This is my first one-shot:) Yay! I hope you'll all like it! n.n At least I won't have to update this one. XD I'm so bad at updating my fanfics. lol! Well, anyway, this fanfic is dedicated to my best friend Ayumi-chan because she's always there for me and inspires me to write. This is also dedicated to my girlfriend, Lacoln, because she's also one of my bestest friends in the world. Yes, I have a girlfriend. No, I'm not a lesbian. n.n; We just love each other like sisters. hee hee...Enjoy it everyone!!

Dark Illusions -one-shot-

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It's true, we're all a little insane.
But it's so clear,
Now that I'm unchained.

Fear is only in our minds,
Taking over all the time.
Fear is only in our minds but it's taking over all the time.

You poor sweet innocent thing.
Dry your eyes and testify.
You know you live to break me. Don't deny.
Sweet sacrifice.

It was cold and raining. The sky was so dark, it almost seemed like it was night time. A boy with long blond hair that was tied back in a braid ran as fast as he could from the train station and through the thick rain, holding a suitcase over his head. It didn't help much since his clothes were soaked to the bone and his hair stuck to his face. He stopped under a porch roof of a tavern and waited, hoping the rain would die down soon. "Damn! I didn't know it was suppose to rain this hard today!" he muttered, while wringing out his red jacket.

"Rain?" the boy heard a voice next to him say. "It looks pretty sunny to me." a girl about five years old said. She was dressed in rags and she was barefoot. Her hair was a cerulian blue and her eyes were a bright neon green, making them look almost cat like. She looked up at him and smiled. "What's your name?" she asked the boy.

The boy hesitated for a moment, looking at the strange girl. "Erm...Edward. Edward Elric." he said and bent down next to her so that they were eye level. "What's your name?"

The girl looked down sadly. "I don't have a name." she said then looked back up at Edward. "But my imaginary friend likes to call me Illusion." she said and grinned, showing her yellowish teeth. It was then that Edward realized that the little girl was very skinny.

"Where are your parents?" Edward asked her, then frowned when she didn't answer. Poor girl. She must be homeless. he thought then stood up. "Come on. There's someone I'd like you to meet." he said and smiled warmly, making sure not to scare the girl.

Illusion looked up at him confused. "Is this person nice?"

Edward nodded. "Yes, she's very nice! She can be a little rough at times, but I'm sure she'll love to meet you. She really loves kids!" he said and grinned, seeing Illusion's happy face.

"Okay!" she said and grabbed his hand. "Is this person your mother, Edward?" she asked, looking up at his face as the rain began to die down.

Edward thought for a moment, then looked down at her and smiled. "Yeah, kind of."

Illusion then smiled widely, a hint of evil shone in her eyes. "I would like to meet her very much!" she said as the two of them walked down the streets of Dublith.

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Edward knocked on the front door of the shop that read 'MEAT' in big letters. He was still holding Illusion's hand who looked around curiously. The door opened and a large man wearing a white apron came through. "Edward! Nice to see you again!" the man said in a deep voice, patting the top of Edward's head with his meaty hand.

"Nice to see you again, Sig." Edward managed to say through clenched teeth as Sig continued to squish his head. "Is Teacher here?" he asked.

Sig nodded. "She's resting at the moment. She's still pretty sick." he said sadly then looked down at Illusion who was staring up at him with wide eyes. "Who's this?"

"Oh!" Edward said, almost forgetting the girl was there. "I found this girl near the tavern when I came into town." he said and leaned forward to whisper in Sig's ear. "I think she's homeless."

Sig looked down at her again who was now smiling widely at him. "Come in you two. Make yourselves comfortable." he said, opening the door wider. "I'll tell Izumi you're here."

Illusion let go of Ed's hand and bolted inside, jumping on random furniture and other things.

"Hey, be careful! You break something and Teacher will punish me for it!" he said, trying to get her down off the table.

"Play with me! Play with me!" she chanted, jumping up and down. Ed groaned when she knocked him in the head while he tried getting her down. "EDWARD ELRIC!!!" he heard a familiar voice yell and cringed. Illusion stopped jumping only to see Edward get kicked across the room by a woman who looked about in her early thirties and her black hair was pulled back into dreadlocks. Illusion jumped down and ran to her, a big smile on her face. "You must be Edward's mommy." she said happily.

The woman looked down at her and blinked. "Huh? Oh, well...not exactly. But he is like a son to me." she said and nealt down next to the girl. "What's your name little girl."

Illusion smiled up at her in a sad way. "I don't have you. But my imaginary friend calls me Illusion."

Ed groaned and sat up, rubbing his head. "That's one of the reasons why I came here, Teacher." he said and slowly walked over to the two. "I found her near the tavern. I think she's homeless." he said sadly.

Izumi, also known as Edward's teacher, looked at the girl sadly. "Oh you poor thing." she said and pulled the girl into a hug. "Don't worry, sweetie. You can stay here as long as you want. I'll take care of you."

Illusion smiled and hugged Izumi tightly. "Thank you...um..." she paused and looked up at Izumi's face. "I don't even know your name."

"My name's Izumi. But from now on, you can call me mom if you want." she said in a warm tone like a mother talking to her child. This suprised Edward and he frowned. He didn't know why, but he felt a bit of jelousy in his heart. Izumi picked up the girl and headed for the bathroom. "Come on, let's get you cleaned up."

Edward watched as the two went into the bathroom and shut the door, leaving Ed alone in the house.

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A few hours later, Izumi came out of the house with a cleaned up and pretty little girl. Edward had been out in the yard for awhile enjoying the fresh air. "Edward, watch Illusion for awhile while Sig takes me to the pharmacy to get my medicine." she instructed, slipping on her coat while Sig went to open the car door for her.

"Fine..." was all Edward managed to say before Izumi got in and Sig shut the door. He glanced over at Illusion who was bending over and staring at a flower. She was so perfectly still, she almost looked like a statue.

"Oh, and Edward?" Ed jumped a bit, tearing his eyes away from to girl to look at Izumi through the car window. "If anything happens to that little girl, I'll rip out your intestines and make you eat them!" she said then rolled up the window as the car drove away. Ed quickly turned his head to make sure Illusion was still in the same spot. To his great disappointment (especially after Izumi's threat) she wasn't there. Edward muttered a few curses and ran around the yard, searching for the blue haired girl. She wasn't anywhere in sight. "Illusion!?" Edward called, hoping she would answer back. She didn't. "Dammit! Illusion, this isn't funny!" he yelled and ran inside. He ran to every room, calling her name as he checked. He opened the door to the last room, Izumi's room, and sighed when he saw her sitting in the middle of the floor, staring blankly at him. "There you are! Where the hell were you?" he asked angerly.

Illusion continued to stare at him. "I was in here."

"Why didn't you answer me when I called you?" he asked through clenched teeth.

"Charlie told me not to answer you." she said bluntly.

Edward raised and eyebrow at her. "And who's Charlie?" he asked suspiciously.

Illusion grinned evily at him. "Charlie's my imaginary friend." she said and stood up. She was then suddenly standing in front of Edward. Edward jumped back in suprise and yelled. Illusion giggled. "Charlie told me everything about you, Edward Elric." she said, her eyes glowing red.

Ed's eyes grew wide with horror. "What the hell are you? Stay away from me!" he said, backing up against a wall.

Illusion giggled, walking closer to him. "You wanna know what I am?" she said as blood began to drip down the walls. "I'm your worst nightmare!"

Edward screamed, holding his head as blood began to drip down the walls. "Stay away from me! LEAVE ME ALONE!!" he yelled, smacking the girl away from him. Illusion fell back on her butt and gasped in suprise. Ed stood up shakily and headed for the door.

"Owie! That hurt! You'll pay for that!" she yelled and the door suddenly slammed shut in Ed's face. Ed whirled around to see what the girl was going to do, but she did nothing. She just stood there, staring at him with an evil glare. Ed looked at her confuzed. Illusion reached out to him with her right hand, as if she was trying to touch him from that distance, then she clenched her hand into a fist as if grabbing something and squeezed it tight. Ed fell on his knees and screamed in pain, clutching the left side of his chest. Illusion giggled and started twisting her hand in the air, like she was twisting Edward's heart. Ed gasped and coughed, red liquid pooling onto the floor from his mouth. Illusion squeezed her fist harder, making Edward scream even more and he fell forward, writhing in pain. Illusion finally realeased her grip and let her hand fall to the side. "Hmm...What else can I do to you?" she asked as she looked at Edward's quivering body on the floor. "What do you think, Charlie?" she asked the empty space next to her. "What? Really? That's a great idea!" she said and giggled excitedly.

Edward rolled on his back, looking up at the blood dripping from the cieling and down the walls. He shivered, feeling his own blood rise up hid throat and down his chin. Illusion stood over him and grinned evily. "Ooooooh, Edward!" she said in a cute girly voice. "I wanna show you something!"

"Leave me alone!" Ed managed to snap at her.

"Oh, but don't you want to see your brother? He's here you know!" she giggled.

Edward slowly stood up, trying not to make eye contact with the evil girl. "You don't know what you're talking about. My brother is back in Risembool with Winry." he said, focusing his attention somewhere else, only to lay eyes on Alphonse hung by the neck in the doorway. Ed's heart skipped a beat and his eyes grew wide with horror. "A-Al?" he said, shaking. Al stared back at him, his eyes hollow and empty, his head tilted in an akward position from the rope that snapped his neck, and blood dripped from it onto the floor. Ed screamed in rage and pain as tears streamed down his cheeks. "No! No! NO!!! Alphonse, you can't be dead!! I just got you back!!" he sobbed, falling to his knees as Illusion giggled in the background. Ed rocked back and forth, sobbing for awhile when he felt something move under his skin. Ed gasped and looked at his left wrist, seeing a large bump, and screamed in pain.

Illusion giggled some more. "Maggots are my favorite part of the torture, Charlie." she said as she saw Ed lean forward and cough up more blood, this time, little white maggots swam in his blood on the floor. "I'm having so much fun! What about you, Edward? Are you having fun, too?" she asked, walking beside him as he continued to vomit blood and maggots.

Ed whimpered and clutched his stomach. The wriggling under his skin on his wrist began to move again and he quickly stood up and ran into the kitchen, ignoring the fact that his dead brother was still hanging in the doorway. Illusion skipped after him happily and watched him grab a large knife out of the draw. "GET OUT!!" he yelled and started slashing at his wrist with the knife. Blood pooled everywhere as well as the maggots. Ed screamed in pain but continued to slice at his wrist. Illusion was now laughing like a maniac, watching as Ed cut himself up. "What's wrong, Edward? Don't like my pets?" she asked, her voice sounding completely evil now. Ed continued to cough up more blood and fell to the ground, whimpering and crying weakly.

Illusion happily skipped over to the phone and dialed the number for the pharmacy. "Hello? Is this the pharmacist?" she asked in a cute voice. "Is there an Izumi Curtis there? Yes, I'll hold." she said then dropped the reciever next to Edward.

Edward stared at the phone for awhile, his eyes starting to loose it's color. Finally, a noise escaped the reciever. "Hello?" came Izumi's voice. There was a long pause and she spoke again. "Hello? Who's this?" Edward gasped and tried to speak. "Teach--" he said weakly. "Edward? Is that you?" Edward gasped again, trying to let out what voice he had left. "Teach-er..." he choked, his voice barely above a whisper. "Edward? Edward? What's wrong? Answer me!" she yelled, but got no reply. Ed stared at the phone, his eyes blank and empty. Illusion bent down to pick up the reciever and hung up. "He's such a fool, isn't he Charlie?" she said and giggled. "To think, he thought all those illusions were real. He even cut himself up." she pointed out. She then bent down and picked up the knife, looking down at Edward's stiff body.

"He left me alone when he should be watching me." Illusion said angerly, staring down at Edward's dead body. "What's that, Charlie?" she said, looking at the space next to her. "Yeah, you're right. She did say that, didn't she? Well, we should save her the trouble of doing it." she said and rolled Ed onto his back then she stabbed the knife into Edward's stomach and pulled it forward, slicing it open. She then reached in and started pulling out his intestines. "I guess we can't make him eat it since he's already dead, huh, Charlie?" she said and started licking the blood off her hands, reveiling the mark of the oroboros on her palm.

Illusion stood up and looked at the front door, seeing Izumi and Sig standing there with horror shown across their face. None of them said a word. Illusion smiled evily. "Goodbye, mommy." she said and disappeared. Izumi slowly walked toward Ed then dropped to her knees. She slowly lifted him up and screamed. Edward was dead. Her son was dead and nobody could replace him.

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End. What do you think? I know...so sad! -sniff- Illusion is such a bitch, especially for a five year old homunculus. XD Anyway, please comment!!