Risen from Death {Briggs and Co.}

[Murazar Dauthi]

Murazar blink as he suddenly awoke from a mass of terrible nightmares that had plagued him for the past months, he rolled off the small medical cot onto the floor. His bare feet touching the cold floor, it didn't seem to register to him that the i.v. was still stuck in his bloodstream. He groaned lightly and a nurse screamed before running out the doorway to go retrieve anyone from the briggs team to tell them he has finally awoke.

The shadow of death once again walked, he got a blast of memories from the past. The most recent was of him being blasted by houka. He smiled, it was nothing but a shadow of what could have been a happy smile. It was dull and dim, he sat back down on the bed. Tore the i.v. out and flexed each of his body parts one at a time to ensure they were fine.

He grinned, he was back for reall this time. The only bad thing was he felt exceedingly tired, yet otherwise fine. His coma thankfully only took his energy and nothing else. He decided he would wait until reila or houka showed up, they were most likely to be found first. Anyone else would be fine too, a familiar face would be nice. Obviously he was being kept alive without imprisonment so he wasn't going to be court martialed or imprisoned. He still had a job hopefully, otherwise he really was going to have to find xanthus and work with him.

[Xan]

Xanthus Icarus had been passing by the infirmary on his way back from the training area, heading to the temporary quarters that he stayed in when he came to Briggs for visits; in other words, he was going to his room. Perhaps he'd have a hot shower then polish the Blades of Ambition? Yeah, that sounded like a good idea to the young Ishvalan.

However, before he could make it there, he heard an ear piercing scream and was nearly a part of a collision with a young nurse. Xan jumped out of the way just in time however, and the nurse continued her screaming down the hall like some sort of banshee. The Ishvalan narrowed his eyes in suspicion and placed one hand on the hilt of one of his Blades of Ambition, Condemnation to be precise, thankful that they had arrived from his home in Central. Peeking into the infirmary, Xanthus saw something that made his eyebrows fly up in surprise, then he began to laugh as he walked into the room.

The Ishvalan looked at Murazar Dauthi for a few seconds, then held up his hand for the assassin to shake.

"Murazar Dauthi! I'm glad to see that you're alive and well my friend. And of course, the first thing that you do when you wake up is to send people screaming for help! But seriously, welcome back to the land of the living."

[Murazar Dauthi]

Murazar grinned wildly for a moment and clasped xan's hand shaking it firmly. He was somewhat phyiscally weaker than he used to be, however that could be cleared up. Plus he still was pretty damn strong, you dont lose years of work in months of nothing. He spoke happily to xan, " Hell yea, Cant let my reputation go to waste after all. By the way, is our deal still on? Also what have I missed while I took my nap?"

This was perfect, if xan was here he could technically just gear up and leave. He didn't know whether goodbyes were in order or if anyone wanted to see his face again. He had no idea what was going on and needed the most imporatant weapon of all, information. The thing that made him powerful, beyond alchemy, strength, and skill. It was knowledge that kept him alive all these years.

Xanthus looked different, he didn't look like he was his old self. He was unsure if he could trust him anymore, he decided to search for information in the time being and rearmor himself. Check his contacts and accounts and redistribute that the shadow of death was alive and kicking.

[Xan]

Xan felt it through the handshake; Mura was just the slightest bit weakened by his coma. Of course, this was to be expected; months of lying in a bed doing nothing tended to have that affect on most people. However, thankfully Mura was still physically very strong; perhaps the strongest member of Briggs in terms of physical might. After the handshake ended and Mura began to ask questions, Xan sat down on a bed close to Mura's and looked at him with a hint of amusement in his eyes.

"Well, I can't recall exactly when you passed out, so I'll just go from the beginning. We entered Father's Lair and killed him in a devastating display of fury. Well, technically Reila killed him using a tornado of ice after Dai blew up his right arm in Fathers' face, which occurred after I crushed said Homunculus. Twice. Anyway, back to the point. After the battle, a woman by the name of Hild took over with her brother, Aurelius, backing her up. They also have another brother, Kidato, who controls an underground syndicate, which I serve as an outside contact for. Let's see...there have been major shifts in the balance of power between the countries. New leaders have risen and fallen quickly in Aerugo, Drachma, Xing, and Creta. Currently there is no leader in Xing or Aerugo actually. Hmm...other than that, I'm not sure what interests you. Ah yes, and our deal is still on, whenever you're ready.

Ah, typical conversation with an assassin; speak about world news and politics, then cut straight to the dealings. Of course, this was Mura, so what else was to be expected?

[Murazar Dauthi]

Murazar nodded and asked right back again, " We'll go right after I meet up with everyone else and I gear up. Whats different about you, what does everyone think of me right now, and what happened to the homonculi?" He held a hand to his head, a massive headache had just smashed into him. He stood up and smashed right into the medical cabinent opening it up and chunking out any medicine that wouldn't help him right then and grabbed a handful of the stuff that would work and took it all at once before sitting down again.

He panted heavily for a moment before feeling fairly fine and checked his head again to see that he was fine. He needed a drink, bad. He craved it, it was more a need than a desire. He wanted his gear back too. He was naked without it, not just the icu making him naked either .It was a feeling of weakness, the most he could do was fight hand to hand or run away right then. No alchemy due to his weakness, if he was more in his right mind he'd be thinking clearly enough to use it properly.

[Xan]

Xan nodded at Mura's first statement. So, it was time to go again huh? Ah well, it was for the best; Briggs did not belong to him anymore and he did not belong to Briggs. There was a wall between him and the garrison that although unspoken, could be felt, even seen in the eyes of those who did not know how to hide such things. Truly, it was interesting how things could change. And speaking of change, Mura had asked Xan what was different about him, what the general opinion of him was, and he also wanted info on the homunculi. Of course, the most ironic questions of the day were numbers one and three.

Icarus thought about how to answer those questions while Mura downed a small bottle of headache medicine. By the time that the assassin returned, in fact, he even had answers for him.

"Let's see...for the sake of the conversation, I'll start with the second question and I'll speak in this language. Never know who might be listening in right? Well, no one really thinks much differently about you than ever; the Briggs Brigade was worried about when you'd wake up, and have taken relatively good care of your body, as is quite obvious. If they've got plans to have you punished, then it'll be a surprise to me considering the kind of person that Reila is. Now then, onto the next subject. Hmm...in fact I can answer two questions at the same time. Menoitos, whom I am sure that you've met, is the current wielder of the eye of Wrath. A pair of women named Shione Okiza and Una Sinclair are Sloth and Gluttony respectively. A man named Ever is Lust, I have not seen Greed, nor Envy, and as for Pride...well...that name is mine to claim, if you can believe it."

Red eyes looked curiously at Murazar. Xanthus had never told anyone other than Sloth and Gluttony that he was Pride, and the only others who knew were those who were there for his transformation, or those who could be relied upon to keep their mouths shut. However there was no telling how Mura would react, if he would react at all.

[Murazar Dauthi]

Murazar raised an eyebrow, not that xan was a homonculous now which mean't he trusted mura alot. More than most, which mean't mura would return that trust. He asked another question, this time in crete. "Now how did that happen? Also how is everyone doing? I figured houka would take it pretty hard that I let her take me down. Reila too maybe, although I dont think she'll trust me again. Lastly, whats the plan xan?"

Murazar felt the pain start to edge away from his mind, he swore a few words in drachman about not being around when there was a few good opportunities around to make more money and live his life more. He wondered how his mother was doing, he hadn't seen her sinceh e left home nor heard from her. He figured he'd visit soon enough. Maybe after a bit of preparing himself for that confrontation, hopefully she was sane now.

Maybe he could live a bit more normal if she was and he could be for real in the amestrian military. He could move her to somewhere better, where he didn't know. Some small town was probably ideal.

[Xan]

Xan pondered the first question, then though about the latter ones, though not quite as hard as the first one. The story, though quite fresh on his mind, was one that was in itself quite intriguing to tell, especially one certain part; how does one explain the process of becoming a Homunculus?

"Well, I was on a mission for Aurelius. I am sort of his knife in the dark at the moment. It was an assassination type mission. An alchemist was attempting to turn all of West City into a Philosopher's Stone and I was dispatched to kill him quickly and quietly. Well, as fate would have it I ended his life right as he was performing the transmutation. As a result, nearly one hundred souls from West City were sucked into the center of the circle...and guess where I was standing? I'll skip the process of becoming a Homunculus for now. Ironically, it turns out that Aurel had actually planned the whole thing, with the goal being to get an immortal ally. Well, the plan worked; I am immortal, and frankly I am more powerful now than ever before. Now then, on to the second question. Everyone's fine; Dai and Reila are dating still, Houka was promoted to Brigadier General and made Head of North HQ, and Briggs is still standing, so everything's cool.

Here the Ishvallan's eyes darkened a bit and seemed to go from being simply red to being pure crimson.

"Now then, as to the plan...well that's entirely up to you and depends on how you're feeling at the moment. So tell me: How are you feeling at the moment, and what do you think that the plan is?

[Reila Tsukino]

Well... what's a girl to do? Two of her men were standing in the middle of the hallway speaking in some strange language that wasn't Aerugese, Amestrian, or Drachman. Therefore, she could not understand a word. She just stopped short and stared at them blankly from a distance. And yes, it took that long for her to suddenly realize with murky clarity that one of them was in fact Mura! Now it was completely obvious that the two of them were plotting something. Reila sighed and leaned heavily against the wall, closing her troubled golden eyes and tilting her face to the ceiling. She really didn't need anymore stress.

Fine then.

She would do things her way--the humane Reila way. Casual, weaponless, and pretty much helpless, the Ice Queen waltzed up the two of them and smiled nervously. "Y-yo!" She chimed, raising a hand to wave in greeting. The long-haired girl came to a stop in front of them, looking a bit insecure. "Mura," she nodded to him with a small, secret smile of relief, "glad to see you're okay. And Xan, what are you trying to talk him into now? Can't you both take a break and stop plotting for one day?" she sighed and twirled a piece of her hair, "why not at least eat something first? Do you know what time it is?" She didn't know exactly either and glanced at her watch. "It's nine in the morning. Plotting is supposed to happen after breakfast and not in the middle of the hallway! At least try to keep it from me."

[Murazar Dauthi]

Murazar didn't even have time to respond to xan's question about the plan, instead he simply cursed under his breath in crete before looking over at reila and smiling sickly, his exceptionally pale skin from spending no time in the sun nor in any form of heat made him appear even weaker than he was, yet he did feel that damn weak. He replied in auregese giving her the bow he would give to an equal, " A pleasure to meet you again Tsukino Shishou. I am not planning anything other than how to recover all the information i've missed and gain my strength back that i've lost during my nap."

He gave her the title of shishou, a legendary swordsmen title from what he had heard. He spoke it without inflection, nor sarcasm. He mean't it, in other words she had earned some more respect from him. Which was a damn hard thing to do with most people and she always had an act on like he had himself, except she wore a optmistic cover while he wore a pessimistic or neutral one. He held a hand to his head, the headache was crushing into him again like a anvil and hammer working in unison. He let go momentarily his face contorted only in a split-second in excruiciating pain.

He spoke again covering up the pain he felt from it, " I guess we could eat, I'd also like to hear news of what i've missed from you and the rest of the briggs crew. If they haven't already heard i'm back from the dead. Hopefully I haven't lost my soul yet on that journey I took. " He smiled at his morbid joke, he obviously seemed to be in far more pain than he normally should be and to top it off his mental state seemed to be...Well to put it simply, "Fucked up." He was always a bit off in the head, but that was normal. Now he seemed far more off track.

[Dai]

Click, click, click.

A redheaded man walked the halls of Briggs, at a pace slower than the news that he had received. He would normally be running, but he wanted to retain some composure on his own. He walked into the room where Mura had been laying, and put a soft hand onto Reila's shoulder, smiling coyly and leaning over.

"Welcome back, Mura~ I'm glad you've risen. We were getting worried..." He smiled softly, and tilted his head to the side, closing his eyes and now smiling brightly. He had been waiting for this day for so long! A small giggle left his throat, and he then walked closer to the man, inspecting him some more... Looking carefully at him. He'd seen that little look of pain on his face.

"Don't hide your pain from us, Mura. Where does it hurt? I can help, hopefully." The way the man had acted, he assumed it to be a headache. He could've been wrong, of course, he was just assuming. With a small sigh, he looked at the man closer some more, before clicking the gloved fingers of his left hand a couple of times, and magnetizing his right arm.

"Trust me. I can help. Don't worry, you won't turn out like Zaska did." He put his index and middle fingers onto the man's forehead, and held them there for a little while. He wasn't sure if it'd work, it was a very theoretical idea, something he'd hear about before, through one of those... adverts. If it worked, it worked. If it didn't, then nothing was lost.

[Xan]

Xan looked at the door with his head cocked to one side as Reila and Dai walked in; he then checked his watch after Reila said that it was nine in the morning. Sure enough, it was nine o' one when he looked. Damn, Reila had a point...plotting was supposed to happen after breakfast between the hours of ten and two! How could he have forgotten basic plotting code?! Apparently he needed to break out his old codex...

"I apologize Reila, I had forgotten that the code strictly says that plotting is to occur after breakfast, and that planning is to occur after lunch! Mura, we'll have to continue that plot to assassinate the ruler of Drachma with a rubber chicken another day. Drat, we were just getting to the best part of the plan too! Ah well, it's like a always say: Can't plot on an empty stomach...and do I smell the slightest hint of bacon? The people in the kitchen should know better than to let that smell drift down the hallway...now there won't be any left for anyone else!

With that, Xanthus began to walk slowly down the hallway...faster...faster....faster......"BACON!!!"

And now he was running down the halls to get at the bacon first. Ah, just another day in the life of Brigg's favorite Ishvalan (not including Dai of course).


OOC: Sorry, but I had to have my joke post sooner or later. XD

[Reila Tsukino]

[Xan, I was in the middle of the computer lab when I read this and I burst out laughing. Everyone looked over with inquiry written all over them. XD Even the Japanese students were like O.o wonder what's so funny we're in school it's supposed to be boring!!]

Reila felt Dai's warm hand on her shoulder and let a small, knowing smile slide easily onto her lips. Her spiral-curled hair fell down to frame her face and for once she looked like a girl just out of her teens instead of the military leader of Fort Briggs. Her attention shifted to be completely on Dai's strange alchemy experiments. "Just don't kill him," she murmured to her redhead quietly. He said Mura wouldn't turn out like Zaska had, but... what if it was worse?! She shivered slightly in remembrance. How was it that they could joke about it now? She just didn't really understand. Maybe it was because she clung to pain or that she had too much respect for the cold, hard reality. Either way, Dai's fun-spirited joke only succeeded in reminded her that war had to be prevented at all costs aside from death.

Xan obtained the spotlight and responded to her previous comment. Then Reila was on the floor, struggling back laughter. She covered her mouth with her hands and buried her face in her knees. The smell of bacon huh... Well, she could kind of smell it herself and... She stood up, wobbly on her feet in recovery of hilarium, and like a zombie, followed after the cloud of dust Xan left behind. "Shishou will meet you there, Muramura. Don't let Dai kill ya~"

[Murazar Dauthi]

Murazar sighed and moved away from dai dextriously, despite his weakened state his mind went into a panic just by dai being that close to him and reaching at him. He squirmed away and refused politely," No thank you, I appreaciate the offer. I can however make it on my own." He frowned momentarily as reila and xan moved off towards the smell of food. His stomach grumbled loudly, and he ignored it.

He felt...Wrong... Almost as if he didn't belong here. It was almost like despite how they treated him he just didn't fit in here anymore. That feeling of belonging was gone, he felt... Guilt...Depression...Cold rage...Emptiness... Drained. He needed to leave, first he needed to regain his strength and come up with a plan for him and xan. He did feel like he belonged with xan, if just a little bit. It was more of what they held in common. It was personalities or abilities, species or strength. It was that they were both survivors in this world, men who had the will to forge their own path and to hell with the consequences.

He stumbled towards his old room saying loudly so reila nad xan would hear him," I'll catch up after I get some clothes on first." He crashed into a wall breathing hard, using the wall as a support was the only reason his feet were still on the cold steel floor. His mind flashed and memories burned through him scorching as they slithered along like a spear digging deeper into his head. He shook his head and steadied himself perparing himself to move forward. The coma had left him far weaker than he had thought. Standing and being conscious was a test of its own. Let alone moving.

[Dai]

{Yes, don't forget who Briggs' favourite Ishvallan is >D}

Dai hadn't bothered to follow Reila and Xan. He'd instead chosen to follow Mura, deciding that this man was not in any condition to continue properly, he'd just gotten over a coma. No, Dai knew that he needed more treatment, and so he'd go and assist where he could. He followed the man down to his room, just in time to see him almost collapse. With a sigh, he walked up to him, and placed his automail fingers onto the man's forehead, allowing the magnetism to negate the pain reception in his head.

"I told you. It should be fine, Mura. Don't try and be a lone wolf on us. You're a part of Briggs, whether you like it or not, and nothing is going to change that fact." As soon as he'd finished, he got to his feet and left the room, going back to where Xan and Reila had gone towards. He'd leave the man to his thoughts for now, at least that would make things easier on his part. He sighed softly, and followed the smell of bacon...

[Xan]

Xan reached the smell of the bacon in no time flat and immediately loaded a plate quite high with bacon with a side of other breakfast materials. True to his word, he began to devour the bacon with great speed, almost appearing to literally inhale it and of course even if he did only inhale through breakfast and die from lack of exhalation, it wouldn't have mattered...because this bacon was to die for! (And he was Pride anyway)

As the strips of pig meat went down his gullet, Xan noticed that the other officers of Briggs were starting to arrive. He waved with a piece of bacon as they moved like the dead to obtain breakfast, amused and praising Truth that he didn't have that problem, especially when there was bacon on the line. Nothing, but nothing stood between an Ishvalan and his bacon, especially if that Ishvalan's name was Colonel Xanthus Icarus, Pride, Leviathan, Famine or the Infinity Alchemist!

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