May Chang is the seventeenth royal princess of Xing, born to the Xingese Emperor and the royal concubine representing the Chang house. Though young, May has been tasked with finding a way to raise the social standing of the poor, downtrodden Chang clan in the eyes of the Emperor and has embarked on a journey to discover and present her father with the secret to immortality. Skilled as she is in the art of Xingese Alchemy, Mei sets out across the desert toward Amestris with her beloved pet Shao May so that she may learn about the Philosopher's Stone.