Me: Hello again! This chapter is dedicated to Alexis and I hope she's reading this right now!

Greed: This took forever to type. I'm 200 years old, so that's saying something.

Me: Cereal dude. Anyway, I don't own FMA or it's characters. The song for this chapter is "Keep Holding On" by Avril Lavigne. Enjoy!

Greed: Plus this whole chapter is from my POV...


Chapter 7: Her Dream

Greed's POV

"It's coming to you kid!" With one arm out to block Damon, I arch my other one to send the ball to Gin, who ducks fluidly under James' arm and grabs it out of the air. He starts toward the basket and the twins run to corner him. Right as he's about to take the shot he changes direction and bounces it between Damon's legs and I grab it and slam it into the basket. Gin's feline grin spreads across his face as he grabs his bottle of water.

"Nice one boss. Looks like we won again." We've been at it for almost six hours. After the first day of them teaching me about how the game works, we'd been at it every day. Each time people, mostly girls, stop to watch the twins get their asses handed to them. Damon and James look up from being doubled over panting.

"I still…don't know…how you got so good…so quick," Damon says as he squirts water over his bare chest. He then passes it to his twin. I've gotten pretty used to going shirtless myself. I usually slip on vest every now and then though and wear my shades out of habit.

"You're getting better Greed." The little emperor has also been hanging out with me more and Gin rarely leaves my side unless I'm with a girl. I actually haven't been staying at Angel's much because of her 'no women' rule. Sometimes I'd come back in the middle of the night and she'd give me a series of growls telling me to quote, "Wash off that damn whore stench." At first I thought she was jealous but Gin explained to me that by staying in her home and having her scent on me, I'm temporarily her possession. See the irony here? So when I smell like sex and other women her instincts kick into overdrive and she feels the need to show dominance. I thought it sounded pretty kinky.

"I am getting pretty good at it huh?" As our routine had adapted, the three of us take the dirt path that passes by the clearing Angel warned us about. Long story short, our curiosity got the better of us and we ended up meeting Amos.


Flashback:

"Are you stupid or do you want to make me look bad?" The pipsqueak just finished reading Angel's note and as soon as he got to the warning he was ready to investigate.

"Are you kidding? In a place like this, it has to be something interesting."

"Look shrimp, I'm no genius but I think you're supposed to stay away from there."

"WHO'S SO SMALL YOU NEED A MAGNIFYING GLASS TO SEE?!" He charges me with his brother holding him back.

"Brother! Stop yelling and listen! I think Greed has a point." I smirk at him as he tries to escape Al's hold.

"Come on! When does he ever care about following rules anyway?" I gotta give the kid that one. I usually don't give a shit.

"Touche."

Al finally releases him after his wife threatens him with a wrench. "Besides, she said she advises against it, not that it's off limits."

"True but didn't she also say it was an 'enter at your own risk' area?" I quote. I got the damn thing memorized and I only read it once!

He just shrugs it off. "It'll be fine. You'll see." He was out the door as soon as he finished.

It took about an hour to find the clearing she was talking about but we managed. To pipsqueak's disappointment, it was just an empty field. "Damn it! There's nothing here," he said.

Winry shrugs and drags him off again and everyone else follows. I start to too but Ling stops me. "What piss-ant?"

His eyes are trained on a familiar ripple in the air. "You see it too right?"

"Yeah." We, being the only ones who haven't left, go into ninja mode and cautiously approach the self-induced mirage. Inches away from it we stop and glance at each other, then cross over. I had no idea what would be on the other side but what I saw wasn't what I was expecting. Standing and leaning against an iron post is a man. His head is shaved aside from the sapphire colored Mohawk and his eyes are that of a wolf chimeras'. His entire body is covered in tattoos except for some of his face where a gold snake wraps around his right eye. He's well built like everyone here and only wears faded jeans. What catches my eye are the shackles around his wrist though. They're rubbed raw and bleeding from attempting to escape. The chains of the shackles lead underground, holding him in place.

"Well, this isn't what I was expecting," Ling says. Damn right. He hit that one head on. 'Tattoo stares at us and a fanged grin spreads across his face. I also notice his pupils shrinking.

It's been a while since we've gotten some young blood." Ugh, that voice is so creepy. So high pitched and raspy like some psychopath's.

"Who the hell are you?" I ask. His fangs glint in the light. Shuddering now.

"We are Kyra and Amos. I am Kyra and Amos won't be joining us. Don't worry though, we'll have some fun." I could've sworn his tattoo moved just now. Ling looks over at me and I know he saw it too. Suddenly, without warning, the snake that was once around his eye rises from his skin and solidifies. With intense speed it strikes at Ling and wraps him in a constricting coil, its golden tail fading into Kyra's arm. Ling lets out a sharp groan as it squeezes him tight and flicks a forked tongue in his face.

"Ling!" I yell. I reach for him only to have a strange sensation overcome the back of my left hand. I grip it to my side and turn, planning to knock some manners into this freak, but his already yellow eyes are haloed in a fiery orange glow. At this point, the guy is actually starting to scare me. My hand stings now. Suddenly my ouroboros rises from the back of my hand and proceeds to grow to be bigger than me. I stare up at it wide eyed and it roars while flapping its red wings. It copies the snake coil and wraps me up tight. All the time, Kyra has his head thrown back in laughter, his chaining rattling with each movement.

"What the hell is this Greed?!" The kid does his best to break free of his bonds but it's no use.

"I don't know kid but I don't like it one damn bit!" I don't believe it, he turned my own ouroboros against me. Kyra stops laughing long enough to grin our way and give us one last glare before sealing our fate with his last words.

"It's a shame we couldn't drag this on a little longer guys. It's not often that we get company. Oh well, can't let Amos have the satisfaction of letting you live to see another day. Goodbye friends!" I close my eyes and brace myself for pain only to be deafened by a booming bark that makes the very ground tremble. The voice following is no less intimidating.

"Drop them Kyra!" My eyes fly open at the sound of Angel's voice. She has her hand around his throat with him raised above her head, his back pressed against the post. Her back is facing me and I can't help but wonder what her face looks like right now. I can see her extended claws though. What's also out of place is her posture. She has more of an aggressive stance and she's balancing on the balls of her feet. Very animal-like.

He laughs, his smile never wavering. "What's wrong Angel? Pissed that I'm getting blood and you aren't?"

Her grip tightens around his neck, visibly choking him. "Give Amos back control!" I'm more scared of her at this point.

He surrenders between gasps. "As you wish…..It's not like…I have a choice…or anything." Without further struggle, his eyes dilate again and become hazel colored. Their glow disappears and my ouroboros returns to my hand again. Ling is released and the snake retreats to its original place. Angel's grip drops and he sinks to his knees, hysterical. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry…so sorry…." His eyes are full of self loathing. Tears stream his face.

I feel a hand on my shoulder and turn to see Ling. "He has two separate chi's. If I'm not mistaken, he suffers from a dual personality."

"Sadly you are correct Ling." Angel now looks at the ground with her ebony hair covering her face. When she finally looks up, her cold black eyes bore into mine. "Just what in the hell were you thinking?! I told you to keep them away from here, not lead them here on a picnic!" Before I have a chance to even blink she grabs me by the collar of my vest and jerks me down to her eye level.

"Hey, I was actually the one trying to keep them away." A low feral growl emits from deep in her throat. Before she can ball me out though, Ling jumps to my rescue.

"He's right. We were anxious to find out what was here and he tried to stop us. If there's one thing you can count on from Greed is that he's trustworthy. His one and only lie he ever told saved my life." Heartfelt much kid? To my surprise though, her expression softens and she looks thoughtful. She releases me and gives me one last soft glare before leaving.

"Just learn to watch your back. I'm not always gonna be there to do it for you."

End flashback.


I think that was the closest thing to concern she'd ever given me. I guess I should get Ling to get her to be nicer to me. I realize now that during my daydreaming we had reached the clearing. Damon had gotten there before us and is playing checkers with Amos at his post.

"King me Damon."

"Damn it Amos!" He puts a red checker on yet another of Amos', leaving him with two left and all of the psycho's kinged. He then rubs the back of his neck mumbling, "I'm screwed."

I smirk. "Need a new game Damon?"

"I already tried that. He still kicks my ass." His counterpart appears next to him sitting Indian-style.

"You just lack the ability to strategize bro."

"Shut the hell up! I'm not a genius like you man!" James frowns, obviously hurt.

"Yeah, you and Angel are the music lovers with the same physical characteristics. You both have strong tempers and attract crowds of admirers. You don't need to point out that I'm the oddball."

Damon glances at his brother shocked. "No way. You're the smartest guy I know. I've always wanted to be like you."

"Really?"

"Really." The clones hug each other like lifelines and burst into tears, saying things like, "I love you man!" simultaneously. Gin laughs and elbows me.

"Looks like we walked in on a bromance huh?"

I laugh. "Yeah. Glad me and my siblings we never like this. We were always more of a 'Let's kill each other kind of family."

"We nearly succeeded in killing one of them, Ling says. I smile at the thought of nearly taking down Wrath.

"Yeah, at least I finally rid that Father of mine from the face of the planet." I was pretty damn proud of myself for that. The four chimeras look at me like I'm crazy though. I sigh. "That's a story for another time." They nod, understanding my need for privacy. Ling wanders off to find Lan Fan, leaving me and Gin to head back to Angel's.

Back in his room, Gin's trying to break his weight-lifting record of pressing 850. I tried it too and got to 1,150. Thank you homunculus strength. I'm just here rummaging through music on his bed when I hear the clank of the weight being put up. When I turn I'm face to face with a thoughtful Gin.

"What's on your mind kid?" He looks down for a second and then has a seat next to me.

"So…have you and Angel talked lately?"

I cock my head and raise a brow. "Not in about a week, why?" He shrugs and rubs the back of his neck.

"I don't know. You guys kinda live together so I thought there might be something there…"

Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa WHOA. "She's not exactly my type kid. I'm not really hers either. We've kinda made a silent agreement to play nice and leave each other alone." I go back to looking through his music and he's quiet for a while, but jumps right back into the conversation.

"Why don't you guys like each other?"

I sigh. "Look kid, I'm the living incarnation of greed. Sure I've got emotions and everything but my ambitions are very centered. The only thing she could ever be to me is a good fuck." I'm about to put a CD in when I hear Gin's feline growl. His tail begins flicking around restlessly and he bares his fangs.

"Don't you dare talk about her like that! She's been through more than you can imagine!" I cringe at his outburst. "For your damn information she's a fucking virgin and she's never once tried to get laid." I roll my eyes.

"Explains why she's not fawning over me like every other girl here." Don't get me wrong though, I love boobs as much as the next guy, but I can't even fully enjoy myself. If I were to go all out on them, they'd die. These chimera women can take more than humans can but it's still a pain. Downside to being a homunculus I guess.

"Damn it Greed!" Huh? He's called me boss ever since we met. He must really be pissed. "She might not realize it herself but she's not falling all over you because she's scared!" Scared of me? Doubtful. I've seen her pissed off before and I'm the one who should be scared. Fear? She is fear.

"That's impossible." Crash! The equipment topples over.

"You wanna know something Greed? Even she has fears. Aren't you always saying that nothing is impossible? Ever since she was a teen, Angel has had the dream of finding her true love. Her lifemate. She is afraid of you. Afraid you'll be the one to steal her heart." I'm honestly at a loss for words. I'm just sitting her like an idiot opening and closing my mouth like a damn fish. After a minute or so, Gin sighs. "I'm sorry boss. I shouldn't have snapped at you like that."

I'm not so quick to recover. "So she hates me because she's afraid to like me?"

"Pretty much."

"Damn. There's a first." He takes the Cd from me and puts it in the stereo.

"Don't you have a date or something tonight?"

I roll my eyes with a snort. "You could hardly call them that. Besides, I thought I'd hang here tonight." He smiles.

"Good. You can come with me to the Blood Moon Festival tonight." He grabs a tube of some kind of paint and starts applying it under his left eye.

"Uh, Blood what?"


Me: Hope you liked it! 'Til next time!