"What makes a person a human?"
Lust glanced at the girl standing before her. "Hmm," she said, "so you're the new recruit."
"Yes," Sorrow stated, her violet eyes emotionless. "I am the homunculus Sorrow. You must be Lust."
Lust's ruby lips curled upward in a crooked way, sneering almost. "You're well informed. I must then assume you know the truth?"
Sorrow nodded, her eyes suddenly taking on a light. "Yes. I know. I know how we were all created. I also know what our master seeks."
"Are you willing to fight for it?"
Sorrow stared, having no emotional expession. "Do I really have much of a choice?"
"Their way of life?"
Gluttony tilted his head, looking up at Lust in confusion. "So I can't eat her?" he asked once more. Sorrow winced at the creature's stupidity and thought process. Envy had warned her about his eating habit, so she had chosen the far side of the room, keeping her distance from the fat homunculus.
Lust walked away from the wall she was leaning against and began to move towards the door and Sorrow. "Well, Sorrow, as much as a pleasure it's been to meet you, I really must be going. The stone will not, after all, just land in our laps."
"To achieve anything in this world," Sorrow spoke, in an almost trance-like state, "one must inevitably must take it from someone else." She looked up at the ceiling with a sad look. "That is the truth of this place. The law of Equivalent Exchange."
Lust paused, staring strangely at the other female homunculus. Then, chuckling with a shrug, she asked, "Such a cruel fate we possess, hmm? We homunculi are destined to be forever fallen creatures, cast aside from mankind. That is, unless we do something about it." She cocked her head at Sorrow, smiling devilishly. "Isn't that right, Sorrow?"
Sorrow frowned, lowering her head sharply. "Correct. We are hopelessly lost without the Philosopher's Stone. But with one alchemist's help, we can regain our humanity."
Lust hummed in response, then left the room with Gluttony in tow.
"The way they're born?"
Sorrow, alone in the room, looked back up at the ceiling. After Dante revealed the truth, after her past was unveiled, Sorrow could not stop the unrivaled hatred she felt towards human beings. Living in the shadows, hiding from the villagers who hunted her daily, she had been forced to survive not as a girl, but as a beast. She was openly distained and pursued, sometimes even for sport.
But that's not what angered her the most.
The worst part was the thought, the idea, that somewhere out there, there was an alchemist who thought he could become like God, and create life in such an unclean fashion. Sorrow didn't know if she was once human, like Dante suggested, but nor did she care. She was no longer human. A piece to a puzzle unfinished, an abandoned painting, something cast aside, left to pick up after the creator. That's what ticked her off the most. Someone who did not care, someone who had no authority to do such a thing, and someone who fancied himself better than the rest, dared crossed into God's domain and did the unthinkable.
Human transmutation.
And now, left to finish the work, Sorrow had to aid the other homunculi in their quest to obtain the legendary Philosopher's Stone. Her body fueled by red stones, Sorrow vowed to assist in any way she could. But now, standing here, what could she, a newly created homunculus, do among such powerful and imposing beings?
"How they survive?"
"Are you Sorrow?" a voice asked from the doorway. Sorrow looked in that direction, seeing an older man with graying hair and a patch over his left eye standing in the doorway, looking at her with an almost kind look.
"I am," she responded in monotone. The man smiled softly. "Good, then perhaps I should introduce myself."
"There is no need," Sorrow interrupted. "You are King Bradley, the fuhrer of Amestris and leader of the state military. But here," and to this her tone grew serious, "you are Pride, a homunculus gifted with the ability to age."
Pride chuckled, "I'm not so sure it should be called a gift, but that's besides the point." His face grew serious as well, and his tone changed. "I assume you know of your purpose to this group?"
"I do."
"Very well." To this Pride narrowed his one eye. "Then I shouldn't need to tell you this twice. We are not sniveling humans who want to comfort and protect each other. We are not weak, and in a blink of an eye we would destroy each other. Trust no one here, and don't bother pretending to be friends with anyone. We all learned from Greed that no one is worthy of our trust and appeal."
Sorrow frowned, nodding. "I understand."
"Good. Well, then, I think I'll be taking my leave." He turned to leave, but paused and glanced over his shoulder. "Oh, and one more thing. You should practice using your abilities so when we bring you in the field, you won't freeze up and become a liability."
Suddenly, an ice shard shot through the air, but with the speed of tiger, Pride drew out his sword and sliced it in half. Looking back at Sorrow, he noticed her arm was completely covered with ice spikes.
Without making a single facial expression, she stated coldly, "I am well practiced. Just say the word, and I'll kill twenty humans in a heart-beat."
Smiling, Pride said, "Glad to hear that. Well, then, now I must really be going. My body guards are probably wetting themselves as we speak."
"How they think?"
Sorrow, having now left the solitary room, wandered the underground mansion, aimlessly walking in her socked feet, not knowing or caring where she ended up.
"And just where are you going, girl?" a chilling voice asked. Without warning, a blade whipped through the air, ready to slice her head clear off. Summoning the ice upon her flesh, Sorrow lifted the frosted-coated arm in retaliation, blocking the blade seconds before it reached her throat.
Envy, noticing her quick reflexes, snickered mischievously. "Not bad, for a newbie." He pulled back, returning his bladed arm back to its normal state, grinning that wild, wolf grin he was so famous for. "You've got potential, so you're not a hopeless case. Definitely different from the little girl I picked up off the streets just a month ago."
Sorrow allowed herself a small smile, showing her gratitude towards his compliment. "I had an excellent teacher to help me. Without you, I never would have become this good."
Envy snuffed, pulling his arms behind his head in a casual manner. "Ha, you better be grateful. You'd be ashes by now if it weren't for me."
Sorrow nodded in agreement. "Of course, Envy. Whatever you say."
Envy arched an eyebrow, eyeing her suspiciously. "Are you mocking me?"
Sorrow immediately saw the danger in his violet eyes and waved her hands out in front of her, showing she met no harm. "I'm not! I merely mean whatever you say goes. You're the boss."
Envy snorted, smirking. "Yeah, just remember that. No one can beat me, so if you want to keep your hide, you better do as I say, got it?" He paused, glancing over at Dante's personal quarters on the bottom floor. "That and the Master. Do that, and you'll be a human in no time."
"Of course, Envy." With that, Envy turned and left, just like all the others.
"I thought I knew."
Sorrow paused, thinking. Just like all the others. She watched with a sad look at Envy's back, wondering, pondering . . .
No! She shook her head angrily, her brick colored pigtails whipping around. She mustn't think like that. There was but one goal, and that was to get the Philosopher's Stone. Nothing more.
"But I didn't."
Or, she dared to think, was there?
"I didn't have a clue."
