Lily: HELLO PPLZ, AND WELCOME TO CROSSING WORLDS CHAPTER NINE!
Snowfur: Man, you're pumping out chapters like crazy.
Lily: Well, what do you expect! Kura-chan will send people to kill me if I don't!
Arin: ...there's another reason, isn't there.
Lily: I wanted to get this chapter done ASAP.
Myra: Why?
Lily: *silently hands copies of chapters to everyone*
Everyone: ...
Al: *sniffles* B-But...
Ed: No 'buts' Al, it's already done.
Al: But brother-!
Snowfur: *sniffle* DO THE FRIKIN DISCLAIMER ED! I WANNA GO SULK IN AN EMO CORNER!
Myra: ME TOO!
Arin: We all do...we all really do..
Ed: Alright...A-HGaming doesn't own FMA. Other people do. SO YAH.
Lily: Enjoy the chapter...*Goes and sulks*
Ed sighs angrily as he paces around his dorm. Joining him was Alphonse, Snowfur, Arin, Myra and Lily. He growls and shuts his military pocket watch. "What's taking her so damn long?!" He exclaims angrily. Snowfur sighs. "Ed, Winry's just getting ready to leave. And stop pacing around. It's driving me nuts." She says. Ed glares at her. "At this rate we're going to be late for the train!" He yells.
"Y'know brother…Snowfur has a point." Alphonse says. "Well, I don't care!" Ed retorts. "Hey Ed…are you and Winry together? Like, in love and stuff?" Lily asks, preparing for his response. But, he surprisingly didn't freak out. "No, we're just childhood friends. With all this travelling I don't have time for things like that." He says. Wow…She thinks. Not even a blush. That's different from the anime.
"It's gonna be weird, seeing teacher again." Ed says. Al starts shaking. "B-Brother….d-don't talk about her." He mutters. Ed starts shaking as well. "Y-Yeah, Al. You're right…I-I'm going to talk about that…" he says.
"Hey guys, sorry it took me so long to get ready. Did I miss anything?" Winry asks, entering the room. "Nope." Ed says. "Let's head to the station." Lily smiles and waves as they all exit out of Ed's dorm. "Hey Lily, are you sure you don't want one of us to stay back here?" Snowfur asks, pausing as she walks out. Lily shakes her head. "No, I'll be fine on my own. I need to make it up to Hughes. It's the least I can do." The two walk out of the dorms and head in different directions.
Lily looks at a clock set up in a hallway. She sighs. Soo…how am I going to pass time while I wait for night to come?
~~~TIME SKIP~~~
The 7 teens crowd around their windows in the train to wave goodbye to the people outside. Standing there was Armstrong, Brosh, Ross, Gracia and Elicia. Myra waves happily and makes a goofy face to Elicia, who laughs cutely. Soon the train moves far enough away for them to be out of sight. "So, how long is the ride to Rush Valley?" Snowfur asks, turning around to look at the seats behind her. Ed, Al and Winry were sitting behind Snowfur, Myra and Arin. "About a day or so, give or take a few hours." Ed says, stretching his arms out. Snowfur sweat drops. "You've got to be kitten me right meow…" Al laughs. "Kitty jokes!" He exclaims happily with a blush. Ed deadpans.
"So, why is it so important to see your teacher right now anyways?" Winry asks, turning to Ed and Al. "Well…there are a couple of reasons." Ed says. "For starters, I don't wanna get my ass kicked by my opponents." He mutters. "Wait; is this some sort of combat teacher? Why don't you just quit fighting?" Winry asks. "Wouldn't that be nice?! Sorry, it's not that simple, okay? This isn't only about our fighting. Our core needs a little work too." Ed says. He looks up to his brother. "Right Al?" Al nods.
"Exactly. We feel like seeing our teacher will make us grow on the inside." Al says. "Yeah, we're gonna need as much strength as we can get." Ed mutters, looking back out the window. Winry smiles. "What's reason two?" She asks. "To see what she can tell us about the philosopher's stone." Ed states. "And to ask her about the truth within the truth. We haven't gotten any closer to figuring it out." Al adds. "There's a chance our teacher knows something about it."
Ed tenses. "Let's hope she at least gives us a chance to ask her." He mumbles. "You should be more worried about explaining your appearance to her, Al." Ed starts shaking. "Considering…" He trails off. "Considering…" He tries again, but fails. The two brothers go into chibi form and start crying. "She's gonna kill us when she finds out what happened!" Ed cries. "It would've been nice to get a girlfriend before I died!" Al exclaims. Myra blushes slightly at this comment but stays silent. "Maybe you guys should get a new teacher…" Winry mutters.
They all regain their composure, and Winry looks over to the girls' seats. "So, why're you three going with Ed and Al?" She asks. "Well, Myra said she had some business to take care of in Dublith, and we're going with her. We heard from pipsqueak and iron man over there that they were heading there too so we decided to go together." Arin explains. Tick marks appear on Ed's forehead. "WHO'RE YOU CALLING A TINY LITTLE PIPSQUEAK?!" He screams. Other passengers on the train look over to where the noise was coming from. "Ed, quiet down." Winry says. Ed glares at her but says nothing.
"If I may ask, why do you want to go to Dublith, Myra?" Al asks politely. "To see Aunt Izumi!" She says happily.
"…"
"…"
"…"
"AUNT IZUMI?!" Ed and Al exclaim. Myra nods. "I haven't seen Aunt Izumi since I became a State Alchemist, and I wanna see her again." She says. Ed deadpans. "H-How can Myra be related to such a monster?" He asks. "She wouldn't even hurt a fly!" Snowfur laughs. "Oh please, if you think Arin's scary when she gets angry, wait until you see Myra. She's like a full-fledged demon." Ed thinks back to when Myra yells at him on the patio of the hospital. If that was only a portion of her anger then… He pictures Myra and Izumi standing next to each other looking down at him and cracking their knuckles menacingly. Yeah…I can see it. I can definitely see it.
~~~NOW BACK TO CENTRAL HQ!~~~
"Riots in Lior, huh?" Hughes asks, reading a document at his desk. "Yes, apparently a response to that scam religion that was praying on the townspeople." An officer says. "They finally realized they were being suckered." Hughes sighs. "Yeah. Ishval and Lior. The east has been a real hotbed, huh?" he mutters. Sheska sighs and lays her head down on a desk, completely worn out. "I'm afraid it's not just the east. There's been rumors of uprisings in the north and west too." The officer says. Hughes furrows his eyebrows in thought. This is too much to be a coincidence. There has to be someone planning these. He thinks. Well, it'll be hard for the military to control this. Unless… Hughes holds back a gasp of realization. Lily's has mentioned things about homunculi. There are others, and they supposedly live forever. It might be a stretch, but what if they have been planning this all along? I can't prove this without evidence, though. Hughes gets up from his desk and starts walking away.
"Lieutenant Colonel Hughes? Where are you going?" The officer asks. "I'll be in the archive room." Hughes mutters and shuts the door behind him.
~~~AT THE LIBRARY~~~
Lily growls angrily and shuts a book she was reading in the library. This is completely inaccurate! I am not a soulless and emotionless being! Stupid collection of knowledge! She had been reading books on homunculi and other forms of alchemy to pass the time. "Would you like help putting those back?" A voice asks, interrupting her thoughts. She looks up to see Sheska looking down at her. Lily nods with a smile. "Thank you, that'd be helpful. You're Sheska, right? Under Maes' command? I'm Lily." She says, holding out a hand. Sheska takes it and they shake. "The Lieutenant Colonel has talked about you a lot." Sheska says, with a small laugh. "I can only imagine…" Lily mutters, and looks out the window. Her eyes widen. Was it already so late?
"Hey Sheska, I remembered that I needed to talk to him about something. Do you know where Maes could be right now?" Lily asks, butterflies forming in her stomach. "Yes, he said he was going to be in the archive room." Sheska says, looking at Lily. "Thanks. See ya later!" Lily exclaims and bolts for the room, silently praying to herself. Please…don't be late!
~~~HUGHES' POV~~~
Hughes slams the map he was making notes on down on a table. "Damnit! I was right! Those homunculi were orchestrating this! It all fits right into place!" He exclaims. He puts a hand on his face and sighs shakily. "They want to kill us all…" Hughes' head immediately snaps up as the door to the room slams shut. "Hello Lieutenant Colonel. It's nice to meet you." A smooth female voice says from the doorway. "Well actually…hello isn't really the word I'm looking for." Lust says, extending her fingernails.
Hughes spots the Ouroboros tattoo above Lust's chest and curses inwardly. Damnit…she's a homunculus! Lust laughs. "Eyes up here, Lieutenant Colonel. It's not polite to look at a lady's chest!" she exclaims and extends a nail. She walks forward and Hughes back up. "Nice tattoo you got there." Hughes says through gritted teeth. "Those are your last words? Pathetic." She mutters, and extends the rest of her nails. Hughes takes out his pocket knife and attempts to retaliate, but one nail hits him. He gasps in pain.
Hughes narrows his eyes, ignoring the burning pain in his shoulder and throws the knife at Lust. It hits her straight in the forehead. She gasps, and her fingernails shrink to normal size. She slinks down on the floor. Hughes takes this opportunity to run away. She'll heal, so I'd better hurry. I need to get someone…tell someone…ROY! He staggers out the door, leaving a trail of blood behind him. I need to…
~~~5 MINUTES LATER~~~
"DAMNIT!" Lily yells and she sees the trail of blood outside the archive room. She had never been to the archive room before, so it took her long to get there. She hadn't bothered to ask for directions there. Without a second thought, Lily bolts for the way out of HQ and heads to the phone booth. She had walked past there many times over these three days and knew the way extremely well.
"Well well, looks like Pain cares for that human." A voice says behind her. Lily immediately stops in place. "Don't call me that!" Lily snarls angrily. Lust smirks and holds up Hughes' dagger. Lily's eyes widen at the sight of it. "Don't let me keep you, little one. Go after him." She says. Lily didn't like the idea of complying with the other homunculi, but at this point in time she didn't care. She ran.
Please…please God, Truth, anyone…don't let me be late! Lily runs through the hallways of HQ as fast as she can. I…I can't be late! I can't! Please…please…PLEASE!
Tears start stinging her eyes, blurring her vision. She quickly wipes them away, still running. She pants for breath as she finally makes it out of the building. However, she still keeps running. Even though her chest was burning and gasping for air, she didn't care. She had to make it. Almost there…almost there…come on Lily, make it! GO FASTER! She pushes herself to move faster in the last stretch of the run. By this time adrenaline had finally kicked in to her system. However, she stops dead in her tracks at what she saw.
Hughes was frozen in place at the phone booth with Envy, transformed as Gracia standing in front of him pointing a gun at him. "You look so surprised." Envy says. "What the hell are-,"
"STOP IT!" Lily yells as she stands between the two as Envy pulls the trigger. She gasps and staggers back, her vision blurring. She could her faint voices around her, but she couldn't make them out. The pain was burning, ripping into her chest in pulses. It was difficult to breathe. But, surprisingly, the pain started to fade away slowly, and she soon regained awareness. There was blood soaking through her shirt and pooling on the ground and Hughes was knelt down next to her.
"Hey…Maes…" Lily coughs and shakily stands up, taking in the much needed air. "'m fine…" She mutters. Hughes smiles, tears tracks visible on his face. "Thank goodness…I didn't think you'd-," Lily glares at him and he stops talking. "Don't…talk like that. I came here to save you." Lily mutters. She then turns to Envy, who was transforming back to his regular form.
"Well…this was unexpected. I didn't expect you to interfere, Pain." Envy says with a smirk. "Shut the hell up Envy… Don't call me that!" Lily yells, and lashes out at him with her daggers. He easily blocks her and throws her down on the ground. "Don't get mad at me, I'm just calling you by your name. Your true name. Or have you not accepted it yet?" Envy sneers, and sends a punch at Lily. She quickly gets up and dodges. Envy transforms his arm into a vine, and whips it towards her. She quickly cuts through it with her dagger, and uses her alchemy to jump higher. She lands behind Envy. "I'll never be one of you." Lily growls, and prepares to attack again.
Envy smirks and turns around, red sparks flying around his arm as it heals. "Oh really? But you already are." He says, and bolts at Lily at an extremely fast speed. He slashes at her and she barely has time to dodge. She winces as blood starts trickling down her arm. As expected, it immediately starts healing. "Shut your mouth, Envy." She mutters, giving him a fierce glare. Envy laughs.
"Why? Can't you see I'm telling the truth? You. Are. A. Homunculus. There's nothing you can to do change the fact." He lunges at her again, transforming his arm into a blade. Lily raises her daggers and blocks the attack. "You are Pain. You have a philosopher's stone inside of you, fueling you. You are using up the lives as we speak when you heal. So many human souls." He says, and Lily growls out in anger. "I said shut up!" She yells, and turns away, running to the side of him.
As she ran, she had a plan in her head. Run to Hughes, tell him to leave, fight Envy; it was simple, yet effective. But, of course, Envy did something unexpected. He turned his arm back into a vine and tripped her, then proceeded to wrap it around her, trapping her. Envy's grip was extremely strong, and she was trying not to wince as it crushed her lungs. "Why?" Envy asks, looking up at her. She tilts her head in confusion. Why, what?
"Why don't you embrace what you are? We, as homunculi, are far greater beings than pitiful humans! Use your abilities, control them!" Envy exclaims, laughing. "Come back with us, Pain. Join us again, as you were meant to be. Father would love to see you again." Lily grits her teeth and glares at him. "Never." She mutters fiercely. Envy face palms, his laughing reduced to chuckles.
"Pain. I don't understand why you resist. I truly don't. Humans are pathetic. They aren't as strong as us." He mutters. He extends his other arm and grabs the gun that he had dropped. Lily's eyes widen in shock. She struggles against Envy, trying to get free. "They can be killed so easily…" He says, cocking the gun. "Run! Maes! RUN!" She screams. Hughes clutches his shoulder, and smiles at her. He was sitting on the ground, blood pouring out of his wound. He was probably suffering from blood loss.
"NO!" She screams, breaking free as a shot rings through the air. Blood flows onto the ground, and Lily falls to her knees. "No…NO DAMNIT!" She yells, staring at Hughes as he slumps down. "Lily…I'm sorry…" He mutters. Her eyes widen in horror as tears pour out of her eyes. "I…couldn't keep my promise to you…or my family…" Hughes breathes as the final drops of life drain out of him.
I swear Lily; once I find those homunculi I will destroy them, no matter what. You don't deserve to live like this.
Lily remembers those words as clear as day, when Hughes spoke them to her after she killed those men. "No…" Lily mutters, slumped down and defeated. "I…but I…I thought I saved him…I thought I could…" Envy laughs. "Hahahaha! You lose this time, Pain." Lily stares at him in shock. "You think this is a joke?! YOU KILLED HIM DAMNIT!" She yells. "And that's exactly what I wanted to do. He was becoming meddlesome. Still, you could've beaten me if you'd just used your powers." Envy says, grinning.
Lily felt numb. Her insides just went cold. She could feel nothing inside of her; no sadness, no pity, no suffering, no pain. It was frozen inside of her, like an icy terrain. "He wasn't worth anything anyways. Honestly, why would you try to save something like that?" Envy mutters, staring at her as silent tears fall over her cheeks.
And something snapped.
"F***K YOU!" She screams, her eyes blood red. She gets up and lunges at Envy at an incredible speed. She drops her daggers and starts punching him in the face in pure rage. "DAMN YOU ENVY! DAMN YOU AND EVERY HOMUNCULUS!" She yells. She continues punching him, and he falls on the ground. Blood was covering his face, and it stained her fists. But she didn't care. She just wanted to see Envy suffer. To see him die a painful, bloody death. To make him feel unbearable pain.
"DIE, DIE, DIE, DIE!" She yells, still punching him. Her vision started to become clouded, and all she could see was red. And it was the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen. She could hear screaming. A lot of screaming. She could tell if it was her own shouts, of if it was Envy's. But it still didn't matter. Nothing mattered. She had lost the only person that mattered to her, who she looked up to like a father. MAES…!
Maes…what would he think of her if he saw her like this?
You don't deserve to live like this.
What…what would he say? Would he be angry? Probably.
I will always support you on whatever you choose to do, as long as it's reasonable.
This…this wasn't reasonable at all! She needed to stop this…stop…stop…stop!
"STOP!" Lily yells, her vision fading back from her outburst. She looked down to see Envy, bloodied and battered, lying on the ground. But he was smiling. Red sparks fly around him as he gets up, the cuts healing. What had she been doing? Lily looks at her hand, which was covered in blood and…darkness. Her eyes widen in terror. She…she had used them. She used her powers, the powers that killed three men. The powers that represented her inhumanity.
The darkness quickly fades, and Envy laughs again. "I'm glad to see you finally accepted yourself, Pain." He snickers. "Don't. F*****g. CALL ME PAIN!" She yells. She starts sobbing again. Envy says nothing and leaves Lily alone to her thoughts.
It's all my fault. It's all my fault. It's all my fault. She keeps repeating those four words in her head, crying loudly. "Why did he have to die?" Lily mutters. "Why did he figure it out? Why did the homunculi go after him? Why couldn't someone pick up the phone?"
"Why couldn't I save him?"
I couldn't save him…I couldn't save the most important person to me. I couldn't save my own father! I…I couldn't even say goodbye.
"I'm so sorry…" Lily sobs, looking at Hughes' body. "I'm so sorry…I broke my promise…I couldn't save you…I couldn't save Snowfur…I couldn't save Anni…I couldn't save Sage…I couldn't save anyone…" She mutters. "DAMN IT!" She screams, punching the ground. "It's all my fault….IT'S ALL MY DAMN FAULT!" she yells. "Why am I so weak? I…I can't do anything. I'm so weak…"
And, unbeknownst to Lily, an invisible being was watching her, rising into the sky. It was truly happy, yet also felt remorse. It smiles down at the crying girl, upset that it can't comfort her. The being wanted to say 'it's okay,' to comfort her, but it couldn't. It had already moved on.
The being regretted not being able to help the girl. It wanted to help the girl. It wanted to stay with the girl forever, living with her for the rest of its life. The being frowns, stopping its movement upward. It stays there, suspended in mid-air, pondering its options. After a few moments, watching the girl sob silently, it decided on an option. The being shoots downward, towards the ground and flies past the girl at a high speed, smiling. A gust of wind blows in the girl's direction and she looks up, her cries silencing. The being smiles sadly, looking at the girl. It stares at her for a moment, then reluctantly leaves, floating upwards again once more. It left a message that it knew the girl wouldn't hear, but it would stay in her heart forever.
Lily…thank you. Thank you for everything that you gave me in my life. You gave me happiness and joy, knowing that every day with you around would be a good day. Don't blame yourself for anything that you did, because you've helped me in more ways than one.
When I first met you, I was depressed. The war had just ended. I had blood on my hands that I never wanted to be shed. I cried. I was plagued with nightmares, and reminders of what I had done. But when you came that all stopped. I wanted to help you, to reach out to you and give you happiness. And in return, you gave me happiness.
The love of a father to his daughter.
And I thank you from my bottom of my heart. Thank you so much. And I want you to know that I'll always be watching you, no matter how down you get, or how much you want to give up. I'll root for ya, kid. Because I love you.
You're the best daughter that a father could ask for.
My little girl.
Lily: *sobs*
Ed: *wipes tears from face* Hughes...
Snowfur: DAMN IT LILY, WHY DO YOU HAVE TO BE SUCH A GOOD WRITER!
Myra: But...isn't that a good thing?
Arin: Not in this case, it isn't.
Snowfur: Ed...reviews please...
Ed: *nods* Our first review is from Loki. It says:
I hate all of my fans.
Lily: ...
Snowfur: ?
Lily: ...OH! I GET IT! I hate them too. Especially when it's hot out.
Arin: Uhh...Lily?
Lily: *holds up a paper fan* These stupid paper things don't do anything! I mean, it hardly cools you off!
Snowfur: *face palms* Oh my god...
Lily: *points to a metal fan* And these things don't cool off a room either! It's nothing compared to AC! Plus, they like stupid Metal/Rock music. Not that I'm saying it's stupid or anything, I just hate the fan.
Myra: -_-
Lily: The fans that I like are the ones that squirt water mist in your face. Now those cool you off.
Ed: ...alright, next review! It's from gsunny6! It says:
*snicker*
Lily: I know, I'm funny, aren't I?
Arin: *mutters* Not after this chapter, no.
Myra: C-Can we not talk about that?
Snowfur: I second that claim.
Lily: *ignores* NEXT REVIEW!
Ed: *sighs* Oh Truth...*ahem* Our next review is from Sakura Chara. AGAIN. She says:
Yeah~! You can ALWAYS call me Kura-chan~! It is MY name, thus is an AWESOME name to call me~!
And Lily, Ed? *sneaky-evil-face-aka-the-twins-from-Ouran-are-plotting-something-face* THIS 'GAL *points to self* CARES NOT HOW MUCH YOU PROTEST, THOU SHALT GET TOGETHER ALREADY~! FOR YOU TWO WILL TOTALLY MAKE AN AWESOME COUPLE, SO THERE~! *sticks out tongue*
Also, explosives rule (watch the tenderizing steak with explosives episode of Mythbusters), and grammar also rules~! ...Most of the time. Generally when I'M READING. Nope. Nothing suggested AT ALL. And Myra, I also command you and Al to get together~! FOR IT IS JUST AS AWESOME AS ED AND LILY~!
MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA~!
*Honey-senpai look* Hope to see ya soon~!
~Kura
Lily: *squeals* OMG HONEY-SENPAIIII! AAAAAA!
Al: ...is she broken?
Ed: She's never not broken.
Lily: SHUT UP! YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND THE AMAZINGNESS OF OURAN.
Myra: *smashes a cake in her face* I-I don't know what you're talking about, Kura-chan.
Ed: *blushing* Wh-Why the hell won't you people leave this subject alone!
Lily: *also blushing* Because they're fangirls, that's why.
Snowfur: But you're also a-
Lily: SHUT UP! NO ONE ASKED YOUR OPINION SNOWFUR!
Arin: *holds up a billion bombs (don't ask)* EXPLOSIVES! Translation: YASSSS!
Snowfur: Yeah, Kura-chan. Nooooothing suggested. AT ALL. *glares at Lily*
Lily: Me dont knowz wat ur talkin bout.
Snowfur: ARRRGGGHHHH!
Al: A-Anyways, th-that's it for this chapter! Bye~!
Myra: PEACE!