The Ties That Bind
Chapter Eight:
Sacrifice and Revenge and Equivalence
"Just leave Brother alone!" After everything Brother's given up for me, isn't it time I gave up something for him? Even if it's just a few extra moments or a painless death, I'd give up my life for him. We weren't going to come out of this alive, that was certain already. Someone would die here, and as long as those stones were nearby Brother would be in too much pain to fight. Not that he could fight very well anyway; he was so sick. If what Envy said was true, then Brother couldn't survive much longer thanks to his soul.
Envy smiled at me. I couldn't help but try to escape Gluttony even more.
"You want me to come after you instead?"
"Just let Brother go." He took a step toward me.
"No!" Brother got both mine and Envy's attention. He had made it to his knees, even though I could tell he was in pain. "Don't you... Don't you dare... touch him..." He managed to gasp through clenched teeth. He was in so much pain, and I couldn't do anything about it.
"So, you got a little fight left in ya, pipsqueak?" Envy asked, turning back to Brother, who was now making his way to shaky legs. If looks could've killed, Envy would've erupted into flames from Brother's gaze. Then, with the last of his reserve strength, he kicked over the tanks of Philosopher's Stone. The tanks didn't shatter, thankfully, but it did put more space between them and Brother, and his breathing eased slightly.
"You deserve nothing per equivalency, you sick murderous bastard." Brother said, falling to one knee again, this time by his own power. He clapped his hands and slammed them into the ground. Two small ripples formed in the floor, one on either side of him, pushing the two containers farther away. He then clapped again, and transmuted his automail into a blade. He rushed at Envy, who jumped into the air and kicked him in the chest, sending him flying back a few feet, but he managed to roll and pop back up in a defensive stance.
"You want to take me on? Did you forget what happened last time?"
"No... But I won't fall for that again." If only I could transmute... Wait... The floor! I looked down at the floor and saw it was caked with dirt and dust. I quickly kicked off one of my shoes before using my toe to draw a simple circle into the dirt and activated it with my foot. I turned the ground beneth Gluttony and Envy's feet to sand, and managed to worm my way out of the falling Gluttony's grip.
"Damn you..." I heard Envy snarl as he lunged for me, but I dodged, and, clapping, quickly transmuted a staff out of the floor and sliced Envy's back. He fell, and I backed up closer to Brother.
"Are you okay, Brother?" I asked him, and saw him nod out of the corner of my eyes.
"You shouldn't have tried to sacrifice youself for me. It's my job to protect you."
"When we were little, maybe, but if I don't protect you, who will?"
--
"If I don't protect you, who will?" Well, he had a point there.
"You're never going to let me win, are you?" I asked him, getting a smile in return. But, our attention was divided as Envy stood up, healed, an ugly scowl on his face. He didn't attack us though, but looked like he was planning something. There was no way I was going to be able to run at him again, so I stayed standing, waiting on him. He transformed his arm into a spike and charged at us. Alphonse blocked with his staff, and I sliced at him with my armblade, hoping to hurt him enough to give us enough time to take off for the door, but I missed him. I MISSED HIM!!How could I miss him? Apparently large amounts of pain on the body causes a bit of dizziness and blurred vision, because I then noticed how everything was swaying slightly, and that was why I missed him. Things didn't look like that before. Shit!
Then I started coughing again. Dammit all! I fell to my knees, covering my mouth and trying not to completely fall over. I heard Alphonse yell something to my left, but I couldn't tell what it was. Not only was that pain starting to prick at the corners of my mind, but I felt blood in my hand from where I was coughing.
"Al... You have to get out of here..." I felt my brother beside me, so I told him that much, but the rest of what I wanted to say was cut off by some more coughing.
"...Not without you..." The rest of his reply was cut off, and he stood up and quickly blocked Envy's onslaught again. Alphonse couldn't die here with me... Not when I have the chance to get him out. I could barely see straight by this time, but I stood up, a little wobbly, but firm. I blocked Envy's next attack, which were a set of kicks aimed at my chest, but he still managed to get around my automail and kick me back. I ended up next to one of the containers of the incomplete Philosopher's Stones, and it sent ribbons of pain through my body again.
"Brother!" I heard Envy laugh a bit before a dull smack, and the clank of Al's staff falling to the ground. I clenched my teeth, and tried to sit up again, clutching my heart, only to find myself pinned to the ground by Envy's foot. He was glaring at me, and I knew that it was over. There was no way we were going to get out of here.
"I'm tired of playing with you. It's time for you to die."
--
"It's time for you to die." I said softly to the pathetic Homunculus under my foot. I kneeled down beside him, moving my foot so that I still held him down with a knee, and picked up the piece of Stone I had dropped in the fight earlier. He flinched away from it as I held it over him. He was more perceptive of the Stones now, and even this tiny piece caused him harm. Good.
"Brother!"
"Gluttony, get him!" I ordered without hesitation. "Just don't kill him!" Gluttony started moving, showing off his speed, which was surprisingly fast for someone so huge. He captured the pipsqueak's brother easily, since I had already broken his ankle. It had happened when I managed to knock away his staff, which was pretty pathetic, given his history of alchemy. Seeing the brother captured, I turned my attention back to the Bastard underneath my knee. I smirked as I moved back his jacket and pinned down his arms with my free hand. I slowly brought the Stone toward his Ouroboros, enjoying the pain it caused him as it inched closer and closer. His brother was nearly in tears, I could tell from the patheticness ringing loudly from his voice as he desparately fought of Gluttony.
I was giddy from the pain I was causing these two bastards, and I paused my hand over the Ouroboros for a moment before I turned my hand over and let the Stone plop down onto his seal.
I would have never expected what happened next.
His Ouroboros started glowing red, and he screamed out in pain. I stood up, slightly frightened of the glowing Ouroboros and bloodseal. He couldn't even move from the pain. My grin widened. The Stone was tearing him apart.
It suddenly sank into his Ouroboros, and I backed up a little. He turned over onto his stomach, almost like he didn't have a choice, and managed to make it to his hands and knees. He looked up weakly at his brother, and I nearly felt sorry for him.
"...Al...I... I'm sorry..."
--
"...Al...I...I'm sorry..." He collapsed onto the ground. I was numb. I couldn't even feel the throb of my broken ankle. No... This was not happening... No... Brother couldn't... Not again...
"There's no use in beating up a corpse." Envy said after checking Brother's neck for a pulse. He turned toward me, and this time I didn't struggle. There wasn't any point in putting up a fight now... He was gone. There was no way I could bring him back. No, I didn't want to bring him back. It would be an insult to him. He'd hate me for that.
"...No..."
"Ready to join your big brother?" Envy asked me, holding up my chin so I would have to look at him. I couldn't let him see me cry. No, I had to be strong and face my death with courage... Like Brother... Wait... Was he moving?
--
(Well, I could have left you with that much until Wednesday, but I'm not that evil. That would have been a very cruel thing to do to you readers, and I've had a bunch of absolutely wonderful reviewers. So, thanks to them, here's the rest of chapter eight!)
--
I blinked. I took in my surroundings without moving. I was in a dark room, and there were people nearby. The way I was facing I couldn't see them, but I could tell they were there. I checked my body, twitching my fingers and toes, and nothing seemed to be wrong. I slowly pushed my way up to my knees and looked around. There was a container of red liquid near me, and the other people were in front of me. I brushed some of my gold hair out of my face - I would have to cut that later - and I recognized the three people. I couldn't remember their names or who they were to me, but I knew them.
"Ready to join your big brother?" The small one with green hair asked a golden-haired boy that was being restrained by a large man. The gold-haired one wasn't looking at the other, though. He was staring straight at me. I stood up, and tried to speak.
"That's not fair." The green-haired one whipped around and stared at me for a moment. Why did they keep staring at me? "You shouldn't fight two-on-one."
"...You..." Aw crap. The little one looked like he was going to kill me. I didn't even know if I could fight, much less take him on. He was the same as me, I could tell, and so was the large man. No... We weren't the same. They were evil and had a murderer's eyes. I knew I couldn't be like them. I couldn't kill someone. It wasn't right.
"Brother! You're alive!" The gold-haired one yelled. Was I his brother? I tried to remember something, anything, but it was clouded by pain. I shook my head no; I couldn't face that pain yet. I wasn't strong enough.
"I don't know who you are, but I am not going to let you beat him up unfairly." The littler one glared at me for another moment before lunging at me, trying to punch me. I blocked with my right arm, and was surprised to find that it was metallic. It responded just like my normal arm, but it was all metal. I shrugged off the blow, and kneed the green-haired one with my left leg. It was metal too. Just what had I done to get these limbs?
He (the green-haired one was a guy, right?) was flung back a bit, but recovered quickly, and tried to attack me again, this time going for a high kick to the face. I barely dodged it by rolling to the side, but I wasn't able to get into a defensive position in time to block his next kick, so I recieved the blow full force. It hurt, but I felt my body healing rapidly. I couldn't loose to this one... I had to help the human boy escape. He looked too nice to be a fighter, and he had called me brother. Even if I couldn't remember it, he obviously loved me enough to risk his life to save me, so I had to do the same for him.
After all, wasn't that equivalent?
To Be Continued
Muwahahahaha! I bet you people didn't see that one coming! I love plot-twists. They're fun. Tell me what you think about it! Also, everything will be explained at the end! I won't leave you in the dark for much longer! Let's just enjoy the angsty drama!
Kudos to all my reviewers, and the people who added me to their alerts list/favorites list: BlueRyuu, XxHouranxX, kim carol, Lost In A Dark Wood, and xXDeidara-chanXx! Many thanks to you!
Only two more left! Reparations will be out on Wednesday, May 21, 2008.
I think I said that there were eleven chapters to this, but I'm undecided as to whether to post the very last chapter. I think it leaves the story unfinished, and whenever I try to come up with a next chapter, I end up drawing a blank or it is a piece of crap. So, I might post the last bit as an extra, or I might leave it off completely. Reviews could change my mind!
On a completely unrelated note: Congradulations to any graduating seniors out there! My high school's graduation is on the 22nd, but I know that some schools get out earlier than that. Congrats!
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Shadow Kat-Lyn