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

[notmutantbutmiracle]

[Wanda smiles at that.]

Well, I am glad that you have been able to re-adjust. It must feel so surreal, to be back here and to not be in your armor.

[sonofgold]

It is... especially because I was home for so long, but only gone for a week here. I need to keep reminding myself of that.

[notmutantbutmiracle]

I cannot imagine that makes for an easy adjustment.

[She gives a small, half-smile.]

You do sound older though.

[sonofgold]

Mmhmm- I'm 17 now. I had a lot of growth to do after I was reunited with my body... and a lot of new things to see and do and taste.

[notmutantbutmiracle]

17? You were how old then before?

[sonofgold]

14, almost 15 when we reached the end of our journey.

[notmutantbutmiracle]

[Okay, Wanda's probably making a bit of a face now. She honestly had not put together how young Al was exactly. Granted, a bit hard to do when he was a soul attached to a suit of armor, but still she's definitely looking a bit surprised and puzzled by this.]

I see.

[Does that mean he essentially skipped puberty then? Wanda shakes her head, clearing it of the thought. Not the right time or place for such an odd question, and there was likely never going to be a suitable time or place for it.]

[sonofgold]

Yeah... my body was still growing on the other side, so I was able to still age in a sense- Brother's and my souls are connected, so some of his sleep and food were going toward keeping me alive. But he obviously couldn't do everything, so my muscles were atrophied and the like. I had to spend some time in the hospital recovering.

[notmutantbutmiracle]

Your body was... growing? How is that possible?

[sonofgold]

[Aaaand this is where it becomes difficult to explain stuff without putting in the whole "I tried to resurrect my dead mother" thing.]

Well, alchemy works on the principle of equivalent exchange- to obtain, something else most be lost. When you try to attempt a transmutation far beyond your skill level, as Brother and I did, there can be a rebound. My body was taken as the price to meet equivalent exchange, but because Brother's and my souls were still connected, my body was kept alive instead of disappearing. It stayed at the Portal of Truth, which is inside all humans and gives them the potential to do alchemy. We just had to find a way to pay the toll so I could go back to the Portal, reunite it with my soul, and bring it back to this world. Brother sacrificed his own ability to do alchemy as the payment.

[notmutantbutmiracle]

[Wanda has certainly had to get over several mental hurdles already since arriving in the Fleet, but this... this was proving too much for her to understand completely. She, understandably, looks rather perplexed by Al's explanation; ultimately, deciding to write off as just one of those "other world/reality" things she's never going to be able to fully understand as someone not from there.]

Alchemy... but you said that you tried that here, didn't you? How is that possible exactly?

[sonofgold]

Greed has extraordinary healing abilities, so he offered his body as the payment to try and travel back home. We knew he'd regenerate from it right away.

[Which... isn't exactly a lie, and seems like a better explanation than the whole "by the way he's made of people" thing.]

[notmutantbutmiracle]

[Wanda shakes her head, realizing her message may have been misleading.]

I meant, how is something that is only doable in your world able to be done here as well?

[Then again, now that she thinks on it, it's not like she lost HER abilities when she arrived in the fleet. And, it's not like other people lost their's either. In Alphonse's case, it just seemed like this "alchemy" of his would really only be achievable where he is from. This "gate of truth" being the key to it. Though, perhaps that was purely Wanda's own misunderstanding of how exactly it all works.]

[sonofgold]

That's something I haven't been able to figure out, honestly. Alchemy is supposed to use tectonic energy- the movement beneath the earth's surface- but obviously there's none of that in space. But I've never had any problems using it.

[notmutantbutmiracle]

But this gate of truth, Are you not separated from it? Being here and not home?

[sonofgold]

I haven't been able to definitely tell whether it's there or not. So either Atroma's provided some sort of conduit for me to do alchemy, or my Gate is still inside me.

[notmutantbutmiracle]

[Wanda just shakes her head, pretty much giving up on trying to understand at this point.]

This is all rather confusing, but regardless you said it did not work? As a means of getting back home?

[sonofgold]

Yeah... it's surprisingly hard to explain something that's so commonplace to me! But that's correct- something was blocking our way out. I don't know what, but it was there.

[notmutantbutmiracle]

And this alchemy... it is considered a science, yet? Not magic?

[Wanda seems to be contemplating something here, suggesting that Alphonse's answer might illuminate something for her.]

[sonofgold]

Yes, we consider it a science. A lot of it is chemistry, after all- if you want to break down and reform something, you need to know what it's made of first.

[notmutantbutmiracle]

Hmmm... so it seems that it is not only magic that would be nullified... but science as well...

[Wanda further contemplates something, but, seemingly unable to arrive at a satisfactory conclusion, appears annoyed.]

[sonofgold]

Yeah... it'd be a bit more complicated. So I guess it's easier for them to just insert a barrier that doesn't let you get too far out of here.

[notmutantbutmiracle]

But a barrier capable of blocking both such diverse means of escape... how could they manufacture such a thing?

[sonofgold]

That's what I can't figure out. My mind either blocked it out from the trauma or Atroma deliberately fiddled with my memories so I couldn't hold onto any solid memories of it, so of course, I can't even try to describe what was in the way.

[notmutantbutmiracle]

I do not understand. Are you saying you "experienced" this barrier? Physically?