A/N: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist.
We'RE NOt AlIVe, Rose
Twisted Ways
Rose didn't know what to do with Edward.
He wasn't human – that much was clear by now. Just ten minutes ago, he had saved both of them from Gluttony, even being bitten at one point, but the flesh had just sown itself back together. Somehow she had convinced them to run away into a small house nearby, but the sight had disturbed her.
Ed wasn't human. Or was he even Ed at all anymore?
-Wrath-
Rose was panicking, I knew. She kept on glancing suspiciously at Ed – no, Pride – and then back at the door, as if expecting Gluttony to suddenly barge in.
And then there was the new homunculus himself.
He kept on glancing around from his position on the floor, wide-eyed and scared. Like a broken track record, he kept on asking who he was, what he was, why we were looking at him like that... and about the Gate.
Gate. place of damnation. living hell. The remembrance brought pathetic shudders to my body, and I quaked before the mere memory of it.
Now this man who had murdered my mother... he now knew the terror of it too. Not like the traipsing alchemist trying to bring Mommy back to life, but as a homunculus.
i want to be human. like he was.
But no. This wasn't Edward Elric anymore. This pitiful creature wasn't the one who had killed her. He was dead, and now there was only this shallow shell –
A baby's wail.
No – no! The Gate! It was –!
Not here. I glared at Rose.
"Will you shut that thing up?" Now she set her frightened eyes on me, and I snarled. The baby wailed again. "Shut up!" But she was already taking care of the demented thing, making soothing noises and rocking it side to side. I growled.
"Just keep that thing away from me." Instead of nodding obediently though, as she had done so many times at the mansion, the woman's eyes flared with anger.
"Thing? This is my baby! If you can't stand her crying, then leave!" Now, I glanced down, down at the stump where a leg had once been. leave? ha. if only I could.
"I can't," I said shortly, and wished I had regenerative abilities like Greed, and apparently the new Pride. But I doubted it would have helped. The Gate had taken those limbs away from me, and even his automail didn't seem to be sprouting new limbs.
"I'm sorry." I looked back up in surprise at the woman.
"Sorry for what? Forgetting I'm a cripple?" I laughed, and suddenly the hysteria was too much. Strangled sobs choked my throat, and yet, the laughter still bubbled up to the surface. The woman, strangely enough, came to me, patting me on the back reassuringly. I shrugged her off.
"I'm sorry..." she said again, looking up at the ceiling. "I'm sorry for everything. You lost your mother, didn't you?" I opened my mouth for an angry retort. I didn't need pointless reassurance –
Pride stirred. We started, still on edge, and Rose nervously glanced out the window again.
"Mother..." he whispered eerily, and I took the opportunity to change the subject.
"He'll probably need red stones," I said casually. I felt the urge, the ferality rise within me with the simple mention of the stones. hunger. i need food. crave it.
"What?"
"It's a homunculus thing. You don't think he could go without any energy after fighting Gluttony, did you? That healing trick he did probably sapped him out of whatever he had from being created." I stared at the shaking body as I spoke. He was so pitiful like this...
"Red stones? What are they?" Then I was staring at her with shock.
she doesn't know?
Of course not. Dante never would've told someone like her such a dirty secret.
"They're... They're like the Philosopher's Stone." Obviously, she knew about that, judging by her startled gasp. "Made out of human lives. Like an energy source for us homunculi. We can go for a while without needing any, but like I said..." I gestured to the body. "He's not in a very good shape. Right now, he could die as easily as you."
"You can't die?" she asked, sounding dazed. I grinned, showing all my pointy teeth.
"Of course I can. It's just very, very hard to kill me." But then the thought of Gluttony prowling the streets, tracking us down, made me shudder. "That monster probably could though." How long would it be before he found us, hiding in this house so close to the ballroom?
"I guess it doesn't matter anyway. We're going to die soon." There was no reason to wondering about some far-off future anymore.
"Don't say that!" Rose exclaimed, and I smiled weakly at her. She really was an optimist, wasn't she?
"You could still escape," I offered. "You and your baby." Pride couldn't move, and neither could I. She was better off without us. Rose, however, looked horrified at the suggestion.
"And leave you two?" I laughed again, a harsh and bitter sound.
"It's not much of a life, is it? We're not even real people anyway. We're homunculi, Rose. Just go and save yourself."
"But..." She glanced at Pride.
ah, so this is about him. him, him, him. stupid edward elric.
"He's not really Ed, you know." They were words she needed to hear, to finally face reality instead of the illusion she seemed to be clinging to. "I should know. I'm a homunculus too, remember?"
"But..." Now her voice was weak, so I only pressed on, to drive to point home. stop being so weak. stupid human. don't you understand?
"He's never coming back. Edward Elric is dead. They're both dead. So stop dreaming and go!" I shouted.
And she went, tears falling down her face.
Only two homunculi left. Two cripples who were slated for death.
how fitting.
