Unlocked

In the aftermath of Promised Day, two worlds collided in a way that no one expected. Now the people of Amestris are divided and in this world, the ultimate taboo is not human transmutation but the intentional unlocking of another person's memories – for, once they remember, they can never go back.

A.N. One of the jokes in this chapter has totally been done before. Go read "Clue" by Unadulterated – credit goes to her for that one. I thought it was hilarious. Also, sorry if the names get confusing at times. Ultimately I'll be sticking with Amestrian names except in certain situations. For now, Ed's still trying to figure it all out so you guys can be confused along with him. More information in this chapter on how everything works.

Disclaimer: Ed, Al, and all their friends are the property of Hiromu Arakawa. I do not own them, but am grateful for the opportunity to use them in the unleashing of my own imagination.

Rating: This story is rated T

Chapter 5, Headache Inducing Contemplations

For all that Al's home was huge and expensive, its doors were not sound proof; certainly not when the two persons currently arguing out in the hallway weren't making any effort to speak quietly.

"I didn't have a choice, Roy! If I hadn't brought him here, Envy would have found him. And if not Envy, then one of the others. I'm sure Pride was there too which means Wrath must be in town again as well. Until they move on, I'm not about to take the risk -"

"I understand that, Al. What I don't understand is why you thought it was a good idea to tell him everything."

"I didn't tell him everything – just… most things. It was better than leaving him in the dark."

"What's wrong with leaving him in the dark? He's better off staying in the dark."

"Not if the homunculi go after him again. He needs to know what's out there and who he can contact if something like this happens again. Besides, it wouldn't have been right not to explain some things after everything he saw today. He was confused."

To be fair, Ed was still confused – even more so now as he eavesdropped on the conversation taking place outside of the study he'd been left alone in. They were talking about homunculi again – he still didn't know what that meant – and the Envy guy plus two others. Pride and Wrath? What, are we talking about the seven deadly sins here? And, for some reason, this Roy guy didn't think Ed should know anything.

"He doesn't believe me anyway." Al continued. "He thinks it's a game, a… larp-ing thing."

"Great, now he's teaching you weird acronyms. He's been with you, what, a few hours? And he's already a bad influence. Does he think that by using shortened words he can make himself seem taller?"

Ed scowled at the closed door. Was this jerk really implying that he was… Ed refused to even think it.

"Colonel!" Al exclaimed with a funny note in his voice which made Ed think he was trying not to laugh. "Be nice! You don't have to start antagonizing him right away. You could at least try to make a good impression."

"I'm more curious as to what kind of impression he made in the mud during that fight, certainly not a very deep one considering his stature."

Smirking… the bastard was smirking. Ed couldn't see him, but he could tell. The so-called "colonel" was racking up points against him every time he opened his mouth. Hell, if Ed wasn't going to think up some form of retribution.

"Please, Roy. Just give him a chance to get to know you without the pretense." Ed paused in his revenge planning when Al's voice turned somber. "I know you care about him. You could at least try to show it this time – make a fresh start."

There was a pause and then the colonel spoke again, sounding equally solemn. "He's not Ed, Alphonse. Without his memories…"

"I know. And I know he can't stay. It's just for the weekend – just until the homunculi leave. I just… I want to take the chance to get to know him as he is now. Maybe he can't be Ed, but that doesn't mean I can't get to know Jarred. And maybe… one day we can at least be friends."

Ed felt a pang in his chest, like something gripping his heart, at Al's words – so desperate and yet so accepting. Allen wanted a brother, but he would take a friend if that was all he could get. It made Ed wish this Amestris place was real, just so Al could have what he wanted.

"I still don't see why you had to tell him everything."

That bastard again… Ed was really starting to dislike the guy and he hadn't even been introduced yet.

"I'm not going to start a friendship off with lies, Roy. I'll tell him the truth whether he believes it or not. Knowing about Amestris isn't going to hurt him. It didn't hurt Max."

"That's a completely different situation. Max is… Max." Roy replied, sounding fondly flabbergasted as he spoke the name.

"He doesn't have his memories – just like Ed."

"Not just like Ed. Ed is locked. Max isn't... he can't be unlocked."

"But he knows the truth, Roy. He knows and he's accepted it. He accepted you and me and Gracia and -"

"Alright, I get it. I just don't think you should bet on Jarred just going with this the way Max did. He's your brother, Al. You know how he is better than anyone. He's a skeptic. He's not going to believe anything without proof."

"So we give him proof. He seems to like alchemy well enough. If that's not proof –"

"You showed him alchemy?"

"Well, yeah. I had to use alchemy to get away from Envy and I just showed him a simple transmutation before you walked in. Speaking of which, he's probably wondering what's taking so long. We should go back in."

Ed spun around in his chair and made himself look busy at the computer, as though he hadn't been eavesdropping, just as the door opened.

"Ed?"

Ed spun his chair back around, totally casual. "Yeah?" Al came into the room, followed by the "colonel" who was frowning slightly.

"You call him Ed?" The man whispered not quietly enough.

Al just smiled. "He told me to call him Ed – it's short for Jarred."

"Really?"

"Why does everyone find that so surprising?" Ed cut in, not really wanting to delve into the variety of terrible nicknames one could think up for Jarred again. "Who are you?" Okay, so it was a little rude, but Ed wasn't feeling particularly amicable towards the man who had just insulted his height – twice.

Luckily, Al stepped in before either of them could make it worse. "Ed, this is Roland Mustard. He's a good friend of mine."

"Another Amestrain?" Ed asked just to be certain, though he was fairly sure he was right given everything he'd overheard. But they didn't know that. Al nodded. Ed took a moment to just look at the man – Roland wasn't all that tall himself, fairly average for a man. And Ed didn't think he was really that much shorter but he didn't want to be too obvious by standing up to check. Heck, he'd been sitting when Roland had come in the first time so what did he know? Still, he wasn't going to get away with the short-cracks and Ed had the perfect idea for revenge now. "Al called you Colonel, earlier."

"That's right," Roland replied. "I was a colonel in the military back in Amestris."

"Right, so… I guess its Colonel Mustard in the library with the candlestick, huh?" It was Ed's turn to smirk and he did, while Colonel Mustard's face turned an interesting shade of red.

"Huh? What do you mean, Ed?" Al asked, looking between them. "I don't get it."

Colonel Mustard palmed his face with a heavy groan. "Clue, Al… the board game." He informed the confused boy. Ed snickered.

"Clue?" Al frowned and then his face lit up. "Oh – Oh! That's funny!" he laughed. "Good one, Brother. I never heard that before."

Ed blinked when Al so casually called him 'brother.' It didn't bother him per say. It was just… weird and was going to take some getting used to if it kept happening. Neither Al nor the Colonel seemed to notice the slip though.

"And you're not going to hear it again, Al." Colonel Mustard said firmly. "From this point forward, the title of Colonel is only to be applied to my Amestrian name, Roy Mustang. I won't have you repeating that all over the forum."

"Of course not, Colonel." Al conceded even as he continued to giggle behind his hand. "Though I'm not sure you'll get Ed to agree."

The Colonel's eyes shot towards Ed who just grinned wickedly. "Not a chance. That name is sticking, Colonel Mustard. Not a thing you can do about it."

"How about I turn you into fried shrimp, Fullmetal? Then we'll see how well the name sticks."

"Colonel!"

"He started it, Al. If he can dish it out then he can take it too."

Ed almost blew up at the shrimp comment – almost. But he was distracted by something else. "What does that word mean – Fullmetal? That Envy guy called me that. So did the kid. The profile Al made for me said it too and now you." He pointed his finger at Colonel Mustard. "Sounds like something out of a comic book. So what is it?"

"It's your code name, Ed."Al supplied helpfully. "Well, it's Edward Elric's code name anyway. You see, Brother was a State Alchemist. Every State Alchemist is given a code name and a pocket watch when they receive their certification. The name usually reflects the kind of alchemy they specialize in, like the Strong Arm Alchemist or the Crystal Alchemist. Colonel Mustang was known as the Flame Alchemist. And you were the Fullmetal Alchemist."

"Huh." Ed considered that for a moment. "Fullmetal… I like it – sounds intimidating."

"You know, that's exactly what you said when you first got the name." Colonel Mustard smiled – a real smile. It was almost… fond, Ed thought. Weird…

"Really? I didn't know that!" Al lit up like a Christmas tree, apparently eager for some nostalgic reminiscing about his lost older brother.

Ed decided to halt that train right there and changed the subject. "So I was… I mean, Edward was an alchemist like you?" He picked up the little cat figurine and gestured towards the transmutation circle which had produced it. "He could make stuff like this, with metal?"

"Yup! Though, really, Brother could do a lot more than that. We studied all sorts of alchemy and didn't really specialize in one particular field. He did work with metals a lot but I'm pretty sure the nickname had more to do with his automail than his specialty."

Ed quirked an eyebrow at that. "Someone's weird idea of a joke?"

"More or less." the Colonel smirked. "The Fuhrer had a twisted sense of humor – considering he turned out to be a homunculus, I can't say I'm all that surprised."

"Fuhrer… isn't that the German word for dictator – like Hitler?" Ed asked, thinking back to his studies on World War II.

"Who's Hitler?" Al asked, spurring Ed to stare at him incredulously before remembering that Allen had lost all of his memories including, it would seem, any knowledge of World History… though he apparently remembered being Alphonse Elric. Ed wasn't sure how that worked.

Colonel Mustard didn't bat an eye at Al's lack of knowledge, but dove right into a brief explanation. "Hitler was the leader of the Nazi party in Germany during World War II – that's the one they were fighting in the first Captain America movie." Al nodded in understanding and Ed had to wonder just how much "history" his "little brother" was being fed trough super hero movies. Hopefully he realized that those were primarily fiction even if they did tie into certain historical events. "He was, essentially, this world's version of Bradley, though clearly not his counterpart since we're still dealing with Wrath here. Now that I think about it though, there are an awful lot of parallels between the two – charismatic leader of a country committing mass genocide under everyone's noses and plotting to take over the world."

"That does sound like Bradley." Al agreed.

"Indeed. But I'm pretty sure Hitler wasn't a homunculus."

"I'm… still not sure what a homunculus is." Ed cut in, anxious to have his questions answered instead of rehashing stuff he already knew or listening to these two talk about things he could only follow halfway.

Al looked at the Colonel and the Colonel looked back and Ed thought they might be having some sort of silent conversation, trying to figure out exactly what to tell him.

"They're going to come after him again, Roy." Al said after a long moment. "He needs to know."

Another moment passed and then the Colonel sighed. "Go ahead and tell him then. I'm going to make a sandwich." He turned to leave in a huff.

"Don't forget the mustard, Colonel Mustard." Ed tossed out after the man, unable to resist.

"Can it, shrimp." The man's voice carried back.

Ed growled. Enough was enough. "Who are you calling a microbial crustacean?! Come back here and say that to my face!"

Ed didn't realize he was on his feet and halfway out the door until Al pulled him back. "He didn't say that, Brother. Calm down."

Ed scowled and huffed and fumed for several minutes, willing himself to calm down. The bastard wasn't here anymore but boy was he in for it when he got back. With one last growl, Ed sat himself back down in his chair and spun around twice before facing Al once more – only to find the other boy staring at him with a soft smile. "What?"

Al just closed his eyes and shook his head with a soft laugh. "Nothing. You just sounded so much like my brother just now. It's hard to remember that you're not really him without his memories. You see, it's more than just your looks. You act just like him too. That's how I know."

"…Right." Ed replied awkwardly. He wasn't ready to admit how much he was starting to want to be Edward Elric – to be Al's big brother. Somehow, the kid just made it all seem so appealing. But, he wasn't Edward Elric. He was Jarred Hohens. One life was complicated enough. He didn't need another.

"What's Colonel Mustard's problem anyway?" Ed changed the subject again, feeling self-conscious and still mad at the idiot Colonel.

Al snorted. "For one thing – you keep calling him Colonel Mustard. Though I suppose it's better than what you used to call him."

"What did I used to call him?"

"Colonel Bastard." Al answered, drawing his eyebrows together in thought. "Oddly enough, he never complained about that. Anyway," Al offered a friendly smile. "You shouldn't let him bother you so much. I think all of the teasing is just his way of saying he cares."

"He cares?" Ed echoed incredulously. "You're kidding right? Who's he supposed to be, my father? – no, that was that unknown guy."

Al just shook his head. "Roy was your commanding officer back in Amestris. You guys never really got along but I know Brother actually respected the Colonel a lot and Roy's told me enough in the past year for me to realize that he really was looking out for us, even when he pretended not to care. I think he's missed you almost as much as I have."

"Now that, I don't believe."

Al smirked. "Are you saying you believe the rest?"

Ed frowned. He'd walked right into that one. "I believe that alchemy thing might be real, though you've still got to show me again – and teach me how to do it."

"Sure!" Al seemed almost too eager to do so. "What about the rest?"

"We'll see." Ed consented that much. He wasn't ready to say for certain either way. "What's a homunculus?"

"Right." Al settled himself on his seat and met Ed's gaze with a serious expression. Back to business. "A homunculus is a being created using alchemy – they look human for the most part but they have strange powers and they're nearly immortal."

"Immortal?"

"Nearly. They can die, just not easily. They don't grow old and they heal from injuries almost instantly. I once saw one get his head lobbed off and it just grew back a moment later."

And he was talking about this so casually – like it was no big deal. Ed stared, struck dumb for the moment.

"There were seven of them in Amestris – no, eight I guess, if you include Father – that is, their Father. He was the first homunculus created over four hundred years ago in Xerxes. He… spawned the other homunculi from himself by casting off unwanted parts in order to make himself perfect. The seven, he named after the seven deadly sins – Wrath, Pride, Envy, Gluttony, Lust, Greed, and Sloth." Al counted them off on his fingers. Mustang killed Lust awhile back and Gluttony, Envy, and Sloth were killed in the battle before we came here. So that leaves Wrath, Pride, and Greed. Greed's… kind of a special case though. He was on our side at the end and we haven't seen him here yet so I'm not sure how that's going to turn out.

"What you need to know is that there are no homunculi in this world – at least not that we've encountered. The man you were fighting with today, Envy, is human in every way, shape, and form."

"I thought you said Envy was dead." Ed questioned, coming out of his stupor.

"Oh, he is. The Envy we saw today – well, I guess it is better to call him Enoch. He really can't ever be Enoch."

"He's locked?"

Al shook his head. "No, his situation is different. You see, from what we can tell, every person – or homunculus – in Amestris either has or had a counterpart here in this world. But, there is no actual correlation between them. Roy described it as an alternate universe. Even though the people are the same, they have completely different histories. That's why you and I can be brothers from Amestris but aren't related at all here. We have different parents and have lived completely separate lives."

"Except that we grew up in the same city." Ed pointed out, drawn into pondering the complexities of alternate realities which he had formally reserved for science-fiction movies.

"Well, yes. And that's a coincidence we've been thinking about for awhile. There are actually a lot of people in this city that I used to know in Amestris. The simple fact that Roy was able to find me so soon after all of this happened is amazing. I don't know what I would have done if he hadn't been there. For me, it was like I just woke up in a new body and in a world I didn't recognize at all and everyone was telling me that I was someone else I couldn't remember being. I was terrified. I kept asking for my brother – for you – and everyone thought I was crazy. Then Roy showed up and we were able to piece together most of what had happened and start looking for others.

"Anyway, it is strange that so many of us are here in this city. Our childhood friend Winry lives here too along with a lot of Mustang's team from the military. And occasionally we find someone with the exact same relationships here as they had in Amestris – that's rare though. There are a few other cities around the world with the similar groupings. One theory floating around the forum is that we're all connected – like our souls or something – and that certain people are just meant to cross paths no matter what world we live in. I've never given much thought to the idea of fate – but I suppose it is possible."

Ed considered that as Al drifted off into his own head. People being connected, meant to meet… it all implied that he and Al would have likely met someday, with or without this whole Amestris thing. And who else did he know who might be connected in this crazy tale? It was all so mind-boggling. Thinking about stuff like this made his head hurt.

"Back to Envy…" Ed prompted, hoping to steer the conversation away from headache inducing contemplations – he didn't hold out much hope though. This whole mess was one giant headache.

Al shook his head as though to clear it and chuckled lightly. "Oh! Yes, so as I was saying. Everyone in Amestris has a counterpart here – but not everyone here has an Amestrian counterpart. We think maybe they have counterparts in other countries from that world – like Drachma or Xing – but only Amestris was caught up in the transmutation so no one else would have been affected.

"Also, anyone who died in Amestris before or during Promised Day, is actually dead. Their souls did not travel to this world so they cannot be unlocked in their counterparts. Enoch is one of those people. He is Envy's counterpart – but Envy is dead so Enoch can never be unlocked."

"That's why he hates it when people call him Envy." Ed concluded.

"Right." Al nodded. "He doesn't consider himself to actually be Envy anymore than you consider yourself to be Edward Elric. Pride and Wrath are unlocked though and they're using Enoch. I don't know how much he actually believes them about Amestris and everything, but they're offering him a chance at money and power just to do what they say so… he follows them."

"And Pride and Wrath are…?"

"You may have seen Pride. Envy mentioned him but I didn't see him. Was there anyone else there that you saw?"

"Just some kid." Ed shrugged. "Envy called him Sal."

"That's Pride."

"The kid?"

"Yeah. In Amestris, he disguised himself as Selim Bradley – the Fuhrer's son. King Bradley, the Fuhrer, was actually Wrath. Here he's wealthy businessman named Bradley Smith."

"I've heard of him." Ed interrupted. "Isn't he that guy who's buying out thousands of shares on Wall Street?"

"I think so. That sounds about right – I haven't really been following Wrath's mild-mannered alter ego much. Roy knows more about him than I do."

"Roy needs to stop showing you super hero movies." Ed commented, quirking an eyebrow at Al's unexpected turn-of-phrase.

"What's wrong with super hero movies?" Colonel Mustard himself came back into the room at that moment, with a large meat and cheese sandwich on a plate.

"Nothing." Ed shrugged. "I just can't believe he's never seen The Matrix. And since you're apparently in charge of re-culturing this kid, I'm holding you responsible."

Roy just shrugged. "Give it time. I can only convince him to watch one or two movies a month. If he wasn't from Amestris I'd question his sanity for being the only sixteen year old in America who doesn't spend half of his free time glued to the TV or video games."

Ed turned to his "little brother" for an explanation on that one. Al just shrugged. "Why should I limit myself to watching the world on a little box when I have five wonderful senses to experience everything with?"

Then, as Ed watched, Al turned to look at Roy and some kind of silent understanding passed between them. It was solemn and purposeful and it lasted only a moment but it left Ed feeling like he'd missed something huge.

Then Roy was talking again like the moment had never happened. "So how far did you get?"

"Um, I think we've covered most of the basics." Al said after a moment. "Did you have any more questions, Ed."

"Uh, yeah." He had a lot of questions but he doubted they'd be able to cover them all tonight. He picked a few to start with. "You said the homunculi had powers in addition to being immortal – just what are we talking about here? Flying? Super strength? Laser beam eyes?"

"Nothing so cliché." Roy scoffed.

"Well, I'm sorry Mr. Super-hero-movie. I haven't been given much to go on here. Care to enlighten?"

"Don't mind if I do." The Colonel sat himself down in a large, cushy chair next to the book case and proceeded to take a big bite out of his sandwich and chew slowly before continuing. "Let's see. Wrath had what he liked to call his Ultimate Eye – which basically allowed him to see what you were about to do before you did it. He was fast too, and a skilled swordsman, nearly impossible to beat. Then there was Greed with his Ultimate Shield which, well… Al, you knew Ling better than me. How would you describe it?"

"I didn't actually see him much when he was Greed. Brother was with him but that was while we were separated. I did see the first Greed use his shield a lot and he explained it to me – essentially, he was able to harden his body to near indestructibility. So long as he had his shield up, you couldn't hurt him."

"Wait… there were two Greeds?" Ed asked, feeling his headache start back up.

"Yes." Al continued explaining. "The first Greed, well he rebelled against the others and Wrath ended up killing him but I guess they were able to preserve his stone… um, that's basically what keeps them alive – and later they put it inside the body of a friend of ours, Ling Yao, making him into the new Greed. But Greedling was even more rebellious than the first Greed and he teamed up with us for the final battle."

"Ri-ight… okay, got it. Moving on." Ed rubbed his temples, wondering if he'd even be able to sleep tonight with all of this weird new information buzzing around in his brain.

Mustang took up the report again. "Next, I guess is, uh… Lust. She had Ultimate, um…"

"Fingernails?" Al supplied with a smirk.

"Fingernails?!" Ed echoed incredulously. "You're joking."

"No, that's actually accurate." Roy conceded to Ed's astonishment. "Though I don't think she actually called them that – not in my presence anyway. Actually – I think only Wrath and Greed used the whole 'Ultimate' thing. Anyway, yes, Lust could extend her fingers out into sharpened spears and… well." Roy rubbed his side with a twisted expression on his face, giving Ed the impression that he'd had a close encounter with those fingers at some point.

"Gluttony was basically one gigantic stomach." Al picked up, moving on. "He ate everything – including people. And he could open his stomach up into this huge mouth and send out beams which swallowed everything in its path."

"That's… really creepy." Ed was rather glad that he had trouble imagining that one. He didn't want to know what it looked like.

"Just be glad you don't remember the time he swallowed you whole."

"Sw-swallowed me wh – nevermind. I'm going to forget you said that. Moving on." Ed was starting to regret asking about their powers. "Tell me about Envy."

Al looked at Roy who scowled… his face was actually kind of scary. "He was a shape-shifter." The man said coldly. "He could make himself look like anyone and that possibly made him the most dangerous… and the most vile."

"He gone, Roy." Al said softly. "He can't hurt anyone ever again. Enoch is only a shadow and nothing we can't handle."

Once again, Ed felt like he was missing something. Silence hung in the room for several moments until he couldn't take it anymore. He cleared his throat. "So… Pride?"

Al shuddered. "Pride could control shadows, turning them into solid weapons or using them to spy on others. And most never would have suspected him because he wore the face of a child. Sloth was huge." Al switched to the last homunculus without pause. "I guess you could say he did have super strength and super speed too if what I heard was correct. I didn't see that battle though."

"Wait… Sloth was fast? Isn't that an oxymoron?"

Al grinned a little. "Yeah, but he spent all of his time lamenting over what a pain it was to have to do anything and how much he just want to finish his work so that he could go back to sleep."

Ed snorted. "Okay, that sounds more like sloth. Hey, Colonel Mustard." Ed looked over to where the older man still seemed to be brooding over a half-finished sandwich. That wouldn't do. Roy looked up only enough to glare at him. "Al said earlier that you were the Flame Alchemist. So just what can the Flame Alchemist do that's so great?"

The Colonel smirked, which was a far cry better from the dark expression he'd been wearing before. The smirk might be irritating but at least it wasn't scary. "You want to see?"

"Hell, yeah."

Roy set his sandwich on a side table and stood up. "Do you have a lighter I can borrow, Al?"

Al frowned slightly, though his eyes were sparkling with mischief. "You'd better not set my house on fire, Roy." He opened a drawer and started fishing around for the requested item.

"Oh, ye of little faith." The Colonel grabbed a sharpie marker from the pen caddie, uncapped it and started drawing on the back of his hand. A moment later, Ed was able to make out the beginnings of a transmutation circle, sort of like the one Al had drawn earlier but with different lines and symbols. When he was finished Roy reached for the lighter Al had found but stopped short, frowning at the long-reach butane candle lighter. "What is this?"

Al shrugged. "It's all I have. There may be some matches in the kitchen."

Roy sighed. "No this will work. It just won't look as cool. What I wouldn't give for some real ignition cloth." He picked up the lighter and turned to look at Ed. "Watch carefully, Fullmetal. Maybe you'll learn something."

"What do you need the lighter for?" Ed asked skeptically. "Shouldn't the Flame Alchemist be able to create fire out of thin air?"

"This isn't magic. It's science. Equivalent exchange – you can't create something out of nothing." Roy explained calmly, not taking Ed's bait. "All I need is a spark." He grinned and clicked the lighter. It lit – as expected. Ed didn't see anything out of the ordinary. Then the circle on the back of Roy's hand glowed blue and the flame began to grow.

Ed watched in wonder as fire blossomed from the tip of the lighter like a rose – it's petals dancing brilliant orange, red, green, and even blue. It was beautiful… beautiful and powerful, deadly, dangerous. If Roy could manipulate flames like this – with such accuracy a detail – Ed didn't want to imagine what the Flame Alchemist could do when he wasn't trying not to burn Al's house down.

When it was over, Ed could only stare at the man with a sudden sense of awe and respect – the guy might be a jerk but he was a jerk with power.

"You have got to teach me how to do that."