Number of words: 9,496

Published date: August 8, 2012

Began chapter: January 26, 2012

Finished chapter: April 7, 2012


Chapter 2: Reunion

The first thing he became aware of, upon waking from a dark and dreamless sleep, was vibrations.

The tremors coursed through his whole body, pounding like a drum in his bones, beating behind his eyes and in his head like an erratic heartbeat, and he wondered groggily if there was an earthquake.

The second thing he became aware of was noise.

It took him some time to recognize the sound of human voices, and that in itself was disturbing. His mind felt slow and dazed, but even in his confused state, he knew that thinking should not be this difficult.

He tried to listen to what was being said, but the voices sounded odd – as if they were coming from high above him – and muffled, as if his ears were stuffed with cotton. Not only that, but they sounded panicky, or perhaps excited. Was it because of the earthquake? Was he in danger? Should he be worried? Whether it killed him or not, being crushed under falling stone didn't sound like very much fun.

He opened his eyes, blinking a few times to try to focus his vision, but everything remained blurry and vague. Wherever he was, it was annoyingly dark. He couldn't get a good look at what he was seeing. Shadows and light danced across the floor and the flickering movements made his eyes ache. He closed them, opened them again, struggling to make sense of what they were telling him.

He was lying on the floor. That much was pretty easy to figure out, for the surface pressing against his cheek was smooth, cold, and smelled of chalk and concrete. His senses told him that he was inside a building, for there was no wind, no scent of trees or wood or soil, no refreshing breeze. The air was actually dank and musty; he wondered if they were underground, which seemed like a pretty stupid place to be with this earthquake going on. He couldn't see any wall, though, which must mean that the room was quite large.

To his right, he could see a large object lying next to him. It was difficult to tell what it was in the flickering light, but by staring at the thing for several seconds, he was able to distinguish the lumpy shadows for what they were: a human body.

Or at least, that's what it looked like, but it didn't seem possible.

The body was lying face-up. He could see the side of the leg and thigh, light-skinned and well muscled. He could just make out the foot and toes, stretching to the edge of his vision. He could see the arm and the hand, which was very near to his face, sheathed in a tight black glove. The midriff was bare, the chest and waist clothed in black. Looking in the other direction, he could see the human's hair, long and spiky strands of dark green, spread around its head in a disheveled mess. He couldn't see the face and he didn't recognize the person, but the body wasn't moving.

It didn't seem possible that it could be a human, for the hand alone was larger than Envy's body.

Confused, Envy peered down at his own body, wriggling the various parts experimentally, mentally scanning to see what sort of state he was in.

He resembled his true form, his monstrous and huge and cobbled-together form, but only in the basics. He had eight limbs. He had a tail. His skin was green and clammy. He could feel the ridged bumps along his spine. He had two eyes and a mouth, but there the resemblance ended. His limbs were short and stubby. The bumps should have been spikes. He was missing the black hair, the squirming faces, the mismatched eyes, the wide and toothy mouth. Not to mention the fact that he was the size of a rat. A modest rat at that.

He had been reduced to his true form. His natural form without any augmenting power from his Philosopher's Stone.

It couldn't be! How was this possible?

Envy panicked. He was disoriented and confused. His memories jumbled unpleasantly. The first time he had been rendered to this tiny, miserable body had been at the hands of Doctor Marcoh. The mere thought of the man filled Envy with a burning hatred for his humiliating defeat, only moderately tempered by the remembrance of terrible pain – the pain of his Stone being stripped of its souls.

The second time…

Fire.

Mustang.

That bastard had killed him. Had killed him over and over and over again. Had repeatedly burned him to death until his Stone was completely depleted, leaving him helpless.

Envy couldn't remember anything else, didn't care about anything else. He had to get away, escape somehow, before the man killed him again, killed him for keeps this time.

The vibrations suddenly seemed far more ominous. Envy had mistaken the tremors for an earthquake, but he realized now that it was not the earth itself that shook. Instead, he was feeling the pounding of feet on the ground, seemingly magnified through his small and sensitive body. And the voices had seemed so far away because they were coming from high above him.

The feet were pounding in their search for him. The voices were calling as they hunted for him.

Whatever had happened to free him from that bastard's wrath, Envy didn't know and he wasn't about to pause to find out. Even now, his chance for survival was slim, but he was desperate. He didn't want to die.

Envy didn't have the ability to regenerate. He couldn't shape-shift. He couldn't run.

But he could possess.

And in an amazing stroke of luck, there was a body lying right next to him, ripe for the picking. Never mind that it wasn't moving. An injured human body was better than his current form. Envy picked himself up and, moving as quickly as he could on his short legs, headed straight for the hand in front of him.


"It looks like he's going for it," a child's voice said, excited and raised for the others to hear.

"Good. Are you free to handle it, Al?"

"Yeah. I just hope this part works. If we miscalculated how his ability operates-"

The child interrupted. "Don't worry about that. I was the most involved in helping him learn to use his powers, and I know a bit about assimilating others, too. We didn't miscalculate."

There was a pause.

"It might freak him out, though…"


Envy had little actual experience in using his parasitic powers. After all, he had only been in this body once before. Though it might be called his 'natural' body in a technical sense, it was not natural for him to be in it. But all of that didn't matter now. Envy had already discovered in the North that taking control of another person's body was an instinctive thing for him; it had taken him years and years of practice to master shape-shifting (a fact that had particularly rankled when his siblings used their own powers without thought or effort), but possessing that sniveling fuzzy-lipped man had been easy for him.

Envy came to the hand, opened his mouth, and bit down. Moving quickly, he worked his body lightly into the human's flesh and proceeded upwards, aiming for the back of the neck where the nervous system was most accessible and vulnerable.

A niggling thought came to the Homunculus that something didn't feel quite right. The body was warm; he could feel the heart beating, feel the blood pumping in the veins, but instinct nagged in the back of his mind. The thought came to him that the body was alive, but the person was not.

Ridiculous, Envy told himself. I'm just imagining things.

Driven by the powerful need to get as far the hell away from Mustang as possible, Envy discredited the feeling and focused on his task. Coming to the base of the neck, he forced himself a little deeper into the body, insinuating his own nerves into the nerves of the helpless human host.

The process was initially disorienting as Envy's awareness of his own body expanded to encompass that of the human's as well. The possession created a strange dichotomy; Envy was able to feel and move his body and the human's body at the same time, but they remained separated in his mind, giving him distinct control over two bodies at once. Luckily for him, his instincts and shape-shifting experience provided something of a buffer against the dizzying feat. As a shape-shifter, he had had to develop a constant and complete awareness of his body at all times, controlling whatever form he was in while containing his true self inside.

If he hadn't been pressed for time, Envy might have taken a few moments to familiarize himself with this hapless human's body – gauge the fitness level, get a look at the face, experiment with moving just to get a feel for it, at the very least check out the age and gender – but to do so would use up precious minutes that Envy was certain he did not have.

Tersely, Envy seized hold of the muscles and jerked the body brusquely to its feet. It stumbled in rising, but that wasn't a surprise. What did shock him was the lack of resistance to his commands. Not that the man he'd possessed in the North had been any real trouble, but Envy had still needed to fight against the human to impose his own will. With this body, there was no resistance at all. It felt like an empty doll under Envy's touch. Maybe the human was unconscious? It was weird, but no matter; he could figure it out after he made his escape.

Envy had just raised a leg to begin running (in which direction, he didn't know and didn't care) when the room suddenly flared with light.

Coming so quickly out of the faint candlelight, the powerful glow was blinding and Envy instinctively squeezed his eyes shut against the bright stab, but in the next moment, he forced them back open and squinted against the glare. The human's long hair helped to act as a shield from Envy's position on the nape of the neck just above the human's collar, but at the same time, it blocked his view of what – or who – was causing the light. Was it Mustang? He couldn't see.

For a few seconds, Envy was torn on what he should do. Where was Mustang? Which way should he go? What was the light, and who was causing it? An enemy? Probable. Ally? Unlikely. Friend? Non-existent. Should he attack and try to kill whoever it was, or should he pretend to be a poor civilian, ignorant and desperate for help?

The difficult choice was ultimately taken from Envy's hands. His purple parasitic gaze had only just fallen to the floor, had only just realized what was causing the light, had only just widened in shocked confusion, when the earth promptly decided to switch places with the sky. Gravity reversed, sensations and nerves became a tangled mess in his head, and the distinction between bodies dissolved along with consciousness as he collapsed to the ground.


"Envy?"

Go away, he thought dimly. Just leave me alone.

"Envy! Come on! Wake up!"

Knock it off, he growled mentally. Something was shaking his shoulder, trying to wake him up.

"Envy!" the voice pleaded. It sounded high-pitched and whiny, like a child's voice.

Wait. My shoulder…?

Last he'd checked, he didn't have a shoulder. At least not one that would feel like this.

His eyes popped open.

He was lying on the floor, flat on his back. His head hurt, as well as his backside, from the fall he'd taken. The room seemed the same as before, darkly lit by candlelight, but Envy couldn't get a good look around because something was blocking his view. Pride was leaning over him, one hand on his shoulder, his mouth open to call Envy's name again, his face coated with wide-eyed concern.

"Pride?" he croaked in disbelief, surprised for a number of reasons.

What is Pride doing here? Wherever here is. He's never gotten involved in the dirty work before; it's too far beneath him. And that expression… I've never seen him look worried. And why does he look different? That shouldn't be possible; he doesn't age!

It shouldn't have been possible, but Pride's dark-haired container did indeed look different from what Envy remembered. Most noticeably, there was a reddish-pink circle in the middle of his forehead. More subtly, he looked younger, though it was hard to pinpoint the exact changes in his appearance that gave that impression. A tad more fat on the cheeks, perhaps. The hair a tiny bit shorter. The eyes a little larger in proportion to the face.

To add to Envy's consternation, as soon as Pride saw that Envy was awake, he heaved a sigh and replaced his look of concern with one of happy relief. Since when has Pride ever been happy to see me? He usually just ignores me. The oldest Homunculus moved back, lifting his hand from Envy's shoulder and settling on his knees a short distance away, clearly giving his younger brother some breathing room and a chance to look around.

Envy had been right that the room was underground. The floor was of smooth concrete, the walls of hard-packed dirt, the ceiling a tad on the low side. It was hard to tell exactly how large the room was, for the oil lamps did not provide a lot of light, but they clearly illuminated the markings on the floor drawn in white chalk.

It was a transmutation circle. Even Envy, who was not an alchemist and who could only see a few lines intersecting under his body, knew that much. It reminded him of the light that had flared so suddenly and powerfully beneath him, and he remembered too the sickening dizziness that had caused him to fall.

The centre of an unfamiliar transmutation circle is hardly a wise place to be, and Envy made a move to stand, but the dizzying feeling returned along with a horrible pounding in his head. He nearly fell again, but Pride grabbed his arm and half helped, half forced him back down to the floor.

"Hey! You shouldn't be moving yet! Give yourself some time to get used to the body. How do you feel? I hope it worked all right; I was pretty sure it would. Can you feel everything? Wriggle your toes for me."

There were too many words coming too quickly. Envy only groaned and put his head in his hands, hunching over in a vain attempt to block out the noise.

In the next instant, he pulled his hands back and stared at them.

They were his hands.

It was his body.

How the hell was it possible for him to take possession of his own body?

But there was no mistaking it; he was in his favourite form, the form he had chosen for himself more than a century ago. The form he wore whenever there was no need for a disguise, the body he returned to by default. It didn't matter that it wasn't his true form; to him, this was his body first, not that ugly green monster that he only assumed out of necessity. The legs stretching in front of him were his legs, the toes were his toes, the arms his arms, the long dark-green hair his hair just as he remembered it. He was young and cute again. Even the clothing was the same: the light and flirty skirt over tight leggings, the cut-off gloves, the sleek tank top that allowed a great view of his lean torso. He could even feel the headband holding his hair back, though it was uncomfortably snug around his forehead with the throbbing behind his eyes.

Envy was still dazed, but more worrisome differences surfaced as he focused his attention inward.

He should have been aware of his true body, tucked into the human form, but that dichotomy was missing. His body was light; he could tell just by sitting on the floor that he didn't weigh very much. His deceptive mass and strength was gone. He had never been able to make those things go away before; only suppress them to some extent. And the throbbing…

Despite the unique abilities that shape-shifting provided and despite being immortal, Envy's true body had possessed more or less a similar biological make-up to every other living creature. The Philosopher's Stone might have been his heart, but that was half metaphorical. He bled, and with blood comes the heart to pump it and the veins and arteries for it to travel. He spoke, and with speech comes the vocal cords, tongue, lungs, and brain to form words. To move, he needed muscles and bones and nerves and who knew what else? If some internal organs were different from other animals, well, the biologists would just have to shove off because Envy didn't plan on being dissected any time soon. The only Homunculus who had not been biologically composed in a similar manner was Pride, whose true form had remained hidden inside his human-shaped container, which (as far as Envy knew) was basically hollow on the inside.

This being the case, having a beating heart was hardly a novel experience for Envy, but the throbbing of his heart behind his eyes was. His head hurt. And it wasn't the pain of being injured by something, like a bullet or sword thrust or fire. It was a subtler pain, internal, an annoying pulsing with each heartbeat.

Reaching up, Envy felt the back of his head and winced, surprised to find the area tender. No blood or anything, but still sore.

Where was the Philosopher's Stone's healing? Why wasn't it working? He was in his old body, right, so didn't that mean that his Stone had its power back?

His hand, and the rest of his body, froze as he noticed what was missing.

He couldn't feel the Stone.

He couldn't feel his Philosopher's Stone.

He didn't have a Stone!

He must be dreaming. There was no way! It was impossible! The Philosopher's Stone was a Homunculus's life. Without a Stone, they couldn't be alive!

Envy felt around internally in a panic, struggling to sense the Stone even though he knew there was no way he could miss its presence. The Stone always had a strong presence. Resting at the Homunculus's core, pulsing with a firm and deceptively gentle power, the Stone's energy radiated throughout the body, giving life in the same way that air, water, and blood gave a human its life. And further underneath, deep within the Stone yet impossible to miss, came the voices of anguish, the cries of all the human souls that had been sacrificed to create the Stone.

Envy never paid any attention to those voices. Why bother? Despite the qualms the Fullmetal Pipsqueak felt, the souls were just energy. They couldn't think. They couldn't feel. When a human died, the only useful thing it did was leave its body for worm food. At least in the Philosopher's Stone, they served some useful purpose after death. How had he phrased it to Fullmetal? Better to burn the dead log for heat than let it rot away. Better to cut the tree down for firewood than leave it to grow with no purpose. It was easy enough to ignore the cries of the souls. Envy hated the fact that the energy manifested on his body in such a disgusting way, so unlike his siblings. He could somewhat control the faces that writhed on his neck and sides and could force them into silence if he wished, but he would much have preferred that it not be necessary in the first place.

The energy was gone. The souls were gone. There was no Stone. He might as well be empty on the inside, hollow just like Pride.

Dimly, Envy heard voices around him. He didn't care enough to listen to what they were saying. He was only vaguely aware of Pride standing up and leaving his side.

I'm dead, the thought echoed in his mind. I'm dead, and this is just a dream. But that doesn't make sense; how can a dead person dream? This doesn't make any sense! Argh, concentrate, Envy! Focus! Pride is here, so whatever's going on, he'll be able to explain it. You're a Homunculus, damn it! Get a hold of yourself!

With a great deal of effort, Envy pulled his attention back to the real world, lifting his gaze from where he had been staring unseeing at his hands and legs to take a second look at wherever he was.

His perusal stopped short. Not ten feet away from him, an unfamiliar human was crouching on the floor, eyes focused on him.

Not expecting to be a centre of attention, Envy blurted out the first thing that came to mind:

"Who the hell are you?"

The person seemed oddly familiar, though Envy was quite certain he had never seen the man before. (Having a good memory when it came to faces was kind of an important skill for a shape-shifter, after all!) Short cropped yellow hair, golden eyes, medium build, light skin, maybe in his early twenties. He was dressed in unassuming civilian clothes that told Envy nothing about the man except that he was probably Amestrian. His face was bright, calm, and gentle.

Far from being offended, the stranger smiled – not a reaction Envy was used to getting when in his own body.

"Oh, that's right. I forgot that you wouldn't recognize me. It's me: Alphonse."

Alphonse? Alphonse Elric? That tin-head had his real body back? When had that happened? But there was no reason for Envy to doubt it: the family resemblance was obvious, and Alphonse's voice, though lacking the metallic echo from the suit of armour, definitely sounded the same.

"How are you feeling? We weren't really sure that you would go for your old body, but it looks like it worked out all right."

"What do you mean, go for my old body?" Envy asked, his voice sounding somewhat husky, as if he hadn't used it in a long time. Silently, he resolved that if things didn't start making sense – and quickly it might be better to simply give in to his throbbing headache and sink back into unconsciousness. Either that or kill people until things became simpler. But he wasn't quite feeling up to a mad killing spree, so he would save that choice for Plan B.

It was so much more fun to play with people than to kill them, after all. Killing was too easy. And messy. And it wasn't nearly as satisfying to mock a dead person.

"Well, it'll take a bit of time to explain-"

"Damn it, Fullmetal. I know I said there's no such thing as no such thing, but this one takes the cake!"

I know that voice! Envy thought.

There was loud and raucous laughter, followed by a muttered curse.

"Geez, Greed, give it some time before jumping to your feet! You're bound to be weak. Here."

Envy turned his head and stared.

There was nothing particularly remarkable about Greed. He looked the same as the last time Envy had seen him. That prince kid from Xing was certainly less impressive than Greed's first body. A good bit shorter, for one thing. Normal teeth rather than the sharp crocodile grin Greed had had before, for another. Narrower shoulders and the less bulky build of a teenager made him far less intimidating, though Envy had learned firsthand that the boy was no pushover when it came to fighting. Nevertheless, Greed had made due with the new body, probably because he had no choice in the matter and any body was better than none. Envy still thought the ponytail was a little funny, but his black clothing was definitely an improvement over the prince's shabby look.

It was Fullmetal that Envy stared at. He was supporting Greed, helping the Homunculus to stand by gripping Greed's arm across his shoulder. Clearly Greed had tried to stand on his own and lost his balance.

Fullmetal was the same height as Greed. No, he was actually taller by a bit. His face had aged. His body had grown. He was not only taller, but bigger as well. His shoulders had broadened. He had passed from a child just entering adolescence into young adulthood.

The change was remarkable. For a second, Envy almost thought that the person was someone else. The Fullmetal Pipsqueak had just aged by, what? Five years? Six? since the last time Envy had seen him!

"What is this? What's going on, Pride?"

Envy's head whipped around at the woman's voice that spoke from somewhere behind him. Alphonse had his body back. Edward had aged by five years. Pride was younger. Nothing should have been impossible, but there was no way that this could be real!

It was Lust.

She didn't exactly look disheveled, at least not physically. As usual, every hair was in its place, forming a wavy black cascade down her back. Her tight black dress, complete with exposed bosom and elbow-high gloves, was spotless. Not a fleck of dirt or unattractive rumple in the fabric marred her look even though she was sitting on the floor. (Envy didn't know how she managed that level of perfection so effortlessly, but it was a skill he didn't have and one he was sorely jealous of.)

Lust didn't look disheveled physically, but the calm poise to which they were all accustomed was missing. Lust's sultry red-purple eyes were wide and surprised. Her normally smooth face was tight, her brows furrowed, and her lips drawn down in irritated confusion.

"But you're dead!" Envy exclaimed.

"Who's the chick?" Greed asked Fullmetal.

"Don't worry," Pride said, kneeling at her side. "Everything's all right."

"That's Lust, your sister," Ed replied to Greed's question.

"What do you mean, dead? And what are they doing here? Where are we?" Lust demanded.

"My sister? Oh yeah; I forgot I had one," Greed said, rubbing his chin.

"Lust!" a panicked voice broke in.

Gluttony stumbled into the commotion. Having never been a graceful person even on a good day, he nearly tripped over Envy in his overjoyed desperation to get to Lust. The green-haired Homunculus cursed and scrambled out of Gluttony's path, but the pudgy simpleton didn't even notice him – or any of the others, in fact. Ignoring all of them, he grabbed Lust around the waist in a teddy-bear hug, burying his face innocently into the front of her dress and blubbering incoherently. Bewildered, Lust struggled to extricate herself for a few moments before giving up and awkwardly placing her hand on Gluttony's head.

"What is it?" she asked, not unkindly, though her tone was stern. "What's the matter with you?"

"I'm sorry, Lust. Envy said I wasn't allowed to eat Mustang, even though I really wanted to."

Envy was too far away to hear the rest of whatever Gluttony said, mumbled as the words were into the front of Lust's dress, and in any event, his attention was distracted by the sudden feel of tremors coming from the ground through his bare feet. Turning, a shadow fell over him and he took an instinctive step back.

Sloth stood there, looming a good head and shoulders over the much smaller Homunculus, hunched by the low ceiling. The great behemoth stared down at Envy apathetically. Emotions or being excited were too much of a bother to him. Completely indifferent to the rising babble of voices, Sloth lethargically added his own.

"…Where am I…? What is… this place?"

"Can we really trust him now, Ed? This is Pride we're talking about-"

"How do you know that? Who are you?"

"The name's Greed."

"I missed you, Lust."

"Greed…? How…? You're betraying us again?!"

"It's okay, Lust. Big Brother and Teacher know all about me now."

"Why are you calling them that? And what do you mean, all? How did they find out?"

"That's old news! Where's the bastard?"

"What bastard?"

"Let go of me, Gluttony!"

"Mustang! He's the last thing I remember! Where is he?!"

"I remember him too…"

"Don't try to stop me, Pipsqueak! This time, he's going to pay for what he did!"

"Why can't I remember anything else? What did you mean, Envy? Why did you think I was dead?"

"Isn't it obvious? He must have killed you, babe. Very uncool of him, killing a woman."

"What… a bother…"

"But what about dear old Daddy? Did you do it? Did we win? You better not tell me my sacrifice didn't do any good!"

"We did win, Greed. It was thanks to you that we pulled it off."

"Impossible!"

"It can't be! You're lying! You can't have defeated Father!"


Alphonse winced at the rising clamour of voices. He was standing apart from the group, on the edge of the transmutation circle. They had known that the Homunculi would be confused. They had known that they would be upset. But this was not what they had hoped for and worse than they had expected.

Sloth appeared unmoved, and Gluttony had yet to release Lust and didn't seem to be paying any attention to the panic around him, but the others… Lust's voice began to rise in pitch as her questions were ignored. Having been the first Homunculus to die, she knew too little to understand anything that was being said; if things proceeded for much longer, she might lose it. Envy's posture, expression, and voice said he was just itching for a fight. No matter how old he actually was, his attitude had been that of a snide teenager, and he was – intentional or not – trying to cover his confusion with frustrated aggression. Greed was taking things very calmly and seemed to have some inkling of what had actually happened, but his calm attitude was terribly inconsiderate to his siblings, who only became more distressed by his nonchalant words. Selim, seeing their reactions, was becoming visibly upset. He had hoped for a happy reunion, and their distress was quickly rubbing off on him.

They had to recover this situation quickly before things got too out of hand.

Alphonse normally did not like to yell, but they wouldn't hear him otherwise.

"Everyone, please calm down!"

They didn't pay attention to him the first time, so Alphonse had to resort to clapping his hands together and pressing them to the ground. The floor momentarily trembled under their feet as he played with the structural arrangement, though it was only enough to make mouths stop as feet braced.

Once everyone became steady again and retained their silence and attention, Al continued.

"I know you're all confused right now. Please, just give us a chance to explain."

He glanced at Ed, who gave a nod to go ahead.

"I'll start with the basics. We're in Ms. Bradley and Selim's home in the South, near Dublith. It's the early summer of 1921. It's been about six years since the Promised Day."

It didn't really surprise him that that was as far as he got before he was interrupted.

Greed gave a low whistle. Envy's mouth fell open in disbelief. Lust gasped and swayed, as if she would have fallen were she not already sitting on the floor.

"Six… years? The Promised Day is over? It can't be…" she whispered.

"Please believe us," Pride said. "Look; how else could they have aged so much since you last saw them?"

Lust stared first at Ed and then at Al, shaking her head slowly. "But… But I remember… There was still another half a year before-"

"Half a year? It is the Promised Day! Mustang killed you half a year ago, Lust," Envy said. "And he was trying to kill me, too." He paused, face tight and eyes introspective at the memory. "I must have escaped, but I don't remember how-"

"You didn't."

Greed no longer needed Ed's support, and so Ed had removed his arm and moved over to stand beside his brother.

"You didn't escape," Ed said. "You… You died too."

There was a catch in Ed's voice, as if he had changed his mind in what he was going to say. It was small, but Envy noticed it, and he didn't like the way Ed's expression became sombre.

I died… but I wasn't killed…?

And then he remembered.

Envy felt the blood drain from his face as the memories and emotions flooded back.

He had always been the most emotional of the Homunculi. He didn't like it, but jealousy was an emotional thing. Lust was normally calm. Greed played it cool most of the time. Wrath kept such a tight rein on his anger that it was downright scary. Sloth didn't have any emotions, Pride was always serious and composed, and Gluttony was too much of a simpleton to experience anything more than the baser emotions.

His siblings had referred to him over the years in many different ways: sensitive, temperamental, quick-tempered, bipolar, emotionally unstable. It certainly didn't help that he flipped out whenever they commented on it. He simply couldn't hide what he was feeling the way they could. Well, that wasn't really true, since he had to put on a constant act while in disguise. It was more like he felt things more strongly than they did.

At least, that was what he told himself as an excuse for what had happened.

Mustang had killed him over and over again and he had been helpless to do anything about it. His tricks hadn't worked. He could have run, but the idea of fleeing from that human – filthy, loathsome man with his filthy friends and his condescension and his meddling and his murder of Lust… The idea was intolerable, and he had to keep them from interfering with Father. By the time he had realized that he really was in danger, that he really was facing the possibility of dying, it was too late. The fire came too fast to run or strike back. He couldn't even hunch over to shield his body from the flames because his flesh was burning away too quickly to move. Near the end, he couldn't even scream, because his throat and tongue couldn't regenerate fast enough to make the sound.

And so he had been reduced to his true form. That in itself was humiliating, to be seen by the humans in such a pathetic and ugly state. And then to be ground under Mustang's boot, mocked, looked down on. To be sure his life was going to end and, forgetting himself in fear, pleading to be spared.

Just that would have been hard to bear had he somehow lived through it. But that hadn't been the end of his humiliation, not by a long shot. Because Hawkeye and Scar and Edward had stayed Mustang's hand. In a sense, they had rescued him.

He was under no illusion as to their intentions. His life had been inconsequential. It was Mustang's revenge that they stood against, not his death.

If he could only make them fight each other, the situation would be salvaged. Even if they just fought over which one of them got to kill him, it would have been bearable, because it would prove once again how stupid and weak and foolish and low humans were.

They wouldn't do it. They refused to rise to his taunts. He knew these people; he knew their weaknesses, their deepest wounds, and he threw everything he could at them, twisting the knife as deeply as he could. And they didn't budge.

And then Edward had said the words that were too much to endure:

"You're jealous of humans."

Envy had never admitted it, even to himself. Jealousy was ugly. It was a lot easier to admit that you were angry, or proud, or lazy, or greedy, or lustful, or gluttonous. People didn't admit to being jealous. They couldn't even see it in themselves when it was quite obvious to everyone around them. It was a game of self-deception. You weren't jealous; you hated a person, scorned and looked down on them, for things that were specific and reasonable. They didn't deserve the things they had. Or the things they had weren't worth anything. You certainly didn't want what they had. Or if you did, it was because you deserved it, not them.

How had Ed seen so clearly what Envy himself had denied for so long? Humans cared about each other. Humans helped each other. They worked together to achieve their goals. They made sure those around them didn't give up or stray. Their lives were defined by their relations to each other more than anything else.

He was jealous of that. He hated humans because they had the friendships that he didn't. And because he was jealous, friendship became the thing he scorned more than anything else.

Manipulate the humans to fight and kill each other. Trick them so that their friendships caused them pain. Then he could look down on them and mock that he certainly never wanted friendship! How could anyone be jealous of friendship; look at what pain it caused!

Killing Hughes had been great, because it was his love for his wife that caused his death. Even knowing that it wasn't her, the fool had been too overcome by the disguise to defend himself. And it had hurt everyone who cared about him, too! Barring what had happened after, Mustang's face had been priceless when he learned the truth of Hughes' murder. It was like killing two birds with one stone! Taunting Marcoh with the threat of his beloved village's destruction had been fun, because it was his compassion for the villagers that would cause even more death in the long run. The conflict between his two choices, both options being impossible to accept, had created such clear anguish on his face. It was delicious! The Ishvalan uprising had been started with the death of one little child, and what horrors that had wrought! One slain life resulting in such pain and anger and hatred and death!

He couldn't bear it. It was too humiliating! Edward had seen through him, had seen Envy's most shameful secret and named it with pity.

It would be unfair, Envy thought, to call what he'd done 'suicide.' After all, he'd been going to die no matter what. He knew it. They knew it. If it hadn't come from his injuries, it would have been by their hands directly. Why not end it himself? He most certainly didn't want to die, but what other choice had there been? The emotions were overwhelming. At least that way, it was up to him. At least that way, he was able to escape on his own terms.

Envy clenched his fists, trembling with the raw emotions. Perhaps six years had gone by, but to him, it had happened only a few minutes ago.

Edward seemed to understand that he wasn't going to get any response from the green-haired Homunculus, and he didn't seem inclined to elaborate for the others. Vaguely, Envy supposed he should be thankful that Ed was sparing his dignity. If the others didn't know what he'd done, he'd just as soon it stayed that way.

He glanced over at Lust to see her reaction to her own death, but it seemed that she was already recovering, regaining some of her lost poise. Rather than shocked, she was beginning to look angry; maybe she was remembering her final moments against Mustang. Wrath had seen her death, but he hadn't divulged any details except that he thought Mustang would make a good sacrifice. Maybe something interesting had happened between them before her end? But then again, who wouldn't be angry at the person who had killed them?

"So," she said coldly, "we were both killed by the Flame Alchemist. And what about you?"

"Me?" Greed grinned. "Daddy did me in himself! Apparently he didn't realize that I might not give up my Stone without a fight."

Lust's expression only grew angrier for a second, but then she looked confused.

"But then… If we were all killed, how are we here?"

"That's what Teacher was explaining," Pride spoke up. "We brought you back."

"Brought us back?" Envy repeated questioningly.

"From death," Ed said.

No one said anything for several seconds. The Homunculi were all too stunned to move.

With the exception of Sloth.

His expression didn't change, of course, so it was impossible to tell if he was actually listening, but he apparently found the conversation boring, because he muttered in his low monotone, "What a bother," and moved to sit down on the floor.

His movement at least broke the silence.

"From the dead?!" Envy gasped.

"Wait. You don't mean human transmutation, do you?" Lust demanded, using Gluttony as a handhold to rise to her feet.

Greed rounded on Ed, half panicked.

"Dumbass! What about the toll?! You don't have enough limbs to pay for all of us!"

Ed chuckled at Greed's concern and held up his hands in a placating gesture.

"Calm down. We didn't have to give up any limbs to bring you back. And trust me, Greed: Ling'd probably say otherwise, but your ass isn't worth that much to me!"

Greed started to laugh at the sassy comment, but then a strange look crossed his face.

"Ling? Hey, you dumb prince! Why aren't you saying anything?"

To the others' consternation, Greed seemed to be talking to himself. Even crazier, he looked worried that he wasn't getting any response. From himself.

"What's going on, Ed? Why isn't he answering me? This is Ling's body, isn't it? Where is he?"

"It's just a copy of his body. We figured that's what you'd be most comfortable in, but there was no reason to force you two to share again."

Greed seemed satisfied with Ed's answer, but Lust was getting fed up with not understanding anything, and she raised one hand, pointing her fingers at Edward threateningly.

"Enough of this! Explain what's going on right now before-"

Her words cut off abruptly, and when Envy glanced to the side to see what was wrong, he saw Lust staring with a shocked and horrified expression at her fingers.

It was easy to guess at what was wrong. She was trying to use her Ultimate Spear. And it wasn't working.

"Please calm down!" Alphonse pleaded, doing his best to smooth the situation before it deteriorated again. "It isn't human transmutation, but it will take too long to explain everything right now. It's complicated. Your powers won't work anymore. You're human."

Everyone stared. Greed seemed dumbfounded and shook his head slowly in mild disbelief. Lust continued staring at her fingers, apparently still trying to make them extend, while backing up slowly and sinking down to perch on Gluttony's shoulder. Envy watched the brothers warily, and his expression swiftly shifted from dazed to outraged as he internally did a double-check of his powers. Nothing had changed. There was still no Stone and he wasn't holding onto his present form. He tried to change his arm, but there was no power to grab onto and simply concentrating did nothing.

They really didn't have their powers anymore. They were human.

"Why?" Lust asked. "We're enemies; why did you do this? It doesn't make sense. What could you possibly gain from this?"

Edward opened his mouth to answer, but he never got the chance, for at that moment, Envy lunged.

The former shape-shifter grabbed Ed's shirt collar, half expecting Ed to slug him in the face but too angry to care.

"Human?! We're human now?!" he snarled. "How could you do this?!"

"Brother-"

Alphonse made a move to come to Ed's defence, but Ed held his hand up to stop him. His golden eyes met Envy's purple glare without flinching, though his jaw tightened angrily at the Homunculus's grip.

"Did you think we'd be grateful?! Are you waiting for us to thank you?! You're just so high and mighty, aren't you, giving us pity! You damn human! I'd rather be dead than be at your level!"

He was trembling. He couldn't be human. He couldn't be! He couldn't imagine anything more humiliating than that! They were worms! Less than worms! Stupid, weak, sentimental fools! He had spent his entire life looking down on humans, scorning them, mocking them, toying with them…

"And yet you admitted, right before you died, that you were jealous of humans."

Envy froze in shock at Ed's calm words, releasing his collar and taking a step back.

He couldn't deny it. Ed had been there. Ed had seen his death and heard him admit it. He could lie – and he wanted to, with the others watching and listening – but there was little chance that they would believe him over Fullmetal. If he tried to lie, it would only seem more pathetic.

In the next instant, he went back to being livid. If Ed thought that his words would placate him, he was dead wrong.

"So what?" he growled. "So what if I am jealous of humans? I may be jealous of humans, but I never said I wanted to be human!"

Without knowing what else to do, he raised his fist, ready to punch Ed as hard as he could.

His blow didn't land, because although Ed didn't move, Greed did, coming up behind him and grabbing his arm to stop his swing.

"Lay off, Envy! They've given us a second chance at life and you're blaming them?"

Envy rounded on Greed, struggling to free himself from his brother's grasp. Greed's new body didn't look very strong, but he had a steel grip on Envy's arm.

"Shut up! I don't want to hear anything you have to say!" he shouted fiercely. "You abandoned us! You betrayed us! You may have switched bodies, but you're still the same selfish bastard as before! It's your fault that Father failed! If it weren't for you, we'd be ruling over the humans by now!"

And with those words, Envy tore his arm free from Greed's grasp and swung with everything he had.

Envy was initially disappointed with the blow. Although his new human body was far from weak, when compared to his old form, the punch was pitiful, for there was no real weight behind it. If he were in his old body, he would have added some mass to the swing to really cause some damage, but like this, it was disgustingly unimpressive.

There was some satisfaction, though, in seeing Greed flinch.

Greed was far too cocky for his own good. Knowing himself to be a better fighter than Envy, he hadn't even bothered to dodge and had instead let the punch hit him square in the jaw. His flinch probably wasn't even from the punch itself, for he had a much higher tolerance for pain than Envy did.

No: he was grimacing because he had instinctively tried to raise his Ultimate Shield and was now experiencing its loss firsthand.

Envy expected Greed to retaliate and he fell back, tensing warily. Greed was a better fighter (something he could admit to himself, but never in a million years out loud) and neither of them could heal now (he still had a headache – damn it all! – and his fist felt bruised), but at that moment, Envy barely even cared. All he wanted was to cause some pain and take out his frustration and confusion on someone, and if there was one person who deserved it, it was Greed. Granted, this wasn't the same Greed as before. He probably didn't even remember the multitude of taunts and insults they had exchanged over their long lives. Whatever. Even if he didn't have the memories, he was still the same person and regardless of who started it, it had always been easy to pick a fight with him.

To Envy's surprise and annoyance, though, Greed didn't suddenly lunge at him. He certainly looked pissed, but it was hard to say if that was at Envy himself or at the uncommon situation of taking physical damage. He brought a hand up to his jaw irritably before crossing his arms over his chest, glaring down at his brother.

No, Envy thought bitterly, gritting his teeth. Of course the damn bastard is going to act all calm and haughty!

"You know what? You're right; maybe we would have won if I'd played along with your little games. I don't care. You think it's so wrong that I thought for myself? That I went after what I wanted rather than just blindly following Daddy's orders? He didn't care about any of us! We were just pawns to him. At least I made my own choices!"

Scratch that last thought: It looked like Greed wanted to pick a fight after all. He couldn't have calculated his words to infuriate Envy more. And Envy was willing to bet that Pride and Lust would get in on it too, if Greed was going so far as to attack Father. Envy had always been loyal, but those two were uber loyal. Insulting Father was tantamount to asking for a quick finger or shadow through the chest.

The impending fight was broken up not by the Elric brothers, as might have been expected, but by Pride.

He darted between Envy and Greed, holding his hands out as if to separate them, while at the same time crying out, "Don't! Please don't fight!"

It was fairly ludicrous to expect the small, dark-haired child to be able to keep the two of them apart and Envy was struck once again by the physical changes Pride had undergone. He only came up to Envy's knees, the mysterious red circle in the middle of his forehead looked like a pimple gone horribly wrong, and his voice had a higher, whinier pitch. But those changes were nothing compared to the difference in his personality.

Pride should not have cared one way or the other whether the two of them fought. He had generally ignored Envy, considering his quick emotions and blatant sadism to be something of an embarrassment to a Homunculus's natural superiority. In his view, a good Homunculus didn't waste their energy on hating humans, for as Father said, they were like insects, and what person hated something so far beneath them? With Greed, the problem had been the opposite, for Greed didn't seem to harbour any negative feelings for humans at all. He knew the Homunculi were superior, but he didn't look down on humans either. He had eventually run away partly because his habit of enjoying human company was becoming too much of a concern for the rest of them to ignore. Pride's loyalty to Father had put him at odds with Greed's primary interest – his own desires – and so the two hadn't gotten along, though they hadn't spent much time in each other's company in any event.

Besides that, it wasn't like him to intervene physically. Since Pride had said that Edward and Alphonse knew his identity, it would have made much more sense for him to use his shadows to keep them apart. The creeping black tentacles were quite effective at restraining a person.

But it was the way Pride spoke – plaintively and with a bit of a whimper – that startled more than his intervention. Pride would never make a request in that way. His habit was to order and demand. As the oldest Homunculus, he commanded respect and obedience as Father's firstborn (though he never once overstepped his authority) and he most certainly did not use the word 'please.'

Envy was still itching for a fight, but the irregularity in Pride's behaviour was enough to distract both he and Greed from their hostilities. Greed quickly took several steps back, holding up his arms as if he expected shadows to suddenly snap out at him, only to make a baffled expression when he saw what Pride was doing.

Envy unintentionally mimicked Greed's expression, and he would have bet money that Lust did the same.

Pride was crying.

Pride never cried.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I'm sorry! Please don't fight! Don't blame Big Brother and Teacher! It's my fault that you're here. It's my fault that you're human."

Tears were tracing lines down his cheeks. His voice was catching in his throat. He was staring down at the floor as if afraid of their reactions, and the sight was so pathetic that Envy almost – but not quite – felt bad for him.

"I missed you. I was lonely. I have Mother and Teacher and Big Brother, but it… It wasn't the same. I have a family, but they're not… I'm not… I've been surrounded by humans, but I was still alone!"

And really, how could any of them respond to that? It was as if Pride was a totally different person.

Greed sent a questioning glance Edward's way as if to ask whether this was really happening. Envy crossed his arms and frowned pensively, waiting to see how things would play out. Lust stared at Pride and bit her lip, clearly distressed over his behaviour and perhaps struggling internally with those pesky female instincts that pushed a woman to comfort a child. Certainly she was far from compassionate, but then again, she had a rather motherly protective streak when it came to Gluttony, who was watching the scene with only half a mind, one hand clutching her leg possessively.

Once again, it was Sloth who broke the uncomfortable silence.

Out of all of them, the great hulking mountain of a Homunculus was the only one not disturbed in the least by Pride's distress. Whether it was because he didn't notice or didn't care was up for debate, but he gave a deep sigh before rumbling out his opinion on the matter:

"What… a bother... Pride… Can I sleep now?"

Pride looked up at Sloth with something akin to relief at the change in topic, scrubbing at his eyes before giving a childlike smile.

"Of course you can, Sloth! We always made you work. You never got any rest. Well, there's no hole to dig anymore and no one to fight. Now, you can sleep as much as you want!"

And with that declaration, Pride opened his mouth and yawned, swaying where he stood.

"All right, enough of this," Edward said. "It really will take too long to explain everything right now, and someone is up way past his bedtime. Come on, kiddo. I promised Ms. Bradley that we'd make sure you got enough sleep."

Pride gave a brief squeak of protest when Edward promptly picked him up and placed him on his shoulders, but fatigue had apparently swept upon him quite suddenly, for the moment he rested his forehead against the back of Ed's head to avoid the low ceiling, his eyes closed and he dozed off.

Alphonse began to extinguish the oil lamps and Ed turned to the others, beckoning for them to follow him before turning to start up the stairs.

"I'm sure you all have questions, but it's too late to get into it right now. We can't really complain; when you're dealing with a lunar eclipse, you have to expect to be up late!"

Ed began climbing the stairs. The Homunculi remained where they were. Envy and Lust exchanged glances, as if to say, Should we trust them?, while Greed kept his eyes on the both of them, worrying that his siblings would choose to attack rather than accept the situation.

Alphonse understood their hesitation.

"I promise, we'll explain everything in the morning. For now, we'll show you to your rooms to let you get some rest and gather your thoughts. Please trust us. There's no reason for us to be enemies anymore."

Sloth was the first to get up and slowly head after Ed, hunching over in the narrow stairway, barely able to fit. The mention of a room and rest was obviously just enough of a motivator to move him.

Greed followed after.

Alphonse picked up the last lit lamp and stood, waiting, for Lust and Envy to make up their minds.

There was really nothing else for them to do. Until they knew more about the position they were in, they might as well go along with the Elrics.

Lust rose from her seat on Gluttony's shoulder and he got up to follow her. With the clicking of her high heels, the soft padding of Envy's bare feet on the floor, and Gluttony's weighty footsteps, the three followed after Alphonse, leaving the basement in darkness.


Author's Notes:

1921: I'm trying to be careful to get my dates consistent. The Promised Day occurred in the spring of 1915, so if six years have gone by, it would be the year 1921. Ed was born in 1899 and Al was born in 1900, so the Elrics are 22 and 21 respectively. In the 2003 anime, Selim has his tenth birthday, so I consider his body's age before the Promised Day to be around ten years old. Now, his body is six years old, so he appears younger.

Half a year until the Promised Day: In the dubbed version of Episode 48, Ed says that it hadn't been a full seven months since Lan Fan lost her arm. In the subbed version, he says she's only had her automail for six months. Considering that Lust was killed not long before Lan Fan lost her arm, I figure half a year is a reasonable estimate.

I'm really proud of this opening scene. Please don't be scared off by the length of these first few chapters! Once we get past the introductory segment, chapter lengths will vary considerably, but most will not be this long.