Hey guys sorry about the wait, life hasn't been kind with me so I've been busy trying to put the b.s. behind me. And what better than with giving in! Hope you enjoy!

Chapter 21: Lifting the Vale

"Please, E-Elise! H-Have mercy!" She cried out before Ellie flew an invisible force field of a punch that it caused Lila to yelp before she began to curl in a ball, "Mercy? Mercy! Was that what you gave Roa! Dorchetto! Martel!" She then ran up to her and lifted her by her shirt collar with a forearm choking the woman out while she attempted to release Elise's unbreakable strength, "Is that what you gave Greed? A merciful death!"

"Ellie think of what you're doing before you decide to kill this woman." The new Greed tried to usher hoping to calm the girl long enough for her to explain what was happening.

"I am!" She exclaimed looking from the avarice to the woman again, her eyes blood shot now and her body gasping for air as she scraped into the panther's skin, but it didn't little to hurt her, she could barely feel it at how deathly angry she was. She was at the point of wanting to rip this girl apart, but instead she demand to hear her side, "Explain yourself! Now!" What was she threatened with a roar to make the girl shake like a leaf, to sniffle and give a horrid cry before calming herself, "Alright, alright I'll talk! Th-They said they just wanted to know where Greed was, that they wanted him to work for them again if they could! They even said that they would get you out of the picture! I just wanted Greed to like me again that's all!"

"Yeah, that sounded like a great plan dumb ass! You killed my friends, ruined our home, destroyed our way of life just to have Greed all to yourself? All because he involved me into a sex affair you and him were having! As if I had anything to do with it!" Her eyes widened a bit, giving Elise the sense she was correct, "So I' m right. That threat you made to Greed wasn't just any threat was it Lila…It was a promise to get what you wanted…" She couldn't say anything, but the thought crossed Lila's mind when she glared into the girl's eyes, biting her tongue before nodding slowly, "Yeah…I did. But I didn't expect them to kill everyone, I thought they seriously just wanted to talk to Greed."

"YOU ARE THE MOST INSUFFERABLE-,"

"Just to let you know they found me first, they knew I had been in contact with you guys and said that if I didn't tell them where you were they would kill me right then and there anyways, but told me if I did as they said they wouldn't harm Greed that I didn't have to worry about the consequences! I know…I know it was stupid!"

"That's an understatement!"

"I said I was sorry!" Did she think a simple apology would make up for the crime she committed, the murder she played a roll in? Elise thought she must've been more deluded then before. Or poorly desperate.

"And now I see why we were ambushed so quickly, why everything went to hell when it did! I thought they just found us on a hunch, but it was you…Because of you everyone is dead!…And you shall be as well for your treachery!"

"Ellie PLEASE I didn't know!" Her face was paled like white stone and her eyes showed only cowardly lies, her mind searching for loopholes to make Elise set her free, but for Lila, that wasn't going to happen. The panther was going to make someone pay for her friends death, might as well be the woman who caused all of them to die in the first place, "No! You did!" She snapped banging Lila's fragile body against the wall she held her to, then Ellie leaned herself close to the girl's face with disgust reading off her pure expression I see the guilt in your eyes, do you even know what I'm capable of? What I control to see right through your lies! It stares me in the face without you even having to say anything! You took jealousy and twisted it into revenge, in the end it only back fired because the Greed you knew no longer exists! You are the cause of it, you were the domino to cause everything to fall into affect, and now, you can't even look at me without realizing what's coming to you."

"You're not just going to let her kill me are you!" Lila shot her eyes to the young man close to them, the one with the same colored eyes as Ellie, and the Greed they once knew, but this avarice was about a foot or two away before his gaze turned from the red head to the eyes of the panther that were no longer her own, not at the moment.

For some reason, this Greed didn't seem to see what Elise was feeling. Or have a sense of involving himself that had nothing to do with him. He also had no reason to get in between two women squabbling over the past.

In the end the avarice could only shrug his shoulders as he turned away with his eyes closing away from the scene, walking out of the alleyway all together, "From what I'm hearing, the girl has all reason to be upset miss. And as a rule of thumb? I don't fight women, especially when it's something so petty."

"I'll make it worth your wild if you just get this crazy bitch off of me!" She screeched in a panic, but it was still to no avail, "Big talk for such a backstabbing psychopath, who tried to literally stab me, and all for what? Because a man called you by another name! How ridiculous! If I were you I would've just smacked the man." Ellie was blunt but truthful.

"Your name for your information!"

"Either way you should've just walked away…And now? I'm going to put you down. I hope you find no peace in the after life."

"Go ahead! Yeah, I did it, and I'd do it again too! Greed always looked at you like you were some kind of goddess! Like you actually mattered! He was so into you that he didn't even notice the rest of us! He always talked about you, only had eyes for you, and then when he…Called me by your name… I got sick of it! I was so angry at him for how he treated me! Then he got the gull to say you two weren't sleeping together! He was lying to me!" There was a short pause before Elise clenched her teeth, "This wasn't about Greed, this was about the fact that if you couldn't have him nobody could. I didn't want this to happen in the first place! And he was telling the truth! We weren't sleeping together, we didn't even become involved with one another until weeks later! Where ever you got your details, they were sloppy and in the end the plan was a disaster, therefore what you got in all of this was nothing! But I won't let your mess in all this go unpunished, such betrayal must be paid for!" Ellie's fangs began to show in a quickness, her features becoming more animal-like as her hands grew in size. So did her powers, the swirl of the invisible vortex of doom beginning to grow just as much as her hands, now leaving Lila with eyes of terror, and her heart stopping in the middle of her chest before she attempted to put her hands up.

In the midst of the final blow, Greed from his place against the wall could see the shadow before him, the light of the buildings showing him what the panther was about to do for the redemption.

The red headed girl screamed and cursed out in protest as Elise's balled up fist cocked back and released her incredible force with a cone shaped structure that caused blood to splatter across the brick walls in front and back of the panther. She used her powers and the shape of the cone like a drill, making the last of the woman's squeamish yelps to cause a sour feature to consume the avaricious face, the sudden sound of a certain person giving advice, This isn't right. I've never seen her so disconnected The prince's voice was shaky, but Greed just kept his emotionless expression when he heard the body drop to the floor, and the sound of Ellie panting hard.

The hard part seemed to be over, but when he peaked around the corner, the look on the panther's face was still as spine chilling as before. Her eyes were widened filled with a fire that could burn this entire city down, her right hand and arm was completely covered in a crimson blood, while the rest was widely splattered against he girl's new jacket, her legs, and chest, even the side of her face was stained by the splash back of the liquid surrounding her.

She seemed dazed now, her eyes softening before she blinked and shook her head, her body starting to shake as bad as her breathing. She sniffled and began to quickly remove the jacket, button by button. Until one of them got snagged and she started to fiddle with it in a firm manner, softly whispering under her breath until suddenly saw a pair of hand cup over both of hers to stop her constant fumbling. She hardly noticed it to be the new Greed, his eyes on hers until she started to look a little more coherent towards his contact. He didn't want her to go off, so his eyes trailed to the button and he undid them without a hitch.

When the jacket was open Greed also assisted in helping her take it off to watch her hands start to pull out a small handkerchief from her chest pocket, attempting to wipe away the blood from her face and hands even more, but it was a fail attempt, "Come on, that won't do, you need a bath. Let's get you home."

"It's not my home…" The avaricious scoffed softly rolling his eyes before his small smile disappeared. Where he thought she had finished her sentence, her eyes and features told him different, looking ahead with a seaming purpose brightening her iris's when she turned her gaze to him, the tiniest smile forcing itself on her lips, "But it's a start." She stated it coldly, trying to seemed unfazed by what she had done. She wasn't. She was glad to be rid of that traitor. In the beginning she never thought that Lila would have the guts to do anything,, in fact, she never thought she'd ever see her again. And Elise was wrong. The woman had murdered everything and everyone see knew; and it wasn't even by the deviance hand alone. She had tried to kill Elise once before, but now it was as plain as day to see that she should've kill her one the first attempt. And the panther could only feel guilt for not being able to use her abilities sooner, not being able to read Lila's intentions the moment she walked by her the night she ran out of Greed's room. Yet, how could she had known? No one knew what happened between Lila and Greed.

Elise didn't even bother to acknowledge the avarice following closely behind, her feet moving on their own apparently, ready to end this night. This day. She didn't even seem to register his words of getting out of the scene before being spotted. It slipped her mind. Now, she felt like an emotionless, and lifeless organism in the world of the living, jumping the rooftops more than the ground out of habit with no recollection of how close she was getting to Central Headquarters.

With each leap to each new building, the more the rush seemed to take control, her nose smelling everything around her, but only able to smell the lingering scent of blood trailing behind. Her pupils were dilated while her regular features returned little by little in the process, each time the panther began to slow down until she came upon the last building before entering the large center of place she loathed. The evening moonlight beaming over it's tall towers was nothing to the grounded lighting below. Never could it compare a star lit sky.

The sight of the stars caused the girl stare up at the full moon with an overwhelming sadness in her heart. Greed was still close behind, standing behind her with his own gaze stuck on the silent bloodied woman. At first, he thought about saying nothing, letting the girl have her contentment of what occurred. But curiosity was a curse for him, especially after the two had mentioned the last avaricious. He was wondering how this all happened. About the affair, Elise's prior engagement to him-, the other Greed. What started this whole mess that caused Elise, a woman who barely seemed like the killing type to just go and annihilate someone like-, that, "I'm not one to get into personal business, but since the woman back there seemed to be an accomplice in the death of your friends and the last Greed…I'm assuming that she deserved what she got?" Elise looked back, eyes flooded with tears but with no look of remorse, "She deserved a lot worse. Her hands were just as stained as your father's… Your brothers…The scientists, the doctors, my parents primarily included in that death wish list. And by this time tomorrow, I'm expanding on my hunt."

"For what?" Elise then smirked at him, and began to walk backwards towards the edge, "To kill everyone that was involved in, not just my rebirth, but that also led to my friends demise. One by one, I will slaughter them, as they slaughter my comrades."

"Is that right? How would you know where to look? And don't you think it would get pops in a huff if he found out you were trying to kill his top researchers? I mean, if you really are thinking of attempting killing them, you should probably do it discreetly."

"Yeah." She said as a matter of fact, but only grinned more before taking the last step over the ledge, "But he can't be upset if I'm merely doing a background check. And don't worry, their deaths will go unnoticed. I can assure of that." With that she dropped off, leading Greed to follow with his own satisfied grin as he dove off with the panther, before they both made off towards H.Q.

They already knew their ways around the place, the short cut of tunnels as they walked along side each other, Greed's mouth in a frown as of Elise's before they entered the main chambers.

Father didn't seem to recognize the girl at first, only able to see her green eyes through her red stained face, "What is the meaning of this?"

"I had a bit of a qualm with an old 'acquaintance'." Was what she said with a calm tone, not even trying to sound angry or sarcastic. And it was the truth as Father stared to her and then his son who only shrugged, "Apparently there was a debt to be repaid."

"Don't worry. I made sure to relieve the scene of any evidence that could lead the trail back to me." The woman smirked, dark circles under her eyes to cause the avarice some kind of chill, though it went unnoticed.

"As long as this isn't a thing you do ordinarily." Was what the old man replied, his uncaring tone was nothing of the unusual anymore, in fact Elise welcomed it, knowing that her actions would not lead to a punishment, but an opportunity, "No sir." She responded without emotion the said girl then gave a sideways smile, "Just taking out the trash."

"Understood. You may go. As for you, Greed I would like to speak to you in private."

"Sure." The avarice grinned back before winking an eye to Ellie who made no recognition, keeping her eyes forward, "See you around beautiful." She didn't even answer, and that made the avarice wonder if she was going to be alright. Suddenly, he felt a throb in his chest, and took a deep sigh to blow it off. He wasn't sure what it was, but made he found some sympathy for the woman before his eyes, her own orbs seeming cold, and distant, like she wasn't even there in her body, as if she was trying to shut down, and that was usually a bad thing. Not like he should've cared, but between the girl's predicament, her extraordinary abilities, and this odd nagging feeling from the words of the prince earlier seemed to bother him. But more than anything this girl would make a better ally than an enemy. He already saw what she could do, and with her flawless attributes, he didn't want to try to get into a qualm with the young lady.

On the other hand, when she smiled it made him…He really wasn't sure what it was. Once Ellie was out of sight, the homunculus and Father turned to one another with eyes tired and almost bored, "So…What'd you want to talk about?"

"I'm curious to know how you are doing. You have been reborn, and I care to make sure your mental state is in perfect condition."

"My head's on just fine pops. I don't have a screw loose or anything." He assured almost insulted as he laughed it off, but Father kept a serious firm emotionless face to show his odd concern, "You know the stakes Greed. Your purpose was to replace the old avarice, there is no mistake in that, but you will have some uncomfortable side effects from being remade from the same Greed as before. Do you understand?"

"If you're referring to the fact that I'm what humans perceive as resurrected, then yes."

"Perfect." Father nodded with an eerie smile.

"Then, what should I be aware of?"

"Nothing serious, maybe a headache here and there, but that should go away in a couple of weeks."

"Right, I'll keep that in mind. Anything else?"

"Yes…" He trailed off gazing down at the floor curiously before pointing to his son and slowly making a few advances towards him, "As a matter of fact there is. I need you to make sure that girl had another proper attire. I believe I sent her on a mission to get clothes but sent her to look for Gluttony and Envy straight afterwards, which means she has no extra attire set aside."

"And…Where is this going?" The avarice knew but he had a sour look on his face, his father had to be joking, but it was no joke, "I need you to go with the girl tomorrow and get some more proper clothing."

"What! Again!"

"Again?"

"Uh-, long story, she needed a coat-,… Why am I doing this? Can't you get Envy to do it?"

"He's busy with other things, unlike you, you have all the time in the world here, and I might as well start with you performing a simple tasks as getting clothes for the young lady."

"I'm going to some like a dumb ass saying this by why can't she go herself?" He had to be pulling his chain. Was Father really going to use his tools as a homunculus to run errands and baby sit? Not that he minded really, but what was the point of having him around if he was just going to be a sitter?

"I suppose, but from what occurred and how unstable she seems, I don't want her to snap. I've heard she's done so before, so I wish to see to it she doesn't decide to run off again, or get into some kind of intolerable incidents that could cost us not only a valuable asset but our plans for the promise day. Is that clear?"

"Right." He didn't want to do it, but seeing as he really had no choice without boring himself to death, Greed decided to take the only real entertainment there was around that dark dingy place.

The blonde elder bowed his head and closed his eyes to find some kind of peace of mind, "Take her first thing in the morning. After that, what she does is her business, but like I said you are not to let her out of your sight." Greed wish he could've replied so formally, but his mind was too far in the gutter not to grin at the comment, "Oh I don't think I'll be able to keep my eyes off the little kitten." Father glared at him, getting Greed to chuckle a little a louder, "She's an intriguing person."

"Ugh, my son your vulgar humor needs to evolve." Greed shrugged off his Father's response and continued to smirk taking a step back, "Hey what can I say the girl caught my eye the moment I met her, but don't worry, I get it, she's off limits." Father bowed his head at the acknowledge then pointed towards where Elise had gone, "Your room isn't far from hers, do not disturbed the girl unless it is for strictly business. If there's something she needs, I do presume you will be the Intel on that, but other than constant updates on the woman, that is all I expect, again, do we understand each other? If I find she or yourself is causing disruptive behavior that I find inappropriate I promise there will be repercussions."

"Yes. I get it, can I go now?" The man nodded looking away as he looked to a stoned desk filled with books and such, a page specifically placed for him to finish. He picked it up, and began to read it, Greed escorting himself out without looking back. The avarice closed the doors behind him and sighed frustrated by the situation his creator had put him in. But like he thought before it couldn't be all bad, he just didn't expect to be stuck to the hip with her for a while, especially with him being the reincarnation of Greed, and her having a connection to the old one.

He felt like his arrival or going to see her would be untimely, so as he walked down the tunnels, he came to a pair of small metal doors, and the sound of ripping papers and light grunting reached his ears. Being curious, the man walked forward hands in his pockets as always when he came upon the doors, seeing one of them barely open. She must've thought she closed it, but it gave Greed his chance to lean his ear close enough to listen to the sound of Elise ripping paper violently. When he became more curious he slowly leaned in to poke an eye through the opening, the panther's eyes filled with restraining tears and the after math adrenaline from earlier.

From what the avarice could make out she was a total wreck. And whiny. Only once did he see the girl smile since he had been around. Only once did she let her hair down fof a short time before she lost it. The only question was, what would it take to calm her? Then something pop to his mind; he thought of just one thing, and forced a smile as he knocked on the door, "Go away Envy I'm not in the mood for your snide remarks!"

"It's me." He heard a small gasp and the sound of the cat struggling to clear up any paper that was left on the floor before she straightened herself up and stood up, "Come in." She then immediately discarded the pieces into a small trash can next to her bed just as he was walking in, leaving Greed to wonder what it was she was tearing up.

He let it slide, seeing that Ellie was nowhere in the mood for being investigated. Knowing her, she would've taken it as such, so he bowed his head as he walked in and took a seat in one of the small chairs that creaked the moment he sat in it, "You're still covered in blood."

"I haven't had a chance to shower." She replied still refusing to make eye contact with him, "Is there something you wanted. Or did you just come by to order me around." A little confused at the last part, but he kept his relaxed features, "You left the door open, and I over heard your distress. I just…I don't know, wanted to make sure you weren't going to go crazy again and go on a killing spree." Ellie laughed but almost mockingly as she shook her head.

That's when he pulled out the chocolate bar from his coat pocket, a softer tone in his voice when he held it out to her. It was still in tact too from earlier, "What's this?" She asked a little confused, but genuine, "You were so quick to take off the coat you didn't take out the bars you bought. And from the sounds of it, you really need them, now is a good time as any…" He trailed off seeing the speechless look in her face. It went from him to the bars, then she took them in her hands and stared at them for a long time.

Her lips frowned, but suddenly, they lifted up into a smile before she gave what sounded a like a tiny breathy chuckle, "Thank you...Greed." It was hard for her to say that, it came out with a choke causing the woman to close her eyes and swallow back. Then she took a deep breath and exhaled, trying to smile the best she could, "Is that all?"

"Um-, sort of…" Before he could answer, Ellie answered for him, "Father wants you to take me out tomorrow."

"How did you-,…Never mind. I forgot you have that special talent to read minds."

"It's a curse more than a blessing sometimes."

"So I've seen. But it'll get better eventually." He tried to assure this, but he was only one man with a very stubborn woman. She didn't say anything, but did nod her head slowly before she began to stand and make her way towards the bathroom, "I appreciate the chocolates but I think that shower is looking pretty good."

"Quick to avoid me huh? Is it something I said?" He was smirking kind of delighted by her fast response to depart from him before she turned to him with straight face, "No, I don't need this bitch's blood cramping my style. I'm not one for violence, but Lila had it coming. In the end she deserved much worse." This Greed didn't seem to get the gesture of her wanting to be left alone; because instead he kept seated legs crossed with the chair now turned backwards, while his arms crossed just over the top, "Want to talk about it?"

"Not particularly." Elise was already undressing behind the door, slamming it to try to make him leave but he only cringed at the loud volume and laughed, "Well if it makes you feel any better I like your style. And I'm not one to know anyone's business but just the history alone has got me intrigued."

"How so?" She asked monotone, the water was now running and from the sound to the avaricious Elise was already in washing all of the stains she could find, "Well for one she accused you of sleeping with the last Greed." He heard a small laugh, "I didn't sleep with him. She assumed I did because the guy was…Well, I don't know what he was thinking."

"Of you obviously."

"I seem to have that affect on men. I don't try but trouble seems to follow me wherever I go."

"That just means you're not boring." This time Elise did genuinely laugh and turn off the water grabbing the freshest towel they had to offer before she realized what she left out there. Her tank top and underwear. It was the only thing she had to clothes for now, and just before she could open the door to ask the kind avaricious for her fabrics, he was already standing at the door with them in hand, getting the panther to gasp back pull the towel closer to herself before she sighed in relief, snatching clothes and shutting the door before he could get a glimpse.

Unfortunately, it'd be a lie if Greed didn't already see her bosom, "Do you want me to pick you up some emergency clothes?"

"No."

"You sure? You have anything to wear tomorrow?"

"Nope." Her simple response were actually a little tedious, but the avarice rolled his eyes, "I'll take that as a yes. I'll be back."

"You don't have to do that Greed, if I recall the greedy only do what's in it for themselves."

"Yeah?" He stopped beside the front door, looking back just as Ellie walked out drying her hair with her back still to him, "And what if I just wanted to be a part of a conversation." This once she looked to him, wanting to know what he meant by that, "What conversation?"

"Yours?"

"You…Are you hitting on me?"

"Heh, maybe. Just trying to get your goat. Seems to be working since you're blushing." With that he closed the door to leave Ellie blinking at the door before she covered herself from head to face with the towel and sighed deeply before jumping on the bed, "What a dork." She didn't want to admit it, but as she laid there in the darkness of her closed eyes and the towel covering her face, all Elise could think about was how it couldn't be too bad having this new Greed around. Not that she was still happy about Father's manipulation, but from what she remember him saying that it being boring down in the tunnels of central, she could see what he meant. It was a quite, the sound of soft banging from expanding pipes and whispers of distorted growls and roars, somehow the panther was able to find some kind of rest, not realizing that the stranger she knew as the new Greed, was going to return soon. But a part of her couldn't resist, she was tired, aching, her mind was full and the only way it could think straight was by rest. Even if she had already slept for two days prior, all that excitement, fighting, and even the killing had left the girl empty, wanting something to hold on to, some kind of contentment. For some reason, she found it in her sleep when she began to hear the erotic sound of someone calling her name.

It was all through white noise and overlapping murmurs, but she could hear it. She didn't feel conscious, if Elise was in reality, then her mind was somewhere else, sinking deeper into the dream. The sound of it anyway. When she tried to move, she only felt compelled to say asleep, unable to even open her eyes when she wanted to. It was all so very strange.

Before she knew it, the face of the prince of Xing blinked at her, his form seeming to resemble the same clothes he was wearing earlier. In fact, it was now that she noticed Greed had changed out the clothes prior to her capture, whenever that happened, it only became invalid when she realized it wasn't important, "Ling?"

Holy moly it is you! How'd you…

"How did I? I…I think I'm dreaming…Right?" She looked to him as if he had the answer but Ling shook his head and shrugged, Well, you're translucent…So, I don't know. Sorry, you're asking the wrong person on this sort of thing.

"You're telling me. I can't believe this…Where am I?"

From the looks of it, I'd say you're in between mine and Greed's soul.

"But how-, what sort of abilities do I wield that I can enter a person soul and mind just by dreaming alone? And not by choice by the way." Then she came to terms on how this had occurred. Her mind shifting to a flashback to her ripping up the paper, then throwing it in the garbage, "Oh balls."

What?

"N-Nothing. I think I know what happen. Sorry, I fell asleep and I guess my subconscious lead me here."

Do you know why? He asked just as confused and curious as Ellie when she turned to the red walls of souls silently screaming and moaning in the back ground, "Not at the moment." Ling could tell just by her body's posture he could tell she was withholding information but the prince let it go in the meantime and decided to fall on another topic, Okay, then can I ask another personal question?

"Like what?" She watched him closely, his soul making its way over to her while she stared him in his opened eye, Are you okay?

"Huh? Yeah? Why wouldn't I be?"

It's just-,…nothing.

"No, speak boy, what is it?" She crossed her arms, only to have him look to her closely, Your eyes…

"My eyes? What? Did they change again?" She was rubbing her eyes looking down at her see through hands only to have Ling shake his head, No, but they show great pain. Ellie cocked a brow at him, now to understand what he meant and sighed lowering her shoulders, her gaze was distant like she was thinking of something before she replied, "I am in pain. Today, I understand why most of the guys in my den were always saying, An animal can't smell if it has no nose."

What does that mean?

"It means I was as blind as a bat, my instinct should've known that this girl was trouble the first time she walked away from me."

Ling got what little she said about that but asked, Why didn't you?

"Like I said my powers weren't around, but I still should've been able to sense it. I didn't, because I was too busy drinking that night! I was such a light weight…But I still should've known!" She was starting to yell, the regret spewing before the prince who watched with sympathy.

Elise seemed to notice and looked to him from the abyss, glaring, "Don't look at me like that."

What?

That look, you feel sorry for me. Well, don't. I brought this upon myself. I ran with criminals and fugitives, many not as bad as you would think. But then Lila betrayed us, over a mistake the last Greed made. Because of me. Slowly, Ling was starting to see why she was so upset about this. He couldn't complain, if something happen to his family he'd lose it too. It was remarkable from the things that were spoken between her and the Greed possessing his body that she hadn't gone completely insane.

Many humans, considering her size and mental stability, would've died instantly from the experiments performed on her, but she was special. She lived through it all, I apologize, I don't mean to insult you. She wanted to be mad at him, to say something witty and be as much of a bitch to push him away, but with that small smile he was giving Elise could only sigh and rub her face, bringing her hands straight down to her sides as she looked to the boy, "No, I'm sorry." She finally admitted, sitting on the ground of the abyss while Ling slowly approached her, "It's just…I have all this anger built up inside, and I can't do anything with it. All I want to do right now is go out there, look for those names and kill them all in a slow and painful way. I want my revenge, and that's all that's driving me. Revenge." She leaned forward, bringing her knees to her chin not minding that the prince had taken a seat next to her, "I don't like it. Greed wanted me to stay alive, but for what? So I could be stuck in the past? So I could track down the ones who did this to us? Or did he find in some way of his own that protecting me was the only last noble thing he could've done. Because I rather have him alive. Father didn't just kill Greed…" She stated looking to him with a worried look, trailing off only to finish, "My boss made a choice, between helping them, and dying."

It was brought to Ling's attention that Ellie wasn't like this at one point, that even after everything she went through before, it was nothing compared to the loss of the only people that rescued and loved her. Whatever kind of love it was. Ling could see the anguish in her chi, feeling the need to pat the girl's back before he smiled wider at her, Maybe he did it simply because he held you of great value, in order to save you, he knew he would have to die, otherwise they would've just used you against one another. At least that's my assumption. Why else would he have gone to so much to keep you safe?

"Maybe." She didn't want to say much about it, and for a moment, she felt a tinge of contentment, before sighing and laying her against the boys arm. She quickly pulled away, but to Ling it seemed kind of her animal way of saying thank you. Until she verbally said it, "Thank you, Ling. I appreciate your support."

As long as you don't feel the need to kill me any time soon.

"I don't kill for the hell of it. The person has to have a black soul for me to kill them."

Black? Is that what you see?

"Sort of. There are many different colors in the world Emperor Yao, and each one tells a story to me. Each time I enter a person's mind, their color is shown to me. The worst are the ones you assume to be nice but turn out to be…Well, perverted."

Isn't everyone though? Elle looked at him and smiled, giggling a little before she gave a nod, "Yeah, I guess so. But hey I enjoyed this-, this-, whatever this is."

Just helping a friend is all

"Still, much obliged. I needed it."

Sure. By the way, why call me Emperor? I haven't done anything to help my people yet.

"No, but you're determined, bravery, and freaking insanity for a human boy coming out of his region to save his home says a lot."

It's my people I'm trying to save. He corrected before seeing the sincere smile on the girl's face before she patted his shoulder and stood up looking up at the tornado of souls surrounding them, "What's the difference? If your people die, then everything you've ever known as a home, as a whole, is destroyed, or at least not the same."

Heh, is that how you feel? He asked this out of respect, she could hear it in his tone without even turning to him to search his mind. She twiddled with her fingers, looking down at them with guilt, "I'm not going to lie, I feel like I'm losing it quick Ling. I feel like I'm in a damn nightmare, and I can't find one minute of peace."

Except now? Elise couldn't help but shake her head, smiling more each time he threw a little humor into the mix, something to make her think of something else other than the past. That's what she needed, a distraction from reality, from her hunt, something to make her feel human again. She was only happy to have Ling as a good person to lean on, even if they were of two different worlds meeting in the middle, "Yeah, except now. Again, thanks." Suddenly the feel of her slipping made her fall side ways and gasp out in astonishment when she noticed her body being pulled back, "Uh…I guess I'll be seeing you?"

I…think you'll be seeing me again here in a second

"What? What does that even mean?" Before she could get an answer she had already felt herself falling into a deep sleep it felt, something that came natural before she awakened to the sound of someone clearing their throat. With heavy eyes Ellie awoke with a gaze of violet dragon eyes staring her down, the brows both in odd directions, yet the expression on the persons face was flat as a line on a EKG.

Her vision was awful blurry, and her head felt like she had hit it against the wall. She even found the towel she had on her face in the hands of the man before her. Now she could see him. It was Greed, and he wasn't looking too happy, even with the extra clothes he found. It wasn't much, just a dark maroon tank top, matching broche and some military pants. Not something she would've been proud to wear but they were under Central Command, she should've knew this was what she would come to wear, if not once.

When she finally could form words and think straight from the heavy slumber, she cringed and made a disgusted face at the homunculus, "You can't expect me to wear those."

"I don't know, you can't expect me to let you go into my body without permission do you?" He greeted that question with a snaky smirk that made the panther nearly want to smack him, but instead she stared back in disbelief, "Are you kidding me!"

"I know when the brats talking, and he doesn't have many imaginary friends, so when I decided to take a quick gander, who do I come to find but you?" He tried to smile it off but the sound of his tone only pissed the panther off, making her ears flip back in defense, "Hey it wasn't my fault my mind-, soul-, look the point is I was obviously not in my right place. It's not like I meant to intrude."

"So I gathered. Here." He attempted to hand her the extras pair of clothes he found, but she only continued to stare at him in refusal, "I'm not wearing those." She replied with authority seeing his flat expression refuse to change, "Just take them."

"I'd rather go naked." She stated it only to see the avarice's lips morph into a grin and a look of interest before Elise immediately stopped in her tracks to become flustered and snatch the clothes in a haste out of the avarice. He chuckled at her reaction, but attempted to resist as the woman held up the plain tank top, studying the size of it before putting it over her head. She continued on with the pants to find them quite comfortable, yet the sight of her in a military uniform only brought her to shake her head, "I look just like…"

"A soldier? Yeah, that's the idea."

"No…I meant, I mean yes, that's exactly what I meant."

"Huh." He knew she was about to say something else, but like everything before, he let it go, only watching as she turned her attention to Greed.

His posture had changed from hunched to leaning back with his hands behind him, pressed against the mattress as he watched her. It was beginning to become awkward the longer he continued to stare, and all Elise could do was walk towards the bed while shooing him out, "Look I'm glad you brought me some clothes and all, but any way you could see yourself out."

"Awe, you don't want me around?" He gave her a pouting lip, but the panther merely rolled her eyes at him with exhaustion and rubbed her eyes, "Well-, no. You just seem bored now."

"On the contrary, I was actually debating if you want to go get some tea or something."

"Tea?"

"Milk? I forgot you're a cat."

"Panther. More feral than a house cat."

"Point taken miss. So, what do you say, want to do something to pass the time?"

"Now that I'm fully awake again?" She tried to make him feel back but Greed just laugh and nodded, still awaiting her answer. Elise sighed at first, looked at herself, and sighed again before nodding in surrender. She didn't really want to be hanging around this avarice so much, unknowing his real intention besides the fact that he seemed to have a great interest in her being a high evolved species. Either way, she was stuck with him, and what better to know the enemy then by getting to know them? She tilted her head to the side, her ears tilting in another tilt to show how hard she was contemplating the decision, "Look do you want to be stuck in here like some prisoner? Because I don't think you do, not really any way."

"I've had a hard day I'm just wondering if it's worth it." She replied only to get a glance from him, "What do you have to lose?"

"My breath, and time…But I guess you have a point."

"You make it sound like I'm a disease or something ha, ha, kind of funny."

"Better to be cautious. You understand why I'm giving you such a hard time don't you?"

"Sure, because I'm the new Greed and not the old one, my pops has already lied to you once, and I possess this new body, and that brat of a prince doesn't."

"Well that's the small stuff, yes. But no, that's not the only reasons."

"Then what are the top reasons for your suspicion?"

"You're being too nice." There was a silence, before Greed blinked and cock a brow, "Too nice? Doll I have all the time in the world down here according to the old man, I think I can afford to ask a beauty like you to get some fresh air. It gets lonely being by yourself doesn't it?" She shook her head at him and crossed her arms in a huff, "Get real."

"I am being real. To be honest, I've been enjoying the short time that we've known each other. Even if your mad at the world right now, to me, you're the most fascinating and intriguing person this piss hole has to offer."

"You barely know me."

"I'd like to know you."

"Because I'm so charming right?" She was being sarcastic, but the avarice seemed to enjoy when he helped her to her feet, and gripped her arm, "Exactly, now come on or we'll miss our chance for some good teas."

"Can't we just go to a coffee shop and get it there?"

"Well what fun would that be?" He asked now releasing the girl's arm when she closed the door behind her, "I don't know, a lot more than just strolling around aimlessly after what I just did. Anyway we could try to be discreet?"

"I don't know, do you know the meaning of the word?" He asked playfully asking to get Ellie to glare and then smirk at him, "You'd be surprise." With that said the two walked up to the surface with no surprises, from what is appeared, Father was stuck in a deep meditation, while the others, as he said before, were nowhere around, making it easy for the two to slip away unnoticed. Or so they hoped.

When they came out from the back doors in a familiar alleyway Elise seemed to notice that day break had yet to come. In fact, when they came into view of the clock tower, she could see that it was ten pass three, which made her sigh heavily to get Greed's attention from the gate he opened with ease, "Problem?"

"No, just realizing how late it is, and how awake I am."

"A lot of energy from earlier huh?"

"That and I slept for two days straight, so yeah I'm pretty alert with yet any plan of what we're doing."

"Well, what do you want to do?"

"Library?"

"I…Don't know if they're open doll, I doubt it."

"The public library would be closed, but given the fact that I have access to Central's 24-7 library, I want to know if it's plausible." Greed nodded, not very much interested in looking for books, but considering the only thing that would be open around this time is a coffee shop, he took the lesser of the two evils and nodded relentless, "What exactly are you looking for?"

"Names."

"Again with this huh?"

"Just names, nothing more. What I do with them on my down time is my business. Don't worry I'll make sure you don't get in trouble if that's what you're worried about."

"Fair enough, but you better memorize those names, writing them down will only make it easier to find you."

"Thanks for the input, but I think I can handle it." While the walk continued in the direction they headed towards, Greed could only eye the woman from the corner of his gaze, then a short silence suffocated the air before the homunculus shrugged his shoulders and walked to the door, "Where are you going?"

"To tell the old man that you want a shower, that the clothes down here aren't to your liking, so we're going to find some new ones."

"Oh…Okay." She didn't argue it, whether he meant it or used it as code for getting out from underground, she was happy to think she'd be able to leave. Although as she looked down at her suit she really hope he meant it. Then again…This outfit could be used to my advantage. She gave a crooked smile when a plot began to stew in her little mind. The gears only began to slow down when the new Greed returned in the same pose he left in. Hands in the pocket, "You must really like keeping your hands warm." She mentioned.

"What?" At first he seemed puzzled them looked down at his hands to shrug and smirk, "I guess. So, I talked pops into letting us go to the surface. He was really against it at first, but when I told him that your sleeping schedule wouldn't allow you rest, he unwillingly agreed to it, as long as it's under a few terms."

"And that would be?" She could only wonder what kind of rules he provided but none the less listened in, and hopefully would be able to humor the old man. Greed stared her down a moment, looking her straight in the eyes as he began, "You are not allow to use your powers unless it is in the best instead of our 'family'."

"Family?"

"Just repeating what he said. Second, you're not to breed a word of where you're from, stay away from the scientists and doctors, and looking into classified information is off the table." He trailed off when he saw her eyes fluctuate, like her senses went off. It became true when her right ear flicked, "He says he really doesn't care what you do after that."

"Figured as much, but…I merely just want to read. Blow some steam into maybe even look into something to make this shit hole look a little nicer." Greed chuckled but shook his head at the idea, "Are you serious or just screwing with me?"

"Mm, a little of both. Then again, all I really want to do is read a book or two."

"So…No clothes?"

"Nah. I can wait a day or two." His brow cocked and his features fell flat, his lips frowned as he crossed his arms and stood in front of the girl, his back hunching forward to her, "You still need clothes. So first thing at sun rise or whenever the first store opens you will be getting more clothes to last you at least a weeks worth."

"Lectured by the big bad avarice himself, huh. Don't worry your pretty little face about that. I plan to bleed this bastard dry with whatever resources I can get my hands on and crush him into the dust when I'm done with this place." From her devious smirk deadly gaze and Greed's reaction, the man almost seemed impressed when he abruptly cackled which hardened Ellie's eyes when he did. Lightening his tone he tittered as he spoke, "A lot of talk coming from a very resilient woman. You're givin' me the chills just saying it, but is your roar as hard as your bite?" She watched his grin grow and glared at him only to smirk back in a cocky manner, "Just watch. They wont even notice what's happening until it's too late. So come on handsome." She leaped off the bed feet first, and strolled passed him with a close of her eyes, trying to some what give herself a head start, but Greed swiftly turned his weight towards the panther and stride himself right next to her within a matter of seconds, "Uh, I'm leading the way here?"

"By all means." She gave a generous hand forward, actually slowing down for him which was new to him before he asked, "Okay…Why the sudden change of heart in being nice to me?"

"Because you're not as bad as the rest of them." Then she gave him a solemn smile, it seemed tired, but her eyes showed genuine appreciation, "Plus, you're letting me do this, and for that I'm thankful."

"Heh, I just look at it as 'it's none of my business,' if I end up getting involved though it's only because my creator asked me to."

"So you'll jump as well?" She asked joking around. He caught onto it, and chuckled as he placed his hands on the back of his head, "For now."

"Guess we're both on the same page when it comes to that."

"Indeed." After that, it went silent, the two walked for awhile in the comfort of each other's company and nothing more until they reached the surface. As Greed closed the gate behind the girl, Elise took in a deep breath of fresh air, as much as her lungs could fill and released it into the crisp air. From what she could read of the time, it was still very early morning, because the streets were dead quiet, and the only noise that echoed was the sound of their feet walking against the pavement, "So, Which way's the library?"

"Here, I know a short cut. Can you keep up?"

"Do you even have to ask?" He laughed before watching the girl take off up towards the roof tops again, the avarice couldn't understand why she liked to take them instead of a taxi or the back alleys, but he had to admit, once he got the hang of actually feeling like he was racing her to the finish, Greed felt like he was actually starting to have a little fun. When he began to catch up, and take a leap a few meters in front of her, Elise found herself having a little fun as well, glaring at him for a moment before she sped up, sprinting backwards as he had done to her once before, back when he was chasing her. She found herself smiling when he began to make a challenge, both of them speeding up until they were nearly unseen.

When they had finally reached their destination, the panther performed a triple back flip off the edge of the last building when they had reached the front of double doors to the inside of Central H.Q. personal Library. Although they had been underneath the place, going around the place by air seemed a lot more interesting than just taking a stroll. Elise giggled bowing her head down with her hands flatten between her thighs before she threw her head up, hair falling over her shoulders as she smiled with enjoyment, "So who won?" She only asked to see Greed popping his neck and shoulders. Even his upper chest cracked when he stretched, "Well, if I was a gentlemen, which I am to a default-,"

"Yeah, right."

"I'd say that you won this time around Elle."

"I'm surprise you know my nickname."

"Eh, just seemed to come natural." He smiled down at her getting close to the entrance to open the door wide for the dawdling girl pulling out a red broche from her back. She was stuck on what he said before she ignored it and walked through to bring their voices down to a whisper, Greed made it easy when he was nearly inches away from the girl's back, and his lips close to the back of her cat ears under the hat, getting the kitten to grind her teeth when she felt a unwanted shiver. What could she do it was a weak spot that made her cringe after as he spoke, "So what exactly should I keep an eye out for?"

"Let me handle that. If you get your hands dirty you'll make it worse for yourself." She tried to warn him, not out of his safety or anything, but out of her friends body's safety, "How could I make 'worse', we haven't even dipped into the fun parts."

"Not what I meant. I said I wasn't going to get you in trouble, so the best thing to do is pretend you're not interested in what I'm doing, so…Sit in a corner or something."

"No, I was told to watch you."

"Then this is what they call being between a rock and a hard place huh?" Greed frowned at the comment, but watched as the girl looked from the receptionist to him with a soft smile, "Sorry, just trying to be a smart ass like you."

"Well it didn't really help. I want to live in case you hadn't notice which is why I'm taking you-,"

"Hello miss nice to you see you again!"

"Oh yes, I remember. How are you?"

"Eh…Okay. I-I mean-, good. I'm good." Ellie didn't know what was wrong with her, but she felt out of place and feeling like she was lying to her when she said it, but she played it off as nervousness. "Good to hear it. Are you looking for anything particular today? I mean tonight, heh, sorry, once you're here from 6 to midnight you loose track of sunlight."

"I have the same problem."

"Small world huh? What kind of books were you hoping to find?" Ellie felt like she wanted to roll her eyes but she resisted by giving a small light titter, bringing them both to what she was looking for. There were a few things, but she didn't mention anything on Central command's history, or newspaper articles, which lead Greed to believe there was something more to this.

"What're you planning kid?" He only got the chance to ask this once Elise was finished looking for the books she wanted, which apparently had to do with Astral Pulsing and Metaphysics, "Well, I learned that I can enter people's minds and body's through dreaming. I just want a better understanding if it's apart of the clairvoyance.

"That and it's a front for the real juicy stuff, right?"

"You said it, not me." To him, that was her way of saying yes, and he mentally laughed to himself for watching her stop in front of a door. It read, 'Personnel Only', which to Ellie meant, 'Enter At Your Own Risk.'

She hummed softly to herself, picking the table closest to the door and the furthest away from anyone's sights. It seemed to work since there was a small table and desk chairs near the door itself. But before the panther could touch the knob Greed stopped her with a grip of her wrist. She looked back at him baffled before giving a hard stare, "I hope you know what you're doing." He finally said, almost with alertness to make the kitten calm her nerves.

She then smiled softly and patted his hand to give him somewhat of confidence to her touch. Which oddly enough worked when he released her hand so she could open the door. The knob was cold, but her hand warmed it the second she turned it and intruded with the avarice right at her heels. No one seemed to notice the two departing into the back, which was a positive outlook on their behalf.

They cautiously walked into the silent room filled with files, newspapers and all kinds of information that weren't currently occupying the shelves, most being unsolved cases and disappearance. Every kind of information that Ellie could've hoped for, "Hmm…" She scanned closely, looking for anything that seemed to catch her eye that would lead her on the right track. Then Greed began to wonder if he should lend his assistance, but only remained silent.

But that didn't last long either. He was curious to know what exactly she was looking for, "Anything catching your eye hon?"

"Don't call me that please? You sound like a person that actually cares."

"I do to an extent. Technically I could still get in deep shit just for being in the room with you. So why not go all the way?"

"What happen to keeping you out of it?" She asked curiously looking back as he shrugged with his eyes stuck on hers, "What they don't know won't hurt them." There was a small pause until Elise's eyes looked right passed him to notice a strange tidied red box that seemed to stick out of the rest. It was by itself, and it was undated. There was something familiar about it, something that made the panther slowly daze off and walked passed Greed who was confused by the girl's actions, until he saw what she was going for, "The first box you want to go through and it's not even marked?"

"This box…I've seen it before."

"Yeah? Where?" Just as he said that, Elle's mind flipped through her history like a picture book, like reading backwards until she saw the whole picture. It was the same colored box as the one she had saw on the night she was taken to the Laboratory. It was under her father's arm, and soon afterwards, she remembered seeing it when they had awaken her on the operating table, "This…" And just like that, the color in her face fell, and she slowly opened the box to her view, seeing the papers in alphabetical, and neat order, "This is my file."

"Your file?"

"It has…Or it should have most of what they experimented on me. My profile, where I lived…All of it." She stopped almost afraid to take out anything that was put away, then she noticed how neat it was, and curled her fingers as she bit her lip, "My father's been here."

"What? Your old man, himself?"

"Yeah…" She was flicking through the files, how strictly made the whole box was made, "I can tell…I remember getting into his things as a kid. I couldn't help myself my father was always fascinated with world history, and other such things…But no matter how hard I tried to put things back the way they were, he'd always know that it was me that somehow tampered with his belongings. It's one of the reasons I became so skilled in being careful not to 'tamper' with things unless I plan on putting them back precisely the way they are."

"Good skill to have I suppose." Elle hadn't looked to the homunculus but merely nodded before she bit her lip hard, "Damn, I have to do this just right or I'll screw up the whole-," Just as everything seemed to be going the right way, the door began to jiggle open. A key on the other side scrapping and dangling to alert them, Ellie's heart froze in her chest and she placed the box exactly where it laid, she made sure of that, but then she suddenly felt Greed pull her by her arm and into the nearest, and only other hiding place besides the vent in the room. The coat closet. He was the first to enter, bringing the kitten to his chest as human possible to make sure he had room to close the wooden doors tight.

The two kept their lips sealed, but their eyes on one another when they heard someone enter, walking around and scavenging through things while they whistled. Again, the familiarity of it, and how it sounded made her heart and stomach turn in disgust, rage, and fear. Her face fell pale, and Greed could see it, but made no advancement as he listened in, "Ah there it is." The person said, confirming to Elise that it was indeed her Father. He must've been there the whole time without her knowing.

She lipped it to Greed who continued to listen in with nothing but a nod to acknowledge her. From the sound of it he was sliding a box of the shelves while grabbing some more things on the side, and began to head out with a lock of the door behind him.

When he was gone, Elise had seemed to be holding her breath, and started to pant when she burst out of the door, holding her arms while Greed stayed on guard, "Ellie, you better calm yourself, otherwise I'll have to take you back underground, you know that right?"

"Shut up." She growled, "I'm not going to give him a chance to escape when he's so close. I want to know where he's taking those files." She had noticed the box missing, just what she had expected from her own flesh in blood, and how could she not have seen that in advance. It seemed to perfect to just have her file-, her life wrapped up in a little package for her to take. Nope.

There would always be strings attached. But that didn't mean she wasn't going to at least see where he was going, where he would place those oh so classified files and store them with even more classified files, and that's all Ellie really needed to start her hunt. The opportunity was just too tempting. She unlocked the door slowly, and carefully peaked an eye ball through, "Elle? What're you planning?" She snickered grinning mischievously at the avarice, "Whatever gave you that idea?"

"Just think about what you're doing, if we get caught-,"

"We won't. And besides, I just want to get my hands on information. The rest comes later."

"You're not interested in just the red box?"

"Well…That's just a bonus. Where ever he's taking it, I'm sure I'll be able to get the information I need. And if this is just a trap to lure me out, well then I will just have to take that chance." The two laughed at one another before the panther egged him on, "So what do you say? Want to play Sherlock Holmes with me? It'll kill time, and the stores don't open for another couple of hours." The avaricious was really starting to regret having to watch this girl, because as he smirked devilishly back at her, the grin he could hide grew when he saw how much trouble this little kitten could get him into, "Lead the way, doll."

Next- Chapter 22:Paper Trail