Fullmetal Alchemist Fan Fiction ❯ Torn Existence ❯ Choosing Between Necessity and Love ( Chapter 5 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Envy was beginning to wonder. When a new homunculus wasn’t born, I tried to head him off, tell him that I’d checked up on it and that Russell had simply chosen not to perform the transmutation, that we’d have to try someone else. Amazingly, he bought it.
Dante didn’t seem to care either way. She told us to abandon that phase of the plan, we would soon have what looked to be a new Lust on our side thanks to the alchemist whose fiancé Envy and I had killed.
Her next orders were to begin spreading rumors around the major cities about gold near the Briggs Mountain Range south of Drachma. She would have a circle prepared in advance and once enough humans flocked to the site, would transmute them into a Stone.
Normally, Envy would have objected. But the events of a few days earlier had changed his mind. While we had been sparring, I had unconsciously clapped my hands together and slammed them to the ground. A barrier had risen out of the ground to block Envy's kick. Shocked at first, we soon realized that because I was still part human, and could use alchemy. Because of my death I had not only seen but been through the Gate, which meant I did not need a transmutation circle. This meant that I could also use the Stone, and this idea pleased Envy immensely. He decided to let Dante create the Stone before he killed her, then we could use it afterwards to do whatever we wanted with it.
"This is perfect," Envy sneered as the two of us left to begin our mission. "You'll be able to use the Stone after we kill her, and there'll be no end to what we can do."
"What exactly do you want to do?" I asked.
He shrugged. "Whatever the hell I want." He turned and gave me a sly grin. "You do want to join me, don't you?"
I couldn't explain it but at that moment, I did. Envy was the only one around I could talk to, the closest thing I had to a friend. He also seemed to trust me, and I could relate to him because of what we both were. I didn't want to threaten that alliance.
I nodded, and the familiar wicked smile spread across his face. "This is going to be fun."
It seemed like with Envy, anything was possible. Once we reached town he had only to disguise himself and walk into each bar we passed. The second people heard the word ’gold’ the rumor began to spread like wildfire. Of course there were a few non-believers, but greed and curiosity got the best of most of them.
I quickly grew bored and realized that Envy didn’t need my help at all, so decided to walk around town until he was finished.
While strolling slowly down one of the main streets, I stopped suddenly at a tap on my shoulder. I turned around to see a boy, probably around ten years old, with short blonde hair. Something about him seemed vaguely familiar, but it wasn’t until he spoke that I knew what it was.
“I’m sorry,” he explained without glancing up from a piece of paper he had in his hand, “but do you happen to know where Central H.Q. is?”
He looked up at me and gasped in surprise, dropping the paper and pointing an accusing finger at me. “You…you’re her! You’re Marie!”
That voce was unmistakable. This was Alphonse Elric. Though it was fleeeting, seeing him standing there in his human body made me experience a feeling that could have been construed as happiness. Edward had succeeded.
When I continued to stare, his surprise turned to anger and he shot me an icy glare. “Why did you leave? Do you have any idea what you’ve done to my brother?”
Confused at first as to what he was talking about, I realized he was talking about Envy. He must have met “me” when Envy was taking my place after the transmutation, and was referring to Envy’s sudden departure from Resembool.
As angry as I usually became at the subject of Edward, nothing could seem to shake the joy I felt at hearing Al’s voice coming from the body of a normal human. Old memories stirred inside of me, and for a moment I began to feel like my old self.
“Alphonse…” I whispered, and raised a hand to his face.
He shied away from my hand and continued to glare at me.
“Al, don’t you remember me?” I asked. We had been so close, the way he was acting so unfamiliar was really getting to me.
“I don’t,” he said, eyeing me cautiously. “After my brother brought me back I lost all the memories I had of being in the armor.”
At those words, I felt the strongest pang of emotion since I was resurrected. Not only did he not remember me, but his first meeting had been with Envy, and he didn’t know me as the person I really was. The Marie he knew, and the Marie Ed knew, were completely different people.
“You didn’t answer my question. Why did you leave my brother?”
All at once the joy at seeing Al and the pain of learning he had forgotten me melted away and the familiar apathy took over.
“Don’t jump to conclusions Alphonse. I’m miserable because of your brother.” I began to turn away, but stopped and added, “And another thing; that wasn’t me that left your brother. It was…someone disguised as me. I don’t expect you to understand, I just…wanted you to know that.” I really don’t know why I added that last part, but some part of me wanted him to know the truth.
I turned away without looking back, and went off to find Envy so we could leave. I didn’t want to have to face Al again.

“I don’t even know where to start looking,” I said to Russell. He was about to respond but stopped when there was a knock on the door.
“I sure am popular lately, aren’t I,” I grumbled as I got up to answer to door. Once again, Lieutenant Hawkeye was standing there with yet another visitor.
“Al! What the hell are you doing here?”
Al walked inside, and Hawkeye saluted and left.
He moved to the bed and sat down, a troubled look on his face. I sighed and sat down next to him, too tired to be angry.
“Al, I thought you were going to stay in Resembool?”
“I met her, brother,” he said, without looking up.
“What are you talking about?”
“Marie. I met her on my way here.”
My heart skipped a beat at his words and I found myself gripping his shoulders with more force than was necessary. “Where, Al? I need to know where you saw her!”
“Just a couple of blocks down the street…” he answered, slightly taken aback. I realized I was probably scaring him and released him.
“Brother…she said something strange to me, I’m not sure what she meant,” he continued.
“What, Al? What did she say to you?” I asked, trying to hide the urgency in my voice.
“She acted really surprised when she saw me, and asked if I remembered her. When I told her that I had lost my memories, she seemed really sad. She didn’t seem at all like the girl you brought back to Resembool, and she said herself that that wasn’t her, it was someone disguised as her.”
As I tried to piece all of this together Al gazed at me expectantly, as if waiting for an explanation. I asked him what she looked like, and he said she looked exactly the same, save for being dressed in all black. At this new piece of information, an idea suddenly hit me.
“Envy…” I whispered.
“What?” Russell and Al asked in unison.
“I wouldn’t expect you to rememeber Al, but there was a homunculus that used to track us, called Envy. He had to ability to morph into anyone, and it was nearly impossible to tell the difference based on looks.”
Understanding quickly registered on Russell’s face, but was replaced by a look of confusion. “But Ed, why would that homunculus pretend to be Marie?”
I thought a moment before answering, “I don’t know, but if it was the real Marie that Al saw, then this changes things…”
“Ed, I know what you‘re thinking,” Russell warned, “But this doesn’t mean Marie isn’t a homunculus. Remember when she tried to kill Fletcher? She had the ability to generate a shield to cover her body, a talent you told me belonged to another homunculus. That must have been the same person Al saw. Why the other one was posing as her, I don’t know, but I think it’s clear that they’re working together.”
I’d already known it, but hearing him say it shattered any remaining hope I had. For a brief moment I’d believed that maybe, just maybe, Marie was still human. But Envy didn’t have Greed’s abilities, and it was clear that there were two of them. I still had to kill her and the thought of what I had to do continued to eat away at my heart.
I stood up, threw on my jacket and made my way to the door. “She can’t have gone very far. I’m going to find her.”
Al and Russell followed without argument, and the three of us set out on our search.
The three of us searched all night, but to no avail. It wasn’t until three days later that we finally got another lead.
In town I noticed a sizeable amount of men leaving with what seemed to be mining supplies. When I asked someone what was going on, he told me that there was supposedly a fair amount of gold near the Briggs Mountain Range, and he wanted to get his hands on some. Tracing the rumor back, I found out that it was originally started in a bar three days earlier. It just so happened that one of the men who had heard it that night was a regular there, and I spoke to him. He was one of the few who remained behind, and gave me a description of the person who had started the rumor. The description matched Marie perfectly.
The moment he finished, everything started coming together. I thanked him and sprinted toward Russell’s.
When I reached the door I moved to open it, but someone beat me to it from the inside. I found myself face to face with Al, Russell and Fletcher standing directly behind him.
“Brother! I’ve been looking for you, I thought maybe you’d come here…” he began, but I was barely listening.
“Listen. One of you has to run to H.Q. for me. Tell Mustang that someone is trying to create the Philosopher’s Stone in the Briggs Mountain range, near the southern entrance road to Drachma. I’m heading over there right now to see what I can do, but I’m probably going to need back-up.”
“Ed, what the hell - “ Russell began.
“There’s no time to explain right now, just please do this for me!” With that I turned and ran back the way I came, and soon realized that there was another pair of footstep running in sync with my own. I turned and saw Al. The look on his face told me he was coming whether I liked it or not, so I didn’t try to argue.
“Brother, it’s a long way. How do you plan on getting there?”
At that point I honestly had no idea, but, as if in answer to his question, I spotted a truck up ahead that several mean were throwing gear into.
“Hey!” I yelled. The men turned to me.
“Are the three of you heading to the mountains for the gold?” I asked breathlessly.
“What’s it to you, squirt?” one of them responded.
Any qualms I had about taking their vehicle were forgotten at that comment, and I pulled out my pocket watch. “I’m a state alchemist, and I’m afraid I’m going to have to take your truck,” I said, struggling to refrain from ramming my fist into the face of the man who made the ’squirt’ comment.
“What the hell are you going on about?” another asked.
“I don’t have time for this,” I grumbled and clapped my hands together. I slammed them to ground, creating a ripple in the road that knocked all three of them off of their feet. I grabbed the keys and hopped in the truck, and Al followed suit.
One of them tried to run after the truck, but I quickly lost them.
Al looked over his shoulder, his face guilty. “Brother, are you sure - “
“Don’t worry about it Al. I probably just saved their lives by keeping them from going.”
He gazed at me questioningly. “What do you mean? What exactly is going on?”
I sighed. “Al, rememeber when you asked me about some of the things we did when you were in the armor, and I told you about the Philosopher’s Stone?”
He nodded.
“Well, someone is trying to create it again, and I’m afraid Marie is helping them. She’s one of the people responsible for spreading the gold rumor, and I can only guess that whatever homunculi are left are helping. They want to get enough people in one place so they’ll have the components needed to make it.”
Having been informed by me of just what it took to create a Stone, Al’s eyes widened in horror and he gazed forward in shocked silence.
Finally, he broke it. “Brother…what are you going to do?”
Blinking back tears, I answered quietly without looking at him, “Whatever I have to do, Al. It doesn’t matter who it is, I can’t allow anyone to do this.”

Envy and I stood on the sidelines as we watched Dante examine her work. The lines of the circle were clear, but to anyone else they would appear to be mere rifts in the sand.
“I think we have enough,” she said, eyeing the men walking toward the mountain. The array was vast; it had taken her nearly three days to finish it and it contained the entire “mining” ground.
Envy quirked an eyebrow and asked, “You actually intend to do this on your own? You’ve always had someone else perform the actual transmutation for you.”
“And this time will be no different,” Dante said, and as if in response to Envy’s inquiry another figure walked towards us.
It appeared to be another homunculus, and from the looks of her I guessed it was the new Lust; the failed attempt of the man Envy and I had attacked. Accompanying her was a young man that seemed very familiar…
My heart skipped a beat as the boy lifted his head, and horrified recognition registered on both of our faces.
His dark hair was longer now, his bangs hanging limply and partially hiding his face. His once vibrant, green eyes were now dull and lifeless, but his handsome face was still unmistakable. He had put me through horrors that I wouldn’t easily forget.
“Thomas…” I whispered under my breath.
“Marie?” he asked incredulously, staring at me in disbelief. But after a moment his lips curled up into that famillair smirk that I’d grown to hate and fear. “I’d heard about your death. That you’re here now can only mean one thing; Edward Elric is even more of a fool than I thought.”
“What the hell is he doing here?” I snarled at Dante.
She looked at the two of us with mild interest and answered, “I’ve heard he’s quite a capable alchemist, I agreed to free him from prison if he performed the transmutation for me.”
As Thomas moved toward the edge of the cirlce and prepared to activate it, something inside screamed at me to stop him. But my human feelings were still not prevalent enough to cause me to act on them, and I stayed put.
Just as Thomas placed his hands together, another distraction halted his actions. A truck was speeding right towards him, and screeched to a halt at the edge of the circle. The doors were thrown open, and out jumped the figure that had haunted my dreams ever since I’d returned.
Slamming his hands to the ground the moment he was outside of the truck, Edward raised a barage of sand at the edge of the circle, momentarily blinding Dante and Thomas.
Envy immediately sprung into action. His focus on Edward gave Al an opportunity to run in and attempt an attack, but Envy easily evaded it and sent Al flying into the interior of the circle. Seeing his chance, Thomas once again prepared to transmute again.
“NO! ALPHONSE!” Ed screamed, just able to see that his brother was inside of the circle before being knocked backwards by a kick from Envy.
Knowing that countless innocent men would be killed the moment Thomas activated the array had not been enough to get me to move. But the moment I realized that Al would be taken now as well caused me to act. Remembering one of Edward’s favorite techniques, I slammed my hands to the ground and blue light exploded around me as I pulled out a spear, identical to the one Ed always used. I hurled it at Thomas and it hit him square in the chest.
He slowly collapsed to the ground, a blossom of crimson spreading out over his chest, his eyes becoming unfocused. I quickly leapt down to Al and lifted him away from the proximity of the array as Dante watched the scene in horror.
Seconds later, more vehicles approached and, if possible, Danted paled even more as she realized that they belonged to the military. Obviously unprepared for such a disturbance, she motioned to us and disappeared into the woods. Envy began to follow but hesitated when I didn’t do the same. He quirked an eyebrow and caught me giving Edward a sideways glance, which caused his face to contort in disgust. As the vehicles grew nearer, however, he finally gave up and followed after Dante.
I paused for a moment, and briefly considered approaching Edward. But, as if it would rid me of the thought, I shook my head and darted after Envy. I heard Ed yell at me to wait as I ran, but ignored him.













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