Substitute Soul Book 2: Divergence

Preface

What does it mean to have a name? Is it who you are? Is it the hopes of your parents? The longer you live, does your name become your identity? Can you still claim that name when you have changed completely and utterly, so that no one would recognize you, not even yourself? I had a name once. I'm not sure if I have a right to it anymore…

–Nameless

Glimmering city lights stood like sparkling jewels against the silver night. Rain had come and gone, so the roofs gleamed with the reflection of the pale moon, setting everything not touched by the fire of the street lamps in an ethereal glow. Peace reigned over the city this night, its victorian buildings dark and quiet as the occupants slept, unaware of the dark secret beneath the ground that might just destroy them forever…

I sat upon a slanted roof, just slightly taller than the buildings around it. Energy hummed through my body, but I felt no urge to move at all, content to just sit and observe the city around me. I crouched upon the edge comfortably with no fear of the steep fall inches from my feet that would kill anyone else. I sat on one leg, the other dangling over open space, a hand slung over my knee and the other resting lightly on the damp roof beside me.

A warm spring breeze filtered through the streets, not quite enough to stave off the slight chill in the air. Though my clothes were light, I did not experience any discomfort in the damp cold. I was dressed entirely in black, pants hugging my slim hips and covering my long legs before banding tightly around my ankles. A pitch black shirt, so different from the bright colors I used to love wearing, clung to my hard core and chest and tapered to a small band of cloth that wound around my neck, leaving my wide shoulders completely exposed. I had a slight urge, as always, to lift one of my hands and rub the right side of my neck, feeling the slightly raised ridges of the cloth covered mark that branded me as what I was, but I resisted it easily. It had been a while after all…Instead I let my long blonde hair, bound low, to rest against my shoulder, where I habitually wore it. A loose lock fluttered slightly in the breeze, tickling my exposed skin, and I brushed it aside absently.

I took a deep breath of the pale night's air, momentarily reveling in the openness of it, the realness. It had been so long since I'd felt the gentle touch of the wind or seen the elegant glow of the moon, so long since I'd been allowed to. But it's the city that keeps my attention. Central City, the capital of the country of Amestris…It wasn't my home, not really. I had no home, haven't for years, but it's…familiar. Comfortingly so, despite what I knew would happen to it eventually. That time wasn't now…now was quiet. Calm.

Inside of me, I felt a deep contentment that sang in my blood, my heart thrumming with the power embedded in me. Vaguely I can feel the gentle hum of the lives of the city's people, the sense that I acquired recently so much more powerful than ever. But I have learned to suppress it so that it's no longer painful to feel so many souls…after all, the thing within me was a strict and merciless teacher…

"How does it feel?" A soft voice filters through the night air like silk over bare skin, and I shiver slightly. I was not alone. I'm never alone…I turned around slowly, my red-violet eyes flashing briefly in the moonlight, and regarded my companion. She was a beautiful sight, sitting languidly on the apex of the roof, resting gracefully against a chimney pipe. She also wore black, a onyx dress that clung to her form like a second skin. It clothed her from her delicate ankles, over soft curves and up to her generous bust, just barely covered enough to be decent. Like mine her slim shoulders are also bare, pale skin glowing silver in the wan light, but unlike me she did not hide her mark, allowing it to face the world openly where it rested upon her chest. The ouroboros, red as blood, seemed almost black in the wee hours of the morning. She, after all, had made peace with what we are long ago…Her head was tilted back, long black hair falling in waves to her waist, red lips tilted in a small smile as she regarded me with eyes that mirrored my own.

For a brief moment, I had a flashback of another rooftop in Central, except back then I was with someone very different. He was a warm, comforting presence as compared to this woman who…well, I didn't know how I felt about her anymore. I smiled slightly at the irony that on the night I just recalled I was reminded of my humanity. And this night…this night there was no humanity to be found.

I turn back to the city with a pang of longing, the memory of that night–and the boy I was with–briefly resurfacing some of the resentment and pain I had been suppressing. Truth, how I missed him, missed them.

How I loved them, and loathed them.

"How does what feel?" I asked softly, my husky voice nearly a whisper.

I can feel her grin burning in the back of my skin like a second sense, so aware was I of this woman. My savior. My tormentress. "Freedom," she said, smugness dripping from the word.

I hummed derisively, the sound a deep rumble in my chest. Freedom? From what?

My identity? That had been lost when Truth, the self proclaimed god of alchemy, showed me the utter and complete destruction of everything I had ever loved in my past life. He showed me that there was no escape from the reality I now found myself in, no going back. He had stolen the hope that had been keeping me going since I was conceived in this world. Now it was gone, along with the dream of what could have been.

Freedom from the bonds of love? I was so close to those I called family in this world, only a few streets away, and yet so irrevocably and desperately far. I was so far from what I used to be to them that I don't think I could ever bear to be in their presence again, lest I taint them. And yet a resentment so powerful rested within me like a poison towards them that I wanted to find those that did this to me and take from them what they took from me. The forgiveness I once felt for their actions could no longer protect me from this hatred once I knew the truth…

Freedom from humanity? Yes, I suppose I was free of that. The warm thrumming stone in my chest and the power that could surge through me at a moment's notice was proof enough of that. The red-violet shade of my eyes, once a vibrant green, and my ability to peer into the souls of others were curses upon me that would set me apart from humanity forevermore, or for however long this unnatural body would hold me to this world…

So yes, I guess I was free, in a sense. I was free from everything I once was, and all that was left was…I don't even know. I was once known by my lover as Alexandria, a soon to be mother and wife, but that was entirely in irrevocably gone. I was once known as Alex Elric, a brother to the boys who spirited my soul to this world by accident, unintentionally destroying both their lives and mine, and also the boys who adopted me, loved me, and corrupted me. That was also gone in a flash of agony and red, red light, and a terrible truth. I am now known as 'Empathy' by my companion–my tormentor, my savior, my Lust– and the others like us, but that name means nothing to me but a title, a mask that I held in place like a shield to protect me from my new, harsh reality. So how did freedom feel?

I gazed out into the city, my eyes dead. I opened my mouth slowly, allowing my deep voice to echo off the silent streets. "It feels cold."

A light touch brushed against my neck and then my jaw. I didn't react until a delicate hand pulled my apathetic gaze to Lust's. I looked into her eyes obediently, never once a thought of defiance crossing my mind, and she stroked my cheek gently, causing me to shudder. Her red lips tilted in a small smirk as she sat down beside me, cold shoulder brushing mine. Her gaze was kind, but there was no warmth there. There never was. You are mine, she seemed to say. I resisted both the urges to pull away violently in remembered pain by her hand, or lean into her gentle touch, if only so she would release me faster.

We sat in silence for a quiet moment, and then she finally released me, standing to her full formidable height. "Come Empathy. It's time."

I stood as well, pushing myself to my feet, every movement as graceful as my companion's. I passed my gaze once more over the empty rooftop with a pang of longing before resolutely facing forward, stepping up by her side. "Let's go."

o-0-o

Hullo everyone. My name is Lynnxrider and I welcome you to the second installment of Substitute Soul. It's good to be back.

Welcome my new readers! If you are confused, I would suggest going back and reading the first book, Substitute Soul: Deliverance. While I do plan to refresh everyone's memories with references and a few flashbacks, I won't re-explain the entire first book. If you are at all interested in this preface, I promise you'll like it. If you don't feel like it, you can, of course, read this part of the series without it. Your choice.

To my faithful followers, welcome back! I'm super excited to be writing again and can't wait to get back to my old schedule. As always, I appreciate your comments, faves/follows. I hope you guys are as excited for this installment as I am:). I dedicate my recent inspiration to Han. If you don't know who that is, don't worry about it. If you do...you're awesome. I'm throwing digital cookies at you.

Next Chapter: Edward and Alphonse reel from recent events. Ed goes stir crazy and Al…Al just wants to be able to move again.

Note: This scene you just witnessed is set about a third of the way through the book. The first chapter will start right where we left off in book 1.