To The Ends of Eternity
Chapter 3: Why Do Our Memories Surface?
June 9, 2006
By CCD

A/N: I've decided that it would be better that I didn't answer questions at the beginning of my chapters so I made a Forum through Fan that you can go up and ask me questions or you can put questions in the review and I will respond to these questions up there. You will find the link in my bio section and at the top of my author's page. Anyway Enjoy!

Aquroya was known as the city of water for a good reason. It was a city built upon the water many years ago that could only be reached by boat and by train. A few years before hand, news had been released to the public that the city was sinking into the watery depths and that it would be completely submerged in less than ten years.

This was why it was a perfect city to mess with. There had to be some alchemic fool in the city stupid enough to want to create a Philosopher's Stone to save the city. As it was, the city was holding on to its pride by looking towards an alchemic thief named Psiren that dragged tourism back to the city.

The three Homunculi were looking to avoid the thief since she was obviously clever. Sloth also had a few minor memories resurface about a brief encounter with her when he was a human.

"All right you two, I'm going to go look for an alchemist, the two of you scout out the city and look for some things that could be helpful to us," Envy said as he transformed into a normal looking tourist and walked off leaving the other two in the middle of a crowd.

One of the perks of Aquroya was that it was a tourist city. Seeing newcomers in such a city was nothing new so the three Homunculi could walk around freely without too much suspicion. At least for now anyway…

"So Sloth, what do you want to check out first?"

"I don't care."

"What's eating you?"

"I've got a bad feeling about being in this city. Besides, that damn thief could be around here somewhere and she's the last person I want to see."

"Ah, women troubles," the elder Homunculus, said causing the younger Homunculus turned red.

"Just shut up!"

"I was just trying to lighten the mood, Sloth. You've been grumpy since I knocked on your door this morning. Don't let things bother you so much."

"Maybe you should learn to keep your mouth shut when I'm in a bad mood."

"Let's not cause a scene, Edward. You really act way to much like your human self sometimes," Lust said, switching Sloth's name to prove a point.

"And how would you know, Mustang, if you don't seem to have any memories of your past life?" Sloth questioned.

Lust stopped walking and turned to face Sloth. His face had gone from his normal mask to a look of pure anger. Sloth stared back and smiled smugly.

"Just because I act like I don't have memories of my past life, doesn't mean that I don't. I have dreams just like you. I don't talk about them because they're a sign of weakness to Lady Dante, and I don't want to start sounding like you," Lust hissed in annoyance.

"Hah, now look who's in a bad mood."

"Oh just shut up," he yelled before storming off with Sloth following a safe distance behind him.

It was like this almost every day. They were fine, then they argued, then someone stomped off, and then they were fine again. It was almost a mutual understanding. It had been the same way before they were Homunculus.

"So, Mustang, where are we going to scout?" Sloth said using Lust's human name so that suspicions wouldn't arise.

"The square, maybe we can get some information on this thief you're trying to avoid, or, possibly, some news on another alchemist in case Envy is unsuccessful."

Sloth could still tell that Lust was angry with him. Memories of their past lives had always been a touché subject for the Homunculi and saying something about was almost as bad as an alchemic taboo. The younger of the two sighed.

"I'm sorry. My comment was below the belt. I guess I was just frustrated with my own memories that I took it out on you. To be honest, you didn't deserve it."

"What is it with you and your memories anyway?" Lust asked as he motioned to a bench so that the two of them could sit down and talk.

"I think you and the other's pass them off as if they're nothing. If they were nothing then why do we have them? Why do they come back to us in our dreams? Is someone trying to tell us something? Why does mine seem to be so much more frequent and vivid than the other Homunculi? I seem to be the only one that has them on a daily basis where something has to be triggered in the others."

"You're asking too many questions that we don't have the answers to nor do we have the time to find them. I understand your concern though. I have the same concerns."

Sloth looked directly at Lust. He thought that he was the only Homunculus with questions about his past life and his memories. He was surprised that Lust did too.

"It seems that my memories come up frequently as well. No one seems to be concerned about them and so I figured why bother worry. Though it is strange, almost as if Lady Dante ordered them not to worry about it, but some of the images I can't seem to get out of my head. I think you experience the same thing. Don't you?"

Sloth nodded slowly. He was still digesting everything that Lust was saying. A small part of him was happy that he was not the only homunculus that thought about his dreams on a daily basis and concerned that the others brush them off as nothing. It was a refreshing change to just being told to shut up about his dreams and act like they have no affect on him.

"I know I said we don't have time for it now, but maybe when we get back to Central, we could somehow get some access to the records and see if we can find anything. I think it's a woman named Scheska who is an overseer of the record's department. Maybe we can slip by her without too much of a hassle and then we won't talk about this anymore," Lust said.

"What's this, the ever loyal Lust is going mutiny. That's rich!"

"I'm not going mutiny. Lady Dante didn't tell us directly that we couldn't look. She just doesn't want us to. It's just a common fact. The question is what does she have to hide that she doesn't want us to find out about our past life. It's always been one of the things I've been curious about, but I'd never had the guts to try to look into it.

"And what if she does forbid us from looking? What then?"

"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it. For now, just keep your mouth shut about it until we get back to Central. Now let's get back to scouting. If Envy comes back and we haven't found out anything we'll be dead."

"Fine, just remember that yourself you morally bankrupt Homunculus. You have such a God-complex, telling me what to do like I'm some little kid," Sloth muttered, as he turned red and stormed off with Lust right behind him.

"Last time I checked you are a kid."

"Shut up!"