Gone Forever

A FMA Fanfiction

Chapter 4

Trials and Tribulations

a few days later

He was falling, falling, falling... A deep, windy, watery abyss threatened to swallow him up as he fell... and fell.. He looked desperately down for the bottom, and, seeing none, looked up in equal haste for the top. But there was none. With an anguished scream, he have himself in to the inevitable..

Ed woke with a start, gasping for breath. For a few terrifying seconds flashes of his nightmare haunted him, before disappearing entirely.

What was that? He thought nervously. He couldn't remember even a hint of the nightmare.

That's what I'd like to know, Greed said, annoyed. You woke me up.

Yeah, shuddup, Ed thought with a half-awake shake of the head.

Do I need to come back out there, pipsqueak?

WHO ARE YOU CALLIN- Ed stifled the yell, worried that he wasn't yelling entirely in his head. He didn't want to wake anyone up.

Yeah, that's more like it.

I said shut it!

And whose body is this?

Mine.

Yeah, sure. You keep telling yourself that, shrimp.

Ed gritted his teeth as he stiffly got out of bed and pulled his pants, jacket, and boots on. He braided his hair with deft fingers as he walked out the door.

"Mornin', Ed!" the owner's son said brightly as Ed came down the stairs.

"Good morning," Ed replied, smiling. "What do you have this morning to eat? I'm starving!"

"Nothing much, just eggs, bacon, and orange juice," the boy replied, leading the young alchemist to a seat at the bar. He placed a steaming plate of the described food in front of the blond.

"Sounds great!" Ed exclaimed. "Looks great!" He dug into the food with gusto.

The owner's son grinned. "That's the Edward I know."

Ed gave him a grateful look and continued eating. The boy left, leaving the alchemist to his food.

Edward happily shoved the eggs into his mouth. He hadn't eaten in nearly a week. In Fullmetal time, that was nearly a year.

Enjoying that, are ya?

Mmhmm.

You realize that my body doesn't need that much food, don't ya?

Oh, yes, my body does.

I told ya, it's different now. This homunculus, Greed, is in every cell, every atom, of this body. It's MINE.

Ed inwardly sighed. How many times are we going to have this argument? It's mine, end of story.

Greed growled. Why didn't I destroy you while I could?

You'll be asking yourself that question for a long, long time.

Damn you to hell, little brat.

Ed bristled. WHO THE HELL ARE YOU CALLING SO SMALL HE COULD BE EATEN BY A TERMITE?

Heh heh heh... Greed chortled at the alchemist's distress.

But what would you know, Greed shrank back at Edward's suddenly cold tone, of hell, homunculus?

No need to get all testy, kid.

Ed didn't answer. He was now finishing up his food, wiping his plate clean with a piece of toast. He drained the glass of juice before standing. He grinned at the cook in thanks for the meal, and left the inn.

He consented himself with touring Youswell, quietly enjoying the feel of the sun on his face and the gentle breeze through his hair.

What is wrong with you, kid? Greed wanted to know. What's happening? Do you absolutely need to be in control right now? I don't see why you're wasting my time walking all over the place. There's no one we need to fool right now, just some worthless strangers. Give me back control of my body.

Ed gave way without struggle or comment. Greed, not expecting to gain control so easily, nearly tripped when he was.

What's wrong with- never mind. Greed continued Ed's walk down the street. Anyone watching at the moment of the switch may have noticed that his stride had more of a swagger, more arrogance.

While Greed walked along, Edward was deep in thought. He was thinking about nearly everything. Everything related to the situation that he was currently in, that was. How was he able to perform alchemy, even though his body was that of a homunculus? Homunculi could not perform alchemy. It was absolutely impossible. That was a proven fact. Only humans could perform alchemy.

Another thing to consider: considering the abilities and qualities of homunculi, why did he still have his automail arm and leg? During his body's change from human to homunculus, they should have been pushed off and out of his body by the growth of a new arm and leg. Perhaps, as they worked just fine, for now, the philosopher's stone within him had not found the need to spend energy on an unnecessary task. Could the stone have a thought process? No. Perhaps there was just something that moderated he spending of energy? He wasn't sure. He was relatively sure, however, that if any of his limbs, including the automail ones, were chopped off entirely, they would be replaced by the power of the stone. It would take quite some thought, he was sure. He didn't want to test it out by trial and error, though.

As long as he had been fighting to regain his true limbs, he wasn't so sure that he wanted to hid himself of the automail just yet. It... reminded him, of all he had accomplished in his life. The automail was a testament to his wrongdoings in his, granted, not all that long life. But it also reminded him of his triumphs. It was the price he had paid, and he kind of wanted it to stay that way.

His thoughts continued in this fashion for quite some time.

By then, it was evening, and Greed was heading back to the inn for an evening meal. He was about halfway to the inn, before the sound of a large explosion caused him to jump.

What the fuck was that?

Ed seemed to come to the surface of his mind. What? He asked groggily.

That explosion! Greed said angrily. He turned so Edward could see the smoke rising above the buildings. There! What's over there?

There was an explosion?

No duh, kid! How far were you under?

I can get pretty deep in thought sometimes.

Any day now.

That's where the mine is! C'mon, let's go! There could be people in there!

What's in it for me?

Do you always have to have some incentive?

My name is Greed, kid.

I'll be especially agreeable tomorrow.

Done.

Alright, let's go!

"Colonel, Alphonse Elric is nowhere to be found," Fury reported warily.

"What?" the colonel asked angrily.

"Sir, his traveling clothes are gone, as is his money and his travel bag. He has most likely gone to find his brother."

"Damn that boy. He must have picked that up from his brother, charging off without thinking. And I thought he was the sensible one.." Mustang growled, annoyed.

Hawkeye spoke up. "I'm sure you would have realized by now, Colonel, that no one can stop either of those boys once they have their mind set to it. Not even you, sir."

Alphonse wearily gazed out the window of the train. It had been a few days since he had left Central. He wasn't sure exactly where he was going, but something told him to head out in this general direction. Luckily, there had been a train leaving, so he had bought a last minute ticket and taken the train.

He hadn't told the Colonel or any of his crew where he was going, even that he was going. They most likely would have told him not to go, to wait until they ad more information. But he wasn't going to be held back.

He was going to find his brother.

"Next stop, Youswell Mining Town," one of the engineers called.

Al's ears perked at this. Youswell? Why did that ring a bell? Had he visited Youswell?

His head jerked up. That was it! He and his older brother had visited Youswell! He remembered it all, now. He had nearly forgotten. He and Edward (well, mostly Edward, he admitted to himself) had freed it from the ownership of a greedy military leader... Yoki, that was his name. Ed managed to trick him into signing over the papers of ownership of the mines to him, then had given ownership of the mines to the people of Youswell. Yoki and his goons had then been driven out, Alphonse remembered with a grin.

Maybe his brother had gone to Youswell! No one there knew of the...incident. So far as Al knew, only he, the colonel, Hawkeye, and that group knew about Greed. Youswell was isolated enough that no one would have thought of searching there, not yet.

That's it. He was going to get off the train at Youswell. It was worth a try, anyways.

Greed ran with inhuman speed towards the mines.

Give me control, will ya? They could probably use a few things transmuted out of the way.

No, not yet. If I do need you, you'll come out then. You can't run this fast, anyways.

Fine.

When Greed reached the mines, a few miners ran up to him, beckoning urgently. The terror of the incident was written clearly on their faces.

"Edward!" one said, "We need your help! We think someone hit a pocket of gas, and their lamp ignited it. We know there are several miners trapped inside, including the innkeeper's son. But, there are several large rocks blocking the way. No one can move them... Sorry to ask this of you, but do you think... As you are kind of... small, you could squeeze through and rescue them?"

Knowing that Edward would have been furious at this comment, Greed pretended to bristle some. He pretended to get his feelings under control and told them he would to it. He ran closer, up to the mine.

Nice acting there, Edward said with a chuckle.

Meh.

Well, let me outta there, I can transmute them out of the way.

No, I can just smash or lift them out of the way.

That will attract suspicion.

Fine. I'll just crawl in befitting to the pipsqueak we are.

HOW DARE YOU-

Shut it, kid.

With that, Greed spotted a hole he could slip through and entered the mine.

The train had pulled up to the station at Youswell. Al got off the train, stretching his arms and legs after the long journey. With a start, he noticed the smoke from the still-fresh explosion spiraling up into the sky.

He tucked his bag into a tree where he hoped no one would notice it and sprinted off toward the mine.

Greed coughed. The gas and fumes from the explosion were suffocating. He tore some fabric off his jacket and held it over his mouth and nose as he climbed through the wreckage.

I hear someone- over there!

Greed turned in the direction of Ed's mental push. Sure enough, there was a miner, laying on his side.

"Come on," Greed grunted, "Alley oop." He lifted the miner, tossing the larger man over his soldier. He then picked his way through the wreckage and set the miner down near the entrance- he would get the rocks out of the way when he had everyone. He didn't want to risk the mine coming down over all of their heads.

Using Edward's uncanny sense of hearing (I guess it's amplified, being inside your mind, he said.), he and Greed managed to find and recover six more miners.

Just a few more, Ed said.

Greed nodded, coughing, and headed back in.

Alphonse reached the mine.

One of the miners ran up. "What are you doing here? Kids should stay away," he said.

Al realized that none of the miners would have recognized him, as he had been a suit of armor the last time he had visited. "I'm an alchemist," he assured the miner. "I can help."

"Any help we can get would be much appreciated, even if you are just a kid," the miner said gratefully. "The Fullmetal Alchemist went in there not 20 minutes ago."

Al's eye's widened, and he charged off into the mine.

Just two more, then the innkeeper's son, Edward informed Greed.

Alright, Greed grunted mentally. He couldn't waste the breath on talking.

He found and recovered the last two miners, then made his way over towards the young boy.

Alphonse had reached the innkeeper's son. The young boy was coughing badly, and was half-asphyxiated.

"Are you alright?" he asked urgently.

The boy coughed, nodding a little.

"You're going to be alright," Al assured him gently. "Just let me get you outta here, ok?" He lifted the boy with a grunt over his shoulders. "Let's go." He began to trudge off toward the exit of the mine.

On his way out, he nearly dropped the boy. He heard a voice, saying "He's just over here..." And then his brother trudged into view.

For a few seconds, they stared at each other, eyes wide.

"Brother?" Alphonse asked in a small voice.

Edward/Greed said nothing, and charged off a different tunnel shaft.

"Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. What is that kid doing in here?" Greed said in a rage. "He's going to mess up everything-"

Let me out! LET ME OUT! Alphonse! Al! AL! I'm-

"Shut the hell up, kid! You're just messing up our chances of making it outta here in one piece!" Greed admonished angrily.

I DON'T CARE, LET ME OUT, YOU BASTARD!

"You're giving me a fucking headache, you moron. SHUT THE HELL UP."

Alphonse had to stop himself from abandoning the boy and going after the homunculus/his brother. He gritted his teeth and kept going, aware of his duty to the boy. He was just nearly out when he heard and felt the trembling of the ceiling above him. It was about to give way. He ran faster, hoping to get out before-

He tripped, falling hard on his face. Struggling to get up, as the fall had knocked all the wind out of him, he felt sure that he was going to die. He closed his eyes..

But the rocks never came.

"C'mon, get out of here, ya stupid kid," Greed said.

Al looked up. Greed was holding up the ceiling.

"Are you just going to stand there, gawking like an idiot, or are you going to get out of there and save that kid?"

Al scrambled to his feet, running as fast he could out of the mine.

"Hurry kid, I can't do this forever, you know," he heard Greed yell behind him. Then, in a different tone that he could have sworn was his brother's, he said, "I'll be right out after ya, Al."

Alphonse ran on, until he got out of the mine. Setting the boy on the ground, he wasn't sure whether the tears streaming out of his eyes were from the smoke or otherwise. He heard the mine collapse behind him.

He realized he was swaying, then couldn't keep standing any longer. He gave himself in to unconsciousness as he fell, though he thought he felt himself being caught by something hard- it felt like a metal hand.

"Nice job in there, Al," he thought he heard, before he fell into the blackness.

the next morning

A few hours later he came to.

"Brother?" he said, sitting up quickly. "Ohh," he then groaned, holding his head in his hands.

"Easy there, kid," someone said next to him. "You must have hit your head in there. You've got a pretty big lump on your head."

Rubbing his head, Al looked around. Sitting next to him was one of the miners who hadn't been in the mine. "You did a good job in there, kid. Thanks to you and the Fullmetal Alchemist, everyone's safe, including the boss's son. We're all grateful."

"I was nothing," Alphonse mumbled. "Wait, is Ed- I mean, the Fullmetal Alchemist alright? I didn't see him come out."

The miner chuckled. "You wouldn't have seen much of anything, after coming out of there. You collapsed right after getting out. Yeah, the Fullmetal Alchemist is fine. In fact, he caught you so you wouldn't hit your head again when you fell."

Al's eyes widened. "Is he here?"

The miner shook his head. "Nah, he left soon after he made sure everyone was taken care of. We begged him to stay, at least to get that cough of his settled, but he just told us that he'd be better faster than we thought and he probably shouldn't be here when you came to. I dunno why, it was a little peculiar. Know of any reason why he would have said something like that?"

"Not sure," Al replied. "He is my brother, though."

The miner looked at him quizzically, but didn't pry when he saw the look on the young alchemist's face. Making sure Alphonse had everything he needed, he soon left.

"Why did you leave, Brother?"

a few hours earlier

Greed slung his/Edward's jacket over his shoulder. "Well," he said, "guess it's time to be going. We can't have your brother catching up with us, now can we?"

Ed seemed like he was about to say something angry, so Greed reminded him, "Hey, you told me if I helped those people you'd be especially agreeable today. I want no annoying headaches or remarks, got it, kid?"

Edward grumbled some words that sounded suspiciously like curses.

"Hey," Greed admonished.

Ed was silent.

"Now, that's more like it," Greed said, and walked out of Youswell.

Sorry it's been so long ^^;

To be honest, I kinda/nearly/almost forgot about this. But, I was checking my email (as I rarely do nowadays) and found a few reviews that made me really want to write again.

Thank you, to all of you!

Thanks to Doubleblade Miriko, KuroiWing, snake (anon), xXSMiZXx, DragonsRuleYourDreams12, Crazy-Mellow-Chan, Spockie, The Spirit Alchemist, Koneko Hoshi, and colorfulquirkcutieanimefan.

Hopefully, I'll be able to keep going! ^^;

~Flameses