I woke in the middle of the night, a strangled scream on my lips. I cursed inwardly. Of all the times to have a nightmare, it had to be while I was a guest at Roy's house. I beat my pillow in frustration, hoping against hope that no one had heard.

Of course I wasn't that lucky.

Roy himself came in, and I caught him tucking the lighter into his back pocket. No wonder he was up so late; he was practicing. A smile came to my face as I realized how much he must love what I had shown him.

"Ed? Are you okay? I heard a scream."

I sighed, grin falling from my face, embarrassed and angry at my lack of control. "I'm fine," I muttered, "just a stupid nightmare."

"You sound mad." Roy sat beside me, waiting for an explanation.

I turned over on my back so that I didn't have to look him in the eyes. "It's just…my mother died. And I couldn't take it, so I made a bad decision, and I ended up hurting my brother."

"You have a brother?"

I nodded. "And he's fine now, it's just…a really bad memory that tends to come back at night."

Roy was confused. He began to rub my arm absentmindedly. "So shouldn't you be sad, not upset?"

"I'm mad because I can't control it. It's in the past, and it shouldn't bother me now. I should be over it—my brother isn't angry at me or anything. But I can't get away from the nightmare."

"Ed," Roy said softly, tracing the lines of my fingers, "I don't know exactly what happened, but you shouldn't be this way about it. Obviously it was really upsetting, and you can't help what you dream. You're not weak just because you remember something like that."

I gave a weak smile. If there was one good thing about that nightmare, it was that it gave me yet another chance to get closer to Roy. He was so kind, so sure of himself…I opened my mouth, not sure what I was going to say when—

"Colonel!" Havoc burst through the door. "Oh…am…I interrupting something?" he asked, shuffling awkwardly back through the doorway so that only his head was poking in the room.

"No, we were just talking," Roy said, stifling a laugh at Havoc's expense. s

"Oh…well I just thought you should know, we have another guest."

Another? Who? Could Al have gotten himself all the way up here?

Roy stood up. "Let's go see, then."

I hurried to follow him out, curious and a little worried. This coming day was my last chance—I didn't want Roy to get distracted.

I stayed at the top of the staircase as Roy went to the door, where a boy about my own age stood. As I studied him, I was struck by how much like me this stranger looked. His hair was dark, but the same sort of texture, though he didn't have bangs. His eyes were just as large as my own (which was saying something), though a different color. He was also a little paler, but we had the same facial shape, and he smiled the same way I did.

After the surprise of seeing someone who could, with a little work, be my doppelganger, the fear set in. This kid looked like me. What if Roy somehow thought he was the one who had rescued him?

Heart pounding, I rushed down the stairs. The boy introduced himself. "My name's Wrath." My blood ran cold. I'd only ever met one group of people that had names like that…

Dante's homunculi.

I gaped in silent horror as Wrath skipped up to Roy, giggling, and stroked his cheek before kissing it. A hot wave of fury rolled over me, but was stopped by the expression on Roy's face: an excitement beyond even that he had when practicing alchemy…

"It's you," he whispered, grabbing Wrath's right hand. "You saved me!"

Wrath nodded, and my eye was drawn to the hand Roy was holding. It was oddly different from the rest of Wrath, of a much more tanned complexion…

The truth dawned on me slowly. If Dante had sent this homunculus up here to take my spot as Roy's savior and therefore prevent me from winning against her…and if she had also taken my arm and leg as payment…it was just possible.

That was my hand.

Without a sound, I crept to the back of the house (feeling rather forlorn and forgotten as no one noticed me doing so), and exited. I ran, half blind, to the beach—where else was I to go? Roy believed that Wrath had saved him, and how was I going to convince him otherwise? I couldn't even mention what I did!

At the water's edge I dropped to my knees, letting a few stray tears leak out. I'd lost Roy, and this sunrise now coming up over the horizon would be the last I would ever see—after tonight, I would be Dante's slave.

"Brother?"

"Al…" I whispered. "That bitch, she tricked me. She—"

"Sent one of her homunculi up, I know." Al pulled himself out of the water to sit beside me. "What happened?"

"Roy thinks the homunculus—Wrath—saved him. Wrath has my arm, Al. And Roy thought he was me…" I trailed off, beginning to sob.

Alphonse was silent for a moment. "Brother…I think I might have an idea."

I looked up, a desperate hope shining in my eyes.

"I'll have to go prepare, but I think we might be able to fix this…after you turn back into a merman."

I sighed. "Except, I'll be Dante's slave. That won't work, Al."

To my great surprise, Alphonse grinned. "Unless we can fix it so that Roy sees the truth just as you change back…and if we bring in some reinforcements."

I gave Al a blank look, utterly lost. He waved me off, splashing back into the ocean. "Trust me, Brother, I have a plan.

As I watched Alphonse swim off, I had only one thought in my head, and I spoke it aloud to the empty beach. For once I was not pleased to see the sky turning light.

"What can you possibly do to fix this mess?"