Young Writers Society

Geist blinked.

"Whoa," he managed to get out, taking a step closer to the little skeleton bird and studying it more closely. He crouched down beside it. When he checked the other planes, it miraculously managed to look the same. It was far from what human transmutation was supposed to accomplish, but it was still an amazing thing.

He hesitantly reached a finger out to poke it.



"We're a couple miles out from West City," Sebastian replied. "Roughly six or seven, though I'm not sure which one it's closer to."

How could he have been unaware of where he was? If they were in the midst of a forest, than so be it. That made sense. It was easy to get lost in places like that, but this city was unforgettable. Its buildings were like nothing he had ever seen, and its emptiness should have been a trademark feature.

Well, this was the best lead that he had had all day. He cast a brief glance at Engel before digging through the pocket of his uniform for his state alchemist watch. He doubted the man would question his credentials, but it was best to play things safe. He held up his watch. "I'm Sebastian Kueper, the Glasswork Alchemist. I've been assigned to research this city - I suppose this is a city - and determine why it suddenly appeared. Do you know anything?"

Before the man had a chance to reply, Engel gave him a tug on the sleeve of his uniform. "There's another person," he said, voice echoing inside of his armor. "She's several feet away from us. I can go bring her over while you finish up here."

Sebastian nodded. Divide and conquer seemed like the best approach at the moment.

As the alchemist waited for a response, Engel cautiously approached the woman. It quickly became apparent that he had been wrong in his initial assumption - she was a teenager, and a young one at that. He raised a hand in greeting. "Hello," he warmly said. "I'm Issac. My companion was sent here to figure out why this city suddenly appeared, and would like to speak to you about it."

He pointed back at Sebastian and the man.

"He's the one wearing the blue uniform," Engel clarified.

Bo blinked. This city... had suddenly appeared? What did that even mean? How could that even happen? Maybe he was still dreaming. Or at least, that was what he wanted to believe, if the bench, this city, and this person didn't seem and feel so real. He might've been hungover, but he still knew what real felt like.

"I... I mean, I don't know man. I literally just woke up here. I was taking a nap and when I woke up I was here. I have never seen a place like this before in my life, so I have no idea who you are, or where or what this place is. So I mean, I don't know how to help you."

The skeleton turns to face him as he extends his finger. It hisses and rears back, plainly aggressive.

"No," Thanatos says, following up in a short command in a latin-esque tongue and clenching his fingers into a fist. The beast freezes, then resumes normal movement, ignoring Geist and his approach.

_________________________________________________________________

She leaps up and stumbles back, alarmed at Engel's approach. A place where she's not supposed to be, people she doesn't recognize, uniforms that shouldn't exist. Artemis looks up at the armor in fear. She's still breathing hard from the run, though it's beginning to speed up from panic; plainly, she expects them to be hostile.

Well, at least he didn't yell at me.

Even though he hadn't been a member of the Amestrian military for too long, Sebastian knew that this scenario was perhaps one of the better. Few mindlessly idolized the government. Anger and fear were the reactions he knew best. Anger at the atrocities the military had committed, or fear at the power they had. State alchemists were especially susceptible to the more extreme versions of the reactions. A flustered, frightened man was honestly a gift when compared to what he had gotten on his last few assignments.

He slipped his watch back into his pocket.

"It's alright," he tried to reassure the other man. "I just wanted to know if you knew anything. Since you don't, do you want me to help figure out what's going on? My friend-" He gestured back at Engel. "-can help you, too."



His voice got caught in what should have been his throat. He knew the sight of him like this would always terrify - even if it was just a little - whoever they met during their travels. But the reaction never stopped hurting; he'd always wish he wasn't stuck in his armor when he saw the flicker across their faces. He studied the symptoms of her terror for several seconds. The hurried breath, the wide eyes, the slight stumble back.

"I'm not going to hurt you," he said. He kept his voice soft and his tone gentle. "I'm not sure what you think I'm going to do to you, but I promise I won't do it. I just want to help my friend out. He has to figure out why this place suddenly appeared, and I thought you might know. But it's alright if you don't."

She doesn't move, watching Engel nervously. "Who?" she asks, still ready to run but slowly calming down.

Bo squinted, looking over at the armored guy further down. There was a girl too. But beyond that, there was no one around.

"...Is there no one else in the city besides us? Or did something happen to them all?"

Sebastian gave a slight shrug. "I'm not quite sure what happened to the people who lived here," he admitted. "It's why my commanding officers sent me here to investigate this place. It's technically outside where I'm usually assigned, but with the war here in the west, their forces are a little strained."

After a moment of hesitation, he added, "There should be at least one other person here. He travels with me and Issac - that's the man over there, in the armor - and has a tendency to run off when no one is looking. He'll probably show up soon."



"His name is Sebastian," Engel said. He couldn't smile when he was like this, but he liked to think that he could convey a smile in the way that he spoke - a gentle, kind tone that couldn't possibly be viewed as a threat. He briefly gestured behind him at his companion. "I'm guessing you probably figured it out from the uniform, but he's a state alchemist. It's his job to figure out strange things like this. We have another friend, too, but he's stubborn and loves to get into trouble when neither of us are looking."



Geist was about to do something stupid.

Very stupid.

That was, of course, assuming that his little investigation was going to go the way he planned. He continued to crouch in front of the little skeleton thing. It had to be magical. There was no other explanation for it. He doubted it had the abilities of even an imp, but he absolutely had to test what it was capable of. He was too curious not to.

He rolled back his guise so it only showed on the first plane. Another for Tottan and Thanatos to see him as he currently appeared, but, if he was right in his guess, not enough to hide the appearance his essence took when away from the Other Place. Fear, intrigue or just straight out confusion would be a clear sign that his little experiment had worked. It would prompt questions from the others, but he was at a point where he wanted to be a little risky.

The girl seems to be calming down some as she realizes that Engel means her no harm. She shakes her head slightly. "D-don't know place. This place."

___________

That was problematic.

"Do you remember how you got here?" he carefully questioned, glancing back at Sebastian. He hoped he was having more luck than him.

"Ran. Fell."

Bo was only getting more confused, not less. There was a war going on? In the west? He knew he was far from home but this was just... wrong. There was no war in the west. What army or organization were these guys from? What 'west' were they talking about?

Bo blinked a few times, staring at the man. How much did he drink last night?

"I'm... that doesn't, like, make sense." He leaned forward on the bench, with his hands on his knees.

"I don't know where you're from but there's no war here, man."

Ran? Fell? The response was barely an answer, and he found himself possibly even more confused than when he had first approached her. Her speech was limited and vague. He doubted it was intentional on her part; it was likely the best she could do. So he gave her a nod and pointed a finger in Sebastian's direction. "I admit I'm not really sure how you got here, either, but maybe Sebastian can help you."

It would be a start.



He furrowed his brow. What was this man talking about? Unable to comprehend the response, he slipped into the empty space beside him on the bench. "I'm from Amestris," he slowly said. "It's a-God, I don't know how to say it! It's a country, but it's one of the oldest ones out there. So even if you were from somewhere else, you should know what it is. And there is a war here, over the border between West City and Creta!"

He took a deep breath. Let himself accept what the man had said. It didn't mean it was true, but he needed to be open to everything - even strange men like this guy.

"I'm sorry," he said. "That wasn't very professional of me. I just don't understand how you can't know something like that."

Bo flinched as Sebastian's voice raised and grew more frustrated. He cleared his throat, and looked at him through irritated, squinting eyes.

"Clearly you feel very strongly about this," he muttered. "But I don't think... I'm from where you're from. I don't know those places. Which makes me even more confused as to how I got here, because it almost feels like I've never been here at all before. Or where you're from, I guess I should say... since this place just appeared somehow."

She seems nervous, hesitating as she debates whether or not to make a run for it or approach this "Sebastian".

____________________

Thanatos raises an eyebrow, gazing coolly at Geist. "You are not what you appear to be."

"Okay," Sebastian said slowly, eying the man beside him. He didn't distrust what he said. He could have - it would have certainly made things easier. But hanging out with Engel and Geist had shown him that the world rarely made sense. "Where are you from, then?"



"Please come with me," Engel pleaded, casting a brief look in Sebastian's direction. Even though the girl didn't know anything, it seemed like a start. That in itself was evidence. Evidence for what, he wasn't sure. But it must have meant something.



Geist looked over at him. Getting to his feet, he tried to hide his surprise. "You can see past the first plane?"