Hello there, currently I've been working on different attempts for a Fullmetal Alchemist fanfiction. I've done a few in the past but they really didn't work out in the end. Now that I'm a bit more experienced with writing (much more than before), I hope that this one will go better.
Anyway, this story was inspired by some of the hints dropped in the original series about there being an 'old' Lust' seeing as the Lust we know was occasionally referred to as the 'new' Lust. I've seen some head canons about it a few times on Tumblr but I really wanted to take a much larger look at the idea that there were more homunculi then the seven in the series.
The story itself, currently, will revolve mainly around the life of this supposed Old Lust as well as how this person still effects things in current day Amestris (around the time Edward and Alphonse were beginning their journey). I'm not sure if I'm going to be writing pairings in this story but I will admit that there's a high chance for it. I'm a bit of sucker for any sort of romance.
I hope you guys enjoy the story and I would be very thankful for any reviews, favorite's, and/or follows.
Chapter One
Lust was already in a visibly foul mood by the time Envy showed up, an obvious indication to the elder homunculus that thing's had not gone according to plan. The look of distress that manifested itself in her eyes and the irritated way her red, bow shaped lips contorted was enough to ruin the rather decent day the shape-shifter was having.
The train car itself was rather crowed for this time of day. Part of him wished he had sprung for better tickets. Even if he would have to paymore, it seemed as if it was a better option then being surrounded by the constant, infuriating chatter that only increased as more passengers boarded. Lust, sitting in the opposite corner of the car, looked completely out of place amongst the brighter dressed and cheerful humans. However, despite how long she had been working prior to boarding the train, the female homunculus still looked as perfect as ever. Her face, devoid of any wrinkles or dark marks, even now was more seductive and beautiful then anything the women around them could ever achieve.
Narrowing his eyes, he began moving much closer to the train seat facing her. With her attention been diverted towards the people moving about outside, she had yet to notice her comrade until he was standing directly in front of her, his violet eyes the only hint as to who he truly was.
The disguise he was currently sporting was rather similar to the one he wore around central headquarters. The major difference was how scrawny he looked, one glance could tell that this form certainly did not belong among military men. He was younger too, appearing to be in his late teens or even early twenties. The average human would assume that Envy was some sort of college student, the type that spent his nights studying rather than socializing.
The train began to move as he took his seat. "Lust." Despite Envy's current form, his voice had remained unchanged. Hearing the oddly feminine sounding voice on an obviously male body would have been strange to any normal human. However, to her, it was almost as if he was still in his preferred form.
"Envy." The look of aggravation on her face only became worse with his arrival.
Before he could ask about her most recent assignment, it became obvious that there was something rather big missing. "I hope you didn't lose Gluttony on your way here. I mean, it's not hard to find him in a crowd." Despite his words it was obvious that he was unamused.
"Don't worry about it. Sloth was with him when they left for her house." She averted her gaze away from him and out the window. "I needed to take care of a few . . . errands before I left for Dublith anyway."
"Couldn't he have gone with you then?" His harsh tone hadn't softened with her explanation. "Instead of making Sloth take precious time away from her job to babysit him." His thoughts briefly turned to their youngest comrade, Sloth. Being as young as she was, she hadn't often been around Gluttony. With her monotonous attitude and apathetic looks, she seemed ill-suited to work with or even take care of the fatuous homunculus, who even on his best days was less than mentally competent.
"She was already on her way there, for your information." A hint of contempt could be detected in the causal way she spoke to him, something that was not missed by Envy. "Besides, it was better that I wasn't seen with him when I did these things."
Snorting, the other homunculus began to relax somewhat in his seat. "Can't say I blame you."
Annoyed, the corners of her mouth turned down slightly more than they already had been. "It wasn't my idea to leave without him," her gaze met the floor as her left hand combed through the ends of her flawless raven hair, the obsidian waves falling back into a perfect form as her gloved fingers passed through. "She wanted me to go alone." Envy raised an eyebrow at this, knowing full well that Dante rarely ever split the two homunculi apart. The only times he was the one forced to look after their dim-witted companion was back when Dante had less henchmen then she did now and when Lust went out on more sensual missions.
"Tell me." Mocking delight rolled off Envy's tongue as the younger homunculus's expression became colder, obviously aware of what he was getting at. "Who was it this time, hm?" Lust's eyebrows rose slightly with disdain as she kept her mouth closed in a downward curve. "Let me guess," the contemptuous man paused momentarily, smirking as he looked her over. "Was it an officer, per chance?" She continued to stay silent, refusing to go along with his inane interrogation. "Or maybe some captivated young Alchemist?"
"It was a dead end and waste of my time," she stated simply. "That's all."
"A dead end, you say," he said as if their little guessing game had not ended. "You sure it's not a failure on your part?" He did nothing to hide the apparent ridicule in his tone. He liked watching her get upset, even if it never showed up much on her face.
"Of course not." Had they not been in public, Lust's voice would have rose significantly more at the offensive statement. "It's ridiculous that you would even suggest it." If there was one thing the raven haired woman hated, it was giving Envy the satisfaction that he had, in some way, bothered her. Next to Sloth, she was probably one of the most composed of the sins. Intense feelings of rage, depression and frustration were never apparent in her expressions. Neither were signs of actual happiness, such as joyful laughing and non-malicious smiles (but then again, none of the homunculi ever showed those types of emotions).
Snickering, he responded "For your sake, I hope that's true." Pausing, he looked away from her and towards the window. "It would be a shame if you ended up like the old Lust."
'Old Lust?' she thought, her expression going blank. It hadn't been the first time someone had mentioned an 'old Lust' in her presence. The first time was from Dante, not too long after her own birth. At the time she hadn't questioned it verbally, having been much too preoccupied to give it a second thought. Envy, however, had yet to speak of this person in her presence.
"Envy. . ." she trailed off, waiting for him to look back over to her.
"Hmm?" His violet, cat-like eyes broke away from observing the passing blurs outside.
"What do you mean by 'the old Lust'?" It felt almost relieving to finally ask such a question, whenever Dante had mentioned the name it was never in positive way. Sometimes it felt as if talking about the old Lust with Dante was taboo. "Who was she?" As the eldest homunculus, it was obvious that Envy was most likely to have known the fate of this person, especially if he was able to taunt her about it.
He blinked, the smirk falling off him in an instant. In that moment Lust could have sworn that Envy, one of the most cruel and experienced of the homunculi, was caught off guard. "Didn't she tell you about her?" It had been years since Lust had been created, after all this time he had just assumed that she had become aware of her predecessor.
"No one's told me anything."
Envy hesitated for a moment before regaining his previous nonchalant composure. "I wouldn't worry about it if I were you."
Her boots tapped impatiently against the floor, refusing to say something that would in some way change the conversation. "Surely, as the eldest homunculus, you must know at least a little bit of who she was?"
"Maybe I do, so what?" He stated sharply "it's not like she was that interesting or even notable for that matter."
"Still—"
"Look, if you want to know so much then you're better off asking Dante." He spat, suddenly fed up with her nagging, looking less like he didn't know and more that he just didn't feel like explaining it. 'Besides,' he thought deviously, 'her side of the story is much more . . . interesting than mine."
. . .
They stopped talking altogether for a while. It was clear that neither of them were in the mood to try and start a more lively conversation. Although, looking outside at the changing scenery wasn't all that interesting to begin with. Usually Envy would have tried to have talked to Lust once things became this mind-numbingly boring. However, the chance that they would once again come back to their previous conversation was too much of a risk for him.
Leaning his head and body against the corner where the seat and window met, he dully looked back and forth between the humdrum fields outside and the distracted homunculus in front of him. There was a sort of pensive look in her eyes, almost gloomy even. He wondered if she was still thinking about the old Lust or something else entirely.
Looking at this Lust, he began to notice just how similar she was to the old one. Although they didn't look much alike, both of them were perfect embodiments of their name. The old Lust had been considered the ideal woman for her time, a perfect picture of beauty. He guessed by today's standards that she wouldn't have been considered as beautiful as the new Lust, though. Maybe it was for the best that she wasn't here to see this new Lust. He doubted that she would have approved of the way her successor was behaving in her stead.
Looking back, Envy realized that it had been long time since he'd really thought about her. After what had happened, the memory of old Lust became less and less relevant in their lives. She had been easily forgotten, especially by Dante. The only thing she really was now was a warning.
At the time, Envy would have never guessed that the homunculus born all those years ago would had met a fate worse than that of Greed's. But then again, it wasn't like anyone could have guessed her fate as a homunculus either. The only thing anyone could have guessed correctly was that she would, in some way, become easily forgotten.
Although, he will admit, not everything about her could ever be completely disregarded. She had been, after all, the third sin to ever exist under Dante.
"We already have Greed, do we really need another one?" Envy stood by the door to the candle-lit study of his master's house, wanting very much to leave the presence of the woman before him.
"Of course," Dante glanced up from the paper covered desk towards the man, looking too busy for the eldest homunculus. At the moment she wore the body of a woman in her early thirties. Her long blonde hair was neatly styled into a tight bun, something she did more often than not. The dress she was wearing, however, was rather dull. With no company around she saw no reason to wear something more bright and pleasing. "There's only so much that two homunculi can do."
"Not that Greed actually does much." He said under his breath. "I mean, it seems a bit too soon to make another one."
The ends of Dante's lips slowly twisted upwards into a grin. "No one ever said that I had to make her."
The elder homunculus jerked forward as the train began to halt to a stop, realizing how long it had been since they had departed. Lust rose first. "Are you ready?" She asked, beginning to move towards the exit.
Nodding, he followed her out onto the platform. It had gotten dark since leaving the North hours ago, they guessed that it must had been around seven or eight in the evening by now. Not that either of them really cared. Dante had only wanted them to be there before the end of the weak anyway.
After being on the train for so long, neither of them were going to complain about walking all the way to her house. "Do you think Sloth is still going to be there?" Lust asked dully.
Envy lightly shrugged at her question. "Does it really matter? If she arrived a few days ago then she probably left already." As they walked away from the slightly raucous station, he noticed that the city was rather lively as well. Plenty of families and young couples littered the streets, the city lights illuminating their cheerful faces as they walked into different brightly lit stores and restaurants. Groaning, He truly hoped things would get quieter once they made it into the more residential area of Dublith. "Besides, it's not like we're going to be there long."
Lust didn't respond, having nothing worth saying to him. In a way, she kind of missed Gluttony. He may not have been the most interesting of people to speak to but at least he never got on her nerves the way Envy did. She also knew that he would have never withheld anything from her that she wished to know.
"By the way," she snapped her attention back onto the other homunculus. "Regarding what we were talking about earlier." Pausing, he glanced over to make sure she was still listening. "It might better if you just leave it alone." His tone wasn't nearly as serious as it should've been, in fact, he sounded more sardonic than ever.
"I'm sure the world's not going to end if I ask Dante about her." She retorted, feeling quite done with his attitude on the matter.
"If that's how you feel then go ahead." They rounded a street corner, finally moving into a darker and quieter part of the city. "Just don't say I didn't warn you." Her gaze immediately snapped away from the road in front of them and onto the other homunculus. Blinking, she could have sworn that he actually sounded serious in that moment.
"I won't," she spoke in a soft tone as she began walking slower, his warning playing over in her head. If Envy and Dante could openly mention the existence of an old Lust then surely her life was no big secret. There could be no harm in at least asking about her predecessor while she was here, right?
With nothing left to speak about, the two of them continued their silent journey towards an even darker part of the world.
