Beta: TaintedLetter

(óヮò)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

The soldiers carried out the bodies of the rebels one by one and loaded them onto a cart. Elizabeth oversaw this process, while Edward headed back to where he was staying with Alphonse. He asked Elizabeth to stop by before she left, and she promised to do exactly that.

In all, there were little more than two dozen corpses for Elizabeth to experiment with upon her return to the capital.

And one living, if Papa permitted.

The violating vermin was currently bound, gagged, and sedated. It laid beside Elizabeth like a beaten ragdoll on the pavement; listless and defeated.

When Papa stepped out of the den those scumbags resided in, he was dragging a twitching man that kept vomiting blood. Papa smiled at Elizabeth, a hint of satisfaction in his eyes. "The toxin you made me for me works wonders, Elizabeth."

Elizabeth flickered her green eyes down to the convulsing man being dragged by Papa.

'Did he use it on that thing, then?' Elizabeth questioned. If so, and it was still breathing, then that meant it wasn't human.

Elizabeth curtsied. "Thank you, Papa. If I may be so bold, though, I would like to request to keep this one alive for my experiments."

"Hmm." Papa looked over at the bound thing beside Elizabeth. "And if I say no?"

"I kill it here and now," Elizabeth answered obediently. "I know you requested none of them live, but I thought the benefits would outweigh the disadvantages if I could keep one alive for my own purposes."

"Hmm. Your birthday is coming up," Papa mused. "Very well. I will allow this one exception."

Elizabeth curtsied again, lowering her gaze demurely. "Thank you, Papa."

Papa dropped his hold on the inhuman being as the soldiers hurried to chain it up and carry it away. He put away his rapiers, reached forward and patted the top of Elizabeth's head. "We're done here, Elizabeth. Once the train is loaded up, we will leave."

"Ah, Edward asked if I could say goodbye," Elizabeth said, glancing up at Papa.

"Fullmetal's here, huh?" Papa rolled his shoulders. "Very well. Let's clean up and pay them a visit."

"Yes, Papa."

(óヮò)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

According to the address Edward gave Elizabeth, he and Alphonse were staying at a local butchery. Come late evening, Papa and Elizabeth strolled into the shop, despite it saying closed, and awaited to be greeted at the counter.

A man stepped out of the backroom to greet them, his size and stature towering above the both of them. He was large—about Major Armstrong's size—and dressed in a heavy butcher's apron. He asked them, his voice a low grumble, "You are Elizabeth and her father?"

Elizabeth politely greeted the man with her most graceful curtsy. "Good evening, sir. I am Elizabeth, and this is my father führer King Bradley. Edward Elric mentioned he was staying here with his brother and we were hoping to visit them before leaving."

"They mentioned you were coming. Please follow me," the man said, his tone surprisingly gentle.

"You are friends of Edward and Alphonse?" Elizabeth politely inquired.

"They stayed with us while they trained under my wife," the man answered.

"Your wife is a talented alchemist, from what I've heard," Papa murmured, his deep voice carrying a soft tone. It was the same tone Mumma said Papa used when he wanted to get something he wanted from her. "I heard she was injured trying to save our State Alchemist? If she is capable, I'd like to pay her a visit and give thanks."

"I'll check with her," replied the man. "The brothers are just ahead."

Elizabeth nodded in acknowledgement before brushing past the large man and entering a quaint little dining room. Edward was nibbling on some sliced meat and bread while Alphonse sat beside him. When they noticed Elizabeth both greeted her with a cheerful smile and wave.

"Hi!" Elizabeth chirped.

"Hey, Lizzie," they returned.

"So Lizzie, did you come all the way out here for that raid?" Edward asked her as she took a seat next to him at the table.

"We had to go to Fort Briggs to set up introductions first, actually," Elizabeth sighed. "Papa plans to send me out there for a little experiment soon, I think."

"Experiment?" Alphonse inquired.

"Yes. Far too dangerous to do in the city," Elizabeth answered. "No worries, though, I think I'll be able to fix Nina up before I go."

Edward spluttered. "Wh-What?!"

"I've already extensively studied neuroscience, and have done multiple experimentation on humans to try and recreate Alphonse's body," Elizabeth pointed out. "From what I can discern Nina has all of her DNA, it's simply rearranged in a perverse manner. Untangling it isn't that hard."

'It certainly helped I had years of previous research to study,' Elizbaeth quietly thought to herself.

"The only hold up is replicating her human brain and nervous system. With the cadavers I have obtained in today's raid I will begin trying out my theories," Elizabeth went on. "I have plenty of material to work with and it's not like I'm creating her body from scratch. Merely... putting together a jigsaw puzzle, if you will. Albeit, a difficult one, but I'm not missing any pieces."

"That's—that's amazing," Alphonse breathed out. "That's—I mean—you're really something."

Elizabeth blushed under the praise.

She did think it was within her reach to undo Nina's transformation now that she had physical subjects to test on. She couldn't do much on Nina since she didn't think Edward or Alphonse would take kindly to Elizabeth dissecting their friend.

Now with other chimaeras to use, Elizabeth could finally try out some of her theories. She'd use them all on the dead ones, and move on to the living one as a final test.

Since alchemy was all about equivalent exchange, nothing of Nina and her dog was lost in the transformation. Their DNA was nearly perfectly split in half and tied up together—there were some parts closer to a 70/30 ratio, though—and consequently everything was already there. She didn't have to recreate or build something from scratch. She only had to untangle what was tied up.

She understood how they got tied up very well, after going through and reading all the notes provided by Selim. Over the decades scientists had experimented and nearly perfected the art. Studying those notes was fascinating and extremely enlightening.

Enlightening enough that Elizabeth thought she could create the perfect chimera.

Not those half and half failures produced.

And if she were able to undo Nina's transformation, it would only cement her theory.

She wondered what an amalgamation of dozens of different humans transfused together would look like.

Could she make a human spider?

Could she make a poisonous human?

Could she create the perfect human that did not seek out cruelty, or violence? One that would never, ever, raise a hand against a child?

The thought instilled a sense of excitement. The scientist inside of her was nearly bursting with the desire to try.

But one thing at a time.

First was testing out her theories on the corpses, then her live subject, and then Nina. Ideally, she would get to try reconnecting nerves with at least one other living human and dog, but... her lab just wasn't equipped to deal with live specimens.

She knew she could keep her current living subject in prison until she was ready, but she didn't think Papa would over indulge her much. He was already being oddly kind to her by not punishing her disobedience, and granting her an exception.

"While I appreciate the praise," Elizabeth finally said to Alphonse, brushing back her hair, "I'm confident the two of you could have produced similar results if given the correct information. Nina's predicament is nowhere near as difficult as building an entire nervous system from scratch for Alphonse. Her's is still there, albeit with some bumps, and just needs to be put back in order."

Edward scratched his cheek, considering this. "Still... you're the one actually doing it. Thank you, Lizzie."

"Friends don't need to thank each other," she replied kindly. "Both you and Alphonse have been true friends to me over the years. Dedicating time into something like this is nothing in comparison to that."

Especially over something like this.

'I really believe if the two hadn't wasted their years on a myth—that utterly proved fruitless—and instead devoted time to studying human anatomy and medicine they would already have their bodies back,' Elizabeth quietly thought to herself.

Still, she couldn't blame them.

They were only children, after all. Wanting to chase after a fairy tale was easier on the heart than dissecting fellow humans for their own means.

The trio of friends continued to chat quietly for another hour before Papa returned and told Elizabeth it was time to head home.

(óヮò)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

Elizabeth spotted Selim almost immediately as the train pulled into the station. He stood beside Mumma and a flock of guards to escort them, dressed sharply and wearing a beaming smile for the public.

Elizabeth's heart leapt up to her throat, and her body moved on its own. She opened up the window as the train continued to slow and as soon as she was across from Selim she jumped out the window, tumbled to the ground, rolled back up and dashed over to him.

She threw her arms around him, tackling him with enough force he had to ground himself to catch her. She buried her face in his neck, breathing in his comforting smell and exclaiming, "I missed you!"

Selim chuckled, patting her back and saying, "Of course you did."

"Elizabeth!" Mumma immediately scolded, "Don't you ever jump out of a train again, young lady."

Elizabeth pulled back from Selim to grace her mother with a sheepish smile. "Sorry."

"Goodness," Mumma sighed, shaking her head. "Don't behave so recklessly."

"I won't," Elizabeth said, hoping to appease her worried mother. Mumma sighed again, but smiled, bending down to gently pat her head.

"Welcome home, dear," she said.

"Welcome home, Ellie," Selim echoed.

Elizabeth smiled widely, her eyes sparkling. "I'm home!"

(óヮò)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

Short transition chapter because I am sick and I need time to set up Lust's arc. Mercy please. :(

Next chapter will have a big focus on Edward and Pride's perspective to better explain / elaborate on their thoughts and plans.

Answer: Best selling author would be nice.

Question: Would you rather be a villain, hero, or antihero? What are you fighting for, and how do you fight?

Review are love!