25: Vengeance

Edward and Christin hurried toward the village. She sensed that something was horribly wrong, though she didn't know exactly what. Something in her gut kept telling her to hurry.

"Silent Dreamer!" Standing Bear exclaimed. "No, you cannot see. Edward, you must take her away from here."

"What? If something is wrong, I want to help!" she protested. She pushed her way to the front of the circle the tribe had formed, Edward close behind her.

"Oh my god…" he mumbled. Christin looked at him, and then looked at what he was staring at.

"Moon Willow…" she gasped. Tears instantly sprung to her eyes and Edward turned her into him. Moon Willow… or rather… her body… was decapitated and staked into the ground. Her blood was spilled irregularly, almost in a circular pattern. "Please tell me I'm not seeing this…" she begged, her tears making a wet spot on Edward's shirt.

"I wish I could," he sighed, rubbing her back soothingly. "That's…" he now recognized the pattern her blood made. It was the tattoo that the Homunculi bore.

"You know this mark?" Standing Bear asked. Edward nodded.

"It's the mark of a group of bad people created by alchemy," he replied. "They're the ones who… are hunting Christin."

"Let's go," she muttered.

"What?" came a reply from all around.

"I'm going to make them pay for hurting my friend!!" she screamed, large cracks appearing in the ground.

"You cannot lose control of your powers! Do you remember what happened last time you lost control?" Standing Bear said quickly.

"You are right. I won't lose control… I won't destroy everything again," she calmed down. "I can't afford to ruin anything else…"

"I think you must go back to Amestris. I believe this is a sign that they know she is here. You are going to destroy them, yes?" Black Crescent asked shakily.

"I will. First they took Al, now they've killed Moon Willow. That is unforgivable!" Christin nodded, wiping her face with the back of her hand.

"Do what you must," Standing Bear smiled, an act of saying goodbye.

"I'll come back, once everything is taken care of," she grinned. "We best get moving." Edward held his breath when Christin embraced him, knowing they were going to Jump. They landed roughly on the upper floor of Rockbell automail.

"What's going on? Oh, you're back," Winry stated.

"And stuck," Christin grimaced. Indeed, she was halfway through the floor. "I still haven't really gotten the hang of phasing yet…" she admitted. "Sometimes, things like this happen… and… yeah, I can't get out."

Edward grabbed her hands and started tugging. In the blink of an eye, they both turned transparent and fell through to the floor below. Winry rushed downstairs to find them in a small heap near the table.

"Maybe you shouldn't do that anymore," he sighed.

"Methinks you're right," Christin agreed. She brushed her hair out of her face and sat up. "Who're they, your friends? That one guy looks kinda like Ling from Mulan."

"I don't know what you are talking about. I am Ling Yao, twelfth son of the Emperor of Xing. This is Lanfan, my companion and May Chang, a daughter of the emperor. I'm a friend of Ed's," the man replied.

"Oh, okay. I'm Christin Fallbrook, um… I'm basically like a god and this one loser guy who works for the military is hunting me. You obviously know them so… yeah," she responded.

"I'm glad to finally meet you, Christin. I don't know if you know this, but Lanfan and I tried to help when you were arrested shortly after your arrival in our world," Lin nodded.

"I didn't know that. You look smart; do you know anything about artificial beings? Here they're called 'Homunculus'," she asked.

Lin launched into a lengthy explanation of how he first came to Amestris to find the secret of immortality and gave his soul up to the Homunculus Greed, but through some fluke he was later rejected and returned to being human. "They have this weird tattoo of a snake eating its tail. I think it might be their crest, like Ed and his brother have that cross thing."

"It's called the crest of Flammel," Edward growled.

"Where is your brother?" Lanfan inquired. Edward's gaze darkened and he hung his head.

"He was taken by a Homunculus named Deceit. She seduced him and now he's her hapless puppet," he replied softly.

"You two have had a past experience with these Homunculi, right? Do you know what they wanted?" Christin asked.

"Most of them wanted to be human, but I think they were being used to take over the world or something," Edward sighed. He didn't really care anymore about what they did. Most of them were dead, right? Why bother?

"But they can't do alchemy, which doesn't make sense since they're behind the fabrication of the Philosopher's Stone… there was even one who could use alchemy, right? The child-like one who had your limbs?" Christin leaned forward and rested her elbows on her knees. "Maybe they need another alchemist because they still have something to do. Maybe that's why they took Alphonse."

"You may be on to something there. I wouldn't be surprised if they came after Mr. Edward or you next, since he's a great alchemist and you've got such amazing powers, so you claim," May added.

"That's it," Christin concluded softly.

"Did you say something?" Edward yawned.

"They know. They know that I care about Al, about you. They're using him as a way to get to me… no, no, no, that's not it…" she stood up and started pacing, dragging her hands through her hair. "Why would they bother taking him if they could just come get me? But maybe there's a reason they can't come fetch me themselves… they're trying to get me to come to them."

"Since when did you get so smart?" Edward half teased.

"Since I realized that I can't solve this problem if I stay stupid, now shut up and let me think… okay, obviously they want me, but we don't know why," she mumbled.

"Well, you do look like Robin's dead lover and Deceit," Edward noted.

"Robin… that bastard certainly has a large role in this… he's an alchemist, right? Mustang mentioned him once… maybe he created Deceit, the way you and Al made Sloth when you tried to transmute your mom. But if that's the case… why would he be after me?" she sighed deeply.

"Maybe he doesn't know that his lover was resurrected successfully," May stated.

"Ooh, all this is giving me one helluva migraine…" Christin groaned.

"The Homunculi were trying to use Al and me because of our powers… maybe they're going to do the same with you," Edward added.

"But anything they might be planning would be evil, right? You should lay low for a while until we know exactly what is going on," Lin said.

"No, we can't do that. That's what they're expecting us to do. They think that we're going to just sit around and twiddle our thumbs while they plot world domination or whatever and try to figure out what they're planning. Jeesh, this is starting to sound like a bad comic book…" Christin mused.

"Then we run. We find Al and we run away so they can't find you," Edward suggested.

"We can't do that either. After they figure out that we're too smart to just sit around and wait for something to happen, they'll go for that plan next. I got it," she said, slapping her fist to her palm.

"If we can't wait it out, and we can't run, what other option is there? Do you want them to find you?" Lanfan asked.

"Bingo! Yahtzee! We have a winner! Our survey says: we lead them straight to me. It's the only way we can find Al, considering that we have no idea where their base is," Christin exclaimed. "Then, once we're inside, we break them up and stop whatever they're doing and return everything back to normal. Boom! World is saved!"

"But how will they know where you are?" Winry asked. She had been listening to the conversation but had never joined in because she didn't really have any experience with what they were dealing with. "You should just quit while you're ahead. After all, this is your fault; you'll only make it worse."

"Winry, are you okay?" Edward asked.

"It's not me you should worry about, Ed. She's the one you need to be concerned about. She's trying to make it sound like she can fix everything, when really she's at the heart of it. She is the problem. I say we kill her and solve it," the blond woman snarled.

"What are you talking about, Winry? You know I'm not like that," Christin insisted.

"I'm sick of your lies. You should leave. It's not like anyone truly cares about what happens to you. We all know that once you're gone, everything will go back to normal," Winry pressed.

"Something is wrong; she's not herself," Edward stated. Christin closed her eyes and listened hard. Something had been bugging her ever since she came back to this house: a dull roaring sound in the very back of her mind, like some sort of low-pitched frequency that she was picking up. Not that it would surprise her, what with her affinity for technology and all. She started walking slowly in the direction it was coming from.

"Christin?" Edward asked.

"Do it now, Ed, while her back it turned. I know you can do it. After all, you've killed before," Winry coaxed.

"Snap out of it Winry!" he cried, shaking her shoulders.

"There!" Christin cried, pointing at the radio. She bent her arms at a 90 degree angle and turned her palms to the floor. She shoved them down quickly and with a loud whomp sound, about half a dozen small streams of brightly colored light materialized. "It's coming from the radio," her silver voice joined the pink, blue, gold, green, purple, and black streams.

"What is this stuff?" Edward asked, his own voice generating more golden threads.

"It's what people's voices look like. Usually you can't see them, but I gave them color so it'd be easier to see what was wrong," Christin explained.

"I guess you do have cool powers," May's pink voice chimed.

"Cool or not, she is still a threat to our existence. Edward, please get rid of her," Winry's purple voice swirled in the air. It was interlaced with black. Christin approached the radio, where a song she had forgotten that she had recorded back when she first came here was playing.

"It's odd that they'd broadcast a song on the radio. I've only ever heard announcements, and there aren't very many stations," she said, picking up the radio and turning it over in her hands.

"What's the black stuff coming from it?" Lin's blue words joined the rainbow hanging in the air.

"The black stuff looks like it might be something impure, as it's a color usually associated with evil, which I sense a bit of in the room," Lanfan's green voice swirled around the other color threads.

"You are correct, Lanfan," Christin said as she grabbed onto the black stream. White light so bright it was blinding flashed the moment her skin touched the stream, and when it faded, a small blob of blackness floated in the palm of her hand.

"What's going on?" Winry asked suddenly. Her visible voice was now pure purple; all traces of the blackness were gone.

"This energy… it's tainted. I've seen this kind of energy when Deceit attacked me. It was kind of like the opposite of mine, since my power is white. I think that this is some of her power, and it's being used to brainwash people," Christin deduced. The sound flowing from the radio was now a bright yellow.

"What's going on in here?" red threads joined the other colors as Pinako entered the room. "Oh, you're back."

"Whoa, why is there floating colors in the air?" Katie asked as her peach colored words joined the others.

"I guess you got some new powers," Kelsie chuckled, her voice creating a chocolaty brown stream. Christin smiled and nodded.

"Argh, why won't this red color go away?" Deceit growled. Red streaks had appeared in her hair a few days ago, and no matter what she did they would not go away.

"Deceit, I'd like to have a word with you," Envy growled from the doorway to her room.

"Yes, darling, what is it?" she replied sweetly.

"It's your relationship with Alphonse. I think… that you've actually fallen in love with him," he cooed. Deceit's breath caught in her throat.

"Don't be ridiculous. I'm incapable of feeling such emotions," she quickly lied. What was he talking about?

"But you were in love before you became what you are today. It would only be natural that your emotions from your memories leaked into your life now," Envy smirked. "Don't tell me that you want to become a human like those idiots I used to work with."

"Why would I want to become a creature who is so susceptible to pain and weakness?" she countered.

"Whatever. It's your life I guess, but that won't stop me from interfering," he smirked again and walked away.

"What do you mean?" she asked. "You're not going to hurt Alphonse, are you?" Maybe he was right. Maybe she was in love with Alphonse.

"Like you care. He's just your puppet, right? Your little love toy?" Envy lilted. "Why should it matter what happens to him? Once we have the girl he won't be needed… unless he changes."

"You don't mean…" Deceit started. Alphonse's scream pierced the stillness; she had to bite her tongue to keep from joining in.

Alphonse woke up slowly. His entire body hurt, especially his neck. No… that wasn't his name… was it?

"I see you're awake," Deceit's sweet voice sliced through the silence. "Are you well, darling?"

"I… I think I am. I hurt all over, though," he replied as he sat up. Pain shot through his neck and he clamped a hand to it. "What…" he started.

"It's alright. You're one of us now," Deceit smiled gently.

"One of… you?" he repeated. He tried remembering what happened, but only got fragments of what he guessed were memories. There was a boy, a year older than him with long blond hair tied back in a braid. A girl with blond hair pulled back in a ponytail with a wrench in her hand. There was… a woman with a kind smile. And another girl… she was different from the first one. She had sad hazel eyes and short hair… and she was singing. Edward… that was the name of the blond boy. Then… there was another boy, with short hair the color of dirty honey. But… his body was being taken apart. That was him. Then he was a suit of armor, following Edward.

"Do you remember me?" she asked. He paused and nodded.

"I remember. You are Deceit and… I think I loved you," he replied.

"That's right," she nodded. "Do you remember your brother?"

"My brother… is Edward," he said.

"And Christin?"

"Christin? … I remember her…. I hate her. She used me, and I hate her," he growled.

"The ninth member of the Ouroboros has awakened. Welcome to the family, Vengeance," Envy smirked.

"Family…" Alphonse repeated. He looked in the mirrors lining the wall. A purple tattoo of a serpent eating its tail stood out sharply on his neck.

"That's right," Deceit said, sadness seeping into her voice a bit. Why him, of all people? Why did it have to be Alphonse? "Your name is Vengeance, and you belong with us."

"I am Vengeance… my name… is what keeps me going. I'm going to destroy the people who hurt me… because that's what vengeance is."

A/N: bet you didn't see that coming, huh? Alphonse is now a homunculus. In case you didn't notice, I've been smushing what I've seen/what I know about the anime with what I've read of the manga, which is why the story started out after Shamballa and includes characters like Lin (who I think looks like Ling from Mulan. Yes? No? Maybe? I dunno; go watch it and see). But this is a fanfic, so I'm allowed to warp exactly what happens to the characters in my story, which is why Lin's human again (if you want to know why it's 'again' go read the manga cuz I'm not going to spoil it if you haven't read it yet)

Also, I will be uploading the manga version of the story soon, cuz my friend is uploading the pages to her computer cuz mine is hella slow and retarded like that. So, I don't know exactly when, but the manga will be up on my personal website soon, along with an original manga I've been working on for the past year or so (I finally finished book one last night). Thanks for reading and reviewing!! Until chapter 26…