Okay, here's another chapter. Hope you like it. I'm just guessing here, since I don't really know what's going to happen between now and the conclusion of the story, but I think that there are two chapters left, after this one. I'm just telling you now so that you don't all try to clobber me for not warning you about the ending approaching, hehe.

Disclaimer: I do not own FullMetal Alchemist. Can I pretend that I do? Sure, let's pretend that I do, just remember that I'm not the real owner. (Ed doesn't have to know though. I have too much fun making him think I own him. Heh.)

Edward was growing progressively weaker with each passing day. He kept trying to hide it, but he no longer could. Everyone in his party could tell just how weak he was now.

The ground began to shake beneath their feet. Edward was moving back and forth between his human and watery forms, since he had no control in the midst of an earthquake.

Everyone had fallen to their hands and knees by now. They had no idea what to do. They couldn't just stand by and do nothing though, as Edward was so weak, but what could they do?

The ground erupted, and two shapeless masses of rock and soil burst from the ground. They lunged at Edward, who put up his watery hands as if that would help to protect him from the attack.

The two earth people entered Edward's body without much difficulty, and caused their earthy bodies to mix with Edward's watery one. Needless to say, Edward couldn't budge. That much earth combined with that little water makes for very thick mud, and he couldn't move a muscle.

Everyone could hear Ed growling like he was applying all his force into something. He was obviously trying to regain control over his own body, without much success. What could he do? It was two against one, and the one was in his weakest state. If only this mud weren't so thick, maybe he could do something about it.

Pisces shot a glance at Al. Al returned her glance and nodded. They both converted to their watery forms and lunged at the mass of mud before them, mixing with it themselves.

The mud thinned out, and Edward finally got a little control back, but he was still too weak to escape. He felt like crying for a brief moment, but quickly decided against it. If nothing else, he could at least be strong in that way.

Edward sighed to himself. He'd been trying to deny it, but he really was weak, and needed help right now to get out of this situation. If he were to continue struggling, he'd probably actually hinder more than help those who were trying to help him. He relaxed himself completely, and just rode with the currents. He was just going to have to let happen whatever was to happen.

The two water signs at the two earth signs thrashed and fought for several minutes, both trying to get control over Ed. Finally, the earth signs just let go, and left. They had done what they had set out to do, so they didn't need to stay longer.

Al and Pisces carefully dragged Ed out of the mass as he struggled to regain his human form. It took him a few minutes, but he finally succeeded. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. At least he was alright.

Winry stepped up to him, and extended her hand to help pull him up. He sighed and took her hand, since he seriously could use the help. Why did he have to be so weak, anyway?

"Is there a reason that I'm getting this weak?" asked Ed as he stood up. "I know that all the signs go through a point of weakness, but do they get hit this hard?"

"Well," said Sagittarius, "The full moon hits on your birthday this year, and it'll be in Scorpio at that time, so that would made a pretty big difference."

Ed sighed. "That may be, but doesn't that happen fairly often? I don't see any other signs having to deal with this."

Winry pulled a small planner out of her pocket and flipped to Ed's birthday. She had written down a lot of astrological information just before they had set out on their journey, since she figured that knowing ahead of time what forces were at work might just work to their advantage. She gasped and looked up.

"What's the matter, Win?" asked Ed.

"There's a lunar eclipse on your birthday," she said.

Everyone was star struck for a moment. "But…how could he possibly still be retaining his human form then?" asked Sagittarius, "None of the other signs can still hold their forms within a few days of an eclipse."

Winry closed her book. "Ed is strong. I know. I was his auto-mail mechanic." Edward chuckled, but didn't say anything. Everyone continued to sit and stare in silence.

"So…" Al ventured, "Do you think that Aries deliberately planned this because of the unusual forces at work?"

"Probably," said Pisces, "Everyone knows that the water signs are her only threat, particularly Scorpio. She's probably been planning this for years, considering how opportune a time it is for her, with Scorpio being so weak."

Ed stood up and took a determined stance. "In that case, we need to get going. We've got to get to the circle while I still have some of the strength left."

"Wait, Izumi-san," said Winry, "Can't you just carry the three of them to the circle? That way, they'd get there while Ed still had some strength."

"Technically, I COULD carry them," said Izumi, "But it would be unwise to do so. This being the Scorpio month, he needs the help of everyone in this group, and I can't carry anyone but them."

Winry sighed. She understood, but that didn't mean she had to like it. "Well, in that case, what are we waiting for? Let's get a move on!" Everyone shook their heads. They could have almost sworn that she was the female version of Ed right then. They picked up their pace and walked on.

The next few days were quite rough. Ed was growing weaker each day, and was having more and more difficulty staying in his human form. One couldn't help but feel sorry for him, but he would just shrug it off as if it were nothing, and keep pushing on. They should have arrived at the circle long before this point, but those under Aries kept attacking and slowing them down.

Finally, it was his birthday. They were almost to the circle as well. Ed knew that one way or the other, he'd end up at the circle today. He just hoped that it was the "one way" and not "the other".

He tried to sit up, but didn't feel right. He then realized that he was in his watery form. He half-chuckled to himself. No wonder he couldn't sit up properly, water doesn't "sit". He tried to convert back to his human form, but failed in the attempt. He tried again…and again. He just couldn't return to his human form.

So, this was it…his weakest day. The day when he couldn't even retain his human form. The best he could do was to pull himself into a human-shaped mass of water, which he did for the sake of everyone else, though it was more to keep his own sanity intact than for them.

Just then, the wind picked up suddenly. Great. He had to have an attack from the wind signs when he was weakest. Just great.

There was no way that he could defend himself, and it happened too quickly for anyone else to intervene. The two wind signs swooped down and froze Ed into a block of ice, followed by an earthquake from the earth signs, which caused the ground to split open and swallow him up.

"Ed! No!" cried Winry, trying to run over the shaking earth without stumbling, which was quite a feat.

Pisces put a hand on Winry's shoulder. "Aries won't hurt him. She needs him. He's just been taken to the circle. If we hurry, we may be able to catch up with him."

Winry grabbed Pisces' hand and started running. "Come one, let's hurry up and get there!"

"Uh, Winry," said Pisces, dragging her feet, "I understand your intense desire to get there quickly, but the circle is that way." She jerked her thumb over her shoulder so that it pointed behind her back.

Winry blushed for a second, but didn't wait for the feeling to go away before grabbing Pisces' hand again and saying, "Come on, there's no time to lose!" Pisces sighed. She didn't know what was going to happen, but Winry knew even less than Pisces. Would Winry even be able to handle what she saw when she got to the circle? She hoped that Winry was a strong-minded and she sounded. She was going to need to be once she got there.

Did you like the chapter? I hope so. Please leave me a review, and I'll be happy to update quick. I've already got a partial chapter written up for the next one. If you give me a lot of reviews, I'll post it really quick. Touka Koukan, remember?