Known As "Monsters"
by BridgitKiido
Disclaimer: Hagane no Renkinjutsushi, known in America as Fullmetal Alchemist, is the creation of the Japanese manga-ka Hiromu Arakawa. I, meanwhile, am an American of European mutt descent. In short, I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist, nor do I claim to. I am not making any money off of writing this – I just do it in my spare time because I find it fun to do.
Timeline Note: This story, like most of my other Fullmetal Alchemist-related stories, takes place on the manga timeline. The anime and manga are very different. It is highly suggested that you read through at least chapter 61 of the manga before reading this piece, although it is set during the beginning portion of chapter 49.
This fic is written from the point of view of Fuhrer King Bradley, also known as the homunculus "Wrath". All quotes are taken from the first seven pages of Fullmetal Alchemist chapter 49.
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Walking down the hall, I heard his voice. A simple statement of my name, "Wrath," was all that Pride needed to get my attention. Had there been anyone around, I would have kept walking. But Pride has never liked being around too many people at any given time, usually hiding from the action, so of course there was no one else.
"Pride, hmm," I replied, still not used to calling him by his true name once again. For the past fifteen years, I had been calling him by another name… but that name was of no more use.
He was all about business tonight, it appeared, as he next stated, "I hear you let Scar get away." Ah yes, the serial killer who had shown up in Central and attacked the Fullmetal Alchemist.
"Yes," I replied, knowing very well that Pride would see through any lies I could throw at him even if I wanted to. "On top of that, it seems that Gluttony has been captured by someone."
"What did you say?" Pride asked from behind his doorway. Although I could not see him, his voice gave away that he had not heard that news yet. He paused and calmed down a little before continuing, "What is going on? If you do not work properly, we will be in trouble. They have been walking all over us recently. Your hand is soft; it is very unlike you." He was referring to everything that had happened over the past few weeks, from Lust's death at the hands of the Flame Alchemist to Gluttony's recent capture.
"Yes, perhaps you are right," I replied.
He paused before stating, "You seem happy."
I replied with, "I will not deny it; it is a little…" I paused before choosing the word, "fun."
"That our plans are continuously being opposed?" Pride asked. He did not sound pleased in the least.
He failed to faze me, however, as I replied, "For that reason. Sixty years ago, immediately after I was born, I was placed on the rail known as 'King Bradley.' And now here I am sitting on top of this country according to Father's plans. There was nothing to hinder us… well, except for Father. A scenario according to his plans was made ready for me, and I have come to live that way." I knew Pride would understand about that. Father had not even spared his first-born son from his planning, after all.
He paused for a moment before replying, "And yet now that you are here, there is something that might cause you to fall off the rails?"
"Colonel Mustang and the Elric Brothers and those that came from outside this country…" I could hear Pride sigh, almost inaudibly, at the mention of the former. "We are being messed around by such young ones, cunning as we are."
"Is there something you want to say?" Pride asked me.
I replied sullenly, "The era of the youth may already be upon us, Pride." In my mind, I continued with, but then, I suppose you miss that youth. Don't you, Brigadier General Hughes?
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I still remember that day clearly. There is no possible way for me to understand why, but Father had determined that although I was in direct control of the Amestrian military, that did not allow me to monitor any insubordination within the lower ranks. Thus, Father had decided that in order to fix that potential problem, another one of us would enter the military from the bottom, this one acting as a spy and reporting any acts of insubordination that they saw. Of course, Envy and Lust were busy at the time as was Sloth, and Gluttony was too stupid for the job. And Greed had not been seen in 85 years. And so, although he protested for a short time, Pride took the job.
That was also the first time I had actually seen his face as well. Pride has an… interesting ability, shall we say. He is capable of bending the light around him so that it appears as though he is not actually there. Of course, that also allowed him to hide his true form from anyone he needed to come in contact with. I doubt that even Lust had actually seen him prior to the day he walked into the Military Academy as, so far as anyone could tell, a regular human.
Father had come up with everything. Pride would join the academy as Maes Hughes, the son of a farming family in the East. With all of the fighting going on there, it would be quite conceivable for a young man to come to Central seeking the power to defend his homeland. And as for family get togethers, the excuse was that he came from a relatively poor family and that his parents could not afford the trip out to see him.
At first, it did not seem as though Pride was enjoying himself too much. He tried to keep up a cheerful face in public, but whenever he thought everyone's backs were turned, it was quite apparent that he was appalled at having to play the loyal subordinate. Pride has a tendency for narcissism, after all. But he appeared to start enjoying himself upon meeting one Roy Mustang, a young State Alchemist with unfulfilled ambitions. Whenever I would take trips to the Academy to check up on things, I would often see the two of them together, just talking.
No matter how friendly he got with Mustang, however, Pride always gave his reports to Father on time. Even when the Ishval war began and he was sent in one of the first waves of soldiers, he always sent his reports. Even after the war had ended and he had decided to settle down and marry a human woman – I remember the look on Father's face when he found out about that. He was so mad that Pride was choosing a human wife without permission – even after that, he still sent a report on the lower ranking military officials every week. Even adopting a little daughter named… well, actually, I forget her name, but even that did not prevent him from fulfilling Father's orders.
Then, however, the Elric brothers began to get involved in the Fifth Alchemical laboratory, and Pride wound up involved in that as well. Having been away from Father for so long, he was no longer as in the loop as he had been previously, and he was not in on all of Father's plans. And when Lust and Envy started making a scene, Pride's impulse to always know exactly what everyone else was doing kicked in.
I was not present at the time, but Pride had decided to do a little investigation of his own into our affairs. When he did figure it out, however, his instincts had changed. Previously, he would have walked up to Father and waited for an explanation there. However, he had grown too attached to the humans, and his first impulse was to relay the information to the Flame Alchemist. Father had sent Lust and Envy to bring him back to the Base, but they went about it the wrong way. Pride had decided to play on the fact that they had never seen his true form and pretend he had never seen them before, but it was no use.
That was the night that, to the humans, Maes Hughes perished. I am only glad that I was not the one to have killed him. But the day of the funeral, I swear, Pride's daughter was the loudest creature I have ever heard. She should have shown better manners and been quieter in respect for her father.
I would never say that in front of Pride, however.
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I could not see him behind the door, but I heard Pride sigh. He quietly replied, "Wrath, you have been in contact with humans for too long." What he meant, however, was, Do not go making the same mistakes that I did.
Sighing inaudibly, I smiled. A serene smile, somewhat out of character for my name. "That may be so," I replied, although what I meant was, I know. You do not have to remind me of that.
Although there was no visual indication of it, I could have sworn Pride had turned around to avoid looking in the same direction as me. It was as though he was ashamed. When he next spoke, he stated, "Please do not forget that we are beings known as 'monsters' to them." His thoughts, however, clearly stated, Be careful, or you will someday be torn from the humans by force without being able to see them again. And that day, you will miss the situation you have now. Just as I miss what I had.
Scowling, I remembered what Envy had done. It may have been Father's orders, but that single gunshot had robbed Pride of all connections to the world of humans – to the wife and adopted daughter that he had taken such a fondness towards. If I had to part with Selim like that, I, too, probably would have taken it badly. I replied verbally with, "I know." The hidden meaning behind it was, If there is anything illogical and unfair in this world, it is that a person as loyal as yourself is not trusted enough to return to what they care about the most.
I could have sworn Pride had then scoffed ironically. Visualizing him in my mind's eye, I could just imagine him taking on the same smirk I had seen many a time on a certain State Alchemist who had been promoted to the rank of Colonel almost four years ago now. His reply was simply, "I shall not report your previous speech that could be taken as treason to Father." That meant, Thank you for that.
I replied with, "Ha ha, that's helpful." What I really meant, however, was, I am only speaking the truth that needs to be told.
"And what should we do about Gluttony?" Pride then asked abruptly, and it was as thought that previous part of the conversation had not occurred.
That is probably for the best.
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Author's Note: Today happens to be a special day for me – it is my 16th birthday. So, I have decided to post this special one-shot fic as a birthday gift from me to all of you. That, and I also wanted to re-write the first eight chapters of Excessive Pride based on the information in the latest of chapters, but I did not want to change the current story because I would have to start it completely over.
I am usually quite lenient about reviews. However, I will warn you now that anyone who gives me a flame on this particular story will not have me happy. I am fully aware that I am very bad at writing in the first person point of view. I very much prefer the third person, but this was just screaming to be written in first. And I am fully aware that the homunculus Pride probably will not, in fact, end up as Brigadier General Maes Hughes in disguise. However, don't go telling me that it's impossible and that it would be a bad thing for it to occur, and certainly don't tell me to stop writing this type of thing. The whole point of writing this is to have fun while coming up with ways that certain events could come to pass. If an anonymous user flames without giving me a means of reply (which I dislike highly), said review will be deleted. If a way of communication is given, or if the flame is signed, you will be hearing from me, and you will probably not like what I have to say.
Please don't take this the wrong way. I really like hearing your feedback in the form of reviews to my stories. I do read all reviews that are sent my way, and I try to incorporate any advice I receive into my stories. Constructive criticism is fine too, as long as you suggest ways in which it could be better and don't openly insult my work. However, no matter what the circumstances, I certainly do not want to hear anything about how the premisce behind this story is impossible. There is a reason why this is called fan fiction, after all.