Sei Alchemist—Chapter 20

They had been married less than two months. Satori had made a habit of staying home after eight o'clock in the evening, and William didn't question why. In time, Satori stopped wearing the foundation, as the bruise had healed. The scars did not go unnoticed by Will, but still he said nothing.

But one day his worry got the better of him.

"Satori, where did those scars come from?" he asked when Satori was getting ready one morning.

She stood topless in front of him, her back to the mirror on the door. "I fell."

"No you didn't. I want to know why it looks like..."

"Like what? Like when you whipped me down in the sunken city of Ishval?"

Will said nothing.

"I have some scars, so what? I was a police officer, Will."

"Yes, but those are new. Recently healing. Someone gave you those just before the wedding."

"So?"

"Was it Wrath?" Will asked.

"Will!"

"I want to know!" William crossed the room and wrapped her in a hug. "I want to know so I can protect you."

"You can't."

"I'm your husband! I can if I want to!"

Satori moved away from him, folding her arms over her breasts.

"If I tell you, don't overreact."

Will nodded.

"After you came back, Wrath knew we would get married, so he made...arrangements. I'm his negotiator with the authorities, and as my...employer...he has certain privileges."

"He didn't rape you did he?" No reaction, just a question.

"No. Every night for about two months before the wedding I would go to his office, and he would ask m questions. If my answer didn't please him, he would give me lashes. Then about a week or two before the wedding—the night I came home with my wedding clothes—I went to his office again. But he had followed me that day, and my material show of the wedding got him angry..."

Will said nothing, silently fuming.

"He beat me. I came home that early morning with a huge bruise down one side of my face and my whole back and neck covered with lashes. Rikuno helped me hide them because I did not want you to worry. I haven't gone in a while, and that's why I stay indoors after eight. If I'm inside, he can't get to me so easily."

Still Will said nothing.

"He has the Box of Armor and Box of Masks that are mine by right. I have to go get them. Once I have them again, I can fight him."

"No, absolutely not!" Will crossed his arms. "You will do no such thing."

"Redundant much?" Satori-Elric Yabusame raised an eyebrow. "And you have nothing to stop me with. I am not pregnant, and those Boxes are mine. I want them back, William."

William sighed. He knew that Satori would not be swayed in this. She would do whatever she wanted.

Even if it meant risking her life.

Satori awoke later that evening to the blackness of her shared room with William. He snored softly next to her. Slowly, she got out of bed and put on a pair of black jeans and a black tank top. Pushing her long bangs to the side, she secured them with a barrette.

Unfortunately, when she had come to this new world, she had had to leave her Sang Kwua and other weapons of her familial ancestry behind. Maybe some would be in the boxes?

She slipped her feet into her soft black boots, tucking the jeans into the tops of them. She slipped out the window.

Satori took the back-back way into the underground chamber. Much had changed since she had been there last. The Boxes of her ancestors sat openly in front of the fireplace—obviously Wrath was expecting her—and a long, double bladed weapon with a crescent blade in the middle rested against the chair of the desk.

Her Sang Kwua! But how had Wrath gotten it to this world without bringing it with him that first time?

Wrath sat in a chair off in the shadows to one side of the fireplace. His rapiers rested on either arm of the chair. His eyes—for he had taken the patch off to reveal his Ultimate Eye—swept the room in an attempt to find her.

"Come out, come out, little alchemist," he sneered at the shadows of the room.

Satori said nothing.

"I know you are here," he smirked. "I can feel your soul."

"Funny, I thought as part humunculus I ceased to have one." She did not move from the shadow of the wall. He could not see her, she hoped.

His Eye pinpointed her. He grinned menacingly.

"Your tryst with Envy provided you with an elongated life and other powers besides your alchemic ones. And yes, you do have less of a soul, but you still have one. God was not able to take that away—just as he wasn't able to take away your pregnancy—when he gave you new life."

"Good, I was beginning I only got a kid out of the deal."

It was a brush and they both knew it. Satori cared the world for Ryo.

"You've stayed away from me for a lot longer than I thought you would."

"So?"

"I would have thought you wanted your Boxes meant more to you than that."

"They mean more than you know."

"Then why so long?"

She folded her arms, stepping into the outer light of the fire. Pinning him with a cold stare, she said nothing.

"Surely you must have a reason?"

"I love my husband."

"Of course you do."

"He doesn't know that I am here."

"When does he ever? You have proven that you are your own person."

Satori eyed him coldly. He was too quick to agree.

"I will be taking my Boxes, now."

"I'm afraid you can't do that."

"Let me guess: you have a man ready to kill my son if I so muc as touch them?"

"Something like that," Wrath steepled his fingers. "I have a man on your husband as he sleeps. One more step and he dies. Or..."

"Always an "or" with you."

"Or you take the Boxes with the promise to return to your reporting each evening."

Satori bristled at the thought of being put in that position. "No."

"Too bad," Wrath picked up a rapier and twirled it between his hands, "Your son is growing up nicely."

"Stay away from him!"

"I don't enjoy making people suffer, Major Satori, it is simply part of my job."

"Bullshit."

"Now you're just being rude."

"Stay away from my son, stay away from my husband, stay away from my friends, and stay away from me!" Clapping her hands, she brought her Boxes to her outstretched hands. "I'll be leaving now."

Wrath stood and blocked her exit in one smooth movement.

"I can't let you do that," he growled.

"Why not?' Satori glared at him.

Wrath smirked, beckoning into the shadows behind the chair he had previously occupied.

"Come on out, Fullmetal."

Ed emerged, holding Ryo's hand. He looked sick, like he hadn't eaten in days. His hair was a mess, and he had cuts—fine, as from a rapier point—on his face and tattering his gloves. Ryo looked a bit better: he was unharmed, but still had that has-not-bathed-in-days look and smell. His vibrant green eyes found Satori in a heartbeat, and he smiled—but made no move to go to her.

"You see why I cannot allow you to leave?" Wrath turned back to her.

Satori had not moved. She thought about making a dive for her Sang Kwua. "Bastard."

"Indeed!" Wrath laughed. "But unlike most bastards, I never had a mother to begin with."

Satori said nothing.

"So you see, alchemist, you have no choice. They are weak, they cannot run far before I catch you."

Satori's grip tightened on the Boxes. She looked from them to Ed and Ryo. Pain laced her chest at what she had to do.

"Let them go with me and the Boxes, and I will do as you ask."

"NO!" Ed wheezed, throat dry. "Satori!"

"Shush, Ed," Satori did not raise her voice above a mother's rebuking. "I know what I'm doing."

"Excellent!" Wrath clapped his hands happily. "As a show of good faith, I will give you your weapon as well. But know that if I see it down here again...I need not explain the consequences, do I?"

"No." Satori shouldered the Boxes, brining her Sang Kwua to her with a ripple of alchemic power. Ed and Ryo walked over to stand behind her. "Come on guys, I'm taking you home."

William opened the door as soon as he heard Satori knock. He had woken up to an empty bed and immediately began to worry. Satori came in, pecked him on the cheek, and came further into the room. Ed and Ryo followed her, nodding to Will as they passed.

Satori put the Boxes and her weapon down, then rushed to Ryo, hugging him close. Both were silent as the Elric brothers looked on.

"Where have you been?!" Will asked when Satori looked up at him.

"Out."

"Out where?"

"None of your business."

"You're my wife!"

"And he's my son! Our son, William!" Satori stood, holding Ryo protectively in the folds of her arms.

"He wasn't part of the Boxes!" William gaped. "How did he get pulled into all of this?"

"The bad man with the one eye," Ryo said matter-of-factly. "He took me and Ed."

"And I rescued them," Satori added.

"At the risk of your own life! Tell him what you bargained, Satori!" Ed could no longer keep quiet.

Satori put Ryo down, then stood up and squared her shoulders.

"I have agreed to return to Wrath's office every night in exchange for Ryo and Ed's safety."

"Return to do what exactly?" Will asked.

"What we began before the wedding."

"What did you begin before the wedding??"

This was it. She couldn't hide it anymore. Rikuno had entered the room and taken up position behind Satori. Squeezing her shoulder, Rikuno locked eyes with Will.

"Wrath had her come to his office every night and he would ask her questions. If she answered something that he didn't like, he would lash her with a riding crop. All she did was stand in the middle of a rug and answer questions. At the end of those nights, she would come home and I would help her clean and dress the wounds. We hid them from you because we knew you would worry. Satori has agreed to go back and endure that again in exchange for her family's safety."

Now Rikuno turned to her friend.

"What other choice do I have?" Satori sighed.