Title: Perfect Absence

Anime: Fullmetal Alchemist

Rating: T+

Disclaimer: I wish, but can't say that I own any of Hiromu Arakawa's works

Summary: He never was the one to do such acts, he wasn't even the one to stand by and watch. But now, Alphonse meets the Holocaust face to face and he chooses who dies and who survives. Including his own brother.

Chapter 1:

Blank Resemblance

At the dawn of civilization,

The Christians declared:

"If you remain Jews,

You shall no longer live amongst us."

In the high middle ages,

The Secular Leaders decided:

"You shall no longer live amongst us."

Finally,

The Nazis decreed:

"You shall no longer live."

- Pascal Croci

Decaying corpses and blood gave the air an unpleasant stench. In the midst of a graveyard created by twisted rubble and unrecognizable bodies, stood a boy. His eyes could barely look up as he stared in pure horror at the sight before him. He tried to speak but could only cough on his words. Everything around him made no sense and never would.

W-why?

"They will be sent to concentration camps. Once they enter the camp they're gone. Dead. Most die but those who manage to survive rarely last."

"What happens there?"

"They're gassed, experimented on, shot. Who knows, there may be more ways of torture."

"Because they're Jewish!"

At that his tone changed rapidly into one of disgust, growling the words bluntly.

"Because they're different."

Only a series of loud footsteps brought him out of his haunting thoughts.

(1) "Dort ist er!"

Turning around rapidly, the boy found himself thrown to the ground. A sharp crack filled the air as his head made contact with the cement, pain shooting through it immediately on impact. Before he could straighten himself, a cold hand wrapped around his collar and drew him up to the eye level with his captor.

(2) "Es ist der junge," the man noted and his neutral expression twisted into a disgusting smirk. The pure smell that came off of him was enough to make the boy's stomach pull into a tight knot and run up to choke his throat. A warm liquid trickled down the side of his head but his arms refused to move to wipe it away; as if scared to. Soon, it managed to make a path down to his forehead and fell over his eyes, blinding him in mere seconds.

(3) "Aussehen, blut."

His eyes were crammed shut to keep away the flowing blood but he could feel himself slowly being carried away. The hand didn't move from his collar and in response began strangling him. They didn't care. His feet barely scraped the ground as he was violently dragged to an unknown destination.

Why can't I do anything?

Tears were already forming in his eyes, his attempts to keep them from falling ending in a helpless mess.

(4) "Verlassen Sie sie. Auschwitz." The last word was complimented with a guttural laugh as he strained to understand what they were saying.

Auschwitz?

"Alphonse Elric?"

(5) "Mit den anderen."

He was suddenly turned the other way and at an even more aggressive pace, dragged over left over bits of rubble and twisted pipes.

It seemed like forever he was pulled on an endless rampage. Shouts and the painful sounds of sobbing surrounded him and the stench of decay grew stronger. Finally forcing himself to wipe away the thick liquid which still was busy flowing uncontrollably, he opened his eyes. The blood dripped off his sleeve slowly and stained his hands. Without even noticing the bloody mess that the lower half of his sleeve had become, he quietly watched the people in front of him. Women and men alike were being shoved and prodded with the tips of rifles each officer carried. In an orderly fashion, they each walked up a thick piece of wood with hammered in steps and into one of the carts. An officer who stood on the outskirts of the large crowd forming around the melancholy train gave the boy and his captor a short but soul piercing glance before he pointed at the last cart were people were being loaded into.

(6) "Da drüben."

He wouldn't call it a train cart, maybe a cargo box. Towering over him in an equally menacing fashion as the "leaders", Alphonse let out a withered sigh from exhaustion. It hurt to see them treat the group he had found himself in like sheep, beating anyone who stalled for a second to argue or escape. The tears that normally would threaten his eyes at such sights had vanished. There wasn't any use for them anymore.

Being pushed and bumped around, Alphonse stammered for apologies but stopped mid way through. "Roy Mustang?"

The man gazed down at him, seeming almost surprised by the young boy's sudden remark. His eyes darkened almost to the point where Alphonse began doubting that it truly was him.

"Yes, who are you?"

"Alphonse Elric," he replied, glad for once to have some sort of company or someone to talk to. "Don't you remember my brother, Edward?"

Roy gave him an annoyed look but still held a casual tone to his voice.

"I've heard of him… Worked with Alfons Heidrich to construct rockets or something," he mumbled in a response, shuffling along before him in a hurry.

Alphonse's eyes brightened, gleaming slightly that Roy did in fact know who he was.

"Have you seen him?"

At that Roy could only shake his head, the strands of black hair moving before his eyes causing a darker effect. Before Alphonse could question him further, a sharp push forced him onto the ground. "Wait!"

It was too late; the mob had already caused him to lose any idea of where the familiar face had wandered to. Everyone was heading in the same direction; it wouldn't be too hard to catch him once more if he was quick. Attempting to stand up through the flurry of legs and comments, a hand grasped onto his waving one and a strong jerk pulled him rapidly to his feet.

"Alphonse?"

1- There it is!

2- It is the boy.

3- Look, blood.

4- Leave it.

5- With the others.

6- There, over there.

I apologize if it doesn't make sense, online translators can't be trusted these days . ;

I've had this idea messing with my head for some time now; I'm just too lazy to post it. The beginning quote/s is from a graphic novel that inspired the story. Believe it or not, it's named 'Auschwitz'by Pascal Croci and might I add, one of the best books I have ever read.

Enough of my rambling, RxR so I know how much you liked it :3