CHAPTER 9:

ALLIES FROM THE EAST

The sextet relocated to the roof of Garfiel's automail shop. Lust had to admit, Ling's knowledge of Alkahestry was pretty pathetic, so she asked, as compensation for the secret of the Philosopher's Stone, a brief summary of the politics of the Xingese Imperial Court. Fu, who had removed his mask to reveal an older but still strong man with an impressive moustache, had protested, but Ling had waved off his concerns. Lan Fan turned out to be an attractive young woman, to the surprise of Edward. And she was Fu's granddaughter to boot.

After getting confirmation that Ling was one of the royal heirs, and getting some new information, Lust said, "The Philosopher's Stone is produced through mass sacrifice. I asked if you were willing to sacrifice scores of people to live forever. That is what producing a single Stone entails, killing multiple people, their souls the fuel of the Stone."

Lan Fan caught on first. "You have one within you, don't you? That is why your ki feels like a multitude of…"

"Your bodyguard isn't just belligerent and beautiful, but she actually has a brain too," Lust remarked, causing the young woman to blush slightly. "I didn't ask to have one implanted in me, though if it's all the same to you, I would rather keep it. In any case, if you were to try and take it by force, like say by ripping it out of me, it'd only leave you vulnerable to attack. And to implant one in yourself to gain immortality is dangerous. The multitude of human souls within can overwhelm your real soul, drowning you forever."

"And yet you have one in you," Ling said.

"I've had one in me since I was…created." She had considered saying 'born', but decided to risk telling them some, if not all, of the truth. "I am a Homunculus."

"An artificial human, huh?" Ling mused, clearly understanding the term. "So, assuming you're telling the truth, and taking it from you by force is more trouble than it's worth, where can I find another Stone?"

"You really are set on obtaining one, aren't you?"

"Well, it's not like I'd make one myself. I'd rather steal one that's already been made. And assuming you're telling the truth, well, it's certainly a risk I'm not so sure about taking, not yet, anyway. The thing is, I need power to ensure my family's future, not to mention those of many of the other noble families. They're all scheming bastards, but not all of them are bad. But some will wipe out the other noble families, should they have the opportunity. And that'd descend pretty quickly into civil war."

"I see," Lust said. After a moment, she said, "I'd suggest getting yourself some travel papers if you haven't already. No need to let the State Military arrest you for being an illegal immigrant or anything."

"And the Stone?" Fu asked.

"I know places that have some in storage. But they are regularly audited, so we need to be careful taking one."

"So you're really intending to help them?" Edward asked.

"Equivalent Exchange. Besides, the more allies we have, the better."

"Allies?" Edward asked.

"A Philosopher's Stone is valuable. In exchange for one, I would like their assistance."

Fu muttered something in Xingese to Ling, who replied, apparently waving off concerns of the older man. Ling then said, "And what assistance can I give you, Solaris?"

Lust folded her arms. She was taking a risk here, but sometimes, well, how did that old saying go? Who dares, wins. "Amestris is a country on the edge of destruction, and not from without, but from within. You said you looked at the ruins of Xerxes when you came here, didn't you?"

"Right. Your point?"

"How exactly did Xerxes disappear?"

"Nobody knows…" Ling said, before a thoughtful look came over his face. "Or rather, almost nobody. You wouldn't be asking such a question unless you know."

"My creator, Father, was the one responsible," Lust said. "He was himself a Homunculus created in Xerxes. He tricked the King, who wanted immortality, into creating a Transmutation Circle across the entire nation. Ditches were dug in the shape of a circle, blood was spilled at specific points. But the King didn't receive the immortality he wanted. Father, and another, did instead. The people of Xerxes, reduced to two massive Philosopher's Stones. Father journeyed west to Amestris, while for a time, from what I heard, Von Hohenheim, the man I spoke of, journeyed east briefly."

Ling and his guards shared a look, before he said to Lust, "Now that you come to mention it, at about the time Xerxes disappeared, our legends state that a Sage from the west came to us, and taught us Alkahestry. Are you saying it's the same guy?"

"I don't know, but it wouldn't surprise me," Lust said. "These two are Von Hohenheim's only known offspring, sired when he settled down with a mortal woman. As I am a child of Father, and Father was created using Von Hohenheim's blood, that makes them my family, cousins, perhaps. And no, they do not have Philosopher's Stones within them. They are as human as you are."

"I do not sense the ki of a living body in Alphonse's armour," Lan Fan pointed out. "I sense ki, yes, but not in the way a body would. It is most odd, somewhat more diffuse than it should be."

"There was an accident involving my brother and I," Alphonse admitted after an uncomfortable silence. "He bound my soul to this armour."

"He's still human, dammit!" Edward snarled, his hackles raised. "We paid for our mistakes! We're trying to find out how to restore our bodies! That's the reason Al and I were interested in Alkahestry."

"In any case, our lives, along with that of everyone in Amestris, will soon be forfeit. Father intends to repeat what he did with Xerxes, but on a larger scale. He intends to use such an alchemic reaction to absorb the power of what he considers to be God, so he can take God's place," Lust said.

"By God, do you mean the Truth, Solaris?" Edward asked.

"In all likelihood, yes. Imagine Father with that sort of power. Or don't, if you'd prefer not to have nightmares for the next few years. Assuming we live long enough."

"What do you mean by the Truth?" Ling asked.

"I don't know whether you have a taboo against Human Transmutation in Alkahestry, considering it's medical, but Human Transmutation, usually that to revive the dead or to manipulate the soul, is Amestrian alchemy's ultimate taboo. Break it, and you are drawn into another dimension, from accounts. You are confronted by an entity known as the Truth, which takes part of you as a form of karmic payment in exchange for being able to do alchemy without a Transmutation Circle. Edward lost his leg, and Alphonse lost his body. Edward lost his arm when he bound Alphonse to that armour. A teacher of theirs lost her womb, and other internal organs."

"She speaks of the Judge of Soul Thieves," Fu remarked. "Only a few have seen the Judge, those who presume to steal souls from their rightful place in the Hereafter. He steals something of their own. You two are very foolish."

"We know that, all right? We're trying to find some way to restore our bodies, but we're not going to do anything as stupid as human transmutation again! Not if we can help it! I need to get Al's body back! I don't care if my arm and leg remain metal!"

After a moment, Lan Fan said, "Your bond of brotherhood is strong."

"And your will is admirable for a fool," Fu remarked.

"They're both accomplished alchemists for their age," Lust said. "And had it come to a fight, you would have done well not to underestimate either of them. I have seen them fight. Well, Alphonse, anyway. But back to the point at hand: I would like your help in stopping Father. In exchange, I will give you a Philosopher's Stone. I will also help you engage in negotiations with whoever succeeds Fuhrer Bradley as leader of Amestris, if Xing wants to open up diplomatic and trade relations."

Lan Fan and Fu began talking with Ling, who already seemed to have come to a decision, despite the protests of his advisors cum bodyguards. "Okay, you've been pretty frank with us, laying out what you want and why you want it," Ling said. "Helping with a coup d'etat in another country in exchange for paving my way to the throne of Xing? Yeah, I guess there's something to that Equivalent Exchange thing. You're right about those papers, so I think we'd better get that dealt with as soon as possible…"

Greed sighed in annoyance. He had come to the Ishvalan shantytown that Lust had indicated, but Scar wasn't there. Apparently some former State Military douchebag called Yoki had been here, and noticed Scar still alive, and had threatened to turn him in. Scar had dealt with Yoki's hired thugs, and had moved away from the shantytown for the safety of the others.

That being said, Lust's name was enough for the elderly leader of these slums to send word to Scar, and soon, a boy came back, saying that Scar would be back later, but he was dealing with something. Meanwhile, Greed entertained himself and his followers by listening to the old man's stories. He had to admit, the old codger was an interesting conversationalist. Even so, he found his mind wandering.

Sis had had a change of heart, had she? Probably just as well, she was easily the smartest of them, or at least the smartest who had some independence of thought. Pride might be the smartest, but he was also the most arrogant and loyal of them to Father. Gluttony and Sloth were idiots. And Envy? He was so hot-tempered, he was easy to rile. He was smart enough to be a good spy, coupled with that shapeshifting ability of his, but even so, his intelligence often went out the window when he was annoyed. And Wrath being Bradley probably meant he was utterly loyal to Father.

Lust, however, he felt a kinship he hadn't felt with his other siblings. She saw much further than the others, had that faint spark of initiative that wasn't there, save for in Pride, and Greed hated Pride. It was mutual. Shadowy little shit embodied his mortal sin even more than Greed did, and that was saying something.

"Do you reckon this is a trap?" Martel asked. The snake Chimera was sitting next to him in one of the tents of the shantytown. She was one of his lovers as well, with those snake attributes giving her some very interesting capabilities in the bedroom. However, he also valued her abilities as a soldier and as an advisor.

"Dunno. I think Lust was being sincere. I've heard about this Scar guy. He's a noted serial killer of State Alchemists, so while it'd be risky, given what we are, he's not about to betray us to the State Military."

"Indeed," came a rasping deep voice. Greed and Martel turned to look at the man standing in the entrance of the tent. He had to admit, Scar was pretty impressive. A tall, muscled Ishvalan, his hard face marred by a cross-shaped scar. He had the build of one of their warrior monks. He also had an intimidating presence, his glare an impressive one. "I have more to risk meeting you than vice versa, Greed. Especially as you and your companions are an affront to Ishvala, and your companions are former State Military."

"Yeah, well, we all have our own problems, Scar. I didn't ask to be born, though I ain't gonna die just yet, affront to your god or not," Greed said lazily. "Besides, Martel here didn't ask to become part-snake. Stepped on a land-mine first, you see(1). But we're not here for a theology debate. Theology bores me. My sis sent me here, told me to seek you out and wait with you. She did tell you about Father, right?"

"Yes, about his origins in Xerxes, and the link with the Elric brothers. It incenses me even further that our civil war was engineered as little more than a step in your Father's masterplan," Scar growled. "All those people dead."

"Yeah, well, Dad was kinda a Grade-A douchebag. He'd give about as much thought to most human lives as you and I would give much thought to ants," Greed said. He then noticed Scar had a couple of companions. One, a rather obsequious, unpleasant type with a stupid moustache, was probably Yoki. But there was a Xingese girl, her dark hair braided into multiple plaits, about eleven or twelve years old, accompanied by…was that a small panda or something? Greed had seen pictures from the few books that left Xing, but he thought pandas were bigger. "Who's the kid?"

The girl looked a bit annoyed at being called a kid, but she said, "I'm May Chang. Your sister is the Homunculus Lust, right? Scar has been telling me about her. So…I was wondering…do you know anything about the Philosopher's Stone?"

CHAPTER 9 ANNOTATIONS:

Sorry about the long wait for this chapter. And I have some bad news. I intend to put this story on hiatus after this chapter. Not, I will hasten to add, abandoning it, just putting it firmly on the backburner for now. It'll probably be months at the least before I get back to this story.

Leaving aside the lack of inspiration for this story, the thing is, by doing this with Lust and Greed, I've pretty much sent the story of Fullmetal Alchemist off the rails, and I'll probably need to re-read the series in order to figure out what to do next. I also have a lot of other stories being worked on, and other stories have fallen by the wayside, not just this one.

Once more, though, I must emphasise that Saligia is NOT being abandoned. I hope that I don't abandon it, either. I hate abandoning my fics.

Oh, and I've brought May Chang in early, or at least at the time she arrives in Brotherhood rather than the manga.

Review-answering time! vangian13: I'm still deciding as to how Envy will join their cause, though I'm pretty sure he will.

1. I saw this on the wiki. I can't remember this being from the manga or Brotherhood adaptation, so I presume it was from the original anime.