Warning! There will be descriptions of violence, and mild torture in this chapter. Don't read if you're squeamish. I will try to keep it as mild as possible, as to not mess with the current rating.
AN: I know it has been an unbelivably long time since I last updated this. So, to make up for it, I will be posting the final chapter either tonight or tomorrow. Thank you everyone for being so patient with me. I also have to appologise if the chapter feels disjointed. i didn't want to go into too much detail, to avoid any issues, and i feel like that severely limited my writing. But I still hope you guys like it.
To say that she was tired was the understatement of the year. The constant pain in both her shoulder port as well as her back had made it impossible for her to sleep. Then there was the constant fear of the tools on the table next to her. It was completely irrational how she didn't care that they wanted to kill her to take her eyes, that what really scared her was the metal items that would be biting into her flesh soon. Edward Elric wasn't scared of anything, until now.
She had no idea where she was being held either, though she knew Hawkeye would be able to track them. Ed had made sure she got taken in the woods, where her captors couldn't help but leave a trail that a trained sniper would be able to follow. A hint of a smile played across her face as she remembered when Hawkeye had told her about her training, when she had learned the basics of tracking someone. After all, how was a sniper supposed to track their target without it? The smile fell off her face when the door opened, revealing a smiling Lydia, Frank right behind her.
"Good to see that you're awake. I'd hate for you to sleep through the best part." Frank spoke as he walked over to her, the woman Ed had once thought to be friendly nurse walking to the opposite side of the room, instantly fidgeting with a large machine. "So, princess…" He started again, pulling her attention, "what would you like first? Shall we start with your favourite?"
Edward bit her tongue as he lifted the blade that caused the wound on her calf, moving it close to her face, so close she could see each imperfection in the metal. She stayed quiet though, refusing to give him the response he so obviously craved. The blade bit into her cheek as he growled, drawing blood.
"Leave her face, I don't want you accidently injuring her eyes." Lydia's voice ran through the room, making Frank hiss as he moved the blade down.
"You spoil all my fun, you know that?"
"You can have all the fun you want, Frank. Just leave her face alone, and make sure you don't kill her yet."
"You know what?" His breath brushed against Ed's cheek as he whispered in her ear. "When she's done restoring Sasha's sight, I'm going to kill her too. Show her nice and proper what happens when you order Frank around like some common slave."
"She's your wife's sister…"
"She's nothing to me, just like you, princess. The only thing you are good for is amusement. I find it amusing when you squirm under my touch." His hand moved down her arm, her body twitching involuntarily, making him smile. "I love it when you moan in pain." His hand curled around her injured calf, making her groan in pain as he applied pressure. "And it really turns me on when you scream. Why don't I make you scream a bit, princess?"
Ed hissed as the pressure around her calf disappeared. "I'll never give you what you want, you bastard."
"You will, princess. I will keep going until you do, even if it means I end up killing you."
Edward watched in horror as he pulled a different blade from the table, running it down the length of her body, the tip barely touching her skin, like some sort of tease intended to wake up every nerve in her body.
Roy moved through the woods with Hawkeye and Hughes short on his trail, though he didn't pay much attention to them, his mind wandering back to the night he had carried her through these woods, the same fear gripping his heart as it had done that night. He knew they didn't have long to reach her before her life would be forfeit, those bastards wouldn't give them the same chance they had had the first time. By now, she was probably being tortured, screaming in pain, calling out his name, praying for him to save her.
No, Edward wouldn't be calling out his name, or wishing for him to swoop in like a knight in shining armor. Edward would be snapping at her captors, cursing them with each breath. She would be holding back her screams of pain as much as she could, just to piss them off. Roy hopped over the fallen tree, the grunts behind him telling him that he was still being followed. Edward was a stubborn, hot headed woman, filled to the brim with strength, courage and pride. She would put up a good fight, and at the end of it all, she would pay for it with her life.
Roy growled as he pushed his legs forward, a breathless Hughes and silent Hawkeye following suite. They had to hurry, they had to reach Fenief and find Edward before it was too late.
As they neared the end of the forest, the houses beginning to peek through the brush ahead, Hawkeye pushed forward, her eyes scanning the ground as all three of them came to a halt. Roy watched her intently as she searched the ground for the tracks, nodding her head to the right when she finally found them. Roy let her lead the way, not wanting to compromise their only way of finding Ed. To his deepest disappointment, the tracks seemed to fade as they reached the first road, the cars of the local populous having wiped them out.
"Now what?" Hughes asked through gasping breaths, his eyes scanning the buildings around them.
"Now we find Major Armstrong, and separate into smaller groups. Havoc and Fuery should be arriving soon."
"Major Armstrong is staying at that Inn, Sir." Hawkeye spoke up as she pointed down the road, the small dangling wooden board visible even from that distance.
"First Lieutenant, go brief the Major, and wait for the others there. When Havoc and Feury arrive, split into two groups, and search the city. Search everywhere, leave no stone unturned. Make sure to be careful." As she started to turn away, Roy spoke up again; making her stop in her tracks and turn to him. "When you find Ed, you are to restrain the criminals only. I will deal with them, personally."
Hawkeye gave him her knowing look, but she saluted none the less, disappearing down the road moments later, leaving him with the judging looks of Hughes, though he didn't really care. Nothing and no-one would be able to stop him from burning these bastards until they were merely dust in the wind.
She was numb. Every nerve in her body had been strained until they could no longer feel anything. Yet, the blade digging into her side burned like fire, almost like the blade was made out of molten liquid. She had stopped struggling against it, any movement seemingly making the pain worse. Instead, she resigned herself to enduring the pain while watching Lydia and Frank work on the machine next to her.
It took all of her strength to focus on what the two were doing, the feeling of her blood pooling around her on the table almost too much to handle. Occasionally she would feel like she was going to loose conciousness, but then she would move slightly, the pain pulling her back to her senses.
"Go get her." Lydia instructed as she wiped her hands on her shirt, smearing streaks of oil on it. Ed watched as Frank left the room, before turning her attention back to the woman.
"Why are you doing this?"
"You know why." Lydia retorted sharply. "I'm not going to waste my time explaining it again."
"But why me?"
"Because who wouldn't want those golden orbs for themselves?" She asked as she moved close enough for Ed to see the speck of blue in her eyes. "They really are something. When I saw your brother with the same colour eyes, I must admit, I almost had Frank catch him so I could have those eyes for myself."
Ed hissed, glaring back at her. "If you so much as touch..."
"Relax. I haven't touched him. I decided getting Sasha's eyes back was more important than anything else. Besides." She spoke, watching as the elderly woman entered the room, Frank helping her walk. "I cant wait to get him out of my life, and this is the only way to do so."
"Why haven't you moved her yet?" Frank asked annoyed as he helped Sasha closer. With a growl, he helped her sit, before moving over to Edward, yanking on her restraints with little regard of what it would do to her. "The faster we get you strapped down, Princess, the faster I can get my wife back her sight…" His voice turned to a whisper as he came in close to her face, making her gag, "and then I can have what I want from you."
Roy watched in frustration as his men left another house, shaking their heads with a defeated look on their faces. With a growl, he pushed past Hughes who was still busy talking to him, heading towards the next house. They had gone through half of the town so far. That's nearly an hour since they arrived. An hour added to the time Edward had been in pain, an hour more torture. It was taking all his strength to refrain from burning down every house that didn't produce results.
Without a second thought, Roy pushed open the door of the small cottage like house, a strong smell of fish entering his nose. Pushing forward, he walked past the kitchen, the cutting board still holding evidence of fish being gutted, a knife protruding from its wooden surface. Roy's eyes glanced to the apples in the basket before scanning the rest of the room.
At the sound of Hughes' footsteps, he pushed forward, moving down the hallway with his hand ready to snap. Passing room after room, he scanned them each slowly before moving on. Stopping next to the strange statue with a half eaten apple resting in its open palms, Roy slowly pushed open the door it was guarding, with Hughes looking over his shoulder.
"Someone was here less than ten minutes ago." Hughes muttered, motioning to the cup of tea that still had some heat radiating from it. "I wonder where they went."
"I don't really care." Roy retorted coldly, pushing past Hughes as he continued down the hallway. It didn't take him long to come to another room, this one with a staircase heading downwards, probably the basement. Without a second thought, Roy headed towards it, descending the steps slowly. At the bottom, the temperature seemed to drop drastically, sending a shiver down his spine.
Pushing on, the two men moved down the dark hallway, heading towards what seemed to be a light In the distance, a strange humming sound coming from it. Everything stopped as a familiar scream radiated through the hall, freezing Roy to the spot.
She couldn't move. She couldn't do anything as the door flung open, causing her tormentors to spin around. She could barely see what was going on any more, her vision filling with blood, bile rising in her throat as she fought unconsciousness once more. This time though it wasn't in hope that Roy would come for her. No, this time it was in fear that if she gave in, she wouldn't ever wake again.
The pain in her left eye was unbearable, and she couldn't quite put her finger on why. The last thing she remembered was being strapped to the strange machine. The next thing she knew there was this unbelievable noise, followed by a burning fire shooting through her left eye.
She was faintly aware of the sound of pained screams, faintly aware of the smell of burning flesh, faintly aware of the pressure against her wrist and legs being lifted. She could barely see the onyx eyes staring at her, barely smell the faint hint of smoke and familiarity. Her mind was fading fast, so as her body was lifted from the cold slab, she gave in to the strong pull of the darkness. Finally, her pain was over. She had done what she could. Now… now she could finally rest.