Chapter 51: A Portal in the Darkness

Groping through the dark sea of blood, Edward searches for anyone or anything to explain where he has landed, cursing Ling as an idiot prince for the mess. The two reunite, confirm neither is Envy in disguise, and piece together that they are inside Gluttony, the burning wreckage around them set alight by Mustang's flame alchemy.

Wading on through the ruined interior, they find the detached metal arm from Alphonse's suit of armor and, to Ed's relief, confirm that Al is not stranded with them. They test the space by dropping a burning stick to listen for it landing, but no thud comes; unnerved by the seemingly bottomless terrain, they press on for an exit.

Above ground, May searches for a missing Shao May, recalling their long companionship since her youth and how her clan is the poorest and weakest of Xing's fifty. She explains that they seek the secret of immortality to save that clan, and Scar, judging there is time before dawn, agrees to help her look.

Inside Gluttony, Ed fires Hawkeye's pistol to test whether a bullet striking a wall makes any sound, but again hears nothing. Hunger and exhaustion crush their optimism; Ling urges Ed to leave him behind and press on, but a determined Ed hauls him along, reminding him that people are waiting out there for him as well. They collapse on a circular stone, and, remembering that leather is edible, Ed removes the boot from his automail leg so they can eat it and purify blood into drinking water.

When Ling senses a new presence, Envy appears. Ed demands the way out; Ling scorns his readiness to bargain with the enemy, but Envy insists there is none, revealing that the space is closer to a botched gate that Father once made. Fearing he will break his promise to Al, Ed furiously asks whether Bradley fathered the homunculi. Envy denies it but confirms that Bradley is not human. Turning to Ishval, Envy gleefully boasts that he sparked the civil war by shooting an innocent child while disguised as an Amestrian officer, a lowly soldier who had spoken out against any intervention and was court-martialed for the killing. Enraged at the ruined lives, Ed strikes Envy, which shifts into its real shape, a grotesque tangle of the souls it has devoured.

As the fight erupts inside, Alphonse, now with Shao May, realizes he is separated from the others. When Gluttony worries aloud that Father will be furious with him, Al grasps that these homunculi answer to a father, and after wrestling with whether Ed is still alive, he asks Gluttony to lead him down to this Father.

Ed and Ling confirm they are trapped inside Gluttony. Envy reveals the space is a failed portal made by Father and that Bradley is not human. Envy admits to igniting the Ishval war, provoking Ed, and unveils his monstrous true form. Alphonse asks Gluttony to lead him to Father.

The scene of Ed firing the pistol to test for sound does not appear in Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood.