Pride & Humility

XVI

Beta:TaintedLetter

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Elizabeth returned to visit Edward and Alphonse the following afternoon along with Maes Hughes who gushed about his daughter's birthday last night. Elizabeth politely listened to his cheerful chatter—he always listened to Elizabeth brag on Selim, so while Elizabeth disagreed that his daughter was the cutest in the world, she would still listen.

Along the way they came across Major Armstrong who had also come to check on the brothers... and to hear what happened.

And what a story did the brothers have to tell.

As it would turn out, both boys had immediately snuck out to visit the fifth laboratory. There, they came across two more transmuted souls bound to suits of armor, some strange transmutation circles, and a bastard who knocked Edward out.

Elizabeth carefully studied the sketch of the bastard Edward had made. Edward had described this vermin as a little taller than him, dressed in a crop top and shorts, with an androgynous face. His hair was odd, coming across as unnaturally spiky, and he had a very strange tattoo.

Elizabeth mentally added this creature to her growing list of scum to destroy.

'I've never had such a desire to murder before,' she thought with irritation. 'Now I have two people I actually want to kill.'

Maybe that's what growing up meant? Wanting to kill more and more people?

Selim and Papa were grown ups and they definitely wanted to kill people.

Selim was the oldest and he wanted to kill the most.

'It must be a growing up thing.'

But wait, Edward and Alphonse were older than her and they didn't want to kill people.

'Hmm...'

"A blood lust that would do the Luxanna family proud."

A chill ran down Elizabeth's spine as Grandfather Crow's words whispered in the back of her head. She could not help but recall that night. She could stop herself from thinking back on the way it felt to dig her daggers into living human flesh, to see the life leave a person's eyes, to hear their last strangling breath...

'Perhaps,' Elizabeth thought, the chill leaving her the more she recalled how much she had already killed for her new family. 'Perhaps it is not a growing up thing, but a me thing?'

Perhaps...

"Ouroboros tattoos, a philosopher's stone transmutation circle, and Doctor Marcoh saying they used stones in Ishval..." Maes mused aloud, pulling Elizabeth back into the present. He was carefully studying the papers that Edward had written up, detailing what he and Alphonse had so far uncovered.

"There are too many mysteries here for just a simple experiment," Armstrong observed.

"And there's no way to investigate any with the lab now being a pile of rubble," Maes went on before he sighed. "If I root around in the criminal archives, something might turn up."

Armstrong picked up another stack of papers, a frown on his face. "I shall look into those who were working under Doctor Marcoh in researching the stone."

There was a knock on the door, halting all conversation as Papa opened it and stepped inside. "Excuse me."

"Papa!" Elizabeth exclaimed brightly, while everyone else nearly had a seizure and rushed to stand in attention.