A Million Dollar Man

[Guest]

That was an adventure. Something no one saw coming, especially the leader of Drachma. The break into Briggs was a bit of an eye opener on multiple levels. One, she was clever and could manipulate people better than she thought. Two, Toss was alright and she found herself even more swooned by the homunculus than she could of thought possible. Lastly, Dai was someone she now despised.

The woman rode in the back of her Audi, heading back to the borderline of Drachma and Amestris. Her legs were crossed as she stared out the window as the desert wasteland of snow. One hand sat in her lap, and the other traced the edges of the arm rest connected to the door. She needed a moment to herself and collected the silence that engulfed her. The driver raised the glass widow that separated the two, and Alena gave a faint smile as in saying ‘Thank You’.

The beautiful woman shuts her eyes and leans her head against the car rest and dozes off for a moment.

----Dream----

“Alena” A voice calls out from the side of the room where she was sitting. She looks over from her current spot in a room she’d never seen before, and stares into the shadows.

Her mind thought that it was Pride, but she never spoke it physically in the dream.

“Alena, come.” The haunting voice grew deeper and sent a way of fear down her spine. She found herself not moving, and instead being forced closer and closer to the shadow.

Red eyes appeared in the shadow, much bigger than she expected.

“Alena, you betrayed me.” The voice was deeper than before and pulled her into a giant mouth that opened up.

----End Dream----

The woman snaps awake, and looks around as she caught her breath. It was just a dream, she assured herself before looking around just to make sure.

“Get it together, Alena.” She told herself as she fumbles for her pocketbook that was laying in the seat besides her. Her cell phone had a missed called from brother, Aurelius. It took a moment, but Vanity finally takes a deep breath and called her brother.

The ringing felt like an eternity went by as she waited for the other end to connect. ‘Come on, come on, come on...’ she mumbles under her breath as she stares out the window once more attempting to think of something other than her horrifying nightmare.

“It’s me, Aphrodite.” She finally spoke into the phone once the other end makes a connection. “Chaos, we need to talk and I think it would be best to do it alone. I’m at the border of Amestris and Drachma right now...” Her voice was calm and collected as she spoke to her brother.

[Aurelius Schwartz]

"I know," he said, voice fluid even over the phone. Slowly the dusted, black Audi came to a stop, four-way flashers assailing the falling night. Raven hair whipped out in long currents down the leather back of a tall figure still against the flowing traffic ahead. He stood there on the borderline of Drachma and Amestris, long coat billowing in the blizzard breeze, smiling softly and taking just a few steps in the immediate direction of the car just in case she didn't see him right away. Oh, how that unplanned moment had worked so perfectly into his plans. "See?" He murmured, not really caring about what he was saying whilst sounding rather unlike his usual demeanor. In fact, the strange part about the whole scenario was perhaps the fact that Alena had used their code names: Aphrodite...Chaos... They were on the phone with each other, whose lines were more than secure according to RIOTE's tech, which were highly valued and trustworthy. Aurel confirmed it himself. It was odd coming from a woman who had up until only recently been simply one of his pawns. Now something more, she insisted on the formalities.

Aurel sighed and flipped his phone closed, waiting for her to get out and come to him and his own car. That driver, being Amestrian, wouldn't be able to get into Drachma unscathed. Sadly, Aurelius liked it that way, despite being Amestrian himself, and despite the country's ruler also being Amestrian. How strange--peculiar to say the least. But having not Amestrians running about, he felt safer--safe enough to venture far into the outside. After much of the war, save for a small voyage to Aerugo, the leader of RIOTE had locked himself away from everyone and the world. He barely remembered what he did aside from plan, stare at the wall, and wish that he had been shot. Wishing death was one thing, and fearing how and when it would happen (if not by his own hand) was another. That was the real reason why it was better to have Amestrians completely exiled from the country if they weren't RIOTE. Maybe a rash decision, but it was one they had all agreed on, though Aurel honestly didn't care much either way.

Long arrays of blue hair peered into the waning light, forcing Aurel to squint at the sudden burst of color encroaching upon the white landscape. Mismatched eyes beheld Alena quietly, watching her approach until finally reaching him. "What was it you wished to discuss?" No, that wasn't why he was here nor what he desired most to know, but when it came to those that meant something to him, Aurel was more than a gentleman.

[Guest]

As the car continues to drive forward, she saw and individual standing against the frozen backdrop. A sight for sore eyes wasn't enough to describe the feeling she got after dealing with the massive load of arrogance and pride back at Fort Briggs. She releases a sigh as she ends the call with her brother, and waits for the car to come to a stop. It was time to stop playing the silly games, and for once be real with Aurelius. With ease, Alena quietly steps out of the car and struts over towards her brother, whose mismatched eyes never broke contact with her as she approaches.

"What was it you wished to discuss?" His smooth voice was calming and collecting compared to the last few hours of constant straining and bickering. To say that Aurelius and Dai were on different levels was a complete understatement. They belonged on two different words, and it wasn't hard to decide which world she would stand on.

Strains of hair were flowing behind her as she stands a few inches away from her brother, looking up into his mesmerizing eyes. "I'll spare you the details for now about my breach into Fort Briggs, but I ran into a man named Dai." She pauses for a second to look away and gather her thoughts. It didn't' take long before she returns her gaze back towards the man. "I want the honest truth, Aurelius. For once, I don't want to play any sort of games, and just shoot straight. Am I just a puppet, brother? Is that all I am to you?" Her voice wasn't either strong or weak, but collected and reserved. Both arms were folded against her slim figure as she looks up into his haunting eyes awaiting for the truth.

There were many times Alena thought what it would be like to grow up with her older brother, to be able to rely on one another, instead of relying on herself. At the end of the day, she knew it didn't matter, she always felt alone. It came with her nature, the seed of Vanity that was locked away inside of her.

[Aurelius Schwartz]

He could already tell something was amiss with his mirror-perfect sister--his almighty Sekretar, that which he still felt uncomfortable thinking about as such: blood relation, someone akin to him still left in this world. It was shuttering to say the least, seeing as Hild was once considered his sister, fake title as it was. His eyes narrowed after her approach, sensing some sort of falter--some sort of question that was lingering just on the edge of her lips. He had only to wait... She stopped and spoke just sort of Aurel's inquiry, plunging him into a deep silence.

"I'll spare you the details for now about my breach into Fort Briggs, but I ran into a man named Dai." Ah yes, the breach into Fort Briggs that she was now returning from. He barely shed a thought about it aside from picking up on the implication of fowl play all over the notion of retrieving Greed--Greed whom belonged in Carraig more so than Fort Briggs or Drachma. And well, picking up her. Aurel crossed his arms. Dai: short for Daigoro Ito, the man that stood beside Reila Tsukino as Queen of the Fort that so stood in Drachma's way. He nodded. Go on... What could she possibly have to speak to him about? Oh, but he already knew. The simple mention of the name 'Dai' was evidence enough that in some shape or form her resolved was shaken. Fort Briggs did that to a person, Aurel found, albeit reluctantly. He now had only to reform that resolve into something much stronger so as to prevent such animosity from occurring in the future. "I want the honest truth, Aurelius. For once, I don't want to play any sort of games, and just shoot straight. Am I just a puppet, brother? Is that all I am to you?" He sighed. Actually, this may prove more difficult than he expected. It had something to do with his fowl mood.

Aurelius Carston Schwarz showing affection? It fitted smoothly into his plans, but the actual executing of it... His eyes darted to the side and he suddenly grew nervous, hating the feeling, despising it, loathing it... School had to have been the last time--being singled out, ridiculed for the glorious amounts of money his step father flaunted. That or when he had to protect Hild from the bullies that cornered her and pulled her hair, making him wish he had the authority to pull out all their hair, but no...! Now, now he had that power. Blue and red shot back at Alena, a callous glow visible through the sinews of black strands. "Is that how you think of yourself? Are you a puppet?" But Aurel was playing 'a game' in her eyes, despite that being the way he normally communicated with people. Cursing in his head, he took a smooth breath, his eyes changing intensity and shifting into a phase that not many people had ever seen before: something akin to love. "No," he barked, the single word filled with so much hate that it could drown a city in blood. The growl was bridging on feral, fangs glinting in their ever-present fashion as they grazed against his lips. "To me, you are more than something I can describe..." He lost his words thinking about it, feeling that, for her, it wasn't enough. He got lost in the chaotic cycle of his mind, plotting and fitting together words and phrases never uttered aloud to another human being or anything for the matter. He became trapped in the swirl and void of each passing thought, slamming into invisible walls that screamed out the names of so many people and so many plans that fell through his fingertips like sand only to arrive back at one single point and one single moment in time where he stood there stock still in front of the only thing he could ever call home. To communicate that...was impossible. It was impossible for him. A panicked look crossed his eyes, his heart hammering in his chest, crawling fervently to his throat where it proceeded to choke more silence out of him. His legs grew wavy and suddenly he couldn't see, dots devouring Alena's beautifully concerned look. How...how...!? He wanted nothing more than to end his life. He was useless; a useless human that was not even that. A chimera--a bearer, whatever Aurel was he didn't know anymore; he just wanted it to end. To end.

To end. The smell of winter assailed him, passing through even intake of insane breath before dispersing in a cloud of his making back into the atmosphere as if nothing had ever taken place. The Audi was long gone, they were alone. Aurel's car, her, the traffic. TRAFFIC. People--people passing and going--going to places. Life never stopped transgressing... The bombs. The bombs had stopped the normal--woke people up--made them realize what was important. Important. He came back to himself looking at Alena, seeing everything on her face as his own broke down into so many thoughts that swallowed him whole into nothingness--everythingness. "I care about you," he breathed, squeezing the words out in a voice that sounded nothing like the regality he shared with everyone else. He dropped. Into the snow and realized he was blacking out--no--realized that he had just shot himself.

The gun was laying beside him, taken from his coat pocket where it had been wrongfully entrusted to him by the people around him that didn't know him--didn't know him like Hild did. Where was Hild? She was so far gone from him that he didn't even know... Aurel didn't even know. But he was bleeding, losing blood fast. He was so outside of himself that it hurt--it hurt. ...Dying hurt. But this was what he wanted. It...it was what he wanted. Tears were falling openly from his eyes, and he didn't even know why. He was smiling and he didn't even understand what he was saying, but it was happening--it was happening unplanned, unfiltered: straight-up him. "I've never...had a family." He tried...he had really tried, Hild. Tried to make it true, but now--now it was over.


[Note that Aurel shot himself in the head. If he's going to live, we have to rush him to the ER and put metal plates in his head, and all that crap... He....just sort of did it on his own...............]

[Guest]

She attempts to stay collected after the release of her last sentences, knowing the frustration that it could cause.

Nothing had prepared Alena for what was to come.

"Is that how you think of yourself? Are you a puppet?" His words were thin and sharp as he continues staring down the woman like she was his prey. "No," He barked back at her, causing her to raise her hand up defensively near her head. "To me, you are more than something I can describe..." Alena could see it in his face that the man was at a lost for words. She had seen him in the past in this chaotic state of play, but this was different. It was as if his own chest was pounding so loud that she could feel the vibrations against her fragile body. Panic overcame his face as the two were standing there in the midst of traffic.

"Aurelius," She was about to continue her thought but something forces her to stop. At this moment, the beautiful woman felt completely ugly, utterly digesting by causing this kind of pain on her brother. The look on his face was telling her far more than she bargained for, and she was beginning to realize she wasn't ready for whatever was to come. Her hand slightly reaches over towards her brother, about to comfort him and say that it was okay during his midst of wrestling inside of himself. Something catches her eye from his coat pocket. His slender and pale fingers were gripping a silver gun, and he raises it up towards his head. In disbelief, the woman stops from touching him and chokes up at the sight happening before her.

CLICK

The gun was cocked back and the noise echoed for miles in the vast mountains of Mother Drachma. It was all happening so fast from and outsider, but to Alena it was happening so slow, like the hands of time were frozen and keeping her pulled back from reaching out to her brother.

"I care about you," His voice squeezes out, like taking his breath straight from his lung and causing him severe pain.

BOOM

It was the last thing he said to her before shooting himself in the head. His blood sprays out over the pure white snow as his body crashes down into the frozen wasteland. The gun fell at her feet and all she could do was cry. Tears fell from her face as she struggles inside of her to either help her brother or let him die. She reaches down and picks up the gun, aims it at her brother and shakes her head 'no'. The sin inside of her was telling her to shoot the man, to take control over RIOTE, and be THE leader of the world. The fame, the glory, beauty, power, and luxury were at her hands but she craves more and more.

"I've never...had a family." Was the last thing he said before passing out as he stares up at the woman who had full control over the situation. In and second, Vanity disappeared and the human nature was in full control, and she throws the gun clear across the road and bends down to her brothers side.

"I, I've got to do this brother." She exclaims as she pulls his weaken, blood stained body put against her flawless features. His face was dripping in the crimson flood, and she knew it was now or never. Her lips, the source of all her poison, is brought against his bullet hole on the side of his head. His blood tastes like rust and sweat as her lips secrete the poison into the wound. His hair plasters against her powdered face as she hold his head still. He was already unconscious, but she knew she had to come up with a way to slow the process of death. The woman finally pulls away, knowing anymore and he would die from the poison, but for now she had to get him to the ER. She fumbles for her phone and realizes she had left it in the Audi. "Dammit!" She exclaims before reaching her hand down into Aurelius pant pockets. On the second try, she found the phone and immediately calls boarder control.

Within ten minutes an emergency helicopter was there and the paramedics where rushing towards her brother to help with the situation.

(I hope this is suitable )

[Guest]

Hospitals. The color of the walls always disconcerted this youthful woman, as she slowly took steps through the hallways. Men and women in their harsh white coats ran around her, voices travelling past her ears yet not registering in her mind. Words that meant nothing to the girl were spoken, and so she would ignore those that were not a part of her thoughts. A single eye stared at the white-washed floor, tears edging the orb as her feet collided with tile and lino. "It's my fault." It had been but an hour previous that she'd received the call--not from the doctors, but Alena herself. Why had that woman, whom she had always felt uncomfortable around, called her to tell her about this? She shook the thought of that out of her mind, looking up again to see the numbers that sat above the rooms. Aurel. She had been told that he had shot himself in the head. It was her fault. She hadn't been there then, instead working on a personal project of her own volition. If she'd just been there, then she could've done something else. But she wasn't. She was gone, and when she was gone, Aurelius had killed himself. From the first time she'd admitted her love for this man, she had promised that she would always remain by his side. So, when she broke that promise, even once, she was punished? There was a cruelty to that, one that Hild herself felt to be ignoble in its presence. A shoe clattered on the ground, and a doctor was standing above her with a stern look in his eyes, staring down at her as she looked back up. "You are Miss Schwarz?" Hild would nod timidly, almost frightened by the presence of this man. "They are waiting for you. Aurelius has not awoken yet." They? Oh, they must mean... Vanity. Her eye now concentrated itself on the bright white of the man's coat, not moving more than a foot away from him, almost trying to bury himself in the clothing of this person who frightened her, yet caused her to respect him at the same time. He was much like her Aurelius, whom she thought to be the most frightful person in existence, yet also seemed to be a person who deserved every respect that she could give to him. He made her smile, laugh and worry all at the same time, that foolish man did. She chuckled quietly and watched as he turned into a doorway that looked all the same as all the others, yet with a 4-15 above. Hesitating briefly, Hild watched him as he stepped into the room and turn out of her way. "He's in here, Hild." She blinked and meekly walked forwards, taking a step through the portal and looking over towards the bed itself.

"AUREL!" She didn't even have to think--her feet were already moving faster than her mind, carrying her towards the man that lay prone upon the bed. A body hit another, and Hild was already upon him, sobbing deeply without any regard. Her pale and thin arms were wrapped tightly around his still-warm body, the girl finally raising her head out of him to look up at Vanity. "H-he... m-my Aurel..." She swallowed back tears, shaking her head and looking Vanity in the eyes, even though she possessed but one. "I wasn't there... i-it's my fau--" She would not hold back now, and as her words degraded into nothing, her mind degraded as well, tears flowing freely and soaking the small section of that white sheet covering Aurel. White... it was the color of the snow that lay throughout Drachma. The color of the ships that blazed through the oceans outside Carriag. Though... this white was different. This white reminded her of all her times in hospital, be they her own, or those of others. The white sheet that covered Aurelius from chest to feet hid that beauty that was his body, the lanky mass of flesh and bone that she had tasted, fed from, fed to and made love with so many times before... and now, it was still. It lay there, the chest barely rising and falling, with Hild's head laying on its side and listening to the dwindling heartbeat. He was alive, though... "I don't know how much longer he will live, Miss Hild." Her gaze rapidly shifted to meet the piercing stare of the doctor. "He is stable, but slowly degrading. We have put all the painkillers that a normal man can survive within him, as well as replacing his shattered skull with steel. That said, it is difficult for someone to survive and regenerate from this brain damage. I hear that it's fixable over time... but..." He didn't need to finish. "He may not have enough time, right?" Slowly standing up from Aurel's body, Hild turned to the side and stared intently at the doctor, taking slow and cautious steps towards the man that was telling her that she may never get to speak to HER Aurel again. NOBODY told her that! NOBODY! "You're wrong. He will survive! He's my Aurel, and as long as I want him to live, he'll live!" Her eye burned with a strange fire, the girl turning sharply away from the doctor and returning to the bed. "There is no way."

"There is always a way. Forgive me, Alena. Please, can you take over as Aurelius' second-in-command in my absence? N-no, not absence. Departure." She moved almost saint-like now, touching the side of Aurelius' bed and moving a leg up. The doctor behind her made a noise, as if he were going to tell Hild off--she would turn her gaze back to him and give him a look that would send even the bravest men spiralling through despair. She had... she had made up her mind, and straddled Aurel's body to do so. Laying down, she rested her head beside his and listened for a second, trying to make out if there was any breathing coming from the man's lips. "Barely." Barely was enough. Leaning back up, Hild placed both of her hands onto her chest. "This... this is experimental." An experiment she had been looking at, wondering if it were possible. Soul Transfer. Yes, there were beings that had souls within--beings that were not human, but suits of armor. She was not experimenting with this, for this was something that was already done. Instead, she was experimenting with the intake of life force and soul, in order to extend and repair the body of another. If this worked, then Aurel would do more than survive. He would be renewed, possibly even living longer. She sat there for a few more seconds, before turning to Vanity and giving her a reassuring smile. "Do not... do not try to stop me. I want to do this." Leaning forwards, Hild placed a soft kiss onto the unmoving lips of Aurelius. She felt a cool warmth touch, and pushed herself in closer, almost aiming to meld her body with his own. Without warning, a bright light glowed from her form as small transmutation circles lit up--a byproduct of creating such a large and complex Alchemy. The red glow of the circles shone over her love, creating a light in the room that Hild could not see. Instead, all that she focussed on was the man that she was trying to revive. She could feel it beginning already--the pull of her soul, and the other souls in the Stone within her body. They were the first to go, as Hild felt the transfer slowly begin and pull forth the red mass from her body, making it disappear and meld with Aurelius' own. The sudden pulling away of Alchemy caused a soft dissipation of the light for a single second, though the connection between Hild's soul and the Stone she had transferred returned her to the normal state once more. Pieces slowly pulled away, as memories started to flicker before her eyes...

I know what people think. It's what people have been told. Aurelius... he's my brother. It's what I have to tell everybody that I introduce him to. Truth be told, it's not that simple. I guess it's all to do with him being adopted, but he's never been related to me... He's just someone from outside my family... who shares my last name... and is not related by blood. That book. She watched herself writing in the pages from a distance, as if she were no longer herself. Thinking about Aurel, writing and pouring her heart out into those pages. "Brother, don't say things like that. I couldn't live with myself if you died. And... and... I'll always need you! You're my big brother!" A voice interjected in her mind. Ah, those windswept days. Those days where she was certain that Aurelius was related to her, and that her brother was a man that she would always rely on. "There is a free concert in the park this afternoon, if you are so inclined," Shula. Shula Brighton, her one true friend outside of working. That woman, she had not cared for whether or not she was Fuhrer, and instead just lived with it and smiled alongside her. Where was kindness like that anymore? Tears rolled off her eyes as a few small pieces of her soul fluttered into the body of Aurelius himself. She could feel his heartbeat stabilizing, and the voice of the astounded doctor behind her stating things about his vitals, and how they were 'going back to normal'. The girl slowly sat up, closing her eyes and smiling softly. Heh... It's difficult to write this, to be honest about my feelings like this. To tell the truth, I loved Aurel like a brother, and kept him on the right side of the line. But things have been changing. What he's been doing... It's immoral and wrong, but he's doing it for me... That's something I could never ignore. He wants peace... And he wants it for me. I feel... that there's something else I could do. But I'm not a leader. I never have been... It was all him. More visions of her memiors crossed her vision, as she gazed upon Alena to her side once more. Reaching a hand up, Hild gripped the eyepatch's latch and threw it down to the girl, staring at her now with both eyes.

"He will... Truth will be coming for me soon. I have used my body as a Transmutation Array, and as such broken many laws." With that, her vision went black--her sight was the first to degrade into nothingness. Blinded now, she fumbled to touch Aurel's chest, feeling for the heart of the man that she loved and returned to this world. He fingers brushed over material, felt heartbeats, then nothing. Her sense of touch had finally disappeared from this world. And as I write these words down, I close my memoirs for the final time. I wish to write no more about my life. There may be those who chronicle it for all to see, but it won't be by my hand. Today. Today is the first day of the rest of my life. She fell forwards, unable to feel the man's body and colliding with him, smelling the body of that which she loved. "My name... is Hild Leben Liebhaber Schwarz. I will live on, as Mnemosyne..." He's not my brother. She could no longer smell his body, so she slid her tongue along his neck, tasting his flesh before her sense of taste died away. Once that had gone, voices were all that she knew. "I will live on... in my Aurelius... For..." Her body slumped sideways, falling towards the ground. The shouts of the doctor disappeared without warning, as Hild--now blind, deaf, mute, tasteless, senseless beyond all belief... hit the ground with a resounding thud. The last remnants of her soul gone, her body no longer had anything holding it together, and crumbled into dust upon the floor of white bleach.

He's not my brother...

...and I love him.

Signed, Hild Leben Liebhaber Schwarz.

[R.I.P]

[Aurelius Schwartz]

He had a dream--a dream where someone was whispering to him to wake up. It was like staring into a mirror: there were two of him. Two, but one was too many. A heavy weight was on his chest, only then just lifted. He could breathe again, but it tasted like dust--the ashes of another life burned away in between the hard gaze of himself and that which he had become. He felt as an echo then--a warmth that only lasted until the winter came. He hated it, but he wanted to die--to embrace the sleepless nonexistence, but already he felt consciousness brimming, spilling off through his limbs and into the throbbing ache of his head--the smooth sheets covering him like the first snow of winter. He felt gone. He had already died long ago, and yet...

Incessant. Not just the beeping, but life--life itself was incessant, resilient so much so that it hurt like the light when he opened his eyes. Immediately Vanity was there, looking horrified that he should wake. Noise happened. A doctor was mouthing loud sounds and signalling to things. Aurel's eyes hurt in their sockets just from seeing. Before another thought transgressed, his breath caught, pupils disappearing into an abyss of blue and red. She was dead before the dream ended: a wetness on the curve of his neck, a lingering aroma of lavender, "For..." Aurel... felt it in each heart beat: Hild, for his heart already belonged to her. His cheeks were surging with tears, salt on his tongue, down his throat, drowning him...drowning him. So this what the result of his mindless inclination to die. This was the result. The result of all those times--too many times living... Instantly, he couldn't breathe, choked inside by invisible hands, smaller than his own, but that which had always moved him. Aurel rose from the bed, shaking slightly as he turned immediately to the piles of nothing on the floor. Remnants. That was all that was left of her--that body he held close, the voice he would never hear again, trailing touches against his bare back twisted against a mattress, the smile--her smile... What...were they doing? What...had they been doing? Her innocence lost against the feat they faced, bare without socks. Their goal--their goal... "H-ild," Aurel suddenly stuttered, his voice a fragment of regality, lost into the drones of medical garble. He knew exactly what happened. Hild's lifespan was coiled inside him, intertwined with so many other, silent souls that were once alive just like her. Just like Hild. They were alive--lived lives just as hers, ending up...just like her. "What have I done?"

She was supposed to be happy. She was a part of him now--Hild...she...she wanted to follow him. Now, now she couldn't leave his side. But what--what was he supposed to do now?! He couldn't carry her. He couldn't do it. It was so heavy. Standing there, he was about to fall. He felt his legs giving out and he was already on the floor, so lost in everything that he found himself holding the ashes in his hands and laughing. As they fell through his fingers lightly, the ground collapsed under him, cracks forming along the floor, dust-ridden raven hair thrusting into wind that broke through a window just shattered. Full of power--full of life, Aurel was but Aurel, yet still he felt detached from himself. Uncontrolled, raw souls wafted off his skin, soaking into the very air around him and charging it with blades of absolute anguish. Just as it came, silence bellowed, leaving Aurel still--empty, hair laced into beads gathered on his throbbing forehead. Heavy, but hollow, he slumped against the broken glass and let his eyes slide closed. If only they had never opened again... He wouldn't have had to see this--this ruin he caused himself.

His hands were shaking. It wasn't real. He was still dreami-- No! He had gone to hell. This was hell. That's what it was, but the pain--the continuity of feeling himself in his skin reminded him horrifically that he had already woken up. Aurel was very much awake, the cracks of cemented alchemy, formed around his crumpled form, and leading up to the window out of which he wanted to throw himself into the wind. Why had he been born at all if just to die? Blown away by a bullet. Scattered ashes. Loss. She was gone. However much she was inside of him, Hild was gone. Realization. That was something he wasn't accustomed to. It was hard...it was so shocking. But he had just seen her. Hild. Hild? Where have you gone? Just another day. He wanted just one more day to see her, to say good bye...to tell her... just to tell her anything, anything at all. That...was enough to make him happy.

Air expelled through his slightly parted lips, and he looked up, resolved, at Vanity. Hild had loved him, but Aurel always had trouble believing such a thing--accepting the idea that despite his hatred of himself, someone loved him. He knew now. He knew now because...because of what she did to him. To leave him in a world he couldn't stand--to throw herself into nothingness before him without even a farewell... She trusted him alone to make her dream come true. Even if she never saw it...he would make it happen.

That was the one thing he could do--the one thing.

Aurel's eyes steeled over in wisps of shallow air, wreathed in gloom. "Let's go," he breathed, voice quaking in silent fury, cold sorrow.

[EXIT THREAD]

[Shula Brighton]

{BUMP}

[Sponsored content]