"Oh, my aching...everything..." I moaned, lying down in my guest bed later that afternoon. Izumi hadn't stopped hitting me until she'd managed to actually knock me unconscious. I woke up ten minutes later on the ground outside and she gave me a chicken sandwich - which was delicious.

I'd been laying in bed for about twenty minutes when I heard talking going on out in the main room. Curious, I struggled to sit up, arching my back in a stretch, and made my way out the door and down the hall. I stopped just before the entryway to the room they were in and heard Edward talking. It took me a moment to realize that he was explaining to Izumi how he'd seen The Truth and The Gate and...well everything. I'd come near the beginning of the explanation, so I just stood there listening to the whole thing, rubbing a pain in my side all the while.

When he was done, there was a long silence, then, "To think you saw it, and managed to survive." Izumi sounded almost impressed. "I doubt you even know how impressive that is." Oh yeah, I'd forgotten about that part.

Ed anime-gasped, then there was a pause. "No-"

"Regardless," Izumi interrupted him. "I can't accept the decision you made. You're expelled."

Al's armor made that metal shifting sound. "But, Teacher-"

"Al," Ed stopped him, and I could imagine him throwing his metal hand in front of his little brother as he tried to step forward.

"The trains are still running," Izumi said authoritatively, even though she'd just expelled her only students. "Get on one, and bring your eavesdropping friend as well."

I audibly gasped at that. 'Dammit!'

"Come out, Felicity." Izumi commanded wearily.

I sheepishly made my way around the corner to find everyone looking at me again. Drat. I rubbed the back of my neck awkwardly as Ed sighed in exasperation and turned toward his former teacher. "Thank you. For everything." She nodded in return and continued to stare out the window silently.

On our way to the Dublith Station, Ed began hounding me. "Do you make a habit of listening in on other people's private conversations?"

"Yeah, it's a really bad habit and I do it all the time," I said sarcastically, even though it was totally true. "I already said I was sorry."

"Sorry's not good enough! We were talking about the most personal and horrible thing that's ever happened to us, and-"

"Brother, she already heard about it from Teacher before, remember?" Alphonse said, trying to calm him down. "A little more detail isn't going to hurt anything."

I wondered if it would hurt anything if they knew how much detail I really had...

"That's not the point, Al!" Ed growled, glaring at me. "She's a dirty eavesdropper, and I don't like it."

"You're only acting like this because of what Teacher said. Just because she's different doesn't mean you have to be mean to her!"

"Don't be such a child, Al. For all we know, she could be some kind of...demon, or something!"

"HEY, GUYS!" I shouted, irritated. "Shut up about it! And I'm not a demon - don't be irrational."

There was silence after that, but I felt like my presence had just messed something up again. Shit.

When we got to the station, Ed wasn't so angry anymore, but still didn't seem happy about being around me. I tried to use some sort of mental willpower to 'feel' 'normal' to be around, though I knew it didn't do anything.

We all turned toward Sig as he spoke. "Feel free to drop by if you're ever in town."

Al looked down sadly. "I'm not so sure about that..."

"You, idiots!" Sig boomed suddenly, causing all three of us to flinch back - even though I knew he wasn't talking to me. Or...I hoped not anyway. "You're so busy pouting you can't see what your expulsion means. You aren't her students anymore so now you're finally free to speak to Izumi as equals." He crossed his arms as Ed and Al looked at each other in realization. "Unless of course you're too chicken to try it."

I was! Not that my opinion mattered, or it had anything to do with me...

Ed slapped himself on the head and groaned. "Damn! We haven't done what we came here to do in the first place!" He turned to Sig. "Thank you, we're heading back there right now!" I started to follow them as they ran back the way we'd come, but then he paused and turned to me. "Of course, you could still leave if you want. I think I saw Resembool as one of the stops..."

"Brother!"

"What?" he exclaimed, turning to Al innocently. "It's dangerous for her! This time I'm just being nice, honest!"

I smirked, feeling just a bit hurt that Ed kept trying to get rid of me. "I don't care if it's dangerous, I'd be bored without you two. Are we going back or not?"

Edward muttered something about that being pretty extreme for relieving boredom and then gave in. "Fine, come on." I followed again as he turned and ran, red coat trailing behind over his arm.

"Don't let her kill you!" Sig's deep voice called out reassuringly.

As we approached the outside door to the kitchen, I remembered how Izumi was going to react to Ed's intrusion and stayed well away from the door when Ed opened it. "Teacher?" sfwing "GAAAAHHHIIII!"

"What the hell are you doing coming back here? And you call me teacher; I do not teach scum like you - GET OUT OF MY HOME!"

I walked cautiously up to the door after Alphonse, peaking in nervously and hoping the look I was giving the room told Izumi it wasn't my idea to come back so she wouldn't kill me.

I kept the door open just the crack it needed to be to stand in the door-frame as Ed and Al got down on their knees. "Teacher!" Ed shouted, slamming his metal fist on the floor.

Al tilted his head up. "We came to you because we're trying to find a way to get our bodies back."

Ed sat up straight. "We won't leave without your help!"

"GET OUT NOW!" She didn't seem to even notice me standing there, but I flinched anyway, backing out of the door a tiny bit more.

"We're staying!" the brothers chorused. I had to commend their bravery. (Mentally)

They had a long stare-off with their teacher, in which Izumi's glare obviously softened with each second. Eventually she looked away and sighed. "You idiots..." she whispered. Then she looked at me sharply. "If you're going to come in then close the damn door!"

"Alright!" I yelped, doing as she said. Geez, that woman is scary for one of the good guys. I hoped I'd never have to meet Pride...No, never mind. She's probably scarier.

Izumi permitted me to join in their conversation, much to Ed's distaste, but had me sit in a chair off to the side with them facing each other directly. I decided I'd try to say something 'helpful' that wouldn't ruin the plot too much when I could...

"Al," she began, looking intensely at him. "you didn't see the Truth, did you?"

"No," Al replied, feeling left out - or so it seemed. "I don't even really know what that means."

"You must've lost your memory from the shock..." Izumi murmured, glancing over at me for hardly a moment before sitting up straight. "We need to get Al's memory back; his entire body was taken from him." she narrowed her eyes. "Just think what he must've seen."

Ed sat up straighter as well, realizing, "Oh yeah, we only exchanged parts of our bodies for what we saw, but Al payed the toll with his entire physical being." He looked over at his brother. "He must've seen more of the Truth than either of us did."

Alphonse's armor shifted. "So...if I can remember what I saw, then we'll know how to get our bodies back?"

Izumi almost nodded, then looked away. "But the memory of that thing..."

Ed looked at Al like his armor had just turned green, which caused Al to freak out. "What, is it something bad?!"

"No, it's more like...awful!" Izumi spread her fingers as if to emphasize the point.

"Yeah," Ed agreed, shuddering in an exaggerated manner. "and horrifying!"

"It could drive you insane!"

"Or even leave you brain dead."

'How can someone be brain dead when they don't have a brain?' "Are you guys sure it's okay to scare him like that?" I asked impulsively. They both shrugged, like they hadn't thought about it. Of course.

There was a long pause, and then Alphonse gripped his gloved hands tighter. "It doesn't matter. If there's a chance that it can help us...then I wanna do it!"

Izumi held her hand to her chin thoughtfully. "Okay. I have an acquaintance that might know of a way to retrieve your memory for you."

I suddenly realized the anime had never said who it was. Maybe they could help me! "Who is it?" I asked before she could decide to delay telling us.

She frowned a bit, like she could tell I was trying to interrupt her before she spoke. Then she smiled slightly. "Just another alchemist who lives in town. He specializes in matters of the mind; he's a bit of a psychologist in fact. I think maybe he could figure something out, perhaps tomorrow afternoon."

Well, maybe he could help...

"Perhaps he can help you regain your memories as well," she suggested, reading my mind. "I'm sure you're still desperate to know what happened." I nodded, and she nodded back, then clapped her hands together. "Alright now, let's eat dinner, shall we?"

That night, I had another nightmare I couldn't remember. I was left really tired the next day, and for some reason I offered to help Al with sweeping up the front walkway when Izumi asked him to. Now that I think about it, I think I may have been trying to avoid Izumi...

But anyway, I hadn't been thinking straight so it wasn't until I was already out there helping that I remembered what was gonna happen. 'Crap, I should've stayed inside! What if I get mixed up in it? Or...if I let Al leave without me to the Devil's Nest Izumi might beat me up again for it!' I shuddered.

"Something wrong, Felicity?" Al noticed.

"No, nothing's wrong." I smiled.

We stayed out there for a while, and I was just thinking up an excuse to go inside when a crumpled up little ball of paper flew into our line of sight, directly under Al's broom. I resisted a groan as he picked it up and un-crinkled it. He anime gasped, and I asked, "What is it?" stepping forward casually.

Alphonse lowered the paper so I could see it, and my eyes widened. It said: We know both your little secrets; what you both are. Meet us at the Devil's Nest if you want to talk

Did they actually know? No way did they know where I was from, but what if Greed, being a Homunculus, could sense what it was that made me so different? 'No, I can't fall for that. Not when I already know it's a trap!'

Ah, how stupid I am.

When Alphonse suggested we go there, and told me that I should stay behind him for protection just in case, I actually agreed, and followed. The whole time a part of me was screaming, 'No, no no! Go back, go back go back! The military is going to get involved, and Wrath, and...Izumi! I can't walk straight into a trap like this!'

Unfortunately, I still hadn't mustered up the courage to go back to Izumi and face her wrath by the time we entered the alley where the Devil's Nest was located. As expected, three human chimeras - the dog, the lizard-rat-thing, and the snake - stood waiting for us. The dog guy (can't remember his name) smirked. "There you are. About time."

"And the little runt came as well, how 'bout that?" the snake - Martel I think it was - smiled at me like I was an extra special treat.

"Didn't expect that," dog guy grunted and smirked. "I thought she'd be too scared."

I narrowed my eyes at them as Alphonse lifted the note and recited it, then lowered it again. "I'm guessing you're the people that wrote this note?"

"That's right," dog guy said, walking forward. "and we know a lot about you." he smiled a toothy grin at me. "Both of you."

'Trap. Trap. Trap. Come on, why did I come here? Oh yeah, they claim to know what's wrong with me. Still.'

"Well, that's good." Al's armor shifted. "'Cause there's a lot about us that we don't know." I sort of liked how he said 'us' except for the fact that it was probably going to get me killed.

The dog guy stepped forward more, smirking at me like he could tell I was nervous. Oh yeah, he was part dog. He probably could tell I was nervous. "Then I'm the guy you wanna talk to." he pointed to himself. "Why don't you come with us?

Al unconsciously moved in front of me as he answered hesitantly. "But my teacher always said I'm not supposed to go with strangers..."

"Uh," the guy looked at him like he'd just said something like 'my mommy said newver wet da bed.' "how old are you?"

"Fourteen."

The guy smirked and, on a second thought, looked at me. "What 'bout you?"

"Same." I growled, not liking the look on his face. I tried to remember he wasn't really a bad guy, but he was really annoying to look at.

He looked surprised a moment then turned around, raising his hands in the air. "Well, come on then. I think fourteen is old enough to think for yourself, kids. You gotta act like adults; start taking some risks!"

Alphonse cocked his head to the side. "You think so? I should think for myself?"

"Yes!" he turned back to us, not noticing when Al looked down at me and waved his hand, indicating I should back off. I got the message and took a few steps back as the dog-man kept talking. "And you could start by coming wit-"

He was cut off suddenly by Al's knee and fell to the ground. "So, I thought it over for myself. And I decided that I should just make you tell us what we wanna know."

"So, you wanna do this by force?" dog-man jumped up, taking out his sword, just in time to have his face broken by Al's hand. Al shouted at me to 'run!' as the dog dude managed to scoop off the helmet, which gave Martel room to jump on top of him.

"Sorry to drop in," the snake woman said as she slipped into his armor head first. I probably should've done something...run maybe, but in my defense, at this point the dog guy had grabbed me and tied my hands together - all in one move. I decided not to use my severely lacking skills to get my butt handed to me on a platter.

"AAAHH!" Alphonse freaked out, waving his arms around. "You're inside me?!"

"...be a good boy and hold still!" I heard as dogman tightened his grip on me, pulling me over to where lizard boy stood. "...it like having someone control you from the inside?" Martel's voice was a tiny bit muffled from the armor.

"You can't stop me from moving!" Al shouted in frustration. "And you're not strong enough to hold this up forever!"

"...all I'm trying to do is slow you down a little!"

"For my turn!" that big cow dude came out of nowhere - well, the Devil's Nest actually - and Al swung his arm at him. But he deflected it and threw him to the ground.

I looked up at dogman, and, knowing he really didn't want to kill us (I think) muttered. "You guys really are a team aren't you?" He looked a little surprised but smirked at the comment anyway, licking some blood out from under his broken nose.

"You alright in there?" cow dude asked Martel, to which he got a sarcastic reply I couldn't quite hear.

"You're makin' this way too hard, kid," dogman said, sounding slightly irritated. "Why can't you just let us tie you up like you're docile little friend over here?"

That got me mad, (no one calls me docile, I'm almost as stubborn as Ed, dammit!...okay no, but I can still be pretty high up on stubborn spectrum without being close to his level) and I impulsively snapped my head back to hit his already bleeding nose.

"Ow, crap! Why you little..."

"Careful, Dolcetto," cow guy warned. "she's a lot more fragile than this kid."

I muttered in English about wishing I could break their faces in - I get irritable when I feel like I'm in danger - as Al spoke, sounding nervous. "You people aren't human, are you?"

"Good guess," I turned my head and swallowed nervously as none other than Greed walked out of the shadows behind us. I thought briefly that I liked his GreeLing form better as he lifted Al's helmet off the ground from where it was. "They're chimeras, and they happen to work for me." he smirked. "Now then, let's get you two inside, shall we?"

We were led - well, carried - into the building that was the Devil's Nest, brought underground, and into what looked like the sewers. After some twists and turns, passing a couple other chimeras that just stared as we walked by, we ended up in that room where the whole Greed vs Edward/Izumi thing would play out.

Once cow dude put Al on the floor against the wall, and dogman (okay I think I can start calling him Dolcetto now) sat me down to his right, Greed came over to us with Al's helmet and peeked inside him. "Huh, coool. You're actually hollow!" He placed the helmet back on his head and stood up straight, now addressing both of us. "The name's Greed, and...I wanna be your friend." He turned and stepped away from us a bit.

"Then why don't you tell us what you people really are?" Alphonse growled out, tilting his head up. I shifted where I was to get more comfortable with my wrists and ankles tied up. Al made a sound like something between a short laugh and a thoughtful humming sound. "You're not chimeras. It's impossible; no one's made a chimera that can talk."

"You can't believe everything the government tells ya, kid," Greed droned. Then he tapped his shoulder. "You got all the proof you need right inside you! The girl in there is part snake." He gestured with his head behind him toward the cow guy - who I now remembered was named Roa. "And this big guy here..." He paused, thinking, then turned to look at him. "Roa, what were you made with?" ('Ah, ha! I was right about his name.') He paused. "Cow?"

"Yeah."

Greed kept his face weirdly blank as he listed a couple others. "We've also got a lizard, and a crocodile, and the little runt you took down earlier tends to lift his leg when he pees."

Dolcetto stepped toward him irritably. "Only once!"

"You're part dog?" Al asked in shock. I just stared at him, and by the way he and Greed looked at me I'm guessing the look on my face wasn't one of surprise.

"Yep." Dolcetto turned and held his hand to his chin as if in thought. "It's really not so bad."

"I-I don't believe it..." Al looked down. "It's not possible! Who would even be capable of creating one?"

"The military."

"Are you saying...?"

"You got it." Greed's constant cool-guy smirk was starting to get on my nerves. "There's a shadow world beneath yours that's jam packed with the impossible. Hell, I'm more uncommon than they are!" he held up the back of his left hand in a way that we could both see the tattoo. "I'm a Homunculus."

"Uh-a Homunculus?" Al sounded slightly terrified.

"You know what that means right?" Greed still didn't lower his hand, glancing at me briefly before returning his intense stare to Alphonse. "I'm an artificially created human." Al gasped, and I decided to look shocked, widening my eyes and taking a sharp breath. Greed smirked at us. "Really, no joke."

Al seemed to get angry at that. "You're lying! A Homunculus is just a theory - nobody's made one!"

"Oh, man." Greed stood up and sighed, sounding like he really didn't want to do what came next. I swallowed fearfully, realizing it would look more real, therefore, more terrifyingly sick. "Guess I gotta prove it."

I winced as Roa swung his pointy club thing at Greed's head, lopping off the top. I tried not to look at the pieces of it that remained on the floor, or the blood that started making its way towards my feet.

Al looked up in panic. "Why'd you do that to him!?"

But, as expected, Greed's finger rose in the air in a 'hold on a sec' way, and his body slowly rose from the ground, bones and muscles regrowing themselves. I gagged and looked away, only to see the pieces of his head on the ground, which were slowly disintegrating like I remembered happens when a Homunculus loses something of their body.

When I heard Greed groan and snap his neck back into the right place, I deemed it okay to look at him again. He chuckled and wiped the blood from his mouth. "That's one time I've died."

"No way..." Al sounded like everything he ever thought he knew had just been disproved. And, well, quite a bit of it just had, so...

"You get it yet?" Greed snarled softly. "Nothing is impossible, all right? I'm a little surprised you would have a hard time accepting that, considering you're just a soul in a suit of armor. And considering your friend over here." he gestured at me casually.

Al ignored the comment about me. "Who told you that - about me?"

"People like to talk in the shadow world." Greed leaned in close to him. "And I've got plenty of friends." He laughed shortly. "Well, let's skip this casual chit-chat. I've got two things I'm more interested in here, and the first is hearing what it's like to have a body will never die." Al looked away and he pushed his face in closer. "An individual soul transmuted? And bound to an object? It sounds like that's the perfect recipe for immortality to me."

I raised an eyebrow, remembering how everyone was always so interested in that. It wasn't a voluntary action, but Greed caught it and laughed. "Let me explain." He pointed to himself. "See, I'm Greed. I want everything you can think of! Money and women, power and sex, status, glory; I demand the finer things. And of course, I crave eternal life." He said this while clenching his fist, then lowered his hands.

"Aren't you already immortal?" Al asked dully.

"Well, I guess I was put together a little sturdier than most," Greed admitted. "I am nearly two hundred years old, but I wouldn't exactly say that I'm immortal." He smirked more. "So, I've spilled my guts all over, told you my darkest secret...Now it's your turn! How'd you get your body?"

Al's helmet went up like a doll's when having its head pulled out. "Just make this easy and tell him." I'd forgotten Martel was in there. "Unless you'd rather be examined, which means we'll have to take you apart."

Al looked down. "I wish I could tell you; that would mean I actually remembered how I got it. But even if I could I'm not the one who did the transmutation."

Greed snapped his fingers. "That's not a problem - in that case, I'll just ask the person who did."

Alphonse was silent for a moment, as though he was thinking over whether or not he should tell him about Ed. He apparently came to the conclusion that Edward wouldn't be able to hold up against all these chimeras and shook his head. "No, I won't tell you who did it."

I was shocked. Didn't he tell them in the anime? Did something I do effect his decision in some way? I panicked mentally, realizing Ed had to come. How would I fix this? I had to fix this!

Greed scowled and remedied the situation for me. He snapped his fingers and pointed at me, causing Roa to walk up to me and hoist his club thing above my head. My eyes widened in fear, my thoughts scrambling as my brain replayed what had happened to Greed; I looked up at Al fearfully.

Al made a frustrated grunting sound and lowered his head. "It was my brother, Edward. He, Felicity and I are staying with our teacher at the Curtis' meat shop; you should find him nearby at least."

"The meat shop?" Greed looked thoughtful and turned to lizard boy. "Hey, Bido, didn't you say something about there being a little blond kid there too?" Bido nodded and Greed turned to Al. "That him?"

"Yes."

Greed laughed shortly in that way anime characters do sometimes when they smile. (Sounds like of like "Herh") "Well then, Bido, why don't you go get that secret out of him? Offer his brother and friend in return. Until then," he looked at me. "I did say there were two things I was interested in here."

Bido left obediently, and I felt my heart beat just a little harder in my chest now that the attention on Alphonse was so suddenly turned toward me. "And what's the second one?" I managed to grunt as Greed kept staring at me.

He laughed. "Don't play games with me, girl, you're too young for that." He tilted his head to the side and paused, studying my expression. "You really don't know, do you?" I shook my head. He frowned. "Damn, I was hoping you did. Because you see," he leaned back on his heals, still looking at me. "I can tell what you are, just not how or why you are." He cocked his head. "Don't tell me you haven't met any alchemists who can feel it too?"

I heard Al anime gasp, and I scrunched up my eyebrows. "Every alchemist I've met so far acts weird around me if that's what you mean...Ed and Al's teacher even flipped me when she saw me." I frowned at the floor. "She said I 'feel like death'."

"'Feel like death', huh?" Greed looked like he was thinking hard. "Hmm, makes sense, but it doesn't give me any answers as to how or why you are. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to keep you with me until I figure it out." He grinned/smirked. "Maybe even longer."

"Why?" Alphonse demanded, acting a tiny bit protective of me - which I guess makes sense, since I was the helpless little girl who didn't know how to fight, and he was the big suit of armor who...did. "What about her is so interesting to you?"

"And what do you think I am?" I added, genuinely curious.

Greed held a hand to his chin. "To the first question I guess I'm just curious. Something like her doesn't come around every day, and I think perhaps I could use the knowledge I gain from it to become more powerful; it might even help me become immortal." He save us that dull, cool-guy smirk again. "Knowledge is power after all. Especially where something like this is concerned."

"And my question?" I urged, hoping I could get out of here alive with whatever he was thinking.

The Homunculus grinned, and decided to answer.

So I started writing his answer, and I was really liking it, but then I thought, "Why not cut it off right there?" *cackles* But lucky for you...the next one is available! YES I am going and altering all my A/Ns!

Review Replies:

Neko-chan: Me too. *shivers*

DangerousFroggy: 1) I've been watching the episodes through as I go as to not miss anything, so don't worry. I looked up an episode list and he's supposed to come in an episode after Ed and Al (and me) leave Izumi's place. 2) Great! I hate when I do things wrong, but if I ever do you tell me, kay? (I think I've said that like five times in author's notes so far...) And your adventure suggestion = BRILLIANT. And I say so because it so fits what I was already planning with Greed (as you can see) so I'll do something with that idea in the next chapter. :D