Title : Some Flowers Bloom Dead
Genre : Anime/Manga
Category : Full Metal Alchemist
Disclaimer : No, I don't own it. Sorry. Happy Halloween though. ; )
Summary : Sometimes, we do get what we want. Unfortunately, Edward is stuck on the receiving end of this tormented truth.
Warnings : Language
Rating : T
The night sky was a marvelous shade of light violet, contently mixed with hints of grey, tiny white particles of snow floating down to the quiet streets, not a soul in sight. The midnight hour had passed some time ago, and the glow of the street lamps only added to that fact, making the silent city look like something that was supposed to be captured in a picture or a postcard.
Inside their homes, the citizens of Central were resting comfortably in their warm beds, thankful for the heat that was pouring throughout their rooms. Though, they were the lucky ones tonight. Lucky indeed.
That was the residential district, but on the outskirts of the capital city of Amestris, there sat an abandoned district, poverty-stricken and littered with souls without anything to keep them warm on this bitter cold winter night. They shivered under the filthy clothes that hung on their bodies, struggling to stay alive in the icy temperatures.
These citizens(if you could call them that), were subject to many things; hunger, disease, and whatever other infestations decided to keep them company. But tonight, they were subject to something else, something that terrified each one to the bone, no matter how big or strong they thought they were.
Screams—screams of angered terror echoed throughout the corners of this district, giving the notion to any person that would have been unluckily passing through that something horrible was happening, and there was nothing they could do about it. Not a damned thing.
They listened; only letting tiny whimpers escape their quivering lips, praying to a God they hoped existed that morning would come and all would be normal again. But for now, they'd have to suffer just a little bit more.
The windows that crept around the closed down warehouse were broken, long forgotten about by the military and any other officer or department of the city. No one cared about that place, but tonight, Edward Elric wished they had. God, how he wished they had.
Darkness coveted the large room, the only light coming from a dim overhead bulb, which was now creaking and groaning miserably as it rocked back and forth to the distant wind that was blowing through the walls.
He didn't want to beg, not in the least, but due to the position that he was in, he had no other choice; that is, if he wanted his little brother to stay alive anyway.
"Please, he's my little brother," the pleading sobs came from the withered and worn alchemist, his face littered with ghosts of tears. His golden eyes were closed tight, not wanting to bare the sight that was standing in front of him, or laying next to him for that matter. His small body shook violently, a tremor making him quaver. The heavy chains that held his arms down were littered with pieces of pale skin, rubbed off from his flesh wrist, the wound more than burning. Blood trickled down his hand and through his fingers, creating a small puddle of the crimson substance underneath him. He continued to tug at them, knowing it was no use, but he couldn't let it happen. He couldn't.
"He won't be for long," a wickedly cold voice filtered through the sixteen year old's ears, only making him struggle more with the floor that had been badly transmuted around his ankles. But concrete was concrete, and if he couldn't use alchemy, there was no way he was strong enough to break it. But still, he tried, blood flowing freely from his bruised ankle.
"It's okay, Brother, I'm ready," Al's eerily despondent voice came from his side, the suit of armor in almost as bad condition as his older brother.
"Al! No! What is wrong with you? We came all this way, and you want to give up? I didn't waste six years of my life to lose you like this!" the tirade of shouts emanated from Edward's bloody lips, finally forcing himself to stare at the suit of armor that was laying stiffly a few yards away from him. "Al!"
"It's alright," the fourteen year old responded softly, his volume level dropping dramatically. "It'll be alright, Brother..."
"Bye-bye now!" a child's voice stole the air, and the breath right out of the oldest Elric brother's lungs as his transmuted hand pierced the area of armor that was holding the fourteen year old's hand drawn blood seal.
It took a minute for the realization of what happened to sink in, but it took even longer for him to make his vocal chords work again. And when he did, he never sounded so broken in his life.
"Al! Alphonse! Al!" the tortured screams left his lips, his chest heaving up and down as air poured out of his lungs faster than it should have been possible. "Fuck! Al! Oh, God..." His voice became a whisper, his eyes haunted by the fact that the most precious thing he had was now lost, cast into an unknown oblivion.
"What's wrong, Edward?" the child's evilly innocent tone met his ears, making the onslaught of anger come tumbling out of the blonde's mouth faster than he could control.
"You sick little fuck! How could you do that? You fu-"
A hand was immediately clamped over the alchemist's mouth, preventing him from any further outbursts, for the moment anyway.
"I was only doing you a favor, Edward Elric," the child stated, his violet eyes staring down into the most pained golden orbs ever to grace a visage. "You need something to keep that soul in when I take your body, won't you?" Wrath asked, a devious grin lighting up his innocent looking face, though Edward could see through that childish exterior. There was something dangerously sick and twisted dwelling within that child, and all he could do was stare pathetically up into its eyes, fearful of what his fate would be.
Edward attempted to masquerade his pain with anger, a muffled threat trying to escape his mouth, but it was no use.
"I've got your arm and leg, and now, I'm going to get your body." The child paused after saying this, letting his words sink in his own mind as well as the one that was struggling fruitlessly below him. "See that little drawing I made underneath of you?" He giggled, the malevolent grin still decorating his features as he pointed to the transmutation circle.
Edward didn't need to turn his head to know what his body was resting on top of.
"It's funny the things you learn when you're inside there(1). And the best part of it all is that you're the one that taught me!" Glee marked his violet colored orbs, a smile creasing his hungry lips. "You do remember, don't you, Edward? Now this won't hurt...too much!" he shouted, pressing his hands against the circle, blue light whirling around it in a fury. The last thing Edward felt was the wind, undoing the braid his little brother had perfected in all the years they had been searching...
&&&&&
He blinked, his sight slowly coming back to him. A pained groan escaped his body as he pushed himself up into a sitting position. He stopped short when he heard the sound of clanking armor, immediately turning his head to where Al's body lay, hope whirling within him. But what met his eyes was something of a nightmare, a vision too real for his liking.
He was now in Al's position, and as he peered down at himself, in his little brother's metallic shell as well. His helmet jerked to the spot where he had previously been laying, only to see absolutely nothing, not even trace of his flesh body.
"This can't be happening. It's just a dream. This isn't real," he muttered, his heavy gauntlets gripping his metallic helmet in frustration. "This isn't real!" he cried out, his pained voice echoing throughout the empty room.
"Yes it is," a voice came from above him. The sixteen year old slowly looked up, anger flooding through him as he saw his own face staring back at him, or what used to be his own face. He jumped to his feet, but soon realized the action didn't exactly go as planned. He glanced down, clenching his fists as he saw that the armor's legs were gone, rendering him nearly immobile.
"Why did you bring me back? Why couldn't you have just let me die with him?" he screamed, the sound of the armor clanking in his ears rattling deep within his soul. So this is how Al felt, the thought circled through his mind, melancholy possessing what was left of his soul.
"Because that just wouldn't be fair, now would it?" The child's voice was still there, in his body. In his fucking body. "Now you get to see what it feels like for awhile," Wrath stated cheerfully, grinning in the suit of armor's face, blood trailing down his arm. "Bye-bye now! I've got some business to take care of," he stated, his voice hanging on the edge of evil. The child was in a human body, but he would never be human.
"Wait! Wait! No!" Edward cried out, but this was only the beginning of his troubles. God only knew what was going to happen next.
Happy Halloween! ; )
(1)The other side of the gate.
Well, tell me what you thought!