I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist or any of its characters. Both belongs to Arakawa Hiromu.
Chapter II
– Oblivion –
"Ed, wake up! Wake up! Edward!"
Who the hell is shaking me like that? I wanna sleep! Gosh, my eyes feel so heavy. I can't even open them and man, that dream was horrible! The blonde could only manage to groan a little.
"Ed, are you awake?"
There's that voice again. Just who's calling me? Don't they see I don't want to be awake?
"Lemme sleep," the blonde slurred sleepily.
"You need to get up, or I'll have to carry you, Ed."
Is that Hughes?
"Hu-Hughes?" Finally, amber eyes opened and faced worried light-green ones. Blinking, Edward noticed something wet on his face. He pulled his flesh hand over his face and found sweat, blood and… tears? "I… I was crying in my sleep?"
"Ed, I need you to get up so we can take you to the hospital. I can call someone to bring a wheelchair or a stretcher if you want." Hughes stood at the opened door of the black car's back-seats, next to where Edward lay, a worried expression plastered on his face.
Hospital? Wheelchair? What the hell's going on? Wait, I'm injured? The blonde released an annoyed groan. "I don't need a fucking wheelchair. Just let me go home. I'm fine."
"You need medical attention, Ed. The doctors have to confirm if you really were…" The Lieutenant Colonel trailed off.
"Confirm what? Why do I need medical attention?" the teen demanded to know. "I'm fine, so just let me go home." To clarify his point, Edward raised himself with a jolt from his laying position, only to be forced down again by pain shooting through his body. "What the– What happened? Why do I feel sore all over?"
Worry crossed Hughes' features. "Don't you remember anything?"
"What should I remember?" Suddenly Edward did remember something. "Wait, what about Al? We got separated when we chased Scar! Is he alright?"
"Scar got him, but he's alright. He has a large tear in his left side, but we picked all the pieces up we could find," the man replied with a reassuring smile.
"That's good. I need to fix him soon, I guess." Seemingly relieved now, Edward relaxed in his seat a little.
"We need to get you into the hospital, now. You're probably seriously injured, Ed."
"What are you talking about?" the teen asked rather frustrated.
A sigh left the spectacled man's mouth. Maybe the adrenaline and the shock are still numbing his pain, he thought. "What is the last thing you remember, Ed?"
"I don't know what you're talking about. What should I remember?"
"Something happened to you. You ran into me and Roy and were completely out of it. I tried to stop you from running around more, so I grabbed you and then you bit me. Pretty hard."
Just now, Edward noticed the bandage around Hughes' right lower arm. Blood was still leaking from the wound, tinting the material crimson. "Sorry." He went silent for a moment, thinking.
"It's not that bad, really. It's not even that deep, just bleeding like mad. So what do you remember?"
"The last thing I remember, before waking up here, is chasing Scar together with Jackson."
"Draigen Jackson, the State Alchemist?"
The blonde nodded. "Yeah, that guy. Before Scar appeared, Al and I were headed towards that retired State Alchemist's house cause we were supposed to investigate him. But on our way there, some guys from Creta ambushed us because they thought we were enemies. Well… we are Amestrians after all, but anyway: Though Al and I didn't have a problem dealing with them, there were just so many of them and we were getting tired. Then Jackson appeared and helped us escape. After that Scar showed up and then we fought against him, but somehow I got separated from Al and ended up with Jackson. Al was the one chasing after Scar and I wanted to go after him, but… after that I don't remember anything."
"I see." The worry still didn't leave Hughes' face. "I'm sure the others are coming right now with a stretcher for you. They all went into the hospital to prepare everything." The green-eyed man smiled encouragingly at the teen.
"I don't need to go to a fucking hospital! Why are you insisting on me being injured?"
"When you were sleeping, you had a nightmare. You were shivering, crying and mumbling incoherent stuff." Hughes ignored the boy's complaining completely. "What were you dreaming about?"
"I-I don't really know. I remember it being really clear when I dreamed it, but as soon as I woke up, I couldn't recall anything from the dream. The only thing I remember is pain and that feeling of helplessness." His expression dropped a little at the memory of that sickening feeling of not being able to protect himself.
"So you don't remember anything that happened after you got separated from Al?"
The teen just shook his head in response with a sad expression. "What happened?"
"We don't know either, that's why I'm asking you. But now lets get you treated. Look, Al's already coming with the paramedics."
As the blonde raised himself carefully, trying to ignore the pain coming from his lower back, he looked out of the opened door and soon spotted his armor of a brother running towards them with two paramedics at his heels.
"You're awake, Nii-san! That's great!" the metallic voice chimed. "We got you a stretcher, so we can bring you to the hospital."
Edward's smile wavered a little. "But Al, I really don't need–"
"You will get treated and I won't let you go home until you're healed up." The boy's tone obviously didn't allow any complains, so the older Elric let himself be dragged onto the stretcher obediently, still feeling sorry for injuring Hughes.
Only a few moments passed, until he could smell the clean scent of the white hospital building. White walls enclosing him and nurses as well as doctors walking around busily. The white light surrounding him stung his eyes, so he shut them, hearing his brother's concerned voice.
"Nii-san," he sighed. "Does he even hear me? He looks so…" The boy trailed off.
"He's going to be fine, Al."
That was Hughes, but somehow his voice seemed to steadily vanish. He kept talking to Alphonse, but what he was saying didn't reach Edward. Everything around him slowly faded away and with a groan he let himself fall into the inviting depths of unconsciousness.
Looking down at Edward, Hughes heaved a sigh. "He fell unconscious again. I don't really know wether I should be glad or worried."
The stretcher with Edward on it then was pushed into one of the rooms, a doctor already standing outside of it. Mustang and his subordinates were already waiting in front of said room.
"Good evening, I'm Dr. Noah Walker. I will be caring for Elric-san." An elderly doctor greeted them in front of the room, while Edward was brought into said room. He looked back at the Fullmetal Alchemist. "So this is Edward Elric." Then he averted his gaze away from the teen again to face the persons standing in front of him. "He does look very weak. What happened to him?"
"We don't know," Hughes answered. "We found him like this and he seems to not remember anything."
"So he's been awake?" The doctor glanced at the other spectacled man over the brim of his glasses.
"Yes. He was awake just now, but only for a couple moments. Then he fell unconscious again."
"That's good to know. We're going to check him over to see how injured he is. As soon as we find something, I will inform you." After giving the persons in front of the room a reassuring smile, Dr. Walker entered Edward's room and closed the door behind him.
"He can't remember anything?" The usually calm features of Mustang were slightly shadowed with worry.
With a sad expression Hughes shook his head. "When Ed woke up after his nightmare, I asked him if he could remember anything that happened."
While Hughes told him about what Edward and Alphonse had experienced on their mission, Mustang's expression darkened even more.
"It also seems as if he can't recall anything that happened in his dream, only the feeling of pain and helplessness," the green-eyed man finished.
After hearing what Hughes had said, Fuery stepped up. "That sounds horrible! Just what happened to him?"
"I don't know, Kain-kun," Hughes replied. "The only way of finding out is by asking Ed, but when he doesn't remember anything…"
Everyone went silent. It was clear that something horrible must have happened to Edward, since he had lost his memory just like that. He was still a child to everyone. A child that had gone to hell and back so many times already, at such a young age.
Mustang crossed his arms over his chest. "Don't you have work to do?" he asked his subordinates with a stern and scolding face.
All of them, Havoc, Breda, Falman and Fuery, straightened up immediately. "Yes, Sir," they exclaimed in unison.
"Get back back to Headquarters and do your work," Mustang instructed his subordinates. "Hawkeye, accompany them and make sure they do their work properly."
"Yes, Sir." The only women among the male soldiers saluted and, together with the others, left.
An amused chuckle left Hughes, who looked after his companions walking away with annoyed expressions. "Don't you have work to do too?" he asked his friend.
"Fullmetal is my subordinate, so I'm the one responsible for him. What about you? Don't you have work to do?" A small, lopsided smirk appeared on Mustang's face.
"I finished most of my work before we came here. I'll just stay here for a while and then go home. Seems you care for Ed pretty much, huh?"
"I told you: I'm his superior officer, so I'm responsible for him. Staying here after something like that happened is the least I can do. There's nothing personal about it."
Hughes' smile turned into a smug grin. "If you say so."
Alphonse just sat somewhere in the waiting room, watching the two men. He was glad that some of the tension had left a while ago, but the worry was still nagging at him, filling him with anxiety. "Nii-san…" he murmured.
About two hours had passed in which Mustang, Hughes and Alphonse had sat in their seats in the cold waiting room, waiting for something to happen, someone telling them what Edward's condition was. The white door to Edward's room finally opened again, revealing Dr. Walker, his expression unreadable.
With a jolt Mustang, Hughes and Alphonse stood upright from their seats, facing the white-cladded man.
The first to speak was Mustang, worry lining each of his words. "What did you find out?"
Dr. Walker sighed, before looking up from the clipboard he held. "Elric-san is covered in bruises and cuts, from his thighs to his lower back. There are bruises on his legs and arms that indicate that he has been bound and he also has bite marks on his neck. The skin of his lower lip is torn open, due to him probably biting on it himself. We found a white substance on and inside of him him that's definitely semen and we cleaned him up as good as we could. But the worst thing are the tears in the rectal and anal area."
Sharp intakes of breath and gasps were heard. Mustang dragged his hand over his face in despondency, Hughes covered his mouth with one hand in shock and Alphonse just kept motionless.
The metallic and shaky voice suddenly broke the silence. "What does that mean? What happened to Nii-san?"
Mustang turned around to face the slightly shaking armor. "He was raped, Alphonse."
There was still no reaction coming from Alphonse. He just sat there. Motionless. Wordless. Overwhelmed by the sheer incredibility of what had happened to his brother.
Insecurity crossed Hughes' worried features. "Will Ed be alright?"
Dr. Walker glanced at his clipboard again for a second, before facing the green-eyed man again. "He doesn't seem to have any sexually transmitted diseases and those injuries aren't something that won't heal when time given," the doctor answered. "What I'm most concerned about are the mental injuries. He will regain his memory eventually and at that time, he will have to face huge mental issues, such as flashbacks to the attack and retaliation fantasies that can be very shocking, due to their graphic violence. He might show nervous or compulsive behavior, depression and mood swings, withdrawal from relationships and changes in sexual activity. He also might feel things like anger and anxiety, denial, guilt, shame or humiliation, fear and a feeling of loss of control and of self-respect. All that are things that he might have to encounter, though it's unlikely that all of them will show up. I myself have encountered many rape victims in my time here. We're near a war zone after all and I assume you have heard of war rape, gentlemen." The gray-haired and balding man focused his questioning glare on Mustang and also Hughes.
Hughes' expression dropped a little at the thought. "Rape committed by soldiers, in order to either humiliate the enemy or to undermine their moral."
"Exactly." Dr. Walker struggled to keep a straight face. "We are lucky that this hospital isn't too near to the war zone itself. Other hospitals in Pendleton have already been destroyed and ours has been attacked just last week. But since we made a deal with the Amestrian government not to treat Cretans, they assured us their protection, so this is the most safe place in this area right now. I tell you that since you either probably already know something or will find out eventually anyway."
"Anything else, Sir?" Mustang wanted to know.
Dr. Walker shot the raven-haired man a calculating glare, before answering. "In addition to the memory loss, Elric-san might encounter changes in his sleep patterns, loss of appetite, head- and stomachaches and nausea. Right now he's still unconscious, but soon will be awake again. He shouldn't be left alone in his mentally unstable condition though, so I suggest there should be someone staying with him at all times. Of course, there could be several persons watching over him successively, since I cannot allow more than one person being in his room at a time."
"Of course," the Flame Alchemist replied. "I can arrange it that my subordinates will watch after him in turns. Since his brother is the most closest person to him, I suggest Alphonse-kun being the one to care for him first."
"I don't mind that, as long as someone is there for him." Ignoring the fact that said brother seemed to wear an armor, Dr. Walker gave Alphonse a warm smile.
One could say that Alphonse's expression lit up at the doctor's words. "Thank you, Dr. Walker! I'm glad my brother will have such a great doctor caring for him."
"It's what I chose as my job after all," the elderly man replied with a smile. "You can visit Elric-san now if you want. But try to not wake him, in case he's asleep." He stepped aside, allowing the two men and the armor to enter.
The three of them entered the cold hospital room, lit in cold white light. Together they faced the pale form of Edward Elric. Sleeping or unconscious, they couldn't tell. Alphonse was immediately at his brother's side, Hughes stood beside him and Mustang let himself fall into one of the seats. They all were worried about Edward, but they also were aware of the danger he had escaped from and that it could have ended far worse.
"Kaa-san! Oka-san!" A small, blond boy ran down the dusty path towards his mother, holding something in his small hands.
The brunette woman turned to her son with a smile. "What's the matter, Ed?"
"A present. I made it with alchemy." He held up a metal toy horse to her.
"You did?" Trisha placed her right hand on her son's head and patted him. "You really are your father's son."
The little blonde's face lit up even more and he giggled.
Trisha knelt down in front of her son, her hand still on the top of his head. "Thank you. You're really incredible, Ed. Being able to create such splendid things… But…"
Fresh tomatoes fell to the ground and splattered across the wooden floor.
Suddenly, Edward found himself in the dark kitchen of their house. He looked up into his mother's face.
"How come you couldn't make me properly…" a ghostly voice, coming from a rotten-looking mouth, asked.
White eyes with no pupils looked down at him. The skin almost black and teeth showing through non-existent lips.
Suddenly, there was a new, childish-sounding voice.
"Onii-chan," it sounded cheerfully.
The small boy, shaking in dread, turned around to face the source of the voice: Nina and Alex.
Their bodies suddenly mashed together, creating the chimera.
"Let's play."
While frantically searching for a way to escape, the world around him became darker with every second, ghostly voices chiming around him.
"Let's play."
"Why didn't you make me properly?"
"Otou-san… it hurts?
"Don't you love me anymore?"
Clutching his head, Edward tried to block out the voices, but soon heard another familiar voice.
"Nii-san?"
Instantly the blonde removed his shaking hands from his head and averted his gaze to the person before him. Alphonse stood in front of him.
"Nii-san? Why didn't you let me die?"
"W-What?"
"Why did you put me in this armor? Why didn't you just let me be and rest in peace?"
"B-But I–"
"You only thought of yourself. After mom died I was all you had left, so you didn't want to lose me and be alone. You're so selfish, Nii-san."
"B-But Al, I didn't mean to… I just wanted… I did it for us!"
"Us? I wouldn't have felt anything, only you would have felt the remorse and sadness of loosing me. But because of your selfishness, I now have to live in an armor for the rest of my life."
"We'll get your body back, Alphonse. I promi–"
"As if. Do you know how it is like to not be able to feel anything? Not being able to feel touch, pain and sensations. Not being able to eat, taste, sleep and smell? Being stared at for being in a huge armor? Being in some big trash can of old metal? You have no idea how I feel. Loosing two limbs is nothing compared to what I have to live through. Why didn't you just let me die in peace, without having to live through all this despair and sadness?"
"A-Al. I-I never–"
"You never thought about me, only about yourself… I hate you. From the depths of my non-existent heart."
