Perfect Vision (A Study of King Bradley)

Everyone knows him as the somewhat eccentric Dai-soutou with the somewhat eccentric name- yes, his first name really is King, thanks very much-, easily recognizable via the black eyepatch he sports, a 'by-product of the last two wars', he claims with that cynical smile on his lips. Family man, too: a wife and a son, who love him to bits. He loves them back, has loved them ever since they became 'family'.

Insomuch as anyone of his kind can love anything.

You see, King Bradley has a secret.

He's not really blind.

And there are things he's been subject to see that nobody should ever see, that one flawed, perfect eye so discerning that he hides it behind the eyepatch that has become habit, for him.

But it still looks through the leather, it still sees the world, and no obstruction can hide the truth from its merciless glare.

It hurts, having to see the truth all the time.

To be honest, this eye, this vision, virtually earned him the title of Dai-Soutou. And to be brutally frank, if he'd had a choice, he wouldn't even want to be leader of a system that everything he was as a father protested against. But he can't get free, not his kind, no, he can't get free. His wife and son wouldn't have a snowball's chance in hell- cliché but accurate.

There are things that nobody should see, not even one of his. They glory in it, the carnage, the destruction, but he keeps his gaze unflinching because of stubborn, unyielding pride.

It's always been his one fatal failing, his pride. His great Sin... in addition to the other one which has shaped his life, his purpose. Both of them dictate his actions in tandem; if it is not one Sin, it is the Other, and they do not allow him to hide from himself.

Often he wants to divorce himself from this hole of his own digging, trying to warn the children (they play with fire, especially Fullmetal, playing with fire they would be better off not tasting) but always, always, his Master-Father calls, and his pride does not allow him to do other than go with the last semblances of dignity, whatever his name might be.

Pride. That is indeed his pillar and his downfall.

His perfect vision does not allow for lies, not even to himself.

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Aaaand again, more angst. (I'm starting to sense a pattern here.) I don't think you'll get major spoilers out of this, but all the same, that spoiler warning is going up.

(31/03/2006 Edit: Changed some details in the story to reflect recent manga developments… and I have successfully squashed my fangirl-author complex which has been insisting that it's fine as-is in fanon terms. In the interests of being correct, however, I have changed it… although it still flows a little strangely. Reviews would be much appreciated. Who knows… if the manga comes up with another twist, I might have to rewrite the entire chapter. (NOOOOOOO;;))

Next up (yet again on Reviewers Request): Louis Armstrong (heheheheh…)