Heart of a SIN - FMA Envy Fanfic [Edited]

39 - The Philosopher Stone

Arisa pov

Dante and I were locked in gazes for a few minutes – she was now wary of my confidence and was waiting for me to make the first move. However, Leo returning broke the tension between us and gave me the change to gaze once at Edward, Alphonse and Scar who were holding up well enough against their opponents.

In fact, Edward had beaten Sloth and now she was evaporating. It looks like Edward had used alchemy to change the constitution of her body. It must have taken a lot of strong will to beat the person who looked like his mother. He had injuries all over his body – scratches and bruises along with his heavy breathing. Wrath though seemed angry and sad about it, calling out to Sloth as his mother. He tried to get close to her but Alphone had strapped him to the wall to prevent him from being able to fight back.

Scar was having a hard time though. Gluttony was persistent but hoping he could hold out a little longer, I turned my gaze back to Leo.

"Ari sama!" he hollered as he ran. "Water blocked! Water no leaving tunnel!"

A momentary glance at the stream had his words confirmed – the level of the water had risen from what it was when we had first entered. It worked out well for me – will all of the water gathered here, I could create the stone easily.

I looked back to Leo to thank him for his help but my eyes went wide as he ran too close to Dante. When he was close enough, Dante extended her hand and used alchemy to create an explosion midair. Leo was sent flying to the wall. He gasped as his back met the wall and curled up whimpering in pain when he fell to the ground.

What had happened roused anger so intense in me that I was certain that I had never felt such anger in my entire life. My lips curled back in an almost animalistic snarl before I lunged at Dante. I was so quick that she did not even realize what had happened until I was past her and blood spurted out of a deep slash I had left in her side. Gasping, she fell to one knee while holding a hand over the wound from which blood poured out and stained the ground in large splotches. Her ripped dress that hung low now revealed rotting skin.

"How disgusting, Dante. Your skin rots, showing that your existence here cannot be sustained. Someone who is nothing more than a decomposing mass should be where they belong! In hell!" I lunged at her again. I used a barrage of physical attacks, giving her no time to use alchemy against me.

She was able to block most of my attacks but I did get a chance to hit her in the leg, on her shoulder and in her gut. It sent so much happiness through me seeing her flinch at the hard contact of my fists and foot with her body. In fact, I felt frighteningly sadistic now.

Just imagining how many people she had played around with like this made my anger rise two fold – me, Saul, Edward, Alphonse, Hughes san, the military, Ishval, innumerable innocent civilians, and all the homunculi. Even though I never really knew my birth parents and didn't have any sort of attachment to them, I wondered what it would have been like to have a real family, to have lived in Risembool with them and Saul and all the normalcy. I wouldn't have been an Errand Girl and I wouldn't have been Angel. I wouldn't have known Keith or Oba-san, I wouldn't have been scared out of my wits when I came to this world. I would have been...normal.

I wouldn't have met all the people who had changed my life and made me who I was today.

I also wondered how it would have been if Dante never existed and if she had never interrupted the peaceful life of all the people in this world.

My chest hurt, stinging not just because of the wound but of the rush of emotions through me. But I was too busy fighting Dante to concentrate on that right now. She blocked a kick I sent at her face. She then grabbed my ankle and I used the chance to lift off the ground with my legs wrapped around her neck and make her fall to the ground. She winced as she fell on the hard ground and I too felt a sharp sting on my left leg. Her weight had sort of crushed my leg and I bit my lip hard drawing blood to continue keeping my grip tight on her. I also felt a strain in my chest and sucked in a sharp breath to suppress the violent cough that threatened to rise in my throat. The blood that rose in my throat was forcefully swallowed.