So this chapter is inspired by some of the reviews I've been receiving, and I would like to apologise about the cliffhanger at the end here.
Chapter ten
Ed walked into the apartment after he left the funeral. No matter how tempting, he couldn't overstay his welcome, because then people would ask why he was there, and Ed wasn't too good at changing his voice.
And so he came back, sopping wet, to find a pissed off Greg lying tied up on the floor, shouting at him through his gag.
"Yeah, yeah, sorry," Ed said, closing the door and walking over to untie the soldier's hands. Greg immediately pulled the gag out of his mouth the second Ed was done and hit him. "I guess I deserved that one," Ed said, rubbing his cheek.
"Of course you did! What the hell, Ed?!"
"I went to see my funeral. And don't worry, nobody recognised me."
"You don't test that out on the people closest to you, though! You could have blown everything! And at your own funeral, none the less!"
"I'm sorry, okay? I just wanted to see them."
Greg scratched his head and sighed. "I understand, Ed, this isn't easy for you and I know it. But you can't just go off on your own like that. If someone should recognise you, you'd be in serious trouble, okay?"
"I know! Of course I know! I just watched two hundred people show up to pay their respects! I know that it was stupid, but I needed a reminder as to what I am actually fighting for here!"
Ed went into the bathroom and slammed the door closed before he locked it. He needed a warm shower.
Roy lay in bed, Alphonse pulled close to him. He felt so useless. So useless and it made him so angry. He couldn't tell anyone about why Ed was killed, because then he'd only be putting them at risk. These people probably had eyes and ears everywhere. He didn't know, and it terrified him. He didn't know who these people were, but he had a feeling they were military. They were the only ones who could want him so strongly to stay away from Ishbal. Question was, who? And how many were there of them?
He hated not knowing. He couldn't just go snooping around and deliver messages if these people were military. He didn't know who he could trust anymore.
And Ed. They killed him. They killed his little boy. They tortured and killed him and they didn't even give his body back.
Just his head.
With his eyes and teeth removed while he was still alive.
And they hadn't just touched one of his boys but had nearly destroyed Al as well through this.
Those bastards had nearly taken both his boys from him.
And Roy itched to burn them for it. Make them suffer. Make them feel some of the pain that he had felt from losing his boy. He wanted to melt their eyeballs and burn their gums so badly their teeth fell out. It was the least they deserved.
Roy got out of bed, he needed to use the toilet. Al was sleeping.
When he was done washing his hands, he clasped them around the edge of the sink and felt like shouting. He felt like snapping. He wanted to make them pay. Make them scream in pain as their skin bubbled off.
He felt the anger boiling. Surging. It was just like with Envy.
"GIVE HIM TO ME! OR I'LL BURN UP YOUR HAND ALONG WITH HIM!" Roy got ready to snap, glaring at the child who thought he had any right to mess with this.
"TRY IT THEN! IF IT'S A FIGHT YOU WANT, FINE! BUT FIRST, MAYBE YOU SHOULD TAKE A GOOD LOOK AT YOUR FACE! IS THAT THE FACE YOU PLAN TO WEAR WHEN YOU'RE LEADING THIS COUNTRY?! WELL, IS IT?! IS THAT WHAT YOU WANNA BE, COLONEL? ANOTHER MONSTER?!"
Roy looked up at himself in the mirror. His eyes shone of hate and anger.
He felt his hands shaking as he repeated his daily mantra, looking straight at his reflection. "Ed wouldn't want you to. Remember Ed. You're not a monster, Roy, don't become one."
He felt himself calming down. "Remember what he would want."
He took a few steadying breaths, feeling his grip on the edges of the sink slacken. "Be there for Al. For Ed. Take care of your boys."
He looked at his expression. His face was softer. Warmer. "Because that's the face you'll be wearing when you're leading this country. The one Ed would want."
Roy then slid down against the wall and let himself cry. Cry like he couldn't do in front of Al because he needed him to be strong. To be someone to lean on.
Because Roy wasn't doing good. With each day, his mantra became harder and harder to repeat to himself. But he managed to get the words out. And they helped. But he couldn't talk to Hawkeye about this. What if someone misinterpreted it as Roy telling more than he should?
He hadn't felt this trapped ever.
Whether Ed's voice in his head was just imagination or not, the words still rang true. Right now, he needed Al just as badly as the boy needed him.
And so he cried silently into his hands, trying not to wake Alphonse.
Al woke up to find himself alone in the bed. He felt anxious as he saw that he was in fact alone in the room. "Dad?"
There was no answer.
Maybe he's just in the bathroom.
And so Al waited for about ten minutes without anything happening. He got out of bed. Getting warmed up and sleep for a while had helped him get out of his meltdown. Having someone promise to take care of him had helped. But Dad was still in danger and so Al didn't like it when he just disappeared like that. He couldn't lose anyone else right now.
He walked over to the bathroom, discovering that the light was on. He tried the door, finding it to be unlocked, and walked carefully inside, only to find Dad sitting on the bathroom floor, his back against the wall, crying into his hands.
"Dad?"
"I'm sorry, Al. I should have protected him. I should have done something! They got him because of me!"
Al had never seen anything like it. Roy Mustang was sobbing. "They took my boy." The last word was barely audible. "I buried my boy today. He's really gone."
Al didn't know what to say, so he just gently sat down next to him and hugged him. This time it was Dad who was crying and Al that was holding him. Al was crying too. He just sat there, holding him tightly.
And so they sat there like that for a long time.
"Hey, Ed! I know something that you don't!" Ed heard his own voice say as he lay on the cave floor. Ed looked up to see Fredricks holding his fake head. "Or maybe you've just forgotten about it!" His voice echoed from the head tauntingly.
"What do you mean?"
"Oh, come on, Ed, you know. Somewhere inside that head of yours you remember what they are going to do!"
"No! I don't! Tell me!"
"Oh, but you know! You just can't remember it!" The head said it in a sing-song voice. Then it laughed, blood spitting from its mouth.
"Tell me!" Ed was getting desperate. It was important, Ed knew that. Really important. His skull was itching, he just couldn't scratch it because his hands were bound. "Come on! TELL ME!"
"Nuh-huh. You need to remember it."
"Then help me! How do I remember it? What do I need to do?"
"That's more like it. First, why do you know that there's something you've forgot?" Only now did Ed notice that Fredricks wasn't looking at him, but at something to his right. Ed turned his head. The doctor sat in a corner, tilting back and forth, crying.
"Don't wanna! Don't wanna!" the doctor said, gripping his hair, a tear rolling down his cheek. "Don't make me!"
"But he was a creep!" Ed shouted at the head.
"You sure?"
"Of course he was! He just walked right up to me and stuck a pair of needles in my neck!"
"You see, Ed? There it is! Because what did you tell Greg?"
"… I only remembered one syringe back then … Why do I remember two different things?"
"Because one of them is false, Ed. They messed with your memories. So think! What do you remember?!"
"Let me tell you something, you nosy, little brat …" echoed throughout the cave. It was that bearded general speaking.
"That's good, Ed, now what else?" the head urged him.
"… We really don't like you and that Mustang guy..."
Ed thought and thought, his brain was hurting from thinking so hard. He felt a wave of dread, but couldn't understand why. He was angry at that guy. He kept telling him how he was going to kill him after all.
"Hey, look at that!" the head said encouragingly.
"But that's not why I'm scared though! I've met plenty of bastards like that!"
"Of course it's not, Ed! Remember, I know you!"
"But the only reason he'd scare me is if he was going to hurt the others!"
"Of course it is! But how would he hurt them? Who?"
General Creep's laughter echoed through the cave. "… Of course we'll kill you, but we won't stop there! We'll frame Mustang for it!"
Ed woke with a start.