Welcome to the...

THE SNOW ALCHEMIST

Chapter 1: Clair's Disappearance

Yuki's POV

A calming breeze shook the deep-brown branches of some nearby trees on this sweltering, yet pleasant, summer day; the warm climate smelled distinctly of pine needles and pollen shifting in the air, the road shimmered beneath my purple flip-flops as a bright red car flashed by, and my friend walked ceaselessly beside me.

The fourteen year old wore a deep blue top, black shorts, and turquoise colored sneakers. Her soft, silky blonde hair swayed in the breeze behind her like mine, and I couldn't help but notice as she blinked her abnormally colored eyes, one green, one blue, and they glistened - more apparently to anyone accustomed to regular features - brighter than a full moon on a starlit night. "It's a good thing I finally got you out of the house, huh?" she commented with a smile in her voice, tilting her face to catch a slight breeze. "How could you miss something as magnificent as this?" Clair looked even father up to gaze at some cumulus clouds as they drifted in the sky, birds chirping as they flew from branch to branch in a nearby tree.

I looked over at her and smiled back, disagreeing, "Hey, what's so bad about drawing and watching YouTube videos?"

She shook her head, "Nah, it's nothing; never mind. So how's it been? I haven't seen ya in awhile."

I shrugged. "Oh, you know, the same," I pinched the tiger on my black karate shirt, "I've been working hard on karate, and that's about it for being active. If I'm not at karate, I'm drawing on Deviantart or reading."

"That's cool. I've been doing whatever my family has planned, like cookouts or birthday parties. That's my summer for ya," she snickered, eyes to the ground, then everything went quiet.

We walked for a while with that awkward silence hanging in the air, and I was just trying to think up something to say when Clair finally broke it. "Say, Yuki, we're best friends - practically sisters. So...what would you do if I suddenly disappeared, never to be heard of again?"

Clair always had the strangest of questions, so I didn't bother asking why she'd suggest such a thing. "I'd...well, I don't know... I guess I'd find you and drag you back home with me!"

We both laughed.

"I'd do the same!" my friend chuckled, her laugh high pitched like a little bird's chirp. "We'd sacrifice our lives for each other, wouldn't we?" I heard the smile in her voice as she continued with, "Maybe we are sisters - like, long lost or something."

I laughed softly along with her as I looked up at the afternoon sky, all the orange and reds mixing together beautifully. Gazing up there, I suddenly came to an obvious realization and sighed. "We better get home now. It's getting late."

Clair shrugged. "I suppose," she admitted regretfully, then gave a small wave as she turned toward where her home was. "See you tomorrow, buddy!"

"Bye!" I shouted back as she began to leave. I waved until she turned a corner, then started walking back to my house - which was actually more of a trailer than a house.

Hardly a minute passed, however, before a shimmering light darted across the sky like lightning. My head jolted upwards at the unusually bright flash, and I found myself pushing my purple glasses against my face, thinking of thunderstorms. However, the clouds up above were the same cumulus clouds as before - not a hint of grey. Squinting my eyes, I rotated my head deliberately as I tried to think of what this might mean.

But then, another bright flash shot down - or up, or to the side; I couldn't tell - in front of me. My eyes widened. "What the hell?" slipped out under my breath as I stared at the brighter flashes. The sparks were a couples yards away, bursting out of the ground. I squinted at it in alarm, then shook my head. "I'm getting delusional," I sighed, shrugging it off like another brain teaser or something.

But just as I was beginning to walk forward again, I heard an abrupt scream. And not just any scream, Clair's scream coming from that direction. Oh God, what had she gotten into this time? I sprinted as fast as I could - like cheetah with a broken foot (because of my flip-flops) - and when I got there, what I saw exploded my mind. Just around the corner, the sky grew dim, and the scene before me caused the adrenaline to kick-start my nerves; a circle glowed blue on the western horizon, while Clair stood near the edge, frozen. A black, morphed - and terrifyingly familiar - eye appeared in the middle of the circle as Clair's hair started to drag down against the ground. I barely heard myself screaming at the top of my lungs, and it wasn't a scared scream either, but one filled with anger and vexation; I couldn't believe this was happening to my friend! ...Whatever it was. Swarming confusion wafted through me, holding me like a block of concrete as Clair was being taken into a black hole of nothingness that was a thing in the form of an eye.

"This is a transmutation circle," I murmured. Then, before I could think, I shouted at the top of my lungs, "Clair!" I was about ready to destroy everything in my path to get her before she became swallowed, running towards her and the circle. Tentacle-like things threw me from the scene, however, smashing my skull into a rock. I think I may have suffered some brain damage from that; in a matter of seconds, my mind suffocated in a beating of blackness.

Falling...into seemingly eternal subconscious.

A blurting racket of noise shattered my eardrums, and rattled my exhausted brain into a migraine worse than I'd ever had. "Hey!" a man's voice called out, showing some obligated concern for me. I blinked my eyes open and saw the owner of the voice standing over me. He wore a flannel shirt with a few oil stains - like an older gentleman - and black hair. He was frowning.

I sat up in the high weeds, rubbing the back of my head, and sighed to myself. What happened?! my mind kept yelling at me. I didn't know...

"Are you alright?" the man asked. I didn't realize he'd spoken at first, but soon after I did, I nodded as an answer. The man nodded in return and said, "Well, alright. Have good one!" before driving off in a red Ford truck nearby; I watched until the red rust stains on the back of it vanished from my sight.

"You too," I'd managed to squeak out before he left. Then I considered the scene from earlier. 'Huh? WHAT?!' was the only thought I had about it. What happened to Clair? Was it a dream, or a figment of my imagination? Meh, it had to be, but why do I have this pounding headache all of a sudden?

The sun had started to die down into an illuminating sunset, and I remembered that I needed to head home soon before my mom started looking for me in her car; I didn't want that again. I'd call Clair once I had service - after all, that couldn't have really happened - but for now I was left to walk home with only my thoughts.

Were those alchemy circles? I thought as I walked back to the house. Were those eyes Truth or something? At the time, I hadn't watched Fullmetal Alchemist in a while, so I wasn't familiar with those transmutation circles so much anymore. However, the memory of that eye stuck out like a sore thumb. What if Clair was taken to Gate and was able to travel across the Gate? I thought, then laughed at myself, "I'm going crazy - if I wasn't already."

Before I knew it, I was at my house knocking on the door. I asked for mom to let me inside, and when she did I found the smell of meat swarming my nostrils. Glorious food! Actually, I wasn't hungry, but a little food couldn't hurt, could it? Mom had made hotdogs, but my taste buds got the better of me. I grabbed a pop tart from one of the kitchen selves instead, and headed to my room without staying for dinner.

"Hey, Yuki, aren't you going to eat?" asked my mom as I started to leave.

"I am!" I insisted - a little harshly - while holding my cherry pop tart.

"Hey, wait!" my sister squealed obnoxiously - even though she was sitting just two feet away at the table. "I saw this sitting outside!" she held up a small, crystal-like stone that you might find on the beach. "Isn't it pretty?"

"It's cool, isn't it?" my mom commented as she stirred the sauce for the hot dogs. "It even glows in the dark; seems unnatural to me."

"Hm? Can I see it?" I asked, interested as I reached for it. But my sister snatched it away.

"No, it's mine. I found it!" she screamed. I guess this was what I got for having an obnoxious, nine-year-old sibling.

"Let her see it," mom nudged her.

Kate huffed. "Fine." She regretfully handed me the relic.

"It's glorious. You should let me have it." I suggested mischievously, knowing she'd refuse.

"No way!" She yanked it out of my hands, but it slipped and fell to the ground; I waited for her pick it up so she wouldn't yell at me for touching it.

Then I decided to give her advice, feeling strangely toward the object: "Well, it's not glass. You should keep that safe, you hear?"

"Whatever."

After making it back to my room, rolling my eyes and finishing my pop tart - then watching a three-hour live stream of Minecraft, six YouTube videos, and drawing an animated picture of the event earlier - it was time for me to go to bed with my warm, polka-dotted, purple comforter over me, and a grey cat named Silver sleeping beside my toes. But before I fell asleep, I texted Clair.

I kept myself awake for a good hour afterwards, but there was no answer by then. "She has textfree on her iPod, so maybe her wifi is out or something." I concluded. Was she really being dragged into that thing? But that doesn't make sense; it would break the laws of physics!

Rolling my eyes again as I tried, failing to forget about that, I sighed and tucked myself farther into bed on my stomach. I'd see her tomorrow anyway; I say hakuna matata, and good night.

But then, just as I was falling sleep, I heard a noise. It was like someone crying out for help. My eyes snapped open in shock, then darted around the room in curiosity; I had no clue what to do about it. Another cry came, only more noticeable to my ears, and I jumped out of bed. I dashed into my living room and heard a noise calling out to me, telling me to come near. Following it, I ended up in my sister's room, but there wasn't anything in there besides the little stone, which was glowing slightly from where it sat on the bedside table. A small squealing sound came again, but I still couldn't tell where it was coming from - or understand what it was saying. I swore it was the relic beckoning to me, but once I picked up the rock, the crying stopped.

Stepping over toys of all shapes and sizes, I was able to take the stone back to my room without waking my sister. When I got there, I curled back into bed, but then I heard a ringing noise from where I'd placed the rock. "Stupid thing!" I shouted, slightly louder than a whisper. It didn't stop though. "Okay, fine." I glared at it, then picked it up and placed it in my pocket. After that, I didn't hear anything - bizarre as that may sound.

I began closing my emerald eyes then, hoping for sleep, but my cat suddenly hissed, letting out a blistering cry that tried to break my eardrums. "Meeeow!" she screeched, running across my tan carpet and into the living room. The walls in my room started to shake uncontrollably, like an earthquake. The books on my bookshelves started to fall and the clothes that were (formerly) in my closet rampaged across the bearing rug. Then a transmutation circle appeared on my window, stamped in something blood-red; I quickly grabbed my iPhone, trying to dial 911. "This isn't funny!" I cried in frustration, but my voice wasn't heard above the trembles. Fiercely, the same creepy eye that had taken Clair tore through the window to peek into my room, letting out several tendrils of blackness that swiftly began to wrap around me, pulling, tugging, and gripping my limbs to drag me to my death - or what felt like it. "WHAT THE HELL!" came out of me in a scream louder than earlier as my blonde hair swished around the object pulling at me, a...something. Whatever it was felt like a vine - a rose vine tangling through my body and pinning me, prying me, pulling me into nothingness.

Spinning in an endless pit of darkness, I saw a gaping hole of nothingness form from inside me. In panic, I wondered where I was and why. From my toes to my neck, I felt a thick numbing sensation; I tilted my head up to see if there was something I was missing - anything in the darkness - but all I could see were the opaque, black walls that surrounded all four sides of the world. I wanted to scream, but I knew I'd regret my decision; nobody would hear me, and that would just leave my throat sore.

Eventually, the falling came to a slow end. I could see light at the end of the tunnel, glowing white and still below me. I fell into it and hit the ground with a BANG, landing on my stomach. The nerves in my muscles swarmed in a definitive haze as if they were torn. I pushed myself onto my knees, hands gripping the ground as I panted in shock. There was a silent moment of that before I noticed how the ground felt - it was like glass, but made of solid, white granite. My bangs fell in on my glasses as I leaned toward the ground, then sat up. Moving the locks of hair and glancing forward, all I saw was an endless white realm; I wanted to start crying out of confusion, but I fought with my inner self not to.

Suddenly, I felt a strange presence watching me, and I whirled around to see the Gate looming over me with the Truth standing in front of it, its alchemic tree-like thing - which I knew meant something, but I couldn't remember - winding up it like cement vines. The Gate in person was more nostalgic than in the series. It was sealed, and seemed as if there wasn't anything behind it - but no fan would believe that. Finally, I was able to stand, turning completely to glare at the Truth like I was going nuts. "Who are you?" I asked, even though I knew who he was - it just slipped out after looking at his...body?

Truth chuckled. "Who am I? I'm quite glad you asked; some would call me The Universe, or The World; another name you might have for me is God. I am Truth. I am One, and I am All, but most importantly, I am You," he pointed ominously in my direction and grinned with a gleaming smile, which made me even more freaked out by everything - as if Him speaking in a distorted version of my voice wasn't frightening enough.

"Yeah," I sighed, starting to get over the initial shock and get what was going on - I was still scared though. "a personification of myself. This is a dream, right?"

"What makes you think that?" Truth smirked. "This is whatever you make of it."

So, it was a...nightmare? Same difference. "How did I get here?"

It stood. "I brought you here."

"Why?"

Truth snickered at my question, walking closer to me with that smug smile still in place. "I think you will make things a bit more interesting for me."

Even though He answered my question, the explanation didn't satisfy me. It just left me more afraid; I knew what happened to people who came here, and I didn't want that thing taking anything from me.

"Don't worry," it reassured, reminding me that it still had my voice - and telling me it could read minds, "there's no need to sacrifice anything. I'm the one who brought you here, after all. My choice." Could I believe him? "Now, if I'm right, and I am, there should be a stone in your pocket."

"Um...yeah...and...?" I frowned. What was he talking about? The stone thing? Why would Truth be interested in it? Then I remembered that strange sound that had come from it before. I wonder...

"That will make the game more fun." the thing snickered again.

"Is it...is it something like the Philosopher's Stone?" I pulled it out of my pocket and stared at the apparent relic.

"Something like that," Truth said in a bored tone. Then it went back to smiling wickedly. "If you eat it, it'll cure your eyesight; it might even improve your hearing," its smirk widened. "I promise you." The last sentence rang ominously through the white nothingness.

The stone suddenly became scalding to the touch, burning my right hand. I tried to drop it, but I couldn't move anything below my shoulders. I shattered to my knees, watching as the veins in my arm began to crackle and burn, bulging above the surface of my skin. A scream rose from my vocal cords to a pitch that scratched the insides of my ears - but I kept my eyes open, staring in horror at the stone. I couldn't comprehend what was happening, but I knew it wasn't good if this was what terror and agony felt like.

The Gate began to open slowly, and I vaguely heard the Truth speaking above my screams: "We'll meet again, my little Yuki."

I hoped to God that creep was wrong. Wait...could I say that now?

Eyes blinked, a million to one, from inside the Gate. They stared at me like the monsters in the closet, boring into me. Then, as I closed my eyes, knowing I couldn't get away if I tried, (not in this condition anyway; it all burned) the hand-like vines swallowed me into their lair like hungry little devils, hunting for their next meal. My glasses fell unwillingly off my face as I watched the doors shut behind me, Truth's smiling face being the last thing I saw before darkness.

Did you like it? Tell me in your reviews! Thanks for reading! Good Luck with your stories! See you next chapter! XP

Redone with betaing by a Mysterious Illusion: 10/6/13 I thank you.