Rectification

[dante]

It had been a little over a day since the incident at Laboratory Five, and she still hadn't found time to rest. Why? Simple: There was a problem - one that could very easily bring all she worked hard to attain crashing down if ignored.

Fortunately, she knew how to rectify it. The pieces were in place, the plans written up, the orders ready to be given. All that was missing were her agents - with the exception of young Wrath - and, more importantly, time. Time was of the essence, and she couldn't afford to waste it. In order to maintain her immortality and shadow government, everything would have to be carried out with the utmost haste and precision.

Dante made two secure calls as soon as she arrived at the opera house: one to her masterpiece Pride and his assistant Sloth, and the other to her "son" Envy. The Furher and his secretary would not have a problem getting to the headquarters, seeing as they were literally just above it. Envy, on the other hand, was a completely different case: He was far away, masquerading as Father Cornello in Lior, and would probably have trouble getting from there to Central so quickly.

That in mind, she scheduled the meeting exactly one day after she sent out the calls, giving them time to make arrangements for their departure and head to the Underground City. Dante acknowledged that it was not exactly a lot of time but, as said before, she couldn't afford to waste any - something she stressed heavily to her homunculi.

Dante was sitting at her large mahogany desk in the office that once belonged to the manager of the ancient opera house, dark brown eyes resting on the large arched window to her right. The darkness that perpetually bathed the towering buildings surrounding her headquarters was something she had always found calming and refreshing. It could almost wash all troubles from her mind..

Snapping herself back into reality, she glanced over at the old grandfather clock at the other end of the room. They were late.

[Envy]

Envy was already on his way, as Dante made the call. His observations in Lior were done, and there wasn't any reason, why he should linger there any longer. The fighting wasn't going to end soon, there was too much hatred in the air.

Underground city. He wasn't there for a long time, but he did not forget the way. The corridor was long and empty. Clap. Clap. Clap. The sounds of his footsteps echoed through the hall. Any other would have chills by this nasty sound in such a place, but not Envy. He did not care about such, he was prepared to make Dante happy, very happy.

The doors opened and the original sin stepped inside the office. He saw Dante looking at the clock. *Oh, please, are you nag me for being late?* he said calmly walking towards her. He sat down on a chair and grinned. *Aren't you happy to see me again, Dante?* he asked her raising his eyebrows.

[dante]

"That's entirely dependent on if you have a candidate's name for me, Envy," she responded sternly, giving him a remarkably cold look. Dante was in no mood to tolerate the homunculus' attitude.

[Envy]

He looked back at her, but couldn't withstand it for long. Instead he looked out of the window and examined a gray rooftop of a neighbour building. *I have. Oh, yes, I do have it. His name is Azzil. And yes, he is able to produce the Blood Focus, as they call it. Young and full of ideals. And I believe he will succeed. he is determined, you see...*

[dante]

A small smile of relief managed to form on her withered face, a bit of her anger and tension melting away. She was glad to hear that at least something was going according to plan. "You've done an excellent job, Envy. I'll give Pride the go-ahead to start the invasion as soon as he arrives."

Dante paused briefly, deciding that it would be best to get right to business instead of waiting for the others. The meeting had to move quickly; assignments had to be given as soon as possible.

"Speaking of the situation in Lior," she began again, that small smile quickly fading, "we have a problem. Our poor, deluded Lust decided to betray us recently. Seeing as I lack the necessary manpower to take her out, you will be reassigned to eliminating her shortly after Pride invades. Please do whatever you can to ensure that this Azzil is driven to the brink of desperation before departing, won't you?"

Then it hit her: Lust would be even less of a threat than she anticipated. Without any Red Stones to feed on, she would become week and feeble. Envy would be able to eliminate her with little-to-no effort. All he would have to do would be to keep her away from the Elrics so that they wouldn't have the chance to interfere.

[jackofsticks]

A brooding voice spouts from the shadows. "Another traitor, m'lady?" Pride came from a veiled corner of the room, the gold handles of his five court swords gleaming in the low light. "It seems to me that my brethren need some... assistance in finding their way." He came down to Dante's feet, showing utmost loyalty in his eye as he spoke in callus tones. "Please excuse my tardiness, m'lady." He stood back to his feet and backpedaled a bit before speaking again, "There was much to discuss with myself on all the new bills swooping in on me."

[Envy]

*What did you say?* Envy was caught by suprise. *Did you just say that our Spear has betrayed us?!* He clutches his fists. She betrayed them and he did not notice anything. He had his suspicion, yes, but that was about something else. *How could she betray us?* he snapped. *Where is she? I will find her and eliminate her now...* he hissed at the treshold of audibility.

[dante]

Her masterpiece's display of utmost loyalty and respect pleased her to no end. With the Ultimate Lance's recent betrayal and the possibility that Greed escaped from his prison, Dante was glad to see that at least one of her homunculi was so reverent and obedient. She knew Envy would never dare go against her, but he was too arrogant and egotistic to actually bow before his master. After roughly four hundred years of trying to force him to do it, she finally gave up on it. Trying to break that self-absorbed twit wasn't worth her time.

"Your tardiness is excused, dear Pride," she said in a tone one would usually reserve for talking to a beloved child, lips twitching into a genuine smile, "I understand that your job is demanding, and know that you've been busy preparing for the invasion of Lior. Speaking of that, you have my permission to start sending your soldiers in as soon as possible."

Slowly rising from her chair, Dante strolled over to a nearby dresser and began going through the top drawer, searching for something. "Indeed she has, Envy. As for her exact location, I suspect that she's still in Central with the Elric brothers. We can only hope that she has not revealed anything yet. She must be eliminated - or at least separated from the boys - before she can. Envy, I have another assignment for you: You are to scout Central for his children once the meeting is finished. If you manage to find them, see to it that Lust is separated from them by any means necessary. I doubt you will be able to kill her if she's being protected by those boys, so please don't try - she still has Red Stones in her system, after all. The next step of my plan is entirely dependent on Lust being separated from the Elrics."

Removing a rather fancy paper with gold-trimmed leaf from the drawer, she closed it and returned to her seat at the desk. She set the paper before her and rested her dark eyes on the two homunculi, once again frowning. "Not only do we have Lust to worry about now, but I have reason to believe that Greed has been freed from his prison. Pride, I would appreciate it if you would check up on his cell after the meeting. I wasn't going to risk running into him in the state I'm in, so I fled as soon as I could. If my suspicions are indeed correct, he is undoubtedly preparing to fight against us as we speak."

An effectual pause followed her revelation. The old woman clasped her hands on the surface of the desk, cold gave unwavering from her two servants. "Lust can easily be eliminated if she is by herself. Greed will not be able to withstand our wrath; he'll be crushed like a bug. If they have the Elrics on their side, however, we'll be at a severe disadvantage."

She smiled sinisterly, glancing down at the letter on the desk before her. "...Which is why my former student will be sending them to live with me for a while."

[emelie]

Wrath grew bored by the all the talk and wanted to do something. "So what do I get to do?"He asked a bit hastily.

[dante]

"Be patient, Wrath. We'll figure that out soon enough. You will most likely be helping Envy with hunting down Lust, if you must know," Dante reproved him, aged eyes moving up from the letter and over to the homunculus.

[jackofsticks]

Pride pondered on his orders for a bit, closing his eye and tugging at his eye patch. When he came back from his little world, he would speak up. "Of course, m'lady. I will prepare the troops immediately." He turned away and began to disappear into the darkness again, his own motives swarming his mind, yet still in full loyalty to Dante. It would be in their best interest for him to learn as much as he could about the Elrics, knowing full well they would interfere with their plans in one way or another.

[Envy]

He sniggered. *I do not really understand you Dante...* he told her, shaking his head. *If she is surounded by Elrics, we will be at disadvantage. What crap are you saying to me?* his voice sounded sudenly louder. *HIS brats are no threat at all! I'm leaving them alive just because it is your order! But as for the betrayer...* his voice suddenly whispering, growing cold. *I will deal with her myself!*

[jackofsticks]

(( I just realized I have no clue what the plans are. >.> What was Pride supposed to do, again? ))

[emelie]

((LOL, Sorry for laughing. The way you worded that was funny.))
"Good, I want to kill that traitor! Especially since she tricked me!" He said angrily as he jumped up from his chair ready to go.

[jackofsticks]

(( >.> <.< *Doesn't get it* ))

[dante]

((XD. Here's the gist of it: Before you took Pride on as your character, Dante had him on standby till Envy could give her the name of a candidate for creating the Philosopher's Stone. Now you have two jobs; the first is to inspect Lab 5 and see if Greed did escape, and the second is to order an invasion of Lior))

"Wrath, please sit down and remain silent while I'm speaking with Envy. I don't want to have to punish you, but I will if I must - and that goes for you as well, Envy," she reprimanded them, her impassive tone and blank slate expression betraying her true emotions.

Taking the gold-trimmed parchment in her withered hand and skimming over it, she began again: "Do not forget that those boys are his children; they inherited not only his looks, but also his alchemical prowess - especially young Edward. They have the potential to bring everything we worked so hard to create crashing down. It is essential that they unwittingly become my pawns in this grand chess game we're playing."

Dante rose from her chair and walked over to the center of the room, still holding the letter in her hand. "I know that thinking isn't your strong suit, Envy, so allow me to elaborate: I'm their teacher's teacher, so they already have a reason to trust me. Also consider the body I'm currently wearing. I hate to admit it, but the fact still stands that I appear to be a harmless old woman - a grandmotherly figure, if you will. The only way they could possibly suspect that I'm the one pulling the strings is if Lust blows my cover - something you are going to prevent."

[Envy]

*I told you already, do not mention HIM!* He roared as if being insane thumped the table, but did not break it this time. *Pah, it is your game afterall and your rules. Do as you wish!* He walked away to the next corner of the room. *I just have a feeling you are becoming paranoid, fearing a couple of children, no matter who are they. But fine, be their teacher, pull the strings and make them obey.* He crossed arms on his chest, sneering. *Lust is already out of way, do not worry about it. But remember!* he said sudenly, his voice containing a tone of a madman. *Once this is over, once you have what you need... they will die by my hands!*

[dante]

"Not mentioning him is not going to make him go away - you know that. Furthermore, you are in no position to tell me anything. Just because you did a splendid job in Lior doesn't give you the right to speak with me as if I were your equal, do you understand?" she reprimanded him sharply with a nasty scowl, annoyance evident in her voice. Envy's cocky attitude was starting to get on her nerves.

She let out a small sigh and counted to ten mentally, not wanting to lose her patience; it wouldn't be good for her aging body. Casting a glance over at the hyperactive homunculus, she decided to make him useful. "Wrath, I understand this all must seem very boring to you, and that you'd probably like to get up and stretch for a while. Why don't you head downstairs and get a cup of tea for me?"

[Envy]

He looked at her, thinking of any poisonous answer, but he did not dare to tell her any. He turned his head to the right, until she got away from his viewing field. Then he murmured: *As you say, Dante.* He was not happy at all. He wanted to kill the Elric brothers, make them suffer, but he also knew, than if needed, Dante could stop him. And whatever he said to her, he feared her. He'll just needed to find a way, how to convince her, that the Elrics must be elliminated. But he'll worry about it later. Now he had a betrayer to finish off.

[emelie]

Wrath had sat down and pouted in his chair in boredom after Daunte reprimended him. Though he hated being made a slave he knew he had to obey. "Yes Master." he said as he stood up.He then headed downstairs to he kitchen.