A/N- Thank you for reviewing. It's much appreciated! Sorry if I didn't manage to reply to you, but if you review on this chapter I definitely will *hint hint* Wi-fi is still being a pain, but hopefully uploads will be quicker.

Chapter Ten

And Edward lay there listening to their conversation.

His eyes squeezed tight, images and sounds forcing their way into his head. There was so much of it! The pain was almost too much for him to bear. Flashes appeared in his mind's eye, flashes of blood red, steel grey, blue alchemical light and finally a dark oppressing black. The black was filled with pain and guilt, longing and desire, fear and despair. The blue held the comfortingly famailiarity, yet the trace of something forbidden.

The red with a sort of nothingness, he wasn't too sure how he could explain it. It was just nothing. Yet the grey held a warmth that none of the other colours could hold. It was a sweet warmth, one filled with a sense of belonging and love. But the flashes became more frequent, and more meaningful. Instead of just colours, images flew past, almost too quick for him to catch, but enough for him to get a glimpse and then a burst of searing pain in his chest. These hurt him in a way he wouldn't have though possible before. They made him feel heavy inside, weighted down by a dark feeling, something close to despair. It stayed within him, making himself an object of self loathing.

The images were painful to look at. A sad looking dog-creature with pain filled eyes. That horrible inhuman creation. A burning house. A young child with tears streaming down her cheeks, a green eyed man smiling sadly behind her. A suit of armor pinned in the centre of a glowing transmutation circle. A familiar face, one he couldn't even think about hitting. A blast of agony followed by a welcoming darkness. Then it got even worse. The smell of burning bodies, human bodies, mud and death. The horrid sights of death, and complete and utter despair. Screams rang out, piercing his ears, leaving them ringing. A family boarding a train without turning back, a view of naked bodies compressed into a small area. Coughing, moans of pain and shouts of despair coupled with terrifying images of people who looked like corpses.

So much was being piled into his brain in such a small time, and it hurt just to be. It all stopped though, at that single thought, and Ed had no idea why. He wasn't in his mind anymore. He was in a white nothingness, and it gave of an eerie chill, an aura of stood there, gazing at the white in awe, amazed so little could do so much. A wind stole around his shoulders, and he wondered where it had come from. So he turned around.

"But there is much more here than just nothingness! You of all people should know that Mr. Al~che~mist!"

Ed froze in shock, his entire body vibrating with fear. He couldn't be here! He shouldn't be here! And in that moment, he knew what this was. He knew what this nothingness was, and he knew what was behind those gates. Those big grey gates that stood, tall and ominous. Those Gateway's to Hell.

"Not Hell Mr. Al~che~mist! Truth. Knowledge. Understanding. Don't tell me you don't remember?"

Ed stood there, still trembling. He could see him now. The white figure that stood in front of the gates. That goddamn figure that ruined his life! Ed knew there was no fault in his knowledge, he could remember this at least. It pained him even to look at the thing that stood there. He was still trembling, but this time it wasn't in fear or shock. It was in anger. Ed's jaw was visibly tense, hands curled into fists. He swallowed, his face twisting into a grimace.

"GIVE HIM BACK YOU BASTARD! GIVE BACK MY BROTHER!" Ed shouted at Truth, and before even he knew it, he ran, his legs pumping, breathing uneven, towards Truth. And hit him straight in the face.

Truth looked at Ed, his face cocky, his smile still plastered across his face.

"Well, Mr. Al~che~mist! Can't say that's happened before! You truly have no irrational fear of me do you?"

Ed's mouth was open in shock. Of what Truth had said, that Truth hadn't even flinched, and of course, that fact that he had just punched Truth in the face. For some strange reason he had expected his punch to go straight through Truth's head, but, on the contrary, it was very solid. Almost unnaturally so.

"You seem quite surprised by that statement. Whatever has happened to you know? When you came through here the last time, you looked like a wreck, but at least I could hold some intelligent conversation."

At that moment in time, Ed was doing a wonderful goldfish impression. Last time? What the hell did he mean by last time? And why would he be looking like a wreck? It was so confusing. Actually nothing made sense anymore. I mean, he had been in the hospital one moment, then being shoved through his memories, quite violently, to ending up at a pair of gates that he recognized, but didn't know how. And to top it all of, a strange being who claimed to know about Edward. The only memory he could match up with this one was an image of a silhouette reaching out to grasp his hand, before meeting this guy. Like he had said nothing made any sense. When he realised that Truth was still waiting for a reply he said intelligently,

"I know you."

If Truth had eyes, Ed was certain he would have rolled them.

"Nice to see you are able to speak again Mr. Al~che~mist. Though I am sure I said something about intelligent conversation."

Ed fumed silently at the not so subtle implication that he was stupid. He was NOT! He just had no memories, and sorry for being a little confused about that!

"Sorry, but I can't remember ever having an intelligent conversation with the likes of you."

Truth smiled his creepy smile yet again. He didn't seem at all bothered by the insult. In fact. He seemed quite delighted that Ed was speaking again,and perhaps showing that trademark stubborness and attitude.

"Ah, so the little alchemist can't remember anything. That wasn't the price you paid, don't worry. I suspect you wilk get your memories back soon."

Ed gaped at the figure. How the hell had he been able to tell all of that from one tiny conversation? And what price was he talking about? Ed hoped it wasn't anything to severe, because he could vaguely recall it going very badly some other time. But he had an important question for Truth.

"So. You didn't answer my previous question. Where is Alphonse?" Edward was practically snarling at this point. He just wanted to know what had happened to his brother! It wasn't too much to ask for was it?

Truth grinned evilly. Ed really didn't like the look of it. Truth leaned closer towards Ed, until his mouth was at Ed's ear. Ed felt the urge to pull away, but denied himself the comfort of doing do. He opened his mouth to answer, but a giggle caught him mid-way. Truth swallowed, readying himself. That smirk graced his face again. Then he hissed straight into Ed's ear,

"He, Mr. Al~che~mist, was the price!"

A/N- Dun dun DUN! A sign of actual plot? Yes, I'm sorry I did technically just kill of Alphonse. Sorry. Please don't hurt me :( It was kind of relevant to the plot. I had a kind of because it was only an idea I had a few days ago... but Alphonse is making some sort of a reappearance. Sort of. I think this chapter is slightly confusing, but I hope yo guys could understand it. I have found out writing Truth is really hard. He has a weird personality. I hope I did okay with him. Sorry aboit the length, but I really had no idea what else I could put in this chapter, mainly because I wanted to end it there. Whoops. I just things are more interesting eith cliffhangers. And you don't have to eait so long for an update. Thanks for reading and please review! They are the only things that keep me writing this!

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