What Lurks Beneath

Eleven

Ed concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other and moving forward one step at a time. His stomach was constricting around his spine. His throat was parched, but he couldn’t stop to drink the water. He’d bitten his own tongue and was sucking on the blood that welled up, but that didn’t quite help as he thought it would. His stomach still twisted and his throat seemed even drier. He could feel his body growing weaker. Sooner or later, he’d be too weak to move with his automail limbs. He’d been walking for miles, he didn’t know what day it was let alone what hour. Envy was happily chatting up a storm and Ed was completely ignoring him.

God, he was so hungry.

Ed stumbled and if it hadn’t been for Envy, he would’ve fallen into the stream running alongside them. Envy lashed out and grabbed their lamp-globe before it smashed and gently settled Ed down onto the cool stone.

“How’re you doing, pipsqueak?” Envy asked.

His answer was a loud rumble from the small blonde’s stomach.

Envy frowned deeply and stared at the weakening blonde. “Edward?”

“I’m okay.” Ed said softly. “Really.”

“Yeah, that’s why you’re falling around every four steps and you’re about to two shades too pale.” Envy growled. “And you’re sure you can’t just transmute something to eat?”

“Out of what? And I could bring the mountain down on us like before.” Edward shook his head. “In order to get a food item out of something it has to be able to become food through the natural order.”

“Like you could take grass and make it into bread.” Envy surmised.

“Exactly.” Ed sighed. “And on the same token, I could take blood and get water out of it. It’d taste like iron, but liquid becomes liquid like a solid becomes a solid.”

“You know, I’m glad I can’t do alchemy. It seems confusing.”

“Yeah. It’s why I’m a genius.”

“So blood to water, huh?” Envy said, looking at his own arm. Edward watched in growing horror as Envy’s arm became less and less human and more and more beast. The arm became a paw, a huge, meaty thing covered in dark fur.

Edward’s gold eyes were wide in that dimness, giant gold saucers that watched in morbid fascination as Envy’s human hand took hold of the animal one. If Envy thought Ed was pale before, he went a few shades lighter as Envy snapped his own shoulder and twisted. Bone and sinew grated, flesh and muscle ripping as Envy twisted his own shoulder around and around until bone separated from its socket. Muscle and sinew began to rip as Envy pulled on his arm, breaking skin and everything underneath as he separated his arm from his body. Blood spurted, a single red line splattered on Ed’s face. Envy pulled his arm free and dropped it in Ed’s lap.

“Go ahead, pipsqueak. Eat up.”

Edward choked down the horrified scream and stared at the limb in his lap. Envy grinned and crouched, the stub of his shoulder already beginning to grow back.

“C’mon short-stuff. Not squeamish are you? You’re hungry, right? Eat up. Transmute that blood into water. C’mon, Edward.” Envy crooned.

Ed grabbed onto the severed limb and smacked Envy’s grinning face with it. “Are you stupid?!” he yelled. “What do you think you’re doing? You ripped off your arm! Are you sick?”

“Well it was worth it to see your reaction!” Envy said through fits of laughter. “Seriously though.” Envy pointed at the limb as he sobered. “Transmute the blood. You need to get hydrated.”

“This is all kinds of gross.” Edward whimpered as he shifted to his knees, putting the bloody limb on the stone. He clapped his hands and pressed it to the stone and the blood on it. He formed a bowl as slowly as he could, collecting the blood. Envy picked up his furry limb and pulled a bit of the meat off, smiling as he grabbed onto Ed’s braid.

He jerked the boy’s head back and forced the bite size bit of meat into Ed’s mouth. He held the blonde’s mouth closed until Ed swallowed, then stepped back with a grin.

Ed retched, but it was too late. That meat was in his stomach and his body wasn’t rejecting it. “Stop helping me!” he yelled at Envy.

“Well, when you eat and drink on your own, I’ll stop.” Envy replied.

Edward glowed at the homunculus. “I’m working on it! The alchemy has to be carefully done or we’ll get crushed to death.”

Envy gave a shrug and watched Ed clap his hands again. This time when the alchemical light faded, the water in the bowl was a pinkish color. Ed picked up the bowl and swirled the liquid around before he took a sip.

“Oh, that’s vile,” Ed said softly, recoiling.

“You don’t have much of a choice, pipsqueak.” Envy said coldly. “You’re going to survive. Remember you said you’d make Raymond pay for this.”

“I remember.” Edward made a face then drank down the rest of the blood-water, feeling his stomach coil.

“Good. Maybe you can even get Mustang to kiss you. Maybe even fuck you. Have you gotten fucked? Kissed? Come on, pipsqueak. Was the Colonel any good?”

“What is wrong with you?” Edward asked. “I don’t care about any of that. I don’t care about dying a virgin. I just want to see Alphonse again.” The boy grabbed the bloody limb out of Envy’s hold and tore another chunk off the meaty shoulder. “I need to see Alphonse again.”

He popped the piece of meat into his mouth and swallowed with difficulty. Envy smirked and picked up their lamp-globe as they moved down the tunnel.