I am soo sorry people, but the lemon is gone! Poof, out the window, never to be seen again. I hated it and it ruined my confidence in my writing skills, so it's gone. I refuse to put in another lemon unless I am positive that I can do it. So this fic is rated for suggestive content. Thank you and good night!
Disclaimer: As much as I want to, I do not own FMA or any of it's char. I do, however, own Tenten and Kristy.
"LUST!" Envy shouted a couple of hours later. He was pissed off that he was denied access to his chibi. He wasn't even aware that he was starting to refer to Pride as his, even though, technically he was.
"Envy, She doesn't want anyone interrupting Her as She speaks with him. For once in your afterlife, be patient!" Lust said. Tenten was lounging on the couch, only slightly concerned, Wrath sat on a chair, his chin resting on his knees as he looked warily at the door, and Gluttony…well, he was off eating something.
"How can you expect me to be patient! How the hell did that happen? He was beginning to die for no explanation at all!" Envy snarled. Lust raised an eyebrow, before dismissing it as Envy wondering if Al found another way to kill a homunculi. At that moment, Dante walked out of the room and all attention was on her.
"I gave him some more red stones and I found out what was happening." She said smoothly.
"Well?" Envy growled. Her head jerked towards him and she glared before brushing it off.
"Under no circumstances are any of you to tell that boy of his true past. Although it wouldn't be too much of a loss, what we really need right now is for all seven sins to come together again." She said, leaving room for questions, which annoyed Envy.
"Why not?" Wrath asked, cutting off Envy's yelling fit. Dante sighed and began to explain to them.
"Edward's past was hard, at least to him it was." she spat out his name venomously, "Apparently, it constantly tore away at his soul, a soul which Pride does not have. So, instead of ripping his soul, it will rip away at him from the inside. If he finds out his true past, it will destroy him. His body will use the red stones to regenerate until they're all used up, and then it will completely kill him." Everyone tried to register what she was telling them. So it was good call not to tell Pride everything.
"I'm going to see him now." Envy growled, not leaving any room for arguments as he opened the door to Pride's room and slammed it behind him. He looked around the dimly lit room and his violet eyes fell on a small figure curled up into a ball on the bed. Envy sighed and walked up to it, sitting on the side of the bed as weary gold eyes looked at him.
"E'vy?" he murmured, unintentionally mispronouncing the elder's name. Envy raised a brow at that, but shook it off, dismissing it as Pride's drowsiness.
"Right here, you feeling better?" Envy asked. Instead of answering, Pride pushed himself up and the next thing Envy knew, thin arms wrapped around his slim waist as tears rolled down Pride's cheeks.
"I was so…scared. I felt like I was going to die. What happened? Why did his tears make me hurt like that? I saw things in my mind. That man, only he was younger, and then I saw his body being torn away and it hurt so much! What's happening Envy?" He said holding tighter. Envy was at a loss. This was the first time in his afterlife that anyone had depended on him for help. He didn't know what to do as Pride clutched onto his waist as if it were a lifeline as large, wet tears streamed down his face.
"Look, Pride, I need to warn you about something. You can not ever trust anything that man says, you got me? He's going to try to bring on their side and turn you against us. He's going to force us to fight, and he knows we can't fight you. He's going to pretend that you two were always close siblings and that he would never think about betraying you, but trust me on this, Pride. That man wouldn't think twice about getting rid of you once your use is served. He knows how to kill a homunculus and has everything he would ever need to do it. He will kill you, Pride, do you understand me? Forget whatever the encounter has placed in your head, it will only help him hurt you." Envy acted concern, and Pride didn't even consider anything to be a lie. He saw the military slime, and he almost died at the hands of his darling brother.
"Okay, Envy." He murmured beginning to get off of the palm tree. He felt a lot better now, and apparently Envy sensed that, because Pride was suddenly pinned to the bed.
"Mmm…you know, you're looking very delicious right now." Pride blushed bright red and knew he was what was happening, but didn't do anything to stop it.
"COLONEL, WHAT THE HELL IS THIS!" Edward Elric screamed stomping into the colonel's office and slapping a folder on his desk. Roy looked at it, recognizing it as the newest assignment Ed was being sent on.
"Why, Fullmetal, can't you tell? It's a folder, usually used for organizational purposes." The colonel said with a smirk. Ed growled dangerously.
"You know what I mean! Why in the world do I have to take care of a murder investigation, isn't that the police's job!" He snapped. Roy sighed and opened the folder.
"Did you only read 'You will be sent to investigate the murders-' and then just stop there? There's more to it than that." Ed crossed his arms stubbornly, which told Mustang that he did, indeed, only read that line before barging into his office.
"So what is the investigation about?"
"The murders of over fifty alchemists this past year. Not State Alchemists, may I add. These were normal, everyday alchemists that happened to be on the path of destruction. The most recent murder was in a town only three miles from Central. Here's a picture of the victim." Roy handed Ed a picture and watched as the young alchemist flinched and dropped the picture.
"What…the…hell?" He muttered. "That guy looked like he was attacked by an animal!"
"An animal that only attacks alchemists? You know there's only one way that could be possible."
"A chimera."
"Bingo. So you have to find this chimera and dispose of it before it begins to go for State Alchemists." Ed sighed and saluted.
"Yessir." He muttered, not liking formality, but knowing he should at least be polite once in a while. He got his folder and left the building.
Roy's eyes blinked open and he looked around the train, expecting to be in his office. He rubbed his eyes and blinked the sleep out of it. This is the result of three all-nighters in a row after Alphonse had called him. Finding out Ed was alive and was a homunculus did nothing to soothe the Furher's already frazzled nerves.
How could fate be as cruel as it was? Ed was already given little peace of mind in his life, and now even in his death he was denied rest. Mustang already sent men to go to Resembool to find any signs of Fullmetal's resurrection. After two days, they found a hidden room that led under the Rockbell's basement. In there, they found Winry's body, her heart looking like it was torn out, a human transmutation circle, and a tray full of blood and a trail of blood leading out of the basement along with bare footprints. That confirmed it.
Now Mustang was on his way to Anima, by train of course. He was going to help Alphonse and maybe get Ed back. He was thinking that the homunculus usually don't have memories, but their memories are there, all they need is a little kick to remember. Okay, a big kick, but maybe they wouldn't have to kill Pride and get Ed back. Roy only hoped that his theory was correct, because he knew that neither he nor Al could fight Pride full strength.
"Last stop, Anima Station!" The conductor shouted. Roy grabbed his suitcase and walked onto the platform. Immediately, he saw a familiar tuft of light brown hair and he went to meet the alchemist.
"Alphonse?" he said pushing through the crowd. His eyes widened when he saw the usually cheerful boy. His eyes were puffy and red, obviously from non-stop crying, his hair was a mess, and he looked like he hadn't slept at all since his encounter with Pride.
"H-hello, Roy." He said trying to smile, but failed miserably. Roy's face softened and he put a hand on Al's shoulder.
"Come on, we need to talk."
"Al, are you sure you want to do this? I mean, your body is still new and if it's put under too much stress, it could collapse." Edward said as he and Alphonse, already in his real body, crouched in front of a large and torn apart warehouse.
"I'll be fine, Nii-san, I promise!" Al insisted. Ed sighed and shook his head, that tone told him nothing was going to change his younger brother's mind, so he decided to drop the subject and turn to the warehouse.
"Hey, Al?" he said as his face fell for a moment.
"What?"
"Why the hell does it always have to be warehouses? Every time we end up at a warehouse, something creepy happens. I know this time isn't going to be an exception!" Alphonse blinked in confusion before giggling a little. His brother always made a big deal about everything. The two suddenly became silent and they crouched lower. A slim figure was running into the warehouse, and disappear into the darkness.
"Is that the person?" Al asked.
"Looks like it. At every scene, the people described the same person running away. They never thought much of it because they felt it was obvious no human could cause the injuries the victims sustained." Ed muttered, remembering everything that led them up to this warehouse by heart.
"Are we sure this is the same person?" the younger Elric asked, wanting to be sure before actually going in there.
"Yes, now come on, lets go!" They both emerged from their hiding place and stealthily made their way into the warehouse. When they got inside, they were inside a hall that went about five feet before splitting into two halls.
"Which way did she go?" Al asked looking around. Ed looked at the ground, trying to find footprints or something distinguishable, but found none.
"Okay, we better split up then." He said.
"But what if we find her?" Al asked, knowing the figure was a girl from the descriptions. "You've seen what she did to those other alchemists!" Ed sighed and shook his head.
"Don't be such a fraidy-cat! We both know she's the one who's controlling the chimera, so the most we have to worry about is the chimera finding us." Ed told him.
"Isn't that worse?"
"We'll find her easier this way, okay! Now, lets go!" Al sighed when he saw the other male wasn't leaving any room for arguments, so he nodded and went one way as his brother went the other. Al didn't like being alone in this cold dark place, but he wanted to help his brother as much as he could. Even if he was still getting used to having a real body.
As he walked down the hall, he froze when he heard a sound behind him and he whirled around to see…absolutely nothing. Dismissing it as his imagination, he continued to walk and he heard the sound again. It was a soft sound, like something splashing in a puddle. When he turned, he prepared to transmute something only to feel something on his head. It was wet…water?
"I was getting worked up over water!" Al snapped at himself, but then he heard something that really scared him. Actually, it didn't scare him at all, it terrified him! Al ran back down the hall as he heard his brother's painful scream fill the air.
"Nii-san! Nii-san, where are you?" He cried going down the hall his brother went through. He ran until he got to a large room filled with old boxes and his eyes widened when he saw his brother on his knees, his hand over a bloody wound on his stomach.
"Hey there…Al…" he said sounding tired, most likely from the lack of blood.
"Nii-san, what happened? Did the chimera get you?" Okay, that question had an obvious answer, but Al was panicking, he wasn't thinking straight.
"Al, remember when we said that the girl was the one controlling the chimera?" Ed asked him.
"Yeah?"
"Well, we were wrong."
"What? Then who's controlling it?"
"The chimera is…you see, the girl isn't controlling the chimera, she is the chimera!"
"That's right." Al's head shot up when he heard a new voice enter into the conversation. He didn't know why he didn't notice it before, but there was a girl standing in front of a tower of boxes, a fanged smirk directed their way. She looked pretty young, probably just thirteen, with jet-black hair and green eyes. There were a few things that bothered Al, though. Mostly, the furry ears perched on her head, the claw-like nails, and the slim tail that was moving behind her. A human-chimera…no wonder she was killing alchemists…
"Who are you?" Al demanded while trying to help his brother with the bleeding wound.
"The names Kristy, it wouldn't bother me if you don't remember, because you and that stupid alchemist brother of yours are both going to be dead!" she snarled, her face losing any and all of her cockiness. Alphonse growled and stood in front of Ed.
"You leave my brother alone! You've done enough damage!" he snapped.
"Obviously not since he's still alive! Don't worry, you'll be joining him soon enough." She smirked and held out her claws, ready to attack. Al didn't know why, but when his eyes locked with his, he froze. Those piercing green eyes hypnotized him and he couldn't move.
"AL!" he didn't know what happened, but he found himself laying on the floor. Alphonse immediately shook his head to get out of the trance and he whirled around.
"Nii-san are you…" He gasped and his eyes widened, first in shock, and then in pain.
"Well, well, well, look what the great Fullmetal Alchemist has been reduced to." The girl smirked as she looked at Edward's face and blood seeped down the claws that were digging into his neck.
"Y-you…he…what…" Al couldn't think straight. He couldn't see what was happening. His brother stood, unmoving and covered with blood, that girl, Kristy, she had her arm extended. And the claws on her hand, they were inside of his brother's neck! "You…YOU KILLED MY BROTHER!" Al's eyes were full of rage now as he transmutated a blade and he ran towards the girl, who easily jumped out of the way, dropping Ed's body in the process.
"Now, now, don't be sad. Out of the goodness of my heart, why don't I let you see him again." She smirked as she licked the blood off her claws.
"You're sick." Al snarled.
"Not as sick as you alchemists. You couldn't be satisfied transmuting inanimate objects, you had to transmute living things, animals, to satisfy your curiosity. Then, when transmutation animals became boring, you turned to transmutation humans. Why stop there? Why not transmute animals and humans?" she said, her smirk faltering and she began to look pissed off as well.
"That's what another alchemists did, but not my brother! He hated transmuting animals, when it came to animals an humans together, he loathed it completely!" he shouted.
"Yes, but one day, when you're old and gray, you'll teach some kid alchemy, then when they grow old, they will teach and so on. Somewhere down the road, another idiot will become curious and try transmuting a human-chimera. I'm not killing off alchemists that do these kind of things to people, I'm killing them all off so no one else will obtain the knowledge needed to do it." She was prepared to attack again, but before she had the chance, there was a loud explosion, then another, and another, until the wall about ten feet away from them was destroyed.
"Colonel Mustang?" Al said recognizing the flames. Then he turned back to his opponent, only to see she had disappeared.
"Alphonse, Edward, are you two all right?" Roy's voice could be heard from behind the cloud of dust as military soldiers began filling the warehouse. "We heard screams and thought you two could use some back-up. Alphonse, where's Fullmetal?" Roy asked as he began to see Al's shaky figure.
"Nii-san…" He fell to his knees and his head turned away from the direction he knew his brother's body was. Mustang rose an eyebrow and then he noticed a trail of blood. When Al heard his gasp, he knew that the colonel must have seen it.
"I want any and all free hands out there searching for anyone who has a drop of blood on them and bring them to headquarters immediately! Where are the paramedics?" Roy growled and a few people in white went right next to the bloody body. Al wasn't watching, he couldn't watch. Only when he felt a hand on his shoulder did he move and he looked up to see a woman in white.
"Alphonse Elric?" she asked.
"Yes?" he asked her.
"I'm…sorry…" she trailed off, not knowing what else to say. Al's head turned away for a second, and then he screamed.
"First thing is first, we need to find where the homunculi are hiding." Roy said after Al explained the details of what happened during the battle against Pride. Al nodded, his head hung low like it had been for the whole time he was explaining. Mustang looked at him sympathetically.
"Alphonse, it wasn't your fault." He said knowing what was troubling the younger male.
"You don't understand, it was! It's my fault Ed died, it's my fault Winry used human transmutation, and it will be my fault if we lose this chance to give him back his memory and get him back!" Al cried.
"None of this is your fault, you have to believe me."
"Really? How can I? Ed died to keep me from getting killed, Winry died because I taught her alchemy and gave her every book on alchemy I had, including Nii-san's book, which had the formula and circle for human transmutation, and, now, Pride's dying for I-don't-know-what reason. How is any of this not my fault?"
"Because the fault of Fullmetal's death is on that chimera, Winry chose to do a human transmutation, and you don't know what was it that made Pride cough up red stones. For all we know, something else hurt him." Al opened his mouth to object again, but then he closed it, knowing that they weren't going to get anywhere if they kept arguing.
"We can expect the homunculi to be somewhere fancy, they always live in some unique place. Maybe at the clock tower, I heard that no one goes there and there's a lot of room for someone to live." Al said changing the subject.
"Well, that's a start. Let's go and check it out." Roy said getting up from the chair he was sitting on. Al nodded and they both left the inn and towards a large clock tower. They continued to walk, grateful that the shop were closing and that no one was bothering them to buy something. Alphonse turned to the sunset and noticed that there was a river right by the town. He suddenly gasped.
"Roy!" he said with wide eyes.
"What is it?" The dark haired man looked where Al's gaze was and followed it to a point somewhere just about half a mile away from the town down the river. His own eyes widened when he saw a familiar blond standing by the water.