Disclaimer : I do not own FullMetal Alchemist.
Time is a burden. That is their fate.
A Gate that includes the truth of the universe and includes all information that man can dream of. It can curse a man or even grant the most impossible of wishes and it can explain to you the concept of magic. However, like all other great things, it is unreachable to man. If a human were to reach it, he would have to pay a price more dearly than life. Even so, the Gate must have a special being to prove its worth; a being that can guard it while standing above all other humans.
The information of the Gate can be accessed by none other but than a lonely soul. The fortunate one, the ill-fated one, God or Satan; call it what ever you want but its existence will not change. The guardian of the Gate is an eternal being, never aging, never breaking, but nothing can last forever. Every nine hundred ninety nine years, before the pure guardian is tainted by the sins of humanity, a new guardian must be chosen. After, it will become the new guardian's duty to carry on his predecessor, but before hand, he must finish of his predecessor before he is stained by man's blood and lust, becoming a being more fearful than the universe itself. The being will swallow up everything and eventually, become unstoppable. That is the ultimate sin of the guardian that should not ever be committed, therefore, he has to choose his own assassin carefully.
Ed's POV
"Do not leave me alone!" I cried as my mother, my remaining parent, breathed for the last time, closing her eyes, leaving a faint smile on her face.
"Nii-san," Alphonse said to me. "What is wrong with mom?"
Regardless of what he says, Alphonse should know just as well as I do what was happening. We sat there stunned for a moment only to see a flash of lightning followed by a crash of thunder and a spinning whirlwind falling from the sky and swallowing up my mother before she disappeared, leaving behind not a single trace.
We sat there stunned, unable to say a word. Tears were streaming out of Alphonse's eyes and then his eyes glazed over only to open a second later, without tears, looking confused.
When I turned to face Alphonse, he asked me, "What were we doing, Nii-san? Who is this "mom" that we speak about?"
After that, I was desperate. I remembered reading about this thing called alchemy in a book before, including something about illegally bringing human's back to life in return for a great sacrifice. I drew a large circle and I prayed, sending all my will power down to my hands which are on the edge of the decorated circle.
Something went wrong. That was for certain. The beautiful white light, described as God's light in the book, was replaced by a dark purple energy and then, I saw Alphonse's body being sucked up by tentacles. At that time, I was really hanging on to what I had left and I had no other choice. I drew the same circle as the one on the ground on my body and then I spoke, "Take every part of my body, take every part of my soul. Regardless of what you do to me, please, my Lord, bring me back my brother, Alphonse Elric and ensure that he will live a long and happy life and that he will not suffer because of Hohenheim's disappearance and mother's death."
After that, I simply blacked out and dreamt of a large and empty place that includes neither light nor darkness.
At that time, we also knew: The reason that mom was so happy watching us learn alchemy. It reminded her of that despicable old man that will never return to us.
When I woke up again, I was at Winry's house. I probably sat up suddenly in a strange way because Pinako and Alphonse were startled. After that, I realized that my leg and arm were missing. I wanted to panic but I could not. I could not even speak.
"Alphonse, go outside and play with Winry for a while," Pinako told my brother. He slowly obeyed. Then she stared at me with stone-cold eyes and told me, "We have a lot to talk about."
After that, she began her story: "When you were young, I met your father, Hohenheim, many times. Most of he time, he was alone but when he was with your mother, they were always smiling. After you were born and Alphonse was yet to come, you father left and never returned. Your mother told me that he had to return to go on his journey and his duty. Not long after that, all traces of him on this Earth disappeared.
"You might not have noticed after all this time because of not being able to meet a lot of people but following your father's disappearance, the villagers' memories of both your mother and Hohenheim also began fading. If you went outside and asked them about your parents, they would stare at you and tell you that you are an orphan and then wonder if you are having hallucinations. That has never affected me, Winry, you and Alphonse but now the situation has changed. Your brother has forgotten that your parents existed."
"Th-that is impossible!" I exclaimed. "They definitely existed!"
"I know that," Pinako answered, "But you cannot prove that to the others. Furthermore, you would probably have noticed that you are missing an arm and a leg. The reason, I cannot say for certain but it is probably because of a dangerous existence. Tell me Edward, have you tried any dangerous magic or, what is that called, alchemy or made any stupid wishes?"
I decided not to tell her about the extra "details" for she will kill me if she finds out that I committed the taboo of trying to revive or transmute my mom and myself. "I only made two wishes: for Alphonse to live a long and happy life and for Alphonse to not suffer because of Hohenheim's disappearance and mother's death."
"You goddamned idiotic child!" Pinako cried.
I was confused. "Wh-wh-what?!" That was the first time that I had heard her swear.
"Your wish was granted by some crazy thing, probably related to alchemy, resulting in your brother's memory loss. On top of that, you probably had to pay the price with your arm and leg!"
"Does that mean my wishes have been granted? Al will not suffer anymore because of their disappearances?"
"Yes but the price that you will have to pay in return is larger and worse than that of what I can imagine," sighed Pinako gravely. Then she went to the kitchen to make stew and dinner for the four of us.
After Pinako left, I decided that no matter what my punishment would be in during my path until my death, I would definitely, without a doubt, ensure that Alphonse, at least, can live the happy and long life that my parents were not able to and that I would soon be unable to.
As I watched Alphonse happily playing outside with Winry from the bed that I was sitting in, I wished that this happiness would last until the end of our insignificant lives. At that time, I already knew how small and useless the word "forever" was.
Now that I think back, at that time, I did not know that all the gears of the world were turning, spinning into place and becoming that desperate end.
Chapter 1 – Wish
Sorry was that too short? Or too hard to understand? I am writing this at 3 am so I really am sorry for any grammatical errors or anything of the sort. Please review!
~Ren0Zia