Abandoned

A heavy sigh left Arthur's lips. "I know it sounds impossible," he said, crossing his own arms and shifting his weight from one foot to another. "We were in the same situation as you only just a little while ago. But if you just compare what you consider to be the truth in your reality with what you've seen here-"

"Hit me."

Arthur turned to stare at his brother. "What?"

"He doesn't believe us," Julius said. "He thinks we're crazy. Hit me with one of those boards over there."

"That won't help!" he argued. It was always difficult to figure out what was running through his brother's head, and, for the most part, he seemed to come up with good ideas. But this was not one of them.

"They're not from our reality, right?" Julius questioned, looking over at the other people in the room. "He doesn't even know what alchemy is! Hitting me is the best way to prove that things aren't working the way that they're supposed to."

Oh.

That was what he was getting at. It seemed stupid, but he was beginning to see the merit in the plan. If someone didn't know alchemy, and had no knowledge of a philosopher's stone, coming back from the dead would seem impossible.

He could work with that.

He went to get one of the boards, as Julius requested. He raised it up. "I apologize in advance," Arthur said. "Things are about to get a little gory." Touching into the strength that a body like his shouldn't have had, Arthur slammed the board into Julius' head. The sight wasn't pretty. It should have been a lethal injury with so much of his head gone, but Julius remained standing as the wound already began to heal itself.

"You can't explain that, can you?" Julius said.

"Oh, I can," said Lunis. "This" - he pulled out one of his vials and waved it around - "is a psychoactive. Guess I didn't close it as well as I'd thought." He slipped the vial back into a pocket and took a few steps up the stairs. Nope, not fast enough. Lunis turned from the others and ran up the flight of stairs, hoping he wouldn't fall through the floor again.

"What the—" Clarice cut herself off. She couldn't waste any time being confused. Something strange was going on, something dangerous. No living thing could magically regrow their own heads. She dropped into her fighting stance once again and held her knife in a defensive position.

"Explain this." She ordered, her gaze half-feral with fear. When she didn't get a split-second response, Clarice screamed. "Now!"

"You just made things worse," Arthur whispered with a groan, sending a furious look in his brother's direction. "One of them is running away, and the other is going to fight us!"

"Me?" Julius indignantly asked. "You were the one who swung the board."

"After you told me to!" Arthur protested, taking a step towards his brother. Of course he had to be bigger than the current form he was using - something was lost in argument when one person was significantly shorter than the other.

By this point, the philosopher's stone had finished its job: Julius' head had completely healed. Arthur watched him rubbed the back of his head, likely making sure everything had returned to the way it was before. "One of us should go after Lunis, right?" Julius asked, completely ignoring the argument they had been in the middle of you. "And the other should stay here."

Arthur sighed. "I'll go talk to Lunis. You're the one with the Ultimate Shield, so you could take a hit or two from her-" He gestured at the terrified girl. "-without having to use up more of your philosopher's stone."

Julius nodded, and Arthur began hurrying after Lunis.

"We're something called homunculi," the brother that remained said. "We've got a thing called a philosopher's stone placed in our body. It lets us do all sorts of thing. We can't age. Have superhuman strength. Can heal our injuries. And we've all got a special ability of some sort. I can harden my body into carbon - it's called the Ultimate Shield, if you're curious."

He held up his hand for emphasis, letting the Ultimate Shield appear once again.

"The name's Greed, by the way. Greed the Avaricious. Pops had a weird thing for naming his kids after sins." He gestured behind him at Arthur, who was currently chasing Lunis up the stairs. "That's Envy."

Lunis's heart skipped a beat when he heard a set of footsteps behind him. Any one of the three people who could be chasing him was dangerous; he wasn't sure who was the worst, but Arthur had just made a good argument for himself. In any case, he wasn't in the mood to lose his head, so he ran faster.

Instinct kicked in, guiding him like it had back in his assassin days. Keeping his claws retracted, Lunis tried to make as little noise as possible. He leaped over gaps in the staircase, striking their edges with a foot to widen them. At entrances to floors, he shoved aside rocks and dust to make it look like he'd run away from the stairs. The footsteps persisted, though. Who was this person? How were they so good? Lunis took a deep breath to calm his nerves, straightened his back, and kept on going.

However, a short distance above, Lunis almost collided with a metal door. He came to a halt over the last step, which creaked under his feet. This had to lead to the roof. Maybe there'd be vines or something to allow him to climb back down, or maybe something to hide behind. Trying to force the door open, Lunis found that it wouldn't budge. He looked back; the footsteps were getting louder. Lunis was trapped.

Crack!

The step beneath him gave way. Growling, Lunis reached out his hands, extending his claws quickly enough for them to catch the stone floor jutting out beneath the door. Feet dangling in the air, he waited for the arrival of the other person. If he timed things right, he'd be able to drop and slip away.

Spoiler

Kendrik (hound) and Jaron (arctic fox).

Kendrik hated heights.

He kept to the center of the roof, sitting with his legs crossed. He'd laid out his rapier in front of him, where it glimmered in the evening light. Polishing it with a cloth, Kendrik occasionally glanced up to see what Jaron was doing. For the most part, Jaron wandered around the roof, grabbing the edge at various points and leaning over. There wasn't much else to do in this place beyond what they were comfortable with. Jaron didn't have the materials to build anything, and neither had wanted to go into the building, so they'd barred the door with pieces of wood. It was safe up here.

Then came the sound of something slamming into the door. Kendrik's ears and tail shot up, as did Jaron, who screamed. Picking up the rapier, the hound rose and pointed it in the direction of the door. The door shook for a few seconds, but stopped around the same time Kendrik heard a snapping noise. Hearing his heartbeat in his ears, Kendrik gestured behind him to Jaron, who ran over and hid behind Kendrik's shoulder. They inched forward towards the door, Kendrik holding his rapier in one hand and holding Jaron back with the other.

After an eternity, they were right in front of the door. Jaron picked up the pieces of wood shoved between the door and its handle, throwing them aside before hiding behind Kendrik again. "Who's there?" Kendrik said, swiftly pushing the door open to find an ordinary staircase. Except for a missing top step, and the eerie sound of someone running onto the staircase below.

Envy came to a sudden stop near the very top of the stairs. It had been difficult to maneuver them as swiftly as he had, especially after they had already dealt with the weight of another person. Yet he somehow managed, and would have likely caught up with Lunis just after he exited onto the roof.

But then there was a loud crashing noise, the stairs giving out beneath Lunis' feet. The not-chimera was barely clinging to the floor that the step had been right in front of. And Envy, who had been certain that it would be difficult to convince Lunis that they weren't going to harm him, groaned upon realizing that things had just gotten harder.

Now he had to gain his trust, and he doubted the impossibly long fall that awaited Lunis was doing anything good to his mental state.

Just as he finally figured out what he was going to say, the door to the roof swung open. Envy stifled another groan. There were two chimeras standing there, one protecting the other. Another problem to add onto the growing list of them.

"Hi," Envy said, trying not to groan for a third time. He was getting really tired of all these misunderstandings and difficult situations. "There's a man dangling on the step that's in front of you. Can you help him up?"

Kendrik scowled, showing his canines. He could feel Jaron shaking beside him, which only made his temper worse. "And who're you?" Kendrik said, rapier pointed at the strange man. "Why trust you?"

"Pull me up, you idiot!" said a voice at Kendrik's feet. Kendrik felt a shiver crawl up his spine, but stayed where he was. He'd heard that voice before. It took a few seconds to realize that the claws and the black paws they were attached to also looked familiar.

"Lunis?" said Kendrik, looking over the edge of the staircase. Sure enough, between the floor and the staircase, where the highest step would've been, was the panther. Setting down the rapier, Kendrik lowered to his knees and extended a hand. While Jaron picked up the rapier and unsteadily pointed it in the stranger's direction, Lunis reached out a hand to Kendrik. Lunis's sheer weight nearly pulled Kendrik through the staircase, but Kendrik placed his other hand on Lunis's arm and strained.

Soon enough, Lunis sprawled onto the stone. He slipped between the others, who pressed themselves against the wall, and then stood behind them. "He's nuts," Lunis whispered in Kendrik's ear, pointing to the strange man.

"He's got no weapon," Kendrik whispered back, but nodded. Jaron handed back the rapier and moved between Kendrik and Lunis. As usual. "Get lost!" Kendrik said, eyeing the stranger.

"I heard that," Envy said, giving Lunis a dark look. It wasn't even like he had extraordinarily good hearing; Lunis was only a few feet away. Anyone could hear a whisper from that distance. And he had to admit that he was more than a little irritated that both Lunis and his apparent friends hadn't even given him so much as a thank you for pointing out that Lunis was dangling from the staircase.

"I'm not going anywhere until Lunis believes me," he then said, briefly turning his attention to the other two. "My brother and I tried telling him something and showing him proof that we were right, but he's convinced everything he saw was because of some liquid in a vial."

He was getting the sneaking suspicion that any further attempts to show Lunis how things just didn't make sense would be rejected with the same argument, but what else could he do? Lunis thought they were crazy, and it would be stupid to let someone run around here without understanding that they were in a different reality.

For all they knew, this was a reality incredibly similar to one Lunis had come from, only with Lunis' counterpart being incredibly evil. It was what had happened in the last reality they had ended up in. What was to say that it wouldn't happen here as well?

"Something in a-" began Kendrik, scrunching his face. Then he realized something. "Did ya' poison yourself?" he said, turning around and pointing at Lunis. Jaron stepped out of the way.

Lunis crossed his arms. "Just hallucinations," he said, glaring down at Kendrik. "None of this is real."

Kendrik balled his free hand into a fist. All that panic and worry over an idiot's false alarm? The stranger looked and acted weird, sure, but he seemed honest enough; he'd pointed out that Lunis had been hanging from the floor, after all. And Lunis clearly wasn't in the best state of mind. "This feel real to ya'?" said Kendrik, punching Lunis in the gut.

Lunis winced, but barely moved. His eyes shrunk to slits, and he suddenly seemed much taller than Kendrik. "No. How about this?" Lunis said, grabbing Kendrik by the waist and pulling the hound over his head.

Jaron tried to reach up to Lunis's arms, but happened to be too short. Then Lunis threw Kendrik at the stranger.

"Jeez louise," Riku's voice came from a nearby crack in the wall, "I look away for two seconds and you're throwing a dude at another dude? Not cool man. Not cool."
The fact that Kendrick was probably still flying through the air at that moment didn't seem to phase him, and if it did, he hid it well in his voice.

The chimera's body went slamming into Envy's, the homunculus giving a startled cry of alarm in response. He staggered backwards and went tumbling into the stairs. While that would have been annoying if they were back on the first floor, it was absolutely terrifying now that they were standing on already unstable stairs.

The wood underneath them creaked under their collective weight. He could feel it just beginning to break; in a few more seconds, both they and the stairs would go crashing to the ground. He didn't have enough time to get to his feet and throw the chimera back. Even if he had, it still didn't provide him with a way to protect himself from becoming injured.

Which meant there was only one thing he could do.

He had to change his form.

He hated doing that, especially when he had to take on the form of something that wasn't human in the slightest. It reminded him far too much of what was currently his "true" form. But a human would never be able to save both he and the unfortunate chimera, so it looked like he was going to need some sort of animal.

The stairs gave out beneath them.

There was a flash of red light as he became a gigantic bird - one strong enough to carry the chimera. He swung the man back, and, for a little bit of some sweet revenge, made sure that he hit Lunis when he threw him back. Then he landed just on the edge of the part the chimeras and Lunis were on, turned back to the form he had been using earlier, and quickly slipped in front of the door.

The farther he was from the stairs, the better.

"Kendrik!" Jaron shouted, watching the hound get thrown by the giant bird. Now a ball of claws and fury, Kendrik collided with Lunis. The panther fell to the ground as Kendrik slashed at his chest and aimed for his throat. Lunis again picked up Kendrik by the waist, but tossed the hound through the entrance to the roof. Displaying yet another bit of surprising agility, the stranger ducked and dived out of the way as Lunis barreled onto the roof, snarling.

Jaron followed, chest pains causing him to stumble. There was no way Kendrik could fight long against an opponent much bigger, stronger, and faster than him, nor was there a medic in sight. His only hope was that Lunis wouldn't kill Kendrik. Fortunately, that's when Jaron spotted the rapier resting on the ground. Picking it up, Jaron tossed it in the general direction of Kendrik, who had Lunis's foot on his back and was trying to pull himself up. Kendrik caught the rapier and hacked at Lunis's leg, forcing the panther back.

That put Lunis close enough to Jaron that the fox could reach out and snatch a dagger from one of Lunis's back pockets. The timing was perfect; a second later, Lunis reached back and only pulled out one dagger. Jaron darted behind the stranger as Lunis wheeled around, fury in his eyes. "Do something," Jaron whispered in the stranger's ear, stammering.

Envy was absolutely furious.

If he could have, he would have turned around right then and there and gone storming back to his brother. This was beyond a misunderstanding. This was downright absurd, and he wanted no part of whatever Lunis was up to. He had tried being polite. He had even tried saving his life! But then Lunis had the nerve to go throwing that chimera into him and risking both of their lives - although more so his supposed friend - and Envy had to take on a form that made him hate himself even more than usual.

Maybe it had been a bit childish to throw the chimera back at him. If he had been in a calmer state of mind, he probably would have just dropped him off. But he had felt justified, because Lunis had been the one to throw the guy in the first place and the chimera wouldn't feel a thing.

But he couldn't leave. Not when one of the chimeras was currently cowering behind him as Lunis angrily turned to fight him, and not when he sounded so terrified as he requested that Envy did something to help.

"Leave him alone," Envy demanded, holding his arms out in a protective gesture. "He was just trying to stop your fight by grabbing your dagger. Seeing that you're trying to murder his friend, I think that's more than a little justified."

Lunis hesitated for a few seconds. While Jaron wanted to believe the panther had finally calmed down, one look at his eyes sent a shiver down Jaron's back. He had seen that sheer hatred before. It was the expression of someone who wasn't going to listen to anything, much less reason; who would stab and hack at everyone until he was held down, knocked out, or outright killed.

It was the face of a murderer. It reminded Jaron of Aegeas when he snapped.

So, Jaron wasn't exactly surprised when Lunis raised the dagger and stabbed the stranger in the arm. That didn't stop Jaron from screaming, of course, which caught Lunis's attention.

And then Kendrik jumped onto Lunis's back, the rapier around the panther's throat.

Lunis hissed and tried to reach back, grabbing Kendrik by the ear. As a wave of panic surged over him, Jaron slipped a wrench out of his pocket and sprinted over to Lunis. Applying as much force as he could, Jaron smacked the wrench against Lunis's knee. The panther howled and crumpled onto his knees, letting go of Kendrik.

"Stop," said Kendrik, pressing the rapier against Lunis's throat. Blood spilled from Kendrik's scratched ear, running down the side of his face. "Or you'll die."