I'm very, very sorry I didn't get this out sooner. It completely blew my mind, plus I kind of needed to figure out just where this story is going. I have the next chapter planned out though, so it should come quickly! Sorry for making everyone wait! I would like to reply to all of the reviews individually, but I'm not supposed to be on the computer right now, and I'm hurrying to get this chapter uploaded.

So, I wrote this really quickly, just so I could get it out, so please forgive me if its not written the best. Tomorrow I'll have to come read through it and revise it a bit. Anyway, please enjoy!

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Chapter Five: The Gate

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He didn't know when he first got there; he couldn't have been there forever, though, seeing as he had memories of another place. Still, he had no recollection of ever first arriving in the great expanse of nothingness. Not black, not white. Not light, not dark. Just nothingness, as far as the eye could see.

After standing, simply staring at the empty space in front of him, he finally made up his mind to walk forward. He didn't know what he was expecting, but he figured he would eventually find something if he continued to move.

It was if he went no where, simply walking in the same place for hours; the scenery around him never changed, but eventually his muscles began to ache and he stopped. Glancing around at his unchanged surroundings, he sat down slowly.

Sighing, the small sound dying quickly around him, he rubbed at his sore legs, wondering what he could possibly do to get somewhere. Anywhere really, as long as it was someplace different than where he currently was.

He ran through his memories, and frowned when he discovered they were faded and blurred, and though he could sometimes see smiling people and a different setting, he couldn't remember quite who or where those places and people were. It troubled him, and he sat, trying hard to remember who and what each thing in his scrambled memories was.

How long he sat, he couldn't be sure, as the scenery around him never shifted, and nothing ever changed. But eventually, sometime later, he had a feeling that there was someone near him, some other living thing with him in the great empty space.

Slowly, but for some reason not afraid in the least, he turned his head to look over his shoulder and discovered he had been right.

Sitting a little ways back from him, was a figure facing the other direction; he could see pale skin where its black clothing was not, and long, green hair hanging in clumps and falling down its back. As he watched, the figure looked over its shoulder to stare straight at him, and he could see violet eyes void of all emotion, similar to its face.

They stared at each other for a while, with no way to measure the passing of time they couldn't be sure how long it really was, both staring without emotion or recognition.

Until the violet eyes clouded over, and narrowed; following suit, the figure's face was painted over in rage, a sneer filled with reptile-like teeth stretching over its features. And still, he sat, watching as the figure stood, slumped over in wrath, tightly clenched fists shaking in barely contained fury.

And then the figure spoke.

"Elric." The animal like growl echoed around them, even though there were no walls in sight.

And finally, he was filled with dread, for he recognized that word at once; and soon, all of his blurred memories cleared, and Allen realized that he was in danger.

The creature, for he was quite sure it wasn't human, started towards him, growling as he did so.

"Elric," it spat again. "EDWARD ELRIC!!!!" Allen nearly fell over as he jumped to his feet, his ears aching at the incredible volume of the creature's roar. He attempted to shake his head, fear almost immobilizing him, as he tried to clear up the creature's misunderstanding. He would not be killed for something his father had done.

Without warning, the creature charged, screaming death threats and curses; Allen stumbled, falling hard on his back.

And just as suddenly as the creature had charged, it halted, only feet in front of the fallen boy, staring with wide, horror filled eyes at him. Or something behind him. The feeling that he had had earlier, returned, and he took a deep breath before turning his head to see what the creature was staring at.

And at once realized why it was so scared.

Two large double doors stood, towering high above him and appeared to fill the entire space. Strange writing covered it surface, and the mere presence of it was more threatening that anything Allen had ever seen, including the creature that had been intent on killing him seconds before.

He turned himself around completely, and slowly rose to his feet, still gazing in horror at the doors. The Gate. The knowledge supplied itself in his head.

"NO!" The screech made him jump, and he spun to see the creature almost to the point of foaming with rage, glaring at the Gate. "NO! I HAVE HIM!" Its eyes turned on him, and he once again was frozen in fear. This thing wanted to kill him, or his father, more than anything, and his only current condolence was the fact that the creature was too scared of the Gate to come any closer to him. Allen could understand why.

Something grabbed at his arm, pulling him back; he shot his head towards it to see a snakelike arm winding itself around his own arm, and then another around his leg. He began twisting himself, fighting violently against his inhuman attackers, as yet another wrapped around his middle; soon there were too many to count, all working to pull him back towards the Gate.

The creature in front of him stood mesmerized, watching Allen's desperate struggle, listening to his screams and yells, as if in a daze.

Twisting his head around to see the Gate behind him, Allen continued to fight and pull at the arms; the doors had opened now, the black arms spilling out of it like tentacles, and his breath hitched as he realized all he could see was black.

He was being pulled closer, closer, closer…..

….something different than the arms crashed into him, grabbing around his middle as he heard the creature cry out, "I won't let you get away!" and then….

….he was pulled into the pitch black darkness, and the gate doors closed behind him.

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The abandoned, run-down house was crowded with people now, military personal all curious to know just how a sixteen year old boy had managed to disappear completely into thin air. The majority of them were state alchemists, all trying to pry information out of Roy. The transmutation circle had disappeared along with Allen, and all of them wanted to know just what it looked like, including Roy, who hadn't had the chance to study it before the transmutation had activated.

Roy answered as few questions as he could, wishing they would all leave as he was in no mood to deal with them; he hadn't wanted to tell anyone about what had happened yet and wasn't happy at all that people from headquarters had shown up.

Havoc had been the one who had let it slip when Fuery had given him a call. And what Fuery knew, a few back at headquarters had discovered. For as long as he had worked under Roy, Jean should have known better.

Roy couldn't bring himself to blame him though; Fuery had had the worst timing, calling almost seconds after Allen had disappeared, and all of them had been in such a state of shock that it was no wonder Havoc had let it slip in a stuttered panic.

So now, Allen was gone, the higher-ups knew, and Roy was all the more ready to burning something – or someone – to a blackened crisp. Preferably the one who had drawn the circle in the first place. Roy figured he know had a pretty good idea what had happened to the previous owner of this house.

"This is going to kill Winry," he heard Riza whisper as she came to stand next to him. He had managed to escape the countless questions and watched as the other alchemists surveyed the circle-less floor. Roy bit the inside of his lip and clenched his hand into a fist, knowing she was right.

On his other side, he heard Havoc mutter, "She's not the only one."

The thing that bothered Roy the most – even more than the fact that someone he considered an adopted son had just disappeared in front of his very eyes – was the fact that Allen was too much like his father.