(tw; self-harm/gore, just in case)

gone was any trace of you, IthinkIamfinallyclean.

-t.s.

•••

The tunnel remained lit up by the remnants of the Colonel's fiery battle. In a corridor, Iris and Edward could be seen helping him and Hawkeye get back on their feet, both mentally and physically. Once somewhat settled, the five of them continued onto their journey. The two young alchemists led the way while Roy held tight to his injured lieutenant. Scar protected the group from behind.

Not a word was uttered in the tunnel for quite some time. By themselves, they all played back the events of the Promised Day so far and were anxious to know, 'Who's next?'

Ed was the first to speak, but even then, it was with hesitation.

"Do you think your sister will make an appearance today? How do you plan to... I mean...Will you do it?"

Iris knew what he was getting at. She steeled herself to answer, despite her constricted heart. "Mei taught me a technique with qi. With it, I can read a person's character, essentially. That's how I could tell Roy was going rogue there for a second."

Roy piped in from behind the two. "Hey! Don't patronize me!" The two teens looked back at him but decided to ignore him and go back to their conversation.

"I'll use this power to determine who she is, but... if my sister isn't in there anymore... that means the sin has taken over her completely. At that point, she's just a homunculus. A homunculus with all sins who we have to defeat."

Ed doesn't have any comforting words to tell her. All he can do is give her a nod of affirmation. "Well," he advises, "we'd better keep our guard up, then. Who knows what we'll find in these tunnels."

"Or who."

They walk on. Eventually, the floor becomes flat ground again instead of uneven pipes. They line the brick walls still though, climbing and growing like overgrown vines. It gives Fullmetal an idea.

"These pipes must lead somewhere. Maybe we could follow them."

Iris dismisses this idea. "Maybe. But I'm placing my chances on my powers. I know for a fact it'll get us somewhere."

The group decides not to challenge her intuition and follow her into another corridor. They all notice that this is different from the others just by the fact that there is one single entrance at the end of the hallway.

"This must be it," Mustang concludes.

"We'll see."

The five step in. The area is a small and dimly lit circular room. Old, dried blood is splattered onto the floor and wall. Fragments of chalk and dust can be found around the room, but there are no transmutation circles or alchemic marks anywhere.

From Roy, Iris snatches his ignition cloth and slides it over her hand. She snaps and her gloved fingers light up. Quickly she runs her other hand over the brick wall to feel for any secrets. She finds none. Yet still, she feels a strong qi emitting from just the other side of the wall, pulsating.

"We must've taken a wrong turn," Iris says slowly as if trying to convince herself. But at her words, the wall she has her hand placed on rumbles. She backs away immediately, her hands in front of her to defend herself.

The wall crumbled into pieces and from the darkness, a figure emerged.

"A wrong turn, indeed..." the homunculus Iridian says, stepping fully into the room, "...little sister."

The homunculus' lipped-smirk drives terror into the core of Iris so much that she can't move. With a black, long-sleeved, flowy dress and a lace-up black robe, Iridian looked like an angel of death, ready to take their lives away.

"Hello again."

Edward quickly pulled Iris back into the center of the room, then turned and ran to the door, but it was too late. With a push of the homunculus' hand, a wall of shadows blocked their entrance. They look back to her in fear and shock.

"Pride's shadows!" Edward recognized immediately.

Iridian smiles, teeth and all. "I love my family," she swoons. "They've taught me so much."

"Well, I'd like for you to know that another one of them is dead, thanks to us!" Mustang shouts. "And you're next!"

She pouts playfully. "It's true you've killed some of my sins already..." From her waist, she reveals a small but sharp blade. "But I have some tricks of my own!"

To everyone's surprise, instead of targeting one of them, she raises up her hand, then deeply slices the inside of her wrist. Her arm falls to her side, and blood pours out of the injury immediately. She winces in pain but makes no move to regenerate.

Iridian notices everyone's utter confusion. "Wait for it!" she sings.

Everyone watches, then suddenly, snakes are crawling out of the homunculus' veins. As soon as they hit the ground they grow in a size comparable to pythons. Immediately they enclose Mustang, Hawkeye, Fullmetal, and Scar into the side of the room. The snakes wrap around their bodies and squeeze tightly, rendering them immobile. They pay no heed to Iris at all.

"You know what they say about snakes! Full of deceit!"

Iris pulls out her push daggers and impales the snake that has captured Riza. It squeals in pain, but its grip doesn't loosen. She tries to drag the blade down its body, but the lieutenant screams, "Watch out!" Iris turns and barely has enough time to deflect Iridian's oncoming kick.

"Eyes on me, dear sibling!"

A flurry of attacks drive Iris to the wall. Fortunately for her, a rusty pipe traveled along the wall. She places a hand on it, and she transmutes the steel into a throwing axe. She shoves it into the pit of Iridian's stomach, which makes her stumble back and give her some room. It's torture to Iris, watching Iridian sustain an injury, an injury she's caused.

'What kind of sister am I?' the alchemist thinks. Then, she remembers. 'This might not even be my sister.'

Iridian leans on the wall next to her as she heals herself and the weapon is pushed out of her body. This is Iris's opportunity.

"Focus!" she cries out loud to herself, gathering the energy she receives from Iridian. She swims in her qi, but it's simply a void of souls. And none of them is her sister. Only inky, nameless beings, purely evil due to the homunculus' origin. It breaks her heart.

'This is not my sister. And it may have never been.'

Iris is paralyzed by these thoughts. They hold her hostage, even as the homunculus walks up to her, ready for another round.

"Alchemy is such a dirty move," Iridian says, somewhat irritated. "But Father taught me a little trick!"

Red sparks grow from her, then a gust of air explodes through the room. Iris goes to transmute the floor, but nothing happens. The woman laughs.

"She can disable alchemy?!" Mustang questions, on edge.

"I guess she got it from that Father guy," Ed replies.

"He could not disable my destruction," Scar remembers. "Perhaps she is the same."

Iris dodges more attacks, but can't help but get caught in some. With a punch to her gut, she keels over. Iridian seems to give her a minute to recover, but it is only for her to charge up an attack. In an instant, the homunculus charges towards the girl to deal another blow to her stomach. Some blood comes out of her choked cough.

"That looks just like Sloth's attack style!" Ed realizes. "Her techniques from other homunculi must be linked to the homunculi who are still alive!"

"Is her life force dependent on them as well?" Mustang inquires.

"I'm not sure."

With Iridian's back turned to the four of them, Scar decides to go back to the offensive. His right hand of destruction squeezes the snake around him, and it instantly combusts. Fully mobile, he wastes no time. He rushes to the homunculus, grabs her by the back of the head, then wills his arm to deconstruct. But it is to no avail. An ultimate shield protects her. She chuckles.

"I knew it was coming!" Iris swears she sees the ouroboros logo flash in her eye, but it's gone as quick as it came. "How dare you kill my creature!"

Iridian quickly cuts her arm open again for more serpents, and they move too swift for Scar. One captures him, then the other sinks in its teeth into his shoulder. He groans in pain, collapsing to the floor.

"Out of the way, Ishvalan scum!" she demands, then kicks him to the side outside of their arena.

"Scar!" Iris calls out.

"Fight, girl!" he forces out. "You know what she is. A homunculus. She's not of your kin, not anymore! Accept this! Do it, girl." Not long after, he goes unconscious.

Iridian claps her hands with glee. "This is so much fun! I can't wait to kill your other friends! But first, they have to watch you die!"

Iris gives her a dark glare. She picks up the bloody throwing axe from the floor. For a few moments, she breathes, trying not to focus on the pain. For some reason, the homunculus allows it. But then, Iridian is suddenly struck with a pain and falls to the floor. She grabs her chest in agony, screaming. Red sparks fly around her body and she writhes on the bloody floor.

"Disgusting humans," she cries out. "They've killed Sloth!"

The alchemist could do nothing but watch in surprise as she suffered. The souls from Iridian's stone were becoming weaker. Her life was being chipped away a third time, and the pain was purgatory.

"She's weakened! This is your chance!" Edward encourages, willing for her to make a move. He has a feeling that without this setback, she'd never be able to defeat Iridian by herself.

"Don't hesitate!" Mustang screams out. "Defeat her!"

She ignores them and blocks everything out so she can concentrate. One final time, Iris tries to sense any dregs of goodness in Iridian. Any chastity. Temperance. Charity. Diligence. Patience. Kindness. Humility. But there's nothing. No humanity. No sister. No Iridian. She had died so long ago. To accept this was to heal.

More yells of encouragement from her loved ones ring out into Iris's ears, but she's already made her decision. The girl knows she must end this now. This time, she does not hesitate.

Axe in hand, she walks over to a tortured Iridian. She tastes iron on her tongue, and sweat drips down her forehead. Pain ebbs at her every angle. Yet, she speaks as if euphoric.

"You've tortured me for so long. But now... I think I am finally clean."

Iridian smirks with blood-stained lips. "Defeating me doesn't matter," she chokes out. Coughs wracked her body and a combination of spit and blood covered Iris's face. "Soon you'll never be able to see the light of day again."

She swings the axe up over her head, then lets go of her control. Several times, over and over, she smashes the weapon into her sister's face, tears streaming down her face. Iridian doesn't even have the strength to self-heal, only scream in torture. The damage is irreparable.

Like any other homunculus, her life force is fading, and her body is disintegrating. Iris is still hacking into her face until it disappears and she lodges the axe into the ground. Once she realizes she can't get it out, she kneels and bawls. By then the serpents have gone as well, so the three spectators rush to the girl's side. Roy pulls her away from the bloody scene.

They say things to her, but she hears none of it. For a few minutes, she stays completely still, staring at nothing with glazed eyes.

"Watch her, Fullmetal," the Colonel demands. "We're going to revive Scar."

Mustang and Hawkeye grab Iridian's Philosopher's Stone, then head towards the Ishvalan. With the amplified alchemy, he's healed quite quickly and with ease. He looks troubled at the stone, but then says, "My people have saved me." He holds it up to his face. "Now it's time to avenge them."

The three of them approach the two children. "We have to keep moving if we're to get through the Promised Day," Riza says gently, putting a hand on the girl's shoulder.

"Just give us a minute, Lieutenant," Ed asks for politely. She nods then ushers the two men away near the next corridor they'll go through.

Finally alone, Iris speaks for the first time since the incident.

"It's just as you said with your mom. She didn't have to suffer twice." A broken smile comes over her lips, then she completely dives into him, hysterically crying. He strokes the top of her head, because that's all he can really do: hold her while she weeps. Her sobs echo in the tunnel.