Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist nor any of its characters.

A/N: Well, shortly ago I became pretty obsessed with Fullmetal Alchemist, so I wrote this. I don't know. I'll leave it to your criteria.

More Than Meets The Eye

PROLOGUE: Golden Eyes

- Victor -

oo0- California, February 3rd, 1999 - 0oo

The rain was pouring down in Malibu once again. The radio had warned that this would be one of the rainiest summers in California in the past ten years. Victor activated the windshield with a sigh. Not exactly the best day to get a heart attack. Father was getting old indeed. He had lived a long and fulfilling life, but everything was coming to an end. It was the second heart attack he'd had on the past six months. Victor had seen this coming.

His mind quickly deflected to the news he had been given today that would change his life. Maria was pregnant. He was going to be a father. And precisely that same day his own father had to have a heart attack.

"Nice timing, Dad," he thought bitterly.

Nevertheless, the news had shocked him a little. He didn't have to worry about the income: his salary as a teacher in the University of California paid well, and the funds for his diverse research were not even close from getting cut. He had been making advances in the last year, fortunately.

What worried him was his relationship with his wife. He and Maria had begun to get distanced a little. Maria did not understand anything about physics and did not care in the slightest for chemistry. She was a high school teacher, and her heart was poured into her students. Victor hadn't cared much for a while. She kept the bed warm for him, prepared his breakfast and lunch and enjoyed a movie with him every now and then, she was the perfect companion. She hadn't seemed to care, either, until a few months ago. Victor had detected a change in his wife. She began to call him at work, to make scenes when he arrived later than usual, to get jealous of his graduate students, she had even made him buy a mobile phone he did not need… As if she feared she was losing him to another woman.

Victor snorted to himself. As if. He didn't need any other woman. He did love his wife, dearly. But his research and his projects were first. It was the scientist's life. He had thought she had understood. They had had talks about it when they decided to get married. But she would never lose him. In fact, she was beginning to upset him with all those displays of love. He wasn't a warm person, he had never been. And since Maria was the exact opposite, he had always thought they complemented each other. Maria was the heart, Victor was the brain.

But since everything had started, Maria had become… insistent. Victor now saw himself in the need of reporting to his wife every move he made, or she would freak out later. He didn't want to lose her, but it was happening. He was not a man to be kept on a short leash. He was not a dog she could call at her side whenever she wanted to. She was losing him, indeed, but not to another woman, but because of her own jealousy.

Last month had been the worst ever. She had gone completely berserk when one night he went out to dinner with a few colleagues (all men, to make it worse) and he forgot to call her. That night Victor had decided that was it. He couldn't take it anymore. They had argued for the entire night, and finally they had come to an agreement. Maria would start to go to a shrink. She needed to deal with her feelings or they would have to take some time off. Of course, the reconciliation sex was the best they'd had in a long time. And now it turns out she had forgotten to take the pill that day.

He wasn't worried about the child itself, he was all too happy to become a father, and he even believed he had been longing to do so for a while, deep inside. But he was worried about how this would affect his relationship with Maria. She had began to go to the shrink, but now this past week she'd began to hint they should go to couple's therapy. Couple's therapy! How pathetic was that!

Victor shook his head, upset. Couple's therapy. God.

He was so immersed in his thoughts that he almost missed the exit. He hit the brakes, getting a cacophony of horns behind him, but ignored it as he turned right and took the exit towards his father's neighborhood.

His Dad had definitely picked the wrong year to die. Of course, Victor was happy he had survived the heart attack, but, according to what he had been told over the phone, Jace would not survive the next one, if there was one. He had been sent home, with a warning.

The only thing Victor could hope was that his mother could take care of him and he wouldn't have to bring Jace into his own house. He had enough problems at home already, and with Maria all hormonal from her pregnancy… He didn't even want to think about it.

By the time he parked the car at the front of his father's large house, the heavy rain had turned to a light drizzle. As usual, Victor snorted at the large golden gate he had to go through to reach the house. It was not a mansion, but Jace had insisted in putting an enormous golden fence at the entrance, flanked by two rather large sculptures of eagles staring down at the impressed visitor.

Victor allowed his lips to form a tiny smile. Jace was an eccentric of sorts. A respected scholar and world eminence in inorganic chemistry, Victor's father was also an amateur historian, his period of interest ancient Persia, and he claimed to be the last alchemist. When Victor was a child, Jace had imprinted on his heart the passion for science and the eternal search for Truth. Victor owed everything he was to his father, and he was indeed saddened to see such a brilliant mind fade with age.

In the past five years, Jace had been immersed in a personal project: He was researching alchemy. Victor had told him repeatedly that it was a dead science, that its esoteric side was almost laughable and that he was wasting his time and brains. But his father had not given up, and he had become more and more obsessed with alchemy and alchemists through history. Jace could recite Paracelsus' whole theory, and Flamel and Newton had become his heroes. Victor had tolerated his father's eccentricities all his life, and he put up with listening to his wild theories during family reunions and all for a while. But it came to a point where he simply couldn't take it anymore and he just stopped going to his parents' house for Thanksgiving, Christmas or New Year.

His mother, God bless her, understood him very well, and did not make any complaints. The sweet woman settled for calling him once in a while and chat for some time. Just like Maria, Caroline was not a scientist and understood little of what her husband and son did, but she loved to observe the devotion father and son shared, and she was content to be their support whenever they needed it.

Victor rang the bell, and a large smile settled on his face when Caroline came to open the door, her arms open for her son, as always. Her hair seemed whiter than the last time, if that was even possible. The wrinkles around her eyes became clearly visible to Victor as she smiled at him while opening the fence. When he wrapped his arms around her, he realized with an internal gasp that she was becoming fragile, way too fragile.

"'Hey, Mum."

"Hello, dear. It's been too long."

Victor sighed as they walked inside. "I know. How is he?"

Caroline took a deep breath, and Victor was worried to see her eyes darken. "He is well now, but…"

Victor took her hand. "What did the doctors say?"

"They said… He might not make it if he gets another one." Caroline looked up, and her blue eyes pierced Victor's soul. The sadness in them made him itch. But then she gave him a sad smile. "It is to be expected after all. He is ninety five, I guess I should have known this was coming."

"I'm sorry, Mum," he mumbled, wishing he had something better to say.

But her wrinkled hands squeezed his a little, and she smiled again. "Don't, dear. We've lived a long happy life together, and I am grateful for the time we've shared."

Victor smiled back at her, and then they were there, the door to his father's bedroom. Caroline opened the door and let him through. The sight was pitiful.

Jace was lying on the bed, surrounded by large pillows that helped him sit erect. His white hair had disappeared from the top of his head, falling instead from a line at about his ears to over his shoulders. His face was filled with wrinkles, and Victor noticed many of them were new. His hands had stains, and his eyes were closed. Even if his expression was peaceful, Victor knew his father all too well not to detect something was worrying him dead bad. He seemed to have aged many years since the last time Victor saw him, many more than the ones actually lived. Jace's breath was steady, but he opened his eyes when Victor walked closer to him, and his lips twitched in a smile. Nevertheless, the muscles of his face were tense, and Victor deduced the heart attacks hadn't been for nothing. Jace's eyes pierced Victor's, and once again he felt examined, as if those amazing eyes the perfect shade of liquid gold could see through his soul.

"Hello, son."

"Hey, Dad. You've been fooling around lately, I see."

Jace's chest heaved with a quiet laugh. "I've been working a lot, yes. The doctors said I should take vacations every now and then, but I told them if they said that was because they weren't true scientists."

Victor smiled, shaking his head in fake exasperation. "Oh, you didn't!"

"Yes, I did. Only then one of them reread my name and identified me. And then he went whispering to the other doctor 'It's the man nominated for a Nobel Prize!' You should have seen how they gaped at me then."

Victor laughed. "I bet you gave them something to talk about, Pops."

"You betcha." Jace's hand closed around Victor's. "I am so glad to see you, son."

"Me too, Dad."

Then his father's eyes focused on his wife's smiling face.

"Carol, darling, why don't you prepare some tea? My son and I have to catch up on each other's work."

Caroline nodded and left the room, but Victor shifted in his seat, uncomfortable.

"Umm, yeah, about that. Listen, Dad, I've been thinking…"

But as soon as the door closed, Jace's face transformed, and the pressure on Victor's hand increased, as his voice took an urgent tone.

"Listen, son, listen to me very carefully, for I don't know if I'm going to live to see you again."

"Dad, don't say that! You'll be fine! You just have to-"

Jace leaned towards Victor, his face tense with worry. "No, Victor, listen to me. There's something I have to tell you, something I've kept secret throughout my entire life, but it affects you too, and you need to know it before I die."

Victor's jaw dropped, and he found himself at a loss of words. Jace took a deep breath.

"It is a long story… I know it will sound completely crazy to you, specially because you're a scientist like me and you don't believe in anything your eyes can't see. But you must believe me. If you don't, you can check all my research and you will find the answers there."

"What are you talking about, Dad? Does this have to do with your research on alchemy?"

"Yes… and no. Listen, Victor, have you ever met anyone with golden eyes?"

"Umm, not really…"

"That's right. Because there is no such eye color on this dimension."

Victor's face contorted with puzzlement. "On this dimension? What are you talking about?"

"Victor, I was not born on this Earth. I come from a different dimension, from a city called Xerxes. A city whose people were murdered in a single night. A city where everyone had golden eyes. A city where Alchemy was the main science. A city that alchemy turned into a Philosopher's Stone!"

Victor widened his eyes. He didn't know what he expected to see on his father, but he was definitely not expecting this. Jace had completely lost his mind.

"I found out what the Homunculus was planning, and tried to warn the King. But he did not listen to me, and I realized there was no way I could stop him. Refusing to take part in such an evil plan, I ran away to the desert, and I became the only survivor of the massacre, and the last Xerxesian alive. I travelled to a distant country called Amestris, and, after taking on a different name and going into hiding, I began researching alchemy again. But my enemy found me, and tried to kill me, to end my race, and I had to escape again. But this time I was stronger, more powerful, and wiser. I teleported myself, and the Truth at the Portal sent me to this Earth, and thus I escaped him. But my research notes were left there, and I have lived my entire life in fear that he would come after me… My son, I have never spoken to you about this because I didn't want you to live with fear like I did. But you must be ready and protect yourself. The Homunculus will come someday, and if he doesn't find me, he'll inflict his revenge upon you, or your descendants.' Jace's eyes turned into a plea, as he leaned closer to his son, but Victor backed up, disgusted at what he was hearing. 'Victor, please, you must believe me. You know I always wanted you to practice martial arts, or keep a gun at your home for self defense… This is important. He will find you, and your family!"

Victor couldn't hold it anymore. "You're insane! You're mad! How… how did this happen? You were a brilliant scientist, the brightest I've ever known! How have you allowed this to happen to you?"

He stood up and backed away to the door. His father reached out his hand for him, desperate.

"Victor, please! Believe me! Go over my research, you'll find the truth there!"

Victor turned around and left through the door, more revolted than he cared to admit. He was on his way to the front door, when he almost stumbled with his mother, who was carrying a tray with two mugs.

"Already leaving, dear?"

Victor stopped on his tracks. His mother had nothing to do with it all. Her blue eyes were staring at him with sadness.

"Yeah… I've got to… Umm… Maria just called me… She is…" then he remembered he hadn't given his parents the good news. "She's pregnant!"

Caroline's face illuminated with a large smile.

"Honey, that's terrific news!"

Victor returned a forced smile. "Yeah, I know. She just called me, she's feeling sick, so I'm gonna go…"

Caroline stared at him, and once again Victor knew she knew that was not the real reason. He had never been able to lie to his mother. She seemed to see right through him as if he was made of glass rather than flesh.

"If you must go, then, give Maria my love, will you?"

"Sure, Mom," he nodded. He walked closer to her, took the tray from her hands and laid it on a table nearby, and hugged his mother. Caroline wrapped her arms around him as well.

Ten minutes later, he was on the highway driving back to Los Angeles. It was disturbing to see how much his father had deteriorated in such short notice! The story he had come up with, God! Coming from another world… Jesus. And he had referred to the strange color of his eyes as evidence! Victor had never met anyone with eyes like his and his father's, but that didn't mean anything! It was probably some genetic defect… And his father was an orphan, clearly, since he had no family until he had married Caroline. But making up such a story to justify a lonely childhood was not acceptable. Victor decided he might have a talk with Maria's shrink. Perhaps she would accept to treat his father as well… Though it was kinda pointless anyway, Victor thought sadly. His father wasn't going to be around for much longer. That he was insane didn't mean that he was dangerous or something. If his mother agreed to take care of him, they could just let him live the last days of his life in peace in his demented world.

Victor sighed. His father's mad idea had probably been influenced by one of the latest ideas in the theory of strings. It basically postulated that there were a number of alternate universes that could interact through gravity. Victor hadn't had the time to go through the research in deep. He had read about it in the monthly science magazine he was subscripted to, but it didn't have all the information. Would it be even possible? The theory, as far as he could remember, gave a major importance to the role of the graviton. It was pushing the line a little, but truth was nobody knew much about the graviton anyway…

By the time he reached his exit, his mind had drifted towards the new theory and its concept, and he had almost forgotten every word his father had told him.

- Jace -

On his bed, Jace sighed. He knew his son wouldn't believe him at once, but he hoped in due time, he would dare to go through Jace's notes and see the Truth. It wouldn't happen in his lifetime, anyway.

His mind went back to his youth, and he remembered one more time the beautiful marble columns of the King's palace in Xerxes, and many of the citizens who were friends with him… He had never forgiven himself for turning his back on his people.

He could only hope Homunculus never did find the way through the Portal.

oo0- Resembool, Amestris. February 3rd, 1899 -0oo

- Van Hohenheim -

Hohenheim was walking up and down the living room of the small house, clutching his hair. He knew Pinako would kick his ass if he dared to go up the stairs, but Trisha's screams were driving him out of his mind. The anxiousness he had lived with for the past nine months was burning on his brain. He was not human, he hadn't been for a very long time. What would his child be?

Would it be a monster, like him?

Trisha released a high pitched scream, and Hohenheim moaned in spite of himself. He could heal her, he could help her! But Pinako simply wouldn't let him. She had said giving birth was women's task, and men should stay out. But Hohenheim could barely hold himself. What if something happened to Trisha? What if the birth didn't go right? He had to help her! He couldn't stand to listen to her suffering like this!

And then, the most miraculous sound filled the house. The cries of a baby reached Hohenheim's ears. "Fuck that, Pinako," he thought as he raced up the stairs. But Pinako was already coming out of the room, her clothes stained with blood. Hohenheim was relieved to see that the amount of blood on her apron wasn't the dangerous one.

"Oh, just go in there and meet your son, Hohenheim, she's fine!," Pinako said with her usual bluntness, pointing at the open door.

Hohenheim rushed up, but he stopped in his tracks when he stood at the gate of the room. The sight before his eyes was the most beautiful thing he had seen in his long life. Trisha was lying on the bed, propped up over some pillows, holding a small bunch in her arms, the sunlight from the window illuminating her glowing face.

"Come, darling, meet our son," she said, and the light in her smile dazzled him.

He walked closer to the bed, and sat next to her. She raised the small bunch, and placed it in his arms. A pair of golden eyes looked right at him, and as his fingers went to touch the baby, a tiny hand closed around his thumb.

"Say hello to your daddy, Edward," Trisha whispered.

Hohenheim turned to look at his wife.

"Edward?"

"Edward."

Then his eyes returned to baby Edward, whose perfect features showed clearly he was a normal, human baby. Hohenheim felt his heart inflame with a powerful feeling he could not describe in words, and he did not register the tears of joy rolling down his face when he fixed his eyes in Edward's.

"Hello, Edward. I'm your daddy."

A small tear fell over Edward's beautiful face, and the baby blinked, surprised by the cold wet contact, and began to cry.

Trisha laughed a short laugh, and extended her arms.

"Give him to me, love." She expertly brought the little bunch close to her chest and began to breast feed him, staring at him with all the love of the world in her eyes.

Then she looked back at Hohenheim, and smiled.

Hohenheim knew then with dead certainty that this was and would definitely be the best day of his long life.

oo0- California, September of 2002 -0oo

- Victor -

"Victor, dear, will you go buy some chocolate? Everyone will be here soon and I haven't finished the cake yet!"

"Sure, honey." Victor grunted as he rolled his eyes, carefully manipulating the vials. There was a hiss and a short puff of smoke, and he smiled. He lifted the vial carefully to show its solid content to the little girl sitting on the table.

"Very well, Selena, can you tell me what this is?"

"Iron!"

"And what did I just do?"

"You extracted pure iron from that rock, by using rocks of carbon."

Victor beamed at his daughter. "Very well! Can you tell me the properties of these elements and the one you didn't mention?"

The little girl frowned in concentration.

"Iron is a metal, its symbol is an F and an E, its atomic number 26. Carbon is non-metal, symbol a C, atomic number 6. Oxygen is a non-metal, symbol is an O, atomic number is 8. It is normally found in componds with other elements."

"Perfect, sweetheart. Just remember that the word is compound, not compond."

Selena nodded, and closed her eyes for a moment, trying to retain that new piece of information. Victor could not be any prouder of his daughter. She had turned out to be a prodigy, with higher IQ level than many kids her age, and she was always curious. Victor had gotten used to taking her at his lab, and teaching her everything he knew, since she was a baby, explaining as if he was talking to a college student. He knew she couldn't understand what he said, but the attention she paid to him was priceless. Soon she grew interested in his work, and when Maria and he found, at about her second year, that she was extremely gifted, Victor insisted in getting her a personal teacher. This way, by her third birthday the little girl had learnt to read and elementary chemistry. She loved to recite the periodic table of elements and the properties of each element.

Victor had also begun to teach her to recognize each element in its natural state, using some mornings to drive with her to the mountains and showing her. The current subject they were studying was basic processes of extraction of metals. Victor had taught her about a week ago the process of extraction of iron from iron ore, and he was testing her.

As he had expected, she remembered it perfectly well. Sometimes it was as if she had a mini computer inside her brain, but her psychologist had told him kids absorb a lot of what happens around them.

"Daddy, can I ask you something?"

"Sure, love."

"I borrowed a book from you last weekend. Is it okay?"

Victor looked severely at his daughter. "Remember to ask before you take something, Selena. Just for this time, I won't be mad at you."

Selena looked down, making an adorable pout, and Victor had to refrain himself from hugging her and kissing her entire tiny face. A lesson was a lesson.

"Okay."

"Now then, which book did you borrow?"

"Chemistry I."

"And do you like that book?"

"Oh, yes, very much' she said excitedly. 'I've learnt a lot from it!"

Victor smiled at her. "I'm glad."

"VICTOR! THE CHOCOLATE!" Maria's shrill scream made both father and daughter start.

"I better go or your Mum will have a stroke," Victor mused, lifting the small girl and carrying her to the kitchen as she giggled. He deposited her on the only clean spot of the table, and quickly ran away before his overstressed wife could continue yelling at him.

- Maria -

Maria kept preparing the sandwiches for the important dinner. It was Selena's third birthday, and her whole family was coming to dinner. Victor's mum was coming too.

"Mommy, do you know the tool you're using is made of iron and it could get rusty?"

Maria impatiently wiped her forehead, covering it with flour.

"Yes honey, I do. But this one will not get rusty because I clean it often."

"Because rust is toxic, I read it in the book… Does toxic mean it makes your belly hurt?"

"Yes, Selena, that's what it means."

"Oooohh," was the response. "Mommy, did you know that both diamond and graphite come from carbon?"

"No, Selena, I didn't," said the increasingly frustrated Maria, as she eyed her watch. Oh dammit! It was nine o'clock already! The guests would be here any minute! And Victor hadn't bought the chocolate yet!

"And mommy, did you know that-"

"Selena, sweetie, look, Mommy is really busy right now. Do you think you could leave your questions for later?"

The girl was silent for a second. "Yes, Mom." Then she hopped off the table and walked away.

Maria leaned out the door of the kitchen, watching the little girl climb the stairs to her bedroom.

"You might want to get dressed! As soon as I'm done here, I'll go help you out!"

"Yes, mommy," was the answer. But her sad voice and slouched shoulders made Maria feel guilty. Poor child, she was not to blame. But Maria was really stressed right now. She would make it up to her later.

Maria loved her daughter dearly, but disagreed with Victor on his method for educating her. Yes, Selena was a prodigy, but that didn't mean she wouldn't have to go to school or make friends. It didn't mean she couldn't have a normal life. Maria wanted the best for her daughter, and from her point of view, the best was not to push her and let her live a normal life.

Problem was, that didn't seem to be what Selena herself wanted. But she was too young to know what was best for her! Maria had already been checking some schools in the area. She wanted to send her little genius to the best school ever, but Victor disagreed and refused to pay for a school. He wanted Selena to be homeschooled. But how could a child grow up without leaving her house ever? How could she have friends? Maria was a high school teacher, and she saw every day how cruel kids could be, but she trusted her Selena was tougher than that. She was a sweet child, but she knew how obsessive she could get, even at her tender age, and when she put her head up to something, she got it. That was a trait she had inherited from her father and grandfather, and Maria knew she would make it through school, it would make her tougher, more confident. It was a life experience she had to go through.

This had been the basis of Victor and Maria's every single argument over the past six months.

And, oh for crying out loud, where was the chocolate?!

The bell rang, and Maria moaned. But a second later there was a noise of feet coming down the stairs.

"I'll get it, Mommy!"

Maria leaned out the door of the kitchen. "Wait!"

The girl stopped at her tracks and turned around to look at her. Maria examined her. She was wearing a short white dress, long socks and the little white shoes Maria had bought last week. Proper.

"Fine, open up and tell them to wait in the dining room. I'll get changed and meet them in ten minutes, okay?"

Selena nodded. "Yes, mommy."

Maria smiled with pride. Her princess was a whole little lady.

oo0- California, December of 2002 -0oo

- Victor -

Victor walked into his studio with the huge box. What was Mom thinking? Hadn't he gone through enough in the past few months? Why would she give him that anyway?

He placed the box onto the table, and stared at it, his mind filled with doubts. Should he peruse the box now?

He opened the box out of curiosity. He knew what it was: his father's research. All his notes from the last year, condensed in one big box. He picked up a notebook and opened it in about the middle. It was filled with drawings of strange circles, formulas and phrases in latin. What the…?

Victor shook his head and placed the notebook inside the box. Maybe later. He had to finish the papers for Selena's custody.

After two months of constant arguments, Maria had finally given up her claim of custody for the child, when the judge decided to bring Selena herself to court and have her decide who she wanted to be with. Maria's soft heart was crushed at the idea of putting her princess through that, and she gave up. They had finally decided on a shared custody. Weekdays she lived with Daddy, weekends she spent with Mommy, with the possibility of exchanging if both parents agreed.

They were both sorry for Selena, but it had become clear after the massive argument on the girl's third birthday that they could not live together anymore. The last thing any of them wanted was to grow their child in an environment of violence and arguments. So they had decided to get the divorce.

And to think it all had been because of a simple lab set game for kids that Victor had bought for Selena. Maria had accused him of enforcing his own ideas into the child's brain, and it was Selena's pleas that had stopped the fight, when she suggested with tears in her eyes to return the gift, even though it was pretty clear she had loved it.

That was the breaking point for them. They were tearing each other apart, but they were destroying their daughter on the process. So after two months, life was finally becoming easy again. Maria had also agreed, though reluctantly, to let the girl study with a teacher at home instead of sending her to school, and everyone was happy.

But he had had virtually no rest during those months. And now that it was finally over, his mother had called to ask him if he could take his father's research notes, since she was moving out. Jace had died a month before Selena was born, as it had been predicted by the doctors, but Victor had not gone through his material as he had promised, because he was scared of what he might find.

But a couple of hours later, once he had finished the custody paperwork and he was trying to relax with a cup of tea before the fire, curiosity bit up on him again, and he went up the stairs to check on the materials.

He did not pay much attention to much of it, simply going over the pages, glancing here and there. Until suddenly…

"No way! Impossible! This… this can't be true!"

Victor's eyes widened and his hands began to run through the papers, in a manic mood, searching for the key to the mystery. Then he found it. A simple page, with a drawing of a huge gate.

His eyes flickered around the room, trying to take in the implications of what his father had discovered. But, if that part of his story was true, how about the part of…?

He began to rummage over the papers again, desperately, until the hand drawn picture of a dark figure with an inhuman smile appeared before his eyes.

"Homunculus…" he whispered.

oo0- The Alps, Switzerland, September of 2014 -0oo

The chilly wind was howling like a wolf at night into Victor's ears, but the mix of the sun warming his back, the stuffed clothes he was wearing and the quick rhythm they had adopted had Victor sweating under his parka. He stopped for a second to stare at the beauty of the landscape, the peaks of the mountains gleaming under the sun, the majestic valley lying low beneath his feet. The rock was cold against his hands, so cold he even felt it through his gloves. It was actually a cold day for September, but hey, it was the Alps.

Victor's attention was then drawn to the lithe figure climbing a feet above him, a meter at his right, as pebbles fell down into the void below.

"Be careful, honey! That's tricky field!"

The ringing of her carefree laughter echoed over the valley beneath them.

"Dad, I am fine!"

Victor stared at his young daughter with concern as she climbed effortlessly, and he sighed, shaking his head. Sometimes it scared him how much Selena was like Jace. As the graceful teenager moved past him on the face of the mountain, Victor once again wondered if it had been his fault.

After the divorce from Maria, Victor had attained custody of the young girl, and the first thing he did was sign her up for martial arts classes. The picture he had found in Jace's paperwork had haunted him all those years. Victor hadn't dared to dive into his father's research, scared of what he might find, but he wasn't going to put the life of his daughter on the line anyway.

And Selena had proven to deserve every bit of protection he could give her. She was not reckless, she did understand how much she meant for her parents, and she was careful. But it was her natural curiosity that drove her forward. Maria had almost had a heart attack when they both had attended a presentation of her martial arts teacher, and the man sparred with Selena while she was blindfolded, with swords, at around her twelfth birthday. Victor remembered the panic he had felt pretty well too, but his daughter had danced gracefully, avoiding each and every blow, and came down from stage glowing in excitement after it was finished, to find both her parents terribly upset. They had decided to terminate Selena's martial arts training, but the young girl had learned by then how to get something from them when she wanted it, and her pouts and pleas and reasonable arguments that it had all been staged convinced her parents to allow her to continue.

At the same time, she had progressed wonderfully in her studies, earning a high school diploma at the age of eleven. She had been interested in chemistry since very young, and once she had her degree, she began to research and collaborate in her father's lab. At her fifteenth birthday, she had been admitted in Berkeley with honors, being scheduled to begin that dawn, and she was already immersed in a project of her own: She was researching the field of sensory substitution, hoping to develop a better device than those in the market to help the sight impaired to "see" through sound. Selena claimed that her experience in fighting blindfolded had helped her realize how difficult life was for blind people, and she wished to help them. Another field she was very interested in, to Victor's despair, was Jace's research on alchemy. And to think he had discovered only a week ago that she had been secretly reading her grandfather's papers for over a year.

"Dad, what are you doing down there? Come on, are you rusty or what?" she laughed, and Victor rushed to meet her challenge.

In a way, Selena had become the companion his wife had failed to be: they spent long nights awake talking, discussing the latest news on their respective fields. He had also introduced her to his post-grad students, and even though she shunned them at first, she was slightly more comfortable now, or so he thought. The one and only thing she didn't seem to be good at was at making socials. She was as shy and awkward as he was at her age, and Maria kept scolding Victor for that, claiming that it was a consequence of her home schooling. Still, considering what a prodigy she was, it was a minor defect, Victor thought.

He had long ago decided to ignore the fact that his daughter seemed to want to spend more and more time alone lately, and her research was absorbing her. Nevertheless, it was something that kept pricking at the back of his mind whenever Selena worked at her lab or spent long nights awake. Victor was proud of her, she would be a great scholar, an eminence like her grandfather; but sometimes her determination could border with obsession, to the point where her father had decided to bring her to the Alps on holidays. Every scientist, even the greatest geniuses the world had ever known, needed a break every now and then. Victor knew he had done well: Selena's smile returned to her face and her lightheartedness was back. With a small smile, the physicist hurried to catch up with the laughing teenager.

He reached the ledge where Selena was supposed to be waiting for him, and he narrowed his eyes: his daughter was checking the end of the ledge beyond the drawn lines that marked safe territory.

"Selena! Come back here immediately!"

"Dad, it's okay! I'm just trying this!" She pinned the piton on the rock and then turned to smile at her father. "Check this out!" and she released some rope, hanging free over the abyss.

Victor felt the hair at the back of his head prickle, and once again the fear for his daughter mixed with the strange feeling that they were being watched.

"Selena, for God's sake, come back!"

His daughter was always looking for new challenges, pushing herself to her limit, always wanting more, but this was going far enough.

"Selena, as your father, I order you to come back here!"

The smile in the young girl's face faded, and her caramel eyes gleamed with protest.

"Dammit. You take all the fun off it, you know?"

Victor breathed with relief as she hoisted herself up, and she grabbed on to the rock as she unpinned the harness, carefully sliding sideways back to safety.

But then, a horrific sound shook Victor to his very core, as the call of Earth itself climbed up to where they were, two tiny figures in the vast emptiness: A tremor rushed from the depths of the mountain, and Victor extended his hand to his daughter instinctively, but she held herself to the rock, as their world began to rumble.

Suddenly, Selena's eyes widened in terror.

"It's coming from up, not down! It's not a quake, it's an avalanche!"

And effectively, one second too soon, Victor looked up to see pricks of snow beginning to fall from the final ledge right on top of them, a hundred meters above.

"Selena!" he shouted in horror, but his daughter adopted a determined look as she began to move towards him, crawling against the rock, her feet barely moving.

And then… her foot slipped.

It was like a moment of eternity, as her body began to fall, her eyes wide open with terror, her lips opened in a scream of agony that would never leave Victor's memory, and he dashed over to her position to grasp her, but one second too late.

Her terrified hands left the rope, and Victor could see her falling in the air, falling down, as the rope followed her. And then Victor managed to reach the piton, and he punched it quickly into the rock, making sure it would hold his daughter's weight and her fall. Just in time. With a sharp noise, the rubber rope tensed, and Victor leaned over the edge, forgetting the snow that was now beginning to rain over him, to see Selena hanging over the abyss, two hundred meters below.

Selena's face was too far away to make out her features, but Victor could tell she was terrified.

"It's okay, honey! I've got you!" he shouted over the edge, as he turned to look at the harness. But Selena's shrill scream called upon him, and he leaned over the edge again.

His eyes could barely believe what they were watching. A bunch of sharp blades, black like shadow, appeared out of nowhere, seemingly from the very guts of the mountain, and surrounded his daughter with darkness. Her scream was suddenly muffled, and the darkness slowly swallowed her into the mountain.

"SELENAA!" A new blade came from the same point and severed the rope holding Selena to life, and one second later the young girl had disappeared, swallowed by shadows.

Victor's screams echoed all over the valley.

- Selena -

It was the strangest thing that had ever happened to me. It felt like every single piece of me was being separated from my body. I screamed and screamed all my throat could do, but the process didn't stop, and suddenly I felt like my whole self was becoming one with nothingness, my very essence being deconstructed.

And then, light appeared from what looked like the end of a tunnel, and as my stunned eyes stared -if I still had them- streams of light rushed to meet me, as if they too wanted to engulf me. I could only wonder what was going on, and thanks to that light, I saw that I still had my body, but it was covered with strange black ribbons that ended in what looked like tiny hands. I understood then that the little hands were carrying me towards the light.

Then the streams of light became wider, and I began to distinguish images on them, like it was my whole life painted on a stream of light, almost like the roll of a movie. I saw my father, showing me books, teaching me the basic processes. I saw my mother, baking a cake. I saw my teacher, showing me the butterfly kick. The images began to roll faster, and then the light at the end of a tunnel took form, a human form, the form of a boy. I reached out my hand.

"Please! Help me! Please!"

But as the boy turned around to look at me, there was a flash of white light, so white that it almost blinded me, and I shrieked as I felt my body being compressed by an enormous pressure.

But as soon as it came, it was gone. I opened my eyes. Everything was white.

Everything, except for the strange human-like silhouette sitting in front of me.

"Hello."

A/N: Sorry for the cliffie! Well, so what do you guys think of Selena? She is a bit of a prodigy, but then, in Fullmetal all characters are somewhat prodigies too. I mean, the Elric brothers, Mustang, Hawkeye, Winry, the Armstrongs, Izumi, they're all supertalented, aren't they?

I don't know. This is just a prologue, though. I have a lot of plot bunnies for this one, but do not expect it to be updated too regularly, it's just that with what Japanese, Law and Linguistics I'm pretty busy right now. College life, ugh. Besides, my writing is quite crappy and I'm a little embarrassed about this. I'm always afraid people will hate my writing or the storyline. I still have much to learn. Some day I'll be able to write a good story with great character development and perfect arcs, but for now, this is how I practice.

Don't forget to review!