Aevium - I'm really glad to hear you liked it so much! I really enjoyed writting that chapter. Don't worry, I'm the same way. I love watching my favorite characters in angsty situations and Edward is jsut the yummy hot fudge chocolate on top to complete the scene. I've been planning that scene since like...chapter three I think XD So I was glad to finally get it ouy for everyone. You were ,y first reviewer for this chapter so you get extra love! Update for you!!
Mean Fangirl - Well maybe?
miroku-has-darkness - XD Oh trust me, he's getting there.
ustard Gal - What do you define as 'too bad'?
Arcs-En-Ciel - O-O Wow, that's frightening... Um, you'll see what happens... It's not that bad.
Sissy - I'm glad you liked it so much! I was thinking of you while writing it. Um...in the sense of 'I hope sissy likes it.' Not any other creepy sense... And yes of course! Wouldn't you go gay for the Elrics? XD More is coming sissy so be ready for it!
soupcan - Yay! -joins happy dance- Oh look more! X3
Chapter twelve - Birkenau
Edward had been taken out of the building and escorted back to the area he had been when he was first picked up. Sort of a pick up and drop off thing. It was a long walk through the camp from one side to the other, so he decided to get to know the person he was walking with.
'What was this guys name again?' Edward asked himself as he looked at the man beside him. He had to be a rookie. He seemed nervous around Edward and was sucking up to Himmler in the worst way. 'Hendrick? Heyderik? Gah-! Stupid German names! Wait. German? Hm, interesting, he doesn't look Aryan…'
"So your name," Edward started, "is it German or…?"
"My name is Reinherd Heydrich," the man introduced without looking at Edward. "I was born in Germany, therefore my name is indeed German." He said matter-of-factly.
"Your not an Aryan though," Edward pointed out.
"No. I am, more or less, one of Hitler's SS men." The man said with a short nod. "I am now working under Himmler, if you must know. My rank is Gruppenführer, if you must know. I was merely checking in with Himmler and assigned you."
"Well that's fun," Edward said with a grin to try and lighten the mood. "So do you have any family here?" He asked, out of the blue really. Anything to get rid of the sense of fear. Besides, this man seemed afraid of Edward. Something he didn't get very often in this world.
"Not here," Heydrich said shaking his head. "My parents are dead now and it is better that way." He explained in a monotone voice.
Edward frowned by that, "have any siblings then?"
"No." Heydrich answered quickly.
"Oh, that's too bad." Edward said shrugging, "My mother's dead. She's been dead for a long time. My dad died just recently. Well…a couple years now but more recent then mom. My little brother is here too." He said taking in a shallow breath, "his name's Alphonse Elric. I'm Edward Elric by the way. None of this EH-5582 crap."
"I am to call you as labeled," Heydrich said with another nod.
"Yeah I figured as much. Anyway, like I was saying. I've been here with my brother for a few days now. I can't remember how many. Not very long, but still. I really do love him. I feel bad for him because he has to be here instead of at home safe and sound. Well, the Nazis burned down our house before we left…" He shook his head again.
"All Nazis have orders to burn down any Jew houses they find," Heydrich said looking over at Edward for the first time. "Your not a Jew but your eyes are good enough as an excuse." He said then muttered something else in that other language again.
"An excuse like that is nothing but cowardly. My eyes? Oh please; that's just pathetic." Edward said scoffing, "where we come from it's common for people to have eyes like ours. Dad did, and both of us do too."
"Both of you?"
"My brother and I?" Edward said raising an eyebrow. "We both have these 'golden eyes' or what is it you say? Goldene Augen?"
"You're a very talkative prisoner," Heydrich said shaking his head, looking ahead once more. "Doesn't Auschwitz scare you at all?"
"Me? No, not really. I'm more worried about Al being here. He's not use to hearing these things let alone seeing and living them." He said with a little sigh. "I've kept him sheltered for a long time," he said shaking his head. "Even back home with all the war that went on, he never actually lived it. I had to but-"
"Your talking about the first war, correct?" Heydrich asked raising an eyebrow.
That confused Edward, "first war? Oh, um, yeah." He said to humor the other male. He had to. He couldn't mention the Ishbal war. He wouldn't understand. "I was part of it here and there, but I kept Al out of it."
"You talk about your brother like he's the most important thing in the world to you." Heydrich said looking over at Edward again, "is your brother that great?"
"Well sure he is," Edward said frowning. "I mean, I've been through Hell time and time again; and through it all Al has been there with me. He's my only family and I love him. If you had a sibling you'd understand." Edward said shaking his head as he spotted the meeting grounds. It was up ahead, but still far enough.
"I have a brother," Heydrich said quietly and almost inaudible. "I don't like to talk about him much," he said shaking his head. "I never see him and I prefer it that way."
"That's terrible," Edward said shaking his head again. "How can anyone be so mean to their own flesh and blood."
"If your not cruel to flesh and blood, how are you suppose to be cruel to the rest of the world?" Heydrich said smugly. Edward narrowed his eyes and went to respond but Heydrich pushed Edward forward instead. "Here we are, no trouble from you anymore or you'll be punished greatly." He said as he turned and left.
Edward said nothing in response still as he waited for orders. When none came and it grew to be a little past noon, Edward just sat down and waited. It was an hour or so past noon when the others started showing up again. Including Alphonse, who was looking rather pale.
Edward jumped up and ran over to greet his brother, knowing right away something was wrong. "Al? What is it? What's wrong?" Edward asked in slight panic. Alphonse was quiet then took in a deep breath to regain composer.
"They had me pretend to be an SS man. A German SS man. I had to go along with it and lead some of the prisoners while they did different tasks. I just had to supervise, but if I had to punish them then…they would make me tell someone and they would whip them. I couldn't do it brother, it was too hard…" He said shaking his head.
"Wait, what?" Edward asked tilting his head. "You had to watch some men and they had to punish some?"
"Well they wanted me to," Alphonse said sighing, "I couldn't do it though. So someone else did it for me…" He didn't cry or anything as he spoke, but his voice was caught in his throat, "I had to watch them whip this boy. He was younger then me, but not by much." Alphonse explained asked his shook his head. "I don't ever want to see that again."
"I know Al," Edward said with a weak smile. "Don't worry, nothing like that will ever happen again okay? I promise."
"You can't make that promise Ed. We're in Auschwitz. This isn't a place of logic or rule. Just whatever they want."
Edward just looked at his brother's uneasy face and sighed. The camp had already started getting to Alphonse. The optimistic one was losing hope and faith… "I know Al, but I can try."
That day had been a strange one for the boys. After being reunited, they had a small lunch break with normal proportions. Edward offered some of his bread to his brother, but Alphonse refused to take it. Edward ignored the rejected offer as he finished eating.
Once they were done eating, they were running again. They ran a few more hours and by now they were so use to the running, they didn't even get tired or sore anymore. After that, it was time to hit the showers. Something Edward hated a lot, especially now.
Most of the men were naked in the large shower, but a small handful like the brothers kept their clothes on. This meant mildew later on though… Edward figured they wouldn't be staying long enough for it to matter. He wasn't so sure anymore though.
Alphonse could easily strip down and have no problem since it was only Edward who had the metal limbs; but after what happened that morning, Alphonse would rather keep his clothes on. A lot of the men glared at them and the brothers ignored their gazes. Edward couldn't help but notice the two men that had attacked Alphonse were watching. Laughing and nudging each other as they watched the two. Edward just glared a warning at them and moved closer to his brother and muttered it was time to leave.
After their shower, it was time to get back to their barracks. Edward and Alphonse lay on their bunk silent and cautious. Watching the other men around them. Most of the men had stopped watching the brothers, though some were still giving looks.
Alphonse ignored them and slowly drifted off to sleep for the night. Edward stayed awake for a while until he was sure no one was going to start anything. He sighed and watched his brother breathing. Everything seemed normal. Like nothing had ever happened.
With a small yawn, Edward let his head fall against his crossed arms and fell asleep. Today could have gone better, but it could have gone worse too. Edward was just happy Alphonse hadn't been harmed. He was only worried for the next morning.
Edward woke the next morning to another start. Someone was shaking him. Not violently, but they were shaking to wake him up. He groaned and opened his eyes jerking up, almost hitting his head on the top bunk. He had to give his eyes time to adjust to the light, but when he did he saw his brother hovering over him. His arms were on Edward's shoulders to prove he had been the one shaking him.
"Al?" Edward asked rubbing his eyes. The first thing that came to mind was more men attacking, so he quickly looked around. When he saw nothing he looked back at Alphonse with a confused look on his face. Alphonse was smiling, a little shy by the looks of it. "Al what is it?" Edward asked with a small frown.
"Happy birthday brother," Alphonse said bashfully. Keeping his voice down to a whisper so he wouldn't wake any other men. Edward blinked a few times, losing his frown only to replace it with more confusion.
"Happy…that's today?" He asked shaking his head as he tried to remember. When they left it had been close to his birthday, he must have forgotten. "Wow, that's great. Now I'm another year closer to death." He joked with a small chuckle.
Alphonse rolled his eyes, use to that speech as he smiled again. "I'm sorry I don't have anything for you brother. I did get you something. I really did! It's just…back with all our stuff in the luggage area."
"Ah Al, you shouldn't have." Edward said with a little smile as he reached out and hugged his little brother. Alphonse gave a hug in reply as he nudged Edwards metal arm. He was going to ask about it, but decided not to. Not today.
"Brother, your old," Alphonse said out of the blue with a little laugh. Edward blinked then pushed Alphonse away gently with a big toothy grin.
"Hey yeah I am huh?" He laughed, "how old now? Fifty-nine?"
"Oh brother," Alphonse said rolling his eyes again.
"Yes?" Edward asked laughing again. He'd almost all but forgotten where he was. They were acting like they were back home. Joking and playing around like nothing was wrong outside their walls.
"Well I just wanted to say that to you before anyone else did," Alphonse said letting go of Edward to move away back to his spot. Edward watched him go, suddenly losing comfort.
"Eh, not like anyone else here cares." He said shrugging as he lay back down, bringing his arms up over his head. "So, how early is it?" He asked in between a yawn.
"Oh, it's still early. I just wanted to say happy birthday." Alphonse said yawning also; it was contagious. "We should probably go back to sleep, I just wanted to wish you a happy birthday. I hope today is a good one for you."
"With a start like this, no way could it be a bad day." Edward said with a little smile as Alphonse closed his eyes and cuddled along side his brother like the night before. "Besides, I'm just glad you're here." Edward said, shifting his arm so he could rest his arm on his brother's head. If he had hair, he would have ruffled it playfully.
Alphonse laughed weakly as he started falling back to sleep; and soon enough, so had Edward.
Hours later, when it was truly time to wake up, the whole barrack was in a frenzy over something. Some men were going on about the SS men searching the barrack for someone or something like that. Probably someone who was going to die soon.
Edward paid no attention as Alphonse and him ate their breakfast. Alphonse gave his brother his bread for the day, as a birthday thing. Edward would have rejected it, but would have only felt bad in doing so. It was all Alphonse had to give as a birthday gift.
The SS men were shouting things to some of the men going about looking through things and checking in on people. Something about punishing those that had been bad the previous day? Oh well. The brother's didn't care.
"Brother, shouldn't we be concerned?" Alphonse asked as Edward sipped at his slop. Edward shrugged but didn't answer as Alphonse stayed on his toes, watching the SS men. "They're looking for someone, but I can't hear the number."
"Who cares. They're just doing their stupid routine of search and destroy. Some guy probably stole an extra slice of bread and now they're going to throw him in the fire or something." The Edward answered so casually scared even himself.
"Yeah but what if they're looking for one of us?" Alphonse asked fearfully.
"Then I say bring it." Edward said with a shrug as he took another bite of his bread, dipping it into the slop before shoving it into his mouth. "They don't want us though, we haven't done anything wrong," Edward said as he chewed.
Then, speak of the devil, the SS man in charge came over to the two. "Edward Elric, EH-5582, you are to come with me." The man said in his deep voice, like usual. Edward looked up at the man from where he sat on the ground, still enjoying his bread.
He shrugged and set his unfinished bowl aside as he stood and brushed himself off. Alphonses eyes went wide as he watched his brother stand. He remained seated but was shaking out of fear again.
"What is this about officer?" Edward asked calmly. He'd been dealing with bullies like this for almost a week now. His fear had almost been gone.
"It seems Himmler has ordered for you once again. You are to report-"
"To his office? I got it," Edward said as he started walking off to the large building again, but the officer grabbed his arm and harshly tug him back.
"Oh no you don't you little bastard! Your going to Birkenau for the day. Congratulations," the man said with a little smirk.
Edward and Alphonse hadn't been there very long, so they were still getting use to the whole area of Auschwitz. They knew there were three parts to it. Auschwitz one, two and three. The brother's had arrived near the Auschwitz one camp, which was where they got their new outfits and were separated into groups.
Auschwitz two was where they went shortly after. This was Birkenau. The area for death. The punishment area in short. They only stayed here a short while until they were moved back to Auschwitz one. The previous day, Alphonse had gone to Auschwitz three with most of the other men. That was the labor camp.
Usually, if a prisoner was bad or was going to be punished, they would just do it there. Sometimes they were do it in front of the other men there, as an example or something. The ones on death row went to Birkenau to be finished off by fire, experimentation, or other forms of death.
Edward was going there.
Edward frowned, "why am I going there? What's been my crime?"
"Don't ask questions, just get going," the man said pushing Edward a little. "If you disobey, your brother can join you." He said motioning to Alphonse who was still frozen on the ground. Everyone there knew Alphonse was Edward's big weakness.
Edward made a fist and swallowed the hard lump in his throat as he nodded and started walking as told. It wouldn't be a long walk from there to Birkenau; but for Edward, it would seem like an eternity.
Birkenau was an awful place. Just the smell alone was enough to make one vomit. The SS men and German soldiers seemed use to it though as they lead Edward inside. From even where Edward was staying in Auschwitz one, you could see the smoke from Birkenau clearly. Thankfully it wasn't as bad from far away.
Reaching the gates to Birkenau was the same as reaching the gates to Hell. Someplace Edward was use to by now. The men that were escorting Edward pushed him in which lead him into the camp. Pulling him along some more, they took him to the main area; the center of the camp where Edward could see everything.
The camp was filled of people that were nothing but skin and bones. Edward was use to seeing them either way, but there was so many here, it made him sick. "Don't you feed these people?" Edward asked with a frown as they walked.
One man scoffed at Edward, "people? What people?" That was a good enough answer for Edward. He said nothing more as he just watched. There were the ash pits were he'd seen them dropping children. Nina's face flashed through his mind. He looked around some more, past the gypsy camps and so-called medical barracks to see some rather large buildings.
He frowned at them trying to make them out. People were loading into it, muttering to themselves. Edward noticed they were mostly women and children, though old men and sick cripples joined in on the count. They were pilling into the large building, some seeming happy?
The SS man that had laughed at Edward smiled and muttered something to one of the other men as they started pushing Edward towards the building. Edward was fearful again, something in his stomach twisted as he approached the line.
More mutterings and then they pulled him around the back somewhere. Where there were piles of men laughing and watching little windows. Edward frowned not liking the looks of it. "Hey, let the boy see!" One man shouted pushing Edward once more.
This time, Edward found himself looking into a rather thick piece of glass. It was small, enough to be only an eyehole. He was curious though, so he looked on. He noticed the people inside. They were trying to fit inside, cramming as many as they could. Again, some of them seemed happy to be there. Others were confused but did nothing.
The walls inside the building were rusted and stained with substances Edward couldn't recognize. That weird feeling crept back into Edwards stomach again as the doors shut. "Shower time," one man said from behind Edward. They put their hand up against Edward to keep his head still. Edward didn't say or do anything, still curious to see what would happen.
All of a sudden the roof opened up in various places, Edward could hardly see it, then a few tiny objects dropped. Edward counted three, but there could have easily been more. Once they hit the ground, or a person, they opened up and a thick gas filled the room. Soon, Edward could hardly see anything.
Then it started.
Screams filled the building, erupting all over the area. It chilled Edwards blood as he started shaking but couldn't take his eyes off the sight. The people were screaming, skin burning, holding throats, gasping for air. He suddenly found himself unable to breath also. The glass peep hole was doing it's job nicely to keep the gas away from Edward and the rest of the outside world; but that didn't stop Edward from freaking out.
He gasped for air as he tried to push away from the sight, anything to keep his eyes off the people dropping like flies. Of course, the man's hand was firm and strong, keeping Edward pressed against it. The laughter of the men behind him filled his eyes, drowning out the dying screams.
Edward started crying hard with wide eyes as he watched the people drop. Men, women, and children. Young, old, sick, small, large. They all dropped with loud ear piercing screams. All of a sudden, Edward felt himself fall to his knees and throw up, choking on himself as gasped for air. The men kept laughing at the one man let go of Edward to watch him squirm.
He wiped his mouth once he was done throwing up, only to have more come out as a flash of memory hit him. He grasped his stomach, begging it to stop. He had nothing in his stomach to lose. He couldn't afford to throw up now and starve because of it. It just wouldn't stop. Neither would the tears.
He just kept crying, cursing his body. His only nutrients were on the ground in a large puddle of vomit, and his only source of water was being poured down his cheeks. He was too weak. He couldn't go on. Edward rolled his eyes back as he swerved and fell backwards. The last thing he could remember was the men pointing and laughing at him, and the images of the people before him.
Okay, that's all I'll give you for now. How did you like that one? Some talking, birthday stuff, and of course Birkenau! Whoo-hoo. So you learned where exactly they are, we learned some more about the gas chambers and we all got sick with that last part. I know I did. My stomach hurt just writing it. Edward's reaction was actually my reaction while writing it...um...as far as breathing (or lack there of) goes. I did not vomit or cry, though I do ache all over now.
Well, I'm gonna stop there, but I'm typing the next one right away! I'm was really happy to get so many reviews saying how much people liked the last chapter. Even with slight Alphonse molestation. Anyway, Edward's punishment is next.
OMG! For my AMV thing I talked about, I had two songs in mind but now it might be three. Because sissy is writing a song and it is going to be so awesome! I'm so excited! She wrote a song and her and her friends are going to play it and record it and send it IT'S SO EXCITING! I've never been so happy!!! Sorry, I'll stop ranting...
Anyway, RxR and I'm going to try and get you guys the next chapter real soon. I've been good with updates though right? Not too bad on the wait I hope...summer vacation starts in a week so I'll have all the time I need.
Love you!
-Kori