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7

I walked to a darker corner of the walkway by the river. The moon was silver and danced across the waters. It was a dark, seductive aesthetic.

Edward's eyes were as shiny as the moon as he watched me complete my transmutation circle. "Shouldn't everyone else be here to say goodbye as well?" He asked.

"It's hard enough with just you here," I choked. My heart was breaking, but this was the right choice, wasn't it? I was just a danger to everyone here.

Drawing power from the earth's core was too much power for any one person.

But I couldn't let Ed know this. As much as it might help him, it also might destroy the planet.

I let out a deep sigh as I connected the last part of my transmutation circle. The scratching of the chalk was the only sound to be heard as the tragic silence enveloped us.

I stood up, not wanting to meet Edward's eyes. But there was only so long that I could avoid it.

"Thank you," I said, blinking back tears. "Thank you for making me someone out of nothing."

He nodded. He wouldn't look at me. I noticed his fists were clenched tightly.

And with that, he turned around, and walked away.

My heart shattered. A single tear drifted down my cheek, a painful trail of sorrow I didn't know I had.

I patted the note in my dress pocket. I had to remember everything that happened. These memories, however painful they may be, had to be kept and cherished.

I looked down at the circle that would hopefully lead me to the void that is the Truth. Even though I fully remembered it now, it still terrified me. I wasn't sure what it was, exactly. And I suppose that fact alone scared me.

Looking over my shoulder, I saw the silhouette of Edward slowly shuffling away. His head was low.

I closed my eyes. Can't think about that right now. Focus on what matters. Your family.

And before I could overthink it any more than I already was, I clapped my hands together and twisted them, feeling a powerful surge of energy flowing through my body, ready to burst out and rage through the world. It filled my veins and made my head feel swollen.

I slammed my hands onto the rim of the transmutation circle, sighing in relief as the power left the crude circle that was my body, and flowed beautifully into the more dignified circle. The chalk glowed a ghostly blue, and I hurried to get into the middle of it. I took one last look in Edward's direction.

He was looking back at me.

His face was illuminated by the glow of the alchemy. He was crying.

That was the last thing I saw before I cried out as my body dissolved, and the world went pure white.

–––

"Gah!" I gasped, waking up in an endless, whiter-than-white void. Behind me was a massive door, with the tree demonstrating alchemy etched into the stone. In front of me was a far different door.

Instead of a tree, a pillar was etched into the door, demonstrating the powers of technology unknown to Edward's world. It included scales and balances of the limits of science and the dangerous grounds when it comes to things such as cloning and the creation of life.

A totally different checks and balances system.

One with something akin to magic, another favoring technology.

And now I was caught in the middle.

Well, I wasn't alone. There was that Truth character, grinning from hypothetical ear to hypothetical ear.

"I was wondering if you were coming back," they greeted, although it sounded a lot more like a sneer. I supposed that was just the way they spoke. "What's your toll for coming here this time?

"Toll?" I asked, suddenly scared. I knew all about equivalent exchange, but I didn't think that simply traveling to the universe I originally belonged to in the first place required such a thing.

"Nothing is free, no matter what universe you belong to," Truth chided. "You became an item of a different universe for a while. If I'm taking you back home, I have to receive something in return. I thought you would know that better than anyone, especially after plunging my depths."

"Aren't you and I the same, Truth?" I whispered, not looking up.

"What?" They hissed.

"I know everything there is to know that you hold. That would hold us at the same value, correct? After all, no one has been dragged through your deepest voids like I have."

There was a silence that felt like it lasted for eternity.

And Truth started to laugh.

"You've got me!" They guffawed. "Make your decision, girl. For if you are Truth incarnate, as you say, then your decision must be the best." They grinned that grin again.

I started to sweat. Perhaps I knew everything that there was to know about alchemy, but I didn't know squat about major life decisions.

I gripped the letter in my pocket. "I'm assuming the toll will be my memory again, if I go back to my home, correct?"

"You're correct," they replied.

I wouldn't lose everything. I could still cherish the times I had with Edward. And then I could see my family again, and become who I was meant to be.

I looked back at the door I came from.

I could also be a tremendous help to Edward and his friends. Heck, maybe even the whole world. Maybe being brought here by Edward was what was meant to be.

I was trembling. I couldn't decide.

But I had to decide. I couldn't just stand there.

"I've made my choice," I said.

Hi everyone! So for this story, I'm doing something I've never done before: choose your ending! I wasn't quite sure how to really end this, because both endings are interesting in their own right, so I just couldn't decide. Then I had an idea. Why not do two alternate endings?

So for those who choose for Violet to go back to Edward's universe, continue to the next chapter, Edward.

For those who choose for Violet to go back to her universe, skip the next chapter and go to the last one, Family.