Sloth
Flames burning passionately within my heart, cheeks felling hot as chili peppers, and a comfortable sensation that feels like butterflies in my stomach; that was what I felt like on that day he kissed me. Greed. The name "Apathy" engraved in my mind, and haunted me with romantic passion. I would laugh, smile at the sound of it. Blushed as red as a rose, blending well with my pale white skin. Was this love?
His crimson eyes, his chaotic, but loving smile; how could I fall in love with a man so… so evil? All of these confusing questions spun inside my mind as I sat on my bed in my dark-lit room. A startling knock on my door broke my concentration, and I quickly sat up trying to show respect for whoever was coming through my door. It was Envy. He entered with a smile pasted barely on his mouth, and something between his back.
"Hey, are you feeling alright?" He cocked his head in curiosity. Trying to hold my embarrassment inside, I gave a slight smile.
"Just fine. What do you have behind your back?" A small "urk!" broke through his lips. He blushed lightly, and looked away.
"J-just a small present," he stuttered. I giggled at his loss of character. He came and sat next to me, and brought his hands from behind his back to open them up. In his hands was a small baby bird that was twitching back, and forth in curiosity. My eyes glowed bright, and I smiled widely.
"Envy… is this bird…for me?" He smiled, and nodded. I wrapped my arms around him and snuggled my cheek to his.
"Thank you! Thank you so much!"
…………
I named the bird Tipi that sounded cute to me. The bird was a happy one…it even seemed unnatural that Envy would give me a present like a bird instead of a task that would lead me to death of others. Now that I mentioned him, Envy has been clinging to me more often than before. Envy would…demand less jobs than usual, because of this Lust had lost ability to trust Envy, but that didn't stop him.
Day after day that he would spend with me, he would ask me questions that were somewhat comfortable to answer. He would ask like:
"What do you like about being a Sin? Being a Homunculus?" "Is everything going okay with how you're living?" and then, he would ask questions that would hit the mark. The target was the heart. "Do you love Greed?" It was a sad question that I couldn't answer even if I DID love him. If I were to tell Envy, he would get sad, and just thinking of him being sad makes me sad. To avoid the pain, I changed the subject.
"Hey, do you have any jobs that I can do?" He pouted, knowing that he wouldn't get an answer.
"Not that I can think of…no," Just then, Lust came in to the conversation.
"Envy…we need you on the next job. Come now,"
"Bu-"
"Now!" Envy didn't even finish as he was being pulled from his collar out of the room. I couldn't help, but giggle.
The fact that all three of my guardians were gone on a job made me get the chance to go see Greed. I exited the church, and entered the forest. As I moved in deeper, I found the cabin and raced toward the door to see him. I opened the door…
………
Panting from exhaustion, I looked around inside the dark cabin. Searching for Greed…
"Hello…anybody here?" The sound of rustling made me jump backwards.
"W-who's t-there?" I demanded with my heart beating at a rapid pace. The sound happen again, this time it sounded clearer. It was the sound of a page from a book turning. Somebody was in here, and it also came to me that that somebody was not Greed.
"Who are you?" I demanded with a bark in my voice. The person did not answer. I decided to just give up, and leave, but before I could turn away, arms rested on my shoulders, and the book the figure was holding covered my view. I ducked under the figure trying to avoid it as good as possible, and stepped into a small fragment of light coming through a window. The figure finally decided to speak. It talked to me with a cocky, but somehow, lazy, and calm, female voice.
"You must be Apathy, Lust told me lots about you… I just needed to see if the facts are true," The female came out of the darkness. It was the woman I saw on the day we invaded Lab 5. The Sin known as Sloth. Her body was as tall as Lust's with the same figure with light brown hair, and grey eyes that felt like color of sadness. Instead of a Sin costume, which is all black, she was wearing a rosy business outfit. Oh yeah…I remember Lust saying that this Sin is undercover within the Military.
"My…you're a cutie…you're almost a spitting image of me," she cooed. I looked at her with uncertainty. She was a Sin, but it felt like I couldn't trust her.
"What do you want?" I snapped not lowering my guard. She gave me a look as if she was hurt by what I said.
"Oh…Apathy…Can't you at least show me a little respect pl-"
"That's not what I'm asking! What…do…you…want?" Sloth knew that she wouldn't get what she wanted with me, and sighed heavily.
"I want you to help me out who I am,"
"What? Why?" I cocked my head and lifted a curious eyebrow as she smiled softly.
"Before I became a Homunculus, I knew that I was someone in my past life. Sadly, I can't remember. If it's okay, I want you to help me out." I turned my head away wanting to think about it.
"If you're lucky, I think you'll see Greed on the way," That got my attention. As Sloth Said "Greed" with a smile on her face, I blushed a dark red.
"Ho-"
"Why would I be here if I didn't know abut you and Greed," To have the chance to see Greed again made me have no choice, but to agree to assist Sloth.
"Where to?"
………………
Walking alongside Sloth, I knew that there was trouble up ahead. This, however, was just a thought that came from a suspicious mind. As we walked, she told me about her current position. Sloth told me that her false name was Juliet Rogers, and that she worked in the military under the Furher known as King Bradly.
" I work with him in secret, and follow on leads for the Philosophers Stone. The Full Metal pipsqueak is finding clues, and making us even more restless than we usually are." Looking in her eyes as she said that made me feel somewhat insecure about the Full Metal Alchemist. The kid has the same eyes as I do, but how come he gets encouraging attention while I got rejection, and hatred directed toward me. He makes me mad…
"…pathy…Apathy!" I came back to reality as the Sin called my name. "We're here…" I stared off at what seemed a deserted country. The grass was bright green, the sky was purely blue, and houses were on every hill.
"This is Resembool…" She told me. Looking at the scenery, it made me realize the calmness within me, a breeze for my breath.
"Is this where you live?" I asked feeling light-headed as I sat on a nearby patch of grass. Sloth looked at me with confusion.
"I don't know… Lust just told me that I could find answers here,"
This seems weird…why would she know where to go exactly if she doesn't know about her pa- My thought was interrupted when the Sin started taking the attention as she looked at her clothes, then at mine. This got me irritated.
"What?" I snapped at the sin who just continued to stare at my outfit.
"You stand out… maybe you should get into more suiting clothes?" I grunted stubbornly, but knew that she was right. With a flash of red burning light, I changed my black, dark, moody outfit, into some overalls and a white T-shirt that looked filthy. I added a choker to my neck in order to hide my mark for humans to see. Sloth looked at me with wide eyes.
"Is that another one of your powers that you slowly obtained?" I smiled a toothy grin giving her a small amount of a clue as possible. She disliked the fact that I was being stubborn, and would refuse to talk.
We finally reached a place where a house used to be. It was burnt to the ground with nothing left, but a few boards. Sloth started walking into the messy ashes. She paced back and forth, looking closely at the remaining traces. All I did was lean near a close tree, staring at the wandering Homunculus.
For an hour, the woman searched for something that wasn't even there I thought. She smiled, then looked at me with calm, grey eyes.
"This is most interesting," she noted, " I just might have found a clue to who I really am." I tilted an eyebrow with concern, but still kept my eyes on her.
"I'm just a lazy, cold-hearted homunculus who can't tell her own past," For that one thought, I doubled over in laughter. I covered my face and fell to the ground hysterical. The though about her being lazy… That's so insane! Sloth gave me an annoyed look, walking out of the burnt remains of the old house.
"What is so funny? I was being serious," Wiping tears of laughter from my face, I stood up.
"It's just how you said that, it's crazy! I always thought that you were strange, but when you said those thing, it makes you even more strange…it was just funny…" Silence surrounded us until a giggle was released from Sloth.
"I guess I was being pretty weird… I also thought the same way about you when I first met you. You were quite, and somewhat strange like you said." We looked at each other with familiar eyes. Eyes of memory. Not of our old memories, but of our recent memories; memories of each other. In such short time, we became best friends. We learned each other's secrets, and I learned an ability that she wields. It was like Envy's power, but she could morph parts of her body into water.
After a day's worth of each other, a surprised visit from my bird Tipi. She held a note in her mouth. I read it thoroughly. It was from Greed!
Kid,
I'm at a house where our master lives. The Full Metal Alchemist is here too, so if you want to meet him, come on over! I can't wait to see you!
GreedHe left a little drawing of him doing a thumbs up sign. It was cute, and I giggled at the sight of it. Sloth was curious about the letter.
"It's from Greed. He was us to meet him where the master's house is," Sloth hesitated to move, but went back into place and followed me.
………………
For some weird reason, I knew where to go. It felt like a string was pulling me to my destination. Was this a new ability? After a little sprint, we reached the designated house. It was quiet, and it hid well behind many trees.
"Our master lives here?" I asked, looking so far up I felt like my back was going to give out.
"Yes, this is where Master D-" A loud crash from inside the house interrupted Sloth's explanation. Not willing to hear the end of it, I raced in there with large determination. As I ran inside the house two ladies stood there. One was old, but had a smile stuck on her face, the other one was a girl that was about my height. She had black-purplish hair, and a gemstone was wrapped around her neck as a talisman. As I looked at them, one word came into my mind: Master. Not a minute later, I raced outside. There was Greed a black, and blue with bruises, but still held his original grin, and there… there was the brat of an alchemist: Edward Elric. A sneer washed over my face. Blood boiled into my veins, and my fists wouldn't stop trembling in anger. Just looking at the Full Metal made me want to punch his lights out.
However, as I stared at the kid, I didn't realize that Greed fell to the ground. He wasn't moving. My anger changed to worry as I ran to his side.
"Greed! Greed, are you alright?" I held him in my arms as he stared at me.
"Hey kid, you showed up," He had blood come from his mouth, but I thought that Homunculi couldn't get hurt?
"Guess I look pretty bad like this," he coughed, " I'm just weak from fighting, that's all." He fell asleep in my arms, however I knew that he wasn't dead, but I fell into fear as I now stared into the Full Metal's eyes. Looking up close, he was covered in blood, cuts on his head, splatters on his metal arm. I knew that it was Greed's, but how could I face this person? He's scary… what should I do? I can't leave Greed here! All these thoughts ran into my mind as I stared into the killer's eyes. The same color… it makes me sick!
"You… who are you?" The boy demanded. I just stayed there with no intention of giving him an answer.
"Are you just like him? A Human Transmutation?" What is that? Human Transmutation?
"Why are you doing this? We are only wanting to be human?" I screamed at the boy. We flinched, giving of a growl.
"You're just like him, the boy with my arms on his body, I guess that means would have to be destroyed too," And with no hesitation, he came after me with his mechanical arm ready to attack. I fell into a panic, but I couldn't run. I had to stay and fight in order to keep Greed safe, but how? His attack was so sudden; he slashed me on the stomach without me even blinking. The pain was unbearable, blood ran down my stomach, and energy was separating from me fast.
Horror fell down upon me, I couldn't breathe, couldn't talk, my mind was spinning. Is this how I'm going to die? No… I can't die! I'll never die! My body started to move on it's own, ignoring the fact that inside; I was unable to move in fear. In a flash of light my body started to change. The wound automatically healed, and one of my arms changed horribly. My arm throbbed in pain, and changed into something unnatural. As I was able to see it, it was something like a sword. With this advantage, I dashed toward the alchemist, and started slashing, and stabbing, hoping that I would rip that bastard to shreds. I got him on the arm, and on one of his legs that made a clinging sound as I crossed courses with my blade.
Edward Elric fell to the ground helpless of all the things that I could do to him.
With a sudden grin on my face, I aimed for his heart with my blade of a hand, but before I got to him, a hand grabbed my arm, breaking my attack. I looked over my shoulder to see Greed stare at me with serious eyes.
"No more, the other's need him," My hand went back to normal, and I pushed my self on Greed, holding him tightly, wanting to never let go. Small tears fell down my cheeks and I started sobbing heavily. Greed hesitated, then wrapped his arms closely around me, giving me warmth for every minute I stayed with him.
Sloth then came in, looking at me with worried eyes. She moved closer to the both of us.
"What happened?" Sloth gasped, still keeping her calm. Greed answered for me, as he stared at the woman.
"She just had a rough time, let her be, and she'll be back to normal…I hope,"
……………………
The next thing I knew was that I was in a bed. Blood stained my outfit, but there was no blood. The wound had completely healed. My cheeks were damp from the tears, and all of my bones were tired form the sudden fight I had with the Full Metal. I looked at my hand were it unusually transformed into a sword that almost killed the poor boy. It was back to normal, but the blood of the Full Metal remained leaving me to shed even more tears as that was my first real battle.
"How are you feeling?" I looked to my left to see Sloth sitting beside me. She was now in complete black, and showed her mark, which was on her heart. I then, stared back down to my sullied hand.
"The boy, is he alright?" The homunculus was silent for a moment, then whispered, "Yes, he is in critical condition, but he will live,"
"What about Greed?" All that Sloth did for an answer was look at a direction. I followed her look, and saw him. He was on the other side of me with his head on the bed, sleeping soundly.
"He might be arrogant, but he cared for you this whole time, he even stayed by your side, and wished to wait until your eyes opened," With my hand, I place a hand on his, giving off a small grin.
He looks so cute like this…" I giggled softly; sadly the little moment was ruined when a fearful Envy came in with the most excited, but worried look on his face.
"What the hell happened?" He screamed, "I heard that you took the pipsqueak on all by yourself! How?"
For the past hour, I told Envy about the whole scene, detail by detail, he listened carefully. After that, he smiled at me, and leaned in for a kiss on my forehead.
"I'm proud of you Apathy-chan!" My face turned beat-red, which never happened in a while. A little moan silenced the moment. I looked at Greed, who was waking up smoothly, and slowly.
"Is there something I'm missing?" He whined as he made a rubbing eye motion.
"What's this guy doing here?" Envy gave off a evil smirk. Greed got up, and looked at the two homunculi who accompanied me. He jerked back; making a little "urk" as he saw the two Sins he wanted to avoid the most.
"What's wrong?" I asked tilting my head, giving off a frown. He looked at me and gave off a grin. Sweat rolled down his cheek, he chuckled.
"Ah… Apathy… sorry kid, but I gotta jet!" Without any warning, he gave me a small peck on the lips and sprinted off, out of a window. This time, Envy was pissed. Going after Greed, he yelled:
"And you better stay away from her, she's mine you hear me? Mine!" Giggling, I got up and slammed myself against the angry Envy, wrapping my arms tightly around him.
"Thank you for worrying about me…" Sloth smiled as she relaxed in her chair and saw me as an adult who could take care of herself.
"You are, no doubt, a beautiful, and brave young lady…"
(This is the Sloth chapter… hoped it was as good as the first one! Next up: The cute, but dangerously deadly, Wrath! R&R)