"Where the Hell are you taking me!"
"Don't worry, relax. I'm not going to maim you, this time. You're needed for something."
Envy was being out of character with his treatment of Edward, who was no longer trying to struggle. Envy almost actually felt sorry for the kid, but this was as close as he got to showing it. After all, what they had planned was worth than death. That was why Dante was going to do it. Dante might also have gone insane, after coming back from being eaten by Gluttony and all. Only a few of the homunculi were remaining, Envy and Gluttony. The rest had died one way or another, and Envy had been feeling impatient. It was the same feeling he got when he was bored, and there was something that was supposed to happen, but had been delayed by something or another. He hated the feeling with a passion.
"You aren't? What the fuck happened?"
Maybe he was feeling this way because everything was finally over, and they were going to have to settle into something that resembled normal.
Bleh, he hated normal.
"I can change that, if you want."
Ick, he was asking for Ed's opinion. What was wrong with him?
"Where are we going?"
"Use your brain for once, pipsqueak. Then again, maybe it's just as small as you, just about nonexistent."
That was a little more like it, the same seething hatred that had driven him for so long was making another appearance.
"I told you, I won't make the stone."
"We're not looking for the stone anymore. We need something else from you."
"What else do I have to offer to you? You know fucking well that I won't help you, with anything."
Envy pushed open the giant doors and dumped the alchemist on the floor before leaving. He would have stayed, but to be honest, the creature they were about to unleash scared the fuck out of him. Maybe that was why he had been acting oddly, Envy never got scared. He thought he was too far gone for that. Yet, there was that small part of him that persisted to make him want to live. It wouldn't die no matter how hard he tried to squish it. It had become a pet project of sorts. This also meant that he had to examine himself, looking for a weakness in this one source of fear, which led to complicated things that he had no desire to understand. He smiled, this part would be over soon.
Ed was confused, to put it simply. As far as he knew he was alone, and it didn't look like anyone was coming for him. The doors were locked, and he would have tried to escape with alchemy if he wasn't so curious as to what they wanted with him. He sighed, and started to pace. Al was going to wonder where he was, and get worried. This could not be good. He really should leave. A flash of movement made him spin, and he decided it really was better if he left. Unfortunately, before he could move again, he was pinned to the floor, and then unconscious.
Al was getting worried, his brother hadn't shown up for an entire day by now. While he realized that he could take care of himself, Al was really attached. He loved his brother, and knew how much trouble he could get into. There was nothing he could do though, so he waited.
Ed didn't wake up again until the next day, and that was only because of Envy's relentless attempts to prod anger out of him. Envy, being bored, had decided to mess with him. He didn't really know exactly what was going on, not having listened to Dante when she had explained the entire thing, and as a result, was surprised when Ed did not stir when he was shoved out of the bed. He didn't even so much as twitch when he was suspended from the roof by his ankles, and remained perfectly still while Envy severed the ties and he landed flat on his face. Now, as a last resort, Envy was sitting cross legged at the end of the bed and insulting Ed with every name he could think of. This had been going on for an entire day nonstop, and Envy was still going strong. To his annoyance, so was Ed. It wasn't until an hour later that Envy had exhausted his extensive list of curses, and was making things up. Now he was coming up with explicit ways to torture, and explaining them. Ed still didn't move.
"Are you retarded or something?" Envy asked the sleeping alchemist, but there was no reply. It was by now expected, but Envy had not yet given up. Gluttony came in then, holding a wine glass filled with something red, which Envy identified as blood. Ed's eyes opened, and narrowed in on the glass.
"Give me."
"'Give me'? Maybe you are retarded."
Gluttony gave the glass to Ed, and it was gone within seconds. Ed sighed in relief, and got out of the bed.
"Where are you going?"
Ed didn't say anything, just left the very confused Envy. Last time he checked, the alchemist was very vocal, and here he was, barely saying two words. Perhaps he should have listened to Dante when she explained exactly what they had done to him. In any case, Envy left as well, with intents to follow him. It wouldn't do them any good if Ed somehow managed to escape. However, the alchemist, for all intents and purposes, had disappeared. Since when could he be that sneaky? Envy had seen him not even a second ago. Something strange was definitely going on...
Ed perched on a high roof, overlooking the city. He was blood spattered, but that was to be expected as he was new to the world of vampires. The moon barely illuminated his silhouette, casting a glow on the sleeping city. Before the change, he would have chuckled to himself about the time he had been so hungry he had wished the moon was cheese so that he could eat it, but those memories were gone. Equivalent Exchange, he was immortal, and he had lost the thing that was most important to him. His brother, and any hint of his humanity. Chances were, he was not going to get either of them back either. From here, he felt strong, powerful, and in control. In a sense, he was now, in another, he was more bound than he ever had been. He had just exchanged them for other things.
Eventually, Ed got down from the roof and went down into the city, keeping close to the shadows. He was done with eating, he just wanted to familiarize himself with the city. It was quiet and empty, which he liked. Humans were interesting, he decided. But they were weak, which he hated. The weak died, and counted on others to protect them. They were a waste. Not having another option as to a place to stay, eventually he went back to the mansion and showered, ridding himself of the excess blood. He clapped his hands and transmuted the blood from his clothes, sending it down the drain. Now clean, he put them on. He watched the mirror as he braided his hair, slightly amused that he had no reflection.
When he started walking down the hall, he felt something in his pocket. He took it out and examined it, a watch. It seemed familiar. He opened it, and inside was an inscription written in an unsteady hand. The writing filled him with a sense of loss and terror at the same time, and he flicked it closed. There were too many questions that he didn't have answers to in the single piece of writing.
Envy was pissed, to put it lightly. He had given himself the task of watching the boy, and then he had gone and disappeared. Now he had the gall to just appear again?
"Where the hell have you been?"
Ed didn't answer, not feeling the need to. The being that was not human was not of any interest to him, the only thing that was he had in his pocket. He wanted to know who he had been, and why he had to remember october the third. He also had no desire to give away the fact that he had no memory, and appearing weak.
"Come on, pipsqueak. Tell me, or you'll regret not saying anything."
Envy was at loss, prodding people into saying things had never been this difficult. Maybe that was because he was not normally the one in charge of doing it. He had hoped to spark some kind of reaction, any kind of reaction, but he was met with silence. He aimed a punch at the exposed back, attempting to force the answers out, but too quickly Ed was out of the way. Ed's eyes were narrowed, and Envy noticed there was a slight difference. Instead of being round, his pupil was a cat like slit. Envy aimed a kick, which Ed caught and then used the captured leg to flip his opponent. Envy growled, and came at him again. Each time Ed managed to get out of the way, and Envy noticed that he was faster, and maybe a tiny bit more powerful. Neither let up, until Ed started actually trying to end the fight. He was bored, and had other things to do, such as find where he had gotten the watch. Envy was unable to keep up, and for once, he felt tired. He was panting on the floor from exertion. Ed turned, without a word, and left. It was helpful to know what exactly Envy's limits were.
When morning came, Ed completely and entirely disappeared. Envy could not find him, no matter how hard he searched, which was pretty hard, all day. Even spying on Al was no help, not that he expected he knew where the alchemist in hiding was. When Ed finally made an appearance after the sun went down, Envy was finally able to relax. The cool and intimidating manner the alchemist had was unnerving, and Envy was beginning to wonder whether he was planning revenge. He gave up trying to keep an eye on him all the time, instead using the time for other Envy related things.
Ed was finally able to find where the watch was, the military. Why he was in the military, when he was so much younger than the others was beyond him, but he didn't question it. He went through folder after folder, trying to find his name. The building was big, and there were a lot of offices to go through. That, and he was beginning to get hungry. He sighed, and arranged the papers back into their original order. It wouldn't do for them to know someone was sneaking around. He left, ate, and went home. By tomorrow he would be able to finish his search, and hopefully find what he was looking for. If he didn't, he would have to start from scratch all over again. The prospect was not one that he was looking forward to. In addition, the longer he took, the less likely he was to find it. There was something about the city in the middle of the night that was enchanting, he felt like he could spend all night wandering through the winding streets. He put his hands behind his head and leaned against the wall of the alley, tilting his face to the moon. It illuminated the traces of blood that lingered on his lips, and the deep shadows under his eyes. It also called attention to the pale skin, paler than it had been in the past, and the more beautiful features that were marked with a certain cruel darkness. He closed his eyes and allowed himself the few seconds of peace, free of worrying about who he was, and who he had been. It had to end though, and he pushed himself off the wall and resumed his walk back to the Victorian mansion that he now called home.
There was a distinct feeling of unsettlement, with a tinge of distress that wafted through the halls. Gluttony was sitting in front of a room Ed had never bothered looking in, as it was shut all the time, looking scared.
"What happened?" Ed asked the homunculous, crouching down to his level. Gluttony looked at him, strange moaning noises rising from his throat.
"Master... she's... dead..."
Ed stood, patting the monster on his bald head. He then opened the door, unsurprised to see a corpse on the floor. What did come as a slight shock was that it was already most of the way rotted. It looked to be a young woman, with black hair that came down barely to the shoulders. Ed grimaced in disgust, and moved the body outside, transmuting it into the earth. When he was done he brushed his hands off, and went to see what he could do for the distressed Gluttony. Envy had beaten him to it though, it seemed. Envy was yelling at him, kicking him, slapping him, trying to make him lucid again. He backed off to sneer at Ed when he approached.
"Well, if it isn't the great and allusive alchemist. What are you doing here? This is not any of your business, so go away."
"Yes, because you're so good at being compassionate. I'm sure that Gluttony appreciates you physically abusing him, however, I don't. Gluttony, it's ok."
"Since when did you start caring about us?!? Last time I checked, you were trying to kill us any chance you got."
Ed ignored this, storing the piece of information away for another time.
"Where's Lust?"
It was rather unfortunate that Ed had lost his memory, otherwise he would have been able to answer in a way that was comforting. Instead, he had to improvise.
"Come on, you'll be ok."
Gluttony focused on Ed's face, mentally replacing Ed with Lust.
From then on, Gluttony was inseparable from Ed, when he could be found. Envy was slightly glad he wasn't stuck with the broken homunculous, but more frustrated that Gluttony was better at keeping track of the alchemist than he was. Ed had discovered what he had been doing in the military, he had been a Major that had gone missing. He knew all that was on the file, but didn't have much of a ground on what his personality had been, and what was off file. It irked him, and now he had no idea what he was to do. He couldn't go back to his little brother, he hardly knew him. He also had no desire to stay here, though it was obvious that Gluttony needed him. The little monster was incredibly dependent, which Ed didn't really handle well. Gluttony also somehow held a charm, maybe it was that he was complacent with eating the bodies so that Ed would not be discovered. It was only a matter of time though, until he was discovered. He was wondering through the streets, again, when he saw today's paper. Skimming it, he decided that the killer they were looking for was him. The faces of those missing looked familiar enough. He dumped it in the nearest trash can.
When he entered the foyer of the home, Gluttony was at his side. There was only so long Ed allowed Gluttony to be at his side before deciding he would rather walk through the city alone. While it made the monster a bit depressed, he was happy to eat as frequently as he did and have company. Envy was bored out of his mind. Always he had been involved in some plot, but now there was no plot to be involved in. He had been trying to start his own take over, but he simply didn't have the skills to think it all the way through and call the shots. He didn't even have anybody to terrorize anymore.
"We have to stop this killer," Roy said, referring to the mysterious disappearances. "First we'll search laboratory five, and then there was another place Fullmetal mentioned before he vanished that we'll need to check. A mansion, in the middle of the woods."
No one wanted to go back to the place that seemed haunted, but they did it anyway. There were too many memories here, of the chimeras, of all the close calls. The place didn't smell pleasant either, which didn't help anything. The place was empty though, which they couldn't tell if it was a blessing or a curse. Roy made a mental note to have it brought to the ground, the place was entirely evil. All of them were glad to get out of there when they did, the place was vile and disgusting. Not that their next stop was rainbows and butterflies.
The door came down with a large bang, just as the sun was beginning to set. Roy gave silent orders for them to spread out, methodically checking the seemingly abandoned rooms. Envy was in the cellar in an attempt to find the allusive Edward in the time that he disappeared, Gluttony was waiting silently in the corner. At the bang Ed's eyes snapped open.
"So this is the hiding place of the brat, eh?"
"Sh, there's someone here. Gluttony, come on. Let's go meet our guests."
Envy was already up the stairs, leaning against the wall of the kitchen.
"Who are you?"
Fuery jumped, not having had heard a sound.
"I am Colonel Roy Mustang. Who are you?"
"You're intruding."
Why wasn't he dead already? Envy had no remorse, he should just kill the man. Why? Because he was a human. Humans deserved to die, for playing God.
Ed was hesitant to come out of the shadows and make his presence known, as he knew Roy had been someone he knew. His eyes were glowing a brilliant yellow, even if they were barely slits.
"Yes, it would be best if you left," Ed agreed. His tone was chilling. All of them spun to face the other voice, and Havoc's cigarette drop from his mouth. A black boot ground it out.
"Fullmetal?" Roy's eyes widened in surprise, and then narrowed dangerously with suspicion. "What are you doing here?"
"Can I eat him?"
"No Gluttony. At least, not yet. As I said earlier, you might want to leave."
"As your superior officer, I demand that you tell me what is going on here."
"A lot has changed, Roy. I'm not sure how long I can keep Gluttony back. And you don't want to get involved in that mess." His tone was almost mocking.
"What happened to you?"
"Envy, if you would show them out?"
Very shortly several people landed on their faces outside. Roy rubbed his face where Envy had kicked it.
"Ow."
"Was that really..?"
"I don't think so, but there aren't any other explanations that I can come up with. He doesn't have the tattoo..."
"What do we tell Al?"
Roy turned on his subordinate with a face that clearly read "you are about to die". Havoc resisted the urge to scream and run for the hills, he was that scared.
"If you say anything, if he even gets the notion, you will wish that I twisted a pen through your gut until it came out the other side before forcefully removing each of your fingers and toes. That, in comparison to what I will do to you, will seem merciful. Do I make myself clear?"
Havoc passed out, and Mustang left him there, knowing that Fuery and Hawkeye would drag him back to the car. From then on Havoc avoided Mustang and Al like the plague.
"Sir? What did you tell him to make him act like that?" Neither Hawkeye nor Fuery had been in hearing range of the deadly Colonel.
"Some things are better left to the imagination," Roy said with a smirk, leaving the lounge. He was slightly surprised when he saw Ed perched on his desk, going through several papers at once. Tension in the air was so thick you could cut it with a knife.
"What are you doing here?"
Ed sighed. There was no easy way to put this. "I need help."
"Why should I help you?"
Maybe this had been a mistake. Ed got off the desk. "I... I don't know. I'm just... I can't remember who I was... and I don't like who I am. I'm sorry I bothered you."
"What do you mean, you don't remember who you were?"
"I don't... know. I... just don't... I should know who you are, right? I mean, you are... at least were... my commanding officer, right? So I should know who you are, but I don't. I don't remember getting the automail, or what I did to get the automail. I don't know my little brother, or where I grew up, or anything. In fact, I only know about these things is because I read my file."
"You don't remember... anything?"
"No."
"What's the last thing you do remember?"
"Waking up, in that house."
Roy was a bit shocked, the kid was almost acting his age, and he was scared. What was more, was that he was looking to Roy for comfort.
"You've been missing, there was a fight, a riot. You disappeared. We thought you were dead."
"Thank you."
"You might want this too, it's a scrapbook of you and Al that Winry asked me to give you for your birthday."
"Winry?"
"She's your friend, she made you the automail."
"Oh. Again, you have my thanks."
Several years later Ed was perched on the tip of a roof that looked over Central. It was the closest he allowed himself to being a part of the city, ever since that evening he went to visit the Colonel he had refused himself contact with any of the people he had known in his former life. When he had looked through the book, none of his memories came back. How could he go back when he didn't even know the people he had grown up with anymore?
How could he remember October the Third, today's date, when all his memories were gone?