"Okay, this is it Al"

Two small pairs of hands pressed against the stone floor. The cold seeped from the ground into their hands, but neither of the children acknowledged it. The circle glowed with rays of bright blue light as energy shone through the array, causing bolts of blue light to shoot out. The outside light dimmed. Shadows rose circling around the edge. The boys stared worriedly.

"Ed, something doesn't feel right" the younger boy said nervously.

The shadows rose higher, but dissipated suddenly, replaced by a thin curved line going through the middle of the array. The line opened, revealing itself to be a giant eye, as paper-thin shadows that resembled hands rose around it. The materials in the centre vanished in a puff of smoke.

Alphonse gave a scream as he felt his leg being deconstructed, causing him to drop down onto the stone floor.

"Al!" Edward yelled out to his brother, before screaming as his arm deconstructed. The stared at it in horror at it, tears of pain in his eyes.

"It can't be… a rebound?" He said. He let out a yelp as the swirling hands lifted him up.

"Brother!" Alphonse cried, trying to reach hold of him.

"Al!" he yelled, reaching his hand out towards Alphonse, he could feel himself being deconstructing.

And all went white.

Alphonse found himself standing in a white void, with no end or boundary in sight.

"Ed… where am I? What happened?" he called out into the vast whiteness surrounding him.

"Hello" a voice came from a white being, lazily lounging in front of him. It was pure white, but a dark aura surrounded it, and it had a shadow despite the lack of a light source to cast it.

"W-who are you?" Al asked it.

"Huh? I'm so glad you asked," It said with its hands in the air. "I am called by many names. I am the world. I am the universe. I'm god. I am truth. I am all. I am one, and I am also," it raised a white finger and pointed it at Alphonse. "You."

"Me?" Alphonse said in a near whisper.

A noise startled him, and he spun around, coming face to face with an eye- the very same one that appeared in the circle only moments beforehand.

"You have dared to knock on the door, now the door has opened" Multiple black hands shot out from the darkness reaching for him.

Alphonse turned and ran, but to no avail. The hands wrapped around him and dragged him into the gate. He screamed in terror, but it had no effect on the shadows.

"Quiet, child. This is what you wanted, isn't it? I will show you the truth"

The door slammed shut.

He screamed as he was dragged through the gate. Reels of pictures passed by him, his mother, his teacher, places and things he's seen, things he has yet to see, and things he would have never seen if not for him seeing them right now. People, books, things, all flew by. He screamed and squeezed his eyes shut but he can still feel the images in his mind. He felt himself being deconstructed. A figure appeared. He knew who it was, and desperately called out to her and reached his hand out and- nothing. He was back in the white void with the truth.

"Well? How was it?"

"Mum! She was there, I saw her! Please, you have to let me go back for her! We can still bring her back!"

"I'm afraid I can't do that. I've already shown you all I can for the toll you've paid"

"Huh? Toll?"

"Surely you knew?"

Alphonse stared in horror as his leg disappeared.

"It's the law of equivalent exchange, right young alchemist?"

And with that, he awoke, clutching what remained of his left leg.

"Ed! Brother where are you?" he cried. "No… this can't happen! Brother! Mum!" He looked up. "Mum?"

In front of him was something far worse than the truth. It was disfigured and rasping. A monster. It reached out for him, but it didn't manage to touch him before it died.

He screamed and pulled himself away from the monster, causing him the crash into a suit of armour and topple it over. He looked at it, then at his brother's clothes lying discarded on the floor, then back at the armour again. An idea formed.

"No... I'm not going to let you take him from me! Please, he's my big brother! He's all I have left!"

Just a small thing! i was toying with the idea for a while but i decided to give it a shot. this is my first fanfiction, so i'm sorry if it's not that good, and i'd love to get some feedback! should i continue?