Author's Note: I've been going through some stuff. Cried more in the past two days than I would in an entire year. I won't go into detail. I'm just a worrisome kind of girl. So, as a result, I wrote away my worry with this depressing ficlet. Enjoy. x___x
An open wound festered and bled. Eyes, once bright with life, grew dull in death. A blister, filled with puss and blood, popped. Screams. Gurgled cries. Muffled prayers. It was all Edward Elric could do to prevent from crying.
A fight to the death, it appeared, the broad stone walls smeared in blood both dark and light. Terrible scrapings that appeared to be from human fingernails covered the floor. Bodies lay strewn across the cold stone. Some were rotting, their skin soft like that of a rotten tomato; their stench intensifying as small bugs and animals began to tear through the layers of soft flesh, allowing themselves to indulge in the stinking, dead meat. Some were dying, their cracked lips whispering the Lord's Prayer. Edward felt a rat scuffle across the top of his boot. Alphonse nudged him clumsily in the arm, trying to fetch his attention. But nothing could grasp his attention now, not that he had already held eyes with the dull, lifeless ones of Envy.
At the very far corner of the room, Envy was impaled on a large, wooden pole. His body was paler than it had ever been and blood dripped from the pole's pointed end and pooled around the dead Sin's feet. A note, scribbled in curly script was literally pinned onto Envy's soft flesh with a small dagger. Edward edged closer, avoiding stepping on a squishy, bludgeoned arm or kicking an already-dying soul.
Alphonse, quietly rasping Ed's name in protest, did not move from his spot and watched his elder brother continue across the room. All the while, Edward's heart pounded painfully in his chest and throbbed within his ears. Finally, he reached Envy's body and Ed knew he had to do all he could to keep from crying, screaming, and wailing at his loss. Envy had been, after all, his best friend.
He reached forth, a gloved hand shaking, as he gently moved the folds of drooping, ripped black cloth away from the punctured skin where the note hung. Slipping the dagger out of Envy's chest, a good bout of blackish red blood spurted, dripping noisily down Envy's front and running down his legs in soft droplets, making a gentle dripping sound that almost drove the poor blonde insane. Trying his hardest, he read the note.
It described the reason behind this massacre and why Envy was included in those who were meant to die. It was addressed to Edward, the writer knowingly aiming the heartless description of Envy's death to him in smeared ink. Edward felt warm tears begin to spill down his cheeks, the taste of salt lingering at the corners of his trembling, crackled lips. At the bottom of the letter was the excessively curly signature: The Homunculi.
Edward wailed now, clutching the note and screaming profanity through choked sobs. Alphonse called out and hurried to his brother's side, gently allowing the smaller blonde to lean against his metallic chest. Edward cried, sobbed, screamed, and prayed aloud, doing everything he could to make sure he was heard. He wanted everyone to know he was in pain, that he was suffering worse than death itself. He wanted people to pity him, to comfort him, to heal his broken heart. But the only one who could do that was staring at him with half-closed, pale violet eyes. Dead eyes.
He collapsed to his knees, the note now crumpled in his tense fist, slowly absorbing the blood that Ed pressed his hand in. He lifted his hand, watching the Sin's blood run down it. He ran his hand down his face. The stench of death stung Ed's nostrils but the feel of Envy's blood was sadistically comforting. His bangs were tousled now, hair sticking every which way. Dark, drying blood smeared along his hairline and down the left side of his face and trickled down his neck. He looked up with empty golden eyes at the corpse that remained unmoving before him.
Envy's hair was oily, stringy. It hung limply in his face but gave way slightly to reveal the left side of his bloodied face. His eyes were dull, no sign of life glimmering whatsoever. Ed remembered what it looked like, Envy's face so full of life. But now his eyes had lost their vibrancy and just stared dully at the suffering Edward. His mouth hung slightly ajar, blood staining his lips a thick red and running down his chin. A large welt and an equally large black bruise covered his cheekbone and temple. The rest of his body was torn, bruised, and bloodied horribly. The large pointed end of the wooden stake protruded from his chest, splintered and bloody. Other puncture wounds showed signs that could only be described as postmortem. Ed winced and looked away, wallowing in his misery in Al's larger, armored arms. And as he looked up at Sin's body once more, Edward realized finally the one thing that had been confirmed in Envy's death.
"I'm coming undone."