Not much has changed in the last few days, though I think I did pretty well on my test yesterday (we'll see when I get it back!). I might post one later tonight, but if I don't I am planning on posting another chapter tomorrow. Not many left!

Chapter Thirty

Alphonse, under the influence of Sloth liquefied inside him, walked into another building of the abandoned factory.

"Al!" Edward yelled as he entered the same part of the factory. Lust had just told him to leave because she would finish the battle with Wrath in the section of the factory they were just in moments ago. Edward ran into the factory and turned his head quickly when he heard a loud scream. Luckily he turned away from the punch coming from Alphonse. The giant suit of armor lunged forward to attack his elder brother, "Forgive me! I can't control my movements!" He struggled against the force inside of him, but was only successful in slowing the attack down momentarily. The fist connected with Edward and sent him stumbling back; the metal on Alphonse that touched his brother lit up in a bright crimson color.

"If I touch you…" said Edward as he struggled to catch his breath, "We don't know what reaction may occur!"

"Yes…It would seem so," came the female voice of Sloth from inside Alphonse, "So you should lower your fists…"

"Mom!" pleaded Alphonse as she continued to make him try and attack his brother.

"Understand, Al! She's not our mother!" Edward tried to explain as he dodged his brother's attacks. "Mom wouldn't say that or use you as a shield!"

Alphonse connected a punch with Edward again, sending him flying into a nearby desk. Still watching his brother, Ed quickly began carving a transmutation circle into the desktop, but had to duck and run when Alphonse came running at him, "She wouldn't hit me!" He ran to another desk opposite the first one and continued to carve a transmutation circle into its top.

"Since you can't touch your brother, you're going to use an alchemy array?" came the echoing voice from inside the metal armor. "But I won't leave you enough time to draw one!" Alphonse came up behind Edward and batted him hard to the side, causing his arm to light up brightly again.

"Brother!"

"It'll be enough!" Edward yelled as he ran behind the first desk. "Al!" he called, signaling for his brother to do the same thing. Catching Sloth off guard, Alphonse put his hand behind the second desk, and the two brothers shoved the two desks across the floor. The met in the middle, and the two halves of an alchemy circle formed. Overcoming Sloth's power momentarily, Alphonse ran towards the circle, with Edward meeting him on the other side. Without hesitation, the two slammed their hands to the surface, activating the circle. Ice began to slowly cover Al, and freeze the liquefied form of the homunculus within him. Edward could hear the gasps coming from her, as she froze solid inside his brother.

"Um…sorry, Al…" Edward apologized as he saw the frozen form of his younger brother.

"Me too…I apologize as well," responded the younger brother, still hunched over the desk in his frozen state.

Edward looked around and realized who was missing, "Oh, yeah…Lust…" He was interrupted as his brother's metal body began vibrating slightly.

"That night…" came the haunting voice of Sloth, still within Al's body, "That night, I saw you. Edward."

"Is she creating heat by making her cells vibrate?" gaped Edward at Alphonse. The ice could be seen melting off of him quickly, and just as Alphonse was about to stand up, the flow of water erupted from his side, and wrapped around his body to cover him. From the liquid matter covering his brother, Edward could see Sloth's face appear from his stomach.

"Edward…"

"Stop trying to act like my mother!" Edward said waving his hand to emphasize his point. "You don't even have her memories!"

"I do have some," she said, eliciting a surprised response from the elder brother. "As Lust said…They were inside of me. It might only be that they were burned in my mind, but…

"You're lying!" interrupted Edward. He was growing tired of this homunculus trying to overtake Alphonse and him by acting like their mother.

"That's why…I can do this," she said as she released Alphonse from her liquid cocoon, and turned into her human form once again. She saw the distressed look on Edward's face and continued, "I have memories. Memories of being your mother. Yet, your mother is dead, I…am not a human," she said after a moment. "Who am I?"

Edward filled with sadness, and lowered his head, closing his eyes. He did not want to be reminded of what he and his brother had done. He hurt almost every single day from knowing what he had done. And now Winry's death on top of all of that; it was just too much to handle.

"I…will kill you," Sloth finally said, ignoring Edward's emotions. "That will prove that I am not your mother." She hugged herself and looked away from the elder brother, "If you don't die, I shall be tormented by these memories. Even though I'm not your mother, if I was…I might love you…I should hate you, who created me." She brought her hand up and sent a stream of water toward Edward's direction; he barely had enough time to duck. Landing on his side, Edward quickly got up and began running away from the homunculus, continuing to dodge her attacks of water. Machines next to him were destroyed as he dodged, and finally he spun around and slammed his hands to the ground to create a wall of stone in front of him. She quickly broke thought it, and the many more that were created after the first. Alphonse looked from behind the homunculus, dumbfounded, and struggling to decide what to do.

"Al, this is the shape our sins have taken!" Edward yelled as he quickly turned his right arm into a blade and charged towards the homunculus, jumping above her and slicing her in half from head to toe. He quickly jumped back, knowing she would form again few moments later. She did, and he blocked her attacks using his arm blade, attempting to not be caught within her water, but staying close enough that he could get another jab when possible.

"Mommy!" came a voice from the side, causing Sloth to turn her head towards the noise. Edward had his chance and he quickly plunged the blade through Sloth's body into her heart. She was momentarily startled, but turned back to Edward and smiled, "I am not your mother. I won't take you in my arms…"

Suddenly a light shone from Edward's right arm, the one that was still plunged into the homunculus's chest, and she exploded into millions of droplets. The force of the blow threw Edward to the side, as Alphonse and Wrath watched with horror at what just happened. One-by-one the droplets began to hit the floor until the whole room appeared to have rain falling within it. Wrath became frantic at the sight of Sloth exploding and began to try and sweep her up into his hands.

"I alchemies my automail into sodium," Edward stated, as he knew Al was probably confused. He lifted his arm to look at his now-missing forearm while he continued his explanation, "By creating a reaction with the water, it caused an explosion." He got up slowly as he saw the pathetic attempts from Wrath to sweep up the remaining water as he still called out for his mother.

"Stop it, she's no one's mother," he saw the child homunculus weeping in the puddle of water as he continued to call out her name, "Mommy's dead."

"Mommy!" Wrath screamed out, and the three noticed the puddle of water coming together and a person begin to rise from it yet again.

"No matter what you do," came the hauntingly female voice, "I won't die." Wrath stood up suddenly and ran to her side, happy to see her alive again.

"Move away, Wrath," Sloth said calmly, almost motherly-like.

"Mommy! I want to become one with you!" he cried as he ran forward and hugged her around the middle. A bright light surrounded the two, and to Ed and Al's surprise when the light faded, Wrath had literally fused with Sloth. Half of his body disappeared within hers. He glared at Edward and flashed an evil grin.

"He…fused himself with another homunculus?" questioned Alphonse, trying to figure out what was to be done now.

"Wrath…" came a small voice from the homunculus he fused with, "What have you done!" She was paralyzed and couldn't move an inch.

Edward realized what happened and approached, "He absorbed the part of my mother's body I had with me into his body. Since it's so close, I guess you can't move…" He slowly walked away from the pair and continued talking, "I will rebuild all of the materials that make you…into other materials."

"It's impossible, brother! You can't alchemies human material!" exclaimed Alphonse, as he watched his brother rebuild his automail hand with some nearby metal.

"During my fight with Greed, I realized," Edward began talking again, now moving to the side of Sloth opposite from where Wrath stood. "I could arrange the chemical elements that made him. I not only can rearrange the elements of a part of a body like Kimbly…But I can also rearrange the elements of the whole body. Because…homunculi aren't human!" He clapped his hands together and placed them on Sloth's left arm. A bright alchemy array filled the room as the power from his transmutation could be felt, and Alphonse watched as Sloth turned into her water form, and then instantaneously back into her human form. Wrath looked up to see her expressionless face and called out her name.

"What did you do to her? What did you do to mommy!" he yelled out as Sloth's body began to turn a transparent greenish color, and her hair lifted off of her shoulders into the air.

"Hurry and get away," Edward stated simply.

"Mommy?" Wrath continued to ask, waiting for a response from her.

Edward lowered his head slightly as he explained what he had just done, "I restructured all the water molecules within her into ethanol…She will evaporate by herself."

Wrath didn't want to leave her side, but was soon burned by the evaporating ethanol and quickly pulled away. He sat on the ground, helpless and watched his mother begin to disappear before his eyes. The three sat by as the form of Sloth began to disappear slowly. Edward felt emotions run through him, and lowered his head slightly so no one would see him,

"You have…done well…" came the wispy voice from the evaporating ethanol. Edward looked up to see Sloth looking down towards him. In that moment, she really did look like his mother. No longer did the hardness of being a homunculus adorn her face, but the pleasant and kind eyes that looked like they could fix anything stared down to him. In that moment, Edward really did feel like he was losing his mother again, though he would not shed a tear. The homunculus looked down at him as she continued evaporating, "Don't forget to clean up afterwards…"

And then she was gone…again…

Both Edward and Alphonse, who had walked behind his brother during this time, lowered their heads in mutual sadness and thoughts. Wrath, who had watched his mother disappear in front of him, fell to his knees and began to wail in agony. He kept himself propped up with his hands, but his face was lowered to the floor as tears soaked it. He sat there wailing for minutes as both brothers felt the same way on the inside, but forced themselves not to show it.

"Ed, Al…" came a hauntingly familiar voice from the side. Edward whirled around to see Winry staring at him. She was dressed in the outfit he had been accustomed to seeing her in, with her white coat and black tank top. Her long, blond hair was up in her normal ponytail as she stood by one of the columns.

"Winry…It can't be…" he whispered quietly to himself, as he could hear Al do the same thing next to him. The light behind her shone brightly, and for a moment, Edward thought she was an angel, or maybe even a ghost coming to haunt them.

"Winry! You're okay!" Alphonse suddenly shouted in joy as he began to walk towards her. He stopped just a few feet from her, knowing that since she was an alchemist, she too may react if he touched her. "How did you get out of Lior? Why are you here?"

"I was worried, so I came. I heard about where you were going from Pinako, and came over here as fast as I could!" she said, flashing a gigantic smile. "I just saw everything, and you finally beat her!"

Both brothers became silent at her phrase, and this more than anything else upset Edward. "You're not Winry…" he said slowly, transmuting his arm into a blade. The girl suddenly looked frightened and held her hands up in surrender. Al quickly ran towards her to attack, but was surprised when she quickly twirled around him and held his hand behind his back.

"This is where it ends…" the girl stated with no emotion.

"It's pointless. I'm the Philosopher's Stone," admitted Alphonse, causing the girl to smile and look at him.

"What did you say?" A light surrounded the girl and from it emerged the form of Envy. The sight of him alone made Edward's blood boil and pound in his veins. Anger began to surge within him, but he had to keep it in control for his brother's sake. "Then you won't mind if I try something…" continued Envy, "I wonder if you'll be okay if I break this!" he yelled as he punched through the hole in Al's side, hitting his blood seal directly. A bright red light flashed, but showed that the younger brother was unharmed.

"Stop it!" yelled Edward, "Don't touch him!"

After the light faded, Envy turned and looked at Edward, "You don't have to worry. I'm only taking him to that person's place, after all."

"The one Lust was talking about?" growled Edward. He wanted to keep him talking so he would have enough time to figure out a way to get Al out of his predicament, "The one controlling all of you…The person who was looking for the Stone in order to become immortal!"

"Hmmm…I dunno," grinned the shape-changing homunculus, "Let me just say that you are not completely unrelated…"

Realization hit Edward from Envy's last statement, "Could it be that the one controlling you…took Mom as one of his associates on purpose? The one who would do such a thing…"

"It can't be!" exclaimed Alphonse, still being held still by the homunculus, "Father would never do such a thing!" He was surprised as Envy easily lifted him up onto his shoulders.

"It's time to go," Envy said, turning to walk out of the open doorway. He turned his head back towards Edward before exiting, "I know you're mad at what I did…" he said, causing Edward to narrow his eyes at him, "But if you want, I can make it up to you someday. I was going to bring her here with me, but then realized she wasn't smart enough to escape the city before your brother pulled the stunt he did…" he laughed before walking out the door.

"You bastard!" Edward yelled as he began to run after Envy. Before he could get more than a step, he felt a hand grab his, preventing him from moving any further. He looked down to see Wrath looking at the ground, clutching onto his own hand tightly.

"It's your fault…" he said slowly as he stood up. "Because of you guys…Mommy!" he yelled as he swung at Edward. The teenager was able to duck back in time to dodge the punch, but was had to hold his hands in front of him as Wrath continued to punch at him.

"Mommy…mommy…mommy died!" He yelled as he continued punching Edward, "And she was your own mother, too!" The phrase caught Edward off guard and he was knocked to the ground by the powerful punch. Wrath quickly jumped on top of the teenager and grabbed his neck, cutting off the air supply to Edward. Edward reached up with his left arm and tried to pry the homunculus off of his neck, but the strength was just too much for him. Wrath sat there choking him for a second, and then screamed as he raised his fist in another punch.

"Stop it!" came a commanding voice from outside, causing the child to halt his actions. There, in the doorway, stood Edward's sensei, and Wrath's real mother. Wrath lowered his fist and sneered at the woman, though not removing his hand from Edward's neck.

"This has nothing to do with you," he spat out to the woman. Izumi looked upset from the comment, and her eyes softened, "If you want to kill someone, it should be me."

Wrath stood up from his position and stood to face the woman, "You're not mommy! I don't give a shit about you!" he screamed as he ran towards her. Edward called out to Izumi, believing that Wrath was about to attack her, but relaxed when the child ran past her and disappeared into the woods. Edward attempted to stand up, but fell over as his left leg gave out from underneath him. Izumi turned around in time to see her pupil fall and walked over to where he sat on the floor.

"Are you okay?" She saw that Edward's head was still looking towards the floor, and indicator that he didn't want anyone to see his emotions.

"He was crying," Edward said after a moment of silence. "I couldn't shed a tear…Yet, he was crying. It was as if…it was in my stead."

Izumi's eyes softened as she walked forward and kneeled down to help the teenager up, "It's okay. Right now, we need to take care of Alphonse. Surely I could be of some help…" His sensei looked down towards him, "That's why I came." Edward smiled to himself slightly, and let her help him up, and over to a machine so he could transmute more metal to fix his leg.

"Thank you…sensei…"