Fullmetal Alchemist Fan Fiction ❯ Greed's Witnesses ❯ Greed's Witnesses ( Chapter 1 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon. The birds were singing, the grass was as green as ever and the sun was shining its holy light down onto the Earth. It was the perfect day for Edward to be chopping firewood. After all, it'd be better to chop it now so he and his brother would have plenty for the winter months.

The weight of the axe fell onto the last log half, attaching itself to it. He lifted it up once more, then threw it back down upon the stump, the wood splitting. With the back of his hand he wiped the sweat away from his brow. Another day's worth of stock was prepared. All he had to do now was pile it all together with the others.

Putting the axe away, he looked across his yard and over the field toward the Rockbell household. For them this was Sabbath day. A day of rest and contemplation on religious scriptures and the teachings of their Godhead. The Elrics used to have a similar tradition but that was only when their mother was alive. Edward was never one for religion or belief in any God. He was far too disappointed as a child and it had made him a little bitter about the subject.

Alphonse, however, was sincere in his faith and read the Good Book every day he'd had the chance to. He thought of it as a phenomenon because he'd read the same verses one day and the next day it would have a different meaning for him. It was truly astounding the way their God was so consistent yet so confusing.

After he was done, Edward headed back for the house. He and his brother built it themselves. They were very proud of their handywork and did their best to take care of it. It took a while to collect things like furniture and stuff but they eventually filled it up over the year or so they'd had the place.

The man-child could feel his stomach rumble. He placed a hand over it, deciding it would be a good time to prepare lunch. One foot stepped over the threshold of the doorway, followed by the other. He shut the door behind him as he made his way across the living room floor. He passed by the study, its door open. Inside, Al had a book open, copying verses onto paper.

Edward snorted, entering the kitchen. He puffed up his cheek unconsciously, thinking about what he'd like to eat. Before he started digging through cupboards or the pantry, he yelled into the other room, “Yo, Al! You want somethin'na eat?”

“No, I'm fine!” The boy'd reply from the other room without the echo of armour muffling him.

Opening a cabinet he took out a tiny saucer and placed it on the counter before him. A sandwhich would do, but what kind? He opened the sliding door of the bread box and took out a couple slices. Seeing as he didn't know what his options were, he headed toward the refridgerator. He crouched down somewhat, peering inside to see what they'd had.

Scanning what was inside the abyss of white, he thought about what Al must be writing down in his notebook. Why did he think so much of some book that was written by a bunch of scholars that died over a millenia ago? They didn't mean anything. Well, not to him atleast. It was baffling how a bunch of people could believe in something so intensely that it would dictate every move of their lives. Every breath they took was in honour of the deity they followed. Yet, it also disgusted him how some people could use it as a political tool to control whatever group of people they desired.

Edward didn't believe in much but he did believe that that was wrong.

Reaching inside, he took out a jar of fruit preserves and closed the door. It wasn't that he hated the God, it was just that his faith in anything was distorted by a parent that was never present when he'd needed him. He twisted off the lid and set it down then opened a drawer to take out a butterknife. He saw the God as a father and therefore unconsciously confused him with his own father.

If he ever did return to his roots -- his spirituality -- it would be different from what he saw around him. He'd stay the same person but he'd have a deeper appreciation of life. He'd speak more gently, kinder and wouldn't hold back from saying what he truly felt for fear of regret.

Bah! What the hell was he thinking? Stupid religion. Stupid cults. He'd slather a tiny bit of jelly onto the bread. Maybe if there were more options for him -- different religions to look at -- then maybe he would consider it again. Maybe.

That's when there was a knock at the door. Licking what he'd accidentally gotten onto his thumb, and setting the butterknife down, he went to see who it was.

Edward brushed his hands off onto the front of his vest as polite habit before welcoming his guests. The door slid open with three people standing on the step. He gave a dry sniffle before using the back of his hand to quickly rub his nose as to keep from sneezing.

“Oh, it's you.” He said, looking them over. The man-child had never seen them this . . . dressed up before. Before him stood Martel, Limerence, and Ravynn in their Sunday best. It looked as though they'd just walked out of a conservative church.

He saw Limerence wearing a straw hat that had a scarf which tied into a bow beneath her chin. She had on an ankle length skirt that started at her belly-button waist with a white dress shirt tucked into it. Ontop of that was a sweater that matched the pale fuschia scarf. The woman held a stack of pamphlets against her bosom and her pink hair pinned up beneath the hat.

Glancing over at Martel, he noticed that she wore a tan pants suit with a grey tie. Ontop of her head was a bowler hat to go with it. It had a white stripe circling it above the brim. In her hands were a clipboard and pen.

His amber eyes went down to the Ravynn, a child with hair that was lavender at its roots and faded into a light maroon. She wore a little girl's sailor outfit, holding a pile of booklets in her hands, looking up at him sweetly. An almost begging expression in her eyes.

Edward's gaze returned to the woman before him. “..Can I help you with something, Limmy?”

“Are you happy with your life?” The questioning began.

“Uh.. Yeah. Why?”

“Do you feel empty and hopeless?”

“...Uh. Sometimes. Why?”

“Do you feel you need a divine presence in your life?”

The blonde smiled a little, holding the door open, slightly leaning on it. “Yeah, I was just thinking about that.”

“Are you desperately seeking an alternative to a religion you have here?”

“...Yeah.” He said, looking at them curiously.

“...Ray.” Limmy said on cue, looking down at the child. The little girl took a book from her stack and handed it to him. Blinking, he looked down at the cover. It featured a beautiful colour photograph of a nature landscape. Beneath it in italics was from what he could guess as a scriptural quote. Reading the title he sweatdropped.

It read: Our Daily Greed.

“Uh..” His gaze went back up to them.

“And if you join --” Martel shoved a keychain that featured a dangling Ouroborus pendant in his face. “--you'll get this really cool charm!”

His eyes somewhat crossed, looking at it. She yanked it from view.

“Please join, Edward!” Ray cried.

He stood there, staring at them. Soon enough his eyes froze as his body did. There was complete silence. No one moved. This went on for about three minutes.

It was so excruciatingly quiet that they could hear water dripping from the kitchen sink the background.

Limmy felt a warmth explode inside her chest. She wasn't sure if it was love or heartburn but went on ahead and got in Edward's face. She had a joyful smile which could only be translated to creepy in the blonde's mind.

“...Would you like to make Greed your Lord and Saviour today?”

His eyes widened in horror as he backed away only a step.

The woman leaned in closer. The only response he had was to slam the door in her face. It smashed her nose in. Pain had only struck her once she'd hobbled back a couple steps.

Her hands went straight to her mid-face, holding her sore, reddened nose.

“Shit!” She shrieked.

Below, she could hear snickering. Glaring eyes shot down at the child. Martel was already walking over the cobble stones toward the gate.

“C'mon,” The elder woman scolded, “We ain't got all day. There's another house yet.”

Limmy hissed a couple more obscenities that were muffled by her protective hands.

.o.o.o.

His paws were held up by the unrelenting grasp of two slender hands. He growled at the girl before him.

“Winry,” A short, old woman spoke, “quit playing with the cat and help me hang up the laundry.”

She nodded, letting the cat down with a frown. “Sorry, Buyou but I gotta go. I'll play with you later.”

A floral scent filled the air as they continued their chore.

Winry bent down to grab an article of clothing from the basket. With one hand, she reached into the tiny hanging basket for clothes pins. Once in her grasp, she hung the shirt up. Her and her grandmother started talking about the summer events to take place. They were both happy that peace had finally spread across the land. It was all thanks to the new Fuhrer in charge. Sure, there were a few loose ends to tie up but they had enough faith in him to believe they would be settled.

Promptly after they were finished, the old woman hopped down from the tiny step stool. After landing, she brushed her hands on her apron. It was then that her granddaughter noticed people walking toward the house. Immediately, every nerve in her body shot upward. With widened eyes she cried out: "It's them again!"

The two raced toward the house. To Winry's detriment her grandmother had reached it first. Without a thought, the old woman locked her out.

Desperately, the blonde pounded on the door.

"Let me in! Let me in!" She took note that the trio was getting closer.

"You're out of luck, child!" Was the only response. Winry could feel herself tearing up. Those were the last people on Earth she wanted to deal with. The Witnesses. These fanatics were the kind of people the real religious fanatics were afraid of.Her heart sank in her chest. She could feel the black hole sucking in. She would have woed her grandmother's betrayal but there wasn't enough time to. They were already there.

Whirling around, Winry leaned her back against the door as if trying to scoot away. But she couldn't. Their presence was so great that she couldn't tear herself away from them.

"Hi, Winry!" The youngest greeted her.

"Uh.." Winry stuttered quietly, "H-Hi."

"We were wondering if you could join the Cult of Greed," Limmy opening statement was. She held out a copy of Our Daily Greed for Winry to take. The young girl shook her head and held up her hand to kindly decline the offer.

"I would rather stick to my family's tradition, sorry." Winry would say anything at that time to get them to leave.

They all heard a pounding. It was the old woman nailing the door shut. Once the young blonde took notice she turned around and after several succussions, said, "Grandma! What're you doing?!"

There was no answer, except more pounding.

Crap, Winry thought, Leaving me to fend off these crazy people by myself!

"If you join now, you get a cool charm!" Martel advertized.

Turning back to face them, Winry said the first thing to come to mind:

"Would you just stand here a moment, I'll be back soon." Winry zipped away from them and toward the back of the house. Hopefully the back door would be unlocked.

Crap! It was locked too. The girl could've cried at that moment. Who knew what those people were capable of? Especially if they were involved with a homunculus. They could kidnap her and sell her as a slave on the black market. She could've been forced to do the worst of things like sing bad songs at karaoke bars the rest of her life. Either way -- whether they kidnapped her or not -- she'd still have the displeasure of dealing with them.

She had to think quickly, though. Somehow, she had to get rid of those people.

The girl tiptoed around the house back toward the front. She snuck a glance past the corner. They weren't there. They left! Her eyes brightened up. Finally, she could relax. It saved her alot of effort thinking up how to lead them away.

"Whew." She said to herself, her tense muscles loosening up. Maybe she could climb through a window to tell her grandmother that they were gone. Winry turned around to do just that, when out of nowhere -- from below! -- a certain pink haired woman popped up infront of her. Their faces were so close that Winry could feel the woman's breath.

"Would you like to make Greed your Lord and Saviour today?!"

That was it. Winry screamed and ran off not only across the lawn, but down the road. She headed toward the Elric's place, then changed her mind and decided going into town would be much better.

"Why'd you have to scare her?" Martel quipped.

"It wasn't a scare tactic," Limmy pouted.

"It's the last house for miles," Martel informed her. "Do you think we could quit for today?"

"Very well." Limmy responded, "Ray. How many people do we have on the roster?"

"On the what?" The girl replied.

"On the roster."

"The rooster?" Ray was confused.

"The list! How many people have we converted?"

The girl looked over the list and said, "Nada."

"What?"

"Zip."

"Give me that!" Limmy snatched the clipboard from the child's hand and looked at it for herself. "...Greed is not going to be happy."

"I told you this was stupid." Ravynn frowned.

"I wonder how the guys are doing." Martel questioned aloud.

o.o.o.o

"I told you this was a bad idea!" Bido cried, running behind the two other men -- Loa and Dorochet.

Behind them was a mob of angry Ishbalans. There was a loud, ringing tongue war-cry that filled the air.

The End