Fullmetal Alchemist Fan Fiction ❯ Set in Stone ❯ Memories of a Distant Past ( Chapter 20 )

Chapter Twenty

Memories of a Distant Past

 

The way I see it, if you want the rainbow,

You gotta put up with the rain.

Dolly Parton

 

Fuery could feel the sweat run down his forehead. Easy job my ass, Fuery thought as he ran silently past another drunken soldier. They don't have to sneak around in the light. Granted Hoenheim was leading the way, and Alphonse, who was behind him, probably had more of a chance of being seen. But the real thing was much different than the training. Fuery had had his fair share of running around in dark places trying not to get spotted, but never before had he had the entire operations success weighing on his technical ability.

 

Hoenheim stopped and Fuery and Alphonse joined him. Fuery once again cursed the man's ability for being almost unnoticeable. How did he do that? He pointed out a large box and Fuery resisted the urge to sigh, of course, it had to be an extremely old operating system he wasn't used to. Yet he opened the large booth and scrutinized the wires all the same, at last making a decision and signaling to the two who were keeping watch. He cut one of the wires and the music that could be heard almost all throughout the city suddenly stopped the volume of the surrounding chatter rose and Fuery quickly cut the second wire, causing the entire city to be flooded in an eerie blue glow.

 

The three of them quickly ran back the way they had come, as they had planned. But Fuery was beginning to become a little curious about the direction they were heading as the noise behind them became quieter and quieter. “Where are we going?” He asked finally, “Aren't we meant to help the others?” He turned to see Alphons, looking just as confused as he was and he wondered if perhaps they were merely taking another route back. Hoenheim really did know his way around the buried city. However his suspicions were confirmed when the older man shook his head.

 

“We have to make a stop first, there's something I need to do.” Fuery exchanged glances with Alphons again but neither said a word, following Hoenheim at a quick walk. However when Fuery saw that they were approaching a graveyard, his irrational fear of ghosts took over and he refused to walk past the gates. Alphons stayed with him and turning back to the city the two of them saw a flash of fire leap across what could be called the sky. Soon after that, they could hear the commotion of a fight and they missed the flash of blue light behind them, Hoenheim soon returning to their side, and the three of them made their way back towards the city.

 

Alphons was going to rescue his fiancé, no matter what it took.

 

 

The good thing about surprise attacks was that the enemy didn't have a chance to grab their weapons. Al thought happily to himself as he caged another group of Germans, who were yelling profanities at him angrily, making him glad he couldn't understand them. He was getting the point of their angry shouts, but he decided instead to pretend that they weren't yelling at him. He was worried though, Wrath had disappeared shortly after the commotion had begun and though he occasionally saw the flash of blue as Maria Ross ran past, her gun flashing as she shot, he couldn't see the youngest homunculus anywhere.

As they made more progress moving towards the center of the party, or gathering, Al realised that the people he was fighting were becoming more skilled. He guessed that the ones on the outskirts were merely there to make up numbers. “Great, another one,” He turned at the familiar sounding snarl and was surprised to see a rather strange looking man, wearing a black outfit with the same red circles and lines that Wrath's first ensemble had had. Before Izumi had fitted him with some proper clothes of course, and it was then that he spotted the oroborous on the man's thigh.

 

“You're a homunculus.” He said, instantly clapping his hands, pressing them to the ground, and watching in satisfaction as another stone cage rose up around the man with the strange Hairstyle. However the homunculus merely smirked in amusement.

 

“Well spotted captain obvious,” he applauded with dry sarcasm, “I can see you're the brainy one,” He moved towards the bars of the cage and tapped a few with his finger. “Reinforced with metal elements, well well, not as stupid as we look are we?” He stepped back a little. He grinned and spun on the spot, his foot striking the concrete and steel bars and smashing them into tiny pieces that skidded across the city floor.

 

Al gritted his teeth; he wasn't surprised; he'd seen what Wrath had managed to pull of in the days when the stones he'd consumed had still been supplying him with a substantial amount of energy. Al jumped back as out of the dust Envy launched at him and he was suddenly extremely grateful for his teachers training methods. He blocked each of the attacks his opponent sent at him, waiting for a time when he could use his alchemy to transmute a weapon, or a time when he could catch Envy off guard.

 

“Not as good as the older brother, are you Alphonse?” Envy taunted, and Al grinned.

 

“It's quite the opposite Envy,” (1) Al replied, seeing his opportunity moving to the side and grabbing Envy's arm as he threw another punch, flinging the other over onto his back, effectively winding him. “He's never beaten me.” He clapped his hands together once more and from the floor drew a short sharp blade with intricate design on the handle.

 

“You're always showoffs,” Envy said, quickly jumping to his feet and lunging at the sandy-haired man. “I don't know how you got out of that armor Tin-can man, but I intend to put you back in.” He threatened, a grin spreading across his face. “Let's play for a while shall we?”

 

 

Wrath took the first opportunity he had seen to sneak away from the other two. He wanted to help out with the fight; he'd never miss the chance to get revenge on Envy, but to be able to do that he needed to find a reliable energy source. He had no power to rejuvenate should Envy deliver a fatal blow, nor did he have to energy to keep up with the fast-paced battle he knew was likely to ensue. He needed to find more red stones, not that that should be difficult in the underground city; after all, this was where Dante had formed the homunculus into what they had been until each of them had been defeated. One way or another.

 

He finally thought that he may have found what he was looking for and bent down to pick up the shiny red stone, and then he frowned. He didn't think he would've found them so uncared for. That's when he felt - and smelt - someone's breath on his head. He made a sound of revulsion and leapt back nimbly, the stone still clenched in his fist, only to be greeted with the sight of a large mutated thing that may have once held the form of a human. “Gluttony…” he said, remembering that the last time he'd seen the short fat man was when everything had been driven from his mind but the desire to eat and never stop.

 

A strange noise escaped Gluttony's mouth and the head attached to the long neck reached out and attempted to snap and bite Wrath. Wrath, seeing that at the present time he was outmatched, ran in the direction he had arrived from; before realizing that the others were there and had enough problems on their hands. However before he had a chance to change directions Gluttony grabbed the younger homunculus and threw his fragile body hard against one of the stone walls. Wrath's vision turned black for a moment and the red stone flew from his hand before he hit the ground, rising quickly despite the blow and running towards the stone. He grabbed it and shoveled it into his mouth as Gluttony let out an unearthly screech, surely attracting the attention of the others in the city.

 

Gluttony managed to grab Wrath as he stopped to pick up the stone but he kicked his foot into the roof of the monsters mouth and was soon dropped to the ground, falling into a body of water and sinking to the bottom. He opened his eyes under the water, quickly adjusting to the bleary vision and noticed that there were many red stones under here. He grinned, and the water seeped into his mouth, but he grabbed handfuls of the precious rocks.

 

Gluttony's large body twisted as he looked around for the small meal he had just been playing with, and his long neck turned in the direction of the water as a large pillar of water was raised from the surface, the snack jumping out of it. “Bring it on, ya fat lard.” (2) Wrath grinned, revitalized from the shards of the stone, but despite all this he still didn't know how he was going to defeat the large eating machine. He dodged the snaps and blows that Gluttony aimed at him with new speed, and finally managed to pick up a thin snapped lamppost and drove it into Gluttony's large stomach. However, it seemed to only enrage the homunculus more and he let out another yell, snapping forwards and grabbing Wrath's midriff between his teeth.

 

Wrath couldn't help but let out a cry of pain as Gluttony bit down, and he could feel his ribs snapping, not able to heal themselves while they were still in bent in an awkward way. He raised a shaking hand to try and do something to Gluttony but before he had the chance a burst of flame consumed the both of them, causing Gluttony to release Wrath, who hastily crawled to the side, rolling to put out the flames and stopping to allow his body to rejuvenate. He stood up as Mustang walked over to him, Havoc and Brosh walking behind him, staring in amazement as Wrath clicked his neck and stood up. “You…he…eaten…” Brosh said in amazement as an alchemic light spread up throughout the homunculus's body, his military uniform, which was in shreds, being replaced by the clothing he used to wear.

 

Wrath checked his automail for signs of damage while Mustang continually burnt the large creature. Once he was satisfied he turned to the dark haired man, “He should be dead.” Wrath stated, and Mustang snapped his fingers once more and turned to the child. (3)

 

“You were supposed to be with Alphonse and Ross.” He stated, “Don't tell me there in there,” He nodded his head in the direction of the now burnt Gluttony, and Brosh's face whitened considerably. However he was relieved from his fear when Wrath shook his head.

 

“I left them back there.” Wrath said, “I needed to do something first.”

 

“You tried to fight that on your own?” Havoc asked disbelief clear in his voice.

 

“No,” Wrath answered rolling his eyes before turning them to Gluttony, “I didn't think he'd still be alive, he turned into a mindless machine after Lust died. I suppose he's been down here all this time, just eating and eating.” He began to walk back in the direction that he had come. “Thanks,” he said almost inaudibly. But Mustang heard and smirked.

 

“Where're Alphonse and the Lieutenant?” He asked. “You weren't meant to separate.”

 

However before Wrath had the chance to answer a cry rang throughout the city, followed by an angry scream. “They're where that came from.” Wrath answered, and followed the three other men as they took off in the direction of the shouts.

 

 

Al panted heavily, surveying his surroundings. The buildings and pathways were damaged heavily and he himself was looking no better. His armed was wrapped around his stomach, trying to limit the movement of his ribs, there was a gash in the same arm that was bleeding, and there was blood on his face from a cut above his eye. He could taste the copper as he swallowed in his mouth.

 

Sweat ran down his face as he looked around the area, trying to figure out where Envy was going to appear. He pivoted on the spot as he heard footsteps approaching, at once getting into a defensive stance, but relief washed over his features as he realised it was only Mustang, Havoc, Brosh and Wrath. However, in that small moment of vulnerability, Envy lunged from one building, kicking Al harshly in the stomach and causing him to go flying into another building with the force of the attack, the wall collapsing in on him.

 

Mustang raised his hand at once and snapped, even from their distant position, but Envy nimbly dodged the bursts of flames sent after him. As he jumped back from another one, Wrath, who had snuck up behind him, kicked him roughly in the head with his automail, causing the green-haired homunculus to fall over. “You,” Envy snarled, standing up as quickly as he had fallen.

 

“Yeah me,” Wrath answered, getting ready to fight. “We have a score to settle.”

 

Envy merely laughed a smirk on his face. “You're not serious, are you runt? You want revenge on me? You think you stand a chance?”

 

“They don't call me Wrath for nothing.” He answered, lunging at the same time that Envy did. As the fast-paced battle was going on in the background, Mustang and the others rushed over to where Al was, Brosh making sure the fight didn't come their way.

 

“You alright?” Havoc asked, pulling Al up and draping his arm over his shoulders, apologizing as Al winced.

 

“Yeah,” He answered his breathing still heavy, “Just didn't expect it; is all. I think I hurt my leg.” He said with a wry grin, looking down at his leg and the new wound he had acquired. “Have you found Brother yet?” He asked, and Mustang shook his head.

 

“Not our group, we had to bail Wrath out of some trouble, where's Ross?” Mustang asked, and Al's eyes widened in remembrance, pointing at one of the houses.

 

“She tried to help me.” Brosh ran over to where he had pointed, calling out her name. “I don't think she's hurt too badly, just unconscious.” Mustang spared a glance in the direction of the fight ensuing between Wrath and Envy, the flurry of kicks and punches and flips. He soon made up his mind on what was going to happen. Brosh bought Maria over, who was awake, but groggy.

 

“You two,” He pointed to Havoc and Brosh. “Take those two,” he pointed to the people draped over their shoulders. “Over to the entry by the Chapel, it's the one we came in through. Riza organised a medical team up there, so I want the both of you to rest for a while.”

 

“What are you doing until we get back, sir?” Havoc asked quickly, before Mustang had the chance to head off.

 

“You're not coming back. Stay up there, all that you were meant to do has been done.” He answered, but Havoc wasn't satisfied with the answer.

 

“With all due respect, I'm not leaving you down here, as far as I know this guy isn't even the worst of them. Plus Hawkeye'd shoot me if I even suggested it.” He stood straight, with determination in his eyes. Mustang sighed, pressing a hand to his forehead.

 

“I suppose it doesn't matter what I say, does it?”

 

“No, sir.” Havoc replied with a grin.

 

“Then you round up the others; see if everyone's been secured. I'm going to find Fullmetal.” Al looked up behind him as he said that, at the approaching figures of Fuery, Alphons and Hoenheim.

 

“Dad…” He said, standing up straighter, despite his protesting ribs. Mustang turned to face the group but Hoenheim wasn't looking their way, his attention was turned towards Envy. Al cursed, and the rest of them looked at him in surprise, but it was at that moment that Envy's attention had wavered and he had lain eyes on Hoenheim. In an instant he threw Wrath away from him, not even watching to see the Homunculus skid along the floor and had turned furiously to the old man.

 

“I can't believe you're still alive!” He ran forward, with the intent to seriously hurt the man, but just as he moved forward Hoenheim clapped his hands together and pressed them to the floor. A wall of rock rose up before Envy, effectively stopping him in his tracks.

 

“You can transmute without a circle?” Mustang exclaimed, having not before known the information. But the wall Envy was behind smashed, bits of rock and dust flying everywhere, and Envy once again attacking Hoenheim, who dodged his attacks with a sort of practiced ease.

 

“I don't want to hurt you,” He said, only loud enough for Envy to hear.

 

“Really,” He snarled in return. “Because I'd like nothing more than to see you dead and rotting.” Hoenheim's face held a shadow of a smile as he moved back with each attack Envy made.

 

“I'm already rotting,” he said, in the same quiet voice.

 

“Then all that's left is for you to die!” Envy retorted. However Envy couldn't get a good hit on Hoenheim and finally he stopped trying to attack, the pair had continuously been going round in circles and had ended up in the same spot they had begun. “Why won't you fight me?” Envy asked, anger distorting his face.

 

“Why do you want to?” Hoenheim replied, noticing out the corner of his eye that Havoc and Brosh were in the process of taking Al and Maria to the surface. Envy saw the direction his eyes slid and he grinned.

 

“I've already murdered one of your sons.” He said, in a loud enough voice for the others to hear. “Let's see you try to stop me kill the other.” He ran towards the injured Al and his arm changed into a sharp pointed blade as he did so. Before anybody else had a chance to react Hoenheim clapped the fingertips on his hand to his palm, and an ice sculpture appeared in front of Envy, a human figure with no features. However Envy paid no heed to the person-like monument, shoving his arm into the chest of the sculpture and causing it to crack and break.

 

However the movement had triggered memories inside Al's head. It had caused him to remember the pieces he couldn't grasp and suddenly in a rush of images it all came back to him. He groaned in pain and grabbed his head, trying to make sense of the pictures, loosing an interest in the world around him. He didn't notice as Hoenheim pushed Envy back with more and more sculptures, didn't hear Mustang's concerned questions, and didn't realise as Havoc tried to lift him up calling his name. However the information was too much on his worn out body and the next thing he knew, they memories stopped and all he saw was black.

`I was playing poker with Tarot cards the other day. I got a full house and four people died.'

 

(1) Let's just say that he remembered Ed's description of Envy seeing as, until the end of the chapter, he's not supposed to remember his name lol.

(2) Hehe, napoleon dynamite moment. “Tina ya fat lard, come get some dinner.” That movie is incredibly stupid but I finally saw it, and I finally got the `Vote for Pedro' shirts that everyone was wearing lol.

(3) Wrath doesn't age so he shall remain a child. Or does he? Because he was a baby when he got transmuted. Hmmm. Meh.

 

OMG, this chapter did not want to get written I swear to God, and I'm not even that happy with the end result…it's kinda…I dunno. Anyway, Sorry for the slow - compared to my normal schedule thing - for the late update. This was really a chapter that was supposed to describe what was happening with the other characters because I didn't want to put Ed in until the next one and then it was all like Argh. Hehe pronounce that like its spelt. Argh.

 

Phe: Yeah, but I'm not one to cry easily. Except for that time in grade 6 when someone chucked one of those wide-brimmed hats and it like poked my eye out. Not really. I'm not a real girly-girl. I love shopping, have lots of teddies (lol), wear skirts and stuff. But I hate the colour pink (except I own like a million pink shirts, hey - they look cool!) and I'm not all sentimental. I saw the notebook and my friends were like I cry at the end of this every time, so I built up this huge expectation and was let down when the end came around. Don't want to spoil it for those that haven't seen it but yeah. But yeah, when I read in the manga the part where Elicia was talking I was like, oh that's so sad lol. Tear. I know who peppers Kiwifruit? Dad's insane lol. I'm seriously considering getting KH2, but I don't know if I can be bothered spending $100 on it, cause I'm a cheap skate. And I can't stop with the cliffhangers. You're going to seriously hate me next chapter. Oh yes, you all will…

 

Misa92: Hehe, yeah, I still think it's funny that I did that. Lol. There's still a few chapters left bout 3 or 4 I think maybe more. The dude who's playstation we use sold it. I felt like beating him up at the time, but now he bought another one, luckily for ten bucks less than what he bought it for lol. I'm supposed to be doing senior art next year too *gulp* the turtles so lame. I painted it with foundation and black trying to make a brown turtle colour because I couldn't find our paints…where are they..? I'm hoping to do well on this one though cuz it's a topic I enjoy. My friend has a pet snake. It bit me…bastard. I liked her first one better, but it ran…or slithered…away when she was in England. Dude, how did you watch FMA at work? If I could do that at school…sigh. Oh yeah, I just remembered (I forget every single time) but like forever ago you commented on my Ironic story. Thanks! I can't remember what you wrote…but thanks!

 

Uniasus: Continue to ramble! It's cool; if I didn't speak if I was rambling I never would lol. I don't know if you can guess what Ed found…go ahead…try. I dare you lol. I love shiny things! I went shopping yesterday (didn't buy anything but it was fun) and on my shopping list was shiny things lol that's what I wrote. Dude, I'm not even sure how Scheiska is spelt, I spell it and my auto-spelling-correct thing changes it and I'm like…Meh whatever. What's a paper master? Lol. I can see her protecting the book though, lol beware. I do that to my friends, they'll stack it holding something of mine and I'll be like “Did you break it,” and they'll be like. “Yes, I'm alright thanks for asking.”