Chapter 9

"Where am I?" Al asked in a whisper, feeling tried as if he had just awokenafter a prolonged, but induced sleep.

He sat up and shivered feeling cold.

Suddenly he felt an overwhelming feeling of abandonment. But why?

He was in the place where there was nothing but darkness.

He strained them in hope of glimpsing a spec of light, but everywhere he turned all was black.

It was as if he had awoken in what could only be described as limbo space, a place between worlds--the living and dead--where life didn't exist or resided in an unrest state. A spiritual realm where a spirit came to pass into the underworld, a waiting area. But was this death? Did he die? Was this where the departed went to pass on to the other side? Funny thing was, he didn't feel dead. In fact, he felt very much alive.

No, these weren't his feelings.

They were someone else's.

He felt another presence in the void with him. He couldn't explain it, he just did.

"Hello?" he called out, but there was no reply. He called out a second time, his voice echoed in the void. But again he received no answer.

He felt the ground. It felt like glass. It was smooth and cold, and was probably the reason why he felt cold. He got to his feet and tried to get warm, rubbing his arms. Then he noticed something strange, he was hardly wearing any clothes. He was half naked, other than a pair of shorts than felt tight against crotch and a shirt than pitched his chest, he had nothing else on. They were so tight that he could hardly breath. No wonder he was feeling cold. What was he wearing?

But once again, that feeling of abandonment came over him, and he didn't know why?

He called out into the abyss again, but it was futile. No one replied.

Where was here? But he thought a more important question was, why was he here? Was he still in Ed's mind or somewhere else entirely?

He remembered he had lost the fight against his brother and he fainted in the swamp water. He then awoke and found himself here in this abysmal place.

He felt his stomach, but the scar where Ed had impaled him wasn't there. And he found that strange.

Then he had a weird thought. What if all this was being generated by Guilt's mind? Everything he and Ed were experiencing was in fact a fabricated fantasy made to look real? But it certainly felt real to him. Or perhaps that's how Guilt wanted it to feel? In the mind, things can seem more real than anywhere.

A dream was very similar. In a dream, you don't know you're experiencing one, you believe you're experiencing real life in real time. It's very rare that someone is able to become aware of knowing they are having a dream. But in theory, if they know they are having one, it can be manipulated and controlled. The dreamer can fashion the circumstances to their design and control what happens to them until they awake.

Could he do that here?

Was he sleeping, and was this a dream? Was everything he experienced been a dream, including entering Ed's mind?

He closed his eyes really tight and imagined another place. He imagined the safest place he could think of, in Rockbell. But when he opened his eyes, he was still in the dark void. It hadn't worked. But for a brief second there, he actually felt he was in Rockbell on a hilltop overlooking the valley. And then all of a sudden he felt something rip him away like someone had pulled him back.

Suddenly he heard a soft beating in the void. And the more he focused on the sound the more he could hear it. Until that was all he could hear. It echoed in his ears like a constant beating drum in rhythm fashion. Then he realized it was his heart. He felt his chest and he could feel it beating inside his chest.

If he could feel that, then it proved that he was still alive!

He was suddenly filled with a beacon of hope.

He sat cross-legged and started to think.

He put a closed fist underneath his chin and closed his eyes and began to contemplate his situation, as he often did when he had the time. And in knowing where he was, he certainly had the time.

He wasn't reckless or panicky like his brother. He went through all the pros and cons and decided on a logical course of action before making a move.

But as soon as his hand touched his chin, he pulled it away confused. He felt his chin and noticed it didn't feel right. This wasn't what his chin normally felt like.

He quickly felt the rest of his body including his hair. What happened to his hair? He normally had soft, fine hair. And where was his ponytail? His hair felt hard and there were long stigmatizations of hair protruding outward similar to the metal stems of an umbrella. It felt like someone had added too much moose and molded clumps of hair together like blades of a knife. They were very sharp.

Even though he had only recently been restored to his human body having his soul transmuted to a suit of armor for five years, he knew for a fact that this was not his own body. Did someone transmute his soul into someone else's body? Oh no, not again! He thought.

"This is not my body. What happened to my body?" he finally shouted out, getting to his feet, shocked.

An angelic white light suddenly appeared ten meters away from him and it instantly caught his attention. It was a hazy light, almost like a beacon in a fog. But now he was finally able to see what he looked like. He was near naked like he knew he was, but this was not his body. No wonder he didn't feel a wound in his stomach. He also noticed his bicep muscles and saw that were thin and reedy, as if they were malnourished. His own arms were chucker, not to say more muscular, though he hated to admit it.

So who's body was it and why did he have it?

There was something familiar about it, however. But he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

"Confused, Alphonse?" a familiar voice rang out from the glowing haze. "Then allow me to enlighten you."

The haze brightened and a form began to develop from its now blinding glow.

Al shielded his eyes with an arm from the penetrating light, but curiously found himself looking back into it as if desperately wanting to know what it was. And like an angel from the heavens, a form appeared, its shape basked in a white light coming from behind it. Al was in awe at the sight he was beholding. And for a moment, he really did believe that he was dead, and he was seeing an angel come to take him up to heaven?

The entire place brightened with a soft, hazy glow. However there was nothing to see. Everything was empty. Void of life.

But then he received the shock of his life. No, it wasn't an angel, he was looking at… himself?

"What the--"

"Hello Al. Yes, I'm using your body. You did lose it in a wager to me, did you not?"

"Guilt!" he sneered. "Give me back my body! And who's body is this you've given me?" Making a gesture to the one he had.

"If you're so desperate in your desire to know then be my guest. Look at the ground." Guilt said. "But he warned, you might be in for a rude awakening. When you look, you'll see my true form."

Al looked at the ground, at the black, glass-like surface and received a frightening shock. He felt his face and couldn't believe what he saw. He was looking upon the face of the Homunculus known as Envy.

"But you're supposed to be dead," Al said, looking up at him in disbelief. "My brother killed you!"

"Death is merely an illusion," Envy said, in Al's body. "And if you know its secret, can be exploited. To cheat death is the ultimate success for a Homunculus. When I impaled your brother in that citadel that time, a part of me forever became a part of him. I knew the end was coming, so I took precautions to ensure my survival. Now that I have you body my survival is assured and I will finally achieve my one true goal: to walk among humanity as one of them. As was my original goal."

"I'll stop you," Al said.

Envy chuckled softly. "I'm afraid not," he said. "You unfortunately will be a little preoccupied." And Envy snapped his fingers and a spark ignited from his middle finger and thumb. "You see, I know your deepest fear and as long as I have your soul trapped here, you will forever be at my mercy." He smiled. "You hate fire, don't you Al? It terrifies you down to your very soul. When you were a babe you accidentally knocked over a candle in your family home and set the living room ablaze. Your mother had just stepped out to retrieve some water from the outside well and your brother was out playing with his friends. You were all alone as the fire spread. And you were trapped in your baby crib. You nearly died of smoke inhalation, and yourfeet were burned."

Al gulped nervously. "That was a long time ago," he said. "I've learned to control that fear."

"Have you now?" Envy said. "Then let's see just how much you've controlled it."

Envy snapped his fingers again and a ring of fire erupted around Al, seven feet in diameter and a meter in height. Al threw his arms to his face to avoid getting burned, but it was more of an automatic reaction than one of fear. He felt the heat searing his near naked body and soon sweat started to egress from his pores. The fire was so hot that it was like standing in the middle of a burning furnace. He cried out in god-awful pain as the flames licked and ravished his body. It was like being burned at a stake.

Envy laughed. "Remember the pain, Al," he said, "'cause you'll gonna be feeling it for a very long time."

I have no intention of returning your soul back to your brother!

To be continued…