/AN/ Hey you guys! First off, I wanna say a big THANK YOU! to all you people who reviewed and added this fic to your favorites! I love you all! (in an author-to-reader kinda way) So sorry for the long wait...I was in Virginia for weeks with no internet access. Now...to answer some questions you people asked...no this NOT an Envy x OC story...it's not supposed to be a romance story, but if you want to think of it that way...sure, why not. The OC, Anya, is where Envy got his face from in the regular FMA series...but for more on that you're gunna have to continue to read >D lol.Also, this is an AU story, but with facts from the show...kinda. Heh. Anywho, on with the next chappie!

Disclaimer: Do I look like Arakawa Hiromu to you?...nope, didn't think so.



Origin of Sin

Two: Homunculus


The sun lazily rose over the hills, peeking its brilliant head down over the valley, showering its luminous rays upon the small town in the early morning hours. In the light of the new day, Anya sprinted across the fields, sending up a spray of dew in her wake. Finally, over the crest of the next hill perched her destination --the old barn she had been coming to for the past two weeks. As she neared the haven of rotting wood, she slowed her pace and tightened her grip on the leather-bond volumes she had clutched tightly in her arms.

"Anya!"

Anya quickly whirled around, trying her best to hide the monstrous tombs behind her back at the same time. An elderly woman approached her, and smiled warmly. Her tanned face was lined with fine lines and her wispy white hair tied loosely in a low ponytail. In her arms she held an assortment of violets, lilacs, pansies, among other flowers.

"G-good morning M-ms. Girdner," Anya managed to stutter out. The aged woman stopped a few feet away from Anya and critically eyed her up and down. Margaret Girdner was the village's flower shop owner and had also been a good friend of her mother. Since her mother's death, Margaret had kept a sharp eye on Anya, and watched over her whenever she came through the town.

"I haven't seen you in town recently," Margaret stated casually. "Been busy at home?"

Anya shifted uncomfortably at the mention of her 'home'. "Uh…yes. Kind of."

"Has your father been home recently?" The old woman asked gently, knowing that was a touchy subject for Anya.

"No," Anya answered softly. She smiled, brightening suddenly. "But I'm sure he'll be back soon." Her optimism caused her smile to reflect on the older woman's face.

"I'm so glad to see you're doing well, deary. Where were you headed so early this morning, if you don't mind my asking?"

Anya did, in fact, mind her asking. Not that she didn't trust the old woman, but a feeling in the pit of her stomach told her to keep her activities of the past two week to herself. But Margaret, having known Anya since the day she was born, could easily tell when she was lying, so Anya decided to be truthful in her answer.

"I was headed to the old barn for some studying." It was the truth. Just not the whole truth.

Margaret's eyes suddenly hardened as she scanned Anya's face, as if searching for more. "Yes, about that old barn," the old woman started, her raspy voice low and deathly serious. "I've…heard things Anya, about that place. It's all around town."

A shiver shot down Anya's spine at the old woman's words. "What things?" she asked carefully.

"About the monster," Margaret answered, her eyes as hard as her tone. "There have been rumors of a man that went to the old barn a few weeks ago and created a monster."

"What man?" Anya demanded, her heart pounding loudly in her ears, nearly covering up the old woman's quiet voice.

"An alchemist."

Anya's heart stopped. Her mind felt fuzzy and numb as the pieces of information from Margaret came together in her head. The gossip was the biggest lead she had come across so far, but instead of helping her with her dilemma, it only deepened the puzzle.

"I'll be sure to be careful," Anya said, abruptly ending the conversation. Margaret seemed slightly taken aback at first, but slowly smiled as she turned and continued toward the town.

As Anya watched her go, she let out a long breath. Slowly she brought the heavy books from behind her back and stared at them, her mind racing and heart pounding again. The gossip seemed to nearly fit with what she had researched so far…

"You're earlier than usual today."

Anya jumped and let out a shriek, the monstrous tombs she held tumbling to the ground with a loud thump. She whirled around to find Envy perched on the nearby fence, a look of mild amusement on his face.

"I had to hurry," she started to explain, bending down to retrieve the fallen books, wondering how long he had been there and how much he had heard, "I got these books out of my family's private library...the one my father uses when he's home."

Envy nodded slightly as if only half listening, jumped down from the fence and walked over to her. Without warning, he grabbed her arm hard and yanked it toward him, twisting it upside down as he did.

"Ow! Envy wha--"

"You have another bruise," he cut her off, his golden eyes staring steadily into her own. "Every day for the last two weeks you've come to see me, you've gotten different bruises. I want an explination. Now."

As if on instinct, Anya quickly jerked her arm away from him. "It's nothing," she mumbled, fixing her gaze to a fascinating leaf she saw by her foot. She could feel his eyes bearing into her, and she could tell he was frustrated.

"Well," Envy said suddenly, breaking the tense silence that had settled over them, "let's get to work on those books." He squatted down and picked up a book with brown leather binding, the golden lettered title peeled off in sections and incomprehensible. He casually flipped through it, his eyebrow rising slightly.

"Another alchemy book?" He glanced up at her, a questioning look in his eyes.

"Yeah," Anya answered, kneeling down on the ground beside him. "I've been researching that tattoo on your leg and I actually found a picture of it in this book." She grabbed the thinnest and oldest-looking of the three books and began to flip through the pages.

Envy leaned over and peered down curiously at the book as Anya's carefully turned the worn pages. The ancient pages were yellow with age and the handwritten notes scrawled across them were gray and nearly unreadable.

"Here." Anya stopped her page turning and pointed to the image sketched near the bottom of the document. The picture was a rough, messy sketch, but it was definitely identical to the tattoo on his leg: the winged serpent eating its own tail, with a six pointed star resting in the center.

"It's called an ouroborus," Anya said, quickly scanning the page. She squinted at the faded, quickly scrawled notes as she carefully read through them. " 'The ouroborus, the serpent that eats its own tail, represents the thought of devouring oneself and entering into the secondary half of the circulatory cycle the world, of life and death. It is said the image is he who slays himself and brings himself to life. The ouroborus is referred with the shadow of this process, the immortality of death.' "


The sun was long gone from the sky and a heavy darkness had settled over the town. Anya wandered slowly down the dirt road, completely lost within her thoughts. She and Envy had spent the rest of the day endlessly reading through the volumes, only to come up with nothing else besides the page about the tattoo.

"There have been rumors of a man that went to the old barn a few weeks ago and created a monster."

Margaret's words continued to echo through her mind, only adding to the confusion of Envy's origin. Anya sighed and shook her head slightly. If what the book and Margaret said were both indeed true, that would make Envy some kind of undead monster…which is entirely impossible. He is a normal human that was left there…and no one actually saw a man do anything at the barn… As the thought went through her mind, Anya remembered the odd alchemic markings around Envy when she had discovered him. Could that mean…

"Anya…?"

Anya froze at the sound of her name. She had been so lost in her thoughts, she hadn't realized she was already inside of her house, preparing to head upstairs to her attic bedroom. That voice…

As if in slow motion, Anya turned around to face the man who had spoken her name; the man she had not seen in nearly a year.

"F-father…" Anya suddenly felt tears spring up in her eyes as she left from where she was standing into her father's awaiting arms. As she sobbing in her father's arms, a wave of happiness like she had never felt before washed over her with a single thought. I'm safe now.


Envy trudged through the darkness, barely able to see the path before him. In his arms, he held Anya's heavy books.

Damn it Anya, he cursed to himself, Very convenient of you to forget these huge books of yours…God, how far is your house anyway!

In the far distance, Envy could barely make out the slightest spots of light that he assumed to be coming from Anya's house. Finally…I'd better get something damn good for being so nice…Envy continued to grumble and curse under his breath as he made his way toward Anya's house.


"Oh dad, I've missed you so much!" Anya finally managed to say, quickly wiping the tears off her cheeks. She smiled brilliantly at her father; he was exactly as she remembered. Though he was somewhat slouched over, he still towered over her. His messy dark black hair was tied back in a low ponytail and the beginning of a scruffy beard was showing on his chin. His brown eyes were identical to hers, but as he stared down at her, Anya realized the usually, warm and merry look in his gaze was gone.

"Where have you been?" he demanded bluntly, leaning down slightly closer to her. Anya's nose wrinkled with the slight odor of alcohol on his breath.

"I was--" She started to say but was cut off by a feminine voice behind her.

"She was at that yucky old barn, daddy." From the top of the staircase, Anya's stepsister, Teresa smirked down at them, her pitch black, stick straight hair hanging limply down to her shoulders.

Before Anya had a chance to respond, she felt the back of her father's hand connect with her left cheek in a hard slap.

"You were there!" Her father exclaimed, his voice rising.

"Y-yes…but I always go there," Anya responded numbly. Before the pain from his slap had tiem to fully sink in, her father slapped her again, on the opposite cheek.

"Do you have any idea how dangerous that old barn is!" He demanded. "Didn't you hear the warnings going around? There is a monster in that barn Anya! A creature of the devil, a curse upon this world!"

"Envy is not a monster!"

The words were out of Anya's mouth before she realized it. A deathly silence fell over the room at her words. Anya stared defiantly up at her father, her breathing ragged and tears on her cheeks.

"You…met it?" Her father's voice was dangerously low and shaky. Without warning, he reached out and grabbed Anya's shoulders and shook her hard. "Do have any idea what that creature is?"

Terrified, Anya could only shake her head.

"It's a curse, a damned creature, a child of the devil. It is not of this world. It was created by an alchemist using human transmutation. It's not human, Anya!"

Anya clutched her wet, throbbing cheeks as she turned away and sprinted up the stairs, shoving Teresa out of the way as she fled,not wanting to hear anymore of the lies her father was feeding her. Of course Envy's a human! What else could he be!

As if reading her thoughts, her father's voice floated up the steps after her, answering the question in her mind.

"It's a homunculus."


/AN/ I hope yall like the chappie! See yall next time and please review!