Note: I don't own FMA, but I do own your soul. Pounces
Forward
Doing a routine check of things in Northern Command, Crimson Alchemist Pasnire had scoured his room for hours but still couldn't find his pocket watch. "I swore it was here earlier! Where is it!? Oh… someone's gonna' pay!"
Finally giving up, he put his hand against the wall facing outside, and altered it to react with the oxygen in the air around it only moments later. When the transmutation took more energy out of Pasnire than he thought it should have, he cursed and collapsed on the bed.
"Damn it, this isn't good."
Chapter 1
Stumbling through an empty ally in Central, Cid dropped too his knees and felt the gash in his leg where he had been touched. He hadn't even known it was coming, but had seen the gleam in the man's eyes when he was grabbed. He was lucky to have had the time to bring his knee up, intercepting the man's open hand. He felt the tight squeeze of his hand close on his leg and after that, the pain was so great that he fell into the darkness of his mind.
Now, with his gashed leg, he longed to go back and to know who had done it, but he had his suspicions. He knew it must have been an alchemist, and judging by the jacket a State Alchemist no less. Staring at his scarred leg, he started tracing the scar's pattern just above his knee with his finger, and judging by the smell, he could tell that the alchemist had converted his flesh into something of a bomb. Although he had no training in alchemy, he knew that this skill was similar to Crimson Alchemist Pasnire's power. Although it was obvious that the alchemist who crippled Cid wasn't Pasnire, he had managed to get an idea of where to look for information. Pushing his pain aside, Cid limped out of the ally, but didn't make it far into the street before collapsing. This time he didn't have the energy to get up and could hardly notice the group of people standing around him.
Blacking out for the second time in that day, Cid awoke again in a hospital room that was cleaner than any other was he had ever been in. Very soon after awakening, a nurse walked into the room, and when she saw that he was awake she gasped and ran out of the room. In the quick period of time that the door was open, Cid could tell that there were at least two armed guards in front of the door and they were both wearing the same military uniforms that he had seen ever since entering Central. Soon the nurse returned, accompanied by several burly looking soldiers. They all stood at attention, even the nurse, as another man approached. The man who walked in was of average height, black hair that was cropped level with his ears, and he boor the unmistakable watch of a State Alchemist. It was at that point when Cid remembered seeing the alchemist who had damaged him open his watch and shove the open side against his forehead. He then remembered that there had been extreme pain involved, but the leg injury had overshadowed that pain and he had forgotten about it.
The man motioned for the nurse and the soldiers to stand at ease and the nurse approached him. "Sir, the patient has the same type of injury that we've been seeing on civilians all over Central."
"So? Why would you bring him here? There are many other hospitals that are perfectly capable of treating that kind of injury," the Alchemist said
"Well sir, there's something different. Here, let me take his bandage off."
The nurse approached him and started unraveling the bandage that was covering his head. He hadn't even realized that it was there and once she started to unravel it, a surge of pain pulsed through his head as his vision started to turn red and it looked like the State Alchemist's watch started to fidget on it's chain, but its bearer never noticed. However, he had noticed that Cid's eyes had suddenly turned a deep shade of red. When the bandage was completely removed, Cid could see that even the soldiers who had remained at attention at the other end of the room had flinched. Starting to black out again, he barely struggled to ask a single question: "What- what happened t-to me?"
He had asked the question in such a broken and crackled voice that the nurse and the State Alchemist had to lean forward simply to hear what he said. Although, before they could explain anything he was out again.
"Sir, what could this be?" The nurse asked the alchemist as they walked down the hall after leaving the hospital room.
"Come with me."
The two of them walked out of the hospital and down the streets of Central until they reached the library. The nurse seemed daunted.
"I've never been in here before! I didn't even know it was here!"
The alchemist was stunned. How could she not know the biggest repository of information around wasn't here? I mean, granted it is rather new it's still gigantic! he thought to himself. His own stunned gaze was soon noticed and before she could say anything he had gone back to a neutral look at the door.
Walking up the stairs to the library, the alchemist opened the door and said to the nurse, "Listen to me. There's going to be many things in here that you need special clearance to see, and I'm going to show them to you. The only reason that I'm doing this is because I know that you have an idea about what might be going on. I'm going to have you work with the Investigations Department to try and see what exactly's happening."
He continued to talk as he pushed the door open. "While you're working for me, I'll need you to understand that we see a lot of things that aren't pretty. If you work with us, you are most likely going to see more cases like this and if the trends continue like they have then you're going to be seeing more that are even worse," The door was only half opened. "I need to know now. Will you help us? Say no, and you go back to work in the hospital. Say yes, and there's no going back until it's finished," Mustang said. "Well?"
Nurse Pishka stood in place on the steps. Because of the library's steps, the State Alchemist seemed to tower over her. She felt intimidated and her inhibitions about the tasks set before her were quickly quelled. "I… I accept. I'll do it."
"Great!" The State Alchemist said, swinging the library door open and pushing her inside, suddenly cheerful and almost awkwardly jubilant. "Follow me and I'll show you everything you need to know!" Then, to himself he thought: "She better stick to her word. Hmm… if this is drawn out long enough, I'll be in charge and she'll be in a mini-skirt in no time at all!" Roy's enthusiasm to show her whatever he could about the case was suddenly doubled.
Walking through the library, Mustang led the nurse to a small room near the back of the library. In this room, a group of men with military uniforms barely greeted Mustang as he entered the room with the nurse.
"Gentlemen, this is Nurse Pishka. Pishka, this is Lieutenants Bernard, Romanov, and Gripper. They've put more work into this case than anyone else and they can fill you in on what you need to know." Turning to the soldiers who still had barely noticed their entrance. "Guys, Nurse Pishka here is going to be working with you on the case. She treated a man with a wound just like the ones we've been seeing. Obviously it's alchemy, very much like the Crimson Alchemist. Problem is, there's something new. Pishka, if you could explain?"
"Um… okay." The nurse looked over at the men seated at the cramped table that was covered in reports and documents on the crime. They still hadn't looked at her yet. "Well, you see, he had this odd glow in his eyes, and-" She had been cut off.
"And somewhere on his body there was a hunk of red rock, or a very reddish discoloration that when covered and taken away from light makes his eyes return to normal and his pain disappear, am I right?" Gripper said irritably.
The nurse was obviously taken aback. "But how did you know?"
"We need to talk to Mustang in private. Cold you please wait outside?" Bernard said.
Mustang butted in and said, "She works with us now. She knows what we know."
Gripper became even more irritated. "Roy, get that girl out. I don't want her to fear the worst. She's new to this, and she doesn't need to fear the end of the world."
Taken slightly aback, Mustang sighed and said: "Fine, Bernard. Nurse Pishka, they win. Please wait outside for a little while."
Not wanting to defy her new boss, she said, although skeptically, "At once sir."
She looked back at Mustang before walking out, paused as their eyes met, then walked out, closing the door behind her. Though she was out of the room, her curiosity was overwhelming her and she was determined to know what was happening in there. Even though she was scared of being discovered, she put her ear to the door and listened.
Turning his attention back to the men at the table, Mustang addressed them. "Why did you want her to leave? She's in on this investigation too."
"We found out something today. We only wish we figured out this guy's plan earlier, but I see we're too late," Romanov said. Turning his weary gaze towards Roy, he continued. "Listen, I think I know his next move. But first, tell us what you know."
Mustang thought about what Romanov had just said to him, but explained his case to them without question. "Gentlemen, I think that it's best if Pishka explains it. She knows more than I do and I still want her in on this. She could have some valuable intelligence on the subject."
"What, do you have a thing for her or something?" Gripper asked without looking up. A loud thud was heard outside as if something had been dropped right outside the door and Roy's face turned a bright red as he collapsed into a chair at the table. "Fine, bring her in." Gripper said with a chuckle.
Mustang opened the door to the dimly lit room only to have Pishka collapse at his feet. "So, I take it you heard all of that?"
Pishka didn't say anything as she got up, and ignored the hand that Mustang had extended to her. "Gripper, I think you were right," Romanov said to Gripper under his breath.
Ignoring the other two Lieutenants, Bernard spoke up. "Please Roy, could you get another chair for our newest companion in this investigation?" he said as more of a command. Turning to the girl, he continued. "Nurse Pishka is it? Please, tell us what you can about this latest body you found."
After leaving the room to find another chair in the library, Mustang cursed the lieutenants under his breath and thought to himself, I outrank them and yet they don't care about me at all…
Back in the room, the conversation progressed without him. "Well, this new body has, as you described earlier a red block on the forehead, and his eyes are red. Moreover, he's still alive, mind you. We think we can get the rock out of his head without killing him, too." Pishka said confidently.
The three men jumped up from the table. Gripper yelled out: "What? He's still alive? We must see him at once! Please Nurse Pishka, lead the way and we will follow! Make haste, we must see him now!"
Urging her literally to run out, they all blew by Mustang as he returned to the room with a new chair. "Wait, now what's happening? Hey guys, wait for me!" Dropping the chair, he was about to give chase but was stopped by an angry Librarian and wilted under her glare. Slowly edging around her with an innocent look on his face, Mustang dashed out once he was out of site of her.
" Nurse Lindsay! Why is he gone? Why did you let him leave!?" Pishka screamed at the nurse who she assigned to look after Cid in her absence.
"I'm sorry," she said, looking down at the floor submissively, "but he tried to leave by slipping out the front door and was almost out when we finally caught up to him. Before the guards the Flame Alchemist left here could reach him, Cid turned to face them, put his hand against the door and it turned a bright red color, and a stream of liquid shot out and formed a transmutation circle on the hospital's lobby floor, taking up the entire floor and some of the walls too. The circle seemed to have a fire and earth combination, and he threatened to melt the ground in the hospital lobby with the guards on in if they took a step forward. As he left, he dragged his hand along the ground and the liquid followed him and formed another circle in the air around him, not too different from your gloves' circles Roy," The nurse concluded.
"Nurse Lindsay, I'm assuming you're relatively well versed in alchemy from that explanation. Can you tell me anything from that man's wound?"
"Ask Pishka, she's the one who treated him."
Looking at Lindsay, Roy asked her: "Anything you'd like to say that you didn't say before?"
Now calm and all business, Pishka answered. "Well Sir, if I didn't know better, I'd say Crimson Alchemist Pasnire did it, but it was only enough to cripple him. I have a suspicion of what the red rock is, but since I have no actual training in alchemy I can't do much more than speculate. Personally, I think it was a Philosopher's Stone."
Roy's jaw dropped and Lindsay looked as if she was going to faint.
"Of course…" Bernard said. Gripper and Romanov stared at him in disbelief. "Of course it wouldn't kill him…" he trailed off.
"Bernard, what are you on about now?" Gripper asked.
"I don't think it's a Philosopher's Stone. What happened to Cid is still very powerful and dangerous, but successful. I guess since he's on the loose it doesn't matter if the knowledge spreads a little more. Roy, what we were going to say in the library was that we think someone is trying to summon the Gate." Mustang glared at Bernard, while Pishka and Lindsay looked confused.
"The Gate?" The two nurses asked in unison.
"The Gate of Alchemy is the gate that gives all alchemists the energy to perform alchemy. When someone encounters it, they can know the most powerful aspects of alchemy, and some other nifty tricks like using it without a circle. I think you need to perform a human transmutation to summon it, but that's often dangerous. Then again, there's also the idea of human sacrifice. Tell me Pishka, what's the general age group of all the patients with Cid's type of injury?" Bernard waited for an answer eagerly.
"Well, I think they've all been about fifteen or sixteen but Cid's only fourteen."
"So they're not young, but they're still inexperienced in life in general, and their minds are probably starting to become independent of their bodies and souls. An appropriate age I think, for what this alchemist is trying to do."
"I'm confused though, why the Philosopher's Stone, could someone have already figured out how to make one?" Mustang asked irritably.
"I highly doubt it. Odds are it's a Red Stone that was condensed somehow. But what I'd like to know is how he managed to do all that alchemy without a circle." Lindsay stated.
"It could be that someone tried to combine a few strategies but it had some repercussions that weren't desired." Romanov replied. "My idea is that what whoever this person is, he tried to sacrifice a part of the victim, but also performed a human transmutation on them after sacrificing a part of him. I doubt it has worked very well for him since attacks keep occurring. Now I think the perpetrator is getting desperate; this victim is younger and he used the Red Stone. This is definitely different though. The victim survived for one thing, and for another he maliciously used alchemy without a transmutation circle. Pishka, were there any markings there on Cid when he was treated? Any tattoos or anything that wasn't… natural?" Bernard asked.
"Well, his leg around where the injury was there was a transmutation circle… it was very complex looking, more so than I've ever encountered," Nurse Lindsay said.
"How much alchemy do you nurses encounter, anyway?" Mustang asked sarcastically.
"You shut up now. This is the main hospital you State Alchemists end up in whenever you do something stupid, which as far as I can tell happens far too often for your own good. Sometimes it seems like we get more of you dogs than regular soldiers." Lindsay ranted.
His face turning crimson red for the second time that day, Mustang looked at Pishka who shrugged and gave Mustang a sympathetic look. "Right then… sorry. Please Pishka, could you identify the transmutation circle?"
"No need," Romanov interjected, "It was obviously a human transmutation circle. However small we've been seeing them, that's what they are. Now, was there anything else?"
"Hmm… oh yeah, he had this tattoo of a dragon eating itself…" Pishka trailed off on that thought but was suddenly surprised when the Lieutenants all gasped and yelled, "Homunculus!"
"But why isn't he just a pile of steaming organs!?" Gripper yelled.
Romanov and Bernard thought it over, and finally came to the same conclusion. "The Red Stone," They both said under their breath.
"But I thought that only a Philosopher's Stone could support Homunculi," Pishka said.
"It must have been feeding off the concentrated Red Stone then… maybe it had been given the Red Stone before and now it's working with that to stay alive. We haven't seen that much of the Red Stone lately so it can't be too available. But it won't last long, and then Cid's going to be hungry again… we have to catch it!" Bernard raved as he started to trail off.
Looking confused, the nurses and Mustang said "What are you three talking about???"
Completely astounded by what they saw as ignorance and lunacy, the three lieutenants said, "Never mind that just follow us!"
Cid was running down the road as fast as he could, gripping his leg and trying not to make the crudely made transmutation circle over his wound react.
How did I do that back at the hospital? How did I make this circle appear around me? What's this tattoo doing on my head? What's happening to me!? Cid screamed in his mind. It took some time before Cid realized that his body wasn't racked with pain like it had been earlier and that his leg didn't hurt at all. Pulling his pant leg up enough, Cid saw that the wound was little more than a scar. That is to say, the part inside the transmutation circle was still a scar while the rest had completely healed. Looking about himself, he noticed that he was also considerably paler.
"My-my-my, finally realizing that you're not human anymore?"
Cid froze when he heard the voice behind him. "Who- who's there?" Cid stammered in a broken voice.
"Oh, no one. Just the one who botched an experiment on some kid and needs to cover his ass before the State catches up to him."
"Who are you?" Cid asked, turning and facing the speaker now. The man was tall, middle aged, wore a military uniform and had a chain hanging from his jacket with a broken pocket watch dangling loose. "It was you, wasn't it. What did you do to me?"
"Hmm. So many questions. Well, since I'm going to be killing you anyway it doesn't really matter too much. You see Cid, I am a human who is desperately looking for immortality and will succumb to any means to do so. Even if it means I'd sacrifice a stupid kid, or seven... anyway even though I'm more than obliged to kill you, I think the military would fall in love with you. You're a homunculus, and you've encountered the Gate. You also have a substantial amount of Red Stone lodged in your head and have already shown that you're exceptionally skilled in alchemy. I saw that trick in the hospital, and I noticed that right when I spoke to you the transmutation circle that surrounded and protected you dissipated. Now, I'd like to say that it was a pleasure creating you but because you achieved everything in yourself that I was going for in myself, you're going to have to die now."
Cid gasped as the man clapped his hands together, put his hands to the ground and a gigantic hole in the ground opened around him. The man's hands had transmutation circles tattooed on his palms, fingers, and wrists, allowing for a variety of alchemy. This hole in the ground was accompanied by a powerful surge of heat that made Cid's clothes start to singe. Before he could realize what was happened, Cid flew into action.
"No, I won't be destroyed like some failed experiment! Do you even know how to kill me properly?" Bellowed Cid in a voice he barely recognized as his own. As the ground around him continued to give way and the air around him got hotter and hotter, Cid clapped his hands, and placed them on what was left of the ground in front of him, and altered what was left to create a bridge across what had disappeared. after that he transmuted the water vapor around the scene in the air to freeze and cut off the oxygen level in the air, causing the air to cool too. Finally, with his head burning and his vision almost completely red he collapsed to the ground, a safe distance from the man who was now running away as fast as his legs would carry him.
"Pathetic," Cid said as he passed out for the fourth time that day. This time though, he had felt as though things might turn out positively.
Cid woke up on a hard bed in a small cramped room with no windows and only a small candle to light it. Stumbling out of bed, he managed to find his way across the room to the candle, and pressing his hands to the table, he transmuted the table and the candle into a small fire. This lit up the room completely and on the far side Cid saw a door. Transmuting the wood under the fire and a piece of the tile floor into a lantern, he made his way out quietly.
Before he made it all the way out of his room, he saw someone move in a corner. Shining the light in that direction, he suddenly found himself being bowled over by someone who was very large. In the process of being knocked over, Cid had thrown the lantern against the wall and it exploded, causing the wall to become alight too. Now with this larger room visible to Cid, he saw that the person who had bowled him over was standing right over him, and as he approached he could smell something terrible.
"That's disgusting! Who the hell are you?" Cid demanded.
"Gluttony, back off, NOW!" Someone else said. It was a woman's voice, and as she stepped into the light. Cid was surprised when he saw a tattoo very similar to his own in the middle of her chest, just above her breasts. He was staring at her tattoo for a moment before he suddenly realized she was staring right at him. "Look familiar?" she said as she pointed out her own tattoo.
"Yes… it is. There's one on my head too. How'd you guess?"
"Your hair burned off during the fight, and you're still alive. Now, listen to me. The Red Stone in your head is going to be gone soon. It wasn't much, even though it did seem to be condensed somehow. Take this," she said, tossing him another chunk of Red Stone, "and eat it, or slam it into your forehead like you did with the last one, I guess."
"Wait, what? I didn't put it there, I woke up and it was there!" Cid cried.
"Now now, no need to be impatient. These are supposed to help you. Eat it, and you'll be stronger and more conscious of yourself, she said with a devilish grin on her face.
"I- uh, well, okay," Cid stammered. Having no idea what would happen, he ate it. Several moments later after eating it, he had moved to sit against the wall. Lust and Gluttony were still watching him as he began to feel better about his body.
"I take it that it's working?" Lust asked inquisitively.
"Yeah, it worked. Can I get out of here now?"
"Not yet. Now tell me young man, do you have any idea what you are?"
"I'm just a kid! My name's Cid!" He said as he stood and leaned against the wall.
Approaching slowly, Lust looked straight into him; he wanted to collapse again as her eyes pierced him like daggers. "You really don't have a clue, do you? You'd better listen up then. I have a nice story for you."
Don't think of this Lust as the same sexy beast that Scar's brother brought back to life. She's dead, so let me fill you in a little.
To start, Romanov, Bernard, and Gripper are extremely well-versed in alchemy, but they aren't State Alchemists. Instead, they are part of an investigation team that Mustang assembled some time After the events in the movie Conqueror of Shamballa. The point of this team is to find Red Stone, follow leads pertaining to the Philosopher's Stone, and hunt down homunculi - as well as those who make them.
I really liked the Lust/Gluttony combination in FMA, and so I'm playing with it. It seems like it fits to have the two together because of what the terms Lust and Gluttony imply. So, here's some info on my new homunculi. First, Lust is beautiful with shoulder length (black) hair, a complexion that looks like it had been cheerful while she was alive, and deep eyes. Her power is, in fact tied in to her eyes. She has the power to hypnotize a target (or opponent). While they are under her spell, they will pay serious attention to the tattoo on her chest. It can only be broken if she wants it to be, or if the person has the tattoo out of their line of vision. Gluttony is rather different too. He's still rather round, but this time around he's taller and has the ability to multiply the length of his arms, and absorb nearly anything through the palms of his hands. His tattoo is located between his shoulder blades.
Lust wears a low-cut dress, and Gluttony wears normal street clothes (a little like Greed used to). I'll introduce more homunculi later.
ALRIGHT! Now for the trick that Cid did earlier. Well, considering he's a homunculus you'd think that he shouldn't be able to perform alchemy. Here's the thing though, the strange man earlier tampered around, and so he can. You'll get more details later. Finally, his power is the ability to shoot liquid from his fingers. It's basically water, but it can be morphed to his will (like seen with the floating circle).