Theme Three: Light

Lust and Wrath conversed, Envy sulked, Gluttony whined about being hungry, and Sloth slept. Pride simply stared, observing. Things went on in this way for an indefinite amount of time, though Pride estimated it to be about two days.

He stared over at Lust and Wrath, who were still talking about nothing in particular. Right then, it seemed to be... Clothing brands.

He turned to stare at Sloth for a while. Sloth wasn't very interesting, as he did nothing but sleep, but at that point a rather amusing bubble, made entirely of snot, began to form at the edge of his nose while he snored.

The bubble had begun to grow very large when Father's voice rang out from the next room, silencing any conversation and making Sloth jerk in his sleep, popping the snot bubble.

"Envy."

Envy lifted his chin from his hand and glanced at the doorway before standing.

"Bring Pride."

Envy paused, scowling down at Pride while he stood as well. He followed Envy into the next room, and Father stepped out of the shadows his throne was hiding in, peering down on them from a small ledge.

"You have a mission."

Pride noticed the corners of Envy's mouth twitch upwards, and filed this information away. Missions... made Envy happy.

"A group of humans has been looking a little too far into the deaths of their friends. Your job is to dispose of them. The names of these humans are Riza Hawkeye, Jean Havoc, Kain Fuery, Heymans Breda, and Vato Falman."

Envy glanced towards Pride, not seeing anything in his expression out of the ordinary.

"I believe this will make a good first mission for Pride... See to it that nothing goes wrong, Envy."

With a small smile, Father stepped back into the shadows, and the sounds of him sitting down were noticeable.

"You are dismissed."

Envy turned on his heel and left the room, stopping at the doorway to look back at Pride, who hadn't moved.

"Come on... Blondie,"

Pride stared for a long moment before obediently following.

"What did Father want?" Lust asked.

"We've got a mission! It seems Ponyboy's buddies have been getting a little too curious for their own good."

Lust sent a smirk in their direction. "Do have fun."

Envy gave her a crooked grin before gesturing Pride to follow and leading him up a few flights of stairs. Pride stored the directions they took through all the winding hallways, knowing he'd need the information later.

They reached a small foyer, and Envy shifted into a civilian woman, grabbing a dark cloak off a rack and throwing at Pride.

"Put that on, we can't have anyone recognizing you."

He reached for the doorknob and glanced back at Pride, looking him over. He paused, noticing the very large scythe still in his hand.

"Can you... Do something about that?"

Pride followed Envy's gaze down to the blade in his hand and stared a moment before a light flashed, much like an alchemical reaction, and the scythe retreated into the cuff around his wrist.

Envy looked him over again and nodded once, flinging the door open.

"Welcome to Central, Blondie."

Pride was blinded momentarily, bringing one glove clad wrist up to shield his eyes. He hadn't realized before just how dark the basement under Headquarters was, but compared to this kind of light, it was undeniable.

His eyes adjusted quickly, much faster than a human's would, and it appeared they had exited the building into some sort of alleyway. It wasn't all that far from what appeared to be a fairly mainstream road, but Envy turned the other way, towards a small back road. Pride followed obediently, and they headed around the corner. Envy removed a set of keys from his pocket and unlocked a small door, gesturing Pride inside.

He blinked at this new kind of light, harsh and fluorescent. Envy relocked the door and shifted into an officer, leading him out into a new hallway, a few passing people giving Pride's strange clothing an odd look. Envy walked like he knew where he was going, so Pride just followed along behind him, keeping the hood of the cloak over his face. They eventually reached a door that looked like many others they had passed, but Envy seemed to assign it some significance, so Pride studied it closely. Envy simply reached forward and opened the door, entering quickly and pulling Pride in with him. The occupants of the room, four men and a woman, looked up, startled, at the intruders. Envy flicked the lock on the door into place.

"Why, hello," he took this time to shift into his original form. "I've heard news that you all have been getting a bit... Nosy."

Recovering from her shock, the woman, Hawkeye, pulled her gun from it's holster and fired a round into Envy's chest. The sound echoed around the room as Envy chuckled, licking some blood off his lip as the bullets popped out of his skin and the wounds sealed themselves off before their eyes.

"I do believe this was supposed to be your mission, Blondie. Take off the cloak first, though, why don't you."

Pride obediently unfastened the cloak, pulling it off and slowly setting it on the desk nearest the door. The atmosphere of the room was tense, the five humans hardly daring to breathe.

"E-Edward?" Hawkeye breathed, lowering her gun an inch.

There were disbelieving murmurs of "Chief..." all around as Pride stared blankly.

"Who... Is Edward?" he spoke slowly, gently cocking his head to one side. " My name is... Pride."

He turned to stare at Envy. "Father said... Dispose of them. Does that mean... ?"

"Kill them." Envy grinned. Hawkeye's eyes widened, and she brought her gun up again.

Pride nodded, and stuck his left arm out straight. There was a flash of light, and his scythe formed in his hand once again. He gripped it tightly before swinging into action, lightning fast. He slashed at Riza, as she was the one closest to him, but Jean grabbed her and pulled her out of the way, receiving the blade instead of her. It sliced easily through his shoulder and upper back, and he screamed in pain.

"Havoc!"

Pride stared a moment before moving along to the next one, a small, trembling man with wide eyes hidden behind thick glasses. Kain Fuery. He quickly and efficiently lopped his head from his shoulder before doing the same with the other two, Breda and Falman. By this point, Hawkeye was crying, having witnessed all her co-workers and friends murdered around her.

Pride turned towards her again. She was using one arm to hold up Havoc as best she could, but by that point he'd gone unconscious from the blood loss, if not already dead.

"Edward, don't do this," she sobbed, pointing another gun at his head with her free hand.

When he didn't stop moving towards her, Hawkeye gritted her teeth and emptied two shots into his head.

Pride paused only momentarily, frowning slightly as the pain registered. However, the bullets simply rose to the surface of his skin and dropped to the floor at his feet, the wounds alchemically closing. Without much further ado, he stepped forward and did to her what he'd done to the others, easily severing her head from her shoulders.

Envy chuckled as Pride paused to wipe the blood from his face, licking it off of his palms.

"I've... Disposed of them. What do I... Do now?"


-A/N- Sorry about the strange ending. D: It was far too long already, and I needed to end it somewhere. I also realize the reference to the theme, Light, was very small and not very exciting. And does anyone think I'm moving this story too fast? Talk to me.