Young Writers Society

"Yeah, pretty much. Ended up in a couple of places so far though, so there's that." He pulled out the knife -- a matte black curved blade -- and he held it up to show it to them.
"Pretty cool, isn't it? I got it a few days ago, back in my world." He tried to hold it in a way that they wouldn't think was threatening, but at the same time, he kept a firm grip on it. If they sprung, he'd have it at the ready in no time.

"Nice," Kendrik said, watching the knife uneasily. A part of him was tempted to run up and snatch it. However, he could see, from the white-knuckled grip that Raiden had on the knife, it wouldn't go as well as he'd like.

Hmm. Better to wait for Raiden to make the first move.

Kendrik felt Jaron tugging on his shoulder. Craning his head back, Kendrik saw Lunis beginning to pull himself up.

Uh-oh.

"It's Black Panther," Riku's voice came from a nearby crack in the wall. Raiden snorted as he put his knife back into its holder.
"I'd expect you to think of something like that, Riku." A few chuckles from the concealed speaker came through as Raiden walked over to the crack and pried at it, trying to get the speaker out. He watched the panther out the corner of his eye.

"He's one, yeah," said Kendrik, casting glances at Lunis. For a heart-stopping second, the panther almost stood on his feet, but slumped to one side and started snoring again. He could sleepwalk? Apparently not that well, as he fell back on the ground and curled up in a ball.

Kendrik breathed a sigh of relief, dampened only by the truth that Lunis wouldn't be asleep for much longer.

Then he turned back in time to see Jaron approaching Raiden, who was trying to fit his hand through a crack. From his steady step, the fox seemed a lot less anxious than usual. Pushing Raiden out of the way, Jaron reached a claw in and pulled out a little device. It appeared to be where the weird voice was coming from.

Keeping a watchful eye on Raiden, Kendrik took a couple steps closer. Of course Jaron would put himself at risk for the sake of strange tech.

"So what do you want with us?" Envy said, eying both Raiden and the strange speaking device with a wary gaze. He no trust whatsoever for the people in question, and it seemed all the more likely that they would be soon involved in a fight of some sort. "Do you just want to talk, or are you here for something else?"

Something like me and Greed? he wondered. The tech might have been unfamiliar, but there was nothing to say that Raiden and Riku weren't sent by Father.

"You—" Clarice began, turning her makeshift knife to face Greed. She didn't care that he hadn't been speaking to her directly — she needed answers, now. "You can tell me who created you. I know how homunculi are created, and I need to know who would be sick enough to do it twice." There was a haunted look in Clarice's eyes; she clearly feared whoever had created the homunculi.

He blinked.

So she was from their reality, or one similar to theirs? That was a surprise. He was convinced everyone here were from other realities that were nothing like their own. Once he realized that, the other signs became obvious - her knife, for example, had the telltale marks of alchemy on it. "It was seven times, actually," Greed casually corrected. "There's me, Envy, Lust, Gluttony, Pride, Sloth and Reyes. Reyes is a little bit of the odd one out, but, hey, he's family. Dear old dad is responsible for all of us. Don't know how, but he is. None of stuck around long enough to find out."

Greed took a step towards her. "Now that I think about it, I'm curious to find out why someone like you is so knowledgeable on how to make someone like us." He grinned, revealing a set of pointed teeth. "So, alchemist, what secrets are you hiding?"

"What secrets am I hiding?" Clarice couldn't help but laugh. "You have no sense of subtlety, do you, Greed?" She lowered her knife and pressed her palm against it. In a flash of light, she transmuted it into a longer and thinner shape. "Unfortunately, I don't have any secrets." She tucked the knife behind her ear. "I'm just very well read."

Greed raised an eyebrow. "The last time I checked, there wasn't a book on how to create your own homemade homunculi." He folded his arms and studied her. "I'd say Pops didn't send you, because you were absolutely clueless on what either my brother or I are like. But then where does that leave us?"

Raiden shrugged.
"I dunno man. I'm just here. And it seems Riku's been keeping you...uh...busy," he said, moving out of the way for Jaron to get to the speaker as he spoke.

Jaron held the tiny device in his paws, flipping it upside down and right side up. He slipped it between his fingers, taking care to avoid the claws at the ends of his fingers. Near as he could tell, this little circular object was transmitting a voice from far away, since he couldn't hear an echo from nearby. The voice of this Riku. Jaron was tempted to break the device apart and see how it worked. But he figured he may as well ask first.

"Hello," Jaron whispered, holding the device close to his face. "I'm Jaron. What is this thing?"

The sound of someone eating something crunchy came through the speaker for a few seconds before Riku answered.
"Oh, uh, hi Jaron, uh, the thing you're holding in your hands -- I'm assuming it's in your hands -- is a speaker."

Jaron would've responded, but Kendrik walked up, placed his hands over Jaron's shoulders, and glared down at the speaker in Jaron's hand. "What's the point?" Kendrik said to Riku. "Get out here! Don't be a coward."

"Hey man," Riku said, his voice still coming through the speaker, "I'm being cautious fam. Y'all nearly had a fight earlier and like...no thanks. Maybe I will later," he finished, before the sound of someone eating Doritos came back through the speaker.
Raiden walked over and placed a hand on Kendrik's shoulder.
"What's wrong? You scared of him?"

"No!" said Kendrik, pulling Jaron close to him. He nudged Raiden's hand off his shoulder. "I don't like what I can't see." He grimaced at the speaker. "What's he eating?"