Slytherin's Heir

It was rather early in the morning when Ed woke up. Since he had arrived here, he hadn’t been getting sufficient amounts of sleep. His ports were always aching, and the potion that would help fix that little problem wouldn’t be ready for another week.

Ed looked at the bed and rolled his eyes; Ling was not in the room. With a huff, he threw his blankets to the floor and reached for his crutch. He was hungry, so he was going to eat breakfast, no matter if Ling was with him or not.

After much effort, he nabbed the tool and prepared for his long walk to the cafeteria. Because it was a Sunday, most of the students were sleeping in. Others would be in the library studying, or off to get some food like he was.

As he was walking down the long corridor, Ed completely ignored the pictures on the walls. They were unfamiliar and unnatural…moving and talking photos shouldn’t exist. It had to be impossible! The proof was there, but he refused to accept it. Besides, they were plain creepy.

Ed walked at a saunter past all of the dorm rooms, and went to a halt when he reached the common room. Sitting on the black leather couches were a bunch of fifth and sixth year students, including Ling. If he was swift, he would’ve been able to sneak out of the room without being spotted.

“Ed. Hey, Ed!” Ling’s voice called out, to which Ed moaned with disgust. The idiot prince had been nothing but annoying and bothering since arriving here. In general, the prince was plain infuriating. Ed decided to ignore him and continued on his way at a ridiculously slackening pace. “Edward!” Ling flailed his arms to get Ed’s attention. Deciding he had enough, Ed turned a frustrated stare at him.

“What?” He asked in a harsh tone, and Ling seemed to realize he was not in a good mood…not that it would deter him. The other Slytherins spoke with hushed voices and tried to discretely look at him. Ed had no idea why using a crutch was such an odd thing, but it was. It wasn’t like anyone knew he had automail, since he made sure to cover both limbs up.

“Come on, Ed. Sit down with us.” Without a second thought, Ed kept walking, keeping his eyes on the doorway.

“No.” He grabbed the doorknob and hurried out of the commons. He could hear the faint set of hurried footsteps as he closed the door, and he cursed his inability to run or walk faster. There was really no place to place to hide in the dungeons, but even if he tried, Ling had a pestering ability to sense him. “What do you want, Ling?” Ed asked when a shadow appeared next to him, followed by Ling.

“What’s your problem?”

“I don’t have one. Are you coming with me to get food or not?”

“Uh, sure, let me go get-”

“No.”

“You didn’t let me finish.”

“Don’t care. I don’t want any of your friends near me.”

“Someone’s cranky.” The idiot taunted.

“Shut up. I only want you to come with me to get food.”

“You’re taking me on a date? How sweet of you.” Ed dropped his crutch and attempted to throw a punch at Ling. He was not used to fighting with his left hand, much less without the use of either of his automail limbs. Ling easily avoided Ed’s swipes, and he chuckled. “Lighten up, it was just a joke. Let’s go get food, now, I’m starving.” Ling reached down and gave Ed his crutch.

“I’m going to kill you.” Ed replied jokingly to show he wasn’t as angry as he appeared.

“I’m afraid maiming is against the school rules.” A voice spoke, to which Ed yelped and stumbled backwards. The sound came from one of the many suits of armor that lined the walls of the school, but neither boy knew they could talk.

“Ed, they’re not like Al. We’re not in Amestris, remember? Let’s keep going.” Quickly, Ed recovered from his shock, and he kept looking behind him to look at the immobile armor that could speak. He knew things were different here, but he still was having trouble getting used to all the new things. In a way, he was glad Ling was with him, or he would have no sense of familiarity. Worse yet, he would have no one on his side if he was alone.

Finding the cafeteria was another challenge, and even though they had been at the school for a week, they really did not know their way around; or at least Ed didn’t. He knew how to get from his dorm to the library, but that was it. “We have to go up two flights of stairs, make the first right, and keep going.” Ling stated matter-of-factly, and Ed snorted in response. Of course Ling was proficient in knowing how to get to the dining hall. Then again, Ling didn’t lock himself in his room all day like Ed tended to do.

They approached the moving staircases and stepped onto one once it locked in place. Ed was still wary of the contraption, not at all convinced it wouldn’t try to find a hurt or injure him. They had to time it just right, because Ed would never be able to make it up in time before the stairs began to shift. When they were near the top, the giant stairs groaned and swung to the side, and Ed made sure he had an iron grip on the railing.

Once again, the staircase anchored in it’s temporary spot, so Ed and Ling hastily went up before they decided to shift again. They repeated the same process with the next flight of stairs before making their way to the dining hall.

It was not very busy in the hall, as most of the students were still asleep. A few Ravenclaws and Gryffindors were chatting with each other at their respected tables, while a small group of Hufflepuffs were alone at their table. The Slytherins were not yet present, but they would eventually fill the empty table once they were all ready. It seemed like the Slytherins tended to come up in pairs or small groups with their close friends, whereas the Gryffindors usually flocked in all at once.

Ed didn’t care about anyone else’s eating patterns; he only wanted to eat in peace. “You sure you’re alright, Ed?” Ling asked when they took a seat near the exit.

“I would be perfectly fine if you stopped asking me the same question.”

“Okay. So how’s the research going? Find anything that will get us home?” Ed took a sip of his grape juice before responding.

“Not yet, but I will soon.”

“Have you found anything at all?”

“Nothing, really. I’ll figure something out when our classes start tomorrow.” Ed practically spat out ’classes’. He hadn’t been in a real school for nearly ten years, and he was not looking forward to his classes at all, despite the fact he could very well figure out a solution for their problem.

“I’m sure you will. Have you figured out how we ended up here?” Ed balled up his knuckles and rested his chin on his fist, concentrating on Ling’s question. He had an idea of why they ended up somewhere completely different, but he was not positive.

“Alphonse!” Ed shouted as the Gate’s doors were slammed shut behind him. He was hurt, but mostly scared. Scared he would never be able to leave and return Al’s soul to his rightful body. At least he was escaping from the Homunculus’ stomach, so he’d at least be able to see Al in his suit of armor.

But something felt off…he hadn’t been concentrating clearly. His head felt like it was going to explode; his entire being was being deconstructed and reconstructed. The pain wouldn’t last much longer, but it was still horrendous.

As suddenly as it started, it quickly vanished. Ed landed on solid pavement, his eyesight was still a bit hazy. His surroundings were incredibly loud, and something in the air smelled odd. Once his sight cleared, Ed could hardly believe his eyes.

He was laying in a dark alleyway, but he had full sight of the bustling street before him. There were so many different cars and other strange automobiles he had never seen before. They roared in whizzed by with such an incredible speed that Ed did not think possible for automobiles.

The buildings looked much too high for anything in Central. While trying to figure out where he was, Ed was startled when someone coughed behind him.

“Ling?” He asked with a cocked head when he turned around to see who was with him. “Is that you?”

“Ed? Yeah, it’s me. What happened?”

“I don’t know. I don’t think we’re in Central, or Amestris. Is this Xing?”

“This is definitely not Xing. Where’s that monster, Envy?” Ed quickly looked around, but saw no sign of the homunculus.

“I have no idea, but I doubt we’ll see him soon. Come on, we’ll go ask someone where we are.” Ed stood up and helped Ling get to his feet, as unwilling as he was. “We’ll get some food after, so let’s go.” Ling seemed much more determined after hearing Ed’s promise of feeding him. Once they were on the main street, they both stood there for a minute to take in the new sights.

“Excuse me, ma’am, I was wondering if you could tell me where we are.” Ed asked as politely as possible to a woman strolling by with large shopping bags.

“Get a job, lazy hooligan.” Ed blinked and watched as she quickened her pace, and he could not believe someone could be so rude. “Hey, lady! I asked you a question!” He was fuming. How dare someone ignore and insult the Fullmetal Alchemist! So, thinking it was completely logical, Ed ran in front of her to get the answer he wanted. It shouldn’t be that hard to answer a simple question for a lost traveler.

“I will call the police if you don’t get away from me.” The lady nearly shouted, which caught the attention of many people walking on the sidewalks.

“Listen, lady, I’m a State Alchemist. I only want to know-”

“Help! This kid is insane and trying to rob me!” The woman shrieked, which had a massive effect. People were starting to surround him, and one even grabbed his left arm.

“Let me go!” He panicked and jerked his arm back to his side. Thankfully, Ling came in to intervene.

“Oh, Edward, did you forget to take your medicine again?” Ling gave Ed a small grin that said, ’trust me’. “Sorry, everyone. He gets like this sometimes.” The people started to disperse and carry on their ways. “Would someone mind telling me where we are?” Ling decided to ask before everyone left.

“Marylebone Road.” A scraggily man replied.

“Ah, and where might that be?” This time, the man hesitated and raised an eyebrow.

“London.”

“Where the hell is London?” Ed blurted out, to which the man started to back away.

“England.” He replied quickly and left with haste. Ling and Ed looked at each other with blank expressions; neither of them had heard of ‘England’.

“Ed, something feels wrong.”

“Like what?” At that moment, there was a small flash of light from an alley, quickly followed by a loud cracking noise.

“That. Don’t you feel it?” Ed furrowed his eyebrows with confusion, and squinted his eyes to look for the source of the noise.

“I heard it, too, but I don’t feel anything.”

“Really? It’s powerful, and I don’t think it’s only coming off of you.”

“What are you talking about?” Ed started to think Ling bumped his head recently.

“Yeah, you have a faint aura around you; I can sense your power. Well, there’s a bigger aura wherever that noise just came from.”

“I honestly don’t know what you’re talking about. I thought you could sense homunculi, and I’m not a homunculus.”

“Are you sure?” Ed was taken aback by this.

“Of course I am, you idiot! Tell what you’re talking about.”

“Nah, you’re being rude.” Ed decided to flump Ling on the back of his head with that comment. “Now I’m really not telling you.” Ling gently rubbed his head while Ed rolled his eyes.

“Fine, I’m sorry, now tell me what you mean.”

“That’s not a very good apology, so you know. Anyway, I can sense your power. None of these other people have this feeling you do, but there’s occasionally bursts of power. The strong one is still over in that alley, and it’s growing. I think we should keep moving.”

“If you say so.” They made sure to stay on the main street in the well lit areas, and Ling would redirect them to a different path whenever he felt the unknown power grow in size.

“Where exactly are we going?”

“Away from whatever is causing that energy; I don’t like it.”

“You said it feels like mine.” Ed was confused, but he did trust Ling a little bit, and it was not a smart idea to split up in unknown territory. Ling abruptly stopped, and Ed nearly ran into him.

“No, this is different. It’s everywhere; we’re being surrounded. And haven’t you noticed there’s less people around?” Ling was right. Ed looked around and realized they hadn’t seen another person for nearly a half-hour.

“Yeah, I have.” The streets were empty, no cars were driving, and the noise had long died down.

“Let’s hide out in one of these buildings until they go away.”

“What, why? It’s probably nothing.” Ed was on edge, but he wasn’t scared, and he didn’t want to hide like a rabbit.

“We have no idea what’s going on, and you want to stay out here in the open?”

“Yes?” He wasn’t too sure; Ling made a good point. If they did split up, Ed would have the major disadvantage of not being able to sense whatever power Ling was feeling. Ling was all about self preservation, so Ed figured he would be on his own if he was attacked. “No. Let’s go in a store, then.”

They jogged to a small, brick store that sold candy, by the looks of the display case. Once inside, Ling drifted to the chocolates, but Ed stopped him by pulling on the collar of his shirt.

“But I’m hungry.” Ling whined in protest.

“So am I.” Ed countered while his stomach growled. “But we can eat later after whoever is following us leaves.” They hid behind the cashier counter and waited in a dead silence. It seemed like forever, and Ling had yet to indicate it was safe to move around.

“It’s getting closer.” Ling whispered with great concern. Ed peered through a crack in the wood; he could see people moving by the display case at the front of the store. On instinct, Ed put his hands in position to clap, ready to transmute on the spot.

“Homenum Revelio!” A deep man’s voice yelled from outside, which was followed by a bright flash of white light.

“Ah!” Ed cried out, then immediately regretted it. Something felt like it had harshly poked at his side, causing him to make an audible noise. The door swung open, and both boys remained silent and still, like their lives depended on it.

“Show yourselves, we know you’re in here.” A different voice spoke, this time, however, it was female. Ed guessed there were ten people in the room, but he wasn’t going to ask Ling for clarification. Somehow, they knew they were in there, so the only thing to do at that point was fight. Without second thought, Ed popped out of his hiding place and clapped his hands.

Immediately, Ed could tell something was terribly wrong. The typical surge he felt while performing alchemy was completely non-existent and there was no flash of blue light when his hands slammed into each other. When he touched his automail arm, it did not transmute into a blade like he planned on making. Nothing happened.

Again, Ed clapped his hands with much more ferocity and threw them on the counter in an attempt to create any sort of weapon. Nothing continued to happen. “Shit!” He intelligently proclaimed to everyone, not knowing what to do next. He was close with guessing who his enemy was; it was a mixed group of nine people, all of them wearing odd clothes. They had little sticks in their hands, all pointing at him, and each one appeared to be glowing.

“Expelliarmus!” The smallest woman in the group cried out, and a jet of cobalt light shot out, hitting Ed square in the chest. He felt like he had been electrocuted, and the force from the light beam knocked the breath out of him, but caused no other damage.

The woman who said the foreign word looked confused, like the phrase she said did not work like it was supposed to. A tall, dark man stepped in front of the group and took charge. Just as he opened his mouth to say something, Ed sprung forward to make the first move.

They were using an alchemy of some sort, but it appeared to be verbal. Somehow, those sticks were aiding their odd practice, but that would be their downfall; if he could get rid of the twigs, in theory, they would be useless.

“Everte Statum!” The man in front with a guttural rich voice spoke calmly. Instantaneously, an unseen force hit Ed, causing him to fly backwards, smashing into a line of shelves holding candy bars on a wall. He let out an indignant noise, and he was in pain, especially since he hadn’t healed one bit from Envy’s attacks inside of Gluttony’s stomach.

“Stupify!” A few of the other cloaked people cried out, and one of the bright lights hit Ed’s right shoulder. His automail port felt tingly and heavy, but he could still move it.

“Ling!” He whipped his head around to see what was taking the prince so long. A second or two after, Ling’s head peeked up, and he had a chocolate bar in his mouth. “What are you doing?! Help me!” The bar vanished in Ling’s gullet, then he vanished behind the cabinet again. “You bastard! What are you doing?”

Ed half sprinted and half limped to their hiding spot, so he could beat some sense into Ling. “Carpe Retractum.” A pair of ropes materialized in midair and looped around Ed’s legs, and he fell face first to the wooden floor.

“Ling!” He shouted both frantically and desperately. His heart was racing at twice it’s normal speed, and he felt as if it was going to burst. This did not seem like alchemy, and these people were trying to hurt or capture him. The adrenaline rush he had earlier was wearing off, so his broken ribs and arm were starting to feel excruciating. Not only was he hurt, he was absolutely pissed off that Ling was being a lazy shit.

“Petrificus Totalus.” Another one of the strange people called out when Ling finally emerged from the counter, but unexpectedly by both sides, nothing happened. The people froze and gawked at Ling, like he had performed an amazing magic trick.

“Congratulations, everyone, you found us!” Ling spoke cockily with a large grin on his face, “Now we can all go home and forget this happened, right?”

“No!” The man in front responded when he got over his shock. “He just attacked several aurors!” He pointed to Ed, who was struggling against the binding on his legs. “Besides, an unknown magical source popped up, and it turns out you two are the cause. We’ll be taking you both to the ministry.”

“What?” Ed and Ling both asked bewildered at the same time.

“Except you,” The man pointed his finger at Ling. “You don’t have a trace. Are you a muggle?”

“What? I don’t steal from people.”

“He’s only a muggle. Obliviate him and let’s get going. We still need to file reports on this.” The man spoke to his comrades, and one of them pointed their stick at Ed once more.

“Incarcerous.” More ropes appeared and put Ed into a full body bind. The same woman then pointed at Ling. “Obliviate.” Once again, whatever it was supposed to do, didn’t work.

“Sir, something’s wrong. It’s like he has a shield around him.” The cloaked people went into a group huddle and whispered while Ling turned to a shelf to start indulging himself with more sweets. Ed cursed at him and uselessly wriggled in the ropes.

After a minute, the huddle split apart and a women with vibrant purple hair stepped forward. “Would you come to the ministry with us?”

“Sure.” Ed knew Ling only agreed because he was curious about who these people were.

“Great. We’ll give you a meal for your troubles.”

“Ah, fantastic.” Ling was conveniently ignoring the death stare Ed was giving him from on the floor.

“Hold tight, now.” The lady held out her hand, and Ling grabbed it. She then reached down and awkwardly held Ed up so he wouldn’t slip.

There was a loud noise identical to the one they heard earlier, and Ed was pretty sure he was going to puke. He felt as if he was being forced into a small tube, and he could barely see a thing. Within seconds, they were in a dark room, and Ed was officially panicking. Ling remained calm, but Ed could tell he was feeling nauseous and confused as well.
The woman with the purple hair stayed with Ed and Ling while the others left the room. “Where are we?” Ling questioned and looked with careful eyes around the room.

“This is my office, and I’m Tonks.”

“Tonks?” Ling repeated.

“Yes. We’ll bring you something to eat soon. Do you need anything else?”

“Actually, I think I fractured a few bones. I think I need a doctor, or…”

“Episkey.” Tonks waved her stick at Ling, and Ed started to bang his head against the floor.

“How did you do that? The pain is all gone.”

“Magic.” She replied as her hair spontaneously changed from purple to electric blue.

“What a load of bullshit.” Ed stated loudly and he stared at the woman to seemed to have just magically changed her hair color and healed Ling’s injuries with a mere word.

“Sorry, my friend here has been having a bad day. Would you mind healing him, too?” Ling asked like the situation was completely normal. Tonks cocked her head slightly and shrugged her shoulders.

“Of course I don’t mind.” She aimed the stick at Ed and repeated the strange word from before. Immediately, Ed could feel his ribs mending, and his arm only felt a bit sore.

“It’s like alkahestry.” Ling pointed out, and it did make some sense. Somehow, these people were using a different type of alchemy verbally, but they just called it magic. Ed was relieved for a moment, but then remembered he, himself, could not perform his regular technique of alchemy.

“I don’t understand what’s going on here.” Ed stated obviously.

“Neither do we. Where are you from? You both have strange accents.”

“No offense, but I’d rather not say anything until you untie me; I haven’t done anything wrong.” He had to use all of his willpower to not sound rude and angry.

“I can’t untie you. I’m only an auror in training.”

“A what?” Ed greedily watched Ling eating a sandwich, and his stomach decided to twinge with hunger.

“An auror. Do you not know? You have to be foreign. Russian? German?”

“No, I’m Amestrian, and the pig over there is from Xing.” Tonks frowned and she studied them both. She clearly thought he was lying, and she took a seat on a leather chair.

“What, are you going to leave me here? That’s not fair.” Ed pouted as he lay helplessly on the floor.

“I’m sorry. We just have to wait until the headmaster arrives, and our top aurors.” It sounded like gibberish to Ed, and he didn’t see why he couldn’t eat a sandwich. It was absolutely unfair. Tonks cautiously walked over to Ed, and she moved him so he could lay on a couch instead of the hardwood floor.
Ed mumbled a thanks while he stared at Tonks, whose hair color could apparently change at a whim. Ling happily munched away on a sandwich while occasionally taking a sip of water. Ed should have know this was how Ling would act, especially with the offer of free food.

It wasn’t too long after when three people entered the door; two he recognized from the store, but the third was someone he had never see before, an ancient looking man with a flowing white beard. They approached Ling and talked to him, but they weren’t loud enough for Ed to hear what they were saying.

It was starting to drive Ed crazy, but yelling and whining was not going to fix his problem, so he stayed silent. “Is he unarmed, Moody?” Ed heard the old man ask calmly.

“Yes.” The gruff looking man replied. Out of everyone, he was the one who creeped him out the most.

“Infinite Incantum.” The old man spoke with a flick of his twig, and the bindings around Ed vanished. He could breathe much more easily, and he sat straight on the couch.

“Edward,” Ed figured Ling told them his name, and must of explained what had happened. The tone the man was using was odd. It was like he was talking to someone naive and incredibly dangerous; Ed decided he did not like this man. “You’re a wizard.”