"So you're finally awake, Fullmetal. You sure had Al worried," said a familiar voice.

Edna slowly opened her eyes to see...Mustang?

She tried sitting up, but her head felt like it was splitting open from the act.

"What happened?" she asked. It took her a moment to register that her arm was missing, again...as was her leg, which was unusual.

"You tell me. You've been missing for two months and we found you with a bad lump to the head missing your arm and leg," said Mustang seriously.

Edna tried to remember, but she was drawing a complete blank. Worse, the act itself was causing her brain to feel like it was about to melt between her ears.

"Take it easy, Edna," said Mustang with uncharacteristic gentleness. She could see the concern in his eyes. "You took a pretty back knock to the head and you looked like hell when we found you. You can give me a full report later."

Edna nodded, trying not to throw up. The world wasn't spinning, but it still felt wrong.

Alphonse came in, and that sense of wrongness only doubled. Why, she didn't know or understand, just that seeing that suit of armor felt like all shades of wrong.

Edna did not feel better when she did finally let out everything in her stomach.

"Edna, are you alright?" said Alphonse.

"I'll be better once I can move around a bit."

"Fortunately for you, Winry replaced your automail while you were out cold," said Mustang.

Edna looked down and did her best not to throw up...the mere act of moving was making her highly nauseous.

It took her several hours before she felt even remotely well enough to do more than lay there. The migraine wasn't helping either.

Alphonse stayed exceptionally close to his sister once she was finally well enough to actually move around.

For some reason, she felt like she was forgetting something. Something important.

Some time later...

Edna still felt off, but it was much more tolerable now. Her head no longer felt like it was swimming in thick soup, and she was able to move around.

Without really thinking too hard on the matter, she headed to a large, somewhat conspicuous board. She didn't know why she did that, but she went to examine it for a bit.

Something nudged at her from the back of her still throbbing mind. Something about the fliers was bothering her big time, though she couldn't explain what it was.

Edna grimaced. Her head was still throbbing, though at least the nausea was gone. She skimmed the message board, before heading out to find something to eat.

Only to nearly gag when she did get something, because the taste was just wrong.

She could only hope whatever was causing this went away soon, because otherwise the next few days were going to suck.


Edna had mostly settled into a new normal, though Al had given her odd looks for her morning routine.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Stretching, why?" said Edna confused.

She always did her morning stretches, because otherwise her dance routines would be off. It was a bitch and half just finding the right products to do her beauty routines. Coconuts and shea nuts were a hard thing to find for some reason, even in Central. Alphonse just looked confused about the whole thing, but ignored it.

Edna paid half a mind to Mustang's new possible lead on the stone. That feeling in the back of her mind hadn't gone away...far from it, it had only gotten stronger.

As she boarded the train with Alphonse, that feeling only cemented itself while she listened to the conversations going on around her.

"Hey Al, I'm going to use the bathroom and will be right back," said Edna absently.

"Okay," he said, not even thinking twice about it. Edna had drank a lot of water earlier.

Edna walked past countless others, her ears picking up conversations that made zero sense without the proper context. But her mind was starting to clear up now, as memories began to filter back.

It took the mention of a 'party' for her memories to hit her like a brick.

Several 'soldiers' were eagerly chatting about attending the Night Raven College's open campus for Halloween and getting some good shots for MagiCam.

Edna had to grasp the sink as her memories hit her hard. Clarity filled her eyes, and she could clearly remember where she was and why she was there.

And why she couldn't trust her "brother" further than she could throw him without alchemy or magic.

This was a world where magic wasn't fully developed...yet. Alchemy was the predominant supernatural power, and she was someone who knew the realm intimately.

She wasn't sure if this was a realm fully based on the past, or a strong recreation of it. Either way, she had to find Idia and get him out before something terrible happened.

She returned to Alphonse, her behavior the same as ever. The crimson eyes stared back at her without any soul or empathy whatsoever...it was a far cry from the warmth the armor used to have when her younger sibling inhabited it.

Only the knowledge she had literally walked through hell itself and resurrected him kept her from breaking down.

As expected, the 'quest' was a complete and utter bust. Edna returned to Central to report to Mustang, who behaved entirely too much like he had in the past.

Considering Idia's connection to Hades, Edna had a sinking suspicion as to why his magic had been steadily draining. Mustang didn't act like a standard NPC.

He was the same smarmy, arrogant bastard who had convinced her to become a State Alchemist to undo her mistake. Even Riza acted as though it had only been yesterday since Edna reported in, aside from her brief "two month absence".

It broke her heart, knowing some sick bastard had found it all too hilarious to trap her in a game where the souls of her friends were being used as cheap NPC's, unaware of the fact that their time had passed.

She swore as she half-listened to Hughes' ramblings that when she found the bastard responsible for this, Hades himself would be taking notes on how creative her revenge would be.


In an undisclosed location...

"Is it true? Has Fullmetal been found?" said a voice excitedly.

"If it's not her, then it's a close enough replacement," said a voice smugly. "Finally, we can end this farce."

"Can I eat her?"

"Not yet, Gluttony," said the second voice patiently. "Not until she's completed her work."

"Does she suspect anything?" asked another voice.

"She's completely oblivious. That boy was a rare find," said the female voice smugly.

Before them was a monitor where the bluenette's avatar was behind held hostage in an array within the game. It was completely locked off in a separate server, to insure that no hackers stumbled across it.

His magic was particularly useful in keeping Fullmetal trapped in the dream-like state of the game. Using the souls of her former comrades meant she was unlikely to realize the truth until it was much too late.

Even more amusing was using her younger sibling as a spy to keep track of her every movement. She'd never believe her beloved younger sibling had been reporting her every move and action against her.

It was with twisted amusement that they 'fed' false leads to keep Edna busy while they set things up in the background. They couldn't keep the souls of the dead for long, so their master plan had to be pushed ahead of their original schedule. The game was so very useful in collecting the necessary ingredients to create a new stone, after the Seven destroyed the others.


Edna looked at the envelope before her. It was an invitation to the Armstong estate, courtesy of the Major. It was extended to all State Alchemists who weren't complete sycophants to the Fuhrer.

It had been difficult, giving Mustang and Hughes the subtle clues she had 'gathered' that the Homunculi (which the two knew damn well existed) were behind not only Ishbal, but the growing conflict with the Leto cult.

Especially since she had to do it while "Alphonse" was no where near her.

Mustang wasn't an idiot. Hughes, once she had given him an idea of where to look and when, had been quick to gather evidence. A few chats with them both where she put up the areas of conflict over the years on a board and showed Mustang the array that would later destroy Amestris that was forming had told them she was serious.

Edna was many things, but she was NOT the sort to lie about something like this. Even if most of it was information she learned second hand from Alphonse, who heard it from Mustang and other survivors once they realized how far back this extended.

She had a very good memory for information like this.

Edna accepted the invitation with a smile, all while inwardly cackling.

Mustang might be a womanizer, but he often poked fun at the fact she had been an utter tomboy for years. It was time to put this ass in his place and surprise everyone.

The party was just a cover for the covert meeting that would take place. Since Alphonse would stick out like a sore thumb, and due to the urgency required, everyone expected Edna to relay any relevant information to him later.

Edna...planned to put all the tricks she had picked up from Vil to misdirect or outright lie to whatever sadistic construct had been created to keep tabs on her.

To that end, she needed to prepare for the party, which was a much more upscale event than she had been used to. Or would have been, if not for the countless hours spent with her cousin.

Tracking down the proper make-up was annoying, but her new preferences made finding a proper dress damn near impossible. To be fair, she had no idea what was even fashionable in her own time.

Edna observed some of the more fashionable ladies who were out buying extras for the party, to gauge the general fashion sense of the era. Armed with this knowledge, Edna used a bit of alchemy to change her hair and went shopping.

She had a research budget she never really used before, so why not splurge and make an entrance?

Inwardly she cackled, as her friends would never recognize her. Her only regret is that she wouldn't be able to immortalize their expression on camera.

It took hours of prep, a bit of quick alchemy to resize her new dress, and a few extra accessories she would use to great effect to hide her features just enough to disguise her appearance.

She was so glad Vil had spent several long, arduous hours teaching her how to apply make-up properly, because even she had trouble recognizing herself in the cheap hotel mirror.

The dress was a deep blue that went well with the earrings she was wearing now. She had a fashionable fan that she would use to hide her facial expressions from others, and disguise her features. Her hair had been done up in a stylish bun that Vil had shown her, one she had perfected since it was an accepted hair style among the royals according to Lilia.

Since this was a digital world, Edna gleefully splurged on a pair of stylish heels that accentuated her new dress and gave her a bit of extra height. She wasn't very confident in stilettos, but they still gave her a few extra inches she lacked and were easy to move in. She did make a point to do a few pirouettes to insure she could dance properly in them.

Once she was finished, Edna called out to Alphonse that she would be likely be returning late, before leaving the room. The fake merely responded without bothering to turn back.

Honestly, the robot-like behavior of the fake pissed her off something fierce, but she bit her tongue and kept silent.

It said something that even Mustang had picked up on something being wrong.

She got into the cab, and eagerly awaited the reaction of her old friends to realizing she had done a bit of growing up and was no longer the hot-headed fool she once was.

As she entered the Armstrong estate, Edna presented her invitation and was lead inside.

She took one look at the host of the party, Major General Olivier Armstrong...and liked the woman immediately. She had the same no-nonsense attitude of Riza combined with the sheer tenacity of Vil.

Edna had vaguely heard of the Ice Queen, but this was the first time she had meet the woman...albeit indirectly, as the case was.

Olivier stared down Edna for several long moments.

"You're the Fullmetal Alchemist?" she said.

Edna wanted to scowl, but schooled her expression.

"Like I was going to put up with that ass Mustang's insinuations I was born the wrong gender one more second. It's about time they stop considering me a child," she said coolly. "That being said if you happen to capture their expressions when they realize who I am and happen to share them, I would greatly appreciate it."

A moment passed between them, before a smirk appeared on Olivier's face.

"Far be it for me to get in the way of a woman's revenge against that fool," she replied.