Hello again to all those that took an interest in this story. I thank you to those that have reviewed and to those that have chosen to follow this Fanfic. I appreciate it very much. Enjoy. :)
Chapter three: No options left
Dawn was fast approaching over the forest surrounding Dublith. Little woodland creatures scurried mindlessly around as the birds began to chip in the trees for the arrival of another peaceful morning.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN THE OTHER ONE IS DEAD!" an incredibly loud voice roared out over the peaceful serenity of the forest. Or maybe not…
"Exactly what I said Envy" Lust replied smoothly as she brushed a few flicks of imaginary dirt from her tight green dress.
"The two children we were sent to retrieve were attacked before we arrived and the older girl was shot down in the struggle" Lust summed up as she watched one of Envy's eyes twitch in annoyance.
"Great, just great, she's is going to be pissed off for sure" Envy growled as he moved to subconsciously place his hands on his bony hips but paused as he remembered the still unconscious child in his arms.
"Hmp…are you sure we can't feed this one to Gluttony and pretend she died with the rest of those pathetic humans?" The androgynous formed teen huffed while throwing the human child over his shoulder as the three of them continued their sprint through the sun lit forest. Gluttony grinned and then began drooling savagely as he eyed the little bandaged child from beside his follow homunculi.
"Oh please, please, can I, can I Lust?" The starving sin pleaded as he began drooling once more.
"For the last time, No Gluttony, we will take her to the Master first and she will decide whether you may or may not eat this child alive" An agitated Lust chastised her famished partner before sending a meaningful look to the eldest homunculus.
"And Envy…"
"Yesss?"
"Stop teasing Gluttony with the child and hold her properly" She spoke as she noticed yet again, Envy playing with Gluttony with the little girl as bait. He would suddenly slow down to allow Gluttony to become face to face with the child before leaping ahead, and leaving behind the hungry glutton who now had the bear the smell of his favorite food taunting his nostrils. He whined sadly as his tummy rumbled loudly.
Envy's smirk evaporated after Lust caught on to their little game and he grumbled a choice stream of words towards the female sin. Suddenly Envy stiffened as he felt the child in his arms stir slightly. August mumbled something incoherent as she struggled in the homunculus' grasp as the beginnings of a nightmare began to eat away at her.
"What the…" Envy growled as he glared down at the child, offended as she began tossing and turning in his arms. "Hey you, quit struggling. Hey I said quit it!" He snapped as the child refused to listen and remained locked in her gruesome dreams.
All three of the homunculi halted from their run as the manor appeared before them. Envy stood in the front of the entrance as he kept snarling and spewing death threats towards a still unconscious August. The harder the murderous sin tried to squirm out of the kid's tiny but surprisingly strong grasp, as she gripped the front of his skin-tight black top for dear life, the harder August latched herself to the unwilling homunculus. The small child then cried out a few times in her sleep and stuffed her face into the closet pillow she could find, which was surprisingly warm and firm yet soft enough to be comfortable at the same time.
Unfortunately for little August that pillow just happened to be the toned chest of one very deranged, sadistic, and ultimately in-human homunculus. The moment the stupid brat began to cry into his shirt Envy had lost it and began to see in red.
"Wake up you sniveling little brat or I will skin you alive!" Envy snarled as his patience broke and his arm began to morph into a long black blade. His purple feline-like eyes narrowed as blood lust overshadowed his thoughts. He smiled sadistically as he raised his bladed arm and readied himself to rip this little lost girl in his arms apart.
Lust noticed this and began to extend her fingers into the ultimate spear, needing to stop the eldest of her kin from killing the pathetic human child crying into his chest, more for her own sake than anyone else's.
"See ya later pipsqueak!" Envy laughed as he swung his arm down in maniacal glee. Suddenly a bright flash of blue light invaded the clearing and temporarily blinded the three homunculi.
"The hell?" Envy hissed as he craned his neck back at an impossible angle to witness his bladed arm being held back by various ivy and wooden vines that had extended from the walls of the mansion and had moved across the clearing. He struggled for a moment as he still saw red and got ready to tear the annoying things from him, that is, until a bone chilling voice made him pause all together.
"Enough Envy" Dante commanded as she slowly entered the sun filled clearing.
Lust and Gluttony stiffened in surprise at not being able to sense their master's overwhelming presence before as they quickly bowed. Dante paid neither of them any heed as she quickly approached Envy, who had quieted once his Master stood before him.
He inwardly gulped as recognized the calm, almost undetectable, amount of anger underneath the perpetually serene old face of the body she continued to inhabit.
Dante turned abruptly away and calmly walked back towards the manor. The rest of the homunculi held no hesitation as they followed their master into the large mansion.
Once within the grand living room Dante turned her attention once more on the young girl clinging to Envy.
"She is quite young. I was expecting someone much older." Dante mused as she continued to watch August silently sob into the Envy's chest.
"This one of the children I presume Lust?"
Lust stood up as did Gluttony.
"Yes, the child is around eight years old." Dante seemed to nod her head ever so slightly as she observed the child from afar. Her neutral gaze then fell on her first-born.
"Envy, bring her here." He needed no further command as he quickly gripped the small child by her fragile shoulders and tried to pry her loose.
August still remain in her delusional state as she cling tighter to her pillow and tried to kick away whatever force was trying to tear her away from her happy place. She had assumed it was her annoying big sister, and she would rather go eat a shoe then give up her spot again!
"What the hell is wrong with this kid!" Envy grunted as he tried again.
Either he was getting weak or this little shrimp was somehow stronger than him. Neither option sounded particularly desirable to him. He twitched as he scowled down at the small warmth that was invading his personal space.
"It's not human" He deadpanned as he glared daggers at the clingy yet somehow still unconscious brat.
Dante held back an amused smirk as she quickly viewed the situation her 'once' son had now found himself in. Of all the people in the world this little girl had the worst luck in the history of humanity to end up with Envy as her personal pillow.
Dante resisted a sigh as the child continued to cry from her nightmare. She too longed to have the sobbing brat silenced but she knew she would have to exercise her tolerance and self-control if she had ever hoped to gain something from this little wailing excuse of a life. Dante abruptly stood from the ornate chair she sat in as she walked over to them both. Envy ceased struggling as he watched his Master curiously.
"Honestly Envy" Dante sighed aloud as she clapped her hands together "How hard is it to pry a little girl off yourself"?
Envy snarled silently to himself at the backhanded comment. If it were anyone else he would have broken they're face in a long time ago. Suddenly bright blue sparks began to dance from her hands as Dante placed one atop of the young girl's head. As quick as they had come the sparks vanished into the girl's skull and in that glorious moment Envy finally felt the girl's small hands release him as she went limp.
Dante glanced at Envy. His face was emotionless, but she could feel the hate and raw anger pouring out from him in waves. His eyes held an untold amount of malice in them as he glared at the child that now tumbled off him without his support. August fell hard onto the cold marble floor.
"Wow that kid could sleep through a train wreck," Envy whistled as he kicked the sleeping little girl none too gently with his foot.
August continued sleeping, snoring softly if you listened hard enough. She had stopped crying shortly after Dante had used her alchemy to fluctuate the girl's chemical and hormone imbalances, thus ceasing her nightmarish train of memories. After watching Envy kick August a few more times she gave him a pointed glare after seeing the girl twitch slightly and then slowly began to stir. Dante deducted that the child would come to in a few short moments as she then turned her full attention on Lust for more important matters.
"I see you have brought me the younger child-" Dante paused as she noticed the bandages constricting the child's right calf, a few of them had become bloody and soiled with dirt and dried medication.
"-In more or less able condition."
All three of them looked away as they tried to ignore that last part, though they knew they would have to explain that to their master all too soon.
But where is the older one?" Dante questioned as she eyed the female sin critically. The side of Lust's mouth twitched but nothing gave away as she felt a sudden wariness for her master's question. She began to become oddly nervous, well as nervous as a soulless being could become, as she began to fear for her existence.
"The older child is dead" Lust spoke neutrally.
Everything then became completely silent. The impenetrable silence lingered for a long and terribly drawn out moment as Dante soaked in this new information.
"Dead you say" Dante spoke as the room suddenly turned colder. August shivered slightly as she subconsciously hugged herself for warmth, wondering all the while where her pillow had run gone. The child 'hum-ed' under her breath as she decided to wait five more minutes before she had to wake up. Though the cold affected August, to a homunculus the temperature difference meant nothing, but what did warn them of impending danger was the faint pull in the room as if the very energy was being sucked out of the air itself. Not another second had passed before there was a bright light, and an explosion shook the room.
Black blood fell stained the brightly polished marble floor as a series of large spiked boulders exploded out of the ground and impaled both Lust and Gluttony. Envy jumped back in surprise. As the dust settled Dante watched her creations struggled helplessly against her alchemy.
"I warned you not to fail me and yet here you do so regardless" She spoke, impassive to their struggling and occasional cries of pain as the spikes occasionally would shoot out of the ground and impale both of the homunculi repeatedly. Envy tried not to wince as he watched another spear emerge from the floor and stab Gluttony through his head. Gluttony let out a loud whine as he kept thrashing.
"But not too worry" Dante mused as she walk closer to them. "I will not replace you. After all you did bring me something" The sound of another clap resonating through the manor and the familiar crackle of blue light danced around the room as Dante released her creations. Lust grunted as her body began fixing the damaged done to it as Gluttony groaned in pain.
Lust looked sideways to glare at Envy once she had noticed that he remained unscathed. Envy smirked once he caught the glare directed towards him. His eyes narrowed as Lust broke off her angered gaze and widened her eyes ever so slightly as she looked past him.
"Master…the child is awake" Envy's own eyes widened in surprise as well as he spun around to see impossibly bright green eyes staring at all of them.
"Yes I am aware of that Lust" Dante merely smiled as she turned towards the very terrified little girl sitting before her.
"Hello there little one, you are finally awake I see" The kind old woman smiled innocently at August as she came and knelt beside her.
"Now then, how long have you been sitting there child?" The little girl remained mute as she watched Dante's pretend show of kindness.
August watched the woman, her little face giving nothing away, though she was inwardly breaking at the seams in terror. She had been awake for everything. She had watched this strange lady do that same funny looking magic stuff that her and June used to do, and she had seen her make those giant pointy rocks to stab those two scary strangers from before. She could barely believe her eyes when after the lady clapped her hands and let them go, that they were still alive. They even picked themselves up a second later as if nothing had happened.
August shivered as she remembered those two from last night; the scary, short, bald man that ate people and the very pretty lady that could make her fingers into really long claws. August gulped as she glanced around quickly and realized that everyone was staring at her.
Unable to speak August simply shook her head. Dante's gaze narrowed for only a fraction of a second before she sighed sadly and slowly stood. "I see then, do you at least have a name little one" Blinking in confusion, August wondered why on earth would they want to know her name if they were going to hurt her anyway. Frowning at her own timidness to speak, August then had an idea as she noticed what appeared seemed some ink on the floor right next to her.
Everyone watched the child as she hesitantly stood and limped over to the small puddle of black blood near where Lust and Gluttony were impaled and dipped her fingers into the substance. Envy's eyes widen slightly in surprise, Lust's eyebrows rose in disgusted shock, Gluttony sucked on his finger in confusion, and Dante merely raised one eye brow in interest as the little girl began scribbling something on the floor. There in black smeared letters August put down her name.
"August? My, my, what an unusual name for a little girl." Dante mused aloud as she kept on smiling at this strange little girl. August frowned slightly as she wrote out something else.
"You wish to know why you are here," Dante read out loud again. August nodded her head savagely. Dante smirked faintly.
"Of all the questions you could ask, such as what they are-" she gestured to the homunculi "Or where you are-" She gestured to the large elaborate living room "You choose to ask what we want from you?" August continued to nod, though more wearily this time. Dante laughed aloud at this.
"Smart girl, very well I will tell you soon but first I believe a bath is in order" At this everyone's mouth dropped open in shock, disbelief, or puzzlement.
"That thing is not staying here!" Envy suddenly barked as he sent the dirtiest glare he could towards a very petrified August. She whimpered as she ducked her head and curled in around herself.
"Now Envy, it is impolite to frighten our guest, especially one so young and impressionable" Dante chided lightly, though the silent threat lingered underneath her words. He paid it no heed as he felt his fists clench at his sides. His anger rolled off of his form in waves as his master continued to ignore him. She walked closer to the child's side and gently grabbed her lithe shoulder.
"Come now dear; wait outside in the hallway-yes that one- and I will see to your bath in a moment. After all I can't stand dirty things in my home" August tried not to flinch as the surprisingly strong old woman pulled her up to her feet and quickly escorted her into the hall before promptly closing the large door on little August, who only felt as baffled as ever. August shuffled her feet timidly as she waited and listened to the indistinguishable voices floating from the other side of the wall.
"Are you serious about keeping that stupid little human" Envy continued to rave as he glared challengingly at his master.
"But of course" The earlier innocent grin was wiped away, as if it never existed, and replaced with a sneering scowl as Dante watched her oldest creation continue to make a fool of himself.
"What good is she? What could this little shrimp possibly have to do with anything of value to the plan?"
"For one she has the potential to become a extremely powerful alchemist." Envy froze, as well as Lust and Gluttony, in stunned silence.
"What" Lust breathed but was quickly silenced by a scolding glare from Dante.
"It would be utterly foolish to waste such a rare talent that can help in my plans to perfect a philosopher stone." Envy snorted aloud.
"Do you seriously think that little pipsqueak can make a philosopher stone!?"
"With time and training" Dante mused as she glared at Envy. Envy's narrowed eyes widened as he took a step back and pointed an accusing finger at his senile, old, master.
"You're KEEPING it!" He sneered in shock and disgust.
"Yes" Dante snapped coldly, as her expression darkened considerably.
"That child will stay here and become my pupil so I may mold and shape her into becoming a great alchemist like myself." Dante smirked as she slowly began walking back towards her seat.
"Whether she can, in time, complete a perfected philosopher stone is irrelevant, for she will serve for other uses as well." The older woman finally sat as she turned to her servants once more.
"That child will become a powerful ally and once I am done with her she will only seek to obey me."
Envy gritted his teeth angrily as he crossed his arms. Lust frowned slightly as she pondered on this new addition to her master's plan. Gluttony suddenly whined disappointed.
"So… I can't eat her?" The fat sin stressed as he watched his master curiously.
"No Gluttony, you may not eat this child." Dante ordered patiently. She sighed impatiently as she briskly rose.
Gluttony sighed sadly as his meaty shoulders slumped forward dejectedly.
"Now, if you three don't mind I other matters to deal with other than listening to all of you complain." The old woman spoke coldly as she began walking to the hallway doors.
"Wait, are you serious! How the hell is keeping this little alchemy brat such a good idea?!" Envy snarled angrily as he threw his arms up in exasperation.
Dante's calmly opened her lilac eyes as she evaluated the ridiculous temper tantrum before her.
"I'm glad to see you are so accepting of this new development Envy" She mused casually. Said sin's eye twitched dangerously.
"Because of you enthusiasm, I believe you would be the perfect candidate to watch over the child and to make sure she stays alive and unharmed." Envy stood frozen, as if he had forgotten how to move. Lust and Gluttony stood just as rigidly before they quickly began to move silently away from the deathly quiet sin. Dante simply smiled before glaring harshly at him.
"This is the price for your stubbornness today Envy. Hopefully this will teach you to have a bit more self-control and a tad more respect for your elders."
The master of the homunculi hid a sadistic smile as she paused in the open doorway.
"Always remember who you are talking to Envy, and if you fail me this time rest assured I will not hesitate to replace you with another and end your meager existence."
That was all that Dante said as the ornate wooden door closed softly behind her, and both the elderly woman and child disappeared down the lavish hallways of the eerily silent mansion.
Please review if you have any comments you would like to share or questions you would like to ask. If you would like to voice a complaint or correct me on something I might have missed in my editing than by all means PM my account. Again, thank you those that read this and who continue to follow this story.
As well, don't worry if this chapter felt to be too much of a filler chapter, more is to come. ;)
