DISCLAIMER: I own nothing. At all. This entire story is a fusion of the plots of Harry Potter, by the esteemed JK Rowling and Fullmetal Alchemist by Hiromu Arakawa. All characters, plot elements, and intellectual property belongs to those two authors. Again, and for the last time, I own nothing and make no profit from this writing, and the same is true for the entire story.

Now that the boring legal stuff is out of the way...

The opening to this story is extremely confusing unless you remember that little scene during the final battle where Pride is getting thrashed by our favorite pipsqueak alchemist. Pride, who is rapidly falling apart, tries to make Ed his new host. Ed blasts him apart and continues on his merry way. This story changes a few of those minute details. Just for all of you who forgot that scene.

Anyway, since I know none of you read long author's notes-

On with the story!

It was the same old scene. Blank, empty whiteness. Good old reliable Gate of Truth ready to rip off some body parts. And here he was, ready to give up everything to save his little brother. Again.

Ah, nostalgia.

Truth began to speak. Hopefully to accept the trade. Then he'd be able to return with Al, minus a measly arm and Gate, and live the rest of his life peacefully. He'd earned at least that much.

Yeah, right.

"So you want to give me your arm for your brother's soul, your Gate for his body," the grinning being said. "There's a problem with that, partially stemming from the Stone I'm assuming you don't know is in your chest."

Edward felt rage. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN THERE'S A PROB…" He trailed off as his brain processed the rest of the sentence. "Stone? Me? Chest?"

Truth's perpetual grin took on an air of superiority, much like the Colonel's smirk. It made Ed want to punch the stupid silhouette and leave.

"Well, that homunculus who tried to take your body almost made it. You cut him off just in time. However, that doesn't change the fact that part of the stone still made it. You, little al-che-mist… are a Homunculus.

Ed's shock at the casual pronouncement completely overrode his customary reaction to implications on his (lack of) height.

"But… I'm still me." The statement was more of a question, and filled with confusion.

"Oh, you want to know why the Stone hasn't taken your soul yet? It's still in shock from losing its identity, and is busy forming a new Pride. It'll make itself noticed right… about… now."

Everything went red and blurry. He heard lightning crackling along with what he detachedly recognized as his own screaming. When it was over, he barely realized it. His head was full of noise. Screaming, crying, pleading, souls, trapped in the stone. Trapped in him. Then, everything was mercifully still. The silence in his head was replaced with one voice, much different than the Pride from before. This voice was much less cold and distant, but still held all of the untold menace.

"-swear if you don't all stay quiet I'll find a way to eat you all a second time!"

Ed's eye twitched. It was quite disconcerting to have other people… things… beings thinking in his mental space.

"Well, get used to it. There's two of us in here now. Or one thousand, six hundred and twelve if you count all those whiners in back."

Ed frowned. He hadn't said that out-

"-loud?"

There was a moment in which the prodigal Fullmetal Alchemist's mind went completely blank. This was followed by a confused and astonished whirlwind of thought, theory, and scheming that followed the general lines of 'Holy shit he can read my mind'.

Truth took that moment to interrupt what could have been a very long session of Q/A.

"Yes, he's in your mind, and I'm sure you want him out. Now, about your toll," The alchemist's attention immediately returned. "Your brother's soul will be returned. I can take your arm, same trade as last time. But it would grow back immediately."

Ha! He'd found a loophole!

"So I'll just take it and give you something else so it can't."

Crap.

Arms shot out of the gate, snatching, grabbing, tearing at his right arm. If anything, the pain was worse the second time around. He gritted his teeth and squeezed his eyes shut.

'For Al. Come on, you can take this. You've done it before.'

And then it was over. Ed looked down, wondering what Truth's sick idea of a 'replacement' was. He steeled himself, prepared for the worst.

Oh. Automail. It looked exactly as it had when Winry had last repaired it. So Truth wasn't going to screw him this time. Or maybe he hadn't gotten around to it yet.

"And now for the rest of your payment."

Yep. Getting around to it now.

"Can't you just take my stone as payment?" Ed asked. "It should definitely be enough, if it's most of Pride."

"What, and I don't get a say in my destruction?"

"No."

Truth shook its head. "I could, if it was actually a price to you. You want that stone out anyway. Getting rid of it to save your brother wouldn't be equivalent."

"Then take my gate."

"Can't do that either. As a homunculus, you are a being of alchemy. It is an integral part of you. Any attempt to get rid of it won't end well for you."

"This is all your fault."

"Me? How? I wasn't even born yet! It's that other Pride's fault, not me! You think I want to be in here, sharing a mind with an antisocial bookworm with a Napoleon complex?"

"But there is another way." If it were physically possible, the creepy grin probably would have widened even further. As it was, it remained grotesquely, insanely wide. Mocking him.

"See, I had a lot of fun watching your little adventures al-che-mist. It's going to be boring without you. So I have a deal for you. You work for me, travel around, solve a couple problems for me. I take some of the stone for each imbalance you correct."

Ed frowned. "Why can't you do that yourself?"

For once, the grin lessened. Just a bit. A tiny bit. Not that Truth would ever admit that fact.

"I'm not all powerful, just omniscient. The Gate can only interfere when invoked, and there are some worlds where its hold is too weak for even that. I need someone to do the dirty work for me. Someone like you."

"Some worlds? The hell does that even mean?"

The grin widened again. Back to full blast, with the smug tone included.

"Where did you think the Gate goes to? It, like any other door, leads somewhere. Or, in the case of an omnidimensional phenomenon, everywhere at once. Goodbye, and do provide some good entertainment."

The Gate slowly opened. As it did so, Edward saw Alphonse's body being reconstructed before his eyes.

"Nii-san!"

The arms began to wrap around Ed's body, and pull him towards the inky blackness of the Gate. Ed looked towards the Truth.

"Could I talk to my brother first? I need to tell him about the deal."

Truth couldn't have sounded any more gleeful.

"Got anything to trade?"

Damn.

"Nii-san!" Al's voice grew panicked. "What did you do?"

Ed looked through the small opening on his face not covered by the arms.

"Just wait, Al. I'll be-" Ed's form was completely dragged into the doors, which quickly swung shut, as if eager to cut him off. Well, that didn't sound very reassuring. Knowing Al, all he'd do is worry now. Ah, well, nothing he could do about it.

Alphonse turned to Truth.

"What did he trade?"

The Truth, the One, the All, the Universe, turned to Al, and spoke one word.

"Bye."

"Wait, wha-" Al was cut off in midsentence as he, like his brother, was dragged into the Gate, towards a very relieved and frustrated group of friends.

Truth sat back down and examined its now-reclaimed arm.

"This'll be interesting," it mused. "Maybe I should have told him about- no, more fun this way."

For a while, Ed just floated in a dark void. It was quite different than the blank, open whiteness of before. Here, he felt closed in, though still had a sense of going somewhere. At least, he hoped he was. Yep. Just alone with his thoughts.

"And me."

And Pride.

"So, about the whole trying to give me up to save your brother thing? Kind of wasn't the best way to greet a new neighbor."

Ed snorted. The sound felt flat and empty, as if the void around him had sucked the emotion from his laugh.

"I don't want you in my head. You tried to kill me. And my brother. And my friends. And-"

"All right, all right. So the last Pride may have done some things to maybe make you mad, but taking it out on me is a little harsh. I never did anything. At least, that I can remember."

"I-" Ed's retort was cut off abruptly as he was violently jerked to his left. All of a sudden, a white doorway opened up in front of him, and he was forcibly yanked through the opening.

Grindelwald's chief enforcer looked on over the scene before him with a grim smile. Blood of innocents to start the ceremony? Check. Expendable underlings ready to perform the ritual? Check. Enormous runic array that took weeks to finish? Check, check, double check.

It was perfect.

The only thing left was to actually carry out the seventh-degree summoning. It had been months ago when his master had come to him with the directive- secure a powerful being to harness. With a demon of a suitable level of power, the possibilities were limitless. Wards could be tied to it. Power could be siphoned off to supply numerous spells and other magical projects the army had underway. The war would be theirs! All they had to do was actually bind the thing. This was the culmination of half a year of research into the most obscure of runic text, the scribblings of power-mad mages, and the literal sweat, blood, and tears of the Ancient Rune specialists on hand.

But now it was time.

As he gave the command to start, the underlings raised their wands, pointing towards the exact center of the array, and began the chant Imperio'd into their memory. It wasn't a matter of forcing them, but one of making sure they didn't screw this up. A single misplaced syllable and the whole thing could backfire, and the- quite likely angry- demon would be free to slaughter them all. As it was, everyone who wasn't absolutely vital to the project's success had cleared the area hours ago.

The runes shone with a pale-blue light, and static of the same color sparked along the intricately carved lines, coalescing in the middle. It piled up, forming an indistinct mass of writhing electricity until all at once, the whole lightshow stopped.

The hardened veteran tightened his grip on the railing he was leaning on.

"Keep going!" he ordered. As if they would stop. The Imperius made sure of that. Such a useful spell.

Now visible in the center of the circle was an enormous set of pitch black doors, carved with fantastic designs in intricate detail, carvings of humans suffering. A portal to the underworld, perhaps, the man mused. Slowly, the doors creaked open, revealing a white void beyond. Strange. He'd always assumed that it would be black. Or at the very least, glowing red, with the screams of the damned ringing in the background. Compared to what he'd imagined, a blank white seemed… boring. There was still something very unsettling about that whiteness. He wanted those doors closed, the ritual done.

Then, in great contrast to the gradual pace the rest of the ritual had taken place at, a screaming red figure was hurled out of the void. The doors slammed shut with a resounding bass boom that he felt in his bones, and then disappeared. The grunts lowered their arms, and cautiously stared at the strange being that they had summoned with a mix of curiosity, fear, and relief that they hadn't been toasted. Sure, it looked small, but they all knew exactly how powerful what they had just called was. It had been repeatedly explained to them in an attempt to display exactly how dead they were if they messed up.

The enforcer almost actually smiled. Now, as soon as his master got back from his duel with that so called Leader of the Light, the real work could commence. Speaking of which, it was getting a little late. They had been confident that he could destroy Dumbledore and get back in time to observe the end of the summons. Oh, well. He'd just inform him of the success as soon as he got back-

His train of thought was interrupted by a panicked underling.

"Sir! We need to evacuate immediately!"

He must've heard wrong.

"What?" he snapped angrily. "The ritual is done, the demon is sealed and bound. It's not doing anything!"

The unlucky subordinate's eyebrows furrowed for a moment, trying to figure out what he was talking about, before obviously reaching a decision.

"I don't know about what you're doing in this division sir, but word just came in on the duel between Lord Grindelwald and Dumbledore! Dumbledore somehow won! They're speculating that he cheated, but-"

The rest of the man's sentence was cut off as he was violently thrown back by a furious hex. The chief enforcer was a combination of scared and disbelieving, and hiding it behind a mask of fury.

"WE LOST?"

The battered man looked like he was about to cry. Or piss himself. Maybe both. Either way, it made his tormentor feel better, which probably saved his life in that moment. The enraged now-commander of Grindelwald's army frowned.

"Never mind. Inform the rest of the men. We need to get out and regroup for a counterassault before those damned Order fighters show themselves. No doubt that they'll be cocky after this, and we aren't prepared for a full assault-"

The rest of his sentence was cut off as he was violently blasted over the railing he had been just moments before been leaning on. If he had been the superstitious type, he would've blamed karma for cutting him off midsentence the same way as he did to just moments before. But he wasn't, so no such thoughts crossed his mind as he slumped limply to the ground.

Edward had no clue what was going on. At all. He'd been tossed unceremoniously out of the Gate, into what looked suspiciously like a transmutation circle. Now he was lying on his side in a red liquid he doubted was ketchup. And he couldn't move. That was the key point that made him decision he wasn't in friendly hands. He watched as the men in dresses scurried around, apparently obeying the man watching from the balcony above. They all tossed him looks bordering on fear. Damn right they should be scared of him. Now only if he could get free…

Then, something happened. An explosion, flashes of multicolored light and the overseer was hurled across the room, straight onto the edge of the circle, his body smudging a few symbols. Suddenly, Ed's limbs sprang to life. He sat up, wiping the blood off his face, and tried to step out of the circle before it exploded or something.

A translucent blue wall sprang to life and he bounced back. Apparently he wasn't completely free yet. Ed sat back down, and waited for something to happen. Maybe someone else would break the circle, and he could escape for good.

Dumbledore led the charge through the bunker, blasting and incapacitating all the minions in his path, two Order members shielding him on either side. While on the inside, he was still broken and hurt at what he'd had to do to his former friend Gellert, it had been a long time in coming, and he needed to be strong while the threat still lasted. And so here he was, fighting his way down into a base where the second in command was rumored to be leading a secret operation. He reached a door, heavily guarded. No matter. A few flicks of his new Elder Wand and they were all out for the count, ready to be picked up by the Aurors trailing behind him. He raised the wand and pointed it directly at the heavily warded steel door.

"Bombarda Maxima!"

It blasted off its hinges, and the wizards and witches behind him filled the gaping hole with spellfire. He held up a hand to stop them, and stepped into the chamber.

It was enormous, and probably the site of the 'secret project'. In the center, there was a massive circle, covered in blood.

A man in the uniform of Gellert's army whimpered and passed out not five feet away from him. Dumbledore looked over at him in bemusement. He looked like he had been crying, and had a suspicious wet stain on the front of his robes. He hadn't even noticed the man. Now he looked back to the rune circle before him. Lying near the edge was the unmistakable figure of the missing second in command. He looked like he'd been caught in the explosion that had torn the door apart. And then, not five feet away from the prone figure, was another person, soaked in blood, and staring up at him with piercing golden eyes.

So there's that. Hoped you liked it. The next chapter will take forever to write, even if I've got the plot for the first few vaguely in my head. Read 'n' Review and all that stuff!

-Ambiguity