Envy hated the North at first sight.
It wasn't the howling wind or the cruel bite of the cold. The elements meant nothing for a Homunculus. They were a mere inconvenience at most.
It was the snow.
And not because of the annoying way it crunched beneath their feet and slowed their progress, nor because of the never-ending flurries that obstructed their vision and stuck to their clothes.
The problem was the color.
Pretty much everything was white.
And there was something about that that made them feel uneasy.
Envy had no idea where this had come from. They have never had an aversion to white before, or to any other color. It was stupid and it made no sense.
Then again, what did these days?
Compared to everything else that was gnawing at their very core – the unwanted and frightening depths of emotions about their siblings, the inexplicable and growing resentment towards Father's callous goals... hell, even the fact that they had not tortured that idiotic chimera to death and had brought him to Greed instead... well, the way they felt about the color of the snow shouldn't have even registered.
But it was no use.
It was like it reminded them of something painful and monumentally important, and yet they had no idea what it meant. It was strange and frustrating. And a little unnerving.
The journey from Central had been long and uneventful, and it had left them with a lot of time to think. To think thoughts they had never considered before.
For example, they began mulling over the implications behind their mission.
Normally they would have relished the opportunity to hunt down the cockroaches that had given the Homunculi so much trouble. Pride wanted Scar dead, and Marcoh and the Elric brothers back in Central. And Envy should have gladly jumped at the opportunity, if only to teach Marcoh a painful lesson about disobedience.
They found themselves utterly indifferent towards the prospect. But bringing him and the Elrics back meant that Father's plans would be furthered and they would all be one step closer to a successful Promised Day.
Only problem was, Envy didn't know if that was a good thing or not anymore.
Zampano was a bad actor.
On the train ride to Asbec, Envy had reached the conclusion that this whole thing was likely a trap, and when the guy rushed to greet them, they realized they were right.
He had the whole act wrong. His body language and the look in his eyes behind the round glasses weren't in sync, his words sounded rehearsed and, overall, he just wasn't convincing. At all.
Not that Envy even needed to notice all of that.
The simple truth was that Kimblee's men were just not competent enough to pull this off. Their gullible nature, readiness to follow orders while being unfit to be leaders in their own right and mediocre intelligence were all well-recorded in the army archives and psychological evaluations... and were actually why they had been chosen to be turned into chimeras.
Had the call come from Kimblee himself, Envy would have likely fallen for it. Unlike Zampano and his partner Jerso, Zolf actually possessed the power and the cunning to corner the errant sacrifices and their friends. But the Crimson Alchemist was nowhere to be found, and Zampano was not Kimblee.
The warthog chimera had turned traitor. Jerso was probably in the same boat.
But the trap they were cooking up worked just as well for Envy's goals here. The important thing was to get to Marcoh and the Elrics. Everything else, the chimeras, Scar... that didn't matter at all.
Eventually Zampano led them to the outskirts of the Ishvalan refugee camp where the runaways were supposedly hiding. Envy had assumed the form of an Ishvalan youth. Just to keep up appearances. They knew that Zampano was herding them to the trap, and Marcoh and his cohorts knew that their prey was coming. It was a farce, but a necessary one.
And so Envy finally found themselves staring at Marcoh across a bare, white field.
To say that the old man looked different would have been an understatement. Something bad must have happened to him after Scar busted him out of the lair because, even at this distance, Envy could see that his face looked... well, melted.
A memory came unbidden inside their head.
It was the day after Greed took "Crown". The two of them had woken up late after a night of murder and passion, and Envy had – belatedly – remembered that the prisoner in the lair hadn't been fed in at least two full days. They always forgot just how long could humans go without nourishment, and Marcoh was supposed to be important, so off they went.
Greed had decided to tag along. After he had gotten the hotel and the casino, he had no interest in actually running them, so he had nothing better to do, he claimed with a laugh.
When the two of them opened the door to Marcoh's cell and carried the tray with food inside, the first thing Envy saw was the old doctor's eyes. At the time, this horrible, stricken expression that seemed to be permanently stuck on his stupid wrinkled face had annoyed them greatly and they had proceeded to taunt him mercilessly under Greed's uncaring, sardonic gaze.
They never could understand this man's distress. Even back during the war, when he made the Philosopher's Stone, he had looked just as miserable. But as far as Envy was concerned, Marcoh always had a way out. He was just too cowardly to take it. Humans and their contradictions, right?
But now he seemed... changed, and not because of his disfigurement. His posture oozed confidence, shoulders squared and spine straight. And his eyes – well, the one that still remained – no longer held guilt and fear.
The determination in Marcoh's stare was so fierce that it gave Envy pause for a second.
Only for a second.
"Who is this man with you?" Marcoh called out to Zampano when the two began closing in.
Without waiting for the chimera's answer, Envy put an end to the charade and reassumed their favorite form.
"Go ahead," they shrugged at Zampano over the red crackling light that washed through their body, "Rejoin your friends. But next time keep in mind that you really aren't a good actor."
"So you are aware that we lured you into a trap, is that the way of it, Envy?" Marcoh gave them an appraising look as the startled chimera ran towards him and Jerso.
"Hello to you too, doctor. I do like the new look, it suits you," Envy grinned crookedly at him, then looked around, exaggerating their body language. "So... want to tell me where have you hidden Scar and the Elrics?"
Marcoh simply smiled.
And the snow underneath Envy's feet exploded, throwing them off balance. They yelped in shock at the surprising attack and tried to step back, but then the snow and the cold air around them were suddenly transmuted in a blue gleam (How? Marcoh was just standing there and wasn't doing any alchemy whatsoever!) and before they could react, they found themselves inside a cage made of sharp, thick icicles.
Envy's ire felt boiling and demanding under their skin.
They burst out of the icy cage, ignoring the pain, and snarled at the old alchemist. "I came here to talk, Marcoh, so don't push your luck!"
A cold voice, colder than the all the blizzards in Briggs, spoke behind them. "What makes you think that we have anything to talk about?"
Shit.
Scar.
Envy whirled around to face him but, to their astonishment, they were too slow.
All they saw was a brown, calloused hand closing in around their face, swift and deadly as a viper.
And then pain. A pain worse than anything they had felt before, scorching their whole body from the inside out.
They tried to twist away from him, desperate and horrified, but it was no use.
The last thing Envy felt before they died was their own skull splitting open as their head was deconstructed away.
When they came back to their senses they were lying in the snow, the crimson light of their Stone frantically repairing the damage the Ishvalan had inflicted.
They started gulping air down greedily, the small chest of their favorite form heaving feverishly. When their blurry vision focused on Marcoh's disfigured face mere inches above theirs they tried to claw their way back in panic.
Only to look up when they bumped the back of their head into Scar's boots. The grim-faced Ishvalan who had killed them just moments ago was staring impassively down at them, his red eyes narrowed and his right hand visibly tense and ready to strike again.
"You said you wanted to talk, Envy," Dr. Marcoh said and they turned their eyes to him, trying to get a hold of themselves. "So talk. But before you do, think about something. You made me create Philosopher's Stones for you. Has it ever occurred to you that an alchemist who can make something, can also learn how to... unmake it?"
The threat couldn't be more explicit if he tried. That wretch was likely capable of harming them far worse than Scar ever could. Envy swallowed nervously.
"You're wasting your time, Marcoh," Scar said evenly. "Let's just kill it and get on our way."
The doctor seemed to be considering it, and then Envy heard another voice, child-like and with an odd hollow echo to it.
"Wait!" Alphonse Elric exclaimed. "I want to hear what Envy has to say first."
They couldn't help but snort lightly. Leave it to that kid to be the voice of mercy. "Hey there, Tin Can," they slowly sat up in the snow, every move as controlled and non-threatening as possible considering that they had Marcoh and Scar far too close for comfort. Then they looked at Alphonse's large, metal form. "Where's the Pipsqueak?"
"Hey!" A girl's voice boomed next to him and Envy turned to stare at the same little Xingese brat who had accompanied Scar in the fight at Father's lair when Envy, Greed and Fullmetal escaped from Gluttony's belly. She seemed angry... and so did the diminutive panda that sat on her shoulder. What kind of circus had they barged into, for God's sake? "Don't speak to Sir Alphonse like that, Homunculus!"
"Sir Alphonse?" Envy couldn't help but cackle softly at that. And then it dawned on them. "You two did the alchemy back then, didn't you? I wondered how was Marcoh able to transmute without lifting a finger. It wasn't Marcoh at all, right?" They glanced at the doctor's destroyed face. "Clever. Annoying, but clever."
"We're not here to trade barbs and small talk, Envy," Marcoh said calmly. "If you have something worthwhile to say, say it. And if not..."
They huffed angrily.
This whole situation was really not to their liking, with the filthy creatures looking down at them and behaving as if they held Envy's life in their shit-stained hands, and the worst part was that it was all on their own volition. They could assume their true form and just squash all of them before they could blink, but with Scar and Marcoh around it was going to be a close call and utterly counterproductive to what they were hoping to achieve here.
So they looked at Alphonse and said two very simple words.
"Equivalent exchange."
What is Envy talking about?
This is set in episode 43.
See you next time!
Peace!