A/N: I could list a million excuses for you all, but instead I won't.

DANGER THIS CHAPTER IS LONG. Since I left you hanging for quite a while, I thought the chapter should be long. HOWEVER, it would have actually been longer, since the anime episode this chapter is aqcuainted with is full of awesomeness.

I recommend listening to Wang Yi's theme: Teary Edge on youtube whilst reading. It's what gave me the drive to even write this! Look for a black haired girl, blue sparks, long trident-like knives, etc. I think the music matches the tone for the angsty part of this chapter. SERIOUSLY DO IT NAOOO.

DON'T EVEN SCROLL DOWN UNTIL YOU'VE OPENED A NEW TAB AND WILL LISTEN TO THAT SONG WHILE YOU READ THIS

Disclaimer: I do not own FMA: Brotherhood. I own only Zeal, Catalena, Cain, and my own ideas and plots. By the way, I am officially auctioning my OCs. Any bids?


Rapacious

.

|There's no such thing as no such thing. |

Chapter 7

Great Minds Think Alike

.

Something felt different this morning. And it wasn't just because Zeal decided to actually refrain from leaving the Devil's Nest and to share breakfast with Greed and the rest of them. It wasn't because of Catalena's absence, that Cain had to actually clean his own clothes and perhaps his unfamiliarity with the task left his military uniform feeling tighter than usual. No, that can't be it at all (Rather a small portion of it).

The Dublith military division this morning seemed abnormal…darker than the usual dark. By dark, something placed an eerie feeling in the area, and Cain just couldn't place his tongue on it. It tasted bad, like old men, actually.

Don't question how Cain would know what old men taste like. It was just a phase.

The black-haired Sergeant Major fidgeted with the ends of his navy blue jacket, pretending to not notice the eyes of those who normally seemed at ease with him, appeared to detest him at the moment. But why? Had they found out about Catalena already? Well that's preposterous. Catalena wasn't here anymore; Zeal was in her place.

Cain decided to look as steady and serious as he always did, and tried his best to nonchalantly stride into his own squad's office.

Little did he expect a certain authority figure seated where his own superior officer was supposed to be. The latter was nowhere in sight.

"What's this…the Führer?" Cain muttered under his breath. Fear overcame his steeled, calm demeanor once the "cheerfully" shut eye of King Bradley laid directly upon him, eating away at his uneasiness. This old guy wasn't even lookingat him and Cain still felt like running away and curling into a little ball! Damn Catalena! Damn her and her stupid manipulative-ness! Why the hell did I ever get myself dragged into that stupid nursery school in the first place? Stupid mother.

"Ah…Sergeant Major Cain. It's good to finally be able to meet you in person."

Crap.

"Er…Führer…Sir…King Bradley…hello." One of Cain's hands shakily made its way to his forehead in order to usher in a poor salute.

Bradley in all his one-eyed glory chuckled in amusement at Cain, and he leaned over onto the desk before him, finally opening that one eye of his to further frighten Cain. (It didn't matter if it wasn't intentional; it scared Cain even more!), "You seem pretty nervous. Does my presence scare you? After all, I am just an old man in charge of the country. Nothing about me should seem intimidating."

Blinking his hazel eyes and becoming rescued from his trance of shock, Cain stood erect and regained his senses, appropriately focusing on the authority figure seated before him, "Um…I guess you're right. Though your position scares the breath out of me, I'm overreacting…"

As Cain averted his gaze, unknown to him, Führer King Bradley's eye peeled, and he looked mildly threatening.

And as soon as Cain turned back, Bradley looked as happy as ever.

"What is the Führer doing in Dublith? Can I ask that?" The young man immediately went bashful once realizing his etiquette. He was admirably humble Bradley had to admit.

"Oh, some things. One thing in particular. Would you mind helping me with it, Sergeant Major?"

Wait. The Führer wants Cain's help with something? So he wasn't aware of his crimes, good.

This was spectacular. If the Führer needed help from him, then Cain was sure to receive a good word later in the future. The only logical answer was to graciously accept such an offer!

Cain smiled, content and appreciative, agreeing, "Of course! I'd be insane if I denied you. What would you have me do, Führer King Bradley?" Oh yes, any suspicious feelings Cain had towards this old man disintegrated. Completely.

"There's a little place I need to investigate…"

.

.

.

That stone seemed so out of place compared to the rickety shingles of the Devil's Nest. It looked soperfectly round and smooth, while all these chipped, impaired shingles paled in comparison to such an exquisite rock. The cat-like slits in Zeal's eyes shrunk slightly as she focused on the inanimate object sitting in her palm.

The only right thing to do was to toss the rock into a nearby window, correct? After all, it shamed the overall beauty of this seemingly abandoned pub. With a flick of her wrist, Zeal tossed the rock towards the also abandoned building towering a ways before her.

Crash.

Yeah, no one lives there anyway. She would know, since she secluded herself on the pub's roof whenever she felt awkward around the people in the building below her.

Just recently, she revealed to Greed that Zeal was in fact female—after so many annoyingly placed questions the flirtatious homunculus threw at her (To Catalena's disdain). For three weeks, she would tell the human chimera and Greed she was genderless, because she honestly didn't find herself very feminine or masculine.

Though the fact that Zeal resided in a woman's body and was resurrected from a woman's body was enough of an explanation to her.

In Greed's case—he admittedly accused the homunculus of being male—then laughed at the case of a man being trapped in a woman's body—ate his words once Zeal informed him of her contemplations. Afterwards, Zeal read the scene as awkward, and hurriedly scrambled to the top of the dismantled roof of the Devil's Nest.

You bored, Zeal?

The silence became obstructed at the human's voice, but for some reason felt comfortable with Catalena speaking to her. Zeal smirked, resting her chin on her knee as she gazed at the alleyway below her, "I could be doing better things. But I will admit, I enjoy the time spent with your little friend Greed."

The delayed reply of Catalena amused Zeal, so she continued speaking,

"I mean, it's better than what normal humans do. What you all do for fun is painfully dull. I want to do something exciting—and gambling or partying won't cut it for me."

…Well…I know you simply can't stand being idle. Are you waiting for Greed to cool down?

"Cool down? Nah, I'm not that interested in your boyfriend, so don't feel so protective." A scoff was heard from the depths of her consciousness, hidden poorly. Zeal smirked again, but it quickly melted into a flat expression, "…At least, not his being. But his presence appeals to me."

His presence? I don't understand.

The homunculus sighed, watching a lone rat scurry across the barren alleyway, "…I'm not the sin envy—hell, I'm not a sin at all—though I do envy how you humans are able to mingle amongst yourselves and have fun with each other. The thing is, I don't feel that way. I can't share those feelings you humans have with each other. It's me who doesn't understand you."

"What I'm saying is that I think I want to be around other homunculi. And the only homunculus presence besides myself is Greed—and a person can only handle so much of him. Whenever I question him about the latter, he shuts up and doesn't speak to me for a while. That's all on the rare occasions that we actually do speak without lashing at one another's throats, of course."

…I'm amazed. I think that's the most you've ever told me about yourself, Zeal.

There was a hint of bashfulness submerged deep within her humanely hollow being, but Zeal quickly discarded the feeling. The homunculus smirked as prideful as pride could be: arrogant. "Heh. Don't get used to it, Cat." Speaking of the nickname for the owner of the body, Zeal's cat-like eyes peered curiously at a mass figure trotting its way through the secluded alleyway; a figure whose arrival she had eagerly awaited for. Brushing her thumb across her jaw line in satisfaction, the homunculus smirked rather maliciously, "Hmph. And the fact that we won't be sharing this body for too long is one reason."

Like the nickname Catalena usually symbolizes, Zeal pounced.

...

"PSSST. Hey kid. Over here!"

A suit of armor shifted towards the hidden figure. A stout face framed with oddly pigmented skin studied him. Alphonse felt unsafe—almost threatened by this hooded figure. Nine out of ten times one evades hooded figures, and the ratio of one only pertains to your local holy mother [1].

"Um…why?" The metallic voice of Al didn't instill fear into this man; in fact he looked rather cheerful.

"Are you lost? You should follow me." Half of his body protruded from his position by yet another pathway, and allowed Alphonse to question hideous clawed feet.

"Oh…well, okay."

Though surprised by his response, Bido came hopping over, gesturing one of his scaly hands towards the large, gray figure, "Good, then let's—"

(FACE MEET PALM—I mean fist.)

Once Bido got too close, Alphonse's fist somehow made its way towards his cranium, hitting the human chimera square in the face before propelling him down the alleyway.

Bido didn't even get the chance to scream by the time his face met the pavement.

"O-oh wait! I didn't mean to hit you that hard! It was just impulse!" He held out his hands in front of him, as if trying to calm down the already unconscious little man whom was having trouble breathing at the moment.

Another masculine voice to his right caught the young boy's attention, "Whoa, crap. What do we got here?" Black hair and a prominent nose dressed in a samurai getup caught Alphonse's attention. Though the latter was too occupied concerning himself over Bido's fallen figure to notice the hulking Alphonse.

Another voice—feminine—situated itself behind the male newcomer. This shorthaired blonde immediately caught sight of Alphonse, alarming everyone with an impressed whistle, "I think we just stumbled on a lost suit of armor, Dolcetto." Martel inched toward Alphonse, "Maybe we should take him in."

Once he was sure Bido was still breathing, the dog human chimera faced Alphonse, looking just as interested as Martel was appearing, "Oh, wow. Wasn't a guy in a suit of armor exactly what the boss told us to look out for?"

"Oh…" said suit uttered.

"I think so, Dolcetto. How many times do you find people dressed that tacky anyway? Besides you, of course."

"Shut up! It goes with the sword."

The blonde woman sighed, pressing her hand to her face in exasperation, "I don't even want to know where you got your little cosplay costume."

Dolcetto growled—sounding similarly like a dog, but then focused his attention back on Al. "It was a gift. But forget about that! Our orders were to welcome the armored kid." Dolcetto gestured one of his hands to the latter, "Did you hear that, kid? We'll help you out, so you'd better come with us."

"Because that doesn't sound creepy in the least…" Martel commented, pursing her pronounced lips.

"I didn't ask for your input, dammit!"

Despite the two adults' bickering, Al remained as innocent and thoughtful as possible, fingering where his chin would have been were he human, "Um…but my brother says I shouldn't go with strangers."

The two adults looked surprised, and not just because of the childish, metallic voice that erupted from the suit of armor. Dolcetto was the first to speak, "Strangers…" He shook his head, "Kid, we're your neighborhood watchers! We beat up the strangers! You can trust us." Martel shot her company an unimpressed look.

Being the obedient child he was (To trustworthy figures, that is, and not men dressed in samurai getups), Alphonse graciously denied Dolcetto, "Mm. No thanks. I think I'll stay right here and wait for someone I'm looking for."

While Martel stifled a laugh, Dolcetto grinded his sharp teeth together, "Tsk. Well, whatever, kid; you're coming with us whether you like it or not." Gripping the hilt of his katana, Dolcetto "swiftly" charged Alphonse, and even shouted heroically while doing so.

In Al's eyes, the curved-sword wielding man was pretty slow and clumsy. Once the gleaming blade of his opponent's katana strode dangerously close to him, Alphonse's thickly armored hands clasped around Dolcetto's sword, plucking it right from his grip and towering it high above the human chimera.

"Wha-? Ah, hey! Give that back!" Dolcetto pathetically scratched at Alphonse's armored chest piece, his arms stretching for his samurai sword.

Al remained defiant, turning his back towards sticky Dolcetto again and again to prevent him from hurting Al or himself, "No! I'm not here to fight! And if I give it back to you, you'll just attack me again!"

For once, the great stamina of this dog human chimera halted, and he only growled again while glaring daggers at Alphonse, "Look, kid, we're not going to hurt you or anything! Our boss just wants to see you, so would you pleasebe a big boy and come with us? And give me back my sword too."

Another whistle rung through the air, but when Dolcetto jerked his head back towards Martel, she only shrugged her shoulders. When the sadistic, almost maniacal laughter of a particular somebody shot through his developed ears, a feeling of disdain overwhelmed him.

The three heads faced the woman dangling her legs over a nearby roof: two of dislike and one of accomplishment. Resting her head on one hand while her gray eyes watched the trio, the remnants of her laugh dimmed to giggles, "Hehe. Hey, Alphonse boy, you oughta return ol' Dolcetto's toy sword back. He won't be able to sleep tonight without it."

"Wha...what are you doing here, Zeal?" Dolcetto growled as the female homunculus leapt from the rooftop, acquainting herself beside Al and he. For once, his treasured toy sword was forgotten—he and the other chimeras, besides Bido—did not smile upon Zeal's presence. They felt she challenged Greed's authority.

The clacking sound of Zeal's dress shoes against the pavement annoyed Dolcetto's sensitive ears as she replied, confidently, "Well…if you listen carefully enough, our little armor friend here says he was looking for someone. Chances are, any foreign person around these parts is always looking for me. Why? Because you lot are sooooo boring."

While steam appeared to seep through Dolcetto's seams, Alphonse addressed Zeal immediately, "Zeal? I'm sorry! I thought I remember you telling me your name was Catalena…"

Zeal raised an eyebrow, desperately trying to recall her meeting with Al and gather all of the important pieces. Finally, she realized, "Ohhh! Oh, yeah, that. Yeah, I'm sorry I lied to you, kid. The name's Zeal. Catalena's the name of the human whose body I inhabit."

The sound of Al's body shifting in confusion told Zeal to explain more.

"Since you've actually come to the Devil's Nest, that means you're prepared for our little exchange, correct? If that's the case, then I might as well fill you in on all the unimportant details. At least, I find them to be a nuisance." Zeal rubbed the back of her neck with one hand, caressing short, brown hair. Her slit eyes were shut as she enjoyed the feeling.

"…You'll have to explain more than just all of that, then."

With one of her arms still outstretched behind her head, Zeal opened one eye to peer at Alphonse. As he recalled, she mentioned herself to be rather suspicious. Suspicious was nowhere near her definition. Something about this "Zeal" just felt off. Her energetic, live-in-the-moment demeanor placed a sense of unease in people around her.

"Oh, I know, sweetie. I'll explain everything once you've met Greed. Now why don't you do me a favor and take off your helmet, alright?"

Alphonse observed Zeal's sly smirk for a second before noticing the hand that was behind her head travel upward, at some point gesturing towards him. Just as he noticed this, a surge of some red energy shot at him, crackling at his face. The power of this red substance was so great; Al felt his helmet become dislodged from where his head would have been.

As he stood still in surprise, Martel quickly subdued him, using some sort of inhuman power to slip inside the once hollow suit and claiming it as her own.

"Sorry to drop in."

"What are you doing?" Al shouted, startled out of his mind, "This feels weird!"

"Trust me kid, it feels weirder in my position."

"You two don't even know what you're saying. I'm personally weirded out the most just watching your exchange here," Zeal sighed, shrugging her shoulders.

In the meantime, Dolcetto carefully crept at Martel/Alphonse's feet to retrieve his sword, and then pawed his way to the unconscious Bido in attempt to slap him awake.

Only one thought occupied Alphonse's troubled mind.

What a bunch of freaks!

...

"What do you mean you don't know?" Came the assertive, and surprisingly not so excited voice of Zeal.

"R-really!" Al waved his hands before him, as if trying to generate some sort of shield between himself and the spiteful aura of Zeal. "My brother did all of the work…so I can't help you. But if you really do want to know how to soul bind, you'd have to ask him yourself…"

Zeal leaned forward towards Alphonse, her gritted, frustrated teeth lowering into a long scowl. Great. Just great. She thought they'd finally found the answer to all of their problems, yet the key they thought would fill the slot just wouldn't fit well enough.

Zeal, along with Roa, Martel, Dolcetto, and newly awakened Bido sighed and uttered some complaints. Dolcetto even said something that was present in all of their minds, "The boss isn't going to be too happy about this…"

"Oh, yeah, shark boy. Where is he, anyway?" Zeal inquired to the crowd behind her, just wanting to set aside her depression for something amusing.

"He should be coming soon…" Roa, the cow human chimera replied. "He said he had some things to do, but I'll be honest, I don't want to see the poor guy who has to meet his wrath once he finds out we've met another dead end."

Zeal smirked, "Greed's Greed, not Wrath. Whoever Wrath is, anyway." The slit's in her gray eyes followed back to Alphonse, to whom she began flicking her fingers against, "So, anyway. This big brother of yours…is he that short blonde kid I saw at the meat market the other day? Edward, I think his name was."

"Exactly. Though I don't think he'd appreciate it if you call him short."

Zeal blew a raspberry before holding back more laughter, "Heh, what's a midget like him ever going to do to me? Just what heights can he reach for?"

"I'm serious. Ed wouldn't hesitate to hurt you if you tease him about his height. He doesn't let anyone get away with calling him short."

The expression on the homunculus' face immediately went deadpan, "…So…I'm guessing you're the more mature of the both of you, then."

"I wouldn't say that either! No wonder brother didn't trust you when we first met!"

Lips pursed, Zeal childishly replied, "Aww, really? But what isn't there to love about me? You see, I'm a very dependable person…you can confide in me to get any job done. I won't deny anything. That's just how I am: Zeal."

Zeal's hand outstretched towards Alphonse's helmet, fiddling with his spiked under jaw and moving it upwards then downwards and back again.

"Especially not to deliciously innocent children like you," she smiled, and any naïve child would say Zeal looked almost like a beautiful, doting mother; until she slapped the iron jaw away and pulled herself away from Al's seated figure, yawning, "…You know, just so long as I get benefits from the trade…"

She earned stares from the human chimera from the room (Save for Martel, whom she was unsure could actually see through Alphonse), until the sounds of someone clapping gathered all of their attention.

His entrance seemed like the high point of everyone's day. Except for Zeal's. And his first comments didn't help any.

"Oh, really? Then you won't mind leaving for a second while I tend to our little guest here." The homunculus Greed purred, obviously directed at Zeal as he traipsed his way through, wearing those annoying shades of his.

Zeal grimaced as Greed pushed his way through all of them, kneeling in front of Alphonse and making the act of removing his helmet his first order of business. A whistle escaped Greed's lips once he confirmed there truly was none other than Martel within the child.

"Why should I leave? He's obviously come for me and not you."

"That wasn't an exchange I've agreed to. And from what I've heard, you're no longer needed here; the person we need is this kid's brother, and he doesn't seem to like you. And we can't be having that, now can we?" Greed grinned at Zeal, challenging her heated figure to retort whilst removing his round shades from his purple eyes.

The female homunculus' fists clenched. She felt them loosen within seconds. If her presence truly did instigate this blonde-haired midget, then it would hurt both she and Greed's chances at learning the secret to soul binding. And she truly could not 'be having that'.

Zeal sighed, face palming before subtly obliging to Greed, "Whatever. Just don't screw anything up."

The spiky-haired male homunculus, as well as Alphonse and the human chimera observed Zeal as she hastily and almost angrily made her way towards an exit. They were all anticipating the usual witty comments she would direct at Greed before her every leave.

"…Since I wouldn't be the only one who wouldn't forgive you if this soul binding thing were to mess up."

Whoops. Not witty. More like serious.

Greed stuttered, understanding faintly who Zeal was referring to, "R-right. Yeah. Don't worry, I don't mess up very easily."

.

.

.

Wrapping her arms around herself, the brunette appeared to shrivel within that black blazer she wore. Colorless eyes stared forward, watching puddles begin to form on the streets around her and observing her own distinct breath as she breathed. It was getting colder, which meant rain was destined to spew.

The certainty of such gloomy weather became clear once a dress shoe splashed into a still-forming puddle. Zeal grimaced, studying the damp heel of her shoe as she reprimanded herself for being so inattentive.

Need a hug?

"…As if you'd be the one to give it to me."

Would you prefer one from Greed, then?

A single chuckle escaped Zeal's lips. She cradled her arms against her chest while walking out on the emptied streets alone. Yes, rain would come, and no one in Dublith desired to get wet. Not a one besides this homunculus, of course.

"You don't understand. The only person I'd accept a hug from is myself. And stop attempting to tease me; I simply loathe Greed. Don't trouble my shaky relationship with him with some bashful form of affection." Despite her harsh words, the homunculus was shaking from the cold.

Zeal, you've been walking around for hours, now. You look lost.

"Do I? The fog impeding my vision a hint for you?"

Ha, I mean internally. You know you can't hide your innermost feelings from me.

Zeal bit her tongue again, secretly hoping that Catalena could feel her tongue being bitten down on too, "…Well, since it appears I can't hide anything from you, you might as well know."

I'm all ears.

"…If I really do get my own body in the end, what am I going to do? For the entire month I've lived, I've lived with you and Greed's gang. There isn't anything else I know how."

I think I can sympathize with you. So you don't have anything in mind at all? Why not join the military?

"You must be joking! Joining the military is the last thing I'd ever do!" Zeal laughed. All the while, she despised the humidity that was beginning to set in, "…I've been thinking about finding these other homunculi. I think whatever their cause is, is my own rightful place."

Though she waited eagerly for some form of reply that would appease her, there came none, and Zeal continually grew distance between her and the Devil's Nest. The more time she ate up with this thoughtful walking, the more easier it seemed to wait anxiously for her new body.

"…"

Hey, Zeal. Don't you think it's about time we get back to the Devil's Nest? It's been a few hours.

Hesitating, the homunculus stopped, bearing witness to the fog all around her begin to waft away. "…Uh…"

Beside her, on the seemingly empty road, erupted a sound of several engines spurring towards her general direction. The sound grew louder and louder, until finally Zeal and Catalena watched helplessly as a chain of State Military passenger vehicles sped past them.

Zeal jerked forward, trying to discern any sign of movements belonging to those vehicles. The setting of the thick fog didn't help any.

"Shit. Was it just me or did those State Military dog carriers look like they were in a hurry?" Forming a canopy over her forehead, Zeal gazed into the far distance.

…Are you…you're just kidding, right? You're not thinking what I'm dreading…right?

A hand slipped into her black blazer, the cottony surface cold from the current temperature. Within one of her pockets, Zeal felt a hard, smooth surface against her fingers. As if she could immediately feel some sort of power upon touching the stone, Zeal licked her lips, anxious.

"You know what one thing I've never been able to try out yet is, Cat?"

…What's that?

The only response would be a poorly hidden laugh on account of Zeal.

Any bystander would automatically assume the short-haired woman whom had the most vile, sadistic and spiteful looking expression on a normally attractive face would be one to avoid. In her defense, no one could understand the act she was about to conduct was one to be very excited about.

.

.

.

I can't believe I'm doing this.

I can't believe this…?

Why? Why me?

What did I ever…

"Sergeant Major Cain Ashford?"

Standing behind the tall and senior figure of the Führer, Cain could not help but eye his quadruplet of swords strapped at the elder's waist.

There would be no interrogation, here.

But what could he do? Jeopardizing his own safety wouldn't help those he couldn't already save. It was too late, and whether or not it was Cain's fault the gang's security became thwarted, there wasn't anything he could do.

"…Sir?"

A small pupil focused on the younger man, who deemed himself so noticeably pitiful. If Bradley could see this, he wouldn't care. The older man smiled, ignorant, "Why don't you take the lead? I'm sure you know this place better than any other." Bradley's small, distinct black pupils' message was easily read.

They know.

With those words, the greatest pain Cain had ever felt engulfed him.

His usually bright, hazel eyes became devoid of any form of positive compassion. Cain solemnly obeyed the Führer's command, gripping a pistol in his left hand before cautiously and almost lifelessly making his way to the pub's entrance.

The sole of his combat boot struck down the entry door, the horde of military men behind him filing through as soon as he signaled it clear. With the Führer entering first, and then a sparkly, hulking blonde man, the blue dogs of the military paraded through—as if he were any different.

The pain he felt spiking through him with each step as he followed his squad mates and others grew intensely.

Though it wasn't fear that was Cain's current pain.

It was betrayal.

.

.

.

"Well, shit. You think the blonde kid called them or something?" Zeal muttered indignantly as she crept along some bushes, observing the two State Military officers guard the Devil's Nest entry door.

A good inquisition, but both Catalena and Zeal didn't care much for the details. The only thing that mattered is that there were enemies in the Devil's Nest, and as two partners-in-crime: the easily excitable abomination and the quick-witted information broker, there was said enough to be shot on sight.

So when the two of them walked into the pub, there wouldn't be a problem for Zeal to demonstrate some alchemical prowess, now would there?

Just deal with it. Find Greed and whoever else. I don't care who dies as long as it's not them.

Zeal fingered the glittering red stone in the palm of her hand, smirking eerily. "Well now…I don't need your permission to deal with such a menial task." Emerging from the foliage, the woman fitted her hands within her pockets while wearing the most devious smirk. Slowly, she closed in on the two guards. "Especially not one as fun as this one."

One of the State Military noticed the woman nonchalantly approaching them and gripped the barrel of his rifle threateningly, "Stay back! This area is off limits to civilians."

An unsettling feeling arose in each of the men as they gathered their weapons, aiming it at the dangerously close lone woman. She didn't acknowledge their presence; she didn't even look at them, instead her gaze remained so intently fixated on the missing doorframe.

"H-hey wait-! Don't get any closer!"

"…"

And the last thing they'd ever see again—what they would remember, were those stormy gray eyes that failed to return the favor. That, and the gory mess of blood and innards that stained the pavement once the red energy subsided, and the two officers found themselves impaled by spikes that mysteriously emerged from the ground.

Zeal stepped over the bodies, and as she entered the building, became quite relieved once the sounds of rain hitting a rickety roof commenced. Looking down at her feet, she noticed the newly poured rain wash the blood of the recently slain men drain down the Devil's Nest hallway.

"Ech," she spat, hopping over the rivers of reddish rain streaming through the pub hallway.

Beautiful.

Catalena's sarcasm amused the female homunculus. Said woman began patrolling the hallway, ready to create a shield of rock using her alchemical powers whenever someone dared point a gun at her. "Great minds think alike. That was pretty exciting; would you like to give a try?"

If you mean to hand me temporary control of my body just to kill someone, then no. I'll leave the dirty work to you.

Zeal grumbled, disappointed at Catalena's dullness, "Well you're even more mood-killing than usual. Something's on your nerves, am I right?"

Taking her sweet time as she traipsed through that same hallway, Zeal noticed bullet holes all around the walls, as well as some splatters of blood here and there. Zeal stopped in her tracks once she noticed a very mutilated inhuman body sitting with its head hung low and its back against the bloody wall.

That of which resembled a crocodile.

Forgetting about the late reply of Catalena, Zeal crouched in front of the dead human chimera, confirming her suspicious true "…Looks like they're not taking any prisoners. This guy got shot up good."

That's…really what I'm worried about, Zeal. In fact, this whole reality is overwhelming to me. I can't stomach the idea of Greed, or anyone else being gone.

Zeal stood erect, heaving a sigh. More noise came from some other part of the pub, and it alarmed the homunculus. "…I understand. Before you lose your mind, I'll try to find your boyfriend."

Actually, Zeal didn't understand. She didn't see why Catalena should feel bad over someone's death. She just couldn't understand humans at all. Though she couldn't compute the emotions, she felt it. The whole thing about Zeal feeling whatever Catalena felt? True, on all accounts.

And what she was enduring—worry—wasn't a very excitable feeling.

.

.

.

"No! I…won't…go!"

"Be a good boy and stop resisting, kid! STOP. RESISTING! Go this way!"

"Nooooo! I wanna see brother!"

Martel stopped struggling, feeling empathetic towards the child. She heaved a sigh before stretching she and Al's limbs towards her desired general direction again, "Look, kid, chances are, your brother's a heaping pile of meat after going up against Greed. He—"

The echo of footsteps intruding towards them made both Martel and Alphonse lose their breaths. Though Martel was relieved once she noticed Greed walking along the sewer line, noticing the both of them, came over, "Martel. Kid."

At the sound of his voice, Martel lifted off Alphonse's helmet to meet Greed's signature grin, "Greed! What happened? Where's all that noise coming from? Did you beat the information out of the boy?"

Martel's mention of Edward Elric caused Greed's grin to disappear, and he nervously rubbed the back of his neck, slowly replying in a low, defeated tone, "Yeah…well, no actually. The situation itself went out of hand." The male homunculus glanced behind him, "…Speaking of dire situations, we should really try getting out of here."

"What? Why?"

"W-what happened to my brother? What did you do?" Alphonse cried out to Greed, who showed no sign of sympathy at all.

"Look kid, your brother's gonna be fine. It's us that's in trouble. We should really be getting out of here..."

Greed's lips parted to speak more, only to be impeded by another voice.

"Whew. So much time has passed but it looks like I've finally found you." A figure bearing twin swords in each hand while wearing Amestrian military regalia spoke to Greed.

Martel quickly slipped back into the suit of armor while Greed greeted their new guest, looking as unimpressed as always, "What the hell? How'd you get in here, old man?"

"That's Führer Bradley!" Martel spoke low, low enough for Greed to hear.

Glancing from the corner of his eyes to Martel and then back at the "Führer", Greed repeated after her, "The Führer…is this old man?" Greed then smirked, holding out one of his palms in front of him, "The way he's holding those weapons of his, I don't think he's here for a drink or anything…what is it you want, old man?"

Bradley only smiled, the only visible eye of his shut in false benevolence. Once he rested only a few feet away from Greed and the suit of armor, he replied, almost casually and light-heartedly, "Like I mentioned before, I've been hunting you down for quite a while now, Greed." The former's brows furrowed.

"…" Greed slowly gestured towards Martel to get away from there, and the suit of armor tried its best to quietly crawl away. At least, to a safe distance, and that was only due to Alphonse's own struggle. Martel didn't smile too much about leaving Greed behind.

"Just as you suspected, you won't be leaving here conscious today, and I'm going to be the one to ensure that."

"…How do you know who I am?"

Completely remaining ignorant of Greed's questions, Bradley continued, "I'm just an old man, though. What could someone like me ever do to overpower someone as young and lively as you?"

Greed was finally becoming peeved at the authority figure's presence, and a black substance started to cover his hand. "Retire, old man—"

Feeling of his right hand suddenly disappeared. Greed absent-mindedly glanced at said limb to question it—rather, where his hand should have been. Realizing his hand had been sliced clean off; Greed's feet staggered backwards only a few inches before Bradley closed in again.

"Tsk!"

Bearing his two swords, Bradley swung at Greed, whom was still regenerating his right hand, desperately used his already shielded left hand to deflect his enemy's sword strokes. He succeeded in repelling him for a few seconds, before Bradley came too close and seemed even faster than Greed himself.

They both swung, Bradley with one of his blades and Greed with his newly regenerated right claw. The two hard surfaces collided with one another, and as Bradley's sword nicked Greed's shoulder, Greed's protruding claws struck the older man's face.

Then the two men broke away from each other; Greed trying to put as much distance as possible as his wounds healed again, "Shit. You're fast…for an old guy. I can't even get my Ultimate Shield to form fast enough…" Glaring purple daggers at his opponent, Greed scowled.

But his anger would soon be replaced with awe once he realized just where he hit the old man.

Inhuman speed, strength, finesse…and a familiar tattoo that Greed himself had stamped on his left eye.

Crap.

Greed backed up even more at the realization. Unfortunately for him, Bradley immediately picked up his pace, already appearing right before the younger-looking homunculus' eyes, "First glances brands me an old man, and I would have no chance against someone like you, but things are different with us homunculi, correct?"

"Damn it—!"

Greed uttered a cry of pain as his attempts to fight back the Führer were easily overpowered, and Bradley was able to slice his torso again. Holding his bleeding chest and standing feet away from Bradley after the struggle, he could only glare helplessly at him.

"Just as you have the Ultimate Shield, I have the Ultimate Eye. That of which reveals your weaknesses for me."

"Bastard…"

"So, Greed…what do you think? How many times am I going to have to kill you before you stay dead?"

.

.

.

Something felt wrong. Besides bearing witness to Zeal's mindless acts of killing any intruding Amestrian soldiers she could, just as suddenly as the military came, so had this sick feeling.

Zeal, realizing this, stepped over bodies she had crushed using a shield wall sort of object. Using the power of the Philosopher's Stone, Zeal created a slab of cement that filled the entire space of the Devil's Nest hallway perimeter, perfectly protecting the homunculus from any gunfire.

"Huh…Cat? You're feeling all weird again. Would you stop that?"

…Something's…not right.

"What do you mean? You know, besides the whole, 'oh, the Devil's Nest is getting attacked' ordeal?" Zeal joked, her shield wall crumbling into the ground below her.

It's just a sickly feeling. I don't understand it either. Continue on.

Zeal waited for that annoying voice in her head to speak again. After being accompanied by only silence (Despite the occasional racket of gunfire in another room), she smirked to herself, "Well…since nothing's bothering you, I'll get back to the killing."

So the homunculus did continue on, stepping over the occasional human chimera body and using an extent of her extra Philosopher's Stone to easily cut short a few Amestrian soldier lives. It was only until it seemed Zeal's chain of endless kills and record of remaining unscathed ended by some lucky bullet had her excitement smoldered.

Judging from the sudden pain in her shoulder, as the bullet wound regenerated, Zeal slowly craned her neck to spot the dead man who had just dared to shoot her. Colorless eyes widened to their respective heights once the visage of the man deemed familiar to both women.

Cain…

Zeal jerked backwards, facing the male as he pointed a recently fired gun in her direction. Though the wound had already healed and she felt fine, a face of sheer hatred would be distinguished from the homunculus' face.

"Your little boy toy? What the hell is he doing here?" A thought suddenly hit Zeal, and she grinned, "Hey…do you think he's the one who led the military here?"

I don't think…he wouldn't…no. No way in hell is that possible.

A face completely devoid of emotion welcomed them, and a voice whose tone was the opposite of compassion accompanied the look, "Zeal. Catalena."

Ask him what's happening, Zeal, please!

Respecting the wishes of the owner of the body, Zeal obliged, "…So kid, would you mind enlightening the two of us why the officials are here to gun us all down? Oh, and would you mind telling me why you had the nerve to ruin my clothing?"

Cain lowered the hand that held his pistol, "…I shot you because I thought it would knock you out of that killing trance I've watched you become acquainted with the last six men."

Placing a foot forward to steady himself, Cain gestured towards his chest,

"Catalena, if you can hear me, please believe me when I say I didn't directly tell the Führer about this place!"

Had the both of them had their own bodies, two eyebrows would be raised at that moment. Though Zeal spoke for both their minds, "…Directly? What do you mean?"

"When I got to my military post, there the Führer was…he didn't question me about anythinghe just ordered me to accompany him to this place. I didn't know where we were headed for until we actually arrived here." The way his formerly soulless tone dissipated into a cracked voice, the two women sympathized with him, "…and when I say I didn't directly affect all of this, when Greed and I rummaged through classified files, it's possible I was found out…"

Cain awaited any sign of forgiveness or salvation, yet neither Zeal nor Catalena would grant him that. Zeal stared at the bloodied ground, muttering, "…Well…what do you think?"

…I can't…comprehend anything anymore. I just want to know if Greed's all right or not. Honestly, it doesn't matter to me if Cain is telling the truth or not. There isn't anything that can reverse that anymore.

"…Please don't think I'm betraying you…I wouldn't ever do that. I've watched over you since we were kids, Catalena…or at least tried to."

The emotionless slit eyes of Zeal scrutinized Cain carefully.

Just get us away from here. From him. I'll deal with him later, once I get my body back.

Stepping away from Cain, Zeal smirked as she replied, "Heh. Glad you're being optimistic about getting your body back, Cat."

"So she can hear me, right?"

As if contemplating whether or not it would be fine with Catalena in speaking to the male, Zeal hesitated before answering him, "…Yeah, what of it?"

"…She must be worried about Greed, then."

Zeal purred, gratifying Cain, "You know her too well. Yeah, she's pretty skeptical on the whole Greed-is-dead thing. Do you know where his body is? Or, if he actually is alive, where he's hiding?"

"…Do you know where the sewer pipelines are, Zeal?"

"…Sewers, sewers…hm, I think I do. I'm guessing Greed's ingenuity told him to escape through there?"

Turning his back on the homunculus, there was a delayed reply on Cain's part, "…He might be in trouble. I know from the determined look on the Führer's face that he was looking for him. I don't know how experienced our Führer is, but if I were you, I'd worry about Greed."

Zeal expected Catalena to tell her to thank Cain. There was no sign of response. Zeal rubbed the back of her neck, stuttering as she stumbled for a reply of appreciation, "W-well…thanks. I guess we won't be seeing each other for a while now."

"Seconded."

Glancing over her shoulder to steal one more look at Cain's back as she faced the opposite direction, Zeal added, "Later, then."

The faint, familiar emotion of some form of remorse grew inside of the morally hollow homunculus, causing Zeal to hold her head with one hand as a headache ensued.

Catalena's emotions were slowly spiraling out of control…

…and Zeal didn't like it.

.

.

.

.

.

.


[1]Holy Mother, I think Rose was one. It's some sort of religious figure or something.

A/N: Listening to Wang Yi's theme: Teary Edge. So the feel of this chapter came solely from this touching, epic theme song, AND I think would definitely fit the feeling for the end of it. Hell, the whole song fits this chapter, save for some of the comical relief.

WHAT? THERE WAS COMICAL RELIEF IN THIS CHAPTER?

…Um…yeah. YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND MY HUMOR?

Anyway. Sure, you can listen to it if you want. There's no singing or anything, but I…just…love it. SO TOUCHING. Look for girl who looks like Lightning on youtube, black hair, shiny sparks, etc

Yeah, the game she's from isn't necessarily recommended…though I love some of its characters. Wanna see one? I think my profile pic has my second favorite.

This concluding author's note is very long. But I really would love to thank you all for reviewing—those of you who have reviewed most of my chapters, I freaking less than three you.

Though anyone who reviewed at all, I'll love you forever, and I won't care if you reject me! /derp

And to end this update, I believe Jayfish asked me a question about Zeal. Well, at first I was like, "Zeal's got a real flamboyant personality, so why not make it an it?" Besides, too many female OCs get annoying to even the writer. Regardless, I couldn't help myself and a little Zeal x Greed flare makes the story just a little more fun for the writer and the readers. So now Zeal is female.

Murder you? I think Zeal would actually be interested in you. At least, anyone who has the guts to actually ask her that type of question is worth speaking to in her book.

At least for a while, before Zeal drags you into a nearby alleyway and does whatever her colorful mind desires. Don't feel scared! Maybe she just wants to party…or stab you. Whatever. Never can tell what goes on in her head.

Sorry this chapter is so long (IT WOULD HAVE BEEN LONGER, but I thought enough is enough. I really wanted to get to the part when…well…I can't tell you). I sincerely apologize. It's just…the episode this is from deserves a lengthy chapter, don't you agree? Too bad I had to cut it short.

Any other questions shall be left in a review.