Sacrifice [Edward Elric x Reader]

chapter 20

[November 30, 1917]

You run your hand over the spine of the books, giving a small, satisfying thump. The past week had been eventless, quite contrary to what you and the brothers had experienced before.

The dull color and musty smell of the books blur in your mind as you look for a book, any book about alchemy or the gate. Or anything, really.

There were gaps in the shelves where other people had taken books and the books that were left toppled over, but you fix the fallen books back into a straight line the best you could.

The library was almost empty except for a few other people, Ed and Al, and you, so it was quiet, the cool air almost suffocating.

None of the books catch your eye, and you look around, walking through the aisles for the fourth time. You sigh as nothing interesting shows up. You start to walk back towards the table where Ed and Al were, the wooden floor beneath you creaking with different loudness'.

When you reach the table, no one's there and the table had no books anywhere. Confused, you look around 360 degrees before spotting the Elric brothers sitting against a wall in the far corner of the library. You sigh again and start to trudge towards them.

You stomp on the ground, attempting to catch the boys' attention. None of the boys seemed to hear you. You guessed that was because they both had their noses buried in their books (not literally) and there were piles upon piles of books besides them.

You watch them and see that Ed is reading with a frown of annoyance and Al seems to be trying to hold back laughter. You bend over to see what they're reading.

Both of the books were different, but they both had something in common: the word "Alchemy" was bolded and emphasized. You bite your lip. How did they find books about alchemy?

You turn your head towards the pile of many books, at least thirty or forty of them. And guess what? They were all about alchemy. You growl.

The books were taking up all the space, so you stand back up and grab the top five books and head towards another part of the library.

You find a wall where no one was resting. Setting down your books, you slide down the wall. There's a small pinch in your right hand and you pull it up towards you. A long wood chip is stuck in your hand. You scowl and pinch the chip, pulling it out. There wasn't lots of pain, but it was there.

You turn around to inspect the wall. The wall is chipping with wood chips, nothing too odd. So you sit down and open your book.

There's a click and suddenly, the wall behind you gives way and you topple backwards, giving a small silent yelp. You quickly scramble upwards and look into the hallway. It's completely dark and has stairs leading down into it. You recognize the layout and gasp, stumbling backwards. The door suddenly closes and you're stuck in the dark.

You look around frantically, trying to adjust to the sudden change.

When nothing happens, you slowly step forwards, down the stairs. You're afraid of the outcome, but push yourself on forwards. You reach the bottom, and you run your right flesh hand along the wall, your feet echoing through the wet hallway.

Suddenly, the wall to your right drops away and you feel a rush of air from the left. You know it's a split path. You-

(Choose one and proceed to read the corresponding sections)

Section 1:
Turn right.

~or~