The 8th Sin
-The Scent of Betrayal-
Sorry for the late uploading. I had some problems connecting to the Net.
Okay people! There are guest star appearances coming all the way from another fanfiction titled "The Storm Front Alchemist" by lightningstrxu!
I had to do this because I'd borrowed Jonathan Winrain from the aforementioned author and you all may want to read his story. It's good. There will be some explanations, if I can cramp it all in as I don't write with a plan. I just make everything up as I go.
Also, there are some pretty interesting stuff coming up in the next few chapters. Stay tuned everyone!
Apology to lightningstrxu: about the geranium thing in the previous chapter... Sorry about that. T.T I'm REALLY sorry! I had to do that to make the scene more... 'Dynamic', if you like. : P Please forgive Teresa, too. I promise it won't be repeated.
Please read and review!
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-DUBLITH-
Greed woke up later in the early evenings with a splitting headache. It felt as if he was having a hangover, but he was pretty sure he hadn't been drinking. In fact, he was feeling rather... heavy? He could barely sit up without feeling the world revolve at a much higher speed than it actually was and he could have sworn he was seeing doubles of everything.
"Damn... This can't be happening..." he muttered to himself as he fell back down heavily onto the bed, the impact of the light fall making his head feel even worse than it already was. He never knew this could happen to a homunculus; or rather this shouldn't happen to a homunculus;
He was coming down with a fever.
A string of curses followed closely after that as he rolled over in bed in an attempt to ease the painful throbbing but to no avail. Someone opened the door and Greed only had to guess who it was. He got it right on the first guess.
"Greed, are you alright?" Freesia came over to him and sat down next to him on her bed, turning him over so he'd face her.
"I'm fine... Go away," he mumbled, gently pushing her away from him. She refused to budge. Reaching out, her cool fingers pressed against his warm forehead and it felt good. Of course, that feeling had to go and Freesia frowned at him,
"'I'm fine', huh? Well I'll be darned if your temperature doesn't reach at least 50 degrees Celsius! You look like you've been roasted over a spit," she said sternly and left the room in a hurry. Greed sighed, there she goes again... Being stubborn. Now she really reminded him of a homunculus; himself.
Freesia came back into the room not long after that with a handful of random items which included a small basin of water balanced atop her head, a few extra blankets under one arm, a first aid kit and a few bottles of medicine in the other, a small towel in between her lips and a slightly larger towel over one shoulder.
She managed to dump all the stuff without spilling or breaking anything and pulled out a thermometer from the first aid kit. Greed rolled his eyes skywards and was going to protest about having his temperature taken but before he could do so, Freesia stuck the object into his mouth anyway, rewarding her with an exasperated sigh from her patient.
"Get over it, Greed. Homunculus or no, it doesn't appear that once our antibodies are attacked, it would recover faster. In fact, I think our antibodies actually heal slower than normal humans do. You know equivalent exchange? Our physical wounds get healed at an impossible rate and our antibodies at a sluggish pace," Greed muttered something under his breath that Freesia didn't get to hear but she shrugged it off later and took the thermometer out of Greed's mouth a few minutes later.
One look at her face and the greedy homunculus knew what she was going to say. The frown and the shifting of her gaze from the thermometer to him made him roll over and cover his face with the pillow, "Looks like someone's gonna be bed-ridden for a few days," she said teasingly and yanked her sheets from under the heavier man with such force and speed that the man on her bed didn't even notice the disappearance of the piece of fabric.
She replaced the thin blanket with a thick duvet and placed another thin blanket on top. At this point, Greed managed to mumble through the sheets, "Do tell me you're not roasting me further. It feels like the oven in here."
Freesia laughed and squeezed out some excess water from the towel she held in her hands and placing the damp cloth on Greed's forehead. He shot her a quizzical look, wondering what the wet cloth would do to make him feel better. As a matter of fact, it made him feel uncomfortable. She smiled, "It's to help lower your temperature, if you're asking."
Her patient chuckled, "I WAS going to ask you that."
"I see..." Freesia said absent-mindedly and groaned when her mother called her from downstairs. She stood up and pulled out a rib-length denim jacket from her closet, slipping it on easily and said, "Mom wants me to go out and grab some groceries for a minute. Think you can avoid leaving the bed while I'm gone?"
Greed shrugged, "Does it look like I'm capable of that?"
His companion smiled at him, "Anything's possible once you're a homunculus," she said with a lilt of glee. She touched the blanket on top of Greed and her hand melted into the fabric. A flash of light blinded the two temporarily and once it subsided, Greed was tied down with a very durable net which to his surprise, didn't allow much space for him to move. The best he could do was wriggle. And that was it. On Freesia's part, her hand had somehow removed itself from the blanket.
"Dad taught me how to use alchemy," she said with a happy smile on her face, marveling her work.
Greed shot her a look of shock, "How...?"
"I thought everyone could use alchemy."
"Not us homunculi, we can't."
"And who says so?"
"Heh, I'm surprised. If you've seen books on homunculi, you'll know why."
Silence hung between the two for a moment before Freesia let out a sigh, "Anyway, I do know that homunculi aren't able to use alchemy. We lack a soul, don't we? But for some reason, I can do all those things humans can. I try not to think too much about it and this is just how I've been living. I'm a really confused person right now, that much I can tell you. I just need someone who can give me answers right now..." she fell silent after that and looked at her companion with a smile, "Don't mind me, I don't think I'm making any sense right now. Anyway, I'll be back in a jiffy, so be a good boy and stay in bed, okay? Muah!" she had leant over, hugged the muscular homunculus the best she could and kissed him teasingly on the temple before bouncing off towards the living room.
She expected him to say something to her from the room, but surprisingly, he didn't. Oh well, it's not everyday that you get to see Greed keep quiet. Inside the bedroom, Greed looked at the closed door with a distant look on his face and smiled to himself, feeling a bit warm and fuzzy inside before he slowly nodded off again.
While Freesia was out, she was surprised at how much grocery she needed to shop for and before long wasn't able to see whatever was in front of her due to the large bags of food her mother had asked her to buy. Not surprisingly, she fell over, knocked over by something small. She sat up with a start, kind of afraid that it might have been a chimera or something but was surprised to see a little boy with long, dark hair and an odd taste in fashion sitting right across of her, clutching his forehead and the back of his head simultaneously.
"Oww... Hey, are you alright?" she asked, picking up some nearby stuff that she could reach. A familiar feeling swept past her for a split second when the boy looked at her. They had the same violet eyes, "Look, you bumped into me first, so I'm expecting an apology from you."
The boy didn't look like he was listening. Instead, he looked around behind her and pouted when the mouse he was chasing had scurried out of sight, "You made my mouse run away!" he cried angrily, pointing an accusing finger at her.
Freesia blinked a couple of times at this, "Excuse me? I made your mouse run away? Who was the one who bowled me over then?" she shot back, earning a moment of silence from the little boy in front of her.
Finally, he spluttered out, "I don't care! You made my mouse run away!" people were crowding around them now, and Freesia didn't like that one bit. In quick succession, she picked up all the bags with one arm and dragged her little problem along with her by the ear, towards her house. They both stopped in front of the door, where the little imp had slapped her hand painfully to dislodge her powerful fingers from his little ear.
"Ow! What's your problem, kid? You bump into me, spoil some of my food and then accuse me of letting your pet mouse loose! Why are you chasing a mouse, anyway?" she cried in a near-hysterical tone. This was just too darned annoying. The little boy she'd dragged all the way here looked up at her angrily, but tears were forming in those large purple orbs. Oh, no... Oh, dear God no...
But it did happen. He started crying and scared the daylights out of Freesia. She quickly bent over and picked the boy up, hugging him and shushing him the best she could, as if she were handling a toddler. This went on for some time until Freesia felt that it would be safer if she took him inside. She turned the door knob once and...
Found out it was locked. Oh, right... both her parents must be out again... And Greed's upstairs, immobilized. What a day...
"Hey kid, you hungry?" she asked, fishing a packet of biscuits from one of her shopping bags. The boy, who had now quieted down made a grab for the bag, but Freesia swiftly slapped his hand away, making it retreat as if it were on fire, back to its owner, "The least you could do was say you're hungry. Where's your mother, anyway?"
He shrugged, 'Oh, trying to be difficult, huh? Smart-ass...' Freesia thought to herself and opened the bag, popping a bite-sized biscuit into her mouth, "It doesn't sound nice for me to just call you 'kid' all day. You have a name?" she asked, now feeling nice enough to offer the kid some biscuits.
The boy cautiously took a few into his small hands, which Freesia noticed that one of his arms and legs were slightly larger than the other and that they were more tanned than himself. He munched on one of them before saying, "They call me Wrath."
Freesia froze. The bag of cookies threatened to fall out of her grip.
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-CENTRAL-
Teresa looked at John leave. She wasn't very sure if what she just told him was going to make him drop out of the homunculus business, but she was very sure he was going to do something dangerous. Knowing him, he'd pull off something alright... If what he said about the chimera Shou Tucker had made with his blood was true, then she had a lot to do in order to keep herself safe. A little girl stepped out of the back room and frowned at her,
"You talk too much."
Teresa smiled, "Wasn't I supposed to? You Auntie Lust did mention that I should shake him off those two. She also told me that way, it would make it easier for you to get to him. Isn't that what you want, Mia? Or should I call you Betrayal?" the lady asked with a giggle, ruffling the girl's hair slightly and causing the girl to frown at the elder woman.
She slapped the alchemist's hand off of her head harshly and said, "Whoever said you could touch me or call me by that name? Don't forget that I can just kill you right here, right now."
The Venom Alchemist rubbed her arm where the homunculus had slapped her and smiled weakly, "Yes, I know. I'm sorry."
"My, my, I can't leave you alone with her, can I Teresa?" asked a smooth voice from the doorway of the flower shop. Lust stepped into the room with Gluttony tagging along close behind her and Teresa frowned. Lust, she could talk to but Gluttony just wouldn't listen to her when she asked him not to wolf down her precious flowers.
"I did as I was told. His reactions are as usual, unpredictable. Even through my years of mediating, I just can't put a finger at what he plans to do. Before you ask, he didn't mention any places. In this case, I suggest planting a mole to keep an eye on him."
Lust tapped her chin thoughtfully, "Alright then. What say you do it then? Betrayal can go with you."
"What! I don't wanna go with her! She's no fun!" Betrayal cried, on the verge of throwing a tantrum.
Before things went any worse, Teresa cut in, "I think it's best if you find someone else. I need a break."
"Are you saying that you refuse to work with us?" Lust asked, her voice full of malice.
Teresa smiled slyly and shook her head, "Why would I? Without you people, I'd die of boredom... Besides, I'm wondering how I can live like a homunculus without having to go through death first."
Lust eyed the alchemist skeptically, "You're seeking eternal life, you mean?"
The florist nodded, "All in a life's work. My father left my mother, mother died after getting to close to the truth and my two brothers died during their research."
"Ever tried human transmutation?"
Teresa laughed, "I wouldn't dream of doing that. I'm better off alone, without any relatives. So, if you need me, you know where to find me. I'm closing the shop down for the day," she said mildly, packing up her things and leaving through the door, not forgetting to pat Gluttony on the head for not eating her flowers. (That's a first! O.o)
"Auntie Lust, I hate her," Betrayal said sharply, crossing her small arms over her chest.
Lust merely smiled, "She's still of use to us, Betrayal. We can't just let her slip away now..."
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-CENTRAL, RIN'S RESIDENCE-
Jonathan stepped into the house and was greeted with the sight of Marcus munching on a toothpick for no apparent reason and staring off into space while the nearby bathroom sounded as if the water tap was broken. The water was coming out in torrents and he was going to go turn the tap off when he heard someone muttering nonsense from inside the small room.
"Your sister in there?" he asked the little chimera, who just nodded absent-mindedly and scribbled something down on a nearby piece of paper. He held it up for John to read and the alchemist merely used his automail eye to zoom in the writing so he could see it.
"She's been in there for an hour or so," Melody's younger sibling sighed and put the paper down when John was done and at that point, John asked again,
"Did you try dragging her out?"
"Tried. The door wouldn't budge. Why don't you try?" came the scribbled reply.
John scratched the back of his head and turned around to face the door. Holding one hand out, he knocked on it and he was answered with a half-shriek, "For the last time, Marcus, GO AWAY!"
Marcus squeaked something loudly from behind the alchemist and the door swung open to reveal Melody with a very red pair of eyes and looking as if she just went through a tornado, "Oh, it's you. Sorry Marcus. What is it? Did you find them?"
The raven-haired alchemist raised an eyebrow at her, "What happened to you?"
"That's not important. Did you find them?" Melody snapped, dabbing her eyes once more with her handkerchief.
John nodded, "A source told me they were headed to Dublith. You're going to check it out?"
Melody shrugged, "Not sure. What about you? Since you know where they are, why don't you go instead?"
"That's easy. I'm not going to get on with this little investigation. I mean, those two didn't have anything to do with me so why should I care? I've got other better things to do than chase two troublemakers all around the globe. Since you know now, why don't you go tell Rin about it? I bet he'd do something."
"John, wait! Why are you suddenly changing your mind about this? Weren't you going to help us?"
"As I said, I have better things to do. I've got other problems myself, alright? If you've been reading the papers, you'd probably understand, if you know which article to read," with that said John left the house and disappeared as he hailed a cab.
Melody looked on worriedly. Things weren't going very smoothly and having that knowledge; she picked Marcus up off the couch by the arm and went to go back to the hospital to inform Rin.
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Rin took the news quite well, especially about the part where John decided to drop out of the homunculus business. In fact, he looked rather glad that John decided to quit. However, though Rin knows of their whereabouts now, he was still in no shape to be going out 'adventuring'. It would take him around a week or two to recover completely, and he doubted the two homunculi to stay put.
Melody was wondering why he was so intent on getting the two back and the blush on Rin's face nearly told it all, "I don't care what happens to that other homunculus. I just want Freesia to be safe, that's all..."
"But she's in her hometown now. No need to worry about her, right?"
The winged man looked at her quizzically, "...Melody, why do you dislike her so much?"
This made the red-headed alchemist snap, "Why? Maybe it's because she took away the only man I'd ever love!"
Rin froze for a minute, "Melody..."
"Rin, just tell me this; who do you like better, a living human being like me who'd love you with my very soul and would readily throw away what remaining life I have to save yours, or would you rather a soulless being like her? She doesn't love you like I do, Rin!"
Her companion looked at her sympathetically now and looked straight ahead at the white ceiling above him. A low chuckle escaped the back of Melody's throat as she shook her head slowly, "I should have known... You'd prefer her, wouldn't you? That sure cleared up my doubts..." she then turned around and strode to the door. Rin turned his head to look at her and called,
"Melody, I'm sorry."
She looked at him over her shoulder one last time, giving him the warmest smile she could muster, one last time; to the man she'd fallen for and ended up getting dumped for loving, "There's no need. The damage has been done."
Rin looked at her guiltily and she continued, opening the door, "I'll grant you your last request though. I'll try my best to retrieve the two homunculi. Expect me in about a few weeks' time," she said firmly and motioned Marcus to come with her before the winged alchemist was now left alone in his silent ward.
Once outside, Melody sighed. She threw her head back and looked up at the vermillion sky, which was steadily growing darker and closed her eyes as a breeze blew past her. She was sorely disappointed by Rin's decision, but there was no way she would be able to change it. Then, her mind drifted off to her job. The next train to Dublith was in a few hours' time, if her memory served her well enough in memorizing the train schedules.
She opened her eyes and nearly shrieked at the cocky, smiling face which hovered just a few inches away from her own, emerald green against pinkish-violet, "Nice to see you out in the open again so soon, hun."
"Envy!" she cried, moving away from the homunculus with a start and hugging Marcus close to her chest like a make-do shield.
He chuckled at her response and said, "It's even nicer to know that you actually remember my name. So, where are you headed to?"
"Why the heck are you still doing around here?"
"Didn't I tell you I'm having the whole day off?"
Crickets chirped.
Melody put Marcus down and thought for a moment. Did he really? Her mind was so cluttered now; she couldn't even remember what she had for lunch just a few hours back. Now Envy wasn't a very patient homunculus, and her zoning out as if he wasn't even there was boring him. So he decided to snap her out of her little trance. Just took one step towards her, bent down a bit, leaned in to close the gap and Melody's mind went blank in an instant. She pushed him away a second time and found herself saying,
"Quit doing that, will you! My lips are not where you can practice puckering up, Romeo!"
Envy merely looked amused, "That's funny, you're not acting as hysterical as you did a few hours back. Could it be..." he leant in to whisper in her ear, "That you're finally falling for me?"
Melody's face turned red. She herself wasn't sure if it was out of embarrassment or out of anger, but one thing was certain; her patience was wearing VERY thin... She left Envy with multiple injuries (Which were considered major on a human being and minor on a homunculus...) and stormed off towards her home to pack some clothes for her trip to Dublith.
A few hours later, she was seated in the train to Dublith and inside the compartment she was in was a dark-haired man with weather-beaten clothes donning a wide-brimmed hat. The man was staring out the window and Melody followed his gaze, "It looks like we'll be arriving there early morning tomorrow, huh?" she asked, trying to be friendly.
The man nodded, leaning back in his seat and resting his eyes. Melody took out an alchemy book from her bag not long after that and asked without looking up at her companion, "So, where are you from?" she could have sworn there was a sizzling sound nearby and a very familiar voice made her jump almost ten feet in the air,
"Anywhere you're from, I suppose," said a familiar silky voice and Melody shrieked at the sight of the homunculus sitting across of her.
This was going to be a long trip...
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Yay! It's done:) I hope you like this chapter. I'm dedicating the Melody/Envy interaction to tlpg.
And about the antibodies thingie? I just made that up. :P Please don't scream at me... Anyway, I have chapter 14 to type. It will be up slightly later because my exam's coming not long from now. It starts on the 27th of May.
I won't be uploading very quickly around 27th of May till 8th of June, so don't be surprised if I don't upload at all.
I just hope you all enjoy this chapter as much as I enjoyed typing it. :)
Please read and review!