Chapter Eleven: Reflection of a Monster

"So, you're Roy Mustang are you?"

Mustang stood in salute before the Lieutenant General. He quietly nodded, "Sir."

"I received a call from my wife a short while ago."

"Lieutenant General Raven, sir, I've been so busy since I transferred to Central, so I apologize for not coming to pay my respects earlier, and doing so now so late at night."

Raven smiled kindly, "No problem. By the way, how is that old fox Grumman doing?"

"The same as always, sir," Mustang inwardly sighed, "He spoke of you once and mentioned that you're exceptional, but too sentimental."

Raven seemed to get heated up over this comment. "What an affront! I was chosen to transfer to Central because of the compassion I had for my men! That border-dwelling old coot has no business saying anything! Oh – pardon me…"

"Not at all," Mustang smirked, slyly, "In fact, General Grumman said that if the general became irritated at that comment, that you were still a just man, and would be there if I needed you."

"Ah…he got me again…" Raven sighed, "Well, it's time for my meeting. Let's talk on the way there."

The exited the office and started to stroll slowly down the long corridor. "So, how are you getting used to Central?" Raven asked.

"It's busier than the East. I make every effort to speak with the citizens but most of it's just mindless drivel," Mustang smirked and added with a sarcastic tone, "Scar was seen giving food to a cat, some people who are immortal have appeared, and even one rumor about the Fuhrer being a homunculus…"

Both men burst out laughing. Mustang found himself forcing it a little, and Raven cut him short with a comment, "You've got some sense of humor, don't you? Are you sure you were one of Grumman's men?"

"I failed to pick up any of that from him, sir," Mustang replied.

"Well, even that bit of gossip will give us something to talk about over tea."

Mustang felt the color drain from his face as his original plan to speak to Raven in private fell to pieces before his eyes. "Eh…I couldn't possibly attend something like…" but Raven had already opened the door and invited him in.

All Centrals senior officers were seated around a table. Each of them had a stern, unforgiving look in their eyes. Mustang stepped in and heard the door close behind him.

"Go ahead…" came Raven's voice, a little less inviting this time, "Tell that joke you told earlier. Something about the Fuhrer being a homunculus. Please continue."

Mustang felt a bead of sweat roll down his neck.

"What's the matter, Colonel Mustang?" Mustang felt his heart drop to the bottom of his chest as the Fuhrer appeared from another room. "If I were a homunculus, then so what? Is there some problem with that?"

Mustang locked eyes with the Fuhrer's fierce stare as he realized the truth behind the warning Hughes had given him. The military wasn't in trouble. The military was the trouble, and he had walked right into the thick of it.

Calmly, the Fuhrer motioned for him to follow, and Mustang knew he would be a fool to disobey. Mustang trailed in the Fuhrer's shadow like an obedient puppy as he was led to his office and order to take a seat across from the desk. It was the first time he had ever been inside the Fuhrer's office, and he admitted to himself he would have liked to have seen it under better circumstances.

The Fuhrer passed him and stood behind the desk, with his back to him and gazing out the window at the city of Central. Mustang gazed at the back of his head for a moment before asking the question that he had been itching to ask, "Why are you keeping me alive?"

At first, he thought the Fuhrer wouldn't respond, and then, "In order to understand your position."

Mustang was a little confused by his reply, but it seemed the Fuhrer would not elaborate. However, if his life wasn't in immediate danger, perhaps, he could extract some information while he still could. "How long has the military been bowing to the homunculi?"

"It has all been set up since the birth of this nation."

Anger started to rise in Mustang's chest, "So, you've been watching us struggle and snickering to yourselves for all this time? Your hands that were trembling at General Hughes' funeral…Did you fake that too?"

Still the Fuhrer did not face him. "Everyone makes too big a fuss over the loss of one soldier. Hughes' must have at least known that there was a possibility his uniform was what he would be buried in."

Mustang sat patiently, pushing down the anger that threatened to rise up and take over. He could very well be executed for speaking back to the Fuhrer, how things were now.

"General Hughes' child…" the Fuhrer continued, "Could there be anything more noisy during a funeral? She truly did grate on my nerves."

At this he finally turned to face Mustang with fury in his eyes and the anger Mustang had been trying to push down the entire time rose up again in defense. He couldn't help himself, but he managed to curb his tongue, "I thought you had a child too! How can you say that?"

"You mean Selim?" The Fuhrer turned back to the window, hiding his face, "He's a very good boy."

"What if he were to find out that the father he looks up to is a homunculus?" Mustang said darkly. Mustang found he was holding his breath, waiting to see what his punishment would be for that implication on the Fuhrer.

"Is that a threat?"

Mustang waited.

"It won't work. He will never be a way to get to me," the Fuhrer said, "but your case is different. They can be used to get to you."

It took him a moment to realize what the Fuhrer was saying, "Lieutenant Feury has been relocated to the Southern Command Center; Lieutenant Breda to the Western Command Center; Warrant Officer Falman to the Northern Command Center; and Lieutenant Colonel Hawkeye has been kept in Central…under my direct authority… And that's that, Colonel Roy Mustang."

Mustang blanched. Cold sweat ran down his face as he stared back into the Fuhrer's sharp eye. So, the homunculi had caught on to what he had been planning when he brought his team in from the Eastern Command Center. This was bad. With his team separated he had no way to act if something were to happen. He was a sitting duck.

Wait.

He could turn this around on the Fuhrer. If the Fuhrer thought he had Mustang in the palm of his hand, he would just have to make him think the opposite. A sudden idea rose in his mind and Mustang took the opportunity.

"That's fine," he said, suppressing his dissatisfaction and masking it with an air of confidence. The Fuhrer didn't seem too bothered by his sudden change in reaction. In fact, he seemed to be studying it. Yes, he wasn't stupid – a stupid man could not have risen so quickly in the military. Mustang would have to tread lightly to get around him – it was just a game of chests.

"I have been using a valuable trump card against you homunculi for a while now. As long as I still have that, I'm in good standing," Mustang pushed.

The Fuhrer didn't seem to take the bait off the hook, "You're a fool if you even think you can outsmart us – remember, we hold each member of your team a hostage. Your actions determine when their lives end."

Mustang was well aware of that, but he remembered what Grumman had said… 'Once you were sure you had won, you blew it. You don't finish strongly enough. You're unable to act ruthlessly.'

Mustang stared back into the Fuhrer's eye and told himself this was all one big chest game. He met glare with glare, and said, "Not a fool, sir. There's no need to meddle to outsmart if I have connections already."

Something flashed behind the Fuhrer's eye, and Mustang caught the look of surprise. Just a little further, just a little more of a push, that was all he needed. Mustang continued, "But by all means, drag my men to the farthest reaches of Central. The fact that you haven't acted against the others in my team goes to show you don't even know who they are."

Be ruthless like your enemy…

The Fuhrer studied his expression carefully, unsure of how to respond. Mustang could see the guarded confusion behind his eyes no matter how hard he tried to hide it. Then, after a moment, it completely disappeared and the Fuhrer asked, "Do you know how a homunculus is made, Colonel?"

Mustang felt as if the chest board had been pulled out from underneath his pieces, scattering them, and leaving him to scramble to put back the pieces to the way they were before. The Fuhrer continued, "A Philosopher's stone is a high-energy body that contains the souls of many people. When it is placed in a human body it is met with rejection, as it attempts to take over that body. This is repeated as a result of the destruction and mending caused by the stone. The original body can either die or overcome the Philosopher's stone. Eventually, all that remains is a single soul, and the feeling characterized by that soul."

"If you were originally human," Mustang said, "can't you live as a human and not as a homunculus, Your Excellency?"

"Go back to being human? Impossible. This body transcends a human one. It is a far superior form," the Fuhrer stared at Mustang for a moment before adding, "Just as you humans are proud of being human, we have our pride as homunculi."

"This is the last piece I could find in the area," Envy dropped a large stone next to Edward, who was busy painting a circular design on the face of the rock he and Ling were standing on. Ling had pointed out earlier that he was using blood to draw the workings of the transmutation circle. Edward had ignored him, too concentrated to respond. Envy had fallen into an odd silence as he let the midget work. Once or twice he caught Ling staring at him out of the corner of his eye, but he ignored it and continued to wait patently.

"That should do it," Edward finally said as he threw the stick he was using to draw with to the side. He stood up to admire the details of the circle he had created.

"What is it?" Ling asked.

"It's a recreation of the transmutation circle I saw while I was in Xerxes," Edward explained, "In alchemy, the sun represents the soul, the moon represents the mind and the stone the mural is depicted on is the body."

"Hey, now, keep it simple for me," Ling frowned.

"In other words," Edward continued, "this is a recreation of the human transmutation circle."

"Human transmutation?" Ling gasped, "You mean the kind that brings people back to life?"

"No. The basis of alchemy rests on equivalent exchange. You cannot create something by transmuting a soul that does not exist in this world. I've tried it already…" Edward said, "But, I had another idea. What if I were to retransmute myself, a living person?"

"Retransmute?" Ling asked.

"Yeah," Edward nodded, "Using the transmutation circle, I'll decompose myself and then reconstruct myself the way I was before. That's human transmutation too. I'm sure it will open the doorway. If Gluttony is a false Doorway of Truth then if we pass through the right doorway, I'll bet we can come out in the right space. I'll open the doorway, and you two jump through it."

"What happens if it doesn't work?" Envy asked.

"A rebound," Edward replied, "The failed technique bounces back onto the alchemist that performed it."

"I'm a complete outsider when it comes to alchemy. It's up to you," Ling declared.

"All right," Edward nodded. Then, he turned to Envy, "Hey, Envy, there's something I've wanted to ask you."

Envy regarded him with a wary gaze and Edward continued, "The mural I saw in Xerxes was more-or-less like this one," he pointed to the circle he had drawn, "but what bothers me is this symbol. The writing that represents God is upside-down. Then, there's the two-headed dragon, this indicates a perfect being. In other words, this says 'I will strike God down to Earth and become the perfect being.'"

"Quite a thing to say," Ling commented.

"What I want to know is who transmuted himself and those people in Xerxes?" Edward gritted his teeth at Envy, "Was it this 'father' you speak of? And are you guys planning to do the same thing in Central that you did to Xerxes!? Answer me, Envy!"

"I agreed to one question," Envy said, slyly, "and since I know you're about to ask me for a favor, I'll save you the trouble and get straight to the point. You need a toll to open the gate, right? You can use this."

Envy opened his mouth and allowed his philosopher stone to roll to the tip of his tongue. Edward gazed at it with a deep frown, but Envy could see the pity in his eyes and he knew he was thinking of the number of souls he would have to use to complete his task.

"I'm sorry," Edward said, quietly, "I will use you with care."

Envy felt the temptation to snort, but Edward had already clapped his hands together, "Here goes nothing!"

And incredible white light drove away the darkness. Envy resisted the urge to close his eyes. He wanted to see everything, watch it all happen like none of his species had before. He would be the first homunculus to cross the gate and have a memory of it. Suddenly, a large eye opened up in the floor in the center of the transmutation circle. He barely heard Edward telling Ling to jump in before everything went white. The same sensation that he had felt when he had been swallowed by Gluttony enveloped his body. It felt like tiny pinpricks everywhere on his skin.

Before he could think about it, he was standing in the middle of an all white space, flanked between two tall gates. The first thing he realized was that he was no longer in his true form, but rather in his preferred form, standing before a reflection of himself. Envy felt like he was in a trance. He couldn't take his eyes off the image before him. The violet eyes stared back at him with the same perplexed expression. Nothing surrounded them, no wind, no sound, and no signs of other life. Before Envy could think of anything, his reflection spoke.

"Who are you?"

Envy just stared back, utterly confused. The obvious answer was to give the answer that was dancing around on the tip of his tongue, but he couldn't bring himself to reply. Hesitation drew him back into a shell of his own being and caused him to reconsider something he should have known already.

"Who am I?" he heard his voice say, but this time he realized he had been the one to say it.

"I am the lie living as you," the reflection replied. Envy stared back, unable to respond to such an odd comment. Instead, he tore his gaze from his reflection and stared into the white. "Is this the Doorway of Truth?"

"Yes," the reflection said, "and you are a lie."

Envy found his anger deep within was starting to boil up, and he caught himself as he realized he was only getting angry because he knew it was true.

"An artificial human," Envy corrected his reflection.

"A lie created by a lie."

"No, a homunculus," Envy's voice was shaking with irritation.

"One half of the truth," the reflection agreed.

"One half…?" Well, Envy considered, there was two of him here, "Are you the other half?"

"No. I am a reflection of your inner soul."

"An illusion?"

"No, you're truth."

Envy felt this conversation was getting strange, but his curiosity drove him to ask more questions. He felt an overwhelming sense of self rise up in him. "So, I am not just Father's envy?"

"No, you contain a single soul and envy," the reflection said, "Your single soul allows you to judge others and perceive things as you do, while envy remains an influence on your intuition alone."

"And you are the…reflection of my soul?"

"Yes."

Weird. That was the first word that came to mind. Envy stared back at himself in odd amusement. So, this is what it was like to be inside the Doorway of Truth. This is was Fullmetal was talking about. He was confused about one thing though. "If my true form is a monster, then why are you a reflection of this form?"

"You have no true form. Your true form is a deception of the one who created you – you are whoever you wish to be, mind over matter."

Envy's eyes widened at the implication of that statement. So, the only reason he had lived his parasitic form was because Father had made him believe that was what he was and nothing more. Of course, it made sense. He had made him to envy after all. Now, that he knew this Truth, what did that mean for him.

"Since I have a soul does that mean I also have emotion and –,"

"You have love, but you don't know how to use it."

"That's not what I asked!"

"But you were thinking it."

Envy figured it was futile to lie to himself. His reflection suddenly said, "You have suppressed your emotions to the point where they no longer have any significant influence on your decision making."

"You think it's unwise?" Envy asked. He had always believed that emotion was a simple flaw humans carried that had been passed on to him, since he was an evolved human. However, the Truth was the Truth. If the Truth said emotion was important then perhaps he would reconsider and reevaluate the way he thought about things. He hated the idea of even sympathizing with the humans, but this was the Truth for crying out loud! If he really wanted to become the perfect being to spite Father as he planned then he'd have to make some adjustments.

"Yes and no," the reflection replied. Envy frowned at the vague answer. "The use of emotion versus the use of reason and in what amount of each is solely situational."

"You've got to be kidding me…"

"You are the lie, remember? Now, to find your truth."

Before Envy could say anything more the gate behind him opened up with a loud creaking sound. He spun around to see long black tentacle-like arms reach out for him. They wrapped around his arms and legs, a few twisted around his torso and head and pulled him towards the opening. Envy looked back at where his reflection had been and saw only white light.

Envy felt his body hit hard ground and the whiteness that had surrounded him a moment ago disappeared and was replaced by darkness. At first, he had thought that the transmutation had failed and that he was back in the stomach, but then, he heard a voice.

"Envy?" it was the voice of Father, and then it was shortly followed by another familiar one, "Envy!? This?"

That was Alphonse, Envy recalled. He felt weak and unable to even lift his eyelids. From the feel of his body, he could tell he was in his large, true form. Something moved on top of him and hissed in pain. Alphonse's voice came back, "Brother!"

"Al?" he heard Fullmetal reply, "Al in armor…which means…"

"We made it back, huh?" Ling's voice echoed through the cavern.

Envy felt them both get off of him and Alphonse say, shakily, "Brother, you're alive…"

"Yeah, sorry…I didn't mean to worry you," Edward replied.

"Ed?" came another familiar voice. Envy's eyes opened a bit to see Winry wrap her arms around Edward, "Thank goodness you're alive…I thought…you had really gone…for good."

"Don't cry, Winry," Edward scolded softly, "Everything's fine. But where are we?"

"We're –," Alphonse started but Winry cut him off again. Envy saw her staring over at him, searching his body like it was hiding something else she wanted to find. "Where's Envy?"

Edward and Ling exchanged a look and then Envy managed to stand up on all six legs as Edward gestured toward him. "That's Envy," he said, as though Envy were unable to speak for himself.

"Why does he look like that?" Winry mumbled. Her eyes were wide with fear or disgust, Envy couldn't tell which, but the look she was giving him struck him deeply. That and the fact she seemed unable to talk to him directly. Envy shoved Edward aside with a large foot before the pipsqueak could answer and said, "Why don't you ask me? I'm standing right here!"

Winry's face was lined with tears, dry and fresh. Timidly, almost fearfully, she asked, "Envy…why do you look like that?"

"That is his true form," said Father suddenly. Envy fell back into the shadows and allowed his Father room to speak. He moved toward Winry and studied her closely through emotionless eyes. Winry avoided his eyes and crossed her arms defensively. Her gaze landed on Envy, an unfamiliar form of him. "Who are you? You are not one of the sacrifices."

"Hohenhiem…?" Edward gasped, eyes wide. Father turned his attention to him and said, "It's strange…people coming out of his belly."

Alphonse and Edward stared in disbelief at the image of their father before them. It was him and yet it was not him.

"A steel arm and leg…a suit of armor," said Father thoughtfully with a hand on his chin. Then, he leaned forward and he was suddenly inches from Edward's face. Edward jumped back in surprise, wincing as his broken ribs protested.

"Are you the Elric brothers?" Father asked.

"You're…not him?" Edward said, staring at Father studiously.

"By any chance, do you mean Van Hohenhiem?" Father asked, rubbing his chin thoughtfully again, "What is your connection to him?"

"He's our father," Alphonse replied.

Suddenly, Father cupped Edward's head between his hands and grinned, "Father? What a surprise! He went and had children?"

Father laughed deeply, patting Edward on the head. Edward swiped his hand away and shouted, "Never mind him, who are you!? You look exactly like Hohenhiem, you know!"

Father suddenly turned away, rubbing his chin once more – this seemed to be an irritating habit of his – and started mumbling to himself quietly, "He couldn't be dead…"

"Hey, are you listening to me!?" Edward shouted.

"Brother, this man is –," Alphonse tried to explain, but Edward winced again after having yelled and expanded his lungs. Father seemed to noticed, "Are you injured?"

He moved quickly forward. He had suddenly grasped his broken arm and said, "This is broken."

With a flash of red light it was fixed. His hand felt his broken ribs and more flashes of light occurred as Edward's wounds were mended. "You are precious resources to me. Your good health is important."

Edward and Alphonse glanced at each other, "He performed alchemy without any motion at all," Edward muttered in disbelief.

"And he didn't thin out my armor when he fixed my hand," Alphonse added.

"…No equivalent exchange," they both uttered.

"What have you got going on inside you?" Ling said, drawing his sword, it was shaking roughly. His eyes were dark with hidden fear as he tried to concentrate on his opponent, this monster before him.

"Who are you?" Father asked, coldly. He suddenly turned to Gluttony, "You can eat him."

"Alright!" Gluttony waved his arms in glee. Ling tensed up, eyes widened on Gluttony, who had started forward, and Edward jumped in front of Ling, shouting, "Just a minute! He's a friend of ours! Out of consideration for us being your sacrifices, can't you spare him?"

"It is none of my affair. He is no one that I need," Father replied, walking slowly away from them.

"What?"

"Brother, the homunculus called this man 'Father'," Alphonse explained, "He is the one who created them."

"Really?"

"He fixed up our bodies, though."

"I don't care. I don't like him one bit!" Ling interrupted them, "He's just like those who laugh at humans for being foolish."

This caught Father's attention and he turned to face them again. "Do you think of bugs crawling along the ground as fools? When you see a worm struggling, you feel no association with it, because your levels are so vastly different, right? That's how I think about you humans."

Envy felt Winry's eyes on him, but he didn't dare meet her gaze. Odd, what Father said made sense to him. He knew he was far more evolved than a human, stronger, faster, smarter. However, he had recently been associating with Winry as if she were on an equal plane.

Don't look at me…

She was staring at him with wide eyes, disgust was written in every line of her face. Envy knew what she must be thinking: how could she have kissed that. He was a monster down to the very core and now his real form was revealed to her. Would she hate him? Would she pity him? Envy dreaded the latter.

This is his true form. Father had made it clear to her that Envy was not who she had originally thought he was: someone to trust. Envy had never planned on showing her this form, but he hadn't anticipated her to be here either. So much for his plan. He may as well start from scratch. There was no way Winry would want to even go near him again.

"You may have healed my injuries, but we still have irreconcilable differences!" Edward was shouting at Father. He had already taken a hit at him with his alchemy, but Envy wasn't too worried. The brat wouldn't be able to lay a finger on Father. "You seem to be the root of all this evil! I'm going to settle this right now!"

Envy shook off his thoughts and realized he should probably start helping out. Gluttony was busy chasing Ling around like an idiot and Father couldn't do much to Elric brother's without hurting them, and they didn't want that. "You're one to talk, pipsqueak," he smirked, getting Edward fired up, "Pipsqueak!?"

Edward clapped his hands and sent a handful of large steel wires flying towards Envy, but they spun off and trapped Father instead. "I got you, boss man!" Edward yelled triumphantly, before Father merely flinched and sent his bonds scattering into thousands miniscule pieces.

Taking advantage of Edward's moment of surprise, Envy bared his teeth and lunged forward, stomping a large, clawed foot down on where Edward had been moments before. The little bastard had been too quick for him. He jumped up and swiped at his face with his blade-arm. Envy slashed his tail at him and caught him in mid-air.

At the same time, Alphonse transmuted a part of the cement flooring into a rod and attacked Father with it, but Father simply decomposed it and sent Alphonse' flying backwards without even moving an inch. Ling had sprinted up to Father on his blind side at that moment, but Father transmuted a ram out of the floor and winded him. He crashed to the ground, holding his broken ribs.

"Ling!" Alphonse shouted, "What's going on?"

"He can transmute without making any motion at all," Edward groaned as he lifted himself off the ground.

Father sighed, "This is a waste of time."

He took a simple step forward and all of a sudden red sparks shot up from around him and illuminated the entire room. A shock wave pulsed from his body and outward, pushing them all back a few inches. After a moment, everything settled down and went quiet. Unsure of what to think, Edward tried to continue his fight with Envy, but as soon as his hands hit the floor he knew something was wrong.

He and Alphonse exchanged terrified looks and Envy watched, amused, as they tried it again and again, before saying, "My alchemy isn't working!"

Envy smirked as he crashed his large front claws down on top of them, pinning them to the ground. Gluttony lunged at Ling and sat on top of him.

"Ed! Al!" Winry screamed and ran towards them. Envy wiped around and snarled, "Stay back!"

Winry stopped dead in her tracks, face paled at the sight of his huge, monstrous eyes narrowed on her. Her stiff, terrified form tore Envy on the inside, but he reminded himself that the game was now over. Everything had been ruined. Winry didn't matter anymore.

"Envy, why don't you just kill her? She is no use to me," Father's cold words rang through the cavern and Envy's eyes landed on him. Everyone had gone utterly silent, except for Edward. "Don't you dare lay a hand on her!" he shouted angrily, and started to squirm under Envy's claw, "Let me go, Envy! I need to kick the shit out of that old bastard!"

Annoyed by Edward's defense, Envy put a little more weight on that side, squishing him a little more. He heard him grunt in pain as more pressure was pushed onto his ribs again. "Shut up, pipsqueak," Envy spat, and then he looked up at Father, "We can still us her for other things."

"She's not a sacrifice and she knows too much already. It's too much of a risk to let her go now," Father said, sternly.

"Why!? Why can't we use our alchemy?" Alphonse suddenly blurted and Envy caught on immediately: a diversion. He laughed mockingly and said, "I really can't get over you lower life forms! As soon as you gain great power you seek to abuse it, not even knowing what it is."

Envy tilted his head and caught Edward's eye as he continued talking. Hopefully the runt would catch on as quickly as he did. "Did you really think you brought about the prosperity you now have all under your own power? That's a laugh! You fools!"

As if on cue, a piece of Edward's original transmuted weapon he had tried to use against Father fell apart. The loud noise of metal on cement echoed through the cavern. After the sound fell silent, Edward replied, staring Envy right in the eye, "What is this!? You promised me that once we got back you'd tell me everything!"

"What's that? I don't remember promising anything to you worms!" Envy laughed loudly, using Father's own metaphor. Envy noticed that his own tone of voice seemed to mock Father's assumption of humans rather than agree with him and he wondered whether he had done it purposefully or not – would Father notice?

"Why you!"

"You talk too much, Envy," Father commented, but it seemed he had been distracted from his earlier topic.

"Okay, okay…"

Then, Father turned his attention to Ling, "You may not be such bad material. I might be able to increase the number of pawns I can use."

He touched a finger to his forehead and it opened up to resemble the eye Envy had seen when they had jumped into the portal Edward had transmuted. A red philosopher stone was extracted from the eye as a tear and closed up again. Envy knew exactly what was going on, since he had seen it done once before on Greed. "You're planning to do that?"

" 'That'?" Edward asked.

"Create a homunculus," Envy replied, shocking everyone but Gluttony and Father, "A philosopher stone is poured in. If all goes right, a human-based homunculus is created. Although, they are usually unable to withstand the stones power, and end up dying instead."

"I won't let you do that!" Edward grunted at Father, who had removed a bandage from Ling's cheek, showing the cut beneath. Suddenly, both Edward and Alphonse were struggling again and testing out their alchemy once more, only to have it fail time after time. "Hey, you, bearded guy, stop! He's got someone waiting for him! Let me go!"

"It's okay, Ed," Ling said, "This is what I've wanted. I came to this country to find a philosopher stone and now it's being handed to me. This is like a dream!"

"Oh, this is interesting," Father said.

While the rest were distracted, Envy nodded to Winry. She watched him, uncertain and fearful, as he muttered, "Get out of here."

She blinked and slowly started backing away from him. Her wide eyes were still on him and only when she was a few feet away did she finally turn on her heel and run. Envy turned back to see Ling convulsing with pain. He had started screaming and grunting as his body shook and trembled terribly.

"Ling!" Edward shouted, but even through all his pain Ling managed to smirk and say, "I told you to….not interfere….Just wait….I'm the man who will be the Emperor of Xing, Ling Yao!"

Someone screamed from the opposite direction and Envy, Edward and Alphonse looked over to see that Winry had been trapped in a spiral of cement, transmuted closely around her body. "Winry?" Edward gasped.

"We'll talk about this later, Envy," Father said, darkly, and Ling's body finally fell limp. He sat up and rubbed his head.

"Ling?" Edward called, and he looked up with a grin accustomed to the homunculus Envy used to know. Interesting, so it succeeded?

"You mean the owner of this body? Sorry, he's not here," Greed said, "Greed has taken over this container now."

"You're not Ling…" Alphonse mumbled in amazement, "What happened to him?"

"He's a fascinating kid," Greed said, standing up and cracking his neck, "He accepted me without any trouble."

"You're lying! He's not the sort to be taken over so easily!" Edward shouted. Suddenly, there was a huge crash and a door at the end of the cavern opened up. Everyone fell silent as they saw a man and girl enter from the darkness beyond. The girl was short and dressed in strange attire. Her long black hair was pulled into two braids and she had a small black and white cat sitting on her shoulders. She immediately hid behind the man once she saw everyone inside the cavern-room, and Edward recognized him right away.

"They're not human…" the girl said, shakily, "I don't like him most of all. He looks human, but he's not."

She pointed at Father, who simply stared back. It was obvious intrusions were not common down here in the dungeon-like place.

"Indeed, many people here aren't human," the man replied, stepping forward and bracing himself for battle. Then, the man's eyes landed on Edward, "Fullmetal Alchemist?"

"Where?" the girl jumped to attention and gazed about the room as the man pointed at Edward, pinned under Envy's claw. "I don't see him."

"He's there," the man insisted, "That small alchemist over there."

"What!?"

The girl's face fell as soon as she saw him and Envy wondered what the hell her problem was as she suddenly snapped, "How dare you fool with a young maidens heart, Edward Elric! You'll pay for this!"

Suddenly, she produced five throwing knives from her pocket and threw them into a stone next to Envy, who froze with a confused expression on his dragon-face.

"There's going to be hell to pay for all of you!" With that, the girl placed her hands on an array she had created with her foot in front of her and the rock beside Envy exploded into a thousand tiny, sharp pieces. Envy jumped back, freeing Edward and Alphonse, to protect his eyes from the daggers.

Edward and Alphonse immediately attempted their alchemy again and when it failed they high-tailed it to Winry to help her out of her cement prison. "Why isn't it working!?"

"Why are you able to use alchemy?" Envy asked the girl, but she and the man with the scar on his face simply stared back at him. "What do you mean?" the man asked.

"What's going on?" Winry struggled against the stone that held her in place as Alphonse attempted to rip it apart with his hands. It wasn't budging. "Why is Scar and that girl able to use alchemy and we can't?" Alphonse asked.

"I don't know," Edward said, and noticed Envy had started interrogating them, "We can salvage the situation though. Al, watch Winry!"

"It's not like I can go anywhere," Winry scowled.

Edward ran off towards the three others and shouted, "Scar!"

"What's he doing?" Winry asked as Alphonse attempted to pull apart a weaker looking section of the concrete, but failed. "I don't know."

"Let me tell you the truth about the Ishvalan Civil War!" Edward said, pointing at Envy.

Alphonse gasped, and Scar's attention was immediately drawn to Edward. "The truth?"

Envy glanced between them like a mouse caught between two tigers. Edward continued without skipping a beat. "The child-shooting incident that triggered the uprising was carried out by Envy here, who had changed himself into a military officer!"

Scar and the girl locked eyes on Envy, their surprise was quickly replaced with anger. Alphonse heard Winry mutter, "What…he caused…it all?"

"Winry…" Alphonse tried to comfort her, but there were tears already running silently down her face.

"These guys set up the whole thing!" Edward had finished.

Scar glared into Father's eyes, "It sounds like I need to get some more details out of you."

"Gluttony!" Envy ordered, and Gluttony lunged at Scar, but he was too slow and his decomposing alchemy destroyed the top half of his body, ripping his flesh into pieces as he was shot backward.

"Answer me! Why did you have to destroy us!?" Scar was furious, "Depending on how you answer, I will send you to God – no, you will not be with God, where my Ishvalan brothers sleep. Consider yourselves without rest or salvation!"

He crashed his right hand into the ground and the cement under Envy and Father exploded and trembled like a violent earthquake. Envy rolled lamely to the side and recovered quickly and Greed simply bounced up and onto a tall rock, saying, "Wow! Not bad for a human!"

"Greed," Father ordered, firmly, "Capture of the sacrifices."

"Okay, boss man."

Suddenly, Father was behind Scar with a question, "You. How can you use alchemy?"

Scar retaliated by grabbing his face with his right hand and as blue sparks shot up around it, he realized Father was not falling to the ground. Instead, he said into his hand, "Ho, you really are using it. Bodily destruction…no, decomposition, is it?"

There was a moment of silence and Scar jumped back. A blast of red light flashed through the cavern and he landed unceremoniously a few feet away on his back. "Mr. Scar! Huh –," the girl was knocked out cold by the massive arm of Gluttony.

Greed approached Edward with a grin.

Alphonse ran off in the direction of the girl, leaving Winry to her own devices. He threw a kick in Gluttony's direction and sent the monster flying away from them. Then, he picked up the girl in one arm and started running for the exit. He disappeared and Scar, Envy and Gluttony went after him.

Winry was left to wait for someone to notice her and at the moment, Edward and Greed looked like they were having a one-on-one sparing match rather than a fight to the death.

"Dumb prince! Snap out of it!"

"I'm Greed."

"Who cares, give Ling his body back!"

"I'm afraid I can't!"

Edward swiped at Greed and took his legs out from under him. The homunculus crashed to the ground. "Play it cool, will you!" Edward shouted, "What about your country? What about Lan Fan!?"

He managed to get a good shot in on Greed's face before he paused a moment to late and Greed twisted his arm back. "Daddy, sir! I caught him!"

Suddenly Envy entered carrying Alphonse and an unconscious Gluttony in his massive arms. He dumped Gluttony onto the ground and scowled at Alphonse, "Man, you've made such a mess of things. If you had behaved yourselves we wouldn't have done anything to you."

"Upstairs. Take them to Wrath," Father ordered and glanced down at Gluttony with little interest.

Envy dropped Alphonse and there was a brilliant flash of red light as he shifted from his large form to the one they were more familiar with. Greed let go of Edward and he immediately went to Alphonse to mutter something that Envy couldn't hear. Father turned to Winry with the same indifference he viewed everything and said, "Let Wrath decide what needs to be done with her. I suppose she could be of some use."

Winry's cement bonds were suddenly dispelled and she was immediately comforted by Alphonse, who helped her stand up. Envy felt a pang of anger towards this simple show of affection, and turned towards the exit with a sharp order, "Follow me."

Without question, Edward, Alphonse and Winry followed him out of the cavern room and into the corridor Alphonse had escaped to earlier. It was covered in bones and blood, but Envy simply stepped over most of it and stayed a good five feet in front of them.

The whole time Winry found herself staring at the back of his head, going over all the things she had heard and seen in the last few hours. The image of Envy's 'true form' was forever burnt into her mind. She didn't think she would be able to look at him the same anymore. Her vision of him had been forever tainted.

And then there was the fact about his involvement – no, cause – of the Ishvalan Civil War. Had Edward been telling the truth? Had Envy really caused it all? Had he been the one to shoot that innocent child?

Had he indirectly been the cause of her parents' death?

"Hey, where the hell are we going?" Edward asked, snapping Winry from her thoughts. They had come to an elevator door, where Envy had pushed an 'up' button. He didn't turn to face them at all. Instead, he waited until the elevator opened up before saying, "Get in."

His voice was emotionless and guarded, like he was suddenly afraid of letting too much escape through his tone. They reluctantly passed him and entered the elevator. Winry paused a moment to glance at his face, but he was staring at the wall, away from her. She didn't know whether he was angry with her or not. A part of Winry thought that perhaps he was avoiding her, because he knew she would start asking questions. She might not have been too far off.

When the elevator delivered them to the designated floor, Envy left as the same officer Winry had seen in the interrogation room. Edward and Alphonse jumped out in surprise and said, "Wait! This is…"

"Central Command Center!?" Alphonse finished in disbelief, "What's going on here?"

"Hey," Envy said, randomly, "You guys are filthy. Go take a shower."

Winry couldn't help but notice Edward's blood-stained clothing and silently agree. Envy led them as far as the bathroom door and once Edward and Alphonse had entered it, Winry found herself standing in the middle of an empty corridor with none other than Envy as company.

Unfortunately, Envy didn't seem up to talking about anything, because he went to look out the window across the hall without a word to her. He hadn't even looked at her since he had magically burst out of Gluttony's stomach, but Winry was about to do something about it. She needed answers, and she didn't care how angry or stubborn Envy was, she would get them.

Leonahari: Merry Christmas (belated) and Happy New Year (soon to come)! Sorry this chapter took me so long. I knew Christmas would be busy and after I got back from California everything was in high gear for it. Yesterday I finally sat down and said to myself 'Ashe, you have to write this next chapter!'

It usually takes me a while before I can get back into a routine, but I think I've got it back now.

So, in the middle of writing this I had this thought - what if the elevator Envy, Ed and Alphonse (not from my story, just the manga) stopped working and they were stuck in there? When I was watching that episode, I felt that Envy was just trying to talk less, since he got shit from Father earlier for talking too much. I think it would be amusing to see what they would do if they were stuck in the elevator together. I'm too lazy to write it, since I have this and the other story under way, but if anyone knows of a fic like that let me know. It would be a good read for sure :)

Oh, and btw... someone pm'd me about the bits with Mustang. I know this is a pairing fic E/W, but the bits with Mustang are completely relevant, so please be patient. Cheers and a Happy New Year! :)