Hey there! thanks for making it to chapter 2 of The True Price.
I hope you guys enjoy and I hope it's not horrible. I've been on a crazy writing binge as I get back into the swing of things and right now It's just after midnight so my editing prowess ;P might be off a bit.
Please enjoy anyways.
Disclaimer: I don't own FMA or FMA:Brotherhood
It was the first week of May in the town of Resembool and thankfully the horrible weather cleared up towards the end of the previous month. But even though the night sky wasn't riddled with lightning and thunder sleep either evaded the eldest Elric brother or seemed to be riddled with strange dreams of twisted memories.
Ed's POV
Every night it was the same bullshit. I would fall asleep just fine thanks to the demands of fatherhood but as the night would wear on, my dreams would start to morph into something totally bizarre and its as if I am conscious of the fact that these are dreams, sort of like that phenomenon people call dream walking and tonight was no different.
"Edward! Ed?" A voice called out to me. A voice that I still don't know who it belongs to.
"Come on Ed breakfast won't start without you dumbass!" It continued. "Ouch teacher that hurt!"
In my dream I was in the bed I slept in when I was a boy, living with teacher.
"I'm coming! Hold your horses." My younger version hollered.
As I walked into the living room I could see the kitchen table and the three people sitting there that I've always known; Alphonse, Teacher, and Mr. Curtis but there was one other person I never seem to be able to recall, and that's because instead of a tangible, recognizable being they were fuzzy, like what you'd expect someone to look like in a far off distance in a horrible blizzard.
"Finally, can we eat now?" The disembodied being begged.
"If you behave." Teacher said with a pointed stare as she reached for the food on the table.
"Me behave? He's the one that always sleeps in so late!" It retorted and for the first time since having these dreams the night that Pinako died the voice almost sounds girlish.
"Enough or I'll double your chores." Teacher warned as she tried to call the being by its name but all it sounded like to me was static.
The dream continues like this, the five of us eating breakfast together, the being and I arguing about who is the stronger alchemist while Al just watches with an entertained gleam in his eyes. It's as if my waking consciousness was blocking the memories of the person and it is incredibly frustrating. This memory I can recall when I'm awake but the difference is that there is no one else there besides the four of us and in reality, I remember discussing something with teacher, not arguing with someone else.
As the night wears on my dreams get fuzzier and fuzzier, which I contribute to a night of restless sleep. All of a sudden a roar of thunder shakes the whole house and I jolt up in bed. Only it wasn't the current bed I shared with Winry but the bed I remember sleeping in as a young boy in our old family home just before everything went horribly wrong.
Great just another dream. I thought to myself as I got up and walked over to the door, but before I could leave what looks like my childhood bedroom the reflection in the mirror beside the door isn't mine but of a young girl, one I don't recognize.
Huh…
Before I can inspect my or shall I say her reflection the house is lit up by the raging storm outside which seems to catch her attention although it doesn't seem to matter right now because it's as if I had no control over what our body does in this dream.
The figure in the mirror seems to be looking for something in the room and when she can't find it she leaves the bedroom taking me with her. Looking around I realize this is in fact our old family home.
As we are walking through the house I can hear a static-like noise coming from the room further down the hallway which also appears to have light seeping through the crack at the bottom of the door. It's odd because it almost sounds familiar. Before I can place my finger on it the noise stops and the light is gone. The girl opens the door just as I remember what that noise was and I really wish she hadn't.
The girl stands in the doorway in complete shock, staring at the gruesome image before her when it occurs to me that I am no longer her in this dream but she is looking at me.
"A-Alex…" My voice calls out even though it sounds foreign to me. I am forced to look down and see the same image I did the night that Al and I tried to bring mom back. My bloody stump of a leg.
The young girl comes to her senses and rips apart the hem of her nightdress to use as a makeshift bandage.
"W-What the hell did you do!" She yells at me as tears form in her eyes.
"W-We only wanted to bring mom back." I stuttered, feeling my strength fade.
At this moment in time, it's getting harder to discern what is a dream and what isn't. I feel like the dream Edward is trying to take over my thought process.
"What?" She asked in disbelief. "Are you stupid Ed? Human transmutation is forbidden!"
"Where's Alphonse?" She asked as she looked around the room all the while placing pressure on my wound.
"H-He's gone," I told her as I look at the empty clothes on the floor beside me. "We only wanted to bring mom back," I repeated.
When she saw the abandoned clothes on the ground she choked on her own words as she began to sob.
"I'm sorry sis. Now you'll be all alone." The words pour out of my mouth as I feel myself slipping away too.
"Don't you dare dumbass!" She yelled as she started shaking my body and putting more pressure on my wound, but by this point I'd grown numb thanks to the blood loss, and the last thought on my mind before I succumbed to the blazing bright light is how lonely she will be without us.
'I'm so sorry.'
.
.
.
It feels as if I've been floating forever. I am dead right? Shouldn't I see some sort of pearly white gates and angels? Or is this limbo existence my price for dabbling in the taboo?
After a while, I hear a faint voice calling my name, and in the next instant, I am in front of a large black door that has the markings of a tall tree with branches and different languages on it. I remember reading about this in an alchemy book. This is what people call the portal of truth. The gate which holds all the secrets of alchemy inside.
"Edward!" A desperate voice calls out to me from behind.
'Sis?' Oh that's right she came, she was there when I…
When I turn around fully she attempts to run towards me and so do I but in a flash, the gate opens up behind me and these tentacle-like children's hands wrap around my body.
"No please!" She yells as she reaches out to me. "I can't lose him too." She begs.
Just then the gatekeeper shows up in front of her portal of truth.
"Well well well. It's a whole family affair." It says menacingly.
"Please I'll do anything just give me back my brother!" she pleads as she tries to grab hold of me but fails.
"Anything huh?" It responds.
"Tell me, what is your brother's soul worth to you girlie?" He asks her. "Because you can't gain something without losing something in return. I'm sure as an alchemist and that man's daughter you would know that by now."
"Will you give up your soul for your twin's?" He suggests.
"What?" She asks in fear.
"No Alex! This is our mistake. Take me just leave her be!" I beg as I struggle against my binds.
"So you're telling me if I give you my soul you'll spare Edward?" She asks thoughtfully as if she's really considering this as she stops trying to catch up to me.
"Something like that." It smiles menacingly.
"I don't believe you." She states, "Alchemy isn't always about equal exchange especially when you mess with something that is as taboo as human transmutation. My soul isn't enough for Ed's but if I give you something greater than my soul that should be enough right?" She asked.
"Ha, now I am intrigued. What is greater than a person's soul child?" Truth asks.
"I'll give you my identity." She told him. "A dead person is still remembered, they still have a presence in this world but if their past and their identity are erased then there is no one to remember them. I'll give you my identity, my past, my influence on the people I've met in this world if you give Edward back his soul." She bargains. "In the grand scheme of things, it'll be as if Alexandra Hohenheim was never born. I'll cease to be in people's memory."
"So you're essentially handing over your existence without the consequences that it entails." It countered.
"Yes. In return you allow me to live. So instead of deleting me from existence you just take the things that matter most, like connections, memories, etc. I will pay the price of living alone with memories that mean nothing to anyone else. We humans are made up of the experiences we share, the bonds we form. Isn't that a greater trade than my life?" She asks.
"Wait what!" I yell "You can't be serious Alex!" I plead.
"There's no other way Ed. You're the only one who can help Alphonse now. If sacrificing this allows you both to live I'll do it." She tells me as she turns back to the being before her.
"No! This was our mistake! Not yours." I shout.
"That may be true but I'm responsible too. I am supposed to protect you guys and I wasn't able to. This way I still can." She said smiling at me.
"Hm. This is certainly an interesting trade." It says tauntingly.
"Go to hell!" I tell the figure that is trying to separate me and my twin for what sounds like forever.
"Very well Alexandra Hohenheim I accept. Take your brother and get out of here." It tells her as the bindings around my body release.
"No! Come back here you cant do this!" I yell but the figure cares nothing for my words or my pain.
"I'll see you real soon Edward Elric." It smiles at me as it vanishes.
"Ed," Alex calls to me, her expression solemn. Already her figure is fading away.
"No, please! We can't do this without you." I plead as I reach for her but feel nothing where I should be feeling her hand.
"Yes, you can. Just like you decided to try and bring mom back I've decided to save you. We both have to live with our choices and their consequences. We are a family Ed, we pay the price together. Now, remember you have Al waiting for you." She told me as she points to the third door to our left. "You're the only one who can save him. I believe in you Edward. My annoying twin brother. I won't forget you." And with that, her body fades away completely.
"No!" I yell as I run to her gate to try and get her back but before I can get very far the tendrils coming from my portal start pulling me back. I fight as hard as I can because I know when I go through that door all of my memories of her will be taken from me. She's my twin sister. I can't lose her!
.
.
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I wake with a jolt as I try to get control of my breathing. That dream. No, it wasn't a dream. It was more like a memory. In the next moment, my head feels like it is imploding. The pain is unlike anything I've ever felt before as every memory that was taken for her toll rushes back.
It felt like I was reliving the first twelve years of my life in a matter of seconds. And just as quickly as it started it stopped.
With my heart finally returning to a normal rhythm I take a deep breath as I think back to a time when I was little. I must have been four or five and I was building a snowman with Alphonse only it wasn't just him there she was there too.
Before I could even think of another moment in my past beside me Winry wakes up with a jolt, her body, and mind going through the same ordeal I just went through. I try to calm her down by holding her and as her body relaxes she looks at me in awe.
"Ed…" She says in disbelief.
"I know."
I know.
Hello! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I feel good about it but then again it might be crap. I worked on this way too late again.
But regardless please let me know what you think.
Thanks a lot.
Chao
