There is a severe shortage of FMA/Seven Deadly Sins crossovers. I am remedying that.
I don't own FMA or Seven Deadly Sins. Obviously.

I'm dying. Greed was surprised at how calmly the thought came. It wasn't a panicked denial or a lamentation, merely a stated truth. The sky was blue, the sun rose in the east, and he was dying.

He drifted bodiless through the air, reduced to his core which, without the energy of human souls, was rapidly fading into dust. His wavering vision focused on his friends below-Lan Fan, the alchemist brat, the pissant prince. He could see in their faces that they were already mourning him. Ling's eyes were shining with grief, silently begging the homunculus to stay, to survive. Greed's nonexistent heart clenched.

I can do without the pitiful look, pissant, he said hated seeing his minions in pain. No, not minions, Greed corrected himself. Minions did whatever he told them, never whined, and they certainly never backsassed him. Ed and Ling weren't minions; they were friends. Those two, Darius, Heinkel-they were everything he ever could have wanted. What bitter irony it was that the embodiment of avarice had finally gotten what he needed to be satisfied-and now he was losing it.

Thank you, Greed whispered as the last vestiges of his consciousness faded. Goodbye...my friends…

Greed awoke to a sea of white. A blank expanse stretched infinitely around him, broken only by a massive stone door. So this is the Gate of Truth… Greed reached out. His hand hovered over the carved stone, but he couldn't bring himself to touch it. Just looking at it gave him a sense of impending doom.

"Welcome, Greed." A raspy voice spoke from behind him, echoing eerily. Greed spun around and found himself-or rather, a silhouette of himself. A blank white outline with no features but a mouth. The figure grinned at him with all the warmth of a crocodile.

Greed smiled wanly back. "You must be Truth. You're just like Ed described."

"And you are Greed the Avaricious." Truth said hoarsely. "Do you know where you are?"

"I'm dead." Greed gestured at the nothingness around them. "So what now? Am I going to Hell?"

"There is no heaven or hell for your kind. There is only home." Truth pointed to the austere gate. "Homunculus came from the Gate and will return to it, as will all who were born of him."

"...So I get to spend eternity trapped with my family. Explain to me how that isn't Hell."

"They're not your family."

Greed raised an eyebrow. "Sure they are. My old man made us all, you said so yourself."

"Blood doesn't make a family, not always. You know that well."

...Yes. He did. He'd rejected the homunculi, his blood family, and had been rejected in return. His real family was one he'd chosen-outcasts and rebels and all of them human. Greed smiled bitterly. "Don't suppose I could spend eternity with the humans instead?"

"No. However… your death doesn't have to be permanent." Truth's ghostly form stepped closer. "Equivalent exchange works both ways. You gave up everything to send Homunculus back to the Gate. I'm obligated to give you something in return."

Hope rose in Greed's chest. "I could go back?"

"Not to Amestris. You sacrificed your old life-but I'll give you a new one in exchange. An opportunity to pursue your ambitions and shape your life as you please."

It was more than Greed had expected. He nearly blurted out a "yes" before his common sense caught up with him. If he knew one thing, it was to not take gifts at face value. Especially when they were offered by a capricious god. "What's the catch?"

Truth's grin widened. "Your soul will be reborn. Your memories will not. You will start your life as a blank slate, as all beings do."

Give up his memories?! No, they were his. More than that, they were all he had left of his friends-his family. He couldn't give them up. He refused.

Don't be an idiot. The thought came unbidden, and in a voice that sounded like Ed. You have a second chance-take it. You can't move forward if you live in the past.

But his past was all he had now. He'd finally found contentment, his insatiable greed sated with friendship. He couldn't stand to forget the people who'd brought meaning to his life.

Friends can't be taken from you. The voice was Ling's this time. The people you love will stay with you forever. They're engraved on your soul.

Greed had a sneaking suspicion that Truth would be far more thorough than Father had been. There would be no miraculous recovery of his memories this time. Then again...maybe there didn't need to be. Ling was right. Greed's friends had wrought changes in him that were etched on his soul itself. Even if he couldn't consciously remember them, they were still there. In that form, his friends would stay with him as long as he lived.

"...I'll take it." Greed held out his hand to his doppelganger silhouette. "Let me live again."

Truth took his hand, eerie grin never fading. The Gate opened with an ominous creak. Black hands latched onto Greed, pulling him in. The secrets of the universe rushed past him in an incomprehensible blur. Unseen hands dismantled him piece by piece, stripping away his past and leaving only himself in his purest form. Greed's naked soul hurtled through the void to an unknown fate-

The baby entered the world screaming like a banshee. One could hardly blame him. Life is a painful experience at the best of times, and his had little hope of improving. What kind of life could await a child born in Ravens? Ravens was a city of thieves and cripples, a rubbish bin for society to toss its dregs into. The baby was not even wanted-his father scowled at the squalling infant distastefully. Another mouth to feed, another drain on his time.

"You'd better learn to earn your keep fast, boy." The father plunked the boy into a washbasin. The baby cried louder as the frigid water hit him. The father paid no heed, scrubbing the muck off his delicate skin with little care. "Shuddup or I'll give you something to cry about."

The baby blinked tears from his scarlet eyes and relented to the washing reluctantly. He was only a minute old and his future already looked bleak. But he was alive, and that was something.

They named him Ban.

A/N: This idea came from my friend journal129. The actual fanfic turned out a lot angstier than I expected.
I'm, uh...not sorry.
Please review and tell me what you think!