well, this is where it aaaaaalll began, those of you who are even remotely related to me know the story (wether you wanted to hear it or not) and all the trouble that began just because of it. oooh, this is gonna be fun (maniacal laughter)
I meana, wha?
It was a matter of two days before Scar had successfully made it to Lior… he hated to admit it, but he was there… then again, the familiar desert climate was a whole lot better now… at least here the fall cool was bearable (to the normal people it would still be too damn hot to live with)
All ideas of a good mood plummeted to the ground once he saw the town though… Lust hadn't been lying, the second he laid eyes on it his mind flashed back to Ishbal.
The streets were paved with blood dribbling from the bodies that lay in the sewers. The sun had just about set and its light cast a blood-red sheen on everything. His eyes were wide and his mouth hung open in horror… he'd hoped that something like this wouldn't happen again in his lifetime. Like a horrible car crash, he couldn't look away.
He wrenched his mind from the past and forced himself to move towards the town… the master of the homunculi was in there somewhere… if he had anything to do with it; he was going to make them regret starting this trouble. (He didn't believe a word of what Lust had told him)
It was even worse once he got actually inside the town. He could hear the people screaming every now and then. Women wandered past him, carrying their dead children, muttering to them as though they were still alive. Worse than that were the children that were still alive and cried for their parents.
He began to feel sick to his stomach.
He felt something tug at his pant leg and he looked down. An infant barely old enough to crawl looked up at him with watery eyes… it was spattered in blood.
He swallowed hard, its eyes didn't focus quite right, it was very obviously close to death… he kneeled down and picked it up. He decided he'd at least keep it company. Maybe he'd find someone who could take care of it…
A not too far down the street, a crowd was gathering. He worked his way through so he could see; it looked like a procession of some kind. He kept hearing murmurs of "the holy mother." There were about twenty women dressed in white with their heads down marching at a slow, solemn pace… in the middle there was one in a more purple-colored cloak. To her right was a young woman with short-cropped black hair, and a very old-fashioned dress.
The girl in the center looked up and into the crowd… she had dyed pink bangs that framed her slightly tanned face and deep violet eyes. For a split second, she stared into Scar's own crimson eyes and blinked at him. He couldn't help but stare back… he knew she couldn't possibly see his red eyes behind the sunglasses… right?
The child in his arms made a small noise and he felt a tiny hand grip his forearm then go limp. He looked down and found that the infant was dead, it's tiny mouth opened slightly and it's eyes totally unfocused and glazed over.
He looked around, a few people had, indeed, noticed but seemed to only vaguely care. WHAT IN THE NAME OF ISHBALA WAS WRONG WITH THEM? A child had just died in his arms and they simply turned their attention back to their "holy mother"?
Now he knew that there was something very very wrong here. He was determined to get to the bottom of it. He didn't know what to do with the child's body and could only lay it in a basket of dying flowers next to an abandoned shop. He had a gut feeling that the Homunculi's leader had something to do with it. He slipped through the crowd and followed the procession to a very large church with a destroyed statue in front of it.
It was incredible how easily people overlooked you if you just pretended that you were supposed to be there… Scar simply followed the procession into the building and into the room they all crowded into… he thought that they'd at least notice that he was the only man in the room but they overlooked him. So he leaned against the wall and calmly watched as the women all came to shake the hand of the one that had been in the middle
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Rose simply smiled as the other women came to thank her for various things… she really was only the one that Lyra-san spoke through… not that she could really talk for herself… she didn't mind… so long as it would help her town.
The infant in her arms tugged at her robe and smiled toothlessly up at her, reaching for her face. She smiled happily and tickled his belly, making him giggle. The women in white robes vacated the room and she looked up, in the corner, leaning against the wall, arms folded across his chest, was the man she'd seen in the crowd… he looked up at her with an emotionless, tanned face, a pale x-shaped scar stretched from his hairline to his cheekbones
"The holy mother, I presume?"
She jumped back a little with a sharp intake of breath. Lyra snapped her head in the direction of the voice, "You! What're you doing here?" she demanded, pushing rose and the infant in her arms behind her.
"The leader of the Homunculi called me here…" he said, stepping forward and removing the sunglasses from his face revealing his deep crimson eyes. Lyra lowered her arm, "oh…. I apologize, Scarred man, it's been a very long day, I'm sorry but Dante-sama is no longer with us, I'm afraid… she was murdered just before you arrived…"
"Figures." He said as he turned to leave.
"But, I have taken over in trying to save this town in her stead!" she called after him, "please, we still need you." She pleaded.
He turned and looked at the young woman with a studying look. But he took a few steps further into the room, signaling that he was listening.
"Allow me to introduce us…" she said smiling as sweetly as she could, "my name is Lyra, and this here," she put her hands on Rose's shoulders, "is Rose, our holy mother, and Daniel, her child."
Rose looked up at him then timidly looked downward; busying herself with the infant in her arms. The man had such a … almost angry look on his face that she really didn't want to look at him for too long. Lyra had told her that he would be coming and that he didn't have a record of attacking anyone but state alchemists… none the less… he was frightening to look at.
He nodded to her despite her fearful behavior, "hello to you both." He said politely then looked to Lyra again, "so… if Dante is dead then why did her pawns still follow me?" Rose noticed his arms were crossed again as he moved past them to the window and looked out at the chaos below.
"well, they move so quickly and they don't obey anyone but their master," she said, turning around and taking a few steps toward him, "they had no idea, I'm afraid, that she had passed on… so they still pursued you and there was no way to stop them." She said apologetically, "but I think this can work out in both of our favors-"
"If you want me to turn this town into a sacrifice, I tell you now that I will refuse." He said, cutting her off. Rose looked from him to Lyra in panic, a look in her eyes begging Lyra to tell her that such a thing would never happen to her hometown.
"No! Good heavens, no!" Lyra said quickly…but a flicker of a different emotion flashed on her face. Was that… annoyance? At what?
She sighed and turned her head away, black hair falling around her chin, "I must admit that WAS part of Dante-sama's original plan…" Rose's eyes widened at this… why wasn't she informed? "But, I whole heartedly disagreed with her methods and had always tried to talk her out of them. We have been taking different actions now, we're doing all we can to restore peace…"
"Well, I must say, you're doing a fantastic job so far." He said sarcastically, glaring out the window still.
"Well, we're doing all we can!" Lyra said defensively. With that, Scar turned around and looked at the two of them and suddenly felt guilty, Rose looked down at the child in her arms, hurt.
"I'm sure you are… forgive me." He said quietly, seeing the girls face… he hadn't realized how much strain this was to be put on the shoulders of two young girls…
"But we can't do this on our own, Scar… we just don't have the ability…" Lyra said, giving him a determined gaze, "Will you help us?"
He looked at Lyra, then out the window to the chaos below… thinking, weighing his options… if he did help, he may simply be putting himself at more risk for being caught by the military. If he didn't help them it was almost guarunteed that the town would be turned into the next Ishbal… a shrill cry broke his thoughts.
He turned around to see the child in Rose's arms wailing. She looked slightly surprised for a moment then immedeately tried to comfort it. She then looked up to him, pleading. She uttered not one word, made not one gesture except that look… so desparite and begging.
Scar let out a reluctant sigh, "Just tell me what you need me to do…"
MWAHAHAAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAA! by the end of this fic, you will be regretting that one, scarface!
Imeana wha?
REVIEW DAMMIT!
I have set up a new system for myself that I'm not gonna post the next chapter untill I get a review so there! MEH!
