Apocalypse smiled as he got off the train and breathed in the air around him. Creta was definitly a better place then Amestris, maybe it would be the capitol of his new world order. He was here on offical buisness, he had been planning this for a long time. He had sent a letter to Drosselmeyer, leader of the Regrets, and told her that he wished to see her, but he did not stop there. In fact he had sent a letter adressed to each of the homunculi, intended for their master, to meet them at Drosselmeyer's estate. Hell, the old hag didn't have a clue that she was going to meet some of her old nemises there, but this was inteneded, for he had an ace up his sleeve, two to be exact, and if things got out of hand, he would use them quickly. He soon approched the door of Drosselmeyer's castle and knocked on the door stating the password as he had heard numerous times before. He waited casually for the door to open, and then the fun to begin.

Another woman was waiting for Drosselmeyer downstairs in the foyer. At first glance, she looked almost identical to Styx, with only a few variations. She was obviously a relative, and was partially responsible for Styx's existence. Next to her was a violet-eyed blonde homunculus, formerly the daughter of an Aerugan politician. The Alchemist was Paracelsus, and the homunculus was Clotho, one of Paracelsus's three Fates. Lachesis and Atropos hadn't shown up yet, and (apparently) neither had Drosselmeyer. "How long does she plan to keep us waiting?" Clotho grumbled, moving her fingertips around as she started to knit with her power; she could shoot very strong, thin, and flexible strings from her fingertips. "I know she hates you, but--"

"It is best to be patient," Paracelsus replied, looking bleakly at the incomer. Maybe he'd been summoned, too.

A trio of homunculi sat in another corner without an Alchemist present. The first was Envy from the Seven Sins; the second was Sympathy of the Eight Virtues; and the third was Styx from the Five Regrets. It was kind of creepy how they were all talking together on such placid terms...Clotho looked disgusted.

They were not the only ones in the room. pride simply glared at everyone along with Envy "Why the hell are we even here in the first place...we should just kill them all."

"Oh that's so sad, I wanted to kill Envy most of all." said Rabid in a mocking voice as usual. It seemed as if Rabid, now Phelgethon was with Styx, the room was very biased to say the very least. The only person that seemed to be standing alone, was Apocalpyse, yet no one had a clue on who he was, and none of them seemed to care.

"So Envy." said Rabid, decided to poke fun with his enemy "I heard your old man's around, did you get to spend some quality time with him yet? Or are you still clining to mommy's apron?"

"You're lucky we don't kill you now traitor." said Pride, keeping his cool.

"That's right; we're holding back, seeing as you're not fit to even walk upon the ground we step on," Envy hissed at Phlegethon. He sat next to Pride, and directed the next comment toward Styx, who was remaining extremely solemn for some odd reason. "You guys go through Phlegethons about as quickly as Gluttony goes through a bag of candy. That doesn't say much about your record, Hatred Incarnate."

Styx said nothing; her attention was elsewhere...on the man who sat alone. 'You know what? I think he's staging something, trying to get us to fight,' she thought. Finally, she looked toward Envy and sighed. "The Phlegethon record has nothing to do with my performance." She sounded so monotone...it was unlike her.

"Let me get this straight..." Sympathy said, wrapping one arm around Adoration as he looked at the group. "Envy hates his father, Phlegethon likes to get a rise out of Envy, Pride thinks this is pointless, Styx isn't voicing an opinion, and the Fate over there doesn't think we're good enough for her company. Look at her, sitting next to her master like a faithful pet; pathetic." Adoration nodded her head in agreement, not wanting to say anything in fear of sounding stupid.

"Oh, and Phlegethon, leave my mother out of this," Envy snapped.

"Oh sure...I'll keep mommy dearest out of the conversation for a while." said Phlegthon jokingly. "So anyways, how come you haven't chatted with your old man? You waiting for him to play catch with you or something?"

"Honheim of Light is currently busy somewhere else." said Apocalypse, this comment seemed to make everyone turn their attention towards him now, but he didn't care.

"So...you know where he is?" said Pride casually.

"Maybe...but I don't feel like talking all that much." said Apocalypse not seeming to care.

"You're being quite arrogent for someone that seems to know so much." said Pride.

At this, Phelgethon coughed, making it sound as if he said "Oxymoron".

"So when is everyone going to come? I am curious as Drosselmeyer seems to not care about her guests." said Apoclypse, sipping some tea the maid had given him.

"Of course she doesn't care; nobody was invited," Sympathy commented, even though he wasn't one of Drosselmeyer's Regrets. He was one of Zoroaster's eight, and perhaps the closest to Zoroaster himself. His ability to see personal natures was a dangerous one; but wasn't everyone there dangerous?

"I'm waiting to see him again so I can kill him," Envy corrected Phlegethon. "Don't talk about things that have nothing to do with you!" He also had a few other things on his mind; Wrath wasn't a homunculus anymore, and Dante wanted a new Wrath. Where was he going to find another homunculus, though?

Styx was still quiet, but her gaze was still on Apocalypse, but drifted occasionally toward Paracelsus and Clotho. Some people just didn't like to mingle. She knew Phlegethon was going to talk a storm; there was no reason to let her own temperature rise when his hellfire would do it for the entire quintet.

Adoration finally decided to say something. "I'm a little confused here...why's everyone arguing?" Sympathy rolled his eyes in embarrassment.

"Oh, they're arguing with me because I decided that their little team wasn't good enough for me...so I quit...and by quiting I basically had to fight all of them. It was a good-warm up, but it's a shame the old hag didn't fight as well."

"You'll pay soon enough." said Pride.

"Oh keep your eyepatch on scar boy." said Rabid pointing at the scar he had given Pride, the reason why he had to wear an eyepatch besides the orobrus tattoo.

"Oh and before I forget Envy, have all of your bones healed since I broke everyone of them?" He knew what he was saying was mostly true, but in truth, going through six sins was hard as hell, and he was lucky he hadn't been sealed or killed during that fight.

"They healed up almost immediately, dumbass," Envy replied, trying his best not to lose his temper. That's what Phlegethon wanted, and he wasn't going to cheer up that son of a bitch...not if he had anything to do with it. He looked toward Pride and shrugged his shoulders. "I doubt he's as great as he says he is. Once Wrath's pet does what I told it to do, we'll have him permanently under control."

Styx wanted to ask about that last comment, but decided against it.

"Well, thank you very much for telling me what's going on," Adoration said to Phlegethon, giving him a rather bubbly smile.

Sympathy rolled his eyes again. 'If I'd known she'd be this much of a dingbat, I'd have told her to hang out with Mirth...'

Phelgethon simply rolled his eyes and leaned back in his chair. "So anyways, when is the old hag going to make her apperence? I'm getting tired of waiting."

"Don't be rude homunculous." said Pride angrily. "Your lucky not everyone is here yet, and that we haven't deided to kill you."

"Oh whoppe do." said Phelgeton twirling his finger around in the air, not seeming to care about Pride's comment.

"I am curious why Dante or Drosselmeyer hasn't shown up yet." said Apocalypse, acting as if he didn't know why he was hear along with everyone else.

"Quit acting like you're so naive. I know you're not," Sympathy told Apocalypse. "In fact, it wouldn't surprise me if you were the one who orchestrated this entire fiasco. There'd be no surprise in my eyes." He stood up at that point, looked at all the other homunculi, and gave a quick bow. "Now, if you'll all excuse me, I have better things to do than pick fights. Have a nice day."

"Wait! You're leaving me here with them? I thought somebody said these were the bad homunculi, Sympathy!" Adoration yelped, clearly annoying not only Envy, but Styx and Clotho as well. "I don't want to get stuck with bad company!"

"Good and evil are just a state of mind," Clotho told Adoration, which only got Sympathy to grab the silver-haired Virtue by the wrist and drag her out behind him. The golden-haired Fate finally sat down with the other homunculi, hoping to be filled in. "Virtues...I can't stand anyone who thinks he or she's better than everyone else. It's a very foolish mentality."

"To answer your question, whoever-you-are," Envy stated to Apocalypse, "Dante probably had better things to do than come here. As for Drosselmeyer...why don't you ask Styx or Phlegethon?"

~~~~~

In actuality, Drosselmeyer wasn't even in the Castle de Nocturne that day. She was planning on going to visit Dante for a certain somebody's birthday. It didn't matter how old she was...stuff like that was sentimental to Drosselmeyer, and she used to be a friend of Dante's. Whether or not the other woman felt that way now was undefined, but Drosselmeyer clearly had better things to do.

Apocalpyse smiled and said "It took you long enough." At this Phelgtehon, and Pride stood up, as if ready to attack him.

"Yes...I was the one that invited all of you here. You see, unlikesome of your master's I do not wish to get the philospher's stone and live forevr, nor do I have any desire to live forever like Drosselmeyer has decided. My goal...is rather simple. For this world is far too impure to not fix. I am offering you the chance, to join me, and we will reshape this world, where homunculi will exist and human's will be at the very bottom of the food chain. Where you will rule like kings, and get what you truly desire."

"Unlike most of the homunculi in this room, I am a king, and I have no intention of defying my master." said Pride.

"Though normally the idea of ruling like a king would appeal to me, I have a bargain with Drosselmeyer, so I'm out you freak show." said Phelgethon "Now how about you BEAT IT!" he yelled running towards him.

"Must I do everything the hard way?" said Apocayplse calmly clapping his hands. Suddenly two spike shot out, one from the ground one from the ceiling, and scewered Phelgethon, making him hang, suspended in the middle of the room.

"Alright, now does anyone want to join my side? Or will we have some issues like Damnation over here?" said Apocaypse.

Dante had been recently been devoured into a new book, her attention competely engulfed by the words on each page. The book was large and quite interesting, a little religious but that is what made it so funny to Dante. Their views were quite different from hers.

Time had passed by for some time until Dante turned to the last page, a humorous smile placed on her lips. Picking the book up, she set it aside and quickly noticed the time of the clock. "Oh well....fashionably late I will have to be for my little...."friends"," said Dante in a diginified but clearly mocking way. Getting up, she was about to head to the door when she saw a figure approaching her home. Watching silently, she waited until she could get a clear view of the person from her window.

Envy was still seriously doubting Dante was going to show up at all, but really wasn't in the mood to put up with this arrogant nut job who thought he could manipulate everyone into his own goals. "Somehow your utopia seems a bit too good to be true," Envy explained, folding his arms. "There are very few things I want in this world, and power isn't one of them. I want justice to be mine to give. That's all." That's right; if he could decide what was just...then Hohenheim would die for what he'd done.

"I'm already worshiped like a god by my fans," Styx confessed, leaning back in her seat. She tilted her hat a bit, but made no motion to help Phlegethon. The Damnation Incarnate was going to get himself out of this mess; he always did, so why bother? "I don't need that. All I want is--"

"We've all heard you a million times, you know," Sympathy interrupted. "You want to be two people again, instead of sharing that body. It's not an unfamiliar story." He looked at the area, confused. None of the other Virtues (except Adoration) had bothered to show up...and the only Ancient Alchemist in the castle was Paracelsus...the master of the Fates.

Clotho looked at Apocalypse and walked right up to him. "I wouldn't mind ruling," she admitted. "However, there's something that comes before that...and if I can have help with that, then I may be interested." She cast a glance over to her master and gave Paracelsus a wry smile. She dearly loved her.

~~~

Drosselmeyer wasn't even in Creta. She was right outside Dante's home at this point with a little gift, as well as a multitude of good tidings. Their ages were a bit different, seeing as Drosselmeyer had been around when the Paracelsus family had fallen, but that really didn't matter. Time stood still, right?

((Damn it....I feel like I am acting totally wrong with Dante. Suggestions on her behavior please? She is a bit snooty, clearly intelligent, acts somewhat like a goddess and a manipulative beyond reason....I should be able to do this.))

Folding her arms around each other, Dante was curious as to why Drosselmeyer was in front of her home when really she should be joining the Regrets and other humonculi right now. Walking out the room, Dante headed to the front door, waving the maid away so she may open the door herself.

Opening the door halfway, she peered at Drosselmeyer with an inquiring expression and spoke quite demandingly. "What are you doing here, DrosselmeyerA? Shouldn't you be with the others by now?"

OOC: Drosselmeyer didn't recieve her little invite from Apocalypse, and is therefore oblivious to what's going on in her castle in Creta (where everyone else is).

"I just thought I'd stop by and congratulate you on yet another happy birthday," Drosselmeyer admitted, a big grin on her never-changing face. Unlike Dante, Drosselmeyer's eternity took a different form. She had never switched from body to body, and thought perhaps Dante would be interested in the same secret she'd used for centuries. "And by the others, are you talking about the Regrets? Did I miss something?" Clearly, she had.

Smiling, Dante took the gift heartedly, looking at with interest. "Apparrently you are not the only one who missed something: I had forgotten it was my birthday. How strange that you would remember though." Dante opened the door wider to let Drosselmeyer in for a bit, before she took off to the castle.

"Well, then; if I missed something, it probably wasn't all that important anyway," Drosselmeyer replied. She hardly ever cared about the needs, wants, desires, and plans of others. They were irrelevant to her, and therefore, she could be irreverant in return. It didn't matter. "Care to fill me in, or are you going to leave me in the dark on this?"

"No need to worry, I'll fill you in the details unlike what I usually do." Dante smirked, shutting the door after Drosselmeyer entered and headed to the lounge room to chat for a bit. Sitting down in her chair and setting the present aside, Dante spoke calmly. "It seems the Regrets had not informed you of the meeting that was going to be held at your house today. We were all to meet there- inlucding my Sins- to discuss somethings with other fellow humonculi puppets."

"That's weird. I wonder who orchestrated it," Drosselmeyer commented, blinking her silvery eyes in confusion. "I mean, really...it's at my home and I didn't send the invitations. Doesn't that seem a bit odd to you?" Well, that depended on the person. 'I wonder who all had an invite,' she thought to herself. If it was just Dante and the Seven Sins coming to pay a visit over there with Drosselmeyer's Rivers of Regret, that was fine; but what if Zoroaster and his Virtues showed up? Or worse...Paracelsus and her Fates?

If there was anybody in the world Drosselmeyer had actually brought herself to hate with more intensity than her love for Faust, it was Paracelsus. "Maybe I should head back over there and break this up before it gets out of hand. My current Phlegethon's got a very sharp tongue and might wind up getting himself in trouble."

Apocalypse laughed and said "So...a few want to join? Well...justice is of course with thoes in power, so yes, you may have justice if you join me." He looked at Envy and then back at the others. "And a last bit of warning, thoes that do not join me...will perish."

"How could you possibly beat us?" said Pride, his sword out in case things got out of hand.

Phelgthon jumped down, the holes that were in him were now gone, and he looked really pissed. "There's no way you could beat all of us!" he ran at him only to stop. He was frozen, "What...the hell?" he muttered

"You wouldn't think I would come here without your weakness, Phlegthon? Or should I just call you my son?" said Apocalypse.

"I thought that bastard Wes created me!" yelled Rabid.

"Not true, I was trapped in the gate but escaped, Wes sealed you, nothing more." said Apocalypse.

"You're lucky I don't kill you." said Phlegthon, still undable to move.

"And your lucky I don't kill you. as well." he said, kicking him across the room.

"Wait...you mean you're Phlegethon's father?!" Styx finally spoke up and stood with that announcement. There was a rather unhappy look on her face with that. Therefore, she turned into a vapor and seeped away, getting away from the chaos before things got worse. While she was indeed the Hatred Incarnate, that didn't mean she was rash. Far from it; the hate was usually bottled in for a long time, poisoning her victims. 'He'll deal with this on his own; this was pointless.'

Clotho sat there, just as smug as she'd be if someone had thrown the entire world at her feet. She was a powerful individual; so was everyone in that room. However, her thoughts were only for her master. Her heart beat for nobody else...if it beat at all.

Sympathy got out of the room to get a snack and dragged Envy with him.

"I shall join you, I am sure my Sins are getting quite bored and highly annoyed without my company. Than again, their probably destroying your mansion to bits too," said Dante amused with that thought and got out of her seat. Remembering the gift she recieved, she peered at as if she should open it now but decided to do it later. More important things at hand than her birthday.

~~~~~

Heading into the mansion, Lethe wandered around to wherever the room they were supposed to meet in. Though it didn't seem to matter since she saw a few people leave different rooms and yelling from upstairs. "Well....it seems there is some "entertainment" going on upstairs. Interesting." mumbled Lethe quietly, her eyes turned towards the ceiling.

In the corner of her eye, she saw something blurry move- a gas-like circle- move through the hallway. Turning her attention there, Lethe walked over to where the gas went and called out her colleague's name. "Styx?"

"Ah...another homunculi...I'm sure your collegues will tell you what I am proposing." said Apocalpyse calmly.

"He wants us to join him...to create some little utopia of his." said Pride.

"And he just pissed me off." said Phlegthon angrily. His arm being covered in flames.

"You shouldn't forget that I still have your remains." said Apocalypse holding out his hand. This made Phlgethon think about this, then take a step back.

"Now then...will you join me?" He said to Lethe.

Styx halted when she heard Lethe's voice and finally took a solid form. "Trust me," she said seriously. "You don't want to go in there. Phlegethon's father is causing an uproar and I'm getting sick and tired of this crap. Besides, I'd rather catch up with you than listen to some guy try to manipulate us."

~~~

It really didn't take Dante or Drosselmeyer all that long to transmute a way right to the Castle de Nocturne. Finally, the raven-haired Ancient Alchemist's feet touched the marble tile floors. Out of all these uninvited guests, that was forgivable...except for another Alchemist in the far corner who was trying to leave the room in a panic.

"So...they come at last. The mistresses of Regret and Sins." said Apocyalypse. "Well...now that we're all here, I'm going to say this one last time...anyone that does want to join my cause...should, or else perish."

"You have some nerve." said Pride his sword pointing at Apacalypse. Phelgthon wasn't moving as he would die if he tried to mess with his 'father'.

"It goes for you as well, my ladies." he said looking at Dante and Drosselmeyer.

Smiling coldly, Dante spoke with a soft but icy voice. "Now really, you are a guest in this house and making such offers like that. Your head would roll for that but seeing how your just clumps of clay, that would be impossible in this sitution, no?" Folding her arms around her waist, Dante waited for his reply.

~~~~

Staring at Styx, a twinge of guilt went over Lethe for remembering what she had done. Wiping a fellow colleagues mind was not exactly great but Drosselmeyer had ordered it. Giving a weak smile, Lethe nodded at Styx. "I suppose catching up would be good....I do has some stories to tell and new memories."

"Look...why did you invite everyone to my home?" Drosselmeyer inquired. "I mean, really, why did you invite her in here?" She was pointing right at Paracelsus, the master of the Fates. "And Zoroaster's friends? What possessed you to come here; I don't even know you!" Clearly, this wasn't going to go over well. There was something she practiced alongside Alchemy...something that seriously shouldn't be mixed with it.

~~~

"And I think I remember things that'd be best unmentioned while we're here," Styx told Lethe. "Somehow, they don't feel unfamiliar. It's as if I've had these thoughts before...but they were taken away." Her eyes were somewhat blank. "At this point, I'm not sure what to do. I've lost my faith in Drosselmeyer."

Seeing the anger simmering off Drosselmeyer, she decided to let her old friend take this one and sat down in the nearest chair.

~~~

So that's why those memories have become blurry.... Scowling inwardly, Lethe felt idiotic to not realize Styx was regaining her memory. Lethe will have to stop this than. Styx may be her friend and colleague but she owed Drosselmeyer a great deal of things. "Maybe your losing your mind?" said Lethe humorousily.

"No, I don't think I lost it," Styx admitted, not listening to the turmoil going on inside the castle. She put her hands on Lethe's shoulders. "I hate to say this, but I think you stole them from me. They're mine; if you do have them, I'm afraid I may have to fight you to get them back."

It was strange, but Lethe was prepared for this occassion even though this was the first she was confronted by Styx. Pushing Styx's hands off of her shoulder, Lethe stood her ground, staring in her eyes with grim annoyance. "Do you truly think I have them? I mean, you did tell me long ago to never steal memories from a humonculi: it was wrong to hurt our own kind." It was hard for Lethe to hold back the growing grin and decided to let it slip anyways.

Styx's face wasn't filled with hate this time, but she looked like she felt seriously betrayed. Dante, of all people, had been the one to tell her all those years ago that in Hell, the traitors were the ones who suffered most. Deep in Caina or the Judacca, right in the center of the frozen lake, if she wasn't mistaken. "I know that I told you that, and I still stand by what I said. However...Lethe...chances are you probably listen better to Drosselmeyer than you ever did to me." She let her hands fall to her sides, not really even wanting to fight this. "I just wish you'd tell me if you sucked me dry before."

A deep twinge of guilt went through Lethe and she sighed irritabably. Turning around to see if anyone was eavesdropping, she faced Styx with a frown. "I think we should talk elsewhere about these matters, Styx. Somewhere....better for me to explain."

Apocalypse laughed "Why? Well I don't have a home myself, and you probably have the largest amount of space besides Dante, but it would be suspicious if many people in black came flooding to Central. Now then...this truly will be the last time I ask. Will anyone join my side...or perish fighting against me?"

"I remain with my master you fool." said Pride iritablly "And I will not be pursauded by your words."

"You may be my father...but you created me...I can never forgive you for making me and then letting your son seal me...I'll fight along with my master as well." said Phlegthon as he jumped down from his forced imprisonment.

"You truly are fools...for I have more then meets the eye." said Apocalypse turning away from the two homunculi "Any other takers?"

A large glacier appeared, and out came two humunculis. Peace and Cocytus." Next time. I'll just fly." Peace said. "Well, you are the on who said that you didn't want to fly you little brat." "Don't call me a brat. I am very polite and older than a brat." Peace and Cocytus locked eyes, and it was as if an invisible lightining bolt shot between them." Anyway, we apologize for being late." Peace said politly. "You might, but I sures as hell don't."

"Squibling as always." Faust said as he came ito the room." I apologize for being late as well." "What the hell are you doing here, you egotistical cryptic old man." Cocytus said icily. "This is my home as much as it is Drosyylmyer's and yours. I have a right to come here if I wish." "What the hell ever. Anyway, what is going on?" " I agree. If no one minds telling me. I would like to know what is going on." Said Peace. "I would like to know the answer as well." Said Faust.

(((OOC: I hope I didn't join at a bad time.)))

"It's a Free for All with a guy who's trying to gather up some puppets," Clotho replied, knitting a scarf with the spidery-silk she was able to extract from her hands. It was rather pretty, and she planned to give it to Paracelsus eventually.

Drosselmeyer blinked her silvery eyes a few times in surprise. "Oh no...not in my house..." With that, she raised her hand up, waiting for any other ancient Alchemists in the Castle de Nocturne to help her, even Paracelsus...although she hated that woman's guts more than anyone else's. "You'll ruin this place; take it elsewhere. After all, this has been my home for centuries, and--"

"It's been your home ever since you forced my child to make me a homunculus!" Styx snarled, rushing back in there, lunging right at Drosselmeyer and Faust. "I hate you! I hate the two of you more than anything else in the world!" She didn't care if anyone tried to stop her now; all she wanted to do was fight back.

Envy blinked a couple of times in surprise. He wasn't expecting to see Styx be that wild.