GM: Omg guys, this is seriously where I'm stopping the chapter at. You all will murder me, just saying. I'm really tired. XD The next chapter will be up tomorrow most likely, as I've struck my mojo mine and will be writing most of tomorrow. Also... it is coming to an end. Soon. If I may make a prediction, I'd say there are two chapters left. Uh...yeah. I'd love to thank everyone who reviewed. :D Reviews make me happy. I would have loved to put more on this chapter, but I wanted to get done with it, and I'm very sleepy. The chapter itself is probably really crappy...but it will be revised tomorrow. Anyway, enjoy~
Roy was unsure of what to do as Edward slumped forwards against the dashboard, unconscious. "Ed!" His senses came crashing back to him, and he pulled Edward away from the dash. "Edward, please wake up. Ed!" Not knowing what else to do, Roy re-situated the blond in his seat and turned the car around, gunning it all the way to the hospital.
He wasn't sure what had just happened. What had happened to make the teen just...collapse like that? And that scream; he knew that sound could only be produced when someone was in pain.
Roy couldn't really remember getting to the hospital, or having Edward taken to a room. All he remembered was what had happened in the car. Now he sat in the hospital room, listening to the muffled voices of the two doctors that had reviewed Ed's file and tests.
Finally, one of the doctors came in. "It appears that we couldn't find anything wrong with him..." Roy swallowed as the doctor kept talking, but he wasn't really listening. No, something was wrong. He was sure of it. He nodded his head as the doctor finished talking, looking back to Edward as the man left.
"Shit, Ed. Wake up..." He moved closer to the bed, lightly slapping Ed's cheek. He then sighed when it had no effect, sitting back. What was he going to do? The doctor wanted to discharge him, yet he wouldn't even wake up.
A few moments later, a nurse came into the room. "Okay, I'll be checking his blood pressure and temperature and all that, then he'll be set to go!" The brunette woman seemed entirely too cheery. Roy grunted as he got to his feet.
"Fine. Excuse me." His tone was stiff as he went into the bathroom, letting the door shut behind him. Just when he turned on the tap to wash his hands, quite a few noises met his ears. First a sort of rustling sound, then the sound of a door opening and closing. Roy rinsed his hands, before drying them off and going back out into the room.
Edward was gone.
"Shit!"
Edward woke up with a groan, dazed and with a slight headache. "What the..hell...?" He mumbled almost incoherently. Where was he?
"Welcome, Alchemist. Edward." The blond turned, looking around but not seeing anyone.
"Who's there?" He asked, a bit cautiously. "And where am I? Is this...is this the gate?" He couldn't believe it. How had he gotten back to the gate? "Am I dead?" He asked, panicked.
A laugh resounded from all around him within the white void, amused. "You are not dead, Edward. Although, I can't vouch for your soul's health, what with how many times you've been here." The voice went quiet as Edward got to his feet.
"Why am I here?" The blond asked, looking up into the never ending white shroud. There was quiet for a few moments.
"Your soul has left the vessel," The voice finally replied, "all you can do now is wait." The voice faded, and Edward shook his head.
"Wait for what? Hey, tell me!"
He received no answer.
"You have him?" Sloth was waiting for Envy's return, her piercing green eyes clearly hiding her agitation.
"Yes," Envy grunted as his form changed, morphing from the form of the cheery brunette nurse to his former form, "I am never impersonating a damn nurse ever again." He hissed as an afterthought. Although easy and convenient, the disguise was a pain in the ass because everyone expected nurses to be uppity little girls.
Envy placed the body on the floor next to him, before straightening and crossing his arms. "We may as well get this over with," he snapped, "the body won't stay alive very long."
"Lust! Envy has returned with Pride." Sloth called to the other homunculus, who appeared moments later.
"Good." Lust replied, staring Envy down. She then scoffed, before moving over towards the unconscious flaxen haired male. "His soul isn't in there anymore, correct?" She asked. When Envy nodded, she produced three red stones and forcefully shoved them into the boy's mouth. At first, nothing happened. But after a few moments, the body stirred and the stones were swallowed.
Violet eyes fluttered open, lost as they moved around the room. His gaze then fell to his lap, his form unmoving.
"Awaken, brother," Lust spoke, taking the chin and tilting it up, "Pride...welcome back."
"Pride..." The name rolled off of the boy's tongue, getting familiarized with it. "I am...Pride." He acknowledged this.
"Yes, welcome to the family, Pride." A woman stepped forward then, clasping her hands in front of her. "From here on out, Edward Elric is no longer part of this world. I want you all to remember this, children. Especially you, Pride."
"Who are you?" Pride asked, head lolling to the side in a bit of a clueless fashion.
"Why, I'm your mother Pride. Dante." Dante then circled around Pride. "Alright...let me explain things to you. There is a building that we will blow up. It has caused us a lot of trouble, as well as the people working there. We will need you to activate the main circle, Pride. Can you do that?" She asked.
Pride thought about it. Something just felt...wrong to him. However, who was he to question his life? So slowly, Pride nodded his head.
"I can do it," the blond replied, "what time?" He added.
"Right now."
"I can't understand it. He just...disappeared, lieutenant." Roy sat in his office, having returned to headquarters from the hospital. He sat on the leather couch, fingers threading through his hair listlessly. "I don't know what to do. I don't know where to start looking or anything."
For the first time in a while, Riza could hear Roy's voice teetering on the edge of hysteria. Wordlessly, she moved away from his side, coming back several minutes later with a box of tissues. Roy didn't make a move to grab them; instead, he moved to press his face into his hands. He wouldn't cry, but oh, how badly he wanted to.
After what seemed like several hours but was really only minutes, Roy sat up and took the offered box of tissues. He wiped his eyes and took a deep breath, quickly regaining his composure.
"Alright, sir. We should organize a search group, and—," Whatever Riza was saying was cut off as they both felt a tremor beneath their feet.
"An earthquake...?" Roy's brows knitted tightly as he got to his feet. Riza drew her gun, moving closer to him.
"Colonel, I don't believe that this is an earthquake," her steel gaze traveled to the window, "the ground is too unstable." She explained.
Roy nodded once. "We should go take a look outside."
Honestly, it felt like the building was fixing to collapse. As they both headed out of the office, Roy noticed that his other subordinates had already fled. He and Riza moved to the elevator down the hall, using it to get to the bottom floor. They both stepped out and headed for the entrance, moving quickly as the foundation shook more violently than before.
Already, soldiers had evacuated and were now trying to locate the source of the unstable foundation. Roy felt the ground tremble underneath his feet, and those sharp, coal black eyes shot up. "Major Armstrong!" He called to the Strong Arm Alchemist.
Armstrong was quick to notice Roy's attempts to get his attention, and the large man moved over to the Colonel. "Yes, Colonel?" He asked in his usual booming voice. His tone showed that he knew this was no time for pleasantries.
"This may sound like a crazy favor to ask of you," Roy said, readying himself to relay the wild request to the Major, "but can you break the foundation right where I'm standing?" He asked.
Armstrong did indeed find the request odd, but wasn't against it. 'If you feel that it is important and relevant to the situation, then yes." He replied. Roy stepped back, and Armstrong brought his arm back, sending it forwards with such force that it slammed into the ground hard. Alchemic sparks erupted from the steel gauntlets that covered his knuckles, crumbling and breaking the earth down below the touch.
To both Riza and Armstrong's amazement, the earth gave way to an underground tunnel. Roy nodded once. "Thank you for your help, Armstrong. Lieutenant! Follow me." Roy then effortlessly jumped into the tunnel, landing in a crouch. Riza wasn't far behind him, jumping down after him. As Armstrong left to go help the others, Roy and Riza started to move through the tunnel.
"Sir...may I ask how you knew?" Riza spoke up after several minutes.
"Knew what, lieutenant?" Roy asked, fingers poised in front of him to snap if he needed to. He had no idea who or what was down here.
"That there were tunnels under here." The blond woman replied.
"Ah. Well, I can't really explain it...leave it to lucky guessing, if you will." Roy replied, coming to an abrupt stop at the sound of a gun cocking. "Lieutenant...?" He turned, but she was on her toes as well. It hadn't been her.
"Well, well...if it isn't the Colonel and his pet." Envy stepped around the bend of the tunnel, a smaller figure following after him. "Looks like I do have good fortune today." He smirked, before rushing forwards, grabbing onto Roy's shoulders in a swift motion, hopping into midair and twisting his body, kicking the gun from Riza's hand. He then apprehended her, grabbing both of her arms and shoving her to the ground.
"Lieutenant!" Roy turned, rage flaring up in an instant. "Let go of her, you monster!" He hollered, barking the demand desperately. Riza winced as Envy pressed his foot down on Riza's back.
"Oh, you won't have to worry, Mustang." Envy laughed almost jovially, before a wide, nasty smirk stretched across his face. "Now Pride!"
As Roy turned, a loud shot rang out through the dark tunnel way. He stumbled, feeling white hot pain embed itself into his chest. He then started falling, and it all seemed to go into slow motion as he went straight for the ground. His thoughts were going a mile a minute however, almost making his head explode from the pressure. But, even though his vision was beginning to blur and grow black, he distinctly saw the face of the person who had shot him.
"Ed...ward..." Those were the last words from his mouth, before his mind went to black and he crashed hard to the ground. Riza lay stunned, eyes wide at the sight.
"You..." Her voice was low and dangerous. With unexpected strength, she shoved Envy, causing him to stumble back. In a blind rage, she grabbed her gun and just started shooting, not even caring if she missed. Envy just laughed hysterically at her attempts.
"Pride!" He called as another bullet made contact with his chest, "time to go! We have more...important matters at hand." He was happy, just to get one annoyance out of the way. As Pride ran passed her without so much as a second glance, Riza scrambled over to Roy.
"Roy!" She instantly became worried as she rolled him onto his back. Blood was pouring from the bullet wound. Slowly, Riza reached to feel for a pulse. After a few moments she pulled away, her hand flying to her mouth. To her horror and shock, there was no pulse.
Roy Mustang was dead.
:3