Hey guys, sorry this took so long, school got in the way, and I some how fell head first into a Fairy Tail and Pokemon mood. Yeah, I know, it doesn't excuse the lack of cuties, feels and madness I've been giving you all with Alchemist or Mizune, so please accept my sincerest apologies! Anyways, if some of you are looking for challenges, I've started a forum called "Adopt and Challenge", I have two challenges up, and you all can be from any fandom or whatever, if you want to throw some ideas out there, or whatever. so yeah, enjoy the chapter, and I'll try to be more active.

Also, DEAR MOTHER OF GOD! OVER FIFTY FOLLOWERS?! *le faint*

"Red, like roses, fills my dreams and brings me to the place you rest..." ~ RWBY (Red Trailer "Red Like Roses")

Chapter Ten:

Grief

"A sound soul dwells within a sound mind and a sound body."

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

FullMetal woke to find himself in what looked to be Death City split in half and combined with a strangely familiar city. Death city was a deep shade of violate whilst the familiar-looking city was indigo. When he looked up into the sky he saw that the moon was over the unknown city whilst a...orb? - was hovering over Death City... Strangely he couldn't help but think that the orb was also a moon... He also found that his clothes were different...

He wore a cloak that was like his old one but it had the Mizune stripes and the emblem was a sterling silver. He also had pants that also had the stripes, a black, long-sleeved, white rimmed shirt, elevator boots that looked like paws, and white gloves that had black fingertips. The clothes were very light and comfortable.

FullMetal looked at his surroundings... He had a weird feeling that he was being watched... He then saw that there was a little girl behind him...

"You lost?" the little girl asked.

"Uh...Yeah...I'm FullMetal Alchemist Mizune."

The girl took a step back when she heard his name, but calmed herself and said, "My name is Nina..."

FullMetal couldn't help but think that Nina looked familiar to him and that her name also sounded familiar. Suddenly his mind flashed to Nina with a big white dog then to a strange creature that looked like a large pale white dog with a brown mane and white eyes, then... his mind flashed to the creature dead with a lot of blood splattered around it.

FullMetal then muttered, "No...no... you're not the real Nina...she's-...she's dead..."

When he blinked he found himself in front of a little boy that had short gold hair and gold eyes. He was wearing white shorts and a black shirt. "That was quicker than I expected... but then again, we're one in the same thing..."

FullMetal was about to ask the boy what he meant by one in the same thing, then he realized who he was looking at...

"Y-...You're me!" FullMetal exclaimed, "But, how?!"

The boy looked up at him, disgruntled, "You're in your Soul Realm! You were pulled here by your madness."

"Oh." FullMetal said. He thought about what the boy said about the madness. He had learned that madness is caused by Keishin and that Keishin Eggs are creatures who had fallen into the madness... He knew that this meant that he had fallen into the madness, which is how he had became a Keishin Egg in the firsts place. Thinking that the boy would tell him about his past, he asked "So...uh...do-...do you mind...telling me about my- uh- I mean our past?"

The child glared, "Yes, I mind. I'm not saying anything. You need to find out on your own."

FullMetal frowned.

The boy sighed, "I'll tell you our real name, but I suggest that you just keep going by 'FullMetal Alchemist' though."

FullMetal looked surprised, to think - through out this whole time his name was nothing more than a lie. He nodded, "Okay."

"Our real name is Edward Elric." the boy said.

FullMetal thought about the name... It was fitting... he then asked, "So, why did I think that 'FullMetal Alchemist' was our name?"

"Look at the waist coat, you knucklehead." Edward shot, "Yeeesh, now I know how Teacher feels..."

FullMetal wondered what Professor Stine had to do with this but he decided that it was now best to keep his questions to himself, not wanting to annoy Edward anymore. The child was strangely intimidating. FullMetal looked at the unknown city, curiosity engulfing him. He knew that Edward no longer wanted his company, so he began walking to the city.

"Where the hell are you going?" Edward asked rudely.

"Well, since you seem to be annoyed with me, I thought that you might fell better if I left." FullMetal said matter-of-factly, "Besides, that city has peaked my interest..."

Edward glared at him as if he had said or done something wrong. "You're such an idiot..." he said then began yelling, "WE'RE IDIOTS! ITS ALL OUR FAULT! WE HAD THIS COMING AND YOU KNEW IT!" FullMetal took a step back, Edward slowly calmed his rage, "Go ahead! Just... get the hell out of here,... I... I need to think..."

FullMetal swiftly left the child, what he did to anger the kid, he didn't know, he hoped that he wouldn't have to deal with him for a long time... After getting a good distance between him and Edward, he found himself in the middle of a street. He sighed and began walking down the street. He felt as though he walked there before, but he didn't know why. He couldn't help but think that he had lived there or maybe have moved there, but the one thing that he felt was very probable was that he had visited the place more that once. He had a strange feeling at something bad was happening, but he saw that there wasn't anything around him, he was alone. He then thought about the madness...

Edward had said that the madness had pulled him there, so... if that was true... then where was it? Who was controlling his body? Who was with Maka and Soul?

FullMetal stopped in his tracks, his thoughts becoming deeper. "If I'm here and the Madness is what placed me in this...Soul Realm... then what's happening to me and my friends?... What if they're in danger? What if... What if they're worried sick about me?!"

He decided that he needed to find a way out of the Soul Realm, but at the same time he wanted to stay and see if he could remember something. He had many strange feelings about the city... For one thing he felt that something really bad had happened there... He felt that it was very important and that he should try to remember, but there was a feeling that it was a memory better left untouched...

He marched on... with every place he passed his bad feeling deepened and deepened causing him to become jittery and make him want to go back home. After a while he was in the center of the city... He saw that at the center was a large building that was a military base with a large staircase leading up to it. It was merged with the DWMA. He felt that there were many emotional ties to the building. He felt his breathing become unstable. He felt that it was important but tragic... it wasn't something that he should go near yet it was. He didn't know what to do...

Wanting to know more about himself, he walked up the staircase. When he reached the top he saw just how big the building was but it was short compared to the school. He took one step toward the building but was stopped buy a gun shot. When he looked where the shot came from, he saw a blond woman with dog ears and tail. He felt that he knew her but with out the bog features.

"No trespassing." the woman said in a stern tone.

FullMetal couldn't help but argue, "But this is my soul! I can to what I want."

"Is it really your soul? Or is it Edward's?" the woman asked.

He stared at her, "But I am Edward!"

"Are you really? Or are you the manifestation of his amnesia? Are you the real Edward Elric or are the one who prefers to be called by his state-given name?" the woman asked. She stared at him for a good while then sighed, "You aren't even sure yourself. Come back when you have an answer..."

FullMetal ran away from the building, not wanting to confront the woman ever again. When he was down the stair case, stopped and caught his breath. He didn't understand what was going on.

Suddenly there were several chains headed toward him, he attempted to dodge but it was no use, there were too many of them. He was hit so hard that he was sent flying back a great distance. When he hit the ground, there were several cracks in the pavement. He coughed up blood.

He slowly got up and looked at his surroundings, when he looked up, he saw a shadowy figure on top of faraway lamppost holding an all too familiar weapon... A triple-bladed gold scythe...

The person broke the handle, revealed the chain and spun causing a never ending chain to head directly toward FullMetal. He didn't know what to do, he held up his arms in an attempt to protect himself. His eyes went wide when he saw the blades digging into the pavement, but still going strong as it flew right toward him.

The blades dug right through his gut and made him go back first into the wall of a building.

"Wow! That was just too easy!"

FullMetal's eyes went wide, he slowly looked up only to see... none other than himself holding the handle to the scythe. His double looked like the way he did in his old clothes. His eyes were cold and sadistic.

"So this what became of us? How pathetic!" with a swift tug and enough force, the double used the blades to move and send FullMetal in to the pavement.

The double looked down at the Mizune and frowned, "I expected better."

Then the world went white...

FullMetal shot up, panting, trying to get some air into his lungs. He patted his torso making sure he could still feel and that he didn't have any wounds, to his relief he was fine. He looked around to find that he was in the infirmary... He saw that Professor Stein was there. Strangely enough FullMetal saw a blue orb floating in Stein's chest...The professor didn't seem to notice it...

"We need to have a talk..." Stein said seriously.

FullMetal's brows furrowed... Was he in trouble?

It couldn't be right... it just couldn't... He, attack Maka and Soul? Maddification?... Falling back into the one thing that made him no better that the things he killed last night?... No, it just couldn't be right!

FullMetal curled into a ball and put his head into his knees. He knew he had a bad feeling about those clothes... He blamed himself for being so stupid back then...and most of all now...

Stein was sitting in his usual stitched-up chair, "FullMetal, don't blame yourself, it isn't your fault..." Stein said.

The scythe didn't answer.

"Your parents, Lord Death, Mabaa, Nygus and myself are creating ways to treat the Maddification so that way you wont have the same fate as Athena..." Stein said.

FullMetal looked up at the Professor, "Are-...are Maka and Soul...alright?"

"They're fine, and they don't blame you for what happened..." Stein said, "They were told about the illness, so they know about what's going on."

It was a bit of a relief to hear those words but FullMetal still felt ashamed.

"Your parents are on their way here..." Stein said.

FullMetal didn't say anything.

"If you keep this up you're not going to get any better." Stein said, "Just try to hang in there. If you really want to get your memory back, you wouldn't give up before the battle even begins." with that being said Stein left the room.

Alphonse looked out the window of the library... his depression deepening with every passing day... It coursed through him like a cold breeze on a hot day. He looked down at his book and continued reading for a few minuets... then decided to close it and finish it later... He hadn't eaten since yesterday and he knew that Maria Ross would kill him faster than Teacher would catch the news...

He got up and walked out of the library then made his way to Central Headquarters... When he got there he made his way up the staircase and into the building. He immediately began hearing the whispers of several of the officers...

"Hey, isn't that-"

"Yeah, that's Alphonse Elric, the younger brother of Edward Elric the FullMetal Alchemist!"

"Hasn't the FullMetal Alchemist been missing since the war?"

"No Private, it was after the war that the Major has been missing! He and Alphonse were kidnapped, then when Alphonse was found, the young major was missing, and has been MIA since!"

"Poor Kid..."

"Yeah... Do you think that he's-"

"Hell no! I've met the FullMetal Alchemist, and let me tell you, he may look like a child but he's as cold as his state name, he'll kill anyone you even tries to lay a hand on him or his little brother. It was sheer luck that that Dante woman was able to corner him! A once in a life time opportunity! I doubt that she got the best of him!"

"But you gotta remember he is just a child!"

"That may be so, but look who practically is his second mother! That Izumi woman makes Hawkeye look like a cuddly puppy!"

"Whatever-... Here he comes! Act natural!"

Alphonse knew that they didn't know that he had heard every word... He just continued to walk on to the Colonel's office... When he made it to his destination, he could hear people talking on the other side of the office's closed door. He could hear Mustang and Second Lieutenant Jean Havoc, talking...

Alphonse peeked through the door, not wanting to disrupt them...

Jean Havoc was a tall man with short hair that was a combination of blond and brown. His blond bangs were fairly long, but much shorter than Al's. Like always he was smoking like a train...If Edward was there he would've told Jean that he smelt like an ashtray.

He saw that Havoc and Mustang had a grim look on their face.

"So... there's still no sign of the chief?" Havoc frowned. He would always call Ed 'chief' as a sign of respect.

"That's correct but miss Curtis and miss Rockbell have a theory that... may seem illogical, but it just might be our best shot..." Mustang said with a sigh, Havoc's attention was right on him, "They think that Dante sent him to an entirely different world..."

Havoc's eyes went wide, "You're kidding? Is that even possible?!"

Mustang closed his eyes and lowered his head, "I don't know, but it might be possible... I've looked at the Transmutation Circle that Dante used, and I even studied it; the equation is extremely complex and down right convoluted. It has some elements of Alkahesty which just adds to it's complexity... I even had to send a letter to May Chang and Ling Yao to ask them for help..."

"Damn..." Havoc grit his teeth.

Alphonse then couldn't stand hearing anymore, he ran away from the door, and out of the building, not wanting to hear anymore... He could no longer stand hearing all of this, he needed to find his big brother. There is no way that he could be in another world... could he? When he was down the flight of stairs and on solid ground, he saw a phone booth... Now that he thought about it... there was one other person he didn't tell about what happened to him or his brother;... Rose.

He stepped into the booth and began making his call.

The talk was short and simple, he told her about how he got his body back and how he had been doing well. He had asked her if she had seen or heard from Edward, and to his dismay, she said that she hadn't seen or heard from him, but she did say that she'd keep an eye out for him.

He hung up and sat down on the ground in fetal position, he hid his face in his legs and cursed at himself...

Why did he have to faint? Why? Why couldn't he have been stronger? Faster? He should've been able to have put up a better fight, but he didn't! He fainted when his big brother needed him most!

Alphonse heard knocking on the side of the booth, he turned to see that is was Fuhrer Grumman! He shot up and saluted the king.

"Now, now, there is no need for that," Grumman smiled, "after all you played a bigger role than I did in the war!"

Alphonse put his hand down nodded.

"You look like you've had a long day, how about a game of chess to pass the time?" Grumman asked.

Alphonse guessed that it would pass the time, he nodded, "Sure... why not?"

A white pawn at E-two was moved up one, and the one a G-two had the same done to it... the white Bishop was sitting there, vulnerable...