The Pen is Mightier! (penismightier) wrote in chaotic_library, @ 2011-04-26 17:08:00 |
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Current music: | Sarah McLachlan - Fallen |
[Edward Elric; PG] A Prayer For The Dying
Character/Series: Edward Elric; Fullmetal Alchemist (original)
Rating: PG
Notes: Written for fma_fic_contest prompt 112, Redemption
Title: A Prayer For The Dying
Author: yuuo
Word Count: 441
Summary: Alphonse was gone.
"We all begin with good intent,
Love was raw and young.
We believed that we could change ourselves,
The past could be undone."
-Sarah McLachlan
Alphonse was gone.
Even as Rose walked out of the theater, helping a limping Wrath and trying to cradle her baby close at the same time, that thought haunted him. Even as a plan formed, that thought smothered him.
Alphonse was gone.
Alphonse was gone, the country was on a possibly non-stop trip to hell because of his father's ex-wife and his father's refusal to deal with the woman and the homunculus of his first son, and it'd fallen to Edward to clean it up. God only knew how Roy was faring against Bradley. Even without Dante, Bradley could still lead the country to hell.
And Alphonse was gone. The mother they'd fought and paid for was gone, lost to Dante's abuses. Edward should've been dead, and instead, his brother had used that hateful Stone to bring him back.
And now Alphonse was gone.
Edward had one last shot at undoing the past's mistakes. They would never get their mother back, and they would probably never be able to fully have their home back; too much had happened for them to return to that. Innocence was gone. Even after God had struck them down, they'd maintained a sort of innocence, determined to undo what had gone wrong with a mythological artifact.
And now it'd been used, and Edward was restored and whole and Alphonse was gone.
"I promised you, Al," he whispered, then knelt down, clapping his hands and using alchemy to carve a transmutation array into the smooth marble of the floor. The familiar form of the phoenix sketched itself out in blue-white arcs of energy. Another transmutation produced a small knife.
It was up to Roy to save the country; Edward just wanted to save his brother. Like he'd wanted to all those years ago.
Blood for blood. Edward just hoped it was enough as he carved arrays onto his forearms and forehead. Without a mirror to look in to see what he was doing, it was difficult, but years of perfecting his transmutation circles paid off. He stripped out of his shirt and carved one more circle over his heart.
He knew this could take him out of this world forever. It could kill him, or worse, trap him over in that other world he visited briefly. But as long as Alphonse was alive and whole and well here, it was okay. It didn't matter what happened to Edward, as long as Alphonse was all right.
Please forgive me, he silently begged his brother as he stepped into the circle, pressed his hands together in prayer, and activated his final transmutation.