When It's Time to Eat
Thanks for the feedback: aeryn-kun, winryrockbell2, Wing Omega, Yimi Makuya, Edward's Josie Black, Lurkinshdws, lelann, Blinded by Rainbows, Flashlight Maniac, hecate-19, KuramasGirl123, S J Smith, Tenka-chan
hecate-19: Thanks for the recommendation. I'm still working out details about Al's final fate, the original ending was too close to another story I'd read for my taste, I'll keep that in mind, but I'monly up to ch. 21 in the manga. And thanks for the name, I rewatched the (one) anime episode with him and I don't think they ever named him.
winryrockbell2: A little action, just for you g>
S J Smith: Thanks for the catch.
Disclaimer: Characters and setting are the property of Hiromu Arakawa. I'm just borrowing them for a bit of non-profit angst.
"Is it time to eat her now?"
"Not yet Gluttony. It's possible that the little mouse put it together on her own; she is a nosy thing; but we need to be sure."
"Awww Lust, but I want to."
"Gluttony," Lust said warningly.
"Yes Lust," Gluttony sighed.
The pair watched a young woman with untidy brown hair and glasses walk past the mouth of the alley where they lurked.
They fell in step on either side of the girl. "So you're the one who has been telling tales," Lust said.
Sheska shrieked and jumped a foot in the air. "Who are you? Where did you come from?"
"Oh that's not important," Lust purred. "What is important; my little bookworm; is you. You've been saying some very naughty things about our revered Fuhrer."
"You're going to kill me aren't you?" Sheska squeaked.
"Perhaps not, what we really want to know is who was planting such malicious lies in a young girl's mind. We'll let you live if you tell us who's behind these stories," Lust promised.
"I never should have joined the military!" Sheska exclaimed then started running.
"Well, that was rude," Lust remarked.
"Can I eat her now?"
"I told you; first we interrogate her, then you can eat her," Lust said a tad crossly.
"Just a bite? Please Lust?" Gluttony whined.
"I suppose you could have one of her legs," Lust compromised. "It would keep her from running off again."
"Oh! Thank you Lust!" Gluttony exclaimed as he ran after Sheska.
"Remember: Just a leg! She still has to talk," Lust called after her rotund companion.
"Why did I ever join the military?" Sheska wondered to herself as she ran. "Not that street, just leads to a group of residential circles. Thank goodness I've looked over the city plans."
The brown haired girl wrenched up a manhole cover and dropped into the drainage tunnel beneath the street.
"I'm a librarian! What am I doing running from government assassins? Three hundred feet north and fifty feet east then it'll be a straight shot to Lt. Brosh's apartment. He's the closest."
She began counting her paces as she ran. "Arrh, a running pace is longer than a walking pace…"
"I have her scent Lust!" Gluttony exclaimed as he squirmed through narrow opening that led back to the street ten minutes later.
Lust pouted sexily. "She's trickier than I gave her credit for. You have my permission to eat both her legs – slowly."
Sheska pounded desperately on Denny Brosh's door then picked up a rock and threw it through his window. "Lt. Brosh! Help!" she shouted. "Ooooh, he's not home! Where do I go now?"
A razor sharp, five-foot long finger embedded itself in the door beside Sheska's head. "You've led us on a merry chase, Mousey, but now the fun's over. Who's been helping you spread your seditious little stories?"
"I'm not telling you anything you… you monster!" Sheska shouted. "I heard what you did to Ed!"
"All right," Lust sighed. "Gluttony, bite off her foot. The right one."
"I'm gonna die! I'm gonna die!" Sheska cried.
An arm that was too fast, too long and too flexible to be human wrapped around Sheska and snatched her off Lt. Brosh's doorstep. "Run," the tattooed blonde owner of the arm ordered brusquestly.
"Good idea," Sheska squeaked and ran until her lungs burned with the effort of keeping pace.
Her rescuer towed her in the direction of a bad part of town. Sheska swallowed nervously but didn't object; the new monster wasn't threatening to eat her after all.
"Lust! Lust!" Gluttony called nervously as he ran after the tall sultry woman. "Stop Lust!"
"I'm not letting that brat get away," Lust exclaimed.
"I can taste him," Gluttony panted fearfully. "This place is Greed's."
Lust stopped abruptly. "If we chase her through Greed's territory – well we all know how he is. We'll just have to try again later I suppose."
"But Lust, the snake-girl-"
Lust sent him a quelling look and his mouth snapped shut. "We don't want to draw Greed's attention to her. It'll be months before Envy or Sloth manage to pull themselves back together. Wrath is still missing. Pride lets himself depend on Sloth too heavily and he can't let go of the fact that he underestimated that human colonel. Now is not a good time to cross Greed."
"Yes Lust." Gluttony agreed and the pair turned back the way they'd come.
"Where are you taking me?" Sheska asked when she realized they weren't being chased anymore.
"To Greed."
"A-are you one of them?" Sheska asked as she remembered the other girl's oddly inhuman movements.
"I'm not a homunculus."
"That's a relief," Sheska said. "I'm Sheska."
"Marta."
Sheska continued slowing down until Marta began tugging impatiently on her arm. "Um- Not that I'm not grateful – Thank you for saving my foot… and my life – but um… What do you want with me?"
"You're not good at discretion." Marta informed her.
"Sorry?"
"All the other stories originated from some bar, but there was enough truth in them to stick in people's minds and so they spread, even if the storyteller was forgotten. You, on the other hand, talked to sober people."
"But what do you want with me?" Sheska cried.
"Little sis wanted you, that would be more than of a reason for me, even if I hadn't been looking for you," a new voice declared. "It's just my nature to want everyone else's toys."
Sheska turned and saw a tall, pale man with a confident swagger and a shark's smile.
"But don't worry, unlike my siblings, I only break my toys when I think they're going to be taken away from me."
Okay, I decided Envy and Sloth died too easily (and I started having other ideas for them) so they were only severely injured and are slowly recuping.
