A/N- Yes! A sequel to Something Lacking for the fans out there! I seriously hope everyone's happy. This story takes place a half a year after the epilogue of the previous story, so you can expect a few things to have happened in that time. Yeah, stuff happened... And OMG who is Sloth! Well, who do ya think!
Disclaimer- I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist or any of its characters.
Chapter 1- Cast in Shadow
It was dark, quiet, and night time. A perfect surrounding for the green-haired sin who had become a celebrity around central.
Envy was only well-known these days because of his frequent appearences. He was looking for something, or rather, someone. And this person didn't even live in Central. Heavens no, they lived a few days trip away from this grim-looking area. So, why Envy chose to roam this area in the dead of the night, after hours, was about as much of a mystery to everyone else as it was to himself.
Therefore, he didn't really have a reason.
But he did... A lot of people just wouldn't realize it. Envy was looking for another Philosopher's stone, and from the news he'd just recently heard, this was the perfect place to look. Some alchemists had started conducting experiments on creating one, and since there were so many people to be executed these days... Execution. That was a word Envy quite liked. It had one of those nice rings to it, whenever you said it. Execution. Heh.
Jumping from the roof of an old house and landing in the shadows within an alleyway, Envy saw just the building he'd been looking for. How nice. That hadn't taken very long at all, now had it? He had to argue with himself. In all honesty, he hadn't wanted to come all the way out to Central. It was a lot of trouble when you were taking care of a new sin, and she just happened to want to go on the rampage constantly.
Sloth... What a joke. Envy sighed at the thought of his fellow sin, and also at the meer mention of the idea that he was still trying to teach her the basics of being a freak. Sloth dealt with it well, actually. Very well.
Jerked back to reality, Envy had to duck down when he thought he heard the voices of some Military Policeman coming from around the corner to his right. Sure enough, a few men garbed in long, black outfits walked past, carrying baton-like items, that, any normal person, which didn't concern Envy, would have feared being smacked across the face with. They'd be out cold, from the looks of it. Envy was one of those special cases though. Being a freak wasn't so bad after all.
As soon as the sin was positive the MP's had dissapeared, he snuck around the bend, and over to the front gate of a very large, enclosed building. It had trip wires, search lights, more policeman, attack dogs, pitfalls... You name it. "Pitiful humans... They disgust me with their efforts..." Maybe Envy was just whispering this because he didn't want to have to deal with a break in this late at night, or maybe he just meant it. Either way, there had to be some reason this area was so heavily guarded. There must really have been a Philosopher's stone here. Bingo...
Turning to face the other direction, Envy reached his hand out, motioning for someone to come out of the darkness. And someone did follow.
Garbed in a black dress with a small leather jacket over it, Sloth emerged from between two houses, or rather, the alleyway Envy had previously exited from. Her long, brown hair was placed in its usual ponytail, and as she walked along, slowly as she possibly could, it was like the world stopped. "Took you long enough!" Envy snapped at her, yet trying to keep his voice down at the same time. He couldn't afford to screw this one up. He just couldn't.
"I apologize," Sloth replied, boring tone of voice she'd kept since Envy had found her crashed on the other side of the gate. That was, after all, where he found most of his replacement sins. The other side of the gate. "But Envy, wouldn't it be smarter to have gone from the back way?"
"Not nessecarily... Watch." Envy stood in front of the gate, speechless as a bright light engulfed his whole body, rising slowly until only Fuhrer Mustang, who was in charge of this building, was left to stand in front of the female sin, eyepatch over the left eye, and right arm made of automail. Envy could only suspect that Mustang would have obtained some automail by now. It was, after all, the smartest thing he could have done after Pride sliced off his arm. He saw the drawn back look on Sloth's face. He knew what she was thinking, and he knew what she wanted. She knew that if Envy tried this approach, she probably wouldn't end up entering the building with him. Envy waved a finger at her, tauntingly. "Now now, I have an idea for you too."
Seconds later, Envy, still Roy Mustang, walked over to where some military policeman were standing their guard. He was closely followed by Sloth, his new 'secretary.' Honestly, Roy Mustang didn't have a secretary, but since the two remaining sins only needed one night to pull this whole thing off, Envy figured it wouldn't matter if a few rumours went around that the Fuhrer did in fact choose a secretary. "Fuhrer Mustang, sir!" One of the MP's called to Envy as soon as he saw him round the bend. Envy gave him a wave, and continued about his way, right into the building, Sloth still secured safely behind him.
"Well that worked," Sloth said, watching Envy transform himself back to his usual form once they were inside an empty room. "But what now? Where do we find the Philosopher's stone?" Envy stepped over to Sloth, and put his hands on her shoulders. It was a very awkward moment, though neither of the sins could show that they really cared. After all, having a serious lack of emotions could either make you or break you, depending on how you looked at it.
"Sloth, believe me when I say, that in your previous life, you were a very intelligent woman capable of making many difficult decisions by herself. I'm sure you could figure out where the Philosopher's stone is without barely even looking for it. Now where do you think they would keep an item of such importance in a place as heavily guarded as this?" Sloth thought for a moment, not yet hitting a conclusion. She was now too busy worrying about what Envy had just said.
Too often she was told about her previous life, told she was a very great and reliable person. Had a lot of people looked up to her? Would anyone recognize her if they saw her? "Sloth!" Pulled out of her daydream by a very angry looking Envy, she had to begin thinking again.
"The basement," She replied, firmly.
And she was right. The entire lower area of the floor had a certain red glow to it. The center area, in which Envy had visited before, was still filled with containers, chalk full of that horrible red water that could make anyone sick to their stomach. Red water was not a safe object of concern, Envy knew this for sure. He'd known it from Lust, who'd worked with the substance before she'd passed on. Another victim. They just lost sins left and right. What a turn for the worse.
One thing was for sure. Whatever Alchemist had been working on the creation of this stone, had finished it. Of this, Envy was positive.
That was where the Philosopher's stone sat, shining in all its glory, at the center of the room, on top of a platform covered with a strong glass substance. But no substance was too strong for a sin. Envy tore right through it, grabbing his prize. "Let's go," He said to Sloth, who, with a nod, followed him back upstairs once he'd transformed back into the Fuhrer. Their plan was fool proof... Or so they thought.
A/N- Shorter chapter. Think of it as a prologue!