Chapter 3

In the sky representing the sun was the Alchemy decal: a snake coiled around a cross with wings on either side and crowned. Symbolism or dream analyses wasn't Al's forte, in fact he knew very little about it, but he knew his brother was trying to tell him something with this.

His brother placed Alchemy on a high pedestal and his life was guided by its principles.

Al theorized that this was Ed's way of showing how in high regard he held Alchemy, representing it in the form of the sun, god-like in the heavens.

It might appear slightly chauvinistic and perhaps even a little narcissistic, but Ed was passionate about Alchemy and the responsibilities that came with wielding such unimaginable, awesome power.

And Al felt the same way and shared his brother's enthusiasm.

Al felt like he had been walking for hours across a barren desert inside Ed's mind. There seemed to be nothing here but miles and miles of emptiness. But he knew something had to be out here or this place would not exist in his brother's mind. This had to mean something. Or perhaps it meant nothing at all and showed just how empty-minded Ed really was?

But that couldn't be, Al thought. His brother was exceptionally intelligent. He could be reckless at times, but he had the mind of a well-to-do scholar--though his smarts mostly bordered on his usage of Alchemy. Very little was put towards other things.

Al remembered traveling across a barren desert on their way to their first adventure to get their bodies back. His journey here was very similar, but this time, he wasn't burdened with a suit of armor, which constantly filled up with sand and made him sink.

Throughout the years, Ed promised he would never quit to restore their bodies back to normal no matter what the cost. Even though sometimes the journey was fought with perils and dangerous marauders and murderers, he never relented, and constantly risked his life for the betterment of the cause. Ed was willing to lay down his life for what he believed in.

Al felt the same way here, and he was going to help his brother and make him well. The problem was he didn't know what was afflicting his brother and that made him uneasy. If he knew what he faced, he could formulate a plan and think up a mode of strategy. But he didn't. He was the thinker and his brother was the doer. Now he would have to be both!

He wiped sweat from his brow and stopped for a moment to take a breather. He was exceedingly thirsty, but as there was no water out here he would have to wait to quench his plait. But suddenly he saw something in the distance. The heat waves from the sand made it hard to see what he saw clearly, but he quickly caught a familiar smell. He smelt water.

Despite water having no distinguishable smell, sometimes it had a salty tinge to its mixture of nitrogen and oxygen content, and that was what he smelt.

From his vantage point it looked like a pool of water with surrounding Palm trees. But he thought that had to be an obvious ploy, his mind was playing tricks on him. It had to be a mirage. But as he slowly made his way towards it, its features became abundantly clear in the heat fog of the desert. He told himself it wasn't real, but it looked so intoxicatingly inviting that he found himself starting to run towards it--in the backwards belief that it was real.

He got within yards of it and leapt for the water…

…and suddenly landed face first in wet mud.

He heard mild chuckling.

He lifted his head; dirt, black mud clinching to his face, and found himself in a swampy area. He looked behind him and everywhere was mud, overgrown moss covered trees and stagnate, green polluted water. It smelled disgusting! He was definitely not going to drink that stuff.

He turned towards the laughter and found Ed, or the person who looked like Ed, sitting on a branch of a large, thick, moss covered tree. He had Ed's face, his body, even his clothes--right down to the red, bloodcloak Ed enjoyed wearing--but Al knew in his heart that this person was not his brother. He wiped his face with the sleeve of his jacket. Ed looked at him.

"Persistent, aren't you?" he said. "So eager to save your brother from the brink of death."

"And I will save him," Al said firmly.

"He doesn't want your help, he prefers to be left alone."

"I don't believe you, my brother called out to me."

"You're delusional; a trick of the mind. You want to help him so you're hearing things."

"I know what I heard and it was the voice of my brother. You are not him. Where is he?"

Ed looked at him irate. He then jumped down off the branch and faced Al. "He wants you outta his mind now and he has relayed me as his spokesperson."

Al crossed his arms over his chest, and said firm, "I'm not leaving until you take me to him. Ed is my brother and I want to know what this strange illness he has contracted is."

"I won't tell you again," he said. "Vacant your brother's mind or suffer the consequences."

"Are you threatening me?"

"I will do what I must to keep what it mine," Ed said, and clapped his hands together. He bent down and touched the ground and suddenly tree roots uprooted and coiled around Al. They came all the way up to his neck and stopped, binding him in their steel-like grip. Al struggled against them, but to no avail. Ed went to him. "Your brother is mine and I will keep him."

To be continued...