Updated as of 6/12/16 ~ cleaned up some notable errors and added some more details at the ending.
A/N: Hi, guys! So this is my first FMAB fanfic I've ever written. I've been a fan of it for years, and I'm excited to post this chapter! c:
Tbh, I was weary of writing this out, despite my excitement. I was unsure of how I would write it. But I was inspired by some other FMAB fanfics out there. I was inspired to write something like this.
FYI: The OC in this story is, in fact, an OC and not a self-insert. Yep, she's a character I've made fresh for specifically this story. She's actually pretty new, and I am still figuring out how exactly to develop her ;w; As a result, the intro I've written is actually quite lengthy… I do apologize, but I hope y'all like it nonetheless. I wanted to develop her a bit as to get an idea for not only myself, but for you as my reader to understand as well. I hope she stands out as a good OC, and not a Mary-Sue haha
Also, shoutout to a Mysterious Illusion! Not only did her fanfic (Fullmetal Adventure) inspired me to write this, but she had offered me so much help in developing my character and this chapter! I couldn't have done it without her! PS: Read her Fullmetal Adventure fanfic right after this one! It's one of the best!
And without further ado… Yeah, just read on haha.
Please, please, please answer… a thought went through her head as sixteen-year-old Elena pressed her friend's contact name on her phone. She watched as her phone dialed her friend, Mack's, phone number. A couple seconds later, she heard the buzzing sound of the phone from her earbuds.
Elena had planned on going over to Mack's house a couple days ago. The weather, although as cold as a typical winter day would be, was nice and sunny enough to make her in a mood to get out of her house. They both had quite a handful of activities planned out. But sadly, Elena was dreadfully ill. Her throat was constantly feeling as dry as a desert, her coughs were rough and harsh, a fever plagued her forehead, and her nose was both stuffy and runny. All in all, she felt way too fatigued to do anything today. She thought that the cold wouldn't turn out to be that bad; she was wrong.
Now, she was bundled up under her favorite blanket. A box of tissues and a glass of water was on top of a dresser next to her bed. Her mom had made her drink some medicine a few minutes ago. It was the kind that would make her pass out asleep in a couple minutes. Elena usually didn't like sleeping during the daytime, but her sore throat and stuffy nose had kept her up nearly the entire night.
A hoarse cough escaped Elena's mouth. Suddenly feeling her throat sting, she slowly reached out to her right and grasped the glass of water that was standing on the dresser next to her bed. She chugged a sip of water down, instantly feeling her dry throat gaining some sort of moisture. But knowing the kind of condition she's in, it would probably last for only a couple minutes. Talking would make the moisture dry up even quicker, she realized as she held her phone with her left hand.
Some drops of water dripped out from the glass, lightly splattering over the corner of her bed's lavender-colored bed sheet. A whispered cuss escaped her lips as she slowly placed the glass of water back to its spot, realizing that the stain would take a bit long to completely dry up.
"Hello? Elee?" Elena heard Mack speak from her earbuds, his voice sounding slightly deep pitched as usual. He called her by a nickname that she wasn't really a big fan of, but at the same didn't mind. It just made her feel a bit embarrassed at times, particularly because that nickname made her feel like she was five again. As a result, she only let a few close people call her that, Mack being one of them.
"Mack?" Elena replied weakly. Well… More like rasped.
"Ooooh…" Mack winced upon hearing her voice. Elena could practically imagine the boy making a pained expression as he winced; one eye painfully clenched shut, and the other slightly open, followed by a minuscule frown. His expressions were very expressive, to say the least.
Mack continued, "So I take that the cold you were suspecting came out a lot worse."
Elena sniffled, sighed, and admitted with a nod, "Yeah, I guess you could say that…"
"See? That's why you should've worn a thicker coat that day. Not just that bomber jacket on top of your thin sweater!" Mack chided on the phone like how a parent would.
"Mack, oh my gosh," Elena said with a exasperated expression. She thought back to the time when she was wearing her favorite grey bomber jacket instead of one of her thicker coats. That bomber jacket - along with some hoodies, scarves, white sneakers,and pullover sweaters - were basically her signature outfits. Her favorite ones to wear, especially in the season of autumn. This year's autumn was chillier than expected. "You sound like my mother!"
Mack chuckled. "Did she actually tell you that?"
"Well…" Elena responded, twisting the white wires of her earbuds with a finger, "Not yet, at least." She sighed yet again. "Anyways, I didn't know it'll be that cold on that day! It said that the weather would be nice enough!"
"Oh, Elee… You do know that weather channel thing on your phone isn't as great as mine's," Mack bragged.
Elena rolled her eyes, "I was running out of time at that moment. My classes had me studying until one in the morning, and I overslept."
She leaned back on a pillow cladded in the sheet with same matching color as her bed sheet. It was her first year taking an AP class. She was expecting it to be harder than the two honors classes she took last year; After all, they are college-level classes. But she wasn't expecting it to be that harsh. Before she knew it, she got bombarded by a bunch of reading and essays to do within just a couple weeks. She was already running on about five hours of sleep, an amount she'd expect to get at around January.
As she sink back, she continued, "Speaking of classes, I actually kind of hope that I'll feel a little bit better by Monday. I have so much to do in those classes."
Mack just snorted.
Mack was a grade above Elena's; A senior. He's a willing STEM student who's focused on majoring somewhere in the fields of life science. Elena has especially witnessed firsthand his dedication to chemistry and biology.
Elena was about to reply, "Thanks," when suddenly, she started coughing harshly. One cough after the other. She coughed for a straight ten seconds.
"You don't sound good," Elena heard Mack comment. She couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic or serious.
"You don't say, Ma-" Elena started off, but another chain of rigid coughs interrupted her yet again. Each cough sounded harsher and louder as she went on for another fifteen seconds.
By the time she was done, she was breathing in deep breaths, her chest heaving in and out heavily. It was even more difficult for her to breath due to her nose being extremely stuffy, so she relied on breathing through her open mouth. Her stomach lightly ached from all of the coughing. Overall, she felt fatigued.
She heard Mack chuckling a bit as he responded, "Poor you."
She took a swig of her water, careful to avoid water spills whilst doing it, and said, "Lucky you. You aren't sick. Your nose isn't stuffy, and your throat isn't scratchy."
"Meh, I'd rather be sick just to avoid school for a couple days," Mack said.
"Same, but once again, I'd rather not for now…" Elena placed a hand on her forehead. She felt the warmth from the fever. "It's only the fifth week of school and I'm already sick and stressing out about work."
"Junior year, am I right," Mack agreed, "Anyways, I guess all those plans we made up is gone to waste this weekend." Elena could practically imagine him frowning as he said those words.
She found herself weakly frowning as she said, "I know, right? I was really looking forward to it as well. It was going to be a fun day."
"Didn't you even write down all of your plans down in the Notes? On your phone?" Mack asked.
"Hmm? Did I…?" Elena thought back for a couple seconds. Mack knew that she could be forgetful at times. He truly was a good friend.
She then remembered her and Mack sitting together in their history class a few days back. Their teacher was absent due to having a large blood test. During that time with a substitute teacher, they sat together side by side, enthusiastically coming up with different plans to do. It wasn't a lot, but to them, it was a pretty good start. To them, it was a handful. They both knew that they like to be organized with their plans.
"Oh yeah, we did!" she exclaimed, her voice growing high pitched. She ended up coughing harshly for a few seconds. Then, she tapped the home button on her phone and pressed on the Notes app.
"I can't believe you forgot about that for a couple seconds!" Mack exclaimed with a soft giggle.
"You know how forgetful I am," Elena replied as she was looking through the folders on her notes. She was squinting a bit while doing so, not feeling in a mood to slap on her glasses, despite them just sitting on top of the dresser. Sadly, her eyesight wasn't the best.
She clicked on the one that said "Ideas" and then the note that was labeled as "Plans."
"Found it!" she chirped with her slightly raspy voice as she skimmed through the small list. "Let's see… We wrote down plans to go to the mall." She thought back to the one time they went shopping. During a hazy summer day, they decided to shop for merchandise and games. They ended up spending nearly five hours at the mall, and nearly both thought it was fun but time consuming at the time, especially since they spend about an hour to eat.
"Remember that last time we went shopping, though?" Elena asked. "During the summer? That took up way too much time! We could've spent about three hours there. We're both slow shoppers."
"Ahahaha…" Mack nervously giggled, "I guess that's true. My mom was kind of upset at that. We'll save that for another day."
"Let's see…" Elena looked at the list. "We wrote down that we'd bake something together."
Mack was the only guy Elena knew that loved cooking. She assumed that he got it from his mother, who works as an assistant chef in a restaurant. Mack's mom makes the best desserts and pasta that Elena has ever taste. Her favorite was his mom's homemade macaroni and cheese. Their cooking skills were one of the many reasons why Elena enjoyed visiting Mack's place.
"That wouldn't be bad, actually," Mack said slowly in a thoughtful tone, "I mean, we've baked cupcakes before. We could always try something new if my mom could help us out."
"Yeah. Something I'm down for. I really need to restock on some sweets," Elena nodded. She went through what was next on the list. "We also said that we would watch an anime." She took in a deep breath through her mouth as she continued, "Let me guess. Fullmetal Alchemist."
"Wow! You know me so well!" Mack exaggerated a sarcastic surprised gasp, "Oh man, how did you know?"
"Oh, I don't know…" Elena went along, "Maybe it's from the fact that you drew me two transmutation circles the other day!" She glanced at the dresser that was to her right. The paper that had the two circles was lying near the edges of the dresser. She won't be surprised if the drawing fell to the ground.
"You still have that?" Mack asked, this time actually sounding surprised.
"Yeah," Elena answered as she nodded, "I like it."
She noticed a twinge of drowsiness growing deep inside of her. Her eyelids were getting heavy. Any minute, and she'd suddenly just fall asleep.
Not now… she begged herself. She didn't want to nap now. She didn't even like napping. She wanted to talk to Mack more.
"Thanks! I tried! Anyways, are you still watching the 2003 series?" Mack asked.
"The first version, right?" Elena blinked a couple times. "Yeah, I left off somewhere there. And actually…" Elena dropped her voice in a whisper as she admitted, "I haven't watched it for about a month."
"Really?"
"Yeah…" Elena giggled nervously, "I may need to start all over, if anything. But I believe I remember what was going on."
Elena thought back deeply, her brows furrowing a bit, "I believe… It was at that part where Ed just learned that the mysterious boy with long hair has his arm. That boy that they found on that island."
"Oh yeah! That part was dramatic!" Mack gasped, "It gets pretty good after that! I hope you can watch more! I can't wait until you start watching Brotherhood, though!"
"Brotherhood…" Elena mused out loud, pronouncing the word slowly. "I've heard from a lot of people that Brotherhood is better… Is that true?"
"Well… I would say it's open for interpretation," Mack answered, "A lot of people prefer Brotherhood over the first series, and I could see why. Brotherhood is better animated, and the plot is better. Meanwhile, the first series has a better range of emotions from funniness to sadness. And the movie after it is good, too."
"Ah, is that so? I'll keep that in mind then. Meanwhile… Which one do you prefer?" Elena asked.
"Hmm... I like them both, but I've watched Brotherhood more than the original. Not gonna lie, it's kinda hard getting back to watching the original after seeing Brotherhood," Mack answered honestly.
"Ok then…" A yawn escaped Elena's lips as she stretched out. "That medicine my mom made me take is getting to me."
"Is it that one medicine that makes you drowsy?"
"Yes, it is." She wanted to remark something sarcastic, but she was getting too sleepy to even do that. Her tiredness intensified. The warmth of the blanket, along with the heat being on, made her even more tired. Not to mention, her room was kind of dark, as the shades were half closed.
She was comfortable. Perhaps too comfortable.
I need to sleep… Elena thought in defeat. She sighed, closing her eyes for a bit. She struggled as she opened her eyes, her eyelids becoming heavier from closing them. This medicine is killing me.
"Well, I hate to admit it," Elena draped the blanket over her as she continued, "But I'm gonna go take a nap." She curled up a bit, feeling the welcoming warmth under her blanket.
Mack giggled. "Good. It's about time you give in to naps."
"Oh, hush!" Elena playfully snapped back.
"'Oh, hush!'" Mack imitated Elena's voice in a exasperated high-pitched voice. "Y'know, you've been saying that a lot…"
"Hahaha, I guess so." Elena yawned again. She wanted to retort something something, but she wasn't feeling it. "Bye, Mack."
"Goodbye, Ele-" Elena had pressed the red hang-up button, only to realize that she did so too early.
"Oh shit…" Elena muttered, mentally facepalming herself. It was probably her sixth time doing that to him. Hanging up early was one habit of hers. No one had ever pointed that out, but she was sure that they knew. She was getting that feeling of awkwardness she usually got after doing that, and suddenly felt a bit bad for hanging up on Mack. She was sure that he won't mind, and would even understand that she was super sleepy by now, due to the medicine. Mack is a pretty nice guy.
Sorry, Mack. Elena thought as she set the phone down on her bed. She would have placed it on the dresser, but she didn't want to place it next to the glass of water.
She then heard a thin sound of crumpling paper. She looked to her left and saw that Mack's drawings were on the ground.
I knew that would happen… she thought to herself as she walked towards the paper. She bent down and grasped it with one hand. Then, she held it close - quite close to her face since she isn't wearing her glasses - to look at what exactly Mack has drawn for her.
Mack sure is good at drawing… Elena thought as she scrutinized the drawing. Is there something he can't do?
The transmutation circle Mack had drawn for her was quite elaborate; The circle contained many shapes, lines, and symbols. And it had taken him about half an hour to draw it on a piece of paper.
On the bottom of the circle, Mack had labeled it as "Human Transmutation Circle" with a hand-drawn sad-face emoji.
Oh yeah… Elena grimaced, remembering that scene in Fullmetal Alchemist when Ed and Al performed human transmutation to get their mom back. That scene was truly heartbreaking and devastating for her. Seeing how much blood Ed had lost was especially what made her heart break. They were just boys. They didn't deserve-
What? Elena suddenly jumped back, now grasping the paper at arm's length. Her brown eyes widened in surprised.
The circle was suddenly red, instead of its pencil-black color. Not only was it red, but it also seemed to be glowing, practically radiating. It went on like this for a few seconds.
Then, it turned back into a regular black pencil color, as if nothing happened at all.
Elena still held the paper away from her face, a highly perplexed expression formed on her face.
What the hell was that? she thought, feeling heat in her forehead. Her hand trembled a bit, causing her to crumple the paper under her grip. The crumple broke the source of comforting silence that had taken place in her room for the past couple minutes.
She stared at the drawing, squinting for a good observation. The drawing didn't change color for the next handful of seconds.
Elena then sighed, blowing the drawing in her hand.
"I'm probably tired…" she whispered to herself. "I should go sleep now."
She placed the drawing on the same dresser it was originally on top of. She made sure that this time, it would not fall down.
She then glanced at herself at the mirror that was across from her and her bed.
Her hair was quite messy, as expected. There were times when her hair would look like a bloody war had taken place atop of her head; The warm-brown dyed locks would be sprawled out in all sorts of crazy directions, sometimes messing up her parting. Right now, it was just somewhat messy. Strands of hair was disheveled in many places. Her hair fell down to her normal length: an inch past her chest. She made some curls in it a few days ago. Some had managed to survive up to day, while others were perishing, returning back to her normal straight hair.
Elena sighed and plopped on her bed. She pulled her "A lot of cats" blanket on top of her and curled up in it, gaining immediate comfort from its warmth. She closed her eyes, soon enough entering the world of dreams.
I'm awake… Elena thought to herself. However, she still kept her eyes closed, as they felt slightly heavy. She laid down on her left side, nearly curling up; a position she almost always slept in. She knew that it wasn't good for her back, yet she still slept as so. She could never fall asleep on her back, for some strange reason. But when she did on a slim chance, she would have some sort of strange dream.
She slowly opened her dark brown eyes. A sheer bright white color greeted her, nearly blinding her.
Shit! Elena clenched her eyes shut, placing a small hand on top of her closed eyes. Her eyes suddenly stung a bit from the impact of the light. It was the last thing she was expecting to first see. She rolled herself on top of her back, keeping her eyes shut.
What's going on? Why is it so bright all of a sudden? she asked herself. Did I left my lights on? I don't even remember putting them on…
She then noticed the lack of warmth she was feeling. She wasn't covered under her blankets. There was nothing covering her body.
What happened to my blanket? I'm definitely sure I slept under it. Keeping her eyes shut, she moved her free hand and her feet around to feel for it. She didn't feel the familiar softness of her cat-patterned blanket anywhere near her.
She sighed, remembering another one of her odd habits. I probably pushed it off the bed again while sleeping… I guess I'll try to get it.
Elena slowly opened her eyes again. Within seconds, her eyes went from clenched-shut to wide saucers as she realized what she was looking up to. Instead of looking up to her ceiling with the fan hanging above her head, she was facing vast whiteness, nothing more or less.
"I haven't seen this much whiteness since I was at the hospital…" she whispered to herself. Last year, she had broken her ankle from running too much. She was brushing up for her track team meet ups, which was the next day. She misstepped and fell horribly down the hill, which ended up fracturing some parts of her ankle badly.
Elena looked around. Confusion was dwelling inside of her as she scanned the area. She didn't see any source of light; everywhere was white. She couldn't even pinpoint what kind of white was it. Was it as white as snow, or a glass of milk? Or perhaps as white as paper from her printer, or her iPhone charger? As white as the Colgate toothpaste, or as white as vanilla frosting? Either way, it was all white and empty. Nothing, or no one, was with her.
"Hello?" Elena croaked, rising up a bit. Nothing but silence had responded.
After a couple seconds, Elena collapsed back down. Instead of feeling the tender plush of her bed on her back, she felt something harsh and smooth, as if she was lying on polished floor.
"What the-" Elena looked down. She wasn't even lying on her own bed. She was on top of the ground. Or was she? Whatever she was lying on seemed transparent to the overall white place. The only thing that gave a different color was Elena's own shadow.
This is somewhat terrifying… She thought to herself as she sat up. She hugged her knees close to her chest, receiving some of the missing warmth from her now nowhere-to-be-found blanket.
Yet… Elena looked around once again. This place… She squinted her eyes.
It looks so familiar. Have I been here before? Or is this perhaps from a show? A video game?
The endless white area did look familiar. Eerily familiar at the best. But that didn't help that much from the fact that the place was still eerie and unsettling. Not to mention, the place also felt a bit chilly. Despite wearing a chunky crewneck sweatshirt with black leggings, Elena was still trembling. Relying on her knees for warmth, she hugged her knees tighter and closer to her torso. She buried her chin in between her chest and knees.
Don't be scared, Elee… she thought in an attempt to reassure herself. This is all a dream. You're probably having one of those weird dreams when you're sick. Uhhh… Oh! I believe they were called fever dreams!
Elena placed a hand on her forehead. Instead of feeling some sort of warmness from the forehead, she felt only a faint warm feeling. It was the kind of warmth she'd normally feel when she didn't have a fever. It was as if her fever went away. Aside from that, Elena noticed that she actually didn't feel ill at all; Her threat didn't feel sore, and her nose didn't feel clogged. She wasn't aware how big of a contrast that was until now.
"I shouldn't be so surprised," Elena muttered to herself as she lowered her hand down, wrapping it around her knees. She suddenly noticed how healthier her voice sounded. "It is a dream, after all."
"What is?" Suddenly, she heard someone… Or rather a group of people chant. It sounded like multiple of different people has spoke to her to the point where it sounded like a yell. They all spoke at the same time. Her ears ached badly from that.
Where did that come from? She asked herself, dropping one leg flat on the transparent ground. She looked around.
"Who's there?" She demanded, not knowing if she should actually be standing up or not. Compared to the multitude of voices she supposedly heard, she sounded tiny.
"Heh…" she heard one voice chuckle this time.
Wait… weren't there…?
"Behind you…" Those numerous of voices returned. Just two simple words such as those were usually meant to sound far from a scream. However, with the numerous of voices returning, it sounded like a whole city screaming down at her. Her head felt like it was about to explode from the loudness.
After harshly flinching, Elena slowly turned around.
Is there a huge mob of people behind me? She thought as she turned around.
She finally spotted the source of the voices.
This someone (Was it even a person?) was a good couple feet away from Elena, sitting cross-legged. The figure of the mysterious person was just as transparent as the place they were both in. The only factor that made this figure noticeable was some sort of grey aura it (Him? Her?) that was radiating around the transparent-white body.
Elena was quite frightened. She was not expecting someone - or something, for that matter - to look far from a normal person. Was this thing even a human?
Wait… This creature looks really familiar… Elena squinted at the figure in front of her. She leaned forward a bit as she tried to get a better view.
Not a strand of hair was on the creature's lucid body. There were also no signs of clothing on it. However, it also didn't have any sort of private body parts exposed, either; It looked like one of those cartoon drawings where they simplified everything without much details.
The feature that stood out to Elena the most was its face. It had the same color as the entire body of the creature. But it had no eyes or ears. Just a mouth.
The creature noticed Elena gawking at it. Its mouth spread into a wide grin, revealing a set of gleaming, horrifying, chalky-white teeth.
No freaking way… Elena's eyes widened in realization and utter shock. Even without her glasses on, she instantly recognized that monstrous signature grin. If anything, that smirk looked more terrifying than ever.
"T-Truth?" she whispered, stuttering on his name.
The creature - now confirmed as Truth - sneered at the girl again.
"Took you long enough to figure that out," he spoke. Once again, his voice sounded like a plethora of others talking all at once down at Elena. Elena could've sworn that her ears were ready to pop.
Upon seeing her blown away, Truth softly snickered. It sounded like only one person was snickering, to Elena's relief.
"Oh, right," Truth mused, surprisingly maintaining that soft tone in his voice, "I forgot. You're from that dimension. Humans are much more feeble there. Especially the younger ones, such as you." He pointed a transparent finger at Elena, whose face was scrunched up in confusion.
"Dimension? As in another universe?" Elena asked, crossing her arms. "Those… Don't really exist though."
This made Truth howl in amusement. Again came the multitude of voices.
Elena covered her ears with her two hands. There was no difference in the sound, as it felt like the voices were leaking through the gaps of her fingers straight to her ears. She was surprised that she wasn't getting any kind of headache, or was even sane, from this creature
"H-Hey…" she croaked, "Have you forgotten about my ears?"
She then thought, He did say I was feeble… What does he mean by that?
Truth had actually complied, as it stopped snickering a couple seconds later. However, it still kept that wide, teeth-exposing grin. Elena shuddered in the inside at the sight. She remembered how she always strived at making her teeth as white as she could.
Now she dreaded having clear white teeth like the Truth's.
"Even though you're from a different dimension, you humans are all the same," Truth went on, surprisingly keeping his voice to a minimum volume, "Cocky, arrogant, thinks they know everything once they get their hands on some sort of knowledge."
"I'm sorry?" Elena was now genuinely confused, "What did I say?"
"The way you told me how you weren't from 'some alternate universe,'" Truth mockingly imitated Elena's voice, "You do not know about these dimensions at all. Your world may be more technologically superior, yet you humans still are clueless about the existence of multiple dimensions. Such as the world of alchemy."
Oh right! Elena's thoughts snapped back to her revelation earlier. She glanced at Truth.
This, er, guy is from Fullmetal Alchemist! How did I not thought of that?
A small, sly grin formed on her face. Wait til Mack here about this! Oh man, I can't wait to see that look on his face as I tell him about my dream with Truth! He'll be so-
"So you think this is a dream?" Truth abruptly asked. Despite the hushed voice he maintained, it still startled Elena.
However, Elena tried to keep her composure strong. She questioned, "Well, if it isn't a dream, then how did you read my mind?"
"Heheh!" Truth laughed. He straightened his back, showing pure interest. "Well… I am called by many names." Then, his voice became serious and almost poetic-like as he continued, "I am the world, I am the universe. I am God… I am Truth."
Elena's face slowly formed in realization. She remembered this speech.
No way… she thought.
"I am all… And I am one…" he finished. He then point a transparent finger at the girl. "And I am also… You. Therefore, I know exactly what you are thinking. Does that answer you question, girl?"
"A-Actually…" Elena then sat straight up in an attempt to keep a strong composure, "This proves my theory even more. This is a dream. I remember you from that show."
"A show?" Truth suddenly laughed. It came out like a echoey chorus. "Well, what if I told you that it wasn't some 'show' that you watched? What if I told you that it was some other reality? Another dimension that your humans have never discovered?"
"Oh, really?" Elena's words squeaked like a chick, but she kept the same daring, questioning expression, "What makes you say that?"
"Well…" Truth placed one finger on his transparent chin, as if he was deeply contempting something, "Your humans have never discovered any other worlds. Yet they've tried, but had given up in the end. All they do is hope that they don't find any other creatures in that small universe. They fear that these creatures would be smarter and stronger than them. Despite having such advanced technology, your puny world still can't do much outside of the planet."
"Well…" Elena stared at Truth. She didn't know how to respond to that, especially since most of it was sadly true.
Truth gleamed at her and continued, "This dimension, on the other hand, has quite some knowledgeable people, even though their technology is not as superior as your world's. Actually, this world has a plethora more of intelligent people than yours! Not only that, but a good few of these people are aware of other presence scattered around the universe. They know about other dimensions…"
Truth then pointed at Elena, "... such as yours!"
Elena looked at Truth with heavy confusion. "What are you talking about?"
Truth once again howled in laughter. This time, it sounded like echoes of others laughing along, as if someone told a funny joke. Elena clamped her hands on her ears, unable to withstand the loudness. She glared at the Truth, who sneered in return.
"What the hell was that about?" Elena suddenly snapped, slowly removing her hands from her ears.
"You just further proved how clueless your kind is!" Truth answered, ignoring the girl's rudeness, "No matter how smart you may think you are, your world is underdeveloped, compared to this other dimension. Oh! Speaking of this other dimension!"
Suddenly, Truth was just mere inches from Elena's face.
"Gah!" Elena yelped, falling on her back. She then supported herself up with her arms.
She was about to scoot back until Truth asked, "Did you know that someone from this certain dimension had summoned you?"
"Summoned… Me?" Elena then moved back and sat up. "Why? How?"
What kind of person from another dimension want me for? How do they know me? Is that actually a thing? Elena thought, her eyebrows arched in deep tonight and dismay. She didn't remember something like that ever being possible. Even Mack had never mentioned anything like that. Maybe it was a spoiler?
"A summoner could summon someone for various reasons! They're usually able to summon someone through any drawn transmutation circles in a particular world. The person must be looking directly at the circle," Truth explained, sounding somewhat passionate, "I guess you were the most recent runt looking at the circle. What a shame for whoever may be summoning you."
"Wait…" Elena looked directly at Truth, "You don't know who summoned me?"
"Obviously, someone who has a high talent in alchemy," Truth answered matter-of-factly.
"So… You don't know?" Elena asked again with a soft smirk.
Truth was silent. Elena smirked again, satisfied.
But then, he replied, "No. But I do know that I need to send you to that world the summoner is in. After all, you are starting to become bothersome, especially with all of these questions."
Suddenly, a loud sound erupted behind Elena, causing her to jump yet again. The sound of something tremendous opening up. It all came directly behind her.
Elena slowly turned around.
"What the…" she mumbled.
A huge door, perhaps twelve times taller than her, was opening up, splitting into two. The thick doors were worn out, and had some sort of branches designed on it, along with some foreign scribbled words. It was the color of pale grey rocks.
That's…!
Before Elena could react, she felt a chilling, powerful wind escape the opening doors. Her hair whipped back. The wind was so powerful that it stung Elena's face. She stretched out one of her arms in an attempt to shield her face.
After the frenzy of winds were over, Elena slowly lowered down her arm. She was then looking straight at a giant grey eyeball, ominously surrounded by nothing but darkness; a stark contrast from the place she and Truth were in.
"Oh, shit!" Elena screamed. She moved back a bit. But all of a sudden, she felt something tug at her lower right leg. She looked down at screamed even more.
A tiny black hand had gripped her leg. The hand gave it a little tug, pulling Elena slowly towards the door.
Elena yanked herself backwards in an attempt to avoid the door. She looked back at Truth, who had the same ridiculous grin as ever.
"Scared ya, didn't I?" he stated rather haughtily. He still managed to speak in a voice low enough to not blow away Elena.
"What is this!?" Elena frantically asked.
"Oh, don't play dumb with me," Truth replied, grinning wider than ever. "You, of all of the humans in that low-life world, should know. Look closely."
Elena hesitantly turned back to the grey hue. It looked back at her unblinkingly. The eye had many shades grey, getting darker and darker the closer it was to the pupil. It was definitely unsettling and haunting.
Elena winced.
Creepy… she thought.
She then shook her head.
No, no, Ell…. Focus… She took a deep breath and continued looking at it.
Yet, it did look similar to something Elena saw before. Upon recognizing it, she covered her mouth with one hand, muffling a loud gasp.
The Gate of Truth… she thought, staring at it with fear.
"Aha!" Truth laughed, keeping a decent volume. "I knew you would get it! Good girl!"
Elena didn't respond; she simply didn't know how to respond to him. That, and she was too busy staring at the gigantic eyeball. She found it difficult to break away from the powerful gaze of it. It was as if the eyeball was hypnotizing her. Not to mention, it gave off a chilling presence. Everything about the eyeball, and the whole Gate in general, was just mesmerizing.
At this point, everything felt like a dream, yet at the same time felt like reality. It was starting to become one of those dreams.
"No response, huh?" Truth continued, "Well, at least I found something that made you quiet for once. For some odd reason, I always seem to get this kind of reaction from humans whenever I introduce them to the Gate of Truth. Even those that are aware of its existence would still stare at it with some sort of fear."
Elena then turned back, facing the creature. One question was racing through her head over and over.
What is he going to do with me?
"Oh, don't worry. You don't owe me a sacrifice, as you're not the one who activated a transmutation circle for this. However…" Truth once again bared his teeth, "You are still going in the Gate."
Suddenly, a plethora of those same black hands sprang out from the wide doors. They all grasped Elena at various parts of her body. A frightened yelp escaped Elena's lips as she felt them seize her. They all felt frigid and tight.
As Elena stared at the hands in shock, Truth smugly continued, "Still think this is all a dream? This will prove you and your 'theory' all wrong!"
The hands started to drag her towards the door.
"No, no, no, no!" Elena panicked. She attempted to pull herself away from the Gate of Truth by scooting backwards. But her bonds were holding onto her tightly. The friction of the floor and her body stung her. It was all useless. She felt the cold air from the other side of the Gate introduce her.
As she was being hauled towards the Gate, she heard Truth snicker and say, "Have fun in the world of alchemy, human!"
Elena no longer felt the floor beneath her. Instead, she felt herself being pulled forward at a swift rate. The bleak whiteness that she was trapped in for minutes dissolved into nothing but pitch-blackness. She felt nothing around her; just the miniscule hands' sturdy grips and the wind from the fast pressure. The pressure she felt pelted against her body harshly. It especially stung at her face. The wind stung her eyes, forcing her to shut her eyes. Not only that, but she was barely able to breath through it. Her lungs felt like they would burst any minute. Her ears ached as well, as the blaring sound of the wind battered against them.
Please wake up, please wake up, please wake up… Elena thought to herself, coughing in between.
The darkness was extremely unbearable. The only thing Elena was able to see was pure blackness. It felt like the darkness was consuming her. It won't make a difference if she closed her eyes. That, along with the fast rate, was making her suffocate badly.
Everything felt like a nightmare to her.
Her body then started to feel numb. It started off at one of her legs, and then spreaded upwards in her body; her other leg, body, and arms all became numb slowly but steadily. She couldn't feel her body anymore.
Is this what it feels like when going through this Gate? Elena managed to think, remembering seeing the scenes of Ed and Al going through it. The only thing that was missing from her experience here was the sudden flow of past memories and knowledge. She felt like she was gaining nothing but panic and pain. It felt like she was arriving to death.
Unless if I just wake up… she thought weakly but irritably.
She still didn't felt like she was waking up. If anything, it felt like her world was slowly slipping apart from her. Elena was feeling dizzy; everything around her started slowing down. She felt like she was drifting away from just everything.
And then there was nothing.
Urgh… Agh… Elena let out a moan as she felt reality coming back to her. She felt worn out. Perhaps it was her sickness that made her felt like so. She forgot for a moment that she was sick.
Her eyes were closed, and she was curled up on her sides yet again.
Am I… Back in my room? Elena thought. I swear, if I'm not…
She felt the ground. It was concrete hard. The air around her felt brisk and chilly.
Almost like Truth's place.
No no no… Elena thought with worry. Then, she reassured herself, I probably just… Rolled out of my bed! Yeah! That dream was so intense, holy shit! Anyone would've rolled out of bed with a dream like that! My room was probably colder than I thought it really was. After all, I was underneath my blanket for practically the whole morning! Lemme just open my eyes. That'll prove everything! It's all just a…
She opened her eyes quickly. She was expecting to be back in her comfy room, with her bed and dresser looming above her. She expected to see the lavender colored walls of her room, and the fan on her ceiling. She expected to see her blanket sprawled out on her bed, or even on the floor with her.
But instead, she saw a hollow, grey ceiling above her. The ceiling was obviously worn out and breaking down; there were multiple cracks shaped like lightning that covered the ceiling. There was even a enormous hole on the ceiling, exposing the blue sky above the… Room? House? Building?
"W-What?" she exclaimed, her voice taking on a higher pitch. She was devastatingly confused right now.
Am I still dreaming!? She thought to herself. She continued staring upward with an alarmed expression.
To her far right, Elena unexpectedly heard a tiny voice, and the scurrying of someone's quick footsteps. Within some mere seconds, someone was at her side. She felt the person's small hands on her shoulder and side. The person gently rolled her over to her flat back. Elena didn't feel any pain, which relieved her. She also noticed that just like in Truth's lair, she wasn't sick. She still has no stuffy nose, sore throat, or pounding migraines. She just felt a little tired.
Elena was then face-to-face with another girl. The girl's eyes were wide and as dark as the night sky. Her face was literally as round as a circle. She was adorned in a blush-colored Eastern-traditional dress. It looked like a Chinese dress, but Elena didn't want to jump on conclusions to that. It could be Japanese, Korean, or even Vietnamese. Though, Elena would've quickly known that it was Vietnamese, since she was Vietnamese herself. Other than that, that's something Elena has never seen anyone wear in public, ever.
Elena, however, was more distracted from the girl's hair.
I've never seen so many braids on a person before… she thought, staring at her hair.
Her jet black hair was done in six braids, three on each side. They formed two buns on the top of her head, which were each secured by some white elastic of sorts, before trailing down her back. Even though they were braided and wounded up in buns, they were still extremely long, dangling only about an inch above the dirty floor.
"Are you ok?" the girl asked. Her voice was unexpectedly squeaky and high pitched, which surprised Elena. Her voice sounded fake, yet at the same didn't. She has heard various of voice tones before, girls especially. She has heard girls with voices as deep as a guy's voice, but didn't bother to comment on it. However, she has hardly ever heard anyone speak in such a high-pitched voice. She had only heard toddlers speak in such a voice. The girl next to her didn't even look so young. She looked to be around ten or eleven.
Elena's startled expression must've been obvious, as the girl apologized, "Did I scare you? I'm so sorry!" She lifted up both of her hands in worry.
Wow… I feel bad now… Elena thought to herself sullenly. She was about to assure her that it was fine, until she noticed something about the girl's movement.
The girl seemed quite... animated. More animated than how people's movements and gestures would be. The way she spoke and lifted her hands seemed more fluid. Not to mention, the girl… Not just the girl, everything seemed more vibrant and bright. Even the dark, broken-down place they were in seemed to have more of a brighter color.
What a weird dream… Elena thought, squinting her eyes.
She glanced back at the girl. She had the same apologetic anime-like face any other anime girl would have.
Elena answered, "Yeah… I think I'm alright."
Elena then slowly sat up to prove her answer. She felt her side ache a little, but that was probably from laying on that same position on a hard ground. Other than that, she felt fine. She would be able to walk without any issues.
There was a brief moment of silence as Elena repositioned herself. Then, the girl next to her asked, "So who are you?"
Elena looked at the girl.
Should I tell her my real name? she thought, weariness growing in her.
The girl had a small, innocent smile on her face; the innocence of a child who hasn't seen the nastiest and worst of the world yet. She was, after all, none other than a kid. What harm would she do to her?
I might as well… Elena thought, After all, it's still a dream. It won't hurt to tell her my name.
"My name? It's Elena," she said with a faint smile.
"Elena?" the girl repeated rather thoughtfully. After a couple seconds, she beamed, her eyes shut and her mouth in a wide grin, "It's nice to meet you!"
Elena looked at the girl, mildly amused.
She looks like one of those anime girls, with their eyes closed and a big smile, she thought. It doesn't look weird on her, like how it would look for other people.
"My name is May Chang!" the girl introduced herself with a small bow. Elena slightly blushed. She wasn't expecting her to suddenly bow at her like that. No one has ever bowed at her like that. She had never even met anyone who has bowed at others when introducing themselves.
"And this is my friend, Xiao Mei!" May continued, gesturing to her shoulder.
"Huh?" Elena was looking around. She didn't see anyone else but her. Although… There was some other guy in the corner. The person was a short, old man, garbed in some traveling clothes that ended up looking like worn out rags.
Elena then realized something.
Oh no… she thought. She used one hand to touch her face. She felt her cheeks and nose. But she also felt her eyes.
She didn't have her glasses on.
Well, shit. Not only am I in a super long dream in an unknown place, but I don't have my glasses. Great. She thought.
Her vision wasn't the best, as she wasn't able to see things, people, and places that were at a relatively far distance. She could never go out without her contacts or glasses. She always needed one of the two. The guy she was looking at seemed quite blurred to her. She couldn't properly see his face at the distance. All she saw was a mixture of white, brown, and black.
The guy had noticed Elena staring at him intensely. He gave her what she assumed a nasty look. "Hm? What do you want?"
His voice sounds familiar… Elena thought, squinting her eyes.
She looked at May. Jabbing a thumb at his direction, she asked, "That's… Your friend?"
May vigorously shook her head. "No, no! That's Master Yoki, actually!"
Yoki… Elena thought. That name sounds so familiar… Who was he again?
"This is Xiao Mei!" May pointed at her shoulder.
Elena glanced at May's shoulder, skeptical of what she was trying to show from her shoulder. She then noticed the minuscule animal perched on the shoulder.
Is that… A hamster? Sitting still on her shoulder? Elena was in shock. The animal stared back at her with its - Hers? His? - dark eyes.
No way! My own hamster, Taro, could never stay in one place in even in his own his own cage! How even-
Elena then noticed the animal's tiny black ears and the black-and-white body. Not to mention, it had a head, rather than one body like a hamster.
No way… Elena thought in disbelief. She leaned back a bit. I can't be seeing things…. Is that…?
"Xiao-Mei is a panda!" May declared, "I don't know why a lot of people in this country thinks she's some cat…"
A panda? Elena deadpanned, tuning out May after her first sentence. Isn't that illegal, to have a- Oh, whatever. I'm not going to even question it. This dream is getting weirder and weirder by the minute now.
Elena's stomach unexpectedly growled. It howled in a rather barbaric way. She literally felt her stomach vibrate as it howled for food.
"Oh, damn…" she whispered to herself, placing a hand on her stomach. She felt it giving off one last light rumble underneath her palm.
Since when was it possible to be this hungry in a dream? Elena thought.
May had heard the clear growls of the stomach, as she looked at Elena with a concerned expression, especially for a kid. It almost didn't suit her. Almost.
"Are you hungry? Do you want something to eat?" she asked.
Well… Didn't you just heard my stomach growl? It sounded like a horde of wolves… Elena thought. Though, she couldn't say that to May. At least not yet. She was just a kid.
"Yeah, I guess I am," Elena answered with a light, shy giggle.
"Okay…" May replied. She then stood up and, in the loudest voice she could, shouted, "Master Yooooki! We need food!"
Elena could've sworn her ears were about to bleed from that high-pitched, deafening voice of the tiny girl. Her voice really made up for her height. Xiao-Mei, however, seemed unfazed despite being right next to May's mouth.
Damn… Is that panda actually used to that? Elena looked at the panda with an aghast expression. Is she usually this loud and hyper? I can only imagine…
"You want more food?" Elena heard "Master" Yoki whined. "You already ate through three of my canned food!"
"No! She needs food!" May chirped like a bird, probing at Elena's head with her pointy finger.
Yoki grunted. He placed a leather pouch on the ground. It looked quite full, which made Elena wonder why he was being so overdramatic about the food. He shoved a hand in it, relinquishing a canned good. Yoki then rolled it towards Elena.
He rolled the can in a remarkable speed, that Elena wasn't fast enough to stop it. Instead, it bumped her knee harshly.
"Ow!" Elena cried out, holding the knee in an attempt to soothe the throbbing pain. "Hey, you could've warned me about that!"
"Well, you should've seen it coming!" Yoki snapped back. He then turned his back towards the girl, grumbling about something else that was deaf to Elena's ears.
Elena decided that she didn't like this Yoki person. After glaring at the man's back for a couple quick seconds, she gathered the can with one hand. It was quite heavy, heavier than she expected it to be. She looked at the can. It had a cylinder-like shape, like many standard canned goods. It was wrapped in a paper with warm colors such as yellow and orange.
"Lemme help you with that!" May offered. Before Elena could decline, she scooped up the can from her. She took out a knife and started poking at the can lid with it.
Wait a second… Is that a kunai? Elena stared at the knife with wide eyes. She felt chills at her spine, horrified of the fact that this girl had practically carried a weapon with her. It was unsettling.
With a little hum, May successfully opened the can with her trust kunai. She handed the can to Elena with that "anime-beaming face" of hers. "Here you go!"
The can had distracted Elena from the kunai. She took the can and thanked the girl.
There were peaches in it.
Nice. Elena thought. She suddenly started eating them out like a pig, shoving down handful of peaches in her mouth. She didn't realized how hungry she was until now. She may have looked gross and unmannered towards her new company, but she did not care the slightest bit. She was hungry.
"So… So good…" Elena said in between bites. She didn't realize Yoki staring at her with a totally nauseated expression, or May slightly giggling at her.
However, a sudden, deep voice calling out Yoki's name had momentarily distracted her from her mini meal. She looked up to see who this new person was, peach juice dripping from her chin down to the can and her hands. She nearly choked on her mouthful of peaches upon seeing who the person was.
The new person was a man with brown skin and muscular arms and body. One of them had a lengthy black tattoo on it. Although, that did not surprise Elena.
What surprised her was the other features this man bore. Despite not having her glasses on, his features were as clear as water.
Hair as white as snow. Eyes as red as blood. And a large scar that formed an X on his larger, sturdy forehead.
It was none other than Scar from Fullmetal Alchemist.
The ending may have seemed a bit rushed. I'm sorry about that. :c
This had actually ended up being a lot longer than I anticipated it to be ._. Lemme know what you guys think of it so far tho!
Anyways, lmao I've adored the trio of May/Scar/Yoki in season 2. They've made such a great team. I'm actually surprised that hardly anyone who wrote an OC story had started with the OC being with these peeps lmao. I wish I saw more of it.
If you've read all of this, then thank you so much for bearing through it! I hope you liked it! Lemme know what y'all think of it!