4: Aislinn's Doubts

"Mommy, why did Daddy, Auntie and Uncle go away?" Ai asked. Aislinn's expression wilted for a moment.

"Because if they stayed here, we all might get sick and die," she finally answered.

"But we'll get sick and die even if they didn't go," the child protested.

"Mom and Dad left so they can stop what's making people sick and Uncle went with them because he can help too," Tobias jumped in. "I don't know what's making people sick, but I know it's really bad."

"Toby, what are you talking about?" Aislinn asked.

"The white man told me," the blond boy replied. "He said that the bad thing making people sick might also make him sick and then the entire world would fall apart."

"What white man?" Ai asked. "I've never seen a white man. Unless you are talking about us because our skin is white."

"no, no, no!" he cried, waving his arms. "The white man. You know. the one made out of white light like Mom's powers!"

"Tobias, are you saying you met the Truth?" Aislinn asked, her voice heavy with concern. If the boy had met the Truth like he claims…

"Yeah, I talked to him for a while. He said that if I got strong enough, I could go help Mom and Dad and Uncle," he shrugged.

"You're lying. You did not meet the Truth," Ai sassed. "Only Mommy, Daddy, Auntie and Uncle can meet it."

"I did too. You're just jealous because I met him and you didn't," Tobias stuck out his tongue.

"Tobias, did he take anything from you?" Aislinn inquired, trying to mask the concern oozing from her voice.

"No he didn't. He said I was just like Mom and you," the kid grinned. "Don't worry; I'm fine," he sighed, sounding an awful lot like Christin.

"Ai, Toby, play nice and keep an eye on Rio. I have to speak with someone," Aislinn demurred, rising from her seat on the low couch.

"Okay," the cousins chorused, focusing on Rio, who cooed happily.

The redhead breezed down the marble hallway, ignoring the passing servants who bowed respectfully towards their honored guest. She needed to speak to Lin. He had seen the Truth along with Edward… maybe he could offer her some solace. She worried deeply about her family. Christin had recovered immensely; she no longer cut or talked about killing herself or how useless she was… as far as she knew. Edward was strong, so she didn't need to worry as much about him, though that temper could use a bit of work. And Alphonse… he had never admitted it nor spoken of it since it occurred, but she knew he was upset about what he had done to Edward… severing his limbs again. Once she had woken up and found him crying. She shook herself both mentally and physically; now was not the time to dwell on past actions. She heard Lin's voice through a door, though it was muted.

"You're interrupting," he hummed when Aislinn barged in. Aislinn ignored the fact that Lanfan was balanced precariously on his lap and blushing almost as red as her hair.

"When you and Edward met the Truth, did he take anything when you went?" she demanded.

"Not that I can think of. Can't this wait until later? I'm really busy right now," he sighed.

"Tobias claims he met the Truth and that it told him he might get sick from the disease killing people," she said.

"Tobias will get sick?" he asked, slightly confused.

"The Truth will…" she sighed, "…and the world will suffer because of that."

"You're not making sense," he replied, sitting up.

"I know it sounds stupid, but I think he may be right. He talked with the Truth and he didn't pay for it," Aislinn huffed. "I was going to consult the bastard myself but thought maybe you'd know something before I did that."

"If I recall anything, I'll let you know," he waved her off.

"I can see why Edward dislikes you so much," Aislinn hissed as she stormed away. Some help he was. He was more interested in banging Lanfan than the state of his country… maybe even the world! A low snarl escaped her lips as she closed her eyes and focused on finding the Truth.

"What is it now?" the voice asked boredly. Aislinn opened her eyes to see the white sillhoutette of a person hovering before her, between herself and the Gate.

"Tobias claims to have spoken with you; is this true?" she demanded.

"Yeah, the kid's just like his mom. I didn't think that'd be such a problem what with genetics and all," it shrugged. "Although I have to say he's pretty sharp for a little kid. He knew who I was instantly."

"Is Ai the same?" she asked a bit softer.

"Not Ai, but Rio is. Ai is an alchemist, not like you and your sister and nephew. However… your next child will be like you. Ain't that just swell?" it giggled.

"Next child?" she asked. "But I am not carrying a child at the moment! The only child I've borne so far has been Ai!"

"I said it was your next one, not that you're carrying one right now. God sometimes I think you're worse than your sister," it grumbled. "so stupid…"

"I am not stupid, and neither is Christin!" she replied hotly. "How dare you even think such a thing!"

"Ooh, but you forget that I'm the one who rules the world. I can kill you as easily as I gave you life," it threatened, floating close to her and caressing her face. She stiffened and held her breath. The Truth may be just a mass of energy, but she could feel skin as cold as death brushing against her own. "Sadly, I can't dispose of you just yet. I need you to watch the kids for me."

"Are you going to bring the children into this as well?!" she cried.

"I'm not going to bring them into it," it sighed. "This has been their destiny from the day they were conceived. If you think about it… and really want to blame someone for essentially thrusting upon them the duty of saving the world… I'd blame the parents."

Aislinn's mouth flapped open and close but no words were audible.

"I'm busy. I've got a whole new crop of souls to decide destinations for," it said with disgust. Aislinn found herself back in the palace in the blink of an eye. After grinding her teeth and punching the floor a few times, she focused on talking to her twin.

"You've been sitting at that thing ever since we came here!" Edward cried. "Are you going to do anything else?!"

"Actually, there's a perfectly good reason why I've been sitting here for three days, Ed," Christin replied coolly. "This future world is completely different from the one I remember. I have been downloading information that wil help us when we debut in society."

"Oh…" he said, embarrassed.

"You'll thank me, honestly," she grinned. "I mean, I can't really go around talking about obsolete things, now can i? people will think I'm retarded."

"So what did you learn?" Alphonse asked.

"Well, the reason this neighborhood's been abandoned is because they're going to tear down all the buildings and roads and stuff and replant the forest. Apparently the air quality is worse than it was three hundred years ago," she recited.

"That would explain why it's so hard to breathe here," Edward nodded. The air had felt really thick and sticky ever since they came here, and breathing was a bit of a chore now, though Christin seemed to be functioning perfectly fine. Then again, she had lived here before so was probably used to all the pollution.

"Yeah, the city's going to demolish all these neighborhoods and plant a bunch of trees in hopes of improving the air quality. Either way, we're going to have to go into the city sooner or later to buy clothes and get jobs and stuff," she waved her hand dismissively. "We can't stay here if they're going to trash the place."

"America's losing in the Olympics," Alphonse reported. "It sucks cuz I'm really starting to like them."

"Man, they're still doing that crap?" she grumbled. "Gawd, I hate the Olympics… well, at least Tiger Woods is dead, hopefully. I'm so sick of hearing about his zillions of affairs."

"Who's Tiger Woods?" Edward asked. Before he could get a reply, Christin blanked out and froze up.

"Aislinn," she sighed. Aislinn smiled when she saw her sister. "Is something wrong? How're the kids?"

"They're fine," the redhead replied. "But Tobias…"

"What about him?"

"He said he met the Truth," Aislinn admitted, twiddling her thumbs. "I honestly don't know what to make of it. I even spoke to the Truth about him, but after what it's done to us I wouldn't trust it completely."

"Did either say anything else?" Christin asked.

"The Truth said Tobias and Rio were like you and me, and Ai was an alchemist… and that they were going to be involved with this as well, not just us. and… he said that my next child will be one too," she added.

"One what?" Christin asked.

"One of us… an emissary of the Truth," she murmured. "Christin, it said that we brought them into this… the children have to play a part in this."

"Well, we'll just have to change that, now won't we?" she asked. "don't worry, I'll have this sorted out and solved before you know it."

"Christin…" Aislinn stalled. "Give Alphonse my love."

"Naturally," the singer grinned, flashing a peace sign before vanishing.

"Oh god, you scared me!" Edward sighed. Christin blinked and rubbed her eyes. It was really dark in the house compared to the white space she had conversed in with Aislinn.

"Aislinn says 'hi' and sends her love," she reported. "What's wrong? You look worried."

"Oh, we went poking through your room while you were uh… y'know… and we found 'Fullmetal Alchemist' discs. We were gonna play with them and see what they do," the blond shrugged.

"Oh, they're DVD's. are you sure you wanna relive all that again?" she asked gently. She herself didn't want to watch it. It would be odd seeing that anime again with it's main characters at her sides… especially when one of the DVD's had Edward's death scene in it…

"Ah, I'm sure I'll survive," he grinned, hauling her off the ground. They meandered to the living room, where Alphonse was crouched down near the old DVD player/VCR. It made whirring sounds and the screen remained blue.

"I think I broke it," he mumbled.

"It was broken when I was living here three centuries ago," she grumbled. "My idiot of a 'brother'…" she made finger quotes as he wasn't really her brother any more, "was always breaking things. Hang on; I'll get my DVD player from my room."

"Are you sure you want to watch this Brother?" Alphonse asked when Christin was out of earshot.

"I want to see how she saw us," he muttered softly, plopping on the faded grey sofa. "Maybe it's different from the way we experienced it."

"I really doubt that, Brother," Alphonse mused, sitting next to him. Christin appeared the next minute, carrying a small silver contraption. After ten minutes of fiddling with the cords coming out of the TV, she had plugged it in. she pulled a worn remote control out of her pocket and pointed it at the silver device.

"Ugh, more buttons are breaking… tape. I need tape," she mumbled, running around the house. "Okay, ready?" she asked when she had repaired her remote. Edward had almost fallen asleep waiting.

"Um. Sure, yeah," he half yawned.

"Just so you know, I don't know what disc is in here, so just bear with me. Besides, you should know this stuff already," she almost whispered.

They watched a few episodes before he made her turn it off. He then wandered laps around the house, clutching his stomach where Envy had pierced him and… killed him. Dying once was bad enough; re-watching it was horrible. Christin was crying, but he kinda expected that.

"We're leaving here tomorrow, going into the city. Demolition starts tomorrow evening, so we better get out while we can," she said later that night. "Are you okay?"

"Fine," he muttered distantly. He was standing on the decaying back deck, watching the stars through slits in the tree leaves as a warm summer breeze rustled them. A creek… or maybe a river as it was fairly large… gurgled somewhere below them, reflecting the light cast by the house behind him. His eyes flicked to the broken flight of wooden stairs now crumbling with age. He didn't dare try going down them. After a pause, he felt her arms wrap around his torso.

"Don't lie to me Ed," she whispered. "You know I can see through them like they're panes of glass."

"I'm not fine," he admitted grudgingly. "Watching someone die is one thing… watching yourself die is another. It hurts and reopens old wounds. Part of me wants to get mad at you, but I just can't."

"I'm sorry… I should've known you'd react like that. But I can't seem to help myself; I'm adopting my old lifestyle, fangirl-ism and all. I should've known…" she trailed off.

"God, would you stop apologizing for every little thing?" he sighed angrily. "I'm sick of you doing that when it's not your fault! I was the one who agreed to watch it!"

"Stop it…" she uttered, pulling away and spinning him around so he faced her. "Stop trying to compensate for everything! Every time I try to apologize for my stupidity, you come back with some reason to blame yourself! Stop shouldering all the blame and burdens and let others share your pain! That's why it took us so long to get to this point in our relationship Edward!"

She held up her left hand, showing him her ring.

"We have the same problem with not letting others feel our pain. We act tough so we can spare those we love… but that's also what could lead to a downfall. I don't want to lose you, Ed!" she cried. Edward burst into dry laughter.

"We haven't grown up at all…" he chuckled. "Some example we're setting for the kids, huh?"

"Don't say that; you're a wonderful father," she shook her head. "Much better than the one who raised me…"

"Any idea what this thing we're supposed to stop is?" he asked, not caring how abrupt a subject change it was.

"Whatever is it, it's not human. It's almost verging on a machine, because I don't really sense anything coming from it, nor can I see it. How can we defeat an enemy we can't see?" she mused softly.

"You make this sound like a cheesy novel," he scoffed.

"I'm being serious Edward!" she hollered, stomping her foot. "If something isn't done about this… this… entity, everything as we know it could very well collapse! Even the Truth will be affected by it!" she sighed and threw up her hands, walking back inside.

"Toby, would you come here for a moment?" Aislinn asked, beckoning the boy with her hand.

"Is something wrong?" he asked. He could tell by the look in her eyes that something was, but as to exactly what… he hadn't the foggiest. "Tell me."

"You spoke with the Truth, right?" she asked softly. Oh, it was about that. Well, he already knew his role in everything… might as well let her know too, as she was taking care of him in the absence of his parents. "What did he say to you?"

Tobias felt a smile quirk at his lips.

A/N: how do you all like it so far? I was gonna start a Yu-Gi-Oh! Fanfic, but I have a bout a zillion OC's to design first, then the story to start writing… so it'll take a while to get it rolling. I do hope you'll read it when I get around to publishing it, though. Here's a little 411, basically what's going to happen in the story (the core outline)(oh, it's set after the movie Pyramid of Light)…

When Joey receives a strange blank card from an even stranger girl, he learns something shocking about himself: that he too has an alter ego, the pharaoh who succeeded Yami Yugi (Atem), Jabari. He also learns that both he and Yugi play a role in a dark plot. Osiris, lord of the dead after Anubis, seeks to fulfill Anubis's goal of world domination while guided by Set, the Egyptian god of evil. The girl who gave him the blank card, which happens to be an Egyptian God Card of a monster named Bastet, also has an alter ego: Bastet, the monster in the blank card. She is a member of the Ordinance of Ra, a gathering of some of the most powerful Egyptian gods in history. Joey and Yugi (Jabari and Atem) discover the darker side of Duel Monsters as the world is once again threatened by evil.

Too bad I can't fit all that in the stupid summary box! Hey, if anyone can think of a good summary that'll fit in the box, let me know cuz I can NOT think of one!

.:~*alchemicmonkey*~:.