The damage was very well still intact after Sloth had attacked the Briggs fortress. He had appeared from underground and continuously dug holes, creating tunnels. Ed had to hold back answers about the homunculi from Olivier. Remembering clearly what the homunculi did to their sister, both Ed and Al tried to keep their sister away from Sloth, but she was stubborn and fought alongside them. Sloth's invulnerability surprised Olivier at first, but she came up with the idea of subduing Sloth by dousing him in fuel and sending him outside to freeze; a plan that the Elrics had assisted in.
Despite their efforts, the Elrics found themselves sleeping in a cell the next morning. It was a fairly small space but still contained enough room for three small beds. Ed was sleeping with his coat, and Myra's cloak, placed over top the thin blanket to help keep him warm. Al was sitting on the edge of his bed reading and Myra sat in the corner of her bed staring at Al's armour, mind drifting off. Oh, and they all had restraints on their wrists.
Ed groaned as he slowly got up. "Morning, Brother." Al greeted as Ed sat up. Myra turned her head at the sudden movement, but didn't really pay attention until her name was called.
"Hey, My, I've been meaning to ask: why did you freeze when we were fighting Captain Buccaneer?"
"Ugh, my foot got caught in the snow." She turned her head away pretending to be in embarrassment. In truth, Myra knew they were bound to ask her about it sooner or later.
"Really? That's it?" Al asked and Ed gave her a skeptical look.
"Were you expecting something else?" She asked in turn.
They exchanged glances, but didn't bother to question it further.
Hours later, three Briggs officers stood outside their cell, "General Armstrong requests to see you." one of them spoke. The three siblings exchanged looks as the cell door was opened. They stood there wordlessly as the officers removed their restraints and led them down several corridors until they reached the entrance to the tunnel Sloth dug.
The Elrics were lowered into the hole where Olivier sat atop a horse. Captain Buccaneer and Lieutenant Falman were down there as well and Olivier motioned for the siblings to climb atop the three vacant horses.
"Wow... This tunnel is huge." Ed gapped as the small group rode further into the tunnel.
"I can't believe we let him break in without noticing all this was going on." Olivier said, half to herself.
"Has anyone else made it into Briggs before?" Myra asked.
"In the time I've been here, no. But around twenty years ago there was a case when our security guards were attacked during midwinter. Apparently, a mysterious woman kept stealing food and supplies for an entire month."
Ed and Al were suddenly suspiciously quiet after that, knowing well that it was their sensei, Izumi Curtis, and Myra seemed to sweat drop.
"I guess this is far enough." Olivier mumbled to herself. "Get off." she commanded.
The Elrics were confused, but complied with her order with no protests. Olivier waited until they got off their horses before she spoke again. "Now, then. You don't have to worry about anyone eavesdropping on us down here." she paused. "Tell me everything you know." Her eyes narrowed. "And I mean everything."
They each hesitated so Olivier continued, "When I asked you about the monster, you asked me to try to realize your situation, did you not?" Ed began to feel as if he was being backed up into a corner. "More or less, you believed that I would realize your situation. You could have been killed anytime in that situation, yet you still said those words. So I figured you had something to protect, even if it meant you'd lose your life doing so. For example, a hostage."
A picture of Winry flashed through each of the Elrics' minds. They had told Myra that Winry was a hostage. Myra, in turn, also wanted to protect the girl she once deemed her little sister.
"I want you to cut the bullshit. Tell me the truth." Olivier concluded.
"We need your help." Ed said.
They told her everything they could, about the philosopher's stone, the homunculi, King Bradley, Father and the corruption in the senior staff.
"There are hostages involved as well." Buccaneer pointed out.
"Your friend, an automail mechanic, and Mustang's men. I know Hawkeye and Havoc due to joint drills with the Eastern headquarters, so I would hate it if we lost either of them. I'd like to help," Olivier said in thought.
"Umm, and what about Colonel Mustang?" Falman asked.
"Oh, I don't really care about him." Olivier waved it off. "Seeing him fall from power would eliminate another rival." Ed, Al, Myra and Falman sweat dropped at this. "More importantly, we need to figure out what to do next. What do you alchemists make of this tunnel?"
Ed, Al and Myra exchanged glances before they each took a closer look at the tunnel.
After taking the time to each think about it themselves, the Elrics along with the others present stood around a map of Amestris.
"I highly doubt this tunnel was dug from Drachma." Myra began.
"This is only a hypothesis, but it seems as though this tunnel was dug to create a large circle." Ed continued.
"A circle?" Buccaneer asked in disbelief.
"Alchemy. In our field, a circle is the symbol to control power." Myra clarified.
Ed seemed to be in thought before a light bulb seemed to go off in his head. With a pencil in hand, Ed circled Ishval on the map. "Lieutenant Falman, can you list the major incidents in Amestris that resulted in a lot of bloodshed?" he asked.
Though confused with what Ed was trying to decipher, Falman crouched down to the level of the map and began listing places and dates with similar events as the Ishvalan war as Ed circled them.
"...And lastly, the Liore incident in 1914. Severe casualties."
"Wai—" Ed cut himself off.
"A riot?! Why?!" Al asked shocked.
This also caught Myra's attention. Her brother's had mentioned Liore and she heard how the Fullmetal Alchemist and his brother revealed Cornello for being the fake that he was.
Falman explained how the Central Army came and forced the Eastern Army to withdraw, and how Liore just fell to pieces afterwards.
Ed held his head in his hand. "No way. Dammit!" he cursed under his breath.
The comforting hand of his sister reached his shoulder, "Ed..."
"No time for that. Back to work Fullmetal." Olivier ordered.
Ed spared a glare in her direction before saying, "Alright, fine."
He circled Liore before connecting the dots. Everyone moved in closer to see the result.
Myra let out a shaky breath and Olivier widened her eyes in shock. With the dots connected, what resembled a transmutation circle seemed to cover the entire country of Amestris.
"It looks like the transmutation circle from the fifth laboratory!" Falman exclaimed.
"How many people are going to have to die before creating this Philosopher's Stone?!" Myra's balled up fists shook in anger.
"Sister..." Al noticed his sister's anger.
Taking a closer look at the map, Falman realized something, his words catching everyone's attention. "The military was involved in each incident! The coup d'etat, civil wars... Liore too. The Central Army would get involved and make matters worse."
"Ever since the nation was founded?!" Ed asked dumbfounded.
"So everything done to expand Amestris was done to create this circle?!" Olivier was astonished at the fact, as well as everyone else.
"Their entire purpose was to use this land and all it's people to create the stone." Ed said.
"Do you think General Hughes—"
"Yeah," Ed said, cutting his brother off after seeing the look in his sister's eyes at the mention of Hughes. "Before he was killed, he must've seen the transmutation circle."
"He was serving in the court martial office and had access to more resources than anyone else." Myra said, shaking off the emotions she felt at Hughes' name. "He was the first to recognize the transmutation circle."
"I don't like this!" The General yelled, her anger bubbling. "If your theory is correct, the next and last place to be filled with bloodshed is Briggs! What do those bastards in Central plan to do with my fort?!"
Just then, another Briggs officer rushed to where they were on horse. "Major General!" he called out. "You're needed back at the fort. Lieutenant General Raven has come from Central to see you."
Ed and Al looked up at their sister. "Hey, I didn't know about General Raven when I chose my alias!" she defended, shaking her hands in front of her, defending her former name in the Cloaked Alchemists.
"Major General Armstrong," Ed turned to Olivier. "Could you possibly try to trick General Raven to get some information?"
A microphone and wire were hidden in a vent, capturing every word said between the Major General and Lieutenant General through a radio. Ed, Al, Myra, Buccaneer and Falman listened in on their conversation from the safety of another room.
At one point in their conversation, General Raven mentioned obtaining an immortal body, which quickly captured the attention of the Elrics.
"Say, Major General." his voice rang through the radio. "Are you interested in a perfect, immortal army?"
(A/N: Don't forget to review!)