Hello! And welcome to the first story of this fanfiction. This is explaining what happened and why Alphonse has his body. Since the brothers are going to be able to do alchemy while just clapping, I had to find a way for Al to still see the truth. I know that the ending and what I did for Al to keep his body sort of doesn't make sense, but...bear with me, okay?
Story Summary: Alphonse and Edward try to bring their mother back by doing the taboo. Edward pleads with Truth to keep his little brother.
Story Rating: T for blood
Related Notes: None
Story 1: Fateful Night
The wind is cold and blowing strongly outside. They sky is dark with the night. Two you g boys, one eleven and one ten, both stand over a metal basin, the light of the candles reflecting off of the metal. It is filled with all the mixed elements to create a human body, right down to the last specks of protein.
"This is it, Al," the older brother-Edward- says as they hold their bleeding fingers over the contents below. "We'll finally be able to see mom again."
"Yeah," the younger brother-Alphonse-replies, sounding hesitant. His stomach slightly twists with disgust at seeing their blood. He has always been more queasy than his older brother. "Are-are you sure it'll work?"
"'Course it will Al," Ed replies with a smile as they lower their arms. They both drop to their knees beside one another outside of the transmutation circle.
They place their hands on the circle and watch with excited joy as the whole circle glows a brilliant gold. They have smiles on their faces, eyes wide with anticipation.
But something changes.
The glowing turns dark and red; blue lightning strikes at the middle where the basin is laying. A cold dread drops in the pits of their stomachs, much like a stone sinking to the bottom of a lake.
Something is wrong.
And as the seconds tick by, it only gets worse. A large eye suddenly opens in the transmutation circle, the basin right above, in the middle. Black strands quickly shoot up towards Alphonse, much like lightning striking the ground. Screaming suddenly erupts throughout the room. Ed's eyes widen as he looks at his brother, heart stopping as he watches thin black strands with hands at the end curl around his brother.
"Alphonse!" He yells as he reaches out a hand towards his younger brother.
"Brother!" Alphonse cries as he reaches out his own hand, the black strips slowly snaking down his arm and around his body. "Don't let them take me!"
Their fingertips are just inches away. But that's when he feels it, a squeezing sensation as the black strands crawl up his left leg, stopping just above his knee. Edward looks down, his golden eyes widening as he feels the most excruciating pain. It feels as if his leg is being torn right off. He can practically feel the bone tearing, veins tearing, muscles, tissue, he can feel it all being ripped right in half. And, just like that, his left leg is gone.
He let's out a blood curdling scream as an intense fiery pain quickly spreads through his body, causing him to collapse onto his side. And as he looks up at his brother-who is still screaming-he feels like he's going to be sick. Right before his eyes he watches his brother be torn apart by those black strands, his clothes and shoes falling uselessly to the floor as the rest of his body disappears into thin air.
"ALPHONSE!"
He feels cold, yet he doesn't at the same time. He watches with horror as his body is dragged down by those damned strands that took his leg. Those damn things that took his baby brother.
He screams out in fear as he thrashes around, trying to get away from them. They only squeeze his body as they continue dragging him, ignoring his screaming. His heart is racing wildly in his chest and his blood sounds like drums in his ears.
And all too quickly his body hits a solid floor. He gasps with pain as the breath is knocked from his lungs, leaving him gasping like a fish out of water.
After he recovers enough, Ed slowly stands up and looks around. Where he stands is completely white and empty for miles upon miles. But as he turns around he freezes, staring with wide, horrified eyes at the tall stone door behind him. Carved into the very stone is a design that resembles that of a tree.
"Hello." An echoing voice says, seeming to bounce off the invisible walls.
Ed quickly turns around, eyes widening as he sees a white thing resembling the basic body shape of a human, sitting down on the floor. It doesn't sound like a man, nor does it sound like a woman. It doesn't even look like a man or woman either.
"Wh-who are you?" Ed bravely asks, voice trembling with fear. His whole body is frozen to the spot as he stares, unable to turn or run away.
"I am called many things." It replies, staring at Ed with its face lacking a mouth, eyes, and a nose. "Some call me god, or the world. Others call me one, all. The truth. You could even say I'm you."
"Me? Wh-what?" Ed stutters as he manages to take a step back. "Am I dreaming? Where am I!"
It doesn't answer. Slowly, the door behind Ed opens causing the young boy to quickly turn around. Ed watches with wide eyes as the black strands once again shoot out towards the door, wrapping around his body as they start to pull him back.
"No! No let me go!" He cries as he reaches out towards the thing. It slowly stands up, tilts it's head, and gives a wide, inhuman smile. It sends shivers down Ed's spine and brings tears to his eyes. "No!"
The door quickly shuts, leaving Truth standing there with that same smile on it's face.
Ed is quickly dragged through darkness, reels of everything twisting around him as he is dragged through at a neck breaking speed. All of it seems to bleed into his brain as things he never knew were real invade his mind. A crushing pain shoots through his skull as something worse than a migraine stabs at his brain, adding more and more pressure with every second that is added to his mind.
"S-stop! Stop I can't take anymore!" He screams as he tries thrashing around. But those black strands only keep him frozen in place, preventing him from moving even an inch. He shuts his eyes tightly, trying to block out everything, but it doesn't work. The information still leaks into his brain.
As he opens his eyes he can see a bright light ahead. He can feel tears prick his eyes at the familiar light brown hair color pulled off to the side, held with a hair tie. The arms are outstretched, as if she's waiting to give someone a hug.
"Mom!" Ed cries as he tries struggling again. "Mom, please! H-help me!"
He manages to slowly reach a hand out to her. Just as he is about to touch her everything disappears as he is spit out of the door. He is standing on his own two feet, hand reaching out. He is back in the white area, Truth sitting in front of him, the smile completely erased, leaving the face void of anything once more.
"Wh..what?" Ed stutters as he breathes heavily, his whole body shaking. He slowly lowers his hand and stands up straight, everything running through his mind at lightning speed. Slowly he turns around and walks back to the door, bottom lip trembling. His knees feel like jelly as he presses his hands to the door.
"How was it?" Truth asks, sounding sarcastic.
"My-my theory on human transmutation...it wasn't wrong!" Ed exclaims as a rising excitement grows in his chest. "I was just missing something!" He quickly turns around, forgetting all about his previous fear, about all the pain that was caused by seeing all that information. "Please, you have to let me go back!"
"That isn't how it works." Truth says as it slowly stands up. "This world runs on equivalent exchange. You know what that is?"
"Yeah..everything has to be equal. You can't create things out of nothing."
"So, that being said, you will pay the price of seeing that." Truth says as the same, unnerving smile creeps onto it's face again.
Ed can feel the familiar pain from before when his leg had been taken. Horror spills throughout his body like a forest fire burning down every tree in its wake. He watches as his left leg replaces Truth's left leg, the only color on the thing.
"No!" Ed cries as he collapses from the sudden loss of balance. He lifts himself up on his hands and stares at Truth as it crouches down to be eye level with Ed.
"See you later."
And just as quickly as it had happened, it is gone. The white area, the black strands, the door, and Truth. All of it is gone and he is laying on the floor, left leg gone.
The blood gushing from the stump is like a waterfall. He can practically feel the blood leaving his body, creating a thick, sticky red pool below. Al is nowhere to be seen and steam is clouding the middle of the circle where the basin had been.
"A-Alphinse!" Ed cries as tears burn his eyes. He can hear a gasping sound and he looks into the steam, squinting as raw hope bubbles up in his chest.
"Mom?" He asks as the steam slowly disappears. Dread claws at his chest, ripping the hope he had felt to shreds as he stares at the thing sprawled out on the floor.
It looks like a mangled human body, the skin black, the eyes a glowing red. It slowly reaches out a hand towards him, opening and shutting it's mouth. The hand falls as blood is spit from its mouth. A final raspy breath leaves it's mangled throat as it goes limp.
"No...no this wasn't supposed to happen!" Ed cries as he shakes his head, tears streaming down his cheeks. Nausea swims around in his stomach as he collapses onto his side. He is starting to feel the fatigue of blood loss, his vision swimming.
"No...I won't let you take him to!" Ed cries as he pushes himself back up. "He's my little brother, he's all I have left! Take anything you want, my arm, my leg, take anything! He's the only one I have left so GIVE HIM BACK!"
Edward claps his hands together, a metallic ring fills the room. He slams his hands down onto the floor and blue electricity erupts from his hands.
"So, back so soon?" Truth says, voice echoing. Ed stands there, eyes wide as he stares at the thing in front of him. He then collapses due to the loss of his left leg.
"I...why am I back here?" He asks, propping himself up on his hands as he looks around. And then he sees his little brother on the other side of Truth a few feet away, the same stone door behind him. "Alphonse!"
"Not so fast," Truth says as Ed starts to drag himself towards his brother. Al looks up at the sound of Ed's voice, tears streaming down his face as he reaches out.
"Brother!" He cries, taking a step forwards. The door opens and the black strands come out and wrap around his body once more. But instead of dragging him back, Al's body begins to disappear.
"No! Let him go you bastard!" Ed shouts while Truth only smirks. "Please! He did nothing wrong!"
"This is his price to pay." Truth says casually as it stands up. "You payed yours, now he has to pay his."
"But it isn't fair!" Edward cries, his own tears stinging his eyes. "How come I only lose my leg and he loses his whole body? It doesn't make sense!"
"Oh?" Truth asks, sounding intrigued as he looks back at Alphonse, the black strands working on taking his body away. "You do have a point. But he still has to pay the toll."
"Leave him alone!" Ed cries as he pounds a fist down onto the floor. "Please! I'll give anything up for you to let him live! Please don't take my baby brother away from me!"
"It has already been set."
"No! This was all my idea and now it's my fault that he's being taken away!" Ed cries, sobs escaping his throat as his body shakes. "Take me instead! Please! He has nothing to do with this!"
"What do you want me to do? He has to pay. Equivalent exchange!" Truth all but snaps, the smirk disappearing from its face.
"Take whatever you want from me! Don't hurt him!" Ed begs as he shakes his head, tears dripping from his chin. "Please..." he sobs, "don't take him away from me."
"Well, since you're that desperate, I won't take his body." Truth says as it stands, turning to face Alphonse who is still screaming. "But know this. I will take your arm for your brother's body, but you have to pay me back in full one of these days. We don't want the world to tip out of balance, do we?"
Ed sniffles as he watches Truth raise a hand. The black strands recedes back into the door, which slams shut. Alphonse's body is instantly returned back, being complete once more. And then Truth turns to face Edward.
Edward screams as he feels what he had felt in his leg, except more. He can feel half of his arm, all the way up to his shoulder, being violently ripped off. He watches, breathing heavily, as his right arm takes place on Truth's right arm, the left leg forming as well.
"Nice doing business with you."
So? What did you all think? Don't forget to leave me suggestions for what you guys want to read next! My ideas can only get us so far!
~StarShadow