Disclaimer: I own nothing.

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"Mistress, may I go outside to the gardens?" asked a weak voice.

"Have you finished your lessons?" came the reply.

"...No."

"Then you know the answer."

"Yes mistress."

A seven year-old boy trotted away from the high-backed chair that his mother was seated in, heading towards a cold oak coffee table. It was on resting on a golden Drachman rug and sat beside one of the new manufactured couches from the Northern Republic. It's woven patterns of black and blue twisted around in spirals on the cushions and hurt your head after looking at tem for too long.

The room that all of this was located in was the secondary living room, off of the kitchen with a stair case leading from it. It was on the main floor of the three-floored mansion. The floor matched the coffee table, being made of a lightly stained oak. The walls were painted deep blue with gold framed oil paintings surrounding the focal point of the room, which happened to be the high-backed chair, the couch, the rug, and the coffee table. Another chair was sitting by the coffee table, but it was presently unoccupied.

Upon the couch rested the boy's lesson books. That was his least favorite part of the day, lessons. They were boring and he saw no reason why he couldn't abandon them and run free in the may gardens around the mansion.

As he seated himself upon an overstuffed cushion, he replaced the lesson book on his lap and read:

ISHBAL is a country east of Amestris. It's people worship Ishbala. A terrible war took place there when an Ishbalan attacked a Amestrian soldier and he accidently shot a child. This caused unruliness among the people and Amestris tried to peacefully reinforce the laws, but Ishbal resisted. Now Ishbal is an independent republic of its own.

Everything the boy had read was required to be previewed by his ladyship and his mistress. They said it was for his own good. Out of curiosity, the boy had stolen and read a book that he had been denied. It was called an 'encyclopedia' and he had read something different in the ISHBAL category. The boy decided that he would be wicked and read it later and compare it with his lesson book.

Pushing it out of his mind for the time being, the boy flipped the page and stared down at the page in front of him. It displayed men in blue uniforms, clutching there body's in pain.

WAR is a period of time when two or more countries are enemies. All trade stops and casualties are common. Wars are won with an army. An army is comprised of privates, lieutenants, brigadier generals, generals, and captains. Amestris has a program called the 'State Alchemists.' These individuals use alchemy for the state.

The boy's mother glanced across to see what her boy was reading. Her eyes widened and she instantly stood and raced across the room, snatching the book from the child. He looked up at her with question.

"Collin, in case you didn't see, this is the lesson book for you in four years, not now. We don't wish to... expose you to these things yet. Why, you do look rather pale. I've decided to end lessons early. Run along outside."

Collin glanced uneasily at his mother. She smiled warmly and he smiled back, running outside. He reserved a seat on the white-painted metal bench the was below the honeysuckle trellis, enjoying the sweet wafting smell.

Carefully, Collin removed his blue wool jacket and placed it on the bench next to him. His white dress shirt was light weight and perfect for the summer weather. Quickly, the boy clambered to peel his shoes and stockings off. After that, he wriggled his toes, letting them air out. He hated being cooped up on such a beautiful day.

This was the way Collin had always known. He had never had any friends. He was isolated in a large mansion out in the middle of nowhere, living with adults. Even so, ever so often, something would feel wrong. As though, what he was doing wasn't natural. But this didn't make any sense to the boy because all he had ever known was inside the borders of the property. It was hard for him to imagine another country...

As soon as the boy was literate, the adults had set the rules down and enforced them with an iron fist. The rules were:

a) no going beyond the property borders

b) avoid seeing the ladyship unless called upon

c) always run everything by mistress

d) failure to comply results in varying degrees of punishment

Collin... had never seen another child before.

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Lust trudged towards the golden plated doors. Her boots squeaked as she dragged them across the floor. She didn't want to tell her master that she had... the consequences would be... that child... why..? A timid knock on the door was reacted to by to sharp bark of 'Come in,' from the other side. Lust pushed the door open, her hair bouncing softly against her shoulders and flopping onto her bottom.

"Why do you disturb me now, Lust?" said an old woman seated in a royal cherry wood chair, entwined with copper.

"I... Master, I didn't... it just..."

"What is it you fool? Tell me, now!" The harsh words made the feminine sin cringe.

"I, not purposely, mind you, let Collin examine a higher level lesson book..."

A twitch set upon the master's cheek and she rose from her chair. "You despicable creature! If he learns of pain, he will learn of everything! He must be kept ignorant! I thought that I made that clear to you!"

The master clapped her hands and placed them on Lust's tattoo. Lust cringed in pain, her face contorting, trying to fight the fire traveling through her veins pulsing, racing, like a stream of lava flowing through her. The burning sensation reached her head and she stood rigid, her mass feeling jelly-like and unstable, as though melting was a near possibility.

Like a pained animal, the master retracted her hands, bringing them swiftly to her sides and straightening up. Her eyes flashed in anger as the sin greedily gulped down air, trying to get the pain out of her system. Sneering, the old woman said, "You know what happens if you disobey me again, Lust."

Nodding her ego-damaged face, she said quietly, "Yes, I know, Master. Death."

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Collin pushed his shiny golden bangs out of his eyes as he sat up to greet his mother. He hugged her and looked up into her eyes. Sensing something was wrong, he asked, "Why aren't you happy, Mistress?"

A silence.

"Because I love you."

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And he's going to be their human transmutation monkey! He's not going to love her if he finds out the truth! (You killed my pappy!) You'l just have to review like crazy to find out.

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