Red [ M / ZeldaWolfy ]

Greed turned his eyes to the wall, scanning tactics he’d made years ago, planning, waiting, yearning, wanting the day until he would get to use them, the day he’d come out on top. His greed was insatiable, he realized. After all the Homunculi and Dante were gone, where would he go? What would he do? What would he acquire? He’d have no problem getting the women and money and status… but what else could he want? There was always that deep longing inside of his heart that he knew was a thirst to have everything that wasn’t his. He was also aware of the fact that that little bit in his heart would never be satisfied. He could have control over the entire world, and it still wouldn’t be enough. Greed growled lowly in his throat, swiping the papers off the wall in one crude movement. Suddenly, Greed stopped, and blinked. Perhaps…it wasn’t only status, women, and money that he wanted. Perhaps it was a certain something – or someone, he mused – that he was pursuing. Deciding he wasn’t going to find it by sitting around and being angry, Greed scooped up a pile of tactics and stormed out of his room, slamming the door behind him and coming back into the main room. Slamming the papers onto the table he said, “Lust and Gluttony are next.” Without needing to look at the tactics, he continued, “We need to get that overprotective dog, Gluttony, away from Lust. Someone needs to distract him and eliminate him. He’s probably going to be a bit more fun to kill than Lust… but I have a hankering for killing the bitch at the moment, so she’s mine. Roa, Dolcetto, Vixen. You three, distract Gluttony and lure him away. Vixen, let the boys have a part in killing, because neither Dolcetto nor Roa got much blood on their hands last time. Martel, you’re staying here. Man the fort, watch the Philosopher’s Stones. And don’t even think about touching them, or taking them, because if you do, I will find out – or find you and you’ll regret it for the rest of your life. And honestly, I don’t want to hurt you, precious. Such useful asset to my team. Besides, you already killed Kimbley. Disfigured the poor man, really.” Greed sighed as Martel gave him the death look.

“Everyone understands their place, Martel. It’s time you learned yours, too.” Greed went back into his room and retrieved two Philosopher’s Stones, one for Dolcetto and one for Roa. Greed turned to Vixen and smirked, “Somehow I get the feeling you won’t be needing one.”

Greed chose to ignore Vixen’s snide comments and headed back into his room, keeping the door open. His crew knew not to come peeking in his room, anyways. He wasn’t too worried about them seeing all of the drawings and battle tactics he’d laid out, anyways. He didn’t hide secrets from his crew, not at all. Maybe sometimes he just wouldn’t speak, but that hardly meant he was keeping secrets from them. If one asked, Greed would share. Otherwise, Greed kept silent about most things that he kept in his room, his ‘bed’room. Greed sat down in the chair that faced his desk and tossed a few remaining Philosopher’s Stones onto it, the small red stones glowing faintly under the light of the overused lamp and against the faded, yellowing pages of paper he’d written on long ago. How long would it be until what Greed wanted most in life came to pass? And would it really satisfy him in the end? Greed had no idea, but he knew that his avarice would get him anywhere he wanted. And now with Vixen on his side, Greed felt as though he was an unstoppable force. The other Homunculi were going down, and he would revel in the site of their blood, a smirk on his face as he ripped the Philosopher’s Stones from within them. A greedy smile crossed Greed’s lips as his eyes flickered toward the door.

Resting his hand on his chin, his fingers hiding his lips, Greed’s eyes went back to the pages in front of him. He couldn’t focus too much on how it would feel when all of the Homunculi were dead. He’d only gotten down two of the six others, himself not included. And then there was Dante…that wretched seventh that he was going to take down with his own hands. He would not allow Vixen a single scrape on that woman, and he’d never ask for help, even if Greed was killed because of it. He’d kill Dante, he knew he would, and he’d feel a satisfaction he’d never had before. His greed had always made it impossible for him to be satisfied, but he knew… he knew that killing Dante would be the greatest feat of his life. And he couldn’t wait to do it. But now, he had to pinpoint where Gluttony and Lust were, for the pair never remained in one place for long, their durations varying in times from a day to an hour, possibly even a week, but never more. They were always off running errands for Dante, doing everything she told them to, killing and capturing those that Dante wanted, and Greed didn’t doubt that they killed some people they shouldn’t – just for the hell of it. Grimacing, Greed shuffled around on his desk, going through layers upon layers of yellowed parchment before finding a map, a red ‘x’ marked over every place Gluttony and Lust had traveled, underneath it the amount of hours they’d stayed in that place. They’d been to Liore numerous times, and if Greed needed to start somewhere, he’d start there.

Greed reclined in his chair and propped his feet up on his desk, one crossed over the other, his arms folding neatly across his chest and his eyes closing. Liore… he mused, staring at the black darkness behind his eyelids. It’ll be nice to see you again, old friend… That place almost turned into a Philosopher’s Stone itself… Its history is coated in blood and war. And that… Rose… woman, she became the Holy Mother. What a terrible thing. Greed added in the last part with sarcasm. After heaving in a sigh, he pushed himself up off of the chair and headed outside. When he saw that Vixen was nowhere to be seen, he snorted in frustration. She was going to miss the briefing before they headed out. Oh well, he’d find and tell her the details on the way to Liore. Striding into the main room, Greed placed his hands on the bar, fingers splayed, and looked at Roa and Dolcetto, ignoring Martel completely.

“We’re headed to Liore. If anywhere, Lust and Gluttony are most likely to be there, seeing as they’ve traveled there to complete Dante’s ‘errands’ multiple times. We need to move out quickly, because it’s not certain they’re even there, and if they are, they won’t be there for long. We’ve got a long journey ahead of us and we need to get there as fast as possible.” Greed finally looked over at Martel, who had her arms crossed over her chest and was looking at him with contempt. “I change my mind, you might possibly be needed. For the first part, at least. Martel, you go out and find some means of – fast – transportation. There’s no way we can get there by walking within a day.” Martel seemed slightly relieved that she at least got to do something and nodded, slipping out of the bar in her serpentine fashion. Looking back at Dolcetto and Roa, Greed grinned. “Dolcetto, you’re in charge of going to find Vixen. Can’t just leave her behind.”

Dolcetto nodded and ran out. Greed loved his companions – they were fantastic for getting what he wanted. Martel with her snake nature would find it more than easy stealing modes of transportation. Dolcetto, being part dog, would have no trouble tracking down Vixen and bringing her back to the bar. She couldn’t have gone far, either. Greed sat down and glanced at Roa, “Mind getting me a drink? We’ve got a bit of a hike ahead of us, and I could certainly use a drink before we head out.” Roa chuckled and nodded, heading off to make Greed his personal favorite. Greed sighed and reclined against the wall, propping his feet on the next barstool over. It was going to be a long day, but a successful one.

Martel grimaced. She hated Vixen with a passion. Who did she think she was, waltzing in on their crew like that? And why did Greed accept her so readily? Greed usually wasn’t like that. Wasn’t she enough? Wasn’t she capable enough? Did this Vixen have something she didn’t? And Martel had seniority in the crew on her side! And yet… Greed seemed to value Vixen more. Why!? It wasn’t right! It wasn’t fair! That’s not how it worked! Martel tilted her head when she heard a sweet melody coming from the forest. It was unlike anything she’d ever heard before, and it peaked her curiosity. Martel turned her course. The transportation could wait. Martel sneakily slithered her way through the trees, following the noise as best as she could. When she reached the source, she grimaced. “Oh, it’s you.” Martel crossed her arms over her chest and looked up at the vixen. She lived up to her name, and Martel didn’t like it. No, she hated it with a passion. “Why don’t you just stay out here? Greed doesn’t need you, he’s just being nice because you have one little thing he likes. He’ll throw you away as soon as it’s over. You’re not needed here, anyways. Our crew’s always been capable, and you’re just a nuisance.” Martel sneered, debating for a split second reaching up and coming to eye-level with her, but quickly deciding against it.

Dolcetto had followed Vixen’s scent for a while now. He was surprised at how far she’d gotten in such little time. It was unusual, even for him or Martel. They both moved quickly, but neither would’ve made it this far in the time allotted. But what Dolcetto heard, even from the very edge of the forest, disturbed him. Martel’s voice was unmistakable, full of malice and pent-up anger, annoyance and the desire to rid the crew of this newfound member. Dolcetto had to admit he hadn’t originally liked having a new crew member, but he knew Vixen was worth having in the group – her skills outmatched his, Martel’s and Roa’s powers combined. She was a powerful asset and even Dolcetto could understand that. He knew that deep down Martel knew it too, but she was just too damn stubborn to admit it to herself, or let anyone else knew she was aware of the fact. However, the stubborn snake tended to forget she was predictable, and had been with the others for the longest time now. She was as easy to read as an open book. Dolcetto growled quietly in his throat. Internal warfare when in the middle of a mission was bad news. It was bad, bad, bad. Whirling around on his heel, Dolcetto made his way back to the Devil’s Nest, where he found Greed drinking merrily whilst talking to Roa.

“Greed.” Dolcetto said, instantly gathering Greed’s attention, who didn’t bother to put down his drink, just took another swig. “Martel found Vixen in the forest and is picking a fight with her. It’s an accident waiting to happen and I think we all know who would come out victorious in this.” Dolcetto shied away at the murderous look that immediately came into Greed’s eyes. Greed slammed the glass down on the bar, the fragile container shattering and sending droplets of alcohol everywhere. Greed stood up and briskly brushed past Dolcetto, his fists clenched by his sides and his face taut, eyes darkened with murderous intent. Dolcetto passed a wary glance to Roa, and hesitantly followed behind Greed, making sure to keep a good distance between the two of them. Roa turned and frowned, shaking his head and going to clean up the mess Greed had made, all the while thinking he was glad he wouldn’t have to be the one cleaning up the mess Martel made. She had just dug her own grave.