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Beautiful Cruel World - Chapter 40

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Ed and Ling lit a fire to cook his boot. I was rather relieved that I wasn't going to eat a boot that was... well, with his original foot, since he wore that boot with his automail. Ed smirked, telling me that it should be done cooking by now. Ling was staring at the piece of leather from his boot in disgust and I giggled at his disturbed expression.

"You don't have athlete's foot, do you?" Ling blurted with a grimaced face.

Ed's face turned from a smile to a frown as he glared daggers at Ling with his usual cold expression.

"Do I look like I do, dumbass?!" Ed demanded, lifting up his automail foot.

After we ate, we sighed and lied on the hard rocky ground, looking at the endless black ceiling (if it really even was a ceiling). Ling apologized to us, telling us that it was his foolishness that had made us get involved in this. I smiled warmly, telling him that it was all right for Ed and I had rather more taught training than this kind of situation.

"It kind of annoys me the fact that we don't know where we are, though," Ed muttered, crossing his arms.

"But we can search for the exit now that we've gotten some strength back," I chirped, trying to cheer up Ed.

"You're quite the optimist, are you?" Ling asked, smiling at me.

"I couldn't bare to see someone important to me giving up," I babbled without thinking.

"So Ed is someone important to you?" Ling asked, elbowing me again playfully.

"Of course he is!" I agreed, trying hide out my mistake. "Just in a friendly way!" I added quickly.

I turned to Ed, trying to flash him a reassuring smile, but he was busy covering his blushing face. He looked unexpectedly adorable when he was doing that though, I couldn't help but smile at his red and embarrassed expression.

"...You are also important to me, Jude," I heard him say and a blush crept to my cheek.

Nevertheless, I smiled warmly, ignoring the blush that was on my cheeks.

"I'm glad," I kept thinking inside my head. "Why is that? What was this feeling inside my chest that makes me want to be nearer to him?"

Ling was silent for a while, his face serious and stiff. I tilted my head, wondering what he was thinking about. He stood up, his face growing more and more serious as if he has detected a sound and I was beginning to worry.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Something's coming towards us," he told us.

We turned to face the direction he was squinting at, and could notice a silhouette of a human with long spike black hair, his figure masculine, telling me that he was a male.

"That's," Ed trailed off.

"Oh, it's you guys," I heard the figure said and my eyes widened.

"Envy," I snarled.

"Please tell us where the exit is!" Ed said, stretching his hand out to Envy to tell him he didn't want to seek for a fight.

"That's pathetic, Edward Elric!" Ling criticized.

Envy rolled his eyes, sitting on a small boulder that was on the ground as he stared at the two fight.

"Shut up! Humans would do anything to live!" Ed spat back and I mentally face palmed.

"Shut up!" Ling spat back, as if out of words to say.

"Unfortunately," Envy said over the sound of the two blabbering nonsense. "There is no exit."

The three of us stopped where we were, staring at Envy with disbelief; Our eyes widened and our mouths half open.

"You really had to do that, didn't you?" Envy asked Ed and I. "Even I got dragged in because of you two." Envy face palmed his face, completely unaware that the four of us were enemies.

"Where are we?" Ling asked, ignoring Envy. "Are we really inside Gluttony's stomach?"

"We're inside his stomach and at the same time we're not," Envy explained and I raise my eyebrow in confusion.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

Envy ignored my question, questioning Ed, "Fullmetal runt-" Ed glared, his teeth gritted. "I mean, Fullmetal Alchemist, shouldn't you have realized where we are by now?" This made me turn to face Ed, giving him an odd look before he finally spoke.

"Now that you mention it, when I was sucked in by Gluttony," Ed explained. "I recognized that sensation."

"No-" I began. "Don't tell me we are-"

"The two of you have gone it before, right?" Envy asked, looking from Ed to me.

"No... It can't be-" I began.

"The Gate of Truth," Ed said almost in a whisper, his eyes widened.

"But this isn't how it was," I said, remembering the time I was talking to The Truth when getting back to the real world. "The scenery was white... and there was a gigantic gate."

"Oh, so that's how the real one is," I heard Envy say with an amused tone.

"Real?" Ed asked, his eyes glistening with curiosity.

"Gluttony is the result of Father's unsuccessful attempt at recreating the Gate of Truth," Envy explained.

"What..." I asked, unable to believe what I just heard. "That can't be..." Ed had the same expression as me, while Ling was looking rather lost ; it was expected for him since he had never seen the Gate of Truth or neither knew anything about it.

"A poorly-made Gate of Truth that even Father couldn't get right," Envy said with a serious tone. "I guess it's safe to call this place the crevice between reality and the truth."

"The crevice?" I gasped. "Then that means..."

"There's no exit nor a way to get out of here," Envy finished. "All we can do now is to wait until the span of our lives comes to an end."

"All we can do now?" I asked, abashed. "...we'll all die here."

"No..." Ed denied, his eyes widened. "No way in hell I'll let that happen!" He said louder, his fist clenched and his teeth gritted together. "Don't screw around with me!"

"Envy!" He bawled louder at the homunculus. "Hey!"

"There's no exit?" Ling asked sorrowfully, although already knowing the answer. "We're going to die here?"

I fell on my knees, putting my hands on my head as tears trickled down my pale cheeks. My eyes are blank I can barely hear the commotion that is happening around me. I felt hopeless... it was futile to spend my energy on tears, but I couldn't help it. It is a natural fact for humans to cry at these times, knowing that they will not be able to see sunlight again.

"Jude! Hey! Hang in there!" I heard Ed's voice waiver as he shook my shoulder. "We made a promise to our families, didn't we?"

My eyes were still filled with tears as I turned to look at Ed with a questioning look.

"And what about the promise with Al?" Ed asked, glaring at me. "Didn't we promise that we would return our bodies back together?! That we were a team?!"

"Ed..." I said quietly.

"DAMMIT!"Ed fumed suddenly, making me jump. "Who the hell is this Father guy that tried to recreate the gate anyway!?" He demanded to Envy. "Fuhrer President Bradley?!"

Envy looked lost too, but he didn't seem to be panicking about his life. After all, he wasn't human, he was an artificially created human being that is most likely immortal in a fact.

"Bradley?" Envy asked. "Not even close," he said in a mocking way to Ed. "He's just a homunculus."

"So it's true," I said in a quiet voice before picking myself up as everyone turned to face me. "In that case, if the Fuhrer is also a homunculus, then that means it was you, homunculi, that started the Ishbal conflict."

"Smart girl," Envy said with a smirk as he stood up, walking over to us.

"Then, do you know how the conflict really started?" he asked me, lifting up my chin.

"If I recall," I said, pushing his hand away. "An army officer accidentally killed an Ishbalan girl."

"That's right," he chuckled. "I'm the one who shot the kid dead."

My eyes widened and I felt tears starting to grow.

"And just like that, thousands of people were killed during the civil war," Envy said. "Oh right, if I recall, I heard your parents were included in this fight too."

"My parents?" I asked. "Wait- my mother-"

"She was an Ishbalan, right?" Envy asked. "Too bad, an ally of your mother killed your parents. I wonder who it was..." Envy teased. "Was it... a man with tattoos all over his right arm?"

I froze, unable to comprehend what I just heard. "Scar?" I asked.

"Yes, so that's his name," Envy said.

[Ed's P.O.V.]

I snarled at Envy, feeling only hatred and revenge for what he has done to create a whole war.
And to sum it all, he even told Jude about her parents death.

Jude didn't say anything, backing away from Envy as she trembled uncontrollably. I pitied her, she lost her family and barely knew her sister. She stayed with people whom she couldn't even trust. It was as if the curse that was on her didn't even banish. Envy laughed at Jude's reaction and I felt anger starting to swell on my chest.

"But, it was fantastic," Envy continued. "Watching the civil war spread indefinitely from a single bullet. Man, it was really refreshing," he finished, laughing madly as Jude wept more and more, covering her ears.

"Oh by the way," Envy began as I marched over to him. "I disguised myself as a moderate officer who was against the military intervention of Ishbal."

I jumped into the ocean of blood, ignoring the loud splashing sound that I made as I continued my way over to Envy.

"Heard this!" he said louder. "He couldn't even give an excuse for it and was sentenced to death by court-martial! Humans are so easy to manipulate." He laughed.

"So it was you!" I barked. "The one who shot an innocent child dead. The one who destroyed our hometown... The one who drove away the Ishbalans... The one who created Scar, a revengeful murderer... The cause of what killed Jude's parents!!" I clenched my fist tighter, feeling hatred swelling inside my heart. "You bastard!!!"

I lunched my fist onto his cheek, hoping that I could kill him from that blow. To my surprise, he didn't even move an inch to dodge the attack and his cheek was not even bruised.

"You brats want to fight?" Envy demanded, red sparks appearing around him.

"Ed, pull back!" I heard Ling call out.

Jude had calmed down, but her face was tainted from all the tears she had shed. Ling was as normal as ever, for I understood that he was from another country, who probably didn't even know anything about the civil war between the Amestrians and the Ishbalans. Nonetheless, they got into position and got ready to battle, and so did I.

"We're all going to die here, anyway," Envy said. "I'll show you something cool as a final gift."

His voice changed from his usual high-pitch tone into a low and yet hoarse voice. His hair grew longer and his body enlarged, forming the shape of a giant dark green canine.

"What-" Jude began, her eyes widened.

"Stay back, Jude!" I commanded, stretching my arm to stop her from going any closer to the homunculus.

"Did you look beneath his feet when you were fighting him in the woods?" Ling asked me.

"Yes," Jude replied for me. "He fell on the floor and made quiet a lot of noise."

"I felt the ground shake slightly too," I said in a quiet voice.

"He may not look like it, but he weights quiet a bit," Ling explained. "His true form must be..."

My eyes widened when I turned to look back at Envy as his body grew at least a hundred times larger than ours. On his upper body, faces of people were sticking out, making me flinch at the disgusting sight.

"Eight legs," Jude said breathlessly.

We lunched towards us, aiming straight for Jude. Without hesitation, I picked her up; able to dodge Envy's attack. She looked at me, shock and sorrow in her pale blue eyes. We reached the ground after a long jump, putting her down gently.

"Dammit," I cursed under my breath as I felt a slight pain on my feet.

"Are you all right?" she asked worriedly.

"Yeah, but..." I gasped. "How could that be a homunculus..."

"An artificial human," Ling said beside us.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"How delightful! How delightful!" The many heads that were planted on Envy's true form cried, producing more and more heads that were falling off his body.

I flinched at the disturbing sight as Jude averted her gaze somewhere else.

"Damn, this isn't delightful at all," I cursed. "Not the least bit."

He sung his tail, trying to hit Ling as he dodged the attacks. He then stretched his long leg, trying to pierce his claws into Ling's body. My eyes widened as he was being grasped by the green hand, his cries of agony heard as he splashed onto the bloody ocean.

"Ling!" Jude and I cried simultaneously.

Envy's tail swung towards me and I could barely have time to dodge, but I felt a slight push beside me and I realized that Jude had taken over my position, making her flew a dozen yards away.

"JUDE!!" I yelled.

Envy laughed heartily, making me avert my gaze to him as I clenched my fist. Oh if only looks could kill... I would have definitely killed him by now.

"You bastard!!"

I felt his arm grasp around my body, making me punch his fingers with all my might. I was lunched to the same direction that Jude was and I landed perfectly beside her.

"Jude!" I called out, checking her wounds. Good no bones were broken, but her cheek had a large blue bruise.

"I'm fine," she said quickly, standing up. "Let's just finish this."

"All right," Ling said, walking over to us.

"After this, I swear I will never save you again Ling," I complained, trying to lighten the mood.

"In that case, I won't either," Ling said in a mocking voice.

"Geez, guys, focus we are in a fight," Jude teased.

"All right," Ling said, nodding his head. "Ed, can you make a weapon?"

"Leave it to me," I said immediately. "We're in a sea of blood... There's plenty of iron here!"

I clapped my hands and placed them on the surface of the ocean, transmuting a dagger very much like Ling's. I gave it over to Ling and he catching it without any problem, examining it.

"You have taste," Ling smirked.

"How so? I think it looks cool," Ed said.

I heard Jude transmute a weapon and I turned to look at her as she formed an iron scythe very much like hers. She yelped, realizing that it was much heavier than what she was accustomed to.

"It's... really heavy," she said. "But, I can manage it for this one time I suppose."

"That's my apprentice," I smirked, as she grinned widely at me.

I transmuted my automail into a blade, and the three of us went serious, knowing that it was no longer time for us to joke. At least we managed to have some fun before dying, if we lose to Envy, that is.

"I see you guys have prepared your small party," Envy chuckled.

"It's time for your beatdown, Envy!" I yelled before signaling the start of the battle.
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