Extended summary: Set a hundred years before the main storyline...Ever wonder why Greed defected from Father after a hundred years of service? Curious as to why he has a policy against telling lies? Speculated why the 'Ever Avarious One' seems to hold no superiority complex over humans? Find out the answers to these questions and more by following the short life of Nadine Huntly, a spirited Amestrian Military Academy student, whose insatiable curiosity for all things supernatural might have just caused her to bite off a bit more than her tender years can chew.
Ode to Forgotten Histories
Prologue
"Well, now, isn't this an interesting find?"
The dark eyes of Solf J. Kimblee keenly scanned the contents of the folder held open before him. Taking in the blurred images of the old, sepia-style photographs, a pleased smirk curled up one side of his face. He had truly stumbled upon a treasure-trove.
A long, even stride brought the Crimson Alchemist passed rows of packed bookshelves to a small stool near the only source of light in the cramped room, the lit doorway. With ease, he perched himself carefully upon the stool without looking away from his valued find.
He was suddenly glad that he had been able to coerce the ever salacious Pride into giving him access to secret records that had been collected over the years by the more subversive members of the Amestrian power structure. Amongst the endless shelves of legal paperwork and alchemic textbooks, he had found a thin manila folder wedged between two large tomes.
It was a pleasant surprise when he had opened it to reveal a hit-list accompanied by a stack of snapshots.
"Now, who do we have here, hm?"
Kimblee quickly sifted through the photographs, turning them over to read a brief summary about the person in the image. They ranged from recent, crisp to the blurred mono-color of the last century. It didn't take him long to realize that these photographs were of people that Father had considered a threat to his plans, and surely had one of his seven children dispose of.
A few, he recognized…Yuriy Rockbell…Sarah Rockbell…Maes Hughes… However, his attention was drawn to someone else.
It was one of the older photographs in the group, curled at the corners and yellowed with age. A young woman appeared to be the sole occupant of the image, yet the way she had twisted her waist told him that she had been leaning in towards someone. That, and the fact that a disembodied hand had a secure hold of her hip.
With curiosity, the brunet-haired man fingered the edge of the photograph and found from its slightly uneven edge, that whoever had stood next to the woman had been ripped away. His interest piqued, Kimblee flipped it over to discover two facts.
A name. Nadine Huntly
A year. 1811
Nothing more, nothing less. The rest was filled with a jumble of letters that held no obvious rhyme or reason to their order. There was no clear mark, a red 'X' with a circle drawn around it, to indicated whether this target had been disposed of unlike the other photographs resting in his lap. Though, he supposed it didn't matter whether they had caught her or not since the date had read over a century ago. She was undoubtedly deceased, and therefore, no longer posed a threat to Father's all-encompassing plot for Amestris.
However, once Kimblee found something that stirred his more inquisitive side, he was hardly wont to let go. Being a tactical genius, it only took him a half hour to decipher the code to read the rest of the information placed on the back of the snapshot. It was a slight surprise for him to discover that it was a catalogue of the store room.
The man followed the number system placed along the bottom of the shelves, and plucked out a large tome that matched the coordinates given on the back of the photograph. He opened it to an earmarked page, and just as a he did so, several lose papers fell to land on his white loafers. He bent to retrieve them, but stayed in his crouched position as realized what he was holding.
It was the "Help Wanted" section of a newspaper. Various jobs were crossed out, some circled, some scribbled over to the point where a hole was nearly worn into the paper. The top was marked with a date: 29th April, 1807.
He set the newspaper aside to pick up the other item that had fallen. It was another picture of Nadine Huntly. This time she looked several years younger than the last, her face still round with youth. She was also accompanied by two older looking women, and from their similar facial features and light hair, Kimblee deduced that the three were likely to be related.
Again, the back of the image held a familiar date, 1807.
One never to let go of a bone when it still had meat to chew, Solf J. Kimblee set his face into a simper as a maniacal gleam shone in his eyes and a conspiratorial whisper escaped his slightly quirked lips,
"Tell me your secrets, Ms. Huntly."
Cut scene! This was short, because it was the prologue. The following chapters will be much longer.
The rest of the story will take place from 1807 to 1811 under the view of the mysterious Nadine Huntly. Just what did she do to end up on the big bad homunculus hit-list? Wind back the clock over a hundred years to discover not only the role she played in Father's subversive plans for the young, ever growing country of Amestris, but just where does she fit into Greed's shifting loyalties, and ultimately, his defection. Occasionally, Kimblee will reappear to guide us through the hidden library in the present, bringing piece by piece together to uncover the tragic past of one of Amestris' first heroines.
Though it was short, please let me know what you all think on whether I should pursue this plot or not. I appreciate all favorites, follows, and REVIEWS sent my way. ;)
Much love,
pseudo ~