Chapter Seventeen:
If it Ended
"Well, this should speed up the process..." Father muttered to himself.
I was still struggling to gain complete control of myself. So far my vision was restored but my body did not want to cooperate with the movements I needed to get out of here. I needed Greed to stall for enough time for a few more moments. I needed to find our escape. So far the only thing that stood between my freedom was Envy and after the run in I had with him in laboratory five, I was not sure if fighting him was the best option. I grinned at a sudden idea. I did not need to fight him at all. I just needed to incapacitate him long enough to make a run for it.
"Envy," Father started which turned Envy's attention to the man. "Take Lust and Gluttony and go to Sloth. It seems our wonderful circle won't need to be so extravagant." Envy raised an eyebrow as a signal for him to continue. "With her energy we won't need so many sacrifices..." The man smiled.
I stumbled back a few steps. The man turned a soft gave to me. "Oh don't worry! It will be nearly painless. I already know what to do. Sacrifice a town, and your life energy…you will die here and return to the gate where your energy can be used once more."
I was truly terrified. All those times before when I had felt fear rush through me did not compare to this. I could not think straight. Right now I needed to escape but the only thing that was rushing through my mind was if I were to die in that transmutation…would I die or return home? Would I have the chance to say good-bye to anymore? What would happen to my family back home? How would Edward and Alphonse defeat this man? Would they be able to?
"Snap out of it kid and move." Greed hissed.
Shakily, I held my arms out before me and concentrated on the task at hand. I imagined the ground below us freezing and a wall coming between me and the enemies. But something felt off. Ignoring the feeling I slammed my hands to the ground…nothing happened.
"Lose your skill?" Greed laughed but stared in wonder.
"Why isn't it working?" I cried.
"Alchemy doesn't work in this room." Father laughed.
"But you just used it?" I wondered aloud.
"Let me rephrase: Alchemy doesn't work for humans. But it was a good effort."
Father took steady steps towards me. I felt Greed stiffen. Turning I saw his unbreakable shield cover up his hands. "Get ready to run." He ordered. He was going to break his cover. If this man knew that Greed was no longer on his side that could ruin any lead we could get. True we knew most of their plan if not all of it, but it would not hurt to hear a counter attack they may have up their sleeve. Before I could protest a loud crash sent Greed and I to the ground. His full shield was up while he protected me from the falling debris.
"What do we have here?"
That voice! My heart jumped in my chest and my eyes searched for him. Edward stood with a large grin plastered across his face and arms crossed.
"About time short stuff." Greed muttered under his breath. It was quiet enough that even I barely could make it out but Edward pierced his golden eyes at him like he heard him loud and clear. His eyes shifted to me in shock and were quickly turned back into his sharp glare. He did not need to say a thing for me to know what he was thinking.
What are you doing here?
I shrugged and smiled sheepishly with a small wave. I was going to get an ear full from him later. There were more important things now. Edward clapped his hands together ready to transmute but stopped suddenly. What came across his face was something I had never seen before. Pure hatred.
"Dad?" He questioned.
"It's not him Ed!" I cried hoping that he would listen.
He dropped his arms and stepped back slightly. It was not until I noticed that Greed was not at my side that I began to understand why but that was short lived when Edward stared on in confusion. Greed was in a sparing mach with Envy laughing manically.
"Don't fight him here. Take her and go." He demanded.
"We can't leave you here alone with them!" I shot back feeling way more confident. I don't know if it was because Edward was here now or the fact that I could control my body again. Actually, I did know why…Pressure on my arm pulled me away from the brawl. "He'll be fine." Edward's tone was so empty it scared me slightly. While we ran for the exit I could feel my strength draining once more. Turning, Father had his arms raised with a diabolical smirk. Red sparks shot from his finger tips. His grin was wiped away when Greed hooked him across the face. In a second, I was on Greed's back with my vision spiking.
"This way." Greed's voice had changed. It was softer. Ling was in control now.
"Good to see you." I smiled while we ran down the halls.
"What the hell was that?" Edward questioned once the sun's rays had touched our skin.
Ling placed me on the ground once I told him I would be fine. Father had not been able to complete the transmutation so the effect was hardly anything on me. Dragging Edward along, Ling concluded that we could answer his questions in a different setting. We needed to get far away from here. To my surprise, 'here' was Central. The homunculi's hide out was under Central City.
"Where's Al?" I asked suddenly. What if he had gotten caught to?
"Last I saw he had Pride cornered. I thought you were with him though." Ling informed with a small smile. "My guess is we should group up. The situation has changed." He finished.
I sighed in relief. I do not know why I was so worried. Of course Alphonse would be able to handle himself.
"The plan was once we got Pride we would head to Doctor Knox's cabin. We had met with him previously and he said we could..." I muttered reminding them of the doctor we met when Long Fan was injured.
"Looks like we're going there then."
~.~.~.~
The sun had long since set when we made it to Knox's. By the time we had met with Alphonse, Pride had already escaped.
"I'm just glad to see you're okay Serena!" Alphonse stated happily.
"Yeah it was crazy." I laughed nervously.
"While we're on the subject: What happened?" Ling asked while slouching in his chair.
"Everything was fine. Serena was able to get Kimblee and we were gonna get Pride…but Envy came out of nowhere. I guess he only came to get you though since he left right away." Alphonse explained looking at me.
"He probably knew he wouldn't be able to take both of us if I came too." I thought.
"Either way, if you want to stop Father you need to keep her away from him." Ling said matter-of-factly pointing to me. I frowned and dropped my gaze to the ground.
Ling went on to explain everything that had happened while I was captive. The whole time Edward held my gaze. It was the first time that I did not know what he was thinking and it bothered me. Was he mad? Relieved?
"My guess is after the effect one transmutation had her…she might not have lasted a few more." Ling finished.
My heart fluttered in my chest. What if Edward had not shown up when he did? Would Greed and I have been able to make it out? I looked around at the friends that filled my company. How many transmutations would I have been used for before my life ended here. In that moment I realized that these people would not have known how much I cared for them.
I tap on my shoulder woke me from my thoughts. Ling and Alphonse were lost in their own conversation. Edward motioned for me to follow him so I did. Once we were outside I waited for his lecture but it never came. My gaze was turned to the twinkling stars. There was no way I would be able to wait for him to speak first if I looked into his eyes.
Things were about to change. There was not as much time as we thought we had anymore. Hopefully, Scar and Mae were close to finishing that counter circle. Our final battle could be just around the corner. It was possible that I may not make it past our victory. Summoning up the courage I finally looked Edward in the eye. He was struggling to find his words.
If my last moments in this world were to come I would be okay. I had such an amazing adventure here. I laughed, cried, gained some pretty interesting battle scars and learned a lot. It was everything I could have ever wished for and more. But there was something even more that I had gained. Taking slow steps closer, I slowly put my arms around Edward's neck and held him close. They say that you should live every day like it was your last.
"I'm glad we made it in time." Edward finally spoke quietly while his arms came around my waist.
If it all was going to end I wanted to leave here knowing I did everything. So I pulled away and stood on my toes and kissed Edward Elric.
A/N: Good spot to end don't you think? There's probably two or three chapters left in this story getting closer. I hope you enjoyed! Please review! They make me want to write more and update faster!