Sup!
The entire first half of this is a chapter is actually an interlude chapter for some of my other stories. All you really need to know is the following:
Pretty much everything we think is a work of fiction actually exists as an alternate reality. These realities are governed by their creators known as guardians. Guardians will often have children who help keep their reality on check called Chaos mages. The standard number is two: one representing the light and and the dark. Neither is good nor evil just reflections of each other. Still the number is dependent on the power needed to hold everything together (the Marvel reality is actually a several realities and the DC one has a light, dark and neutral mage). Mages in turn can create priests or priestesses to serve them. Or even enlist mortal champions.
But even all powerful beings have rules. Guardians are forbidden to leave their reality and as well as directly interfere with the lives of those in it. They can however subtly influence events. Chaos Mages are free to hop realities and are able to directly interfere but only under special circumstances...like everything's gonna fall apart if they don't circumstances. Priests and priestesses are created when a mortal dies but surrenders their soul to a mage instead of moving on. They have pretty much free reign to act under their master's direction but are significantly less powerful. Champions have the most autonomy but he least power on the totem 're also the easiest to destroy...being still mortal and all.
Sylphine is a light mage from the Once Upon a Time reality. Though sassy she's generally very nice. When we encounter her here though, she's in full mamazilla mode over her lost son (who was kidnapped/reclaimed by his kind in the Harry Potter reality... along with others).
Note this isn't a silly fic.
The second portion of this is in a totally different tone. You'll get it once you see it. Also, this story will not be part of the big merger; it's related but won't share any other chapters. I want this one to be stand alone and go more the drama/philosophical route that OUATE, Parallels and The Road to Hell went. If you like this, check out my other Reality of Chaos fics for the full scope of characters involved.
*ER*
To obtain, something of equal value must be lost.
After it's world came into being, the entity known as Truth looked around at it's brethren across the multiverse...And said nope.
Spending eternity as a glorified babysitter to the insects he created that at any moment could destroy their own reality if he didn't pay close enough attention sounded as amusing as a hole in the head. So, Truth set forth to make it's own rules within the rules. Remove the need to have chaos mages by making the chance of such screw ups virtually impossible. Give them all equal access to the cosmic energy and make the taboo price so steep few would dare break it and even fewer would survive the cost. Make himself known to those dumb enough to try. And equivalent exchange would do the rest.
Things rolled on pretty smoothly. Until...
Van Hohenheim and Dante came in like a wrecking ball hellbent on changing the natural order Truth so carefully set in motion. These two dunderheads wanted to live forever when they had no right to, deciding mass genocide and swapping bodies like underwear was the way to do it. Even after the whole unpleasant side effect of their shiny new meat suits beginning to rot away from the inside out. The change happening faster with each body they stole. The pair having no understanding that the human body was not meant to handle the power of the Philosopher's stone- thus why homunculi could never be human in the first place. That the creatures' sanity deteriorated the longer they existed; if you could call the torture of memories and longings belonging to the dead person you were meant to be but never would sanity in the first place. That that damn stone was never meant to exist but thanks to that pair it did.
Then along came Edward Elric and by association his brother Alphonse. Unlike every other before them that tried human transmutation and failed, they not only set about fixing their mistake and doing some good along the way, the pair was willing to give up their chance once they learned the true cost of the stone they sought for 3 years. It wasn't worth the cost. And they actively tried to destroy it. The elder willing to sacrifice the thing that made him unique for to restore the younger to normal. Two children had a better grasp of the workings of the universe than a man and woman centuries old. There was just something about the two, their compulsion to set things right no matter what amused and confused Truth. He knew Ed would offer his Gate for his brother's body So, he was going to cut them a break or sorts; throw in his arm and leg for free..
Then this shit happened.
"Great. Back here again." Edward sighed. To be fair the Gate of Truth is where he wanted to be for this to work but still, he hated that featureless jackass as much as the bovine mammary secretions it reminded him of.
"GET YOUR LILY WHITE ASS BACK HERE!"
That...wasn't Truth. It was far too feminine, too high pitched and too cheesed off.
"GAH! I told you I can't do it!"
That was it. Though a lot less haughty and put together than usual. Ed looked around until he saw the familiar deity booking it across the white abyss like it's metaphysical ass was on fire. Hot on it's heels a small (shorter than him!) girl, dressed like a Xingese warrior and armed with folding fans? That's not important. What was important were the bolts of lightning she was shooting off with them.
"Be reasonable child! Even if I wanted to help you, my world works differently than yours! I cannot open the gate without being paid a toll!"
"If you wanted to?!" she girl roared. "IF YOU WANTED TO?! I never asked to be here you freak, someone threw me here! How's about you open that gate and I don't make you shoot electricity out of your ass!? How's THAT for payment?!"
"What is going on? Al!" Ed's scan had completely missed the emaciated body propped up against the stone gate, being too distracted by whatever was happening off in the distance. It was only his soulless shell but still, he was right there! This had to work. Seeing him again was too painful for it not to.
The sound of a body hitting the ground then being stomped on like no tomorrow once again drew his attention back to the weirdness. Truth was splayed out face(?) down with the strange girl bouncing on it's back like a trampoline. Though Ed was fairly certain it didn't enjoy it at all as the girl seemed intent on breaking it's back The deity wailing pitifully all the way. This girl...how could she possible force something like Truth to beg for mercy?
"I give!" Truth hollered. "I give!"
"Then send me on my way!" The girl allowed the deity to stand. Her arms crossed over her chest expectantly.
"I CAN"T. Not without being paid a toll. Equivalent Exchange prevents me from just conjuring things without something in recompense." Seeing her left eye began to twitch, the Keeper held up it's arms in defense before hastily continuing. "You're not mortal! Your energy could do it though you might be weaker for some time once you pass. Or you could use him." The being thumbed back at Ed.
For a moment, she didn't seem to have heard the response. Standing completely still and just blinking at the blonde. Then her gaze drifted to Alphonse's body. What was she thinking? Holy shit! Was she considering using them to pay her toll? She continued to just stare at the brothers, making all present uneasy. Especially when Ed noticed a growing spark of abject horror alight in her eyes. Her blank expression gave way to one of disgust and anger.
Truth tried to back up.
CRUNCH!
"You dipshit." came the cold reply. Truth now stood clutching it's face(?), blood trickling between its fingers. Ed couldn't help but have mixed feelings about the whole thing. On one hand she'd refused an offer to use them as cannon fodder, drawn her arm back and struck like a piston to make the prickliest thorn in his side bleed like a waterfall. On the other hand she had made Truth bleed- what was she to do that to a god like entity? Have it so terrified and be able to injure it at all?
"Will you stop that?!"
"You monster. You're no better than Vishnu; thinking it's perfectly acceptable to break the rules to suit your fucked up whims." Her voice remained level, only her glowing golden eyes betraying her fury. "You don't even FEEL it do you?"
"..."
Again with the staring, this time at Truth itself. Who despite having no face, managed to look ashamed with the girl's gaze boring into it like a laser. Until she sighed and buried her face in her small hands.
"You don't nor have no idea what to do about it. Outstanding." she groaned. "Why am I always cleaning up the messes caused by my aunts and uncles? I really thought you all were supposed to be sage and crap. Aside from Mama, Uncle Ebedi and Auntie Aurii, you all seem to be morons. There's a difference between bad luck a bass ackward logic you know that right?"
"Get off your high horse girl. You've no idea what you're talking about, you're just a mage-"
"Who, at present, could whoop your ass. By myself. Doesn't that seem a bit unbalanced to you?" Her stare was flat. "You've screwed with the way things are supposed to be so much, Affinity balanced things out the best way it could to keep this reality from cracking like a china plate. At least that shows you're slightly smarter than Vishnu. You traded your real power for whatever half baked version of order this is. Equivalent exchange is just another term for it. So, how's that workin for ya?"
"If you're so much smarter and more powerful than me, why don't you figure out how to leave?" Truth's tone was bitter with a sharp sting.
"I already have. And as a bonus, I'm gonna help you out of this mess."
"Or, you need to fix what's wrong so you can be on your way."
"To-may-to, to-mah-to. Don't be more of a dick."
By this time, Ed was certain he'd either had a stroke, was hallucinating, dead or something of the like. Words had officially lost any meaning. What the hell was going on?! The fact that both were now looking at him made him realize he'd shouted that last bit. Now (more) uncomfortable, he shifted around on his feet nervously.
"It's your lucky day Mr. Al-che-mist. My...guest may just be able to get you out of this with no toll." There was the smarmy condescending bastard Major Elric hated so much. It might have looked more imposing if not for the river of red running down its front.
"Stop trying to save face. You've lost all credibility, shut up." The girl shook her head, then flashed an angelic smile at the braided blonde. "What Truth meant to say was all the shit I'm sure you two've been through has given you so much karma credit it's ridiculous. And because he fucked up, the cosmic balance has put you on a pretty rough path to being where you truly belong. I'm Sylphine. Though the circumstances could be better, it's nice ta meetcha cuz!"
WHAT?!
*ER*
Sylphine, as the boys learned, was in a hurry. After helping Truth undo something, she took them aside.
"Truth's a bit of a bastard but it means well." She sighed. "Hoenheim and Dante are...were cast offs, splinters of Truth. They're zeal to achieve the unachievable came from knowing deep down that they were once part of a higher power and so they tried to get back to it."
"That faceless asshole really is our father then." Ed laughed bitterly.
"Brother..." Al sighed. "So, thank you but, um now what Ms Sylphine?"
"First of all it's just Sylphine. We're cousins so stop with that. Second don't thank me, in fact you'll probably start to hate me soon. You're no longer mortal. Everyone you have grown to know and love will die and you will live on eternal. This is the cost of what we are." She smiled sadly. "You have the power to shape reality but you'll also find there are things you should not do even though you can. My advice to you is to try and fix not everything but rather ONLY the things you know were directly caused by your actions."
"So Ishval and Xerxes stay in ruins but we can save Hughes? Or even Nina? People we personally knew? That seems awfully selfish and lopsided. Why have these powers when we can't use them to help the most people we can?!" Ed frowned glaring at her.
"Because most things happen for a reason Ed, even the horrific ones. They are best left alone no matter how we personally feel about them. All of this lead to you and Al being brought to your rightful place but somethings are of little consequence on the grand scale. You're smart boys, I'm sure you'll figure out what I mean." She stood on her tiptoes to give them both a kiss on the cheek. "I took valuable time from my quest to grant you this chance. Don't fuck it up, kay? That means you too you faceless dumbass."
With that she skipped through the gate.
That was 18 months ago in real world time. Not really much time to an immortal, but long enough for them both to be declared dead by the military. Long enough to ponder what she meant. Long enough to experience the cabaret of emotions their epiphany rained down on them.
"We still can't bring mom back." Ed sighed. The breeze skewing his unbraided hair slightly. All around children running about on the playground.
"Because she was never meant to exist." Al added quietly not really watching the scene around him.
Of all the things that happened to them, of all they came to realize that had been the worst of all. And Sylphine had been right. The pair had spent sometime after her departure wishing to strangle the pint sized girl. Well Ed had. Al was just very angry in general.
Trisha Elric had also been a splinter of Truth. It's maternal/paternal self wishing to have children. But unlike the portions that became Hohenheim and Dante she had no desire for eternal life, but merely to create it. Cherish it, see it flourish. Unfortunately being so loosely connected to her whole self didn't allow her to see the outcome of her choices or even realize what she was. The cost of her desire happened to be her life. Bringing not one but two children who should be gods into the world consumed all the essence she had. Only sheer force of will allowed her to exist as long as she had afterwards.
When she died, she did return to the gate. And instead of being welcomed back Truth didn't understand therefore feared what she represented. Instead of allowing that portion to return to it, it instead sealed it off within itself. Just as it would do to Dante and Hohenheim when they perished in the final battle. And this is where it all fell apart.
Being what they were, had it been any other person they tried to revive, it would have been lauded as the first successful human resurrection. Instead, the transmutation the Elric brothers attempted only failed because there was no human soul for them to pull back. Eager to be reunited with her boys, Trisha herself tried to take them both back into her. Back into the Gate.. Only Ed's quick thinking, Truth being confused as shit about the whole situation and her still being so weak stopped it from happening completely.
Truth couldn't believe they had escaped its grasp with such a meager toll! A body and two limbs were NOT equivalent to what they tried to pull! They both belonged to IT now! How dare they?! Why were they special?!
/All is one and one is all./
/I am the world and the world is me./
/What is done in the shadows of the dark is not always tainted. Nor is all done under the glow of the light pure. This is the one truth that cannot be denied./*
/Good and evil are ultimately worthless constructs of the mind./"
Everything that had ever occurred in their world for good or ill all boiled down to broken fragments of a shattered being trying to reunite without ever realizing it.
What drew Dante and Hohenheim together. What didn't allow their child to thrive. The reason he met and married Trisha. The cause of him leaving once they were born; the call of his original goal far too strong. The reason she died. The reason she couldn't be revived. The purpose of everything before, between and after.
All Sylphine had done was get Truth to accept this and allow itself to be whole again.
Edward had literally ripped out hair at that realization. Al blinked then laughed uneasily as the golden locks instantly regrew but totally got what was pissing his brother off. On the brightside, he was no longer (quite as) mad at their helpful cousin. But enraged at his asshole father. This time having undeniable validation for his belief that it was his fault their mom died. If Truth hadn't been so afraid of what he saw his brethren endure then become so complacent in the fractured reality it created then he and Alphonse would have been born as they should have directly from it. Not been the result of equivalent exchange (the affinity, WHAT-FUCKING-EVER!) forcefully shoving the pieces of the puzzle together; and their feelings be damned .
The brothers would never have faced such hardships. Never encountered all those they had ever helped, harmed, been unable to save or inspired in fashion. Amestris would never have existed at all. And neither would Trisha Elric. Talk about your catch 22s.
/This is the cost of what we are./
On the other hand they would not be the people they had become. Without Trisha's unconditional love, Izumi's firm but caring hand, meeting Colonel (now Fuhrer) Bastard, even the behind the scenes manipulations of the homunculi and their creators...who knows.
And therein lied the crux. Were all these mistakes truly mistakes or were they always meant to be?
*ER*
*The core principles of my Reality of Chaos concept.
Tada. This isn't the end of this side fic. Plot bunnies fucking love me after all and this has evolved. (Hides from readers demanding updates to other fics.) This was mostly Edward's reaction so there's lots of potential for others later on. I warn you from this point on, this story is gonna earn it's T rating. The subject matter wil be more of the mature nature and will not be just silliness, but don't worry, I specialize in dark humor with a purpose.
Love it? Hate it? Complete indifference? Reviews are like hugs! Sirensoundwave out!