Stand Up and Walk

My Own Soul

"Beckoned now by the snow-white backdrop, I go into a yet unseen world. Lost as I traveled under a gray sky, with a different map each day, so many dreams ran together. I wonder if someday, even with my modest stride, I'll be able to get beyond those clouds. Falling raindrops provide a persistent diffuse reflection, as though able to see into my heart, wounded for acting tough. Beams of light crisscross and shoot on forever without announcing where they're headed; faint afterimages burn into my eyes. Wherever I am under this sky, I should still arrive at a yet unseen world."

—Nico Touches the Walls, Hologram

※※※

You are in a lush, green field, and the sun is warm on your skin. You sit cross-legged on the ground, fingers idly tugging at the blades of grass beneath you.

Two blonde boys are play fighting nearby. You recognize them, of course—it's Ed and Alphonse. Their golden hair shines in the sun, the younger boy's cut shorter against his head than his brother's braided locks.

You smile at them faintly, glancing down at the grass between your fingers. When you look up again, Al is leaning down over you, a flower crown held proudly between his hands. "Echo!" he cheers gleefully, his golden eyes glowing with excitement. "Ed and I made this for you!"

You accept the flower crown, placing it delicately atop your head.

It's lovely, of course, but you can't help but feel that something seems... off.

But the blonde boy beams down at you, at you smile back up at him, feeling your worries ease.

Ed leans over his brother's shoulder, looking down at you with a soft smile. "It was pretty tough trying to work around all the leaves," he tells you sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck; "But we thought all the green would bring out your eyes!"

My eyes? you think to yourself, reaching up toward your right socket. No, that's not right, I only have...

But your eyelid reflexively flutters closed as your fingers approach, and they come into contact with smooth skin.

It's only then that you realize that part of the strange feeling is that everything seems to actually look strange. You can't quite place your finger on how, but everything seems to be clearer than normal, like everything has an extra depth and dimension that you're normally unable to see.

But why wouldn't you normally be able to see like this?

You trace your fingers over your eyelid gently and then blink the lid open, squinting against the sun. You can feel your pupils constricting in the light, and you're struck again by that same strange feeling.

But if not your eye, then what were you expecting to find on your face?

Shaking your head, you try to clear the thought away. It doesn't matter, you tell yourself, and adjust your hair beneath the crown.

"And were you right?" you prompt the boy, referring to his previous statement; you strike a bit of a pose, blinking up at him dramatically. "Don't they just sparkle like emeralds?"

"Wow, Echo! You look like a princess!" declares Al, and bows to you, bending low at the waist.

You can feel a little grin fall over your face, your worries rapidly flitting away from you. "A princess, huh?" you repeat, and rise to your feet, facing the boys and standing akimbo. "Then I guess that makes you two my loyal subjects!"