"What?" The single word is breathy, almost terrified as she stares at him, horror clutching at her heart. She manages to stand up, looking up and down the car, then back to Greed. "What do you mean the others didn't come with us?? They have to be around here somewhere!" There is a definite rise in volume and pitch on that last word. The sound of fear.
"Where are we?" She jumps at the loud whistle, slowly sitting back down but she's shaking. "Zelien was- was breaking apart. It didn't look like the other Rifts."
Right! She pulls out her watch in a hurry and tries, desperately, to get her family pulled up, to reach out to them, but the fear continues to grow inside of her when she realizes that nothing is connected. Nothing reaches out. The feeds are dark.
It's hard to watch, hard to listen to. "Give me an answer," her eyes seem to say. "-please, please, give me the right answer." Greed reaches out and peels forward. Away from his perch as two heels settle to the vibrating floor of the train. A whoosh of air sends them pitching through a black tunnel and the car-lights flicker and buzz to life with the slowness of a gas-fuse.
"-never said there wasn't a possibility. After all, there's no such thing as no such thing." Shadows wash over him. Caressing his jaw, his skin. Like a bad tide, lapping across his features. Making his angles that much more sharper as he pulls himself up into a semi-standing position. "Wait until we get off and then we'll try to it out, hmn?"
The wheels bounce and scrape against the iron rails below, making the noise echo in the long stretch of tunnel. As lights pass and flicker, Greed seems to dart in an out of shadow. As if there one minute and gone the next, but he doesn't move. And that ever-present grin gives him away, despite the physical tug-of-war between light and dark. Too bright are those teeth, too jagged.
When the train finally whips out of the tunnel, he's inches closer. Elbow shoved into a curve of leather. He's speaking softer, keeping a secret between him and his. "Home, well. Sort of."
The engine chugs and fields open up again. It's a bit different than last time. There's no military presence, not as much anyway, and there's machinery where there used to be plows. In the last few years, it seemed Amestris' new Fuhrer had done some landscaping of his own.
Greed grimaces and rattles his near-empty glass. He sighs, a bit dramatic, before casually pulling the collar of his vest up and over her neck.
"Just sit tight for now, all right? Don't want to draw any unwanted attention. Not exactly sure what we're dealing with yet." The Sin glances over his shoulder briefly. To the loosely-fitted door separating their cart and the next. He waves his fingers gently, letting them feather out across the glass before he claps over and snatches the knob. Lined up as his hip, Greed easily plants his back against the frame work and eases it shut with the audible clack of a lock.
"The world ending." The words come without even needing another thought, scowling just a little at him. "Is it possible for you to not be kind of creepy when you do that? Snake-shark-man." The whole latter half comes out as a quiet grumble, but the very tone suggests it's the kind of words you say in place of going into a pure panic.
She pulls the vest up a little more, looking outside of the window and recognizing absolutely nothing about it. "...Greed, what do you mean, home? Your home?? What is your home?" Her eyes go back to him, trying to make any sense out of this.
Excuse her while she holds onto the vest with tight fingers, all of her strength behind it, white knuckled, because it's the only thing she feels like she actually hang onto at the moment. In a heartbeat, in a roar, she has lost everything and she doesn't even know it.
Greed trolls down the alleyway of empty seats and his fingers graze each one abandoned. He leaves his glass behind - hitches it into a rounded notch made for the same purpose, before shoving both hands into his pockets. What she says is heavy, what she means is worse. The world ending -
The Sin's eyes fall heavy and his smile is forced closed. A tight line as eyebrows knit just above his shades. "Dublith. Though, I can't really tell you how much is still there and how much has changed - I've been dead for at least two years, if what the papers say is true."
Which isn't so much of a shocker as it is a bold-faced smack of reality. Greed tightens up against himself as he passes her by: he doesn't want to address the elephant in the room, but there's still another hour before they make a stop. And even then, there's other things to consider.
Like how, why, and just what sort of game Zelien's pulled this time.
One eye peels open from behind his shades. A sliver of purple masked out in opaque-black. Another flicker of light catches them, pulls black to stark-silver, and Greed whistles through his teeth. "Snake-shark-man? I already told you before, I'm a homunculus. What you're implying is something else entirely and I'm sure they wouldn't take too kindly to the name-calling. It's a little rude." The Sin lets his words fall as a finger waggles back and forth. It's easier this way. Chiding when there should be comfort. When he should be sitting her down, telling it to her straight.
He's just not entirely sure that's what he wants.
So he switches the gears; snatches a leaflet from a flip-note in the back and peels it open. "And most here? Well, they've seen a bit, but don't go dropping our little secret. Might not be the best idea."
"Dublith." A name that sounds kind of Irish but really she has no idea what or where it is. This whole train looks old but kind of posh, but at least it's just her and Greed.
His warning doesn't go over her head though. This is the kind of place where she shouldn't let people know what she is. She doubts people are called NEXTs here, as no one other than people from her world seem to know the term, but whatever they call that kind of person here, they are NEXTs in secret.
Remember that. This isn't like Zelien where it was okay to let some people know. "I won't tell anyone," she promises. Never mind that her name doesn't sound like she's from Amestris at all but from Xing.
"Dublith," he repeats as he thumbs through the pamphlet. It confirms his suspicions: the announcement of a new Fuhrer, the brief military doctrine highlighting the key points of The Promised Day. "The threat has been eliminated, but there's still much to do." Of course, the government had left out the fine details. About doors and the Truth. Of the former figure head's actual standing and there was nothing at all about the one who started it all:
The Dwarf in the Flask.
So Greed snaps it closed. He doesn't need to know anymore.
"Eh, hope he's still around. Little tricky here, with foreigners." Not that he didn't have a connection or two to choose from. He's just hoping that prior transgressions won't be a problem. But even if they are, he knows just how to push and prod until he gets what he wants.
And more often than not, he finds that most are willing to oblige.
Greed tosses the pamphlet back over his shoulder, letting it fall splayed-open on the floor. The binding stretches and the papers spread out like feathers off the plume of a rather eccentric bird. "Good - wouldn't want you mixing up in all that business. They may have changed, but the military's just that."
They're the military. They're the government. And Greed remembers just how ruthless the good ol'Colonel can be.
So he mindlessly places an open hand on top of Kaede's head. Gives it a ruffle before slipping away again. He takes a glance at the next cart, prying the door open again. Thankfully, he doesn't have to wait too long for another one of the workers to pass by.
The Sin dips and coils in the mouth of the frame. Sways his hips to the side and it's a fabulous show to put on his best good-graces. "Wouldn't happen to have a few left overs from the dinner rush, would you? I got a young one in the back and she hasn't been this way before." The stretch of Greed's shoulders hides most of the woman's face, but bright-green eyes peer over. As if trying to catch a little glance, though it's quick. Easily smeared away as the Sin rocks to the side and shuts off the view.
He smiles then. Charming and deadly, coy and crass. "She's a little shy, lovely," Greed voice purrs. It's hard to hide it and he really doesn't make the effort. Had he been alone, he probably would have coaxed the attendant to the back. Shot the breeze, learned her name, and find out if she was interested. But things being as they were, and with a small package in tow, the Sin shelves the idea for now. "I'm sure there's some Dublith Coddle somewhere here, right?"
"Ah - ," the woman speaks, a little off guard. She's looking at his jaws, at his sunglasses. For a moment, she seems taken back. A deer in the metaphorical headlights and it's the big-bad-wolf behind the wheel.
She collects herself respectively. Smiles and nods. "I'm sure there's a bit left. Just one?"
"Just one - and a scotch," Greed illustrates, his fingers rising off the wood frame. "On the rocks."
The woman leaves, closing the door behind her with a softer click than Greed had given it prior. The homunculus scratches at the back of his neck, then. Frowning with the opportunity lost, but it's with mild humor that his face contorts.
Ah, well.
"I hope you're up to a little bit of a walk. It's not that far, but we're a little ways from the station."
Color Kaede completely confused. Half of what Greed says just now doesn't make sense and before she can even question him, giving him quite a look, he gets up and is talking to someone. So, she sneaks up and grabs the pamphlet he tossed, frowning as she reads. So, like, this place is run by the military? That sounds sort of terrifying really. Are they the enemy or do people want this?
It's more than most eleven year olds know what to deal with when it comes to politics. Still, she hears him asking about dinner and her stomach grumbles, agreeing with his idea. Huh, he doesn't have to eat? Or just doesn't want to?
So when he comes back, she gives him a look. "I can talk to people you know. In two different languages." Not particularly realizing that the tongue of her family would match with the origin of her name in this world. "What do you mean, do I mind walking? From a station?"
Greed straightens his spine, shoving hands into pockets and thumbs through his belt loops. Kids: they're nothing but trouble.
"Didn't doubt you could, but I don't think it'll do you much good here. Unless you've picked up some Ishvalan or Xingese that I'm not aware of." Both of which, he couldn't make heads or tails of himself. Ling had given a message once - scribbled it on a length of fabric for his fine-second-in-command. Asked it to be delivered. Greed had stared at it just as blankly. Blinking a few times before he shrugged and did as he was asked.
In all the time he spent with the young prince, the Avaricious just didn't find it crucial to learn the language. Or any other, for that matter.
So he just simply didn't bother.
The Sin reclines his head back to watch the ceiling. It's a little much - having her with him, returning home. He should be dead - should be long gone with not a trace to remember. Him and his might have been built stronger than the mortal lot, but they left behind nothing to mourn. Nothing to show they had even existed at all. To anyone normal, it may have been a bit of a wake up call. Or a means to humble.
Greed only smiles.
"A train station - I thought you would have picked up on that. You're not that dense." The homunculus tilts his head to the side, showing off a bit of a sneer with one eye closed. His sunglasses slip down the bridge of his nose, giving his wide-eyed glance a look-see. Under the constant flicker-flutter and buzz of the lights above, his slit-pupils pulsate. Filtering in the light, shutting out the dark. He's a monster, but at least he's proud of it.
Two fingers hitch to the rounds of his shades to right them and Greed claps his heel back. "It's my place - or it was. Not sure how it'll look now, but it's the best we've got - " His voice filters off, turning to a soft vibration when the door opens again. It's a different teller this time - male, late twenties. In one hand is a medium-sized plate and cover and in the other a half-emptied bottle of scotch with a glass half full of ice.
"On the house," the man says, slowly peering up to get a glance. Almost like someone on the scene of an accident - he just can't look away. "-I know ... how hard it is to be a Dad these days."
Which makes the Sin scoff. Eyebrows raising, jaw slung open. He's stuck there for a moment before a laugh takes him. Grabbing by the shoulders, the stomach, and Greed buckles over with a thunderous howl. "You've got it all wrong friend, but I won't deny the offer."
Before the waiter can even argue or take-back the one-time-deal, Greed's got the cache in his hand. The dinner-plate and matching-silver-cover is hoisted high above his head and the scotch and glass settle against the outer round of his thigh. "Thanks pal."
He practically ushers the other out. With his straight-still stance, with teeth that seem to snip and snatch the air when he speaks. And once the helpful-hand is gone, Greed toes the door shut.
"We'll be there in about half an hour," the Sin says and turns back to Kaede. He tosses the meal onto a nearby seat rather haphazardly as he takes up the spot currently occupied by his emptied glass. Two heels are thrown up on the backside of the chair in front and Greed spins the newly-acquired bottle open.
"Anata wa honto no jaku koto ga dekimasu," Kaede snaps back at Greed, shocked at how he talks to the man who was just trying to be nice. You can be a real jerk. Not knowing how the languages match between the two worlds, things are rare a coincidence, she still grabs the tray and pops the cover off, eyeing the food beneath.
It isn't familiar but it smells okay, so she snags the fork and digs in. This has to be another Rift, right? Dad and Barnaby and Ivan and everyone else is somewhere nearby, right? Yes. Has to be. So she isn't panicking (yet) nearly as much as she might have if she knew the truth.
"He was just trying to be nice, you know." Okay the food is definitely different. She eyes it a little harder, but it's edible and even though she might be pickier elsewhere, she deals with it for now.
"Ah-?" Greed lifts his head from his drink. The language she speaks is familiar, but different. Something about it a bit more smooth, a bit more poised. Not as rugged or as sharp as Ling and his bodyguards had used, but indiscernible nonetheless. But he raises his hands above his head, gives her the playful gesture of a surrender. Whatever she said, it can't be good, and from the tone of it, sounds like he may have hit a nerve or two.
"Oi, oi, oi - " The Sin starts, his eyes rolling behind his shades. For a second or two, there's a put-off look on his face. As if he's slighted by her correction, by her statement. "-wasn't anything personal, y'know. I'm just not that good of a guy."
But he slides his feet away as he watches her. She's hungry: it's a good sign. That there's still some light at the end of the proverbial tunnel and as the train takes a turn, Greed clips his drink by the rim. "Not that bad, right? Used to be a favorite. Least, around the 'Nest."
The Sin takes another drag from his scotch, slipping his tongue over ice before there's a crunch, a split and shards tumble down his gullet. He sets the glass down afterward, shooting a heel up to cradle against the opposing knee.
"Feeling a little better?" Greed says, as he slouches forward and turns his head back to her. He knows she isn't - there's too many missing pieces of the equation for her to be remotely all right. But, it's a start.
At least her looks, her language, her name will give her a reason to pass as not knowing anything about this place fairly well. All they would have to do is come up with a cover for the rest of it. However, none of that is in Kaede's mind as she eats; she's more focused on how she can find her family and friends. They have to be here, she's sure of it. Every time the Rifts happen, they're terrifying things, just like this one had been.
Too bad it hadn't been a Rift at all.
"The Nest?" Kaede questions after swallowing a mouthful. "And... I guess so, but Dad and everyone else have to be worried. I hope we can find everyone at this station you're saying is coming up." Oh, how little they both know for the moment.
She wriggles a bit to get his vest off of her, offering it back for now. "...how long has it been since you were here, then?"
It wasn't a Rift; not even close to it. There had been no sinking feeling in his stomach, not buzzing in his skull. Just the choking sensation: the grip of an undertow and it had been like drowning over and over again. Swimming in a sea of black, hoping that the surface was just around the bend.
Until he woke up, body splayed, in the cart of a train.
Greed's frown tightens when she starts talking. She's human: she's different. The Sin doesn't understand family, not in the way she does. But that's not entirely right either, is it? "They're the only part of you that you chose!"
A thumb touches the glass and Greed picks himself up and out of his seat. He doesn't like this: this feeling clawing at his skull. Then she's asking something again and he tilts himself back on his heels. Spinning with the intricacy of a dancer until the point of his boot claps him still. He 'tsks' with his tongue and recoils into his shoulders.
"If what the say is true, it's been a while. It was 1912 the last time I was in Dublith and from there? Well - " There's a story, but it doesn't need to be told. Not now, not to her. It just isn't worth the trouble and Greed suddenly falls into a crouch. Knees splayed out and he jerks a thumb and forefinger back at her. "Doesn't matter though, right? We're here, at any rate."
Humans are frail. Fragile and easily breakable. A gunshot can stop them dead, but so can bad news. Emotional and unpredictable: Greed's not sure which direction she's going or where it'll take her. But lying's just not in the cards and he sits his elbows on his thighs.
He settles on a delay instead. "Like I said before: there's no such thing as no such thing. Might as well give it a shot, right?" As if to save him from the awkward situation, the train's comm crackles to life. Not with electronics or anything remotely advanced. But through the literal pipe-line and a voice echos inside carbon and copper: "Fifteen minutes until we enter Dublith Station. Please have all luggage readied for departure. I repeat: fifteen minutes until docking with Dublith. Please make sure to take all belongings with you. This train will making it's last stop and switching to a South-bound rail upon departure. Thank you."
Greed rocks his head to the side, fanning his hands over his knees. "Better finish up, kid."
But she has chosen her family, along with the one she was born with. Barnaby and Ivan aren't related to her at all, but they had become family to her. Another father, in a sense, and a brother. And in another sense, she had to chose her own father as well. When he had tried to reach out to her, after he had nearly ripped their relationship apart, she had to chose whether or not to let him back into her life.
Then Greed drops an absolute bombshell, making Kaede's eyes go wide, the fork falling from her hand to clank against the plate as she stares up at him. "...W-What? Did you just say 1912!?" Her voice goes up to a shriek for a moment in her utter shock. "No way! No way! It's almost 1980 back home!"
Never mind that the years are so vastly different between their two worlds that Greed might have said 'the stoneage' comparitively. 1912 Sternbild is still more advanced than 2014 for us.
The announcement over the train's PA system makes her groan, brushing hair behind her ears. She's in another world and has gone back in time and she has no idea where her family is. NOW the panic is starting to settle in.
Greed's about to reach out and touch her, but he remembers just what sort of reaction that entails and he coils his fingers back to his palm. Her loud eruption has him standing, miming that of a meerkat out of its hole. Staring over his shoulder, watching to see if any caught wind of what she had to say. Thankfully, the door's secured shut and it's still just him, her, and the atom-bomb dropped.
The Sin presses a pinkie into his ear, his frown more like a dog that accidentally chewed up the corner of an expensive couch. He should have eased her in, but dodging the truth just wasn't in the cards. "It's 1918, if that helps any."
It doesn't.
The train starts to slow under them. Shifting to another set of tracks to send them straight into the mouth of town. His eyebrows knit and furrow - short cut and he sways his wrist to the air. "I guess it's fair to say it isn't like any other Rift then, is it."
He doesn't like this. Whatever the feeling is. Sinking and churning in his gut, going bad in the acid there. The homunculus grinds his teeth briefly before slipping to the side of the car. The latch at the exit door's easy enough to pick and he throws it open with a gentle click before motioning her forward. "C'mon. We'll get off before anyone even notices we were here."
Greed pries the door open with a shudder and the wind whips into the cabin. Tossing the leaflets of the pamphlet as if they were only dust on the ground. In the lash, he holds himself at the cusp of the railing and says one thing that's both surprising in his ears and sour in his mouth:
"What- What are you doing?!" Kaede shrieks, arm up to protect her face as now the door is open and he CAN'T BE suggesting what she thinks he is! Her eyes stare at him wide, grabbing her pack and moving towards him. "We're coming up to a station soon, why wouldn't we get off there!?"
He is insane! He can't seriously be- he's going to JUMP? Whoa- Wait-
The spikes of his hair shake as the wind takes them. Sliding to and from the inky black and Greed puts his head to the whip-lash. There's smells here he's familiar with; the burning of coal on the outskirts of town, diesel in the engines just at the cusp. The flavors of shops closing down for the evening, leaving their overnight bakes to rise in packed ovens. These are all familiar and maybe slightly comforting, given the circumstances.
But he's not a creature to sit around and admire the beauty of things.
Instead, he slips over, wedging himself between the edge of the door and the bolt itself. Half-way inside the cart and teetering on the balance of falling straight out onto the rolling hillside below. Greed sneers then, dastardly with the flare of the 'Pit shining through each tooth.
She is quick. "We," Greed says, as he flips an index to the sky and circles it. "-figured that was kind of implied."
She's got her things, has her nap-sack, and Greed knows she'll have the 'Shield as soon as he grabs her. So he does - by the wrist, ensnaring his thumb and index-finger around her bones like that of a make-shift hand-cuff. He jerks a little more lightly though, as to not send her head-over-tiny-heels off the train cart, and gestures to the open spot on his back.
"Get on. Unless you'd rather stay here." The air makes his sunglasses quake and takes his voice out and away with a Doppler's effect. He can hear it in his ears, the way it's hard to make out just exactly what he's saying. But he hopes actions speak louder than words and as the iron-clad wheels below screech and pump, Greed dips a bit lower to give her some leverage at his shoulders.
"Oh, my god." Kaede breathes out, stumbling a bit with his jerk, as she realizes just what he wants to do and with her involved. This is the worst idea and this is going to get them killed! She knows he's not human, as he's stated several times, but to jump off of a moving train!?
With a heavy swallow, looking back into the empty car, she longs for the Hundred Power so she could make this hop not only easily but more safely. Why am I even thinking about doing this...?! Maybe because he has her wrist in a tight grip that suggests he isn't about to let go.
Before she can psych herself out anymore, she takes a jump and hops up onto Greed's back, wrapping her arms around his neck and shoulders, and hands on for dear life there. "If I get hurt I am going to find a way to hurt you, Shield or not!" she threatens into his ear, shouting over the wind.
The train chugs along, scraping against copper-steel track with a deafening holler of a whistle from the front. Greed peers at it once; a very brief notion as he shoves his head out to the whip-lashing wind. They're moving pretty fast, the ground under them just a blur in the near-pitch black of it. A few lights ignite it every so often; from the sparks on the line below, to the gas-lights dotting the rail-line.
Greed circles his arms around her legs, holds her still, and jumps.
At first, it's like silence. As he shoves a heel out and angles it down. The noise happens afterward; as rocks scream and jump under the dig of his boot. He skids for a good few seconds, carving out his own scar in the earth as his other ankle flicks out to make for the breaks. Sliding it to the side, as if he knows what this line of recklessness holds for him. The curved-tip of his boot springs up, slicing the wind as his thighs spread and tense.
Eventually, after dirt and gravel paves out to dust and grass, Greed finally slows down. The train they had been on is far ahead of them, groaning and chiming as it disappears around a bend. The Sin pops up laughing a bit to himself as he sees it pass around the curb.
Kaede has literally no idea because she is holding onto Greed with every bit of strength in her tiny body, legs and arms wrapped around him in a death grip. Her eyes are tightly closed and buried in against his shoulder. And she's not letting go.
In fact, all he'll get is a little whimper of sound and if he looks down, he'll see that the Shield is up, and covering any available inch of skin.
She's terrified, and her power is activating for her regardless of how she feels about it.
He starts in, shoving his thighs apart as he gingerly tries to pry her off. She's holding on for dear life and each inch of her is carbon-cold and smooth. Greed tests his own sharpened points and they flutter against the outer-shell. Ping, goes one. Clack, goes another.
One eye's shut lazily, the other only hanging up with the thread of a lid. He's good at the off-put expression and he isn't really concerned. But if they're going to get anywhere without a curious glance or two, she's going to have to at least try.
"Tch, jeez. You are more trouble than you're worth." But instead of forcing it, Greed hikes her up a bit further. He doubts he'll get a lot more out until they're on better footing. Or at least until they're as far away from the tracks as they can get. "You still with me?" The Sin says as he sags his body over to make up for the extra weight. It doesn't really bother him much and he's carried a bigger load before.
Ground shifts under his footing and he's pushing through the dark. Climbing up the side of a shallow hill. Dublith isn't that far and he supposes he owes her at least this favor.
"I hate you right now," Kaede whispers, very slowly lifting her head from his shoulder. The blue glow dies as she stops activating the Shield on instinct, letting out the breath she had been holding. "I can't believe we're alive. I can't believe we jumped off a moving train. Ohmygod."
She clings to him like a burr as he walks, looking around in the darkness. "Why did we get off the train anyway?!"
He taps her arm a couple of times, as if making his point very clear. "A little too risky, what with the show you just put on." His nail's still shivered to a point, but it recedes as soon as she drops her guard again and gains some composure.
Some, being the key word.
"That and I'm not sure how far the boys in the blue have gotten since last time."
That's all he says on the matter though. She doesn't seem to be letting go and that's fine. Greed makes easy over a few shaky rocks, prying himself up the hill with little effort. The town's just in sight and it's simple. Made of cobblestone, brick, and wood. Hardly anything that would be impressive, considering where she's from.
He does take a moment, though. To pause at the edge as his head rocks back. It's been a long time since he was last in Dublith. "Just do me a favor and try to hold back, hmn? At least until we get there."
"I'm sorry, okay?" Kaede lifts her head and eyes the town warily, but she has no idea where they are, where everyone else is, and she just had a huge scare. Her whole world feels off-kilter right now, leaving her to figure out how to get her feet back under her. "I'm not really good at controlling it when I get scared. It just kind of happens!"
Still, she does murmur a second, "I'm sorry," that sounds more heart felt than the original. "So will the military, that's the blue guys right?, try to hurt me?"
"What are you apologizing for?" Greed says as he speaks beyond the dip of his shoulder. He keeps his grip tight, fingers and arms nestled under legs that could easily be snapped in two if he were any other kind of monster. Thankfully, he wasn't and she's as safe as she can be for the moment.
"No, but I imagine a lot has changed since I was last around." The city opens up as they draw near; houses become clearer, the ground below them far more stable. Most of the windows have gone dark at this hour, though some still linger with a candle or two. Still dripping wax, waning with the early-onset of morning.
Greed pulls away from them though. Exchanging the rich orange-yellow for deep blues. For shadowy purples that chase the silvery-touch of moonlight. He takes a sharp left, veering a corner carved out of a rather shallow alleyway. It's a maze - of back ends of houses, of shops closed up and boarded shut. And the more they press in, the more gloom the surroundings become.
It's clear that the Sin's familiar to the territory, but it's not exactly a place a child like her should wander. At least, not alone.
But this time, little Red Riding Hood's got the wolf in her back pocket. She only needed to say the word.
Kaede goes silent as she looks around the completely unfamiliar town in the dark, almost holding her breath. In the late hour, everything is silent - more silent than a city girl like her is used to. There should be the hum of electricity and the honk of horns and a television's hiss drifting on the wind, but instead, there's nothing. It makes her hold on a little tighter, pressed in close to Greed's back as she tries to find anything familiar.
But there's nothing.
"...where are we going?" she whispers softly, as if afraid her voice will disturb the late-night silence. Greed clearly seems to have something in mind, but if he's right and he's been gone for all that time, where could he know to go?
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"Where are we?" She jumps at the loud whistle, slowly sitting back down but she's shaking. "Zelien was- was breaking apart. It didn't look like the other Rifts."
Right! She pulls out her watch in a hurry and tries, desperately, to get her family pulled up, to reach out to them, but the fear continues to grow inside of her when she realizes that nothing is connected. Nothing reaches out. The feeds are dark.
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It's hard to watch, hard to listen to. "Give me an answer," her eyes seem to say. "-please, please, give me the right answer." Greed reaches out and peels forward. Away from his perch as two heels settle to the vibrating floor of the train. A whoosh of air sends them pitching through a black tunnel and the car-lights flicker and buzz to life with the slowness of a gas-fuse.
"-never said there wasn't a possibility. After all, there's no such thing as no such thing." Shadows wash over him. Caressing his jaw, his skin. Like a bad tide, lapping across his features. Making his angles that much more sharper as he pulls himself up into a semi-standing position. "Wait until we get off and then we'll try to it out, hmn?"
The wheels bounce and scrape against the iron rails below, making the noise echo in the long stretch of tunnel. As lights pass and flicker, Greed seems to dart in an out of shadow. As if there one minute and gone the next, but he doesn't move. And that ever-present grin gives him away, despite the physical tug-of-war between light and dark. Too bright are those teeth, too jagged.
When the train finally whips out of the tunnel, he's inches closer. Elbow shoved into a curve of leather. He's speaking softer, keeping a secret between him and his. "Home, well. Sort of."
The engine chugs and fields open up again. It's a bit different than last time. There's no military presence, not as much anyway, and there's machinery where there used to be plows. In the last few years, it seemed Amestris' new Fuhrer had done some landscaping of his own.
Greed grimaces and rattles his near-empty glass. He sighs, a bit dramatic, before casually pulling the collar of his vest up and over her neck.
"Just sit tight for now, all right? Don't want to draw any unwanted attention. Not exactly sure what we're dealing with yet." The Sin glances over his shoulder briefly. To the loosely-fitted door separating their cart and the next. He waves his fingers gently, letting them feather out across the glass before he claps over and snatches the knob. Lined up as his hip, Greed easily plants his back against the frame work and eases it shut with the audible clack of a lock.
"What's the last thing you remember?"
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She pulls the vest up a little more, looking outside of the window and recognizing absolutely nothing about it. "...Greed, what do you mean, home? Your home?? What is your home?" Her eyes go back to him, trying to make any sense out of this.
Excuse her while she holds onto the vest with tight fingers, all of her strength behind it, white knuckled, because it's the only thing she feels like she actually hang onto at the moment. In a heartbeat, in a roar, she has lost everything and she doesn't even know it.
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The Sin's eyes fall heavy and his smile is forced closed. A tight line as eyebrows knit just above his shades. "Dublith. Though, I can't really tell you how much is still there and how much has changed - I've been dead for at least two years, if what the papers say is true."
Which isn't so much of a shocker as it is a bold-faced smack of reality. Greed tightens up against himself as he passes her by: he doesn't want to address the elephant in the room, but there's still another hour before they make a stop. And even then, there's other things to consider.
Like how, why, and just what sort of game Zelien's pulled this time.
One eye peels open from behind his shades. A sliver of purple masked out in opaque-black. Another flicker of light catches them, pulls black to stark-silver, and Greed whistles through his teeth. "Snake-shark-man? I already told you before, I'm a homunculus. What you're implying is something else entirely and I'm sure they wouldn't take too kindly to the name-calling. It's a little rude." The Sin lets his words fall as a finger waggles back and forth. It's easier this way. Chiding when there should be comfort. When he should be sitting her down, telling it to her straight.
He's just not entirely sure that's what he wants.
So he switches the gears; snatches a leaflet from a flip-note in the back and peels it open. "And most here? Well, they've seen a bit, but don't go dropping our little secret. Might not be the best idea."
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His warning doesn't go over her head though. This is the kind of place where she shouldn't let people know what she is. She doubts people are called NEXTs here, as no one other than people from her world seem to know the term, but whatever they call that kind of person here, they are NEXTs in secret.
Remember that. This isn't like Zelien where it was okay to let some people know. "I won't tell anyone," she promises. Never mind that her name doesn't sound like she's from Amestris at all but from Xing.
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The Dwarf in the Flask.
So Greed snaps it closed. He doesn't need to know anymore.
"Eh, hope he's still around. Little tricky here, with foreigners." Not that he didn't have a connection or two to choose from. He's just hoping that prior transgressions won't be a problem. But even if they are, he knows just how to push and prod until he gets what he wants.
And more often than not, he finds that most are willing to oblige.
Greed tosses the pamphlet back over his shoulder, letting it fall splayed-open on the floor. The binding stretches and the papers spread out like feathers off the plume of a rather eccentric bird. "Good - wouldn't want you mixing up in all that business. They may have changed, but the military's just that."
They're the military. They're the government. And Greed remembers just how ruthless the good ol'Colonel can be.
So he mindlessly places an open hand on top of Kaede's head. Gives it a ruffle before slipping away again. He takes a glance at the next cart, prying the door open again. Thankfully, he doesn't have to wait too long for another one of the workers to pass by.
The Sin dips and coils in the mouth of the frame. Sways his hips to the side and it's a fabulous show to put on his best good-graces. "Wouldn't happen to have a few left overs from the dinner rush, would you? I got a young one in the back and she hasn't been this way before." The stretch of Greed's shoulders hides most of the woman's face, but bright-green eyes peer over. As if trying to catch a little glance, though it's quick. Easily smeared away as the Sin rocks to the side and shuts off the view.
He smiles then. Charming and deadly, coy and crass. "She's a little shy, lovely," Greed voice purrs. It's hard to hide it and he really doesn't make the effort. Had he been alone, he probably would have coaxed the attendant to the back. Shot the breeze, learned her name, and find out if she was interested. But things being as they were, and with a small package in tow, the Sin shelves the idea for now. "I'm sure there's some Dublith Coddle somewhere here, right?"
"Ah - ," the woman speaks, a little off guard. She's looking at his jaws, at his sunglasses. For a moment, she seems taken back. A deer in the metaphorical headlights and it's the big-bad-wolf behind the wheel.
She collects herself respectively. Smiles and nods. "I'm sure there's a bit left. Just one?"
"Just one - and a scotch," Greed illustrates, his fingers rising off the wood frame. "On the rocks."
The woman leaves, closing the door behind her with a softer click than Greed had given it prior. The homunculus scratches at the back of his neck, then. Frowning with the opportunity lost, but it's with mild humor that his face contorts.
Ah, well.
"I hope you're up to a little bit of a walk. It's not that far, but we're a little ways from the station."
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It's more than most eleven year olds know what to deal with when it comes to politics. Still, she hears him asking about dinner and her stomach grumbles, agreeing with his idea. Huh, he doesn't have to eat? Or just doesn't want to?
So when he comes back, she gives him a look. "I can talk to people you know. In two different languages." Not particularly realizing that the tongue of her family would match with the origin of her name in this world. "What do you mean, do I mind walking? From a station?"
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"Didn't doubt you could, but I don't think it'll do you much good here. Unless you've picked up some Ishvalan or Xingese that I'm not aware of." Both of which, he couldn't make heads or tails of himself. Ling had given a message once - scribbled it on a length of fabric for his fine-second-in-command. Asked it to be delivered. Greed had stared at it just as blankly. Blinking a few times before he shrugged and did as he was asked.
In all the time he spent with the young prince, the Avaricious just didn't find it crucial to learn the language. Or any other, for that matter.
So he just simply didn't bother.
The Sin reclines his head back to watch the ceiling. It's a little much - having her with him, returning home. He should be dead - should be long gone with not a trace to remember. Him and his might have been built stronger than the mortal lot, but they left behind nothing to mourn. Nothing to show they had even existed at all. To anyone normal, it may have been a bit of a wake up call. Or a means to humble.
Greed only smiles.
"A train station - I thought you would have picked up on that. You're not that dense." The homunculus tilts his head to the side, showing off a bit of a sneer with one eye closed. His sunglasses slip down the bridge of his nose, giving his wide-eyed glance a look-see. Under the constant flicker-flutter and buzz of the lights above, his slit-pupils pulsate. Filtering in the light, shutting out the dark. He's a monster, but at least he's proud of it.
Two fingers hitch to the rounds of his shades to right them and Greed claps his heel back. "It's my place - or it was. Not sure how it'll look now, but it's the best we've got - " His voice filters off, turning to a soft vibration when the door opens again. It's a different teller this time - male, late twenties. In one hand is a medium-sized plate and cover and in the other a half-emptied bottle of scotch with a glass half full of ice.
"On the house," the man says, slowly peering up to get a glance. Almost like someone on the scene of an accident - he just can't look away. "-I know ... how hard it is to be a Dad these days."
Which makes the Sin scoff. Eyebrows raising, jaw slung open. He's stuck there for a moment before a laugh takes him. Grabbing by the shoulders, the stomach, and Greed buckles over with a thunderous howl. "You've got it all wrong friend, but I won't deny the offer."
Before the waiter can even argue or take-back the one-time-deal, Greed's got the cache in his hand. The dinner-plate and matching-silver-cover is hoisted high above his head and the scotch and glass settle against the outer round of his thigh. "Thanks pal."
He practically ushers the other out. With his straight-still stance, with teeth that seem to snip and snatch the air when he speaks. And once the helpful-hand is gone, Greed toes the door shut.
"We'll be there in about half an hour," the Sin says and turns back to Kaede. He tosses the meal onto a nearby seat rather haphazardly as he takes up the spot currently occupied by his emptied glass. Two heels are thrown up on the backside of the chair in front and Greed spins the newly-acquired bottle open.
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It isn't familiar but it smells okay, so she snags the fork and digs in. This has to be another Rift, right? Dad and Barnaby and Ivan and everyone else is somewhere nearby, right? Yes. Has to be. So she isn't panicking (yet) nearly as much as she might have if she knew the truth.
"He was just trying to be nice, you know." Okay the food is definitely different. She eyes it a little harder, but it's edible and even though she might be pickier elsewhere, she deals with it for now.
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"Oi, oi, oi - " The Sin starts, his eyes rolling behind his shades. For a second or two, there's a put-off look on his face. As if he's slighted by her correction, by her statement. "-wasn't anything personal, y'know. I'm just not that good of a guy."
But he slides his feet away as he watches her. She's hungry: it's a good sign. That there's still some light at the end of the proverbial tunnel and as the train takes a turn, Greed clips his drink by the rim. "Not that bad, right? Used to be a favorite. Least, around the 'Nest."
The Sin takes another drag from his scotch, slipping his tongue over ice before there's a crunch, a split and shards tumble down his gullet. He sets the glass down afterward, shooting a heel up to cradle against the opposing knee.
"Feeling a little better?" Greed says, as he slouches forward and turns his head back to her. He knows she isn't - there's too many missing pieces of the equation for her to be remotely all right. But, it's a start.
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Too bad it hadn't been a Rift at all.
"The Nest?" Kaede questions after swallowing a mouthful. "And... I guess so, but Dad and everyone else have to be worried. I hope we can find everyone at this station you're saying is coming up." Oh, how little they both know for the moment.
She wriggles a bit to get his vest off of her, offering it back for now. "...how long has it been since you were here, then?"
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Until he woke up, body splayed, in the cart of a train.
Greed's frown tightens when she starts talking. She's human: she's different. The Sin doesn't understand family, not in the way she does. But that's not entirely right either, is it? "They're the only part of you that you chose!"
A thumb touches the glass and Greed picks himself up and out of his seat. He doesn't like this: this feeling clawing at his skull. Then she's asking something again and he tilts himself back on his heels. Spinning with the intricacy of a dancer until the point of his boot claps him still. He 'tsks' with his tongue and recoils into his shoulders.
"If what the say is true, it's been a while. It was 1912 the last time I was in Dublith and from there? Well - " There's a story, but it doesn't need to be told. Not now, not to her. It just isn't worth the trouble and Greed suddenly falls into a crouch. Knees splayed out and he jerks a thumb and forefinger back at her. "Doesn't matter though, right? We're here, at any rate."
Humans are frail. Fragile and easily breakable. A gunshot can stop them dead, but so can bad news. Emotional and unpredictable: Greed's not sure which direction she's going or where it'll take her. But lying's just not in the cards and he sits his elbows on his thighs.
He settles on a delay instead. "Like I said before: there's no such thing as no such thing. Might as well give it a shot, right?" As if to save him from the awkward situation, the train's comm crackles to life. Not with electronics or anything remotely advanced. But through the literal pipe-line and a voice echos inside carbon and copper: "Fifteen minutes until we enter Dublith Station. Please have all luggage readied for departure. I repeat: fifteen minutes until docking with Dublith. Please make sure to take all belongings with you. This train will making it's last stop and switching to a South-bound rail upon departure. Thank you."
Greed rocks his head to the side, fanning his hands over his knees. "Better finish up, kid."
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Then Greed drops an absolute bombshell, making Kaede's eyes go wide, the fork falling from her hand to clank against the plate as she stares up at him. "...W-What? Did you just say 1912!?" Her voice goes up to a shriek for a moment in her utter shock. "No way! No way! It's almost 1980 back home!"
Never mind that the years are so vastly different between their two worlds that Greed might have said 'the stoneage' comparitively. 1912 Sternbild is still more advanced than 2014 for us.
The announcement over the train's PA system makes her groan, brushing hair behind her ears. She's in another world and has gone back in time and she has no idea where her family is. NOW the panic is starting to settle in.
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Greed's about to reach out and touch her, but he remembers just what sort of reaction that entails and he coils his fingers back to his palm. Her loud eruption has him standing, miming that of a meerkat out of its hole. Staring over his shoulder, watching to see if any caught wind of what she had to say. Thankfully, the door's secured shut and it's still just him, her, and the atom-bomb dropped.
The Sin presses a pinkie into his ear, his frown more like a dog that accidentally chewed up the corner of an expensive couch. He should have eased her in, but dodging the truth just wasn't in the cards. "It's 1918, if that helps any."
It doesn't.
The train starts to slow under them. Shifting to another set of tracks to send them straight into the mouth of town. His eyebrows knit and furrow - short cut and he sways his wrist to the air. "I guess it's fair to say it isn't like any other Rift then, is it."
He doesn't like this. Whatever the feeling is. Sinking and churning in his gut, going bad in the acid there. The homunculus grinds his teeth briefly before slipping to the side of the car. The latch at the exit door's easy enough to pick and he throws it open with a gentle click before motioning her forward. "C'mon. We'll get off before anyone even notices we were here."
Greed pries the door open with a shudder and the wind whips into the cabin. Tossing the leaflets of the pamphlet as if they were only dust on the ground. In the lash, he holds himself at the cusp of the railing and says one thing that's both surprising in his ears and sour in his mouth:
"I'm sorry, kid."
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He is insane! He can't seriously be- he's going to JUMP? Whoa- Wait-
"Did you say we?"
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But he's not a creature to sit around and admire the beauty of things.
Instead, he slips over, wedging himself between the edge of the door and the bolt itself. Half-way inside the cart and teetering on the balance of falling straight out onto the rolling hillside below. Greed sneers then, dastardly with the flare of the 'Pit shining through each tooth.
She is quick. "We," Greed says, as he flips an index to the sky and circles it. "-figured that was kind of implied."
She's got her things, has her nap-sack, and Greed knows she'll have the 'Shield as soon as he grabs her. So he does - by the wrist, ensnaring his thumb and index-finger around her bones like that of a make-shift hand-cuff. He jerks a little more lightly though, as to not send her head-over-tiny-heels off the train cart, and gestures to the open spot on his back.
"Get on. Unless you'd rather stay here." The air makes his sunglasses quake and takes his voice out and away with a Doppler's effect. He can hear it in his ears, the way it's hard to make out just exactly what he's saying. But he hopes actions speak louder than words and as the iron-clad wheels below screech and pump, Greed dips a bit lower to give her some leverage at his shoulders.
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With a heavy swallow, looking back into the empty car, she longs for the Hundred Power so she could make this hop not only easily but more safely. Why am I even thinking about doing this...?! Maybe because he has her wrist in a tight grip that suggests he isn't about to let go.
Before she can psych herself out anymore, she takes a jump and hops up onto Greed's back, wrapping her arms around his neck and shoulders, and hands on for dear life there. "If I get hurt I am going to find a way to hurt you, Shield or not!" she threatens into his ear, shouting over the wind.
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The train chugs along, scraping against copper-steel track with a deafening holler of a whistle from the front. Greed peers at it once; a very brief notion as he shoves his head out to the whip-lashing wind. They're moving pretty fast, the ground under them just a blur in the near-pitch black of it. A few lights ignite it every so often; from the sparks on the line below, to the gas-lights dotting the rail-line.
Greed circles his arms around her legs, holds her still, and jumps.
At first, it's like silence. As he shoves a heel out and angles it down. The noise happens afterward; as rocks scream and jump under the dig of his boot. He skids for a good few seconds, carving out his own scar in the earth as his other ankle flicks out to make for the breaks. Sliding it to the side, as if he knows what this line of recklessness holds for him. The curved-tip of his boot springs up, slicing the wind as his thighs spread and tense.
Eventually, after dirt and gravel paves out to dust and grass, Greed finally slows down. The train they had been on is far ahead of them, groaning and chiming as it disappears around a bend. The Sin pops up laughing a bit to himself as he sees it pass around the curb.
"See - that wasn't so bad, was it?"
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In fact, all he'll get is a little whimper of sound and if he looks down, he'll see that the Shield is up, and covering any available inch of skin.
She's terrified, and her power is activating for her regardless of how she feels about it.
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He starts in, shoving his thighs apart as he gingerly tries to pry her off. She's holding on for dear life and each inch of her is carbon-cold and smooth. Greed tests his own sharpened points and they flutter against the outer-shell. Ping, goes one. Clack, goes another.
One eye's shut lazily, the other only hanging up with the thread of a lid. He's good at the off-put expression and he isn't really concerned. But if they're going to get anywhere without a curious glance or two, she's going to have to at least try.
"Tch, jeez. You are more trouble than you're worth." But instead of forcing it, Greed hikes her up a bit further. He doubts he'll get a lot more out until they're on better footing. Or at least until they're as far away from the tracks as they can get. "You still with me?" The Sin says as he sags his body over to make up for the extra weight. It doesn't really bother him much and he's carried a bigger load before.
Ground shifts under his footing and he's pushing through the dark. Climbing up the side of a shallow hill. Dublith isn't that far and he supposes he owes her at least this favor.
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She clings to him like a burr as he walks, looking around in the darkness. "Why did we get off the train anyway?!"
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Some, being the key word.
"That and I'm not sure how far the boys in the blue have gotten since last time."
That's all he says on the matter though. She doesn't seem to be letting go and that's fine. Greed makes easy over a few shaky rocks, prying himself up the hill with little effort. The town's just in sight and it's simple. Made of cobblestone, brick, and wood. Hardly anything that would be impressive, considering where she's from.
He does take a moment, though. To pause at the edge as his head rocks back. It's been a long time since he was last in Dublith. "Just do me a favor and try to hold back, hmn? At least until we get there."
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Still, she does murmur a second, "I'm sorry," that sounds more heart felt than the original. "So will the military, that's the blue guys right?, try to hurt me?"
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"No, but I imagine a lot has changed since I was last around." The city opens up as they draw near; houses become clearer, the ground below them far more stable. Most of the windows have gone dark at this hour, though some still linger with a candle or two. Still dripping wax, waning with the early-onset of morning.
Greed pulls away from them though. Exchanging the rich orange-yellow for deep blues. For shadowy purples that chase the silvery-touch of moonlight. He takes a sharp left, veering a corner carved out of a rather shallow alleyway. It's a maze - of back ends of houses, of shops closed up and boarded shut. And the more they press in, the more gloom the surroundings become.
It's clear that the Sin's familiar to the territory, but it's not exactly a place a child like her should wander. At least, not alone.
But this time, little Red Riding Hood's got the wolf in her back pocket. She only needed to say the word.
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But there's nothing.
"...where are we going?" she whispers softly, as if afraid her voice will disturb the late-night silence. Greed clearly seems to have something in mind, but if he's right and he's been gone for all that time, where could he know to go?
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I realize I don't know if you play Greed from Brotherhood or the 2003 FMA.
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FUCK THIS GOT SO LOST ...sorry for the delay!
It's okay!!
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holy shit this is so fucking late god damn
It's okay!
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