Chapter Eleven: Eruption, Part Three

The sound of footsteps echoed down the long, warm hallway. Windows shone on the right side, allowing the blazing heat of the sun to filter through into the brown, stony building. The village of Liore had seen a monumental upset just the previous night, and the people were not happy. A pair of brothers, one short and blond, the other dressed in a full suit of armor, had made an attempt to take the life of the prophet Cornello, the leader of the town.

The brothers had been captured when, by the power of the sun god Lito, six statues moved of their own volition and subdued the two. The taller one in the armor had been smashed to pieces. The short one was now being held prisoner, in the tower above. Or, at least, that was what the people believed. That was what he believed.

"Rose? Are you okay?" The boy asked, when he found the young woman balled up in one of the pews, with her head resting on her knees. Soft, brown hair draped down her back, and those gentle, pink bangs of hers never failed to remind him of the delicate flower for which she'd been named. "What's wrong?"

The young woman, Rose, turned her attention up. As her eyes fell on the friend beside her, she quickly turned her head away. "...I don't know..." she swallowed, trying to clear her head. "Everything's been...it's just too much."

A gentle hand touched down on her shoulder. "So then tell me about it. What could be so bad?"

Rose looked up at the boy's gentle face, and it made her feel warm inside. She was frightened of everything she had seen the previous night. She was frightened of her boyfriend returning to life, but she wasn't sure why. But most of all, she was frightened of the blond kid shackled up in the tower; frightened of his words and the way he seemed to understand Cornello's miracles better than Cornello did. Frightened of the prophet's surprising turn to violence the previous night, and the expression she had seen on his face as he tried so hard to silence the kid. Edward, as she knew his name to be, had been in complete control of that situation, and that frightened her more than anything. If Cornello truly was a prophet from God, how could he have lost control so easily?

Doubts swirled in her brain, no matter how hard she tried to fight them off. She had seen her boyfriend's return to life, seen how well it was coming along. She'd heard his voice, speaking her name, and it had filled her whole body with hope. "If Ed knew," she had said, as she beheld the miracle. But she wondered now, why it was that her mind had moved so quickly to Ed. In that single moment, when she had gazed upon the silhouetted image of her resurrected boyfriend, why had her mind gone to Ed?

"There's just so much that's happened," Rose started, though she wasn't sure where she was going to go. "It's all too confusing."

The boy just smiled, trying to offer her a warm shoulder. "Rose, please, tell me what's going on in that head of yours. It won't help if you keep it all bottled up inside."

"It's just..." Rose wasn't sure how much to say. The very thoughts running through her brain went against everything she had come to know in her life. "What if...I don't know. What if he's right? If Father Cornello really hasn't been working miracles...god, I just don't know." She lay her head back down to rest on her knees, trying to rest her weary brain.

He? What he could she be talking about, the boy wondered. Surely, she couldn't possibly mean... "What do you mean, 'he'? You're not talking about the guy up in the tower, are you? The one that tried to murder Father Cornello?"

"Ed..." was the only response he got from her.

The boy sighed. He didn't know where this was going, and that worried him. "Rose...listen, I don't know what I can say to help you. If you need to talk, I'll be here." He smiled, trying to cheer her up. "Don't worry too much. It'll all be over soon."

Rose nodded her head, trying to fight forward a smile. No matter how hard she tried, though, she couldn't stop the tear from running down her eye. "Kain will be back soon."

"Y...yeah, he will," the boy smiled. He felt a slight pang inside, but he quashed it down easily enough. "And then everything will be okay."

"Yeah..." Rose struggled to keep a smile. "It will." She leaned over and gave the boy a peck on the cheek for his efforts, one that made him feel warm inside. He didn't know what was coming, and he had to admit, part of him was sad that she would be getting her lover back. She really was a beautiful girl, a sweet, amazing girl. But the best he could do, he supposed, was try to be here for her. "Thank you, Larson. Thanks for everything. Promise me that you'll always stay as sweet as you are now."

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The stone roof cracked under the beast-man's feet, from the impact of his landing. Larson Rieve, dressed in his tattered brown pants and open green duster, landed powerfully from a jump from the roof just across the alley. With a snarl on his lips, his claws gripped the side of the roof, looking down into the street below. There, his prey awaited, but it wasn't time to strike yet. He could see the devil below, and he felt his hunger beginning to well up inside of him. His transformation had begun, he could feel the changes beginning to take him. His humanlike self was fading, as many of the beast-man chimeras that Shou Tucker had created before him could do. His beast form was coming out, the powerful, deadly animal that made him unstoppable. As he felt the change growing within him, only one word slipped through his vicious, snarling teeth: "Elric."

Down in the street below, the eyes of Edward Elric fell upon those of a woman he had hoped only a nightmare. Her pale skin assaulted his eyes, a horrifying contrast with the raven black hair that streamed down her back. Dressed in tight, black pants, with a dark, green top without sleeves, she was an image of a past that Ed still didn't understand. But whatever had happened to her was neither here nor now. He knew Homonculi well enough; he would not be decieved.

"You let me die," she narrowed her eyes, stepping into the dim light beneath the downpour of rain. There was anger in her voice, and a hint of betrayal that Ed could catch easily enough. But he would not be tricked, he would not be fooled.

"You're not her," he spoke plainly, without hesitance. He had fought and killed Sloth with the same determined gaze in his eyes that he now showed Greed. "Don't talk as if you were Klose, because you're not. You took me by surprise last time, Greed, but that's it. I won't make the same mistake again." Without hesitation, his hands clapped together and his right pressed down against the pavement below. A flash of light grew from beneath his hand, and as he rose, a wooden shaft came up with his hand, finally ending in a shimmering, golden spearhead.

Greed's fists clenched in anger as he spoke. His words were cutting through her in ways he didn't even realize. Fire burned in her eyes as she spoke, and the pain in her voice was not something he had expected to hear. "Stop talking like you know me, you dumb boy. You don't know anything. Stop trying to hurt me; you've done more than you could possibly even realize, murderer."

"Don't call me that," Ed warned, as he took his grip on his spear. He wasn't ready to make the first move, he knew this. But he wanted a weapon, just to be on the safe side. If Greed's power was fire-related, as he guessed from their last meeting that it was, then she, like Mustang, was neutered in the rain. This gave him the upper hand, whether she realized it or not. However, there were other questions pressing on his mind; doubts which he needed an answer for. "Tell me, if you really know so much, how did she die?"

Greed laughed, a sound that sent a chill through Ed's body. "You really are clueless, aren't you, Edward? It's a shame, really. You don't even realize what a horrible little man you are. You don't even understand how many lives you've destroyed with your arrogant, selfish desires. You don't even realize the impact your life has had on the people of this nation. All you care about is your own goals, without another thought to your friends. Without giving a damn for the people that love you." A hateful, vindictive malice now burned in her voice, one that put Ed on his guard.

"What are you talking about?"

Greed took a step forward, into the dim light under the streetlamp. "Let me tell you a story, Edward. A story of a young girl, mourning the death of her sister. Angry and confused, she doesn't know where to turn, so she tries with every ounce of strength in her body to take the only thing that even matters anymore: revenge. She meets a boy, who she callously throws out of her life, forgetting him for the sake of her revenge.

However, that boy soon comes to be more than she first gave him credit for. Saving her life from a rushing river as she rolls out of control towards it, he earns her respect. But in refusing to help her get her revenge, she shows him only malice. Desperately, she tries on her own to get her vengeance, but when this fails, she is saved by a larger man with a lantern.

However, when she goes to thank this man, he knocks her unconscious. She discovers, to her horror, that not only is this man responsible for the murder of her sister, but also that he is about to do the same to her. But then, just before she can revisit the horror of her sister's death, HE comes in. Her hero from the river. He kills the bad guy, he saves the girl, and she is touched by his heroism. So touched that she goes to meet him when he leaves, dressed so girlish it embarrasses her just to set foot outside in, and with tears in her eyes, she watches him leave and waves, knowing he'll be back.

The hero leaves, but his impact is not soon forgotten. The girl can't forget the hero that saved her from the evil man. She knows in her heart that one day, he'll come back. She was touched by him, by the first boy she met that wasn't a whiny coward!" Ed could almost hear the old Klose's pride in Greed's voice when she said that bit, and it took him by surprise. "So she waits for him. She pays close attention to every scrap of info she can get from the big cities, about the boy who's getting more and more famous with every passing day. She even cuts out newspaper clippings, keeping them in her collection, in her room. She would pound the skull of any boy who made fun of her for it, so she has little trouble in that regard. And since the idiots boys are afraid of her, afraid to even go near her, she doesn't have to worry.

And so she waits. And waits. And waits. Sitting by her window, watching the trail that leads out of town. Wondering when her hero will be coming back to visit. A year passes, and another year. Three, four, five years go by, and still, no word of his coming back. She hears, every now and then, of his passing between Central City and Rizenpool. She knows he'd have to go through her village to make that trip, she knows that he'll be coming through...but he never does. Six years pass, and still, nothing. He never comes back.

Seven years pass, and finally, she hears word that he'll be coming back through. She's feeling weak now, weary of all the waiting she's done. Everyone in the village talks about her, the crazy girl who sits by the window. Everyone knows she's getting sick from waiting. But still, she stays by that window like a fool, expecting to see him again and wondering how long he'll keep her waiting.

Finally, she hears that he's passing through again, and this time she's not just going to sit by and wait for him. She barely has the strength to move her legs anymore, but she doesn't care. She's going to go see him, she's going to find him and he's going to come back. She leaves with what strength she has, to intercept him at the train station. But when she gets there, she comes upon a sight she can't believe.

Her hero is there, waiting at the station. But he's not alone. There's a woman there with him, smiling and laughing, and his attention is fixated entirely on her. And that's not the worst part, oh no, because resting in the woman's arms is a sight that makes her almost die to see: as she laughs with him, a baby sleeps soundly against her busom.

The girl sees this, and she can feel her strength beginning to give out. The truth that she had been denying to herself is there, for all to see. She has wasted her life waiting for her hero, who has forgotten about her. Who doesn't even care enough to visit, and who clearly has a woman of his own." Her fists clenched in anger as she spoke, and she took another step forward, another step towards Ed. "If he had come back, maybe he could have cleared it up. If he had given a damn about her, maybe she would be alive today. But in her grief, her strength gave way. She had allowed herself to get sick waiting for him, and he didn't even care enough to stop by ONCE. With her heart shattered into a thousand pieces, she died a few weeks later. Her life destroyed before it could even begin, taken before she could even be considered a woman, by one inconsiderate asshole who didn't care enough to even visit."

"So that's it," Ed began. "That's why you blame me? Because I had concerns of my own, and didn't have time for someone else's obsession!"

"You were too busy chasing your own, weren't you, Ed? The Philosopher's Stone? My master has told me everything of your self-indulgent search to prove that you were better than everyone else."

"You really don't know anything," Ed snarled. "I wasn't trying to prove anything. I wanted the stone for my brother–"

"Of course," Greed grinned. "That's the story you tell yourself so you can sleep better at night, isn't it? But I know the real reason; I know just the kind of person you are, Edward. Everything you have ever done, you have only ever done for yourself. From dear, sweet mommy, to your brother, the Philosopher's Stone. You didn't care about them at all, did you? Sure, I bet you started out working for them, but that's not what carried you, is it? You did it just to prove you could." Her words echoed in Ed's mind, and he could feel the anger beginning to burn inside him.

"You don't know anything!" He yelled at her, anger starting to carry him. He had never felt this angry before in his life; had never felt the guilt as strongly as he did now. What he had done to his mother...what he had done to Alphonse...she was striking up horrible memories that he had tried so hard to forget.

"I know that mine isn't the only life you destroyed, Edward Elric. I've learned so much from my master; he followed your actions with a great interest. I know that so many have suffered because of you. Al would have been better off if you had never tried to bring back your mother, wouldn't he?" Ed winced, trying not to show how deep her words were cutting. He had been the one to convince Al that it would work, that nothing would go wrong. Al was dead today, because Ed had been a fool. "And what about Liore? That worked out so well, didn't it?"

"You–" Ed was speechless. Every guilt he carried inside, Greed was turning against him. Every pain, every hurt, she was now thrusting down upon him. His own emotions twisted to become daggers through his heart.

"I suppose it doesn't matter," she grinned. "You'll be dead soon enough anyway, and no one else will suffer for your self-indulgent crimes."

Ed's right hand gripped the spear as firmly as he could. The guilt burning within him was weakening his resolve, but he wouldn't fall here. And he knew, perhaps better than she did, that her fire-based powers would have no sway here. "It's raining, Greed. If your Homonculus powers are fire-based, as I'm guessing from your little display that they are, you have no power here."

"I don't need it," she smiled. "I'm not the only phantom of your past, Edward. You're going to die tonight."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

The only response he could get, though, was her closing her eyes and swaying her body back and forth, as she called in a sing-song voice back to him, "You're going to di-ie, you're going to di-ie!"

Before he could ask any further, something big, powerful, and heavy crashed to the ground behind him. As he whirled around, his eyes fell upon a sight that terrified his every bone: a seven foot tall beast, humanoid with vicious black hair that ran all across its body and sharp, devastating claws at the end of each limb. However human its head may have once been, it had now changed, a powerful, ripping wolf's snout emerged from its face, and yellow eyes bored holes into Ed's soul. With muscles like an ox, tattered brown pants, and a green duster soaked in the rain, the creature threw back its head and let loose a powerful, deafening howl.

Over the horrifying sound, Ed could hear only one other: the voice of Greed, still singing behind him. "You're going to di-ie, you're going to di-ie!"

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"This way!" Eva pulled Marie by the wrist through the wet, dripping streets. Following Ed's tracks from where he had left the group, she had tried her best to make her way through. The rain was already covering up his moody bootprints however, and she was running out of options. One thing had given her a clue, and this was the sound of a powerful wolf's howl off to the west. Something major was going down, and she knew she had to get there quick.

"What was that sound?" Marie freaked. "That wolf thing Francis was talking about...do you think that might have actually been it!"

Eva stopped moving for a moment, her careful eyes watching down road ahead of her. "I don't know, but if it was, then we're about to meet it. Come on, we have to hurry. The colonel could be in danger!" Gripping Marie's wrist once more, she yanked the young doctor with her. All Marie could do was pray they were not too late.

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CRASH

Ed's back struck the wall behind him, as the beast forced him back into the alley. His spear was up in his hands, but the creature had pressed its jaws down around it. In one vicious display of power, the beast ripped its head back, tearing the wood apart and splitting the spear in twain. This also served the purpose of yanking Ed forward, but the mud served to work against the beast as it struck. Ed lost his footing in the mud, falling back and missing the creature's right claw by only a hair's breadth. Resting beneath the creature now, he struck quickly, jamming his right arm up into its flank.

His attack, regrettably, was to no avail. His fleshy right arm now served little purpose for offense, especially against a creature as powerful as this monstrosity. Bounding forward, the monster landed on all four claws, turning in the slick mud to face Ed as it skidded. A savage roar echoed forth from the monster's jaws, and before Ed had time to think, it was coming back for him.

Instinct kicked in as it opened its jaws to attack. Raising his right arm for defense, he realized his mistake just before the crucial moment; the monster's jaws closed around his right arm, his once again FLESHY right arm. Its teeth tearing apart his flesh and muscles, ripping into his arm and attacking the bone inside, he realized that he had screwed up. He had tried to act as though his automail arm had been with him; he'd grown too accustomed to fighting with it, and now, that may cost him everything.

As the beast tore into his arm, its right hand jammed against his chest, and he felt its sharp claws digging into his flesh. In one swift movement, it yanked its head back, tearing the flesh from his arm while, at the same time, ripping its claw over his torso, leaving three bloody gashes down his chest. His ribs exposed, his armbone exposed, he knew the fight was lost but he wouldn't go down this easy. He had made the mistake, and it had allowed this thing to beat him. But he wasn't ready to give in.

Struggling to keep standing. He clapped his left hand against his right, but before he could do anything with it, the beast shoved him back against the wall with its sheer bulk. "Elric," the devil snarled, and as he gazed into its jaws, he saw the mouth of death opening to take him. For his one mistake, he knew he would die here.

BAM

A gunshot pierced the night, and the creature tossed its head back in pain. A bullet tore through its right shoulder, followed by another, ripping into its chest. Roaring its frustration, it took off down the alleyway, away from its pursuer. Denied its victory, denied its kill, the beast had only one consolation to carry him: the wounds it had inflicted were severe enough, Ed just may die anyway. And even if he didn't, there was always tomorrow night.

Footsteps raced past Ed as he lay beaten against the alley wall. Blood dripped from the terrible gashes in his chest, and he knew he was fading. As he strained his eyes to look through the alleyway, he saw a figure standing at the end. Was it Greed? No...no, she was gone. He was having trouble recognizing the figure. It was...who was it? He couldn't see her, his vision had already started to blur. He only hoped she could help him, as consciousness abandoned him.

"COLONEL!" Footsteps sloshed through puddles of water, disrupted by the sound of rain falling around them. The alleyway was dark and cold, and as Lieutenant Sinclair came closer, the image before her horrified her. She had seen terrible atrocities in the war, but nothing as brutal, as truly savage as this. It looked as though some horrible animal had done it.

She couldn't think. She couldn't breathe. She had seen his power firsthand, in the bodies that lay scattered in the street outside, and she could feel terror growing within the very core of her being to see him lying here. Blood mixed with the puddles on the ground, falling from three horrible gashes in his chest. It looked as though claws had done that to him, large, vicious animal claws. With the horrors she'd seen this night, she didn't doubt it. His eyes were closed, his head tilted down to the side, and his entire right arm was bloody and mangled. It looked as though the flesh had been torn right off, and the muscles eviscerated. She could see the bone in his arm through the horrible wound, and she knew that was never a good sign. At least the bone wasn't broken, she sighed..He wasn't moving. She wasn't even sure he was breathing. What could do something like this to Colonel Elric?

"You idiot," she snarled to herself as tears dripped down her cheeks. She knew there wasn't any time to lose, as she started tearing up his red coat for bandages. There wasn't any time to go find help, she would have to improvise for now. She was a medical officer, she could tell just by looking the severity of his injuries. "Why did you go alone?"

Quickly removing the blood-stained black vest from his chest, she went to work wrapping the horrible gashes in his chest. She could feel his breathing weakening, and it was a sound that sent a chill down her spine. "Come on, Colonel, don't die on me." She knew she had to get him out of here, back to the others. She knew she had to get his wounds taken care of, and she didn't have the supplies to do that. "Don't you dare die on me." Lifting him into her arms, with his wounds bandaged with his own red coat to keep the pressure on them, she started back out of the alleyway. Racing as fast as her feet could carry her, needing to get him back to East HQ, she didn't even notice the imposing figure above her, standing on the rooftop.

For there, standing proudly with fresh blood still dripping from his bestial claws, was the monster known as Larson. As he watched them go, his tongue gently licked the blood from his hands, just before he threw his head back and let out a howl that echoed across the city, resonating in every chimera that heard it. His team was being called back. It was not a howl of retreat; this, as they had expected, was a howl of victory.