Dolcetto groaned as he awoke. His head throbbed and his vision was blurry. "What happened…" he muttered as he rubbed his hear. His eyes suddenly widened as it all came rushing back to him. How the freak had escaped, how he had chased him down. "Shit!" he thought, "Well, I better go track him down or Greed'll be pissed." He then got up and began sniffing the boy out. One of the great things about being part dog was the nose. Although, it was a bit hard to distinguish the scent of people from the overpowering scent of the sewage, but if he really concentrated on a familiar scent, he could easily track it back to the source.
He walked aimlessly around for a while, following Rin's blind stumbling in the dark. He went in circles for what felt like hours. "This is getting ridiculous, just how far had this kid gone…." He was starting to get annoyed. He hopped he would run into him soon or-
Dolcetto stopped when he saw a huge stain on the ground and smelled the overpowering scent of iron. His eyes widened. It was blood. But not just any blood, It was Greed's blood. He could smell the homunculus' sweat and callone all over the place. There were a few more scents he couldn't identify, but one he definitely could: Rin. He narrowed his eyes as he examined the scene. There were slash marks all over the concrete. There was a sword fight, and form the looks of it, Greed lost.
Dolcetto's eyes widened. No way...Had that kid really defeated Greed? That's impossible! Greed was unkillable...well almost anyways. Besides! There wasn't even a body!
...But if he did kill Greed for good...there wouldn't be a body. He remembered the first time he saw Greed lose a limb, how it just disintegrated. He swallowed. No. Greed couldn't be dead. He couldn't die that easily. Maybe the kid had knocked him out and dragged the body away! He continued to follow the scent, but to his horror he quickly found a sight that suggested his boss hadn't been spared...and confirmed no one else had: He saw Roa's body, mangled and bloody, floating in the sewer. He looked like he had been cut up by a sword's man, most likely with a katana of some kind. "Just like the kid's…." he growled, fist shaking. He couldn't smell anything but sewage on Roa's body, but he could smell the kid all over a different spot: A pool of blood that smelled distinctly like Martel.
Dolcetto's eyes widened. "Martel?!" he breathed. No...it couldn't be! He ran over to the pool. Yes...it was indeed hers. And from the size of it, there was no way she was still alive.
And he could smell the boy's scent lingering around it. "But where was the body?!" he questioned. Then he remembered Martel had been in the boy's suit. He must have killed her while she was still inside. Dolcetto broke down and pounded his fist on the ground. Most of his friends were gone. That boy had killed them in cold blood! And if he dispatched Roa and Greed so easily, there was little chance that Bido had survived any encounter he may have had with him….
Dolcetto picked up his sword and glowered at the ground. His fists shook. Determination filled him. He wasn't going to let him get away with this. He was going to avenge his friends. That boy had taken everything from him...so he was going to take his life in exchange. Dolcetto began walking back towards the devil's nest. Maybe there were a few more allies there he could round up….
…
"Al?"a voice called, "Al wake up!"
"Al! Come on buddy, snap out of it!"
Alphonse he heard the voice call from god knows where his mind was. He was in some kind of swirling tunnel filled with knowledge. He had seen many strange things. Verses of some kind of scripture poured into his mind. Transmutations circles that didn't look like transmutation circles flashed into his mind. Strange words popped in and out of his head with each one, such as devil's trap, and Michael's barrier. The strangest had been an image of a woman with brown hair speaking to a wolf covered in blue fire. Then the images stopped and he was in some kind of strange body, looking at his brother. Finally, as the voices cried out to him again, he was in a brightly lit hallway. His soul fire eyes focused on the faces in front of him. Ed was sitting there and so was Rin. Both were smiling, though Rin's didn't reach his eyes. "Rin? Ed?"he said. Then he noticed the trail of blood on the floor. "Rin! Ed!" he cried, "Are you alright? You're covered in blood. What-"
Rin's face fell. "It's not ours Al…" He said in a low voice as he looked away, "It's…."
"It was that woman's who was inside you…" Ed said grimly. He then gestured to the covered body behind them. Al gasped as he saw her boots peeking out from underneath the sheets.
"M-Martel?!" he squeaked.
"We...thought it would be best to remove her before you awoke…" Armstrong said behind them.
Al covered his face. He would cry if he could, but since he was stuck in this suit he couldn't. "I couldn't save her…" he whimpered.
Ed and Rin looked down. Ed's eyes were filled with sorrow while Rin glared at the floor in rage. "It's ok Al, you can't blame yourself," Ed said.
"But I can blame myself…" Rin thought as he bit his lip. He should have done something. He should have stopped Bradley, but he didn't.
Ed then forced a smile. "Come on Al," he said, "Let's get you home and cleaned up, alright?"
"Hold it you three," a calm voice said. Rin's fist clenched and he bowed his head as he grimaced. The turned to see the fuhrer standing there. "I have a few questions for you before you can leave," he said. Ed stood up to face him. Rin Stood up but didn't look at the Fuhrer. "Have any of you had any previous dealings with the man called Greed?" He questioned.
"Of course not," Ed said.
"No," Rin simply responded.
"Did you trade any manner of information with him?" Bradley pressed.
"No," Ed said, "And the military wasn't even mentioned once."
"That's not what I meant," he said, voice growing dark, "If you exchanged any information with him that could have endangered the military, I'll execute you right now. So I ask again, Did you make any kind of a deal with him?"
"The only thing that we exchanged with him were punches," Rin said, glancing at the Fuhrer. His tone was confident and fearless.
"Oh? And how did you get that sword from him?" Bradley asked.
Rin's eye twitched slightly. "I attacked him and stole it from him," he said.
Bradley stared at him for a moment before nodding. "Very well," he said, "Now I have one more question for the two of you." He turned to Ed and Al. "I'm curious about your steel arm and your brother's metal body," he said, "Are they in anyway connected?"
All three boys froze as they realised the Fuhrer knew their secret. But then the man suddenly laughed. "You really are an honest kid!" he said with a smile, "Alright men, pull out." He turned to leave and the boys relaxed. Rin went back to glaring at the ground.
King Bradley suddenly paused as he noticed this. "Major Mustang," he said, "Is everything alright?"
Rin told himself to just say nothing was wrong. He could hear his brother and his father's voice begging for him to keep his cool, but he didn't listen. "No. I'm not alright," he said, turning to face the Fuhrer. "I think what has happened here today was wrong," he stated, looking the man in front of him dead in the eye, "You had these men kill dozens of people for no good reason. They may have been criminals, but they at least deserved a trial. You can't just come barging in here and killing people! This is a bar, what if you shot an innocent bystander? We won't know because they're dead!"
Everyone looked at the boy in shock. "Young Mustang-" Armstrong said, placing a hand on his shoulder, but Rin sent him a furious glare that told him to back off. The larger man blinked in surprise. He had never seen such a vicious look on anyone but his eldest sister.
Rin turned back to the Fuhrer. Bradley narrowed his eyes at him. "Are you questioning my authority, son?" he said in a low and quiet tone.
"No, I'm questioning your rational!" Rin responded, "Or lack of any, because there was no reason for you to come barging in here! This was a small band of thugs. Edward and I had this under control. We could have escaped without your help, and I had already done so. And even if we did need your help, you didn't need to kill everyone! None of these people were armed with guns of any kind. All you would have needed to do was incapacitate them, but instead you slaughtered them."
Ed and Al looked on in surprise as the two stared down one another. Armstrong moved again, this time to the fuhrer. "Please, Sir," he said, "Disregard his words. He did not understand the full weight of the situation, and-"
The fuhrer suddenly laughed. "No need to cover for him," he said, "I appreciate the boy's honesty and thoughts. I'm not getting any younger, so it's good to see future generations thinking about how our military is run. Maybe he could become an advisor to the next fuhrer, eh?" He then turned to leave. "In the meantime, take care of that new sword of yours, boy," he said as he waved goodbye, "It's very special, as I'm sure you've discovered." Rin's eyes widened before they narrowed again. He saw the sword in action, but did he know what it really was?
…
Dolcetto opened the secret entrance to the devil's nest ever so slightly, only to his horror to discover the place was crawling with military personnel and the bodies of his fellow chimeras were strewn everywhere. Dolcetto was seething with rage. The kid brought in the military?! Dolcetto supposed he shouldn't be surprised. He was a good for nothing state alchemist after all. Still he couldn't believe how that kid could betray his own kind. He couldn't believe he had actually tried to protect that kid by dragging him out of that alley. He wanted to rush in there and slash the throats of everyone responsible, particularly Rin, but a more rational side of him said he wouldn't get very far. He'd have to be able to get the kid alone before he'd be able to exact his revenge. Dolcetto quietly closed the door and headed back into the sewers, deciding to get out of Dublith and find a safe place to hide for a while.
….
Later that evening, Ed and Rin were finishing up cleaning up Al's armor. While they were doing so they were explaining what had happened to them. "And this guy named Greed? He had an ouroboros tattoo like the guys from the lab," Ed said, "He didn't seem to be in league with them but he's definitely connected to them."
Major Armstrong nodded as he wrote this down. "I'll make sure to tell the Lieutenant Colonel about this right away," he said, "In the meantime, you boys don't do anything Rash, alright?" Rin and Ed nodded while Al just sat silently to the side. "Good," he said, "Now have a good night." The major then began to walk away.
Once he was out of sight, Al spoke up.
"Brother...They're back," he said, "my memories." Ed perked up but Rin looked confused.
"What memories?" Rin questioned.
"Al's memories of the gate," Ed clarified, "What did you see?"
"Well…"he said, "It was pretty weird…" "I saw lots of strange things, like transmutation circles I never knew existed…" he said, "But I don't think I saw anything that could get our bodies back."
"That's Alright Al," Ed said, "Don't feel bad."
The suit of armor sighed. "But we haven't made any progress…" he despaired.
"Not true," Ed said, handing him his gauntlet back, "You remember what the fuhrer told us back in Central?"
"Oh!" Al said, "You mean about the unrest in the higher ups and about the philosopher's stone? I heard he was looking into that...and the homunculi."
"Yeah, well I don't know if he's really all that interested in looking into it…" Rin said, crossing his arms. He remembered Greed's words. He was starting to think they were true.
"By the way, Rin," Ed said before hitting Rin over the head with a towel, "what got into you? How you just snapped at the Fuhrer like that… you could have gotten into some serious trouble! Especially considering he just got done threatening to excuse us."
Rin sighed. "I know but…." he said, "I just couldn't let myself just stand back and let him get away with that without even one word against him. I had to just stand by and watch Roa and Martel die, even though I could have done something and it made me feel sick." "I can't do that again. I just can't sit back and be a passive observer," he said clenching his fists.
Ed gave him a sympathetic look. "I know how you feel," he said, "But I don't know if we have much of a choice…" "Still, that doesn't mean we have to back down," he said, "You had a point. Bradley said he wanted to find these homunculi. If Greed really was connected to them, then why slaughter everyone? Why not capture them for questioning?"
"Yeah, and what was he doing here in Dublith in the first place?" Al added, "And why did he lead the attack on such a small group?"
"Whatever the reason was, it can't be good," he said, before taking a breath. "Guys...there's something I have to admit," he said, "There was a point in time before I met up with you Al where I was alone with Greed, and he told me we couldn't trust our superiors, but most of all that we couldn't trust Bradley...And I think he might be right."
Ed narrowed his eyes while AL looked surprised. "You trust Greed?" Ed said incredulously.
"I trust him more than the man who slaughtered dozens of people in an afternoon for no good reason," Rin responded.
"You have a point there…" Ed said in agreement. He narrowed his eyes. "No matter how we look at this, none of it adds up. We've been warned...But we need to get closer," he said.
….
Greed sighed in the dark. Deep down he knew this was going to be the end, but it was still him who got the last laugh. The sword was safe. He didn't know what they wanted it for but it didn't matter. They weren't going to get their grubby little hands on it. However, he did not feel completely fulfilled. Bradley or whatever he really was had slaughtered all of his fre-possessions. He wanted more than anything to rip his throat out as many times as he could. However, in his current position, that didn't look possible. He grumbled. Looked like he was going to leave this world with regrets.
"Oh, and I made a rather unexpected catch," the fuhrer said. Light suddenly poured down around him and he flinched at it.
"Well isn't this a blast from the past…" Lust said, a smirk in her voice, "I haven't seen that face in over a hundred years. What happened Greed, did your ultimate shield finally fail you?"
Greed smirked. "Oh look, the gang's all here," he said, "Good to see you Lust the lascivious. You can pierce me with your ultimate spear any day." He then turned to the portly homunculus. "Hello Gluttony the voracious. Still haven't found the right diet yet, have you?"he teased. "And little Envy the jealous," he sneered at the long haired homunculus, "Please, for the last time, get a new outfit." Envy hissed at him in response. "So, where's Sloth the indolent?"he asked.
"Oh, we're keeping him busy," Lust said.
"Hmmm…." Greed uttered, "So who's the new guy?"
"I am Wrath the Furious," he stated, not facing Greed.
The bound homunculus whistled. "Wrath and Bradley one in the same," he said, "Now there's a twist." He then smirked. "Too bad you've all stayed the same," he said, "Particularly you, Envy. Still ugly as ever."
The androgynous homunculus bristled. "Say that again," he growled as he stood up, red lightning dancing around him, "Do it! I dare you. Say it again and we'll see how fast I can tear you apart!"
Greed knew he wouldn't actually be able to hurt him, even in his current state. Someone would stop the little imp. However, he did not expect who would do it.
A foul smelling vine of some kind suddenly smack Envy in the back, sending him stumbling. "Stop it, fool," a low voice growled as a man with ram horns stepped out into the light, "Your father won't appreciate such behavior."
Envy glared at the man but backed off, as if he was slightly afraid of him. The rest of the homunculi seemed equally warey. Greed raised an eyebrow curiously. Who was this guy? What was he? And why were the others so nervous. "Um, I'm sorry but," Greed started, grabbing the attention of the man(?), "Who the hell are you?"
The being smiled up at him a jagged toothed smile as his glasses flashed menacingly. "Hello Greed," he said in a polite tone that the homunculus didn't trust, "My name is Astaroth. It's a pleasure to meet you."
"Yeah….You too pal…" he responded carefully, "So what are you, some kind of chimera?"
The being laughed at him (in a clearly mocking tone, Greed noted). "Oh no," he said, "I am not one of those filthy beasts you allied yourself with. I am simply a humble servant of your father. By the way, I believe he wishes to speak with you."
"Thank you Astaroth," Father said closing his book, "Greed, You are both my son and a part of my soul. So why would you betray your loving father."
"I'm surprised you'd ask," Greed sneered while blinking innocently, "I mean you know the answer better than anyone, Dad. You made me this way. I'm Greed the avaricious. I'm just being myself. I just had larger ambitions than spending my life working for you!"
Father paused. "And if I asked you to return and work for me again?" he questioned.
Greed chuckled. "Never!" he growled.
Father narrowed his eyes but did not look at Greed. "As you wish," he said. Suddenly, the sound of grinding gears could be heard. A trap door opened up beneath Greed to reveal a vat of molten material. Astaroth smiled at what was about to happen. Oh, this was going to be fun to watch. Just like watching the souls of the damned being boiled in the unyielding pires back home, only not quite as magnificent.
Greed swallowed as he was slowly lowered down to it. "Jeez," he joked, "Talk about cheesy." As he touched it, he cried out in pain. The other homunculi looked on, faces stoic but inwardly uncomfortable. All of a sudden Greed started laughing. "Why don't you come on in, kids! The water's fine!"he cried out, voice cracking as he laughed like a madman, "Nice and hot, like the fires of hell!"
"Trust me!" Astaroth called out, "The fires of hell are much hotter, but you'll soon find that out!" The demon chuckled slightly. Envy glanced at him, slightly unnerved by the demon. While he was always one for deriving pleasure from other's pain, he had a hard time understanding how he could find this situation so amusing. Didn't he understand that father would do the same to him if he failed him?
Greed looked over to the demon with a deranged smile. "I'll send you a postcard and let you know what they're like!" he laughed, "And when the rest of you get there, I'll be waITING FOR YOOOUUU!"
"Say hello to my brothers for me!" Astaroth added.
Father glance at the demon before speaking. "Now return from whence you were born," he said raising his hand, "Return to my depths and rejoin my soul. Return, Greed!"
"IF THAT'S WHAT YOU WANT DAD!" Greed cried with a wicked grin, rumbling coming from the vat, "BUT DON'T BE MAD WHEN I GIVE YOU A STOMACH ACHE!" Noise like a storm filled the room. As Greed was completely melted down, it finally stopped. A red liquid was syphoned from the vat and into a wine glass that Father drank from. After that, the homunculi were dismissed. Envy lingered for a moment, staring at the vat. While he couldn't say his brother didn't deserve it, that didn't make it easy to watch. He shuddered at the thought of himself being in that vat.
"Well that was certainly fun," Astaroth said, also looking up at it, "Too bad, though. I quite liked that one's spirit. It would have been fun to break it myself."
Envy didn't know how to respond to that. While he wouldn't deny he enjoyed breaking someone's spirit, the fact that Astaroth was talking about his family made things different. He wasn't sure quite why he felt this confliction. It was true that he hated Greed, but….well he disliked all of his family but he still had some semblance of loyalty to them. They were all homunculi, after all.
"Well, at least we got a good show out of it," Astaroth said before turning to leave. The homunculus watched the demon walk away. As he did, he felt his contempt for the demon increase.
….
It was night in the quiet village. Dolcetto slept in the alley. While he had managed to hop a train for a few miles in his journey, he had to jump before he reached a military inspection point, causing him to have to walk the rest of the way to the small town. His feet ached from all the walking, so he didn't care where he was sleeping, so long as he didn't have to move for the next eight hours.
Unfortunately, he wasn't able to do that, as he felt something trying to steal his sword. He shot up from where he had been lying down to grab it away from the thief. "Hey!" he cried, "get away from…" He trailed off as he saw what exactly the thief was. It looked like a green monkey's head with large red arms and feet. "What the hell?!" he hissed.
The thing growled at him as he attempted to get his sword away from it. "No! Get your own sword!"he shouted, pulling it away, "Now beat it." But the creature was not ready to give up. It hissed and slashed at his arm, creating a small gash that leaked blood. Dolcetto hissed in pain before kicking the creature away. "I said, back off!" He snapped.
The creature tumbled away and Dolcetto smirked, but his smirk faded as he hear angry gibbering coming from the alley walls. He turned around and his eyes grew wide as dozens of the little beasts started coming out of nowhere. The just started materializing, almost fading into existence.
Dolcetto was completely overwhelmed. He attempted to strike down a few with his sword, but every time he injured one, they repaired themselves like a homunculus. They swarmed around him. Dolcetto cried out as they tackled him to the ground, biting, scratching, pulling his hair. He was so distracted by the attack, he didn't even notice a man enter the alley way. The man dipped his hand in a jar of oil before speaking.
"For He inflicts pain, and gives relief; He wounds, and His hands also heal," the man spoke aloud, causing the creatures to stop and shudder. They all turn towards him. Dolcetto finally noticed the man's presence. "From six troubles he will deliver you, Even in seven evil will not touch you. In famine He will redeem you from death, And in war from the power of the sword," the man said loudly, "You will be hidden from the scourge of the tongue, And you will not be afraid of violence when it comes."
The creatures hissed and suddenly attacked him. When one came near him, he grabbed its face by his oil covered hand. The creature screeched in pain. However, it did not cry out for long, as alchemic light suddenly engulfed the arm and the creature exploded. He moved onto the next and the next, all while he continued to speak. "You will laugh at violence and famine, And you will not be afraid of wild beasts," he said, Three more fell to him. "You will know also that your descendants will be many, And your offspring as the grass of the earth. You will come to the grave in full vigor, Like the stacking of grain in its season," he stated, "Behold this; we have investigated it, and so it is. Hear it, and know for yourself." The rest of the creatures suddenly cried out and exploded into black smoke.
Dolcetto looked around himself wildly, amazed at how he somehow defeated the creatures with words alone. "You…" he breathed before standing up and bowing to the man, "Thank you! How did you do that? I-" he stopped when he saw the man's face in the darkness. There was a large, X shaped scar on his face. "Wait a minute…" he said, "That scar! You're the alchemist killer."
Scar narrowed his eyes at him. "Yes," he said, "And you're not exactly human, are you? You are a chimera, a creature of alchemy."
Dolcetto blinked in surprise. "How did you know that?"he asked.
"Your eyes are too sharp for a human. As dark as it is, you should not be able to make out such details of my face," he said, "And also, those creatures only swarm like that in the presence of spilled animal blood. I see no dead animal around, so it must have come from you."
Dolcetto smirked. "Clever," he said, "My name's Dolcetto, and yes, I was fused with a dog. What about you? What's your name?"
Scar's eyes widened slightly. A dog? Like that child he had met several years ago? He narrowed his eyes. This one did not seem to be in as much pain. He did not need to be spare by his hand like the other did. "They call me Scar," he said as he turned to leave, "Now I suggest you find somewhere safer to sleep."
The dog chimera frowned. "Yeah but what's your real name?" Dolcetto prodded, chasing after him.
"I have renounced my 'real' name," he said simply, "Now go bother someone else."
"I don't think so," he said, "You did something for me, so I'll help repay the favor. Come on, let's team up. I'll help you kill a state alchemist."
Scar glared at him. "I will not allow you to drag yourself into my business," Scar said.
"It's not dragging me into anything," he said, "First of all, i'm already a wanted man. There's someone that I'm after, just like you: the Spitfire Alchemist."
Scar stopped and turned towards him. "Is this the truth?" he demanded, "Are you sure it is him you are after?"
"Do you know any other kid with blue flame alchemy?" Dolcetto responded.
Scar narrowed his eyes at him. "Give up your hopes of defeating him," he said, turning away, "You do not have the skills needed."
Dolcetto frowned at him. "Excuse me, I've been sword fighting all my life. I'm plenty skilled!" he said, "Besides, I have to stop him. He slaughtered all my friends! He brought in the army and had them all killed! We thought he was one of us, or at least understood us, but we were wrong." While he'd admit he didn't expect kindness from the kid after having kidnapped him, killing his friends was still unforgivable.
Scar gave him a pitying look. He knew how he felt. And because of that, he knew that him telling the chimera no wasn't going to stop him. Maybe he could take him in and teach him how to hunt demons. It would be good have someone to help him fight Shaitan. "If you come with me, there is something you must understand: He's not one of your kind, I can assure you of that. He isn't even human," Scar said, "Those flames, they aren't alchemy."
Dolcetto looked confused. "If he isn't human, then what is he?" he questioned.
"A monster," Scar said as he beckoned him to follow him. The chimera did, and had everything explained to him along the way back to Scar's camp. Once he had, Dolcetto felt lucky to even be alive, or that his friends had simply died by his sword instead of burning alive. He was also horrified by the fact such a creature could exist. But most of all, he felt determined by this too. He had to stop this monster before it was too late.
Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. It was a lot of fun to write. Next one: ling's first appearance!...Hopefully, anyways. There are a lot of things I might need to get through in that chapter, but I am excited to write for him. Anyways have a nice day and let me know what you think!