PK2000; Hey guys, yeah I'm still alive. I'm so sorry about taking so long to update. Thank you to everyone who Favorited, followed and/or reviewed this story, your support means a lot to me. Just a little warning, this chapter might seem confusing but it will make sense after I write more chapters. Also, I'd like to give a huge shout-out to my boyfriend, who made the cover photo for Alchemic Reflections. And now on with the story...

Disclaimer; I do not own Fullmetal alchemist

Chapter 2: Finding Edward Elric Part 1

The first thing that, Edward Elric became aware of as his conciseness returned was a horrible throbbing in his head. Confusion quickly set in as he tried desperately to remember the events leading up to his current situation. He remembered receiving a new assignment from Roy Mustang, followed by a long and uncomfortable train ride to the outskirts of central. He remembered entering the mansion with the rest of his co-workers and hearing a crash coming from a library. He remembered the shock and fear he felt after learning that their suspect was planning on using an unknown form of human transmutation to 'break down the wall to a world like their own yet opposite'. He remembered charging forward in a desperate attempt to prevent what was sure to come, followed by a sickening scream and a bright flash of light. Everything after that remained unknown.

He took in a beep breath only to immediately regret it, as he felt a tight restriction around his chest, causing breathing to become increasingly difficult. His eyes snapped wide open and he struggled against his restraints, suddenly realizing that he wasn't touching the ground. This realization caused him to panic even more, turning his unfocused eyes to what was below him. While willing his vision to clear, he could make out a blur of grey colored objects with pointed ends. It was approximately ten seconds later, when his vision finally cleared that the severity of his situation dawned on him. Edward Elric was tied up by a rope, dangling from the ceiling directly above a pool of needles.

Panic and terror invaded his mind as his vision became fuzzy once again and his breath came out in labored gulps. He could hear his heart beat ringing in his ears at an alarmingly fast pace and he quickly became drenched in sweat. Ed began to wildly thrash around in a hysterical frenzy, like a hunted animal, desperately trying to escape his death trap. As his thrashing became more forceful and quick, the material of the rope witch held him began to break. However the sound of rope snapping fell upon deaf ears as the only thing that Edward knew at the moment was panic.

In a dark corner of the room the form of a short stature person, who's long silver hair fell past his solders and framed his face, stood hidden in the shadows. A look of pure joy and excitement crossing his features.

"Lets test their luck" he said, his wide smile growing even wider

"BROTHER! BROTHER!" Alphonse cried out as loudly as he could, tearing apart the library in a desperate attempt to find his lost older brother

"Alphonse, stop! Running around isn't going to help us find Fullmetal!" Roy stated in a firm voice

However, if Alphonse heard him he chose not to listen as he continued to tear apart every square inch of the library while calling out for his brother. After a few more moments of this Roy had finally had enough.

"ALPHONSE ELRIC, STOP WHAT YOU ARE DOING THIS INSTANT!" Roy roared

At Roys sudden outburst, Alphonse quickly halted. Roy felt guilty for having to yell at the fourteen year old. However, he restrained himself from letting said emotions show, knowing that the best way to find Fullmetal was to keep a calm head. Keeping a strict face and a commanding tone, Roy turned to face the occupants of the room who had given their undivided attention to him.

"As I was saying; we need to find Fullmetal and the best way to do so is to stay calm. He couldn't have gone to far but just in case, we'll split up into groups to search the mansion. Hughes and Riza will search the first and second level. Also go out side and request back up. Alphonse and I will search the third and fourth floor. That leaves Havoc and Armstrong to search the fifth and sixth floor. Check every room and search every corner! We'll reconvene in the front lobby in four hours, max! Understood?" Roy explained sternly

Everyone nodded in understanding and turned to leave, only to be stopped by a second message written in blood on the library door. It read;

two hours to save Gold

-Silver

"G-gold? Is gold supposed to be-" Alphonse started to ask

"lets go" Roy interjected

Hughes and Riza were mostly silent as they searched the second floor. However, as they were searching they became increasingly quizzical of the condition of the hallways and rooms. From their brief sprint to the library earlier that day, both Riza and Hughes were observant enough to notice the transmutation circles that had littered the floors of the first and second floor, just like the report had said. Strangely, the transmutation circles had seemed to have vanished. What was even more strange was the fact that the transmutation circles had been carved into the floor.

There wasn't much to be said about the second floor, aside from a hidden safe room on the far left side of the building, witch was not only large in size but nicely ventilated and contained enough food, drink, medication/first aid and blankets to last for a few days. However, Edward was no where to be seen.

By the time, Riza and Hughes had reached the first floor their confusion only grew. Similar to before, the first floor was covered in circles. Upon further inspection, Riza and Hughes saw that there was a circle in every room and hallway, but this wasn't what caught their attention the most, not by a long shot. What bewildered them the most was the circle itself. Being exposed to a variety of transmutation circles on a daily basis, both Riza and Hughes could easily spot a transmutation circle when they saw one and what they were facing was not a transmutation circle. Hell, they didn't even know what to make of the overly complex arrays.

Pushing thoughts of the circle aside, Riza and Hughes decided to request backup from outside, after it became apparent that Ed wasn't on the first or second floor. However, when Hughes went to open to door he found that it seemed to be locked from the inside out.

"W-what, the door's stuck. I can't open it!" Hughes stated loudly

"That's strange. Maybe we can get outside through the windows" Riza offered

"Sure, lets try that"

As Riza and Hughes went to the nearest window they gazed out to the other side but were shocked at what they saw. Or lack of what they saw, to be exact. The glass that was once clear as water is now as dark as tar. After recovering from their imminent shock, Riza and Hughes then attempted to open the window, only to find that the window was as sealed as the door.

"WHAT! How is this possible? What the hell is going on? Hughes roared uncharacteristically.

"Calm down sir. i'm sure that there's a logical explanation for this. For now we should try to find an exit" Riza said calmly

"You're right, sorry" Hughes said.

After testing all of the windows, Riza and Hughes came to the realization that there wasn't an exit to the outside world.

"Oh-no what are we going to do? We can't be stuck in here! I'll never see my darling Gracia and Elicia again!" Hughes cried out dramatically

"Relax sir. maybe Edward or Alphonse can use Alchemy to create a tunnel out" Riza said calmly, contradicting her true emotions.

"Speaking of the Elrics, I hope that the others had better luck at Edward" Hughes said solemnly

"I do to sir."

Ever since Edward had diapered, Alphonse had grow increasingly anxious with every passing minute. So far, an hour had gone by and Roy and Alphonse hadn't had any luck in finding the missing Elric. The two had searched every inch of the third floor and were walking up the staircase towards the fourth floor, when Alphonse ask Roy an unexpected question.

"Ummm, Colonel?" Alphonse asked nervously

"Huh, what is it Alphonse?" Roy asked looking towards the armored boy

"Umm, well, why did you decide to go with me to look for brother and not Ms. Hawkeye or Mr. Hughes?" Alphonse asked

"Well I'd rather not have to suffer through Hughes' endless pile of family pictures" Roy said bitterly

At this Alphonse tilted his head/helmet to the side in a questioning manner. Being an empty suit of armor, Alphonse had become very good at reading body language and judging from Roys stiff shoulders and downcast gaze, Alphonse concluded that Roy was hiding something. Roy, who noticed Alphonse's quizzical stare decided to continue on with his answer.

"That and if I let anything happen to you, Fullmetal would kill me" Roy elaborated

The two had finally reached the fourth floor and were walking down the right hand hallway when something caught their eyes. About ten meters ahead of the duo, there was a trail of bloody footprints heading towards a door at the end of the hall. The two stood there for a moment, trying to comprehend the sight that lay before them and for that moment every thing was silent. However, what came after the silence was utter chaos.

"BROTHER!" Alphonse cried out. Before Roy could react, Alphonse dashed towards the room in which the footsteps lead into.

"ALPHONSE WAIT!" Roy yelled, darting after the armored boy. After running through the door witch was once ajar, Roy stood in the middle of the door frame, frozen in shock at the sight before him. Alphonse was kneeling on the ground cradling something or someone in his arms.

"Alphonse?"Roy asked cautiously, slowly approaching the young boy. Within a few steps Roy could hear Alphonse quietly whispering words of comfort to the red bundle. Kneeling down next to Alphonse, Roy finally understood why Alphonse was acting the way he was. The pit of worry in Roys stomach had grown into that of anguish and despair as he gazed down at what Alphonse was cradling in his arms, or rather who. Edward Elric lay in the arms of his younger brother, bleeding heavily and near death. It was then, Roy noticed the amount of blood that was leaking from his youngest subordinates body and staining the armor in witch he lay. The source of his bleeding seemed to be coming from his neck witch was badly cut and his left shoulder witch appeared to have been stabbed.

"It's going to be alright brother, we're going to leave this place and find a hospital. You'll be okay... I'm going to fix this!" Alphonse whispered reassuringly

"A-Alphonse?" Edward asked weakly

"Yes brother?"

"L-listen! Y-you need t-t-to run! Leave m-me here and g-go, before th-they g-g-get you too!" Edward stated urgently

"NO! No, I won't leave you brother! Not here and not ever!" Alphonse nearly yelled.

"Y-you have to r-run, b-be-before they c-come back..."

"T-they? Who's they brother? What are you talking about?"

"Ple-ease Al. Get out o-of here!"

"NO BROTHER! We're leaving here together"

"Th-there's no p-point in that" Edward said sadly

"Why would you say that brother?" Alphonse asked shocked

"B-because I'm d-dying" Edward said

"NO! NO, you CAN'T die brother! I won't let you! Just stay with me, and we'll get out of here together!"Alphonse yelled

"Alphonse, please!" Edward pleaded

"NO! NO! YOU CAN'T DIE BROTHER, YOU JUST CAN'T! WHAT ABOUT WINRY!? WHAT ABOUT PINAKO, OR TEACHER? WHAT ABOUT ME?

"Alphonse, I-I'm s-sorry, but t-there's n-nothing I c-can do. I-I'm not going t-to m-make it out of h-here, b-but you can"

"NO!"Alphonse screeched

As the brothers continued to argue, Roy took it apon himself to try and tend to Eds wounds. He looked over Ed, trying to spot any injuries that he might not have seen before. It was then that he saw something that just didn't make sense. Roy thought back to the bloody foot prints in the hall way leading into this room. Looking at Eds boots, Roy couldn't spot a single drop of blood. Immediately this brought up a red flag in Roys mind. Roy started to look around the room only to noticing that there wasn't any trace of the bloody foot prints in the room, seemingly diapering at the door way.

"M-Mustang" Ed called out weekly, drawing Roys attention

"Yes Ed?" Roy hesitantly asked

"T-take care of m-my brother, okay? A-and t-thank you, f-for e-everything" Edward said

"Ed... " What Roy was about to say was suddenly cut off when the unthinkable happened

After Ed had uttered off those last few words a yellow- whitish glow, similar to that of a transmutation seemed to be emitting for Edward. Shocked at this, Roy jumped back, yelling out his youngest subordinates name. However, Edward didn't seem to notice, instead he slowly turned his head towards Alphonse. As this happened the glowing seemed to become brighter.

"B-brother" Alphonse asked timidly

"Al..." Edward said now looking directly at Alphonse, "I'm going to be with mom soon"

"Brother, w-what's happening to you?"

At this, Edward started to become translucent, causing Alphonse to become frantic as he desperately tried to hold on to his disappearing brother.

"Brother?" ED!" Alphonse cried out

lifting a quickly disappearing hand to Alphonse s helmet/head and smiling sadly up at his little brother, Edward quietly whispered out "Good bye, brother" before he seemed to vanish all together in a final flash of light. Alphonse, who had been holding his beloved older brother was left stunned, which quickly turned into desperation as he garbed at the air in which Edward diapered, all while calling out his name as much as his figurative lungs would allow.

Roy, who was still shocked from the previous events, gingerly walked over to the armored boy and crouched down in front of him. Looking down at his chest plat Roys shock only increased. Garbing the fourteen year old by the shoulders and looking to his eyes Roy spook four words...

"Alphonse, the blood's gone"

Looking down at his chest plat Alphonse asked in a dead tone "Is it?"

PK2000; Hey guys, sorry for the depressing and confusing chapter. Also, sorry for not updating in like, forever. To be honest, this chapter wasn't my best work and it probably shows too. Anyway, please let me know what you liked about this chapter, what you didn't like and what I could have done better. This chapter is part one of another chapter which should hopefully be coming out soon but exams are right around the corner so I'm not making any promises. So... that's about it, bye :)