READY FOR THE LOG?
Who: Envy, Ed, and a whole lotta NPC'd OMGZOMBIETHINGYNURSES
What: Ed's arrival on Silent Hill and his meeting up with Envy.
Where: Takes place mostly in the hospital.
When: Today (Wednesday) around 3:30 PM EST.
Why: Because we're evil and this is the only way they're going to learn. >.>
Warnings: LOTS OF SCARINESS. Scared!Envy and scared!Ed, and character death. D:
Envy hadn't been able to think straight for hours. Somehow he'd been separated from Gaara and Greed just as they had been entering the town Silent Hill. The name sounded familiar, too, yet he couldn't place it. Everything in his mind had to do with what had been happening and he could barely process it as it was. Two of the most important people to him had just vanished and when he had run back to look for them, he'd gone right over a cliff that he hadn't been able to see clearly in the mist--fog? ashes--over the entire place. Luckily his agility kept him from completely falling. Then he'd tried to turn into a bird and fly over, but could never find the other side of the road. They were gone. He'd spent hours searching the town, crying out for them while attempting to see through all the fucking ashes. There weren't any people, either. Every store and home looked like it had been empty for years. And there were no footprints in the inches of ashes covering the ground to give him some sign of where the others were. Being alone was bad enough, but it had gotten worse. Christ, it had gotten worse. The painfully loud alarm that had come from God knew where hadn't frightened him, nor had the darkening sky. Generally monsters didn't scare him either, because they could die. But these ones. . . they just kept coming. And coming. When he destroyed one they came back and he couldn't get away. Their faces were the worst part. Twisted or faceless things coming after him, making sounds he'd never heard before. Why? Why did this have to happen to him? He'd just wanted to be happy. Sasuke had been right--someone had been setting up a trap for him, and now he couldn't go home.
The hospital seemed to be the safest and he hadn't heard the sirens again for a while, but every little sound made him jump. There was nowhere for him to go. Every edge of the town ended in a bottomless cliff and the ashes never stopped falling. There were no people except the creatures, but when it was light again, they seemed to disappear. Envy couldn't do this. He couldn't sit there and run from the things forever because eventually his stones would run out and he was going to die. Alone. In some fucking ghost town. Envy curled up into a tighter ball in the corner of a hospital room and dug his nails into his scalp until the skin sliced open and bled. He couldn't do this. Couldn't. fucking. do. this. And he needed Greed or Sasuke or Gaara or someone to save him because he couldn't be here alone and he was scared out of his mind that he was going to die. It just wasn't fucking fair.
Edward didn't know what in the hell he was doing here. No, that wasn't entirely true -- he was there on a mission, almost like the old days with the military. He was looking for something, asked by someone he considered almost a friend to find it for them. But the thing was he'd never actually been told what he was looking for just that someone would help him find it; he didn't even know the guy's name that had sent him here! He could remember asking, but every time he did, the man just subtly changed the subject without Edward even realizing it; he'd come to call him Bathroom Therapist Man in his head, just to call him something, and he was cursing Bathroom Therapist Man as he passed by a sign reading, "Welcome to Silent Hill."
It appeared to be snowing, even though it was a little late in the year for it, but that was because, he realized, it wasn't snow at all, but ashes just falling from the sky and covering everything, as if a volcano had erupted nearby. It just made the town seem that much more eerie when he finally saw houses and buildings coming into view. There was no one around that he could see and, while he couldn't exactly blame anyone for not wanting to be outside with weather like this, he had the feeling that wasn't exactly what was going on. The entire place just made Edward uneasy and he finally caved, switching the birdcage (what the hell?!) that Bathroom Therapist Man had given him to his other hand while he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and dialed Mello. The only thing he got on the other end, though, was static. This just kept getting better and better. Well, he had no other choice, then. He shoved off and headed into the town, just taking it all in and trying to decide on a plan of action; but what else could he do, if he was supposed to be finding someone, than look around?
When he finally decided to just head into one of the buildings and start looking for real, he was in front of what appeared to be a hospital. Fuck. It was probably best to just get it over and done with, right? And then Edward wouldn't have to go back into the hospital again and he could know that it was behind him. He tightened his flesh hand around the handle of the birdcage, leaving his heavier automail hand free and went inside. It was creepy as fuck and the blonde nearly turned tail and ran, but he remembered his logic about getting it done with and managed to force his feet down a hallway and eventually picked a room at random, half-expecting something to jump out at him. Nothing jumped, but his stomach still ended up in his throat when he saw someone sitting in a corner and he jumped back into the wall, dropping the birdcage to the floor with a gasp.
The clattering scared Envy so much that he launched to his feet and hit his head on the old window sill. The wood literally cracked with the impact, and for a brief moment Envy thought his head might have, too. Unfortunately he didn't get much of a chance to try and feel his head because everything grew darker and he barely managed to catch himself on his hands and knees on the floor. It hurt. It fucking hurt and Envy could barely keep his eyes open as his entire head swam with pain. Were he human the hard knock to his head might have killed him if he ended up fainting, but he could already feel whatever damage that had been caused beginning to repair itself. Then he realized that the source of the sound had to be somewhere, and oh how he hated that he had to actually look up for it. He got as far as seeing a pair of boots before he bolted with a shrill cry. There hadn't been a siren! It wasn't dark! Why was someone there? Had he been wrong in assuming the creatures came out when it was dark? He couldn't take this. Fighting against things he could kill was one thing, but these were something else entirely. And it was an entire town filled with them with no one else to help him. A town cut off from the rest of the world. Everything horrible that had been happening to him seemed to all have started as soon as he entered the new universe half a year ago, because since then he really hadn't ever been happy. People left him here and at least in Amestris they had stuck around until killed. In the strange human world there was nothing but trouble and pain, and when he had finally thought he'd gotten through everything, this came along. It had yanked him away completely from everyone he loved and he didn't even have a fucking laptop to update with for help. He didn't have a fucking thing.
Envy didn't know where he was going, and he didn't care. As long as he put distance between himself and whatever new monster had arrived then he would be safe. Now he just needed to find a new place to hide and wait because he wouldn't let himself be caught. He wouldn't. There was so much waiting for him at home and he wanted to be back there with Greed, safe in their bed beneath a mound of blankets that would hide him from everyone. He just wanted to go home.
With the bird inside the cage making a fuss about being dropped, and whoever it was in the corner shrieking as it ran past him, Edward had been left completely disoriented. But there was one thing that he had caught, and that had been a familiar head of long, green hair. It was too much of a coincidence for there to be someone out here in this random town that had the exact same hair as Envy and, as much as Edward had been trying to avoid him recently (since all apologizing ever did was make matters that much worse), he was just so relieved to find someone that he recognized that he rushed out the door and down the hallway after him. "Envy!" he called, hating how his voice echoed in the empty hallway, almost afraid that it would attract whatever ghosts were haunting the place. But, of course, that was ridiculous because there was no such thing as ghosts. "Envy, wait!" he cried again, just desperate to have someone familiar with him in this damned place. "Dammit, Envy, I'm not gonna hurt you, I swear, just stop!"
. . .That voice. Envy slid to a stop and had to catch himself on a dirty wall before he fell. When he turned and managed to see beyond the wild hair in his face, he didn't know whether to be relieved or even more terrified than he had been before. What were the chances of Edward being there with him when no one else was? Envy felt something rise up in his throat--almost like a scream--and catch there. Edward was there. He was there and he was going to hurt him again, but this time, at least, Envy could run. "S-stay away from me," he managed tightly and began taking quick steps back. He hated that he was so afraid of a fucking human, but it was the human that knew his only two weaknesses. A human that had hurt him before by using both of them. There was no telling what Edward planned to do now and it wasn't fair that someone as strong as Envy was powerless against a pathetic human. But it wasn't Envy's fault that Edward cheated. The backs of Envy's legs hit an overturned gurney and he fell over it with the near-scream he'd been holding it, thinking the bed-on-wheels was one of the monsters just waiting there so it could surprise him and grab him away.
It just made Edward sick to his stomach watching Envy and hearing Envy and just realizing how scared of the blonde he was. How could he have done this to someone?! He just watched the homunculus back away from him, not knowing what to do or say to make him at least just stay and hear him out. And all this noise they were making . . . Edward's mind was shrieking at them to just be quiet because someone or something could hear them and, in this town, he got the feeling that they didn't want either one of them coming and finding them. When Envy finally fell over the gurney, Edward snapped back to reality and he rushed forward instinctively to help him up, but he skidded to a halt a couple of feet away, remembering that Envy was terrified of him. He stepped around so that the homunculus could see him and he held out his hands to show him that he meant no harm. "Are you okay?" he asked, and then realized that, even if he wasn't, he would be in just a few seconds. He took a deep breath and started tugging off his gloves, letting them drop to the floor. "Look, I've got nothing on me, Envy, " he rolled up his sleeves as he spoke, and turned out his pants pockets, finally unbuttoning his shirt down to where his vest started. "I couldn't hurt you, even if I wanted to. I just want to know what's going on -- what you're doing here; what exactly here is; why there's no one actually here; why it's raining freaking ashes outside!"
When Edward moved closer Envy forgot all about the humiliating sound he'd made and tried to scramble away, but with his legs draped over and tangled in the gurney, he couldn't get very far because he only made it to his elbows before he was pulled back down. And the more he struggled the worse it got because the old sheets in the fucking thing seemed to have crawled around both legs. He was left sprawled and panting on the ground with his hair fucking everywhere and it didn't dawn on him to turn into something that could just fly away from the mess. Edward didn't want to hurt him? That was bullshit. Out of everything that had ever happened to Envy in all his 400 years, nothing had ever hurt as badly as what Edward had done. Being killed or blow up or set on fire wasn't as bad, because nothing was worse than losing absolute control of the body you'd created for yourself. It was humiliating, degrading, painful, and just everything horrible to go through that, especially at the hands of someone you so had so badly wanted to kill before. Now he was only grateful to be far away from Edward where he couldn't be hurt. But he was there again, once again with no one to save him, and the thought of his body being used like that another time made him tremble. He didn't know if he would be able to stand being in his favorite form if it happened to him once more, and he didn't want to have to change to another body. "Don't touch me."
Edward shut his eyes and took a few deep breaths. Freaking out obviously wasn't going to help right now and Envy was making that incredibly clear by getting all tangled up in the stupid hospital bed. He was also making it excruciatingly clear that they weren't going to get anywhere because the homunculus was terrified of him. It hurt so bad, but the blonde had brought it on himself, he knew, and he wasn't going to ever be able to make up for it. A metal rattling back down the hall startled the blonde and then he heard the bird which reminded him that he'd left it behind even though Bathroom Therapist Man had told him to take care of it while he was there. Turning back to Envy, he clapped his hands and then pressed them to the floor, sending the alchemic reaction light across the floor and towards the sheets and gurney, twisting them back and releasing the homunculus' legs. When he stood again, he considered saying something, but decided that, whatever he said, would probably only make things worse anyway, so instead, he just turned and walked back down the hallway towards the room they'd left to retrieve the stupid bird.
Envy thought it was over when he saw the alchemic reaction heading for him and he covered his head to ready for it to completely destroy him, only it never came. Instead the sheets around his legs vanished and he fell free, his feet lightly hitting the floor. Somewhere down the hall he heard chirping and clattering and wondered what the hell the bird making that noise was doing. But it was all right, because Edward would go his own way, and Envy would go his. Shakily he stood and tried to brush the incident off as if it had been nothing. Apparently Edward really wasn't going to hurt him again, which meant somehow, Envy had gotten a break. Though when it came to the creatures hiding there and Edward, he would rather deal with the human, because at least eventually Edward would die. The things here were entirely new and not what he wanted to deal with. But if Edward was going in that direction then Envy would go in this one. And that was where he headed, sure that if he went deeper, way farther than any monster would go, then he would be safer. That was his reasoning until he heard a sound that made him freeze in place: the siren.
Edward did the same, finding himself standing outside of the room they'd run out of, in which the bird was still stuck. He forgot about opening the door for the moment, however, more focused on the sound that seemed to be coming from outside somewhere. Sirens. But louder than any fire truck, ambulance, or squad car he'd heard before. And where were they coming from? It sounded like it should be coming from some sort of speaker system around the town, but he hadn't seen any coming in. Nevertheless, whatever they were and wherever they were coming from, there was on thing that Edward knew and that was that sirens always meant trouble for someone. He turned around to face the opposite wall but staring up at the ceiling as if that would actually help him understand what was going on. "What the hell is that?" he asked the ceiling worriedly.
If Envy had been right in assuming the siren meant what he thought it did, then all hell was about to break loose, and he really, really didn't want to be out in the open when it did. Frantic, he turned and looked at his surroundings for somewhere to hide, although the siren was making it completely difficult to concentrate on what to do. It was so loud and every time it rose to its highest pitch it felt like his head was splitting. Envy didn't want to be out in the open but what could he do?! Any second it would get dark and fuck he needed to do something. Anything. What? And then his gaze fell on Edward who looked as confused as Envy had been the first time he heard the siren when he arrived. Edward wasn't going to kill him, and whatever came with the Darkness would. Edward was, clearly, the lesser of two evils. And as terrified as he was of his half-brother hurting him again, he was even more afraid of the things he couldn't kill--and that he hadn't brought stones along because he'd had Greed and Gaara was even more worrying. Envy raced forward, not thinking about what Edward could do to him anymore, and grabbed the sleeve of the blond's shirt. "Edward," he said in panic, eyes wide as they locked on a grimy window so he could watch what he could see of the sky outside. "We have to go."
The blonde nearly jumped again as he felt the hand on his arm and wasn't quite as relieved as he should have been seeing that it was Envy. Something was clearly wrong, and if that wasn't obvious enough from his expression and the tone of his voice, it was clear just from the fact that, not only was the homunculus saying that "they" had to go, but he was also touching Edward of his own free will. He just watched Envy for a few long moments until one of the sirens wailed again and he followed Envy's gaze out of the window. "Why?" he asked, turning back to him. "What's going on? What do those sirens mean? What's coming?" Those sirens were unlike anything he'd heard before in his life and the very sound of them in this empty ghost town made his heart race in his chest. Just what the hell was happening?!
God why was Edward so fucking stupid?! Did it take something to hit him in the head to get him to fucking move? There wasn't time to fucking explain what the sirens meant and what was coming! If Edward wanted to ask questions then he could do it some other fucking time! Envy couldn't be bothered to respond just then anyway, because the sky started getting darker, and he watched in horror as their surroundings seemed to peel and melt away. It was happening again, and Envy didn't know what they'd get this time. It was all getting so dark. He'd never been afraid of the dark before because the monsters hiding in it were nothing to him. Now they were the things that he had to run from, and if he was in the dark with them, then he couldn't see them when they came. Envy's hand spasmed and his fingers tightened so that his nails dug into the arm he was clinging to, but he didn't even realize it. The last bit of light was slowly vanishing as pieces of the walls and ceiling dropped, replaced by the Darkness. And Envy huddled closer to Edward because as much as he hated him, he was something to hold on to. Maybe something to distract the creatures from him.
The first thing that Edward noticed was the pain in his arm and winced, looking down at Envy's hands and reaching over to try and pull them off. At this rate he was going to lose another one of his arms. "Envy, come on, let go!" he grunted, wondering if the homunculus was, actually, trying to tear his arm off. When he looked up at Envy's face, however, he saw the sheer terror written all over it and he followed his gaze again, looking at the walls of the hospital that were slowly peeling away. He looked in every direction and it was happening as far as he could see, which just didn't make sense because walls didn't just melt like that for no reason! What the hell was this place?! The bird started having a fit again, and Edward glanced back at the door, and then out at the hallway again before making a decision. He quickly shoved the door open and grabbed the dropped cage, damming that son of a bitch for giving him something so stupid to watch over, and the closed his hand around Envy's arm and tugged him down the hallway towards the main entrance as fast as he could, hoping that they would be safer outside. "Come on!"
Envy made a sound as he was yanked forward and he stumbled, once, twice, and four times before catching himself. There was barely any light left and just that small amount was almost gone, so where the hell did Edward think they were going? And that fucking bird was making so much noise that anything they were hiding from was going to find them anyway! "Drop the cage!" he hissed in fear as he glanced over his shoulder, watching as the blackness seemed to chase after them. What the fuck was he carrying a bird for anyway?! What sort of idiot brought a noisy bird in a cage with him to some random ghost town? Apparently the kind of idiot that thought it was fine to leave behind his brother and best friend for someone he was in love with and couldn't have. All he could do now, though, was go with Edward, because at least he could fight long-range using his alchemy. Envy had to be close to do anything, even if he was an animal, and as the creatures here couldn't be completely destroyed, it was absolutely pointless. All it would do was wound him and use up the stones in him until none were left and he was killed. Sticking with Edward would extend his life until he could get the fuck out of there. And then Edward could figure out how to escape on his own. Though, really, he didn't believe for one second that Edward was going to keep him safe. Edward only cared about himself and Alphonse and as Envy was neither, he could only depend on using the blond as bait.
Each time Envy stumbled, Edward stopped to help him straighten up again, but it was slowing them down so much and damn if the bird wasn't helping at all! What the hell was the point of carrying the stupid thing along?! All it was doing was making it harder for Edward to think and it was going to give their position away! Bathroom Therapist Man had told him that everything he'd been given was important, he just didn't understand what possible use the bird could have! Still, he'd hold onto it as long as he could, but there was no way he was sacrificing his and Envy's lives for the damn thing. With the light fading, though, he remembered the flashlight and he swung the birdcage at Envy, forcing the handle into his hand. "Hold that!" he ordered and then dug around in his coat pocket for the flashlight, pulling it out and clicking it on so they could see where they were going.
Envy might have snarled something at Edward if it hadn't grown dark and nearly silent. The fucking bird kept twittering every few seconds, but at least it had stopped flying around the cage like an idiot. Envy didn't want to hold the cage. He didn't want to stand there. He wanted to move and get away but there was no place he could go if he couldn't see. And the only way he could see was if he stuck by Edward, since he had gotten a flashlight from somewhere. Envy gripped onto the handle of the cage with both trembling hands, curling in on himself and looking around at what the hallway had turned into. The light from the flashlight wasn't much, but it was much, much better than nothing at all. Though a part of him was afraid to look where the flashlight was shining because there was no telling what it would fall on, and seeing just a small portion of one of the creatures was likely to be more terrifying than seeing all of it. He swallowed hard and didn't say a single word, instead straining to listen so they would know if anything came.
When the flashlight was the only light that was left, Edward finally stopped running, trying hard not to pant too loudly and keeping a firm grip on Envy's arm to reassure himself that the homunculus was still there. He moved the beam of light slowly from side to side along the hallway, almost afraid of what might come into its path as he started walking slowly in the direction they'd been going. They should be near the main entrance, if he remembered right, and then they could get outside and out of this nightmare. He never should have come into the hospital to begin with, he should have just caved and passed it by and moved on to another building! But . . . then he wouldn't have found Envy, and who knows what would have happened to him if he'd just stayed in there by himself? Edward wrapped his arm around one of the homunculus' as they walked, keeping him close, for both of their sakes. They finally reached what Edward was certain was the lobby he turned the corner with Envy . . . and stopped in his tracks. About halfway across the room were the most grotesque-looking nurses the blonde had ever seen. Their faces were misshapen beyond all recognition and they were moving towards them, but Edward couldn't move, he could only stare at them in horror, his hands closing painfully around the flashlight and Envy's arm.
A chill trickled down Envy's spine when he felt Edward wind their arms together and he had to force down a cry. Edward was fucking touching him. The same hands that had held onto him as he'd been . . . Envy shuddered again. Would it be better to be on his own in this place, or be with the person that had violated him so much? The answer fled Envy's mind once they rounded the corner. All of the nurses were moving at once--albeit slowly--but the way they moved was like something straight out of a horror film. Their bodies jerked with every movement and they didn't even have eyes. Envy tried to take a step back but was held in place by Edward's hand and fuck he wasn't going to stand here and be killed because of the idiot! Envy tore his arm away, ignoring the pain that came from nails scraping his flesh, and ran back the way they'd come.
It barely even registered that Envy had gone until Edward felt his own nails digging into his own hand. He looked to the side but saw nothing but blackness and then looked back in front of him and saw the nurses still moving towards him. Finally, his feet were working again and he turned to run after Envy in what he hoped was the direction he'd gone in, but before he even made it three feet, he found himself staring at another group of the nurses. He stopped and backed away from them slowly, turning to see the others were still moving towards him. "E-Envy?" he called, hating the terrified sound of his voice but desperate to get away from these things. "Envy?!" he cried again, more loudly this time. "Dammit, Envy, help me! Don't just leave me here, you bastard!" All he could do was stare and back away as the disgusting things closed in on him, looking like half-formed homunculi and Edward just couldn't do anything! "Envy!"
When Envy heard his name being called he slid to an ungraceful stop, but didn't turn. He'd gotten away easily only because Edward was there to distract them from him. And if he left the blond there, he'd finally be killed, and Envy wouldn't have to go anywhere near him for it to happen. The little bastard would finally be out of his way, and this death was likely to be painful, which was just what he deserved. After everything Edward had done to him he would deserve to be abandoned and slaughtered. There probably wasn't much more that he did deserve. Envy glanced over his shoulder and saw the muffled light around the corner where Edward was with his flashlight, and the shadows danced over the rotting walls. How the fuck was he supposed to get Edward out of that enormous mess? There were too many of them! The bird kept shrilling and he glanced down at it in thought. A moment later the cage with the bird inside was flung through the air and right into the first blockade of nurses, knocking them into each other where they proceeded to slice themselves while trying to get at it.
Well, that was the end of the bird and Edward really didn't care. It had been annoying and a liability and it's death had distracted the nurses and made a small opening in their ranks. He waited until it had grown a little more and then he threw himself onto the floor, crawling past them as quickly as he could and not daring to let any part of him touch their disgusting bodies. Once he was through, he pushed himself up to his feet and just started running, not even looking where he was going. He knew that it had to have been Envy, but he didn't know what direction it had been thrown from and, for all he knew, the homunculus was long gone anyway, so he just ran, not looking where he was going, just trying to get away from the things in the lobby. He wasn't sure how far he got before he suddenly ran into someone, something, he didn't even know what and he couldn't even look, all he did was scream.
That hurt Envy's head more than the siren had, but at least he could make this noise shut up. With a strangled sound of frustration he brought up one hand and lashed it directly across Edward's face. "Shut up!" he snarled, more in fear than anything else. The only reason Envy had screamed was because he'd been startled and it had lasted for two seconds. Edward, on the other hand, was screaming like some fucking woman being murdered! The distraction he'd created was going to go to hell if those damned creatures were pulled over to them again by the idiot's screaming! If Envy had gone out of his way to save him only to be brought right into trouble, he was going to hand him over to those fucking things himself and use the opening to escape for good, and next time he wouldn't look back at all.
Edward cowered away from whatever it was he'd slammed into and had just slapped him, holding his arms up defensively until he heard that wonderfully familiar voice. He went to hold the flashlight up to see if it was really Envy, but it had skittered away without the blonde realizing it when Envy had smacked him. It didn't take long to find, of course, but as Edward scrambled over to get it, he realized that the hallway wasn't as dark as it had been just a moment ago -- he could see things slowly coming into view that were outside of the beam from the flashlight. He picked it up and surveyed it over the walls, seeing them beginning to melt again, changing again. What the hell was going on now?! He wasn't sure he wanted to know. Sheer morbid curiosity, however, made him light up the nurses. he wasn't sure what was happening to them at first; they seemed to start glowing from the inside, and then the glow started eating away their flesh. Edward backed up into a wall as he realized what was happening.
This time it hadn't lasted long at all and Envy slumped back against the wall behind him in pure relief. There was no telling when the next siren would go off, but for now, at least, they were all right. Slowly Envy sunk to the floor and pulled his knees to his chest where he hugged them tightly. That time hadn't been as bad as the others, either. The creatures this time had been slower whereas some of the others had been quick. Envy buried his face in his legs and took slow, deep breaths. What would happen if he never got out of there? He wouldn't be able to marry Greed or piss Gaara off anymore. And he wouldn't get to see Sasuke again. Sasuke, who had said he would go with him to Silent Hill, and hadn't showed up. Envy should have known his best friend wasn't going to take him seriously when he asked for help, even after everything he'd done for Sasuke. Now he was stuck in this fucking place where he had to hide when it got dark, and the only company he had was a God damn rapist. He should've thrown Edward at the nurses and kept the bird.
When the nurses finally burned up and the darkness faded away, Edward took a moment to make sure that it had actually stopped before clicking off the flashlight and walking slowly over the place where the nurses had cornered him and he looked down at the mangled corpse of the bird along with the mangled cage it had been in. Other than that there was absolutely no sign that the nurses had ever been there and Edward surveyed the general area before walking back over to Envy and crouching down beside him. "Envy," he said, "what the hell just happened? Obviously you've been here longer than I have and have seen this happen before, so what was it? What were those things and how did whoever's working those sirens know they were coming?" Because clearly that was what the sirens were for. "What is this place?"
Envy flinched away when he heard Edward's voice so close to him. "I don't know," he replied after a moment and buried his hands in his hair again as if it made everything better. "The sirens go on, it gets dark, and things come out. I lost Gaara and Greed, the town's empty, and the ashes keep falling. The entire town's cut off from everything. I can't. . ." Envy dragged the nails of one hand over his scalp, relishing in the relief the pain caused, and then raked them over one thigh through his pants. "They can't die, and they're. . .everywhere. I just. . . " his voice rose in pitch and he strangled back a whimper. ". . . wanna go home now. Be with Greed and everyone else. I like being there, not here. Just wanna be there." Where he would be protected even when he demanded that everyone back off of him because he didn't need protection.
Of course Edward couldn't blame him at all since he'd rather be in his hotel room -- or hell, even the Otori mansion would be better than this place! And to think that he'd just been complaining about having to dress up like a nurse earlier that morning. Edward would gladly put on that damned costume again and wear it all around Tokyo and Central City if it meant just getting out of this town. He had no idea what Envy was even doing there, but he could find out later, if the homunculus would let him, he just wanted to get out of the fucking hospital. He stood and shoved the flashlight into his coat so both of his hands were free and he held the flesh one out to Envy. "Come on," he said gently, "let's get the fuck out of here. I dunno about you, but I don't want to be stuck in here when whatever those things are come out again."
Well that Envy could definitely agree to, because being stuck with any of the damn things again wasn't something he would like to do at all. When he looked up and saw the hand offered to him, however, he hesitated; take the hand of the only one that had ever truly hurt him? Envy didn't trust him, and he definitely wasn't stupid. Ignoring the hand, he got to his feet, stepped away from the wall, and headed in the direction of the entrance. There wasn't any way out of Silent Hill--Envy really had looked everywhere--and Edward wasn't going to be able to just create one with his alchemy. Out of all the people to be stuck with in a place like this, it had to be Edward, didn't it? Someone really thought they were fucking funny, sticking the two of them together and expecting there to be no bloodshed in the end. Envy needed to find a weapon. He needed to find anything that he would be able to use against Edward in the case of a last minute, surprise attack. This time, Envy decided, it wouldn't be him that got fucked.
To be continued . . .
What: Ed's arrival on Silent Hill and his meeting up with Envy.
Where: Takes place mostly in the hospital.
When: Today (Wednesday) around 3:30 PM EST.
Why: Because we're evil and this is the only way they're going to learn. >.>
Warnings: LOTS OF SCARINESS. Scared!Envy and scared!Ed, and character death. D:
Envy hadn't been able to think straight for hours. Somehow he'd been separated from Gaara and Greed just as they had been entering the town Silent Hill. The name sounded familiar, too, yet he couldn't place it. Everything in his mind had to do with what had been happening and he could barely process it as it was. Two of the most important people to him had just vanished and when he had run back to look for them, he'd gone right over a cliff that he hadn't been able to see clearly in the mist--fog? ashes--over the entire place. Luckily his agility kept him from completely falling. Then he'd tried to turn into a bird and fly over, but could never find the other side of the road. They were gone. He'd spent hours searching the town, crying out for them while attempting to see through all the fucking ashes. There weren't any people, either. Every store and home looked like it had been empty for years. And there were no footprints in the inches of ashes covering the ground to give him some sign of where the others were. Being alone was bad enough, but it had gotten worse. Christ, it had gotten worse. The painfully loud alarm that had come from God knew where hadn't frightened him, nor had the darkening sky. Generally monsters didn't scare him either, because they could die. But these ones. . . they just kept coming. And coming. When he destroyed one they came back and he couldn't get away. Their faces were the worst part. Twisted or faceless things coming after him, making sounds he'd never heard before. Why? Why did this have to happen to him? He'd just wanted to be happy. Sasuke had been right--someone had been setting up a trap for him, and now he couldn't go home.
The hospital seemed to be the safest and he hadn't heard the sirens again for a while, but every little sound made him jump. There was nowhere for him to go. Every edge of the town ended in a bottomless cliff and the ashes never stopped falling. There were no people except the creatures, but when it was light again, they seemed to disappear. Envy couldn't do this. He couldn't sit there and run from the things forever because eventually his stones would run out and he was going to die. Alone. In some fucking ghost town. Envy curled up into a tighter ball in the corner of a hospital room and dug his nails into his scalp until the skin sliced open and bled. He couldn't do this. Couldn't. fucking. do. this. And he needed Greed or Sasuke or Gaara or someone to save him because he couldn't be here alone and he was scared out of his mind that he was going to die. It just wasn't fucking fair.
Edward didn't know what in the hell he was doing here. No, that wasn't entirely true -- he was there on a mission, almost like the old days with the military. He was looking for something, asked by someone he considered almost a friend to find it for them. But the thing was he'd never actually been told what he was looking for just that someone would help him find it; he didn't even know the guy's name that had sent him here! He could remember asking, but every time he did, the man just subtly changed the subject without Edward even realizing it; he'd come to call him Bathroom Therapist Man in his head, just to call him something, and he was cursing Bathroom Therapist Man as he passed by a sign reading, "Welcome to Silent Hill."
It appeared to be snowing, even though it was a little late in the year for it, but that was because, he realized, it wasn't snow at all, but ashes just falling from the sky and covering everything, as if a volcano had erupted nearby. It just made the town seem that much more eerie when he finally saw houses and buildings coming into view. There was no one around that he could see and, while he couldn't exactly blame anyone for not wanting to be outside with weather like this, he had the feeling that wasn't exactly what was going on. The entire place just made Edward uneasy and he finally caved, switching the birdcage (what the hell?!) that Bathroom Therapist Man had given him to his other hand while he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and dialed Mello. The only thing he got on the other end, though, was static. This just kept getting better and better. Well, he had no other choice, then. He shoved off and headed into the town, just taking it all in and trying to decide on a plan of action; but what else could he do, if he was supposed to be finding someone, than look around?
When he finally decided to just head into one of the buildings and start looking for real, he was in front of what appeared to be a hospital. Fuck. It was probably best to just get it over and done with, right? And then Edward wouldn't have to go back into the hospital again and he could know that it was behind him. He tightened his flesh hand around the handle of the birdcage, leaving his heavier automail hand free and went inside. It was creepy as fuck and the blonde nearly turned tail and ran, but he remembered his logic about getting it done with and managed to force his feet down a hallway and eventually picked a room at random, half-expecting something to jump out at him. Nothing jumped, but his stomach still ended up in his throat when he saw someone sitting in a corner and he jumped back into the wall, dropping the birdcage to the floor with a gasp.
The clattering scared Envy so much that he launched to his feet and hit his head on the old window sill. The wood literally cracked with the impact, and for a brief moment Envy thought his head might have, too. Unfortunately he didn't get much of a chance to try and feel his head because everything grew darker and he barely managed to catch himself on his hands and knees on the floor. It hurt. It fucking hurt and Envy could barely keep his eyes open as his entire head swam with pain. Were he human the hard knock to his head might have killed him if he ended up fainting, but he could already feel whatever damage that had been caused beginning to repair itself. Then he realized that the source of the sound had to be somewhere, and oh how he hated that he had to actually look up for it. He got as far as seeing a pair of boots before he bolted with a shrill cry. There hadn't been a siren! It wasn't dark! Why was someone there? Had he been wrong in assuming the creatures came out when it was dark? He couldn't take this. Fighting against things he could kill was one thing, but these were something else entirely. And it was an entire town filled with them with no one else to help him. A town cut off from the rest of the world. Everything horrible that had been happening to him seemed to all have started as soon as he entered the new universe half a year ago, because since then he really hadn't ever been happy. People left him here and at least in Amestris they had stuck around until killed. In the strange human world there was nothing but trouble and pain, and when he had finally thought he'd gotten through everything, this came along. It had yanked him away completely from everyone he loved and he didn't even have a fucking laptop to update with for help. He didn't have a fucking thing.
Envy didn't know where he was going, and he didn't care. As long as he put distance between himself and whatever new monster had arrived then he would be safe. Now he just needed to find a new place to hide and wait because he wouldn't let himself be caught. He wouldn't. There was so much waiting for him at home and he wanted to be back there with Greed, safe in their bed beneath a mound of blankets that would hide him from everyone. He just wanted to go home.
With the bird inside the cage making a fuss about being dropped, and whoever it was in the corner shrieking as it ran past him, Edward had been left completely disoriented. But there was one thing that he had caught, and that had been a familiar head of long, green hair. It was too much of a coincidence for there to be someone out here in this random town that had the exact same hair as Envy and, as much as Edward had been trying to avoid him recently (since all apologizing ever did was make matters that much worse), he was just so relieved to find someone that he recognized that he rushed out the door and down the hallway after him. "Envy!" he called, hating how his voice echoed in the empty hallway, almost afraid that it would attract whatever ghosts were haunting the place. But, of course, that was ridiculous because there was no such thing as ghosts. "Envy, wait!" he cried again, just desperate to have someone familiar with him in this damned place. "Dammit, Envy, I'm not gonna hurt you, I swear, just stop!"
. . .That voice. Envy slid to a stop and had to catch himself on a dirty wall before he fell. When he turned and managed to see beyond the wild hair in his face, he didn't know whether to be relieved or even more terrified than he had been before. What were the chances of Edward being there with him when no one else was? Envy felt something rise up in his throat--almost like a scream--and catch there. Edward was there. He was there and he was going to hurt him again, but this time, at least, Envy could run. "S-stay away from me," he managed tightly and began taking quick steps back. He hated that he was so afraid of a fucking human, but it was the human that knew his only two weaknesses. A human that had hurt him before by using both of them. There was no telling what Edward planned to do now and it wasn't fair that someone as strong as Envy was powerless against a pathetic human. But it wasn't Envy's fault that Edward cheated. The backs of Envy's legs hit an overturned gurney and he fell over it with the near-scream he'd been holding it, thinking the bed-on-wheels was one of the monsters just waiting there so it could surprise him and grab him away.
It just made Edward sick to his stomach watching Envy and hearing Envy and just realizing how scared of the blonde he was. How could he have done this to someone?! He just watched the homunculus back away from him, not knowing what to do or say to make him at least just stay and hear him out. And all this noise they were making . . . Edward's mind was shrieking at them to just be quiet because someone or something could hear them and, in this town, he got the feeling that they didn't want either one of them coming and finding them. When Envy finally fell over the gurney, Edward snapped back to reality and he rushed forward instinctively to help him up, but he skidded to a halt a couple of feet away, remembering that Envy was terrified of him. He stepped around so that the homunculus could see him and he held out his hands to show him that he meant no harm. "Are you okay?" he asked, and then realized that, even if he wasn't, he would be in just a few seconds. He took a deep breath and started tugging off his gloves, letting them drop to the floor. "Look, I've got nothing on me, Envy, " he rolled up his sleeves as he spoke, and turned out his pants pockets, finally unbuttoning his shirt down to where his vest started. "I couldn't hurt you, even if I wanted to. I just want to know what's going on -- what you're doing here; what exactly here is; why there's no one actually here; why it's raining freaking ashes outside!"
When Edward moved closer Envy forgot all about the humiliating sound he'd made and tried to scramble away, but with his legs draped over and tangled in the gurney, he couldn't get very far because he only made it to his elbows before he was pulled back down. And the more he struggled the worse it got because the old sheets in the fucking thing seemed to have crawled around both legs. He was left sprawled and panting on the ground with his hair fucking everywhere and it didn't dawn on him to turn into something that could just fly away from the mess. Edward didn't want to hurt him? That was bullshit. Out of everything that had ever happened to Envy in all his 400 years, nothing had ever hurt as badly as what Edward had done. Being killed or blow up or set on fire wasn't as bad, because nothing was worse than losing absolute control of the body you'd created for yourself. It was humiliating, degrading, painful, and just everything horrible to go through that, especially at the hands of someone you so had so badly wanted to kill before. Now he was only grateful to be far away from Edward where he couldn't be hurt. But he was there again, once again with no one to save him, and the thought of his body being used like that another time made him tremble. He didn't know if he would be able to stand being in his favorite form if it happened to him once more, and he didn't want to have to change to another body. "Don't touch me."
Edward shut his eyes and took a few deep breaths. Freaking out obviously wasn't going to help right now and Envy was making that incredibly clear by getting all tangled up in the stupid hospital bed. He was also making it excruciatingly clear that they weren't going to get anywhere because the homunculus was terrified of him. It hurt so bad, but the blonde had brought it on himself, he knew, and he wasn't going to ever be able to make up for it. A metal rattling back down the hall startled the blonde and then he heard the bird which reminded him that he'd left it behind even though Bathroom Therapist Man had told him to take care of it while he was there. Turning back to Envy, he clapped his hands and then pressed them to the floor, sending the alchemic reaction light across the floor and towards the sheets and gurney, twisting them back and releasing the homunculus' legs. When he stood again, he considered saying something, but decided that, whatever he said, would probably only make things worse anyway, so instead, he just turned and walked back down the hallway towards the room they'd left to retrieve the stupid bird.
Envy thought it was over when he saw the alchemic reaction heading for him and he covered his head to ready for it to completely destroy him, only it never came. Instead the sheets around his legs vanished and he fell free, his feet lightly hitting the floor. Somewhere down the hall he heard chirping and clattering and wondered what the hell the bird making that noise was doing. But it was all right, because Edward would go his own way, and Envy would go his. Shakily he stood and tried to brush the incident off as if it had been nothing. Apparently Edward really wasn't going to hurt him again, which meant somehow, Envy had gotten a break. Though when it came to the creatures hiding there and Edward, he would rather deal with the human, because at least eventually Edward would die. The things here were entirely new and not what he wanted to deal with. But if Edward was going in that direction then Envy would go in this one. And that was where he headed, sure that if he went deeper, way farther than any monster would go, then he would be safer. That was his reasoning until he heard a sound that made him freeze in place: the siren.
Edward did the same, finding himself standing outside of the room they'd run out of, in which the bird was still stuck. He forgot about opening the door for the moment, however, more focused on the sound that seemed to be coming from outside somewhere. Sirens. But louder than any fire truck, ambulance, or squad car he'd heard before. And where were they coming from? It sounded like it should be coming from some sort of speaker system around the town, but he hadn't seen any coming in. Nevertheless, whatever they were and wherever they were coming from, there was on thing that Edward knew and that was that sirens always meant trouble for someone. He turned around to face the opposite wall but staring up at the ceiling as if that would actually help him understand what was going on. "What the hell is that?" he asked the ceiling worriedly.
If Envy had been right in assuming the siren meant what he thought it did, then all hell was about to break loose, and he really, really didn't want to be out in the open when it did. Frantic, he turned and looked at his surroundings for somewhere to hide, although the siren was making it completely difficult to concentrate on what to do. It was so loud and every time it rose to its highest pitch it felt like his head was splitting. Envy didn't want to be out in the open but what could he do?! Any second it would get dark and fuck he needed to do something. Anything. What? And then his gaze fell on Edward who looked as confused as Envy had been the first time he heard the siren when he arrived. Edward wasn't going to kill him, and whatever came with the Darkness would. Edward was, clearly, the lesser of two evils. And as terrified as he was of his half-brother hurting him again, he was even more afraid of the things he couldn't kill--and that he hadn't brought stones along because he'd had Greed and Gaara was even more worrying. Envy raced forward, not thinking about what Edward could do to him anymore, and grabbed the sleeve of the blond's shirt. "Edward," he said in panic, eyes wide as they locked on a grimy window so he could watch what he could see of the sky outside. "We have to go."
The blonde nearly jumped again as he felt the hand on his arm and wasn't quite as relieved as he should have been seeing that it was Envy. Something was clearly wrong, and if that wasn't obvious enough from his expression and the tone of his voice, it was clear just from the fact that, not only was the homunculus saying that "they" had to go, but he was also touching Edward of his own free will. He just watched Envy for a few long moments until one of the sirens wailed again and he followed Envy's gaze out of the window. "Why?" he asked, turning back to him. "What's going on? What do those sirens mean? What's coming?" Those sirens were unlike anything he'd heard before in his life and the very sound of them in this empty ghost town made his heart race in his chest. Just what the hell was happening?!
God why was Edward so fucking stupid?! Did it take something to hit him in the head to get him to fucking move? There wasn't time to fucking explain what the sirens meant and what was coming! If Edward wanted to ask questions then he could do it some other fucking time! Envy couldn't be bothered to respond just then anyway, because the sky started getting darker, and he watched in horror as their surroundings seemed to peel and melt away. It was happening again, and Envy didn't know what they'd get this time. It was all getting so dark. He'd never been afraid of the dark before because the monsters hiding in it were nothing to him. Now they were the things that he had to run from, and if he was in the dark with them, then he couldn't see them when they came. Envy's hand spasmed and his fingers tightened so that his nails dug into the arm he was clinging to, but he didn't even realize it. The last bit of light was slowly vanishing as pieces of the walls and ceiling dropped, replaced by the Darkness. And Envy huddled closer to Edward because as much as he hated him, he was something to hold on to. Maybe something to distract the creatures from him.
The first thing that Edward noticed was the pain in his arm and winced, looking down at Envy's hands and reaching over to try and pull them off. At this rate he was going to lose another one of his arms. "Envy, come on, let go!" he grunted, wondering if the homunculus was, actually, trying to tear his arm off. When he looked up at Envy's face, however, he saw the sheer terror written all over it and he followed his gaze again, looking at the walls of the hospital that were slowly peeling away. He looked in every direction and it was happening as far as he could see, which just didn't make sense because walls didn't just melt like that for no reason! What the hell was this place?! The bird started having a fit again, and Edward glanced back at the door, and then out at the hallway again before making a decision. He quickly shoved the door open and grabbed the dropped cage, damming that son of a bitch for giving him something so stupid to watch over, and the closed his hand around Envy's arm and tugged him down the hallway towards the main entrance as fast as he could, hoping that they would be safer outside. "Come on!"
Envy made a sound as he was yanked forward and he stumbled, once, twice, and four times before catching himself. There was barely any light left and just that small amount was almost gone, so where the hell did Edward think they were going? And that fucking bird was making so much noise that anything they were hiding from was going to find them anyway! "Drop the cage!" he hissed in fear as he glanced over his shoulder, watching as the blackness seemed to chase after them. What the fuck was he carrying a bird for anyway?! What sort of idiot brought a noisy bird in a cage with him to some random ghost town? Apparently the kind of idiot that thought it was fine to leave behind his brother and best friend for someone he was in love with and couldn't have. All he could do now, though, was go with Edward, because at least he could fight long-range using his alchemy. Envy had to be close to do anything, even if he was an animal, and as the creatures here couldn't be completely destroyed, it was absolutely pointless. All it would do was wound him and use up the stones in him until none were left and he was killed. Sticking with Edward would extend his life until he could get the fuck out of there. And then Edward could figure out how to escape on his own. Though, really, he didn't believe for one second that Edward was going to keep him safe. Edward only cared about himself and Alphonse and as Envy was neither, he could only depend on using the blond as bait.
Each time Envy stumbled, Edward stopped to help him straighten up again, but it was slowing them down so much and damn if the bird wasn't helping at all! What the hell was the point of carrying the stupid thing along?! All it was doing was making it harder for Edward to think and it was going to give their position away! Bathroom Therapist Man had told him that everything he'd been given was important, he just didn't understand what possible use the bird could have! Still, he'd hold onto it as long as he could, but there was no way he was sacrificing his and Envy's lives for the damn thing. With the light fading, though, he remembered the flashlight and he swung the birdcage at Envy, forcing the handle into his hand. "Hold that!" he ordered and then dug around in his coat pocket for the flashlight, pulling it out and clicking it on so they could see where they were going.
Envy might have snarled something at Edward if it hadn't grown dark and nearly silent. The fucking bird kept twittering every few seconds, but at least it had stopped flying around the cage like an idiot. Envy didn't want to hold the cage. He didn't want to stand there. He wanted to move and get away but there was no place he could go if he couldn't see. And the only way he could see was if he stuck by Edward, since he had gotten a flashlight from somewhere. Envy gripped onto the handle of the cage with both trembling hands, curling in on himself and looking around at what the hallway had turned into. The light from the flashlight wasn't much, but it was much, much better than nothing at all. Though a part of him was afraid to look where the flashlight was shining because there was no telling what it would fall on, and seeing just a small portion of one of the creatures was likely to be more terrifying than seeing all of it. He swallowed hard and didn't say a single word, instead straining to listen so they would know if anything came.
When the flashlight was the only light that was left, Edward finally stopped running, trying hard not to pant too loudly and keeping a firm grip on Envy's arm to reassure himself that the homunculus was still there. He moved the beam of light slowly from side to side along the hallway, almost afraid of what might come into its path as he started walking slowly in the direction they'd been going. They should be near the main entrance, if he remembered right, and then they could get outside and out of this nightmare. He never should have come into the hospital to begin with, he should have just caved and passed it by and moved on to another building! But . . . then he wouldn't have found Envy, and who knows what would have happened to him if he'd just stayed in there by himself? Edward wrapped his arm around one of the homunculus' as they walked, keeping him close, for both of their sakes. They finally reached what Edward was certain was the lobby he turned the corner with Envy . . . and stopped in his tracks. About halfway across the room were the most grotesque-looking nurses the blonde had ever seen. Their faces were misshapen beyond all recognition and they were moving towards them, but Edward couldn't move, he could only stare at them in horror, his hands closing painfully around the flashlight and Envy's arm.
A chill trickled down Envy's spine when he felt Edward wind their arms together and he had to force down a cry. Edward was fucking touching him. The same hands that had held onto him as he'd been . . . Envy shuddered again. Would it be better to be on his own in this place, or be with the person that had violated him so much? The answer fled Envy's mind once they rounded the corner. All of the nurses were moving at once--albeit slowly--but the way they moved was like something straight out of a horror film. Their bodies jerked with every movement and they didn't even have eyes. Envy tried to take a step back but was held in place by Edward's hand and fuck he wasn't going to stand here and be killed because of the idiot! Envy tore his arm away, ignoring the pain that came from nails scraping his flesh, and ran back the way they'd come.
It barely even registered that Envy had gone until Edward felt his own nails digging into his own hand. He looked to the side but saw nothing but blackness and then looked back in front of him and saw the nurses still moving towards him. Finally, his feet were working again and he turned to run after Envy in what he hoped was the direction he'd gone in, but before he even made it three feet, he found himself staring at another group of the nurses. He stopped and backed away from them slowly, turning to see the others were still moving towards him. "E-Envy?" he called, hating the terrified sound of his voice but desperate to get away from these things. "Envy?!" he cried again, more loudly this time. "Dammit, Envy, help me! Don't just leave me here, you bastard!" All he could do was stare and back away as the disgusting things closed in on him, looking like half-formed homunculi and Edward just couldn't do anything! "Envy!"
When Envy heard his name being called he slid to an ungraceful stop, but didn't turn. He'd gotten away easily only because Edward was there to distract them from him. And if he left the blond there, he'd finally be killed, and Envy wouldn't have to go anywhere near him for it to happen. The little bastard would finally be out of his way, and this death was likely to be painful, which was just what he deserved. After everything Edward had done to him he would deserve to be abandoned and slaughtered. There probably wasn't much more that he did deserve. Envy glanced over his shoulder and saw the muffled light around the corner where Edward was with his flashlight, and the shadows danced over the rotting walls. How the fuck was he supposed to get Edward out of that enormous mess? There were too many of them! The bird kept shrilling and he glanced down at it in thought. A moment later the cage with the bird inside was flung through the air and right into the first blockade of nurses, knocking them into each other where they proceeded to slice themselves while trying to get at it.
Well, that was the end of the bird and Edward really didn't care. It had been annoying and a liability and it's death had distracted the nurses and made a small opening in their ranks. He waited until it had grown a little more and then he threw himself onto the floor, crawling past them as quickly as he could and not daring to let any part of him touch their disgusting bodies. Once he was through, he pushed himself up to his feet and just started running, not even looking where he was going. He knew that it had to have been Envy, but he didn't know what direction it had been thrown from and, for all he knew, the homunculus was long gone anyway, so he just ran, not looking where he was going, just trying to get away from the things in the lobby. He wasn't sure how far he got before he suddenly ran into someone, something, he didn't even know what and he couldn't even look, all he did was scream.
That hurt Envy's head more than the siren had, but at least he could make this noise shut up. With a strangled sound of frustration he brought up one hand and lashed it directly across Edward's face. "Shut up!" he snarled, more in fear than anything else. The only reason Envy had screamed was because he'd been startled and it had lasted for two seconds. Edward, on the other hand, was screaming like some fucking woman being murdered! The distraction he'd created was going to go to hell if those damned creatures were pulled over to them again by the idiot's screaming! If Envy had gone out of his way to save him only to be brought right into trouble, he was going to hand him over to those fucking things himself and use the opening to escape for good, and next time he wouldn't look back at all.
Edward cowered away from whatever it was he'd slammed into and had just slapped him, holding his arms up defensively until he heard that wonderfully familiar voice. He went to hold the flashlight up to see if it was really Envy, but it had skittered away without the blonde realizing it when Envy had smacked him. It didn't take long to find, of course, but as Edward scrambled over to get it, he realized that the hallway wasn't as dark as it had been just a moment ago -- he could see things slowly coming into view that were outside of the beam from the flashlight. He picked it up and surveyed it over the walls, seeing them beginning to melt again, changing again. What the hell was going on now?! He wasn't sure he wanted to know. Sheer morbid curiosity, however, made him light up the nurses. he wasn't sure what was happening to them at first; they seemed to start glowing from the inside, and then the glow started eating away their flesh. Edward backed up into a wall as he realized what was happening.
This time it hadn't lasted long at all and Envy slumped back against the wall behind him in pure relief. There was no telling when the next siren would go off, but for now, at least, they were all right. Slowly Envy sunk to the floor and pulled his knees to his chest where he hugged them tightly. That time hadn't been as bad as the others, either. The creatures this time had been slower whereas some of the others had been quick. Envy buried his face in his legs and took slow, deep breaths. What would happen if he never got out of there? He wouldn't be able to marry Greed or piss Gaara off anymore. And he wouldn't get to see Sasuke again. Sasuke, who had said he would go with him to Silent Hill, and hadn't showed up. Envy should have known his best friend wasn't going to take him seriously when he asked for help, even after everything he'd done for Sasuke. Now he was stuck in this fucking place where he had to hide when it got dark, and the only company he had was a God damn rapist. He should've thrown Edward at the nurses and kept the bird.
When the nurses finally burned up and the darkness faded away, Edward took a moment to make sure that it had actually stopped before clicking off the flashlight and walking slowly over the place where the nurses had cornered him and he looked down at the mangled corpse of the bird along with the mangled cage it had been in. Other than that there was absolutely no sign that the nurses had ever been there and Edward surveyed the general area before walking back over to Envy and crouching down beside him. "Envy," he said, "what the hell just happened? Obviously you've been here longer than I have and have seen this happen before, so what was it? What were those things and how did whoever's working those sirens know they were coming?" Because clearly that was what the sirens were for. "What is this place?"
Envy flinched away when he heard Edward's voice so close to him. "I don't know," he replied after a moment and buried his hands in his hair again as if it made everything better. "The sirens go on, it gets dark, and things come out. I lost Gaara and Greed, the town's empty, and the ashes keep falling. The entire town's cut off from everything. I can't. . ." Envy dragged the nails of one hand over his scalp, relishing in the relief the pain caused, and then raked them over one thigh through his pants. "They can't die, and they're. . .everywhere. I just. . . " his voice rose in pitch and he strangled back a whimper. ". . . wanna go home now. Be with Greed and everyone else. I like being there, not here. Just wanna be there." Where he would be protected even when he demanded that everyone back off of him because he didn't need protection.
Of course Edward couldn't blame him at all since he'd rather be in his hotel room -- or hell, even the Otori mansion would be better than this place! And to think that he'd just been complaining about having to dress up like a nurse earlier that morning. Edward would gladly put on that damned costume again and wear it all around Tokyo and Central City if it meant just getting out of this town. He had no idea what Envy was even doing there, but he could find out later, if the homunculus would let him, he just wanted to get out of the fucking hospital. He stood and shoved the flashlight into his coat so both of his hands were free and he held the flesh one out to Envy. "Come on," he said gently, "let's get the fuck out of here. I dunno about you, but I don't want to be stuck in here when whatever those things are come out again."
Well that Envy could definitely agree to, because being stuck with any of the damn things again wasn't something he would like to do at all. When he looked up and saw the hand offered to him, however, he hesitated; take the hand of the only one that had ever truly hurt him? Envy didn't trust him, and he definitely wasn't stupid. Ignoring the hand, he got to his feet, stepped away from the wall, and headed in the direction of the entrance. There wasn't any way out of Silent Hill--Envy really had looked everywhere--and Edward wasn't going to be able to just create one with his alchemy. Out of all the people to be stuck with in a place like this, it had to be Edward, didn't it? Someone really thought they were fucking funny, sticking the two of them together and expecting there to be no bloodshed in the end. Envy needed to find a weapon. He needed to find anything that he would be able to use against Edward in the case of a last minute, surprise attack. This time, Envy decided, it wouldn't be him that got fucked.
To be continued . . .