Chapter 24

He stared into the dark void that surrounded him, and he thought he was alone. But suddenly he could feel the presence of others all around him. He felt overwhelmed, watched. There were hundreds of them, multiple minds, and their combined collective strength was keeping him here.

He felt torn, with only a tether of remembrance tacking him to his consciousness. But lucky, his subconscious, his personal worth and identity was still in tact. The spirits had somehow ripped his soul from his body and trapped it in this dark place. But he had been here once before: Envy had brought him here, just before he was cast into a circle of flame. He hoped whatever had done this to him was not going to repeat that painful experience.

"Who are you?" Al shouted out into the emptiness, but he got no reply. Suddenly he started to hear the soft echoing of many people laughing. But not your run-of-the-mill, I-heard-something-funny, normal laugh, but a malicious, torpid, you're-trapped laugh, and it was coming from all around him.

He turned 360 degrees, following the sound, but as he couldn't see anything, he couldn't identify the identity of the laughter. But there were hundreds of laughs, overlapping each other, so-loud and frightening, that he put his hands to his ears to try to muzzle the sound. His Mother had told him when he was a child that there isn't anything in the dark that isn't in the light, but then why did he feel afraid?

The sound of the laughter began to die down and he was able to take his hands from his ears, hearing only one laugh now, and it seemed to be coming from everywhere. But he could tell it was one laugh from one person. The laughter stopped for a moment and a voice said, "I'm over here. No, I'm not, I'm over here. Here I am. No, I'm not. Here I am."

Al looked for the voice, but every time he thought he found its origin, it changed, and came from another direction - beside him, behind him, above him, below him. Then he stopped trying to follow it.

"Stop playing this game," he finally said. "Who are you?"

Suddenly a blinding light erupted in front of him and he shed his eyes with his left arm, but still tried to look over it to see what was materializing. Before him, stood a being of light, or rather a being illuminated in a candescent, white hot glow, looking like some sort of angelic creature. "What are you, and what do you want with me?" he demanded. The light dimmed and Al's eyes opened wide, shocked, to see Mae Hughes standing before him.

"Alphonse, listen very carefully," the voice of Maes Hughes said. "I've temporarily created a static time bubble inside your mind so the spirits who have trapped you here won't hear us talk. You're in terrible danger, you must regain control of your body or your brother will die!"

Al lowered his arm from in front of his face and looked at Brigadier General Hughes. He was wearing a white suit. The last time he saw him he was wearing the same thing, but he wasn't glowing. Was that what happened when you die, you glow? But that was something to think about for another time. "What do you mean?" Al asked.

"Right now, in the real world, outside your mind, the spirits of the sword, have control of your body, and they're about to kill Edward," Maes said.

"Where am I?" Al said confused.

"We're inside your mind. The spirits, working as a collective, with a single goal, ripped your soul from your physical body and sent your subconscious deep into the recesses of somewhere here, to this void. This void is inside everyone. It's an empty place where old ideas go to die, to fade into nothingness. Experiences forgotten come here to disappear. But nothing truly dies. The soul stores everything and what it does not need it brings here, to this place. Humans only use a fraction of their potential and intelligence, the rest is empty space."

Al shook his head and looked befuddled, so Maes went on to explain it more. "Think of the soul as the mainframe of a machine or computer, whatever memory or data is deleted, it continues to store until the space it takes up is used, like a brain. So, if the space is not used, the data is retrievable and accessible, if you know where to look for it."

"So, what you're saying is, I'm old, unnecessary data, sent away to be deleted?"

"Yes, and if you don't find a way out of here, you'll be permanently deleted by the spirits."

"But I don't even know how I got here. How do I escape?"

"Hohenheim's sword is a gateway to another realm of existence," Maes went on to explain. "Through Alchemy, he cast a forbidden spell on it to trap evil spirits inside its walls. One of them is the person you know as Envy. Your father trapped his soul inside the sword because he was about to unleash the Dark Arts of Alchemy onto the world, and if that had happened, the whole world would be cast into an unending chaos. If you don't escape from here and stop these spirits, and Envy, the true power behind these spirits, that will become a reality."

"Envy's soul did this do me? Does he really have that much power?"

"Emotions like hate can personify power a thousand fold, and with unbridled hate festering for nearly a century, Envy could very much have the power he needs to unleash the Dark Arts upon the world. And with a real body and a soul, he will be able to perform Alchemy."

"I read about the Darks Arts when I was studying to take my Enrollment exam into the Alchemy Academy in Central. It wasn't part of the curriculum, but I managed to find some literature on it while looking around the library late one night. I was really looking for a book that had gone missing, been misplaced, but I found something else instead, and was totally engrossed with its contents. It told his story. He was a pupil of my father's, and his adopted son, but he was thrown out of the Academy for killing a little boy on his first mission."

"He committed no crime, but he was made out to be a criminal. He was merely a scapegoat for poor intelligence given to him while he tried to settle a dispute in the town of Cala. The very first town you were sent to on your first mission. Weapons fire destroyed a house killing a boy inside. He had no way of knowing how his actions to stop the war would turn out. The townspeople blamed him and demanded justice. The Furor had no choice but to expel him."

"So all his misplaced anger, everything he's done up to this point, everyone he's killed, all the lives that have been discombobulated because of his interference, is a result of a misunderstanding, and a beaconing thirst for revenge against his accuser: the Military."

Maes nodded. "But from what you say, and what I read in the book, we can't allow Envy to unleash the Dark Arts," Al then said. "It all makes sense now. That's why he wants my body. With the Philosopher's Stone, his power would be invincible. No one would be able to stand against him. But I don't have the Philosopher's Stone. Why does he want me?"

"As I said before, Alphonse, nothing dies completely. A portion of the Philosopher Stone still resides inside you. It may only be a minuscule, tiny fraction, but it's enough to Envy for his plan to work. Not everything of value can be touched. Memories of objects are just as significant, and can be equally as powerful. Ideas are more precious that tangible goods. With an idea, whole cities have been built and an ideal of life created. Human life can't exist without ideas and through the channel of ideas, life continues on throughout the ages."

"I think I understand," Al said.

"Do you really?"

"Yes, just the memory of the Philosopher Stone can be used as a powerful tool. If he somehow manages to tap into my memories of the Philosopher Stone and the power I believe it has, he can use what portion that's left inside my body to forward his horrible plan into motion. Edward told me that I was once the Philosopher Stone. Whether I believe him or not, it once existed through what I've learned in books and from what he's told me. In either case, as long as the idea of the Philosopher Stone and what it can do exists, it exists."

"Good boy," Maes said, smiling proudly, like a fatherly figure. "You do understand."

"I must somehow stop him!"

"But you can't stop him alone, you need Edward's help," Maes said.

Al nodded, knowing he was right. "Good to see you again, Brigadier General Hughes," Al said, he smiled. "I wish you were still alive. I really miss you."

"How could you? Your memories were erased of those four years when your soul was bonded to that suit of armor."

Al smiled thin. "Like you said, the soul never erases everything. Through meditation, I managed to retrieve some memories of you and the emotions I felt when I was around you. I wasn't totally devoid of my humanity when my soul was trapped in that armor. Slowly, things are starting to come back, but not everything and I fear that some things never will."

"Give it time, Alphonse. Good things come to he who waits." Maes tilted his head slightly to the left as if he heard something, his eyes squinted curiously, and then he looked back at Al. "I have to go now, Al. My static bubble is weakening and Envy is wondering where you are."

"Come back and visit anytime, Brigadier General," Al said.

Maes smirked. "You know, that title really doesn't suit me. Call me Maes." He said. "Titles are for standing on ceremony, and with you, we are friends. First names are best suited. Bye Al, and good luck. Kick Envy's ass for me. Know that I'll always be with you boys."

"That's a confront to know."

And as quickly as Maes appeared, his glow blinked out in an instant and Al found himself back in the darkness.

"Where did you go, Alphonse?" the voice said.

"I know who you are. Show yourself." Al ordered.

The darkness lifted slightly and turned into a soft grayish hue, and a single glowing figure silhouetted by a dark shadow outline appeared in the distance. Al squinted his eyes to try to get a better look at the individual, but he couldn't get any details. "And who do you think I am?" the voice asked.

"Let's just say, a little bird told me," Al said.

"Has Brigadier General Hughes been interfering again?" the voice said. And Al was aghast that Envy knew about Maes Hughes. "Shocked Al? Don't be. I'm reading your mind. Everything you've ever experienced I know. And the conversion that you and Hughes had just now, I know it all. How do you think you're going to escape this place, Al? I'm in control of your body and you're trapped here, helpless to stop me from killing your brother."

"You don't have to do this, Envy," Al said. "Killing Ed won't prove anything."

"Maybe not, but it'll feel good."

"The military was wrong, they shouldn't have pinned that little boy's murder on you. You're not a criminal. But that didn't give you the right to attack the Academy and kill innocent people. My father shouldn't have done what he did, it was cruel. But he did what he thought was right, because you were about to destroy our way of life and he couldn't let you do that."

"Isn't it just like you, Alphonse Elric. While your brother and your father see fit to settle disputes with actions, your way is through diplomacy to cease any misunderstanding before it escalates into fighting. I have to give your credit, you've done your research. But you're not going to stop me, and your brother is going to die for all the trouble he's put me through."

"What if I offer you something in exchange for my brother's life?"

"And what could you possibly offer me?"

"An idea."

"An idea?"

"You need the Philosopher Stone for your sinister plan to work, so what if I give it to you in exchange for sparing Edward's life?"

There was a slight pause, a silent moment. Then Envy spoke. "You're offering me something I already have, Alphonse," he said, but his voice sounded a bit coy.

And Al picked up on it. "You don't have it or you wouldn't need me," Al said. "You may have me trapped in this place, but you're keeping me alive for a reason and that reason is you still need me. You need me to show you where the Philosopher Stone is, because you can't find it."

"Very perceptive of you. But you forget, I'm in control of your body and I can kill you brother in an instant. So tell me where the Philosopher Stone is, or he dies!"

"Kill him and you'll never find it, I'm willing to die to protect it."

"Noble, and yet…" There was another short pause, a silent moment. "Very well, I'll spare your brother, for the moment."

Suddenly there was a loud, menacing noise and the place shook violently, and Al lost his balance and tilted over, catching himself, landing on his hands and knees. He looked at Envy and saw that he had also fallen over, whatever it was catching him off guard. And his true appearance was at last revealed. He was a young looking man with blonde hair.

Envy looked at him and snarled in anger, but he wasn't reacting to anything Al had done. Instead, he was angry at what was happening in the real world. He never expected that that would happen. "Blast that Alchemist! I should've killed him when I had the chance!"

"What's going on?" Al said.

But he didn't get an answer, and Envy vanished.

To be contined...