Chapter Eleven

We were leaving Risembool today, thank God. The small town bored me and I was ready to go back to Central, even though it was possible that the Fullmetal Alchemist and I would be separated, and my plans to kill him ruined.

While Edward and Alphonse said their goodbyes and prepared to leave, I decided to visit Trisha Elric's grave one last time. I wasn't really sure why. I didn't remember anything about my original family, and to be quite honest, I didn't really miss them either, so I had hardly any idea what loss felt like. A small wave of sympathy for the Elric brothers washed over me.

I wasn't alone in the cemetery today; there was a sniffling man a few rows in front of me laying flowers on a grave. I bit my lip, feeling slightly awkward all of a sudden, and plucked some weeds, putting them in front of Trisha Elric's grave.

I stared at it for a few moments, and then spoke.

"I know your son," I informed the grave, "He's… he's something else, alright."

I frowned. I was talking to the grave of a woman I had never met.

"He's kind of an asshole," I admitted, continuing to talk to the grave. "But sometimes he's not that bad." I paused, and then in a much quieter voice, said, "It's a shame I'll have to—"

"what are you doing here?" snapped a sharp voice behind me, and I spun around.

"Edward." I said, blinking. My cheeks suddenly went very pink. How long had he been standing there? How bad did this look?

"What are you doing here?" I snapped back for lack of a better comeback.

"I can't visit my own mother's grave?" he asked, and then narrowed his eyes in suspicion. "What are you doing here?"

I fumbled for an excuse, and then finally decided it was in my best interest to tell the truth.

"I found it the other day," I said quietly, "When did she…?"

"I was eleven." He said coldly, looking past me and at the grave now.

"I'm sorry." I said quietly. "I lost my mother too. I was too young to remember." I found myself saying these words without thinking about them. "I lost my entire family. They were all murdered. I was the only one that survived. I was two."

Edward looked up at me again, but his expression was no longer angry. "then what?"

My eyes widened and I realized I had made a huge mistake. "I was adopted." I invented quickly. "took a new name, moved to a new city. Moved on with my life."

Edward looked back down at the grave. He seemed to buy my story. After all, it was true.

"Well," I said after a moment of uncomfortable silence, "We'd best be heading toward the train station then."

"Yeah," Edward agreed quietly, not looking up, "Al is going to meet us there with our things."

"Okay," I nodded, taking a few steps backward. Edward didn't follow, though. He knelt down next to the grave, placing his hands on the weeds I had left. There was a bright light, and when it died down, they had been replaced with roses.

"Wow." I said before I could stop myself, "That's amazing. How did you do that without a transmutation circle?"

Edward looked surprised that I even knew what I transmutation circle was, but he answered in a dark tone, "trust me, it's a talent not worth perusing."

"It's still pouring out," said Alphonse worriedly, glancing out the window in our compartment of the train.

Indeed it was pouring, and at this late in the night it was almost impossible to see out the window anyway.

"We're almost at our stop." Alphonse said when Edward didn't answer, "And the train to Central isn't coming any time soon."

Edward still said nothing, playing with the pocketwatch in his hands.

"Brother!" Alphonse exclaimed impatiently, "I can't get wet!"

Edward finally looked up at Alphonse. "Oh yeah." He said. "Well, damn."

"What's the matter, Al," I laughed, "afraid your suit will rust?"

Alphonse and Edward both shifted uncomfortably.

"Why don't you just take the damn thing off?" I asked, still curious as to why he wore it in the first place.

"Nem," Alphonse began, but his brother cut him off.

"Al, no." he said firmly.

"Ed, we have to tell her!" Alphonse said.

"There's no point, after tomorrow we'll never even see her again." Edward muttered, crossing his arms and staring out the window. I pursed my lips.

"Nem," Alphonse said again. He seemed to be struggling for words. Finally, he reached for the helmet of his armor, and slowly pulled it off.

I gasped and hopped to my feet in horror.

There was nothing there.

"What the fu—!"

"Don't be afraid!" Alphonse said quickly, putting his hands on my shoulders and pushing me down into my seat with ease. "I'm still human!"

"You're not human…" I choked, "You're…"

"It was a transmutation gone wrong." Alphonse explained, pointing to the mark inside the armor. I gazed at it. "This keeps my soul attached to this suit of armor, allowing me to animate it." He explained. "My body is still in the Gate. That's why Brother and I are looking for the Philosopher's Stone." He added, "To get my body back, and Edward's arm and leg back."

I stared back and forth between Edward and Alphonse, my eyes wide and my mouth hanging open.

"But… what did you do?" I couldn't help asking, "What could you have done that could've gone so…" I trailed off, waiting for an answer.

For a few seconds, neither of them spoke.

It took me by surprise when Edward rather than Alphonse finally said, "we tried to resurrect our mother."

If possible, my eyes widened even more. "What happened?" I whispered, "did she…?"

"No." Edward answered without any inflection. "The thing we created was not human."

My head was spinning. "You mean, you…"

It couldn't have been possible. I thought back to my home, my "family". Could Edward and Alphonse have created…Sloth?

But before anyone could say a word, the train slowed down, and came to a halt. Alphonse hesitated. "I guess we'll book a room for tonight." Edward groaned, "And go to Central in the morning instead."

The three of us walked off of the train—luckily for Alphonse everything was under shelter and he didn't get wet—and hastily checked into the inn connected to the station. I wrinkled my nose. The air inside tasted stale and I could've sworn I saw a rat scurrying along the walls of the lobby.

I didn't realize until we reached our room how exhausted I had been. It was small and decorated with green patterned wallpaper and matching sheets on the two beds.

"Lovely." I commented, flopping down on the bed closest to the window. Edward went into the bathroom and Alphonse sat on the foot of the bed.

"Are you hungry?" he asked, "I can go get you something."

As if in response, my stomach growled loudly. Alphonse began to stand.

"No, it's fine!" I said quickly, "I don't need anything."

"Man, I'm starved." Edward said, rubbing his stomach and walking out of the bathroom. "Lets go get food."

I peered out the window. "It's still raining." I reminded them.

"That's fine," Alphonse said, as if he wanted us to realize he couldn't come. "I don't eat anyway."

I paused. I would be alone, with Edward. I stared at Alphonse. I had the feeling I wasn't the only one up to something. However, this could be my chance to get the job done so I didn't argue.

"Alright," Edward agreed, clearly not as perceptive to Alphonse's manipulative ways as I was, "Nem and I will go then. We'll be back in a bit, Al." he motioned for me to follow, and we exited the room, speedwalking down the stairs and toward the front door. We both paused, staring outside, and Edward finally sighed and slipped out of his red coat, handing it to me.

Before I could refuse, he opened the door and darted out, crossing the street. I rolled my eyes, sliding into the coat and lifting the hood, and chased after him.

"So," said Edward with a mouth full of food. Though it was late, the pub was still lively, and believe it or not, I was actually enjoying myself. "What are you up to, Nem?"

I choked on my water. "E-Excuse me?" I coughed.

"Why isn't your family looking for you?" he pressed. "Your adoptive one."

I paused, recovering my composure and sipping the water again. "I made myself very clear that I wasn't going home." I made up, looking away. "I don't belong there."

"So what are you doing?" Edward asked, "Where are you going?"

I struggled to find an answer. "Erm," I said slowly, "I'm, er, I'm going to look for who killed my real parents." I spewed out quickly.

Edward stared at me. "Do you have money?"

"No."

"Means of transportation?"

"Nope."

"Do you even know where you're from?"

"Negatory."

He rolled his eyes. "Well, good luck then."

I scowled and looked around the pub—and almost choked again. A man I had never seen before was staring at me with a very familiar leer. He winked one of his amethyst eyes.

Envy.

My jaw dropped. What was he doing here? Watching me?

"Look, Nem," Edward said, "If you need help –"

"We should go." I cut him off, standing up abruptly and taking his hand. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Envy raise an eyebrow. Edward blushed but didn't pull his hand away. "Why?"

"I'm tired." I lied, dragging him to the door, "Let's go."

It wasn't until we were running in the rain again that I had realized I saw Envy as a threat—and not only that, but I had pulled Edward out of harm's way.

"Nem," Edward suddenly said, stopping in the middle of the road and turning around, just inches in front of me. I glanced around. We were right in front of the inn.

"What?" I asked, looking around and rubbing my hands over my arms. We were both already drenched. "I'm sorry for what I said in Risembool," he began, "Look… if you want to find your answers, Alphonse and me, we can help you. We'll protect you from the homunculi and you can help us look for the Stone as well."

I paused. Though in reality I wasn't interested in answers at all, I was flattered by Edward's offer.

"That's… that's really sweet," I said, "But—"

"I just need to know one thing," he shouted over the rain, "Can I trust you?"

I hesitated.

"Yes," I finally responded, "Yeah, you can trust me."

And he smiled back at me, and I wasn't really sure what I was doing or why, but in that moment I had flung my arms around his neck and pressed my lips to his.