Sixth Transmutation [Action + Voice/Video]

[sonofgold]

Who: Alphonse Elric and YOU
Broadcast: Fleetwide
Action: Various; see prompts below. If you would rather do prose, I will match.
When: Between February 28th and March 6th

[ACTION # 1- While armor and still unconscious, February 28th-March 6th, various places]

[Eventually, somehow Al had been brought back to the Vanquish, to be laid out in the lab still in pieces while he was unconscious. Crewmembers and friends were, of course, free to visit him and try to wake him up, but they would get no response. Anybody with the ability to perceive his soul would find it was still there, but resting peacefully.

Al's mind was elsewhere, however- as far as he could perceive, he had gone back home, and the Drift Fleet was completely gone from his memories. He'd been deposited back into the snowstorm at the exact moment he'd left it. He'd gone to find Winry and Scar's group, to warn them of the danger at Briggs. Then he'd gone traveling, separated from Ed for months, helping Hohenheim, Scar and the others take the steps to lay the trap that would ultimately defeat Father. He had been captured by Pride, then freed just in time for the Promised Day. Eventually Ed, Teacher, Mustang, Hohenheim and many others had helped to bring Father down for good- though Al himself hadn't seen it, as he'd sacrificed his soul, reunited with his body so that Ed could have his arm back.

And towards the end- around March 5th or so- if anybody happened to be around in the lab, they would see Al's armor briefly disappear, dissolving into pieces and vanishing into thin air. However, it was only gone for a few moments before it was replaced by a blond-haired boy. Emaciated at first, the body would quickly gain back fat and muscle, until he looked normal and healthy.]


[ACTION # 2 - Vanquish, March 6th]

[Al could feel the coldness of a metal table underneath him when he came awake- which was strange, because he'd fallen asleep on the train to Xing, with Mr. Zampano and Mr. Jerso keeping watch, as they'd promised. He fought down the urge to panic, to wonder if somehow their enemies had come back and gotten ahold of him again... and when he opened his eyes, the memories came flooding back, and he knew where he was.

Back on the Vanquish. He'd gone home for more than two years, and had somehow, for some reason, been returned to the Drift Fleet. And, more than that, he remembered his and Ling's attempt to open the portal home, and something blocking them from leaving before he blacked out. But what had been in the way? And if the transmutation had so obviously failed, why had he gone home anyway just to come back as he was now?

He groped for his communicator, but knowing there was a chance that the entire "cast" he had known had been replaced in the meantime, decided to exercise caution and take a look around first. He decided to look for Clay first... and if not, find out who his new captain was and try to explain how and why he'd not woken up on the Marsiva as normal.

Once he learned that he'd only been gone a week here, he still took the time to look around the ship again, satisfy himself that everyone and everything was here- that Rogue and Katie and Hermione and Haruka and the others were all here and in their place. He also wanted to feel his home, really feel it with his hands and see it with his eyes and hear and smell it as he should have.]

[ACTION #3 - Wildcard, March 6th and afterward]

[Would you like to run into Al anywhere else? Name a time and place and he'll be there.]


[NETWORK BROADCAST- VOICE AND THEN VIDEO]

[What was Al going to say to everyone, when he knew his and Ling's attempt to leave had caused them to feel pain and loss? How could he make it up to them? Because he knew how they must be feeling. He was sure people would be relieved that he was OK, that he'd gone home, that he and Ed had won... but he knew some of them would be angry, too.

He cleared his throat and plunged in:]

Uhm... hi, everyone, it's me, Alphonse. I'm still not entirely clear on what happened yet, but I do know that in my mind, I went home for a while. I- I was apparently a mess back here, though. I'm so sorry that people had to see me in pieces and unresponsive. I know it had to have been scary, especially since Ling and I are the only ones who have any familiarity with alchemy.

The truth is that Greed and I were trying to transmute a way for us to go home, and it backfired. I should have known better... should have known that Atroma wasn't going to let us go that easily, and I should have told my friends here what I was up to, in case something did go wrong. I thought it would be easier for me to leave if you didn't know. And I know some of you are going to be angry, and that's okay. I'll do my best to earn your trust and forgiveness.

But I did want to say...

[He then flips on the video, showing that he was a normal human again- short-cropped gold hair, golden eyes, the whole works, and smiles shyly.]

I got my body back. This... this is the real me. And part of me is glad to be back just so my friends could see it.

Comments

#1 Open to lab visitors

[flickerflash]

[Katie doesn't say anything and, in this case, doesn't worry too much about being obvious, though she'll wait until the lab is empty to begin-- it's easier to engage her glamour that way. Just peers at the pieces of armour laid out in the lab, skirts them, and picks up two pieces seemingly at random. It's a very careful examination. She puts one down, picks up another, closes her eyes a moment, then sighs.

This one. Piece number three. That fits. That feels right. She lays them side by side, licks a finger, and runs it down the edge of both, before pushing them together to fit seamlessly, and the break between them seals up and vanishes from existence. There, that's a start.

Some parts of the armour are more easy than others because it's obvious what piece goes where. She'll fit them back together three, four pieces at a time. If she just fixes the armour, Al will be okay, right?

...don't answer that.

She's very, very careful not to disturb the blood seal. And she's only half done before she starts swaying on her feet, so she might... have to come back for the other part once she's slept. It's very draining business, fitting jigsaws back together.]

[survivalistcookbook]

[Eugene's mostly been at the fringes of what's happening with Al. It only seems fair, considering his . . . overall less than stellar social skills for the past few months. But he drifts past the lab more than a few times, and when he sees Katie in there and looking quite a bit more tired than the last time he saw her, he raps lightly on the doorframe, leaning in.]

-hey. Doing okay in here?

#2!

[survivalistcookbook]

[Unavoidable in any rounds of the ship is the kitchen. Where - surprise surprise - Eugene's puttering around in.Mostly trying to small-batch invent a decent chili recipe that he can put out on the network. It's still in the 'disgusting goop' phase, and he's just sitting back to look disapprovingly at his meat-flavoured solids when he sees a flicker of movement at the door and glances up. At . . . someone completely unfamiliar.]

-oh. Hi, sorry. Can I help you?

[sonofgold]

Eugene... [Al stopped short, mouth slightly open, not sure what to say. His voice was the same, of course, except not as metallic as it had been in his armor. Was this the same Eugene he knew, or was it a "fresh" version of him, picked again by Atroma for their cruel game? He had to try explainign things, because either option- that he'd been stuck here for two more years or that he'd been kidnapped again- was depressing.] It's me... it's Alphonse.

[video]

[passingthrough]

[She recognizes him this time and would have even if he'd started with video and skipped the introduction, though he's older than she remembers in the prison.]

You're looking better. [Which isn't put down on the armor so much as the bits and pieces of it strewn about.]

[video]

[sonofgold]

[Al grinned.]

I'm all in one piece, at least.

Video

[save_the_souls]

[There's a lot Allen could say to all this. And honestly there was a lot he WANTED to say to Alphonse once he woke up- since seriously dude, what a load of bad choices you made there]

[But seeing Alphonse as human? Completely throws him for a loop. Not just a human, but older than how his soul would always prepare. Like he actually got his body back. But never has that ever...]

How?

How did you get your body back?

Video

[sonofgold]

[YEAH he's made some bad choices, he wouldn't deny that.]

It's... it's weird. I went home for two years in my mind, but I was only gone for a week here. As to what happened... we got into a battle with our enemy's leader, and my armor was falling apart, so I sacrificed my soul to give Brother his arm back and reunited with my real body. Then Brother gave up his ability to use alchemy to bring me back to the real world.

video.

[brainiest]

[ She has no idea what transmuting is, no idea why he was trying to make a portal home - okay, no, that one she can understand - but it all sounds so dangerous and ridiculous that a wave of frustration overtakes her. It's the kind of ridiculous, stupid thing that Harry and Ron would try and the nostalgia ties up with the frustration to make her a little more snappy. ]

Do you need to come to the medical rooms? I can give you something if you need it.

video.

[sonofgold]

I'm fine- really. [But he hears the snappiness in her voice, and hangs his head a little.] And I'm sorry.

Video

[notmutantbutmiracle]

It is good to see you again Alphonse. Though, "nice to meet you" almost feels more appropriate.

Video

[sonofgold]

I'm glad to see you, too, Wanda. And it does, doesn't it...? I'd been in my armor for so long, this is almost like a new me.

[Video] 1/2

[flameandpassion]

[ the voice is what causes her to turn on her comm, but the image has her temporarily forget what she's about to say. and so alphonse is treated to a wide-eyed stare, mouth slightly open. it's very undignified, and really not becoming. ]

[Video]

[flameandpassion]

[ -- but then she finds her voice. ]

What were you thinking?

[ it escapes before she can properly stop herself, because this al isn't her al, and while her al was far accustomed to rei's fits of misplaced anger, this one probably isn't. whoops. ]

We have no idea whether or not people come back to life here, or whether or not alchemy can even -- you could've not come back at all, and the ends don't justify the means! Getting out of here is a priority, but not when so much can go wrong! It took -- it took us years to figure out how to get out of Adstringedum, and this place is even more restrictive than the other universe, and you decided to work with that idiot to do it?

[ who tf is ling YOU OBVIOUSLY JUST DID THIS WITH GREED ]

video

[pain_train]

You went home for a while? How does that even work? How did that happen? I didn't even know that was a thing.

But um. I'm glad you got your body!

video

[sonofgold]

I'm not sure how it works, myself... especially because, as far as I could tell, I was gone for more than two years. But here, only a week has passed.

[video]

[avaricious]

[... so that's it? All that shit they went through and then Al just comes back back to normal and not just that, but back in his original body?

And he was still here. Still here reeling from what happened. That and alone.]

... you stupid bastard. You managed to actually leave and then got yourself dragged back here?

[video]

[sonofgold]

... yeah. I went home for more than two years, somehow.

[He then hung his head.]

I'm sorry.

video - kind of

[nerdeology]

[Mikleo doesn't generally get involved in things that don't have anything to do with him, but Greed's been incredibly close-mouthed about it all, and he's both confused and curious about what went on. Seems like this is the one to talk to for answers.

There doesn't appear to be anyone on the screen, but his voice comes through clear enough.]

You're saying that you were in that armor?

[There was a person in that? For real? What??]

video

[sonofgold]

Yes. It's... it's a long story. My soul was bound to that armor, but I was able to return it to my real flesh and blood body.

#2

[geonomy]

[Clay's taking a little break from hovering in the lab waiting for Alphonse to wake up. He had gone to get some food, but he obviously didn't complete that goal, seeing how that plate of food is on the table in front of him while he pillows his head in his arms, sleeping a bit fitfully. He twitches, hands curled into fists before relaxing a little again. He hasn't been getting a lot of sleep lately, both from the worry of Al's state as well as the nightmares he's been having - like the one right now. This sort of tense atmosphere and the shape Al's body is in just takes him back, no matter how hard he tries not to think about it.]

[sonofgold]

[When Al finally find himself waking up, he let out a gasp at the unfamiliar surroundings- but it was only a short moment before memories came flooding back. The failed transmutation... seeing his body at the Gate... before he'd gone home.

So he'd been taken back. But he'd been gone for two years... so why was Clay still here? Had he been trapped for that long? Al sat up and looked at Clay, considering whether or not he should shake him, wake him up.]

Clay...?

[And at the sound of his voice, Cosmic, who'd wandered into the lab after smelling Clay's food, began to yap at the unfamiliar face.]

Cosmic, too...

Video

[alwayscomeback]

Al! It's great to see you're okay!

[Okay, no...wait.]

Your real body?

Video

[sonofgold]

I'm glad all of you are okay, too.

[He nodded.]

This is who I was before I became armor.

video;

[universal_charm]

_{[ Wow, there are a lot of questions that run through his mind hearing all of that, but he took a page from Spock's book and decided to order his thoughts and work through them one by one - starting with the least personal of them. ]}

If you don't mind - could you explain what you mean by 'transmute a way back home'?

video;

[sonofgold]

In my world, there's a science called alchemy that I'm something of a specialist in. I was trying to use alchemy to cross back to my own world... or dimension, I suppose... but, of course, it didn't go well.