Authors' Notes:

Chibi-chan: Hi...

Jin's Lady: You're enthusiastic today

Chibi-chan: No, I'm not. Right, For those of you who didn't check our profile, yes the daily updates ended with chapter 10. That is because all of those chapters were prewritten and pretyped and the rest we shall actually have to write, type, and then update. So yes, we actually have good reasons!

Jin's Lady: And now on to the disclaimer, Hughes?

Hughes: Right, Jin's Lady and Chibi-chan own nothing of FullMetal Alchemist but they do own Morgan and Kaytie. Now on to more important things... Who wants to see a picture of my darling daughter Elysia?

Jin's Lady: Swats Hughes We've seen enough of her!!

Chibi-chan: Thank-you to everyone who reviewed, we love you! Um and yes to everyone, please enjoy, read, and review!

Chapter 11: Welcome to the Desert

Kaytie was alone. It was the first time she'd been alone in… she lost count. Of course, she had no idea where everyone else was but she was enjoying not having her every move watched. The hideous brown drapes that covered the window were pulled open so that sunlight spilled into the room and across the concrete floor. She was sitting on her bed with a pad of paper and pencil that Sloth had given her in her lap.

Kaytie's fingers worked skillfully as she sketched her perfect view from the window. It was only the desert, but it was better than nothing.

The door opened and she sprang to her feet, the sketchpad and pencil flying out of her hands, across the room and smacking Envy square in the face.

She twitched.

An hour! That's all she asked. No! She got twenty minutes alone. That's it.

"Ow." The palm tree said, rubbing the red mark on his cheek. "What's wrong with you? You're so jumpy."

"'What's wrong with you?'" Kaytie mocked, her voice sounding freakishly like his. "Shut up!" She crossed her arms and scowled.

Envy sighed as he kicked Kaytie's sketchbook out of the way. "Lust needs to talk to you."

"Yeah?" Kaytie said, retrieving her pad of paper- which at the moment was her only source of entertainment- and glaring at Envy for kicking it. She brushed the dirt off. "'Bout what?"

"We'll discuss it when we get there." He replied smugly.

"Ooooo!" She said smirking and tucking her paper under the covers of her bed. "Sounds serious." She joked.

"It is, Princess." There was that tone she couldn't place again and the famous trademark smirk that went with it. Kaytie rolled her eyes.

"Don't call me that, Spiky."

Spiky twitched and Kaytie laughed as he glared at her. "Fine, Fine. Let's go." She said, opening the door for him. "Palm trees first!" She said cheerily.

Envy pushed her out first, sending her a glare that gave her shivers. "I'll meet you there. She's in the room Pride was in last time."

Kaytie narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously. "Okay," She left. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do!" She called back.

'Note to self,' He thought. 'Do not let Sloth give her anymore sugar.'

Envy pulled back the blankets on Kaytie bed and picked up her pathetic excuse for a sketchbook. Okay, he had to admit to himself that he was curious about what went thought that girl's head on a daily basis. He flipped through it… A doodle of a cat…..a doodle of herself as a cat….a doodle of him as a cat (which had written underneath, 'Ha! Take that you stupid smirk!!!!' He raised an eyebrow; this is what she did with her free time? He sweatdropped.) ….a sketch of the room…..a sketch of himse- whoa, It was actually good. It was dated yesterday. Underneath her signature was written, 'I HATE HIM!!!!STUPID PALM TREE!! GAH! HE'S AN IDIOT… I think…'

Before he actually had time to register what was written on the paper, the door opened, Envy jumped, and for a second time in fifteen minutes, the sketchbook took a beating from the wall. It was Sloth. "What are you doing?" She asked.

"Nothing, come on, let's go."

"Okay, Lust sent me to get you, not the other way around."

"Shut up."

"Oh, my God." Morgan said. "I think I'm dying! This is worse than watering those trees!" She was dragging her feet behind her in the sand as the sun beat down on her back. "We're in the middle of nowhere!" She complained, following a certain blond State Alchemist.

They were in the middle of a desert. A freaking desert!

"Morgan, I told you coming with us wouldn't be all sunshine and daisies. Don't complain; you're giving me a headache." Ed said tensely.

They trudged on for a few more minutes in silence before Ed decided to, in Morgan's opinion, have a mental breakdown. "I'm so hungry!" He moaned, falling to his knees and resting on all fours. "If there was some grass I could turn it into bread but all we have is sand!"

Morgan stared at him with a mixture of pity and an expression Kaytie called the Morgan Look. According to Kaytie, this look said, 'you're an idiot.' without speaking a word. "You, Ed, are a very, very sad little person."

"I am not small!! Who are you calling so short that he could get stepped on by an ant and not get squished because he's fit in between the grooves in the ant's shoes?!?"

Morgan sighed; her head was pounding from the heat. "Ed you are such a hypocrite. You tell me not to complain and then you take a spaz!"

"You are so-" Ed stood and whirled around but stopped. "Where's Al?"

"Wait, what were you going to say? Finish your sentence!"

"Frustrating! Al! Where'd you go?!"

Morgan sighed and sat in the sand. How'd they manage to lose a seven-foot suit of armour? "You lost him?"

"I did not lose him!" He retorted. "Al where are you?"

"Brother! I'm over here!" They watched as a pair of steel hands dug themselves out of the sand and lifted a steel body out.

"Al! This is the third time you've been buried, how does this keep happening?" Ed yelled. Morgan sweatdropped, she thought they'd established that a while ago.

"Brother, I get full!" Al said, trying to reason with him.

"With what?! Gha!" He'd kicked Al's chest plate open and an avalanche of sand fell over him.

Morgan fell to her side laughing as Al giggled and quickly moved away from his brother.

"Why you!" Ed said, diving at Morgan, after un-burying himself. She sprang up, still laughing and backed away.

"Ah," She clutched her sides; they felt like they were going to split. "Don't attack me!" She gasped as she ran and took cover behind Al.

"Get back here!" Ed shouted after then as Al grabbed Morgan's hand and pulled her in the opposite direction. "Brother, what are you going to do to us?"

"Make us!" Morgan shouted back.

"Slow down and let me show you!"

"Stop chasing us!"

Tick, tick, tick, tick

The clock was ticking. Kaytie leaned back on the couch across from Lust and crossed her legs.

The door opened and in walked Sloth who was followed by Envy.

"What took you?" Kaytie asked, narrowing her eyes.

"Yes, Envy, Kaytie's right. You took quite a long time. I had to send poor Sloth to get you." Lust agreed.

He rolled his eyes and lounged in the chair next to the couch Kaytie was sitting on. He ignored her question. "So, Lust, you gonna tell her?"

She glared at him. "Kaytie, we've considered your critical role in us becoming human and obtaining the Philosopher's Stone and Pride thinks, and we all agree, that it is time for you to meet Danté."

"Finally! God, I've been hearing so much about her that I was beginning to wonder whether I was ever going to meet her." Kaytie said. She said it sarcastically although she really did want to meet Danté. Kaytie was curious to how she knew how she did her alchemy. "When is she getting here?"

"To the contrary Kaytie, you're going to meet her." Lust explained.

Kaytie blinked. She suddenly felt as if it wasn't worth it to leave. She masked her face so that it only showed fake excitement. "When do I leave and where to?"

"You're leaving in four days and Envy will be accompanying you. You will be taking the train to Dublith."

"Hey!" Was heard from Envy. "You never said anything about me going! I don't want to go."

"Hmmmm…" Lust drawled. "Must have slipped my mind." She said silkily.

Kaytie laughed, maybe leaving wouldn't be so bad. Still, she couldn't wait to get back to Eastern. Morgan had probably weaseled her way back there by now; she wasn't very persuasive but her whining would do the trick. "So, we leave in four days!" She said cheerily. "Anything I can do until then?"

Morgan, Ed, and Al had entered a town some few minutes back. Morgan looked around. It was….different from Eastern, that was for sure. The sound of splashing water met her ears and Ed stopped complaining about how thirsty he was and ran forward. "Waterwaterwaterwaterwaterwaterwaterwater-"

Morgan rolled her eyes and she and Al ran after him. Traveling with the Elrics required a lot of running. Morgan hated running. It was still a million times better than doing Mrs. Krimskii's chores, though. The trio stopped at the foot of a large fountain in the middle of a clearing. She laughed when she saw Ed's face fall at the sight if what was in the fountain. The 'water' was red.

"Is it blood?" Al asked. Morgan raised an eyebrow, what kind of search were her friends on? She knew it was for the Philosopher's Stone but…blood?

Ed sighed, "No," He answered, pouring some out of a mug he held. "More like blood-red wine. It's pretty ritzy if you ask me."

Someone grabbed the back of Morgan and Ed's collars and pulled them away. "Kids aren't supposed to be by the fountain!" He scolded. "What do you think you're doing?!"

Morgan sighed; she could already tell this wasn't going to be a pleasant trip. Oh well, being with Ed and Al was definitely better than being back in Risembool cleaning or in Eastern, convincing- trying to convince then enlisting Riza's help- Colonel Annoying into doing his paperwork then eventually giving up and doing it for him. The corners of her mouth twitched up into a smile. Yes, being here was much, much better.

They followed the man who scolded them to an outdoor restaurant with a cracked sigh that read FOOD over top. "So you guys out-of-towners? You street performers or something?"

Ed spat out some of the drink he'd ordered. "What makes you think we're street performers?!" Morgan rubbed at her temples; he was just too loud sometimes. She heard Al sigh beside her.

"Could it be that you're wearing gloves in the desert and your buddy's in a huge suit of armour? The girl's the only one who looks normal." The shopkeeper answered.

Morgan smirked. "Ha! Ed, you look weird!"

'"Shut up! I'm no clown okay?!" He aid loudly to be heard over Morgan's laughing. "Shut up!"

Morgan nudged him, "Is that the only comeback you've got?" She teased. "'Shut up!'?"

"What about you?" Ed teased back. "You're the one who has the State Name Aquatic."

Morgan punched him, playfully looking appalled. She tried to keep a straight face but Al trying to stifle back his laughter was contagious. "I thought I told you not to call me that?!" Morgan asked mock anger seeping though her voice.

Ed rolled his eyes and continued to sip his drink until Morgan snatched it away from him. "Hey-!"

"Sorry," She said, swallowing a mouthful then sticking her tongue out at him. "It was just too tempting" The brunette drank another mouthful before pushing the glass back to Ed. "Sorry," She said again, not really meaning it.

The shopkeeper placed a bottle of what in front of her. She smiled, "Thanks! I didn't even have to ask."

"Don't mention it. Oh!" He suddenly exclaimed, making the Elric brothers turn their attention back to him. "I almost forgot, it's time for Father Cornello's broadcast."

Morgan cocked her head to the side, Father Cornello? Oh God did she ever hope that they didn't' just stumble upon a weirdly religious town.

"Children of God who dwell on the earth…" Rang out from everywhere. It seemed that literally everyone in town was listening to the same thing. "There is no salvation without prayer and faith.

"The Sun God Leto will illuminate thy path." Morgan watched Ed glace at the radio sceptically as if to say, 'Yeah, right.' "Behold! The lord hath descended from thy heavenly throne to save the from all thy sins. For I am thy Father…I am the emissary of the Sun God."

Ed rolled his eyes, "'Emissary of God'…?" He scoffed.

Morgan inadvertently tuned out the conversation; she had her own view in religion and wasn't about to judge anyone else's. Resting her chin on her left hand, Morgan caught snippets of what the others were saying.

"You've never heard of Father Cornello?!" The shopkeeper exclaimed, outraged and shocked.

"…Who?" Ed asked, not really interested.

"He's wonderful!" A couple people who were listening said loudly.

"He came to our town a few years ago and completely remade it! He showed us all the way of God!"

"He can even bring back the dead!"

All three heads shot up at the same time and they tried to act as if they weren't interested. 'I don't like the sound of that,' Ed thought as he exchanged worried glances with Al and Morgan.

Out of the corner of her eye, Morgan saw Ed playing with his straw in his mouth. "You're not listening, are you kid?" The shopkeeper asked.

"Nope, I'm agnostic." He answered.

'Great, Ed, lovely, be totally cynical.' Morgan thought. Not that she believed that this Cornello guy could bring back the dead but he could at least have been opened minded. Even when he was a child he was quite closed minded. He could have at least tried to respect other peoples' religions.

"Come on. Morgan, Al, you ready to go?" Ed asked, bringing Morgan back to reality.

"Yup!" Al chirped as Morgan hopped off her stool, stretching. She felt much better now that she was no longer dehydrated. She stopped mid-stretch; she was the Aquatic Alchemist and they needed water in the desert, why didn't she just use the sand to make a well? Because she's stupid. Morgan sweatdropped. And Kaytie called her smart, why she'd never know.

Morgan spun around when she heard something metal crash to the ground. Her eyes darted from the broken radio that sat at her feet to Al who was standing looking as worried as it is possible for a suit of armour

"Hey!" The shopkeeper yelled angrily. "Please, could you be more careful?! You shouldn't be walking around in that suit anyway!"

Morgan glared at him, "Calm yourself," She said. "It takes two seconds to fix."

"Yeah," Ed agreed. "Don't bust a lung, we can fix it."

Morgan rolled her eyes, she'd just said that.

"I'll try guys." Al said, crouching down and drawing a transmutation circle around the fragments.

"And how do you plan to do that?" The shopkeeper asked from behind the counter. "It's in a thousand pieces!"

'Way to point out the obvious,' Morgan thought.

"Just watch." Ed said, leaning up against the counter.

Morgan crossed her arms over her chest and shifted her weight. "Alright, all set." Al said. They were drawing quite a crowd now. Morgan shifted uncomfortably. "Here we go…" Al pressed his hands to the array and Morgan shut her eyes and turned her head as blue alchemical light flashed and her hair whipped around her face. When the dust cleared, in the middle of the transmutation array, sat a brand-new-looking radio.

"Listen to God's teachings…" It rang out perfectly.

"Hey! Your buddy can work miracles just like Cornello!"

A mysterious woman who sat off to the side of the food stand smirked; the people of Lior really were ignorant fools. She listened as the pipsqueak how it wasn't a miracle but alchemy.

"Miracles? No it's alchemy, we're alchemists." He said.

"Fools," Lust muttered under her breath, and then louder said. "That's the FullMetal Alchemist, Edward Elric." She smirked slightly, seeing that her voice had sent shivers down the girl's, Morgan's, spine.

Everyone within earshot flocked to Al and Morgan sweatdropped, guessing that it happened a lot.

"So you're the FullMetal Alchemist?"

"I've heard of you guys!"

"Oh! So that's why they called you FullMetal, because you wear that armour!"

The brunette couldn't stop herself from laughing; she could see Ed twitching and fell the aura he was emitting. Totally pissed off. She laughed even harder.

"Oh no!" Al said stuttering. "It's not me, it's him. I'm the younger one, Alphonse Elric."

'Yup,' Morgan thought. This definitely happened a lot. She was surprised that Ed was able to control his anger at not being recognized (probably because of his height, although he'd never admit it,) as the older one of the two.

"What? The little one?"

For maybe two seconds, silence hung in the air. And then, as Morgan predicted, Ed snapped.

He grabbed the arms of the two closest people to him that were gathered around Al. The person who called him little and some one else were swung around by Ed like a pinwheel. "Don't call me small!! Or midget!!!! Or shorty!!!!!!" He yelled, dropping them to the ground. "I'm the FullMetal Alchemist, Edward Elric!"

As always, Morgan found Ed's rant amusing to say the least. She had to lean against the counter of the stand to keep herself standing upright, she was laughing so hard.

"Okay, so you're the Elric brothers," Someone said. "Who's she?"

Morgan stopped laughing and shrank back to the counter. "I'm no one." She said quickly, not wanting the attention. Attention was never good for someone as klutzy as Morgan. She could never predict the next time she'd trip over her own feet. Kaytie called her a walking disaster waiting to happen.

"No you're not!" Ed scolded, grabbing her wrist and pulling her toward him and Al.

"Fine, I'm Morgan Shaw, the Aquatic Alchemist." She said stiffly, knowing they'd never heard of her before.

They blinked before turning back to buzz over Ed. She glared at him, as if to say, 'I told you so. It didn't matter if I introduced myself.' He rolled his eyes; Morgan gloated too much.

"My, isn't this place lively today." Said a feminine voice from not too far away. The voice revealed itself to be a girl not too much older than Morgan. She had pale pink bangs that were parted in the middle and chestnut brown hair that fell past her shoulders. "And who do we have here?" She asked.

"Out-of-towners, they're alchemists and they're here because-" the shopkeeper blinked. "Why did you say you were here again?"

"I didn't," Ed answered dryly. "We're looking for something."

"Right, they're looking for something." The shopkeeper repeated. Morgan rolled her eyes for the millionth time that day.

"I hope you find what you're looking for!" The girl said brightly.

"Are you here for the daily offerings, Rose?"

Rose nodded, "So where are you staying?" She asked, turning toward Morgan, Ed, and Al.

"Um…" 'Actually,' Morgan thought. 'That's a very good question.'

"If you want, I'm sure Father Cornello would let you stay in the temple's guest rooms!" Rose offered.

"No than-" Al started to say before Ed cut him off.

"Sure! We'd love too!" He said enthusiastically, taking everyone by surprise.

"We would?" Al questioned.

'Oh boy, this is going to be one hell of a trip,' Morgan thought sarcastically.

Kaytie sighed in content. She was going to Dublith in four days and had nothing to do until then. Life was good. Unless she counted the ever-constant palm tree across the room who always seemed to be present. Then life sucked.

Kaytie rolled herself off her bed and started pacing- a habit she'd picked up lately.

She was only slightly worried about meeting Danté. Or she would've liked to believe that she was only slightly worried. Mot even Morgan knew how she did her alchemy. So the question begged, why did a complete stranger know? 'She's certainty done her homework, that's for sure.' Kaytie thought, leaning up against the windowsill; it was becoming one of her favourite placed to think.

She could tell Envy was becoming restless in the corner. He came to stand next to her as he often did.

Kaytie rolled her eyes and looked straight down at the sand. She almost fell out of the window. "Oh, snap."

Following some girl Kaytie could care less about, were three figures, a suit of armour, a short red blob and a short blue blob. She turned to envy to make sure that she wasn't hallucinating. The sadistic smirk plastered to Envy's face told her she wasn't.

"Ah, Fuck."