"Do you see me, dear sister?" He was tall, lean, with claws for hands and a long black pelt draping over his shoulders. Just like the insignia that labeled their house, the sigil that had been forever engraved into the handle of her knife. Her brother was that of a panther with three claws threatening to slice her throat in only a matter of haunted seconds. Though she would normally feel fear in the presence of such an atrocity of the massive brother of hers, she felt a numbing pain replace it.

"I see you."

"Do you notice me?" He asked as he crept closer, his green eyes shifting from a midsummer forest to black as night. His bare stomach slowly began to grow charred, as if he was burning from the inside. She noticed it first the more and more his stomach grew, from puckered red to chalky browns. The smell of burning flesh invaded her head and it took all of her—heart, mind, and soul—to hold her tongue and resist writhing in horror and disgust on the ground beside his charcoal body.

"I do."

"Do you see that I am alive and well?" Though it seemed as if he was burning, slowly, slowly, he did appear livelier than when she'd seen him dead on his bed, the scarlet blood pooling around him like a bath, designed to wash every doubt and hate that lingered on the tip of his tongue. He had a casual smirk that made him appear as if he could eat her up in one bite and pick his teeth with her bones. She wondered what she must taste like under the claws of her eldest brother as his hot breath met the skin on the back of her neck. She shivered uncomfortably.

"Yes, brother."

"Do you care?"

"Of course." She felt his breath grow hotter and hotter, like the summer's eve before a storm. The heat built up even worse as his fingers trailed down her exposed back, elongated claws digging into her skin. She gasped out of pain as he picked at her flesh, his panther eyes meeting hers the moment his claws left her skin. His golden eyes were harsh and filled with anger. His brows dipped into the curve of his forehead.

"Then why did you leave me to burn in a fiery pit we used to call our home?"

"I-"

"To escape for yourself? To live while your favorite brother's flesh popped under the intense heat? To laugh in the face of the danger around you?"

"No-"

"Then why did you leave us?!" His claws raked across her chest and face simultaneously, the blood exploding from her face. She fell to the ground in a desperate attempt to shadow herself from the blows her brother threw, but it only made him angrier. His teeth grabbed her by the scruff over her neck and shook her violently, like a ragdoll invented for a child. Any second and her neck would break, if she didn't do anything. Stopping the panther that had become her brother was like stopping the boy who had claimed he could help the lands become the next great kingdom. She kicked and swung and missed by three miles, desperate for her only chance of escape.

"Stop! Stop touching me, you're hurting me!"

Snap.

She shot up, thick with sweat, to the coals on the fire dimming. The room had grown cold during the middle of the night as she kicked off the sheets and moved softly to the fireplace. Her heart was pounding faster than she would have expected as she softly shoved the kindling and thicker pieces of wood into the embers. The ashes lapped up and stung her fingers and she cursed under her breath as the grey and red sizzled against her skin.

Alyvia rushed to the water that Martel had left the night in any case she would need it and pushed her hand into the icy chill. The burns on the back of her hand slowly began to sooth, much to her relief, as she stood at the dresser soaking her hand. Slowly the stinging pain faded and she sighed, exhausted. The nightmares had been slamming her the three days they had bad in town. Memories of her brothers playing in the battlefield were constantly changed by the fact that they were panthers, big or small. Claude's cruel face as he laughed and cried at her rejection to his marriage proposal. The glimmering eyes as her father sold her off to a man with dark hair and black eyes and the saddest smile she'd ever seen on a man.

She was thankful none of the dreams dealt with the Elric brothers, for she was certain she wouldn't be able to look at them the same if they, too, invaded her nightmares. Not that she had looked at them for three days; they'd been out of town ever since she'd asked them to take her along for the journey. She'd been desperately working with Martel and Dol (which was hard, because they were constantly kissing and groping each other in the middle of every little task). Her hands were raw from incessant washing of the dishes as people came and went. As much as Martel had begged her to just relax in her room until it was time to leave, Bido had insisted that she would be safer if she appeared like a simple maid working to pay off a debt to Greed.

As believable as the story seemed, some people had seemed to question it. Her appearance wasn't dirty nor did she have the regular shape of a lady working hard. Still, the plan had gone accordingly so far and she wasn't going to suddenly blow her cover because of an idiotic mistake. The longer her identity went unnoticed, the more she wondered if her dead family had even been discovered yet.

She shoved on the loose clothes that Martel had given her in seconds and slipped on her boots. Her hand tingled softly from the burns as she opened the door. The hallway was silent; dark as the candles were fading in power. Alyvia felt her stomach twist in fear in memory of the last time it had been this dark unintentionally. The heat around her began to grow intense as she glanced down the stairwell, nearly jumping at the sight of Roa leaning against the bottom steps. Relief poured out in buckets as she started down the steps, before an elongated sword cut through her friend's chest. She gasped, loud, before falling up the stairs in the seconds that the Bull's life poured all over the floor.

Strong, sturdy hands grabbed her by the shirt and yanked her up, another hand protecting her mouth from screaming. Alyvia kicked furiously, her heart slamming against her chest in fear before she heard Edward's low voice whisper, "Stop it!" before continuing to drag her away from the staircase. Her eyes widened when she spotted Dol, with his eyes lowered on Martel crying pitifully against his chest. Her heart leapt into her throat the minute she saw his lower body cut into shreds, just like her brother's had been. Ed moved her away from the sight while Alphonse tried desperately to take care of the sobbing Martel.

"Martel, please," Alphonse whispered to the sobbing girl beside him as she clung to Dol's shirt as if it were the last thing in the world that she cared about. Alyvia's heart ached for her friend as her lover closed his eyes exhaustedly. There was a catch in Martel's breath before she broke into heavier ones, screaming at him to wake up. The screams echoed throughout the room as her friend's heart exploded into despair, and knowing her own experiences, she would never be able to comfort her.

A loud crash came from the first floor, and Edward picked her up, pushing her forward harder than before. "Al, come on! If she wants to die with him, so be it!" He shouted impatiently as he grabbed his own saddlebag and started towards an open window at the end of the hallway. Martel's heartbreaking sobs escalated as she cried for the man she loved dying underneath her hand as Alyvia watched Al let her shoulders go and start towards them. His golden eyes were filled with grief as Ed shoved her out of the window and onto the stable roof. It was slippery from a previous night of rain as she slid carefully to the edge of the stable.

Edward jumped to the ground first and helped catch her swiftly. The Devil's Nest was surrounded by hundreds of men dressed in blue uniforms and furious gazes. Alyvia gulped as she easily reined one of the available horses and pushed herself onto the back, before turning to the knights. "What the hell is going on?!" She hissed between clenched teeth, her heart beat escalating as she did. Alphonse drew his sword with honor—he hadn't spoken one word since leaving Martel—as he settled onto the back of his Allie. Edward's golden gaze met hers hesitantly before a loud crash came through the door of the inn. Out fumbled Greed and his burly body before another man, larger than even his prey, pushed him to the ground.

Alyvia noticed the sigil on his swords before she noticed anything else; a large lion in chains. As his sword rammed into the eyes of his victim, the snarky, loud mouthed jerk who'd taken her in and protected her for a few days, she recognized him easily. "King Bradley," She whispered in surprise, before Edward lashed his reins and nearly dragged her horse along. The sound of the hooves against the cobblestone path as they escaped from the city only added to her horror and distaste, and definite confusion of who exactly these knights of the King's men were.