Well.. We were looking at an advertisement for the visual novel that shares the same title as this fic (though the subtitle is Dark Alchemist). And it just seemed like such a neat AU.. We had to do it. xD Yes, We know Ed's braid only goes to about the middle of his shoulders. But honestly, wouldn't down to the middle of his back be uber hawt? xD Please note that this AU is set around the 1800's. :3
We feel SO BAD about this, it's not even funny. Please, Aru fans, do not shoot Us. Go read something else if you don't exactly appreciate his death.
Dedication: Taisa, for keeping Us going with this. We wouldn't have been able to do it without him pushing Us on, believe you Us!
Pairing: Undecided, possibly RoyEd. Otherwise, no main pairings. May change.
Full Summary: Young aristocrat Edward Elric enjoys a fortunate existence, until the day his beloved younger brother is tried as a warlock and brutally murdered. Desperate to bring him back to life, Edward opens the door to the forbidden world of dark alchemy. Is love a sin? Or is sin proof of love? Edward stands before the gates of judgement -- will he find redemption, or damnation?
Warnings: Violence, blood&gore, possible swearing
Disclaimer: Don't own it! Contains ideas from Animamundi: Dark Alchemist, and Godchild, by Kaori Yuki. Summary taken from the advertisement for Animamundi, and edited to fit FMA. Song credited to 'Gypsy of Atonement' from Hellsing. The "kidnappers" are credited to Squaresoft and Final Fantasy VII. :D The cook isn't Ours either, she's Envy's character Mina. Chapter name is credited to the album Good Apollo I'm Burning Star IV: From Fear Through the Eyes of Madness by Coheed and Cambria.
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animamundi: circle one from fear through the eyes of madness
"Can I eat this, Cook?" came a voice. The cook looked up, brushing a lock of long brown hair out of her face. She smiled and nooded, and the young aristocrat picked up the scone he'd been indicating and left. The blue-eyed girl watched him leave, grinning to herself for a moment before brushing off her apron and going back to mixing the muffin batter.
The blonde teen took a bite out of the maple-glazed delicacy, grinning in delight. Damn, that was good. He paused in front of a large painting, golden gaze travelling slowly over the portrait of his father, a bronze-haired, bearded and bespectacled man. The noble boy did not exactly approve of the man. Actually, he despised him, and only spoke with him when desperately necessary. Hohenheim did not seem to dislike his eldest son at all, and actually seemed to enjoy his company. But he'd only been supporting the Elrics from the sidelines for some time, instead of being around, and never communicated with them till just a few years ago. Edward had come to realize how much he actually despised this person. He obviously could not hate his mother: he'd loved her so much when he was small, as did Aruphonse, and... she'd died when he was eight. He could not hate her. The boy shook his head, long braid flopping against the small of his back as he walked past.
The manor was Victorian-styled, as were many these days. Candles flickered in their holders beside the entrances to bedrooms and other chambers; in some places the wax pooled around the bottom and dripped onto the carpet and wallpaper below. Many paintings adorned the burgundy walls, and statues and gargoyles stood frozen beside tables which in turn stood below paintings.
He stopped abruptly as a yell alerted them that something was going on outside. Not wanting to be left out of this event, he threw his pinstriped waistcoat on over his linen shirt and his cravat, and hurried out, shoes clacking on the outside drive (which a lot of people were envious of; it was paved, and that was very expensive), but the scene ahead of him made him stop and stare, blinking wide golden eyes stupidly. What were they -- who were these guys? The police?! What were they doing to -- "Aru!"
His brother was busy attempting to throw a pair of men off himself. Though larger than his older brother, who was rather small and lithe, Aruphonse Elric was no match for these men, who were obviously trained for jobs such as hustling unsuspecting nobles into carriages. Upon the arrival of Edward, the men halted in their fight, but not before the smaller one jabbed his elbow into Aru's back and he toppled over. "What the hell are you doing?!" demanded Edward, approaching angrily and planting all five foot four of himself in front of the pair of "kidnappers".
One, a tall bald man with dark sunglasses, a goatee, and olive skin, picked Aruphonse up and slung him over his shoulder, but didn't reply. Both were wearing suits, with the outline of a gun under their breast pockets. The other, a smaller pale-skinned, redhaired man with a long ponytail and a club, smirked and replied coolly, "He's gonna be tried. We got reports that he's been practicing witchcraft." And without another word, the pair left. Edward watched them go, horrified. Aru hadn't ever performed anything even remotely like witchcraft, which meant only one thing: His brother was going to die.
/The death wish wind is blowing into the life/
When the younger of the Elric brothers woke, he realized he was flopped into a cell and was lying on straw. He picked himself up, blinking around the dark room as he wondered where he was. Where had those men taken him to? He remembered a sharp pain, and then blackness, so they must have knocked him out.. Typical. Kidnappers were always doing that. So.. now he had to find out why he was here, seemed like. He peered around the blackness, blinking rather like a deer caught in the headlanterns. His eyes slowly adjusted to the blackness, and he found that he was in some sort of jail. The bars were rusty and didn't seem very strong, though when the bronze-haired boy placed a hand on them and wiggled them, they were quite strong. He sighed, shaking his head and sitting back down. "What, you think you're going to get out?" asked a voice, sounding rather exasperated.
Aru looked up, blinking, and the voice sighed. "Sorry, kid, can't do it. I've got orders, and I've got to watch you. It's not fun, mind; all you did was lay there for the longest time." The voice seemed rather bored, now he thought about it. Something shifted, and suddenly a violet-haired man was crouching in front of him, adjusting his spectacles as he lowered himself to speak on eye-level with the young aristocrat. "So. You going to tell me who you are?" asked the man, fixing him with a silver gaze that seemed rather amused at Aru's predicament.
"What's the point?" shot back Aruphonse. "I'm just going to die anyway, right?" He seemed to have already accepted it, resigned himself to his fate. It wasn't that he had a death wish or anything, and that he wasn't outraged that he was falsely accused of being a warlock. He just knew he was innocent, and that this guy was sort of pissing him off.
The purplehaired man looked back at him, grinning. "Well, yes, but it's always nice to talk before you die. Keeps the nervousness down, you know." He shrugged, sitting down. He was wearing simple attire; a tall, black hat, and a cloak, one that covered his whole body save for his head and his boots. The collar was turned up, making him look almost like a vicar, though he didn't look very religious whatsoever. The man shrugged again, shaking his head. "So what're you in here for?"
Aru scoffed. "Shouldn't you know?" he replied icily. "You're the one who stuck me in here in the first place, right? You should know these things." Then again, he wasn't entirely sure of his words himself. This guy didn't seem to be intent on killing young nobles.
The bespectacled man shook his head. "No," he replied lightly. "I'm just the guy who's supposed to talk to you till you go crazy." Obviously a joke. Or.. was it? He looked serious.. He paused, then continued to speak. "I'll tell you my name if you tell me yours. It's kinda useless, but I like to be able to address who I'm talking to. So.. you are...?" He regarded Aru with an expectant look, obviously waiting for an answer.
The younger Elric brother sighed. He didn't particularily want to give out his name to someone who would probably be around to blab it to other occupants of this cell, or worse, media; and it would be possible to scare it out of him. Of course, it was useless information, this man's name,. but he was curious enough to ask for it. "Aruphonse Elric," he replied after a long pause. "And you?"
"Alexander Connor Rubens," replied the man without hesitating. "The third. Though I am of high standing, I do quite enjoy this job. Communication skill-building, and all that." He broke into a grin. "Even so, I prefer to avoid making friends. Here, anyway," he added, noting Aru's confused look. "They all die, so there's no point."
/That suffering, that emptiness, that pain in the chest/
Yup. He was positively going to die. Juuuuust perfect. Of course, hed known that before, but still.. this destroyed any hope he may have had before. Aru sighed, flopping back on the grimy, bloodstained hay. "So how long to I have? To live, like," he questioned morbidly.
Rubens shrugged. "Depends on when the Lord gets back. Could be any time from a minute from now to an hour. He likes to dillydally; doesn't quite enjoy trying people. You know," he added offhandedly, "most people he tries are women. Witches, and the like. Course, he'll like a change." He looked up as a door opened somewhere in the prison, and grinned, pushing up his glasses. "He's here." He leaned back, lifting a hand in greeting. "Welcome, Lord! Reno and Rude brought you someone new."
Said "Lord", a man wearing a hood that shadowed the top of his face, stepped toward them, smirking at the rather frightened look on the younger Elric brother's face. "Well take him out, then, I can't possibly give him a test while he's locked in there, now can I?" replied the shadowy-faced man, robes shifting as he stepped toward them. His voice was rather deep, and sounded quite smug. Rubens snorted, but nodded, standing and removing the padlock on the cage. Aru stumbled to his feet, but without warning Rubens grabbed his wrist, hauling him out and managing to bring him to a sort of examining table. He was placed upon it, and without warning, the torture began.
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INTERMISSION: Heh.. This is where he dies, so... Just a warning: you may want to skip it. We're mutilating him here. Aru lovers will shoot Us for this.
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A cough. A splatter of blood hit the floor, followed by another splash of the crimson fluid. He was.. was he bleeding? Internally... He knew all about this... didn't he? It escaped him... He couldn't focus, couldn't..
A stab, another stab joined the multitude of wounds already on his back. He was hanging by his legs; they were in a large cuff that was bolted to a long chain. Silver, perhaps... What sort of horrible idea...
What about.. what about Edward? Was his brother.. angry with him? Would he be..? He knew he was --
Aruphonse's thoughts were cut short as the blades of the hooded man's silver shears bit into his hand, and Aru drew it back instinctively to find... Half his index and middle fingers, and the first knuckle of his thumb were gone. Hell, he could see the bone, marrow and all, and the muscle that surrounded it, quite clearly. It was sickening.Had this man just... ? The silver-eyed teen winced, but didn't make a sound. The man was obviously dissatisfied, because the shears bit down again, this time on the shell of his ear. The tip -- gone. Was this man just going to mutilate him until he was satisfied? With the lift of another tool, Aru knew it was so. Gone were the rest of his fingers as the man squeezed what seemed to be something for... what did someone use pliers for? He couldn't remember; he'd never done work like that. And now --
With a single slice, the man had traced a blade around his jawline, slashed inwards, drew out, and neatly removed his lower jaw with two loud cracks of bone. And he was still alive, and trying not to move. He whimpered, tongue lashing pitifully against the bloody outline of where his jaw should have been.. Please, could you just... end the pain?
As if answering his silent prayers, the man drew the blade neatly across each of Aru's wrists, the blood from the slits splattering the puddle below. "Good night," whispered the smug Lord before sliding it along the teen's neck. "See you in hell, I suppose..."
The last thing Aru saw was the man turning, throwing off his hood. An amount of black hair reached Aru's vision, along with a dark fabric patch obscuring a stretch of skin, before his vision turned red and he blacked out.
/Inescapable criminal's destiny/
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There you are, Our first shot at gore. Dx It didn't turn out nearly as We'd hoped...