The City Under Central (Edward Elric x Reader)

The afternoon sun cast shadows across the dusty gravel road as Edward Elric helped his younger brother Alphonse take small steps with his weak legs. He limped, using a wooden crutch to assist him as well, but Ed allowed him to grasp firmly to his arm for extra support in case his muscles gave out unexpectedly.

It has been a few weeks since the traumatic events in the city under central and the two brothers have finally been able to buy train tickets to bring them back to the station in Risembool. They have yet to tell Winry Rockbell, her grandmother Pinako, and your parents of the unfortunate loss that occurred. In other words: your death. At least from this world. There was no possible way to know for sure if your counterpart still lives on the other side.

Ed and Al continued down the path until the outline of a house appeared on the horizon. As they got closer, a black and white dog with a wagging tail rushed down the wooden steps of the porch to greet them, barking loudly to announce their arrival. Its metal limb creaked as it circled around their legs and almost tripped them multiple times as they tried to make their way to the front door.

The two boys couldn't help but laugh. After all that happened, it felt good to finally have something to feel happy about. Just as they approached the door, it swung open before Ed even had the chance to knock. In the middle of the frame stood a girl around Edward's age with big blue eyes and long, light blonde hair tied back with a red bandana. A grey colored mechanic suit was tied around her waist and in her gloved hand held a wrench. Her face, although very pretty, was covered with oil and grease.

Al's face lit up from behind Ed. "Winry! It's great to see you-" He broke off as Winry raised her wrench in the air, about to smack them over their heads.

"Where have you imbeciles been?! You could have at least CALLED before you just show up at my door after MONTHS of not hearing ANYTHING-" Edward scrambled several paces backwards in a quick moment of panic and Al cowered, his arms protecting his skull from being used as a piñata.

"No! I'm too young to die!" He squeaked out in a high voice.

She froze, eyes wide, when her brain finally processed the sight of Al standing before her. "Alphonse?" She whispered in surprise. "Is... that you?"

Quickly, he straightened up and flashed her a grin. Ed returned to his brother's side and placed a hand on his shoulder before answering, "We found his body at the gate and was able to bring it back."

Winry raised an eyebrow in confusion. "But how was that possible? What about equivalent exchange?"

Al avoided her sharp gaze. "I uh... had to give up the Philosopher's Stone."

Winry blinked. "You found the Philosopher's Stone?"

Ed's brain worked furiously to try and find an explanation that wouldn't result with his brain smashed to mush, but nothing he came up with sounded even remotely safe. He subtly leaned backwards as he launched into an explanation, being careful to leave out certain details. "We went to Lior to help the rebels, but when we got there the criminal named Scar, the one who was trying to kill me, already had a huge transmutation circle drawn out around the city. (Y/N) and I helped evacuate the city, but something happened to Al. When we found him again, he had a bunch of weird markings on his armor and the Philosopher's Stone was actually inside him so later on we sacrificed it as equivalent exchange to get his body back."

He took a deep breath after finishing and shot a nervous glance at Winry to witness her reaction. Her eyes were narrowed suspiciously, mulling over the words in her head. He cringed as she opened her mouth to speak, but the question she asked next was completely different from what he was expecting.