C'mon, folks. You didn't think Roy and Ethon's back story was over, did you?
Now, let us get to the heart of the matter.
-o-o-o-
Part 6: Breath of Fear
Prometheus, I am gazing on thee now!
With the cold breath of fear upon my brow,
Not without mist of dimming tears,
While to my sight thy giant stature rears
Its bulk forpined upon these savage rocks
In shameful bonds the linked adamant locks.
Aeschylus – Prometheus Bound
Roy sighed and leaned back against the tree trunk. Autumn leaves drifted from the branches above. They fell peacefully - an unhurried flutter of red and yellow-orange - but they offered no comfort. Roy's stomach still churned with the guilt of what he did.
He knew he did the right thing; Ethon could have killed someone with that array. A mislaid transmutation might have brought the entire testing hall down in an explosive whirlwind of fire. It was Ethon's ignition source that was the problem. He intended to draw on geothermal energy: the heat stored under the earth's surface. It was too wide an area, too unstable a reservoir to generate anything of use. It was messy. Sloppy. Ethon must have been desperate.
Roy slowly rose and brushed off his trousers. He wasn't looking forward to returning to the dorm - to Maes' knowing eyes and the possibility of running into Ethon at every turn. But he had no choice. He knew he could always spend the night in his old room at Madame Christmas', but he was no coward. He had to face this, no mater how painful.
The dorms were quiet. It was Saturday evening, and most of the other cadets were out enjoying some well-earned freedom. Roy couldn't help but feel relieved. He wanted to be alone with his thoughts for a bit longer - to seek the simple escape of sleep. Roy stole through the stark halls, willing his feet to make no sound as he made his somber way to his dorm room.
His steps faltered when he heard a soft snuffling noise from a corridor to his right: the telltale sound of stifled sobs. Roy had no doubt who it was. One of the doors at the end of the hall was ajar; flickering candlelight cast a single bar on the smooth-polished floor. He briefly toyed with the thought of allowing Ethon some time to privately wallow in his own anguish. But guilt stopped Roy from turning away. It seemed wrong to leave Ethon alone. Roy desperately needed him to understand. He started towards the sound.
As Roy approached, he could hear words half-buried in the desperate sobs. Words like 'failure' and 'nothing.' Sad, doleful things that set new regret deep in Roy's gut. He placed one hand on the door and drew a calming breath. He slowly pushed it open.
Ethon was crouched at the center of the room, balanced on the balls of his feet, arms wrapped around his knees. His back was to the door. Choking cries wracked his shoulders and his breath came in shuddering gasps. Ethon's room was shockingly spartan - even for a cadet. No pictures adorned the walls. The closet lay open, revealing only a few military uniforms and a pair of spare boots. A few papers were stacked neatly on an otherwise bare desk. The only ornament in sight was a single picture frame propped on Ethon's bedside table. Roy could just make out the image of a woman with bleak eyes and a sad, downturned mouth.
Roy stood in the doorway, frozen, unsure of what to say. For a while, he watched Ethon rock back and forth on his toes. Finally, he lifted one hand to knock.
-o-o-o-
"You made me do it!" Ethon shrieked. "If I could have just taken the exam..."
Roy shook his head. His eyes never left the water that wreathed his rival like liquid ivy. "You weren't ready."
"I was ready! What happened was your fault!"
Roy met Ethon's gaze, steady and confident in this one thing. "You did it to yourself."
"No!" A flash of light enveloped Ethon's glove and cord-thick bands of water burst from the pool at his feet. They shot forward with blinding speed and struck Roy's shoulder, face, and gut like snakes. Roy's scream was cut short as water filled his mouth and forced its way down his throat. He managed to turn his head to avoid the spray, but not before he was reduced to a sputtering mess. "There was nothing else for me!" Ethon shrieked over the sound of Roy's gasping coughs. "Nothing! The military was all I had. You stole that from me."
Roy grunted and pulled himself upright. Drops of bloody water fell from the shackles above, and as they spattered on his face he knew at least some of it was from the unfinished array, now ruined. His last chance destroyed by his one undoing. Roy pushed it from his mind. "Even without alchemy, you could have stayed in the military, Ethon. If you hadn't -"
"No." Ethon's voice was thick with hatred. "No, you're -"
A loud roar boomed from the distant darkness, followed by the sound of shouts and gunshots. Ethon started and turned toward the sound. "Shit," he murmured. Another crash like the sound of a giant wave echoed down the corridor. After, they heard the sound of splashing footsteps. A rush of water came to them from the cavern like a loosed dam. A bar of light shot from the darkness. It bobbed wildly in rhythm with the splashing sounds. Roy recognized it as the characteristic, artificial beam of a flashlight.
"Roy!" a voice called. The rocky walls made it into a near-intelligible echo, but he recognized the timbre all the same.
Roy smiled. He knew it. He knew they'd come for him. "It's over, Ethon."
Ethon stared into the black for a long minute. "Is that so?" He turned back to his prisoner, and Roy saw no fear in Ethon's predatory eyes. "I told you. It's not over until I say it is." Ethon transmuted again, blue light on bluer water. He lifted his hands and the pool at his feet rose in a frozen wave, its surface rippling under the flickering light. Ready to strike.
"Look out!" Roy screamed a warning to his would-be rescuers. Ethon's hand flicked, loosing the living wave into the darkness. It rushed forward as a single, unstoppable tide, and Roy cursed. He hoped they heard it in time.
More shouts, then a resounding crash. The light in the distance flickered, but did not die. The sound of footsteps resumed, this time accompanied by hasty, half-heard commands. Ethon lifted his gloved hand higher, alchemic light already wreathing the circle at its back.
Bang.
There was a soft 'zip,' and Ethon's palm exploded in a sickening spray of bone and flesh. The Water Alchemist shrieked and clutched his hand to his chest. Not for the first time, Roy Mustang offered a silent prayer of gratitude for Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye and her deadly aim.
"Roy!" The voice was much clearer this time.
Maes, Roy thought. He nearly sobbed when his friend materialized out of the darkness, flashlight in hand. Riza followed soon after, silent as a shadow. Her eyes flicked to Mustang before they returned to Ethon. Roy knew her well enough to see the meaning behind her her tight eyes and firm mouth. She was furious. She positioned herself between Roy and Ethon, gun trained on the threat, ready to do what was necessary to protect him.
"Don't!" Roy called to her. "Don't... shoot him."
Her hands did not waver, but she acknowledged the command with a curt nod. Her eyes never left Ethon, who writhed on the floor, spitting wretched curses all the while.
Maes frowed at Ethon for a long moment before he crouched before Roy, expression grim. A set of lockpicks appeared in his hand and he set to work at the shackles. "Shit, Roy," he said, a hint of his jocular humor managing to make its way through in spite of everything. "Just what the hell have you gotten yourself into this time?"
"It's Ethon," Roy said, wishing he didn't sound so tired and weak and so damn scared. "It's him. The one I -"
Maes stopped in his work to look at Roy, face suddenly sad and aged beyond its years. "I know, Roy. I know." One of the shackles clicked. Maes grasped Roy's elbow and gently eased his arm down. The other followed shortly after. "Here," Maes said, offering Roy his hand. It was a struggle. Maes eventually had to grasp the back of Roy's belt before he managed to help him find his feet. Roy could hardly stand, and leaned heavily on his friend's shoulder to stay upright.
"Where are the others?" Roy grunted. After hours in the same position, it hurt to move. His legs felt like rubber.
"We were separated. This place is a maze." Maes glanced up at Ethon through sweat-steamed glasses. "He left traps everywhere."
"And a whole lot of good it did me," Ethon spat from where he knelt on the floor.
"Sir." Hawkeye said, drawing Roy's attention. His throat ached. He'd almost forgotten the sound of her voice: smooth and calm as an undisturbed pond - nothing like the raging tides Ethon commanded. It was like a balm. Roy looked up to see an oilskin package in her hand. He took it from her, fingers shaking from cold and deep-seated fear. Inside were a pair of his gloves, wonderfully dry.
"Thank you," he breathed, meaning so much more than just that. She offered back a ghost of a smile. He turned the cloth over in his hands.
"No!" Ethon seethed, bloodied hand tucked under his coat. "No..." He started forward, crawling on his knees and one good arm like a wounded animal. Something fell from Ethon's collar and swung from his neck. It flashed in the torchlight: a pendant, round and silver as the moon.
"Don't move," Haweye said. Her finger moved to the trigger of her gun. Ethon paused and reached up with his ruined hand to clutch the charm at his throat. A wicked grin began to form on his lips. Riza stepped forward threateningly. "What is that? Let it go. Now."
Maes shoved Roy behind him, shielding his friend's body with his own. "You heard her, Ethon. Stop. Please."
Ethon began to laugh - a deep, dark, lunatic thing. And suddenly Roy knew the pendant was not just a pendant. It was a transmutation circle. He only managed a single, barking "No!" before everything exploded around them. Light flashed blue and water surged around them in a raging, unstoppable tide.
The torch guttered and doused, and they were plunged into darkness lit only by the single beam of a flashlight.
-o-o-o-
Ethon spun at the sound of Roy's knock. His face was tear-streaked, his nose an angry red. "Wh- what are you doing here?"
"Ethon," Roy breathed. "I-"
"How dare you? How dare you come here after what you did to me?"
Roy spread plaintive hands. "I did it because you could have hurt someone, Ethon. If you'd listen to reason..."
The younger boy glared. "Could have hurt someone? You're one to talk, Roy."
"I... I'm sorry."
Ethons next words came slowly, as though exploring a possibility he never knew before. "And what if... what if I were to say I wanted to hurt you?"
Roy shook his head sadly. "If that's what you want... I suppose it would only be fair."
Ethon's hand's balled into fists. For a long moment, he seemed ready to strike; muscles worked under the wool of his uniform. He shifted from foot to foot, blinking back the tears that still welled in his eyes. But something seemed to hold him back. After a time, Ethon let out a long breath through his nose. "No," he said. "It's not enough."
"Ethon, I'm sorry -"
"I want you to see I can do it."
"Ethon... ? What do you mean?"
"I can do it, Roy. I want to prove it to you."
Roy gasped in horror as his classmate took a step back, revealing a transmutation circle drawn in chalk on the concrete floor. "Wait. You cant!"
"Watch, Roy." Ethon said, his reddened eyes suddenly alight with terrible hunger. "Watch."
"No!" Roy only managed to throw out an arm before Ethon's hands met the edge of the circle. Both boys screamed - twin cries of anguish and alarm - and blue light flashed, casting their shadows against the wall in sharp relief.
Fire burst forth - beautiful, ancient, and unstoppable.
-o-o-o-
Everything happened at once. A concentrated wave hit Maes like a moving wall; it carried him into the darkness in a flurry of arms and legs and swirling tides. The flashlight clattered to the ground. Roy cried out, starting towards his friend. He was stopped by the sound of gunshots. He turned in time to see a great tentacle of water wrap around Hawkeye's ankle and lift her into the air like a doll. It slammed her against the wall, pinning her there, and the gun tumbled from her nerveless fingers. She screamed as the water wound around her - liquid ropes made strangely solid. One wrapped around her nose and mouth.
Ethon's laugh lept from the darkness. "Tut, tut, Roy." He stepped into the light, hand wrapped around the sliver pendant, now stained red with blood.
"Lieutenant...!" Roy stepped forward, but stopped when Ethon sent another stream of water in his direction, barring his path.
"No," Ethon said. "I want you to watch this."
A burst of bubbles escaped Riza's mouth, and Roy let out a strangled cry. She was drowning! Their eyes met and his heart wrenched at the terror he found there. "Ethon!" Roy said, desperately pulling on his sodden gloves. "Let her go!"
Ethon's laugh rang keening and wild. "What do you hope to do with that? Against me? Without a spark to guide you?" Ethon's hand squeezed and the liquid bindings tightened around Riza's body. Another flurry of bubbles marred the surface of the water covering her mouth. She was going to die.
Roy raised his hand, blue electricity already gathering around the Flame array at its back. Ethon was right: there was no fire, no ignition source, no chalk. Nothing but a transmutation circle and his own fury to guide him. But cold clarity struck him like a bell, and suddenly he knew what to do. He stole a glance at Riza and saw her eyes widen. She knew him better than anyone. She knew what he planned.
Roy looked away before he could see the silent plea in her eyes, begging him not to do it. He wished she did not have to see her father's work so profaned. His breath came ragged, desperate, wicked. He would do whatever it took to save her, even if it was a wrong, ugly thing. It was his role in life: He did what others would not.
-o-o-o-
Smoke filled the room and both boys began to sputter and cough. Roy could hear Ethon's loud pants over the roar of the flame. The fires grew higher, licking at the ceiling, peeling and blistering paint, jumping from bed to bed like a possessed, vengeful thing. It swept up the the curtains where it roiled, greedy and insatiable. A window burst under the burden of heat, and Roy could hear distant shouts of alarm from outside.
"Ethon!" Roy shouted. "Stop!" He struggled forward, steps made faltering by sudden bursts of flame where there was none before. "Stop, Ethon! You'll kill us!" He blinked away soot as he headed toward the sound of Ethon's frantic gasps.
"No," Ethon choked. "I have to... show..." The younger boy stumbled, clawed hand fisted over his chest. He seemed to be struggling for air. The glass frame on Ethon's bedside table shattered, sending fragments in all directions. Ethon seemed not to notice. He hunched over, chest heaving, lips turning blue.
"Please, Ethon!" Roy said. He ducked as another window burst to his right. He had to stop the transmutation before it consumed them both. "Stop!"
Ethon was on his knees by the time Roy reached him. The veins in his neck stood out strangely with each wheezing breath. He looked up at his classmate, wild panic clear on his round face. "R- Roy!" he gasped. "I- I c-cant stop it!" Another burst of blue electricity lept from the transmutation circle, and the fires called back with a resounding roar.
Panic filled Roy with hysterical energy. Master Hawkeye taught him nothing of flame alchemy. He did not know how to interfere with Ethon's array without killing them both. There was only one thing that might stop the transmutation for good. "Sorry," he muttered before lifting one arm high above his classmate. He struck Ethon with all his might, with all the wight of his body behind it. Roy's fist met Ethon's temple with a sickening crack, and the younger boy crumpled to the ground in a boneless heap. The transmutation circle faded, but the fires raged on. He didn't have much time.
Roy leaned down to lift Ethon's arm and drape it over his neck. He hoisted the larger boy from the floor and made his stumbling way outside.
-o-o-o-
"Ethon!" Roy snarled. He held his gloved hand before him, palm up, fingers curled. Not ready to snap. Ready to steal. "Let her go!"
Riza's legs kicked against the stony wall. Her head turned in a silent 'no,' commanding him to stop. Tears streaked from her eyes and rolled down her cheeks to join the liquid gag.
Look away, he silently begged her. Look away. I don't want you to see this.
But she didn't. She never would. Instead, he tore his eyes from her. Light flashed at his fingertips.
Ethon was laughing - a high, keening, mocking thing. He was too drunk on impending victory. On vengeance met. He was too wrapped in his own success to feel the invisible, imperceptible changes in the air around him. He did not see Roy stealing the one thing he needed. Ethon drew a breath for another laugh, but stopped when it caught in his throat. He gasped again, this time a look of confusion stealing over his face. He reached up with shaky, wet fingers to touch the base of his neck.
"Let. Her. Go." Roy grated.
Ethon let out a croak and sucked in another desperate breath. He spun to look at Roy, panic and fear twisting his bony features. One hand clutched his throat, but the other - the one clutching the talisman - remained steady. Riza's water bindings did not loosen. If anything, they grew tighter. Her frantic kicks slowed. She was growing weak.
A part of Roy screamed, but he could not say if he uttered it aloud. Another alchemic flash enveloped his hand and he stole from Ethon again. And again. He stole and stole until there was nothing left.
He stole the one and only thing he gave Ethon, many years ago.
-o-o-o-
A group of cadets and instructors had gathered outside the dorm by the time he burst outside. Several of them let out shouts of alarm when they saw Roy stumble from the fiery place, carrying Ethon over his shoulder like a great sack. Roy hurried away from the building as fast as he could; behind him he could hear walls collapse beneath the heat and weight of the fire.
"Help me with him!" Roy shouted, voice made hoarse from smoke. A few boys sprang forward to ease his burden to the ground. Ethon tumbled to the pavement, limp as an old rag. His face was ashen, lips purpled. He was utterly still.
"Ethon!" Roy shouted, patting the younger boy's face in an attempt to rouse him. "Wake up!"
"He's not breathing," one of the other boys said. "Roy... look, his chest's not moving. He might be... What if he's...?"
"No!" Roy said. "No!" He slapped Ethon's pale, unmoving face with all his might. One of the female cadets let out a cry of protest. Hands grasped Roy's arms and began to pull him away, but he struck out in all directions, shedding them like windswept leaves. He clawed his way back to Ethon's side. "He can't be! He can't be!" He grasped Ethon's shoulder and shook it. This was all his fault. He should never have told. He should never have let his jealousy overtake him. He should never have struck Ethon the way he did.
Ethon did not move. His head lolled tonelessly to one side. What was wrong with him? Why wasn't he waking up? Ethon was miraculously untouched by fire; he had no burns. The injury was inside. Suddenly, Roy remembered how his classmate gasped in the smoke-filled room. How he struggled for air. Ethon couldn't breathe.
Roy knew what to do.
He leaned forward and pressed his mouth on Ethon's. He breathed into him - long and steady. Out of the corner of his eye, Roy could see Ethon's chest rise and fall like a gentle wave. But still he did not move. "No," Roy whispered, leaning low over Ethon's face. He puffed more air into his classmate's mouth.
One of Ethon's fingers twitched.
"C'mon!" Roy said. Another breath and Ethon's brows drew into a pained grimace. "C'mon!"
"It's working," one of the other cadets said.
Roy tried again, and was relieved to see his classmate let out a deep, smoky cough. Roy hung above him, watching closely.
Ethon drew in a long, ragged breath and his eyes fluttered open. "R- Roy?" His voice was small and confused. He seemed shocked to find his classmate so close. He took in another singing breath, lips already growing pink.
"Ethon." Roy sighed. He rocked back on his heels. "Shit."
"Stand aside!" a voice boomed from their right. "I said stand aside! What the hell happened here?" General Basque Grand pushed his way to the front of the crowd. For a long moment Grand stared at the dorms, still violently ablaze. Slowly, his gaze dropped to the two boys crouched on the lawn at his feet. He hissed when his eyes fell on Ethon. "You..." he said.
"Sir, please..." Ethon choked.
"I told you... I forbade you."
"No!" Ethon crawled forward, grasping desperately for Grand's boot.
The General stepped out of his reach. "Dishonorable discharge," he said. A number of students gasped.
"Sir," Roy said. "It was an accident... I was the one..."
"Silence," Grand seethed. He pointed a single finger at Ethon. "Cadet Ethon Arnold, you are hereby discharged from the military academy for disobeying a direct order from a commanding officer."
"Please," Ethon blubbered. "Please!"
"Sir..." Roy said weakly. But he knew it was no use.
"Get out. You are never to set foot on this base again." Grand said.
Roy would never forget Ethon's face as his former classmate slowly rose from the fire-warmed grass. Ethon's expression was twisted - a dark, sooted, ugly thing that did not suit its boyish roundness. One last sob escaped his throat before he turned from his classmates and the military forever.
Roy watched Ethon limp away, back stiff and unforgiving. He watched long after his classmate disappeared from sight. He watched until the fires died to angry coals.
Ethon was right. He was ruined that day. Ruined. And Roy was at least partially to blame.
-o-o-o-
Ethon fell to his knees. He made an awful gagging noise, one hand clawing at his throat, talon-like nails drawing blood. His eyes bulged and veins stood in sharp relief against his neck. "No," he wheezed.
And still Riza's bindings remained. Her eyes were closed now. Her legs gave one last twitch before she stopped moving.
A sob built in the back of Roy's throat. "Don't make me do this, Ethon," he whispered.
Ethon shook his head. "No," he croaked. He sucked in another desperate breath and fell to his side, lips now purple. "Roy." Ethon's hand left his throat to reach toward the Flame Alchemist. Dread, sadness, and longing played over his thin face in turn. His lips worked soundlessly, mouthing things left unsaid for far too many years. And still Roy would not relent.
Finally, Ethon shuddered and became still. His hand dropped into a puddle with a muted splash, fingers outstretched. Even in death he reached for his old classmate. Roy looked up as Riza's water-bonds began to unwind. They fell with a single, giant crash, and she tumbled to the rocky floor in a sodden heap. Her hair splayed in all directions like a ruined mermaid brought to shore. Roy was at her side in a moment.
"Lieutenant," said harshly. He turned her over. Her face was ashen, but he was relieved to feel her chest heave under his hand. A mouthful of water bubbled from between her lips. She coughed and sputtered before taking in a great, miraculous breath. Roy helped her sit up. "You okay?" he asked, smoothing wet bangs out of her eyes.
She nodded, eyes closed. She motioned him to move on. Taking the signal, Roy rose in search of Maes. As he crossed the cavern, he kept his gaze away from the still body with its single, reaching arm.
"Maes!" he called into the darkness where his friend disappeared. He heard a soft groan. Roy scooped up the flashlight and made his way towards the sound. Maes was just propping himself up on two shaky arms by the time Roy reached him.
"Geeze, Roy," Maes muttered when Roy crouched at his side. "You really have a way about you." He groped around for a bit before he found his glasses. "Most people just get drunk when they're passed up for promotion."
Roy let out a barking laugh, but it held nothing more than bitterness. "You hurt?"
"Nah," Maes said. "Just winded and a bit cold." He looked up at Roy, concern clear in his expressive eyes. "What about you?"
Roy heared what Maes truly meant, but chose to ignore it. "I'm fine. C'mon. Let's get the hell out of here." He helped Maes to his feet before turning back towards Hawkeye, who was slowly pushing herself upright with the help of the wall.
"Wait. Roy." Maes' anguished tone halted Roy in his tracks. "What about... Ethon? Shouldn't we...?"
Roy didn't turn to face his friend. He couldn't let Maes see his stricken expression. So little was holding him together as it was. "I'll arrange for him to be... discovered tomorrow."
"But..."
"He'll be buried, Maes. Properly. I promise. He'll be buried if I have to do it myself." Roy's gloved hands clenched and unclenched at his sides. Drops of water fell from the wet ignition cloth. They met the puddle at Roy's feet with an empty, hollow sound. Roy swallowed thickly. "Come on. Let's find the others."
-o-o-o-
One more chap to go!
Here's the rub: The request was for a happy ending. Prometheus Bound has a sad ending. Which to choose?
Hmmm...