Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal alchemist or any of it's characters.

"Winry?" Al said walking to his female friend who was crouching in front of a grave. She wasn't crying, but it was clear that she was full of pain. "Winry, maybe you should come inside, it's getting cold." He said putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Al, do you still have some alchemy books with you?" Winry suddenly asked.

"What? Oh, yeah, I do. Colonel Mustang gave me some old books that the library didn't want. Why?"

"I was wondering…could I possibly look at them? Edward loved alchemy, it always made him so happy whenever he learned something new about it. I just…if it's just to keep his memory alive, I want to learn. I want to be able to feel the joy he always felt." She murmured standing up. Al flinched a little, Winry obviously didn't know how some things Ed learned about alchemy caused him more pain than joy, but she needed something to keep her mind busy. Ever since his brother died, she hadn't been herself at all. What harm would it do?

"Okay, maybe I should get you a beginner's alchemy book. It would be dangerous if you start off on something too big…"

Al's eyes opened suddenly and he got up from his bed, thinking about the dream he just had. That was two years ago, after Ed died and when Winry began to become interested in alchemy. Al never thought anything about it before, but maybe it had something to do with her disappearance. He sighed and held his head, which was beginning to hurt.

"Ed's death, Winry's disappearance, now a murderer on the loose. I have a feeling that someone is purposely making life hard." He thought remembering talking to Roy the night before and being told that a man who was found guilty for mass murder escaped when he was being taken to Central for execution. According to the men, a blonde boy distracted the drivers while a palm tree attacked the men in the back. They were sure they shot the blonde, but he continued running and there was no blood anywhere. Both Roy and Al came to the same conclusion.

The homunculi were working with the man and another had been created.

"I better go out for a little bit and clear my head." Al finally said getting up and getting dressed. Even if it did attract a lot of trouble at night, Anima was full of people buying from the shops during the day. Everything from priceless jewels to children's toys were being sold, and buyers were eagerly trying to get a hold of them. The moment Al stepped out of the inn he was staying at, he was attacked by everyone who was desperate to buy something.

"Sir, could I interest you in a suit?"

"This is one of our more rare items, very valuable, but I'll give it to you for a special price!"

"Want to grab a ring for your sweetheart?" Al sweatdropped as he was surrounded by these people and tried his best to get away from them.

"Please, excuse me." He said before managing to break away from the crowd. He tried to catch his breath as he walked into an alleyway, but he suddenly felt eyes on him. Al whirled around, but there was nothing behind him, just an empty alley.

"Come on, come on! Jump for it, shorty!" Envy sighed as he watched the man they just saved from execution mess with Pride. He was some guy who called himself 'Tenten', it was a freaky name, but compared to Envy's, it wasn't so bad. Currently, the dark haired man had taken something of Pride's and trying to get him to reach and get it. What made this funny was that Tenten was about three feet taller than the shorter homunculus.

"What did you take?" Wrath asked sitting on a couch and watching the amusing scene.

"I dunno, some pendant the kid found when we were running over here." Pride tried to snatch it, but it was taken out of his reach once again.

"Give it back!" he demanded.

"You got to work for what you want, shorty." The elder and much taller man grinned.

"Will you give it back to him. This is becoming very annoying." Lust snapped. Tenten frowned before letting whatever he had go and Pride immediately caught it before running far away from the man, trying to defend his treasure.

"Hey, chibi, let me have a look at that." Envy said. Pride made a cute pout and looked at the thing in his hand. "Come on, give it here." He gave in and handed it to Envy who looked at it. It was a small, green jewel that was being held in something that looked like a dragon claw.

"I found it in the alley, I though it was nice, so I took it." Pride told him. Envy looked at that innocent face and scoffed. He tossed the pendant to Pride, who caught it.

"It's nice, but nothing special." Pride blinked at that comment, then his face broke into a bright smile that made Envy flinch at the sudden sunshine. He then smirked before taking Pride by the hand. "Follow me, chibi." He whispered slyly. Pride looked at him and nodded. As Envy led Pride away, Wrath gagged himself.

"I don't even want to know what they're going to do!" he complained.

"Hey, that kid, he looks familiar." Tenten said. He had realized this the moment he saw Pride, but he dismissed it as him being shaken up by the near-death experience.

"About a year and a half ago, some girl tried to resurrect the Fullmetal Alchemist." Lust told him.

"Edward Elric? Are you pulling my leg? Isn't he that guy who was killed by a chimera?" he said in shock.

"Yes, as you can see, the resurrection failed and Pride was born instead. He may look like Edward, but I assure you, he's nothing like the boy." She said.

"Really? And let me guess, you folks are planning on using him to play around with the military?" Tenten grinned. Lust smirked and nodded.

"Envy is taking care of that. Pride's trust in the military has already disappeared, even his trust in his own brother. Everything is falling perfectly in our favor." He grinned at the thought of the military suffering and started laughing. Only a moment later did Gluttony waddle in the room.

"Lust, I saw the little brother, can I eat him? Can I?" he pleaded, his mouth already drooling. The female homunculus raised her eyebrow and smirked again.

"No, Gluttony, not yet at least. Let us wait until nightfall before we…disturb Envy and talk with him." She shook her head and the man across from her started laughing.

"I suppose that is because of Envy?" he snickered.

"Yes, She told him that Pride could be his toy until he is of more use, Envy defined that in his own way." She muttered a little annoyed at the foolishness.

"Aw, man, what a pedophile! I mean, that brat is young and he's ancient!" Tenten laughed.

"He can't exactly be considered a child. Elric was seventeen when he was killed and he would be almost twenty now, but taking into account that this is Pride and not the Fullmetal boy, and that Pride has a more child-like spirit than Elric, then I suppose that is true." She sighed.

"I thought homunculi had no spirits."

"Oh, no, we do not have souls. There is a difference between as spirit and a soul." He nodded, accepting that explanation and he also noted that Wrath was most likely off somewhere taunting Gluttony with food. He sighed and laid back, deciding to take a little rest before playing audience for Envy and Pride's performance they were going to be forced to do that evening.

Alphonse stretched out and yawned. If he had to describe his day in one word it would be 'boring'. Everything that the people he questioned said was exactly the same only in different context. It was always about a blonde jumping in front of the truck shouting that his sister was stabbed and the murderer was right behind them and a palm tree attacking the guards in back. Sometimes a person would say it was a blonde girl and not a boy, but the blonde was identified to have long hair, so it probably would go either way.

What constantly disturbed Alphonse is that the homunculi were in Anima and that there was another one that was born. Every time he thought about it, he automatically thought about Winry. His sub-conscience was trying to tell him something, but with the shock of losing the two most precious people in his life in little over a year still lingering in his heart, he could not figure it out!

"Nii-san, I wish you were here. You would probably have been able to figure this out already." Al murmured to himself. A soft snicker from behind him drew him from his thoughts.

"You really should watch what you wish for. It could come true and bite you in the ass." Al growled and whirled around at the familiar voice. No doubt, it was Envy, standing there with his back against the wall and his better-than-anyone expression.

"You! What are you doing here?" He demanded stepping back and he started sketching a transmutation circle on the wall, because he knew that he'd need it.

"Hey, I was here before you, so you can't kick me out. This is so like you military men. You come into a town and you automatically think you're boss." Envy said crossing his arms.

"When you're a murderer that aided in the escape of another murderer, I have every right to kick you out!" Al told him ready to attack.

"Ouch, no that hurts. Why do you always assume the worse of the homunculi. Okay, we're freaks, a creature of Hell, and the failed result of some idiot human's curiosity and/or god-complex. Don't you think it hurts enough already without you people constantly reminding us." He noticed that the homunculus was acting rather oddly, but he didn't care.

"I don't know what you're trying to do, but it's not going to work! You've killed enough people, Envy!" he shouted activating the transmutation circle and creating a sword much like the fancy one Edward always made. Envy whistled, as if impressed, but then he smirked and 'tsk'ed.

"Now, Elric, that's just rude, don't you think? I mean, isn't it enough that you killed your own brother? Now you're copying him, how disrespectful." That made Al's eyes and heart fill with pain and he felt tears well up in his eyes. That day his brother died…Al had always blamed himself for Edward's death. Hearing the accusation from his enemy's mouth only hurt all the worse.

"Be quiet! You don't understand! You don't!" he was filling with anger and pain, and he was prepared to take it out on the barely dressed male in front of him. He held the sword tightly and ran towards Envy, ready to fight. He probably would have hit, considering the man was just standing there, but he was suddenly jerked back by a hand that grabbed his shoulder and he felt a painful blow to the face as hi body sailed into the wall.

"DON'T YOU DARE HURT ENVY!" Alphonse gasped when he heard the voice. It was so familiar! He turned to the voice and his eyes widened to the size of saucers.

"Nii-san!"

All right, there's the new chapter, and a bit of a cliffhanger. All flames will be used to roast marshmellows, reviews, advice, and constuctive critism are welcome.