AN: Aaaand here's Chapter Six! A big thank you to my reviewers and especially FirstWave, whose review gave me the encouragement to get my ass in gear and finish up this chapter. So thank you very much! And thank you to Twisted Inc Incorporated, InuEdBabe, Secret Companion, and LeSkeefer. You guys are so awesome and are my reason for continuing to update! I didn't realize how important reviews were until reading them actually inspired me to great lengths. So thank you all so much and I look forward to further encouragement and support! I love you! T_T
Chapter Six
What the fuck is going on?
Ed's eyes were lost in Artabanus', his entire being quaking as he tried to break from this weird paralysis. What could be causing it? He knew the shock hadn't grasped him so hard to be completely unable to function. It was impossible. This was impossible.
Why couldn't he move?!
'Sorry,' Artabanus shifted his palm slightly- Ed could feel it on the top of his head, two of the man's fingers removing themselves from contact. The blonde hadn't even noticed when the soldier had removed his glove- probably so he could attend to his wound without hassle- but now Ed's stomach flipped in fear as his voice came back to him.
'What the fuck was that?'
'I said I was sorry, Edward. I meant to warn you before I used my alchemy on you, but I couldn't help myself from touching you... you're so beautiful...'
Nausea rose and a cold sweat broke over Ed's skin. He still couldn't move, but he could speak, and some kind of veil had been lifted from his thoughts, making everything a bit more clear. This guy was an alchemist, of course! But what the hell kind of alchemy was this? There wasn't any transmutation that could paralyze a person like this... not do it and keep them conscious at least, as far as he knew.
This wasn't good.
And Artabanus was still just smiling at him calmly, barely any emotion in those warm blue eyes. It was like his face was a perfect mask, so conformed to his skin that his features were clear without giving an inkling of the soul behind them. Eyes were the doorways to the soul. If that was the case, this alchemist was either lacking in that area or he was a master at hiding himself. Better than Mustang, even. At least Ed could read the emotions in his General's eyes if he tried hard enough.
'James, run!' Ed tried to turn his head but, as he expected, he could only turn his eyes in the young teenager's direction, watching the boy's eyes widen, 'Go NOW!'
Artabanus clicked his tongue disapprovingly and all it took was a second for him to retrieve the rifle from the grass, his other hand still laid gently upon Edward's head. The blonde was faced with the cold, dark barrel of the weapon and was powerless to try to move or knock it away.
Rage rose like a dark, angry beast in Ed's chest, rivaled only by the shame and humiliation that was sinking into his heart. The different emotions battled within him as he listened to this alchemist order James to get into the slightly battered car. Over and over, he was shown just how weak and powerless he was. Why was this happening? It wasn't fair- he just needed a fighting chance, damn it!
He was shocked out of his internal war by the feel of his legs tensing under him, his own left arm betraying him and reaching for the soldier- was he even a soldier or was this all a lie?- his fingertips catching in the rough material of the navy blue uniform jacket. Just as he couldn't move before, he couldn't stop himself from these actions, and the reality of the situation seemed miles away from him at the moment. He just couldn't wrap his head around it even as his arm wound around Artabanus' waist possessively. But he could still feel the barrel of the rifle against his temple, the only sobering feeling in the midst of this confusion.
'That's right, Edward. You're alright now, I've got you. How about we find your automail, huh? It has to be uncomfortable, missing an arm. And I rather like the trinket. Just hang on to me, I'll search for it, dearest.'
This guy is a fucking psycho.
Ed's arm, against his will, was locked around the man's waist as Artabanus began to scour the wreckage for the missing arm. Minutes passed and Ed wished James would just run for it, but the blonde knew his student wouldn't leave while there was a hostage at stake. Ed. He couldn't believe it. How many times would he be taken hostage in his life? This was just so unfair- he never wanted this sort of attention!
He internally shook himself. There wasn't time to be so self-pitying, he needed to find out what kind of alchemy this psychopath was using!
Because there was now no doubt in Ed's mind that this was some form of alchemy he'd never encountered before. The tingle under his skin and swarming through his veins was his biggest clue- it was almost as if there were hundreds of tiny transmutations being activated underneath his flesh, sparking along his nerves and muscles with every second. It took a lot of skill to be able to control so many arrays at once, practically unheard of. This guy was good. Add insanity to the mix and Ed was facing another, more fucked up version, of Shou Tucker.
While his feet moved without his command, he turned himself inward, mind going back four years- to the time he and Al had focused so much on their alchemy research. The pages spread themselves obediently, giving up their scrawling secrets to him. He scanned through them so briskly that the words sped past his eyes in an incoherent jumble. Picking through them one by one would take too long, and he didn't completely remember all of them, despite his "genius", so it could take ages to pick out the right information. If it was even there.
Alkahestry. Human transmutation. The Philosopher's Stone. The facts whirled through him, the hundreds upon hundreds of arrays that had become second nature to him. Yet nothing was of use. There was no counter to this, not when he couldn't even urge his hands to return to his control.
'A-ha! Here it is, Edward,' Artabanus carefully reached down between two pieces of scorched wreckage, pulling a smoke-blackened automail arm free. It wasn't even damaged, thanks to the mixed alloys of Northern crafters. Still, Winry was going to kill him if she ever found out. 'Now that that's dealt with, how about we get going? We're probably still a day ahead of any military that might come after us, but it's better safe than sorry, right, Edward?'
'Why are you doing this?' Ed could only ask wretchedly, unable to even lower his head. In fact, his muscles moved his chin upward so that he was facing the redhead, who stood a horrible foot and a half taller than himself. But he forced his eyes to the side, unwilling to meet the bastard's eager stare.
'Because I need you, Edward,' it was barely a whisper but it shot through Ed like a lightning strike, causing a swell of nausea to jump into his throat. That tone... it was one Ed was familiar with personally. Obsession. 'Those men thought they could take you away from me... they must have been crazy. You are mine now, dearest.'
Artabanus and Ed- in extension- stepped over debris and toward the surviving vehicle, where James was nestled in the backseat with a terrified expression clouding his features. Of course, he knew even less about what was going on than even Ed. He was just seeing his teacher being toted around like an obedient dog at this alchemist's heel.
The warm palm had moved from Ed's hair to the back of his neck, just three fingers clenching his skin. What was the significance of that? Ed knew before, when he was fully paralyzed- mouth and all- all the fingers of that hand had been touching him... right? The pain and shock was muddling his perception, though, so could he be sure? Was he even being controlled, or was he really just following this bastard around of his own will?
The anxiety that thought induced had him once again pulling at his invisible and intangible restraints, but of course he was rewarded with no change.
He came back to himself when his hand was reaching out and yanking the driver's side door of Artabanus' car open. The man's hand slid down his shoulder and continued downward to catch Ed's flesh hand and wind their fingers together tightly.
'Alright, Edward, climb in,' he needn't have said anything- the blonde's body was already moving itself, sliding in and scooting over the benchseat to the passenger side, the two alchemists' skin locked in contact the entire time.
Heat flared in Ed's side but he ignored it, wanting with all his being to turn and look at James, but he could only reassure him vocally.
'It's going to be alright, James. I don't want you to worry, okay? I'll make sure you get back to your family safe and sound. I promise.'
'I know you will, Ed,' the confidence and trust in the boy's voice calmed the fear that was lighting Ed's veins in cold fire, and iron determination began to slowly return.
It had been so long since he was ever in a situation like this, and he supposed the universe was throwing its all at him to make up for lost time. Equivalent Exchange. He had been living too peacefully these past couple of years and this was his punishment.
Well, fuck it. He would get through this like he had everything else. He was just glad that Alphonse didn't have to go through this as well, even if James was a pretty ironic substitute.
His left hand, still trapped in Artabanus', stretched itself across the seats to lie comfortably on the man's thigh as the redhead started the vehicle and pulled back onto the road with one hand, apparently completely oblivious to the crunch and shriek of chunks of metal flying off the roof of the car as he began speeding down the road.
Ed wished he could shift his body into a slouch, but he didn't even have that small comfort. For whatever reason, his back was held painfully straight and his legs crossed over themselves, chin tilted upward. He felt so... conceited, in this position.
'You only want me, right? So you'll let James off in Pendleton.'
He said it casually, but the silent acknowledgement that he was a captive still put a bitter taste in his mouth.
Artabanus smirked at him out of the corner of his eye, and Ed felt the last two fingers of the guy's right hand curl around his own. Once again the blonde was seized with the sensation of total paralysis as his teeth closed completely and his tongue turned into a thousand ton weight in his mouth.
'Hush now, Edward. You shouldn't concern yourself with such silly questions. Just relax, my dearest.'
As if he had a choice. Ed tried to retort but he was frozen now, watching the scenery passing by with a placid expression. Something was moving from his muscles and creeping into his chest and brain, calming him against his will. Soon he couldn't even bother to worry about James.
Everything was alright.
Until his mouth moved and his voice echoed in the car, so gently he almost didn't even notice that his own vocal cords were being used against his will.
'Yes, I understand.' The tone was apologetic, and so soft that it didn't even really sound like Ed's voice- but it was. Without a doubt.
The blonde felt positively ill, but was powerless to stop it, or to even physically show his disgust.
It may not be a bullet through him, but he was being mutilated in ways he could never have even imagined, and for some irrational reason not all of the loathing was directed toward the alchemist causing this- no, he felt sick at himself as well. For letting himself be put in this position. It was ridiculous and shameful.
And until he figured out what the hell kind of alchemy was being used, he might be trapped like this.
That was a terrifying thought.
Less than an hour passed and the town of Pendleton grew larger and larger in front of them, but just when they were about five minutes away from entering the town, Artabanus proved again that this was no ordinary vehicle by taking a slight turn that had them bouncing and riding over the uneven turf of the fields, no change in acceleration at all.
James let out a nervous grunt and even though Ed couldn't turn his head he knew his student would be white-knuckled in grabbing any steady surface around him. He felt for the boy, but knew he would be alright. Just like Ed, James had probably traveled on plenty of trains already in his short life, being that his family was in the East.
They continued on this off-road path for several hours, Ed's eyes scanning the area around them with determination, memorizing every landmark they passed. It was only until they passed a rather large-looking city to their right that Ed finally realized they were moving further south.
Any lingering beliefs that Artabanus was a Drachman evaporated, and the blonde wasn't sure whether to be glad, or more worried. They didn't seem to be heading to the border, rather they were moving a bit more inward. No matter how much the young alchemist tried to wrap his head around the man's actions though, he just couldn't figure out their destination.
They came across a forest, and the vehicle was directed smoothly onto a well-traveled footpath, just wide enough for the metal monstrosity to fit through the trees. A few hundred meters in, Artabanus finally began to press on the breaks, and a silence descended over the occupants in the car as the man looked at Ed, and Ed was forced to look back. He mustered up as much defiance as he was able, but was thrown for a loop at the red-haired man's next words.
'I'm going to reattach your automail now, alright Edward? Can you tell your friend here to help me?'
As if.
But again, his voice came, and it was decidedly the oddest fucking thing in the world to feel his tongue move in his own mouth, and his vocal cords hum, when he wasn't the one forcing out the words.
'James, do you mind?'
'Of course not, Ed,' James shuffled around the backseat, opening the door only to open Ed's door a moment later.
The boy's face was drawn and pale, dark circles under his eyes and a gaunt look to his appearance.
Now that Ed thought about it, he himself was starving. When's the last time either of them had eaten anything? Or gotten any amount of actual sleep? Night had fallen already, but with the tops of the trees looming overhead, Ed had no gauge at what time it might be. Probably around midnight again. So that was over twenty-four hours since they'd been abducted. And before that, all Ed had eaten was that lunch he had with Mustang. The thought that they might very well starve to death made him feel a bit ill. He wasn't feeling the effects of lack of food and sleep yet due to the adrenaline and stress of the situation, but it was obvious James was.
The only thing that cut through the darkness was the headlights of the car, until another light sprang up from within, the hiss of fire making Ed's chest clench with momentary fear. His eyes turned back to Artabanus, who was lighting a lantern he had apparently procured from a metal chest on the floor between the two of them, and set the singular light source on the wide dashboard of the car.
'What should I do?' James asked, obviously nervous as he looked from Ed to the automail arm that was now held lovingly in their captor's hands.
'You reattach the limb while I hold him still, but first help me get his jacket and shirt off,' Artabanus commanded, still keeping one hand clenched in Ed's, and the blonde faintly thought that it must be really inconvenient.
But Ed wasn't so blind to not know the significance of the contact. This, whatever it was, needed Artabanus to be touching Ed in some way to work. Ed wished he could convey this to James, but he wouldn't be able to do anything without his arm anyway. Didn't have time to draw an array, and he didn't trust his weakened state to be able to get a solid punch on the bastard that would lead to their escape.
It was a bit awkward, the two people struggling to get his clothes off while he winced in pain from the sharp agony that still speared his side at every movement, but he couldn't voice the discomfort as his one arm rose above his head to help in the disrobing process. He felt so used... never before had he felt so much like a dog on a leash.
Mustang's control over him had nothing on this. This was so degrading, so deaf to his protests, so careless of his free will.
After what felt like ages of horrible, tight pain and face-burning humiliation, he was finally devoid of his shirt and jacket. Artabanus was already analyzing the automail port, having turned Ed's body physically with the hand not already trapped by the blonde's.
'This looks fairly simple,' the man murmured, eyes flickering to Ed's for just a moment.
Oh, you better not fuck this up you cocky son of a bitch.
Artabanus' pointer finger disentangled itself from Ed's grip, and Ed could feel his mouth come back under his control. He couldn't really explain the feeling, just that he had a tiny sliver of his pride returning to him.
He almost immediately started spouting curses and attacking Artabanus in the only way he could, but he bit his tongue as the older alchemist spoke.
'I see where the wires connect to the nerve conductors of the port, and where the supports clasp, but is there anything else I should be aware of?'
Again, Ed was tempted to spit his rage at the man, but reigned in his legendary temper. This might be his only chance to get his arm back. He couldn't fuck it up.
He let a long, hard sigh blow through his teeth and glared at the man, 'There's a lever that pops up on the arm- at the end that connects to the port. There's a small groove there. Just press it on both ends and pull.'
It took mere moments for the man to locate and pop up the six inch long lever. A brief look of surprise crossed the man's face when small, two-inch long metal poles extended from the end of the automail that would sink into the port for further steadying of the limb when attached.
Ed swallowed tightly in apprehension, 'So just place the wires in the main conductors carefully, and when everything's aligned you're going to push as hard as you can and pull that lever downward at the same time, until it snaps back into place. You got that, James?' He turned his gaze to his student, who looked even paler as he assessed the intricacies of the fake appendage.
'I-I'm not sure I...'
'You can do it,' the blonde encouraged, smiling confidently, 'trust me, James, it's easier than anything you've learned in my class. It'll be a breeze.'
And then he felt his little freedom being swept away once again as Artabanus entwined all his fingers with Ed's once again.
'You ready?' Artabanus looked at James, which pissed Ed off to no end, but his student simply nodded, taking the automail arm from the man and aligning it with the port.
The soldier moved his hands to Ed's shoulders and pressed him back into the seat.
It figured. The man wasn't ignorant to automail procedures at least, and knew that even with his control over Ed, nothing could control the pain-wracked spasms that reattaching the nerves caused.
Before long Artabanus was nodding over Ed's head at James, and there were several tense heartbeats that passed before he saw a flash of movement in the corner of his eye to the right.
Lightning, hot and scorching and shocking, ran down his side and sparked in his right shoulder. The pain enveloped all else, and his body immediately thrashed even as his hands gripped Artabanus' shoulders in tightly curled claws. Because he had no control over his mouth to clench his teeth or bite his tongue until blood filled the cavern, his shrieks ripped from him, loud and agonized and shocking even to his own ears.
His heart beat wildly in his chest, painfully hard against his rib cage. He was screaming so much he couldn't breathe, and that was the most painful sensation- more so than the lightning that was his nerves reattaching themselves, which he was more or less used to after half a dozen similar occurrences.
Finally, the overwhelming sensations began to fade dully and his voice cut off abruptly as he began to pant for air. Sweat was dripping down his face in thick lines, and everything had turned dark. He hadn't even noticed when his eyes had forced themselves closed.
Several long minutes passed in total silence, before his eyes slowly began to open of their own accord.
'Are you feeling any better, Edward?' the deep tenor was soft and tender, and Ed blinked at the blue eyes that stared into his with pure concern.
'Fuck... you...' Ed gasped, and turned his face away- toward James- not even aware through the draining agony that he had motor control back, 'You did good, James, thank you.'
He smiled down at his right arm, where it was connected, and weakly raised it for just a moment before it fell back at his side. Artabanus had taken his hand and was stroking the rough pad of his thumb over the back of Ed's flesh hand.
'Get back in the back, James,' Artabanus smiled gently at the boy, who hesitantly obeyed after a long moment of staring at Ed.
Ed's automail hand reached over and yanked his door shut after the brunette's departure.
'Are we all ready?' Artabanus asked kindly, starting up the engine again, 'It should only be a couple more hours before we get home, and then we can get some food in you guys and get some rest. How does that sound?'
'That sounds great,' James sighed gratefully from the backseat.
'Yeah,' Ed's voice agreed for him.
And despite the trepidation and his suspicions about Artabanus, he would give just about anything for a good place to rest right now. Exhaustion was catching up with him.
Artabanus tangled their hands together on top of the man's navy-clad knee, and Ed stared at his small honey-colored hand in the man's larger, pale-skinned one. That hand was roughened through hard work, he could feel the tiny rivets of scars and the thickness of the skin that spoke of past callouses.
It made Ed uncomfortable, the sight of the union of their digits. It was like a silent promise of some sort, of something that the blonde couldn't yet comprehend.
And he felt sick with himself, but he couldn't help but wish that that pale hand belonged to someone he'd known for the better part of his life. A man that had been there through all the terrors of the blonde's past, who had paved the road that led Ed to returning his brother back to normal. A man that had become more than just an arrogant son of a bitch- had become someone that Ed could talk with, even as they traded insults that had lost their heat over the past few years.
But the blonde shook his head. No. It made since he would rather be in the company of that man than this stranger. It wasn't an inappropriate wish that his fingers would rather be intertwined with that man, than this creep.
He just wished...
He was supposed to be in their pub right now, sitting at that man's side and conversing quietly over glasses of amber liquid, discussing alchemy and warfare and the past.
Ed's last thought before drifting into pain and stress-induced unconsciousness was to wonder what Mustang was doing right at that moment.
Mustang... I'm such a fucking idiot.
AN: Aaaand end. To Chapter Six. I only have half of Chapter Seven done right now, so hopefully I have it finished by tomorrow but if not it should be out by Monday evening. Some encouragement would definitely help, as I am a procrastinator with narcissistic tendencies. xD
Note: Artabanus- this is a character that will be present for the majority of this story. But I'm not quite sure if I should add OC to the description? Ordinarily I kind of despise OC's because they end up being female Mary Sues based off the writers themselves, so that kind of puts me off and I'm sure it puts others off as well... I don't know... what do you guys think?
Artabanus- An odd name, yes? I felt that going along with FMA's references of ancient Greek history would be appropriate. For example: the city of Xerxes, based off of King Xerxes, and the country Amestris, based off of Xerxes' wife Amestris. Artabanus was the bastard son of Xerxes that ended up murdering his older brother Darius. Whether it was a traitorous act or an attempt to protect his father is unclear.