A little AU that's a blend between Labyrinth and Rumpelstiltzskin. I've been looking forwards to this one for AGES.

Also, from now on I'm going to use the review-reply feature, because the replies are clogging things up too much. Sorry to anybody who likes reading them (aka nobody) but it's just easier that way. ^^

Finally, Library has been rewritten, so click the back button and take a looksies! I don't often redo oneshots, but I just felt like I could have communicated my idea a lot better (Thank you to Shade40, Violetlight and GBlackwell for pointing out the weirdness.)

78. Conflict

It had been a petty little argument, really. At the time, it had seemed so important, but now Ed could barely remember what it had been about.

Because Al was gone, disappeared into thin air, and standing on the windowsill with an unearthly glow was the man who had taken him.

"Give me back my brother," he managed to spit out.

"Why?" asked the creature. "What's said is said."

"Goddammit, I didn't actually mean it! I don't even -" His words turned to ashes in his dry mouth. "I don't even believe in things like you."

"Things? Well, that's nice."

"I want my brother back!"

The creature, regal and snakelike, lounged against the side of the bay window, an amused expression flicking over his face. "Go back to your room, Edward. You're free now to do whatever you want."

"Only thing I want is Al!"

The creature sighed. "I brought you a present..." he said idly, and a crystal ball appeared in his hand. He twisted it around his arm, defying every law of physics as he did, and then flicked it in the air, catching it again in his other hand. "Want it?"

Ed blinked, trying to decide whether it was safer to keep his gaze focused on the intruder's face (in his eyes) or on the crystal (into a place unknown and far away and he could feel it slipping -)

-so he wrested his head towards the ground, staring at his feet in a rare gesture of submission. "You're...the Goblin King, aren't you?"

"Very good, Edward," came the mocking voice, tantalizingly androgynous. "Now, about your gift."

"What is it?" Ed found himself asking. There was a magnetic force pulling his head upwards, but he fought to keep his gaze on the floor, where his bare feet kneaded the oyster-grey carpet.

"It's a crystal, nothing more. But..." Finally, Ed looked up, and let out a small, surprised gasp when he realized that the Goblin King was only a few inches away from him. He hadn't even heard him move.

A strand of emerald-green hair tickled the teen's cheek as the creature lifted the crystal between them. "If you turn it this way and look into it...it will show you your dreams."

"Mom..." came the involuntary whisper, and then Ed bit his lip in consternation as the creature smiled.

"But this isn't a present for somebody too busy taking care of their little brother to use it. If you want it, then let him go."

"Never," spat Ed, willing his feet to move. His skin was both crawling and sparking at being so close to something so...other. "I promised I'd keep him safe, I promised! You can't - Give him back!"

The smile dropped off of the Goblin King's face, replaced by a rather ugly sneer. "Don't -" he grabbed Ed's arm, "-defy - me."

"I'll do what I like, bastard. Now give me back my brother!"

"As you wish."

Suddenly they were...elsewhere. One moment they had been standing in Alphonse's bedroom, and now there was a warm wind blowing through Ed's hair and against his bare arms.

He turned to where the Goblin King lounged against a tree, skin-tight black outfit clinging to every muscle. "Where are we?"

The King pointed into the distance. "There's my palace. Around it is a labyrinth. You've got 13 hours, Edward, and if you're not at the palace by that time..." He shrugged, grinning and baring every sharp tooth. "Then your brother will become one of us."

Ed scowled at the thought, and then looked back at the Labyrinth. "It's not that far -"

"One last thing."

"What now?"

"Once you reach the palace, you must tell me my name."

He snorted. "What, did you forget it?"

The King didn't laugh. "If you don't, then not only do I get to keep your brother..." He reached out, touching one long finger to Ed's chest. "I get to keep you."

He faded away with a Cheshire grin that lingered in Ed's mind for a long time.

"Well," he finally said with a cheerfulness he didn't feel, "come on, feet..."

So Edward Elric made his way through the labyrinth, and spoke to Hoggle the fairy-catcher, and the worm in the wall, and solved the puzzle of the Knights and Knaves. He found his way out of the Oubliette and ran from the Cleaners, and deciphered the clues of the Wiseman and his Hat. He saved Ludo Bigfoot and encountered the two knockers. He danced with the Fire Dancers, and throughout it all, he took every hint he could and racked his brains to figure out the Goblin King's name.

"You made it," said the King drily, draped over his throne and twirling three crystal balls in his hand. "Funny, I thought taking three hours off would screw you for sure."

Ed stuck his hands in his pocket, casting a cocky grin up at the faerie. The Unseelie wasn't trying nearly as hard to impress him now.

Good.

"I'm here at the palace, Goblin King. Now give me my brother." His voice echoed off the domed roof and around the palace. Brother...brother...brother... In his peripheral vision he could see the goblins climb out of the wings in droves and groups, watching him keenly.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" The King got to his feet, still twirling the crystals and glittering with the dark sparkles that festooned the entire world Ed had found himself in. He walked down the steps, inky cape billowing and shifting behind him like a veil. "You have to tell me my name."

Ed bit the inside of his mouth. "Your name. You want me to guess your name."

He chuckled. "Exactly. Betcha can't do it." He walked halfway around Ed, leaning down slightly to whisper, "You're wrong, by the way."

Ed didn't smile, flinching slightly as the Unseelie grasped the back of his neck. "I know what they call you. They call you Envy the Jealous."

He could almost feel the King's smirk. "That's what they call me. But that's not what I asked for, Edward. I asked for my name -"

"And I have it."

The King walked around Ed again, a frown etching itself onto his pale, thin face. "No, you don't."

Ed closed his eyes. He could see the old photographs now, the albums faded with time, the things he hadn't been supposed to find.

"Through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered..."

Envy the Jealous barked a laugh. "What kind of poppycock is that you've learned? Stop trying to buy time. Admit you don't know."

"...I have fought my way here to the castle beyond the goblin city..." Ed took a deep breath, and then jerked his head upwards, staring into Envy's purple eyes, transfixing the Goblin with his golden gaze. "For my will is as strong as yours, and my kingdom as great -"

"Don't you want to stay here? Be one of us?" Envy's voice had taken on a pleading tone. "Why would you want to stay human? A pathetic, mewling, mortal creature?"

Ed raised his hand to the Goblin King's cheek, feeling how cold the skin was under his palm and watching how the Unseelie flinched away. He lowered his voice to a husky whisper. "You have no power over me...William."

The Goblin King fell away. In his place, shaking with wide, golden eyes just the same as Edward's own was the little boy who'd been stolen away so long ago, beyond the reach of Edward's memory – but not his father's photographs. "Not fair," he murmured bitterly, before he too disappeared.

The Labyrinth smeared away, dissolving into a mess of colour - and suddenly Al was cradled in Ed's arms, grey eyes blinking slowly open.

They were home.