Disclaimer: I don't own Full Metal Alchemist, or Bleach. BUT I DO OWN A STOCKING FULL OF CANDY CANES! :3 I'm serious, they're hanging on my wall right now. My own secret stash to eat in the night to keep me going…*evil chuckle*

…obviously, I'm tired, and on extreme sugar high from eating….*counts wrappers*….about fourteen candy canes.

…just…scroll down and read before my candy-cane-induced sugar-high finds a new topic for me to ramble about in this author's note.

EDIT: ATTENTION READERS OF 'VULPES ALVEUS'! LOOK FOR AN ANOUNCEMENT ON THE PROCESS OF THE NEXT CHAPTER IN THE ENDING AUTHOR'S NOTE!

Gatekeeper: Divinity
A Full Metal Alchemist/Bleach Crossover That Needs a New Name, the Current One Probably Being Changed Fifty Times Before I Find A Good One

Prologue
Keepers of the Gates

White. Endless white. No floor, no ceiling, no walls. He stood, and yet he floated; after all, how can you stand on something that isn't there, even though he was clearly standing on a solid surface? Before him, the endless expanse of white was broken by a single double-doorway, the doors in the shape of a half-oval, the doorway itself being black in color, lines of red running throughout the black like small veins. Behind him, the white was dotted with multiple other doors, all leading to the domains of the Others. All the doors were smaller than his own – his own being a good twelve feet tall – except, that is, for two. One was only two feet larger than his own, and was beautiful; not as simple as his own, but not as beautiful as the doorway that dwarfed all the others. Twenty feet tall, and the only golden doorway in existence.

Two doorways larger than his own.

Two Dwellers higher in rank than him.

No matter how many new Dwellers – Gatekeepers, Guardians, Angels, Demons, there was no real actual name for them besides one that nobody really liked to speak – came into existence, he was always above them, and the two above him were above them.

It was a ranking system – one based on age, not power – where nobody could gain rank, and nobody could lose rank. No way to go up, no way to go down. In constant limbo.

Kind of like him.

The only door larger than his that wasn't the largest opened behind him, and not once did his golden eyes with their black sclera wander from his own door, his intense gaze fixated on the one thing that his existence continued on for. Out of the pure whiteness beyond – the whiteness that was the basis of every doorway, either side, all of them – stepped…whiteness. Literal whiteness. The only thing that distinguished the shape of the whiteness was a black shadow that rippled around the whiteness, giving it the shape of a young human being. And – somehow – a white smile was stretched across the whiteness's 'face'. A smile that never seemed to leave, especially when this being was around his most favorite Gatekeeper to speak to.

"What do you want, Alpha Truth?" Demanded the one who continued to stare at his own doorway, his arms still crossed, his voice calm and emotionless. Within his voice – the base of it sounding like the voice of a young male, the form that he took – was millions of others, all echoing, some whispering, some talking, some almost seeming to shout at the tops of their lungs.

"Is that the greeting that I get, Beta?" Asked the grinning white form. "I go through all the trouble to pick out your Gate among all the others, and you react so coldly when I arrive?"

"My Gate is the second-easiest to find in your domain." Replied the other, his voice ever calm. "It was no trouble at all to find my Gate, and no trouble to find it. Now what do you want, I'm busy."

"Certainly don't look it." Muttered the other being in the vast whiteness.

"How can you see how I look, you have no eyes." Said the only one with color, though the question was more of a statement, one that would go unanswered.

"Nice stab at humor, but leave it to the professionals." Said the white one, the grin that had fallen beforehand returning bigger than ever. "The reason I'm visiting thy Cold-ness is 'cause I've got orders."

"Orders?" Asked the gold-eyed one, though this was an empty question. Who else could give Alpha Truth orders but Him? "What does He wish?"

While Alpha Truth was higher in rank than Beta Truth, he still knew not to piss of the being before him, the one that would not look to him. Ranks were based on age, not power, and Alpha Truth was almost positive that the being that had chosen to keep a corporeal form would eventually beat him in a fair fight, if given enough time and enough space to work with. Though in a land like this, there was no concept of space, so that regard was covered.

And since Alpha Truth didn't feel like getting his teeth knocked out – the gold-eyed 'boy' before him was more than capable to bash the teeth out of his intangible face – he decided to play his announcement safe.

"Sorry 'bout this…but He wishes for you to journey to Earth." Alpha Truth nearly flinched when he felt the air in the nothingness around him get clogged with pure rage.

"I was promised this wouldn't happen."

"He is not sending you where you think, Beta. He made a promise, and He does not break them. As you carry the name of Truth, then you are aware that there are multiple other universes aside from the two that you have already bore witness to." Alpha Truth paused. "And in many of these universes, their Earths are literally coming to an end. One way or another, these universes are dying, whether from war, famine, someone trying to gain power that is not theirs to hold, or just humans being too damn cocky and to sure of themselves." The two Truths shared a mutual chuckle at this, knowing the last statement to be to true, and the reason that most worlds were dying. "Somehow, the world you know most is in the best shape at the moment."

And that was saying something.

"And He wants you to go to one of these universes and help end this. Divine Intervention, he called it." Alpha Truth continued.

"I thought He was against meddling in the affairs of mortals, especially something of this caliber." Beta muttered to himself. Forgiving humans of their sins or a few acts here and there was one thing, but to send a Gatekeeper – and the Beta Truth, no less! – to a world just seemed like…overkill. "Is it really that bad?" Beta found himself asking quietly.

"It's worse." Alpha Truth muttered. "He wishes to send out the Gatekeepers with a corporeal form – face it, you tangible types can make a much bigger impact on the world than we intangible ones can – to the universes that are in the most threat of being destroyed, and work backwards from there. You're one of the ones chosen, obviously."

"All those with a corporeal body?" Beta gave a humorless snort. "How many would that make, four?"

"Three, actually. Counting you." Alpha Truth then snickered. "He will have the incorporeal Gatekeepers working on separate jobs instead of their usual ones. He feels that their abilities can be used in different situations."

"And you, Alpha Truth?" Beta asked, still not looking away from the Gate that he stared at for eternity.

"Hey, somebody's got to stay at their Gate to make sure that any humans that want to stray too close to the territory of God learn that such a feat is not a wise one." Alpha Truth responded evenly, the shadows on his 'shoulders' shortening and then lengthening again, giving the impression of shrugging.

"…one cannot go against His orders. At least, a Gatekeeper cannot…which world do I leave for, and when?" Asking for a time was redundant, really. Time was literally irrelevant for the two in the vast plane of nothingness.

"Come with me, Beta." Alpha Truth said, his grin vanishing from his face as he grew somber. He turned as a Gate materialized out of the nothingness, this doorway being about seven feet tall, made of solid oak with carvings of other doorways set into its surface. Why Beta never kept this door as a permanent one in his domain was a mystery to all but Him, even Alpha Truth. But the two Gatekeepers departed through the double doors nonetheless, ending up in a hall that seemed endless, going on for an eternity, different double doors spotting the walls every five feet or so. And so Alpha Truth and Beta moved on down the hall, sliding past other beings that were headed in the opposite direction. Some looked like Beta – having their own individual look, and being completely solid, some having blue eyes and blonde hair, or green eyes and black here; the combinations were endless, one being even having violet eyes with golden pupils, and orange hair – while others looked like Alpha Truth, being composed by nothing, outlines of different colors surrounding their being to give them color.

To make passing all of these beings easier, Alpha Truth and the other Incorporeal Gatekeepers shifted their bodies into whatever animal they saw fit; Alpha Truth himself became a large snake-like creature, the animals head easily bigger than Beta's fist. The other Gatekeepers that they passed nodded their respect to the two highest-ranking Dwellers, having their nods of respect returned within seconds. A few Gatekeepers – usually the younger ones – were stopped in the wide hall, conversing amongst themselves, the Corporeal ones knowing that they wouldn't see their friends for possible quite some time.

The doors they passed all looked different, not one looking exactly alike. Even if one door was completely black like another one, one would have some slight difference, like chipped paint, or a slight crack. Damaged doors like these were the ones that needed the most attention, the reason that the Gatekeepers were being moved, for the first time, from the Gates that were their responsibility. Every so often, a door would pop up out of random, pushing side the two doors that would now be its neighbors; a new universe was being born. Sometimes, the door to the realm of a Gatekeeper would be seen set between a few universe doors, standing taller and prouder over the doors that simply showed the way to a new world.

Every choice makes a difference. Beta thought, looking about as new doors popped up every few minutes. Even the choice of whether a little girl should have chocolate chip cookies or peanut butter cookies could create an entirely new universe, the time line of this new universe completely branching away because of this simple choice. Beta gave a quiet snort of humor, making Alpha Truth look over at him, the snake-like being somehow managing to convey the feeling of a raised eyebrow. "Nothing comes without a price." Beta said to snuff out Alpha Truth's confusion as he motioned to a door that had peeling paint, scratches up and down its surface; one of the worlds that needed Divine Intervention. "One choice of a deranged father beating and killing his entire family…" He thought out loud as he stopped before the door. "…one choice, made by one man out of billions of humans…and now that world has branched so far off from its peaceful cousin-" He motioned to the door directly next to the one in poor shape, one that looked almost the exact same, but with almost no wear-and-tear "-to be in such disarray that they would need Divine Intervention." Alpha Truth chuckled as he turned to face forward once more, his nonexistent eyes roving over the doors to find the one that Beta was assigned to.

"Nothing without a price…Equivalent Exchange, huh? Still stuck on that?" Alpha Truth inquired.

"Yes." Was Beta's short and tight answer. "But this is going past Equivalent Exchange. An entire world should not be killed because one man was born with a mental instability, and because the human race was to blind to notice that he was dangerous."

"But you're missing the thing that fulfills the Exchange."

"And what would that be, Alpha Truth?"

"You." Beta stared at the back of the snakes head, before shaking his head with a sigh.

"Myself being payment for a mistake…why do I feel like this is something that keeps repeating itself?" Snorted Beta.

"What can I say, kid, it's your calling." Beta's golden eyebrow twitched at the word 'kid' – his age far surpassed that of a kid, hell, it surpassed that of someone who's entered the qualifications of 'geriatric' – but he let it go, snuffing the annoying, very human feelings out. "Well, here we are." Alpha Truth stopped before a grand door, the door being made out of…

"Rice paper." Beta dully stated, staring at the door before him. He looked to Alpha Truth, the being back in the shape of a young human, a giant grin on his face. "Why do I have a feeling you're messing with me?"

"It's the door you were assigned to!" Alpha Truth tried to defend himself, holding up his hands as if to ward off a blow. Beta's eyes narrowed, but like the 'kid' comment, he let it go. As his superior, Alpha Truth probably assigned him to this strange door just to mess with him. Doors that had an unnatural shape always had some surprise waiting on the other side, and contrary to belief, the Gatekeepers didn't always know what resided on another side of a Gate.

The Gate itself looked to have to layers. The first and front-most layer was simply made out of wood, with wooden bars at the top that showed the second layer of the gate. This layer looked like rice paper stretched over thin wooden strips, like canvas paper being prepared to be decorated by some artist.

"And you're positive this is my Gate." Beta said in more of a statement than a question; he knew it was, Alpha Truth rarely ever made mistakes, and those mistakes were even more rare when it had something to do with orders handed down to him directly from Him.

"As positive as I am positive on the matter." Alpha Truth said, his grin stretching wider. Beta sighed. He should have known better than ask Alpha Truth a question like that. His superior alwaysfound a way to twist around his answers so that no answer was really conveyed at all. Really, it was like asking what day of the week it was, and getting the answer 'I have sand in my shoe' as an answer.

Really, no help at all.

Willing the door to open, the first layer slid to the side, one door of the front-most layer actually falling right off its hinges, making Alpha Truth jump back to avoid being crushed. Though, really, he didn't have to, it would have gone right through him.

Maybe.

Beta almost allowed himself to sweat-drop and face-palm at the same time, but refrained from doing so. Not only did the first layer spontaneously lose a door, but the back layer was in horrible shape, the wooden structure of the circular Gate being shattered or extremely worn out, and the rice paper sporting many holes, as if a moody horse had kicked right through the thing.

"And I'm supposed to fix that?" Beta asked, his voice still emotionless even though Alpha Truth could feel his annoyance. The second layer slid open to reveal a stark glowing nothingness.

"The rate this world is deteriorating, it will completely end within a year's time. You need to complete your mission before then." Alpha Truth didn't need to tell Beta what would happen if he failed; being responsible for the death of an entire world was just one of the worse things that could come to pass if Beta failed. And one thing Beta didn't want to have is the reputation of a 'Weakling Who Couldn't Even Save a Few Humans.' He would never hear the end of it from the newer Gatekeepers if this was the case.

And without another word, Beta strode through the Gate, the doors – or, what remained of them considering one still lay prone on the floor – snapping shut behind him. A light glow surrounded the door, signifying that a Gatekeeper was in the process of righting the wrong in that particular universe. Alpha Truth sighed, shaking his head as the shadows around his body molded his body back into the form of a snake. He turned away, and slithered down the hall full of Gatekeepers on their way to make sure their assigned universe didn't kill itself.

"Let the healing process begin."

…and that's the prologue. I guess…so, what do yah think? Like it, love it, hate it? Does it show promise, like, at all?

ATTENTION READERS OF 'VULPES ALVEUS'! Okay, so good news, I ain't dead. Bad news…well…it's not bad news, per say, but not very good news either. I'm in the process of writing the next chapter of Vulpes Alveus, and plan to have it up REALLY soon…but I've hit a wall. I HAVE TO MANY PEOPLE TO INTRODUCE IN SUCH LITTLE TIME! Seriously, I have to make it all feel natural, not like sir pissy-Vulpes sees a new guy and goes OOC("OOOH! NEW GUY! BE MY FRIEND!") That'd be to…unrealistic.

Yeah, unrealistic in a world like THAT.

And Ichigo, Gaara, Rukia and the others can only put off going to Hueco Mundo to kick some ass for so long. So I'm trying to find a way to cram in ALL the new guys without making it feel like that's what I'm doing.

In other words, it might take a little bit longer to bust through the wall. I'd like to thank you for your patience though, considering everything. If you guys have anything complaints, questions, or anything to say in general about Vulpes Alveus, send me a PM or something, 'kay?

~ Kitsune-242