Me: Greetings loyal readers, I'm here with the next chapter of Greed Chronicles for you. I hope you enjoy this longer chapter and like it as much as I. I like it particularly because you get a glimpse into the thoughts of three of our main characters and why they're doing what they're doing. I don't want to give too much away so I'll shut up, but I hope you relate better to the story after reading this.

Greed: Haven't done a disclaimer in a while so... Crazy owns nothing of FMAB.

Me: Thank you! The song for this chapter is by Megadeth, I'll let you figure out which one!

Chapter 11: Resolve

She inhaled deeply, taking in the sweet fragrance of water lily, rose blossoms, and fresh mountain spring air. The scent itself seemed to entrance her and hold her in an almost weightless embrace. The water was crystalline and clear with a light blue tint to it even as the silvery moonlight reflected upon it's surface, and it was cool to the touch, holding her naked body in a lover's-like caress. Her toes dug gently into the soft bedrock with ease and acceptance, her head lolling back in relaxation. The cloudless night was perfect, and in being so, even reminded her of a poem long forgotten in the depths of forbidden memory.

'Come dance with me midsummer's eve.

Come brave the faery lights!

And nevermind what you might see-

of forbidden faery sights.

And nevermind the honeyed fruits,

the moonlit flows of faery wines.

And drink not of the liquid song

from faery flutes divine.

Come dance and let the weaving spell

flow through and braid around;

But do not dare forget you stand

upon a faery mound.'

She could still hear the soft coo behind the gentle words, the slight roll of the r's, the sensuous baritone that whispered into the wind as it spoke. A shudder suddenly shakes through her despite the comfortable temperature of the atmosphere, familiarity soon settling in. The water is disturbed , ripples hinting at entrance into the peaceful lake. "You didn't think that you were rid of me did you little one?" So that recitation hadn't been a figment of her imagination, her perfect dream really was becoming a nightmare. Behind her approaches the perfection she once admired with all her being. His pale calloused hands find her slender waist, holding her firm as his chiseled torso grazes her back, his skin icy to the touch. "Even your dreams belong to me... It's been too long my little Angel."

"Kovu..." the words leave her lips in a hesitant whisper, as if saying his name aloud would make the nightmare reality.

"So you do remember my name little one, I'm flattered." His chilled breath nips at her ear, his beautiful, angelic face nuzzled into her raven hair. A move forward presses his manhood against her rounded backside, earning a nervous sigh from the hybrid female and a light, aroused chuckle from her ex bat lover. "Ah yes," he purrs, "I never touched you did I? You remain innocent even after more than two centuries, I can smell it on you. Are you truly that loyal to me?"

"Fuck you..." she murmurs, flinching away from his touch. She held only regret and heartbreak for the man who invaded her mind. Of course her retort only earned an amused laugh from the male chimera.

"Gladly. But that's not why I've visited you this night." With a more serious tone he cups her chin with his thumb and forefinger, turning her head to the side so as to look him face to face. Her soft coal eyes were pierced by the luminous scarlet orbs gazing back at her, aware and full of intent. It took every ounce of courage she had just to ask what was on her mind.

"How?"

"Well you do remember my path of the dragon's pulse right? I mean it IS how I trained you and your brothers..." He strokes her cheek, his other hand running through her ebony mane, his own pure white locks flowing behind him in the water. "I'll admit though, it was a tough task finding a chimera with talents such as these so that I could speak to you privately. He's an ancient you know, one of the first of us, he's been slinking throughout the centuries as a silent shadow...in fact, I think he'll make a nice sparring partner for that beloved panther you seem to hold so dear."

"YOU STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM MY FAMILY!" she snaps, fangs bared as she shoves him back, he of course only smiling so that his own prominent canines glimmer.

"Well, it looks like I struck a nerve. Adopting kittens now are we luv? Are you so eager to enter mommy hood?"

"Do what you want to me Kovu but you leave my beloved city OUT of this! I don't care what kind of past we had together OR what you did for me and my brothers, if anything happens to Luna, or anyone in it. You. Will. Deal. With. Me." The vampire legend narrows his scarlet eyes, meeting their identical counterparts sitting in a pool of onyx, almost cut in half by the slits at their centers. His pale muscles tense, as do hers. Both aware that they could not harm one another in her subconscious, but just as uneasy as if they could. The threat had been received and not even the beauty of the nude hybrid could ease Kovu's senses. To this realization he relaxes, a sigh escaping him as his expression shifts to something that had Angel breaking on the inside.

"I do hate seeing that look on your face when you look at me luv..." She could've broke down then, the sorrowful, defeated look in his eyes ripping at her heart. That same familiar warmth that used to fill her very being each time he looked at her. She could feel her own features defeating her previous anger, showing plainly that she still cared for the ancient bat. "That harsh wrath and pained sorrow doesn't suit your beautiful face in the slightest. Come to me Angel, it doesn't have to be this way." He beckons her to him, his hand reaching out...but she does not take it.

"I can't be the mate of someone who doesn't know what true love is. You know only desire and convenience..." Violet eyes came to mind as she spoke this, tugging her to her senses. "...much like another greedy man I know." She recedes in on herself as disappointment becomes apparent upon his face, his brows knitting and his teeth clenching.

"I'll not let you escape me again luv, believe that. I'm coming for you, and soon..."

Angel shoots up in bed with a shrill scream, breaking her free of her nightmare and sending cold shivers throughout her body. Her senses were on high alert and she could feel certain muscles twitching just beneath the surface of her skin, begging to be released and put to use in a more advanced transformation. Upon further inspection of herself she realized that she was covered in feathers from the shredded pillow still clinging to her unsheathed claws, the soft little forms of innocence stuck to the body paint that had yet to be washed from her skin. Kovu could enter her dreams now it seemed, and although there were limits to every path, it would unfortunately take some time and endurance before she could discover the ability's weak points.

*knock knock*

The abrupt sound startles the female but she doesn't let it show. "Come in," she calls gently. It takes a moment but the door cracks open and she feels a sense of guilt when she sees two bright emerald green eyes peering at her nervously through stray strands of silver hair. "Jagger, I'm sorry sweetheart, did I wake you?" He nods timidly, her red and black orbs still making him a bit uneasy in her presence.

"Y-yes ma'am. W-we all heard you scream and it startled us." She understood, she must've woken the five men as well from her screaming. She probably sounded like a bat out of hell to them this late. She could already see how frightened she'd made poor Jagger.

"Would you like to come sit with me hun?" she offers to the young boy, who shyly accepts the invitation. He has a seat on the edge of the bed, making the springs creak quietly from the weight.

"A-are you alright Miss Angel?" She smiles gently, slowly lifting her hand and placing it on his head in an almost motherly manner.

"I'm fine darling. I appreciate your concern though."

"A-actually Mr. Boss Greed told me to check on you to make sure you were alright." This openly shocks the woman, making her stare at the child in question.

"He, wanted to make sure I was okay?" she asks, receiving a nod of verification from Jagger.

"He said he didn't think you'd wanna see him, especially if you were having a bad dream," he tells her, the stutter fading as he finds himself adjusting to Angel's presence. She however felt guilty and touched at the same time. He would have checked on her himself had she not given him the impression that she despised his very existence. She didn't want him avoiding her because he felt hated, even if she was his employee now.

"That was, sweet of him. He was right about one thing though, I did have a nightmare." He turns to face her, a silvery brow raised.

"Why do you and Mr. Greed hate each other Miss Angel? If you guys were together when you came here why aren't you nice to each other?" She frowns, light silver tinting her cheeks.

"It's not like that sweety. Greed is just helping keep me safe for now because he's a nice guy."

"Then why do you hate him?" he presses.

"It's not that I hate him Jagger, it's just that I hate the things he does. He's so full of himself and he thinks he's some kind of big shot, running around with no regard for rules and other peoples feelings, sleeping with any broad with a pulse-!" She actually has to stop herself when she realizes she's still ranting to a young boy. "He's just, Greed." As if that explains everything...

Jagger looks up at her with innocent eyes filled with curiosity and awe. "He saved me though. I mean, from having to work for the Diablos. I never got my own bedroom when they were around, but now that Mr. Greed is in charge, I'm already better off than I was." Once again the hybrid is reduced to a sad face and a sense of sympathy for the teen who had obviously found a new idol. 'Like Gin,' she thinks to herself. She had to give Greed credit where it was due, if only for Jagger's sake.

"I admit he's a pain in my ass but...Ling told me how he was before he died for the second time. How he cared so deeply for those who followed him and how he sacrificed himself for Ling...Honestly he's a good guy with all the right friends, sometimes he can be so sweet and when we danced he was so..." The more she spoke of the homunculus the more she realized that she was harboring less and less dislike towards him. She remembered how his thick muscles had rippled and flexed as he pulled her against him and how his gaze had stayed glued to her while seeming to be glazed over, how his pale lips had come just inches to touching hers. He had such beautiful violet eyes and jet black hair...

"Heh, so you like him?" Like him? No, she couldn't, it was like she stated in her dream. Greed and Kovu were birds of a feather, they might have a way with writhing their way into people's hearts but they could never love anyone but themselves. They only way they could ever see a woman would be as a plaything or an object of desire, she had to remember that. Hell she was seeing him everywhere as it was.

"No, I think he's a decent man, but he's nothing more to me than my boss now and will be less when I can finally go home."

"If you don't mind me asking, what are you running away from?" She didn't mind the question really, it was reciting the story of her doomed love that she hated. She could speak of the situation as her brothers did, but they didn't experience the god of a man who carried her as if she were a precious stone from being defiled by a scum of a human. They didn't understand the beauty she saw in those crimson eyes that had seen nearly six hundred years of turmoil and pain, the grace in everything he did and the kindness in the actions he'd performed for six years upon the orphaned trio. He played mentor, friend, and would have played mate... but his love was fake, he wanted her for the convenience of her strength and gifts, not for her. He'd chosen a darker path than she ever could and she'd lost one pack member already because of that... "So, that's why you had to leave your brothers? He wants you and you don't want to spend your life with him knowing he doesn't love you?"

"In a nutshell, yeah. It's all just turning out to be one gigantic clusterfuck though..." she sighs. She had pretty much spilled her guts to the boy before her and he seemed like the only one who understood.

"I don't have any parents either if it helps. The Diablos killed my mom so that I'd have nowhere to go, I didn't have brothers or sisters, and my dad died when I was a baby. Until you guys I was just an errand boy." The fact that their arrival at the Devil's Nest brightened his future made Angel proud, but she hated that they had to meet under such heart wrenching circumstances. He was so sweet and so young, she wanted to take him to Luna and give him a life worth living.

"Would you like to stay in here tonight?" she offers.

He beams at her and nods, his hair shifting slightly as he curls into her side like a puppy. "Goodnight Miss Angel."

"Goodnight Jagger," she murmurs, smiling at his tired form as she too settles down for the night, unaware of the ears that had been listening in at the cracked door...

Greed had awoke to a shrill scream, his immediate thoughts going to whether or not Angel was hurt. He bolts out of bed, clad in only his red boxers and throws open his bedroom door to find the other men of the bar all standing in their doorways in their undies, panting from the rush of adrenaline that came with the abrupt wake up call. Jagger in particular looked to be the most concerned, his eyes wide in fear and worry. A moment of silence passes and the men breathe a sigh of relief at the obvious false alarm, the chimeras returning to bed sluggishly. The homunculus and the teen are left out in the hall, pondering on the condition of the female who had sounded so scared just minutes before. Greed felt this strong urge to go in and see what woke her so suddenly, but his thoughts immediately drifted to their journey to Dublith...

"Hey kid," he starts, nodding his head towards Jagger, whose own head snaps up.

"Y-yes Boss?" he stutters timidly, afraid of speaking above a certain volume. The homunculus could understand his fear, so he acted as if he didn't notice his behavior.

"I got you your first assignment as my henchman kid."

"A-assignment?" he questions.

"Yeah, go check on Angel for me would ya?" As soon as the words left his mouth Greed could see the panic on the teen's face surface.

"M-me? Why can't you do it sir?"

"If you want to know so badly it's actually because we aren't that close. The babe actually hates me so I doubt she wants to wake up to me, especially since she probably had a nightmare and I was the focus of it." He was being honest as always, he was positive about his relationship with the hybrid female and it was filled with discomfort and dislike, though he still had deep dark wishes for the woman to possibly find it in her heart to allow him to seduce her.

Jagger was reluctant but he agreed to his assignment and slowly approached the woman's door, knocking lightly. Greed took some steps back, making sure that he wasn't in the line of view of the doorway when it was opened. He hadn't expected for Jagger to be invited in but was thankful that he left the door cracked just enough for him to get into listening distance. He was curious, so what? Everything was going good too until one sentence sent to homunculi's head spinning. "Actually Mr. Boss Greed told me to check on you and make sure you were alright." He couldn't believe the kid had been so blunt, it made him seem so soft mushy! When he got his hands on that kid-!

"That was sweet of him. He was right about one thing though, I did have a nightmare." It was an inocent statement, but Greed had to wonder... 'Is she, admitting that she wouldn't mind seeing me?' He had thought he understood what was going on between them but, the more he listened to what Angel had to say, the more he realized that maybe, just maybe, she had liked him this whole time."I admit he's a pain in my ass but...Ling told me how he was before he died for the second time. How he cared so deeply for those who followed him and how he sacrificed himself for Ling...Honestly he's a good guy with all the right friends, sometimes he can be so sweet and when we danced he was so..." He had to admit she made it sound that way, and when she paused at the end after mentioning their dance, he couldn't help but think back to the night before himself. His thoughts driffted to how her body was so exposed against the moon's scarlet rays, how her silken hair wrapped around her slender form when it moved so gracefully into his arms, how the light stood out so beautifully against her magical eyes... He wanted her, god how he wanted her, and he'd almost kissed her, he just couldn't believe she was trying to deny that she wanted him too. Just like that though, the conversation shifted. She was reciting the same story he had heard from James and Damon, but this time, the story was being told from her perspective.

He found himself doubting any harsh feelings he might have developed for Kovu as she retold her account, she spoke of him with awe and admiration, like he was something precious to behold. The thing was though, she made his actions seem noble and he a hero and it was believable. There was love in her voice and Greed actually felt...jealous. Jealous that the bat chimera could make her feel that way and he seemed to only make her frown with his compliments and advances. Was he being too harsh? Should he try to be softer towards the older woman, or should he just accept that she had a heart shattered beyond repair? "It's all turning out to be one gigantic clusterfuck though..." He actually had to stifle a laugh at that. He couldn't deny that she could make him laugh, whether intentionally or not. That sealed it for him, he wouldn't mind having such a woman fall for him, he would ravish her in every way possible and never cease to amaze her in bed...and all the while he would never tire of her company and he could keep her around until she...

'...but, she won't die...I could possess her and never have to give her up...'

Greed waited until the hybrid had said her goodnights to Jagger, who had decided to stay the night in her presence, before sneaking back to his own room and shutting himself away. Half naked and lying back on his bed with arms folded contently under his head, he smirks to himself. He, Greed the Avaricious, would have the chimera for himself. He would make her his, even if it killed him...

'Hello me, it's me again!' The white haired male was trapped once more in the one place he could never escape, his own mind. He had been facing himself, literally himself, for centuries now. A mirror image of himself, a negative version of him, snuck up on him all too often now. It's skin too was snow white, but it was malevolent with it's black hip length hair, matching claws, glistening onyx fangs that were curled into a sadistic smirk, and the eyes of a demon, black in the sclera and white in the irises. It's terrible raspy voice was crazed and eerie and even scared him when it spoke. His red eyes close in anger and sadness, he didn't want to endure the double's mental torture again! 'You know it gives me a migraine headache sinking down to your level!'

He snaps his pearlescent fangs at his other self, anything to keep him away. "Leave me alone for once! Isn't it enough that you've taken EVERYTHING from me?!"

'HAHAHAHA! Yeah just keep on thinking it's my fault! The bitch needs to know her place and you certainly weren't going to put her in it!' the Other cackles, white bat wings springing from his back.

"NO! I love her dammit!" he shouts, his own blackened leathery wings springing from between his shoulder blades.

'NO YOU DON'T! And you know something? You can't get rid of me! I'll always be here like the dark shadow I am, following you through the thread of connection we're tied together with! When it comes to me you're still human!' He wanted to scream, to lurch at his Other and kill him as he had tried to do countless times before in his six hundred years of life, but once again he was helpless to his dark side that seemed to consume him no matter what. All he could do was cringe when a black-clawed hand gripped his face roughly and pulled him forward so that his nose was just inches from the Other's, onyx teeth still glinting in a wicked grin. 'Mankind has got to know his limitations. Besides,' he murmurs, 'there's a perfectly good heartless broad to replace your former toy once she's dead right here...'

'Kovu...'

'Kovu.'

'KOVU!'

The albino male leaves his subconscious reluctantly, defeat taking him once more as Other takes control of his body again, assuming the role he'd assumed when he'd forcibly made himself recruit the homunculi. Other lets a smirk cross the bat's pale lips, his red eyes lifting to meet the rather agitated Wrath's mismatched ones. All six of the homunculi were present, Wrath, Pride, and Lust the only ones really doing any planning along with the chimera of course. With his cool, collected tone, the white male soothes the angered homunculus. "I'm right here Wrath, no need to shout." No less aggravated but pleased to get a response, Wrath relaxes and continues with the question he'd prepared for his new leader.

"Just what do you expect to do to get us closer to our revenge, while also getting what you desire? What could you possibly gain from assisting us?" The chimera shrugs lazily, still smiling.

"It's a partnership that works I suppose. To reach my goals I must have adequate help, to achieve that I must keep that help happy, ergo I must help you exact your revenge so that I may reclaim what's mine and add to my empire. Simple really."

"And the assignment you sent Lust and Gluttony to complete by killing the child?" Pride inquires.

"But a stepping stone to success, the ripples caused by your disturbance will only grow, eventually reaching the shore where we stand."

He had just finished when Gluttony's loud slurping and munching joined that of a group of chimeras stationed to the side in case of emergency, happily eating away at a long dead corpse of a homeless man. As a pack the chimeras thankfully had no problem sharing their kill with their newfound 'friend', of course this only angered the jealous homunculus more with the annoying sounds. Kovu had considered that Envy may be a liability, but was unconcerned about the probability at the time since he had yet to do anything but make snide comments and a few untrusting remarks about his plan. Envy however was questioning his role in all of this since he and Sloth had pretty much been ignored since the arrival of the bat chimera. Lust on the other hand was rather pleased with the stranger. The male chimeras he kept at his side treated her like a goddess, at her side like lost dogs until called away by their master and coven leader, whom she'd also taken a liking to in his gentlemanly ways and quick thinking. Seated indifferently on the back of a thickly muscled male with a predatory glint in his slitted eyes, his cat-like ears twitching in restlessness since his master had borrowed his path of the Dragon's Pulse just minutes before. Lust shifts positions, getting Kovu's attention and deepening his smirk.

"I'll require your assistance again soon luv, you are so talented with getting information from unsuspecting men," he comments smoothly.

She smiles slightly, her arms crossing beneath her large breasts. "Is that so? Happy to oblige to such a cruel hearted man."

"Almost as cruel as you darling," he coos, taking her gloved hand and placing a kiss upon it, his lips lingering longer than they should have. "In the mean time though, Gluttony," he calls, the short man lifting his head long enough to look at him questioningly. "I'll need you to return to Luna and track a certain scent for me. A woman who smells unlike any creature you've ever seen."

"Can I eat her?" he asks innocently.

"I'm afraid not my insatiable friend, I merely want her tracked and retrieved. Can you do that?" He gets a simple nod before Gluttony returns to his shared meal, finishing it off and hobbling to Kovu's side expectantly. Having been prepared, the shirtless male removes a small ribbon from his pocket, holding it out to let the man smell. "Her scent still lingers on this after nearly three centuries, follow it and bring her here." Little did the chimera know that the homunculus would hit a dead end in Luna...

Me: I sincerely hope you enjoyed and that you liked it enough to REVIEW and tell me how I did! I also hope you understand Kovu a bit more now and you're making guesses as to how the story will go on. Please leave your comments, I do love hearing what you have to say and honestly I'd like more motivation to continue. Until next time lovelies!