"This is kind of intimidating!" said Armin.
"You mean going over to a house that we met the owner of yesterday or the fact that he sent a car to get us?" asked Edward. "Why are you even here? You didn't even meet the weirdo!"
"Eren told me to come." Armin accused his friend.
Elizabeth looked around at her friends as they rode in the back of a limo on their way to Lin's house. Last night she had gotten a message from him and he asked her to tell everyone to gather at her house and he would send someone to escort them to his house. When she had asked how he knew her number and her address he said that they had been written on the inside of the lunch box she had given him.
"I can't believe you went into the old school yesterday and didn't tell me!" Eren said. "I've always wanted to do that."
"Yeah meeting a psychopathic ghost was just great." muttered Ed.
Winry was sitting next to him, a long colourful scarf was wrapped around her neck to hide the bruises. She looked pale but on the whole she acted the same as always. Edward on the other hand.
Winry had stayed in the hospital all night and Ed hadn't left her side. When the staff had told him to leave he got really upset. Then when security made him leave, Winry had totally freaked out. So he had stayed. But now, the circles under his eyes looked really bad.
Elizabeth sat back in her seat (which was very comfortable) and looked out the window. They were reaching the towns limits and still the driver told them it would be another ten minutes. The trees were getting thicker and thicker and they saw less and less cars. Where on earth was this place.
Edward's phone went off and he answered it.
"Hey Petra." he said.
...
"Yeah."
...
"I'll be home in the afternoon."
...
"Levi said something about a thing with Roy."
...
"Yeah that's probably why he's gone."
...
"No Mikasa is with Diane today."
...
"Sure, bye."
"It's so unfair." complained Eren and Ed hung up. "You get to have the best looking teacher living in your house."
"Yeah only because she has a messed up past and Levi is totally head over heel for her." said Ed.
"I've never seen him like someone before." said Armin.
"You have no idea." chuckled Ed. "He's actually nice around her."
"What is he normally like?" asked Elizabeth.
"Well you've had his classes." said Eren. "He's super strict and will kick you in the head if you make the same mistake over and over again."
"Kick you in the head?!" she repeated shocked.
"Not really." laughed Armin. "Eren is exaggerating. Levi takes his job seriously. He wants all his students to pass and will do everything in his power to make sure that happens."
"That doesn't sound terrible." frowned Elizabeth.
"Mikasa told me that the reason for this is because when he was in high school after what happened with his friends, he felt like he had no one and didn't even bother to do his school work." Edward said. "He was doing a bunch of stupid stuff until Mr. Hughes helped him out."
"You mean our economics teacher?" asked Elizabeth shocked.
"Yeah. They have been friends for years." Ed nodded. "Levi got his act together and went back to school. He promised Hughes that he would do the same thing that Hughes did for him for some other kid."
Elizabeth smiled.
"That's really nice of him." she said.
They felt the car stop. Everyone looked out the window to see their destination.
It was huge.
There was no other way to describe it.
They pulled up to the front and everyone climbed out. They stood there mouthes open, not sure what to do.
The massive front door opened and a short man stepped out.
"Welcome friends of the young lord" he said. "Please, come with me."
The inside of the house was just as incredible as the outside. Fancy furniture, nice paintings, crystal chandeliers.
The old man led them up one of the many staircases and down a very long corridor. They entered a sitting room. Lin was playing a video game from his seat on the ground next to a huge coffee table with every imaginable snack on it. Lan Fan was on the other side wearing what looked like a black ninja costume.
Lin looked up when he heard the door open and grinned.
"Hello my friends." he smiled. "How do you like my house?"
"This isn't a house." growled Edward. "It's a mansion."
"Whatever." chuckled Lin. "My brother was the one who designed it since he lived here the longest."
"When did your brother live here?" asked Elizabeth.
"Something like twenty years ago." Lin turned back to the screen just as Lan Fan sent his character flying. "What no fair, I wasn't looking."
"Yes." she said. "I know, that was your mistake."
"I demand a do-over." said Lin.
Lan Fan just shook her head and stuck a lolly-pop in her mouth.
Lin glared at her for two seconds then stood up.
"Anyway," he sighed. "That's my butler and Lan Fan's grandfather Old Man Fu. You can just call him Old Man Fu. That's what I call him."
"You are the one who taught Lin and Lan Fan how to fight." Elizabeth turned to look at the older man.
Old Man Fu nodded.
"Wait a minute!" Winry croaked, her voice still hoarse from what happened. "Look at this."
She was staring at a picture hanging on the wall.
It showed Lin and an older boy. The other boy looked just like him. They had to be the brothers. The older one had his arms wrapped around Lin who was leaning against him. On the older boy's right hand was a tattoo. It showed a dragon or a snake eating its tail and there was a star in the middle.
(See above)
Winry knew that tattoo. In the picture in the year book they found, Merlin's mother, Lust, she had the same thing tattooed right above her chest. It was the sign of the original sins.
Eren, Armin, Edward, and Elizabeth all came over to see. Edward saw it immediately and jumped back in shock.
"What is it?" asked Armin.
"The tattoo." Ed pointed.
"Oh yeah." Lin came over and looked at it. "My brother got that with his friends in middle school."
"In middle school?" repeated Elizabeth shocked.
"That's not that rare here." said Eren. "There is this tattoo place that will give one to anyone who walks through their door."
"That's how Meliodas and the rest of the Sins got theirs." said Armin.
"They have tattoos!?" gasped Elizabeth.
"Oh yeah." said Edward. "They symbolize what sin they are. They got them when Merlin said that the original sin had tattoos."
"I noticed that Merlin had something on her neck but I thought it was temporary." whispered Elizabeth.
"Nope." said Eren. "I'm super jealous. My parents would kill me if I got one!"
"Your brother was one of the Sins?" Ed rounded on Lin.
"Maybe!" he answered. "There is a huge age difference between us. We only got close recently. He never talked about his time in school. My father said that was because something happened he'd rather forget. Why does it matter?"
"It's complicated." muttered Ed looking at Winry.
"Is it scary?" asked Lin looking excited. "I love creepy stories."
"The young lord is a firm believer in the supernatural." Old Man Fu said making everyone look at him.
"Hey I wonder if the Sins is why my brother has everyone call him Greed." pondered Lin.
"Greed?!" croaked Winry.
"What happened to your voice?" asked Lan Fan.
"She was strangled by a dead person." answered Edward.
"What!!!??" Lin and Lan Fan cried.
Edward quickly explained to them what was going on. Lin was totally interested in helping them and said he would contact his brother.
"I wonder which sin it is?" Lan Fan said almost to herself.
"No one knows." said Elizabeth. "The only thing we can say for sure is that it's not Lust and it's not Greed."
"I would like to investigate this Master." she turned to Lin.
"Good idea Lan Fan." he nodded. "I give you three days. Give me a report by then."
The girl nodded, opened a window and jumped out.
"She should be able to tell us something by then." said Lin as if nothing had happened.
The others were all staring at the window in shock.
A phone begane to ring.
It was Elizabeth's.
"Hello." she answered.
Her eyes widened in shock as the person on the other side talked.
"Okay I'll be right there." she gasped and hung up.
"What was that about?" asked Eren.
"Elaine was just admitted to the hospital." she whispered shaking. "That was Meliodas. Apparently she was talking with Ban and suddenly she started coughing up blood. Meliodas said that Ban had been worried because she had been acting weird since yesterday."
"If you like, I'll have Old Man Fu drive you and your friends." said Lin. "My other driver just got off."
"Thank you so much." said Elizabeth.
"Can you just drop my off in town?" asked Edward. "I have to get home or Levi will kill me for staying out late again."
Lin nodded and they all piled into the limo.
When they reached town Ed climbed out and told them to say hello to Elaine for him.
He started walking home when he noticed someone behind him. He got a funny feeling and decided to take a different way home. The figure followed.
Edward took a sharp right and started to run. He glanced over his shoulder and saw no one. Relieved he slowed down and looked ahead.
He almost ran head long into someone.
It was the same person who had been following him.
It was a tall thin man in a white suit, his long black hair had been pulled back into a ponytail. Edward backed away but the man grabbed him.
"Your name is Edward Elric." said the man. "I think you can help me. I'm looking for Petra Ral. My name is Kimblee. Tell me where she is."
"Like hell I will! I'm not telling you anything." snapped Ed trying to pull away.
"Oh Ed." Kimblee chuckled. "We can do this the easy way or the hard way."
"Guess so." Ed shot before elbowing the man in the stomach.
Kimblee let go and Ed started to run but felt something hard connect with his side. He was flung into the wall and pain shot up his arm. The older man leaned down and punched him in the gut.
Edward couldn't breath as Kimblee searched his pockets and pulled out Ed's phone. He used Edward's thumb to unlock it and find his address.
"There we go." Kimblee smiled. "Now you're coming with me. Time to go home kid."
Edward tried to hit him but Kimblee dodged and punched him in the face. He stood up and kicked him in the stomach. Ed coughed and spat out some blood.
"Who are you?" he asked.
"Oh didn't Petra tell you." the man laughed as he pulled Ed to his feet and tied his hands. "I'm her boyfriend!"