Reflection in the Mirror

Chapter 2

The Seven Sins


Warnings: Language

Hehe yeah I know it's shorter than the last chapter and it's also a bit slow but it's also necessary. I cut a lot out of this because it was so boring and not really necessary. The only point of the boring parts would be to show the other character's views on Pride. I'm so nervous about several other things in this chapter (I'll mention at the end)...but hey I couldn't resist!

Last Time I'm Saying This: I Don't Own FMA or BBI...if I did...well let's not go there... a look into my brain could very well rob happy people like you of their sanity XD


I…I think finally it's time. Time to breathe again…time to live…but what if this is just another trick? Haven't I been punished enough!? Where's the equivalence? Please let me be free…let me live again!? But…what exactly do I have to live for?

Mom…Al…Roy…they're all gone

Heh if only they could see me now. Mustang would have that stupid smirk on his face…God how I miss even that. Bastard…you always find a way to torment me don't you? Dammit Roy even after death you affect me.

I suppose I do deserve it…if it hadn't been for me you'd still be- Why did you have to be so stupid anyway? What did you gain by saving me? Nothing…you died for nothing! I'm sorry…maybe if I had the strength to break free your death might have meant something…even if it was small.

I can practically hear you now. "You've lost your edge Fullmetal; I'd havenever thought you'd be the type to give up." Tell me how you manage to piss me off in my own head…without even a single short joke. Maybe it's because it's the truth…I have lost my edge. What's wrong with me? Why am I sitting here doing nothing?

"Dammit runt! I thought you'd taken off!"

That voice…Envy? How dare he get into my head and how dare he insult me! There's no way I was going to let him get away with that!

"I'm not short!"

By now the land was covered in at least three inches of snow. The light gleamed off the snow in an almost holy way, giving the entire city a bright peaceful glow. However inside Mustang's office…things were far from bright and peaceful.

In the outer office sat a young family. The husband and wife looked confused and alert, while two younger children, twins in fact, poked around curiously at a big black and white dog. Currently they were amusing themselves by tugging on the poor thing's tail.

Their father's gray-green eyes were on them, but he wasn't actually seeing him. His mind was deep in thought, trying to piece together why he was here. One of the children, the boy, looked up at his father with curious golden eyes.

Eventually he clumsily stood up and stumbled over to him. He fell against his father's knees and frowned up at him. "Why you sad?" he asked quietly, concern shining behind those eyes.

"I'm not sad," said the man quietly, placing his hand on his sons head.

"You're a bad liar," accused the boy.

His sister looked up from tormenting the dog as well. "Oh no Daddy! Mommy says lying is bad!"

"Oh really," said the man, faking a look of shock. "Well we better not anger Mommy."

"She'll just hit you with a wrench again," giggled the girl. Then at the thought the girl turned to her mother. "Mommy can I have a wrench?"

"Hell no!" said her brother, instantly looking horrified.

"Ed!? Where have you been hearing language like that?" demanded Winry, glaring at her son.

Backing away slowly Ed pointed at his father. "He said it!"

"Alphonse!?" Funny how the woman could turn one word into a threat, "Haven't we talked about this?"

Alphonse gulped, but was saved from answering by the inner office door opening. Hawkeye stared at the scene for a moment, her eyes moving across the family, until they finally ended on Ed. "Oh."

"Um…Lieutenant?" asked Al quietly.

She blinked before returning her gaze to man. "Sorry for such an unexpected call, but General Mustang seemed to think you'd want to be here for this…and I must agree with him on that."

Al stood up, kissing Winry as he went before walking over to Hawkeye. Just before he entered the room he turned and smiled back at his family. "I'll be back soon."

As soon as the door was shut Alphonse turned to see Hawkeye staring at him curiously. He knew what she was thinking, it was obvious after all. He hadn't talked to anyone in the military for years…none of them knew he had kids. Besides, anyone who'd met both of the Elric brother's would know the kid looked more like his uncle than his father.

The office brought back many memories and it took Al a minute to push back the emotions swirling around in his head. He followed Hawkeye over to the familiar black couch before surveying the occupants of the room.

Alex Armstrong, Breda, Fuery, Falman and himself were all sitting on the couch. Hawkeye was looking over Armstrong's shoulder onto the notepad he was holding, while Havoc was leaning against Mustang's desk. The General himself stood staring out his window, deep in thought.

Finally Mustang turned away. His face was tired and Al could clearly tell his mask was starting to break. Suddenly the tension he'd been feeling from earlier grew. "What happened?"

Mustang sighed and turned toward him, before asking his own question. "I know this might be hard for you…but I need to know everything you know about homunculus."

Alphonse blinked slowly. The last time he'd seen the man had been when at Ed's funeral…if he had looked stressed then, it was nothing compared to this. Al knew he wouldn't be asking him this if there was any way to avoid it, so he took a deep breath and asked. "Like what?"

Mustang paused, searching for the most pressing matter. Finally he settled on. "How many are there."

"I saw six," said Alphonse evenly.

"Saw?"

"Well…nii-san always thought that…" Alphonse trailed off, staring out at a point beyond Roy's head. "Their names always led us to believe there were seven."

"Names?" asked Alex, looking up from his notepad.

"Lust, Greed, Wraith, Gluttony, Sloth, Envy…" chanted Al dully. "In an old religion those were the seven sins of man. The religion died along time ago, but Ed and I came across more than one old church. We even found their religious text called the Bible."

Everyone quietly took in the information. He could tell they all had a question at the tip of their tongues, one nobody wanted to be the one to ask.

Mustang handled that burden. "Al…what was the seventh sin?"

"Pride," said Al, pausing at their reactions. He instantly jumped to a conclusion. "Why? Don't tell me you've found the seventh homunculus!"

"If only it were that simple," said Hawkeye quietly. "Last night we responded to a call for help from a retired alchemist known as Aaron Snide."

"When we got there we found five dead bodies and later discovered Snide's body upstairs," continued Fuery, looking a bit scared at all this.

"We also found the homunculus called Envy," said Mustang, his tone colored with hate.

"He took the shape of Edward," added Havoc. "And then, well…"

Al froze at the thought of Envy stealing his brother's face. That cross-dressing palm tree would pay for that very dearly. Al may be a calmer person than Ed, but his brother had definitely rubbed off on him over the years. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, reining in his emotions. "And what?" he asked dully.

"Well…we saw…this," said Hawkeye, taking the notepad from Alex and handing it over to Al.

He stared down at the drawing, his eyes wide as he took in the familiar face. "This is a trick," he said, his voice sounding choked. "It has to be."

It took him over and hour to get out of that office. By the time he was his face was as blank and emotionless as the face Armstrong had drawn. Winry looked up warily at him, taking in his expression before standing up and hugging him.

Behind him the rest of the occupants filed out of the room, looking as dull as Alphonse. That's when the twins came bounding over from Black Hayate to smile up at their dad. Ed spoke first. "Please stop mom from giving Emma a wrench…please!"

"Don't listen to him!" said Emma, her blue eyes shinning a bit evilly. "I'd never hit him."

Every single eye fell on Ed, who blinked at the people slowly. "Who are these people?"

Alphonse smiled his face melting into a slightly happier look, "These are my friends."

"But they're…military dogs," growled Ed, looking confused.

Al turned to said dogs. "These are my kids Emma and Ed."

"Staring is not nice!" said Emma, more than a little jealous the how everyone was paying attention to her brother. "Mommy said so!"

Ed however was totally ignoring everyone, except Mustang. He was watching the man with speculating gold eyes. Finally his eyes fell on the gloves and they lit up. "You're the Flame Alchemist!" he said suddenly. "Show me!"

"Edward don't be so rude!" scolded Winry, giving her son an evil look.

Ed shot her a glance before turning back to Mustang and adding, "Please."

Roy stared out the window, unable to meet those familiar eyes for a moment. Finally he smiled a bit sadly. "I'd be happy to."

Pride jolted straight up, breathing heavy and sweating. He looked around wildly…where was he? He took in the surroundings, he was home. The dark empty walls were the same as always, but they seemed strangely alien to him.

Suddenly all at once the events of the previous night came flooding back into his mind. He felt the urge to bolt and was just about to jump off the bed before a voice stopped him, "Welcome back Pride."

"Father!" he gasped, instantly turning his eyes to the blonde haired man sitting in a dark wood chair next to the bed. "I'm sorry I-I don't know what…I'm sorry that I…"

"Hush my son, I don't blame you for what happened," said the man with a serious face. "How do you feel?"

"Damn headaches gone."

Wait what did he just say? Did he just say damn? Had he been worried before? He could feel...how strange. Father seemed to notice that to because he asked another question. "Have you been hearing any voices in your head?"

Instinct came crashing into his skull. "No," he said without thinking. Why was he lying? He trusted Father…right?"

Father now looked confused. "I see."

"What's wrong with me Father?"

"I don't know Pride…only time will tell that," said the man, standing up and making his way toward the door. "But I intend to find out."

Pride waited for a few seconds, listening as the footsteps grew softer. Once he couldn't hear them he counted to thirty before bolting out of the room. He did not want to run into anyone at the moment.

Emotions were flowing through him, they were all new to him and each one hit him much harder than they would a normal human. He didn't even know what to call half of them and each rush of them brought on another wave of confusion. He didn't know it, but he was having his first emotional breakdown.

By the time he made it to his destination he was overwhelmed. As soon he shut the door behind him he leaned against it, composing himself. His took deep, calming breaths until finally he stopped shaking.

He made his way over the ominous file cabinets. Father had compiled a huge data base of military documents, back when the original Pride was Fuhrer…and Envy always managed to do the same, under the new Fuhrer's face of course.

He sorted through the selves for awhile before he pulled out three files. One read Roy Mustang, the other Alphonse Elric, and the final Edward Elric. He skimmed through the files on Roy and Al, emotions welling up every now and then causing him to pause.

Then he turned to Edward Elric. When he opened it the first thing he noticed was the picture. It was exactly how Envy had looked that night. "It's me," he whispered softly.

Nothing prepared him for what happened next. Three words sent shock radiating through his body.

No, that's me


*giggles* okay my nervous part...I couldn't resist bringing my little Ed back. I haven't posted the original one-shot that he starred in but I loved him so much I just had to bring him back. It doesn't help that Emma is also adorable. I know it's a bit cheesy, but I can picture Al naming a kid after his dead brother. I don't know why but once I wrote about it once I just couldn't stop. I hope if you got this far it means you love the twins to...and if you don't then perhaps you will in time. Oh reviews motivate me a lot XD