The Ties That Bind
Chapter Five:
The Enemy of Old

"Ready?...One... Two... Three!" Winry deftly turned the handle in her hand, connecting Edward's nerves to his automail arm. Pinako had connected his leg at the same time, as per Edward's request. It had been a month and a half since his return as a Homunculus, and they had already preformed the corrective surgery on his ports. Winry had spent a great deal of time on this new set of automail, working tirelessly for the past week.

The automail twitched as Edward bit his lip to keep himself from crying out in pain, allowing his head to drop to his chest. Winry and Pinako maneuvered the boy to a nearby couch, where Winry promptly covered him with a blanket and left, to let him rest.

Alphonse was sitting on the porch outside, waiting on his brother patiently. If there was anything Alphonse had learned in his life, it was patience. Having to sit completely still for hours on end while the night passed was no easy feat for him to grow accustomed to, but he had, in a sense. The reason many people doubted he was related to his brother because of the patient way he had with everything, the complete opposite of Edward.

So, when he heard the sounds of his brother's distinctive footsteps approaching the front of the house, he continued to watch the sky patiently until he heard the door open and his brother step up next to him. He heard him laugh, and he looked up at him.

"How do I look?" He asked, echoing the words from years past. Alphonse just smiled and stood up next to his brother. He was moving his fingers randomly, turning his wrist this way and that.

"Better than what you designed?"

"This is in a whole other dimension when compared to my pieces of crap." He stretched his arms out in front of him and interlocked his fingers together. "You have no idea how annoying it is to not be able to do something as simple as this."

"That's why we're here, Ed." Winry said softly, leaning on the doorframe of the front door. "How's it feel to not walk with a limp or with a crutch?"

"You have no idea how wonderful it is."

--

"Hey, Brother?" Alphonse asked his brother quietly as Edward prepared to walk off the front porch.

"Yeah, Alphonse?" Ed turned and looked at his brother.

"Do you think you can still do alchemy?" Edward thought for a moment.

"...I don't know..." Edward looked around for something to transmute, and saw his crutch laying on the ground in front of the porch. A sadistic little smile found its way onto Edward's face as he jumped down the few steps to the ground and bent down to the ground in front of the evil crutch.

"Brother... What are you doing?" Alphonse asked, watching him from his spot leaning against the railing.

"Payback..." He said while clapping his hands together and touching the crutch. The familiar blue alchemic glow encased it, and a few seconds later a large sheet of paper was laying where the wood had been. He picked the sheet up before violently ripping it in half. He placed the two new sheets together and ripped them, and continued until the paper was too tiny to rip anymore. He threw the pieces on the ground and stomped on them, twisting his foot to grind them into the ground.

All the while ranting about the crutch and how stupid it was.

--

"...Shou Tucker... The former Sewing-Life Alchemist..." Dante said cooly as she approached the monster of a chimera that was now Tucker. He looked at her wide-eyed, backing away from her gently, the lifeless body of Nina clutched protectively to his chest.

"Who are you? How did you find me?" He asked in his whisper-of-a-voice. They were in the largest chamber underneath the old gun factory where he previously worked.

"Don't worry, Tucker. I'm not with the State. My name is Lyra, and I know how you can get your precious Nina's soul back." She said gently, glancing at the body in his arms.

"But I already tried... And now she doesn't like to play anymore..."

"Yes, but that's because you don't know how to attach a soul to something." She smiled. "But there are two brothers who can do it."

"Edward and Alphonse..." He replied after a minute.

"Yes, the Elric brothers. They can attach souls easily." She paused, letting the twisted gears of Tucker's mind spin a little. "Will you let me help?" She asked and he nodded.

"Please, help me bring back my Nina."

"Of course. Clear out this room, and erase all the transmutation circles. I'll be back with a friend in a little while. We're going to need his help." Tucker nodded, and Dante-Lyra exited the dank basement. She walked out of the factory, back toward Dublith. While she was walking away, a soft white light encased her, and when it disappeared, a young androgynous teenager with long green-black spiky hair was in her place.

Envy laughed a bit.

"The first step to destroying those bastards is complete."

--

"Brother!" Alphonse jumped to his brother's side, who had nearly collapsed as he entered a coughing fit. It didn't last for long, and he was soon standing, waving his brother away.

"I'm fine, now."

"You need to go to a doctor."

"I don't need a doctor. It's just a simple cold." He argued.

"But it's not even cold here yet."

"I picked it up in England. I already felt sick when I came back." Alphonse decided to stop arguing with his brother, but shot him a glance that made the elder look away. The brothers then proceeded with their previously assigned task: shopping for food for dinner. They were living with Izumi again, because she was whipping Edward back into shape. He had decided to rejoin the Military, so he could help people. Alphonse wasn't going to join this time around, either, but he'd still be at his brother's side.

But for the past two weeks, Edward hadn't been acting normally. At first, he just started eating less and less. Then, the week before, the coughing fits started. They were horrible, and Alphonse couldn't figure out what was causing them.

Edward knew, but he couldn't tell Alphonse. He couldn't tell him that their theories were wrong. He couldn't tell him that he knew his body was slowly trying to shut down. He couldn't tell him that he could feel his life slowly being drained away. He couldn't tell him that he was dying. And he definitely couldn't tell him the only remedy for what was happening to his body.

He couldn't tell him that he needed Philosopher's Stones to survive.

To Be Continued
Gasp! Poor Ed! I'm an evil authoress to put him through this...Oh well.
There it is. The rest of the plot is crammed into the next chapter. Sorry if everything seems... disjointed. It's just my writing style.
Also, I would like to add that Lyra/Dante-Lyra was, in fact, Envy in disguise. Just in case anyone missed it!

I would like to thank everyone who reviewed last chapter and/or added me to their alerts lists/ favorites: Yugisrose, Bar-Ohki, Yenattirb, Sesshs-Grl, Bulma and Vegeta fan, and Dagger-dice. Dial-ups a pain and I'm not able to reply individually. Sorry!

Next: Preparations on Wednesday, May 14, 2008. After this chapter, be prepared for really... intense... stuff. I'm not going to say much more than that on the subject.

Be kind! Feed plot-kitties! Review!

Shadow Kat-Lyn