Authors notes:
What an end to the year. First, I will address my absence, as I was so very hopeful to have finished the last few chapters of this story before Christmas. Alas, it did not happen, as all my family came down with the notorious Covid-19 virus… all accept me. As the last able-bodied person left in my household, my focus quickly turned to caring for my ailing, mother, sister, brother-in-law, and their children until the virus passed, and I am very happy to report we all made it through with only a few nagging symptoms. As always, I would like to thank everyone who has read and supported this story as the years have dragged on, and now with no more illness to fight or housework to stay on top of, I can focus on what I love, and that is writing. We are still in the home stretch, this being the near final few chapters before the end. Again, thank you all for everything, comments, favorites, or just passing glances. Please enjoy!
The wall exploded with an alchemic glow. Cyrus and Lorelei shielded Pride from the flying debris as the wall of their prison collapsed. Alphones and Bounty leaped in before the dust cleared.
"Took you long enough," Cyrus said, though added, "Now I owe you twice I guess."
Bounty grinned. "No need to worry little bro, you have plenty of time to make it up to me."
Alphones chimed in, "We were going to come in earlier, but Mustang's men spotted the Cretan army, and we were waiting to see what they did. They attacked, so we did too. The massive shadowed X over the building helped. Our recon hadn't found you guys before that."
That statement brought the focus onto Pride, who had silently slipped to his knees. Cyrus and Lorelei rushed to help him.
"I'm fine," Pride panted. I'm really out of practice with my powers." He tried to stand but collapsed to the decorative floor. Cyrus caught him and scooped him up.
"Ling and his ladies are waiting on the next street over." Bounty said, accepting Pride from Cyrus. "The plan is to meet up with them and get out of the city." He motioned with his head for the company to follow him out the gaping hole in the wall. With the sound of urgent foot fall down the opposite hall, no one questioned him. They crossed the courtyard and found a similar hole blown into the stone wall that opened into the Melosian city. Chaos surrounded from all sides, screams and distant gunfire. Cyrus forced his mind not to waver in the face of the assaulting stimuli. Memories of Envy's life threatened to boil to the surface. Stay focused.
"Where's Edward?" Cyrus questioned as they rushed along the stone streets.
"That's where it gets complicated," Bounty said with an ominous chuckle. Cyrus turned to Alphones for a more coherent explanation.
"He was supposed to meet us with Ling, May and Lan Fan," Alphones agreed, his face taking on a darker gaze. "But he found something, not long after he located you guys in the Temple. A massive transmutation circle. One of the Arbus' three dimensional circles… He overheard from your captors that the other circle is under the Cretan Capital. If the Array in this city is activated with all four of the Stones…"
"Goodbye Cretan Capital and everyone in it." Bounty finished with an amazed whistle.
"Then we take ourselves and the Stones out of the equation by leaving the city." Lorelei proposed.
"Edward is going to destroy the circle, just in case we can't leave in time before it's activated," Alphones said.
"But this Array needs all four of us Homunculi to work?" Cyrus asked just as they arrived in the alleyway to rendezvous with Ling's group.
"Yes," Alphones repeated, his eyes narrowing suspiciously at Cyrus. "What are you planning?"
Cyrus handed Alphones a crumpled paper he had stashed in his robes. "I sketched the circle they used on me and Lorelei to seal our powers. Do you think you can reverse it?"
"It can wait," Alphones insisted. "We just need to leave the city."
"Edward is going to need help. I know where Edward is going to be, and the middle of this circle." Cyrus said. He peeked out of the alleyway; his sights fixed on the distant tower in the center of town.
"How do you know that's where the center is?" Bounty questioned.
"A few subtle hints," Cyrus said with a shrug. "Arbus soldiers are headed that direction, fighting hard to keep the Cretan forces from the area. Oh, and Edward is currently scaling the tower as we speak." He added with a jab of his thumb over his shoulder.
Alphones rushed to the edge of the alley and released a deep sigh as he saw what Cyrus did. A small red figure currently jumped up the crossing rungs. "Oh brother," he huffed.
Cyrus tapped the paper in Alphones' hands. "Ed doesn't have Alchemy. How is he going to destroy the array? With my power, I can, or at least with one of the Stones, some other alchemist will be able to."
Alphones pursed his lips, then glanced back down at the paper. Cyrus assumed he agreed with the plan, as he started deconstructing the notes with some quick calculations scratched into the wall.
"So why should you get all the glory?" Bounty said, an eyebrow raised. "I get only one of us should stay behind, less likely the array will work with just one Stone, but I missed the part where we voted for it to be you."
"Can you shapeshift into something that can run faster?" Cyrus shot back.
Bounty scowled, though didn't protest again. "Pride is prone," Lorelei reminded Bounty. "If Alphones can activate my power as well, it will take both of us to defend him while we escape the city."
"I have no idea if this will work, so sorry in advanced," Alphones said to Cyrus. He clapped his hands together and placed them on Cyrus' chest. A powerful jolt almost knocked him off his feet, but Lorelei caught him. The feeling vanished just as quickly, and he was left dazed.
"Did… it work?" Pride asked, still fighting exhaustion.
Before Cyrus could react, Bounty snatched a tangle of Cyrus' hair and yanked it from his scalp.
"Ouch!" Cyrus snarled. Then the pain vanished with the red regenerative light. His powers were back.
"Good guess kid," Bounty said to Alphones with a thumbs up, just as three figures jumped down from the roof.
"Sorry for the tardiness," Ling said with a grin. "It felt wrong to leave Mustang's forces to deal with Creta's first assault all by themselves. Hardly a neighborly nation thing to do."
"But we need to get moving," Lan Fan said behind her demon mask. "There is a second wave of Cretan forces coming towards the city, and they are looking for you all."
As Alphones worked to unseal Lorelei's powers, Cyrus shifted into a lean running dog.
"Stay safe," Alphones said seriously.
"Likewise." He huffed before he dashed for the city center.
Bounty's faded voice then called after him, "Remember, you owe me twice! Can't cash those favors in if you're dead!"
Cyrus cracked a fanged smile to himself, shrinking the distance between him and the tower.
He raced through the chaotic city, padded feet barely brushing the cobblestone. Amestrian soldiers joined Arbus and Milosian forces to stave off the invading Cretans. Flames rose from Cyrus' destination, touched by alchemic light. He saw Mustang and his men there, holding back Cretans as they attempted to storm the central tower.
"One of the Stones!" a man yelled. His alchemic glowing hands rushed to grab Cyrus. The Cretan soldier fell to the ground before he could snatch Cyrus, a bullet wound in his head. Cyrus puffed, stalling long enough to trace the trajectory of the bullet to a nearby watchtower. Under a camouflage blanket with a sharpshooting rifle posed and ready, he saw Hawkeye's yellow hair. He caught her give him a simple thumbs up, then continued to fire down to protect her team in the city. It was strange having Hawkeye's sharpshooting on his side.
Cyrus scaled the Amestrian barricade and landed a stone's throw away from familiar faces. Armstrong slammed his gloved fist into the ground to erect more walls to protect them. Mustang and his men seemed to be holding their own.
"The others aren't out of the city yet," Cyrus informed Mustang between his fiery attacks. Mustang startled at the talking dog but recovered when he realized it was Cyrus.
"And neither are you," Mustang noted with a glare.
"Because I think I know how to end this," Cyrus said in his defense. "And Edward knows it too." Both gazed skyward. Edward was almost to the top, Hawkeye's sharpshooting protecting him from anyone on ground level trying to stop him.
"He didn't say much," Mustang complained about Edward. "He said he needed cover to get up there. Something about the center of a similar killing circle around Amestris being at the top? The idiot wasn't very specific, just like always."
Cyrus nodded. "If he can't destroy it with his bare hands, my Stone's power can."
"Incoming tank from the south!" Hawkeye's voice reported over a radio on Fury's back.
Cyrus and Mustang's focus turned down the road. A Cretan tank was barreling down the street, rolling over barricades in its wake.
"That'll be a problem." Havoc huffed behind his fabric mask.
Cyrus shifted back into his humanoid form and held out a hand towards Mustang. "Boost your alchemy with my Stone."
Mustang hesitated, but as the tank was almost upon them, he grasped Cyrus' offering hand. He aimed his other arm at the tank and snapped. Cyrus felt the drain of power but remained upright. The massive explosion ignited under the tank and sent it airborne and onto its roof far down the road.
Mustang released his hold on Cyrus with a nod of appreciation. "How much power does it have left?" he said while motioning to Cyrus' chest.
"Enough to deactivate the circle if me and Edward can't destroy it physically. But someone who can use Alchemy will have to use it."
"I'll be up there as soon as I can," Mustang promised. "You help Edward. How fast can you climb?"
"I don't intend to," Cyrus turned to Armstrong. "I need a lift."
Armstrong inspected the distance, then smiled behind his mustache. "Happy to assist!" He placed a hand on the ground, and Cyrus stepped in it. With a grunt, Armstrong launched Cyrus upward. Wind whistled in his ears; the sound of battle left behind on the ground. When the momentum vanished, he snatched onto the side of the tower within an arm's reach of the top.
He pushed himself over the edge and arrived at the domed peak of the tower. It was a massive empty space with an outside observatory that circled the walls of the dome. Just as he assumed, there was a complicated circle that made up the interior floor. Much like other Arbus alchemy, he saw it was meant for a distance transmutation. The other circle would appear around Creta's Capital city, killing everyone inside once activated.
Edward was already charting the array, finding the best place to destroy it with the brick he wielded. Without a word, Cyrus rushed to help, intending to do more damage than the brick could. Then one of the doors to the outside rampway flung open.
Edward and Cyrus froze when a gun clicked. Darbus stood in the doorway, his forehead bleeding and the gun aimed at Edward's head. Cyrus saw Lyda climbing up a trapdoor in the floor behind her brother, probably linked back to the temple with an underground passageway. It was how they scaled the tower without interference from Mustang or the attacking Cretans.
"Drop the brick and get away from the array," Darbus hissed.
Lyda came to her brother's aid, her own gun shakingly pointed at Cyrus.
Though he did drop his prompt to weapon, Edward snapped back. "You can't kill a whole country of people to protect your own. That price is to damn high for anything supposedly good."
"You don't understand!" Lyda shouted. "This is our last chance to save our people…"
"With the power that helped destroy them in the first place?" Cyrus asked her coolly.
Lyda flinched.
Darbus' focus found Cyrus. "If one Homunculi Vessel is still here, then there is a good chance the others are still in the city."
"I can barely sense them anymore," Lyda said to her brother, fear growing in her eyes. "If the Array is activated with only one Stone in the area to power it, it will rebound on whoever activates it."
"Hence why I'm going to do it," Darbus insisted. "You've already sacrificed enough. It's time for me to take on some of the burden." He tossed his gun to Lyda and approached the center of the circle. Edward stood in the way.
Lyda's aim focused on him, but Darbus held up a hand to stop her. The two men sized the other up, and before long Darbus was laughing. "I know you! You're Edward Elric! You're the ex-State Alchemist who can't use Alchemy anymore! What the hell are you going to do without Alchemy?"
Edward pondered the comment thoughtfully. Then he punched Darbus in the face.
Darbus hit the ground hard. Edward didn't give him a chance to recover from the strike and tackled the man. The two wrestled over the surface of the transmutation circle to overpower the other, Edward maintaining the upper hand.
"No!" Lyda gasped, her gun flitting towards them. With her brother in the fray, she didn't fire. Her body trembled, the tears coming over her lashes as her knees threatened to buckle.
With slow steps, Cyrus approached her. She turned the gun on him, but he didn't stop his advance. "You can stop it." Cyrus said calmly. "It doesn't have to end with blood on your hands. Trust me, the death of an entire people is not a burden you want."
Lyda's jaw clenched. Confusion continued to scream behind her tearful eyes. "The Stones… I can sense they are almost gone… I have to do this."
The circle under them crackled. Cyrus felt the pain of the White Stone in his chest, the transmutation feeding off its power. He was dizzy, but he marched forward. Before Lyda, he held out his hand to her. "You can end this without killing anyone else. Don't leave a legacy of blood in your people's wake."
"I have to," Lyda whispered through her tears. "or we will die."
"Your people have allies who are here to fight for you," Cyrus insisted. He motioned towards the walkway. Lyda hesitated, studying his eyes. The Transmutation hadn't activated yet. She inched close to the edge of the tower and looked below. Her eyes widened. "Amestrian and Xingese forces, why are they helping us?"
"Because they know what's at stake," Cyrus explained. "They have been through this before and have learned from it. You have allies who can protect you, Lyda. You only have to accept the help."
Her gun clanked to the ground, and she fell to her knees. "They'll still be overwhelmed." She muttered. Over the horizon on the Cretan boarder, more tanks appeared. More armed Cretan soldiers to storm the city before other Amestrian forces could give backup. "And yet, here I am, unable to do what I have to."
"There are other ways to end a fight," Cyrus offered his hand again. "Be smarter than them."
She watched his offering hand. He saw it click in her mind as her eyes flashed with realization. She looked up at him. "I know what to do, but I need your help."
"It's why I'm here," Cyrus then added with a grin, "But maybe just ask nicely next time."
She took his hand and stood. The circle activated again under their feet, and Cyrus felt the same pull from within. He didn't fight it, even as it bit into his consciousness. He placed a reassuring hand on Lyda's shoulder.
The Array crackled, the Alchemic light flying outward into the city and the landscape beyond. The dark was encroaching on his vision, but even still Cyrus noted just how quiet the warring city became. Grunts from behind interrupted the peace. Edward had Darbus in a headlock. Darbus was reaching out for the gun on the ground, but both men froze as the firearms disintegrated into rust.
From the tower's vantage point, he saw the entrance to the city. The Cretan tanks there rusted away into nothing, their drivers smacking onto the ground and looking around, very confused. Every Cretan's weapon, alchemic and otherwise would vanish, disarming their enemy.
The Amestrian, Xingese and Milosian forces took the opportunity. They quickly overwhelmed the disoriented Cretan forces, bringing an abrupt end to the conflict. "Good choice," Cyrus said lightheartedly, just before he passed out.