Title : The Waking Dread
Genre : Anime
Category : Full Metal Alchemist
Disclaimer : I could only dream of owning FMA. Sorry folks.
Summary : Companion piece to The Clouding Darkness. Let us watch as piece by piece, Ed falls apart.
Tears were threatening to descend down his distraught cheeks even though anger was the only emotion present on his visage. His brow was creased, his golden orbs marveling in misery. The fifteen-year-old's lips were trembling ever so gently, forcing him to bite down on his lower lip to cease the deflating action.
The red coat that he wore so proudly was wrapped tightly around his small body, the ends billowing out as the wind picked it up then pushed it back down.
The State Alchemist was seated underneath a tree, its dead branches his only shield from the impending storm. His knees were pulled up to his chin, his thin arms wrapped around his legs. He shivered, the cold obviously getting the better of him.
"Dammit," he cursed under his breath, the water in his eyes shamefully trickling down his pained features. He hurriedly wiped away the salty rivers, his hands shaking all the while.
Guilt coursed through his system a mile a minute, his brother's words running through his head in a constant stream of reminder.
"If you never would have tried to bring Mom back, then we wouldn't be here now, would we?" Al's voice rang through his ears, crystal clear and loud, as though he were still standing next to him.
They'd been on their way to some far off town in the south, and had gotten lost somewhere along the way. A missed train here, bits of false information there. And eventually, it all came down on Ed.
Words were tossed back and forth recklessly, each boy not caring what the other had to say. That is, until those few little words emanated from Al's stainless steel body. They'd hit Edward like a ton of bricks, throwing him back into the guilt and self-reproach he'd been living in for the past five years.
It only took a second for his body to react to the remark, his legs taking off faster than he ever thought they could, carrying him through the thick underbrush and into the darkness of the forest.
He stopped running after a few minutes, finding a spot underneath a large oak to wrestle with his thoughts and partake in his silent ritual of a guilt trip.
His shimmering orbs stared out at the small pond that sat before him, its waters rippling and distorting all thanks to the rain that was starting to pour from the heavens. Lightning streaked across the now dark sky, thunder cackling loudly behind it.
White clouds colored violet by the storm and the night sailed above his head, his watering orbs watching as the wind caught them, whisking them away to rain down on someone else.
You know it's your fault. If you never would have went through with it—if you just would've listened to him for once, neither one of you would be here now. And you know it.
The constant voice streamed through his head, tempting him to remember that fateful night, and so he did, recalling every minute of it as though it had just happened the day before. Alphonse's screams of "Brother!" resonated across his skull, the memory forcing another tear or two down his pale cheeks. They almost looked grey in the storm's light.
"What's wrong, Full Metal?" a woman's voice came from behind, catching the teenager completely off guard. He jumped up, preparing for a fight, though the woman waved him off, a barely noticeable smirk sneaking across her pale visage, made even more so by the blanket of darkness that surrounded them.
"Get away from me!" He raised his voice, though it quivered due to the tears from earlier. He backed further away, clapping his hands in attempt to transmute his arm into something a bit sharper, though she still appeared uninterested.
"I'm not here to fight you. I'm merely here to talk," she stated in a sultry tone, her violet eyes baring holes into his golden ones. She slowly folded her arms across her voluptuous chest, the wind gently teasing her midnight sky colored locks.
"Yeah, right! Why should I believe that?" he spat at her, his small body far too tense for a fight. "Homunculi never just want to talk."
"If I wanted to kill you, boy, then I could've easily done so and you wouldn't have even seen it coming." A small but discernible smile crept across her lips as she slowly leaned against the tree he had been previously sitting at.
"Then what are you here for?" The fifteen-year-old could feel his nerves running haywire, still afraid to even attempt to let his guard down; but as he gazed into her eyes a little longer, he could see she was probably telling the truth.
But he couldn't be that stupid. No, he knew he couldn't trust the woman, no matter what he saw in those soulless orbs.
"As I said before, I'm just here to talk." Her tone had changed this time around, anger laced with slight impatience flowing through his ears.
"Yeah, right." His time alone had come to an end. It was time to find Al. But before he could even take a step, he could feel her hand on his shoulder, pulling him right back. The boy jerked away, though she didn't struggle as she kept a firm grip, her violet eyes never leaving him. "Don't touch me!" His brow narrowed as her fingers slowly slid off, one by one, as though teasing him silently. "I don't have time for this," he mumbled, shrugging the last of her touch off, and heading back in the direction he came from.
"What makes you so sure you'll even find the stone?" Her flirtatious voice gently wound its way to his ears, forcing a chill to run down his spine. "Providing that there is one," she added, drops of rain slipping through the dead tree limbs and falling down on her bare shoulders, making her deathly pale skin glisten ever so lightly.
Edward glared at her, his brow furrowing at her words and the storm that was ravaging around him. "I don't care if it takes twenty years, but I'll continue to search for it until I get my brother his body back. And trust me, you won't be there to see it happen," he informed her, his voice dropping to the coldest tone he could make it.
"Somehow I doubt that." A light laugh escaped the confines of her throat, her too-white teeth peeking out from behind her full lips.
He attempted to get past her again, but she stood in his way, the violet hues in her orbs seemingly growing darker by the minute.
"If you don't get out of my-"
"Calm down, Full Metal boy," the homunculous teased, the smile growing the tiniest bit wider. "Tell me, what's so wrong with the way your brother is now? It's not as though he can feel pain, and the only way to kill him is by that tiny little blood seal he has, right?"
The mocking tone in her voice pissed him off all the more, the guilt raging around in his system just as the storm was continuing to rage around them. Lightning split the sky in two, though the State Alchemist didn't even bat an eye to it. His fists clenched and unclenched at his sides, his jaw growing taut.
"If you even lay one finger on my brother-"
His threat was cut short, by distant screams, and he more than recognized the voice they belonged to.
"Al!" the immediate exclamation parted his trembling lips, his heart racing a thousand miles a minute. As fast as he'd taken off from his younger brother's side, he left Lust's, his heavy boots stomping through the muddy ground.
"It looks like Envy already has," she mumbled, letting the boy get a head start before she pursued.
Tears streamed down his cheeks once again, his eyes pouring a continual waterfall down his pale visage. Breath left his lungs faster than he could replace it, his insides burning due to lack of oxygen. His left leg felt as heavy as his right, but he didn't let it stop him, no matter how much it was starting to hurt.
His wide golden orbs looked almost crazed as they searched the darkness that lay before them, boot prints much larger than his coming into view. But the closer he got the source of the screams, the quieter they became. Within seconds, there was absolute silence, with the exception of the thunder that was echoing throughout the treetops.
It didn't take long before he reached the muddy pathway that led to the lake, the sight befalling his blurred vision making him want to scream.
"Al! Alphonse!" the younger boy's name continued to pour out of his mouth as he didn't even give a second thought to jumping in the murky water, even though it was hard as hell for him to swim with the metal limbs that were attached to his small body.
The rain was coming down in sheets, forcing near blindness upon the fifteen year old, but he could still make out his brother's helmet, floating lifelessly atop the violent water.
No, this can't be happening. It can't be!
The blonde was growing more frantic with each terrifying second that passed, fighting against the strong waves and the storm. But as he reached the helmet, he realized their was no body attached to it, and there were no warm, soul-filled eyes staring back at him anymore.
It was lifeless; empty.
Just as he was going to be from that day forward.
It was over. It was finally over.