Sorry for the long delay. I had writer's block (Excuse of the year). I already had the next bunch of chapters pre-written, but I just couldn't write the actual chapters... Writers block works in mysterious ways, doesn't it?

Chimera Ed

Chapter 24

A Much Better Arrangement

Here we were, Greed, Marta and I, going back to the Devil's Nest. They had promised me that they would explain everything to me. The whole truth about them. How they became chimeras. Why they scouted during the day. How these two groups, the Carnarians and the Homanimoids, came to be.

The sun wasn't up yet, but the darkness was already disappearing and the sky was turning a lighter blue. That's all I saw of the day before we disappeared into the Devil's nest, which had already closed down for the day. Down we went, into the negative second story of the underground labyrinth. We finally entered the Homanimoids' living room.

Dorochet and Loa were already seated there. Loa had an irritated lookon his face. Dorochet didn't show any facial expression... Probably because he was snoring.

Marta made her way around the couch until she was behind Dorochet. She turned her arm so that her elbow was right above his face...then hit him with it. His head suddenly shot up and he looked frantically around the room. "Whaa...?! Who hit me? Where am I?!" He suddenly looked up at Marta, and his look of surprise turned into annoyance.

"You dumb dog, you fell asleep on the couch!" Marta explained.

Dorochet groaned and rubbed the newly formed bump on his head. "You ever heard of gently shaking someone awake? Geez..."

I stared at all four of them. Marta had been so nice to me. Dorochet had cracked jokes and acted loose and carefree around me. Loa had treated me with respect after I had mastered the power of the mountain lion. Even Greed was starting to seem okay. But they had all been keeping secrets from me. And from what I could tell, they were big secrets. Could I really trust them?

"Come on, Ed. Sit down with us. We don't bite... Well, some of us don't!" Marta smiled at me. I nervously smiled back.

Somehow, I felt I could trust them. I don't know why. Maybe it's because they were just like me. Half human, half animal.

Half human, half cat. Half flesh, half metal. I was a real mix and match of random parts. In everywhich way, I just didn't seem completely whole.

They were the closest to being like me.

I sat down next to Marta.

"Edward doesn't trust us. And it doesn't surprise me. We've been keeping secrets from him and he knows it." Marta said, mostly aimed at Loa and Dorochet.

Dorochet gave me an apologetic look. Loa almost gave me an apologetic look.

Now, Marta looked at her fellow chimeras and Greed and her voice lowered a bit. "This is the same mistake we made with Anabelle. We have to tell Ed the truth."

I'd have to remember to ask about Anabelle.

Marta turned twords me. "Okay, we'll tell you everything. We should start with how we first became chimeras." I leaned in to listen.

"Do you know about the Ishbal Massacre?"

I nodded. "Some officer shot an Ishbalan kid and that broke out into a war, right?" I inquired.

Marta frowned. "So that's the cover story they used. I was wondering what they would tell everyone..."

"Wait a minute... so it's not true?"

"Nope." Marta responded. "Not by a long shot. And we should know. We were there."

My eyes widened. Marta continued, "All three of us, before we were chimeras, we were soldiers. Just average soldiers. We were sent to Ishbal because of a minor conflict. But we were given the orders to kill hundreds of Ishbalans for no apparent reason. If we questioned the orders, we were punished.

"So we did. We killed hundreds of innocent people. Afterwards, all of the soldiers who obeyed those orders were arrested. Again, for no apparant reason. Other than to have test subjects. We were all sent to the labs to be used as lab-rats. We were all turned into chimeras. Only nine of the soldiers sirvived the transaction from human to...beast.

"Three of those nine were us."

"What happened to the other five?" I asked, despite that I had already realized the answer myself.

"The nine of us were thrown into a jail cell and left alone. But then we managed to escape. My... friend, who had also been with us, he somehow got the idea in his head that chimeras are superior to humans. He wanted to go and start a group of chimeras that would some day overthrow the humans and turn everyone into superior half-breeds. Four others agreed with him and chose to follow him.

"But the three that were left, Loa, Dorochet, and I, we just wanted to be human again. So we went our separate ways."

"And then I found them!" Greed cut in. He then took the story from there. "When they explained their situation to me, I knew just what to do. Heh, I was bored with life and had nothing better to do since I abandonned the Envy and the other Hommunculi, so I took them to the Devil's Nest and started the group. Homanimoids. We agreed that we had to stop the carnarians from succeeding, right? So that's where we are today."

I had prepared my first question. "And Anabelle? Can you tell me about her?"

Marta looked a bit taken aback. I wondered if something about this question was personal.

"Anabelle was our first new recruit. The Carnarians had managed to recruit four new chimeras. You may know this, but every time a new chimera pops up, they're immediatley swept into one of our teams. Well, we finally managed to get someone on our team."

"What kind of animal is she?"

"A mix of a eagle, a falcon, and a hawk." Greed answered. "She was a great person..."

Of course, I noticed Greed's use of the word 'was'. I also noticed that Marta had her head down and her eyes closed. She had a pained expression on her face. Greed didn't seem to notice, and continued, "One day, all five of us had gotten into a fight with all ten Carnarians. We were fighting deep in the woods. We came upon an abandonned building. (1) Somehow, we ended up fighting inside.

"The old building wasn't stable enough to withstand all out fighting. It collapsed on us. These three and I," Greed motioned twords his companions on the couch. "Got out alive. But we couldn't find Anabelle.

"We couldn't find any of the Carnarians either. We dug through the rubble for a long time, but came up with nothing. Loa pulled apart all the rubble, but there were no bodies at all. The next time we battled the Carnarians, we found out that all of them had survived. But not Anabelle."

"I see..." I let out a breath. If they hadn't found Anabelle, then she might still be alive somewhere. I wondered if any of them had come to that conclusion.

"What else do you want to know?" Marta asked me.

I could tell that she wanted badly to change the subject, so I prepared my next question. "Why do you go scouting during the daytime? Wouldn't it be smart to look for them at night?"

"Okay, here's the deal." Marta began. "We used to scout at night, when the Carnarians came out, and we would sleep during the day. But lately, they've been coming out and attacking people during the day. We think they're trying to get us out into the daylight. You see, the military might still be looking for us since we escaped. We're risking a lot by scouting during the day, but we have no choice. We may be able to wear cloaks and hats, but it's only a matter of time before we get caught."

"But don't they face that same risk?"

"Not really. They usually send out their four newly recruited non-military chimeras. But we don't have any recruited chimeras on our team."

"Yes you do!" I interjected. "You have me! I could scout for you!"

"Are you dumb?" Dorochet finally spoke up. "You're one cat-boy up against these four dangerous and expirience chimeras. You can't possibly hope to defeat them."

"You forget, I'm the FullMetal Alchemist too!" I pulled out my pocketwatch. "Greed should have told you this."

"He did, but you're still at a disadvantage. You don't know the Carnarians' like we do. We've fought them countless times before."

I slumped back into the couch cusions.

"So..." Dorochet began.

"I've got it!" I yelled, startling Dorochet and making him let out a dog-like squeal. "What if I told you that I have four able-bodied alchemists on my side that could help in this fight?"

Marta and Greed glanced twords eachother, the turned back to me. "Please. Continue."

"I'll recruit them, but on one condition..."

(Russell's POV)

The early morning daylight shone through the window. I sat up in bed and stretched my sore muscles. I had not been able to sleep since Ed visited me last night. I missed the feel of his soft skin against mine so much... I could barely contain my sorrow. Why had I agreed to let Ed go with those chimeras in the first place?

I slunk my way downstairs, stooped over like a hunchback. I wondered if anyone would notice my foul mood.

"Umm... Brother?" Fletcher was waiting for me downstairs. "I don't know if you remember, but... do you know what today is?"

"Whaaat?" I groaned.

"Umm... Today is day fourteen."

"Day fourteen? What the hell are you talking about...?"

"Oh, brother! Don't you remember? We were supposed to be in Central for only a week. But because of all these complications with Ed, we've been here twice as long!"

I suddenly straightened my back and glared at Fletcher through my one eye that wasn't covered by my hair. "Are you suggesting we go... back? AND ABBANDON ED WHEN HE NEEDS US THE MOST?!"

Fletcher took a step back in surprise. "Brother, I'm just saying that everyone in Xenotime must be worried about us! We should atleast write them a letter!"

"Fine then. You write them a letter and tell them we won't be back for two months. Now if you excuse me, I'm going to go drown my sorrow in a giant carton of chocolate icecream." (2) I pushed past him twords the kitchen.

"Brother! Two more months? We can't!"

"What's going on?" Winry poked her head out from the kitchen doorway.

"Oh, nothing. Fletcher just wants to abbandon Ed in his time of need."

"Brother!"

"Umm..." Winry inquired.

"Well, you see, Winry, we were only suppoed to be in Central for one week, but it's been two. We promised some people we would be back in one."

Winry shrugged. "Well then write a letter."

I swiveled around and pointed a finger at Fletcher. "HA! You see? That's exactly what I said!"

Fletcher sighed. "Brother..."

(Why, this car is automatic... systematic... hyyyyydromatic... HEY IT COULD BE GREASED LIGHTING!)

"We've come across some complications and we will have to stay in Central for about two more months. Please don't worry about us, these complications are not connected with any danger, so we will be just fine. How does that sound, brother?"

I looked up from my soggy carton of icecream. "Mmm..." I replied. I swallowed my mouthful, then instantly regreted it. Brainfreeze quickly took over. I moaned in pain, clutching my head, and dropping it like a lead weight onto the table. My forehead smacked against the hard wood, making my head pound harder.

"Brother! How many times have I told you not to eat icecream too fast? And... Wait a minute... How much of that have you eaten?!"

I moaned in response, not bothering to pull my head up.

"Brother, I hate it when you act like that... I wish Ed would just come back so that you could be happy again."

"That makes two..." I mumbled.

"Diiiiid somebody call for me?!" A voice from the doorway sounded.

My eyes widened and I quickly scrambled out of my seat. The chair fell on it's back, but I took no notice in my rush for the doorway. Izumi and Sig had already opened the door.

Like a golden halo, the light from the doorway shone behind Ed, making him appear as if he had just stepped out from heaven. I could almost head angels singing...

"I'm back! Didja miss me?!"

"E-Ed!" I prepared to pounce on him.

Unfortunately, Alphonse was able to beat me to it. "BROTHER! You're back!" He wrapped his big metal arms around Ed in a huge bear hug, literally lifting him off the ground.

"AAAH! Too tight, Al! Too tight!" Al let go of Ed, who sucked in a deep breath in response.

"Ed!" Winry came running fromthe other room. She quickly picked up where Al left off and started squeezing Ed. I grumbled. When would I get my turn?

After everyone but me had finished proving to Ed that 'love hurts', we all sat down in the living room, and Ed began to explain to us why we were here.

"The chimeras have agreed that I could stay here, as long as I go back every day."

"But why do they need you?" Winry asked.

"That's a long story... I'll tell you guys the whole thing tomorrow. It's too late now."

Indeed, it was getting very late. The sun had already set. We all parted to our separate rooms.

Ed and I crawled into our bed and snuggled together. it felt so good to be back in his arms. I kissed his neck and whispered, "I'm so glad you're back, Ed."

Ed shifted so that we were face to face and kissed me on the lips. "I'm glad too."

"This is a much better arrangement with the chimeras, don't you think?"

Ed gave me another passionate kiss. "Yes..." He whispered. "A much better arrangement."

To Be Continued...

(1) What is it with me and abandonned warehouses/buildings?

(2) I've always imagined Russell as a typical teenager. I mean, Ed's a premature adult, but that doesn't mean every other kid on the show has to be too. Russell hasn't been through nearly as much as Ed has. He doesn't know what it's like to grow up too fast. So I figure he's more of a regular kid who likes to complain out loud and eat to drown his sorrows. How could Ed had fallen for a guy like that, you ask? It's simple: Opposites attract. And Ed brings out Russell's mature side.

Good news, everyone! I almost have the entire Chimera Ed fanfic planned out! You wonder just how many more chapters this will take? Well...Let's just say, a lot more chapters than we have now. We are definitley far from the end.

Another halloween is coming up. This year, I'm going to dress up as Choji Akimichi from Naruto. I'm even taking a bag of barbecue potato chips with me!
What are YOU going as? Please tell me. I would love to know!