w00t! I got the awesome chapter written finally! Took long enough. I thought this scene was going to be in the first chapter, but no, so it was going to be in the second chapter, but that was not to be either. Finally I got it in the third. Jumped from the first to the third, and half of this scene is STILL being saved for the next chapter. Go figure, hehe. At least I got it written...and I'm updating this story ridiculously fast too...compromises my review count, but it does get the story written, heh.

In any case, enjoy the awesome chapter, hehe.

Disclaimer: Still don't own, still don't ask. Disclaimer muse is late again.

Muse: What?

Edward was nervous. He had never taken a drug in his life, aside from medical drugs, and he hated those. Medical drugs seemed to generally be given to him intravenously, and he hated shots with a passion. This one was not medical, however, and it was not with the aid of a needle. There was no way for him to know what was going to happen as soon as he took it, and the idea kind of scared him. He didn't like the idea of being out of control, especially over his own mind.

"It's okay, Edward," Luita said, holding out the ladle-like thing in Edward's general direction. "Take a couple deep breaths and calm yourself down. The journey will be a lot more pleasant if you are not so apprehensive before you begin."

Edward didn't think there would really be any way he could not be apprehensive about the situation, but he did as the woman advised and took a few slow, deep breaths. He was still nervous and extremely jittery, but the breathing did help to put him in a slightly more receptive mood. Now if he could just get through this without panicking too badly, he would be doing alright. Trying hard to resist the urge to shake, he reached out and took the ladle from the woman and drank down the extract in it as quickly as he could manage. It tasted quite bitter and he wanted to gag, but he had made a promise to Al, so he was going to see this through.

He replaced the ladle on the table and coughed a few times in the vain hope that the action would rid his mouth of the foul taste of the herb, though it didn't. Hopefully it wouldn't stay around for too long. He shook his head and clenched his eyes shut as though that would help him forget about the bitter taste in his mouth, which just prompted a chuckle from Al's direction. "Taste bad, Brother?"

"Man," said Ed, putting a hand over his mouth and continuing to shake his head back and forth, "That stuff is disgusting!" He looked up at his little brother again, intending to complain further about the taste of the substance he had just ingested, when he found something much more interesting to look at. Al's face seemed to be split into two different colors, one side was blue while the other side was red, and the contrast was increasing each second. "Al...something weird is happening."

"What are you seeing, Brother?" Al asked curiously, leaning towards Ed so that he could hear him better.

The red and blue sides of Al's face became more and more defined so that before long, all Ed could see was two sides of a featureless circle swimming before his vision. The rest of the things in the room dropped out of sight and were replaced by a black void. Ed felt like he was starting to get a strange dizzy feeling in his forehead, but he had no reference point as to where up or down was while in this void, so if he fell, he wouldn't know.

Suddenly the red and blue tore themselves apart and came flying at him, making him cry out in surprise and put his arms in front of his face to protect himself, but the colors never touched his face. Instead, they assembled into a sort of grid where the red and blue intertwined with each other, almost creating purple as a result of their mixing together. Ed felt himself floating up this large grid? net? whatever it was, as the spaces in between the ropes in the grid began to assert their authority for dominance in the reality Ed was now perceiving himself in.

The squares grew and grew in his vision until he found himself in an entirely different dimension than he had started in. Everywhere he looked, he could see angular shapes. The walls, the floors, the passageways, were all made of squares and triangles. There wasn't a hint of a curve anywhere. Everything was covered in tones of green and purple and blue, lending an aura of mystery to the place, yet it felt strangely good to be here. He felt quite at home.

Every single shape in this dimension had a place here, even him. He was actually a triangle, nothing more or less, and he couldn't remember having ever been anything different. This was just the way things were. He drifted around the maze that was his home, going through multidimensional layers without hesitation, since he knew his way around this place. Why shouldn't he? It was his home, and always had been.

He flew around a bend. His specific place of belonging was around here somewhere, but he sometimes forgot exactly where, not that it was a problem. The other shapes residing there always informed him when his sense of direction was off and guided him back, and he was never far away from where he was supposed to be, despite the vastness of this dimension. Nope, this wasn't the right place. No matter, just exploring was fun. He backed up and made another turn. Would this be the right way or not? It was fine either way, since he would enjoy it regardless of the result.

"Brother?" a voice mysteriously broke through into this world he was in. He knew that voice, but why did he know it so well? Whoever heard of communicating vocally when it was so much more efficient to communicate via thought? It just seemed so silly.

Curiosity got the best of him though, and he decided to go and locate the source of the strangely familiar voice. He got back into the main passage and flew down it and around a bend to a part of the maze that he rarely ever went to. A large piece of the ceiling of this tunnel was missing, and in its place, he could see some mysterious being staring in at him. The portal to another dimension perhaps? It had to be, since the being had some very odd colors on his person as well as quite a number of curved lines and other complex shapes. Nothing like that had ever entered this dimension.

"Brother?" the voice called again. He knew for sure that he knew that voice this time, but he didn't want to listen to it. He was having so much fun. The voice wanted him to leave his home and go to that dimension, but he didn't feel like doing so at the moment. There was so much more joy to be felt as a triangle, he wasn't yet ready to give that up.

Playfully, he launched himself to the top of the wall separating the two dimensions and began to dance across the edge as best as a triangle could. There was nothing to fear. Nothing could harm him here, there wasn't even such a concept. He continued to dance around and around the opening for some time, or untime, as it was probably more apt to be called, being in the absence of time itself in this dimension.

Finally, the otherworldly being reached in through the hole in the ceiling with what Ed knew to be a hand. He didn't know how he knew, but he didn't really question how he knew either. It just didn't matter. The hand stopped in midair and silently called to him. The decision was up to him, and the hand wasn't going to force him to do one thing or the other.

He briefly opened his mind to the thoughts of the other shapes around, curiosity once again getting the better of him. Their thoughts wouldn't make him decide one way or the other, but he wanted to know what they would do in this situation anyway.

The vibes of the rest of the angular shape civilization came at him from all directions and washed over him. Don't go, andThis is silly, thinking of leaving a wonderful place like this for a chaotic place like that. He didn't deny that leaving this bliss for the kind of civilization that this other being was calling him to was a silly move on his part. That other dimension wasn't blissful in the least. They didn't always get along or accept each other. They didn't all have a place to call home. But all the same, he wanted to go there. He wanted to understand them, and he wanted to show them a little bit of the bliss he had experienced here in this world.

Everyone continued to send their opinions via their thoughts, but he didn't pay attention to them any longer. Their views no longer mattered as he had already made his decision. He launched himself up to the hole in the ceiling and felt the hand take hold of him as though he was one of its own. As he passed through and out of the wall separating the two dimensions from each other, he felt himself changing. He was becoming something else. He was losing his triangle form, becoming more complex. He still remembered the love and bliss of home, but he was quickly gaining the knowledge of the chaos in this new world. It needed help, so much help. If only it could learn the secret of pure joy and understanding he had experienced back in his homeworld.

He found himself drifting down into a room where a couple other beings, similar in shape to his new form, were seated, almost as though they were waiting for him. Perhaps they were. He was here to learn and to teach. He had so much to say about another way of life, and he couldn't wait to start.

He touched down in a seated position at one end of a large flat thing...a table, that was what it was called. His breathing became quite heavy as he tried to adjust to this strange new world. There had been no need for breath where he had just come from. These beings apparently needed to circulate new energy through their bodies on a regular basis to revitalize themselves. That could be a useful way of teaching these people about the other way of life he knew, if they could just learn to connect to his world and circulate the energy through themselves.

"Brother, are you okay?"

There was that voice again. He looked up slowly and began to take in his surroundings. One of the beings near him was looking directly at him. He was sure he knew this being from somewhere, but he couldn't quite place where. Who was he?

"Brother?" the voice said again. This time, he had observed the being during the process of speech, so he knew that the voice had come from this being. The familiarity level was gradually increasing as well, and the being's name was beginning to surface in his mind, though he couldn't recall it just yet.

He scanned the room once again with his newfound eyes, trying to get used to this new body and his new surroundings again, though he knew that the process was going to take awhile. One didn't just leave home, change bodies, and then go on as if nothing had happened.

Suddenly the other being's name reached his tongue. "Al."

The boy he had called by name suddenly looked up at him and smiled. Good, he had called him correctly. This being, Al, had been the one to call him out of his home dimension, and he wanted to be able to communicate properly with him.

"And I'm..." he began, "My name..."

"Go on," said Al, sounding quite patient under the circumstances.

"My name..." he started again, "Is...Edward."

"That's right," said Al, "You're Edward. You're my brother, remember?"

So his name was Edward. That helped a bit. He had a name now. But brother? What was a brother? He placed his hand on his forehead as he tried to recall the necessary information, as he was sure that he knew it. Why was he so confused about everything? Why did so many things here not make any sense?

He slowly opened his eyes again and looked carefully at Al. The boy seemed really familiar to him. Naturally he would, since he had remembered his name somehow, but he was having difficulty placing exactly where he had met him.

Finally it hit him. The both of them looked similar to each other. That would imply a bigger connection than just having known each other for some time. Ed opened his mouth and slowly said the words, "Brothers...we're...family."

"Yes, we are!" said Al, obviously excited, though it seemed he was trying to calm himself down and not get too worked up. Maybe it was for his benefit, since he was still quite confused. That was nice of him to not try to rush him through this.

Things were slowly beginning to filter their way into his memory, but how could they be in his memory if he had always lived in the shape dimension? Had he been living some sort of double life? This was very disturbing to his mind and difficult to grasp. He knew he had just come from the other world, so where did these other memories fit in?

A ladle of strange water flashed into his mind. He saw himself drinking it. A drug? Had he really done that? He would never take a drug, that was ridiculous. There had to be a better explanation, and he searched his mind for one, but he couldn't find any other memory that would explain what he had just been through. The vision of the ladle flashed back into his mind. Had this whole experience been drug induced? How could it have been? He had been in that other world for an eternity, whereas the time in this world was very brief, even counting the memories he was regaining of being in this form. He had been a triangle so much longer than he had been a human, there was no way a drug could have caused that to happen.

But the image persisted of him drinking the extract from the ladle. He tasted the remaining bitter taste in his mouth. He had done that, he couldn't deny it now. He remembered it well enough to admit it now, but he couldn't dismiss what he had seen in the other world. Time didn't exist there as it did here, and in the time he had spent here, it only added up to a brief chapter of his entire life that he had spent living amongst the shapes. He was more a triangle than he was a human being. He always had been, and always would be, but he was in human form now, and had chosen to be in human form. He had chosen to come here, to learn and to teach, so he was going to accept his new form with pride, even if he had truly entered it long ago.

But what had he come to teach? The shapes' way of life, of course. That much was easy to understand, but what did it mean when he translated it into human terms? They lived differently, and wouldn't understand things if put too simply. He had to make the story more complex or it would miss them completely. He needed to have something that reminded them to concentrate on the loving energy of the shapes and pull it through them, rejuvenating and revitalizing them.

Another image flashed into his mind. A crude representation of squares and triangles drawn together on a flat surface, as well as a representation of the curves present in this dimension to bind both forms together into a united energy. Shapes drawn in chalk. A transmutation circle. He had come here to teach these people the use of the power of the shapes in the form of alchemy. These people had learned a lot, but not what he had been trying to teach all along. True alchemy does not harm, and it does not leach energy off of others. True alchemy draws its energy from his homeworld, the land of the shapes, and one connected to that world by means of the emotions they felt in that world, those of love and joy. Negative emotions did not exist there, and so if one felt negative emotions while trying to connect, they would fail, because they had dialed the wrong address.

"Brother?" Al called again. Ed blinked and looked at the boy, surprised to find him there. He had gotten so absorbed in his thoughts that he had forgotten again where he was, but he was regaining that knowledge once again as he looked around. A few parts of his mind still nagged about how confused they were, but for the most part, he understood what was going on now.

"Oh my gosh, Al," said Ed, leaning forward and placing his forehead in his hands, "That was the weirdest thing I have ever experienced. I don't even have the words to describe it."

"Try," said Al, "I'm curious."

"Well," said Ed, as he moistened his lips and looked up towards the ceiling to try and recall the events from just a few moments before, "I was in, like...this dimension composed entirely of triangles and squares...or something like that. I can't figure out how to explain it."

Al laughed. "That must have been weird."

Ed's eyes opened wide and he let out a large breath. "It was."

"So," Al said, his tone of voice suddenly changing to one of concern, "Did you get any answers, perchance?"

"I don't know yet," said Ed, lightly shaking his head, "But I suspect that some of the things I saw will answer some of the questions I didn't even know I had, once I think on them a little bit more."

Al smiled again and went silent. Ed knew what that meant. Al wanted to ask something, but wasn't sure how to do so. Ed leaned forward towards the boy. "What?"

The younger brother fidgeted nervously for a moment, obviously trying to put his thoughts together. Ed waited patiently. Al had been patient while he had been undergoing his...journey...so he could return the favor. Finally the boy looked back up at Ed and said, "Brother, awhile back...just a minute after you drank that stuff, you started crying. What happened?"

Crying? He didn't remember crying at all. Nothing bad had happened to him during the whole journey, so what could have caused him to be disturbed enough to cry...unless they had been tears of joy?

"Heh," said Ed, "I honestly don't remember crying...but...if I had to guess, I would say it was from the sense of being home in that triangle dimension, truly home. It felt so good there that I didn't want to leave."

"But the drug wore out and forced you out?" asked Al.

Ed shook his head. "No, that place was more real than that, Al. It existed long before the drug did. It was way more than a dream." He paused and took a deep breath. "I left there because you called me, and I wanted to be with you."

Al's face looked blank as it usually did when he didn't understand, but a sweet smile was still in place on it. Ed knew that Al could always hear the sincerity in his voice, and so it would have been obvious to him that what Ed was saying was the truth, even if it made no sense.

"So," Ed said, and he let out a sigh as he brushed his bangs out of his eyes, "Were you planning on taking a trip too?"

Al's eyes went wide. "You'll let me, Brother?"

Ed chuckled. "Just a minute ago, you were going to defy everything I said and do it anyway!"

Al blushed and slumped down slightly into his wheelchair. "Yeah, well, but-"

Ed handed the ladle to Al. "It's your choice, Al. I don't want you making a habit of this, by any means, but if this is the only place we have left to turn to for answers, who am I to tell you no?"

Al smiled. "That must have been quite a trip for you to change your perception just like that."

"Let's just say it was quite an eye opening experience."

The brothers smiled at each other once again, and Al reached for the ladle.

Phew! I've been writing so freaking much today, I can't believe it. About 7,000 words in one day, unless you count the chapter from last night, which I technically submitted today, though I don't count it normally because my day and night are kind of mixed up, hehe. Anyway, I hope you liked that. I'll write up the next chapter soon, though not today I don't think, hehe. You'll have to wait at least a day before hearing about Al's trip, but I'm sure you can handle it, getting all these chapters so quickly, hehe. Anyway, tell me your thoughts if you feel like it, and I'll see you soon!