Chapter Two
"Lieutenant, I don't like this, I don't like this at all."
We all were standing by the train station, but we weren't going anywhere. After spending the night at the Library, waking up early since the hours for the library were early, we were walking towards the military buildings. Lieutenant Riza was bounding my wrists together, crossing them over, so I couldn't put them together for alchemy. And I thought she was on my side a few moments ago, I thought, rolling my eyes when we got into the building.
"Hey, Renea, just why did the military bust into your house?" Ed asked, spinning his pocket watch (showing he was state alchemist) around his fingers.
"Why do you wanna know?" I asked, testing if I would get out of the bounds. Lieutenant Riza ties pretty hard. They waited patiently for me to speak, and I had no choice but to explain.
"My family has an inheritance from an alchemist killer, or serial killer, if you will. We just don't know who the name is, because it was so long ago."
"Is anybody from that killer still alive?" Al asked.
"Well, I've heard in the Central papers about an Ishbalan killing state alchemists because of that war," I replied, still struggling from the bounds. My wrists were burning.
"I asked Colonel Mustang about that one," Ed said, stuffing his hands in his pockets and stowing away the watch. "He said that they call him Scar, but they don't know his true name. They only gave him that name from all the sightings by the locals here. They say he has an X-shaped scar on his forehead."
"I see," I muttered, and we reached Colonel Mustang's office, and I seated myself at the same couch as the one I awoke from just yesterday.
"So, I guess, if Roy insists, I might as well come with you in search for the stone," I said, rolling my eyes. Ed and Al looked at each other, and smiled. "Well, welcome to the team."
Finally, after that long silence after we confirmed I was joining Ed and Al, Lieutenant Riza decided to untie the rope on my wrists.
"Finally," I said rubbing my wrists. "I just still don't know why you had to tie me up. Isn't this place in tight security, since it is the military building?"
"Don't take things for granted, Renea," Roy said, jumping off his desk. "You know, if you were interested, Mr. Bradley is holding state alchemists exams for people who didn't study. If you want, the demonstration tests are in the back of the building, room 650—" When he cut off of that part, I was already running towards the back of the military base. I determined to get some authority around here. I hated getting pissed off by people calling me short.
"Mr. Bradley, Colonel Mustang said I could come here for a demonstration test for becoming state alchemist," I said, after a few minutes of running and slamming into the door.
"Well, the tests are about to start," Mr. Bradley said. "Go ahead outside; we really needed one more contestant."
"Oh, thank you sir!" I exclaimed, and I burst through the door, the smell of fresh air (does it have a smell?) in my sniff. I looked in the large area and saw four people standing in line, getting ready to draw their transmutation circle and perform their alchemy.
"Huh, some pipsqueak girl can actually do alchemy?" this tall, black-haired dude said at the right end of the line (and I only say tall because I'm short).
"Oh, whatever," I teased. "Not like you can do better."
"Oh, really, Renea, don't you remember me?" the guy said.
"Wait, wait a minute…" I murmured, and it all came back to me. His name was Shane, and he was one of the kids that used to make fun of me being short back in Resembool. He would always challenge me to a fight, and ever since he knew alchemy, he's always won. That's one part of why I took up studying alchemy. To get that damn Shane back for all he's done to me.
"So, Shane, you think I'm still helpless to your alchemy still?" I asked, putting my hands behind my back and walking towards him. "I'm trying my hardest to be just like you."
"Really?" he asked, not really catching on to my trick. "Even if you challenged me to a fight, I'd still be too fast for you to draw a transmutation circle."
"Oh?" I said, raising my eyebrow. "You haven't heard of Edward Elric, have you?"
"Of course, he's on most of the papers!" Shane said, backing away from me.
"So, you've read that he can do alchemy without a transmutation circle?" I asked, hoping he wouldn't catch on.
"Uh-huh," he said. "But… he's the only one who can do alchemy without a circle, right?" Shane asked, and I smiled.
"You're so stupid," I said, and I clapped behind my back, placed my hands on the cement floor and waved it. He stumbled to the floor, and it shocked him so much that he couldn't get up. The other three apparently were on Shane's side, so they drew the same transmutation circle at the same time and they attacked at the same time. The cement floor did the same thing it did when I attacked Shane, but more violently. It tossed me through the window in the same room Mr. Bradley was in, and I landed on top of the desk, sliding backwards and landing on the couch in the back of the room. Just then, Ed and the others came rushing through.
"Just how slow are you guys?" I asked, shaking my head so the dust could fall off. "
Well, not slow, but fast enough to see you crash into Mr. Bradley's room," Lieutenant Riza said, taking out a piece of glass that just implanted itself into my side. A few drops of blood fell, and kept falling.
"Huh," Ed said, scratching his head. "By now, you'd stop bleeding. But you haven't."
"Haven't you realized?" Roy said, slapping his forehead. "Her small stature doesn't grow as fast as regular people. That means she can't heal as fast as a regular human either."
"Thanks for rubbing it in, Colonel," I said, getting up and dusting myself off. "I've got unfinished business to do." I ran towards the window, jumped through, and, unfortunately, cutting my left sleeve off of my shirt, showing my automail arm.
"Dammit," I said, pulling my arm into my shirt to hide it. "If Ed, or anybody find out, they'd see why I'm friends with the Rockbells," I murmured. I looked back, and the only people who really noticed that I was holding my arm in were Ed and Al. Hopefully hiding the idea that I had an automail arm, I said, "Just a cut, that's it." Ed and Al looked relieved, and I looked back at Roy and Lieutenant Riza. They both winked at me, and I smiled. Then, I remembered Shane. I turned back over outside and saw him standing, holding his side like I was.
"So, Renea, you know alchemy?" he asked weakly, and that caught me off guard.
"Well, yeah," I said. "Isn't that why I'm here?"
"Well, you remember that saying that kept going around that your mom used to say when you were younger?" he asked, taking his hand off his side and looking at the wound. It was deep, but the blood wasn't as much as before (stupid tall people).
"What? That one that she said that if somebody insults you, which mean they like you?" I asked. "That one?"
"Yeah."
"Do you really think I would like you?!" I yelled back. "You don't know what it's like to be small."
Shane looked hurt, and I was glad he did. But then, he smiled as if he knew something that I didn't.
"Huh, so you're catching on," he said, and he clapped his hands and soon blue bolts were charging towards me. And (curse my instincts) I, out of the blue, took my left arm from my cloak and raised it up, absorbing the blue bolts' energy for my own alchemy. Crap, I thought, but, might as well get over Shane before I get over Ed and Al. I echoed Shane's same movements and, surprisingly, he echoed mine.
"You have an automail arm, too?" I asked, realizing that smile he had was true.
"What? You don't remember that one fire your sister caused?" he asked, and he used alchemy to heal his wound.
"You don't remember anything, do you?!" Shane yelled, tears coming to his eyes. "That fire was also partly your fault, wasn't it? You and your sister, Sayuki—"
"Don't say her name!" I yelled back, trying to fight back tears of my own. "My sister's death, well, my mom and sister's death can't be forgotten. You'll just make it worse!"
"What's she talking about?" Ed asked, probably to Colonel Mustang.
"Don't tell them, Colonel," I said, "not yet."
"Whatever," Colonel Mustang said. "But wow, you calling me Colonel? I only know you personally, but not part of the military."
"You'll soon know me both ways," I said, and I turned to Shane, stepped forward, and held out my hand.
"It's time we didn't take our differences for granted," I whispered, "like calling me short." "Look, I'm not taking that hand, since it's fragile, but—"
"Now, are you calling me weak?" I asked, pulling back my arm and folding my arms.
"You're holding another grudge on me?" Shane asked, looking up. "Huh, I'm looking up to you for once."
"Oh, great, I regret that I ever held my hand out to you," I said stomping my foot. I looked back over to where Ed and Al and the others were, but in my way was Mr. Bradley.
"Oh, sir, I'm sorry about the damage, I can fix it—" I stammered, but I stopped in mid-sentence. I looked over and saw Ed and Al repairing the place with alchemy already.
"Looks like we've found our alchemist," Mr. Bradley said.
"Me?" I asked nervously. I really needed this reputation.
"I'm looking at her right now," Mr. Bradley said.
"Take this, Renea, and from now on people will know you as the Bolt Alchemist," Fuhrer King Bradley said, now that I knew his full name. He tossed one of the pocket watches towards me, and it landed perfectly in my hands.
"Thank you, sir!" I said. "Thank you so much!"
"Well, you deserve it, considering all the losses in your life," the Fuhrer said. "What..?" I trailed off when Colonel Mustang put his hand on my shoulder.
"Let's say I told him a little," he whispered. I shook off his hand.
"How much did you tell him?" If it was everything I was gonna try to kill him better than before.
"Oh, just about your mother, sister, and your 'father'," he said.
I shrugged off pounds of relief, and sighed deeply. "Okay."
Suddenly, the watch slipped from Ed's hand and raced over my head, by an inch, slightly to the left. It ricocheted off the wall in front of me, and hit a few screws off my arm and made a dent.
"What the hell?" I yelled, turning around and charging towards him. But Lieutenant Riza and the Colonel held me back.
"Well, if you were one inch taller, it would've hit your head," Al stated, "not your arm, so then it wouldn't be damaged."
"You've gotta point there," Lieutenant Riza said, holding my arm tight, nearly as tight as the rope before. "But since it was over the left side of my head, it wouldn't really make a difference," I said softly, and the Colonel and the Lieutenant took their arms off me.
"May I explain, Renea?" Colonel Mustang asked.
"Yeah, go ahead," I said, looking at the damage of my arm and I picked up Ed's pocket watch and tossed it to him. He caught it and stuffed it in his pocket, as if it had a mind of his own. Or maybe so he could hear everything.
"Renea was only eleven years old when her mom and her sister died of what her father says, 'The Chimeras invading' her house," Colonel Mustang started. "Her father took her in to the abandoned house by the burned ruins of Ed and Al's house, and for two years, they both studied alchemy because of the death. Although her father knew what was gonna happen, he let it happen anyways."
"What kind of father is he?" Ed asked hotly.
"A pretty stupid one, I bet," Colonel Mustang said, "but let me continue. One night, they tried to bring back her mother and sister back, only to lose her father's right eye and left side of his face."
"What happened to Renea?" Ed asked.
"Nothing," Colonel Mustang said. "I just don't know why, and she doesn't, either. Anyways, they tried living with it, with part of the Rockbells' help, and one night her father just had to tell the truth."
He stopped there.
"So? What was the truth?" Ed demanded. Why's he so concerned? I asked myself, and I continued the story myself.
"The truth was… I actually lost… my whole left side of my body." Ed stepped forward, but hesitated, but then came towards me again. He pulled away my left bangs and saw.
"Whoa…" he whispered, and he backed up. "Then why do you still have your left eye?"
"I don't know, I guess it just developed during my coma…" I muttered, "…but I still don't get why it's red."
"Yeah, I wonder," Al said, tapping his chin. "Please, continue."
"My pleasure," I lied, and continued. "So, my father really lost his right eye and left side of his face from Homunculi, but from the Red Lotus Alchemist. I heard Colonel say when I was asleep that he was arrested for treason or arson, I don't know. Then, my father told me, 'Your sister and mother didn't die of Chimeras… but because of the military.' And, apparently, you know why.
"The last part of the truth was… or is… that my father isn't my real father."
"Did he say who he was?" Ed asked, determined to know. I nodded weakly.
"Then who is he?"
"You don't get it, do you, Ed?" Colonel Mustang asked. "Her caretaker was really your father!"
It was that moment when there was shock on their faces.
"You know what?" I murmured, after a long silence. "How 'bout we just go on the train. This is too much." Ed and Al just skeptically nodded their heads, and followed me into the train leading to Resembool.
It was silent nearly the whole train ride, because I didn't want to ride with the other two. So, I requested a cart of my own and ran straight to it before they noticed what happened, and, luckily, they decided to leave me alone.
How am I going to face Winry with Ed and Al right behind me? I thought to myself. Then again, how am I going to face her when I left three years ago? Winry probably wouldn't remember me. Neither would that grandma of hers. So, I'll just stay at my house.
We arrived at the rural area of Resembool, the place glittering with the morning dew on the grass.
"I'll escape through the back door," I muttered to myself, "so they won't see me…"
I slowly opened the door, trying not to make any sound, and ran off in the fields towards the abandoned house by the burnt ruins of Ed and Al's house. Using complicated alchemy (explained later) I dissolved and appeared on the other side of the door, inside my house.
Everything was left the same way I left it, three years ago, but just a little more dust than before. The table had some bread crumbs from me and Hohenheim's dinner, and the back door was still busted, with dry mud footprints from the military. I charged into the basement and there was a faint transmutation circle from when Hohenheim and I tried to bring my mom and sister back, and some dry blood. It was how I left it; almost.
I collapsed into the faded couch in the corner of the living room and sighed.
"Back home," I muttered, "but I wouldn't really say so." Then, I remembered Winry. I looked out the window and saw Winry's house with the wooden painted sign that said, "Rockbell/Automail". That sign brought back memories of that one rainy night, where I nearly lost all my blood and fainted, or died, to be more specific. My "father" was carrying me towards the building, burst through the door, and collapsed of exhaustion without explanation, and I saw Winry and her grandma come towards me and pick me up on the bed.
"What happened?" Winry demanded, placing my future half of my body on my side and started screwing.
"I… I can… e-explain l-later…" I managed to say. "Just get this on… b-before… I-I die…" Winry looked at me for a few seconds and then nodded.
"This is going to be painful, and I know because I've done it with adults and they still scream. You'd probably faint from all the pain, but you still will live. Just stay calm and get prepared." I sighed and nodded, and Granny Pinako came hurrying from the dining room and held her hand on a button that was to connect the lines in the automail with the nerves in my body.
"Ready?" Winry asked, and I nodded weakly again.
"Okay."
"One…"
"Two…"
"Three!"
The shock came expectedly, but the pain wasn't expected to be so much. I tried holding it in, but I just yelled out like I just got shocked by my own lightning. Soon, it was over, and, as expected, I fainted from the pain. The last thing I saw was Winry smiling and looking back at my father to help him.
I got out of my day-dreaming to notice Ed and Al pointing at the house I was in just now, and then I saw Winry talking, but didn't hear. It took her awhile to explain, but she probably said what I was just thinking about.
Crap, if they find out I'm here, the questions will start coming, I thought, and I looked around for an escape route. I remembered exactly how I got into the house, and I decided to dissolve myself into Winry's house, since I couldn't go far without killing myself. I clapped my hands and I started dissolving. I heard the front door slam open and saw Ed and Al walk in and spot me.
"Sorry, guys," I said, and I dissolved totally and after a few seconds appeared right in front of Winry.
"Oh!" she gasped, bumping into me and backing away. "Hey, Renea, Ed and Al just went looking for you at your house."
"I know, thanks to you!" I muttered, pointing my finger at her. "Just keep your mouth shut the rest of the time I'm here and nobody gets hurt."
"Renea, I haven't seen you since that rainy night," an old voice spoke behind me.
"Granny Pinako, it's been awhile, and right now, I can't talk," I said rushing past her, but she grabbed my jacket and it zipped off.
"Just how do you get away without talking to your old Granny Pinako?" she rambled, smoking her pipe. "If you're thinking about running away from Ed and Al, then go ahead."
"'Kay," I said, and I ran off, taking my cloak from her hands.
"Just as I suspected," Granny Pinako exclaimed. "I can't believe that girl."
"Look, at least she has a reason," Winry pointed out. "She can't face them again without the brothers knowing that their father took care of her."
"Yeah, you've gotta point, darling," Granny Pinako muttered. "Oh, look, here come Ed and Al. What should we tell them?"
"The truth," Winry said, "since those dopes don't understand anything."
The door slammed open and Ed and Al came panting in. "Well, she wasn't there, was she?" Winry asked. "I told you, and besides, that place is better off abandoned anyways."
"Where could she be?" Al asked.
"We looked through the whole house and found this trap door under the carpet, and noticed it was an underground tunnel," Ed said, his breathing back to normal. "We ran through it, for like half a mile and we ended up at the river."
"I wonder why…" Winry said, remembering those days. Sometimes when Ed and Al were fighting and she couldn't get them to talk to each other, she'd visit me at the river.
"Well, I bet you two boys would like to know where that girl's off to," Granny Pinako said, placing her pipe on the table.
"Oh, yes, please!" Ed and Al both said, standing up straight.
"She actually ran back to the abandoned house from the back door," Winry said, and she spotted me staring out of the window again. "She's actually… afraid to face you, after all she's told you already."
"I know how she feels," Al said. "I mean, ever since we've met her, I've been feeling that she's scared of me."
"Oh, come off it Al," Ed said, "Lots of people are afraid of you."
"Great, Brother, you've made things worse," Al said, sulking.
"Jeez, Ed, what can't you do to Al without killing the boy on the inside?" Granny Pinako complained, folding her arms.
"Look, just go back to Renea and prove that it is okay with you guys," Winry pleaded. "Trust me, Renea get's over things pretty easily."
"Like that one day when she found that stray cat," Granny Pinako said. "Her mom said she could keep it, but then the owner found out where it was. They took it away, and Renea couldn't stop crying. But her mother would always say, 'Honey, at least it found its true home. Just let it go.'"
"Well, she gets along pretty easily, too," Winry pleaded. "Just go over there."
"Look, that's what we were going to do from the start!" Ed yelled back. "I just don't know what to say after all this time."
"It's been two days since we've met her," Al said. "We never know what to say to her."
"Well, it's obvious," Winry yelled. "Just say you understand! It's as simple as that."
"You two just shoo," Granny Pinako said. "We've got some business to do."
"Like what?" Ed demanded.
"It's our business, not yours, remember?" Winry asked, and they stood back.
"She's got a point there, Brother," Al squeaked, and they backed away and dashed for the door and straight to my house.
I heard a few knocks but yelled back, "It's locked inside and out."
"Oh, so you come here now?" Ed asked hotly.
"No, look, you've gotta use alchemy to get in here," I explained.
"I don't really get it," Ed muttered, and I looked out the cracked window to see him scratching the back of his neck.
"Well? You don't know how?" I asked, smiling. "Well, for once, I know something you don't."
"Look, we don't have time for this, just how do we get in?" Al pleaded, and it reminded me of me when I pleaded to study alchemy with my sister.
"You have to perform alchemy on yourself," I said, folding my arms and smiling slyly.
"I know!" Ed yelled, "But won't that kill us?"
"But Brother, then how did Renea get in?"
The small shaking stopped, and Ed said, "Well, that helps."
"Look, all you have to do is the basic alchemy. Taking apart and putting back together? When you put the object back together it doesn't have to be something grander," I explained, "maybe it can even be something worthless. Now, just take your particles apart, travel them through the hole in the door, and put yourself back together."
"Oh," Ed and Al said together.
"I should've thought of that myself," Ed said to himself. "Well, let's give it a try, Al."
I heard a clap and a sound that sounded like rain. Then, Ed appeared in front of me instantly.
"Wasn't that easy?" I asked. "I'm surprised that you don't need a transmutation circle, either."
"Well, too bad Al needs one," Ed said. "Or else this'll be easier." I heard the same rain noise and Al appeared somewhere in the house, and there was a big bang upstairs. Next thing we knew, Al fell from the ceiling on the first floor and landed on top of me. Then, the carpet gave way, as well as the planks below, and we crashed into the basement, right in the center of the transmutation circle.
"So, this is it, isn't it?" Al asked, fingering the line leading into the center.
"Y-Yeah…" I said weakly, trying to get the large armor off my puny back. "C-Can… you get o-off me n-now..?"
"Oh, yeah, sorry," Al apologized, and he got up on his feet and helped me up.
"I just don't get why—" I got interrupted by another bam, and this time, it was Ed.
He jumped off the ledge that the large hole formed when Al and I fell into the basement. And, he happened to land on me. I don't know how much he weighs, but, once again, we fell into another lower layer of my house, one that I didn't know of.
Ed quickly got off, and from the impact from both Al and Ed, my automail arm broke in half at the elbow. The other half, with my hand, was hanging off by the wire.
"Oh, CRAP!" I exclaimed, turning around and sitting on the floor in disdain.
"I can see why Al collapsed on me," I said, glaring at Ed, "but you! If you hadn't been so careless jumping off that ledge this wouldn't have snapped! How much do you weigh, anyways?"
"How am I supposed to know?" Ed said. "I haven't checked since I left home!"
"Well, luckily you're at Resembool," Al said softly at my dangerous expense. "Winry and Granny Pinako can replace that for you, or even repair it painlessly if you want."
"Why would I have any other alternative?" I asked sarcastically, looking back at Ed. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and whistled.
"Oh, and that's what you do?" Al asked. "Pretend you're innocent without an apology?" Um, that's not really what I expected, but it's still better than nothing, I thought.
"Look, Renea, there's something I've been meaning to tell you," Ed said, "Something I've wanted to say ever since your story."
"Does this have to do with me?" Al asked, catching on with the idea.
"It's got a lot to do with you, I bet," I muttered. "Since you're in that armor, Ed must've sealed your soul in there somehow. But why did he?" Ed started explaining.
"Four years ago in February, when that abandoned house wasn't occupied anymore," Ed stated, "our mother died, and our father left home because of some stupid reason we don't know about. Then, me and Al started studying alchemy, and found out there was an alchemy that was forbidden to be done, and we did it anyway: human transmutation. We gathered her ashes and buried her over at the hill always by the sunset, and we took some and put it in the center of the circle. Me and Al cut ourselves and dropped some blood, since her blood was ours, and we tried it."
"And then?" I asked nervously.
"Next thing we knew, it was working, but then something bad happened, and Al was getting taken… away into this gate…" Ed shivered.
"Oh, yeah, I remember," I recalled. "These things were taking you away, Al, right?"
"Yeah, and Brother couldn't get me back," Al explained, "and I don't know what happened next."
"Well, I actually lost my left leg and Al trying to get Mom back," Ed said, pulling back his pants, showing the automail leg. "Then, I lost my right arm trying to bring Al back, using my own blood for the seal." I could already imagine what it looked like.
"And now, he's stuck in that armor until we find the Philosopher's Stone." "Well, I guess Lieutenant Riza didn't ask for nothing," I mumbled. "But you, being a military dog… How is that supposed to help?"
"What about you? You joined the military just today," Al pointed out.
"Well, we have access to the Central Library, at least," Ed said. "That's pretty much gonna help us out a bunch."
"Help us out a bunch?" I asked. "It's gonna help us the whole way trying to find the Stone. I bet even Cheska could help us."
"Well, she was a real help looking for you," Al said, and he shifted his feet.
"What? The Colonel asking me to join you guys two minutes after I met you doesn't make any sense!" I yelled back.
"And what are we waiting around here for?" Ed asked. "You've got to get your arm repaired, and then we can check this place out."
"I've never knew there was a lower layer in my house," I admitted, jumping up into the basement, and then climbing the stairs to the first level.
"What the heck?" I asked myself. "How slow are you guys?"
"Well, we'll meet you there, at Winry's house, okay?" Ed's voice echoed. "Al and I will catch up."
"If you insist," I said. I dissolved and reappeared at Winry's house, knocking on the door and waiting.
The door slammed open by a mad Winry, and she relaxed as soon as she saw me. "Wow, what's up with you, Winry?" I asked.
"What's up? What's up? You disrupted me from my work, that's what's up!" Winry yelled, and she spotted my split arm. "Was it Ed again, being as careless as usual?"
"Yes! Now someone understands," I sighed. "I just came to you so you can repair it. Al said you can do that painlessly, right?"
"Yeah, since your arm is only split, we don't have to reconnect your nerves," Winry explained. "Just a few new wires and harder durable screws will help you out."
"Oh, thank you, Winry," I thanked. "Who knows what I could've done without you."
In just a few minutes my arm was back up and running, and just now Ed and Al started running back.
"Instead of wasting your energy, why don't you just use alchemy to get over here?" Winry asked. "Renea's only resting because I got her arm back thanks to you"—she pointed to Ed in disgust—"and so she can use as much alchemy as she wants the next day."
"Yeah, we know, Winry," Al said. "We just found something interesting down in the basement's basement in Renea's house."
"What is it?" I asked, jumping instantly from my bed and looking back at them.
"I can't say, since we don't know who it is," Al said, "but it's a body."
"What? Nobody but me, my 'father', my mom and sister ever went in my house," I explained.
"Well, come take a look and maybe you might remember," Ed said, and he ran off out of the door.
"Well, I'll see you later, Winry, and thanks a lot," I said. "I've just gotta catch up with those two." I clapped and disappeared and reappeared in the basement, waiting for Ed and Al. The weird rain sound (but twice as loud) was heard and Ed appeared just above the hole me and Al made, and he fell right in front of me.
"Talk about surprises," I yelled, helping him up. "Why didn't you just do that back at Winry's house?"
"I haven't thought of that," he admitted, scratching the back of his neck. "But where's Al?"
"Right here," a small voice yelled from upstairs, the second floor.
"Come on, Al, she's already here!" Ed yelled back, and there were large stomping noises, and Al was here quicker than I was here.
"So, what body were you talking about?" I asked, clapping in the darkness and a small orb of light appeared in my hands, and it was really bright.
"It's around the corner, and we didn't go any farther because it..." Al said, shivering. "We ran all the way back so we could tell you."
"Well, that was pretty smart of you to," I said, carrying the light slowly around the corner, and then I shrieked.
"You didn't tell her he was a Homunculus, didn't you, Brother?" Al asked meekly, smacking the back of Ed's head.
"What's with you and forgetting nowadays?"
"What? Didn't you say to keep it a secret?" Ed asked, rubbing the back of his head.
"Brother; that was something else!" Al yelled back. "Besides, Renea should know who he is."
"Actually," I whispered, "it's a girl. She looks so dang familiar."
"Brother, you can't tell the difference between genders, anymore," Al cursed. "Next thing we know you're gonna start painting your nails."
"Oh, keep it shut, Al," Ed said, sulking. "Just who is she?"
"She's a Homunculus, alright," I said, "and she's not dead. We just have to keep her hidden from the military."
"Wha..?" Ed asked, totally dumbfounded. "You're supporting a Homunculus? But they try to kill us!"
"Hey, did I say all Homunculus are evil, like you say?" I snapped back, taking her arms. "Just hide her down here in a place that's concealed," I said, "we can't afford for her never to awaken again thanks to you guys."
"Um… okay, Renea," Al said, taking the Homunculus' feet and due to my shortness I could tell all the blood starting rushing to her head.
"This isn't gonna work," Ed said.
"It's not like it will if you carry her," I mumbled, laughing to myself. Finally, somebody to make fun of that's short, I said to myself, but he's Ed. He gets more pissed off than me if anybody calls him puny.
"Just let go, Al, I'll help," Ed said, and Al handed her to Ed, and the body was actually straight.
"Just around that corner, and put her in that box," Ed instructed, and I did as he said. "I've hid Al in a box before."
"Yeah, I was on that train once," I said. "My mom sold her sheep that was with Al to this big dealer, so we got a bunch of money. Just when we came back home, the freaking military came by."
"Yeah, being a dog is hard," Ed muttered, stuffing the Homunculus in the box. "I mean, being human's weapons, it's a pain!"
"Why isn't Al a state alchemist?" I asked. "Did you want to become one?" I spoke to Al this time.
"Actually, Brother wouldn't let me," Al replied, glaring at Ed. "He said that we shouldn't go through the pain together. It's enough that one person is already."
"No offense, but that's kind of selfish," I muttered. "If my sister were still alive, I would let her be state alchemist with me. Then, only half of the pressure actually goes on us."
"Good point," Ed said, "but too late now."
Suddenly, we heard a moan in the place where we set the Homunculus.
"Crap, now what?" I whispered hoarsely. I always had a heart for Homunculus (for an unknown reason) but if they were awake, and I had the Elric Brother with me, I got pretty uneasy.
"Uuhhnn…" it kept going, and suddenly, the box lid flew from the corner of the wall and broke into pieces.
"Ed, help…" I groaned, and there was no response.
"Ed?" I whispered. "Al?" I looked around, and saw Al's eyes glowing behind a crack in the wall, and Ed's silhouette beside him.
"Oh, you guys are wimps," I stated, but then I glanced at the body of her at the corner of my eye and fainted.
[Dreams:]
Ed and an unknown guy with blue skin were fighting each other, and Ed kept hitting him and the skin pulled away, showing the muscle inside the human body, but the skin grew back.
"So, I have to hit the inside, because that skin is invincible," Ed coaxed. "Since a Homunculus is created when an alchemist tries to bring back the dead, they are weak with the remains of the one trying to be brought back."
"Too bad, kid, because they're far away," the man said.
"Greed, are you blind?" Ed asked as-a-matter-of-fact-ly. "The bones are on the table, by the stairs."
They stopped for a moment, then started again, not able to waste time. Al was nowhere to be found.
Ed punched Greed in the stomach, and the skin opened about like three feet, past his knees, and Ed stabbed him with his automail arm right in the heart.
"You're good, kid, good enough to kill a Homunculus," Greed gasped. "Just to say, you're right about the human remains. But, Homunculi are artificial humans. They're hard to kill."
At that instant, I woke up to be in the same spot as before.
"Wha..?" I groaned, standing up slowly, dizzy. I looked back and Ed and Al were still in their spot, frozen, staring at the girl behind me. I whirled around and got light-headed.
"Hey, Ed, you know that a Homunculus is an artificial human, right?" I asked.
"Y-Yeah," Ed whispered, and the girl's eyes darted past me.
"Well, you also know that they are created when an alchemist tries to bring back the dead," I said again.
"Uh-huh," Ed whispered again, and this time, the girl sneered.
"Well, just say hello to a look-alike of my sister," I breathed, collapsing to my knees.