The chamber was silent—eerily so—save for the slow, bubbling churn of the vast pool at its center.

Red. Thick. Metallic. Blood.

Above, pipes twisted like arteries across the stone ceiling, pulsing faintly as they fed the basin below. The surface shimmered with a sickly, rust-hued light. Torches flickered along the walls, casting grotesque shadows of the figures standing at the edge.

Lust stood poised and elegant, arms folded, her violet eyes fixed on the roiling blood. Beside her, Gluttony leaned in, breathing heavily, a string of drool slipping from his slackened mouth.

“She’s ready,” Lust murmured.

The surface rippled once. Then again. And then—with a gasp—a figure burst upward.

A girl.

Blood-slicked hair clung to her pale face as she rose from the pool, chest heaving, crimson water streaming in rivulets down her skin. Her eyes—closed at first—blinked open slowly. Then sharply.

Brilliant, haunting irises caught the torchlight—glinting with a spark of something unspoken. Something dangerous.

Lust stepped forward, unflinching as blood splashed her heels. She knelt, silent and graceful, and draped a towel over the dazed girl’s shoulders.

“She’s awake,” Lust said coolly.

Gluttony sniffed the air, his head tilting. “Hmmmm… she smells different,” he muttered. “Like iron and heat and… something scary.”

A deeper shadow stirred. From the far end of the chamber, a tall figure stepped into the light—Father, ancient and imperious. His gaze settled on the girl with measured interest, as though she were a formula, not a life.

“Her name remains unspoken,” he said, voice calm and absolute. “But she is one of you now. A new Homunculus. A perfected embodiment… of blood.”

The girl stared blankly, her face unreadable. Still forming.

“She possesses haemokinesis,” Father continued. “Mastery over blood in all its states—not only her own, but the blood of others. Liquid. Solid. Vapor. A versatile weapon. Her combat potential may surpass most of yours.”

A scoff echoed across the chamber.

Envy, arms crossed, slouched against the wall, wearing a twisted scowl.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me,” Envy spat. “You’re putting her on my squad?”

Father did not blink.

“She is young. She is powerful. And she will learn quickly under your guidance.”

Envy stomped forward, pointing a finger at the girl like she were a bug. “What if she freaks out and boils someone’s blood mid-mission, huh? What then? You gonna explain that to Wrath when he finds a puddle where his men used to be?”

A pause. The torches seemed to flicker lower.

Then Father spoke.

“If she does,” he said coldly, “then they were too weak to stand beside her in the first place.”

His gaze cut like a scalpel.

“You are not here to coddle her, Envy. You are here to ensure her strength becomes an asset, not a liability. Fail in that... and I will replace you with something better.”

A tense silence fell. Even Gluttony stopped chewing his fingers.