Hey guys!

This chapter took a long time to get out, I know. Three weeks... In my defense, I've had a lot of homework. But from now on, I'm going to do my best to get every chapter out at least once every two weeks. :3

Hope you enjoy the chapter! Also... Vainglory is a real sin; Wikipedia said so. Yeah. Try and guess what I mean by that. Shouldn't be too hard... heh heh heh.

They'd told him that his sisters were never coming back. Andrew still remembered how often they'd told him. He'd wept, raged, cried and screamed, but the fact of the matter was that his sisters were dead, and they were going to remain so, for forever, apparently.

But Andrew hadn't been interested in waiting forever. He was an alchemist. What kind of alchemist waited for something that would never happen? Yes, he knew it was taboo, but his sisters were more important than any alchemical law. He was going to bring them back.

The ingredients lay in a shallow urn in the center of an intricate transmutation circle that Andrew had designed himself. His finger throbbed from where he'd slashed it to draw blood, and he vaguely wondered if Sasha and Bennet would come back smashed flat, as they'd been by the time the train finally stopped rolling. It had gone completely off the tracks and smashed against the ground, killing his sisters as they returned from a holiday in Central. He'd stayed home; they'd been visiting their girly friends or something. He'd gotten condolences from one of them, a girl named Sheska who was apparently Bennet's best friend, but he'd thrown it into the fire. Sometimes being fifteen and immature enough to ignore letters was an advantage.

Andrew took a deep breath, smoothing his blonde hair with sweaty palms. This was it, the moment of truth. He was going to bring them back; both of them. He'd see them again. A smile stretched across his face, and his eyes glistened. "Love you, see you soon," he said, and clapped his hands together.

Even before his eyes fluttered open, he could smell blood. And there was a strange numbness from his torso… There was a sudden throb of a deep, panicky pain, and Andrew flipped over and vomited, eyes snapping to attention.

Blood was slick around him, splattered over the tiles of the basement floor. He gasped in horror and vomited again, tears of sudden pain streaking down his cheeks. He tried to move a hand, an arm, but nothing happened. Looking down at his torso, he realized why.

Both arms were gone, and it didn't take a genius to know who'd taken them. Andrew howled in pain and fell onto his back, kicking his legs in his own blood and screaming himself hoarse. His closest neighbor was just close enough that she might notice that something was wrong, but Lila was usually asleep at dawn, and she could sleep through anything. He was alone.

"Sasha!" he sobbed, kicking and giving another shrill scream. "Sasha! Bennet!"

If he listened, he could hear the faint sound of breathing. A wave of relief washed over him before being blotted out by a wave of pain so intense he felt his heart flutter. "No!" he gasped, flipping over and moving towards the sound of breathing. "No! Oh God, no!"

He felt his cheek pressing up against something cool and wet, and then something heavy thudded onto his back. He looked up with eyes dulled by pain, and screamed. He'd brought them back. But they were ruined, beyond repair. "What did I do?"

Sasha's golden hair fanned out behind an emaciated skull. Her jaws moved sporadically, churning up Andrew's blood, and she only had one massive eye that flitted from place to place seemingly at random. Her body was skeletal and looked unfinished and new, the skin still only half-formed. She seemed to be missing a few important bone structures, and the bones she did have were so incredibly thin that Andrew knew touching them could prove to be fatal.

Bennet was worse. Her head was tiny and stuck on a long neck that twitched on occasion. Her skin was a sickly green-ish color, and her arms weren't even complete, as she jerked one of them fell open, revealing a neat little package of bone and red greasy muscle. Her legs were twisted together and seemed rubbery, and they slid across each other like snakes.

Andrew's head hit the tile, and he felt the Sasha-creature's skeletal hand grasping the hem of his shirt. He screamed and wriggled away, thrashing in a pool of his own blood. The creature's arm thudded to the floor, and its eye fixed on him, jaw slowing until it stopped entirely. To his supreme horror, it shifted legs so skinny they could never hold it and slid forward a few centimeters before pausing, repositioning its legs, and moving forward again.

"Keep away!" he screamed, rolling hard and whimpering as he felt himself thud into something sharp. Unwillingly he glanced at his torso to see the point of a black shoe embedded in his side. "Wha?" he gasped, and his blue eyes widened as someone grabbed his collar and pulled him off the floor.

"Can I eat him, Lust? Can I?"

"Alright," the woman who was grasping his collar said, eyes never leaving his. "He's useless to us." She dropped his collar and he thudded onto the blood-slicked ground, gasping in pain. He whimpered again as a disgustingly fat thing waddled forward, reaching out for him. His heart began to thump wildly as it grasped his torso with pudgy fingers, pulling him up from the floor.

The thing froze suddenly, as did the woman. Both of them whipped around simultaneously, and Andrew was dropped to the floor again.

"Well, well, well," a voice said, and a man stepped into the room. "I thought I heard screaming." He had black hair that came down to his chin and glasses, and a strange smile was stretched across his face. He looked past Andrew and his grin grew more distinct. "Well, what do you know," he said. "Two homunculi."

The woman, (Lust, her name was?) laughed. "Don't think you'll be taking them, human," she said. "They're mine."

The man shook his head. "I only want one," he said, moving to go past Lust. Immediately one of her nails shot out, embedding deep inside his shoulder. He glanced at it for a moment before blood exploded from the wound and twisted in the air, hardening into a spear which stabbed Lust through the abdomen. She gasped and dropped her hand, and he walked past her and grabbed the Bennet-creature around the waist.

"No!" she gasped, slashing at him with her nails. The man glanced at his wound again and Lust dodged as the man's blood once again hardened into a spear. She narrowed her eyes at him.

"Eat him, Gluttony," she snarled. "I want for there to be no trace." The fat little man; Gluttony, apparently, stepped forward, grinning like a maniac. Before he could even get close to the man with the glasses, he was speared through the head with the strange blood-spear the alchemist had transmuted. How is that even possible? Andrew thought, desperately. He must be a master of alchemy!

Gluttony stumbled back, howling, and the alchemist reached inside his mouth, grabbing his tongue. There was a flash of light, and Gluttony tumbled onto his back and was still.

Lust gasped. "What did you do to him, human?" she cried, taking a step forward. The alchemist glanced at her, and she froze.

"My name's Dr. Busk," he said. "Not 'human.' As for what I did to him… Not much. I only shorted out his Red Stones." Lust's hand flew to her mouth, and she looked oddly scared. Red Stones? What the heck is a Red Stone?

"How?" Lust asked, taking a step back. Dr. Busk grinned.

"An old friend taught me how to do it," he said. "I think you remember her, her name's Dante." Lust's eyes were huge, and then a tight grin flitted across her face.

"I remember you," she said. "You were one of Dante's lovers. I didn't recognize you; you're much older now." She took a step forward, licking her lips. "You're still not bad looking, though…"

Dr. Busk laughed. "Same old Lust," he said. The Bennet-creature stirred on his shoulder, and he glanced at the open door. "I really have to go," he said. "And tell your master not to interfere with my work. It's upsetting." He moved for the door, and then stopped. "Right," he said. "Tell Aelia Alwyn I said hello."

"Alwyn?" Lust murmured. She glanced up and seemed to notice that Dr. Busk had slipped out of the open door. With a snarl, she trotted over to the Sasha- creature and picked it up. She moved to Gluttony's side, patting him on the stomach gently. "Gluttony? Gluttony?"

The humanoid creature moaned, and Lust rolled her eyes, reaching into a pocket in her skintight dress that Andrew hadn't noticed. Something glistened in her palm and she dropped it into Gluttony's open mouth. He snorted, and his eyes popped open, rolling around the cellar confusedly. Lust sighed. "We're going, Gluttony," she said. "Come." She turned and exited the cellar, still holding what was supposed to have been Sasha.

Gluttony glanced over at Andrew. "Bye," he said, turning and shambling away. Andrew held his breath, but neither of them returned.

They forgot me, he realized, as cold tendrils of pain dragged him into darkness. I guess that means I win. Or does it? His blood-slicked head thudded onto the ground, where it would stay until Lila found him, ten minutes later.

Aelia took a step back and realized almost immediately that she was pressed against a railing.

Oh, shit, she thought. Man, I always get myself in the crappiest fights. I'm an idiot. Scar was now cracking his knuckles, revealing his tattooed arm to her. She scowled at it. What a bitch. Even if I challenged him, technically.

Scar lunged at her experimentally, and before she could change her mind she tipped herself over the railing and down towards the oak floor below. The air whistled past her ears and she flipped easily like a cat before slamming into the floor hard enough to buckle the wood beneath it. She grimaced. Way to make me feel fat.

Scar had already jumped over the now twisted railing, and Aelia balled her hands into fists. No water here; she was useless. It totally sucked to be useless. Maybe she would intentionally cut herself, but spraying Scar with her blood just didn't seem like it would have a powerful enough effect to actually help her. Plus, it seemed kind of pathetic.

Reaching backwards, her probing fingers encountered a book. She grasped the spine firmly and hurled it at her attacker, hitting him squarely in the forehead, surprisingly. As he swatted the book out of the way, she darted down one of the corridors of books. There has got to be a water fountain around here somewhere. I mean, this is the lamest library in existence if there isn't.

She made no effort to conceal her pounding footsteps. Honestly, the last time Aelia had tried to hide from someone, she'd been playing hide and seek with her sisters, and she'd been caught in a record of two seconds flat. Saia had told her that her breathing was so loud it could have woken up Father Time, whatever that meant. Saia had always been a little strange.

Something exploded behind her, and she was hit in the small of the back with what felt like the corner of a fat book. She fell to her knees, gasping, and growled at the sight of an annoyingly smug-looking Scar standing behind her, reaching out to grasp her by the throat. "No!" she snapped, jumping just out of reach. "You're not going to explode my head today!"

"You seem to be uncharacteristically angry," Scar noted, stepping forward slowly now that she was in such a close proximity. "Why? Are you afraid of death?"

Aelia's eyes narrowed and she gritted her teeth, a low chuckle escaping her clenched jaw. "Are you kidding? I think it's the scariest thing in the world."

Scar raised an eyebrow. "How… cowardly of you," he said. "Being with God is nothing to be afraid of."

"Speak for yourself," Aelia muttered, taking another step backwards and tripping on a discarded book, to her chagrin. Scar took advantage of her sudden immobility, grabbing a clump of her dark hair and yanking her head back. She let out a tiny cry as his dark palm covered her face, blocking out the dim light of the library.

"Goodbye, girl," he began, but stopped suddenly, probably wondering why Aelia had started licking his palm. Before he could ponder it too much, she clapped her hands together and the saliva on her tongue elongated and hardened into a tiny spike that drove through Scar's palm and out the back of his hand. He gave a strangled exclamation and pulled away his hand, snapping her tiny blade, but it had served her well enough. She scrambled to her feet and took off down the row again. Water… I need more water… And I need to run faster. God, I'm slow…

"Stop running," Scar ordered. Aelia panted a laugh.

"No way!" she called back. "I'm not going to let you- oh crap; you're right behind me, aren't you?"

"Yes," Scar said, next to her ear. She flinched as his hand encircled her throat; not the one with the tattoo, but still dangerous. He squeezed slightly, and she flinched. Oh crap. Oh crap, oh crap, oh… crap! I'm right next to a bathroom!

A bathroom would be slightly more humiliating than a water fountain, but her neck was about to be snapped. This wasn't the time to be worrying about humiliations.

The bathroom door hung ajar, water no doubt flowing underneath its pristine tiles. It would have been better if Aelia could be in the bathroom when she used her alchemy, but it was becoming hard to breathe. She didn't know if Scar was going to kill her or not, but he definitely wasn't going to let her go for a potty break.

"Take this, bastard," she choked, and clapped her hands together.

For a moment, nothing happened, and Aelia wondered if perhaps she'd miscalculated. And then there was a shuddering roar, and the taps in the bathroom exploded with water, and although the stalls were shut she had a feeling that water was coming out of the toilets too. Slightly disgusting, but if she wanted to survive she'd have to just go with it.

The water bypassed her completely and slammed into Scar. She felt the pressure around her neck cease, and heard a startled grunt from the serial killer as he was blown off of her. He collapsed in the center of a massive puddle of water, sopping wet and looking pissed. Aelia looked at him for a second, and punched the air with her fist.

"Finally!" she exclaimed. "I told you I'd win eventually!" He glowered at her, looking as though he were about to rise, but Aelia shook her head. "Uh-uh," she said, clapping her hands again. The water rose from its puddle, slamming into his chest and squashing him to the oaken floor of the library. "Try deconstructing that," Aelia said smugly, watching him attempt to rise. He glared at her, struggling against the gallons of water pressed against his chest.

"I don't need to deconstruct it," he said, pressing one palm against the ground. Aelia sucked in a breath and took a step forward, but it was too late; the wood underneath Scar buckled and was blown apart, a long splinter embedding itself in a shelf directly next to her cheek. Her water, with nothing to press against, tumbled through the hole in the floor after Scar, leaving her alone in the darkened library.

She sank to her haunches, massaging her neck. It was already fairly obvious that her throat was going to start hurting soon, and she wasn't in the mood for any more pain today. I hate being injured, she thought. And it seems to happen to me a lot. I miss the military alchemists that I used to kill for Rhea; they were so easily disposed of.

A jolt of guilt immediately shivered down her spine, although she did her best to ignore it. That was in the past. I have to live in the present now, or I'll get killed.

"What the hell is this?" Aelia sighed, looking up to see an angry-looking Envy glaring down at her, hands on his hips. "Did you not get what I told you to do? I said stay, dumbass!"

She frowned. "Scar," she said simply. "The serial killer. He attacked me."

Envy rolled his eyes. "Yeah, so?" His eyes glinted maliciously. "Looks like I'm going to have to punish you," he said.

The irrational anger Scar had just caused her bubbled up in her chest again. Envy stepped forward a pace and before she could stop herself she'd clenched her fist and socked him in the nose. There was a crunching sound, and blood spurted from underneath her pale fingers. Envy's violet eyes were wide with disbelief when she pulled away her bloody hand, wiping it busily on her now dirty green sweater. He put a hand to his nose, saw the blood, and stared at her, jaw hanging open. Aelia, on the other hand, watched him closely, cocking her head as the blood on his face seemed to be wiped away and his nose popped back into a normal shape, ceasing to be broken at all. He can heal himself? What the hell is this thing?

Envy's shocked face slowly morphed into a scowl. "You punched me," he sulked, glaring at her. "You threatened me," Aelia retorted, muscles tense in case he decided to attack her. Clearly, these homunculi were unpredictable, especially this homunculus.

"You're not afraid of me?" the homunculus asked, eyes glinting again.

She swallowed. "No," she said. Envy took one look at her face and burst out laughing. She felt a rush of heat to her cheeks. "Why are you laughing?" she snapped, looking away.

"You're the worst liar ever," Envy proclaimed. "Do you have a problem or something?"

Her lips thinned. "No," she said shortly, crossing her arms and looking anywhere but the green-haired menace smirking in front of her. She flinched slightly as said menace stepped forward until he was unfortunately close to her. Her palms began to sweat and she tried her best to control her heart beat, although she had a feeling she wasn't doing so well.

"You should be afraid of me," Envy said, grabbing her shoulder suddenly and slamming her into one of the bookcases. She growled as the shelf shook and a thick book fell off and hit her heard on the head, disorienting her completely. This seemed to amuse Envy, as his smile grew wider, showing more sharp teeth. She tried to shove away from him, but his pale arms were obviously a lot stronger than they looked. His fingers dug into the tender skin between her shoulder and arm, and she tried not to flinch.

"Say it," he said.

"Say what?" she asked, not looking away from his eyes. They really were an interesting color; the color of her eyes, albeit slightly darker and strangely more vicious.

"Say that you're scared of me," Envy said. She rolled her eyes without thinking.

"Why?" she complained, and gasped as one of the homunculus' fingers broke through her skin. "Stop doing that!"

"What?" Envy purred, moving the finger slightly. Sharp pain crawled through her arm, and she shuddered.

"Stop hurting me," she said. "And then I'll say it."

Envy looked bemused. "Alright," he said, drawing out the finger with a slight squelching sound that Aelia did her best to ignore. "Now say it."

She shook her head, well aware that if she played her cards wrong Envy might get angry, and then she'd be dead. "I'll say it," she said carefully, "if you'll promise to quit intentionally injuring me. I can't heal myself, in case you haven't noticed."

Envy frowned slightly. "That's boring," he said, arms pressing against her shoulders enough to hurt, barely. A grin flitted across his features and his eyes seemed to glow. "Alright, Aelia Alwyn," he said. "I promise not to hurt you physically anymore. Now say it."

"I'm scared of you!" she spat. Envy smiled delightedly.

"That wasn't so bad, was it?" he asked, releasing her arms. She frowned at him in response, stumbling past him to lean against the opposite bookshelf. Breathing raggedly, her fingers automatically probed her bleeding shoulder, coming away red.

"Did you have to stab me?" she asked. Envy shrugged, still grinning.

"I didn't have to," he said. "But I did."

She sighed, gritting her teeth. The arm of her sweater now had a splotch of dark red blood covering it, and it was rapidly spreading. Unhappily, she reached for the hem of her sweater and pulled it over her head in one swift motion to better see the wound. She heard a strangled exclamation from Envy but ignored him, frowning at the wound's proximity to her scar. Her biggest weak point was her scar; of course Envy had stabbed her there. What an ass.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" the homunculus was saying, eyes averted.

She sighed again. "Why is everyone bothered by this?" she asked, indicating her bare stomach. "I am wearing a bra, you know." She snapped the strap for emphasis.

"Put your clothes back on," Envy ordered.

"I'd love to. Unfortunately, I want to check that I'm not going to bleed to death from the wound you gave me, so I'm not going to." Envy scowled.

"I make one promise and now you seem to think you're my equal or something. You do what I tell you, human girl." Aelia closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"Fine," she said shortly, wriggling back into the bloodstained sweater. The scratchy wool was quickly irritating the little hole in her skin, but with Envy glaring daggers at her she'd have to leave it as it was. The homunculus broke his gaze suddenly, bending down until his fingers pressed against the book that had hit Aelia in the head earlier.

"Guess what?" he asked, looking at it. "We're in luck, human." He waved the book triumphantly. "It's that cookbook Pride wanted."

Aelia's eyes narrowed fractionally. Pride wanted a cookbook? Why? Envy leafed through it before rolling his eyes and tucking it safely under his arm. "Let's go," he said, not looking at her. He walked quickly through the darkened hall of books, and Aelia followed him. If that's the book that Pride wanted, Ed must have wanted it too.

What in Leto's name was Ed going to do with a cookbook?

Dante could not have been more pleased.

Lust and Gluttony had brought her a new homunculus. They'd mentioned a second, and something about a man named Busk who had been one of her lovers, apparently. Dante did vaguely remember him. She'd taught him quite a bit more than most of her other lovers, namely because he'd been quite a bit smarter than most of her other lovers. But eventually she'd grown tired of him, as she always did, and had flung him aside. She'd been with him when this body had still been young, which had been years ago, and had experienced swarms of other men since them. It wasn't surprising that she didn't remember him very well.

The new homunculus was forming strangely quickly, to Dante's surprise. Most of the time it took them ages to develop, but this one seemed determined to become a perfect being as fast as it could. She'd had it for little over a day and already it looked almost perfect. It took the form of a girl in her twenties and was therefore a female; Dante would have to remember to refer to it as a her. The girl's eyes were framed by long lashes and were closed, and her red lips were moist and sweet, giving her a kind, generous appearance. She was thin but attractively muscled, and had tanned skin and soft cheeks. She wasn't half as promiscuous as Lust but she was certainly beautiful. Dante wasn't sure what her name would be yet; perhaps she'd pick one for herself. Sloth had; her first words had been, "I am Sloth." Maybe things would be the same with this new homunculus.

Dante sat in a chair at the girl's bedside, smiling at the Ouroboros tattoo on the homunculus' left cheek. An unfortunately prominent place for it, but Dante had no control over such matters. She reached into a pouch on her dress with a gnarled hand, feeling a cluster of Red Stones scraping against her palm. There was a strange aura of excitement about her; she had a feeling. Today was it; with these last Stones in the belly of this homunculus, she would awaken. And it was most definitely about time for it, because Rhea and Saia were on the move. They'd headed to Central, and Lust and Gluttony were having a hard time tailing them. This new creature would be able to do the job, freeing Lust and Gluttony for more important tasks.

Dante grasped the homunculus' jaw, wrenching it open. A tiny sigh issued form the girl's mouth, and was quickly stamped out as Dante shoved her handful of Red Stone's in the girl's mouth, clamping it shut. The girl seemed to swallow on instinct, and Dante took a step back, wondering what this new homunculus would be able to do. Would she be able to extend her fingernails? Eat whatever she wanted? Shape shift? As a homunculus, the possibilities were practically limitless.

The old woman watched with bated breath as the homunculus moaned once, beautiful brow creasing. Her peaceful expression shifted into a frown, and suddenly she gasped, chest heaving. Dante watched, amused, as the girl turned on her side and began to pant, clutching at the blankets desperately. She gritted her white teeth and snarled once, a low sound that made the hairs on the nape of Dante's wrinkled neck stand on end. And then her soft, full, lovely blue eyes flickered open.

She looked to Dante immediately, and wrinkled her nose in distaste. "Well, you're not very beautiful, are you?" she asked, scooting away from Dante instinctively. "That's disappointing. I thought for sure you'd be beautiful."

"It's this body," Dante exclaimed, frowning at the new homunculus. What a brat. "I'll be getting a better one soon," she assured, putting her hands out. "I am Dante, your master."

The girl rolled her eyes. "Good luck finding a body as pretty as mine, master," she said, sitting cross-legged on the bed. "You won't be able to."

"I'm sure," Dante said, gritting her teeth. "Now why don't you stop talking like that, dear? You're making me want to hurt you."

The homunculus cocked her head. "Hurt me?" she asked, sounding amazed. "Why would anyone want to hurt me?" Her face was the picture of a lovely childlike innocence.

"You're not human," Dante said simply. "You are a homunculus."

"Oh," the girl said. "A homunculus." She smiled suddenly. "If all humans look like you, I'm glad I'm not human!"

Dante narrowed her eyes, and lunged forward, pinching the girl's Ouroboros tattoo painfully between wrinkled fingers. "If you speak to me again in such a manner I'll kill you, darling," she said, letting a flash of alchemy flow through the girl's cheek; not enough to ruin her completely but enough to show her who the boss was in this particular situation.

The girl whimpered, but to Dante's surprise, she didn't pull away. She grabbed Dante's arm in one hand, and Dante frowned at a strange feeling; she looked down and her eyes widened as she noticed the flesh of her forearm slowly being pulled into the flesh of the girl's, merging them together. The girl pressed deeper with her arm, and their shoulders slowly began to sink into each other. Dante knew instantly who would lose if the girl was to be allowed to continue absorbing her.

Another flash of painful energy ran into the girl's cheek and she shrieked, pulling away from Dante. With a strangely painful ripping feeling, the girl pulled her skin from Dante's, and collapsed on the bed, shuddering and whimpering. Dante rubbed her forearm thoughtfully; if the girl could absorb the bodies of humans into herself, she could be very useful indeed.

As for a name… Dante smiled. The girl was no Wrath; that much was clear. And that left no other sins for her… Well, that wasn't strictly true. There were always the old sins, the ones that had been long since forgotten but had used to be just as deadly as the Seven. And one of these sins fit the girl on the bed perfectly.

"Your name is Vainglory, my dear," she told the girl firmly. "And if you ever do that to me again you'll die."

The girl peered up at Dante with on blue eye, and a tentative smile tugged on her lips. "Vainglory," she said, letting the word flow over her tongue. "I like it."

"I thought you would," Dante said. You little brat.

"So… why'd you save me?" Vainglory asked, curling a golden lock of hair around her finger.

"You will serve me," Dante told her. "And in return… I'll help you become human."

Vainglory pouted. "No," she said. "I don't want to be human." Dante's smile grew pointed.

"Then you can serve me forever as a homunculus, dear," she said. "As repayment for bringing you out of your endless sleep."

Vainglory shrugged. "Okay," she said. "I don't care, anyway."

"Good," Dante said, standing up and heading out of the room. "I'll leave you for now, Vainglory; I'm sure you need some time to take everything in. But don't get too comfortable.

"I'll be needing you soon enough."