Period- Chemistry

Chapter 49- Filial Affection

Backed up the newly restored and automail equipped Lan-Fan, Ed and Athena fight the homunculus known as Pride. As the fierce battle rags towards the Promised Day, they manage to safely retrieve Al and Kaley from Pride's clutches. Faced with the possibility of defeat, Pride devours Gluttony in order to obtain his abilities.

Elsewhere Colonel Mustang joins up with Lieutenant Hawkeye and Mustang to kidnap the Fuhrer's wife and take her as their hostage.

No POV

"Al? Can you hear me? Come on…" Hohenhiem called out to the boy's blood seal. "Alphonse!"

Athena's POV

Pride continued to smell the air like a dog which made my fear increase to the core. "I recognize those scents…" He muttered now turning to us. "Tell me something, do you think your father's would step forward to save you two if I chopped off one of your limbs?" My eyes narrowed as my mind kept on shrieking to myself. I remembered the pain of losing an arm and I'm not going to lose another appendage of mine! "I think I might start with you." He stated with a grin now making shadows dart towards me.

"ATHENA LOOK OUT!" Ed called out as my eyes widen. I quickly dodged the deadly shadows. These things were shooting towards me at the speed of light. Soon enough I was sliding away from the shadows as they all stabbed the ground in front of me. My path was halted by my back slamming into a tree making a shadow stand an inch away from my nose. I held my breath and glared at the path of shadows that split in half showing off Pride with a smirk. Then a large shadow shot towards me with its teeth opening wide so I could be cut in half. "ATHENA!" Ed screamed out now snapping me back to my senses. I ducked quickly and ran out of Pride's path.

The homunculus turned to Hate and Greed and made the shadows come to them. They both saw this and jumped out of the way and landed on a nearby tree. Lan-Fan then jumped on a branch higher than the two and called out for Ling. "Not quite! The name's Greed!"

She glared at him darkly. "It's you… Give the young lord his body back!"

"Now why would I want to do that?" Greed asked slyly.

"GUYS!" I called out referring to the huge monstrous shadow coming straight for them! Hate jumped off the branch along with the others like Greed and Lan-Fan did as well. Two shadows bit Hate and Ling's hips making Lan-Fan pull out her Kunai. This only caused her to hold her metal arm in pain. I ran over to this quickly and stood in front of her. "Are you okay?" I demanded. Shadows then appeared behind the tree and cut the stem in pieces. Before another shadow could chew her up I jumped up and pushed her away while landing to safety.

"I didn't need your help!" Lan-Fan harshly scoffed.

I rolled my eyes and glared at her. "Oh shut up! Your arm isn't healed fully, isn't it?" My tone came out as dark and unfriendly.

Her eyes widen for a second before the glare became intense. "I can take care of myself!"

"Then prove it!" I ordered loudly with my glare getting darker. "Because right now, you're doing a piss poor job proving me otherwise." My tone and gaze soften at her slight and my shoulders relaxed. "I need to know what you're telling me is true, you're helping us tomorrow after all."

Fu had Heinkel on his shoulder and leading him outside of the battle and back into safety. The darkness ran forward to attack only to have Greed swat it away. "Get him out of here!" He ordered.

"I'm sorry couldn't kill the little bastard." Heinkel muttered in a remorseful tone.

The man smirked and glared at Pride. "Don't sweat it! Can't kill this one that easily! Even I consider him to be a monster!"

No POV

Al was slowly coming to as Hohenhiem called for him and Marcus was finishing dressing Kaley's wounds. "Wake up! Alphonse!" The older man yelled as Al slowly started to recover.

The armored boy sat up with a gasp while having his sight swarming around. "Dad?"

Hohenhiem smiled and waved brightly. "Hey!"

Al grabbed his helmet and set it back into place, suddenly stopping himself. He quickly took in some air and shot his head around. "Kaley! Where is she?!" He asked in panic. When he found her all beaten, bloody, and bruised he stared now speechless. "O-oh no…" He whispered walking to her. She was pale and out like a light which made his concern for her condition more severe.

Marcus sighed sadly. "We were lucky we got her out of there when we did. If she was there any longer, she could have died…" He stated in a soft tone. Al turned to him and gasped at his resemblance to Athena. The silver haired man chuckled slightly. "I should introduce myself; I'm Marcus Black, Athena's father."

He nodded hesitantly at the man's chill introduction now deciding to introduce himself. "I'm Alphonse Elric." Then he stopped realizing what was going on. "W-wait… Is… Is this Konama?"

"Yep!" Hohenhiem and Marcus answered.

"But Kaley and I were in the east…" He whispered in thought. "So how did I?" Then his memory grasped him making him turn to Hohenhiem and Marcus. "Dad! Mr. Black! The homunculus Pride took control of my body and used Kaley to get to me!"

"I know. Mr. Gorius told us about it." Hohenhiem answered.

"It's Darius." The gorilla chimera corrected.

Al looked down and clenched his fist. "It was like he was manipulating my soul, I feel so violated… And Kaley… I wish I was able to help her…"

"The homunculi are basically your relatives, so continue to feel violated." Marcus stated with a dumb tone. Then there was rustling nearby which made everyone tense up. Marcus put on his gloves ready to suck the air out of anyone who was coming.

The only thing that showed was Fu carrying Heinkel on his shoulder. "Old man Fu?" Al gasped.

"Can you clean and dress this man's wounds?" Fu asked setting the lion like human in front of everyone. Marcus nodded and stood.

"How's everything out there?" Hohenhiem questioned not even moving an inch.

Fu walked over to Hohenhiem. "I guess you must be Edward's father." The man nodded in response making Fu reply in another nod. "The shadow homunculus devoured the fat one whole, and he's over powering us."

Al lowered his gaze before turning to the fight scene in the distance while zoning out of the conservation. 'This is all my fault… None of this would have happened if I didn't let Pride catch me and take Kaley away. She got tortured because I wasn't careful.'

"The fire gave him all the power he could ever want and I'm out of flash bombs." Fu explained in a tone of distress. "We need a new plan and fast."

Darius turned to the left. "Not just for us, the slum dwellers are going to be heading straight for Pride any minute now."

The soul bounded to the armor looked down to Kaley now coming up with a plan in his mind. "Hey Dad… You're a brilliant alchemist right?"

Athena's POV

I was flung back in the air as a tiny yell escaped my lips. I felt lighter than a feather until I impacted the ground. Pain was pulsing in my chest knowing that I was going to be sore as hell. My arms trembled while trying to lift myself up. I didn't know how much longer we could last. If I didn't stop moving now then I would pass out. "Now I can see you clearly without those trees in the way. There's not much point to hiding from me. I can smell each movement you make!"

Hate lifted her head and grunted in annoyance. "Damnit… Ed! Athena! Are you two still breathing over there?!"

"Does wheezing count?" Ed asked breathlessly.

Greed turned to me. "And you silver princess?

"If you count feeling light headed alright then I'm doing a great job!" I sarcastically remarked.

Pride smirked at the two homunculi. This child has never looked so bone chilling and fearful in my eyes in my whole life. "I don't think this is the time to care for others you two, with your hearts getting softer I don't know how much longer you can survive."

The read head scoffed and forced herself to stand. "Oh quiet you freakish monster."

"What a horrific thing to say to your brother, Hate. Honestly…" He trailed off now smiling like the evil child he is. "I guess I might have to eat you and Greed!"

At the thoughts reoccurring in my head I felt like passing out and vomiting again. I don't think I can bear the thought of that monster eating something else. Not even Greed deserved that sort of demise. "I promise I won't go down easily." Greed scoffed with a look of determination.

The three had a stare off until Pride perked his head up and sniffed the air to catch a scent yet again. Then I looked around and saw Hohenhiem and Dad walking forward. My eyes widen at this sight not wanting to believe what I was seeing. "Oh! So you two have chosen to show yourselves, eh Hohenhiem, Marcus?"

"Doesn't the hero wait till the end to show off his skills?" Dad asked with a grin.

I slapped my forehead and shook my head in annoyance. He's a cool father but damnit man… Pride scoffed at that statement. "Hero? Interesting, you must think you can defeat me."

Before Dad could make another snide comment Hohenhiem stepped forward to speak. "No, I'd never think that." He stated now smiling. "I'm not that dumb to fight you." The three had another stare off and I started to hold my breath for what was to come. This silence was starting to haunt me to my inner core. I hated sitting here and not knowing what to do with myself and how to help. I've never felt so weak in my life. Pride's eyes narrowed as Hohenhiem kept the emotionless look on his face and my dad glared at him darkly. Then Dad and Hohenhiem started to step forward which made my breath hitch quickly.

Over the sound of whipping shadows I heard metal clanking making my eyes shoot open. When looking behind Pride I saw Al charging for Pride with his fist raised. Pride used his shadows to keep Al at bay while turning to him. "Are you joking? This was your pathetic plan? You should have run when you had the chance!" Pride's voice boomed knocking Al down to his knees.

Ed forward to stop what was happening. "AL NO!" Hohenhiem then stopped Ed's path which made his honey eyes scowl at his father.

Before I could stand up Dad lifted me up bridal style making my eyes widen. "D-Dad! Put me down! I need to help Al!"

"I can't let you do that." He muttered in a monotone tone.

"It seems your son enjoys to be held hostage." Pride scoffed pointing to Al. "Either that or he's supremely stupid."

Hohenhiem glared at Pride with a dark glow in his eyes. There was a small silence before his head lowered which made his glass glare even darker. "That's crossing the line Pride. Don't ever mock my son!" Red sparks erupted around the older man which made my eyes widen in shock. These tiny streams of light spaced out throughout the field. The ground around us started to lift itself up. My breath was caught in my throat as these chunks of huge earth started to fold over Pride. They were going to trap him in a cave where there was no way of escape. Dad set me down on my feet and snapped his fingers which made the newly built walls enclose faster. Pride shrieked Hohenhiem's name as a shadow started to dart towards his neck. My father snapped his fingers together again which made them so thick that the shadow couldn't slice through it. That and it was caught in the closed walls. After a few seconds the shadow disappeared.

My eyes widen as I stared at the wall, then to dad, then Hohenhiem, and then back to the wall. Alphonse was still in there with Pride! Why would he do that knowing full well that he was still there!? For a few seconds my jaw was dropped and my eyes were locked on the two men. That was until Ed started his protest of what happened. "What the hell are you doing?! Al's trapped in there with that monster! How could you do something like that!?"

I snapped a glare at Hohenhiem as well and stormed to him. "We don't know what could happen in there! Did the thought of Al getting hurt by that bastard EVER cross your mind?!"

"It wasn't my idea." Hohenhiem stated in his same average tone. "Al was the one who suggested this. It would have been nearly impossible to defeat Pride. And it was only a matter of time till the fight reached to the slums. Since we knew we couldn't defeat him Mr. Black and I acted as a decoy and imprisoned him. We bought ourselves enough time to figure out how to destroy him."

Ed took a slight step towards the man. "You could have at least told us-"

"Al specifically said not to do that. He told us you two would be against the idea," Dad stated crossing his arms over his chest. "And it was a good thing that Kaley wasn't conscious to hear that. Plus the idea was to make sure everyone came out alive. You two just focus on staying alive now." My chin quivered as I looked downwards. The tears that wanted to fall down my cheeks were held back with my whole being. Why would Al risk himself like that? Yet, it made me wonder what would happen if Kaley was awake and helped Al with the plan. A strong arm wrapped around me and pulled my figure close to warmth. I knew who this from the get go so I relaxed into the grasp. Dad looked over with a sweet smile in my direction. "Now, let's get this fire out of the way."

Suddenly I heard footsteps pounding towards us with a shrill cal for Al. My head perked upwards and I saw Kaley sprinting to the large dirt cage. "Al! Al are you okay!?" She called out banging her fist on the dirt wall.

"Kaley!" I heard Al call out from the other side. "I'm sorry… Not much of a sorry, huh? But this was all my fault so I had to do something. Besides I have to stay in here for one day. I promise I'll be okay."

The blonde shook her head quickly and hugged the wall in the best way she could. "Y-you foolish boy… It's not your fault… It'll never be your fault…"

My gaze on the blonde soften as she whispered smooth things to herself and Al like how she promised to never leave the boy's side. I lowered my gaze along with a sigh escaping my lips. "After this is done and over with I'm going to find a place for me to rinse up… I feel dirty… I'll get some water for starters…" Then I smiled softly and walked off. As I made my path I could feel eyes on me. They had love, care, and to my surprise, a little bit of lust.

Hate's POV

I was dashing through the trees jumping on a few branches here and there following Greed merrily path. What he was planning was obvious so I'm going to make sure he doesn't screw things up for everyone and everything. So I'm going to follow this pathetic homunculus to Central. "So Lust is dead, Envy's gone, Gluttony's eaten, Wrath is at Eastern Command, they have Pride under lock down, and Hate wouldn't dare follow me!" He jumped off a cliff and landed on a tree branch not far under. "So that means Sloth and Pops are the only ones looking after Central!" The parasite had a toothy grin on his face now eying the view of Central. "I've told you, I plan to rule the entire world."

I scoffed which made his breath hitch and look back to me. "Mind if you split that cake with me?" Before he could get an answer out I raised my hand to silence him. "And you said I won't follow you."

"There's not a chance in hell we're sharing!" Greed snarled at me.

A fake wince crossed my features at that yell. "Ouch, brother. There's no need to be so 'greedy'. Tell you what, who ever kills Daddy first gets to rule over Amestris."

Greed howled in laughter while whipping his head backwards. My glare on him didn't waver and a smirk was plastered on my cheeks. "So, my sister's challenging me to a gamble eh? Alright cherry skull, you're on."

No POV

In the dark tunnels there was a soft tune echoing throughout the twists and turns. Bodies of Ishvallens were scattered in a pool of blood that only grew at the second. The crimson liquid were slapped onto the wall and made large puddles on the ground. In a crowded hallway there was a light laminating brightly and sliced through the dark. "I need to draw the line somewhere when it comes to my job!" Kimblee said to himself while jumping over the corpses. "I spent a fortune having this suit tailored for me and now it's all dirty. And the fun isn't scheduled to start until the sun is up!" As he finished this verbal thought he blew out the candle which made the light exist making everything go black.

In the Pride's Prison

The little homunculus managed to find himself a twig to use in his favor as he started to dig through the wall. All he managed to do was make a tiny dent without breaking out completely. "That's pointless." Al just simply told Pride. "I doubt my dad would have made the walls thin enough for a child to tunnel out." He stopped the action and shot his gaze that seemed to forever be in a glare to the armor. A word didn't even escape from him as he silently walked to the helmet that Al left in the center of the dark room. "It's not that hard to surprise you when you think so little of us humans. You think you have us all figured out, but you don't know a thing about us. You're just too arrogant to see things might not go your way." Pride sat down next to the armor and dropped the stick nearby. "Like your plan to use us. It was too sloppy to actually work."

The black haired and frail boy looked up to Al in the forever glare gaze. "And how's that?"

"Well, your plans needed us, right? As your sacrifices? The whole thing hinged on us doing what you wanted. But what if we simply decided to run away to another country?" Al suggested in a thoughtful tone. "That's all it could have taken and your plan would fall apart."

Pride set the helmet in his lap and hugged the metal. "True, and there are humans who are selfish enough to do what you said. But then, not at all… Just look at Wrath's wife." He whispered now actually looking down with a look of sincerity. He remembered a time where he was pretending to be Selim and a car almost hit him. He could have done anything to defend himself, instead Mrs. Bradley jumped in the way as the car swerved and hit a lamp post. She only cared about protecting the child actor instead of her own safety which was why she did what she did. "I've always known what it was to have a father, but I've never had what you would call a mother. I was quite intrigued about how she cared for me, then I realized what it was like to have a mother."

"When you say Wrath's wife, you mean Mrs. Bradley?" Al recalled.

"Yes, that is correct."

There was a silence as the helmet was set down in front of the child. "How could you deceive her like that?"

"I won't deny I was just playing house with her." He stated now hitting the armor's helmet casually with an expression that carried no feeling. "But I also can't deny my time spent with her was pleasant. I quite liked it."

Al gasped and leaned forward. "Then-"

"As I was saying!" Pride interrupted quickly. "There are a handful of humans like Wrath's wife who are willing to die protecting the things they care for." Al instantly thought about Kaley and how he failed protect her. Well that's what he thought. Just because he thought that didn't make it true. "And one step from them there's you, your brother, and that girl; chosen to be sacrifices for the infinite strength of your spirits. You would have never fled and abandoned this country. In fact you went so far as to bring the fight to us. So explain to me again, how were our plans so sloppy?"

Sam's POV

I knelt in front of Hughes's grave with sorrow yet determination in my orbs. The day Kaley came in shrieking for me was one I could never forget. And the scene of the crime was ten times worse. I delicately set a pile of flowers on the tomb stone and sighed. "Samantha. We should start getting ready." Riza muttered to me.

I nodded and stood up. "Yeah, you're right about that…"

Kaley's POV

I sat there leaning against the wall quietly and impatiently. Damn Athena for keeping me waiting. Oh yeah, take a shower my ass. Seriously, who takes about 2 to 3 hours taking a shower? That girl was supposed to talk with me like we used to but I guess she's hiding from me. What a jerk! Before I could throw a temper tantrum I paused to think about the situation I was in. No normal person would take showers THAT long. So either she's sleeping, getting prepared on her own, hiding, or spending some personal alone time with Ed. If that last choice is true, HA no longer personal! If they deny it, then I'll have my ways of making them spill the beans.

Suddenly I heard footsteps nearby making me perk my head upwards. I saw Scar, Zampano, Jerso, Marcoh, and Yoki walking into the clearing. They were all gasping in shock of what was before them, which was the freaking huge bowl shaped prison here. Darius then appeared hold two logs as I stood up. "D-Darius!?" Jerso gasped in shock. "Let me take a guess, Kimblee sent you here to track us down and kill us!"

"Um no actually-"I started off quietly.

"You're joking right?! You can't still think we're working for Kimblee!" Darius argued defensively.

"No way, of course not! As soon as we start trusting you, you'll kill us!" Zampano accused.

"That's not-"

"I'd never do that!"

"I'm not falling for it!"

"Guys!" I whined in annoyance.

Suddenly I heard Ed call out for Doctor Marcoh which made me walk over to him with a look of tired irritation. "Oh! Edward!"

"I see your still working for Scar…" Ed sighed glancing over to the scared man. "I'm sorry to have to spring this on your right away but we really need to-"

"INCOMMING!" I shrieked now ducking from the huge log that was heading straight towards us.

"HEY PIGGY, GORILLA, AND FATTY! SHUT UP AND STOP FIGHTING!" We both demanded in unison.

"YOU WANT TO MESS WITH US SHORTIES?!"

Later

I was chatting with Scar, Yoki, Hohenhiem, Mr. Black, Dr. Marcoh, Ed, and Fu about current situations. Fu had asked if he could go to Central early. Ed nodded at the statement given as Fu ran off. A sigh passed my lips as I rubbed the sweat off my brow. "Where's old man heading?" Darius asked suddenly making me turn to him carefully.

"He's gonna do some recon in Central." Ed stated.

"By himself?"

A smug look crossed my features with a mellow shrug. "Apparently, he's the only who's kept his identity a secret. So it'll be easier for him to get in, and update us on Mustang's actions. Yet, I think he's going to look after Ling."

"That makes sense." Darius muttered simply.

"So you're done talking with Scar and planning things out?" Jerso asked turning to Scar who glared in a direction with his forever glare.

Mr. Black nodded and looked over to the man. "Yeah, we know what we're doing now."

Looking over to the sky I noticed the sun was almost up which made me sigh and slump my shoulders slightly. "It's almost time; we have to get everyone set, and ready to go."

The silver haired man I couldn't think about hating looked around with a look of confusion on his features. "Speaking of suns, where's my daughter?" Ed's face suddenly went pale as he quickly power walked out of the distance. The man blinked at this unexpected action and shook his head. "A simple 'I don't know' would have been fine."

A laugh busted out of me as I was now hunched over in the less painful way. His reaction was priceless! Ed just showed off sign number one and the man still didn't know what was going on. "N-no wait Ed! Come back!"

No POV

Ed reached out to his red coat that he had left behind when the battle started. Yet he found nothing at the scene. He blinked and looked around. "Where did it-?" He asked himself until a red cloth was set on his head. He stopped his mini search and turned to the direction of the new laugher. When removing the coat from his head he was met with the silver haired girl with her gear all set up with a sly smirk on her face. "There you are, I was actually coming over to get you."

She chuckled and crossed her arms over her chest. "Well, you didn't need to. Oh and thanks."

"For?" He questioned tilting his head in confusion.

Athena gave him a sweet smile and took a step closer to him. "Well… For everything."

"Even-"

"Yes! Even those last hours, you taught me how to not be scared… And that's actually what I needed. For what coming up in a few minutes, and for our relationship." She stated in tone that slowly became determined. "Plus, I plan on making the rest of our lives an adventure."

Ed chuckled and set his red coat on his shoulders. "Well, you might make me excited just by telling me this."

She chuckled pulling him into a kiss that was sweet and delicate in the touch and motion. It was almost as soft as the first kiss they've ever shared. After a few seconds of the loving lip lock they both parted as she whispered. "You see, that's the point."

The two stared at each other before nodding to each other and stared up straight for the light that told them the sun was coming up.

'This is it, after this, there's no turning back. Al and Kaley will do whatever they can to protect us. And us for everything else, it's in our hands now.' Then the sun reached the blue sky lighting up the clearing Athena shielded her eyes slightly before staring with a steady stare. 'The sun is finally up…'

'The Promised Day has begun!' The two automailed alchemists thought.

Shunkan Sentimental- SCANDAL

Roy set fire to a few cars which made them burst into flames and explosions. Samantha and Riza started to lead Mrs. Bradley to a high floor in the current building they were entering. It was all going well until a few soldiers broke in through the windows and men entered through the door. Before Sam and Roy could make a move they were ordered to freeze. The two black haired siblings raised their hands following the order. "Well, what are you waiting for? Shoot us." Samantha dared behind gritted teeth.

"The only one we need alive is Mustang. Kill the rest." One of the men ordered making Samantha's eyed widen along with the wife of the Fuhrer. Then she prepared herself as the man pulled the trigger.

Chapter 49.5- Lost in you