward Elric, struggles to remember the events that Mustang had described to him. During a conversation with Corporal Mustang, we learn that the fake Edward fa Vedris is actually Edward Elric. Mustang realizes that Edward is not dead at all, rather, he is trapped in another world. Mustang promises Edward that he will do his best to bring the boy home, and leaves Briggs. In Central City, the Prime Minister, Major General Rodolfo Avis tells Mustang, better late than never, and allows him to retake his commision and his State Alchemy Certification, and he is placed under the command of Lt. Colonel Alex Louis Armstrong, the Strong Arm Alchemist. Unfortunately, Mustang's new promotion isn't very high at all, but Mustang assures the spectre of Edward who has followed him from Briggs that Major is better than nothing, and at least with the commission, he has more access to things that he wouldn't have otherwise. Mustang's former staff is revealed to have been absorbed into Lt. Colonel Armstrong's, and when Edward accompanies Mustang into the office for presentation and breifing, it is learned that Armstrong and his staff can see Edward also. The two alchemists begin coming up with theories about why they can see Edward and no one else can. In the meantime, Havoc and Breda are joking with Edward, but a careless joke about Armstrong's position as an interogator reveals Edward's position in the Fleet as an Inquisitor. Hawkeye somehow pressures Edward into reluctantly revealing the last thing he remembers before awakening as Mustang's personal haunting, and Mustang and Armstrong lose hope that maybe they can somehow bring Edward home due to the belief that Edward is there in spectral form because he has died in the Service of the Fleet.

Armstrong and staff are sent out to the Amestris/Creta Border to investigate allegations of a rebel faction gaining power in the vicinity. Their base of operations is attacked by the rebels, and once the fighting is over, Mustang realizes that the spectere of Edward is gone. The staff mourns. In the meantime, Edward fa Vedris wakes up in the Med Bay of Transport Shuttle Pride Before a Fall which is enroute to the Command Headquarters of OZ: Emelan and discovers the extent of his injuries. He falls into depression believing that what he experienced in Amestris was merely a dream. Later, the discovery that he will never see out of his left eye because of a lucky bullet is what pulls him out of the depression. Edward is determined that dream or no, he will keep his left eye as a reminder of friends and family in Amestris that love him and miss him and to hold out hope that he may eventually regain his memories and have a small connection to his old identity. A report to Treize and Zechs leave both overjoyed to hear of their friend's recovery.

After Edward's complete recovery with the exception of his left eye, Treize, Zechs, Une, and Edward are called before the Federation Leaders. They are told that the Federation cannot care less what they intend to do as long as OZ does not turn against the Federation. They then recieve a Writ stating that OZ and all associated planets under OZ Emblem are free and independant Judiciaries outside Bench Jurisdiction. Their only tie to the Federation being Edward and his Bench Inquisitor's Writ. They thank the Bench for their generousity, and leave. Edward cannot help but be uneasy about this show of goodwill, and Treize and Zechs agree. Back in Amestris, tensions with Drachma are running at an all time high, and the Prime Minister Avis as well as Secretary of Defense, Lieutenant General Kaydence Sammons, and Major General Olivier Armstrong attempt to convince Mustang to retake his former position as Brigadier General.

CLS begins an exchange with the Thule Society. Une infiltrates the Thule Society to gather information. She sends for Edward to interrogate researchers and discovers that the Colonies are studying sub-space travel and likewise the Thule Society want that research due to the belief that they can use said subspace travel to go to another world to take their weapons for the war. Edward begins research to stop the Thule Society, and in the worst case scenario, to attempt to warn the other world in question of the impending danger. In the course of the research, he comes across a book of alchemy. His Cheif of Security, Bond-Involuntary Maes Hughes, while bringing a flask of fresh coffee to his officer, finds Edward passed out on the ground in the library.

There is a deluge of memory. In the meantime, Edward is in Secured Medical once again. In Amestris, Mustang is in a meeting with other Generals when a spectral Edward materializes beside him. Surprisingly, all the Generals can see him, and there is much consternation when Edward realizes what happened and cries outloud in joy and actually hugs Mustang while yelling that he remembers and then still hugging an utterly shocked Flame Alchemist who wonders how a spectere can embrace the living and for him to feel the weight of a supposedly dead man's arms around his shoulders, announces that Amestris is about to be invaded and tells Mustang to be careful because Edward does not know if OZ can intercept the invasion force before they cross the gate. And just as suddenly as he materialized, Edward vanishes, and after a moment of stupified silence, Mustang wonders aloud what this means for the future. He is talking to himself, of course, but since he said it outloud the other Generals decide to plan for the future that the spectere had warned them of, because while the Fullmetal was an insolent brat who caused as much problems as he fixed, he'd never knowingly lied to cause harm, in fact, he seemed to go out of his way not to cause harm. So they made preparations for every conceivable angle of attack and form that the invasion may take, because although the Fullmetal had warned them, he had not told them what they needed to know. Mustang makes a mental note to scold Edward about the proper way to give reports when he sees the young man again. even so, Mustang could not help but feel the swell of pride in his belly, because it was his prize alcchemist who was working to save them, the country of his birth, and the people who resided within its borders.

Edward awakens back in his quarters, with Treize and Zechs at his bedside. He explains everything he's learned thus far, including the return of his memories. Treize and Zechs express happiness that Edward has his memories back, and understand that Edward will want to stay with his own people once everything is over. The three then begin to use Edward's knowledge and his research as well as information transmitted by Lady Une to try to get at least eight ships across the Gate to defend Edward's home. In the meantime, Edward secretely devises a way for him to contact Amestris to pass on important information.

Six months after the initial warning to Amestris, Edward succeeds in creating an array that will let him send information to Amestris and vice versa. He learns that the Parliment has decided to change his status from KIA to On Active Duty on a Covert Operation and he has been allowed to keep his posthumus promotion to Lt. Colonel, but has also been promoted another rank to Colonel. In the meantime Amestris is devising ways to defend theselves from a technologically superior military. The Colonies devise a revolution under the name Operation Meteor. Romefeller continues to be at odds with OZ. Lady Une works on sabotageing the CLS and the Thule Society arrays while passing information to OZ.

Two years after Edward regains his memories, he is promoted to Lt. Colonel after assassinating three Colony Leaders and two Romefeller Commanders and gaining information that prevented a Coup by Romefeller on the Federation Fleet. The Thule Society succeed in opening a Gate into the world they call Shamballa and OZ discovers the fact too late. The ground beneath Central shakes and crumbles as the battleships of the Thule Society blast their way out of the cavern housing the Lost City of Xerxes. A pitched battle is waged with many losses to Amestris due to the extreme technological differences and the superiority of the Thule Society weapons even despite the weapons that Amestris constructed from blueprints sent by Edward. Inquisitors are released into Central to capture and detain the commanders of the Military as well as the leaders of the goverment. Edward finishes modifying the Thule Society's array to bring out OZ battleships above the Amestrian atmosphere and OZ begins preparations for battle.

The Thule Society Inquisitors are begining to figure out who the commanders of the Army and members of the Parliment are, and are making their way through the battling armies. Twenty OZ battleships emerges from the Gate in above the atmosphere. Surface scans allow them to pinpoint massive energy spikes, and Treize gives the order for transfer shuttles to begin ferrying troops down into Central. Edward confers with Treize who agrees to take a risk and allow the newly commisioned Battleship Fire Over Ishbal to enter the atmosphere. Six transfer shuttles enter the atmosphere with Flame Over Ishbal, and the Thule Society, recognizing their enemy from home, turn their attentions from Amestris to OZ. Edward gives the order for all MS pilots on board the Flame Over Ishbal to scramble and boards Medical Shuttle Argalier which lands behind Amestrian lines. Treize orders the Battleships Minerva and Hephestaeus to enter the atmosphere to engage the enemy. Transfer shuttles begin discharging OZ soldiers who engage the Thule Society infantry.

The Thule Society Inquisitors have rounded up the generals and active military members of Parliment. Deitline Erkhart gloats. Edward leaves Medical Shuttle Argalier and gives orders to the feild medics to tend to OZ and Amestrian injured. Zechs leads a fleet of MS against the Thule Society pilots. While Treize Commands from Command Battle Cruiser Hyperion, Edward, leading three OZ Inquisitors and eight squads of ten man Bond-Involuntary Security troops, engage the Thule Society Inquisitors. Erkhart panics and orders the Generals and Parliment to be executed. Edward defeats two Inquisitors and brings down a third before voiding Erkhart's order on the premise that the Thule Society is not a Bench authorized Judiciary, and therefore has no right to command Inquisitors. Thule Society Inquisitor Basque Gran counters that the Thule Society is an extension of the Romefellar Foundation, which is a recognized part of the Jakin-Due Judiciary and is therefore authorized to command Inquisitors. Inquisitor Gran then attacks Edward on his blind side. Edward retaliates, and an Inquisitor's Battle ensues. OZ Inquisitors and Bond-Involuntary Security Troops neautralize the last of the Thule Society Inquisitors and captures Deitline, who attempts to flee.

Skirmishes all across and under Central draw to a close, and Lady Une takes control of the Thule Society and begins ordering troops back through the Gate. In the meantime, Treize comands the OZ troops to end any still continuing skirmishes, and Zech begins the relocation of all MS as well as overseeing the protection of the feild Medics from Medical Shuttle Argalier. OZ Inquisitors and assosiated Bond-Involuntary Security, without orders from their Inquisitor Commander, begin tending the injured and ensuring that stray attacks from the two still-warring Inquisitors do not reach any bystanders while others take the Thule Society Inquisitors back across the gate. The generals of amestris begin directing troops and alchemists to begin cleanups of the parts of the city farthest away from continuing skirmishes.

The day ends and most of the fighting is over. Occassionally, Amestrian troops will encounter stray Thule Society soldiers. Most OZ soldiers have returned to the Battleships and Battle Cruisers via transport shuttles and are returning to the otherside of the Gate. On the ground, the battle between Basque Gran and Edward is still raging, though somewhat slowed. Prime Minister Avis, Secretary of Defense Sammons, as well as Mustang and Armstrong and respective staff are nearby. They notice that many Inquisitors are doubles of well known alchemists. OZ Inquisitor Roy Mustang takes it upon himself to ensure that the Amestrian officers are not caught in the crossfire between Gran and Edward. He tries to get them to leave by telling them that Inquisitorial Battles tend to be long drawn out affairs, and tend to get messy, and Inquisitors Gran and Vedris are the best there are, so an already long battle is bound to be longer. The Amestrians are confused because Gran and Edward are no longer attacking each other with weapons and drugs, but are yelling at each other by that point. Inquisitor Mustang then informs them that Inquisitors, as their names may imply, are not only experts in the feild of torture and interrogation, but also in politics and their chosen feilds of medicine, and that Basque Gran and Edward fa Vedris are experts in phsychology as well as Heir Apparent of their respective Homeworlds, therefore, Inquisitorial Battles are bound to become long winded debates in the high flown language of the Autocracy when Inquisitors rest their bodies.

The Prime Minister comments that the battle might end faster if the two Inquisitors don't stop to yell at each other, and the OZ Inquisitors laugh. The Prime Minister wonders if he shouldn't feel insulted, when Inquisitor Mustang tells them that he agrees, but unfortunately, Inquisitors are bound to the Protocols of their Writ, and there are Protocols for Interrogation as well as Battle and Examinations, and therefore, the very best Inquisitors pull obscure Protocols out at oddest times and the other Inquisitor is bound by both Writ and Protocol to respond or risk loosing the battle, and adds wryly that since Gran and Edward are the best of the best, they'll be there for a good long while.

Edward then shocks the Inquisitors by yelling at Gran to fuck off because he doesn't have time for this! and claps and presses his hands to the ground, which opens up and swallows Gran to his neck. Gran, shocked, asks how this is possible. Edward admits that he was Amestrian born and raised. Inquisitor Alex Louis Armstrong asks how this happened, and Edward admits that he was found wounded with amnesia and was transferred to a hospital, when Treize Kushrenada, struck by his resemblance to an old friend, ordered a blood and DNA test, which revealed the same blood type and genetic structure to Edward fa Vedris. It was not until the decayed body of the true Edward fa Vedris was found that they realized their mistake, and for the sake of keeping the peace, none of them revealed the truth. Inquisitor Mustang then asks for Edward's real name, and Edward gives a strange smile and tosses his head arrogantly and Mustang's staff realizes what is next, and even the Flame Alchemist is grinning. Edward says, "My name is Edward Elric. Rank: Colonel. But besides that, I am the Fullmetal Alchemist. Remember that." He finishes with a satisfied smirk.

With that, the battle is over, and Edward takes advantage of being the highest ranked Inqisitor on the scene by giving Inquisitor Mustang a feild promotion to Inquisitor Commander. Treize comes down to verify the promotrion and promises Edward that he will make sure the Thule Society's research is destroyed. Edward remains in Amestris when OZ and the Thule Society leaves. Roy asks Edward if he knew that imitation is the most sincere form of flattery and Edward scoffs and tells him that he's not imitating anyone. He lost his eye in the accident that sent him to Briggs in a spectral form the first time around.

On the other side of the gate, OZ has annexed the Romefeller Foundations' resource planets and the CSL launches Operation Meteor. The war ends with the Federation's dissolution and the annexing of OZ into Preventors under the command of Lady Une, which serves as a Military Organization dedicated to keeping the peace in the Space Wide United Nations.

In Amestris, Edward wears the uniform of a Brigadier General to Alphonse and Winry's wedding. Mustang, in the uniform of a full General, walks Winry down the aisle. The wedding is interrupted by a soldier who claims all generals have been called to an emergancy meeting in Central Headquarters. All the soldiers in the pews, mostly on Al's side, rush out of the church. Mustang and Edward pause wish the newlyweds a happy life, and dash out of the church also. Outside the church, eleven soldiers are dashing down the steps toward three military cars with the doors open.

Freeze frame. Roll credits.

Yet Another Plot Bunny

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 15:30:09 GMT

I have a new plotbunny! Well, more like the plunnie for some random FMA story I'll probably never write...

--------------

Report MR2HRH-CW23-0078

To: His Highness Prince de la Courcel

From: Major General Joseph Viltries, Marquise Avaric

To date, there have been three attempts to assassinate Your Highness' favored Ward since the previous communication to Your Highness. If His Highness the Prince is so inclined, allow this humble Officer to suggest temporarily withdrawing from the vicinity of Your Highness' Ward that this Officer may attempt to discern the nature of the threat.
This most humble Officer awaits Your Highness' reply at His Highness the Prince's royal leisure.

Your Most Loyal Servant,
Major General Joseph Viltries
Marquise Avaric

----------------------------

Report RR2MG-CW23-0079

To: Major General Joseph Viltries, Marquise Avaric

From: His Royal Highness the Prince de la Courcel

We have recieved troubling reports concerning Our Royal Brother. We will depart immediately to investigate. In that time, We leave the safety of Our Ward in your capable hands. Do not disappoint Us.

His Highness the Prince,
de la Courcel
Prince Amestris

----------------------------

As he swam to wakefullness he knew only one thing, his entire body hurt.

"Don't move, Colonel Mustang," a gruff voice said, "I know you're awake, but whether or not you are coherent will be seen later. For the time being, do not open your eyes and do not panic. You are safe with us. Thirteen assassination attempts were made against you in the past month alone. In an effort to figure out who wanted you dead so badly, we convinced your patron to leave you alone, so at least one assassin would be able to get past the protections He provides. We have the assassin in custody now, but you are still in danger. We are moving you to a safehouse as we speak. Be grateful. Not many people earn the favor of the Prince de la Courel within hours of meeting him."

He was confused. He had a patron? And a Prince at that? How had that happened?

"Ah so you are somewhat coherent!" the gruff voice was amused, "As to your question of how... I cannot answer that. If you do not know, it is undrstandable. But take heart in that only a very unique person can gain the favor of the House of Kings even after they withdrew from the Public Forum. But you have just been through a harrowing ordeal. Sleep. Rest. Heal. You are safe with me."

------------------------------

Major General Joseph Viltries looked up as a young man with golden hair and tawny eyes entered his office. At the sight of the blue uniform complete with golden engraved shoulder guards and heavy gold trimmed cape with the sabre hanging from the left hip, the General rose to his feet and bowed.

"Your grace," he said, "Welcome."

"And good day to you also, General," the teenager said, "The package was delivered safely I hope?"

"Yes, Your Grace."

"He is well?"

"The good Colonel is healing well, Your Grace."

"One day, I would like to visit the safehouse."

"If it is the Prince's pleasure..."

"It is," the teenager interrupted. "But not yet. It is not safe to do so. King Bradley must learn first that a Fuhrer is a military steward, and it does not do to attempt to usurp power from his monarch."

"With Royal Permission, Your Highness?"

The Prince made an impatient gesture. "Ask."

"Will the House of Nobles be assembled?"

"Yes. But they must be approached carefully. We do not want the wrong people to realize that the Royal House is returning to the Public Forum. That no one believed that House Courcel would truly return even despite such prominent failure as what occured in Ishbal is to our advantage, and I should like very much to keep it."

"With respect, Highness, what of the Colonel's staff? Are they to remain ignorant?"

"For now. Their ignorance will be their geatest sheild at the moment. But later, I will have need of them, and when that time comes, we will all visit the Colonel at our safe house."

"Of course Your Grace."

"I leave him in your capable hands for a while longer then."

"It is my honor to serve My Prince."

The Prince smiled. "By all rights, General, I should be saying that to you. Social ranks aside, you outrank me by three."

"With all due respect Your Highness, it is four ranks."

Golden brows furrowed breifly before smoothing out. "Heh, you are correct. I must be more tired than I thought."

"Then Your Grace should retire for the night."

"I shall expect reports on my ward's progress."

"It will be done."

"And keep that fool Archer away from my brother."

"All effort shall be made to that end Your Grace."

The Prince nodded and swept out of the office. Major General Joseph Viltries, Marquise Avaric, sighed as he watched the retreating back of the Prince de la Courcel, more commonly known as Major Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist. The teen never asked for anything, but when he did, the Nobility did their best to give it to him. He was their Prince afterall.

No, no, just no!

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 20:46:26 GMT

So I go ahead and help design a scene for a chapter for one author who was writing a GW/FMA crossover, and the next thing I know my inbox is full of requests for help from other authors. I can't fill out all those requests and still be able to do my own work!

Notes

Wed, 23 Sep 2009 19:11:15 GMT

I was flipping through FF.net and mediaminer, and was boggled by the fact that there are some really weird crossovers out there. Now, I know that my crossovers are sometimes just as weird in comparison, I mean, really, X/1999 and Gundam Wing? And tokyo Babylon with Lord of the Rings? what about Sailor and Gundam Wing? (Granted that that one was tamer than most....) and Spirale and Gundam Wing! >x< What the hell was my stupid High School self thinking?!

Now, I know I'm still going with crossovers, I mean, Look at Parallel! Naruto and Gundam Wing. What the hell drove me to write such a cross still eludes me, although how a similarity in physical appearances between Quatre and Naruto could lead to such an epic is beyond me. Now I have a massive X/1999, xxxHolic, Tokyo Babylon, Magic Knight Rayearth, Tsubasa, BLEACH concept crossover in the works, and I am totally out of it! Let's not mention the Kushiel's Legacy Series and BLEACH concept crossover that I am writing but have not posted. All of this along with the FMA fics that I'm writing under the penname Miyako no Shinkohana on ff.net, and now I am suddenly struck by the urge to write an FMA and HP concept crossover. :O_o:

Yes.

Feel the horror of weird ass crossovers people!

Now I really need to get this off my chest so here we go....

Title: Emperor Mage
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Fullmetal Alchemist.
Summary: When a mysterious terrorist group suddenly goes sctive, a secret branch of the Amestrian Military Government moves into action to counter them. In the meantime, Edward Elric must invoke the power of his mother's family as Magus Nobility and gather the Magus Pur to guard the dwindling line of the Emperor Mages, all without alerting other Magus Nobility or the Amestrian Military.

In the days of the Emperor Mage there was tranquillity and prosperity. Magus, Mundane, and Mernan lived together in peace, for all were possessed of the Gyfte in its purest form, though only the Magus could make use of it through Incantation and Foci, and they called their Gyfte Magyke. The Mundane were Magus who were possessed of the Gyfte in too large a quantity to be Non-Magus, but too little to use in Magyke. Rather, they used it with Circles and Arrays, and this form of the Gyfte they called Alchymie. The Mernan too were possessed of the Gyfte but could not use it for any purpose but the leading of day to day life.
Excerpt from The Book of Gold in the Keeping of the Duc de Montre of the Duchy Emelan

--"Look at this, Brother! It's like the stories about the Thirteen Emperors! I guess it's true that only in Amestris will the old ways hold."--

--"Your Unit is one that best represents the old days when Magus, Mundane and Mernan lived and worked together in harmony. It's the only reason why I obey you and no one else, Mustang."--

The Ending of the Reign of the Thirteenth Emperor Mage, Charles hal Mesinq, marked the ending of Utopia. Differences that had been the binding that held the Empire became the wedges that drove them apart. The Magus Nobility began to war amongst themselves, and a new Caste, the Magus Pur emerged to keep the peace while the Overlords warred amongst themselves and the Empire shattered into irredemable shards. Only the Emperor Mage's Cousins, the Ducs of Emelan did not make war against their fellows. Rather, the Ducs took the Emperor Mage's children and fled to their ancestral home of Jaseel Manor on the outskirts of Xerxes, the Emperor Mage's Capitol City, in an effort to Safeguard what was left of the Imperial House hal Mesinq. The other Magus Nobility, desiring power, followed them, and the Ducs of Emelan Invoked the Name of the Emperor Mage and asked of their kin to halt. Not a one Magus Nobility heeded the Invocation, but the Magus Pur heard and rose to the aid of the House de Montre. The Magus Pur spirited the children of de Montre and hal Mesinq to Gwythelyn Hall in Emelan where they stood guard. Time passed and perhaps even now do the Magus Pur guard still the only Loyal Hearted of the Magus Nobility and the last remnants of the Imperial House?
Excerpt from the Boon of Silver in the Keeping of the Count fa Torrene of the County Kaphik

--"No! My son cannot be a squib! He is a Mustang!"--

--"Blood for blood, Al. We need to stick together. We're all each other's got."--

--"Don't worry granny. The old rules still apply as there is no Emperor hal Mesinq to repeal them. If something goes wrong, we can Invoke our Name."--

--"You may call me Roy Mustang, or simply Lieutenant-Colonel. In fact, you may call me the Flame Alchemist for all I care. But whatever you do, remember the pain."--

--"Disgusting. Grown men brawling in the street like half trained school children. Are you soldiers or prepubescent civilians?"--

--"The kids have been acting weird lately. Almost like they were nobility."--

--"Do you regret being brought into the fold?"--

--How dare you! I am Magus Pur!"--

--"You had best remember, general, that we do not condone such malcious name calling in this military."--

--"You overstep your boundary, Squib. Do not think you can forever protect that Muggle."--

--"Instinctively, you follow the old ways despite having been disowned from a Magus family for being a Mundane. This is all the proof I need to know that you are a descendant of the Thirteenth Emperor. As a Scion of the House de Montre, which was loyal to the Imperial House hal Mesinq to the very last, it is my honor to swear my undying fealty to you, my Liege Lord."--

The Emperor Mage set Laws to govern His People, and in those Laws is stated that any man or woman, be they Magus, Mundane, or Mernan, within the boundries of their Estate is Overlord and their Word is Law, though all must adhere to the Emperor Mage's Law. Within his or her own Lands, a Person is untouchable. This Law in particular was made to preserve the Peace between the Nobility of the Emperor Mage's Court. Over Time, however, this Law came to apply to the wealthy Merchant Class as well.
Excerpt from the Book of Bronze in the Keeping of the Baron fer Chandler of the Barony Tirragan

--"I ****** Micheal ***** van ********* de Montre do here Invoke my rights over this Estate of Hallowmere withing the lands of the Duchy Emelan for by right of Blood and Name I am a true Magus Nobility and rightful Duc de Montre of Emelan. Within this Estate, there shall be no slander nor the speaking of derogatary terms including but not limited to Squib, Mudblood, Muggle, and Warlock. Proper terms for all possessed of the Gyfte will be used within the Boundries of My Lands, from Foci weilding Magus, to Array drawing Mundane, to untrained Mernan. Here, all that be done return upon us, three times three, so I Invoke, so mote it be."--

--"I, ******** Warren ***** van ********* de Montre do hereby swear my undying loyalty and fealty to my Leige Lord, the Fourteenth Emperor Mage *** Irving ******* hal Mesinq. My life and power are yours to weild as you wish, My Lord."--

I'm back!

Wed, 16 Sep 2009 19:03:25 GMT

Hiya! I'm back after a long while away. This is going to be a very long post so bear with me. There are three new stories I've been working on, and this post is to show off a few excerpts. As always the link to said stories will be scattered liberally throughout the post and if you're not in a searching mood, at the end of this entry.

Now, the below is an excerpt from the sixth chapter of my newest BLEACH story. Well, it's not exactly new anymore, but you people get the idea. I's what I've got so far so no whining about the chapter cutting off unexpectedly or your not knowing what's going on. If you enjoy this excerpt, feel free to enjoy the full story on fanfiction.net. The link will be at the end of the entry if you're interested.

Disclaimer: BLEACH and belongs to Tite Kubo and related distributers.

Summary: Dreamseers know intimately that sleep is merely a facsimile of death, and that illusions are shadows of dreams, making it ridiculously easy for them to alter the tapestry of existence in the realms of the dead. For this reason, it is forbidden for a Dreamseer to interfere in the affairs of the dead. Until a retired shinigami captain’s son began to dream true dreams….

A/N: I think I should make this clear. There will be references to works by Clamp, but this is not a crossover. This is more of a mixing of concepts.

Judgment 6: The Beast

“How are you feeling Yuzu?”

“Tired. I’m sorry you had to come to get me, nii-san. I know you have important things to take care of.”

“And my sister being safe and healthy is not important?”

“Not when the world is at stake.”

“Yuzu.”

“Please, nii-san, the fact that you were always watching me made it a lot more bearable, because I knew you wouldn’t let anything happen to me, but you also have to guide the Final Judgment…”

“Where did you get this fatalistic attitude, kitten?”

“You’re a bad influence, nii-san.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

All dreamseers know that it is forbidden for us to interfere in the affairs of the dead. Since sleep is a facsimile of death, and we manipulate the state of sleep, it would be far too easy for us to drastically change the state of death if we were to gain some foothold in the afterlife, and thus, the Creator forbade us from crossing the boundary of life and death without due cause, the ending of our lives being one of them. I, however, through no choice of my own, crossed that boundary when my mother passed on to me her latent Dreamseeing abilities, making me not only the child of a human shinigami union, but a Dreamseer with the power to break the great taboo and come to no harm. Even now, I do not fully comprehend the reason behind this, and nor do I want to know, for the price of knowledge can be a heavy one, yet I fear that I will eventually find myself with the need for this knowledge…

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Tokyo, being a location of high spiritual activity was rarely quiet. Spiritualists from all classes and lifestyles and countries made journeys to Tokyo in some way at some point in their lives. For some spiritualists, the numerous few who were born and raised in the vicinity of the magical hub that was considered the most spiritually active location in this bitter, dying metaphysical existence, Tokyo was home, and the chaos and wards and the glinting of spells and wards and the constant swelling of power in all directions and the waxing and waning of life and the flashes of spirits and demons as they flitted here and there and were exorcised or left their physical vessel was only a mass of white noise, easily ignored and always there. Everyone knew that Karakura, in the northern district of the Tokyo urban sprawl, was the most spiritually active, just as the ground that had been the original city of Edo before it was renamed Tokyo was the sacred ground on which was built the ward stones that represented the powers of the Seven Dragons of Heaven that sealed away the seven Dragons of Earth. And so it was only fitting that it would be in Karakura that the most powerful of Dreamseers since the Princess Hinoto, only average in terms of Dreamseer magic, strong because of his studies under the Princess before her death, powerful because of his capacity to interfere in the affairs of the dead. Fitting that he was born and raised in Karakura, and was destined to, though it was known to very few, die in the defense of the very magical center upon which he was born and raised.

This Dreamseer was called Kurosaki Ichigo, and he was the son of a former shinigami captain, and he was the only Dreamseer to have ever divined his fate, for his life was entwined with the war that was the Final Judgment, a final battle to be fought by the dead, a judgment that would dwarf even the sacrifices of the Dragons of Heaven to determine the new world order that was to come. If the young Dreamseer who also served as a Representative Shinigami had any opinions of his fate to come, or the tragedies he had foreseen, he never spoke of it except in the vaguest of warnings. He was, after all, a Dreamseer and a guide for the shinigami in the conflict to come, and Kami only knew that a Dreamseer always followed the pattern set before them in obedient silence regardless of their feelings on the matter, and Kurosaki Ichigo was born and would die, first and foremost, a Dreamseer.

And that was why he did not warn Urahara or Yoruichi of the two Arrancar that would be arriving in the Material World from Hueco Mundo, and neither did he show his face anywhere near the park where the two Arrancar landed. He was sorry for Sado Yasutora’s injuries and Arisawa Tatsuki’s near death and Inoue Orihime’s brush with forces that only crushed her because she could not bring herself to concentrate on her near godlike abilities, but he never spoke of what he had seen in his Dream, never mentioned that his vision spell had shown him everything that had occurred, and left Urahara and Yoruichi to drive away the Arrancar without his interference.

Yamamoto-Genryuusei Shigekuni only made passing mention of the teen’s absence during the incursion when he sent Hitsugaya Toushiro to lead an advance squad into Karakura, because as Ichigo had once told Abarai Renji, he was only one person, and his duties required his attention and he could not possibly be expected to be everywhere at once, and that meant that sometimes, he could not simply drop everything just because a Hollow, granted that an Arrancar is vastly different from the average Hollow but a Hollow nonetheless, decided that it wanted a human soul for a mid-afternoon snack. Soi-Fong and Kurotsuchi Mayuri were both of the opinion that the aged Captain Commander was playing favorites while everyone else was confused, except for Komamura Sajin, in whose mind a theory concerning the liberty given to the Representative Shinigami by the Sotaicho was beginning to form.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The ginger haired figure who moved through the streets of Tokyo dressed in a black yukata, dark green haori, and straw zori sandals attracted no more attention than other men and women who wore traditional garb while going about their business. ....

If anyone wants to read the story from begining to end, it is here: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4897136/1/Scatter_the_Illusions_of_Life

In the meantime, I've started writing of all things, FMA fanfics. They are called Song of the Forge and the Forge.

Here is an excerpt from The Song of the Forge:

Title: The Heart of Everything: The Song of the Forge Volume 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist.

Summary: When whispers of a Rebellion sweeps across Amestris and a failed assassination reveals a terrifying plot against the State, Brigadier-General Edward Elric and Colonel Alphonse Elric are dispatched with orders to stop the rebels at all costs. The only problem is that the rebels have traveled twelve years into the past.

Prologue

A young man clad in the blue military uniform leaned against the railing of the roof, staring out pensively over the city, a lit cigarette held lazily in his hand as a gentle wind blew past, sending golden bangs fluttering around his face. At the age of twenty-six, Edward Elric was the youngest of the Generals that served in the military, just as ten years ago, he had been the youngest State Alchemist certified by the state of Amestris. Actually, he still held the record for youngest state alchemist in Amestris. He sighed as he took another drag from his cigarette.

Had it really been fourteen years? It felt like only yesterday that he had been a child arrogant in his surety that he could perform a forbidden art without repercussions, only to lose a leg and an arm for his stupidity, condemning his brother to an existence as a soul bound to a suit of armor, forever in fear of his existence being snuffed out due to damage to the blood seal.

It was different now, their quest to find the Philosopher’s Stone had been a success after five long years of searching, and Alphonse had been restored to his body. Of course, due to sheer dumb luck, Edward had renewed his contract for another three years less than a month before he and Alphonse had reached their goals, and as a result, he couldn’t leave the military right away. But then a year later, war had broken out, and Edward had sent Alphonse home to recover, because even after a year, Alphonse still wasn’t used to having his body back, and as for Edward, he was sent to Drachma with the other Alchemists. Two years later, he’d returned to Central as a Lieutenant Colonel, and Mustang had been promoted to Brigadier General. That was the same year that Alphonse had applied to take the State Alchemy Exams and passed, and after two months, both been sent on a yearlong tour of Amestris with orders to stop the people from rebelling.

Now, three years later, the war was over, the incompetent Hakuro was still Fuhrer, Edward was a Brigadier General, Alphonse was a Colonel while Mustang was now a General, and while the military was busy keeping Central stable, the rest of the country was falling into pieces. Edward dropped the cigarette and ground it out with his heel. The blonde smiled sadly as he shook away the thoughts as he turned away from the railing, his now waist length braid swinging out behind him and froze as he heard the sound of footsteps in the stairway.

Instincts still active from the warzone drove him to press himself against the wall, slipping silently into the shadows, golden eyes narrowing as the door to the rooftop swung open, oft unused hinges squealing in protest. The first flicker of Amestrian colors leeched the tension from Edward’s shoulders, but then inconsistencies brought the tensions flooding back.

Everything about the supposed soldier was meant to satisfy a cursory look in the corridors, but under the light of the midmorning sun? Eyes used to picking out Alchemists hidden in the enemy ranks immediately picked out the languid grace with which the presumed soldier walked. Every single member of the military that Edward had ever met never walked; they marched. Always, as if there was a silent drumbeat constantly sounding in their heads and ever since the Drachman War, even Edward found that he had to concentrate to walk normally instead of marching like the seasoned war veteran he was. Then there was the way the man carried himself, nothing like the straight backed posture of soldiers confident in their places and duties, he swayed and slouched like a cat on the prowl. The rank denoted on the shoulder boards was that of a Lieutenant, but not only were they on the wrong shoulders, but one was upside down, and the firearm in the holster was not a military issue sidearm. While it was not unusual for military personnel to carry nonstandard issue weapons, it was an unspoken rule that if it wasn’t standard issue, it should not be carried openly.

Edward regulated his breathing, keeping each breath slow, deep, and even as he watched the soldier lean against the railing, eyes fixed on the parade ground below. Whatever he was watching for, Edward had a bad feeling that things were going to change, and rapidly.

The thought had barely crossed his mind when he saw the soldier straighten and reach for his gun. Edward placed his hand on his own sidearm, drawing it as he slipped out of the shadows, coming up behind and slightly to the left of the soldier. The gravel underfoot did not give so much as a crunch as he moved. Drachma had taught him more than he ever needed to know about moving silently through loose debris. Sharp golden eyes were peripherally aware of the soldier hefting his gun and taking aim, shifting as if he were tracking a moving target even as Edward scanned the parade ground, his eyes catching on a figure dressed in Amestris blue striding toward the Fire Compound where the Mess Hall was located. They were too far away for him to recognize the rank, but the Amestrian colors were all the confirmation Edward needed. He closed the distance between the assassin and himself in three swift steps, automail hand shoving at the hand holding the gun.

The firearm discharged, and the shot went wide, and even as the gunman’s head turned toward Edward in surprise, Edward was bringing up his own firearm, clicking off the safety as he hefted it. He didn’t even think about the target of the gunman’s bullet, knowing that the target would have likely already taken cover. And despite being a military base, gunfire was not a common sound, therefore someone was bound to have raised the alarm, and someone else would be on their way to investigate. All Edward needed to worry about was to subdue the soldier and determine the target.

The soldier’s free hand moved, and instinctively, Edward pulled the trigger. The force of the bullet pushed the man back against the railing, and Edward moved with the momentum, slamming the hand still holding the gun against the metal, forcing the soldier to release the weapon, and Edward jerked the soldier up, spinning him around and pinning his free arm between the railing and his body while twisting the captive arm up against his back. Edward pressed the muzzle of his firearm against the soldier’s back between the shoulder blades, and he felt the man tense.

“Who was your target?” Edward hissed.

He felt more than saw the soldier’s pinned arm shift, and without thinking, Edward shifted the gun down and to the right and pulled the trigger, heedless of the blood that splattered onto his previously immaculate uniform. The man jerked and a rough yell of pain cut through the air.

“Answer me,” Edward barked, “Who was the target!”

“What do you care?” the man snarled, “All of Amestris knows you hate your commander.”

“Mustang?” the name fell from Edward’s lips in surprise.

Edward’s grip must have slackened with his surprise, because suddenly, the soldier surged back against him, and as he stumbled back, the gun was kicked out of his hand. The blonde Brigadier-General didn’t bother going after the gun, rather, as the soldier pulled a second handgun from under his coat, he darted toward the stairwell. He heard the sound of the gun being fired, and he clapped as he dived for cover. Red hot pain blossomed in his side and seared through him as he lost his grip on the alchemical energy. He writhed on the ground in pain, his gloves ripping as his hands scrabbled in the gravel that covered the roof and was only faintly aware that he was screaming, and then the door to the roof was flung open, and someone was calling his name. Edward was distantly aware of the roar of gunfire and a figure in Amestrian blue dropping to their knees beside him, his name on their lips. And all he could think of was that he needed to tell them who the gunman had been targeting…

“Target…” he rasped painfully, “Mustang…”

And then there was only darkness.

~*~

Maes Hughes hurried down the halls of the hospital, green eyes dark. The moment word had gotten to him that Edward had stopped an assassination against Roy but had been nearly killed for it; he’d sent out feelers and started digging. What he’d found was not much of a surprise.

It seemed that Hakuro had stepped on a lot of toes, and the people were uneasy. Edward had barely been able to stop a civil war by going town to town and assuring the people that he had allies in the military who felt the way he did and they were working on the problem. The word of the Fullmetal Alchemist, the People’s Alchemist had soothed ruffled feathers, but people were still not pleased, but it had done the job of ensuring that Amestris would not have to fight themselves and Drachma at the same time.

At the moment, however, it had somehow gotten out that Edward was hurt, and it was because he had been trying to stop the assassination of someone high up in the military, and popular opinion was that it was because of some corrupt military official who wanted power.

True, mostly, Maes admitted to himself as he navigated the hospital toward Edward’s room, but this time, even Edward’s assurances probably wouldn’t stop a civil war from breaking out. The common populous was furious that their champion among the State Alchemists had been injured in the name of the State, and Maes made a mental note to kill whomever had let that little tidbit slip out once he found them.

“Maes!”

Maes nodded at Roy and drew him aside, speaking rapidly as quietly as he could. He wasn’t there simply because the people were restless, but because a part of the city had gone up in flames and the military police had discovered scattered notes and formulas. The theory behind an array of some sort, and in the two weeks since the failed assassination, different Alchemists had begun analyzing the notes and theories behind the scattered parts of the array were no closer to a breakthrough though there was a lot of speculation about it being a transportation array of some sort. With speculation running rampant, the higher-ups wanted to foist the entire thing onto Edward, who had a reputation for taking apart and breaking down unknown arrays and deciphering what they were for in anywhere from a few hours to a few days when it would have taken other Alchemists months or years.

The only problem was that it had been almost three weeks, and Edward still had not woken yet. It was troubling. Not even he had been unconscious for that long after the bullet Envy had nearly killed him with.

~*~

TBC…

And an excerpt from The Forge:

Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist.

Summary: The Homunculus have left Amestris in shambles, and the new Fuhrer is an incompetent who is leading the country to downfall. When all hope is lost, Edward puts to the test a theoretical array, and enter Edwin Auric, the son of Hohenheim of Light, and elder half brother to Edward and Alphonse Elric.

Prologue

“Over the top!”

In the heavy downpour, they surged forward, scrambling over the top of the muddy ditch and running, back bent, teeth gritted, squinting through the rain. Behind him, a shell tore apart the ground, and the momentum from the explosion sent him and a dozen others flying in a massive spray of shrapnel and mud. No matter – it happened all the time. Once he landed, awkwardly on his left foot and right hand, he clapped his hands together and slammed them to the earth.

He heard it, but didn’t see it. Bloodcurdling screams, then nothing, as the ground rose in solid stone spikes and tore the enemy apart. His command continued on its charge across the no man’s land, feet kicking up mud, some with guns, some only using alchemy, and some with a mixture of both. He was towards the back where the survivors always were, and it did occur to him that the men in front were being gunned down at a steady rate.

This was reality. Not every one of them could be expected to survive such a desperate charge, but the numbers involved ensured that enough made it. They literally poured into the enemy trenches, bayonets out and weapons unfurled, and the Drachmans – unsuspecting, and yet surged on by the adrenaline similar to that of cornered, wild animals – fought viciously, taking down an entire line of Amestrian soldiers before they were overwhelmed. He clapped his hands and surged in with the rest, transmuting his automail right arm into a wicked blade, and ripping his sidearm from its holster as he all but fell into the enemy trench, only vaguely aware of the soldiers falling all around him.

Before this war, he’d never wiped human blood off his automail, never actually used his sidearm, despite the military needing all its soldiers, Alchemists or no, to have some proficiency with a gun (It had nothing to do with the fact that Mustang never let him even hold a gun without supervision until he had turned sixteen.). Now he understood that killing Greed, and even being responsible for the deaths of others, was different than actually taking the life of another human. A homunculus was something born to die, an anomaly never intended for the world. Knowing others had died because of his actions was chilling, but nowhere near as chilling as actually thrusting his blade through the chest of a living, breathing human being, then turning and firing a gun into the face of the person trying to sneak up behind him.

The worst part was that it was easy. Frighteningly, mind numbingly easy. He ducked a bayonet and drew his blade diagonally across a man’s torso. He fell and was trampled by the advancing soldiers. His booted foot swung upwards, catching a man in Drachman browns and grays in the chin, before the automail slid cleanly and evenly through his chest. Ed practically tossed him off the end of the blade, and even before then, he was dead. His other hand was pulling the trigger on his gun, firing, firing, and then it was empty, and he stuffed it back in its holster before clapping and slapping his hands to the muddy, bloody ground, liquefying the dirt and mud, and sucking the enemy down in a bloody parody of quicksand. The screaming came to an abrupt halt as Edward touched his hands together and pressed them to the ground again, and the ground solidified. The battlefield took on an eerie calm as the blonde alchemist suddenly realized that the battle was over. Had been from the moment he’d liquefied the ground under the Drachmans.

Edward Elric, stood up slowly, his insides numb as he surveyed the battlefield of weary Amestrian soldiers and the few prisoners of war being led away by the victors. Once, in the beginning, when all this had started, he had been glad that Mustang and his staff had helped in convincing the teen, newly restored to a body of flesh and blood, to return to Risembool instead of following his brother to the conflict every time he saw the aftermath of heated battle. Now, he could hardly care less. The atrocities of war was whittling away at his heart little by little, and he was too tired to care.

Ever since the homunculus had been dealt with, ever since Hakuro took over as Fuhrer, Amestris had been slipping into decline. Even as his successes in the battlefield led to his being promoted, and his own commanding officers rose up in the ranks as a result, they all knew the truth. Amestris was on the verge of downfall because of the actions of the homunculus, and the Fuhrer Hakuro’s incompetence had not helped matters. Mustang and his staff and affiliated allies had raced against the clock to fix things, and little more than a month ago, Hakuro had been ousted and Olivia Armstrong had been inaugurated as Madame Fuhrer. But they knew, the ones involved in ousting Hakuro, they all knew that it was too little, too late. It would take nothing short of a miracle to get Amestris out of the trouble it was in now.

Because no matter how many battles Amestris won, Drachma had allies, and Amestris was alone. No matter how many battles Amestris won, even if they defeated Drachma, they would still have to face the other countries, and they wouldn’t stop until Amestris was only so much dust.

Not for the first time in his life, as he turned away from the Drachman field and followed the Amestrian soldiers back to their own field, Edward Elric tasted in his mouth the bitterness of despair.

~*~

“With all due respect, Madame Fuhrer, Fullmetal will go insane if we leave him on the field!”

“I dislike leaving the Lieutenant-Colonel out there in his condition as much as you do, Brigadier-General Mustang,” the woman snapped, “however we have no choice! You know full well that we need to break down his reckless streak before we can go through with our plans. However young he may be, Lieutenant-Colonel Elric is important to our plans, and until he is sufficiently tempered, he stays in the field!”

“This will break him.”

“We all thought the same about you in Ishbal, but you survived,” Olivia Armstrong’s voice was firm. “And Lieutenant-Colonel Elric knows what is at stake here. He will not crumble when we need him most. Dismissed.”

Brigadier-General Roy Mustang straightened his back and saluted and left. His face showed nothing of the doubts roiling in his mind. It had been almost two years since Amestris had entered a war with Drachma, and it had been a year since the Fuhrer had sent his staff into the battlefields, each one of them moving up in the ranks as their word of their successes went to the top. Especially the baby of their staff, the Fullmetal Alchemist, Edward Elric, now eighteen, and no longer simply a Major, but a Lieutenant-Colonel, on whose shoulders the fate of Amestris would rest if the Fuhrer had her way.

~*~

“Welcome back, boss,” Jean Havoc’s smile was forced as the blonde alchemist climbed into the backseat of the military car. “We’ve missed you.”

Cool golden eyes surveyed the older blonde and nodded slowly, “I would say the same, Havoc,” Edward said carefully, “If I could bring myself to say it.”

“No problem, boss,” Havoc’s voice was shaky, “We all know you missed us as much as we missed you. We’re all in this together right?”

“To an extent, yes.”

“Think you’re ready for what comes next, kid?”

“I would not be here if I was not,” his voice was as bland as his face.

“Got enough cash in your pockets to start over, kid?”

“More than enough.”

“How about ammo?”

“If I lack ammunition, I can transmute them. If worse comes to worse, I am a capable Combat Alchemist.”

“No watch?”

“Not allowed, and you know it,” Edward’s voice was a mixture of annoyed and curious, “What is wrong with you Havoc?”

“Hey,” Havoc glanced at the alchemist’s reflection in the rearview mirror, “None of us wanted this to happen. We’d all switch places with you in an instant.”

Golden eyes softened. “I know.”

“It’s been what? Six years?” Havoc asked, “Time sure flies doesn’t it? Feels like only yesterday that you were flying off the handle at Chief for teasing you and he was busy trying to protect you and Al from the military.”

“That was four years ago,” Edward’s voice was tinged with amusement, “Yesterday, I was on a train on my way back from Drachma.”

Havoc snorted as he chewed restlessly on the end of his unlit cigarette. “Doesn’t seem right anymore,” he mused, “I missed when you were a kid, boss. Least then, you didn’t always have the eyes of a soldier. Damn Drachma, and damn that Hakuro…”

“We all do our part.” Edward lied through his teeth, and Havoc’s eyes looking at him in the mirror told him that the older blonde knew it. “For my family, in the military and out of it,” he added, deciding to be at least a little truthful, “That’s what kept me going in Drachma. It’ll be what keeps me going later.”

“Won’t be enough kid,” Havoc’s voice was sad, “We won’t know you. We won’t know to support you. We’ll all meet Edward Elric and know to support him, but we won’t know you. Not unless….” Not unless you screw up somewhere and we find ourselves at war with the rest of the world as our opponents again…

Edward’s eyes hardened and Havoc knew that the young Lieutenant-Colonel had picked up on the unspoken words. “Alchemist, be thou for the people,” Edward said quietly, “If Amestris has that much faith in me, I will not let it be in vain.”

Havoc fixed his eyes on the road in front of him, resolutely concentrating on his driving. It was chilling to see those cool, shuttered eyes on the face of a boy he’d watched grow up. The Fullmetal Alchemist’s control was proof that the Fuhrer’s plans had gone through though. It meant that the once reckless teen’s passions had been cooled and his spirit had been tempered by the battlefield in Drachma. He was no longer a child, not even the Champion of the People that the common Amestrian people believed him to be, but a tool of the military, controlled, precise, and aware of his duty. Everything that Olivia Armstrong had hoped for in the weapon that was to be sent back into the past to prevent the fall of Amestris.

As they pulled up in front of Central Headquarters, and as Edward left the car, Havoc stopped him.

“Hey, we know you have to go immediately, so there’s no time for proper goodbyes, but here,” Havoc held out a small book, the size of a pocket dictionary. “Al had the idea for it, and Chief helped us put it together for you. It contains some letters from all of us, for different times if you need us.” His lips quirked wryly, “We even got some letters and pictures from Gracia for you, and I think Armstrong put some “family stories” in there for you. Just so you know, even if we don’t know you, we’re still with you.”

Edward smiled, though it didn’t reach his eyes, and took the book and tucked it into a pocket. “Thanks, Havoc. Tell the others that I appreciate it.”

Havoc nodded, and as he escorted Edward to the massive tent set up on the parade grounds, he tried not to think about the fact that this young man (young man because after the fiasco in the Underground City and after what he’d seen and done in Drachma, he could no longer be considered a child), who from the very start had outranked him even at the age of twelve, was about to be dropped into the nightmare of his past with only a few small trinkets and a few slips of paper as his only support. Hell, Edward couldn’t even wear his uniform for some security because of what they were trying to pull.

“Don’t think so much on it, Jean,” Edward said suddenly, his voice shaking, “Or you’ll wear down my resolve.”

Havoc stiffened at the sound of the young man’s voice, remembering times in the past when he’d sounded exactly like he was now, sounding so much younger than he actually was, and instantly spun around and threw his arms around Edward. “Dammit Boss,” he muttered, “Why’d it have to be you? You’re just a kid!”

“Because Edward Elric should never have been anything more than that child prodigy that Roy Mustang and his staff always tried to protect,” Edward said quietly. “Thanks for everything, Havoc.”

“That and you were always in the middle of everything,” Havoc straightened, and gave the Edward a shaky smile. “We’re rooting for you, boss, so don’t screw this up.”

Edward snorted, “Gee, no pressure,” he muttered, and slapped aside the tent flap and stepped inside and saluted. “Lieutenant-Colonel Edward Elric, reporting for duty, Madam.”

The Fuhrer, surrounded by officers and State Alchemists turned and acknowledged the blonde calmly. “At ease, Lieutenant-Colonel. And welcome back. I trust you have a restful journey?”

“Yes, Madame Fuhrer,” Edward said, “The trip was fine thank you.”

“You are ready then.”

“Yes, Madam.”

She took a small, leather bound book from one of her aides and handed it to the blonde, who took the book and tucked it into a pocket inside his jacket.

“This is a record of events that you can be expected to see or be a part of and contains records of personnel who may be open minded enough to help you. It will provide you with proof if proof you need to convince them. We cannot give you anything more than what you already have, unfortunately. The array will not carry anything more than what is on your person at the moment. Good luck, Lieutenant-Colonel.”

He nodded and made his way toward the massive array that multiple State Alchemists had been pulled away from Drachma to create. A hand on his shoulder stopped him. He turned his head slightly to meet a concerned dark eye.

“Brigadier-General Mustang.”

“Fullmetal,” Mustang surveyed his subordinate carefully. “Are you sure you’re ready for this? I know we can talk the Fuhrer into giving you a few hours…”

“This has to be done sir,” Edward replied, “and if I wait, I’ll probably somehow talk myself out of this.”

Mustang sighed. “Stubborn brat,” he said affectionately. “Here,” he pulled a small package wrapped in white fabric.

Edward blinked and took the package, sharp golden eyes noting wryly that the wrapping of the package was a pair of the older alchemist’s ignition gloves and unwrapped it to reveal a gleaming silver pocket watch with the flamel engraved on it.

“So you don’t lose track of time since you can’t take your watch with you,” Mustang said lightly.

Edward smirked as he rewrapped the watch in the ignition gloves and slipped it into a pocket. “My pockets are becoming fuller by the minute,” he said. “I’ll run out of space to put all of this pretty soon.”

Mustang snorted. “As if brat. I know you. You have at least a dozen pockets on that coat of yours, and at least two of them are empty.” His eyes softened. “Good luck Edward. We’re counting on you.”

Edward nodded. “I won’t fail.”

With a lot more confidence then he felt, Edward walked into the center of the massive array. He stood there, taking slow, deep breaths as dozens of State Alchemists took up their positions around the array, and clapped his hands. Immediately, the other Alchemists slammed their hands onto the outer perimeter, pouring their energy into the array. Edward swiftly slapped his hands onto the inner circle of the array as each alchemist broke off the connection, leaving him to control the flow of energy. The array flared, and Edward, only faintly aware of the eyes of the officers and alchemists on him, lifted his automail hand off the array, grabbed a knife from his belt, and slit his wrist, stuck the blade between his teeth, clapped again, and slapped his hands back onto the array.

The array flared once more, this time a blinding white, and the assembled officers and alchemists threw their hands over their eyes to keep from being blinded. The light from the array faded, and when they looked at the center of the array that had been burned into the parade ground, Edward Elric was gone.

“Did it work?” one of the generals asked.

“Yes,” the Fuhrer answered, “The rest is up to Lieutenant-Colonel Elric now.”

~*~

Chapter 1

Hohenheim was returning from the fields when an array suddenly appeared before him. He recognized the array, he’d seen it before in bits and pieces, especially on the other side of the Gate, and watched as the array sparked and flared to life and then it died out, leaving a young man, practically a child, swaying from the effort of the Alchemy. Hohenheim recognized the child instantly; his wife had given birth to him only a few weeks ago.

“So this is what my progeny becomes?” Hohenheim asked as he fixed a stern glare on the blonde boy, “What drove you to such foolishness, child? Surely I would have taught my son better?”

“You never taught me anything!” The boy growled as he pulled out a roll of bandages and wrapped up his, Hohenheim realized belatedly, bleeding wrist. “Any alchemy I know, I learned from books! My rank I earned from my superiors through hard work! The only thing you gave me was your name! If you’d never left, mother wouldn’t have wasted away from grief and neither Al nor I would be in our current positions!” He visibly pulled his temper under control and drew himself to his full height, “And the only reason why I’m here in front of you is because we have blood ties, you and I, and I needed that in order to ensure that I would arrive in Amestris at the right time and place.”

Cool golden eyes stared into surprised hazel, “I am Lieutenant-Colonel Edward Elric. You may call me the Fullmetal Alchemist or simply Lieutenant-Colonel. By order of the Madame Fuhrer Olivia Armstrong, I am to enter the past and ensure that the events that lead to the fall of the State does not occur, and I thank you, Hohenheim of Light, for making it possible for me to get this far.”

Hohenheim felt dread curl in his belly as his son from the future gave him a bland smile as he snapped off the crisp salute of a well trained military dog and said in a cool, crisp voice of an officer speaking to a particularly thick subordinate, “Greetings, Hohenheim. I am Edwin Auric. Elder half brother to your sons with Trisha Elric.”

Hohenheim couldn’t help but wonder what his wife’s reaction would be when she met this elder version of their son, because no way in hell is he allowing this reckless boy to go out into the world on his own, never mind that said reckless boy is a military dog. Or at least will grow up to be one.

~*~

The last thing Trisha Elric expected to see at the end of the day was her husband bringing home a young man with cool golden eyes and golden hair pulled into a braid. The simple sight of the man shocked her, if only because of the similarities to Hohenheim. She knew immediately that even if right now, Hohenheim claimed that she was the only woman that he’d ever loved, that he had once cared enough for another woman to father a child on her, this child; the young man that her husband had brought home. The youth smiled weakly, that small movement softened the shadows on his face, making him seem much younger than he actually was.

“I’m sorry to intrude,” he said sheepishly, “But I wanted to find my father. If I’d known he had a family…”

Trisha’s felt her heart melt at the boy’s discomfort, “It’s alright,” she smiled, “its only right that you should know your father. Do you have a place to stay? You can stay here while you get to know your father.”

“I wouldn’t want to intrude…”

“Nonsense,” Trisha smiled gently, “It’s no trouble, right, Hohenheim?”

She was concerned by how slow Hohenheim’s nod is, his eyes fixed on the golden youth beside him. There was caution in his movements, which meant he didn’t entirely trust this child. But if Hohenheim didn’t trust him, why did he bring him here?

~*~

That night, in the guestroom of the Elric House in Risembool, Edwin pulled out the files given to him by the Fuhrer and flipped through it quickly. The light from the moon was dim, but enough for him to read by as he studied the orders and the cover story he was to give. The story wasn’t something he was unfamiliar with; it had been among the first things he had memorized on the train back to Central from Drachma. He had papers in his coat to back up the cover story, and he had papers to back up the truth. He as glad to see his mother again, but time travel was a fairly esoteric art, and few if any people had ever done it. Even the massive array that had been used had been mostly experimental, recorded in the National Library, but never activated. Edward Elric was less than a year old now, and he no longer had a claim to that name. Edwin Auric did exist, but in his time, the boy’s father was unknown, and his mother never spoke of the man, and Edwin had been orphaned at six, and vanished from his orphanage at the age of eight and had never been seen or heard of since. It had been simple enough for the military to take the boy’s identity and combine it with Ed’s own records to make a cohesive record for Ed to use. No one would question his similarities to Edward Elric after he turned up in a decade or so since he’d revealed himself to Hohenheim and Hohenheim had told Trisha that he was his son. Maybe if he reappeared often enough under the impression of being undecided about whether or not he wanted to really get to know Hohenheim and at the same time be uncomfortable about intruding into an already established family routine…

It was a good plan. All he needed now, was to make the smooth transition into the ranks of the military, where he would begin smoothing over the cracks, planting the evidence, and turning the Homunculus against each other, and if he was lucky, he could get Envy and Dante to concentrate on him instead of Edward and Alphonse. That meant getting close to Mustang, and that also meant getting close to the Rockbells. That could be done easily enough. His automail would need maintenance, and Pinako Rockbell would be easy enough to convince if given the right proof. It would be nice to have a safe haven in the storm that was to come, especially since Edwin was going to be reluctant about being too much of a fixture in the Elric Household.

He pulled a pencil from one of his pockets and scribbled quickly in the margins. Yes, it was a good plan. Morning would be a good time to start setting things into motions.

~*~

“Thank you for letting me stay,” Edwin smiled sadly, “I will be on my way now.”

Trisha frowned. “But you’ve only just arrived!”

“That’s irrelevant,” he said quietly, “Hohenheim has a family. Whether or not I am his son doesn’t matter. I cannot impose on your hospitality, not even to learn more about my father.”

“Where will you go?” Trisha asked.

“The military, I suppose,” he smiled, “It’s not like I have anyone to disappoint by enlisting anyway. Hohenheim might have sired me, but as far as he is concerned, young Edward is his only son. There’s no room in his heart for me.” Edwin bowed over Trisha’s hand. “Thank you again for your hospitality.”

“Please feel free to come back if you need anything,” Hohenheim said suddenly from behind Trisha. “You are my son, and I will support you as father.”

“Thank you.”

Trisha was confused by the sudden tensing of the teen’s shoulders and the shuttering of his eyes as he spoke his thanks to Hohenheim.

“Have a safe journey then,” Trisha said.

Edwin nodded again. “Thank you and good bye.”

“I wonder if our Edward will grow up to be like him,” Trisha said quietly as they watched the teen’s retreating back, “Strong and independent and determined to meet his goals, whatever they may be.”

“I’m sure he will,” Hohenheim said quietly. Because Edwin and Edward are one and the same went unsaid. Trisha did not need to know that Edwin Auric was what their son, what their little Edward born only a few weeks ago could and would become. Hohenheim pursed his lips and silently swore that Edward would never have to go through what Edwin did, because whatever Hohenheim might have meant for his son, he never meant for that precious, fragile, golden haired infant sleeping soundly in the cradle in the living room to become a soldier who used his alchemy to kill in the name of the State.

~*~

TBC…

Okay. Linking Time~! XD

BLEACH Fics:

Scatter the Illusions of Life

(Sequel) BLEACHed Elements

FMA Fics:

The Forge

Song of the Forge

Limitations

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 03:57:05 GMT

<center>Limitations</center> Disclaimer: BLEACH is the intellectul property of Tite Kubo and all other affiliated producers. I make no profit off this work of fiction. Summary: It is a little known fact that the youong Kurosaki Ichigo was weak in body. It was not until the death of Kurosaki Masaki that the boy began to strive in earnest to overcome that particular handicap, and effort in which he was wildly successful. Seven years later, Ichigo would return from Hueco Mundo, having successfully rescued Inoue Orihime from Aizen's fortress of Las Noches to discover his father waiting at the door with devestating news. His efforts as a substitute shinigami was undoing all the progress he had made, and was speeding the deterioratation of his human body. As a result, he was dying. <center>Prologue</center> Kurosaki Ichigo was only the slightest bit concerned when his human body started slowing down, becoming easily fatigued at even the slightest exertions, leaving him short of breath, exhausted, and aching all over. He first noticed the changes in his movements little more than a month after he first met Kuchiki Rukia, but never thought much of it, attributing the stiffness and fatigue to having to readjust after spending a time out of his body. The first real sign Ichigo had of something being terribly wrong, was towards the end of his training with the Vaizards to control his Hollow. Upon re-entry of his body, Ichigo immediately found himself the victim of a heavy coughing fit, the end of which left him short of breath, and aching all over as his blood seemed to turn to sludge in his veins. Ichigo had no time to dwell on this development as Inoue Orihime was kidnapped by Aizen, and Ichigo wasted no time in leading Sado Yasutora and Ishida Urryuu into Hueco Mundo, determined to rescue their friend. The orange haired teen would never realize that the Vaizards had been concerned by his coughing fit, and had taken those concerns to Urahara, who relayed those concerns and his own suspicions to Isshin, which drove the former Shinigami Captain to perform a thorough examination of his son's abandoned body, only to make a startling discovery. Ichigo would never realize until after his return that his many brushes with death up till now, had nothing to do with lack of strength or experience on his part, but was linked to his father's discovery. In short, Ichigo's life would never be the same again...

Absent Minded

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 03:54:27 GMT

I've been a guest at so many social functions that today, when I ended up as Hostess, I totally bombed it. I'm so used to the designation of "guest" that I neglected to review my responsibilities should I ever find myself carrying the designation "Hostess" unexpectedly, which happened today. An old friend of mom's came over. Auntie's daughter and I used to play together as children, and Cindy and I have not actively spoken or seen each other in almost ten years. Now, the smart thing to do when a guest arrives unexpectedly is to immediately get up and start making tea while mom entertains, but I forgot and started cleaning instead. I didn't even think about tea until Auntie left. --facepalm-- My stupidity knows no bounds.

Kewl~!

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 18:35:52 GMT

We just had an earthquake! XD 5.4 I think. It was so damned cool to see the sign shaking, and there was the fact that we're always told to duck and cover and we were all just sitting there looking around and laughing and going, omg, thas so kewl! And then afterward, people came spilling outta the buildings and you see the security guys doing their jobs, which is a surprise considering that normally they are either standing around bored, chitchattin or sleeping in stead of patrolling and shit. XD Earthquakes are so kewl sometimes, and the entire network onnection just went down, and after it went back up, my mom was all "OMFG! are you ok? why didn't you call me?! I was so worried!!!!!!!111!!!!1!!!!11!!!!!" XD This is the first earthquake that I have ever experienced away from home. ^^ Aint life grand? XD

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 20:55:31 GMT

What sort of fucking idiot in their right minds wouold throw a fucking hissy fit over a single cup of coffee? I'll give you a hint,. the sex is female and they are old. If you guessed senile old woman called grandmothers, then you are damned fucking right.

Teaser

Wed, 09 Jul 2008 22:54:20 GMT

A quick peek into BLEACHed Elements before it officially comes out in 19 days, 18 if you don't count today...

The door opened and several papers at the top of a particularly tall stack shifted from the draft. Ichigo absently put his hand on top of the papers to keep them from flying away as he opened the file and flipped through the papers. The door closed with the quiet click of the lock sliding into place.

"Well?" Ichigo said without looking up after a brief moment of silence, "What do you want?"

The person who entered said nothing. A moment passed, and Ichigo, wary of the silence, shifted several papers and discreetly opened a hidden drawer in the desk to reveal a small hand gun which was hidden from the line of sight of whomevemer was at the door by a stack of files.

"Listen," the deathberry said, "I don't have time to fool around, so if you have to say something to me, spit it out, if you're not here on business, get out."

And yet more silence. Ichigo's frown deepened, and he masked his reaching for the gun with the movement of dropping a file into his outbox. He rose to his feet as his hand closed around the gun, and jumped as a pale hand came into his line of vision and grabbed his wrist in a firm, but gentle grip.

"Now," a smooth baritone said, "you wouldn't really shoot your own husband, would you?"

Ichigo looked up for the first time since the other man entered the office in surprise. "Byakuya!"

The noble arched a brow in question.

"Geez!" Ichigo let go of the gun and dropped back into his chair. "You scared the heck out of me!"

The noble's lips twitched. "That's why you look up when someone walks in."

Ichigo chuckled and covered his face with his free hand as Byakuya released the captured wrist.

~*~*~*~

Byakuya said calmly, “As you cannot seem to take proper care of yourself, it falls to those who know better to take care of you. And your parents have every right to be worried. You have been the target of three separate assassination attempts in the past week alone, and the most recent one would have been successful had Abarai not accidentally knocked you over while horsing about with Madarame.”

“An accident for which I have never been more grateful,” Ichigo said, “especially since it saved my life.”

“Abarai still has the bullet you know,” Byakuya said. “Apparently he wants it to commemorate his first time getting shot.”

Ichigo shuddered. “That man is insane. Getting shot is not a good thing and he wants a souvenir to commemorate it?”

“Likewise, he think you are insane,” Byakuya said lightly. “”Abarai cannot comprehend how anyone can sit in an office and deal with paperwork for as long as you do and not so much as fidget. To our understanding, most human teenagers are very easily distracted.”

Ichigo blinked. “I think that is the most I have ever heard you say since our wedding night.”

Byakuya cleared his throat and looked away. “I have no idea what you are talking about,” he said sternly.

~*~*~*~

“Ladies and gentlemen,” a dark haired woman clad in the uniform of the Elements, said, “We are all aware that the Japanese Prime Minister’s son was recently assassinated. Prime Minister Takada merely allowed his own grief to consume him. The Prime Minister’s actions are not indicative of all Japanese people’s tendencies. It could have happened to anyone.”

“Be that as it may!” another man dressed in a military uniform barked, “That does not change the fact that the Japanese attacked a roomful of delegates unprovoked.”

“This again,” Ichigo said calmly, rising from his seat, “You have succeeded in repeating the same thing over and over since this meeting began. Please calm down, or are you looking for a reason to break off the unification process and start another war?”

~*~*~*~

Hitsugaya sighed. “Kurosaki must be beating himself up over this,” the younger captain said, “After all that work to keep a war from breaking out three months ago, only to have it break out now, over an assassination…”

“Things are getting more complicated,” Byakuya agreed, “And Kurosaki in particular will be fighting two wars at once…”

~*~*~*~

“I’m sorry,” Ichigo said. “I couldn’t preserve the peace that you wanted so badly…”

The room was silent but for the steady beating of the heart monitor.

~*~*~*~

The shinigami were gathered in the living room of the Kurosaki family discussing the war that had broken out in the human war, and the difficulties that would come from it. A light footstep on the stairwell silenced the eight soul reapers and the silence was tense as Kurosaki Karin appeared at the foot of the stairs.

"Ichi-nii was just called to an emergancy conference in Argentina," the dark haired Kurosaki said quietly.

The news did not surprise the shinigami. They had known from the moment news of the war had gotten out that Ichigo would be called away at the most random of times.

"Please," Karin said, lifting determined eyes to the shinigami, "Teach me how to be a shinigami so I can fight in Ichi-nii's place!"