LIORE
The desert city shimmered in the noon-day sun, and the distant sound of shouts and crashing echoed throughout the dusty metropolis. And from the desert, two cloaked strangers picked their way through the sand, towards civilization. One was short and fat, and the other tall and sleek.
There were no guards at the gate to greet them, merely the smell of old,
spilled blood. The fat one sniffed with joy, and muttered it over and over again
as they walked through the streets. “Blood, blood, in buckets and floods… Blood,
blood…” Angry faces watched them from the shadows of buildings, and broken windows
showed testament to arguments and theft.
But no one bothered the strangers.
They paused a second, to watch a group of grim-faced men tearing down a stone statue of a bearded man wielding a staff. At one time these statues had moved to their maker’s command, acting as the silent army of a revered god. But now, like any other fallen idol, they crumbled before sledgehammers and steel rods, and the scorn of their former worshippers.
Metal broke stone, and faith was gone.
The taller figure turned to the fatter one. Her voice was a breath of cool air in the desert heat.
“He’s got a lot to answer for.”
Gluttony laughed.
LIORE’S CATHEDRAL: ONE HOUR LATER
“Half-dead. The backlash warped his arm. He broke the stone, his right-hand man turned up missing an upper body, and his guards deserted him. He’s locked himself on the top floor, but his congregation will come looking for him with torches and pitchforks soon enough.”
“He’s useless.”
The green-haired youth smiled, kicking his feet on the roof as he sat on the edge of the Cathedral’s viewing walkway. The people below milled and shouted, as they tore statues down. And not a one of them looked up.
No one saw the Sins.
“So. All this was due to those state alchemists?”
“Mmhm. Though the short one did most of the work.” Envy gestured at the remnants of a giant stone statue. “That was his, he used it to smash apart baldy’s other creations.”
“I’ve heard of this one, he’s called the Fullmetal Alchemist.” Lust mused. “I didn’t know he was this good. And you’re sure his “Brother” was a trapped soul?”
“Positive. I got a real good look at him when Cray botched the kill. Sorry, I mean botched the FIRST kill.”
“FIRST kill?”
“Long story. There’s another alchemist running around, but he cut and ran. He didn’t seem to be after the stone, so I figured he didn’t fit the profile.”
“Well. At any rate, our plan worked. Perhaps a little too well, and I’m not happy with the timing. Why didn’t you step in to take control of the situation?”
“Because.”
Envy swung his feet up on the ledge. Dusting himself off, he stood and grinned up at Lust, eyes lit with malice.
“I wasn’t ordered to.”
Lust’s eyes narrowed, as she looked down at the grinning Sin. Her lips twitched into a sneer. “You could have shown a little initiative.”
“Like Hell. Liore was your project, I was just the caretaker. I told you my objections, but those damn orders… I even found something interesting in this boring, depressing shithole, and I had to let it go because I was supposed to stay here…” Envy moved over to stand on the edge of the walkway, sulking towards the west.
Gluttony giggled.
“Well. If you dislike the master’s orders that much, I’ve got some good news for you.” Lust purred.
She’d thought long and hard about her approach to this, with Envy. There was plenty of time to think while she and Gluttony were taking the three-day trip to Liore from Central. And time and again, Lust had come to the same unpleasant conclusion.
She was going to have to tell the truth.
Envy was malicious, plain and simple. He never let a grudge lie, and his hatred seemed to be the only emotion he could revel in. Most of the Sins could feel shadows of negative emotions, such as loss, despair, jealousy… But Envy was old, cunning, and twisted. Perhaps he felt them but hid them from his kindred homunculi. If that was so, then he could not, or would not hide his hate.
The trick with Envy, Lust had learned long ago, is to never become the target of his hate.
“Dante’s dead.” She said. And she watched his reaction.
He shrugged. “Big deal. This explains the whole “No disturbance for a week thing”. Who’s the new host?”
Lust said nothing. Her sneer had vanished as soon as she said those two words.
Comprehension dawned behind Envy’s eyes. “There is no new host, is there?” He watched her, over his shoulder.
“No. Not that I can tell.”
He was calm. His voice was measured, and even. This worried her, she’d never seen him this way before.
“How’d you pull it off?”
“I didn’t.”
“Of course you didn’t.” He turned to face her, and smiled. “Come on, you can think of something better.”
She sighed. “I’m telling the truth. You can believe what you like, it makes no difference to me.”
“Well. Either way, it opens up some interesting questions. Now, doesn’t it?”
He was smiling. This was bad.
“Yes. Which is why I came to you, first.”
Envy raised an eyebrow. “Oh? Wanted to let the prodigal son know mommy is dead? What a waste.”
“No. Nothing so pointless.”
“Then what do you want, Lust? What’s your goal, here?”
“The same thing I’ve always wanted. The same thing we all wanted, that we were promised by Dante. The thing that we can only achieve, if we stay united.”
“Humanity.” She clenched her hands, and walked to the edge, to stand next to him. Gluttony hurried to follow, plopping down and dangling his feet over the void.
She’d looked away from Envy, given him a clear shot at her back. The message wasn’t lost on him.
“Hmph.” The green-haired youth turned, to stand with them. She hid her relief. This was one of the points where it could have turned into a fight, probably the most crucial point.
“Who else have you told?” He asked, looking down on the city.
“You’re the first. Gluttony was with me when I found her, but… He’ll keep quiet.”
“Hidden. Quiet.” Whispered the fat little Sin.
“Good move. I can already tell Pride’s going to be a problem. Sloth, though…”
Lust nodded. Envy liked Sloth, for reasons she wasn’t too sure about. “I’ve got a plan to extract her from under Pride’s nose. She’ll see things our way, if we can talk to her alone.”
“Smart. There’s another problem, though. The red stones…”
“I’ve got a few plans in motion, and a fallback in case the first one doesn’t work out.”
“Oh?”
Lust nodded. “Don’t worry. We won’t have to depend on Pride for their continued flow.”
“Quiet…” Whispered Gluttony, roaming around the walkway, sniffing. They ignored him.
“You know,” Mused Envy, “you’re taking a risk telling me this. If I went to Pride with the news that you killed Dante, what do you think he’d do?” There was nothing friendly in his smile.
“Which is precisely why I didn’t tell you, until my plans were well in motion. It’s too late for you to interfere, even if you do something that ill-considered.” Not entirely true, but he doesn’t need to know that…Time to close this deal.
Envy nodded, his eyes half-lidded.
Gluttony laughed. “Quiet!” he yelled, and bounded back toward the cathedral.
Lust smiled. Like all of the Sins, it never reached her eyes, or the rest of her face. “We can’t do this without you. Are you in?”
Envy smiled back. “For now.”
There was a CRASH from behind a pillar, and Gluttony came back, dragging the wheezing, pale-faced figure of Cornello by one arm. The fake priest yelled, as Gluttony hauled him before the other two sins.
“Quiet. Not quiet enough.” Gluttony grinned, and clicked his teeth together.
Lust looked down at Cornello, nonplussed. “What do YOU want?”
Envy looked down at him, bored. “You were eavesdropping, weren’t you?”
“NO! No… Yes. Look, I don’t know what’s going on, but you’ve got to get me out of here! Please! Or give me another stone… it’s, it’s not too late, I can fool them again! Not too late… Please, I can help you! Let me help you with whatever it is you need, I’ll not betray you…”
Lust looked down at his arm, at the mass of tumors, wire, and warped machinery that it had become. The backlash did him no favors.
“Oh, stop babbling.” She said. “You’re simply not useful anymore.”
Cornello sobbed, and clutched at the hem of her dress. “Please, please… After all we’ve shared, all we mean to each other…”
Gluttony stuck his finger in his mouth, and drooled. “Can I eat him?”
Lust looked at Envy. Envy looked at Lust. Both shrugged.
There was a wet CHOMP, and a faint scream. Then crunching. Much crunching, for Cornello was not a small man.
Lust and Envy turned back to their conversation. “Well then. What now?”
“Back to Central for now. If everything goes as it should, we’ll have Sloth in hand before the week’s out.”
“All right. Oh, one more thing… If we’re going to work together, then no orders. We share leadership.”
“Naturally.” As long as I can manipulate you this easily, you can thinkyourself my equal all you like.
“And there ARE things I want. If you see them, they’re MINE. Get them for me if you find them.”
“Easy enough. What did you have in mind?”
“Well, the first one looks something like this…” There was a snap of energy, and a little green winged man was standing on the ground.
Lust blinked. She looked at Envy, who reverted back to his original form.”
“I’m… going to need more information on this… What is it, some kind of chimera?”
“Possibly. Remember that other alchemist that I mentioned? Well, here’s what happened…”
The sun set over Liore, and the night was full of Sins…