Elemental Alchemist: Part 11

Satori and Hawkeye had been on the road for a good two weeks. Satori refused to take the train, or the short way to the homunculi's hideout in old Ishbal. They had gone around the desert to the East side. Now they made camp a third of the way into the sand-filled plane.

Satori couldn't sleep. She sat up all night and through part of the morning, silent, and surprisingly– to Hawkeye– fully awake.

"We're close." was all she would say when Hawkeye asked.

Hawkeye followed her charge without question. But sometimes she wondered if even Satori knew what they were doing half the time.

Finally, they came to the entrance of the underground Ishbal.

"Here we go!" Satori descended.

Hawkeye followed her. The small church seemed to crunch in around her. But then again it was crumbling.

Satori and Hawkeye emerged on a hard path. Literally hard. Satori led the way through the crumbling city, while Hawkeye followed silently.

They walked down the path, keeping an eye out for rats or loose rocks that could cause them to slip. Reaching the door of polished metal, they opened it and entered.

Pride, Lust, Gluttony, and Envy stood inside, waiting for them.

"Back for more, Major Satori?" Pride asked. He saw Hawkeye. "Ah, Lieutenant."

"Sir," Hawkeye drew her gun. "We have no quarrel with you, we only came for Major Satori's attacker, sir."

"Yes, but you see, all four of us attacked Major Satori, but it was Envy here– the eldest of us four– who had his...urges with her."

"Then he'll die first!" Hawkeye started firing.

All bullets hit their mark, but Envy just stood there, letting holes puncture into his skin. Hawkeye stopped firing, saving bullets.

"Stupid human, we can't die!" Pride laughed. "A valiant effort though."

Satori stepped in front of Hawkeye as she raised her gun again.

"We aren't here for trouble," Satori said, forcefully.

"Then why did you come?"

"We only came for Palm Tree."

Envy sauntered up to Satori. He ran a cold finger over the scars on her cheek. Hawkeye could be heard sharply inhaling.

"Don't touch me," Satori slapped his hand away, eyes hard. "You can't intimidate me anymore."

"Only because we aren't inside," Envy ran a hand through Satori's hair.

She didn't move.

"I knew you'd miss our time together," he purred. "Come to bed, precious slave. It lies empty, wanting us to occupy it again."

"Go to hell, perv."

"Sounds like she's suffering a broken heart." Lust came up behind the Elemental Alchemist. "Maybe she needs a bit of...persuasion."

"I believe you're right. Take off your jacket, lover."

Satori did not move. Envy transformed his hand into a whip. He came closer.

"Take it off."

"Die first."

Envy's eyes blazed. Hawkeye raised her gun in defense.

"I said: take it off."

"I'd rather live in eternal pain."

"That can be arranged."

Envy pulled off her jacket slowly, running the whip along her cheeks.

"You are mine." He hissed.

"I wouldn't take off that jacket any more." Satori cautioned, emotionless.

"Why not? You can't hurt me, you're weaponless."

Satori twirled out of her jacket, whipping out her Sang Kuaw. She leaned back into a fighting position, weapon poised.

"Ready when you are, honey dearest." She said, sarcastically.

Envy lunged. She dodged, slipping under Lust's nails. She met the point of Pride's rapier.

Spinning around, she parried his blows, while fending off Envy with the other sharp point.

"You forgot the daggers I carry!" she sneered at Envy.

She whipped them out with one hand, throwing them to Hawkeye.

"Hope you can use those!" she called, twirling her Sang Kuaw in defense.

"Oh yeah!" Hawkeye parried one of Lust's long nail-swords.

Ed and Mustang sat across from one another in the mess hall. They had caught Jean Havoc trying to sneak past them. He was a great soldier, but a bad liar. At least to people he knew. No poker face, at all.

"Spill it, Havoc!" Mustang rubbed his temples. "Where did two members of my team go?"

"I cannot tell a lie," Havoc shook his head. "But I will not tell you, so as to save me from telling a lie."

"Havoc!!" Ed slammed a metal fist on the table. "They may be in danger!"

"Didn't know you cared so much," Mustang clicked his tongue.

"I want the Lieutenant to come back safely, that's all!" Ed huffed. "The other one I could care less about."

Havoc and Mustang exchanged a look to say "Man, I am so not telling her that one".

"We need to find out where they are, Jean," Mustang prodded.

"Riza said something about following Satori to the man who assaulted her or something like that." Havoc shrugged. "I can't speak girl; they left, and I haven't seen 'em since."

Ed and Mustang stood up. Mustang dragged Havoc up too.

"Let's go." He said. "Ed, you know the way?"

"Unfortunately."

All the occupants of the underground hang out stood, panting. The fight had not stopped for several hours. Satori leaned on her weapon in the middle of it all, back-to-back with Hawkeye. Who stood with her gun in one hand and two daggers in the other.

"You're good," Pride admitted, sheathing his rapier. "I did not expect you to last this long."

"Not having love tie you down does do something!" Satori laughed sarcastically. "I guess I have you to thank, Envy, you pedophile."

Envy smirked.

"Come to bed, little alchemist, put aside your weapon."

Satori walked over to him, Sang Kuaw behind her in mock innocence. She came within a hairbreadth of his lips with her own. Then she took her blade and stabbed him through the stomach.

Ed, Mustang, and Havoc descended the underground Ishabal. Ed stopped before the door leading to the homunculi hideout.

They entered just in time to see Satori thrust her Sang Kuaw through Envy's gut.

"Shit!" Envy yelled as Satori extracted a bloody blade from his stomach. "That hurt."

"Thankfully, yes." Satori wiped her blade with the lower part of a jacket sleeve.

That was when she realized her jacket had been turned back to its original form– a black robe with a white duplicate of what was tattooed on her hands. She stared at it a moment, then got up and faced the group of homunculi again.

"Who's next to get skewered and live to tell the tale?" She challenged.

Ed watched as Lust and Satori locked blades– in Lust's case, nails– and danced back and forth in a sword fight.

Envy healed quickly. Ed went after him.

"Saving your ex, Fullmetal?" Envy sneered, as they started sparring. "Or just here to get a piece of the action? Afraid to be left at home for not being big enough to fight."

"I'm not afraid to fight! Least of all you!" Ed smashed his metal arm into Envy's head.

Envy danced away. Satori and Lust parried and countered, making full use of the spacious surroundings. Satori looked down at her gauntleted hand from time to time. She had barely noticed its presence at all for at least a month or two now. Had she really been that wound up with love she had forgotten? Could love indeed be blind? It made her heart pound and ache to think about it.

"Say hello to your brother for me!" Lust speared Satori's gut.

Time stood still. Satori looked down at her stomach. It had five equal holes in it. Identical to bullet wounds. She tore a strip of fabric from the bottom of her jacket. She transmuted it, making it longer, she wrapped it several times around her puncture wounds. She started to laugh.

"I've been hated and despised, I've been loved and rejected, and I've hated every moment of it! No way am I going to die by way of some big-busted ego maniac!"

She took a step forward, preparing to strike Lust's chest. Hearing metal on air, she spun, blocking Pride's blade. It cleared through her arm instead of her abdomen. She looked at the pure silver metal, sticking out of her human arm. It hurt like hell fire.

"Not a step further." Pride kept her pinned. "You've had your fun playing hero, but now it's time for us to rise."

"I'm not fit to die yet," Satori laughed, "Death will not welcome me!"

Ed and Envy froze in mid-punch. They stared at Satori and Pride. She grinned maniacly, he stood there with his sword through her arm. With a sickening squish schlirk she slid it free of the blade, letting the blood drip into a growing puddle on the floor.

"I have gone through too much," Satori's grin slowly turned into a concentrated frown, "to give up on life so easily. I've lived through too much and met too many people I'd die for no matter what," – she looked at Ed– "to turn my back on them for Death because you stabbed me in the gut. I. Will. Not. Die!"

Her hands blazed. She slapped them together, then held them above her head. The air crackled with blue, red, yellow, and green lightening. Her eyes went from storm blue, to chestnut, to green flecked with gold. Her coat grew what she had ripped off. The clotted blood from her stomach began to flow freely, turning her shirt and her improvised band-aid wine red.

"I will not let you destroy this world and turn its inhabitants into slaves!" She snarled at Pride.

"Seiji!" Hawkeye gasped, watching the alchemist's hair turn lighter and lighter.

The streaks started in the front, turning the chestnut brown hair blonde, then slowly white. Her hair grew to her mid-back. Her bangs grew and turned white. The use of so much of her power was sucking the energy from other parts of her body. It would soon make its way to her heart and kill her.

"No!" Ed ran from his enemy, trying to throw himself onto Satori. Trying to make her stop.

It didn't work. A circle of alchemic power had formed around his ex-girlfriend.

"Flee to the surface, fellow alchemists," Satori's voice came out in three– her's, Luna's and Ookami's. "Leave and save the rest of our kind. Everything will be over soon."

"No, Seiji!" Havoc yelled above the wind that had begun to pick up in the room. "We won't leave you!"

"As my subordinate I command you come back with us!" Mustang shouted.

"We're in this together!" Hawkeye screamed.

Satori turned her now all-black eyes toward her comrades.

"Do not fear for me," she commanded. "Think of the others on the surface. Go protect them."

"No!" Ed cried. "Sa– Seiji, you can't do this! No life is worth your own!"

"Yours is!" Satori contradicted. "And Havoc's, and Mustang's, and Hawkeye's! Everyone's life can be saved if I use mine as a sacrifice! God will welcome me to his domain, and I will be at peace knowing all of you are safe."

"I won't let you!" Ed banged his fists on the barrier. "Seiji!"

"It is as the Prophecy has foretold!" This time Luna spoke. "She must sacrifice her life for the good of the Earth, and be reborn anew."

"It is the way it is meant to be, Edward," Ookami assured. "There is no other way."

Pride began to laugh.

"Foolish! All of it! The Prophecy can't defeat us, no matter how hard she tries! The months have not been counted! It is not the right time! She will lose before the battle even starts!"

He continued to laugh, a long, hideous laugh.

"Ed, it will be okay." Satori said. "Trust me."