Categories > Anime/Manga > Full Metal Alchemist > Warped Mirrors
mirror One
0 reviewsA regular transmutation goes bizarrely awry and leads to a situation that Edward and Alphonse never expected.
0Unrated
Warped Mirrors
mirror One
When Edward Elric came to, he realized with relief that his last-second transmutation had to have worked. If it hadn't worked, well ... he wouldn't have woken up at all. That was small comfort at the moment, however, because his head felt like someone was trying to tap-dance their way out. He winced, opening his eyes and closing them again a few times. This action made him notice a few things.
The natural light that the brothers had been following was now gone. That meant that the cave-in piled stones not just on top of them, but cut off both exits as well. That was assuming that whatever head trauma he had sustained while he was unconscious hadn't left him blind.
Edward started to sit up slowly. His last-minute transmutation (some sort of rock barrier, he couldn't remember clearly what he did at the moment) had shunted the rocks left and right and left him unharmed. A sudden thought occurred to him. "Al? Are you all right?"
He kept his tone soft, he wasn't sure yet how stable the rocks above them were. Loud noise could set off another cave-in, and then he'd have more than a possible concussion to worry about. He took stock of himself while he waited impatiently for Alphonse to find his voice. Edward himself didn't seem to be badly hurt... his head was throbbing badly, but that was about the extent of it. He ran his left hand gingerly over the back of his head and encountered a lump of decent size. Edward winced when he probed the goose egg. Yeah, that hurt.
"Al?" His brother had yet to respond. Some falling rocks shouldn't concern a seven-foot-suit of armor ... he was surprised that Alphonse hadn't been leaning over him and fretting like a worried hen. In fact, now that he thought about it, that worried him. Had something happened to Alphonse, or his blood seal...?
His eyes were not adjusting to the darkness, so there really was no light to be found. Growing irritated and more worried, he brought his palms together in preparation to clap when his brain caught up with him. The rocks above their heads were not stable ... any turbulent reaction, including energy from an alchemy transmutation, might shift the delicate balance and bring a quick end to the Elric-kyoudai. They really were totally buried.
It was completely his fault. Alphonse had been hesitant about taking the old mine-tunnel that skirted through the edge of the mountain instead of hiking over the hilly terrain. It had been Edward who had talked him into it, gesturing grandly about time saved and possibly being able to catch the train to Central in the next town over. They had not gotten on the train at Resembool since they weren't supposed to have stopped over in their hometown. Although Mustang undoubtedly knew about their unexpected detour, Edward was still determined to try to pretend like it didn't happen.
They had been halfway through the tunnel when a bold rumbling caught Edward's attention. It was only split seconds after he noticed the noise that the rocks had started to fall and he barely had any time to act before they crushed under the weight of the mountain.
Edward shuddered as if he could feel the ominous weight of the mountain pressing down around him. Why hadn't Alphonse responded, or said anything? He didn't think it was possible for Alphonse to lose consciousness, but considering that Al could "turn off" to rest, he supposed it was possible. However, Alphonse had the matches. "Al?"
"'Niisan?"
Edward exhaled a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. He was so relieved to actually hear his brother's voice, he didn't notice how odd it sounded at first. "Al, you're all right! You still have those matches, don't you?"
"Yeah, I do." He could hear palpable relief in Alphonse's voice as well. However, his voice also sounded confused. "'Niisan ... what's wrong with your voice?"
Edward was busy feeling around his head, trying to see how low the ceiling of their tomb was. He stuck his arms straight up above his head and to his relief, didn't feel the ceiling. Of course the rocks had to be higher up than that, or Al was lying on his back. Still, it made him feel better to know they had at least some breathing space. Maybe the roof was high enough for him to stand. He didn't want to find out until they had light, though, because the last thing he needed to do at the moment was crack his head again.
Alphonse's words caught up with him. "There's nothing wrong with my voice," he returned distractedly, now feeling around on the floor for a wall. Some part of his brain, caught between the screaming pain of the goose egg and the flailing panic that he was fighting down told him he should be paying attention to Al's voice as well, but his current task seemed more important.
He paused. Wasn't Alphonse's voice usually more tinny than that? It was a side effect of being bounced around in that large suit of armor, and sounded more like someone talking through a tube or with a bowl on their head. His gloved hand came to rest on cold metal, and he realized that he had found Alphonse's leg. Edward patted his brother's leg in relief, the disquiet that had started to gnaw at his insides slowly fading. Then he frowned, turning his head. Alphonse was seated to his left. Then why was the rustling noise of someone searching through a pack coming from his right?
It could easily be a trick of the cave. Echolocation was havoc in a cave, and there was no telling where all the crags and crannies in this thing were that could bounce back sound at odd angles. "Ah, I found them!" It was very clearly Alphonse's voice, and it also very clearly came from his right. It also, now that Edward was paying attention, didn't sound at all right.
Just as the frown was creasing his features, a thinner, tinnier-sounding voice spoke from his left. "'Niisan...?"
Before Edward had time to process this or put it together, he was dazzled by light as Alphonse lit a match.
It took Edward a moment to blink away the stars from the sudden dazzling light. He opened his eyes, squinting against the warm flickering light. He knew it would only last a few seconds, so he wanted to get a good look around the cave before it went dark again.
The first thing he saw, though, was Alphonse.
The suit of armor was seated across the cave from him, which was clearly impossible as Edward's hand rested on Alphonse's leg! As his startled mind tried to process this, he realized that the armor was not holding the match, and that the light was coming a bit from his right.
He glanced to the right, still trying to fight his confusion. The sight there did nothing to help him.
Alphonse held the rapidly-burning match in one gloved hand, mouth open in surprise and eyes wide. He was staring directly at Edward with a look of pure shock on his face.
On his face.
This was impossible. It was completely, utterly, and ludicrously impossible. Alphonse ... his little brother Alphonse, in the flesh right before his eyes. The match winked out of existence as Edward tried desperately to come up with a reason for what he just saw.
Alphonse was seated right next to him. Edward had heard the armor beside him speak, the voice recognizably tinny. He was still bound to the armor. But he just saw Alphonse seated across from him, covered in dust from a cave-in and looking a little the worse for wear.
Now that he thought about it, was he wearing Edward's coat?
Edward violently shook his head, as if that would help clear it. It still throbbed, and now his eyes hurt from the sudden burst of light and its subsequent vanishing. Had he maybe hallucinated the whole thing?
No, he had definitely seen Alphonse in the flesh, less than two arm-lengths from where Edward himself now sat. The cave was deathly silent, except for the sound of breathing.
As a quick experiment, Edward took a deep breath and held it. He still heard breathing in the cave ... in fact, if he listened hard enough, it sounded like two different people. He swallowed, which made his ears pop and his head throb in new and interesting ways. Nope. Definitely not a hallucination.
What if it was Envy? Edward knew that the homunculus could shape-shift, but if he too had been caught in the cave-in why hadn't he already finished Edward off? Besides, where would he have dug up another suit of armor that looked like Alphonse, that armor was designed by Edward and Alphonse's father.
What the hell was going on?
"Al...?" Edward finally asked shakily.
The armor beside him shifted, he could hear it clank with the movement. It reassured him that Alphonse ... his Alphonse ... was still with him. "'Niisan..." Alphonse's voice sounded like he was very close to freaking out. "I... I just saw ... " The voice was tinny, echoing and bouncing around in that vast, empty suit of armor. There was no mistaking him.
Edward felt like he was very close to freaking out as well. This was just not adding up in his head. He couldn't put the pieces together, and puzzles usually fell together fairly quickly for him. There was only one way left to deal with this, and Edward was at least good with the direct approach.
"Who the hell are you?" He half-shouted the query into the darkness, and in response the rocks above their head rumbled warningly. He toned his voice down a bit as he challenged them. "Why won't you light another match?"
In response, another match was lit. To Edward's shock, it didn't come from the other Alphonse. He saw the boy illuminated, shock etched on his face as well as they both swiveled to face the new source of light.
A girl sat there, a match in one gloved hand. Her hair was blonde, her bangs fell in a manner identical to Edward's own, and she wore a similar long red coat. Her face had the same expression as Alphonse's, and was probably the same expression Edward himself wore; one of complete, stupefied confusion. In a stupor at this point, Edward noted that seated behind this dusty person was another Alphonse-armor.
"Al," the girl said slowly, "I think the rock hit me harder than I thought..."
End mirror One
mirror One
When Edward Elric came to, he realized with relief that his last-second transmutation had to have worked. If it hadn't worked, well ... he wouldn't have woken up at all. That was small comfort at the moment, however, because his head felt like someone was trying to tap-dance their way out. He winced, opening his eyes and closing them again a few times. This action made him notice a few things.
The natural light that the brothers had been following was now gone. That meant that the cave-in piled stones not just on top of them, but cut off both exits as well. That was assuming that whatever head trauma he had sustained while he was unconscious hadn't left him blind.
Edward started to sit up slowly. His last-minute transmutation (some sort of rock barrier, he couldn't remember clearly what he did at the moment) had shunted the rocks left and right and left him unharmed. A sudden thought occurred to him. "Al? Are you all right?"
He kept his tone soft, he wasn't sure yet how stable the rocks above them were. Loud noise could set off another cave-in, and then he'd have more than a possible concussion to worry about. He took stock of himself while he waited impatiently for Alphonse to find his voice. Edward himself didn't seem to be badly hurt... his head was throbbing badly, but that was about the extent of it. He ran his left hand gingerly over the back of his head and encountered a lump of decent size. Edward winced when he probed the goose egg. Yeah, that hurt.
"Al?" His brother had yet to respond. Some falling rocks shouldn't concern a seven-foot-suit of armor ... he was surprised that Alphonse hadn't been leaning over him and fretting like a worried hen. In fact, now that he thought about it, that worried him. Had something happened to Alphonse, or his blood seal...?
His eyes were not adjusting to the darkness, so there really was no light to be found. Growing irritated and more worried, he brought his palms together in preparation to clap when his brain caught up with him. The rocks above their heads were not stable ... any turbulent reaction, including energy from an alchemy transmutation, might shift the delicate balance and bring a quick end to the Elric-kyoudai. They really were totally buried.
It was completely his fault. Alphonse had been hesitant about taking the old mine-tunnel that skirted through the edge of the mountain instead of hiking over the hilly terrain. It had been Edward who had talked him into it, gesturing grandly about time saved and possibly being able to catch the train to Central in the next town over. They had not gotten on the train at Resembool since they weren't supposed to have stopped over in their hometown. Although Mustang undoubtedly knew about their unexpected detour, Edward was still determined to try to pretend like it didn't happen.
They had been halfway through the tunnel when a bold rumbling caught Edward's attention. It was only split seconds after he noticed the noise that the rocks had started to fall and he barely had any time to act before they crushed under the weight of the mountain.
Edward shuddered as if he could feel the ominous weight of the mountain pressing down around him. Why hadn't Alphonse responded, or said anything? He didn't think it was possible for Alphonse to lose consciousness, but considering that Al could "turn off" to rest, he supposed it was possible. However, Alphonse had the matches. "Al?"
"'Niisan?"
Edward exhaled a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. He was so relieved to actually hear his brother's voice, he didn't notice how odd it sounded at first. "Al, you're all right! You still have those matches, don't you?"
"Yeah, I do." He could hear palpable relief in Alphonse's voice as well. However, his voice also sounded confused. "'Niisan ... what's wrong with your voice?"
Edward was busy feeling around his head, trying to see how low the ceiling of their tomb was. He stuck his arms straight up above his head and to his relief, didn't feel the ceiling. Of course the rocks had to be higher up than that, or Al was lying on his back. Still, it made him feel better to know they had at least some breathing space. Maybe the roof was high enough for him to stand. He didn't want to find out until they had light, though, because the last thing he needed to do at the moment was crack his head again.
Alphonse's words caught up with him. "There's nothing wrong with my voice," he returned distractedly, now feeling around on the floor for a wall. Some part of his brain, caught between the screaming pain of the goose egg and the flailing panic that he was fighting down told him he should be paying attention to Al's voice as well, but his current task seemed more important.
He paused. Wasn't Alphonse's voice usually more tinny than that? It was a side effect of being bounced around in that large suit of armor, and sounded more like someone talking through a tube or with a bowl on their head. His gloved hand came to rest on cold metal, and he realized that he had found Alphonse's leg. Edward patted his brother's leg in relief, the disquiet that had started to gnaw at his insides slowly fading. Then he frowned, turning his head. Alphonse was seated to his left. Then why was the rustling noise of someone searching through a pack coming from his right?
It could easily be a trick of the cave. Echolocation was havoc in a cave, and there was no telling where all the crags and crannies in this thing were that could bounce back sound at odd angles. "Ah, I found them!" It was very clearly Alphonse's voice, and it also very clearly came from his right. It also, now that Edward was paying attention, didn't sound at all right.
Just as the frown was creasing his features, a thinner, tinnier-sounding voice spoke from his left. "'Niisan...?"
Before Edward had time to process this or put it together, he was dazzled by light as Alphonse lit a match.
It took Edward a moment to blink away the stars from the sudden dazzling light. He opened his eyes, squinting against the warm flickering light. He knew it would only last a few seconds, so he wanted to get a good look around the cave before it went dark again.
The first thing he saw, though, was Alphonse.
The suit of armor was seated across the cave from him, which was clearly impossible as Edward's hand rested on Alphonse's leg! As his startled mind tried to process this, he realized that the armor was not holding the match, and that the light was coming a bit from his right.
He glanced to the right, still trying to fight his confusion. The sight there did nothing to help him.
Alphonse held the rapidly-burning match in one gloved hand, mouth open in surprise and eyes wide. He was staring directly at Edward with a look of pure shock on his face.
On his face.
This was impossible. It was completely, utterly, and ludicrously impossible. Alphonse ... his little brother Alphonse, in the flesh right before his eyes. The match winked out of existence as Edward tried desperately to come up with a reason for what he just saw.
Alphonse was seated right next to him. Edward had heard the armor beside him speak, the voice recognizably tinny. He was still bound to the armor. But he just saw Alphonse seated across from him, covered in dust from a cave-in and looking a little the worse for wear.
Now that he thought about it, was he wearing Edward's coat?
Edward violently shook his head, as if that would help clear it. It still throbbed, and now his eyes hurt from the sudden burst of light and its subsequent vanishing. Had he maybe hallucinated the whole thing?
No, he had definitely seen Alphonse in the flesh, less than two arm-lengths from where Edward himself now sat. The cave was deathly silent, except for the sound of breathing.
As a quick experiment, Edward took a deep breath and held it. He still heard breathing in the cave ... in fact, if he listened hard enough, it sounded like two different people. He swallowed, which made his ears pop and his head throb in new and interesting ways. Nope. Definitely not a hallucination.
What if it was Envy? Edward knew that the homunculus could shape-shift, but if he too had been caught in the cave-in why hadn't he already finished Edward off? Besides, where would he have dug up another suit of armor that looked like Alphonse, that armor was designed by Edward and Alphonse's father.
What the hell was going on?
"Al...?" Edward finally asked shakily.
The armor beside him shifted, he could hear it clank with the movement. It reassured him that Alphonse ... his Alphonse ... was still with him. "'Niisan..." Alphonse's voice sounded like he was very close to freaking out. "I... I just saw ... " The voice was tinny, echoing and bouncing around in that vast, empty suit of armor. There was no mistaking him.
Edward felt like he was very close to freaking out as well. This was just not adding up in his head. He couldn't put the pieces together, and puzzles usually fell together fairly quickly for him. There was only one way left to deal with this, and Edward was at least good with the direct approach.
"Who the hell are you?" He half-shouted the query into the darkness, and in response the rocks above their head rumbled warningly. He toned his voice down a bit as he challenged them. "Why won't you light another match?"
In response, another match was lit. To Edward's shock, it didn't come from the other Alphonse. He saw the boy illuminated, shock etched on his face as well as they both swiveled to face the new source of light.
A girl sat there, a match in one gloved hand. Her hair was blonde, her bangs fell in a manner identical to Edward's own, and she wore a similar long red coat. Her face had the same expression as Alphonse's, and was probably the same expression Edward himself wore; one of complete, stupefied confusion. In a stupor at this point, Edward noted that seated behind this dusty person was another Alphonse-armor.
"Al," the girl said slowly, "I think the rock hit me harder than I thought..."
End mirror One
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