Fullmetal Alchemist Fan Fiction ❯ Unto the Shores of Acheron ❯ Those Whom We Remember ( Chapter 2 )

Chapter Two: Those Whom We Remember

 

The monster gave a gurgled screech, its body twitching on the floor.

 

Roy Mustang stared at the thing in revulsion, bile rising in the back of his throat. Sickness and shock warred with each other for dominance. Disgust the likes he'd never felt before twisted his stomach, threatening to overwhelm him.

 

Behind him, he heard several soldiers cry out in horror. He couldn't say he blamed them. What they saw before them was a monster.

 

Beside him, Riza took an unconscious step backwards, her gun almost dropping from her hands in shock. Havoc, Breda, Falman, and Fuery also looked sickened. On the other side of the room, Mustang heard Alphonse retch.

 

“I did it…” a shaky whisper broke the horrified silence of the room. “I really did it. I brought him back…”

 

Mustang's heard snapped towards it. Shou Tucker was still kneeling on the ground, staring at his twisted creation in ecstatic disbelief. “I did it. I brought Edward back…”

 

Roy felt something inside him snap. His vision blurred red. Grabbing the chimera, he landed a brutal punch to the Life-Sewing Alchemist's jaw. “You fool!” he screamed, shaking the chimera by the shoulders. “Do you have any idea what you've done!”

 

Tucker spit out a mouthful of blood, his lip bleeding from the colonel's blow though that did nothing to erase the insane look lighting his upside-down face. “I brought Edward back,” he replied, his eyes shining with excitement. “Now he can bring my Nina back. Ed will know how to do it…”

 

Roy had to fight himself not to punch the man again. “That thing's not Edward Elric,” he hissed in Tucker`s face. “That thing's not even human.” Angrily shoving the chimera away from him, he yelled over his shoulder to two soldiers standing in the doorway, “Get this pitiful excuse for a human being out of my sight! Now!”

 

This seemed to bring them out of their horrified daze; because with a startled jump the two soldiers hurried forward and seized the ex-State Alchemist.

 

“Wait!” Tucker cried as they began dragging him towards the door. “What about my Nina? Edward has to bring my Nina back! He has to make a new Philosopher's Stone! No! What about Nina? What about my Nina!”

 

And then he was gone.

 

Breathing hard and still trying to control the storm of rage inside him, Roy glanced at the rotting corpse on the other side of the room. He once again felt revulsion rise in the back of his throat. He'd heard what Tucker had done to his daughter all those years ago. He must have tried resurrecting her at some point, like he`d done Ed. But because she was nothing more than a lifeless doll, the body had eventually died and begun to decompose. He couldn't even begin to imagine what kind of thoughts were going through Tucker's mind to think that rotting, putrid corpse was still his daughter…

 

It made Roy sick just thinking about it.

 

A gurgled screech brought Mustang slamming back to reality. The creature had begun weakly clawing at the floor, as though trying to move or crawl away. Its bloody limbs twitched and spasmed, uselessly clawing at the dirty, chalk-lined ground.

 

Roy felt a mixture of pity and disgust well up inside him. He slowly stepped towards it.

 

“Sir…” Havoc weakly called after him. “What are we going to do with that… thing?”

 

Roy carefully stepped up to it. The creature ceased its struggles and looked up at him, wheezing and gurgling like an injured animal. He had to force down the wave of sickness in his throat before he was able to reply.

 

“This thing cannot be allowed to live,” he said, staring at the twisted creature at his feet. “It is an abomination…”

 

He slowly raised one hand, the alchemy array on the back of his glove standing out like a ring of blood against the pure white cloth. His thumb and forefinger were poised, ready to snap and unleash their hellish fury on this wretched parody of a human being.

 

The creatures stared at him, wheezing and twitching.

 

The colonel's hand hovered over it, ready to deliver the fatal blow. His hand shook, his thumb and forefinger pressed together so tightly he could feel his joints ache under the pressure. He had to kill this thing. It couldn't be allowed to live. It was an abomination. It went against everything that made him human. It was nothing but a monster created by a deranged scientist. It had to be destroyed…

 

But try as Roy might, he could not bring himself to ignite the flammable material of his gloves.

 

The creature's eyes - a pale amber, like alchemized gold - stared up at him. He knew those eyes. He remembered how they used to stare up at him in defiant challenge, or flash with irritation whenever the issue of their owner's height came into conversation.

 

He also recognized the strands of blonde hair splayed beneath the creature's head. They were dirty and covered with filth. But he recognized them. Although ugly, twisted, and deformed, he recognized the pitiful creature laying helpless at his feet. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't help but see the face of Edward Elric staring back at him from the face of this hideous monster.

 

He fought with himself to ignite the deadly flames, to put this poor creature out of its misery. But-

 

“I can't…” he softly whispered.

 

Lowering his hand in defeat, Mustang stepped away from the wheezing creature; confusion, sickness, and disgust warring with each other in his heart.

 

He felt someone step up beside him. “Let me, sir,” Hawkeye's voice drifted through his tumultuous thoughts.

 

Slowly raising her gun, the female sharpshooter took aim at the creature's head. Despite her stoic expression, Mustang saw Hawkeye hesitate. Her gun faltered, its tip shying just ever so slightly away from its intended target. For that to happen, Roy knew Hawkeye had to be in a near distraught state of mind.

 

The creature - as if sensing it was in danger - weakly began to try to crawl away again. It feebly pushed and clawed at the ground, smearing the pool of blood it'd been born in.

 

Hawkeye again hesitated, her gun faltering. But then, with a sharpened look of resolve in her eyes, she once again took aim and pressed her finger to the trigger...

 

“NO!” a frantic shout rang out. A blur of red and gold shot out of the corner of Mustang's eye, and before he knew it, Alphonse was suddenly standing in front of them, shielding the creature with his body. “No! You can't do it! I remember now! You can`t kill him!” he yelled, blocking the lieutenant's shot.

 

“Al-” Roy began.

 

“NO! You can't kill him!” he shouted, too hysterical to listen. There were tears in the boy's eyes, his lower lip trembling frantically. “Please! I remember now! I remember everything! Somehow seeing him helped me remember! Please! You can't kill him!”Roy could tell by the boy's face that Al was teetering dangerously close to the edge of a nervous breakdown. He didn't know how Al suddenly regained his memories; but he knew that that coupled with the unholy return of his older brother could not have done anything good for the boy's emotional state of mind.

 

“Al…” Roy said, his voice shaking just ever so slightly, “that thing's not your brother. It's not Ed. I know it might look like him, but it's not him. That thing's not even human.”

 

Al's lower lip trembled, tears pooling his pale grey eyes. “I know that!” he cried, his voice breaking with emotion. “I know he's not Brother, but…” He glanced back over his shoulder at the creature still pitifully trying to crawl away. “It's still a living thing. Please. You can't kill him...”

 

Riza glanced at Roy - her gun still raised - waiting for instruction. Roy looked between Al and the twisted creature on the floor. It's gold eyes stared back at him, boring into his soul.

 

Shaking his head miserably, Roy motioned for Riza to lower her gun. Hawkeye gave him an unsure look but obediently re-holstered her weapon.

 

Seeing that danger had successfully been averted, Al slowly sank to his knees beside the creature, his head falling to his chest. An anguished sob escaped the boy's throat from behind a curtain of long blonde bangs. His shoulders began to shake, racked by the sobs of a confused and frightened boy.

 

Unable to stand the sight of the poor boy`s pain, Riza slowly knelt in front of him and drew him into an embrace. “Shh, Al… It's alright. No one's going to hurt it…” she whispered, hugging the boy close as if in apology for what she`d almost done.

 

Al greedily accepted her offer of comfort and clung to her, his hysterical sobs muffled into her neck.

 

Roy silently watched them, his heart aching at the sight. Despite his own turbulent emotions, he felt his heart go out to the young alchemist. Barely three hours ago he'd had the boy in his office asking him for any information he could give him about his dead brother. And now, what felt like a lifetime later, Al had his brother and all his memories suddenly back - except that the Ed he loved and finally remembered was nothing more than a twisted, soulless creature writhing on the floor. It was wrong. So horribly, horribly wrong…

 

Another figure stepped up to him in the middle of the bloody alchemy array. It was the Elric brother's teacher.

 

For a moment, Izumi just stared at the twisted creature, her expression too dark and turbulent to read; but Roy thought he saw a look of utter heartbreak flash through her eyes.

 

Slowly shrugging off her jacket, she knelt beside the grotesque parody of her old student and draped it over its twitching body.

 

“What do you plan to do with him?” Izumi's voice drifted to Roy over Al's muffled sobs. Despite her choice of pronoun, Roy knew the female alchemist was not talking about Tucker or her crying student.

 

Roy shook his head. “It will probably be taken to a government research lab,” he said, refusing to think of that… thing as a person. He couldn't do it. He refused to. He didn't care if it had Ed's eyes or not. That thing could never be Fullmetal or take the place of the one they`d lost three years ago. Ed had been special - completely irreplaceable. “That thing is a monster. It doesn't even look human.”

 

Izumi knelt for a moment of silence, her head bowed to her chest. “Find me a private place to take him,” she finally spoke, her voice resolute and brooking no room for argument as she watched the creature twist and writhe beneath her coat. “I can help him achieve his human form. I know what to do…”

 

******

 

Outside, the world was in turmoil. Great torrents of rain lashed the windows like it was pounding at the glass for entrance. Thunder rumbled overhead as if the very foundations of Heaven were threatening to collapse. The city seemed to cringe under the storm's assault. The waterlogged streets were empty, no one daring to venture out into the deluge.

 

As wind and rain beat at the windows, Roy Mustang silently watched the dark haired alchemy teacher inspect the contents of a small drawstring pouch, her expression shadowed.

 

“This should be enough,” she said, looking up and drawing it shut. It sat heavy in the palm of her hand, like a pouch of ill-gotten gold.

 

No one said anything in response, not quite sure what exactly to say in such a situation.

 

It had taken some careful maneuvering and pulling of rank, but Roy had managed to secret the product of Shou Tucker's human transmutation out of the abandoned remains of Laboratory Number Five (where he'd on a hunch suspected the deranged chimera had taken Alphonse and gone to search) to a secure location. It was one of Central's low level military medical centers. Despite the institution's close ties to the military, Roy trusted its staff. He knew enough of the doctors and nurses there to ensure their confidentiality and discretion.

 

With a little manipulation and subtle heavy-handedness, he'd been able to procure a private room on the far west side of the building - away from the rest of the hospital's general population and staff. Despite the perceived privacy though, that hadn't stopped Mustang from stationing two of his men at either end of the hallway to make sure no one else came upon them while Izumi was working with the twisted parody of her old student.

 

The thing Tucker had transmuted into being currently lay on the narrow hospital bed of the room he, Hawkeye, his personal military staff, Izumi, her husband, and a silent Alphonse Elric stood outside of. Inside, the creature's pitiful groans and inhuman wheezes could be heard through the door.

 

Al was sitting on a bench near the door, his head held in his hands with his elbows on his knees. His face was hidden behind a curtain of long bangs. Since leaving Laboratory Five, the alchemist had become silent and withdrawn, refusing to speak to anyone. Not that Roy really blamed him… He couldn't even begin to imagine what kind of horror, revulsion, and shock was going through the poor boy's mind right now; especially after he`d just regained the memories of the missing four years of his life.

 

“Are you sure this is going to work?” Roy said, eyeing the small pouch in the alchemy teacher's hand. The thought of what she wanted to do still left a bad taste in his mouth. But for reasons he couldn't begin to fathom he hadn't done anything to talk her out of it, or try to stop her. In fact, he was actually helping her! What was wrong with him? He knew what they were doing was wrong - it had to be! But why did a part of him also hope she somehow succeeded? That twisted parody of a human laying on the other side of that door was the epitome of all mankind's arrogance and egotistical attempts to play God. It had no right to be alive or bear the resemblance of the one Tucker had fashioned it after. It was a monster, a soulless look-alike made in a vain attempt to replace the boy they'd all loved and lost. And it was for that reason more than anything else Roy Mustang hated it. It didn't matter the thing hadn't had any say in whether it'd been created or not. It still existed; and for that Roy could never forgive it.

 

Yet, despite all his hatred and disgust, a part of him still hoped Izumi succeeded.

 

God, was he really that desperate? he wondered. Was he really that desperate to see Edward Elric again that he was willing to help this woman complete the final stage of this creature's transformation? It was a sick and twisted game he was playing, but he found himself unable (or perhaps unwilling) to stop. He wanted to see bright gold eyes full of challenge again. He wanted to hear profanity-laced threats of retribution. He wanted to see automail transformed into a sharpened blade of steel. He wanted height-related hissy fits. He wanted angry outbursts. He wanted defiant sarcasm. Basically, he wanted Edward Elric back.

 

He would do almost anything to see the boy or hear his foul backtalk again; even if only for a moment… He supposed that was why he couldn't bring himself to dispose of the soulless Homunculus that'd been created in Edward`s place. It was rather ironic when he thought about it. Ed and Al had spent the better part of two years battling the immortal creatures; and that was exactly what Edward Elric had come back as. Yes, it was rather ironic when he thought of it. Exceedingly, heartbreakingly ironic…

 

Izumi's face was unreadable as she stared at the pouch in her hand, her features shadowed with some emotion Roy could not exactly place. “I don't know if this will work or not,” she said, her voice distant. “I've never tried to foster a Homunculus' growth before. I only know that they need to feed on these-” she held up the pouch in her hand for Roy to see “-to acquire their final form.”

 

Roy stared at the innocuous looking pouch. He knew what it held inside. Izumi had shown it to him after she'd demanded they stop at the hotel she, her husband and Al were staying in to get before they'd continued on to the hospital. Inside was a small stash of blood red stones - fake, incomplete Philosopher's Stones, she'd explained. They were what gave the Homunculus their power and strength. It was only after they fed on these that they were finally able to gain their true form.

 

“Where did you get those?” Mustang said, still staring at the pouch. “I was unaware there were still people trying to make the Philosopher's Stone or some kind of substitute for it.”

 

The alchemy teacher's features darkened. “I found these hidden in my old alchemy teacher's house after her murder. These stones are probably the last of their kind. I doubt anyone has made any more since Ed disappeared three years ago. The method of their creation is just like that of a true Philosopher's Stone: evil...”

 

“Then why do you have them?” Roy demanded. “I find it strange that an alchemist like you would make a habit out of keeping Homunculus fodder on you like this. What purpose do you have for keeping these stones?”

 

Izumi did not immediately answer, her expression distant and pained. “I will not answer that,” she said. “My reasons for keeping these stones are my own. Let's just say I keep them in case I ever meet someone who might need them…(1)”

 

Roy didn't know what to make of that. He did however see Alphonse cringe out of the corner of his eye, as if with his returned memories he somehow knew what his sensei was talking about.

 

Turning towards the room, Izumi clutched the pouch of stones to her chest. “No one is to follow me or enter for any reason,” she said, pausing in the doorway with her back to the rest of the group. The creature's gurgled wheezes echoed out into the hallway from inside. “If anyone does, I'll kill them…” Then disappearing inside, she closed the door behind her.

 

For a moment, no one spoke, Izumi's threat and the gravity of the entire situation hanging like a heavy presence in the air. The sound of raindrops on the windowpanes was the only thing to break the tense silence of the hall - that, and the occasional rumble of thunder overhead.

 

No one seemed strong or brave enough to speak, each lost in their own turbulent thoughts. For several minutes, silence reigned.

 

But then, just as the storm began to crest in intensity outside, a monstrous scream suddenly pierced the air, echoing through the room's closed door.

 

Everyone looked up at the sound, horror etched into each of their faces. Al cringed down into his seat, covering his ears with both hands as if trying to desperately block out the horrible sounds coming from inside.

 

Mustang felt a cold chill run down his spine.

 

Another inhuman cry rang out, like the tortured screams of some monster in the deepest circle of hell.

 

A muffled sob escaped Al's throat as he shook his head, clutching his ears as if to somehow make the horrible noises stop. His eyes were clenched shut, tears beading along his eyelashes.

 

A sick feeling rose up inside of Roy as yet another scream sliced the air. He began to move to the door. This wasn't right. He couldn't let this go on. He had to make it stop...

 

But before he could reach the door, he felt someone pull him back. He looked up to find Izumi's husband standing behind him with one beefy hand resting on his shoulder. The man said nothing. But with a solemn shake of his head he slowly released Mustang`s shoulder, his unspoken message clear: It's too late. There's nothing you can do now.

 

For a moment, Roy considered ignoring the other man and barging into the room - the woman alchemist's warning be damned!

 

But then with reluctant nod of understanding, Roy turned away from the door, an overwhelming sense of helplessness washing over him.

 

The screams continued, one bleeding right into the next. They seemed endless. Roy was sure he'd never heard such hellish sounds before except perhaps in his darkest nightmares. His men also looked unnerved, their faces anxious and pale.

 

Al was now sobbing openly, his hands still uselessly clamped down over his ears. Roy couldn't even begin to imagine what kind of thoughts were going through the young alchemist's mind. This was so wrong. This wasn't how Al was suppose to get his older brother back…

 

Unable to do anything else, Mustang moved to the boy's side and put a gentle hand on his shoulder, offering him a silent anchor of support.

 

Another inhuman screech sliced the air, making Al cringe under the colonel's touch.

Roy helplessly watched Al sob out his horror and despair as the terrible sounds of the monster that was his older brother filled the corridor.

 

Roy didn't know how long the screams went on. Ten minutes? Thirty minutes? An hour? Two hours? He didn't know. It felt like forever. But then, after what felt like eternity to the nervous group of soldiers, the screams slowly began to change.

 

What had first started off as inhuman, animal-like cries slowly began to fade into the anguished screams of a human being. It was a disturbing transition, one that had many in Mustang's outfit exchanging uneasy looks. Even Izumi's husband looked disturbed by the sounds. For the voice screaming so loudly as if in painful torment was a familiar one - one none of them had ever thought they'd hear again…

 

Slowly, the screams began to fade into silence, the sound of rain against the windows suddenly muffled and distant to their ringing ears.

 

The door to the hospital room slowly opened and Izumi appeared. The alchemy teacher's face was shadowed and drawn - haunted. She looked exhausted - tiny lines creasing her face - as if the process had somehow taken something out of her. A drawstring pouch dangled from her hand, empty.

 

Sig moved towards her and gently drew her to his side. Izumi leaned into his embrace, wrapping one arm around his waist as if for both physical and emotional support. She refused to meet anyone's eyes as the two of them began to move off, Izumi leaning against her husband`s side.

 

Roy quickly stepped forward. “What happened?” he demanded, searching the alchemy teacher's face.

 

Izumi refused to look up and meet his eyes. “It's done…” was all she said before pushing past him and continuing down the hall.

 

Roy stared after them. Slowly turning back towards the now quiet hospital room, Roy saw that Al had made no move to get up or go inside. He still sat where Roy had left him - his head silently cradled in both hands with long blonde hair hiding his face from view.

 

Hawkeye, Breda, Fulman, Havoc, and Fuery were all staring at him, as if waiting for him to tell them what to do next.

 

Mustang slowly moved towards the room. “Everyone wait here,” he said, not meeting anyone else's eyes. He paused for a moment in front of Al. “I'll see it first…”

 

Al did not look up or give any kind of response to show he'd heard the colonel.

 

The other soldiers said nothing, and silently stared after him as Roy stepped into the room.

Roy hesitated just inside the door once he was sure he was out of his men`s sight. He felt a queasy sense of nervousness rise up inside his gut. He didn't know if he wanted to do this. He didn't know if he was ready to see the result of Izumi's efforts.

 

The bed stood on the far side of the room. He could just make out the figure of a body laying beneath the sheets - motionless and still. Roy could detect no sign of life from its occupant. Did the creature somehow die under Izumi's ministrations? Roy didn't know if he felt hopeful or disheartened by the thought.

 

Gathering up his courage, the Flame Alchemist slowly stepped towards the bed.

 

As he drew near, he was finally able to see its occupant's face - and felt his heart clench with a thousand different emotions.

 

Long blonde hair lay spilled out across the pillow like waves of finely spun gold. Features he suddenly realized he hadn't remembered quite as clearly as he thought he had were like a jolting bolt of color to the ones that'd begun to grow hazy and grey in the back of his mind. Two half circles of dark eyelashes were pressed to pale white cheeks, but Roy knew that behind those eyelids lay two orbs the exact same color of alchemized gold.

 

Roy felt his heart twist in his chest.

 

Laying there before him on the bed was none other than Edward Elric…

 

No! the rational part of Roy's mind screamed as he stared at the boy laying there like a some kind of long forgotten memory suddenly come to life. No! That's not Edward! That's not Fullmetal! It's a Homunculus! Nothing but a soulless monster! That thing's not even human!

 

Looking closer, Roy saw that unlike the one of his painful memories, this disturbing double had two flesh arms. He also suspected that underneath that sterile white hospital sheet lay a matching set of legs. He was also uncomfortably aware of the tattoo marring the boy's right upper arm. It was the image of a winged serpent devouring its own tail - the mark of a Homunculus…

 

No… this thing isn't Fullmetal, he thought with a renewed sense of hatred. The Edward I knew was mismatched and scarred, but completely wonderful in everything that made him him. This thing's nothing but a perfected double…

 

Standing straight, Roy stared at the sleeping boy with warring emotions. A part of him wanted to let his hatred blind him so he could wash his hands of this soulless look-alike and leave without ever looking back or having anything to do with it again. And yet…

 

And yet…

 

It still looked so much like the boy he remembered…

 

Roy felt his heart ache with a jumbled confusion of emotions. Could he somehow have the Edward Elric he remembered back? Could he somehow regain a piece of that foulmouthed prodigy through this cheap replacement? But could he ever look at the face of this disturbing double without somehow seeing in the back of his mind the image of a twisted monster laying in the middle of a bloody alchemy array?

 

Lost in his turbulent thoughts, Mustang was only brought back to the present when he happened to catch the whisper of a barely-audible moan come from the bed.

Roy froze, staring at the sleeping figure. His heart thundered madly in his chest. He suddenly found himself unable to move, trepidation and unexplainable fear robbing him of voluntary movement.

 

Another groan - like a fevered whimper - sounded somewhere in the back of the boy's throat. His eyelids weakly fluttered.

 

And then, as Roy watched in fearful paralysis, the boy's eyes slowly opened, drifting apart as if each weighed a thousand pounds and it took all the boy's strength to pull them apart. Just as Roy had imagined (and feared) the boy's eyes were gold - like the color of a brilliant summer sun.

 

The two gold orbs blankly stared ahead, as if their owner was still caught in the midst of some hazy exhausted dream. Blinking, the two orbs slowly swiveled around the darkened hospital room, taking in their surroundings - before finally coming to rest on the dark haired man standing beside the bed.

 

Mustang felt his breath hitch in his throat.

 

The boy stared at him, his fevered eyes boring into Roy as if somehow trying to place the face standing over him.

 

Mustang stood there for what felt like an eternity staring into those hauntingly familiar pools of gold. Those eyes… Oh god, those eyes… He knew those eyes… Why did they have to look so familiar? Why did they have to look at him with such intensity? Why did they have to stare at him as if this disturbing look-alike might somehow know who he was? Why-

 

“Colonel…?”

 

The raspy whisper rang like a gunshot through the silent room.

 

Roy felt his heart clench painfully in the middle of his chest. That voice… He knew that voice. Though weak and dry as a piece of sandpaper from the hours just spent screaming at the top of his lungs, there was no denying whose voice that was…

 

As if that single word had drained him of all his strength, the boy's eyes slowly began to drift shut again, exhaustion robbing him of consciousness.

 

And as Roy watched in turbulent, heartbroken silence, the soulless counterpart of Edward Elric slipped back into the dark abyss of unconsciousness.

 

To Be Continued…

 

 

(1) Despite the ambiguous hints, Izumi's talking about Wrath. She's still holding out on the hope of her Homunculus child someday coming back to her.

 

A/N: The show and manga never really went into how long it takes for a newly born Homunculus to gain their true form, so I kind of had to take artistic licensing here to speed up the process. I also couldn't help but think it would be a painful process for the Homunculus involved. Any thoughts?

 

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