"Hello, little Homunculus."

Envy turned slowly on his tiny legs to face the being in front of him, looking away from the large stone gate. The creature was white, and its features seemed to consist of little more than a mouth. Other than that, the thing looked exactly like him.

"Wh-where am I?" He hated how his voice sounded. High, weak. Pathetic. Just like the feeble humans that he was jealous of.

The white being seemed to grin, and it was then that Envy remembered the Fullmetal Alchemist's words in Gluttony's stomach.

"The Portal of Truth! But—but it wasn't pitch black and filled with a sea of blood. It was more like—like an entirely white void."

He gasped. "The Truth? The Portal of Truth?"

"You are correct, little Homunculus."

"But—"

"That's impossible? You might once have been one with the Dwarf in the Flask, but a single soul was dominant in your Philosopher's Stone. That soul is you."

Envy couldn't find it in himself to speak, so he remained silent.

"There are still a few souls left in your Stone, and of course, they have to go somewhere, so I'm going to give you what you want."

The Homunculus gasped as black hands, small by human standards but bigger than his own, took ahold of him and started to pull. Soon he was enveloped in the darkness of the gate.

'-'

Envy groaned and opened his eyes, only to close them again as they were assaulted by blinding light. He blinked a few times until they adjusted, then looked around. He wasn't exactly pleased with the sight that was looking back at him.

Because it, or should I say 'they', were indeed looking back at him.

Several human children of varying ages were leaning over homunculus. One, who had evidently been poking him, backed away.

Envy leapt to his feet, noticing his lack of height, but not thinking much of it. At the moment, that didn't matter much. "Get away from me, you brats!"

The newly dubbed 'brats' jumped back and started whispering to each other. A particularly loud girl said, "Did he have to wake up?"

Envy snarled, but didn't get the chance to retaliate before the small crowd was dispersed and a woman bustled through and started dragging him away. "Let go of me, you bi—"

She slapped a hand over his mouth. "For the last time, Envy dear, watch you language! Now, let's get you up to my office, see what's wrong with you."

Envy tried and failed to tear his arm away from from the woman's strong grip. "There's nothing wrong with me, now let me go!"

She ignored the last bit in favor of lecturing him. "Not if the blood pouring out of your head has anything to say about it!"

It was then that Envy noticed the sharp pain on the side of his head. He let out a hiss, but nothing more.

"And fainting is not a good sign! I knew you were trouble the moment you entered this orphanage. Hit your head within the first week! That must be why you turned out like this—I'm sure you wouldn't have liked getting into trouble so much if not for that concussion."

Tired of listening to the woman rambling and wanting nothing more than to leave her presence, Envy attempted to transform his arm into a snake—it might be fun it watch her choke.

Unfortunately, it didn't work.

"Huh?" He looked at his arm in shock.

"Yes, I know, you don't remember it. That's just how bad it was, though you were pretty young at the time."

He tried to free himself again, and failed. Again. He let out a growl of frustration and tried to wrench his arm away from the woman. His attempts were futile, to say the least.

Footsteps hurried down the corridor behind them, and Envy whipped his head around to see who it was.

An older woman with graying light-brown hair was hurrying towards them. "Ms. Partch!" she called. "What's happened to him this time?"

"He fainted, Eliza. I'm taking him up to my office right now."

'Eliza' shook her head despairingly. "That boy, he gets sent to your infirmary almost as much as the children he injures."

"Who are you calling a kid?" Envy snapped, going red when he realized how much he sounded like the Fullmetal brat just now.

'Ms. Partch', who was apparently now a nurse, barely spared him a glance, choosing instead to continue her conversation with Eliza.

He opened his mouth to yell at her, but paused when the memories of what happened in the portal came rushing back to him.

". . . So I'm going to give you what you want."

Envy frowned. Truth's words seemed to reverberate off the inside of his skull. What did he want? Did he want what the humans had? No! He would never stoop to the level of those weaklings! He might be jealous of them, but he certainly didn't want that.

. . . Right?

'-'

An hour later, Envy stared into the bathroom mirror in shock.

He had a question. One simple question. One question that seemed so complicated to his jumbled mind that he was barely able to comprehend it.

Since when had he been a kid?

That's right. He was a child. He couldn't be bothered to figure out what age he looked, but he gathered from Eliza (Eliza Todd, if he wasn't mistaken. He'd found out she was the owner of this . . . what was it called? Orphanage?) and Ms. Partch's (Sarah Partch, he was pretty sure) conversation that he had turned eleven a little under two months ago. He hadn't really thought about what they were saying before, but now, remembering his apparent lack of height and looking at his own boyish face, it seemed like it should have been more obvious that something was wrong with him.

Where had Truth sent him? It had left him only those cryptic words. But he didn't want this! To be a kid in an orphanage, have no idea where he was, with people looking over his head like he wasn't worth paying attention to? That was the last thing he wanted, damn it!

Calming down (a little) he examined himself. It wasn't his usual look, what he was seeing in the mirror.

His hair, although it was his usual black, was not as long as he usually kept it. It didn't go past his shoulders. He tried to change it, but yet again it didn't work. Frowning, he tried again, concentrating hard with his face scrunched up. To his surprise, his hair slowly began to grow longer until it was back to normal.

Grinning, he attempted to turn his arm into a snake again.

It didn't work.

Growling, he slammed his fist into the mirror. Instead of breaking, it caused his hand to throb painfully. He winced and rubbed it, then began to ponder another question that had sprung to mind.

How did these humans know his name? They spoke as if he had been around them for awhile. He was just lucky they hadn't gotten suspicious—after all, he hadn't acted like he knew them, had he?

But back to the matter at hand. Why couldn't he transform his arm? He could grow his hair out, with a lot of effort, so why not the arm?

'-'

Envy lay in bed, staring at the ceiling. He had discovered that he couldn't change his appearance beyond human features. More disturbingly, it seemed he had become human. At the moment he was tired—not hungry since dinner time had come and gone, but tired.

He ran his fingers through his hair, which was short again. He had decided that he should keep what little of his abilities he had left a secret to give him the advantage if a fight broke out. Or an advantage in any situation, really.

Thoughts still whirling around in his head, Envy drifted off to sleep. For the first time, he observed, in his very existence.

'-'

Full Name: Envy Novus

Birthday: 7 May 1980

So, that profile at the end is incomplete. It'll grow, and within the next few chapters the whole thing should be there. I decided on Envy's birthday by putting it in the spring, the same season during which the Promised Day happened. His last name is Latin for 'new' (or at least I think it is—Google translate shouldn't be trusted).

I'd appreciate some feedback! I don't think this chapter is the best, so it would be nice to know what others think.

-The Leaf on Italy's Head