Fullmetal Alchemist Fan Fiction ❯ Gnosiophobia ❯ One-Shot

Disclaimer: Iffffffffffffff I owned FMA I would… well, I can't say I wouldn't post fan fiction, because I don't know that for a fact. If I owned FMA, I might post fan fiction, maybe, but I'll never know, because I don't. :)

 

A/N: Okay, I understand that these phobia stories might seem a little extreme. Especially the Hydrophobia one I did for Sonic. But I want ya'll to know that these are "what ifs" and they are supposed to be exaggerated. Actually, I try to find reasons in them, I don't be as extreme as the first ideas that pop into my head. Those ones are DEFINITE what ifs.

 

Oh, and can someone please tell me if I did okay on this perspective? I was worried about it. I'm trying lately not to write in Ed's perspective but still write about Ed. Like the Eisotrophobia story. But they can't all be from Al's so I've been kinda writing drabbles at night in different perspectives and this is the one I decided on for this story but I was worried. So, yah.

 

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Gnosiophobia:

fear of knowledge

"All wish to possess knowledge, but few, comparatively speaking, are willing to pay the price." -Juvenal-

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Empty eyes took in the sight of the poor, trembling boy lying before them. What a pathetic little thing, coming here, wanting everything, and expecting to give nothing in return. How naïve. It wasn't the first time that this had happened. Many people searched for the truth, many worthless sacks of shit that they would be rid of, bored and despondent, had passed this way. It wasn't even the first time that this boy had come. This shivering mass of weak, frail, youth happened to be the only one so far that they had kept around. They wondered, "Why?". Though they needn't wonder. After all, they knew the answer. They knew everything. They were everything. They were the Truth. The one. Everything.

And the scared out of his wits boy in the empty fullness of this nothing that surrounded them, what was he? He was nothing? Oh no, they knew better. This one was important, this one was different, this one was… Interesting.

They smiled a toothy grin and suddenly they were on the other side of the boy's small form. Lifting his chin with fingers of fleshy-pink hues that matched those of the boy before them. They forced the boy's eyes up to their own replicas of his brilliant golden irises, and watched carefully as his expression twisted from fear to a look of horror and bewilderment. They chuckled darkly in the boy's warm voice, "Wanna see what you look like right now?" before setting upon the task of mimicking the boy's expression.

"Just like that," they concluded, finishing with a smile with this foreign mouth of as the boy's eyes darted all over the sight of his own body before him. His mouth opened and closed uncertainly a few times before he shut his eyelids in such a sudden movement they almost thought it seemed a painful action. The boy's hands covered his face with a white knuckled grip of ejection and denial, his lips spouting off quiet, inaudible whispers of reassurance to himself.

"This isn't happening, this isn't happening, this isn't happening…"

They didn't have to hear the words to know what the boy was saying. They knew everything.

"This isn't happening, this isn't happening, this isn't happening…"

They laughed again, the sound rumbled like a million voices through the room, tumbled in and out of the boy's ears and back to them in only moments. This certainly was happening. They had a feeling that they boy knew this too, he just didn't want to know. Too bad he had wanted to know so badly before, otherwise, he would be a lot better off. Funny how much he had wanted this before, but that's knowledge for you, isn't it? Though, they didn't really mind the boy's return, they knew they didn't. The boy sure wished he hadn't wanted to know now. Oops, too late. Another toothy, cheek-splitting grin.

The boy moved his hands from his face and stared up at himself, feeble and weak. His voice came out much stronger than they had expected. Determination was newly alight in his eyes. They sparked with a surprising ferocity, "I-"

They cut him off almost immediately, "You want to see more?"

They boy's eyes were consumed with a sudden flash of terror and his tenacious mask crumbled instantaneously. "No," he whispered, sounding small and fragile once more, "God, no," he moaned, "Please… Don't…"

"I thought this was what you wanted? I thought you still wanted this?" They replied in a hiss, eyes of gold carefully observing their copies.

"I don't… I don't want this anymore…" the boy forced out slowly, his voice rising little by little. The more words, the grander the crescendo. "I've seen enough! I can't see anymore! I'll explode, my head will explode! I DON'T WANT IT ANYMORE!" They could see the memories flashing before his eyes, their presence maddening and greatly unwelcome. Flashes of history, life, death, blood, pain, hope, suffering, smiles, laughter, loss, tears, terror, massacre, love, hatred. Flashes of everything. Flashes of them. Them, the Truth. This was them, this was the Truth. They changed once more, so that they boy could see them reflected in their own eyes. His gaze was drawn involuntarily toward their own, seeing them in the empty irises. He screamed and screamed, but he couldn't pull his eyes away, "STOP IT! I DON'T WANT TO KNOW ANY OF IT ANYMORE! MAKE IT STOP!"

"I can't do that, this is what you asked for." They answered, not a single expression gracing the inconceivable face, obscure and deceiving. Did this boy know what he was getting himself into? They knew he hadn't known, they knew that he didn't know. And that was the Truth.

The Truth.

"What's wrong boy? Didn't you know what you were getting yourself into? What's wrong? You're getting what you asked for…" They whispered into the boy's ear, his teeth clenched tightly top to bottom. They wondered if they might shatter. They knew they wouldn't. They chuckled, empty and cold, and smiled when they boy shivered harsh with fear, "…are you afraid?"

"God damn it! Yes! Yes I'm AFRAID! STOP IT! STOP ALL OF THIS!" The boy called out in a desperate wail of grief. His voice rasping and shrill from all the shouting. They knew his voice wouldn't last long at this rate, not that he would need it much longer. He didn't understand, they couldn't stop, this is what he asked for. This is what he was paying for. Equivalent exchange.

"You're afraid? Why? This is what you asked for, all the knowledge you've been seeking for so long. What are you afraid of?"

"I don't want to know ANY OF IT!"

"You do though. You're greedy. You're hungry. You want this."

"I DON'T!"

"… and who's to deny you what you want. I'll give you what you wanted so much before, and what you still want now. And you… You can pay me the price."

"DON'T! Don't send me back in there! I don't WANT to see what's on the other side of that gate! I've seen ENOUGH OF IT!"

"Liar. You want the Truth you were denied before. I am the Truth, Edward. This is the Truth, this will be the Truth. You're life for what I know. You're life for me, for us, for everything. You'll get to know everything Edward. This is what you want. Don't be afraid."

"NO! I DON'T WANT THIS!"

"Yes you do."

"No! I don't! I'm afraid! DON'T! STOP!" the boy's golden hues were terror-stricken and overwhelmed. His whole body quaked violently with full tremors that they imagined should be breaking bones. His hands groped forward, trying to grab, to claw, to pull at their face, their eyes. To stop them. To do something. But every grasp was too far away or too far past. Where were they? He couldn't touch them. He couldn't find them. But they were right before him, right in front of them. Silly boy, did he know nothing? He couldn't stop this, this was beyond him, this wasn't him anymore, this was everyone, this was everything now. They smiled a final grin and they boy's eyes widened even further, his pupils small and quivering with fear, darting around to try to take in his surroundings that weren't there. Staring frightened at unseen images. Overcome with the fear emanating from his own mind. They knew this. Silly boy.

This was the Truth, but not all of it, not all of them. They were behind that gate, lurking and waiting, patiently, for their prize. For their Edward. To become part of them, part of everything, to become nothing, but one in the emptiness and the too-full edges of this world. The curious boy, the golden boy, the silly, silly boy. Did he know nothing? He would know soon enough. They knew this. They opened the gate and saw the boy's expression morph into some ugly form of fear so terrible that it was painful, heard the boy's gut-wrenching scream, saw the boy disappear. Into them. They had dragged him inside.

"The knowledge is yours. And you are ours, mine."

They smiled. They loved this rush of fear. Always now. This was forever. This was the Truth.