Ed did not, in fact, have sweet dreams. He had settled for undoing a loose screw from one of his manacles, intent on using it as his means of escape. Alchemy was his only chance now, and with the threatening tones from Obito and Pain, it was a good plan to get away from the place as fast as possible.

Konan hadn't showed her face after the last time he had seen her, and neither had Itachi. Ed contemplated on what to do about the brothers. Restoring balance seemed easy, but there were so few instructions given that it made Ed grumble something under his breath he was sure Al would have rebuked him for.

The feeling of the screw giving way made Ed's heart race, but only half the job was done. He knew that his new ability, chakra, and might aid him, but Ed was inexperienced in the ways of this world's talents. He wanted to exit quietly without raising a fuss.

He had no choice. The only thing left for Ed was to find Sasuke and hope that somehow the answer lied with him.

Ed nimbly maneuvered the screw so it faced the sand walls and started inscribing an alchemy circle. The scrapping of the screw against the wall echoed within the silent room, and Ed hoped Obito wouldn't choose a moment like this to resume his interrogation.

The man was an utter bastard, Ed thought, seething.

But dangerous, another part of Ed's mind whispered, and it was true. Ed could see it in the man's eyes and in the way he spoke. He was obsessed with his goal. Nothing could get in his way, and if it did…

That thought dwindled down and Ed thought of the leader of the Akatsuki—Pain. The man wasn't as over the edge as Obito was, but he was reaching for his goal in the wrong way. Ed wasn't stupid; he knew that it was a terrorist organization that had a hold of him, and something big was going on. If the way Konan had acted didn't say anything, then the way Pain acted did.

They were planning something, and it would be happening soon.

Ed's wrist tinged, an ache starting to form in his wrist from repeating the same layout of the circle over and over again. This was a risk he couldn't take. It was the only way out of here.

After a couple more times of re-inscribing the circle, Ed finally dropped the screw and the clinks it made against the stone floor resounded ominously. Ed didn't let the feeling of something bad about to happen overwhelm him. Instead, Ed pressed his fingers against the circle and thought of the transmutation, of the science behind it, and beyond all, praying that it would work. A golden light flashed, and Ed's chains fell to the floor with dull clunk.

A feeling of elation swelled inside Ed's chest but died as suddenly with the sounds of a key in the door. There wasn't any time. Ed clapped his hands together with minimal force and transmuted a hole in the wall. Golden eyes widened at the sight of the sun and the outdoors, but Ed snapped out of it as the knob turned. Stepping out, Ed clapped again, sealing the hole in the wall as soon as the door was fully opened.

There wasn't any time for relief of any kind. In one second, they probably would be searching for him. The scrolls in the library had said some people could other people's chakra, and didn't Ed feel awfully special for having such a bright golden chakra compared to most people's light blue?

This time, the outdoors didn't cause Ed to marvel at his enhanced senses. He sprinted across the ground, the scenery flying by, but him still being able to make out every detail on a tree's leaf.

Ed felt like a whole new person, light as a feather and invincible. Nothing could stop him. But as seconds turned to minutes, and Ed's feet moved faster than he could comprehend, a strange draining feeling dawned upon him.

The urgency of getting away from the Akatsuki was more overwhelming than the unusual happenings in his body, Ed forced away the creeping feeling of exhaustion away and forced himself to go faster and farther.

Everything started to blur together, Ed's eyes started to water and his lungs heaved with exertion.

In the next second, Ed could feel his knees giving out but instead of stopping his body kept going. Rocks and dirt implanted themselves in Ed's skin, tearing his clothes and body. Ed didn't have the energy to stop it after getting a fingernail or two torn off by digging into the dirt; instead, he let himself be pummeled by the earth and rolled to a stop onto his side.

The very air burned in his lungs and Ed coughed, throat aching for water. His thoughts were in disarray, emotions panicking at the thought that he wasn't far enough, that the Akatsuki were only seconds from finding him.

Determined, Ed closed his eyes, trying to concentrate. If someone could track him through his chakra, wouldn't he be able to do the same?

Feeling exhausted, Ed let what he thought was his chakra expand out and let a relieved sigh out at not feeling any others nearby. Then, like a thin sheet of ice, his chakra cracked and shattered. Ed could have screamed. It felt as if his life force had been sucked through a straw the size of a wormhole. In pain and fading out of consciousness, Ed quickly pulled the remnants of his chakra back within him.

But the pain remained, aching and throbbing within him. The world was spinning out of control, and Ed greedily sucked in a deep breath before the darkness consumed him.

There was a box in the corner, ominous and wrapped in chains. Ed didn't go near it, just observed silently. There were things inside it that were never meant to be seen nor heard by anyone. There were dangerous things in there. Thoughts, memories, Truths, and Lies dwelled in there, hungry and angry—aching to get out.

Ed shivered as the chains rattled and one undeniable voice rang out from within the box.

'Brother?'

Ed's eyes clenched shut. Despite everything telling him that it was, that was his little brother's voice in there, he knew it wasn't Al.

The voice returned, hysterical. 'Brother! Where are you?'

Ed's fists clenched shut, and muttered to himself, almost like a chant. 'Al's not here. It's just a dream. A dream.'

Trying to convince himself was useless as the voice—not Al's, never Al's—grew louder, angrier, accusing.

'You left me! All alone!'

Ed knew better than to reply. It wasn't true. He couldn't let himself believe it to be true. He would find a way back home, he'd see Al once more, and then he'd apologize for being such a terrible older brother.

The voice grabbed at the chance. 'That's right! You don't deserve to be called my brother; don't deserve to be called a son! Not after what you have done!'

Ed shook his head, even if he felt like agreeing, begging for Al's forgiveness.

'Why don't you look at me, Ed? Look what you did to me!' Ed's eyes flew open, a strange sense of panic rushing through him as he drew open his eyelids to look—and bright light flashed into his eyes. Ed groaned, feeling sick and sluggish.

There were voices, Al's voice and others' that were unrecognizable. They were whispering—furiously, the words were shouted from the armor, eyes glowing red with hate and disgust.

'I wish you would have died instead of Mom! You deserve it!'

The words were childish, but Ed could imagine Al shouting them at him. Sometimes he felt the same. Why had his mother, kind and gentle as she was, died when he, whom had done the unforgivable, was still alive?

The box shook, the armor shattered and—someone was leaning over him, blurry and saying, "The fever has broken; he should be fine. Now why don't you go stick your nose into somebody else's business, Masaru-san?"

Masaru, a voice filled with youth but a hard edge replied, "You don't know anything about him. He's not Etsuko."

The blurred figure snapped back, "But he's not shinobi either."

There was a silence, and then Masaru sighed. "He's your responsibility, and I don't want him unsupervised. This village has gone through enough."

There was the sound of a door slamming shut, and the blurred figure muttered, "It has gone through more than enough."

Ed winced as he tried to sit up and grunted in pain. His eyes were having a hard time adjusting but the blurring cleared in a couple seconds. A hand landed on his shoulder pushing Ed back towards the bed, and a wrinkled, worn face appeared in front of him, worried.

"Take it easy, kid. You almost depleted all of your chakra. If I hadn't found you…" the man muttered lowly, pinning Ed to the bed. Ed groaned, not fighting the hold, and asked, "Where am I?" with the exhaustion creeping from his bones.

The old man soaked a rag in water, wringing it out and answered "The Country of Fire, just a small village between Amegakure and Kusagakure, and not far from the Hidden Leaf village, either."

Ed observed the man closely, not seeing any of those headbands that usually signaled a shinobi, but instead saw a strong elderly man with kind blue eyes and silver hair, the occasional thinning brown streak in it.

"That's the Hidden Grass and Hidden Rain village, isn't it?" Ed shivered as the rag settled on his forehead, but was relieved when it seemed to eliminate some of the heat.

The man's eyes didn't hold any suspicion as he answered with a soft, "Yes."

Ed shivered as a chill slivered into him, making him break out in goosebumps. "There's no shinobi here?"

The man snorted, "None but thieves and murderers coming to take from us."

You're a murderer! I wish you had never been born my son!

Ed clenched his fists into the sheets, and nearly flinched as a cool, wore-torn hand placed over his in comfort.

"The pain will lessen soon; the medicine should be kicking in." That wasn't what caused such anguish to well inside him, but Ed nodded anyways and the man cleared his throat, taking his hand back. "What's your name?"

The world was shifting in Ed's eyes, and he managed to get out a weak "Edward Elric."

The man nodded, the motion becoming a blur, and the raspy, old voice stated, "I'm Daisuke."

And the world was gone, the rumbling voice of the man gone and instead the screeches of his nightmares consumed him.