The memory returned like a dream dipped in blood and moonlight.
The island. Their trial.
"Survive one month. That is your lesson."
Those were Izumi's words before she abandoned the three boys on the wilderness-covered land with no supplies—only their wits, instincts, and each other.
Edward had raged, throwing rocks and stomping around like a kicked dog. Alphonse remained calm, though inwardly shaken. Auron… said nothing.
He had known survival. But he hadn't known this—not the bitter cold at night, not the ache in the stomach from missing meals, not the sound of Edward's stomach growling louder than the nearby wolves.
But what haunted him even more than starvation… was the voice.
It whispered when he was alone. When the wind stilled and even the insects fell silent.
A deep voice, filled with ancient hunger.
> "You are not of this world. Why do you suppress me?"
Auron had dismissed it. At first.
---
Days passed.
Edward and Alphonse were learning fast. Hunting, scavenging, building. They argued, stumbled, made up. Brothers being brothers.
Auron remained distant but protective, bringing down prey with pinpoint chakra-infused projectiles—subtle, unnoticed by the others. He disguised his power well, never drawing attention.
But every time he reached deeper into his chakra to control it…
The voice returned.
> "They will fear you. Just like your enemies. Just like your 'family.'"
One night, as the others slept in a cave, Auron stood alone under a broken moon.
His Rinne-Mangekyō activated slowly, not by will, but by instinct. The concentric ripple pattern glowed faintly, tomoe spinning in silence. Red-violet sparks danced around his body.
He stared into the forest.
He could feel it moving—something else. Something feral. A beast attracted to his chakra. A predator answering the call of power.
Then it leapt from the brush.
A shadow-lion—a wild chimera native to the island—towered over him with bone-armor and glowing eyes.
Auron didn't hesitate.
He blurred forward.
A single hand strike. A chakra-enhanced twist. Rinnegan-fueled telekinesis compressed its ribs like a steel press.
With a final burst of lightning, he dropped the corpse to the earth.
He stood, panting, eyes flickering red-violet. Blood stained his hand.
> "That wasn't defense," the voice whispered. "That was instinct. You're becoming something they won't understand."
---
The next morning, Edward noticed the dead beast near their cave.
"You kill that?" he asked.
Auron nodded quietly. "It attacked us in the night."
Al frowned. "We didn't hear anything."
Auron said nothing.
Edward gave him a long look. "You're hiding something."
"I'm controlling something."
Edward didn't ask again.
---
That night, a storm rolled over the island.
Wind howled. Rain lashed at their shelter. Lightning struck the nearby trees, setting one aflame.
In the chaos, Alphonse slipped on the wet path, nearly tumbling down a ravine. Edward screamed, lunging after him—but too late.
But Auron wasn't.
His chakra pulsed. The world slowed.
In a flash, he moved like lightning itself—grabbing Al by the wrist mid-air and teleporting the both of them with a burst of chakra-based substitution.
They landed on the muddy ground safely.
But when Auron looked up… his eyes had changed.
Six tomoe spun like a storm in his Rinne-Mangekyō.
Silver turned to luminous crimson-gold. Red lightning crackled around his form. His aura was suffocating. Pure, unfiltered demon chakra—not from any beast, but from himself.
Edward recoiled. "Auron… your eyes…"
Alphonse looked both awed and frightened. "What… is that power?"
Auron blinked—and suddenly collapsed to his knees.
"I… I don't know," he gasped. "It's growing. It's feeding off my fear."
Edward stepped forward. "Then stop holding it in alone."
---
The next day, the three of them finally carved the answer to Izumi's question into the earth:
"One is All, All is One."
She returned hours later.
"Well?" she asked, arms folded.
Edward spoke first. "We understand. We're part of the world. The world is part of us. Living things survive by consuming others… but everything returns in the end."
Izumi smiled faintly. "Good."
Then she turned to Auron.
"And you?"
Auron hesitated.
His voice came out low. "I understand that if I lose myself to the thing inside me… the world will burn. And I don't want to burn it. I want to protect it. My family… my brothers… my lovers."
Izumi stared at him for a long moment.
Then—for the first time—she nodded with approval.
"Then we begin."