Fifth Transmutation [CLOSED]

[thebloodseal]

Who: CLOSED TO Alphonse and Ling Yao/Greed
Broadcast: N/A
Action: Somewhere on the FS Starlight
When: February 28th

Al had been procrastinating on finalizing the design of the alchemic circle that- at least in theory- would bring him and Ling home to continue their journey.

Part of it was uncertainty, as he was going through all the things that could go wrong in his head. Normally, he tried not to dwell, but then again, normally he didn't have room to sit and ponder his decisions- he and Ed had to make choices or die. Without Ed, though, Al knew he had no way of knowing if the circle he drew was correct, nor if it was enough to get them home. One misplaced or missing rune could spell disaster, even with Greed's Stone augmenting his own power, and possibly leave him worse off. Or trap them in another dimension, outside of Atroma's control but still not home, back to square one. No Ed meant he couldn't repair himself if he were to get severely damaged, and if he couldn't access his alchemy in another world like he could here, the two would be stuck forever.

And then there were his moral qualms about using the Stone in the first place. Ed had made peace with it because he had to save the lives of himself, Ling and Envy, and had found solace in the fact that a few of the tormented souls inside Envy had finally found rest after all those centuries. But was it really Al's right to do this? To use peoples' life energy to try and help them get home, when he wasn't sure if it was going to be a waste, when as far as he could tell, time stood still and he wasn't missed?

Part of him, too, hesitated because he knew he was going to miss his friends. Clay, Zuko, Allen, Toph, Sokka, his crew... he'd made friends here, friends like them and many others, and learned so much about other worlds, things he never in his life could have hoped to see or learn about. Though he ached to see Ed again, he was happy here.

But the logical part of his mind- the part that could sound an awful lot like Teacher or Ed- reminded him that he did have a job to do, and he couldn't put off going back to it forever. So he finally told Ling he was ready, and the two managed to find a quiet corner of a park on the Starlight to begin.

Comments

[avaricious]

Greed was ever a creature of attachment and he'd grown perhaps a little too adapted to this life in space. He was not truly in any rush to ever return back to the land he called home. In truth, he didn't truly care what became of Amestris. He knew that country and the world itself was doomed and it suited his purposes to be far, far away when all the fireworks began. After all, those that he called family were long dead now. No, his motives for returning were entirely selfish. He had a chance of stealing his Father's power and with that, make good on his desire to truly control the world and galaxy itself.

But it was Ling Yao who pushed the hardest. He was anxious and impatient. Time might not have moved a single second in Amestris, but it was Xing that held his concern and he had spent far too long away from his clan. So he pushed Greed and he pushed Alphonse into this attempt at returning back to their own world. It had worked before and so there seemed no reason why it shouldn't work again. Whatever attachments and friendships he made here, they meant nothing when compared to the fate of his clan.

So while it might have been Greed's stone that was paying the toll for this trip through the gate, it was Ling who was in control when they met in the park.

"We should have our privacy," Ling announced as he gave Al a wide berth to construct his circle. "Greed's hired goons are keeping the area clear for us."

[thebloodseal]

"Good," Al nodded, reaching into his tabard and pulling out the sketch of the finalized circle he'd decided on, stopping to look back to where the Vanquish was docked one last time. He felt a pang on his conscience for not telling them his plans, not saying goodbye, but he felt like that was the best way. This way, he couldn't be talked out of it, by anyone else or by himself. And if it failed, well, nobody would be any the wiser, he hoped.

He picked up a pole he'd brought along and began drawing the circle.

"I hope we're doing the right thing."

[avaricious]

Bit by bit as the circle grew, Ling was able to recognize it as the same as what Ed had constructed inside of Gluttony. The very memory gave him a shiver not for the horror of that place, but for the anticipation of escaping this one.

"We have people waiting on us." His words were firm, princely and filled with conviction. It was rare Ling was ever so frank as this, but it was also rare that anything was as important. "Right or wrong is irrelevant."

[thebloodseal]

And as Al drew, he said a silent goodbye to his friends and his crew, before images of the people he'd left behind appeared in his mind's eye- Ed, Winry, Major Miles, Major General Atrmstrong, even Scar, strengthening his resolve to get this right. However, despite Ling's words, he couldn't help but feel a lingering sense of anxiety. He decided, however, to chalk it up to nervousness about what they were about to do, fear that it might fail.

"You're right," he said, firm, resolute. "I can't let my emotions get in the way of this- it needs to be done. We can't stay here and keep having a good time when everyone is waiting on us. When we have a task to do. When so many lives are at stake." Ed, after all, was counting on him to get through that snowstorm... and he could guess that Ling was worried about Lan Fan, if nobody else.

And in very quick time, the circle was done. Al did one last sweep to make sure everything matched his drawing, before he folded it and put it back in his tabard.

"Okay. Are you ready?"

[avaricious]

A human transmutation circle. Ling was no alchemist, but he recognized it. This was considered the forbidden taboo of alchemists, yet right now it was going to be their ticket back to Amestris - or wherever it ended up taking them. Ling filled his lungs, exhaled, and released control to Greed.

Greed held out his hand bearing the ouroboros tattoo. His index finger was hardened by the ultimate shield which he then pierced into his own palm, exposing blood and access to his philosopher's stone.

"There's no turning back now, kid. Let's get this over with."

[thebloodseal]

Al watched as Greed's blood began to flow, and as it dripped into the circle, he again spoke silently, this time sending a prayer of thanks to the people whose souls they were going to be using as fuel, the souls that were finally going to find peace and rest after their years of torment.

"Okay," Al said simply, and he stood on the edge of the circle, clapping his hands and pressing them to it. As usual, blue energy sparked around him, soon engulfing the design on the circle and lighting it up. It then began to glow red, and, like the other times a gate to Truth had been opened, an eye-shaped opening appeared in the center. The process was happening like normal and yet Al couldn't brush aside the dread coursing through him, and something nagged at him. Was he trying to remember some sort of information that could help?

But it was too late to stop, and so he simply turned to Greed and shouted,

"Go! Step inside and I'll follow you!"

[avaricious]

He felt it too. It was a strange prickling at the back of his neck that gave Greed a kind of anxious fear he was all too unaccustomed to feeling. He might not have moved at all were it not for Ling's urging inside him. Presently detached from the body, Ling Yao seemed oblivious to Greed's apprehension. It was for the best. Greed steeled himself and stepped inside the circle and at first, it seemed to be working as it should be. His vision was flooded with light, but he wasn't sure what happened next. Ling had experienced this, but he hadn't. He spoke to try and ask what was happening, but he had no voice. So he turned to find Al, but he could see nothing in this sea of white. His limbs were starting to feel heavy and like there was something clawing at his mind.

There was supposed to be a portal, right? He looked all around for it, but there was nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing...

And then that prickling turned painful. Greed fell to his knees as he felt it coursing throughout every part of his body. His vision darkened and he roared out in pain as the energy of his stone started crackling with red energy all around him in a futile attempt to repair damage to a body that wasn't actually injured.

[thebloodseal]

As Al ran into the circle after Greed, he, too, found his vision being filled with white- and the dread was palpable now, stronger than he could ever remember feeling despair. He could see familiar red sparks somewhere ahead, as though Greed was being injured and having his body rebuilt over and over, could hear him yelling with pain, but Al found himself unable to shout, to ask what was going on. If they were being attacked, Al obviously wouldn't be able to feel any pain, but surely he'd see the damage on his armor? And yet, he was unscathed.

He pushed on toward what he thought was the center of the circle, still managing to hold out hope that it would be their way out, even though his mind was screaming at him to turn back, to stop their escape attempt, just like the feelings people described when fiddling with their augments. Atroma must have a way to stop them, he realized- of course they would. Of course it wouldn't be so simple. And then, he caught a glimpse of something- the features didn't etch into his memory, but he knew at that moment that their way out was being blocked.

"Ling... there's..."

But before he could get any more words out, the white light fully blinded him, and without warning, Al had another vision of the Gate of Truth. He glimpsed, for the second time, an emaciated golden-haired boy, holding out a hand to him, beckoning to him.

Himself.

Come to me, it seemed to be saying. Return to your body. This armor was never meant to be you.

As the energy from the transmutation started to burn off, Al's vision then turned black. He let himself fall into the blackness, and knew nothing more, his armor hitting the ground with a heavy THUD.

[avaricious]

Whatever had kept them on this side had succeeded, but not without cost to the circle itself. A lot of energy had gone into the transmutation and it had been given nowhere to go. The energy of the philisopher's stone exploded in a blast of red light. There was a scream of agony as bits of metal flew away in shards. One of their communicators was among the debris, somehow managing to stay in one piece as it rested in the grass and the feed began. From the explosion, Greed limped out. He looked like something from a nightmare, with misshapen pieces of metal sticking out of his entire backside like some malformed porcupine. There was no blood, as the alchemy had simply fused it to his body instead. When he turned around, it became clear that one of Al's arms was halfway buried through his lower spine.

His voice was raspy and delirious with pain. For a moment the station's artificial light confused him and he was having difficulty remembering what he was even doing. That did not last long when his boot hit metal and he found himself staring down at the ruinous remains of a suit of armor. The entire front half of the armor had been nearly torn apart and only one arm and leg were in less than a few large pieces. The helmet had been knocked to the side and the blood seal inside.

Greed's eyes widened in sudden horror. The cracks in the armor had nearly reached the seal. "Alphonse!?" He knelt down beside the remains of the armored boy and rapped his knuckles on the metal. "Alphonse! Dammit, answer me!"

Silence.

"Say something you shitty brat! We were getting out of this shit hole together! Don't say you went and left me here!" He rapped on the metal again and the crack began to spread. He froze and backed away. If the seal was damaged, then a broken body would be the least of Al's problems. And just now, he didn't know what in the hell he was supposed to do. "... dammit kid, don't you die on me."