Author's Notes: I have realized that in order to create good fic, I need to go to the source material. This novelization is that fic. Written using Japanese scanlations of the original manga. Meant to foster a better understanding of the text, and eventually lead to better fanfic. Here we go.


Fullmetal Alchemist

Chapter One: The Two Alchemists

Electricity crackled in the study, illuminating old walls and bookshelves. "... Al! Al! Alphonse! Damnit! How could this have happened?!"

A blond boy with golden eyes was knelt before a vast, intricately drawn scientific circle on the floor, on his hands and knees, alone in the empty room. Electricity crackled from the center of the circle.

"This… shouldn't have happe -... Damnit!"

The boy's left leg below the knee had been ripped off of him, and the stump sat bleeding on the floor. This was why he was perspiring, why his speech kept breaking off.

"I've lost it!" he called, grimacing and making a fist.

A painless lesson is one without any meaning. One who does not sacrifice anything cannot achieve anything.


Radios crackled to life from all over a desert town, illuminating a religious broadcaster's voice.

"Children of God who live on this Earth, have faith, and thou shalt be saved. The god of the sun, Leto, enlightens thy path. Behold, having descended from his throne, the Lord shall save thee from thy sins. As a messenger of the sun god, I am your Father."

A vast suit of armor listening said, "... A radio broadcast of a sermon?"

The teenage boy beside him took a bite of food, frowning seriously. "A messenger of God…? What's that?"

The old mustached man running the lunch counter they were eating at stared at the two. "I think I ought to be saying 'what's that' about you. Are you street performers?"

The teenage boy spat out the sip of drink he'd been taking. He was the same golden-eyed boy from the circle scene, but many years older, now a slim teenage pretty-boy at sixteen years old. (The age probably purposeful in the manga - At one year past coming of age ceremonies for Japan, and as someone legal to drive or have sex with adults but not to drink or marry, this boy is a kid in the eyes of some laws and an adult in the eyes of others.) His blond hair had grown into a long braid, and he wore a tight black leather outfit, a long red coat, and white gloves. The gigantic suit of armor sitting beside him didn't help matters.

"Okay, pops, what part of us looks like street performers?" the teenage boy demanded.

"I keep looking, but that's all you could be…" the old man at the lunch counter admitted, still staring. Meanwhile, passing running kids were loudly and verbally awed by the suit of armor. "I don't see people with faces like yours around these parts very often. Tourists?"

Casually, the teenage boy put the straw in his mouth like a toothpick and his chin in a gloved hand, bored, revealing a bit of skin on his wrist. "Yeah, we're just looking for something. Anyway, what's with this broadcast?"

"You haven't heard of Lord Cornello?" said the lunch counter man.

"... Who?" said the boy flatly, slightly irritated and exasperated.

"Founder Cornello! Messenger of Leto, the sun god!" said the lunch counter man, almost scolding.

Others at the lunch counter began chiming in eagerly:

"The founder of Letoism, the one with the 'power of miracles'. He's this really wonderful man who came into this city a couple of years ago and showed us the way of God!"

"It's incredible!"

"Definitely the power of God!"

The boy had his chin on the counter, looking bored and annoyed.

"... You ain't listening, kid," the lunch counter man realized flatly, starting to become angry.

"Nope," said the teenage boy with crippling bluntness, apparently uncaring as to whether he upset anybody. "I'm not interested in religion." He stood, taking out the straw and sighing matter of factly, apparently now fully able to stand. "I'm stuffed. Let's beat it," he said to the suit of armor.

"Yep," said the suit of armor. He stood and - BAM. His helmet hit the roof of the lunch counter. The old man screamed and the suit of armor gave a noise of uneasy surprise as the lunch counter's radio fell off and smashed on the ground into at least ten pieces. Everyone at the lunch counter was annoyed now - their only radio was broken.

"Hey! Don't cause any problems here!" the old man yelled. "It's all because you're walking around in a suit like that!"

"Sorry, sorry. We'll fix it right up," said the teenage boy, smiling sheepishly and holding out a pacifying hand. Meanwhile, his companion had knelt down to the broken radio on the ground.

"'Fix' how…?" said the old man, rubbing a hand against his head, frankly bewildered.

"Just watch," said the boy positively, confident. His suit of armor companion was now drawing a circle around the broken radio on the ground. In a few seconds, the circle was completed - the same complex scientific circle as in the beginning scene, but on a much smaller scale.

"Right! Okay, here I go!" said the suit of armor in determination, standing and crossing his hands over each other above the circle. The teenage boy had braced himself expectantly. The lunch counter patrons just looked confused.

Suddenly, a wave of electrical energy exploded out from the circle. Everyone else yelled out in confusion, but the teenage boy had braced himself and stood steady against the energy. The old man made a noise of amazement in the electrical surge's aftermath…

The radio was totally fixed, and a second later began playing the religious broadcast again.

"How's this?" said the boy, smiling slightly and pointing at the radio, his other hand in his pocket.

"... I'm totally stunned," the old man admitted, gaping. "You can use the 'power of miracles'?!"

"Say what?" said the boy in exasperation, blanching at the very idea.

"We're alchemists," said the suit of armor, hands on hips.

"Just call us the Elric brothers," said the teenage boy, arms crossed, smirking. "We're sort of famous."

The lunch counter patrons immediately reacted:

"The Elric brothers?!"

"I've heard of them before!"

"The older one is one of the state alchemists… The 'Fullmetal Alchemist,' Edward Elric!"

The teenage boy began grinning proudly, arms still crossed. "Yes!" he said under his breath.

But then everyone crowded around the much taller and more intimidating suit of armor instead. The teenage boy just stood there, grin frozen in surprise.

"So you're that rumored genius alchemist!" someone said to the suit of armor admiringly.

"I get it! Since you're wearing this armor, you're also called 'Fullmetal'!" said another.

Someone else was asking for the suit of armor's autograph.

And then rage slowly overtook the teenage boy's expressive face.

"Um, I'm not him," the suit of armor admitted, raising his hands in a gesture of surrender.

And everyone slowly turned around to the oddly dressed teenage boy - who, it must be admitted, was short for his age and rather unimpressive beside his companion.

"Huh?"

"The shorty over there?"

Everyone was clearly bewildered.

And the teenage boy exploded. He began throwing plates and condiments everywhere in a great fit of rage, alarming all offenders around him. "WHO'S THE SUPER SMALL SPECK?!"

"NOBODY SAID THAT!"

"I'm the little brother, Alphonse Elric." The suit of armor pointed at himself. Alphonse was fifteen, a year younger.

The teenage boy, still furious, pointed at himself and growled out with a vicious, threatening grin, "I'm the Fullmetal Alchemist, Edward Elric!"

Everyone was still a little overwhelmed by the brief fit of rage. "Ex… Excuse us…"

Edward's rank was not specified. Rankings and military positionings seemed to work somewhat differently among state alchemists, with all state alchemists being entitled to a certain rank "equivalent" to that of a normal military rank. State alchemist "normal military rankings" rarely seemed to be mentioned in the way other military members' were, except for in special insistent cases. State alchemists were usually simply titles and legends.

The rules about fraternization laws also seemed unclear at first glance regarding state alchemists. Or even regarding military personnel in general. Even what was mentioned mostly seemed to revolve around personal relationships and not issues of rank and company, and many military anime from Japan had no frat laws at all. Fraternization on the law level and not on the personal relationship level… was vague and essentially left to the reader's imagination. (Probably purposeful coming from a manga in which no one has a set birthday because the author didn't want to be hampered with tying a character to a zodiac sign.)

A slim girl in a long summer dress with long dark hair and pinkish-purple bangs ran up to the lunch counter - pretty, around teenage age. "Hello! It's a little lively today."

Edward looked around, still in a bad mood, as did everyone else.

"Oh, hello, Rose," said the old man running the counter. "Going to Church again?"

"Yes, I need to make some offerings." She held out some bills at the counter. "Same stuff as usual. Oh." She looked around, smiling pleasantly. "I haven't met you before." She was looking at the Elric brothers.

Edward had suddenly and mysteriously calmed down and was now blinking in wide-eyed, uncertain surprise.

"He said he's an alchemist," said the old man as he filled Rose's bag with grocery supplies. "Seems like he's looking for something."

"I hope you find what you're looking for!" She beamed as she took back her bag of groceries. "May Leto protect you!" she said sweetly.

They all watched her leave again, her figure disappearing into the distance, her back to them.

"Rose has become a lot more energetic. It's all thanks to the founder," someone commented.

"Huh?" said Edward, puzzled and curious.

"That girl, she ain't got no relatives," said the old man, "but on top of that, her boyfriend died in an accident last year…"

"Yeah, you'd think she'd be sad, but she didn't look so down," said one lunch counter patron. He smiled. "What saved her were the teachings of Cornello, the messenger of the sun god Leto!"

Another patron grinned. "He who gives everlasting life to the living and rebirth to the dead. 'The power of miracles' proves that. Mister, you should take a look too! That's definitely the power of God!"

"'Rebirth to the dead,' huh?" Edward mused, tough face and faux casual, looking away and scowling. "This smells fishy."

"Have faith!" the radio broadcast announced. "Thy wishes shall be answered."


"All children have the blessing of the light," a big old bald man in priest's robes, Cornello, finished into a microphone from a stories-up office desk somewhere else in the town. He switched the microphone off and closed the holy book he'd been reading from.

"Wonderful job, founder," said another man in priest's robes from off to the side, smiling.

"Founder, we are grateful for your precious words today as well," said yet another.

"Founder!"

Rose came into the office, bearing gifts apparently personally, offerings we don't see onscreen.

"Ah, Rose." Cornello came over to her, smiling. "As good as always. Wonderful job!"

"No, it's only the usual," said Rose modestly, smiling back. "And…" She twisted her hands around each other, bangled wrists jangling. "If it happens… Someday…"

Cornello looked at her, smiling. "I understand quite well what you're trying to say," he admitted. "After all, God has been observing your good conduct."

Rose brightened eagerly. "Then -!"

But Cornello had put his big, thick hands on her shoulders, revealing a red pendant ring on one of them. "But Rose, it is not time for that yet. Do you understand?" Cornello never stopped smiling kindly - it seemed to be his constant expression. "Yes?"

"That's… That's… right…" Rose admitted, looking down, obviously disappointed but forcing herself for more patience, a whole year's worth of patience already behind her. "Not yet…"

"Good. You're a good child, Rose," said Cornello, his smiling widening almost eerily.


Rose walked into the Church, pews facing a massive statue of the Sun God Leto and an altar. Edward and Alphonse Elric were already standing there near the altar, waiting for her.

"Oh? Didn't I meet you earlier…?" said Rose curiously, pausing. "Do you want to learn about Letoism?" she asked brightly.

Edward looked away, smirking, seeming amused by something undefinable. "Sorry," he said, "but I'm an atheist."

"That's not good," said Rose, smiling and obviously taking on a holy tone. "By believing in God, you'll live with daily gratitude and hope… Isn't that wonderful?!

"If you have faith, you'll definitely get bigger!" she added passionately, obviously determined to make it her new Letoist duty to 'fix' Edward's height - possibly because she'd already seen it bothered him so much.

"What?! You little…!" Edward started toward her, furious but not to the same extent as earlier. Alphonse held Edward back, and Edward let him.

"Wait, wait. She didn't mean it like that," said Alphonse patiently.

Edward sighed and sat back skeptically against a frontal pew. "... Jeez, how can you believe in something like that? Pray to God and the dead will come back… huh?"

"Yes." Rose closed her eyes calmly and resolutely. "Without a doubt!"

Edward paused - and then took out a tiny little pocket book he obviously carried in his jacket. He started reading off a scientific list inside the book:

"35 liters of water, 25 kilograms of carbon, 4 liters of ammonia, 1.5 kilograms of lime, 800 grams of phosphorus, 250 grams of salt, 100 grams of saltpeter, 80 grams of sulfur, 7.5 kilograms of fluorine, 5 grams of iron, 3 grams of silicon, and a little bit of fifteen other elements."

Rose was obviously bewildered by the long and scientific list. "... Huh?" It was, she plainly thought, a weird response to her belief.

"These would be the calculated components that make up the body of a single adult," said Edward, still frowning seriously at the book. "We already know that much with modern science, but the reality is that no successful human transmutation has ever been reported. There's not enough of something… For hundreds of years, scientists have been researching and researching, but they still haven't been able to grasp it."

He closed the book.

"So, you could say it's a wasted effort, but I think it's a lot more useful than just praying and waiting.

"Oh, right, and the ingredients for these parts? You can pick all of that up at a marketplace even with the pocket money of a little kid. It's really cheap to make a human being."

"A person isn't a thing!" said Rose indignantly. "You're being disrespectful to the Creator! You'll get the wrath of Heaven!"

Edward laughed, long and hard, right in her face.

"Alchemists are scientists, so we can't believe in vague things like 'Creator' and 'God'," he sneered. "We explain the fundamentals of the creation of everything in the world and pursue the truth." He was obviously deeply admiring of his own chosen study and profession. "It's ironic that as scientists that don't believe in God, we're the ones who are closest to God."

He was looking up thoughtfully at the Leto statue.

"That's arrogant," said Rose tightly, glaring. "You think of yourself as God's equal?"

"Oh, right. I've heard of this legend before," said Edward, smirking, as if this were exactly what Rose had been intending. Alphonse's helmeted head lowered, silent. "There was once a hero who flew too close to the sun. His wings of wax fell apart, and he plummeted to the Earth."

Rose stared at them, confused. She realized they meant something by this, but she didn't know what - the conversation had just gotten completely out of her depth.


Cornello stood on an outdoor stage above a cheering crowd of locals, his kindly smile still constantly in place. He had a rose in his hand. He put his hands together, there was a crackle of electricity between his palms, and out came a much bigger sunflower. The people of the town cheered.

Alphonse and Edward were standing in the crowds, Edward on top of his traveling trunk to see above the heads of the cheering masses.

"... What do you think?" Alphonse asked his older brother. "The transformational reaction is normal alchemy, right?"

"Yep…" said Edward, hand shading his eyes to see closer in the bright sunlight from above. "But the law…"

Rose saw them through the crowds nearby, brightened and hurried over. "So the two of you came. How is it? No doubt about it. This is the power of miracles," she said eagerly. "After all, Lord Cornello is the son of the sun god."

"Nope, definitely alchemy. Cornello's a fake," said Edward bluntly and flatly, yet again either not noticing or not caring what kind of reaction he got. He had his chin to his hand, gazing straight at Cornello, not even looking at Rose as he declared her prophet a phony.

Rose was silent with fury.

"But that's against the law," Alphonse pointed out, pointing at the spectacle up onstage away from them.

"Hmm… That's right," Edward admitted, rubbing his head sheepishly.

"Law?" Rose asked, puzzled.

"From an average person's viewpoint," said Alphonse seriously, "alchemy is a very handy skill that can make anything, without any limit. But the truth is that there's a rule to this.

"To put it roughly, there's the law of the conservation of mass and the law of providence. Among us practitioners, there are people who use the four elements and the three principles, but…"

Alphonse seemed to be trying to explain an essential law, and then some alchemists who used extra laws on top of that. But he was explaining it in a highly technical way that Rose was clearly not understanding - and neither was the viewer. Alphonse, the quieter and politer one, also seemed to be the more serious and technical one. He was so immersed in alchemy he had trouble explaining it to an outsider - not really any less immersed in some ways than Edward.

"Um… Okay." Alphonse decided to try to go even simpler. "It's taking an object with one element, and changing it into an object containing the same element.

"An object with the properties of water can only be transmuted into an object with watery attributes."

"In short," said Edward, arms crossed, "the basis to alchemy is 'exact trade'! If you want to make something, you need something of the equivalent cost.

"But he," indicating a smiling Cornello up onstage, "ignored that law and was able to transmute."

A smaller rose had turned into a bigger sunflower.

"Make some sense!" Rose demanded heatedly. "Do you two believe in the power of miracles or not?!"

"Brother, maybe it's…?" Alphonse began tentatively.

"Yeah, maybe it is," Edward admitted. His sharp golden eyes roved around - and narrowed at the sight of the red amulet stone in Cornello's massive ring on one of his thick fingered hands. "Bingo!"

He whirled around and gave his best smile to Rose.

"Miss, I'm interested in this religion!" he declared cheerfully. "I want to talk to this founder, so could you give me some information?"

Gullible Rose had her hands clasped, delighted. "Oh, you've finally become a believer!"


The belltower rang inside the multi-storied Church of Leto. Upstairs in Cornello's office, one of his priest robed officials opened the door - one of his main applauders from his broadcast earlier, the one who had spoken first, a square-chinned man with a black beard.

"Founder, there is someone requesting an interview," he announced. "A little boy and an armored man that call themselves the Elric brothers…"

Now the rest of Cornello's office revealed itself, from floor length curtains and windows to luxurious carpeting, an intricately carved fireplace, tapestries, and an entire tea-table set up near the fireplace complete with tea at the moment. Cornello was sitting having tea.

This probably was meant to explain to the viewers just where these "personal" offerings like Rose's frequent offerings went to.

"What?" Cornello scowled, irritated, freer around one of his most trusted. "I'm busy. Tell them to go home."

Then he paused in realization.

"Wait, did you say the Elric brothers? Edward Elric?!"

"Yes, I'm sure that was the name of the boy..." said Cornello's priest. "Do you know him?"

Cornello was now sweating, placing his forehead against his folded hands. "Oooh, this is extremely bad! He's the 'Fullmetal Alchemist,' Edward Elric!"

The priest reacted in visible disbelief and anger. "Wha…! You mean that pipsqueak brat?!" He made a gesture referring to Edward's small stature. "This is a joke, right?!"

"Idiot!" said Cornello, putting fingers to his nose. "Age is irrelevant to being an alchemist!

"I've heard that when he was 12, he obtained the license for being one of the state alchemists, but… I see… He really is that rumored brat."

Cornello's hands were now folded in front of him; he was becoming calmer, thinking.

"Why is a state alchemist here?! Could it be that he knows about our plan?!" the priest asked suspiciously, leaning in close, his teeth gritted.

"It seems that the dogs of the military have excellent noses," said Cornello uneasily.

"You want me to send him away?" the priest asked.

"No, doing that would be too suspicious," said Cornello. "He might return if we turn him away.

"... They never came here." Cornello looked sideways and gave his assistant a sly smirk. "... How does that sound?"

For a moment, the priest looked surprised and dismayed. Then he smirked. "As long as God is content…"

Just as this man was in on Cornello's plan, he plainly still believed in the power of miracles and the Church of Letoism - a possible reason for his accepting fanaticism.


The priest came out to greet Edward, Alphonse, and Rose. They were bowed through double doors by assistants into a kind of underground basement chamber beneath the main Church. "Now please enter," said the priest politely.

Edward, Alphonse, and Rose followed into the empty chamber behind him.

"The founder is a very busy person," said the priest, still walking ahead, "and thus does not have much free time, but you sirs are in good luck."

The doors closed behind them.

"Sorry, I don't plan on talking to him for too long," said Edward brightly, still in his faux helpful guise.

But Alphonse and Rose had turned in surprise at the doors suddenly closing.

"Yes. We'll end this quite soon," said the priest, smirking and stopping. Everyone else stopped, too.

The priest reached into an inside pocket of his robes, whirled around, pulled out a handgun, and stuck it right through one of the eyeholes in Alphonse's helmet.

"Just like this!"

The gun went off.

Alphonse's helmet was blasted away, right off the suit of armor, seeming to take his head and neck with it. Rose screamed and Edward's eyes widened in horror as the armored body fell one way and the armored head fell somewhere else.

Edward moved to run forward, and was stopped by the pikes of the followers standing beside the door, the two pinning him in on either side. Edward paused, a silent snarl coming over his face.

"Brother! What is the meaning of this?!" Rose demanded of the priest, distraught.

"Rose, these men are heretics that were going to entrap the founder," said the priest, still holding the gun. "They're demons!"

"No!" said Rose. "If that's why, the founder surely wouldn't have allowed th -..."

"The founder has allowed this," said the priest, smirking. "The words of the founder are the words of God… This is the will of God!"

Rose looked torn as the priest pointed the gun at Edward's head. Edward just stared at the gun, his face hard and his golden eyes gleaming.

"Oh? That's a mean God."

Alphonse's headless suit of armor had suddenly stood up, a voice emanating from somewhere inside, and put his glove on the hand holding the gun. He leaned down, and even the priest was surprised and horrified.

The moving, talking suit of armor was empty. There was nothing inside.

"Wha -?!" the priest began, stunned and terrified.

Edward took the pause of surprise this had created to catch his assailants off guard. He grabbed the pole of one pike and used it to shove one of Cornello's henchmen away, then he did a hand to hand move to slam the other to the ground using the chest. In almost the same move, Alphonse's metal glove punched the priest in the face, breaking several teeth.

The remaining conscious henchmen tried to run away, screaming - Edward picked up Alphonse's equally empty helmet and threw it right at the guy, hitting him in the skull and knocking him unconscious.

"Strike!" Edward held up a thumbs up in a joking umpire move, mischievous.

"My head!" Alphonse called, sounding extremely annoyed.

Rose was screaming, shaking, stuttering and staring in horror at the headless suit of armor. She pointed at Alphonse. "What's going on…?!" she finally managed to gasp out.

Alphonse pointed at his empty armored body, at the opening showing his own physical nonexistence. Edward reached up and gave a couple of fond thuds of the fist against the suit of armor's chest plate, frowning at Rose seriously.

"It's always…" Edward began.

"... Like this," Alphonse finished.

Rose put her hands to her mouth, terrified. "Th… There's nothing inside… It's hollow…?!"

"Oh, this." Alphonse calmly reached over and put his helmeted head back on. "This is someone with the sin of trespassing into God's forbidden domain. Just like me, and my brother too."

Edward's back was now to them. He remained straight-shouldered and silent.

"Edward… too?" Rose sounded confused, but also concerned.

"Okay, let's stop this topic." Edward put a hand to his head in exasperation, avoiding Rose's unspoken question, still not looking at her and Alphonse. "You saw God's true nature." He waved to the unconscious henchmen. "Didn't you?"

"No! There has to be some mistake!" said Rose, dismayed.

"Geez." Edward was irritated, even angry, a flat glare on his face as he looked away in exasperation. "This lady's already seen this much, and she still believes in that fraud of a founder.

"Rose." He turned to her, frowning seriously, hands in his pockets, Alphonse standing straight behind him. "Do you have the guts to see the truth?"


Edward and Alphonse were standing outside a new pair of double doors.

"So this is the founder's room that Rose told us about?" Edward said. "Oh well…" he added in a sigh, as if disappointed by Rose not coming.

Suddenly, one door creaked open and the other followed. The doors slowly opened into a darkened chamber of their own accord, another underground basement, shadowy and unseeable.

"Hmm…" Edward smirked. "You're supposed to say 'welcome'."

They walked inside. Edward noticed the doors close softly of their own accord behind him.

"Welcome to our holy church." Cornello was standing there on a sweeping staircase toward the upper floors within the chamber, a tapestry hanging nearby. "Did you come to learn our teachings?" The same old kindly smile.

"Yeah, I want you to tell us a bunch," Edward smirked cynically. "Like this rule about tricking your believers with cheap alchemy!"

"... Hmm, I wonder what you might be speaking of…" Cornello smiled. "Grouping my 'power of miracles' with alchemy would pose a bit of a problem. If you saw it once, you would understand…"

Now he was trying to reason with the brothers.

"I've already seen it," Edward interrupted abruptly. "The thing I don't get at all is the thing about how you were able to transmute something while ignoring the laws."

"That's why I said it wasn't alchemy…" Cornello scratched his head, puzzled, with the hand carrying the ring finger.

"I thought so. The 'Philosopher's Stone'." Edward grinned confidently, a slow, sly smirk. "You're using that, aren't you?"

Cornello paused, ring finger still scratching his head.

"It's that ring, isn't it?" Edward's eyes narrowed, sharp and smug, at the ring finger.

A pause. Cornello clutched his cane tighter.

"I expected no less from a state alchemist. It is exactly as you said. You are correct!"

Cornello raised his ring hand, and now his face was dark, dour. Not a trace of smile was left.

"This is a mysterious power amplifier that was said to be found only in legends… If we alchemists use this, we can perform tasks of great magnitude with little cost!"

"... I've been looking for that!" Edward growled out, a cruel and slightly vicious grin taking over his face.

"Hmph! Why do your eyes look like they want it?!" Cornello mused, smirking. "What would you wish for by using this stone? Money? Fame?"

"You too," Edward pointed out. "You've made a religion through fraud. What do you want? If it's money, you can use this stone as much as you'd want."

"It isn't money," said Cornello. "No, I want money, but, even if I remain silent, it will enter my wallet in the form of donations from my believers, you see. On the other hand," he smirked, hand to his chin, "I need obedient believers who would be happy to throw their lives away for me.

"It's wonderful! The greatest army in the world!" He gave a wide, insane grin. "One which doesn't fear death! I've steadily advanced my preparations! Behold! After several years, this country will be mine!"

He gave an evil cackle.

"Nope, don't care," said Edward flatly, bored and disinterested.

"What?!" Cornello sputtered, his entire intimidating aura thrown off. "Don't just say a couple of words about my plans like 'don't care'! You… aren't you from one of the surrounding countries… no, in the military?!"

He seemed to have gotten lost in his own diatribe.

"Nah. I guess you could say that," said Edward casually, scratching at his head. "Country and army, dunno much about stuff like that.

"I'll get straight to the point! Gimme the Philosopher's Stone!" He pointed firmly. "Do that and I won't say anything about your fraudulence to the people in this city."

"Ha! You're trying to bargain with me… My believers won't believe a word from the likes of you!" Cornello crowed. Edward frowned seriously. "I am loved by them! They are my faithful servants! No matter how many times you yell, they won't listen! That's right! Because these stupid believers have been fooled by me!"

Edward smiled mischievously and started clapping sarcastically. "Well, I didn't expect any less from the founder! Thank you for letting us hear such a splendid speech. Yeah, maybe the believers won't listen to anything we'd say. But!" Edward smirked and pointed behind him with his thumb. "How about the stuff she'd say?"

Alphonse silently opened up his chest plate to reveal Rose curled up inside his suit of armor. She looked horrified, terrified, and disturbed.

Cornello was confused and alarmed. "Rose?!" he yelled. "What is the…"

"Founder! Is what you just said true?!" Rose leaned forward out of the suit of armor so quickly Alphonse moved and she surprised him a little. "Have you tricked us?!" Rose demanded of Cornello. "The power of miracles, God's power… You weren't going to grant me my wish?!

"You weren't going to bring him back?!"

There were distraught tears welling up in her violet eyes.

Cornello frowned, nervous. Then he smirked, getting an idea that put him on edge.

"Hm… perhaps being the messenger of God was a lie… But with this stone, as well as the transmutation of living organisms that countless alchemists have failed at… There is the possibility that your lover can be resurrected!" Cornello declared.

Rose stared, horrified and torn.

"Rose, don't listen!" Alphonse insisted, rarely actually speaking up.

Cornello held out a hand. "Be a good child and come here."

"If you go, you won't be able to come back," Edward growled in warning, giving her a sideways glare.

"What's wrong?" Cornello smiled, more confident at Rose's continued silence. "You're one of us."

"Rose!" Alphonse warned sharply.

"Am I not the only one who can grant your wish?" Cornello demanded, playing on Rose's longing for her dead boyfriend. "Remember your beloved! Well!" He grinned viciously.

Rose was shaking, trembling, clutching at herself in horror…

Then she walked away from the Elric brothers and toward Cornello. Her head was bowed. "I'm sorry, you two," she said quietly, her back to them.

Alphonse stared after her silently. Edward ran a hand through his hair and sighed, tough face on but seemingly disappointed.

"But this is the only thing I can…" Rose turned back to them, disturbed. "This is the only thing I can rely on," she admitted.

"Good child… really…" Cornello gave a cruel smile, his eyes narrowed.

Cornello reached for a lever hidden in the wall beside him.

"Now, I will purge these heretics that threaten the future of my religion with haste," he promised. He pulled the lever.

Edward looked around, hands casually in his pockets but sharp and alarmed - and out of a nearby sliding wall came a chimera, a lion with a lizard backside, crawling out of the hidden opening. It growled and made to spring at the Elrics.

"The Philosopher's Stone is a really impressive thing," said Cornello. "It can make things like this. Is this the first time you've seen a chimera? Hm?" He smirked, eyeing Edward sideways.

Edward and Alphonse watched the circling, hunched chimera, faux casual, expressions hard.

"It's a little hard to fight unarmed," said Edward flatly, bored, clapping his hands together once, "so…" Cornello paused in surprise as Edward put his spread palms to the ground, there was a flash of alchemical electricity - and in an explosion that Rose had to brace herself against, from out of the ground and into Edward's slowly standing hand came a sharpened spear. It had an intricate dragon symbol carved into it.

"Why you!" Cornello growled, irritated and maybe a little nervous from the top of the stairwell. "To transmute a weapon from the pavement without an alchemical circle… I see that state alchemist isn't just a fancy name! But that won't be enough!"

The chimera charged, and snapped through the spear in a flash of claws. Edward clutched his left leg instinctively in surprise as it was slashed by the claws.

Cornello cackled. "How is that?! How do claws that can cut through iron feel?!"

"Edward!" Rose called from further back on the bottom floor, obviously distraught.

"... What was that?!" Edward looked up and grinned mischievously.

Cornello gasped just as the chimera's claws snapped off from the attack and Edward kicked the chimera in the stomach and away with the supposedly injured left leg.

"Sorry, but it's made a bit special," Edward smirked, foot still raised in a hand to hand kick.

"What happened?!" Cornello called, stunned. "If the claws won't work, bite him!"

The chimera charged forward, growling, bit down on Edward's defensively raised right arm… and paused, chewing, but wide-eyed, growling, and whining.

"What's wrong, you stupid cat?" said Edward, deadly. "Get a real good taste." Then he kicked the chimera in the jaw in another hand to hand move, its head snapping back upward and away in a rush of blood and broken teeth.

"Rose, take a good look," said Edward. His left leg through the shreds of cloth was mechanical metal, a synthetic advanced limb shaped to look like a young man's. His right arm? Exactly the same, metallic gears and all. This was why he wore a long-sleeved cloak, long pants, gloves; he was self conscious of synthetic limbs. "This is human transmutation - the bodies of sinners that have breached God's domain!"

He was still trying to help her. But Rose had her hands over her mouth. Even Cornello was horrified. Edward and Alphonse were deadly serious.

"... Artificial limbs of steel," said Edward, frowning solemnly, "automail…"

And he ripped off the tattered remnants of his cloak. The artificial arm went right to the edges of his chest and back, completely enveloping his shoulder. He was lithely muscular, and scars littered the connecting points of his automail. The chimera lay defeated behind him.

He turned, gritted his teeth, and made a 'come at me' motion to Cornello.

"Ah, I see… the Fullmetal Alchemist!" Cornello realized. It was because of Edward's artificial limbs. After the first scene - a failed attempt at bringing a human to life as a child - he'd had to have the limbs synthetically installed in. Alphonse had lost his body completely.

That was why they were trying to help Rose. For them, this was personal.

"Come and get some, you third rate," Edward growled at Cornello. "I'll show you what's different between the two of us!"