Orphaned

Later that night, after Ed's impossible appetite had been filled, Roy was laying in his pitch dark bedroom, going over Kanone's words again and again. 'But do be careful that his sight doesn't turn red.' Those haunting words were perhaps the most chilling the alchemist had ever heard. Maybe it was simply because they were being applied to someone quite close to him-- or maybe it was because earlier that evening, Ed's eyes had been glazed over with a tint of crimson. Closing his eyes, forcing out the last bit of light cast by street lamps and the alarm clock, Roy's third eye flashed to the scene. It had all been over in a moment, but that one instant, in which he had locked eyes with the younger boy's almost possessed gaze, told him a lot-- that something was definitely up with that stone he treasured so; that someone was working against him, hitting him where they knew he'd break and crumble if enough pressure was applied. More importantly, though, it told him that he may have to heed Kanone's warnings about Ed not being quite stable. Shaking his head slightly to himself, the raven-haired man cleared his mind of those thoughts. He was confident in the elder Elric, and knew that even in his most troubled and weakest times, the boy would pull through. Ed hadn't come this far and stayed this strong just to break now. Confident in his young boyfriend, Roy let his head hit the pillow and his eyes relax, shutting in a more natural state. Moments later, the older man was asleep, unaware of the lurking figure outside his doorway.

Golden hair shone in the dim lights filtering through the curtains and a gleam of red accompanied it, like two small rubies sparkling in the depths of the night. Edward approached the now-sleeping form of the eldest member of the household, engulfing himself completely in shadows on his small trek, though his crimson-tinted eyes continued to shine brightly even after all light had left the area, while at the same time giving off no real light of their own. A single sock-covered foot reentered the light-flooded floor right before the bed before the fluid movements jerked and halted. The two spots of deep red were shut out as the blond shut his eyes, raising his hands to his head and gritting his teeth in silent anguish, attempting to block out whispered voices meant only for his ears. The crimson stone around his neck glowed dimly as his foot jerked forward once more, but a soft groan powered the boy's will to once again reclaim control of his body. His struggle was to no avail, though, as the dim red became more vibrant, easily taking control of his movements.

As the small form approached the sleeping one, a blade appeared, floating in mid air. Ed's mind, at the time, didn't seem to register that this oddly colored blade--a deep maroon, almost black-- had appeared from nowhere. Now out of his own control, his hand reached up to grasp the handle of the curved knife. A small smile graced his lips, twisted into a grin of malice as he felt the too-familiar grip of the blade in his hand. Though he himself was quite unfamiliar with the sensation, whatever had control of his body knew it all too well. As he drew it up to strike down upon the sleeping man, the eerie mist that seemed to surround the red-black blade left a trail that dissipated into the still air. Another step brought Ed right to the edge of the bed and in a perfect position to swing his hand down and easily end Mustang's life. His small hand tightened its grip on the blade and his arm jerked, much like his foot had moments before-- another internal struggle to regain his motor functions. Once more, the room was washed in red as the stone glowed brightly, taking control of the boy yet again. The hand that gripped the blade tightly raised once more and in one fluid motion started its descent toward the unassuming man.

"Brother!" A voice shouted from the doorway, alarmed and worried. Immediately, the red glow died and the knife fell to the floor, disappearing in a burst of crimson light. Ed's attention jerked back to reality and his eyes regained their golden color. As soon as the elder brother became aware of his surroundings again, however, his eyes closed once more and he fell to the ground, unconscious. Al cried out his name once more and dashed to his side, shaking him and repeating his chant, "Ed, brother! Ed, wake up!"

The commotion soon stirred the bleary-eyed man who's room they all found themselves in. His gaze shot to the boy laying on the floor and a small frown touched his lips as he joined Al by the sleeping one's side. After a few moments of unsuccessful attempts at rising the boy, Roy scooped him up easily and glanced to Al, "Get in the car." He ordered. The younger brother didn't need to be told twice and nodded quickly, running out after slipping his shoes on and sliding into the backseat of Roy's car.

A few moments later, the dark-haired one emerged from his house, Ed still in his arms, and made his way to the automobile. Al promptly opened the door opposite to him and his brother was placed by his side. The worried boy laid his older sibling's head in his lap, running a hand idly through his long blond hair that had been undone from its usual braid somewhere in the confusion. Roy slid behind the wheel and soon they were on their way, speeding down the road.

After a few minutes of silence, both conscious males' thoughts focused on the unconscious one, Roy glanced in the rear-view mirror at the younger one, whose gaze was focused out the backseat window. He studied the concerned look on Al's face for a second before turning his attention back to the road. "He'll be alright." Those three words caused Al to start slightly, as he had been quite focused on anything but reality at the time. The dead air had been shattered with Roy's voice and brought the smaller boy back to the present.

After fully processing Roy's words, a small nod acknowledged them, "I know." The whispered voice replied, not daring to speak any louder. The silence that consumed the interior of the car seemed deafening-- like it could mute even the loudest of sounds. Or, perhaps, it was just Al's paranoia, though of what, he couldn't be sure. Though his response was soft-spoken, he was far from discouraged. He had all the confidence in the world in Ed, as Roy did. Still, despite their belief in the older Elric, they couldn't help but worry. After all, Ed was the most important thing to both of them. Anything that happened to him would cause immediate panic, that was just a given.

Despite having been staring out that window for some time now (the hospital was, unfortunately for them, quite a distance away), Al's attention was focused primarily on his thoughts. Even his subconscious was directed toward his concern for his brother. Now, though, his eyes focused on the scenery flying by, and something seemed disturbingly wrong. Chalking it up to simple paranoia from what he had seen earlier, he said nothing to the driver. Though, it should have registered with him that it wasn't normal that the light casted from the street lamps was tinted with the same red he had seen flooding Roy's room. Of course, Roy's attention was divided between the boy in the backseat and making it as quickly as possible to the hospital, so he paid no attention to such small details, as the light illuminating his path from the headlights was a clear white as it should have been.

The further they traveled, the more intense the tint became until it seemed the entire scenery would be drowned in red-- like the blood from a thousand murder victims was being spilled onto the roadside and front lawns of the citizens' houses. At the same time Al was about to speak up about this phenomenon, Roy's voice once again broke the silence. "The hell?" he muttered to himself, though Al caught a whisper of the words. The younger boy turned his sight from the side window to the windshield to see what had caused the inquiry. What he saw made the street lamps rather insignificant.

The street ahead of them was completely engulfed in darkness. The red-glowing lamps disappeared behind a wall of black and even the headlights of the car seemed to unnaturally cut off when they hit a certain point in the darkness. Wary of the consuming shadows, Roy immediately slowed to a stop before the car could enter what appeared to be a black abyss. Upon further inspection, the eldest one saw that it wasn't so much a wall of darkness as it was a wall of black fire. Small embers of blood spat out from the immense shadowy form slowly absorbing all light, striking the hood of the car and melting through the metal. A small pop sounded as a rather large liquid drop of fire hit the windshield cracking it.

Alarmed, Roy dashed out his door, shooting a glance back to Al, "Get out!"

The younger Elric was already scrambling out his own door, pulling his still-unconscious brother with him onto the roadside. Roy rushed to his side and reached the brothers as three long spikes shot past his head, ripping through the car they had been in moments ago. As the eldest looked back to what the source of the elongated daggers was, he saw that they drew closer together the further back they got and eventually joined into one-- right at the hand of a rather voluptuous woman.

A low-cut, black dress fit her filling form well and long, black, wavy hair fell loosely around her shoulders, partially covering one eye. Roy stared in awe at the gothic beauty, but reality came rushing back in the form of Al's voice, yelling his name. He then registered that this rather enchanting woman was also the one trying to kill him and the brothers. For what reason, he didn't know, but that was hardly the issue at the moment as her gaze slowly locked onto the three. Her fingers retracted and her hand returned to looking as normal as Roy's own as she turned to face them. In the illuminating red light that cast an eerie glow on her, the alchemist could make out two more figures, one on either side of her. The first was a short, dumpy child-looking boy that was immensely obese while the second stood lean and tall with long green hair, tinted red by the lamps.

"Who are you?" Roy demanded, finally finding his voice.

"Well, well, well. Look at that," the palm-tree looking one muttered, smugly, "the little alchemist has a bit of a backbone."

"We'll be sure to fix that." The woman assured the one at her side.

"Can I eat him, Lust?" the third asked in a slightly raspy voice, his tongue lolling out of his mouth. In that instant, Roy noticed that a strange tattoo was printed on the fat one's large tongue. Glancing to the woman, whose sensuous voice matched her appearance, he observed she had an identical mark on her chest. Indeed, the final creature-- for they surely weren't human-- had the same symbol on his left leg.

"I don't know." The woman, now known as Lust, replied, "He might give you indigestion." A disappointed sigh came from the shortest one at the news.

Just as Roy was about to repeat his question once again the unconscious blond at his side open his golden eyes to gaze at the three. Ignoring the strangers for the moment, the eldest turned toward him, "Ed, are you alright?"

A gloved hand came to press against the boy's temple as he shook his head slightly, "Yeah, fine, what happened?" he wondered, gazing up to where Roy's attention had been. He then looked at the older one, slightly confused, "Were you talking to someone?"

The black-haired man turned his head back to where the three had been standing only to find an empty street. A small frown touched his lips, "I didn't imagine that, did I?" he asked himself.

Al came to his rescue and nodded, "There were three people here." He offered, "They were weird."

"Weird how?" Ed wondered, sitting upright.

"They had these weird marks, like a snake eating its tail." The younger brother replied.

"Not to mention that woman could transform her fingers into some sort of spikes." Roy added. All of a sudden Kanone's words flooded into his head for the second time, 'Lust can transform her fingers into long, pointed knives that work quite well for slicing through nearly anything.'

"Roy?" the elder brother asked, tilting his head at the dazed look on the man's face, "Mustang!" That snapped him out of it. Said man turned to face the blond, "You zoned out." Came the explanation.

"Right...sorry." He mumbled, glancing back to where the three had been standing once more.

Al looked around suddenly, observing that the street lamps were once again lighting the streets with their natural white light, the seemingly endless darkness now faded and the street continued on in its normal way. He locked eyes with Al for a brief moment before the latter spoke, "We should get home." He suggested.

A nod from the other two and they stood in unison. One, skeptical glance at the mangled car and the silent decision to hike it home was made. Roy trailed a bit behind the brothers, mulling over the brunette's words one last time, 'They aren't quite human...they're able to possess such powers...' A quick glance was shot to the necklace dangling around the blonde's neck, 'because of the Philosopher's Stone.'