Chapter 2: The Veil
AN: Hey guys, this is my update for the ... I don't know, really. I'll tell you when I figure out my schedule.
Anyway, next week is finals so don't expect an update, but if you do get one, then think of i as an early Christmas/any-other-winter-holiday present.
IMPORTANT NOTE!
I need y'alls to think of what pairings you're looking for. I'll have a poll up in my account listing a bunch. If you don't see the one you want on there, tell me in the comments.
NOW, ONWARD!
Al looked around. One minute he was standing in the ruins in a disturbing looking lab and now he was...
...he didn't know where he was actually.
Al looked around for any sort of landmark, a hill, anything, but there was nothing. It was just all grey.
His metal helmet swiveled around furiously, looking for any sign of an exit. Nothing.
"Brother!" Al called, his high voice cracking slightly in his panic. "Brother, where are you?!" The large figure collapsed to his knees as he realized his brother wouldn't answer.
Then he heard it. A whisper, barely anything, but still a whisper. His head snapped up.
"Hello?" He called warily. The whole place was giving him creepy vibes, but also a sense of recognition. Had he been here before? Was this the afterlife?
Al shook his head and stood. "Hello, who's there?"
Another whisper, fainter this time. Al began walking toward it.
"...love." the whisper had risen to a point where he could actually hear some words, no matter how faint.
"...translated...yet..." This time, when the whisper came, an image flashed in the mist. A woman, blurry though she was, stood next to a man. Al squinted, trying to get a better look, but the image dissipated quickly.
"...don't know...mean..." The image wasn't any stronger this time, if anything it was shakier, but Al was able to tell that the woman was brunette, with her hair in a bun of some sort, while the man had short, black hair.
Al moved forward as the image vanished.
"...Stop..." He paused in surprise, the image was stronger this time, clearer. It felt like it was calling to him.
The woman, he still couldn't see very clearly, but the man, he could now see, had bright green eyes, thick rimmed glasses, and various small scars on his face. His garments were strange, a little bit like what he read Xing's clothes were like. They were green, like his eyes, with a shiny gold border. The...robe was held closed by a black belt with an odd triangular symbol on the clasp. The woman's clothing appeared to be a similar fashion, only in a dark blue and silver. Al thought her eyes might have been brown, though they could also have been grey.
The image faded once again, and Al moved on.
"...STOP IT!" With a jerk, the large young man froze, the new image almost life-like. The woman's back was to him now, however, so he was unable to see her face. He did realize that she had an odd accent. A lilt of sorts to her voice, it was very beautiful and exotic, but still strange. Al began walking again, believing the image would fade away like the last.
This time, though, the image didn't fade. Instead, when Al took a step, the image got clearer and more real, though it also seemd to grow in distance between him and the image.
Suddenly, Al felt something on his hand, tugging lightly. He looked down to see a large, clear white, object, tugging on his armored hand. With a start, Al realized it was a large bear, probably a grizzly, and it had his hand in it's mouth.
Completely unsure of what to do, Al trailed after the bear that wasn't attacking. Instead, it kept looking back at him, almost fondly.
Al decided he liked the bear. Brother might even have considered keeping him as a pet because of how intimidating he was.
He was so caught up in his fantasy for a pet, that he didn't notice the bear stop. Al walked right through it, and turned back around to face it, surprise written in his body language.
"What is it?" He asked, getting down his knees as he gently rubbed the bear's ear. The bear nudged his hand with it's head in encouragement.
Suddenly, a scream rang out. It was so horrible, so utterly terrifying, horrifying. It made him think of Winry, and Lt. Hawkeye, and Granny Pinako, and mom...
Al shot to his feet in a panic as he searched around for the source. His worries were exacerbated by his bear companion collapsing with a low, pained moan.
Al paused in his frantic search to see his new friend disappear right as the scream ended.
He stood still for a moment, unsure of what to do, which way to go. The place was so bare and bland that the moment he looked away, he lost the direction he was supposed to go in.
Finally, after several moments of floundering, another unexpected tug at his hand came. Al looked down expecting to see his bear friend.
Instead, a large, powerful-looking stag stood next to him, staring warily into his face-plate. It tugged again, harder this time, and gave a short half-neigh.
Since he didn't really have another idea, Al followed. To his surprise, he noticed the place he was in getting darker, yet also lighter, if that made any sense.
When the stag finally stopped pulling him, it looked as if they stood in front of an open door, one with a translucent curtain hanging over the frame.
Al felt a strange...energy of sorts coming from the curtained doorway. He was unsure if it was a good energy or a bad one, but it was most definitely a strange one. It was almost like alchemy, but not quite. Like it was more...vast or something.
Al shook his head.
He looked once more at the doorway, and to his surprise, found a vague outline of a person staring back at him. The person's hand lifted after a moment and rested itself gently on the other side of the frame.
At once, it felt like Al had been plunged into a warm bath, comfortable and warm, but the possibility of over heating or pruning your skin. Al had almost forgotten what that felt like.
The energy tugged and the stag pushed and together they encouraged Al to step forward and through the doorway.
He was plunged into darkness.
NEXT SCENE
Harry could honestly say, when he was feeling out the veil and tugging on the presence within, that he didn't expect a suit of armor to come tumbling out.
Nor did he expect it to stumble up into a standing position (though he really should have. He went to a school of magic for seven years and encountered the suits of armor several times).
He also didn't expect the armor to talk to him in such a high voice.
"Hello?"
Harry blinked. Then, in instinctual politeness, thrust his hand out in between them.
The armor stared at it for a second before taking it and shaking it firmly. If possible, it seemed to have a beaming smile on it's face.
"Uh, hello, Mr. Armor." The black haired man said, a little awkwardly. The armor gained an amused air to it. Harry huffed slightly. Why did the armor have to get amused by Harry's awkwardness?
"Hi." It greeted in it's strangely high-pitched voice.
"My name's Harry Potter. Do you know where you are?"
The armor looked around. Then after a moment shook it's head resolutely.
"Nope." Harry sighed.
"Great. More paperwork." The armor gave an unsympathetic laugh.
"Brother has to deal with that all the time. Not as much as the Colonel, though." It laughed again.
Brother? It was a suit of armor, it couldn't have been born, so no possibility of brothers, unless you counted brothers in battle or something. Also, who was this Colonel? A human? Another suit of armor? A magical creature of some sort? Harry had absolutely no clue as to the answer to any of these questions, but he was insanely curious about it.
"Well, at least Hermione's gonna have fun." Harry sighed as he looked over at his unconscious friend.
"Eh?"
"Oh, sorry. Hermione loves a puzzle. It helps keep her mind off of...things."
"Hmm. Brother's like that as well. And he gets really sucked into his research when he does begin." Harry barked out a laugh.
"Yeah, that sounds like Hermione. You related to her or something?" He asked rhetorically.
The armor shrugged.
"Never met her, but probably not." It looked down, like it was sad. "We don't exactly have a lot of family to speak of."
Harry gave a commiserating smile. That was something he could relate to.
"Just you and your brother then, huh?"
"Yep." It looked deep in thought for a moment. "And Granny Pinako and Winry."
"Your cousin or something?"
"No, just close family friends. We grew up together."
Harry paused, unsure of how to go about that statement tactfully. In the end, though, he just dove right in.
"You're a suit of armor." He stated flatly. Said armor, tensed and had a nervous air about it.
"So, uh, you noticed that, huh?" It added a little nervous laugh to the end. Harry gave him a deadpan look. "Right, well, uh...My name's Alfonse Elric. I'm fourteen years old, and I, uh...wasn't always a suit of armor?"
Harry stared at him blankly for a moment.
"So...did you bond your soul to the armor on purpose, or...?"
"Brother and I were doing something...stupid. It ended up taking away my body, but brother saved me and bound my soul to this suit of armor." Another nervous laugh.
"...you have such horrid luck."
"Yeah." Al laughed and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.
Harry finally let himself relax, letting his hand drift away from his wand holster. He threw a glance at his best friend and sighed. He turned back to Al.
"C'mon." He picked up Hermione in his arms. She was a lot lighter than he remembered.
"Where are we going?" Al asked, curiously observing the brunette swaying slightly with every step.
"To the infirmary. Hermione probably hit her head or something when she dragged you here." Harry heard the armor freeze.
"...What do you mean she dragged me here?"
"I don't know how or why, but the veil began drawing on her energy like it never had before." Harry frowned. "It apparently hurt a lot."
"W-was she the one who screamed?" Al asked timidly. Harry nodded and Al whimpered slightly in discontent. The thought of hurting someone, even by accident, wasn't appealing in any way. To get his mind off of it, he attempted to change the subject.
"So, I take it, she's Hermione?"
"Hm? Oh, yeah." Harry smiled down at her. "She's my best friend, like a sister. But..." He frowned and shook his head. "She's been through a lot these past few years."
"Oh?" Al latched onto this new topic eagerly.
"Mm." Harry confirmed grimly. "We both have. Anyway," Harry stopped moving and pointed toward a metal door that Al hadn't noticed before. "I hope you don't mind, but we have to verify your intentions to us before I'll let you go roaming about."
Al, thankfully, nodded in acquiescence. He stepped into the room, to find it was simple and rather bare, containing only a clean white cot and a book shelf with books. He turned back to the older man who was watching his appraisal of the room.
"I figured you'd want something to keep you occupied." Harry said, noticing Al's interest in the books. "You'll only have to stay here a few days, until we figure out how to send you back or prove that you mean us no harm."
"I'd really rather get back to my brother." Al agreed. Then, he bagan panicking as he realised what that sounded like. "I-I don't mean to say that I don't like you or anything, it's just-"
"I understand." Harry cut him off with a smile. He gestured to his unconscious friend. "I'm just going to take her to the infirmery. I'll be back as soon as I can."
The door closed and Al sighed as he picked up a book. It was strange and rather sad that he was used to this sort of treatment. He'd been in this sort of situation way too many times, too many to count. It' was probably Brother's fault. He was like a bad luck charm, or something. A small one.
He grinned, imagining what his brother's reaction to that little comment would be.