Hey everyone, welcome back! Bear with me, it should only be a couple more chapters or so before it gets into the most interesting part of the plot (the most bizarre part, in other words, heh heh heh). As long as my creative streak sticks with me, I should hopefully be able to whip those chapters out like I've been whipping these ones out. Cross your fingers that the creative streak stays with me, okay?
Disclaimer: I'm sitting at the library, I own a cat that my mother's taking care of right now, orange juice makes me sick from its high sugar content, and none of that has anything to do with the fact that I don't own FullMetal Alchemist.
Al trudged through the mud and grass as he made his way to the woods where he figured his brother was probably hiding. It seemed kind of ironic that it was muddy today, since that meant it had rained at some point, and it had certainly seemed the ideal day for a sadder form of weather to manifest itself in Al's opinion.
He reached into his pocket and fingered the amulet. Did he really need it? He was tempted to just leave it and go seek out Ed without it, since he was going to find his brother after all, not some criminal that he needed police protection from. However, he couldn't get Winry's pleading expression out of his head. It would just kill him to see what that expression would turn into if anything were to happen to him. No, he'd better continue carrying the amulet, just in case.
It had been awhile since he'd walked this much in such a short time, so when he finally got to the edge of the woods, he placed his hand on a nearby tree and stopped to catch his breath. Sweat threatened to drip down his face, so he wiped the drops of sweat away with his sleeve. He lifted his eyes up and looked around. "Brother?" he called, "Are you around anywhere? Please, I just want to talk to you." No response, so he just shrugged and continued on.
Now, he thought to himself, if I were in Brother's shoes right now, where would I hide? I guess that if I had just remembered that I was a demon bound in a human body, something that I didn't want to remember, I'd probably look for a dark secluded place to sulk.
With that thought in mind, he pressed deeper into the woods. He knew of just such a spot, one that Ed had actually always been intrigued by, though neither of them ever knew why it fascinated him so much. Now Al suspected that his demonic nature just liked dark things. It was understandable, considering that he was a dark being, but it did make his movies a little too easy to predict. Of course, that could also just be because he was his brother that he could predict his moves. Maybe it was a combination of both. Okay, it didn't matter why, he just needed to find his brother.
"Brother, are you in here?" No response yet. Ed was probably in an even darker part of the woods than this area, which meant that he'd walked quite a ways just to get to a dark spot to sulk. "Brother, why are you so obstinate at times?" Al sighed, and then remembered that he was a demon, so he likely couldn't even help it. "Don't worry, Brother, I'll do my best to find a way to get you to accept yourself as you are. I'm not going to try and change you. I love you as you are. I only want you to be happy." Of course, Al knew that Ed couldn't hear anything that he had said, but he just felt that he needed to let it out, regardless.
Al continued walking for some time. He didn't really know how much time had passed before he realized just how dark it was where he was at. Maybe Ed was around here somewhere. He was about to call out when he heard what he thought sounded like sobbing coming from somewhere nearby. His empathic instincts flipped on overdrive, and he found himself following the sound to find the source of the crying.
He soon came to a large pine tree, and seated at the base of the trunk was Ed, sobbing with his head in his hands. Tears were coming to Al's eyes at seeing his brother like this. He desperately wanted to help his brother feel better. "Brother..."
Suddenly Ed startled and jumped to his feet. Al was about to ask him what was the matter when Ed answered for him. "I should have been able to sense you approaching me, yet you snuck up on me...you're wearing an amulet, aren't you?"
Al opened his mouth to protest, but Ed just walked up and grabbed Al's coat. He was met by an explosion and was thrown by an invisible force back into the tree. "Ouch," he rubbed his head, "Just as I thought...amulet. I thought you said you loved me still...yet you come to me with an item that doesn't even allow me to touch you. How is that love? Are you just planning on doing away with me while I can't lay a finger on you?"
Al sunk to his knees. "Brother, no, that's not it at all! I didn't want to bring it with me...I was pretty much forced to in order to keep everyone from worrying. I'm sorry, I didn't know you wouldn't be able to touch me if I wore it, I was only told that it would protect me if you attacked...though I didn't think that that would actually happen." He looked down at the ground for a moment as he felt a pang of guilt surge through him, and then lifted his eyes back up to look at Ed. "Is there any way that I can prove to you that I love you?"
Ed was occupying himself by biting off the ends of his fingernails and spitting them out. "So, you want to prove that you love me, eh?" He stopped biting his fingernails and reached into his pocket. He produced a small pocketknife and proceeded to flick it open. "If you really love me..." he then threw the knife so that it landed blade down in the earth right in front of Alphonse, "...kill me."
"Kill you? I couldn't do that! Why would you even want me to do that to you? Life can't possibly be that bad!"
"You said that you wanted to prove that you loved me, didn't you? If you truly loved me, you would free me from this prison of a body. You know that I can't kill myself, that's part of the spell. Kill me, then I'll know that you truly love me."
Al placed both his hands on the ground in front of him and let his head droop down so that it wasn't facing in Edward's direction. He couldn't bear to look at Edward...or the knife...for the moment. "Brother...my love for you...and everyone else...won't let me kill you. I don't know how I can convince you that I love you if that's the only criteria you have for determining if someone loves you. Human beings don't show love by killing one another...and it's for that reason that I can't kill you. Even though it would release you...I honestly can't say what you'd do after you were released. You might kill someone, and I could never forgive myself for allowing that to happen."
Ed sneered. "I figured as much. All you humans are the same: weak, hateful, and fearful creatures. You all fear the unknown, so you inflict pain on anyone or anything you don't understand. You call us evil, but I'd say that human beings are the true evil. All we're trying to do is purge the universe of this vile species that destroys everything in its path." He stood up and began to walk away, but stopped after a few steps and turned back to look at Al. "And yes, if I were to be released, I would kill someone. I'd kill that witch that sealed me so that she couldn't seal anyone else!" He clenched his hand into a fist and gritted his teeth, obviously irritated. However, just as suddenly as the reaction occurred, it left, and so Ed started walking away again.
"B-But...Brother..." Al called, "Wait...don't go...please!" Of course, it was a waste of breath, for Ed just kept on walking, completely ignoring Al. He stood up and dusted himself off, and pondered whether he should continue to try and follow Ed and win him over, or if he should just let him go. No, he couldn't just let him go, or he might never come back. He'd have to follow him, but he didn't want to tick him off too badly. He would just have to follow him at a distance, so that he didn't even know Al was following him. With the amulet, Ed couldn't sense Al's presence, so he might be able to pull it off.
Al followed silently for quite some time. He was getting tired and weary, and really wanted to stop and rest, but if he did, he would lose sight of Ed, and probably never be able to find him again. He just had to press on. This was his only chance.
Al looked up and thought he saw some bright lights up ahead. What the heck? He moved closer, and soon could swear that he heard voices too...taunting voices. He still couldn't make out what they were saying though. He hoped that his brother wasn't in trouble...but that was silly...how could a demon get in trouble? Ed in particular still retained a lot of his demonic powers for being sealed, so he should be fine...shouldn't he? Oh gosh, now he was worrying. The only way he could quit worrying now was to actually find out what was up ahead. He picked up his pace just a bit so that he wouldn't make any noise and approached whatever it was that he was seeing and hearing.
"So, the little sealy baby gets his memories back, does he?"
"You're a failure at everything you do. Not only can you not avoid getting sealed, but you can't keep yourself from remembering."
"Oh, look at me! I'm a wimpy little demon who can't do anything right!"
"Shut up! All of you!
"Ooh...somebody's getting mad! I'm scared now!"
"What're you gonna do, eat us?
"Someone take pity on me, I'm the demon with big dreams and no brain!"
"I TOLD YOU ALL TO SHUT UP!"
The heckling continued to escalate, and by now Al was close enough to observe the action taking place. Several transparent beings were surrounding Ed, shouting insults at him, and shoving him around. Al assumed that those must be unsealed demons who didn't pose much of a threat because they were too afraid to do anything that might get the attention of a witch. If that were the case, then they really didn't have any right to tease Ed, because at least he had the guts to try...though, come to think of it, Al wasn't even sure what Ed had failed at attempting to do. Probably kill somebody, that was probably it...but at least he wasn't afraid to strive for what he believed in, he could find that much good in him, and if you can find one good thing in a person, you can always find another...and another.
"Why don't you guys just leave me alone? What have I done to you?" Ed yelled as tears were starting to roll down his cheeks.
"Oh, is the little baby starting to cry? Do I need to get you your bottle?"
The other demons snickered. Ed finally let his knees buckle beneath him as he placed his head in his hands and started to let the tears flow freely. He seemed quite humiliated. Those must've been some major insults to hurl at a demon, particularly a sealed one. Upon seeing this, the other demons started taunting even louder and began assaulting Edward physically by throwing him around so that his head would smash against rocks or they would cause him pain in some other way.
Al stood by watching all of this. "I have to do something, or they're going to hurt him really badly. They probably aren't capable of killing him, or they don't want to...but they have no reason to torture him like that." He reached into his pocket and pulled the amulet out and looked at it. He took a deep breath and let it back out. "Well, amulet, I hope that you'll work on demons that don't have bodies as well as ones that do."
Gripping it tightly in his hand, he rampaged out into the middle of the scene. A demon was about to throw Ed against a stone wall, but Al quickly grabbed Ed, causing Ed to scream from the reaction to the amulet, and promptly threw him to the ground where he'd be safe from the amulet's effects. He then turned his attention upward to stare at the demons flying around and said, "No one hurts my brother and gets away with it." The demons began laughing at Al's words, until Al revealed the amulet. He grabbed it by the leather strap, swung it around in the air a few times, and shouted, "BEGONE!"
Just like that, all the demons in the area were gone...that is, except for Ed, who was still trapped in a human body. Al quickly set the amulet down on the ground and ran over to where Ed was and knelt down next to him. "Brother, are you okay?"
"I'll live," he moaned, "Unfortunately."
"Were those other demons actually trying to kill you?" asked Al.
"No, they never had any intentions of killing me. I'm not even sure that they can. They only wanted to hurt me as much as they could," said Ed.
"Why would they do that?" asked a bewildered Al.
Ed tried to sit up, but just fell back on the ground, so Al slipped his arm under Ed's back to steady him a bit. Ed turned to face Al, and for the first time that day, actually managed a bit of a smile, and then sat up with Al's help.
"They're just jealous of me, because I was willing to risk everything for what I believe, and they're too afraid to try."
"I thought it might have been something along that line," said Al, "Would you mind telling me more about what caused you to get sealed in the first place?"
Ed shook his head. "I don't want to talk about it, Al. Getting oneself sealed is a major humiliation for a demon. I'm not even worthy of your love, so I don't know why you keep persisting."
"Does that mean that you believe me that I love you now?" Al asked eagerly.
Ed chuckled. "How could I NOT believe it after that little feat you pulled there? You saved me not only from the intense pain they would have put me through, but from the utter humiliation as well...and to think how long you must've been following me in order to even know I needed help..."
Al went silent for a moment as he thought. He continued holding Ed up with his arm, and he licked his lips as he pondered how to ask what was on his mind. Finally, he spoke. "Brother...do you still...I mean...do you...love...ME?"
Ed turned and gave a steady gaze to Al for a minute or two without answering. Finally, he pushed himself up to his feet. "Let's go, Al."
"Go where?"
"Home.
"Home...as in the Rockbells'?"
"Where else would it be?
"Then, does that mean..."
"It doesn't mean anything, now don't get any silly ideas in your head, moron!"
Al stood still for a moment at the sting Ed's words had produced. Apparently, Ed continued to persist in stating that he didn't love Al. That hurt, that really hurt...but at least Ed had accepted Al's love for him, and he was coming home. That, at least, was a start.
"Are you coming?" Ed called impatiently.
"Oh, um, yes!" Al started looking around. "Have you seen that amulet around?"
Ed sighed. "Must you bring that thing?"
"Um, well..." Al started, "It did come in quite handy when you were surrounded by all those other demons."
"Fine, bring the stupid thing," Ed said, "It's over there."
Al followed the direction Ed pointed, and soon found the amulet and put it back in his pocket.
"Just remind me not to touch you until you quit carrying that thing around."
"Uh, right," said Al, running to catch up with his brother, who was already ahead of him in spite of the fact that he had been severely beaten up just a few minutes beforehand. "Auntie and Winry will be glad to see you come back."
"Yeah, whatever."
Al sighed. Apparently it would take a lot more than just saving him from rude demons to melt his cold heart, but he hoped he would succeed. Scratch that, he would succeed...he just...didn't know how quite yet. But somehow, someway, he'd find a way to win his brother back. Demon or not, he'd find a way to bridge the gap.
Hope that you liked that chapter. Leave me some reviews so that I can update, okay? Thanks a bunch!
