Alchemy is the science of understanding, decomposing,
and reconstructing matter.
However, it is not an all-powerful art.
It is impossible to create something out of nothing.
If one wishes to obtain something, something of equal value must be paid.
This equivalent exchange is the basis of alchemy.
Alchemists have a taboo, and it is human transmutation.
It is that which no one must commit.
Scar, a man who only goes after State Alchemists,
had attacked Edward Elric.
Under the assault from Scar, Ed was ready to die,
but thanks to the intervention of Col. Mustang and company,
he escaped with his life.
Once again realizing the joy of being alive,
Ed and Al decided to return to their home of Resembool,
in order to restore their bodies.
Lt. Colonel Hughes.
The folks at the Eastern Command Center were all busy
and couldn't come, so I'm seeing you off instead.
That's fine and all, but why is the major here?
Isn't it obvious? What if Scar were to attack you again or something?
You'd be in trouble in the shape you're in, right?
The major means well. Just accept it willingly.
- Children need not act so coy. - Don't treat me like a child!
By the way, you're sure Al got aboard, right?
Of course.
I thought he would be lonesome, all by himself.
What do you think my brother is?
Oh, it's time.
Okay, be careful on your journey.
If you ever come by Central, give me a holler.
Doctor Marcoh.
Doctor Marcoh, that's you, isn't it?
It's Alex Louis Armstrong, from Central.
Friend of yours?
He's a capable State Alchemist from Central.
He was researching how to apply alchemy to medical treatment,
but after the Ishvalan Civil War, he went missing.
Let's get off, Major.
A person like him might know something about transmuting living things.
Do you, by any chance, know this person?
Major, you sure draw well.
The art of drawing likenesses
has been passed down among the Armstrongs for generations.
- That looks like Dr. Mauro. - Mauro?
During the civil war, the town's doctors were all drafted,
which left us hard up. Dr. Mauro really saved us when he came here.
He doesn't give up on any patients, and sees them all.
We're glad to have him.
No sooner do you see this flash of light, than you're cured.
This is the place.
Hello.
What are you here for? Are you here to take me back there?
Please calm down, Doctor.
I don't ever want to go back there! Please, anything but that!
It's not that. Hear me out--
Then you're here to silence me, is that it?
- No, it's not that. - You won't trick me.
- Please, I'm asking you, calm down! - Al!
Imagine, changing your name and living in hiding out here in the countryside.
I'd heard stories that when you disappeared,
you took top-secret materials with you.
I couldn't take it anymore.
Never mind that it was ordered from above,
to have to dirty my hands researching that thing.
That thing?
During the Ishvalan Civil War,
so many innocent people lost their lives because of it.
I could give my whole life, and still not atone for what I've done.
Even so, I decided to do all that I could, so I became a doctor here.
Doctor, just what was it that you were ordered to research?
The Philosopher's Stone.
What I took out of there were my research materials
and the Stone itself.
You have a Stone? Here?
That's the Stone? But it's liquid.
"The Sage's Stone", "The Celestial Stone",
"The Grand Elixir", "The Red Tincture", "The Fifth Element".
Just as the Philosopher's Stone is called by many names,
its form is not necessarily that of a stone.
However, this is an incomplete product.
There's no telling when it will reach its limit and become unusable.
Even so, it demonstrated plenty of force during the Ishvalan Civil War.
The same was true of that false priest in Liore.
It may have been incomplete,
but his abilities were definitely increased.
If something as potent as that can be produced,
then depending on the research, a complete product is not impossible.
Dr. Marcoh, can I see your research materials?
Major, who exactly is this boy?
He is a State Alchemist.
A child like this?
After the civil war,
there were so many alchemists who turned in their certifications,
because they could not bear to be human weapons.
- And yet, you-- - I realize how foolish it is!
But even so, I have to keep lying here until I achieve my goal,
even if it is on a bed of thorns.
I see. You've committed the taboo, have you?
You surprise me.
Imagine, being able to transmute a specific person's soul.
You just might be able to produce a complete Philosopher's Stone.
- So then? - But I cannot show you my materials.
- You can't mean-- - You must not seek after this thing.
- Not even to get our bodies back? - No.
It is the devil's research.
If you learn about it, you will go through hell.
I've already gone through hell!
No. Please leave.
I've already gone through hell!
Are you sure about this?
Incomplete though it may have been,
you could have at least taken the Stone from him by force.
Yeah. I wanted it so bad I could taste it. But...
We don't want to get our bodies back so badly
that we would deprive this town of its source of care.
We gained plenty just finding out that a Philosopher's Stone can be made.
We'll look for some other way.
What about you, Major?
Are you okay with not reporting back to Central about Dr. Marcoh?
All I met today was a simple small-town doctor named Mauro.
Hey!
Dr. Marcoh.
This is where my materials are hidden.
If you're sure you won't regret learning the truth,
then take a look at this.
Knowing you, you'll be able to find the truth within the truth.
No, I've said too much.
I pray that the day will come when you get your bodies back.
Brother, what does it say?
"National Central Library, First Branch".
I get it. To hide a tree, place it in a forest, eh?
The volume of books there is enormous, after all.
There are clues about the Stone there.
I've been looking for you, Marcoh.
Winry! Winry! Our regular customer is here!
- Yo, Granny. We're home. - My word, what have you gotten into?
A lot has happened. Can you set us up again?
- This is Major Armstrong. - Pinako Rockbell.
You know, I don't see you for a while, Ed,
and you've gone and grown smaller.
Hey! Usually in this situation, you say "grown bigger"!
If you had grown bigger, I would have said it.
What was that, you minimum hag?
I told you, when you come back for maintenance, call first!
Winry, are you trying to kill me?
- Welcome back! - Yeah!
Oh, no!
- Yeah, sorry. It's all smashed up. - All smashed up?
This is the first-rate automail I put my whole heart and soul into making.
Yeah, and now it's all in tiny little pieces.
So, what, are you smashed up too, Al? Just what sort of lives are you leading?
Geez, all you ever do is worry me.
I see.
And in order to get that information,
you want to go to Central as soon as possible?
Yeah. We'd like you to put a rush on this.
It's not just the arm, your leg needs adjusting, too.
- Oh, because he's grown so much, right? - Shut up!
The leg aside, we'll have to build the arm from scratch.
- Can you have it done in a week? - Give us some credit.
Three days.
Make do with this spare for now.
Sure is hard to walk on a leg I'm not used to.
We'll be finished before you're used to it.
That being said,
between machining, assembly, connecting, and finishing,
I'll be pulling nothing but all-nighters.
Sorry to ask so much of you.
You want to get to Central as soon as possible, right?
Fine then. I'll overwork myself for you.
But in return, you're going to pay a bundle in rush order fees.
- I am finished. - Oh, thanks.
- I don't see Edward Elric around. - Yeah.
He said he was going to visit his mother's grave.
Major.
What kind of lives are those boys leading?
They never send us a single letter.
They are alchemists who are well-known, even in Central.
They also seem to find trouble as a result of it.
Oh, but they're all right. Those brothers are strong.
Strong, huh? I sure hope so.
Madam Pinako, are the two of them like grandsons to you?
I've been watching over them ever since they were born.
The boys' father was a drinking pal of mine from long ago, you see.
He up and left the village, leaving his wife and children behind.
I don't even know whether or not he's alive now.
Come to think of it, where are Miss Winry's parents?
They died in the Ishvalan Civil War.
My son-- Her parents were surgeons.
They went off to the battlefield, what with the lack of doctors.
- It was a terrible war. - Indeed it was.
Oh, it's just about time to start supper.
You look like you eat a lot, so it makes it worth cooking.
Oh, no, I couldn't let you trouble yourself over me.
Food tastes better when everyone eats together.
There's some spare bedding, and the patient's bed is available
so you can use them.
Those brothers don't have anywhere else to stay but here, either.
Having one more along makes no difference.
What about their home?
They don't have one. Those boys have no home to return to.
The day they left, after Ed got his state certification,
they burned their own house down.
They probably did it so that they couldn't turn back,
without a house to come home to.
Guess we should head back. Everyone is waiting.
- I'm back-- - Edward Elric!
Such immaculate love, to try to bring your mother back to life!
Such tremendous love, to be willing to give up your own life
to transmute your brother's soul!
Such dreadful determination, to burn down the home
that held so many memories for you, to cut off any retreat!
Let me at least offer this embrace!
Stay back! Too stuffy! Stop!
You're working on it, thanks for the hard work since the morning.
I've worked all night.
You're at it, you're at it. Working hard so early in the morning.
Been up all night.
Don't bother me!
Working hard, so late into the night.
At this pace, you must be about done, right?
I'll be up all night tonight, too.
They said it would take three days to finish,
so just sit still and wait for them.
Sorry for the wait! It's done!
- Ready? - Yeah.
- One. - Two.
Three!
I hate that moment when the nerves connect, every time.
But once we get a Philosopher's Stone, I can kiss that pain goodbye!
I hate to lose our biggest source of income.
Right. You don't have to overexert yourselves to get back to normal.
Besides, isn't it nice? The smell of the oil,
the hum of the bearings, the rugged yet beautiful form,
whose design is based on anatomical engineering.
How wonderful you are, automail!
- Crazy gearhead. - Shut up, alchemy freak.
All right, we're done.
- Well? - Yeah, feels good.
This time, I increased the percentage of chrome
to try to make it less prone to rusting.
The tradeoff is that its strength isn't as great,
so don't try anything crazy with--
- Hey, listen to me! - Al, sorry to keep you waiting!
You can fix him right away?
You kind of have to know the trick to it, though.
This seal on the inside of his back is the medium
between Al's soul and the armor so I have to be sure not to ruin it.
- All right, good as new! - You wanna go right at it?
It's going to be quiet around here again.
It's almost time, huh?
We're going to Central to get Dr. Marcoh's materials.
We leave first thing tomorrow morning.
He's sleeping with his tummy out again. What am I going to do with him?
You're almost like his guardian, Al.
It's hard work having a brother who takes so much time and effort.
- How old are you boys now? - I'm 14, Brother is 15.
To think that someone the same age as me and as tiny as him
is a "human weapon" is laughable, huh?
As vulnerable as he is when he's sleeping.
Thank you, both of you.
What's this? Why so formal?
I'm grateful to you, Granny and Winry,
for always welcoming us like you were our real family.
He won't say it, but Brother feels the same way.
Al.
We know that. He doesn't have to say it for us to know.
Granny, Winry.
Thanks.
- Thanks for everything, Granny. - Sure.
Where's Winry?
She has been working overnight for several days in a row.
- Want me to wake her up? - Oh, that's okay, that's okay.
She'd just nag me about making sure to do maintenance and whatever. Bye.
Listen, boys.
AUTOMAIL ROCKBELL
Come on back once in a while and have dinner with us.
You want us to come all this way into the mountains just for dinner?
Ed, Al.
Come back soon.
Yeah.
I slept just about the entire day.
Really, whenever he comes here, it's like a war hits this place.