Chapter Seven: Coming Undone

A/N: I like music. No, I don't like music: I love it. Like with the titles to my fanfics, I wanna start naming chapters after songs from various artists. "Coming Undone" by Korn. I like them. ^_^ Now, let's look and see what Edo is doin'...

Edo sat up in his bed with a start. It was still early in the morning, and yet once awake, he couldn't drift back asleep. Sweat had beaded on his forehead, and his insides felt like they were twisting apart.

"What was that?" he growled to himself. "A dream..."

A memory.

"Was this your doing?" he asked the boy inside his mind.

Maybe. Why? Are you feeling guilty?

"I'm never guilty," Edo snorted. "Nothing is ever my fault."

But in reality, he had no idea what was happening. That dream, it was too realistic. It was as if it were him, and not Edward. It unnerved him. Was Ed gaining more ground for retrieving power over his body?

"You won't get this body back," Edo snarled.

We'll see about that.

Silence followed, and Edo figured his host either ran out of things to say- which was unlikely- or he had ran out of energy to fight Edo's control. Pride sat up in his bed, swung his legs over the side, and walked over to where he had hung his clothes. Without second thought, Edo dressed, but when he stopped to look at himself in the mirror (he is Pride after all), his eyes went huge. Ed was putting up more of a fight than Edo had originally thought. Ever since seeing Roy again, Edo could feel Ed trying to break free and trying to cause Edo trouble by putting up a resistance to being controlled. Now, the oldest Elric was actually gaining ground.

When Edo peered into the mirror, he saw not two green eyes looking back at him, but one green, and one golden one.

Heh. Told you.

"This can't be happening," Edo hissed.

He had just gotten his freedom, he couldn't give it up now! And better yet, he could not let his men know that he had even slightly lost control, or else they would abandon him. If it wasn't for the fact that he needed help setting up for his ultimate plan, Edo would have taken over Ed's body and immediately killed them. Erik and the others were expendable.

He couldn't let them know.

He clamped his hand over his left eye which had reverted back to its original gold color. "ERIK!" he yelled.

Only a moment or so slid by before a poorly dressed Erik came stumbling in, panting. He had his pants on, but his white shirt had been left unbuttoned because of his unexpected summon to Edo's chambers. Even his blonde hair was in disarray.

"Yes...Sir?" he panted. "Is...something wrong...?"

"An eye patch," Edo growled.

"Pardon?"

"GET ME AN EYE PATCH, NOW!"

Erik was clearly confused, but instead of questioning his dangerously angry boss, he ran off to fetch one. Edo in the meantime, used his metal hand to punch his mirror. It shattered into thousands of pieces.

"Damn you Edward Elric. Damn you."

***

Erik found an eye patch that Kimbly had "found", and gave it to Edo who fit it over his golden eye. He did not give Erik reason for his task, and thus the blonde found it highly suspicious, and worth noting. And yet he said nothing.

Edo joined his men downstairs, where they stood in the lobby to see Kimbly off on his journey to Resembool.

"Morning sleepy head," Kimbly snorted. "You know I could have left sooner if-"

"Shut up," Edo snapped. After seeing Ed gain ground in their fight over who would be the true host of the body, he was in no mood for anything but his plans. "You are to go to Resembool from here without drawing much attention. Do you understand me? I don't want Mustang following the scent of blood you lead back here!"

"You mean to keep killing to a minimum, correct?" Crimson questioned.

"Right."

The Crimson Alchemist sighed. "Well, I suppose that would be smart. But what if Mustang or one of his 'friends' gets in the way?"

"Then go ahead and kill them," Edo shrugged. "It's their funeral. But make sure you don't hurt her. I need her back in one piece if everything will go as planned. If she returns with even a bone out of place...I'll personally see to it that your hands are cut off."

"Ooh. Scary," Kimbly shuttered with a sneer. "Hands are an alchemist's life."

"Exactly. Don't fail me."

Each man watched as Kimbly picked up a single bag that contained some food, water, and clothes, and walked towards the main door. It would take a couple days to get down to Resembool by foot, so Crimson was ordered to take one of the horses as far as it would go, and then start asking for rides and to take the train.

"I promise you, Edo, I won't let you down," Kimbly vowed, even going as so far as bowing (although he was grinning as he did so to show he was almost joking).

Edo scowled at him. "Oh, and Kimbly? If your mission isn't successful, at least have enough decency not to come back alive, you hear?"

Kimbly frowned, and turned to walk out the door. "Crystal, Sir."

The men watched him leave, before everyone departed to somewhere else in the building. They had a little bit of time before they would have to start working. But as Edo was walking towards the secret entrance under the stairs, he was approached by Zarik, who wore a questioning look.

"When you said to bring her back in one piece," he said, "did you mean Edward's childhood friend?"

"Who? Winry Rockbell?" Edo snorted as he opened the door before him. "She's useless to me."

"Then who...?"

Edo grinned, making Zarik shiver in his black attire. "I must admit, I've always been a momma's boy."

........................................

A/N 2: So, I bet a lot of you know what Edo wants now, huh? The question is why. That, my readers, will be addressed in a much later chapter. One that I'm dying to write up. But for now, let's go back to Resembool and see Winry and Al. Keep reviewing people. I don't know if y'all like it if you don't review!