Im glad people liked my latest chapter for The Occult :) makes me feel loved and special :P now I hope you all loved the cuddly fluffy feeling you all probably got with the Hewie chapter CAUSE THERE AINT GONNA BE ANY MORE :D at least not a lot maybe the odd speck here and there but other then that its murder and mayhem standard procedure.

Now I want all of you to know I have not yet decided on either Debilitas dying or leaving in this fic I leave that up to you though im sure you all will say let him live you might think otherwise cause of how spooky he is in previous chapters :P anyway you make the choice and enjoy if no choice is made ill more then likely let him live but you might have other opinions so make your choices if you dare :P

Anyway on with the show.

"Good boy. Good boy" Fiona said as she pet Hewie who barked with joy at the attention. She then looked back to the door that Debilitas had left, "He might be out there…waiting for me." She slowly moved away from the door, Hewie following close behind. She made her way back to the door leading to the stairs down to the garden. There had to be another way around the castle other than taking the same door he took. She stopped when she did not go all the way to the garden, she knew there was no way around from the area she was in but kept to the level before the stairs leading up to her room.

She searched for a moment passing a door that hung open from the slight wind. She noticed that many parts of the castle were crumbling, 'Why would they live in such a dark and run down place?' She thought. She looked and looked but found no other door leading into the castle and away from her current location. She gulped and slowly made her way back to her room, she placed her hand on Hewies back running her fingers through his fur a bit. She had no choice it seemed.

She returned to her room and slowly opened the door that Debilitas took to escape Hewie and slowly looked around and listened. Nothing, no grunts or heavy breathing….silence. Strangely enough that was unnerving as well. She and Hewie made their way down the halls, still no sign of Debilitas. Fiona made sure to ignore the still unwashed blood on the pillar and made her way back to the kitchen.

When she got there she kept a close eye out for another ambush but there was none. In fact instead she saw the maid. She seemed to be cooking something. It smelled divine, even if the kitchen did not seem to be well maintained.

'She is so beautiful,' Fiona thought, 'But…something…doesn't seem right about her.'

She called Hewie closer to her side, who licked her hand a bit obviously sensing her slight discomfort. They left the kitchen and double backed a bit. There had to be a door she did not take yet. That's when she noticed it. It was just to her left and she was sure it was previously locked…but maybe that changed. She placed her hand over the knob and slowly turned it. The door was unlocked. She opened the door…and wished she hadn't.

"oh..God…" She said. The room was full of marionettes each hanging from the wall and ceiling like some horror film doll room. Some of the marionettes seemed to have their strings tied about their necks when they were hung, others seemed to be missing pieces and they all seemed to be staring…at her.

Fiona gulped and slowly made her way into the room, Hewie growled lowly, staying close to Fiona as they made their way. The roomed seemed more of a hall the way it twisted a bit. She could not help but feel a bit scared with all the marionettes just…hanging there. Her attention was soon brought to Hewie, who crouched low to the ground growling…, at a red carpet? He barked and growled at it Fiona could not understand why.

"What's the matter? What's wrong Hewie?" She asked scratching his head a bit to calm him down, he didn't. Fiona was starting to get worried, what if Debilitas heard his barking or worse Riccardo, "Hewie. Calm down…it's just a carpet." She tried to make him move but he wouldn't budge. Eventualyl she just sighed and said, "Alright boy stay here. I'm going to take a look ahead." Hewie whined and barked, what was he trying to say?

Slowly Fiona walked forward, onto the carpet…and that's when she heard it. The sound of something clicking into place and suddenly what looked like closed eyes to her right shot opened and looked…right at her. Fiona froze in shock not sure what was going on. Things seemed to happen very slowly. She saw sharp spikes flying from the eyes towards her and then a black thing tackling her from the side and forcing her to the ground as she screamed and Hewie barking like mad.

"AGGGHHH!" Someone screamed. Fiona found herself staring at the carpet and felt something wet against her face. She brought a hand to her cheek and looked at it…it was red…red with blood. Her heart froze and she looked to where she heard the scream. It was Micheal…and he was pinned against the wall or partially, and he was bleeding severly.

"Oh my God! Micheal!" She said in shock and felt sick by the scene before her. Micheal was latterly a pin cushion so to speak. One of the spikes and impaled his right hand against the wall right into the palm. Three others were deep in his shoulder and no doubt into the wall as well pinning him against it. One had just narrowly missed his neck but had cut enough to cause him to bleed, and another was just above his heart. It was only by a miracle of some divine being that it had not struck home and killed him. Then again he might just die from blood loss if he didn't get medical treatment.

"Son of a bitch! What the hell is wrong with you! This is an Alchemist fortress, you don't think we would have traps set for intruders! AGGGH" He screamed. Fiona gulped…traps…there were traps in this castle.

"T..Traps?" she said.

"Yes….traps…though they shouldn't be on. DAMN IT!" He hissed in pain as he used his good hand to grip the spike impaled in his right hand and pulled it out. Fiona nearly threw up as he did.

"Micheal…you shouldn't do that…you…you need a doctor." She said trying to stop him from pulling any more of the spikes out and cause more bleeding. He shoved her away and proceeded to remove the rest of the spikes and promptly plop to the ground curling up in pain as he made a nice puddle of blood on the ground, strange…that the color of the carpet was like the color of blood. That made Fiona wonder if red was its original color, she shivered as she helped Micheal up ignoring if she got blood on her clothes.

"Micheal..you need medical attention." Fiona said as she struggled to keep him on his feet. Hewie came over whining and licked her leg a bit, as if asking if she was okay.

"Im okay Hewie. But we need to get Micheal to…is there a doctor in this place?" She asked.

"Screw doctors. Take me to the lab…NOW!" He said, hissing again in pain.

Fiona was not sure if she should but…what choice did she have. She brought Micheal to the lab where she found that golem as swiftly as she could without causing him any more pain. Once there she set him down on a chair.

"Are you going to be okay?" She asked. She watched him as he began picking up vials of red, green and other various colored liquids and began mixing them in a large beaker muttering to himself. The liquids sizzled and seemed to become a light blue paste like substance. Than she got a real surprise, as Micheal removed the thick black robes he wore, they were stained with his blood and where he got shot in the shoulder were three nice holes and a tear in the hood.

He was…handsome. He had short curly brown hair and green eyes that seemed to hold a dangerous tone and strangely ageless wisdom. His skin was pale, probably from wearing such a big robe and maybe from not getting out in the sun at all. What drew her eyes the most was he only had a pair of jeans on under the robe. He was muscular but not body builder muscular and he had…so many scars across his chest and arms.

'How do you have to live to get so many scars?' She thought as he took a small brush and dipped it into the paste and spread it across his wounds. At first Fiona was not sure what was going on but gasped as she saw what she was, despite everything she learned in college, unable to figure out. The paste seemed to sizzle and slowly sink into the wound and the skin…slowly regrow at a much faster pace then the human body could do on its own. Eventually there was nothing left of the paste or the wound, save for a scar. Micheal did this process with the rest of his wounds.

"How…how is that possible?" she asked. Micheal snorted and looked at her as if she was an idiot.

"It's Alchemy Fiona. What your…science claims as true is only a partial truth to us alchemists." Micheal placed his robe back on and covered his face again with the hood shrouding his features once again in darkness.

"Now…what the hell were you thinking? I would expect that the dog barking was signal enough of danger." Micheal asked as he crossed his arms.

Fiona fidgeted a bit and bit her lip, "I…I was afraid Debilitas would show up. I guess I should pay more attention to Hewie when he barks."

Hewie barked and licked Fiona's hand nuzzling it as if saying, It's alright your safe that's all that counts.

"Yes you should. Temple dogs know a bit more about the world then a normal dog."

Fiona blinked, "Temple dog?"

"Yes that is what Hewie is. Why do you think he is pure white?" Micheal said looking at Hewie with…pity?

"Well…some dogs have different fur colors from special breeding."

"True but that dog was born white just as his parents were. And if you haven't guessed yet he is a lot smarter than a normal dog."

Fiona had to agree…Hewie did seem a bit smarter then the average bear. She couldn't help but giggle a bit.

"Find something funny?"

Fiona went to respond but something hit her, "Hey…how do you know what Hewie is?"

"Because all alchemists know what a temple dog or other temple animals are."

"How come?"

Micheal was silent, "Because….it was important at one point in time. Now it isn't but an alchemist never forgets what was taught in the past, even if it was horrible."

Fiona hugged Hewie, not liking the word horrible, "What do you mean horrible?"

Micheal sighed, "Long ago…temple animals were kept…for sacrifices."

"Sacrifices!" Fiona shouted, not caring if Debilitas heard, she was with Micheal anyway and he seemed to fear him as much as he no doubt feared Hewie now.

"Yes. But that was then this is now. Temple animals are sometimes still used for sacrifices but mostly they just are kept for protection."

"And what was Hewie!" Fiona said anger building up inside her, was that why Hewie was tied up to that tree? Where they going to sacrifice him so they didn't care about his health! It was only by sheer will power that she didn't go for Micheals neck.

"He was just here, previously he was meant to be a sacrifice…but now he is just a dog living here. Keep him if you want he is mostly just a pest to us." Micheal stood and began to walk away, "See you around and try to avoid getting killed."

"Hold it I'm not done with you!" Fiona said as she got up to chase him but when she reached the door…He was gone. Just gone. Fiona was confused, angry and perhaps a bit scared, not for herself but for Hewie. She knelt down and hugged him tight.

"Don't worry Hewie. Ill keep you safe, just as you keep me safe. I won't let anyone hurt you." She said. Hewie just licked her face.

Ha did you think i was going to kill/hurt Fiona :P never. I might scare her silly and to near heart attacks but never hurt. Now for everyone else...not so sure. And the temple animal thing I wanted to give Hewie a reason why he was in a alchemist castle and to make it all sad and stuff just to mess with you Hewie fans :P arnt i just evil.