Yes, another chapter…
Disclaimer: I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist, but I do own Kararu Rinamino, and Spirit of Thunder owns Shikou Stone, I'm just borrowing.
All's Fair in Love and War
Chapter 6
"No!" Ed yelled.
"Shikou!" Mustang screamed.
"WINRY! GRANNY!" The suit of armor yelled, running towards the house.
"Alphonse, no!" Hughes yelled, grabbing the armor's hand before it could run any farther. "You can't!"
"Why not! Winry's in there!" The armor yelled, struggling against Hughes' grip, but he didn't have any intention of letting go and letting the younger Elric run to his death in the flaming home.
"Al…you can't." Ed said, looking at the ground, tears streaming down his cheeks.
The armor stopped. "Brother…don't you…care about Winry, Granny and the others?"
Ed nodded, then looked over at Al. "I do…but there's nothing we can do until the flames go down…" Ed whispered.
"But…Winry and…Granny…" Al said.
"And Shikou and Hawkeye too." Hughes said with a sigh. Mustang fell to his knees, staying silent.
"Shikou…" Mustang whispered, watching the flames lick the burning house. "And Winry…I never got to tell you…I'm sorry…I'm sorry for killing your parents…"
Havoc stayed silent through all this, tears silently slipping down his cheeks.
The group watched the flames and the house, flinching slightly when the house collapsed. Eventually, all were sitting on the grass, watching the flames go down.
The suit of armor was the first to stand when the flames went down far enough.
"I'm going!" Al yelled before running towards the house.
"Al, wait!" Ed yelled, quickly jumping to his feet.
Hughes stood and was about to run after them when he noticed that Mustang hadn't moved. "Roy?" He asked hesitantly. "The fire's gone down…do you want to…" He started to ask, then trailed off.
Mustang stood quietly, his bangs hiding his eyes. "Yeah…" He said. Havoc stood behind him, looking at his friend in concern.
Without another word Mustang started to walk down the hill after Ed and the suit of armor, his eyes staying hidden. Havoc and Hughes looked at each other, worry clearly written on their faces before they walked down after Mustang.
Ed and Al were the first ones to make it to the burnt remains of the house.
"Al, before you do anything, come here." Ed said, motioning. The suit of armor tilted its head to the side slightly, then walked over.
"What is it, Brother?" It asked. Ed opened the chest plate of the armor and took out Al's body, completely undamaged. "Oh…"
"Now you can start looking." Ed told him as he lay Al's body down on the ground.
The armor nodded, then quickly turned and started to dig through ash and left over burnt wood.
"WINRY! GRANNY! Can you hear me? Are you alive?" Al yelled as he dug.
Ed watched sadly for a moment from the sidelines before starting to dig himself. He knew that something was wrong with Kararu…but he didn't know what, and it was tearing him apart from the inside.
Mustang, upon reaching the ruble, started to dig as well, but didn't say anything, afraid that if he did he would start to choke up.
Havoc and Hughes decided to join the search in silence, not knowing what else they could do.
"Please…Granny…Winry…if you're alive, just wait a little longer…"
"We're coming."
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Kararu laughed.
"Now this is just classic! Poor Mustang finally got a girl, and now she's dead." She said with a grin, then her face and voice changed to mock sadness. "Boo hoo."
"My Lady, it also looks as though Alphonse has lost his love as well." Dante said.
"Really?" Kararu asked, looking closer through the binoculars she was using. "Hah! You're right!"
"I was just trying to be of service, my Lady."
"Now…you've tortured them. Edward is already starting to wither away, and so are Mustang and Alphonse…what are you going to do now?"
"I'm going to torture them some more. They deserve to know that they never should have messed with the Alchemic Demon Goddess."
"My Lady, I know it is not my place to ask this of you, but what do you plan on doing?" Dante questioned.
"Go ahead and tell her…she asked politely enough…besides, you could use her in your plans as well."
"Well…since you asked me so politely…I'll tell you."
"Oh, thank you, my Lady."
"All right…this is what I was planning to do…"
XxXxXxXxXxXx
"Winry! Granny! Can you hear me?" Al yelled as he continued to dig.
"Al, yelling isn't going to solve anything." Ed whispered.
"Yeah, well, it helps, Brother!" Al shot back at him.
Ed sighed. He didn't want to face the reality of the situation at all. Kararu was gone…she was different, and working for the rebels now. Winry, Pinako, Hawkeye and Shikou were all either trapped or dead under the ruble, and it was driving him insane just standing where he was, thinking he could be crushing them, but knew he had to stay and help dig.
He leaned down and was about to continue shoveling wood and dirt out of the way when…
"Your efforts are useless."
Everyone whipped around, ready to fight…and it was a good thing they did.
There stood Envy, Greed, Gluttony, Lust and Wrath, looking anxious about something.
"What do you want?" Hughes growled out.
"Oh, we're just following orders." Envy answered with a shrug.
"Whose orders?" Mustang demanded.
"Why, our Goddess, of course." Envy told him, grinning.
"Who…who's your Goddess?" The suit of armor questioned.
"You should know…she went missing a day or two ago."
"Kararu…?" Ed gasped.
Envy shrugged. "I don't know her name. I only know her by 'my Lady' and 'Goddess', so don't ask me."
Ed growled. "You…! What did you do to her?"
Envy looked at him. "Aww, Chibi, you know I wouldn't do anything to upset you!"
"Shut up! AND DON'T CALL ME CHIBI!" Ed yelled angrily.
"Aww, it wooks wike Mr. Gwumpy is angwy." Envy taunted.
"I SAID TO SHUT UP!" Ed yelled at Envy, then quickly clapped his hands and turned his automail into a sharp, metallic blade, dashing at the Homunculus full speed.
The others in the group watched the battle, not knowing what to do yet.
As Ed ran at Envy, he just smirked and seemed to disappear, reappearing a few feet away.
"Looking for me, Chibi?" Envy asked from where he was.
Ed's only response was to growl and jump from where he stopped, automail flashing in the light as he went as high into the air as he could, diving at Envy.
"Wha-!" Envy started, but was slammed into the ground by Ed's automail. He soon jumped up, looking at his left arm to watch the large gash heal itself.
"You can't hurt me, shrimp." Envy said with a shrug.
"You can go to-" Ed growled, but was thrown back as Envy suddenly charged and punched him in the gut, sending him toppling onto the rubble of the house.
"Brother!" The suit of armor yelled.
"Edward!" Mustang yelled, starting to run over to him.
"Well, it was fun fighting with ya, Chibi, and I'd love to stay, but we gotta go." Envy said, smirking evilly, then he seemed to just disappear, as did the other Homunculi.
"Wait! Don't go!" Ed yelled, then a humorous voice filled the area around them.
"Have fun replacing what you've lost."
Ed's eyes widened and he looked around frantically, dropping to his knees after a minute to punch the ground.
"Brother, what's wrong?" The suit of armor asked.
Ed looked up at it hopelessly. "Al…where's your body?" Ed asked.
The armor looked around, gasping.
"It's…it's gone!"
XxXxXxXxXxXx
Kararu laughed as she watched Greed carrying the unconscious body of Al in the front door of the mansion.
"This is perfect! Now…I guess…it's time to bring his soul back." Kararu said, an evil smirk on her face as she followed Greed, Dante walking behind her.
"Yes, bring back his soul…then you can have your revenge on Edward by taking the only real family he has left!"
"All right." Kararu said, watching as Greed lay Al's body down on the ground in a small room. "Out." Kararu ordered.
"Yes, my Lady." Greed said, then walked out the door.
Dante started to head for the door as well, but Kararu shook her head. "No, Dante. You are allowed to stay…for now."
"It would be a privileged to stay, my Lady." Dante said with a curtsy.
"Good, your showing me the proper respect." Kararu said. She knelt down next to Al's unconscious body and clapped her hands, placing them on Al's chest.
"Now…come back, Alphonse. Come back."
XxXxXxXxXxXx
After the disappearance of Al's body, the group back at the Rockbell estate didn't know what to do, so they decided to continue digging.
They were shoveling pile after pile of wood out of the way when the suit of armor stopped cold.
"Al?" Ed asked. "What's wrong?"
The armor started to shake, and Ed looked at it, his eyes widening.
"My…my soul's being called back…to my body!" The armor said.
"No, Al! You can't go!" Ed yelled.
"I don't…want to…" Al said. "Brother…"
Then, the armor collapsed to the ground, the eyes loosing the glow they had had only seconds before.
"ALPHONSE!" Ed yelled, falling to his knees. "No…not you too…no…"
XxXxXxXxXxXx
Kararu looked around at the darkness that surrounded her, the only thing that she could see was what 'she' was doing.
"Why am I doing all this?" Kararu asked. "I never wanted to hurt anyone…"
She had tried over and over again to gain control over her body, but it wouldn't work. Her body was being fueled on rage and revenge alone, and she couldn't do anything about it but watch.
"Edward…I'm sorry…"XxXxXxXxXxXx
Kararu watched as Al groaned, his eyes slowly opened.
"All right, Brother, I'm…all……right…" Al said, trailing off when she saw Kararu and another woman standing over him. "Ka…Kararu?" Al asked.
"Kararu?" She asked, quirking an eyebrow. She laughed. "Yeah right, Alphonse. To you, my name is Your Worse Nightmare."
"Wha…what are you talking about, Kararu?" Al asked, getting scared by the look in her eyes. They were filled with hate, revenge and sadness, and they seemed soulless.
She raised her brows at him. "You really mean to tell me that you don't know?"
He shook his head.
"You mean to tell me that you don't know about everyone hating me? Edward, Mustang, Shikou and Hughes…they all hate me!" Kararu snarled.
"Kararu, they don't hate you! They're worried sick about you!" Al tried to reason with her.
"They're worried? Tuh! Yeah right!" She said with a look of disgust. "Whenever they're truly worried about me, all Hell will freeze over! And I have a strong feeling that that won't be happening for a long time!"
"Kararu…what has gotten into you?" Al asked, his eyes becoming fearful.
"Destroy him!"
Kararu nodded, pulling out a dagger she had on her belt.
"Alphonse, its time for you to meet your maker!"
"Kararu, you don't want to do this!" Al cried desperately, scooting back away from her.
"I don't? Just watch me, Alphonse! I'm going to make Edward suffer like he never thought he could!"
"But Kararu, why?"
Kararu didn't answer him, but turned to Dante. "Dante, leave us now!"
"Yes, my Lady."
"All right…you should know what to do now."
"I do." She said, then turned back to Al after Dante left the room.
"Rot in Hell, Alphonse!" Kararu growled, lifting the dagger.
She slowly started advancing on Al, Al fearfully scooting himself back until he was shoved back against the wall.
"B-but Kararu…please, stop…" Al said, tears coming into his eyes.
"Die!" She yelled, her hand coming down.
"Stop!" Al yelled, covering his face.
When no pain came to him he looked up, seeing Kararu's eyes flicking in and out of soulless life.
"Kararu?" Al asked.
The dagger dropped to the ground, and Kararu looked up at him, her eyes still blinking, but staying the same longer.
"Kararu?" Al repeated.
"Al?" Kararu questioned, looking down at herself, then at the dagger on the ground, then at the tears that were now spilling down Al's cheeks. "What…what have I done…?"
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All right guys, I got major writer's block in the middle of the chapter! Please forgive me!
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