A/N:
Sorry for such the long wait guys; I was on holiday…which magically sucked out all my creativity…
The bad chapter name comes from the fact that I'm coming to the end of my pre-planned…parts of this fic, since it planned to end when Pride gets his container (which in the plan is named chapter eight) which would be next chapter (plan-wise) with only a short epilogue following it. But I keep getting these random ideas to expand it and I can't really bring myself to end it since I don't want the ideas go to waste, but since I'm not thinking it through I need to keep changing them since they conflict with the births of the other homunculi and whatnot. So…I'm gonna ask you, my loyal readers…where exactly do you want me to end this fic, as in, what part of Pride's life, since I was going to end it when he got his container, then I wanted to see his reactions to the other homunculi, then I wanted to see him and the others play matchmaker with Wrath, then the incident with the car… then I wanted to see his reaction to Lust's death…
See where I'm going with this?
The problem is if I go that far I'll need to fill in all the space in between…
So, being the lazy one I am I'll let you guys suggest scenarios are simply suggest which would be the best place to end it, and if not I'll just keep going till I run out of ideas or reach the present day Pride ^_^
Anyway, reviewer messages!
Larsa7- thanks like always, but I'd best get on with the reply.
Yes, Mrs. Bradley is awesome, I think that's why I like chapter 2 so much (well, chapter 10's usurped it now as my favourite but…I'm sure the interlude chapter will fix that soon enough ^_^)
10 years…it's times like this I appreciate being born English…that's really selfish of me isn't it? Since everyone else needs to try so hard to learn our complicated awkward language…
Yeah, I really like Baccano, only 13 episodes with 3 OVA's, I think they only use little kids when really bad things happen because they know it'll make us pity them and go 'awww', maternal instincts, gotta protect the little ones! …sorry about that…kinda just ^_^''
I hate English dubs too, since I watched all of brotherhood subbed I can't really stand the dub voices now (specially Pride's *shudder*, but my opinions on that are mentioned in chapter 3…though episode 24 was the icing on the cake for badness, it was more the script as well…adding lines to match the lipflap…). Though I prefer Baccano's English dub since it's set in New York, and Japanese can't really…make New York accents *feels like a hypocrite now*
It wasn't really writing forbidden…it was simply implying a few things…at least I didn't go with my original idea of the boy with no name (anyone care to think of one for the time being, I don't feel like spoiling the name I've got for him yet…oh great he's like Scar now) actually being Luna's son instead of her brother (though he still would have thought she was his sister)
I don't really like writing in the wrong order, since I have to copy the style of the parts that come after it.
*Sniff* I know, I know, such happiness, thank god his hallucinations are nice ones…
Hm? No, no Lust didn't do anything to him, Pride did…but he didn't' feel it…I think, he was basically dying anyway, hence the hallucinations *morbid*, since he had… *thinks* , cracked or broken ribs, a broken nose, presumably a fractured skull from the carriage wheel , a sliced open cheek and countless cuts over him, plus he was coughing up blood… I'm no doctor but… not to mention he stayed out in the cold for a few hours with nothing but a thin cloak on…
It's very good he's confused, I probably wouldn't be able to write it if he understood…though if Pride used his body he most likely used his soul for his Philosopher's stone…he won't be seeing that dear sister of his for a while…how terrible I am… *pats little no name's head*
I like mice too! I always wanted one as a pet…ohwait it's supposed to be a bad thing…maybe I should change it to a rat…but I don't want a rat crawling over no name…
Pride yawning…I think it'd be scarier since you probably would think he was just opening his mouth to eat you…
Pride's so nice here isn't he? But it's more of a 'oh look at this human, he's weird, I'll take him to Father and then he'll be so proud' kind of thing instead of a 'oh he looks hurt let's help him!' kind of thing. But caring is caring I guess…
I was actually worried for a moment there when you said 'too cutely written' since 'too' is usually a bad thing, but I assume it was a good thing, right, as in 'so cutely written' instead *confused* ^_^'
Don't worry, without Pride it'd be really boring, not to mention un-canon. I'm sure Pride can take over the body of people who are alive; at least, he seemed to be doing an ok job with Edward, till Kimblee showed up anyway…
baconinthesoap64: Thanks for the review, I'm happy you've stuck around despite my delays, yep, I feel bad for killing off my adorable little no name'd boy…but I needed to…
For everyone else, Chapter 11 is due for a rewrite… woah woah *shields self*, just the last part! I'm gonna change Pride's motivation for looking after my boy with no name that's all!
Anyway on with the fic! Sorry for the short chapter as well
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Sin's Child
Chapter Twelve: Displaced Pride
September 15th 1680
Lust yawned rather loudly to herself as the sun began to rise over the town; she paid it no attention, her gaze fixated on the floor, a shadow of what may have been interpreted as anxiety crossing her pale features for a moment. Those eyes, so clear, so focused, so sincere…
It didn't make any sense, none whatsoever.
"What a strange human, calling me 'Luna' like that…I'll need to keep an eye on him…" She murmured, pulling at the flower he'd put in her hair that night, it seemed that dinner was all what the peculiar human desired, seemingly content with merely a woman's company and nothing beyond that, though he had asked that they meet again. She had had no choice other than to politely agree with a weak smile as she left, his intriguing nature rendering her incapable of killing him, the why of it all escaped her. The petals came loose, falling over the path, she didn't notice, too busy pushing the thoughts of that human out of her mind and thinking about more important things- She needed to pick Pride up and take him back to Father, she frowned a bit at the thought that she had failed to keep Pride content by bringing him a body to use, but he was just so stubborn, even when she dared to try bringing him a woman (something which no one would be finding out about any time soon) he made some excuse…
'You brought a long haired human Lust? But…I don't want to have a body that's exactly the same as yours…could you…bring me another one please…?'
She smiled, knowing that Father would be able to make Pride the body he wanted, Father knew what he was doing, of course he did, everything would be fine once they got home.
A large spot of blood caught Lust's eye, she leaned in, following the brownish spatter until finding a messy stain in the middle of the road, and she noticed small hand-like shapes leading from it into a nearby alley.
Her brow furrowed, wondering what could have happened while she had been away to cause this, it certainly wasn't caused by her, and it wasn't here when she left. Her curiosity got the better of her, she craned her neck around the corner, and she almost frowned at the sight. It was a child, lying down, motionless on the ground, puddles of blood surrounding it. Lust knew there was no point in calling our, or checking for a pulse, the boy was dead, there was no doubt about that, with how much blood he'd lost…
Poor thing…
She raised her eyebrow; covering her mouth and looking around, did she dare imply that she cared for a human?; she shook her head, convincing herself that she was just curious as to who would dare to cut the life of a child short, even she wouldn't go that far. Lust squatted beside his broken body, picking him up by the neck of his sorry excuse of a cloak, she recognized him, and her frown unconsciously returned. It was the boy that she often saw about the town, back when she wore her hair up with her usual attire she saw him staring at her, eyes longing, as if briefly living a distant memory whenever he caught sight of her. Yet the day before, during her hunt for a body for Pride, he smiled at her, clinging tight to her cloak, she didn't understand why he wrapped his arms so lovingly around her, or why he muttered strange things about being so happy to see her again, even when he often saw her in her normal clothes, she had faked a smile and given him a few cenz her 'friends' had given her just to get rid of him, he had been ruining her chances of deceiving the human. It perplexed her how the child had gone from such happiness to the state he was in now in but a few hours. She continued to observe silently, watching the blood spill out of his mouth and nose, she thought it strange, wondering why it hadn't dried up yet, instead dripping down his arms and over the round glass he was holding loosely.
Round glass…
Lust looked down, prying the object from his fingers will little difficulty. She hesitated, again wondering why his body hadn't stiffened up like the other corpses she'd seen. Though she didn't understand she didn't bother to question it, raising the glass up to her face, inspecting it despite the crimson that coated almost all of it in one way or another. She gasped, dropping the child instantly, and he fell limp back into the pool of his own blood with a quiet splash.
It was Pride's flask,
and it was empty.
Lust shook from head to toe, her eyes wide and darting about, looking for any sign of the small homunculus, her sibling, he couldn't survive outside his flask for so long, and he wouldn't let any human take it. She thought the worst, and instead ran her hands through the puddles, staining them red, desperately searching for the bloodied corpse of a minute baby; he had to be here…had to be…
Father had let her see Pride's true form once. One otherwise uneventful day, when Pride was asleep, Father parted the shadows that made him up, revealing the helpless infant the colour of snow that lay inside. It had been sleeping peacefully within its dark body, sucking on its thumb, cracking an eye open for a moment as it sensed a disturbance, and glanced at them with a blank expression, seldom used eyes barely able to focus on them. Father said that Pride's real body slept while he controlled his shadows, dreaming of the reality he lived in, but that was only his theory about it, it remained as one of the only things Father didn't know about the world, excluding the current location of Slave number 23.
Lust blinked hard at the thought that she'd never see her brother again, hanging her head in shame, she'd failed in protecting him, she could never return to Father now, he would surely kill her for letting this happen, the first time he was allowed outside too…she pulled her legs to her chest, at a loss for what to do.
Her sadness quickly changed to anger as she realized that Pride hadn't simply died, he was murdered, why else would the child be holding his flask? She stood up, kicking the boy hard in the chest, hearing a quiet crack before he rolled onto his back. Lust looked over the cuts on his body, glaring daggers even if she knew he couldn't see it.
"You monster. How could you…well, at least he didn't let you get away with it" Lust almost smiled as she imagined Pride slicing open his cheek and snapping his ribs, losing all sympathy she previously held for the homeless boy. Another wave of guilt washed over her as she realized that if Pride had done such a thing, all his innocence must have been tore away as well- by that boy no doubt. "I just wish you were still alive, so I could make you suffer more. What you've done…" She turned away, holding the flask tight to her stomach, wondering if Father would look for them when they didn't return, she'd need to leave town, she could easily get a man to take her far, far away, but after that, where would she go?…she didn't want to think about it. A fleeting glance at the alley, she assumed that Pride's body, Pride's real body would still be there, somewhere, she just wasn't capable enough to find it, though she knew deep inside that she didn't want to find it, she didn't want to see how her mistake had affected him, killing a homunculus was…difficult, he must have suffered terribly…
"I…I'm sorry Pride…I know…I shouldn't have…" She echoed Pride's words from the day before glumly as she started to walk away, hating the fact that she'd upset her brother, and just before this ended up happening…
"I'm sorry…
I'm sorry…"
…
"What's wrong…Lust?" Lust gasped, clutching the flask tighter, turning around faster than she thought possible "Did you do something wrong…?"
"P-P-Pride?" Her voice was soft, as if she couldn't find the strength to speak properly
"What is it Lust…? Where did that Little Human go…? He was…" Pride sounded like he'd just woken up, and his voice held a distinctive echo, like when he was in his flask.
"Where…Where are you…w-what did he do to you?"
"Whatever do you mean by that, Lust? I'm right here" Lust stayed silent, trying to determine where his voice was coming from. She set the flask down, walking back into the alley, again glaring at child, despite the fact that Pride was alive. Lust paused; the boy's eyes were closed before, but now… "There you are Lust, I'm glad you're back, but the Little Human…I can't see him anywhere…wonder if he ran away…" She picked up the child by his 'collar', and his head flopped back, she tilted it upright, scowling, her spare hand clenched in a fist.
"How dare you imitate Pride like that, where did you put him you little brat! ?" The boy didn't answer, his green eyes glazed, not with lust, but with the soulless emptiness that only came with death.
"What do you mean by that, Lust? I'm Pride…how could I not be Pride?" the child's mouth didn't move, still hanging open slightly. Pride's voice still echoed nearby "Can't you see me…?" Her sudden rage was quickly turning to confusion; she carried the boy to a window, holding him up to his reflection
"Oh, there you are! And you're still making Philosopher's stones! That's nice, Father will really like you. Look Lust, it's that Little Human I was talking about, isn't he strange? He's so tiny, he makes Philosopher's stones too so Father might be able to use him for something." Lust didn't understand, the boy was looking at his reflection, yet Pride could still see, and was talking to the reflection instead of the child. "Lust…"
"What is it?"
"Can we go home? Father must be worried about us, and the Little Human doesn't look so good, we'll need to take him back before he runs out of Philosopher's stones…" Lust could only guess that Pride was talking about the slowing flow of blood coming from his cheek, mouth and nose. After a moment she nodded, assuming, or rather hoping, that Pride was simply hiding inside the boy's clothes and would come out when they arrived home, he was afraid of the light after all…
"Ok… Pride, let's go home" Lust lifted boy by his knees and began to carry him away, picking up Pride's flask and laying it on his stomach as she started to leave, she was careful where she chose to support his neck incase Pride happened to be hiding there.
As she went she continued to glare at the boy, and he stared blankly back, his chest unmoving, limbs dangling useless over Lust's arms.
'He must be dead…surely he-'
"Is something wrong Lust…why are you staring like that..? Are you sure you're feeling ok…?"
Lust just sighed, averting her gaze downward, Father would know what was going on, he always did, he'd find Pride in the boy's clothes and everything could go back to normal. After a while her mind wandered into a more pessimistic view, but she smiled nonetheless…
If it turned out the boy was acting
And that he had done something to Pride…
Then she'd just have to kill him.
In the worst possible way…
She'd never killed a child before…
Why miss the opportunity?
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A/N Sorry for the short chapter again, I just didn't want them getting to Father in one chapter or else I would think I'd be rushing, plus I didn't want you guys to think that I rushed it in just a few days.
I'm starting school again in two weeks so I hope to get a few chapters done by then, homework'll wreck my schedule…