Chapter 12: Eye of the Gate

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A million hands reached out,
To pull me into their eyes.
A million eyes looked out
To stare me into their teeth.
A million teeth gnashed out
To devour me into their darkness.

Darkness.

The only beyond for me.

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'"The Gate"?' young Edward Green repeated. 'What's that?'

The homunculus Envy regarded the boy with a grim expression of one with the knowledge of something whose existence one could not deny, making the thing ever more terrible in its unavoidable omnipotence.

'Normally, it is the doorway to the afterlife,' he explained, brow furrowing. 'The doorway to the domain of the being you humans revere as "God". However, these alchemists, having sought to defy it, have harnessed the portal for their own selfish means; as a path from this world to ours.'

Edward swallowed. The homunculus's dread weighed on his own spirits, and his fear was his own.

'How do you know it's here?' the boy whispered, instinctively looking about, as if to suddenly spot the ominous Gate looming before him in all its unhallowed evil.

Envy's eyes narrowed, and his teeth gritted in agitation.

'I feel it,' he muttered darkly. 'Always; that probing, unsettling pressure swirling at the back of my subconscious, ever-whispering ill-tidings to me. I feel its presence all the more severely now as I ever have. The closeness of the unknown is threatening to overwhelm me...'

He faltered, and lapsed into a stiff, unnerved silence. Edward watched him, troubled by the fear so evidently creasing the elder being's youthful features, coursing through his body to make his limbs tremble, and force beads of sweat to dampen his pale brow, and to clench his sharp teeth.

What was this dreadful thing, to cause an ancient being, knowledgeable and seemingly fearless of all things, so terrified? To its very core, the homunculus cowered from the raw, unbridled frenzy of terror that lurked like some foul demon, ravaging all rationality from the creature's thoughts and drowning it in memories that had spawned it.

Envy's deepest fears—the likes of which Edward could not even begin to fathom. He was not even fully aware of his own, much less that of a centuries old homunculus in human form.

'H-Homunculus...'

'Envy,' the youth corrected, smirking wryly.

'E-Envy,' the boy conceded, swallowing. 'How...how will we find it?'

The lean homunculus suddenly stopped in his tracks, and breathed a heavy sigh.

'What's the matter?' Edward cried incredulously, shocked that the other could be annoyed by such an innocent question.

'Oh, nothing, Ed,' Envy assured, as if rising out of deep contemplation, smiling awkwardly, 'I am merely preparing to summon the Gate. It is the only way to escape this place, and the alchemists no doubt use the same method as I shall shortly. I am the only being who can inherently do so—those lowlifes have merely learnt and abused the art over hundreds of years. Now...stand back, please.'

Edward was all too obliged to obey, and took several paces backwards, watching the homunculus with amber eyes wide.

Presently, Envy raised his head into the swollen black heavens, and shouted loud and clear the incantation to summon the doors to Nowhere:

'O porta, magna regni Dei, ora pro nobis aperi tenebris inde perducat nos ad patriam nostram! I, cuius primogenita tua limina fluit per sanguinem meum, vobis huc! TEMPLUM!'

As his final words resonated like the booms of a mighty earthquake, a chasm in the air split open, twisted, and suddenly the world was warping in ghastly swirls and smears, distorting horribly as the very essence of the surrounding landscape was gradually sucked into itself, and the shadows with it.

Suddenly, everything was white.

An ominous, looming slab of granite towered over them. This was it.

The Gate.

Silently, the doors swung open, and, all at once, a giant, glaring, maddening grey eye burst wide amidst the darkness, and thin tendrils, like impish hands, snapped out to grasp and pull. They quickly wrapped themselves around the limbs of Envy and Edward, and began to drag them inside the jaws of the Gate.

'Don't struggle!' Envy warned. 'They will not take kindly to it!'

In seconds, the unremitting pull of the arms had drawn them into the centre of the eye, now so huge it blocked out everything and became their eye's whole sight—that pitiless, dark, horrifying gaze that looked but did not see, and hungered for the sinners it would eat alive.

A mournful whine shuddered through their eardrums as the doors slowly closed upon them, shutting out the last light with an almighty SLAM that shook their very cores.

Now there was only darkness, and silence; the hands pulling them ever forward into its void. Blackness eternal, and endless pit, swallowing them up.

All of a sudden, Envy began to scream, in the most ghastly, piercing noise Edward had ever heard, thrashing and twisting and clawing at his eyes, but screaming all the more loudly as he realised, eyes or no eyes, the darkness would prevail. Tears streamed, his mouth a gaping hole emitting the most terrifying shrieks as ever emitted from a living creature, wracking his entire body in violent spasms as he was dragged helplessly into the hell it so horribly recognised.

'OH GOD GOD GOD, NO!' Envy howled through his screams. 'OH GOD NOT AGAIN, PLEASE NOT AGAIN! PLEASE, NO!'

Edward, terrified that any moment the homunculus would descend completely and utterly into madness and never return, fought to get to his side. Using every fathom of strength in his struggling limbs, the boy threw himself to one side and wrenched his left arm free, all at once bringing his clenched fist colliding with the half-crazed homunculus's jaw. The impact sent Envy's neck snapping sideways, eyes bulging wide from the shock of the blow. Another black tendril re-captured Edward's arm, and the boy glared at his friend, amber eyes burning.

Slowly, Envy turned his head to stare, bewildered, at the boy.

'For God's sake control yourself!' Edward yelled. 'You can't let this darkness ruin your dreams! I'm here, I'm with you, so calm down and concentrate on getting out of here!'

Envy was silent for several moments. It seemed to have never occurred to the creature that he had been anything other than utterly alone in his turmoil, alone to struggle against what he saw as inevitable destruction. Seeing his friend, and acknowledging fully his words, rationality gleamed from Envy's eyes. He nodded.

'You're right,' he conceded. 'Let's go.'

Grasping each-other's hands firmly, they plunged into the darkness.

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A white flash ripped away the black oblivion, and there was an almighty collision, and then nothing.

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Consciousness rose from the abyss of Edward's mind, and he drowsily opened his eyes. Cool air fanned his face, and he discovered that his soft bed was grass. Raising himself up, the boy saw he was situated on a grassy embankment—the same one on which they had been attacked by the alchemists. The air was clear and blue, and raised Edward's spirits to the highest heaven.

They were free, at last.

Looking further ahead, he saw a large city from which colossal chimneys sprouted black smoke that intermingled horribly with the sky, complete with cathedral, clock-tower and all, and bustling with life that rose from the warm scents rising from it.

A mutter aroused his sense of reality, and Edward turned to his right to see Envy standing tall beside him, overlooking the city with a deep, troubled expression. It appeared that the homunculus had recovered itself sufficiently to analyse their surroundings, although Edward detected a faint trembling of residue terror animating the creature's form.

'What's the matter?' he questioned.

The homunculus paused.

'I recognise this as the place in which we were captured, but I do not remember this city being here at all,' he replied gravely.

Edward laughed.

'Well, it was pitch darkness when we arrived here, Envy; we most likely didn't see it. I do remember seeing a dark mass at that time, so this city must be it!' he explained, elated with his conclusion.

Envy did not look satisfied, but he did not pursue the issue. Instead, he allowed Edward to get to his feet before jovially inviting him down into the city.

'But won't you be noticed?' Edward asked worriedly.

Envy grinned widely.

'Oh, we don't have to worry about that,' he said—and with those words, the homunculus's body was overwhelmed by a ripple of crimson sparks that descended from head to toe. As it went, hair colour changed, as did the muscle tone, clothes, shape and features.

In moments, a completely different young man stood before Edward.

A young man clad in full-skirted knee-length dark violet coat, knee breeches, a vest, a linen shirt with frills and linen underdrawers. The lower legs were much emphasized by the white silk stockings and black leather shoes with stacked heels of low height. The whole ensemble was topped by a shoulder-length full-bottomed wig and a tricorne (three-cornered) hat with an upturned brim. The homunculus' overall body shape was only a little more muscular to fit his clothes and appear more physically adept than his original mass admitted. His face was youthful as ever, but more sharply defined. Even his eyes were changed; a dark blue instead of dark violet. He grinned, and showed perfect human teeth.

Edward stared in utter disbelief at so drastic a transformation.

Then he doubled over laughing, even harder with Envy's expression of pure indignation.

'What are you laughing at?' the wigged creature cried, outraged. Only his voice was unchanged. 'This is a respectable costume of the age!'

'I know!' Edward spluttered in response, overcome with giggles, 'but you look ridiculous!'

'Be that as it may,' the homunculus said hotly, 'I will remain in this form unless what we see dictates otherwise. For goodness' sake stop laughing Edward!' he almost shouted, amused despite himself at the boy's laughter, grinning helplessly as his friend calmed down and wiped his eyes.

'Well then...let's go!' Edward cried gleefully, racing down the embankment towards the city. Sensing no presence beside him, he stopped half way and turned round.

The homunculus was slowly, albeit awkwardly, ambling his way downwards.

'A gentleman never rushes!' he proclaimed proudly, before tripping over his own heels and falling flat on his face in the grass. Trying to stagger to his feet, Envy fell over again and proceeded to roll helplessly down the short embankment, crashing into Edward and sending them both tumbling to the bottom in a heap, roaring with laughter.

Untangling themselves, Envy brushed the grass and flowers from his garments till they were spotless again, wiping his eyes.

'Ah, dear,' he murmured, 'I can barely remember the time when I laughed like this.'

Edward smiled sympathetically and helped them both to their feet.

'Are you alright walking in those shoes?' the boy questioned when the homunculus was able to stand, pointing to the heeled objects in question.

Envy grinned bashfully.

'Truthfully, no. They are ankle-sprains waiting to happen, and I can barely keep myself upright. But,' he added, chuckling, 'as they say, and no doubt will always say: "One must suffer to acquire beauty."'

Edward laughed and walked towards the edge of the gently lapping river.

'I'll go first,' he said, before promptly leaping over to the other side.

Envy grimaced comically. Even this relatively thin affair was difficult in the shoes he now wore. The prospect of falling in was wholly undesirable.

This conclusion made, he went on to take off his shoes and throw them to Edward on the other side, before running and vaulting over the river, landing safely on the other side.

Putting them back on, Envy and Edward gaily made their way towards the unknown city.

'Honestly, the person who invented this damned shoes should be murdered...'

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In no time, they had found an alleyway to hide in and observe the city streets from the inside.

What they saw was in no way, shape, or form resembled what they had unconditionally expected. Bustling streets, yes...the coats, top-hats, boots, much shortened natural hair in the case of men; remarkably slim yet respectable dresses for the ladies, horses and carts lining and overcrowding the streets and adding to the din as they clopped this way and that as people milled in front and around them at every given opportunity, chattering all the way, were not part of the expectations.

They both gaped, and Envy retreated further into the alleyway so as to disguise his transformation into a gentleman he had just observed, albeit with cropped black hair and sharper, paler features so as to distinguish himself to Edward. He was no clad in a decent black waistcoat with tails, white vest, breeches, boots, and his own top hat.

This time Edward did not laugh. He was too stunned.

'Envy...' he whispered, pale as death. 'What...where are we? This is...Where is this?'

The homunculus at his side swallowed.

'I saw a sign bearing the name "Geldberg". This must be it...'

'But I've never heard of this place in my life!' Edward cried, his voice rising with panic.

'Nor I, for what my word is worth,' Envy admitted, frowning. 'Damn. What is this? What did that bastard do this time?'

Edward gazed at the tall young man.

'Who do you mean?'

'The one you humans call "God",' the homunculus replied bitterly. 'The being who is the One, All, World, Universe, Time, Space, Everything and Everyone...all at the same time.'

Edward gasped.

'You mean...?'

'Yes. God has sent us here. And...if I am not mistaken... at least a hundred years after our time. We are sometime in the eighteen-hundreds—although in the exact same area we had left behind. Time has gone on without us, and we are remnants of time gone past.'

'Then what do we do?' the boy murmured. 'What do we do now?'

Envy grasped Edward's shoulders and looked him firmly in the eyes.

'First, we must calm down. Panicking will only lead to mistakes and irrationality. Calm down. Take deep breaths [the homunculus paused here in order for Edward to do so] and explore this place and find out a little more about it, and its history—only then can I perhaps make sense of why we were taken here in the first place. Once we do that, we can discover a way out.'

Edward took a deep breath, relaxed all his muscles, and nodded.

Envy smiled.

'Good lad. Well then, let us go!'

Taking the boy's hand, the top-hat homunculus and the boy ventured into the chaos of Goldberg's streets, unknowing of what they would find in them.

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In another realm entirely alien to any that had come before, an entirely white space in which an outline of a human form; featureless aside from an unsettling grinning mouth, sat expectantly.

Ke ke ke! Things are moving quickly! Oh my, how much fun!...the shape giggled, before erasing all traces of itself altogether as it silently merged with the white void.

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Envy's incantation to open the Gate:

O gate, portal to God's realm, open your dark jaws before us and bring us to our homeland hence! I, whose birthright to your doors flows through my blood, command you hither! OPEN!

So, so sorry for the long wait! T_T I just could not seem to get into my 'zone' of coming up with good words to describe everything and generally get the plot going...But now I've sorted out this one and the plots for the next chapters, I'm ready to churn out more much sooner! Promise!