IMPORTANT NOTE: This fanfition isn't classified as a crossover because this website doesn't support multi-crossovers. It's actually a Multi-Crossover fanfiction which includes all and only these works:
Fullmetal Alchemist (Anime 2003), Hellsing, Trinity Blood, CLAMP - Works, DGray-man, Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Bleach, Soul Eater, Pandora Hearts
That said, this is MAINLY a FMA fanfiction and you don't actually need to know all of these to understand what's happening.
ENJOY
Revolution noun or rev · · lu · tion \ Re-və-lü-shən \
a. the usually violent attempt by many people to end a rule and start a new one
b. a sudden, extreme, or complete change.
c. the action of moving around something in a path that is similar to a circle
Chapter 1 - The Spokesman of God
When we've been there ten thousand years
bright shining as the sun.
We've no less days to sing God's praise
than when we've first begun.
John Newton - 'Amazing Grace'
Reesembool village, southeast of Amestris, Shambala. 1910.
The noise produced by the chalk on the floor was the only sound breaking the tense silence in which the room was wrapped. The only witnesses of what was going to happen were some collectible suits of armourand numerous open books scattered on the floor. Two children were finishing drawing a huge alchemical circle on the floor, in the centre of which there was a container inside of which was what looked like sand. A scientist probably would have recognized a large number and variety of chemical elements in the dust.
"Perfect, it's over," the older child said, putting the chalk down on the ground. He had blonde hair and golden eyes, and looked like he wasn't older than ten years old. He glanced at the other boy, whose eyes were full of uneasiness. He had brown hair and eyes the same colour of the other child, he was at most a couple of years younger than the first kid. The two looked alike enough to be brothers. "Don't worry, everything will be fine," the oldest assured him with a smile.
The other nodded and smiled in turn.
Outside it began to rain.
Heedless of the showers, the two put both hands on the rim and began the alchemical transmutation. All those chemicals would be recombined into another completely different form, and their wish would be granted. The energy that shone from the circle was a beautiful ochre colour. The older boy smiled to himself, everything was going as planned.
Suddenly, and seemingly for no reason, the energy increased in intensity and the light changed colour, shading the room in purple. The air around the two was filled with static electricity and some objects in the room began to fall to the ground and shatter. The blond boy looked around, disoriented, but a terrified scream made him turn towards the younger child.
The alchemical energy was attacking him: what looked like black tentacles had surrounded him and were clinging to his right arm. The older boy started to get up and run to him, but something held him by the leg. He turned to break free, and he realized that holding him was the same entity that had attacked his brother. He turned back to the other child, desperately trying to get closer, while he was being dragged to the dark vortex that was forming in the middle of the room, over the elements container. The energy was literally eating him away, and his whole lower body had disappeared. Desperately he stretched out his hand toward his older brother, his eyes filled with terror. The other child attempted to reach the outstretched hand, despite the fact that his leg was rapidly breaking down, but when he thought he had grabbed him he found herself holding nothing. His brother had been completely gone.
The light grew stronger, and the child screamed with all the breath he had.
Suddenly the light diminished in intensity and died. In the smoke-filled room there were overturned armour, torn and partially incinerated books, glass fragments of lamps and... the clothes of the youngest child, who had disappeared into the vortex of light.
"It wasn't supposed to go like that, damn it!" Shouted the blond boy, clutching his left leg which was amputated just above the knee and was losing a lot of blood.
In the container at the centre of the room, instead of the chemical elements, something stirred. The child turned in that direction when he heard a muffled gasp.
"... Mom?" He called with uncertainty.
But the being that emerged from the plumes of smoke could not even be called human. She stared at him with only one eye, red as the blood that continued to flow from his wound.
Even the last hope of the child shattered, and he let out a cry of despair.
Istvàn City, southern border of Amestris, Shambala. 1914.
The inhabitants of Istvàn were accustomed to foreigners: pilgrims and travellers passed through the modest town to cross the border between the State of Amestris and the desert, beyond which was the Xing Empire. They were used to seeing the strangest people walking the streets of the city, and now they weren't astonished by anything anymore. The boy who had just made his entrance into the city, however, didn't pass unnoticed, not so much for its looks, but because of his traveling companion. He, in fact, looked about 15 years old, he was quite short and wearing a long red coat with a hood. On his back he wore a curious symbol, a kind of cross with a snake enveloped around it, and topped by a winged crown. Under his coat he was dressed in black, but wore a pair of white gloves. His long blond hair was tied in a braid, and his gold-coloured eyes looked tired.
"You all right, brother?" His traveling companion asked.
The other person was wrapped up in a tall metal suit of armour at least six feet high topped with a helmet with a sharp horn and a long, white crest, that with each step produced a metallic clatter. Unlike his appearance, which had earned him all those surprised looks from the people of Istvàn, he had a very high-pitched voice, like that of a young boy.
"If I can't drink something soon, I'll faint," said the other boy, gasping. Suddenly he looked up, seeing at the end of the road he was walking a wonderful stone fountain. "Water!" He exclaimed.
He ran to the fountain, relishing the fresh taste of the water, but when he was close enough he realized that the liquid that flowed wasn't clear, but reddish, and gave off a pungent aroma of spices. Too surprised to do anything, the boy was still staring appalled at the contents of the fountain when someone clasped his left shoulder with their hand.
"Drinking from the fountain is forbidden to children!" Exclaimed the man with olive skin to which the hand belonged.
The confused boy's gaze was eloquent enough.
Shortly after the three of them were at the drinks kiosk property of the man's, a few feet away from the fountain, the man put a glass full of juice in front of the boy.
"I'm sorry I mistook you for a child," he said, pointing to the boy. "Some of them challenge each other to drink from the fountain, but when it happens, because my kiosk is right here before it, parents are complaining to me." He raised his eyes on the armour. "By the way, who are you, his father?"
"To tell the truth, I'm his younger brother," the armour replied.
"You're the younger one?" The man said, his eyes widening. "Wow, aren't you too little for traveling alone?"
"WHO DID YOU CALL A LITTLE BEAN INVISIBLE TO THE HUMAN EYE?!" the blond boy shouted, and he would have launched himself towards the owner of the kiosk if his brother had not blocked him from behind.
"You must excuse him..." the person in armour said, still holding the boy, who was kicking and trying to break free. "Istvàn must be a very rich city to afford such fountains" he added, looking around. Most of the inhabitants of the city had dark skin as the man who stood before them, unlike the people of Amestris that the two were used seeing, who instead had white skin.
"It's all thanks to Father Alexander Anderson" explained the owner of the kiosk. "Father Anderson manages to make a lot of miracles, and if it wasn't for him, this city would have been forgotten by everyone."
The blond boy mumbled something unintelligible and sat back down, grabbing his glass of juice and taking a long sip.
"Honestly, miracles are the last thing that interests me," he mumbled, putting the empty glass on the table. "Here we are just wasting time. What do you say, Al, shall we keep going? "
The boy in armour nodded. When he got up, however, with his helmet he struck the shelf where there was a radio which had just started broadcasting a sermon by Father Anderson. The device fell to the ground and shattered into pieces.
"Look what you've done!" Exclaimed furiously the owner. "That's what happens if you walk around dressed like that!"
"I'm so sorry," the boy apologized. "I'll fix it straight away."
"Fix it...?" The man repeated, confused.
After pulling out a piece of chalk from one of the purses linked to the armour, the boy drew on the ground, around the destroyed radio, a perfect circle, and some lines and triangles inside it, then put his hands on the edge and, with a bluish glow and a puff of smoke, the radio was whole and functioning again.
"You can make miracles happen too?!" the manager of the kiosk exclaimed, amazed.
"We are only alchemists, sir," the boy corrected that with a smile, handing him the radio that had resumed broadcasting Anderson's sermon.
"Alchemists, eh? I would have said you were street performers or something like that! "The man laughed, watching closely the radio that looked like new. "And what are alchemists like you doing in this frontier town?"
To the boy in armour said nothing, merely turning his head towards his traveling companion, who shrugged.
"Let's say we're looking for something," he said, finally.
"Wow, what a huge suit of armour!" exclaimed a voice behind the two boys: coming from behind them was a young woman dressed in clerical robes, who looked at them with admiration and awe. Unlike the inhabitants of Istvàn, she had white skin and blue eyes like the sky after sunset: a few strands of red hair were sticking out of the dark veil that covered her head.
"Eh..." Al said, embarrassed, not knowing how to respond.
"Oh, Esther!" the owner of the kiosk greeted her, pulling a paper bag from under the counter and handing it to the young nun. "Here, there should be everything. I managed to get a special price! "
"May you be blessed," she said with a warm smile, holding out some bills to the man. Then she turned to the two boys. "Sorry, I didn't want to embarrass you. You are welcome in the holy city of Istvàn! "
"Ah, thank you..."
"What brings you here? Are you pilgrims? Have you had any problems arriving from Amestris? "
"They say they are alchemists..." the man began to explain, repeating the boy's words, but something else had caught the attention of the latter.
"Why do you say that? What kind of problems there should have been? "He asked.
The expression of the nun's face darkened.
"Those damned soldiers are stationed at the station and search all incomers: I don't understand who or what they are looking for, but surely the people here aren't happy." The two boys looked at each other for a split second, before Esther's smile returned. "But don't worry, Father Anderson has protected us until today, I'm sure nothing bad will happen to the people of this city as long as he will continue to guide us according to the word of God!"
"This Father Anderson seems to be a big shot..." the boy said softly. Neither the nun or the kiosk man seemed to hear or understand his words.
"Oh, I cannot believe how rude I am!" The woman exclaimed all at once. "My name is Esther Blanchett, I'm a novice nun!"
"Ah, I'm Edward" the boy said, smiling. Then he pointed to the giant armour at his side. "This is my younger brother, Alphonse."
"Are you really the oldest?" Esther said with surprise. Edward shot her a dirty look, the young nun chuckled. "You look like nice guys, how about coming with me to the church? We have rooms and a canteen for pilgrims and travellers. "
"Actually..." Alphonse began, but was interrupted by his brother.
"In fact I would be really interested talking with this Anderson! Is it possible to meet him? "
Esther beamed with joy.
"You're interested in our church, then! Sure! I can take you to him even now! "
"I'll leave them into your hands, then," the man nodded vigorously, waving at the three youngsters as they walked away. "It's nice to see Esther so lively," he added to himself. "You wouldn't think that it's been only a few months since her nervous breakdown..."
As they walked through the streets of Istvàn, Esther began to tell the two boys about Father Anderson.
"He arrived in Istvàn almost a year ago. Before that, he ran an orphanage in Aerugo, where he was responsible of the children who lost their parents during the last wars. He's a really nice person and he helped me a lot after my boyfriend, Dietrich, died in an accident at work two years ago. "Edward glanced at her compassionately, but she had a determined look in her eyes, fixed in front of her . "That's why I took vows: Father Anderson has promised me that if I will serve God with passion and perseverance, He will give me back Dietrich."
Edward raised an eyebrow, casting a sceptical look at Esther.
"Give you back... You mean back to life?"
Esther nodded vigorously.
"God can do anything, can't He? Even you will believe once you see the miracles He allows Father to operate."
"And in the words of the disbeliever lies deception: 'What should I do to have eternal life?' he asks, thinking that eternal life can be obtained only through the sale of tangible property. And here I say to you: only through the grace of God ye are saved, not by yourself. Immortality is a gift from God, not something to buy. This is the word of God, go in peace. "
By pressing a button on his desk, Father Anderson turned off the microphone that broadcasted his voice to the citywide radio.
"A magnificent sermon, Father!" Exclaimed enthusiastically a woman with short straw-coloured hair, dressed like a priest, who was standing behind him. Beside her, a nun with blacks hair mostly covered by a veil and a pair of large round glasses, so thick as to hide her face, nodded silently.
They heard two shots at the door, which swung open letting in Esther.
"Good evening, Father Anderson!"
"Oh, Esther." The man smiled softly, standing up.
The young nun walked up to him.
"Two travellers just arrived, can we accommodate them in the monastery?"
The man nodded.
"The doors of our church are open to everyone."
Esther beamed.
"Ah, and they asked to meet you: they are right outside now."
"Father Anderson is very tired," interrupted the woman dressed as a priest, placing her hand on the girl's shoulder. "They can come back tomorrow, after the public demonstration".
"No, Sister Heinkel" Anderson interrupted. "Let them in, it's always nice to meet new souls."
Esther nodded vigorously.
"Edward, Alphonse, come in!" She called.
The door opened again and the two appeared.
"Excuse me..." Alphonse said, embarrassed, bowing his head to pass through the small door.
"A suit of armour?!" Sister Heinkel took a step back, while Anderson merely raised an eyebrow.
Edward walked in after his brother, keeping his hands in the coat's pockets and his back straight, and examined the much-mentioned Father Anderson: the man showed a bit more than sixty years, had short and dishevelled grey hair, ice-blue eyes and a couple of round glasses. He was towering tall and wore a modest clerical grey suit. A long reddish scar furrowed his left cheek, half hidden by a short and sparse beard. At his neck hung a heavy metal crucifix and on his left hand he wore a silver ring with a brilliant red gemstone. He looked like a severe, but wise, person.
"Welcome to Istvàn, sons" he said. "May God accompany you on your journey."
"Thanks..." Alphonse began, but was immediately interrupted by Edward.
"Can you really perform miracles?" He asked him point blank.
Anderson let out a long sigh.
"True faith does not require evidence, but as I understand it you are alchemists, scientists, right?"
"Yeah, I'm hard-headed, I can only believe what I can see with my own two eyes," Edward said with a smirk of defiance.
Anderson nodded.
"Come tomorrow at noon at the square in front of the church: I will show what God is capable of through me."
"Though you just said that faith does not need evidence, you seems very inclined to do these demonstrations" Edward said with a sneer. "In town, it's all you can hear about".
Anderson smiled.
"The miracles that God offers us act as a support to our faith, give us confidence and hope, and it is everything Istvàn needed to flourish."
Edward nodded.
"Don't you also happen to resurrect the dead, eh?" He added with heavy sarcasm.
"Edward!" Esther interrupted, blushing with embarrassment. "Forgive me, Father. I told him about Dietrich and... "
"Don't worry, child," Anderson assured her, then turned back to Edward. "The grace of God sometimes allows me to give back to their loved ones people whose time to be reunited with God has been ominously anticipated. Miss Laura Vitez and the young Peter are among them..." Edward's expression changed in a flash in a totally surprised one.
"No, wait, you've already resurrected someone?"
"God has performed the act, I'm just his spokesman" corrected Anderson. "But, yes, the miracle has already happened."
Edward gasped for a few seconds before composing himself.
"And where are these people? Can I talk to them? "
"They left on pilgrimage a few days after being recalled on this earth," the man told him. "Although at the behest of God, the soul was still torn away from the kingdom of heaven, and suffered a deep trauma. Prayers heals the wounds of the spirit, but to be sincere you must move away from earthly temptations, and thus the people you love, as long as the wounds won't be healed. Only God knows how much time is required for each person to heal. "
Edward grimaced.
"I kind of expected this answer," he muttered through his teeth.
"Enough," interjected sister Heinkel. "You're harassing Father Anderson with your speeches: what did you come to Istvàn for?"
Edward scratched his head, sighing.
"Simple curiosity. Well, it's not every day that someone raises the dead, right? "
"The rumour spread?" The woman asked.
"Only through the cities around here, but after a few more miracles even Central City will know."
"By the way, we have heard that you have problems with the army" Al intervened.
Sister Heinkel crossed her arms, puffing.
"Those stupid military men don't approve that this city remained independent of Amestris, we are too close to Aerugo for them to leave us alone."
Anderson scratched his beard, nodding gravely.
"They didn't give you trouble when you arrived in town, right?"
"Ah, no, we walked here from the East".
"Walked?!" Esther exclaimed. "You must be exhausted! Let me take you to your accommodation! "The girl stepped between them and the priest, pushing them towards the door.
"Ah, it's not a bad idea actually. It's been too long since I last slept in a bed... "Edward chuckled nervously.
"For whatever you may need, don't hesitate to ask" Anderson waved at them.
The three wished him good night and walked away along the corridors of the building connected to the church.
"Sorry about that," said Esther when they were far enough. "Sister Heinkel does not really trust strangers, she would continue to question you until tomorrow morning and I don't want your first impression of our church to be so saturated with distrust... and I'm talking too much, I beg you, stop me if you're getting tired" .
Edward laughed.
"Relax, indeed, thank you: I didn't even know how to get myself out of that situation."
The room where Esther took them was frugal but clean, with two beds, two chairs, a small table on which rested a bible and a window overlooking the cemetery contiguous to the church. When Esther left the boys alone, Edward slumped face down on the mattress, not bothering to take off clothes or shoes.
"What do you think?" Asked Al, looking out the window. He could see Esther, she had walked in front of one of the tombs, probably that of her boyfriend.
"Either Father Anderson is the greatest con artist in existence, or someone higher is deceiving him." He rolled on his back, looking thoughtfully at the ceiling. "Whatever you do, the dead cannot come back to life..."
Anderson had just retired to his room, severe and frugal as all rooms of the building, after celebrating the evening Mass, and it was about to have his dinner sent from the kitchen, when a rapid movement betrayed he was not alone. The balcony door was open and a light breeze moved the white tents, among which was a figure apparently human. Seeing her, Anderson fell to his knees.
"Emissary of the Lord" Anderson smiled, clasping his hands in prayer. "What commands God Almighty?"
On the ruby red lips of the Emissary a kind smile appeared.
"The soul is immortal and through prayer immortality is transmitted to the flesh." Edward read a fragment from the holy book, before dropping it back on the bedside table with a grimace. "What nonsense!"
"We cannot help it if the people of this city want to believe it, though," Al tried to say, before noticing something odd outside the window. Although it was almost time for dinner, Esther was still in front of the grave when Father Anderson raced in to her to tell her something that Al could not hear because of the distance. The girl put her hands to her face and probably burst into tears, because the priest hugged her and held her to his chest, before taking her back to the church. "That man, Father Anderson, I don't think he's a bad person," concluded the boy in armour.
"I don't know... We'll see tomorrow what he is capable of." His brother took off his shoes and threw them poorly under the bed.
"Brother, don't you want to go to the canteen to eat something?"
"I'm not hungry," the boy said, and wrapped himself in the coarse blankets. "Good night, Al."
"Good night," Al sighed, sitting down on the ground.
The night fell silently on the city of Istvàn.
SPECIAL THANKS to my Italian beta and co-writer GreenArcherAlchemist, my English beta Nathan Van Doorn.
THANKS to MoonlitWaterSunnyRiver and phantomrose96 for their indirect support and the inspiration they gave me to write this story.