First off I'd like to apologize for not updating in like…forever…I just started art school and already I've had to type like five papers. Next, I'd like to thank draw-yourworld for leaving a review…thank you! A lot of people seem to like Apathy, that's awesome! Ok next, as the second half of my apology for not updating sooner, I'll be posting chapters six through eight real soon!XD (throws confetti)!
I do not own Death Note or FullMetal Alchemist or any of the dialogue used from the manga.
On one final note…REVIEW! Please! I love to hear what you have to think! (Tiz begging).
L: (shakes head in pity)
Me: (hugs L) Share your sugar L! Share your cake!
L: (kicks) Never!
-4 Years Later-
Apathy was standing before a large pile of dirt and grass. His head was lowered so that his dark hair covered most of his face in a shadow. The sins' lips' were moving but no words could be heard.
"Apathy, I did not expect you to become distracted by what has passed. I allowed you some extra time to find these people but you have abused the privilege." Father was standing just a small ways away and looked solemn, "You were shown and told the truth, now I expect you to keep your end of the deal."
Apathy remained silent; he continued starring at the dirt and grass that had once been the Watari doppelganger. Seeing how unresponsive his creation was, Father continued,
"That man is not your father…I am."
"I know…" the sin said suddenly, "I understand better then you think…Father."
"Then why has it taken you four years to…" Father stopped when he realized Apathy was looking directly at him. Not once had the sin looked at him so directly in the past. It was almost as if Apathy dared him to say more. This was the kind of defiance he'd seen in one other sin many years ago; it was not something he wanted to see in Apathy.
'This side…it has had a very negative affect on him,' he thought, 'Since I created him using the trapped soul of that detective, his whole personality has been based purely on that. Having returned to this world, that soul returned to its natural body, only to die and return to the Gate. With that source of self gone, Apathy is free to develop naturally like the others.'
"Father…" Apathy had lowered his had a bit but kept his eyes on the man, who appeared to be thinking. He had gone back to thinking about that one sin. Perhaps this would be a good way to hamper any more procrastination and defiance from Apathy.
"Apathy, I want you to return with me. I have something I need you to do."
The sins' now blank expression became mildly quizzical as he said,
"But, I'm not done here. I still have to get the two sacrifices."
"I do not see them Apathy." Father stated. This made the sins' gaze return to the ground. The truth was that he hadn't gotten them yet, he knew who they were going to be but it required special planning. All of which Apathy had taken care of, but all that was left was for that planning to make its effect.
"You will return with me Apathy." Not giving the sin a chance to protest, Father clapped his hands and opened the Gate.
-The Gate-
Apathy stood before the large ominous black doors. He could not see Father anywhere. His eyes scanned the almost glowing surroundings, this all seemed vaguely familiar. Then something caught his eye, someone was sitting near the Gate. They appeared to be semi-translucent. Apathy slowly walked over but stopped almost instantly when the person looked up. His eyes were black with underlining shadows, he looked mildly malnourished, his face ghostly pale. If the sin didn't know any better he would have thought he was looking in a mirror.
'That person…he looks like me.' Apathy thought, he then remembered his encounter with Roger and how the old man thought he was L. 'That must mean, he's L.' the sin concluded.
Not saying a word – either by choosing not to or was incapable of doing so- L simply chewed on the tip of his thumb and starred. This bothered Apathy, so much so that he walked over and made to shove L. But the sudden advance caused the transparent detective stood and stepped out of the way.
"What are you?" L asked. Apathy just starred, he stood about a foot away now. The sin then reached out as if to strangle his other self. Like his previous advance, the sin was evaded.
"I'm Apathy." The sin finally replied. He couldn't explain it; just looking at the detective gave Apathy an unsettling feeling in his stomach. It was as if the very existence of L conflicted with his own, and that if he didn't do anything that existence could erase his. But before he could do anything else the Gate started to open.
L glanced up at it briefly then returned his gaze to the homunculus. Apathy reached out again and tried to grab L by the arm. He was halted by the many black arms that extended out of the Gate. The sin tried to pull away. He reached for the arm again and just when the thought he had it, his hand went right through. But that brief second of contact before Apathy was dragged into the Gate, the sin saw something. He was looking up into a pair of eyes that burned with malicious satisfaction, but only a pair of eyes. Then everything went black.
-Other side of the Gate-
His mind fuzzy and his entire body numb, Apathy gazed blankly around at his surroundings. It took him a while to put together what had just happened and where he was now. The sin found himself standing in an alley way in some unknown town. The weather was sunny and warm – very warm.
"Welcome Apathy, to Dublith." Apathy turned quickly when he heard Fathers' voice behind him, "I brought you here so that you may learn. I want you to find your older brother Greed. If you find him and he chose sot fight you, don't fight back."
"If he's my brother, then why would he want to fight me?" Apathy asked. His expression had become unreadable.
"I wonder that also," Father muttered, "One of your siblings is already coming. Make sure that when they arrive you leave Greed to them, understand?"
Apathys' mind was elsewhere but he nodded in understanding. Father turned and left, 'Teach by example, I cannot have him grow distracted.' He thought.
Apathy stood silently by himself for a few moments before crouching down and pulling an envelope from his pants leg. He'd figured it would be safest on him rather then Watari and he didn't have any pockets. For the hundredth time, the sin examined the envelope. For four years – on the other side anyway – he never looked inside. Something deep down was compelling him to open it, that whatever was inside was the answer to something important. But at the same time, there was that threatening feeling. The same feeling he had when facing L.
Something or someone suddenly passed the alleyway. Apathy blinked out of his thoughts and poked his head out, looking around. The sin spotted the retreating back of a large suit of armor. He turned and saw the advancing fronts of a large man and smaller woman. Quickly restoring the envelope in its hiding place, Apathy jumped up onto an over hanging pipe and followed. It didn't take him long to pass up the man and woman, but it took a little longer to catch up with the armor. When he did though, Apathy found him sitting by himself. The sin dropped down and landed in a semi-crouching position.
"Ah!" Al jumped back in surprise, he didn't expect anyone to find him so quickly let alone they being Apathy. "Apathy!? It's you! What are you doing here?"
Apathy remained crouching and brought his index finger up to his mouth.
"I could ask you the same, Alphonse. Where's your brother?"
"Oh, he went to Central for the annual state alchemist assessment. He'll be back in two or three days." Alphonse replied. Apathy shrugged; there was a sudden cracking noise from above them. Both Al and Apathy looked up in time to see the large over head pipe get sliced into three small pieces. A man burst through it, he was carrying a sward – he wasn't the guy Apathy had seen earlier. Both dove out of the way, Al going one way and Apathy going another. The sin, wanting to stay unnoticed by the attacker, quickly hid. He watched as Al fought with the sword man, Apathy didn't know the younger Elric could move so easily as a suit of armor. It wasn't long until Al managed to knock the guy out, but the guy succeeded in knocking the armor boys' head off- which was exactly what he was planning to do. Because seconds later, the people Apathy had seen before arrived.
The woman jumped up and slide inside the armor. Apathy mentally praised the intelligence of that move, she was clearly not strong enough to stop Al completely, but she could slow him down enough for the big guy to attack. After that, it didn't take long for the younger Elric to get captured. The sword man seemed to have recovered and picked up Als' head, he looked rather irritated as the large man said,
"Alphonse Elric, right? You're coming with us…to meet our master."
Apathy watched as they carried Al away; he had a feeling they would lead him to Greed, though how he concluded this was unknown. After a second more of deliberation, Apathy chose to follow until they reached a bar called The Devil's Nest. There the sin decided to rethink his plan. To do so, he hid himself in a place where he could keep an eye on the surrounding area but remain unseen by anyone else.
Meanwhile, inside the bar's basement, Al had come to learn his captors' names: Loa, Martel, and Dorchet. As well as their boss, Greed.
"Th-the Ouroboros tattoo!" Al gasped after Greed introduced himself.
"Huh?" Greed looked at his left hand, "You know about these?"
"I met someone weird in Central who had that mark." Al said. This seemed to surprise the sin.
"Huh! So you met one of the others?" Greed rubbed his chin in thought, "Which one? Was it that hag Lust? Or that lazy-ass Sloth?" Greed was about to continue when Al answered,
"His name was Apathy."
Greed glanced over the top of his sunglasses, "Who? Aw, doesn't matter." He then shrugged, but he was thinking, 'He never made an 'Apathy'. I've lived long enough to know that…'
"What are you, some kind of 'Bad guy'?" Al then asked.
"I wouldn't say that we're bad. But, we're not exactly good either." Greed answered smiling, "So…Al…isn't it? What does it feel like to be nothing but a soul…with a body that can never die?"
"How do you know that about me?" Alphonse asked with a concerned tone.
"Ga ha ha! How do I know!?" Greed laughed, "Remember when you fought a serial killer back in East City? Plenty of civilians and soldiers were on the scene, and they saw you. The commander in charged of the operation placed a gag order on the incident. But, secrets have a way of getting out. Anyway, I've got my sources."
"Why did you bring me here?" Al then asked, he had a feeling he knew what the answer was gonna be, but he figured he'd ask anyway.
"Transmuting a person's soul and binding it to a physical object…think about it. If you can do that, you've got yourself eternal life! Am I right?" Greed grinned, "I want it all: money, power, fame, I want everything in the world, and most of all…eternal life!" the sin then pointed at Alphonse; "The secret lies inside of you, and now you're gonna help me get it. Try to refuse and I'll cut you apart to find the secrets of your soul."
"What a shame," Al said suddenly, "You are a bad guy." He quickly drew a transmutation circle, which he started to activate.
"Huh?" Greed looked down just in time to see a large stone fist shoot out of the ground and nail him right in the gut.
"You let your guard down! I can easily break these chains with alchemy…" Al started to draw another transmutation circle when Greed suddenly said.
"You were saying?"
Al looked up to see that the stone fist had crumbled and the homunculus stood unharmed. Greed then suddenly grabbed Al by the head and slammed him into the ground saying,
"Just chill…okay?" he then remembered, "Oops! Sorry about that, Martel. Forgot you were in there."
The snake lady just replied with a stunned, "Gaah…"
"Ha, ha, ha! You got spunk kid." Greed then continued, returning his attention to Al, "I'll give you that. But parlor tricks like these ain't gonna cut it. If you really wanna kill me then you gotta try harder- like this."
Loa, the large man, swung a giant hammer and took Greeds' head clear off. This took the younger Elric by surprise.
"Why did you do that!?" Al demanded, "He was your…friend?" he had paused suddenly when Greeds hand moved. The sin had fallen to the ground in a pool of blood but was now standing back up, his head regenerating itself. Once it was finished, Greed muttered,
"Ah, ooh that's nice. THAT'S how you kill a guy!" he cracked his neck and smirked, "Hey Loa, couldn't you have made it a little bit cleaner?"
"Oh…sorry, boss." The big guy replied apologetically.
"So, as you can see, you can't come at me half-assed." Greed then said.
"No! You can't be…you can't be immortal!" Al said, clearly in shock.
"You're right, even with a body like this, I'm not immortal." Greed replied sitting down in front of the armor boy, "You've heard of a homunculus right?"
"It's an artificial human being. A person that's not a person." Alphonse answered.
Greed smiled and put his fingers together saying, "That's what you're looking at right now. I was made to last. I might look young but I've been around for close to 200 years."
"That's impossible! I thought no one ever made a homunculus. It's just a theory!" Al was not sure what to make of this situation, other then the fact that he now had a feeling things were about to get much more complicated for himself and Ed.
Greed just laughed, "How little you understand," he said, "There's another world outside of the one you live in—a shadow world. Things go on down here that you people in the light would never believe. You were told that successful chimera didn't exist, and yet here they are. Nothing is impossible." Greed leaned in real close to Al. "The fact that you exist proves that, doesn't it? You who only have a soul."
The sin backed up a little ways then extended his hand, "I've told you my secret. Now tell me yours. Tell me what they did with your soul."
Al remained silent, he heard Martel whisper "I'd tell him if I were you. You don't want to be taken apart and treated like a lab animal, do you?"
Looking down, Al replied,
"I can't, I don't remember how I got this body. Someone else performed the alchemy. I don't know anything, honest."
"Then, all we have to do is ask the guy who performed the transmutation." Greed said as if it were obvious.
"Well, that would be my big brother…but he…he's gone."
Everyone in the room just looked at the armor boy; they seemed quite taken aback by this statement. They then huddled together and started whispering amongst themselves.
"Was that rude of me?" Greed asked.
"Well, beneath that metal exterior he is just a 14-year-old boy. Kids that age can be sensitive you know." Dorchet replied. They then turned back around.
"Sorry about your loss kid…we cool?" Greed said in an apologizing tone.
"It'll be all right. Okay?" Loa said in an equally apologizing yet slightly more encouraging tone. Al just thought to himself in surprise,
'For some reason they think you're dead, big brother.'
--
Several hours later, after Apathy followed Al and his captures' to a bar called The Devil's Nest, a woman appeared. The sin watched from his hiding place as three of the four men guarding the place blocked her path. She was the first new face Apathy had seen in his hours of waiting – he'd chosen not to follow Al all the way into the bar, seeing as he'd blow his cover and that he was waiting for a good opportunity. But this lady opened up a new door for him…at least he was hoping she would.
"You the broad who's been asking too many questions?" the big bald guy of the group glared.
"If you stick your pretty neck into places it don't belong, it's gonna get cut." Another man said. The woman just glared at the man annoyed.
"You guys are classic. Okay, I hear you." She said.
"You'd better turn around before we…" the big guy started but was cut off when the woman walked right past him saying,
"So where's the guy in charge?"
"Now hold on!"
"Don't turn your back on us you-" the guys started to protest, but with near unpredictable speed, the woman dropped the guys without a sweat. Apathy was genuinely impressed, but his thoughts were not shared as the men got to their feet, one taking out a knife.
"You're pretty good…for an old lady!" he glared. Nothing could have prepared both the men or the sin for what happened next. The woman clapped her hands then touched a nearby wall. A giant stone hand shot out of the wall and slammed two of the guys into the opposite wall.
"I have nothing to say to you third rate goons." She glared. Apathy had recovered form the incident much quicker then the men, his eyes had become wide as he rubbed the tip of his index finger against the front of his teeth.
'She does alchemy like he does…and Father.' He thought.
"What is she, some kinda witch!?" the one guy who was still standing demanded.
"You idiot! She's an alchemist!"
"Quick! Bring your guns!"
That's when a very tall, muscular man came out of the bar asking what the matter was. He had a very reptilian appearance to him as he said,
"You guys can't take care of one little mouse?"
"Ulchi!"
"Huh?" The lizard guy turned at the sound of his name and spotted the woman. "Ooh! A girl! I love the girls!" he said grinning.
"You're in for it now! Ulchi ain't like the rest of us!" one guy said triumphantly, "He's got crocodile blood runnin' through his veins! He's a beast! A real monster!"
'Uh-oh…' Apathy readied himself.
"Sexy lady, you walked into a bad part of town." Ulchi said lunging at the woman, "So don't blame me if you get hurt!"
Without warning, Apathy jumped between the woman and the attacking Ulchi. He dropped to his hands and used them to propel himself feet first into the lizard mans' guts. This unexpected attack sent Ulchi sailing into a wall with the wind knocked clear out of him.
"What the hell was that?!" the big guy from earlier gasped, his gaze fell on Apathy who was crouching low to the ground, "Who the hell are you?!"
Apathy remained silent, he didn't answer right away because he knew the woman was starring at him. Then, she said something,
"Well? Who's going to tell us what we want to know?"
Apathy turned his head and looked at the woman; he noticed the tattoo near her collar bone. It was the same symbol as on the back of Ed's jacket and on Al's armor.
"You wish!"
"We'll never rat out our friends!"
"Get'em!" All the men who where able too, charged. It didn't even last a minute; both Apathy and the woman beat the guys' within' an inch of their lives. She then grabbed Ulchi, who had recovered slightly, by the shirt.
"What did you do with the armor boy!? If you don't tell me I'll-"
"Heh! You'll do what? Huh?" Ulchi interrupted.
"I'll vomit blood all over you." She replied…doing just that. Ulchi spilled his guts about everything, or at least as much as he knew. After which, the woman turned to Apathy. The sin had found a seat and perched himself there in his usual knee to chin sitting style, he had his hands resting on his knees.
"I thank you for your help," she said, "But I too want to know who the hell you are and why you're here."
Apathy thought through his response for a moment, he then said, "The same reason you're here I suppose. As for who I am, I should be asking you that. I was here first after all."
The woman glared, she'd seen the tattoo on his shoulder and was uncertain about the young man. Finally she replied,
"My name is Izumi, now it's your turn."
"I am Apathy." The sin replied standing up, though unlike before, he stood straight up this time. This made him at least a half an inch to an inch taller then he was when he slouched. Why he did this even the sin didn't know.
Izumi kept a piercing glare on the homunculus as she turned and started to walk inside the bar. Apathy, though it wasn't noticeable, grinned and followed.
-To Be Continued-
Well, I ended it slightly sooner. I figured this would be a good spot to stop since this chapter was getting kinda long. That and I would be throwing a lot of stuff at ya in just a single chapter. Anywho! I hope you enjoyed this chapter…if you did leave a review! XD As much as I want to be, I'm not a mind reader, so if there's something you enjoyed or something you didn't feel free to tell me! XD It's easy! Just click on the little button in the corner and leave a review X3.
L: I'd leave a review…she'll take my cake and sugar away…
Me: No I won't
L: Then where is it?
Me: (hides)
L: TxT