Denial:

Simone’s Notes:

Denial is a defense mechanism in which a person is faced with a fact that is too painful to accept and rejects it instead, insisting that it is not true despite what may be overwhelming evidence. The subject may deny the reality of the unpleasant fact altogether, admit the fact but deny its seriousness or admit both the fact and seriousness but deny responsibility. The concept of denial is particularly important to the study of addiction.

In the early hours of the morning, Yasmine went over to Trent’s apartment. She had gotten a tip from the locals that he was out here in the outskirts of the city. Right then, she began to plot out her overdue revenge. It had been four long years! Four long years! Four long years she had waited for this moment. “You will pay for lying to the council and killing me!” she thought as she walked across the empty parking lot. His ex had her long blade tucked neatly under her black jacket. Syd gave her this blade. “Bring me Trent’s head with it!” he ordered. Yas nodded as she took the blade and stuffed it in her black jacket. “I will not fail!” she assured strongly. “Good!” Syd finished. “I will pay you when you have finished!” The woman nodded at him. Then, Yasmine headed out on her mission. She had longed to make Trent pay for all of the suffering he caused her all of their years together. Oh yes! She had longed for this revenge for a long time now! Now, here it was! But yet, Yasmine would be in for an extreme twist. Yas came up to the apartment number 334. She slowly drawn out her blade, unwrapped the brown paper from it, and held it to her side. “For you, my son!” she thought. Then, she kicked down the door in a rush. The deity rushed in ready to attack.

The living room was brightly lit. It looked standard so far. Yas kept on her guard as she proceeded in. Trent was a sneaky one and wasn’t afraid to attack from behind. She was walking onward when she heard a high pitch squeak. The deity quickly looked down and saw… a small red rubber squeaky baby toy. Yasmine became confused. “Huh?” she thought. “What is this? Why would Trent have something like this in his house?” Then, she heard a small voice yell out, “Bang, mommy!” The hunter quickly looked up and a little boy with a toy gun in his hands aimed at her. Yasmine stared hard at him. The little boy had dark black hair that was short except for his rat tail in the back. His cheeks were cute and round. The boy had beautiful brown eyes. He was dressed in light blue pajamas with little sail boats designed on it. “Bang! Bang!” the little boy yelled again. Yas was lost in complete shock. “Is that…” she thought. “Yes!” a voice replied. Both the hunter and the little boy looked up at the stairs. Trent was walking down the stairs to them. Yas toughened up against and held her blade tightly. The target stood over his little son. He looked just as his ex remembered him. Trent’s hair was short and black to his ears, deep onyx eyes, and snow white complexion. He was dressed in a heavy black cloak with equally black pants and a causal black shirt.

“Well, well!” Trent spoke up. “Look who finally shows up!” Yasmine could barely move. “Yes,” her ex spoke up again. “This is our son in the flesh!” The mother was both mixed in fear and anger. “Don’t f**k with me, Trent!” she screamed out. “My son is dead!!!” she screamed out. “No he isn’t,” her ex told her. “You see him right in front of you, don’t you?” Yas shook her head in disbelief. “No, no!” she cried out. “It can’t be…” “But it is!” the father went on. “Malachi is alive because me! Ask Sydney, he knew all along!” “Bang! Bang! You’re dead!” Malachi yelled out happily. Yasmine just sank to her knees in shock. She was acting as if her own son had shot her to death. Then, Trent reached forward and helped Yas to her feet. “I told Malachi that mommy’s been sick all of these years,” he went on. The little boy turned to his mother. “Are you feeling any better?” he asked in a small voice. Yas paused at this little child. Her little boy had been alive all of this time. Syd knew about this and neglected to tell her. The woman just went silent and nodded in response. Malachi smiled at his mommy sweetly. “Yay!” the little boy called out. “Mommy’s all better!” Then, Malachi hugged Yasmine close to his small body. The hunter had no choice but to hug the little boy. He smiled at Malachi and Yas like a true father. “I’ll leave you two alone for the morning.” he said. Then, Trent went back upstairs to bed.

Edward sat outside in front of the inn lost in deep thought. “What happened to me last night?” he thought. The alchemist just couldn’t shake why he couldn’t screw Kelli last night. Why did Sweet Orange hooker’s beaten and bloody body keep appearing in his mind? This was *really* getting out of hand! “Edward!” he heard someone called out. The alchemist quickly looked up from his thoughts. Winry was standing right in front of him. Her boyfriend was instantly filled with worry. “Oh shit!” he thought. “I’m in for it now!” Winry took in a deep breath. “Edward,” she spoke up. “We’ve got to talk.” Her boyfriend stared at her with nervous eyes. This was bound to come sooner or later…

By sunrise, Syd was waiting for Yasmine on his porch. He was waiting anxiously for her to bring back Trent’s severed head. He too wanted revenge as well for Magnolia’s death. Trent and Jez’s deaths would mind the world to him. But instead, he would get some for questions. The boss finally saw his female friend walking down the path to him. He was excited, but soon that smile died down when he saw the look on her face. Yas made it straight to Syd. “You’re alive!” he exclaimed. “Do you have that bastard’s head?” The hunter glared at him coldly. “Oh Sydney,” she called out. “We need to talk!” Syd’s face just instantly dropped. “Shit! She knows!” he thought. The boss sighed aloud. “Alright,” he replied. “Inside.” “Certainly!” Yas snapped. Then, she walked into the house. Syd followed close behind her. He was so screwed now!

“What has gotten into you lately?” Winry asked Edward on the front of the inn. At first, her boyfriend tried to play dumb and innocent. “What are you talking about?” he asked. His girlfriend didn’t buy it. “You know what I mean!” the blonde mechanic snapped. “You keep wanting sex every chance we are alone together, you stare at other women like juicy pieces of meat, different girls keep calling our room, I had to force you out of the bed onto the couch just to get some sleep, plus there was that girl you had in room one night. So what is wrong? Have I not been paying you any attention lately?” Edward stared at her for a long while. The words hit him hard. He didn’t know what to say. “Has it really gotten that bad lately?” he answered himself. No, it hasn’t! You’re just having a good time! Say it! [But I would be lying then.] No, you wouldn’t. You would just be giving her stable reason. [Alright.] “Look,” Edward said to Winry. “There’s not really a problem. I’m just having a little fun here and there.” Sadly, that didn’t really work as expected. “No, it’s not!” his girlfriend argued back. “It’s not just some ‘fun!’ It’s turning into a problem that you don’t even want to admit to!” Winry was right; it had become a problem and Edward just didn’t want to say it. He just wanted to look the other way and see the “bright” side of things. The boy just shook his head and rose to his feet. He began to walk away. His girlfriend eyed him in concern. “Edward?” she asked. “Where are you going?” “Away somewhere!” he replied loudly. “Just leave me alone, okay?” “Don’t go to the Red Light District!” Winry yelled behind him. That only made the alchemist walk away even faster. His girl sat back worried. “Edward…” she thought to him in distress.

“Come on,” Syd argued back to Yasmine in his house. She and Ella were glaring coldly at him. The boss was trapped in a tight space. “I’m sorry I knew that your son was still alive and I failed to tell you!” he tried again. “Come on, what did you want me to say?” “Oh, I don’t know,” Yas suggested. “I want you to go and behead the son of a bitch for me. Oh and by the way, your son, Malachi, has been alive for four years now and I knew about it for some time now!” The boss just sighed again. “At least, I kept the kid pure with your blood inside of him all of these years so Trent couldn’t touch and corrupt him.” he pointed out meekly. “That’s not the point!” the hunter snapped. “How could you keep this from me?” “I had good reason to,” Syd reasoned again. “What?!?” Yasmine asked bitterly. The boss paused, and then he said, “I need your mind completely focused on this job!” “Right!” Ella cut in. “She’s not a mindless dog, you know!” “And why is it so important for me to be so focused that I can’t have a life at all?” Yasmine asked. That really hit a sensitive nerve! Syd didn’t say anything after that. He just rolled his eyes and walked away. Ella and Yas watched him in slight concern. “You think we overdid it this time?” the hunter asked. “Naw,” Ell answered. “He’ll cool down again. In the mean time, worry about killing those bastards and getting Malachi back!” “Right!” Yas replied.

Meanwhile above, Ai-Oni, Nyious, and Envy were watching the whole show. The homunculus was enjoying Ed’s suffering. He couldn’t help but to snicker to himself. “Ah shit!” Envy called out. “This doesn’t get any better!” The host smiled to herself in devilish pride. “Oh it well in seven days time!” she thought. But yet, there was a small cloud of doubt. “But yet,” the she-devil thought. “Yasmine and her friends seem to be a slight problem.” Then, an idea came to her. “Not to worry,” Ai-Oni thought. “Trent and Jez will deal with Yasmine just fine, long enough until my baby is conceived!” Then, the devil woman smiled to herself again. At long last, the revolution would be born!