[The Welcoming Party, Active/Open]
Characters: Edward Elric, open
Setting: The Entrance, Grand Room, and Doll Bathroom
Time: Night
Summary: Ed ends up in the wrong place at the wrong time...
Warnings: Violence, Ed's mouth, tl;dr
"Our work's in the final stage. I'll be sleeping at the factory now."
He couldn't let Alfons just...walk away from him like that. Not after knowing what his "sponsors" were planning. Did Alfons know? He couldn't... They wouldn't have told him what they were planning. Of course they weren't planning to invade some mystical world, they were just doing it in the interest of science.
Right.
Bullshit.
"Wait!" Ed went after him, turning the corner on the stairs and following Alfons down. "Your sponsors are plotting a war. They're going to start with my world, and those rockets must have something to do with it!"
No reaction. Alfons just kept walking. And he knew Ed hated that. He hated being ignored just like Alfons hated being teased...and this was something he couldn't be ignored on. Edward picked up his pace, reaching out his living left hand to grasp Alfons's shoulder. "Listen to me...!"
Alfons stopped. That was a relief. Maybe now he'd...
Pain exploded the left side of his face as Alfons brought up his elbow and struck him. He reached for the banister, missed, and fell...
And fell...
More pain entered his head as it finally struck the...floor. A flat floor. His eyes opened. When had he closed them...? The ceiling...the floor...the furniture...this wasn't the apartment. He sat up, despite the ache in his back. Forget-me-nots...he'd know their smell anywhere. Why was it so dark...?
"Alfons...?"
No answer.
Ed rose to his feet, working a kink out of his prosthetic leg's ankle before shifting his weight on it carefully. This was definitely not the apartment.
"...What the hell is going on here?"
Sounds of hammers, saws, hushed voices all around him...none of them answering his question. Who would be building in the middle of the night, in total darkness...?
Cautiously, he stepped forward into the next room.
There was no one there.
Even in the darkness, there were no hints of motion, no workmen's lamps, no...nothing. But he could feel eyes upon him, silently accusing him, demanding to know why he was in the way of their work. Despite his heart pounding, despite his instincts screaming at him (run away, run away, get the hell out of here Edward, this is not good) he stepped further into the room, attempting to locate the source of the construction. But it seemed to be all around him...in the floor, the ceiling, the furniture...
Ed screamed as something grabbed at his leg from beneath a chair, pulling him to the floor. He couldn't see it, it was solid darkness, living darkness. And it was clawing at his leg, clawing like...like...
Alphonse being torn apart, being pulled into the void, his terrified face and outstretched hand the last thing that Ed saw of him...the same greedy little hands reaching for his leg, clawing, biting, devouring...
Edward screamed.
What he did next was purely on instinct, a reflex that hadn't gone away even after two years. Complete the circuit, one hand to another, one action, one sound to change the world... The flash of light as he transmuted a spike of floor up through the chair seemed to have far more effect on the thing than the act itself. It screamed like an animal, releasing its grip on his prosthetic. This time there was no fighting his instincts. Ed ran.
Through a door, slamming it behind him, fumbling for a light switch, shaking and panting for breath and screaming again as a thousand eyes seemed to turn to him as the light came on at last and...
Oh. Oh...
Ed couldn't help it. He started laughing, slumping against the door. It wasn't funny...really it wasn't. He'd been spooked by a bunch of stupid dolls...
But still, he laughed, crawling to the sink on all fours and pulling himself up to look in the mirror. He looked like someone pumped on adrenaline and survival instinct...which made him laugh a little harder for a moment. He turned on the faucet, splashing his face with water.
Calm down, Ed...calm down. It's over now...just calm down so you can figure this out...
Setting: The Entrance, Grand Room, and Doll Bathroom
Time: Night
Summary: Ed ends up in the wrong place at the wrong time...
Warnings: Violence, Ed's mouth, tl;dr
"Our work's in the final stage. I'll be sleeping at the factory now."
He couldn't let Alfons just...walk away from him like that. Not after knowing what his "sponsors" were planning. Did Alfons know? He couldn't... They wouldn't have told him what they were planning. Of course they weren't planning to invade some mystical world, they were just doing it in the interest of science.
Right.
Bullshit.
"Wait!" Ed went after him, turning the corner on the stairs and following Alfons down. "Your sponsors are plotting a war. They're going to start with my world, and those rockets must have something to do with it!"
No reaction. Alfons just kept walking. And he knew Ed hated that. He hated being ignored just like Alfons hated being teased...and this was something he couldn't be ignored on. Edward picked up his pace, reaching out his living left hand to grasp Alfons's shoulder. "Listen to me...!"
Alfons stopped. That was a relief. Maybe now he'd...
Pain exploded the left side of his face as Alfons brought up his elbow and struck him. He reached for the banister, missed, and fell...
And fell...
More pain entered his head as it finally struck the...floor. A flat floor. His eyes opened. When had he closed them...? The ceiling...the floor...the furniture...this wasn't the apartment. He sat up, despite the ache in his back. Forget-me-nots...he'd know their smell anywhere. Why was it so dark...?
"Alfons...?"
No answer.
Ed rose to his feet, working a kink out of his prosthetic leg's ankle before shifting his weight on it carefully. This was definitely not the apartment.
"...What the hell is going on here?"
Sounds of hammers, saws, hushed voices all around him...none of them answering his question. Who would be building in the middle of the night, in total darkness...?
Cautiously, he stepped forward into the next room.
There was no one there.
Even in the darkness, there were no hints of motion, no workmen's lamps, no...nothing. But he could feel eyes upon him, silently accusing him, demanding to know why he was in the way of their work. Despite his heart pounding, despite his instincts screaming at him (run away, run away, get the hell out of here Edward, this is not good) he stepped further into the room, attempting to locate the source of the construction. But it seemed to be all around him...in the floor, the ceiling, the furniture...
Ed screamed as something grabbed at his leg from beneath a chair, pulling him to the floor. He couldn't see it, it was solid darkness, living darkness. And it was clawing at his leg, clawing like...like...
Alphonse being torn apart, being pulled into the void, his terrified face and outstretched hand the last thing that Ed saw of him...the same greedy little hands reaching for his leg, clawing, biting, devouring...
Edward screamed.
What he did next was purely on instinct, a reflex that hadn't gone away even after two years. Complete the circuit, one hand to another, one action, one sound to change the world... The flash of light as he transmuted a spike of floor up through the chair seemed to have far more effect on the thing than the act itself. It screamed like an animal, releasing its grip on his prosthetic. This time there was no fighting his instincts. Ed ran.
Through a door, slamming it behind him, fumbling for a light switch, shaking and panting for breath and screaming again as a thousand eyes seemed to turn to him as the light came on at last and...
Oh. Oh...
Ed couldn't help it. He started laughing, slumping against the door. It wasn't funny...really it wasn't. He'd been spooked by a bunch of stupid dolls...
But still, he laughed, crawling to the sink on all fours and pulling himself up to look in the mirror. He looked like someone pumped on adrenaline and survival instinct...which made him laugh a little harder for a moment. He turned on the faucet, splashing his face with water.
Calm down, Ed...calm down. It's over now...just calm down so you can figure this out...