Edward Elric stared up at the gate, without really caring, without really seeing.
Al.
He didn't know what had happened, or how al had gotten him this far, but al wasn't here.
Al.
The creature of the gate was suddenly there, no puff of smoke or loud bang, it was just like he had been off screen for a moment, but he was still there, waiting for his queue.
Al.
"I know what you want; Edward dear, but you can't have it. You know you can't have it." The thing let out a sound that might have been a laugh, might have just been a breath. "You don't have enough left to pay."
Al.
Edward nodded. He suspected that it was impossible, that he was just too spent to offer anything more, and he suspected as well that if he wasn't here, in this limbo between death and life, he'd have been ripped to shreds by now, body and soul.
Al.
"So why am I here, if I cannot pay, and there is nothing I can do, and there is nowhere for me?" the thing smiled. "I have a job for you, Edward Elric."
Al.
"Me?" Edward tried to muster up the will to sound skeptic, but it ended up just sounding vaguely tired.
"Yes, you. I'm afraid the position is only available to you, and I can give it to no one else. Only you are enough human and enough Gate together."
Again, Edward looked apathetically at him, like 'why should I care?'
"…not to mention you're the only one bitchy and stubborn enough to pull it off."
Al.
Edward looked at him, calmly, though there was a small, infinitesimal spark in his eyes. A goal. An aim. Something to work for. But all the same… "What's in it for me?"
Al.
"I give you what you want, the life of your brother, and in return, you will be a gate guardian, to keep…mishaps… like yours from happening again."
"How long?"
"Eternity."
Al.
"And my al will be alive?"
"Yes. And you will be able to protect many others, from other worlds, from other times-"
"I don't care about any of that!" Ed looked like he had gained a lot of strength in those moments, less like a shell, and more like an Elric.
Al.
The gate smiled. "So you agree?"
Al.
Edward didn't even hesitate, didn't need to think it through.
Al.
"I will take whatever you offer me, and I will pay any price I need to."
Al.
I'm so sorry.
Gatekeeper/Edo/Gatekeeper/Edo/Gatekeeper/Edo/Gatekeeper/Edo/Gatekeeper/Edo
This is my first (and maybe last) installment in a series I'm doing.
It doesn't have a happy ending.
It doesn't have true love concurring all.
It doesn't have an infallible Edward.
But it does have Edward, as I see him, with his soul getting torn apart for all eternity.
See you next time.
