Here is chapter 4!

It's a bit longer than the previous and the next chapters will continue to get longer.

I designed a cover image for the story. I'm not fantastic at drawing so it's not very complex, but I hope it still fits the story.

As usual, lemme know what you think! :)

"What kind of help?" Emilee was confused. Why couldn't they just have asked her?

Lust placed her hands on Emilee's face and gently brushed around her eyes. "Your eyes allow you to perform, what some might consider to be, impossible alchemy. We need to learn how."

"How would that help you?"

"That part is hard to explain." Lust pulled her hands away. "But if you let us learn about your eyes, we might be able to help you become more skilled at using them. Equivalent exchange, right?"

Emilee nodded. "I didn't realize they were so different or important."

"You might not be using them to their full potential," Sloth added.

"You said your mother also could do this?" Lust asked.

Emilee nodded. "My grandmother too."

"What about your great grandmother?"

"I'm not sure." Emilee laughed nervously. "Probably, but I don't know."

"What about your father?"

"I don't know who my father is." Emilee looked down at her hands. "I never saw him, even in pictures, and my mother never talked about him. I didn't even know people had fathers until I went to school."

"Your grandfather?"

"Same thing. Never met him, no one ever talked about him."

"That's interesting." Lust laughed. "Did you ever ask your mom about this?"

"I asked her why I didn't have a father like everyone else in the town a few times, but she always blew me off by saying the same thing: You'll know when you're older." Emilee frowned. "But she died before she got a chance to tell me."

"How'd she die?"

"She built the town I lived in from the ground up, as a solace to refugees or people who needed a good place to live. I was a very small child at the time. She continued to care for the town and I helped. But when I was 14, one day, she just didn't come home. I got a phone call-" Emilee paused and took a breath. "The hospital called. They told me she was found unconscious near the edge of town. She never woke up and died a few days later. No one ever really knew what happened."

"What happened to your grandmother? Why didn't she take you in?"

"She died two years before my mother did."

"How?"

"Her heart went out. But she was really old."

"Can I see this 'ability'?" Sloth asked.

Lust didn't wait for Emilee's answer, pulling her to her feet and walking her across the room. She grabbed a book off a table and handed it to Emilee.

Emlee accepted the item and stared at it. "What am I supposed to do with this?"

"Destroy it." Lust laughed.

Sloth and Wrath walked up to them while Gluttony leaned forward in his seat for a better look. Both Sloth and Lust watched the girl's eyes closely.

Emilee stared at the book. For a brief moment, her eyes shifted from blue to a deep violet, an identical shade to that of the homunculi. It was only a flash, but as the color faded the book exploded. Shredded paper fluttered through the air and settled gently on the floor.

Envy, from his vantage point just outside the room, raised an eyebrow at the sight.

Lust and sloth looked at each other, but said nothing.

"Hey, Wrath." Sloth rubbed his back. "Go show Emilee where she can sleep."

The boy nodded and stood up. He walked out one of the doors, Emilee cautiously following.

Lust and Sloth returned to their seats slowly. "That was very strange," Sloth muttered.

Lust glanced at Sloth. "Her eyes are interesting but are these women being produced without a father?"

"Clones?" Sloth mused.

"That can't be it." Lust sighed. "I'm not sure about her grandmother, but she's not identical to her mother. They're similar, but not the same."

"So we have at least three generations of women, with no known fathers, who all have this ability. None are clones, and there are no patterns in their deaths."

"Strange." Lust laughed.

Envy stepped into the room. "Wow," he said sarcastically. "Fascinating. Why do we care?"

Lust met his eyes. "Because if these women aren't being produced by normal human procreation…How are they being made?" She looked back at Sloth. "She isn't a homunculi. But I agree with Father. I don't think she's human. Not entirely, at least."

"Her abilities are reminiscent of Father's." Sloth leaned back and looked up. "But she isn't like him."

Emilee lay in the bed and stared at the ceiling. It was nothing like her bright bedroom at home. While she hated it, it was nice to be in a place that was less empty.

Her arm was still tightly bandaged but didn't hurt as much as it had earlier. She rolled onto the other side to avoid putting pressure on it.

She closed her eyes but couldn't sleep. She couldn't stay here. She needed to go home. Emilee wasn't sure why they had actually brought her here. She was pretty sure what they had told her was at least mostly true. But they certainly weren't telling her everything.

She gripped the pillow and closed her eyes. She couldn't stay there long, she needed to go home.

Envy slipped from the hideout, making his way back to Emilee's town. It was the middle of night and the town was lifeless. It was so small, there was only one hospital.

He waited outside until a nurse left. She was a small blonde, talking to a man. Once she had descended the stairs and made her way down the street, he took her form and walked into the hospital.

"Kanna. What are you doing here?" The receptionist looked up from a computer. "I thought you left?"

"I just forgot something." Envy sighed.

The receptionist looked back down and Envy explored the backrooms, eventually coming across one that was full of file cabinets. He grinned when he realized they were alphabetized. So easy.

He grabbed Marion Avarie's file.

Emilee woke up in an unfamiliar bed. She glanced around the room, confused until she remembered the previous day. She lay in bed for a while, not sure what to do.

Eventually she stood up and carefully opened the door, peering both ways. The hallway was empty and she quietly retraced the steps that Wrath had guided her. She wanted to find Lust or Sloth—anyone but Envy—nearby.

There was no one in the main room. She sat on the couch and debated returning to her bedroom. Looking down at her arm, she found the bandages were caked with dried blood. They needed to be changed.

Lust had shown Emilee the room with bandages the previous day and she was certain she remembered where it was.

In the room, Emilee pulled the bandages off. She hesitated before looking at the wound, reluctant to see what the damage was. She finally looked down and took a deep inhale. The gash was deep and probably would've benefited from stitches.

She cleaned the wound in the sink and bandaged it tightly.

"Looks like I did a good job, huh?"

Emilee screamed at the sound of his voice and fell back against the wall. She crouched and looked up, preparing to defend herself. But the doorway was empty.

He was gone.

"I did some research and I believe I found her father." Lust held up a photo of a young man with pale skin, short black hair and brown eyes. She raised a photo of Emilee as a comparison, showing the resemblance between the pair.

"Great!" Sloth said, Wrath clapping his hands beside her. "How'd you find him?"

Lust smiled seductively. "I have my ways."

"Who is he?"

"He was a state alchemist. He was referred to as the Earth Alchemist due to his exceptional ability at transmuting rock and earth. About 17 years ago he disappeared after traveling through a small town."

"Emilee's town?"

Lust nodded. "The girl is 16 years old so the timing is perfect. But it's odd that he disappeared. There was an investigation but nothing was ever determined. He seemed to have simply vanished."

They walked to the main room and saw Emilee sitting on the couch. Her skin looked even paler than usual and she seemed a bit nervous. Her head turned sharply when they came in the room.

"Good, you're awake." Sloth said as she took a seat. Wrath followed her like a puppy.

"You okay?" Lust noticed her bandages were fresh.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Emilee forced a smile.

"I have some fresh clothes." Lust tossed her a bag she'd been carrying loosely in one of her hands.

Emilee stared at the bag and then looked back up in Lust. "How long do I need to stay here?"

Lust laughed. "As long as it takes."

"I need to go home. I have to care for my garden and I promised someone I'd help them with their fence. My mom's flowers need to be replaced."

"Don't worry. We'll get you back as soon as we can."

Emilee was directed back to her room. She changed her clothes, replacing her dirty blue summer dress with a pair of shorts and a black, short-sleeved shirt. She found a brush on the edge of the sink in the bathroom and carefully fixed her hair in the mirror.

She stared at her reflection. This whole situation felt like a dream. She kept feeling as if she would suddenly jerk awake in her home, gasping at how real it had felt.

Days passed. Lust and Sloth were the ones who interacted with her the most, though Wrath and Gluttony were often curious of her. They had her perform alchemy and asked her questions. Lust once even shined a light in her eyes, trying to examine them through her pupils.

She didn't see Envy but constantly checked her surroundings, determined to not let him sneak up on her again.

"You're going to have to interact with her you know." Lust stared at Envy.

He was leaning against the wall in front of her. "Why?"

"You don't want to help us?"

"I just don't care." He glanced at her. "I'm not allowed to hurt her, so why should I be interested?"

Lust sighed and leaned against the wall next to him. "Because Father wants us to figure this out."

"You guys can do that." He stood up and walked down the hall, into the dark, away from her. "Let me know when she's no longer needed and I can kill her."

Lust chuckled. "You can pretend all you want. But we both know you're finding her case interesting."

Envy stormed back towards her. He put his face close to her's, his eye twitching. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I saw the files."

Envy's eyes widened and he backed off. He turned around and walked back down the hall, leaving without a response.

Lust smirked as she watched him disappear into the dark. She had glanced through the files he had taken but didn't see anything useful. It was interesting that he continued to hold onto them, despite the lack of useful information contained within the folders.

Days turned to weeks.

Emilee began to count each day by placing a scratch mark on one of the walls in her room. The many facets of the house became more clear as she learned her way through the maze. Gradually she began to gain a good understanding of the place she was living, but with one exception. She had no idea where the exit was.

Envy and Sloth pressed her to perform numerous applications of alchemy, all skills she has known before. Emilee became convinced that she was already at the max of her abilities.

They began to run out of new questions to ask her. Maybe this wasn't something that could be solved. She hoped that they would realize this soon and let her return home.

Lust and Sloth, however, were determined to make sense of the information before them.

One day, as Emilee walked down the hall to the library, the one place she could find some solace, she saw a figure walking towards her. She froze at the identification of green, spiky hair. Her body leaned against the wall as if she could squeeze herself through the cracks.

He stopped when he stood next to her. His eyes passed over her, pausing as they focused on her arm. The bandage had been removed, leaving the pink scar exposed. His eyes moved to her face.

Emilee avoided eye contact and stared straight ahead.

"You look like a frightened deer."

Emilee didn't respond.

He sighed. "I'm not allowed to hurt you. It's pathetic that you're still acting like I'm going to."

Her eyes flipped over to his and she glared. "I'm not pathetic. You cut my arm open. Who wouldn't be afraid of you after that?"

He shrugged and laughed, an evil grin on his face. "Just saying." He kept walking.

Emilee turned and watched him walk away.

She ran to the mirror in her room and stared at her reflection. The person staring back at her did look like a deer. Pale, frightened with eyes wide. She shook her head violently. "I am not afraid. I am not afraid. I am not afraid." She looked back in the mirror with eyes fierce. "I am not fucking afraid."

After a shower, a few days later, she found Envy leaning against the wall just outside the door. Had he been waiting on her there? He smirked and she was glad to have dressed before leaving the bathroom.

This was one of those times that she wished the bathroom in her bedroom had a shower.

"What are you doing here?"

He shrugged. "Just leaning." He turned and started running towards her, eyes wicked. He stopped a few feet from her, looking disappointed when she didn't jump or cower.

"I'm not afraid of you." Emilee stood straight and met his eyes.

"You sure about that?"

She stared into his eyes and didn't back down. "I said that I'm not afraid of you."

He laughed and walked away. He stopped only a bit further down. "You just became a bit more interesting," he called over his shoulder before continuing.

Emilee watched him until he disappeared around a corner. She wasn't sure why, but he seemed to be acting different than he had before. He was still threatening, but significantly less malicious.

Emilee walked through the maze of the building she now resided in, making her way to the main room. When she opened the door, she found the room devoid of life.

A few steps in, the door shut behind her and the room began to fall apart. The couch incinerated. The ceiling turned black. The walls crumbled. The floor split and the pieces descended into black, pulling Emilee into the dark.

She was standing in the void. She felt someone's eyes watching her, weighing heavily on the back of her neck. She looked around but was unable to identify the source.

"There you are." Envy said from behind her.

She turned around. He stood tall in front of her, his face bearing a malicious grin.

Emilee backed away but he grabbed her, forced her eyes closed, and pushed her deeper into the abyss.

She was falling into the emptiness, unable to see. She fought, adamantly. But he didn't relent.

His lips pressed against hers.

Emilee gasped and sat up in bed. Her heart was pounding in her chest.

"Well that was weird." Emilee tried to regain her breath. Her face was flushed. "What the fuck is wrong with me?" She shook her head and groaned. She felt disgusting for even having that dream. "Seriously. What the fuck is wrong with me?"

She passed Envy in the hall, an event that seemed to be occurring increasingly more frequently. He looked at her and her cheeks turned red. He raised an eyebrow and she quickly hurried by him, covering her face with her hands.

She walked into the bathroom and stared at the scar on her arm in the mirror. How disgusting it was to have such a dream about a person who would do this to her. Was this Stockholm syndrome?

Emilee squeezed her eyes closed and bit her lip. She wanted to go home. Being trapped here was making her go crazy. Why else would she have such an odd fantasy?

Someone knocked on the door. "Emilee?" She heard Wrath's voice.

She opened the door and looked down at the child.

"Mommy says she has something important to show you."

She followed him back to the main room and found Sloth sitting in the couch. "Thank you, Wrath." She gave him a warm hug. The boy ran off and disappeared back into the winding hallways.

Emilee took a seat across from her. She tried to keep her mind focused on the woman in front of her.

"We found your father and grandfather."

"Really? Are they alive?" She quickly latched on to the thought of having some family.

Sloth made an odd, indescribable face. "No."

Emilee was disappointed but not shocked. She'd lived without family for so many years, she found it hard to expect that to change.

"Do you want to see them? I have pictures."

Emilee shook her head. "If they're dead, why is it important to tell me about them?"

"Because they both died in similar circumstances."

"What do you mean?"

"Your father was a state alchemist who passed through your town and disappeared right around the time you were conceived. Your grandfather was a doctor who passed through the village your grandmother lived, and he disappeared around the time your mother would've been conceived."

Emilee was confused. That couldn't be right. "I don't understand. You said they disappeared. So they aren't dead, they're just missing."

Sloth gave her a hard look. "Your father has been missing for 17 years and your grandfather for almost 60."

"They can't be dead," Emilee said. "My mother and grandmother were kind, gentle people. They couldn't have killed anybody. They SAVED people."

"Didn't your mother tell you multiple times that your lack of a father was something you'd learn when you were older?"

"Yeah, but I don't think that means she killed him. Maybe it's just a coincidence." Emilee took a deep breath. "It has to be a coincidence."