I'm really sorry to everyone for taking so long to update, but Chapter 12 is here, so please enjoy and accept my apologies. For some reason, the fight scene works really well if one pictures what's happening while listening to Rewrite. Try it, and REVIEW!
To Heal the Wounds of the Heart
Chapter 12: Confluence
A stream of glittering tears splattered endlessly against the ravaged pavement, disappearing into the bright red light emitting from the array. The most comprehensive action Edward's brain could process was hearing; the sounds reaching his ears were disturbing…frightening…unnatural.
The screams of unrelenting agony.
The crackles sparking off of the transmutation lights.
The sadistic chuckling of at least two inhuman creatures.
The violent sobs racking his body.
The sound of a girl calling his name desperately.
Then, the absence of noise.
The light of the transmutation faded, then vanished altogether, halted midway, and every sense halted with it. Ed leaned back onto his knees, beads of sweat trickling down his empty face. He had stopped the transmutation—refused to complete it. His eyes gazed at some unseen point, fixated in a daze. His arms hung limply at his side. All thought processes seemed to come to a complete stop. He slowly turned his head to register the two chairs and the new homunculus. From the corner of his eye, he spotted Envy dash towards him in rage.
That was all he saw, as the homunculus knocked him to the ground with surprising force. As his body fell hard against the pavement, a thought finally occurred to his startled mind: Alphonse and Winry were still bound to the chairs, under Wrath's gaze.
With an angered shout, Edward twisted his lower body and flipped, throwing his arm out fiercely. It was enough to temporarily knock Envy off, which gave Ed enough time to hastily get to his feet and re-transmute his automail blade.
He paid no attention to the homunculus, however; his attention was fixed on the three off to the side.
Making a split-second decision, he veered to his left at full-speed, aiming to get to Wrath before Envy got to him. Aware of his motives, Envy sprang into action as well, heading directly for the blonde alchemist. The collision occurred head-on, a resounding crack preceding a loud clash and flying forms. Envy was thrown backwards onto the pavement, landing hard and skidding. Ed himself was tossed to the side, managing to land on his feet. Without letting a fraction of a second pass, he whirled and sprinted in the direction of Wrath, who tried to duck as he launched himself into the air.
Edward fell with a thud on top of the homunculus' form, immediately straddling him with both knees and winding his hand into the collar of Wrath's brown coat. Pulling, he yanked the creature's head upwards and spat in his face with contempt, rage overflowing.
"You shouldn't act this way towards me, Edward," he stated calmly, but with a more stern tone.
"Don't screw with me!"
The shout echoed, and the blade was raised.
Envy moved to act, but as soon as he was in motion, the blade was brought down and rammed through Wrath's throat. As blood spewed, Ed dug in deep and twisted, shredding what was left of the homunculus' neck to mere threads. He glanced up just in time to see Envy flashing toward him with an extended leg and reacted instinctively, hopping backwards off of Wrath's body and ducking, reaching up in mid-roll to get a firm hold of the monster's leg. The momentum carried them both forward, allowing Edward to expertly switch to his feet while utilizing the circular motion to throw Envy forward by letting go at the perfect point in the roll. Before his nemesis hit the ground, Ed was off again, dashing with all his speed towards him and leaping into the air. Before Envy could avoid it, Edward grounded on him with a muffled stomp, cracking his head against the pavement and kicking him in the face.
The homunculus mustered enough strength to roll a heavily breathing Ed off of him; each took their time getting to their feet.
There came a standstill, and the action slowed momentarily.
Edward glared daggers across the distance that separated them. "You've gone too far this time, you bastard!"
"You think I care?" came the sarcastic reply, "You can't kill me."
"I won't know that until I try!" The blonde alchemist took off once again, rapidly closing the distance. With a smirk, Envy complied, taking to his feet as well and preparing for another collision. The two made a beeline for each other amongst the sickening sounds of a rejuvenating Wrath venting blood from his throat. Ed pulled his blade in close and leaned forward, cutting down his body's surface area in an attempt to speed up. Seconds from impact, a large explosion sounded from the water and Avarice dropped into the fray, landing at what would be ground zero and swinging a quick fist. Edward was knocked back onto a knee, halting the action once more.
It didn't take long for Pride to extricate himself from the waters as well, reuniting the five combatants in a one-on-four melee. In the chair, Alphonse was beginning to stir—his body was embarking a long return to consciousness.
Ed's anger and disgust were building to extents large enough to surprise even Envy. He trained his sights on Wrath, looking directly through the other three homunculi. "You get the hell out of my way!" he screamed, "I'll rip each of your heads off if I have to!"
Some form of laugh, smirk or chuckle emitted from all four of the creatures, making the last remaining sound almost inaudible.
Edward picked it up.
It was coming from the chairs.
Winry was strained forward in her chair, fighting the ropes once more. The blood running down her face had begun to clot, reducing the crimson stream to a red trickle. Tears were falling from her eyes, mingling with the blood, falling as a combined droplet to the pavement.
She was pleading with him.
"Don't do it, Ed! You're not like that! You don't have to be!" He could not divert his attention from his enemies long enough to meet her eyes, but she could feel his attention. "I hate seeing you like this!"
It was then that Ed finally noticed the blood coating his hand, face, and automail. He was far beyond the point, however, of stopping to listen. His arms swung out, then in, allowing his hands to clap together. This time, he slid his hand over the back of the elbow, and a sharp sheet of metal extended outwards to a point.
He was serious.
The muscles in his right leg and springs in his right cocked and loaded, ready to fire. His golden eyes trained fiercely on the group of homunculi. Every area of his body tensed. Just before he released and charged the creatures, Pride took a single step forward and pointed. The air shimmered slightly, and dread spread across Edward's face. Grim realization seeped in.
Ed followed the pointed finger hesitantly, terrified of what he might see.
When his head completed the turn, he could do nothing but groan.
"Rose?"
"Ed..."
Edward turned towards Pride, infuriated.
"What the hell is this? It was Rose all along?"
"You're so easily fooled..." the homunculus offered.
Envy agreed with a grin. "You didn't even give it a second thought. What an idiot!"
"Shut up! You've got no right to talk! You hated 'our' dad so much, but look..."
"..."
"Now you're no better than he is. You're both monsters, nothing but rejected screw-ups!"
His eyes flared, and he leapt at Ed with a cry of rage. The remark had worked without fail, getting into Envy's head. He was at Ed's side in record time, morphing his arm into a blugeon with a sharp point. Ed easily dodged his swings, first left, then right. In his fit of anger, he was being careless—something Edward utilized to perfection when the homunculus barrelled into him, using the momentum once more to roll him over his shoulder and throw him easily to the ground. With a quick step, Ed turned and ran swiftly to the chairs. He sliced the ropes on both with his blade and pulled Al into a standing position, shaking him back to full consciousness. Alphonse stumbled slightly, staring down disorientedly for a moment, which prompted Edward to switch over to Rose. His sharp mind remaining as alert as it had ever been, he quickly realized who he was dealing with, and pulled her up so gently that the situation they were in almost seemed non-present.
"Are you okay?" he asked calmly.
She nodded with tears in her eyes, throwing herself into his chest. The clotting blood dripping off of her face soiled his clothes, but he didn't move to disengage her. He understood that any person thrust into such a situation would need comfort. While she cried into him, his eyes drifted over to match his brother's. Once again, the universal understanding between them was realized, and Ed nodded.
Fully recuperated, Al stepped forward, silently volunteering to continue the fight. Ed gently helped Rose to a resting position before turning around.
The silence that ensued was thick with the deepest kind of hatred, charged with a fearless animosity.
The melee's end was nearing.
Avarice dropped and slammed his fist into the pavement, shattering the ground. Amidst swirling dust and flying shrapnel, Envy stepped back and disappeared into the cloud, reappearing simultaneously with Edward's first step forward. The two locked in battle again, fists and insults flying.
"You're gonna die today, you realize that?" Envy yelled at him with glee.
"I've already died once, and I'll be damned if I ever let it come by your hand again! You're the one who's finished!"
Seeing his opportunity, Al started off in Pride's direction. Running at half-speed, he clapped his hands hard and leaped forward, somersaulting over the ground at an angle perfect to covertly touch it. Landing in perfect rhythm, he neared the distance between himself and the homunculi expertly, closing in.
Envy crouched, then sprang forward, landing a knee to Edward's jaw. Ed recovered quickly, winding up for a forceful strike with his blade.
The moment froze, it seemed, as each individual was acting freely at the exact same time. Avarice moved forward, intending to help; Ed began to uncoil, swinging at Envy's neck ferociously; Al took one final leap before there was no more distance to run; Pride focused on Ed, directing his seething nature into his amazing ability.
Amidst the frentic action, all sound stopped.
Then time unnoticeably resumed.
Ed froze in his tracks, a victim of Pride's mind-altering. Envy formed a smile bursting with pure evil, preparing to abuse the immoble alchemist mercilessly.
"Not this time!" Al yelled, a resolute look in his eyes. From behind him, a strip of the pavement that included where he had touched rose and dropped in a single wave-like motion. Al leapt over it, then continued running as it tossed Pride into the air. He ploughed his shoulder into Pride, and both bodies fell. Wasting no time, the younger Elric recomposed himself and rolled on top, shoving his knee into the homunculus' chest and pressing his full weight, attempting to keep him from moving. His shaking hand darted to Pride's throat, gripping as tightly as possible.
"I'm not letting you..not..."
Released, Ed stepped back, causing the fist to barely graze him. Leaning back, he swung a leg upwards and shoved Envy off of himself, turning just in time to witness a sickening sight.
Avarice's fist collided soundly with Alphonse's shoulder, barrelling him to the ground with a loud thud. Blood spurted from his mouth as Pride stood and approached, stepping on him with a chuckle that swiftly morphed into a hideous laugh.
"Al!!" Ed screamed, terrified. He looked at the ground beneath him and probed his intelligent mind, finding the bit of information he was after, and then dropped, clapping his hands and ramming his palms down.
Following the dull light that resulted, a muffled boom went off.
A large explosion ignited and spread outward.
"Ah! Perfect weather! This is so great!"
The window connecting the guest bedroom to the outside world was on the east-facing front side, and any occupant of the room could see the sun rise each morning if they so desired. Winry rested so comfortably on the open window, leaning out so far, that it had become her own personal balcony. The sun shined down from midway up in the sky, progressing through its mid-morning stage, and soft breezes whipped by, carressing the beautiful blonde girl's face. A relative quiet presided, luring her into an unnatural state of calm.
"I got over Ed and Al ditching me again pretty fast...maybe I'm just used to it?"
"Winry, do you want some breakfast?" Gracia's voice trailed from downstairs.
"Yes ma'am, I'll be right down!"
As her scurrying feet carried her past the other room on the second floor, she failed to notice that it was empty.
Though the meal laid out on the table was an amazing offering, Winry could not find it in herself to eat. Glancing at the milk glass standing next to her plate, her only thoughts were of Ed. She was filled not with feelings of worry, per the usual, but something else instead. Gracia watched her with concern, thinking of how best to make conversation.
"Oh!" Winry looked up with embarrassment. "I'm so sorry Mrs. Hughes, this really is a great meal. I just don't feel hungry."
Gracia chuckled. "You don't have to eat, Winry."
"Yes ma'am..."
"Oh, have you seen Rose, by chance?"
Winry gazed towards the stairs thoughtfully. "No, not at all. I'll go check though," she finished, eager for a change of scene.
Footsteps tapped softly around on the floor above, followed by the creak of a door opening, and finally, silence fell. After several uneventful moments, Winry descended, her blue eyes clouded with confusion.
"...She's gone."
The black military vehicle traveled quietly over the dull landscape, progressing forward at regular intervals with relative indifference regarding the outside world. It was traveling east and slightly north, bound towards some unknown destination.
The woman in the driver's seat stared forward with stoic silence, focused.
"Captain, have you ever wondered how long we'll be doing things this way?" drifted in from the back seat.
Hair kept up in a clasp, deep blue military uniform pressed neatly, she momentarily took her piercing amber eyes off of the road to glance at him in the rear-view mirror.
"In what way, sir?"
Mustang shifted uneasily, folding his arms and turning to stare out the window. "You know...never staying still, always onward, chasing fallen dreams and false solutions, never admitting the one thing we need most..." his eyes flitted, at which point his voice trailed off.
"That sounds a lot like the Elric brothers."
Roy sighed. "I know it does, but...I'm starting to realize that they're not the only ones who are denying themselves the most important thing in their life."
"Well, we can't deny that this is the path we've chosen."
"Yeah, and I've been firm with that for all these years...but..."
A small smile crept across Riza's face. Her eyes returned to the road, giving way to silence. They traveled on for nearly a minute, saying nothing, before she turned, with one hand still on the wheel, and cast her smile upon him with half-open eyes.
"I can't say I know what has caused you to be so introspective," she began, "but I can say this, Roy Mustang. Your job and your life are what you decide you want them to be, and whatever you choose, I will always be one step behind you."
Roy's eyes widened for a moment, but before he could be caught, the small action was gone, replaced with his usual cool, calm demeanor. He looked back at her with a nonchalant expression and tilted his head, saying, "I appreciate that, Elizabeth, but you know..."
She turned back around. "Yeah."
"I'd rather have you by my side."
The conversation ended in such a manner, and both returned to silent, solemn observation. Facts, theories, thoughts, and ideas all buzzed back and forth in Mustang's head, fitting, connecting and disengaging like pieces of a puzzle, sliding into place in an attempt to form a bigger picture. His reflection gazed back at him from the spotless car window as he remembered Edward's words.
"Heh. And what do you know?"
"Like I said...you don't know anything."
"I promise I'll tell you then."
His memory drifted back to the last moments at the Hughes' house. Edward shaking his hand, gripping tightly, leaning forward to make sure Roy's eye caught his...a swift nod no one else noticed...his brisk air, all recorded in that single second, returned to him, and suddenly, Mustang had an idea. He thought back to the timeline and the essay, Ed's special emphasis on directing interest to those few paragraphs...
The puzzle fitted so well together that Roy almost heard a silent click! in his head. His eyes sprung open, looking about in shock.
"Oh, shit!"
His cry alerted Riza, who immediately stepped on the brake. The car came to a skidding halt, sending leaves whirling around it. She turned around, worry in her eyes. He hopped into action, exiting the back seat and opening her door for her.
"I'm sorry, Riza. I just realized something huge. We need to go back. Okay if I drive?"
She seemed exasperated and thoroughly confused, but she was far beyond questioning the General.
"Yeah."
"Thanks," he mentioned over his shoulder. His back was turned, but she could feel his appreciative grin.
"What are we going back for?" she inquired.
No answer.
The engine revved as the gas pedal was pressed hard to the floor, and the car did a full about-face, speeding off in the opposite direction.
The smell of blood. The taste of blood. The feeling of blood running between his fingers.
Once he drifted into consciousness, he became aware that the blood was his. With a loud, uncontained groan that caused his ribs to hurt, Edward placed his automail hand beneath him and pushed, giving himself enough leverage to painfully sit up on his knees. With one eye closed and the other half-open, he turned his head slowly, surveying his immediate area. Relaxing for a moment, he felt the cuts on his head, shoulder, and legs, trying to stem some of the blood at each of them. There was nothing nearby that could be transmuted into coverings for his wounds.
Looking around once more, he finally noticed the most important thing, which he had somehow forgotten. Angrily cursing himself, Ed began to drag his body in the direction he was focused on.
"Al..!"
Realizing the situation he had thrust himself out of by means of the vicious explosion, he re-transmuted his automail blade one more time. Pulling himself to his brother's side, he assessed the wounds and compared them to his own, attempting to jerk him into alertness.
"Al! Al!"
Alphonse jolted awake, his chest expounding heavily as he looked around wide-eyed. "Ed! What..." His memory slowly filled in, and he immediately sat up, wary of a surprise attack.
Both brothers looked from each other to their surroundings with confused faces.
Ed shoved himself onto one knee and slowly stood up, proceeding to grab Al's hand and assist him in rising.
"I'm really sorry, Al. It was the only thing I could think of," he said quietly, eyes downcast.
Al's expression did not change, but his tone softened. "It's alright. What else could you have done?"
"I dunno," Ed replied, exhaling loudly, "But we really gotta stop getting ourselves into these situations."
Several piles of debris crumbled behind them, throwing dirt and crumbled pavement into the air, causing both Elrics to stumble backwards. Envy stepped calmly from the rubble, flicking pieces of concrete off of his shoulder. Pride followed behind him; neither appeared to show any concern of agressiveness—or any emotion at all. More footsteps behind the brothers caused them to whirl around again, only to be confronted by the hulking Avarice, staring blankly at them.
"What's going on?"
"Well, we've been waiting for you two to come around for almost an hour, Pipsqueak," Envy chuckled at him.
"That doesn't make any sense," Ed contested, "You could have killed us any time you wanted! Why? Why'd you keep us alive?"
"Don't you see, idiot?" Envy retorted.
Al's face contorted in complete confusion. "Huh?"
"It's a ton of fun to beat the hell out of you two, but you must know by now that there's absolutely no way we can kill you now?"
Ed passed on the notion creeping into his mind, choosing not to understand or realize what the homunculus was implying. Instead, he turned once more to look at Avarice. His white eyes met Ed's, and Edward gasped aloud. He turned back around to Envy.
"What's going on? He's looking right at me!"
"What's your point?"
"He's blind?"
Pride stepped to the forefront, a look of glee in his eyes. "What makes you think that?"
"You've gotta be kidding me."
"See for yourself," the mind-altering homunculus offered, pointing over Edward's shoulder. Ed circled once more and looked deeply into Avarice's eyes. Slowly, bit by bit, the white in them was overridden and replaced with a dark violet. Pupils expanded in the centers and focused on Ed. With a groan, the Fullmetal Alchemist looked at Envy again.
"What are you trying to say?" he asked incredulously, "That everything we think is just a fabrication, concocted by your twisted minds?"
"Not everything," Pride said, shrugging, "But I guess you never know, huh?" He directed Ed's attention to Envy. The crimson Ouroboros mark flickered, momentarily disappearing from its place on the left leg and appearing on his forehead, then switching back.
Realization slapped Edward in the face. It had been the same Envy all along, and all of the extra abilities and different appearances were simply superfluous lies, distracting falsifications to keep him from standing up to them fairly. The same could obviously be said about Avarice, whose blindness never existed. Faced with these facts, coupled with the numbing knowledge that Rose was nowhere to be found, Ed felt a wave of exhaustion wash over him. He turned around one last time, looking neither at the homunculi nor at a single point.
"And what about that bastard, Wrath? Where's he?"
A sickening, twisted voice hailed from several feet away.
"Right here with me. You didn't forget, did you, Edward?"
Ed whirled around, eyes cracked open and pupils dilated. Al soon followed, trembling, expressions of disgust and fear mixing on his face.
"No! Not you!"
"Why not?" Envy questioned from behind him. "I did say there was a reason we had to keep you alive."
Edward ignored the comment, threading out all other traces of the world around him. He unconsciously readied his automail blade, holding it out in front of him, and transmuted a short spear to clutch in his other hand. With the same look of disgust and fear mixed with rage in his eyes, he suddenly tore forth viciously with the intent to kill.
A/N: To the readers, I am so, so very sorry that this chapter took so long to come out. And, sadly, through all of your waiting, it might not even be as good as the other ones. It's really up to you, and I look forward to hearing all of your opinions in your reviews, but it does worry me. I worked pretty hard trying to get my vision through and still stay true to the story. This chapter and the next, the last before the epilogue, will seem different from the rest of the story overall (or so this author thinks), but I think it will be a fitting conclusion.
I don't think I have any notes on the chapter. Let me know if I missed something. The name of this one is Confluence, meaning many things coming together, and the name of Chapter 13 will be Affluence, meaning many things flowing towards a certain point. I haven't decided if the Epilogue will be titled.
Again, thanks for reading, and I'm so sorry to keep you all hanging! Read! Review! Enjoy! HWH! XD (By the way, I don't know that I really feel like writing out the whole last two chapters for a measley three or four reviews. I hate people who take stories hostage for reviews, so don't mistake me as doing that, it just seems...unappreciated). Speaking of which, I'm so glad I finally have a Samurai Champloo fic up and running in that section. Readers there are so much more respectful and cool. They actually read and leave reviews and enjoy it. Any SC fans, feel free to check it out.
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