The House Of A Rising Sun.

In the pitch darkness of the basement, Sirius tossed and turned in his bed, moans and whispers were sometimes heard from his direction. The only reason he didn't cry was that he had no tears left. He squeezed the sheets so hard that they threatened to rip at any moment.

Right now, he was having one of the worst nightmares of his life.

~~~

Selim Bradley stood in front of the man's bleeding body and watched the rapidly shrinking car on the horizon. He sighed pulling his shadows closer to himself.

"Brave humans are so easy to trick."

The mab gasped for air, clutching to the last bits of his consciousness. Selim Bradley smiled and walked over to the dying Alchemist.

"Excellent, you're still alive." The childish smile that appeared on his face could've been cute if he hadn't just tried to kill four people.

The man was lying on his back with arms and legs outstretched to the sides, he didn't even try to open his eyes to look at the Homunculus. His throat was ripped open after being bitten by a lion-based chimera.

"Your suit's new color fits you well, Kimblee." The beautiful white business suit was stained with blood, and it continued to grow even larger every second.

"I see why one calls a lion the "King of the jungle." He went straight for the throat. . . Very in tune with the idea of survival of the fittest."

The Homunculus in the body of a child laughed and the shadow beneath his feet began to widen, revealing numerous mouths and eyes.

"Humans really have no place in this world at all, do they?" Pride fell silent for a couple of seconds. "You always said you wanted to see which side the world would choose. Yet here you are, beaten and humiliated."

Pride licked his lips, his eyes were burning with hunger. Even a madman like Kimblee would be disturbed by the look on his face.

"Have no fear." Shadows lifted the dying Alchemist's body off the ground and a giant void-like mouth opened above him.

"You'll live on as a part of me."

~~~

Sirius woke up with a scream. His back was covered in a cold sweat, and his breathing was ragged. Black hugged his knees and wrapped himself in the sheets, trying to take some comfort from the warm blanket.

This nightmare was nothing Compared to the visions that Voldemort sent him, but. . .

"I hope I won't be seeing that ever again. . ." He muttered under his breath, his sleep forgotten.

---

In the morning Sirius - already in his sixteen-year-old form - looked at the empty rooms in deep thought. The young Alchemist quickly restored the house to an acceptable state and was even able to completely equip the basement as his room, but he ran into a problem. He ran out of money. Five hundred thousand yen could buy a lot of things. But enough materials for his plans? Nope.

So now Sirius faced a choice. He can go and pickpocket in some red-light district, start selling gold in various pawnshops, or he can rob the nearest gangs.

He didn't like pickpocketing. These people most likely have families to feed, so stealing from them left a bad taste in his mouth.

The pawnshops' owners who accepted gold and jewelry without the necessary documents were greedy fucks who would sell their mother for a good price. So they were too unreliable as a source of income. Although Sirius will leave this option as a last resort.

But stealing from gangs. . . It was relatively safe with his abilities - Sirius didn't think Alchemy and Pride could be called Quirks - he didn't even have to leave the house to do it. Even in a city as calm as Musutafu, there must be a few gangs that had enough money. At least Black thought they would have enough money for his plans.

"Three bad choices, hmm. Robbin' gangs it is." Only with this, a new problem arose. "And where should I look for them. . ?"

He sat down on the first floor and closed his eyes, all his attention was focused on Pride. His shadows moved with incredible speed through the night city in search of points of interest. It's always good to know the different streets and aisles, you never know when you might need them.

Musutafu was an interesting city, to say the least. . . Well, or just this Era itself was interesting.

Sirius saw a breakdance competition, where a girl with pink skin and black eyes was winning one hundred percent. But the strange thing was that just ten meters away, some blond was threatening a green-haired teenager with explosions. These two events just didn't fit together in Black's head, how could they happen so close to each other?

Finally, after a couple of hours of searching, Sirius found his target. A small building in the red light district served as a hideout for a gang of robbers. He learned this by eavesdropping on the conversation of two idiots who were talking too loudly about their raid on the last store. So Black was pretty sure they had money.

Pride connected with every shadow in the building and Sirius was able to find a room with money in literally ten seconds. He entered through the shadows - ignoring the four guards in front of the entrance - and found himself inside. Shelves near the walls were filled with jewelry, diamonds, rubies, and other precious stones, but the Alchemist's goal was right in front of him.

On a wooden table in the middle of the room were dozens, if not hundreds packs of cash.

"Ain't this shit too easy? Although it would be easier for a Wizard to do it. Apparate in, take the money, Apparate out. . . Damn, I miss my magic." Sirius sighed heavily and continued his robbery. "Glory to the Higher Powers that the safe is on the first floor."

Black made a small hole in the floor and made a tunnel under the building where he took away all the money using Pride. After that, he created a tunnel under the bandits' hideout and pulled his loot through it, successfully stealing the money that was already stolen from someone else.

After another hour of carrying money in the shadows of different houses and trees, Sirius became eleven million yen richer.

Black took enough money to buy the first patch of necessary materials and got up. He put the rest of the cash in the basement and transmutated the door into a wall. After a little thought, he took a rather large plate of metal and, with the help of Alchemy, strengthened the front door. He removed the lock completely so that no one except him could open it.

Once his improvements were completed, Sirius went to the hardware store. He was already mentally annoyed with the number of things he would have to carry home. It certainly won't attract attention, not at all. . . Sirius wanted to transmute all the materials into compressed blocks, but they would be still fucking heavy.

"So several trips it is."

Because of this, the teenager began to notice more and more differences between himself and the original Pride. He was a human-based Homunculus, so changes were inevitable.

As a human-based Homunculus, he did not have all the usual abilities of his. . . brethren. Enhanced Physiology and Senses were still present, but Contaminant Immunity, Regeneration, and Immortality were absent. Sirius believed that this was what healed his poor vision.

Pride's abilities lied within both a black living controllable multi-eyed and multi-mouthed shadow. His black multi-eyed shadow was his actual form, with the childlike body was a simple "container" for him to move around in. Pride often shaped parts of himself into long, tendril-arm-like appendages.

He could also spread his essence throughout shadows and sense everything around that particular shadow, But if he wants to watch through them, then shadow eyes come to his aid.

Pride could only exist within a given area: the area inside his primary "container", the area around his primary "container", and the transmutation circle (which is his secondary "container" and the same one used by Father for his main plan) throughout Amestris. Sirius' body was still mostly human and not just a "container" for his true form, although it was just as resistant to physical damage as the original. Thanks to this, his movement wasn't restricted.

Another change was the use and materialization of his shadows. If Pride couldn't create these dark extensions of himself if there are no shadows near his body, then Sirius' magic made up for this weakness. Now, even in complete darkness or in bright light, he could create his own shadows. It should be said that creating shadows, instead of their usual manipulation, used a lot more magic.

Thanks to Pride devouring Gluttony, - which was another insane ability - he gained an enhanced sense of smell and sharp teeth on his shadows, along with Gluttony's ravenous hunger and Gluttony's Gate. it's a space that lies between reality and the Gate and is full of all the objects he has eaten. But Sirius didn't feel even an ounce of hunger, God knows why probably one of Jasmine's gifts.

In theory, Sirius could use this subspace as an inventory like in video games. If it weren't filled with blood, bones, earth, and other more bizarre things. So no inventory for the young Alchemist. At least not until he finds a way to get rid of all the unholy things inside.

Sirius used his shadows to carry huge bags from the hardware store. And constant shadow materialization in the daylight was taking even more magic than he expected. The teenager was groaned and collapsed as soon as he entered the house, dozens of planks scattered across the floor.

Sirius sighed heavily and rolled onto his back.

"Fuck. If this continues, I will never be able to use Pride properly. What was Hermione saying? {Three parts determine the magical power of a Wizard: Mind, Body, and Soul.}" Sirius thought for a second. "My body is not in the best condition, especially after living. . . existing with the Buttergems. The mind is most likely damaged by Horcrux in my head and the potions along with Dumbledore's mental magic. I don't know anything about my soul, but Jasmine should have done something to my it in three hundred years."

Sirius raised his hand in front of his face and a dark green eye appeared in his palm. There was a thin, almost invisible, blood-red circle on its pupil.

"I hope my body is still human enough to train it." Sirius groaned again. "Shit, why can't anything be easy?"

After a week and a few more robbed gangs - they started killing each other because of weird suspicions - Sirius had enough money and materials and some very useful books. Even with the memories of several Alchemists, he didn't have enough knowledge to create modern technology. So Sirius bought a generator and put it in the basement until he learned how to create his own.

The basement was rectangular with a fairly high roof. If a teenager had bothered to measure the dimensions of a room, then he would've got 15m x 10m x 3m. So it was perfect for his Mad Alchemist lab.

For a person who lived all his life where he had to and not where he wanted, it was a kind of an outlet. The opportunity to create something of his own, something personal, almost from scratch, warmed his heart. Unfortunately, this feeling couldn't warm his hands.

"I need to fix the heating. . ." Sirius muttered and sighed as he descended into the basement.

Of the entire house, Sirius only put the furniture in the basement. The house was in the middle of the forest in a small clearing and a small river flowing to the left of it. His paranoia that developed over two lifetimes didn't allow him to live where he can be seen through the windows, especially not on his property. Perhaps a little later, when he makes sure that no one other than him can get here.

He pressed the switch and the room was lit up. In the far right corner right under the ventilation, was his work desk and a cabinet with the remains of the materials. In the next corner, there was a small bed with three pillows and several books. The rest of the space was occupied by bookcases. Sirius remembered the Alchemists' libraries, he knows how many books they need for references.

He walked over to the bed and laid down. Now that he had a safe place to rest, he could start planning. He used to be a reckless Gryffindor, but now he began to think. Unfortunately, he was stuck at the very beginning, he did not know what he wanted from his life.

His past lives - including the life of Selim Bradley - were spent obeying the orders or manipulations of someone else without question, and he didn't want history to repeat itself. He also did not want to live his whole life as a hermit in the forest, hiding from the gaze of the authorities.

'But what did I want?' He thought. 'I want my freedom, maybe some real love, have normal children, Albus Severus can go fuck himself, how could I name my son like that?'

Sirius sighed heavily. Even potions weren't an excuse for his lack of taste in names.

"I still want to help people. . ."

Black raised his hand in front of his face again and two malicious green eyes opened in his palm. They seemed to mock the pathetic human and his questions. Sirius blinked a couple of times and clenched his fist, getting rid of the eyes.

'I can be a Hero. But to what end? To become a Military Dog?' He snorted. 'Well, it fits. Here and in Amestris, the country is controlled by the military. Well, assuming the Heroes are part of the military.'

And this was true, even if the citizens did not notice it. Heroes had so much influence due to their strength and popularity that by their very presence they could stop any conflict. Just look at All Might.

'Vigilante? It's a good option, but if someone catches me, there will be questions. But I have no better ideas. I definitely won't be able to be a white-collar worker.' Sirius stretched in his bed and looked thoughtfully at the ceiling. 'This world is quite different from itself three hundred years ago, but one thing hasn't changed. The strong eat the weak. And I'm the weak one. . . For now.'

Sighing heavily, Black got out of bed and went outside. He decided to go against his paranoia and fully fix the house.

'If some child or teenager comes across an abandoned cabin in the woods, they'll want to make it their secret base. Or a place to get drunk. So to drive them away, it is better to give the house a fresh look.'

In reality, he just wanted his home - he already considered it his property - to look good. And he didn't want to live in the basement longer than necessary. Black took turns entering each room on the first floor and transmuting from raw materials into new furniture.

In the kitchen, he created a gas stove next to the fridge and several cupboards for food and other things. The room was divided into a bar counter behind which there was a cooking zone, and behind it, there was a hidden door leading to the basement.

In the master bedroom, he transmuted a king-sized bed with bedside tables on each side. There was a TV stand opposite the bed, but without the TV itself. The walk-in closet was filled with hangers and shoe racks. Finally, instead of changing something in the bathroom, Sirius just fixed the sink, toilet, and bathroom.

The last two bedrooms were the same, double beds, bedside tables, desks and chairs, wardrobes in the corner of the room with mirrors on the inside of the door. The common bathroom was also repaired and reconnected to the pipes.

In the middle of the living room next to it, brown carpets, tables, and chairs of dark oak appeared. By the window, he transmuted a long corner sofa and a mini-fridge for drinks. He fixed the closet and household shelter next to the exit and added a second metal door before leaving the house.

Standing outside, Black touched the wall and the whole house was covered with red lightning, the bricks and the roof began to repair themselves in seconds. Thick vines fell to the ground and disappeared into the tall grass. After that, Sirius took all the remaining metal and took it to the water tower. He completely rebuilt the tower and walked back a few meters to see the result of his work.

The walls of the house were now lined with light brown bricks that matched perfectly with the dark tiles on the roof. The previously abandoned house breathed life again. Of course, in some places, there were obvious signs of the use of alchemy, but nothing could be done about it.

But Sirius felt that the house was still missing something. So with a little thought, he took a couple of buckets of paint and transmuted the huge red rising Sun on the water tower. In the middle of this, four black pieces were depicted: Prongs, Moony, Padfoot, and Sirius's shadow form with many green eyes. The young Alchemist could only imagine for what great and terrible pranks the Marauders could've used his powers for.

"This is not New Orleans and I'm definitely not a Vietnam War veteran, but who cares?" Black asked himself. "I still have a lot of changes to make, but this is a good foundation."