Cold Envy [Envy x Reader]

Chapter 6: A Brief Confrontation

The more I tried to understand the situation the more questions I got. Those endless curiosities swarmed around in my head like a swarm of bees, the stinging giving me a headache as I walked down the street.

Maria Ross, the one wrongly convicted of Hughes' death had managed to escape the country. And finding out more about what was going on was easier than we had expected. All I knew was that Mustang was preparing something in Central. However, he said I shouldn't get involved.

"I don't want to put the life of a child like you on the line." That's what he said. When won't he realize I'm not a damn kid anymore?! Then again, it has been a few years since I had last seen him, so I can't exactly blame him. As well as for the fact that he and my father knew each other. Guess all I can do is prove myself.

We managed to track Barry's 'body' back to a lab that night, following it down to an underground corridor. Splitting up, we eventually found ourselves in the midst of a battle between Mustang and a homunculus. Al was defending Riza and I, rather emotionally. I couldn't help but sympathize with him and understand his motives, considering what he has been through.

Lust, which is what Barry referred to her as, was the same woman I recognized from the fifth laboratory. Even when she saw me, I knew she recognized me as well. All she did was give me a smile, and yet it wasn't neither cruel nor pleasant. It was as if she knew something. I didn't tell Mustang that though, even after he burned her to ashes. Despite the fact that she wasn't human, her screams were. The look of rage and agony on her face were so human that I could see why a homunculus is called an artificial human.

I wanted so badly to tell Mustang that I had already met her.However, I didn't want him to brag about saving Ed and I from her.

Lust, Greed; two of the seven deadly sins. Which means there are now Sloth, Pride, Envy, Wrath and Gluttony. Gluttony was obviously the 'fat boy' that Mustang took down. But that other one I know of; the one with the long hair from the fifth lab. So far I've only been referring to him as Palmtree but...maybe he's Wrath..? He was pretty violent and trigger-happy. Or maybe he's Pride? He was very cocky and gave off a bit of a pompous attitude.

Shaking my head, I just kept on walking. Suddenly, I felt the Earth shake beneath me, causing me to look at my surroundings. That's when I noticed a tall tower of smoke just a few blocks away and people running from the site. Taking a short-cut down an alley-way I was only about a block away and I could see Ed and Al running down the street, followed by Scar.

I was about to quicken my pace when I saw something drop down in front of me from the roof above. Taking a defensive stance, I noticed it was the guy from the fifth lab, his eyes wide with madness and his hair slightly swaying in the breeze. He stood up, smirking.

"Well well, look who it is," he said with a smirk. Though he was frightening and very intimidating, I stood my ground. That is, until I happened to notice the Ouroboros tattoo on his left leg. The red dragon situated on the side of his thigh.

"You're a homunculus...," I muttered, almost in disbelief. Finally accepting that such a myth was, in fact, reality shook me to my core.

"Yeah, what gave you that idea?" he said rather sarcastically. His hands were on his hips, giving more sass to his appearance; which frankly, I don't think I had the time for.

"Your Ouroboros. I noticed it at the fifth lab, yet I wasn't aware of what it meant until a few days ago."

The homunculus grinned viciously before charging at me, his speed faster than a bullet. I cupped my hands over my mouth, using my air alchemy to blow him up into the wall. He grimaced, falling back down with a loud thud. When he got back up, he definitely looked pissed.

"I'm going to kill you!" he screeched, charging at me to continue our fight.

He was so fast I could barely keep up. I must either be really lucky or just a crappy fighter. Then again, I haven't trained to fight since...dad. But I won't let what he taught me go to waste.

I threw up little rocks and hurled them at him with my alchemy, making them rush to him and cause significant damage. However, a chill ran down my spine when I saw the wounds heal, his skin regenerating and red sparks dancing around him. He regained his posture, sending me another one of those sadistic smirks.

With a newfound fury, he darted towards me again, but the unexpected happened. His arm extended, turning into a green snake around my neck. I felt it coil tighter and tighter around my neck, making me gasp for air to alleviate my burning lungs. He got closer and closer until he could turn the snake back into his own hand.

I gripped his wrist in an attempt to bring space between his hand and my throat, but it was useless. Suddenly, he yanked me off the ground and against the wall rather roughly. He got rather close to me. Was my heart racing from this close proximity or the adrenaline from fighting? I couldn't tell.

"I was just kidding when I said I would kill you. After all, you're a candidate for sacrifice," he said with a serious tone. With that, he let go and let me drop to the ground in a coughing fit.

"What do you mean...sacrifice?" That was all I asked. And yet, his only response was a swift kick to my stomach. He lifted me by my hair, glaring at me with wild purple eyes. His grip on my hair tightened, making me wince from the pain of all my hairs being tugged harshly.

"That's none of your concern. What you should be worried about is coming across more people like me in the future. They won't be as generous as me," he said as he let go of my hair, roughly shoving me to the ground in the process.

"Then again, it would be a problem for someone else to interfere with our plans. Especially one that shouldn't be harmed."

My mind buzzed with more questions the more he spoke. "Sacrifice? For what? And you mean to tell me there are other homunculi out there besides the three or four of you?"

I tried to piece together everything he said in my mind. However, my thoughts were abtuptly cut short when I felt a pressure on my back from him kneeling on me. It did give me a bit of time to think with a clear head, though. I clapped my hands, making enough wind pressure to get him off me.

Standing up on shaky legs, I looked around to notice he was nowhere to be seen. I was on my guard, or so I thought. He came down and captured me, hooking his arms under mine and lifting me up. No matter how hard I struggled and kicked it was futile. His grip on me was tight as he began dragging me away.

"W-where are you taking me?!" I yelled, trying to get my arms out of his grip. My hands couldn't even reach each other, and he was just so strong.

"You humans really are annoying. Just insects beneath me." As he said that, he hoisted me up to face him. "You try to fight back, I will smash your head into a wall until you are beyond recognition."

That threat was all he needed to shut me up. My fear of him had skyrocketed to new heights, but part of me wanted to test him. If I was a candidate for sacrifice, then he wouldn't kill me just like that. Besides, he said that I shouldn't be harmed because of that.

With that in mind, I kicked him in the knee, making him lose his grip on me and fall to the ground.

"Damnit!" His anger and annoyance was poured into his shriek. He was looking at me with cold eyes ready to kill, but I could see something in there that was unrecognizable. What that was, I couldn't tell.

Before I knew it, he had gotten back up and rushed at me. I thought he was going to strike me, but instead he wrapped his hands around my neck. His grip was just as tight as before, and I could see black spots in my vision. My mind grew more hazy with each passing second and my vision went out of focus. All I could see clearly were his sadistic smile and mad purple eyes. Then, my eyes shut and I lost consciousness.