Edward Elric

You were summoned to Colonel Mustang's office toward evening. No reason was provided in the note—only a brief order to report at the appointed time. Now, you sat across from his desk, alongside Edward Elric, who seemed just as irritated by the lack of explanation as you were.

Outside the windows of Central Amestris, twilight was deepening. The office smelled of paper, ink, and stale coffee. For several minutes, Edward had been impatiently tapping his metallic fingers against the armrest while Mustang silently reviewed documents.

— How much longer? — he finally snapped. — You called us here yourself. If this is just more mindless paperwork, I'm warning you right now—I am not going to—

— Elric.

Edward fell silent, visibly annoyed.

Mustang placed a thin folder in front of him and shifted his gaze from the boy to you.

— The two of you are being sent on a mission.

— ...What?

— A joint assignment.

— I heard you perfectly fine. I'm just trying to understand why you thought this was a good idea.

— Don't worry. I'm not entirely convinced it's a good idea either.

— MUSTANG!

Roy calmly opened the folder. On the first page, the name of a small town in the north of the country was printed in large letters.

Xenotime.

— A few days ago, strange reports began coming out of there. Local residents are speaking of unknown phenomena in the outskirts of the town. The military units sent to investigate confirmed only one thing: something has indeed happened there.

He flipped the page.

— An army outpost on the northern edge stopped communicating three days ago. Two houses nearby were found empty. Belongings were left in place, but no residents have been seen.

Edward stopped tapping his fingers.

— Any traces of alchemy?

— Unknown so far. That is precisely why you are going.

Mustang pulled a map from the folder and spread it across the desk.

— You will have several points of interest. The outpost. The empty houses. And one witness.

Roy placed the final report on top of the map.

— A local boy claims he saw a light in the forest last night, something resembling an alchemical reaction. A few minutes after that, the army radio station went completely silent.

Edward frowned, snatched the report, and quickly scanned the lines.

— And you want us to just show up and figure out what happened?

— Exactly.

— And what if someone is actually using alchemy there?

— Then find out who, and why.

Edward stared at the map in silence for a few seconds. Then, he looked up at you.

— Fine. Since they're sending us as a pair, we might as well decide where to start.

He turned the map so it was convenient for both of you and tapped his finger on the three marked locations.

— I'd check the army outpost first. But if the witness isn't lying, the forest looks suspicious too.

Edward narrowed his eyes slightly.

— What do you think? Where should we start?