Author's Note: This story came to mind while sitting in English class and going over Greek theater. Amazing, right? Anyways, I'm just up here keeping you from the story because you must know that I wrote this keeping in mind Fullmetal Alchemist the anime and the manga. I'm using the homunculi from the anime, but some concepts and conversations from the manga. For those of you who haven't read the manga, there are no gigantic spoilers, so don't worry about it. Oh, and go out and read the manga! It's incredible!

Disclaimer: I obviously don't own Fullmetal Alchemist

Chapter One

There can be no relief without suffering

It was all he could do to keep breathing. After having gone so long without the need for air, his lungs seemed to have forgotten how to work.

But that was the least of his problems.

He felt a hole within the stomach that must have been his. He was starving, and it hurt. It hurt to breathe, and it hurt to think. His eyes burned and his chest ached. Through it all, lying on his back, he could hear people around him making awful noises. Someone was grabbing his arms roughly, calling his name. It hurt being touched – it felt like his bones were going to break!

He felt cold, he felt hunger, he felt pain, he felt fear.

And he smiled

Because for the first time in years, Alphonse Elric could feel.

Colonel Roy Mustang was bored.

Not that he didn't have work to do. He was, in fact, weeks behind on his paperwork and had begun to idly give each paper his stamp of approval, without look over its contents, just to ease some of the stress. Holding the title of the Flame Alchemist had its many advantages, of course, just as easily as it had its disadvantages. Though known all over Amestris, and loved by all women, he was in constant danger wherever he went (mainly by the men who lost their girlfriends to him), and had to keep a low profile from civilians, so was forced to eat in low-class ramen bars (mainly because the majority of his pay-check goes toward flowers for young ladies, and alcohol). But with that excitement came paperwork and a desk job.

He pushed his chair closer to his desk and rested his head on a mountain of untouched papers awaiting his stamp and signature.

"Don't mind me, I'm just dying." He told the plant next to him, listening to the gentle tick-tock, tick-tock of the clock above. In the room's silence, the clock echoed loudly. It taunted him. He ignored it. It taunted again. He ignored it. It taunted again. He gave in.

"Colonel, sir!" Riza Hawkeye yelled, opening his office door with intense force. There was a lengthy silence as Riza watched Mustang standing on his chair, a fist through his office clock. She cleared her throat, reminding herself that she had walked in on much worse situations.

"Lieutenant Hawkeye?" He asked, triumphantly placing the defeated clock in the trash beside him and stepping down off the chair. "What is it?"

He could see there was something important she was to report. The lieutenant, usually calm and composed, had a single tear running down the side of her face. A tear. Mustang was suddenly alarmed.

"It's Alphonse," She said, and before Mustang could even gather in his head the fact that Alphonse Elric had somehow died, Riza blurted out, "He's got his body back!"

The words left her mouth in a high note, leaving her voice to echo around the room until it faded away. Mustang was shocked. His hands fell from the fists they had formed.

"He…" Mustang said quietly. Then that meant that Edward had gotten hold of the Philosopher's Stone. But in order to do that, human lives must first be sacrificed. The world is never free from equivalent exchange. "Where did you hear this from?" He asked seriously.

"Sir, I've seen him. He's in a privet hospital just a few miles from here." Riza answered, regaining her composure.

"You didn't answer my question. Where did you hear that Alphonse had gotten his body back? Was it from Fullmetal?"

She hesitated. "No. Edward is currently unconscious and in critical condition. A couple of MPs found the two of them in an old warehouse. Al looks horrible… and Ed isn't doing well either. I had heard the sirens and went to see what happened. It seems they were on their way to tell you anyway, so I sent them back to their jobs."

"Take me to them." Mustang demanded, grabbing his long coat from the hook beside the door. "I need to talk to Ed."

Edward's sleep was plagued with nightmares. That is, he hoped he was dreaming. It involved homunculi, and shadows. It was filled with torture, and death. And he couldn't wake up. He kept screaming to himself to just wake up, but something kept pushing his mind farther into the nightmare.

He could hear his brother screaming a horrible scream of anguish and pain.

"AL!" Ed yelled for him, knowing that he was in a dream, yet unable to control his instincts. His dream was dark, and he couldn't find Al. "ALPHONSE!" He yelled again. And then there was silence. He could feel sweat on his forehead just as he noticed that he couldn't feel it.

"Al?" Ed asked again, a tone of fear in his voice.

"Edward." Something growled, the noise of its fast breathing growling louder and louder "You sinner!"

Ed shot straight up in his bed, a small scream escaping from his mouth. A sharp pain immediately hit his side, and he clutched his ribs with his left arm. His right one was gone.

His thoughts were blurry, and his head felt heavy. What had just happened? Why was he in this comfortable bed, warm and alive when just a few seconds ago, he had been fighting for his life?

And then he remembered. It hit him almost physically. In two seconds, he jumped out of the bed and onto the cold, hospital floor, resisting the urge to vomit from the pain in his side. Staggering to the edge of the bed, he grabbed onto the door of the small privet room he was in. It hurt to move, and it hurt to think, but he had to get to his brother. He had to find out where he was!

"Hello!" Edward yelled, sticking his head out of the door and staring down the empty isles of the hospital. It was dark outside, and the lights above were beaming painfully around him, making his head hurt worse. Clutching his side still, he began to run down the stairs to find someone. Anyone. He just needed to know if his brother was there.

The halls were empty still. It was beginning to get on Ed's nerves.

"Damn it, someone answer me! Hello!"

"Edward Elric." Someone whispered behind him.

Ed whipped painfully around to find the source of the noise. The voice seemed to have come from directly behind him, but no one was there.

"Whose there?" Ed asked aloud, searching the room for the person. His head felt weird, like he was about to faint.

"I'm here." It answered. "I'm yours. You created me. Don't you see me?"

Edward didn't see him. In fact, he could barely see anything. The pain from his broken ribs was growing, and his head was spinning, causing his vision to blur.

"What are you talking about? Where is Alphonse?" Ed asked, unable to think straight. He staggered against a wall.

"I'm going to kill you, Edward. I'm going to destroy everything you've ever loved. It's only fair. You remember Equivalent Exchange, right, alchemist? You killed us so easily. Did you not think that transmuting homunculi would also have its price? You haven't won." It growled from within the room.

Ed's breathing was beginning to come in quick gasps. Stay awake, he told himself. "What are you saying? Where are you!" He demanded, "Who are you?"

And he closed his eyes for a moment, from the pain. When he opened them, a child was standing in front of him. She had long black hair and was wearing an old, torn black dress. Her eyes were large and dark. She stuck her hand out in front of Edward, as if to help him up. Edward eyes her suspiciously.

"You… are a homunculus? But I've destroyed all seven. Which sin are you?" He smirked, feeling a cold sweat on his forehead.

The girl had no expression on her face. "Sin?" she asked innocently, "I'm no sin, you idiot. I'm everything you hate, and everyone you've fought. My name is Hubris."

And she closed her outstretched hand, simultaneously causing Edward to lose consciousness.

A/N: So what do you think so far? I know I haven't explained much yet, like Edward's previous fight, Alphonse, and this Hubris. Please forgive me. And stay interested! I'll update soon with lots more information!