Summary:
Edward Elric stumbles around in the dark and finds himself in a sea of blood, trying to find anyone and anything to help him explain where he ended up. After a moment alone, he begins to blame Ling Yao for getting them into this mess, even calling him “Idiot Prince”. The two meet up, and once they confirm that they are not actually Envy in disguise, they begin to realize that they ended up inside Gluttony due to the imminent fire in the flames of Roy’s alchemy.Wading through the blood, Ed and Ling continue to examine the debris left in Gluttony’s stomach and happen upon a severed metal arm from Alphonse Elric’s armor. Ed confirms to Ling that Al didn’t end up stuck inside the Gluttony with them, heaving a sigh of relief (and after Elric’s failed telepathic communication) the two stumble upon more and ruins while searching for an exit. They come up with a plan to open a hole in the floor and drop a stick used as a torch so they hear a thump. Without a hint of a thump, they frantically run to hurry up, only to find that the east is even more afraid of the endless nature of the terrain.Meanwhile, May tries to find the lost Xiao-Mei, who May explains has been with her since she was much younger. May compares their unusual fellowship to the fact that her clan is the weakest and poorest of the 50 clans in Xingu. Once they finish their story of how they grew up and lived together and explain that they are looking for a source of immortality to save their clan, Scar acknowledges that it will be some time before the sun rises and agrees to search for Xiao. -Mei and May.Back inside Gluttony, Ed decides to do another test in which he uses the weapon he got from Riza before they left to fight the homunculi. This new test was supposed to see if he could hear the sound of a bullet hitting the wall from inside Gluttony, but again the test failed because he couldn’t hear anything as a result. Their optimism has taken a crushing blow as they feel defeated by hunger and exhaustion. Ling, now succumbing to his hunger, tells Ed to go on without him, but an angry Ed, determined to return to the others, decides to take him with him to the protest, reminding Ling that he has people waiting for him on the other side. well. They reach a circular stone and collapse in exhaustion, lying down on the stone and contemplating the infinite amount of space that seemed to be within this space. Remembering their problem with not having enough food, Ed remembers that leather goods are edible when he takes off his shoe. Once Ling confirms that the shoe was the one used on Ed’s automail leg, they decide to eat the shoe and purify the blood to turn it into potable water.After they come to their senses, Ling apologizes for getting them into this mess when Ed disagrees, saying that “Compared to the training I did as a kid, this is nothing.” But before they can mobilize again, they are interrupted by Ling, who senses a new presence in the darkness, Envy. Ed aggressively asks Envy to show him the way out, and Ling hates Ed’s willingness to easily surrender to the enemy just to get out, but Envy counters that there is no way out, explaining that they are definitely inside Gluttony, but in this place . was better defined as a failed portal created by their father. Ed now begins to fear that there is no real way out and that he would break his promise to Al if he gets out, Ed furiously asks if King Bradley was the homunculi’s father. Envy confirms that he is not their father, but confirms that Bradley is not human.The topic of discussion turned to Ishval, and Envy happily expressed his joy at being responsible for causing a civil war in Ishval by shooting the innocent child disguised as an American officer. Worse, the officer was a humble soldier who opposed the military intervention in Ishval and was court-martialed in response to the shooting. Ed, now piecing together all the lives destroyed by the war, punched Envy in a fit of rage for destroying everyone’s lives. In response, Envy transforms into his true form, a grotesque monster filled with the lost souls of those he has consumed.As the fighting began inside Gluttony, Alphonse now with Xiao-Mei realized they were separated from the others. Agreeing on their confusion on what to do next, Gluttony mentions that his father would be angry with him, prompting Alphonse to realize that Homunculi have fathers. As Alphonse struggles with his inner struggle over whether or not Ed is still alive, he quickly asks Gluttony to take him to their father.