Plans... just Plans....

'Always remember this, Burne— There is nothing free in this world, everything comes at a price. Alchemy is no different. The moment you let greed consume you— will be the moment you fall.'

'So why do we use alchemy, gramps?' 

'Humans are curious creatures, we run after things that fascinate us. We try to figure out the secrets of that world, we delve into knowledge that should remain hidden. Alchemy is once such knowledge. But as humans, we cannot help but get drawn towards the things that we cannot understand.'

'So is alchemy evil?'

'Alchemy is not evil, humans are. There are branches of alchemy that a human should never delve into. Animatic alchemy and human transmutation are two of such branches… Promise me, Burne. Promise me that you will never look into those alchemic branches.'

'I promise.'

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Burne woke up with a slight headache in the morning. It was mostly because of his damaged nerves. While he had prosthetics, they didn't help him with the occasional body aches and headaches.

He walked out of the room to cool himself with a cold shower and hopefully get rid of the headache. 

"Good morning, Burne." Lena greeted the boy who was feeling a bit dizzy.

"Morning, Lena." He greeted back. 

Lena got a bit worried as she saw him holding his head. "Are you alright?" She asked.

"Yeah, just a little headache." He replied. "Nothing that a cold shower cannot fix." 

"Alright then. But tell me or Adolf if you need anything." She said and Burne nodded.

Burne walked down the stairs to the bathing hall.  It was quite big— more than enough for him to relax.

He walked towards one of the showerheads. There weren't any showers a few years back, they were invented by an alchemist around four years ago. Since then their popularity has skyrocketed.

He turned the knob, allowing the cold drops of water to fall on him. 

He spent the entire last night trying to come up with a way to substitute the soul sacrifice in the philosopher's stone. But nothing worked. He tried theorising the possibility of substituting the souls with flora but plants had very little life force. And they didn't possess a soul— so to create a philosopher's stone, he would require to exchange the entire world's flora… which was something he couldn't do.

He turned off the shower and went to relax in the bathtub, deciding to worry about the stone later. It was not something that he could think of creating with the little knowledge he possessed. 

"But gramps was right… Alchemy is not evil, humans are." He mumbled. "The king of Xerxes sacrificed his country to gain immortality and I don't believe that he succeeded. So that makes me think… who succeeded?"

He has only heard legends of the Philosopher's Stone and the miracles it could create but he had never heard of an instance when a person acquired it. The only clues he had were his grandfather's words and Xerxes's carvings.

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"That should be enough." Burne said as Ammon solidified the ground. 

"I will be leaving tomorrow morning so that's all I could teach you. The rest will depend on your ability to adapt and improve." 

Burne smiled after saying that. "So you have made up your mind about going with disassembly?" 

Ammon nodded.

"That's great for battles and it will be a perfect choice if you follow the path of a warrior monk." Burne said. "So when are you joining your brother in becoming a warrior monk?"

Ammon grinned. "The next time I visit, I will go to the warrior priest with him. I am sixteen… the same age as you, so he would agree. He accepts Ishvalans with alchemic talent from the age of sixteen."

Burne nodded.

"So what exactly are you looking for?" Ammon asked. "Your alchemy is already scary good."

Burne laughed. "It is at a decent level but nowhere near the top. Alchemy is a mountain whose peak you can never achieve. It is a subject where each step feels like an achievement. I am trying to expand my knowledge that's all." 

"So are you pursuing a single branch?" Ammon asked but Burne shook his head.

"I am not a state alchemist or a warrior monk who specialises in offence or an inventor trying to gain the recognition of the world. I am just a guy that researches alchemy because he finds it amusing. So no… I am not pursuing any single branch but instead a multitude of them." 

"I see." Ammon said. "Since you are going tomorrow… why don't I show you around Ishval? There are some things that you cannot spot without the help of a local guide."

Brune smiled. "That sounds great."

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In the world of alchemy many people pursued fame, many pursued riches, many purposed the legends and many pursued power.

But there were very few that pursued alchemy to expand their knowledge and quench their curiosity. 

The man sitting on the throne was not one of them. 

He was a tall man with long white hair. He sat on the throne of a dark room with a stench of chemicals engulfing the place.

"How is the plan progressing, Envy." He asked in his aged voice. 

The person he asked the question to was a feminine figure with long black hair. 

"The nations have decided on a temporary truce but their state is quite fickle. One wrong gunshot at the wrong place and the entire coalition falls apart." 

The person had a high pitched voice yet it had a slight manly undertone, making it difficult to decipher the gender. 

"Governments have always been fickle. No one can rule forever without having enough strength to stand above everyone. We do not have to start a war now. Sloth is still digging the circle and it won't be completed before a decade. I have sent Gluttony to get stronger so he has been traversing the lands devouring alchemists and humans alike. But that is not necessarily bad." He said looking at Envy. "The more he eats, the stronger he gets."

Envy nodded. 

"Envy, I want you to cause tension between the nations… don't break their coalition but create tension among them." He smiled. "Do not let them become friends as it might turn out problematic in the future."

"Why don't you strike now, father?" Envy asked in confusion. 

Out of all his children, Greed was the most rebellious one but Envy was the most curious one. 

"If I kill them now without a proper circle, the souls will go to the afterlife and all my plans will be in vain." He explained. "And I cannot launch an attack without confirming the location of a certain man." 

"Who?" Envy asked and father adorned a sad smile.

"My student, Van Hohenheim."

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[A/N: Ayy! Was planning to edit the previous chapter but ended up writing a new one. That's why u got 2 chaps. It's smaller but there was not much to add here.

Leave paragraph comments to let me know about mistakes and errors.

And comment? That helps a lot and keeps me motivated. 😄😄😄]

[Discord Link: https://discord.gg/DXwDzxSAED]