Dawn: Never again.
Ace: Agreed.
Envy: What is it this time?
Ed: I don't even want to know.
Dawn: We went on...
Ace: ... a massive field trip...
Dawn: ... and then proceeded to...
Ace: ... drown in projects.
Dawn: So many.
Ace: I know.
Envy: I laugh at your failures.
Ed: Ace5980 and ImmortalDawn18 do not own FullMetal Alchemist.
Dawn: Good boy, Eddo-kun.
Ace: Now I know why I'm working on you and abandoning Envy to Dawn.
Dawn: *begins playing with Envy's hair*
Envy: *flustered and confused* Let's just get on with this story, shall we?
Prologue
Every time a breath squirmed its way down Emily's harsh throat, the small demoness made a little whining sound of pain. Every time her chest moved in response to the lethargic beat of her slender heart, the brunette neko tightened her body in an attempt to recoil against the pain. Her lithe tail twitched once in a short little movement, but she had nothing to show for her suffering save the smooth white lines drawn across her wrists. Finally, she could stand it no longer and let out her breath in one long whoosh, her ears lying flat across her head.
Something moved then, something that frightened her. Her tail slipped between her legs in fear as she backed up, the fear shining in her green eyes, and her ears were all but invisible beneath her long unkempt brown hair. She knew she had no reason to be afraid, her mistress's glamours had proven more than effective in the past, but the humans wandering about the lab, glancing into the otherwise empty old metal cages, never failed to frighten her. Her mistress had never failed to specify exactly what would happen should the young neko be discovered by anyone, let alone by a State Alchemist.
A pair of golden eyes keenly glanced into her cage, somehow seeming far more intelligent than they should be for a mortal. Before she could even comprehend her actions, her tail had twitched, testing the very limits of her mistress's glamours. The boy who owned the golden eyes looked suspiciously at the shadows, trying to pick up whatever he seemed to have missed before, meaning her chance was now or never. Hesitantly, the little neko's ears perked up, lowering her head down to his level and breaking the spell. "OH GODS, MUSTANG, THERE'S A CREATURE IN HERE!"
Her ears sunk low, frightened once more as her view of the gold was removed and replaced with eyes black as obsidian. "Quiet, Fullmetal. You're only scaring her." The cage door opened, and a hand slowly ventured in, covered in a glove of ignition cloth. Hissing, Emily pressed herself even deeper into the cage, slashing out at the venturing offense.
"Who's scaring who now?" the first boy teased, elbowing past the other man and lowering himself back down to her level. Instead of pushing his company on her, he merely offered his hand out to her, prompting her to slowly lean forward and delicately sniff at the hand before accepting the gentle caress to her ears. "Seriously, considering the fact you're a ladies-man, Colonel, you're surprisingly clueless as to how to put them at ease."
"She isn't all human, Fullmetal," he pouted, causing her to almost shrink under the hand.
"Shh, you're safe now," he soothed. "I'm Edward, and this is Roy."
"Em-eh-lee," she ventured childishly, as though she hadn't spoke before.
"So you're name is Emily?" Edward asked, wanting to confirm it.
She nodded. "Uh-huh. Where Me?"
Both males frowned. "Me?" Roy ventured in a flat tone.
"Em-eh-lee's miss-tress. She me-en. Hu-urt Em-eh-lee."
It took Edward a moment to decipher her broken speech, but once he did, his face clouded as he pried open the shackle binding her slender ankle to the floor. "Don't worry, Emily," he growled. "She won't hurt you anymore."
"Ed-werd pwo-miss?"
"I promise. Do you think you can stand up?"
Not wanting to disappoint her new masters, she tried to push herself up, only to end up on shaking legs. He sighed quietly, scooping her up in his arms. "Em-eh-lee bad?" she asked, eyes uncertain.
"No, Emily," he murmured, stroking her arm. "You aren't bad. You're no worse than the rest of us."
"Damn it!" Mia howled, throwing her elegant crystal decanter through the scrying glass, shattering the mirror effortlessly and then the goblet against the harsh marble floor. Her familiar, a startlingly large black tomcat, shrunk back from her anger, his sleek ears lying flat against his head, then turned, pawing out a thick tome bound with dark leather of an unrecognizable coloring due to the dark stains on the cover that looked far too suspicious to not be blood and even a few that reminisced to other bodily functions. He carefully pulled the book to his mistress, pushing it underneath her hand and waiting patiently for her to notice it.
"The Book of the Dead," she murmured faintly, tracing the lettering on the cover with a single finger as she read it aloud. "I do not think that is such a good idea, Neo."
The cat meowed faintly, pushing it once more, sitting back on his haunches. His blood-red eyes danced in the firelight of the candles she'd lit, staring at her. We haven't much time, Miss Ravencroft, a male voice chimed inside her mind. You refuse to release me from this bondage, so I offer you this solution to your, ah, little problem.
"Neo, what you suggest is blasphemy," she growled. "The last time I was foolish enough to perform a spell from here," she trailed off, shuddering at the memory.
That, my dear, was because you did not have me to guide you, but this time you do, and we shall both walk away from Charon and Hades completely intact.
"Hades?" she asked, surprised by his words. "Why not Anubis, Ra, and Osiris? They are much less oppositional to visitors and our black magic."
Because it is spring, my dear, and during the spring, Persephone returns to the Underworld, making Hades far more open to the plight of mortals. You see, if you can manage to convince Persephone to permit you a favor, you will encounter no resistance from Hades, and thus Charon by extension.
"Nevertheless," she muttered, shaking her head in an attempt to shake the notion out of her head, "it is ridiculous that we must sink to The Book of the Dead so soon after the petty squabble of the loss of my dear servant."
What do you have in mind then, mistress? the voice continued hesitantly, as though put out by her lack of initiative towards the previously offered idea.
"Well, perhaps we can take an active role in our surroundings, Neo," she said, glaring at her familiar exasperatedly. "You do know that so long as we remain in the shadows, we can do little to remedy the problem."
Venture outside of our prison? the cat yelped, his head snapping over to Mia for the first time since the conversation had begun. Miss Ravencroft, I mean this in the most complimentary of ways, but you're insane! The others will kill you!
She looked at him disdainfully, her dull mud-brown eyes flashing. "I did not mean my words in that way, you fool of an imp!" she hissed. "I would never betray my race in such a way!"
Then what did you mean, mistress? he ventured warily, well aware of her flagrant temper. He might have been exceptionally strong for his purpose, almost an overkill, but he knew she was more than capable of bringing him to heel.
"I meant that we step out in human society for once. We do not need to reveal our true nature or anything of the like, merely offer up our services as mercenaries."
He was silent for a long time, mulling over the problem. No, there was nothing in the treaties that would prevent this, nor anything that said they could. A loophole she'd cleverly decided to extort for her own nefarious purposes. As you wish.
Ace: Wow, Neo's kinda creepy.
Dawn: Yeah, well, Emily's just cute!
Emily: *hides behind Ed fearfully*
Mia: Wow, I don't even know why I'm here. *chucks tome at Envy*
Envy: *ducks* Wow, that's thing's huge, what is it?
Neo: None of your business.
Ed: Did that cat just talk?
Mia: He does that from time to time.
Envy: That's it, when the cats start talking, I start leaving. *runs away*
Ed: Right behind you. *runs away with Emily clinging to jacket*
Mia: *looks up from book* Reviewers get Neo or a chance to save a kitty from Al's armor.
Ace: By the way, why does my poll suddenly have an extra line?
Dawn: Heh heh heh, that's my cue to run off now. *runs after Envy*
Ace: DAWN! *runs after Dawn with flamethrower she stole from Mustang*
Roy: *comes out of random doorway* What'd I miss?
Neo: Everything.
Roy: *turns around and heads right back into bathroom* (he'd been drinking the night before)
