Me- well I hope your enjoying the story so far!
Ed- it's been one damn chapter, I'm pretty sure no one's hooked yet...
me- * sigh* I know.....
Al- yeah yoko-chan (me) No one's going to be hooked until the Elricest comes in!
Ed- * blushes* Al what the hell!
Roy- I agree Ed! Al what are you thinking! Everyone knows this is a RoyEd story
Ed- what the-!!!
me- calm down, I dunno which it's going to be yet.... cause everyone loves a love triangle * smirks*
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Ed's throat burned as he coughed, trying to spit out any vomit or bile left in his mouth. A horrible after taste hung in his mouth, as he began to try and calm his breathing.
" So Fullmetal, care to explain why you've been starving yourself?" Al felt Ed tense, his whole back stiffening, and a small gasp escaping his mouth. To say Ed was suprized would be an understatement.
Oh god! How the hell had the bastard colonial found him out? Was it something he had done? Maybe he had said something. Or maybe the bastard had noticed when carrying him inside?
Well it was too late now to figure it out now. What was done, was done. And now Ed needed to think. What could he say? There was no way in hell he was going to admit he was actually starving himself. Going over possible excuses in his head, Ed pushed lightly at the two metal arms holding him still.
" I can stand." the eldest Elric brother managed weakly, his body shaking from the sudden adrenaline rush from before.
Metal head bobbing lightly, Al released Edward knowing that his brother would not run. That would be showing weakness, and Edward Elric never showed weakness. Even when getting his auto mail put on, the blond teen never yelled or screamed or even so much as whimpered. Al knew very well about how painful it was getting auto mail hooked on. He remembered as a kid watching adults go into Winry's house, and then hearing screams and cries. But not once did he remember Ed screaming out.
" So Fullmetal are you going to answer me today or tomorrow?" Roy probed suddenly, Ed looked over his shoulder though some loose strands of hair, to glare at Roy. Inwardly smirking Ed answered,
" You bastard! Is that any way to treat a sick person." Everyone in the room froze.
Sick?
Roy didn't buy it.
" Sick? You call being malnourished and sickeningly small sick?" A vein popped on Ed's head at being called small, but he let it slide. There was something more important to be dealt with.
" Tch, you cocky bastard how dare you patronize me when this is your fault!" That really caught Roy off guard, and the man found himself glaring at the small teen.
" My fault? You starving yourself is my fault?" The colonial spat venomously, clueless at what Ed was getting at.
" Who the hell said I was starving myself?" Ed inquired, absentmindedly looking over to what had once been his breakfast. The young teen shivered inwardly.
" Brother? Are you trying to say that your not starving yourself?" Al's voice echoed suddenly.
"Thats exactly what I'm saying Al." Ed hissed, glaring at Mustang, said man glared back. His black eyes deep and angry.
"There's no way you can deny it Fullmetal. Al and I have already seen how malnourished you are. And you just tossing your breakfast is definite proof that somethings up." Ed snorted, as if what Mustang was saying was utter nonsense. Sighing inwardly Ed said,
" I am denying it Bastard. Because I'm not starving myself and finally this is your fault. Cause your the Fucking guy who sent me on the mission that got me sick in the first place." The lies flew smoothly from Ed's mouth. Everyone seemed to still a moment to process what they just heard.
" So, your sick brother?" Al asked hesitantly, Ed nodded.
" Yeah, remember that last mission we went on? Well I apparently caught something and so whenever I eat too much I end up chucking it up." Ed seemed to think a moment before continuing.
" Doc says it should be gone in a month or so."Roy stood there completely and utterly flabbergasted (A/N- I wuv that word...).
" Brother when did you go to the doctor?" Ed twitched slightly, before turning to his brother.
" I went when you were trying to find a home for that kitten you found inside a trash can." Ed lied, and Al nodded vigorously. Ed knew that if Al had his real body, he would be blushing right now.
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After a long morning; in Edwards opinion; the three men left to go interrogate an old laboratory that had once been used for human transmutations. Though Ed knew Roy didn't believe his ' I'm sick' story, he decided to let the topic drop in favor of a more appealing topic.
The philosopher stone.
Roy believed that Envy and Lust may have been using it as of late, in order to create a new philosophers stone. This also meant that they were probably using innocent human lives, so there was no telling what Roy, Ed and Al were going to find.
Trekking silently through the mountainous terrain, Roy pulled his glove up ever so slightly. It was an automatic movement he had picked up in Ishbal. While Roy tugged at his gloves, Ed passed him, taking lead, with Al not far behind.
When they finally got to the old laboratory, it looked like nothing more than an old cottage house. And was relatively small. Ed found himself relating it to the home he and Al used to share with their mother. He could picture their mother standing in the door way, her chestnut colored hair slung over her left shoulder in a loose pony tail. Quickly dismissing the image from his thoughts, Ed continued forward onto the porch of the small cottage.
" Oi, bastard, this is the right place, right?" Roy ignored Ed and proceeded forward. Hands twitching at his sides Ed growled, following Roy to the doorstep of the cottage. The old mahogany door stood wearily, on a slight angle, with jagged marks on the sides of it. As if someone, or something had been trying to claw its way in.
Ignoring the sudden chill that went through him at the thought, Ed preceded forward, and stood next to the bastard colonial himself.
" So, whats our plan of action?" Ed asked sarcastically, giving Roy a light glare from over his shoulder. Roy shrugged it off, before looking over to Ed, emphasizing the way he was looking down at the young teen.
" Well we could send you in there to investigate, I'm sure that no one would notice you were even there due to your small stature." Ed growled angrily, as he used all him will power not to scream. That would only make the bastard happier. So instead, Ed said,
" And risk this pretty face? How about we send you in? That face of yours should keep all the demons at bay." The heating atmosphere didn't go unnoticed by Al who came in between the two, trying desperately to keep the fight from getting too out of control.
" Brother, Colonial, how about we just go already, we're wasting time." Ed looked over to Al and nodded,
" Yeah bastard, stop wasting our time." Roy's eye twitched angrily, as Alphonse went to open the door. Only to quickly pull back his hand, after a sudden shock shook through his armor. A large, vibrating echo shot across the woods.
As soon as he pulled back he looked at his hand, that was now slightly melted. Ed clasped his hands together before lightly grabbing Al's hand. Once the hand was returned to normal. Ed looked back to the door.
Roy went to nod in agreement, when the floor began to glow bright red. Under their feet was a transmutation circle, that had been accidentally activated when Ed had went to fix Al's hand.
The ground under the three began to melt, and acting like quicksand stuck to their ankles and began to pull them down.
"Dammit!" Ed cursed trying to find something to transmutate, but all around him the ground was sucking in anything in it's wake. The whole porch began to cave into itself. Ed looked over to Al and Roy only to see that their attempts of escape were proving to be just about as fruitful as his. Soon Ed was up to his neck in quicksand, his body numb, and mind fuzzy. Due to his lack of height, Ed was sinking faster than Al or Roy.
The last thing Ed remembered was the look on Roy's face as the older man reached out to him.
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Eyes fluttering lazily, Ed began to regain consciousness. Though his body was heavy, as though it was made of lead, Ed still managed to sit up, rather lazily, and leaned himself against the closest cold stone wall near him. Ed's eyes began to drift shut once again when a voice rang out.
"Brother? Ed? You awake?" Groaning unhappily, Ed opened his eyes once more, and came face to face with Al. The metal suit of armor seemed to perk up at this and called over Roy. Ed watched hazily as Roy ran over, before kneeling before him.
Ed felt a warm hand ghost over his pulse. The eldest Elric suddenly realized that he had closed his eyes again.
Unable to keep his eyes open for more than a few moments, Ed relied on his hearing to understand what was going on.
Mind still fuzzy, Ed was only able to pick up key phrases.
"He alright?"
"Hit..-....head"
"Way out?"
"Too small.... Only Ed.."
Soon Ed was unable to hear anything. And slowly fell back into an uneasy sleep.
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Upon waking a second time, Ed felt more energized and ready to go. Blinking rapidly Ed realized that he was in a dungeon of some sort. The walls were made of cold, gray cement, and various chains hung from them. Sometimes even accompanied by a set of bones. The sight of them made Edward inwardly cringe.
Taking in more of his surroundings Ed noticed a familiar figure slumped against one of the other walls, next to a shinning suit of armor.
Getting up shakily, Ed walked over to the two.
"Oi, Al you up?" The sound of his name instantly roused Alphonse.
"Edward?" Ed smiled at his younger brother before plopping down next to him.
"Fullmetal." a voice rang out. Ed looked over to see that Roy had woken up, his hair slightly tousled.
"Bastard." After waiting a few moments for Roy to fully awaken, Al began to explain their situation.
"So brother when you fell, you happened to hit your head. It was bleeding, but Roy managed to patch you up." Roy smirked at Ed, causing the small teen to pout.
"Next Roy fell and then I fell. Oh and sorry about landing on you Colonial." Roy glared at Ed, who was now smirking."
"Heh heh, so Al fell on you?"
"Shut it Fullmetal." the colonial growled, glaring at Edward.
Al sighed, before continuing his story.
"Anyway while I watched out for you brother, Roy tried to find us a way out."
"Ok, that much I get, but why can't we just transmutate our asses out of here?" the blond haired alchemist asked as Roy sighed angrily, before leaning against one of the closest walls.
"Don't you think we've tried that? Apparently there's some kind of device or something keeping us from transmutating."
"So there's no way out of here!?" Edward asked incredulously.
"Well thats what I was getting to brother. Colonial went to take a look around and found an opening!" Roy smirked,
"Thats where you come in. Unfortunately the opening is too small for me or Al to fit into, so that leaves you...Midget." The end was added for effect, and Ed found himself jumping to try and strangle the colonial. Thankfully for Roy, Alphonse had a tight grip on Edwards's waist.
Eventually, after a lot of cursing and struggling Al managed to get Ed to the hole in the wall.
It was small just as Alphonse had said. It was a square shape, and looked like it had been made with something jagged and sharp. But what puzzled Ed the most was that it seemed like it had been cut recently. Running his flesh palm over the edge of the hole, Ed pulled back and realized there was some chips and dust from when the hole had been cut.
"So Fullmetal, your going to need to follow through the hole and find a way to find this cell again. Once you do, you'll notice some keys on the other side of the hall. They're not too hard to spot, got it?" Edward processed all the information the colonial gave him, and gave an absentminded nod.
Something was wrong. Ed could feel it. His instincts were going mad, his stomach was clenching lightly, and his face was covered with a thin layer of sweat.
"Okay..." Al noticed Ed's uncertainty with mild shock, knowing his brother was not shaken easily.
"Edward?" Ed looked back at Alphonse, his golden eyes with with curiosity and mild uneasiness.
"You know you don't have to go right? We could fine another way." Roy and Ed's eyes widened,
"What do you mean Fullmetal doesn't have to go, he sure as hell does-" Roy's voice caught in his throat as Ed suddenly shot passed him. The colonial watched as Edward hugged Alphonse tightly, before shooting back by the whole.
"Thanks Al!" And before anyone could see the indecision in his eyes, Ed shot off, crawling quickly through the small compact passageway. Though the hug he had given Al had given him more courage, Ed still couldn't help but feel uneasy. The short Alchemist promised himself that as soon as he had finished his job he would give Al another hug. A big hug! He would hug his younger brother so hard that his metal suit would bend!
Keeping that in mind Ed crawled forward, his leather clad hands pulling him along the way.
Everything was going to be fine, just fine....Or was it?
.......
After what seemed like hours, which was actually only about 30 minutes or so, Ed saw a light at the end of the tunnel. The blond haired alchemist stopped for a moment, remembering a saying about not going towards the light. A new onslaught of uneasiness gripped at Ed, but the teen merely shook his head and continued forward.
Finally making it to the ed of the tunnel, Ed crawled out and landed on his feet. He looked up and fell backwards in surprise at how many people there were in this room. The thick smell of sweat and urine gripped the air, as Edward looked over the hundreds of people in the dining room of what seemed to be a mansion.
Everyone in the room wore an orange suit, Edward realized rather quickly, with a number printed on the front left breast, which could only mean that these people were criminals. Everyone seemed to be in distress, and Ed couldn't help but wonder why.
Then he noticed the alchemy circle on the ground.
His golden eyes widened, and his first instinct was to run back and tell Roy and Al of what he had discovered. As he went to go back however, he ran into a heavily muscled chest.
" 'Nd where you goin' me boy o'?" the man asked smiling, revealing a mouth of rotted teeth. Ed immediately felt uneasy, knowing full well he couldn't use alchemy in fear he would activate the circle they were on.
"No where that concerns you," Ed bit out in distaste, stealthily moving lightly to the right.
"I' that so?" The man's voice began to chance, Edward stilled. "Well I hate to tell you this short stuff , but you won't be going back to your little friends." Ed knew that voice. No, it couldn't be. But it was.
Fear gripped Edwards gut as black spikes of hair shot out of the mans head while his muscles toned down.
Where the man once stood, was Envy, the humanculous. Swearing under his breath, Ed turned to run, but found rather quickly that he was being stopped by another two familiar faces.
Lust and Gluttony stood there in the middle of the crowd which had now dispersed, leaving the two alone in the middle of the dining room.
"Oh what do we have here?"
"Oh, oh he looks so delicious! Can I eat him Lust can I?" The busty woman merely shook her head.
"You know that you can't gluttony, this boy has work to do." Lust sighed advancing on the young alchemist. The large male seemed upset but got over it rather quickly as he too moved forward.
"I understand Lust," Suddenly Ed felt a hand grip the back of his head, lifting him into the air, before he was thrown across the room. He smashed into a wall, his side instantly shooting with the familiar burn of pain.
"Envy! Be gentle with the boy, He won't help us if you damage him too much!" Ed could hear Lust exasperate, before Envy growled,
"Like the kid would help us without a little persuasion anyway!" Feeling gutsy as adrenaline filled his veins, Ed shot back.
"Who the hell are you calling kid? Maybe your just as stupid as you look!" Suddenly a knee made collision with Ed's gut, and he coughed violently, as he rolled across the floor.
"Shut ur' trap you insolent brat!" Envy advanced quickly towards Ed.
Thinking quickly Ed asked,
"What the hell do you want with me?!" This seemed to gain all the humanculi's attention.
"Oh, poor naïve Edward." Lust said slowly, "We need you and your amazing alchemy of course."
"Yeah, you see the transmutation circle your in?" Ed looked down and noticed rather quickly he was in another transmutation circle, that was different from the one under the prisoners feet, but still connected.
"And why, might I ask, is this going to do?" Ed bit out with fake politeness. This seemed to irritate Envy, but Lust seemed unfazed.
"Make a philosopher stone of course." Edward's eyes widened.
A philosopher's stone? The one thing that stood in between Al and his body? Ed had to know more.
"So why exactly should I help you?"
"Well we have three good reasons-" Lust began before Envy cut her off.
"Yeah, 1- if you don't we'll kill ur' brother, 2- if you do we'll share a piece of the stone with ya, and 3- if you don't I'm gunna slaughter everyone in this room one by one and make you watch." Ed shuddered, but was still attracted by the idea. Get a piece? If he was able to get a piece then he could get Alphonse back his body!
"But of course if you do you'll sacrifice all the people in this room!" Gluttony said smiling, but frowned as Lust smacked him upside the head.
"You doof! You weren't supposed to tell him that!" Gluttony apologized as Ed sat there in shock. Kill all these people? He's have to do that if he wanted his brothers body back? Edwards hand gripped at his shirt.
Could he really do it? Could he really kill all these people in cold blood.
"Think about it Blondie-" Envy suddenly cut in, "These are all criminals who have killed, stole and pillaged their way through life. It's no big loss right? Especially if it's fer your innocent lil' brother right?" Ed thought over what Envy said carefully, before slowly standing up and making his way to the middle of the circle.
All the prisoners looked over to him with large fear filled eyes. Ed felt guilt rack him, but tried to ignore it. This was for Alphonse. His loyal little brother. The brother that stood besides him through thick and thin. The little brother who he had dragged with him to reserect his mother. Effectively ruining his innocently, naive brother's life for years.
His resolve erected, and Ed looked over to Envy a flame in his golden eyes.
"I just have to activate it right?" Envy and Lust looked pleased and nodded. Kneeling Edward activated the circle before he could have any regrets. The humanculi jumped out of the circle while all the prisoners began crying and pleading for their lives. Edward watched as they tried to scale the walls, as they cried. While some sat on the floor, curled into a ball, reciting prayers under their breaths, while rubbing their arms in a pitiful attempt to comfort themselves.
The sudden humanity made Edward gasp as tears silently tracked down his face. Power hurled through the air as people began to slowly disintegrate one after one. Ed watched unbelieving until he felt a presence enter his side of the circle.
Edward looked over quickly, only to see a small brown cat. It's eyes were wide and it was mewling crazily.
"No! Bad cat! Bad!" Ed cried out going to shove the cat out of the circle. But as Ed's hand made contact with the cat's side, the blond teens hand exploded into little balls of molecules. It wasn't painful, but Ed could feel electrical currents shooting through him as he watched the cat cry as it too turned into molecules.
Backing away, Ed hissed in pain as the cat's molecules over lapped with his, causing his whole molecular structure to tremble.
Edward Elric's desperate screams mingled with the prisoners as everything went black.
XX
Me- Finally done! Hope you enjoyed it~ Lemme know what you think ;3