Chapter 7: Homecoming

The Iron Sole Alchemist (Chapter 7) Homecoming

by Howlin

(Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to this universe, places, or characters, and only claim the protagonist, Loki, Sloth, The Gunslinger Alchemist, The Swarm Alchemist, and his subordinates as my own creations. This is fan fiction, and I don't profit from it. Please don't sue me.)

. . .

When Wrath, Loki, and I were alone on the train, I reached into my pocket and produced Karin's stone.

"I didn't want to say anything back at the ruin. I took this philosopher stone off a third rate alchemist serial killer. If you can help me figure out how to use it safely, we can try to bring back your mom."

"You'd do that?"

"You seemed pretty confident that Dante could do it with the stone you brought her. All I want in return is to know how the stone works."

Wrath looked more closely at the glowing stone in my hand. "That's not the philosopher stone."

"Wait, but Karin's notes said-"

"Karin the third rate alchemist you got it from? She was wrong."

"But I've seen these in action. They amplify transmutations and bypass equivalent exchange."

"Oh, those things are like the real thing, just a thousand times weaker. The other homonculi used to hand them out to promising alchemists to whet their appetite for the stone's power."

"Used to? Another homonculus was the one that gave Karin this stone. At least I think it was another homonculus. She had the same oroboros mark as you. Called herself Sloth."

Wrath's fingers dug into the armrests of his chair. "When?"

"A few days ago. Why?"

"Describe her," Wrath ordered, and his tone and expression made Loki nervous. I reassured the chimera so his hackles raising wouldn't trigger the transmutation array on his body as I answered Wrath.

"She was a little girl. Black hair, pale skin and purple eyes like yours. Looked to be about four. Didn't act like it at all. Had the ability to pass through solid matter. Oroboros tattoo on her back by the right shoulder."

Wrath sighed in disappointment and relaxed.

"Mind telling me what that was about?"

"It wasn't Mommy."

"Can you tell me about her?"

"She was also called Sloth. I think our names get recycled. I remember one of the others saying something about that."

"She was another homonculus?"

"Uh-huh. Edward made her. Him and his brother. She was supposed to be their mommy, but she became mine."

"Wait, Edward Elric?"

"Yeah," replied Wrath. "He killed her too."

"Why would he do that?" I asked, stunned.

Wrath shook his head. "I didn't understand it then, and I don't now. All that matters is that she's gone."

"I'm sorry." Changing the subject, I asked, "You said your names get recycled. What are they? Are there only seven?"

"I think so. Sloth, Lust, Gluttony, Envy, Pride, Greed, and Wrath."

"So, can you walk through walls too?"

"No. We all had different powers. We can all heal using red stones, and we're all really hard to permanently kill, but other than that, individual homonculi have their own powers."

"What's yours?" I asked.

"I could use alchemy."

"Could?"

Wrath held up his automail fist. "I took Edward's limbs and integrated them into my body. While I had them, I could use alchemy."

"Piggy backing on his soul," I mused. "Then you lost them to the Gate and they won't grow back."

Wrath nodded.

"You mentioned red stones that homonculi use to heal. Is that what this is?" I held up Karin's stone.

He nodded again. "Alchemists can boost their power with them, or a homonculus can eat them. Consumed stones fuel our regeneration."

"Could you use the ones you'd eaten to boost your alchemy?"

"No."

"What can you tell me about the rebounds that happen when using the stone?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing?"

"That wasn't really my department."

. . .

"What happened to you?" asked Paninya, wide-eyed. I still wore the bandages for my superficial injuries, and my limp was obvious.

"You should see the other guy," I half-teased. "Seriously, though, the military sent me into a rough situation. Dominik's gear saved my life a couple times over."

Paninya and I talked as we headed back to Dominik's shop. I told her about my adventures thus far. She stopped taking me seriously when I brought up the zombies, and was rolling her eyes at the posessed suits of armor.

"Alright, soldier boy. I get it. How you actually got messed up is classified At least this is more entertaining."

I decided not to fight it, and asked, "In that case, how about I tell you about how I captured the Phantom Thief of Aquroya before we met?"

We laughed warmly as we stepped into Domonik's shop. Wrath had been quiet, and hung back with Loki while Paninya and I got caught up.

All laughter stopped, as Dominik stared me down. One glance at my stance, and he knew why I was here. I withered under the glare of his disapproval, and I wasn't at all sure why. A moment longer, and he nodded. "Let's see how bad the damage is."

"When you're done fixing me, could you have a look at him?"

"I-" began Wrath before I cut him off.

"Hey, I'm a big shot State Alchemist, remember. They pay me more than enough to cover us both."

While Wrath and I waited limbless for Dominik to finish, Paninya showed off the trophies and ribbons that now decorated Dominik's storefront. Rush Valley's Automail Arm wrestling champ had been busy.

"I put up the prize money as the reward for a new contest. I invited some of the best craftsmen in town to participate. After winning that one, I started holding more contests. I charged an entry fee to cover expenses and expand the grand prize. I'm most proud of this one."

"It says second place," I replied a bit confused.

"Some of the other mechanics got sick of me showing their boys up, so they put together a bunch of high performance rigs. When I lost to a masterwork specifically designed to beat me at arm wrestling, it added legitimacy to my other wins. Including other wins in that high performance contest."

"Heh, so you were wrong. I'm not talking to the real Rush Valley champion after all."

"Nah, Dominik isn't interested in building custom arm wrestling automail. Given what the contest evolved into, I figured I'd bow out of future competitions. I do still run the tournament though, and that gives me plenty of chances to talk up Dominik's stuff."

"Aaaaaah!" we heard from the back room. Paninya took off at a superhuman sprint, and I sent Loki with her. When Wrath and I made it in, leaning on each other for support, we saw Dominik seated at his workbench. Wrath's arm was partially disassembled.

"You!" Dominik shot at Wrath, who gritted his teeth and narrowed his eyes. "You've been to Risembool, haven't you! Admit it!"

Wrath's anger turned to confusion. "Um, yes?"

"I knew it!" exclaimed Dominik with a hint of defeat in his voice. "This is one of Pinako Rockbell's arms. There's no mistaking the style."

"Why did you scream?" asked Paninya as Loki sniffed around Dominik and laid his head on Dominik's lap in a comforting gesture.

Dominik only stared at the arm and trembled.

"He's fine," announced Paninya with a long-suffering sight.

"Okay?" I replied dubiously.

Paninya helped Wrath and I back to the waiting room.

. . .

"With all the joint damage, yours was practically a rebuild. Try not to break it again." Dominik said as he brought out my leg. "For you, there was nothing but some basic maintenance to be done. Probably wasn't worth detaching."

When Paninya laid me down and got a solid grip on my arms, I realized what was coming. Dominik snapped the leg back into the socket, and the pain flooded back instantly. Unlike the first time, there was no buildup or gradual spreading of the pain. It was fully present in the blink of an eye.

I recovered more quickly this time, and after managing to walk to the toilet and throw up, I was practically back to one hundred percent. It was a good thing to, because Wrath was up next.

Dominik and Paninya hooked up his automail limbs simultaneously, and his screams were deafening. When the homonculus flailed and kicked, Dominik and Paninya were both tossed off the Homonculus with far too much force. I transmuted padding onto the walls before they struck, and gave Wrath as much space as I could. A moment later, Wrath was curled up and whimpering. I probably would be too if I had to go through that with two limbs.

"I've never seen anyone recover that quickly," noted Paninya.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Well, you were out of it for the better part of an hour, for example. Look, he's starting to stand up."

"It's been that long?" I asked, looking at my watch.

"It's easy to lose track of time in that state. I've seen hardened war veterans go down for fifteen minutes. It's possible to stay conscious and active all the way through, but I've never managed it. He must have an incredible pain tolerance."

Thinking back on how he didn't seem to notice his other arm being chopped off, I agreed, "That make sense." I didn't feel so bad about my reaction in light of the comparison.

. . .

On the train, I replaced my returned shoe as I asked Wrath, "What are we going to find in Dublith?"

Wrath flinched, but remained silent, as he continued to gently stroke Loki's head.

"You told Gunslinger you had family here. Other homonculi?"

"No. Worse. This is where the alchemist who created me lives."

. . .

Wrath silently led the way through the streets of Dublith to a butcher shop. Recalling the details of a particularly nasty serial killer I'd read about from a few years back, and thinking on how unbalanced Karin had been, I shuddered.

"I can't go in there," said Wrath suddenly.

"I won't make you," I said before realizing how silly that must sound. Four animated suits of armor with stronger alchemy than me couldn't force him through a door.

Still, Wrath seemed relieved rather than insulted.

"But I am going in," I continued.

Before the conversation could continue, we heard a loud crash from inside, and a boy's scream of terror. Loki transformed and darted forward as I sprinted through the shop door.

A huge man in an apron darted out from behind the counter and tackled Loki to the ground. As he did so, he yelled out, "Izumi! Company!"

I stomped the floor, and arcs of violet light raced to where Loki was being grappled with. A ring of material was flung upward and encircled the large man's upper arms and shoulders. The lost leverage gave Loki the advantage he needed to squirm out of the now bound man's grip.

The rear door of the ship flung open, revealing two figures. One was a woman with dark hair and a sleeveless white shirt. The other was a blond boy wearing white gloves and a red coat. Before I could process what was happening, the pair clapped their hands and slapped the floor.

I was suddenly surrounded by stone spikes hurling at me from every direction, accompanied by blue arcs of alchemic light. I didn't have time to even try to disrupt the transmutation. It was all I could do to keep from getting skewered.

The next thing I knew, I was suspended in midair by the dozens of stone spikes that barely missed impaling me, and I could see Loki likewise bound up.

The large man regained his feet, flexed his muscles, and shattered the stone ring I'd used to bind him, with power that had nothing to do with alchemy.

As the woman approached me, I tried, without success, to get either of my feet in contact with the floor or one of the spikes to even attempt a transmutation, but I was held fast.

"Who the hell are you?" she yelled in my face.

"I am the Iron Sole Alchemist," I replied with as much authority as I could muster while being held in this position, which was, admittedly, not much.

"A State Alchemist?" said the boy in confusion.

Ignoring the boy and apparently unsurprised with my rank, the woman loudly declared, "You've got ten seconds to explain what you're doing attacking my sho with that!" She pointed at Loki who was still struggling to free himself.

"You have five to tell me who was screaming," I shot back, resolved not to give them the satisfaction of seeing me sweat.

The boy was struck with a look of comprehension. "Oh, that was me. I'm sorry about the confusion." He clapped, but the woman held him back with a hand on his shoulder.

"You expect us to believe one of the military's living weapons cares for one second about a child in danger?"

"But Teacher," began the boy, "Brother did, didn't he?"

Her head snapped angrily in the boy's direction, then her eyes softened.

"Actually," I interjected, "that's exactly why I'm here. Out by Ishbal, I came across a black haired boy with an automail right arm and left leg who claimed to have family here."

All three froze, the woman's eyes searching mine for some clue about how much I knew. I glanced at the transmutation arrays drawn on the boy's gloves and at the woman's bare hands and addressed her directly.

"I understand if you would prefer to have this discussion somewhere more private." I looked pointedly over my shoulder at the ajar door. Wrath was nowhere to be found, but some of the local children were crowding the frame for a good look.

. . .

After transmuting me down from the spikes, and loki returning to his dog form, I was led wordlessly into a back room.

"I presume you're the alchemist who created Wrath?" I directed at the woman as I took a seat in a corner and observed the large man blocking the door out.

"Where is he?" she ignored my question.

"In town. I don't know where exactly. He was with me before this fight started, but he was pretty clear about not wanting to come in. What did you do to him that he can't bring himself to face you?"

"He's here?" mused the woman who must be the Izumi the man had called to. "What are you people doing with him?"

"If you mean the military, nothing. My superiors don't know he's a homonculus. As far as they're concerned, I'm escorting a traumatized boy back to his mother."

"Alphonse, watch him," Izumi said to the blond boy. "I'm going to see if I can find Wrath."

"He doesn't like to feel trapped," I called after Izumi as she left. "He'll respond better if you leave him a way to run away."

Alphonse looked worriedly after her, and Loki laid his head in the boy's lap. Appreciating the gesture, Alphonse gently petted the dog.

"Alphonse!" snapped the large man.

"It's okay," I reassured. "Loki won't hurt him."

"Did you make him?" asked Alphonse.

"No. He was made by..." I recalled what I had learned about the Sewing Life Alchemist, "...someone else. He wasn't in good shape when I found him. I helped him and we've been together ever since."

We sat in silence a moment longer before I ventured. "You know, your outfit reminds me of Edward Elric's."

"You knew my brother?" the boy perked up.

"Alphonse... You can't be. Alphonse Elric was a giant, always wearing a metal suit of armor."

"I don't remember anything that happened in those days. teacher said something happened to me, and Brother did something with alchemy to save my life. My real body was destroyed and we went on a journey to get our bodies back to normal."

"And you succeeded?!" It now made sense why Fullmetal's records were classified. Thinking back, "The philosopher's stone. Scar really did make it, then you took it from him and used it to restore yourselves. Do you still have it? Does it have the same backlash problem as the lesser stones? Do you know if Scar needed more than the Liore array to make it?"

Alphonse stared in confusion at my uninterrupted string of enthusiastic questions. "I did say I don't remember any of that, right?"

"I'm sorry, I got a little overexcited. Is Edward around? Maybe he can answer my questions."

"No one's seen Ed since I came back. teacher thinks he traded his life for mine, but I know he's still out there."

"How about we talk about how you know Wrath," prompted the large man.

"Right," I sighed. "I rescued him from some kind of laboratory near Ishbal. Does the name Dante mean anything to you?"

His features remained carefully impassive.

"Okay, I'm going to take that as a 'yes'/ Best I could piece together, she was experimenting on homonculi. Wrath was being taken to a cell. After we got him out of there, the plan was to bring him back to his family."

"How did you find out what he is?"

"Wrath was injured in the fighting. I saw him grow an arm back. My partner saw it too, but then he took a few heavy blows to the head and hasn't mentioned it since. If he does remember seeing it, I don't think he's put the pieces together yet."

"Yet," the man repeated.

"Who was Wrath?" I asked.

There was a long pause before he replied, "Our son."

I left it at that until Izumi returned.

"Teacher?" asked Alphonse.

"I couldn't find him. I don't think he wants to be found."

"What are we going to do about him?" asked Alphonse. "We can't just keep him here."

"Go upstairs, Al," Izumi replied.

"But..." he started to protest.

"Go!" she shot back, and the terrified boy fled. I had to calm Loki.

"I think I see why Wrath didn't want to come back here."

"You have no idea what I did to that boy," replied Izumi in a low voice tinged with regret.

"Izumi-" began the large man.

"No, Sig," she cut him off. "I have to take this chance. Wrath," the name seemed to have a bitter taste in her mouth, "he trusts you?"

"If he does, I don't intend to betray that," I replied, unsure where she was going with this.

"Good," she replied, smiling sadly. "You're looking for information on human transmutation."

"How-" I started to reply.

"Wasn't hard to piece together. You know what a homonculus is. You've come to talk to one's creator under a plausible and technically true cover story so you don't have to keep the military informed of what you find. You also recognized what my ability to transmute without a circle means. Don't try to deny it. I don't know exactly what you plan to do with that knowledge, but today's your lucky day.

"A homonculus is the result of a failed attempt at bringing a human back to life. In Wrath's case," she paused, gathering her emotional strength. She let sig put his arm around her and continued, "our stillborn baby."

Izumi's voice cracked, then suddenly she began coughing violently. There was blood coming up. Sig just held her, and from his reaction it was clear whatever was wrong with her had been going on for some time. When she'd got the coughing under control, she continued.

"When you attempt a human transmutation, a gate appears. There are things living in it. They take pieces of you." She pointedly held up her bloody hand.

"When a homonculus is first created, it doesn't look remotely human. I didn't understand then, and so I made an awful mistake."

"Why are you telling me all this?"

"So you'll understand what I'm asking you to do."

"And what's that?"

"Tell him how sorry I am that I gave him back to the Gate."

. . .

It was almost a relief that Wrath didn't meet Loki and I on our way back to the train. I had no idea what I would have said to him if he had. I just had to hope he could take care of himself until we met again.

When I arrived back in Ishbal, I found the Gunslinger Alchemist up and about, supervising the reconstruction. His broken arm was still in a sling.

"Iron Sole," he called out, waving his one good hand.

"You're doing well, I see," I greeted him.

"Not all of us can just replace damaged parts and be back to 100%."

"Sure you can. I just wouldn't recommend it." We both laughed heartily before he changed the subject.

"The kid make it home okay?"

I shook my head and tried out the half-truth I'd prepared on the train. "We got to town okay, but he ran away while I was talking to his mother. That family has some serious issues."

"Think she was involved in him ending up in that lab in the first place?"

"No," I replied after a moment's consideration. "Best guess is he ran away and got picked up by whoever's behind this."

"Poor kid, had home, abducted, experimented on, and now all alone. Got to respect the Swarm Alchemist."

"What do you mean?"

"You aren't as good a liar as you think, Iron Sole."

I froze.

"The Colonel knew we were holding something back. We found the kid in an alchemy lab fighting animated suits of armor. Even without hearing about his strength and regeneration, the Colonel would have been within his rights to hold the boy."

"I-" I tried to say before being waved quiet.

"Don't get me wrong, the shoe covering up the transmutation circle on his foot probably saved us from answering awkward questions from the Ishbalans, but you didn't really think another State Alchemist wouldn't realize what you were doing, did you?"

"Did the Colonel say anything?" I asked, my heart pounding and my mind racing, wondering at what else they knew.

"Not a word," replied Gunslinger grinning broadly. "Even knowing the boy was subjected to alchemic experiments of potential interest to the military, he sent the kid back to his mother first chance he got. Had to have figured he'd been through enough. We did a good thing, Iron Sole." He clapped me on the shoulder and walked away.

. . .

Author's comments:

Wrath's time may have been brief, but he'll be back.