ANSWERS TO REVIEWS:
daughterofapollo12345: hahah Well, I used to watch it a LONG while back, but I've seen some fanart concerning Attack on Titan on Pinterest and WeHeartIt and I just had to include it here! ^^
Any further suggestions for "Attack on Homunculus" is very appreciated!
Of Soldiers and Alchemists (Attack on Homunculus, the 2. Chapter)
"You've gotten lucky," Roy commented with a displeased scowl, "Somebody...or something rescued you,"
Greed rose an eyebrow, "Rescued me?" he looked around, remembering the blur that had zipped past him. It looked like a bird or at least something that could fly judging from its high position somewhere at eye level with the Titan's neck area.
"And who are you, brats?" the deep voice cut through the atmosphere like a knife and when the friends turned to see who spoke, they saw a man there, murderous lust in his eyes, his dark bangs only further enhancing the shadows on his face as his cold gaze stared them down, two swords smeared with blood on either side of him, seemingly ringing with the screams of their foes defeat.
"Brats? Excuse me but who are you? And how old are you to be calling me a brat?!" Roy fumed, gritting his teeth at the audacity of the young looking soldier before them, standing tall on the rubble.
Upon noticing just where exactly his gaze ended at his legs, Ed thought only one thing, "...Damn, he's short!" his eyes widened, a familiar sense of anger welling up inside him until he realized that for once, that comment certainly wasn't aimed at him. Judging by the murderous expression on the man's face, he must have endured his fair share of shortie comments through his military career...for a very strange reason, Ed wanted to swap stories with him. Maybe they were on the same page about shortness...he looked young, so maybe he would grow taller more just like Ed had.
The male ignored Roy's questions, instead letting his gaze roam over each of them, his gaze narrowing, "What are you doing within our walls?" casually, he lifted his blade in front of him and the group readied for a fight...
Until he suddenly retrieved a white handkerchief from his pocket and started wiping away the blood from the length of his blade, attention shifted to meticulously clean his blades spotless.
...was he actually cleaning his weapons? Now?
"This guy is nuts!" Roy frowned, wondering why on earth a man that had looked ready to murder them a second ago was now casually cleaning his swords in front of the enemy?
Surprisingly, Ed voiced everyone's exact thoughts after getting over the mild shock when the bastard started cleaning his weapons, "Hey! What's the big idea?! You ain't gonna fight us?" the man's gaze was drawn to them again after pocketing his dirty handkerchief and wrapping it in another, cleaner one, and admittedly even Ed felt a bit...apprehensive at the look in his eyes.
He remained quiet, flicking his wrist and straightening his blade parallel with the ground, the blade catching the dying sunlight and creating a even more sinister atmosphere with the way the man was looking at them, then at his sword, "Filth..." he muttered to himself and again shifted his attention to them, "I won't taint my blades with your filthy blood,"
"Filthy blood?" Ling frowned, "Now I'm offended..." he grabbed the hilt of his own sword, eyes narrowed, "He's not playing any games, he just took out that monster within the blink of an eye," he looked at the dead form of the titan near them, "Damn..."
Roy adjusted his gloves, "If you're not going to fight us, what are you planning to do with us?" his eyes narrowed suspiciously, ready to intervene should the soldier attempt anything funny.
The dark haired soldier smirked, "Imprison you, of course," and before any of them could brace themselves, pain flashed sharply through them before they fell to the hard, cobblestone ground.
Approaching feet were nearing Ed's fading line of sight, the voice of the man sounding commanding to some unseen soldiers lurking nearby, "Get them to the cell and send in for the Commander...he would want to see this,"
The booted feet stopped just before them, near Mustang's body, and he heard the sound of someone clicking their tongue loudly and saying, "Shit happens,"
Ed's vision darkened soon after that but not before thinking of one thing before his mind shut down, "You were right, Winry..."
"What the hell is this?! Get me out of here or I'll break your legs and beat you up with them baby dick! And you too forest for brows!" somewhere near him, Ed could hear the distinctive sound of Greed swearing and shouting and pounding on something metallic, a weary sigh coming from likely Mustang and his brother's whimper when Greed yelped in pain.
Slowly regaining consciousness and taking note of the dull ache somewhere at the back of his skull, Ed slowly rose from his laying position on what appeared to be a sorry excuse for a bed, looking straight at worried gold eyes identical to his own, "Are you okay, brother?" Al's soft voice soothed his headache and Ed attempted to smile, if not for his sake than for his brother's.
Carefully, he nodded, "I'm fine, Al." he looked around and noticed the dark, dimly lit cell they were kept prisoners in, surprisingly with no shackles attached to them, all except for Greed that is, "What...what happened?" he glared straight at the two men, one who he recognized as the short man that had threatened them.
Alphonse frowned, his voice quiet to not invoke the wrath of the two soldiers staring at them, "They surprised us and knocked us out, before they brought us here. I woke up not too long ago and the man that apprehended us was already here," he briefly looked at the bigger, blond man, "That man just came a few minutes ago. They talked, but we didn't hear what they said," he sighed.
Ed frowned, "So...why were we imprisoned? We didn't do anything wrong, did we? We helped defeat one of those titans, after all," Ed rubbed at the aching spot on his head, fixing his stare on the short angry man that had called them brats. Hell, he had called Mustang a brat, just how old was this guy?
The sternness in the shorter man's eyes never leaving once as he spoke to them, "I'll ask again, what business do you have in our city?" his gaze narrowed further, "The way you slew those Titans...I've never seen anything like that before," his gaze turned to Roy, "Flames cast from the palms of your hands...", his gaze shifted to Greed, "Managing to wound a Titan with your bare fists covered by a protective layer of skin...", he turned toward Ed and Al, "Manipulating the earth by clapping your hands and casting strange energy into it..." his voice hardened, "Who are you?"
Ed carefully thought of what to say and figured the best course of action was to simply tell the truth, "We are alchemists," the blond man's eyes widened, "We came here through alchemy but at the time we didn't know in what world we would end up in or if it would even work." Ed stared down into his hands, "Tell me..." he lifted his head to look straight at the shorter man, "What exactly are those 'titans'?"
The man scoffed, gaze unflinching and unchanging, "You killed one, didn't you? You may have guessed already that they aren't an easy opponent,"
The blond man cast a sidelong glance at his subordinate before deciding to answer the question, "They are large humanoid creatures, mindless beings hunting down humans to eat and kill," his slanted gaze swept over them, "There are, however, exceptions. Titans that actually posses some level of intelligence and awareness," he paused, seemingly collecting his thoughts before speaking again, "From what I've been hearing, you tell no lies of coming from a different world," he gave them all a once over, "Your clothes testify that as well," subconsciously, Ed stared down at his simple pants and shirt, mentally shrugging, considering they wore a sort of uniform he never saw before.
From what he gathered in their quick view of the town, it seemed rather simple, something akin to Resembool, but bigger, equipped with more houses and cottages. And...surrounded by massive walls.
"Those walls...I heard one of your men say those giants aren't allowed to breach 'Maria' again...is that one of your walls?" a fair eyebrow rose in question, resting his forearms on his knees.
The blond soldier spoke again evenly, "Yes, Maria is the outermost wall, followed by Rose and Sheena." He paused before speaking again, "They were built to withstand forces such as the titans, specifically, years ago. Humankind had already been almost completely wiped out before they decided to protect themselves by building the Walls." He looked directly at Ed, "Now, as mentioned before, you managed to kill a titan without the use of our equipment."
The shorter one cut in, "However, they would have been eaten had I not cut the titan's neck," there was no boasting in his tone or arrogance, simply stating the fact as it were.
Greed scoffed, crossing his arms, "Tch, yeah, I didn't need your help, shortstack," the soldier glared at him, "Besides, what's it gotta do that you cut its neck?" he tilted his head to the side curiously.
The blond one answered again, "Before we answer that, can we trust you to aid us in killing more titans? At least, until we figure out a way how to bring you back to your own world,"
Ed frowned and felt Alphonse gently nudging his side, leaning in to whisper to him quietly, "But brother, we know the transmutation circle, we can just leave if we want to. I want to help them, but I'm not sure if it's a good idea," Ed nodded slowly, catching Mustang's eye as he did so.
The dark eyes of his former superior told him wordlessly what his opinion on it was and Ed sighed. Staring at Ling and Greed, the xingese emperor looked distraught, frowning at their predicament and Greed seemed livid, looking ready to beat those two soldiers up to a pulp.
"We'll help you fight them off, at least until the situation clears a bit, but after that we need to get back home, got it?" Ed made sure his tone was firm and left no more room for discussion but it didn't faze the two at all.
The short one smirked, "Oh? Grown some balls have you, brat? Those titans invade our districts almost daily and many lives are lost because of it,"
Ed's face fell, "I'm sorry for what's happening to you, but please understand we can't stay here forever! We have families waiting for us back home!" the former Fullmetal alchemist was slightly startled when Greed's ultimate shield covered claws clanked loudly against the steel bars, arms straining as he glared daggers at the smaller soldier.
"Listen up punk, this is all a sad and sappy story, but we got nothing to do with it. Like the runt said, we have wives and kids waiting for us back in our time so we can't stay here parading around and slaying those giants for you," Greed didn't flinch when the shorter male walked over to him, Greed towering over him by a good head but the soldier seemed indifferent by the height difference.
It looked like it would come down to a fight, but a sudden voice cut the tense atmosphere like a knife, "Captain Levi!"
The so called 'captain' broke his stare down with Greed to look at two people, equally dressed in uniforms, running towards them. One was a boy with messy brown hair and the other was a girl with a red scarf around her neck.
"What is it, brat?" Levi's voice made the youth flinch slightly before he collected himself.
"We heard you caught some outsiders-" he cut himself off before looking at all of them, stunned, "Is..is that them?"
Greed seemed to have enough, "Damn well it is pissant! We ain't a circus attraction, so stop staring at us like that," his growl was cut off by a very sharp sword pointing to his throat.
It was the girl. Faster than anyone could blink, she had drawn her sword and glared directly at Greed, her voice was low and threatening when she spoke, "Do not insult Eren," her gaze narrowed at him and Greed was about to say something until the blond man spoke up.
"Enough, everyone," he shared a look with Levi, "Levi, I want you to keep an eye on the prisoners for the time being. We'll release them tomorrow after we have come to an agreement," he looked at the 'Eren' kid and the girl, "Mikasa, Eren, you two head back to your barracks. It's past your curfew," he gave them a stern glare and the girl called Mikasa reluctantly withdrew her blade, all the while glaring at Greed as both she and Eren walked away from them with the blond guy.
Turning to look at Greed's face, the captain only said this, "Scum," Greed doubled his efforts to escape, trying to scratch at him with his claws but the man just moved away.
"Do you really think I'd let little shits like you escape so easily? These bars are reinforced," he stared at Greed specifically, "Not even your armor will be able to break it,"
Greed deactivated his shield, muttering something under his breath as he sat back down on one of the beds.
"Um...could we maybe get something to eat?" Ling raised a hand, looking sheepish but calm as he asked this.
Levi looked unimpressed, "Tomorrow, if the commander says so," he sat down, crossing his legs as he stared at them.
Roy decided to speak up after remaining silent for so long, "Would you mind formally introducing yourself? If it isn't too much to ask." He gestured to himself, "From where we come from, I'm the Führer and I worked in the State Military as a Colonel in the past, introducing yourself may not be bad," he waited patiently to see what the shorter male would answer.
His answer was blunt, "I don't give a shit where you worked or if you're the leader of the army. Here, you're nothing but outsiders posing a threat to our people," his gaze spoke volumes as it darkened, "Now shut up and settle down, I don't want to have to straight you up,"
Roy frowned, sighing.
Turning toward Edward, he lowered his voice to a mere whisper, "There's nothing more to do than wait until tomorrow. Maybe that commander may help us, he seemed like the more...approachable one," glancing briefly in Levi's direction, Roy continued, "In any case, we have to find a way to draw a transmutation circle and get out of here as fast as we can,"
Ling suddenly cut in bluntly, "You're just scared your wife will beat you senseless after you agreed on something so reckless, right?"
Roy bristled, "N-no! Shut up!" he groaned in exasperation, burying his face in his hands.
Ed sighed long and hard, leaning against the wall behind him, frowning at Levi, who was watching them with a bored expression.
"Brother...he's scaring me," Al whispered and Ed could see how badly he wanted to go back home, he understood, he wanted it too...
"Yeah...seems like the scary type," he looked at Greed, who seemed to have settled down and was in some sort of glaring match with Levi, "Guess Greed isn't too fond of him either,"
"Damn...I wish we didn't draw that transmutation circle...Winry was right," he leaned his head back to rest against the wall with a dull thud.
Al smiled nervously, "Don't worry, we will find a way out," he smiled shakily at his elder brother, determined to cheer him up and lift his spirits.
Ed found himself smiling, despite their messy situation.
They may be chained and imprisoned here now, but once they were free, they could return back home. He almost relished the thought of Winry shouting his ears off once he got back.
Next Morning
"I apologize for yesterday's...rude treatment towards you," he pointedly looked toward Levi, who was leaning casually against the wall, "However, we have no information concerning your abilities yet, much less if you're friend or foe,"
Roy stood up then, attempting to settle things once and for all, "With all due respect, sir, we beat a few of those Titans that plagued your city, it would be pointless to question our allegiance, would it not?" he gazed at the other man intently, watching his expressions.
"That may be so, but your abilities are dangerous and we have no knowledge of performing the same feats and manipulating objects such as you, surely you understand our people being wary of outsiders breaching our walls." He paused briefly, sending Levi a look, "However, we appreciate your efforts in helping us with the Titans. As such, I'm willing to negotiate a deal,"
Roy rose an eyebrow, "...And that deal includes?" he could see Edward tensing and he practically felt Greed's increasing hostility towards Levi.
"You help us destroying the next wave of Titans swarming the city and in exchange you're allowed to go back to your own world," he crossed his arms, "Our scouts have found that some Titans were capable of intelligent thinking and we suspect some of them plan on releasing a big attack on the city any day now. We've lost many able men on our last expedition and it would be of great help if you would offer us your services to dispatch a majority of those Titans," he smiled slightly.
Roy's expression grew thoughtful, a small frown settling on his features as he mulled the deal over.
In truth, this deal benefited them more than it did him and his friends, but if it meant getting out of this world, they would need to accept.
"Now hold on a minute!" Edward suddenly sprang up, the chains keeping him from going any further than a step away from his bed, "We saw those giants eat humans, you said their numbers were great and some of them are larger than houses and buildings! It means me and my friends could get killed helping you out! That's not a very fair deal, commander," Ed crossed his arms, snorting defensively.
In a split second, Levi actually approached the steel bars and reached his hand out, grabbing Ed by the collar of his shirt and roughly slamming him against the bars, stretching the chains to their limits, Levi's glaring face bore into Ed's stunned one, "Now listen up you brats, we have you in our custody. If you won't accept the deal, there's a slim chance you'll ever get out of here." Levi's eyebrow rose when he felt incredible pressure on his wrist.
He looked down and followed the arm coated in the same layer of metal-like substance he saw on the battlefield and met furious violet irises, "Who're you calling brats, shorty? If you don't let him go I'll do more than just break your wrist," he gave a warning squeeze and Levi's hand moved to grab his blade when the stern voice of Commander Erwin penetrated the cell.
"Levi! Release him and step back!" Erwin's eyes flashed, "Now,"
Only hesitating but a moment, Levi slowly released Ed, causing the man to stumble and nearly fall if not for Greed steadying him.
The Homunculus glared daggers at the shorter male, crossing his arms, his shield slowly retreating.
Roy cleared his throat, "I'll only accept your deal under two conditions, commander," Erwin listened attentively, "The first one is, the captain won't harm my comrades for as long as we stay here and the second is, nobody is to prevent us from leaving this world once we deal with your Titan problem," he glared resolutely at the blond man, not willing to back down on his conditions.
Erwin sent a small but meaningful look at Levi, who 'tsked' silently and Erwin sighed, "Alright, accepted,"
Roy nodded, extending his hand through the bars as much as his chain would allow, "Good, we have a deal,"
Erwin nodded, shaking his hand firmly, "Release them!" the guard with the keys nervously looked at Levi, before nodding at Erwin and unlocking the cell door, unlocking each of their restraints.
Walking out of the cell one by one, Roy smiled at Erwin, "I'm glad we are on the same page,"
Erwin nodded, "So am I, however, before we require your help, you'll need basic training in order to understand how Titans work and how to effectively and quickly kill them on the battlefield." He looked down at Roy's gloves, "With your powers, I doubt you'd need to employ the use of our gear, however that will depend on how well you perform on the training grounds,"
Roy nodded seriously, understanding the circumstances.
Ed rubbed at his wrist, frowning at Levi, who only glared back. Greed growled lowly under his throat, Ling tried to calm him down by squeezing his shoulder, but the Homunculus was unrelenting in his glaring match with Levi.
"I believe this will make for a interesting time, Führer Mustang," Erwin nodded, smiling slightly.
Ed didn't know what exactly they've gotten themselves into, but he was willing to bet it wasn't anything good.
Put on hiatus until further notice due to too many projects I'm currently writing on! It may take a while for me to publish the next chapter. Thank you for reading!