12 A Lie That Saved A Life

"So where did you learn alchemy?" Rodriguez asked as the carriage moved towards Amestris. 

Burne wasn't comfortable telling the truth. "It was from a certain group of alchemists." He lied. "One of the Grand Alchemists was impressed by one of my theories, so he decided to teach me." 

In a way, he wasn't lying. His grandfather was a Grand Alchemist before he passed away. 

Rodriguez nodded. "Impressive. But it makes sense that you were taught by a Grand Alchemist considering you took down that monstrosity." 

"So what are you going to Amestris for?" He asked. "It's alright if you don't want to answer." 

"I was told that it is a great place for Alchemists to improve their alchemy. So, I decided to visit Amestris." Burne answered. "Apparently there is an altar that is pretty close to Fort Briggs and while it is on the Amestrian border, it is out of their jurisdiction. I am hoping to learn something from there."

"That altar was demolished a long time ago and the only thing left of it is the ruins. So I doubt you would be able to find anything." Rodriguez said.

"Well it's still better than nothing, I guess." Burne said.

The rest of the journey mostly went with the two of them asking each other about a few things about their alchemy knowledge. Burne learnt that Rodriguez's alchemy was weak compared to his impressive physical ability but because of his achievements throughout the years, he was given the position of major. Brune found his struggles admirable. 

He also learnt that there were a lot of alchemists that have tried human transmutation in the past years while they served the state. That worked as a cover for them to hide their horrible secrets. 

.

.

.

They reached Amestris after a few hours of travelling with Burne making sure that the ice didn't melt in the middle of the Journey. 

"So, I guess you will be going to Briggs first?" Rodriguez asked. "I would have preferred if you went to the council. They would have loved to award you for your heroism." He paused and looked at his arm. "There is a great hospital near the station. Get the wound treated first or it might cause an infection."

Burne nodded. "I will visit the council later but first I need to go to the altar. After all… That is the reason for my visit to Amestris."

Rodriguez laughed. "You are a respectable person, Burne." He said. "I wish that you find what you are looking for. And I hope to see you in the council later."

Burne nodded. "I will make sure to visit the council." He looked at the station. "Well then… I will be leaving."

Rodriguez nodded as he picked up Gluttony on his shoulders. "Good luck, lad."

Bidding farewell, Burne walked off to the station.

'Briggs. Maybe I should have brought some warm clothes with me.' He thought as he remembered the harsh climate of the mountains. "Meh. I will transmute some sheep fur on my way."

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Near the Amestrian border, Rodriguez stood with a frown on his face. He threw the frozen Gluttony from his shoulder on the ground. Tightening his fist, he punched the ice— shattering it completely and releasing Gluttony from the ice prison. 

"Bloody idiot." He mumbled before putting his hand over Gluttony's forehead and melting off the ice inside his head. 

As the ice melted away, he punched the blob of a man— waking him up in the process. 

"W-what?" Gluttony seemed confused. "My head hurts." He frowned as he massaged his head. 

Rodriguez rolled his eyes. "Of course it does, you dumb fuck."

Gluttony looked at Rodriguez with a frown. "Human. Gluttony is hungry." 

Rodriguez looked disgusted. "Don't call me a human."

Gluttony was initially confused but the confusion was gone instantly as he saw Rodriguez transforming in front of him.

The muscular middle-aged man changed into a feminine looking man with long black hair with a tattoo similar to Gluttony that was located in his left thigh. 

This was Envy.

Gluttony had his tattoo on his tongue referencing to his unending appetite while Envy had his on the thigh which was not easily visible— symbolizing that envy isn't always apparent at first glance.

"Envy!" Gluttony exclaimed. "What are you doing here?" He asked his fellow homunculus.

"Father told me to fetch you." Envy said. "He told you to feed on alchemist and humans but he specifically told you not to do it near Amestris or Ishval. The relationship between the two places is fragile and something like a murder might start a war… which we don't want for the time being… at least not before six months for the Ishvalan war." Envy paused. "And definitely not a world war anytime soon."

Gluttony seemed confused. "Why?" 

Envy sighed… their brother was not the smartest tool in the shed. "You killed near the border and if someone from Amestris or Ishaval investigated and linked the death with the other country… We would have been in trouble." Envy paused. "I am kind of glad that the boy kicked your ass." 

Gluttony fumed as he remembered the raven-haired boy. "Where is he??" He yelled. "I will swallow him whole!"

Envy smacked Gluttony's head. "He is gone. And you are not going after him."

"Why?!" Gluttony yelled, shocked at Envy's betrayal. 

"Because he could be from a higher alchemic organisation. And from our little chat, I learnt that he was taught by a Grand Alchemist and his strength is far above the level of a state alchemist. So if I killed him, the Grand Alchemist and his little group might investigate and link the recent murders… sparking a war." Envy looked at Gluttony. "Starting a war… And if you remember, we don't want that."

Gluttony didn't seem pleased, seeing which Envy sighed. "I promise that he will be all yours once the war starts. But before that, you will not go after him." Envy put on an impassive face. "Understood?"

Gluttony begrudgingly agreed. 

Unknowingly, Burne saved his life by not revealing the truth about himself.

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On the train, Burn looked at the diary that he had been carrying. He had written everything he knew about the philosopher's stone in the diary but for others to not be able to read it, he wrote the part with the philosopher's stone in a way that only he could understand.

He had gotten his wound treated in the hospital but he didn't have to wait long as he used his alchemy to make sure that no infection could form around the wound.

He nearly died from the fight with Gluttony. But he wasn't angry or scared but instead he was ecstatic. 

'Regrowing lost limbs and organs is possible.' He wrote it down in the diary. 'The fight with Gluttony is the proof of it.'

He hasn't been this excited in ages. 

'The technique he used to regrow the lost parts of his body is still unknown. Possible explanations— carbon manipulation, synthetic transmutation or human transmutation.' He wrote his theories. 

'I need to visit the council after visiting the altar.' He thought. 'Hopefully, they will let me see the results. Or I will have to resort to looking through the forbidden human transmutation files…' He frowned. 'Which I don't want to do unless there is no other way.'

The discovery he made had piqued his interest. He was greedy, his grandfather had always warned him about his greed and it had nearly cost him his life at times. But he was a person who never learnt his lesson. 

'I am treading very close to the forbidden territory.' He thought. 'I should be careful.' 

He looked at the arm that he had lost because of his greed and because of going against the rules of alchemy.

"Maybe I should think about things other than alchemy for once." He mumbled. "Gramps used to say the same."

'Alchemy is a great way to understand nature and its laws and even bending it according to your will. But Burne, there is more to life than alchemy.' 

He remembered the words of his grandfather.

'I lost the people I cared about because I could never give them time. I was so busy in my research that I neglected my wife and children— in the end, I lost both my wife and my son. You are the only person I have left in this world, Burne. Don't end up like me. Find a woman you love. Start a family, take care of them and enjoy your life. Life is more than alchemy and once you figure it out— you will be the happiest person alive.'

Burne sighed. "Maybe one day, gramps… maybe one day." He looked at his prosthetic arm. "No one would love a disabled man." He chuckled. "Maybe I will look for someone when I am able to recover. But before that… I doubt there will be anyone that is going to accept me."

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[A/N: Feels bad man… FMAB is not very popular on WN. People that write Marvel, DC or similar fics get a ton of views but FMAB is not very popular. Even people that don't write their own fics and only translate MTL fics to a little readable English are at top 🙃🙃🙃. Don't worry I will upload daily but it still feels bad. Maybe once I have like 50 chaps, I will gain a bit of recognition. UmU UmU that's it! 

Anyways, leave paragraph comments to let me know about the mistakes and errors.]

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