Beta: TaintedLetter

(óヮò)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

Elizabeth Luxanna walked closely beside her dearest friend in the entire world, Selim Bradley. Both children were considered the children of Führer King Bradley, and consequently when they moved through Central Command they were greeted politely with smiles and little question to why they were there.

When they left, those who knew about Selim shuddered, and those who met Elizabeth's gaze cringed and hurried away with a sour taste in their mouth.

For while these two seemed, at a glance, innocent children they were absolutely not.

Selim Bradley was the first homunculus created by a powerful alchemist. His true name was Pride the Arrogant, and he was a genuine threat to humanity. He would devour humans that irritated him without hesitation, and those that truly angered him would find themselves dragged into a dark tunnel where he would toy with them until they were driven insane.

He was cruel, but not overly so. He did not actively seek out to torment humans like his brother Envy, but he did not shy away from performing such heinous actions.

Despite his lack of humanity, he did not come across as such to most humans. Pride was excellent at keeping his foul intent hidden, as he had centuries to perfect such an act.

Elizabeth Luxanna, on the other hand, was born and raised human.

But those who met her were unanimously unnerved by her. While she, like Pride, did not actively seek out to hurt humans, she was equally capable of performing truly unspeakable acts upon them. Her dissociation to the human race made it difficult for her to feel anything close to sympathy—or empathy—to those she came across. Only a select few humans were granted this privilege, and that was by sheer luck of having been exposed to her at a young enough age before her dissociation truly set in.

This did not bother Elizabeth, though, because she was a scientist first. And having a lack of morale compass made experimenting and trying new things so much easier.

Selim held Elizabeth's hand as he guided her through the halls of Central Command and into a massive all white room with an odd stone door at the end.

Elizabeth found the room strange because despite moving around in Central Command for many years by that point she had not come across such a thing.

If Elizabeth Luxanna were more intune with her self preservation, or desire to live for herself then she might have been unnerved by the aura emanating from the door.

This did not happen, though, because Elizabeth Luxanna cared far more for satisfying her curiosity than staying alive.

And she was very curious to meet the genius alchemist who brought her Selim.

"Make sure you don't let go of my hand," Selim reminded her as his shadows pushed the stone door open. "The guards won't attack you as long as you're with me."

"Okay," Elizabeth agreed, giving his hand a reflexive squeeze.

Then through the door they went and into a dark, smelly tunnel system that lead them deep beneath Central.

The guards, Elizabeth would soon learn, were inhuman creations—likely chimaera—that prowled on the ceiling above them. They quietly snarled at Elizabeth, but did not make a move.

Elizabeth wished one of them had. If they did, and Elizabeth killed it, she might have been able to cut it open and see how it worked.

Selim lead her down into another strange room. This one was filled with big, bulky metal wires and a small lab station. The wires all lead to a stone throne where a man dressed in white sat.

The man was the first homunculus ever created, and was the one who in turn created Pride, Lust, Sloth, Envy, Greed, Gluttony, and Wrath.

A normal human meeting this man would be immediately disturbed. Those more sensitive to their instincts would be downright horrified by this man.

Understandably so, considering the one known as the Dwarf in a Flask, or Father, had imprisoned hundreds of thousands human souls inside of him, capturing their finally moments of agonizing death for as long as he lived.

He was, truly, a threat to the human race.

But Elizabeth Luxanna did not feel anything odd about him, but instead when she saw the middle-aged looking man with pale blonde hair, ashy white skin, and eyes colder than Fort Briggs, her entire demeanor lit up.

Her eyes brightened like the sunrise, a genuinely excited smile curled up on her lips, and she almost forgot her manners and ran forward to introduce herself to the genius alchemist.

Thankfully, Selim was there and with him beside her she could remember to behave.

"Good evening, Miss Elizabeth," the man greeted her, his tone polite. "Pride and Wrath have told me much about you."

Elizabeth and Selim approached him first before Elizabeth dropped to a low curtsy and said with all the warmth and sincerity her heart could muster, "It is truly an honor to meet you, sir."

The man reached forward and placed a massive hand over Elizabeth's head. "What an honest child."

"I have always wanted to meet Selim's true father, and thank him," Elizabeth said, staying in her curtsy as a sign of respect. "Truly, thank you so much for bringing Selim into this world."

"Mm-hmm. Rise, I have things I wish to discuss with you and it would be easier to do so with a raised head."

Elizabeth obeyed, folding her hands politely in front of her.

"Pride has given me copies of your research notes. Your latest projects with human-dog chimaera, and the weapon Wrath asked you to create, tell me more about them," the man said.

Elizabeth took a deep breath and began to do exactly that. He stopped her at certain points and probed for further information which Elizabeth happily obliged. There were a few occasions where they dove off into tangents of alchemy and its application uses, and before long already two hours had gone by.

(Not that either noticed since they became so engrossed in their conversation, but Pride had to keep track of time in case anyone questioned where the two had gone.)

The longer the two talked, the more the man became engaged. His cold eyes were still icy, but there was a glimmer of interest—of almost childish excitement—when the two debated over inverse and reverse transmutation circles.

Eventually Elizabeth's throat went dry for talking for so long, though, and after coughing the man waved his hand and transmuted a glass of water from seemingly the air.

This, of course, instantly excited Elizabeth—she squealed with glee and clapped her hands enthusiastically—and it launched into a three hour discussion over changes of state, and undiscovered elements.

(Pride had to subtly alert Wrath to tell Katherine that he and Elizabeth were camping in the greenhouse that night and not to disturb them.)

And it eventually lead to the topic of space travel.

"To the moon? You truly believe we will be able to visit the moon this century?" the man—who Elizabeth was now mentally referring to as Grandpapa—incredulously asked.

"Of course!" Elizabeth agreed. "With alchemy at our disposal, surely anything is possible when the right minds set on to it?"

"And would you try to go to the moon?" Grandpapa asked her.

"If I lived long enough, yes," Elizabeth proudly answered. "My speciality is more in living organisms, but I'm sure I could pick up physics within a few years. After that it's only a matter of mechanical engineering which I'm certain I could find fellow consultants in. We can make guns, and canons, surely we can make something that flies!"

"To the moon," Grandpapa reiterated, a shimmer of excitement in his eyes. "I hadn't put much thought into such an endeavour before."

"Oh, but if we go to the moon, surely we can someday visit other stars, too!" Elizabeth excitedly added. "Not in my lifetime, but one day!"

"And what would you like to do in your lifetime?" Grandpapa asked her.

"Too many things," Elizabeth bashfully admitted, a small smile on her face.

He fell silent for a moment before asking her, "Then tell me, Elizabeth, what would you do with immortality?"

She blinked at the odd question, tilting her head in curiosity before she began to consider it.

"Learn everything," she finally answered. "I—I want to uncover the truth of the world. I want to reinvent the human race. I want to travel to the moon, and see the stars."

"Do you truly believe you alone could accomplish such?"

"Yes," she said firmly. "If I was immortal, I'd make it possible."

"You and I are a lot alike," Grandpapa said after a moment, his tone thoughtful. "Yes, I too share your ambitions. I want to learn everything there is. Tell me now, Elizabeth, what would you do if you became a god?"

Her nose wrinkled in disdain. "That's cheating. Why would I want to do that? I want to learn everything myself, not gain omniscience. Then what would be the point? What would I do after that if I learned everything already?"

"Whatever you want," he answered.

"I want to learn and grow through my skills. Not rely on some absurd power that probably comes with too much responsibility," Elizabeth said firmly, shaking her head. "No, thank you."

The man chuckled heartily. "A humbling response. Offered power of a god, and you'd refuse?"

"Wouldn't you?" Elizabeth asked him. "Such a wonderful scientist as yourself must feel the same. Is there no greater thrill then uncovering something yourself? Than finding something new, something only you get to know, and conquering it?"

Grandpapa slowly rubbed his chin, looking away as he considered her question. "It has been many years since I felt that way, at least until I came across your research. I never realized botany could be so... diverse. In addition, through our conversation today I have thought about new, and exciting genres to science I otherwise dismissed."

"You're only limited to your imagination and time," Elizabeth said. "Being immortal would help, but being a god would take out the fun of it, don't you think?"

"Hm." Grandpapa glanced back down at her, peering at her in a way that made Elizabeth wonder if she was a new specimen for him to examine. "A humbling perspective, Elizabeth. I will think on what you said, but for now I believe I have kept you late. Good night, Elizabeth."

Elizabeth curtsied. "Good night, Grandpapa."

'Oops.'

Grandpapa blinked at that title that slipped out of Elizabeth's tired lips. Elizabeth herself turned many shades of red, her eyes wide in a panic, and she hurried to add, "S-Sorry, sir!"

"Grandpapa is fine," he said dismissively. "Get some rest for that active mind of yours, Elizabeth."

"Yes, Grandpapa."

(óヮò)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

(PRIDE)

"What an odd child," Father murmured quietly, looking up at the ceiling with narrowed eyes. "What an odd soul."

Pride's shadows curled around the throne Father sat upon, intrigued by Father's thoughtful tone. Father had become increasingly interested in Elizabeth's research—and consequently Elizabeth—but now that the two had met—?

Pride could tell Elizabeth caught his attention, but in what way?

Was she odd to him in a good way?

Was she odd to him in a dangerous way?

Not knowing made Pride uncomfortable, a chilling splash of water collapsing onto him repeatedly as he resisted the urge to ask Father to clarify what he meant.

Father, though, was intuitive and seemed to sense Pride's unease.

Father's golden eyes looked down at his firstborn son and he asked him, "How old do you think she is?"

Pride did not understand the significance of that question. Pride answered, "Elizabeth was born just over eleven years ago."

"And you believe she is an eleven year old child?"

Pride's mouths turned down into many frowns. "Yes?"

Father tapped his fingers on the arm of his chair, his gaze moving away from Pride. Silence fell between the two homunculi; Father stewing in his thoughts while Pride anxiously awaited his response. By the time Pride's vessel had already tucked Elizabeth into bed far above the two, Father had still not spoken.

Father drummed his fingers on the armchair for another hour, his gaze narrowed in concentrated thought before he finally, finally, said, "Truth is a cunning creature, throwing this soul in my way. Did it hope I would play the fool and trap this soul here? Or is it truly a coincidence?"

"Father?"

"Or maybe," Father muttered softly, his eyes closing, "maybe it means to show me another way. Did I fail already, then? Or did I succeed and send this soul back to myself to show me another path?"

Pride's discomfort only grew as Father's questioned himself out loud. None of what Father said made sense.

'Soul? What soul? Elizabeth? Does Father believe Truth sent Elizabeth? Why? Why ask if she was truly eleven—?'

"Pride, do you remember what you said to me the day you asked to approach Elizabeth?" Father abruptly asked him, opening his eyes and pinning Pride with his intense gaze. "How did you describe her?"

It took Pride a moment to recollect his thoughts and think back. Elizabeth had been targeted as a potential sacrifice due to Crow reporting of her prodigal nature in alchemy.

Pride had watched her from afar for days before approaching her to ascertain the truth of this matter, and when he did he distinctly remembered thinking—

"She is familiar," Pride answered.

It was an odd thought at the time so it was readily dismissed, but it was still strange enough that Pride passed it on to Father. Pride had simply assumed that maybe he saw Elizabeth prior to assessing her, or something. Her grandfather, General Crow, was a regular at meetings and it wouldn't have been too much of a stress if Elizabeth had been brought along to Central Command at a younger age.

Her unique shade of green eyes made her memorable enough to take note, but her overall appearance was forgettable enough that Pride might not have bothered beforehand.

"An old one who understands things that it doesn't study, who thinks of things not heard of in this time period," Father mused. "Who sent it, though? Truth, or myself? Do I take the bait, or do I ignore it?"

Pride couldn't hold back from asking, "Father, what do you mean?"

"Elizabeth... is she a friend or foe?" Father asked him instead.

"Friend," Pride stated firmly, confidently. Elizabeth would never betray him. He knew that like he knew the moon came out at night.

"Her love for you is genuine, her admiration for me is sincere," Father conceded. "But Elizabeth is just one life in a sea of death. Is this loyalty deep enough to cover that sea, or does it rest in the shallows?"

"Elizabeth would not betray us," Pride repeated, just as firmly and confidently as before. He did not understand what Father was implying, but he knew this much.

Father lapsed into silence again, once again drumming his fingers on the armrest as he thought.

Father said, "She came to us again with open arms. Perhaps it is not shallow. Perhaps she is genuine in every life. If so, then it would stand to reason that I sent her, wouldn't it? She's so much like me anyway, if I hadn't known any better I would say that I had raised—"

Father cut himself off, golden gaze narrowed.

"Did I? Or is it Truth?" Father questioned himself. "The safer choice regardless would be—yes, it would, wouldn't it? It doesn't matter who sent it now, since there is now only one smart path to take. A shame. Pride—

"Yes, Father?"

"We will move on with your suggestion," he said with a frown. "Do not let Elizabeth loop again—keep her alive."

Pride didn't understand what loop meant, but he understood Father's order to keep Elizabeth alive and he understood that Father would move forward with Pride's suggestion.

This immediately settled the uneasy chill Pride felt, replacing it with an alien emotion that could only be described as relief.

"Thank you, Father," Pride demurred, his shadows swirling.

(óヮò)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

Answer: I think Ed/Al would be good rivals. They're competitive enough to keep pushing, but kind enough to help out as need be. I don't want to be Madara or Katsuki's rival. :')

Question: Who would make the best mentor for you? What would you want to learn from them?

Reviews are love!