(7) Empty Like Me

There was no such thing as other worlds. There was also no such thing as talking animals who worked as engineers. The whole notion of either one was ridiculous.

Yet Edward found himself in a strange place called Disney Castle, carrying on a conversation with a furry little creature holding a wrench.

From a scientific standpoint, Ed would argue that he was either dreaming, insane, or a combination of the two. But he positive he was awake (after pinching his left arm) and he felt as sane as ever. So apparently, scienece was completely useless here. Maybe he would just to accept it.

Seeing was believing, afterall, and Ed had seen enough.

The red-nosed chipmunk was making him and Al describe their homeworld to him in as much detail as possible, while the black-nosed chipmunk scurried about the hangar with the others, using machines and weird devices to give the gummi ship full repairs. In the back of his mind, Ed sub-conciously wished Winry was here to see this place; she'd be in heaven.

"All right, the sheild generators are back up, the cannons reloaded, and the monitor is online again, so you guys can contact us," the black-nosed chipmunk was saying, checking off a list on his tiny clipboard. "And everything else seems to be in working order! Whoever fixed it for you really did a good job!"

"Well, I guess Winry has to be good at something," Ed muttered.

(Back in Resembool... "ACHOO!")

"What about their world?" Sora asked. "Can you guys locate it for us?"

Chip and Dale huddle together to review their notes. After some whispering, they broke apart and saluted at Sora. "We'll find it, no problem!" They both piped.

"That's great! Can you do it now?"

"No!" the chipmunks both replied cheerfully. "It will take a while!"

"The gummi ship automatically records where you traveled to," explained Chip.

"But your records got scrambled up after that ambush, and we just now fixed it," said Dale.

"So we have no recorded data of their world. Only what they've just now told us," Chip added.

"We'll hafta make a whole new device to find its coordinates!" Dale exclaimed.

"An Interworld Positioning System!" said Chip. "It will help guide you to every known world via gummi ship!"

"But building the IPS will take a while," Dale put in.

"How long?" Sora asked.

"Maybe just a few hours," began Chip.

"Or maybe just a few days," finished Dale. "We don't really know. It's not gonna be easy, that's for sure!"

"But don't worry!" Chip cut in, hopping up and down. "We can do it! No problem! We'll let you know when it's done, okay?"

"Okay," Sora agreed, feeling a slight headache coming on. Until this IPS thing was built, Ed and Al would have to stay with them. But they couldn't just stand around wait; they had stuff to do! Sora still needed to find Riku and Kairi, and deal with Organization XIII as well.

There was no time to waste. Ed and Al would just have to come along with them until the IPS was operational.

--------

The group entered the courtyard, green and overflowing with giant hedge sculptures. After a short discussion, the trio decided that since they were already here, they might as well go and check on Queen Minnie real quick. They explained the current situation to the Elrics, whom agreed to stay with them. (Not that they really had any choice.) Al was excited about getting the chance to meet an actual queen, and Ed was pacified at the mention of a library.

"This way!" Goofy said, taking off in his ungainly run towards the castle enterance. Sora, Donald, and Edward followed, but Al came to a sudden stop once the others were out of view.

Something was wrong here.

For a giant suit of armor, Al felt strangely attuned to his new surroundings. He paused and looked around at the seemingly empty courtyard. Nothing moved or made any noise, aside from a couple of bluebirds resting ontop one of the hedges.

"I know you're there," he said to the courtyard in general, feeling a lot more stupid than he sounded. But something was there. And not just the birds. Something was watching him. "Please, come on out. I...won't hurt you, or anything..."

When there was no reply, Al felt decidedly more stupid than ever. He was just being paranoid. That's what he thought, anyway, until he heard a burst of laughter ring out from behind him.

"You won't hurt me? Hahaha, well isn't that good to know? Hahahaha--oh geez. That cracks me up!"

Al whirled around. Behind him was the enterance to the Gummi Hangar, which was built inside the castle-shaped hedge in the center of the courtyard. Standing at the top of this mini-castle was a girl, pale face split into a wide grin, the source of the laughter.

But in opposition to the carefree grin, a pair of perculiar purple eyes stared down at him, unblinking. They looked him up and down, examining him. Al felt uneasy again, realizing that this was the person who had been watching them.

But hey, if she was going to stare at him, he was going to stare back. (Or, that was his justification for it, anyway.)

She looked to be about his age, fifteen or sixteen maybe. Her skin was rather pale yet so was her hair, a light-brown color bordering on blonde. It was tied back into a long and flowing ponytail, but equally long strands of bangs fell into her face. Her outfit was simple: a light pink tank-top that showed a little of her mid-driff, a black bracer on each wrist, black shoes, and baggy, black pants. This pink-and-black pattern was broken, however, by a white symbol on her left pants' leg. It looked something like a cross, but Al wasn't sure what it really was. Oh, and let's not forget those freaky purple eyes that were now finally blinking at him.

"Um," said Al.

In one swift motion, the strange girl leapt off the castle-hedge, landed with cat-like grace on the ground below, then unexpectedly leaned forward, so she was right in Alphonse's face. Startled and caught off guard by her speed, Al stumbled a few steps backward.

"Oh, don't worry," she said sweetly, then echoed his words, "I won't hurt you, or anything. Heh."

Al then noticed something else that the girl was wearing, and that was weapons. At each side of her waist, hanging from a hard-to-see black belt, was a long, silver dagger, curved into a crescent shape. Light gleaned off the sharp edges. Apparently, this girl was a fighter. Not that Al, in his current state, would have to worry much, but it was still good to know. She didn't really look it, but this girl could possibly be dangerous. He had to keep his guard up.

"Who are you?" she asked out of nowhere, taking the words right out of Al's mouth.

"H-Hey!" he said, "I think I'm the one who should be asking that! You were the one stalking me, after all!"

"I wasn't stalking you," she said, and not in a way that implied innocence, but rather, that she had been stalking someone other than him. "But whatever. My name is Iza. Now will you tell me your's?"

"Al," he replied, not knowing what else he should have said or done at the moment.

"Short for Alfred?" Iza wondered.

"Alphonse," he corrected.

She stepped forward so that she was right in front of him again, and this time, Al stood his ground. But she didn't do anything, just looked at him. She seemed to be deep in thought. Then, slowly, she asked, "You're an alchemist, aren't you Al?"

Which was the very last thing he was expecting her to say. "Hooow, how did, how--" he couldn't seem to get his words straight, due to his surprise, but he eventually managed. "How do you know that?"

"I know a lot," was her reply, and that really didn't explain anything. She flashed him a smile, but it was an odd smile: it was almost as if Iza had heard of the concept of smiling before, but never really tried it. It didn't seem real.

Now, Al should have been questioning her. He should have been asking her why she had been following them. And who exactly she was following. And who she was. And how she knew about alchemy. And why her smile was so freaking weird.

But before Al could even organize his thoughts and begin the game of 20 questions, Iza did another unexpected thing: she made a fist, and without word, knocked on Al's chest, as if it were some kind of door.

When the knock echoed back to her, she didn't look the least bit surprised. "Hollow," she muttered, and a strange look crossed her face.

"Well, um, you see--" Al flattered, not knowing how he was going to explain that, short of actually telling the truth.

"You're empty," Iza continued. "Just like me."

Al never got the chance to ask her what she meant, because suddenly, something black began swirling under her feet. The dazed look on her face changed and became one of annoyance. "Oh geez, what does he want now?" she complained, rolling her eyes. The blackness underneath her sprang up after the words left her mouth, vines of it shooting upwards then falling back down over her, like a net. The circle of black on the ground grew wider and she began sinking into it.

"Iza!" Al cried out, but the strange thing was, she didn't seem frightened in the slightest. She looked calm, almost bored, as if being sucked into a giant portal of darkness was no big deal.

"Looks like I gotta go," she told him brightly. "I'll see ya later. Oh, and by the way, you might want to hurry and catch up with your friends. Trouble's brewing."

"Wait, what's going on? Where are you--"

"Nice meeting you. Later, Al." Iza smiled one last odd smile before completely sinking into the ground. The black portal swirled once more, then disappeared.

Speechless, Al stared at the spot Iza had just sunk into until a sudden burst of noise caught his attention. He looked to the left, where the noise was coming from, and saw the Colonnade, the castle's balcony-like hallway. Through the white stone pillars, Al could clearly make out Sora, Goofy, and Donald, along with his older brother, defending themselves against a horde of attacking shadow-like creatures.

A new adventure? Pfft. A new disaster was more like it. After taking one last look at the spot where Izahad beentaken, Al turned and ran for the castle.

--TBC--

A/N: Okay, so an orignal character has been introduced! And since I think it's pretty obvious to what Iza is, I'll go ahead and confirm that, yes, in one of the earlier chapters, the "mysterious figure" who was looking at the gummi ship was indeedIza.

Now make me feel special and review. Thankies!

(Random Extra)(Some Artist...)

Roxas: Namine, about your drawings, the ones you showed me in the White Room...

Namine: Yeah? What do you think of them?

Roxas: We-ell...

Namine:Don't worry.I want an honest opinion. Were they any good?

Roxas: Not really. It's looks like a two year-old drew them.

Namine: -pulls out a frying pan from nowhereand whacks Roxas to death with it- Jerk!

Zana: Uh...I thought you wanted an honest opinion?

Namine: Yeah, but he was still suppose to lie so he wouldn't hurt my feelings. Duh.

Roxas: xX;

(Fin!)