Chapter three
He was being held down by two humans.
Well, one was technically homunculus, but there was still a human in there. The other was definitely full human, and also a woman.
A woman!
If this wasn't the most humiliating thing that has happened to him ever in his experience in other bodies, then Pride didn't want to know what the worst was. He felt weak with not having the upper hand here, but this woman was strong—not that he would ever tell her—and she was making it difficult to even pry one hand off, let alone both. Pride was trying his damndest to get the officer off, too—there was no time for going easy on these humans while he was losing.
Losing is unacceptable…
"Get the hell off!"
"I don't think so, kid."
Pride clenched his teeth, glowering up at Lust. He wasn't sure who he hated more. Lust or the woman. It was a draw as of right now. Besides, what the hell had gotten into him anyways?
"You're supposed to be helping me, not her!" Pride spat, disgusted with the other's decision to do such a thing—choose someone else over him; absurd!
Mustang glanced toward Hawkeye. Pride still didn't know it wasn't Lust in control. Maybe he could use this to his advantage? Along with that thought, a spark of hope struck his conscious. Maybe, just maybe, if he had been able to overpower Lust, then Edward could do the same to Pride. However, Edward was younger than him, and was still probably recovering from Pride's insertion. It was a long shot, yes, but if anyone else could do it, Edward could.
Hohenheim sighed from where he stood, pushing the belittling he had received from the Lieutenant to the back of his mind before he faced the scene once more. No, he didn't want to leave his son, but if it would let them have a better opportunity to figure out a way to keep them all from dying… However, that was out of the picture now.
"We have to find a way to subdue them both," Hohenheim's eyes narrowed, "The other presences are strong and even if they both do gain control, it won't last long."
Hawkeye didn't look away from Pride; she was focusing too hard, and her muscles were already straining to keep him pinned. But she had heard what Hohenheim had said.
She shook her head, "There's no way we can get him out of here like this," she lifted her chin and turned her face to look at him, her jaw tight from the exertion of holding down the boy-turned-homunculus. "We can't carry them both out of here, even if they were unconscious. Either we get the homunculus out of him or knock him unconscious." She didn't really believe Hohenheim could remove the creature, but he had shown abilities similar to the man in the chair. "One of you," Hawkeye shifted her faze to the man in front of her. She continued, "General, you must hang on until we get to a safe place. Please. There's no way we can do this without your help."
"If either of you even think about knocking me out, I promise you that I will kill you all! Now, Lust—"
That's not Lust!
Shut up! Your stupid human friend may be overpowering him, but Lust is still in there!
Pride ignored Edward's sigh as he proceeded to push his little mind buddy to the back of his mind again, and lock him up behind "bars" while he tried to free himself from being pinned. Honestly, this was the most frustrating thing he has ever had to deal with from humans.
"What the hell did you do to Lust?" Pride snapped, fed-up with both of the humans above him. Especially the woman…he did not like her one iota. Why Lust didn't want her dead was beyond him entirely.
"The same thing that will happen to you," the General grunted, putting more pressure on Pride's wrists to keep him pinned to the cracked stone. Now, he just had to figure out a way to make sure that happened.
Pride wasn't going to let that happen.
"'Tch!"
Then, with a swift jerk from his left leg, the sin rammed his knee into the General's stomach. Mustang let out a sharp cry as the metal grinded into his ribcage, surely breaking one.
"Sir!"
"Heh!" Pride smirked darkly as both humans were briefly distracted. Using this to his advantage, he yanked his wrists free and grabbed a hold of Mustang's arms before moving to slam both of his feet into Roy's stomach before rocking his body back and flipping the other over him and onto the female officer.
Getting to his feet in a flash, Pride chuckled darkly, "The same is going to happen to me, you say? Mm, I extremely disagree with that, General." He mused and winked at the two that were scrambling to their feet. Pride didn't stick around though; he was off in a flash toward the exit; he'd have to find father and regroup there before dealing with these three again. Unless Lust gained control again…
Hohenheim hadn't moved from where he was, but when he saw the homunculus making a run for the exit, his hands moved in a swift movement. They clapped together before they were placed onto the ground. Like lighting, a bright blue light darted across the floor and toward Pride. It scaled up one of the support towers before the shaking started.
The sin skidded to a halt, his violet, cat-like eyes darting up to the tower that was shuddering.
Why are you watching?! Edward shouted, not that he really wanted Pride to run off with his body.
Pride sneered before he turned to move forward again, but he didn't get far.
The tower crumbled and crashed to the ground in tons, one catching the back of the sin's leg to bring Pride facedown on the ground.
Get up, get up!
Pride jerked his head back as he scrambled to his feet, but from the corner of his eye he could already tell that it was too late.
About the size of a large, deformed boulder, the chunks of cement landed on Pride, covering every part of him save for Pride's left hand.
When the last few pebbles rolled down the pile of debris and the dust cleared, Mustang, Hawkeye and Hohenheim rushed over to the scene.
"What kind of idea was this?" Mustang roared towards the old man, "There's no way he will be alive!" he was furious; frustrated. But not only with Edward's father, but himself for letting Pride get the upper hand.
Hohenheim said nothing. He calmly walked around the mountainous pile of rocks that the General and Lieutenant were hastily picking through. But he found the blood, first.
It was flowing like a crimson river from beneath the rocks, filling the cracks in the cement until it reached Hohenheim's shoes. It was Pride's blood…Edward's blood…
"No," Hohenheim muttered, eyes narrowing from underneath his glasses, "He's not dead, I assure you, General."
How this could be considered a "break" was a sign of how bad things were upstairs in the General's house. Hawkeye sat in a sort of sprawl in a wooden rocking chair, staring at the ceiling with her arms hanging off the sides of the chair and her legs stretched out. Her blood-stained hazel eyes followed the heavy footsteps on the man—men—above her as they stomped from one end of the room to the other, at times swerving in some random directions. Now she was actually watching over Pride from the hallway, keeping him in sight, but while he was unconscious her focus naturally diverted upstairs.
"Hnn…"
Pride's arm twitched as he slowly pulled himself out of the blackness that had engulfed him for the last several hours. His head was pounding sharply…painfully…it was extremely irritating. His eyes fluttered before they opened and he lifted his head slowly to stare at a leather couch and a maple colored coffee table. He shifted slightly, though the movement was restricted. Pride frowned slightly and glanced down to find the source of problem. Binding him to the chair were nine separate pieces of rope, all placed at specific spots on his body to make sure that he had no chance of escape; his wrists, elbows, ankles, knees and torso. Were those humans really that desperate to keep him from escaping? Apparently so.
He suddenly drew in a sharp hiss as his head throbbed sharply. Why the hell was he feeling this pain? Why was he tied up? Why was he alone and where was he alone? Or was there someone else here and he just couldn't see them? How long had he been out? Was Edward still unconscious from their little rock incident earlier?
"Stupid humans… I have all these question, but no God damn answers…" he muttered under his breath in a loathsome growl; it was the only thing he could think of to say; all he could think of to answer his questions…everything was due to those stupid humans. Although, he could break free from these ropes after he composed himself; so maybe this wasn't that big of a deal.
Hearing Pride's voice pulled Hawkeye sharply from her private thoughts and she sat up quickly, rubbing her face vigorously once before pushing to stand. She hadn't been able to sleep yet, and the fight through the crash after the drop in adrenaline had been hard. With slightly bleary eyes, she entered the living room turned prison
"Good morning, Pride."
Pride blinked and turned to look at the entrance into the living room. Ah, so there was someone else here, and who better than it to be than that annoying military woman?
"…It had to be you," he muttered, shaking his head before taking a quick glance about, "Where's your boyfriend, hm? That old man you were running around with?" Pride asked, his head canting to the side a bit.
"Yes, it's me. My name is Riza Hawkeye." She stated, ignoring the question about the older man. All she knew was that he wasn't here now, and had been the one to draw the transmutation circle under Pride's chair while she had been tying the homunculus up.
"Your name is just as exciting as your personality…" He remarked, though he wasn't looking at her. Instead, he was eyeing the transmutation circle—or what part of it he could see—that looked to be partially finished underneath his chair. Yes, he was curious about this transmutation circle…it was rather unfortunate that Edward wasn't conscious at the moment; he would like to know what it meant.
Hawkeye's mouth opened to speak a little more, but the sound from behind her stopped the attempt. Pride made a face.
"Lieutenant?"
Turning on her heel, Hawkeye hesitated before offering a small smile to a familiar face. Alphonse Elric.
"Alphonse," she greeted, glancing briefly over her shoulder back toward Pride, who was watching them both with mild interest. Hawkeye heaved a sigh before looking back at the suit of armor. "Brace yourself, you're about to see something you won't understand immediately, but you must trust me."
"Oh, so that's why he isn't here," Pride chimed in, not recognizing the suit of armor, "You're cheating on him with that hunk of metal?" he clicked his tongue, "I'm not sure I like your taste."
Alphonse shifted his head. He could have sworn he had just heard…his brother's voice?
"Ed?" Alphonse moved more into the room, peering around Hawkeye to see his older brother tied up in the center of the room. He hesitated before saying anything. He had been at the Central library when the Lieutenant had sent a message requesting that he came to the General's house. She had said it was urgent, but she had never mentioned anything about his brother being part of why he had to come here. Although he thought it had been odd that he hadn't heard from his brother for the last several hours…
"Why is my brother tied up? He couldn't have done anything that bad!" Oh, his voice was clearly upset, and started to try to move past her. Sure, Edward probably went off, got himself into some kind of trouble with the Colonel and now here he was. But with Alphonse around, the younger Elric was sure he could calm his brother down, or at least reason with him. "What have you done now, Ed?" he sighed, moving over to him.
He sure did look a mess; bloody and disheveled. Like he had just been jumped, or buried under a large pile of books—in Edward's case—but no, there were no real injuries, just the blood that stained his clothes and the skin on his face and neck.
"Brother…" Pride murmured. Ahh… So, Edward Elric has a little brother. "How cute," he mused, smirking as he watched Alphonse come closer. Pride flickered his gaze toward Riza before back at the suit of armor, soon frowning. Why the change? Well, if Alphonse thought he was his older brother, then he would pretend to be his older brother.
Pride cleared his throat before he spoke; his host's voice coming out perfectly, "I was going to go look for you, actually. But Mustang got in my way." He easily lied, humor dancing behind his eyes. This was fun, "Told me I had to return a book to the library before I was arrested or something. Then things just got out of hand." Pride lied, rolling his eyes before looking up at the suit of armor that was now standing in front of him.
Hawkeye's eyes widened before she quickly strode into the transmutation circle and grasped Alphonse's hands, looking up at him pleadingly. "You can't untie him, Alphonse. That isn't Edward—"
"What?"
"You suck."
"—It's a homunculus. If you let him go, bad things will happen."
Pride snorted, "You're making it sound like I'm Pandora's Box or something…"
Hawkeye hardly acknowledged the homunculus, "Please, leave him alone, step back and let me explain," she said calmly, her hands never leaving Alphonse's.
"You know, you are really hurting my feelings, Lieutenant," Pride grumbled, "If it is possible to hate you anymore than I already do then I would."
Hawkeye shot a dark look at the homunculus, "You shut up, Pride; stop playing with his mind."
"Che'…" he snorted and looked elsewhere, his humor had faltered after being told to "shut up".
Alphonse, having been standing in utter confusion while the other two spoke, looked back and forth from Hawkeye to his "brother". The way she was looking at him…
"What? No, that's impossible!" Alphonse shook his head, jerking away from the Lieutenant and taking a few steps back from both of them. "Brother would never have something like that inside him! And look!" Alphonse pointed at his "brother", "He knows the General; a homunculus wouldn't know that!" But even as he said that, he couldn't move. His gaze shifted back to the supposed homunculus. That…couldn't be one of them. It had to be his brother…it had to be. He knew his sibling, in and out, better than anyone, and that meant everyone in the stupid military, too!
Hawkeye shook her head, "Al—"
"No!" he shouted, "I think I would know my own brother and that's him!" his hands curled into fists at his sides, "I want my brother to be untied now, we're leaving."
Slowly, a wry grin pulled at the corner of Pride's lips and a dark chuckle emitted from his throat as he closed his eyes, seeming to be enjoying the argument all too much.
"Wow," he mused, opening his eyes to stare up at the ceiling.
Alphonse and Hawkeye both jerked there heads toward the homunculus.
Pride rolled his stiff shoulders, and dropped his chin to look at both of them. "I just think it's funny that Alphonse has no idea how wrong he is."
Hawkeye slowly looked away.
"…What?" Alphonse's anger seemed to vanish. Instead it was replaced with wariness.
He looked at Alphonse with a smirk, "Look at my eyes. Do they look like your brothers?" he asked, "Or do you think I went and changed my eye color to this pretty violet on my own?" he continued, "Seriously, kid… You should really listen to the woman. Even though I detest doing so myself." Pride said casually, glancing at the officer before drifting his gaze back to the suit of armor. When Alphonse said nothing, he cleared his throat and smiled;
"But if it will really help you sleep at night, or whatever it is you do in that body, then go ahead and untie me~" Pride intoned. There was no point in pretending to be Edward. Why he had even wanted to before was stupid; he was better than his host—one-hundred times better—and he certainly didn't want to be lumped into the Elric family. Especially if it meant having a suit of armor as his little brother.
Alphonse didn't move from where he was, though his fingers seemed to uncurl a bit. This…wasn't his brother...
His brother would never say anything like that to him. Maybe if they were fighting, he'd make a remark like, "At least I can sleep", but not a remark like that. It was almost as if the younger Elric was in shock, though it was hard to tell if anyone looked at his body. The white and red hues were gone from his helmet slits, where eyes were supposed to be. He wanted to believe Edward was in there…he had to… His brother couldn't be gone, he couldn't be dead.
Finally, Alphonse turned, his hues fading out from black and into his normal colored hues again, fists curling up. He was glaring at Pride, his fists shaking a bit in rage.
"Where is my brother?" He asked calm tone, though it was full of strict demand. He turned his body to fully face Pride, eyes boring down at him. "Tell me…where he is…now," he reiterated, seeming to forget that Hawkeye was even in the room still.
"Well, if one hand was free…" Pride shot the Lieutenant a dirty look before he softened his visage and looked at Alphonse; he seemed to be taking this all too lightly. "I'd point. But since I am unable to, I'll tell you." Pride said, agitated that he had to. "Your brother isn't dead, for starters. So, no need to be so upset," he tapped his fingers on the arms of the chair, "He's in a safe place, I assure you, stuck in his own mind. He's unconscious right now though, I think. Thankfully, too." Your brother is extremely bothersome when he is awake." Pride complained as he clicked his tongue in disapproval.
Alphonse was enraged. His brother had been taken over by some homunculus, but the sin was right, if he was telling the truth, Edward could be in there somewhere. But if his brother was dead…the thought alone did more than crush Alphonse for those few moments. It completely obliterated him. There was no way in hell he could live without his brother. But if that monster was there…Would he ever "see" Edward again? Unless that thing was out of him, then everything was just...ruined.
Alphonse moved suddenly and quickly to grab the collar of Pride's shirt and lift not only him up, but the chair as well, until they were seeing eye to eye.
Pride was startled, but due to his current situation, there was nothing he could do about Alphonse's actions but scowl. He didn't like being treated like this.
"Wake my brother up now and let me speak to him!" If that were possible… But right now, Alphonse couldn't care less. He needed full proof that his brother was still in there somewhere. And if he couldn't get anything out of the homunculus he'd have to find a way to get Pride out of Edward's body.
Pride grunted, "Sorry, kid, can't do that. You'd be better off leaving a message, I'll make sure he gets it later," he said with a wink. There was no way in Hell he was going to give Edward control of this body.
"How did you get in my brother's body in the first place?" Alphonse demanded, ignoring the sin's earlier response.
"Through the bloodstream, I'd imagine," Pride said dully, really hating being held up like this. "Honestly, I don't know, and I don't care, but I'm sure she—" Pride stopped when he looked to where the Lieutenant had been standing. Where'd she go?
Alphonse's helmet shifted, noticing Hawkeye's absence as well. "She knew?"
The sin snorted, "She was there, so I'd imagine that she knows, genius," he retorted. "Now will you please set me down?"
Alphonse gripped Pride's shirt a little tighter, frustration filling him. For how long had she known this sin was inside Ed? Why hadn't that been the first thing she had told him when she called? Sure, he was bound to find out sometime, that was certain, but this wasn't exactly something to be not mentioned!
For a brief moment, he wondered if beating Pride would knock his brother back into control. It wasn't that Alphonse was scared to hit Pride; he'd hit his brother before, either sparing or they were in arguments that would lead to fist fights. But in this body and how angry he was…he couldn't kill Pride easily, but what about his brother?
"Weather you like it or not… I will get my brother back," he finally replied in a cold whisper as he set Pride back down. That smirk the bastard kept on giving; as much as an asshole his brother was, it wasn't the same kind of smirk. It was the kind of arrogant smirk that everyone hates to see.
Pride let out a grunt when the legs of the chair roughly hit the wooden floor, scraping slightly. He looked up, a small grin on his lips.
"All about your brother…" he mused before continuing, "Aren't glad that your brother is gone? I mean…he's been treating you like a child for all of these years. He's twenty-one and you're what—"
"Twenty."
"—Twenty, right… So, aren't you glad that he isn't bossing you around? Dragging you all over the place while he does his lame job?"
"Shut up…"
Pride parted his lips to continue but stopped himself from provoking the younger Elric any further. He closed his eyes and lifted his shoulders in a small shrug. "Fine, but you know I'm right."
Alphonse grunted and remained where he was for a moment before he suddenly kneeled down. Pushing up Pride's jeans that covered his brother's dented automail leg, he skillfully disconnected the metal from its holding place; untying it from the chair before setting it aside and doing the same with Pride's right arm; which was also partially destroyed. He had seen Winry and his brother take both limbs off a million times; he knew how to do it.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Pride hissed, trying to rock the chair away from the suit of armor. It was a lame attempt to get away.
Alphonse moved to open up his armor and dump his brother's metal limbs inside, and after the clanging stopped as the two items reached the bottom, he spoke, seeming to have ignored Pride's question. "I'll be sure to give these back when Ed is back and you're gone."
The sin let out a feral growl. This kid was beginning to piss him off. "Fine!" he snapped, "But you know, you might be doing your brother a favor anyways with removing all this metal crap. Yes, keeping me from moving, but you know, I was thinking about possibly making your brother's life easier and giving him some new limbs with my regenerative ability…" he suddenly allowed a devilish smirk to cross his lips, a dark gleam in his eye, "It is too bad… But I can see how badly you want to talk with your brother, and quite frankly, I'm tired of listening to your bitching. So…" he chuckled quietly for a moment before he closed his eyes.
Alphonse stilled, "What are you doing?"
"Oh nothing…just calling your brother," he replied quietly before inhaling sharply and shouting, "Edward Elric, come on down!"
Abruptly, the sin's body fell slack; dead weight like it had been earlier against the ropes. Lifeless. Dead. Just nothing…
"…Pride?" Alphonse said warily, unsure if he should reach out and shake him or just wait.
Wakey, wakey, Edo~ Time for you to shut your brother up.
Suddenly, Edward's body jerked to life. As if he had just surfaced from water, Edward gasped for air and opened his eyes, his chest heaving. Alphonse had jumped slightly, not having expected the rude awakening, but it wasn't joy that he felt when the alchemist looked at him…no, it was…wariness. Was this really his brother, or was Pride pulling his leg?
He moved a little, slowly sitting up. His muscles and bones protested against the action as he sat up straight and lifted his head to look up and meet his younger brother's gaze. If it weren't for the ropes, he was sure that he would've crumbled to the ground.
"…Al?" he breathed, his brows knitting slightly as his visage took on an obvious look of confusion, "What…where the hell am I and…" he dropped his golden hues to stare at the ropes, "Why am I tied up? And my automail?"
Alphonse looked away from his brother just then.
What was up? Why was Edward acting like he had completely no idea what was going on? He should after all—being possessed by Pride especially—but no…he was completely clueless and even in pain. Had Pride honestly let his brother have control again? If he had, did he block out Edward's memory from the point Pride was inserted to now? If that was the case, it meant bad news for all of them…
Alphonse finally gave a bitter snort and moved to fold his arms over his chest plate. "Shut up, you're not getting this automail back. Not until I find a way to get you out of Ed." He snapped.
Edward blinked, taken aback by the resentment in his younger brother's tone. "'Shut up'?" he took a quick glance about, "Al, what the hell are you talking about? Get who out of me?"
Unable to control his temper, Alphonse's head jerked up to look at Edward for a brief second, white and red hues glaring hard into his eyes, not even taking a second to notice the eye color change.
"I hate you," he spat out, venom dripping off his words like it was straight from the snakes fang. "Now just shut up, before I make sure you won't be able to talk again."
"Al! This is ridiculous! I'm me. Will you quit acting like this!" he was beginning to get irritated with his brother's lack of trust in him. "I'm—" he stopped suddenly as his head screamed at him to stop with the loud noises with a powerful, and painful throb that made the alchemist think his head was about to burst. He grimaced, hesitating before he continued. He felt strange…just not himself…and his head…shut did it hurt. Like someone was pricking his brain with tiny needles. And the fact that he didn't know why he was hurting, or why his brother was pissed, or where he was or—just nothing—frustrated him.
"Al," he began grimly, only to pause once again as the thump of boots grew loud as they descended the stairs, and shortly Hawkeye came into view.
Her head was down; wiping a few bright red spots of what was almost certainly blood from her hand with a white towel, which was now also lightly stained with red. She didn't look up until she was already a few steps within the room. There sat an angry suit of armor facing off a de-limbed and bewildered looking Edward. She blinked through the blonde ends of her bangs and halted.
"What's going on here? Alphonse?"
Edward's eyes widened and both he and Alphonse looked at the officer, "Lieutenant!" they exclaimed, both sounding relieved for the interruption.
The stained towel was dismissively tossed aside on a nearby cabinet and she took a few slow steps closer. "Is Pride trying to manipulate you using Edward as bait? Don't fall for it," she warned softly.
"Pride?" Edward murmured.
"That is Edward, but you can't untie him. Pride is still in there, and he is more dangerous than Lust." For everyone else, that is. The only one in real danger from Lust was herself. She half folded her arms in front of her, pointing casually to the noticeably missing leg while half-turning to Alphonse. "Why are his limbs gone?" in a tone that hinted that although she was curious, she knew she wouldn't like the answer.
"I asked the same thing," Edward grumbled, and looked at his empty right arm socket before back to the Lieutenant.
The helmet shifted upward, looking dully at his brother. Slowly, he accepted the fact that he was in fact standing in front of his brother. But Pride could take over at any moment... But, even though he now knew it was Edward, he seemed to be ignoring him.
"I removed his limbs so if he does manage to get away he won't get far." Not to mention, he couldn't use alchemy with only one arm, not without drawing a transmutation circle first. But he kept that information to himself; there was no way to know if Pride was around to hear it, and he wasn't going to chance letting a homunculus run loose—especially one that bore his brother's face.
Hawkeye nodded; that was a logical enough reason. After a moment of silence, she heaved a sigh and looked at Edward.
"I'm glad to see that you are back though."
Edward wasn't sure how to go about replying to that statement. "Yeah… You both have been calling me 'Pride'—"
Hawkeye glanced at Alphonse before she placed her focus back on Edward with a deeply concerned mien. "You don't remember, Edward?"
He hesitated, "…I remember going with you to an underground city to look for the General…then lights out." He replied, grimacing at the continuing pounding of his head.
"That's a problem," the officer moved to take a knee in front of Edward, facing him, "You were aware until the point Pride took over your body."
At first she remained quiet, as her mind rolled over the implications of the Homunculi being able to change and manipulate their host's mind. Absentmindedly rubbing her right forearm, she didn't seem to realize the lines of slick liquid that ran from elbow to wrist. It was darkening very slowly. Neither Alphonse nor Edward had noticed the change either.
"This happened when we went looking for Mustang, didn't it?" Edward asked slowly, although he knew the answer.
"Yes, it did." She breathed a soft sigh and seemed to straighten more. "Edward, listen to me carefully. You have to guard your mind. There are things we don't want them to know and abilities that must be kept from them. Do you best to block your memories and knowledge from him." Somehow she would have to say the same to Mustang and warn him, but it wasn't safe to approach him yet. "Keep Pride busy. Give him false memories. Mix the false memories in with harmless real ones to keep him questioning everything, even if he does get a hold of something real. Make them fantastic experiences and mundane ones. Don't let him gain a foothold, keep him unsure and confused. Please, Edward. This is very important." The entire time she spoke, her eyes remained locked upon his, trying to keep his focus. Hopefully that would decrease the risk of Pride "listening in".
If Pride learned alchemy, especially alchemy of Edward's talent, there would be no way to restrain him or protect anyone from the reach of his potential destruction. Thus why there were details she wasn't able to tell him just yet, lest she give the monster within him ideas. There hadn't been enough time Pride spent alone with his Father to be filled in on all the details of his plan. That was part of why he was being so firmly restrained.
Guard his mind? Block memories and information? What the hell? What could Pride possibly be prowling around in his mind for? Which, honestly, it was really gross thinking that you had something else inside of you—seriously—it was not comforting to know.
"Yeah, I can do that." He assured the Lieutenant
The throbbing was beginning to relent some as Edward began to relax and focus on the other two in the room rather than the fact that he had something hiding in the back of his mind. But just as he began pushing Pride away, the throbbing became merciless once again. It was like Pride knew what the Elric was trying to do.
Hawkeye nodded firmly, "Good," she said, and flashed a smile. With that, Riza pushed herself off the floor and reached out to touch Edward's shoulder in support.
The boy never was affectionate and there was no reason to think he would be more receptive to those little gestures right now, but he had to be frightened on some level. Hopefully he would know that there was someone looking out for him that he could trust. When she pulled her hand away, she noticed a fresh, light trail of blood on Edward's jacket she hadn't noticed before. Her brows furrowed for a brief second. There was no reason for him to be bleeding… She turned her hand over and blinked. A nearly pink smear of blood coated her palm, and as she watched, another thin rivulet of darker red ran down her palm.
Hawkeye snatched her hand in and turned away in hopes no one saw it. Everyone was enduring high levels of stress tonight, and if they found out that Lust—Roy—had injured her, it would only burden them more.
"It's just like with Ling and Greed then?" Alphonse asked finally, after staying silent for several minutes, which in such a tense moment, seemed to last a while. "And what is this about the General?" he asked, having only now just heard small bits and pieces of how his brother had come to be in the condition he was in.
He didn't favor talking or acting when he was upset; mostly acting. Someone would've ended up getting hurt, and right now, there was no one to get mad for him, like there usually was. The armor gave a small sigh, the same question popping into his head; could his brother get his body back? Or would Pride be inside him forever? Greed hadn't been all that bad…he was just, well, greedy. He didn't work for the rest of the homunculi, and since he was greedy, he took care of things that were his, including his friends. Pride, on the other hand, didn't seem a bit interested in anyone but himself. And if a homunculus had someone like Edward at their control, it just spelt bad news. His brother caused enough havoc in the world without Pride inside him.
The officer looked at Edward first before she responded to Alphonse, but she quickly dropped her head down, avoiding his gaze. She could see the battle going on behind them. It was nothing like what Roy was going through, but it was there. Almost as if Edward was haunted. Roy's battle was more obvious and outward. The changes could be quick and sudden, or come with a fight for control in which his eyes would change colors rapidly, or glow with both colors swirled together like marble.
"Yes, Alphonse. Exactly like Ling and Greed, except the General and Edward were not willing." She looked up at the ceiling, gesturing vaguely upward. "General Mustang went missing and Edward and I followed some clues and found him…underground, in a hidden city."
Alphonse looked at his brother, "Why didn't you tell me that you were leaving to go find the General?"
Edward shifted his gaze from Hawkeye to look at his brother when he heard his hurt tone. He could already feel the regret piling up on his shoulders. "Al…" he began, though before he could continue, the front door opened, followed by the sound of foot steps before a familiar face appeared in the living room.
Alphonse was the first to react, "D-Dad?!"
"What…what did I do?"
The form that was supposed to be Roy Mustang looked down to the clawed form of his hands, crimson tinting his flesh and partially staining the right sleeve of his white shirt.
Blood, it was blood.
But where had it come from? In the struggle, he had slashed himself a few times, but the wounds had healed too fast for there to be few traces of any injuries ever being there. But this, though not a deadly amount, was far too much.
You attacked her.
That damned voice from within spoke, echoing within his mind like a bell within a church tower. There was no hiding the obvious satisfaction in the intruder's tone, sarcasm flowed of plenty.
Face it, General; you're losing it, the voice taunted. You're losing what you thought was control. You've never had it in this situation. Just let go, it'll be so much easier that way.
An angry growl emitted from Mustang's throat as his fists were slammed into the wall again, making a loud thud. The claws dug into the surface and splintered the wood beneath.
"No," he hissed, "I won't allow it. I won't lose anything; not myself, the people around me, all that I've worked for! The only thing I will lose is your annoying presence; you're nothing but a parasite!" Mustang shouted, his claws digging deeper into the wood, leaving gashes along the surface; a scene much like an animal attack rather than the mental battle that was taking place.
"I won't…let you!"
Lust knew the plans that his Father had laid out, so with the merging of minds, Roy had been more exposed. It also didn't help that he had no qualms with hiding what he wanted to do to Riza on top of everything.
She'll make fine company, no wonder you keep her around, the voice remained smug, but the sin was fighting as well.
Mustang had regained a bit of strength in the time between the insertion and now, and Lust was beginning to understand why this man had been a potential sacrifice. Instead of shocking Roy, it instead seemed to infuriate him, giving him more strength than previously owned.
"It's not going to happen!"
Then with a harsh mental push, his body tensed, eyes clenching shut and claws threatened to rip the boards from the wall.
Hohenheim smiled meekly as he carried over a few covered bags, each muffling the clinking of the jars held within them.
"Forgive me for the sudden exit, but I had to make sure I had a few things before I lost the available sources for the night." His expression turned to a kind, yet apologetic image. He seemed to pause then. Something was different and Hohenheim could feel it.
Edward was stunned just like his brother. However, this wasn't a good surprise, this was a terrible shock.
What the hell is he doing here? He had absolutely no business being here! No one invited him!
The still filled bags were gently placed upon the coffee table before he turned and cross the distance between him and Edward. He hesitated there briefly before reaching out and taking a firm hold of his chin, pulling his attention and allowing him to look him in the eyes.
"Edward?"
He gritted his teeth, rage fueling him as he ripped his chin out of his father's grasp before he scowled at him. "What the hell do you think?" he barked before glaring at the brown bags, "You come back and go groceries shopping?" he asked icily, not even looking at the man. He was twenty-one. He hadn't seen Hohenheim since he was eighteen years old…and he was still holding the same grudge he had when Trisha died.
Of course there were biting tones from Edward, it was common as well as expected. And in all honesty, Hohenheim knew he deserved it for the way he had handled things years ago. It had been hard on all of them and especially two growing boys who lost their mother. He hadn't known about her death until it was too late and even then, he hadn't been able to come back. So then, even as he was berated by the eldest of his two, he cast a loving and rather understanding glance that was only possible for someone of his years and experience.
"Groceries? Not exactly," he dropped his hand back down to his side, "More like…supplies."
Edward glanced at Hohenheim out of the corner of his eye, frowning. "Supplies for what?" he murmured.
Hohenheim didn't respond as he stood straight; his back popping. He winced a bit, "I'm getting far too old for this…"
Alphonse couldn't contain his nervous excitement anymore, even though he wanted to chide his brother for being so rude. When would his brother grow up?
"What are you doing here?" he nearly squeaked out, "Not that I'm not happy to see you. J-Just…" Well, just unexpected. No, unexpected was the least amount he could say.
He focused his golden eyes on his youngest, his gaze once more softening. "Alphonse," he glanced at Edward briefly, "Just stopping by to take care of your brother. Just like you have been doing," he chuckled, "I know it's a full time job keeping him out of trouble."
Even after not seeing them for so long, knowing that they were in trouble was something that weighed heavily upon him. If only he had still been there years ago, none of this would have ever happened and his children could potentially be safe and happy in Resembool, or here in Central if they wanted. But in truth, they were far too curious and hungry for knowledge to stay in that one place forever.
From near the couch, the Lieutenant politely cleared her throat to speak. This seemed to be a private moment for the three of them, especially after she knew their history. Hohenheim and she had had plenty of time to walk and talk through the process of getting them all to the General's home.
"Shall I leave you three alone? I can check on the General upstairs."
Hohenheim blinked and turned to face Hawkeye and nod. "Thank you, Lieutenant Hawkeye. I believe we have things under control for now. It will give me time to finish preparing while you do that." He replied while he shrugged out of his coat and draped the fabric over the arm of a cream colored recliner. Approaching the bags once more, he began to roll his sleeves up. "And…thank you for everything else. Not just this." She had helped protect his children; had a hand in their safety from the beginning, and continued even now.
The Lieutenant smiled a little, "Someone has to do it…and thank you for getting us all out of the city," she replied quietly before turning to swiftly leave the three in the living room while she went to go check on the General. There was a reason she didn't say anything more, but she decided to keep that to herself…regardless if it would've been true.
Silence filled the room, save for the shuffling of bags and the soft sound of glass jars being set out on the coffee table. Meanwhile, Edward had dropped his attention to the partially finished array. Frowning, he tilted his head to the side slightly, craning his neck to look more closely at the shapes that made the transmutation circle. After a moment, his eyes widened. He knew what array this was; finished or unfinished.
"Dad," his throat was dry as anxiety began clawing at his chest, making his heart pulse faster, "Did you lose some brain cells wherever the hell you were?" he stuttered, tearing his gaze off of the circle to look at Hohenheim. "You aren't serious about this are you?"
Alphonse now looked at the circle, too, and just like his brother, he recognized the circle instantly.
Human transmutation.
Hohenheim turned around to face Edward. His expression was still soft, especially when he saw the panic in his son's eyes. "Edward—"
"No, this is ridiculous!" Edward interrupted, "Are you really expecting this to wor—ah!"
Well that wasn't what he meant to say…
Immediately Alphonse was right at his brother's side, one gauntlet flat on the floor, the other on the back of the chair, gripping it tight.
"Brother?" It was a childish name he'd always called Edward; he grew out of it over the years, but when something like this was going on… Well, old habits die hard. When he didn't answer, Alphonse looked to Hohenheim for answers. "Dad, what's wrong with Ed?" he demanded, his tone cracking with his panic.
Hohenheim's peaceful visage fell as he looked away from Edward to Alphonse, "It's Pride," he replied, "he's trying to take back the control of Edward's body."
Pain. It was white hot as it stabbed his brain mercilessly.
His vision went gone black as he cried out in agony. He could feel it…like someone was grabbing onto the back of his shirt and was dragging him back into the confinements of his mind.
Damn it, Pride!
He was fighting, and fighting hard, but with one ruthless yank, he felt himself loose control of his own body.
And as he laid down on the nothingness of his mind, dazed and weak once again, he could hear Pride's voice echo around him.
Sorry, kid, time's up…
There was one last sharp cry—as if someone had stabbed him—Edward's body fell slack just like it had before against the ropes. And after a few silent moments passed, his body slowly came back to life.
The mental battle was over, and as he lifted his head and opened his eyes, the rich violet of his irises was enough to tell who the winner was.
"Sorry, I'm not the type for sentimental moments," Pride mused sourly before he shifted his cat-like eyes to Alphonse, who was still next to him. "Oh, good to see you again."
Alphonse stiffened before he suddenly jumped back from the sin, both of his metal hands curled into fists. Already he could feel his hate for Pride returning.
The sin grunted. For a moment he neither said nor did anything, but slowly, he brought his attention to Hohenheim. His expression…it wasn't happy.
"Your son is incredibly useful in situations like these," he continued, "His memories; knowledge and insight are just too fascinating to pass up. But, luckily I didn't even have to search that hard to figure out what this circle means." Pride tapped his shoe against the wood floor, "Because Edward saw it and thought about it impulsively—dumb move—that informed me right away what all this mess meant.
"What surprises me is that you even want to pull off a human transmutation… After what your boys went through to try and resurrect their mother…" he clicked his tongue, "And all these memories your son has about you being such a wonderful daddy! Oh, he's just reeling inside right now just thinking about the fact that his so called 'father' could possibly be killing him right here, today, at this hour…" Pride's expression became just a bit more serious, "He would respect and trust your judgment more had you just done a better job as a parent, you know."
Hohenheim's golden eyes narrowed. Pride was talking to deaf ears. He had already accepted these verbal lashings once before…he was immune to them now. However, Alphonse didn't feel the same.
"Who the hell do you think you are? To pick and pry at my brother's life like that!" Alphonse's voice boomed throughout the entire room. He was mad, no, he was enraged!
Pride blinked; he hadn't meant for Alphonse to react so intensely to what he had said.
All at once, Alphonse was suddenly in front of Pride, his left hand gripping Pride's collar while the other arm was cocked back; fist curled and ready to slam right into Pride's face. But no blow came. Alphonse just stood there, Pride right in his grasp and from what anyone could tell, defenseless, yet he couldn't hit him… Pride was the second to notice Alphonse's hesitant behavior.
"Aw," he smirked, "What's wrong? Can't hit your big brother?"
Alphonse didn't respond, but his grip loosened as his fist and arm began to fall back down to its side. But just before he completely released the sin, his fist flew forward and slammed into Pride's right cheek.
The action was rewarded with a loud pop as Pride's jaw was punched out of place and whiplash stung the right side of his neck from his head being jerked so suddenly like that.
Pride was dazed from the blow; he was still only several hours old and was trying to grasp everything he could do, such as regenerating, and it was happening slowly with this new injury that also left a pretty, bloody gash on his right cheekbone.
The only joy Pride got out of this was Edward howling inside from his younger brother's actions that the sin had provoked.
Alphonse had finally released Pride and moved to stand a few feet away with his back to both Edward and his father.
"Dad…" his voice shook, laden with sulfur, "Get that thing out of brother."
Pride groaned after he popped his jaw back into place with one swift slide of his jaw back to the right before he spoke.
"It won't work!" Pride hissed, spitting blood out of his mouth as a rich, dark crimson oozed out of the gash in his cheek, down the side of his face and neck, "You will kill him! Even if everything is set up correctly," He looked at Hohenheim, "You will literally rip your son apart trying to split us." Pride warned, gritting his teeth, "Is that a risk you are willing to take? A mistake you want to live with for the rest of your life after you've already made so many?" he nearly shouted, still trying to get over the fact that Alphonse—someone who probably had Gandhi as their role model—punched the shit out of his face with just one blow.
Silence filled the room. It was thick with static…all the animosity and anxiousness was overwhelming. However, the feeling didn't bring about Hohenheim's answer any quicker, but when it finally did come; Pride only found his simple response foreboding.
"Well..." he scratched the top of his head, "Edward would probably rather let that happen than let a homunculus run free with his body…be controlled by it. But you tell me; you're the 'Edward' here."
Authors note: OHMYGOSH. This was a long one. xD Hope you enjoyed, cause I really enjoyed this chapter.
Leave comments, you make not only me, but the four of us that work on this so hard for you all super de duper happy.
xD
