19: The Complications

The first thing that hit Roy's eardrums was the sounds of Ed screaming, the second was the maniacal laughing...

"Ah, So chibi-san's koi can do alchemy now, ne?" Roy turned around, face point blank to that of the homonculus known as Envy. He felt every speck of color drain from his face. He immediately took a step backward, but Envy's body followed. He took another step back, and once again found himself cornered. He was stuck in between the tree and Envy, and officially had no way out. Envy's strong, pale hands shot out from his sides and pinned Roy's wrists to the tree.

He felt his heartrate rise, swallowing down the panic that had started rising in his throat, feeling utterly helpless and violated.

"You learn quickly," Envy started, his violet eyes boring into Roy's own, making him look away. "So you should know what I'm after already."

"The philosophers' stone." Roy said quietly and dismally.

Envy smirked.

"That's a good boy."

Roy felt like crying, his entire sense of morality had just been thrown off. Of course he had to do it, if he didn't, it was Edward who would pay. It was his fault in the first place for letting this happen. That was the guilt trip. Roy tried, more than anything, to just keep Ed safe, but it was his fault he'd ran away in the first place.

Ed growled Roy's right, making him look over. Edward's hands were bound, criss-cross, by a rope, making it impossible for him to do alchemy.

"He couldn't transmute the stone even if you forced him to, Envy. He doesn't have that kind of power!"

Envy just smirked in response, his grip on Roy's wrists never failing.

"I don't think so, chibi." Envy ignored Edward's flaming reaction and held up a chain around his neck. Roy raised his hand in an attempt to free himself, but froze up when he saw what the homunculus was holding.
Edward cursed loudly.

"How did you get that, Envy!?" He took a few steps forward, but came to a halt when the gleaming-silver dog tag was swung in front of his face.

"I snatched it while you were unconcious, baka."

"Unconcious?" Roy cut in. Envy sighed and turned to Roy.

"I honestly thought you were smarter than this..." His slick voice grew louder as he leaned down towards Roy's ears, his breath disturbing his black bangs.

"I mean, what kind of a trap would it be if my bait got away on me?" He smirked. Roy's eyes widened.

"Bait? You mean you want-"

His sentence was cut off by a gleaming white fizzle of light. His head turned, and couldn't stop the gasp that escaped from his lips.

"You! How did you find out about him? How do you even know what he looks like? TELL ME!" Roy roared, struggling to escape the grasp of the Hughes look-alike. Envy just smiled on the face of Maes, and pulled out a small pictureframe from his pocket. Roy blinked.

It was a picture of Roy and Hughes, taken just before they entered high-school. He kept it on his bedside table.

"That was in my room...!" He growled.

"Oh really, Was it? So who's this? Old friend? Or a boyfriend of yours..."

The look-alike leaned closer to Roy, nipping at his ear.

Ew, Ew, Ew, Ew, Ew, Ew! Was all Roy could think. No way! With Hughes? Come on! How stupid is this guy?

"What business of it is yours?"

I just need to stall.

Just long enough.

"Oh, just nice to see a familiar face, is all." At Envy's words, Roy's hand froze behind him.

"What did you say?"

"Maes Hughes...Nice fella. Too bad he had to go so quickly, Im sure we could have used him." Envy shrugged nochalantly, as if he were discussing the weather.

"What are you talking about, Envy?" Ed cut in, taking another step forward.

"Oi, watch it, Chibi!" Envy said, tightening his grip on Roy.

"You ask too many questions, Ill be sure to answer them another time. Not." He teased. Just then, Roy activated the transmutation circle behind him, shooting wooden spikes from the tree trunk. Two stabbed Envy, causing him to release Roy and the picture-frame, and another neatly undid the ropes on Edward's wrists.

Ed immediately dove at Envy. Weapon or no, he was going to get the bastard. The homunculus immediately switched back to his original, more convenient form, and jumped out of the way just before Edward attacked him.

Before Ed knew what was happening, he felt a searing, white-hot pain in his side before passing out onto the ground.

"Edward-!" Roy cried, leaping forward. The homunculus smirked and jumped away, somewhere into the trees, after dropping the picture-frame in his hands with a loud smashing of glass.

Roy looked up from crouching over the unconcious blond's body to see something written on the back of the picture. He picked it up carefully and started reading.

-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-

Edward opened his golden eyes, blinking them rapidly in attempt to focus the images in front of him. A bedside table, a lamp, and a radio. Beyond that were familiar blue walls, and an old bookshelf. The shooting pain in his side reminded him what happened and sent him swinging up in bed.
Roy, who was sitting on a chair to his right, promptly fell off.

"E-Edward! Are you okay? Lie down, you're going to make yourself sick." He said, rushing over to the bed.

Ed rolled his eyes.

"You're not my mother, okay? Back off."

Roy nodded his head, sitting back down on the chair and tucking something away into his pocket.

"Are you okay?"

"Define 'okay'." Edward mumbled, shifting in the bed to releive the pressure from his aching side.

"You're not going to pass out or anything..."

"Yeah, in that case, Im okay." He said with his stupid grin. But his face quickly turned serious.

"Envy didn't do anything to you, did he?"

Roy shook his head.

"But...before he left, he did something with the blood seal...it started glowing, and then the whole thing just disappeared. Then he muttered something about a traitor and ran off...Are you sure you're feeling alright?" He added, seeing how Edward had visibly paled in a short period of time, and his hands seemed to be quivering beneath the sheets.

Ed nodded, trying to shake it off.

"Im fine." He said, though his voice didn't seem so sure.

Roy sighed.

"I was really worried about you, you know..." He said awkwardly, smiling at the blush that threatened Edward's cheeks.

"Really?" He asked. Roy stood up from the chair and leaned over in the bed, kissing Ed lightly.
"Really." He said softly, and turned toward the door.

"You should get some rest." He said, turning the lights off. However, Roy paused in the doorway before turning around and quietly saying;

"Edward..?"

Ed blinked.

"Yeah?"

Roy took a deep breath before sighing.

"Im sorry...Will you forgive me?" Edward leaned up in bed, tilting his head as he looked at Roy, his braid swinging behind him.

"For what?"

"For being such a jerk. I shouldn't have led that girl on...and I never should have given her the opportunity to kiss me. I love you, and..." He trailed off, and Edward just shook his head.

"You came after me, didn't you?"

Roy nodded.

"That's good enough for me. It means you really care. I think Im starting to understand how my mother felt." He said quietly.

Roy just nodded again silently and turned to close the door, leaving a crack open where the Mustang family could be heard downstairs.

Ed waited until the footsteps died down and shot up from the bed, darting towards a full-length mirror with a crack in the corner.

He gingerly pulled his shirt up, revealing the side of his body which had been attacked by Envy. It was definitely not one of his better ideas to run at him, but Roy was safe, and he wouldn't let it happen again.

His eyes narrowed as he viewed what was being shown to him in the mirror. The entire side of his body which Envy had touched was now a purple, welt-like transmutation pattern. He touched it lightly with his hand, and received nothing but a shot of pain down his leg and into his arm.

He frowned. This was turning out more complicated by the day. He would have to put an end to it soon, or unwanted consequences would come. Edward pulled his shirt back down and crawled into bed, worry plagueing his mind.

-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-

Roy trodded down the stairs quietly, then pulled out the picture from his pocket again. He turned it over and re-read the back a few times, but still nothing came to him.

"What were you trying to tell me, Hughes?" He said to himself, and looking up to the heavens as if expecting his friend to descend upon him and give him the answer to all his problems. But perhaps he was just causing more.

He twirled the photograph around in his fingers and then put it on the table when he got to the living room, pulling up a chair to stare at the words.

Reminders-

Ask Gracia out to dance.

Pass in English assignment

Look up 'Alchimi'

Buy new headphones

Return Soul-Calibur II before Sunday

Tell Roy about homunculus boy.

Roy sighed in frustration.
"Only Maes would put something so important with a bunch of junk like that. No- Only Maes would need a reminder for that!" He growled to himself, stuffing the picture back in his pocket.

Suddenly he came to a realization that made him slam his head off the table.

"He didn't tell me about it, because I have the reminder! Argh! I should have found it sooner than this!" He beat his head off the table once again.

"Honey, are you okay?" Came his mothers sugary-sweet voice from behind him. He sat up instantly.

"Yeah, Im fine."
"Hows Edward feeling?" She asked, taking off her apron.

"Better."

"Okay then." She shrugged and went back into the kitchen.

Roy sighed. Edward would know about this. He'd ask him tomorrow.

But it was just as he stood up that there was a short flash of light upstairs, and Edwards loud cursing rang through the house, before complete silence.

-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-

-Sighs- Yes, I do realize that half of you just read that in like, thirty seconds...But I just wanted to update for you guys. This is where things start to get interesting.

Any idea who the homunculus boy is?

And about that 'end-the-fic' thing, I definitely have no second thoughts about continuing it now. Sorry for freaking you out like that, but I didn't want this to turn into one of those really long things that like, never end. So, whenever you guys think would be a good time to end it, or if you have any possible ending ideas, just tell me. PM me or something. And now, I have to go finish a project that was due two days ago ;;