Me: Hello agin for the second time today my lovelies! A mere 2 hours later I have completed for you Chapter 4!
Greed: Whoopty-fucking-doo.
Me:*smacks* Anyway here's a disclaimer. I don not own FMA but I do own the originals in this story. The song for this chapter is "Falling in the Black" by Skillet. Enjoy!
Greed: *With a hand on cheek begins chasing me* You little bitch! I oughta fucking rape you for that!
Chapter 4: Rules and Regulations
Unknown POV
The white void surrounding me was worse than I had ever expected. Year after year of just existing in this pathetic excuse of an afterlife. I only wanted to be human. Is that so much to ask? Is it really so awful to want happiness?
"It would seem your time here is up."
That voice, that dreadful voice. I haven't been addressed by him in five years. Is what he says true though? Is it over? "Don't toy with me! Is what you say true?!" That face, no, that absence of face, it looks me dead on. That awful grin.
"Why don't you find out for yourself?"
The gate. My gate of Truth. I can use it? I can live? I can't take a chance on this not being real. I make a break for it.
For the first time in a long time….blackness. That sound, is that…? No, that's impossible. I open my eyes to see the spark of a human transmutation circle. By my surroundings it looks like I'm in a forest. I have to be sure though. Slowly I glance down at my left leg. My ouroboros. It worked.
"Nice of you to join us Envy." I look up to meet the eyes of my long lost sister.
"Good to be back. Lust."
Edward's POV
"Did you have to hit me so hard Winry?" The bleeding had stopped but I was still rubbing the back of my head. I don't understand why she always has to hit me like that.
"You brought it on yourself for being so rude."
Alright, I should think before I speak while we're here, that much I'll admit. This place is just one surprise after another though. For the sake of my brain function however, I think I'm right in not telling Winry that I wanna stay here for a while. I still can't believe I'm in the middle of such a big scientific discovery! For thousands of years, chimeras have been breeding and flocking to this very city. I've not been this excited in years!
"Here we are. I think this will suit you just fine Emperor Yao." Huh, she calls Ling by his title. I never really thought to do that before now. Guess I'm just so used to him being Ling.
"Please, call me Ling." Ugh, him and that squinty-eyed smile.
"Alright then, how about a deal? I won't address you as Emperor if you don't address me as Alpha. You're Ling and I'm Angel. Deal?" Her smile, now that one is genuine and dazzling.
"Deal."
Smiling, she gestures to a small white concrete house behind her. Its cube shaped and I bet it cost a fortune. It has a mysterious look to it in this weather though. To my surprise, she bows and the gesture is returned by Ling. Is she part Xingese or something? I'll have to ask sometime. After that's all said and done we continue down the street as he and Lan Fan disappear through the front door.
"We have a couple more places you guys can stay that can house two people each."
"Great." It's nice that she's prepared for travelers.
After we stopped a second time, it was decided that May and Alphonse would stay together. There were two bedrooms and it was Al so I wasn't worried. As I'm looking at the last stop we're making, I realize that Greed's still here. I stand in the doorway and call back to Angel. "What about Greed? Where's he gonna stay?" He'd been eyeballing Angel since we met her. No surprise there. Poor girl. Then again, I can't really blame Greed. He is what he is and she's the first woman he's been around that he doesn't consider a friend. Since Al brought him back that is.
She gives him a sideways glance and smiles, mostly at me. "I have a guest room at my place. He can stay there if that's okay with him." Unsurprisingly, Greed's already got that smile that I like to call his 'rape face'. He wouldn't actually rape her. He's too chivalrous for that, but there's no doubt that she's going to get pick-up line after pick-up line from him. With a wave, she starts leading him to the outskirts of the city. "Good luck with him," I mumble.
"Thanks!" she shouts back. That's weird. She shouldn't have been able to hear me. She is a hybrid chimera though, so I shouldn't be surprised. Oh well.
Greed's POV
I hadn't really been paying attention to anything until Elric asked where I would be staying. Good question. She smiles at him and says I can stay in a guest room at her place. Hell yeah! The good just keeps raking in for me.
"Thanks!" she shouts back but I didn't hear him say anything. Then again I hadn't heard much of anything since we started walking. At this point I really wish I had an umbrella or something. This rain is just depressing. I look over at Angel and she seems to have the opposite reaction. She's loving it. Her face is tilted slightly upward and her eyes are closed. If she's doing that then she must be really familiar with the way to her house. It's not hard to stare at her. The rain has her already-revealing shirt clinging to her for dear life. If this is how she normally dresses then me and her are gonna have some fun. I guess I should probably introduce myself. "Greed."
She opens her eyes and looks at me questioningly. "Excuse me?"
"My name. It's Greed. We weren't exactly properly introduced." I offer my hand with the ouroboros for a handshake. Her confusion immediately resides and she places a warm, soft hand in mine.
"Right. So what kind of name is Greed anyway? If you don't mind me asking that is."
With pleasure. With a sharp-toothed grin I explain. "Of course. You see, I want everything you can think of. Power, women. Money and sex. Status and glory! I demand the finer things. There isn't anything you can think of that I don't want to possess." Of course I could have just shown her what a greedy bastard I am, but that would be rude. Judging by her stoic expression, I assume she's rethinking the idea of having me in her home.
"Everything huh?"
"Everything." She stops and I turn to see the most extravagant home ever. It's two stories and is for the most part windows. The front walk is dirt with a stone boundary. Other than the black front door, the entire thing is snow white. She puts a hand on the door knob but doesn't open it just yet. "What about love?"
"Excuse me?" I ask, thinking I must have misheard her.
You said you want everything right?"
"Right."
"So what about love?"
Love? I hadn't really thought of that before. I guess when I say I want everything I set myself up for that one. Love. Now that I think about it, just about everyone wants to find love except for me. It's bizarre; I want nothing to do with the one thing that everyone else desires.
Looking over, I notice that Angel went inside. I step through the doorway and turn to shut the black door behind me. Glancing down, the floor is hardwood. With a spin, I whistle at the room before me. There's a sofa that is wide enough to be a bed. It merges at the end with an identical one, forming an "L" in the center of the room. In front of it is a glass coffee table with metal legs. The right wall is window paneled and flashes a rather breathtaking view of a waterfall that is about thirty yards away from the house. Cylindrical lights with ruby coverings hang from the ceiling. On a glass table against the wall is a chrome-plated flat screen.
"Whoa." She smirks back at me from the base of the partial-spiral staircase.
"You like it?"
Taking a few steps forward, I try to take in all of my new surroundings. "Hell yeah. This is my kind of place." Her bell-like giggle carries through the large room and envelopes me in a blanket of arousal. "I'm glad you like it. Come on, I'll show you the guest room."
Upstairs, there are black candles lining the walls. As the wax melts, the droplets give of the illusion of flowing blood. There are three doors in the hallway. A red one at the main end, a black one on the left side about halfway down, and beside me is a white one. Is it just me or is there a common color scheme here?
"This is your room here." She gestures to the white door. Hesitantly, I take the handle. The first thing I notice is that the back wall has been replaced by a panel of glass that is only about four feet tall. It's got a nice view of the river from here. Other than the red stereo system, the place is solid white. "Thanks for showing me around doll…." I cut off when I turn and see her gone. In her place is a small purple note pinned to the door.
Angel's POV
After leaving Greed my list of rules for the house, I went to my room at the end of the hall. As soon as the crimson door is shut, I ditch my soaking clothes in a pile on the balcony. I love the rain but I wouldn't want to ruin my nice red carpet now would I? And what better way to end a rainy day than a shower. Looking at it now it's quite nice. It's a large panel built into the ceiling that I ironically call my "rain canopy". The red lights embedded into it are courtesy of my dear brother James. They change colors but I prefer red for obvious reasons.
Reclining my head to the scalding water I can't help but wonder about the people I've allowed to enter my treasured Luna. The three Xingese visitors are safe enough, and a truce with the young emperor could prove helpful. The blondes, the Elrics they said, are also ruled out as potential enemies. Alphonse's aura is too gentle to pose any threat. His brother's is harsher but he is still too innocent. But what about the man at the end of the hall? Greed. He'd been honest enough when explaining his name and by the way he said it, I'd say that he gets that question a lot. And his aura is strange. It malevolent and sickening, but at the same time it appeals to my more animalistic side. Those eyes, they're an unusual yet beautiful color. He is definitely not human. If I recall correctly then I've seen that tattoo before. James showed it to me a long time ago in his alchemy notes. I want to check with him before I jump to conclusions.
Rinsing the last of the soap from the tattoo on my forearm, I step out of the stem-filled bathroom. Holding my hands out to my sides, I slowly close my palms and clench them into fists. As I do, the water on my body begins to heat and evaporate into the air, further clouding the room with steam. My hair, now dry, is wild and does what Damon calls the "lion effect". My chimera blood contains no feline whatsoever but I believe the nickname was meant to be a joke considering that I had another room put into the house for my beloved feline friend Gin. The adolescent panther chimera has really grown on me. Pulling back the black curtain from my circular double king-sized bed, I lay and gaze at myself in the mirrored ceiling. With a sigh I pull the black comforter down and fold it at the end of the bed before proceeding to cover myself with the crimson silk sheets. Within minutes I'm down for the count.
Me: Well little monsters, I was able to escape the clutches of the Avarice with my virginity still intact.
Greed: You're lucky I love you ya little bitch.
Me: Indeed I am! Well everyone I don't believe I'll get anything else up today so until next time, toodles!
