"No matter how injured you get to atrocities,

you're still always stunned and shocked by

how cruel and wasteful Homo sapiens can be."

- Steven Pinker

Amelia was quiet on the way home, much to the surprise of Armstrong. She didn't say a word about the magnificent display of alchemy she had seen, nor did she ask any questions about it. Instead, the trip home was spent in silence - total silence. Amelia didn't even complain about her handcuffs. The ride back home was a bit too quiet for Armstrong's liking.

"So… do you understand the capabilities of alchemy now?" He asked, looking over at her as they sat in the backseat of the car.

"What?" She looked over at him, "Sorry, I wasn't listening."

"I asked if you had a better understanding on the importance of alchemy for our country." He said.

"Oh. Yeah, sure." She moved her head back so that she was facing front, staring at the headrest of the seat in front of her. The major furrowed his brow a bit as he saw her response. Compared to how she was just a little while ago, this was a drastic change in character, she had been spitting sarcastic one-liners and spoiled rantings as if she breathed them, now she had hardly spoken a word.

"I understand that the first time seeing combat alchemy can be quite awe-inspiring." He said to her, trying to help figure out what was wrong, "I hope you can understand the benefit this science brings to our nation."

"Mm-hmm." Was all she said in response.

"Well, it has been a long day. Perhaps you will feel better with some rest tonight." He said, figuring that might be why she was acting like this.

She didn't argue, so he took that as a sign he was right. They rode back to the Armstrong estate in silence, with the major releasing her from her handcuffs once they reached the front door, escorting her inside. They were greeted by one of the family servants, who informed them that the rest of the family had already turned in for the night, but he was glad to inform the family of his return. Armstrong said he could, so long as it didn't disturb their rest, and that he would take Amelia up to her room for the night.

The hallway was lined with the softest carpeting, the walls covered in a luxurious red and gold wallpaper, all of it lined with portraits of Armstrong family members, or elegant paintings. Neither of them said a word as he brought her to her room, opening up the door to reveal a rather large bedroom, that was covered in a similar plush carpet as the hallway, with antique furniture that had been polished to look like it was brand new, with a door off to the side that Armstrong explained was a personal bathroom for her use. There were massive windows along the wall that had velvet curtains, which were currently closed so the room was only lit by a few dim, yellow lanterns that seemed much darker in the room at this time of night.

"I'm sure you will find it more comfortable than a prison cell." Armstrong said, trying to make the situation a little more jovial than it was at the moment. Amelia still didn't really say anything as she went over to the bed and sat down on it. The comforter was goose-down, so it was extra soft and warm in comparison to whatever blanket she had in prison. He looked at her a bit concernedly, watching as she just sat down, staring at the floor for a little while. Just staring down without saying a word, he didn't take this as normal, but he tried to contribute it to her just being tired. "You should know that the windows have been locked as a security measure, so you won't escape. And the door will be locked as well, you will not be able to leave this room until someone wakes you in the morning."

"Yeah, alright." Amelia said, it figures that even though this cell is considerably nicer than the one she was in before, it was still a prison cell.

"There are nightclothes in the dresser for you." Armstrong said, pointing to the dresser on the other side of the room, "And a few other clothes as well, many of them used to be Catherine's, but I believe they will fit you well enough until such a time as we can find you a more suitable wardrobe." Amelia just nodded and he awkwardly returned the gesture, "Well, then… good night."

"Good night." Amelia looked up as she watched the major close the mahogany doors to the bedroom, hearing a lock click in place before he walked away. She didn't really know what else to do now. She slipped her feet out of her shoes and crawled into the goose down bed, slipping underneath and bringing the covers up to her chin, still fully dressed in her two-day old clothes. She just wanted to sleep and forget about all of this, all the weird, god-like abilities that she had seen today, on top of knowing that she needs to learn that in order to stay out of prison. The idea of being that powerful had its appeal, sure, but she had a feeling that with these kinds of people, she was way out of her league.

Amelia was quiet on the trip to the hospital, not really saying much. She was starting to get used to her wooden handcuffs now, it seemed, though hopefully she wouldn't have to wear them for much longer whenever she went out in public. Her lessons in alchemy were to officially start that afternoon, but her teacher wanted to pay a visit to the Elric brothers in the hospital, saying something about a cure-all method that's been passed through the Armstrong line for generations! She was starting to wonder if that was his catchphrase or something. He also wanted her to apologize for her rude behavior yesterday towards them. She figured it wasn't really that important since she likely wasn't going to see them again, but she agreed to it. Which was why she was carrying the bouquet of roses, and not her teacher, as they walked down the sidewalk from where the car had been parked.

"Hopefully, I'll never need to see you in here, Miss Seymour." Armstrong said as they walked in, "Though you can be comforted in knowing that the hospital is only a short drive away from the estate."

"Yeah, sure." She muttered, looking away from him.

He looked back at her over his shoulder as he walked, "You've been very quiet since yesterday."

"Can you blame me?" She asked, looking up at him, "I saw you rip apart walls, and I saw some guy try to freeze over the whole damn town. Then there was that… explosion dude."

"Do you mean Colonel Mustang?" Armstrong asked.

"I guess, I don't know his name."

He let out a hum, turning to the nurse at the front desk, "Excuse me, where are the Elric brothers located? We're here for a personal visit."

"Just a moment, let me check." The nurse said before she started looking through some different files for a few minutes, and then back at him, "Edward Elric is up on the second floor, room 222."

"Thank you." He started walking towards the stairs and Amelia followed after him. "I understand this might be daunting for you, but I can assure you that the Armstrong method of teaching is infallible and I am certain of your future success."

"Thanks." She said, readjusting her arms as she carried the bouquet, her handcuffs clattering a little bit. He was a little disappointed over her monosyllabic answer, but she did seem open to learning, and that was something good, he supposed. He walked with her up the stairs, making sure she was still in sight, though she didn't seem eager to run away. The walk up to the room on the second floor was quick, and Amelia could hear some murmurs of the people inside talking to each other before Armstrong opened the door, pushing Amelia in first with the bouquet.

She saw the blonde kid from the day before sitting up in bed, dressed in a hospital gown, and she could see some bandages on his shoulder underneath it if she looked hard enough. The one in the armor was sitting next to the bed, seeming to be perfectly fine. They both looked up at Amelia when she came in, though their expressions turned into a mixture of surprise and dread when Major Armstrong loomed over her head behind her.

"Greetings, Edward Elric." He said eloquently, pronouncing every letter perfectly as he greeted him, "When I heard you were here in the hospital, I dashed right over!" He pushed Amelia forward, "And I brought my student Amelia as well, to see to your health!" She felt his hands going underneath her arms in preparation of lifting her up to display her, and she let out a protesting groan and he pulled his hands away, "And it is as I suspected, you are in desperate need of my assistance." Amelia heard some shuffling, and then she felt Armstrong's coat and shirt falling on top of her head, and the boys let out screams of horror. She looked back to see he had shed his clothes to expose his very muscular torso and started posing. "You need the example of a perfect physical specimen to inspire your recovery!" He looked over at the two horrified boys as well as Amelia gaping in disbelief and smiled, "You see? You're looking livelier already!" He let out a hearty laugh, thinking it was working.

Edward shouted, "Will you get out?!"

At the same time Amelia shouted, "Are you fucking kidding me?!" Her voice was the one that caught the majors attention, "You seriously bring me over here, make me carry a fucking bouquet of roses, just so you could pose for some dude at the hospital?! How can you possibly be so ridiculous?!" She brought her hands up into her hair in her frustration, only to knock them against her forehead and she let out a frustrated groan, causing her to drop the bouquet "Goddamn it…"

"Amelia, please watch your language." He said, standing up straight, no longer posing. "And please pick up the bouquet, we can't leave a mess for the people in the hospital."

"Guess your new student still needs some discipline, Major." Edward said.

Amelia glared at him, "You shut your mouth." She bent down to pick up the bouquet. The major made a gesture with his arm, waving to the small night table next to Edward's bed. When Amelia didn't move, he awkwardly cleared his throat and made gesture again. She scowled but she got the message and made her way over to the table and put the bouquet down. She still glared at the blonde boy, who glared right back at her.

The major cleared his throat again, "Amelia, don't you have something to say to Mr. Elric?" He said pointedly.

"You don't have to talk to me like a child." She snapped at him, turning her head to put her glare on him.

"Well, you sure act like one." Edward said with a smirk.

"Brother!" Alphonse whispered to his brother, not wanting him to start something with this girl.

She turned to him with a glare, and she let a small smirk of her own grow on her face, "Better to act like a child than look like one."

Edward's expression turned murderous, "Is that some kind of short joke?"

Alphonse quickly stood up, bringing his hands to Edward's shoulders, letting out a nervous laugh, "Brother, calm down."

"Was it a short joke?" Edward asked again, the two of them still glaring at each other.

"You tell me, little man." Amelia said, emphasizing the word to make him mad, jumping back when Edward nearly pounced on her, surprised at the level of anger he had as he reached his hands out for her, demanding that Alphonse let him go while the armored boy tried to get him to calm down. Major Armstrong put his hands on Amelia's shoulders, pulling her back from Edward, for her own safety and so she wouldn't antagonize him anymore.

"Amelia." Armstrong's tone was more firm this time, and she let out a reluctant sigh.

"Fine." She muttered, looking up at Edward as he still glared angrily at her, trying to get out of Alphonse's arms, "I'm sorry." That made him pause for a moment, looking at her curiously, though it was clear he was still angry. After another nudge from Armstrong, wanting her to expand on that, she continued, "I'm sorry for being so disrespectful yesterday… And I guess today, too."

"That's better." The major said, "I would like to also apologize as the one responsible for her." Amelia rolled her eyes, while the Elric brothers listened, "I did not believe that discipline would need to be part of her alchemy training, but now I see very clearly that it is. So, beginning tomorrow, you shall join the Armstrong family official training regimen that all members of the Armstrong family endure to obtain this perfect form." He flexed his muscles and Amelia actually looked a little horrified.

"Are you seriously telling me I have to do your P90X camp or whatever?" She asked.

"What's that?" Armstrong asked, not understanding.

"Do I have to exercise with you?" She clarified.

"Yes!" He was thrilled at the prospect, "It begins in the early morning, so I hope you are prepared to be an early riser!"

"Oh, Jesus Christ…" She muttered, bringing her hands up to her face, knowing she was going to hate every moment of it - and she definitely didn't want to make her body look like his in any way! She didn't want muscles so massive she couldn't see the bottom of her feet! "Please no, I promise to behave, but for the love of God do not try to make me look like you." She begged him.

Edward started snickering and she glared at him, "Don't think I won't come over there and smack that smile off your face!" She snapped at him.

"Perhaps that's enough for today." Armstrong said, pushing her out of the room, picking up his shirt and uniform jacket, "We wish you the best, young Elric brothers and hope you get well soon!"

"Or drop dead." Amelia muttered under her breath, and no one heard her. She walked out with the major back to the estate, watching as he dressed himself in the walk down the hallway. "I will hate every second of working out with you."

"Oh, don't be so certain." He said with a beaming smile, "Physical exercise helps improve the body and improve one's overall condition! I'm sure you will enjoy it, the Armstrong family has spent generations perfecting the techniques to bring out the greatest potential in one's body!"

She rolled her eyes again, "Yeah, like I haven't heard that shit a hundred times already." She said, "Is there any technique your family hasn't perfected?" She was being sarcastic, but she was a little curious as well.

The major let out a hum as he tried to think, "I always believed our family's recipe for apple pie was lacking, it does not have quite the same taste as one might find in a store."

Amelia was surprised that the only thing these guys hadn't managed to do right was pie making, but she shrugged, "Well, that's something at least." It was nice to know they didn't think they were totally perfect as a family.

She went back to the estate, and everything seemed as normal as it would be. Armstrong spent another hour talking about his family tree before he managed to mention something even slightly related to alchemy, and Amelia could already feel herself drifting off. Seriously, she can't learn anything from this stupidly pointless family history lesson! Yet still, he droned on and on about the illustrious Armstrong history until she felt like she was going to be bored out of her mind.

At some point, she didn't know when, she closed her eyes, but she fell asleep at the table, and she was woken up by a rather large hand on her shoulder.

"I'm awake." She said, assuring her teacher that she was up, looking in front of her, and seeing that the large man was gone. In front of her was a book that still depicted the Armstrong tree. She looked up at who had put their hand on her shoulder, and she saw it was one of the triplets that the Major had been born with. She jumped a bit as she looked up at her - it was still pretty jarring to look up at one of these sisters and see her teacher's face, but they wore ornate dresses and had long, curly, blonde locks. "Oh… hey… Amue?" She hoped she had the right name.

"Strongine." She corrected her, in a surprisingly (or perhaps not-so-surprisingly) deep voice. "Alex left, he had to go to work."

"Oh." Amelia looked down at the book, "Um… when did he leave?"

"An hour ago." She said, moving to take a seat beside her, "He asked me to come and check on your studies."

"Oh…" She knew what she was going to tell her, Strongine was going to lecture her about not listening to her teacher and avoiding her lessons. "Well, lay it on me, then. You're mad that I fell asleep during your brother's lesson, right?"

"Are you kidding?" Amelia was surprised to hear a bit of laughter coming from her, looking up and seeing how she smiled, "I'm surprised you didn't fall asleep right away. I get pretty bored with these lessons, too." She reached over with her massive hand to take the book from Amelia, looking over all the different portraits that had been drawn onto the page. It was so weird for Amelia to look at her, and basically see her teacher, with a humorous smirk on her face as she flipped through the pages. "My family tried to teach me this, too. I couldn't do it, my father just has the most boring way of describing our family." She looked over at Amelia, "Alex, on the other hand, idolizes our father, and everything in this family." Strongine closed the book and set it in front of her. "We Armstrongs do have a long and illustrious history, but I was never good at remembering it all. And I'm not really one for sciences, either."

"Me neither." Amelia said, "I always kind of hated all the trouble that you have to go through with chemistry and equations and all that. Maybe if it was something more like biology I'd have an easier grasp of it, but… yeah."

Strongine smiled at her, "You know, my father doesn't want me really talking to you, considering that you're a convict." She said, "But what Father doesn't know won't hurt him, right?" She reached over and pat Amelia on the shoulder, which almost knocked the girl into the table, but she smiled back at the muscular woman. It was nice to know that her teacher's sisters weren't clones of him.

"Yeah, it's nice to have someone to talk to." Amelia said, "So… I guess I need to keep studying." She looked down at the book that depicted the family tree, grimacing a bit, but he wanted her to study…

Strongine was quick to close the book. "I have a better idea."

Amelia watched as Strongine sat at the piano with her much smaller sister, Catherine, teaching her to play a new song. She had been invited to watch, since the girls had their piano lessons to do. She was sitting off to the side as she listened to the classical tune being played out in different keys as Strongine demonstrated for Catherine. She had been given some black tea and some finger sandwiches to snack on while she watched. It was definitely a bit more entertaining than reading through the family history of someone else, especially since she knew pianos much better.

"You're doing great, Catherine." Strongine praised her younger sister, who beamed brightly at her words, continuing to play the piece that Amelia had never heard before. She was so different from the seemingly mischievous woman who had spoken to her before. Strongine actually seemed to be rather sweet and caring, despite her intimidating appearance. At least, with her younger sister she was kind and caring. "Here, trying to widen your fingers a bit, you keep hitting this key."

"I know, I know. It's so difficult, my hands aren't as long as yours, sister." Catherine said. Amelia would have just said that Strongine's hands were fatter, too, but she kept quiet.

"Your hands are fine as they are, Catherine." Strongine assured her, "Keep playing. Even the smallest hands can create music." Catherine nodded and kept at it, playing out the melody that was on the paper in front of her.

Amelia was quiet, watching the two sisters practice together, listening as they played out the notes to the tune up until a certain point where a sour note was accidentally hit, or a key was played off-rhythm, and Catherine started over again, or Strongine would show her how first. She could hear nothing but the sound of the piano in the ornately decorated parlor room, which was empty save for the three of them.

It reminded her of her piano lessons, how the teacher commanded the classroom into total silence when she was first teaching a new song to them. They would all get a chair that faced the piano, and they would sit, and they would watch as their teacher's fingers flew over the keys and passionately played out the song as if it were the greatest in the world. She was a passionate woman when it came to music, so it was no surprise that she would be so enthusiastic about a new song to teach her students, however to listen to her play was something entirely different than hearing her talk about it, to Amelia, anyway.

When someone is passionate about piano, really passionate about it, the way that they played it was completely different than hearing them talk about it. The way their fingers pounded against the keys, creating a perfect melody that would sweep you away and make you picture such beauty in your mind's eye, engulfing you in its sound, seeing the way their bodies swayed with the rhythm, as if they were putting everything they had into playing out the song as if it was their last stand against the world; this was what she considered perfection. And she always wanted to try to imitate that, to be that kind of perfect, even when she was a little child and she balanced piano lessons with ballet and painting classes that her mother had signed her up for. She didn't want to do ballet, or paint pictures that would never be as good as someone else's - but a song, no one can play the same song the same way, but everyone loves every interpretation of each song. That ability to please everyone, to have your way of playing and have everyone love it even if it's a song they'd heard a hundred times before, that was her perfection.

"Amelia," she was pulled out of her thoughts when the music stopped and Strongine called her name, "Do you want to try playing?"

"Sure." She stood up from her chair to head over to the piano, Strongine moving to stand while Catherine remained seating. "Alright, let's see what I can do here…" She started to play out Greensleeves over the keys, it was something she always ended up playing, and the melancholic melody was always kind of sweet, so she figured they might like to hear it. Catherine and Strongine were silent as they listened to Amelia playing, her eyes going over every key, making sure she hit each one in time, with just enough pressure to get out the sound she wanted. She was completely focused on her music, making sure she hit each one right to play out the first verse, and then she finished. She smiled when she was met with the sisters' applause.

"How pretty! I never knew you played Amelia." Catherine said with a bright smile.

"Yeah, I've been playing for years." She replied, looking back at the keys, "I still take lessons, lots of songs to learn, though."

"Well, the effort shows." Amelia looked up to see Strongine was in tears, wiping at her eyes, "Forgive me, it was just such a moving melody. My emotions got the best of me." She let out a heavy, shaky sigh and put her hand to her chest as she tried to calm herself, even fanning her eyes a bit. "What is it called? Did you write it yourself?"

"It's called Greensleeves. It's just a folk song." Amelia said with a shrug, a little surprised that she had moved Strongine to tears. "Uh, you want a tissue or something?"

"No, I'm fine." Strongine let out another sigh and she looked down at her, "Amelia, you have incredible talent, have you ever thought about performing?"

She shrugged, "I have recitals all the time, my piano school has them every year."

"I meant a concert, have you ever performed a concert?" Amelia shook her head, "We'll arrange one for you."

"What?!" She moved to stand up from the bench, but ended up hitting her knees against the piano and fell back onto the stool, grabbing onto the keys and pounding her fingers down on a few hard notes before she looked back up at Strongine, "Why? You only heard one song! Concerts are supposed to be like, five or six songs."

"Yes, but you played it so beautifully! I'm certain you can easily play out more songs if you tried." Strongine said, "We Armstrongs have plenty of connections with the arts, our family has a long, illustrious history of being among the largest supporters of Amestris's greatest composers and artists! I'm sure I could set up a concert for you in no time at all."

"I don't want a concert! I didn't even play out the whole song!" Amelia said, moving to stand up (much more carefully this time since her knees still kind of hurt and she could feel her feet tingling a bit) "I don't need to do that, I'll be fine without one. Now before you try to convince me, I'm going to go and try to get some food." She reached over for Catherine's arm and pulled her up, "And since I'm not allowed to be by myself in your house, you're coming with me."

She dragged along the young woman, with Strongine trailing after them as Amelia went to make her way to the kitchen.

After a long time of trying to get Strongine off her case about performing in a concert, Amelia managed to get a little meal for herself. It was just a little snack that the Armstrong family chef team decided to make when she asked for a savory snack. She was hoping to find something like potato chips, but a small serving of assorted nuts worked, too.

The rest of the day was uneventful, other than just Amelia exhausting herself as Strongine took it upon herself to teach Amelia some of the songs she had been taught. It seemed that, when it came to whatever the Armstrong family was passionate about, they all had the same desire to pass it on for posterity's sake. She sat through lessons with Strongine's teaching and Catherine's near constant encouragement for a couple hours until dinner was called. Her teacher wasn't joining them because of some business at the military offices, which apparently wasn't uncommon for him. The night before had actually been one of the rare occasions that he was able to join them for a meal.

It was surprising to hear of his work ethic, considering his eccentricity. In Amelia's experience, the eccentric people she had known were people that could afford to be eccentric, and that normally meant some form of inheritance or winning the lottery. In the Major's case, he could certainly afford to be eccentric, but he also had a surprising desire to actually better his home and nation, and he put in the work to do that. She probably shouldn't be surprised, but she was.

Eventually, dinner ended and she was sent to her room for the night, with the doors locking up tight behind her to make sure there weren't any escape attempts. She changed into some nightclothes, which she was very quick to discover were Catherine's hand-me-downs because the… chest area of all the clothes was tailor made to be a lot bigger than her own. She didn't complain about it, though. She got ready for the night and slipped into bed, letting out a sigh as she settled into the goose down covers again.

She still couldn't quite get used to this place. The thought that she would be given the power to level buildings and reshape them to resemble her face was both thrilling and terrifying. Thrilling because anyone with that kind of power would be thrilled to do whatever they pleased with it, but terrifying because she knew it was for military purposes. She knew that, if she was given this power, she would likely be held on a tight leash under the control of different soldiers. So if she managed to get out of this and be able to not go to prison, she would probably still be imprisoned under the control of the government itself, at their beck and call to do whatever they asked of her. She would be their little attack dog, doing exactly as she was told.

The thought didn't sit well with her, and she tossed and turned in her sleep all night long.