"What!" gasped Roy, Riza, Al and Ed.
"Is this true?" Riza looked at Allen.
"Yeah. That's what I was going to say," replied Allen. "The man with the eye patch- the Fuhrer- he was like the man and woman from before. He looked human, but there was something different about him. It's sort of hard to explain. The homunculi are definitely not akuma. They're practically human. Except there's something empty about the homunculi. It's like a part of them is missing. They're like…"
"Humans that aren't human," Ed finished for him.
"Exactly," confirmed Allen.
"Homunculi are made from the dead, right? So they're a bit like akuma," observed Lenalee.
"One thing the two definitely have in common is that they're both evil. And they seem to be working for this Earl person," said Roy. "Wait a minute! If the Fuhrer is a homunculus, this country is doomed! Are you two sure?"
"I could be wrong. That emptiness the homunculi have is easy to miss," replied Allen. "But he responded so strongly to our Innocence."
"I'm sure. He has an Ouroborus mark like Greed-sama's," Marta's voice was firm. "It's under his eye patch. On his eyeball, to be more precise. I'd know that mark anywhere."
"Lab 5! The chimaeras! Human experiments! Shou Tucker! Maes Hughes!" Roy began pacing around the room. "Everything's starting to make sense!"
"Then the country really is in trouble!" Winry gasped. "The Fuhrer is the leader, and he's evil! What are we going to do?"
A screen suddenly burst out of Timcanpi's mouth. Komui Li greeted the occupants of the room cheerfully.
"Did you find anything out?" asked Lavi. Komui sweatdropped sheepishly.
"Well, all the reports we have on homunculi are about alchemy, failed attempts to create humans, stuff like that. But don't worry, I've been reviewing your video all night," Komui assured them.
"The only way you could've done that is if you were dreaming about it," a red-haired man with an Australian accent popped into the screen beside Komui. "Mr. Li spent the night sleeping at his desk. I watched, re-watched and wrote a report about your battle. But I didn't find out anything about the homunculi either."
Marta, who hadn't paid that much attention to the exorcists before then, now regarded them with extreme curiosity.
"That's Squad Leader Reever Wenham," explained Lenalee. Everyone else introduced themselves. Then, Ed, Al and Roy told Komui about the homunculi while Winry proceeded to enlighten Marta on what was happening.
"One more thing," Ed added after all the explaining was done. He held up the heart-shaped jewel. "Al, Winry and I found this. It started to glow when the Fuhrer came in. Is it an Innocence, too?"
"Maybe. Do you mind giving it to one of the exorcists? They can hold on to it while you're there," said Komui.
Kanda took the heart from Ed and tucked it safely into his robes.
"We think that there has to be more than one or two Innocences there to create a portal. Do you think you can stay there for a while and look for them?" asked Komui.
"Sure," agreed Allen, Lenalee and Lavi.
"It's not like we have a way to get back yet," Kanda grudgingly agreed to the arrangements.
"Okay. Miss Hawkeye, I'm sorry you have to be thrust so abruptly into this battle, but the exorcists will help out in any way they can. You can also ask me some questions when I call," said Komui. "That's all for now. Stay in touch!"
"Bye," everyone chorused, and Timcanpi swallowed the screen.
"No use hanging around in here," Riza pointed out. "I might as well start training."
"I'll see you later," Marta started climbing out the window. "I've got to keep a low profile." Everyone else exited using the door.
"It sounds like you'll be here for a while. We'll have to see about your living arrangements," said Roy.
"Well, maybe one of them can stay at Mrs. Hughes'?" offered Winry. "I could ask her about it."
"We can stay at the hotel," Allen assured them.
"We don't want to be any trouble," agreed Lenalee. The group walked out of the Military building.
"What's this, Roy? Do you have guests?" an extremely muscular bald man with a large blonde moustache approached them outside. Little pink sparklies twinkled around him.
"Hello, Major Armstrong. Meet Ed and Al's cousin Allen. He has just returned from studying in Xing. He brought some of his friends," fibbed Roy.
"You crossed the Great Desert?" Armstrong asked in amazement.
"Yeah," answered Ed. "We're trying to find them a place to stay."
"We'll stay at the hotel! It's fine, really!" said Lenalee.
"Nonsense! Any Elric is welcome in my home!" Armstrong proclaimed. "I will not refuse shelter to those who have made such a long, hard and tiresome journey! You will stay at the Armstrong's estate!"
"No! We really don't want to be any trouble!" argued Allen.
"No trouble at all! Look at you, boy! So young, but with hair so white! You must have been through as much hardship as your cousins!" Armstrong sniffed sentimentally.
"Yeah, they have," confirmed Alphonse.
"I insist you stay at my home! Please do not refuse!" thundered Armstrong.
"Okay," shrugged Lavi. Allen and Lenalee also agreed.
"Problem solved," agreed Mustang.
"I am on my lunch break. I can show you my home now. Do you need to retrieve you possessions?" asked Armstrong. Allen explained that they didn't really bring anything to Amestris with them. "Crossing the Great Desert with just the clothing on your back! Brave and fearless, indeed! Come, then! I will give you a tour of the great Armstrong estate!"
"Ugh. No way," Kanda looked at Armstrong with disgust. "I'll take the hotel. Bye." Kanda started down the street towards the inn.
"Okay! Bye, Yu-chan!" Lavi waved. Kanda turned around and glared coldly at Lavi before resuming his walk.
"Is that Kanda's last name?" asked Allen.
"No, Yu is Kanda's first name. Yu Kanda. But since he's Japanese, it becomes Kanda Yu," explained Lavi. "I guess you wouldn't know, since everyone calls him by his last name. He doesn't like being called Yu."
"Come! Do not loiter!" Armstrong urged the exorcists. "I must introduce such brave young people to the rest of my family!"
"Well, let's get back to work, Lieutenant Hawkeye," Roy said to Riza.
"Anything you need our help with, Mustang-kun?" inquired Lavi.
"No. You go ahead and rest. I'll come get you tomorrow," Roy told them.
"Okay. Bye. We'll start your training tomorrow, Riza," the exorcists waved at Roy, Riza, the Elrics and Winry before Armstrong ushered them towards his car.
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"My great-uncle Arthur P. Armstrong joined the military at the age of 22 as the Stone Fist Alchemist," Phillip G. Armstrong told the exorcist proudly next morning at breakfast. He was recounting what seemed like the entire history of the Armstrong family.
"Father's stories are so meaningful," his son, Alex L. Armstrong sobbed.
Lavi and Lenalee were now only pretending to listen while Allen stuffed toast into his mouth.
"I also served the military for forty-five years," continued Mr. Armstrong. "The Armstrong family has been a loyal supporter of the military for generations and generations."
"Oh, don't bore them with your old stories, dear," said Mrs. Armstrong. The doorbell rang.
"That must be Mustang-kun! I'll get it!" Lavi raced to the door, glad to get out of listening to the history of the Armstrongs.
"Are you ready?" Kanda was standing at the door. A black car was parked at the curb, with Roy at the wheel.
"Al-len! Le-na-lee! We're going!" Lavi yelled. The other two said their good-byes to the Armstrongs, and exited the house. Lavi, Allen and Lenalee all squeezed into the back seat while Kanda got in beside Roy.
"I assigned First Lieutenant Jean Havoc to inspect any mysterious goings-on in Amestris," Roy told them as he drove. "Nothing yet."
"What are we going to do about the Fuhrer?" asked Lenalee.
"He can't be the only homunculus," replied Roy.
"We should find them all and kill them!" decided Lavi.
"I think they've teamed up with the Earl," stated Allen. "The man and woman from before certainly acted like it."
"We should look for the owner of the new Innocence," added Lavi. "Riza-chan's Innocence was found here. Maybe the heart-shaped one is compatible with someone in Amestris, too."
The rest of the car ride was spent discussing possible whereabouts of the other Innocences. They soon arrived at HQ. The five walked into the building and up towards Roy's office, the exorcists following the Colonel. They passed by a pretty, brown-haired woman dressed in a violet suit as they were going up the stairs.
"Good morning, Ms. Douglas," Roy greeted the Fuhrer's secretary.
As Kanda, who was the first after Roy passed Juliet Douglas, her foot slipped. She stumbled. Fortunately, Ms. Douglas was able to catch the handrail before she fell down. She stood there, gripping on for dear life, as if all the strength were gone from her legs.
"Are you okay? Do you need help?" Lenalee reached out a hand to aid her.
"No, I'm fine! Good morning!" Ms. Douglas slapped Lenalee's hand away and, summoning up all her strength, stomped down the stairs and out of sight. Everyone looked curiously at her.
"That's the Fuhrer's secretary," explained Roy. She had an aura that Allen easily identified.
"Another one!" he gasped.
"Good morning, Colonel. I'm glad to see you've finally arrived," Riza appeared at the top of the stairs.
"Is everything alright?" asked Roy.
"Brigadier General Hughes' assistant has decided to pay us a visit," said Riza. The six of them walked to Roy's office. Ed, Al and Winry were already there. Winry was chatting excitedly to a mousy brunette with glasses.
"Good morning, Sheska," Roy greeted her.
"Colonel Mustang! And that must be Edward's cousin!" Sheska bowed at them.
"Does this visit have any particular purpose, or are you just here to chat?" asked Roy.
"Well, Winry and I were talking this morning about Brigadier General Hughes' death, when we were rudely interrupted-" started Sheska.
"The Fuhrer's secretary is evil!" interrupted Winry. "We ran here as fast as we could to avoid getting killed!"
Roy sighed. "What kind of ridiculous-"
"The Fuhrer's secretary is the woman we passed by at the stairs, right?" asked Allen.
"Well, yes."
"She's a homunculus," Allen told him.
"What? Really?" gasped Ed and Al.
"Four homunculi in one week!" whistled Lavi.
"So there are more than one," noted Lenalee. "How many more are there?"
"There's Greed," Ed told them quietly. "That's the homunculus I killed."
"Don't forget Wrath," added Al, reminding them of the little boy from Yock Island."
"And the shape-shifter. I think his name's Envy," concluded Ed.
"Wait a minute… Greed, Wrath and Envy…" Allen tried to recall where he'd heard that before.
"Lust, Gluttony, Pride and Sloth," said Kanda.
"The Seven Deadly Sins!" exclaimed Lenalee.
"Then there are seven. That's not so bad," shrugged Lavi.
"Yeah right. You ever tried killing one?" scoffed Ed.
"The fat man from before must be Gluttony," said Allen.
"And the girl, she was so pretty. She might be Lust," added Lenalee.
"The Fuhrer is most likely Pride," continued Kanda.
"And that makes the secretary Sloth," finished Lavi.
"Now we know their names. The next thing we should do is destroy them," decided Roy.
"You know, the Fuhrer's secretary looks a bit like mom," commented Al. Ed choked on the glass of water he was drinking. Al gasped, suddenly realizing what he'd just said. They knew how a homunculus was made… and of course, they remembered what they tried to four years ago. The exorcists, who hadn't been told their story, were now talking about the homunculi.
"The homunculi can cross over to our world," said Allen. "But the akuma can't."
"Maybe the Noahs can," suggested Lavi.
"And that means the Earl can, too," said Lenalee.
"He can simply make akuma here," noted Riza.
"Yes. There are plenty here who weep for the dead…" Roy agreed.
Ed, Al, Winry and Sheska said nothing, but the sadness in their hearts was reflected in their downcast eyes.
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A woman with short blonde-brown hair kneeled in front of a tombstone. She cradled a bouquet of roses in one arm, while the other was reached up to her face to wipe away her tears. She tried hard to stop them. She remembered all the good times she and her husband had together. But the tears only flowed harder at the realization that those days were gone forever. She'd never see him again. He was gone forever, no matter how hard she wished he wasn't.
"I'd give anything," she sobbed. "I'd give anything to bring you back… anything… I'd give my life." She truly meant those words.
"You would?" an unfamiliar voice asked.
She looked up. A fat man in a large coat was standing quite disrespectfully on top of the stone. He wore a giant top hat decorated with roses and satin ribbons. His ears were large and pointy, and a pair of glasses had slipped halfway down his nose, revealing a pair of beady eyes behind them. His mouth took up most of his face, it and was twisted into a sinister grin.
"Who are you?" she gasped.
"Do you really love him that much?" questioned the man, hopping off the tombstone.
"Of course!"
"Do you want him back?"
"Certainly!"
"His current body hasn't decomposed yet. But I can offer something better. His soul, into a custom body, designed by you. All of his old personality would be there, along with his memories. He'll be as good as new. I could do that for you," the man laid his hands on her shoulders. "That is, if you love him enough to do this for him. It's your decision."
She was silent. It seemed as if he had heard her silent pleading, and come to answer her. But was it as good as it sounded? Was it too good to be true? Surely, he couldn't be offering it for free? Still, she missed him so much. And their little daughter would grow up so much happier with a whole, complete family… like they were before. If not for herself, she had to do this for her daughter, right?
"Maes Hughes. Shall I bring him back for you?" the man inquired.
"…sure."