A howl in the distance caught everyone's attention. The horses were beginning to get nervous. The man steering them had to calm them and urged them to quicken their pace. The woman across from the two alchemists shuddered at the sound.

"I-I'm sure that was just a r-regular wolf. Certainly not a c-chimera."

Her brother wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "Of course it was a regular wolf, the chimeras never come out during the day."

Al realized that the lone girl was staring out in the direction of the howl. After having moved between her and his brother, he was now close enough to tap her on the shoulder. She flinched and looked at him in confusion.

He smiled kindly. "Don't be scared, okay? We'll be here to keep you safe."

"I'm not...afraid," she mumbled.

After a few moments, the horses reared up with a startled neigh, sensing danger. Ed caught sight of something closing in from the air. "Incoming!"

A black wolf with bird wings swooped down from the treetops, ripping into one of the horses' neck. The other horse began bucking wildly, but a giant, half-furred snake sunk its fangs into its throat and coiled around it, halting its movements. More chimeras were swiftly closing in. Ed jumped out of the wagon, clapping his hands and slamming them down on the ground. Dirt-made fists rose up under the beasts, but they quickly dodged around the attack.

Al was quick to crawl over to the lone girl huddled up in her cloak. "Miss, don't you worry, Ed and I will protect you!"

In an instant, a large half-lion, half-lizard chimera leapt over, snatching up the driver. At the same time, a bear-like beast with massive clawed wings glided down, landing on the man and woman, crushing them in its large talons. The girl finally looked at Al. His eyes widened at seeing her glinting gold-green eyes and sharp canines.

"I don't need protection," she responded.

She abruptly stood, throwing off her cloak. Parts of her body shifted and she grew wings and a tail. Al stumbled back in surprise. She let out a loud screech that halted the chimeras and caused Ed to turn his attention to her. She stood over Al, gazing over the successful kill. Two horses and three people would keep the beasts fed for a while.

"Al, get away from her!" Ed shouted, running back to the wagon.

But several chimeras darted in front of him, keeping him away from their queen. Al looked back at his brother and clapped his hands together, activating the transmutation circles on his gloves. But before he could use alchemy, Hope swung her tail around, knocking him in the back of the head and rendering him unconscious.

Hope barked to the half-lion chimera. It went over to her, picking up the unconscious boy by the collar as she climbed onto its back. She yipped and howled to the pack of creatures, ordering them to retreat. Ed scrambled to follow, but the massive serpent spit paralyzing venom on him, causing him to fall to the ground. He struggled to move and watched as the chimeras fled the area. He growled, finding his limbs useless at the moment.

"Dammit," he muttered. "As soon as I can move again, I'm coming to save you, Al."

~~~~~

Al slowly opened his eyes. He blinked a few times to unblur his vision and noticed the sun was going down. He found himself sitting on the ground and tied to a tree. Chimeras were everywhere around him. Some were feasting on their fresh kill while others napped. Unable to wriggle free, Al tried using alchemy. But he suddenly realized his gloves were gone.

"Looking for something?" a familiar voice asked.

Al looked up, seeing the girl in the tree above him. She smirked down at him and held out his gloves, dropping them below onto the ground. She then wrapped her long, serpentine tail around the branch she stood on. Slowly, she lowered herself down until she was low enough to drop down to her feet in front of the boy.

"So, that entire time, you were one of them?" he questioned with a frown.

She chuckled. "Yes. I had to feed my hungry subjects. Be happy I allowed you and your...brother...to live."

"But why? Who are you?"

"The name I was given is Hope." She crouched in front of him, her tail flicking back and forth. "And I let you live because you treated me differently than other humans do."

"I was nice to you because I thought you were a shy, lonely girl," he told her.

She tilted her head to the side in confusion. "What is 'nice'? I don't recognize that word."

He hummed, thinking of how to explain it. "Being nice is when you do something that shows that you care about someone else. For example, I treated you like a friend during our wagon ride."

While she was processing the information, the winged wolf chimera approached Al, baring its fangs and licking its lips. Hope took notice and snarled at it, causing it to freeze and gaze at her in fear. She thumped her tail, flared her wings, and pinned her ears back, warning the beast to go no closer. It whimpered and backed away, returning to share with the other chimeras.

Al smiled at the girl. "See? Now that was nice of you."

She caught his gaze and smiled slightly. "Do you have a name?"

"It's Alphonse, but you can just call me Al. My big brother is Edward, but everyone calls him Ed."

"Al," she repeated. "And Ed."

"So, what's your story? Where did you come from, and why are you here?"

"I was created to be the ultimate chimera," she explained. "I freed this pack and took them with me, acting as their queen. And now, we simply survive." Her expression turned into a sorrowful one. "We are outcasts, having no place in this world. We live alone, with the constant pain of what we are..." She rested her knees on the ground and reached back, clutching onto one of her wings. "I just...want it to stop hurting."

Al could see the pain and sadness in her eyes. He felt sorry for her. "I...I understand. For a long time, I didn't even have a body. I was a soul trapped within a suit of armor. But I was given back my body, and I bet there's a way to fix you too."

She stared at him in shock. "Really? There's a cure for me?"

He confidently nodded. "Somewhere out there. I know there's a way to turn you back to normal. And I promise, I'll search every inch of the world to find it. So let me help you."

Without saying anything else, Hope reached forward. She took the rope between her claws, slicing it off with ease. Al smiled and calmly picked up his gloves, slipping them back on. He and Hope both rose to their feet. A voice in the distance suddenly caught everyone's attention.

"Al! Where are you?!"

The boy recognized his brother calling him. The chimeras were beginning to growl and prepare to attack, but Hope hissed at them, commanding them to stand down. Ed soon appeared, having tracked down the chimeras as soon as his paralysis wore off. Ed was about to attack when his brother stopped him and explained the whole situation.

"This all reminds me of Nina," he muttered. He clenched his fists in anger. "That bastard Tucker still thinks he can meddle with living things."

"So, is it okay if we help Hope and the chimeras?" Al asked.

Ed nodded, shifting his gaze to the girl. "Yeah. We'll do whatever we can to turn you back to normal."

The girl's eyes shined with hope---hope that she could one day live without looking like a monster and feeling nothing but pain. She never would've thought that two potential victims would become her friends. But she was happy it turned out that way. Now, Ed and Al had a new goal---to undo what had been done to the poor girl created to be the queen of the chimeras.

The End