Chapter Twelve: Shadow of Death

Darkness swirled in the blank void the young Edward Elric awoke to. Lights flashed around in a whirlwind around Ed, streaming lights of hundreds of different colors. Each seemed to change color and shape whenever he looked at it, and the swirling vortex seemed to move faster. It felt as though he was moving through the air, rushing towards something...something he couldn't see.

Suddenly, everything came to an immediate stop. The void hovered around him, the colored lights blurred and splayed across it, and he found himself unable to move his body. It was as though time itself had ceased to move. Then, the cracks began. Each colored light found cracks rippling through it, crossing over it and spreading to crack more and more of the light. More cracks grew, and a harsh, ripping sound assaulted Ed's ears until finally, with a horrifying howling sound, the void shattered into a thousand pieces.

And there he was, standing at a place that had come to stalk his darkest nightmares. Before him lay a massive, black set of double doors, set in black stone with two crimson pillars standing up on the sides, with black sculptures of men scaling every surface of it, trying to climb to the top where several sculpture's reached their hands up to grasp a sculpted stone one could assume represented the Philosopher's Stone. This was an image he had come to know too well in his life, known only as the Gateway. Inscribed on the doors of the Gateway was an image of a massive eye, gazing outward.

Ed knew little of this powerful structure. He knew it to be the source of alchemy, and he knew that through the Gateway was a passage that could lead to another world. He also knew of creatures that dwelled within the Gateway, and of them, he knew very little. The Gateway remained a mystery to him, no matter how many answers he was given. He had learned so much of its, and yet, still knew so little.

The doors opened, and he felt fear beginning to rise inside of him. Within, just as always, was a black void of darkness. Eyes opened everywhere, little violet eyes that sent chills through his body every time he looked at them. And above them all was a gigantic violet eye, one that emanated with an unmistakable sense of power. He knew the little eyes belonged to strange, humanoid creatures with long, elastic arms. They clawed and grasped for anything that came too close, though he knew not why. But the large eye that watched over it all...what could the large eye possibly belong to? If those little eyes were each a part of a smaller creature, than what hideous monstrosity could the larger eye be a part of?

Ed took a step back from the horrible Gateway, frightened of the horrors he saw within. But just as always, the arms reached out, grasping his limbs and tearing at them. He felt them go, one after another. One arm torn from his body with ease, separating like a damp sheet of paper. The other arm went next, and then his right leg. His left leg followed, and soon he felt those horrible hands gripping his head, and with terrible clarity he knew what would come next. "Stop!" He tried to struggle, but without his limbs, he could do nothing to stop it.

"Ed, honey?" He heard a voice, as he twisted his neck and tried to fight the creatures. "Sweetheart, you're having a bad dream." He felt his head being to lift from his body, his neck being separated, and he knew he was beaten. "Wake up, Ed."

"Wake up." Ed's eyes opened, and he found himself far away from the Gateway. A blanket lay over his body, and sunlight streamed down through an open window. There was a softness beneath him, which he soon identified as a bed. "There you are," he heard a soft, feminine voice gently beginning to caress his ears. "I was afraid you'd gone away for good," she giggled, and he felt her delicate hands beginning to trace across his chest.

"Where...where am I?" Ed asked, confusion dazing his senses. The last thing he remembered was the alleyway, and the monstrous chimera that had almost killed him. But as his eyes began to get back their focus, he couldn't see it. All he saw was a window with a desk below it, and the gentle sheets of the bed.

"Silly...you're back with me." Ed felt her delicate hands turn his head, and before he knew what happened, a pair of lips set in on his, locking his own in a soft, gentle kiss. A blur of pink ran before his eyes when the kiss set in, and for a moment he couldn't understand what was happening. But when focus returned, he saw more and more of the woman whose hands now gripped his shoulder, and of whose lips sent tingles of happiness, a quiet happiness he hadn't truly felt in years, through his body.

He recognized her dark skin, and the pink hair that draped down in front of her face. The soft brown eyes that looked back at him were eyes he had looked into countless times over the past four years. Eyes that had mesmerized him from the first time he saw them. He knew her name without her having to speak it, he could recognize this woman from a mile away. He didn't know why she was here, why she was kissing him as deeply as she was now, but part of him didn't care. Inside, part of him felt complete here, with the beautiful girl named Rose.

But the other part wasn't ready to accept such confusing happiness. He had seen too much in his life to not be suspicious, and he still didn't know where he was. For all he knew, this could be some trick by the Homonculi; there was one that excelled at mimicking bodies after all, and Ed didn't recall ever seeing that one die. After mustering the strength to pull away from the kiss, his hands gripped Rose by the shoulders and pushed her away, while his voice strained to operate again. "Rose, what's going on? Where are we?"

When he pushed her away, he found the mystery only deepened further. Though, deep inside, he couldn't say he was disappointed. Sitting up out of his hands, Rose smiled down at the blood-red shade that crossed Ed's face. The blanket draped over her shoulders as she sat over him...but nothing else concealed her gorgeous body from his embarrassed eyes.

"Rose?" His voice squeeked from the vision of beauty that lay before him. His body trembled with uncertainty as she reached her hand down and caressed the side of his face with it.

"Oh, come now," she laughed. "You're looking at me like this is our honeymoon all over again." Before he could raise a voice of confusion, she lay back down, resting her head on his chest, with her hands curled up on his pecs. Her hair splayed over her face as she closed her eyes, and the smile that crossed her face made Ed's heart skip a beat.

Clearly there was something here that he was missing. Something he couldn't quite place. As he laid his head back down on the pillow, and reluctantly allowed his arms to close around Rose, letting his hands touch across her gentle back, his mind raced to understand where he was and how everything had happened like this.. "...honeymoon?"

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"How is he?" Erwin Panzlef stood just inside the door, looking in at the room within. Within the medical wing of East HQ, Colonel Edward Elric lay motionless on the bed. Marie had been busy all night, trying to stabilize his condition. With several bandages wrapped around the horrible gashes in his chest, and more around his brutalized right arm, she hadn't been certain he was going to pull through.

"He's doing...well, I think he's doing better. He's out of the critical state, but it was an uphill battle. Things could still turn sour." Erwin couldn't help but notice the worried look on Marie's face, as she sat in her chair beside Ed's bed.

"Are you okay?" He asked, but all he got was a grunt of frustration out of her.

"What do you think? If the colonel dies, do you have any idea how screwed we are? I'm not a soldier, and you barely count." Before Erwin could raise an objection, she fumed on. "Lieutenant Massner hasn't come back from wherever the hell she disappeared to. The only weapons we have are Grueder's rifle and whatever weird kung fu Francis pulled, neither of which will probably so much as dent whatever could do THIS to a State Alchemist!" She gestured at Edward's limp form, to illustrate her words. "So no, I'm not okay. And I especially don't relish going back to Central and telling General Mustang just how spectacularly we've screwed up."

Erwin's eyes traveled to the prone colonel in the bed, and his mind began to wander back to the previous night. "What happened to him? Did you see what did this?"

Marie shook her head. "It was...it was big, but it seemed to have something covering it. Massner ran after it, but I was busy with the colonel." She looked up to Erwin. "What about Massner? Has anyone heard from her?"

Erwin shook his head. "Not as of yet, no. But don't worry, she'll be back. If there's one thing Eva excels at, it's not being noticed."

Marie sighed. "That's great," she turned her head back to the wounded colonel. "Now let's just pray he wakes up before she returns."

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"Come on, we need to hurry." Rose pushed Ed out the door of the Rockbell residence. He still hadn't gathered much more of this place, but he had certainly enjoyed watching her get dressed. Dressed in his black pants and vest, he stepped outside and looked back at her. She definitely looked beautiful in her white dress, the very same he she had worn when he had met her, with his red jacket around her. He didn't know how or why they were here, but he was starting to like it.

"Why did we have to get up?" He asked out of curiosity. His long, blonde braids ran down his back; she had done his braids for him.

"We can't just lay in bed all day, sweetie," she giggled.

"Why not?" Ed smirked, and he received a kiss on the cheek for his effort.

"Because your brother wants to see you," Rose smiled. "He's been waiting for so long." With another kiss, she took him by the hand and started to lead him up the grassy hill before them. The Rockbell house didn't sit on the road where it normally did; in fact, Ed noticed that this place didn't look much like Rizenpool at all. There was nothing but grass for as far as the eye could see, and the whole area appeared to be one large hill that Rose was pulling him up.

"Wait, Al?" Ed's confusion ebbed in his voice. Things were getting more and more strange, and now he wanted answers. "Hold on! Where's Al? What are you talking about?"

But before Rose could answer, Ed heard a voice speak behind him. It was a familiar voice, one he had heard every day for fifteen years, before that voice was taken away. A voice that amplified the uncertainty in Ed's body, and that carried a hint of respect, and a tone of sadness in it. "You still haven't figured it out, Brother?"

Whirling around, Ed's eyes fell on a sight that he couldn't believe. For standing there before him was a boy of nineteen. The boy was tall, a whole foot and a half taller than Ed, and his light brown hair reminded Edward, as it always had, of their mother. Dressed in metallic blues reminiscent of his old suit of armor, and with a symbol on his chest of a cross with a snake coiled around it, the same that was on the back of Ed's jacket and that had been emblazoned across the armor's shoulder, there was no mistaking this boy. "Alphonse?"

As the boy walked up the hill towards him, his eyes fell on Rose. First on the girl herself, and the hand she held Ed's in. Then tracing to Ed's jacket, that he couldn't help but notice looked pretty good on her. Then to the golden ring on her left hand, which solidified it. A smile crossed his face, before he turned his attention back to Ed. "You can't deny it this time, brother. I was right. You really do like Rose."

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Ed tried to defend, but Al just shook his head and laughed.

"I can tell you don't know where we are. Brother, you can't deny what's standing next to you. You made her."

Ed raised an eyebrow. "Come again?"

Al sighed. This part was going to be rough. "This is your mind, brother. An image your mind crafted so that you wouldn't be afraid. It needs to focus its strength on the recovery, because right now, you're not doing very well. You're dying, brother. Your soul is teetering on the edge of the Gateway, torn between your body and what lies beyond, and whether or not you'll live through whatever must have happened to you is still in the air."

"Al..." Ed's voice carried a cautious tone now, and his hand gripped Rose's a bit tighter. "I..." He didn't know what to say. Al's words were frightening him, and he wasn't sure what he wanted to do about it. "What about Rose? Why is she here?"

"That's a good question, brother." The smile returned to Al's face. "Why is she here? She's not Rose. Your mind created an illusion that would make you feel good. Funny that it would be Rose as a wife."

Rose wasn't saying anything. Why wasn't she saying anything? "...and what about you?" Ed asked. "Are you just an image to make me feel better? You sound different from the Al I remember. You sound a lot more confident than I remember Al being. And you're not as soft-spoken as he was."

"A lot can happen in four years," Al admitted. "I can't answer your question, brother." Ed's eyes widened, as a red glow began to shine from Al's body. The red glimmer was sight he was all too familiar with, and for a moment, he couldn't breathe. The red glow, he knew to be the Philosopher's Stone, but that only raised more questions. "I shouldn't even be here. The Gateway has opened, and it wants to take you. Don't let it." His eyes fell on Rose for a moment, before he turned his gaze back to his brother. "You have too much to live for right now."

"Al..." Ed's eyes were fixated on his brother now. The shining red glimmer emanating from his body brought tears to Ed's eyes. The Philosopher's Stone had been created in Liore, in the final day of the war. The entire city was consumed in the transmutation, along with a battalion of nearly a thousand soldiers. All this had been done by the scarred man of Ishbal, whose true name was unknown. Sacrificing himself as one of the ingredients, Scar had created the Philosopher's Stone, but not as a stone. Instead, Al's soul had been transmuted into the Stone. Al's soul...

CRACK

A horrible split ran up the hill, and the grass turned a deathly gray. A blast of cold air washed through the grass, killing it as it moved. As it washed over the house, the whole thing turned to a desolate ruin, flashing into a destroyed, broken down shack as soon as the wave had passed. The blue sky had turned to black clouds, and a chill wind now blew through the place. Rose had vanished entirely, and the two brothers were now left alone.

Ed looked around, trying to make sense of it, and Al just sighed. "It's started."

"What has?"

Al looked at Ed. "It was good seeing you again, brother. I wish I could tell you more, but you're not ready to know the Gateway, or its workings. You'll understand in time, like I do. But not today. But before that, you need to get through this ordeal, and I can't help you with that. I'm sorry. It was good seeing you again, brother, I just wish we could have had more time to talk. Until next time..." With those words, Al faded, his body turning to red energy, before the energy crackled and disappeared into thin air. And suddenly, Ed was alone on the chilling hill.

Lightning cracked through the sky, and suddenly, Ed was afraid. All that ran through his mind were the words of the person that said he was his brother: "You're dying, brother."

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"Mommy?" Rose stood terrified in the front lawn, at the Rockbell estate in Rizenpool. Her body trembled as she stood in the grass, staring into the soft wind. The sun shone down on her delicate face, but she couldn't feel it. She couldn't move, she couldn't breathe. Her heart felt as though it was ceasing to beat, and she didn't even understand why she was so afraid. "Mommy, what's wrong?"

Tears began to roll down her cheeks as she stood in the quiet grass. She didn't understand why she felt this way, but she couldn't recall a time her heart had ever hurt this bad. She had seen more than her share of pain, had suffered more agony than anyone ever should. Her body had been broken, and she still carried the scars. But this ran deeper. It felt as though her heart was tearing in half, and she couldn't explain why.

As she looked to the sky, she was very afraid. Somewhere, something terrible was happening. Something that could destroy her. Someone she loved was fighting for his life, and with horrifying clarity, this realization sent a chill running down her spine. As the tears fell from her face, she closed her eyes and curled herself up on the hilltop. Oblivious to the worried attempts by her son to rouse her, oblivious to the world around her, she fell into a pit of darkness from the terror in her soul. No matter how hard her son tried to budge her, no matter how hard Winry, who had seen her break down and came to help, tried to move her, only one word would escape her lips.

"Edward..."