⁰¹ video (𝗎𝗇: 𝗌𝗈𝗎𝗅𝖻𝗈𝗎𝗇𝖽)

[alkahestic]

[ the feed opens up with a little bit of jostling until it's settled on a nearby bedstand. then, there's a flash of red cloth before al settles down on the floor in front of it. in his white-gloved hands is a broken lamp. he sets it on the floor in front of him. ]

Hello! [ he's rather cheerful. ] I'm Alphonse Elric. Some of you may have already met my brother, Ed. We're alchemists and though we're working in the Perimeter Guard, I also wanted to let people know that we're here to help. If you have something broken, we can probably fix it.

[ he gestures at the broken lamp with a grin and then slaps his palms together. they're then placed above the lamp as a bright, blue light encompasses it. there's a spark of energy and soon the broken pieces are molding back together. ]

See? Just like new.

[ switching it on, the light flickers for a second and then begins to glow steadily. ]

So again, if you need something fixed, Brother and I are on floor 6. Have a nice day!

Comments

[angelic_archer]

It's nice to meet you, and to be working with you.

[Alec's quiet for a few seconds, comparing Alphonse's description to what he's read in Magnus' books and the few Mundane subjects he had access to at the Institute.]

You're combining science and what most M - [He trips over the word 'Mundane' before correcting himself.] Most people would think of as magic? You can't create matter, just change what it's part of?

[alkahestic]

[ tilting his head at that stutter ( but shuttering his thoughts behind a contemplative expression ), al nods. ]

I guess that's one way to put it. Something cannot be created from nothing, after all. It's the laws of nature. Alchemy works with the principal of Equivalent Exchange: People cannot gain anything without offering something of equal value in exchange.

[angelic_archer]

[Realizing Alphonse caught his stutter, Alec shrugs, looking apologetic.]

In my world, we call those who don't know that magic is real 'Mundanes'. I'm still teaching myself not to use it anymore.

We have magic but not alchemy. At least I assume we don't. [Warlocks may practice it but the original 'turn lead into gold' isn't something Alec's heard of other than in stories.] We don't think of it as equal exchange but it might be the same concept.

Does alchemy require only matter for changes or is it energy too?

[alkahestic]

Mundanes? Just... normal people? That doesn't seem so bad.

[ there's a lot of worse things he figures people could be called. his own brother had been called a dog of the military many times, and it wasn't a compliment. ]

I can manipulate energy too. During a battle in my world, I summoned tornadoes by altering the wind and heat of the area. Do you mean like that?

[angelic_archer]

It used to be a category, like vampire or werewolf, but it became a way of some people making themselves seem superior to others.

[It wasn't the worst thing that Shadowhunters had said or done and he knows that he can be just as guilty of that type of elitism but he's working on being more open-minded.]

It might be. I know some of the academic details of magic, but I can't actually use it. I know that energy needs to come from somewhere for spells to work but I've never heard if it comes only from the user, what's part of the spell, or some outside force.

[alkahestic]

That isn't so nice. So werewolves and vampires exist in your world?

[ it's a little hard to wrap his head around. there's nothing mythical like that where he comes from. unless one counted the philosopher's stone or homunculi. ]

It sounds as complicated as alchemy can be. What kind of people can do those kinds of things?

[angelic_archer]

They do. [And a few others but Alec's going to stick to the ones that most people know about.] Most of them aren't like in the stories.

It probably is. There's rules for it but they're not well known.

Magic is usually something a being is born with but some people who aren't try to use it. The results usually aren't pretty.

[alkahestic]

It's similar to alchemy that way. [ hummed softly. ] Anything can be dangerous if someone doesn't know how to use it.

Your world sounds like one out of stories, though. Is it a nice world?

[angelic_archer]

It can and it can be dangerous if you think you're smarter or stronger than the creature you're trying to control.

When I was growing up, I was taught to believe there's truth in every story.

Some parts of it are nice. Others need some work so that everyone's treated fairly.

What's your world like? Alchemy is in our legends.

[alkahestic]

Magic is legend in ours. And there's myths about an old religion featuring someone named Christ. I don't know all the details, but it's been hundreds of years since anyone's practiced it.

Then... there's the myth of the Philosopher's Stone.

[angelic_archer]

Those religions are practiced in my world. There's others too. I know that parts of the stories are true, but I'm not sure about others. Are there no religions where you're from?

We have a Philosopher's Stone as part of our myths too. It's supposed to make people immortal.

[alkahestic]

There's the Ishballan religion. But only the Ishballans practice it and they're a small sect. Otherwise, we don't have religions.

As for the Philosopher's stone... myths say that too. And that it can bring people back to life.

[ which is true, but al's not about to explain how he used it to resurrect ed. there's a good reason why he only speaks of it as a myth. ]

[angelic_archer]

Ishballan?

What do people believe in if there's no religions? [The idea of not having faith in something is completely foreign to him.]

We have stories about that too. [Alec's going to pretend that they're stories even as he has to force himself not to touch the rune on his side. No one here needs to know what happened to Jace.] Most of them are wishful thinking.

[alkahestic]

A sect of people native to a desert region. Or, they were. Now most are refugees.

[ he shrugs. ] Science, mostly. Or in each other. Or in the Stone. But believing in that is just as much wishful thinking, like you mentioned.

[angelic_archer]

What happened to them?

We believe in those too but most people in my world need something greater than themselves to believe in. Something more than wishful thinking.

From what I've seen the wishful thinking might be more real than we originally thought.

[alkahestic]

Many were massacred by the Amestian military in a war. Amestris is the country Brother and I are from and worked for, but that was after the Ishbal war.

[ a sigh as he thinks about scar and his rampage of revenge. ]

Wishful thinking might be more dangerous too. If we rely too much on it, we never get anything accomplished. Or seek that which could harm us.

[angelic_archer]

Sometimes our ancestors do things that we wouldn't consider.

[At least he hopes that someone he'll be working with isn't the type to think massacring people is the right thing to do.]

Everything can be dangerous if placed in the context.
Sometimes that wishful thinking is all we have left. It can lead to answers that most beings wouldn't think are possible.

[alkahestic]

That's true.

[ like his father... ]

And so is that, I suppose. Wishful thinking and hope were what led Brother and I to accomplish our goals.

[angelic_archer]

It's what kept my friends and me going when everyone told us that there was no way to change things.

Is Brother a title or family?

[alkahestic]

Family. Brother, Ed, is the only family I have left. All we have is each other.