Number of words: 6,388

Published date: October 18, 2015

Began chapter: August 1, 2015

Finished chapter: October 18, 2015

Chapter 37: One is All, All is One

There were many things that Lust did not like about living in the country, things she suspected Greed and Envy did not like about it either.

Most significant was the lack of things to do. In Central at least, there had been myriad ways to entertain themselves when not occupied with furthering their father's schemes. Greed had favoured bars and stores, crowds and celebrations, any and all places where people let loose and enjoyed themselves. Hedonism was his hobby and passion and he had never made a secret of it. Envy had favoured the opposite, tending to hang out in places where people were more likely to be sad or unhappy or, failing that, where happy people could be made to be unhappy. Lust had discovered by accident that Envy had spent a fair portion of his free time people-watching outside the courthouse, which was the easiest place to hear former lovers screaming at each other, children crying, co-workers or prior roommates exchanging vicious insults, and sometimes physical violence directed in impotent rage over the pettiest things imaginable. And when Envy wanted to be more directly involved, he would visit one of the streets in Central taken up by cafes and diners to interrupt and hopefully ruin the day for whichever romantic pair looked to be most enjoying themselves.

One nice thing, however, about living in the country that Lust had never appreciated before was the darkness.

She was standing on the mansion's balcony, enjoying how, without the bright lights of the city, the sky was filled with stars.

It was a pleasant evening. A light breeze blew up from the south, gently playing with her long hair and the sleeves of the light blue nightgown she was wearing, a breeze that was more than welcome after the heat of the day. The woods had initially seemed quiet, but after a few minutes, Lust found that there were more noises than she had first noticed. There was some kind of chirping from the direction of Kauroy Lake – she thought it was crickets, or maybe frogs. The trees rustled faintly with the breeze. There was a quick swishing noise in the air above her head, the flapping of wings of some flying night creature.

Closer were the noises of the mansion's occupants: the sound of dishes being moved in the kitchen and of Selim practicing the piano. She imagined Sloth was with Selim, though he might have already gone to bed, and last she had seen, Lily and Gluttony were in the dining room working through the last letters of the alphabet.

She could hear nothing from Dublith, though she could see the lights of the city from where she stood. There were only a few lights visible and they had nowhere near the brightness of those in Central, doing nothing to obscure the night sky overhead, which was devoid of moon or clouds.

The sheer number of stars made her feel small and insignificant. She had not come out to look at them, had come outside merely for a breath of fresh air, but now that she was actually studying them, it occurred to her that she hadn't really noticed before that there were so many. The city lights of Central had blocked them out, allowing her to see only a small handful of the brightest stars. Of course, it wasn't the first time she'd seen the night sky in the country before, but it somehow felt different now.

When they had still been young, Father had confided in his oldest children how the Promised Day would unfold: That the solar eclipse, metaphysically acting as the eye of God and coupling with the Nationwide Transmutation Circle, would culminate in their father reaching out into the heavens to pull God down to earth. With that vision in mind, Lust had looked at the night sky (when she bothered to look at it) with condescension, with the haughty glance of someone sizing up an opponent and anticipating their downfall. But this had not come to pass, and when she looked at the sky now, she was reminded of how far they had fallen, that she was as small and insignificant as any other human looking up at the same sky.

It wasn't just the galaxies slowly spinning above her that made Lust pensive. Her stomach was no longer bothering her and she had pretty much finished with that particular problem, though she was still trying to get used to the implications. She had completely overlooked that aspect of humanity – fertility – when the Elrics had declared them to be human, and no matter that Lily would have been happy for her, Lust experienced the realization that she could even potentially have children as an unintended insult, much like being told one could be attractive if they would only do something about their face.

I wonder, she thought idly, if I should warn Greed. It would probably be a hassle for the rest of us if he ends up knocking up some girl. Though it would be kind of funny.

A sudden short scraping sound came from above and slightly behind her and Lust turned sharply, startled. The light from inside the mansion momentarily blinded her as she stared up into the shadows on the roof, thinking there was some small creature clambering around the edge. Instead, after holding up one hand to block the indoor light and allowing her eyes to adjust, the shadows coalesced into the form of her second brother, who was comfortably lying back on the smooth tiles, leaning on his elbows with one boot pressed against the lip of the gutter.

Greed grinned down at her. Unlike her, he had no trouble seeing Lust, outlined as she was by the light coming in through the balcony's glass doors.

Think of the devil, she thought to herself wryly, before demanding, "Have you been up there watching me this entire time?" only to realize that the answer to her question was obvious. Greed couldn't have climbed up or even moved along the roof without her hearing, so he must have been there since before she'd come outside. "You made that noise just to see me jump, didn't you?" she accused.

Greed continued to grin, shifting and switching his legs to brace himself with the one he had been relaxing.

"My leg fell asleep," he said after a loaded pause. Lust couldn't see his face well enough to decide how honest he was being, though of course he claimed to never lie, so it was probably the truth. Didn't mean he still hadn't also wanted to startle her, though.

"... What are you doing up there?" she asked after a moment.

She heard the rustle of his clothes as he shrugged. In the dark, she couldn't actually see the gesture.

"Same thing as you, Sis. Just looking at the stars. Enjoying the evening. Nothing special."

"Except that most people wouldn't bother climbing onto the roof to do so," she replied dryly. "How in the world did you get up there anyway?"

Greed remained silent and so Lust answered her own question. The balcony formed a semi-circle, nestled between the two pillars that bookended the mansion's impressive entrance. The railing around the balcony wasn't too elaborate: black-painted metal with thin rungs that had been formed into curling spirals. The railing came up to a little over her waist, making it a good height to lean on and next to impossible to fall over unless you were trying to.

It looked difficult, but the only way to get onto the roof that Lust could see was to climb up and stand directly on the railing in one of the corners against the wall. Even in his new body, which wasn't as tall as his old one, Greed could from there grab onto the edge of the roof and haul himself up. As well, the windows had thick panes and could be used as a foothold halfway up.

"You know, I noticed you seem to disappear a lot after dinner. Have you replaced a dingy bar with a rooftop as your new hideout? Seems like a downgrade," she teased.

His voice was gruff as he responded, "Hard to call it a hideout now, seeing as you've found me."

"I'm so sorry, dear brother. Am I disturbing you? Would you like me to leave you to your peaceful ruminations?"

He chuckled at her sarcastic tone. "Naw, I disturbed you first. Wouldn't be fair to tell you to leave."

Lust eyed her brother and the rooftop and was struck by a sudden whim. "Mind if I join you?" she asked.

"What for?"

"Come now, do I really need a reason to want to spend time with my own brother? Besides, my neck's getting tired looking up at you like this."

Greed hesitated, then shrugged again. "You probably just want to push me off," he muttered, "but I'm not gonna' say no to a lovely lady's company." He pushed himself up and inched over to the edge, then waited, quirking an eyebrow as he looked her up and down, obviously wondering how well she'd be able to climb up in the clothes she was wearing.

Ignoring the look, she walked over to the wall and, feeling foolish but unwilling to change her mind, climbed to stand on the railing. There was nothing to really hold onto, so Lust had to resort to first putting one knee up on the railing, then turning her body sideways while bracing herself against the wall to bring up her other leg and rise to her feet. It was harder than she'd expected, but she managed.

Her head was now almost level with the edge of the roof. She accepted the hand Greed offered, then used her other hand to tug the bottom of the nightgown up above her knee so she could lift and brace her slippered foot against the lower window pane. The grip wasn't good, but with a grunt and a heave and a short bit of scrambling, along with some completely accidental groping on Greed's part, she made it up beside him. Thankfully, the body Selim and the Elrics had fashioned for her was as healthy and strong as when she'd been a Homunculus.

It was nowhere near as comfortable as Greed had made it look. The silky nightgown and smooth roof tiles did not go well together, making Lust feel like she had to take extra care to not slide over the edge, and the slope was a tad steeper than she would have liked. She kept her feet braced against the gutter and her hands flat on the tiles.

Nevertheless, it was exhilarating to be up so high, the breeze was refreshing, and she could see even more of the sky now.

Greed seemed disinclined to talk even with the added company. He settled back down into the position he'd been in before, staring at the sky above them with a shadowed, pensive expression.

Lust studied him curiously from the corner of her eye. From the corner of his own eye, Greed judiciously watched her studying look and ignored it. He'd been happy enough by himself and she'd forced herself on him, so he felt under no obligation to entertain her.

Or at least that's what he wanted to think. Unfortunately, the dig she'd made had annoyed him. It had followed too closely with what he'd been thinking about before she'd come outside.

"… It's not a downgrade," he said abruptly.

"What?" Lust asked. It annoyed Greed even more that she'd already forgotten her comment.

"This," he elaborated, giving a brief gesture that encompassed their surroundings. "Don't make it sound like I've got less than I had before. I'm not settling, I'm just… waiting, is all."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Lust replied dismissively.

"Of course you don't," he muttered in frustration. "Ah, and what can I say when I still can't remember anything from before! Look, you guys probably think I was a fool for running away the first time. Work with our old man, get a little bit of God's power, and rule the world." He shifted briefly, holding a clenched fist up at the night sky to emphasize the point. "That was the deal and as far as deals go, it wasn't that bad. We just had to do everything our old man said: all his dirty work, all the plotting and lying and killing and whatnot. Maybe die a few times if it worked out that way. I don't even need my memories to know that's how it must have been." He shrugged. "Still not a bad exchange, and yet here's your dumbass brother giving it all up 'cause it still wasn't enough for him. I'm sure that's what you all thought, huh?"

Lust eyed him suspiciously. The topic threw her off, but his words were serious and genuine and she decided to answer honestly.

"Of course, Greed. We all agreed that you were a fool. A greedy fool, which wasn't especially surprising, all things considered." He barked a short laugh. "What of it?"

He shook his head, not so much at her but at himself. "How did each of you take it? My leaving the first time?" he asked instead of answering.

"I hardly need to tell you, since I'm sure you can guess," Lust replied with a smirk. "Sloth didn't care one iota. Gluttony missed you and wished you'd said good-bye. Envy ranted about how selfish you were and how he couldn't care less that you were gone, that you'd always been annoying and as far as he was concerned, good riddance and you could crawl off somewhere and die and it'd be all the same to him. I'm sure I've missed some words, but that should cover his main points."

Greed laughed again. Knowing Envy, that was likely not even one-tenth of what he'd said.

"Pride said that you weren't worthy of being called a Homunculus and that you were an embarrassment who should be gotten rid of as quickly as possible. Despite his change now, I'm willing to bet he would still seethe if you asked him how he felt about the fact that you managed to evade us for more than a hundred years."

"I'll pass on that," Greed muttered.

The breeze caught a lock of Lust's hair and she flicked it back over her shoulder. "I'd be curious to know the answer to that question as well," she said. "Whatever drew you to a backwater town like this?"

"Sorry. I don't remember," he told her.

She shrugged. It hadn't really been important.

"But what about you? How did you react?"

"Me?" Lust repeated, coolly indifferent. "Whatever makes you think I thought anything of it?"

"Come on, Sis, you don't need to play coy all the time! Granted, it's been fun teasing and flirting, but you're not as shallow as all that." She remained silent. Greed pressed the point. "I don't remember, but I get the feeling that we parted on bad terms...?"

"You could say that," she replied dryly. "Your last incarnation left this world in a vat of liquid fire while the rest of us watched in approval."

"That's not what I'm talking about."

She was starting to get annoyed. "Why is this important to you? This is all old history. It doesn't matter anymore."

"I guess not," Greed admitted, "but I'd still like to know. It's not like I agreed for our old man to take my memories away."

"Whether you remember now or not, you knew the risk when you left," Lust admonished and Greed grimaced at her. "If you must know, I was not surprised when you defected. The signs had been there that you were planning something and we all chose not to see them until after it had already happened. It was inconceivable to us that you would choose humans and all their weaknesses over the power that Father promised."

"Daddy never promised us nothin', and if he did, he was lying. He might have let us live after the Promised Day, but he might just as soon have taken our Stones back into himself. He certainly wasn't going to give us any share of it. At the end, he treated Selim as expendable, Wrath as a sacrifice, and me as a power boost. You can't possibly claim he cared about us."

Lust's voice was crisp as she retorted, "Father knew what his ultimate goal was and he put that before any other concerns. You had a similar policy of putting yourself first, as I recall."

Greed sat up and stared at her dumbly, unable to quickly come up with a retort, then shook his head. "Look, this isn't where I meant to go and I don't wanna' fight about it. Let's change the subject, alright?" Stony silence was her only reply. "I had been saying that just because I'm still here doesn't mean I'm settling for anything. I want to make that real clear. There's a whole country across the desert waiting for me, and Ling and I made a promise. I don't like waiting around, but I did agree to stay put and I owe the Elrics that much. I'm still greedy, but I can be patient when I have to be."

"Are you trying to convince me, or yourself?" Lust asked.

He thought about this and then scratched the back of his head ruefully.

"… Yeah, I suppose you're right," he admitted. "Before you came out here, I was trying to convince myself to be happier about this whole thing. Being here, I mean. Waiting. I hate this sitting around. I'm bored. I feel like I don't have a choice and I hate that too. I was happy when I died 'cause I knew I made the right decision, but I look up at the sky now and I can't help but wonder if I could have had it both ways. Pops came so close to having it all. I came so close to having it all. Or what I thought was all. I feel like I gambled and got second place." His lips twisted briefly in self-depreciation. "I guess it's not that easy to change our natures after all."

He bounced his leg idly for a moment, frowning at the night sky, then suddenly realized how he must sound to her. He glanced at his sister warily and did not feel reassured at the small smile playing on her lips in the shadows.

"… My, how you've changed," Lust murmured. "The Greed I remember was different. He only cared about himself. Always Mr. Cocky. It's so strange to see you unsure, especially about yourself." She sidled a few inches closer to him, enough for her to reach out and lightly walk her fingers up and down his crossed right leg. "I have to admit, I kind of like the change. You're cuter this way. And since when did you become such a philosopher?"

Greed snorted and pushed her hand away, though not roughly. He knew very well when he was being made fun of, but unlike Envy, he could tolerate being the butt end of a joke.

"Maybe I've always been a philosopher and you just never asked," he retorted, his own grin tempering the words. Lust laughed softly and he chuckled too, relieved to have moved away from serious conversation. Not that he was particularly concerned about sharing his thoughts with her – he saw no way for her to use them against him, not when he'd be honest with anyone who asked – but it didn't feel natural. Perhaps real human siblings revealed their innermost thoughts to each other (though he sort of doubted it), but the Homunculi were not close and they had all kept their deepest feelings – vulnerabilities, as they saw them – private and unspoken. Lust too, Greed thought, must have felt uncomfortable with the unfamiliar terrain. Why else would she have diverted the conversation with her flirting and teasing routine?

"No," Lust corrected, still playing with him, "I think you must have gotten some outside help. There's no way you're smart enough to have changed so much on your own. This… Ling person, perhaps. You mention him quite frequently. Pride said he's the emperor of Xing now, if I'm not mistaken. Why don't you tell me more about him? Is he as adorable in person as his body-"

"Lust?" a voice called faintly from inside the mansion. Lust stopped talking and the pair of them waited. A few seconds later, the voice called again, a little louder, "Lust, where are you?" It was unmistakably Selim's voice.

In the quiet evening, her response sounded too loud, but Lust called down, "I'm out on the balcony, Selim," then they waited again.

It seemed doubtful that he'd be able to hear her from inside the mansion, but a few windows were open and her voice must have made it to him, for after half a minute, they heard the balcony doors open and Selim say from below them in the entryway, now sounding confused and doubtful, "Lust?"

"I'm up here," she said, pushing herself up on her elbows.

There was a small squeak of surprise from the boy, then they saw Selim's head and then the rest of him as he backed up until he could see their position on the roof. As Lust had done, Selim was holding his hand up against the bright glare from inside the mansion and he squinted against the light, trying to let his eyes adjust so he could make them out. "You're on the roof?" he asked incredulously.

Greed chuckled at his surprise. "Sure are," he said. "What d'you want, kid?"

"What, Greed's up there too?" Selim rose to his tiptoes, still struggling to make them out in the shadows. "How'd you get up there?"

"You answer first," Greed said.

"Oh, well, Gluttony was looking for you, Lust," Selim informed them. "He just wanted to say goodnight, but he didn't know where you'd gone, so I said I'd help him find you." After a pause, he added, "What are you two doing up there?"

"Making out," Greed replied without hesitation, then cursed at the swat from his sister that almost sent him over the edge. "Aw, come on, Sis. It was a joke!"

"We're just looking at the stars," Lust corrected serenely. "You can let Gluttony know where I am and I'll say goodnight from here. It's a hassle to get down."

Selim nodded, then asked, "Did you climb up from here? The back of the house is a lot flatter, you know. And there's a ladder to get up from the balcony in the piano room."

"Is that so?" This Lust directed more at Greed with a sidelong, annoyed glance. Greed held up his hands defensively.

"Honest, I didn't know! That's the same way I came up."

"It's a really nice night," Selim said to himself quietly, studying the sky. A thought seemed to occur to him, for he suddenly grinned and called up to them, "You guys wait there. I'm gonna' go get something!" He quickly darted back into the house.

Greed looked at Lust. "What do you think he's going to get?" he asked, but she just shrugged. Since they hadn't been planning to move anyway, they followed Selim's instructions and remained where they were.

It didn't take long for the balcony doors to swing open again. This time, it was Gluttony's voice that called Lust's name. He sounded sceptical, which was understandable since he couldn't see her. Lust scooted closer to the edge of the roof, then called down, "I'm up here, Gluttony."

"Lust? What are you going up there?"

"Greed and I are just looking at the stars."

"Oh." Gluttony gave a short glance at the night sky, then turned back to them. It was clear he didn't really understand, but their tubby brother had always been less inquisitive than the average person and there had been many times when Lust had done things he hadn't understood, so he seemed satisfied with her answer. He did suck on his finger for a moment, visibly disappointed that he couldn't join them, but at least he looked happy to know that Lust hadn't disappeared on him.

"Selim said you were going to bed now?" Lust prompted and Gluttony nodded. "Goodnight then, Gluttony," she said with the warmth she reserved only for him.

"Goodnight, Lust," Gluttony responded with a grin, then added, "You too, Greed."

"Sure thing, Glutt. Same to you," Greed replied, waving a hand lazily, and Gluttony turned to head back inside.

They heard the balcony doors open and then, from beneath them, Envy's voice suddenly snapped, "Hey! Watch it, Gluttony! This thing is heavier than it looks."

"Sorry, Envy."

"Careful with it," Selim admonished unnecessarily.

"I am!" Envy griped.

Greed and Lust exchanged puzzled glances. Curious, Greed rose into a half crouch, raising his line of sight over the edge of the roof so he could see the balcony below.

"Watcha' got there?" he called down to them.

Envy had his arms full with a long, tube-shaped object that, judging by the way he was holding it, was heavier than it looked. It was maybe twice as thick as his forearm and about as long as his arm from shoulder to wrist. Underneath the tube was a set of three long, stick-like legs that almost reached the ground from their place in Envy's arms.

Selim hovered beside him, needlessly giving directions on where he wanted the object to go, for Envy visibly ignored him, stopping in the middle of the balcony and carefully setting the thing down. Greed could now see that the legs were actually a tripod base to hold the tube up. Once the legs were on the ground, Envy got out of the way as Selim darted forward to fidget with the object. He pushed on the legs and then pulled them a bit further apart to make sure the thing was steady, then swivelled the tube around. Greed could now see that one end of the tube was larger than the other and there was a small protrusion on the thinner end.

Only when he was happy with its placement did Selim answer Greed's question.

"It's a telescope," he said. "Come on down, you two, and I'll show you."

"What're you guys doing up there?' Envy demanded, looking bemused. His expression said that he'd been wrangled into helping rather than volunteering on his own.

"If one more person asks me that question…" Greed grumbled under his breath. "So much for my peaceful hideaway. This is your fault, you know."

Lust had already started to climb down. Her blue nightgown was pulled up to her knees and she had one leg tentatively reaching down over the edge of the roof, searching for the foothold of the window pane.

"Another change," she replied distractedly. "The Greed I knew avoided peaceful like the plague. Give me a hand."

"Yeah, yeah."

It was easier to get down than to get up and Greed, with the lithe young body of his Xingese friend, had no trouble hopping down after Lust. Selim continued to fiddle with the tube, pressing an eye against the protrusion on the side and adjusting the way it was pointed, twisting a knob, and then repeating the process. He talked as he worked.

"Big Brother and Teacher forgot to take this back with them. We used it a bit for planning our transmutation, and I've been learning a bit of astronomy. Here, take a look."

The boy stepped back and gestured. Lust and Envy didn't seem particularly interested, so Greed took the first turn. He was not, and had never been, interested in science; he knew what a telescope was for, but he had never used one before and he wasn't sure what to expect. So he was surprised when he pressed his eye to the end piece and saw a hazy orange-brown circle jump into view.

"What, another eclipse?" he asked unthinkingly. The lunar eclipse had been red, not orange, and the moon hadn't risen yet, but it was the first thing that came to mind.

"Of course not!" Selim exclaimed condescendingly. "It's Mars." He tugged at Greed's sleeve, pulling him away from the eye piece and forcing him to follow the child's finger, which was pointing at the sky. "See that bright, sort of red spot right there? That's Mars."

"Really? That little dot?"

"Uh-huh."

"How far away is it?" Greed asked, putting his eye back to the telescope.

"Scientists say it's around 200 times as far away from the Earth as the Moon is."

Greed didn't really have the faintest idea how far away the Moon was, but he understood that it was pretty far away. And the thing he was looking at was 200 times as far away as that? If he'd been asked to guess, he wouldn't have thought it was more than 10 times farther.

"And they say that Mars is a little more than half the size of the Earth," Selim continued.

Mars is smaller than the Earth? Greed thought. "I had no idea," he told Selim. "That's pretty impressive. I didn't know humans had invented things like this."

"If you think that's impressive, wait 'til you see a nebula!"

Selim enjoyed running the show, forcing Greed to step back and let Lust and Envy have a turn looking (ignoring the fact that neither of them was all that interested) before he re-positioned the telescope. He pointed out some of the brighter stars and different constellations, told a few of the stories and myths connected to the imaginary shapes, and gave some facts of what scientists knew about the planets and space beyond.

"You know, you're being an alchemist may be new," Envy remarked blandly when Selim took a break from talking, "but you're still an insufferable know-it-all."

Selim smiled at him. "And it'd be nice if you could know a little bit more."

"I'm surprised you're interested in this kind of stuff," Greed commented over Envy's irritated growl. The boy's chin came up and the familiar glint of pride entered his eyes.

"I'm an alchemist now," he proclaimed, "and alchemists are scientists. And it's important for scientists to know what they know – and what they don't know – so they can direct their studies appropriately. The whole point of science is to discover new things. Besides, after the Promised Day, Big Brother and Teacher realized that alchemy isn't just limited to the earth. Who knows what we might discover if we take the time to study these things?"

He fell silent for a moment. When he began talking again, his expression and tone were more sombre, and he sounded a bit nostalgic, which was a funny thing to hear from a child.

"The last time Big Brother and Teacher did this with me, they told me a story about when they learned alchemy. They had just asked Mrs. Curtis if they could become her apprentices. Instead of saying yes, she put them on the island in the middle of Kauroy Lake and told them to survive on their own for a month. According to them, they almost died, but the experience was so valuable that they wanted to do the same with me. Of course, Mother wouldn't let them, so they had to explain it to me instead.

"They describe the lesson with the phrase One is All, All is One. It's a philosophy that means that everything is interconnected. Living things are alive because they consume other things that are alive. Humans are, overall, at the top of the food chain. They don't really have natural predators, so it's easy for them to forget it. But sometimes they're confronted by their mortality and realize that, in the grand scheme of things, they're very small. The universe is infinitely larger than even we can imagine. Compared to it, a human is no more than an ant."

He paused, either to think about his next words or to let what he'd said sink in. If the latter, Greed thought it completely unnecessary. The topic seemed depressing and he couldn't tell where Selim was going with it, or why he was telling them in the first place.

"What does this have to do with alchemy?" Lust asked from where she was resting against the wall in the corner, sitting on the railing. Greed stood straight beside the telescope with his hands in his pockets and Selim standing next to him, and Envy was leaning on his crossed forearms against the railing on the other side of the balcony.

Lust's tone suggested that she found the topic as distasteful as Greed did, but Selim smiled at her question and didn't seem to notice. "That's what confused me too, when they were telling me this story. But alchemy is the science of deconstruction and reconstruction. The steps are virtually identical to what every living thing does when it consumes something. The point is that the smallest parts, things we're not even aware of, make up the whole. Something as big as a planet is still made up of molecules, the same as an ant."

The boy huffed then and glared at nothing in particular. "But of course how can creatures that aren't a part of this world understand these things? The Elrics made the lesson seem so important, but I'm still not sure I get it. I wish Mother hadn't said no. Maybe if one of you volunteered to come with me…?"

He looked hopefully at each of them, but did not seem too surprised or disappointed when none of them jumped at the opportunity.

"Spend a month camping with you on a deserted island? I'd rather have a tea party with Mus-" Envy paused, clearly re-thinking at what level he was willing to exaggerate. "-with Marcoh."

Selim stuck his tongue out at his brother.

"Selim," Lust said to get his attention. "If this is the Elrics' philosophy, have you ever pointed out the hypocrisy of calling us monsters?"

Selim stared at her blankly. "Huh? What do you mean?" he asked.

"You just pointed out that life must consume life in order to live. As Homunculi, we existed by 'consuming' the souls of humans. But humans exist by consuming life too. It's hypocritical to say that the way we existed is so much worse. On what basis can they condemn us for being alive and yet excuse humanity's own existence? It would just be relative to say that we're worse because we killed humans, which are 'higher' creatures, while humans only consume 'lower' plants and animals. After all, we could just as easily argue that humans are mere lower life forms when compared to us."

Her little brother stared at her with his mouth open and Greed felt a faint alarm in the back of his mind.

It's not good that she's thinking so much about this, he thought. Not a good sign. She hasn't accepted humanity, not by a long shot. He also didn't like the fact that Selim couldn't think of how to respond. He butted in to keep Lust from thinking she'd won.

"The Elrics never said we were monsters just for existing," Greed corrected. "They considered us monsters when we did things that were monstrous. Same as they considered humans like Kimblee to be monsters."

"And who gets to decide what is monstrous and what is not?" Lust quickly countered.

"That's-"

"My, what are you all doing out here at this hour? Selim, it's almost 11:00 o'clock! It's long past your bedtime, young man. Aren't you tired?"

"No," Selim protested, though it made no difference. Lily swooped down on him, not as a hawk, but as a mother hen, shooing him inside with the admonishment to go straight to bed in a tone that brooked no argument. He obeyed, though only after indignantly complaining that they'd been in the middle of a conversation. The complaint did not diminish his mother's insistence in the slightest.

Lily's long brown hair hung loose, free from the ponytail she typically wore, and she was wearing her flower-patterned nightgown. She had a book tucked under her arm, probably from her evening reading.

"Oh, were you stargazing?" she asked upon spying the telescope. She glanced at the sky and breathed deeply in the chilled night air. "It's a lovely night for it. But please don't keep him up so late. Selim gets cranky in the morning when he doesn't go to bed on time."

"Sure, no problem," Greed replied. "We didn't mean to keep him up. Last thing we want to deal with is a cranky kid."

As he spoke, Envy slinked past them for the door and Lust followed suit. Lily might have been offended, but after the past few weeks she had gotten used to their sometimes rude behaviour and now she merely looked bemused.

"Good night!" she called after them lightly.

This philosophy, Lust thought as she readied herself for bed, brushing out her hair from where the breeze had tangled it, of 'One is All, All is One', seems pretty weak. Has Selim really been convinced of it? Will I need to understand it if I want to progress in alchemy? She felt pleased to have won the argument (as far as she saw it), but was annoyed with herself for having spoken her thoughts so freely. It hadn't been wise to remind him that she was far from being on the humans' side of things.

All in all, though, a productive evening. It's helpful to know Greed is just itching to get away from here. I shouldn't have to wait long before he's out of the way.

And once he's no longer an obstacle…

She smirked. Things were proceeding slowly, but she knew exactly what she needed to do next. And while Greed thought he could be patient when it came to the things he wanted, Lust had been alive 100 years longer than him, and she hadn't defected.

She fell asleep planning exactly what she would do the next time they went to Dublith.