A day early this time ^_^ yay, now because last chapter had so many scenes cut this chapter's pretty much those three scenes and nothing else, yay for spillover…? Not so much -_-; Well, I hope you enjoy this chapter anyway.
Previous Reviewers:
Moofy-Fan-
Aww, its nice that you thought the chapter was cute, I didn't really write it like that, though I guess since the chapter got cut in half or so it's cuteness looked better or something. Trust me, I don't, I wonder if my dislike for characters like Ed is so strong my dislike for Envy doesn't seem as bad? oo;. I'd think that after the way Pride shouted at him anyone'd be scared to imitate Pride again ^^; I know right, I guess Lust's always on pins about if anyone would find out Pride's secret that she has lots of different possible lies for what they could ask but still needs to quickly expand them into something believable ^_^
I always wanted to make Pride have a little shadow cocoon, I'm happy I found a good place to put it ^^ Aww, of course he was so sad over it but couldn't admit it ;_; Well the fluff bunnies died in their fluff train going off that cliff (a la Toy Story 3), which was a real shame, so I guess their ghosts came back as sad fluff bunnies instead…not sure which emoticon I'm supposed to use for this… T_^;?
Muddywolf-
Aww, yeah, I did end this chapter on a downer didn't I ;_; sowwi, my fault for cutting those 3 scenes aint it~? Well it aint fully fully completed, completed enough to function properly at least ^_^ Of course Pride tries to pretend he isn't feeling sad or guilty ;_;
Yay, I'm glad Lust seemed different now, even though she's trying to be nurturing it doesn't work out as well since Envy isn't really like Pride at all and she knows she's being selfish by using him. I guess she's jaded enough to realize that even though the family's breaking apart she knows that she'll only delay the inevitable and nothing she can do will help.
I really didn't think Greed would care, he doesn't like Pride enough as it is XD Of course Lust has to think fast to make sure Envy doesn't find out the truth : D She needs to think about what would happen if anyone found to keep herself determined to keep it covered up, and to keep her lies in order.
Pride must've been very, very bored to want to spy on everyone upstairs, ad he ended up being seen anyway, sneaky Pride wasn't sneaky enough ^^; Ah yes, reading, I wanted to show Pride reading again since he went through all that effort to learn and only read that newspaper back in chapter 25, so I wanted to show the desire he shares with Father in wanting to know things, even if he considers literature written by humans to be inferior XD
I'm glad you liked this chapter, even if it was only 2/5 of what I'd originally planned ^^;
Frisk-
Aww, thank you for such nice comments, I've tried my best to write each of the homunculi and make their past interesting enough, and yay, someone else thinks Pride's the best homunculus, it's awfully difficult to find someone who likes Pride at all so it's really nice to see someone new who likes him as well ^_^
Oh, no, tis a very intentional theme as you'll come to see in later chapters as well, stemming from the fact that the eyes seemed to be a weakness among some of the homunculi, and its allusions and relation to the soul and the implied effects one can have on the other. I'm glad someone managed to catch it since I'm always worried about my themes being too obvious or too subtle ^_^
Oh, not at all, I've never read that play, and only scarcely heard about it from psychology o.o that's a pretty cool coincidence though. I feel like I'm being really dismissive I'm sorry ;_;
Anyway, I'm glad you enjoyed my fic so far, and I hope you enjoy this chapter and the rest ^_^
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Also, as I'm only one review away from 100 I've been thinking of writing a drably drabble of a scene that I ended up cutting, or rather whatever the 100th reviewer wants really ^^ Though I'll only write from before the date in this chapter since otherwise I'd be giving spoilers away ^^; I'll post the drabble on my Deviantart once I finish it ^^
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Sin's Child
Chapter Thirty-Eight: Insights into Incidents and the Intricacies of Indolence
April 23rd 1767
In his lack of the sense that he didn't particularly understand- that human sense of 'smell'- his other senses had heightened considerably, no doubt Father had constructed his container this way intentionally, a keen sense of smell would never be useful, having keener sight and hearing than most was much more beneficial to him. Though his ability to see in complete darkness was still far from acceptable, Pride had perhaps come to terms with it, it was something that he could not improve upon- but not a fault with his container- certainly not, how absurd an idea, it was fine, it wasn't like he'd be put into a situation where there'd be complete darkness anyway.
It was these heightened senses that Pride possessed that allowed him to catch small scraps of Father's conversation with Lust while barely awake, the only sign being the slow forced opening and closing of his eyelids as he stared dopily out at nothing in particular, he only caught sparse words of course, Father's voice seeming a little slurred in places, but surely it was only his imagination. It was about the Fuhrer and Central's development like it often was, it had been…quite a while since the government had been established by his reckoning, but being less than a month shy of one hundred and seventy seven years old however many years it had been since its inception did not affect him in the least- at the very thought his eyelids drooped, the soft, wispy invitation of sleep still tugging in the back of his mind. Pride was sure Father wouldn't mind if he slept a little longer, as far as he was aware Father currently had no plans for him, and Father had taken to sleeping more often than usual in recent years, surely if he was part of Father then such a thing would affect him too. A moment or two later the clacking of Lust's heels as she walked away, seemingly to her room given the direction of the sound, or further along the hall to Envy or Greed's rooms, it didn't really matter to him.
After letting his eyelids slide shut with the intent of sleeping for an hour or two he heard Lust coming back with more loud and distracting clacks from her heels. It drew closer, until it seemed to be next to him.
"Don't pretend that you're asleep, Pride." Her voice was drenched in something like annoyance. They hadn't spoken for a while; he hadn't had anything to say to her, she was still far too occupied with Envy to be any of his concern. Her tone wasn't very respectful either, to which he allowed himself a little irritated scowl and a slightly drowsy glare up at her.
"If it weren't for you making so much noise I might be able to actually sleep."
"Well you can't sleep in today anyway."
"And why is that, Lust?" Pride's voice came out more as a hiss, how dare Lust be so insolent to him, in Father's room no less.
"Father wants you to go upstairs with me to talk with the Fuhrer, which means…"Lust threw something in front of him with a thud, Pride liked to think that he didn't flinch at it, even though he knew he had. "You need to get dressed, unless you want to cause some sort of city-wide scandal at you wearing Selim's clothes as if it were normal." He liked to think he didn't flinch at her mention of that name in reference to that person either. With a sigh he pushed himself onto his knees, reaching for his old clothes, but there was…
"This is only the trousers, Lust." It was then that Pride became aware of the small wooden box Lust was holding.
"Exactly, Pride. Father wants you wearing 'new' clothes. So that entails modifying your old clothes" She pointed at him, gently pushing his coat open with an elongated fingernail "Take your shirt off, I'll make it more 'normal' for you. Don't look so ashamed Pride no one'll see you. Just button your coat up." Without warning she cut up through his shirt, the six buttons coming away and falling with six quiet little clicks. Pride scowled as his shirt fell open at the top, pulling his coat closed.
"Why did you-"
"Those buttons are made of pearl, that'd be suspicious; I need to replace them, Pride. Now, give it to me." Reluctantly he pulled his coat down, untucking his shirt and handed it to her, scowling all the while, pulling his coat back on and pulling it shut immediately after, flopping back down so no one would see.
"Good, I'll stay here and fix it; you can read this while I work." She sat down a few feet away from him, pushing the book closer to him; it was much thinner than all the other books she'd purchased. Still scowling, Pride picked it up and scanned over the title.
"The History of little Goody Two-Shoes. What sort of book is this, Lust?" She was busy cutting his frilled sleeves off with her index and middle fingers serving as scissors when she turned nonchalantly to him.
"Oh, it's a children's book, Pride."
"And why, pray tell, did you purchase such an infantile book?" He could practically see her smirking underneath that determined look of hers as she threaded her needle.
"There's a new edition coming out soon, so the bookshop reduced the price of this edition, that's why. Besides, Pride, don't you know that old books can be worth money? Do you remember that book I bought The ladies tale? Oh of course you wouldn't I bought it while you were with Father for that decade, well the other day I met the wife of one of the generals and she was really interested in it, but since it's rather rare to find a first edition these days she paid much more than I bought it for to buy it off me. So I bought this so that I might sell it in the future. Now, I have to go find some normal buttons for this shirt, I'll be back soon." With that she stood up and wandered off to her room. Pride didn't understand Lust's reasoning at all, what kind of respectable (or rich) human would want to buy an old book intended for simple minded children, especially if new editions would be available? This book was certainly not worth the space it took up on Lust's bookshelf (which she had purchased five years ago from Central's finest carpenter and was currently situated against the right wall, between her mirror and set of drawers, and now more than half full with her random assortments of human literature) at any rate. Still, it wasn't like Pride had anything better to do, and he wearily looked at the cover again.
Below the title was short description of the book in a particularly cryptic sort of way, and below that a little poem of sorts, for whatever reason Pride decided on reading it aloud to himself, even though he was more than capable of reading without speaking.
"Set forth at large for the Benefit of those:
Who from a State of Rags and Care
And having Shoes but half a Pair" A quiet, but no less painful twinge popped somewhere in his head, earning a quieter wince from him and a small groan of annoyance. He was very aware of what it was, that persistent bored voice in his head that felt the need to irritate him whenever it wished. Pride tried to carry on as if nothing had happened.
"Their Fortune and their Fame would fix,"
…Oh…a book, I've never read a book before…
There it was, with its wistful airy tone stained with the precarious insanity that came with isolation. With a squint Pride tried to force it down like he usually did.
Please don't push me away; I'm not doing anything…
"Go away." In his mind Pride could see a fractured smudge of red floating by itself, distorted and flickering along the edges.
Pretend I'm not here, I won't bother you…I don't want to…I never wanted to bother anyone…
"Stop using my voice, pathetic wretch."It giggled, but it was a sad, forced giggle, like it was the only thing it could do to keep itself from crying, the little crimson stain fading ever so slightly, though a quick ripple of a lighter hue pulsed through it at the same time.
I told you so; you don't remember me, do you? So long ago we talked like this, do you remember, Pride?
If Pride had actually listened to the voice he was quite sure he remembered something. But such had only been a dream, faded and blurred and not an ounce of it the truth.
Nearly two tens and nine of threes in years…I suppose, but she learned—I mean taught me how to count properly, so that's…eighty-seven, isn't it? I bet that's why you don't know it's me; I couldn't talk so good back then, not like her, not like you.
She doesn't remember much anymore…thinks I'm you…I'm more alone with her now than I ever was on my own, she's better off not knowing, not being able to tell who or where she is, but that's selfish, isn't it?
…
Please don't ignore me…
Pride was determined to do just that, and ignored the quivering wisp in his mind in favour of continuing reading. If Lust came back and he was here talking to himself she'd only tease him about it, and being teased by his younger sibling was something he didn't need.
"And gallop in a Coach and Six"
Coach…c-c-coach…carriages…carriages have…horses…horses, no, please don't…
The shifting cloud of red darkened, and twisted into itself, turning almost black at its core, a faint outline of something human forming beneath it, what looked like painful spasms making it flinch and murmur senselessly to itself.
Horses, horsesare-itwasLily—no,theMiller'shorse, notherfault,no, Jemimadidn'tmeanit, whataboutPenelope, Penelope'sahorse, she'saratnow,aboyratcalledPeterkin,but…but…don'twantodie, don'twant…don'twant…soalone…Luna…helpme…makethemstop…
The cloud's edges sharpened to countless points as it shrieked, such a shriek filled with sadness and anguish and a deep hidden resentment to the point that Pride winced, squeezing his eyes shut. Some stray wispy strands that looked like hands rose to clamp around the top of it as it shook, it turning every which way frantically as if hearing something. It softened again as it stopped itself screaming, condensing and becoming paler, its centre fading too, becoming an almost whitish-pink.
Gotosleep, gotosleep, forget ,need to…forget…
It was still shivering, as if it…
"You're crying." The possibility of red coloured blob with his voice existing for so long was absurd in itself; the idea that it was still capable of human emotion was another level of absurdity entirely.
Don't be s-silly, Pride… I can't cry, not anymore…
"What do you want?" Pride was becoming particularly irked with the neurotic little voice, though it had stated it wished to observe him read without disturbing him it seemed to be determined to do anything but leave him in peace.
Don't…worry…I'll go now…forget about me…
Tiny smudges of green and black washed over it, and it seemed to curl up, gently rocking itself to and fro, the odd coloured stains beginning to centre near the top of it, almost looking like…
Gol-de…sl…ki…y… eyes…
"That song…" some long neglected memory dragged itself to the forefront of Pride's mind, his voice rising into its high and innocent tone, exactly the same as the voice echoing in his head.
…iles awa… you when…y…r….
Pride remembered…something, something that was much more imagined than real he was sure, it was ridiculous to consider it anything but a figment of his imagination, but Lust had sung something similar once to him, in that dream, in that endless abyss of crimson and blu—no, orange, why did he remember it as blue?
Slee… pr…wa…do not cry…
There was someone else in that dream too, but he couldn't remember anything but that voice, his voice, in a dream nothing was supposed to make sense so anyone could have his voice, but this wasn't a dream… and he was not so foolish as to daydream about such senseless things. Scarlet sparks began to flit over it with a faint crackling, similarly coloured fog beginning to coat it, pulling at its edges, slowly absorbing it.
a… I wil… sin… a…lu…by…
It didn't resist at all as the minute splotches of green and black were torn away from it and returned to match its surroundings, it faded away altogether with one last forlorn whisper.
Though confused beyond his limit for caring Pride did what he thought would be most sensible and tried to carry on as normal as he could and pretend nothing had happened, though the voice had appeared and whispered to him before, just not on such a scale before, it was still nothing more than his imagination and he would regard it as such and move swiftly on and continue reading his book. Opening the front cover Pride spotted the long strand of green ribbon tied around the book, forming a small bow on the spine, no doubt placed there by Lust to serve as a bookmarker. Pride slowly pulled at one edge and watched it untie itself, pulling it out of the book completely to reposition it after he'd read a page or two.
"You could've at least humoured me, Pride. You haven't even finished the first page for goodness sake!" Lust flopped back down beside her sewing box, dropping six white bone buttons into it, had it only been a few minutes? She only snorted at his apparent laziness and carried on cutting at his shirt's sleeves with her nails, approximating over whether each sleeve was the same altered length and beginning to sew the open seams together. Pride ignored her, reading more to sate his boredom and to force the peculiar occurrence a few moments before out of his mind than to keep her happy.
The book seemed to be about a little human girl called Margery Meanwell, an orphan (Pride knew the phrase from somewhere, it meant the human had no parents), her father had died from disease and her mother from a broken heart soon after. Lust had finished sewing one sleeve now, turning her attention to the other, but she suddenly changed her mind and reached for his grey trousers, unfolding the parts she had raveled up years ago because they were too long to be shorts but too short to be trousers. She held them up in front of her, and with a swipe of her hand half of the legs fell away.
"That's better, real shorts now."
Margery was not completely alone in the world though, she had a brother named Tommy, and while he had two shoes, she only had one, but he'd been sent far away for some sort of job. She'd cried when he'd left, but he told her not to cry, and said he'd be back soon
"Lying through his teeth…so like a human" Pride commented aloud absentmindedly, though he had no idea about how the rest of the book was about to unfold he just knew that those who went away never came back when they promised to. Lust had finished sewing the first leg of his 'new' shorts when she decided to return to the shirt, quickly sewing the buttons on. After three buttons she changed her mind again and switched to sewing up the second sleeve of his shirt.
Now alone, Margery had been taken in by a Mr. and Mrs. Smith, who surely doted on her, buying her a pair of shoes rather than having to bear her suffering through only having one shoe, earning her that name of Goody two shoes, rather than Goody half a pair of shoes, which Pride considered to be not as attractive a title, if the book was even the least bit appealing in the first place- which it was not. Lust was finished with his shirt now save the three missing buttons at the top, but turned her attention back to his trousers and resumed sewing up the neatly cut right leg, occasionally snipping away a frayed piece of cotton with her little finger and the finger next to it which Pride didn't know the name of.
Though her staying with the Smiths could not last, and regrettably had to let her go after the cobbled together family was threatened when she was discovered there. There was quite a tearful farewell, but it didn't seem to discourage Margery any, for Margery was a curious girl, she liked to learn and discover things, eventually learning much more than her friends who went to school, borrowing their books while they were away. She endeavored to teach her friends as well, carving out ten sets of the alphabet in both its forms out of wood to help them. She taught them words using her spelling book and how to form basic sentences, because surely Margery was a nice human like that. Rethreading her needle, Lust took to stitching in the remaining three white bone buttons into his shirt, their eyes sometimes meeting as they glanced at each other.
There was a boy named Billy too, Billy Wilson who lived nearby, as by this time Margery- though now more known as Little Two-Shoes –had become a tutoress (Pride didn't know what one of those was exactly, but he reasoned that he would never encounter one so did not need to completely understand such a human concept) who travelled around to teach her younger pupils. Though Billy wasn't very well adept at speaking he had learned all his letters, and could arrange properly when Margery would place them in the wrong order. Next Margery was going to visit Farmer Simpson, who had a dog and—
"There, all done. Let's get you dressed, Pride." Before Pride could place the green ribbon on the page to keep his place Lust had already pulled him up by the wrist to his feet, the ribbon still caught in his hand. Knowing his embarrassment at getting dressed she deftly pulled his coat away and wrapped him up 'new' frill-less sleeved shirt before he had time to scowl or blush. Pride was quite used to getting dressed by now and tried to accept it without becoming ashamed, focusing instead on the funny little naïve human book made for equally naïve human children, of course it was, with its sickly sweetness and an optimism that was most inappropriate for what had happened to little Miss Margery in her life, and no doubt her cheeriness and perseverance and virtue would ensure that in the end she would be rewarded with everything she ever wanted in her short pathetic human life. Such drivel would only serve to make humans even more unintelligent and insignificant than they already were.
By the time Pride was dragged out of his bitter daze he was already almost fully dressed, Lust busy tying the piece of thread that served as a belt around his waist. She took the ribbon out of his hand, 'hmm'ing to herself before deciding on his neck like the two accessories he had worn before, his cravat already rumpled and in a heap next to his coat and waistcoat on the floor. She tied it in a flat bow, hooking it under his collar, it sagging loosely down so the loops brushed either side of the second button on his shirt, tassels falling between the gap separating the second and third.
"Oh, I bought you these too." Lust held up a pair of new shoes- actually new- they were brown, and not boots at all, small and flat with rounded fronts, with pieces of thin black thread hanging out of them. This would be the first time his socks would be visible, not hidden by his shoes, being a pure white and so close to the ground there was no doubt in Pride's mind that unprotected they would become filthy once he set foot upstairs. Lust knelt down to slip them on his feet and tie small bows with the thread, keeping the shoes' sides secure and together. And that was everything it seemed, in little over an hour he had gone from almost content in sleeping for the rest of the day to being ready for his first trip upstairs in over thirty-six years (that was almost as much time as…), it wasn't that Pride had any desire to go back upstairs since there was nothing remotely interesting there, he'd been there four times already, but if Father had ordered it then he would do as he ordered without a thought of doing otherwise. With a smile that was more of a smirk Pride stepped around Lust and walked in the direction of the stairs that lead upstairs
"Let's go, Lust" Glancing back at her he saw her nod and follow behind him. As Pride passed by Father he bowed and nodded expectantly at Lust to do the same, scowling as she took more than a few seconds to listen to him. Climbing the stairs to the first landing Pride waited to Lust catch up, why was she taking so–
"Ah!" There was someone latched onto Lust's wrist, it looked like- "Envy, let go."
"Let me come with you, Lust." Envy almost hissed at her, glaring at both of them, Pride glared back, Father had not included Envy in his orders, why did he think he was permitted to go outside?
"You have not been ordered to accompany us, Envy."
"What does that matter? Father didn't say you could go either!" Such a feeble lie, who did Envy think he was?
"I'd rather you didn't lie to your older brother. Let go of Lust." Pride's scowl only deepened, teeth grinding slowly in his growing irritation, a slow stream of shadows seeping down the stairs, prepared to bind Envy's ankles should he continue to be stubborn.
"I'm not lying, Big Brother Pride. Just let me-"
"Lying to cover a lie is even more shameful. How dare you behave so like a human, Envy." By this time Envy was gritting his teeth as well, though flashing them at him due to his apparent lack of enough self control to keep them hidden. He was sparking too, like he was going to change shape into something. He heard Lust gasp and try more forcefully to pull herself away.
"Now Envy, there's no need to get upset, I'm sure that-"
"Enough." Father's voice was enough to silence them all, Pride instantly dragging his shadows back into himself and bowing even though Father's chair was facing away from them. "Do not quarrel between yourselves in my presence. Lust, both Envy and Pride can accompany you to speak with the Fuhrer. As Greed is sleeping he can stay here. I do not want to hear of any more conflict between siblings, do you understand?" Though they had all taken to freezing in place, they all mustered an 'Of course, Father', though obviously the one that was first and the most respectful was Pride's, who insisted in almost drowning out his siblings with his distorted tone. Envy seemed satisfied now, letting go of Lust's wrist and following them without another word, which was fine by Pride, Envy coming along too wasn't anything to be concerned over, even if he'd never been upstairs with anyone accompanying him and Lust before it was still fine, it didn't affect him in the least.
Even when Lust took hold of Envy's hand instead of his, that was fine too. It wasn't like he needed Lust holding his hand anyway, requiring such a thing was far too childish for someone like him.
Of course it was.
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"How wonderful it is to meet you, I trust you wish to see my father. I'm Philippe, his second child." Lust stepped forward to shake his hand, Pride at one side and Envy- who had taken the form of a random, generic kind of soldier with short blonde hair- on the other. Pride waited for Envy to do the same; posing as a child he did not think it suitable for him to shake the human's hand second. Once Envy was done with his pointless introduction- calling himself Samuel this time for the charade's sake- Pride stepped closer with his sweetest fake smile and held out his hand happily
"Nice to meet you, Mr. Armstrong, being the Fuhrer's son must be really interesting."
"Yeah, it is quite a responsibility, I mean I'm only twenty-six and I'm still just a lieutenant colonel," Philippe motioned towards the strange row of stars and lines on his uniform's shoulders that Pride didn't understand the relevance of "but father already wants me to succeed him as Fuhrer one day, I hope I can be as great a Fuhrer as he is."
"Oh wow, well I'm sure you'll be great no matter what." the childish superfluous optimism of which Pride was expected came easily enough to him, and why should it not? He had been perfecting his act of being the most pure and perfect example of a child for almost ninety years, the possibility of him being anything but that in the presence of humans was nonexistent.
"Thank you, ummm…?" Getting so flustered over the fact that he had neglected to tell him his 'name'- how ridiculous.
"Selim, his name's Selim." Lust seemed to think it better to interrupt than let him answer for himself.
"Oh, well, thank you Selim. I've kept you all waiting long enough haven't I? I'll take you to my father's office now." With that he motioned for them to follow and turned on his heels.
The Fuhrer's office was a little less bland than the rest of the building, but that wasn't saying much, a mahogany desk and world map and a rug was hardly much of an improvement. Humans and their meager trappings of regality to make themselves feel more important- it was hilarious in a pitiable kind of way.
Behind the desk sat a particularly broad looking human with a large blond beard covering his collar and obscuring a good half of his face, it connecting up with an equally as large moustache. He also had a single strand of hair twisted into a tight curl in the centre of his forehead; he was talking to a much younger and much thinner man at his side who looked far less confident and full of himself- which might have been an improvement.
"That's Aloysius" Lust whispered in his ear "he's the one who was oh-so important thirty-three years ago that everyone here thought it was ok to not go to work." She laughed a little quietly, covering her mouth to stifle it "With everyone wanting to follow him like sheep it only made sense we make him Fuhrer, don't you think, Pride?" Pride nodded, it made sense why this Fuhrer seemed so arrogant, believing that he had rose through the ranks so fluidly by his own merit and skill rather than their interference- how foolish a thought. "I'm not sure who that is next to him though, we'd better make ourselves known before that guy makes himself too comfortable- he's only a…" Lust flicked her eyes to the side and squinted, trying to decipher his rank from the patterns on his shoulders "…Warrant Officer, far too unimportant to be listening in on certain information." Pride grinned and stepped forward, pushing onto the tips of his toes to see over the desk, staring up at the Fuhrer with a feigned curiosity.
"Ah, hello there." He looked past him towards Lust and Envy "and you two as well, good morning." He seemed to at least have enough common sense to not use any names with unimportant people listening. The other human peered over the desk to look at him too, smiling and walking closer, holding out his hand.
"Hello, you must be father's visitors. I'm Lewis, his second son, nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you too, Mr. Armstrong." only communicating with the Fuhrer's children did not create room for the most diverse or interesting conversation to say the least. Pride shook his hand happily, he liked introductions, they were all the same and required little altering to suit everyone he met. A few seconds passed before Pride decided to pull away, but Lewis didn't let go, and he put on his slightly-confused-yet-a-tiny-bit-hurt look, staring up at him. This human…he remembered him from somewhere, but he hadn't been upstairs since before he was even born…
When their eyes met Pride could see it, that same kind of strange familiarity and bewilderment that Pride could effortlessly conceal. Those eyes…he remembered that pale-ish blue, wide with surprise and curiosity, and a sudden terror that made them well up…
"You-"
"Now Lewis, go and collect your mother and Adelaide for the ceremony in an hour, I know they're probably still getting ready but if they keep going they'll never stop." Aloysuis' voice and hearty chuckle at his own attempts at humour managed to drown out any of his warped whispering thank goodness, and Lewis nodded
"Well, I'd better be going," He reached to ruffle his hair, messing it up terribly; Pride did his best to keep smiling and pretend he didn't notice.
"See you later, Mr. Armstrong."
"You too." Lewis smiled again, before turning and walking on his way, briefly shaking hands with Lust and Envy as he left. As soon as the door clicked shut Pride let his charade drop, there was no point wasting time acting when the Fuhrer knew about them.
"Now, to business. Hello Lust, Envy, and…" Aloysius raised his eyebrow at him, as if confused by his presence having never seen him before. Pride only covered his mouth to stifle a laugh and allowed his shadows to pool on the floor. The Fuhrer seemed less affected than Pride would have anticipated at a human seeing his shadows.
"Hello, Mister Fuhrer, I do not believe we've been acquainted before. Nice to meet you, my name is Pride."
"Oh yes, yes of course, Pride, I have heard much about you, it's a pleasure to finally meet you. I trust you have met my sons, your introductions to my wife and daughter can wait of course, we have much more important things to attend to."
"Indeed we do." Lust walked up past him and pulled herself onto the side of the desk, reaching to pluck out a large scroll of some sort from Aloysius' bookshelf with gently with her fingernails and spreading it out over the desk. She ushered them closer, Envy taking to sitting on the chair in front of the desk, returning to his preferred form while Pride stood at the left side (though his right) side of it.
"Do you want me to help you up, Pride?" Lust rolled up the paper and stretched out her hand for him, Pride shoved it away.
"No, I am quite capable of sitting on the desk myself." Without another word Pride dug his fingers into the desk and jumped, holding his weight on his arms in not the most dignified of manners, feet flailing a tad before they hooked on the top and managed to push him further on until he was splayed over it, before he rolled over and pushed himself up, sitting up and letting his legs dangle over the desks' edge- a refined air hung about him, as if he was quite pleased with himself, as if it was the most natural of ways to sit on a desk- it didn't matter if Envy was a hair's breadth away from a fit of laughter, he was just lazy and would rather sit on a chair meant for humans to sit on. Lust stared at him for a moment, and forced a cough
"Anyway, as you can see…" Lust reopened the scroll, on it was a strange flat picture of something Pride didn't know "Amestris has come a long way since it was founded two-hundred and odd years ago, and as such the government and the monarchy before it, under our Father's guidance you have accomplished much, becoming a country adequate in all fields, alchemy, literature, medicine." Oh, it was a map of Amestris, Pride had never given thought to what the country looked like "But in return you have pledged loyalty to us, and must do your utmost to fulfill Father's goal." She pointed at one point on the picture, near to the top of Amestris' boundaries, Pride couldn't read it exactly, only being able to read a few Rs and Es "In 1558 the first King of Amestris, King Christopher, took it upon himself to declare war on the neighboring country of Reviere, at least it seemed this way, Father instructed him long before this that he should spill blood upon certain areas, Riviere just happened to occupy this space. But Christopher was old by this time- a grand old age of seventy-four, so his son went in his place- Christopher II, and lost his life supporting what he believed to be his father's ambition- his younger brother William taking the throne when the king died from grief some two years later. As none of us present here today were alive to bear witness to this event certain details can never be certain, but it doesn't matter anyway, what is done is done. The most recent crest of blood was formed over one hundred years ago now, conducted by King Bartholomew in 1661 by instigating a civil war in the country of Cameron, he was the sixth king remember." she tapped at another point lower down on the opposite side. "This took place more than a decade before I was born, but Pride was alive back then, do you remember anything about it, Pride?" With a little jump at suddenly being asked such a question Pride stared blankly at her, he could hardly remember anything from before he got his container, so he only shook his head slowly, and she turned her attention back to the Fuhrer "You only have one-hundred-and-forty eight years to get eight more crests of blood formed, it is your obligation to do so, we have nurtured this nation since its inception, you must remain loyal to us or…well I'd rather not go into that, do you understand?"
"I understand perfectly, Miss Lust, I will always remain loyal to your Father, you need not worry about that. Now then…" Aloysuis reached into his jacket and pulled out a peculiar something Pride hadn't seen before "Oh look at the time, it's time for the Ceremony."
"Ceremony?" Envy spoke up
"Why yes, today is the 35th anniversary of the 'official' forming of the government, we've employed the great-grandson of the esteemed portrait painter J R Arderne, having apparently inherited his great grandfather's talent. He is going to paint a portrait of the building and all its employees, I bet Adelaide and Blanche are out there already, Blanche turned… fifty-five last month, and Adelaide's going to be thirty-two this September, she's grown up so fast… time certainly flies, doesn't it?"
"Oh really, that's only a few months earlier than Greed's birthday, he'll be fifty-five too this June." Envy seemed amused that Greed and the Fuhrer's wife could share a birth year of all things.
"I'd be honoured if you were to attend the ceremony with us, no one will think anything amiss, many soldiers have brought their families, even extended families so you won't be noticed, please I insist." Pride wasn't sure what to make of the proposal; he had never been in a picture before, and he was so perfect an actor that there was no possibility of anyone becoming suspicious of him in any way.
"I don't see how it could hurt any, Mister Fuhrer, if anything it will be able to show our closeness, even in secret, to the government."
"Splendid. The ceremony will start in about ten minutes, so I'll leave you to prepare." The Fuhrer offered his hand again "it is still a great pleasure to finally meet the eldest of Father's children, Pride." Pride only smiled, and stretched out a shadowed hand instead, pointed tips no doubt making tiny scratches in his palm, but what did it matter? The humans would never say a word against them, they relied on them far too much, without Father's guidance they would have destroyed themselves long ago, and even if Pride would have been content in them killing each other through their own idiocy, for the time being they still had a purpose as the pawns in Father's game- and that was more important than anything else.
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"Wow, you're the one who's going to paint us all in a second? You must be amazing if you can do that." Pride happily bounced around on the balls of his feet as talked to the descendant of that famous 'Arderne'.
"Aw don't flatter me that much, I only try my best, I'm really honoured to be painting this just for the Fuhrer, I can't believe it, I guess my great-grandfather being who he was helped me get this job, so I'm really hoping I can become even half as good as he was." Pride just kept nodding and smiling, only half listening, he was bored already and he would get nothing but drivel from this human.
"Oh, I have to go now, good luck." And he ran back to Lust with nary a backward glance. As he pattered towards where Envy and Lust were talking amongst themselves he spotted the Fuhrer talking to two women, one who was rather short and round wearing an illustrious dress- no doubt that 'Blanche' person, and the other… that woman who was probably Adelaide…
She was wearing a pale yellow cardigan – though he first saw it as a faded pink for some reason… with a matching yellow skirt- but he saw it as white instead…
That thing in his head popped again, twice in one day Pride had no patience for it
Iris?
You again….
You say it as if you don't want me to exist…you're the one who keeps me here, I only whisper things to myself…you don't need to respond to them…eventually you won't hear me anymore. She just…reminded me of someone…
That's quite pathetic, wondering if someone you knew back in Xerxes was still alive from over two-hundred years ago…
Ha, you actually think I'm from Xerxes, quite the opposite. Besides, Xerxian is Xerxian, how would I know Amestrian if I was from Xerxes? But I know where I'm not wanted, I'll go…
A few moments later Pride was at Lust's side, waiting as everyone began to get into position for the painting and attempting to fit everyone on the not that big canvas. Envy had taken to having black hair but was still deciding on the style and eye colour, wearing an elegant black suit with a dark blue tie.
"Ready." At the signal Lust pulled him closer and rested her hand on his shoulder, Envy grinned and changed himself to suit his whim again, settling for a short black ponytail tied with a ribbon, as they were posing as a family Envy had been assigned the role of the father, and as such tried to softly pat at his head and smile down at him, soft, fake green eyes meeting with his own, green eyes and black hair, that was-
Something whined, a long, dejected whine made by someone who wanted to cry but couldn't...wasn't able to anymore
I wonder if…I would've looked like that, if I hadn't…
Despite not being able to see it Pride felt the very obvious shudder that shot through it.
I thought you said you'd leave me alone
I did, and I told you to ignore me, don't bother about me, I wasn't talking to you that time, or any of the times, if anything-
"Pride you've gone as white as a sheet, what's wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong with me, Lust, I just…I don't wish to spend any more time amongst these humans for today." Lust gave him that look that Pride knew meant she didn't believe him, but she sighed and shook her head
"I think there is, let me see" she tilted his head to face her and tried to open his eyes wider, but slipped and pulled the skin beside them until he was squinting, the way she gasped and flinched and immediately let go of him confused Pride to no end, but she swept it under the carpet like it never happened. "Fine, come on, we'll go back the way we came since everyone's out here anyway." Adopting her faux role as a mother she gripped onto his hand as they slipped away, not letting go until they were out of sight, but it was her fault for assuming something was wrong in the first place, Pride saw no justification for her annoyance whatsoever.
The walk down back to their home was never very interesting, but Lust and Envy were used to it by now, Pride, who had only been through the corridor seven times or so both ways was less than amused, especially with the length of his container's legs requiring him to take two steps for every one of theirs, effectively making him walk twice as far as them.
"So…do you think that guy'll start planning the next place to attack soon?"
"I wouldn't count on it, Envy, last time Father was planning it for decades and it took another few decades or so for it actually to happen, so I wouldn't rely on the humans to do anything quick, they'd rather wait to retire or die and let it be someone else's problem."
"Oh, but we still have-" Loud, frantic footsteps interrupted him, and the three paused to see what it was, Lust showing her nails and Pride scattering his shadows on the floor, while Envy had to wait since nothing he imitated would work against something he didn't know. It was someone tall, with short black hair and…
It was only Greed- a particularly jittery and worn out looking Greed- but still just Greed.
"What's wrong with you, Greed?"
"Give a guy time… to breathe…" Greed kept pausing for breath, seemingly having not stopped running "Well… um…while you were gone…some crazy… shit's been… happening… I can't' really…explain it in a sentence, and Father wanted you to come back…. so he sent me to get you and…yeah…don't just stand there lookin' at me like that he wants you to hurry up!" Lust and Envy nodded, walking slightly quicker but not too quick while Greed caught his breath, but Pride stayed completely still. Not hearing his pattering little footsteps she turned around.
"Pride you heard Greed, Father wants to see us." The littler homunculus smirked and shook his head, feet still planted firmly in place
"I'm not coming with you, well I am but…" Pride's eyes clouded a tad and slid shut, mouth sagging into an emotionless line as more shadows poured out his feet "I can move faster than you this way. I'll go on ahead to see what has happened." Without listening to their answer Pride forged ahead, streaming along the floor and walls, across the ceiling, down stairs, all three- four- five magenta eyes set in determination, the slightest bit curious about what could have possibility occurred in his absence, and to do what was expected of him as a dutiful son and arrive promptly back home at Father's behest.
What kind of child of Father's would he be if he didn't do his best to arrive there first?
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Oh. My. God. This chapter got waaayyy out of hand didn't it? Sorry for making you guys read so much, I have no idea what happened with that first scene ;_;
Hmm…some 'crazy shit' is going on I guess, wonder what it is… *so not totally obvious, no siree…*
Anyway, so more book stealing on my part, The History of little Goody Two-Shoes was written anonymously and published in April 1765 with a new edition being released in 1768, I actually read a few chapters of it when writing this chapter and it was really interesting, especially since in the book they used a weird kind of letter that is used in the beginning or middle of a word for a lowercase 's' like this- ſ, so the first passage from chapter one looks like this-
"Care and diſcontent ſhortened the Days of Little Margery's Father.- He was forced from his Family, and ſeized with a violent Fever in a place where Dr James's powder was not to be had, and where he died miſerably."
,
Just thought it was cool, it kinda confused me at first but after a while I figured out it was supposed to be an s ^^;.
The lullaby that Miles sang to himself (and previously sung by Lust in chapter 14, though not mentioned explicitly) is a poem written by Thomas Dekker in 1603, here's the full version-
Golden slumbers kiss your eyes,
Smiles awake you when you rise;
Sleep, pretty wantons, do not cry,
And I will sing a lullaby,
Rock them, rock them, lullaby.
Care is heavy, therefore sleep you,
You are care, and care must keep you;
Sleep, pretty wantons, do not cry,
And I will sing a lullaby,
Rock them, rock them, lullaby.
Being the only lullaby I could find from before 1662, when Luna and her parents immigrated from Xing, I thought it would probably be the first lullaby that Luna would learn in Amestrian I would think that it would be important to her and that she would sing it to Miles when he was young too. Its popularity would also mean that there was a possibility of Lust hearing of the poem as well.
I do sorta feel bad for Miles now, with Sylvie starting to go crazy (I assume she got better at handling it as time went by) and him being alone and having to deal with her is starting to take its toll on him, though he's the only one who can keep his sense of self that doesn't necessary mean that he can automatically remain sane, and being constantly conscious except for forcing himself 'asleep' really mustn't have the best effect on him…even if he likes to think that he has no bitterness over what happened to him I imagine that really a part of him must resent Pride, and that all his optimism is to make himself feel better about all the terrible things Pride has done using his body.
Anyway, I've been thinking of trying to get a chapter out a week since it's gonna be half term soon, but I don't know if I'll be able to, I guess I'll just have to wait and see how it turns out.