New chapter!

I hope ya'll enjoy it :)

As usual, lemme know what you think in the comments and follow/favorite the story to get updates when new chapters come out!

P.S.

Here's a short poem for my bff, in honor of her latest misadventure:

Even though he may be such a piece of shit,

Even while you think he wouldn't go that far,

Even if he tries to park without paying,

Don't leap in front of his car.


"Do you remember the two girls who were in the bar here?" Ed asked the bartender, a man with a gruff face and a scruffy beard.

He stared down at them through dark brown eyes and then made a deep-throated laugh. "There are a lot of women who go through this pub, sir. You're gonna have to be more specific about your girlfriends."

Ed's face flushed. "Who said anything about girlfriends? I'm—"

"Yeah, I see." The bartender nodded. "Didn't see you as much of a player. You're too short."

"Who are you calling a 'shorty pipsqeak so tiny he can't have girlfriends'?" Ed's hands grasped the edge of the bar and he got dangerously close to the man's face.

"Well… do you have a girlfriend?" The man snickered when Ed's face paled.

Al laughed. "He's got you there, brother."

"Shut up, Al." Ed shook his head to rid his body of the irritation. His eyes sharpened at the bartender. "I'm talking about the two girls who were last seen with the men who were murdered."

The bartender's face became more serious and several other patrons looked towards the conversation. "What's it to ya?"

"We're doing an investigation."

"An investigation," the man scratched his chin. "Aren't you a little short to be an investigator?"

Al grabbed his brother to keep him from attacking the man. He sighed, Ed looked like a volcano about to erupt, the bartender was really pushing it with two short jokes within 2 minutes of each other.

The bartender took an order from a patron who had just found a seat at the bar. This, luckily, gave Ed time to cool down.

"Well the girls were both very beautiful, nice on the eyes." The bartender had returned and was now cleaning some dirty beer mugs in a small sink.

Ed rolled his eyes. "Our report showed that their names were not known, but—"

"I know their names." The bartender said.

Ed stared at him, dumbfounded. "Why didn't you say anything when the initial report was made?"

"I don't know." The bartender sighed. "You'd think they'd question the bartender instead of the drunk bums on the stools." He leaned over close to the row of men extending past Ed. "No offense, fellas."

Several men grunted and looked amongst each other.

"How about a round of free drinks, Horrus. We'll call it even." One man shouted.

"Free drinks?" The bartender scoffed. "I'll give 'em half off. Free drinks and I'll be out of a job."

The men laughed and cheered over their success in haggling half-price drinks. The bartender filled their mugs and the men chugged their drinks in unison.

"Horrus, is it?" Al asked, once the bartender had once more entered their proximity.

"Hmm?" He returned his attention to the brothers. "Oh, yeah. The girls, right?"

"You said you knew their names." Al said.

Horrus nodded. "One was Kitty—no Kat—wait it was Kira."

"You don't remember?"

"No, it was Kira. The other girl was 'M' something 'a'." He looked deep in thought. "Monica—Maddy—wait that didn't end in an 'a'-sound. Mira?"

"If you don't know their names then just fucking say so!" Ed shouted.

"Brother," Al put a hand on his back. "He's just trying to help."

"Oh! I remember!" The bartender exclaimed and clapped his hands. "Kira and Mara."

"Are you sure neither of them was named Emilee?" Ed sighed, hardly confident in the man's memory.

The bartender shook his head. "Definitely no one named Emilee been through these parts."

"So, which one was the brunette? Did she look like this?" Ed pulled a photo of Emilee that had been found in her home from his pocket

"Mara was a brunette and Kira was a blonde—Yes that was her. Gorgeous girls. Very attractive. I'd have taken them home myself had I not been working. Quite pretty. I mean, these girls were the cream of the crop. If—"

"We get it already, you perv." Ed stammered. "But, for fucks sake, they killed two men."

The man nodded. "The girls disappeared afterwards. I think they might have been kidnapped." He leaned in close to Ed's face. "You know how they do it, right? Kill the men and take the girls."

"Seems more likely the women were the killers themselves." Ed slammed his hand on the table.

The bartender shrugged. "Whatever you say, Mr. Investigator."

"Maybe the girls were just kidnapped, brother." Al said calmly. "That would mean Emilee isn't murdering people."

Ed shook his head. "Why would Emilee call herself Mara if they weren't up to anything nefarious?"

"Yeah, I guess." Al trailed off. "What if Emilee has an identical twin named Mara."

Unlikely." Ed scoffed. He stopped and turned to his brother. "Whether Mara is Emilee—It doesn't change the fact that we have two people murdered. We need to find the girls, figure out who killed the men, and get this situation under control."


"Told you." Envy playfully punched Lust.

"Told me that your antics were drawing attention?" Lust cast a glare at his annoyingly pleased face. "Oh wait, that was me who said that."

Envy groaned. "I mean—it isn't like they're getting anywhere with it."

"They've figured out that Mara might be what has taken the place of Emilee."

"So? They have no other information."

Lust rested her face in hand and looked thoughtful. "We need to throw their work off course."

"Lust." Envy grinned as she turned to look at him. "I have a plan to derail our little investigators."


Mara woke up in Envy's bed. He'd been gone for two days and she missed him. Her melancholy wasn't quenched by the knowledge that he'd return later that day so, she drowned her loneliness in the scents of his bed and clothes.

She'd begun sleeping on her stomach, a strange alternative to her normal resting patterns. Her back was still healing and any attempt to press it to a surface sent streaks of pain through her body. The pain compacted the loneliness, reminding her of the person who was nowhere near her.

"Mara, you in here?" A child's voice jolted through the room as the door opened.

"Wrath?" Mara lifted her head off the pillow and saw black hair resting on top of violet eyes. "What do you want?"

He bobbed around the bed and stared at her. "I don't know."

"You know Envy doesn't like you in his room," Mara sighed.

"But you're in here." He crossed his arms and sat down on the floor in front of the bed in defiance.

"That's different. You need to leave." Mara pulled her torso up and leaned out to push him towards the door.

Wrath watched as her hand approached. When inches from him, he scooted back a few feet. Mara's hand fell, her palm hitting the wood frame with a gentle thump.

She dropped her face to the pillow and groaned. She wasn't in the physical condition to defend Envy's interests against Wrath's childish opposition. He was in a perpetual state of rebellion and Mara wondered when that phase would finally cease.

"Wharrs Slohhh?"

"What?" Wrath cocked his head to the side.

Mara lifted her head up. "Where's Sloth?"

"Oh." Wrath giggled. "She's talking to Father about something."

There was a brief period of silence, throughout which, Wrath rolled back and forth on the ground.

"Wrath?"

"Yeah?" He scooted closer to her.

"Does Father actually exist?"

Wrath nodded and eyed her like that was the most bizarre question he'd ever heard.

"Is he a priest or something?"

Wrath shook his head. "He likes to be called Father in our family. He made us from himself, so he is like a Father to us in that way as well."

"Have you ever met Father?"

"Plenty of times, why?" He leaned back and forth like a pendulum.

Mara set her cheek on the pillow and stared at him.

"Why?" Wrath looked her over as if concerned she might have died. "Mara, why?"

"Because," Mara stared deep into his violet eyes with absolute confusion. "I've never met him."

It was odd. She'd been here 8 months and hadn't seen the man they called Father once. With surprisingly great dejection, she began to question whether she really was a part of the family here.


"I must say, Envy. You do Mara justice." Lust looked up and down the figure before her.

"Thank you." Envy-Mara smiled and spun around. "Did Father tell you where the brothers were headed next?"

Lust nodded and stared down at the streets of the small town where, somewhere, the brothers were still poking their heads around. "They're stopping a few train stops down. Someone in a town there claimed to have spotted the killers." She rolled her eyes.

"But Mara and I were never there." Envy laughed.

"Some lonely fool wanted to take advantage of the hype to garner a bit of attention for himself." Lust sighed. "Humans are so pathetic."

"At least we can use that to our advantage." Envy pranced around in Mara's dainty form. "That lucky bastard is going to actually get some validation of his silly lie."

Lust smirked. "If you really want to call that lucky."


Ed stuck his hands in his pockets and stared up at the open sky as they walked back to the train station. "The people in this town were not as helpful as I thought."

"Horrus was pretty useful, brother." Alphonse said softly. "He gave us their names and confirmed that Mara looked like Emilee."

"Yeah, I guess." Ed kicked a rock, sending it tumbling ahead of them. Its momentum wore out quickly, leaving it rolling to a slow stop by the time they passed it.

"And they were spotted a few towns down as well," Alphonse cheered. "That gives us a clear path."

Ed shook his head. "I'm not sure about this report. Why would they stay in populated areas after killing two people? I doubt they're that stupid. Either the man is lying or the girls did that intentionally to send us off in the wrong direction."

Alphonse sighed. "Brother, I'm trying to be optimistic. Do you really have to be so negative all the time?"

"It's not called being negative." Ed clenched his teeth. "It's called being realistic."


The brothers stepped onto the pavement at the next step, facing a town that was almost identical to the previous. That wasn't particularly surprising—all the small towns out in this part of Amestris looked the same.

They ambled through the streets, finding directions and inspecting street signs until they managed to locate the house of the supposed witness. A few knocks were all it took for a set of heavy footsteps to tread towards the door.

"Can I help you?"A middle-aged man peered down at them through thick-framed glasses. He was still in a bathrobe, despite it being almost 4pm.

"Are you Alec Norton?" Ed eyed the man. It was hard to anticipate his propensity to provide false information, but the bathrobe didn't look particularly candid.

The man nodded. "Are you the Elric brothers? I heard you'd be coming."

"We'd like to ask you a few questions."

The man momentarily looked nervous but so rapidly disposed of that expression that Ed wondered if it had been his imagination. "Come in."

"Sorry for the mess," he said as the brothers walked past him.

"It's alright," Al said awkwardly. The place was old and funky and smelled of mold and lavender—a weird combination.

Ed looked back when he realized the man was not following them into his dank dwelling, but still standing at the door. He was posed as if he had been about to shut it, but failed to finish the motion. Ed started walking back to the front, beginning to feel uneasy about the whole situation.

The man was in a state of trepidation. One hand gripping the door handle and the other squeezing the frame. "Don't," he said. "Please don't."

Ed froze, confused. Was the man talking to him? "Are you ok—"

"If only you hadn't seen us that night." Emilee's voice came calm and steady.

Ed's eyes widened and he moved towards the entrance. Before he could place a second step, blood splattered across his face as a bullet pierced through the man's chest. It narrowly messed Ed by inches.

As the man fell, Ed caught a glimpse of Emilee before she vanished out of view. He scrambled around the body, unable to provide any attention for the dead man in his panic. "Emilee, wait!"

People were coming outside in response to the sound of gunfire, several looking at Ed in confusion as he panted down the street. Emilee disappeared far too quickly into the growing crowd and Ed slumped to the ground in defeat. He wanted to punch every curious villager for their stupidity in leaving the safety of the residences and venues to carelessly block his view.

"God dammit," he screamed. He slammed his fist onto the concrete over and over, abrading the skin on the knuckles of his left hand. "Fuck. Fuck. FUCK."


Envy returned to Lust, giddy with the success of his deed. He found her on the 3rd floor of a stone establishment. The building was abandoned on this floor, but must have once housed a small shoe-making business. Several heavy, wooden tables had been placed around the room, each covered in compasses, hammers, and various other tools. Sheets of leather and rubber hung on the wall and everything was covered in a thin layer of dust.

"Problem solved," he cheered as he sauntered to her silhouetted form by a small window.

"Maybe." Lust glanced at the expanse of town within their view.

Townsfolk had collected around Alec's house, his body long dragged away. A doctor wasn't needed to know the gunshot was fatal, killing the man instantly. Alec's destination was not a hospital with hopeful doctors—he was headed to a morgue with busy morticians.

"Maybe? Only maybe?" Envy muttered in dissatisfaction.

Lust shrugged and pulled her gaze from the unusually busy streets. "This certainly confused their progress—I'm not sure what they'll think of this—but I've started to consider something."

"Hmm?" Envy cocked his head to the side, green locks shimmering in the fluorescent lighting.

A sly grin overtook Lust's face. "Why are we hiding her from the world?"

"Hiding isn't the word I'd use in this case." Envy snorted. "We're not smuggling or sheltering her. She's more of a hostage or captive."

"Is she really?" Lust smirked. "From the relations you two have been having, I thought she was your girlfriend."

Envy's face flushed and he looked back down at the streets to avoid meeting Lust's eyes as she simpered. "I don't know if—Well she is kinda." He shut his mouth a few moments to regain his composure. "What's your point?"

Lust rolled her eyes as if his question was imbecilic. "Why don't we have her join us on our next outing."

Envy snickered and looked at Lust unapologetically. "Should've thought of that before I carved my name into her back a few days ago."

Lust sighed and walked past Envy towards the door. "It's a shame human don't heal quickly."


Envy barged into Mara's room, providing only a light knock before swinging the door open. "Mara, I wanted to ask you something."

His eyes fell upon an empty bed. They explored the remainder of the room before he fully realized she wasn't there. With a sigh he walked to his room.

He threw the door open without any knock of warning. "Mara." He looked around the room and saw she wasn't there.

She wasn't in the library either.

Envy returned to the main room and saw Sloth reclining on the couch. Lust was just sitting down next to Gluttony, whose eyes sparkled with delight with her return.

"Sloth," he said carefully. it took all his willpower to keep his voice from betraying apprehension.

She looked up at him with an impassive expression. Lust also looked over but her eyes widened in concern—somehow always able to read Envy like he was a page out of a children's book.

"Do you know where Mara is?" He gritted his teeth.

Lust's eyes narrowed and she stood up, ignoring Gluttony's pitiful protest.

Sloth's face remained blank. "No."

Envy's eyes flared. "That fucking bitch."

"I knew you shouldn't have shown her the way out," Lust chided.

"Oh, shut up." Envy roared. He stormed towards the door that prefaced the path to the exit, fists clenched and ready to hunt her down. "Ill fucking kill her."

"She didn't leave the place or run away," Sloth sighed.

Envy froze, his hand still grasping the doorknob. "What did you fucking say?" His head whipped around. "I thought you said you didn't know where she was."

Sloth looked at him lazily. "I don't know where she is, but I know where she's not."

Lust cocked an eyebrow. "What does that mean?"

Sloth shrugged. "She's with Wrath and they want through that door." She motioned to the one on the other side of the room which lead deeper into the hideout as opposed to outside it.

Envy's anger didn't subside at the realization of Mara's lack of betrayal. It strengthened and changed targets.

"What the fuck you lazy fucking fuck?" He screamed.

"You sure live up to your name, Sloth." Lust chuckled. "But I think you unstabilized Envy."

"You think this is fucking funny?" Envy stormed towards of the two of them.

Lust smirked. "Your reactions to anything Mara are definitely amusing."

Envy saw red.


Mara followed Wrath through the winding tunnels until they came to a huge room. There was a large man with long blonde hair sitting in a concrete chair. Wires stretched around the chair and base like vines, spreading and winding across the floor like the roots of a mangrove tree. His hard eyes pierced her and she fought her instinct to withdraw from the room.

"Hello, Father," Wrath said quietly from the entrance as he bowed.

"Hello, Wrath." Father nodded, his eyes still fixed on Mara.

Wrath raised his head slowly. "I'm sorry to have intruded, Father. I brought Mara. She wished to meet you."

Mara had never seen the boy so humble and polite. It didn't seem out of fright either, but consequent of strong reverence. "Hello, sir." She tried to imitate Wrath with a bow of her own. "I've lived here for so long, I'm glad to finally meet you."

Father's face lightened a fraction. "I'm glad you wanted to meet me. Are you enjoying yourself here?"

"Yes, sir." She smiled brightly. "I'm glad to have such a family." She bit her lip and sunk her head down. "I mean, I'm glad to be with your family."

Father sighed. "Raise your head, Mara."

She complied.

"You have no family and no father."

It was a cruel statement—true, but cruel.

"I've known you have abilities like mine. In some ways, you remind me of myself. You may not be like my other children, but you are like me. I'd like to include you within our family. This is your home."

"Really?" Mara felt like she was floating. "Thank you, sir."

"You may call me Father."

"Yes, Father." Mara brushed away the urge to hug him, but bowed several times in appreciation.


Mara stepped into the main room and froze. She saw red—red blood, splattered across the walls and soaking the couch. She could see Lust, Sloth and Gluttony on the couch, amidst the carnage.

"No," she wailed. She ran towards them, sobbing at the loss. She fell to her knees in front of the bodies and squeezed her eyes closed, reliving her mother's death with an increased intensity. She had lost three family members as opposed to the one person lost, before. Her new family—already gone.

Mara felt the pressure of a hand on her head. She looked up and saw the worried eyes of Sloth peering at her. Lust had a similar expression of concern.

"You—You guys are okay?" She enveloped them in a hug, ignoring the pain in her back as the posture stretched her wounds.

"Why wouldn't we be?" Lust asked, bewildered.

"Because of all of that," Mara looked around at the blood drenched room. "Is that not your blood."

Lust and Sloth were unable to contain their laughter. Gluttony produced a low, slow laugh with a wide, drooling grin.

"Yeah, it's ours." Lust tried to catch her breath.

"Envy had a little meltdown." Sloth giggled.

Mara dropped her head, her relief at their survival contending with embarrassment over forgetting their healing abilities.

"Mommy!" Wrath leaped onto the couch and snuggled Sloth.

"You know," Lust teasingly jabbed Sloth with her elbow. "We might still have a warranty on him. We can get a replacement since ours malfunctioned."

Sloth looked thoughtful. "If we haven't voided the warranty, we could get a palm tree that isn't a psycho dick all the time."

Mara turned and began walking towards Envy's bedroom. Maybe she could help calm him down.

"Oh, Mara." Lust's voice stopped Mara in her tracks. "What did Father talk to you about."

Mara smiled brightly. "He adopted me, essentially."

Lust cocked an eyebrow. "This makes your relationship with Envy quite weird."

Mara glanced at Wrath and his "mom", and then at Lust who scratched Gluttony's head as if her were a pet dog. It certainly wasn't the weirdest relationship in this family.