Chapter 1: Wool

To the FF:
The idea came to me a long time ago. I still remember exactly what I intended to write "originally". That has changed quite a bit now.
Among other things, Hughes' death does not appear * laughs *
What you have in front of you is pure drama! Be prepared for it. There COULD be dead!

Author: Edphonse15
(C): Hiromu Arakawa
Genre: Drama, Mystery
Number of chapters: 7

You already know the table of contents. Possibly. but I change it again. Let's see.

And now have fun with the first chapter of my first FMA-FF * __ *


______________________________________________________________________________


THE BIGGEST TABOO


Chapter 1: Wool

The high midday sun could be seen in the sky when the Elric brothers were just in front of the headquarters of the Central City military. Roy Mustang sent the message to the Fullmetal Alchemist that there was a new assignment. Edward Elric's answer to that was just a mischievous smile and a few quiet words.
"Well, I'm a lackey in the army ..."

While Alphonse Elric, Edward's little brother, was waiting in front of the building, Ed entered Colonel Roy Mustang's room. The black-haired man noticed that the door opened, which is why he turned around - he had just seen out the window.
"Hello Fullmetal" he greeted the 15-year-old state alchemist.
“What job do you want me to do this time?” Edward just started. Just wanted to get away from this place.
"Nana. Don't I even get a proper greeting anymore?"
“Talk!” The boy seemed to be in a hurry.
“Good, good.” Roy got up from his comfortable leather chair and handed Edward a thin brown folder.
"It is rumored that a new human transmutation has occurred."
"What ?!" Ed interrupted his superior.
Roy cleared his throat briefly before continuing. "To the west is the town of Wool. Apparently, according to some eyewitnesses, a dead woman was seen walking around."
"A dead person?" The blond managed to get out, horrified. Roy just nodded. Ed gritted his teeth as he clenched his hand into a fist ..
"Are you going to take care of it?"
Edward Elric, state alchemist and thus lackey in the army, nodded with a serious look and turned around.
"Fullmetal", came the voice of Roy again. "Take care of yourselves."
But Ed, who had just stopped, didn't reply and left the room in silence.

Al sat on the stairs that led to the front door and played with a stray cat - which then ran away from scratching the curve. She must have guessed what was coming next. "Wamm" made the big iron door of the military main building before an angry Ed stepped out.
"Come on Al, we're going!"
The little brother, whose soul was tied to an old armor, got up and followed the blond boy without a word.

It wasn't long before they got to the train station. Ed had been silent so far, but now Alphonse finally wanted to know what had happened."You Ed?" The little brother, who was about two meters tall, began. "Will you tell me what Colonel Mustang said?"
Edward stopped short. Alphonse too. After a few seconds of silence, the Fullmetal Alchemist started talking.
"A human transmutation ..."
"..." Al widened his eyes.
“We should see if the rumor is true!” Edward said these words bravely.
"Ed?"
The long silence of the blond unsettled Alphonse. What was going on inside Edward? The younger one suspected, however, that he was unwell. After all, they hadn't had a good experience with human transmutations themselves - which was apparently what the assignment was.
“Let's go, brother.” Alphonse tried to ease the mood. They couldn't just go about their own search, but the path to Wool would distract the young alchemist for now.
But Edward got ahead of him. “And when all of that is done, we'll give you your old body back!” Determined, he turned the blonde around so that Al couldn't contradict.

Major Alex Louis Armstrong had seen Ed and Al briefly, so he went to see Roy Mustang.
“Colonel Mustang!” His voice pierced the whole room. His hand, whether briefly in greeting, stood at attention in front of the superior. "I just saw Edward and Alphonse Elric leave town ..."
Roy stood up and raised his hand to greet the major as well. Then he nodded at the other's statement.
"Look. Even though Edward is a state alchemist and thus a military man, he's still a kid."
The strongarm alchemist's famous glittering stars had completely disappeared - he seemed serious.
"I am very well aware of that, Major. But I just can't resist the Field Marshal." Roy had fixed his gaze on Armstrong and seemed to pierce him downright. The major understood his situation. He, too, had already carried out many unwanted orders ...
A soft "Please excuse me" escaped Armstrong's lips before he left the Colonel's office.
"The poor boys ..." he said to himself before he met Havoc.

The train was pulling in and Edward and Alphonse entered the iron giant.
“It's not far to Wool.” The Fullmetal Alchemist mumbled to himself, looked out the window one last time and then sighed loudly. Al didn't say anything. He was lost in thought himself. The soul stuck in the armor had noticed it quite often. Whenever it was a question of getting their bodies back, Ed always spoke only of Alphonse's body - but not of his. That bothered the younger one for quite a while. But he couldn't speak to his big brother about it either ... Deep down, Al felt a certain restlessness, almost fear. But he didn't know why."... phonse? Al?" I heard the soul stuck in the armor and was startled.
"What? Sorry, what did you say?"
"What's the matter with you, Alphonse? You've been so different lately ..." Ed looked worriedly at his little brother.
Al, however, only raised his hands, which he wiggled back and forth soothingly.
"You're just imagining it. It's nothing. Really!"
Ed looked at the suspicious, but then left it at that. "If you think so. Anyway, we'll be there in a moment."
“Ah!” Al said briefly, looking out the window.
A huge lake stretched in front of them - you could hardly see the other bank. Due to the speed of the train, the azure blue water rushed past the two of them. Immediately afterwards you could see the city on the lake - Wool. A few minutes later the Elric brothers were standing at the train station in this relatively small town with its huge lake.
"Really nice here," said Edward with a smile and looked around - then stretched out extensively and was already excited about the further course of their journey.
"You're right, Ed. Where do we have to go now?"
Edward paused. “Wait a minute!” Then he pulled out the brown folder Mustang had given him and looked. "There should be a barn-like building right next to the clock tower ..."
That made it clear what to do. Since clock and church towers were mostly to be found in the city center, the Elric brothers suggested moving to the city center.
"You Ed?"
"What then, Al?"
"I don't think we're very welcome here ..."
“What are you talking about Alphonse?” Edward now turned to his brother, since he - as always - had gone ahead. And discovered the angry-looking crowd.
"Uh ... people?" Even though nobody seemed to be listening to him, Ed still tried to placate the crowd. "We come in peace!"
"It won't work like that ..." thought the little brother, while he was a little ashamed of his own brother.
"What's wrong with you guys? We just got here."
"We know who you are."
"Eh?" Sure, everyone knows that, added the blonde in his head. "They call me the Fullmetal Alchemist! That's it, right?"
"As we said before. We know who you are, Edward Elric!"
That was getting a little too silly for the boy in question. "Now finally say what you want from me!"
“Your lifeless body.” Was prompt answer. People seemed to hold grudges against the young alchemist.
"Uh ... Yeah, good. Sorry guys, but I can't do that. Bye!"
Ed suddenly ran off like lightning. Al, who only realized this a little later, followed him as best he could. But also the villagers, who divided themselves into groups in order to have more success in the search and hunt.
"Come on, Al! Hurry up!" The older one called to his little brother, who was a good bit further back.
"Wh-wait, Ed! I can't go that fast ...!"But the 14-year-old couldn't get any further because one of the groups had surrounded him and couldn't leave." ED! "
However, the addressee could no longer hear this call ...

Completely out of breath, Edward propped himself against the wall of the clock tower. The state alchemist did not know how he found him and why he was apparently no longer persecuted.
"We ... seem ... to have left you behind ..." the blonde gasped and looked up at Al. "Alphonse?" Ed hadn't noticed until now that his little brother was no longer there. "Damn it!"

In the meantime, part of the city had hidden the 14-year-old in the basement of the town hall. To prevent him from escaping, they tied the armor to the building's support beam.
"Now talk at last! Where is Edward Elric?" A man who seemed to be around 50 years old had stepped in front of Al and looked at him angrily.
"I don't know," replied Alphonse. And although it was the truth, no one seemed to believe him.
“I hate to repeat myself,” the man threatened. "Where's the Fullmetal Alchemist?"
Al was in a mess. But how was he supposed to get out of here? "But ... I really don't know where Ed ..." Alphonse paused. He had just remembered where they were going. The 50-year-old noticed this, but quite long, pause in his sentence.
"Did you remember?"
"N ... No!" Al stuttered. He just wasn't a good liar.
“Why are you protecting this murderer?” The man sounded calm, but his eyes flickered.
"What ?! Ed isn't a murderer! Never!" Ed wasn't a murderer, the blond boy added in his mind.
"You seem to know the full metal alchemist well ..."
“Ed is my brother!” Shouted the youngest of those