Author's Note: I went back and named all the chapters, not sure why. And sorry it took so long to update! It's about time I wrote for the homunculi. Have fun with these three!
Lust was the foundation for most of the world's sins.
It did not matter the object at which passion was directed, be it a person, possession, status, or even a food. No matter whom Envy claimed as his own, whom Greed mocked and terrorized with declarations of, "You want as I want," Lust would still smile to herself, because her sin was present in most everything.
Could her brothers truly say the same? They all believed themselves to be predominant in the humans, save for perhaps Sloth who cared very little about matters that did not concern sleep, but Lust felt as if she was the only one warranted to such a feeling.
The world was helpless underneath the power of what she symbolized. Human men and women alike indulged in her as a guilty pleasure, perhaps not so secretly in some cases, and no matter how far they strayed, that passion was always bubbling just beneath the surface.
Lust was drawn to humans who basked in the glory of her sin, loved to see its power at work, how men became slaves to their hormones and were so easily deceived by a large bust and a pretty face. That Jean Havoc for instance, though Lust was mostly bored by him. His skin was virtually saturated with her. He was not much of a challenge, too easy to manipulate, and while Lust did enjoy a bit of manipulation, an immortal being grew bored from time to time.
At first glance, Roy Mustang was in Greed's territory, and Lust gave him no second thought. Greed made humans do unreasonably stupid things, even more so than Lust, and the Flame Alchemist was a thorn in Lust's side for far too long. His actions were fueled by a need to claw his way to the top of every mountain, and while that was passion in its own reward, Lust saw no beauty in it.
The line between Lust, Greed, and Gluttony was far too blurred to be comfortable. The same could be said for the three of them and Envy, though Lust was hesitant to admit any relation to the unhinged ferocity of Envy and everything that came with him. Either way, Lust was not inclined to claim Roy Mustang as a man of her mark. He fell somewhere in the vicinity of Greed and Envy, and Lust was comfortable with her assessment.
Until she tried to dispose of him, that is. He came back with a burning vengeance that scorched Lust to her very core. She'd been furious, revolted. No man of Greed's or Envy's would get the best of her, of that she'd been absolutely certain. She was the dominant of the sins, a god in her own right, and no lowly alchemist could kill her.
But kill her he did; and when Lust was spent, frozen in place as all fight left her body, she realized her error. Roy Mustang was indeed a man of her mark. His eyes had been so cold as her physical form started to dissipate, but Lust saw the passion in them, the overwhelming desire to protect what he cared for, to climb every mountain, defeat every adversary.
How foolish she had been. The human was no disciple of Greed's, nor a victim of Envy's iron clutches. He used her sin to its fullest potential, exploited its every perk and weakness. He had learned to control his lust and use it to his advantage, but his every pore oozed with it whether he knew it or not. It was the first time Lust had felt as if she herself had been used, not the other way around.
Roy Mustang was beautiful in all his lustful glory. The only human who came even close to receiving Lust's approval but fell just a few prideful steps shy was the Fullmetal girl, who Pride had marked as his territory long ago.
Untimely though her death may have been, it was an honor to be bested by someone who burned with a passion as strong as Lust's own.
As a homunculus, it was the purest way to go.
The first homunculus. The deadliest sin. The wielder of the shadows that made human children cry in the dead of night.
Pride was all those things and so much more. How naive Lust was to believe that she was the foundation for everything wrong with the human world – yes, Pride had known about her skewed sense of superiority. Pride was the fountain from which all other sins spilled forth. Pride brought even the strongest and most revered of humans to their knees.
He was an addiction, the easiest of the sins to slip into and the hardest to escape from; but there was dignity in being prideful, no matter what Wrath's wife had to say to the contrary. If only he could show her just how formidable he truly was.
It was interesting to see what his sin did to humans. Some of them even died because of it, but only if they were stupid. Pride was a sin of intellect and was best suited for those whose minds were larger than their hearts.
Much like his brothers and sister, Pride took satisfaction out of the destruction his sin brought about, the fights it started and the relationships it destroyed. There was nothing better than seeing his mark at work in the world, though being unable to show off his true genius and excellence to the humans made him sour at times.
That was where Edward Elric came in. She was so easy to belittle, and Pride took great joy out of proving to her, over and over again, that he was better in every way, that his pride trumped her own. She would never give in and was therefore the perfect challenge.
A sacrifice though she may have been, Pride was going to have fun with her while he could.
She didn't even seem to understand that her pride had nearly ruined her life. Her pride and indignation had kept her from forming a proper bond with Van Hoenheim, had the capacity to push every single person from the girl's vicinity; but then, humans were nostalgic and very forgiving.
They ignored the alchemist's prideful ways and stuck with her anyway, which annoyed Pride to no end. What was the need for companionship when one was supremely better than everyone around them? Edward was so full of hate and contempt for the world around her, and if she hadn't been a lowly human, Pride might have seen her as an equal.
How she was able to surround herself with such lower life forms was beyond Pride.
It was hard enough for him to stomach being around the likes of Gluttony and Sloth, so her ability to keep such scum for company had always intrigued Pride, as was her inclination to hide her pride behind a mask of feigned humility.
She always referred to herself as a lowly human, but Pride knew that others of her kind would consider her a god among men. Maybe she did it for appeal, to gain more influence in her world? Pride wouldn't put it past her. She was virtually his sister, after all. The ability to connive was a family trait.
The fact still remained, however, that Edward was an ant. Compared to Pride, she was nothing. He was a homunculus, the ultimate species.
But even the prideful could stoop to new lows when it was necessary. His container was falling apart, and Edward was the only able-bodied person around to fill its place. Of course, not just any body would work, let alone meet Pride's expectations. He and Edward both were born from Van Hoenheim's blood, so in theory, her body should have been able to house him comfortably.
It probably would have worked if that rat Kimblee hadn't interfered and given Edward a chance to fight back, to match Pride with an excellence of her own.
Furious didn't even begin to describe how Pride felt when Kimblee halted his invasion of Edward's body. How the man had the strength to do so after spending so long without a body was somehow beyond Pride, but it was out of his control.
How dare Kimblee. How dare he insinuate that Pride was throwing away his superior status as a homunculus just to inhabit Edward's body! It was inconceivable. He'd been trying to take over the girl's body out of necessity, not out of a desire to be human in any way, shape, or form. To do that would be to deny his own sin, and how could Pride ever do such a thing?
Those last few moments of his existence were the most painful in Pride's life. Edward had turned herself into a sort of Philosopher's Stone and forced her way in, forced herself on Pride, and took him apart from the inside.
And just before it all faded to black, before Edward triumphed, Pride saw Wrath and his wife, their smiles – Wrath's fake, and his wife's horrifically genuine – and it hurt so badly that Pride saw red. It had to have been Edward's doing. There was no other explanation.
To his dying scream, the homunculus was too prideful to admit that the image of family was an intriguing one.
Sentimentality was for the weak of heart. Frankly, it was more Wrath's forte, because why would anyone be vengeful if they didn't care about something in the first place, but that was neither here nor there.
Yeah, Greed placed himself totally above all that. His avarice was strong, but personal attachment wasn't something he often felt. He acquired what he felt he needed and that was the end of it. Unless someone tried to take what was obviously his, Greed more often than not forgot about what was in his possession, like a human kid who only wanted a toy when his siblings had it.
Greed didn't really understand the priority his fellow homunculi put on placing each human into a category. The seven of them were the epitome of their respective vices, so what the hell did it matter? Greed took pride – he'd come to realize that one sin could not exist without the others – in the fact that he was the king, so to speak, of his own domain. He felt no desire to find someone to match him in the art of coveting.
It was why he didn't get along with his brothers and sister, aside from the fact that he had major daddy issues that refused to be dealt with. Even when he'd been reborn, the new and improved Greed that was supposed to follow every order didn't quite fit in, could not and did not want to find common ground with any of the other homunculi.
But then Greed met his match in that piss-ant prince. Greed had invaded every part of the human's body, and still, the boy fought back. It was pretty impressive, actually, though Greed had no worries that he'd be able to keep the annoying brat in check. Ling's greed had been his undoing, and it brought the homunculus some sick sort of pleasure to observe the repercussions his sin brought about.
Greed, unlike sentiment, was not for the weak of heart. It was an all-consuming sin, and Ling had been another unwitting victim… until he suddenly wasn't.
It was strange. Ling waited and fought back only when Greed let his guard down. The kid was strong, Greed would give him that, but he was also incredibly stupid. Ling just sat back and let Greed do as he pleased most of the time. Who in their right mind would let Greed consume his heart and soul?
But it worked both ways, as most things in life did. As Greed invaded Ling's being, so Ling invaded Greed's. It was in the few short months they spent dwelling in the same body that Greed learned ideals, what it was to have honor, dignity, and a vicious desire to protect.
It was absolutely disgusting. Ling was tied down by responsibility and thought too small. He wanted to be the Emperor of Xing, wanted to protect his people and those closest to him. It wasn't his desire to rule the world, to protect everyone, not just those closest to him. Ling's avarice just wasn't strong enough, and Greed always knew it.
And yet he accepted the boy's body as a host anyway. Maybe he had been soft, even from the very beginning. Ling was just an intriguing specimen, and he'd been available at the time of Greed's second birth. Of course, Edward would have been an acceptable host as well, though it was always easier to take over a willing spirit.
If she hadn't been slated as a sacrifice, Father probably would have placed Greed within her instead. That little shit would've fought him tooth and nail. She probably would have died trying to resist him, and after everything, Greed was thankful that things worked out differently. Pain in the ass though she may have been, Edward was just special.
The same could be said for Alphonse, if she'd had a human body at the time. Her desire to protect, something Greed had determined to be a premature motherly instinct, was a feat to behold. The intensity of her draw while under the influence of her own greed was enough to make Greed want to abandon ship and inhabit her body instead, metal suit or not.
He saw himself in all of those humans. Maybe that was why he wanted to protect them, to… to befriend them.
They were his own. They knew he was a homunculus and didn't give a rat's ass either way, though that may have been because Greed inhabited Ling's body at first. Ling and Edward gave Greed something he hadn't had in his life, hadn't experienced since Dublith.
Maybe Greed was as sentimental as that bastard King Bradley. He was wired to want everything the world had to offer, and all he'd really desired was to have friends like Ling, friends who were willing to die for him.
Greed couldn't explain the emotions he felt when Ling tried to fight back while Father ripped Greed from his body. He knew that his old man would win out in the end. It was all a matter of whether or not Ling would let go; but Greed had known his host wouldn't entertain the idea of letting go. He knew how strong the prince's desire was to protect and maintain.
But Greed was himself. His avarice was stronger than Ling's. His desire to protect and maintain was a thousand times stronger than anything Ling might have felt in his simple human body. Greed knew he could take Father down from the inside, but that would involve saying goodbye.
Greed had never been especially good at goodbyes, if Ling's swollen face was anything to go by.
Not being king of the world was somehow worth it if Greed could protect Ling and Lan Fan, Heinkel and Darius, Jerso and Zampano. It was worth it if Greed could avenge Alphonse, whose sacrifice hit Greed at his very core. She would've rather died than see her own sister used to make a Philosopher's Stone.
It was a selfish and selfless act. Greed could not determine if his sin had fueled her actions, or if Alphonse was something else altogether, his opposite, his charity.
Father had been wrong when he told Greed that anything Greed wanted, his loving daddy had wanted it first. Greed knew without a shadow of a doubt that the man who caused so much death and suffering had never wanted to protect as badly as Greed did. He could lay claim to everything else, but the desire that Greed learned from Ling and the Elric sisters was forever his to utilize.
In the end, Greed found peace as a homunculus because his sin was present in everybody, good and bad, from one end of the earth to the next; and that was as good as ruling the world, in Greed's humble opinion.
As for his own personal feelings on the matter… well, Greed found peace because Ling and Edward and Alphonse had turned him into something that wasn't quite so bad, a sin worth accepting, and a friend worth having.