WARNING: This chapter is all over the place as in literally all the places. I won't rehash descriptions because I don't feel like rewriting canon and because their 'surprise' isn't that interesting. These people roll with the weird shit and so shall we. The ending of this chapter slips point of view with a vision/memory and if it seems confusing, just imagine how much more confusing it would be to live that ;D
Chapter 17 - When We Were Gods
Ling was staring into his tea as if the amber water held the answers that were burning inside him.
Was Ed alright?
Had his brother stayed?
Why the hell was Ed even living with a different household from his family to begin with?
Why had Alphonse been so hurt? His chi had been a tangle of emotions.
Ling stroked Black Hayate's soft ears, wondering if Ed wanted company today or if needed some time to himself.
"What are you thinking about?" Roy asked, sitting down across from him with his first cup of coffee for the day
"Who were you thinking about?" Riza asked, as she sat on the sofa with him so she could rub Black Hayate's furry belly.
Ling flushed at the question, Riza was too perceptive at times.
Roy laughed, "So you and Ed are getting along then?"
Ling didn't dignify that with an answer.
"How was he last night?" Roy baited, waggling his eyebrows.
Ling didn't cover his worry in time because the humour fell from his elder brother's expression immediately.
"What's wrong?"
Ling cursed himself, he didn't want to be the one to tell Roy about Ed's other family. Then he realized a way to get himself out of telling them anything personal about Ed, "We kissed last night."
Roy's smile was back, "And he didn't run away?"
Ling glared, "Of course not." He stood as if he were truly upset, retreating upstairs. He threw over his shoulder. "Have a good day at work."
oOo
Roy exchanged a smile with Riza as they finished their coffees.
Today would be a good day, he was certain Maes would be all a fluttered with matchmaking schemes.
However, when he got into the office and was setting his things on his desk, Fuery pointed to his private office, "The Lieutenant Colonel is waiting for you."
Roy grinned, striding across the room and entering the darkened office, lit only by the breaks in the shades.
Maes had his glasses off, pinching his brow. "Are you alright?" Roy asked, suddenly worried.
"No," Maes said without looking up.
"What happened?" Roy asked, good mood deflating. He had thought Ed truly liked Ling.
"I don't know what to do, I mean there's nothing I can do to change things but I feel like a failure as a father."
Roy was suddenly pissed, "Well, I'm not preventing Ling and Ed being together, and I am incredibly disappointed in you for not supporting them. I never knew you were homophobic."
"Homophobic?" Maes repeated, looking up at him in confusion. "What the hell are you talking about? Ling and Ed? They're—"
"They kissed last night," Roy said. "And you should be nothing but happy for them."
Maes blinked, "They kissed? Their first kiss?"
"Yes. Why aren't you happy for them?"
Maes shook his head, "I didn't know."
Roy frowned, "Wait, then, what were you talking about?"
"Alphonse and Hohenheim showed up at our home last night."
"What?" Roy asked, damning his cocky-shit of a little brother whose turning tail and running away this morning made far more sense now.
Maes sighed, "It didn't go well."
Roy sat on the sofa across from him, "What happened?"
"Ed was right about Van Hohenheim. He is a piece of work. But he seems to care enough about Al, but he's slow. As if he can't quite bring himself to react the way humans do. Ed kicked him out almost immediately."
"And Alphonse?"
"He was angry but Ed was so happy to see him. They obviously love each other. Al wanted Ed to leave with him."
Roy sighed, "Why would he have expected that?"
"He didn't know Ed was a State Alchemist."
"How did he feel about that?"
"Badly enough that he wanted to disown Edward upon learning."
Roy gaped at him, "You can't be serious."
"I think Alphonse is closer to Winry than Ed is. The Rockbells being so close, and them being from Resembool…"
"Still, they are brothers."
"Which is something I needed to speak with you about. Alphonse implied that the upper brass was involved in more than just corruption."
"What, you mean aside from the Black Op Chimeras?"
"Yes," Maes said with absolute seriousness. "Hohenheim is four hundred years old, coincidentally, around the same age as the founding of the Amestrian military. The government has been making human chimaeras and philosopher stones out of human souls. Oh, and the creation of artificial humans. What are we missing?"
"I don't know, something deeper, something Hohenheim seemed convinced Ed didn't know the full scope of."
"You talked to him?"
"I threatened him. Here's hoping the bastard is committed to getting Al to see reason."
"How's Ed handling it?"
"He was gutted, Roy. I think if Al had tried to stab him, he would have been less hurt."
"How is he now?"
"Burying himself in work no doubt," Maes said.
"I'll keep an eye on him."
There was a long silence.
Finally, Maes broke it by asking, "Ed and Ling kissed?"
Roy allowed himself a small smile.
oOo
A few months seemed to fly by and though Ed couldn't fully shake the depression Al hating him had caused, his family and loved ones made it easier.
Nina clinging to him each morning and asking him not to leave helped settle him. He might have failed Al but he was grown up now, Nina and Gracia weren't.
Ed couldn't make amends with Al even though he wanted to. But he could keep from making the same mistakes with his sisters.
Plus, living with Hohenheim sounded like hell. Maes actually cared about him.
And then, Ling.
Things with Ling were good.
"You're limping," Ling pointed out.
Ed sat and stretched out his legs, "Damn."
"What?"
"It's been nearly a year," he said, thinking of the time he would need to take off.
"So?" Ling asked.
Ed grinned, "I grew. How would you like to go South with me?"
"I thought Resembool was East of Central?"
"It is, but if I'm going to take time off, Winry's birthday is coming up soon and I have a few years to make up for."
Ling sat down beside him, "Sure, I would love to see more of Amestris."
"Cool, I need to make some calls."
Ling nodded, stretching out his legs over Ed's lap.
Ed laughed, reaching for the phone. He called Mustang first.
—You're late, Fullmetal, Colonel Bastard said.
"First, I don't care and two, what if it wasn't me?"
—I timed when Ling got out of bed, which was sometime after I left. I've noticed it coincides with whenever you show up.
Ed felt his cheeks heat, "Whatever, Colonel Bastard. I need to take time off."
—That's not how you request time off, Fullmetal.
"I need to get my automail replaced."
—Why, what did you do to it?
"Nothing, I grew taller."
—Alert the masses.
"Screw off. I'll see you when I see you."
—Fullmetal, Mustang began but Ed hung up on him.
He called Winry next. It took a minute for the call to connect.
—Rockbell Automail, Pinako speaking.
"Hey Granny, Winry in?"
—Sure Pipsqueak, the hag said, then pulled the receiver away to call; —Winry, phone!
The other line picked up and Winry's voice came through, —Hello?
"Hey Win, how are you?"
Ed?
"Yep."
—Are you okay?
"I've called," he huffed.
She snorted, —Like twice.
"Sorry," he apologised. "You got my letters though, right?"
—Yeah, Mr. Hughes should be a professional photographer.
"Only of the people he cares about."
She laughed, —What's up?
"I grew some and I need a replacement on at least the leg. I have stopped by Matt's yet but I can call back later with measurements."
—Oh, that would be good. I can have the pieces ready by the time you're here.
"Um, actually, I was thinking…"
—If you've gotten hurt, I swear.
"Would you let me finish?"
—Fine.
"Your birthday is coming up, right?"
—Yeah…
"I need to go South, and South of Central is Rush Valley."
There was a long pause, then…
Ed held the receiver away from himself as Winry screamed.
Ling laughed.
—Oh my God! Yes, oh, Ed! You're the best! I don't want to build your automail yet until we get there. I could hand-pick all the best parts!
"Yeah, that's fine. I might need you to sign a few forms on the building process."
—I am not giving away my secrets to the military.
He sighed, "Why is everyone so ready to assume the worst in me?
Winry fell quiet, —Ed, is everything alright?
He let out a breath, running a hand through his hair. "Fine. I meant medical forms describing how long it took for the build, is all. Your damned secrets are safe."
—Ed, I didn't mean anything by it. What happened?
"Nothing."
—Don't nothing me, you're pissed.
"I'm not pissed."
—You're something.
Ed didn't realize how tense he was until ling sat to scrape his nails over the nap of Ed's neck. He let out another breath, "Al showed up."
—Oh, how did that go?
"I think you know."
—He doesn't like the military, she agreed causally.
"No? I didn't get that at all?"
—He really didn't forgive you?
"He forgave me for everything except enlisting. Which, I don't truly get where he gets off. If you were that mad at me, fair. But he didn't even give me a chance to explain myself."
—He doesn't read the papers.
"I didn't think you did either."
—I've started checking the headlines whenever I go into town. Who knew infrastructure was front-page news?
"You're not still mad at me for joining, are you?"
—No, Ed, I'm not. I know you. I know there are lines you would never cross. I'm sorry Al wasn't ready to hear that. He'll come around.
"Here's hoping. Anyway, do you want to get a ticket to Rush Valley and I'll meet you there?"
—Yeah, don't bother calling back with the measurements. I'll catch the first train.
"Sure, we'll probably get there before you so I'll find somewhere for us to stay."
—We? And if you've grown close to two inches I want you to take the leg off and use a wheelchair.
"Why?" He demanded.
To give your port time to rest for a new attachment. I'll have to replace both, which is a lot of stress on your spine. Please Ed. You can leave the arm on. That shouldn't make too much of a difference. But I can almost promise you're hurting more than you think if you are calling because you've noticed you've grown.
"Fine, okay," he said shortly.
—You have someone to push you around.
"Winry, I swear, you're so lucky I love you. Yes, Ling is coming with me."
—Whose Ling?
"You'll know when you're introduced in Rush Valley."
—Ed!
"Pack an empty suitcase. I've got the rest." Then he hung up on her.
Ling chortled, "She sounds fun."
"She is. We've been friends since we were kids."
"Do you think she'll like me?"
He shut his eyes leaning into his touch, "Course, be prepared for intrusive questions though."
"Sure," Ling said, swing his leg over Ed's thoughts. "How much are you going to complain when I'm rolling you around in a wheelchair."
Ed wrapped his arms around Ling's waist, "Keep talking and I'm going to kick your ass with my new limbs."
"I can think of better things to do than talking."
Ed kissed him, but pulled back soon afterward. "You need to go pack."
"Give me the address of your mechanic," Ling said, sliding off him. "I'll meet you there with the wheel chair."
"You're pushing it, Yao."
"I mean not yet—"
Ling ducked away from Ed's strike with another laugh, "See you in a bit." Then ducked out the window.
Ed sighed and picked back up the phone.
—Lieutenant Colonel Hughes speaking.
"Hey Dad."
—Ed!
He smiled at his Dad's enthusiasm, "I've taken some time off so I can get my automail replaced."
—When did you break it?
"Why does everyone keep asking me that? No, I grew taller."
—Really?
"Dad," Ed warned.
Maes laughed, —Back to Resembool then?
"Nah. Theoretically, I could get the measurements down and then have Winry put an order for parts. But her birthday is coming up, and I figured I would take her to Rush Valley."
—You're taking Ling with you?
"Yeah. I want to go see Teacher too. And if Ling is serious about pursuing alchemy, he might want to train with her."
—You think you're ineffective at teaching it yourself?
"Ling is better at martial arts than me, and Teacher has a better understanding of how the physical relates to alchemy."
—Again, I don't see how you're not good at that.
"What do you know about Briggs?"
—Plenty.
"Teacher survived a month camping up there in the winter."
There was a long silence and finally, —I'm sort of afraid to ask what her training was like.
"She left Al and I on a deserted island for a month, but it's not the same as Briggs."
—Are you alright, Ed? Maes aske suddenly, more about his brother than his trip.
"Yeah. Though I apologise in advance if Teacher kills me."
—Dublith is not Resembool. I think if anyone from your past has seen the papers it has been Izumi Curtis.
Ed sighed, "Yeah, you're probably right."
—Stay safe, Son.
"You too, Dad."
oOo
Edward clearly was not pleased to be in a wheelchair. But he had been more than a little subdued in the months following his brother's visit.
That it happened to be the night of their first kiss, Ling tried to not let get to him. Which Ed made easier by his obvious welcome of Ling's company.
It seemed Edward was no more a fan of being alone than Ling was. Ed had grown up with Al and Ling had grown up with Lan Fan, being alone didn't seem something either of them was well accustomed to.
Ed had his back to the window, so he could stretch his legs out on the bench two books in his lap as he quizzed Ling on alchemy basics. Ling was caught between watching Ed and the scenery.
Why was Ed even referring back to 'Alchemic Basics'? Because he was using a dictionary to translate the information into Xingese.
His accent didn't sound bad but it made some of the words confusing to follow, but it was still easier to learn a complex science with someone who was using Xingese, supplemented by the forgein language. Even if Ling had a knack for languages, he felt like he belonged in this new life of his.
Winry Rockbell caught up to them on a connecting train.
She was beautiful and kind, and almost killed Ed with a wrench for not asking for help sooner. The two bickered like siblings.
Rush Valley was apparently the Automail Capital of Amestris. Ed sunk into his wheelchair, but didn't deny Winry anything she wanted to get as Ling rolled him through the streets. Winry could clearly tell he was unhappy.
That first night, Ling laid awake trying to think up some way to pull Ed out of his slump.
Sure, he had been hurting since Alphonse left. But taking off his leg, making him dependent to get around, seemed to have taken the wind out of his sails.
The only thing to look forward to was that Winry had gotten all the supplies she needed on day one. Now, she just needed to rent space in a workshop for a day to get Ed back to himself.
Ling did not predict that the next day would be worse.
They got swarmed by people who wanted to see Edward's arm, which is when Ed finally snapped.
"Just take it off!"
"Ed…" Winry said, instantly cowed by the harshness.
Even the crowd backed off.
"You have a wrench, take it off."
"Ed, I'm sorry—"
"It's fine. It's great work and you have to take it off today anyway."
She bit her lip.
"Ed and I will get lunch once his arm is off," Ling said, trying to get this moment over with.
Ed was already down to his tank top, Ling had had to fight himself to not bash in the well-meaning skulls of the gear heads.
Winry pulled a wrench from her back pocket and some sort of twist. Even following each movement, Ling couldn't exactly dercern how the arm unlocked.
Ed grunted once as she disconnected the nerves.
Ling watched the chi in Ed's metal arm break and Ling gasped.
Ed turned and raised a brow at him, "Thought you had a stronger stomach than that, Princeling."
Ling ignored the flippant tone and looked at Winry, "We good?"
She nodded, "I won't be back until noon tomorrow. I don't have to entirely rebuild the limbs but what I want to change is intricate enough to be an all-nighter."
"Thanks, Winry," Ed said.
Ling started them roller, before she could respond.
"What's your problem?" Ed grouched.
"Those are your body-parts, they shouldn't be poked at like that in public," Ling answered, barely suppressing his own anger.
"Yeah, well, I don't have that luxury. Besides, I get it. Winry cares about automail the way I care about alchemy."
"Does she treat all her patients like that?" Ling demanded.
"No, but none of her other patients pushed her into a bush on her fifth birthday," Ed said. "It's alright. But it was just… a bit much, with the crowd and all."
Ling didn't like it and remained silent as they found a busy restaurant with outdoor seating.
"Seriously," Ed pressed. "What's wrong?"
Ling didn't know how to explain it, and looking at other amputees that were in frightening abundance in the area. A few had chi that flowed from organic flesh to metal but not like Ed. Whose chi had flowed freely. The only differences were the pressure points that followed different pathways.
"Ling?" Ed demanded.
"Just because you can endure, doesn't mean you should be tortured."
"It's not torture."
"Yeah, it is," Ling said. "It's like having glasses but instead of not being able to see when you take them off, you're literally removing your eyeballs."
Ed snorted, "It's not that bad. The surgery hurts. The port shit was a bitch almost worse than the original surgery because they had to take it all out then back in on the newly opened stumps. But attachment and reattachment?" He shrugged, "Nerves exist to inform you if something is wrong, it's impossible not to react. Sitting still is worse than the actual sensation, but you sit with it or you get injured. The brain is a strange thing."
Ling bowed his head in acquiescence, but he knew what he sensed. Knew that for Edward, the metal was an extension of his being and that having them taken off had to be like losing his limbs all over again.
They were silent through the rest of lunch and when they got back to the hotel room, Ed had him draw arrays which he judged by noises of distress and vague encouragement of, It'll do.
That night Ling slipped into bed with Ed.
He got a look, "Whatever, you're planning, I'm not in the mood."
Ling pouted, "Aren't you cold?"
Ed glared at him for one moment but he couldn't hold it. Rolling his eyes, Ed flipped back the covers, and Ling made himself comfortable, wrapping Ed up in his arms.
"I'm not up for anything," Ed repeated.
Ling petted his unbound hair, "Then sleep."
Ed felt lighter, more fragile in his arms without the automail, but not wrong. Not weak. Still, Ling stayed up long past when Ed had gone lax in his arms.
Ling really liked Ed, but he couldn't help the feeling that he was slipping away.
By noon the next day, Winry had arrived with Ed's limbs and Ling sort of understood Ed's deference toward her. After nearly two days of looking at automail, her designs seemed the most organic.
Ling watched as Ed let out a low yell, and his chi lit up through the limbs.
Winry gave Ling a smile, "He'll be all set in a bit."
Ling nodded and went to go sit beside Ed, brushing his hair from his damp forehead.
"I'm going to get your ass," Ed said, voice breathy.
"You're a crazy person."
"Such flattery," Ed huffed.
Ling hummed, closing his eyes to sense more clearly the chi pathways that were opening and settling between the metal and the flesh.
Sure enough, when it seemed his chi had come to an equilibrium, Ed was standing up.
"Ready to impress the hell out of the locals?" Ed asked, stretching both arms, wiggling his metal toes. He was dressed only in shorts and a tank top.
"Sure," Ling said.
And because his boyfriend was a dick, Ed shoved him out the window from the second floor.
Not that this was a distance that bothered Ling at allaw he sprang and flipped onto the street below.
Ed followed after him, still barefoot, with a dramatically posed landing.
Ling smirked and didn't hold back as he launched himself at Ed.
Technically speaking, Ling was the better martial artist, in practice, however, Ed was relentless and what he lacked in form, he made up for in speed.
It made him an endlessly interesting sparring partner.
A crowd gathered around them as they spared and Ed wasn't in the least held back by the recent attachment. No, in fact, the new limbs being made lighter and more finely attuned to him, made him that much faster, the organic and the metallic working together in practiced tandem.
Edward was a force of nature.
Eventually though, Ling knocked Ed off his feet, but as Ling pinned him, Ed got his arm up so that his metal hand held his throat even as Ling had a knife pointed at Ed's jugular.
There was clapping all around and Winry was showered with praise and questions.
Ed was smiling as Ling helped him to his feet.
oOo
The train pulled into Dublith as the sun was setting and Ed couldn't even pretend to help Ling study alchemy as he tried not to think about how Teacher would react.
Ling held back as Ed took in a deep breath, then knocked on the door.
Sig Curtis opened the door.
"Hi," Ed said lamely.
Sig's expression remained unchanged.
"This is my friend, Prince Ling Yao of Xing. Ling this is Sig Curtis."
Ling bowed to Sig, "It is nice to meet you."
Sig stepped back to let them in.
Cautiously, Ed proceeded and no sooner did he step over the precipice then was he dropping to the ground as a knife soared over his head, embedding itself deeply in the door frame.
"Hi Teacher," Ed said, scrambling away from the door to get Ling out of the line of fire.
"Teacher?" she asked. "That's funny, I don't know any military officers who could possibly be a student of mine."
"I've done stupider things than join the military," he said.
Teacher's demeanour wavered, "You lost your arm and your leg."
He nodded, "I saw Truth. And I learned how worse it could have been. I'm so sorry—"
Teacher dropped her knife and pulled Ed into an embrace, "Student like teacher."
He hugged her back, fighting back tears, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."
She held him tighter, kissing the top of his head as if she were his mother. His heart twisted at the thought of everything he had been willing to give up to chase a fantasy, so much so, that he hadn't appreciated everyone he had had around him.
Izumi pulled back, "I guess I can forgive you. According to the papers, it would seem you're less of a State Alchemist and more of a glorified plumber."
Ling snorted.
Ed rolled his eyes, "I mean, you're not entirely wrong. Most of my studies have centred around water alchemy. I can't figure out how to publish any of it yet, but it's my strongest combination of elements."
"Publish?" she asked.
He grinned, "I made very specific, counter logical and nitpicky arrays."
She hummed, "Did you bring examples?"
He nodded, "I brought most of my compiled notes. I would really like your opinion on them before I try publishing."
Her smile grew, "My apprentice, among the first alchemists to publish before death or old age are intimate." She looked up at Ling. "Whose this?"
"My boyfriend, Prince Ling Yao of the Yao Clan. He is master martial artist and has been learning the basics alchemy. Ling, this is my teacher, Izumi Curtis."
Ling bowed nearly in half to her, it should have looked silly, but Ling made the gesture look sincere and elegant.
Izumi hummed, approaching Ling, grabbing him by the chin so she could check his face. "Tragedy has touched you."
"It shaped me," Ling corrected her.
She patted his head, "Then you have my blessing." Then she leaned into him to whisper in his ear.
Ling's eyes went wide in horror.
"Teacher," Ed warned.
Izumi kissed Ling's cheek, "Prince or no, Ed, he's still a teenage boy."
"I'm a teenage boy," Ed retorted.
Izumi waved it away as she went back to the kitchen, catching the knife Sig pulled from the doorframe and threw it at her head without looking back.
She patted Ed's head as she passed, "Only on holidays."
Ed gave Ling an apologetic look.
Ling just shook his head in amusement though he remained tense through the evening.
When they got upstairs, Ed asked, "Are you alright?"
Ling nodded, "Yes, that woman is extremely protective of you."
"What did she say?"
Ling only shook his head again, before saying, "Night, Ed." Then he turned to his separate room.
Ed probably shouldn't be as amused by that as he was.
oOo
Ling had a bad feeling, and it wasn't anything to do with Izumi Curtis who was perhaps one of the most terrifying people on the planet.
No, it was like a dense gathering of severely unhappy people moving around in singular spots around the small city.
Ling hopped from rooftop to rooftop, trying to spy on the one that felt the least hostile.
But least hostile turned out to be, still hostile.
Ling jumped to the side as a black clawed hand easily took a junk out of the wall where he had been perched.
Pulling his knives he glared the large figure he looked at him with nothing short of hatred.
"Ling Yao."
He startled, "You know me?"
"Your Edward's Prince Charming."
Ling blinked, "You're Greed."
He bowed, before launching himself forward in an attack.
Ling flipped over him, getting at his leg and rolling away as his foot ached as if he kicked stone.
Greed laughed, "I guess he hasn't told you much about me."
Cursing Ed internally for leaving out what his friend was, "You aren't human."
"Excellent deduction—" again he charged.
Ling sprang back and tossed a knife that pinged off him.
"What the hell!?" Ling growled.
Greed laughed, "I call it the Ultimate Shield."
"Why are you even attacking me?"
"He choose you over me," Greed growled.
"Guess your name should be Envy."
Greed roared, "I hate you!"
Ling swore as his cheek was cut. What the hell kind of friends did Ed make?
Suddenly, Ed feeding an interesting stranger he found on the street, seemed less like kindness and more like one of his ill-advised quirks.
"What are you and your siblings doing here?" Ling asked.
Greed came to an abrupt stop, "You've seen Envy?"
"No, you're the first one I have encountered. There are two others travelling together."
"What do they look like?" Greed asked, his entire demeanour changing to something almost panicked.
"I don't know, I can just sense that they are—"
An explosion disturbed the quiet of the night.
Ling and Greed spun and yelled in unison, "Ed!"
Greed followed Ling, whatever his grievance had been forgotten in the wake of Ed being in danger. If the two things like Greed had the same ability, Ed and even Izumi would be in great danger.
Ling could barely keep up with Greed's speed, but he managed well enough.
They got back to the Curtis butcher shop and found the storefront gone, as if it had been carved out.
One of the homunculi sat on the floor, tears in its eyes, its lower jaw splitting open its stomach like an oyster shell with spiky teeth. A singular purple eye stared at them in that inhuman mah.
The thing was rocking itself back and forth and was saying with with a lisp, "Lust? Lust. Not Lust."
"I can't feel him," Ling said, panic constricting his heart. He couldn't sense Ed, Izumi, or Sig.
"You ate Lust?" Greed asked surprised and disgusted.
"You ate them!?" Ling exploded, fury and fear overriding his common sense as he stepped within striking distance of the thing. "You ate Edward?"
Greed stilled, then struck out like an asp, showing he had been holding back against Ling as he slammed the creature against one of the remaining walls, "You ate Edward Elric?"
The thing whimpered yet answered, "Wrath said so."
"Did he?" Greed asked, voice promising retribution. "What did Pride say? Edward was supposed to be one of Fahter's sacrifices, and so was Izumi Curtis. So what did Pride say, Gluttony?"
Gluttony whimpered.
"Don't worry," Greed crooned. "Edward was mine, it will be a long time before I'm willing to give you up to Pride and by then, there won't be much of you left."
Gluttony folded in on himself, his mouth seeling up, shutting the strangest version of a third eye Ling had ever seen. The monster, however, seemed to tune Greed out and whined again, "Lust."
At this point, Ling had deduced that Lust was one of the homunculi, all of whom seemed to be named after sins.
"Where are they?" Ling asked.
Greed opened his mouth to answer but then Gluttony through his head back as if he was being electrocuted from the red light of alchemic energy that blossomed around him.
oOo
Ed and Teacher had come up with the solution at nearly the same time.
Sig just stared at them, exasperated.
"But we need an energy source?" Teacher said.
Lust had the answer to this, her answer was to dig her nails into her own chest and pull her skin and ribs back to expose the philosopher stone glowing as a heart. "Will this do?" she asked.
Ed stared, mind racing ahead of his conscious thoughts. "That's it!" he exclaimed much too loudly.
Lust sighed at him, "As long as you're sure you can do it."
"No. I mean is that our idea is to reconstruct our bodies, which would pass us through the Gate. But really, all we need to do is open the Gate."
"But we still need to perform human transmutation," Teacher said.
Ed took off his left glove, "Truth 'gifted' this to me last time. Hohenheim said it was a symbol of birth, but what if it isn't, what if it's rebirth."
Lust let go of herself to peer at the scar, "It looks like the reverse of…" she trailed her fingers over her own tattoo, though hers was on her upper chest.
"The last philosopher stone I had, I asked Truth to free the souls from it, to allow them true death."
"Wait, what?" Teacher asked.
"The philosopher stones are made from human souls," Ed said.
"So freeing the souls with alchemy would be human transmutation and open the Gate?" Sig asked, proving the man may not be an alchemist, but he was a very good listener.
"If you free the souls I would be left with nothing, they are my life," Lust said.
He looked into her purple eyes, "How would you like your own?"
"What?"
"How would you like to be human?" Ed asked.
She stared at him, in complete silence.
"I'm mostly sure I can do it, Truth gave me this for a reason," Ed said. "The energy created from releasing the souls would be enough to change your body into a human."
"No one has been able to create a human body," Lust said.
"Not true," Teacher said. "Bringing back the dead is the true impossibility. You're already a person, you just need an organic body that belongs to you. Bound well enough to you for it to age rather than rot."
"If I try it," Ed said. "I might be able to ask if it works. Every time you pass through you learn something. The first time I learned how to bind souls. Last time, I learned how to unbind souls." He held up his hand, "This time, maybe I can learn how to marry a soul to its body. Truth said a homunculus is a born human, or a born being, skipping all evolution. That is why the cost is so high. But you're still yourself, your own soul, your own being born into the world."
"I'm an extension of my maker," Lust said.
Ed shook his head, "No, you're not. The body you're in right now was created and formed from that idea, but your soul is separate." He wasn't quite sure if that was true for Greed or not but he knew it to be true of Lust and Gluttony. "Do you want me to try?" he asked her. "Do you want to be truly human?"
Lust stared at him, and she looked suddenly older and weary. Her voice deepened, "It is all I have ever wanted."
"So you consent to me trying?" Ed asked.
"Only if you do the same for Gluttony," she said, closing the space between them. "Do it."
"Teacher, Sig, hold onto me as I do this."
Izumi put her hand on his collarbone, Sig his shoulder as Ed clapped, then reached out with his left hand, matching the circle into the centre of the triangles of the homunculus tattoo.
And her tattoo came alive, slicing into his palm, cutting up his hand and arm, his blood flowed freely, spilling into the ocean of blood that made up Gluttony's hell stomach portal. Ed felt his own energy consume Lust and Gluttony both. The blue light turned red as transmutation energy touched the souls in their stones.
The world fell away as they all were transmuted apart into flakes of material and energy.
Ribbons of memory.
Ed stood alone before the Gate.
Until he wasn't.
Truth, with one of Ed's arms and legs, smiled at him, "So, you figured it out."
"Can I free the souls and turn Lust and Gluttony into humans?"
Truth grinned at him, "Yes."
Ed breathed a sigh of relief as the stones appeared and dissolved.
It was a breath too soon.
"However, the cost of deconstructing and reconstructing yourself, Izumi Curtis and Sig Curtis I will take—"
"No!" Ed exclaimed as little shadow hands began to pull him into the Gate.
Truth's smile grinned, "For Izumi Curtis, Lust's wisdom and memories. For Sig Curtis, Gluttony's age and memories."
Ed fought to remain, "No, no, they didn't agree—"
"They will not miss them. Their lives will be lived out fully and they will be, in complete fact, human. Born of your blood, your kin, your brother and your sister. But for you, for the knowledge of this transmutation, you will obtain the truth of the first homunculus, of being born in a flask. And for the destruction and reconstruction of yourself, you will live the truth of your father; the truth of your people."
The shadow hands won, dragging him through the Gate.
Claustrophobia choked him, fear of the giants that picked him up in his glass home.
His prison.
For all the knowledge he knew, he was at the mercy of a thinly spun glass, two corks, and the idiots who had pulled him through the Gate.
The Gate, the Truth, his home that now that he was separated from, infinity had slid through his grasp.
He had never been singular, never been something that could die, and now that he was, he had limits, and he could not rationalize away his fear of death.
If he died, would he return to how he was? Back to where he had come from?
Or would he be different? Experience polluting the contentment he had once known.
The uncertainty, his inability to know as he had once been omnipotent.
He had once been God.
Or had he been?
Could God be separated from the whole? Could God be brought so low?
A dwarf in a flask?
He quickly surrendered fear for hatred. For making him this way, for pulling him apart and for abandoning him, he would make them all pay.
Every pathetic human in Xerxes who would dare cheat Truth, and Truth itself.
He would become Truth.
He would become God.
And he would never know fear again.
Slave 23 was something else, the one he would take with him. His Hohenheim, the Child of Starlight who gave without asking for more.
Who was so easy to manipulate.
Who would hold all that he knew, except for one truth. Van Hohenheim would know immortality, he would know all, save for how to undo what had been.
He would never allow Hohenheim to be human.
They shared blood, after all.
And their blood was the blood of gods.
Truth had abandoned him, allowed him to be brought to this world, and from his humble beginnings in this fragile flask, in his dwarven state, he would destroy the earth and remake it as he saw fit.
He would pull Truth off his throne, bring God to his knees, and he would become God.
He would become the stars in the night sky, he would become the golden sun, and God would fear him, worship him; for he was perfection.
He was starlight.
He was the golden sun.
He was the Father.
oOo
AN: Thoughts, ravens, and feedback, pretty please?