won't sleep till i've done all it is i'm living for

-sleepingwsirens

•••

The son of the Fuhrer stood right before Iris. Right now, he held her entire attention. To her, the subject of the conversation was far too great, and the stakes were far too high. She wanted to know, for her own sake. Iridian was a topic she would never let rest.

Pride folded his hands together and began.

"Very well. Years ago, I was sent on a mission by Father in your little hometown, Augustine. He had noticed strange anomalies of human transmutation in that area and wished for me to investigate. Augustine was a small town, so it was strange for it to have such a high attempt rate. That is until we realized it was just one human, attempting over and over again.

"I observed her attempts, thinking she was just another ignorant lifeform. But the more I watched, the more I had come to understand. She never put any of her own blood into the equation. There was never any soul data to make a base, so the Truth never took anything away from her. I assume she found solace in this creature and was simply curious. But when your father died of the war, she decided to put her own blood forth for the very first time. Finally, the Truth took something away from her. And what to take except the very thing that made her differ? Her future vision, of course.

"So then, she could no longer hear the voices and see the possibilities to come. I was instructed by Father to capture her, so I absorbed her into myself. She had already seen the Truth and sacrificed her soul, therefore Father theorized that he could create another homunculus, but with a human base. For the first time, he decided to stretch the limits of his power and create another philosopher's stone by tapping into each one of our seemingly endless supplies of human sacrifices to give his newest homunculus, his eighth child."

Iris trembles at his tale, mumbling no's repeatedly. He continues nonetheless.

"Iridian has received every sin inside of her, and while her philosopher's stone is not as strong as others, her sins are what makes her powerful."

The girl's voice of disbelief grows louder until she is howling at the homunculus. "You... You lie! You're lying! Why should I believe you?!"

At the snap of her fingers, fire erupts for a brief moment. She snaps again, friction from the tips of her fingers generating heat. Sparks fly from her hands and she directs it all towards Pride. It extinguishes from her hands and into the air. Unfortunately, Pride dodges it, but it does leave a burn mark on his cheek. What's worse, the fire lands onto a bush behind him, turning it into flames. It spreads on both sides faster than she can blink, and she realizes how much trouble she has just caused herself.

Heinkel calls for her as black, razor-sharp darkness creeps up behind her. "Iris, watch out!"

A twang of metal colliding rings in the air as Edward jumps in front of the girl, his bladed automail arm as a defense. It retracts, and they both fall back into the grass, which is also quickly setting ablaze. He looks to her angrily.

"What were you thinking, setting everything on fire?!"

"I-I wasn't thinking at all. I was just angry."

"Whatever, it doesn't matter!" Edward looks around and shouts "Fu!" Overhead, everyone watches as a grenade soars over them all. A giant flash of light covers them all, and Pride screams in agony. He doesn't hesitate to attack with his shadows once the blinding light is no more. The Fullmetal Alchemist skillfully dodges them all.

"The guise of a child?" he taunts. "How shameful of you."

The homunculus' blood boils. He stands with his hands out by his side, the shadows bending to his will. "You couldn't be more wrong, Fullmetal Alchemist. I am Pride, the first Homunculus!"

"Brother Pride!" Gluttony calls, running from Lan Fan as fast as his stubby legs would allow. He crouched behind the other homunculus for protection. Lan Fan stood in the defensive when she reached her allies that surrounded the two monsters.

"Are you getting tousled around too much, Gluttony?" the boy taunts, eyeing the physical state he had reached. "A bit pathetic that they managed to do this to you." He turned fully now to face him, making Gluttony back away.

"How many times have they killed you? Twice, three times already? Four, five, six?" The more Selim counted, the more frightened he became. Darkness spread across the dead grass under their feet, and they slithered towards him. In one fell swoop, Gluttony was lifted into the air, suspended high for everyone to see. His eyes were full of betrayal as he screamed for his brother to show mercy. Teeth grew quickly around him, and with one bite, the glutton was eaten. Nothing but stunned silence came from the group as their perspective on this homunculus was intensified by this savage action. Pride licked his lips in satisfaction, entertained by everyone's reaction.

"Ah," he sighs in contempt. "Much better."

More and more teeth emerge from the shadowed extensions of his body and while they are all quick to dodge out of the way of them, the trees around them take damage. His incisors cut many of them down to stumps, and the fire adds more to the destruction. Iris gets caught by a shadow, and she's quickly lifted into the air. Like tendrils, they coil around her until she is unable to breathe. Ed and Ling call out for her, but it is Lan Fan who takes action.

She unsheathes her automail arm and strikes the coiled part. Pride growls in frustration as the extension of himself disintegrates. Lan Fan shields her friend as she takes a moment to catch her breath. From the corner of her eye, she notices Old Man Fu escorting Heinkel out to a safer area into the woods.

'It's becoming less and less of a forest,' she thinks. Pride is hard at work to create a clearing for his advantage. The diameter grows in feet each time a tree is cut.

"You alright?" Edward yells over the falling of timber. The girl replies with a half-hearted thumbs up. Sensing the qi behind her gives her relief as she locks onto Hohenheim, a now familiar aura. Alphonse is by his side, but not for long as he heads the opposite direction, behind Pride.

"To think a child could cause this much destruction," Hohenheim muses aloud, grabbing the attention of Selim. His attacks on the chimeras and Ling's group cease and he turns to the man, expectant.

He crosses his arms. "Late to the fight, I see."

"Better late than never." He's quick to advance, running straight towards the homunculus at full speed. At the last moment before an injury, he dodges, and behind him is Alphonse. Unfortunately, the armored boy was too slow, despite only being inches away from landing a blow. But the shadows protect Pride, and in an instant, he is overpowered by the strength of the darkness.

"Al!" Ed cries, immediately running to them to rescue his brother. Iris follows suit, but Hohenheim does not let them pass.

Pride gives Alphonse a deadly glare. "You underestimate me by thinking that would be successful. I'm insulted, if anything."

Edward heeds not to his father and runs, but this time Iris is the one to hold him back. She grabs his flesh arm and pulls him away as Hohenheim's arms crackle a deep red. Suddenly, thick strips of the ground next to them form upward and encompass Alphonse and Pride into a hollow and gigantic ball of dirt.

The alchemists run up to the sphere and pound on the side of it.

"Al, can you hear me?!" Ed screams, frantic. "I swear, Homunculus, if you hurt him-!"

"Guys, don't worry! I'll be just fine here. You're needed for the Promised Day, and by staying in here I'm making sure Pride isn't a part of it! It's completely dark in here; he's not much of a threat without his shadows."

"This is insane, Al!" Iris cries.

"I'm doing what I have to do," he declared, determination radiating through his voice.

Hohenheim supplies. "We made this plan while you were fighting Pride."

"And you didn't think to tell me first?!" Ed exploded.

The tinny voice resonated from armor. The barrier of dirt made his voice muffled, but his message was clear. "You would have never let me, brother! This is our best plan and you know it."

The blond curls up his fists. "I know. You're smart, little brother. I just figured our reunion would be a little better than this." His cynicism makes Alphonse laugh.

"We just have to get through this day," Iris reminds, trying to stay hopeful.

"Damn straight," Ed agrees.

Iris picks up on two new energies in the forest. She's noticed that Hohenheim is already walking that way.

"More people are here. Allies, I think. We'd better see what's up."

After a brief 'be right back' to Alphonse, the two found the group behind just a few trees and familiar faces popped up. Jerso, Zampano, Scar, and Marcoh all found themselves back to this group. By the time they arrived, they were up to speed and already planning what to do next.

"Glad to see guys on our side for a change," Iris says, welcoming them all back. She looked around at every face in the group, all determined to face the day ahead. It gave her a sense of pride to get to fight alongside her friends who all have the same singular goal: to save the world. "What do we think should be our next move?"

"The enemy does not know of my affiliations with any of you," Fu tells them.

"Thinking of some recon?"

Fu nods. "And, I shall be honest, one of my priorities is the Young Lord, so I will certainly venture out for him."

Iris hadn't noticed that the prince left. She figured Greed had plans that Ling didn't exactly approve of, but had to accept more or less.

Fu quickly starts to leave, but she asks of him a favor.

"If you happen to come by Colonel Mustang and his crew, see to it that they're okay. Please. I'm sure they're in it just as deep as we are."

He gives a firm nod, then is on his way.

Soon after, Hohenheim comes up to the two teens. "We ought to be heading out soon."

"Right."

Edward started off back in the direction they came from and Iris figured to follow him, wishing to say goodbye to Alphonse. When they reached the transmuted ball he pounded on it to get his brother's attention.

"Everything good in there, Alphonse?" Iris asks, worry thick in her voice. Shadows or not, Pride was more than a defenseless child. She had to remind herself that Alphonse wasn't defenseless either and to put more faith in him.

"Just fine, Iris," he replies.

"We're heading out now," Ed informed.

"Be safe out there," Al warns. "Don't forget we'll have to deal with Selim once all of this is over."

"We'll get there when we get there."

"We promise to see you soon, right, Ed?" Iris elbows him lightly in the side.

His mouth presses into a thin line. "Count on it."

The group prepares themselves quickly. Everything becomes a bit easier to see as dawn approaches slowly over the horizon. Iris watches it rise above the leftover trees and bids herself to relish the moment, the calm before the calamity. She's unsure of what the day will bring, but the fear drives her to find out.

Edward comes up behind her and gently puts his flesh hand on her shoulder. He says nothing for a moment as he watches her. He feels his heart isn't as heavy when he looks at Iris.

She turns away from the sun and towards him. The natural light shines on the planes of his face and she studies his beauty as if it was the last time she'd ever get a good look at him again. She commits this exact image to memory.

His voice is as gentle as his touch. "It's time. You ready to go?"

Iris smiles. "No time like the promised."