"So, this is where I live," Edward said. "Um, for now."

"For now?" Will said. "What do you mean?"

"Oh, like I said before, I'm only visiting here... I might or might not go back to where I had been living before..." He trailed off, thinking of all his friends in Amestris. He wondered if they missed him.

Lost in his thoughts, he didn't notice Alfons coming down the stairs. "Hey, Edward, who're you're friends? Hello? Earth to Edward..."

"Uh, what?" He snapped out of it. "Oh, this is Lizzie, and Mark."

"Nice to meet you." They shook hands.

"I haven't seen you two around town before. Did you just move here or something?" Alfons asked them.

"Or something, yeah." Lyra answered. Edward could tell that she was not being entirely truthful. She looks so innocent and naive, but she's definately hiding something, he thought.

"Yeah, we just got here today, actually, " said Will. "Do you know a place we could stay, like an inn or something?"

"You can stay here if you like," said a deep voice.

Edward spun around. It was his father. Hoenheim had been observing them from the top of the stairs. Edward still wasn't quite used to having that man around. He really wasn't used to anything in this world yet, but this was one of the harder things to adjust to.

"Really? We can stay here?" Lyra said. She was looking forward to getting to know these people better.

"Yes, you may. It's far too late to be out looking for a room in an inn right now, anyway." He looked at Ed. "Isn't it your turn to make dinner, Edward?"

After dinner, Ed folded out the couch for "Lizzie" and "Mark". "I hope you guys will be all right sleeping on the couch," he said. "We don't really have any extra beds."

"It'll be fine," Will said. In fact, a couch was far better than the ground, where they had been sleeping the past several nights. Sometimes they didn't get any sleep at all.

As he lay in bed, Edward thought about the day's events. Had he really seen a portal? Perhaps it was just his imagination. But then where had Lizzie and Mark come from? He had searched that alley, there were no doors. It was a dead end. Then there must have been a portal! He decided he would question them about it tomorrow.

Lyra awoke in the middle of the night, and retrieved the alethiometer from her bag by the side of the couch. She wanted to know more about this Edward Elric, so she asked about him. The answer came: "You will learn from him on your journey." Lyra thought that was a little vague, but at least it didn't say he was dangerous or anything. She went back to sleep.