It was perhaps ironic how the first emotion Envy felt when they climbed over the edge of the gaping hole in the floor and saw Wrath's corpse was anger.

They weren't completely certain who were they angry at. A part of them blamed Wrath himself. Much like Pride he hadn't been inclined to listen, and he had been willing to let the woman who had spent her short, mortal life with him die for the Dwarf's ascension. Hell, unless she had been stashed somewhere very close to the center of the lair – and she hadn't been – she had actually died… at least for a little while, until Van Hohenheim had finally put his big plan in motion with that reverse transmutation circle. Wrath's callousness suddenly made Envy sick to their core.

But the truth was that Envy's real ire was aimed at their own powerlessness.

It was a truth that had a bitter taste to it.

What had happened in Kanama had proved that Envy was utterly incapable of making their siblings see the Dwarf for what it was. Or it was perhaps their siblings who were incapable of listening. Or perhaps it had just been too late by the time Envy began trying. Perhaps somehow they had known Wrath was not going to survive the moment he and Scar remained alone in the round chamber where Mustang had become a human sacrifice. Perhaps it was fate, everyone's destiny written in starlight up in the heavens, and there wasn't anything you could do to change it.

Not that it mattered much, Envy thought as they stood over Wrath's mangled body. He had died in a puddle of his own blood, both his arms deconstructed away.

"The bastard actually looks peaceful," Envy heard Greed mutter behind them. Lost in their morose thoughts, they hadn't heard him climbing after them.

He was right, though. The expression on Wrath's face was serene, to the point it was almost absurd. He had never been serene when he lived, always having to maintain control over the cold fury that fueled his Stone; even before that, before he became a Homunculus, before he became Envy's brother, when he had been just a clueless youth trained by the military on the Dwarf's orders, he had been driven, intense and aggressive.

With his Philosopher's Stone extinguished, Wrath's body had lost its superhuman virility and power, and his true age was plain for all to see. His hair had turned white and brittle, and his skin was wrinkled and almost translucent, cracked in unnatural patterns here and there, a proof of the alchemical force that had kept him strong. And now he was an old man, who had died with a hint of a smile on his lips. In death he looked nothing like the living brother Envy had known.

"We got to go, sweet cheeks," Greed said, and they turned to look at him.

He was staring up, towards the surface. Shouts, explosions and the sounds of alchemy going off frantically suddenly broke through the haze, and they remembered where they were and what they had to do.

And so Envy turned their back on Wrath's corpse and followed Greed.

They had a deranged father to kill and dead siblings to avenge on him.

When the two Homunculi reached the courtyard, they saw that the Dwarf and Pride were surrounded by a sea of humans.

Everyone was there.

The Elric brothers and Hohenheim, Ling Yao and Lan Fan, along with little Mei Chang, all four of Kimblee's chimeras, Armstrong and his sister who led a force of both Briggs and Central soldiers, Fullmetal's alchemy teacher and her ox of a husband… even Mustang who had gone blind and Hawkeye who looked pale and exhausted almost to the point of collapsing.

Everyone.

Alchemists. Soldiers. Foreigners. Civilians.

Humans.

Humans, who were fighting with everything they had. Together. Feuds and differences forgotten. Just a bunch of people who were willing to put their lives on the line and stop the abomination Envy's creator had become.

Envy suddenly remembered a conversation they had had with Kimblee once, during the war in Ishval.

The Crimson Alchemist had been wounded by one of the fleeing Ishvalans as he had flattened down a small oasis village where a few freedom fighters had hid themselves. It hadn't been anything grievous or something, just a few cracked bones and a bunch of bruises mixed with a few hours spent outside during the most heated part of the day, but it had put him on bed rest for all of a day and a half before his patience ran out and he left the local military infirmary on his own.

Envy had come to see his condition the night before he left, disguised as one of the nurses. After all, Kimblee had been a prime candidate to receive the Stone Dr. Marcoh had been working on, so Envy, being one of the two Homunculi charged with carving the Ishvalan Crest of Blood, had had to make sure that their asset was in condition to contribute to the Plan.

"You could have waited for your reinforcements before you stormed that oasis on your own," Envy had hissed at him derisively when they leaned over, pretending to be doing a medical check. "We don't need hotheads who get themselves killed, Crimson," they had added as a warning. Kimblee was valuable… but he wasn't irreplaceable.

"I could have," he had smacked his parched lips in a civil smile, his normally pallid complexion darkened by the merciless desert sun. "But it appears you misunderstand a fundamental aspect of warfare, or at least the way I see it."

"Which is?"

"When you fight to the death, you endanger your whole being. You place a bet, in a way, and you stake everything you are. Your history, your memories, your achievements, your hopes… Everything you are, you put on the line, and so does the guy who stands against you. And at the end of it, one of you is no more." His teal eyes had glazed over, staring at the filthy ceiling and the fat desert flies who liked to buzz around the infirmary. "It's the most beautiful expression of what a person is." He had focused back on Envy. "If you had wanted someone careful, Homunculus," he smirked as he whispered the word, "you would have recruited a man like McDougal or Mustang. But you came to me. That's how I do things, immortal one. Life for us humans is too short to waste it waiting for reinforcements." He had chuckled softly as Envy snorted and shook their head, wordlessly leaving his bedside.

Kimblee, of course, had been a violent psychopath, and you had to take the words of a guy like that with a pinch of salt.

But as Envy watched Hawkeye guiding Mustang's aim so the blind alchemist could unleash a torrent of roaring fire at the Dwarf's direction, they wondered if Kimblee hadn't been on to something.

Maybe beautiful wasn't the right word, but for a fleeting moment Envy thought that they were finally able to understand something crucial about humans. They were all flawed, mentally, emotionally and physically, they were short-lived and weak-willed, and some of them were capable of every cruelty the Homunculi could think of and more… but when push came to shove, they didn't know when to quit. Envy had seen it before, but they could never really appreciate it until now.

It filled them with awe, to see such powerless beings trying to put down a living god.

Envy's eyes darted to look at Greed just as a volley of bullets hit the half-visible web of shrieking alchemical energy the Dwarf had encased itself with while the Tin Can and Armstrong both triggered transmutations to try and trap Pride in a similar way to what Hohenheim had done in Kanama, although the shadows somehow managed to evade them, the vessel surrounded by protective, swirling blackness – he was obviously trying to imitate the Dwarf, but even Pride's powers could not match a god's.

"They're trying to wear down his Stone," Greed said. "Look at him, he must be barely holding on to his power."

Just as he said that, Envy saw Ling lunge to strike a blow against the Dwarf from behind; the blade of his sword was caught in a powerful blast of energy that snapped the steel in two and sent the prince flying. Greed rushed forward and barely managed to catch the Xingese boy before he could hit the hard ground and break something vital.

Steadying himself with a hand upon Greed's shoulder, Ling turned and looked at the Homunculi.

"Glad you could make it, guys," he quipped, though his breathing betrayed how his strength appeared to be running out. "Truth be told, this guy is not a joke." He pressed a hand to his side and hid his wince, and Envy remembered that he had been wounded when he fought Wrath earlier.

"Yeah?" Greed narrowed his eyes at the Dwarf just as Olivier Armstrong bellowed an order in the distance and a rain of mortar shells rained down on it, obscuring it under a cloud of smoke and burning debris. "Well, kid, there's only so much you humans can do," a lazy grin bloomed across his handsome face, and Envy saw the Ultimate Shield slithering up his arms and shoulders, "Let's see how a Homunculus would fare." His purple eyes locked on Envy's and they could almost see the fire in Greed's stare even as his smile softened when it was turned towards them. "Help them out with Pride, will you, sweet cheeks? I think it's past time I had some words with dear old dad."

And just like that he was gone, dashing into the dark smoke with superhuman speed.

For a second Envy couldn't see a thing.

And then a deep, inhumanly loud screech thundered across the demolished courtyard, the shockwave dispersing the dust and the smoke. When they could finally lay their eyes on the Dwarf, Envy couldn't help it but gasp in shock.

It was on the ground, writhing in pain, sickly-looking veins bulging all across its perfect form. Greed was bent over it like a predator out of a nightmare, the orange glow of the fires reflected on the Ultimate Shield. One of his armored hands had been buried into the Dwarf's face, carbon-covered claws digging cruelly into alchemically-strengthened flesh.

"How'd that feel, Pops?" Greed sneered at him, and he must have looked terrifying to the Dwarf, his hatred for his maker finally allowed to manifest. "Even you gotta admit, it was a long way coming."

"He's down," Ling sounded almost bewildered next to Envy. "He went down."

He was wrong.

"Greed," the Dwarf hissed through clenched teeth as red lightning screamed and crackled around it and Greed. "Unintentional as it may have been," a small, pained groan escaped its lips but it didn't stop it from continuing to talk, "your arrival was most timely. You truly are a dutiful son, after all."

And then, suddenly, it was Greed whose body twitched and he cried out.

Oh no.

Envy and all their siblings had been brought to life by the Dwarf. Each of the Homunculi was composed of thousands and thousands of lost souls, the erstwhile citizens of Xerxes. And every time it made a new Homunculus, the Dwarf had splintered off a part of its own essence to make a Stone that would animate and empower his latest creation. Amputating those souls within itself whom it had judged to be too imperfect for its posthuman glory, the Dwarf had rid itself of the seven sins that had always plagued mankind according to the mythology of ancient Xerxes… but the spiritual link between creator and creation could never be severed fully.

They suddenly remembered Tim Marcoh's words, back in the North. When you made something with alchemy, you could also unmake it.

Each Homunculus carried a part of their father within.

And he could take it all back anytime he wished.

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!

Envy made to rush towards Greed, but their attention to the rest of the battle was lacking and they nearly paid the price.

They barely had the time to see Armstrong's huge, muscular body flying towards them and they somehow managed to duck and avoid the impact with the burly human who crashed just a few inches away from them, unconscious. The Strongarm Alchemist's fair skin was marred by deep, bloody cuts, and a few of the wounds looked especially nasty. And all that was on top of bruises and injuries that seemed a little less recent; he must have been fighting at his sister's side for hours by now.

Envy turned their head towards the direction where Armstrong had been thrown from and they saw a mass of black shadows and glowing eyes advancing towards a bunch of human soldiers. Alphonse was trying to hold it off, but he was losing ground. The sight was almost surreal under the bright sky and the warm sunlight.

Pride.

"Crap!" Ling swore, hurrying over to check on Armstrong.

For a heartbeat Envy was rooted in place, eyes darting between Pride and Greed, unsure what to do.

Every fiber of their being was screaming at them to go to Greed, to help him… but for all Envy might have desired to be like a human, for all the pain this had brought upon them, they were still a Homunculus. And a Homunculus was capable to always assess a situation and tailor their actions according to their strengths and circumstances. To be always cold and calculating, without letting emotions weaken the resolve to do what was necessary to win.

It didn't always work, of course. By now Envy knew well that Homunculi were far from perfect, and far less in control of their feelings and urges than they liked to boast.

But this time it worked.

Greed was struggling against the Dwarf, fangs bared in what seemed to be an enormous effort. His armored hand was still inside the abomination's head, red light pulsing up into his arm. The Pipsqueak tried to get to him and attack the Dwarf, but his blow was stopped in its tracks by a narrow wall that Envy's maker transmuted without even turning to look at the blonde alchemist.

If the Dwarf was able to eventually overpower Greed and take his power into itself, Envy stood no better chance than their lover.

In fact, their presence there might even make it worse, allowing the Dwarf to reabsorb two Philosopher's Stones.

That's how it felt to be a Homunculus who felt human emotions; knowing that the best course of action was to not aid the person that meant more than the whole world to you, and forcing yourself to take the agony and the guilt, to swallow the pain, because that's what making a choice on your own was.

"Find Mei! She can help him!" Envy shouted at the prince who had knelt at Armstrong's side, making the decision and breaking into a run towards Pride and the Tin Can.

They had to trust that Greed was strong enough to survive.

They had to hope.

"HEY, PRIDE!" Envy shouted roughly as they got closer to the mass of shadows. A few of the eyes that floated in the blackness turned to them and widened in surprise. "Forget those humans! You and I have some unfinished business!"

Pride pulled back a few sharp tendrils and held them coiled and ready to strike the moment Envy got within range. Envy! Pride's soft, immaterial voice didn't sound as confident and assured as it normally did. You got lucky in Kanama, but Greed won't be able to save you this time!

Envy did not bother to respond.

Instead, they let go of fear and doubt, and assumed their true form. It never ceased to amaze them how easy it was to turn into a human, or even an animal. It required nothing more than being observant and thorough, allowing your gift to do the work for you. But when it came down to returning their body to its original state… that alwayshurt. It was as if a part of Envy was fighting against it, mortified at having to exist in a body they hated and had never felt confidence or comfort in. It was a reminder of how wretched and misbegotten their creation had been.

They leapt high as their body grew and swelled with bulging green flesh covered with the weeping, twisted faces of the most envious and bitter among the dead Xerxesians. Enormous clawed limbs burst painfully out of Envy's sides just as their long, crocodile-like tail whipped the air, propelling them forward.

Pride's fanged mouths hissed vindictively and he fanned the shadowy blades and tentacles out, adjusting his aim for the big target Envy had presented him with.

"Envy, watch out!" Alphonse tried to warn them. It wasn't necessary, but Envy found themselves appreciating the gesture nonetheless.

But just when the black tendrils shot towards Envy, they shrunk themselves back into their favorite body, still in mid-air.

The move was so sudden that their insides clenched in agony for a brief moment, an enormous amount of energy drained from their Stone in less than three seconds. Envy's vision blurred, black and red spots dancing before their eyes… but the gambit had paid off.

Pride got caught utterly unprepared for something like this.

Blades of swirling darkness flashed harmlessly by Envy and they dove down, right into the bubble of shadows that had encased Pride's child-husk.

The cold hit them hard, and at first everything was so black that they wondered if Pride had somehow managed to gouge their eyes out without them noticing.

And then there was a brief flash of light as they tore through the shadows and saw Pride's vessel. Selim's little face registered unmistakable fear in the second before Envy's fist smashed against it and all the sharp maws that littered the shadows around cried out in pain.

Pride's vessel fell hard on the ground, and Envy allowed their body to crash on top of it.

He was in a bad shape. Pieces of pale skin were flaking off here and there, and his jaw was marred by a gaping crack through which the black vortex of Pride's essence was staring up at Envy with horror.

"You fool!" Envy growled. "The transmutation, it weakened you, didn't it?" They grabbed Selim Bradley's slender throat in their hands, suddenly angry and remembering Wrath's withered, lifeless body below. "You're dying and you're still following him?!"

"I… I…" Pride sounded lost. He had never sounded lost before. "I must!"

"No, you don't," they hissed back at him.

And then the blast struck and the world halted and trembled.

In the first few moments, Envy couldn't really feel anything. Everything was white, and there was no noises.

Were they dead?

Just as they wondered about it, their vision and their hearing returned, along with the sensations of their battered body desperately using the fading Stone to heal itself up.

Envy tried to get up, but succeeded only in falling back with a choked grunt. Their head was spinning, and their ears were ringing, sending jolts of pain right into their brain.

Vaguely, they felt something move in the steaming rubble next to them and they turned their hazed stare to see Selim Bradley struggling to lift himself up on a broken elbow, small wisps of black shadows digging into the ground to give him leverage.

Everything was covered in grey, foul-smelling smoke. People were yelling somewhere in the distance.

Alphonse Elric's suit of armor was nearly destroyed, chunks of charred metal scattered all around. By some miracle his blood seal had survived and through the smoke Envy could see him trying to move what was left of his artificial body.

Further ahead, and almost entirely obscured by the smoke, his brother was in a worse situation. The blast had dismantled his automail arm and the shockwave had thrown him against a slab of broken wall and, as luck would have it, his upper body was impaled on a piece of iron sticking from the concrete. The Pipsqueak was still alive too, but he was in obvious pain.

Greed was nowhere to be seen.

And then, when Envy blinked to clear their vision up a little, so they could get back up and look for Greed, they suddenly saw the Dwarf looming above them and Pride.

It no longer resembled a god.

Its long, white-blond hair was in disarray, its body was trembling violently, skin covered in pulsating, black veins, and when it opened its mouth to speak, Envy saw the Eye peeking through the Dwarf's gullet, distorting the very air around it and making the smoke swirl in unnatural patterns. It had to be moments away from losing its grip on the stolen godhood.

"My children," the Dwarf croaked, the look in its eyes maniacal and fearful at the same time. "The rest of your brothers are dead. I sensed their Stones flickering out. Greed has tricked me and escaped, but you will aid your loving father, will you not?"

And then its hands shot out so fast that even Homunculi vision could not help, and it squeezed both Envy and Pride's throats, lifting the two of them from the rubble.

Envy tried to struggle, but they were too slow.

Their vision suddenly blackened and when they opened their eyes, they no longer were in their own body.

Or into the world of the living, for that matter.

They were falling into a vortex of screaming souls, the very air around soaked with suffering and terror, the denizens of this red tempest quaking and thrashing against the pitiless, monolithic hold of the otherworldly will that devoured a whole nation, wiping it out from the face of the earth and turning its people into resource to fuel its own existence and ambitions.

Envy felt something screeching in fear next to them and somehow they knew it was Pride even before they glimpsed Selim Bradley's child-like body plummeting through the whirlpool of tortured humanity.

Suddenly they felt as if everything was closing in, the will that held the souls captive here focusing on the essence of the two Homunculi it had began to reabsorb, demanding and hungry for the influx of power it awaited.

"No!" Pride screamed as something invisible grabbed at him and began pulling him further down into the howling blackness at the end of the tempest of souls. "Father, no! I'm loyal to you! Don't! Please don't!"

Damn it all to Hell.

Envy dove after him, reaching with their hand, feeling as if their shoulder could snap at any moment. Pride's eyes stared up at them, huge, wet and full of horror and the realization he had been betrayed.

"Take my hand, damn you!" Envy screamed at him. "Take it!"

Pride's small fingers desperately brushed against theirs and for a heartbeat an image flashed against their mind's eye and it made their breath hitch.

They had never expected it from Pride.

Pride was thinking of someone else as he faced his death.

And he was thinking of Mrs. Bradley.

Wrath had not cared enough about the woman who thought of him as her husband.

But Pride's core was full of affection for the woman who thought of him as her son.

Perhaps it would have been too much to claim that Pride loved her, but what Envy sensed from him in that brief moment of contact was also filled with everything he had claimed not to be. He cared about a human, and he was remorseful about letting her spend her life living inside a lie, about not managing to secure her safety during the Promised Day… even about dying, because he knew she would suffer when she found it all out.

"I'm sorry, Mama," Pride whimpered quietly as he closed his teary eyes, resigning himself and letting go of Envy.

"PRIDE! DON'T BE A FOOL! WE CAN FIGHT HIM TOGETHER!" Envy shouted, reaching out again, their desire to save their family reinvigorated after what they just witnessed.

"I can't," Pride shook his head as darkness began eating at his essence. "I have too much of him in me. Save yourself, Envy."

Envy just bared their teeth in defiance, refusing to listen.

And then booming laughter echoed all across the raging tempest and the cosmic will recoiled in fright.

Was that…?

Suddenly, Envy could see the world again and when they did, they cried out in shock, their lungs contracting painfully as they could finally taste air.

The Dwarf was on its knees, and between it and Envy stood Greed, his hands once again sinking into their father's body. Next to Envy, Pride's vessel fell on the ground and turned to ash, specks of black scattering in the cool wind.

"You wanna take someone's Stone, huh, old man?" Greed taunted the Dwarf. "Then why don't you leave the kids alone and try and take mine?"

What… what was he doing?

"G-grrrreeeed!" The Dwarf slobbered over the Eye in his throat that was trying to tear itself free. "Y-y-youuu… treacherrrrrroussssss…"

He could no longer form words and he let out such a deafening howl of pain that Envy trembled. Greed just laughed, beads of sweat falling down his handsome face. The Dwarf's body was beginning to form a shell made out of the Ultimate Shield where Greed was connected to it.

"Come on," he bent over the kneeling Dwarf, his fangs next to his creator's terrified face. "That's what you wanted, ain't it? Bit too late for regrets, innit?"

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" The Dwarf lurched back, tearing itself free from Greed who stumbled back and fell before Envy.

"Greed?" Envy crawled to his fallen form. "Greed, get up. What did you do to him? Greed? Why aren't you getting up? GREED!"

"Hey there, sweetheart," Greed finally opened one plum-colored eye and stared up at Envy, smiling at them. "I gave him what he wanted, is all. Though he forgot one little thing." A short, painful shudder shook his broad chest as he tried to laugh. "Did I ever tell you how Ed beat me back in Dublith?" Greed asked softly as the Dwarf made to stagger away in fear, its skin covering itself with the Ultimate Shield only to have one of its legs break off at the ankle when it put weight on it. With a shriek, the Dwarf fell on the ground, regrowing the limb but still failing to control Greed's Shield. "He changed the composition of the Ultimate Shield, turned it brittle. Neat idea, huh?" Greed grinned as they heard another terrified scream and laid his head on Envy's lap with a satisfied sigh, closing his eyes as if he was getting ready for a nap.

The veil of smoke around them was beginning to thin out, but they still felt as if they were cut off from the rest of the world.

Envy's lips trembled.

If what Greed said was true, it meant that…

No…

Tears spilled freely from their eyes and Greed looked back up at them when he felt them falling on his skin.

"Don't cry, sweetheart," he said gently. "I'm not worth your tears. Never did right by you."

Envy could only squeeze their eyes shut and shake their head, their body wracked by small tremors.

"Envy," Greed said, his voice getting weaker. "Envy, look at me, baby." They had no choice but to oblige him. "I don't think I've got a lot of time left," He smiled apologetically at them, the light fading away from his eyes. "I did tell you we had to speak, but I guess all I can do now is give you the cliffnotes." He was serious now, visibly summoning what little remained of his strength to stay with them a little longer.

Why did it have to hurt so much?

How could humans endure it?

"I'm sorry," Greed rasped suddenly, capturing their attention once more. "For all the times I hurt you. With words, or actions. It was wrong of me. I always knew it was wrong," he swallowed heavily and lifted a hand to touch Envy's wet cheek with the tips of his strong fingers. "I think… I think I was afraid. Because I knew it was real. Deep down, I knew. Ever since I saw you for the first time."

"Greed," Envy managed to hiccup through their tears, "don't die. Please."

"I don't think it's up to me, sweets," Greed closed his eyes and took a deep breath before he opened them again, staring right at Envy. "I don't mind going out like that, you know? I got to screw over a god and now I'm looking at the prettiest face I've ever seen. How many guys can say that, huh? I only wish you weren't hurting."

He tried to reach for them again, but as he did, his hand slowly crumbled, turning into black ash. Envy couldn't hold back the chocked sob that rose up from their chest.

"I think this is goodbye, Envy," Greed breathed as his body began to disintegrate. "Try to remember the good times we had, alright, sweetheart? Every once in a while?" His final words were a whisper. "I'll miss you. Thank you for everything you shared with me."

And then he was no more, his ashes getting caught by the wind so it could scatter them all around. Perhaps each speck would have eventually floated to a different destination one day, just like he had wanted to see and try everything this world had to offer.

Envy did not truly remember the end of the battle or the death of the Dwarf.

The rational part of their mind had observed it in the moments after Greed died, Alphonse sacrificing himself to restore Edward's arm, Edward finally landing the mortal blow against the Dwarf – and managing to do that only because of what Greed had done – the Dwarf itself imploding under the assault of God's power… They knew all of that had happened, but it was as if it happened to someone else, someone who felt like more than just a hollowed-out observer.

It was the baby's cry that finally got their attention and they turned to where Pride's vessel had fallen after the Dwarf killed him.

The baby was the tiniest thing Envy had ever seen, and it looked so utterly defenseless amidst the death and the destruction that Envy's throat tightened even more.

They took the baby carefully into their hand and looked down at it.

It was Pride… and yet… it wasn't.

Pride's memories, Pride's power, Pride's malice… all that had been devoured by the Dwarf before Greed intervened and saved the world.

"Mama," the tiny baby cooed, curling up into a ball inside Envy's palms, and then they finally understood.

Pride the Homunculus, who had gleefully served under a monster, had been vanquished.

But Selim Bradley, the son of a devoted mother who cared about her even though he was not supposed to, still lived.

Envy looked around and saw Lan Fan approaching their location.

"Envy?" The Xingese girl cried when she saw them standing among rubble and smoke. "Are you hurt? The young lord sent me to find you and Greed. Edward…" She lowered her eyes for a second, as if she didn't know what exactly to say, " He is going to try and bring his brother back."

"Wish him luck for me," Envy said evenly, feeling hollow on the inside. They handed the baby to Lan Fan who was probably expecting anything but that. "Take it to Mrs. Bradley when things calm down. That's her son."

"Her s…" Lan Fan was so confused that she took the tiny fetus without any protest. "Envy? Envy! Where are you going?"

"Away," they shrugged as they walked past her, before they stopped and turned their head around. "You did well. All of you humans did. Congratulations."

Lan Fan kept calling after them, but they didn't turn back anymore.

There was nothing else for them here.

Okay.

So, this is the final chapter. There is also an epilogue, which will be uploaded immediately after this.

That's it. The story is done.

I'm not sure how many people would like the ending. Perhaps some of the readers may have hoped for a happier end to this story. I myself struggled with all sorts of ideas on how to end it for a long while before I settled on this one, firmly believing it was for the good of the story. In case anyone's curious, the other idea I was big on was much happier, Greed and Envy both survived, though thanks to the toll the battle took, they had only normal lifespans left inside their Stones, and they ran away together, adopting baby Selim. Even as I write it here, the part of me who likes to write more serious and sadder stuff sort of recoils at that lol

To everyone who reads this chapter and is pissed off at the lack of a happy ending, all I can say is, "Read the epilogue". I didn't do it to fuck with you, I was going for bittersweet and right now you're at the bitter part, so just check the epilogue out and THEN tell me I'm an asshole.

Love to all,

The asshole who didn't write a happy ending