Colonel Mustang and Lieutenant Hawkeye sat across from each other in the train car.
'If only I'd been there sooner,' Roy thought as he stared into the eyes of the young girl- his sister- in the picture he had stuffed into his pocket just hours earlier. Five years before, his sister had attempted to bring a lost family member back from the dead through Alchemy- she ended up paying a grave price for it. If it wasn't for the expertise of a world renowned automailist, she would've died.
"Sir, it wasn't your fault that she was hurt," Riza said softly. Roy's eyes hardened and he set the picture down.
"You are mistaken, lieutenant." He muttered as he looked into her eyes. Behind his icy stare, was an overwhelming amount of sadness. "If I had been able to teach her correctly, she wouldn't have wound up like so many others."
Hawkeye couldn't argue with him any longer. He had convinced himself to the core that his sister's predicament was his entire fault. "I remember when I first met her- she was only four." Riza said with a smile as she stared out the window, watching the world go by.
"She did love having you around," Mustang said quietly. Hawkeye smiled. At least she was bringing happy memories to his mind. When Roy's sister was younger, he would stop by his home to visit her and his mother. The odd time, Riza would come by as well, and delight her superior's sister with tales of heroic battles alongside her 'partner', Roy. Soon, Riza became a part of the family, and was referred to by Roy's sister as 'Aunt Riza'. After the death of Mrs. Mustang, Roy's mother, he became a relatively solitary man, preferring to keep to himself. Riza was slowly pushed away by Roy. As he stopped talking to her about anything other than military operations, their friendship dwindled like a flame in water. After four years, it seemed that now she was just the Lieutenant.
"I know we'll find her, sir." Hawkeye said softly. Mustang turned and looked back at Riza.
"Please," He said softly, "Just call me Roy."
xXx
"… And I really don't blame her for keeping to herself." Alphonse said as he finished relaying his conversation with Rina to Edward.
"I guess I can't blame her either," Edward replied. Ever since he'd listened in- well, more like eavesdropped- on Al and Rina, he'd felt unbelievably guilty for accusing the younger Alchemist of being allied with the homunculi. "I guess I was just being paranoid, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't watch who we associate with."
Just then, Rina burst through the door. Her brown eyes were open wide, and she seemed extremely anxious.
"Rina, what's wrong?" Edward asked. He'd never seen anyone look as stressed as she did.
"It's Lucy," Rina cried, "She's gone!"
"What do you mean 'gone'?" Alphonse asked. Rina couldn't be for real. An old lady as sick and frail as Lucy was couldn't have just gotten up and left.
"I mean she's not in her house!" Rina replied. "She was either kidnapped- though I don't know why- or murdered!"
"Then what are we waiting for?" Al asked. "We've got to find her!"
Edward was quite shocked. It was usually himself who said things like that. "R-right," He stammered. "Let's get a move on."
Rina grabbed her quiver and bow from the stand she had created, and tested the string. The string tension was perfect- almost as perfect as the drawback. "All set?" Rina asked.
Edward nodded as he transmuted his arm into a blade. "Ready as ever."
Alphonse gave her a small thumbs up. "Let's go." He said, his voice full of determination. "I know we'll get Lucy back."
xXx
"Master, we have brought the newest homunculus, Deceit." Lust said as she walked forward with Deceit, Gluttony and Envy following closely behind.
"Good; you have served me well." The voice of a woman said. Slowly, a woman wearing a deep purple dress walked out from the shadows. The woman was Dante; an Alchemist, who long ago, had succeeded in creating a Philosopher Stone. For over four hundred years, she had used the Philosopher Stone to move her soul to different bodies after her current one had decayed. Her current form was that of a woman name Lira.
"So, you are this 'Master' I have heard about?" Deceit asked.
"In fact, I am," Dante replied as she examined the homunculus before her. "And, I am the one who left you those incomplete Philosopher Stones in your time of weakness. Now that you're here, why don't you meet your fellow brethren?" Dante moved aside as three new homunculi stepped forward. "Meet Sloth, Wrath, and Pride. Greed sadly couldn't be here today- he allowed himself to be finished off by that brat Fullmetal."
Deceit looked over to Wrath- she was suddenly hit with a wave of memories. She remembered a little boy about Wrath's age. He had stunning Raven black hair and dark brown eyes. She remembered playing with him for hours out in the warm sun.
"Hey, lady, you alright?" The voice of a boy asked her. Slowly, everything came back into focus. Deceit was lying on the floor, Wrath standing over her. "You fell over when you looked at me- am I that ugly?" He asked as he raised a hand to his face.
"Don't be ridiculous. You only sparked a couple of memories- that's all." Deceit snapped at him. Wrath flinched slightly and moved away from her.
"Now that our little introduction is finished," Dante began, "It's time that I told you what your mission is, Deceit. You are to find that walking pile of junk Alphonse's weakness- and destroy him with it. With his brother dead, Edward will lose all hope. Then, we will strike."
xXx
"We've got to find her- we can't take the time to stop!" Rina grunted as she ran on through the forest, Al and Ed trailing behind. Ed had grown far too tired, so Al had been forced to carry him. Rina, however, was showing almost no signs of exhaustion.
"How are you not tired?" Edward asked as they ran through the forest.
"I ignore exhaustion- I push it out of my mind and keep fighting. That's what my brother taught me to do." She replied. Her face was void of emotion when she looked back at Edward.
'That expression,' He thought, 'why does it remind me of Mustang?'
"That's not healthy for you, though." Al said as Rina turned sharply.
"I don't care- Lucy has become like family for me, and family comes before all else!" She barked. Suddenly, she stopped, almost causing Al to fall over while trying to stop.
"I can hear her calling for help," Rina said quietly.
"I can't hear anything," Edward growled from underneath Al, "aside from the cracking of my skeleton."
"Sorry, brother." Alphonse said quickly as he crawled off of Edward, who was nearly flattened like a pancake.
"Get a move on already!" Rina snapped at them. They both looked up at her in shock. She had never spoken to them like that before, and her eyes had a certain hardness to them that was vaguely familiar.
"Rina, you need to calm down." Edward said as he walked towards her.
"No, I don't! You need to speed up or we'll never get to Lucy in time! My parents and brother are gone- she's all I have!" She snapped. She was clutching her bow tightly, and her eyes were clouding with tears.
"We're all human, Rina. We can't go on without taking a break- we'll be worked to the point of absolute exhaustion." Al tried to explain.
"That's where you're wrong, Elric!" Rina yelled in anger. "You're a soul bound to a suit of armor- metal, not flesh! You're not even close to human!"
"Rina," Alphonse murmured. How could she say such hurtful things to him?
"You don't know what it's like to feel the way we do- the way I do! You can't even feel the warmth of the sun on your metal body!"
"Stop talking like that," Al growled as he took a step towards her.
"Stay away from me, or I'll shoot!" Rina cried as she drew an arrow from her quiver.
"The only one who'll get hurt if you shoot me is yourself. The arrow will ricochet back at you." Al warned.
"Then I guess that's proof that you're a monster!" She screamed as she knocked the arrow. A flurry of red Alchemical symbols suddenly appeared, circling around the arrow tip, forming a transmutation circle. "I don't fire normal arrows, as you will soon see. Return to the Gate, you freak of nature!"
Rina pulled the arrow back as far as she could, and fired. The arrow sped towards Alphonse at an incredible speed, and with incredible accuracy.
Al stayed right where he was. "I warned you, Rina. An arrow can't-"
He stopped mid sentence as the arrow pierced- yes, it pierced- his presumably indestructible armor. Alphonse fell over in a daze. The arrow tip was just millimeters away from his Bloodseal.
"And I warned you, Alphonse Elric." Rina growled as she turned and ran off, leaving Alphonse and Edward alone. "Next time, you might not be so lucky."
"Are you alright?" Ed asked in a panic as he scrambled over to his brother.
"I- I don't know," Al stammered as he stared at the arrow lodged in his armor. "If I move, the arrow might slide further in and brush my Bloodseal."
"Oh, this is bad." Edward muttered. "She used some advanced form of Alchemy on the arrow- I might trigger something if I try to pull it out.
"You've got to try, brother." Alphonse begged. "Rina might be lethal with a bow, but once she runs out of arrows, she'll be done for. She has no experience using Alchemy in a fight."
"You're right on that one," Edward replied. "But she nearly killed you!"
"To her, Lucy is all she has left in life. She's like a grandmother to her, and she feels that we are standing in the middle of the way of saving her only family member." Alphonse explained. "You would've done the same thing if she was standing in your way of getting to me."
And Alphonse was right. Edward would have done that- and maybe more to save his brother.
"Point made," Edward said as he reached for the arrow. "I guess this is the moment of truth for us."
As Edward grasped the arrow, he was almost completely overwhelmed with pain. He felt like his hand was being singed by searing hot coals and flames. The air around the two was glowing red, and the air was stiflingly hot. Ever so slowly, Edward pulled on the arrow, but the more he pulled, the more the pain intensified. "I… don't know… if I… can do it…" He growled. "The defense… mechanism… is… pushing me… beyond my limits…"
"It's almost out!" Al cried. "You can do it!"
With his last ounce of strength, Edward pulled the arrow out, and threw it aside, finally relieving himself of the pain.
"My hand…" He groaned as he clutched his wrist. He'd grabbed the arrow with his left hand- his flesh and blood hand. It was red and enflamed, and was already starting to blister.
"I'm sorry," Alphonse said once he caught a glimpse of Edward's hand.
"I'm fine- don't worry about it." He said, although he knew he wasn't anywhere near fine.
"Let me help," Al said as he quickly drew a transmutation circle in the dirt. He sat up, grabbed a few materials, and placed them in the center of the circle. Ed watched as the leaves, dirt, and grass were changed into clean gauze bandages.
"Hold out your hand," Al said softly. Edward held his wounded hand out and winced as Al wrapped it. "That should work for now." He said as Ed flexed his hand ever so slightly, soon wining in pain.
"I guess I'm pretty much useless now- I can't exactly use Alchemy as well as I could with my hand like this," Edward sighed as he stood up from his kneeling position.
"Don't be like that," Al said as he fingered the large hole in his chest plate. "If you start to lose your confidence in yourself now, we won't make it any farther in our search for the Philosopher Stone."
"I guess that's true, too." Ed replied as he clapped his hands together. "We'll get a move on once I take care of that nasty hole in your chest."
Ed placed his hands on his brother's chest plate, and in a flash of light, had sealed it up without a trace.
"Let's go- Rina couldn't have gotten that far," Al said as the two took off running.
xXx
"They don't understand how I think," Rina sobbed as she ran on through the darkening forest. "They never will; no matter how hard I try to make them." 'But still,' She thought, 'did I really have to be so hard on Al?'
"Somebody, help- please!" Rina heard the voice of an old woman cry out.
"Lucy? Is that you? It's Rina- don't you worry!" Rina called back, trying to fill her voice with bravery. "I'm coming!"
Rina flew through the foliage on lightning fast toes, dodging every branch in her way. As she dodged the last branch, she emerged into a large clearing.
"Rina!" Lucy called. The poor old woman had been tied to a tree, the rough rope scratching and cutting her.
"Oh, Lucy- I'm glad you're alright!" Rina cried as she ran over to Lucy. "I'll get you out in a-" Rina couldn't finish her sentence. Envy dropped down from the tree and sent her flying across the clearing. Rina went tumbling backwards and eventually landed in a kneeling position, bow and arrows at the ready.
"Not so fast, little orphan." Envy said with a smirk.
"Who are you?" Rina asked the strange young man before her. He crossed his arms and smiled slyly at Lucy, who in turn, smiled back in a similar manner.
"Most people know me as Envy, one of the seven homunculi, but you can call me your new boyfriend." He replied flirtatiously.
"Eww; never!" Rina exclaimed as she glared at Envy with distaste. "I don't exactly date dead boys."
"Watch out, Envy, there's a mouth on this one." Lucy said with a dark laugh. Within seconds, she had shape shifted into her truest form, Deceit, the newly born homunculus.
"Lucy?" Rina shrieked in horror.
"Shut up- your voice hurts my ears." Deceit snapped as Envy untied her.
"Who are you- really? Rina asked, slowly drawing an arrow.
"I'm Deceit- the homunculus you created by sacrificing your flesh. Lucky for you, you didn't put enough ingredients into that stupid transmutation circle- that's why you still exist." Deceit growled as she rolled up the sleeve of her long gown, and slightly hiked up her skirt. Both her arm and leg had been stolen from an innocent victim and attached to her own body.
"Brother was right," Rina muttered, "I did create a monstrosity."
"You'd better take that back, you little brat!" Deceit hissed. "I'm no monstrosity- I'm merely incomplete."
"You're an incomplete monstrosity!" Rina yelled as she drew back an arrow. As before, a transmutation circle appeared in front of the arrow tip- this time glowing white. "I'll send you back where you came from- hell!"
Rina fired the arrow, and it hit Deceit right in the throat- hitting the center of her Ouroboros tattoo.
"Oh, the pain!" Deceit cried sarcastically, causing Envy to snort in amusement.
"How did that not kill you?" Rina exclaimed, standing up tall, and staring wide-eyed at the arrow which Deceit merely plucked out of her throat.
"It takes much more than that to kill a homunculus, babe." Envy said, even more flirtatious than Rina considered 'over the limit'.
"You are the creepiest person I've ever met in my life," Rina growled at Envy.
"I've gotten that a whole lot," He replied nonchalantly.
"If you think that being shot in the throat and surviving is wild, wait until you see my next trick," Deceit laughed as she squeezed the arrow tightly. It shattered into little slivers, which grew in size, each becoming a new arrow- a black transmutation circle in front of each arrow tip. The arrows rose from the ground, all aiming at Rina.
"I hope you like Swiss cheese," Deceit said darkly, "Because that's what you're about to become!"
With that, the arrows flew at Rina, who was paralyzed with fear. 'Move- do something, stupid!' Rina thought. She willed her legs to move, but they wouldn't budge. 'This is it,' She thought as she closed her eyes tight. Seconds later, she felt herself be grabbed by someone or something and held close.
"What?" Rina shrieked as she opened her eyes wide. She was cradled in two strong arms, and protected by a large, hard body.
"A second later, and you would've been a goner." A familiar voice said.
"Al?" She asked quietly. She looked up at her savior- sure enough it was him.
"Yeah." He replied simply. Rina couldn't bring herself to say anything- or do anything. She was far too shocked.
"Listen, I-" Rina began, but Al cut her off.
"There's no time to talk now- I need you to stay hidden." He said sternly.
"Are you crazy? Never! This is my fight, and I intend on fighting it!" She snapped, a hardness returning to her eyes.
"Fine." Al replied coldly. Rina was extremely shocked. Had she said something wrong? Al set her down and joined Edward, who was well into battle with Envy.
"This isn't your fight, runt!" Envy sneered as Edward sent a flurry of stone fists at him.
"Who are you calling a runt?!" Edward snapped as he transmuted his metal arm into a long blade.
"Oh, looks like I struck a nerve there," Envy laughed as Edward lunged at him.
"Just shut up already!" Edward yelled as he slashed Envy across the stomach.
"Need some help over there?" Deceit called as she ran into battle.
"Edward, look out- she can turn your attacks against you!" Alphonse shouted as he slammed into the approaching homunculus.
"I'll keep that in mind," He replied as he left Envy on the ground, quite beat up.
"It's no use, Alphonse Elric," Deceit said calmly as she swiftly dodged his next attack. "You can't catch me as long as you're stuck in that heavy metal body of yours."
"We'll see about that," He said as he grabbed hold of Deceit's arm. She looked up at him and smiled. She immediately shape shifted into an old woman- Lucy.
"What- Lucy is a homunculus?" Edward asked himself in utter confusion.
"You wouldn't hurt a little old lady, now would you?" She asked sweetly. Alphonse let go of her in shock, giving her enough time to spin around and punch his helmet off.
"Oh, a Bloodseal," Deceit said as she shape shifted back to her usual form, staring into his suit. "I wonder what'll happen if I wipe it away?"
"Get away from him, you faker!" Rina screamed as she shot a glowing blue arrow at Deceit.
Deceit turned her head to look at Rina and laughed, "Foolish child; your measly arrows can't do a single- " She held her tongue as the arrow hit her in the center of her back, and emerged out of her stomach. "Thing…" She finished as her whole body went rigid. "I can't move!" She shrieked as Alphonse slipped away, scooping up his helmet. "Rina dear, is that honestly any way to treat your mother?" She shrieked again, this time, her voice sounding completely inhuman.
"You are not my mother, and you never will be!" Rina screamed as she raised her hand, her palm aiming at deceit. The transmutation circle etched into the palm of her metal hand began to glow a blazing white, and the arrow lodged in Deceit's body seemed to glow like hot embers. The homunculus screamed in agony, falling to the ground.
"How is she able to do that?" Envy asked himself as he watched Deceit twitch around. Soon, she began to wretch. To Rina's horror, out came- incomplete Philosopher Stones?
"My power!" Deceit screamed between wretches. "Five years worth of power- gone!"
Deceit soon collapsed unconscious, surrounded by fake Philosopher Stones. Rina kneeled down to the ground, and placed her hand on one of the stones that had rolled in her direction. A small transmutation circle appeared beneath it, as with the other stones. As the circles began to glow, so did the stones. As each stone disappeared, small glowing orbs of light were left in their places. Thousand of orbs flew around the clearing, some flying over to Rina- the energy that had been used in the creation of the many stones had been absorbed by the young Alchemist.
"What are you doing?" Edward asked.
"I'm not doing a thing- the energy is choosing to give me its strength…" Rina said in wonder. Slowly, some of the energy seemed to travel over to the Elric brothers, who stared at each orb in awe.
"Impossible…!" Envy cried as he stood up and grabbed Deceit. Before anyone could object, he had run off, Deceit with him.
"Let them run," Rina said coldly as she turned to Edward, silently thanking him for coming.
"Now that that's over with," He began, "Who was the other homunculus?"
"That was Deceit- the homunculus I created when I tried to resurrect my mother." Rina replied shamefully. Edward was quite taken aback- did she say she created a homunculus- and escaped with such minimal losses?"I don't know exactly how it happened, but I made a terrible mistake." Rina sighed. "I can't remember exactly how it all went." Slowly, she turned to where she had last seen Alphonse standing. "Where'd he go?" Rina asked Ed.
"He's probably a little offended by what you said about him. He might've gone someplace quiet." Ed explained. Rina's eyes were filled with realization, shock, and concern.
"I…" She stammered as she struggled to keep eye contact with Edward. "I have to go talk to him." She managed to say before starting to cry. Before Ed could say a thing, she ran off to the spot where she and Al had had their first heart to heart talk- the daisy-covered field.
xXx
"Alphonse?" Rina called softly as she walked out into the open field. Sitting in the grass, was Alphonse, who was watching the sun set beyond the horizon.
"What would you want with a 'freak' like me?" He asked without looking up at her.
"That's what I came to talk to you about." Rina said quietly as she sat down beside him. He inched away ever so slightly. "I didn't mean a word I said to you. I was upset- I was afraid." She said as she looked at the dancing grass around them. "I thought Lucy cared about my wellbeing, but it turns out that she didn't care about me as much as I cared about her."
"How do I know this isn't just some big lie?" Alphonse asked without looking down at her.
"I guess you're just going to have to take my word." She replied. "Al, I thought I'd die without her- she was like my family- but it turns out that she's not the one I can't live without."
"Then who is it?" Alphonse asked softly as he turned to look at Rina- she was in tears.
"It's you, Al. I can't live without you." She cried as she threw her arms around his neck, hugging him tighter than ever before, and crying harder than she ever had before. "Al, I promise that I'll help you and your brother find the Philosopher Stone and get your bodies back to normal. I'll always be there for you."
"And I'll always be there for you." He whispered as he held her close.
"Al," Rina murmured, "Can I tell you something?"
"Anything," He replied.
"You, by far, are the purest soul I've ever met. To me, you're not human- you're better."