Star Crossed Lovers
Summary: Elricest based on Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet. Sequel to "Kiss Me"
Disclaimer: Fullmetal Alchemist (c) Hiromu Arakawa, Romeo & Juliet (c) William Shakespeare
Rate: PG 15
Warnings: Elricest. Medieval Ages. Sexual references and language. One-sided RosexEd. Traces of RoyEd, RoyxHughes. Others: TrishaxHavoc, CatherinexHohenheim, HughesxEnvy
Author's comments: After the funeral of the two lovers, Winlyn gave birth to Alphonse's son who in turn started a chain of generations. Sometime during those centuries, a family dispute (that no one remembers what started it) occurred and the family split to two families. The Adrics and the Elrics.
I believe that characters are the most important part of a story and I really liked my characters in "Kiss Me" so I wanted to use them again. I also wanted to write a fic so, searching for plot bunnies, found some in my English Class :D And the best part is is that it's the Renaissance, not the Middle Ages!!!!!! wOOt!!
So, I'm writing this in present tense for the first time too:D Enjoy!
Act I - Scene 1
"Two households, both alike in dignity,
In fair Centeral, where we lay our scene,
From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,
Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.
From forth the fatal loins of these two foes
A pair of star-crossed lovers take their life;
Whose misadventured piteous overthrows
Do with their death bury their parents' strife.
The fearful passage of their death-marked love,
And the continuance of their parents' rage,
Which, but their children's end, nought could remove,
Is now the time spending' traffic of this page;
The which if you with patient eyes attend,
What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend."
"Mark my words, Fallman. They will not get away with those insults." A man growls in the streets of Centeral.
"Of course not, Breda," replies another. "They were thrown at us, and we should be simply letting them fall to the ground."
"Well, they'll get it. Pick up those damned words from our feet and throw them back!" Breda quickens his pace, his sheathe casting small reflections from a dim streetlamp.
"Why not just stomp on them and forget of them? Don't let such trivial things as words end you up with a noose around your neck!"
"If I just stomp on them, the act will cause my blood to boil more!" Breda answers furiously, whipping around to face his friend. "And when I'm aroused I move more quickly."
Fallman sighs. "Fighting more quickly just arouses you more."
"Those Elric dogs always get me going! It's about time that I release myself!"
"Once you do," replied the wiser man. "You are drained and you find yourself in trouble for releasing yourself, especially to your enemy. No, we must head back. It is late."
This was a typical evening. The night had cast a carpet of black over the quiet city of Centeral, where citizens slept soundly around the time that those two friends were strolling about with swords hanging from their belts. It was quite common to see those two fellows in the streets doing chores, but for the first time they were carrying their swords and no one was there to witness their first night out.
"It's because it's late that I have to quickly end this!" He screeches, stamping his foot. "Soon it will be too early for night to cover the noise and besides, I never run away! I'll stand, no matter what woman or man comes to stand in my way! I'll lay them all to the ground!"
Fallman abruptly turns around, a frown describing his disapproval for Breda's choice of words. "This shows how weak you are, for only the weak lies on the ground."
"That's true. That is why I mentioned them women! The weaker kind! The ones that get pushed down to the ground! I'll splatter the Elrics' guts over the walls and thrust their girls down!"
Disturbed, Fallman tries another argument, one he used countless times in the past. He didn't believe that this time it would work but he knew that it was one way to direct Breda's foul thinking to something a little less brutal. "But, Breda, the feud is between the masters and not the servants."
"It's all the same to me. I'm the good guy here, when I'm done with the men I'll go after the girls and chop their heads off!"
"What!?" Fallman gasps in horror. "But they are innocent!"
"Yeah. Chop their heads…or their innocence!" Breda throws his head back and laughs unabashedly, pleased with himself for giving a clever answer. "Let's get going! You're not a pussy, are you?"
His grey-haired but young partner's face reddens in anger and briskly walking to his side, replies, "I am not a pussy, though they do call us Adrics cats. But a pussy…I'm afraid the only ones I will be seeing are the ones that are waiting for us in the arms of the Elric women!"
"That's the spirit." Breda sniggers, gripping his sword. "I like your choice of words, Fallman."
He says nothing, but the silence that followed was enough to stir the two men even more as their thoughts wrapped their minds in desire. After a while, they enter the zone between the two households, the place where one would call the 'no-man's land' of Centeral. Hardly anyone lives there and there are still signs of past battle in sight. The two men were about to set foot, when suddenly…
"Fallman, see there. It is them, Elric dogs. Crouch, my friend, we shall ambush them." Breda quickly retreats to the wall, where its shadow is dark enough to win over the night itself.
"What bravery, Breda." Fallman says, stopping to look back with a sarcastic tone." A man fights fair, and hiding away and waiting for trouble will only be disadvantageous."
"Fine." Breda stands up. "You start a fight with them and I'll back you up."
"What, so you can run away with your tail between your legs?"
"My tail will be standing tall and erect, thank you very much. I am intending on not letting it droop until we slay the men. Just trust me."
"I still do not like it, though…"
"We should have the law on our side, let them make the first move." Breda suggests.
"All right, 'accidentally' flick them off, see how they'll react to that!" Fallman encourages.
"Or even dare to react, either way they're ruining their pride and we win." Breda grins.
He turns his head away and makes a rude gesture to the two servants before them. Their footsteps stop, but the two friends continue to walk as though nothing occurred.
"Excuse me," the Elric asks with forced politeness, earning a halt from his enemies. "Did you just flick your finger at us?"
"I flicked my finger." Breda replies.
"Did you flick your finger at us?"
Breda turns to Fallman and asks, "Will the law be our side if I say 'yes'?"
"No."
"Then I didn't, sir, flick my finger at you but I flicked my finger."
"Do you have a problem with that?" Fallman steps in, directly facing the blond man, whose antenna bobbed as the man slightly stepped back. "A problem? No, of course not!"
"No? Well, you're starting one and I'm ready for you. I am fairer than you and I will give you a fight with the same value as the trouble you're giving me. Equivalent Exchange, yes?"
"Ah, I see. More fair than I am?"
Breda frowns, sensing a trap. "Well, I-"
A prod on his shoulder causes him to turn his face to Fallman. "What?"
"Say 'more', it's one of their men. He's walking towards us and with one of our's close behind!"
Breda whips back to the Elric and hastily says, "Yes, that's right. Fairer than you."
"You liar!" Pipes in the hunched man next to the blond Elric, his thin mustaches bobbing across his pale cheeks. "No one can be better than Sir Dennis!"
"Yoki, please stay quiet as you were ordered to." The man sighs, rubbing his brow.
"My apologies, Master Dennis…" The stout man retreats to his place behind the blonde and stays quiet.
Breda, insulted by their dismissal of their presence, pulls out his sword and growls, "How dare you turn your sight away from us! Come, Fallman, draw your sword out! Remember the slashing blow I told you about!"
But before they can start, a voice calls out to them. "Stop it you two! You don't know what you're doing!" A black haired man comes rushing towards them, raising his sword to break the two servants apart.
A snicker follows him and gives a comment in return to his actions. "What, so now you're going to involve yourself with a fight with servants? Come face me, Roy, and face your death!" The Adric that had followed him previously now unsheathes his own sword, his green hair glowing dark in the night.
"Put your sword back, Envious, unless you're going to use it to help me put things back to normal."
"Normal? But this is normal! And how can you tell me to 'put things to normal' if your own sword is drawn? Come fight me, you Elric bastard, come!"
He lungs forward and Roy narrowly dodges it. He licks his lips as he skids backwards before he pushes his toes from the ground and engages in a clash of swords with his nemesis. The servants, mimicking their masters, start to fight as well. The commotion awakens the sun itself and its early blood-like light fills the area, revealing the citizens that comes forth to see what the clatter is all about.
Cries of encouragement and excitement ripples through the scene as shouts of "Down with the Elrics!" and "Down with the Adrics!" divides the citizens into two separate groups one on one side of the fight and the other in the opposite. From the Adric side came pushing Jean Adric, master of the Adric Family. He steps into the circle and grins through his pipe. He extinguishes it and was about to put it in his pouch before a pair of arms wraps themselves around his arm holding his sword and stops him.
"Don't make a foolish mistake!" cries the owner of the arms. "Replace your sword with your pipe and heed back!"
"Dear wife, can't you see that this is a fight? And there's good old Elric waiting for me on the other side!"
He pushes the brunette back and charges forward while a tall man equally steps forward, squinting through his spectacles and his dirty blond hair swaying in its ponytail.
"Catherine, dear, stay back. This is going to be our final fight, one that will decide the fate of this family!"
"If you're going to fight then I shall fight for the fidelity of a woman is demonstrated through her position next to her husband!" Lady Elric steps forward, rolling up her sleeves.
"Catherine, please. This is a fight between men, not-"
"Look out!" Someone shouts.
Hohenheim Elric sees Adric's sword in time and blocks it with his sword. The great clash augments the cheers from the citizens and they too, begin to move forward with clubs and pans in their hands.
"STOP THIS MADNESS RIGHT THIS INSTANT!!" A great voice booms.
The clashes stop, the cheering fades. Dozens of eyes turn to face the source of the voice and there, standing between the two sides, stood none other than the Prince.
"Beasts! Murderers! Listen to your angry Prince right here! This is the third time that the peace was broken by the squabbles of the Adrics and the Elrics! What a ridiculous excuse to stain your hands with blood, what a disgrace! It was because of your reluctance for peace that I've lost an eye in the past! God knows what could have happened if it had gotten out of hand and I order you to stop before another incident like this happens again! If another peace-breaking fight happens again between you two households, the punishment will be death! Now off you go, citizens of Centeral, go back to your daily business."
The citizens, unhesitant, walk back to their homes where they would sit down at their breakfast table all energetic from all the cheering. The crowds disperse and there left the two families, not daring to look at each other in the eye as they wait for all else to leave.
"Elric, come with me to speak of this matter and this afternoon, it shall be Adric I shall speak to. We will talk of this matter. Come!"
Hohenheim steps forward and starts to follow the Prince before bumping shoulders with Jean, who mutters, "You were lucky, my man. I could've killed you if it weren't for Catherine. My, rumors are spreading that you've grown too old to control your own wife."
"What say you, dear Adric, if you are young enough to let your wife control you?"
"Why, you…"
"Enough!" The Prince bellows once more through his trimmed mustache. "Any more threats and I will make sure you pay dearly, to the both of you! Come, Elric."
The two men walk away from each other and so do the other family members. Hohenheim and Catherine, however, don't follow the Prince and they locate Roy. When they did, they ask him about what had occurred. He explains to them that the servants had picked up a fight and seeing them, tried to part the servants before Envious came and began to fight Roy. Then when the break of dawn appeared, the citizens showed themselves and the families were drawn together into a big battle.
"I'm just glad that Edward wasn't here to see this," Catherine sighs. "By the way, where could he be? If he were in the mansion then he would have been drawn to this but I haven't seen him all day…"
"'Tis too early to call it a full day, wife. The crack of dawn is just breaking, and about this time then should your son be locked in his room; with the curtains closed and the door locked. I have seen him climb out his window to wet the grass with tears before dew collects itself, very early in the morning. Oh, what could he be so upset about that he refuses to see day and consumes himself in the darkness like a wandering ghost?"
"Have you questioned his sorrow by any chance, noble Father? I've tried to ask him myself but he shies away from me as soon as I come near." Roy says.
"I've asked servants, friends, family, anyone that I can turn to for assistance but nobody knows. I imagined that perhaps you, Roy, might have known as you are his closest friend. But now I hear that you know not, but simply that he hides away from you yourself. If you do find him, ask him for us for we wish to cure him of his sorrows just as much as we wish to know the reason for his tears."
As if on cue, Edward Elric appeared out of the gloom, appearing with creased clothing and a messy appearance. His hands were in his pockets and his eyes had no shine to them and stared straight ahead. The Elrics at first don't notice him for it would have been nearly impossible to locate him with such a dark aura surrounding the young man. He blended into the bedraggled scene with his haphazardly tied hair and dark shadows marking every curve of his body. Over dark shadows under those golden eyes were tear-streaks. He had been crying again.
Seeing his approach, and remembering about the Prince, Roy quickly says, "Father, make haste for you must go talk to the Prince. While you do that, I will speak with Edward and find the truth."
"Very well. I shall leave it to you, then. Good luck and farewell." With that, the man took his wife by the arm and led her to the Prince's Mansion.
Edward approaches Roy and watches his parents walk to the opposite way. He stops and stares after them with glazed eyes. Roy clears his throat and pats his friend's shoulder.
"Well, Ed!" He calls cheerfully, playfully putting an arm around Edward and leading him away from the battleground. "A little bit of trouble this morning but it's all gone now."
"What time is it?" Edward murmurs, ignoring him.
"Well, it's sometime after eight now."
"Gosh, time really slows down when the world seems dark." He sighs. "Where did my parents go?"
"You know, Ed. You should be grateful for the 'slow' passage of time cuz well, life is gonna be short for you!" Roy laughs and ducks out of the way, waiting for an outburst.
But after some time, he realizes that he is getting no such thing. He peeks from under his arms and realizes that Edward is simply gazing at him, not raising a finger at what he said. "C'mon, Roy, it's getting old…" He says. "I want to go home and weep some more."
"…What's troubling you so much that you're not acting like yourself no longer!?" Roy asks, appalled at the lack of reaction. Usually they would have ended up fighting over his shortness since Edward protected his reputation and pride very dearly. And here he was, admitting that he wanted to cry like a child.
Edward walks away and Roy running after him, insisted for an answer. "In love?"
"Out."
"Out…?"
"With one who doesn't let me in."
"You should learn to control your desires, dear friend 'cause if she doesn't want you in and you don't obey her, she won't trust you anymore. But if it's too much to bear, you can take care of you desires or find someone else like I do who wouldn't mind the slightest."
"That's not what I meant, you bastard. How can you understand? Oh, if only there was a way! …what's for lunch? Wait a moment, I came here to understand what the fight was about and…wait, don't tell me. It's the two families again, am I right? Why must it always be about hate and not love! Why must the two things, so different from each other be so equally the same? Just like being unafraid and afraid and ink and blood! Being awake and facing your fears but when you sleep, your fears once more! Like bird wings and fish fins!"
Roy suppresses a snigger at his strange remarks and his dramatic tone. "He's out of his mind, all right." he thinks.
"…are you laughing at me?"
"No! No, rather…crying."
"Whatever for?"
"For…your heartache?"
"That's how Love is. It burns so brightly but when comes the wind the smoke consumes your breaths and stifles your chest and all that's left are embers that are the remains of the love you once felt. You try to take them back but you burn your hands and when you wash them with tears…instead of pitying you, they die out. Just like medicine and poison…Oh, God…" He turned around and walked away. "I'll be seeing you later, Roy."
"Hey, woah, wait!" Roy grabs his sleeve and pulls him back. "At least tell me who the girl is?"
"What, and hurt me more by the mere mentioning of her name?"
"So you are in love…"
"Out."
"Whatever."
"See? You're asking me to say something that would hurt me more. It's like asking a sick person to be serious. I'm telling the truth when I'm saying that I'm in love, Roy. In love with someone who will never love me back."
"Give me a break!" Roy laughs, clapping his shoulder again. "I mean, you're a good-looking guy! How could she NOT love you?" And it was true. Edward had sharp features and had a nice body despite his height. He had golden eyes that glittered like coins in the sunlight and had fair golden hair that he would put up in a ponytail. However, his eyes were dark from the tears that blurred them and his hair was in a messy braid. He didn't even bother to make his family-inherited antenna upright that morning.
"Alas, Roy is that she can, but chose not to. She doesn't want me to be in love with her nor does she want anyone to be into her. She's swore to the Church, which means I shall never be able to marry her and my life will forever be an unhappy one! And what a shame, for such a fertile beauty to go to waste by dying a pure virgin even though her remains will be part of the holy Earth. Oh, how I wish I could've lain next to her!" He groans, clutching his chest.
"But who? Who swore to be a virgin 'til death?" Roy insists, putting a hand over the arm that clutched Edward's chest.
"Rose. Divine Rose that makes even the Goddess Athena green with envy. Rose who shall never pass her beauty and wisdom to future generations. She'll never marry me. And so I must live a life of death." Tears stain his cheeks again and Roy relaxes now that he knew why Edward was so upset.
"Take my advice. Forget about her. There's always other women."
"If I look for other women, they will make me yearn for Rose even more for there is no other beauty like her. But even if I do find one more beautiful than she, then it will remind me more of my love. It's no use. Let me leave, there is nothing you can do."
"Edward," Roy firmly says, turning Edward's tearful eyes so that they were looking straight into his midnight-black eyes. "I will do everything in my will to make you happy again. Oh, you'll see. I swear I'll even die in the attempt."