I bring you the next installment!

'anything like this' is the thoughts of the person who's POV this is written in.

'anything like this' is the thoughts of others that Alucard can hear

'anything like this' is mental conversation. In this chapter, basically what Alucard hears when Greed and Ling speak to each other.

This chapter is from Alucard's perspective.

Summary: In which Alucard does a bit of information gathering, and Ed has to make a choice.

Chapter 6:The Toll

He watched the short blond walk off towards the pile of metal scrap that had been his brother. Curiosity scratched insistently in the back of his mind, but he pointedly ignored it. He wasn't too keen on letting everyone in on the little fact that he did not fucking belong here. He'd had an inkling from the get go, but it was the foray into the mind of the metal limbed kid that really sent the message home: this was not his world. Hell, it wasn't even the right year, let alone the right century. And the longer he kept that knowledge to himself, the better his chances at…well, whatever he decided to take his chances on.

Pushing those thoughts back enough to hear himself think, Alucard swept his gaze over towards the group of soldiers to his right. It only took a second to find who he was looking for. The soldier who owed him a life stared back at him, posture going rigid the second their eyes met. He pulled his lips back into a feral grin, and by the look on the man's face, he'd gotten the message. 'You're life means nothing to me. Had it been my choice, you'd be nothing more than a smear on the ground by now you worthless excuse of sentient life.'

Satisfied that he'd reestablished his dominance via terror, Alucard shifted his attention elsewhere. He let it drift over the other assembled humans, taking note of each of those not marked by the white uniform of the militia dogs. His eyes lingered on an older, blonde man that sent an annoying flicker of recognition through him, most likely due to the foreign memories within him. Before he could place him however, Alucard found his attention drawn by the sound of a voice with inhuman undertones. He pinpointed it, narrowing his senses until only the dark haired man registered. 'Hm, he's human…but not.' Alucard noted the duality of the man's thoughts, as well as the peculiar life force he gave off. 'Just like the fool who believed me to be God'

Making his decision, Alucard made his way towards the man, ignoring the looks he was receiving, intent on getting answers. He knew he'd have to tread carefully if he was to keep from giving himself away, the jumble of thoughts around him warned him as much. He didn't need to find himself facing an army of Xenophobes before he'd even had a chance to form some sort of understanding of the battlefield.

The man (Greed was what the woman standing by him had called him) turned slowly to face him, a grin sliding onto his face as they locked eyes. "Well, if it isn't the so-called God! And here I thought Father was all talk. Although I still think he may have been." Violet eyes looked him pointedly up and down.

Alucard flashed the man a lopsided grin, more to show off his incisors than to indicate amusement. "Fanatics most often are." He got a cocked eyebrow in response.

"Fanatic? Ha, you don't know the half of it! Or do you? I mean, if you're supposed to be God, then you would, wouldn't you eh? 'All-knowing' or whatever it is they say." With a sly grin he pointed a finger towards Alucard's chest as he spoke.

The No Life King leaned in until he was nose to nose with the man before him. To his credit, Greed didn't back away. "I'm not God, Greed. Just Godlike." He punctuated the whispered words with a malicious smile.

For a split second Greed looked dumbstruck, before his usual grin slid back into place. "Ahhh, well, that makes two of us then eh, Alucard?"

He just continued to smirk at the man who's personal space he was invading. He would have been disappointed if Greed hadn't heard the conversation with Ed. Now all he needed to do was set a little bait. "Mm, does it now? I'm not so sure. Prove it to me."

"Prove it to you? I'm Greed the Avaricious, the one and only Homunculus in the world! If anything, you should prove yourself to me, 'Bird of Hermes'." He stared defiantly into the blood colored irises before him, egotistical grin in place.

Alucard processed the information, as well as the conversation he could hear taking place inside the creature's skull.
'Greed, stop goading him!'
'What's the matter Ling, scared?'
'No! I just don't want you getting my body torn up any worse than you have already! You've seen what this guy can do!'
'Are you sayin' I would lose, Pissant-Prince?'
'Well, he did just defeat 'Father' without breaking a sweat.'
'Ha! If he hadn't I would have!'
'Then why didn't you do it before?'
'Ho, I see where you're goin' with this kid. Don't think that just because I never got the chance I couldn't have beaten that old bastard!'
'You had plenty of chances, Greed. Besides, your plan would probably have failed anyway.'
'WHY YOU LITTLE-'

"The one and only? My how sad, you mistake inevitable extinction for godliness!" He laughed, straightening as he did so he and Greed where no longer in one another's faces. The look that crossed the Homunculus's face only added to his mirth.

Regaining his composure, Greed sneered up at him, arms crossing over his chest. "Keh, of course not. I've been around since before anyone here was born, and will continue to be here long after they die!"
'What about that Hohenheim guy? He was obviously around before you…'
'So? This guy doesn't know that. Besides, the old man's done for. I'll be surprised if he lasts another year!'
'And what about my body?'
'What about it?'
'Well, Wrath-'
'I'm not Wrath, kid. We've discussed this eh? Remember? So long as I'm here you're body's stuck as-is, and I don't plan on going anywhere.'
'If you say so, Greed.'
'Do you doubt me?'
'No-no-nooooooo, of course not! Heh'

"And yet you have a human body. Which leads me to wonder how you plan to make that statement reality; All the humans I've ever encountered have a pesky habit of getting old and dying."

Greed waved the statement off in an airy, almost flippant way. "That doesn't matter to me; I've overcome it. Beaten it."
'You mean I overcame it? After all, if I hadn't accepted you into my body-'
'You'd grow old and die. You're welcome, by the way.'

Alucard had to brutally smother the amusement that had risen in him at the duo's conversation; It was like listening to an old married couple. Which, he supposed, they kind of were if his theories on their double existence were correct….He shook those thoughts from his head. He could use them later, but right now he needed to pretend he couldn't hear anyone's thoughts but his own. 'So long as I don't breath to loudly against the receiver…wait. That would only apply if I were listening in on a telephone conversation…Aha..hahahahaha!'

Greed cocked an eyebrow, the 'what-the-fuck-are-you-looking-at-me-like-that-for' face he was sporting made Alucard realize he'd probably dropped the ball on the whole 'keep-his-emotions-for-the-inner-and-outer-noise's-separate' thing. Oh well.

The Nosferatu tilted his head slightly. "Oh?"

Greed moved his forearm away from his chest, holding it vertically between them. Alucard felt a peculiar shift as right before his eyes the bare flesh turned dark and shiny. Now there was something he didn't see everyday.

"With the Ultimate Shield, no one can lay a scratch on me!" Greed flicked his newly changed flesh with his other hand, creating a peculiar sound that definitely wasn't created by normal human skin.

Alucard whistled in response. To him it sounded great, in theory. Which to him was all it was, theory. If he was to be truly impressed with this 'Greed's' ability, then he'd have to see it put to the test. And who better to do it than himself?

"Shall we put that to the test?"

In response, Greed shifted into a fighting stance. "Gladly! I'll show you just how great I am!"
'Greed!'
'Don't worry kid, I've got this! And while I'm at it maybe I'll take his power too! Hahaha!'
'I thought you'd gotten over that already?'

Alucard grinned manically, waiting for the first blow to land.

"HOW DARE YOU SAY THAT, YOU ROTTEN FATHER!"

Greed frowned, attention shifting reluctantly towards the angry teen.
'Bah, what's his problem?'
'Sounds like Ed's angry.'
'When isn't he?'
'Dunno. What's he yelling about?'
'Ha! He's refusing to use Hohenheim as a sacrifice to bring back the Tin Man.'
'…Greed…Give him the Philosopher's Stone.'
'What? Why?'
'I don't need it, since I have you. And you know you don't need it either. Unless of course you want to admit you're not indestructible…'
'FINE! Lousy kid…'

Greed gave him an exasperated look before straightening, lifting his hands in a 'what can I say' sort of gesture. "Unfortunately, this little test will have to wait, Alucard. Maybe some other time." He flashed the Nosferatu a smirk before turning on his heel.

Alucard looked on in annoyance as Greed moved off towards Ed and the group surrounding him. Figures, the kid had to get in the way of his bloodshed again. Of course he could initiate it himself, but seeing as Greed wasn't technically the 'enemy', he had no grounds to do so. If the homunculus went after him first it was one thing, but an unprovoked attack, he had found, was generally not something he was able to get away with.

Greed stopped near the kneeling form of the blonde alchemist, waiting for him to finish fighting with his father before he spoke. When he did, Alucard realized that it wasn't in fact Greed speaking, but the other one, Ling. "Ed. I've got the toll." The homunculus held up a small vial of red liquid. "Use it. It's a Philosopher's Stone. Get Al back with it."

The alchemist stared incredulously at his friend for a moment before lowering his head, slamming his fist into the ground. "I can't." Ed was visibly shaking as he spoke. "I promised Al I wouldn't use a Philosopher's stone to get our bodies back."

"Why not?"

Everyone turned to look at him. Alucard smirked back at them as he made his way slowly towards Ed. Golden eyes locked onto his, emotions staining them darker then he remembered them.

"Because we made a promise that we wouldn't use human life."

Alucard raised an eyebrow. "Then don't. Use the, ah, stone." He cast a glance at the substance he was referring to, reluctant to call it a stone when it was so very obviously liquid.

"But it was made with human lives! And if I use it, I'm using life!" Ed clenched his fists, glaring up at Alucard, who'd come to stand next to Ling. "It's wrong. Those people suffered enough. I'm not going to use them."

He laughed, garnering angered looks from all those gathered around. "Don't be an idiot. Do you really think the people killed to make that care? They're dead, nothing more than ghosts of what they once where." He eyed up the alchemist, who looked as if he'd been hit by a truck. Narrowing his eyes, he examined the thoughts of the blonde, getting a feel for the kid's beliefs before he continued. He wanted to get this stupid debate over with. "Besides, do you really think that they'd want to be trapped inside that thing for the rest of eternity? If it's anything like what was inside that fool I was imprisoned in, then you'd be doing them a favor."

"What was it like?" Ed's voice was quiet, making him sound more like the child Alucard saw him as.

"Crowded." At Ed's owlish stare, he elaborated. "It was like a highly pathetic version of 'Hell'."

"Hell?" The anger had fled from the golden eyes, momentarily replaced with fear and disbelief.

"Yes. Hell." He snatched the vial lightly from Ling's hand, hiding his amusement at the look on the man's face as he did so. "Perhaps if you use this, it will free them." Did he really believe that? Not really. Who was to say how the stone would work? Not to mention if he was right at all about the people that where supposedly trapped in there. After all, he couldn't feel individual people per se, but he could feel a strong sense of life coming off the red substance. Sort of like what he felt from the homunculus actually…

"But…I promised Al…"

Alucard made a derisive noise before tossing the vial into Ed's lap. "Just use it and quite whining like a little kid."

Ed grabbed the vial, clenching it tightly in his fist. "I'm NOT a little kid!" The words were spoken through clenched teeth, the alchemist obviously trying to reign in his temper. The rant inside the kid's head however, was far less restrained, and through it Alucard found himself learning a plethora of Amestrian cusses and slang terms.

"Prove me wrong, salt shaker."

The bewildered look on Ed's face at being called a 'salt shaker' slowly turned to something far more manic and angry. Alucard was slightly disappointed that it took the blonde so long to realize that it was, in fact, a pointed insult, however stupid it sounded.

"WHO'RE YOU CALLING SO SMALL HE COULD SIT ON A TABLE AND NO ONE WOULD NOTICE BECAUSE THEY'D MISTAKE HIM FOR THE SALT SHAKER?"

Alucard refrained from answering, instead shooting the alchemist a pointed look. Ed growled at him, before jumping to his feet. "Fine!"

The alchemist turned his attention to his friends crowded around, as well as the little girl crying on the armor. "You might want to step back a bit."

"Ed…" It was the woman supporting Hohenheim. Alucard gave her a look out of the corner of his eye, but otherwise ignored her.

"As much as I hate to admit it, he makes a valid point, Teacher. And if these people really are trapped in here, then it's the least I can do to set them free." Ed held up the vial as he spoke, the sun glinting off it as if in agreeance.

"Ed, you don't know that!" The woman had gone rigid, a nasty look on her face that Alucard couldn't help but approve of. Hohenheim even looked terrified of her, and her anger wasn't even directed at him.

Ed's gaze fell to the fallen armor at his feet. "No. I don't."

"So you're just going to take the word of that thing?" She gestured wildly at Alucard, causing Hohenheim to wobble a bit. She opened her mouth to continue, but Ed cut her off.

"Yes." He bent to pick up a battered piece of piping that was lying near the remains of his brother. "I'm sorry, Teacher." He moved around her and Hohenheim, people backing away to give him the space he required. Without another word, Ed began scratching lines on the concrete.

Alucard watched with interest as Ed continued what he was doing, the random lines slowly coming together to form an intricate circle design. He frowned, something about the entire thing stirring long dormant feelings in the back of his mind. It reminded him of something, something he'd come to associate with pain and sorrow. He shoved the half baked memories away, disliking the powerless feeling they were giving him.

The clang of metal hitting concrete brought back his attention to his surroundings, eyes fixing momentarily on the discarded pole before returning to Ed, who was now in the center of his drawing.

Ling's sharp intake of breath was abnormally loud in the sudden silence of the courtyard. At least it was to Alucard; no one else seemed to have noticed.
'Greed, is that…a human transmutation circle?'
'Hoho, I think it is! Kid's got guts!'
'Should we let him? I mean, is there any other way or-'
'Leave him be, Princeling. He knows what he's doing. He's an alchemist, right? Hahahaha!'
'Somehow, that doesn't make me feel any better Greed.'

"I'll be right back." Ed slapped his palms together as if in prayer, arcs of blue lightning erupting from where they made contact to dance around him. Locking eyes one final time with Alucard, he pulled his hands apart and dropped, slapping his palms against the concrete.
'You better be right, Alucard.'

a/n: Will Alucard get his fight with Greed? Will Ed regret taking Alucard's advice? Will Al know what the fuck everyone's talking about when they complain about the annoying bastard in the straightjacket? Tune in next time to find out!

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