When you're at the end of the road...
Characters: Edward Elric (circledhands) and Open (Anyone's welcome. No, really.)
Location: Dispensary; Shibusen
Rating: R (Just to be safe).
Time: Day Four; Mid Morning.
Description: More than twenty-four hours after the battle, an injured Edward is still in the dispensary.
Darkness all around. Blood was flowing down his side from the wound in his stomach that Kimbley had given him. His legs didn't want to move, didn't want to obey the orders from his mind screaming at them to keep going. Keep going. He had to keep moving forward. He couldn't stop. The pain in his chest, his side, the searing pain in his left arm... It was like every bone he'd ever broken, every injury he'd ever suffered was piled onto his body. He could taste the bitter copper in his mouth.
The taste matched the smell in the air, the scent that clung to his clothes, the thick liquid he was walking through that came up to his knees. Gluttony... Was he back inside of Gluttony again? No, no, he couldn't be. This was a long time since then. So many things had happened. Colonel, Hawkeye, Scar... Where were they? He'd left them... Left them under Central. They were still there, waiting for him. They needed to go. They needed to go fight. Amestris... Winry... Al... He needed to protect everyone. They couldn't... They couldn't lose. They couldn't. They were depending on him, supporting him.
The darkness was endless. It had to be Gluttony. The false gate. He wanted to look around for something to help him, someone to help him, but he couldn't stop walking. He kept moving forward, keeping his eyes on a wall that didn't exist.
. . .
White.
The room was white. Ed collapsed onto the floor, the blood flowing from his clothes and staining the pure color, pooling underneath his body. Gate... This. This was the gate. He forced himself up, sure that it took nearly all of his energy to support himself enough to lift his head. Who... Who was that? The gate was there, in front of him, but not his gate. No... No. Someone else's... someone...
"Al..."
The emaciated figure seated in front of the door smiled a sad smile at hearing his name, his hands on the suit of armor so large compared to his frail body that it seemed almost comical. Ed's eyes widened and he did his best to force himself to crawl forward, every part of his body screaming in protest.
"Al... Come with me..."
The small body didn't move, continuing to stare at his brother. The helmet of the armor had been tossed aside, the spike broken off, and Ed could clearly see inside the armor. The seal... The seal he'd drawn with his own blood to fix his younger brother's soul at the cost of his right arm. He'd been desperate, pleading with The Truth to give his brother back at any cost. Ed would have gladly died to be able to retrieve even the smallest part of his brother.
"Al... I can take you back. I'm... not your soul... But, please... You have to come with me..." He couldn't leave him here. No... No, he couldn't leave him. The armor was an artificial body and had started to reject Al's soul, his body calling it back. He couldn't stay fixed to the armor forever... Ed knew he needed to get to his brother, help him, save him before it was too late and he lost him forever. "...please..."
When Ed saw the sad, empty look on his younger brother's face, he tried to leap forward to grab onto him, but felt the familiar tug on his body. The tendrils from his own gate had wrapped themselves around him, holding him back. He struggled, thrashing, making every desperate attempt to get free even though his body ached so badly that he just wanted to give up. He could feel the tears start to sting his eyes. ...how long had it been since he'd cried? He always tried so hard to hide his emotions, to be strong for everyone...
"I'm sorry, Brother." Ed's body went temporarily limp at hearing Al's voice. No. No, no, no. That tone... The way he said it... Something was wrong. No. This wasn't right...
"Al, please! I--"
"I can't keep waiting for you. I'm sorry." Al moved his hands inside the armor, the spike from the helmet visible in his hands, and thrust the point into the middle of the blood seal. The armor cracked, then shattered into pieces. Al smiled, a soft and sad smile, before his body collapsed next to the broken metal.
No... No, no, no, no... The tendrils kept pulling him back, and Ed tried to fight against them, tried to run to his brother's side, but they only pulled back harder, tightened their hold around him and pulled him, without warning, back through his gate. The doors shut, the hollow sound moving through the white open space, the only other noise the echoes of Ed's screams.
"Alphonse! Alphonse!" The desperate cry left his lips without him even regaining consciousness. Edward had been confined to the bed in Shibusen's dispensary for the past twenty-four hours, unconscious and barely responsive until the moment his nightmares finally seemed to break him.
Location: Dispensary; Shibusen
Rating: R (Just to be safe).
Time: Day Four; Mid Morning.
Description: More than twenty-four hours after the battle, an injured Edward is still in the dispensary.
Darkness all around. Blood was flowing down his side from the wound in his stomach that Kimbley had given him. His legs didn't want to move, didn't want to obey the orders from his mind screaming at them to keep going. Keep going. He had to keep moving forward. He couldn't stop. The pain in his chest, his side, the searing pain in his left arm... It was like every bone he'd ever broken, every injury he'd ever suffered was piled onto his body. He could taste the bitter copper in his mouth.
The taste matched the smell in the air, the scent that clung to his clothes, the thick liquid he was walking through that came up to his knees. Gluttony... Was he back inside of Gluttony again? No, no, he couldn't be. This was a long time since then. So many things had happened. Colonel, Hawkeye, Scar... Where were they? He'd left them... Left them under Central. They were still there, waiting for him. They needed to go. They needed to go fight. Amestris... Winry... Al... He needed to protect everyone. They couldn't... They couldn't lose. They couldn't. They were depending on him, supporting him.
The darkness was endless. It had to be Gluttony. The false gate. He wanted to look around for something to help him, someone to help him, but he couldn't stop walking. He kept moving forward, keeping his eyes on a wall that didn't exist.
. . .
White.
The room was white. Ed collapsed onto the floor, the blood flowing from his clothes and staining the pure color, pooling underneath his body. Gate... This. This was the gate. He forced himself up, sure that it took nearly all of his energy to support himself enough to lift his head. Who... Who was that? The gate was there, in front of him, but not his gate. No... No. Someone else's... someone...
"Al..."
The emaciated figure seated in front of the door smiled a sad smile at hearing his name, his hands on the suit of armor so large compared to his frail body that it seemed almost comical. Ed's eyes widened and he did his best to force himself to crawl forward, every part of his body screaming in protest.
"Al... Come with me..."
The small body didn't move, continuing to stare at his brother. The helmet of the armor had been tossed aside, the spike broken off, and Ed could clearly see inside the armor. The seal... The seal he'd drawn with his own blood to fix his younger brother's soul at the cost of his right arm. He'd been desperate, pleading with The Truth to give his brother back at any cost. Ed would have gladly died to be able to retrieve even the smallest part of his brother.
"Al... I can take you back. I'm... not your soul... But, please... You have to come with me..." He couldn't leave him here. No... No, he couldn't leave him. The armor was an artificial body and had started to reject Al's soul, his body calling it back. He couldn't stay fixed to the armor forever... Ed knew he needed to get to his brother, help him, save him before it was too late and he lost him forever. "...please..."
When Ed saw the sad, empty look on his younger brother's face, he tried to leap forward to grab onto him, but felt the familiar tug on his body. The tendrils from his own gate had wrapped themselves around him, holding him back. He struggled, thrashing, making every desperate attempt to get free even though his body ached so badly that he just wanted to give up. He could feel the tears start to sting his eyes. ...how long had it been since he'd cried? He always tried so hard to hide his emotions, to be strong for everyone...
"I'm sorry, Brother." Ed's body went temporarily limp at hearing Al's voice. No. No, no, no. That tone... The way he said it... Something was wrong. No. This wasn't right...
"Al, please! I--"
"I can't keep waiting for you. I'm sorry." Al moved his hands inside the armor, the spike from the helmet visible in his hands, and thrust the point into the middle of the blood seal. The armor cracked, then shattered into pieces. Al smiled, a soft and sad smile, before his body collapsed next to the broken metal.
No... No, no, no, no... The tendrils kept pulling him back, and Ed tried to fight against them, tried to run to his brother's side, but they only pulled back harder, tightened their hold around him and pulled him, without warning, back through his gate. The doors shut, the hollow sound moving through the white open space, the only other noise the echoes of Ed's screams.
"Alphonse! Alphonse!" The desperate cry left his lips without him even regaining consciousness. Edward had been confined to the bed in Shibusen's dispensary for the past twenty-four hours, unconscious and barely responsive until the moment his nightmares finally seemed to break him.