Alphonse followed closely behind the girl, which was difficult due to how fast she was walking. The two of them were now hiking through a very dark and ancient passage way.

"Excuse me?" Alphonse said. "Who are you?"

The girl turned to glance at him, and gave him a shaky smiled. "I'm Rose."

"And how do you know me and my brother?" Alphonse asked.

"We met in Liore a year ago, don't you remember?" she asked.

"No," Alphonse replied. "I've never been to Liore, and neither has brother." Alphonse wondered if this girl had mistaken him for someone else, but there weren't really that many Edwards and Alphonses roaming about abandoned cities.

"Alphonse do you remember anything?" Rose asked.

"What do you mean?" Alphonse asked, feeling frightened again. What did she mean by "remember?" What had he forgotten? Before he could ask though Rose had sped up again.

Alphonse sighed and quickened his pace; trying to make sense of the situation he'd stumbled into. He was worried about Edward. The last thing he'd seen of him was the rebound of the transmutation, and Alphonse was beginning to wonder if something terrible had happened to him. If he had been transported here then Edward could be anywhere. He could've woken up somewhere completely different with no memories either, or he could be back at home getting torn apart by the rebound. And what their mother? Had the transmutation succeeded? Was she alright? Alphonse didn't know.

He closed his eyes and moaned, feeling a nasty headache coming on. He brought his hands to his head and tried to clear his mind. It wasn't much of help.

"Wherever you are brother, I hope you're doing better than I am," he thought.

"So, you came back?"

Alphonse jumped as a voice sounded from right beside him. He'd been so lost in his own thought he hadn't even realized that there was another person beside him. He turned to see a small boy, who was probably no older than Alphonse, glaring at him with strange violet eyes.

"Uh…Hello?" Al stammered pitifully, his voice no higher than a squeak.

The boy continued to glare, than turned and looked at Rose.

"Who is he?" he asked, choosing to act as though Alphonse were invisible. "I thought you were going to find him." The boy almost spat the last word out, his features becoming more animalistic as he said it. Alphonse sank behind Rose seeing as how she seemed to be the one acquainted with this daunting child.

Rose looked from the boy to Alphonse. "This umm…this isn't-…" she seemed to be at a loss for words. "This is Alphonse," she finally said. "Alphonse Elric?"

The boy's pupils immediately dilated, and his face went from fury, to shock, to even more fury.

"Wha-! That's not possible!" He yelled. "He's supposed to be-" The boy stopped mid-sentence, as a realization dawned on him. He suddenly sunk back, curling into himself. Alphonse could hear him muttering quietly to himself.

"Is he alright?" Alphonse asked quietly.

Rose decided to ignore Alphonse's question and instead began speaking to the strange boy.

"We need to go back to the surface now," she said as she approached him. "We need to get there quickly so we have to move."

The boy gave her a malicious glare and began scooting away.

"You should just leave me here!" He shouted. "I don't want to!"

It was then that Alphonse realized the boy's right arm and left leg were missing, and that horrific burns disfigured the left side of his face.

Rose reached out and tried to touch him, but he jerked away.

"I told him that I'd bring you to the surface!" She said desperately, "I can't break that promise. So are you coming?"

The boy didn't respond.

"I said are you coming?"

The boy continued to glare at her, but his head fell as a sign he had given in.

Rose made a move to help him up but Alphonse intervened.

"Here I can help him," he told her. "You take care of you're baby."

Rose looked a little concerned but nodded her head in consent. Al turned to help the boy up.

He couldn't help but notice that he was getting very dirty looks from the boy. What had he done to make enemies?

"So what's your name?" Alphonse tried, doing his best to break the awkward silence.

"What do you mean what's my name?" The boy demanded, immediately getting angry.

Alphonse shrank back. "I just wanted to know what it was."

The boy raised an eyebrow, a skeptical look plastered on his face. "What do you mean? You don't know it?"

"How would I?" Alphonse asked. "Its not like we've-." He stopped short and let out a groan. So there was another person who he'd apparently met before, what was going on?

The boy gave him a curious look.

"My name is Wrath."

"Oh," Alphonse said quickly. What an appropriate name.

The rest of the trip up to the surface was silent, and Alphonse spent it wandering around in his own mind, trying to understand exactly just what had happened to him. He came out of his stupor when he finally noticed that he and his companions had emerged from the under ground city.

"So where are we now?" Alphonse asked.

"If I'm correct, this is a church in Central." Rose explained.

"We're in Central?" Alphonse had never been to Central, though he had heard some travelers talk about it once. It would've been exciting if it weren't for the current predicament. He helped Wrath over to a bench and let him rest. Now that he could see him in better light, the boy looked dreadful.

"Does that hurt?" Alphonse asked, pointing to a cut on the boys shoulder.

"Give it a minute it'll heal." The boy said.

Alphonse didn't know what to make of that.

Rose seemed to be preoccupied with other things at the moment.

"Alphonse, can you wait here? I'm going to go back down." She said.

"What? Why?"

"I need to see something," she explained.

"What?" Alphonse asked.

"It'll only take me a little while, and then I'll be right back." She said.

Alphonse didn't feel convinced, but what was he supposed to do? At the moment he wasn't sure he knew right from left.

"I'll wait." Alphonse said.

"Make sure you keep an eye on him." Rose instructed, pointing at Wrath who seemed to had fallen asleep.

"Ok." Alphonse said.

Rose nodded and then quickly ran down the tunnel again.

Alphonse sighed and sat down across from Wrath. Right now he would've given anything to go home and curl up in his soft comfortable bed. But he couldn't sleep, not with all the thoughts he had running through his head. Alphonse closed his eyes and leaned back on the bench, thinking about his brother.

Rose slowly picked her way through the passage; thankful her baby had managed to sleep through all of this.

She had been worried about Edward. The dark look in his eye when she'd left had bothered her. She had left the homunculus to go back and search for him. Now she realized that she had been right to feel so worried.

If Alphonse was here with a normal human body, then that meant Edward had done something terrible. She didn't want to believe it, but the proof was staring her dead in the face. Alphonse was alive and well, with a body all his own. To see him in the flesh was a miracle in itself, but it was also a curse.

Someone had to have paid the price to restore Alphonse in such a manner, and there was only one person who would've.

Rose was back in the underground city now racing towards the theater. She silently prayed that her assumptions were wrong, or that she would find nothing to verify them.

"Edward?" she called as she entered the theater. "Ed are you in here."

No response. She looked around the enormous room and saw something that made her blood run cold.

The Grand Arcanum had been redrawn, which meant Edward had definitely been using his talents down here. "Edward?" she called again.

A small flash of light caught her attention, and she saw something glimmering on the floor. She approached it and gently lifted it off the floor to get a better look.

"Edward…" Rose whispered, suppressing a small sob. "So then he really is dead."

In her hand was a shining silver pocket watch.

Edward couldn't remember ever feeling so dizzy in his life. He closed and opened his eyes repeatedly trying to block out the harsh light. He was lying on something soft and cool.

"Sonia! I think he's coming to," he heard someone say. The voice was foggy, as if Edward were hearing it from under water.

"You're alright boy," the voice said again. "You collapsed in one of our fields."

"Wh-where am I?" Edward gasped.

"You're a couple miles from East City." Said the voice.

"I d-don't know where that is…" Edward said.

"Shh…don't exert yourself dear," said another voice, this one softer. "Try to rest."

"I need to get back to London," Edward said. "How far is London?"

"He's delusional." Said the first voice. "Maybe we should call a doctor out here."

Black spots were dancing in Edward's vision.

"Oh no he's burning up again."

"I'll go get some water."

Edward was hearing that voice in his head again.

"Brother, Brother?"

"Who are you?" Edward asked aloud.

"It's alright dear, just go back to sleep."

Slowly Edward's eyes came to a rest, and his heart began to lessen its pace.

"Can't I j-just stay awake?" Edward asked no one in particular. Then he was gone.