A/N: Must update chapter… Must not give up…

Purin: "Finally!" *raises hand in accomplishment*

Pumpbie: "Finally what?"

Purin: *giggles* "Well… I love Ed and Al's Master! She's AWESOME! That's why I'm excited to write about her!" *evil grin* "And what's more… This is when Greed shows up… Man, I love that guy! BWAHAHAHAHA! GREED RULES!"

Pumpbie: *bows* "I truly am sorry if my friend's oddity is disturbing anyone out there. Please don't mind her. I believe she was dropped when she was a baby."

Purin: "Why does everyone keeps saying that but no one will tell me the details?"

Pumpbie: "Please enjoy this Chapter!"

Purin: "Hey, I wanted to say that!"

Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist or Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood!

Chapter 16

"Hey, Brother."

Ed glanced to his side seeing Al scrunching closer to him but had his gaze locked straight ahead. He raised an eyebrow, "Yeah?"

"Have you noticed," he looked at his brother, "that Seth seemed paler these days?"

Ed blinked, "Isn't it because of his motion sickness?"

"Well, yeah there is that but," he looked back towards the dark haired boy now standing in front of one of the fruit sellers, "I just noticed when we got here that, he seemed generally paler and it seems even clearer under the sunlight."

"Hmmm… Maybe he's sick?"

The two looked back straight ahead and saw Seth was having a nice conversation with the seller lady, putting on a fake yet bright and sincere looking smile as the two laughed. Seth stepped back a bit and Ed raised his eyebrows slightly, he did seem paler. He looked a bit like someone who's supposed to be bed ridden, though his expression didn't seem like one at all.

Ed furrowed his eyebrows, 'Well… He does seem paler…' he narrowed his eyes and gazed down at the boy's wrists, '…and his wrists are smaller. You can't really tell whether he's lost weight or not in the clothes he's wearing at the moment… Plus he's been acting strange these days.' Ed hummed, "Well, if he is sick, he'll probably show it or tell someone about it."

"Y-Yeah, I guess he will…"

Seth nodded to the woman and took a basket from her that's been covered with a piece of cloth before making his way back to the two brothers. He raised his eyebrows slightly when he saw the looks they were giving him, "Is something wrong?"

The two looked at each other for a moment before looking back at the boy. Ed scratched his cheek slightly, "Uh… Seth, are you feeling alright? You're not sick or anything, are you?"

Silence fell between the three as they gazed at each other, a very awkward silence for them… Very awkward indeed…

Seth blinked, "What?"

"W-Well, we were just worried since you seem a bit paler lately and kind of not acting like yourself, t-that's all!" Al stuttered nervously.

It was true that Seth hasn't been acting like himself lately, and this doesn't go unnoticed by others. He wouldn't barge in on people anymore and he'd actually knock on doors for once in his life. He's been doing almost anything and everything anyone asked him to. He doesn't add any comical or annoying comments whenever he spoke to anyone anymore.

He's also been a lot quieter and less hyper. He seems to be lacking his eating and he often works until late at night and coming in early, working like there's no tomorrow. He's been distancing himself from others slightly, even if it's barely visible. Plus, he hasn't been mocking Ed or trying to mess with him, even though there's been hundreds of open chances for him to insult him all he wants.

The boy gazed at the two as if they had just told the weirdest joke in history and kept up the silence which seemed to not bother him, but was clearly killing the insides of the two brothers. And then, when the two thought he couldn't be acting any weirder…

He smiled genuinely with a soft look in his eyes, "Oh, that, I've just been thinking about something important that's all." He looked to the side and rubbed the back of his neck, "I guess it's been preoccupying my mind."

"…Something important? What kind of important business would someone like you have?" Ed pointed out, hoping to get a usual reaction from Seth.

He chuckled, "Well, what would you know? After all…" He looked back at the boy and raised his hand. And before any of them could make another sound, he placed his hand on Ed's head and ruffled his hair in a brotherly manner. He grinned and tilted his head, "You're just a shrimpy little brat."

Ed blinked and gazed at the boy and after a short moment of silence…

"WHO THE HECK ARE YOU CALLING A SHRIMPY BRAT?"

Later in Izumi's House

Izumi sighed and placed a hand over her face, "Along 3rd Avenue…" Ed and Al blinked. She growled and cracked her knuckles, "There's a coffin store so get ones that'll fit your sizes!" She glared at them with such intensity the look itself might have been more than enough to rip the souls out of their bodies.

Ed and Al shuddered.

After a moment Izumi sighed and leaned back against her chair, "Well, enough jokes… And after I told you repeatedly not to do Human Transmutation, you still did it anyways…" The two hung their heads. She sighed again, "Both the master and apprentices suffering the same fate, oh boy…"

Ed furrowed his eyebrows, "So Master… You too as well?"

She narrowed her eyes and gazed down at her lap before gently placing a hand over her stomach, "My organs… A lot of them were taken away from me…" She looked up, "…You two… Are idiots."

The two looked down in shame, "Sorry…"

"Morons!"

"Sorry…"

"Ignorant!"

"We are…"

"Stupid apprentices!"

"We really are…"

"SHRIMP!"

"…Y-Yeah… That too…"

She paused and her gaze seemed to soften, "…It was painful… Wasn't it?"

Ed blinked as he gazed into his master's eyes, and saw that they were filled with past pain and concern towards him and his brother. He looked away and rubbed the back of his neck, feeling a bit uncomfortable at the sudden change of personality, "Well, we were the ones asking for it. And I guess painful isn't exactly the best word to describe it…"

The room fell in silence for a moment before Izumi pushed herself to a stand. She walked closer towards the two and scrunched down, "You two…" She placed a hand on both their shoulders before tugging them forward gently and pulling them into a hug, "…You don't have to push yourselves."

The two stiffened in their master's warm and, surprisingly, soothing hug. Ed furrowed his eyebrows and the two buried their heads in Izumi's shoulders.

"…Sorry…"

"…Please forgive us…"

"…We're so sorry…"

"…It's alright." She sighed and let the two go, "Now then," she glanced back to see Seth standing next to Sig. He inwardly smiled and waved at her. She looked back towards the two brothers and point a finger at the boy, "He's a friend of yours?"

The two exchanged looks before looking back at their master, "Yes?"

Izumi blinked, "I see…"

Meanwhile with Roy

"Everything and anything there is to know about Seth and Alice," Roy answered with a monotonous tone.

Riza kept herself composed, "Isn't that a bit drastic? I mean their father's files aren't exactly the best source of information, is it?"

"But it's more reliable than their own," he added flatly. "Besides," he held up his face with one hand as he gazed numbly to the stack of documents next to him, "Dr. Lockhart only have two children. When I checked the dates placed on his files and the ones on their files… They didn't add up."

"So you're saying there's a possibility…" Riza trailed off and allowed the dark haired man to continue her sentence.

He sighed, "That they've been keeping more secrets than we thought. Who knows?" he glanced at the woman with a smirk.

She narrowed her eyes slightly, "But why would they need to do that?"

He shrugged, "They're hard to read. But if there's one thing I know, once you're in the army, some things are easier to acquire." His smirk widened, "That kind of reminds of a certain pair of troublesome brothers we have in the army as well."

Later that Night

Seth gazed up the sky numbly. His thoughts were far off somewhere and he certainly had the expression to show that. He sat with one leg laid on the roof while another was bent up, while his hands secured his position in place.

He pulled out his pocket watch and flipped it open, watching the little finger move in a continuous pace. He raised his hand and placed his palm on the carvings on the empty side of the watch.

He sighed and flipped the watch closed before shoving it back in his pocket. He gazed up once more and watch the stars, "It's so hard to please everyone…"

"Do you still have time to please yourself?" Seth smirked as he recognized the voice to be none other than Ed and Al's master.

The said woman sat down next to him, not bothering to ask if she could. She sighed and placed herself in a similar sitting position before looking up the sky, "Your name's Seth Lockhart, right?"

"Yeah… What about it?"

"I once met your father, when he was just accepted as a state alchemist." She smiled, "He seemed like such a nice man and very gifted as well. At least that's what he seemed to appear on a first sight…" she glanced at him from the corner of her eyes, "What do you think of him?"

He shrugged, "He seems like a bastard to me in every point of view. I was just too much of an idiot to see it when I was younger." He smirked, "But I am his son, and recently I've been turning more and more like him."

Izumi gazed at the boy with a skeptical look, trying her best to read the boy's expression, "How old are you exactly?"

He looked at the woman and grinned, "How old do I look?"

The Next Day

"Seth? Well, I can't say I'm all that surprised to hear from you," it was a male voice that answered, "though I'm more surprised to the fact that you know where I am… And how to contact me…"

"Alice was already looking for you, so I took a peek at her notes," he answered lightly as he leaned against the wall behind him.

"…I'm more concerned if Alice minded or not."

"Don't worry about it. If she kills anyone, it'll probably be me. And it's not exactly this is the first time I've kept a secret from her," he reminded the man. He smiled, "Listen, I need to ask you a question, a very important one."

There was a slight pause, "Is your body acting up again?"

"Yeah…" a trail of pain was clear in his voice.

"Hmmm, then I guess she might won't need to worry about killing you at all."

"Thanks for the support…" Seth sighed and rubbed the back of his neck, "I think I'm really pushing my luck this time. I'm going to have to tell her the truth soon."

"Personally? That doesn't seem like something you'd do."

"No, not personally." His gaze softened slightly, "That's why I was wondering… If it was alright that I passed the message to Edward and Alphonse."

"Why those two of all the choices in the world?" the man asked with a bewildered tone.

"Because they both managed to bond with her without that much trouble and," he smirked, "I heard that they're both also looking for the truth."

The man on the end of the line turned quiet for a minute, "…Do as you think is best. Just don't leave with regrets, alright?"

He smiled again, "Thanks, I'll see you later, okay?" He hung up before he could receive a reply. He looked back straight ahead and gaze at the sun, the bright color was reflected in his forest green orbs, "…Or maybe not."

He walked towards the window and saw the sun had began to set behind the horizon. He sighed and leaned against the wall, crossing his arms over his chest. He looked down towards his palm.

'…Don't leave with regrets…' His gaze softened, '…Wonder if he had regrets…'

"ALICE!"

Seth gazed at his father with wide eyes as the black arms began to form from the ground. His father merely laughed and ignored the arms that were climbing up his limbs, his body beginning to fade away with each passing seconds.

Seth furrowed his eyebrows as he tried to reach out for the man, feeling the sudden numbness climbing up his feet, "Father… What did you-?"

The man looked at him as a dark smile curled up his lips, "What's wrong Seth? You're shivering… Come now. This isn't the first time you've seen this, is it?" he ended his sentence with a chuckle.

Tears began to form at the sides of the boy's eyes. After a moment, all form of sadness and despair disappeared from Seth's eyes and was replaced by hatred, pure hatred, "I thought you said you weren't going to do this anymore!"

His chuckles grew louder.

"You told me…" he gritted his teeth and slammed his fists to the blood stained floors, "…You told me that I was going to be your last experiment! You promised you wouldn't do anything to Alice!"

His father stopped laughing in an instant. The man looked back at his son, by now all that's left of his body was his neck up. He gazed at the boy and the deep hatred carved in his eyes, hatred towards him. "Seth…"

The boy narrowed his eyes as his father's neck began to disappear.

"Seth…" His father's mouth moved and what he said brought a sudden wave of fear to wash over the boy.

His body began to disappear completely and all that's left in the room was complete and utter darkness. Seth's body began to tremble harshly and he clawed the floor beneath him, his nails digging into the ground beneath. He bit his lip so hard until blood began to drip from his lips.

"You bastard…" He looked up with narrowed eyes, "I SWEAR I'LL GET YOU FOR THIS!"

'Even to the last moments of his life… All he cared about was his experiments. And after all these years, she still believes in him.' He sighed, 'Everything's turning more complicated. I can't follow all of this…'

Somewhere

"I… Also want to know my secrets," Al mumbled as he gazed at the group in front of him.

"In that case, we'll get straight to the point," said the man with long grey hair, "come with us and you might learn what you want to know."

"Ummm, but…" Al paused and thought as he rubbed the back of his neck, "My master always told me not to follow strangers anywhere."

The group sweat dropped and an awkward silence was built around the four like a thick blanket.

"…How old are you exactly?" another man with spiky black hair asked as he gazed at the boy.

"14."

"You're 14 now." The man raised a finger so he could clarify his point, "See, a 14 year old should be able and allowed to think and act on their own free will. You don't have to rely on your master's orders all the time," he said with a light tone.

Al thought about the man's words for a moment before he perked up, "That's right! That means I can make my own decisions!"

He nodded with a smile, "That's right! So you can come with us-"

The man fell back as he was kicked in the face by a metal foot. He dropped to the ground and winced as Al stood before him with his shadow hovering above him. "I've decided… That I'm going to beat the answers out of all of you," Al said as he gestured towards the group.

The grey haired man narrowed his eyes before sighing deeply. He stood from his perch, "Well, looks like we don't have any choice but to use force then."

A/N: Concentrate…

Purin: "Hmmm…"

Pumpbie: "Hmmm…"

Purin: "…I wonder when I'm going to update again…"

Pumpbie: "Better be soon though."

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