The Nest
"This" is talking
'This' is thoughts
"This" is Truth speaking
~this~ is Parseltongue
Carmilla woke in an alley, head pounding from the download of information that the Gate had seared into her brain.
"By Truth, I never want to do that again," she muttered as she rose to a kneeling position, looking around to see the filthy alley around her.
"Need to find the Devil's Nest, wonder if Truth was kind enough to drop me close by or if I'm gonna have to be awkward and ask around. Least I can speak Amestrian now." Carmilla sighed as she took in her appearance in a window.
Her clothes had changed from her Hogwarts uniform, which she'd never bothered to change out of, to a black t-shirt and jean shorts with combat boots and a jacket while her hair was still tied back in a ribbon, but the color had changed from white to red.
At least she wouldn't need to steal any clothes then.
Walking out of the alley, she joined the flow of traffic and looked at the shop names, wandering around and taking in the sights.
After six hours of looking, and failing, to find the bar, she sat down on a bench, nearly tearing her hair out in frustration.
"How hard can it freaking be to find a place called the Devil's Nest for Truth's sake!" she groaned, not noticing that she'd begun replacing "Merlin" with "Truth."
She did, however, notice a beast of a man with silver-white hair freezing for a moment as he passed her before continuing on his path.
Seeing the man speed up, Carmilla jumped up and followed him only to lose him as he took to the alleys.
"Damn it! I lost my lead!" Carmilla hissed as she tried to pick up the man's trail for a few minutes when she heard footsteps approach her from behind.
Turning to the source, she saw a man with short black and evil grey eyes behind her.
"Are you lost, sweetheart?" the man asked, his voice oily and making her shudder.
"No, I'm fine," Carmilla answered, keeping him in her sight as she made her way around him.
"I heard ya mention the Devil's Nest, I could help ya get there if ya like," the man pushed, blocking off her exit.
"I'd rather find it on my own," Carmilla told the man, sliding her wand out of her arm holster and hiding it in her sleave, preparing to cast the leg-locking hex.
Only, she never got the chance as the man tackled her to the ground.
"GET OFF!" she screamed, hoping that while they were too far from the main street, the man she'd been following would hear her.
"No one's coming girly, so just behave, and you'll make it out of this alley alive." the man hissed, trying to cover her mouth when she bit his hand.
"FUCk!" the man screeched, clutching his hand to his chest while Carmilla made her escape.
"Take that asshole!" she yelled as she ran, not looking back as not to slow herself down.
Taking a blind turn, she skidded to a halt, cursing her luck, she'd run into a dead end.
Spinning on her heel, she froze at seeing the man at the alley entrance.
"Now you're gonna bleed bitch!" he roared at her, backing her up to the wall as she started shaking.
"Stay away, please, leave me alone." she whimpered as her back met the wall, she didn't want to die like this, not after she'd finally become free.
As the man towered over her, hands reaching out to grab her, she muttered, "This is why I hate humans..." as she kneeled, hands over her ears, and waiting for the end.
But, hands never touched her, and after a few moments, she looked up to see why though squinted eyes.
What she found shocked her, the man was dead, cut clean in two, as a stocky built, spikey brown-haired man with blue eyes swung a sword to clean it of blood stood over the corpse with the silver-haired man, a cloaked figure, a woman with short-cropped blond hair and a red tribal tattoo, and a muscular man with short, spikey black slicked-back hair dressed in a white-furred black leather sleeveless jacket, black pants, pointed shoes, and sunglasses.
What caught her attention about the last male was his wine-red cat-like eyes under the shades, sharp teeth, and the tattoo on the back of his left hand, an ouroboros tattoo.
"You okay, kid?" the sword wielder asked, his eyes kind but cold.
"Y...yes...thank you," Carmilla muttered as fur jacket kneeled in front of her.
"My pal Roa," the man began, jabbing his thumb over his shoulder at the silver-haired man, "told us that you were following him. Why's that kiddo?" he asked, his friends standing behind him at a distance as not to crowd the girl.
When Roa had told him that he'd overheard a kid talking about the Devil's Nest and said kid following after him, he'd automatically thought that the others had found him.
But looking at the kid, who couldn't be one of them since she hadn't been able to fight back, he found her to be just some human kid. So why was she looking for his bar?
"I...um...I'm looking for the owner of the Devil's Nest, I was told to find him...Mr. Roa froze when I mentioned it earlier, so I thought he could help me." the girl began, looking down at her hands.
"Well, you found him. Name's Greed kid, why ya looking for me?" the now-named Greed asked, the girl's head snapping up to look him in the eye.
"I was told to tell you that Truth sent me. My name is Carmilla. I...I was told you could help me." Carmilla answered, and while Greed didn't show it, his blood ran cold at her answer.
Truth, as in the same being that his old man droned on and on about?
Offering his hand to her, ever the gentleman, he gave her a sharp smile.
"This isn't something we should be discussing in a dirty alley then. If Truth sent you, suppose I can't refuse." Greed explained, eyes narrowing when she eyed his hand distrustfully. Then again, considering what they'd come across.
"Martel, be a doll and help our guest up. Roa, get rid of the body." Greed ordered as he stood, the woman taking his place and helping the girl up.
"Hey kid, the name's Martel, let's get you cleaned up, huh?" the woman said, the girl taking her hand as soon as offered.
But it wasn't for the reason of Martel being a woman like Greed and the other's thought. No, it was because, to Carmilla, the woman reminded her of a snake, a creature she adored.
"Thank you, Miss Martel," Carmilla said as she followed the group back to the bar, staying close to the older woman.
Once they were in his office back in the Devil's Nest, the other chimera keeping the patrons busy enough to miss the child with him, he stared at the child who sat on one of his couches.
He'd ordered everyone but Dolcetto, his bodyguard, and a dog chimera, and Martel, who was a snake chimera.
The reason being that the two could detect lies better than anyone under his command.
"So," Greed began as he offered the kid a glass of water, "it's not every day that someone claims to have met Truth, even I haven't. Why would such a being be interested in a kid like you?" he asked, taking off his shades to pin her with his wine-red eyes.
Carmilla took the cup but didn't drink from it, as her gold and green eyes narrowed on him.
"They aren't necessary; I paid the toll to pass through the Gate using a Philosopher's Stone my mother had acquired, given to her by another. Truth mentioned that since I don't trust humans that it would be best to seek you out, as apparently neither you or anyone who works for you is human. Didn't say what you were, that you would explain."
She explained, trying to keep eye contact, which he respected her for, but failing.
Glancing to his subordinates, he saw Dolcetto nod slightly, informing him she wasn't lying.
Looking back to the kid, he took a good look at her.
She was tiny, smaller than any human kid he'd seen, not that he'd seen many, with long pitch-black hair and eyes that were two different colors. Her left eye was an amber gold, while the right was a shade of green he'd never seen before.
She also had an angry-looking scar above her right eye in the shape of a lightning bolt and pale skin.
"Okay then, let's start over. My name is Greed; I am a homunculus created to embody the sin I am named after. I want everything this world has to offer; money, power, women, status, I want it all. I want the finer things in life. I've existed for over two hundred years. So, who are you? Why did you need to pass through the Gate?" Greed questioned, censoring his normal speech since he didn't know how old the kid was, though he doubted she was older than ten from her size.
Carmilla stared at him for a moment, thinking about what he said before responding.
"My name is Carmilla Kimblee; I'm twelve about to be thirteen this coming July, I needed to pass through the Gate to escape being turned into a mindless puppet at the hands of an old man who wanted to keep me stupid for reasons I don't know yet. My mother's family originated from Amestris but left a few centuries ago to escape something from here, a being called Dwarf, who wanted to kill them. But, nearly sixty years ago in the world that they fled to Earth, a war began between to factions of alchemist like people called mages. This war lasted over sixty years, and when my mother realized the danger she and her fiance, my step-father, were in, she looked into a way to return to Amestris. Almost fourteen years ago, she came back to Amestris at the cost of her left lung and met my father, a State Alchemist by the name of Zolf J Kimblee. You can see where that bit went."
Carmilla said with a rueful smile before frowning.
"However, the toll my mother paid wasn't enough to stay in Amestris, and she was forced to return after a few months. She'd acquired a Philosopher's Stone to be the proper toll but never got the chance to use it and instead prepared for me to escape to Amestris. I learned of all this about a day ago, I think, and immediately activated the transmutation circle, paid the toll, and now here we are."
"May I ask, where are your folks then?" Greed asked, shocked that she was twelve and having a bad feeling that he knew the answer.
"Murdered, when I was a baby. My step-father knew I wasn't his child; he was sterile. He didn't care either, left everything to me. But I couldn't stay there, not when the man I mentioned was trying to do something that wasn't in my best interest. When I learned that I had living family, a father, I jumped at the chance to escape that hell."
"I remember Kimblee from Ishval, man isn't what I'd call fatherly material," Dolcetto stated, drawing Carmilla's attention.
"Ishval, the war. Truth implanted the information about that hell; I'd imagine that it must have been worse for anyone who'd been there. I don't really care if Kimblee doesn't want me, I just wanted to escape. I was tired of being caged, of having some sort of plan forced on me and not knowing anything." Carmilla told him, not seeing the exchange between Dolcetto and Martel, who nodded to each other, they'd be watching out for the kid.
With or without Greed's permission. She was just like them, used and abused for the amusement of others.
The exchange wasn't missed by Greed; however, who agreed with them.
"Well, what exactly can a mage do?" he asked, waving his hand dismissing Dolcetto.
"From what I've been able to gather from the knowledge giving to me by Truth, Magic and Alchemy come from the same source, the Gate, but where Alchemy follows strict laws and requirements, Magic doesn't. It's more like water in that it flows while still following some base laws. This," Carmilla paused as she pulled out her wand, "is a wand and acts similar to an alchemical array to focus the energy used to perform spells."
Greed nodded at the explanation, somewhat understanding those most was lost on him.
"Go on,"
Carmilla pointed the tip of her wand to her glass and said, "Wingardium Leviosa," and Greed watched in surprise as the glass floated off the table even with the tip of the wand.
"This is the levitation spell, not sure about the limit to what it can lift, but I have seen it lift a roughly twenty-pound club made of solid wood before," Carmilla informed as she canceled the spell, the glass sitting gently back down on the table.
Greed clapped at this, thinking of a thousand uses around the bar alone for such a spell.
"I would like to request that I not use this around any you don't trust sir, back on Earth, my world, we're taught to not use it around those who don't already know of magic's existence, due to a bad history with non-mages."
Martel spoke for the first time since their arrival in the office.
"History like the Ishvalan war of extermination?" she questioned in a knowing tone, humans tended to destroy what they could not understand or obtain for themselves.
"Not quite to that level, but yes. Non-magical's would burn us alive, well, they'd attempt it. We do have a fire freezing charm though I haven't learned it myself."
Greed sighed, all too familiar with the bloodthirsty ways of humans.
"I won't ask you to do what you are not comfortable with Carmilla. But," he began as he leaned forward, placing his elbows on his knees, "if you're going to stay with us, you're gonna have to live with some rules."
Carmilla nodded, she expected that and motioned for him to continue.
"One, you belong to me, and I don't mean as a slave or shit like that. I'm Greed kid, everything in this world is mine for the taking. Being my possession means that you're mine to protect in your case."
"Understood"
"Two, you do as told so long as it doesn't make you uncomfortable. I tell you to jump; you ask how high. Sometimes you'll see me get my head lobbed off by Roa because I'm proving I'm not human. That's rare, but one day if he's not about, I may ask Dolcetto or even you. Get it?"
Greed questioned, expecting her to refuse but only getting a nod in response.
"Okay, I may not like it, but I think I could do it. I remember reading about a blasting hex in an upper-year book once. I have it with me."
"Aren't you a peach doll," Greed joked as he leaned back in his chair.
"Three, keep up learning your magic and help around the bar if you can. Like the more non-human looking guys, you can stick to the back. That, and I don't need the cops on my ass thanks to a kid in the bar. I'll look into finding you books on basic alchemy, and I think there's an alchemist in Dublith, but I don't think she takes students. She might have a few books you could borrow, though."
Carmilla smiled at this before she asked, "Thank you, but may I ask what exactly is a homunculus and what the others are?"
Greed smirked, "A homunculus if you pay attention to what alchemy says, is an artificially created human. They are created through alchemy. However," he paused holding up his left hand, pointer finger extended upward, "this is not strictly true, the first homunculus, my old man who you mentioned, Dwarf, was created in an alchemical experiment over four hundred years ago in Xerxes, a kingdom that no longer exists. He was made using blood from a Xerxesian slave, Number 23, who now goes by the name Van Hohenheim. Old man has no clue I know this, so it's our secret."
Greed chuckled with a conspirational smile making Carmilla smirk, "and you?"
"Dwarf tricked the king of Xerxes into turning his whole country into a human transmutation circle designed for making a Philosopher's Stone under the guise of making the king immortal. The moron did it, and the entire country died save for my old man and Hohenheim because they were in the center of the circle, turning them both into living Philosopher Stones. Half the souls for my old man, the other for Hohenheim. Though the latter had no clue."
Greed continued as his right hand turned gunmetal grey, his fingers replaced with claws he then dug into his chest, pulling the flesh apart and holding it as red lightning flashed around the room.
In his chest was a Philosopher's Stone, much larger than the one Carmilla had used.
"All other homunculi come from the old man, the result of him removing his seven sins of man, by injecting a stone into a human body, save for both Pride and Envy. Either the stone kills the new host by deconstructing and reconstructing them until the body gives out, or a new homunculus is born. I honestly couldn't tell you if the soul in control of this body was the original or if it was one fo the countless souls within the stone."
"So the stone could be called your heart, in a way?"
"Yep, I'm the third oldest, Pride is the oldest and was made almost exactly like the old man's first form. He needs a container in order to exist, don't know what it is currently. Lust is the second oldest and takes the appearance of a tall, beautiful woman with a busty build. Seriously, her boobs are way too big."
"Greed!" Martel hissed at her boss who waved her off.
"Her hair reaches her mid-back and is black. Her eyes are more of a mauve, still cat-like, and her Ouroboros tattoo is on her chest, just above her breasts." Greed finished.
"And the others?" Carmilla asked, not bothered by his crass way of speaking.
"Next is Envy, the 'child' after me, they're genderless and don't care what you call them. Normally they take the appearance of an androgynous youth with pale skin and a lean, muscular build. Most notable is their tattoo on the outer left thigh, violet cat-like eyes, and their green hair that's long and whispy. I like to call them palm tree cause they kinda look like one with that hair. Like Pride, Envy has a true form. Envy's being a lizard-like creature that is about the size of my hand if their stone is exhausted, which is the only time you'll see it, and kinda looks like a caterpillar-like serpent with multiple legs, and a lawless, sucker-like mouth lined with teeth to latch on. Like that, he can be a parasite. Otherwise, they're massive, larger than a house, and is chimera like in appearance, with a serpentine body, human-like long hair, a dog-like head, and six pupils in their left eye. Most disturbing if you ever see that form is that the souls in their stone form a main of mangled bodies around their neck, constantly wailing in agony."
Carmilla was struck with the image of a talking palm tree and laughed before the last bit registered, making her frown. "What a sad existence."
"Then we have Sloth, who is a beast of a man, always complaining about things being a pain to boot. Out of all of my 'siblings,' you'll probably never see him. He's the largest, save for Envy's true form. You'll know him if you see him. His tattoo is on the back of his right shoulder. Not much else to say about him. Last, and not the least, is Gluttony."
Greed said with a shudder, that tub of lard always made him uncomfortable.
"Gluttony?" Carmilla asked, confused at the look on Greed's face.
"Yeah, Gluttony is a bit of a sad thing, he was created by the old man in an attempt to create a physical Portal of Truth. He's fat, no other way to put it, but insanely fast at times as well. His tattoo is on his tongue and can eat just about anything. I do mean anything. He's bald, has white, pupil-less eyes, and rather childlike. He'd follow Lust around like a puppy and is all-around easy to deal with so long as he doesn't have permission to eat you. Docile really, and very kind when he isn't in a frenzy."
Carmilla smiled sadly at his description, feeling a bit of kinship in the fact it sounded like Gluttony was being used.
"What about Wrath, they're the only one you haven't listed."
"Far as I'm aware," Greed shrugged, "Wrath hasn't been created yet. I left a while ago, got into a fight with the old man, my avarice pissing him off, and have been on my own ever since. Then about ten years ago, I raided a lab that belonged to the military and found my underlings. They are all chimera, a being made through alchemy by combining different animals. Only this lab was experimenting with humans. All of them were soldiers from Ishval as they can tell you. If you want to know what they're mixed with, ask them."
Greed finished, pointing to Martel who answered gruffly, "I was mixed with snakes, not sure what kind. None were venomous at least."
Carmilla jerked her head to Martel, causing the woman to hiss thinking she was disgusted, only for Carmilla to speak in what Martel registered wasn't Amestrian, but she still understood
~Can you understand this?~
Carmilla asked her, making her nod and unknowingly respond in the same way, Greed watching in confusion as the pair started hissing at each other.
~Yes, I know it isn't Amestrian, but I can understand you. What language is that?~
Martel asked, tilting her head.
~Parseltongue, the language of Serpents, it's a rare gift in my world that allows us to communicate with reptiles, most notably snakes, in their own tongue. I thought I felt safe with you more than the others for some reason, Speakers, like me, instinctually seek out snakes to a degree for safety. Though many see it as a dark gift, a mark of evil. Least we can have private girl talk?~
Carmilla gave her a smile as Martel surprisingly returned it with one of her own.
"Looks like I got a hatchling to look after Boss, she speaks snake." Martel joked, liking the kid even more than previously.
"Good for you Martel, Carmilla, why don't you write down everything you know about your magic later for me to read, along with some of your books, and let Martel introduce you to everyone. I have some paperwork to go over. Oh, and write down anything you think I need to know." The sin ordered, walking over to his desk in dismissal
When Martel led Carmilla back into the bar, the patrons had been cleared out, and only ten people remained, all looking at her.
One was Roa and the other was Dolcetto, who she waved to.
"All right, everyone," Martel barked, her hand on Carmilla's shoulder.
"This is Carmilla Kimblee; she's one of us now. Anyone who's got a problem with it goes through me." the snake chimera warned, glaring at everyone.
"Just who is this kid?" a short male with a long lizard tail asked, his black eyes friendly as he looked at her.
"That's her story to tell, but everyone, Greed would like it if you'd tell her what kind of chimera you are, she's good," Martel told the male.
"Well kid," Dolcetto called out as he sat at the bar, "I'm Dolcetto, as you know, I'm a dog chimera. So I've got this annoying canine sense of loyalty."
Next was Roa, "Name's Roa, I was mixed with a bull."
The lizard tailed man was next, "I'm Bido, I was mixed with several lizards."
Then a woman with brown hair and grey eyes spoke, "I'm Tina, I was mix with a cat."
A muscled male with a blond mohawk and sharp teeth spoke next, "I'm Ulchi, crocodile."
The rest stated that they wanted to get to know her first before telling her.
"Thank you for your trust; I'm a witch if it helps. Black cats, wands, brooms, pointy hats?" Carmilla smiled, pulling out her wand and lifting a table.
This made Bido light up with child-like innocence, approaching her and offering to show her around.
"Thanks, Bido, I'd like that," Carmilla answered him, feeling like she'd come home for the first time in her life among those who others would have hated for existing.
She would come to find that she found her family over the next several years.