A/N: Hey, this is my first fic so please R&R! Don't be too harsh...heh

The Crossroads

Prologue

It was a bright, sunny day when it happened which couldn't of been better for the people who were out and about, not knowing that today would change their lives forever. The people who are out and about come from to similar yet hugely different worlds. Only today their worlds would collide and only today could such a thing happen. Oddly enough, the small dirt roads that formed the crossroads were called Alkamee and Majick.

Edward and Alphonse Elric were walking behind their childhood friend Winry Rockbell. Al was still sadly a suit of armor with his spirit attached and Ed still had his auto mail. On this day they could hardly dwell on the past as nothing but an empty expanse of nature stretched before them. One person in the small group was not enjoying herself in the slightest. The dirt was beginning to drive Winry mad as they'd seen nothing but dirt for the last few days. Winry brushed her blond hair out of her face and walked back to the two brothers who were laughing at something they obviously thought funny.

"What's so funny back there? Here I am, lost in the country with two immature boys...yes, that's right, boys, not men, who don't know how to read a map, how to ask for directions or even how to erect a tent! It's hopeless!" She ranted, cheeks puffed out in indignation.

Ed shook his head and laughed even harder. "I'm sorry, Winry but we were just laughing at how you got us kicked out of the last inn we stopped at!" Al was holding his 'ribs' at what Ed had just said but stopped laughing when Winry took his helmet off. "Winry! What was that for? Give it back!" Al whined, "I didn't just say that!"

Ed was still laughing even though Winry smacked him, too. "I took your helmet, Al, because you didn't shut him up!" Winry dropped the helmet and walked ahead. She stopped suddenly in the middle of the crossroads then stooped down and examined the dirt. "That's funny..Ed, Al, come look at this."

The boys hurried to her side and looked at the dirt. "What? There's nothing to look at." Ed turned his head, and then felt a pull on his braid. "Open your eyes a little more then, lamebrain. Looks like someone marked this place." Winry looked up and down the two roads that formed the intersection then back to the 'X' that was smack dab in the middle.

"Are these roads even marked on the map?" Ed reached into his pocket and pulled out a torn map that had been consulted at least ten thousand times in the last three days. "Let's see...look, here at the corner of the map." Al and Winry leaned closer to Ed and looked over his shoulder.

Edward squinted his eyes and read aloud the words, "These are the crossroads of Alkamee and Majick." And then everything went black.

Meanwhile, at the same time:

"Hermione, do hurry up!" Yelled a tall, gawky, red-haired teen whose face was flushed from the heat.

"I am hurrying, Ronald!" The bushy haired girl yelled back, a scowl on her rather pretty face.

"Oh, do stop the bickering already," said a raven-haired boy with a lightning shaped scar on his forehead who was rubbing his temple, impatient and getting tired.

"Sorry, Harry, but Ronald's gotten us lost again." Hermione said through clenched teeth.

"Yes, I kinda figured that out already but you two fighting isn't going to help matters any. Do you even know where we are?" Harry glared at Ron and Hermione only to have his glare returned by two pairs of angry eyes.

"Yeah..I think I know where we are..." Ron sounded like he thought just the opposite but he still gave it a try. "We're 7 miles northeast of the nearest village."

"Oh, Ron, we're in the middle of nowhere!" Hermione snatched the map from Ron's hands and consulted it. "Well, we have to reach a landmark or something because this map looks outdated."

"Let's keep walking then by all means." Ronald pushed passed Hermione and mumbled something under his breath. "What was that, mate?" Harry raised an eyebrow questioningly. "Why don't we just talk the Knight Bus?" Ron blushed as he asked those words, already knowing the answer. "We are not taking that horrendous vehicle, Ron!" Hermione hated that damn triple-decker. They walked in silence for a few minutes until Hermione said, "Look. There's a crossroads. Look at the map. Perhaps it will finally tell us where we are."

Harry looked at the old map and whispered, "Look at this corner here." His two friends looked over his shoulder and Harry read the words that were fading from the parchment, "These are the crossroads of Alkamee and Majick." And then everything went black.

A/N: By the way, Ed is about 17, as is Harry, Ron and Hermione, though that doesn't matter.

Revised: 11/2010