The Alchemist and the Lizard

Separated

Envy wandered the streets of Central once again. Why did he do that? He was just so desperate to get his original form back, he had hurt Ed's feelings. He had forgotten the pain that Edward went through about the case of the chimera. If Envy went back now, would Edward forgive him and continue to help him? Envy doubted it.

Thunder rumbled overhead. Envy had barely noticed the black clouds that had formed in the skies. Just great. A fat drop of rain plopped on his head, and Envy let out a small whimper. The rain started to come down harder, and Envy took shelter in an open cardboard box on it's side in an alley. It wasn't much help, as the rain just soaked through just enough to make the sides damp. 

Envy curled up in the center, trying not to cry.

Edward set down his pencil. It was already late and the library was going to close soon. He hadn't bothered to leave once Envy had left. He had blankly leafed through some books on alchemy and took random notes on things that he didn't remember.

He left the library heading back to the hotel. Once in his room, he flopped onto the bed and stared up at the ceiling. It was raining outside. Where was Envy? Was he safe somewhere?  Or was he cold and shivering somewhere in the street?

Edward quickly dismissed the thought. That bastard probably was just fine. Ed didn't need to worry about him.

The cardboard box had gotten wet enough to start falling apart, and a large piece of it landed on Envy, waking him up. It had stopped raining mostly, but it was still dark and overcast. Envy crawled out of his temporary shelter and looked around. He turned to the right and a saw a very large and daunting house. Shou Tucker's house.

Ed decided he was going to head back to Resembool to see Al and figure out their next move. He had nothing else to do in Central anyways. But he couldn't help but feel a twinge of sadness.

Envy creeped into an open window of the sewing life alchemist's house. He fell onto the floor and then began to look around. All the doors of the house were closed as he walked through the hallways. Except for one.

Envy went through the doorway of this room and found a large area completely filled with books. He examined a book that had fallen to the floor. All of these books appeared to be Shou Tucker's research notes. Some of them were titled but most of them weren't. This was going to be an exhausting search.

It wasn't long before Envy spotted a book on the top shelf of a bookshelf titled: Transformation. Envy dug his claws into the side of the bookshelf, and with some effort, made it to the top. He grunted as he pushed the book out, causing it to fall to the floor. Envy jumped down after it.

He flipped through some pages, scanning the words until he reached something interesting. 

Transformation Into A Different Being:

Transforming an organism into something completely different is not impossible. There have been successful cases of alchemists and scientists (with the use of transmutation circles) where they have managed to turn a bird into a mouse and whatnot. By changing their DNA and a few other things, it is possible to change the tissue and organs and other parts of the body into something else permanently, completely writing their DNA code. That has been proven in the case of something as simple as a caterpillar turning into a butterfly. However, it is not possible to bring them back into their original state. Butterflies cannot turn back into caterpillars, we know that. One cannot simply clip off their wings and hope that the body left over will resume the state of the form they were once in. Once you have changed something, there is no going back...

Envy slammed the book closed. So that was it. He was never going back. He was stuck like this forever. That was why he was not able to shape-shift. His DNA had been rewritten. Did this mean he wasn't a homunculus anymore? If he were to die, he wouldn't come back? He was a lizard? Forever? 

Envy noticed a small pocket-knife that had rolled underneath a bookshelf and was covered with dust. He wasn't a homunculus anymore. A lower life-form than humans. And...Ed had left him, and lost faith in him. Those were good reasons.

Envy reached for the knife.

Edward felt like something was gnawing away at him on the inside. He felt guilty. Extremely guilty. He also missed Envy. How could he have said those things to him? 

He stared at his bags in front of him. He had to go, or else he would miss his train.

At the train station, he purchased his ticket and gathered his things to go. 

"All aboard!" A man called out.

Edward walked up to the train, eyes blank, bags in hand. He stopped, eyes looking down on the ground in front of him. His bags dropped to the ground as Ed clenched his fists, gritting his teeth.

He suddenly turned on his heels and sprinted out of the train station, leaving everything behind, heading for the Tucker house.