Prologue

A Sin is Born

Never had the saying 'wrong time, wrong place,' rang more true. For one individual, a series of innocent incidents would end life as she knew it.

Central held many unassuming civilians, all of them ordinary to some and unique to others. She too was viewed the same way. Nothing out of the ordinary could be said about her. A young woman, no younger than eighteen, her long, dark hair swaying around her like a veil that shimmered with the moon's light. Her eyes a warm brown, holding no emotion other than preoccupation as she took in the scenery of Central's busy streets. Her height slightly taller than average, her build made up of lean muscles that knew the gratification of a hard day's work. Plain clothes that complimented her tanned figure.

Yes, she was just another pedestrian you passed on the sidewalk. A somebody, a nobody, a person that shared a tiny piece of this world. A person with her own goals, her own purpose. The same as anyone else.

It could have happened to anyone else. She was just the unlucky one.

An absence of mind here, a wrong turn there, and she had become lost. It was so easy to lose direction in the cloak of night. Shadows crept closer, made more threatening by the late hour. It unsettled her, causing her to mistake her path again. Minutes passed, fellow citizens became farther, the darkness grew more ominous, and her worry escalated. It did not take long for her to begin seeing monsters where there were none, causing her to become careless in her desperation to find familiar ground.

She wasn't paying attention as she passed the empty construction sight. Her feet hit a patch of unstable floor, and the rest she couldn't quite remember. She had fallen, and when she awoke it was so very dark. Harsh smells assaulted her nostrils and made her throbbing head ache fiercely. The surface around her felt grimy, making her recoil. In her addled state, she could not fathom what was going on, where she was. She did not know she was underneath her beloved city, in the bowels of something tainted and sinister...

Several calls for help later and she heard something in the distance, a growl that echoed off the obscured room's walls. More growls followed the first. Panic sent her heart aflutter and she ran, not waiting to learn what made the terrifying sounds. Her sprained ankle made no difference, her bleeding concussed head the least of her worries. What mattered was getting away, back to safety.

She couldn't have known that she was running towards the true monsters.

They had found her not far from their gathering, practically on their doorstep. She had eventually collapsed, the running and her head injury becoming too much for her. Her eyes were closed in an unnatural sleep, her breaths hitching with every other breath. The sins looked upon her crumpled form, some with indifference, some with annoyance.

"Bring her closer," Father commanded, gesturing lazily with a hand.

Envy complied, picking her up with all the gentleness of a wild lion. He dropped her not far from Father's feet.

"What, you have something in mind for her?" the androgynous homunculus asked. "Or can I snap her little neck?"

"It is unusual that a human has come this far," Lust commented, glancing down at her bald companion. "Don't you agree, Gluttony?"

"Yes, yes. Even humans know not to come down here," he nodded, a manic grin forming as he looked the girl over like a starving man did a juicy steak.

"How'd a pathetic girl get past the chimeras? What do we have them around for if they can't even serve their purpose?" Envy scowled.

"In light of recent events, this may work to our advantage," Father announced, rising from his throne. "We are lacking in numbers."

Envy gave an incredulous glance at the girl, "Her? Really?" Father simply nodded, causing Envy to scoff, "Whatever. As long as she gets the job done."

And so Father proceeded with the process of making a human-based homunculus. Ever since Sloth was destroyed, they were in need of a new sin. It had not been long ago, giving Father little time to decide what to do about the matter. With an opportunity landing in his lap such as this, it was no wonder he took full advantage of it. Human-based Homunculi were faster to create and less taxing. And this human did not appear to be a bad candidate. She was in fit condition and showed promise by making it this far. She would do.

Injuries from her fall mended. Sun kissed skin paled, the color bleeding away as a powerful force erupted inside of her. Unconsciousness could not hide her from this agony. Screams burst forth from her writhing, changing body. Her eyelids snapped open, seeing the world for the last time as a full-fledged human being. Humanity seeped away exchanged for a deep pit of indolence. The mark of the Homunculi, the winged serpent eating its own tail in a never ending cycle, formed on her right shoulder blade in a red glow. Memories were eaten away into a black hole inside of her, leaving nothing of her former self.

The process complete, she fell silent, her eyes closed in relief. Breaths, once labored, came and went with ease.

"Come Sloth. Take your place among us," Father beckoned, the three other present Homunculi watching and waiting.

Ailed by a fatigue that would never fully go away, her eyes slid open slowly revealing purple irises and slit pupils. She viewed the world for what felt like the first time, scanning the faces around her. Things were fuzzy to her now, but these were the faces that would fill in the blanks for her. They would explain what her purpose was, guide her through this awakening.

A new sin had been born, the homunculus Sloth. Little did any of them know that she was impure by their standards. The process had not fully washed away her former self. In the deepest levels of her existence, soul merged with sin, creating a being the likes of which had never been seen. None knew of this, not even herself for black arms had locked away the truth inside of her far beneath the surface. All she could feel at the moment was her namesake, as she would for quite a while.

But soon…pieces would rise to the surface. And they would make all the difference.

I don't know why I keep starting more stories. I've got enough as it is. Truthfully, I've been planning this one for many months but had been holding off, hoping to finish one of my other stories... But a few days ago I couldn't stop thinking about this story and it began to write itself in my head and I had to let it out before I went crazy...er... And now I'm really pumped to write more on this. Don't know when the next chapter will be posted, but know that it's what I'm working on at the moment. ;)

So this story will be about an OC homunculus. Not a made up sin, but an OC as a canon sin (which I don't think has been done before, but correct me if I'm wrong). I never thought I'd write an OC story where the OC is a homunculus because so many people do it and it's gotten cliché, but I'm going to try my best to make this as un-cliché and original as possible. That's why I didn't come up with a new sin. Plus, I just couldn't imagine her as anyone other than Sloth so I didn't bother. And yes, the basic plot can technically be "homunculus goes good" but not really. It's soooo much more complicated than that. There will be major confusion on her part and I'm gonna try to focus on the fact that it's a homunculus merged with a soul, which isn't as seamless as all that. It will be a rocky road.

Review if you please. And if you do, I wanna know what homunculus you would be. Not which powers you like the best, but which sin you best personify. I myself would be Sloth. It's not that I'm only lazy. I'm the worst procrastinator ever. I look at everything and think, "I'll do it later." And then later becomes two weeks...