PrincessZidet - XD Your awesome for that comment! Ah yes, the new mystery, what's wrong with Alphonse...hm, well why don't you just read more and find out. Muhahahaha!
Mustard Gal - I always hated Tucker. Even before he did anything. After what he did to Nina the first time, so many people hated him more then. It was only natural to have him be evil in this world too. Originally he wasn't going to do anything but be a minor, 'oh yeah there's another familiar face'. Then I thought, hm it would make it easier for my plot to move along if he was Edward's doctor. So you'll see where he fits in more later on.
Aevium - Well, part of it is luck, but part of it also comes into the plot later on in the story. I'm not done with Tucker yet, the little pawn. X3 You'll see, not in this chapter but in the ones to come, Tucker and Edward's little secret comes into play. Whoot!
just another fma fan - Well let's see... Trisha will kinda sorta come back. You'll see. And as for the ending to it, you'll jsut have to wait and see! I don't want to give anything away. You'll just have to read and find out. Exams are almost over. I don't study or anything but they're jsut so stressful I get writter's block. It sucks! But summer starts the 15th so it'll be all over by then! Wh00t!
Arcs-En-Ciel - You know, this story was first going to be a one shot. Then was going to be eight chapters. Then I kept adding and extending it, so now it's going to be like...a lot longer XD Well it's on chapter eleven now, and they're jsut getting into plot. I won't make it longer than twenty that's for sure. I don't like making stories too long that people lsoe interest so we'll see. As for their hair, I know how you feel! The awfulness!!!! ;-;
Chapter eleven - Rude awakenings
Edward watched as one by one the men came out of the tents. The check up and shots had been easy, but he was still nervous with the encounter with Tucker. Alphonse seemed better then he had been earlier, he was smiling a little more genuine then the fake ones he tried to give to Edward out of pity. He kept wanting to ask how it went but was afraid to.
"How was it?" Alphonse asked after so long.
Edward jumped slightly and turned over to his brother, "huh?"
"How was the exam? You know...with your arm and everything?" He said whispering the last part so anyone listening wouldn't hear unless they were that close.
Edward took in a deep breath and nodded, "Yeah um, well, my doctor was Shou Tucker." He said in a soft tone. He was mostly hoping Alphonse wouldn't hear him and maybe change the subject. No luck.
Alphonse's eyes widened a little as he tried not to make a scene. "Tucker? You mean he's a doctor here? I thought he was going to be a prisoner like us," he said softly as he looked around. Something didn't feel right...
"Yeah well apparently they thought he could be of use as a doctor. They did take the specialists away remember?" Edward said as his explanation, leaving out anything that had to do with-
"What about Nina?" Alphonse just had to ask.
Edward frowned and tried to find the right thing to say. There was no right thing to say. "I...I don't know," Edward said shaking his head, "I didn't ask." He hated lying.
"Do you think she-"
"No!" Edward quickly snapped, of course seeing Alphonse's shock face made him take it back. "Sorry Al, I just hate when you say things like that. No, I'm sure she's fine." He said rubbing his temples a bit before their barrack leader came over; the same SS man it had been for a while now.
"Alright! You all have passed your test, now get running!" He shouted as he cracked a whip. Something he must have recently received. Edward groaned lightly as he shook his head, he hated running so much. Or at all really; but he did it often enough.
"Come on," he told his brother as he started running as commanded. Alphonse wasted no time in running to catch up and follow Edward. The two kept at steady paces because they figured they'd be running for a long time.
They were right.
After running for, what seemed like, hours they came to stop. The barrack leader had then take a small lunch break even if it was already past noon. It didn't matter. If it meant getting food and water, they'd take it.
They lined up and went to get their rations for the afternoon: A small bowl of soup, a slice of bread, and a little bit of water in a mug looking cup that was dirty and made the water taste like rust. Alphonse was in front of Edward this time, and got his meal first. He walked off to find a place to sit down and reserved a place for his brother.
When Edward's turn came for his meal, the man get him his water but didn't give him any bread. Not only that, but he got the bottom of the pot for soup, which meant it was clumped together and quite nasty to chew. Edward gave a questioning look and the man replied, "for acting up earlier."
Edward made no protest, nor did he say anything against it as he walked over and sat next to Alphonse. Alphonse was busy eating his bread slice then noticed Edward didn't have one. "Brother, where's your bread?" He asked with a small frown.
"Hm?" Edward mumbled as he ate his soup. Gulping down a mouthful he grinned at his brother, "oh! I was so hungry that I ate it as soon as they gave it to me. Sure is good today don't you think?"
Alphonse frowned once more as he looked at his brother for answers as to why he was lying. "Yeah, it's kind of stale but it's fine when you dip it in the soup." Alphonse said as he demonstrated the procedure. Edward nodded and watched but said nothing in reply.
The boys ate together in silence until break time was done and it was time to get up and running again. They were starting to get the hang of their new life. Run at a good pace, run faster than the slowest, and run to survive. That was how they lived. So long as they did that together, it seemed they would be fine.
"I can't feel my legs," Alphonse groaned as he plopped onto their bed. They were lucky to have a mattress.
"I know," Edward said sitting down next to his brother, rubbing his aching feet. His right foot had blisters upon blisters, where as the left one remained covered it mud and latex. "We need to get a good nights sleep," he said with a yawn as he lay back.
Alphonse nodded but was already half asleep. He was on his back so his stomach was up and half sticking out due to the size of his prison wear. Edward watched him a moment then groaned and roll over so he was on his stomach. He let his eyes wander around a little as he started to doze off. Some men stared, some were already asleep, and some men could care less.
It didn't matter to Edward. They all looked the same.
"Good night brother," Alphonse whispered as he let his eyes drop completely.
"'Night Al," Edward replied softly as he to closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.
"Your right, he's just like you said," a whispered voice said cutting into Edward's dreams. He stirred but didn't wake up quite yet.
"I know, he's so soft." Another voice said just as quiet as the first one. Edward stirred again but still didn't wake up. Something felt wrong though, he just didn't know what.
"Damn, hold him still!" The first one hissed. There was muffled sound and the bed shook a little, but Edward still didn't wake up.
"I'm trying!" The second one hissed in return as the bed jumped again. This time Edward opened his eyes; just a little. It was still early and in the barrack it was dark, so he had to let his eyes adjust. The voices were close and the sound of struggle seemed...next to him?
He blinked once and rubbed his eyes as he sat up best he could, "hey Al what's that noise?" He asked turning to his brother, but quickly saw his answer. There were two men there, that Edward had seen once or twice around the barrack. They were still in fairly good shape to show that they hadn't been there long. They weren't paying attention to Edward; their hands were too busy grabbing onto Alphonse.
One of the men use to have brown hair, which was now shaved like everyone else. He had deep blue eyes and scars up and down his muscular arms. He was gripping Alphonse's top half mostly, covering his mouth with a cloth and holding his arms behind his back.
The second man was a little more 'hands on' with Alphonse. He too had deep blue eyes, but his hair looked like it had once been black. A weird combination really. He use to be big, but he was now a little skinner around the waist line. His arms and legs were still fairly strong though; enough to crush anyone who got in his way. He was holding onto Alphonse's mid section, unbuttoning his shirt and feeling his stomach along the way. His other hand was roaming on Alphonse's leg.
Then there was Alphonse. His eyes were watering and tears ran down his face, but compared to the men on top of him, he was powerless. When Edward turned and looked over, Alphonse looked over also with a pleading expression on his face as he shouted under the cloth. It was too muffled to be real words.
"Hey!" Edward shouted as he lunged forward to try and knock the men off his brother. He managed to get the scarred man off, so Alphonse's screams were set free. He was shouting for his brother to help, btu Edward was a little occupied. He pounced and pinned the man down, hitting him into a near by bunk bed along the way.
Edward was on top, giving only one punch as he glared a the man he'd attacked. "What the hell do you think your doing?" He shouted as he aimed another punch at the man's face. Not missing his target.
"Brother!" Alphonse screamed; snapping Edward out of his beating trance. He turned to the other man who was still on top of his brother as though unaffected by Edward's interference.
"Get off him you bastard!" Edward shouted as he got off the first man and went for the second. He got close and aimed a punch, but missed as the first man grabbed his leg to hold him back. Edward turned and tried to shake him off. It failed though as the man attacked Edward back.
The next thing Edward knew, more and more men joined in. Some of them just jumped in because they were close. Others gathered from across the barrack just to join in on the action until soon it was half the barrack beating one another. Edward in the middle somewhere.
Somewhere in the whole thing, the man that was holding onto Alphonse let go and went to throw some punches and jabs of his own. During that time, Alphonse crawled away sluggishly. He didn't bother looking for Edward, Alphonse knew he could take care of himself. He just had to worry about himself right now.
The fight only lasted a while, but it seemed longer. It would have kept going to until a shot rang out and the men froze. Someone had been shot as the barrack leader stood in the, now, open doorway. The men backed from each other and shuffled back to their bunks. Edward didn't however, still on top of the man he'd originally attacked. His right hand was up, the hand he had been hitting with.
The barrack leader narrowed his eyes as he stepped over the dead body and walked over, keeping his eyes on Edward. "It figures. Why am I not surprised that the golden eyed boy is up to more trouble." He said as Edward slowly got off the man. The man who, by now, was a bloody broken mess. Compliments of Edward's automail limbs.
"Did you have something to do with this," the man asked glaring over at Alphonse who had just peeked out from his hiding spot. "Well?" The leader snapped narrowing his eyes more.
"No sir," Edward said shaking his head. "I did it all. I...they were touching him and I could just sit back and watch them do so."
The barrack leader cackled as he watched the brothers, "these men were touching your brother? That's your excuse for starting this fight?" He asked with another laugh. "Guess what you little shit bag, no one gives a damn." Edward winced slightly at the choice of words. "No one gives a damn about you or your pathetic little brother!"
"He's not pathetic!" Edward suddenly shouted back. Their was another gun shot heard, and Edward felt its bullet wiz past his face and hit the wall behind him. Luckily it missed any men in the way; just barely. Edward's eyes became little slits as he glared at the barrack leader. This man was staring to bother him to no extent.
"You will be punished," the leader said as he turned his attention to the rest of the barrack. "You all are to get ready for the day! It is four in the morning and thanks to your pal, Edward Elric, you'll all be doing extra hours. No breaks, no meals. If you start another fight within the next ten minutes, I will not hesitate to fire!"
There were a few silent groans, but no one protested as the man turned and walked back out, shutting the door behind him. Some of the men glared daggers at Edward and Alphonse, but most of them ignored everything and got ready for the long day ahead of them.
Edward ignored everyone as he went back to his brother, "you okay?" He asked in a hushed voice. Alphonse nodded and licked his chapped lips.
"Brother I'm sorry," he whispered in return btu Edward shook his head. "They just jumped me. I couldn't get them off and I tried to do something but I-"
"It's not your fault Al, it's them." Edward said shaking his head. He had so much anger. That fight was a great way to get some bottled feelings out. "This whole place. It's Hell. It's pure Hell and we're not staying here much longer." He said with a weak smile. "So long as your okay...?"
"I'm fine," Alphonse said nodding as Edward nodded in return.
"Good."
All that day the brothers had gotten nothing but glares and not exactly nice hand signs. They ignored them for the most part though as they kept at it. They had done running for four until now. It had to be somewhere around seven in the morning; other barrack groups were out and running also. Of course, they got to eat and drink before hand.
Their leader had them stop after so long and decided it was time for a new assignment. "Alright you bastards!" He shouted at them as they sat down, "we're splitting you up and taking you to your new work area for the day. No complaints. No whining." He said as he started splitting them up. "You are to meet with the Himmler," he said when he came to Edward. "He requested to speak with the golden eyed trouble maker." He said as he moved on to Alphonse. Edward expected him to say the same to Alphonse, but he didn't. "You are in the third group." He said as he moved on.
Alphonse blinked once then looked over at his brother, somewhat confused. Edward made a fist but didn't protest against the man's orders. "It's just the day..." He told Alphonse as he shook his head, "I'll see you at dinner," and with that Edward walked off to await directions. Alphonse was hesitant, but he too made his way to the group he was suppose to be with.
Edward ignored the men around him yelling about stuff as he headed to a rather large building somewhere behind the barracks. Edward had a SS man with him but didn't need him. He was off to speak with Himmler? Oh joy. Edward seemed to hate the man more and more every time they got together. 'Hm, now that I think about it, dealing with Roy Mustang is much more enjoyable than dealing with Himmler any day.' Edward told himself with a little laugh. 'Wow, that's pathetic.'
Himmler. Heinrich Himmler. The one in charge of building Auschwitz and its death machines. The one who authorized many of the functions that went on during the day. He wasn't there most days, but once in a while he'd stop by for a visit and check in on the men working their; especially Doctor Mengele. A crazy doctor who worked on top secret experiments that would in the end, according to theory, breed a whole race of new Aryans.
That was whole other story all together though.
For now, Himmler seemed only interested in speaking with Edward. Edward remained silent the whole walk to the main building, or what he assumed was the main building. The SS men that had accompanied him were scattered about and once in a while stopped to whip a jew or two along the way. Edward just ignored it. At Auschwitz, one could only worry about themself and their brother.
When Edward got to the door he noticed a small blockade of men. There were a few jews even as guards, though it looked against free will. Edward frowned at that but again remained silent. The SS men stopped and talked to them in another language Edward didn't understand, then they went in.
The inside of the building wasn't fancy, then again neither was the outside. It contained newspaper articles hung on the wall, as well as pictures of some of the 'great leaders' like Adolf Hitler and Himmler of course. Their were small side tables and desks here and there with little stacks of paper on each corner. Books piled up in a few places that had probably been taken off the large bookshelf to study.
Edward stopped when the SS men stopped, and one approached another guard and spoke. Edward could catch a few words that time. Something about Himmler and 'golden eyes'. Edward hated when they referred to him like that. Even his number wasn't that bad.
After the moment of talking, the guard left and came back a while later. He said something to Edward but he didn't know what. The man motioned him to follow and Edward did so hesitantly.
They lead him to another room that was a little more roomy then the last. With a couch on the wall and an arm chair in the corner. A huge open glass window was to the farthest wall, where it could over look the whole camp. It made Edward sick to Himmler standing there gazing out and watching the madness below. They were up on the third story by now.
The guard spoke to Himmler. Himmler spoke back. Then the guard left and Edward remained.
"Hm, let me see here. Edward Elric, correct?" Himmler asked though it seemed more like a statement then anything. Edward nodded but didn't speak. "The golden eyed boy from Munich," Himmler laughed, "I hear you've been causing trouble."
"I haven't caused anyone any more trouble then they've caused me." Edward stated almost too proudly. It was true statement for once. Unlike the false ones he dished out daily.
"Are you aware you are in a death camp?" Himmler said bluntly, raising an eyebrow to Edward. "This is Auschwitz, the best death camp around. We have more humane ways to kill a person than any other camp." He said that somewhat proudly, and it made Edward sick but he bite his tongue. "We give you the necessary food and water to live. We give you new clothes and a nice place to stay. If you give us hell, we'll give it right back."
"Permission to speak, sir?" Edward asked against his better judgement. He'd never spoken those words before in their time here. Once or twice maybe to Mustang, but never here in this world.
"By all means," Himmler said slightly amused.
"Permission to argue?" He asked again, a little more boldly.
"Hm...go on." Himmler said with a nod.
"First off, the necessary food and water you provide for us here, is hardly enough for a person to live by. Especially if they were to go on like this for months, even years. Secondly, sure you offer new clothes, but we only are allowed one pair. If they're small you have to trade with another person's rags. If they're big you endure the looseness that comes with it. Have you ever worn these exact clothes sir? They smell and aren't very comfortable. Since we are only allowed one pair, they get fairly indecent within hours.
"Third point to reason," Edward said in a deep voice trying to sound convincing. Which by the look on Himmler's face, he was doing just that. "The 'nice places' we stay in are cramped. Three bed bunks with two people per bed. That's about six people to a bunk. Do you know how many bunks are in one barrack? Do you know how many people pile at least ten people to a bunk and still have to sleep on the floor? Not only that, but the constant looks men give you is just-"
"Yes they told me that your little brother was having problems with the men in the barrack. You decided to beat them up and start a barrack wide fight?" Himmler said with a smirk, "that's not very smart."
"We're not talking about Al right now, I'm talking about you." Edward said trying not to snap at the memory of seeing the two men on top of his brother. "My last point is the way you explain this camp. One of the best death camps around? More humane ways to kill a person? Listen to yourself and tell me that makes any sense." Edward said making a fist and narrowing his eyes, but did nothing more than that.
"I can see your point boy," Himmler said with a nod. "Even if you think these aren't the best ways to describe a death camp such as this; it is a true statement. Auschwitz is more civil than a different camp where they just let you wander around until you drop dead. Here, we have many ways for you to die. Better ways."
"Like being burnt alive?" Edward glared as he crossed his arms to keep from doing anything. "That is so humane." He said sarcastically.
"Tell me though, Mr. Elric," there it was again, "would you rather have your brother face a quick death like a bullet to the head, or a slow and painful one like gradual starvation?"
"I'd rather not see my brother dead at all," Edward said pulling his hands back down to his sides, and eating crow he added, "sir. Of course, being burnt alive is a slow and painful death either way."
"Oh trust me, there is much slower ways to kill a person here at Auschwitz," Himmler said. Proud once more for his amusement camp.
"Are you planning to kill us?" Edward asked out of the blue, "because if you are, just get over with it now."
"I don't plan to kill you. In fact, you're a very interesting person. You act out in the face of danger, instead of tremble like others. You start fights you cannot win, instead of backing down. The true reason I keep either of you, especially you, alive is because of your eyes. They interest me in so many ways."
"So what do you plan to do?" Edward asked impatiently; HImmler was beating around the bush and not answering him directly.
"I plan to just observe you. Your brother I could care less about, but you are truly one remarkable young man. I advise you stop acting up though, because one of these days against my order, one of those men will shoot and kill you. If your lucky, your brother will be first as a warning."
"A warning?" Edward hissed under his breath as he glowered at the other man. "Is that what Al is? My warning?"
"Of course Mr. Elric." Himmler said with a smug look on his face. "Perhaps you are being too bold now. You may leave," he said turning his back to Edward.
"What? I'm not-"
"Heydrich, please escort EH-5582 to his barrack," HImmler said waving a hand in the air as another man entered the room. Reinhard Heydrich. One of Himmler's many assistants and right hand man. He was somewhat scrawny with slicked back dark brown hair, with bald spots in places. He wore his uniform that showed his rank, but in this world Edward couldn't tell what it was. He appeared younger than most of the worked at Auschwitz, but Edward told himself it was just a charade.
"This way please EH-5582," he said in a soft voice. Edward glared back at Himmler but obeyed anyway as he turned to follow the officer out. Himmler smirked from behind his desk muttering to himself. Edward didn't catch all of them because it was in a different language. He did however understand one word.
Punishment.
There you go for chapter eleven! Wow...we're already into double digets. Crazy. Originally this story was only going to be eight chapters. Then I did tons of research and added things and stretched things and now it's going to be much longer. Um, there's actually stuff going on in this chapter! More protectiveness, fun in the barrack and dun dun dun Himmler!
Anyway, I'll update ASAP! RxR!
- Kori