Ace: Gah! No one told me what to do! *spasms*

Lela: Okay then. Review-answering time.

Envy: Furorensu-Chan, I hate to break it to you, but most of the people Mustang sleeps with... is me. AND GET OFF MY KITTEN, OTHERWISE I'LL *bleeped out due to sheer graphicness of threat*

Lela: And, by the way, Ace appriciates your applause for her good writing with Kimbley and also likes the fact you always review first because she uses your review to figure out when she's reached the end of the reviews in her e-mail box.

Sonya: EternalHypernova is next. YES, I AM A VAMPIRE! I THOUGHT WE ALREADY ESTABLISHED THIS!

Ed: Ah! More encouragement for Kayla! *runs*

Kayla: Yay! I gets more encouragement to go rape Ed! *tails spazzes* I'M GONNA GO FIND HIM!

Ace: What about the reviews, Kayla? *grabs by scruff of neck* Go chase Ed later. Oh, and thanks for liking the fact they do all the answering. I think they like answering these things too.

Sonya: No we don't!

Ace: SHUT UP, NO ONE ASKED YOU!

Lela: *sigh* Looks like they're at it again. Next is Witty Tennis Girl, a new reviewer! Ace apprciates the compliment, and she'd express it herself if she wasn't so busy with Sonya, heh heh heh...

Sonya: Now, for my bestest buddy, DarkVampirePrincess8, I know, it was a whole chapter of me, but she hasn't made another one of those yet. And, it's actually a pretty confusing part there on my whole bat-ness, something Ace is going to go into later, but I wasn't a vampire bat until AFTER I was caught.

Ed: STOP ENCOURAGING KAYLA! I DON'T WANT TO BE RAPED!

Kayla: *tail droops* So you don't like me? *runs off*

Ed: Oh, and Bloody Bonez Alchemist XD, I think you can have your name back since Kayla can't become an alchemist anymore.

Lela: And thanks for taking the time to review, all of you! Ace's day is always made when she sees those little reviews!

Ace: *sniff* It's true.

Envy: Which is why I must depress you with the disclaimer! Ace5980 does not own FullMetal Alchemist.

Lela: Why did you have to do that, Master? You know that makes her sadder. Now, please enjoy the chapter while I attempt to discipline my master.

10: A Sickening of Hearts

Like always, when Kayla woke up that morning, she felt sick. But since she knew the cause, she merely hid the feeling from Ed and Al, not wanting to worry them unnecessarily, or worse yet, be forced to see a doctor. She held back a shiver; since becoming a chimera, Kayla had a thing against all doctors and alchemists other than Edward and Alphonse.

She bounded out of her bed and into Edward's, delivering her usual morning lick to the nose before heading off to get herself breakfast. She didn't make it to the door before she gasped, her legs giving out and black going over her vision. She whimpered loudly, her body curling in on itself. Edward and Alphonse were down beside her in a matter of moments, concerned. A low, feral growl came from her throat as she forced herself upright, jaw tightly clenched, and stumbled to her room. She rummaged around in her coat pockets for an age before she pulled out a red collar. Gritting her teeth, a low whine slipping from her lips, she clumsily fastened it around her wrist, a relieved sigh escaping her as the buckle slid into place.

"What the hell just happened, Kayla?" Ed demanded.

Her ears twitched guiltily, but the chimera didn't look him in the eye. "Let's just say I'm very sick, there's nothing modern medicine can do about it, and I'm perfectly fine now."

"Kayla-" Al began, but she chucked her pillow at Ed's face and her shirt at Al's, effectively ending that conversation. It wasn't personal or anything, but Kayla was guarding a terrible secret from the Elric brothers, one about her past that she wasn't prepared to reveal to them any time in the near future, or rather, until it had become the only option left to her. She didn't want to drive them away in disgust when they found out the truth behind why the Animalias were all chimeras.

Sonya hadn't understood the true meaning of greed until after she'd fed on blood. The exquisite, overpowering taste of even the fake blood had driven reason from her mind, shackling her to her own animalistic, carnal urges. She licked her lips, already craving more even though she'd only fed last night. She couldn't contain a dry chuckle as she stared at the bloody colors of the sunrise. "It looks like those damn alchemists were right after all when they said my world would one day end up being painted in the ghastly colors of crimson blood."

When Lela awoke to feeling sick down to the very depths of her stomach and being, she knew, sadly, exactly what was wrong with her. Her claws slid out as she cursed the alchemists who had made her and her sisters like this. She slid from the warmth of the bed, careful not to awaken Envy, even though he too knew exactly what was wrong with her.

She gracefully made her way to the bathroom, stealthily closing the door behind her. Even though her master knew, none of the other homunculi knew the truth about her, and she intended to keep it that way. Padding to the counter, she noticed something strange out of the corner of her green eyes. The muscles under her fur were spasming. "Shit," she hissed, falling to the floor and colliding painfully with the cold tile. "Double shit."

She knew what was inevitably coming now that she couldn't stop it. The only thing left to do at this point was to keep the noise to a minimum as all hell would proceed to break loose. She didn't need a curious Lust or Gluttony finding her in her current state. Her long black hair fell around her, hiding her face as she panted.

To her surprise, the door behind her opened and closed. Then a gentle hand was pushing aside the curtain of her hair from around her shoulder, firmly injecting her with the alchemical serum she'd been so desperately trying to reach before. Her shaking slowed as the injection spread through her bloodstream, and she began to sag. An arm wrapped around her waist, pulling her onto a comfortable lap before she had the chance to hit the floor. "It came early this month, didn't it?"

She nodded weakly. "And faster too." She added in a small voice, "I don't want to become a monster, Envy. Really, I don't."

"It's okay," he murmured, petting her hair soothingly as she began to cry into his chest. "I won't let you lose yourself, my kitten. I promise."

Kayla's paws were sore from walking all day, but she had more immediate concerns than her aching paws. She could already feel the head coming on and knew tonight was going to be a horrible, long night. As soon as was possible to avoid suspicion, she snuck away.

The click of a lock sounded extremely ominous to Kayla, but it was the only way. If Edward or Alphonse chanced upon her when she was in one of her states, they'd freak at best and kill her or turn her over to the Military at worst. She shivered delicately, padding her way to the bed in the corner. She curled up in the precise center of the bed, her head resting on her paws and her tail wrapping around her body to her paws. Her yellow eyes slowly slid shut as she carefully undid the mental grip she kept so tightly around her body. She pictured her mental bonds as chains and shackles encircling her entire body, restraining her in every way possible.

Then she pictured the chains sliding away from her into the vague mist, concerns no longer. It was a long, laborious, exhausting process, but one that she had long since grown used to. She could feel her body physically shifting, bones cracking, as it adjusted to the sudden lack of a burden. Slowly, with a precision born of grace and majesty, her pale yet fierce yellow eyes slid open, her fur bleached whiter than usual form the moonlight falling in from the window, to meet her new wolf face with Edward Elric's startled one.

Ace: Oh noes! Ed found out that Kayla can transform into a wolf! Whats will happen now?

Sonya: Why are you screaming up at the sky, you already know what's gonna happen!

Ace: Oh yeah.

Lela: -AND THAT'S WHY YOU DON'T CALL EDWARD SHORT-

Ace: Wow, she's really getting into it, isn't she?

Sonya: You should've seen her with the alchemists. This ain't nothing compared to that.

Ace: Any idea why that is?

Envy: Because she loves me.

Lela: GAH! *falls over*

Kayla: YAY! NAPTIME! *falls over*

Ace: Um, wasn't she supposed to be freaking out?

Ed: Apparently not.

Kayla: YOU NAP TOO! *tackles Ed*

Sonya: Reviewers get you, um, magic lollipops, I guess?

Greed: I have a better idea. May I?

Ace: I don't see why not.

Greed: Reviewers get a can of whipped cream and the character of thier choice.

Ace: *faints in shock*

Sonya: Well then. That beats what I had by a long shot.

Greed: Looks like we're in charge of reading the reviews for the next while.

Sonya: Yeah... Want to go delete all the reviews she gets while she's out?

Greed: Oh, you bet. *turns to computer with evil expression on face and pointy teeth* AND NOW WE WAIT!

Sonya: Mwahahahahahahahahahaha!