By: Minuiko
AU, OOC, rating ranging between PG-13 and R, because I have no idea what'll happen. The new rating system sucks.
Romance I guess. A bit of Angst and Action/Adventure too.
This is in a made-up world. Envy's a slave and the setting takes place in a sort of feudal/Civil-war/monarchal society where Greed is King xD, regardless of the fact that I love Envy a lot more (I seem to like the hot, psychotic characters). Oh yes, and this might not be limited to one continent. I might take Gluttony out of the picture if he's of no use to me. He might be.
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Chapter 1
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"Whores don't run from their masters or their customers. You obviously haven't learned your place," the rough, grating voice growled. The young boy this was directed to recoiled in the damp corner of the dark room, dark hair spilling in front of his face as his arms instinctively tightened around his frail body. The man snapped a long, iron-studded bullwhip in his hands, then pulled it behind him. "It's time you did!"
The whip cracked several times, each followed by the child's pained cries. They weren't quite human, sounding more like something a suffering animal would make, but they didn't phase the man. The boy had now stopped screaming and was quietly staring at the man with dark amethyst eyes that glowed with fire and hatred. The man sneered. "I don't like that look on your face, boy. I'm not going to ruin your pretty face; it's good for attracting customers. But I'm not about to stop your punishment just for that…"
The whip had already left deep gashes, had already spilt large quantities of dark crimson blood, which had in turn streamed onto the sheets below them. The man ignored this and whipped the boy again and again, stopping only when he was out of breath and the boy was almost unconscious. Still, the child found room for defiance. "M-mommy's… gonna come an' get me… soon…"
"You just wait" was unspoken, because right then, the boy couldn't seem to find the energy to say it. He was breathing heavily, with tears threatening to spill from the intense pain he was feeling. The man stared at him, hard, before growling, "Your momma's the one who sold you in the first place, boy." A nasty chuckle. "Don't fool yourself, you're all alone in this god forsaken place. If you're good, I might even get you a higher position at the palace harem… I heard the king has male concubines as well as female ones…"
"Fuck you," the boy hissed. The man slapped his face, leaving a stinging bruise where his hand had left it. He said, his own eyes flashing, "People of your position don't have a right to say that to people like me… but you'll learn… oh, you'll learn…"
The man spat contemptuously at the ground in front of the boy and told him as he walked out the door, "I expect better results tomorrow, boy."
The boy pressed a pale hand to his stinging cheek and stared at the open door with suppressed hatred before breaking into sobs and wondering why in the world he was crying when his mother hadn't— couldn't have— abandoned him. It was torture to talk, but then again, there was nothing to say.
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Envy got up from the bed wondering why he'd had that dream again and why he felt so goddamned beat up when the only thing he'd done last night was— oh, right. He was a slave, a whore, and was to be used, defiled, in any way his master saw fit. He growled, irritated. This whole thing wasn't his fucking fault!
… it was his mother's. Dante's, he thought furiously, not mother's, that bitch doesn't have the right to be called mother after what she did! He didn't like reminiscing, especially on subject matters that had occurred more than ten years ago. It just made him cranky, and he just wanted to forget his past…
Only Envy couldn't. He had to remember, so he could get revenge on her, on his master, on the world. He was as defiant as ever, but had learned to shut up when they whipped him, knowing that if he didn't say a word, it would irritate them all the more. The scars were still there from the first night; most of the beatings he'd gotten since then were more gingerly applied, since he was one of the more valuable slaves. Good as a sitter, good as a whore, good as a maid— honestly, these people seemed to almost forget that he was a man. He was strong enough for field labor, only they didn't want him ruining his body, his skin, the parts that the fucking bastards found attractive, so he was used in the feminine jobs.
Envy ran a crude comb through his long, brackish hair and washed his face. He'd been sold to several people, at high prices each time, since he was so "valuable," and a good whore. Of course, he'd always taken a long time to be sold, since he'd put on his most defiant face possible during the uncomfortable process. But the "good whore" part always got him sold in the end. He stared at his hands, contemptuous, ashamed. Well, it's not my fucking fault!
And Envy. His name wasn't even conventional. He supposed he should've been happy at least that he hadn't been given a too-sluttish name, but the way his master said "Envy" just pissed him off. It reminded him that he didn't even have the freedom of his own name, and that his master had named him because he thought the word Envy suited his own "jealousy for those with higher positions." As if. That sentence didn't even make sense. Bastard.
There was shouting outside the crude hut his master had him stationed in. He leaned through the window and stared. There was a boy, probably twelve or thirteen, being dragged through the streets, and he was kicking and screaming. Golden hair shimmered as he cried a single word, over and over again. "Nii-san! Nii-san!"
A guard kicked him. "Shut up, boy."
"Nii-san!"
Envy stopped looking, not knowing why he felt sorry for the boy when he was worse off— definitely worse off. He may have been arelatively moderately-fed slave, but he was still a slave, and he had a lot of pride, more so than the others at least— he hadn't just accepted that fucking phrase the masters had tried to imprint in his mind: "You're a whore, and you'll always be a whore, now do your job!" And he was miserable in his position.
He paused as he was about to walk out of the hut before shaking his head and deciding that even if he went out, there would be nothing to do anyways. He hated his mother, he hated his master, and he hated his life.
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Envy growled at his master as the man sneered and forced his head back by jerking on his long, dark hair. After fitting rusting chains on his neck, wrists, and ankles, his master pushed him roughly out the door. The manacles chaffed his skin when he was pulled. "Ow! What the fuck are you doing!"
"You're being sold, slave. Can't afford to keep you any longer. Be happy, you won't have to see my face again. I don't wanna see yours, that's for sure. Cost this place more than you're worth. Filthy bitch."
I thought bitches were female? Envy was tempted to spit at the man's feet, but decided against it. But what the master said didn't make sense. He made plenty of money for his master, so what was this about not being able to afford him? He couldn't seriously want to stop paying for his lodgings and food when they cost less than half of what he made each day?
When they got to the slave market, the man tied the chain around his neck to a fencepost and started hollering about good merchandise. Envy looked around the place in contempt. He wouldn't ever succumb to anything anyone told him to do unless he himself wanted to do it, saw reason for it that didn't make him out as inferior or as property.
Over three hours had passed and no one had bought him yet. Envy smirked. The master was getting disgruntled. Finally, as what had to be two more hours had passed, a mysterious, cloaked man had shown what seemed to be a vague interest in him and decided to buy him.
After his master bargained for prices (Envy rolled his eyes. If he was such a hard slave to sell, prices shouldn't even matter, but this was the process each time), which the fool of a stranger had paid, he was sold. Sold. Gone. Good fucking riddance.
The stranger had taken his cloak off, revealing moderately long blonde hair caught up in a braid and a youthful, handsome face. What really caught Envy's eye were the stranger's eyes— hawk-like, spirited, and gold at just the right angle. He was more boy than man, really. He couldn't be older than sixteen, and chances were that he was even younger. Envy was almost twenty.
The old master was gone with this boy's money jingling in his pocket. The boy grinned teasingly at Envy and jerked him up by his chains. "So you belong to me now. Don't worry. I won't sell you off like I did the Youswell coalmines. You're much too valuable. I'll be taking good care of you…"
The use-well what? Envy matched his seductive grin, years of being a prostitute taken into action, and leaned against the boy, his mouth mere inches from the master's. He breathed, "I'm a very disobedient slave. Are you sure buying me was a good idea…?"
The boy pushed him away slightly and told him flatly, "Sorry, I'm not really into that. Why don't we start off with something more solid, like names? I'm Edward Elric. Call me Ed."
He is… unbelievably chaste… was all Envy could think, besides the usual, I hate him. "I'm Envy… and don't ask for more than that, I don't know my real name…" he then added with the same flat tone, "Master Elric."
Ed laughed. "Come on, don't do that, I told you to call me Ed. I didn't buy you to have someone to cater to my every demand. I was just kidding about the valuable part. Humans beings are priceless, they're not things to be sold like property. Slavery's not right, and we both know it."
Envy demanded, still slightly suspicious, "Then why the fuck did you buy me? Ed?"
"Viper," Ed shot back. "Hey, I'm being nice to you, so don't use profanity. Weren't you just trying to seduce me a moment ago?"
Envy grumbled, "It's just what most masters look for in me. You heard my last one, he was going on about how I was such a good whore and how much profit I reap in, etcetera, etcetera. That bastard. And you're avoiding my question."
Ed didn't listen. "And aren't you a boy? So why the hell are you a whore?"
Because my mother, that bitch, sold me for money. I'll never forgive her… Envy was silent, his eyes suddenly cold and alert. Ed had no business prying into his private life, slave or no.
Ed then stopped and looked ahead, away from Envy, his golden eyes suddenly serious. "Okay, if you don't wanna talk about it, that's okay. I bought you because… well, you looked… sad."
Sad? Is he nuts? I go out of my way to look defiant and he thinks I look SAD. "The hell?"
"Never mind… hey, why don't we make a bargain? You help me with what I want, and I'll set you free."
That was tricky. Just what does he want? If he doesn't want sex, and claims not to like slavery… Envy saw a sudden resemblance between him and the boy he saw being dragged to the palace that morning… and following that train of thought… the way the boy was crying, "Nii-san"…
"What do you want?"
"I don't want you to run off on this, but I need you to help me… obtain something— someone— from—"
"The palace?" Envy finished, half-guessing.
"The p—" Ed broke off. "Wait, how did you know?"
"I saw… a boy being dragged there this morning and—"
"You saw Alphonse?" Ed suddenly looked like he couldn't breathe.
"Stop looking so shocked, I told you, I just saw a blonde kid being dragged off into the palace and I thought he resembled you, so I—"
"That was Al," Ed said simply.
"Well, he—"
"Short blonde hair, hazel green eyes, about this height?"
Envy merely growled affirmatively, more than a little annoyed at Ed continually interrupting his train of thought with not-very-intelligent remarks, but remembered that, even if Ed thought they weren't, they still were master and slave. So the next best solution, besides kicking Ed in the face, was to remain silent. Ed broke it. "Okay, so you taking me up on the offer or not?"
Ed looked somehow… vulnerable. "He's my only brother… I need him back."
"I'll do it."
I might kill you for being an idiot after I'm free, but I'll give you your moment of reunion. Ed squeezed his shoulder, hard, and told him, "Thanks."
" FUCK, THAT HURTS!"
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.:Owari:.
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A/N:… I don't know what to think. They were obviously out-of-character… I'm going to watch the series over again to see how they really were… argh…
My excuse is that they just met and didn't know each other, so they can't really hate each other. I'm probably going to delete this and reedit it to see if I can improve it, but for the moment I want to upload it… Envy's not poisonous enough… definitely not…
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