This took me longer than I thought! The past couple weeks have been crazy busy, but it's been a complete blast - I feel like a normal person again for a few reasons, so hopefully things will just go up from here. And in line with that...I edited this giant beast of a chapter! This is the long one I talked about, so fingers crossed it goes over well. I was so, so happy to see you all liked the last one, with the choice not to send Lissa into Gluttony's portal and her relationship with Al. That's one of my favorite parts to come from this sequence, honestly! So as always, I hope you enjoy this one! And thank you for continuing to join me on Lissa's journey, it means the absolute world to me.
Lissa opened her eyes as sunlight crept over the horizon. Her eyes were crusted from sleep and crying, her head ached… She felt guilty for sleeping, but her body had just given up, too overwhelmed from the night before. Slowly, she sat up and wiped her eyes, realizing she'd been sleeping halfway in Al's lap, with him looming over her like a silent guardian. "Sorry I fell asleep," she murmured, looking up at him sadly.
He shook his head. "It's okay."
"How—how long did I…"
"Just a couple hours."
Lissa rested her forehead against his arm and sighed. "I'm sorry, Al. I didn't mean to leave you alone." She rubbed at her dry, itchy eyes and screwed them shut. The pain was different today, not quite duller but more acute, concentrated at her heart. Ed had been swallowed. Every time the words echoed in her head she felt a strike of pain that nearly knocked her into sobbing again.
Something mumbled behind her, and she turned to see Gluttony teetering on his feet, one finger stuck into the corner of his mouth, watching them.
"So he's just…stayed?" she asked Al quietly.
He nodded. "I don't think he knows where to go now. He's not trying to eat us, at least. Though…" His voice darkened. "Maybe if he did, he'd take us to-"
Lissa touched his chest lightly. "Ed wouldn't want that, little brother."
Al sighed roughly and nodded, his shoulders slumping. "I know." He looked at her for a moment. "You…keep calling me…"
"It's true," she murmured, refusing to feel embarrassed. "You…you basically are my little brother, Al. After everything… And now…" Lissa shut her eyes tightly. "Until we find Ed, it's my job to look after you, like a big sister should. Okay?" Even though I've failed at that… Even though I failed to keep Ed safe too, and he might be… He might not even be…
Her eyes stung as a few tears trickled out, ones she couldn't keep in.
"Sorry," Lissa blurted, quickly wiping them away. "I shouldn't—I don't have any right to—I'm not-"
"I know about you and brother," Al interrupted softly. "You shouldn't feel bad for hurting. We're both suffering."
Lissa winced and ducked her head. So he had known… Of course he had, it was stupid to think otherwise… He was much too perceptive to have missed it. "I'm sorry… This isn't how I wanted to…go about it, I never…" She cut herself off. "We'll get him back, Al. We have to." Though she had no idea where to begin… Lissa had grown so used to having a path, a set direction, that it was terrifying to sit there without a single clue of how to proceed. But she was certain of one thing.
If…if the worst was true, and Ed couldn't come back… Then she was going to find a way to get Al into his real body again. Even if it meant sacrificing limbs, using a Philosopher's Stone, whatever the hell she had to do… She would find a way. It was all she could do.
But sitting here on her ass wasn't going to fix a single fucking thing.
Lissa gritted her teeth and shoved upward, rising and turning to face the homunculus. He stared at her sort of fearfully, jerking back from where he'd been eyeing the tiny panda like his next snack. "Gluttony," she addressed him firmly. "Why haven't you left? What's keeping you here with us, instead of running off somewhere?"
"I don't know what to do," Gluttony admitted, whimpering. He worried his fingers together, looking sort of…childish in that moment. He wasn't exactly like the others, she noted—while the other homunculi acted like adults, Gluttony seemed to be the baby, with his childlike mentality and need to be watched over. Like he was being babysat, honestly. So he'd looked to her and Al as…what, the next closest authority figures? Strange. "What…what should I do?" the homunculus asked helplessly.
"I have no idea," Al told him quietly.
Gluttony whined softly, at the back of his throat. "What do I do?" he whispered. "I… I'm scared."
Lissa glanced back at Al, still sitting slumped on the ground. "Yeah," she sighed, nodding reluctantly. "Us too."
Some part of her…pitied the creature, in that moment. It was strange, considering what he'd done, how awful these homunculi seemed… Yet she sensed true fear in Gluttony, the sharp tinge of salt, a genuine emotion beyond his own ravenous hunger—she knew damn well he wasn't supposed to touch her, or Ed, or Al, and he'd broken that rule. Shit, he'd even swallowed Envy.
Envy…who had actually tried to save Ed, now that she had a moment to consider it. Not that it made them redeemable—but it told her just how desperate these homunculi were to keep their sacrifices alive.
Maybe…maybe there was something to that, then. Something they could use.
Lissa looked back at Al, worrying, fretting over his unending silence. He needed…a path, just like she did. But Ed usually made all the decisions, picked where to go, guided everything. It was difficult to do it alone.
She turned back to Gluttony, trying to press forward. "Gluttony… Why are you scared? Is it because you swallowed Ed?" Unsure if he knew Ed's name, she added, "The one with the metal arm."
Gluttony nodded dejectedly. "Shouldn't have swallowed him," he mumbled. "I don't want father to be mad at me."
"What did you say?" Al breathed behind her, his armor clanking as he looked up. "You—you have a father?" It was the first time he'd addressed the homunculus so directly—and the first time Lissa had heard true energy in his voice since Ed and Ling vanished.
The homunculus nodded eagerly. "Uh-huh!"
Al reached up and closed his hand around Lissa's wrist tightly. "Is he the one who made the homunculi?" he asked.
Gluttony nodded again, smiling now, happy to talk about this. "Father made us," he confirmed brightly.
Lissa turned to Al, frowning, aware enough of his emotions to tell his mind was spinning. "Al, what are you thinking?" she asked him. "I know you, I know you're onto something…" She hoped so badly he'd talk to her, tell her what was going on in his mind… Al was wicked smart, though he rarely got credit for it. If he had an idea…
"Well…" Al reached out and squished Gluttony's belly thoughtfully, making the homunculus squirm unhappily. "You can't just…make things vanish. Something can't become nothing. So…so they had to have gone somewhere, right? Even if it's just some kind of trick or—or maybe a portal…"
A portal…
"Wait, like the portal of truth? The thing you and Ed went through?" Lissa had a sick feeling in her stomach. "You think maybe that was something like the gateway?"
Al nodded slowly. "Maybe… Like a portal to somewhere else…"
She twisted the fingers of her free hand together, considering it. "Okay… So if it's a portal, then where does it go? Homunculi are created by alchemy, which means they obey the basic alchemical laws… So you're right that anything swallowed by Gluttony would have to end up somewhere. Alchemy can't just make something vanish into nothing, that's not possible."
If he's right… That would mean Ed and Ling are just trapped somewhere.
"It would have to be some kind of…other dimension, like the portal of truth but different since it doesn't technically require human transmutation to get there." Al's hand tightened on her just a bit. "Unless it's sort of a form of human transmutation… But…" He shook his head firmly. "It doesn't matter how. If they're still somewhere, then that means you and I can find them and either get to them, or bring them back. Lissa…" He looked up at her, through those glowing eyes, with such an…inner strength, so much ferocity suddenly burning in him. Lissa just waited as he gripped both her hands in his, his gaze unwavering. "We made a promise. We swore we'd look after brother. He might still be alive—but the only way we're going to find out is if we follow this lead."
Lissa nodded, keeping her eyes fixed on him. He was right. And sitting here bawling wasn't going to do anything—they'd promised to take care of Ed, and that promise didn't stop just because he'd vanished. "Right. So let's do it, together."
"Together," Al repeated firmly. He pushed to his feet in a sudden motion, releasing her hands to do it, and moved to stand beside her, facing down the homunculus with new resolve. "Gluttony, will you take us with you? Will you take us to meet your father?"
Gluttony tipped his head to one side. "I guess so," he chirped. "He'll be happy since you're human sacrifices!"
Al glanced at Lissa uncertainly. "Oh…sure, right," he agreed tentatively. "That's why he'll want to meet us."
Lissa wrinkled her nose at that—the whole human sacrifices thing was still kind of…gross, somehow. She knew Ed and Al were supposed to be sacrifices, and she was on some list of potential sacrifices, but…why? They'd never found a concrete answer.
As Gluttony toddled off, smiling benignly, Al picked up the little panda and set her onto his shoulder. Then he offered Lissa his hand, sort of hesitantly, like he wasn't sure if it was the right thing to do. She just grabbed his hand and set off with him, following their homunculus guide. "It's strange," she murmured, inclining her head at Gluttony. "He still feels…like he did before, that uncomfortable sense… But on his own he's not nearly as terrifying as the others. I doubt Envy would be so…useful."
"Right," he agreed softly. "Do you…do you think this is the right thing to do?"
"I think it's the only thing to do," she admitted, shrugging. "Ed wouldn't give up on us, so we won't give up on him."
Al's hand tightened on hers—she realized it was a reflex, not something he could feel, just something his soul did automatically. The poor kid… "Thank you…for saving me. I should've said that earlier, but I-"
"It's okay, Al. You don't need to thank me," she told him quietly.
But he shook his head. "M-maybe if you hadn't…then you would've had time to…go after brother, and…"
Lissa gave him a sad smile. "I didn't have time, no matter what. I don't regret going after you, okay? I made that choice myself. Honestly, I…I don't think there was any way to avoid it, not once Ed went after Ling. It's like you said… He always looks after everyone but himself." And this time…it had gotten him into real trouble. Yet Lissa couldn't resent him for it, for the decision to throw himself into harm's way to try and save Ling—that stupid protective streak was one of her favorite things about him.
"Always," Al agreed, his shoulders slumping. "We gotta get him back, Lissa. We're supposed to take care of him."
"And we will," she told him firmly.
Gluttony led them to the edge of the hill, just waddling along happily but with a clear direction—and when Lissa spotted what lay ahead, she and Al both froze in place in utter shock.
"Are you sure this is the right way, Gluttony?" Al asked him nervously.
The homunculus nodded eagerly. "Uh-huh!"
"But…" Al shook his head faintly. "This is the way… It can't be… Your father is living in Central?!"
Lissa let out a harsh breath, her chest aching as she stared down at Central, now apparent as Gluttony's destination. "Remember, Al… The Führer is involved… So Central Command has been infiltrated… I guess…I guess it makes sense since we first encountered the homunculi here, Ed and I ran into Envy and Lust down at the Fifth Lab." She pressed a hand to her chest absently and winced. That doesn't feel right.
Gluttony whimpered and twisted his hands together. "L-Lust…"
"You wanna make your father happy, right?" Lissa prompted, getting the homunculus to look at her. He nodded quickly. "Then we need to get going. Take us there."
It worked, thankfully—Gluttony continued his waddling little path down the hill, and Lissa followed with Al still holding her by the hand. Dammit, she hoped this would work… If they put themselves in the enemy's lair for nothing… But no, it had to work. They couldn't give up on Edward. The only choice now was to go right to the source—the creator of the homunculi.
—
Gluttony led Alphonse and Lissa deep into the heart of Central, following back alleys and hidden pathways to avoid being spotted—apparently the homunculi had pretty solid ways to sneak around in such a heavily populated city. Lissa supposed it made sense. Lust and Envy could've moved around fairly unnoticed, but Gluttony would stand out in a crowd for the most part, and she had no idea about the others.
Envy, Lust, Greed, and Gluttony. And we have Wrath, Pride, and Sloth still to find. If the Führer is a homunculus, he's one of those—and I'd bet on Wrath or Pride, considering his personality.
"Hey, Gluttony… What do you call Führer Bradley?" Lissa asked, following as the homunculus led them down yet another dingy, cluttered alleyway. "We know he's a homunculus, so you aren't telling us any important information."
He bobbed his head in a sort of agreement. "That's Wrath," Gluttony told her cheerily.
Wrath. Only two left, then.
Lissa shared a glance with Al—the confirmation that Bradley was a homunculus, and Wrath of all things, wasn't exactly a comfort.
"Here!" Gluttony finally chirped, pointing to a hole in the wall, behind a rusted old metal grate. "Father is down here!" The homunculus pulled the grate back and headed down inside without hesitation, and Al went to follow him…but Lissa was frozen with a sudden wave of pure terror. She'd never felt anything like it before, never… This horrific presence, writhing under her skin, the ashen weight of death choking her lungs…
"Lissa?" Al grabbed her by the shoulders and she flinched, her chest aching again. "I—I'm sorry! Are you okay?"
She nodded slowly, coming back to herself with his now gentle hold. "I'm okay, Al… My ribs might be broken again, that's all… I just…" Lissa shuddered and leaned into him. "It feels…awful down there… Whoever their father is…he's…" She shut her eyes tightly, nearly overwhelmed with it. "I've never felt anything this evil."
Al squeezed down on her shoulders, more carefully this time. "It'll be okay. We'll do it together. Right, big sister?"
Lissa swallowed back a sob and nodded. Together. For Ed's sake, and Ling's.
So she pushed away the fear, the visceral terror, smothered her extra sense—and walked beside Al down into the darkness.
It was a little easier to bear, restricting her abilities like that, but Lissa couldn't shake her deep unease the further they went. The stairs led out into a long hallway, through a few twists and turns, and every step was just…worse and worse. All her instincts screamed to leave, to run right back out the way they'd come and go as far away from this place as possible, but…
Edward.
Lissa remembered what he'd said about her in Resembool—how she'd do anything to protect the people she cared about, almost to a fault. And here she was, doing exactly that, racing headfirst into their damned enemy's lair just because of a chance to rescue Ed. Still not at her limit of what she'd do for the people she cared about. Maybe there wasn't a limit, not really. She was beginning to think that she'd never find a limit on what she'd do for her boys.
"What's the matter?" she heard Al ask softly. "Are you cold? It's okay."
She peered up to see the tiny panda sitting on his shoulder, clinging to his finger and shivering. "Poor little thing," Lissa murmured, reaching up to pet the panda between her ears. "We'll keep you safe, sweetie."
Gluttony stuck his head back around the corner in front of them and waved eagerly. "This way!"
The hallway emptied out into a much wider tunnel, cut down the middle by a flow of water, or…sewage, maybe, judging by the horrid smell. Lissa resisted the urge to pinch her nose. So the sewers were connected to this guy's lair, then? But it didn't seem like a regular sewer tunnel, judging by the lack of ladders and manhole covers… Just how deep were they?
"Woah," Al breathed, peering around in the gloom. "I didn't know there were tunnels like this under Central."
Lissa turned to follow Gluttony, wrapping her arms across her abdomen. As she stepped, her foot landed on something that wasn't just regular flat concrete—which snapped beneath her weight. She yelped and jerked away, pressing her back into Al's chestplate when she realized she'd stepped clean through a fucking bone. A human bone, with a cracked skull beside it. As she looked, her gaze darting from place to place, she began to realize the whole tunnel was littered with human bones, picked clean of flesh.
"I don't like this at all," she whispered.
Al pulled her along with him as Gluttony kept walking, snapping back to himself quicker than she did, though he guided her carefully around the piles of bones. "H-hey!" he called, as they caught up to the homunculus. "What's with all that? The—bones and stuff."
Gluttony paused and turned to face them. "Huh? Oh." He shrugged. "The gatekeepers did all that." Then, with his usual beatific smile in place, he turned back and continued on his way.
"The gatekeepers?" Al repeated, baffled.
"They won't rip you up as long as you're with me," Gluttony added brightly.
Lissa heard a rustle above her—and looked up sharply to see what seemed like hundreds of red eyes staring down at her behind a simple mesh barrier, embedded in the ceiling. "Oh, fucking hell," she breathed.
Al pressed his hand between her shoulderblades and urged her forward. "Just pretend they aren't there," he told her shakily.
"Kinda difficult with them looking at me," she hissed. "What do you think they are, anyway? It doesn't feel like they're homunculi… More like…" Lissa risked tapping into her senses, just for a moment, and felt a shiver run down her spine. "They're chimeras, Al. Rotten fruit. I'd know that feeling anywhere. They've got chimeras guarding this place."
"Chimeras?" He looked up at the ceiling fearfully, just for a moment, before shaking his head decisively. "We can't worry about that. We just have to keep going."
Lissa shot a glance up towards the chimeras anxiously, but she knew he was right—they had to keep going. So she forced her legs to move, to take one step after another, and continued following Gluttony further into the depths of Central.
"Do we have much further?" Al asked their guide, after a while.
Gluttony shook his head. "Not too far. It's just ahead now."
So they were close… Good. Lissa was starting to feel way too sick with the rotten fruit nudging at the back of her neck and the cloying scent of the sewers—as terrified as she was, she was beginning to just want this over with. She wanted answers.
"You said your father made you…" Al stared at the back of Gluttony's head thoughtfully. "Does he know what happens to the people you swallow?"
Gluttony sort of…giggled. "I'm sure he does! Father knows everything!"
There was that strange childishness again, the sense that Gluttony was almost a little kid. It was unsettling, really, to see something so…dangerous acting like a child. "So he…made you like this?" Lissa edged. "He manufactured your ability to—to swallow things like that?"
He bobbed his head. "Father can make anything! He made all of us, he did! He made me, and Lust—and he made Envy!"
Lissa gritted her teeth at the thought of Envy. She was beginning to blame them for what had happened to Ed, and to Ling. Maybe fighting Gluttony when he was powered up would've been difficult…but it was Envy's interference that caused everything to go south. She reached down and tugged at her gloves, fingers restless with the thought of having a rematch with them, getting to unleash all her anger and frustration and-
"Oh, Al," Lissa choked, stumbling to a halt as her fingers landed on a thin strip of red elastic. "I—it's Ed's hair tie," she breathed, lifting her hand. Sure enough, she still had his usual red hair tie around her wrist, from when she'd cleaned that cut on his forehead in the hotel room.
Al squeezed her shoulder. "You can give it back to him when we see him again," he told her gently.
Lissa bit her lip to withhold a stupid rush of tears. Crying over a hair tie… How pathetic was she?
Finally, Gluttony came to a stop in front of an oversized set of double doors, set into the wall with a yellow light above them, just a regular old maintenance light. It was as if…this had been built into Central with everything else. The thought chilled Lissa. No transmutation marks, signs of aging, nothing to indicate this place was new or had been added later… It was just…part of the foundations.
"So this is it?" Al breathed. "Your father's on the other side?"
Gluttony nodded. "Mmhmm, that's right!"
Lissa clenched her fists tightly. Time to face this fucker. "He's gonna be really happy with you, Gluttony," she told the homunculus. "Go ahead and let us in, okay?"
He grinned at her. "Okay!"
Gluttony pushed the doors open, and Lissa stepped in beside Al, emerging into an enormous chamber, with a high ceiling shrouded in darkness, and every wall just bursting with cables, stringing in through the concrete itself, like the center of a giant organism. She'd never felt so damned unsettled in all her life, her whole neck and shoulders practically aching with the strain of repressing her senses. But she knew if she let it loose, she'd be totally useless—and that just wasn't an option.
"This place couldn't get any creepier, huh?" Al noted quietly.
Lissa shook her head. "I don't think it could."
Ahead of them, Gluttony bobbed to a stop and waved his hands excitedly in the air. "Hello, father!" he practically sang. "I brought you two human sacrifices!"
Wait…he's here?! Right now?!
Lissa grabbed onto Al's forearm as she looked around, frantic, unsure where the hell this guy was. What would he look like? Would he be normal, like Bradley, or something else, like Gluttony?
"Your father?" Al's voice was almost a squeak. "Where?! This is happening too fast!"
Her senses yanking at her fiercely, Lissa found her gaze drawn to the wall just in front of them, where a stone staircase led upwards into darkness. And on the ledge there, she saw something…moving, approaching them.
"And who is this?" a low male voice asked.
The man—the homunculi's father—stepped forward, into the eerie white light emanating from the top of the chamber.
Al breathed one word. "Dad?"
Lissa felt a wave of anger, first—then the chill of fear as she pieced it together. This man…he looked like Hohenheim, right down to his facial hair. But Hohenheim… She'd met him, she'd sensed him, and he did not feel evil like this. If she'd sensed this pure hell off him in Resembool, she never would've let him near Ed or Pinako. Hohenheim felt similar to a Philosopher's Stone, yes, a slimy-blood-sick feeling she despised… But this…
"No," Lissa told him lowly. "This isn't your father, Al." She stepped forward, arms out in preparation for a fight, and placed herself between him and Alphonse. "I've met your father. And this…doesn't feel anything like him."
Al reeled back in shock. "But—then who-"
Something…squished beside them. There was no other term for it. Lissa dared look away from the man in white, Hohenheim's duplicate, to see Gluttony's body roiling, blood gushing down from the center of his abdomen, exactly where the portal had opened before. The homunculus screamed and flailed as the portal did open, forced itself wide, the eye blinking open and then rending in two. Red energy crackled around the split, blood spewing from Gluttony's mouth as a giant green arm surged outward from the portal.
Lissa rammed her palms together, borrowing Ed and Al's pose, compressing the air directly around her and using it as a boost to shove herself and Al back as another arm wrenched free, expanding right out of Gluttony's center.
"The hell is going on?!" she yelled, keeping one arm stretched out in front of Al, determined to protect him.
"It looks like—something's coming out of him!" He turned to her for a moment, panicked. "Lissa! You don't think—it could be…"
A massive creature broke free of Gluttony's stomach, a sick green color, horribly mutated and grotesque with faces all around its neck and shoulders, one eye bearing a single iris of a deep purple shade, and the other several irises, all flesh-colored and cut with slit pupils. It was…horrifying. And that thing had been inside Gluttony?!
Its long tail landed hard just at Lissa's feet, and she stared down at in disgust. It looked slimy, almost reptilian but…more like…a mockery of human flesh, somehow, when she looked at it more closely.
"Envy?" the Hohenheim lookalike asked, peering down as well.
Al whirled to him in confusion. "Envy?! That thing?!"
"No way," Lissa breathed. "This gross thing is supposed to be Envy?"
One of the moaning faces on Envy's neck reached forward, arms and a torso expanding, stretching from the green flesh, and Lissa recoiled in disgust, casting her gaze further along Envy's horrific form.
That's…wait, is that a leg?
Lissa's chest seized, her breath stilling in her lungs. "EDWARD!" The word scraped past her throat as she raced forward, hearing Al's echoing shout of BROTHER seconds after hers. She tripped and stumbled over cables as she flung herself past Envy's mass to the slumped form of Edward Elric, collapsed limply among the half-formed creatures roiling out from the homunculus.
Al was faster, reaching Ed first and kneeling down, yanking the stringing bits of flesh off him. For a horrible, soul-wrenching moment, he didn't move… Then those beautiful golden eyes fluttered open and Lissa let out a rough, dry sob. Ed. He was alive!
"Al?" he murmured, squinting in the gloom. "You're back in your armor… S-so that means…"
Beside Ed, Ling rose from Envy's body with a groan, reaching up a shaking fist to bump it against Ed's automail one. "We're back in the real world."
"Guess so," Ed agreed, smirking.
"BROTHER!" Al shrieked, suddenly grabbing Ed and lifting him bodily off the floor, crushing him against his armor. Ed yelped and flailed, complaining about his ribs and how much it hurt, but it was all halfhearted.
Overwhelmed, Lissa dropped to the floor and covered her mouth, repressing her sobs as Al finally released Ed and sank onto his knees, shivering, admitting the truth of his fears—that he'd thought Edward was dead. They both had, though they'd been too afraid to voice it, as though giving substance to the thought could make it true. Lissa knew that.
"Hey." A hand entered her vision, and she looked up through her tears to see Ling smiling at her. She took his hand and pulled to her feet, trying to blink away the tears clouding her vision. "Go on," he urged her quietly.
She shook her head. "N-no… This is… They need time."
Something darker crossed Ling's face. "And Ed needs you. Trust me. You didn't see what I saw, Lissa. Go."
When she didn't move, he prodded his hand flat between her shoulderblades and pushed her forward, forcing her towards the boys. Lissa just let the momentum carry her, watching as Ed placed his hand atop Al's helmet and apologized, softly, for making him worry. Then his gaze lifted, maybe drawn by the soft scuffing of her boots on the concrete—and he turned as Lissa collapsed just a couple feet away, no longer able to support herself. "Y-you're okay," she whispered, her voice fraught with tears, rough from the sobs she was holding back. "We were s-so…so worried, Ed…"
He lurched forward, and Lissa found herself caught up in Ed's arms, pressed tight into his chest, feeling his face tuck into her shoulder as he pulled her into him. "I'm okay, Liss," he breathed. "I'm okay, I promise…"
Lissa clung to him and finally, finally sobbed, let all of the fear and pain and loss crash down over her head as she cried into his shoulder.
But suddenly she pulled back and smacked his arm, through her tears, making him stare at her with wide eyes. "Don't you ever pull that shit again, you hear me?" she told him fiercely. "Next time you get yourself sucked in somewhere terrible at least take me and Al with you, dummy!" Then she grabbed him again and pulled him into her chest this time, heedless of the pain, tucking his head beneath her chin and kissing his hair. She could feel his laughter rumbling against her chest.
"Okay, Liss," he acquiesced, leaning back to brush a strand of loose hair from her face. "Next time we'll all get trapped together."
Ed stood up and peered around, absently tugging Lissa up beside him and resting his automail hand at the small of her back. She could've burst out crying all over again in that moment. "Where exactly did we wind up, though?" he wondered aloud.
"This is somewhat surprising," observed that same low voice—the homunculi's father. "People emerging from his stomach."
As he approached, two fingers resting thoughtfully on his chin, Ed recoiled and jerked away from him, pulling Lissa with him and forcing Al to step back as well. Rage burned in his eyes as he took in the man's appearance. "What the—Hohenheim?!" Ed snarled.
Lissa shook her head, grimacing. "It's not him, Ed. They feel different."
He gritted his teeth. "Then who the hell is he?"
The man continued on his way, regarding the three with a certain detached curiosity. "Steel appendages, hm… And an armored body…" His gaze drifted sideways as he thought. Then suddenly he stepped forward, lightning fast, and tipped his head right into Ed's personal space. "Are you two the Elric brothers?" He did the same to Lissa, making her cringe away as he scrutinized her. "And that would make you Lissa Caito, yes?"
Ed's hand rested firmly on Lissa's shoulder, protective. "So—wait, he's not…"
The white-robed man eyed him with mild interest. "Have you mistaken me for someone else? Well, hold on…" He stood straight again, mercifully putting some distance between them. "Hohen… The name you said." …And back in our damned faces again! What a creep! "By any chance, do you mean Van Hohenheim? And how is it the three of you are acquainted with him?"
"Well, he's mine and Ed's father," Al explained hesitantly.
The man gazed between Ed and Al thoughtfully for a moment—then he moved, at that eerie super-speed again, and literally grabbed Edward's head between his hands, twisting him this way and that as he scrutinized Ed's face. "He's your father?" he demanded. "This is indeed surprising! I had no idea he had children." He gave a laugh and patted the top of Edward's head, earning a sharp glare at the gesture.
Lissa reached out and closed her hand around Ed's, squeezing tight. They couldn't risk pissing this guy off yet… If Ed got too angry…
"If you are indeed his progeny, then why is it that your family name is Elric?" the man asked curiously.
Ed snarled and threw off his grasp. "Elric is our mother's last name!" he snapped.
The man was unperturbed by the sharpness, though. "Oh, is that so?" He raised his eyebrows slightly. "So, where has he been spending his time?"
"Who cares?" Ed demanded harshly. He never took anything to do with his father well—and especially not facing somebody who looked exactly like Hohenheim. "Just forget him! Who the hell are you?! And why do you look exactly like him?!"
Tactful.
But yet again, the man just…didn't seem to care. "I know that he can't be dead," he mused, turning away slightly, entirely in his own thoughts.
Ed gaped at him. "Wha—hey! Listen to me!"
"But to think that he…"
Lissa wrinkled her nose. He might not be Hohenheim—but he had about as much regard for Ed as Hohenheim did.
Al leaned in to cut across Ed's rage, reaching down to take his arm and get his attention. "Brother! This guy's the one who-"
But Ed yelped in sudden pain, and Al recoiled, shocked. "Are you okay?!"
Lissa turned to him and caught Ed's upper arm, just now managing to spot the makeshift brace on his left forearm. "Did you break your arm?" she asked him softly, worried sick now. His arm hadn't been broken when he went into Gluttony… So what the hell had happened to him? Had Envy hurt him? Just another damn reason she wanted to destroy that homunculus…
"It would appear that you're injured," the homunculi's father observed, looking at Edward. "And your armor has sustained structural damage as well." That was to Al, who definitely had a few holes and lacerations leftover from the fight against Gluttony. The man approached Al, too fast to stop, and pressed his hand to Al's forearm. With a burst of bright red energy, all the damage just…mended, holes knitting together and scratches closing up. "There. How is that for you?" he asked, almost pleasantly.
Lissa took a step back in shock. How had he done that?!
But he wasn't finished. He took Ed's wrist and pulled him out by his injured arm, making Ed wince and hiss in pain. "Your arm's broken," he mused. He pressed a hand to Ed's forearm—and that same red energy crackled through the air.
When he let go, Ed jerked back and pulled his arm in, only to stare at it in shock. "It…it's not broken anymore," he realized, ripping the brace off and squeezing his hand experimentally.
The homunculi's father stepped forward and grabbed Ed's shoulders, beginning a sort of exploratory motion down his arms and torso, too strong for Ed to just throw him off, though he protested the treatment. "A few broken ribs as well," he continued—and with another burst of red energy, he'd handled that too.
Lissa could only stare. He was…able to heal injuries with just a touch? And mend Al's armor too? What the hell was he?
"And how about you?"
She squeaked and recoiled as he came for her next, pressing his hands to either side of her neck and working downwards quickly and efficiently. "Cracked collarbone…" Red sparks flew out as he rested his hands on her shoulders. "And several ribs, too." More red sparks, and the pain in Lissa's chest ebbed away all at once. When he released her, she stumbled back into Ed's arms, feeling raw and violated even though he'd technically healed her. Ed closed his arms around her and held her tight into him without hesitation, and some of the discomfort melted away just at his touch.
"I consider the three of you to be vital resources," the man told them stoically. "You must all remain alive and healthy."
So it really is me too… Not just the boys… But why? Why us?
"This isn't right," Ed muttered. "He performed a transmutation without any movement at all."
"And he didn't even thin out my armor," Al pointed out anxiously. "There isn't any Equivalent Exchange!"
Speaking up for the first time in all this, Ling stepped forward and shot an accusation at the man. "You aren't human," he snapped, brandishing his sword. "What are you?! What the hell's inside you?!" So he was feeling the same thing Lissa had on her way in—that sick, bottomless evil resting inside this man.
The homunculi's father regarded him imperiously. "I would ask who you are, but I honestly don't care," he intoned. "You can go ahead and eat him." The latter was directed at Gluttony, who had recovered from his stomach splitting open earlier.
"Okay!" Gluttony cheered.
"What?! No, hold on!" Ed shouted. In the same mindset, he, Lissa, and Al rushed over to place themselves between Ling and Gluttony. "This guy's our friend! And you wanna keep us happy, right?" he demanded, looking for an easy way to save Ling from the homunculi. "So don't kill him! Please!"
Yet the man was unaffected, merely turning and walking away. "But I have no need for him. Your friendship doesn't make him any less useless to me."
Ed glowered at his retreating back. "What did you say?!"
"Brother, the homunculi keep calling this guy their father," Al explained quickly. "We think he's the one who created them."
"That's why we ended up here," Lissa added. "We were trying to find answers."
"Their father?" Ed's face contorted, the very idea disgusting to him.
Al nodded quickly. "He did heal our wounds, though…"
"He didn't heal mine," Ling pointed out, limping forward—he was still in bad shape from whatever happened inside Gluttony's stomach. So…only sacrifices were worthy of healing? "I don't like him," Ling continued sharply, his voice labored but clear. "I can tell he looks down on humans and calls us fools."
The man turned and gave him an impassible look. "When you notice an insect on the ground, do you stop and consider it a fool?" The hell?! "The life of an insect is so beneath you that it would be a waste of your time to even consider judging it. That would be an accurate summation on my feelings towards you humans."
Apparently, that was enough for Ed. He clapped his hands together and pressed them to the floor, sending an attack hurtling straight towards the man—but without so much as a single gesture from him, a wall sprang up and blocked the attack.
"Look, you might've healed our wounds but that does not mean we're friends!" Ed yelled, undeterred. "It's pretty apparent that you're the root of all this evil! I'm taking you down! I don't care how many cronies you've got!"
Lissa wasn't really sure about the sanity of just…attacking this guy outright. But she was going to back Ed up no matter what.
Across the room, sitting up on his haunches, the giant lizard form of Envy scoffed. "And just who are you callin' a crony, pipsqueak?"
Oh, dammit.
"PIPSQUEAK?!"
Ed brought his hands together and pressed down on one of the many pipes snaking through the chamber, sending a twisting mass of them right at Envy—but at the last second, Lissa felt the air shift, and watched with a certain sense of pride as the attack veered left, around the homunculus, instead changing trajectories and wrapping around the white-robed man.
"Got ya now, boss man!" Ed jeered triumphantly.
But without a gesture, without even moving, the homunculi's father simply destroyed the binds holding him in place.
The air shifted above their heads, a massive disturbance, and Lissa cried out, "Move!"
Thankfully the boys listened—for just a split second later, Envy's giant lizard hand came crashing down where they'd all been standing. Lissa opened her senses enough to keep track of Ling, Ed, and Al, as she twisted her hands and parted the air, dodging directly underneath Envy to reach this…this Father guy. Ed was right, they needed to take him out. Would they get another opportunity like this one? With four people right here to go after him?
They couldn't risk missing the chance.
Lissa narrowly skirted by a wall that shot up in front of her—only to ram into yet another one with her shoulder as she twisted sideways. Stone shot out from the middle of the wall, a giant pillar, and sent her flying back to land next to Al. "Damn that guy!" she hissed, rubbing her sore shoulder and glaring across at him. He'd sent Ed and Ling flying as well, both of whom had tried to get up close with him too.
"What's going on here? How does he do that?!" Al reached out and pulled Lissa up beside him, staring anxiously across at Father.
Ed pushed up on his hands and knees where he'd fallen nearby, dislodging the few stones resting on his back. "It's like he can transmute just by thinking about it!"
Across the chamber, Father sighed wearily. "This is a waste of time," he lamented. He pressed his foot firmly on the ground—and a wave of red energy rushed out from him, transmutic energy crackling out the very top of his head, the whole room lighting up a blinding, sick red color.
Lissa shrieked as it ripped through her, resonating somewhere deep inside. She sank to her knees and pressed her forehead to the ground, unable to support herself, her entire body trembling. What…what the hell is he doing?! What's going on?! She felt something warm press over her—and the sense of that awful wave of energy was eclipsed by amber, and warmth like a burst of sunlight… Ed… She bared her teeth as she forced the sensation down, sitting upright with Ed's arms tightly around her, holding together against the cascade of energy.
When it faded, Lissa tuned into Ed trembling against her, affected horribly by it too. She fisted her hand in his shirt and held tight to him, just for a moment, before sitting back and releasing him. This fight wasn't over.
Ed and Al brought their hands together as Lissa reached out for the particles around her. Maybe if she used the ambient air, she could trip him up… It wasn't a common attack, after all, and maybe her alchemy was unique enough to make a difference…
The boys pressed their hands against the ground, and Lissa clenched her fist, trying to compress the air around Father to knock him back…
But nothing happened.
Blue crackled along Lissa's knuckles, repairing a tiny scrape she'd sustained during the battle.
Did I just heal myself?!
"What's going on?!" she heard the boys gasp beside her.
Lissa didn't have time to call out a warning this time as Envy rammed their creepy clawed hands down, pressing Ed, Al, and Lissa into the ground and pinning them securely. She heard Ling yell their names from nearby, panicked, but there was no air in her lungs left to call back, to warn him as he leapt up and ran for them—only to be snagged by Gluttony and thrown down to the ground, pinned by the homunculus's mass.
"What the hell did he do to us?!" Ed yelled, twisting and trying to free himself, but to no avail.
Al stared down at his own hands in utter bewilderment. "I don't know! Why can't we use our alchemy?!"
Lissa could see her own hand, the rip in her glove where something had snagged her—but that miniscule cut was gone. In the same moment Ed and Al's alchemy had been cut off…hers had changed, shifted somehow. Never in her damned life had she healed something, or even tried to. And she'd been trying to attack, not heal a stupid cut! What the hell?!
Above their heads, Envy cackled like this was the funniest thing ever. "You lower lifeforms never cease to amuse me! You get a speck of power and you think you own the world!" They lowered their head to grin at the pinned alchemists. "And you don't even know what that power is." They laughed, a gross, mocking sound. "And then you have the arrogance to assume that you're the one who's in control of this power! You're like a bad joke that keeps getting dumber."
Ed glowered up at him, heedless of the fact that they were all at this mutated creature's mercy. "What are you bastards planning?" he demanded. "You promised to tell me everything if I got you out!"
Envy looked down at him with a sort of…reptilian smirk. "Huh? Why, I would never stoop so low as to make a deal with a worm like you."
"Liar!" Ed snarled, enraged.
Across the room, Father let out a sort of exasperated sigh. "You talk far too much, Envy."
Like a guilty child, Envy hunched their shoulders and muttered, "Oh, sorry."
Father's gaze swept the room, as though considering his next move—and alighted on Ling with a sudden interest that made Lissa's stomach curl unpleasantly. "You may prove to be rather useful to me after all," he mused. "I could always use a new pawn in the rotation."
Ed flinched. "A pawn?!"
"Don't you touch him!" Lissa shouted, angry. What was this guy going to do to Ling?!
As they watched, Father tapped his own forehead—his flesh parted to reveal an eyeball there, a horrific sight, with a purple iris and a round, all-too human pupil. Blood welled at the bottom corner of the eye, just above the man's eyebrows, and Lissa felt a wave of copper-iron sludge as the blood began to glow from within.
That…isn't blood…
"Is that…a Philosopher's Stone?!" Al gasped, piecing it together.
Ling stared up at it with narrowed eyes. "A what?!"
Envy looked at Father curiously. "You're really gonna do that?" they asked.
"Do what?!" Ed demanded of him.
For once, Envy felt sharing, apparently. "He's going to make a new homunculus," they explained easily. "The stone is added into the bloodstream. If it's able to merge, then a human-based homunculus is created."
Dammit, not Ling!
"But it's more common for the stone to overpower the subject and kill them," Envy finished smugly.
Lissa thrashed underneath their foreleg. "No! Leave him alone!"
Beside her, Ed was doing the same, struggling to free himself desperately. "I'm not gonna let you do this to him!" She heard him press his hands together, yet again attempting to use alchemy—but nothing happened. "What is this?! What's going on?! Why the hell aren't we able to transmute?!"
Al tried the very same thing, ramming his hands against the ground, yet nothing happened.
Frantic now, Lissa twisted her hands and tried to summon metal from the air—and caught a glimpse of a scratch across Ed's cheek healing, just the smallest glimmer of blue transmutation energy. It happened again!
"You bearded bastard!" Ed yelled, unaware of what she'd done. "Let him go! He's got people waiting for him to come back!" He shifted angrily on the ground. "Get off of me!"
Lissa heard a click, and turned to see Ed had yanked Riza's gun out of the back of his trousers, and turned to point it up at Envy—but one of those horrific faces twisted into existence behind him, tears pouring from its hollow, dark eyes. Ed froze with his gaze fixated on the miserable thing.
"Can you really shoot such a sad face?" Envy mocked cruelly. "Can you, boy?"
A tremor ran through Ed's body. "Damn you…"
"Don't shoot, Ed!" Ling's voice rang out.
Lissa jerked her head around to stare at him. Surely she hadn't heard him right, surely!
But Ling pointed a finger in Ed's direction, his gaze fierce. "This is exactly what I want! So you just stay out of it!"
"Are you serious?!" Ed demanded, stunned.
"I came to your land to find a Philosopher's Stone—and now this guy wants to give me one! I'm not gonna turn this down!" Ling asserted, without a drop of hesitation.
Lissa recoiled in horror. "Ling, you can't! That stone might kill you!"
"Think about what you're doing!" Ed yelled, through clenched teeth, just as stricken.
Standing over Ling, Father gave him a rather surprised look. "Well, now this is new," he admitted. "But we'll see if your body is as willing as your mind." And with that, he tipped his hand out and let the Philosopher's Stone fall, dripping through the air to land on an exposed cut on Ling's face.
"No, don't!" Ed screamed.
But it was too late. The stone landed, stuck to his skin—and then slipped right in through the cut.
Ling's whole body jolted, his veins warping as the stone entered him, and he yelled out in pain. Red energy crackled all around him as the stone took hold, ripping through his system like a damned virus, totally unstoppable now.
"Ling, no!" Lissa shrieked, shoving hard against Envy's disgusting, heavy hand.
"I told you…to keep out of this!" Ling yelled across at her, still in the throes of agony. "Don't you dare interfere!"
Ed let out a frustrated cry. "Dammit, we can't just-"
"Stay back!" Ling warned. "I promise that I know what I'm doing!" Despite the pain, despite the energy crackling from his body, the snaps of bones breaking…Ling grinned at them. "They're dealing with the future leader of Xing… Ling Yao…" His body heaved, he spat blood—then he reared back on his knees and screamed.
Then, as quickly as it had started, the energy faded out, the red bursts slowing and then stopping. Ling hung there, suspended backwards over his own legs for a moment, before he rolled forward and pressed a hand to his face.
"Ling?" Ed breathed.
Lissa reached out, tapped into her senses…and recoiled into herself with a jolt. "No," she gasped, her breath coming in short, panicked gasps. "It's…it's…" But it can't be, it can't…
"What? Oh." Ling rubbed the back of his head and eyed them curiously. His voice was different—deeper, missing that signature accent of his. "You mean the guy I took this body from?" A grin spread over his face, contorted, unlike Ling's own expressions. "Sorry. But your friend just checked out and left Greed this body." As he spoke, he unraveled the bandages covering his left hand…revealing a crimson ouroboros tattoo.
Al's voice came out tremulous and scared. "S-so… You're not Ling?"
"Did he say Greed?" Ed's gaze flicked between Ling's body and Lissa, no doubt searching to see if she'd sensed it. "Liss, is that—is that right? He's Greed?"
"He feels like a homunculus," she whispered. "The same…same feeling from all of them…"
"So then…" Ed stared up at Ling's stolen body. "Are you…the Greed from before?"
Greed stood up and crossed to crouch before them, head tipped to one side curiously. "Huh? What are you talkin' about?" he asked.
Ed furrowed his brow. "You don't remember us?"
"From Dublith?" Al prompted, almost hopefully.
But Greed just shrugged faintly. "You must've met some different Greed."
So…not the same one, then. Lissa wasn't entirely sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing—though the Greed in Dublith had been operating separately from the homunculi… Maybe it would've been helpful to have this one against them too…
"He was my avarice before you," Father explained, inclining his head.
"Ah. I gotcha. That makes sense." Greed rubbed at the back of his neck. "But if you wanna hear it from me, no, I'm not the Greed you knew. I'm a whole new version."
No hope there, then.
Ed sucked in a breath. "But…Ling…"
Greed smirked and rose to his full height again. "Well, he was an interesting kid. He gave up his body without any fight at all."
"You're lying!" Ed denied immediately, rushing headfirst into anger. "Ling would never give up and surrender himself so easily! Answer me, Ling! Ling!"
"He said he wanted this," Lissa realized, feeling sick. "Ed… He told us not to interfere…"
Ed gritted his teeth. "No. He can't be gone!"
Rotten…fruit… Why am I sensing chimeras again? And sand?!
Something growled lowly at the back of the chamber. Lissa pushed past Father's horrible presence to feel it out, craning her neck to try and see—just as the lion-based chimera which had padded in exploded with blood and crumpled to the floor. As its body fell, it revealed a figure standing impassible in the doorway. A familiar face…with red eyes and an x-shaped scar.
And…a little girl at his side?!
Scar and that tiny Xingese girl from the railyard!
Suddenly the little panda Al had been carrying leapt from hiding and sprinted across the chamber, jumping right into the Xingese girl's arms. "It's Xiao Mei!" she squealed, cuddling the panda close. "Oh, thank goodness! You're okay! I've been so worried about you!"
Greed clapped mockingly. "Oh, now that is a touching reunion right there."
Lissa forced her shoulder further back, against Envy's mass, trying to see better. The hell was Scar doing here? How had he even found his way in? And gotten past the damned gatekeepers, that mass of chimeras?!
"So, the armored boy isn't with the homunculi after all," Scar murmured, his gaze severe. "They've also got Fullmetal and Starlight."
The little girl stepped forward eagerly, eyes darting around the chamber. "Where is he?" she asked Scar curiously. "Where is Mr. Edward?"
Scar pointed directly at Ed. "He's right there."
Why…is she so interested in Ed?
The girl looked around excitedly—but then her face fell and she glared up at Scar. "He's not really here, is he?" she accused.
"I told you, that's him right there," Scar insisted. "That little guy is the Fullmetal Alchemist."
Something…came over that little girl—she stood there shaking for a moment, hands clenched at her sides, staring at Ed like he'd crushed her hopes and dreams… Then she shrieked, "How dare you toy with the feelings of a maiden, you human microbe?!"
"What'd you call me, micro-girl?!" Ed yelled back.
Lissa kicked out at his leg, making him wince and look at her. "What did you do, Ed?" she asked him lowly. "The hell is she talking about?!"
He waved his hands frantically at her. "I have no idea, Liss! I don't even know who the hell this girl is! I didn't do anything!"
"You better not have," she grumbled.
Suddenly, with a gleeful shout, Gluttony leapt forward to attack Scar. Lissa wondered if they were about to see the Ishvalan get eaten—alchemy was going haywire, he didn't have a real way to defend himself, and he was just out in the open…
Scar moved, terrifyingly fast as always, and rammed the palm of his hand into Gluttony's face.
Blue energy crackled around the homunculus as Scar's alchemy activated, sending Gluttony flying, blood spraying from his skin.
What?!
"You'll pay for this!" the girl shrieked, still raging at Edward. "You deceived an innocent girl—and you kidnapped Xiao Mei!" She flung her arms out, releasing a series of kunai just like at the railyard, one set landing below Envy and the other landing at her feet. "You'll suffer for what you've done! All of you!"
Blue transmutic energy flared from her array—and a giant stone fist rushed out of the ground and slammed into Envy's underside.
Lissa rolled with the explosion, landing on her feet beside Ed and Al, ready for a fight. If their alchemy worked, that meant whatever Father did was over! She yanked off her gloves and stuffed them into her pocket, raising her arms and preparing to fight.
"'Bout time!" Ed cheered, grinning. He and Al clapped their hands and pressed their palms to the ground…and yet again, nothing fucking happened.
"Oh, dammit! Really?!" Lissa grabbed both boys' arms and hauled them up as Envy reared back to their feet, readying for an attack—and with no other options, the three alchemists took off running, looking for safer ground within the chamber.
"It still isn't working!" Al complained, sounding really frustrated now.
Ed's face contorted in anger. "But why is theirs?!" He caught Lissa's arm and pulled her with him as he veered right. "Here! Get down!" She let him pull her, not even arguing when he pressed her into the half-destroyed transmuted wall he'd found as shelter, resting his arm over her with his palm flat against the stone, protective even though he was panting hard and clearly exhausted.
"This doesn't make any sense," Al pointed out, crouching beside them. "How can they still transmute?"
"I don't know," Ed admitted wearily. "I have no idea." He rested his hand on Al's shoulder and stared across the room, to where Scar was facing down the homunculi. "But I think this is our chance to turn things around."
Lissa felt him shift and stood up, catching his wrist and holding him back. "Ed, wait," she breathed. He let her stop him, though he easily could've pulled past her, and stood looking at her with this open, trusting gaze. She couldn't fathom what she'd done to deserve him, she really couldn't, but she'd be damned if she just let him go running off like that again. Lissa released his wrist and grabbed the front of his shirt, pulling him into her. She caught a glimpse of his startled face before she closed her eyes and kissed him, hard, one hand resting at the back of his neck, holding him in tight. Ed wrapped his arms around her and traced his left hand along her hip, soothing, but with enough pressure to let her know he was just as strung out as she was.
She released him and took his face between her hands. "Be safe," she whispered.
Ed nodded once, firmly—then he took off running out into the open.
One day I won't have to watch that boy go off without me, she swore to herself, touching her finger to his hair tie, still wrapped around her wrist. One day.
"Scar!" Ed shouted, drawing everyone's attention to him.
Al's hand pressed into Lissa's back. She looked up at him, stunned, confused—but then she understood. "Let's go."
And they raced off after Ed, taking up fighting positions to either side of him. Al had the right idea. Why did they have to stand back while Ed put himself at risk, while he took on everything himself? No. No fucking more!
Ed squared his shoulders and pointed at Scar fiercely. "You wanna know the truth about what started the war in Ishval?" he demanded loudly.
Scar's eyes narrowed. "In Ishval?"
"The truth about who shot that child and started the uprising?" Ed continued. Lissa had no idea what he was talking about, not a single damned clue—did he know something else? What the hell had he learned down in Gluttony's stomach?
Ed flung his arm wide, jabbing an accusatory finger at Envy's hulking mass. "They're standing right there! It was Envy, disguised as a soldier! These guys orchestrated the entire war!"
They'd…done what?!
Lissa glanced sideways at Al, stunned. Was Ed right?! Had Envy started the entire Ishvalan Civil War? They'd caused all those deaths? That meant…that meant Envy was responsible for her parents' deaths! For Lissa becoming an orphan!
Scar stared down the homunculi, waiting for them to deny it…but the denial never came. "I'd like to hear more details about this," he told them, in a deadly voice. "In between your screaming."
Gluttony wavered back to life behind him—only to meet Scar's hand once again, flying backward in a burst of blood. The little Xingese girl, who had been practically glued to the Ishvalan's side, looked up at him fearfully and backed away.
"Now tell me, for what purpose did you choose to slaughter all of my people?" Scar's voice was horrible, like death itself incarnate. "Depending on your answer… I'll send you to join God!" But then, with blue energy crackling all around him, he snarled, "No! You don't deserve to stand by God alongside my fallen brothers! Your only solace from my wrath will be damnation!"
Scar slammed his hand into the ground—and the whole floor of the chamber ripped upward, ruined in a single gesture. For a moment, everything was suspended as homunculi and alchemists alike went flying…
Then Lissa rammed into the ground, and chaos erupted around her.
"Lissa!"
It was Al, pulling a hunk of pipe off her and hauling her to her feet. "Are you okay?! Are you hurt?!"
Lissa touched her abdomen lightly, wincing. "I…yeah, I'm…" She swallowed. "Broke my ribs again. Shit." An image flashed in her mind—the cut on her hand, closing with a little zip of blue energy. And the scratch on Ed's face… "But…my alchemy is doing strange things. Maybe I can…" Lissa summoned up her strength, focused on the feeling of knitting together particles from the air around her—like the flower she'd made for Winry—and pressed her hands to her own chest.
She gasped as something cracked inside of her, overwhelmed with agony for a moment…but then the pain faded.
"What did you do?" Al breathed, staring at her in shock. "You—your alchemy worked!"
Lissa shook her head. "N-no, it's not… It's acting weird, every time I've tried to use my normal alchemy I keep—fucking healing things. It's useful for something, I guess." She gritted her teeth. "There's no time, Al." Focusing, she pointed out into the chamber, where three separate fights seemed to be occurring—Scar fighting Father, Ed chasing down Greed, and Gluttony on the heels of that little Xingese girl.
"I'll get Gluttony!" Al called.
"And I'll go after Greed!" Lissa bumped her fist on the side of his armor. "Watch yourself, little brother!"
Al tapped her shoulder in return. "You too, big sister!"
Lissa grinned tightly and raced off, ducking underneath the debris, using her size to her advantage to cut the quickest path to where Ed and Greed were fighting. Al would be all right—Gluttony couldn't hurt Al, he wasn't allowed, and Greed could only do so much damage to her and Ed. Besides…she'd fought that sexist pig before, and won.
Though…she did have her alchemy then… It wouldn't be so straightforward this time.
She slid beneath a slab of concrete and watched as Ed and Greed leapt overhead, sensing the shifts in the air, tracking their movements—Greed was using that Ultimate Shield of his, which felt different to Ed's automail… So she could tell them apart. At least that part of my alchemy isn't shut down. Small mercies.
Lissa lunged out and sprang off a tilted piece of concrete, ramming feet-first into Greed's back and stumbling him. "Need a hand?" she asked Ed, settling into a fighting stance beside him.
He raised an eyebrow. "Was that a joke?"
"Not at the moment, no."
Greed stood up and eyed them, his judgmental gaze sitting oddly on Ling's features. "Aw, man. Y'know, I really don't like fighting women."
Lissa gritted her teeth. "The last Greed said that too. I ended up putting a couple spikes through his throat."
"Feisty," he noted. "But you don't have your alchemy, little girl."
She felt his weight shift as he prepared for an attack—and stepped in, ducking under his guard to ram her elbow into his solar plexus. "I think I'll be just fine!" she snarled as he reeled, not expecting the risky tactic. Thank you for keeping your damn stomach exposed, Ling. I knew his shield wasn't there!
Ed rushed in next, joining the fight as Greed expanded his shield, not questioning Lissa's help for a moment. They fought together, switching sides, trying to keep the homunculus between them at all times. He was just so damned fast, and Lissa couldn't boost her speed to get around him. And to make matters worse, he learned their tactics in seconds, so she'd never be able to use that trick again. Fighting a homunculus without alchemy…and one wearing their friend's skin, too!
"We have to get to Ling!" Lissa shouted, as she sprang off a useless attack against Greed's spine.
Ed rushed in then, using Lissa's tactic, trying to land a lucky hit with his automail—but Greed blocked it easily. "You idiot prince!" Ed snarled into his face. "Wake up, Ling!"
"The name's Greed," the homunculus insisted.
But Ed refused to back down. "Shut up! Give Ling his body back!"
"Sorry, can't do that!" Greed jolted, ramming his head right into Ed's chest to knock him back. Lissa darted behind him as Ed twisted around Greed's front, using his shoulders as leverage, and swept her leg out to try and knock Greed's legs out from under him. Ed rammed a kick into the homunculus's chest at the same time, and he went down hard, landing solidly on his back.
Ed stood over him and glowered down. "Give up already, you idiot!" he snapped. He reared back and aimed a punch with his automail fist, swinging his whole body into it—one Greed caught in a shielded hand, just barely. They'd stunned the homunculus for sure, taking him down that way. Now they just had to finish it. "What about your country?" Ed demanded, still reaching for Ling. "Have you forgotten all about Lan Fan?!"
Greed flinched. Ed rammed his left fist down—and Lissa saw the punch land, squarely into Greed's cheek.
But…he had to have seen that coming! Did Ed get through to Ling?!
An arm snaked around her—Lissa shrieked in surprise as her arms were twisted behind her, pinned in one hand, and Father brought his arm across her neck, squeezing just tight enough to be a threat. "That's quite enough," he admonished.
Ed spun to her in horror. "Lissa! Let her go!"
"Ed, look out!" she screamed. But he'd sat up from Greed and left his back open too long. The homunculus lunged upward and twisted his legs around Ed, dragging him down into a fighting hold with his left arm held in both hands and his heels poised to dig into Ed's throat.
"Caught 'im for ya, pops," Greed told Father brightly.
Father gave a solemn nod. "Upstairs. I want them taken directly to Wrath."
Lissa caught Ed's gaze, both prepared to free themselves and continue the fight… But then Envy walked back in the open doorway, Al clenched in one hand, and all the fight went out of them. Neither would risk Al's safety like that.
Damn. They got us.
"Man. You guys really made a mess of things, didn't you?" Envy observed. "If you had simply behaved yourselves, then we would've let you go a long time ago."
Father released Lissa, finally, and she stalked over to where Greed still had Ed pinned. "Let him go," she demanded, enraged. "It's over, you won. So let him go." She'd noticed his heel pressing into Ed's throat just a bit too tightly—and sure enough, when Greed shrugged and let up, Ed sat up rubbing his throat gingerly.
Lissa took his hand and pulled him up with her, wrapping her arm around his waist as they headed over to rejoin Al. She hated this, hated losing and having to roll over and show her belly… But what choice did they have?
"Brother… Are you okay?" Al asked softly.
Ed turned back to look at Greed a moment, his eyes narrowed. "He's in there. I know it," he whispered. "Ling's alive."
Something pressed into Lissa's back, and she recoiled when she realized it was Envy's grotesque clawed foot, nudging her towards the door. "Get going," they demanded irritably. "All of you, move it. We're wasting time."
"It's hard to walk when just looking at you makes me wanna puke my guts up," Lissa sneered.
Envy rolled their eyes—but their body folded down all the same, reducing from that giant lizard monster with a crackle of energy, and finally turning back into the familiar spiky-haired version she'd grown accustomed to. "There, happy?" they muttered. "Now get moving. Unless you need me to go back into that form for a little motivation?"
She gritted her teeth, but didn't argue any further. Ed's hand tightening on her hip warned her not to push it, too.
Envy led them out of the chamber and down the sewer tunnel, not the way she and Al had come but a different direction. The ceiling was crowded with guardians, just like before, and the ground still littered with bones—so there had to be either multiple entrances, or people who had tried to enter…and bypassed the doors to come this way instead. It made her sick to wonder just how many hapless people had died down here, torn to shreds by chimeras.
It won't help anybody to focus on that, will it?
Lissa gripped harder to the back of Ed's shirt. Some part of her still didn't believe he was here—but she could feel it under her own fingertips. He was warm and alive and real, even though she didn't know how the hell he'd ripped his way back out of Gluttony's stomach. And there was no way they'd discuss it in front of Envy, regardless that the homunculus had been there for it.
Finally, Envy led them to the end of one offshoot tunnel, and pressed a red button embedded in the wall beside a set of double doors.
"Hey, where are you taking us?" Ed demanded fiercely.
The doors slid open, and Envy shot him a look over their shoulder. "Just get in," the ordered, stepping into…what looked like an elevator, honestly. A nondescript, blank-walled elevator. So they weren't exiting out some creepy back stairway, apparently.
Hesitantly, the three alchemists got in with Envy, though Lissa felt a bit…claustrophobic when the doors clanged shut. Being trapped in an elevator with a damned homunculus whose real form didn't fit in the little metal box would do that to a person. When Envy's body sparked red, Lissa cringed back into Ed—but they just shifted into…an Amestrian soldier?!
"Why are you using that form?" Lissa asked them, scowling.
Envy rolled their eyes. "You'll see."
The elevator rolled to a stop and the doors slid open, revealing daylight and an eerily familiar corridor. Lissa followed the boys out, frowning, trying to place where the hell they were.
"Wait… This looks like…" Ed turned and stared out the nearest window in shock.
Oh, no. This can't be possible.
"It's Central Command," Al breathed, voicing what Ed and Lissa were too unsettled to. "We were right below it."
Father had ordered them taken to Wrath—yet with everything else, Lissa just…hadn't put it together. But Envy had brought them here to meet with the damned Führer, on his own turf, unmasked as a homunculus. A strike of cold fear flitted through her heart. Wrath…could ruin them all in a single moment.
"Hey." Envy looked at them expectantly. "You guys are plastered with filth. You can't go talk to Wrath this gross." They turned and beckoned for the three to follow. "There's some showers nearby, c'mon."
Though she was irked by the judgment, Lissa didn't dare rebuke them—she just trailed Envy to the showers a couple hallways over, where they pushed the door open to allow the boys in first. Lissa made to follow them in, but the homunculus shot his arm out across the doorway and blocked her path. "Ah-ah-ah, these are the men's showers," Envy chided, clicking their tongue. "Ladies' showers are a couple doors down."
Lissa folded her arms over her chest. "Move your arm, Envy."
They smirked. "C'mon, little girl. I'll take you down there myself if you're too scared."
Ed surged up behind Envy and gripped down on their arm, twisting it firmly out of the way and shoving the homunculus halfway across the hall. "You stay the fuck away from her, understand?" he snarled. He grabbed Lissa by the waist and pulled her into the room, behind him, blocking her with his own body.
Envy snorted a laugh and raised their hands. "Fine, fine, do whatever you want, pipsqueak."
Ed slammed the door in their face. "Seven," he growled lowly.
Lissa raised an eyebrow. "Seven?"
"Seven damn times they've called me pipsqueak!"
She rolled her eyes at him, though she wasn't even upset, not after everything. "You probably shouldn't be counting. It'll only piss you off, y'know." Sighing, she turned to take stock of the men's showers, wrinkling her nose at the short, mostly useless stall doors that would leave, well…her entire chest exposed for all the world to see. "I cannot believe this," she mumbled. "Guys really don't care if they see each other's dicks when they shower."
Ed turned red as a cherry beside her. "That's not—you can't—we don't…"
"Okay, ground rules!" Lissa announced, speaking over him and clapping her hands together. "I'm going to the farthest stall on the left. I'll get in first to make it easier. Alphonse, I will smack you with your own head if you so much as move in my direction. Same goes for you, Edward—though…not your own head. I'll use your damn automail."
He rubbed at his face, still bright red. "Sheesh, Liss. It's like you don't trust us."
She smirked. "Al, I trust. I don't wanna scar my little brother, that's all. But you, Edward Elric? You're a perv at heart. I just know it. You'd sneak and stare at my ass."
Though he was blushing, Ed managed to smirk and wink at her. "Like you wouldn't do the same."
Al groaned and dropped his face into his hands. "Guys, please… I'm right here."
Ed yelped and turned to face his brother, giving him a sheepish look. "Sorry, Al… I guess it was…some kinda shock, earlier, when we… I… Sorry."
Peeking out from behind his hands, Al deadpanned, "I'm a suit of armor, not blind."
Lissa patted his helmet and explained, "Al already knew, dummy. He figured us out ages ago." She sighed and crossed to Ed, draping her arms around behind his neck and pressing her forehead into his for a moment. "Don't…don't go anywhere, okay?" she asked him softly. "I hate letting you out of my sight at all right now."
Ed quirked a faint, but sweet smile. "I'm not leaving, Liss. I promise."
Reluctantly she released him and went to grab up what she needed—the best clothes she could find, and a few towels—and then headed back to the far-end shower. "Okay. No peeking, right?" she called. Al pointedly turned away, and Ed gave her a wry grin before doing the same. So with that much security at least, Lissa stripped out of her clothes as quickly as possible, and leapt behind the meager shower doors. She turned the water on and ducked under the spray, letting the cool water soothe the blush she'd been fighting back.
It's weird… It's so weird to be in this position now, when we still have so much shit to handle… Hormones are the freaking worst.
Soon after, she heard Ed turn his own shower on, and leaned into the wall for a moment just to appreciate him being there… Hearing his voice and sensing his presence… She hadn't been sure she'd get to do that ever again. She'd never take him for granted again, never.
"So they've been here this whole time," Al mused softly, after a little idle chatter. "I never would've guessed they were beneath the command center."
Lissa rinsed the last of the soap from her body with a grimace. You and me both.
"So maybe it's not just the Führer. The entire military might be involved," Ed muttered. "But, hey…" His voice brightened. "There is some good news in all of this."
"What good news?" Al wondered.
Lissa turned off the water, hearing Ed's cut out moments later, and began drying herself off while still behind the protection of the walls between her and the boys. "Yeah, I'd love a little good news among all the crap," she added. "What's on your mind, Ed?"
"Well… I saw your body, Al."
She couldn't help it—she peeked around the corner in time to see Al jolt, staring at the stalls in shock. "You saw it?! My body's still in there?!"
"It is," Ed confirmed. "I tried to reach out for it, but it said that it couldn't go with me since I wasn't its soul."
"My body… It still exists! Yes, yes!" Al cheered, clenching his fists in excitement.
"Yes! And now that we know it's there, we're one step closer to gettin' it back," Ed told him encouragingly.
Lissa ducked back and finished drying her body, wrapping her hair up in a towel to keep it out of the way for the moment. She had no choice but to use her same underclothes, which felt a bit gross to do now that she was clean—but she was not walking around without a bra, especially through damned Central HQ. So she pulled on the big shirt she'd grabbed just to cover herself for the time being, intending to raid the women's showers before they actually went to see Wrath, and stepped out of the stall. The button-down shirt fell all the way practically to her knees, like a dress more than anything else, so she didn't feel badly about it. "So you saw it on your way out of Gluttony's stomach? How did that work, exactly? You never explained it."
"Oh, yeah…" She heard the faint swishing as he dried his hair off. "Well, I… Okay, it's gonna sound bad. But I transmuted myself out."
"Human transmutation…on a living being?" Al jerked his head up. "Brother…"
"I know, I know," Ed muttered. "I didn't have a choice, did I? If I hadn't done it…then I wouldn't be here. I'd still be in Gluttony's stomach."
Lissa leaned into the wall behind her and crossed her arms. "But then… How did you pay the toll? You two always talk about how there's a toll involved in any human transmutation—a payment to satisfy Equivalent Exchange. But you didn't lose a limb, so… Did you lose something intangible, Ed? Or did you find a way around it?"
He sighed roughly. "I didn't…find a way around it. I used Envy's Philosopher's Stone."
She gritted her teeth and cursed softly. Human souls. He'd used up some of the souls inside of Envy's Philosopher's Stone to get himself out of there. Yet…she couldn't be angry with him for it. Lissa herself had accepted the potential use of one, while Ed was trapped and she'd sworn to take on the task of getting Al's body back in his absence… But the very use of a stone would still have taken a toll from Ed. From his own soul, like a crack in his being, to use human lives to do anything.
Into the resounding silence, Ed whispered, "I know. It's a horrible thing."
"Whose souls were in Envy's Philosopher's Stone?" Al asked him quietly, staring down at his own lap.
"The people of Xerxes. Their bodies and minds…were long gone. They had nowhere to return to." Ed's voice trembled as he spoke. "Don't worry. However much you hate me for it, I promise you, I hate myself more."
Lissa closed her eyes tightly.
"But I don't hate you, brother." Al sighed and shook his head. "I can't hate you, ever. You needed a way out, and there was only one way, so… You did what you had to do. Besides…better your quick usage of those souls, than the remnants of their lives being dragged out to support Envy's existence."
She lifted off the wall and crouched to begin gathering her clothes from where she'd abandoned them, just to give her hands something to do. Not yet…not while they were still in the hornet's nest…but later, Lissa would do what she ached to do—she'd pull Edward into her arms and get him to talk all about what he went through, to release everything he was carrying from his time in Gluttony's stomach. It was more than just the usage of the stone… She could feel that he'd truly suffered in there, she just didn't know how to fix it here.
"Well, all of that aside… We have confirmation that your body's still in there, Al. And it hasn't rotted or anything, though I gotta admit, seeing your skinny ass there, we'll have to fatten you up a bit…" Ed's voice stopped echoing a bit as he stepped out of the stall, though Lissa was facing away and didn't see him come out. "Uh, Al… What's that weird little cat doing in here?"
Lissa stuffed her clothes under one arm and turned to stand up. "She's called Xiao Mei, I think. I was wondering what she…"
Naked. Naked!
She dropped her clothes and spun away, pressing both hands to her face in utter shock. Had—had that really just happened?! "Edward Elric! Why the hell are you naked?!" Lissa shrieked.
"Gah! Liss! I thought you—when did you—oh fuck!"
"Ed!" Alphonse snapped, sounding frustrated. "That little girl's in my armor, too! Why'd you come out here naked, idiot?!"
Ed yelped again, totally undignified. "Are you serious?! She's inside your armor?!"
"Brother, stop yelling," Al chided him. "And while you're at it, will you put on some freaking pants?"
The door swung open and Envy snapped, "Hey, what's all the yelling about?! Get a move on!"
Lissa rounded on them and flung the closest object—a bar of soap, in this case—right at the homunculus. "Out, Envy!" she snarled.
They ducked the soap, just barely, and glowered at her. "Just—hurry up already!"
With the door securely closed again, Lissa turned back to the boys, shielding her eyes with one hand and staring pointedly at her own feet. "Ten seconds and you better be covered, Ed. I swear. Ten seconds!"
"Hey! What about you, that's barely clothing!" he demanded.
She jerked her gaze up, frustrated that he'd go there—only to yelp and press both hands over her face. I'm never getting that out of my head. Never! "Trousers!" she demanded, to cover her own embarrassment. "This is just like a dress or something, dummy! It's covering more of me than I usually cover! You are completely naked! And now I get to be jealous of a damned homunculus, so get dressed before I throw a bar of soap at you!"
Ed grumbled something under his breath, but consented to get dressed finally, judging by the rustle of clothing that followed.
In the awkward silence, Al piped up in a wry voice, "Why are you jealous of Envy, Lissa?"
She clenched her eyes shut. "Don't say another word."
"Buuuuuuut-"
"For the sake of your own innocence, Alphonse."
He coughed. "Noted."
