A/N: Sorry for the wait, I just moved into Uni and have settled in. Enjoy :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist or any of the characters. I also don't own the plot for the first 5 chapters. ALL CREDIT FOR THE PLOT OF THE FIRST 5 CHAPTERS GOES TO GEU23.

Listen to the coyotes as they chorus in these deserted lands, listen and respect as they sing the song of the dead in the cloak of darkness.

Chapter 3:
22nd July 1922, 11:23am

Ed looked at himself in the mirror and frowned viciously. He had black circles under his eyes and he looked pale; in other words, he looked like absolute shit. Ed grumbled as he washed his face before taking a comb and brushing it through his blonde hair.

Today, Maria and her husband Denny Brosh were coming over with their two sons, Kirby and Kevin Brosh. They were both good kids, and the Broshes were close family friends. Ed and Al had known the parents before the kids were even born.

Kirby Brosh was seven years old and he was a bright kid, even thought his appearance was a bit… different. Okay, a bit different is not the right description, because Kirby had been born with a special genetic code that came from both his parents; Denny was from a wizard/witch family, whereas Maria was from a family of demons. Kirby Brosh was a half demon, born with pink hair and ruby red eyes, making him different from the rest of the family. Naturally, they cherished him regardless of his appearance.

On the other hand, Kevin looked like a mix of both his parents. He had brown eyes and blonde hair. He was only five years old, but he was already gifted in speech and magic, thanks to his father. He really admired his father and was almost a clone of him. Were it not for the brown eyes, everyone would be asking why Denny had turned into a little kid.

Ed paused at that thought before a small smirk appeared on his face. Oh, he remembered someone like that, except that he does turn into a little kid whenever the sun comes up thanks to a curse a witch placed onto him! Ed was there when it first happened and boy, was that hilarious!

He shook his head before he got dressed into a navy blue sweater and a pair of black slacks. He walked out the door and went into the living room, which was on the left side of door, opposite the kitchen.

The living room was the by far the largest room in the house, besides the attic and basement. Its walls were painted a pale yellow – almost lemon yellow – and a stone fireplace stood against the wall. Two moss brown sofas, facing each other, were in the room with a wooden coffee table in between. A few more chairs lined the walls. Bookshelves lined the walls that weren't occupied with chairs, and they were filled with books and picture frames.

Ed walked into the living room and sat down on the sofa before he leaned back and sighed. He was feeling like absolute crap as well. They – that being only Allynn and Maria – had planned this visit for some time and they agreed it to be today since it had been two days after their sealing. He absolutely hated the sealing of his wings, but in order to live a normal life he had to do it. If anyone ever found out…

Maria would most likely ask if he was feeling alright, and then demand to know what had happened over the past few days. Maria was a friend of the family, but she tended to act like a mother most of the time, thanks to having two boys of her own. She was one of only a small handful of people who knew what he was, and had been completely okay with it. He closed his eyes as he remembered the day when she found out.

19th September 1914, 07:29pm

Ed was feeling like absolute shit, his back was hurting like hell, and them being here was not helping. He was supposed to let his aching wings out a week ago, but no. Two guests, a demon and a wizard no less, had popped in unannounced and said that they planned to stay till the end of the month!

Shit.

He couldn't wait that long. He had to let them out soon, or else something really bad was going to happen! He had never kept them in for so long and he knew they were getting very impatient. They would most likely tear themselves free very soon, when he was caught off guard, and then they would free themselves from his chains.

Ed, thirteen years old, and Al, twelve years old, were staying at the Rockbells house- where they had been ever since their mother had passed away. The two were safe there, because the Rockbells had always known about Ed being a Guardian Angel.

Ed felt them shift and his back twitched painfully. He hissed in pain and hugged himself, in an effort to quell the raging fury from the wings that resided within his back. His sister, sitting across him because of a puzzle they had been trying to solve for the past hour, came forward and rubbed his back.

"Does it still hurt, Brother?"

Ed could only nod as he felt them shift again. Damn that hurt! He really hated them, as they did him. He was only their host and they were his parasite; they depended on him to live and grow, while he suffered as they leeched his life away. He had to hide from everyone thanks to those damn wings. Great, rare Angels his ass. They were nothing but beings cursed with power, and bore the curse via feathered wings sprouting from their backs. Damn, fucking, cursed Angels!

Ed let out a shaky breath and willed the pain away before looking at his sister with a smile. She looked at him for a moment before she moved away and continued the puzzle, but she kept shooting concerned glances his way. They were almost done with the puzzle when a pair of hands grabbed his shoulders, catching him completely off guard, and someone said something like "Wow! You guys are good with puzzles!" If he said anything more, Ed couldn't hear it as his back was laced with fiery pain.

Ed hugged his sides, feeling them move and shift as they demanded to be freed and let loose; so that they could grow and stretch and breathe. He couldn't hear anything or anyone else clearly- everything sounded babbled and filtered. He couldn't feel anything except the pain from his back.

No! Oh hell no! They could not come out when others were around!

He tried forcing them back, crushing and twisting them back but they demanded and ordered to be set free. He felt them, felt them grow and twist and shift! Damn it! His back felt so hot, burning with uncontained rage and fury as they forced and fought their way out. He didn't know if he screamed or whined or whimpered but, fucking hell, they hurt.

He felt the wings push harder and harder, forcing their way out, and they broke down every attempt to quell them with rage. Oh hell, it hurt. He felt sweat pouring down his neck and back; he felt cool tears trickle their way down his face from his eyes. He didn't know if they were open, and if they were he didn't see; couldn't see anything past the pain.

They pushed and soon they were so close to the surface, so close to their freedom and a new wave of pain coursed through his body. No! Don't! No, no, no! You can't! We'd be exposed! Stop, dammit, stop!

But they didn't listen to his pleas; they kept pushing and ramming at his back and the pain tore him inside out. He felt them pierce skin, felt them push harder and he felt something thick and wet ooze out of his back. Blood.

Shit! Once blood is drawn, they were going to come out no matter what. Shit, shit, shit! Then he felt something different. Two arms wrapped around his shoulders, and a warm hand pressed his head into the person's neck. Someone whispered something, soft and gentle, but he couldn't make out the words.

Another wave of electrifying pain and he was sure he screamed. The arms around him held him tighter, but they did nothing to help him from the pain. They pushed harder and soon they tore free; his chains crumbled away as they surged forth from his back; tearing skin and forcing it to move away to make way for them so that they can stretch free and breathe.

Oh fuck, that hurt and now they were exposed. Damn demanding wings. He opened his eyes and looked down, blood pooled around him, soaking his pants and another pair of pants across his. 'They weren't there earlier...'

He slowly looked up and his breath caught in his throat. He knew it must be some kind of illusion because his mother was dead; she could not be sitting across him, because her spirit had long gone disappeared from this plane. She had moved on to another place, where all the dead went.

He felt his eyes droop and he felt dizzy. He felt the world go hazy before everything went black.

22nd July 1922, 11:34am

He opened his eyes and glared at the ceiling. Whether he hated his wings as much as they did him, he would never know. They were such a nuisance, completely unnecessary.

"Brother?"

Ed looked away from the ceiling and looked at his sister, who was standing near the kitchen entrance. She was wearing a baby pink sweater and dark red pants, her fairy wings folded delicately; she also wore her long, sandy blonde hair in a braid. She looked sweet; it reflected her personality nicely.

"Yeah, Al? What is it?" he smiled reassuringly.

"Could you set the table while I make lunch?" Al asked, clearly not buying it.

Ed heaved himself off the comfy sofa and walked towards the kitchen, smiling. "Sure, Al. I'll help."

22nd July 1922, 12:25pm

Soon there was a knock on the door. Al opened it, with Ed right behind her. The Brosh family were all standing on their doorstep, smiling; well, the kids were mostly beaming.

"Uncle Eddie! Auntie Al!"

Kirby and Kevin lunged forward and hugged Al, before hugging Ed. He laughed and patted them on the head before telling them to remove their shoes before they went inside the house. They promptly replied, "Okay, Uncle Eddie!"

Al laughed at the face Ed made before she helped the boys out of their jackets and hung them onto the coat rack.

"You boys hungry?"

"Yeah!" They both cheered enthusiastically as they followed her into the kitchen, no doubt trying to figure out what they'd be getting for lunch. Ed laughed before he looked at Denny and Maria; he stopped smiling when he noticed the look Maria was giving him.

"You probably heard from Al huh?" he said sheepishly.

She nodded and looked at him disapprovingly. "You shouldn't have done that, Edward."

"I know, but Riza's more important than my health. Anyway, I'm all better," Ed replied innocently.

"Even though you still look like shit," Maria responded curtly.

"Side-effects, you know. Terrible things anyway," Ed waved it off as he walked to the nearest chair and sat down; Denny and Maria followed shortly.

"So how are the kids anyway?" Ed changed the subject.

Just then both Kevin and Kirby yelled from the kitchen, "We're both good! Great actually!"

Denny sighed and seem to sink further into the sofa, Maria just smiled and chuckled softly.

"I swear they could be twins if not for the age difference and their appearance," Denny muttered with a sigh.

"Really now? What's so bad about that?" Ed asked interestedly.

Denny whacked his hand against his face and groaned. "Now they're both trying to complete each other's sentences. And they're succeeding!"

Ed raised an eyebrow and looked at the boys in the kitchen, who seemed to be completely absorbed in looking into the oven. A tray of lovely cookies made by Al were baking nicely.

"Maybe they have some telepathic thing going on? You never know," Ed suggested with a shrug.

"It's possible, since of their Magic and Demon heritage and all. So, Ed, how's your job coming along?" Maria inquired.

Ed rubbed the base of his neck and sighed. "Being a personal trainer is harder than I thought it'd be. It's certainly keeping me in shape, too. Plus I haven't had the time to do any more paintings, because I've been busy for a bit. How's yours?"

"Well, I got promoted to editor on the Floe's Newspapers, while Maria's still teaching at the Boys' School," Denny said with a hint of pride.

"Congrats. To the both of you."

"Lunch's ready!" Al suddenly called from the other room.

"Alright! Now we can eat!" Kevin exclaimed happily.

22nd July 1922, 1:45pm

Maria Brosh watched as Kirby was lifted onto Ed's shoulders and smiled. Kirby adored Ed like an older brother, but always called him Uncle Eddie for the fun of it. Ed was great with kids, no matter how small. Kevin was now tugging at Denny to do the same and he did, albeit with a bit of difficulty.

It was nice, watching the men playing in the park. Maria looked beside her and saw Al watching them with a smile.

"So, Al, how is Ed really?" Maria asked discreetly.

Al stopped looking at them and turned her gaze to her companion, a small frown on her face. Concern and worry were evident in her olive-grey eyes.

"He says he feels fine, but he isn't really. He is having side-effects, and they're worse than usual! 'They' have really taken a toll on him this time, but it was his own fault! He shouldn't have done what he did; but no one could stop him from doing it when he was so determined."

Maria frowned and was about to speak when her boys called out to her, their voices trembling and frightened. She looked at them and stopped.

Edward was on the snow covered ground, lying unconscious with a pool of blood growing from under him. Denny was beside him looking around frantically, and her boys were behind their father, looking just as worried and slightly lost.

"BROTHER!"

"EDWARD!"