Chapter Three "Not Human"

Gluttony paused there for a second, his body was half mangled from the impact and Wrath was staring him down despite crawling around like a rabid dog.

Wrath growled, sticking his hand into the wound to pull out a soul fragment still within his body. Gluttony started to launch forward again as Wrath devoured he shard with his sharp teeth. Wrath's whole body was tingling; he threw himself back with his remaining arm as the beast had run passed him like a charging animal.

Ed raced back down the steps but he had come into the middle of the fray. There was destruction all over the floor like jagged metal and stone and half broken pipes, and the city was still shaking underneath his feet.

He did not want to think about the fact that this was not something an Alchemist should be capable of, but in repayment he prepared to fight.

"Oh well, better make the most of it." Ed sneered with a half grin, smacking his right arm against a metal pole he saw lying on the ground.

His arm started to change, materializing into the metal he had touched. He held the pole up like a lance and ran in towards Gluttony as he was still distracted by Wrath.

"Hey Gluttony!" Ed egged him on, the Homunculus turning with his voice. "I have something else you can chew on!"

Gluttony let out a loud screech as Ed threw the foul-edged crude weapon into Gluttony's first left arm, causing him immense pain. Wrath was nearly crushed as the twice his size Gluttony nearly smacked him against the wall of an old house.

Ed came in far too close for comfort, trying to regain his weapon since he had missed. Now however, he was in the hands of the disgusting creature, it was holding Ed up by his other arm.

"Damn it! I told you to stop messing with my arms!" Ed used his rock-hard fist and threw it into Gluttony's jawbone, but it did nothing more then make the creature regenerate again.

Wrath was hanging on by a thread right now, both with his sanity and with his fiscal being. He wasn't regenerating because of the last time he saw The Gate.

Ed could feel his hot breath as Gluttony attempted to dispose of him by pulling him apart piece by piece, his feet could not even touch the floor; he had made a mistake in getting so near him. The pole was still lodged into the creature's side, so he decided to make use of it.

Ed took his free arm and started to twist the pole around, all the while groaning in agony as his bones felt like they were being snapped in half. Gluttony moved back for a split second, and that was all Ed needed. He took his arm out of his hold and pulled the pole out, spewing what might be blood in all directions.

Ed thought he was coming up on top finally, when he saw a change of expression of Gluttony's face. He took a good look at him, and looked almost afraid of him, the way he had whenever Dante's name was mentioned in the past, despite that his mind was long gone now.

Gluttony started to flee the scene; even with the regeneration he looked to discover something new about Ed. Everything got quieter, Ed decided to let him run off in order to get Wrath out of there.

Ed set him up acting as his crutch, not with a smile but with the feeling of obligation all about his face.

The wounded Homunculus still looked at Ed with discontent, remembering the way Al had selflessly brought him back, but why had he not used his Alchemy in that fight? It drove at Wrath that all of it was wasted effort. "You can't bring Mommy back… can you…?"

Ed was solemn; he was still recalling Gluttony's reaction to his new appearance. He simply helped Wrath up the stairs as the place started collapsing slowly behind them.

"In the end, you're just like I am now aren't you?" Wrath was almost snarling, like a child turned away from a store window. "The real you killed Mommy, and now he's dead too."

Ed's eyes did not show any signs of change, he was unresponsive in order to keep his mind focused on what he would have to get back; again on a set goal that he would dedicate his life to achieving.

"I want to bring Al back, that's all that matters to me." Ed reminded himself aloud.

Finally, they had come from where Ed had originally entered. The outside light was almost blinding to their unadjusted eyes. Ed and Wrath were reeking of blood; nobody was there to meet with them now, it was all silence.

Ed helped Wrath sit down and then started stretching, looking really refreshed now. "Man, it feels good to have my arms back. I forgot how nice it feels to stretch!"

Wrath was glancing down at the floor now, having lost his only reason for wanting to become human.

Ed actually looked rather pleased; the inside of the church building although deserted was a familiar sight instead of the desolate underground city he's come out of. His arm had become human skin again, but the fox bite was not there…

The wheels in his head were always turning even though he felt more at ease; he was unsure how to bring Al back without Alchemy. "I wonder if there's a reason I can't perform it."

"You can't use Alchemy, unless at least part of you is human," Wrath sounded more than just depressed, it was surprising he spoke at all. "You need to become human."

Ed's eyes opened up, a quiver in his stare like he didn't want to hear it.

"You need the Philosopher's Stone." Wrath looked desperate again, clutching onto Ed's new leg. "If you become human, will you bring Mommy back? You have to!"

Ed turned his head away, his eyes slanting downwards sadly. "I can't make a Philosopher's Stone, that requires human sacrifice and Al wouldn't want that…"
End chapter