"Edward…Ed?" A stern and husky voice called in the background of his mind as amber tinted eyes slowly fluttered open, the world still in a pseudo-state of blurred colors and blinding whites. Distorted faces called his name, their dark hued eyes were abnormally large and alien to him. 'Where am I?' His head ached as he struggled to reconstruct the events prior to his blackout. Pain seared as a white hot wave throughout his skulls as he tried to force lost images to his mind and he winced, grunting, a hand shooting to caress and hold his head as if that would soothe the ache.
"Brother? You're awake!" An enthusiastic squeal sounded from the blurry blob to his left. The excited voice sounded all too familiar to him yet foreign as well, but he knew it could only belong that voice could only belong to his ever devoted younger brother.
'Alphonse?' He thought to himself, still unable to quite form words, he was drained and highly confused feeling. Something feels uneasy and he could not quite place why. But Alphonse was here so that slightly put his mind at ease, at least his baby brother was safe. The blob contorted as it became more focused and distinct to his adjusting eyes, taking the shape of the massive suit of armor that his brother's soul currently embodied. Alphonse was currently knelt next to him and staring at him at eye level which meant he must be sitting down. Since his body was still feeling out of its element he hadn't even realized he was sitting down…'okay…okay… I must have sat up at some point and I see Al…Wooh! Progress, but still not quite what I need to know…' He winced with a migraine and a creeping pain across his left cheek and on his human arm became noticeable.
"Fullmetal, are you alright?" the husky and stern voice sounded again from his left, no longer a nameless blob, it instead had morphed into the form of Colonel Roy Mustang. 'I preferred the blob' thought the confused alchemist. "I'm fine." He finally sounded out meekly, his voice finding its bravery and its raspy tone to be heard aloud for the first time since he had blacked out. "Where am I? Where's that strange woman at?" He questioned the two in the room in a quizzical and a very groggy sounding voice. Taking their moment of silence the young patient took his time to absorb his surrounding by glancing around his vicinity as he spoke. Taking in the tiny room and its dull colors of eggshell white walls and the really nice sand stoned colored flooring. The tiny room was sparsely decorated, with the exception with his small twin-sized hospital bed, with its scratchy pale blue sheets, and the two wooden stools that Alphonse and Mustang were currently sitting upon.
"You are in a special care room down at Central Head Quarters. After Alphonse and I had found you, we carried you here with hopes of finding out what sort of foreign substance you were drugged with." The dark eyed man sighed and moved a strand of hair that had fallen in front of his eyes to the side. "Unfortunately, whatever it was, is unfounded and seems to have already been expelled from your system…" He looked to the boy, sounding quite displease with this news he gave. Something was still amiss and though he couldn't quite place it, Mustang gave a vibe of uneasiness off as if there was something that he had chosen not to disclose to the young alchemist.
"Colonel…what aren't you telling me…?" Edward asked certain that there were things being withheld from him. The room grew somewhat silent, the only sounds to be heard being the soft ticking of the clock, above the doorway and his own heartbeat.
"I don't think now is the time to discuss this." Roy stalled with hopes of avoiding this question for now. He had not bene prepared to disclose the details of the previous encounter quite yet and he had wanted to find the best way to at least soften its blow that it was about to deal to the very young and good natured boy he had grown to love as a son.
"I'm not a child colonel, tell me." Edward's eyes slanted into a stern and somewhat agitated look. He felt his heart pounding with anxiousness and he couldn't shake the foreboding feeling that he was going to regret that he had asked in the first place. It didn't help that the moment he had asked Roy's expression had soften into a look of pity. Whatever the older man was about to tell him, he knew he would not like his answer.
"Edward, understand that you were not in your right state of mind…" He could sense the dread in Roy's eyes as the man began to speak. He Placed an ungloved hand onto the blonde's left should in an attempt to comfort him. "It was beyond your control, so don't …"
"Just spit it out already!" Edward snappily cut him off, growing impatient and frustrated with his own lack of memory, so the stalling method that Roy was attempting only aggravated him further. He was sick and tired of getting the run around already, he just wanted answers.
Roy hesitated, his hand still upon the youngster's shoulder and his gaze shifting from Edward's face to a small window that was beside them. Five, maybe ten minutes had passed before the older man had replied. "There is no easy nor kind way for me to tell you this, but whatever drug you were tricked into taking had impaired your judgment and led you to do something quite despicable…" There was a pregnant pause as the flame alchemist grew silent still unsure of how to say what he needed and still protect the boy. With no other option he finally decided to be upfront and blunt. The boy wanted to hear so…" That woman… the imposter…you forced yourself on her."
"Come again?" Edward responded confused, there was no way he had heard what he thought he had heard the colonel say.
"You raped that woman…only she wasn't real, she was merely a sick mask that Envy wore." He spat the words bitterly out as he said Envy's name. Disgusted that the Homunculus had dared to insult his sister's memory by using her image in such a despicable way. If it had not been Edward that he was referring to, he would say that sick bastard got what he deserved. Though one thing still alluded him, just how this whole scenario was exactly beneficial to the Homunculus anyways… something didn't quite fit. Perhaps this went deeper and further than he could fathom, it had to. Those eyes…no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't shake those eyes from his mind. So much hatred oozed through those orifices as the sin had spoken to him. That look had said it all, the sin could not have been a willing participant, but who exactly was the puppeteer in this twisted game then if not the Homunculi.
"I…I…what?!" Edward sputtered out frantically and quite confused, snapping the elder man from his thoughts. "You're lying! I would never…I've never even...Sex is the last thing on my mind!" the boy angrily shouted, pounding his fists onto the bed. Denial washed over his features. There must be some sort of misunderstanding. There's no way he could do something so horrid and disgusting. He was Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist, defender of the people, not some perverted lech. He couldn't even bring himself to kill a rabbit, when he and Alphonse had been starving on that island, much less intentionally hurt someone else unless forced in a fight.
The room grew silent, only the rhythmic sounds of the clock ticking could be heard. Ten, maybe twenty minutes had passed in what seemed unending silence, when finally the kind voice of his younger sibling spoke out. "Brother, it is not your fault, like the colonel said you had no control over your body. " His armored body clanked together as he moved in his seat, resting an armored hand on his elder brother's shoulder. Edward merely stared down at his lap, not wanting to meet his brother's gaze. Disgusted and ashamed, he bit his lip to fight back the tears that threatened to surface.
"Where…where is he? Where is Envy now?" Edward's voice cracked as he struggled to contain himself. Despite his inner turmoil, he had to make things right. He needed to see the sin, talk to him maybe, he wasn't exactly sure what he could do to set things right again. Seriously what do you say to that….' Oh I'm sorry I sorta raped you, I wasn't myself, so my bad.' No a simple apology would not be enough. He dwelled in his thoughts as he awaited an answer.
"I'm sorry Edward, but I'm afraid I don't know…..When I had found you, he told me to take you from his sight or he would kill you…" He sighed before continuing, "He was gone when I returned"
"I..I think I need to be alone Colonel." Edward sighed and looked out the window near his bed. He needed to be alone, he needed time to sort his thoughts out. Alphonse and Mustang gave one another meaningful glances, merely nodding in reply to Edward, before both stood and exited the tiny room.
Meanwhile located somewhere in the darkest regions of Central, a great beast lurked seething with a fiery rage. The beast roared and wailed angrily as it thrashed and smashed everything it could in sight. Its green skin coated in blood and sweat. Images of a young blonde warrior swooping in and stealing its sacred treasure flooded the beast's mind, fuelling its rage all the more.
"What is wrong with Envy?" A silky voice sounded from above the ruined arena. The figure of Lust gazed down at her angered sibling, with mild interest.
"Guess Gluttony ate his creampuffs again." Greed cackled, flashy a shark like smile at his sultry sister. Oh how Envy loathed the man, his snide comments always irritated him to no end. However Envy for once was too lost within his rage to care what the snide bastard thought or said at the moment. A loud crash echoed through the underground lair as Envy's large tail collided with another stone pillar, smashing it to smithereens.
'That filthy human will pay….fuck the orders…this is personal' The thought echoed through Envy's mind as he smashed his body into a nearby wall, the stones crumbling to dust and rubble.
Meanwhile back at Central Headquarters, Alphonse stepped outside of his brother's room, followed by Mustang. "Do you think my brother will be alright?" He asked the other, hoping for some sort of reassurance. He wanted to hear that everything would be okay, though deep down he had the sickening feeling that no matter how much he had hoped, things would not be as so. He hated feeling so powerless when it came to his sibling. "I don't know Alphonse…." Was the reply he received from the older man. "Only your brother knows that answer." Mustang replied as he looked upon the younger elric brother with a sad expression. Mustang clenched his fists tightly before finally walking away, down the long hall. Alphonse glanced at his brother's door once more before reluctantly following the same hall as Mustang.
AUTHOR NOTE: I am very sorry for the long delay in updating, Between college my laptop being outta commission for a bit, I've been slacking. However I made a new chapter for not only this FMA story, but my Yu Yu Hakusho Story "Affinity in the Air"as well.