THANK YOU TO MY R'S & R'S !
THIS CHAPTER IS REALLY ANGSTY! YOU'VE BEEN WARNED!
"Speech"
-thoughts-
CHAPTER 4
Al opened the door to the library, finally leaving with a stack of books that towered above his breast. He carefully maneuvered around the door, one false move and the books threatened to fall. He closed the door with his foot and strolled back down the hall from which he came. He imagined his brother was fast asleep by now.
Alphonse heard a familiar voice call out to him from behind. He turned to see who it was. Riza Hawkeye rounded the corner in a brisk run.
"Lutienet what is it?" Al asked unnervingly.
She halted alongside him and stated very professionally, "I must inform you that a humanculous has been spotted on the premises and we're on high alert."
"Oh." Al paused with a look of meticulous pensiveness. "I'll go warn Ed, thanks for—"
"There . . . there's more . . ." She added diffidently.
Al found it obvious that she was loosing her composure. He could perceive how her brown eyes struggled to conceal the immense grief she felt. She couldn't look at Alphonse anymore so she stared nervously at the carpet lining the dark hallways. She was nothing like the intimidating woman everyone knew her to be. Whatever caused this kind of effect on the lethal woman must be devastating to a lesser individual.
Al felt the need to push her along for the rest of the information, she unable to do so. "Yes?"
She worked up the nerve to met Al's eyes and stood up straight. "The Colonel was serverly injured . . ." Her eyes quivered and her body was starting to tremble slightly, ". . . and the doctors say that he is worse off enough to already be considered dead."
Though Al had no facial expression Riza knew the surprised and petrified look was there.
"I have to report back to my station." She coaxed her voice to bid him adieu and saluted before her departure.
"But Riza—" Al outstretched his hand in attempts to freeze the woman's feet. She stilled and kept her back towards him.
"I know Al! But I can't do anything! It's out of my hands!" The last of her resolve crumbled and she took off down the hall as tears flowed down her cheeks.
-As long as no one can see me cry I'll let them flow freely. I'll make sure all traces of theses warm, salty tears are forgotten before I reach my station.-
He couldn't see her face, but he didn't need to. It was evident in her voice. She had that lump tied up in her throat, that made it hard to talk and too easy to snivel. She was too emotionally distraught to hide the mournfulness.
At that moment all Al could think about was his brother. He would suffer the most. Al silently recognized a long time ago how strongly his brother became attached to that man.
"I am so sorry brother." Alphonse whispered with affliction.
His arms dropped the manuscripts in a large pile in front of the library door impassively. He left the mess where it lay and started to run in the direction of their shared quarters.
-Why would the humonculous come here? What could they possibly gain from breaking in? Did they plan to steal something? I don't understand. What does the military have that they want? Maybe it isn't an object their after. Could that be it? Did they need someone here?-
Al continued to ponder.
-Even if they wanted someone who could it be? What if they . . . ! What if they want Ed!-
He picked up his pace, moving promptly down the corridors. If anyone were asleep they surely would have been rudely woken up by the clatter of metal. To negate the possibility of error, he checked the numbers on the many doors to make sure he didn't pass their room.
He came to a turn and twisted sharply, his momentum causing him to skate across the floor.
"BROTHER!" Al screeched, hoping to forewarn his brother of the oncoming danger. His voice was the only weapon of defense Alphonse had until the two brothers were reunited.
"Ed did you hear that just now?" Roy asked his attention directed at the closed door.
"Hm? Hear what?" Ed said lazily. His eyes remained closed and just burrowed his face deeper into Roy's neck.
"It sounded like someone screamed." Roy persisted.
"BROTHER!"
Ed's eyes immediately shot open when he heard what Roy was blabbering about. He searched with his ears, trying to figure out which direction it came from. Unsure, he joined the older man in anxiously listening for more. His ears picked up another echo of the noise and he went rigid with awareness.
"It sounds like Al! Something's wrong." Ed peeled himself off the man's chest and went to rendezvous. Feeling the cool draft he looked down at himself. Realizing his 'condition' Ed covered himself suddenly feeling self-conscious as he searched for his clothes. He couldn't fight in the nude!
"Shit, we can't let him see us like this."
"Here, get dressed."
The colonel tossed Ed's pants in his face with an amused grin. Ed peeled the fabric off his face to find the man already slipped into his pants. Ed shot glare at the older man, but complied.
The loud clashing of metal could be heard, letting them know how close Al was.
-He sure does move fast for a big hunk of metal.-
Both men raced to get descent before Al burst open the door. Ed fumbled with his belt as he saw the colonel scoop up his uniform jacket.
The door was brutally swung open, the door slammed into the wall hard enough to crack the wall. The doorknob also made a lovely hole.
Startled, both men jumped out of their skin.
"Brother! Are you alright!"
Al saw the colonel casually standing near the couch and gasped in spite of himself. He didn't trust this situation. He switched to a fighting stance, looking like a competitor in a martial arts tournament.
"It's—it's not possible!" He stammered with a fearful accusation.
"Al what's wrong!" Ed demanded. Al's uproar was making him tense with uneasiness.
"Brother, get away from him! Roy's—Roy's dead." Al didn't take his eyes off Roy, he wouldn't play the fool and drop sight of his target.
That last statement caught Ed's attention.
"What—What did you say?" Ed's voice got uncharacteristically quiet.
"Roy's dead. I heard it straight from Riza's mouth."
Ed's blood pressure sky rocketed. He felt the icy chill of a cold sweat breakout across his body.
"What are you talking about? He's standing right there." He hesitantly strayed his eyes away from his brother to double check to see if what he said was true. Sure enough the colonel stood in the backdrop, watching the two bickering siblings.
"But Ed you don't understand! The humanculi are here!"
"Al, stop screwing with my head! You're not making any sense. You're acting like a crazed lunatic." Ed's hands tighten into fists. All his pent up anger was going to erupt, but he tried to evade such an outburst. Ed whirled and turned his back towards his brother.
"Please listen to me, that's not Roy!"
Ed frowned and defiantly stared at Al from over his shoulder. "How do I know you aren't the one trying to deceive me?"
"You have to believe me! Brother I wouldn't lie to you about this!" He pleaded.
Roy laughed in amusement, his voice changing all of a sudden. Ed's eyes nearly popped out of his head.
"Roy what's wrong with you? Ed inquired, genuinely concerned. That expression didn't suit the older man at all.
A Cheshire grin spread across Roy's face, giving the impression of a rabid dog.
-That grin . . . it's somehow familiar. Where have I seen it before?-
Roy broke out into another fit of mirth. "He's right Edo, I am not Roy."
"What . . . ?" Ed nearly barked. "You mean . . . all this time it was . . . NO! I REFUSE TO BELIEVE THIS!" Ed bellowed.
-NO, NO, NO! It's just my imagination. I couldn't make that kind of mistake again. Al's the crazy one. That's Roy mustang standing in front of me!-
"Edo you're making this far too easy! I don't even have to throw a punch and you look like you're going to die! How disappointing. And I went through all that trouble of how planning out how bloody and broken I was going to leave you."
-He . . . he's acting like . . . Envy.-
Envy saw Ed's face; it was like watching a child witness his favorite action hero fall in defeat and die before his eyes.
He reaped what was his. If he couldn't make their father pay then he would make sure his son's took the place of his revenge.
Deep down Edward knew Roy would never come to him wanting such a relationship. Did Ed know that it was Envy all along, but simply ignored it to fulfill a hallow reverie? Or maybe it was his blind ambition that drove him to accept the dream come true. Or maybe, Envy was just too good of an actor for one to notice. Envy had categorize every aspect. He broke the colonel down, mimicking his confidence, the smugness, and the jet-black color of his eyes and hair to mold a flawless clone.
Ed knew new one thing from his intuition: it was all too damn perfect to be real.
But Ed chose to ignore that all-seeing eye again and surrendered to his longing.
And in turn, he lost the last rare possessions he held precious.
First,
it was
His mother
Then,
His brother's body
His arms and legs
His childhood
Next,
His innocence
His love
Finally,
His heart
Realizing this jeopardizing understanding, Ed suffered an out-of-body experience.
Without warning, Ed's world went blank. He no longer could see his brother, or Envy, or the room anymore. They had all vanished from existence. All that was left of the godforsaken world was empty space. White was the ghastly color that surrounded him from all sides. There was no ground for his feet to stand on, just a sense of weightlessness and distortion. Out of nowhere, a blurred shadow was flying towards him in this suspected 'earth-full-of-nothing'. Whatever this creature was, its wings were flapping and slowly coming in closer.
-What is that? It looks kinda like a bird . . . no . . . it's a child. I can see it clearly now. How is it flying with his arms; or maybe it's a her? What is it doing here? What does it want from me?-
It swooped down like a hawk, hungry talons(hands) bared. Its nails tore through Ed's chest like a knife through butter. Ed felt gut wrenching pain, but not from the impalement. It was immense emotional anguish. It wasn't here for Ed's flesh it desired a higher prize. The talons sunk in deeper, searching for its aspiration. Finally finding it, the claws savagely ripped out his beating heart. There was blood, it was like a rope of blood connect the two humans to one another. It was the only string attaching his heart to its rightful place. The child had no face, just lurid eyes that grinned evilly.
Unsatisfied, those small hands Ed remembered from long ago burst out of the kid's body and consumed everything. They always got what they wanted, the humonculous.
-I think you've finally taken all I have to offer.-
The next chapter won't be up for a while.
