Hello. Hurray for this chapter coming so much sooner then the last one. Hopefully this one will be a bit more exciting as well.
"Pride talking to Selim"
"Selim talking to Pride"
Disclaimer- Don't own FMA
Chapter 12
Selim wasn't sure how long he'd been sitting under the curtain in the dark. He knew it wasn't as long as it seemed to be, but boy did it seem to take forever. So far he hadn't heard any commotion from upstairs, so he guessed that was a good thing. The fear of being found was soon replaced with boredom, and wishing that one of the other children would come down and tell him that the coast was clear. He contemplated talking to Pride to pass the time, but so far they hadn't had much in common to actually talk about.
When he had heard the door open, Selim had assumed it was one of the kids coming to tell him he could come out now, and almost lifted the makeshift blanket away. When a voice broke through the darkness that was most certainly not one of the children upstairs, Selim froze in fear before he could, which, in retrospect, was a very good thing.
"Darker then night down here, someone pass me a flashlight," Whoever it was didn't sound that old, maybe in his late twenties, early thirties, but the boy cowering under the dusty old curtain didn't rightfully care. The only thing going through his mind was that the police were this close to catching him, and wondering what had happened to the others up stairs.
"Quite a predicament you're in, isn't it?" Pride asked, a slight mocking tone to his voice. Selim didn't say anything, instead trying to concentrate on the situation at hand. If the police found him, he didn't know what would happen. He'd be taken home, and then expelled or something. He wasn't sure what, but he was almost positive it would result in a death a bit more permanent then his previous one.
"You just wont give up will you? Humans are so persistent like that," It took everything he had to ignore that smug voice at the back of his conscious. It was essentially the same as his, well, some time it had this metallic like ring to it, but other then that they were nearly identical. Pride never really sounded like him though. His voice was always filled with so much, well, pride. And confidence, and power. Never weak and humble and timid like his. Why couldn't he have that same strength? That power?
There were two people wondering around the basement, from what Selim could hear, and one was coming dangerously close to his hiding place. He held his breath as the sound of footsteps came closer and closer to him, and he could see the light of the flashlight through the fabric.
"Hey, Jackson…" They were right in front of him, and it was obvious he'd been spotted. Squeezing his eyes shut, he knew it was no use. He heard the one, Jackson, apparently, stumbling over to his partner, and suddenly it was only a matter of time.
"Sorry about your little escapade being cut short," Selim could tell from his voice, Pride was enjoying this. He knew he was about to be taken home where he could get rid of Selim for good and continue on with whatever those underground people were doing, and never think of this ever again. Squeezing his eyes even tighter, the black haired boy tried desperately to think of a plan, something, anything. He'd died once and hadn't been able to fight back, he wasn't going to let it happen again. If only he was strong, powerful, like Pride obviously was.
When the curtain and boxes were pulled off of him, Selim didn't dare to look up, or even open his eyes. There was nothing for him to do now.
"Hey there little guy, no need to be afraid," This came from the first man he'd heard. He could tell that he was being sincere, but Selim was too upset. There was reason to be afraid, but it wasn't like this nameless stranger knew that. No one really knew but Pride, who was but a voice in his head at the moment. Not even the mole people really knew what was going on.
When he opened his eyes, it wasn't that he had really saw anything strange, but felt it. The surge of energy, unexpected and completely foreign, almost made him miss the shocked and almost disturbed look on the two men's faces.
"Ah…ahh…" it wasn't so much a scream as it was a frightened squeak. Before he could even fully register what was going on, the two men were running for what seemed to be their lives, screaming about…something. Demons? Seriously? Selim was frozen in place from the shock, not sure in the least what had just happened.
Finally, although really he had no idea how long it'd been, he turned around to see what had made two grown men drop everything they had and run away screaming like little kids. No way on earth it was him, so what was it?
"Ah…ahh…" no, it definitely wasn't him, but rather the huge shadow demon crawling along the wall behind him. Huge, red violet eyes stared down at him, and what he registered as mouths filled with lines of large, sharp white teeth frowned on the wall. He didn't even have time to cry out before his mind decided that the best way to deal with this shock was to simply turn off. Lying on the ground next to the flashlight the policemen had dropped in their shock, Selim didn't see the 'shadow demon' recede from the wall until it became nothing more then his own, normal shadow in the sharp, out of place light.
When he awoke, he was once again on the rickety bed in his makeshift bedroom. Hope flared in him that perhaps all that had happened was simply a dream, but that hope was quickly cut short when he saw all of the orphans scattered throughout the room, looking at him expectantly.
"First off, you alright?" Jed asked, leaning agents the wall directly in front of Selim, arms crossed, "We found you passed out in the basement, after those police men had run from the house screamin' about demon," The boy on the bed frowned. It really had happened, that crazy shadow demon. Nodding his head, he tried to calm himself.
"Yes, I'm fine," He wasn't really sure if that was a lie or not. Physically, he felt fine, and those two men had seen the demon too, so, if you didn't count the voice in his head, he was alright mentally too, but right now he was just so confused. Right now, he just wanted to be alone so that he could talk to Pride and figure out what had happened, not explain things he wasn't even sure about to a bunch of kids he was going to leave in the morning anyway. He was too placid to tell them all to get out so he could talk to the voice in his head though, so instead he simply waited for the next question.
"That's good, but do you have any idea what they meant by demon? Was it something you did?" That shocked Selim a bit. He thought they were going to ask why the police was after him first, but decided they were just getting the easy questions out of the way, and then they'd deal with the harder stuff.
"No, I…when they took the curtain off of me, they just kind of started to scream, I don't even remember passing out," He didn't think they'd believe him if he said there was some creepy shadow demon that had apparently saved him, and he didn't feel like trying to convince them either.
"Why were the police after you?" Ah, there it was. Only, it wasn't Jed who'd asked that, but Kano. The child had obviously been asleep not too long ago, but looked like he was going to explode from all the excitement. It was clear that everyone else was wondering the same thing, only had a bit more tact then a six year old and hadn't asked outright. They, unlike Selim, were glad he did though, and were waiting for his answer.
"I… I ran away, from home… and well, I guess they were searching for me…" Looking up from the blanket, he saw Jed nodding, like he'd thought so all along. He probably had, apparently it was obvious he was new at this, after all. Pushing himself off the wall, Jed started out of the room.
"Well, you said you're leaving in the morning right? Probably should get some rest then. C'mon everyone, leave the Pride be," The others trailed out behind their leader, and Selim wasn't sure if he should say something, or just stay silent. The way Jed had said his alias made it clear that he knew it was just that, an alias. No one asked any questions though, so Selim didn't say anything to prompt them to.
Once they were gone Selim laid back down onto the dusty bed. He wasn't really tired, he'd just woke up, and he was hungry, but that could wait. He had to talk to Pride, now. "Pride, you there?"
"No, I left three hours ago. What do you think?" The childlike voice asked sarcastically. Selim ignored his comments and decided to just get straight to the point. Pride didn't seem to like beating around the bush much anyway.
"What was that thing? In the basement," He knew Pride knew. He was a three hundred year old super being, he had to.
"Apparently, you somehow managed to figure out how to use this container, and, I guess you could say, activated my powers, in simplest terms," Pride explained. Selim blinked, a look of surprise on his face. He'd done that? Was that the energy he'd felt, when he had opened his eyes? Pride sighed, sounding like someone having to explain the same thing to a child over and over again. "Yes, that was you." Frowning, Selim sat up.
"Think I can do it again?" He asked, out loud this time. He didn't wait for an answer before trying to think back to what had happened right before he'd apparently summoned that shadow demon. He'd been scared, and angry. He didn't want to die.
Opening his eyes, and wondering just when he had closed them in the first place, the black haired boy saw that the shadows spread around him were too black to be natural, and leaked away from him and off of the bed like water, and ended in tiny, black hands. While extremely creepy and slightly scared, Selim couldn't help but smile.
This was just what he needed. Some type of upper hand, a way to know he could defend himself in the world. A thought suddenly occurred to the boy though, and the smile was wiped off his face. This power, it was like that man's in the underground room. What had his name been again? That's right, Envy. There was Envy, who had turned his arm into that terrifying blade, and his father, who had been referred to as Wrath if he was not mistaken. And Pride, who now apparently had this strange, shadow tentacle power.
Pride, Wrath, and Envy. Selim, despite being a child, wasn't a fool enough not to realize that these were part of a set. Crazy people with special powers and strange nicknames, he knew it could only be very good or very bad. Super heroes or villains. Something told him from the way they acted, they way Envy had threatened him like it was nothing, that it was very bad. He was nearly scowling by now, an expression that he didn't think he'd ever made before.
"Pride, what are you guys planning?" he asked. He could feel the arrogance inside of him, from wherever Pride was being stored.
"You've asked that so many times already. I've already said I'm not telling a pathetic human," Before Selim had the chance to ask anything else, the door to his room opened softly, and Kano peaked his head in.
"Pride?" It felt even weirder now being called that, but Selim just ignored it and nodded. "Goodnight," Blinking, Selim had not expected that. Smiling at the child, he nodded once more.
"Thanks, goodnight," he said, in his normal, polite and humble voice. Kano then ducked his head out quickly without a word, and Selim stared at the door until the child's footsteps had finally subsided.
Sighing, he laid back down onto the bed. He didn't try to call up Pride again, something told him that the strange voice wouldn't answer. Closing his eyes, he tried to catch some sleep. There wasn't anything he could do about those strange people underground, especially right now. He just had to focus on himself, and right now, he needed sleep.
No matter how hard he tried, sleep wouldn't come
Well, Selim's finally gained control of Pride's shadow tentacle thingys. And things are starting to pick up. I hope this chapter wasn't as disappointing as the last one, although I did like writing as Mrs. Bradley. Well, please review.
Oh, and by the way, the reason I have Selim call Father and the homunculus mole people is because, when trying to explain things to my little brother about FMA, because he hasn't really watched the whole thing, and keeps getting brotherhood and the 2003 anime mixed up. He keeps calling them mole people, and I thought it was funny, and a cute nickname for Selim to give the homunculus.