Ahhh! I'm so sorry! I did not mean to take another two months. If you've been on my account recently, you saw that my computer was broke for the last three or so weeks. The rest of the time was due to some massive writers block for this chapter. It really held me back for quite some time, and I hope that what I came up with doesn't seem really bad or anything. Well, here's the long awaited chapter, I hope you all like it.

Chapter 35

Selim sat on the cold table, straining his eyes to try and see across the room to where Father was currently working. He'd run out of plans, and didn't know what else he could do besides wait for the ancient beast to decide just how he wanted to kill him.

It wasn't fair. He knew that there had to be some way out, but he was only a little kid. He couldn't use Pride's shadow powers anymore in this darkness, and there wasn't any way that Pride would even consider helping him ever again. Not after he'd 'made' Father attack him, after all. Somehow, despite all this, he managed to keep himself from crying. He didn't know if it was just because of him trying to put on some sort of brave face, or if he'd simply gone past the point of tears.

He'd sworn he wasn't going to go down without a fight this time though. He'd already been killed once by this man though, there wasn't any doubt that he could do it again. Most likely permanently this time too.

So, how was he supposed to fight something that was hundreds of year older than him, smarter than him and stronger and larger than him? He couldn't. It might have been the panic or the child still inside of been practically screaming that it didn't want to die yet, but he still wanted to try. Even as he shuddered remembering the pain that had shot through him at being electrocuted and impaled, if he could possibly pull something and live, then it would be worth it, right?

Listening to the sound of the sandals hitting the stone floor, Selim nodded subtly to himself. It would be worth it, so now he just had to figure out what to do. Something smart this time. Not running away hopelessly and idiotically like before.

"So…" he started into the darkness. He heard the tapping of the sandals stop as he caught the old being's attention "you were talking about the gate thing?" he asked, not entirely sure where he was going with this. All he knew was that it was very hard to keep the absolute panic inside of him under control. It was like trying to go up and talk to a rabid bear or something. There was nothing safe at all about this, but it was either this or certain death, at least in his own head.

"Yes," was all that Father said. His tone sounded very cold, and it almost kept Selim from continuing. He had to keep talking though, it was the only idea he had at the moment. It was highly unlikely that he could really get any useful information out of the being, but it wasn't like prodding Pride was an option anymore. The sin had completely closed himself off from Selim.

"I just went back there… when you killed me. The white being said that it wasn't time yet and sent me back though," he explained, although he wasn't entirely sure why. He could tell that Father was staring at him in the darkness now though, slightly interested in what he was saying. When he didn't say anything himself though, Selim decided to just continue.

"You're a great alchemist. Pride says the best ever, it should be easy for you to be able to send me back to my world through there, right?" he asked, hoping that maybe he would be able to actually convince him.

"If you think you can persuade me you're a fool. I've purged all sins from myself, including Pride," Father said blankly. Selim just nodded though, not about to let it seem like that had got him down. It had, but he already suspected a bit that something that simple wouldn't have worked anyway.

"I know. Pride told me that already. Pride's told me a lot of things… He talks about you a lot," he mumbled, more curious to see how the being would react to something like that then actually thinking it would help with him surviving any.

Father didn't say anything, and for a moment Selim wondered if he actually heard him or not. He really doubted that this beast had such bad hearing that a child mumbling less than a few feet away would escape his knowledge. Either way though, what he had said apparently wasn't deserving or interesting enough to get any sort of answer.

Taking a deep breath, Selim tried to gather his courage to ask his next question. The answer was probably yes, but it would be better to just ask and get it over with so that he would know how little time he had to attempt to get out of here somehow. Even if it was a pointless fight, he was going to do it, but right now he still didn't know exactly how pointless.

"Are you going to kill me?" he asked quietly. The room was silent for a few moments, he guessed as Father thought over the question. Or he could just be purposefully making him wait to hear the answer to scare him. He didn't know if the ancient being would do something like that though.

"I need to purge you from the body of my homunculus, if that results in your death it bares no effect to me," Father said after a while. Slowly, Selim was able to force himself to nod. He spoke about it all so logically, he almost couldn't understand it. He guessed that's what the old being really meant when he said that he purged himself of all sins. It was like a purge of emotions.

Selim sat in silence after that, still completely dumbfounded. Father was going to 'purge' him from Pride's body, just like Pride had said he would. There was no doubt that would end up killing him. So, he could…. What? There wasn't anything he could do to fight. Not in this darkness, and not against something as powerful as Father.

He could hear Father coming back towards him now and almost instinctively sat up a bit straighter. He could just make out the form of the man when he was directly in front of him, but he was mainly focused on his face. He didn't notice the hands coming towards him until they touched.

He could feel the alchemical energy running through his body. It didn't hurt like the electrical shock had, but instead made everything feel numb, causing the child to go limp. He was still awake though, his mind now in a panic. What had that man done to him? It wasn't like any kind of weakness he'd felt before. It was almost like someone had severed the connection his mind had with his body.

Father repositioned Pride's container so that it was lying out on the table again. Selim wished he could squeeze his eyes shut, but nothing was working. The child's panic continued to increase as all of his internal struggling brought absolutely no change whatsoever.

Was Father already starting to expel his soul? He didn't know if this was how it worked, but he wasn't able to look down at himself and see if anything was changing. At the very least, he hadn't expected it to be so fast. He'd just touched him and now everything was going so wrong.

And to think that he wanted to try and fight back. How was he supposed to fight if he couldn't even close his eyes, let alone move or god forbid attempt to attack? He couldn't. He couldn't fight back, or scream or cry or anything. His mind was pretty much blank with panic when Father's form appeared above him, and once again those terrifying hands came down on him.

This time, the alchemic energy flowing through him knocked his mind out as well. Selim was actually thankful for the very brief moment he was aware of the fade. He didn't want to have to deal with that torture of pure helplessness for a second longer.

…

Selim was beyond surprised when he actually found himself regaining conscious yet again. He had thought beyond a shadow of a doubt that Father would have forced him out of Pride's container and killed him in the process. Opening his eyes, he was once again greeted by the same extreme darkness as before. He found that he could actually push himself up though, and could still feel the strange energy flowing through him that was so very different from his own body.

He realized with a start that he couldn't actually remember what it felt like to be in his own body. Before any of that was able to really sink into the child, the sound of someone walking towards him met his stolen ears.

A wave of fear washed over him when he realized that it wasn't the same tapping of sandals that he'd come to recognize as Father, but the controlled echoes of what Selim could only figure was some sort of boot. Turning towards the sound, he couldn't see any details of the large man no matter how much he strained his eyes. The silhouette had a very familiar look to it however, and somehow Selim managed to reign in the fear he felt enough to talk.

"Who's there?" he asked, not really surprised at how terrified he sounded or the way his voice cracked on him. He didn't know where Father was anymore, but that did not mean that he had left. No, chances are he was probably somewhere in the room. Not to mention the fact that he couldn't completely wrap his head around the fact that he was still alive, and he had no idea how he was even still functioning.

"Still the child then? Your interference is really starting to become a nuisance, boy," Selim felt his breath hitch at the familiar and undeniable voice. Somehow though, he didn't turn into the whimpering mess he'd thought he would. After all, this person had already killed him once, but maybe that was a part of the reason why he managed to keep his composure. There wasn't anything worse he could possibly do to him after that.

"Fa-Wrath…" he started, surprised he was able to remember what he'd heard the other homunculus calling this version of his father. "Why haven't you killed me yet?" he asked weakly, not able to get the question out of his head. He should be dead by now, but apparently they'd failed to get him out of Pride's body while he was knocked out.

"You wont have much longer, don't worry about that," the older looking man said, causing the boy to shrink back. If he was just able to get out of this darkness he might be able to fight back. Well, the key word there was might, but that the very least he wouldn't feel like he had absolutely no options.

Even still, the fact that he hadn't really answered the question had to count for something, right? Had they just not been able to figure it out yet? Selim wasn't entirely sure why the idea surprised him so much. Maybe it was the way that Pride always spoke about Father as an all powerful being. He'd assumed it would be a simple task to get the small boy out of the homunculus' body. Apparently dealing with souls was a bit more complicated than he originally thought.

It seemed rather jarring that Pride didn't speak up at his dismissal of Father's power. Had the sin cut himself off from the child so much that he couldn't even hear Selim's thoughts anymore? Or maybe he was just ignoring him. He guessed it didn't matter which ever one was true, it wasn't like the black haired boy had any ways to actually find out.

"Where's Father?" he managed to ask this time, not liking the silence combined with the lack of sight. He wondered if the other homunculus could see in the dark, or if Pride was somehow the odd one out or if he just couldn't because he was in Pride's body. Of course, since the sin was probably never meant to be in total darkness since it caused his powers to become inefficient, there wasn't any need for him to be able to have the power to see.

"You aren't in the position to be asking questions," Wrath said. Selim frowned, starting to get confused now.

"Why won't you answer anything? Did something go wrong?" he asked, some courage starting to build up as he put his mind towards trying to figure out what was going on. They hadn't been able to expel him. For now, he could only count that as a good thing. At the very least, it was buying him some time. To do what, he didn't know yet.

Selim's entire body stiffened as something cold and sharp was pressed lightly against his neck. It didn't take much effort to guess that it was probably a sword of some kind. He didn't doubt the fact that they would resort to killing him anymore, he just wasn't entirely sure if the death would take. Even if it didn't, he didn't want to make it three for three.

"You've gained a backbone since you first appeared," Wrath said matter-of-factly. Selim resisted the urge to nod, the sword keeping him from moving much at all. He couldn't help but wonder what would happen if he did end up dying again. How many lives did Pride's body have? Despite his curiosity, he didn't truly desire to find out.

"I know…" he started. Steadying himself, he prepared to continue, hoping that he wouldn't cause what was apparently an embodiment of wrath to go over the edge. "A-and I'm not going to just die this time. I will go home," he finished, surprised that he actually managed to get those words out. He couldn't see Wrath's expression, but he was positive it was anything but amused.

Selim's eyes widened as he felt the blade slice into his neck slightly, although no blood came out. He was pretty sure that Pride couldn't bleed, anyway.

"You're not going anywhere, boy."

As the sword sliced deeper into his neck, Selim felt a strange pulling sensation similar to when he'd first been killed with that spike by Father, but hadn't noticed due to the shock and fear. Those same feelings were wracking his body once more, but not as intensely. He was still able to form a coherent thought even as he died once again.

That thought was that Wrath was probably right. There was no way out of here for him. No way out but death.

Ahhhhh! This chapter! This. Stupid. Chapter. It did not want to be written. I still don't know if I'm happy with it, and I had to push a very important scene back to the next chapter instead. At least now I kind of think I have this figured out. Pro-tip: Never leave the most important plot point to your entire story not figured out all the way up until the moment you get to it.

Anyway, so sorry once again for the extreme wait and I really hope you all liked the chapter. Like I said, got really nervous about this one. As always please review and tell me what ya'll think.