#delightfully disturbing! hmm yes very fun

[egginfroggin]

Unsettling possession art was inevitable, let's be honest, I'm surprised it took me this long to post any

Shiny ink woooooooooo

Delightful artist @modmad's old inktober art is what implanted the idea of shimmery gold-eyed Bipper in my head, and I encourage you to go look at their stuff! It's incredible, and very, very shaped!!

[darkpetal16]

Pride & Humility - Chapter Three

Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood Fanfiction

Genres: Gen, Friendship, Family, Adventure, Hurt, Comfort

Summary: “Friends look the other way. Best friends eat the body.” -Selim B. The story about an innocent and disturbing friendship between homunculus and human. Old soul OC. Surprisingly wholesome.

Warnings: Violence, gore, death, excessive child abuse, profanity

Beta: Taintedletter

Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood. Elizabeth belongs to Midnightwishes, but I will be borrowing her for this journey.

Chapter One

Previous Chapter

Beta: Taintedletter

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Several days later...

Dinner that night looked delightfully appetizing.

When eating at the Bradley’s, it appeared no expense was spared when it came to the food. The dining room was a small, but lavishly decorated. The enticing aroma of dinner drifted around the room, enhancing the luxurious feel of the casual affair.

Of course what really made dinner such a treat for Elizabeth, was Mrs. Bradley—although she was starting to insist Elizabeth called her Auntie Katherine. The older woman had an magnanimous personality, and a charm that simply couldn’t be beat. Already the woman had rapidly captured Elizabeth’s admiration.

(Granted, that wasn’t hard at that point since she was the first adult to treat Elizabeth with any bit of genuine kindness.)

To make matters even better, Elizabeth got to sit right next to her best friend.

At dinner, Selim was an infectiously cheerful boy. Elizabeth found it impossible not to smile, or giggle, when he was so plainly elated.

“And who might this be?” inquired an amused voice.

The trio at dinner turned to find führer King Bradley entering the dining room with a serene smile on his face. Mrs. Bradley, greeted her husband with an affectionate tone. “Welcome home, dear. This is Elizabeth Luxanna, a friend of Selim. She’s been having dinner with us this week while you were away inspecting the south.”

Elizabeth politely bowed her head, her cheeks warming under Mr. Bradley’s scrutiny. “G-Good evening, sir.”

“At ease. A friend of Selim doesn’t need to call me sir,” Mr. Bradley laughed, taking a seat beside Katherine and across from Elizabeth. His gaze roamed over to his adopted son and he asked, “And how have you been, Selim?”

“Well,” Selim responded, nudging Elizabeth. “I’ve been having a lot of fun with Ellie!”

“Ah, I see, I see.”

“How was the inspection, dear?” Mrs. Bradley asked.

“Uneventful,” Mr. Bradley admitted. “With so many of our State Alchemists retired, the hunt for more is still in full swing.”

“Ellie’s very good with alchemy,” Selim remarked, purple eyes sparkling with admiration. “I bet she’ll make the youngest State Alchemist in history!”

Elizabeth blushed, nervous pride fluttering inside of her. She averted her gaze, and fidgeted with her fingers. “I-I don’t know about that.”

“I’d bet a month’s worth of desert on it,” Selim crowd.

“Oh!” King exclaimed, reassessing Elizabeth with great interest. “That’s a mighty big bet. Hmm. But I don’t see how anyone would accept a State Alchemist before fifteen, at the very least.”

Selim grinned widely. “She’ll be ready well before then. She’s very smart.”

Elizabeth’s face felt hotter than the sun, and she squirmed under her friend’s praise. She hadn’t received so much positive attention before, and it was making her head spin and her stomach tie itself in knots.

“That’s quite enough,” Katherine Bradley chided, reaching across the table to gently pat Elizabeth. “Can’t you see you’re making her flustered? Honestly, I hope you’re don’t become as clueless about women like your father…”

“Eh? I’m not clueless,” King Bradley protested, but Mrs. Bradley only laughed at him.

The dinner was filled with merriment and laughter. King and Katherine were a remarkably adorable couple, and the two filled the entire room up with amiable hospitality. Time flew by faster than a rocket, and it was far too soon that Elizabeth had to bade everyone goodnight.

Dinner with the Bradley’s became a regular occurrence. Most nights the führer would join them, but there had been a couple times where he was too busy with work.

After dinner, Selim and Elizabeth would play in the gardens for a couple of hours before someone would escort Elizabeth “home.”

Although the heiress wished she never had to leave.

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Breakfast in the house of Luxanna was a bleak affair. The food was carried to Elizabeth’s room, and she ate in silence at her desk in her nearly empty room. It wasn’t that the Luxanna family couldn’t afford niceties, or luxuries—it was an old wealthy family—so much as Grandfather Crow was a minimalist, and believed his granddaughter should be the same.

The only things of note that could be found in Elizabeth’s room were piles of notebooks, and assigned textbooks on alchemy. The stacks were so high they towered over the girl.

Once Elizabeth finished her breakfast, she got dressed for the day and headed down to the musky library to begin her lessons. Mrs. Delve awaited her with a narrowed gaze, and a clipped good morning.

As with every day, the lesson was only made bearable by the fact that Elizabeth had something to look forward to at the end. It wasn’t that Mrs. Delve was a bad teacher, per say—she explained things well enough Elizabeth could follow along—but there a prominent air of disdain in that stuffy library.

No… in that house.

Elizabeth could scarcely think to call it a home anymore. She saw what a home ought to be like with the Bradleys.

There was no warmth, or love in the houses of Luxanna.

There was expectations, and punishments.

Elizabeth wasn’t a granddaughter.

She was a tool. A pet.

Her future was in the hands of a man who did not care for her wellbeing—who probably didn’t even like her.

And what could she do about it?

Run away?

With his connections, she’d undoubtedly be found the very first day.

Refuse?

She wouldn’t put it past him to lock her away until she starved to death, or submitted.

He’d get away with it, too.

Ask for help?

From who?

She didn’t want to bring her only friend into it. Selim was too dear to her, and the very thought of him coming anywhere near her grandfather burned Elizabeth up inside. Mrs. Bradley, Katherine, was a possibility, but Elizabeth irrationally feared that if the kind woman came in contact with Crow she’d somehow become tainted and turn on Elizabeth.

Mr. Bradley? The führer, would undoubtedly support his retired general.

The servants didn’t care.

There was no one Elizabeth felt comfortable asking for help.

Which left her with only one option: comply.

Obey.

So she swallowed her protests, and did exactly that.

Every day she woke up before the sun, and studied alchemy like a good student.

And every day, for just a few short hours, she was able to leave her bitterly cold house, and experience a taste of warmth.

She hoped that warmth would never go away.

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A couple months later…

“Ara? What’s a cute little girl doing here?”

Elizabeth paused in her afternoon work, looking up to find a man peering down over her shoulder. Being in sudden close proximity to a strange man made her instantly uncomfortable, but since he was in a military uniform she didn’t think he was bad.

He had a bit of a dorky air about him, with an after shave, glasses, and a twinkle in his eyes. He rubbed his chain as he looked down at her work. “That’s some impressive alchemy you’ve got there.”

Elizabeth shut her notebook, and shyly turned around to give the man her full attention. “I-I’m Elizabeth Luxanna. Pleasure to meet you, sir…?”

The man wore a splitting grin. “Maes Hughes! I work in Central Intelligence, and thought I’d stop by our library’s archives. It’s rare to see a child here, though.”

“I received special permission to further my alchemy studies,” Elizabeth quietly explained, resisting the urge to nervously look away. “I-I’m going to become a State Alchemist.”

“Starting young, aren’t you?” the man named Maes joked.

“My grandfather expects me to live up to the Luxanna name,” Elizabeth responded. “A-As heiress to Luxanna, I must not disappoint.”

Maes rubbed at his chin again. “Luxanna, huh? So you’re the granddaughter of general Crow?”

“Yes, sir.” Elizabeth glanced at the clock on the wall, and began to put her notebooks away in her bag. “Pardon me, sir, but I have to meet up with my best friend.”

“Wouldn’t want to keep you waiting,” Maes said with a smile. “If you’re ever by Intelligence, feel free to stop by! I bet I could tell you some funny stories about that old bird.”

Elizabeth didn’t think that funny and her grandfather belonged anywhere near each other. Fun was practically a taboo word to the retired general.

‘What a queer man,’ Elizabeth thought, hurrying away. ‘I hope I don’t run into him again.’

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Fall of 1908

School was closed for Selim on the weekends, so he and Elizabeth were able to spend the days together.

Although, Saturdays Elizabeth still went to the library before noon, anxious to continue her work. Selim accompanied her per usual. He was a silent companion as she scribbled away in her notebooks.

Near the end of the study session—Elizabeth had promised Selim they would play after lunch—Selim leaned into Elizabeth and asked, “What are you working on now?”

Elizabeth pointed to the top of her list, and while resting his chin on her shoulder Selim read out loud, “Hybrid combinations?”

“Mn. I think that in a month, I’ll be ready to start testing out combining plants to make hybrids,” Elizabeth explained. “Right now I’m working on what would be the best combination for what. I want to keep this to no more than three for now—ideally, in the future I could combine as many as I wanted. Additionally, I want to focus on finding a substitute for epinephrine, and antibiotics first.”

“Epinephrine… that’s adrenaline, right? Why that and antibiotics first?”

“Improved penicillin—antibiotics—should be easier to start with since it was originally derived from a plant,” Elizabeth explained. “Whereas epinephrine should be a lot harder, since plants don’t produce it naturally.”

“I see,” Selim said quietly, frowning thoughtfully. “So something that should be easy, and something that should be hard… you’re testing your limits?”

“That’s the plan.”

Selim peered at the list, reading off what was written down.

Epinephrine

Yerba

Guayusa

Yaupon

Tea

Coffee

Cacao

Guarana

Ashwaghandha

Eleuthero

Rhodiola

Antibiotics

Garlic

Ginger

Echnacea

Goldenseal

Clove

Oregano

Neem

Pau D’Arco

Elizabeth had combinations of each of the lists below, and next to the combinations she wrote out the genetic equations. Once done writing out her math, she would work on diagrams and time tables.

“To be honest, I still have to find a place to grow them,” Elizabeth admitted to her friend. “It’ll have to be a large area, as I’ll be starting the hybrid process at different stages: seedling, sapling, and mature.”

Selim tapped his chin and tilted his head in a cute manner. “Hmm. How about you leave that one to me, Ellie? I might have a place.”

Elizabeth’s eyes brightened, and a sweet smile graced her face. “Really? Oh, thank you, Selim. I can always count on you.”

“‘Course,” Selim said, his smile twisting. “You can always trust me, Ellie.”

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“El-lie!” Selim sung, rushing to Elizabeth and Mrs. Bradley. Elizabeth’s demeanour lit up like the dawn, affection and sweet tenderness entering her eyes when she saw Selim. Excitedly, she ran to meet him halfway, throwing up her arms and catching him in a tight hug.

Selim accepted the hug in good nature, giving her a small pat on the back. “Ellie, guess what?”

“What?” Elizabeth asked, stepping back as Mrs. Bradley walked up to the two of them. As always, the kindly woman had a sweet, nurturing smile on her face and a gracious glimmer in her eyes.

“I talked with Father last night, and it’s been decided you can use the greenhouse behind our home,” Selim exclaimed excitedly, boyish charm bouncing off him. “It used to be rented out to another researcher, but he wasn’t going anywhere, so we’ll give it to you!”

Elizabeth gasped, excitement making her eyes sparkle. “Oh! Oh my gosh, thank you!”

She couldn’t resist hugging Selim again, squeezing him as tight as she could. “Ach! Can’t—breathe!”

“Oh! Sorry,” Elizabeth apologized, stepping back and bowing. When she looked back up, not a hint of excitement had dulled, however, and she couldn’t resist doing a small bounce. “This is—this is so wonderful. Thank you, Selim.”

“What are best friends for?” Selim looked over at his adopted mother. “Hi!”

“Hi,” Mrs. Bradley responded in amusement. “Let’s head home now, children. I have a feeling we’ll be having seafood for dinner.”

Both kids cheered at that, and Mrs. Bradley giggled in delight, unable to resist their infectious smiles.

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As soon as Elizabeth told her grandfather about the greenhouse the following morning, he sent her—along with several other servants—out to begin purchasing supplies. Most of the seedlings could be bought at the locket market, but there were some that required to be shipped from far off lands.

Crow took care of that, of course, and ordered the servants to carry all the supplies to the greenhouse.

Everything should have arrived by the following weekend, and then Elizabeth could set up her garden.

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Two weeks later...

When dinner at the Bradley’s was concluded, Elizabeth politely excused herself for the night. She wanted to get a headstart on her greenhouse. Excitement fueled her actions, and with barely restrained glee, she hurried to the designated greenhouse.

As expected, all of her supplies were stacked neatly outside, and using her designated key she unlocked to find—

—an utter mess.

The greenhouse had three levels, and used aqueducts to evenly distribute water throughout the greenhouse. The first level—the highest level—received the freshest water, with the second level receiving some of the runoff of the first level, and the third level receiving run off from the second and first.

The idea behind this was to distribute nutrients through the water. Plants on the bottom level required a nutrient-rich environment, while the top level plants would get burnt out if they received too much nutrients.

There was also a cat walk with hanging potters for plants that needed arid environments.

But the entire greenhouse was sheer madness.

None of the potters had been cleaned, there was grime, gunk, and grease covering nearly every inch of the building. The windows were covered in a layer of film that Elizabeth wouldn’t touch without gloves, and there was trash scattered everywhere.

Clearly whoever used this place before Elizabeth had issues with cleanliness.

‘No wonder he failed his research,’ Elizabeth thought disdainfully, wrinkling her nose.

She folded her arms over her chest as she thought about her next move. She certainly wouldn’t be able to get any rest knowing her greenhouse was in such a poor state.

‘Well,’ Elizabeth reluctantly thought to herself. ‘Might as well start now, then.’

She might have been able to simply order the janitors to clean it out, but Elizabeth didn’t want to risk them contaminating her greenhouse with unwanted chemicals.

No, it would be smarter for her to do the cleaning so that way she knew exactly what was being added to her controlled environment.

She predicted she’d have to do some clean up, so she had purchased the appropriate cleaning supplies, but she hadn’t expected to need to do such an overhaul.

‘I’ll have to immediately purchase more cleaning supplies tomorrow,’ Elizabeth concluded.

She clapped her hands together, took a deep breath in, and set to work.

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“Ellie, what are you doing here still?” Selim asked, stepping into the greenhouse. His eyes widened upon seeing it, almost doing a double-take. “Whoa.”

Elizabeth flushed, knowing she had to be covered head to toe in dirt, sweat, and grime. She was able to borrow some rubber gloves from the janitors when she went to get trash bags, but they were already rendered useless after cleaning the windows.

Whatever gunk was on those windows was nasty.

Rosy-cheeked, Elizabeth fidgeted anxiously. “H-Hi, Selim.”

“Do you know what time it is?” Selim asked her, stepping in to the partially cleaned greenhouse, and looking around. “And what happened here?”

“Y-You see, I decided to, um, look at my greenhouse before going home,” Elizabeth began to explain, her mouth dry, and voice cracking. It’d been a few hours since she last had water, she’d bet. “But when I got here, it, um…”

She gestured to the top level that she had yet to clean.

Selim grimaced with plain disgust. “The whole place was like that?”

“Yeah,” Elizabeth admitted, squirming under Selim’s scrutiny.

“And you’ve been cleaning the entire night?” Selim asked, rubbing his forehead. “Why didn’t you just ask one of the servants?”

“So that way I could control the environment,” Elizabeth explained, swallowing roughly.

Selim shook his head, sighing. “You could have just asked them to use specific things.”

“Doesn’t mean they would have, though.”

He frowned, peering at her. “How cynical.”

Flustered, Elizabeth couldn’t get her tongue to work well enough to respond.

Selim then gave her his usual grin. “Since you’re already here, why don’t you clean up and have breakfast with us?”

“Break… what time is it?” Elizabeth squeaked out, dreading the answer.

“Eight.”

All color drained from Elizabeth’s face, and her knees turned to jelly. She fell straight down, dread filling her. “I’m dead. Grandfather Crow must be furious.”

Selim waved his hand dismissively. “We’ll send a messenger over. He can’t complain that you were working, right?”

Elizabeth could only hope he was right.

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“Oh my goodness!” Mrs. Bradley fretted as soon as Elizabeth walked in. “You’re filthy.”

“S-Sorry, ma’am,” the embarrassed girl apologized.

“Let’s get you cleaned up and into some warm clothes,” Mrs. Bradley declared, taking Elizabeth’s hand and dragging her away. “Selim, dear, would you please tell one of the maids to find some clothes for Elizabeth?”

“Yes, Mother,” Selim said, waving goodbye to a flustered Elizabeth.

Mrs. Bradley tutted, narrowing her gaze at Elizabeth. “What on earth happened to you, Elizabeth?”

“I was working in my greenhouse,” she explained.

“All night? Those are the clothes you wore at dinner.”

“I lost track of time,” she sheepishly admitted.

“Did your grandfather not send for you? No one came by asking if you ever made it home…” Mrs. Bradley’s brow furrowed as she trailed off, her tone disbelieving.

Elizabeth didn’t have a good answer for her, so she remained silent.

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“This was our last lesson, Miss Luxanna,” Mrs. Delve informed Elizabeth a cold morning.

“What?” Elizabeth said in surprise.

“You’ve gobbled up all I can teach you,” Mrs. Delved explained with a sniff. “It would be a waste of time to continue these lessons when I have nothing else to impart. From what I understand, you’re already well on your way to conducting advance research for our military.”

“Ah—I—I don’t know if I’d call it advance—”

“You successfully transmuted live plants, and are in the process of creating new hybrids that will exceed modern medicine,” Mrs. Delve snapped. “Take pride in your work, girl.”

Elizabeth startled at Mrs. Delve’s harsh tone. “Y-Yes, ma’am.”

Mrs. Delve raised her chin. “You have been a model student, Miss Luxanna. I will inform your grandfather our lessons are concluded. Good luck in your research.”

“Thank you, ma’am.”

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Winter of 1908

As the days grew colder, snow started to grace Central.

Accompanying the first snowfall was Elizabeth’s first harvest, and her first batch of results.

Using alchemy in mature plants, or saplings, resulted in the plants dying off too soon, or becoming sterile. However, when combining the genetics of seedlings, they grew up into fine, healthy plants.

Unfortunately not all of her combinations proved successful, but those that did work showed very promising results.

There were five hybrids for her epinephrine, and six for her antibiotics.

Her next step was to further combine these hybrids to produce the most optimal plant.

She hoped to have her final products by the end of spring the following year.

She merrily explained her results at dinner the night she finished writing out the next set of genetic equations for her second batch, feeling proud of what she had accomplished.

“Wow! Your first try and you already have a successful batch of transmuted plants,” Selim exclaimed, raising his eyebrows. “That’s super cool, Ellie.”

Elizabeth blushed under the praise, but raised her head proudly. “Thanks!”

“It’s certainly remarkable,” Mrs. Bradley gushed, reaching over and patting Elizabeth's head. “I don’t think I’ve read about any alchemist who can transmute plants.”

“It’s not a field given a lot of notice now a days,” Mr. Bradley responded, smiling at Elizabeth with a twinkle in his eyes. “But those that have tried, haven’t shown nearly as much success as you have in their entire research.”

Elizabeth thought her head might explode from how hot and light it was getting, She buried her face in her hands, unable to handle so much positivity thrown her way. Flustered, she squirmed and said, “I-I just want to help. A-After this, I might work on p-poisons for the military.”

“Poisons?” Mrs. Bradley gasped.

“S-Some poisons can be good, like sedatives,” Elizabeth quickly explained. “Or make people not violent. Or to—to you know, stop bad guys.”

“It’s always a good idea to expand upon our weapons,” the führer reminded his wife.

“I know that,” Mrs. Bradley retorted, giving Elizabeth a worried look. “But you have to be careful working with such dangerous things.”

“I will,” she promised.

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“Elizabeth?” Mrs. Bradley gently inquired at the end of dinner. “How would you like to stay with us on the weekends?”

Elizabeth’s mouth dropped open, her eyes bigger than saucers. “Wh-What?”

“You always work late in the greenhouse anyway, and come right back early in the morning,” Selim explained with a chirp. “Might as well just stay here on the weekends!”

“Your grandfather already gave his permission,” Mrs. Bradley added, “and we love having you with us. Selim really lights up when you’re around!”

Selim blushed. “I do not!”

Führer Bradley laughed heartily, ruffling his son’s hair. “Now, now. It’s very obvious you like playing with Elizabeth, no need to deny it, son.”

Selim puffed out his cheeks in adorable annoyance, refusing to meet anyone’s gaze as he muttered, “Do not.”

The adults laughed at the cute display, while Elizabeth reached over and patted his hand. He looked up to find her smiling with sweet admiration and she said, “I love spending time with you, too, Selim.”

Elizabeth straightened up, her cheeks rosy as she exclaimed, “I really love being here. I-I would be very happy to spend the nights here on the weekends, if I could. I-I promise not to be a burden.”

“You could never be a burden, dear,” Mrs. Bradley reassured, a sparkle in her eyes. “Oh, how wonderful! You can sleep with Selim until we get a room set up for you.”

“A-A room? You don’t need to go that far—”

“I always wanted a son and daughter,” Mrs. Bradley replied happily. “You’ll let me have my fun, won’t you?”

“Ah-Ah—”

“Eh? She’s our daughter now, too?” King Bradley joked.

“She’s such a delight to have around, might as well adopt her!”

“I think her grandfather might have something to say about that—”

“Fine, then Selim will just have to marry her when they’re old enough,” Mrs. Bradley settled on, causing both children to turn red-faced and make gagging noises. “Oh, I’m only teasing, don’t be so dramatic!”

Selim and Elizabeth exchanged glances, before both burst out into laughter upon seeing the other’s cherry-red face.

“Ahaha, you’re as red as an apple!”

“Am not! You’re redder than a sunburn!”

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Selim’s bedroom was massive, with a king-sized bed, and luxurious furniture. He even had a beautiful stone balcony that overlooked the gardens.

Elizabeth was given some of Mrs. Bradley’s clothes to sleep in for the night, and the sweet mother tucked both of the young children into Selim’s huge bed. Mrs. Bradley kissed their cheeks, and read them a story.

Then Mrs. Bradley wished them both sweet dreams, and bade the children goodnight.

It felt a little odd to Elizabeth to share a bed with someone, but she was glad it was with Selim. Her cheerful friend immediately rolled over, and pinched her cheek, a spark in his eyes. “Wanna tell ghost stories?”

Elizabeth rapidly shook her head, shuddering. “No, thank you! Ghosts are scary.”

“Like the kraken?”

“The kraken is way scarier.”

“Ehh? How come?”

Elizabeth sat up in the bed and stretched out her arms. “He’s huge! And you can’t escape him.”

Selim curiously cocked his head. “But ghosts are small, and you can escape them?”

“Well, yeah. Just move out of the haunted house!”

“What if it’s haunting you?”

Elizabeth rapidly shook her head. “A ghost would never haunt me! I haven’t done anything bad, yet.”

“Yet?”

“Everyone does something bad eventually,” Elizabeth explained. “That’s human nature, right?”

Selim nodded, frowning thoughtfully. “Yeah. What bad thing do you think you’ll do?”

Elizabeth shrugged, laying back down and pulling the covers up. “No clue! I hope I at least have fun with it.”

Selim made an acknowledging noise. “Mn. I hope so, too.”

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Answer: Ideally a doctor, but they seem to get kidnapped a lot so something to do with light would be fun!

Question: What position would you like the Amestris military? Who would you like to work the most with?

Reviews are love!