Clarity of the Rebound

Contract for the Future

By: Momonster

Summary: Humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost. That is Alchemy's first Law of Equivalent Exchange. In those days we really believed that to be the world's one and only truth.

Warnings: Epilogue? What Epilogue? (EWE) Chances of spoiling everything for the Manga save that horribly cliché Epilogue.

Rating: M

Status: WIP

Type: Multi-Chapter

Chapter Prologue: Equivalent Exchange

Panic made his every nerve shudder and shake; fear and anger drowned under the wailing he could hear at the back of his mind.

How dare you Alphonse how could you do this why did you do this what can I do to get you back Brother please Brother! Alphonse! I have to get you back I promised I would get your body back why did you have to do this I swear when I see you again I'm going to kill you for doing this to me!

Alphonse…!

Think. Think. Think damnit, think! Don't stop, think! There has to be away. Can't use the stone I promised I swore I wouldn't use another's life to fix our mistakes, think, THINK!

Everyone around him had become nothing but white noise, but a specific voice was breaking through.

"No. He knows the fear and despair of being left alone. He wouldn't put Alphonse through that."

Roy. Roy Mustang, Bastard Colonel, Brigadier General, the fifth Alchemist of the Homunculus Circle used to create the Gate, who lost his eyesight after being forced to the gate.

Why was Roy important? Why could Roy's voice break through the haze of his thoughts; he needed to think, think damnit think!

Al…

"Edward." the deep gravelly voice made Ed flinch as he slowly looked up. "Use my life...to get Alphonse back. I have enough left for one."

Anger sparked along numbed nerves, fierce and bright. "You idiot...I can't do that! It's our own fault that we lost our bodies! We've said over and over that we wouldn't use other people's lives to get Al back!" Ed sucked in a breath many almost thought was closer to a sob than a growl. "Why should you sacrifice your life anyway!"

"Because I am your father." Hohenheim said slowly. "It's not necessity or reason. You two mean more to me than anything. I want you to be happy."

Ed could only stare.

"You tried to revive Trisha because you were lonely. What happened to you is partly my fault for leaving you alone. I'm sorry. I had lived long enough. Let me be your father in the end."

Ed twitched, and then bowed his head, tears falling. "Don't be stupid you shitty excuse for a father! Don't ever say that again! Or I'll kick your ass!"

Ed could only blink as the man let out a painful chuckle. "You finally called me Father."

It clicked.

…Father.

Father. The Homunculus. He said…!

Suddenly everything seemed to halt around him as he stared at the crying faces of people he'd known for years and others for barely a month.

All these tears, all for Al.

"And...a man who had a grand vision to save his country loses his eyesight, forever unable to see what his beloved nation will become." He whispered the words numbly, mind tumbling along charges of syntax like the fall of dominoes.

Roy lost his sight upon seeing the Gate. But he didn't open the Gate himself, he was forced there. How…how!

As if in a trance, Ed grabbed a stick and began to draw upon the ground, the lines precise as everything became crystal clear.

"Humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost. That is Alchemy's first Law of Equivalent Exchange."

Equivalent Exchange

Ed looked up briefly at all the faces watching him in muted silence, and then bowed his head without a word as he crouched within the circle, clapping his hands once, and then touched the ground.

The moment Ed opened his eyes to the white world where the Gate and the being waited for those who broke The Rule of Alchemy; a voice echoed all around him, a familiar voice that echoed in his nightmares.

"Have you come back for your brother?" Truth's all knowing ethereal voice seemed to come from nowhere, and yet as if its lips were right at Ed's very ear. "But how will you pull a whole person out?" Truth asked slyly. "What is the payment? Will you offer up your own body?"

"Shut up." I hissed softly, coming to a stop before the being. Truth. What fuckery. "The Homunculus told me something…interesting." Furious golden eyes locked on the being called Truth. "One loses a leg to stand on and his only remaining family, the other the ability to feel the warmth he so desperately missed." Ed quoted, barely able to stop himself from snarling. "I lost my only remaining family when Al lost his body. But Al lost his ability to feel warmth? Bullshit! He lost me too. You took his body from him, leaving his soul anchorless. What would have happened if I couldn't transmute his soul into the armour? Would he have been forced to wander aimlessly after that body we created died?"

Truth didn't speak a word, and Ed had to clench his fists, fighting the urge to punch and kick and scream.

"That is not an Equivalent Exchange." Ed's voice rang out, quivering with his rage. "You've broken the rules, you owe him."

The entire world seemed to rumble as Truth stood. "I knew you would cling to him."

Ed simply rolled his eyes. "I said couldn't, not wouldn't; idiot." He sniped, golden eyes locked on the faceless figure. "What if I didn't have the knowledge to do it? What if my jaunt through the Gate didn't give me the information I needed?" Ed paused, but Truth didn't speak, so he continued. "So you think you know humanity so fucking well, huh? Then why the fuck did you take Roy Mustang's sight when he was forced into the Human Transmutation? You owe him for that shit too." He paused for a few moments. "How many Transmutations have you given a false balance for? To obtain, something of equal value must be lost. The rule of Alchemy. We've lost so much, what have we gained back?"

Another rumble, as if he could feel the world's heartbeat.

"So you know Truth." It commented at long last. "Very few confront one who can take everything from them." It even had the audacity to sound surprised.

"Well I've already lost all I put myself into, fucker." Ed seethed. "You fucked up and took Al from me. Now, you have a shit load to make up for."

Truth turned to the Gate behind it and Ed stared at its back, scowling furiously. "Truth. And the Gate agrees."

Ed's eyes flew wide as the Gate opened behind Truth, the being suddenly inches from his face.

"Yes. We have much to atone for. And you shall be our vassal. You shall be their payment, and their punishment."

"What!"

Two fingers were before his eyes. Ed could almost see the reflection of his eyes on those fingers.

"Your punishment. Time. Sight. Their rebound…You."

Everything went black.

It was a shock that nearly had him to tears, when Edward awoke and slowly pulled himself from the ground.

Even with his eyes wide open, all he saw was darkness.

And once again, a new fic.

The series name is Clarity of the Rebound, while this section of the fic is "Contract for the Future"

The fic is going to be broken in different parts, each with a title outside of the fic name and chapter titles.

Well. If you stick around, hold on tight, through this merry-go-round of torture, sex and pain. Momonster doesn't make smooth rides.

Princess: "She really doesn't. This is not for the faint-hearted, so feel free to run. It's bound to step on your toes and fuck with your mind. That said, I can't help but love it.

... Welcome aboard, please leave your sanity and morals behind."

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7/18/11 Damn website stole my page breaks...