DISCLAIMER: -has hired a spokesman to do this now- "M.C.E.Black would like to say that she does not own Full Metal Alchemist or any of the relating titles. She gives all credit to Hiromu Arakawa."

A/N: All right, so I know this is a really short chapter. I excpected it to be a lot longer when I first wrote it out, but I guess I was wrong. Just a few notes, the gender of the villain has been mentioned (you just must have missed it! ) for those of you are still unsure. If you'd rather wait until the end to figure out, that's fine or you can search these past chapters for little itty-bitty details. (Oh and don't get mad at me by some of the events that occur during this chapter...all will turn out for the best! I promise!)

Chapter 8: One Of Their Own. G.

Half an hour later, Roy and Riza pulled out of Headquarters and headed toward Zara's Emporium. The drive over was silent and awkward. Riza had to resist looking at Roy in the mirror every five seconds. Roy stared out his window.

Riza pulled into a back parking lot. Still not speaking, Roy led her to a darkened store at the end of the street. They received very curious looks as they entered.

A young woman sat behind a counter. Her long black hair cast a shadow across her face, but it was clear she was working on something they couldn't see.

Roy cleared his throat and the young woman looked up. She was very fair skinned, but wore a lot of makeup. Several chains of beads dangled from her neck and her wrists were covered with bangles. She eyed Roy with interest.

"Hi," she said, standing up. "How may I help you, Mr...?"

"Mustang," Roy finished. "Colonel Roy Mustang."

"Ooooh," she giggled. "A Colonel? Well, sir, what brings you to Zara's Emporium?"

"Are you Zara?" he asked.

She laughed again and batted her unusually long eyelashes. Riza felt like she was going to be sick.

"No, no, no, Mr. Mustang," she said, coming around the counter. " Zara is my grandmother. My name is Regina."

"Well, Regina, I'm going to need some information on one of your customers," Roy told her.

"Oh, Mr. Mustang," she replied, frowning slightly. "You know I can't do that. It's supposed to be confidential."

Roy glanced at Riza over his shoulder. She was staring at Regina. Slowly, he moved closer to the shop girl.

"Listen, this is important, Regina," he told her quietly. "We really, really need your help."

Regina leaned back on the counter and smirked at him. "If I help you out, what will you do for me in return?"

Roy didn't really want to give her the answer she was expecting, but at that point, she was the only one who could help them.

And perhaps it would be good for him. Maybe it would help get Riza off his mind, even if it was just for a little while.

Riza couldn't hear what he said as he leaned closer and whispered something to Regina. She felt her face grow hot and had to resist the urge to grab her gun and shoot the young girl on the spot.

Regina giggled and hurried back behind the counter. "Certainly, Mr. Mustang." She placed a large leather-bound book in front of her. "Now, who would you be looking for?"

"Julia Vasperez," he answered, hoping Riza hadn't heard him a moment before.

"Aah, Julia," Regina said. "One of my more frequent customers. Great girl. Really into the art of Alchemy."

Roy nodded, not believing her. "Have you seen her lately?"

"Yeah," Regina answered. "She was here the other day, but don't bother looking for her around here anymore. She moved."

"Did she tell you where she was going?" Roy asked.

Regina bit her lip and looked up at Roy. "She might have. She will still need supplies later on, won't she?"

"Please tell me," Roy insisted, not feeling up to playing games anymore. "We have a reason to believe she may be involved in a series of murders."

"Murder?" Regina's flirty attitude was dropped quickly. "Well, why didn't you say so in the first place?"

She busied herself with several pieces of paper that she had in one of her drawers.

"If I ever thought that Julia would...I mean, she never seemed like the kind of person, who..." she babbled. "Here. This is where she was headed and a list of the supplies she would need sent to her."

Roy smiled and reached to take the paper from her. "Thank you, Regina. This is very helpful."

"Did she really kill someone?" Regina asked, not letting go of the it.

Roy tugged on it lightly. "We're not sure..." he answered.

"I never expected her to be doing something so dangerous," her blue eyes seemed to be boring their way into the Colonel's. "You must be so brave to go after someone so...dangerous!"

Roy forced a smile and nodded. "Yes. I've gotten used to it."

Regina let go of the paper. Roy sighed and folded it in half, nodding in her direction.

"So..." Regina started, leaning closer to Roy. "I guess I-"

Before another word could be said, Riza caught Roy by the elbow and dragged him out of the store. He didn't protest. Regina's smile faded and she glared in Riza's direction. Sitting back down on her chair, she busied herself with a small bowl filled with a strange substance.

"Roy Mustang, you will be mine..." she murmured, stirring the liquid with her fingers. Her penetrating gaze was locked onto the swirls of colors made by her nails in an almost trance-like fashion.

"Did you get the information you needed, sir?" she asked sharply.

He read the address and the list of supplies and nodded. "Yes. I've never even heard of some of these before. I don't know what she's using them for. Here," he handed the paper to Riza. "Can you find this place?"

She looked down at it. "I think I knew where this is. It's out past my apartment."

"How fast can you get us there?" Roy asked, not looking at her.

"Half an hour," she said. "Maybe."

"Let's go," he said.

Riza drove them across town, out past her apartment building. Her jealousy was replaced by an overwhelming feeling of sadness. Roy refused to look at her and had been flirting with another girl in front of her. Perhaps she was making their dinner date out to be more than it really was.

They pulled up to the apartment building and got out, staring up at it.

"Get your gun out, Hawkeye," he said. "We may need it."

She nodded and pulled it out. Slowly, they headed upstairs toward the number on the paper.

Standing outside the door, Roy turned to Riza, who was ready with her gun. They nodded and Roy knocked on the door.

When no one answered, he knocked again. The apartment remained silent, so Roy tried the doorknob. The door swung open and Roy entered the apartment hesitantly. Riza stayed as close to him as she could.

A strange smell wafted through the room, causing both of them to feel lightheaded. Scanning the room, Roy's eyes fell onto something in the middle of the room.

A woman's body was sprawled across the floor, her eyes wide open in fear. A snake tattoo was clearly drawn on her ankle.

"Julia Vasperez, I presume?" he sighed, staring down at her.

Riza searched the rest of the apartment. There were several strange items scattered in various spots. There was even a bucket of what looked like blood. Riza cringed.

"What do you suppose she was up to in here?" she asked as Roy appeared at her side.

He looked down at the bucket and the items near it. Sudden scenes from his past flashed before his eyes. He became uneasy and backed away slowly.

"A taboo..." he muttered.

She didn't turn to look at him. "What?"

"Forbidden Alchemy..." Roy shook his head. Without warning, he turned and hurried into the hallway, leaving Riza behind.

Riza, realizing he was no longer with her, followed him out of the apartment. She spotted him leaning with his forehead pressed against the wall. She approached him cautiously.

"Sir?" she said hesitantly. "Sir?"

She placed a hand on his arm and tried to look into his face. His eyes were closed.

"Roy..." she spoke his name softly. "Are you okay?"

"You have to be insane to try and perform a taboo..." he told her, still not opening his eyes. "Absolutely insane."

Riza didn't know what to say. She had only rarely heard of taboos and didn't know why it affected him so much.

"Are you going to be okay, sir?" she asked.

He lifted his head and turned to look at her. His dark eyes stared at her, softening a bit. She breathed deeply, waiting for his response.

"I'm fine, Lieutenant..." he said.

"I think it would be best if we went back to headquarters," Riza suggested. "We can alert the Führer and maybe do some research on why people would perform a taboo."

Roy's face hardened at the word 'taboo' and Riza caught herself.

"Besides," she said quickly. "You still have a lot of work to do, sir."

Roy nodded and Riza closed the apartment door. For once, they didn't feel at a complete loss. They knew that whoever was behind the murders was also involved in taboos and was also starting to destruct from within.

They were starting to kill their own kind...

XXXXX

"Seventeen of us..." a middle aged man spoke to a small group of people. "Even less. Three dead and four or five not willing to betray..." he nodded his head in another direction.

"That makes twelve," a woman with frosty eyes said. "That's still more of us than there are of them."

"Could we really risk it?" a younger blonde male asked. "I mean, they're very powerful and we're limited to the Alchemy that's been bestowed on us. They'll obviously be able to block it."

The group fell quiet and a few of them mumbled to each other. The first man spoke up again.

"Either way, we're going to die. In my opinion, I think we have a better chance of survival this way," he said. "Did you honestly think that we would still be needed after we had the stone?"

"But, the M-" an older woman started.

"That doesn't matter anymore!" the man cut her off. "We have to do something! Julia is dead! She didn't even do anything! Who's to say that we aren't next? It's not worth it anymore!"

The rest of the group murmured their agreement. Word of their companion's death had shaken them up. When it was said that they were going to kill anyone who got in the way, they weren't aware that it included themselves.

"And the Alchemists? The ones out looking for us," another said. "What are we going to do about them? Will we turn ourselves in?"

"No!" an aging man insisted. His voice was sharp and raspy. "Then a mutiny would be pointless! We'd be signing our own death warrants if we turned ourselves over to the Military!"

"We'll keep silent," the first man said firmly. "If the murders stop and they have no more evidence, they will stop bothering. They'll move on and forget all about it."

"Are you sure?" the blonde boy asked. "How do you know that?"

"I just know!" he shot back. "It always works out that way! Do you think the military has been able to solve every murder that's ever been committed?"

No one answered. He looked around at each of them. They avoided his gaze and stared instead at the floor. He nodded curtly knowing that they weren't going to speak against him.

"So it's decided then?" the white-eyed woman asked, finding her voice.

The man nodded. "It's decided. We attack tonight!"

XXXXX

By morning light, the rebellion had ended and the Leader still sat on the throne. Kneeling before it, were the five survivors, none of which, had attended the meeting.

A/N: All right. That's the end. To be completely honest, I have no idea when I'll be able to update next. I have a bunch of work to finish before school starts up again and I'm working now. (I got the job! ) I'll definitely keep working on the story whenever I have time, so please keep an eye out for updates! Thank you so much to my loyal fans and everyone who's read this far! I hope you will continue reading!