"I haven't lost yet!" the soul in the helmet shouted.

Ed spun around just in time to see the sword coming down on him, leaving no time to even dodge in his exhausted state. A loud clang resounded throughout the large stone room. Much to all of their surprise, the sword had been deflected by a pillar of concrete that suddenly jutted up from the ground, transmuted by a third party.

From her vantage point behind the wall, Maya had seen the attack coming and sent a transmutation through the ground, causing the stone to rise as a shield and block the suit of armor's sword with a bang.

"What the hell?! THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE!" The armor was yelling. "You how did you have time to…?"

"That new voice… is coming from the armor…?!" Ed thought. Then he understood.

"Two souls?!" he exclaimed.

Recovering from the surprise at being hindered in his attack, the armor punched the side of the concrete pillar and it crumbled to the ground.

"Crap!" Ed dodged backwards, caught off balance but distancing himself enough to avoid the next attack.

Meanwhile, Maya was kneeling on the other side of the wall, frozen with her hands still on the ground.


"Who… who are you?!" Maya's tiny voice echoed through the white expanse, terrified and confused.

"What a boring question," the featureless figure responded indifferently. "But it's always the one you humans ask first. I have been called many things. I am the world, I am the universe. I have been called God, I have been called Truth. I am All, and I am One. And I am also you."

Maya swallowed noisily. "And… this place…?" Her eyes darted around, disturbed by the emptiness of the landscape.

"Of course, the other most common question," Truth sighed. "But you already should have an idea, despite your lack of alchemic knowledge." Maya stared at Truth. While she had secretly read some of her father's books on alchemy years ago, and had peeked at some of Ed and Al's too, none of them had mentioned a white place like this.

"I don't know," she stated, her voice still small. Then again, she was barely eleven.

"Try looking behind you," a grin spread across Truth's face.

Maya spun around and let out a gasp, her blue eyes widening with awe. Before her stood, or rather floated, what looked like a huge stone door with carvings on it. She'd seen something like it before… sketched out in the margin of one of her father's books, with a the label scrawled beneath it that read…

"The Gate," she whispered.

"Very good," Truth complimented condescendingly, though somewhat surprised she remembered. "Wouldn't your family be proud."

Amaya froze in place. Her thoughts had been all jumbled after arriving here, and only now were the events rushing back to her. She clenched her fists, nails digging into her palms, and turned back around to face Truth.

"Where… where is he?!" she shouted, her voice laced with anger and pain that should have been beyond her years.

Truth stared at her, unfazed. "You were sent here, not him."

"Then…" her eyes lit up with slightly-crazed hope. "Where is Ash? She was sent here too, right?!" Truth frowned, and Maya's chest twisted painfully with dread.

"I'm afraid you've received enough information from me," Truth responded. "Now, to complete the transaction." As Truth finished speaking, Maya heard a noise from behind her, and suddenly a gust of wind tussled her hair. As she slowly turned around, brushing blond bangs out of her eyes, she stopped breathing. The Gate had opened, revealing a giant eye in its pitch-black shadows that stared right back at her. She wanted to scream, but couldn't find air in her lungs. Instead she remained frozen, even as she saw the tiny black arms shoot from the Gate's dark recesses, heading straight for her. It wasn't until they began to coil around her body that she woke up and began to fight back, struggling with all her might. But it was too late, and she'd never had a chance to begin with anyway. As she was dragged backwards into the Gate, Truth grinned at her.

"Enjoy your final moments as…" Maya couldn't hear the end of his sentence over the sickening thud of the Gate closing.


Maya gasped, finally breaking out of her trance. The memory she'd just seen was the same one as when she fought Scar, but now it was less blurry and incoherent, though still incomplete. There had been something in that empty white place after all… the Gate, and "Truth." Maya shuddered.

Loud clangs from the other side of the wall caught her attention. Originally she'd planned to make a showy entrance after her surprise transmutation, but had long since missed that opportunity. Speaking of transmutation… Maya looked down at her hands. She'd unconsciously clapped to transmute the stone ground, perhaps a reflex from watching Ed, or perhaps a new instinct?

"I didn't use a transmutation circle that time, there is no doubt about it…" Maya thought to herself. That shouldn't have been possible – only Ed and Izumi-sensei could do that. She thought about her new memory. Could it be because she'd seen the Gate? And did this explain that rainy day with Scar, when the transmutation circles on her shoes should have been washed off? Not exactly… at that time, she didn't even have to clap her hands. "What… what is going on?!"

But there wasn't much time to think about it now. She heard Ed's battle continuing, and it was time she actually went to help him.


Edward dodged attack after attack, but his assailant was too quick. There was no time between each sword swing for Ed to clap his hands and perform a transmutation, so his automail arm remained in its regular form rather than a blade. Instead of metal-on-metal, the loud noises echoing through the room were the sword slicing up the stone pillars or floor as Ed avoided the potentially fatal blows.


"Alright, let's go!" Maya said quietly to herself. If she was going to help, she might as well make it a learning experience. She peered through the crack in the wall again, anticipating the swift movements of the fight. Suddenly she slammed her foot onto the stone ground, bringing it to life in a transmutation that shot forward through the wall, travelling to where the battle was on the other side of the room. "Yes!" she though. Her suspicions had been confirmed. She didn't even need to clap her hands together to perform a transmutation of the ground. She still hadn't redrawn the transmutation circles on her shoes, but it still had worked perfe-.

Just then, her transmutation reached Ed and his attacker. Instead of striking down the armor, however, the protruding stone transmuted up from the floor caught on Ed's foot as he dodged unexpectedly to the side, causing him to trip and essentially fall on his face.

"… whoops," Maya winced with sympathy. "I hope this won't interfere with my 'kick Ed's ass for leaving me behind' plan," she thought to herself. But the consequences of her transmutation weren't over. Just as the armor turned towards Ed again, preparing to take advantage of his momentary incapacitation, the wall that Maya had been hiding behind lost its integrity. With a huge cracking noise, the whole thing came crashing down, linking the small room Maya was in with the much larger room. She stood there shocked, staring dumbfounded at the Armor, still somewhat far away. This was not the entrance she'd wanted.


"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?! We didn't sense you before now!"

"MAYA!?" Ed gasped, standing up.

Though Maya had meant to castigate Ed later, she now could see clearly how injured he was and felt a blazing anger building up towards him.

"IDIOT!" she screamed across the room. "No way in hell would I just stand out there waiting for you to get back!"

"WHAT?!" Ed shouted back in disbelief. "We did that because it's dangerous!"

"What if you'd gotten hurt? You're such an idiot!"

"Stop calling me that! You're the one who went into battle last time without any concern for your own life!"

"Oh don't you dare start lecturing me on that now, not after you completely gave up and were ready to… to just let that man kill you!"

Ed glared at her, grinding his teeth together. "I thought that could save Al, ok?! I didn't think I had a choice! Damnit I shouldn't have to explain myself to you!"

"Ehem," the voice coming from the helmet, which still lay on the stone ground, made as if to clear its throat, though he technically didn't have one. "You do realize we are in the middle of a battle, right?"

"Yeah," the armor's voice continued. "We'd hate to interrupt your lovers' quarrel, but our time is valuable."

She turned to the suit of armor, her blue eyes blazing. Then she actually registered what he'd just said, and her cheeks were as fiery as her furious gaze.

"Who the hell are you anyway?!" she said viciously.

"Oh, how rude of us, we never properly introduced ourselves," the armor said sarcastically.

"Ah yes, and I forgot to tell you," said the helmet nonchalantly to Edward.

"The killer named 'Slicer,'" continued the armor.

"Was a team of two brothers," finished the helmet.

"There doesn't have to be just one soul in one suit of armor," said the armor, pointing to a second blood seal in a location similar to Al's.

"Separate blood seals for the head and the body," Ed confirmed his suspicions. "That's cheating!"

"Who was the one that said there's no such thing as being cowardly in a fight?" the helmet sneered.

Ed glared at them.

"Anyway, our main job is to get rid of any outsiders that get inside," the armor explained. "Don't take it personally. Plus, it's our lucky day when a surprise second victim comes to play. Her skin looks so pale and delicate, it will be a joy to cut her down," the insanity in his voice was practically tangible. Hearing this, Maya scowled at the armor and Ed clenched his fists furiously. "But first, let's start round two, shrimp!"

"Shit, this guy is fast from what I saw and Ed doesn't look so good. How much blood has he lost?" It was true. Ed had taken several sword injuries already, one of which swept across his brow and was dripping into one of his eyes, which couldn't be good for his dodging skills.

"Don't underestimate me…" He clapped his hands together, aiming to finally turn his arm back into a blade.

"I'm not going to give you the time to transmute!" The body sprinted at Ed with incredible speed. Crap! Maya took off towards them, but was still on the other side of the room. The enemy forced Ed to dodge to the side, and in a fluid motion hit Ed's side with the base of his sword. Ed gasped as his breath was knocked out and a stabbing pain shot through him from where his previous wounds had been.

Just then, Maya came in from the side, kicking the armor and knocking it off balance while she propelled off it and landed somewhat gracefully. Though she often tripped over her own feet, in battle she often surprised herself.

"Showoff," Ed muttered, still catching his breath.

"You're welcome!" Maya said with sarcastic enthusiasm. In reality, she was worried. Ed was still struggling to stand up straight with the wound on his side, and it looked like he'd lost a lot of blood.

"Well then, you sure are a feisty one!" the armor ridiculed, turning to face her. "You must have been pretty quick to surprise me like that from all the way over there!"

Maya reached down to transmute the ground by her feet into a katana. "Just because we don't want to kill you doesn't mean I won't chop that armor of yours into little tiny pieces," she snarled. She tended to get too engrossed in her fighting spirit at times. Meanwhile, Ed stared with wonder at what she'd just done. He only knew a bit about her alchemy, but he didn't think it normally included transmuting the stone from the ground without a transmutation circle.

The armor began its attack, rushing towards Maya, who luckily had stepped away from Ed. His sword was fast, but so was hers. Nevertheless, Maya had never gone up against a sword-wielding enemy in such an intense fight before. Adrenaline pumped through her veins as her eyes tracked the armor's movements, predicting his sharp blows just enough that her slightly slower attacks could still be effective. They were perhaps too evenly matched, blocking each other and being blocked.

"There has to be a weakness," Maya thought. "My stamina can't last forever, but his probably can. Perhaps there's a way to–" Maya's thoughts came to an abrupt halt and she cried out in pain. Her headache spiked, stabbing at her temples and practically blinding her. Slice. She gasped and stumbled back, a new pain spreading through her torso.

"MAYA!" Ed screamed, dragging himself up despite his injuries and exhaustion. A wave of dizziness overwhelmed him, but he managed to stay on his feet.

"Gotcha," said the armor as he raised his sword, going in for the kill. Maya looked up, dazed. She couldn't move fast enough. There was no way she could block it or get out of the way. She couldn't even think straight, and her head was worse than it had ever been. She distantly heard a clap, but all she could do was watch helplessly as the sword sliced down at her.


And then Ed was between them. He came from the side and placed his hand on the armor's stomach, before the sword could reach him or Maya. The armor deconstructed, flying all over the place, like Al's had during the fight with Scar.

"I remembered that horrible guy," said Ed, panting. "I won't just watch this time." His last statement hung in the air. Was he talking about the unfortunate start to their encounter with Scar?

"Incredible," said the helmet in disbelief.

"Shi… Ouch," Ed knelt to the ground, holding his side.

"Ed…" Maya croaked in concern, still disoriented by the pounding in her head, and now her bleeding side as well.

"DAMMIT! YOU REALLY SCREWED ME UP, YOU DAMN KID!" screamed the broken top half of the body, furiously wiggling its arms.

"Eew! That's sick!" Ed made a disgusted face at the flailing remnants of the armor. Maya managed to slowly stand up fully, though she could feel her side getting warm and sticky.

"Brother…" groaned the body.

"Yeah. This is pitiful, but we lost, little brother."

"So there weren't really three brothers…?" said Ed, poking the bottom half of the armor with his foot cautiously. "You're not going to say something like that, right?"

"No, no," replied the head. "Hmph, Good job, kid. And you too, girly. You two kept equal footing with my brother for the longest I've seen anyone. This time, you really win."

"Ok, so tell me everything you know," said Ed, subtly glancing behind him to make sure Maya was still alright. She'd decided to sit down again, making sure to keep her distance from the top part of the armor that could still move.

"I can't tell you. Now, destroy us and get lost."

"Spare me the role of being a murderer," Ed said with distaste.

"You're being too soft. Is it really murder? Can you really call us humans when we have these bodies? I'm not telling you to kill us, I'm telling you to destroy us."

Maya scowled, knowing what was going through Ed's head. "Now if only I knew what was stabbing through my head," she thought with a wince.

"If I accepted that you aren't human beings… then I'd be accepting that my little brother isn't a human being." Maya looked over at Ed. He was frowning seriously, looking right at the helmet. "My little brother is a human being and you guys are too. I don't want to kill." To Ed and Maya's surprise, the soul bound to the helmet burst out laughing.

"Brother?" asked the one in the armor.

"Hahaha. That's amusing!" said the older brother. "From the time we could tell right from wrong, we brothers stole, destroyed and killed. We were labeled as outcasts and savages and thus lived. To be treated like human beings for the first time ever, after throwing away our bodies… Amusing!" The armor paused before continuing. "Kid! You said you wanted to know about the stone." All three listeners stared at the helmet, shocked.

"Brother! If you talk, we'll be punished!" said the brother bound to the armor.

"We'll be punished anyway for not even being able to terminate two intruders. Plus, we've already died once. It's a little late to be afraid."

"Ah!" Maya clutched her head, inhaling sharply. It was getting worse.

"Maya? What is it?" Ed asked with concern, turning back to face her. While her body was soaked in blood, she was hunched over and rigid, hands on her temples instead of her wounds.

"… I'm fine… just… my head…" In truth, she could hardly breathe. While part of this had to do with the slice in her side, most was because that pressure was back. She felt sick and claustrophobic, and it just kept getting worse. At least in the train that time the pain and discomfort had stopped increasing right after it appeared. Now it was getting worse and worse, and definitely more uncomfortable than ever before.

"Something's weird…" she thought. "I'm ok for now! Don't stop on my account!" she managed to sound slightly better than she felt, and Ed hesitantly turned back to the helmet. Gaining this information was extremely important after all.

"Kid, I'm giving you a farewell gift," the helmet continued. "Though, I'll also say that you might want to get your girlfriend's head checked later. Next time she loses a fight because of a headache, you might not be there to save her!" Maya was surprised by how perceptive the soul in the helmet was, though he had been able to watch the whole battle. "Anyway, I'll tell you everything! But as I said before, I don't know much about alchemy. I know nothing of the Philosopher's Stone."

"Huh!? Then what's the point of talking!?" Ed blurted out with frustration.

"I don't know about the stone, but I know of the people who made it. In other words, the ones who told us to guard this place."

"No… No… something is wrong…" Maya's thoughts became more panicked as the stabbing headache intensified even more. "Am I dying or something?! Why is my head practically splitting open?" It was twice as bad as in the train now, if not worse. She'd already had a slight headache ever since arriving at Central, but this was unbearable.

"WHO ARE THEY!?" demanded Ed.

"They're…"

Maya gasped as the head was stabbed by two long… spears? They came from the dark entrance to the room.

"That was too close," said a woman's voice that Maya found eerily familiar.

"Oh my… Why's the Fullmetal shrimp here?" said a male voice… Maya's eyes widened and she practically started to hyperventilate. She had heard both of these voices before… but… that had been only a dream!

Despite her feeble denials, she knew deep down that it must have been real. She sat frozen, still clutching her head, as two new and terrifying foes emerged from the shadows.


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Author's Notes:

I am so very sorry for my lack of attention to this fic. As promised, I will still continue writing (particularly because now I'm excited about the part of the story we're at), but I got a bit discouraged for a while and apologize. I had a little "author's crisis" when a friend of mine claimed that all OC's were Mary Sues, and I looked at Maya and saw that she had quite a few Mary Sue characteristics. At the same time though, in fullmetal alchemist things like a dark past and somewhat far-fetched fighting abilities are commonplace. I also hope that none of you mind that this really will follow the plot of the manga/Brotherhood with Maya woven into the events.

On a happier note, thank you all so much for your reviews! (And of course for your follows and favorites… I hope you're still here ;-;) But yeah, the reviews are essentially what made me continue writing, because they showed me that people actually were enjoying/wanted to read more of this story. :) I won't respond to them individually this time because I really want to publish this chapter ASAP, but I did read all of them as they came in and enjoyed every one of them (and I apologize for being a "lazy author" T_T xP).

Thank you, and I hope you'll find it in your heart to forgive me and maybe leave a review if you feel like it…? ._.

Thank you all so much for reading!

~ Night Rain