There was something about the desert. A vast expanse of nothing but sand, rocks and sky, empty, barren and inhospitable, a place where humans were not welcome and yet they thrived. A place that was sweltering during the day, the sun beating down mercilessly on the arid earth, and during the night it became so cold that your breath would mist around your face as countless constellations blinked upon the inky sky above.
A single, ill-prepared man could perish in a hilarious variety of different and unpleasant ways here but, somehow, as a group they managed to not only survive but to build and stand tall.
The Ishvalan people confused Envy. Humans were not supposed to be particularly multi-faceted. But this breed was as contradictory as the desert they lived in. They were harsh and proud, and yet also valued their kin and helped each other more so than the other Amestrians did. A shiver ran up their spine, and they could almost feel the hatred and the resentment bubbling in their stomach.
Envy couldn't wait until the Ishvalans were all dead.
They shifted their legs, sitting up against the boulder they were leaning on. Envy gazed at the sunset, that brief, golden moment that marked the shift between the heat of the day and the chill of the night.
"Penny for your thoughts?" their companion said and they turned to look at the State Alchemist.
Zolf J. Kimblee was still in his early twenties, and yet he already held the rank of a Major and had graduated with full honors from the Academy. Envy found the psychological evaluations of his character to be extremely amusing.
The military had judged Kimblee to be diligent, assiduous and reliable. They thought that he responded well to stressful situations and was generally both level-headed and brave, depending on what the situation demanded. In other words, the perfect State Alchemist for the battlefield.
And they had completely missed the fact that Kimblee was a stone cold psychopath.
Although, to his credit, he was decent at presenting a front of sanity when it suited him.
Like right now. He was sitting across from Envy, one leg bent up lazily and the other stretched so that his boot almost touched Envy's bare feet. His shoulders were relaxed and with the orange glow of the sunset outlining his sharp cheekbones and his slender nose, he almost looked handsome.
Until you gazed into those teal eyes and saw the madness.
Envy was good at understanding people. Well, not so much the contents of their character, that still eluded them on occasion, even after innumerable years of watching and pretending, but they could read the eyes and the body language like nobody else could. To them, Zolf looked like someone who had loved to tear the wings off of flies or to flip turtles on their backs as a child, and never really grew out of it as he became an adult. And people made for much more fascinating playthings than mere critters.
That was what made him such a perfect weapon, after all. The State Alchemists wielded incredible power, and were generally a haughty and self-absorbed lot, but most of them were not going to make it out of Ishval unscarred. Carving a Crest of Blood took a special kind of mind among the humans and Kimblee was just the right tool for that job.
Dr. Marcoh was working on making a new Philosopher's Stone by using Ishvalan prisoners, and Envy had decided that Zolf should be the one to receive it once it was complete. The other State Alchemists in Ishval, ones like Basque Gran, Roy Mustang, Isaac McDougal, Armstrong... it would be wasted on them. Though fearsome in their own right, they all lacked the grit Father's masterplan needed.
But Kimblee armed with a Philosopher's Stone? Yeah, if that didn't carve the Crest, nothing else would.
Envy smirked at the so-called Crimson Alchemist, already congratulating themselves for the inevitable success they were going to achieve here. "I was just thinking," they looked him over, "that if you pull this off tonight... well, let's just say that there will be good things coming your way," a small cackle escaped their lips. Hook, line and sinker, right?
Zolf raised a thin eyebrow, giving them a cool glance. "Is that so?" he asked. Odd, he didn't look... especially enthralled by the prospect. "Another piece of the puzzle of your designs that is to be revealed?" He shrugged. "It seems that every time you give me an answer, there are two more questions lurking behind the next corner."
"We got to keep you hungry, Crimson," Envy grinned evilly at him, but their heart wasn't in it.
Envy liked Zolf. They really did.
He was the only human they had ever worked with voluntarily. The utter lack of morals and his inability to distinguish between absurd human constructs like good and evil really set him apart from the rest of his kind. His cold ruthlessness contrasted beautifully with the wild exhilaration he displayed whenever he was allowed to unleash his powers and that made him a perfect partner in crime.
But it wasn't the same.
It wasn't enough.
There was an emptiness in them, a century old and surrounded by so much shame that they couldn't even force themselves to confront it. And Kimblee couldn't do anything to fill that void. Nor would he have cared to, if he knew about it.
Kimblee wasn't him. He never could be.
Funny. It seemed that Envy was a creature of contradictions too, like the desert and the Ishvalans. They hated Greed. They were glad that he was gone. They didn't need him. They hoped he was dead, unlikely as it was.
And yet, sometimes, Envy caught themselves wishing nothing more than to fall into his arms again, to smell his scent and to hear his voice.
It was intense and it made their chest ache. It was disgraceful and humiliating, and they knew that he wasn't worth it, and that he never cared about them in the first place.
Thankfully, moments like these were as brief as the sunsets, and Envy was able to spend most of their time basking in the comfort of their heated anger towards humanity or the coldness of their father's plans.
"I suppose it make sense," Zolf turned his eyes back towards the ravine and the winding path below as the last rays of the setting sun flared before it sunk under the endless horizon. "My lust for Ishvalan blood is only rivaled by my curiosity, after all. And I do want to see how far the rabbit hole goes," he squinted at the distance and he bit his lip. "Hrmm. Headlights approaching. See?"
Envy looked at the direction he pointed at.
The convoy of the Ishvalan freedom fighters was closing in on the ravine that lay below the two of them. Which meant that soon Zolf was going to get to play the part of the hero, single-handedly destroying a nest of wasps that had been a thorn at the military's side for months. After this night, his candidacy to receive the Stone would be cemented, and they would all be one step closer to finishing the Ishvalan Crest.
A part of Envy wished that they didn't have to go through such ridiculous hoops – wouldn't it be easier to just hand the Stone to Zolf, point him at the largest remaining bulk of Ishvalan lives and simply drop his leash?
Poof! One Crest of Blood, fresh out of the desert and ready to go! All courtesy of your faithful Envy, Father, no need to get up from your throne to give me a hug or anything.
But no, Wrath insisted that such acts required finesse. A scalpel, he said, sometimes is more useful than a broadsword. Father's plans had to be fulfilled smartly and subtly, or else the humans might eventually become an obstacle instead of a resource. Frustrating as it was, Envy couldn't pretend that they didn't see the sense in it.
They sighed and got up.
"Where are you going?" Kimblee asked, gazing at the approaching Ishvalan vehicles below. His tone suggested it was more out of manners than out of interest.
"Where are you going?" Van Hohenheim looked up from the fire as Envy rose and stretched their arms up. He sounded vaguely concerned.
They nearly groaned. Ever since the two of them arrived at the Kanama slums to wait for Alphonse, Hohenheim had treated them as if they were a bomb that could explode at any given time. He did it by pretending to be engaging in small talk, again and again, as if Envy was incapable of noticing what he was doing.
In a way, his behavior reminded them of how Greed had treated them before. The facade of caring. Just like how Greed had always known what a disgusting monstrosity Envy truly was, so was Van Hohenheim aware that he was dealing with a Homunculus that had spent nearly two centuries ravaging this country and killing its people.
Envy had been willing to indulge Greed's veneer because it had been so tantalizingly close to the real lover's affection they wanted and were never going to get. Ultimately, by the time they allied with the Elrics and the whole band of idiots, they had come to consider the whole thing a mistake that had brought them nothing but heartache but it was done and over with. And they didn't intend to repeat that mistake again.
They had no cause to do the same with Hohenheim. He had nothing to offer them that they wanted. Nothing at all.
So they looked down at the man whose face Father wore and curled their lips in a defiant snarl. "I'm not about to kill anyone, don't fear," they said, their voice purposefully affronted. "I am capable of controlling myself, you know."
Hohenheim took his glasses off and used the hem of his shirt to start polishing them. "Why so jumpy?" he asked, the very image of agreeable good intentions. "All I meant was that it would be good to know where are you in case Al returns while you're gone."
"Screw this," Envy shook their head and walked off.
The night sky was overcast and the darkness felt comforting to Envy as they left the dimly-lit village and headed towards the thick woods that surrounded it. A little solitude never hurt, and if Envy had to be frank, ever since they... switched sides, they had been surrounded by humans and it was suffocating. Now that Yoki and the chimeras had remained in Liore and Alphonse had went to Resembool to be sure that Winry got home safely, all Envy needed to do was ditch Van Hohenheim for a few hours and just take a few moments to breathe without the noisy, nosy humans around.
Not to mention that they needed to think.
They may have joined forces with Alphonse and his father, but they did not share the same goals as them. The Elrics were welcome to fight Father to their hearts' content, and Envy wasn't going to shed tears for the Dwarf in the Flask if they happened to destroy it and halt the Promised Day.
The problem was what to do with their siblings. Some of them were going to fight on Father's side and Envy still hadn't found a solution to that.
Greed was going to be the easiest to convince. He probably wouldn't even wait for Envy to finish talking before agreeing to abandon Father. It's not like he was particularly faithful to the cause anyway. The only difficulties with Greed were of personal nature, and that could wait until the bigger crisis was dealt with.
Gluttony was going to require more work. He was, by nature, obedient and fearful of all his siblings. Before, this had made Envy despise him, but lately they just felt sorry for him. He was just so... lost without Lust. A small, treasonous voice in the back of their head wheedled how he wasn't worth saving and how even if all else succeeded, even if Father was defeated and the Homunculi survived, Gluttony would just be a burden for the rest of them thanks to his endless hunger and his stupidity. Envy angrily shut that voice up. They weren't going to give up just because it wasn't going to be easy. Humans could persevere, even when it was difficult, yes? Well, if they could, so could Envy! Yes, Gluttony himself was of little value, but they owed it to Lust. Envy wondered if taking her appearance on would help convince Gluttony. They supposed it was a matter of seeing which was stronger – his love for Lust or his fear of Father. Envy wasn't sure about the answer, but so far they hadn't come up a better idea.
The other three were what they didn't know what to do with. As Envy walked further towards the forest, away from Kanama, they almost began talking to themselves, feeling frustrated and unsure.
Wrath was going to be a challenge. He loved having power over Amestris and there was no scenario in which he would get to keep it if Father ever fell. And he was a subject of his vice just as much as the rest of the family was to theirs. Turning tail and refusing to fight his enemies? Yeah, not the style of the personification of anger.
Envy's mind was working furiously, gears turning as they combed through their memories until they found something that might be of use.
Wrath had said once that his wife was the only thing he ever chose. Everything else in his life had been just a tool for Father, but her he chose on his own. Envy knew that he had been allowed to have that largely because she was of no consequence whatsoever, but that didn't make it any less valid. They wondered if Wrath's hollow heart was capable of affection at all... but if it was, and that was a gamble by itself, if it was... perhaps they could try to reason with him. After all, if Father succeeded, she would perish as well. Would Wrath continue to serve the creature who was going to kill his wife? Envy wished they had an answer.
Sloth was probably hopeless. Loyalty meant nothing to him, and Envy knew for a fact that he didn't give a fuck about any of his siblings, and probably not a whole lot more about Father either. And that was a pity. If nothing else, Envy thought that it would be better to have the fastest and strongest Homunculus on their side when the time to stand against Father came. The trouble was that rebellion required effort, and Sloth had never made any effort about anything unless forced to. And the only ones who had ever been able to force Sloth into action were Father and Pride.
Pride... Fuck, Envy couldn't even begin to think what to do about Pride...
Suddenly, something on the edge of their vision flashed, as if a stray beam of moonlight had managed to worm its way through the thick, grey clouds and was reflected on a metal surface, and they turned their head.
Huh.
That was odd.
What was the Tin Can doing in the woods?
And why was he standing so still, staring at them?
"Hey, Alphonse," Envy folded their arms and measured him with their eyes, "You managed to get Winry home safely?" No response. That wasn't... typical. The younger Elric loved babbling, to the point where it had long become tiresome, "Your dad is waiting for you," they nodded towards the distant lights of Kanama. The helmet moved to follow the gesture. "Lovely talking with you," Envy sneered and made to turn away and head deeper into the forest.
If the Tin Can wanted to be weird and creepy, it was none of Envy's business and they really didn't care enough to actually put up with it. Let Van Hohenheim sort out his own brat, eh?
And then the night around Envy opened a thousand glowing, malicious eyes and a soft, disembodied voice purred, Hello, Envy.
Yet another chapter that has slight inconsistencies in regard to the timeline. In the show, Ed and co. get to Kanama shortly before Pride and Gluttony. Here it's the opposite, and it's on purpose. Just roll with it lol
The first part of this chapter is set during the Ishvalan War. A part of me wants to write a whole villain POV spinoff (set in the same AU) about it, this time centered around Envy & Kimblee, but that's probably never going to happen. Although it appears to have little to do with what happens in "present time", it's not irrelevant but that won't become obvious until later.