Fullmetal Alchemist Awakening

Signs of a Counteroffensive

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for Aaliyah.

{Opening song}

Period/Chemistry

~Briggs Mountains/Abandoned House~

Winry sat on a crate in front of the now taken-apart Al. She was scared and worried...she didn't know what was going on. She released a sigh as she glanced at the others around the fire. "Look at this, it mentions that phrase again." Marcoh stated, showing May. "Yet another term for gold...it's got to be a pattern." May stated. "What're you trying to do?" Winry asked, walking over to the others. "We believe there's the chance that these notes were written in code." "You think so?"

"Alchemists tend to be very protective of their research and methods...they hide it all underneath a bunch of metaphors and allegory. But these...they're almost straightforward. There's something else going on." "We notice he uses various terms for gold throughout several passes. So we're checking to see if their connected." May stated as Winry asked, "And you think that could be the code?" "We're hoping so..." May muttered as they heard a voice.

"Huh? Where am I?" "Al!" "Alphonse!" May and Winry rushed over to the newly awakened Al. "I'm glad you're okay." Winry stated, kneeling down in front of him. "I was so scared you wouldn't wake up...I didn't know what to do!" "Sorry, I didn't mean to freak you out like that. So where are we? And why am I in pieces?" Al asked confused.

~*<3*~

"And that's basically it." Winry finished. "As for why you're in pieces, you were too heavy to carry whole so we had to dismantle you." Scar stated. "That makes sense...sorry to put you guys out like that." "Has this ever happened to you before?" Winry asked. "Just once, when I was trying to find you guys." Marcoh, noticing the glum mood decided to lift everyone's spirits by saying, "Well I can't imagine it being comfortable in pieces like that. Why don't we start putting you back together?"

"Please, if you don't mind." Al stated as Marcoh handed May the black notebook. "You hold onto this while we fix him." Marcoh grabbed two pieces trying to put them together as Winry chuckled and asked, "Isn't that part of his right shoulder?" "Ah yes, it seems to be. I guess we should reassemble him correctly." May watched everyone place all parts together as she muttered, "Reassemble...the pieces..." she then looked down at the black notebook and removed the strings that held it together, causing the pages to scatter across the floor. At the sound, Winry turned to see what May did.

"What're you doing May?!" "Ah! What have you done?!" Marcoh exclaimed, running over to the girl. "How could you be so careless May..." he bent down and started to pick up the pages, Winry and Scar joining as May said, "We need to rearrange the pieces....what if we try connecting occurrence for the words gold and immortality by physically overlapping them...?" May began placed the papers as Scar and Marcoh looked at each other, soon helping.

~*<3*~

After placing all the pages in their correct spots, everyone stood around it, confused if they were supposed to see something or not."I wonder if we..." May grabbed a pen and began connecting certain spots on the map. Scar and Marcoh gasped. "It can't be..." Marcoh muttered as May stood. "It's the country-wide transmutation circle..." Al stated as Marcoh sat down saying, "It's too late for this to help us now..."

"Wait, you're saying what I think? You mean these notes are useless to us?!" Zampano stated as that Jerso said, "You can't be serious! But what about our families? What's going to happen to our country?!" "I'm sorry...I should have known this was an act of futility. It was naïve to think someone else's research could save us." Marcoh stated, his eyes closed, facing the ground in defeat. 'Brother...is this all you were trying to tell me?' Scar thought, looking back to the circle. 'After all your research, you couldn't see a way to stop this?' "We're missing something..." Al started as everyone turned to him, "...we've only broken the first code and I bet there's more. There's got to be some other hidden message in there." Marcoh nodded as everyone looked back to the circle, in thought.