Illusion of the Bluebird
By Gozilla
A/N: Thanks a lot to all who you have read and / or left a review! Hope you will enjoy this chapter.
Special Thank: I would like to give my special thank to Hitokiri-san for beta-ing my story and correct my messy English! Thanks a lot!
Credits: Please refer to the previous chapters. Again, many thanks to the BBI team, kier and h2oblue! You are the best!
Summary: (Spoiler to Bluebird's Illusion and the TV series) The Elric brothers had finally found the philosopher's stone and Al was finally restored. But there was something wrong with Al's body. Would Ed find the solution in time?
Disclaimer: I don't own anything and I don't have anything. So don't sue me!
Please excuse my poor English. -
Reviews are most welcomed!
Enjoy!
Chapter 9 – Father
"Niisan? Dinner is ready." Al knocked on the bathroom door.
"Coming." Edward opened the door and came out of the bathroom.
"What took you so long?" Al asked as he walked to the dining room with Edward.
"Nothing." Edward gave Al a reassuring smile.
The brother sat by the dining table. "I made your favourite dishes." Al said, smiling childishly.
"Thanks, Al." Edward looked at the dishes. Knowing that his brother was doing all he could to please him, his heart was filled with appreciation. But yet, the sadness of their imminent separation burdened heavily over his heart.
"Niisan, are you all right?" Al asked, worried by his brother's unusual quietness
"I... I am fine." Edward lied, forcing a smile. "Al, can you promise me one thing?"
"What is it, niisan?"
"Al, promise me that you will take good care of yourself even if I am... I am not with you."
"What are you talking about, niisan?" Al asked, confused, "We will always stay together. Why are you saying such a thing?"
"Just promise me." Edward said, his tone brooking no further argument. .
Al was slightly startled at the seriousness in his brother's voice. Though still confused, Al smiled and replied, "I promise you."
Edward felt slightly relieved at Al's answer and started to eat. The brothers chatted happily over dinner, putting aside the negative thoughts lingering over their hearts for the past few days.
Edward woke to an unusually quiet house. Usually, Al would be making breakfast in the kitchen at this hour of the day. But there was not a sound from the kitchen.
Feeling uneasy, Edward walked down the stairs. "Al? Where are you? Are you in the kitchen..." he stopped abruptly as he noticed someone lying on the floor beside the stairs.
It was Al.
"Al!" Edward rushed over to check on his brother. He was rather relieved to find Al breathing normally. "Al, wake up! Al!"
Slowly, Al opened his eyes. "Niisan? What... what happened?"
"You fainted." Edward said worriedly. "How are you feeling?"
"Just tired." Al lied, in fact, he was feeling as if he was being emptied from the inside.
Edward helped Al get back to bed. After making sure that his brother was asleep, Edward wandered mindlessly to the living room. He sat heavily on the sofa and buried his face in his hands.
"The transmutation is incomplete. What price are you willing to pay for completing the transmutation of your brother?" the message echoed in Edward's mind.
"What should I do in order to make the transmutation complete?" Edward asked, not expecting anyone to answer. He was surprised when the familiar voice rang again.
"Go to the Fuhrer. Come to me."
Edward looked up in shock but saw no one in the living room.
"The Fuhrer?" Edward murmured. Without a second thought, he ran to change his clothes. Just before he left the bedroom, he took one last look at the sleeping face of his brother.
"I will make sure that you'll be all right." Edward whispered, not knowing if Al could hear him. "I promise." With that, he left the house.
"Colonel Elric!" the President's secretary chased after Edward as he forced his way into the Fuhrer's office, "I told you that the Fuhrer is waiting for someone..."
"Leave him, Joel." Fuhrer King Bradley said calmly, facing the window with his back to the door, "he is the one I am waiting for."
"Tell me what it is all about!" Edward demanded, panting heavily from the exertion, "Who was talking to me? What does he want?"
"Joel, please leave us." King said calmly. The secretary left the office, a puzzled look on her face.
After making sure that no one would to able to hear them, Bradley said, "You have finally came."
"What do you want from me?" Edward asked angrily, "What is happening to Al?"
"You know the answer." Bradley said, still looking out of the window.
"What do you want?" Edward shouted. "Who was the person talking in my mind?"
"If you dare to come with me," King stood up and turned to Edward, "I will bring you to him. He will tell you more about your brother's condition and, more importantly,the way to complete the transmutation."
"I will go to hell if I have to." Edward said, "You'd better not lie to me about the transmutation."
Bradley gave Edward a searching look before walking towards one of the bookshelves. He took a few books from the shelf, revealing a handle hidden behind them. He pushed the handle and the bookshelves slid to the sides, showing the door behind them.
Bradley unlocked the door and walked into the dark corridor. Edward did not hesitate to follow the Fuhrer, even though he did not know what was in store for him.
Edward felt increasingly uneasy as he followed Bradley deeper and deeper into the dark tunnel. The tunnel was steadily descending, as if it was leading to the centre of the earth or, worse, to hell.
"Where are you taking me?" Edward asked, annoyed, "What is this place? Some kind of secret base for the military?"
"We are almost there." Bradley said placidly as he walked on. "Father has been waiting for you for quite a while already."
"Father?" Edward asked, frowning in confusion. "Who is your father? How does he know me? Why is he waiting for me?"
King did not reply and continued on.
Before Edward could say anything else, he saw light entering from the end of the tunnel. His body tensed as he knew that he was approaching the exit of the tunnel, not knowing what lay ahead.
Edward was shocked when he saw a deserted city, lying hundreds of metres underground. It seemed like that someone had squeezed the city into this underground space, as the buildings on its edge were rooted to the walls.
"What is this place?" Edward had a very bad feeling. He rushed to the edge of the platform he was standing on. "Is anyone here? Please answer me!"
His voice echoed across the area. Apart from this, there was complete silence.
Suddenly, an eerie voice came from Edward's back.
"You've finally came, Fullmetal ochibi."
"Envy…" Edward murmured tensely. He did not dare to turn immediately to face the enemy, knowing that he would be attacked by Envy if he did so. He silently cursed himself for being so careless - now he had fallen into a trap.
"Why are you here, Envy?" Edward asked, trying to buy more time as he looked for an escape route. "And why is the Fuhrer working with you? When has the military given in to the Homunculi?"
"The military did not give in to the Homunculi, silly ochibi." Envy's voice was too close for Edward's comfort. "We infiltrated the military. The Fuhrer is one of us."
"What?" Edward shouted in disbelief. He turned to look at Bradley's face; an evil smile had spreaded across the normally unruffled face. He had thought that the Fuhrer was forced into working for the Homunculus. The fact that the Fuhrer was one of them was out of his consideration.
Edward knew that , being among two Homunculi, there was probably no way out. But he was not going to give up so easily. As quickly as he could, Edward turned and ran towards the city, hoping to get into the city and hide among the buildings before he could think of a way to get out of this underground space.
Suddenly, Edward saw a shadow overtaking him. Before he could react, he was punched heavily on the face. Edward lost his balance and fell to the ground. Just as he hit the ground, he was kicked violently at the stomach, sending him flying into a wall nearby. Edward was helpless as heavy punches and kicks continued to rain all over his body.
Edward was about to pass out when the assault stopped abruptly. He opened his eyes and saw Bradley holding Envy's fist.
"Why are you stopping me?" Envy said, very annoyed.
"Father said we must not kill him." Bradley said coolly, "He wants the alchemist alive."
"Ochibi-san is not dead." Envy said, a cunning smile on his face, "I am just preventing him to run away."
"You will kill him if you keep on beating him like this." Bradley replied. "We must bring him to Father now. Father has been waiting for too long."
"You heard what your dear Fuhrer said." Envy said, grabbing Edward's collar and pulling him to his feet. "If you try to run away from us again, I will personally make sure your arms and legs are so broken that you can never walk or crawl again for the rest of your pitiful life." Envy then let go of Edward's shirt.
Edward collapsed to the ground. He felt as if his body was falling apart in pain. Stars and black spots were dancing in front of his eyes and he felt warm blood escaping from the numerous wounds over his body.
"Get up, you lazy dog!" Envy kicked Edward angrily. Bradley stopped Envy and spoke softly to the semi-conscious alchemist. "Fullmetal, if you want to save Alphonse Elric, stand up and come with us."
Hearing the name of his brother, Edward felt his mind clear a little. It reminded him his purpose to be there after all –to save his brother. Using all his remaining strength, Edward stood and started walking unsteadily.
"That's more like it." Envy said as he led the way.
Edward faintly noticed that he was being led into a theatre. His mind was getting more and more clouded due to the sharp pain and blood loss. He followed the Homunculi into the dungeon of the theatre.
They came to a room and the heavy metal door opened slowly before them. Edward looked up and saw a person sitting in a gigantic chair, with pipes and tubes connected to it, placed in the centre of the room.
As he recognised the familiar face of the person, blood rushed to Edward's clouded mind. He charged towards the person with all his strength, fists ready to strike. But before he could reach the person, he was punched heavily by Envy and fell to the ground. Envy forcefully pulled him up to a kneeling position.
"Why are you here?" Edward asked angrily; his arms were caught by Envy at the back. "Why didn't you come home? Do you know that mum died waiting for you? Do you know how much she suffered before she died?"
Envy slapped Edward violently. "How dare you speak to Father like this?"
"He is no father." Edward said angrily, "He isn't good enough to be one."
The person sitting in front of Edward was Hohenheim Elric. He was wearing a long white robe,golden hair spread loosely over his shoulders.
"My son, Edward." Hoenheim said quietly, "you have finally come back to me."
"I am not your son." Edward was beyond angry as he remembered the sadness lingering on his mother's face before she died. "I would not come anywhere near here if I knew it was you behind all this."
"Trisha's death was an accident." Hoenheim said emotionlessly."I was planning to bring her here when everything is ready. But she died too soon."
"That's all because of you!" Edward shouted, "You left her for years without a word or a letter. Do you know how much she had missed you? Do you know how sad she was to leave the world without you at her side? You aren't qualified to be mum's husband!"
"That's why I want to help you and Alphonse." Hoenheim said, "I can help you to complete the transmutation of your brother's body, if only you two would come back to me and stay with me forever."
"How can I complete Al's transmutation?" Edward asked, sensing something wrong with Hohenheim's statement. "What do you mean by 'forever'?"
"You are a genius to have performed the transmutation to this stage. However, you have missed the final part of the transmutation, my son." Hoenheim said and held out his hand; a transmutation pattern which Edward had never seen appeared out of thin air. "Spiritual power is required to tighten the bond between Alphonse's soul and body. Otherwise, his soul and body will separate someday and he will die."
Edward inhaled sharply. He knew that there was something wrong with his brother's body after the transmutation. But he had never expected something this serious.
"Also, you were not strong enough to handle the philosopher's stone in the transmutation." Hohenheim pointed at Edward. "I believe that it has already begun, my son. Your body is breaking down under the destructive effect of the stone. The wounds over your body are just the beginning. Your body will slowly break and decay. If nothing is done, you will die soon after your brother's death."
"However, you won't be able to rectify this alone." Hohenheim said, "You will need my help to inject the spiritual power to Alphonse in order to bind his soul to his body. Otherwise, you will lose your spiritual power and will probably die in the process. On the other hand, without my help, you will suffer a slow painful death yourself."
"Then what?" Edward asked, knowing that the person in front of him has a plan for him and his brother.
"Then I will give you two everlasting life." Hohenheim said, a faint smile appeared on his face, "by turning you two into my greatest invention."
"You want to turn me and Al into one of your soulless Homunculi?" Edward asked in shock. "I won't let you do that! I won't let you lay a finger on Al!"
"You will when you are about to lose your little brother." Hohenheim said calmly. "I will give you three days to consider my offer. Even if you don't accept my offer, I will ask Envy to bring Alphonse to me. Now, go and think about it."
Envy forcefully dragged Edward out of the room immediately. Edward cursed and received heavy kicks and punches from Envy before being thrown violently into a small dark cell at the end of the dungeon.
"Enjoy your stay, Fullmetal ochibi-san." Envy said as he locked the cell and left.
Struggling to stay conscious, Edward crawled to the door and clapped his hands, tried to create a door on the wall with alchemy. Surprisingly, nothing happened. Edward tried again but his effort was in vain.
'The old man must have made the materials alchemy-proof.' Edward sighed in frustration and collapsed to the floor. He felt utterly exhausted and dizzy as the initial shock to his mind for seeing his father faded away, and the effect of pain and massive blood loss returned.
'What should I do?' was Edward's last thought before blackness overwhelmed him.
End of Chapter 9
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