Despite the gross thought of eating Ed's boot… Ling and Manami were so hungry that they practically downed the makeshift soup that Ed made... and though they felt disgusted with themselves, they were full, and that already made them feel a hundred times better.
"I'm sorry…" Ling said quietly. "It's my fault that you guys got wrapped up in this."
"It's whatever." Ed shrugged. "This is nothing compared to what my teacher put us through."
The blonde looked around. "It just sucks… that we have no idea where we are." He smiled a little. "But, now that we're feeling better and energized again, we can work our way to the exit."
"You're awfully optimistic." Ling chuckled weakly.
"I'd say it's more 'stubborn.'" Manami scoffed.
"Yeah, she's right." Ed shrugged again. "If I even think of giving up, Al would beat the daylights out of me."
"..." Manami looked down to Al's hand around her own. "Al… I hope he's okay..."
"..." Ed frowned. "We're gonna find our way back to him, Manami. I promise."
But suddenly, Ling looked out to the darkness and stood up, now alert.
"Ling?" Manami blinked.
"Something's out there." Ling said, and Ed and Manami also stood up and followed his gaze.
Sure enough, from the darkness... emerged Envy.
"Figured it would be you guys…" He muttered.
"It's Envy alright…" Ling's eyes narrowed.
"Hey, Envy! Show us the way out!" Ed called, earning both Ling and Manami's glances.
"What are you doing, begging the enemy for help?!" Ling barked.
"If it means surviving and getting out of here, I'll be his best friend!" Ed retorted.
"Like he'd tell us anyway!" Manami argued.
"Shut up already!" Envy cut them off. "It doesn't matter, because there is no exit."
Everyone looked back to Envy, eyes wide.
"What..?"
"I can't believe this… the squinty-eyed brat was the only one meant to be swallowed. Not two sacrifices and me, too!"
"You said 'swallowed.'" Ling said. "So this really is inside Gluttony's stomach?" He asked.
"Yes and no— it's not so black and white." Envy sighed. "Sacrifices. You two should have guessed where we are by now."
"Well..." Ed thought for a moment. "When we were swallowed, I did feel something familiar…"
"You too?" Manami blinked. "I thought it was just me…"
"Nope." Envy said. "You've experienced it before."
It took Manami and Ed to think for a moment to connect the dots.
That eyeball…
"..! The portal of Truth..!" They both gasped.
"Bingo." Envy muttered.
"But how?" Manami asked. "The portal of Truth… it was the opposite of this…"
"Yeah… it was more like a white void." Ed added.
"So that's what the real one is like?" Envy asked. "Gluttony is a failed experiment by our Father to create his own portal of Truth. Despite his power, he still couldn't create one."
"Because that's something that shouldn't be replicated!" Manami yelled. "What kind of sick bastard would even think to do that?!"
"Let me guess, Furher Bradley?!" Ed asked.
"Ha!" Envy laughed. "Like that brat could even be close to our Father."
"Brat..?" Manami blinked. Bradley looked much older than Envy
"Like I said, it doesn't matter." Envy spat. "We're stuck in here. This place is somewhere between reality and truth. There is no exit. All we can do now is wait until we run out of energy and die."
"..." Everyone stared at him, in disbelief. Manami's shoulders began to shake.
"Don't think I'm buying that!" Ed yelled.
"Yeah, how do you expect us to believe you?!" Ling added.
But Envy didn't say anything.
"... he isn't lying… is he..?" Manami asked in the quietest voice.
"... we're going to die here?" Ling asked, too.
"No…" Ed shook his head. "We can't… Al's out there waiting for us…"
"..." Manami's eyes welled up with tears again.
"If the Furher is a Homunculus… an artificially created human…" Ed began mumbling. "Then those experiments in Lab Five…"
"Yup." Envy nodded. "All part of the plan."
"Was Ishval a part of the plan, too?!" Ed barked.
"Oh, yes!" Envy smiled with delight and let out a laugh. "I couldn't have asked for a more fun job!"
"Job..?" Manami whispered.
"That whole Civil War started because an Amestrian soldier 'accidentally' shot a child!" Envy held a hand up. "But it was no accident!"
He giggled with glee. "The one who pulled that trigger was none other than yours truly!"
Both Ed and Manami's eyes widened in horror.
"It was great!" Envy laughed. "So much destruction and death that all resulted from a single bullet!"
Manami and Ling looked over as Ed slowly started to approach Envy.
"The best part? The officer I disguised as? He was a humble officer who opposed the military's intervention in Ishval- and he was court martialed!" Envy didn't seem to be the slightest bit phased that Ed was approaching him. "Humans are so easy to manipulate! It's hilarious!"
"It was all you." Ed growled lowly. "You shot and killed that innocent child… destroyed my hometown… drove out the Ishvalans… you're the reason Scar turned into a murderer... and it's your fault that Winry's parents were killed!"
He raised his automail fist. "It was all you!"
He went to punch him across the face, his metal hand sinking into Envy's cheek. Red sparks flashed around them.
"..?" Ed blinked in surprise to see Envy had barely moved.
"Alright." Envy looked back at him as more sparks began to form. "If that's the way you want to play…"
"Ed, get back!" Ling yelled, which Ed wasted no time doing.
"I'll leave you brats with a parting gift…" Envy went to hunch over. "A gift from hell!"
"Manami… did you notice his footsteps when we were fighting him before?" Ling asked.
Manami shook her head. "No… why?"
"He's pretty heavy, considering the size of his body." Ling answered, as they watched Envy begin to transform and grow bigger… and bigger…
Until he was a giant behemoth, standing several feet above them.
"!" The three of them quickly jumped back as Envy went to slam down, making huge waves in the ocean of blood.
"I thought Homunculi were artificial humans!" Ling yelled.
"Us too!" Ed yelled back.
But suddenly, Envy swiped at them, sending them flying.
Manami landed near Ed and went to reach back for her fans… only to find one.
"!" She then remembered earlier, when Envy knocked one of her fans out of her hand in the fight before they got swallowed.
"Damn it… why did you have to piss him off..?" She muttered.
"Don't yell at me now!" Ed transmuted his automail arm into a blade. "Stay alive!"
"Not gonna happen!" Envy roared as he went to swing his tail at them, which Manami barely managed to block with her wind alchemy using only one fan, but it still sent her flying in the other direction.
Luckily, she was caught by Ling.
"Think you could make me a sword?" He asked her.
"Yeah. There's plenty of iron to go around, at least." Manami went to clap her hands and transmute a sword and then tossed it to Ling, before going to transmute herself a blade that was a little longer than a knife.
She held her only fan in her right hand, while she held the newly transmuted blade in her left hand— with Al's hand gloved over it.
"You think we can take him?" Ling asked her.
"I have no idea… but if this piece of shit is gonna kill us here, the least I could do is make him work for it." Manami's eyes narrowed.
"Heh," Ling chuckled. "That's fair."
"Let's go for the underbelly." Manami said. "That's our best shot."
"Right!" They both ran in opposite directions, while Envy seemed to be distracted with Ed, to where they both met under him and slashed in two different places on his underside.
Envy roared in pain, stomping around in an attempt to crush them, but they got out before he could. He saw Ling and swiped at him, sending him flying and crashing into a piece of concrete nearby.
"Ling!" Ed called, going to charge for Envy. "You bastard!"
He raised his blade, but stopped the moment that one of the human-like heads on Envy's body spoke, stopping him dead in his tracks.
"Kill me…"
"!" Ed's eyes widened in horror, freezing completely.
Manami saw Envy raise one of his paws to swipe at him... but luckily, Ling had returned, landing on the head distracting Ed and stabbing right through it. Manami took this opportunity to run and grab Ed and use her fan to clumsily wave the two of them away from Envy.
"Now's not the time to space out!" Ling yelled at him as he landed next to them.
"That was a person…" Ed whimpered.
"It wasn't!" Ling yelled back. "Whatever 'person' that used to be is long gone, Envy is just manipulating you!"
Manami looked up to see the multiple heads, all screaming in different voices.
"..." She knew Ling was right, but she also understood how Ed couldn't look past it, either.
"GRAH!" Envy went to whip his tail at them.
"We need to move!" She yelled as she went to try to block his tail again with her wind alchemy, but his tail weighed too much and was coming at her too fast… it broke through, going to slam her under the ocean of blood.
She then felt his tail wrap around her body and pull her out, then lifting her high into the air.
"Gah!" She yelled out in pain as his tail tightened it's grip around her.
"Manami!" Ling yelled, trying to run over to help her, but Envy simply swiped him away.
"Hold on, Manami!" Ed yelled as he ran towards her, holding one of his hands over his ear to try to tune the voices out. He reached the base of Envy's tail, his automail blade raised…
"Big brother…"
"?!" Once again, Ed froze in shock.
"Let's play."
"ED! MOVE!" Manami screamed as loud as she could.
"Playtime's over." Envy hissed, going to wrap his claws around Ed to pick him up, then harshly throw him down onto the concrete slab. Manami struggled in her bind that only tightened around her.
Envy opened his mouth, and what was apparently his "tongue" came out and wrapped around Ed, pulling him in towards his open mouth.
"Ed! Wake up!" Ling yelled, too far away and too far hurt to make it over to help him this time.
"ED!" Manami cried, unable to break from her bind to help him either. "NO! EDWARD!"
Envy's teeth closed around Ed with a loud SNAP!
Manami's eyes overflowed with tears, feeling her own will completely disintegrate.
This was it...
"Well, well… you're awfully quiet now." Envy snickered, moving his tail with Manami in it in front of his face, so that he could look at her.
"What happened to making me 'work for it?'" He teased. "I've barely broken a sweat."
"..." Manami said nothing, not even mustering the energy to look him in the eye.
"Hello? Are you dead, too? Or is that just the utter hopelessness?!" Envy laughed as he squeezed his tail tighter around her.
"GAAAH!" She cried out, actually feeling her ribs breaking.
Her screams only made Envy laugh.
"I absolutely love playing with my foo—"
THUNK!
Manami quickly looked up to see one of Envy's teeth popped out, with an automail leg sticking out of the hole.
"Hey, Envy!" A muffled voice yelled from inside his mouth. "Let me out! It smells like shit in here!"
"Ed..?" Manami's eyes widened.
"I said let me out!" Ed yelled again. "I think I know how to get us out of here!"
"!" Everyone's eyes widened in shock. Envy immediately opened his mouth so that Ed could climb out.
"Ugh…" Ed hopped down and went to wipe himself off, then went to look back up at him.
"You let Manami down too!" He demanded. "We're not doing nothin' until you do!"
"Fine, fine!" Envy growled as he lowered his tail to them, releasing Manami from the bind. She didn't have the energy to stand and she immediately collapsed. Thankfully, Ling was there to catch her.
"Alright, I met all your demands." Envy said. "Now how do we get out?"
"You see this mural?" Ed pointed to it behind them.
"Yeah, but there are pieces missing."
"Do you know where the rest of them are?" Ed asked him.
"You want me to go looking for them too? I'm not your errand boy!" The behemoth roared.
"You're bigger and can travel the distance farther!" Ed argued. "Plus you have countless lives to spare. It's our only chance of getting out."
"... fine." Envy turned away. "But if I find out you're bullshitting… there will be hell to pay."
Ed watched Envy disappear in the shadows before checking on Ling and Manami.
"These are from the Xerxes ruins?" Ling looked over the fragments that Envy managed to recover and bring back.
"Yeah, there was a temple in the ruins, but the top part was missing… you remember, Manami?" Ed turned to look at Manami.
She nodded. "Yeah… these fragments look like what would've been what was missing."
"But piecing these with what we saw… this isn't a circle like the one I saw in Lab Five after all." Ed went to put his automail hand on his chin as he thought.
"You seem to be understanding something I'm not." Ling broke the silence.
"This mural…" Ed looked back to him. "It seems to be a summoning circle for Human Transmutation. Bear with me, but…"
He paused, before looking down to his feet. "We already know that you can't use alchemy to bring back someone from the dead… but, what about using alchemy on someone who's still alive?"
"?!" Manami's eyes widened.
"A living person?" Ling asked.
"I can use this transmutation circle to deconstruct myself, then put myself back together. It's technically human transmutation, and it'll probably open the portal." Ed answered.
"You think we can open the real portal, within this fake one?" Manami asked.
"... only one way to find out." Ed looked up to meet her eyes. "I'll open the portal, and you three jump through it…"
"No, it's too risky..!" Manami argued. "There's no promise that you'll even open the portal! Who knows what could—"
"If the only other option is to die here, then I'd rather die trying this one last shot to get out." Ed cut her off, making her flinch.
She couldn't argue with that logic, but...
"She's got a point though." Envy spoke up. "What happens if it fails?"
"I'll be the one opening the portal, so if it fails… it'll rebound against the one who performed it. In this case, me." Ed answered.
Manami's eyes narrowed. She got a bad feeling…
"I'm not going to act like I know anything about alchemy… but I agree with Ed." Ling spoke up. "We are better off dying trying to get out than giving up."
"One more thing," Ed went to start drawing a circle in the ground. "Envy… the mural I saw at Xerxes… it looked roughly like this. What caught my eye is that this, the symbol for 'God,'" He pointed to it.
"It's upside down…" Manami mumbled.
"And then the two-headed dragon underneath it…" Ed also pointed to it. "The alchemic symbol for a complete life form. This basically translates to 'striking God down and becoming a perfect being.'"
"Talk about an arrogant concept…" Ling muttered.
"... but then I saw this…" Ed walked to the mural and pointed to it. "The lion going to swallow the sun… the sun symbolizes the Philosopher's Stone, which is made with live humans."
Ed looked back to Envy. "How can a society as advanced as Xerxes fall in a single night? What happened to it's people?"
"..." Manami's eyes widened. "These fragments… why else would they be in here other than to dispose the evidence…" She started to catch on.
"Exactly." Ed gritted his teeth, not breaking eye contact with Envy.
"You killed them. You sacrificed them all to make a Philosopher's Stone, didn't you?"
"... I didn't." Envy said simply.
"Then who?!" Ed barked. "It was your Father wasn't it?! He used all of Xerxes to create a Stone, you Homunculi, and try to surpass God— and now he's trying to do it with Amestris, isn't he?!"
Manami gasped and also looked to Envy, in anticipation of his answer.
"... you get us out of here first, and then I'll tell you everything." He smirked devilishly. "No more beating around the bush. You need this to do your transmutation, right?" He opened his mouth and revealed his Stone deep inside his throat.
That was essentially his heart. But Ed's focus was on the bodies warped into Envy's body.
"Those people… they're from Xerxes, aren't they?"
"They were," Envy answered. "Their minds and bodies have been lost long ago. All that remains are their souls, being used as energy sources… they have no recollection of who they once were."
"How awful…" Manami's face twisted in disgust.
"Are you pitying them?" Envy asked. "How childish. You just want to see these as human because you want to believe that armor boy retains his humanity."
Both Manami and Ed flinched.
"Shut up!" Manami yelled at him, immediately defensive. "You're wrong!"
"Do you hesitate to make a fire because you pity the trees they came from?" Envy asked. "These souls… they have nothing to be restored to! Use logic instead of emotion when determining what a 'human' is!"
"..." Ed turned his head. "Let's do this… I want to get out of here."
"Ed…" Manami spoke up. "Are you sure about this..?"
"Yeah." He forced a smile to her. "... if I don't make it, tell Al and the others about what these guys are up to." He pointed to Ling with his thumb.
Manami's eyes trembled softly. "But…"
"Don't put that pressure on her." Ling spoke up, frowning at Ed. "You've got people waiting for you too, Ed. So just make it back and tell them with us."
"..." Ed chuckled softly. "Get in the circle, Envy… we're doing this." Ed said as he also went to approach it.
Manami silently watched Ed approach the transmutation circle he drew... she had thoughts rapidly racking her brain. She couldn't let him do this alone… but he probably wouldn't let her join him. Was he really going to open the portal? There was no way that Ed would let Manami volunteer to open the portal instead, but she started to wonder if she did...
Would she see Truth again?
"..!" Her eyes widened. If she saw it again, she could ask about… what really happened all those years ago…
A clear answer to what happened to her parents.
"Alright…" Ed took a deep breath before going to struggle to lift his hands. "Get ready..!"
While he was distracted, Manami mustered the courage to step inside the circle. She made sure to clap her hands together at the same time Ed did.
"?!" Ed looked over to her in surprise. "Manami?!"
"What are you doing?!" Ling gasped.
"Sorry…" Manami forced a smile to Ed. "I can't let you do this alone…"
"... you idiot…" Ed gritted his teeth. They couldn't go back now.
They put their hands on the ground together, and that familiar purple light began to shine. The black tendrils from their nightmares began to emerge around them, and they both looked down to see it…
That eye.
"Ling, jump in!" Ed yelled to Ling, and he and Manami watched as their friend stepped inside the circle.
"You two better make it!" He yelled, as his body began to disintegrate.
They began feeling their own bodies falling apart as they looked back at each other.
She was still forcing a smile... but Ed could still see the fear in Manami's eyes. He could tell that she was trying her best to be brave, and although he wouldn't admit it aloud... he knew that he was just as terrified as she was.
He didn't want her to join him in this, but he did find some solace in that he wasn't alone…
And then everything went white.
Manami felt the familiar sensation of being carried to the portal of Truth. She squinted her eyes shut, too scared to open them to see what was happening... but she could still feel the memories coursing through her very soul, as she felt her body falling apart more and more. Tears stung the corners of her eyes, but she refused to open them to see where she was or where she was going.
She had to focus. She had to make her way through.
But suddenly… THUD! Manami felt herself fall on the ground. All was still and silent around her, which meant that she wasn't moving through the portal anymore…
"..?" She slowly opened her eyes to see nothing but white around her.
The void...
"I made it…" She looked around to see no one else.
She hoped Ed and the others made it, too… but Manami deduced that Ed had probably gone through his own portal and wouldn't meet her here.
"Hello, Alchemist." She flinched when she heard the familiar voice, then turned to look behind her and see the familiar silhouette standing before her.
"It's you…" Manami's eyes narrowed as she went to stand up and face it.
"Me, indeed!" Truth grinned. "What's the reason for your visit today?"
"..." Manami swallowed thickly. "I…"
She found that she had no voice.
"Hurry, your time is limited."
"I-I want clarification..!" Manami stammered, clenching her fists. "I want to know what happened! Back then… you told me that my toll was 'solitude.'"
"That's correct." Truth answered.
"But it wasn't made clear what happened to them... what happened to my mom and dad?" Manami asked, feeling her heart start to pound.
"Do you wish to bring them back to life?" Truth asked, their grin growing wider.
Manami flinched at the question. She didn't want to say "no," but how could she bring them back, even if she wanted to?
"... I think I learned my lesson…" She said bitterly.
"Good!" Truth grinned. "Now, what specifically happened? You should know… their souls have passed through the door, and their bodies remained in your world."
"..!" Manami's eyes widened in horror. "Th-That means… their souls were taken and... that monster with two heads... was…"
"Time's up." Truth cut off her train of thought, as the giant doors opened behind her.
"Goodbye, young alchemist!"
"Wait!" Manami struggled as the black tendrils wrapped around her and began to drag her back.
"Why did they get involved?! They didn't perform the transmutation with me! They shouldn't have gotten involved! ANSWER ME!"
But then the door shut in her face. And everything went black once again.