Pride & Humility

XXVIII

Beta: TaintedLetter

(óヮò)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

(A brief recap)

Edward and Alphonse Elric had hatched a plan rather mischievous in nature.

Every homunculus they had faced thus far has shown to be an adversary, and the boys were determined to uncover the entire truth of the homunculi and the philosopher's stone. They knew the two were related in some manner, but they did not yet know how.

Mustang and his men were working parallel to the Elrics, but ultimately toward the same goal. Mustang was hunting down the creature that had attacked Hughes, and inadvertently stumbled upon a possible conspiracy in the military. The military had framed an innocent woman for Hughes' attack, which drew Mustang's suspicion. When he came across a serial killer whose soul had been transmuted into another suit of armor—like Alphonse—he was able to learn that part of the military had been secretly working to create the philosopher's stone.

Then along came Lust and her own little devious plan and she baited Mustang and his men into invading one of the homonculi's laboratories. There, she "accidentally" revealed to Mustang that homunculi were created from philosopher stones... and in doing so, permanently tied Mustang into working alongside the Elric brothers.

Both potential threats were manipulated into one combined threat by her.

This forced the Elrics to launch their plan. The Elrics knew the homunculi would not allow them to die, and so they used themselves as bait—by forcing Scar to attack them—in order to draw them out. Their new friends from Xing assisted them in capturing the homunculus known as Gluttony, and so now Mustang, the Elrics, and the entourage from Xing found themselves in hiding with the child-like Gluttony.

And the eyes of Pride watched them from the shadows.

(óヮò)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

(Elizabeth)

Elizabeth Luxanna was laying down on a stone autopsy table conjured by Grandpapa. She was in her thin night dress, and all her weapons were laid out on the table beside her as Grandpapa examined her.

He had offered her a sedative, but she wanted to be conscious and see what he was doing so she took a nerve blocker instead.

It was fascinating to see herself cut open.

Not in a dangerous, or drastic way, mind you.

Grandpapa said he had to be familiar with her nervous system, skeletal features, and so forth, for his own plan to work. This required some simple surgery—all of which could be instantly repaired by Grandpapa through his mastery over alchemy.

It was terribly interesting to watch. He even conjured a mirror above so Elizabeth could see when he cut open her leg.

"Human. Entirely human," Grandpapa absently muttered, a slight crease in his brow revealing a level of perplexion Elizabeth didn't understand. "Human. The body is entirely human, and yet...?"

She didn't quite yet see why Grandpapa was so confused by this. Elizabeth was born human, of course she was human.

Why would she not be human?

Selim politely cleared his throat. He had taken a seat at Elizabeth's head, watching the dissection with morbid interest. "Mrs Bradley is looking for Elizabeth."

With a wave of his hand, Grandpapa fixed the last incension he made and it was like Elizabeth was good as new. She slowly sat up, finding the movement odd and sluggish due to the nerve blockers. She looked up at Grandpapa, blinking vapidly. "Did I help?"
"You did well, child," Grandpapa praised her. "I have enough information for now."