SAINTS AND SINNERS
Disclaimer: I do not own FMA or FMA: Brotherhood.
Author's Notes January 18, 2017: SaS has been revamped.
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I'm going to die here.
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The thought passed through my mind like a blur of thoughts and memories.
I had never thought about dying. In all honesty, I thought I would live forever. Immortality had its perks, I mused as I tightly shut my eyes, but until now, as I lay dying, I had never truly lived.
I had never thought I would die.
I was immortal. I was a sin, damn it!
I didn't want to die.
"You have returned," the voice spoke through the mass of pure white like a beacon of hope; clear and strong.
My violet eyes raised in a single motion to the thing in front of me. I had seen it once and only once. When I was born. When I was created. My being passed through the gate like a dog from its leash. .
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Free.
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And now I was back.
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It made perfect sense that I would return to where I was born when the time came to die.
"And you are?" I rasped.
The bodily white form was sitting cross-legged about ten feet in front of me, its hands neatly folded in its lap. It emitted an aura of pure power and control. The hairs on my arms stood on an end. In all my existence, I had never felt anything like this.
It laughed, displaying its perfect white teeth. "You're the one that came here, so you tell me."
My mouth formed a line. "I don't care who you-" I cut off, coughing. Trails of blood made their way down my chin from my mouth, and the metallic taste made nausea rise in my throat.
"What's this?" It grinned. "You used to rejoice at the sight of blood and pain and suffering and hopelessness. What happened to you, sin?"
My hands shook uncontrollably in anger. I clenched them until my knuckles turned white. It continued.
"Who am I, you wonder? One name you might have for me is 'The World', or you may call me 'The Universe', or perhaps 'God'," It slowed, its voice at a soft but firm tone. "Or perhaps 'The Truth'," it smiled. "I am All, and I am One. Which of course also means," the Truth rose a white hand and pointed straight at me, "that I am you."
The voice spoke throughout the white darkness, a voice that froze the very blood in my veins in fear. My eyes widened. Strong and firm, female and male, yet soft and soothing. Deadly, mystical. Cold, yet warm. I was frozen.
"I am that I am. I am the Alpha and Omega; the First and the Last; The Beginning and the End. I am the Vine, as you are the branches. "
I was frozen, I couldn't move. I slowly gained control over my body again and I shook my head slowly. "I don't understand…"
The Truth poke again, and even though it's expression was emotionless, the voice coming through it seemed to be smiling and happy. "I am the God over Amestris, Ishvala, and the dwarf in the flask. I am your true Father… and greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends.
"You have been given one more chance to do right." It looked me in the eyes. "What are you willing to exchange?"
I thought for a moment, inwardly cursing the tears that were forming in my eyes. What could I give that would hopefully be equivalent?
"Take my arms, my legs, my heart, just help her," I spoke frantically on my knees. The pupils in my eyes were dangerously small.
"You want to exchange your bodily parts that will return unto you in exchange for a human life?" Truth barked out a laugh.
"Take anything…" I fell to my hands, the tears flowing freely from my eyes. My face twisted together in suffering. "I have nothing else to offer you. I know my life isn't equivalent in return for hers.."
Truth grinned, "Correct."
I clenched my jaws together and thought. There must be something. There has to be.
The answer clicked in my head. "Take everything in exchange for hers. Take the life you gave me inside the gate. Please, I have nothing else. "
Truth merely smiled in victory.
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SAINTS
AND
SINNERS
Previously…
"We've been searching for how long, Greed?" Dante spat, earning a cocky smirk from said homunculus.
"Don't know, don't care, Mama," Greed smirked, adjusting his sunglasses on his nose. "I'm a homunculus; you're a mere human switching your soul from body to body over the centuries. It's not my problem."
"Shut your damn mouth!" Envy spat, his eyes narrowing. "You're the one that ran off with his tail between his legs like some pussy when Father came into the picture!"
Lust rolled her eyes at the bickering trio. "Shut up, all of you," she said in her soft and slow voice. "Fighting like a bunch of idiots won't get us a Philosophers Stone any quicker." She picked at her fingernails.
Dante was now putting her plan into action with the first homunculus who called himself Father. Envy personally hated the bastard because he looked just like that bastard Hohenheim. Envy's eyebrows drew together in frustration. Dante had agreed on working with Father to create Amestris into a transmutation circle and open up Earth's Gate of Truth, thus giving Father and Dante the power of God. Envy wasn't sure what the plan was after that, he was sure he would find out later.
Dante closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose in annoyance. After taking a few deep breaths, she spoke. "In order to work in according to Fathers plans, we need a Philosophers Stone." Seeing Greed opening his mouth, Dante continued. "Shut up, Greed. Don't ask why. Just follow orders."
"Why not just get the pipsqueak bitch to make you one?" Envy sat back on the couch and put his arms behind his head.
Dante's eyes widened in sudden realization. "Fullmetal?"
Envy cracked a lazy violet eye open and Lust was suddenly giving all her attention to her Master.
"We just need the brat and Scar here," Dante missed the way Lust's pupils dilated when Scar was mentioned. "And then everything will set itself in motion. We need to get rid of Scar, he's killing off important potential sacrifices for our cause."
Greed scoffed. "And what's your plan, old woman?"
She smirked, looking directly at Envy and Lust. "That's your job. I'm extremely disappointed in you two, your job has been to capture a stone for me and you have always failed."
Lust kept her composure together. "Master, you must understand how difficult it is to abide in something … to this level of difficulty -"
Dante cut her off. "I don't care, Lust. Do you remember who picked you up off the streets after that careless Ishvalan abandoned you? That's right, I did." Dante replied. "Surely you can do one little thing for me in return."
Lust's eyes grew cold at the mention of her former lover and she backed down with a curt bow. "Yes, Envy and I will do as you ask."
Envy gave a sarcastic grin. "Um, Envy and I? Hell no, make Greed be your lapdog."
Dante once again cut them off. "Envy, this is your job and you will do as I say. I don't care how, just get me a Philosophers Stone and eliminate Scar in the process." She stood and began making her way up the stairs of her beautiful house. She stopped and looked at the three over her shoulder. "Oh, and if you fail…Envy, Lust… Father could always make a new Envy and Lust. I suggest you get me a stone, and soon."
"Well, good luck," Greed said sarcastically as Dante disappeared. "I'm outta here." With that, Greed was out the door and soon out of sight.
Lust was sitting peacefully with her hands in her lap, deep in thought of how they were supposed to pull this off. Meanwhile, Envy was absolutely fuming beside her.
"I hate that senile old bitch," he growled, burying his head in his hands. "Making us do her dirty work."
Lust made a small murmur in agreement, and they both thought.
"Shit," Envy exploded. "We are fucked!"
"Shut up," Lust said. Envy didn't know how in hell she could be calm after all of this.
"How the fuck are you so calm?" Envy spat, and angrily picked up a glass vase of Dante's and slung it as hard he could against the nearest wall. It shattered with a pleasant crunch. "If we don't get a Philosophers Stone soon, they're going to fucking kill us!"
"I perfectly understood what she meant, Envy," Lust said coldly, and began pacing.
"And," Envy snarled, "that's not fucking all, Lust!" He was pacing around Dante's coffee table. "Scar is off murdering our sacrifices without giving two fucks! What if he gets Edward and Alphonse, or Mustang?"
Lust grew more serious after Envy dropped Elric's nickname. She perfectly understood that Envy was dead serious and scared now. "We could always just kidnap Elric and make him create the stone for us." Lust offered, but Envy shook his head.
"No, that wont work. Brats too stubborn to do it willingly and you already killed that damn Marcoh. We need to do something to get both Fullmetal and Scar…"
Envy had lived a long time and he was the strategist of all the homunculi, and he was the oldest. There must be something he could do… Scarface and Pipsqueak were connected. Envy sat down on the coffee table and rubbed at his temples.
There must be a way to kill two birds with one stone and get the brat and Scarface here at the same time.
"Scar is targeting State Alchemists." Lust said, and Envy nodded.
"Scarface just about took out Elric a while ago… I think he's specifically targeting the brat for some reason now," Envy pondered, his violet eyes shining in the lighting of Dante's living room. Lust crossed her arms.
"If we could possibly get the both on their own, we could kidnap Elric and kill Scar at the same time… Unless they teamed up against us, and that would be a pain in the ass." Envy murmured, closing his eyes.
"The two are complete opposites. Elric wears his heart on his shoulder, if we can affect him emotionally somehow… and Scar is a mindless drone hell-bent on revenge for Ishval, "he continued and his trademark smirk stretched across his face.
"What's your plan?" Lust questioned.
Envy was silent for a moment, and Lust could tell the wheels were turning in his head.
He knew the brat was easily effected by emotion, his brother Alphonse even more so. Scar, at the moment, would hunt down Edward to the ends of the Earth. So if he could get the Elric brothers… he also had Scar on a silver platter. There had to be some way to get the brat on his own away from the other State Alchemists… he had to get the brat to come to them.
He paused for a moment and leaned back on the coffee table, staring intently at the ceiling.
What could possibly get the Elric brothers to willingly come to them? Fuck, they wouldn't exactly come willingly, but there had to be… had to be some kind of bait. A ransom, if you will.
Now what was it…
"The fucking mechanic!" he yelled suddenly, shooting up from the table and onto his feet.
Lust rose an eyebrow at him. "The Rockbell girl?"
"Whatever her name is," Envy grinned toothily. Of course, how had he not realized it sooner? The little golden trio had been friends since birth. Edward was going to come straight at them when they carried through with their plan. "If we get her, the brothers will come for us like fucking rabid dogs and Scar is sure to get on their ass and follow. Mustang and his drones wont be in the picture either because I doubt Fullmetal would want the whole military focusing on this kidnapping case," he smirked. "Then we hold the blonde little bitch as ransom to get them to make us the Philosophers Stone, then set up a trap for Scar after the brothers get here and walah!"
"That…that just might work," Lust smirked in victory. "You're brilliant, Envy!
Envy's smirked widened considerably. He sat on the couch and put his arms around his head once again. Yes, the blonde mechanic is everything they need.
End prologue and chapter 1.
Important info you should read:
- This fic is a combination of the Anime and the Manga.;
- It takes place shortly after Hughes' death, and the code is cracked from Marcoh's research, and Ed has already been to lab 5 and such.
- Winry has been to Rush Valley as a child so she knows Mr. Garfiel. She is also a childhood friend of Sheska.
- Marcoh has been killed by Lust just before this story starts, shortly after Marcoh tips Edward and Al about his research.
- Homunculi aren't an uncommon bedtime stories for children.
- Hohenheim and Father's past is that of the manga. Hohenheim and Father (Then called Dwarf) traveled together until Dante came along some time later as a powerful alchemist who met and became Dante Hohenheim and they had William Hohenheim (Envy) shortly after. Envy got very sick from mercury poisoning when he was eighteen and so Dante and Hohenheim took him to Father, who put his envy into William, thus creating Envy. Envy, Dante, and Hohenheim team up and begin traveling together, but Hohenheim soon breaks away from the group and goes off on his own, later meeting Trisha and so on. Get it?
- Lust is Lust, did not get killed by Mustang. Pride is Selim. Envy is Envy. Greed is the first Greed. Wrath is Izumi's son and was retrieved from the island soon after Izumi resurrected him. Sloth is the big dude. Gluttony is Gluttony. Lastly, Bradley is also a homunculus, but he holds a combination of both Father's wrath and pride and is only knows as Bradley, not a name of the seven deadly sins. (Sorry for making it kind of complicated, I just love little Wrath so much and he plays a big role in Saints and Sinners!)
- Envy is not as hell-bent on killing Hohenheim and Edward as in the Anime, simply because Father was the one who implanted his envy in William, so Father was the one that 'created' him. He just likes to make fun of Edward a lot, and they're still technically half brothers.
- Envy's real form is similar to a combination of Father's God like form at the end of Brotherhood and Slave 23...simply because I find it very attractive.
- The homunculi are the people they were meant to be. Just in homunculi format.