Halfmetal Alchemist: Chapter 30

Terra

"M-Mother..." Ultimus groaned and fell on his knees in front of her and she held him tightly against herself. "What happened?" she whispered, stroking his hair gently and feeling his side. He hissed and drew away from her to nurse his own wounds and she caught a glimpse of his injury in the light. "Edgar... your side..." she reached out to him and he pushed her hand away, snarling wildly.

"G-Get away..."

"What happened?" He gritted his teeth and screwed his eyes shut, not understanding why it was taking such a long time to regenerate himself. It was happening, yes, but it was taking much too long. "I had them Mother... the Fullmetal and Flame alchemists... I was so close..."

"Edward? And Roy?"

"Hehehe... I got them... I don't think the Flame Alchemist will last long... hehehehe..." he laughed hoarsely, wildly. She gasped and pushed her hair out of her eyes, kneeling next to him. "Edgar."

He looked at her slowly, meeting her eyes. "You remember the Fullmetal alchemist, Edgar...?"

"Of course... I got his arm."

"He... Edgar..." she tooka deep breath.

"I don't care if they kill me for telling you! Edgar, Edward is your father."

He stared at her incomprehendingly, then fell back and pushed back into the wall. "No."

"Edgar..."

"Look at me, Mother! Look at me! Is this the product of a human? I'm not human!"

"You are, Edgar. It's just been..."

"I'm a thing! I can do nothing without their help, if they cease to help me, I'll... I'll..." he stopped. "I'll cease to exist."

"No, of course not! You can't just... cease. It's all because of the stone, and you have power over that stone."

"No... not yet." A rebellious and sly look entered his eyes. "They haven't given me full power... but soon... soon..."

He stopped. "Does that mean... my father... and you.. are...?"

"Married... yes."

"And the Flame Alchemist?"

"My older brother."

"Oh God... what have I done?"

"You couldn't have known... Edgar..."

He hugged her and rested his chin on the crook of her neck. "My father... he's really my father?"

She nodded, tears beading in her eyes. "I miss him... Are you alright, Edgar?"

"I... I need to think Mother. Good night."

"Good night, Edgar."

He staggered up the winding staircase and stared out over the rooftop, thinking. He leaned on it, chin in his hand, thinking. He remembered only a little, bits and pieces, scraps from his childhood. All in all, very little. He closed his eyes as the wind whipped his hair and rain dropped gently onto him, and he sighed, suddenly feeling small and alone; small and insignificant.

The rain pounded down harder and he cringed slightly, wiping the drops out of his eyes. There was a roar of thunder and he looked into the sky, letting the rain splash on his face. Then he remembered the fire, that damned fire that had ruined his life, the reason that fire was the element that he most hated; but it was fire that he considered the most powerful.

"What's wrong, Edgar? You're missing Daddy already?" Terra lifted his baby brother off the floor and tickled his face, and Edgar felt a flare of jealousy. She looked at him and laughed, picking him up as best as she could with one arm. "You shouldn't be jealous. He needs more caring for than you do, because you're a big boy. How old are you now Edgar?"

"Four!"

"Good boy. Daddy will come back soon, don't worry. And he'll bring you a nice present when he comes back from his mission."

"Will Uncle Alphonse visit too?And Auntie Winry?"

"I'm sure they will, now why don't you go play with your cousins?" he ran over to the twins snuggled together in their cradle and rocked it gently. "They're cute Mommy... just like Ed. Only Ed's bigger than them."

"That's right. I'm going to have to go to the store for a while, so be nice to the baby-sitter, okay?"

"Okay, Mommy."

He went to his room to play with baby Ed who was now old enough to walk and proud of it. He played with Ed for a while after his mother left, and then the two of them went to sleep on the floor. He woke up a few hours later to the smell of smoke and looked around, confused and afraid. "Mrs. Baby sitter?" he called. There was no reply. He opened the door and saw smoke billowing from his parents's bedroom. He wasn't worried because there was no one in there, but he backtracked to the room and looked at the twins in the cradle. He didn't know how he would get them out, so he transmuted a stone dome around them to protect them from flames and debris. Then Ed ran off, terrified of the flames and oppressive heat. "ED!"

Baby Ed looked around, frightened out of his little mind, shrieking and crying at a strenuous rate. The house rumbled and flames sparked around him, but he jumped back and continued his crying. "ED!" Ed turned and looked at his brother, then up as they heard a terrible crack. A large piece of the flaming ceiling was falling down towards the baby; Edgar lunged forward next to Ed and took his hand, trying to throw him out of the way, but Ed's fingers clung to his hand.

Instead of falling on baby Ed, the flaming debris fell onto Edgar. Edgar screamed in pain, feeling the flames scorching his body, his face was still visible to Ed, and little Ed held his right hand tightly in his left, trying to console his fallen brother. Edgar cried and screamed. "Brother! Brother!" Ed cried, tears streaming down his face. He was soot streaked and tear stained, a truly pitiful sight in the midst of a burning house.

Another piece of the ceiling fell between the two brothers, the seal that would seperate their lives forever. Ed screamed as his arm was trapped beneath it, along with Edgar's right, and Edgar blacked out.

He woke up later. Much later, to the scent of his own burnt flesh. His pain was dull and throbbing, and his eyes, widened and unable to close at the moment, alighted on his wasted right arm. His other hand groped for the piece of broken glass next to him, a sick and twisted grin on his face. His fingers curled around it and he swung down at the destroyed arm.

After the deed was done, he stuck the glass in a nook in his prison of debris, and lifted his hand to scrape a transmutation circle on the back of his hand. He grinned and took a measure of satisfaction in seeing the charred roof crumble at his fingertip. He reached his hand up and pulled himself out, a feral shriek ripping from his throat as his body protested. He didn't know why he was still alive; by all rights, he should be dead.

Terra looked at him, and pity and anguish crossed her face as she tried to struggle away from Envy. "Edgar!" Edgar struck Envy and a part of the homunculus exploded, to Lust's surprise. She looked at him, then a smile crossed her face. "Well well, look at you. You should be dead; haven't you looked at yourself?"

He hissed through his teeth and stared in Envy and his mother's direction. Lust bent down to his level and stroked his cheek with a long finger, and he screamed and recoiled. "We can fix this, little one. We can make you more powerful than any human that ever lived. We can make you Ultimus, and we won't hurt her. Do you know who your father is? Your mother?"

He searched his mind and found that no, he did not know. He had no recollection of anything much. "Will you come with us, become our most powerful force; the world will be ours."

"Yess... yessss..."

"We'll fix this, little one, we'll make you whole again. We'll make you Ultimus."