soul_logs | [Closed] Every whisper of every waking hour

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[Closed] Every whisper of every waking hour

Characters: Edward Elric and Hades
Location:the Ukraine
Rating: PG-13
Time: Feb 26th
Description: Ed somehow convinced Hades to go on another mission with him.

Hades had called him greedy and questioned his sanity, and frankly, Ed didn't think he was so far off the mark for pursuing another mission with the so-called God of Death. He was used to being called crazy, and he was one to admit that hubris had a way of taking ahold of him. But he also told himself that if he wanted to raise his power level in this place and use anything close to alchemy, he couldn't do it alone, and Hades ironically happened to be someone he was actually good at resonating with.

Besides that, it was a matter of pride. They'd been beaten in their last mission, and Ed couldn't just sit back and let Hades think he couldn't fight. He would prove to the god that even out of his element, he could still win.

The spot they'd stepped out of the mirror was quiet, the steps of the Potemkim Stairs seeming to lead on forever. Ed stared up them in wonder, gazing around as the coldness of the area hit him. He was glad to have worn a long jacket, but it still was intensely cold here.

"They say we have to hunt them down," he muttered to Hades, eyes returning to the abandoned steps. It was too far into the evening and the recent sightings of what the people believed were Baba Yaga had cleared out the area.

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Ed looked down at the hand he'd smacked Hades with, blinking when he saw it was his right one.

"Whoops, automail," he gave a little laugh, not really apologetically. Really, he knew the god would be fine with whatever he dished out.

But the issue here was to determine if there was an actual threat or not. He brought his hand back and let his fingers close around the end of dark braid, a gesture that had become surprisingly normal for him, close enough in his mind to the chain Hades became.

"You should transform," he gave a soft tug, looking up at the weapon and for once not giving an order.

He was about to agree when he suddenly froze in mid-motion. Straightening up, his trifold ears fanned out in an animalic display of alert as the god kept listening intently to something he couldn't see. Looking at something behind Edward's shoulder, his eyes narrowed in displeasure.

Something was there and it was playing with them.

"You... DUCK!" It was the first time he had raised his voice in more than thousand years and Hades surprised himself even more as he tossed himself forward with the half-minded intend to tackle the Meister to the side and down as something careened past them, missing them narrowly.

The -something- was the kishin egg that they had been looking for. It was a strange creature that had taken on the form a little old lady like you could find pretty much everywhere. She wore a red coat that had seen better days as well as a bright blue bobble hat that seemed to be at least two sizes too big for her head. A big pair of aviator goggles completed her outfit. The thing the 'witch' was riding in was equally unique as her: it was a mortar, bigger than Ed. It looked like it had been driven against something several times and had enough dents and bruises to make it look like a giant eggcup which had a rapidly turning broom in front of it like some wacky makeshift air-screw. A multitude of big smiley stickers covered the dents, but also traces of dried blood and even some human hair that had been caught in the rough surface.

Stealing hasty glances at the pair, the 'baba jaga' kept babbling to herself as she took aim for her next diving attack by using a second broom like a giant rudder.

Letting out a loud 'oof' sound as Hades' tackle sent him down hard on the steps, Ed couldn't help but stare at the creature that was making to run them down. What the hell kind of kishin was that?! It still surprised Ed to see the differences in these monsters they were supposed to hunt down, some humanoid like this one, others completely not, like the ones they'd escaped from last time.

But he only let his shock keep him down a moment. His eyes found his meister's and locked on in a fiery gaze.

"Transform, now!"

Once Hades was in his weapon form, Ed took ahold of the chain tightly and scrambled up from the steps, glad that the resonation between them was easier now than it had been the first and even second time. They were getting better.

While quicker, they weren't quick enough and the kishin egg clipped them, the mortar slamming into Ed's side to send him falling back, hitting the stairs again with a painful impact and rolling down a ways with Hades still in tow.

"Damnit...!!" Ed managed to catch himself, wincing this time as he got to his feet, raising the weapon as quickly as he could to begin swinging the weight.

Edited 2012-06-25 06:01 (UTC)

Hades ended up on the ground, feeling dazed and confused at the impact and what he himself had done just now. It had all happened due to logical reasons rather than emotions, of course - having Ed died would cut the fun he could still have with him short permanently.

Deciding to ignore the fact that he would usually just have let the human fight for himself anyway, the god looked up just to see the kishin and then catch the look in Edward's eyes. He reacted without thought, letting his body disperse and reassemble into the cold metal chain that landed in the Meister's waiting hands; this time properly so. The resonance happened that quickly that Hades almost missed it - but he didn't miss when the kishin hit them and he got dragged over the ground.

Making a displeased sound, he all but chided the blond. "Jump before you think and you will do exactly what your enemy expects you to."

As if to empathize his words the kishin egg giggled like a granny that had had a few eggnogs too many as she rode her flying mortar in a wide arch and came swooping down on them once more, rudder-broom clutched tightly in her spindly hands and raised like a baseball bat. This time the attack was coming from the side and at a sharper, faster arc.

Gritting his teeth at Hades' comment, he shook his head slightly, "I know, I got this."

He was better at dodging the second attack, using his agility to propel himself over a series of steps, keeping the weight in motion as he did so. It wasn't as difficult once he'd gotten used to it, just as the connection between Hades and him had become more seamless. As long as he focused on the task at hand, it was easier to deal with Hades' presence in his mind.

Once the kishin egg had made an arch past him, Ed readied himself and swung the weapon in the direction of the creature; he would have wanted the chain to wrap around their enemy to drag it down, but one of the weights simply struck the witch with a hard impact, throwing her off-kilter with a little yelp.

Ed's face lit up at the contact, grinning victoriously even though it was hardly enough to take their opponent down. "I hit her!!" he exclaimed, proud to have finally figured out that part of using his weapon.

"Beware," he would have said more but the anticipated feedback-shock of his own madness wavelength clashing against that of the kishin egg reached them already, echoing through the length of the chain like a pulse of negative emotions. For a moment Hades felt like he was standing in front of that wall again, hand pressed against it and overly aware of the empty nothingness on his side and that nobody would ever see him against all that other things the "God of the Dead" was.

Sucking in a breath he fought the wave off, reminding himself of his resolve and how he had accepted himself just being like that eons ago. He was Hades. He was the plain, the unnoticed, the wicked, the evil, the inconspicuous, the hated and feared and the helpful god of the End and there was nothing wrong with that.

Clearing his throat, he saw the kishin egg coming for them again, apparently now set for duking it out in a close combat brawl. "There it comes again."

There was a moment in which Ed faltered, the connection striking him as their attack hit the kishin egg. Resonance increased, and with it the shadowy fingers that pulled him deeper into Hades' madness. His doubts were suddenly there, beckoning him to give into them, reminding him of his weaknesses. There was the ever persistent reminder in his head, louder now, chiding him that he didn't belong fighting in this war:

You can never save anyone.

But alongside his own doubts, he felt the wall with Hades, glimpsed the figure in the dark beyond it and inevitably let on to the wave that the god of death felt. He felt slightly stunned at the brief, barely-there pang of undeniably human emotion. Was that it? It was difficult to tell, but Ed furrowed his brow, slamming his hand against the wall between them.

Dodging the kishin egg again, Ed dove to the side, practically tripping down sets of stairs as he swung the meteor hammer. Something else stirred in their resonance too, feeling like it had when they'd fought together and stunned the kishin eggs. But this was different. This felt more familiar to him. The stairs around them trembled slightly, and with his next movement, the stone from the steps heaved and shot up in sharp spike forms.

The alchemist stared at the new creation they'd brought on, feeling breathless as it had happened. This... it was similar to alchemy! Not only was he able to change Hades' form, but a power the weapon brought on himself was close enough to what he could do back home. It sent an exhilarating feeling through him, reaffirming his decision to demand another chance with this god.

Hades all but jumped when there was a reaction from the other side. It was as if Ed had suddenly thrown a stone into the reflection that had been there for seemingly ever now the cold watery surface inside his mind was rippling as his Weapon form and soul wavelength reacted to the new chaos as it turned into order by unlocking the Meteor Hammer's second ability.

Grasping it without thinking about it, Hades ignored the fight and the real world around them, bent on catching hold of whatever that sensation was. Where, where- there! Feeling the metal of his 'body' hit the ground, he reached for it, feeling the old power of his domain in his fingertips and calling out to it, moving the earth in the process.

The witch let out a surprised yell as the stone needles shot up and pierced the lower side of the kishin egg's mortar in mid air. The vehicle stopped from one moment to the other and the momentum was enough to carry her on, causing her to topple gracelessly out of it and roll past the Meister and Weapon pair. Hades was aware of all of this only in a daze, but his Weapon form reacted to Ed's excitement and hummed with their combined souls power in positive reinforcement. The battle had been decided. It was time to put an end to it.

The feeling of fighting a battle in a manner that he was used to made the adrenaline rise in Ed, like some kind of drug fueling him on. It'd been so long since he'd felt such an influence of alchemy that he found himself raising more stone from the steps, creating a sea of spikes and platforms around them and the kishin egg, eyes aflame. Well. If they were doing this, there was no sense in doing it small.

Leaping up and onto the platforms of stone, Ed made a dash for the creature, swinging the meteor hammer as he made his way over. With a twist of his arm, he brought Hades down onto the kishin egg once they were above it, feeling the shock of Madness at one moment tearing his head apart and the another minute keeping him together.

Ed's head wasn't the only thing that got ripped apart. The kishin egg had started scrambling hurriedly in a vain attempt to reach the deceptive shelter of it's vehicle when the ground had started changing. She had been almost lucky and just gotten one of her thin hands onto its metal when Ed had made their finishing move and one of the Meteor Hammer's heads had hit hers with a force that had been greatly increased by its momentum.

Adding its own ungodly madness wavelength to the impact, the Weapon smashed it like an overripe tomato.

The kishin egg immediately stopped moving. For a minute it looked like a simple old woman who had had something terrible happen to her as dark red blood slowly started spreading over the ground. Then it was over and the madness diffused and so dd the kishin eggs body, leaving only a corrupted soul glowing dimly in that air.

Hades said nothing as he returned to his human form. But there was a silent question hanging in the air around him, an unspoken "does this make you happy?"

When the Meteor Hammer struck the kishin egg's head, the blood shot up in a spray that splattered over Ed. He landed on the uneven ground, staring at the humanoid creature they had killed. He was dumb-struck for a moment, feeling cold suddenly at the thought that they had killed a human being, and not just that but an old woman. He didn't take lives, how could this have happened?? Even though the resonance was severed, his guilt was still strong in his mind, overwhelming as flashes of going through his mind of all the destruction he'd witnessed already, much of it at his hand.

Turning abruptly, the alchemist doubled over and was sick at the side of the stairs. He didn't pay attention to Hades for a few moments as he recovered himself, slowly straightening up and wiping his mouth, smearing some of the blood splattered there as well.

"We... we did it," he muttered, finally turning around but not quite looking at his weapon. The victim of their battle was gone at least. It wasn't a human, he told himself. It was an enemy. Ed knew these things, but why did it still feel so awful?

Edited 2012-07-02 03:16 (UTC)

Hades was about to huff lightly in disdain over being ignored when he finally noticed the sorry state the Meister was in. Raising an eyebrow, he agreed with a flat voice "We did. Why are you making a face like that?"

To him, it didn't matter whether the kishin egg had been humanoid or not or the manner of its death. It wouldn't even have mattered to him it what they had slain had been one of his own kind rather than some poor, unfortunate soul.

Absentmindedly, he poked one of the stone pikes that were still disfiguring the surface of the stairs. The people of the city would probably not like them.

He couldn't have answered Hades right then, because he didn't know the answer himself. Maybe it was that the loss of life, any life, affected him more deeply than he could ever be prepared for. It brought back too much, too much trauma that he could usually keep at bay.

But this was what it took. Ed knew this, he knew winning the war here would help the people and sent them home. Qilby had said it--nothing great was ever achieved without mistakes and work along the way.

The portal would be here soon, any minute. Clenching his fist, Ed looked up at the god, breathing quickening as he stared at him. Ever since coming to this place, he had hated the concept of resonation for himself, because he didn't want anyone here inside his head. Having a partner, someone who regularly did that... it had been the last thing he wanted.

But Hades had already seen him--he'd been inside his head, heard his fears and doubts and sense of guilt. The wall between them--Ed didn't fear it any longer, he didn't want to shy away from this things they'd found together.

Screwing up his courage, because he still wasn't sure this was what he wanted, Ed swallowed and stepped forward towards him.

"Hades!!"

The name used to invoke fear and dread, the name that people avoided saying for what it could bring. Ed swallowed and almost yelled out.

"Be my partner!"

He turned to him when the mortal suddenly shouted his name, half-expecting some sort of rebuke or any other display of human emotionality in reaction to his lack of empathy.

What he hadn't expected was that sort of question. For a good moment he ended up only standing there, in midst of the chaos they had caused and staring at the Meister, dumbstruck.

"..... Me?" Edward knew what bad luck he brought and how much his assistance cost, not once but over and over again. Not even the other gods were masochistic enough to seek his company for long. Yet this little, short-lived one wanted it?

For a moment, Ed stayed where he was as if moving closer would make the declaration any more real. He could either backtrack now, get out of this situation and just play it off as a moment of enthusiasm for the fight. But then he'd be back at square one, and if Ed was good at anything, it was charging forward--always moving forward.

Crossing the treacherous ground over to where the tall Weapon stood, he looked up at him, jaw set in a frown. "You said you'd never refuse me. So be my Weapon." It was as much a command as a request with the demanding tone of voice he used.

Now that he was verbalizing it, the reality of it was setting in on Ed and he was becoming more convinced this was what he wanted--which meant he would pursue it, even if it meant putting up a fight.

He stared at him for another moment, his dark eyes searching for any treacherous sign of insecurity in Ed's. But there was no faltering for even one moment, not the slightest hint of hesitation - they were eyes, all set on him.

For a moment that realization sent a cold tingle down Hades' spine.

How long it been that somebody had looked at him like that, fully knowing what he dealt with and yet ready to charge on with a force that not event the immovable Depths of the Earth that he embodied could stop that person? The last time must have been when he himself was still young and impressible.

Slowly, very slowly, his lips pulled up and into a smile, his eyes narrowing lightly in approving amusement. It would be interesting to see where this new change from the pattern would lead them.

"Hmph. At least you didn't pull my hair this time."

Ed blinked, then his expression seemed to change completely, lighting up almost. He wasn't used to getting his way quite so easily, but early on he and Hades had seemed to establish this type of exchange: Hades denied Ed nothing, and in return Ed paid the price. In the back of his mind, the alchemist felt a very real danger in this type of agreement. Hadn't he already given up too much to get back some amount of power? But it was only himself he was bargaining for here, not Al. In that respect, he was far more reckless.

"Does that mean you'll agree to it?"

"Hmph. I guess it is, is it not..?"

He made a point of looking over the human's head and into the darkness beyond the stairs. Camaraderie wasn't something he felt he was very skilled for.

Looking back at Ed, he decided to change the topic. "We should leave soon."

Letting his gaze drift over to the place where the kishin egg had fallen, the smile faded slightly from Ed's face. Having Hades as his partner... it would mean more fights like this, and alongside someone who had no regard for life, human or not. Again and again they would destroy the kishin eggs and Ed knew he would bear the burden of killing them by himself. These things were dangerous, taking lives, so it was the right course of action to destroy them, wasn't it? But then again, they had once been human themselves, or at least their souls had been.

Feeling the weight of the day and what had happened, Ed's shoulders sunk a bit as he nodded, exhausted suddenly. Unconsciously, his hand almost went to grasp the loose part of Hades' braid, but he stopped himself and simply fell behind the god as the portal opened, smiling very softly at his own childishness.

"Let's go."

Following his gaze, he nodded once. Things like this... would he learn something new? Or had he just made another foolish step towards his own rotting, fueled by emotions he should know better than to allow influencing his decisions.

Catching Ed's glance backwards, he frowned inwardly while his face remained a neutral mask. Worrying about death and guilt... They were such human emotions. He would have to be careful with them and how the Meister reacted to it. To Hades an end was simply an end and a death simply a death. But humans broke themselves above that.

Reaching out, he touched him very lightly on the shoulder. "After you. Leave taking care of what comes after the End to me." He wouldn't break over it.

A shadow passed over Ed's face, something akin to guilt and shame at making someone else clean up after him, but this part really wasn't his.

Giving a short nod, he turned back to the portal and gave a look over his shoulder at Hades, catching his gaze.

"See you back there."

There was something more meaningful in it now, because they wouldn't just be meeting randomly anymore, but held to each other now.

"Of course."

His reply was as smooth as ever, albeit there was also a small hint of acknowledgment in it. The situation between them had changed once more. For the worse or the better? He wasn't sure about that, but he knew that he didn't regret anything about it happening.

Waiting until his Meister had left through te portal, Hades slowly moved towards the floating soul of the kishin egg and caught it. Raising it in front of his face, his expression fell into a rare frown. He really disliked having to eat anything.

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[Closed] Every whisper of every waking hour

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hope it's okay to god-mod his transformation? XD

it is!<3

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