Alchemy: Magic vs. Science
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D/C: I own nothing.
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First Name: Informal
Last Name: Formal (Or used to annoy to annoy others...)
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"English and Edward's accented voice."
"Amestrian, foreign languages, or to add emphasis."
Written notes or to add extra emphasize
'Thoughts.'
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Two days... Two days of complete and utter chaos. Ling is running around wanting to see everything with the Ministry Officials running after him. They are trying to get the Emperor to settle down to start their negotiations. The Mustang Unit is either helping Ling escape from the Officials or are bothering Edward to no end. It didn't help that Lan Fan always kept acting as a lookout for them all. Marcoh spent his time in the library, studying everything that catches his eye. Scar... surprisingly, no one knows where he was at the moment. Alphonse gets distracted every time he sees one of the many cats that roam around the school. Mei is spending her time in the Medical wing, she and Poppy are getting along despite the language barrier.
Right now, every single visitor is standing around Edward's bed and staring down at said male's sleeping form.
"This is creepy." Alphonse finally relented after staring down at his brother for was seemed like forever. "Why are we doing this again?"
"It's Monday! He has class today, I want to see his entire day as a teacher." Ling snickered from behind a paper fan. Standing behind is a resigned Lan Fan, shaking her head at Ling's words.
"He's going to freak out seeing all of us..." Mei called out from the other side of the room, she has Xerxes in her arms. The tiny owl is glowing at the attention she is receiving from the princess.
"If only we have a bucket of water." Roy muttered under his breath, eyeing Edward with a sinister twinkle in his eyes.
"Sir...No." Riza reprimanded her superior.
"He's waking up." Scar announced to everyone, poking Edward with his wooden staff.
"Of course, he's waking up. You keep stabbing him with your walking stick!"
Edward groaned in annoyance at whatever is poking him and slowly opened his eyes to a bleary world. He raised up while he rubbed his eyes in an attempt to clear his vision again. The Golden Blonde blinked, once, twice, three times when saw all his friends and brother surrounding his bed. Every single one of them were staring down at him with expectant expressions.
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Severus is in his classroom, writing instructions on the chalkboard for the first class of his day. Today is supposed to be any other day, except he is expecting some sort of chaos to occur later into the day. For now, he will continue on like that is not going to occur any time so-
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"
A familiar scream pierced throughout the entire castle, Severus chalk broke into half being taken by surprise by it. He grumbled under his breath, cursing at the fact ever since Edward Elric came into the Magical World, things have never been the same. It was like being in an eye of a storm for who knows how long, at any moment a storm will occur and nothing or no one is safe. Now everyone is on edge, especially now when extra variables were added in.
Severus threw the broken pieces of chalk into a small box of broken pieces of chalk and reached into another box that is filled with unused chalk. 'It's too early for this...'
-.-
Edward grumbled into his breakfast, ignoring the people around him that were giving him questioning looks. He ignored how Ling would poke him with a spoon. Roy talking his ear off nonstop. Alphonse getting along with Filius and... Scar and Severus getting along? Edward rubbed his eyes in complete disbelief, how in Truth's name is Scar able to do...that! Did he just... laugh? Wait... false alarm, they are talking about making his life hell. Nothing abnormal there.
"What's in today's agenda, Eddy Boy?" Ling asked, swinging an around Edward's shoulders.
"Ministry Officials are coming by later into the afternoon. Today... until I l have my class, a tour of the school. Unlike the last two days... I have to chaperone all of you... since I can't leave any of you alone! For long periods of time! Since none of you can act like actual adults." Edward right eye twitched all throughout his rant, not bothering to hide his annoyance.
"Hm... So, say you, Mr. Elric."
"SHUT UP! Dis does not include you!"
"Case and point."
"SHUT UP!"
"You are just proving my point, Mr. Elric."
"...Shut up, Severus."
"How childish of you to pout, Mr. Elric."
"Grrrr."
"Childish."
-.-
"They are adorable! I want them!" Ling gushed over the House-elves that attempted to get his attention with food. He gobbled down plate after plate of food, almost putting Lan Fan into a state of panic as she is worried he might choke.
"They are rather... peculiar." Riza commented, she did not know what else to say about the House-elves. She should have been far more apprehensive of the small creatures if it weren't for the fact Edward is soaking in the attention by said tiny creatures. She had to admit they do make amazing food.
"This almost takes like Winry's apple pies..."
"This is...normal?" Roy whispered to Edward.
"I looked into it, they were enlisted to work in the kitchens, moving some things around, cleaning the dorms or the castle in general. They are loyal to the school an- Don't tell them if they did something wrong, you do not want to see what they would do." Edward stopped Jean from commenting something about his own food to one of the elves. Jean quickly retracted whatever he was going to say when he saw tears welled up in the tiny elves' eyes. "It's okay, Lottie. He loves your cookies just as it is."
Lottie the House-elf, stood at around 2 and a half feet tall, her ears are a bit large than the norm and her eyes are a shimmering gray. She is wearing a flower pattern tea towel and is using a red pillowcase as a makeshift hat. She smiled at Edward before she quickly ran off to get him more pie. "More pie for Mr. Elric!"
"They will torture or main themselves if they think it will please their masters or punish themselves... They are amazing, and I am more terrified of them than anyone else in this place."
"You make it sound like there more than you are letting on about them...?" Roy asked raising an eyebrow at Edward.
"...they have their own brand of magic and it is noted that the Wizarding World made it law for them to not wield a wand. For it will greatly increase their magical abilities... that's why I'm terrified of them."
If anything, this only made Ling want them even more.
-.-
Edward let out an exhausted sigh. "I knew this place should have been the last place to visit..."
Roy, Alphonse, Mei, Ling, Lan Fan, Scar and Dr. Marcoh scattered around the library, looking for anything that catches their attention. The others are sitting around the table, playing a card game. By the looks of it, Xiao-Mei is winning. With a huff, Edward headed over to the table and sat in Between Jean and Xiao-Mei. "Deal me in."
-.-
Edward facepalmed at the sight of his brother, Roy, Dr. Marcoh were surrounded by dozens of library books they brought along. Riza is standing by Roy, keeping a close eye around the room for any sort of possible trouble. Alphonse is reading the books aloud for Mei, who has her arms around his neck to look down at the book. Ling had taken his seat, Lan fan is nowhere to be seen, Scar is glancing around the class seeing the random posters posted on the wall and the rest of the Mustang Unit are in his room. They are not needed and they would rather spend the hour snooping through Edward's belongings.
"Monday class. Terrance, Fred, and George." Edward muttered under his breath, keeping an eye on the Grandfather's Clock in the corner of the room. At that moment, said students walked into the classroom for this Monday Alchemy Class. The three of them stopped when they saw the visitors in the classroom. The twins actually jumped backward at the sight of Ling and looked all around the classroom for a certain masked individual. "Come in, come in. It is time to start class."
The three slowly headed towards their seats and waited for further instructions. When Edward motioned over to one of the blackboards, they started to pull notebooks, pens, and pencils from their bookbags to start their work. Looks like they have to decode several formulas, nothing new and nothing old. Just how it is now for the start of every class.
"When are you planning on the Battle Royal?" Ling called out to Edward, causing said young man to glare at him.
The three Hogwarts student's heads snapped up, expressions filled with astonishment that quickly turned into anticipation for this Battle Royal. Now that sounds very, very, interesting.
"I was going to explain that later..." Edward resisted the urge to facepalm again, but he managed to stop himself. "Well, that ruins the surprise."
"Battle Royal?"
"My, my, that sounds interesting."
"Mr. Elric... is anyone going to end up losing their shirts by any chance?"
"Be grateful Armstrong is not here."
"I am! I'm just a very worried spectator."
"Shirts?"
"Why should you be worried about people losing their clothes?"
"Fred... George... There is a man in Amestris that loses his shirt on a constant basis and cries constantly. Be worried. Be very worried..."
"Fred?"
"Yes, George?"
"I'm scared..."
"Me too..."
Once more, Edward facepalmed. Of course, nothing will ever go his way. "Class...boys... pay attention to me."
"Sorry, Mr. Elric..."
"As L...Emperor Ling just mentioned... We are planning a Battle Royal. My brother, General Mustang, Miss. Chang, Mr. Scar, Emperor Ling and..." Edward saw something flutter in the corner of his eye and saw Lan Fan appear next to Ling. The Emperor grinned at him and gave him a thumb up. "Lan Fan... Yes, boys?"
"Who's she?"
Edward pointed over at said female. "That is Lan Fan, Emperor Ling's number one Bodyguard."
Fred, George, and Terrance turned to see the masked bodyguard. Their eyes widen when the bodyguard took to offer the mask to reveal a young woman with a stoic expression. Said expression fell with Ling lopped an arm around her and pulled her into a bear hug.
"All of them will be showing us offensive and defensive forms of Alchemy and Alkahestry. I want you three to look for at the latest... three? Four friend's maximum each to this event. It will take place this Friday during class and lunchtime. The actual reason behind the event is to inspire others to possibly take Alchemy next year and... for all of you to see Alchemy in complete action."
-.-
"Get out from under there, Mr. Elric."
"No."
"Mr. Elric..."
"You cannot make me!"
"Edward..."
"Please do not make me leave... They will find me..."
Severus glared down at Edward, who is currently hiding underneath his desk. All he got from the younger man is that the 'Idiotic Emperor' wants him to do something against the Ministry Officials. After that, 'Bastard Mustang' forbade him from doing anything as such against the Officials. It did not help how Hawkeye pointed her gun at him to emphasize the General's point.
"Could you at least go sit at your assigned seat?"
"They will see me the moment they enter the classroom."
Severus pinched the bridge of his nose in complete annoyance. He berated himself for the fact he did not even see this coming. Of course, Edward will come into his classroom to hide. "Go into the supply closet, the supplies will cover your scent."
"Thank you!"
-.-
Ling sat gracefully in his seat at the end of the table, he kept his hands hidden inside the long sleeves of his golden clothing. Sitting on his left is Alphonse, who is his voice and Roy on his right playing the role as mediator between Magical Great Britain and Xing. It is vice-versa Magical Great Britain and Amestris. The Mustang Unit is positioned around the room only adding an intimidating factor to the scene. Sitting in the corner of the room is Scar and Mei, with Riza whispering what is being said during the meeting.
"We would have the children of Xing that have magical capabilities to come here to Hogwa-"
Ling raised his hand to stop the Ministry Official from continuing speaking. He motioned for Alphonse to speak for him. "Xing is in the process of creating a magical school for the people. Amestris has been helping us expand it into an institute for both Alchemy, Alkahestry, Magic or learning in general. This is to ensure the traditions are still being kept within Xing."
"Hogwarts is one of the finest magical institutions in the Wizarding World. You will not find a better education than here!"
"With all due respect, we were not disrespecting this school. On the contrary, we were hoping to emulate something similar back in Xing but...baby steps... baby tiny steps." Alphonse cringed at his own set of words. He was not liking the looks that were shot his way. Glancing over at Ling for any sort of guide, the older male pulled out a scroll from one of his sleeves. Alphonse raised an eyebrow at the fact Ling hid this within his person. Should he be surprised? No. He once saw the Emperor pull out a giant apple, a bag of chips, turkey leg and so on. Reading the scroll only caused Alphonse eyebrows to disappear into his hairline. 'I guess we are taking that route then...'
"Xing had just started to accept magic, it will take a while to fully accept it as a whole. Until then, baby steps. Very small baby steps." Alphonse stated with a docile expression. "Coming here is a huge step and I am sure all of you will understand that? Sending all the children of Xing that show magical capabilities to a foreign country will not go well with a lot of people back home..."
'Where was Edward when you want a distraction to occur?'
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"Me, me, me, me, me, me! Ugh! Self-centered, smug, underhanded bastards! We are not going to get anything done at this rate!" Roy stampeded around Edward's room, cursing out the Ministry Officials not caring if he could be heard. Curing out in Amestrian, no one in that entire castle minis the rest of the occupants in the room, cannot understand it anyway. "What they are trying to do is... It makes me want to pull out my hair!"
"I told you... This place is primarily focused on 'us', 'me', and 'no one else but myself'." Edward commented offhandedly while he corrected homework from his students. "There are times of high incompetence or just right down mulishness. Corrupt, corrupt, corrupt. Too focus on the good and ignoring the bad. Positivity to the point it makes me nauseous."
"Do you have an example?"
"They have stupid laws, denying rights for non-humans, no trails... no trails to prove if one is innocent. At least in Amestris, there's a trail to prove if you are guilty or not guilty... even if you are innocent and made guilty... you still get a trail. The only difference between Magical Great Britain and Amestris is well... the latter tried to turn the entire country into a Philosopher Stone." Edward threw his pen against his desk, ignoring that it bounced off his desk and ran his hands through his hair. "It's so...blah! Like I said to you before, this place has nothing to offer to us at this moment of time. The only ones that are worthwhile are the children, the future of any home and country. Start from the beginning and go from there. We have to show them all we will not be pushed around and are more than willing to call out on their bullshit."
"Oddly... that sounds about right."
-.-
"You cannot be this... Idiotic! A fight? A fight!"
"Hey, if have seen what I did when I was younger...er, this is normal." Edward waved off Minerva's glare. Ended up, she just overhead about the Battle Royal and not wanting to be said event to occur. What if the fight escalates and gets out of control? Will the students be in danger? So many other questions or statements that are made to have the event not occur.
"Did something like this occur back in Amestris?" Pomona asked from her spot in the Teacher's lounge where many the professors are currently in.
"The students that went to Amestris saw a similar event occur between General Mustang and Major Armstrong. Both are highly renowned Alchemist in Amestris and one of the said men is going to be in this Battle Royal. If it makes you feel any better, Dr. Marcoh is on standby if any of them get hurt." Edward responded with a nervous grin, he poured himself a cup of pumpkin juice.
"Is a fight necessary?"
Edward glanced over at Minerva with a blank expression as he slowly drank his pumpkin juice. "The last thing I need is any of the students copying the Transmutation Circles and cause harm to themselves and everyone around them. With this method, they are more focused on the action and wonder of Alchemy. Plus... seeing it in a sedentary form will cause boredom and having a higher chance of one of my friends killing one of the students out of sheer annoyance. It has happened..."
"I'm surprised you haven't killed anyone yet..." Severus muttered under his breath into his cup of steaming coffee.
"Shut up!"
"You didn't deny it."
'...Who said I hadn't already?' Edward grumbled in his mind while he walked away from the lounge room. He already got what he wanted and now he has to focus on surviving the rest of the week.
To be Continued...
R/R.