Title: Disillusion
Author: Aerith Queen of Cetra
Chapters: 1/1
Summary: .:RoyxPride!Ed:. There is a man in black, leaping from rooftop to rooftop, leaving nothing but a trail of blood and broken memories behind him. But he's not Edward Elric... not anymore...
Genre: Angst/Tragedy
Beta'd: Nu-uh!
Warnings: Hints of shonen ai, spoilers for BBI, blood, gore, death, disturbing themes and... uh...
Disclaimer: I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist or the game Bluebird's Illusion... oh but dear GOD!! I want to T_T
Author's Comments: I'm on an FMA high now because of the new anime and the fact I'm re-reading the manga and since I've always wanted to write a fic with Pride!Ed in it... um... here we are! Enjoy!
Disillusion
It is sad when someone you know becomes someone you knew.
- Henry Rollins -
Roy Mustang was never one to do as he was exactly what he was told, which was slightly ironic considering his high position in the Amestris military.
He had been told, hours after his and Alphonse Elric's bodies had been dug up from the rubble of the abandoned church, that Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist, had disappeared. And weeks later, he was officially declared dead.
But Roy didn't believe that, so he supposed that he was just as stubborn and hard-headed as Fullmetal in that sense. He had only the strongest suspicion that Edward Elric still lived and he spent many waking moments dedicated to finding him, perhaps not as many as the eternally suffering Alphonse Elric but still quite a lot.
Roy often found himself, during these many waking moments, considering the possibilities after he finally found Edward. He thought of Ed and Al's tearful but joyful reunion, Al would probably hold him so tightly that Edward would gasp for air. He thought of Winry Rockbell and how the two good friends would clash angrily over Ed's long disappearance. And he thought of...
He shook his head. Imagining holding him close, kissing his forehead, his cheeks, his lips... Roy wanted to do such a thing so desperately but those thoughts, as wondrous as they were, were also just as painful.
Such was the double-edged sword known as love... or whatever Roy called his feelings for the eldest Elric.
He shook his miserly head as he ran through the streets of Central that night, pursuing the case of yet another military murderer loose in the city. He hadn't been told to do such a thing but it was the slim hope that these mysterious deaths might lead him closer to his former subordinate's whereabouts that forced him out onto the streets following yet another mysterious tip. And if it didn't turn out to be Fullmetal? Well... Roy could just chalk the night up to him being a step closer towards becoming Fuhrer.
But there was no need to that night.
The tangy taste of blood in the air filled his senses and Roy licked his dry lips as he followed it, down twists of alley's and landing somewhere around the barely visible back streets of Central.
A soldier lay twisted on the ground, his throat slit open and life-force spilling strategically through the cobbled patterns on the ground, he was placed in an artificial star shape just like the others but there was a difference here. The blood... was still flowing. Fresh.
A harsh crackle came from behind him and he twisted around, his fingers ready to snap at any moment.
"Who's there?"
No one answered, but the weight of another person was heavy in that air and Roy frowned.
"I order you to answer me!"
There was a brief sigh at those words and a voice drawled out wearily.
"He said I had to meet you. But I don't know why."
Roy arched an eyebrow. "Show yourself."
Those two words would forever be imprinted in Roy Mustang's mind afterwards as that person, that young man, stepped forward from the darkness of the alley, his bare feet barely touching the cobbles of the luminous street as his form glowed in the false light.
The Flame Alchemist's hand fell downwards, all thoughts of the dead soldier behind him eradicated, and he breathed slowly. "Ed...ward?"
Happiness was truly a fleeting emotion, it hit him with a tingling sensation in his chest for only a brief but precious moment before it plummeted into his stomach the next moment with a sickening thud.
His eyes fell on that arm. It was human, covered with fleshy skin instead of shining steel. But it was skin destroyed with red markings and carvings, illogical tattoos that marred his perfect form. And... in the midst of them... was a snake... surrounding a star and eating its own tail... the Ouroboros tattoo.
Roy's lips twisted upwards weakly and he shook his head. "No... no..."
The person before him, who looked so much like Edward and yet wasn't, tilted his head. "I've got the right person then. Envy has a strange sense of humour."
Those words drove the stake further into Roy's heart as he stepped closer to the him.
"You're a... a... Homunculus?!"
The artificial human did not smile, merely tucked a long strand of loose blond hair behind one ear as he allowed the silence and the Ouroboros tattoo to answer the Colonel's question.
He could feel every ounce of resolve, of pain and fury in his heart melt away to become only a miserable stack of disbelief, disbelief that needed confirmation.
"How... how did this happen to you?"
"Do you mean, how was I born?" The blond reiterated. Roy nodded. He blinked. "You do not need to know."
Roy placed a hand on his clammy forehead and blocked his wild eyes from the sight of the monotonous creature before him.
"No... This... can't be happening... Fullmetal... You stupid, pipsqueak! Snap out of it!"
There was no response to anything in that sentence. Not to the superior command, the desperate plea nor to the purposeful insult.
The blond sighed at the situation, shaking his head at the predictable words. "I... am Pride."
"No you are not! You are Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist! You grew up in Risembool! You have a brother, Alphonse, that you love very much! Don't you remember him at all?!"
The blond reacted to none of this. "You are mistaken. I am Pride. If I was once that person, I am not anymore."
There was silence and the young Homunculus blinked in boredom. "Is that all?"
Roy couldn't bring himself to respond, despite the screams of his mind willing him to do so and the younger male shook his head again.
"Alright then. I've met you, like Envy asked, so there's no longer any reason to linger."
He made a move to leave and every bone in Roy's body trembled at the thought of his departure and he sprung forward, the force of his newfound grip on the golden eyed one's shoulders so fierce that the two stumbled backwards a few feet.
"Stop! You are Edward! Edward Elric! Remember!? You... you hate being called short! You hate milk! You hate needles! You-"
"Do I hate everything?" The blond asked with a sarcastic relay in his voice.
"No, you love your brother... you love your friends and you love... you love..."
"Oh? What else do I love?" He asked in a bored voice.
It was something, in retrospect, that Pride should have reconsidered saying, considering he was talking to Roy Mustang, a man who was never one to miss taking advantage of a key moment.
And so, there was a kiss, born from unimaginable desperation. Roy's fingers tangled in his hair and pushed his body against the wall.
The blond did not move. He was used to these kinds of kisses, so much so that any emotion behind them was lost on his dull eyes.
He stared into the closed eyelids of the Flame Alchemist and felt the harsh acrylic gloves slide through his hair, down his shoulders to wrap around his arms.
Those touches also meant nothing to him, but he did consider that those white gloves purposely wrapped around the red snake tattoo on his arm. Pride blinked at the movement.
Roy pulled back, a dash of light in his eyes reflecting a dim sort of hope that this would pull the Fullmetal Alchemist out of his stupor.
He saw nothing there. His fingers dug into those unholy limbs and a muted snarl marred his perfect façade.
"Edward..."
He placed a hand on Roy Mustang's chest and whispered three, heartbreaking words.
"No. It's Pride..."
A burst of something, he couldn't be sure what, flustered his breathing and sent him spiralling backwards and flat on his back upon the ground.
A throbbing pain suddenly replaced the feel of bundled air clusters on his chest as the blond shoved a foot onto his ribcage.
It was only at that moment, Roy realised that the blade of an awfully powerful looking scythe was positioned before his neck, the long handle wrapping around the blond's arm.
He tilted his head and stared down at the Flame Alchemist.
"Why do you care about that person? Do you love him?"
That was a question he had asked himself many times, a question many stern nights and weak mornings had heard the debate over. But he had made a decision over such things a long time ago.
He cared for him, that was undeniable but the simple truth was that Roy Mustang... was not in love with Edward Elric. Perhaps such a thing would have been possible, given the right time and setting but at that moment, that fragile moment, Roy couldn't say he was in love with him.
"Would it make a difference if I answered you truthfully?"
The blond took in a breath and raised his head. He blinked slowly.
"Doubtful."
A cry of the Colonel's name broke the tense atmosphere and a perfect circle of red and black exploded from Pride's forehead and he fell forward upon Roy, shoving both hands on either side of his head to prop himself up as he stared into the dark haired one's face.
Red electricity darted through that hole and across his skin as his blood stained the royal blue of Roy's uniform and the glowing white of Roy's skin.
Pride gave a small, inconsequential smile as his wound was healed. His eyes flickered to life and he chuckled breathlessly.
A moment was all it took and the blond leaned down, crossing his lips over Roy's and pushing against them with a strange need. It was Roy's turn to become frozen.
The lips retracted and a whisper emerged, only just tangible. Roy's black eyes twisted open.
"Bastard."
Footsteps struck the cobbled street and gunshots followed as the young man leapt from Roy's body and disappeared into the darkness of the night without a single, remorseful thought in his head.
A soldier's face appeared before him, pulling his shaking body into a sitting position.
"Sir? Are you alright?"
Roy was not but he waved off any help and ordered the worried man off to find the fleeing Homunculus.
He was alone again, clutching the forehead covered in blood that was not his own. He chuckled wryly as that sardonic liquid flowed down his face and across his eyes. He looked completely insane. That was how Riza Hawkeye found him ten minutes later.
"Sir! What's the matter? Did you... did you find him?"
Roy blinked and looked up at her, that same dry smile still on his face. He shrugged.
"I really don't know."
Somewhere in the mind of that Homunculus, Edward Elric may still exist. Perhaps he emerged that night to call Roy by his favourite nickname, perhaps he emerged several times before and after that to leave his mark on a situation by healing wounds instead of making them... but that was only a theory. A theory penned by a desperate man, sitting alone at his desk in a fresh, dry-cleaned uniform.
Days after that encounter, he found himself clutching his forehead as if it was still covered in red, but no blood touched his skin. During those days, he found himself wishing that he had dreamt the encounter, dreamt up all about a Sin named Pride, so that his beloved little alchemist would no longer be one of them... but... those days were long since gone.
The next time they met, Roy Mustang finally closed his eyes and his lids wiped away the non-existent blood from his vision, their reopening forcing him forward... into reality...
And he snapped his fingers.
*shrugs * Quick, pointless, random kissing... so I dunno! XD;; Also, please ignore the fact that I continuously called him Colonel because I'm not sure if that's his official rank in BBI XD;;
Anyway, this fic sorta wrote itself... I wanted to do a RoyxPride!Ed fic because there are so few of them in the world although, the EnvyxPride!Ed ones are still yum yum though =P So um... yeah! Reviews please! XD;;