Chapter 6
Brother versus brother.
The concept unnerved and frightened Al.
He couldn't fight his own brother, little lone hurt him in any way. But as he faced him and with Ed poised to strike with his right arm transmuted into a long, slender, metallic blade, he feared he had no choice. He would need to get past his brother in order to get to Guilt, the string master behind this whole puppet show.
He needed a weapon and anything would do.
He looked down and saw a collection of blackened heavy-looking stones that were burnt by the fire. They peaked out of the water that surrounded his feet. Then he had a thought. He could use these--and for what he had in mind, they'd make the perfect weapon to confront his brother's metallic blade with.
He clapped his hands and bent down to touch each stone. His knowledge of minerals helped him reconstitute their basic structure and transmuted the zinc, iron, and other metallic elements, into the blade of a samurai sword. He then fashioned the wooden handle from a piece of a tree that was floating in the water and fused them both together.
He picked up the sword and held it by its handle. He needed to fashion a grip for the sword. There was no rawhide available he could transmute so he would have to make a substitute. He ripped a portion of his shirt and wrapped it around its base. This will protect his hands from slivers.
He was now ready to face his brother.
Maes Hughes stood on the sidelines.
He was unable to help physically, despite wanting to do so in the most urgent of ways. But this battle dwelled heavily in the Alchemy arts, and even if he had a physical body to work with he would be no match for either of them. He knew nothing of Alchemy other than what he had read, and it took a special kind of talent to wield such a powerful tool. So he could only watch and hope things turned out for the best.
Ed eyed his brother and expressed a look of total and utter hatred for him.
Ed was being controlled by the entity that called himself Guilt, and he was using Ed's guilt of what he had done to his brother years ago to make himself stronger. He wanted to leave Ed's body and emerge in the real world. But he needed a willing host to transfer his consciousness to.
Since he was born in Ed's mind out of guilt and later given consciousness by a source even Guilt didn't understand, he wanted more than Ed's mind could give him. He was alive and he wanted to experience everything life had going for it; everything dark and malicious.
"Al, I urge you to stop this before it goes any further," Maes Hughes started to say. "Fighting your brother will only give Guilt what he wants. He's trying to trick you."
Al shook his head. "I know what I'm doing," he said to Maes. "If this is the only way I will be able to convince my brother that I no longer have any misgivings towards him for what he did to me years ago, then this is what I must do."
"Do you still hate your brother for what he did, transmuting your soul into that suit of armor?"
Al looked at Maes and said, "Of course not!"
"Why do I sense you're lying?" He said. "Bury those negative emotions deep down so Guilt can't gain strength off them. As long as you're connected to Ed's mind, Guilt can feed off both of you."
Then Maes stopped for a moment as if he had an sudden epiphany.
"No, wait? Tell your brother how you feel. Tell him how he stole five years away from you. Release those emotions. If they're no longer pinned up Guilt can't feed off them."
Al looked at him strange. "What?" he said. "Forget it! That would only hurt Ed."
"On the contrary, he should know how you actually feel. You need to get it out in the open so the two of you can deal with it together."
"I can't," Al said quickly. "I can't make Ed any more depressed than he already feels. It'll destroy him."
"Sometimes you must hurt the ones you love even if it hurts you as well," Maes said. "Ed must come to the realization of what he did and start the healing process. Your brother still harbors tremendous guilt for what he did to you. From that one emotion Guilt was born. You must tell Ed how you feel and what he took away from you. It's the only way you'll save your brother."
Guilt rolled his eyes and tilted his head slightly to the right as if bored. "Are you two done blabbering yet?" he said. He looked at Al. "There's nothing you can say to your brother to prevent what is about to happen. I now control everything that is your brother. And if it wasn't for your binding spell I'd have a body too! But that's only a minor nuisance. Once you lose this fight, I'll use your body to lift the spell."
Al smirked. "I don't think so," he said.
"What justifies that smugness?"
"Nothing," he said smiling. "I'm ready."
Al readied his sword.
Ed readied his blade.
"Can you really kill your brother, Al? He's always been better than you in Alchemy. He's a master and you are still but a student. You no longer have that suit of armor to protect you. You're flesh and blood as he is. And with my control in here I'm restricting you from altering your physical form. You can't change like you did to protect yourself in the crevice. Ed is now mine to command. He will show you no mercy."
"Then I will show my brother no mercy," Al said seriously. "If defeating Ed is the only way I will get to you, then I have no choice." He looked directly at Ed. "Brother, I will save you no matter what. And for the record, I did hate you for what you did to me even though I said I could never hate you. Having my soul bonded to that suit of armor wasn't an easy thing to live with and everyday I worried I would never get my body back. But I don't hate you any longer. We learned a lot on our travels and if I had it all to do over again I wouldn't change a thing. I love you brother, and that will never deny."
"Such sentimental rubbish," Guilt said.
"You have no concept of love," Al said to Guilt. "All you know is hate and culpability. That's what separates my brother from you. He knows I love him, and we'll get through this together like we've always done."
"This isn't a fairy tale," Guilt said. "Do you really think this is going to end with a happy ending?"
"Maybe not, but I'll never know unless I try. I've never backed down from a fight and I'm not going to start now even if its against my brother. I will free Ed from your machiavellian control and restore his sanity."
"Such a valiant speech. Too bad words mean nothing. Actions dictate a person's true intentions."
"You're wrong, Guilt. Sometimes words are more powerful than any action can be."
Al looked at his brother and smiled thin as he saw glimmer of hope in his brother's eyes. It looked as if his words of love were getting through to him. Ed was smiling.
"Al," he softly said. "Help me."
"Stay strong brother, help is on the way," he said.
Maes Hughes smiled. "It looks like your control over Ed is weakening," he said.
Guilt looked at Ed and noticed he had lowered his blade. He also noticed Ed had a hand on his head as if reacting and recovering from a headache or a very bad dream.
"No, I won't be denied!" he said angry.
He put his palms together as if about to prey, shut his eyes, and muttered something under his breath as if reciting a chant.
Suddenly Ed clutched his head with both hands and collapsed to his knees. He screamed as if in colossal pain, and shouted, "No! I won't to fight my brother! Please don't make me! NO!"
"You will do as I command," Guilt said. "Now stand up and fight your brother!"
Guilt's influence was much too strong for Ed to overcome in his beleaguered mental state and he succumbed. He dropped his hands and then raise his head. Tears streamed down his face, but he was no longer sad or in pain. All he could feel was what Guilt wanted him to feel and that was angry.
He got to his feet and raised his metal blade in preparation to fight.
Guilt opened his eyes and grinned sinister. "Ed is mine again," he said. "I've reinforced the idea I implanted in his mind earlier, that he hates you with a passion, Al. Those violent episodes he's been experiencing in the real world were my doing. I knew you'd come into Ed's mind to see what was happening to him knowing how no modern medicine held any explanation for his unheard condition." He continued. "Ed was with you when you were shown the Mind Meld technique. After learning of this technique I decided to weave a little plan to get you in here. It was the only way I could get you to agree to the deal we made."
He grinned sinister again. "I've locked away his memories of how and when you were restored to your human body and convinced him that you are the one who killed his real brother. He doesn't recognize you in your human form. He believes you destroyed the blood seal that kept his brother bonded to the suit of armor. He now sees you as a Homunculus who stole his brother's body from the Gate and wants revenge. To him, his real brother is dead and you killed him!"
Al squeezed a fist at his side trying to control his anger, but his mind wouldn't stop flooding with feelings of unbridled rage. "I'll make you pay for what you've done to him!" he said.
"As I said, words mean nothing," he said. "Defeat your brother. Let's see just how long you can last again him." Guilt chuckled. I want your body and I'm going to do everything to get it! "But you'll never win."
"We'll just see about that," Al said. "I have just as much resolve as my brother."
Al gripped the handle of his samurai sword with both hands and told himself that he had to win or everything he and his brother had fought for in the last five years was for nothing. He couldn't allow Guilt to take his body, that would defeat the purpose of getting it back. He didn't want to fight his brother, but this was something he had to do, and had to be successful -- no matter what!
"MURDERER!" Ed screamed, and launched his attack.
He ran at Al, and Al gripped the samurai sword tight.
This was going to be his greatest fight ever and against the greatest opponent he'll face in his young life.
His very own brother.
To be continued…
