Chapter 7
Major Edward Elric
May 18, 1941
"There are as many nights as days, and the one is just as long as the other in the year's course.
Even a happy life cannot be without a measure of darkness, and the word 'happy' would lose its meaning if it were not balanced by sadness."
Carl Jung
The heavy wooden door swung open, creaking dramatically as the base of its frame scraped across the worn floorboards. Without any hesitation, the restrained boy flopped his head back onto the bed and scrunched his eyes tightly together, praying that his captor would mistake him for being asleep and let him alone.
But Edward Elric, being who he was, never had luck on his side.
Soon, the putrid scent of burning flesh and pine filled his nostrils, causing his eyes to water and breath to catch in his throat.
"Why are you pretending, Edward?" The boy breathed in his ear, jerking Ed's eyes wide in trepidation. "Is it because you think I won't notice your heart racing in your chest? Silly boy, I can practically taste your fear and pain... And, oh, you can not imagine how good it feels on my tastebuds!"
Edward arched his back from the bed, lunging for Wrath's throat as the boy danced away less-than-gracefully with his still-marred skin covering half of his body and new auto mail limbs clanking noisily with his movements. Seething, Edward replaced his back atop the sheets, having come to the realization that moving so suddenly had not been the smartest course of action for his recovering body. His head swam, blood pounding furiously in his ears as he struggled to push down the rising bile in his throat, feeling momentarily nauseous from the pain racing through his protesting muscles.
The mattress groaned in disapproval as the weight of another was added to its surface, situating themselves on Edward's right-hand side.
"So, Pipsqueak, how're you feeling this beautiful morning?" Envy called out to him, as though he were an elderly man who was hard of hearing. Biting back a cry of discomfort emanating from the large scar adorning his torso, Edward simply laughed in response.
Frowning at the Fullmetal Alchemist's modest level of functioning, the Homunculus balled up his raised fist and brought it back down squarely on the boy's most prominent injury. Edward's mouth flung open wide in a silent scream, tears springing to the corners of his eyes as he saw stars. The agony that was coursing through him was worse than any pain he could have ever imagined and it must have been several minutes before his lungs were able to once more process the air flowing in and out of his body.
When the young alchemist was finally able to think straight with the renewed oxygen flowing into his brain, he managed to flash a weak grimace in the creature's direction, briefly noting the rusty taste filling his mouth.
"You'd better watch yourself there, Tiny. Your brother dearest may have stitched up your outsides, but even with the Philosopher's Stone, he couldn't manage to fix you up internally. And after all your brother sacrificed..."
Envy's words struck something deep within the youth, shock radiating from every feature of his being as the implication behind the Homunculus's remark descended upon him.
"Al... Where is he, you Bastard?!" The Elric boy cried out desperately, drops of blood flying from his lips, eyes frantically searching Envy's pale back as if, somehow, Alphonse was hidden beneath the flesh. Much to his outrage, the green-haired creature calmly stood from the bed, retracing his steps to the door he entered from, lazily waving a hand behind him with the simple reply of, "gone".
"Envy!" The whimper was no louder than a whisper of wind but, at the falter in his steps, Edward knew the Homunculus had heard it. Back turned to the hostage on the bed, Envy abruptly came to a stop mere inches from the door.
"You really want to know, Ed-kun?" He questioned, placid eyes turning over a shoulder to glance at the human behind him. The widening of Edward's tear-filled eyes was the only response Envy received, taking the boys silence in affirmation. With a sigh, the pale being turned once more to face his captive, one hand placed delicately on the door knob, the other resting indolently on his hip bone.
"Fine. If you really want to know, I suppose I have no right to keep it from you... He was your brother, after all..." Edward started at the reference to Alphonse in the past tense, but said nothing as Envy continued. "As you lay dying, he took you in his arms and insisted on bringing your soul back from the Gate... despite our warnings. He should have listened. Your fool of a sibling had no inkling how to even use the Stone... let alone perform human transmutation with it! The Stone, as we had predicted, reacted violently against your brother's alchemy... bringing you back, yes... but taking him in your place."
Edward bit back his sobs, not even bothering to hide the tears which now freely fell down his face. His sorrow filled his very soul, the pain of his loss almost completely destroying him.
"You're... you're lying! You son of a bitch! You're lying!" The Fullmetal Alchemist's anguish echoed through the chamber, resonating back to him with an equal amount of grief as he had put into it.
"No matter what you choose to believe, Pipsqueak... It will never change the fact that your brother is gone, and that you are our new plaything." His words were abruptly followed by the slamming of the door.
But Edward knew he wasn't alone...
Dante had stood in the corner of the room from the beginning, watching on as Envy and Wrath had elicited the boy's sorrow, forcing him to believe their every word. And why shouldn't he? He had no one left to turn to... only her and her Homunculi... They would be his family now.
Knowing that the teenager on the bed could sense her presence, Dante resigned herself to stepping from the shadows and acknowledging him.
"Edward..." He refused to face her, knowing very well that this monster was his reason for being here. Silently, Dante strode over to the bed, gliding her finger tips over the soft sheets as she edged closer to her prize. She sat down beside him, casually leaning over and pressing herself flush against the contours of Edward's body as she bent to whisper in his ear.
"Do you remember what I told you back in the ballroom?" Bewildered, the boy's eyes widened in terror and his breathing became suddenly labored, knowing full well what she was referring to. He screwed his eyes tightly together as Dante removed her weight from the bed to discard her robe, the only article of clothing she had been wearing. With a groan, Edward felt her body heat return to his proximity, and he breathed instead through his mouth, refusing to smell the acrid scent of her decaying body.
Her lips found his, and his eyes flew open in protest and disapproval as Dante's tongue snaked its way inside of his mouth. He could feel her lips smile against his as the slimy muscle traced over his molars to taste the remnants of Edward's blood still lingering there...
The Fullmetal Alchemist had half a mind to bite down hard so that she could settle for the taste of her own blood instead, but realized that doing so wouldn't get him anywhere. Nothing would. No matter how he contorted his body to try to get away from the woman, he was utterly and completely... helpless. Tied up and prepared to be used by her, as her...
Edward swallowed hard... He truly was Dante's new plaything...
"What a shame. I was looking forward to entering this girl's body, and making love to Hohenheim's son..."
Feeling a new wave of tears pressing against his eyelids, the woman above him smiled victoriously as Edward quietly began to break down. Slowly, she began removing his pants and underwear, teasing him, preparing him further for the act which was to come. His clothes soon joined her robe on the floor, and he quickly clamped his thighs together, feeling exposed and unnerved by her lustful gaze, raking across his naked form. With an audible gulp, Edward struggled desperately against her hands which searched to pry his legs apart, whimpering up at her pathetically as they accomplished their goal.
Against his will, his body began to react to her touch and he shivered reluctantly as her nails traced a pathway from his jawline to the hardening organ between his legs, which had involuntarily opened up further to grant her better access. For the first time in his life, Edward ultimately surrendered to his vulnerability, allowing Dante to dominate him and take his innocence... the only thing he had left in this world...
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Long after the woman beside him had succumbed to unconsciousness, Edward Elric lay there, wondering just how much hatred their God could possibly possess for one small boy from Resembool.