Categories > Anime/Manga > Full Metal Alchemist > The Form of a Man, the Form of a Stone
// Signifies emphasis
Chapter 6
“I swallowed the human sacrifice…and Envy too…what should I do?” Pondered Gluttony, looking very much like a lost child.
“I don’t know.” I was too busy thinking of a way to get brother back to pay him any mind.
“Daddy will get angry at me…”
“Daddy? You have a father?”
“I do.”
“The one who created the Homunculus?”
“He created.”
“Gluttony! Take me to where your father is!”
“Will father be happy if I bring you?”
“Of course! He’ll be very happy!” This was my chance! Maybe the ‘father’ would know away to get Ed back!
Gluttony grinned at me and nodded.
SWITCH
“Oh? This cat?” The worker looked at the picture carefully. “I thought I saw it sitting on the shoulder of this big armor dude.”
“It was sighted a little while ago near that factory.”
Mei thanked the workers and ran back to Scar. “That armor must be Edward Elric’s brother.”
Mei got on top of a telephone so she could see farther and eagerly searched for the obvious armor. “How dare they abduct Xiao-mei! I won’t forgive you, armor!” She raised her hand to shield her eyes as they caught a glimpse of something. “There! I see it! The armor! I can’t believe they would kidnap something as cute as Xiao-mei!”
Scar and Mei caught up with the armor in an alley but stayed out of sight. “Wait…” Scar said and stopped her from attacking. “The fat one, they called him a Homunculus.”
“Homunculus?”
“Their ability to regenerate makes them immortal. We can’t just barge in.”
“I don’t care if their immortal! They have Xiao-mei!”
“I told you, don’t be so reckless, this isn’t an easy opponent.”
“We know Xiao-mei is there, let’s go!”
“Don’t just go barging in to the lion’s den.” But why is Edward Elric’s brother with a Homunculus? Scar wondered. Is he an accomplice?
They slipped into the factory easily and were met immediately by a dark and gloomy stairwell. He glanced over to Mei to see her staring down thoughtfully. It was an uncharacteristic look for a girl so young, but he had come to expect it from Mei.
“What’s wrong?”
“This place…I’ve felt this disquieting feeling ever since I arrived at this country…How do I put it…It’s hard to describe…But now the feeling has sharpened.”
SWITCH
“Does your father know what happens to the people you swallow?” I asked Gluttony as we continued down the dark basement corridors.
“Maybe. Father is very smart, he made all of us, he can make anything.”
SWITCH
“Mama...” One of the human forms cried as it writhed, trying to escape Envy's body.
“Let me out!” Another pleaded.
Ling and I shared a look, then promptly turned around. “Run for it!” Both of us screamed in unison. Before we could get far Envy leaped after us. Ling brought up his sword and cut into Envy's side, but dozens of hands reached for him and shoved him away violently.
“The game ends here.” Envy hissed, his dead eyes gleaming with malicious pleasure with one of it's massive claws poised over me. It slashed at me and threw me against one of the stone slabs, momentarily disorienting me. When my eyes managed to focus again, Envy's jaw was closing around me. There were even bodies inside Envy, asking me to save them, to go back, to kill them. In the suffocating cavern I saw something shining brightly.
What's that? A red stone? That's right...the Homunculus' core is the Philosopher's Stone. My eyes shot open as I remembered an alchemy circle that I saw in Xerxes, an abandoned ruin. With a sharp thrust of my automail foot I kicked through Envy's teeth. “Let me out Envy! We might be able to get out of here! Let's work together Envy!”
SWITCH
In the factory Scar and Mei were being attacked by chimera's. Their numbers never seemed to end and both of them were working hard at fighting them off. “Rather unusual door guards.” Mei said as they slowly made their way onward.
“Chimeras. Pathetic creatures formed by alchemy.” A three headed dog much like Cerberus attacked Scar and was quickly killed. “There's no end to them.”
“Below...” Mei whispered unusually timidly. “There's something down there...”
“More chimeras? How annoying.”
“No!” She said firmly. “It's...human?”
SWITCH
Deep beneath the ground, underneath central a man sat on a throne made from twisted pipes and wires. “What a frightful racket.” He said dismissively. “Is someone there?”
Gluttony slowly opened the heavy metal doors in one of the underground chambers. “Uwah! This place is so unsettling.” Al took in the ominous room that seemed to press down on him.
“Father! The sacrifice! I brought the sacrifice!”
“Who is it?” The man stood from his throne and looked down at the two.
“Oh...um...” AL got a good look at his face, if he had lungs his breath would have caught in his throat.
“Hm?”
“...Father?”
SWITCH
“Gluttony is a fake gate, so if I open the real gates we can get back.”
“What happens if you fail?”
“There'll be a backlash, all the power will be rebound on the user.” I drew an alchemy circle on a solid stone patch. “The Xerxes mural I saw looked roughly like this.” I looked up at Envy hatefully, “You turned all the people at Xerxes into Philosopher's Stones, didn't you?”
“Stop making idle chatter, Full Metal Alchemist. This is what you wanted, isn't it?” Envy stuck out it's long slimy tongue, revealing the glowing red stone. “You know we need payment to cross the gate. Use this.”
I hesitated for a moment. “Those people...are all from Xerxes, aren't they?”
“Stop hesitating. Use it already.”
But I couldn't until I knew for sure. “They don't have bodies anymore?”
“Their minds and bodies perished with Xerxes as long time ago. They don't have corporeal bodies, and I don't remember what they looked like. They are only used as stored energy.” A small child's arm reached out and touched my head softly.
“Don't follow your emotions, alchemist. These people will never be human again.”
“...Alright.” Envy stood in the alchemist's circle with me and I looked up at the poor creatures. “I'm sorry, I'll be using you for energy.” I put my hands together in the alchemical mimicry of prayer. “Here we go.” I put them onto the circle and light pooled around me. “Long time no see.” I stood, looking down at the gate below me. “I never thought I'd be opening the gate under these conditions...” I trailed off staring down at the thing that took my arm and leg, that took Al's body. “Ling! Jump now!”
“I guess I'll have to trust you this time alchemist!”Ling jumped into the gate.
“Thank you...” A small voice whispered from Envy. The air crackled with energy as we went through the gate.
The body and soul are connected through the mind. I left a part of my body in front of the gate. So as long as I don't struggle, I can follow the mind, flow with the energy, to the gate! I thumped on the ground and groaned as the door slammed shut behind me. “Phew, I made it!” I looked around me to see one...no, two! Gates in a never ending world of white. Both of them large and looming over me like an idol. I turned around slowly and saw something that I never expected.
An emaciated boy with scraggly long blond hair sat in front of the other gate. It was Al! Al's body! I ran at it, screaming for him as he stared at me. “Al!” But the other gate was pulling me away, back to my own world. “Come back Al!”
“I can't.” It said simply as my gate started to close. “You...aren't my soul.” It dragged me away and away.
“I'll come back for you!”
SWITCH
Gluttony's body suddenly burst open in a rain of blood. Envy crawled out of him, looking particularly nasty in his real form.
“Envy?” 'Father' said curiously.
“That's Envy?” Al said in disbelief. The he caught sight of an automail leg sticking out from Envy's side. “Brother?” He raced over and yanked Ed out by his leg. “Brother!”
SWITCH
“Al? That means...we made it back!” I squirmed out of Al's grip and landed on my feet. “It's so dark...are we underground? Or is it just...night...time...” I trailed off as I caught sight of a man standing in the shadows.
“How surprising.” He said smoothly.
It couldn't be... “Hohenheim!?” father?
LINE
Please tell me what you think about it so far! Love it? Hate it? Even one word responses are desirable!
Chapter 6
“I swallowed the human sacrifice…and Envy too…what should I do?” Pondered Gluttony, looking very much like a lost child.
“I don’t know.” I was too busy thinking of a way to get brother back to pay him any mind.
“Daddy will get angry at me…”
“Daddy? You have a father?”
“I do.”
“The one who created the Homunculus?”
“He created.”
“Gluttony! Take me to where your father is!”
“Will father be happy if I bring you?”
“Of course! He’ll be very happy!” This was my chance! Maybe the ‘father’ would know away to get Ed back!
Gluttony grinned at me and nodded.
SWITCH
“Oh? This cat?” The worker looked at the picture carefully. “I thought I saw it sitting on the shoulder of this big armor dude.”
“It was sighted a little while ago near that factory.”
Mei thanked the workers and ran back to Scar. “That armor must be Edward Elric’s brother.”
Mei got on top of a telephone so she could see farther and eagerly searched for the obvious armor. “How dare they abduct Xiao-mei! I won’t forgive you, armor!” She raised her hand to shield her eyes as they caught a glimpse of something. “There! I see it! The armor! I can’t believe they would kidnap something as cute as Xiao-mei!”
Scar and Mei caught up with the armor in an alley but stayed out of sight. “Wait…” Scar said and stopped her from attacking. “The fat one, they called him a Homunculus.”
“Homunculus?”
“Their ability to regenerate makes them immortal. We can’t just barge in.”
“I don’t care if their immortal! They have Xiao-mei!”
“I told you, don’t be so reckless, this isn’t an easy opponent.”
“We know Xiao-mei is there, let’s go!”
“Don’t just go barging in to the lion’s den.” But why is Edward Elric’s brother with a Homunculus? Scar wondered. Is he an accomplice?
They slipped into the factory easily and were met immediately by a dark and gloomy stairwell. He glanced over to Mei to see her staring down thoughtfully. It was an uncharacteristic look for a girl so young, but he had come to expect it from Mei.
“What’s wrong?”
“This place…I’ve felt this disquieting feeling ever since I arrived at this country…How do I put it…It’s hard to describe…But now the feeling has sharpened.”
SWITCH
“Does your father know what happens to the people you swallow?” I asked Gluttony as we continued down the dark basement corridors.
“Maybe. Father is very smart, he made all of us, he can make anything.”
SWITCH
“Mama...” One of the human forms cried as it writhed, trying to escape Envy's body.
“Let me out!” Another pleaded.
Ling and I shared a look, then promptly turned around. “Run for it!” Both of us screamed in unison. Before we could get far Envy leaped after us. Ling brought up his sword and cut into Envy's side, but dozens of hands reached for him and shoved him away violently.
“The game ends here.” Envy hissed, his dead eyes gleaming with malicious pleasure with one of it's massive claws poised over me. It slashed at me and threw me against one of the stone slabs, momentarily disorienting me. When my eyes managed to focus again, Envy's jaw was closing around me. There were even bodies inside Envy, asking me to save them, to go back, to kill them. In the suffocating cavern I saw something shining brightly.
What's that? A red stone? That's right...the Homunculus' core is the Philosopher's Stone. My eyes shot open as I remembered an alchemy circle that I saw in Xerxes, an abandoned ruin. With a sharp thrust of my automail foot I kicked through Envy's teeth. “Let me out Envy! We might be able to get out of here! Let's work together Envy!”
SWITCH
In the factory Scar and Mei were being attacked by chimera's. Their numbers never seemed to end and both of them were working hard at fighting them off. “Rather unusual door guards.” Mei said as they slowly made their way onward.
“Chimeras. Pathetic creatures formed by alchemy.” A three headed dog much like Cerberus attacked Scar and was quickly killed. “There's no end to them.”
“Below...” Mei whispered unusually timidly. “There's something down there...”
“More chimeras? How annoying.”
“No!” She said firmly. “It's...human?”
SWITCH
Deep beneath the ground, underneath central a man sat on a throne made from twisted pipes and wires. “What a frightful racket.” He said dismissively. “Is someone there?”
Gluttony slowly opened the heavy metal doors in one of the underground chambers. “Uwah! This place is so unsettling.” Al took in the ominous room that seemed to press down on him.
“Father! The sacrifice! I brought the sacrifice!”
“Who is it?” The man stood from his throne and looked down at the two.
“Oh...um...” AL got a good look at his face, if he had lungs his breath would have caught in his throat.
“Hm?”
“...Father?”
SWITCH
“Gluttony is a fake gate, so if I open the real gates we can get back.”
“What happens if you fail?”
“There'll be a backlash, all the power will be rebound on the user.” I drew an alchemy circle on a solid stone patch. “The Xerxes mural I saw looked roughly like this.” I looked up at Envy hatefully, “You turned all the people at Xerxes into Philosopher's Stones, didn't you?”
“Stop making idle chatter, Full Metal Alchemist. This is what you wanted, isn't it?” Envy stuck out it's long slimy tongue, revealing the glowing red stone. “You know we need payment to cross the gate. Use this.”
I hesitated for a moment. “Those people...are all from Xerxes, aren't they?”
“Stop hesitating. Use it already.”
But I couldn't until I knew for sure. “They don't have bodies anymore?”
“Their minds and bodies perished with Xerxes as long time ago. They don't have corporeal bodies, and I don't remember what they looked like. They are only used as stored energy.” A small child's arm reached out and touched my head softly.
“Don't follow your emotions, alchemist. These people will never be human again.”
“...Alright.” Envy stood in the alchemist's circle with me and I looked up at the poor creatures. “I'm sorry, I'll be using you for energy.” I put my hands together in the alchemical mimicry of prayer. “Here we go.” I put them onto the circle and light pooled around me. “Long time no see.” I stood, looking down at the gate below me. “I never thought I'd be opening the gate under these conditions...” I trailed off staring down at the thing that took my arm and leg, that took Al's body. “Ling! Jump now!”
“I guess I'll have to trust you this time alchemist!”Ling jumped into the gate.
“Thank you...” A small voice whispered from Envy. The air crackled with energy as we went through the gate.
The body and soul are connected through the mind. I left a part of my body in front of the gate. So as long as I don't struggle, I can follow the mind, flow with the energy, to the gate! I thumped on the ground and groaned as the door slammed shut behind me. “Phew, I made it!” I looked around me to see one...no, two! Gates in a never ending world of white. Both of them large and looming over me like an idol. I turned around slowly and saw something that I never expected.
An emaciated boy with scraggly long blond hair sat in front of the other gate. It was Al! Al's body! I ran at it, screaming for him as he stared at me. “Al!” But the other gate was pulling me away, back to my own world. “Come back Al!”
“I can't.” It said simply as my gate started to close. “You...aren't my soul.” It dragged me away and away.
“I'll come back for you!”
SWITCH
Gluttony's body suddenly burst open in a rain of blood. Envy crawled out of him, looking particularly nasty in his real form.
“Envy?” 'Father' said curiously.
“That's Envy?” Al said in disbelief. The he caught sight of an automail leg sticking out from Envy's side. “Brother?” He raced over and yanked Ed out by his leg. “Brother!”
SWITCH
“Al? That means...we made it back!” I squirmed out of Al's grip and landed on my feet. “It's so dark...are we underground? Or is it just...night...time...” I trailed off as I caught sight of a man standing in the shadows.
“How surprising.” He said smoothly.
It couldn't be... “Hohenheim!?” father?
LINE
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