The night was unnaturally quiet.
The ritual circle was complete.
In the basement of the Elric home, etched deep into the stone floor, lay the transmutation array. But this was no ordinary design. It was a fusion of two worlds—alchemy and chakra. Ancient symbols danced between alchemical runes, and energy-conducting seals formed spirals where traditional transmutation circles should have been.
At the center stood the three brothers.
Edward, bold and burning with desperate hope.
Alphonse, hesitant but unable to abandon his family.
And Auron—silent, watchful, the storm in his soul just beginning to stir.
"This is it," Edward said, his voice tense. "We've calculated everything. No shortcuts."
Alphonse clutched his brother's hand tightly. "Mom... we'll see you again soon."
Auron didn't speak. His eyes were active—Rinne-Mangekyō glowing faintly in the dim light, pulsing red and violet lightning crawling along his veins like living fire.
They each placed a bloodied hand on the circle.
The reaction was immediate.
Light erupted—bright, blinding, wrong. The array crackled with unstable energy, chakra roaring like a tidal wave crashing against the natural laws of the world.
Auron's eyes widened. "No—this isn't balanced—!"
But it was too late.
The basement filled with deafening static as the light exploded upward. The room folded, twisted, and vanished. The boys were consumed in a blinding vortex of white and black.
And then... silence.
When Auron opened his eyes, he was standing in an endless void.
The Gate of Truth loomed before him, towering, unknowable, pulsing with power and judgment. Tendrils of shadow slithered across the floor like curious serpents.
A voice—calm, ancient, mocking—echoed.
"So, a soul not of this world dares touch the forbidden. You bring foreign power... and expect no cost?"
Auron clenched his fists. "We only wanted her back."
"Want is not equivalent to sacrifice."
The Gate opened.
Chains of pure truth lashed forward. Auron resisted instinctively—Rinne-Mangekyō flaring in his eyes, chakra bursting outward in violent defiance. Red-violet energy exploded around him in a fiery sphere.
But the Gate did not relent.
It pierced through him—not his flesh, but his soul. It dug into every memory, every ability, every hidden corner of his mind. Visions of his past life—his battles, his regrets, his family—flooded outward, scattered like feathers in the wind.
He roared in agony.
Then, something inside him broke.
And something else awakened.
His Rinne-Mangekyō evolved—not in appearance, but in intensity. The glow sharpened, became a blazing inferno. The red lightning around his body split into fractal veins of plasma-like chakra, swirling and twisting into a new shape.
His body became a beacon—part flame, part storm, part ancient wrath.
The Gate halted.
Even Truth paused.
"This power… should not exist here."
Auron stood, gasping, his eyes radiant. "It exists because I made it so."
Then everything shattered.
---
Auron awoke on the floor of the basement. Rubble surrounded him. The air was thick with scorched stone and bitter ash. Ed lay nearby—his right arm missing, his body trembling from shock.
Alphonse... was gone.
Completely.
Auron stumbled forward. His chakra was unstable—flaring wildly. The glow of his eyes hadn't faded. His vision showed fractured threads of fate where Al once stood.
"No..."
Edward looked up, horror breaking across his face. "He's gone! Auron, he's gone!"
Auron gritted his teeth. The Gate had taken Al's everything. And this… this was his fault too.
He activated his eyes, locking onto the last remnant of Al's soul thread. It was faint, distant—but still there.
"I can still see him. His soul. It hasn't been consumed yet."
Edward's face twisted with hope. "Then bring him back!"
"I can try," Auron growled, forming a new seal with bloodied fingers.
But as he began the process, a sudden wave of pain struck his chest. He gasped and looked down—his body was fracturing, small cracks forming across his skin like broken porcelain.
He had paid a price too.
The Gate hadn't taken a limb.
It had taken a piece of his soul.
His balance was breaking.
But even so...
He gritted his teeth, knelt in the center of the broken circle, and flared his chakra again. The lightning responded—not wild this time, but focused. Around him, the room trembled. The earth hummed.
And somewhere, far beyond that reality...
Alphonse's soul flickered in response.
"I will bring you back," Auron vowed. "I don't care what world, what law, what god stands in my way."
As the sky outside thundered again, red and violet light bled from the Elric house.
A hidden fire had awakened.
And the world would never forget its burn.