Demons Only One

Chapter 5: Ship Called Regret

The pain was unbearable. He could feel his heart futilely trying to beat blood to his extremities, but due to the ice-cold hands that were slowly clenching the muscle in a tighter and tighter grip, the efficiency of his circulatory system was seriously compromised; it was starting to show in his spotty vision as darkness threatened to overwhelm him. He didn't know how long they were there, but it was getting more and more difficult to think of a way to get the Noah to stop.

'May as well try,' he thought sluggishly.

Furiously blinking away the encroaching darkness, Ed slowly and discretely (or what he hoped was discrete) pulled his hands together, forcing the Innocence arm to meet with the other in a soft clap. Swiftly, he tried to grab the dark-haired Noah, but was easily evaded. Swearing, he stumbled forward and barely managed to put his hands out in front of him to stop his fall.

Behind the retreating Noah, whose eyes were narrowed and glued on Ed in a darkened glare, a large hammer suddenly appeared, ready to squish Tyki Myk under its weight. Ed's eyes widened in fear for the Colonel: Sure, the guy was a bastard and an arrogant jerk, but there were things he still had to accomplish in their world; things that needed to be righted and dealt with. Things only someone like the Colonel could accomplish.

"No!" gasped the alchemist as he launched himself to push the other Noah away.

Compared the Colonel's grip on his heart, the pain of taking a direct hit from an Innocence attack was many times worse. His vision exploded in a billion colors, most of which faded into black, much like fireworks fading in a dark sky, and pain exploded from his arm, which had taken the brunt of the attack. Then there was pain in his back as he crashed into a building, effectively demolishing the structure. He could feel his blood vessels break and he heard a soft cry in pain. It was only later that Ed realized that it was his own.

What was worse was not the physical pain caused from the blow, but what seemed to be a sharp and debilitating mental pain as well much like a migraine but many times worse. Perhaps it would be more accurate to call it a spiritual pain that had been dealt to the body. It appeared that what made Innocence such an effective weapon was that it could cause both types of damage. Somewhere in a corner of his mind where there was no screaming that reverberated in his head, he wondered if "normal" humans would also feel such agonizing pain.

He grunted and forcibly pushed the pain to the back of his mind while trying to clear his vision long enough to assess the damage done to the Colonel, if any.

However, just as the darkness abated, he felt a hand at his throat, slowly lifting him off the ground and choking him.

'Dammit. If I weren't so God damn short, this wouldn't happen!' He felt his temper flare up then quickly die with the lack of air.

"Why? Why did you do it?"

"You bastard Colonel," Ed coughed out. "Did you forget? Weren't you going to become Fuhrer?! D-didn't you want to change Amsteris?! Dammit.. why.. can't you…"

He couldn't think anymore. His brain was screaming for oxygen. He felt himself crumple to the ground and a fading voice saying, "Rhode, let's go. We've played for long… We still have to-"

Soft steps were leaving and the voice grew distant. He tried to speak, but his throat locked up, and his hand grasped nothing but air.

'Wait!' Then there was nothing.

Lavi was pissed. Why the hell did that Noah just stop him from flattening Tyki?! Ugh! And he had him! He was right there within the path of his hammer! Lavi sorely wanted to take out his frustrations on Fullmetal, but the only thing that was stopping him from flattening the unconscious Noah was the fact that he was Allen, and Allen was still in there somewhere; he had to believe that. Allen was just too strong to let the Noah kill him off, right?

He gritted his teeth in anger and annoyance and practically stomped over to the Noah. He could feel Miranda dispel her Innocence, and bruises and cuts slowly began to form across his body. He heard Kanda step behind him and put a warning hand on his shoulder.

"I know," he growled, shaking off the hand and kneeling beside the unconscious blonde. "I was just going to see check the damage." Lavi slowly turned over Fullmetal and checked his pulse; it was slow, weak and erratic, but it was there. He also noticed that his breathing was shallow and quick. The right arm was bent at several strange angles, indicating multiple breaks, and there was a nasty bruise forming around his neck. However, despite his vast knowledge, he did not feel qualified to care for the Noah for a variety of reasons.

"He looks really bad," commented a worried Miranda. "Should we go back to headquarters?"

"We can't leave the mission incomplete. Someone needs to here." Kanda said gruffly.

"Then, Miranda, take him back to headquarters. Yu and I will-"

The rest of what he had to say was drowned out by a tart, "I told you not to call me that!"

"Like I was saying," Lavi continued, ignoring the blade at his throat, which was reluctantly removed after a minute. "Miranda, you take him back. We'll stay here. I don't think the Noah will attack and the finders should be able to hold back any demons should they show themselves."

"Um, alright. But will you two be ok?"

Kanda harrumphed at the suggestion that they would get seriously injured and turned to walk away, presumably to find a new place to stay now that their first choice and the buildings surrounding it were destroyed.

Lavi pulled out his golem and spoke a few words to it before it flew off.

"Some Finders should be on their way… and there they are! Take care," Lavi said, getting up and chasing after Kanda. To Miranda, it almost seemed like he was trying to escape. "Yuuu! Wait!"

There was a sound of a blade swiftly leaving its scabbard before the darkness engulfed the two, leaving Miranda with the injured Noah just as several Finders joined them.

"We're here to escort you back to headquarters. Ah, I assume that this is the injured person that was mentioned?" asked a rather large Finder.

"Ah! Isn't that.. Allen Walker?!" exclaimed another.

"I heard that he's a Noah now!"

"Eh?! Seriously?! I don't want to help someone like that?!"

"Eh? But but.." Miranda's timid voice got lost in the group of Finders.

"Shut it! Everyone!" yelled the big Finder. "You've got no right to gossip like that!" He glared at the others and they cringed. "Let's just do what we came here to do: our job."

After that, no one said anything and quietly put the Noah on a stretcher. "This is bad," he muttered. "It looks like his heart received heavy damage. He's having palpitations. At this rate, he could go into cardiac arrest and die!

"You!" He pointed at one of the other people. "Start cpr!"

The young man sighed and reluctantly knelt down, pressing his hands against the Noah's chest and began compressing half-heartedly. "You have to press harder, dammit! If his ribs aren't cracking, you aren't pressing hard enough! You have to pump his blood!"

The man moved toward Fullmetal's head and felt for a pulse. The dark-haired woman winced as there were popping sounds of ribs cracking and no doubt, breaking.

This went on for some time and Miranda didn't know how long they were like that, but it seemed like an eternity. During this time, she fervently hoped that Allen would take control. However, there was no indication of an internal battle… or anything at all.

She also thought about what she had witnessed during the Noah's attack. Why would he protect Tyki if Tyki were trying to kill him? And then what he was saying before… If they were to truly believe what he said about the origin of the Noah, then he must have known Tyki from before, in the other world. She sighed. Maybe it was better not to think about it and just ask Fullmetal when (if – Allen would take over, she assured herself, because he couldn't be gone) he woke up.

It was about then that the Finder announced that the heartbeat had returned to normal, but was very weak. He yelled at some of the other Finders lazing about and together, they put him on a stretcher and began carrying to the train station.

Slowing his steps to match Miranda's, he apologized. "Sorry about that. You have to understand the rumors that are going about… About him." He indicated the unconscious Noah. "But you know, I don't want to believe them. I couldn't, until I saw it for my own eyes…

"Allen.. Allen was a good kid. I helped him once, you know? So I just can't believe that he's gone…"

"He's not gone," Miranda cut in sternly, and the Finder looked at her, slight surprise in his eyes. "He's not gone… He has to still be in there.." she continued.

"Yea, you're right. We can't give up hope. I think I knew that all along.." he muttered softly, more to himself than to her.

Allen glanced around his room at the mirror. For some reason, ever since several ago, the atmosphere had been strange. He could tell something was going on, but the, he couldn't really. The main indication that he had that something had happened was the slight aches and pains that he would feel. None of it was serious though, as it felt like something was trying to protect him from feeling such pain, but his chest felt tight and his neck and back ached. He wondered if the Noah was fighting and whom he was fighting.

The room wavered and then stood still, but something most definitely felt different. The pain was much greater now, and it looked as though the barrier that kept him from leaving was dissolving.

Softly, he padded up to the window and rested his hand on the glass. Giving it a slight push, he felt something break under his weight and he fell through.

Picking himself off the ground, he was shocked by the dramatic change that had overcome the Noah's mind: Instead of the green rolling hills that soaked in the sun, there was darkness and a tormented sky. Lightening crashed, splitting a tree, and the wind howled furiously around Allen, threatening to blow him away.

Fighting the wind, he spotted the house that Fullmetal had retreated into. Curiosity grabbing hold of his mind, he struggled to make his way toward the swinging door. Grasping the handle, he pulled himself inside and gagged; the scent of blood and death was overpowering.

Looking around, he noticed that the smell became more powerful as he walked toward, what seemed to be, the door to the basement. Covering his nose, he stepped down the stairs. The air was still like death and Allen had a bad feeling.

Reaching the bottom of the stairs, he gasped, and his eyes widened; whatever he was expecting, it was not this.

The Noah was slumped against the wall; his eyes were staring blankly at the middle of the room, where in the middle of a transmutation circle there was a mass of… Allen didn't even know how to explain it. It looked like there were so many limbs, bones, tissue, and blood all coming from a central area that could vaguely be called a body.

The exposed ribs expanded, and then contracted. Allen realized that it was breathing. There was another shuddered breathe that filled the room. "Ed…ward… Why?" it gasped.

The Noah clutched his head, but his blank eyes continued to stare in horror at the.. at the thing. "Shut up! SHUT UP! You're not real!" His voice was hoarse, as if he had been screaming for awhile.

It faded; the blood and gore seeming to ooze through the floorboards. In its place, a dark man rose, red eyes glinting in the darkness. He dashed forward without a prelude, a tattooed arm grabbing and lifting the Noah easily before slamming him into the wall.

"Scar…" he breathed, but didn't struggle. His head drooped forward a little bit, as if he were resigned to his fate.

Allen didn't know why, but he rushed forward and shoulder checked the large man. The Noah crumpled into a heap on the ground while the man disappeared in a wisp of dark smoke. He realized that whatever had happened, it forced the Noah to live through his greatest horrors. Allen felt sympathetic toward the Noah. He knew what it was like to relive the terrors of the past.

"Why did you stop him? Wouldn't it be better for you if I died..? You could return to your friends…" Dull golden eyes watched him, but he didn't move from where he had fallen.

"I… I guess it's because you didn't try to kill me. I mean, you had the opportunity, but you didn't."

"…Won't you regret this?"

"I.. don't know… There are so many things that you can't know. How will I know if I will regret this?" Allen said softly, thinking about how he had foolishly called for Mana, making him into a demon. He didn't know that he would regret calling his adopted father back from the grave.

"True… Too true." Fullmetal's – Edward's? – voice drifted off. He seemed to be heavy in thought, and a profound silence fell between the two.

Notes: Concerning the palpitations and stuff… I don't know much about that, but I figured the series of steps would be logical… and seeing as how they probably don't have defibrillators.. Well, whatever. I don't really care about what they knew or didn't know since the mangaka herself doesn't really seem to either… After all, they seem to have some weird technology going on, so I'll cough it up to that.

Concerning cracking ribs… Yes, if you aren't cracking ribs or breaking them, then you aren't pumping blood. So, cracking ribs are a good thing when performing cpr… Ew.

Also, I feel that the characters are getting more and more out of character.. It's been hard for me to think about how they would act since I haven't been re-watching the show or keeping up with the manga. Sorry! ...Which makes me feel like this story is getting worse and worse... Oh well.. x.x

As always, thank you for the reviews and favs!

~Razra

Title is from Hatsune Miku's 1925. More specifically, part of the dub from Mitsumushi's version.