"Time travel. It's supposed to be impossibe." Roy sighed heavily.
"It wasn't, though, and we ended up here. Who else remembers?" Ed asked impatiently.
"Still no manners, Fullmetal. Shame, you were almost tolerable at the end."
"It's... it's so dark..."
"Colonel? Your eyes..."
"I'm blind?"
"You idiot! You were almost hit!"
They'd worked together in that last battle, because the price of failure was too high. Because everyone had lost too much, in the end.
"Well, you weren't entirely useless then either, so I guess it's even." Ed shrugged. It was true, despite losing his sight, Mustang had still managed to stand against Father when it mattered the most.
"This is something you might find interesting. Kimblee remembers." Roy said suddenly.
Ed's blood turned to ice. What? How? I was so sure that the child was Selim and not Pride, that the stone wasn't... What happened to the stone?
"You okay, Fullmetal? You've gone rather pale." Roy asked, looking concerned.
"Y-yeah. Just didn't expect that." Ed shook his head. "The fight ended weirdly, and I'm not sure what happened at the end."
"I see. So it's possible that Pride will know what's going on as well." Roy sighed. "Well, it's not like we can change that this... is it early or late in the game?"
Ed groaned. "That's what you focus on? Bastard."
Roy shrugged. "It's better than focusing on anything else at this point, because none of it was good."
Ed looked defiantly for a response before sighing when he found none. It was true. By the end, everything had just seemed so hopeless. "So what changes have you made? I know Hughes won't have so much as a scratch on him this time around."
Roy's eyes darkened. "Yes. He will be quitting the military before he can be wrapped up in anything."
Ed smiled. The loss of Hughes still ached, because he'd been a friend. A parental figure. Someone to turn to. Someone always smiling.
His absence had hurt everyone, in the end.
And no one could find it in them to smile for a long time afterwards, because it was like he'd taken everything happy with him to the grave. The wounds had healed, but they'd left ugly scars.
"That's good." He nodded.
"And... Well, it'd be easier to show you this change. Fancy a trip to Xerxes?" Roy smirked, and Ed raised an eyebrow.
"What have you done?" Ed asked curiously. Why did the bastard look so smug?
"Come to Xerxes." Roy ordered.
Ed nodded, then deflated. "Wait... I need to get permission first."
And it was good, too good, to need permission, because it meant that he had someone looking out for him. It meant that he didn't have to carry the weight of the world- his world and his brother's world- on his shoulders.
He'd never complain about the burden. He'd deserved it. He still did, in his mind. But he wouldn't deny that his mother's presence made everything so, so much better.
Because you didn't truly appreciate something until it was lost forever. And if by some miracle, you gained it back, you'd never let it go. Just to stop it from fading away again. Just to keep on smiling.
"Hey, can I go to Xerxes?" Ed asked suddenly, and Hohenheim blinked in surprise.
"Why would you want to go there?" He asked, staring down at his son.
"Colonel bast- I mean Roy, well, he remembers too, and he said that there's something important there." Ed explained hurridly. "And it needs to be done soon, because he only has a couple of days of leave from the military."
Hohenheim frowned. "Are you sure you can trust this... Roy?" He asked, because he honestly didn't know the man. He'd failed as a father once by allowing a situation that would involve his son joining the military to happen, and he swore to himself that it wouldn't happen again.
His son didn't hesitate. "He may be an arrogant ars- I mean man, but yeah, he's trustworthy."
Hohenheim frowned. "I want to talk to him before deciding anything."
Because after everything, after Wrath and the corruption, Hohenheim could not bring himself to trust a dog of the military.
"Nice to meet you." Roy said stiffly, polite smile plastered on his face.
"Likewise." Hohenheim said with equal strain.
"Look, I need to get to Xerxes, and it would really be helpful if Fullmetal came too."
"Why? What's so important that he'd have to cross the desert to go there? He's just a child." Hohenheim demanded.
"He is listening." Ed butted in, and was promptly ignored.
"Something that could change every fight with the homunculi's Father." Roy hissed.
"The journey through the desert is dangerous, is it even worth it? I've heard rumours that there are Ishvalans there." Hohenheim argued.
Ed's eyes widened. "Does this involve-" He started, but was cut off as Roy nodded.
"In a way." The state alchemist said quickly.
"Involve who?" Hohenheim asked coldly.
Roy opened his mouth to reply, but before he could get so much as a word out, someone inhumanly fast jumped in between them, staring at Ed.
For a second, all he could see was the red oroborous on their hand.
Then Greed spoke, teeth bared in a blinding smile. "Do you have any idea how fucking hard you were to find, runt?"
Ed smirked. "You sure took your sweet time getting here." He'd never admit it, but a part of him was worried that Greed, or Ling, hadn't made it. The homunculus had been struggling, he'd been weak. If the fight had continued... But none of that mattered anymore.
"Damn brat. Hard to find." Greed grunted.
"Who are you?" Roy questioned, eyebrows raised, gloved hands poised to snap.
"My name's Greed." Ed mentally groaned, wondering if this was going to turn into the homunculus' regular speech. He'd heard it so many times during the months leading up to the final battle, that he was sick of it.
"Didn't you have a ponytail before?" Hohenheim asked.
"That was Ling. This is the old Greed." Ed interrupted, trying to prevent another long winded conversation.
Hohenheim sighed tiredly. "I see. I take it you're still on our side."
"My old man was, and forever will be a dick. I'm not serving him again." Greed snorted. "In fact, I will take great pleasure in absolutely fu-"
"No swearing around the child." Hohenheim snapped.
Roy groaned as Ed then demonstrated a vocabulary that put Greed's to shame.
"This doesn't solve whether he can go to Xerxes or not." The military officer pointed out.
"Xerxes? Why'd you need to go there?" Greed asked, staring at them.
"Have you changed anything?" Ed asked carefully. "Because apparently, there's a change there that could help us. A lot."
"Yes. There is. Someone who died... Well, they're not dead last I heard, and if we can get them to help us, it'll be useful. We should be able to perform alchemy no matter what Father does, even without a Philosopher's stone." Roy sighed, which had all of their attention.
How many times had they nearly died due to that power of stop alchemy? Ed had been forced to watch Ling become a homunculus, helpless under that power. They had never been able to fight back, always overpowered. That was terrifying. That- not being able to even go down fighting, scared him, because it made all the difference.
Hohenheim had nearly died, forced to use his stone's power to save everyone, because they were losing... losing and dying and he couldn't just watch... but one by one the voices, always there, always in it together, faded away.
Roy... Roy had been completely and utterly powerless. Trapped in the dark. He couldn't watch. He couldn't fight. All he could do was wait. Wait and listen. They were scared. He couldn't help. He was lost and drowning in the darkness, because he couldn't see, and he couldn't help. He was useless, in the end, just like he feared.
Greed. He wasn't an alchemist. He wasn't in any risk of dying, his ability worked just fine, but he had to watch. He had to watch as his... his friends nearly died. And if they died, well, they were the only things holding the emptiness away.
"Fine. It'll be too suspicious if we both leave." Hohenheim sounded so defeated. "I'll stay... Just in case Trisha..." He trailed off, seeing Ed look at the floor. Neither of them knew when Trisha might collapse. Only that she would, and they wouldn't let her die. Not again. Never again.
"Thanks... Dad." Ed smiled slightly.
"I'll come along too." Greed said quickly. Too quickly. The reminder of the emptiness, the greed, haunted him. He wouldn't be losing his friends again. Not this time.
Roy smirked, although he didn't seem smug, not anymore.
"Good. Let's get going."
Alone in the endless void, Truth smiled. It could feel the changes. Slowly and surely, every little action was spreading changes across everything. Nothing would be the same. Not this time.