A little over a month had passed since Edward's odd and disturbing encounter with Envy had occurred. Things around Central had grown quiet, with many soldiers being laid off temporary due to the lull in work. The homunculi had pretty much disappeared from the picture as well. Roy Mustang sighed deeply as he continued to work on his paperwork, which for once was not piled around him, since with there being little work at the moment, he had ample time to keep up to task with his usual workload of documents. He couldn't help but allow his thoughts to stray to that night, so many things surrounding that evening just did not add up.
It was frustrating that since that night, there has not been a single lead, nor another mention of young soldiers disappearing, or of a beautiful woman that mirrored his own dead sister's image. 'Just what are you planning…' He mused, lifting his pen to his lips and nibbling on the end thoughtfully. 'Was perhaps Edward's actions, your true intent….' Thoughts of the sin invaded his mind. Those eyes, filled with so much anguish and what he had thought was fear. Fear of losing control perhaps, or was it all just an act….a ruse to throw them off, maybe get into their heads.
When it came to dealing with the homunculi, the flame alchemist had to admit to himself that he was at loss of where to even beginning trying to connect the dots. If only he could find the sin again, perhaps he could put together this puzzle, but then again he doubt that the boy would even cooperate, not to mention he somewhat suspected that he had not been a willing participant that eyes, he couldn't shake them from his mind. As he was deep in thought, the stacks of paperwork had begun to multiple, each becoming higher and higher. Seriously where had all this extra work suddenly come from…when he first arrived in his office there had only been a small singular stack of maybe nine, perhaps ten papers…' You have got to be kidding me.' He groaned inwardly as his train of thought had been broken as his favorite Lieutenant had entered the room with another stack of papers and set them down in front of him.
"What's with the sudden flood of paperwork overtaking my desk, Lieutenant?" He questioned, his dark eyes narrowing and his right hand, came to rest under his chin.
"There have been some things happening this morning around Central, Sir." The blonde woman said as she set another stack of maybe thirty papers or so to his left. "These papers came down from the Fuehrer for you to review and sign off on. He seemed as if he was leaving soon and asked me to be sure they were taken care of immediately." She frowned slightly as she spoke, her hand reaching up to move a strand of hair that had fallen in front of her eyes.
"I see…well that will be all, Lieutenant." Mustang looked back down at his paperwork and began the tedious task of signing. He did not look up as the woman turned to leave his off shutting the door gently behind her.
'Well it seems a lead may be popping up here soon.' He had to know, just what sort of sick game they were playing now, the more he thought about it the harder it was becoming to focus on his ever growing mountain of paperwork. It was planned alright….that much he had already put together, whatever had happened in that room had been orchestrated to occur, but for what purpose?
'Perhaps I should visit our new Doctor.' Mustang thought to himself as he pushed away from his desk and stood to leave. "I suddenly feel ill." He said aloud as he left, his office and walked past his subordinates, receiving several bewildered glances as he strolled out the main door.
"What was that all about?" Havoc questioned in a confused tone, the colonel seemed perfectly healthy to him. He took a short drag of his cigarette and glanced towards Falman, who merely shrugged in response. How was he to know what sort of mess the colonel had stumbled upon now? To be honest he was a bit surprised that the darker haired man had not mentioned anything to them. Perhaps something major was going on and he did not want to involve them at the moment, until absolutely necessary. Well when he needed them, his team would be ready.
Since the incident, Edward Elric had made himself scarce about Central Headquarters, preferring to stay at his own apartment to do some research. He had not felt like being around any of his friends or colleagues, even his own brother. It was strange for him to not want the company of his younger brother, Alphonse, but since that night a month ago, he had a lot of things on his mind, that he was not prepared to discuss with anyone else, just yet.
Despite knowing that he had only done what he had because he had been tricked and drugged, he was still unable to forgive himself for his own actions. "I feel like such a monster…" The blonde whispered softly to himself, as he angrily slammed his fist into his desk, causing all of his research notes to scatter across the small oak desk, some floating down to the dirty floor. Though his hand ached from hitting the desk so hard, he could not shake his thoughts from that night…those eyes stared back at him filled with tears and anger. They had stared up at him from a helpless body, humiliated and angry.
He deserved that look that was now embedded into his mind, what he had done was unforgivable, he did not deserve to be happy or even be around those that he had once loved and called his friends…no he was a monster. Perhaps some fresh air would do him some good, he needed to shake these thoughts from his mind, so he could get back on track to look for a way to restore his little brother's body. Though at the moment he viewed himself as a wicked being, he still had an obligation to fulfill to the younger Elric. The young alchemist stared into the mirror near his desk with disgust before turning to leave.
"Well, if it isn't the Fullmetal pipsqueak." A very familiar and androgynous voice sounded from above him. He had found him at last, oh this was going to be delicious…sweet…sweet vengeance.
The very thin and girlish looking homunculus had jumped down from the rooftop of his apartment and was now standing before him, his eyes seething with rage. "Envy, look…I.." The blonde barely had time to dodge, let alone finish his sentence as the other boy had kicked at him, the nails of his long toes barely missing his cheek. As Edward leapt to the right, he quickly transmuted his auto mailed arm into his trademark blade.
"Can we just talk, Envy?!" He yelled as he dodge the other's attacks, debris flying behind him as the other's fist connected with the stone pavement. Edward got the feeling that talking was out of the question as a foot collided with side and sent him flying at high speed back into a large postbox. He grimaced from the pain, but he managed to stand and nearly dodged another of Envy's enraged attacks.
"Talk? You want to talk?!" The other boy scowled and gritted his teeth. "I have nothing to say to you!" His onslaught became more and more relentless as he spoke. However, the more he moved, the more tired he was becoming and an unsettling feeling had made itself known in his gut. It was strange, in all his years of being a homunculus he had never felt this way before, a sick nausea feeling waved over him and he felt a hot liquid shooting up into his throat as he dodged Edward's blade.
"Envy stop!" A sultry feminine echoed from behind them both.
"This doesn't concern you, Lust. Now buzz off!" He shouted as he dodged two more of Edward's blows, repaying the blonde with several of his own attacks, a few hits managing to damage the other boy, who at this point had discarded his usual coat and now had a large cut on his forehead where Envy had thrown him into a wall.
"Our orders were to not kill him!" She shouted back as she glared at her brother.
As he moved to hit the young alchemist again, that's when it happened….his stomach lurched and his body instinctively hunched over, vomit covering the pavement between the two. Lust and Edward both stared at the other in confusion and shock, however a thought crossed Lust's mind. "It…it worked?" She whispered barely audible as she watched her brother heaving in front of her.
Edward shook his surprise and decided now was the time to finish this. He ran swiftly forward towards the sin, whom at this point had barely enough time to collect himself and move himself out of harm's way. The blonde's weapon was mere inches from the other's gut, when a pair of familiar nailed had shot out and struck him in his still human shoulder, blood spurting out as it pierced the flesh. "No! You mustn't!" The female sin had shouted as she had extended her nails pushing the boy away from her comrade.
Edward grimaced as her talons retracted from his shoulder and he moved his hand over the wound to try and stop the bleeding. As he gathered his composure, he stood and prepared himself to fight both sins, however neither Envy nor Lust was on the battlefield any longer, leaving behind an injured and confused state alchemist. "What did she mean by 'it worked'" He mused as he brushed the dust from his clothes. He wondered if he strange words had anything to do with that night a month ago. He understood Envy's actions, but Lust's words seemed odd. He could not figure out why, but he had the feeling that it had something to do with Envy's sudden sickness. He needed to find the colonel and explain to him what had happened, perhaps he could help him shed some light on this situation.
Meanwhile somewhere below Central, six of the seven homunculi had gathered in a circle, Envy however was absent, feeling the need to lie down in one of the other rooms, the sickness having tired his body greatly, even more so since he had decided to attack Edward. "I believe we were successful." Lust said as she turned her hand eyeing her long nails, all eyes of the other homunculi were upon her.
"Good, Father will be pleased that everything is going according to plan." The homunculi know as Wrath smiled proudly, his hands both resting on the top of his sword as if it were a cane. He gave a short glance towards the room that Envy was currently occupying and then back to his other brethren.
"Does this mean I can eat the Doctor?" A childish voice sounded from below. He pointed a chubby finger towards his mouth and his eyes glimmered with excitement.
"No…Not yet Gluttony, we still may need his assistance." Lust smiled down towards her gluttonous comrade, gently patting his enormous bald head. He looked towards his favorite sister a bit disheartened at being unable to enjoy their pawn as a tasty daytime snack, but if she told him no then he must obey her. She looked back towards Wrath with a quizzical expression. "So what should we do with Envy in the mean time?"
"Keep him under lock and key, so to speak. We can't have the Elric brothers discovering his little secret…Nor could we afford a careless accident that nearly happened today." Wrath closed his one eye in thought as he spoke, referring mostly to when Edward had nearly gutted their hard work. The foolish boy nearly ruined everything. No they couldn't have their brother running off trying to fight the blonde. So drastic times, called for drastic means. Envy would be kept here for the time being under the watch of Sloth and Pride, while he, Lust and Gluttony would make sure that the Elrics kept their fingers out of their pies.
Author's notes: wow that was a long wait between chapters….well I finally managed to update it, I really hope you enjoyed this chapter or it has at least kept you interested.