The Truth

Whoever crosses the Gate meets a blank, chalk white silhouette of themselves, a visual reminder that the only judge present is the alchemist. The outline shifts to match each visitor: a small boy for the Elric brothers, a young woman for Izumi Curtis, a hearty grown man for Roy Mustang, and the original flask body when the Dwarf who became Father was dragged before it. Its voice tends to carry a feminine, sharply clipped tone, though it borrows the speech habits of anyone it faces, gruff toward Edward and courteous toward Alphonse. Any items claimed as payment can be seen resting on its person once the doorway opens, such as the limbs it took from Edward or the whole body it wears in Alphonse's stead.

Truth carries itself with a cruel, taunting streak, yet it never strays from cold fairness. Each violator forfeits whatever they treasure above all else: Edward loses the leg that let him stand alone, Alphonse loses the sense of touch that could feel his mother, and Izumi loses the organs that might have let her carry another child. The entity holds no favorites and no grudges, weighing every trespasser as equally guilty and owed an equal loss. Underneath the apparent malice sits a lesson, that alchemists should never crown themselves masters over life and death, and that mortality is something to accept rather than rewrite. It can bend toward mercy, as when Roy Mustang was forced through the Gate against his will and the physical decay was redirected onto Pride instead. Its rare flash of amusement comes at Father's expense, mocking the Dwarf for shedding his seven vices and thereby forfeiting the very humanity he chased.

Truth presents itself as the power humans have labeled God, the World, and the Universe, greeting newcomers warmly before turning to mild cruelty and pointing out their arrogance. When Edward tried to revive his mother, the toll claimed his left leg and Alphonse's entire body; a second opening of the Gate traded his right arm for his brother's soul. Izumi Curtis lost internal organs, presumably part of her reproductive system, leaving her unable to conceive and prone to coughing blood. Van Hohenheim is presumed to have paid an even steeper price, which may explain why his transmutations need no clapped hands. Roy Mustang, shoved through the Gate by Pride, surrendered his eyesight even though he refused the act willingly, though he later restored his vision using a Philosopher's Stone. In the story's closing beats the entity hands Edward's arm back in exchange for reuniting Alphonse's body and soul, banishes Father into the depths of the Gate for trying to seize divine power, and finally faces Edward one last time. Offered the boy's own Gate and his alchemy as payment to bring Alphonse fully home, Truth is briefly startled, then delighted, congratulating Edward for realizing that alchemy was never what he truly needed.