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[Edward Elric]

[/style][style=width: 325px; font-family: georgia; font-size: 15px; color : #hexcode; margin-top: -50px;]How can I repay you brother mine?

How can I expect you to forgive?

He dropped his salute gratefully at the acknowledgement. The arm was metal, it was lighter than flesh and bone thanks to special modifications on his mechanic's part; but it would have definitely gotten tiring standing so stiffly for too long; especially because he was out of practice. The State Alchemists were ranked high enough that they only had to salute a few of the highest ranked people; everyone else simply saluted him. And he'd never really done much of the whole military bearing stuff; he'd had no training for military work. He'd just entered thanks to his ability, and been allowed to carry out his search for a way to get his brother's body back to normal; as well as his own. Of course... The price that came with that was things like this... Being called out to serve the military in times of great need. And State Alchemists were only used in the most drastic of situations. They were the elite, their skills were wasted on petty criminals and trouble-makers. The blond youth leaned against the wall, both hands in his pockets as he managed to offer a grin to the Horned Toad.

"Thanks, I'll keep that in mind. I'm just not used to such formalities; it's normally the rest of the military soldier saluting me." He drew his right hand out of his pocket, the sliver pocket watch held up so that the man could see. "I'm a State Alchemist, we're ranked near the top back in France..." He returned the watch to his pocket and fell silent, watching the other man closely. It seemed almost as if he were being studied by this guy... It was a bit unnerving, but he had to keep his cool now. But then... He asked the question that he'd been dreading. Yes, he'd expected the man to ask about the title eventually, just... Not so soon... But he probably wanted to know everything he could about anyone sent to his aid here, so he could keep things organized and plan accordingly. The golden eyes dropped to the ground, and he struggled with the temptation to just make something up. But that really wouldn't be a good first impression whenever the guy found out the truth. There was no way to hide it; especially if he was to be fighting for them in the very near future. The blond could feel himself slipping away into memories, the reasons he had been given his title...

~~~~~~~~~~~~

There was his brother, kneeling next to him by the Human Transmutation circle; excited and nervous at the same time. They had gathered all the components of the human body, which had been combined into a mixture now placed at the center of the intricate circle. "Water, 35 liters. Carbon, 20kg. Ammonia, 4 liters. Lime, 1.5kg. Phosphorus, 800g. Salt, 250 g. Niter, 100g. Sulfur, 80g. Fluorine, 7.5g. Iron, 5g. Silicon 3g. And fifteen other elements. Those are the elements to make an average adult human body.Right down to the last specks of protein in your eyelashes." The ingredients were all there, nothing could go wrong... He and his brother dripped some blood from the shallow self-inflicted cut on their index fingers into the mixture. "This is it Al..." The blue glow began along the lines of the circle, and black mist began to rise from the ground.

"Ed, something doesn't feel right..." Alphonse said in a terrified voice. Then the Eye of Truth appeared... And Alphonse began to seemingly dissolve before him. "AL!!!" He yelled as his brother began to cry out in agony and fear. Then he fell over, pain exploding in his own left leg. He twisted around to see what it was, and saw what looked like small black hands starting to dissolve his own leg. "It can't be..." He whispered in horror. "A rebound...?" Alphonse's voice caught his attention again. "Brother! Help!" And his body began to dissolve still faster. Edward didn't realize it was his own voice holding a drawn out yell of his brother's name; when everything went white.

His memories skipped over to the moment when he'd seemed to awaken, maimed and in great agony; clinging to the stump of what had been his left leg. Ghostly echos of that pain ripped through the area where flesh met metal in his arm and leg.

He was screaming, giving voice to the anguish which had taken over him. "Damn it... This can't be happening! It can't be... This wasn't.. This wasn't supposed to happen!" He dragged himself to the edge of the circle, still engulfed in blue light. "No... What have I done? Somebody help me... Somebody... Please mom.. Please..." He opened his eyes, and saw the horrific thing that lay in the middle of the circle... Something, not human... Gasping for breath. It feebly reached toward him, then seemed to die again. There were no words to describe the despair which had lodged itself in his gut. "...No... This is... This is wrong... This isn't... This isn't what we wanted! "

His eyes fell on the clothing which lay abandoned on the ground, where his brother had been mere moments before. "Al... Alphonse! ALPHONSE!" He clenched his fist on the ground; trembling uncontrollably from head to foot. "This is all my fault... ALPHONSE, NO!" He dragged himself over to a suit of armor, leaving a trail of blood behind him, knocking it to the ground. "Damn it..." He whimpered. Using his own blood-stained fingers, he drew a blood rune inside the armor. "You won't take him too... He's my brother! Take my leg... Take my arm... Take my heart, anything! You can have it! Just give him back! He's my little brother, he's all I have left!" He clapped his hands together, something he'd learned while inside the gate; to perform Alchemy without a circle...

~~~~~~~~~~~~

He opened his eyes, not realizing he'd closed them in the first place. The entire flashback had lasted only about five seconds; but if he remained silent, The Foreigner would definitely become suspicious. After a moment longer, Edward straightened up; no longer leaning against the wall. He pulled his hands out of his pockets again, and started to pull the glove off the right hand. Once the metal fingers were exposed, he rolled up his sleeves, both the red coat and black jacket so that more of the arm could be seen. He held it up; a hollow look in his eyes upon the shadowed face. "Science... Is a powerful thing... He began with a slight hesitation. "I was 11, I'd been studying Alchemy for many years with my younger brother. We thought science could solve everything, and we had lost someone very precious to us; our mother died in that epidemic which swept through Europe around 6 years ago. In our naive young age, we thought we could bring her back, she was all we'd had as family. We wanted to see her smiling face once more... Our father left when I was 5 and my brother was 4. So... We tried the impossible, we tried to bring our mother back to life. It was my idea from the start..." His voice trailed off at the admittance.

He smiled weakly at the shining limb. "Us mere humans are like that, I suppose... We gain a bit of power, and think we can do anything... This is the price we paid for my arrogance. I lost my left leg, my brother lost his entire body. If you are familiar with Alchemy at all, then you should be aware of the Law of Equivalent Exchange. But what we made... It wasn't our mother, hell it wasn't even human. Out of desperation, I tried Human Transmutation again; and retrieved my brother's soul at the price of my right arm. My brother's soul is attached to an empty suit of armor now. You may have heard of the Elric Brothers, or seen a picture of us somewhere. The suit of armor is all that's left of my brother. I know now that bringing the dead back is impossible, so I plan on getting my brother's body back; and my own as well." He fell silent for a moment, then leaned over to tap on his left leg with his right hand fingers. The sound of metal on metal was unmistakable, and he straightened up again. "Lucky for me, we had family friends who were skilled with making prosthetics out of what we call 'Automail'. They gave me the ability to walk again, and gave me an arm I could work with as well. Shortly after, thanks to an offer from Lt. Colonel Mustang; I went on to become a State Alchemist for France. These limbs are the reason for my name, although I believe the Commandant had his own reasons as well; which I'm not to certain of."

So there it was, he'd just told his story; and he could feel the ghostly echoes of the pain he'd experienced again. To be honest, he had a feeling that telling everything hadn't been necessary. But the more truthful he was, the more likely this man would be to trust him. Then he wouldn't be sent back to France with a failed active-duty mission hanging over his head. That would certainly affect his title of being a "for the people" Alchemist. He refused to meet the Horned Frog's eyes as he put his glove back on, and then hid his arm beneath the sleeves once more. "I've told you all this because I want no secrets between us. But I would appreciate it if you didn't mention any of this to anyone... Unless it will play directly into whatever tasks I'm given." He said softly, finally looking back up at the man as he leaned against the wall again. "Equivalent Exchange..." He murmured, considering the Leader. "I've answered your question, now would you be so kind as to answer mine?" He paused, then broke eye contact again. "You know my story... Now what are your thoughts on me? Do I appear before you as a arrogant youth who has no knowledge of the way things work? Who gives no regard to reality, and who isn't worth your time? Or am I one whom you would be proud to have fight by your side, who wishes only to correct his own mistakes?"

ooc: Woot, long post. -fingers fall off- T^T Never again is Edward going to talk so much. -dies-

[/style][style=width: 325px; font-family: georgia; font-size: 15px; color : #hexcode; margin-top: -50px;] Clinging to the past, I shed our blood,

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And shattered your chance to live...

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credit to stella at khu

[The Horned Frog]

As Edward was talking, the Horned Frog merely sat there. His eyes closed in deep thought, his hands in front of him and intertwined together. The Fullmetal Alchemist story was very concurrent from what he had heard from the French government, so the Foreigner wasn't a stranger to Edward's back story. It was just better to hear it from his own mouth, in his own words. The tone was honest and sincere. The Frog could feel Edward's struggle in the face of such a strange occurrence and unfamiliar territory. Sure, it was similar yet far different from what the Horned Frog had experienced.

In those few fleeting moments before having to respond to Edward's questions of worthiness, David drifted into the memory banks of his soul. A heart bound by both wonderful and dreadful experiences. The wonderful to keep him optimistic about the future, but laden with enough pain to drive him from just throwing the yokes of burden off of his shoulders and fade away into obscurity. To make sure that no one had to fight and kill like he had too to make the world a better place. It was something that, according to his understanding, would never grasp onto. He was many things: savior and destroyer, saint and sinner, guardian and traitor.

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

Outside of Dulce, New Mexico...

His rage had filled his heart as he had escaped his prison. Like Abaddon rising from the abyss, David had emerged from both time and hell itself. He fought his way in with Jen, and fought his way out alone. Spawned from a massive explosion that the time machine had discharged, he took the opportunity to free himself from the seven levels and find himself in the heart of the New Mexican desert. But he couldn't get over his mourning from the loss of his trusted ally and best friend on his travels to get to the Dulce base. Tears of loss flooded his eyes as he pressed on. Ringing in his ears were Jen's last words before activating the gateway to the past.

"...Rome and the Sable Cicada are waiting patiently for ---" was all she could muster before the former mercenary was cut down by gunfire. Then, the lights flashed before his eyes and pulled into the Magdalene's back flowing river of time. Choking on those thoughts, his mission was clear. As his mind was sharp with hatred and vengeance, his body was growing tired. The hot sun baked the land in front of him, yet he trudged on. Moving forward for fear of the Majestic 12 hunting him down in this time and era. His skin was burning, mouth was dry, but the fires of revenge pressed his heart to keep beating even as his skin burned and senses started to fail him.

Soon, he had fallen to his knees. Was he going to die here? Panting as the sun strengthened its death grip upon his exhausted body, hunger had overcome him. He had went without food for over a week now. Water for over two days. But he had to press on, he had to. He didn't want to falter in his god forsaken piece of earth, his mission not realized. The Dark Church winning the battle against those who seek freedom and a fate that would never be predetermined by anyone or anything. His lungs gasped for air, his eyesight blurring and distorting reality itself. The end was near for David Rosenzweig.

That was until something quick scampered over his hands. His violet eyes shot to where it was projected to go. It was an unusual sight to behold in his last moments of existence: a Texas Horned Lizard. Known as a Horned Toad or a Horned Frog due to its spiky and bulky body structure. It had stopped briefly to examine the thing it passed under to see if it was indeed a threat to the reptilian's life. When it realized that there was no harm, it continued its path a few yards away to what appeared to an ant hill. It then took its spot on top of the opening and vibrated its body to bring out its food source. In a few moments, the ants covered the small creature, attempting to attack it by biting their attacker. Yet the horned frog's skin protected it and feasted upon his unsuspecting meal.

It hit David, just like that. Yes, it was not something that typical kids from the city would eat. But he had to persevere. A few feet away were a series of ant hills. That lizard was his savior right now, his mind shouted at him as he scrambled towards those small mounds of red soul. His fiercely rubbed his hands on each opening, prompted its defenders to come out to fight for their home. They soon swelled to a great army of insect warriors, covering David and biting him relentlessly. It stung and felt like a small jolts of pain, but it was a temporary feeling as David shifted to sit in a position of meditation. The gift of regeneration and his new-found iron will had fed him and replenished the very fabrics of his soul.

And due to that tiny horned toad, he found the strength to keep moving, even when David was in his darkest hour. He just had to believe in something beyond himself. Beyond the human world and embrace the natural order of things. As long as he believed in a higher source, his soul would never let his body perish from existence. It would always somehow open up something in his favor. As long as it was bringing right to the world once more.

----------

It was that moment where David moved to become more. And where he had become The Horned Frog. By now, his eyes had opened and stared into Edward's own. His face was stoic and solemn. He had to see what this alchemist had within him besides words. At this moment, he didn't care about secrets or personal information. All he wanted to know was if Edward was willing to sacrifice and become the flame that will carry on the torch of both the Great Alliance and humanity itself. Whether one was made up of flesh and blood to that of metal and machine, as long as they laid everything on the line. Body, mind, and soul. That's what mattered most.

"Frankly, Edward...I do not care whether you are young, whether you are old. Whether you are great, whether you are small. The matter of worthiness is what you are willing to put on the line, not just for family or country, but for your fellow species. That's what we're all about here at the Great Alliance. That when the Imperium comes and that day causes our pillars to fall, that others will place those foundations on their shoulders and carry on the good fight," The Horned Frog responded. His voice was deep and foreboding, as if he may die in the line of fire. That the Great Alliance would fail in the face of an unstoppable threat. Even though in his heart of hearts, that should never happen. But he had already devoted his entire being to preparing for something that was unknown and deadly. It was the sacrifice he had made, as he had firmly believe that nothing should take away anyone's right to destiny and freedom to live their life the way they should. Regardless if it is for good or for evil.

He continued onward. "However, if you fight to only redeem yourself in the eyes of a power beyond our comprehension, then this not for you. In the Alliance, we don't have time to make right with God, whenever that may be. We only have a limited time to prepare ourselves and fight against anything that threatens this planet and the peoples living upon it. And that limited time requires devotion and sacrifice," he finished sternly, his facial expressions as if created from granite. And again he waited for Edward to speak once more. To see his reaction, to see if Edward would accept or decline. Yes, everyone that he knew had to sacrifice, especially Edward. But both were in high positions now. And with the goal of protecting both humanity and the Tartalians, he was willing to give up everything...even his own life to make sure it will stay that way.