I opened my eyes to darkness, but I felt a finger prodding at my cheek. Reacting on last memory I threw a punch and felt a connection as I looked around and adjusted to the world around me.
"Ow, stupid brat…" I heard the homunculus' voice; I stood up and looked at him ready to fight. I soon put my fists down seeing the floor was red and covered in, blood? I could see broken parts of building surrounding the area, but I couldn't really see as far as twenty feet.

"Where… where are we?" I asked,
"We're inside Gluttony," he replied,
"I-Inside?" I looked at him shocked,
"Yes," was all I got as a reply.
"A fake gate?" I mumbled as the homunculus glared at me for a second.

"EDWARD! ALPHONSE! LING! ANYBODY!" I yelled,
"Shut up…" the homunculus snapped; I whipped my head around to look at him.
"You shut up… you… I don't even know your name yet…" I pointed and tilted my head,
"Envy…" Envy glared at me,
"Understandable on why you are called that then," I folded my arms,
"Hmm?" Envy looked at curiously,
"You Envy humans-" I was suddenly pushed against a pillar and being strangled,
"I do NOT envy those worthless pieces of meat!" Envy glared,
"It's written all over your face," I smirked as he squeezed harder, I chocked and felt my windpipe being crushed as he looked between my eyes.

Envy let go, and glared at me sideways as he folded his arms like a child,
"Why not kill me?" I asked, and rubbed my neck as it quickly started to heal,
"You'll just come back to life, and we're not allowed to lay a finger on you especially after the 5th Lab incident," Envy smirked, "You're more special to our father then you realise," Envy smirked and leaned his arm above me, "You may be short and naïve but you're still beautiful and intelligent, that's what father says anyway. I beg to differ." Envy smirked at me; I leaned back confused as Envy leaned in towards my ear. "Father has eyes for you, he wants you to live forever, in a way he told us homunculi to call you… Mother," Envy smirked, I froze,
"I'm not your mother… I never created any of you…" I shook my head,
"Father always had a soft spot for the Princess of Xerxes," Envy smirked,
"Back off." I snapped and he stepped backwards, and I looked away,
"You will be by his side, he kept you young as a ruler always needs a Queen, and what a perfect choice other than a Princess who helped him murder the entire city she ruled over." Envy smirked,
"Who is Father?" I looked at Envy,
"As I just said, you helped him become who he is by destroying Xerxes." Envy smirked, I had a flash in my mind of his face… and then a flash of another face.

"Dwarf in the flask…" I spoke,
"Bingo! Mother wins a prize!" Envy smirked and walked forward, I stepped backwards and put my hands up,
"Keep away from me! And stop calling me that! I'm not THAT!" I screamed, Envy laughed,
"I seemed to have struck a nerve, ay? Mother?" Envy grinned, I started breathing quickly, I always wanted a big family… but I didn't want this!

"Don't touch me!" I snapped at him as Envy opened his arms wide, I pulled my sword out and pointed it at his throat as he looked at it for a second,
"Father did say you were skilled with a blade. Used to be on par with Wrath…" Envy spoke,
"Wrath?" I questioned,
"Bradley." Envy answered as I just watched him.

"Why does the dwarf in the flask ask you to call me Mother?" I cringed saying the word, "he used to laugh at the idea of a family unit." I glared,
"Every God has a Goddess. Every King has a Queen…" Envy smirked as I glared, I dropped my hand to my side holding my sword,
"I'm not his." I glared,
"Well, you certainly won't belong to the pipsqueak when this is all over." Envy smirked as I quickly sliced my blade across his throat and walked away. Envy chocked on his blood as I walked as far away as I could through the deep pool of blood red water.

I could hear him regenerating in the distance and laughing maniacally,
"Screw what Father says… when I get a chance to kill you. I'll take it." Envy laughed loudly as I just balled my fist.

I could see a small light in the distance as I felt like I had been walking for half an hour already,
"Rea!" I heard Edward,
"Rea!" Ling called as well,
"Ed! Ling!" I shouted and started to run in their direction, I could see Edward looking tired and worn out as I ran to them both. I knew Envy wasn't too far behind me as well.

I got to Edward and jumped at him causing us both to fall on the stone floor they were sitting on, I held onto Edward, and he wrapped his arms around me,
"Rea… you're okay. Thank you…" Edward mumbled as I felt him stroke my hair,
"I'm so glad you're okay as well!" I grinned and pulled back to look at Edward. Edward smiled and pulled me to kiss him quickly, not caring that Ling was there.

I suddenly hear feet run up to us and Envy pulled me off Edward suddenly as I landed on my ass, and he sat up and looked at Envy.

"Please show me the way out of here!" Edward yelled, he was begging Envy to get out of here,
"You're just going to start begging for help like that!" Ling yelled at Edward in frustration,
"If it means surviving, I'll be his best friend…" Edward complained, I sighed,
"It doesn't matter because there is no exit…" Envy spoke, "you've really gotten us into a fine mess. I can't believe you got me swallowed with you," Envy covered his face,
"You just said swallowed, so we're really inside Gluttony's stomach?" Ling asked,
"No, we're not… but yes, we are." I spoke, I sighed and looked down as I had realised what Gluttony was with the sensation of being pulled in here and from the chance, I had to look at his stomach.
"What do you mean? Rea?" Edward asked,
"It's a lot more complicated than that, just ask the pips-! I mean the alchemist, he should have realised what place this is, Reaka has." Envy spoke and smirked as I frowned,
"I did notice something when Gluttony swallowed us. It was like I had a familiar feeling." Edward spoke,
"So, you do remember then? This isn't the first time you've been through this." Envy spoke, Edward slowly began to realise what this was.

I stood up and looked at Edward, he was in shock,
"The portal of truth!" Edward spoke, "but… it wasn't pitch black and filled with a sea of blood… it was more like, an entirely white void." Edward explained,
"Oh yeah? So that what the real one looks like." Envy spoke.
"The real one?" Edward asked,
"Gluttony is a failed experiment by our Father and Mother, to create his own portal of truth," Envy smirked as I glared at him,
"He's a what?" Edward asked,
"Despite how powerful our Father is he still couldn't create one. We're trapped inside a defective portal of Truth! So, this place, it exists between reality and truth," Envy explained,
"In between?" Edward spoke,
"And I can assure you that there is no way out of here, the only option we've got is to sit here until our strength runs out, and that's it… all we can do is wait here and die," Envy explained, I looked away and folded my eyes as I started to think about how the portal of truth worked normally.

"No way! Don't think I'm falling for any of that crap! I know your lying to us Envy! Your lying! Aren't you?!" Edward yelled,
"He isn't Edward," I stopped pacing and looked at him, Edward looked back at me for a second,
"I won't believe it, I can't die here, what's Al going to do if I die? We made a promise, and he… we promised to make Rea normal again and he needs me to get back to normal," Edward spoke, I saw the fear in his face as well as Ling's as it brought tears to my eyes.

I fell on my knees and bowed my head forward,
"I'll never become mortal again Edward, let's face the cruel reality…" I spoke Edward slowly walked over to me, "I've been immortal for over 400 years… I just want to die…" I spoke, I heard Edward clench his fists and take a breath as he looked at me,
"Rea… Agh… Envy! Who are this Father and Mother you speak about? Who would try to create their own portal?! It's Fuhrer Bradley, isn't it?" Edward yelled,
"What, are you serious? Nice try, but King Bradley is nothing more than a Homunculus," Envy explained,
"Told you so," Ling explained.

"The 5th Laboratory, human lives sacrificed to make Philosopher stones, homunculi. And if the Fuhrer is on your side, then I'm guessing you're the ones behind Ishval!" Edward glared,
"OH Ishval! I couldn't have asked for a more enjoyable job than that! You remember the incident that started the war, right?" Envy asked,
"I had always heard that it was because a military officer had accidentally shot an Ishvalan child," Edward spoke,
"Yep! And the one that proudly pulled the trigger was none other than yours truly," Envy had a proud smirk across his face. I lifted my head and glared at him.

He started a war that killed so many… it killed Winry's parents… he started Scars rampage… I stood up and clenched my fists,
"You have no idea how good that felt! I ravaged their country with a single bullet. I mean talk about invigorating! Oh, and the best part, the officer that I pretended to be. He was actually a moderate who always publicly oppose the militaries occupation in Ishval. And listen to this, the poor fool couldn't come plausible defence and they court-martialled him. You know I don't think I'll ever get over how easily manipulating humans are." Envy laughed as Edward started to walk over to Envy, who sat on a broken pillar.

"So, you're responsible… You were the one who shot and killed that poor innocent child. You destroyed my hometown. You drove out the Ishavalans. You're the one who turned Scar into a murderer. And it was you… You're the reason Winry's parents were killed. You're the one to blame!" Edward yelled and punched Envy, who he didn't even budge, "What the hell?" Edward questioned as I could sense something bad was about to happen, "He didn't budge!" Edward snapped,
"Okay, then… If that's how you want it." Envy growled as alchemic reactions started taking place as I went to step forward, but Ling grabbed my arm, I was shocked as Envy started to change,
"Ed, get back!" Ling spoke as I kept still,
"I'm going to show you three something neat before we die, consider it a parting gift!" Envy glared as his body changed,
"Did you notice his footprints back when we were all fighting in the forest?" Ling asked,
"No, what's your point?" Edward asked,
"Just that he's freakishly heavy for the size of his body. He might be a bit bigger than he looks," Ling explained, as we all watched him grow taller,
"A bit…" I spoke, as he attacked Edward and Ling, the beast before us was almost a mix of dog with lizard! Its eyes were black and red, a long snout, human teeth, it had dark green skin and around its collar and body, like a jacket I could see what resembled blank faces moving around it, the tail whipped around as I stared at the monster. Waves of blood trashed about as Envy landed on the ground and I was pushed back by the force of the wave onto nearby stone.

"Rea, stay back!" Edward yelled,
"What! You expect me to stand by when that monster attacks you guys!" I yelled; Envy came at me as I jumped out of the way he grabbed me with his tail. Envy smirked as he shook me about in his tail.
"Rea!" Edward called,
"How can that thing be a Homunculus!" Ling spoke, Envy thrown me far off into the distance, I felt my body hit some rubble as my bones cracked across several parts of my body,
"REA!" Edward yelled in the distanced.

I felt my bones slowly heal as I lay half on stone and half in the water. I swear I could hear voices in my head telling me to get up, that they'd look after me. I lifted myself up and held my head for a moment. I looked over to where I could see the others fighting in the distance. I felt my body heal quickly as I clapped my hands and put it in the liquid. Sharp pointed spikes suddenly appeared under Envy and hands grabbed his legs as I solidified the liquid and caused some damage to Envy.
"Ah! Damn it! M-" Envy yelled as I made a spike go under its jaw to cut Envy off from saying 'mother'. I then took off and ran towards them, I was angry at that point. How dare he try to manipulate me like that? That dwarf couldn't understand the world! It couldn't understand ANYONE! I could hear Edward cheer at my attack as I had been running forward.

As I put my foot on the floor, I realised I needed to get to the group quicker as my bindings had broken. As my other foot hit the ground and alchemical reaction took place and I was suddenly propelled forward on the ground. I don't need to clap my hands like Edward and Alphonse? I used the lift to throw myself into the air as I pulled my blade out. I flipped forward and as I flew past Envy's face; I jammed my blade into the skin just behind it jaw and Envy yelled out as he pulled his leg up and smacked me off.

"Rea!" Edward yelled as I rolled onto the stone platform, he had got in close with Ling after my alchemy, but as I lay on the ground, I saw Edward had frozen, staring at the faces,
"WAKE UP! They aren't real!" I snapped at him and tried to get up, but my body was bruised.
"Snap out of it! You idiot, why didn't you attack him?" Ling asked,
"Those are people, they are trapped inside him," Edward spoke, I slipped as I rolled over and saw my blade come out of Envy and Ling threw it towards me,
"That's a trick Ed, he's a monster!" Ling spoke,
"But they-" Edward started,
"EDWARD! Pay attention!" I yelled at him, "I don't want you to die so listen closely! Those things don't have bodies any more they aren't human! They are made to trick us!" I yelled at him.

I managed to finally stand as Edward froze as I heard a familiar voice, it wasn't exact, but similar enough to deceive someone,
"Big brother… let's play…" she spoke, and an image flashed of Nina. I glared and started to run over to Envy as he took an opportunity,
"I'm done playing," Envy spoke and grabbed Edward.
"EDWARD!" I screamed as he thrown him on the floor like a ragdoll.

I gasped as he landed just before me, that impact would do harm to most,
"Edward!" I screamed again and moved beside him, but Envy grabbed me just before I knelt to hold him and held me in the air with his hand, "Edward! Get up! Please!" I yelled, Envy picked Edward up and ate him. "EDWARD!" I screamed and punched Envy's hand,
"Ed no!" Ling yelled.

I glared at Envy with tears in your eyes,
"Let him go! Let him go! Let Edward go! Give me Edward back! You monster! Give me him back! EDWARD!" I kept punching Envy's hand as he thrown me on the floor and pinned me to the ground,
"Your precious pipsqueak is gone for good," Envy laughed,
"No… please… Edward! I need you! Alphonse needs you!" I screamed, I couldn't lose him, not after all this.

Suddenly one of Envy's teeth got kicked out. "Open up Envy! Your breath is killing me! I think I've got a way to get us out of here!" Edward yelled.

I sighed and as Envy removed their hand from me, I slapped my forehead.

Envy dropped Edward on the ground, and I got up and ran over to him, I gave Edward a hug as he winced and I pulled back,
"I'm so sorry! What hurts? What can I do to help?" I asked as Edward just smiled at me; Envy glared at us.
"I need some support for my arm." Edward frowned as Ling came over with some sticks and cloth. Edward asked envy to collect all the broken fragments of the Xerxes city for him to check over.

Shortly after, Ling fixed up Edward's arm, while he was doing it Edward smirked and looked at me,
"So, you need me, huh?" Edward smirked, "Oh, don't act so smug," I smiled and leaned on Edward as he wrapped his arm around my waist, "I couldn't live without you now with all we've been through," I spoke, Edward smiled and kissed my head.

Envy put the last stone on the area you were standing.
"I collected all the fragments I could find." Envy spoke.
"So, this stuff… It's all from Xerxes?" Ling asked,
"That's right, they're pieces of a large mural of what remains of their temple. When I saw the ruins of the mural up close, I thought it was identical to the transmutation circle from the 5th laboratory. The one they used to create philosopher stones. But it's actually different. The sun represents the soul. While the moon symbolises the mind, and then there's the stone canvas of the mural… This represents the body." Edward explained,
"Slow down, try to keep it simple ok," Ling spoke. Edward looked at me for a moment as I wrapped my arms around my body, he knew I was from Xerxes originally, he knew I was ashamed of what happened, and he knew that Xerxes was linked to my past and that I was ashamed of it.

"Basically, the mural was a summoning circle. For human transmutation," I explained as Edward nodded and slightly glared at me, Ling looked in my direction,
"I do know that one… Well, I think I do. Is that used to bring back dead people?" Ling asked,
"Not quite. Alchemy is based on the rule of equivalent exchange You can't transmute a life form from a soul that no longer exists in this world. You can trust me on that one. So, this is where I got the idea to get us out of here. I can't transmute the dead, but what would happen if I transmute myself?" Edward spoke as I looked up at him and my heart sank.

"What?" I looked at him in shock,
"You mean a living person," Ling spoke,
"Exactly, you can use this transmutation circle to deconstruct myself then I'll just put myself back together, that's human transmutation, and it will open the portal. You said that Gluttony is a defective portal of truth. I'll bet that if we pass through the real portal, then we'll wind up in our own reality. I'll open up the real portal. Then you three jump through it," Edward spoke,
"I don't like this," I spoke, and hugged myself,
"What happens if it goes wrong?" Envy asked,
"Then it will rebound, a failed transmutation ricochets onto the one who performed it. In this case, that would be me." Edward spoke,
"I'm not going to act like I know anything about alchemy. This is all yours." Ling spoke,
"Edward…" I looked at him in worry, Edward had a small smiled appear on his face,
"It will be fine don't worry," Edward embraced me for a few moments.

"Hey Envy, I've got something else that I wanted to ask you. The partial mural I saw in Xerxes, it would've looked more-or-less like this." Edward took a cloth and some of the blood and drew the transmutation circle on the floor, "This is the first thing that caught my eye, the symbol for God is written upside down, and beneath it is the two headed dragon, the alchemic symbol for a complete lifeform. Which means… this basically translates to 'I will strike God to earth and become a perfect being'." Edward spoke,
"Well, that's certainly an arrogant concept," Ling spoke,
"It's not a big deal to talk about it, but then there's this. This piece takes it to the next level." Edward stood and walked over to one of the pieces that was on the side, "An image of the lion swallowing the sun. Symbolising the Philosophers Stone. The Philosopher's Stone is made with living humans. Isn't that correct Envy?" Edward glared, I felt my chest sink with the weight of guilt as I put my hand to my chest and balled my fist,
"Yea, that's right," Envy spoke,
"How could a nation as advanced as Xerxes fall? Let alone in a single night? What happened to its citizens? These stone fragments at the mural. You put them here to hide the evidence. You killed them, you sacrificed all of Xerxes. You turned them into a Philosopher's Stone." Edward spoke, I froze. The voices of the people screaming filled my mind as Ling looked at me, I looked at the floor and felt my body begin to sweat cold as I fully remembered everything. Edward had more-or-less worked it out… he knew I was a part of the destruction of Xerxes now.

"Who was it? I want to know who used this to transmute himself! Who slaughtered the population of a whole country? Who created all of you? Who's trying to make himself powerful enough to surpass God! It was your Father and Mother wasn't it! Tell me Envy. Whoever these two are, they have been using you Homunculi to try and recreate the destruction of Xerxes here in Amestris, haven't they?" Edward asked,
"You get us out of here and I'll gladly tell you everything. Though for a little taster, our Mother didn't even know she was part of the plan." Envy smirked, I gripped onto Edward's shirt, he looked at me for a moment and then glared at Envy,
"What does Rea have to do with all this?" Edward glared,
"Hm? What has she told you?" Envy looked at me,
"She was the Princess of Xerxes, and that's about it." Edward glared at Envy as I stepped back from Edward, he was trying to find out if I helped with this,
"Morden didn't have a choice in helping our Father complete his mission. As I said… she didn't know she was part of the plan." Envy smirked as Edward clenched his fists.

"You've spent enough time beating around the bush, I'm tired of waiting for you to ask, you need to pay a toll, right? To open the portal?" Envy asked and started to move his tongue out to show the Philosopher's Stone within his body, "This should work," Envy added.

"Your body, those are the citizens of Xerxes, aren't they?" Edward asked,
"At one time, but their minds and bodies crumbled long ago. All that's left is energy to be consumed. They don't even remember what they looked like when they we're alive." Envy explained, I felt my heart break, I knew so many of the people of Xerxes, I stepped towards Envy and looked at his body, "Is that pity, how childish are you? You're desperate to see these things as human because you want to believe that your brother still retains his humanity. Would you hesitate to throw a bundle of logs onto a fire because you pity the tree they came from? These souls can never go back to being human. You have to use logic to if you are to determine what a human is. Don't let your emotions decide." Envy spoke, as I held myself,
"I miss my friends…" I muttered.

It took some time, but I worked with Edward to create the transmutation circle he needed. I wasn't against this idea; the plan was sound and would work… I was just terrified of a potential rebound.
"Alright, Ling, Reaka, this might not work out for me. If so, you've got to warn people about these guys plans. And Ling, take care of Rea," Edward spoke, I turned and looked at him,
"Hm, I'm not that concerned about Amestris, it's not my country, or your girlfriend." Ling smirked,
"Are you serious?" Edward glared,
"You've got people you love waiting for you, don't you? So just make it back alive and tell them yourself. And so, you can look after your girlfriend." Ling spoke, Edward looked shocked as he looked at me,
"You better make it back alive," I spoke, almost threatening as Edward smirked.

Edward clapped his hands and then started the transmutation, I wanted to go to Edward, but Ling held me back.
"Ling, jump in now!" Edward spoke, Ling nodded as he pulled me in with him,
"You better know what you're doing! I'm trusting you!" Ling spoke as we both felt the same sensation as before, I gripped onto Ling as he wrapped his arms around me.