Period- Chemistry
Chapter 48- The Oath in the Tunnel
No POV
The masked teenager slashed Gluttony's chest with her automail blade, then cutting off his arm, and the cutting his stomach. Blood poured out of the wounds as he cried and stumbled around in pain. As he started to regenerate with the red sparks flying he started his plea. "Please stop killing me… I don't want to die anymore!" Then Lan-Fan silenced him by appearing and cutting his head in half. He exclaimed in pain and back away as blood streamed out of the wound. His head was held shut while he complained at the pain.
Ling and Red then showed up and punched the large homunculus in the face. The creature was thrown into a tree which sent it falling as well. The Prince's bodyguard set herself on a tree branch and looked over to Ling. "Young Lord!"
"We can catch up later!" Ling reassured while he chased after Greed.
Red looked over to Lan-Fan and nodded firmly. "Let's finish him off!"
"Right!"
Gluttony lifted the fallen tree off him with a look of distress. "Why won't you just let me eat you already?!" He asked loudly before being elbowed by Lan-Fan which made her blade slam into his mouth. A choked cry escaped his lips as he coughed up blood after the girl removed the blade.
Greed let out a roar of laughter inside of Ling with a wide smirk. "You're really kicking ass! That's one woman you have there, I didn't know you were such a stud."
"You know, I'm full of surprises!" Ling stated before kicking Gluttony right in the face.
Gluttony cried sadly as he started to fall. "I don't get it… How do you know where I am? You can't see me?" Then Lan-Fan appeared and cut off both of his arms. He was breathing heavy as he forced himself to stand up and look around aimlessly. Then before he could react, Ling, Lan-Fan, and Red attacked Gluttony all at once.
Athena's POV
"The ruler of Xing controls the chi, or the Dragon's Pulse. This allows the ruler to govern the flow of our kingdom. As the servers of our rulers, we too are to learn to read the flow of chi" A familiar elderly voice explained in a tone that sent chills down my spine. "Not only that but we're trained to move around in the dark."
I lifted my head and blinked. "Wait a minute… I know you…" Realization took over me as I started to piece the clues together. The voice, whose here now, the talk of Xing, and the tone. This man was Fu.
"Long time no see, huh kids." Fu greeted in the same tone from before.
Ed and I exchanged looks in the best way we could and turned back to the older man. "I still can't see you Fu. How were you able to find us?"
"We've been hiding out in Central trying to keep an eye on something's for a while. We detected some large chi's nearby. So we followed them." Fu answered to Ed's question. We heard a blast nearby which made me perk my head upwards slightly. "There's some forms of Chi battling nearby."
I turned to Fu with a calmed expression. "I think your sensing Hate, Gluttony, and Greed."
Fu turned to the direction of the battles with a glare. "Greed… The one who took the young lord…" He hissed lowly to himself. I could tell that he was battling with himself at the current moment before, and then he cut those thoughts off and turned to the other direction. "There's a powerful chi within the forest."
"Our companion is fighting a homunculus named Pride." Darius said now finding his voice.
The old Xingese man turned to the slums now finishing his list. "There's one more in the settlement nearby, and there's something disquieting about that one. It seems to draw the others out in comparison."
"You're probably sensing Ed's father." The gorilla chimera stated.
Fu's eyes widen in shock as he whipped his head to Ed. "Are you saying that your father isn't human?" He gasped.
I kept my tranquil expression on my features as I turned to Fu and Ed. "He's the least of our worries. We have to deal with these homunculi and quick too."
"You guys don't have to worry about Gluttony." Fu reassured. "Lan-Fan is dealing with him."
Ed and I both repeated her name in shock as if we've never heard of her. I thought about the last time we saw her. She fought with Wrath and she lost her arm. If she's fighting now then that must mean she has her automail now. My eyes widen as I walked to Fu. "Hold it! It hasn't been a whole seven months since she got her automail attached! That's suicide! She won't last without help." Ed then started to head in the direction of the fight. Suddenly there was an explosion making Ed get flown back to where I was. "Ed!" I called out now kneeling next to him and holding his head in my lap.
"I said not to worry." Fu reminded while crossing his arms over his chest. "We have other resources other than hand to hand combat."
A mental sweat drop washed over my face and looked over to Fu. "Please don't kill Ed… Maybe a warning…" I stated before another explosion blasted towards me. I shielded my eyes and fanned the smoke away from both Ed and me.
Ed stood up and dusted himself off while speaking. "That eases my mind a little…" He then stopped what he was doing and turned to Fu. "What else do you have other than explosives?"
"All sorts of things; tear gas bombs, flash bombs, flares." Fu listed off.
I nodded and turned to the town now seeing tiny dots of yellow and orange appear. A scoff came from my lips now setting my gaze to the group of people. "The lights are coming back on which means Pride will be able to the shadows."
"We need to go over there and help Heinkel!" Darius stated which made us nod.
Ed and I turned to Fu with a serious look. "Fu, can you help us? I need you to detect Pride's chi and lead us to him."
There was a small silence until Fu turned to where their fight was. "I'll do the best I can." As he started to walk off.
We both followed until the sound of Darius calling our name stopped us. "Be careful you two… Don't forget what Pride is."
No POV
Heinkel had his huge golden covered hands over Pride's tiny throat tightly with his fangs bared completely. "YOU LITTLE-!" He yelled raising his clawed hands up to attack.
"Hey!" A new voice yelled unleashing a light with him. "Who is that? Is someone out there?"
The chimera shielded his eyes from the bright light as Pride smirked knowing what he was gonna do now. The men gasped in shock. "A monster and it's got a kid!" A huge shadow with eyes and teeth appeared which made a huge wall. Then some shards cut into the chimera making him fall back while yelling in pain. Pride smirked and used a shadowy hand to wiggle to the two men and knock their lantern down into the grass. The two slum dwellers ran away as a fire grew which made Pride regain his power.
The child stood up as if he was perfectly unharmed. "I'm glad they shed some light for us, now let's shed some of your blood." Pride suggested making his beastly shadows point at its target. This was Heinkel. "Goodbye Chimera."
Then as the shadow shot towards Heinkel he quickly shielded himself. Ed then appeared and swatted the shadow away as Athena shot an arrow made out of ice at Pride. The arrow was stuck in a shadow as the silver haired girl walked forward. "Talk about lucky. I would have never guessed, a kid like you were a homunculus."
"You fooled us, I'll admit it." Ed added. "Selim Bradley."
A tiny smile graced the child's lips as he looked down innocently. "Well apparently appearances don't show the whole truth, isn't that right, little alchemist?"
Ed's face twisted in anger at the little comment. "Ed, get over it, he's just trying to piss you off."
"If he's calling me little then he's calling you-"Ed started.
"Edward, do you really want to finish that sentence? I'm already in a mood because of this child so don't make it worse than it already is." Athena threatened in a calm yet annoyed tone.
Pride whipped a shadow nearby the couple which made them snap out of the conservation they were in. "If you two are done, then I'd like to continue where we left off."
Athena transmuted her ice bow into a sword with a chilled look. "Bring it!"
Sam's POV
Central
I was watching Snow and Black Hayte sniff each other curiously and tilt their heads to the side. Snow sat down and lifted her paw and set it on Black's nose which made his head lower. I snicker escaped my lips as I turned to Riza who was watching the two as well. "I guess we might have pups when this is all over." I teased.
She softly chuckled and nodded. "Maybe, we'll never know." The white dog stopped her mini play date with Hayte and swept her head to the door. She scampered to the door and started to whimper slightly. The blonde stood up and looked to the door. "I guess the Colonel's here." She stated.
"About time." I chuckled now standing up as well. Roy or as I like to call him 'Firehead' opened the door and stepped inside. I smirked and crossed my arms over my chest. "To be honest, I didn't think you'd show yourself."
"Keep up with the smart ass comments Sammie, I'll take it as a sign of confidence." Roy stated which I couldn't tell if it was a dare or seriously. Because if he's giving me permission then I'm all up for it! He turned to Riza with the same expression. "Did you make sure you weren't followed?"
Riza nodded. "Yes sir, and if we had been then those two would have alerted us." She stated now referring to our two little pups. They weren't tiny but they weren't big either. So I'm still calling them pups.
My brother knelt next to the two dogs and pet them carefully. "Good work you two, keep your nose peeled, okay?" Snow wagged her tail happily and panted as well. "What's the Bradley status?"
"The Fuhrer when to the east to inspect training and Selim is with him as well." I stated in a blunt tone.
Roy turned to me and sighed. "Then you haven't heard the news. The Fuhrer's train was destroyed, with the Fuhrer IN it." He stated which shock over fill my body. My eyes widen in shock at the sudden information I've received.
"Well, I'll be damned…" Breda sighed looking downwards. "Ol' man Grumman doesn't like to take chances does he?"
"That means security will be tight around here." Riza whispered while holding her chin in thought. "This could be harder than we thought it would be."
Kain stepped forward with a serious look that I wasn't used to him having. "How much is this going to affect our mission?" He inquired. "Is the eastern army still going to invade Central like they said?"
Roy's face was still plastered with an emotionless expression as he stared us four down. His dark colored eyes closed with a slight calmness. There was silence until he spoke. "All we know is that Fuhrer is missing. Either it's a once in a life time chance, or we're walking into a trap."
"It doesn't make much of difference." Breda pointed out in his same smug tone.
"We still have to see the day through." I added. Kain nodded as well as my breathing went silent. Tomorrow was do or die. I have no more regrets anymore; I got rid of those hours ago. With these other people, I hope they have nothing to feel ashamed of or have anything left to do. Sure there are things I wanted to do before my death, like be colonel, get married, have kids, see Roy become Fuhrer, and well to see the next generation grow up. "Your order brother?"
"Whatever action we may take, we're heading straight for the battlefield and no matter the outcome there's no turning back." Roy started. I knew that this was gonna be a hard and determined lecture so I let my poker face slip with a grin on my cheeks. "Even if we win, this mission won't be close to completion. Not until we rebuild this nation with me as its Fuhrer. We'll still have the task of setting things right. In other words, I'm only giving you a signal order to obey! Don't die!"
I clicked my heels together and saluted. "Sir!" We both chanted in an obeying tone.
Athena's POV
Shadows were the only thing that was coming for me at the current moment. I would dodge and block all attacks; they weren't even close to hitting me. The only thing that I allowed it to hit was my ice sword. Chunks of ice were all around me which came from the beaten sword that I transmuted. I could tell that this creature was busting his brain trying to figure out how to even get a scratch on both Ed and I.
A large group of shadows appeared around the child and they shot at us all at once. My eyes narrowed as I stepped forward and did a big back flip and slashed the shadows which made them break off of Pride into nothing as my ice sword shattered. When landing I transmuted my automail blade and stood tall with my bangs framing my untouchable poker face. Ed and I were breathing heavy as if we just finished a marathon at full speed. "Looks like we made the right choice to keep our Northern automail after all!" Ed exclaimed extending his hand to Pride. "This carbon base has turned out to be pretty handy!"
Kaley's POV
I weakly stood up and held my left shoulder where there stood a deep gash. Gluttony was gone and the shadows were gone. The only reason why I didn't move was because I sore beyond belief. I clung to a tree branch nearby for support and screwed my eyes shut. The pain in my body was just so unrealistic. Never in any of my years did I think that this amount of pain was real. "A-Al, AL!?" I called out with my voice rough at first. Suddenly my ankle was clenched tightly and the feeling touched my arms and legs now dragging me back into the forest. "H-hey! Somebody! Anybody! HELP ME!"
Athena's POV
"What's the matter Pride? It wouldn't be fair if you gave up on this fight." I grunted with a sly smirk. Ed made a face that was challenging, serious, determined, and sexy all rolled into one as he gave Pride a motioning symbol.
Pride smirked at this and lowered his shadows. "You've brought this upon yourself." We both blinked at the response. My head rose slightly as I heard some clanking metal. When I turned my head I saw Al being dragged to us with something tied behind him. I squinted to get a better view and then I saw blonde. The thing behind Al was Kaley.
My eyes widen and I took in air quickly. "KALEY! AL!"
"I figured this would give me an advantage. Unless you want to destroy your brother and kill your friend as well." Pride stated grabbing Kaley by her hair and throwing her forwards. She let out a yelp at the contact of the ground which made my eyes soften on her.
'Don't worry Kaley, you'll be saved…' I thought to myself quietly. Turning to the forest Ed called for Fu as I turned back to my beaten friend. "Kaley! Cover your eyes, now!" As Fu jumped out of the forest and over the ring of fire Kaley closed her eyes tightly. Then when the man threw something in the air Al's helmet looked up as a flash bomb let out a light that couldn't hold shadows. The shadows in Al were vanquished along with the shadows around Kaley.
I swept myself over to the girl and grabbed her carefully and pulled her back to me. "NO!" Pride wailed when the shadows were casted away into nothing.
No POV
Gluttony ran through the forest in tears of pain coming from his eyes. He continued to plea for no more of the torture. The fat homunculus then stopped himself and looked at the light of the flash bomb that cut through any shade of dark like glass. "What's that?" He asked to himself before starting to jump to this light like a child who played leap frog.
Lan-Fan jumped onto a branch but quickly stopped herself when the pain in her automail grew. Ling and Red noticed this when passing by and looked up. "Lan-Fan, are you okay?!" Red called out with concern in her voice. The girl was ignored and the protector continued her path deeper into the forest.
"Lan-Fan!" Ling called out as the two hosts chased after her.
Athena's POV
The light wasn't close to dying down as I tried my best to look at Kaley's wounds. She was out cold in my hands as I looked up while shielding my eyes. "Darius, do it now!" I called out as he sprinted to Al and caught him when the light died. A grunt rumbled past my lips as I set Kaley on my shoulders and ran to Al along with Ed.
"He's not conscious…" Ed muttered looking up to Darius.
"Same with Kaley… You have to get them out of here and quick too!" I ordered carefully handing the knocked out girl to him.
"Are you two sure he's not possessed?" Darius asked with caution.
Ed nodded and looked at Al. "I noticed that when you severe a part of their body they turn into dust. The flash bomb severed the shadows holding Al's body and Kaley's restraints so they're both free."
Shadows then started to dart toward us both with Pride speaking. "You're not getting away!" He yelled as I pulled out another flash bomb.
"You want some more?!" I demanded now throwing it at him.
Gluttony then appeared just as the bomb went off blinding him as well. The light faded around the same time as the first one leaving Gluttony rolling around on the floor in pain while holding his eyes. "You're pushing your luck." Pride threatened lowly while glaring at me.
I smirked and cocked my hip. "Glad to hear it."
Ling, Hate, and Lan-Fan then appeared in front of the group. It was seven against two. These guys stood no chance. Pride turned to Gluttony with a cool look. "They really beat you up." He muttered emotionlessly.
Gluttony pouted and pointed to the three that just appeared. "Yeah; it was because Greed, Hate, and that girl weren't fighting fair! They were doing something so they could see me in the dark."
"Is that so?" Pride questioned with his eyes narrowed. He stared the three down looking like he was thinking long and hard about his next move. After an overwhelming silence Pride's eyes widen for a second before glancing to Gluttony and licking his lips. "Gluttony, how many times have they killed you now?"
"I lost count, but I know it was a lot…" Gluttony answered like a child.
The shadows coming off Pride were increasing and pulsed as he smirked madly. "They've beat me up pretty badly as well." I had that feeling in my gut; I did not like what he was planning. A few ideas were already in my head but the one near the top was the one I was dreading. "At this point, there's a chance they might kill us."
Gluttony smiled brightly and looked up to Pride ignoring the shadows at his feet. The ground under him was black for crying out loud! "Yeah, but that's okay because Father will fix us!" Then he stopped and realized the pool of shadows around him. Pride had a smile which proved my answer to be true and that is NOT what I wanted. "NO! Please don't do it Pride!" Gluttony pleaded. Then a huge shadow grabbed him by the stomach and lifted him high in the air. I gasped loudly as Ed pulled me behind him protectively. Enough pressure was on the shadow's teeth which made Gluttony snap right in half. "No Pride! Don't eat me!" He pleaded as his upper body started to break away into dust. "It hurts! Nooooooo!" He called out before he was nothing.
When the lower body fell the shadows clawed, picked, and devoured the part with the stone inside of it. That thought I didn't want believe echoed in my mind. 'Pride just ate Gluttony. He felt nothing, he just… ATE him!' I was now hunched over trying my best to rid the thought while trying to hold vomit back. I was breathing heavy unable to get rid of the image in my mind.
"H-he ate him… Swallowed him like he was nothing…" Hate and Red stuttered in shock as stone started to climb up to her forearms.
"This should make things much easier!" Pride stated in a relaxed tone. "I can practically smell EVERY move you make! I could do it without the hunger but I suppose I have to see it." Then his head perked up like hound and sniffed the air. He smirked at this. "I recognize those scents, your close by aren't you? Hohenhiem, Marcus."
Shunkan Sentimental- SCANDAL
Outside of Central
Sam's POV
Okay, I know what we're doing is serious, but this is god damn ridiculous! I was waiting in the bushes on the side of the road then when I saw a black car drove by Kain drove my white car in the road to stop the vehicle. I made it 100% clear that if there's a scratch on my car then someone will die! By my car… And my shot gun. The two body guards stepped out of the car and stepped to my white beauty. "Hey, move your vehicle!" One of the men demanded before getting hit in the back of the neck by my brother. He's such a nice role model…
"What, Roy Mustang?!" The other man exclaimed before getting knocked over by Riza. Before he could recover Roy swept over and kicked him right in the face.
I sighed softly and walked to the car now opening the back door. Mrs. Bradley let out a yelp at the sight of me which made my expression soften. "Hello, Mrs. Bradley, I'm sorry for doing this…"
"Samantha! What's going on, why would you do something like this?!" She gasped as my brother opened the other door. She whipped her head to him.
"Please forgive us for scaring you. I need you to come with me Madam Fuhrer." Roy stated in a rough yet caring tone. "We have no attention of harming you." As he said the last word I extended my hand to her in hopes she would take it. She looked at my brother and then back to me.
She stared at me in denial as I gave her a look of compassion. "Please."
Chapter 49- Filial Affection
