Suddenly, the arms retracted to the body and then a huge amount of shadow arms reached from the ground towards us, Edward ran left, and I moved around to the right as Pride focused on Edward for a few moments. I moved into the trees as Edward created a wall to block, Pride, but it was quickly destroyed as I was hiding in the forest, the shadowy arms hadn't found me yet as I pushed myself into a tree.
"A barrier's not gonna work against him!" Greed yelled,
"Just keep moving! He uses the shadows to stretch as far as he can!" I called from the forest and suddenly the tree I was in was cut down as I revealed my location, I pulled out my sword from its sheath and slid down a smaller tree and onto the ground as another shadow tried to slice me, but I felt a shadow wrap around my leg and squeeze as I screamed out and he lifted me into the air. My sword fell into the floor and pierced the ground near Greed as I dangled above them, Greed was also wrapped up in Pride's clutches as I felt another shadow arm slowly wrap its way over my body and reach my neck, chocking me.
"Now then… I've captured your friends, Fullmetal. Ready to give up?" Pride asked as Edward looked at me for a moment, and I gripped at my neck, unable to pull Pride away from my throat, "You're not going to make me threaten the lives of the slum dwellers too, are you?" Pride asked,
"True to form… He always goes straight for the cheap shot in order to get what he wants." Greed spoke, the shadow arms slowly move on the ground towards Edward.
"I think it's about time I start winning some of these fights for a change." Edward spoke and clapped his hands and put them to the floor. The light shone around him and expanded outwards and into the slum, I looked at the slums and noticed the lights turning off quickly, I gasped as the shadows disappeared around my body. I screamed in surprise as I started to fall from the air and I heard footsteps quickly running forward, I felt someone grab me as we landed in a heap on the floor and I heard Edward groan,
"Edward… are you okay?" I spoke and moved off his body and felt my arms around as I couldn't see much, I felt his chest as he sat up and groaned a little,
"I'm fine… are you okay?" Edward asked, I nodded and hummed as I felt his arm reach out and grab my own.
We stood up and Edward put his arms around me and held me close for a moment,
"Stay close, I don't want to lose you." Edward spoke,
"That's cute." I smiled to myself and kissed his cheek,
"Shut up…" Edward mumbled as he looked away.
"Hey… Hey, Ed, Rea!" Darius called,
"I'm over here." Edward spoke,
"Darius, are you okay?" I asked,
"I'm fine," Darius walked to our side, "where's your brother?" Darius asked,
"Same spot as earlier… his body clanks whenever he moves." Edward spoke,
"Alright… Let's get out of here for the time being." Darius spoke,
"I'm not gonna leave Al behind like that." Edward spoke and looked in Darius' direction,
"I know how worried you've gotta be… but what if we get close to him and it turns out to be a trap?" Darius asked a logical question as I felt Edward freeze and then look down, my eyes started to adjust to the darkness, "we've gotta stick close to one another until Heinkel's done with Pride. We don't want to accidentally attack each other." Darius explained.
We started to move through the darkness together, I held onto Edward as he walked in front of me, and we could hear fighting in the distance.
"So those sounds… That's the lion guy fighting with Pride?" Edward asked,
"It's always your best bet to let the nocturnal animals handle fighting in the dark." Darius spoke as he was trying to lead us to Greed.
I felt Darius grab my arm quickly and stop still,
"Darius?" I looked at him as he looked around quickly,
"Get down! Now!" Darius yelled, he grabbed me, Edward and Greed down to the ground. Hearing a loud bang on a tree next to us I took a deep breath,
"I smell you, Fullmetal Alchemist, Mother… And I smell Greed." Gluttony spoke as I frowned in the direction the voice was coming form,
"Of course, he'd bring Gluttony!" Greed sighed,
"That fat slob?!" Edward questioned
"That makes sense. Now I know how Pride managed to track us down. He used Gluttony's sense of smell to follow our scent." Greed explained.
Gluttony sniffed the air as I slowly got up from the ground,
"I also smell someone… I never smelled before, and they smell tasty!" Gluttony spoke and walked forward, Greed put his hand on Darius' shoulder,
"It's all you… Go for it." Greed spoke, "Oh, and he's a Homunculus by the way." Greed added,
"How do you expect me to fight a monster like that?" Darius asked as I tried to focus on Gluttony,
"I think he's using his sense of smell to help in him the darkness…" I spoke as we heard Gluttony suddenly fall over,
"I'd say you're evenly matched for a fair fight." Greed smirked,
"My animal instincts are calling me an idiot for listening to you." Darius growled and I put my hands on Edward's shoulders gently, "So I guess I'm an idiot! The first strike is mine!" Darius yelled as he transformed and slammed his fists on his chest repeatedly. Darius charged forward as I helped Edward off the ground, and we started moving through the darkness trying to avoid the fighting… but we had no luck…
"And now for the final blow!" Darius yelled and I heard Edward bend over and fall to the floor in agony,
"Why, Mr. Gorilla? Weren't we sticking close to avoid attacking each other?" Edward asked,
"Sorry…" Darius put his hand behind his head as I knelt beside Edward,
"Come on ya big baby." I spoke as he shot up and glared at me,
"You try getting lumped in the stomach by him!" Edward snapped as I chuckled,
"At least I was smart enough to keep at arms distance during the fight." I smirked as Edward grunted in annoyance.
We heard Gluttony tumble to the ground in the distance and Greed moved about,
"Ling?" Edward questioned,
"That's right!" Ling responded,
"You're making me mad! All I wanna do is eat! But you won't let me eat you, and I'm getting hungrier! You're being mean! So, I'm just gonna have to swallow everything!" Gluttony yelled and I heard something changing on his body.
"I sense something bad…" Darius spoke as we looked at him,
"Bad, how bad?" Edward asked,
"It's coming this way." Ling spoke, Edward grabbed onto me and held me close,
"What's coming this way?!" Edward yelled,
"I've felt this presence before." Ling spoke, I then clicked as I started to feel the pressure in the air change similar to when Gluttony swallowed us previously,
"I feel it too." I nodded as Edward looked at me,
"Will you freaks tell me what the hell you're talking about?! Hello?! Normal guy here! I can't see in the dark!" Edward was freaking out as I smacked him across the face to calm him down,
"It's the same as before, at the cabin." I spoke to Edward, he just held his cheek, Edward clicked onto what I was talking about though as he gripped onto me securely looked in the direction Greed and Darius were looking.
Suddenly, a gush of wind moved past us, and we heard it moving around Gluttony, he suddenly screamed in pain,
"What happened?" Edward called, Darius pushed Edward and me down,
"Stay down kids," Darius spoke as Gluttony started screaming in agony,
"Is there something else out there?" Edward asked, we could see flickering lights of alchemic reactions taking place in the distance, probably from Gluttony healing,
"I'm not sure." Ling answered, "But I think it might—It is!" Ling grinned,
"I smell you!" Gluttony yelled, "I know… that smell!" Gluttony added, we saw Gluttony roll over and a figure stand in front of him, the light of his healing flicking off automail limbs which adorned a sharp blade from the elbow, Ling walked forward,
"I'm glad to see you're okay! I was wondering when you'd find me… Lan Fan." Ling spoke as she turned with her traditional mask on. I grinned seeing her.
We could hear the blood curdling screams from Gluttony as Lan Fan continued her onslaught of the Homunculus, which was good enough as we could see next to nothing in the darkness. Ling joined her in the assault as we stayed to the side,
"The ruler of Xing controls the chi known as the Dragon's Pulse… This knowledge allows him to govern the flow of our kingdom." I heard Fu's voice in the darkness as Darius and Edward froze and looked in the direction it was coming from, "As the personal servants of our ruler, we too are trained to read the flow of chi. Not only that, but we're also trained to act in the darkness." Fu looked at us as I smiled at him, Darius looked terrified and Edward looked suspicious,
"I recognise that voice." Edward spoke as we heard Fu remove his mask,
"Long time no see… Huh, kid." Fu spoke,
"I still can't see you, Fu… But wait… How were you able to find us?" Edward asked,
"We've been hiding out in Central trying to keep an eye on things for a while now. We detected several large chi converging out here. So, we followed them." Fu explained as Edward stood straight, a bang was heard in the distance as we all looked away, "there are two enormous forms of chi battling nearby." Fu added,
"That must be Greed and Gluttony then." I held my chin,
"Greed huh? The one who swallowed the Young Lord." Fu grunted, "And then there's another large chi within the forest." Fu added,
"Our companion is fighting a Homunculus called Pride out there." Darius explained,
"Then there's you, my lady." Fu spoke in our direction and then moved again, "There's also one more in the settlement nearby and this one is very similar to you… its quite disquieting… it seems to dwarf the others in comparison, like yourself, Reaka, though your aura has always been kinder." Fu explained as I smiled to myself,
"That's probably Ed's father." Darius spoke,
"You think so?" Edward asked as I nodded,
"If it's like mine then that makes sense." I explained,
"Are you saying that your father isn't human?" Fu asked,
"Trust me, he's the least of our concerns right now… We've gotta figure out how to deal with these Homunculi." Edward spoke,
"You don't have to worry about Gluttony. Lan Fan's dealing with him." Fu explained,
"Lan Fan is fighting Gluttony?" Edward questioned as I looked at him, "Hold on! It hasn't even been a full seven months since her automail was attached!" Edward explained and took a few steps forward, "That's crazy, old man! She's not gonna last without help!" Edward explained and he suddenly took off into the woods.
"Edward!" I yelled as he ran forward, but a large explosion caught us all off guard and he came flying back into me as I landed on the ground, Edward was laying on top of me as I groaned in pain from the impact,
"I said not to worry… We have resources besides hand-to-hand combat." Fu explained as Edward sat up,
"Give us some warning next time!" Edward yelled in frustration as another explosion went off and Edward sheltered me, he started coughing as the smoke cleared up and I tried to lift myself from the ground.
"Damn... Alright, that eases my mind a little." Edward spoke as he brushed his coat off, I looked at Fu and frowned,
"Do you have anything else… beside explosives?" I asked as Edward looked at me, Fu looked at me,
"Hm? All sorts of things… Tear gas bombs, Flash bombs, flares." Fu explained as we all looked to the slum and saw torches starting to light up,
"The lights are starting to come back on. Which means Pride can use the shadows again." Edward explained as Darius gasped,
"We need to get over there and help Heinkel!" Darius explained,
"Yeah." Edward nodded,
"Can you help us?" Edward looked at Fu, "I need you to detect Pride's chi and lead me to him." Edward spoke,
"Hm?" Fu hummed,
"I could really use your help, old man." Edward requested as we both looked at him, Fu glanced away for a moment and then looked between Edward and me,
"I'll do what I can." Fu spoke and we started to follow him,
"Ed. Rea…" Darius spoke, we stopped and looked back at Darius, "Watch yourselves. Don't forget what Pride is… Alright?" Darius spoke as I smiled,
"Thank you, Darius." I smiled as he nodded, and we turned back to find Pride.
We walked through the forest some more, trying to listen out for Heinkel attacking Pride, we made our way through the forest and not too far away we could hear a commotion. I heard Heinkel roar out in pain,
"No… I see light!" I spoke and Edward suddenly took off running and I quickly saw a light of alchemy on his automail arm, I saw Heinkel with blood coming from his left arm as Edward charged forward as Pride sent an attack to our friend. Edward blocked the shadow with his automail, and I moved beside Heinkel and grabbed his arm gently,
"Just in the nick of time, pops." Edward spoke Heinkel slowly moved his arm down as he gasped seeing us there, "Who would've thought… A little kid like this could be a Homunculus?" Edward lowered his arm as Heinkel put his hand on his shoulder, "I admit you fooled me… Selim Bradley." Edward spoke as I looked at him and glared,
"Appearances rarely show the whole truth… isn't that right, little alchemist?" Pride asked, Edward grunted angrily as I sighed and looked at Heinkel, "Now where were we?" Pride raised his shadows to strike again,
"You need to get back." I looked at Heinkel as I pushed him,
"No… I can't leave you here with that…" Heinkel spoke,
"We can handle ourselves." I looked at Heinkel as he looked down at me, "Just hang back, take a breather," I spoke as Heinkel nodded, Edward had started blocking attacks from Pride as I pushed Heinkel away.
I turned and quickly jumped to the side as Pride tried to aim for me, tripping to the side I rolled on the floor and managed to dodge a few more attacks as Edward took a large assault, he pushed the spears to the side and stood there for a moment. I walked behind Edward and around to his side, Pride was looking frustrated as I was over Edward's left shoulder.
"Looks like I made the right decision by keeping my northern automail after all… This carbon fibre base has turned out to be pretty handy!" Edward put his arm out and Pride looked shocked as I smirked,
"Now why didn't I think of that…" I smirked as I pulled my sheath off my belt and it suddenly sparked and changed material to match Edwards, I also changed it into another blade as my other sword was still lost in the forest. Pride looked happy suddenly as he smirked at us.
"What's the matter? You're not giving up, are you?" Edward laughs slightly, he beckons Pride to fight him again, but Pride just laughs back at us,
"You brought this on yourself." Pride spoke, we heard him moments later, the familiar clank of armour, Alphonse stood to the side,
"Al!" Edward and I called,
"I figured this might give me the advantage. Unless you want to destroy your brother." Pride smirked as I glared at him, Edward smirked and laughed,
"Now, old man!" Edward yelled, Fu suddenly jumped out of the trees and threw a stick in the air, Edward pulled me to him and put his arm over us,
"A flash bomb!? No!" Pride yelled as the light was bright even with our eyes closed and covered in that moment.
We started moving towards Alphonse as Edward pulled me behind him and we kept our free arms covering our faces from the light,
"Darius!" I yelled out,
"I'm on it!" Darius called, he grabbed Alphonse before he fell to the ground,
"Al!" Edward called, and we made it to their side, "He's not conscious… You've gotta get him out of here. Now!" Edward explained,
"And you're positive he's not still possessed?" Darius asked,
"Yeah… I've noticed that if you sever a part of their body. It disintegrates into dust. The flash bomb severed the shadows holding Al's body… So, he's free from Pride's grasp." Edward explained as I heard Pride moving, I stood in front of them all quickly with my new carbon fibre sword, "Have another!" Edward yelled and threw another flash bomb in the air as Darius moved behind us.
Gluttony suddenly ran to Pride's side and the light exploded, Gluttony was unable to cover his face in time and was blinded, writhing on the floor in pain,
"My eyes!" Gluttony moaned,
"You're pushing your luck." Pride spoke as Ling moved to our side, another shadow slowly started to rise from the floor, Lan Fan landed besides Ling. "They've really roughed you up." Pride looked at Gluttony,
"Yeah, but only 'cuz Greed and that girl weren't fighting fair. They were both doing something so that they could see me in the dark." Gluttony explained as Pride half turned his head to the duo, he looked back at Gluttony,
"Is that so?" Pride looked between the two for a moment in anger but then looked at Gluttony with a smirk, "Gluttony… How many times have they killed you now?" Pride asked,
"I lost count… but I know it was a lot, though." Gluttony admitted, I frowned as I listened to them, I put my hand on Edward's arm and he glanced at me for a moment,
"They've beaten me up pretty badly as well. The way things are going there's a very real chance they might annihilate us." Pride spoke as we saw the shadows moving on the floor around Gluttony. Edward was shocked by Pride's words as I gripped his arms tightly, the feeling in the air was quite eerie.
"Yeah… but that's okay 'cuz Father'll fix us." Gluttony spoke, though he looked down and saw all the shadows surrounding him, "No… Please don't do it, Pride!" Gluttony begged, Pride laughs, and he suddenly grabs Gluttony in his mouth, we all gasp and watch Gluttony scream out as he's held in the air, "No, Pride! Don't eat me! It hurst! Please help me! Lust!" Gluttony screamed at the top of his lungs, and I put my hand to my mouth as the body hit the floor and Pride's shadows attacked it like a lion on a gazelle.
An unsettling smile appeared on Pride's lips as we couldn't believe what we were witnessing,
"He devoured him… one of his own kind!" Ling spoke,
"Ahhh… this should make things much easier… I can practically smell every movement you make. I could do without the ravenous hunger, but I supposed that I'll just have to sate it." Pride smiled at us, but moments later sniffed the air, "Oh wait… I recognise that scent. You're somewhere close by, aren't you? Hohenheim…" Pride smirked and looked to the side.
Pride looked back at us a moment later,
"Tell me something, Edward. Do you think your father would step forward to save you if I chopped off one of your limbs?" Pride asked as I glared at him and Pride sent an attack, we all jumped back and I ran back from the fresh onslaught with Edward nearby, Edward crashed into a tree as I tripped and rolled on the floor. Pride smirked as another shadow pushed through all the open shadows and towards Edward,
"Look out!" Greed yelled,
"Edward!" I yelled and he ducked down as the shadow chopped the tree in half, he targeted Greed next, Edward made his way over to Greed and Lan Fan as I was the other side of the clearing. As Pride sent attacks to try and eat Lan Fan, I saw Edward save her. I slammed my foot on the floor and shot spikes out of the ground and towards Pride as he suddenly used his shadows to block and destroy them.
"Stay out of this, mother!" Pride yelled and I saw shadows coming from either side, I rolled forward and pulled my sheath apart and blocked another two shadows from the front, Pride sent more shadows to attack Heinkel and Fu, which were blocked by Greed as I sent another wave of spikes from the ground to Pride, "I warned you!" Pride looked at me and a shadow came from behind, I deflected it, but it wasn't fast enough as the shadow nicked my waist. I cried out as blood spurted from my right side, Edward and Greed ran towards me as I turned one half of my sheath into a small dagger and deflected another attack, but I was pushed back. Edward and Greed were flung back with me as I crashed into Edward's body.
My waist started healing as I took a breath, Edward looked at me as I lay on my back besides him, he was on his hands and knees,
"Now then… I can see you more clearly without those trees in the way." Pride smirked as I sat up, "There's not much point in trying to hide from me," Pride looked into the forest, "I can smell each move you make." Pride smirked as I slowly lifted myself from the ground, my body fully recovered as I gripped my dagger in hand,
"Dammit… you still breathin' over there? How are you, mother?" Greed called,
"Does wheezing count?" Edward groaned as I just gripped my blade,
"I'm grand." I growled and glared at Pride,
"This isn't really the time to worry about others, is it, Greed? As soft as you've become, I wonder how much longer you can survive?" Pride smirked,
"Shut up, you beast." Greed snarled,
"What a horrific thing to say to your own brother, Greed. Honestly, I might have to eat you." Pride smirked,
"I promise that I won't go down easy, brother." Greed smirked as Pride grinned evilly.
Suddenly, Pride started sniffing the air and looked to the side, we soon saw Van walking out from the forest with his hands in his pockets,
"Oh… So, you've chosen to show yourself. Eh, Hohenheim?" Pride spoke,
"The hero always waits until the last second to make his move." Van answered as he walked forward, I tilted my head to the side and sighed,
"Hero? Interesting… you must think you can defeat me." Pride smirked,
"No, I'd never think that. I'm not dumb enough to try and fight you." Van smiled.
Pride slowly recoiled his shadows to his body and watched Van solely, his attention taken away from all of us, and all of our attention was on the two of them. Only to be interrupted by Alphonse suddenly running out of the shadows and straight towards Pride. Pride suddenly grabbed Alphonse just before he could grab him,
"Are you joking? This was your pathetic plan? You should have run when you had the chance." Pride spoke as Alphonse was getting closer in each passing moment as I stood there in horror, what was he thinking?! What are they planning here?! Alphonse was forced to his knees; the helmet fell from his body and onto the floor.
"Al, no!" Edward went to run forward but Van put his arm out, Edward stopped and looked at his father in confusion and frustration,
"It seems as though your son enjoys being held hostage. It's either that, or he's supremely stupid." Pride smirked,
"That's crossing a line, Pride. Don't ever mock my son." Van growled with anger alchemical lightning suddenly shot around the surrounding area and the earth began to shake as massive moulds of earth lifted from the ground and came together. I saw Alphonse grab Pride in the centre and hold him securely,
"Hohenheim!" Pride yelled and a shadow jumped out and targeted my best friend, but it was just shy by a few inches of his throat as it disappeared from the air.
Edward was shocked for a few moments, but I saw anger consume him as Alphonse was potentially still in danger,
"What the hell are you doing?!" Edward yelled, "Al's trapped in there with that monster! How could you do something like that?!" Edward asked as I put my hand on Edward's arm, trying to see reason, there would be a reason… right? Van turned around,
"It wasn't my idea." Van answered as he looked at Edward, "Al was the one who suggested this." Van added, this shocked Edward and me, as we both stared up at him. "It would've been nearly impossible to defeat Pride. And it was only a matter of time before the fight spread to the slums. Since we knew we couldn't defeat him. I acted as a decoy, and we imprisoned him. We've bought ourselves enough time to figure out how to destroy him." Van explained as we all looked at the massive mound of earth in front of us,
"Well, you could've at least told-!" Edward started,
"Your brother told me not to. He said that you'd be against it, okay?" Van looked at Edward as I frowned, Edward was surprised to hear all this from Van, "Al came up with this plan because it was the only way to make sure everyone would survive. Try to understand." Van explained as Edward looked down with a small frown on his face, I took a deep breath and looked up at the earth, Alphonse made an amazing sacrifice here, but we were going to save him, he was going to be fine.
"Now… let's get to work putting these fires out." Van turned on his heel and walked towards the forest as I stepped in front of Edward and put my hand on his shoulder, he walked by me and to the wall of the mound.
"Al!" Edward yelled, I smiled to myself and walked beside him,
"Al! Can you hear us?!" I called and Edward looked at me in surprise as I grinned at him, "He's going to be fine, Edward." I spoke quietly,
"Brother! Rea!" Alphonse called, we could faintly hear him over the sound of the raging fires behind us, Edward put his hand on the earth mound and his other hand grabbed mine,
"Hey, Al!" Edward yelled again,
"Sorry, brother… it's not much of a reunion, huh?" Alphonse spoke as Edward grunted, I gripped his hand in mine and put my other hand on his shoulder, "But… this is all my fault, so I had to do something. And besides… I only have to stay in here for one day." Alphonse explained as I frowned, I could see Edward was in deep thought as he was listening to Alphonse, "I promise I'll be okay, brother." Alphonse called, Edward clenched his fist as I leaned my forehead on his shoulder and frowned, this isn't how we imagined meeting back up with Alphonse like that.
I went to move away from Edward as I wanted to give him a moment, but he squeezed my hand and refused to let go,
"Ed…?" I spoke quietly and he looked at me,
"I'm okay." Edward answered, he looked to the sky and then the fires started to die down. Edward sighed and we moved away from the mound, leaving Alphonse inside with Pride.
It wasn't long before Edward stumbled across Doctor Marcoh, Scar and the others and brought them to the group. We all sat around together and spoke about the Promised Day and what was to come, Van telling us about Father and his potential seat and location. Fu said he would do some scouting in Central and give us an update as soon as he could. This was going to be handy for the fight ahead. I stood to the side the entire conversation, just listening to them talk. I was nervous… I wasn't going to deny that… I could feel my heart pounding in my chest as I watched Edward, I didn't want to lose him…
I was snapped back to reality when Fu ran away from the group and the four chimera men walked over to us,
"Where did the old man run off to?" Darius asked,
"He's gonna do some recon in Central." Edward spoke,
"By himself?" Darius was shocked,
"Yes, Fu pointed out that he's the only one who's kept his identity secret. So, it'll be easier for him to infiltrate the city and get the information we need." I explained, Darius nodded,
"He also said that he'd do his best to update us on Colonel Mustang's actions. But I'm kind of getting the feeling that he's mostly concerned about Ling." Edward looked out into the forest
"Sure, that makes sense." Darius spoke.
"So, you're all finished discussing things with Scar and the others?" Gerso asked,
"That's right. We've figured out our strategy." Edward spoke,
"That so? It's almost time, huh?" Darius looked at Scar.
I walked with Edward, and we found both of our coats on the floor. I picked up both of our coats and shook the dirt from them, as Darius and Gerso stood behind us as we stared at the earth mound which houses Alphonse and Pride currently.
"Your younger brother's sure got some serious guts." Gerso spoke,
"Trapped in total darkness with that monster? I think that I'd lose my mind if I were in his place." Darius spoke,
"Yeah." Edward glared at the mound. "Al's doing everything possible to keep us safe! The rest of it… well that's up to us." Edward looked at me holding his coat ready to be put on. Edward smirked at me with determination and took the coat from my hands, he pulled it on as I started to put my new coat on as well, Edward looked to the horizon as the sun started to rise…
It's here… I took a deep breath and noticed the determination in Edward's face as I smiled gently.
We've got this…