Kirina felt something tickle her nose. It was a strong, sweet-smelling odor, not very unpleasant, but it still made Kirina sneeze out loud.

"Are you wake, kid?"

Kirina rubbed her nose and looked up.

"Where am I?"

"My house. I'm Khumeia."

"Khumeia?"

Kirina sat up in the bed she had been laying on. The house was dark and cold, so she couldn't see much. The person calling themselves Khumeia neared Kirina. As they did, the odor grew stronger.

"Achoo, achoo, ACHOO!" she sneezed.

Khumeia drew away. "Are you ill?"

"I don't think so," Kirina said, sniffing. "That odor really tickles my nose, though. It's very unpleasant."

Khumeia frowned. "You are very rude, aren't you?" she snapped, hitting Kirina in the back with her hand.

Kirina jumped. "Ow!" she cried.

"Dammit. Hang on, kid. Lean forward and don't move an inch."

Kirina watched Khumeia reach for a box.

"What are---?"

"Shh!"

Kirina felt some movement and heard the sound of metal and a wrench tightening a screw. After a few minutes, Khumeia nodded and told her she could move again.

"The nerves should be protected now."

Kirina blinked. "Nerves? What are you talking about?"

"Feel your back."

Kirina ran her hand down her back and gasped. "It feels cold and metallic." She drew away from Khumeia. "What did you do to me?"

"Saved you from death. Your spine had been completely ripped out, so I had to fashion a new one made from metal to protect your spinal cord."

Kirina shivered. "My spine . . . had been ripped out?"

"Relax. You didn't look all that gruesome when I found you at an abandoned army base. You know, just all this blood covering everything within fifty feet of you. Still, your spine looked like it had been ripped out with alchemy."

"Alchemy? I didn't know you could harm a person with alchemy."

Khumeia laughed. "You really are stupid, aren't you, kid? That's what alchemy's all about."

"No it isn't!" Kirina exclaimed. "Alchemists help the people. They're not cold-blooded fiends!"

"Oh, then why did they murder all those people in Ishbal?"

"Are you an Ishbalan?"

The woman removed her hood. Kirina could now see that she was indeed an Ishbalan. The red eyes were a dead giveaway.

"Oh, well, I'm sorry about what happened to your people, but you can't say that all alchemy is to hurt people. I know my alchemy isn't."

"You're only what, ten or nine. What could you know?"

"Watch."

Kirina went to the stove and got a bucket of ash and spilled it on the floor.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Khumeia asked and kicked Kirina. "I just cleaned the floor, you little idiot!"

"Just watch." Kirina bit her finger and drew a transmutation circle with a combination of blood and saliva. She clapped her hand once and poof the pile of ash had become a piece of wood.

"Impressive," Khumeia said as Kirina fasten a small rag on her finger. "Why didn't you ask for chalk? Now your finger's bleeding."

Kirina ignored the question. "I want you to teach me alchemy," she said.

"Kid, I'm not alchemist. It goes against my religion."

"You're an alchemist. Your fingers have small cuts on them, meaning you don't use chalk for your transmutation circles either."

"That's because I don't use your kind of alchemy."

"No, you do a forbidden branch of alchemy, don't you?"

Khumeia appeared nervous. "Uh, no."

"You do illusory alchemy." Kirina smiled. "Teach me everything you know."

Khumeia slapped her. "Don't be stupid, kid! Why would I do that?"

"You're a homunculus, an artificially created human being. The blood tattoo on your arm is proof enough."

Khumeia laughed. "Smart kid. Yeah, I'm fake. So what? Now for figuring that out, I'll tell you what the rest of them call me."

This caught Kirina off-guard. "Them?"

"That's cute. You look scared. You're probably thinking, there are more of you? Yeah. There's lots of us out there and we're all named after mortal sins."

"Which one are you? Murder?"

Khumeia raised an eyebrow. "What gave you that idea?"

"Uh, the fact that you haven't stopped hitting me since I woke up."

Khumeia shook her head. "Nah, I wouldn't kill you. I leave that up to the real Murder. Anyway, my sinful name is ugly, so I'm calling myself Khumeia."

"It is a pretty name."

Khumeia smiled. "Tell me why a cute kid like you was found half-dead by a dead person like me. Anyone got a grudge against you?"

Kirina sighed. "I don't know."

Ah, another flashback.

Now this Khumeia person is the same one that Marcoh met during the Eastern Rebellion (See "A Year Later"). Khumeia isn't all mean, but because she's homunculus (guess which one) created from deep human emotions, even the tiniest thing can set her on fire. She angers easily, but she was kind to Kirina from time to time. And there's something else about her that I won't reveal quite just yet because it'll shock you all!

And about Murder, it's a guy and his identity may be a spoiler (I don't know. I'm not the one with the entire serious of Fullmetal Alchemist. That's my friend's department. Or maybe it won't be. Maybe it's different).