The Gate
Thanks Misaki Yo for beta-ing!
Thanks for the reviews! I'll try to update faster next time XD;
1.04Choices
Edward waited impatiently, propping his head against one arm. His metal fingers played an imaginary tune on the plain white tabletop. Wary eyes examined the room. It was like an empty box; there was absolutely nothing adorning the walls of the room except for thick white paint, and the only furniture was a table and two chairs, one of which Edward was occupying at the moment.
Edward didn't have to wait long. A door opened—Edward didn't notice a door there before; how odd— and two of the three Agents that Edward had seen earlier entered the room. He studied the two carefully, since he never saw anyone else like them before. The first Agent was the woman with the knife-like fingers. Closely behind her was the Agent that had hauled Edward up from the scaffold. Long green hair covered the man's scalp, and they shot out in different directions like the leaves of a palm tree. His clothing left a lot of pale white skin showing, but the first thing Edward noticed about him was the sadistic grin he seemed to have on his face…
"What do you want with me?" Edward asked cautiously. He didn't do anything to anger these people. Nothing that he was aware of, at least.
"Well, Mr. Elric." The woman sat down at the table. "Do you know who I am?"
Edward remained silent, but stared fiercely at her, determined not to betray his emotions...
The woman smiled, but there was no trace of it being a genuine smile. "You may call me Lust. This is Envy." Lust gestured towards the other Agent.
"Now that we're done with introductions," Lust said, and any hint of amiability—faked or not—instantly disappeared from her face. She shifted in her seat, crossing one leg over the other. "We have been watching you for some time, Edward Elric."
Edward shivered as she spoke his name. What's up with this woman…? "Hurry up and get to the point," Edward growled. He found his protective mask starting to fade away and fought in vain to conceal his discomfort…
"Ah, eager, are we? Well, let's just put it this way then… we know what you're doing, Mr. Elric. We know a lot more about you than you know. For instance… that transmutation you did nine years ago…"
Edward's eyes widened against his will before they narrowed suspiciously. How could she have found out?
"So what are you going to do to me?" If he was going to go on trial, if he was going to die, then… what would happen to Alphonse? He'd never be able to confirm hearing Al's voice… Edward instinctively leaned backwards, away from Lust, preparing to transmute his automail arm for a fight. If he had to go down, he'd go down fighting… What could she do to him anyway? She would do—
"Nothing."
Edward's frightened expression turned to an incredulous one. "…Nothing?"
"In fact, we are willing to wipe the slate clean, give you a fresh start… We can give you all you have been searching for… If you want it, you can become a State Alchemist, and you can wander everywhere, anywhere you want… You can have full access to all the books you ever wanted about alchemy—and you can find a way to make your dream come true." Lust smiled, resting her chin on one her hands. Her fingers twitched and Edward found himself shifting backwards uncomfortably, remembering what those fingers had done to the Colonel's door…
"Don't you want to see your little brother again? …What you are looking for and have been researching for the past year... We can help you find it. Would you rather have all of that," Lust gestured vaguely at the air with her gloved hand, "or do you want to return to your old life? A life of hiding and living in rags… Oh, yes—and you know perfectly well that we can easily… stop you from selling your alchemy. It's up to you. One of these lives has a future… the other one doesn't. Now… which one do you want?"
Edward almost couldn't believe it. This offer… it was too good to be true. He couldn't trust them.
"What's the catch?" he asked suspiciously, unwilling to let any of his emotions show. Lust simply smiled. "Two things. You will help us. You will find the true Philosopher's Stone and then perhaps you could... share it with us."
"The Philosopher's Stone is a mere myth, a legend. It's nonexistent. I can't find something that doesn't exist; are you crazy? Chasing after a legend?"
"So are you saying that you have researched for nine whole years a mere legend?" Lust laughed. "Don't try to fool me. I know you want it. You wanted to revive your brother using its power. I know you can find it… and if you can't find it…" Lust leaned closer, and suddenly the table and the room felt very small, "…then you will make it."
Edward said nothing but averted his gaze to the left side of the room. Envy, who had been prowling silently in the background, took Edward's silence as an opportunity to speak up. "Yes, fascinating wall, isn't it? Anyway, Fullmetal shrimp, as for the second thing we will ask you to do… We know that you have been recently… contacted by a certain individual by the name of… Morpheus." Envy's look turned murderous as his eyes gleamed mischievously. His hand clenched into a fist and unclenched again, giving Edward the feeling that Envy was probably planning the best way to strangle the man.
Lust continued, seeing that they had Edward's attention, "Don't be fooled by him. Whatever you know, or think you know, about that man is irrelevant. He is considered by many authorities to be the most dangerous man alive. We want your cooperation in turning him over to the government. It is for your own safety and the safety of the public to bring in a known terrorist to justice."
"How about…''Thanks, but screw you'?" Edward glowered. "It's a nice plan, but unfortunately, I don't feel like working for you… people. I have my own goals to accomplish, and I want my phone call."
Lust simply sighed and stood up. "You disappoint us, Edward Elric…"
Edward stood up as well, knocking over his chair in the process. It clattered angrily to the floor. "You can't scare me with that shit… I have my rights. And I want my phone call."
"And tell me, Mr. Elric… What good is a phone call… if you are unable to speak?"
Suddenly, Edward felt his jaws tighten. What the hell! Edward tried opening his mouth to scream—to call for help—anyone, anything—
Then a sickening sensation followed, and Edward felt as if his face had turned into rubber. He tried opening his mouth to no avail—it had been sealed shut. Panicking, Edward bolted for the door but was stopped by Envy, whose eyes narrowed in delight at Edward's fear—
Edward started to clap his hands to transmute his automail arm into a blade, but Envy was too fast. With one hand on each of Edward's wrists, Envy wrenched both arms backwards and roughly pinned Edward to the table.
"You don't understand, Fullmetal shrimp," Envy sneered into Edward's face. "You don't have a choice whether you want to help us or not." Envy held down Edward's arms with his hand, carefully making sure that the blond would have no opportunity to create a transmutation. Edward furiously tried to claw his way out—when he realized that his metal arm was useless; it had stopped moving and hung limply from his side.
The door opened once more, and a young woman in a maid's attire calmly walked in.
"Lyra," Lust commanded. "Do it."
"Yes." Lyra walked calmly to the table where Edward was pinned to. Unable to speak, Edward could only watch with dread as Lyra simply clapped her hands together. Like me, that girl doesn't need an array…! The floor beneath the table shimmered although the woman did not even bend down to touch the floor, and with a flash of red light an array appeared.
Pinning Edward down with one hand, Envy proceeded to rip open Edward's clothing to reveal his stomach. "Ready, Lyra," Envy almost sang. He grinned wickedly and muttered something that Edward only caught a fraction of… "—seeing this happen to his son—"
Lyra stepped stoically to where Edward was, and pulled out a small, long wire from a pocket of her uniform. With her bare fingertip she traced an invisible array onto Edward's stomach. Edward twitched as her fingers touched him; her hand was unusually cold. Horrified, Edward watched on, as the wire was dropped onto his exposed skin. Regaining his senses, Edward began to thrash around—if he could just get his hands together, even if his right arm was useless, then he could transmute something, anything—his left leg, made of metal, came into contact with Envy's side with a brutal kick. It was too late, however—the array under the table abruptly lit up, bathing the room in red, and the invisible array on Edward's skin turned blue, then black. The metal wire started to move as if it had gained life. It squirmed against his skin and, without warning, it sprouted legs; it now resembled something like a living organism, an insect of metal. The metal thing twisted and thrashed about in a circle, as if looking for something—and without warning dived into Edward's navel and disappeared.
For a moment Edward felt like throwing up, but at that moment everything became a blur and he couldn't hear anything anymore but the blood pounding in his ears and the screeching of metal as if it were someone screaming and there was something creaking and—
Edward woke up, screaming, and quite relieved to hear his voice and to know that he had a mouth. Panting, he brushed the bangs from his face back, pulling back strands of hair that clung to his skin due to his cold sweat, and swallowed in gulps of air. His heart was still racing at an amazing speed when he realized that he was in his apartment, safe in his bed. Edward clutched at his stomach, looking under his shirt to make sure it was fine and that there wasn't anything crawling over him.
Silence. It was quiet, like it usually was.
Edward felt himself start to calm down. Gradually, the noises in his head decreased until the only sound he heard was his own panting and the ticking of his clock.
Swallowing once again, Edward to lay back down on his bed to think. Was everything that happened all just a dream? The strange messages… meeting Trinity… the chase at Central Headquarters… the inquisition and that thing… Edward resisted the urge to vomit at the recollection of that dream—or event.
The phone unexpectedly rang. With an eager anxiety, Edward tentatively picked up the cell phone on its last ring. He was greeted with Morpheus's voice.
"Hello, Fullmetal. The line is tapped, so I must be brief. Apparently they've got to you before we did, Fullmetal. Luckily, They've underestimated your importance. If they knew what I knew, then you would probably be dead by now, or worse…"
"What are you talking about? What's happening to me? Can you please for once explain to me just what the hell is going on?" All the things that have happened to far—or not happened; Edward couldn't be sure—was driving Edward insane. He just couldn't believe some of the things that happened were real, and at this point he wasn't even sure if he was still dreaming or not. It was…
…frustrating. Morpheus's placid voice wasn't helping much, either.
"Do you still want to know? I do not want to give up on you. You may have spent the past nine years searching for an answer, but I've been searching for you my entire life…"
Edward narrowed his eyes. He didn't want to be involved in this strange mess… but if it meant finding answers… All of a sudden, Edward remembered. If all of what had happened was real, then that means he really spoke to Alphonse, even if it was only for a brief moment…
The mere thought of meeting Al again gave Edward a new strength. It became his answer. "I won't give up." No matter how much crap I have to go through, it will all be worth it if I get to see Al again…
"Good. Then go to Central City train station. I will be waiting for you..."
Too bad Edward didn't know just what he got himself into.
Edward sat by himself on a bench, waiting for someone he didn't know. He listened to the rain pouring, and felt the rain splatter against his cheek. His thin red cloak offered little comfort against the rain and soon Edward found himself soaked and shivering.
Glancing upwards, Edward found the lack of people in the usually busy station quite unnerving.
A car drove along the street and pulled over to where Edward was sitting. Edward stood up. It was Trinity.
"Get in."
Edward complied and got into the car. Edward took of his outer jacket and was about to transmute it dry when he noticed that there was a man sitting next to him in the passenger's seat—the man looked strangely familiar—when without warning a woman sitting next to Trinity turned around and promptly aimed her handgun directly at Edward's head.
Edward stared forward into the gun for a few moments before sorting out his words. "What the hell is this? Wh—Hey! It's you… you and that guy with the sledgehammer—" Edward jabbed his finger towards the man sitting next to him, who raised a hand in greeting— "and…some other person…" Dolchett visibly winced. "…But why are you doing this?" Edward was bewildered.
Martel smiled at him, and waved with her free hand. "Yo, It's been a while since we last met." She then became serious again, shoving the gun forward into Edward's face.
"It's necessary, Fullmetal. For our protection," Trinity explained calmly. "And yours."
"From what?" Edward asked, glowering at the barrel of the gun.
"From you," Trinity answered simply as she got into the car and started driving.
They drove for a minute or two with awkward silence before Edward asked, "Just when are you going to take that thing off me?"
"Stop the car, Riza," Martel's voice cut in sharply.
Trinity braked so quickly that Edward almost rammed his head into the seat in front of him, if he hadn't hit the gun first.
"Alright, Ed. Take off your shirt." Martel demanded.
Edward stopped rubbing his forehead to stare at her.
"Listen, we don't have time for this. There's only one rule right now: Our way, or the highway." She shifted her hold on the gun as if to make a point.
"Fine." Edward started to get out of the car.
"Wait." The teenager stopped and looked warily back at Trinity. "You have to trust me, Fullmetal. You have to trust us."
"Why should I? There's been a whole mess of things going on within these past few days and I don't know what to think anymore. That and…" Edward trailed off. Alphonse, he thought. Think of Alphonse…
"You must believe us, Fullmetal. Because you've been down there. You know that road. You know exactly where it ends. And I know that's not where you want to be…"
Edward stopped. Trinity's words brought back to him memories of those long hours of frustration, when the answer was there and he was about to grasp it— but the answers were always turned away. He recalled pooling endlessly over notes, over books, traveling to all sorts of places and talking to all sorts of people to find something… His gaze lowered until he was staring at the floor as if the memories were like a weight that had physically pulled him down with each thought. He found himself watching the falling drops of rainwater disappear the puddles…
"Morpheus needs you," Trinity pleaded, and Edward had the feeling that the woman was not one to "plead" on a normal basis. "You have to talk to him."
Edward said nothing, but slowly got back into the car. Trinity let out her breath and gave Edward the slightest hint of a smile. "Roa," she called. "The lights, please."
She turned to Edward. "Lie back… lift up your shirt, and try to relax."
"Yeah, 'relax', all right…" Edward rolled his eyes, thinking about the last time he had his shirt ripped open. Edward's gaze lingered warily on the device that Trinity now held in her hands. A small empty tube protruded from the tip of the machine. "What is that thing?" Memories of the metal creature squirming into his navel were not the most aesthetically pleasing and the best experience to go through again.
"We think you're bugged," Martel said simply, her gun all the while trained on Edward's forehead.
"Now, relax."
Edward held his breath as Trinity activated the device and pressed it against Edward's stomach.
Edward gasped when something inside his stomach began to squirm around. Pain! By the Gate, he had enough of it already… Trinity was gripping the device tightly as she tried to capture the machine moving around inside of him. Edward felt Roa's hands holding him down—he felt his arms thrashing violently and his metal arm was going berserk—there was Dolchet pinning him down too (he knew because he heard Dolchet yell out in pain when Edward's metal arm made contact with his face). Edward distantly heard Martel whisper, "It's on the move—you're going to lose it—" and Trinity's voice, sharp and commanding,"No, I'm not— Clear!"
Edward inhaled sharply as the bug-like machine was sucked up into the empty tube. The pain had left, leaving him numb (and leaving Dolchet with a swollen face.) Trinity unlatched the tube from the device and then held it up for Edward to see. The machine twitched for several moments before finally breaking down.
"By... By the Gate! That thing was... real?" Edward was wishing that it was a dream… He keeled over as he clutched at his stomach, muttering to himself, completely mortified. "That thing…real… inside…"
"You can't stay in denial forever, Ed," Martel called out cheerfully. Edward could do nothing but groan at her, but at least he noticed that the gun was now safely back in Martel's pocket.
Trinity got back into the car and prepared to drive. She smiled with disgusted triumph at the captured machine before flinging it out into the street, where it shattered on impact with the wet cement.
To be Continued…
