Author: Only_dani
Title: Though The Looking Glass Ch. 4
Rating: PG (for language)
Warnings: Spoilery abounds
Summary: Ed and Al just saved each other from the gate, but when they land in Karakura town and find that Shinigami are fighting Envy it turns their little world upside down. Rated M for adult situations and language but mostly will be PG. Possible het and Yaoi pairings in future chaps. WARNING: The pairings will be odd.
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or Fullmetal Alchemist and I dont make any money writing this, its simply the product of my over active imagination combined with my overwhelming urge to write.
Previous Chapters:
Ch. 1 Ch. 2 Ch. 3 Chapter 4 - Broken Circles
"And so, brother actually swindled the entire mine right out from under Yoki's nose!" Al said with a laugh, hands waiving expressively throughout the story. After three days of patrols with Uryuu, Al had started to like the young man. Sure, he was a little on the serious side, but he was polite and very curious about Amestris. Al loved telling him stories about his and Ed's travels, seeing as it helped to dispel the boredom of walking around Karakura in the late evening.
"How did you two get out of town alive?" Uryuu asked, a rare smile on his lips. Al's smile grew to a smirk at the question.
"Well, brother ended up selling the mine back to the miners, and there were just too many of them. They ran Yoki right out of town, right along with his henchmen and… and Lyra." Al's smile faded a little at the memory of the young alchemist. The last time he had seen her it wasn't even Lyra any longer, but Dante using her body. A small shiver ran down his spine that had nothing to do with the cool air of the late autumn evening.
"That was a clever move," Uryuu said, pushing his glasses up his nose.
"Yeah it was. We're not really supposed to use Alchemy to turn anything into gold, but it was only a temporary alchemic change, so no harm done." Al shrugged a little and the smile returned with the telling of the story.
They had come to the park the patrol route usually took them through. The late evening hour had the streetlights on and the trees that lined the street threw a multitude of shadows on the manicured grass of the deserted park.
"Is it another one of those laws you were talking about? Like equivalent exchange?" Uryuu asked, giving Al a thoughtful look.
"Yes it is."
"I have to admit Alchemy sounds very interesting. Not just the reactions one can make but the laws and rules applied to the science." The young archer kept half an eye on the road ahead while he maintained the conversation.
"Alchemists live by the equivalent exchange laws. Well… almost all of them do, at least." Al's head drooped a little, pulling away from the intelligent blue eyes of Uryuu.
"So these reactions, how are they done?"
"Well if you like I can show you. First you need the proper circle. You see the basic strength of a transmutation circle is the nature of the shape itself. The circle represents the circulation of power. By drawing it that power can be evoked, and you can harness the laws that govern it for yourself." Al explained. He stopped walking a short distance into the park and drew a small circle in the dirt. It was one of the simpler alchemic circles he and his brother had first used so very long ago.
"So you would need to know a lot of circles then." Uryuu stated and Al nodded in agreement.
"Most definitely. Not only that, but you need to know the elemental makeup of the item you're changing, as well as what you're changing it into. There are entire libraries devoted to alchemy back home." Al started placing a few small items within the circle-a piece of wood, a handful of sand and a pinecone.
"Once you have your circle made, you can place whatever you're changing in the centre. Then press your hands to the outermost circle, and here's the tricky part - you need to use the flow of energy around you in order for the change to take place. One who works within this system of flow to create new things - that is the true alchemist." He placed his hands on the circle and swirled the energy around him allowing the blue light of the energy to flow through him. He could feel it sliding down the columns of his arms and watched the blue light crackle around the items in the centre of the circle. Once the light had faded a small wooden train, complete with metal wheels and a coal car stood where the other items once were. He picked up the toy and handed it to the now wide-eyed archer.
"That was amazing." Uryuu's hushed voice was full of awe as he looked the toy over closely. "Do you think you could teach me?"
"Sure. I'll teach you something easy. First we're gonna need sand." Al was already looking around the small park, sharp eyes spying out another deposit.
"Sand?" Uryuu sounded confused.
"Yes. It has a high silica content, and silica is easy to change over." Al said with a smile as he bent over to pick up a handful of the stuff and brought it back to where they were standing. He went over the details of what circles were best, how much sand was needed and other intricacies of the alchemy that they were planning to use. Uryuu's first few tries came up with no change at all or a muddled piece of something but after the fourth try the blue crackle surged through him and onto the circle and once the light faded a small metal horse stood in the centre.
"HA! I got it!" Uryuu shouted in triumph, picking up the small item. None of the legs were the same length, and the neck was a bit too long but it definitely held promise and Al nodded his head and gave the archer a bright smile, clapping him on the back of his shoulder.
"That was really good. Congratulations, Uryuu!"
"Thanks Al." He gave the young man another smile then stiffened and looked over his shoulder, his eyes now intent and serious as he looked to the lamp-lit street. "I know what that is. Come on." Uryuu placed the small trinket in his pocket and grabbed Al's shoulder, hauling him along.
"What's wrong, Uryuu?" Al asked, trying to keep up with the long strides of the archer. He found that with his human body there were some things he couldn't do as well when he had the metal body, for instance keeping up with people and getting out of breath.
"A hollow." Al could hear the steel in his voice, and they both picked up the pace, running towards the street. The closer they got, the more easily the creature could be seen.
"This one isn't as strong as the others so it should be easy to take down. I need to get out of the tree line first so I can get a clear shot though." Al nodded in understanding and followed the archer. The trees thinned ahead as they ran, and Al's breath caught in his throat at the creature before him.
The hollow was black and bulbous, with four legs and a tail. The back half of its body looked like that of a lizard while the front seemed more like a gorilla. A large bone mask with a pointed nose sat on its face, hiding its features. Its mouth was unnaturally large, and seemed even more ridiculously out of proportion when opened. Sharp canines gleamed white in the artificial light of the street lamps, ropes of saliva dripping from the points. Al was strongly reminded of one of Tucker's Chimeras, and a cold spike of fear and nausea ran through him at the sight. It looked to be chasing a small girl. Its thick, wiry hind legs were pushing it inexorably closer to the small child, closing the distance, its intention clear. Uryuu stopped running the moment he had a clear shot and raised his arm, the blue bow forming along his hand. He pulled back a shining blue arrow, then, after barely a moment's pause to aim, released the arrow in a flash of light. His aim was true, a bullseye to the centre of the mask spider webbing the bone and cracking it in pieces. The hollow stumbled, its back legs giving out as it crumbled to the ground. But it didn't stop. The momentum the hollow had gained in its sprint propelled the great heaving body forward, sliding, and Al could see that if it kept its speed, the little girl would be caught up in its fall and crushed under its weight.
There was no time for hesitation. Without thinking, Al clapped his hands, the vision of the circle he needed searing itself in the centre of his mind, and slammed his palms into the ground. He could hear a violent crackling, and the ground under his hands glowed bright blue. A thick, stone wall came up, splitting the ground under his hands and flying outwards, catching the creature at the last minute so it mashed itself into the wall before fading into nothingness, the small girl safe on the other side, tears trickling down her face as she ran.
"I'll get the girl and calm her down." He heard Uryuu say, but Al barely was able to formulate a response. All he could do was look disbelievingly between his two small hands and the earth wall he had created. A slow heavy comprehension started working its way through his young body with the remembrance of sensei's words…
The fading sun on the hilltop on the outskirts of Dublith where sensei had brought him and his brother caught the light of her white tunic, tinting it with the same pale gold as the clouds overhead. Her back was turned from them; it was as if she couldn't quite meet their eyes. Al kept his eyes trained on her straight back, waiting for the next words he knew was coming.
"So come on Ed. Did you actually see the gate?" Her voice was clear, strong and confident and at the question he saw his brother bunch his hands into fists at his sides.
"Yes." The word was a harsh, forced whisper and his shoulders hunched defensively at the word.
"How did it happen? Tell me everything." It was an order, not a question. He could hear the hitch in his brothers breathing. There was a long pause before Ed said anything.
"Sensei, we- I… We transmuted our mother!" His brother's yell was pained, like the simple acknowledgement was enough to break him.
Yes he remembered now. It was the gate. It was always the gate. He found he also remembered the things he had seen, the information that was pummeled into his brain the moment the gate was opened to him, forcing its way inside him whether he wanted it or not. The painful rejoining of his soul back to his body was nothing compared to that. He shuddered and dropped to his knees, his legs suddenly giving out on him, unable to hold his weight under the onslaught of thoughts running through his head.
It's like Dad, Sensei, Dante and brother. We all saw it and now that I can remember… Now I'm like them too.
He thought he would be happy on this day-joyful at becoming just as good at alchemy as his brother was-but there was none of that. Just a solemn and foreboding understanding that bowed his shoulders and made him feel old and weary, as if he had lived too many lives within the short time he had been on this earth. It wasn't just that he didn't need to draw the circles any longer, it was more. It was one more mark, one more permanent souvenir of what they had done, yet more proof of what they had tried - and where they had gone.
He heard two sets of footsteps moving slowly towards him, and lifted his eyes to see Uryuu holding the shoulder of the young girl. Judging by her dilated pupils and the way her limbs trembled, her body was so pumped full of adrenaline that had Uryuu not been tightly gripping her shoulders, she would likely still be running until her body gave out. She couldn't be more than Al's physical age and he could see that tear streaks were still fresh on her face.
"We need to take her home," Uryuu said softly, patting the young girl's shoulder consolingly. Al could feel Uryuu regarding him carefully, seeming to catch on to the feelings radiating from him. "Are you alright, Al?"
"Y-yeah… I'm okay." He gave the young archer what he hoped was a bright smile but felt the corners of his mouth tremble slightly at the corners. Uryuu saw the slip, and narrowed his eyes slightly in disbelief. "I really am, honest. Are you okay, little girl?" He asked, looking away from the assessing, concerned eyes of the dark haired teen to look at the terrified girl. "What's your name?"
Her small mouth twitched as she attempted to speak, but no sound came out.
"Here, just breathe," Al said. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?"
After a few moments, she replied in a soft, barely audible voice, "I-I d-don't know. I mean, I-I'm not h-hurt… I d-don't really know what h-happened…" She hiccupped, then began to cough. Uryuu moved his hand in small circles on her back until she was able to catch her breath. When she spoke again, her voice was slightly stronger, though still shaky. "It's like I was being ch-chased by a cloud… Only, it was d-different." The little girl's chin wobbled dangerously and tears started to bead in the corners of her eyes.
"It's okay. You're safe now." Al patted her hands, still clasped tightly in front of her and gave another attempt at a smile, this one feeling much more sincere than the last. "Come on, we'll walk you home. Just let me fix this first." He closed his eyes and found the circle he needed in his head, then clapped and placed his hands in the same place, forcing the wall back to its original state, safe in the ground. The little girl's eyes widened, not quite comprehending what she was seeing though the adrenaline rush. Al got up and dusted his knees, then started walking alongside the little girl. He hadn't expected it but after a few paces the girl slipped a cold, clammy hand into his.
***
The wiry, slim body lifted his head, as if sensing for the first time the prey he had been hunting for since he got to this place. Even though the arrow had pierced him almost a week ago, he still felt it, the all-too-well-known crackle and fizz that seared along his nerve endings, and he turned his head in the direction of it.
"Hoenheim..." He growled, sharp teeth gleaming in a predatory smile and he stood from the sitting position he had taken up in the small alleyway. Purple eyes scanned the street, trying to find the man he knew was near.
He walked on into the growing night, his long, dark hair catching the light breeze and dancing away from his face. He would walk all night if he had to, hell he would walk for days on end just to get his hands around that mans neck, feel the grinding snap of bone under his palms, feel the life force fade from the prone body and watch with something like elation as his amber eyes dimmed in death. He had been dreaming of this for so long, too long even.
When Envy first arrived at this new place, he had felt different. It was as though he could sense things… taste things. Taste the changes in the air and the pathetic human emotions around him, scurrying along in their daily lives like ants in an overlarge anthill. It was strange, as if a sixth sense he never knew he had had somehow risen from inside him, and now helped him to find his bastard of a father. It was like he knew the feeling of alchemy now. It was an insufferable buzzing, like a shaken beehive or a current of electricity coursing through his head and tingling along his arms.
It didn't take long to find it. He had walked maybe three blocks to find a park-dark and desolate with nothing around but the ground. The tree line was still buzzing with the energy he had felt. He walked to the spot, placing his hands on the even, grassy ground. Alchemy was done here, and recently too. Envy closed his eyes, reaching out with that sixth sense of his to see if he could feel his father's energy in the buzz. After a moment his lip curled in loathing. No. It wasn't Hoenheim. It was one of those miserable little Elric brothers. He snatched his hand away from the ground, lips curling in disgust. No matter where he went, it seemed as if he would be cursed with the evidence of his father's disloyalty with those two. They were always going around with their trivial excuses and pointless quests, as if it was the only thing that mattered in their world. 'I need to get my body back, I need to get the philosophers stone.' Please. How much more ridiculous could they be? It was their fault what happened to them for trying to bring back that whore of a mother they loved so much. They deserved what they got.
"Fucking Elrics." Envy spat under his breath. He looked up and down the street to see if either of them were near. If he couldn't find Hoenheim, one of those sorry excuses for alchemists might know where he was. He saw no trace of people, no sound of creaking armor, just an empty street with a few vehicles here and there parked along the curb.
His eyes narrowed in thought. If the Elrics were nearby that would mean they came through the gate as well. Did that mean Dante had come too? God he hoped not. That bitch of a woman just wanted to use him and if she found him here, that's all she would do-try to use him again. And he was done with that. Done with her.
Che.
He hoped that Gluttony ate her. That would teach her to mess with homunculi like them. He smiled humorlessly at the thought, then shook himself a little and brought his thoughts back to the present. No point in worrying about what he didn't know. The fact of the matter in the here and now was that the Elrics were in the same place as him, and he was damn sure they would lead him to Hoenheim.
The humorless smile that pulled the corners of his lips up turned malicious as a plan started to form in his mind. He knew how to get those boys to tell him where their father was… Oh, did he ever! It might take some time and some extra effort on his part, but he would get there eventually. He would get what he wanted, even if he had to kill them both. All he needed them to do for now was to keep doing their alchemy and it would draw him a map of exactly where they were, and this was the starting point.
"Don't worry Elric boys, we'll meet again." His steely, gravelly voice held a note of destructive glee in it and he could barely keep the laugh from bubbling up under his breastbone.
~TBC~
**********
I'm such a sucker for transmutation circles, if you'd like to see the circle Al taught Uryuu it's
here It's one of the first transmutation circles Ed and Al ever learned and I thought it would be nice for Uryuu to learn it. I'm not the creator of this image, so compliments should go to the artist, not me.