Blasphemy Blue (blasphemy_blue) wrote in cemetery_things, @ 2007-12-13 09:16:00 |
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Entry tags: | fullmetal alchemist |
[ Fullmetal Alchemist ] Julia - Discontinued {2004/2005}
+ Title: Julia
+ Fandom: Fullmetal Alchemist
+ Characters: Blasphemy, Envy, Lust, Dante
+ Rating: M
+ Word Count: 2632
Mom always took care of her with the smile.
Not simply a smile, that didn’t describe how deeply the emotions played in her eyes, what Julia would have taken for hate or annoyance in any other person turning into love, approval, affection. Mom always loved her so much that she never let her outside, never wanted her to leave her side for long, and when Julia was bad Mom loved her enough to punish her. Even though it hurt badly, Mom told her she deserved it, and Julia knew she did it because of love. It all was the same, really, though for some reason in her memories she remembered Mom as looking different. Faces shifted, but never lingered long. Mom was Mom, and that was all Julia needed to know.
When she was sixteen, things changed… Somehow.
Mom was more distant. The smile was colder, but Julia didn’t care. Words were all she needed for affection, the days when Mom would brush her black hair and make her look like a porcelain doll. That’s what she called her, on the rare occasions toward winter’s arrival when Mother would hold her on her lap, Julia’s dress and hair perfect, glass-blue eyes reading whatever book was laid out on the desk. My doll… What a perfect doll you are, Julia…
Julia thought nothing of it when Mom wanted to make her breakfast that morning. Usually one of the maids did it, but questioning wasn’t good at all- It only made Mother angry, so Julia took it with a grain of salt as she sat at the dining room table, waiting as she had been told. Her eyes looked around curiously, watching out the window as a fox from the forest stalked a rabbit through the yard. It was playing with the rodent, running forward before stopping, allowing it to fall into a false security before running forward again. Mother set the plate down before her with a smile and a pet on the head, making Julia grin happily. She must have been good, otherwise Mom wouldn’t be treating her so nicely. At Mother’s prompt, she started in on the meal- Oatmeal, mixed with a massive amount of brown sugar, just the way Julia liked it. Mother smiled as she ate it, actual delight in her expression. Good girl… Julia was quite proud of whatever she might have done to deserve this treat.
Julia developed a headache soon after breakfast.
She felt ill, found herself vomiting harshly in the bathroom, bent over double as her gut screamed in pain. Mother simply passed by the open door, not bothering to stop as she glanced at the sick girl with ice in her eyes. Lightheaded, fully exhausted of anything else to throw up, Julia crawled to her room down the hall with sheer pain, making it only just inside the door before she became dizzy and had to stop. Seeing things… Julia was delirious, dancing images before her pained eyes that made her stomach pain double and her lightheadedness increase. She fell, lying on the floor, breathing heavily with the dry heaves.
Was it hours that had passed before Mother came in? Julia didn’t know. It was darker, the sun had begun to set, but Julia’s world was dim for other reasons. Her hair was brushed back from her hot, so hot, face, cold fingers and cold eyes staring down at her. Did she reach upward, call for her mother, or was that a delusion as well? Mother stood near the window, outlined by the moonlight, watching as Julia hemorrhaged and died on the room she had slept in for sixteen years.
The last thing Julia saw was red…
~+~
Chapter 1
Lust walked in the door around one that morning, not bothering to close it behind her; Gluttony followed not far behind. The house reeked of decay, this evening, the darkness permeated with a scent of human death that could have made the woman sick had she not covered her nose with one hand delicately. Something had happened, she could feel it as she walked up the stairs of the main hall, passing the door that had always been closed since Dante had found the urge to care for the human brat. The bed was empty, not even touched from its perfectly made state. The sin only paused for a moment, letting the smell of death permeate her senses before she moved on. It had happened in there, whatever life had ended. The scent was maddening, but another feeling of dread called to Lust from the far wing of the manor; A dread so familiar that Lust almost didn’t venture down that dark hall to the past. The sound of breaking glass was her only motivation.
Proceeding to the door she knew to be Dante’s lab, the sin pressed a hand against the partially open portal, letting it swing open on its own to reveal dimly lit tables and alchemic materials. The stench of blood hit the sin like a wall, making her step back with an ill feeling in her gut. It was impossible, but she knew the scent too well to deny it, even as she stepped through the doorway numbly, eyes moving to the bloodstained floor that still glowed slightly with alchemic energy.
“Mother…” She said it softly, questioning and horrified as she saw the blood-covered form in the center of the array. Lust could see it was heaving in pain, the coarse pants making animalistic sounds of pain as it lay on the ground. Dante didn’t bother to respond, brushing her hands together as though cleansing them of filth. “Clean that up, Lust.” The alchemist left without another word, the flickering of a broken lantern adding an eerie effect to the room.
Lust moved forward after what seemed an eternity of fixated horror, stepping over the majority of the blood to kneel beside the creature on the floor. She could see it was a girl now, human in shape despite the seeming contortion of its body. Its eyes were open, panicked as they flickered about its surroundings with terror behind the violet hue. The sin reached out hesitantly, hovering above the blood-smeared face before she finally rested her fingers on the fevered flesh. Those eyes… They locked on Lust’s face, its ragged wheezes the only sound in the empty lab as the two alchemic creations watched each other, some strange communion of monsters occurring in the dimly lit room. The female creature let out a strangled sound, pain and fear in the noise that echoed throughout the lab eerily.
Lust made a soft shushing sound, touching the tip of its nose gently with one finger with a slight sigh. She gathered the bloody mess into her arms, standing with slight surprise at how light the creature was. “Mother said to clean you up…” Lust said softly, not knowing whether this pained creation could even comprehend what she was saying. It seemed to understand, somehow, the eyes showing a spark of intelligence despite its mute attention. Soft steps, even steps, Lust remembered the pain of awakening enough to know that even slight movement could become screaming agony. She’d follow orders, be merciful enough to keep this new creation protected from the brunt of Dante’s wrath for the time being…
The bath of the sublevels was large enough to fit several people in, constructed for the sins to use on the occasions when they did reside inside their mistress’ house. The water was warm, Lust having heated it to just the temperature she found quite comfortable and relaxing- Something this girl needed, a fact made quite obvious from her jumpy behavior. Making quite sure the girl didn’t go under, Lust scrubbed her clean of blood and mess, shampooing the filth from her matted hair several times before it was entirely clean, though still quite tangled. Hair oil was enough to untangle the majority of rats with a comb, the final product being clean, navy blue waves that reflected the light in dimensions that made the color almost surreal. The woman almost had to marvel at how this girl had seemed so deformed and disgusting when covered with blood only a half hour past, now curled up with her hair falling to hide her face from the world that terrified her so. Lust brought a handful of water up, splashing it against the other’s shoulder rather teasingly, amusement replaced by shallow guilt at the girl’s frightened reaction. She drew the girl from the water with a sigh, one of the fluffy cotton towels ready to dry the girl off and wrap around her warmly.
Lust had never been the maternal sort, and this was no exception; This was simply an order to follow, another task given by Dante, and Lust would pass this chore on to one of the others as soon as possible. There was something that wrenched her gut when looking at the girl, despite her usual distant chill. Only a week ago, Dante had been brushing the hair of this former human with amusement in her expression and the girl’s enthusiasm. With a simple whim of temper she had poisoned the girl and turned her into an undead experiment of alchemy… Or had that been her intention since the beginning? Lust toweled the girl’s hair dry with finality, wrapping it around her with a sigh. No guilt, of course- One learned to never question Dante’s motives, no matter how dark or cruel the crime.
~+~
Chapter 2
Disobedience is pain.
That was the first thing the girl learned when she met Envy. Lust had guided the girl through the dim marble halls of the sublevel, steps slightly slower than usual as she searched for any of the others. She could sense Envy somewhere here, his scent and presence strong in the corridors of their residence. Lust didn’t want to run into the eldest homunculus yet, though- If it came to a choice between Dante’s annoyance and Envy’s abuse being cast upon this newcomer, Lust would rather spare the girl Envy’s rage.
“Lust-san, what are you doing with that brat down here?”
The effeminate voice echoed eerily in the marble halls, making Lust turn her head sharply to see the eldest sin skulking in a side hall, violet eyes flashing menacingly as he stepped forward. The girl cowered back against Lust; somehow she knew him, the expression of pure loathing disgust like something from a dream of years long past.
“I’m taking her to Mother,” Lust replied, voice cool as she looked the elder up and down with something not dissimilar to annoyance. “Why is it any concern of yours, Envy?”
The emerald-haired beast strode forward, steps silent as any predators’ as he approached the two females. “I’m to take her from you now; Go about your business.”
Lust looked quite skeptical, raising an eyebrow rather delicately at the command from the other. “And she told you this just now?”
“I don’t lie about that person’s orders, Lust!” It was a snarl, a hiss, snapping the lower member of the pack into place with a show of aggression and authority. Lust backed off immediately, placing a hand on the girl’s head before turning on heel and walking into the shadows before disappearing with no trace.
Envy smirked slightly, grabbing his charge’s chin with one hand and tilting her head to show the mark on her neck in the light. “So she finally got bored with you, neh, Julia-chan?”
She stared at him with no comprehension in her expression, remaining silent even as the elder sin guided her into the side hallway and into a doorway. “Just through here, now…” Her first lesson was when she stopped in the door, shaking her head in refusal. She didn’t want to go in there… Envy shoved her inside with a snarl, eyes blazing. “You don’t seem to get how things work around here, brat.”
His fist slammed into her face with absolutely no warning, the sound of crunching bone sending a sharp shot of pain through her head as she fell backwards to the rug with a yelp of pain. “Stupid shit-” The elder sin hissed, violet eyes flaring as he dragged her back up by the hair. Envy’s fist was aimed for her gut this time, making her double over as she clung to the towel that covered her bare flesh. The blows rained down mercilessly, the girl simply cowering in a ball on the floor, as the bruises appeared on her pale skin in purple swells. Envy stood back, breathing heavily as he stared at the shaking figure, contempt still in his gaze. “She got tired of you, finally- About fucking time, you stupid-“ A sharp kick to the ribs, repeated with each accentuated word, “little- bitch! What do you think she saw in you, huh? You’re just trash- Fucking trash. Do you hear me?!” The girl’s unresponsiveness seemed to enrage him even more, earning her another slam to the gut- This time with Envy’s foot.
“She hates you- She doesn’t want you anymore, nobody wants you! You’re too stupid, too fucking stupid- you can’t even talk or scream! Are you so fucked up that you can’t feel it? Everyone hates you!” Envy stopped his shouts and kicks as the sound of a cracking rib was accentuated by a soft cry of pain, tears streaming down the homunculus girl’s face in pitiful crystalline trails.
It was amazing, how only moments ago the sin had seen an object of sheer loathing in this pitiful girl; Julia’s face, the face of the one who had been the object of Mother’s faux affections and true attentions for sixteen years, was now gone, the blue hair and violet eyes making her entirely… different.
Envy knelt down beside the sobbing sin, sighing with frustration as he listened to the sobs. He still felt resentment toward her, but now there was something like pity within the hatred… Why, he didn’t know, but this girl’s death reeked of foul play and Dante’s whims of temper. Envy had no concrete evidence, but his suspicions were those of murder- and Dante didn’t like fast deaths for her victims.
“Stop crying, dammit-“ The sin growled, annoyance in his tone. “Just… Look, it’s fine, alright? I won’t hit you again… See?” Envy held out his hands, palms up. The girl stopped crying, looking at the hands curiously as she pushed herself up onto one arm shakily. Envy smiled, that smirk on his face quite amiable as he pulled a pouch from his garments discreetly, palming several blood-red stones and holding them out to the girl like a peace offering. “These will make you feel better…”
She sniffed them carefully, looking wary as she picked one up and examined it thoroughly. The elder sin smiled, almost looking gentle in his latest façade. “Go on…”
It took several moments after she swallowed the first one before the addictive properties of the red stone spread into her system; Envy’s laughter was audible in the corridors as the girl practically crawled on top of him, the towel that had been covering her forgotten in her lust for the stones. He let her have them, watching in amusement as she devoured them fast enough that she choked several times. The girl was quite finished, licking traces from her hands before turning her attention back to Envy, sniffing at his hands and running her tongue over them like a kitten pleading for a treat. The elder sin simply smirked at the girl’s behavior, letting her cling to him as he simply watched her; One hand reached up at last, pushing her away gently. “No more right now… We need to get you something to wear.”