Hey guys! At last, a new chapter!

Thanks for all the favs, follows and reviews! Glad you guys like the last chapter, especially on Archer being a cat person.

I saw a fanart of Greed in Proto Cu's body on Pinterest. It fits, since Ling is like Proto Cu's Xingese version. This makes everything funny because Greed and Archer are more or less friends here. Whatever happened to your eternal rivalry?

Enough babbling; enjoy the chapter!

Disclaimer: I do not own FSN nor FMA.

Note: Best to read FMA chapter 13-15 for a little bit of background context.

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Central City

"My daughter is going to be three years old!"

"...Lieutenant Colonel Hughes," the voice on the other side deadpanned. "I am busy at work now."

"Fancy that. I'm busy at work too," Maes brushed off his friend's complaint easily. He was currently at Central military telephone booth, spending his long break telling Roy the great news (he had Sheska to thank for that). Twirling the landline cord idly, he squealed, "It's just that she's sooo cute!"

"I get it, I get it. Ugh," Maes could totally imagine Roy pinching the bridge of his nose when he said that. "Don't call me all the time only to brag about your daughter! And not with a military line!"

"Not just my daughter. I'm proud of my wife too!"

"I wonder if there's a way to fry a person over the phone with alchemy, Hughes..."

"Ooh, the Flame Alchemist is scaring me," Maes laughed at Roy's sullen tone. That man should really get married and have children, like him. Then, he'd understand the joy of life!

But that was not the only reason why Maes called. He sighed, smile disappearing as he turned to a more serious topic. "Speaking of alchemy, there was a very big explosion in the Baker Street yesterday, near your old office in the East City. The local investigators found Scar's torn and bloody jacket there."

"So I've heard," Roy hummed. "If I was there, I would've caught Scar myself. Too bad I'm stuck in Liore for now. He's dead, then?"

"That's the general consensus," Maes recalled what he could from the report. "There are many unidentifiable bodies found and he might be among those. No witness reports of him loitering around the area so far, but I suspect he was hiding in the sewer when the explosion happened. I've been assigned to take over the case, so I'll find out more when I reach there three days from now."

"You're coming to East City?" Roy asked, surprised.

"I know right?!" Maes groaned in despair. "I don't want to leave my wife and daughter! Hell, I almost miss Elicia's birthday! Luckily I managed to black—I mean, talk the top brass round to let me join her birthday tomorrow. She's going to be three tomorrow, can you believe that?!"

"That's not the point, Hughes," Roy sighed. Maes was about to curse at him—because leaving his family in Central only to meet rubble and dead bodies was a serious concern, damn it—when his friend continued, "You're one of Amestris' top investigators. Scar has been killing high-ranking individuals in charge of the State Alchemists. You said that he's declared dead from the explosion, but you're called from Central to investigate the incident in East City."

Maes would've preened at his compliment if not for the suspicious order. "I've noticed. An explosion that big should've left nothing behind, but it seems that Führer is not convinced that Scar's dead. He didn't even approve the request to cut loose the Elric brothers' guards even though they were in Central. Why he's adamant about it, I have no idea."

Maes waited for Roy to reply, but there was only silence from the other end. "Roy?"

"The Führer…," Roy mumbled. He tapped his phone idly. "Anyway, Scar is certainly like a cockroach if he's still alive after all that. Troublesome too. I heard Tucker's daughter is still missing."

Maes leaned against the booth table and made himself comfortable, seemingly ready to start another gossip session. But his focus sharpened, ears ready to listen to every single word Roy was about to say. He hummed and tapped his phone three times, before saying. "I'll start to investigate that too, since it's closely linked to Scar's case."

"Man, how am I going to outrank Olivier at this rate?" Roy grumbled. "She even got a new talented guy, recently! A technician named Neil, if I'm not wrong."

"Don't be so greedy, Roy. You yourself have Master Sergeant Fuery."

"Yeah, and Edward too. Maybe my luck has finally run out. Speaking of which, Hawkeye just got a new dog…"

Their conversation continued in such a manner for another twenty minutes. Maes thanked his lucky stars that he had an excellent memory, because Roy's coded message was exhausting to remember. It would also be suspicious if he came out of the telephone booth with a piece of paper listing people's names. He had no choice but to write those down later.

"...So, the Elric brothers are in Central?" Roy finally asked after tapping his phone twice, indicating the end of his secret message. Maes almost slumped in relief. The way Roy generated names so quickly and fit them seamlessly into normal sentences baffled him. Hell, Roy even managed to briefly inform him about the current situation in Liore while disguising sensitive intel.

Instead, he focused on his friend's question and smiled knowingly. Roy and Ed were like cats and dogs who'd never get along, and Roy kept saying that the boy was merely a stepping stone for him to rise through the ranks. Maes knew deep down that Roy worried about the brothers. Granted, Ed and Al were always gone on dangerous adventures in pursuit of the Philosopher's Stone. Just like last week.

"Yeah, about that. Ed's in the hospital now…"

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"...And after I was kicked by this lady, I don't remember anything else."

Maes almost didn't catch what Ed was saying. "And she has sharp nails that could elongate up to two meters long?"

"Yeah," Ed brushed his non-automail palm over the bandaged wound in his shoulder and shivered. "It was creepy. She's definitely strong enough to kill me with those nails. For some reason, she let me live, even went as far as carrying me outside the collapsing building."

"Because we're 'human sacrifices', she said," Al chipped in. "We're still not sure what that means, but at least it worked to our advantage back then."

Maes narrowed his eyes, mind whirling with information from both the Elric's report of the Research Laboratory 5 incident and Roy's coded message. Al had drawn a sketch of the aforementioned lady (which, Maes honestly thought, was a lot more human-like than Ed's sinister one) with an Ouroboros tattoo on her chest.

"We don't know who she is," Ed fisted his blanket. "Those nails...It might be some kind of an alchemy, but I swear those were her real fingertips, not some sort of device like my automail."

Armstrong gasped. "But that would mean she transmuted her own body! How did she not get a rebound?"

"Perhaps, she was using the Philosopher's Stone?" Al suggested. "Brother said she mentioned about the lab being used to create the stone in the past."

"If that's the case, then she did a damn good job hiding the stone while fighting me," Ed grumbled. "Transmuting body parts without necessary materials nor a circle…Who is she?"

"A homunculus."

All eyes turned to the only non-Alchemist in the room. Maes picked up the sketch of the Ouroboros symbol and pointed at it.

"Homunculus," he said in a low tone. "An artificial human being, identified by the Ouroboros tattoo on their body. They're immortal, powerful and absolutely dangerous," Maes turned to the shocked boy. "You're lucky to be alive, Ed."

"I-Immortal?!" Al gasped.

"How do you know that, sir?" Armstrong frowned, clearly disturbed.

"Roy told me," Maes sighed. He would've never expected the secret message to contain such outrageous information. In the span of twenty minutes of disguised conversation, the Flame Alchemist had told him about the Philosopher's Stone and its secret ingredient, the Homunculus, the Nationwide Transmutation Circle and the military's involvement in this. Backed by Ed and Al's account on Doctor Marcoh's research as well as the appearance of the lady with an Ouroboros tattoo, Roy's intel seemed all the more legitimate.

"Colonel Mustang?" Ed's eyes were wide with surprise. "And how did he know all those things? I haven't even told him anything about the Philosopher's Stone!"

"The Homunculi were sighted in Liore during the riot. Yes, it's plural. There were three in total," Maes nodded. Ed hissed at that. "They were said to be involved in the creation of Philosopher's Stones, although whether the information is accurate is up to debate." Roy had heard it from the Ishvalan Saint, after all.

The three alchemists in the room were stunned into silence. Armstrong clenched his fists before whispering, "Doctor Marcoh...his researched mentioned that at least five completed Philosopher's Stones were produced during the Ishvalan Civil War, which required more than fifty living humans to create just one. Then, you're saying that three Homunculi were allegedly involved in the creation of the Philosopher's Stones." He rubbed his face in frustration. "Nothing makes sense. Are you telling me that the Ishvalan War—"

"Sorry for intruding."

The four occupants of the room jumped when there was a knock from outside. The door opened to reveal—

"F-Führer President King Bradley!"

Maes and Armstrong immediately saluted. Bradley waved them off with a laugh, "Quiet down, soldiers. You can be at ease."

"Y-yes sir," Armstrong scratched his head and relaxed slightly. Maes had to force himself to relax, because it was King Bradley.

King Bradley. Who Roy had claimed was a Homunculus.

Maes could see no Ouroboros tattoos on his exposed skin. Nor could he remember Bradley performing any alchemy. But he could not dismiss his friend's warning just like that. After all, if the entire country was designed in the shape of a giant Transmutation Circle, then there was simply no way the government was not involved in any of it.

"Your Excellency," Maes hid his uneasiness behind abashed expression. "May I ask why you are here?"

"Why, to drop off a get-well present for Major Elric," Bradley passed a basket of...of melon to Ed. "You like melons, don't you?"

"Ah, yes, thank you—Wait, that's not the problem here!" Ed wailed.

The Führer laughed, before picking up one of the scattered sketches—the Ouroboros drawing. "Hm, jokes aside. It seems like you've been doing a lot of investigating on the military leadership," Maes stiffened when Bradley looked steadily at him. "Lieutenant Colonel Hughes."

Shit.

"Whatever you mean, sir?" Maes smiled innocently, hiding his internal panic. Does the Führer know about Roy's intel?

"Don't underestimate my intelligence network," Bradley narrowed his eyes, before turning to Ed. "And you, Major Edward Elric...The Philosopher's Stone, right?"

The blond boy tensed up. Bradley stared him down, but he remained silent.

"Just how much did you find out? Depending on that, I may have to…"

Maes fingered his knives in his pocket, readying himself should conflict break out. It was treason to go against the Führer, but he was already knee-deep in supporting Roy's goal anyway. And if what Roy said was right, who knows what the Führer would do to keep the secret of the Philosopher's Stone project safe.

Tensions skyrocketed as seconds passed—until suddenly, the Führer laughed out loud.

"Just joking!" He patted Ed's shoulder, who gaped at him dumbly. "No need to get so tense. I, too, am aware that there have been disquieting activities within the military. I've always wanted to do something about them, but everything becomes complicated when you don't even know who to trust in the military."

Armstrong and the Elrics began to relax. Maes too, only because the conflict managed to be avoided. The Führer's warning was certainly ironic, because the three alchemists automatically deemed Bradley, potentially one of their greatest enemies, as someone trustworthy.

"The enemy is always ahead of us," Bradley continued after skimming through the scattered sketches. Maes almost snorted at that. Of course they're ahead; we technically have to report all of our activities to him. "Even with my intel network, I still don't know the scale of it all. Nor about their objectives or how close they are to achieving them."

Very close, Roy's message told him. Liore was done; their next target is the north. Then, it'll be over for us.

"Lieutenant Colonel Hughes. Major Armstrong. Elric brothers," the Führer's tone suggested he demanded their fullest attention. "I have decided you all are trustworthy people. Therefore, I forbid you to continue investigating this matter or disclose it to others! You cannot trust anyone in this when you cannot even distinguish friend from foe! Regard all of the military as your enemy and proceed carefully!"

And by that, he'd gained Armstrong's and the Elrics' full trust. By being the one to give out the warning, the Führer could avoid immediate suspicion. King Bradley was certainly a cunning man, a professional in hiding his true intentions behind a genial, trustworthy mask.

For that reason, Maes could not tell them the truth yet. Alex Armstrong, despite his family's social standing, was not keen to be deeply involved in military politics, nor was he brave or influential enough to oppose the Führer. Maes would've told him if it was Olivier—that woman had the backing of Fort Briggs and was ruthless enough to be a Major General by the age of thirty—but sadly, that wasn't the case.

The Elric brothers were fearless, yes, and definitely influential—Ed was called the Hero of the People because of his meddlesome trait and thus, had the backing of the common people. But the commoners were nothing against the military, especially the top echelon who had the power to dispatch armies. Besides, they were still young, no matter how much Ed had complained. Their main goal was to get their bodies back to normal, not to rise through the ranks and definitely not to involve themselves in military politics. It was naive to hold such a view, but ignorance is bliss. It would only put them in danger if they know the truth.

"Your Excellency!" A distant, frantic voice was heard through the door, breaking the Führer out of his commanding mood. "Where have you gone, Your Excellency!"

"Uh-oh, here comes my annoying subordinate," Bradley groaned, before heading to the window. He calmly opened the window, climbed it and said, "I snuck out of my office, after all."

Maes sweatdropped. Enemy or not, Amestrian officials sure loved to escape paperwork by sneaking out of the office. Including Maes himself.

"Oh, right. Before I forget," Bradley turned back one last time to smile at him knowingly. "Tell me more about the Ishvalan Saint later, will you? I heard he's quite an interesting individual; surely Colonel Mustang has told you a lot of things about him from Liore."

So, he at least knew about my frequent calls with Roy. Whether he was aware of the coded message or not, Maes would have to prepare for the worst. He smiled back and said, "I'll be glad to, sir."

The Führer gave one last wave before he left. Through the window.

"What are you guys doing, standing around like that?" Winry entered the hospital room to see the four staring out of the window.

"...Let's just say a storm just passed," Ed said awkwardly.

Oh, Maes wished he could tell him that that was the calm before the real storm.

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"Pride."

There was a moment of silence. The shadows shifted to reveal an eye.

"Wrath."

"Maes Hughes," Wrath said. "His calls with Roy Mustang were suspicious. He might know about things he shouldn't have."

The red eye narrowed. A jaw opened in the shadows, mouth full of sharp teeth.

"What are you going to do about him?" The shadow's voice echoed, as if it originated from everywhere. "He might jeopardise our plan if we let him live."

Wrath hummed, considering their options. "I'm more curious to find out how they know about the Homunculus. Roy Mustang was not in direct contact with our siblings in Liore."

The shadows sneered. "It was that Ishvalan…"

"The Ishvalan Saint?"

"He knows about Father…," it hissed. Pride was supposed to be devoid of emotions, but the shifting tendrils of shadow showed its agitation clearly. "He was in Liore when Roy Mustang came."

"Then the question is how that Ishvalan Saint knows about us," Wrath narrowed his lone eye. "The only one who knows about Father is Van Hohenheim."

"Hmm," the shadows flickered. "And Greed."

Wrath blinked. "Greed? I admit I have yet to meet him in person," he chuckled. "I am the youngest, after all."

"He left Father a century ago," two, three, four more red eyes appeared in the shadows, glaring at nothing in contempt. "What an ungrateful sibling. He betrayed Father for selfish reasons."

"His whereabouts is still unknown?"

"...There is a rumour," Pride hummed. "Chimeras flocking around in Dublith. Greed was mentioned."

Wrath grinned.

"Time for a surprise inspection in the South, then."

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Dublith

"A Homunculus…"

Greed grinned and nodded, pointing his finger at the back of his other hand where the Ouroboros tattoo was.

"That's right. And I'm Greed, the most avaricious one of all my siblings!" Then, his arm turned sleek black as he activated his ability. "Each of us has a unique ability given by our Daddy dear. Mine's called the 'Ultimate Shield'!"

Izumi hummed, poking the black arm with a kitchen knife. It didn't even leave a scratch. "Interesting. And you're saying that you have high-speed regeneration?"

"Yep," Greed returned his arm to normal and, before Izumi could react, cut off the entire limb by swinging his arm towards the blade of her kitchen knife.

Izumi slapped him so hard he fell off his chair.

"You moron! I just cleaned the floor! Now it's a mess again!"

"Ouch! Your slap fucking hurts, old hag! I think you broke my jaw!"

"You're going to heal it anyway," Archer drawled. Luckily, Nina was off playing with the other children. If she was here to witness that, who knows what would Izumi do to his friend. "Why do you have to be such a show-off? I won't help you clean the floor off the blood later."

"Ugh. Whatever," Greed wiggled his stump. A distinct crackle of alchemy filled the silence as bones and muscles began growing out of it at high speed. Not ten seconds later, a new arm replaced the stump. "There you go. But a body like this isn't immortal at all. My body structure and composition is the same as a normal human."

"You told me it's because you're essentially a Philosopher's Stone in a human form. The stone sustained your body and heal your wounds, but it isn't an inexhaustible energy source," Izumi turned to Archer. "And you said that the Stone is made of human lives."

"That is right. A homunculus may have hundreds of human souls inside their body."

"It's noisy," Greed picked his ear in annoyance. "The souls keep screaming."

"You can try to befriend them, you know," Archer pointed out. "Then maybe they'd quiet down."

"Hah! Nice joke, Archer. Try that again when you have multiple souls screaming at you in your head all the time."

"I'm not joking, Greed. Hohenheim did that to his souls."

Greed blinked in surprise. Izumi leaned forward with a smile, "So you've met him, then."

"Took me a while to find him, but yeah," Archer said. "He's been traveling around Amestris, so much so that it's hard to keep track of his movement. He even spends a lot of nights in the wilderness." Archer shook his head in exasperation. "You told me to look for him around Youswell because that's where the last time you saw him. But I found him in the jungle near Geymer, Izumi, in the West Area. Eating raw mushrooms."

Izumi sweatdropped. "Well, he did look like a homeless guy the last time I saw him. I would have never thought he was a master alchemist if I didn't see his research paper."

"Hohenheim…," Greed frowned, rubbing his chin. "I think Dad mentioned that name once or twice. Something about him having the same power as Daddy."

Izumi scrunched her nose in disgust, "Could you stop calling him 'Daddy'? It's disturbing."

Greed grinned mischievously, "What's wrong with that? I love my Daddy."

"Anyway, that's because they both started with the same number of souls," Archer recalled Hohenheim's story after whacking Greed in the head. "The full story is not for me to tell, but basically Hohenheim is the Order's greatest threat. He has the same potential as the Dwarf in the Flask, thus, the only one who can counter the Order's plan."

"Countering a nationwide Transmutation? That would require him to draw an equally massive Transmutation Circle!"

Archer shrugged. "That's for him to worry. He told me he had a plan, though, so there's that."

"Can't you just stop the Nationwide Transmutation Circle from being completed?" Greed pointed out. "Maybe kill Sloth, since he's the one digging the tunnel."

"It's too late to stop it. The project is already at its final stage. I can probably slow down the progress by targeting Sloth, but it won't stop the Dwarf in the Flask to continue the circle himself," Archer sighed. "Besides, I might be able to take on a Homunculus by myself, but it'll require a lot of energy from me to permanently incapacitate one. I tried that already in Liore, and it wasn't enough."

"Yeah, you have to repeatedly kill us to exhaust the Philosopher's Stone," Greed nodded in agreement. "And it's not like my siblings would stay idle while you kill them. There's also big bro Pride and his shadows to the rescue."

"Speaking of which, where is Pride's real body? It seems like his shadows could travel long distances so long as it's inside the tunnel Sloth made." Which was awfully troublesome, because, despite his repertoire of weapons, Archer had none to stop Pride's shadows, let alone kill him.

Greed, to his disappointment, shrugged helplessly. "Never met his body before, actually. Only his creepy shadows."

"You're his brother, Greed."

"So what? I'm already disowned. Besides, he wanted to eat me. What kind of brother does that?"

A Homunculus brother, apparently. Archer sighed in exasperation. At least, Ilya only wanted to kill him.

"So, what do you think, Izumi?" He turned to the alchemist in the room. "You're one of the Human Sacrifices, so you deserve to know."

"About that," Izumi narrowed her eyes on him. "How do you know I am one? I've only told you that I'm an alchemist, not about it."

"It? What's it?" Greed asked, confused.

"The Gate," Archer said, before tapping his nose. "I have this ability to track magical energy, including alchemy, by scent. Human Sacrifices have this distinct scent that differentiates them from a normal alchemist. It's how I tracked Hohenheim—apart from his 'Philosopher's Stone' scent—and determined the Elric brothers as Human Sacrifices."

"Don't tell me you sniffed their butts," Greed snorted. "Even Dolcetto doesn't do that."

"Shut up, Greed. No dinner for you tonight."

"What—you can't do that!"

"You're certainly one of a kind, Archer," Izumi shook her head. If they were not friends, Archer had a feeling that her tone would be a lot more aggressive. "Who are you? What's your objective from doing all this?"

Greed turned to him as well, eager to know his answer.

"I'm here to kill the Dwarf in the Flask and return its soul to the Gate," Archer said, choosing not to say that he's currently on vacation, too. "I'm essentially Truth's temporary agent in Amestris."

"...What," Izumi deadpanned.

"I'm helping Truth with his problem."

"That makes no sense. Truth is...Truth. It's the World. The Universe. The True Knowledge. God. No human being can interact with it directly unless if one performs Human Transmutation. Truth's agent? What even is that?"

"It's complicated," Archer said. Greed rolled his eyes at that. "I was a human, but I'm no longer one now. I am a Counter Guardian, also called the Protector of Balance, servant of Alaya, the collective unconsciousness of mankind. Long story short, I'm being loaned to Truth to deal with the Dwarf in the Flask."

He was met with silence.

"...I think you told me this joke yesterday, Archer," Greed said slowly. "It's getting old now."

Archer sighed. "It's not a joke, Greed. I'm being serious here. It's not my fault that you can't understand it."

"Prove it, then," Izumi leaned forward, challenging him. "What you said just now was plain unbelievable. You're basically saying that you're some sort of a higher being employed by...what, the collective unconsciousness of mankind? What the hell?"

Okay, he admitted it sounded ridiculous for the normal people. He never had to prove Alaya's existence nor his legitimacy as a Counter Guardian before, because most of the time, he just had to kill. Even during the Fifth Holy Grail War, Rin could understand his existence through the dreams without him having to say much.

Instead, he summoned one of his favourite blades, Kanshou, and presented it to them.

Izumi's eyes grew wide. "What—how did you create that out of nothing?!"

"That's my type of magecraft: Projection. It materialises objects in accordance with the caster's imagination, through the use of magical energy. I'm not from this universe, so the law of Equivalent Exchange doesn't really apply to me here."

"But you could do the same thing with Philosopher's Stone," Greed pointed out, unconvinced. "Daddy—ouch! I mean Father could create objects out of thin air using alchemy."

Archer tsked in annoyance.

"Okay, what about this," he dismissed Kanshou and summoned one layer of a tiny version of Rho Aias. "This is the barrier I used in Liore. One layer of this could stand against firearm-fired projectiles—"

"Woah, is this some type of air alchemy?! Did you condense air and vaporise it to give its shape? How do you even shape it—"

"No, no, no! It's not alchemy, dammit! It's magecraft! Projection—Don't give me that look!"

"Just tell me its secret, Archer. What array did you use? Is it—Wait, don't dispel it!"

"No! Clearly it's not working. How about this: Reinforcement. I can turn tissue paper to be as sturdy as steel—"

"Hello? Philosopher's Stone? Turn iron into gold?"

Archer wanted to tear his hair out. He glared at Greed, who laughed shamelessly at him.

"Man, that was funny," the Homunculus wiped a tear from his eyes. "Oh, tell her about that one with Dolcetto's katana. You said you can read the history of any sword."

That...was actually a good idea. He regarded Izumi's forgotten kitchen knife, considered it, and said, "You almost killed yourself with that knife."

Izumi froze, eyes wide with shock.

"It was right after you performed that," Archer continued, eyes staring straight at her. "You've lost your child, twice. The preparation was perfect, but Truth took the heaviest toll. Sig found you bleeding in this room after you attempted suicide."

The following silence was stifling. Even Greed had the sense to not make light of Archer's confession.

It was broken by the scraping sound of a chair being dragged across the floor. Izumi plopped into the chair and sighed heavily.

"...Alright, I believe you," she finally said, sounding exhausted all of sudden. "It was the darkest moment of my life. Only I and Sig know about it."

"I'm sorry. It isn't my place to disclose that," now Archer felt like the biggest jerk in the entire universe. To ease the guilt, he traced a Conceptual Weapon and gave it to her. "Here. It's for minor healing."

"Ah, thank you?" Izumi blinked at the small, ornamental dagger. She gasped when her hand touched the weapon. "Healing, you say?"

Archer nodded. "It slightly boosts self-regeneration and ease the pain. You can keep it."

"Well, why didn't you do this since the beginning?" Greed poked the dagger, wiggling his fingers at the sensation. "It's definitely easier than trying to turn tissue paper into gold."

"That's not—," Archer threw his hands up in exasperation. "You know what? Nevermind."

"Great! Now that we believe your story, Archy," Greed grinned. "What are you planning to do once everything is over? My recommendation is to be my permanent cook."

Archer blinked at the unexpected question, before shrugging, "Sorry Greed. But my soul would probably return to Alaya."

"So...what, you automatically die?" Izumi asked worriedly, to which Archer laughed.

"I'm technically already dead, Izumi. But souls could exist for eternity, and I'm just a copy of my original soul, currently living in a temporary body provided by Truth. I can't be deader than that."

Greed must've seen something in his eyes, because he frowned as Archer said that.

"Well, no use in thinking about my future demise," Archer laughed in an attempt to defuse the tension. "Anyway, I'm supposed to meet up with Hohenheim next month in the North. It's a long journey from here and I'm planning to visit Rush Valley for a couple of days, so I'll have to leave tomorrow morning. I'll be coming back here again to check on you guys once I have the time."

"What?! B-but that's like months away from now!" Greed wailed, turning back to his childish self. "I can't live without your food!"

"You've been living without his cooking for almost a century, Greed. If I didn't know better, I would've thought you are Gluttony."

"I demand meat for dinner!"

"I told you already—no dinner for you tonight."

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Thanks for reading!

A couple of things to note:

Maes should've told Ed and Al the truth!

Honestly, that might not be the case here. If Ed and Al know the truth about the Fuhrer being a Homunculus, then...what can they do about it? Tell the people the truth? That would only serve to spark another civil war and they obviously don't want that. Confront the Führer himself? We know what had happened from the manga/anime; Bradley was willing to threaten Winry's life to buy their silence. Of course, Maes had no idea that they'd learn about it sooner or later anyway.

Will Maes die like in canon?

It'll be spoilers if I tell you that. But there are certain changes from canon due to Archer's presence there. The Maes here didn't have to research and find out about the nationwide transmutation circle himself, because Roy had told him about it. Because of that, the Homunculi didn't know how much Maes knows about them.

Lust is also by herself there since Envy and Gluttony were still out of commission—which means their fight with Scar had turned out differently.

On another note, my new semester begins on Monday, which means no more updates till months later. Sorry about that. But don't worry, I won't abandon this fic nor the others, unless stated otherwise in my profile. Bear with me with the slow update, yeah?

See you next time.