Fullmetal Alchemist Fan Fiction ❯ Memories ❯ Equivalent trade part 2 ( Chapter 6 )

az: Oh.... and this fic had in no relation to the upcoming movie, Fullmetal Alchemist: The Conqueror of Shambala....

--

In order to create something, one must present a sacrifice of an equivalent value.

That was the Law of Equivalent Trade.

We believed that was the truth of the world when we were small...

--

'Edward--?'

The lad looked away from the stares from his friends, sensei and her husband... including the strange kid that had called him brother, towards the man who had just entered the room. Thankfully, the room he's in was big enough to accommodate everyone as some of them shifted away to the side of the room. Even as Wrath woke up slowly to the commotion, Ed ignored him as he stared towards the man without fail.

'Omae--', he cried suddenly as he rose from the bed and walked towards him, '--I've seen you before.. You were with--'

And suddenly, swift images from the past bombarded his mind as Ed flinched. Hohenheim gasped as he muttered his concerns over the lad...

'Edward--!!'

--

Ed looked up to find himself surrounded in light. He looked around in panic as a soothing voice calmed his heart.

'Don't be afraid... Ed-kun. It will be fine...'

He turned around as Trisha Elric walked towards him and held him close.

'--??!'

Trisha let go of him as Ed looked towards her in confusion. The woman merely smiled. 'It's okay. You're home, now... the rest, is up to you...'

Ed frowned over her words as he replied. '...had I gone somewhere before?', he asked as the woman nodded. 'Yes... and the price for it; to bring you back home, was already taken. Are you okay with it?'

Suddenly he felt a certain understanding as he let his heart answered the question. 'I'm fine with it... it felt good. This is where I belong...', Ed said as he smiled weakly. Trisha smiled again as Ed suddenly wrapped his arm around her. '..Arigato...'

Her eyes widened as she barely heard him cry softly and her gaze became softened...

'Domo arigato gozaimasu...'

--

Tears ran freely from his eyes as Ed paused a few steps from where Hohenheim stood. The man stared at him with concern as the others also looked at him, puzzled by his actions...

Ed opened his mouth as words barely came out from him.

'--kaa-chan!!', he cried before his eyes become blank and he collapsed to the floor as Izumi barely caught the child, followed by the rest of the remaining people, around them.

'Edo.... Edo!! Wake up!!', cried the woman as she barely held her own tears from falling. Hohenheim also mimicked her gestures as he tried to wake his son up. Riza and Winry were nearby, as they held Al by their side to stop him from jumping towards the brother.

Roy headed towards the door as he motioned towards them that he was going out. 'I'll call the doctor--!!', he said before disappearing...

The only one who hadn't reacted to this, Wrath, straightened up from his perch and merely stared towards Izumi Curtis, as the woman held the unconscious alchemist with worry.

'Ed... urgh!!', Izumi flinched as she felt pain on her chest. Sig held her by the shoulders, muttering his concerns over her. The wife shook her head as she embraced the young boy. 'I'm... fine. Oh please.... god. I don't want to lose another child of mine again...'

Wrath froze as he heard those words. He stared towards the woman as the Hohenheim touched her arm. He smiled weakly. 'You won't. My son is strong...', he said as he turned his gaze towards him. '--Ed will be alright...', he said again, though lacking in assurance.

'O--to-san?'

Hohenheim turned towards the kid as he smiled weakly towards Al. 'Yes... my dear Alphonse. Boy, how you have grown...'

--

Dr. Alexia put away her stethoscope as she turned to face the anxious crowd. She sighed. 'He's okay...', she said as the rest of them heaved a sigh of relief. '--though I wondered why he collapsed...'

'It's probably the side effect of a fever he had a month ago...'

And everyone abruptly turned towards him as Hohenheim lifted his hand to defend himself. 'Ed was just recovering when we had encountered the accident...'

'Is that so? Then that would explain it...', said the doctor as she bowed and took her leave...

And it was silence that filled the room after that as Hohenheim walked up towards the edge of the room and sat beside Ed's bed.

'What do you mean that there's an accident?! And what was this fever you're talking about?! And how could you--!!'

'Calm down.... Roy Mustang!', growled the man deeply as Roy gritted his teeth in frustration. Hohenheim looked up towards him as Roy was taken aback at the saddened look the man gave him. The man sighed, before glancing back towards Ed. 'When Ed came back, I wondered about what that have happened. My Edward wouldn't just return to that world willingly...'

'And then he told me that he revived Alphonse and considering he had come back... might as well mean that he succeeded...', he continued as he glanced towards Al. He sighed again. 'But like I said... Ed never wanted to remain in that world. Over there, even if there are people that resembled all of you around... it was not the same. And Ed had kept both his metal arm and legs, though it barely functioned in that place...'

Winry's eyes widened in surprise. 'Ed got back his automails?? But I thought... Roze-san said...'

'--it's the equivalent trade, isn't it? But, what do you mean the other world..?', muttered Izumi as Hohenheim looked at her. 'It was the world on the other side of the gate...', he said as the rest of them gave a cry. '--Over there, alchemy was replaced with machineries and technology. Because we can't use alchemy in that world, Ed resorted in another way to try to return to this world. And in the course of that, he found a certain doctor who was researching about transplanting organs and limbs. And Ed went to him to have an operation to give him new arm and leg. Even when he was supposed to be resting after that operation succeeded... he went out and headed to my place. That was when the fever started...'

'Poor Ed...', sighed Winry as Roy looked away, deeply in thought.

'After that... we got some news about the new development of the rocket technology, the one that Ed tried to use to get back here. Because I worried that he might be making light of his own health... I went on the ship with him. And that... was when he came...'

Roy looked up from his musings as he caught the spoken words. 'He--? Who?', he muttered as Hohenheim wore a sorrowful look on his face...

--

'Oyaji... I'm not your little boy anymore! Stop fussing over me...', said Edward as Hohenheim kept playing with his hair. The lad looked up annoyed at him as the elder Elric chuckled. '--And why you insisted to come along..? Didn't you said it before that you didn't have any intention of ever returning home?'

The older man laughed. 'Haha... still, I couldn't leave my sickly child to go off across the sea alone by himself! What will I do if something were to happen to you again...?' , said the man nonchalant as Ed looked at him irritated. 'Oyaji!!!', he cried as the man continued to make fun of him... as both boarded the large ship.

...A few hours later.

'Edward... remember when you were this small... you used to-- Edward?', Hohenheim turned towards his son as Ed was crouching on his bed, with a painful look. He immediately rushed by his side as he noticed Ed's right arm was shaking violently. '-To-san!!', cried Ed in pain as Hohenheim hastily grabbed his son's medicine and helped him to swallow it.

Ed coughed a little as the pain started to ebb away. 'Better now--?' asked the father as the son nodded. Hohenheim sighed as he scolded his son lightly. 'You should have remembered to take the anti-rejection drugs on time! You've made me worry so much...', said the father again as Ed nodded his head apologetically. Before he could say anything more, the ship shook as Hohenheim grabbed hold of a railing with one hand and Ed, tightly with the other.

It was ten minutes later that the shaking stopped. Hohenheim released Ed and started walking towards the door as another tremor came, this time from inside of the ship. He opened the door and saw the brewing panick welling inside the other passengers' hearts as some started running around for safety.

'Oyaji...> What is it...?' asked Ed as Hohenheim silenced him. 'Stay here... I'll go check things out...', he said and left, leaving a very confused Ed behind.

Minutes passed... and another tremor shook the ship sideways. Ed stumbled to the floor as he rose and caught a glimpse of the sea as he glanced towards the circular glass window. He shrugged as he carefully thread towards outside of his room.

'The sea was awfully wild tonight, I hoped that the ship could pull through--', he looked up as a shrill scream took him aback.

'GET OFF ME... WOMAN!!', growled a brute man as he tossed the woman aside. The man scrambled up the stairs followed by a whole bunch of other panick-stricken passengers. Edward try to shout back but by the time he arrived, the place was almost empty... save himself and the fallen woman.

Ed bowed down towards her and extended his hands before the woman suddenly spoke. 'It's an omen!! Disaster will soon strike!!', she cried with fear as she looked up towards him. Ed looked at her with surprise as the dark-skinned lady hold out a card. 'What do you mean--?', he asked as he noticed the picture on that card. A tower... struck by lightning. The Tower card.

'An omen.... an omen of disaster!!', said the gypsy again as the woman trembled.

No... it's a second chance... a sign for you...

Ed turned abruptly to find no one standing behind him. He looked back towards the girl, only to find that she was gone...

'What the--?', he gasped as he decided to go above ship. The ship shook again as violent waves rammed onto the side of the ship. Emergency sirens started blaring around him as it heightened the chaotic scene. Ed gasped as he watched the passengers and the ship crews all running about in disarray. His ears could barely functioned anymore as the blaring of the sirens, the screams of terrified souls, the thundercry and the sea crushed his senses. He also barely heard it as a terrified man shouted about the door of hell was about open...

That was why he was taken by surprise as he saw the gate; slowly baring its death doors as black hands scurry out of it and catching some unsuspecting passengers. And he started to notice a tinge of green coming from the depth of the gate. But then, a slight clink of sound caught his attention as Edward turned around and saw it. That was the last thing he remembered...

--

Hohenheim watched the gruesome scene as people were taken to shreds by those black hands. And then surprise caught him as a green dragon came out of the doors, sending spews of death flares upon another bunch of innocent souls before hovering before him. The door started to close... but it does not dissappear. And the dragon started to bare its fangs towards him.

'Hohenheim.... Hikari no Hohenheim!!! I've finally found you!!'

(TBC)

az: Hmm... suddenly I started to worry.... will this fic be more than 10 chapters??? O.O And who was that person Hohenheim meant? And the dragon.... hehehe...

A/N: Oh dear.... whole body ached. I SO cannot do ice skating.... ;p