The 8th Sin
-Defying Fate-
This is chapter 21 and for some reason, I was feeling depressed when I first typed this up. Oh well, it is supposed to be angst, right? Might as well keep the feeling in till this story's finished!
I don't feel like ranting for once, so let's get straight to the story!
Please REVIEW!
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Edward stopped when Rin and Greed skidded on the sand. He felt the strong wave of energy, the angry howl of pain. Now that he set eyes on the homunculus who claimed to be the Ultimate Sin, its presence alone rooted the teenage genius to the ground. It felt even worse than the first time he bumped into Scar. It felt as if she could devour his soul from that distance.
Her bright purple, almost crimson eyes shifted to look at him. She squinted a bit, a vein throbbing painfully on her right temple. The short blonde boy was someone she knew, but where? When? How did she meet him? Her claws clenched and unclenched as the throbbing grew stronger but she forced it to stop when her two earlier targets moved. The winged alchemist and the buff homunculus were back on their feet.
"...Who or what is this thing...?" Edward asked to no one in particular, a cold sweat running down the side of his face.
Rin bit his lower lip, "Edward, Remember the girl in Dublith? The one who you bumped into when you sneaked out of the butcher's?"
Edward gulped, "That was all the info I needed," he said firmly, clenching his fists.
A ghost of a smile appeared on the silver-haired homunculus, "Edward Elric... You're one of the causes of my headaches... Will it go away if you all disappear?" her voice was cold, emotionless. He didn't reply and her grin grew wider, making her resemble Envy along the way. She raised her arm, ready to bring it down on whoever she wished to dispose of, but her headache came again. The female homunculus took a step back, bringing her claws down to either side of her head again. A cry of pain ripped itself out of her throat as she fell to her knees.
"WHY!" she cried out, "Why do I know you...! Why do you know me! ...Paintings... A desert town, a rainy day... why do I remember these things!" as she fought to reduce the pain, her Ouroboros tattoos vanished, one by one, until only the mark on her shoulder remained. Rin's eyes widened. Her memories must be forcing her to remember!
He took a step forwards, "Freesia, do you remember how you felt when you saw the paintings on my wall?" he asked, taking another step towards her.
Her breathing was uneven and she frowned when he got too friendly with her, "GO AWAY!" she emitted a wave of energy, but in her weakened state, she could do no more than cause a breeze.
The sting on the back of Greed's hand had subsided, but that wasn't enough to convince him that she was back to normal. It began to sting again shortly after that and he didn't like the looks of it, 'Rin, don't push your luck there...' he thought, grinding his teeth as the sting grew stronger.
By this time, Rin was only a few steps away from her, "Remember when you said I was lonely?"
Images of the event flashed behind her eyelids. She didn't like this at all. These weren't her memories. These weren't her emotions. They belonged to someone else. At least she would like to think of it that way. Her blood boiled as she regained herself slowly. The other seven crimson marks appeared on her body again and Greed took this as a sign for him to make a move.
Freesia raised an arm and Greed found himself thinking that he should stop her. Her claws were fully extended. His shield was fully activated. Physical contact was made and for a moment, blood seemed to fall as rain from the sky. Both homunculi's eyes made contact with one another as Greed's shield once again failed on him. Instead of stopping her claws on his skin, her razor-sharp weapons were now half-way into his body, the shield Greed was proud of cracked in more than one place. Blood, artificial it may be, flowed freely from the horrendous slash wounds that normal people would die from instantly.
His shield vanished and Greed smirked, rather painfully as he tried to endure the pain, "What are you scared about?" It was true. For a moment there, he could clearly see her eyes widen. Her lethal claws shuddered ever so slightly as more images flashed before her eyes. She was confused.
She pulled her claws out of his body, his left arm now nothing more than a chunk of flesh as it hit the ground with an inaudible 'thud'. He wobbled slightly and placed his remaining hand onto whatever was left of his other arm, wincing as he did so.
"…Rain..." she breathed, the image of Dublith imprinting itself in her mind's eye.
"That's right. Rain. It was raining when you told me you were scared of yourself..." Greed said softly, his arm now regenerating slowly. A lone tear rolled down her cheek as she recalled the event. Her claws slowly disappeared and when they vanished, she brought one hand up to touch her lips. Freesia's confused, crimson eyes searched Greed's violet ones for an answer. How did he know so much about her when she barely knew anything about him?
He looked at her knowingly. She looked away, as if trying to make heads and tails out of all this. But, the more she thought about her past experiences, the harder it was to make sure of anything! This was too much. Freesia wanted to just get rid of them, but another part of her was protesting like there was no tomorrow at the idea, plus she was in no condition to fight as soon as Rin and Edward came into the scene. For once, familiarity was a bad thing.
Her heart skipped a beat when Rin tried to get closer to her. She took a step back cautiously, her left arm forming a pole arm. More people were coming out of the train now and for some reason, this made her smile. A good familiar feeling washed over her as she looked at the many people pouring out of the large machine. Back to the time she killed people to make the Philosopher's Stone.
She stopped though; not even having the chance to start swinging her deadly weapons when a familiar scent only she could smell reached her. Something close to a Philosopher's Stone was nearby. Everyone stopped and stared at the creature standing at the head of the train and majority started whispering to one another, wondering where she could have come from.
For once, Freesia didn't react when all the noise got to her. She was too busy looking for the source of that sweet smell. The scent of the stone that overflowed with souls... Finally, she found the source. She dashed towards the crowd, where someone cocked a weapon and called,
"STAND BACK!" a single gunshot echoed through the air as Freesia fell back from the impact, a gaping hole visible in the centre of her chest and around the wound, she started turning into stone.
That wasn't enough to stop her though. The homunculus landed on her feet, examined the wound and within the blink of an eye, the wound closed. Her opponent cocked the gun again, daring her to come closer. This excited her. For the first time, someone owns what she likes better than killing and was able to fend her off and keep their lives. With a sly grin, she performed a smooth back-flip and turned herself into a black eagle before flying away with a loud screech.
"Phew... Is everyone alright here?" the gunslinger was a woman. She stepped up to the head of the train and looked at the small group, eyes now widened, "Oh my... aren't you Edward Elric?"
Edward blinked, "Yes, that's me. And you are?"
The 5-footer newcomer smiled and extended her hand, "Eva Collins. Just your everyday alchemist," she said pleasantly. Edward shook her hand as Eva looked around, "What was that thing doing? Was it a chimera?"
Before they could continue, Greed cut them both off, "Hey, I don't mean to be rude, I really do, but the least we can do now is get to town, have a few rounds of drinks and introductions to start us off."
They agreed.
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-RUSH VALLEY PUB-
Surprisingly, Rush Valley's pub survived Freesia's wrath and since Eva was very interested about this whole thing, they filled her in on it. She nearly choked on her coffee (she claimed that she couldn't live without coffee...) and spluttered, "Homunculi? But... but... aren't they supposed to be... well, IMPOSSIBLE?"
Greed shrugged wryly, as if telling her that he was living proof of the impossible. (which was in fact, the truth.)Eva tapped her chin, "Wow... all this talk's really reeling me in... I bet if I wrote a book on it, people would call me a lunatic," she mused and went back to her coffee, until she saw Marcus fail to build a toothpick house for the umpteenth time.
"That thing is...?" Eva motioned to the little goblin, where his elder sister grabbed the little guy and hugged him defensively,
"This 'thing' is my little brother," Melody frowned disapprovingly at the dark-haired newcomer. She never did like anyone who called Marcus a 'thing' or referred to him as 'it'. Well, she couldn't blame them. When you see something that looks like a goblin, ANYONE would wonder what it was!
Edward then spoke up, "By the way, just now you shot the homunculus, didn't you? What kind of bullet were you using? The outsides of the wound turned her to stone momentarily."
"Hmm... yeah, that," Eva said boredly, taking another sip of her coffee, "I may not be a State Alchemist, but I found a way on how to create artificial Philosopher's Stones. They're not as powerful, but they sure help a bundle around the household."
Edward, Rin, Alphonse, Melody and Greed then asked simultaneously, "A fake Philosopher's Stone? Where'd you get your hands on that?"
Their gunslinger friend blinked in surprise, "Well, I made them, of course. It's pretty hard to get the main ingredient, but the yield's considered pretty good. The quality's not as good as the original, I'd wager, since it breaks once you use it around four to five times."
"Four to five times..." Edward fell back into his seat and started thinking. Rin was doing the same thing, as was Melody and seeing the silence thicken, Eva piped up, "Is this what happens when you become a State Alchemist too long?" she asked Marcus, who attempted to build toothpick houses again. The adorable little goblin just shrugged nonchalantly and continued whatever he was doing. She smiled and pet him on the head a couple of times before standing up,
"Well, it's been nice talking to you guys, it really has, but looks like I gotta run. Let's just hope the train to my hometown isn't rescheduled..." the alchemists didn't reply so, feeling unwanted, Eva left the pub and nearly jumped out of her skin when something clamped down on her shoulder.
She turned around and saw Greed, "Oh, you... What do you want?" she asked, sliding out of his grip easily. She never did feel very comfortable around him and hated to admit that he creeped her out for some reasons even she didn't know what.
Greed didn't say anything at first and looked at the door behind him out of the corners of his eyes, not wanting to be heard by the others inside of the bar, "You said you could make those fake stones, right?" he finally asked, walking towards her and motioning for her to follow him. Eva complied, hesitantly.
"Uh... Yeah, I can. Why?"
"And those bullets you shot back then, I'm guessing they're made out of those stones."
Eva didn't like this one bit, "For the record, yes, they are. Why are you asking?"
Greed's smirk wasn't exactly the most reassuring thing that Eva needed at that moment, "You do know that I'm a homunculus, right?"
Somehow, she knew that already. Eva nodded, "So? What do you want? Get to the point already."
"Okay, fine. Homunculi need those stones to continue living. I ran out on mine just before the homunculus you shot ran away. All I'm asking is for you to make me some that will last me two months or so," he said plainly as they walked down the streets of Rush Valley.
The dark-haired alchemist frowned, "How much are we talking about?"
Greed shrugged and pulled out a small, empty pouch from his pocket, "Just enough to fill this. Think you're up for it?"
She looked at him quizzically, "Why don't you find someone else?"
"I'd rather work with people I know. Plus, we may not have the time to find another person with your knowledge. If we stall any longer, this whole place has a great chance of turning into a ghost town."
Eva didn't really understand so Greed explained further, "That silver-haired homunculus' name is Freesia. She was with me before she became that monster. What you saw just now was barely everything that she has and I have a feeling that once she bares her 'fangs', she can wipe this whole place clean in a few minutes."
"...And you're saying you know how to stop her?"
Another smirk, "More or less. So, do we have a deal or not?"
Greed was holding out the empty pouch to her, waiting for her to take it and Eva, not exactly wanting to go any more than waist-deep into this whole thing thought about it for a minute. Sighing as she drew to a conclusion, she held her hand out and took the pouch from him,
"Where can I give these to you, once I'm done?" Eva asked.
Greed raised his eyebrows, "Whoever said I'm letting you go off by yourself?"
"Huh?"
"I'm going with you."
If Eva wasn't so shocked at that point, she would have pounded Greed's childishly innocent face into the ground with everything she got.
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-AQUOYA HOSPITAL-
Kimbley was still fuming over what he and John were talking about. The nerve of that brat! He cursed under his breath, swearing that he'd stuff John's head with gunpowder and blow him up even if Teresa was clinging onto his arms. He smirked and would have laughed at the idea but his chuckle slowly lowered to silence, his smirk turned to a frown as he eyed the life support system Teresa was hooked onto.
Teresa was semi-conscious. Her eyes were open and she was blinking, but it was as if she was in a mental block state. When Kimbley came in, the doctor had told him how she was doing and told him that if she didn't regain consciousness in a week, they would turn off the life support system. Kimbley sighed as he slouched in his seat and rested his elbows on Teresa's bed. He may not have cared what would happen to her or anyone else for that matter, maybe it was because of the fact that they were siblings but one thing was certain; Kimbley felt attached to Teresa, one way or another.
He placed a hand on hers and gave it a little squeeze, almost wishing that she would do the same to him. It was silly of him to feel that way and he certainly did feel stupid to want her to give any signs of life, "...I talked to him just now," Kimbley started, staring straight ahead, outside the single window in the ward. Teresa stared at her ceiling and didn't respond.
Kimbley didn't really know what to say. As a matter of fact, he was wondering why he was talking to a person who could actually be already dead! He sighed and let go of her hands, getting out of his chair and walking to the door with his hands jammed into his pockets. Just as his hand grabbed the doorknob, he stopped in his tracks. Sighing for what seemed to be the umpteenth time; Kimbley's hand slid off the shiny surface of the doorknob and rested his forehead on the door with his eyes closed. Gosh, he was really growing soft!
It didn't take him long to find himself sitting in the chair again with Teresa's still warm hand in his. He told Teresa what he told John, how he felt, what he did and what he wanted to do. It was a sad scene, even for a person like Zolf J. Kimbley. The Mad Bomber, sitting next to his younger half-sister's bed, telling a story so energetically and enthusiastically while his single audience just lay, hovering between life and death, listening to every word he said without a single word to respond to any of his remarks.
At the end of his story, where he told Teresa he'd almost pounded John's head through his pillow, Kimbley trailed off. His left hand, which had been holding Teresa's as if it was a jewel was joined by his other hand, clasping Teresa's between them as he rested his forehead on their entwined fingers.
"...Why did you do it, Tessa...? Why were you ready to jeopardize your own life for him?" he raised his head to look at her, vibrant amber eyes locked with blank green ones, searching for any signs of a reply, if it was even possible. There were none. Kimbley dropped his gaze to the floor, released his half-sibling's hand and leant back in his chair. His shoulders shook as he chuckled, partly because of amusement, partly because of disappointment. Amused because of how he's reacting to merely a woman falling into a coma and disappointed because if he really cared for this woman, he would have done something to prevent this from happening.
But he didn't. He slouched over again and buried his face in his hands. This was maddening, even for him. Kimbley stood up, sighing as he did so and patted Teresa's hand before he left the room for some fresh air. The heavy scent of medicine must be seriously messing around with his system.
Kimbley left the building, deciding that taking a bit of a walk may help him get back to normal and get rid of the negative thoughts that had somehow gotten to him. He looked up at the white building and tried to find Teresa's out of the many windows. Unfortunately, all he saw was John looking out of his window intently, as if he just saw something disturbing.
The red-clad man followed the younger alchemists' gaze, but saw nothing. What was so interesting about rooftops nowadays, anyway? Shrugging, he just let it slide and continued walking down aimlessly down the street, maybe even hoping to stumble across a pub or two along the way.
Too bad for Kimbley, it just wasn't his day. What he saw in front of him made him close his eyes, put one hand on his temple and curse under his breath. The familiar, small figure and the even more familiar tattered cloak and hood were a dead giveaway. Plus, the crazy cackle that was emitted from the person was making feel even more annoyed than he was in John's presence. To add to the list, it saw him.
"KIMBLEY!"
...And clung onto him like a koala would to a tree. The Mad Bomber felt a really strong urge to blow the thing to a zillion tiny pieces. However, he stopped himself and instead, went with plan B,
"Biddo."
"Yes?"
"Off."
"Why?"
"Now."
"Why?"
"Because I won't regret blowing your brains out."
It worked like a charm. The lizard chimera was off of him before he could actually finish his sentence. The word 'blow' was enough to explain what the alchemist had in mind.
"Mind telling me WHY you're everywhere?"
Biddo shrugged nonchalantly, "The Devil's Nest's gone 'bamoosh', so I decided to go 'bamoosh' too."
"...Yeah, right... And it just so happened that you 'bamoosh'-ed to where I would be?"
The lizard cackled again, "Maybe we're meant to be together!" Biddo was going to pounce on Kimbley to commemorate his newfound 'knowledge' but threw the idea down the drain when Kimbley clapped his hands together once.
Biddo wasn't going to live very happily after what happened next...
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Lilith landed in front of an old mansion. She smiled when she set eyes on it, but frowned at the unnatural amount of ivy creeping up the sides of its walls. As a matter of fact, if not for the notable landscapes surrounding the mansion, nothing looked the same at all. She entered the house without even opening the doors; she simply went through it. Once inside, the state of its interiors surprised her.
Dust collected on majority of the furnishings still left behind. The cushions of the sofas and the carpets in the living room bore signs of being eaten by moths but the one thing that didn't change was where everything was placed. They were just as she remembered it.
Lilith dared herself to explore the second floor and that was exactly what she did. She opened the door to a small room and took a look around. That was when she noticed the picture on the bedside table. Though caked with a few layers of dust, she could actually tell what the picture was. A picture of her and her parents. At least, that was what she remembered was in the picture but as to how the people in the picture looked like, it was a blur.
Just as her clawed hands reached out to wipe the dust off of its surface and see the picture hidden behind it, she heard a pair of feet walking towards the room she was in. A woman came in, a smile on her face. It was as if she was expecting Lilith to come, but the homunculus had never set eyes on this odd woman.
"Who are you and what are you doing here?" she asked acidly, deciding not to just slice the woman's head off like her instincts were screaming at her to do.
The woman's smile grew a bit wider, "Why Lilith, don't you remember me?" she asked and took a few more step forwards. She only stopped when the floor started to quake from the energy Lilith threatened to release.
"I dare you to take one more step," she said in the same, sharp tone. The woman didn't do it but instead sighed and leaned against the wall,
"Pity... You don't even remember your own mother..."
Lilith's eyes widened slightly. Flashes of a younger version of herself being cradled in a man's arms appeared before her eyes. Her eyebrows furrowed. This just had to be another one of her 'hallucinations', "I have no mother," she spat.
The human of the two looked at the homunculus languidly, "My goodness, what have you been doing to the point of forgetting even me? I'm your mother, Dante."
At the mention of the name, more images flashed before the homunculus' eyes. In a sense, the woman was telling the truth. She reeked of perfume, the tone of her voice whenever she mentioned her name, the facial expressions... They were just like how they used to be before Lilith started forgetting.
The tremor subsided and Dante's smile grew wider. If she could control Lilith like she once did, then accomplishing what she had wanted all this time would be no problem. She held out one hand to her daughter, "Come Lilith. Our home is not here anymore."
Lilith made no indications of following her. The homunculus' eyes shifted to where the photo was and she once again reached for it. Dante stopped her however, by approaching her and putting one hand over her claw, "That wouldn't be necessary..." the woman cooed and the only reply she got was the flash of Lilith's Ouroboros marks and a sharp glare,
"Let go of me."
Dante backed off. Now wasn't a very good time to set her off again, "We don't have much time dear, we have to go soon."
"Give me ten good reasons why I should. If you really were my mother, why would you stop me from taking one look into something that would have proven what you were to me? Were you afraid that I may find out the truth?"
"...Lilith, I..."
"My mother never had short hair. She never had dark eyes."
Dante stiffened, "My mother had long, copper hair and sky blue eyes. She was taller than you. She never liked me. You on the other hand, are exactly the opposite of that. Why?" Lilith pressed on, her gaze seemingly piercing through Dante. A smile crept up the homunculus' features. She didn't need an answer from the woman. Going into a stance, Lilith lunged at Dante and swung her claw at the woman, only to be stopped in mid-air.
An invisible force was stopping her and she frowned when she noticed the other homunculus standing at the doorway. She nimbly broke free of her bonds and looked up just in time to get kicked in the face. Even for a very powerful homunculus, she didn't expect the assault. Skidding to a halt, she got back to her feet and once again attacked with her claws. The homunculus wielded a blood-red sword and surprisingly, it stopped her advance.
A very familiar scent reached her and Lilith's eyes widened. Then she narrowed them, "...No... This isn't the Stone..." she muttered, "Something close to the Stone..." feeling a bit disappointed, she jumped over the man's head just as he was going to stab her. He spun around to attack her again but she just stayed where she was. She took the blow.
The sound of ringing metal echoed through the room as the sword stopped on her diamond-like skin. Lilith glared at Dante, "There were only supposed to be eight of us, including me. How many more have you created?"
Dante shrugged, "He wasn't exactly my doing. So, will you come home with me?"
"I am home," Lilith shot back, "Just leave me alone," she left the room and went downstairs. For some reason, she felt pain again. Almost like the time when she saw those familiar people in Rush Valley. She held her head, moaning and bumped into an old piano near the stairs. When she looked at it, she saw a glimpse of the child she once was; small-framed, pale, and pint-sized with shoulder-length copper-colored hair held back with a hair band and large, honey-brown eyes.
"Where are you going, Lilith?" Dante asked from the top of the stairs, addressing the homunculus as if she were a child.
Lilith fell to her knees, trying to block out the visions. They were hurting her! For a moment, she wondered why exactly was she there, who she was, where she really belonged. Her body shifted again as she gave up fighting and within a few seconds, where the female homunculus was, sat a small girl who looked to be around four or five. She donned a black, almost gothic-style dress, fit for a funeral, a pair of white socks and matching black shoes.
Dante smiled when the little girl looked up at her. She had shoulder-length silver hair, large, crimson-purple eyes and had her hair held back with a black hair band, "Mother? Why is the house so dirty and quiet? Where's father?"
The homunculus behind Dante frowned and was going to say something but Dante silenced him and went down the stairs, "Father's off working, my dear daughter, Lilith. This house is dirty because we don't live here anymore. Come, I'll take you where our new home is," she simply picked the little girl up and walked out the door, "What was your name again? Blade, was it? Close the door when you leave," The woman said firmly and when she turned to walk away, Blade couldn't help but feel that the little girl's gaze was intimidating.
How could Dante be so calm about bringing that little monster with them? He shrugged it off as he simply went out, closing the door as he did so. Right now, the only important thing to him was to hunt Jonathan Winrain down...
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HWEEL! CHAPER 21 FINISHED!
I was listening to 'Liberi Fatali' from Final Fantasy 8 when I finished the last parts up. I really hope you all like how this story's turning out. :) Nothing much to ramble about but I may not be uploading till September. (Shrug) QUOTE: MAY NOT BE.
That's all from me!
WEATER FORECAST FOR CHAPTER 22
Unsettled weather growing more persistent but there may be some sunshine along the way. Get your umbrellas ready, just in case. A bit of a hurricane is occurring around the provinces of the authoress' house...
NEWS FLASH
Now a 17-year old, authoress TyrantFlame is facing off against persistent tests and exams and may not have time to continue writing till September, according to source. The aspiring writer was said to be suffering from persistent headaches induced by Mathematics, home works and more home works, with writer's block following very close behind.
The authoress is currently working very hard to please her parents (by getting excellent grades) and her loyal readers (who are also very dear friends to her) by writing more as soon as possible. However, transmission is not so clear so the news may not be very accurate. We apologize for the inconvenience.
Authoress TyrantFlame also wishes all her readers a very good day and wishes to not see any pink bunnies and instead would like more readers to leave reviews after reading.
The final chess piece has entered the game. The time for the middle game is now, and the time for the curtains of the end game to fall, draws nearer still...