Disclaimer: If I owned Fullmetal Alchemist the world would blow up.
Day of Darkness
Prologue
The clock struck midnight in the small town of Leore as the church bell echoed in the shadows of the belfry. The Church of Leto stood in silence in the heart of the town, only the sound of mice scurrying across the stairways could be heard. All was silent, except for the deeper chambers within the church. The laughter of a madman could be heard echoing throughout the hallways of the dark chambers. The deranged laughing belonged to none other than Father Cornello, a corrupt priest who was favored as a hero in the eyes of the citizens. What a shame it was that the foolish people of Leore were too blind to see past his sweet talk and empty promises.
"Edward Elric I presume? How foolish of you to walk right into my trap. I would think that monsters like you would be more clever than that." Cornello mocked.
The boy addressed as Edward Elric looked at Cornello with fiery gold eyes, and smirked. "Trap?" Edward asked
feigning naivete.
"Yes, trap. You possess the Philosopher's Stone, do you not? Well I'm afraid that you won't for much longer. You see Elric, I too own a Philosopher's Stone." said Cornello as he gestured to the ring he was wearing. "Unfortunately this one is incomplete and can only do so much. Yours however, it's the real thing isn't it? With its' power, I could take over the entire country of Amestris! Maybe even the whole world! My victory would only be assured by the army of fanatical believers I have created!" Cornello laughed hysterically.
"Okay but I don't really care about that. Let's move on shall we?" said Edward in a bored manner.
"Wha-?! What do you mean you don't care?! I'm threatening to take the Stone and take over the world!" shouted Cornello.
"Well to tell the truth, I only care about keeping the Stone away from whack-jobs like you, you can do what you want on your own time." said Edward, still clearly bored with the conversation.
"Why you! I'll show you who your dealing with you brat!" shouted Cornello as he pulled down a lever next to him. As soon as the lever went down, five iron doors opened up to reveal large, unnatural looking creatures.
Cornello chuckled darkly. "Although the power of this Stone is limited, it can still create impressive chimeras, don't you think boy?"
Edward stood undaunted as the chimeras encroached upon him. "Chimeras huh?" said Edward as he looked at the creatures.
"This is the end for you Elric! Even monsters such as you aren't immortal! Go my beasts, rip him limb from limb!" Cornello shouted. As soon as the chimeras heard the order from their master, they pounced.
Edward swiftly clapped his hands and pressed them to the ground when he saw the chimeras charge. The poor beasts barely got close to him before stone spikes like pile-drivers impaled them from the ground.
"Y-you can use alchemy, and without a transmutation circle?!" yelled Cornello disbelievingly.
"Alright Cornello, enough screwing around. Give me the Stone peacefully and I won't kick your ass." said Edward.
Cornello frowned. "I'll never give you the Stone, never!" Cornello shouted as he transmuted his cane into a large machine gun and fired a barrage of bullets at the young blonde boy.
Edward ran out of the path of bullets and circled around towards Cornello. The corrupt priest continued to fire at Edward as he charged towards him. Edward jumped out of the way of the bullets and clapped his hands together. In a bright flash of blue sparks, a steel blade appeared on his right arm. Before Cornello knew what hit him, Edward brought his arm-blade down and cut the machine gun in half.
Cornello fell and the other half of his gun landed with a loud 'clank' next him. Edward stood over Cornello and looked at him expectantly.
"I'll ask you once more Cornello, give up the stone and I won't have to take it the hard way." said Edward.
A look of fear spread across Cornello's face but just as quickly was replaced with an arrogant smirk. "I haven't lost yet Elric, I still have one more trick up my sleeve!" said Cornello as he pulled a piece of parchment from his robes.
Edward gasped in surprise. "That's-!" Edward was cut off as red sparks surrounded him and the parchment attached itself to his chest. Suddenly Edward was blown back against the nearest wall and chains appeared as they started to wrap around Edward, pinning him to the wall.
"Well that was quite a surprise. I had no idea you had automail prosthetics Elric. But no matter, I think you will be harmless enough without the Philosopher's Stone amplifying your alchemy." scoffed Cornello as he removed the Philosopher's Stone from around Edward's neck.
Edward smirked. "Actually, the seal was the real surprise. It's quite strong. Did you make it yourself, or, perhaps you sold your soul in exchange for it?" Edward said knowingly.
Cornello's smile didn't waver. "A small price to pay to make sure my plans go accordingly."
"Is that so?" said Edward before sighing dramatically. "You know, for a guy who takes those kinds of measures to make sure his plans succeed, you sure did make one huge mistake."
Cornello frowned deeply. "Oh, and what's that?" Cornello demanded.
Edward smirked wildly as blue sparks started to break the chains. "You assumed that I got my skills from the Philosopher's Stone." Edward said as the last of the chains were broken.
Cornello gaped in shock and horror as Edward stepped out of the chains. "Th-that's impossible! That seal should have held out for years!"
Cornello started to back away frantically as Edward stalked closer to him. "I tried to be reasonable old man, but now we have to do this the hard way." said Edward as he snatched both his and Cornello's Philosopher Stones. Edward then proceeded to give Cornello the beating of his life.
Edward Elric stood under the bell tower of the Church of Leto as he watched the sunrise. He wanted to stick around to watch the citizens of Leore realize what a fraud Cornello was now that he couldn't do 'miracles' since he took his Philosopher's Stone, but alas there was work to be done.
And vampires shouldn't hang around mortals for too long.