The 8th Sin
-Reaching out-
Hoyo! I'm again, typing in secret... Hopefully mom doesn't find out... That way, my laptop will survive long enough for me to finish this fic.
So, how do we like this story so far? Sluggish progress? Just average? I can speed things up a bit but not too much. I got a Kingdom Hearts project I'm working on right now that I spend a bit of time on. Oh, and examination day's drawing closer so I may not be uploading the 17th chapter till the 8th of June.
Okay, let's start the 16th chapter from where we left it off. In Envy's stomach.
Please R 'n' R!
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-DUBLITH, IN FRONT OF THE DEVIL'S NEST-
Greed stared as Freesia vanished from sight, disappearing down Envy's throat. He had completely regenerated by then and with what little control he had over himself; he'd lunged for Envy, shield half-activated and knocked the monster down with a powerful blow to the head.
The large beast smirked as he got back on his feet and looked at the Ultimate Shield, "What's the matter? Lost your favorite toy?"
"Give her back, Envy... She's mine!" he threatened, his shield now fully activated.
Envy laughed. This was all so amusing, "And you expect me to? You know me better than that..." he cooed, the annoying smirk still plastered onto his face. Greed made to attack again, but this time, Envy managed to evade his fast and painful blows by slamming the tall homunculus down to the ground with a strong swipe of his clawed hand.
"Face it Greed, you're as good as dead once Dante gets her hands on you."
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-INSIDE ENVY-
The voices were growing stronger. The walls were closing in on her. Her fears were resurfacing, one after the other. All the horrid images she thought she'd long forgotten now within her reach. From the moment her incomplete life was brought from behind the door, completed artificially only with a stone with mystical powers, brought to existence through the death of many.
'Make it stop...!' she cried to herself, closing her eyes to try and block out the images, but to no avail. They kept on coming in torrents. The faces of the people she'd killed for Dante to create a new Stone, the blood on her hands.
The forsaken souls of those Envy had consumed now moaned louder than ever, as if using her body as a medium and once again, Freesia broke down, screaming for them to stop making her feel the guilt she was feeling. Pounding her hands down onto the insides of Envy's body, she didn't realize that she had started an alchemic reaction.
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-OUTSIDE-
Something didn't feel right in Envy's body. It was as if his body was rejecting his transformation into his true form. Sparks shot out of several parts of his body and wherever the sparks touched, he reverted back into his human form.
"What the...?" His face started to return to its former appearance and up to this point; he himself was rejecting the change, making the transformation painful. Doubling over in pain, Envy clutched his mid-section, where the pain was most intense. As a matter of fact, it felt as if his whole body was going to burst open!
Greed sat up as the sin of envy shrank at a fast pace, agonized yells that were unlike the thin homunculus sounding as if his very voice was being ripped out of his throat. Envy found himself down on all fours, his hands on either sides of his head and his whole body now back to its original state. The pain had subsided.
Silently heaving a sigh of relief, he attempted to push himself back onto his feet but as soon as he moved, the pounding headache returned, teamed up with an even stronger pulse coming from his chest. Once again, he was screaming in pain as this time, an unsightly bulge formed on his back, growing bigger every second. Anyone within sight could have sworn Envy's body was splitting in half until another body was being formed on the homunculus, conjoined.
The face was that of Freesia. She pulled herself out of Envy's body as if she'd done it on everyone she sees and upon separating herself from her captor; both homunculi fell to the ground, exhausted. Freesia recovered at a nearly impossible rate, though. It was almost as if she'd sucked the energy right out of Envy. Greed stood before her and she picked herself up, avoiding his eyes.
"...I don't want to know what just happened..." she muttered. The sky, which was bright and sunny not too long ago, now darkened considerably as thunder rumbled within the heavy clouds.
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Melody sighed. Just as she was getting used to the sun, the rain just had to come down. Luckily, she'd bought an umbrella for a souvenir from the previous shop she'd visited and was now trudging along the now muddy road, regretting the fact that she was wearing a new pair of sandals.
"Marcus, quit playing in the rain! I'm gonna be paying the medical bills if you get sick!" she said sternly, keeping her younger sibling under the protection of her umbrella. At the same time, the path they were taking was leading to the commotion that she heard not too long ago. The residents, for some odd reason, didn't seem to have realized or even heard the sounds, so she just went and checked it out.
Upon rounding a corner, Melody saw two people, clad in mostly black standing in front of each other and the smaller one was shouting something at the man she was with. The alchemist couldn't make out the words as the rain was coming down heavily but once she realized who the two were, "Greed! Freesia! What are you two...? HEY!" she cried as Freesia ran off and Greed following suit a few moments later. She broke off into a sprint but slowed down mere seconds later as the mud was now dirtying her sundress.
Panting slightly as she just remembered that she was incapable of running very long, she saw another black-clad figure on the ground and upon recognition, she dropped her umbrella and knelt down next to the fallen figure, "Envy!" she flipped the homunculus over onto his back with some effort and was glad to see that he was merely unconscious.
She heaved a relieved sigh and suddenly realized something. Why was she so concerned of his well-being? After all, she had not known him for very long and it would've been better if she just left him on the road. After all, she had to pay for his ticket here!
Envy muttered something weakly in a semi-conscious state and this made Melody smile. Okay, so maybe behind that annoyingness, she found him adorable. You can't blame a girl for falling in love with that trait, can you?
She motioned Marcus to come towards her and when the goblin was within her reach, she clapped her hands together and touched the seal on his belly. She manipulated the contents of his body in such a way that he was roughly her height with a strong upper body, "Marcus, be a darling and help me take him to the inn."
She smiled sweetly at her brother, who grumbled something under his breath and as the boy lifted Envy off the ground, Melody sneezed, "Oh, crud..."
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-SOMEWHERE IN THE ALLEYS OF DUBLITH-
Freesia finally slowed down from her sprinting, breaths coming in gasps as she fought to put oxygen back into her system. It was quite dark and narrow in the alley as she leant against the damp wall, frightened tears running down the face, mingling with the rain.
Why were her memories resurfacing? She didn't ask for this. All she wanted was to just live like a normal human being, knowing the fact that her being a homunculus couldn't be reversed. This was just too screwed up... Knowing her, the more these memories sprang to life, the more 'reflex' actions she was more prone to make. The event not too long ago made her stomach churn, the feeling of the body cells of two separate bodies splitting from one another to form two organisms.
Who knows, one of these days she may end up hurting those who she was closely attached to, namely her adopted parents, Greed and the chimeras she just met that day. She doubled over, exhaustion kicking in for the second time as she tried the best she could to steady herself on jelly-like legs. They felt so weak...
"There you are," said a smooth voice from behind her. She didn't have to turn around to know who it was. The event where her heart skipped a beat was enough for her to recognize the owner of the voice.
She felt half-glad and half-angry. Glad because he came all the way here to look for her and angry because he didn't heed her warnings, "I thought I asked you to leave me alone," she said coldly, not bothered to look at him. She took a few wobbly steps deeper into the dark alley in an attempt to hide herself from view but from the eyes of the greedy homunculus behind her, it was impossible.
Silence hung between them, the only sounds audible to them being the sound of the rain pouring down on them. She heard footsteps, and she didn't like the fact that they were moving towards her, "Go away! I don't want have to hurt you," she said warningly, moving her head ever so slightly to look at the other homunculus.
Greed smirked behind her, "Hurt me? You're not that kind of person, Freesia," his footsteps stopped right behind her. Where behind her, she didn't want to know because she could feel his warm breath tickling her neck.
She fell silent for a moment, "Then what kind of a person am I? With this body and with whatever powers the Philosopher's Stone I was made with has, killing and maiming others is like standing still!" she cried, taking another wobbly step forwards and falling, her knees buckling under her. A strong arm wrapped around her waist and hoisted her back on her feet easily.
"It didn't take a genius to know that."
"Then you should know better than stand so close to me."
A chuckle escaped her companion as he spun her around to face him easily, one hand wrapped tightly around her left wrist and his other hand on her right shoulder, pinning her to the wall, "You're dangerous Freesia, and we all know that. It's probably what got me hooked onto you," he growled into her ear, closing in the gap between them.
"Your strength can either be a poison or a medicine. It's all in how you use it and whether or not you control it or you let it get to you. Are you following?" he asked, not moving from his position. Freesia nodded slowly.
He smiled, "Good. As I said earlier today, you belong to me now. I don't like people messing with what belongs to me and I hate having my things running away from me. Can I have your word for not running away like you did?"
"...Yes..." she said in an almost inaudible tone, feeling all warm and fuzzy from his sudden intimacy. What happened next could have made her explode with excitement.
Greed's face hovered over hers, their lips brushed together in a gentle kiss. At first, Freesia felt shocked at what the taller homunculus was doing to her but soon relaxed, closing her eyes and putting her free hand on his shoulder, gently tugging at the tight, sleeveless top he donned so he'd be closer to her.
Tender became more intense with passion, hardened with possessiveness. Of course, all good things have to have an ending. They both pulled away for some air and with a smirk, Greed said,
"(1) It's a promise then."
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-CENTRAL, WINRAIN RESIDENCE-
Jonathan decided to take the day off on that day, the dark clouds that hung around Central on the day before finally blown off and revealing the clear blue sky outside as the Storm Front Alchemist took a stroll outside, feeling a bit contented to have some time to himself. Really, working like a donkey for the military stresses you out to the point of having to go to the asylum once in a while.
Of course, John wasn't one to leave the house armless. If there was one thing you learn from sticking to the military, it's to always be on your guard. You never know when misfortune decides to befall you. As he was walking, he saw Teresa again, but this time she wasn't alone. She was with a girl who looked no older than 11 with long dark hair that reminded John somewhat of Freesia and wearing black almost all over.
Teresa's eyes widened at the sight of him, as if he wasn't supposed to be here at that instant. As a matter of fact, the woman looked half-scared. The look on her face disappeared as suddenly as it had come and he saw her talking to the little girl in such a way he could have sworn Teresa was trying to talk the girl into walking away.
Of course, that didn't work. The girl looked over her shoulder and the instant her eyes met John's and her face was visible for him to see, he froze in his tracks, "Mia...!"
A smirk played on the corners of the girl's lips, "Why if it isn't Jonathan Winrain."
"That's impossible, you're dead!" John stared at her in disbelief, approaching the little girl slowly. Just as he was close enough to touch her, something pushed him back. A somewhat invisible force. The wind was knocked out of him as he hit the pavement hard and he found himself coughing as he sat up.
"I've been waiting for a long time for this day to come..." the girl said in a venomous tone, traces of amusement evident on her pale face. As she said so, her right hand emitted a faint red glow.
"Stop it! We're not supposed to attract attention to ourselves!" Teresa hissed, grabbing the girl by the shoulder.
Mia's eyes narrowed as she frowned at the platinum-haired alchemist, "Get your filthy hand off me," she said dangerously and from her left hand, a great wave of energy swept past the alchemist's body and flung her backwards, hitting a street lamp.
For a woman, Teresa could be given credit for toughness as she was still standing, though her legs looked like they would give way any second. Traces of red could be seen at the back of her head, where she'd been cut slightly. She was breathing heavily as the pain she felt mere seconds ago seemed to be replayed by her body over and over again to the point that she was forced down to her knees, the pain now growing intolerable.
John was back on his feet now, "Mia, what's wrong with you?"
"Don't call me that!" the girl bellowed, violet eyes flaring with fury. John's eyes widened slightly at the sense of familiarity, "You're the one who tried bringing me to life. Put two and two together, you'll find out what happened to me," she seethed, both hands now glowing ever so slightly.
He didn't need telling twice. In fact, he found the bitter truth to what his former younger sibling had become. He just needed one more proof, "The Ouroboros tattoo. Where is it?" he asked in a somewhat random manner, his right hand instinctively going to his belt, where his rod was.
The girl merely stood a little sideways and tossed her hair back to reveal the crimson mark on her neck. Closing his eyes as if a headache just hit him, John muttered a string of curses under his breath, "Homunculus..." he said, this time loud enough for Mia to hear him.
"You catch up quickly, don't you?" she asked in turn, each word dripping with sarcasm.
"Mia, I..."
"My name isn't 'Mia'!" she yelled, sending an energy pulse towards John again. However, this time, he came prepared. Quickly, he transmuted his rod into his lance, which he was best accustomed with and created a wind shield to disperse the blast. Unfortunately, not all of the blast was dispelled. A few stray blasts managed to hit him still, and as little as they were, they still hurt. Clouds of dust made it impossible for John to see whatever was in front of him as the blast made contact with his wind shield and without him realizing it, Mia was right over his head in mid-jump, her right hand extended so it would be mere inches away from his face,
"I am now called Betrayal."
John was fast enough to dodge her second assault and attempted to stab her, only to have his assault easily deflected with a single kick. He was going to pull his lance back for another attack when Betrayal landed gracefully on the length of his lance so he wouldn't be able to move and kicked him backwards, squarely in the chest.
"Painful, isn't it?" she asked off-handedly, looking at her former brother picking himself up slowly. She frowned though. He didn't exactly receive the full impact of her blow as he had jumped backwards just before her foot made contact with his chest. John sat up, looking at the homunculus standing before him.
"Not as much as when I lost you," John said quietly, very sure the little girl could hear him.
Betrayal stared at the alchemist as if he grew a second head. Her lips curled up into a smile and soon enough, she threw her head back, laughing the hardest she had ever laughed ever since she became a homunculus.
"Not as much as when you lost me? That's priceless, Winrain! If it did hurt, then why did you leave me lying on the floor, bleeding like there's no tomorrow? Feeling deathly pain for a second time when I should have been living like any normal younger sister?" she said angrily, glaring at John.
John looked down at his feet guiltily.
It was only five months after Mia's murder. A mere five months and already, John decided to try and bring her back, at the tender age of ten. The very age where he decided to study human transmutation. His grandfather had warned him never to perform a human transmutation, but who could blame him? A young, naïve boy with an exceptional talent in alchemy who simply misses his younger sister dearly. It was wrong, he knew it as he drew the complicated array, but he had to try.
For the sake of Mia, he'd do anything to have her back.
Everything was set. The array was completed; the ingredients were placed in the centre. All it needed then was for him to activate the array. His hands touched the circle, and the sin was done.
A bright flash of light, proof of an alchemic reaction taking place blinded him, but he didn't care. The only thing on the boy's mind then was to have his sister back at all costs. He found himself standing in front of the mysterious door. Shadows grabbed hold of him, immobilizing him. A single looming shadow with the ancient runes of destruction and agony claimed his right eye as payment that he ever entered there in the first place.
By the time he was back in his backyard, half the boy's face was drenched in his own blood. His right eye was gone. Where he expected to see Mia was only a distorted mass of flesh, every breath unstable and pained, struggling to live. Everything grew dark after that.
That's right. It pained him. Be it physically with the forced removal of his eye, forcing him to replace it with an automail one or emotionally, the scar, the pain of losing his only sibling cutting deeper by the minute. It was 7 years ago and when he finally found her again, she was all for killing him. This wasn't what he wanted.
But then, he couldn't blame her for acting the way she was. It was still his fault for being incapable of bringing her back. Incapable of fulfilling his own promise of protecting her. Betrayal looked down at him, almost in disgust and raised her right arm, which had the ancient symbols of destruction. She was going to destroy the Storm Front Alchemist once and for all. It was what she had always wanted to do. Get back at the person who brought her into this forsaken world and abandoned her, left her to die for the second time.
"Good bye, Jonathan Winrain," she said in a barely audible voice. She was going to send forth another powerful blast of energy at the alchemist before her when she felt that her arm wouldn't move. Looking up at her immobilized limb, she found that some mysterious barbed vines were wrapped around it. Looking back with a look that could kill, she saw Teresa on the ground, face first with a small alchemic array near her left hand, drawn onto the pavement with her blood.
"If you want to die so badly, then why didn't you say so?" Betrayal directed her left arm, which had the ancient symbols of agony at the woman. But, before she could release another wave of energy, Jonathan had somehow mustered up enough energy to stab the homunculus from behind and sent a high voltage through her, powerful enough to kill a human being. He wasn't sure if that was going to happen with her, though. Betrayal fell to her knees at the sudden assault and using that opportunity, Teresa drew something over the alchemic circle she just used and re-activated it.
Large, acid green flowers bloomed right before John's eyes, attached to the vines she had alchemized earlier on. They opened and before John could see what they were going to do, Teresa cried out, "Get away!"
Pulling his lance back along with him, clouds of spores were emitted from the flowers, exploding upon contact with the air.
The explosions subsided a few good minutes later and when the dust cleared, Betrayal was nowhere to be seen. Teresa however, didn't look too good. She may have been able to create a concrete wall in front of her, but in her weakened state, it seemed that the wall she had built wasn't able to protect her from the vicious blasts. Debris the size of her fists were scattered around her, some even landing on her and she appeared unconscious.
John unearthed her and flipped her over so he'd be half lifting her off the ground and half making her lean on him, "Hey, you still alive? Hey!" she stirred and looked at John warily,
"...I thought I told you to get away..."
"That's not the point. Why were you with that girl? Where did she come from? How did you know her?" he asked one after the other, making Teresa grip his shirt to shut him up,
"...Hurts... Be quiet..." she mumbled, her hands shaking.
"Alright... But just answer me this; Where did she come from?"
"...Homunculi..."
"Yes, I know she's a homunculus, where did she come from!" Jonathan urged, shaking her slightly when Teresa looked like she was going to pass out again.
Teresa took a few deep breath before falling unconscious again, muttering "Jonathan..." before she completely blacked out.
John half-panicked when she fell limp in his arms. He tried shaking her awake again, but since that didn't work, he decided, regretfully to tend to her in his house. She didn't sustain any heavy injuries so he was confident he could take care of the cuts and bruises that were showing on her pale skin. Picking her up, he retraced his steps back to his residence.
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-CENTRAL HQ-
A pair of amber eyes looked out of the window distractedly. The man didn't know why, but he suddenly felt something was going wrong. It wasn't a very strong feeling, though so he shrugged it off a few moments later.
Frank Archer sat at his table, doing some paperwork as his guest merely stared on outside the window. Feeling a bit curious, the militant followed the raven-haired man's gaze and saw nothing. Amused, he then asked, "See anything interesting?"
The pale man's gaze shifted to the man in the military suit, a smirk creeping up his features, "None in particular. Do you find it strange of me to daydream?"
"Not strange. Rather disturbing, more like it," Frank said with a chuckle.
The man in red sighed, "So, are you just going to make me sit here all day, or are you going to give me something to do?"
"Oh, I don't know. I might if you would just do as I say and put on your uniform."
Frank's companion rolled his eyes skywards, "Can't a guy stick to casuals with you around? Fine, if it'll keep me busy," with that, the long-haired man made to exit the room, but not before Frank called out,
"Just so you know; I don't appreciate guts on the corridor walls, Kimbley."
Zolf J. Kimbley paused in mid-stride and smirked at the man at the desk, "You're boring Frank. Take a walk. See the sights. See a doctor," he said sarcastically before closing the door behind him.
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I don't know where I've heard it, but people say you seal a promise with a kiss. Did I get that right? Oh well, I liked how the scene turned out anyway. :)
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Boo! The Crimson Alchemist makes an appearance! O.O;; What does he have to do with the story? We'll be revealing some surprising stuff in the next chapter. Stay tuned if you intend to find out! And yeah, thankfully, I've managed to cover a bit of John's history in this chap, which I'm thankful of and yeah, a few more stuff are gonna happen in the next few chapters, which include certain homunculi, certain people and if I manage to blend everything in well, some chimeras along the way.
Yeah, sounds chaotic, but I'll try and make it work. That is, if I'm not given extra homework and I get in a good mood. If anyone has any ideas that you think will make the story interesting, do submit it. I'll be able to squeeze it in the storyline.
Oh, I just remembered. The Elric brothers have been missing for quite a long time... Well, I'll need a boost for that. Anyone has any ideas where I can squeeze them in? -.-;;
If nobody does, I'll find a way myself. Anyway, enjoy. The Dublith parts here weren't exactly satisfying in my view but I just hope you guys enjoy it. Signing out till chapter 17!
Please R 'n' R!