Crossover Together ~クロスオーバ 一緒に~

Traveling over the days had been more one-track than most of the time. For what remained of Team Harmony, they could confirm one thing: while they did lose one member, they did ended up getting two extra on their run around (three including Envy technically), but while Envy may have had his own problems over back at Orora High to deal with, Team Harmony went straight off back towards Central as they said they would do, hoping that Korosensei was true to his word on the progress he had made already. If even half of what he said was true, then they really didn't have too much to worry about.
When it came to the train ride to Central, it was surprisingly smooth, and with little trouble at all. Funny, since they could've swore something would stall the trip there since Pluton's last visit to Central, but it seemed the ride was simply no problem, and the train reached Central's station on time and without incident. The group was more than ready to get off the train to see what was what with Central. ...

"Well, color me impressed," said Karma, and indeed they were. Looking on from the station, and as they were going through towards the capitol, Korosensei's extra work clearly showed around the place. They could still remember how little was even left of Central, but now it looked like nothing even happened at all, albeit the area a little lower and more hilly, but that wasn't too much of an issue. Incredible to think then that just over a week ago, this place looked more like dunes from a desert rather than a active city. Though to be fair, population is still low, and not as active as it was before as they went towards Capitol Central. Not as many cars, people, or whatever roaming around these streets.

"It's like nothing even happened here," said Alphonse, amazed by just how much was actually done.

"If only that we're the truth," sighed Ciel. No matter how much was fixed, they couldn't fix someone's eyes with the whole Pluton broadcast. On that mention, Ed turned to Aladdin

"You wouldn't happen to have a mind-erasing spell, would you Aladdin?" asked Ed. Unfortunately, Aladdin shook his head.

"No, sorry. Even if I did, how many people did you think actually saw that?" Aladdin brought up. With billions of humans, the point was made painfully clear. Aladdin didn't feel too much better about it either: so many years of keeping it secret and all blown out the window thanks to a renegade dragon-level demon. Aladdin slumped a little bit, but then Pinkie fluffed Aladdin's hair.

"Chin up, Magi, we all made it out of that mess, we still got eachother, and look around, Central's looking snazzy! Things could be worse, right?"

"Yeah, and you know what? You've been holding yourself back, kid, so now there's no reason to anymore," Karma added. Well, as far as Aladdin knew, they all had their fair points but that could also be a double-edged sword: he isn't held back anymore, same thing for the Overworld, but what about the Underworld? They released him after all. ...

"OI!"

The whole group stopped on that voice, and looked on ahead. They weren't too far from Central now, and with only about a city block to go, one of the soldiers, Yoroi, went right over and caught up with them first. Seeing them after they left surely made him feel better just as much as Twilight being happy to see him. Both siblings could reassure eachother that they were okay, at least. Twilight and Yoroi caught up with eachother first as the rest of the group met them up.

"Hey, Yoroi, you look alright," said Ed.

"Yeah, I am. Nice to see you're all good too after everything," Yoroi replied back.

"Yeah, speaking of which, Korosensei sure did wonders to the place eh?" Karma commented, referring to the city itself. Yoroi couldn't help but agree.

"Oh, you bet. It would've taken us years just to rebuild one block, and Korosensei handled almost the entire area! Remind me to give the octopus a metal when I see him," Yoroi said, thumbs up on Korosensei's effort. Honestly who could blame him for being cheery about it? So much of the city being handled so quickly, it was unbelievable. Ciel just cleared his throat and looked to Yoroi.

"Did your soldiers locate Nagisa as of yet? Unfortunately we didn't have much luck on our end," Ciel asked. It was something they had to answer eventually, and Ciel wanted that done and over with. Yoroi was actually hoping to wait on that.

"Oh. Well, look, let's talk back at Central. Someone's expecting you there, anyway."

"Pardon?"

.......

So, off they went over towards Central. As it was with the rest of the city, Central was easily brought up and fixed as well, not a scratch left in place, inside and out. The group made their way off into Central, and over towards the main office, where king Bradley would normally wait in patience for them. Guided by Yoroi, it didn't take long for them to get there either, but when they did, the meeting room was a bit packed with a number of high soldiers and leaders. As a matter of fact, Victoria from England with some of her high guards was present, and even Seitenshi of Japan was there as well with a few of her instructors, Karasuma being one of them which a number of them recognized straight away.

"Seitenshi and Victoria's here too? This must be very important," Twilight thought, feeling worried. Dealing with one big leader was enough trouble, but now her group had double to deal with. Ciel felt intrigued by this too, though mainly that was because Victoria was standing there as well.

"A pleasure to see you all make it. A bit late, though," Victoria noted, not making Ciel feel any better.

"Eh, yes, my apologies," Ciel said humbly, as he took his seat with Sebastian standing over by his side.

"Hey, Karasuma, what brings you here? Did Korosensei give you a run for your money, or what?" Karma joked, nudging him in his side with his shoulder. Karasuma just stayed his usual serious self.

"I'm here under order, now sit down," Karasuma instructed.

"Heh, still can't take a joke," Karma commented, as he took a seat over by Blair. Twilight and Aladdin sat side by side, both taking in what they were seeing. High ranking members of the military, and two leaders of their countries under one roof. However, there was one little detail that stuck out like a sore thumb: King Bradley wasn't here. Not in the room, not at Central, not on their walk to here, though his wife was standing over by the door.

"Wait. Where's the king? Didn't he call this meeting, or ...?" Aladdin asked, raising his hand so they could notice him.

"Unfortunately, he went missing along with his son. Not a sign of him or Salim anywhere, I'm afraid," Seitenshi informed, which left a number of them at a loss for words. A lot of people had gone missing, Nagisa included, but the king of Amestris AND his son gone?! That was diffidently something to worry about. The mention of it got his wife to start grieving again, silently weeping as another soldier comforted her. Losing a husband and son would do that to any women, let alone her.

"Oh, uh sorry, I didn't mean -"

"It's ok. You wanted to know," the women simply said, though it still hurt her regardless of it.

"That's what we're here to discuss among other things. It's painfully clear to everyone that this Underworld problem is far deadlier than we ever could anticipate, especially after that event in particular. I'm afraid we can't cover this one up no matter what we try," Seitenshi concluded, though they all could guess that already.

"Eh, figured. Considering they're supposed to be hiding, they're getting a bit ballsy to sent out that thing," Karma commented.

"A rather ... interesting way to put it, but yes it is," Seitenshi said, trying to think.

"While we're on that subject, did you manage to locate any more since the incident occurred?" Ciel questioned. Unfortunately, they didn't look too confident about it.

"Actually, no. We've tried for days since you left, but we couldn't find much of anything for anyone, nevermind Bradley and Salim," Yoroi answered, who did promise to say what was what about that before they got there anyway. This wasn't good to hear though for the group in particular, or for those amongst the other troops either.

"... Are you sure?" Aladdin then asked. There had to be just one survivor in that whole mess, there just had to be! Yoroi in particular looked over the other members, and after thinking it over started to understand who they were trying to get to. So many had their losses in Pluton's attack, and Yoroi had to handle them along with the rest of the soldiers involved. Yoroi turned to the leaders, both of which just nodded. Yoroi did an extra mile and reached into his pocket, having something for them. ...

"This is all we found," Yoroi finally answered. Looking at Yoroi's face, while he was more calm about it, showed a bit of regret as he handed Aladdin the item. What Yoroi gave him was a single, small, black wristband. On the surface, this small object looked pretty mundane, and pretty much out of nowhere, which Ciel and Ed took as such, but as Aladdin, Twilight, and Karma looked at it, the reality was starting to sink in just a little bit more, although two out of three wouldn't want to believe it.

"It's just a wristband," said Edward, a little bit confused, but suddenly Aladdin felt a tear come down his face.

"T-This ... Nagisa wore this ..."

That was all Aladdin really needed to be said for the reality of the situation to get to the rest of the group. Aladdin held it close, Yoroi placing a hand on Aladdin to try and comfort him. If they had to give him this without Nagisa there, then there was no doubt left in their mind's what had happened to the poor human.

"... So that's it then," Ciel finally said.

"I'm terribly sorry," Yoroi replied. Twilight was especially quiet with this, her and Aladdin both specifically, and both went into tears. In a way they all were pretty miserable about the whole thing, and while Pinkie Pie was baling a storm with her tears, others were keeping their sorrow inside about it. Ciel and Sebastian were the least distraught about the news, but they knew very well that they would need a minute or two.

"Why don't you two wait outside until we're done here?" Sebastian suggested, going over to Twilight and Aladdin. Without another word out of them, Twilight walked out as Aladdin just stayed there and tried to keep himself together. He could at least wait until this was done.

"But, how did such a monster even come out? It just appeared from nowhere," Seitenshi wondered. Guess here was one thing they should inform on.

"Actually, there is one culprit that I think would be the target of interest," Ciel stated.

"Oh? Who might that be?" Victoria asked.

"King Sombra."

It was something that Ciel felt that they should inform the leaders about, the mention of the name reminding them of the main problem, and who was sending demons to the surface in the first place according to one of their demon encounters with one particular demon dog. Far as they were aware, it was the best culprit they actually had, Sebastian intrigued that they'd go this route at all since they never met him face to face like he did.

"Sombra. ... A demon I presume?"

"Ruler of Tartarus, apparently. He is held responsible for our previous demon attacks. My lord, you remember the incident back in England?" Ciel reminded. Clearly he was talking about Victoria's involvement with the demons, in particular the attacks by the Homunculi during the royal ball, and Hellgar's assault on the castle itself. It would diffidently explain their appearances.

"Hellgar. Yes," Victoria said.

"So that's who. In that case, we can't hold back any longer: first Japan, then England, and now Amestris. Time we put a stop to this Sombra, before he puts a stop to all of us," Seitenshi finally decided. That was something they all could go and agree on one way or another, especially with how much damage his demons had done so far. Sebastian and Ciel felt slightly uneasy, but Ciel went to speak anyway.

"Well, we need to make more drastic measures. We can't take the risk any further," Ciel concluded, both leaders agreeing on that. The question remained though: what to do? It was a bit of a rough guess for the most part, but Victoria got up and smiled towards the group.

"We already have our answer, Phantomhive," Victoria revealed, though according to the surprise on the other faces, only Victoria knew that.

"You do?" asked Seitenshi. Victoria was actually intrigued to see they hadn't figured it out, so she got up and walked right over to her 'answer'. Turned out, she stopped right next to Aladdin, looking down to him knowingly, though her smile wasn't there anymore.

"Aladdin, sweetie? Out of everyone here, you're the only true angel with the most recent contact with the Overworld, if I'm not mistaken. Care to share with us who would help?" Victoria asked.

... What could he say?! Aladdin was put on the spot now, and everyone there was waiting for him to answer. This was a question that Aladdin wasn't sure if he should answer or not: the demons revealed themselves, but not the angels! The poor magi felt the weight of the situation push him down.

"Wait, how do you know if I'm even a - AH!" Aladdin tried to get an alibi going, but suddenly he found Victoria ready to strike him with a hidden knife! How'd that get in here, they didn't know, and it just came out of nowhere! Instinctively, Aladdin just had to get his shield out to avoid injury, just for Victoria to toss the knife to an empty area at the wall.

"You were saying, my little angel?" Victoria said.

"That sneaky bitch," Karma thought, smirking.

"Er ... uh ..." Well, Aladdin couldn't think of anything, and removed the shield immediately.

"I-I don't know if the fleet would, uh ... like it, if I tell you," Aladdin said meekly, playing with his fingers, and not even daring to look up at the princess of England.

"Why not?" Seitenshi asked firmly, also walking over to him, only making the situation even more troublesome. Aladdin kept his eyes shut and with the pressure, finally broke. Bad enough he found out Nagisa's fate, but this extra pressure wasn't helping his nerves either.

"B-Because it's the top law of deities: to keep their worlds secret from human mortals! Even the demon lords follow the rule as much as they could! I've done a terrible job keeping this quiet already, but then other demons, Hellgar, the Homunculi, and now Pluton, It's getting out of control! They'll have my head if I go on and say anything further, I'm very sorry!" Aladdin revealed. The room fell quiet when Aladdin finished his revelation, which was rather quick and full of plead in tone. Aladdin felt especially silly now that he actually brought up his lack of keeping this law in tact. Victoria and Seitenshi glanced over to one another as Aladdin tried to not look at them both.

"When did keeping it secret end up that important? Just spill it," Karma commented.

"I'm trying to keep it quiet, okay?! B-Besides, I'm pretty good, aren't I? I'm a magi: a being of pure magic! I-Isn't that good?" Aladdin brought up, being the only Magi there to begin with. However, Victoria was determined to get it out of him one way or another.

"Not at all. If I recall correctly, as the broadcast of the attack was made, I fail to see you do much of anything," Victoria pointed out, freaking Aladdin out even more.

"Wait. Now that you say it ... Aladdin, why didn't you do anything? You could've sent that demon off back down to hell no problem, what gives?" asked Edward. Aladdin stayed very quiet this time, but that only confirmed Victoria's suspicions, the England princess smiling devilishly.

"You can barely do magic at all, can you?"

That did it. Aladdin stood there in shock and defeat for a moment or two, and next thing they knew, Aladdin huddled up in a corner of the room, slumped in gloomy shame.

"You can't be serious," said Edward.

"That explains a lot," added in Ciel. None of their comments really helped him out.

"I'm a terrible angel," Aladdin groaned.

"No, no, they didn't say that at all, please get off the floor," Alphonse insisted, trying to help him out. Seitenshi got over to Aladdin, tapping him on his shoulder.

"Aladdin, you're all aware of how much damage just one of the demons had caused onto our world. You may have your law, but sometimes there has to be an exception to such things, and this is one of those times. If you don't tell us anything, then it'll put the whole world in jeopardy," Seitenshi explained, though mainly it was to get Aladdin to cooperate too, only more humbly. Still, Aladdin was a bit troubled anyway, looking up to Seitenshi.

"Well what do you want me to do?! I can't ask them to just break the most important law ever!" Aladdin cried. Alphonse intervened again, and got him up to his feet.

"OK, ok, Aladdin calm down. You don't have to, really," Alphonse insisted.

"He'll have to eventually," said Victoria.

"W-Well, can't you -"

"OKAY, we're getting nowhere here," Karma suddenly said, stopping the nonsense, and getting everyone's attention.

"How's this sound: Korosensei. He's been going up and down Central and fixing things up since that demon tore it up, and that teacher clearly knows plenty of things about Overworld, Underworld and whatever, so why not ask him a thing or two about it?" Karma finally brought up. Whatever this meeting was going to go for, it clearly wasn't getting anywhere by berating Aladdin about it up and down.

"You think he'll really talk, Karma?" Edward asked.

"Don't discount it, maybe he's onto something. He is a demon himself, and one that likes humans no less. If anyone would know about how to handle these demonic threats freely, it would be a demon itself," Seitenshi concluded. With Aladdin not wanting to talk about the Overworld at all, they only had this option for now.

"Right then. Sebastian, deliver that demon teacher a message," Ciel ordered. Sebastian nodded, and went off to do just that. The sooner Korosensei got the message, the better.

"Thank you, sweet pet. I'm sure he'll be willing to listen," said Victoria, though the dog comment was not really needed, especially for Ciel. Seitenshi wasn't appreciating her childish behavior either.

"Victoria, do you mind holding your childish comments to yourself?" Seitenshi asked. This was no time for some child games, something Victoria was getting a little too much into.

.......

The meeting itself went on for a little more, but as it was going on, Twilight was off outside again, trying to keep herself together with her tears falling down. How much more evidence did she needed now? Nagisa hadn't been seen ever since the Pluton attack, not a sign of him anywhere except for this one wristband he wore on him. That, and with just how much he had done ... well, what more could she say? The writing was up on the wall, but then her mind started conflicting itself with that one dream she was given before coming here. Lugia, the being who gave her and Nagisa the future visions in the first place, left her with another vision of something she wasn't sure would actually happen, or not. Either way, this news left her heart torn up, and all she could do was sit there and wait until the others were over to figure out what to do. ... Well, at least it seemed that way for her. This time did give her a bit to think on what to do. ...

"Twilight?"

Aladdin. She knew that voice well enough, and turning around, there was the little Magi coming over to her, albeit without the others behind him. He felt just as bad about it as Twilight was, still holding the wristband in one hand as he took a seat over next to her.

"Is that meeting over yet?" Twilight asked.

"No it's not, I just came out to check on you," Aladdin replied.

"Oh ..."

There was some silence as they both looked to the wristband that Aladdin was holding. That small accessory was the only thing they currently had left of Nagisa Shiota. Both were left with that, and memories as well, both thinking over their time with Nagisa. Funny how someone could just disappear so quickly, and with barely a trace behind of him. Twilight may feel bad about it, but Aladdin took it more roughly, this fact added with the revelation on how weak he really was. ...

"... I don't know what to do. ... Twilight, I - ... I'm so sorry," Aladdin said humbly. Twilight didn't answer at first, but as she was going through her memories about it, she took one more look at the wristband, feeling tears coming down her face again at the fact they kept trying to put in her head. All evidence they managed to gather kept pointing to it, but. ...

"NO."

"huh?"

"Nagisa's not dead. I won't believe it," Twilight concluded, getting up to her feet and walking forward a little bit, looking out to the horizon. This girl was determined, and she wasn't going to give up on Nagisa here. She stayed quiet for a minute or two, before she started to walk off again.

"Where're you going?"

"I'm going to find him. He never gave up on me, so I'm not going to give up on him. The others can do what they want, but I'm not going to go back until I know for sure," Twilight made clear. That reminded Aladdin pretty much what he said before back at the Elric house. However, be that as it may, the evidence was making him doubt as well ... and it made him go up to her.

"Aladdin, look, you might think he's gone, but -"

"Hop on," Aladdin suddenly said. Twilight turned around, and sure enough there was Aladdin standing there, with his carpet opened up and ready to fly. Aladdin stood there smiling, and waited for Twilight to take her seat.

"I'm not giving up on him either," Aladdin simply said. Twilight didn't need any more convincing to take her seat on the carpet. Aladdin was just glad to see her ready to go.

"K, wait here, I'll grab the others," Aladdin said, starting to head back in. Twilight was happy that he was willing to help her out, but as Aladdin was starting to head off to get the rest, he suddenly felt Twilight grab his ponytail to make him stop. Aladdin did stop after a bit, looking back to Twilight.

"Maybe they should just go home. I know it doesn't sound right, but I don't want to put our friends at risk anymore," Twilight concluded. Considering what had happened already, Aladdin saw the logic behind it, but he still didn't feel too right in just leaving them like this, especially without them really knowing about it.

"If you're sure," Aladdin said. All Twilight did was nod for her answer. Nagisa was already gone from their group, she wasn't going to chance it with the rest, not if she had anything to do with it. Aladdin needed a little bit, but he saw what she was getting to and took a seat himself. And soon enough, they were off and flying. If they really were going to go off and try to find him, it was now or never.

.......

"It appears we have a change in schedule."

~~

So, there they were. It surely felt pretty odd with just the two of them going around, but Twilight and Aladdin made their promise to look for Nagisa, and goddamnit they were going to do it no matter what. Thanks to Aladdin's flying carpet, the duo didn't take too long in their flight to get from Central over to the outskirts of the capitol. Not many people around under them meant it was safer flying around without much notice (not that it would matter anyway, like they said). With how much Korosensei had fixed up the city though, it was a bit of a backstab in their search, and that they had to take a bit longer looking since so many buildings obscure their little view over the city. So far though, whoever they did come across, they were lucky to find someone who had even heard of him, let alone recently seen him. Both Twilight and Aladdin tried all sorts of places throughout the day, yet so far they just weren't having too much luck in anything.
Looking around the capitol surely took time to do, and before they even realized it, the day was soon over and done, and they were literally on the city's edge. Not a soul around for seemingly miles, and for Twilight and Aladdin, both were getting tired and a little bit hungry. Yeah, they didn't have too much time to really prepare themselves before just taking off like that. With some time to rest, both Twilight and Aladdin took a minute to stop and sit down over right at the road leading out of the city, literally the borderline between city and country, both looking out to the latter.

"MAN, all day, and nothing. You'd think someone would've heard of him at least," Aladdin sighed with a yawn passing his lips. He was still willing, but his body had limits same as anyone, Twilight too.

"Yeah, but I'm not thinking on giving up yet. Maybe he left Central," Twilight figured. With what was left, if Nagisa was alive, why would he stay around Central with it being a wasteland as far as he knew? Aladdin found her point, and both just looked on out to Amestris. Twilight still had to wonder how Nagisa was doing, if he indeed was alive or not. If he was around, it was anyone's guess as to what trouble he might be getting himself into, especially with the demonic activity at its peak and them with an open window now more or less. Aladdin couldn't help but wonder that too, but as he was thinking on him, one other little thought did pass his mind. ...

"Hey, Twilight? How did you and he meet anyway?" Aladdin asked.

"Excuse me?"

"You care about him a lot, so you and him had to know eachother a long time, so ..." It was a rather honest question, and one Twilight figured he would end up asking at some point, especially with what they were doing. Twilight knew how Aladdin had met Nagisa, so she didn't have to ask Aladdin about that. Twilight took a moment to remember at first, until she looked out to the open country again.

"Well. ... It was a long time ago. My mom enrolled me into a girls-only academy for a while when I was younger ..."

--(9 years ago)--

The bell sounded off, and many of the girls started to head on home. Among the group, Twilight ventured off outside, ready to get home herself. However, before she could truly go, she noticed someone sitting by herself, her head in her knees, looking miserable. Twilight wondered what had happened to her, and began walking over.

"Excuse me, are you okay?" Twilight asked. The kid looked up to Twilight, her eyes pure blue like her hair, as it turned out.

"Huh? I-I'm fine, go away," she said, her voice oddly tomboyish. Seemed clear she wasn't having a good time at all, whatever it is, so Twilight sat down next to her.

"Are you sure? You look like you're going to cry."

"I'm fine!" She protested, though suddenly tears started going down her face. Twilight didn't take the yelling too well, and turned away in a huff. That didn't help the other person out too much though, and Twilight saw that in her face.

"I'm sorry... I don't want to be here, no one bothers with me, I wanna go home," she said, the tears still down her face.

Hey, hey, it'll be ok, we're all friends here," Twilight assured, trying her best to calm her down. Eventually, Twilight scooted over to her, as the girl actually leaned into her, still crying. Twilight did have one idea, and rubbed her head while the girl began to speak.

"But ... no one likes me here. Who would want to be my friend?

"You know what? ... Why not me?" Twilight offered. Pretty sudden, but the girl looked surprised at the offer.

"You mean it?" the girl asked. It looked like she had never been offered that before, and Twilight didn't want to leave the girl crying like this, so Twilight assured her with a nod of her head. The girl took a short moment to wipe away some tears, trying to calm herself.

"Thank you. ... What's your name?"

"I'm Yugure. What's yours?"

"I'm Nagisa."

"That's very sweet of you, Twilight," said Aladdin. Twilight nodded in agreement.

"Yeah. He and I kicked it off for a good while, but ... well, then he and I had to move away from eachother when my parents had me enrolled in Canterlot High. We still kept in touch though time to time," Twilight explained. To Aladdin, they surely did feel like they were very close, a friendship near and far distance, so it was no wonder then that she wanted to try and find him so much. Twilight remembered well how alone she felt when in Canterlot high for the first while, and how happy she was to be back with him after the seven years gone.

"Don't worry, Twilight, I'll be sure to help you find him and secure your friendship," Aladdin promised, now determined himself. After all, Nagisa was his close pal too, his first human friend arriving onto the Human world. He wasn't going to give that up so quickly, same as her, and both secured the promise with a hand shake.

"You know, I have thought of something else too," Aladdin added in, thinking about it a bit more, getting up to his own feet. Twilight turned and gave him her full attention.

"I got something to tell you ... I, uh ..."

"What is it?"

Aladdin sighed.

"I ... don't have too much power. I don't know too many spells at all," Aladdin admitted meekly. Twilight though kinda rubbed the back of her head on that revel.

"Well, I kinda figured that after a while," Twilight admitted. Aladdin didn't feel better about that, but his meekness changed to one of reassurance.

"Anyway, I've been thinking. I want us to practice our magic, you and me, give it our all. I want to be ready if any other demon would pop up. This magi from heaven isn't going to take anymore risks," Aladdin said, confident in doing so. As the others roughly put it for him, he didn't do much of anything, and he wanted to make up for it one way or another. Twilight smiled to her friend.

"Well then, neither am I. We'll head on our way and practice on our next spot," Twilight promised. So it was official for them: both wanted to toughen up for their next demonic encounter, and they'll do so as much as they can while looking for Nagisa.

"Awesome! ... Speaking of our next spot, where do we go from here?" Aladdin asked, feeling meek again for asking. As pre-mentioned, they left with little plan other than find Nagisa, so direction and to be considered. Twilight took some time to think, but then she remembered her dream she had before Envy left them off back to Japan.

"That way, east. Something tells me we'll have better luck that way," Twilight answered, pointing off to the direction they were looking to. Her instinct and visions both pointed that way, so that's where they were going.

"Eastward it is then. Hop on," Aladdin said.

It didn't take too much longer until she and Aladdin were up and off again, flying off to the countryside and away from the Amestris capitol. As both flew off, Aladdin and Twilight looked back over to the city, their group still there and secure with the Amestris soldiers. As long as they were there, they both could say that they were safe there, or if they headed back home, even better. Twilight looked to the wristband they had.

"Don't worry, Nagisa. I know you're there somewhere, and we'll find you. I'm not giving up on you," Twilight thought.

~~

Day in, day out, and Twilight and Aladdin continued on their way eastward, Twilight being sure that he would be over here somewhere. They can assure themselves at least that they had a carpet flying around to use instead of walking on the ground, saving them plenty of time going around the place. Even so though, they were stuck with little help from whoever they did try to ask, many of them not seeing him in recent day. With their search, practice in magic and alchemy was also done time to time whenever they could, and at this point it was that time. The area they went to was drastically different from Amestris, changing from countryside and farmland, and actually into more forest with northern trees. The area was cooler as well, though that could be autumn now taking more effect on the place here over Amestris and Central. Still, this new change of place did help out Twilight a lot more, the forest becoming more familiar to her in some way.
Just like the vision Lugia managed to leave her with before her dream ended. They were getting closer, she could feel it.
On this stop, both found a good spot in the forest to do this with, nearby a flowing river and a bit later at night when they did stop, a small fire being made nearby too. Twilight and Aladdin decided to get some alchemy practice from the same book, and while Twilight was more in tune with hers, Aladdin still had a thing or two to learn.

"Okay, it says here to be by a body of water, so this will be perfect to try," Aladdin said, as he looked to some water alchemy in the book. What better chance to try a water spell than by a flowing river? Aladdin started to make up a symbol for the spell over nearby the water, just to be sure it'll work, borrowing some gloves from Twilight to do so. Twilight was right next to the bank, and Aladdin readied his focus on it. He clapped his hands, focused hard, and slammed them into the water. ...

"Eh ... maybe I didn't draw the symbol right?" Aladdin wondered. Only for the water to suddenly, and rather abruptly, blast right into his face and knock him back. The water blast didn't last too long, but it did leave Aladdin dizzy, and waterlogged from the water blasted in his mouth.

"You okay, Aladdin?" Twilight asked, helping the magi up to his feet.

"Eh ... yeah," Aladdin said, dazed a little bit. It may not be the first time this happened to him since they left, but hey, at least they were getting better at it. Twilight got the book, and brought it over to the fire, where Aladdin was ringing out his hair from the water.

"Hey, you managed to activate one of the spells, so that's good," Twilight assured him.

"Yeah I know! ... boy, I feel full," Aladdin said, a hand on his bloated stomach.

"Don't worry about it, you think I got it on my first try? Trust me, it's harder than you think," Twilight said, remembering her own experience with this alchemy stuff, especially when practicing with Edward Elric. She could still remember the bruises she got from the pummeling with Ed, and Aladdin couldn't help but remember that too. At least he was let off easy with his practicing.

"Yeah, you're right. You got a lot more practice than I did though," Aladdin pointed out. Twilight summoned up a purple star light in her hand, which at this point was fairly easy for her.

"Come on, you saw how much trouble I gone through when I started: I burned Pinkie's gloves my first try remember?" Twilight brought up. Aladdin couldn't help but remember that either, but he supposed he just had to find his spell trick for this to work. He needed something over just flying and a shield.

"Yeah, I just need to find my Alchemy," Aladdin figured, laying down over by the fire. It'd been a long day of looking around, and practicing, so both of them needed this more than ever. Aladdin was already asleep, letting his hair flow out to let it dry, and Twilight laid down over by the fire herself. It's not the best bed ever, but it was the best they got on hand so make do with what you got. It didn't very long later though, and soon they both were off asleep.

"Goodnight, everyone," Twilight sighed, just before she too went off to sleep.

.......

*drip**drip**drip*

"Someone close the window ..." Aladdin murmured in his sleep. Hours went on by and so far it was without trouble, but now something was dripping down on Aladdin's head. It didn't bother him too much at first, but when Aladdin suddenly felt a warm brush of air be pushed onto him, only then did he begin to stir. Aladdin opened his eyes, and felt that drool was dripping onto him, and when he looked up to see what was there. ...

"AHHH!"

Gluttony! Quick scream later, and Aladdin launched him back with a shield summon, the scream enough to wake up Twilight too. As for who he launched away, Gluttony got back up to his feet and looked back to the duo. He looked a bit tired himself from some supposed traveling, and according to the drool dripping from his jaws, pretty hungry. Not a good thing with them being the target of Gluttony's sight. The Homunculus's tongue stuck out and licked his lips eagerly, as his nose sniffed the air. Pretty clear how he tracked them down, surely.

"Can I eat you, please?" Gluttony asked.

"No way! How'd you even find us?" Twilight asked, freaked out.

"I can smell you, and you both smell delicious!" Gluttony said, his nose taking a good sniff into the air. Gluttony couldn't help himself, and rushed towards them, the shield holding up just long enough to avoid Gluttony's killer jaws, but not only did it launch them back into more trees, but Gluttony actually somehow knocked up some dirt and put out their fire, AKA their only source of light in the forest! Aladdin and Twilight were knocked farther into the forest, the shield disappearing after a bit, Aladdin getting winded from trying to keep it up. Twilight and Aladdin got to their feet, but now they were stuck in the middle of the forest, and they couldn't see where gluttony is anywhere.

"Oh god, where is he?" Twilight wondered, worried. Twilight brought out her purple star light to help them see, but her light didn't help them that much in this dark forest. ...

"GOTCHA!"

"Duck!"

Gluttony was on them again! with a quick reaction from Twilight, both she and Aladdin ducked down as Gluttony torpedoed out of the gloom of the forest, jaws open wide and ready to bite them. Instead of them though, his jaws met with the base of the tree. Twilight and Aladdin were okay, but Gluttony easily tore off the bark of the tree with ease, tearing a good sized hole into it. The hungry Homunculus chewed on the thick bark, not enjoying that taste over actual meat. Like a rapid dog, Gluttony shook up the bark and left nothing but splinters on the ground.

"I'm starving, why won't you let me eat?! All I want to do is eat, but you won't let me! SO I'LL JUST HAVE TO EAT EVERYTHING!!" Gluttony yelled, getting angry with them. He snarled at both of them, both magi and alchemist keeping their distance from this creature. During Gluttony's shouting, something else started to happen to the Homunculus, something starting to split on his stomach, reaching up to his lower jaw. To their horror, Gluttony suddenly split himself open, revealing a dark void, and a huge lower jaw filled with gigantic, tusk-like teeth. His tongue stuck to the upper jaw and hung down to show the Oroborous symbol, as a singular eye revealed itself from within the void of Gluttony's empty caldron of a stomach. Aladdin and Twilight were left frozen by the sight of this transformation. Twilight had to think of something to do.

"Oh god, oh god. Come on, think think," Twilight thought in panic, Gluttony taking his steps towards them. Aladdin summoned his shield to protect them, but it won't last them too long with this Homunculus. All they got to work with was the trees around them ...

"Aladdin, come on," Twilight said, grabbing him and pulling him away. and just in time: Gluttony's sharp dagger teeth suddenly launched forward like spears, missing them and crumbling the ground under where they were. Twilight and Aladdin got a head start from Gluttony, but the scent-following Homunculus had no such problem figuring out where they went off to. Twilight and Aladdin were running blind in the dark, Twilight managing to find a good enough tree to do this attempt with. Fast as she could, she started to make out a symbol within one of the trees, and one she was more familiar with from her early days of alchemy, Gluttony rushing in towards them. Twilight clapped her hands, and placed them on the tree. Soon, the tree ended up igniting in seconds, becoming a spire of fire in little to no time at all. Aladdin and Twilight jumped out of the way, letting Gluttony strike the burning tree, and as such burning him too. His screams of agony echoed for a bit, the fire spreading onto him easily as the tree collapsed onto him. They thought they had him there. ...

Only for Gluttony to eat the burning tree.

*urp*

"H-He ... swallowed it?" Twilight said.

"Uh-oh," said Aladdin. Gluttony, after his snack of the tree, turned to the two morsels standing nearby. It grew dark again when the tree was gone, so Twilight and Aladdin couldn't see Gluttony as well.

"W-Wait, wait, can we work something out!" Twilight said, trying to keep herself together as much as she could. Gluttony was starving, yes, but then his nose started to sniff a little more closely. Something was in the air, and it wasn't just the smoke from the fire. ...

"... Envy? ... Envy! WHERE IS HE?!" Gluttony asked, sounding more shocked than angry at them. How his scent stayed on them, they could never figure out.

"Envy?" Aladdin repeated.

"I smell his lingering scent on you! Where is he?" Gluttony asked again, not sounding as barbaric as he was a second ago, even sounding more humbled. The humans he'd been after and they had the scent of his fellow Homunculus, one he hadn't seen nor heard of since Pluton attacked. Twilight and Aladdin were a little too frightened to even think of what to say to him, considering he was basically on their side now. Still, they didn't even had time for that to answer, as Gluttony was getting another scent in the air.

"That smell ..."

Out of nowhere, and too fast for any of them to see, something rushed down from out of nowhere, and Gluttony found his body getting sliced to pieces! His shoulders, extra teeth, head and legs all were sliced up with lightning speed, making Gluttony stumble back and giving Twilight and Aladdin time to back up and gain some distance.

"I KNOW THAT SMELL!" Gluttony roared, only getting himself sliced up again. His body tried to heal up, but whatever was attacking him moved fast and dealt more damage than he could heal, enough to make him fall back, and in pain as blood poured onto the ground everywhere. Morbid as it may be, both Twilight and Aladdin tried to find who was helping them out, but they couldn't find much of anyone. Gluttony got up to his feet, no longer having his huge mouth open and back to his normal self, but he couldn't see any better than the others could in the dark. It was at this point when Aladdin finally caught sight of someone standing up in the trees, not too big, and too little of light to actually see who it was. Gluttony just managed to look the figure's way, only for another one to jump in from the dark and slice his face in two. He had to hold his face together for it to heal there.

"That hurt!" Gluttony yelled. The Homunculus tried to fight back against these threats, but not only could he not connect with them, but they would hitting him left and right. Gluttony knew they were there by scent, to be sure, but he just couldn't get them with his own power.

"How do you know where I am? You can't see me!" Gluttony said, the response just getting his nose sliced off along with his arm in two motions by one of the two figures. Gluttony tried to get it, but he felt the figure actually knock him off his feet, and onto his back, and Gluttony soon found himself underneath one of the figures. Gluttony looked up to his adversary, and while most of the figure was hard to see, one thing he could see was the soul-piercing eyes. A look of desensitization edged the eyes, and no evidence of any pupils were in them either, looking like eyes of someone who never had a soul to begin with. Considering this same figure was tearing gluttony apart, this Homunculus had just about enough of it. Gluttony knocked the figure off of him and took off running to gain some distance from whoever this was. Getting a meal isn't worth dying for, no matter who you are.
Everything finally calmed down when that was over, both figures meeting up with eachother when everything was finished. Twilight and Aladdin, now feeling safer with the Homunculus running off, started to walk over to the figures standing there. They didn't need to say anything for the figures to turn to them both, the green soulless eyes staring them down. One of the figures turned to the other, who only made a small shake of his head. Suddenly both figures leaped up into the trees, and started to race off in the trees.

"Hey! Wait! Thank you for what you did!" called Twilight, going after them a little bit with Aladdin. Both of these figures raced through the trees with relative ease, and pretty fast too. Both of them didn't talk, and they kept going as if the two weren't even there. As they kept going, one of them actually looked back for a split second as something fell down at them. Aladdin ended up hit with the object, and that little distraction made both figures lose them. They couldn't see what exactly was thrown down at them, but when they looked back up, both figures had disappeared completely.

"WAIT, YOU DROPPED SOMETHING!" called Aladdin, but it seemed they were far gone to even hear them.

"What did he drop?" wondered Twilight. Aladdin and Twilight glanced to eachother before Twilight brought out her purple magical light so they could see what was dropped.

Another wristband.

~~

"Do you really think ...?"

"You know how big this is, Aladdin? Come on, they have to be somewhere around here."

The next morning was started very quickly, and without another incident as both flew around in the sky trying to relocate the two figures they saw last night. They had be somewhere close by if the commotion got them over to their location last night, and with another wristband with them, that was the best clue they got in days. With so many others not giving them the proper direction, where else could they go? So far though, even with daylight helping, all they could find so far was trees and the occasional clearing with either a pond, or stream, or whatever the heck.

"Hold on, I'm going to gain some height?" Aladdin said, as he made the carpet fly higher up in the air. When he did that, they got a bird's eye view of the whole forest, yet they couldn't exactly see much besides that at first. A expanse of pine trees for miles around, some hillsides too but nothing special. They continued looking, but eventually something else started to come up: a flock of Murkrow flying up from one part of the forest, disturbed by something looming.

"What's going on there?" they wondered. And naturally, but warily, they started to float over to the location of the birds. Seemed this flock of Murkrow were startled by some sort of commotion, and with them looking for their targets, it could be proven useful. They made sure to steer clear of the flying flock, looking into the spot where they were, but it seemed that nothing was down there. Well, nothing alive anyway. Looking in, the two did notice that one Murkrow was killed and laying lifeless on the forest floor, and appearing a rather quick death too. Just moments after they saw it, a blur swooped in from the forest, grabbed the Murkrow, and raced off towards the hills nearby. The figure moved fast, but looked similar to what they saw last night.
Obvious what they did next.
As the figure raced through the forest, the two flew on and followed it for quite a way. Since the figure stayed under the tree line, tracking it down was easier said than done, especially with one that moved so fast. At least the figure didn't look like it rally noticed them in its dash, and after a few minutes of following and tracking, it was then they begin to see it.

Off ahead of them, something else besides trees started to come into view, and something they honestly were hoping to find: a house. Well, more like a large shrine than a house to be honest. A singular-floored home made up of wood and tile with a straw covered roof. From where Aladdin and Twilight were they got a good view of not only that, but an interior pond and a stone wall lining the property boundary. The figure they tracked quickly went off inside, leaving them in the dust. They settled down over nearby the fence, and Twilight started heading over.

"So this is his place," said Aladdin, looking around from where they were.

"This has to be. Come on, Aladdin, let's go in," Twilight decided. Aladdin couldn't agree more. If Nagisa was in there, then they just had to get in there. Good thing for them, finding the front entrance wasn't too hard, and both figures were up and over to the front gate, which they got open pretty easily. Not a soul appeared to be anywhere in the premise, or any real life for that matter apart from some bugs flying by the pond.

"Hello?! Anyone here?!" Twilight called, but all the response they were met with was just silence and the wind.

"We saw you go in the house, we know you're home!" added in Aladdin, but still nothing. It surely felt like they were alone for the moment, even if they knew that someone was actually there and inside the place. After so many days of searching though, both of them weren't willing to just go off and on their way just yet. Gathering courage, Twilight decided to head over to the front door of the house, Aladdin following her close behind to make sure. As they neared, they could see literally no one around, but with the knowledge that whoever it was was indeed in there, it surely felt like an ambush waiting to happen. All the same, Nagisa was still there, and they come to get him back.
As they continued nearing the door, at first nothing seemed to go wrong.

"Okay, Twilight. Just go in, see if he's here, and then go. It'll be fine."

O, if only it were that simple.

"AH!"

Caught! And caught in the most surprising way too. As they took another step towards the house, the ground underneath them started to suddenly shift and alter, but not in the same way as, say, a pit trap, but instead the sand under their feet shot up out of nowhere! Twilight and Aladdin barely had time to even react to it, nbot even for Aladdin to get his shield up. Twilight and Aladdin weren't hurt, but the two ended up trapped in a sort of tomb grip, the sand hardening itself into a sort of sandstone, leaving only their heads exposed. Both tried to get free, but obviously it wasn't budging.

"Trespassing, are you," said a voice.

There he was. Not Nagisa, surely, but both Twilight and Aladdin found their adversary they were chasing around. The person who walked out to see them appeared decently tall, fair skinned, and short, red, spiky hair. The outfit he wore consisted of a black body suit with an open neck, t-shirt-like sleeves, and almost full-length leggings. With this, he had a white cloth over his right shoulder and the left side of his hips. He had a wide leather band from his left shoulder to his right hip with which he carried a sort of sand gourd. At least it appeared to be made up of sand, though they weren't too sure. On his forehead, and a particular detail too, was a sort of Japanese kanji symbol made of red, the kanji meaning "Love" of Twilight remembered right, his hair parted to be sure people would see it. The feture that unnerved them the most though was his eyes: no eyebrows or pupils to speak of, making him look rather threatening with his green-eyed, soulless expression. It was painfully clear THIS kid was not happy to see them come up on his front step.

"Eh. Hi, sorry to bother you but -" before Twilight could even finish, the newcoming kid moved right up to them, and as he did both soon noticed that he had a assassin's blade in his hand, which he was more than willing to bring up to them, blade aimed to Aladdin's head first. Aladdin was left shocked and speechless. As for the kid, his eyes locked right into Aladdin's own, as if judging him by his reaction. Just seeing his eyes made him feel unnerved. All he did was just give a small huff, and slowly move the blade back, only to nearly slice off Twilight's head! Lucky for her, he only got a little bit of her hair, but it still scared her witless. The same look of judgement passed on to her as well, the kid glaring to her eyes and seeing her reaction.

"What do you want?" he then asked.

"Eh ... we're looking for our friend. That's all we're doing, we swear!" Aladdin made clear, trying to make amends. Unfortunately, he didn't look so willing to believe that.

"Liar."

"We're not lying, seriously! Did you see him? He has long blue hair, goes by the name of Nagisa?" Twilight asked. The kid stayed quiet, hand to chin and thinking for just a moment or two. He took a glance back to the house for a moment, but rather than answer them, he started to shift the sand, and both Twilight and Aladdin were suddenly launched off, farther off from the property, and into the forest. Stuck in the sand tombs, they couldn't protect themselves much from the impact. They ended up landing about several yards away, leaving both of them covered in sand and sore from the fall. It took them a bit to get themselves out of the sand.

"He didn't believe us," groaned Aladdin.

"No, he just doesn't want to talk. I've gone too far to give up now," Twilight concluded. They both saw his eyes, and they were unmistakable from the ones they saw last night. He was there, the clues added together, they just needed him to tell them.

.......

After getting themselves cleaned up of sand, both of them started to head off back over towards the house again. He launched them off pretty far away, so traveling back to the house wasn't as easy as it sounded. On the bright side, no extra surprises going back to it. Both were now back at the front gate, but unlike before, the owner of the house didn't wait this time, and instead was standing up on the porch overhang. He looked ready to attack them, but both of them raised their hands in submission.

"Hold on a minute, we're safe, we don't want to fight you! Can you just answer our question please?" Twilight asked.

"Give me one good reason why," he groaned, arms crossed.

"Then we'll leave you alone. Just tell us if you've seen Nagisa. He's been missing for weeks, and we've been trying to find him," Aladdin promised. The boy simply stood there at first, but then he jumped down, and landed right in front of them.

"So you'll leave me alone if I answer," he made sure. Both of them simply nodded for their answer.

"We promise," Twilight confirmed. He remained quiet once again, eyes closed and thinking about it, working his memory. Aladdin and Twilight waited in anticipation for what he had to say. Just one answer, and they will be away from him for good. ...

"... I saw him. But I drove him off."

What?! Why - ACK!" The shout caused the kid to reach out and grab Twilight by the neck, single handedly gripping her throat!

"You wanted your answer, and I gave it to you. Now get out before I kill you." With that death threat, he threw Twilight out of the gate, leaving Twilight coughing a little bit. considering he was just threatening them with a blade, Twilight was extremely close to meeting her last breath. As Aladdin helped her up, the kid started going back into the house.

"What was that for?!" Aladdin yelled. However, the teen didn't really answer, nor did he really care about Twilight's well-being.

"Can you tell us where he went, at least?"

"I said go," he said, his final warning to them as his blade gleaned in the light. Aladdin couldn't believe how cruel this human was being towards them. Sure, humans have their downfalls time to time, but this kid was especially cold-hearted to him and Twilight. As Twilight said, they've gone too far to back off now. Aladdin suddenly went right over to the teen, floating a bit in the air as well and soon was facing him, blocking his way between him and his house.

"Now listen, I don't know how much it matters to you, but me and Twilight had been traveling for days on end trying to find our friend. The least you can do is point us in the right direction if you know!" Aladdin said, trying to get him to speak.

"Get out of my way."

"It can't hurt to tell us where he went, can it?" Aladdin insisted. Now Aladdin was testing the teen's patience, and now it had just run out. The teen brought his blade up and tried to stab Aladdin, only for the magi to summon his shield and push him back. He stayed on his feet, but the mix of seeing him with a shield and floating mid air told him Aladdin was a lot stronger than he appeared to be, at least as he was concerned. Soon, the teen drawed out more sand and actually made them into a series of blades, which he launched right at him, but they just exploded into sand and didn't hurt him at all. That just made him more angry.

.......

Then a shadow appeared on the top of the house, one that caught Twilight and the teen's attention up there. Aladdin didn't notice it at first, and moved so he could see as well, shield down.

"They're okay, Gaara."

"I thought I told you to get lost," Gaara warned. The newcoming figure went off the roof in a few jumps, not as agile as Gaara, but still pretty good for a regular human. He jumped off the top of the roof, off the overhang, and then onto the ground in front of them. His outfit looked more battle-ready than casual: black gloves and black boots over his hands and feet, a pure blue army coat buttoned to the top of the collar, with short sleeves and several pockets, and blue pants with kneepads. his hair was tied back into a set of ponytails as well. He stood up straight, and gave a soft smile.

"You did. ... But I'm not leaving my friends behind."

"Na ... na ... NAGISA!!"

Yes, there he was. Nagisa Shiota in the flesh. Twilight and Aladdin couldn't be happier to see him, and they both almost immediately went right over to him, Aladdin hugging him tightly. Tears of joy were quick to show up on their faces, and Nagisa was glad to see them as well, a soft smile on his face as he reunited with his old friends. Gaara wasn't so easily joyed by this, and in fact looked ready to strike again with his blade. Though, he didn't bring himself to do I, even if this was just a minor distraction to him.

"Nagisa! We missed you so much! I'm so glad you're alive!" cried Twilight.

"Oh lord, thank you! Just wait til the others see you again!" added in Aladdin, equally pleased.

"Great to see you guys again," said Nagisa. As the two were crying in joy, Nagisa looked over to Gaara for a moment, the kid still looking rather threatening towards them. Gaara reminded them of his presence with a loud ahem.

"Anytime you want to leave before I slice you open," Gaara stated, knife at the ready to do just that. Aladdin and Twilight were unnerved, but Nagisa was surprisingly calm with it.

"Calm down guys. Thanks for keeping them around until I got back, Gaara," Nagisa noted. None of them knew exactly what he meant, but Gaara didn't give him an answer aside from a grunt, turning his gaze away.

"Be lucky you came at all, or they'd be dead," Gaara simply said.

"Yeah, sure," said Nagisa.

"Where've you been, Nagisa, you've been missing for weeks!" asked Aladdin.

"How about you two rest a bit first? Looks like Gaara gave you a rough time," Nagisa said, Gaara pretending not to listen to him. The trio then turned their gaze towards Gaara in question, the teen sand magi knowing what they were about to ask.

"... One night."

"Thanks. Come on, Aladdin, let's get you cleaned up," Nagisa suggested. Considering he was still a bit sandy, that would be a good idea As they were starting to head in (much to Gaara's annoyance), Twilight simply smiled and wiped off a tear from her cheek. All their hard work had paid off.

"We finally found him."