PRESENTING THE LAST CHAPTER OF TRACE OF BLOOD!!! -sob- It's finally over...well, there's another chapter but that doesn't count. Now, I'm not saying anything at the end(to keep an air of mystery) so I'll say all I'm gonna say now. Thank you so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it. n.n; Sometimes I was even excited for the next thing that was happening, since I usually just make things up on the spot. If you review, it's kinda best to not say what happens at the end, in case someone reads the reviews before the story. (people do that..so..yeah...)
Disclaimer: Though I never revealed my true identity to the public, I can assure you that my name is not Hiromu Arakawa, thus concluding that I don't own Full Metal Alchemist…
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Yukiko lay face first on the floor, completely still. She twitched and groaned, trying to stand up. "Dammit..." She muttered, staring at the damage her arm took.
"Like it Yukiko?" Ed asked her, appearing in front of her. She looked up and glared weakly at him, as he pulled her shirt up slightly. (not like that, ya pervs!) He poked her back where the orb of light had penetrated into her skin and left a dark burn there. She winced.
"I think I've let you live too long, Yukiko." He smirked. "I mean, if we keep going at this rate you might actually be able to live through this." She bit her lip, swatting his hand back. "Then let me live Ed! Please, you have to fight this."
"What if I don't want to?" He asked tauntingly, standing up. "I'm truly enjoying this, Yukiko."
"No your not! It's just the spell Amaya has you on!" She said, struggling to get up.
"I have Edward on no such spell." Amaya appeared at Ed's side, glaring down at Yukiko. "I only unleashed what was always there."
"Liar!" Yukiko snarled. Ed's face flushed, and he kicked Yukiko hard in the stomach. She hacked, doubling over. "Don't you dare call Mother a liar, you bitch!" He snarled.
"Edward, it's fine. Let her say what she wants, she only has a few more moments to live, afterall." Amaya said soothingly. Ed shot a glare at her but sighed, kneeling besides her. "Get away from me." She wheezed out, pushing herself back more.
He just laughed at her, grabbing her hair and pulling her back. She shrieked angrily, trying to kick at him, but he grabbed her legs before she could even think of moving them. "I've had enough of your pathetic attempts of freedom." He growled. She stared at him with pleading eyes, but he just ignored her, pulling her shirt up again, this time staring hard at her pale belly. "Poison should suffice." He muttered.
"Ed, please, don't." She begged, weakly trying to push his hands away. He grabbed his wrists with his now free hand, glaring at her with hatred and bloodlust shining red in his eyes. She whimpered.
"Edward, make this fast." Amaya said quietly. "I don't want to." He replied darkly. She looked at him in surprise. "Don't defy me, Edward."
"Look, I don't care about what you say anymore, if I want to defy you, I will." He snarled back. "I want her death slow...I'm sorry Mother." He added quickly, after seeing the expression on her face. "I just wanted-"
"Go on with your plans then." Her eyes narrowed. "But I want that girl dead." She disappeared.
"Ed, you ca-" Yukiko said quickly. Ed glared at her, then relaxed. "I have to Yukiko..." He poked his claw into her belly, starting to draw a shallow wound in a circle. "You'll understand in a minute." Within that circle he drew the shape of a thin crescent moon, then pulled her shirt back down. Yukiko stared at him, wincing in pain.
"I'm sorry Yukiko." He whispered. "I should've seen through Mo...Amaya's act sooner. He looked nervous. "I'm really sorry I have to do this, but the poison is slow. The way I made it, the whole moon shape will be completely eaten away before you...die..."
"Eaten away?" She repeated faintly, staring at him in disbelief. "Why..."
"That's how the poison works." He stood up. "Yukiko, there isn't much time left... do you think...that you can free Al and any prisoners that are left..." His voice choked a bit. "Before the poison..."
She twitched. "I can...but Ed, what about..."
"There's one way that I can stop Amaya and end this hell...you just have to trust me, okay?" Ed asked softly. "Of course I'll trust you." Yukiko responded. He smiled gently, taking her arm and pulling the sleeve up. He frowned. "This looks pretty bad."
"It'll be fine; it's shallow enough to heal soon." She said quickly as he poked it with his claw. "No it's not, it's really deep." He said, scraping his claw across it. "Ow! Ed, the hell?"
He wrinkled his nose. "I'm trying to heal it a bit." He said, scratching it across again. The skin started sewing itself together, looking bruised and dark. "It's still bleeding." He sighed, helping her stand up. "Go get Al and the others out of here, then transmute your sword back together and come find me, okay?"
She nodded. "When I need you, you have to promise to do anything I tell you to. Forget about what will happen afterward." He said.
"But why?" She asked.
He sighed. "Just do it?" He whispered. "Fine." She looked at him in a pained, concerned way. "Ed, what are you planning on doing…"
"Just get Al out of here, okay?" He said quickly, turning his back and sprinting off. A burst of wind followed him, and left her staring after him, shocked. "Damn…"
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Amaya sat impatiently in her room, her legs crossed. She stared at the fire crackling it the fireplace, the shadows flickering across her face. "Something's going wrong…" She muttered.
The door creaked open. Startled, Amaya quickly stood up "Edward…is it done?"
"No…" He whispered, his eyes hidden behind his bangs. She glowered at him. "Well, why isn't it?!" He didn't respond, only making her madder. "Answer me Edward!" He muttered something, continuing to stare at the ground. His fist clenched.
"Edward!" She snarled, swiftly walking over to him, grabbing his chin and forcing him to stare into her eyes. "You tell me right now what you did."
"…I'm going to let her live." He spat out. Rage flooded into her expression. "You did what?!"
"I'm going to let her live." He repeated smugly. She slapped him hard, her fingers curled so her claws would slice into his cheek. He staggered back, blood dripping onto the floor. And laughed. She got madder, glaring at his skin as it healed itself.
"Pathetic, 'Mother'. But it's true, all of it. I'm letting Yukiko live. She's freeing Al right now, and she's going to help me stop you." He said in an almost bragging tone of voice.
"Don't you dare, Edward." She said, grabbing his collar and pulling him closer to her face. "I'm still your mother, and you will listen to me. He only laughed again. "I'm really starting to get sick of you." He said, driving his hand through her chest.
She gagged, quickly covering her mouth before she vomited. Flesh and bone was already starting to heal before Ed even withdrew his hand. He pulled it out with a disgusted look. She smirked at him, blood dripping out of the corner of her mouth. "It's already too late to resist me, Edward."
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"Where is it!?" Yukiko almost screamed, punching the black wall of the hallway. "Lost again, dammit! At this rate I'll die before I find Al." She flinched. "Why did I say that for?" She asked herself. (Yeah, Yukiko has a bad habit of talking to herself. n.n; )
"Has to be some way…" She said thoughtfully, leaning on the wall and rubbing her arm. She didn't like how it felt like it was starting to numb. "Maybe I can…" She looked down at her necklace and smiled. "That's it!" She grabbed the necklace, taking it off and staring hard at the diamond in the middle. "Alexander, I need you!" She yelled at it.
A wave of cold air came from inside the diamond, hard and crisp like from the top of the mountain. She shivered.
"Ow, you don't have to yell." Someone said from next to her. She gasped, quickly turning. There Alexander stood, irritably rubbing his ear and brushing leaves and snow off his cloak. "What did you need?" He asked in an annoyed voice.
"Wow, it really worked." She said in an air of disbelief. He stared at her. "You didn't believe me?" He said in mock disgust. "Well, you are that witch's brother, how was I supposed to know you were one of the good guys?" She shot back.
He looked at her with surprise, then sighed. "No, you can't really call me good. Or evil in fact…" He shrugged. She glared at him. "Whatever, can you just help me?"
"That'll require you telling me what I have to do, Yukiko-chan." He said, scratching his head.
"Well...I was getting to that, shut up." She said as she put the necklace back on. "Do you know where Amaya keeps her prisoners?"
"Of course I do, I know almost everything about her." He replied with a blink. She smiled. "Good. Take me to them."
"Huh?" He stared at her. "Umm…Amaya will be mad." He said more to himself then to her, scratching his bangs over his face. He shrugged. "Sure." He said.
She smiled. "Great, thanks!" She said, throwing her arms around him in a tight hug. She blinked, staring down at her and smirking. "Friendly, aren't you, Kitty?"
She blushed, quickly letting go. "…sorry. And don't call me that." She snapped. He laughed at her. "Whatever you say."
"Why aren't you as formal with me as you are with Amaya?" She asked. He shrugged again, grabbing her arm and pulling her close. "Time to go, Kitty." He said, as they both disappeared into the air.
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Wham! Amaya slammed into the ground, skidding a few feet. Blood was left behind on those skid marks. She twitched, struggling to stand when Ed kicked her hard in the face, sending her rolling across the hard wood floor again. She coughed.
"Dammit Ed...you can't keep this up, I'm stronger then you." Amaya growled. He smirked at her. "If you're so strong, prove it." He challenged. Then, she was gone, appearing behind him. "If you wish, my son." She snarled, punching through his head with a dull thunk.
He toppled over, the hole clean, blood only dripping from the wound as a pinkish-gray substance oozed. Then, it healed, and he got up, glaring at her, making the gloring ball form in his fist hidden behind his back.
She sneered at him. "Your moves don't surprise me. They're so predictable." "Are they?" He asked, quickly pulling the ball out and hurtling it at her. She smoothly dodged, laughing at his attempt. "Quiet, Edward, you're only wasting time."
He didn't answer, putting his hands together slowly, glaring at her. She stared at him. "What do you think you're doing?"
"Something I should've done a long time ago." He answered, slapping his hands onto the floor. She gasped, as what seemed to be blue lightning shot up from the wooden boards, making the floor collapse, and her down with it.
He stood up, looking down at the hole. "Glad I can at least still use alchemy." He muttered. "Not quite." Amaya flew through the hole, grabbing him by his neck and pulling him under.
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Alexander and Yukiko finally landed in the basement of the mansion. Everything was dark and cold, something dripping down the cement walls. Yukiko made a small hacking sound, clutching her stomach. Red was starting to blossom on her blue military shirt.
"You okay?" Alexander asked, throwing her a reproaching look as he started to stalk down the hall. She nodded quickly, then coughed again, slowly shaking her head. "Ed poisoned me."
"Well, that's bad, isn't it." He peered at her shirt, his eyes glowing a bright emerald green. "It's slow, but it's already cut through half of that crescent shape..." He chuckled slightly, his eyes returning to ruby. "Didn't think Edward would learn the moon curse already. Amaya was right."
She glared at him, stomping past him down the halls. "So what? You said you'll take me to Al, now where is he? There's nothing down here."
"Mortals always think things are right in front of them." He answered, patting the wall besides him. "Always seeing with their eyes."
"You're making no sense." Yukiko complained. He laughed, the hand touching the wall glowing yellow under his palm. The wall faded away into a mesh of chains and bars, the smell of blood and decay filling the air.
She covered her mouth quickly, running inside. It was completely a mess, bodies strewn everywhere, puddles of blood here, ash there, melted metal everywhere. "Al! Are you in here?"
"Right behind you." Alexander said teasingly. She glared at him. "I'm being serious, Alexander!"
"Right, right, my deepest apoligies, Kitty." He said distractly, looking around with his eyes glowing green. "Don't call me that!" She snapped. He shrugged, pointing to the right. "He and whoever's still alive is down there. Unconsious by the looks of it."
She shuddered, trying to climb over a dead body in that direction. He stopped her, grabbing her shoulder and pulling her back. "I'll get them out. You don't have the time...or the lifespan to get them all out and find Edward. Go now."
She flinched, staring up at him. Then she nodded, running out of the room. Alexander sighed. "I pray there's still time left."
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Ed crashed into the floor, a sickening crack echoing through the room. He could feel bones shattering, then worming themselves together again. It sickened him. She heard cackling from all directions.
"Go on Edward, try to fight back!"
"Then show yourself! Stop hiding out like a coward, Amaya!" He shouted, getting to his feet. The ball started forming in his hand, now a dark red. "Atun!" He zapped the beam straightfoward, then by pulling it around as he spun, shot it in a complete 360 direction.
He heard her collapse behind him. He twirled around to see where, but saw nothing. Then, a scream, coming from in the hall. Yukiko's.
In an instant, he found himself outside, looking frantically for the source, starting to sprint down the halls. He found her in a large barran room looking much like a cave. She was pressing herself against the wall as Amaya closed in on her, fangers bared and claws outstretched. Her hair and dress was seemingly floating up like she was underwater.
"Amaya, get away from her!" He yelled, aiming his hand at Amaya. "Atun!"
Amaya hissed like a snake, dissapearing. The red beam only hit Yukiko, who started shrieking as it connected, thrashing around with no control of her body. He gasped, stopping it as soon as possible. Her eyes rolled up into her head after it stopped, her skin getting paler. She slid down the wall horizontaly, toppling over one of the torches, and lay still as the fire spilled out and surrounded her.
"No!" He shouted, running to her side. He picked her limp body up and leapt out of the way before the fire consumed them both up. He lay her on the floor feet away, his back to the fire which was greedily climbing up the walls and out into the halls.
"Yukiko! Yukiko, wake up!" He shook her shoulders hard. She groaned, opening her eyes which looked whiter then usual. "...Ed?" She dragged something out from inside her holster. "I got it...my sword..."
He twitched, letting her go. "Yukiko...I...I'm sorry." She shook her head, pushing herself up, wobbling as she stood. "Amaya...we have to stop her, right?"
"Unlikey, I'm afraid." Amaya had appeared in front of Ed, slashing at his face. He winced, blinded before starting to heal, but before that, she had driven her claw through his chest, pushing him against the wall. Fire quickly climbed down forom the ceiling onto his flesh. He screamed.
"Ed!" Yukiko shrieked.
"Don't move!" Amaya barked out at her, then grinned at Ed. "Enjoying this Edward? This is what happens when you defy me, when you choose to go against me...I won't kill you, no...but I don't need you completely alive to live forever. I'll just use Al as my faithful son."
"No! Don't you dare touch him!" Ed growled through gritted teeth. She laughed. "Yes, that's what I'll do...in fact, I say we should combine souls as well, then I can kill you."
"No! You won't! You can't!" He shouted desperately, tugging at her arm.
"I will, Edward! And there's nothing you can do now. This is your punishment! The equivalent exchange as you would say!" She shouted back.
He gritted his teeth again, grabbing Amaya's shoulders and pulling her even closer. Sle looked surprised for a moment, but only used this to drive him into the wall more. He hissed in pain, then, by twisting his neck around slightly, got close enough to plunge his fangs into Amaya's neck.
She screamed. He could feel it again, the cold poison of death. And this time he let it...encouraged it to flood into Amaya. Her grip on him weakened, and he used this to throw her back into the wall. "Yukiko!"
She flinched, snapping out of the trancelike state she was in, just by listening to Amaya's voice. "Y-yes?"
He winced, looking up at the fire almost completely consuming the room. He squeezed his eyes shut. There was no other way. "I want you to kill me and Amaya...both of us, now!"
His answer shocked her, making her whole body run cold. "What?" She managed to choke out.
Amaya groaned, blood frothing from her mouth as she tried to pull him off. "Edward!" She hissed.
"Do it, now! You have to impale both of our hearts, then we won't be able to regenerate."
"NO! There has to be another way, you said-"
"You said you'll do anything I tell you to do to stop Amaya!! Do it now!" She winced, lifting her sword and staring at her reflection. "I can't!"
"Edward, stop this, now!"
"Yukiko, do it! I'll be fine, I promise!"
"Ed, I don't want to hurt you!"
"There's no other way." He said weakly. "Please..."
"Yukiko, don't you dare!" Amaya commanded. But her voice was weak, she couldn't gain control.
Yukiko positioned the sword, pointing it at his back. Tears were in her eyes, as she finally thrust the sword forward, piercing into the both of them. Then, the echoing sound as it finally fit the stone walls. She fell to her knees, her hands still clutched around the handle. She stared hard at the floor, trying to block out everything. The angry, dying sounds from Amaya. Blood splattering to the ground and someone coughing. Probably Ed...
Then, she heard nothing. A soft sound, like something fluttering to the ground. She looked up, and saw a large pile of ash on the ground. She gasped, seeing Amaya nowhere. "E-ed..."
He didn't respond. He was limp, with only the sword holding him up. She pulled it out of him, watching him collapse. She could only stare at him with blurry eyes as a small pool of blood formed around his body.
Her mind blanked. She didn't care that the mansion was probably falling apart, or if Amaya was finally dead, or if the poison was probably halted. She crawled over to him, shaking him gently. "Ed?"
The growing pool of blood reached her, feeling like freezing, thick water. Thats when it finally hit her. "No...no, you can't be..." Sobs escaped her, as she tried shaking him harder. "No! Ed, you said you would be alright, please..." She buried her face in her arms, crying on his body as the crackling fire seemed to fill the air, and the mansion caved in on itself.
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Owari. Please review!