Author's Note: Yeah, I know I should be updating my other stories...but this bunny wouldn't go away! I had to let it out! Please know that I haven't abandoned any of them; I will make more updates very soon. And now, after that short mess-

WHO ARE YOU CALLING TINY BEANSPROUT?!

Shut up, Ed! Note: This begins after Death of the Undying, for obvious reasons. Disclaimer: I do not own FMA. If I did, we'd still have HUGHES AND NINA. Ahem. On with the show!

The Virtuous

Waking up the first time was strange. Her body felt odd around her, like it was too heavy, too confining. She could barely move her arms; they felt like lumps of lead attached to an enormous chunk of rock that formed her torso. Slowly, however, she managed to sit up. Inky black hair as straight as a board fell into her face. She reached up and brushed it aside with clumsy fingers, nearly poking herself in the eye in the process.

That's when she realized she was naked. Instinctively, she brought her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around her legs. Moving was becoming easier now that she was growing used to this new form. What had she been before? She tried to remember, but all that came to her mind was a confused jumble of floating, falling, flowing…and screaming. A terrible keening chaos formed by many thousands of voices had raged around her like a storm, and she had been part of it.

"Oh, goody, you're awake!" a voice said happily. She glanced around, startled. A short, bald, fat man with arms that seemed much too long for him was standing a few feet away from her. He had a silly grin plastered on his face, and he was staring at her with piggy eyes sunk deep into his skull. "My name is Gluttony, and you're my new sister!"

She tilted her head to the side curiously. "Sister?" she repeated, and she gasped. She hadn't heard her voice before, at least not properly. When she was with the others, she had barely been able to hear herself, mixed in with the multitude of others as she had been. She searched her memory, trying to see if she knew what "sister" meant.

A vague picture formed in her head: there was a group of people…a family, yes, that was the word. There was a man and a woman, and a boy, and also a girl. Yes, the girl, she had two names: Sister, and Daughter, too. They all had two names; the man was "Father" and "Husband." The woman…she was called "Mother" and "Wife." And the boy…"Son" and finally…

She smiled at Gluttony. "Brother!" she proclaimed happily, pointing at him. She quickly drew her hand back when she remembered her unclothed state. "Oh, um…can I have some clothes, please?"

Gluttony's grin had grown—if possible—even bigger when she had called him "brother." Now, however, his expression turned apologetic. "Oh, sure! Here." He pulled a large bundle of black cloth from the floor and set them on the table beside her (for she now realized that was what she was currently sitting on.) However, once Gluttony had done that, he just stood there, smiling.

She blushed and asked politely, "Could…I have some privacy…please?" He nodded and skipped merrily out the door, leaving her alone. Slowly, she unfolded herself and got down onto the floor, wincing at the cold stone beneath her bare feet.

Methodically, she pulled out each article of clothing, examining it. The underclothing was the easy part; it was the outer garments which presented the hard choice. Nearly everything revealed more of her than she was comfortable with. Nearly everything fell too low on her chest or too high on her legs, and she felt too exposed and vulnerable. Finally, however, she managed to find something she liked: a black sleeveless dress made of a lacey material with a solid black lining. It had a modest neckline and fell to her mid-thigh. A thin black ribbon wrapped around the middle like a belt. She found a pile of shoes on the floor next to the table and selected a pair of knee-high black riding boots.

A knock at the door made her whirl around, startled. "Are you almost done? Father wants to meet you," Gluttony's voice called from the other side of the thick iron door.

She sighed and called out, "I'm coming, Brother!" Taking a deep, shuddering breath, she straightened her back, held her chin up, and strode out the door. The room she found herself in was large, with a ceiling so high she couldn't even see it through the inky blackness above her. There were two more people in the room with Gluttony. One had long hair that hung down in a spiky fringe around his body, and the other…

For some reason, she was filled with the sudden desire to run. She didn't know where she would go, she just wanted to get away from the pale man in the metal chair…no, throne, that was it. It was made of pipe lines, but it was clearly meant to resemble a seat of power. But Gluttony came and took her hand, smiling, and lead her closer to the man in the throne. His skin was unnaturally white, and his blond hair and beard only added to his sickly appearance.

He looked at her with an appraising expression, but he said nothing. The one with the long hair sent a smirk and a casual wave in her direction. "Hi, there! Name's Envy, one of your other brothers."

Despite the fear she still felt in the presence of the pale man—whom she now realized must be the one Gluttony had called "Father"—she smiled at Envy. "It's nice to meet you, brother," she answered softly.

"Look at me, child," a voice commanded. She tensed and slowly turned towards the other man. He was leaning forward in his seat, looking more interested in her. "Do you know who I am?"

She nodded once. "Yes. You are Father," she answered respectfully. This answer clearly pleased him, because he gave her…it wasn't a full smile, but the corners of his mouth turned up. Suddenly, she realized that no one here knew her name, and come to think of it, neither did she. She searched through her memory, trying to find it. It took a moment, but finally, she settled on one that seemed to feel just right.

"My name is Chastity, Father," she offered. "Chastity the Virtuous."

Chastity wasn't sure what she'd done wrong, but clearly she'd done something. Father frowned, almost scowling at her, and he leaned back in his seat, resting the side of his face on a fist.

Quickly, she backtracked. "I'm sorry, Father! What did I do? I won't do it again, I promise! I'm sorry, Father, I'm so sorry!" Chastity wasn't quite sure what she was supposed to be sorry for, but she was sorry that she'd upset her father just moments after meeting him.

Father sighed, shaking his head. "I was a fool," he said, talking more to himself than to the others. "I should have realized that without Lust's Stone, it would be impossible to remake her. Still, without experimentation, one never learns… Ah, well, this experiment was a failure. I now know that without the original Stone, I cannot recreate any of my children."

Chastity's head was spinning. Who was Lust? And what was this Stone he kept talking about? She almost dared to ask, but Father's next words caused the question to die in her throat.

"Gluttony, you may eat her." She gasped, turning to Gluttony, who was staring at her hungrily.

"What?" Chastity cried, backing slowly away from Gluttony. "No, please! Father, what did I do? Tell me, please!" she begged. Father said nothing. She turned back to Gluttony, who was now advancing towards her. "Gluttony. Brother. Don't do this. Brother, please, don't! LEAVE ME ALONE!"

All of a sudden, Gluttony stopped, looking around in confusion. Envy and Father were doing the same. "Huh? Where did she go? I didn't even get one bite!"

Chastity didn't know what was going on until she happened to look down. Where she should have seen her body, she saw…nothing.

Without thinking, she took off running down the tunnel she had been backing towards. She could hear Envy and Gluttony shouting, but she paid no heed. All Chastity could do was run, and keep running, and never stop until she found what she was looking for. Until she found the light.

Author's Note Part 2: So, what'd you think? Like it? Hate it? Tell me with reviews! I live for reviews! Flames will be swallowed by Gluttony.