A/N Late again…

Reviews:

Larsa7- I had serious jet-lag after I got back off holiday, so I was waking up at 12pm and couldn't go to sleep after only being up 12 hours, the result was I was staying up until 2AM onwards.

It happens, sometimes you kinda forget, especially with maternal Lust here. She's so nice, but she's going to be rather unhappy when Pride starts calling her 'Little sister', since it'll be weird given Pride's container.

I know, what a bad mind I have, how can Father think that about his daughter? Though I love the logic I gave him 'just because he's older than you (Lusts' 2) doesn't mean you can… Bad Father! Thinking Lust is like that, this is why you're better with no emotions, you don't make stupid suspicious assumptions, that holding pose was perfectly fine! *overreacting*.

Litte One's still getting my author wrath…and all because he tried to get me to keep him alive with his cute shota charm, I CANT CHANGE THE CANON FOR YOU (insert name here), don't try to make me! He's so upset, he probably doesn't know where he is…all alone…with all that screaming…No Name what have I done? ! Oh…um…don't worry…someday you'll go mad and forget who you are…that isn't much of an ending for you but…arrgh! I've dug myself into a hole…

I like this nice Lust, oh so good at helping her big bro when he's upset~

Yes…yes he is going to destroy no names body…then remake it…rules of alchemy and all that…I've left out a lot of the gory details though so you can think the worst ^_^

Warmth is important, Pride probably never felt warmth in his flask, but if the body isn't warm all the blood'll dry up and it'll decompose…hope he likes it in there…well he's an infant inside he'll be fine, babies like warmth…

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Moofy-Fan-

Don't worry, I'm grateful you took some of your time to review at all ^_^ I was actually worried a little about what people would think about chapter 13

Innocent Pride is so fun to write. I won't spoil when he becomes a monster though; it'll be a very slow process…maybe…

I'm just spouting rubbish as usual, they just seem to occasionally make sense ^_^ since she died early I can almost do what I want with her character, which is good.

New body trauma…Pride's going to freak…if he can control his body enough to freak that it…

Thanks for the suggestion on my pacing; I'm sure it'll work out ok in the end.

I'm very happy that my fic inspired you to write your longest review, lets hope I can make you break that record in the future ^_^

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Now, gotta just say that this was written ALL OUT OF ORDER, most of these scenes were added in at the last second and got half deleted since I just happened to decide I didn't like them, right after writing them, I don't know what's wrong with meee! This chapter's too long… I've decided, the last scene's getting moved to chapter 16 It's a mess I know…I'm so sorry…

The next chapter's the interlude chapter by the way, dunno what I'm actually putting in it, but expect some out-of-flashback action with Mrs. Bradley! Oh and my bad attempts to write fluff (I've never written fluff before…gonna be fun…why didn't I think this through…)

Just a little reminder, if Pride ever says something is 'blue' it's really 'orange', since Lust told him back in chapter…8 (we spent 4 chapters on two days…well, an evening and the early morning of the next day? !) that the sky was blue, but since she told him that in the evening Pride thinks orange is 'blue', I'll be sure to fix that little mistake once he learns to read and write…

...I wrote so much, despite being back at school…Arakawa-sensei…she…owns… *dies*

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Sin's Child

Chapter Fourteen: Dreaming in Crimson

September 19th 1680

"Who was this boy, Lust?" Father spoke suddenly, startling a dozing Lust.

"I…I don't know, Father…I only saw him in passing, but the day before I found him he called me 'Luna', several other humans have also referred to me by that name, I did not create an alias for myself to use in town... I believe I am being mistaken for someone else."

"Find out who that is, if it is a relation to the child it may serve to be quite convenient, we can integrate you into society using the humans you will be mistook for, if this Luna still exists…seek her out, and… 'take her place', as it were" Lust nodded with a smirk, extending her fingernails to show she understood completely.

"Now…about the boy." Father tapped on the child's forehead as he spoke, staring down at the body his sleeping child had stolen "You will tell Pride he was a homunculus I created for him to use as a body" Lust sat up, raising her eyebrow

"May I ask what for, Father? Doesn't Pride already know he found a human?"

"He will not question what you tell him, should he ask tell him that I sent it to find him, in order for it to be used as his new body, we shall praise him for doing as expected, Lust. He must not find out this body belonged to a human, it would be an insult to all he believes in, that he is living inside a being he has been taught to be inferior to him in every respect, that is inferior. He must never know. Do you understand that, Lust?"

"Of course Father, I will not do anything that will make Pride doubt the legitimacy of this…homunculus he found, not a real homunculus I presume, one that does not embody a sin, Pride would not like the knowledge that he used a new sibling as a container" Father gave her a sideways smile, delighted that Lust was such a good liar.

"When Pride awakens perhaps we may find the name of this child who foolishly dared to approach a homunculus." Father paused for a moment to heat the boy's blood, judging by the temperature of his head it had started to cool already "Let us get started, Lust, we must make this body suitable for Pride to live through" Lust nodded, rushing over to Father's side, passing him several books on the human body whenever he asked for them.

After a while Lust sat back down, simply observing now, knowing that Father could work fine without her 'help', her gaze wandered over to the child, as Father leaned over him, studying the different parts of his body, occasionally asking her to write down modifications he would need to make in the near future. Lust could hardly begin to imagine it, even as she stared at him now.

The young, optimistic, innocent face of that frail urchin boy

…would soon be the face of her older brother.

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First week of October, 1680

Pride yawned, rubbing at his eye, when had he fallen asleep? He looked wearily around, his eyes only meeting with an endless void of crimson and dark 'blue'. It was warm, he wasn't used to it being like this, but it seemed…comforting.

"I must be dreaming…" was his first thought, he didn't mind, dreaming was fine; he could just wait until he woke up, maybe Father would have made use of that human by that time.

"Where…Where am I?" A voice echoed around, not his voice he was sure "'ello?"

"Hello." Pride glanced around, he couldn't see anyone.

"Where am I? Where'd Luna go?"

"Luna? Do you mean Lust? Lust is not here."

"No. Luna aint that, please dun call 'er that. She dun like it wen yer call 'er 'lust-full', because she aint. she told me she aint." The voice corrected him, a certain anger in it that Pride wasn't used to hearing. Pride hardly understood what it was saying, choosing to speak in a way that neither he nor Lust nor Father did. He couldn't for the life of him figure out why someone would talk like that.

Hm…this is broken too…

Another, louder voice echoed, it sounded like it was coming from outside somewhere. Pride smiled, it was Father! The other voice yelped, and seemed to dash over, latching onto Pride's body, digging what seemed to be slender fingers into one of his eyes, Pride closed it, making the eye reform elsewhere.

"Please dun tell 'im I'm 'ere, I dun wanna forget who I am and get lost…I need t' see Luna again; she'll be worried 'bout me." Pride looked up, he could feel the weight of someone on him, but he still couldn't see just who he was talking to "Please…let me stay…'t least until I find a way out, then I can find Luna again, then we'll be 'appy, like yesta-day…" Pride sighed, knowing that he wouldn't be able to make the voice let go. It held fixed onto him, not daring to move, even when Father had long since left wherever they were in Pride's dream. The voice took Pride's silence as an 'okay' and patted at the top of his body

"Thank you" Pride ignored it, floating along silently, half-wondering if this was all this dream was going to entail.

Pride…I don't know if you can hear me…but I learned a 'lullaby' a few months ago, and I thought I could sing it to you, I know it probably won't help much, but…but I don't really know what else to do right now… hope you like it…

The voice perked up, raising its head

"Luna?"

"No…Lust…" Pride tried to correct it, but it seemed to shake its head, stubbornly believing that it was that 'Luna' person.

Lust began to hum something, Pride didn't know what a 'lullaby' was, but he quite liked it, so gentle sounding, so tender and caring, he felt his eyelids droop; he didn't bother to try to fight it, hoping that sleeping in a dream would make him wake up. The voice above him sighed, nuzzling into his body; he ignored it, too preoccupied with his own thoughts and the nearing prospect of sleep to care.

Pride shivered a bit as he slept, the somehow invisible person still wrapped tight around him, sleeping equally as soundly, the void shifted around the two peaceful souls, all was silent. Then, ever so slightly, Pride began to change, his dark, black body stretching itself out of the child's arms, four tendrils extending out of the tip, one short, stubby and round, the others long and thin. Soon it became apparent; Pride had taken the form of a child. He didn't wake, not even as sharp white teeth began to wind around what would be called shoulders and curled down to his waist, halting above newly developed legs. The spiraled mouth closed as skin began to fold over the human shaped shadow, further defining its shape, creating ripples in it to give the illusion of muscles existing underneath, forming fingers and toes over the blobs the shadow called hands and feet. Messy black hair grew out from the just formed scalp, falling into his developing eyes. Then all was still, the sudden change complete, the boy now clinging onto Pride's arm, still asleep, as if nothing had happened.

Pride yawned, revealing normal, human teeth, he too seemed blissfully unaware of what had happened to him, and yet, he managed to raise his spare arm, to bend his knees and pull them to his chest, to form a fist, and put his thumb in his mouth.

The now identical souls still slept, leaning contently against each other, both imagining that it was a tall black haired woman that they were leaning against instead, someone who they valued ever so dearly

Their sister

Younger, older, it didn't matter to them, not that they knew of their similarities. Though now physically identical, one difference still separated them somewhat.

One was wearing a worn, tattered cloak.

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December 13th 1680

It was a strange thing, though she didn't really understand it, but the more she saw him, though she hardly ever left his side now, the more 'cute' he seemed to become. Was he always like this? She told herself otherwise, Father had made him like this; he had never looked so healthy, not even when he was alive. Father had taken such good care of him over the past two months, sealing his open wounds, repairing his broken ribs, nose and arm, his punctured lungs, fractured skull and removing all that strange gas that was making his stomach bloated despite the fact that humans didn't eat gas or that the child whose body it was was far too poor to afford food, Lust didn't know why fixing all those things was necessary, but believed her Father's assumption that it would make Pride comfortable in his new 'container', he wouldn't like it inside if it was cracked and torn, and they couldn't have that. He believed Pride was living inside his head for the time being, his eyes still faintly visible beneath the child's own blank ones, but chose to repair most of the human's body in case his assumption was incorrect, however unlikely he considered it.

Pride panted, drawing in short shallow breaths much quicker than a normal human should, it was more of an instinct than intentional, Pride couldn't control his lungs yet, he scrunched his eyes up tight at the newly arisen discomfort, Lust smiled, imagining that Pride's real body would probably be doing the same, she faked a pout.

"Again, Pride? What am I going to do with you?" Lust reached over, lightly dipping a cloth in the nearby bowl of water and laying it gently over 'Pride's' forehead. he quieted down at the cooling sensation, tiny hints of what seemed to be a developing smile tugging at the sides of his mouth, eventually he gave up, letting it sag back into an expressionless line, he was still too weak to fully manipulate the no doubt complex muscles there. Father wanted Pride to be 'warm' and happy while he 'adjusted' in this 'container' of his, but sometimes heated the boy's blood just a bit too much, Lust had to collect bowls of snow and ice from outside incase Father was too busy to cool the water, before the snow came she just had to wait it out, hoping Father would notice and 'fix' Pride himself, if not…he could go on for hours.

She really didn't know what she was doing, looking after her older brother like this, while Father researched what parts of the human's body he needed to replace or remove or reconstruct, but it was all for Pride's sake, so she knew that it would be worth all the effort in the end, whenever that 'end' would come. Neither she nor Father dared to hazard a guess, lest they be disappointed when the day snuck up on them, arrived, and passed before either of them noticed it.

Lust picked up the bowl; she'd need to refill it soon, but Father was busy working and she couldn't leave Pride by himself. She sat back down, staring into the clear liquid, wondering if there was enough left to see him through the night, a wry smile graced her face, she knew she was just lying to herself. She sighed, pressing the bowl's edge gently to Pride's mouth, tilting his head up slightly, she didn't want him choking, after a moment or two he complied, forcing his cracked lips apart and letting the water trickle down his throat. Lust wasn't even sure if Pride needed to drink anything, but didn't see the harm in it if it helped in keeping his 'container' the correct temperature. Lust remained still, silent, waiting patiently for her sibling to empty the contents of the bowl, she watched closely, observing with an accidental smile the minute twitches of his lips as they tried to clamp down onto the rim, and how his eyelids fluttered a little while he drank, somehow managing to know he needed to stop breathing in order to do so, hesitating every few moments to force a shallow breath through his nose, Lust paused, questioning if there was something wrong with it. Perhaps-

"How is he, Lust?" Father loomed over her, when had he stopped working?

"F-Father, I didn't see you there…" She stuttered, pulling the bowl away and placing it on the table, spilling it over Pride's face and neck in the process, she flinched at the mistake, belatedly trying to wipe the water with a spare cloth "P-P-Pride got too hot again, he seems fine now but there's no water left and…and I didn't want to leave him"

"Well, we can't be having that, can we?" Father pulled the cloth from Pride's head, dropping it into the empty bowl, replacing it with his hand; it sparked a few times, Lust watched as nothing seemed to happen, after a moment Pride let out a sigh, moving his head from side to side, rubbing affectionately into Father's hand. He cracked an eye open, they still contained their usual emptiness; Pride couldn't move them at all, since he already had eyes of his own he didn't acknowledge them.

"Oh yes, I have yet to fix those…haven't I?" Father smirked as he pulled at the bottom of his beard with his spare hand, Lust knew it as a sign that he was pondering something, a certain flicker of mischief in his gaze "Why don't you run along and collect more ice, Lust?"

"But…have you not already regulated Pride's temperature, Father?"

"That I have. But, we can never be sure of what will happen, your brother has not yet fully adapted to this container yet, we should anticipate anything Lust, even the unfortunate event of Pride being completely rejected, even now, after this long."

"But…there's no such thing, that isn't possible, is it Father? I mean-"

"There's no such thing as 'no such thing', Lust. But perhaps you are correct, we should not choose to presume such a pessimistic view, he will be fine, he is very capable. I made him, and I will be the one to ensure this child's body will be befitting of my pride. Now then…you go on, get that ice for Pride"

"Yes, of course, Father." Lust picked up the bowl, hurrying off to the world outside, she bit into her lip as she went, wondering if she would be allowed to visit the town while she collected the snow and ice, that human would be worried about where she'd run off to for the past two months, what could she tell him? She convinced herself not to, Pride was far more important than that human. She could wait, wait until Pride had awoke, had learned to walk and read and write and do all those other things that he couldn't inside that stuffy flask of his, then she could return to town, and see that strange human again.

Father smirked, so many colours he could choose for Pride's eyes, red orange yellow, a more vibrant green, blue indigo viole-

Violet…the colour of the sin of pride

"Violet it is…no….purple." Father leaned over, his hand hovering over Pride's face, with a swift motion his hand was already digging deep into the eye socket, fingers wrapping around their target, pus and blood leaking out between them as he tried to keep a firm grip on the gel-like substance, he ignored it, tearing the small orb out with little difficulty, bringing several blood vessels and torn strings of sinew along with it. He stopped for a moment to wipe Pride's face, before quickly moving onto the other, Pride could handle a little pain once in a while; he probably couldn't feel it anyway. He didn't see the single tear that forced itself from the remaining eye, that slid down Pride's cheek and that was lost amongst the blood that soon followed it. Pride's mouth hung open, gasping as he lay flat on the table, blood beginning to pool in the wide holes that would soon house his replacement eyes, his arms and legs convulsed in response, still held tight in place by the bindings on his wrists and ankles, Father paid no attention, disposing of what little remained of the child's second eye. Pride was far too unstable to fully control his body yet, it was merely reacting by itself. It was for the best that he kept his limbs bound.

Father dabbed at the sockets with Lust's cloth, earning a hiss and then a quiet whimper from Pride, he pretended not to hear, pressing harder into the hollow cavity, this blood was a hindrance, but evaporating it would do nothing but boil it and cauterize the nerve endings, which would only make things worse. Satisfied for now, he turned away from the sobbing form of Pride's container, deciding against sealing his lips shut, he would stop eventually. Father sat down, and began to work on Pride's new eyes, wondering how wide they should be, how big the pupils needed to be, how round, how far they needed to widen in the dark, or compress in the light. They needed to be different to Lust's, young, innocent, and hopeful, like the body he now occupied. They needed to be unique, human in appearance but something needed to be different. His Pride didn't deserve anything less.

But just how unusual could he make them without them being inhuman?

It would certainly be an entertaining challenge.

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Second week of February, 1681

Unbeknownst to Pride, as his soul had previously changed to suit his container, his real body was slowly following suit somewhat, deep inside the hollow skull of the now long dead child, suspended in the centre of where a brain once sat, removed by Father almost immediately after he was found to keep him comfortable, the ninety year old homunculus, remaining as an infant even after so long, slept happily in the warm new container, thumb secure inside its mouth, knees pulled up tight to its chest despite the wide void that surrounded it.

It didn't stir; it wasn't used to moving anymore, moving was pointless, its shadows were more than efficient at their 'job', should it awaken for a single moment they would lull it back to sleep before it could realize it. They caressed it lovingly at all times, willing its dreams to be pleasant, it needed to remain content, asleep and content. If its dreams were unpleasant it would be upset, if it was upset it might cry, crying would make it move; moving would wake it up, if it woke up it would move more, they might have to restrain it…which would upset it…which would…which would…

They couldn't have that happening.

Its body was well on the way to completely 'adapting', its skin darker now, no longer the pure white of the snow that still clung to the ground above, the red spots on its unused limbs and the line running down its back barely visible, fated to vanish within a few days. Even its Father's ever precious symbol of its status as a homunculus, the peculiar image of a dragon coiled around a star, chasing its tail, once where a navel should have been, was gone, leaving just a bare, now skin coloured stomach.

Underneath its closed eyelids, the wet, blank crimson eyes that it had possessed for the ninety years of its life were absent, human eyes in their place, large and of an unusual colour, but still human, something that perhaps no homunculus should have owned.

Yet, in the centre of its forehead, a single scarlet dot had yet to disappear, much lighter than before, but still clinging to the skin unlike the others, even as it tried to fade away, again, and again…and again, it remained, as rebellious as ever. Pride could never stop itself thinking; unlike the others, it wasn't useless, it still had a purpose to serve.

Physically it was the only inhuman feature it possessed now, the only exterior sign separating it from the species it deemed so inferior.

And yet now so similar to them…

In its container made from a human…

But it didn't need to know that…

Why ruin its Pride as a Homunculus?

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May 18th 1681

The voice had been acting particularly nervous today; having spent the last few days making no sense whatsoever, keeping its distance, rambling about the most cynical of things Pride didn't understand, like 'Can't you hear the others? They're so loud, you're lucky, to not be able to…' and 'I hope…L…L-Lu…I can't remember, but I hope she isn't here, really I hope, I want t' see her again but...that won't happen now…will it?' Pride didn't like the pessimistic turn the voice had taken, he enjoyed the overly hopeful dreams it effortlessly wove whenever they spoke, of how happy it was when that Luna person came back, what a delightful, caring person she was, how she looked after him after…it wouldn't say what had happened to it before, and how it had awoke wherever they were, no sign of that dear human the voice called 'Luna'. Apparently Luna wasn't Lust at all; at least it insisted that Luna was not Lust, that they were nothing alike, despite Pride being equally insistent in that Lust could be as caring and considerate as this Luna when she wanted to be, though having no patience for humans who pestered her.

Pride was still, musing as he stared up at the endless crimson and occasional 'blue' patterns that surrounded him, it reminded him of Philosopher's stones, he had to admit he quite liked it, but he didn't notice, his thoughts elsewhere, as much as he convinced himself that he could survive away from Father and Lust for a long period of time, he wanted to see them again, he was…lonely, even if he wouldn't admit it.

Something tugged at his arm; he didn't need to check to know who it was

"What do you want?" he said much more dryly than he meant to, he felt it flinch

"I…I'm sorry, I jus' wanted…t-to tell you…" something strange happened to its voice, Pride couldn't describe it

"Speak up, what do you want?" He heard it sniff, trembling

"I think…sumthin's coming" A bright light shone down from somewhere far above them, Pride didn't know the colour, but it seemed so inviting…and warm…

He should awake within the next few days

Pride beamed, it was Father, Father said he was going to wake up, he'd see them again, and very soon, he couldn't wait.

Be sure to be by his side when he does, he will no doubt be confused.

The voice still cowered beside him.

"You're leaving, aren't you?" it whispered, its grip on his arm loosening, it started pulling away

"I'm going to wake up, I've been dreaming, but, you can come with me, I'm sure Father and Lust can take care of you as well." Pride began to step forward, towards the warm welcoming light; he stretched his hand out, wondering if it was within reach, if he could touch it… The voice let go, giving Pride an encouraging push as it stepped backwards.

"No…I can't…e-excuse me, I hafta go. B-but please do enjoy yerself…out there…I…I would say don't forget about me…but I know yer will… everyone else has…" Pride wrinkled his nose, scowling, what had happened to the optimistic voice he knew? He didn't like it, not one bit; he turned to face the voice, and gasped.

He could see it now, the voice no longer simply a voice, but a boy. It resembled a human somewhat, but it was red, its skin, hair, eyes, clothes, all red. Its arms were wrapped around its waist, water trickling down from its eyes; it looked up, forcing a smile, a wide wide wide smile, it waved its hand at him, seeming so far away now. The light felt closer, he could feel the warmth of it on his back…he didn't understand any of it "Please, have fun." It still smiled, even when its fingers started to dissolve, eating down its hand before it could react, "Oh! If you see 'er, tell L…L…Lu…!" Its feet were gone now, it started panicking, unable to hold its smile "L…tell her I…I'm going to visit Mother…and Father too!…I hope. Please… Tell her I'm sor…" The boy paused, staring down at its fading body, it blinked hard to itself, sighing "You won't remember…then…please don't look, I don't want you t' see…" Pride nodded with a weak smile, turning away, facing the light once again, it was brighter than ever, too bright in fact. Pride covered his eyes, he couldn't break his promise, he wouldn't turn back around, he wouldn't look…

"I s'pose this is goodbye then…Good luck…" It was silent after that, Pride didn't reply, he knew it wouldn't, somehow. He squeezed his eyes shut, half to block out the light, half for some other reason he wasn't sure of. He started to walk, not daring to look back even once, after a few steps the walk broke into a jog, and into a run soon after that, he didn't question how he knew how to walk, or run, he didn't question why he had legs when he never had them before, he didn't care how or why. He just wanted to leave.

He just wanted to escape this endless dream.

To see Father and Lust again.

To wake up.

His vision faded into the colour of the light as he brushed it with his fingers and suddenly lost the will to move, not hearing the anguished, child-like scream that echoed as he left.

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BABY PRIIIIIIDDDDDEEEE! You've finally made a comeback after 7 chapters! And now you're gone again…You guys have NO IDEA how difficult it was to try and figure out how I was going to make it so Pride's true form only had that red dot on its head and had purple eyes and normal skin colour…then this loophole showed itself…hope it worked out ok… Pride's soul changing was another issue, but I used the same loophole *grin*

Speaking of baby Pride, I never explained why I put his ouroboros where I did, did I? Weeellll…I put it were his bellybutton (need to keep using navel in the fic *bleh, hate the word*) should be because he isn't a natural baby, so doesn't have one, the ouroboros sort of represents that as being an unnatural birth, and being Father's first child. Though the thought crossed my mind about his shadows being very umbilical cord-esque when they weren't really an outline (we sort of forgot that's what they were supposed to be haven't we?) and weren't real shadows either, which would make the Philosopher's stone, it's source of support… no…*slaps self* what's wrong with me and my weird weird theories? ! I-It the hormones, I've gone mad with baby thoughts, damn woman hormones, go away I don't want you, you're wrecking my mind!

I need to stop keeping no name alive, or rather, in the fic, I didn't mean to have him meet Pride inside his Philosopher's stone, but I just can't bring myself to stop including him, everyone loves him, I love him. Seriously now, he's forgotten who he is, and gotten lost among the other souls, he ain't coming back from that *reminds self that* …*sniff*

Father quoted Greed in advance ^_^ I actually don't like the first Greed that much *shield* so I'll need to buy the manga and read his chapters before I start writing the chapters that have him in them…

By the way, it seems that people in Amestris can actually have purple eyes, since one of the soldiers who tried to stop Greedling's angry rampage in episode 58 had purple eyes