Chapter 12: Lustful Greed

Disclaimer: I do not own FMA or any aspect of it (besides Seren Soulheart and any other OCs that I add).

Enjoy!

Chapter 12:Lustful Greed

The pulse of Lust's Philosopher's Stone was a weak throb within her chest, a throb that seemed to slow as the minutes passed her by. Her return was nothing short of miraculous; indeed, she was still trying to figure out if this wasn't some sort of dream, a brief interlude before the pleasantries of life were ripped away and she was to be thrown into one of the Circles of Hell. Resting her hand upon one of the myriad cables that stretched throughout the corridor, she was vaguely startled to find that it pulsed regularly, like the veins of some mechanamagical creature, which only reinforced her belief that she had actually come back to life.

Lust murmured, "Father has immensely grown in power in the relatively short amount of time I have been away! The cables never used to pulse with such a great amount of power, and every few moments at that! He must be planning to do something soon."

A soft cough heralded the arrival of somebody new. The figure was a male of Xingese descent, but with Lust's eye color and an Ouroboros tattoo upon the back of his left hand. He scratched his chin a few times before squatting on his heels and inspecting her. Lust welcomed his scrutiny and seemed to bask in it. She played the part of a demure maiden quite well, even if it was a tad bit suspicious for said maiden to be so far underground, and alone at that.

His first question rocked Lust back on her heels, "Who are you to trespass in Father's domain?"

Lust rapidly composed herself and a hand in front of herself before replying, "I am Lust, one of Father's children."

The man's eyes widened slightly as he snarled, "Then you'll die like the rest of them eventually will!"

He rushed forward in a blinding display of speed, one hand rising at an angle towards Lust's throat. She grinned and stood her ground, waiting for him to draw closer. Right as he began to brush past her outstretched hand, she extended her fingers and lanced them through his body, throwing him back several yards. He stared at the blades lodged in his chest for a few moments in disbelief before lifting his gaze to meet hers. A light seemed to click on in his head, as if he finally remembered something.

He chuckled briefly before rasping, "Isn't this how we parted last time? I seem to recall you doing the very same thing to me when I left Father's group a few decades ago!"

Lust started before gasping, "Greed? Father killed you, though!"

She retracted her fingers from Greed's body and waited for him to speak. Reddish lightning danced along the wounds in his chest as his flesh knit back together. He sighed as the vivid regeneration faded away and stretched.

Greed stated, "You sure haven't lost your touch! That was beginning to tickle as much as it did the last time. Then again," He peered at Lust with a jaundiced eye before continuing, "I also seem to recall it being well below freezing and naked on top of that!"

Lust's eyes danced with a merry light as she gave a sultry laugh and exclaimed, "Ah, but it was well deserved! I hope that it taught you to never try and woo me. It's always the other way around."

Greed winced slightly and changed the subject, "Well, to answer your question, I was brought back by Father. It was indeed most fortuitous that a likely candidate was willing to accept me." He cocked his head, as if listening to another voice and added in an offhand manner, "Oh, yeah. He's one of the Princes of Xing."

Lust raised an eyebrow as she asked, "He is?"

Greed nodded and closed his eyes for a few moments. Upon opening them, Lust immediately noticed that they were jet black.

Greed gave Lust a rakish grin as he bowed and stated, "My name is Ling Yao, my most charming lady.." His mouth snapped shut as Lust extended a finger and rested it between his collarbones. He shook his head irritably, as if arguing with somebody, before growling, "Yes, I got that, Greed. You were right; she doesn't like other people telling her that she is beautiful. Now, where was I?" He tapped a finger against his chin a few times, his brow furrowed in thought. Finally, he snapped his fingers, "Ah, that was it! Oh, put a sock in it, Greed. Go bug somebody else."

Lust's eyebrows had risen during this odd exchange, but fell as Ling apparently began to argue with himself. Growing annoyed, she thrust her finger forward, fully expecting it to silence Greeling for at least a couple of seconds. The grayish skin that immediately flowed down his neck stopped it, however.

Ling listened to the other voice in his head for a few more moments before dryly replying, "Well, of course I was fast enough to notice her tensing. I take it that you weren't?"

He burst into laughter after waiting for his reply and Lust joined in, envisioning Greed sticking his tongue out at Ling. She added, "That was how he ended up frozen for a few months over by North City. It is a tale for another time, though."

Ling began to shake slightly after a few moments. He sighed and muttered, "Fine.." before closing his eyes. Upon opening them, they were a purplish color once again.

Greed regarded Lust frankly and asked, "You do know that Father ordered the others to return you to him, right? Apparently you're considered a traitor for harming Roy Mustang. He's one of the 'sacrificial' marks."

Lust blanched, but her face quickly suffused with rage. She growled, "So, you're going to try to take me to him? I'm not going to go down without a fight!" With that last statement, she extended all of her fingers and braced herself for the inevitable battle.

Greed burst into roaring laughter, his eyes streaming from the extent of his mirth. Lust watched in amused disbelief as he wiped his eyes and took a few shaky breaths before straightening.

He dryly remarked, "You're aptly named: all of that lust is going right to your head! I said that I was going to kill you for being a part of Father's group, remember? I cut off my ties to them after.. after.." His eyes grew clouded as he thought about something from his past, but he just shook his head instead and continued softly, "It doesn't matter. Suffice to say, I would be torn apart on the spot if I got too close to Father."

Lust's lips curled into a sneer as she thought about how Greed had always enjoyed the company of humans, even if it was under the pretense of business. Her face softened, however, upon remembering the grief in Hawkeye's eyes after she had been told that Mustang was dead and how Alphonse had been willing to sacrifice his life in order to save her.

Father had experimented with each of his children; Gluttony was a failed Gate of Truth, Wrath aged like other humans, and even Envy had an unusual amount of control over his shapeshifting abilities. Lust had been given the greatest gift of the seven children, besides a keen intellect; a conscience. She acted the soulless killer quite well, but she also knew in her thawing heart that the eventual destruction of Amestris wouldn't be enough for Father. He would keep on trying to attain power until nothing was left, and there was no reason to believe that he would allow his children to live on after they had served their purpose.

I don't believe that he likes to share, Lust scornfully thought. Maybe I have been wrong about these humans They tend to be rather weak physically, but mentally.. I don't think that any of the Homunculi, myself included, can stand up to the drive and determination of the human race. They just pick themselves up each time they fall and continue onwards!

She retracted her fingers and ran them through her hair before murmuring, "I guess that I don't have a choice in the matter. Getting killed again without any hope of revival just doesn't sound very appealing to me. Living is a tad bit more preferable to that endless dark I was held in."

Greed nodded, wincing as he remembered his own brief foray into the Gate. His eyes lit up shortly after, however, when he considered their situation. He was alone in the world now, except for his other half. His other half still knew that Lan Fan and Fu were waiting for him. All of the people he had met in Amestris were there for him, too.

Lust, on the other hand, had absolutely nobody to turn to. The one other Homunculus that she had felt any kinship towards, Gluttony, had been brainwashed into believing that Lust was an anathema to Father's cause and was to be summarily be put down. Greed also noted that she appeared to be looking even paler than usual, a faint sheen of sweat coating her face as she bit her lip in obvious pain. Her Stone must nearly be depleted, then!

Stepping over to one of the thicker cables, Greed motioned for Lust to come closer. She did so, obviously thinking partly about what Greed was going to set into motion and partly about what a certain blonde-haired alchemist was up to.

He asked almost casually, "You know what runs through these pipes, I'll assume?"

Lust shrugged slightly, "Some form of energy, obviously. Considering how it pulses like a heartbeat, I'll take a guess and say a type of soul."

Greed nodded and said, "Exactly. Basically, it's the purified components of a Philosopher's Stone that hasn't been formed yet. This is how you're going to restore the power of your own Stone."

Saying so, he hardened the skin of one of his hands and ripped a hole in the cable. A lurid red glow suffused the corridor as a torrent of souls spewed out of the confines of the pipe. Lust rushed forward and stood in the center of the soulfont, her arms outstretched. Red lightning danced across her skin as her Stone began to recharge, drawing the new souls in and converting them into pure energy. She knew that it was possible to allow the souls to retain their minds, but she didn't feel like getting nagged until they wasted away.

She surpassed her previous level of power rather rapidly and her form began to alter; Her hair fell in even thicker curls and was shot through with strands of molten silver at regular intervals, while her eyes turned from an odd mix of blood and amethyst to one of deep twilight.

Finally, the torrent of souls began to dwindle and abruptly cut off. Greed waited until Lust had stepped away from the pipe before slicing it in half and crimping both ends. The air seemed to faintly glow around Lust, almost as if her skin was luminous. Greed thought, I can't believe that the change was so great! If anything, she's even more powerful than she ever was before!

Lust caught him staring at her and shrugged slightly before murmuring in a musical voice, "I don't really feel all that different, but, I seem to recall something.."

She was interrupted by a dull rumbling that echoed down the corridor. Animalish squeals followed it, almost as if some type of creature had been set loose. Greed stood next to Lust and put his back against hers. Lust glanced at him briefly and grinned impishly, before looking back down the corridor, both hands raised and slightly twisted.

Her eyes danced with a mischievous light as Greed grumbled, "I'm of the opinion that Father felt part of his energy siphoning away. I don't know how he was able to, considering how many of these," He swept a hand that encompassed the corridor and its myriad cables, which Lust saw in her peripheral vision, before continuing on, "pipes are strewn throughout the entirety of Central! That's why the souls stopped pouring out so soon, then.."

Lust rolled her eyes as she dryly muttered, "Yes, Greed. I'll assume that Roy Mustang is in the advancing horde, too? We parted on amiable terms, after all, but I think he still might have a bone to pick with me."

Greed threw his hands in the air as he stated even more aridly, "No need to get snarky! Considering how you paralyzed his friend, stabbed him in the side, and almost killed that sniper chick, I can't imagine why he wouldn't want to.. Actually, he would want to see you again, so nevermind. Ah, there they... ARE?"

Even Lust started as lines of the prototype dummy soldiers rushed at them from both directions, screaming with such intensity that it sent the cables to vibrating. She waited a few more seconds before extending her fingers as quickly as she could and sliced one hand in an arc towards them. The advancing dummies halted and seemed to stare at her. Her eyebrows rose as she looked at her hand and noticed that it was completely devoid of blood. The mystery resolved itself as the dummies split apart, falling in a saggy pile as one to the floor.

Greed had been looking in Lust's general direction and gasped out, "How did you do that? Your fingers were never that sharp before!"

A dummy launched itself at Greed, who covered his entire form in his shielding skin. It bounced off and began to jabber at Greed, who summarily kicked it in the head for good measure and sent it flying. Lust heard footsteps behind her and thrust a hand back with her hand, while simultaneously fending off the dummies in front of her with the other hand. As the last dummy fell, she turned and and clapped her hand over her mouth in surprise, shocked at what she was looking at.

Greed hung several feet in the air, still transformed. Lust's fingers had lanced right through his chest and continued on to impale each of the five rows of dummy soldiers. She retracted her hand and watched in amazement as Greed tumbled to the floor and released his shield, red sparks dancing around him as his wound finally began to regenerate.

Lust held her hands behind her back as Greed mumbled, "I don't think that even Pride would be able to defeat you! If anything..."

An irritated snarl from farther down the corridor effectively silenced him. Envy appeared in the gloom as he stalked closer towards them, a sharklike grin etched across his face.

"My friends..."

Uh-oh! What will happen when Lust squares off against Envy? (Pure sarcasm. Lust wins over most.) Even further, just who is Lust beginning to resemble..?