WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING: Remember in the summary when I mentioned dark, psychological, gory events occurring in this story? There will be such in this chapter. I am warning you guys, it is dark and it is horrible and I am a horrible person. So please, if you are triggered by violence, by dismemberment, or twisted sexual aspects, PLEASE DO NOT GO ON.

Other than that, THANK YOU SO MUCH to TheWarriorpony, InuEdbabe, Regina lunaris, and LuvversLuvvie, and to everyone that fav'd/follow'd this story! You guys are awesome and your reviews made me practically glue myself to my keyboard to get this finished. I know it's a couple hours late but I honestly didn't expect to finish it tonight so I hope it's not too awful.

AGAIN, if you are easily triggered, please do not read further than this sentence: This is not happening. This has got to be some kind of twisted nightmare. There's no way...

You have been warned.

Chapter Seven

Lights, voices, darkness, silence...

It all passed him like a twisting kaleidoscope, swirling reality in with dreams.

A smiling face stared up at him radiantly, wind catching in brown locks and casting a giggle like sunlight into the wind, captured by the endlessness of eternity but removing itself from the world of hearing in just fleeting moments.

Nina... I'm so sorry...

A human scream coated in a metallic candor as the copper scent of blood perforated the air. The tangible feel of hopelessness and guilt and panic suffocating, yet freeing. The strength and power emanating from a hand pressed to his forehead, just moments away from destroying everything that was and ever would be. A voice pleading with him, yelling at him, anger and agony and desperation.

Al... I disappointed you... I scared you... didn't I? I'm sorry, Al.

The momentary grin on lips that seemed to have bipolar tendencies, a photograph shoved in his face and adoration coating the man's every breathing word. A photo of a little girl that looked a lot like another... the fear in him that anything should happen to such a beautiful life. The man, smiling faintly and waving from a train station's platform. Green eyes glimmering with hope and peace, guilt and regret.

Hues... I couldn't save you... forgive me. Elysia has grown so big, so strong, just like her dad.

A woman with shimmering brunette hair and calm eyes, a basket on her hip. Light, happiness, anger. The woman laying in bed, sweat beading her brow, yet her eyes were stuck on him with a look of pure love and tinged with sorrow. Hushed words falling from gentle lips. Grief. Terror. Helplessness. Guilt.

Mom...

Flames, scorching heat and fiery grins. Wind whipping past his agile form as he sprinted at a stationary man who held a hand out confidently, mockingly. Snide comments falling from a sweetly poisonous tongue. Terror and guilt in dark eyes during a moment of hesitation. A deep, smooth voice turned ragged as his name was called, urging him to victory. Countless nights spent side by side on stools, quiet murmuring cut by the occasional heated arguement. Witty remarks fell from his mouth, silenced only by the proud, oddly affectionate smile on pale lips, and something deeper, something dangerous, in onyx eyes that he could fall into like the night. A meaningful farewell masked in common words, turning over and over in his mind like some foreign coin that has his attention transfixed.

Mustang.

The transition of images switched suddenly from people to past events- the most horrific memories side by side with his most cherished ones, leaving an unsettling feeling of disorientation to back him into a corner in his own mind.

An alchemy-scorched floor in near utter darkness, the sickening glisten of white jutting up from the cold floor in uneven, broken rows. Blood pooling all around and pouring from his own body like a gruesome fountain. An empty set of clothes, laid out neatly as if awaiting their owner. The guttural gasps and chokes of a creature that wasn't supposed to have ever seen this plane of existence, a clawed hand reaching out to him, only to fall with a grotesque squelch into the pool of ever-expanding red. The deathly silence, only a beat or two long, before he was springing into action, begging and pleading and calling for his brother to come back. It had been that moment that he realized that their mom... she was gone forever. But he wouldn't accept that his brother had to go through the same fate.

'He's my little brother, damn it! Give him back! He's all I have left!'

Squeals and panic sliding into relief and amazement as a woman ceases her screaming and holds a bundle in her arms. The warmth like a loving cocoon wrapped around him and everyone else. Smiles, awe, and laughter.

Humans are amazing things. Even without alchemy, there are miracles in this world that we are all privileged to glimpse- in moments like these...

Fear and shock as he stumbles through a room coated in frost and the stench of death and blood nauseatingly solid within the stone walls. He falls and can't catch himself without the aid of his automail arm, barely able to dodge the vicious slice of a cleaver aimed at his head. Horror and dread was like some kind of terrible illness, infecting him quickly and making his body shake- and it only grew with every passing breath. Death was on the horizon, and then his brother's voice- metallic and low- brought a feather of hope back. Still, he wept on the stone steps as he watched the maniac serial killer being carted away. He turned his face down and as he spoke he tried to ignore the feel of dark, shielded eyes burrowing into him from several yards away.

'We aren't gods... we're human... who couldn't even save a little girl...'

The memories made his teeth clench and brow furrow, and as he began to break away from their hold, he noted that his body was shaking almost violently. Chills wracked his frame and icy sweat coated every inch of his flesh. He tried reaching beyond himself and was distantly tuning into the strangest sounds going on.

They were muffled, seemingly in an entirely different room from the one he was in. He knew he was lying down, and his arms felt stiff and painful but he paid it no mind as he focused more on the noises so far yet so close to him.

There were voices, and shuffling, and thumps every now and then. But they were such mundane sounds that Ed had no idea how to interpret them. He made the final leap out of the drifting state he was in and forced his eyes open slightly, immediately relieved that there was no stinging, bright light to greet him. There was just the faintest glow of orange to his right- a candle set in a metal dish atop what looked like a nightstand. The room appeared to be made entirely of stone- walls, floors, ceiling, everything. Only a burgundy rug laid across the floor that disappeared partially under the bed that Ed was lying on gave the room any appearance of warmth.

Ed's eyes turned down to himself. He was propped into a half-sitting, half-lying position and could see that the sheets on this bed were dark red- almost black in the shadows of the candlelight. Testing his muscles, he moved first his toes and tensed his way up his body, until reaching his abdomen where he winced instantly as pain tore through his side. He quickly relaxed those muscles and skipped to his arms, which felt fine.

Other than being restrained so that his elbows formed right angles and his hands were level with his head. Through bleary eyes he analyzed the restraints and was slightly shocked when he realized their extent. Somebody must have worked hard on these, and had taken every precaution that came with having an alchemist in custody. The tight manacles holding his wrists firmly in place were extended from the wall by five different, tiny rods that were half a foot long, keeping his fingertips out of reach from the flat surface. He pulled his hand in every which way, but the rods gave no indication of bending or breaking. They must have been made of some strong mix of dark metals that were obviously not going to give easy. He could barely move his arms at all due to the tension around his wrists, and gritted his teeth in pain every time he moved them, trying with all his might to ignore the grinding of his bone against the metal cuffs.

Trying to curl his legs so that he could try and yank at the restraints from a different position, he then realized that his ankles were also trapped to the bed. At least those weren't so severely confining, being wrapped in rope that apparently wound around the circumference of the mattress.

What the fuck kind of freak show am I in now? He thought wearily, searching fruitlessly for James. But he was alone, not even the psychotic bastard was in sight.

His eyes fell on the two doors on the opposite end of the room, one on the left wall and one directly across it on the right. The blonde shifted as much as was possible, uncomfortable at the sight of a mirror covering the wall from floor to ceiling on the wall in front of the bed. Staring at himself, he couldn't help but feel that curl of intense fear rising in his chest.

What the fuck...

Golden eyes stared back, reflecting the dread clearly on his face. He was never good at masking his emotions- that was Mustang's forte- but he truly despised himself in that moment for being such an open book. Swallowing it back and fixing a firmly apathetic expression on, he noted that his shirt and jacket had apparently been cleansed of blood and grime and had been put back on him at some point, which was a comfort. He was fully clothed and clean, and it was only mildly disturbing that, from the way his hair shimmered in a clean way, someone had probably bathed him while he was unconscious.

He moved his attention away from his reflection and glanced around the room once more, but there wasn't much else to see. Everything looked tidy and clean, nothing misplaced, not even cobwebs littered the stone corners of the room. It was a little eerie.

Minutes passed and, with nothing else to do, Ed continued to fight against his confinement, forcing himself to keep pushing despite the deep burn in his arm and the sting in his wrists. Before half an hour had passed, he could feel liquid warmth begin to trickle down his left arm from where the metal had bitten through his skin. Finally he slumped back, panting lightly. Not even the strength of his automail had caused any change.

Shit. Not good.

Letting his eyes fall shut, he focused inward and tried to relax the panicky spasms that were traveling along his nerves in response to his fear. He took deep breaths and thought about Al, and imagined his little brother traveling in Xing and Creta in the quest for knowledge of different forms of alchemy. He smiled serenely, envisioning the chaos that his brother could be causing. Or maybe not. Al had always been the more level-headed and calm out of them, always ready to jump in with a polite apology and winning smile. Smile... Ed's own lips twitched when he remembered the moment when Al had smiled for the first time in almost six years after getting his body back. The boy's dark amber eyes had lit up at all the different sensations, even though it must have been uncomfortable, having returned from the gate malnourished and near-death. From that moment on, Al was always smiling, at every little thing that happened.

Why wouldn't he smile? They'd done the impossible and he'd gotten back a life that had been robbed from him so long ago. It hadn't even mattered to Ed when he realized his own limbs hadn't been returned. Being able to see his brother's smiling face again, for the rest of his life, was more than an equivalent exchange. It was a gift and a miracle, and Ed wouldn't change that for the world. Fortunately, the younger Elric didn't push too hard about getting Ed's limbs back- not when it was obvious how happy Ed was.

And when Al mentioned traveling to Xing, and to Creta and Aerugo, Ed had considered joining him. But there were responsibilities Ed had in Central, had a promise to keep to a certain Colonel-turned-General. And after everything, Al and Ed both knew that the older blonde needed time to unwind, just as Al needed time to go off on his own and find himself after having finally escaped Ed's shadow.

Ed pictured the last time he'd seen Al- the younger alchemist had just shown the border officers his travel visa and had turned. His lips had been stretched into a grin, dirty blonde hair ruffling in the dry breeze. The boy's hand had come up in a wave and Ed had stared at the appendage for too long before raising his own flesh arm to mirror the gesture.

'I'll see you soon! Don't work too hard, I'm going to need your brain when I get back, to help me go through all my research!'

Al's bright eyes had turned to Winry, who was standing a little behind Ed at the time, and the younger brother had smiled more gently,

'Take care of each other, alright? I love you both and I'll be home before you know it.'

With those final words, the train's whistle had squealed sharply, urging Al up the steps and into the metal contraption. He had gone to the very back and had held his head and arm out the window to wave at them, before disappearing into the distant sand too swiftly for the two remaining blondes' liking. Ed and Winry had stood there for much longer than necessary, hands held into the air, when the girl let out a soft sigh.

'You boys, always running off and leaving me behind.'

'Hey, I'm right here with you this time, Winry, remember?' Ed's smile had been strained, and fell completely when his childhood friend threw her arms out and clung to him tightly. His hands had gone to her shoulders and he tried to swallow back his own pain, eyes rising to stare off after the train one last time, before coaxing their friend away from the platform.

Al called them every now and then, at least twice a month, to update them on where he was, and what he'd seen. He always sounded so excited, but the sound of his voice over the phone made Ed anxious with its tinny static and occasional cut-off. The blonde would just be happier when Al was back in Amestris, back to a place where Ed could at least visit him easily. Sometimes it was still hard to believe that Al had gotten his body back. The nightmares still haunted Ed even after two years had passed. He just couldn't help it.

Over an hour must have passed before approaching footsteps tore Ed from his memories. He blinked his eyes open and fixed them on the door to the right. Moments later the sound of a key being forced into a lock and the clicking of it releasing was followed by the door swinging open. Ed groaned out loud and let his head fall back against the wall.

Artabanus simply smiled back at him, pocketing an ancient-looking iron key. It took Edward a millisecond to notice that the man wasn't in uniform anymore, was wearing a simple royal blue button-down shirt over charcoal-gray slacks.

'Edward, it's good to see you finally awake. How are you feeling?'

'Fucking fantastic. Where's James? Where the hell are we? And why am I tied up like a fucking dog?'

The man hummed to himself and walked over to sit on the edge of the bed. He was silent for a short while, just looking at Ed with a blank face, before smiling again, reaching out and running his knuckles along Ed's jawline. The blonde tilted his head away furiously, a venomous reprimand on his tongue, but Artabanus spoke first, as usual. It was like the man knew what his actions were about to cause, and had the perfect timing before Ed could explode.

'James is resting in another room. He's alright, my dear, no need to worry. And we're underneath Helltem,' at Ed's confused look, Artabanus chuckled, 'it's the ruins of a town destroyed during the border wars with Creta two centuries ago. It was left abandoned, but about a century ago a small group of foreigners decided to build a town under the ruins. Basically we're in one tiny room among dozens in an enormous network of underground tunnels. It's out of the way and the military doesn't know about it so it's the perfect spot to live.'

'The perfect spot to hide, you mean,' Ed glared pointedly at his restraints, then jerked backward when Artabanus suddenly leaned way too close to him, hot breath fanning over the blonde's cheek along with the sharp scent of peppermint. Fingers grabbed Ed's chin and his control once again melted away as his body froze in response to the contact.

Blue eyes bored into his gold ones, but they were empty. Ed couldn't identify one freaking emotion from this guy, 'Edward... I'm doing this to protect you, don't you see? You were in too much danger, being the military's shiniest toy. Everyone knows who you are, where you are, what you do. Edward, I couldn't let anyone hurt you. So that's why I've brought you here- where you'll be safe. And maybe it might be a little selfish on my part, but it's for your own good, my dearest.'

'Would you stop fucking calling me that you sick, twisted, son of a bitch!' Ed finally exploded, eyes glittering hatefully and lips curled into a snarl.

A stillness fell over Artabanus, and the smile slowly faded from the man's otherwise blank expression. It felt like an hour passed in the resounding silence, but it was probably only a minute or so, before the man stood, letting his hand fall away from Ed's face. Ed didn't move once he had control back, stayed defiantly in place as he continued to glare at the man.

The muffled sounds that continued without pause outside of the room was the only sound as the two alchemists assessed each other.

Finally, Artabanus' hand struck out- so fast that Ed didn't even see the blow coming until fire lit on his cheek and his head whipped to the side. He stared in the direction he was now facing, only a little shocked at being slapped.

'Apologize,' was the curt demand, and that had Ed turning his head back around in furious disbelief, but Artabanus just continued, 'your words hurt me deeply, Edward, now please apologize to me.'

This guy is fucking insane if he thinks I'm doing that. Hell no. Psycho deserves far worse than some mean words.

'Fuck you.'

SMACK.

'Just do it, Edward, and we can move on from this little indiscretion.'

'What part of 'fuck you' don't you understand you egotistical jackass?'

The strike across his face this time caused his teeth to cut his lip, and blood beaded in his mouth. He licked his lips while turning back to the man, and was further disgusted when the redhead followed his mouth with a strange, unreadable look in those slate blue eyes. It was several seconds until Artabanus once again returned his gaze to Ed's own.

'You're being difficult, Edward. Apologize or I will make you apologize. You know I have that power.'

Artabanus raised one of his hands, and Ed was immediately transfixed by what he saw, his jaw loosening and almost falling open.

Tiny arrays were tattooed into each of the man's fingertips- even the thumb had a slightly larger array on it, and they were all different. Ed barely had time to recognize a few different symbols in the exotic arrays before the man was lowering his hand again. But Ed knew what he had seen; an anti-alchemy array on the pinkie, the symbol for speech on the index finger, and some kind of odd, organic symbol on the thumb and middle finger- although those two arrays still weren't the same. Everything else was foreign to Ed- he had never before seen the other symbols and the way the arrays were arranged were just completely strange. There was no center to them, they just sort of wound into themselves like webs, catching the symbols within the intricate lines, and instead of solid circles or triangles that would ground the energy of the transmutation, there was no evident grounding tool in those arrays. Not that Ed had seen, at least.

The sight of those arrays left a bad taste in the blonde's mouth and his heartbeat ratcheted up a notch. He had no fucking clue what he was dealing with, and that terrified him.

'Edward?'

Swallowing, Ed shook his head. No matter how scared he might be, Edward Elric did not just apologize on command.

That hand came back up and Ed could only try and lean away from the older man in a pitiful attempt to avoid the inevitable. Artabanus laid his hand on Ed's sweltering cheek and smiled gently once more, something like joy crossing the man's features.

'Is there something you wanted to tell me, Edward?' he asked lightly, almost playfully.

It took a beat or two, but Ed's voice finally came, a little awkward but perfectly audible nonetheless, 'I'm sorry, Artabanus. I did not mean to upset you. You did not deserve that.'

'Thank you, Edward.'

Something like defeat and humiliation mixed in Ed's gut, keeping him silent even after the man took away his hand. They were silent a few moments longer before Ed moved his hands a bit.

'Hey, can you take these off? I want to see James.'

Artabanus smiled, 'Of course, Edward, let me take you to him.'

It was a tedious process- Artabanus keeping one hand on Ed at all times as he worked on releasing Ed's limbs. It took maybe twenty minutes until the blonde was totally free. Physically speaking, of course. He was once again trapped inside his own body and could only watch himself climb to his feet and settled his left arm around Artabanus' waist while the man settled his hand on the right side of Ed's neck, just above the border of his automail.

They moved to the door and Ed caught just a glimpse of them in the mirror and wanted to cringe violently. The way Artabanus positioned them made them look like some kind of star-struck lovers. It was awful and disgusting and Ed wanted to curl into himself and disappear from this place, but he could only glare at himself for a brief moment. The next moment and they were out the door, striding down a somewhat narrow corridor made of the same stone. Lanterns were places periodically along the walls, suspended by neat little hooks, and if Ed didn't know better he'd think they were in some kind of castle. The stone had been chiseled so smoothly to make these square tunnels, but only maybe five people could walk side by side comfortably.

Again, everything appeared too pristine, too devoid of dust. The only thing that found its messy way to the floor was the occasional drip of oil from the lanterns. Ed glanced up at Artabanus' profile from the corner of his eye and watched the man as he just stared forward, head held high and steps confident.

It was then that Ed realized that Artabanus had to have been a soldier at one point at least, if he wasn't currently. The way his steps were measured and stiff was the shadow of a march. He was like one of the soldiers that Ed had seen off-duty, walking about normally yet still having that strict march in their step after having it drilled into them for so long.

The blonde contemplated this as they passed the occasional closed door, from which the noises from before emerged faintly. Whispers, conversations, arguments. Cursing and the sound of something smashing to the ground. They weren't overly comforting as far as atmosphere went, but Ed couldn't care less. He just wanted to make sure James was alright.

The question of why they were here once again entered his mind. Okay, so Artabanus was a nut job that thought he was protecting Ed by capturing and restraining him, he could kind of understand that. Insanity was strange and unpredictable, and if Ed was the object of the man's fascination, there was no telling what was running through his mind. But why keep James? What was the story behind this place? He'd said foreigners created this place- did he mean Drachmans or Cretans or someone else? What were all these people doing here, just finding a place to live, like Artabanus apparently had? It just didn't make sense.

After several twists and turns in the corridor, Artabanus took one final right and almost immediately stopped at a door on the left side of the hallway. Ed blinked in surprise at the tall, bulky man that was leaning against the door as if guarding it. This man had hair more orange than red and skin just as pale as Artabanus'. Washed-out green eyes glared at them silently but Artabanus didn't seem unnerved at all.

'Hello there, Troy. We're just here to check in on that child I brought back yesterday. So if you don't mind...'

The man- Troy- looked at them closer, his eyes lingering on Ed for just a moment before he turned back to Artabanus and stepped out of the way. Artabanus gave his polite gratitude and opened the door. Before he could close the door behind him, though, Troy finally muttered something so low that the blonde almost missed it.

'Just don't kill this one.'

Icy shock trickled through Ed's veins as Artabanus shut the door tightly behind them, serene yet manic smile still firmly in place. In front of them lay a room about ten times as large as the one Ed woke up in, with small bunks scattered all around the room. There were at least a dozen cots, sometimes without even a foot of space between them, with children and young adults scattered around the room. Some cots had more than one occupant, and Ed could only glance around, stunned at the sight. Most of the children were males, but there were more than five girls huddled in one of the corners. All of them looked terrified, but were clean and healthy-looking. One older man with graying hair was surveying the room, leaning against the wall beside the door, and barely gave them a glance before pointing towards the middle of the room.

Relief surged through Ed at the sight of James sitting at the end of one of the beds, talking quietly with a boy that couldn't be more than eight years old. At their entrance, James' eyes lit up for a moment and Ed could see his reassurance being echoed. The blonde longed to stride over to his student's side but was stuck in place while Artabanus murmured something quietly with the guard.

After a long minute they were finally moving through the crowd of adolescents, sometimes having to squeeze sideways to get between the beds. Once they reached James, Ed could see that a small part of the back portion of the room had been converted to some kind of medical area. In that space, the floor glistened with white tiles and there were steel chests with padlocks adorning the drawers lining the wall. A hospital bed sat in the middle of the tiles there, one of those types that can fold up into a chair and had many different options for angles.

Ed turned his eyes back to his student, who was smiling shakily up at him, 'Ed, sir... are you alright? Have you healed?'

One of Artabanus' fingers drew away from his neck and he smiled back, 'Yeah, James, I'm fine. Have they hurt you in any way? What's going on here?'

'They haven't hurt me, no...' the brunette hesitated, glancing up at Artabanus as if for permission. The older alchemist just gave a small shrug, and that seemed to be all the encouragement the boy needed, 'They uh... this is... they sell these people.'

Ed's eyes widened and he stared around the room again, as much as his limited mobility offered, 'They... sell? You mean this is a human trafficking ring?' His stomach was sinking and he was feeling horribly ill all of a sudden. The fact that James was among these children did not bode well for them.

Not at all.

'You have to understand, Edward,' Artabanus tightened his hold on the blonde's neck, making Ed wince slightly, 'there are people here that need to make a living just as much as you or I. Don't insult them. All these men here are from my homeland, Ukreyt, just beyond Creta to the west. We have different customs and traditions there, and these children will become more than slaves. They will be divine beings that my people will worship. You Amestrians have always held divinity beyond that of our own people,' at this, Artabanus' other hand moved up to sift through Ed's hair, his fingertips brushing the blonde's face tenderly, 'your blonde hair and dark eyes, you are all so beautiful and pure.'

All of the children in the room had differing shades of blonde hair, except for James, and their eyes were either brown or hazel.

So these people had specific details they looked for in their victims.

'You're wrong,' Ed found himself saying, even though he hadn't even taken a moment to collect his thoughts, 'Amestrians aren't better than your people. You're ignorant to say that. Just because we look different from your country's people doesn't mean we're different when it comes down to spirituality or "purity".'

An affectionate chuckle sounded, 'Of course you would think that, Edward. You're one of the purest of all. You have only the brightest, the most selfless thoughts. Your intelligence, your golden eyes and hair, you are truly a wonder, child of Xerxes and Amestris.'

Not knowing how to respond, Ed stayed quiet for a moment, meeting James' fearful, confused eyes. The children around them weren't so subtle in listening in, but none had interrupted and Artabanus didn't even seem to notice them. It was like they were invisible to him as he stared down at Ed and kept running his fingers through the teenager's hair.

'Well, why did you bring James here?' Ed asked, letting a fraction of his anger slip into his voice, 'It's not like he has blonde hair. He might have dark eyes but other than that he doesn't fit your criteria. Are you just holding him here temporarily, or do you plan on selling him off with the rest of these poor kids?'

There was danger in his voice, and the silence afterward was heavy and ripe with that darkness. Artabanus didn't pause in his ministrations, and seemed to be seriously considering what Ed had said.

'Well, I haven't really decided what we're going to do with James here, yet. It all depends if he survives the procedure, after all. If he does, we might keep him as a holy denizen here. We already have a few other boys that act in the same manner but one more would not hurt. I guess we'll have to put it up to a vote. But you're right, Edward. He wouldn't catch a fair price back in my country because of his hair.'

Artabanus glared at James as if that was his fault and the boy shrunk back on the edge of the bed, but all Ed could think about was the word 'procedure'. If he survived... that didn't sound good. Ed couldn't see any physical disfigurement in the other children, though. A few of the boys looked a little... strange, but Ed couldn't pinpoint the reason why.

'They're all eunuchs,' James whispered brokenly, and Ed's eyes shot back to him to see the boy's face paling rapidly, 'every one of these boys has been castrated.'

Horror consumed the blonde once again and he looked at the eight-year old that James had been talking to, who was sitting on the cot next to his student's and swinging his legs back and forth. There was no obvious signs, of course, but the boy's expression did seem a little glassy, a little pained.

'Henry is still healing,' the more James spoke, the softer his voice went, and the tighter the vice around Ed's chest became.

This is not happening. This has got to be some kind of twisted nightmare. There's no way...

'I think now would be a good time as any, don't you?' Artabanus' voice was just as soft as the fifteen year old's, and there was a hint of sympathy, or maybe compassion, lacing the words.

But Ed just became infuriated.

'NO YOU DON'T FUCKING DARE, YOU SICK, HEARTLESS MOTHERFU-!'

Ed's voice disappeared as all of Artabanus' fingers dug deep into his collarbone, almost making the blonde's knees buckle at the force and the pain of the action.

'Just for that, Edward, you're going to be assisting me with the operation. I can't very well do it with one hand, anyway, now can I?'

Everything became too sharp and clear as Artabanus carted the two Amestrians to the medical area- Ed could smell the fear that was soaking his student in a cold sweat, and could see every new tear that shimmered over the boy's brown eyes. The scent of the medical area hit him like a fist to his stomach- clean, sterile chemicals that seeped into the tiles and practically radiated from the dull plastic covering on the table. The kind tenor of the older alchemist's voice ordering James onto the contraption. The tiny click of the gears rotating when Artabanus stepped on a pedal to lever the table down some. Children that had been nearby began rising and moving as far away from them as possible, escaping what was sure to be a traumatic sight.

Ed was still in shock, still couldn't wrap his head around what was happening, until his hands were reaching forward and removing his student's belt, and then pants. Then it was like a bucket of ice water had been thrown in his face and he looked into the boy's brown eyes.

He couldn't even open his mouth to apologize.

I'm sorry, I'm sorry, God, I'm so sorry, I can't stop why can't I fucking STOP I can't do this, I would never do this, fucking animals, I can't, I'm so sorry-

He fought harder than ever against Artabanus' hold on him, trying to imagine his will as a physical force that pushed against the strange alchemy holding his body hostage. He envisioned and pushed and screamed in his mind, beating at the barrier until his head began to throb fiercely. But even then, even when he could feel blood pulsing and trickling from his ears, from his nose, he kept fighting.

'You shouldn't fight it, Edward, you'll just hurt yourself,' Artabanus murmured, firmly placing both hands on Ed's waist, 'let me show you just what I can do,' and then, added almost teasingly, 'just don't think of your transmutation array that changes the form of something.'

Of course the fucking array captured itself in Ed's mind, and the next moment his hands were coming together and his left hand passed over his right arm, the automail shifting into something that looked like a large cleaver.

His heart and stomach sank, and the blade came down so fast he didn't even have time to hold his breath. Blood spattered his face, sending him to some place far away from the room full of children and monsters.

He was aware of the screams, of course, and the guard that had been by the door brought over some kind of cauterization tool.

Artabanus began talking, explaining the process and how much time it would take for James to heal, and how they would have to take care of the brunette in certain ways for a while, how it was a fifty-fifty chance the boy would survive, but Ed was deaf to this.

He was deaf to words. He was blind to the crimson that began to drip steadily to the floor. He was ignorant to the demonic transgressions that had just occured- were occuring- around him.

Except he wasn't.

And for the first time in a very long time, Edward Elric wished with all his being- heart, soul, and mind- that he had died that fateful rainy night.

This should not have happened. It's all my fault. All my fault. God, I'm so sorry. Somebody just end this.

Of course there was no response, and Ed just stood, frozen for more reasons than one, and stared down at his unconscious student.

'You did good, Edward,' Artabanus praised cheerfully, wrapping his arms around Ed and pulling the blonde close.

Ed stared through him, through the wall, through everything.

'Thank you,' his voice said.

Not him. His body. After all, with just a soul and a mind under his own control, Ed was now nothing more than a puppet.

AN: Ehm... end... of Chapter Seven. I hope that wasn't too horrible... T_T Please leave me a review and let me know what you think? I'm kind of nervous to ask that but I really want feedback for this chapter, as I've never really written anything like this before... so please just let me know if it's awful. xD