It is the simplest of elements that influence them all.

Metal: Iron
Word Count: 1660
Genre: I don't know. I guess general?
Setting: Gluttony's stomach, chapter 52 of the manga. (SO OBVIOUSLY, SPOILERS FOR CHAPTER 52!)

Disclaimer: I have one at the beginning of the story and on my profile, so this will be the last time I write one for this story – I don't own anything.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: These aren't all going to be Ed-centric. They range from all characters, and I'll even have a few talking about the relationships between certain characters. Woot. Also, no, I don't think Ed would be stupid enough to subject himself to possible infection from testing the sword he makes in this chapter, but I had to have it. Hopefully my chapters will be longer than this one. Shmeh.

Sensory Detail
Iron

"This isn't pleasant at all." Ed said to Ling, it being possibly the greatest understatement of the year. They were inside Gluttony's stomach with virtually no way out; and now, they were up against a much larger version of Envy then the one they would have recognised him in earlier. His dark, obtrusive figure loomed before them as an anvil cloud does before a storm... But Edward and Ling would be the ones to strike first, before any metaphorical lightning of Envy's came upon them.

"Can you make a weapon?" Ling asked.

"Leave it to me." the alchemist replied, his hands already clapping together by instinct. "This is a sea of blood… so there's no shortage of iron." Edward stated, drawing a sword from the crimson liquid with his right hand. It was curved and slightly bent near the base, like a bolt of lightning. He held it lengthwise in his hands while it cooled from the alchemic reaction, studying its features. It was hard metal, with a handle made of bone.

Was this what his 'handiwork' was now? Lethal weaponry?

He drew the sword from his own grasp with his right hand, prepared to test its sting. Not even a "Tssss!" emerged from him as he cut a tiny gash on his finger, drawing just enough blood for him to see that indeed, this sword could sear what it wished to.

It was ironic, that the metal which pierced his flesh was so similar in composition to the substance it drew out of his skin.

It was ironic, that the metal was meant to kill while being made from that liquid which was meant to give life.

It was ironic, that the very word to describe this metal contained the name of the metal itself.

Iron.

Its odour was pungent among the stench of the fluid inside Gluttony's stomach. Ed couldn't remember exactly when he'd learned the smell of blood so instinctively before, but he had. Waking up in the suffocating smell of it was enough to make him inclined to not ponder the matter any longer. He was covered in that and whatever other waste seemed to lie in Gluttony, and as any sensible person would – he wished that he wasn't. He had his brother, and other people waiting for him that he had to get back to, as did Ling. And neither of them wanted to be anywhere in the same vicinity as Envy… so it was time to go.

Handing the sword to Ling, he asked, "Think we can do it?"

"Who knows?" Ling replied somewhat mischievously. "He got two or three of my ribs just a while ago…"

"I'm about the same." Ed responded. "Honestly… this is tough."

Taking a second to somewhat fake a sigh, the two paused. It was then that they looked at each other from the corner of their eyes, and the plan was set wordlessly. Within that same moment of a glance, "GO!" came from both of them and they ran in opposite directions.

"Escape into the darkness and reorganise ourselves!" Ed heard as a giant tentacle-like arm was slapped viciously against his back. He gasped fruitlessly for air, the wind being completely knocked out of him. There was nothing else he could do but fall to his knees in utter pain, and attempt uselessly to breathe.

"I wont let you escape…" Envy said as Ling sliced the iron sword through one of his hands. Suddenly several hands were reaching out to Ling, and in that fatal instant of surprise he was thrown back forcefully into the liquid. A large, sickening smack was heard when he hit the solution.

Still panting, Edward somehow found the strength to stand at the sight of his (now-admitted-to) friend being slammed violently into the substance that lined the 'bottom' of Gluttony's stomach. "LING!" He tried to shout, the word coming out difficultly with his shortness of breath. "You… bastard…" he started, standing and heading towards Envy. With his regained voice and breath came a yell as he charged, whipping out the blade he had transmuted earlier from his automail. He was about to jab it into Envy's supposed flesh, until he saw directly in front of him exactly what that flesh was composed of.

Ed stopped suddenly as he looked into the face of a gaunt man with a missing eye. "Kill…" the man said, staring directly into Edward's irises.

Edward froze in a twisted mixture of shock and horror. His body wouldn't move; his feet stood rooted to whatever was underneath him. He was too terrified to shake, to tremble, to gasp, to breathe - all he could do was watch in utter fear as the man continued to speak. "Help… please… kill…" He sputtered.

Then many voices rang out, all of them hollow but still reverberating in Ed's ears. They were all… calling for help… What… what was this? Who were these lost souls? Why were they part of Envy's body?

"I want to die…" said a meek voice. "Come over here…" another, but more threatening sounding voice chimed lowly. Ed found the strength to move, but could only move backwards away from the repulsiveness in front of him. He stumbled as to his ultimate dread; the jaw of the man who had first spoken to him began to expand. But this time, the man wasn't saying anything…

To Ed's shock, another head emerged from the head of the man in front of him. He gasped, paralysed in disgust, as an evil sounding cackle came from the newly emerged head. He breathed quickly and shallowly, unable to do anything else but that and to stare in horror at the scene in front of him. Whatever this was… it must be worst than Hell, if such a place existed. This was what nightmares were made of.

Ed didn't have time to ponder much more as suddenly a hard shaft of metal was jabbed into the head from which the maniacal laugh came, and it was split apart by the sword. Ling now stood on top of it; thrusting the sword with all of his might into the skull of the being that had Ed unmoving in his terror. He wasn't there for long though, as Envy threw him off with a vigorous blow. Ling was once again smacked into the bloody liquid as Edward fell to his knees in disbelief, frightening images and sounds running rapidly through his mind.

"Don't just stare at it you idiot!" Ling shouted, standing up and trying to make Ed do the same. "What are you hesitating for?" he screamed as Ed still lay there on his knees, wide-eyed and on the verge of shaking. "There are people inside…" Edward finally managed to get out, although it was relatively quietly so, as he was still in shock. "They're pleading for help!"

"You're wrong; it's a monster!" Ling responded. "Tune them out!" he screamed as a chorus of ugly voices arose from the souls on Envy's body. Edward still had the slight inability to move from their appalling sound, but Ling was trying to change that. "THAT THING IS A MONSTER!" Ling shouted again to him, trying desperately to awake Ed from his semi-comatose state. The voices kept calling out to him, and no matter how hard Ed tried to cover his ears and shut them out, they penetrated his mind with their horrible noise.

"Father…" one whispered.

"Brother…" another said.

"Help me…"

"SHUT UP!" Edward said over and over again, to no avail. Why wouldn't they stop?

"Please…"

"Someone…"

"Mother…"

Mother.

That was when Edward remembered the first time he had really inhaled the smell of iron – before the failed transmutation. Al had asked him, he had asked him if it would be okay… he had asked what would be equivalent to a soul… and Ed had said that a few drops of their blood would be fine.

After all… iron was the basis of blood, blood was the basis of sustainable life in humans… and so, he had pricked his and Al's fingers and let the crimson liquid drop to the centre of the transmutation circle. Before he had fully pulled his hand back to wipe it off and stop the bleeding, a whiff of that iron scent had reached his nose, and for the first time, he had known what blood and iron smelled of.

Looking back now, it seemed ridiculous, insane even. As if iron could remake a human life. All the iron in all the blood in Gluttony's stomach couldn't be used to give these monsters, or souls, (or whatever they were), real bodies and minds and lives. It was… ironic that at the same time, Edward was surrounded by life and death – the life-sustaining substance he was knee deep in, and the dead spirits on Envy's body that could never use said substance. Perhaps that was what made the situation so terrifying, instead of the voices… or so Edward thought, until he heard:

"Let's play."

Let's play. Let's play. Nina… and Alexander… suddenly, after hearing those words, Edward could only see their mutilated chimera body in front of him. There were few things in the world that were ugly enough to be called a personification of sin… but their body had been one of them. Ed couldn't have taken them apart and put them back together in their original form if he had tried. It wasn't even a question of materials; all the ingredients in the world that could make up a human or a dog body, including iron and blood, would not have helped him in the least. Giving them their lives back was simply impossible.

Nina.

No. Even blood… even iron couldn't remake the beauty of a human life.

That was Edward's last coherent thought before his irises dimmed, before a tear fell from his eyes, before he ceased to breathe properly… and before he let Envy start to consume him.

Hmm… not my best, by far. I think this needs editing, but I'll do that later if I get any reviews telling me what is good/bad about this. Oh! I have to mention, though, that I got a really great review from someone called BoodHeron while this was on my other penname. So, thank you, if you're somehow reading this!