Nightmare Update (about damned time, I know.)

[nomdeplume13]

Once it was obvious that Ed wasn’t in the room somewhere, Al stopped his search and began trying to explain to the guards and to Roy that Wrath had been there and likely used his alchemy to spirit away his older brother. Riza knew better than to doubt either of the Elric brothers by now, especially Al who was not prone to telling a few fibs here or there. However, the guards disregarded the young man’s words altogether and Roy seemed to doubt them, as he continued looking, even in places where he knew Ed could not possibly be.

Realizing they would not get anywhere any time soon, she made a call to Sgt. Fuery to track down Breda and Hohenheim along with the rest of the team. The people on the outside could start the search long before it seemed anyone trapped inside the house ever could.

Being pulled through dirt and rock was not high up on the Ed’s list of things to do, and he understood why, as his stomach had a lurching feeling as his automail foot finally rested on solid ground and Wrath did his best to support Ed’s body.

“You’ll need to brace yourself on something,” de Havilland said. “Just a moment.” He tapped his fingers together and then pressed two to the wall of the cave, creating a modified crutch out of the stone and clay of the earth around them.

“You bastard! Take me back! You son of a-” Ed found a hand over his mouth.

“Shut up,” Wrath said, holding his automail hand firmly in place. “Gluttony’s down here and he’s looking for a meal. If you yell, it might as well be a dinner call.”

Anton slipped the crutch beneath Ed’s automail arm as Wrath released his metallic hand from Ed’s mouth.

“What would it matter?” Ed asked. “You’re going to kill me anyway.”

“I should. I’d like to,” de Havilland answered as he pulled a paper from the breast pocket in his uniform coat. Unfolding it carefully, he showed it to Ed. “Does this look at all familiar to you?”

The transmutation circle carefully drawn on the paper was definitely familiar to Ed. It was the circle that, with the body of the original person, could weaken a homunculi and force them to give up their red stones. Only, Ed noticed two strange changes.

“You don’t have this right,” Ed said. “If you’re trying to get rid of Gluttony, there are two symbols on here that aren’t correct. That sun would expel energy and-”

“I know it will,” de Havilland replied. “That would be the intention. And that symbol down below, that represents sacrifice.”

“You are going to kill me then,” Ed said, a dread in his gut that he knew wouldn’t have been there had he not found some comfort in his whatever-it-was with Roy. He would have welcomed death a few weeks before.

“You just don’t get it, Fullmetal, and I doubt you ever will. Legacy means nothing to you because you have good one. You are the people’s alchemist. Those who know me might know me as a good lawyer, but more than likely they hate me. All of my records will become public tomorrow, and those that didn’t before most certainly will.”

“You’re going to pass yourself off as a hero then? Show that you saved the world from a big bad monster, but omit that you created it?”

The older man practically growled at Ed as he hastily jerked the teen along. “As I said, you of all people do not understand.”

Receiving the message from Sgt. Fuery, Hohenheim found himself with two additional members of Mustang’s team and a lurching feeling in his stomach. He’d not done right by his boys, but especially to Ed. He wouldn’t let his son down again. He couldn’t.

“How do we get down below? We don’t have the kind of authority to get down into the underground city,” Heymans said. Fuery was only a sergeant and the other man was a warrant officer, Falman, who had helped occasionally with their research.

“I could use alchemy. Though, it might cause a bit of attention to whatever is down below,” Hohenheim said, hesitating only because his centuries of experience told him that he could very well cause more harm to his son than help.

“Or you could get someone who has the status to get down to the city,” a male voice said behind him.

“Havoc, we thought you’d abandoned us for greener pastures,” Heymans said.

“I do not particularly like being compared to a field or any other geological or agricultural formations,” a woman said. Hohenheim thought to himself as he turned that she was a rather attractive but obviously formidable woman. She turned to her right and addressed a man behind her. “Are you coming baby brother? Or do I have to drag you?”

“Of course not,” the mountain of a man said as he took up the rear. “An Armstrong never runs from battle or from older siblings. No matter how fearsome either are.”

The woman turned back and rolled her eyes. “I would imagine a major general might have some authority.” She briskly walked by Heymans and Hohenheim. “Come on all of you. Who knows what we might encounter below?”

“What about the chief?” Heymans asked as he tried to keep up with her.

“I spoke with someone in the JAG. She said that she had been talking with Captain de Havilland and that the dropping of all charges was in the works. I decided to put a little pressure to speed up the process and I am sure that Mustang as well as the lieutenant and the younger Elric will be out on a search for Fullmetal in under an hour.” The woman moved ahead fluidly as she walked, leading the makeshift team that apparently included Hohenheim, himself.

“You know,” Heymans said as they walked on, “I really don’t blame you, Havoc.”

The blond man gave a small smile and moved to keep his own pace enough to stay near the major general’s side. There was a small part of Hohenheim that wanted to get angry at the slight tone of levity in the two men, but he knew that despite their words, they were taking the situation and Ed’s safety very seriously.

“I have orders that they are to be released,” a lieutenant said as she spoke to the guards who continued to search Roy’s home. “They have been signed by Captain de Havilland, and as he has essentially placed me as second in command of JAG, I order that you allow these three to go free and search for the captain and Major Elric.”

The woman was not overly tall, probably around Ed’s height, and that reminder made Al’s heart clench. His brother had been recovered once before, damaged and wounded, but alive. He was almost afraid to hope that he might find his brother again. Fate didn’t turn out that way for his family. He shook his head and tried to remind himself that he was an optimist, even more so than his brother.

The lieutenant then looked up at Roy, saluting him despite the fact he was dressed in pajamas and a robe. “Brigadier General, I have reason to suspect that the captain is going to do something drastic. I hope that you will allow me to help you in your search for him and the major.”

Roy nodded and shrugged off the robe, obviously not caring any more than the lieutenant that he was in plaid pajamas as he headed from the house, daring any of the guards to touch him. It was as though with the words that he was a free man, the persona of the Flame Alchemist returned. The only difference was the apparent concern in the older man’s eyes for Al’s brother.

Al followed as quickly behind as he could. He was surprised at the speed with which Roy was leaving the house despite appearing he was moving with a normal gait. Riza, obviously, had more experience keeping up with the older man and was at his side in a near mirror image.

“Lieutenant,” Roy said as the brunette woman gave a quick jog to keep up. “Do you have any idea where the Captain may have gone or what he may have done with Ed?”

“None, sir,” she answered, “but we might best start with the problems underground. The captain’s behavior seemed centered around whatever was causing the quake. I would recommend we go underground.”

“If he took him from the house, we’d need the closest possible entrance to the city beneath Central,” Roy said.

“The sewer,” Al said. “Those boys that were found came from there, so it makes sense we’d find the city that way.”

“Your wound, sir,” Riza said, apparently back into military mode as she looked at Roy.

“Is healed enough. We’re going to the sewer. I won’t live with myself if I miss saving Ed because I took the long way around.”

Anton drew out the transmutation circle, with Wrath forcing Ed to stay as quiet as was possible. The blond really was sure he was going to die at Anton’s hands. Well, the attorney supposed he hadn’t done much to reinforce anything other than that idea in the teen’s head. And yes, there was a part of Anton that wished it was Ed who would be the sacrifice today after all the misery the teen had caused him, even inadvertently.

But the sacrifice would be the one person who caused most of Anton’s woes in life.

“The circle’s done,” he said. He went back over to Ed, who was struggling against Wrath with all the strength he had in him. It was fairly obvious that if he was at his normal health, Ed might have proven a bit of a challenge physically against the homunculus. Anton had to admit that was rather impressive.

The lawyer walked back over to Ed and fiercely grabbed the teen’s jaw in his hand. “Now, listen to me. The last thing I have left is my legacy. My life from here on out is ruined because the things I did under the fuhrer have been leaked. Unlike you, I did not have a commanding officer who let little facts like putting souls in armor and human transmutation stay out of my permanent record. A quick glance through the proper files in the fuhrer’s office could tell a person exactly what I did, if they knew where to look.

“So here is the deal, Mr. Elric. Gregor knows now exactly what lies in the city above. He knows there are plenty of humans, plenty of food for him to devour. From what Wrath has told me, Dante destroyed what was left of my brother’s humanity, and argue what you will, but the fact that Wrath can feel sympathy for your friend Winry proves there is humanity there.”

“I’m still here,” Wrath reminded the lawyer, obviously tired of being spoken of as though he wasn’t.

“Yes, you are. But unfortunately, you aren’t the one I need at the moment. Your alchemy’s been severely limited since you lost most of your redstones.” Anton looked squarely at the young blond who was scowling at him. He was prepared to explain more, knowing that Fullmetal didn’t trust him and for perfectly good reason. “I need you, Ed to perform this transmutation because you are a skilled alchemist, because no matter how much trouble you have been, what was done to you by the fuhrer was wrong. Completely and totally wrong.”

Of course, Ed wouldn’t understand why this was important, why getting rid of Gregor would mean something so important or why Dante had always been so set on keeping the otherwise mindless homunculi around for so long. Unfortunately, there was a rumbling sound in the distance.

“When my brother, or what is left of him, crosses that line, I want you to perform the transmutation no matter what.”

“What about the sacrifice?” Ed asked.

“No matter what,” Anton hissed. “One life or hundreds, thousands even. You decide.”

Ed started to move into the circle, looking as though he’d resigned himself to not having a choice in the matter any longer.

“Not you, you blockheaded prodigy!” Anton shoved Ed back to the ground harshly and moved to the center of the circle. “Gregor! Gregor! It’s your little brother! Come and find me!”

“Anton…” a growling voice said in the distance of the buried city. “Brother… Kill… Eat…”

“Come on Gregor. Come on for your last supper!” The sounds of buildings crumbling in the distance filled and echoed through the cavern. Growling echoed around and made the usually cool man shiver.

“Don’t do this!” Ed yelled out. “Stop him some other way!”

“There is none! Just do the transmutation!”

“You can find forgiveness some other way, de Havilland!”

“This isn’t about absolution, Fullmetal. This is about living on the only way I have left.” Of course, the older man didn’t speak up loud enough to be heard. Instead, he tried to find bravery somewhere hidden inside of him to remain in place as an enormous figure looming above buildings three, four stories high.

“My God, what has become of you, Gregor?”

“Brother…” The monster that had once been Gregor’s double then let out a fierce, feral growl.

The cavern was dark, but not impossible to see in, as though an unnatural light kept it from being complete darkness. It had taken some convincing on Olivier’s part to convince the men with her not to try to provide any kind of light. She knew that not only could it draw out whatever was there in the darkness, but that if they lost the source of light somehow, their eyes would not be accustomed to the darkness and would be moving blind.

The city-Xerxes Hohenheim called it-appeared to have been a fairly advanced city for its time. If the myths about Xerxes were true, it disappeared hundreds of years ago, and yet, it seemed at least as advanced as Amestris had been a hundred years ago.

Olivier could hear the growling and pained cries for a brother in the distance.

“That’s Gluttony,” Lt. Breda said. “We are fairly sure that de Havilland created him.”

“That creature eats people, kills them and ingests them,” Hohenheim clarified. “I believe Dante kept it around not only for its killing capacity, but also for what it could be used to make.”

“You aren’t suggesting that homunculus could be used to create the… the philosopher’s stone?” Alex asked.

“Based upon what I’ve heard about the philosopher’s stone, that would be a reasonable assumption,” Olivier said.

“Is there any way to stop it?” Jean asked.

“We’d need a piece of the homunculi’s body to begin with,” Hohenheim said. “It’s very likely that Captain de Havilland would have it on him as a sort of protection.”

“If those kids weren’t exaggerating about this thing, I know I would,” Lt. Breda said.

Olivier hushed her group as they reached the mouth of the cave, not wanting to risk letting whatever it was still growling to hear any of them and head in their direction. Not yet at least.

She signaled them all with a quick wave of her hand to move onward and began the slow descent down the rock wall do the city streets below.

“Brother!” Gluttony cried as he spotted Anton. Wrath couldn’t help but smirk that there was something almost Alphonse-ish in the way Gluttony did-and always had-refer to Anton.

With a loud cry, the large monster began ripping through the decrepit buildings, body leaking and spewing red liquid. As the liquid hit the ground and cooled, there was no denying what they were.

“Redstones,” Ed said.

The young homunculus nodded while trying to resist the urge to gather them up and devour them just to feel strong again.

What initially looked like tails whipped back over Gluttony’s main head, all turning and facing Anton, misshapen heads attached to each tail reformed, spewing more red liquid as dull teeth and malformed mouths changed to reveal feral grins and enormous fangs.

“Brother,” all four faces said in unison.

Looking down at the blond man, Wrath could see the doubt on his face. It was obvious that what had seemed like a brilliant idea no longer seemed so great. There was fear apparent on Anton’s face and the homunculus could almost watch the much-too-brilliant mind trying to find a way to back out, a way to go back to his old ways of running as quickly as he could to get away.

“De Havilland, get out of there! Don’t be an idiot!” the younger blond yelled out, always the hero.

Gluttony’s attention was now divided and Wrath wanted to seriously hurt, maim, kill Ed. Now the big lumbering fool had spotted both Ed and Wrath. “You kill Lust!”

“Damn you!” Wrath said, leaping away from the teen before Gluttony began his first strike. One of those feral mouths came after him, chasing him as he made his way into the window of a building and back out again. Wrath led the seemingly ever-growing tentacle-heads through alleys and buildings until it looped back beneath its own body. Others circled beneath to meet it, to devour Wrath, making a pair of lame human legs that dangled pointlessly beneath Gluttony’s middle swing like a marionette’s without a puppeteer.

Two of the heads collided while the other struggled to get around them and to Wrath.

“Is he really the one you want?!” Anton yelled. “Or is it me?! I made you and left you with Dante!”

The third mouth latched onto Wrath, but the young homunculus managed to pry himself loose, despite the enormous amount of damage done. Wrath needed time to recover, to let his body heal, and he knew it would take longer than it might have before. Thankfully, Anton’s act of bravery had distracted Gluttony and brought his attention back to his creator.

“Brother! Die!” the thing said as it charged at Anton.

“Do the transmutation, Fullmetal!” Anton shouted at Ed.

Gluttony’s main jaws caught hold of the lawyer’s body and with a snap that seemed to echo throughout the cavernous city, his body was broken, blood spewing from his mouth, eyes growing lifeless until there was nothing. Gluttony didn’t get to finish chewing his creator’s lifeless form as he was now frozen to the spot by the necklace around Anton’s neck.

Ed clapped his hands together, finally proving to be of some use. It really wasn’t necessary for him to do the clap, but it was most likely habit. He then lowered his hands down to the dirt and stone streets, activating the circle. It glowed bright white before fading to pink and eventually the color of blood as Gluttony’s body seemed to rip apart from the inside.

It was an awful sight, but there was no taking his eyes away from it, even if he wanted to as Wrath watched, still bleeding, himself, at a safe enough distance, wondering just how long it would take to heal this time because he was feeling light-headed. That at least was his excuse as to why the brilliant red light and explosion that followed sent him to the ground.

Roy staggered back against the sewer wall, holding what had been his eye and crying out in pain. He vaguely heard Al’s voice as its sounds matched his own, along with a few of the guards from his home making similar noises of suffering.

“Brigadier General? Mr. Elric?”

“Roy? Al?”

He couldn’t really register the owners of the voices until the pain finally stopped, as did the bright red light that had flooded everything around them He glanced back. “Are you okay, Al?”

“Fine,” the young man said. “I just want to get to Brother.”

Roy nodded, glad that the same perseverance that Ed possessed seemed to be a family trait. “Let’s go on.” Whatever had happened to his eye socket could be checked out later. At the moment, he needed to find Ed.

Reaching the end of the tunnel and coming out near the roof of a house, Roy was about to suggest they jump when Al clapped his hands together and created a bridge between the two. It seemed with his new body, he’d also found out how to use himself as a transmutation circle as his brother had always done. Roy went down first, trusting the young man’s handiwork to support his weight. Reaching the building, however, it was difficult for Roy to wait for the other three rather than running off right away to try to find Ed.

“I have a strange feeling,” Al said as he headed down onto the rooftop, helping Riza and the lieutenant down. “It’s familiar, and not a good familiar.” With everyone down from the sewage pipe, Al took off at a run, forcing the rest to keep up with him.

“What do you mean?” Roy asked him.

“It’s the feeling I had when I used the philosopher’s stone. It’s just kind of hanging here, all through this place,” Al said. He stopped at the edge of the building. “Look!” he said. “Down there. I see brother and I think it’s Wrath. They aren’t moving.”

With another clap of his hands, Al made another addition to the structure on which they stood. From Roy’s perspective, it looked like a giant slide to take them down the three stories to the ground.

“Quickest way down,” Al said as he immediately got on and started going at an alarming speed to the city floor. Roy hesitated only a moment, getting a look at the lifeless body with blond hair. Not waiting another moment, he was behind Al on the long plunge down to the street and heard Riza and the lieutenant behind him.

He had to admit he was impressed with the JAG officer for keeping up with them so well.

Al reached the bottom with no problem, though Roy landed less gracefully than his younger counterpart. The two didn’t waste the time to check on Riza, the lieutenant or the few stray guards who had followed them down into the sewers. Instead, both the brigadier general and the younger brother went to Ed’s side.

Al was the first to reach him and scooped the smaller body into his arms. “He’s lighter,” he noted as he gently checked his brother’s vitals. Roy was gently going over the teen’s body for any sign of injury, finding that not only were there no injuries, there was no automail either.

“Al… I think…” Before Roy could finish the thought, he heard the sounds of Ed rousing from his slumber.

“Mmm… I feel like I was hit by a truck. Wha-happened?”

“Don’t you remember, Brother?”

“Al, you sound funny.” Ed opened his eyes and looked up at the other teen first, letting out a great whoop that echoed through the city. “You got your body back!” Almost instantly, Ed was holding his own weight and wrapping his arms around his brother, at least, as much as he could with the cast on his arm. “What the hell? Did I hurt myself again? Shit. Winry’ll kill me if I busted the automail.”

He looked down at his right arm to check, a broad grin spreading across his face. “Ha!” Ed laughed and smiled so easily now.

“Ed?” Roy asked tentatively.

The grin faltered a moment, but turned into the smug smirk Roy had nearly forgotten over the last few months. “Hey, Bastard, guess you can accept this as my resignation. I’m whole, Al’s whole, and I’m done with the damned military.”

“Brother, don’t you remember anything at all?”

“No, but what does it matter? We’re back to normal, Al. Was it Scar and his philosopher’s stone? Or did the homunculi somehow manage-”

“I liked you better the other way,” said a hoarse voice as it approached. “You were all timid and obedient.”

“Wrath!” Ed jumped up, ready to fight.

“Good luck kicking my ass in two casts,” Wrath said, rubbing his neck as he walked beside Riza and the lieutenant, both pointing guns at him. “How the hell do you people do this? It is difficult to breathe, my joints are stiff…”

When Roy finally got a good look at the boy, he realized what Wrath meant. He still had his automail limbs, but it seemed the blast had corrected something in him as well. Eyes once violet with slits for pupils were now blue, even in the dim light of the cavern, he could see that. Teeth were flat in all the places they should have been flat.

“Look, I’ll explain everything to all of you as soon as we get to the surface, I just-”

“Al! Ed!” Several pairs of feet could be heard running near them. “Brigadier General!”

It was an unusual reunion with his team as they all seemed so grateful to see that everyone was in one piece.

The problem was, Ed genuinely looked at a loss. When Roy turned to the blond, he looked into the confused gold eyes and realized that the blast had not only given the teen back his limbs, but fixed the rape in the only way it could.

It had made him forget.

It made him forget everything.