Descendants
Chapter 8: Death by Transmutation
Ed looked into his daughter's eyes, seeing her fear come back. He smiled at her, trying his hardest to hide the pain on his face. He must have made it worse though, for a tear slid down Kat's cheek. She sat a moment, silent, and then with a blow of pain, she was sobbing on his shoulder. He wanted to scream his head off from his wounds, but he held it in. Instead, he just wrapped his arms around her and gave her a reassuring hug. "Kiddo, don't cry."
Kat sobbed into his shoulder. "I c-can't help it! Y-you're alive! I'm just so happy I still have you!" She sniffled and lay there, relaxing with continuous relief. She knew that he would be fine, and he knew it too….unless they let him bleed to death. Al rushed over.
"Brother! The ambulance is on its way, along with the Colonel and the Lieutenant, they heard what happened."
"Mustang knows about Dad…?"
"He said he was going to keep it under wraps…now, we have to get you at least covered, you're bleeding everywhere!" Ed looked at the ground and saw his blood running everywhere. The sight made him feel dizzy. His eyes started to fight their way shut. He took in shallow breaths.
"I can't hold conscious much longer, Al." He saw a worried expression cross his brother's face. Alphonse bent down by his side, helping Kat who was now covering his wounds with her now ripped up coat. He winced when she tied a piece of the cloth around a bullet wound. The pain was becoming more unbearable and he couldn't take much more. Shutting his eyes, Ed drifted into the darkness.
"Dad!" Kat cried as she saw her dad close his eyes. Al hushed her quickly after.
"Don't worry, Katie, he's gonna make it. He never makes the same mistake twice." She took in her Uncle's words and propped Ed's head on her lap.
"He better not, or I'll have to kick his ass in the spirit world." She let a tear fall down her cheek. She had a feeling he would be fine but help was taking too long for comfort. The cloth they had tied around Edward's wounds were already dinged a deep crimson color. She saw one wound open, and carefully put firm pressure on it with her hand. "Come on, Colonel!" She closed her eyes, cursing at Mustang and the ambulance for taking so long. Suddenly, two vehicles pulled up, one containing the Colonel and Lieutenant, and the other the paramedics with a stretcher.
Roy walked out of his car with Hawkeye following close behind. He ran to Kat's side and looked down on his companion with sadness in his eyes. "How long has he been out?" Kat wiped away her tears and cleared her throat.
"About ten minutes." Roy looked at her and then at Hawkeye, who was ordering the paramedics to hurry up and get the Elric to the nearest hospital. The two men in white uniforms rushed to Edward, quickly pulling him up onto a stretcher. They then put him in the vehicle and sped off down the road. Kat glared. "WAIT A MINUTE, I WANNA RIDE WITH HIM!"
"Spirit, calm down. You're riding with us." Roy walked up to her and put his hand on her metal shoulder. She glared up at him. Tears started to flow down her eyes again. He helped her up and ran her to the car, climbing in and sitting next to the window. Riza made sure Roy was fully inside and she started the car, stomping on the gas pedal hard. Kat looked out the window, scrambling thru everything that had just occurred. She thought about how everything started and how quickly it ended. She was gonna have to write a very long report.
Alphonse walked into a rundown building, holding a candle. He looked down at the ground, revealing the transmutation circle he had made earlier. He set down the candle on a nearby table and sighed, knwoing that he would never see his brother or niece again. Looking around the dimly lit room, he made sure everything was in place. He then checked to make sure all ingrediants were in the middle of the circle. Taking out a knife, Al held out his long hair and cut it to his head, making it short again like it once was when he was a child. Throwing it in with the ingrediants, he held the knife up to his wrist. He pricked enough to make it bleed, and held it out above the middle of the circle. Letting a few drops of blood fall, he cired. "I'm so sorry brother, I'm so sorry."
Edward opened his eyes and saw a white ceiling with a single light bulb swinging above his head. He sat up slowly, wincing as he felt strain on his whole aching body. Looking around the room, he saw Kat snoozing in the chair nearest to his bed. He smiled at her warmly and took in a breath. "Kat." The teen opened her eyes slowly, at first in a daze as she looked at him. Then something seemed to click as she remembered where she was. She grinned wide.
"Dad! You're awake, finally!" She jumped up from her chair and tackled him with a hug, making him groan. She let go of him instantly and looked at him. He gave another smile.
"I'm ok, don't worry about it." She returned his grin and stared at him with nothing but happiness. He pulled her into another, but gentle, hug. She sighed.
"I'm so happy that you're ok. I thought you had left me."
"I wouldn't do that to you again, Katie. I don't want you to be put in that kind of pain. Besides….You'd kill me." Kat laughed and sat back down, bringing the chair closer to his bedside.
"So, did we fulfill our mission?" She stared at him silently, waiting for him to answer. He sighed.
"Yeah, I think we pretty much got it all…if the Colonel doesn't except, he can shove it." Kat cackled evilly and he laughed with her. Roy then walked into the room, his graying hair slicked back and his uniform top draped over his arm, revealing a plain black shirt. Riza was next to him smiling at Ed and his daughter. Ed looked at the Colonel and grinned. "Well, speak of the devil." Roy smirked and sat down in a different chair, Riza standing at his side.
Roy sighed. "So Fullmetal, how many times have you died now?" Ed glared at him.
"Three." Kat stared at her father in astonishment.
"HOW CAN YOU DIE THREE TIMES!" Ed looked at his daughter nervously.
"Well, the first time was across the gate in the other Edward's body. I accidentally got him killed, killing me out of his body and back here. Then the second time was shortly after when Envy ran a stake thru my heart, and then now..."
"WHAT!" Kat didn't know what to say. Envy had killed him twice, and yet he still comes back. Three times is a lot of times to die in one life time. She looked down at the floor, pretending her boots were the most interesting thing in the room. Ed stared at her sadly, regretting not informing her of his past adventures. Roy shook his head.
"Tisk tisk Edward, not telling poor Spirit about anything." He cocked an evil grin. Ed gave him a death glare. Roy jumped back a little.
"I swear you stupid ass flamer, one more word and I'll…" The oldest Elric was about to climb out of his bed when Katie stopped him, holding his shoulder down. He kept a stone cold glare set into the Colonel's eyes. Riza put her hand on Edward's other shoulder. She sighed.
"Roy, if you don't want to be killed, I suggest informing him about the real reason that we are here." She nodded her head, trying to usher him to spit it out. He took in a breath and stood from his chair. Edward relaxed and winced from the stress he put on his body.
"Alright, fine then. You completed your assignment that you were assigned to….but there is some bad news about it too." Ed looked at him, waiting for him to continue.
"What?"
"About three days ago after you came here, somebody performed human transmutation in an attempt to bring back Hoenheim." He stopped speaking; observing Edward's surprised and hurt expression. He felt his mouth fall open. No, please don't tell me it was who I think it was. Kat looked at her dad, and then at Mustang, who opened his mouth to reveal the person's identity.
"I'm sorry Edward, but your brother…he died in the attempt. We found him last night in a rundown building downtown."
Kat gasped and looked back at Ed, who was completely stunned at the news. He couldn't move, couldn't speak. His mind went blank. Everything went unclear. Kat squeezed her father's hand. He responded with a single tear rolling down his cheek. Roy said nothing more and started to walk to the door. Ed shut his eyes, letting a river of tears run down his face and down his neck. Riza gave Ed a squeeze on the hand and turned to leave, following her husband. Katie put her hand on Edward's cheek, making him look at her. "Dad, are you ok?" He said nothing in response; instead, he let out a sob and buried his head in her shoulder. She felt her eyes widen and then she relaxed, trying not to cry hard, despite the pain. She wrapped her arms around her dad, trying to comfort him, but knew it wouldn't work. She knew him well enough to know that he wouldn't move on until he had his question of why? answered.
Kat looked at the new gravestone in Resembool cemetery. It was a black marble, much like her mother's. Next to Winry's was Pinako, who was next to Trisha Elric. Kat frowned deeply and looked up and Ed, who hadn't said anything since last week, when Roy told him the news. She gaped at how his look changed in that short period of time. There were dark circles under his eyes, and all of the color in his face was gone. Fatigue had set in about three days ago and he hadn't slept since he got out of the hospital. His hair was pulled back in a simple ponytail and it hung limp and tarnished from its regular shiny blonde color.
"Dad, let's go back into the house, you should really go to bed." He said nothing, instead he just started to walk towards the old Rockbell farmhouse. She followed slowly behind. When they were half way to the house, he took in a long breath.
"Katie, there's another humunculis." She perked up.
"What!"
"Why would Alphonse try to bring back Dad? He should have learned from our past mistake. Everybody thought I would be the one to make the same mistake twice. I just never thought he would try to do that again." A tear glistened on his cheek as the sun set, turning the sky to a light pink and orange.
"Dad, I'm sure that he had his reasons. We can just figure it out you know. I can probably find him." Ed turned around to face her, putting his hand on her shoulder.
"No Katie, I want to…I want to figure this out a different way. I don't think Al did this himself, I think someone made him do it." Kat saw hope in his eyes and she frowned. She was about to say something when he turned back around and headed back to the house again. She said nothing and followed behind him, wondering what was on his mind.
I know this is abrupt, but this is the end of Descendants. Just wait until I have the sequel up for it, then everything will make sense. Aren't cliffhangers evil? Thank you all for reading this story and I hope to see you read all of my other upcoming stories! I look forward to your reviews. Once again thank you for reviewing and keep an eye out for the sequel of Descendants.
