It takes a little for a new story to gain traction, and I absolutely am aware of that - but I'll still encourage anybody who's interested so far to please let me know what you think! Also double-update just because the next chapter is a bit shorter, so enjoy!


Three Years Later

"I did tell you to bring more water."

"You don't have to be so mean about it, Liss. Just—share!"

"No way! I carried this all the way from freaking Central and you want me to share? What do I get in return, then?"

Alphonse sighed and inserted himself between the two. "I thought you were supposed to be friends," he chided, looking between Lissa and Edward in turn. "But you've been fighting ever since we got to Liore. What's wrong?"

Ed turned his nose up. "Liss won't share her water."

"Because, dummy, you didn't bring enough and I only have enough for me. And we're here, we'll just find someplace to get drinks. We might need it later if there's an emergency." Lissa rolled her eyes and tugged his braid, making him wince and swat her hand away. "If we don't find anywhere to sit down soon, I'll share. Okay? Promise."

He patted his hair back down and grinned at her. "You're so soft for me, Cadet Caito."

"Call me that again and I'll cut all your hair off," she warned him. "Or I'll transmute your hair pink again. Remember that? I still have the photo, too. I could always send it to Mustang."

Ed grabbed her by the coat and tugged frantically. "You wouldn't dare."

Lissa smirked. "Try me, Fullmetal."

"Fine, fine," he relented. He released her—only to sling an arm around her shoulders in his usual fashion. They'd both gotten taller over the past few years, she noted, but she was still taller than him by a few inches. Lissa thought doing this made him feel like he was the taller one.

"We should head for the center of town anyway," Al pointed out. "It's a good place to find out a little more information."

Lissa wrapped her arm around Ed's waist and nodded. "Yeah, we might actually hear something more about this Father Cornello guy. All we know so far is that he's a priest who performs miracles, whatever the hell that means."

"You're always so skeptical," Ed complained, bumping her hip with his own as they walked.

"I just don't trust the idea of finding a Philosopher's Stone in the hands of some random guy," Lissa explained. Not that she hadn't explained it before. "It'll be somebody important, somehow. I just know it. Besides, don't you think I'd sense it?"

He smirked at her. "What would a Philosopher's Stone even smell like?"

"It's not smells! It's feelings," she corrected, hating the whiny tone to her voice. Almost two years ago now she'd finally come clean about the weird feelings she got, senses from things happening around her. They'd been a bit doubtful until she'd sensed that the very kind landlord of an inn they stopped at was actually an alchemist scheming to use Ed as ransom against the military. That changed their minds very quickly.

Ed laughed at her indignation, but didn't push the issue anyway. "I know, sorry, Liss. Anyway, if you feel anything that might remotely be the stone, tell us, okay?"

"You know I will."

They found a shop just a little further into the city—a sort of outward-facing bar, with a few people milling around, and a radio playing some kind of sermon resting atop the awning. With nowhere else in sight—and Ed pretty much desperate—they stopped there and ordered a little food and some juice. Lissa knew her friend hated milk. She didn't even bother trying now.

All through their meal, the shopkeep kept giving them strange looks—until finally he jammed his hands on his hips and asked, "So what are you guys? Like…street performers or something?"

Ed gave him a disparaging look. "Seriously? Do we look like street performers to you?"

The man shrugged. "Well, yeah. S'why I asked after all."

"We're not street performers," Lissa clarified, more amused than offended. Ed took poorly to those kinds of comments—he thought it was a joke about his height. Sometimes it was. But it was difficult not to be, when he was the shortest of their group.

"C'mon, let's go," Ed muttered, hopping down off his stool. Lissa followed, giving a wave to the shopkeep as she got up since he hadn't really done any harm—just in time to avoid the radio crashing down at her feet, from Al standing up and bumping the awning. It landed hard on the stone street and shattered instantly, cutting off the religious broadcast.

"Hey, easy!" the shopkeep protested. "I didn't mean nothin' by it!"

Ed lifted a hand quickly. "Sorry, just an accident! We'll fix it."

"Fix it?" the old man scoffed, crossing his arms. "And just how are you gonna do that? It's smashed all to hell!"

Lissa tossed Al a piece of chalk helpfully. "Just watch," she told him brightly. He was better at fixing things, after all. Thankfully Al knew that, so he didn't question her—he just knelt and drew a transmutation circle around the shattered remains of the radio, held his hands out… And in seconds, the radio was as good as new again.

"There, see? How's that?" Ed asked, grinning and pointing down at the radio.

The crowd they'd gathered was murmuring in astonishment, all sort of doe-eyed and in shock. Lissa wondered why. It was just a little simple alchemy.

"Amazing! It's a miracle! You've been touched by the Sun God, haven't you? Just like Father Cornello!" the shopkeep exclaimed. And there it was. Lissa looked up at him in surprise. The Sun God? Who the hell was the Sun God?

Ed wrinkled his nose, looking kind of grossed-out. "Touched by who now?"

"It's not a miracle," Al explained gently. "Just a little simple alchemy, that's all. Nothing special."

One of the onlookers tapped his chin thoughtfully. "Oh, so you're alchemists. Yeah, I've heard of them."

A sort of prideful look came over Ed's face, and Lissa resisted the urge to groan. Here we go… "Then maybe you've heard of us. We're the Elric Brothers! And this is Lissa Caito, she's my trainee. We're sort of famous, actually."

"Does he have to do that every time?" Lissa asked Al under her breath.

The shopkeep looked thoughtful. "The Elric Brothers?"

"Oh, yeah, I do know that name," the same onlooker mused, nodding as he realized it.

"The Fullmetal Alchemist, Edward Elric!" another chimed in. "Is that right? Wow, so you're the young prodigy they tell all those stories about?"

Lissa laughed and patted Ed's shoulder as the bystanders crowded around Al instead, peppering him with questions and calling him the Fullmetal Alchemist. It was always the armor, she mused, as Edward wilted and glared at the crowd. "Not again," he lamented. "C'mon, why do they never hear about my cloak, huh? I thought it was pretty recognizable."

"Is that why you wear it?" she asked him, smirking. "I thought you just felt like it was stylish or something."

"Well, that too," he muttered. "But still."

While Al tried to remedy the confusion, Lissa regarded Edward with a thoughtful little smile. He hadn't changed too much since she'd gotten close with him, she thought, which wasn't a bad thing. His temper had cooled just a touch—and so had hers, thankfully—but they still bickered all the time. At this point it was just a facet of their relationship, the silly petty fights they could halt in an instant and pretend had never even happened. Ed and Al were her family now, after so long together. They didn't keep secrets, worked as a team, shared rooms and floors and were scarcely separate. Over the past three years, Lissa couldn't think of twenty-four hours all at once she'd been apart from the boys. And she loved it, every single second. It felt like having a family again.

"Who's little?! COME HERE AND SAY IT TO MY FACE I DARE YOU!"

Lissa tuned back in just as Edward was going straight for the people who had inadvertently hit his most sensitive spot. "Ed, calm down," she sighed, grabbing his arm before he could launch his attack. While he struggled halfheartedly against her grasp, she looked to the shopkeep and asked him, "So what's with the guy on the radio, sermonizing like that?"

"Oh, you don't know?" he wondered. "That's Father Cornello, our leader."

Ed froze, dangling from Lissa's hand and looking at the shopkeep curiously. "Wait, that's Cornello?"

"Yeah! We were completely lost until he came to town, and started teaching us all about the ways of the Sun God Leto," one guy told them earnestly. "He grants eternal life to the souls of the faithful."

"And he can even resurrect the dead!" another supplied. "His miracles prove that what he says is true!"

Edward freed himself from Lissa's grasp and crossed his arms, looking both skeptical and intrigued at the same time. "So this guy's claiming he can bring the dead back to life? Tch." He tossed his head. "Now that's something I gotta see."

They left the little square behind, the people still chattering on about Cornello and this weird Sun God Leto. It felt slimy, somehow, especially since Lissa didn't believe for one second this guy was performing miracles. Alchemists were scientists too, and that meant living in the realms of reality, of what was really possible and what wasn't. Miracles just weren't scientific. Besides… If the dead could be brought back to life, Ed and Al would have their mother.

"Do you feel anything here, Lissa?" Al asked as they headed to the church, drawing her out of her thoughts. "I mean…y'know…"

Lissa closed her eyes for a moment, absently latching onto his armor so she wouldn't fall. "Not much… The people here have a lot of faith, I think that's what it is… It feels like…a room filled with incense, too heavy to breathe through… Faith without much substance." She stumbled as her foot caught on a bit of uneven pavement, but Al caught her easily, one arm across her stomach. "Oops," she mumbled. "Thanks, Al."

He set her upright and shook his head. "No problem."

"Either way, we need to check this out," Ed asserted. "Whether he's performing miracles or not, something doesn't feel right."

She smirked. "What, something doesn't feel right in a town where the dead can be brought back to life? Now, Ed, you're just reaching, aren't you?"

He grinned and ruffled her hair. "Totally. C'mon, the church is just up here."

Lissa grabbed onto the hem of his sleeve as he jogged ahead, a bit anxious at the crowd she was beginning to see gathered outside the church. Over time, she'd come to realize she wasn't very good with big crowds—even though she'd effectively grown up in Central, too many people in one place at a single time just…made her skin crawl.

"Here, we'll just stay at the back," Al told her gently, catching Ed's shoulder before he could duck into the crowd.

"But I can't see," Ed muttered.

Lissa grinned and stood on her tip-toes. She could just see over the shoulder of the person in front of her, if she stayed on her toes, but there was no way Ed could see with the few inches she had on him. "You could always stand on your suitcase," she pointed out wryly.

He glared—but did as she suggested anyway. Seeing was more important. "Okay, let's see what this old guy really has up his sleeve."

At the foot of the church, an older man with either a shaven or bald head stood grinning at the masses beneath his feet. He had white robes on, a supposed symbol of purity, but it just seemed like a farce to Lissa. A mockery of what robes like that should stand for. All around him, pink flower petals flowed as if from nowhere—though she had no doubt the blossoms were drifting from some unseen basket high up in the church.

Father Cornello waved and the crowd cheered like he was a celebrity. He lifted a hand and caught one of the flowers midair—then he closed his hands around it and shut his eyes.

There was a flash of red light. Lissa's chest tightened as she felt a sudden burst of something, too quick for her to catch it, and when she focused again there were two enormous red crystal flowers on the podium with Cornello.

"That was something," she whispered, looking at Ed urgently. "I felt that, all the way from back here."

He met her gaze, looking very intense for a moment. "Well? What do we think?"

"There's nothing to think," Al replied firmly. "That was alchemy, no doubt about it."

Lissa turned away from the spectacle as Edward jumped down from his suitcase to join them. "Only one problem, though," she pointed out, stuffing her hands into her trouser pockets. "What's his equivalent exchange?"

Ed nodded grimly. "Exactly. He's completely ignoring the Law of Equivalent Exchange. He should've only been able to transmute that flower into something of equivalent mass."

"Not to mention he changed organic matter to inorganic matter." Al looked between them, on the exact same path. "Which should be impossible. Unless…"

"Yeah," Ed agreed softly. "There's just one way. Bingo."

Lissa stared down at the church unhappily, mostly concerned with the mass of humans between them and the entrance. "Once this dies down, we'll have to go check it out. I don't think we want to risk questioning this guy with his whole flock of sheep around."

Ed groaned and shook his head. "No way. We'll let them disperse before we try and get close."

Within the next hour, the crowd had gone back to their daily lives, leaving the three room to head down to the church. By then Cornello had vanished, whisked off somewhere deep into the building by a couple of his underlings, but the front door was unlocked and the chapel was open, so they walked straight inside.

"It'd be pretty if it weren't so creepy," Lissa observed, looking around the candlelit room. "No electricity. Nice and rustic."

Ed scoffed. "I bet he's got the rest of the place wired up. Guy like that needs his creature comforts." He strode down the center aisle and stared at the altar from a safe distance, clearly looking for some sign of a place to hide a Philosopher's Stone or evidence it had been there, but the whole setup looked pretty legitimate.

As they approached, a young brunette woman who had been on her knees praying at the altar stood and smiled warmly. "Welcome," she greeted. "Are you interested in learning about Letoism? You're the tourists, right? The newcomers?"

"Nah, sorry. We're not exactly the religious type," Ed dismissed offhandedly.

The woman looked disappointed. "No? I'm so sorry to hear that… To know God is to know hope, love, purpose… If we believe in His divine grace, then all things are possible." She fixed that docile, obedient smile on her face and added, "If you believed, then I'm sure Leto would bless you and make you grow taller."

Oh, crap.

Edward visibly bristled at the comment. "What's that supposed to mean?!" he demanded harshly.

Al grabbed his arm and held him back. "Easy, brother. She's just trying to help."

Tugging free, Ed sank down into the front pew and crossed one leg over the other, giving off a casual air Lissa knew was a bit of a front. She hadn't seen him like this in a long time, not since the mercenary down south they'd thought had a Philosopher's Stone over a year ago—he turned so desperate it scared her, when they got a lead like this. And here, in Liore, was the first time they'd actually seen somebody bypassing the laws of alchemy. Ed's determination was dangerous, for himself as well as for her and Alphonse.

"Well, what about bringing the dead back to life?" he asked of the girl. "Do you believe that's possible too?"

The girl bowed her head and smiled. "Yes."

Ed sighed deeply and reached into his pocket, bringing out the small coded notebook he carried everywhere with him. Lissa still hadn't been able to decipher it, even when he let her have it for a full day. It just looked like a travelogue to her, but she knew it had more in it, especially with how intent he got about it sometimes.

"Water: thirty-five liters. Carbon: twenty kilograms. Ammonia: four liters. Lime: one-point-five kilograms. Phosphorus: eight hundred grams. Salt: two hundred and fifty grams. Saltpeter: one hundred grams. Sulfur: eighty grams. Fluorine: seven-point-five grams. Iron: five grams. Silicon: three grams. And trace amounts of fifteen other elements." Ed snapped the book shut, ignoring the young woman's confusion. "That list represents the complete chemical makeup of the human body for the average adult. It's been calculated to the last microgram. But there has still never been a reported case of an alchemist successfully creating a human life." He looked up at her sharply. "And you're telling me something modern science can't do; you can do with prayer?"

Lissa stood beside Al uncertainly, not entirely happy with Ed's handling of this. She would call herself agnostic—and he'd name himself atheist—but usually they agreed on the bigger ideas. Not this. He was very sensitive to the ideals of religion and the way most religions completely ignored science and scientific theories.

The young woman glared at him, incensed then by him talking down to her. "Lift thy voice to God! And the prayers of the faithful shall be answered!"

Ed grinned and linked his hands behind his head, almost amused now. "Oh, and did I mention, all those ingredients I read off… Down at the market, a kid could by every one of them with the spare change in his pocket. As it turns out, humans are pretty cheap to make."

"No, that's blasphemy!" the brunette cried, eyes wide in shock. "We are all children of God, created in his image!"

Lissa crossed her arms. "Created in God's image or not, you can't deny that our chemical makeup is pretty basic," she pointed out. "We're mostly water and carbon. There's nothing special or unique about our bodies."

Edward nodded his assent, even though the girl continued to look scandalized. "You have to understand; us alchemists are scientists. We don't believe in unprovable concepts like creators or gods. We observe the physical laws that govern this universe, and try to learn the truth. It's ironic, really. Through the application of science, we have in many ways been given the power to play as gods ourselves."

Oh, that's going to go over really well. Lissa wondered if she could burn a hole in the back of Edward's head if she glared hard enough. It might be worth trying.

"So you would put yourself on the same level as God?" the young woman demanded. "But that's just—sheer arrogance!"

He didn't bother denying it. "You know, there's an old myth… About a hero who flew on wings made of wax… He thought he could touch the sun. But when he got too close, his wings melted, and he came crashing back down to earth. Isn't that right, Al?"

"Brother…" Al warned, clearly worried about Ed saying too much.

But Ed had already moved on from the moment. He hopped up from the pew and flashed a winning smile at the woman. "I'm sorry, miss. This is difficult for me to ask, but… Do you think your Father Cornello could save arrogant scientists like us? We'd be very interested in hearing what he has to say."

The brunette looked like he'd made her entire life in a single moment. "Of course! That's wonderful, to be so open-minded… I'm sure if anyone can lead you to the creator's light, he can! Please, come with me. I'll see if he can speak with you."

She led them through a side door of the chapel, and Lissa took a moment as they exited to hold the door and pause, sensing the air currents around them. It was different back here—a stronger current flowed from somewhere, with hints of…was that animal fur? She resisted the urge to wrinkle her nose. What was animal fur doing back here? Lissa stretched her fingers, adjusting the reddish-pink fingerless gloves she now wore everywhere to hide her transmutation circles. After a while, drawing them had been too much of an effort, so she'd simply had them inked onto the backs of her hands, several to each hand. People asked too many questions if she showed the tattoos, though.

"Something's weird back here," she whispered to Ed and Al as they walked. "Keep your guard up. I don't like this."

"So what are your names?" the young woman asked cheerily.

"Oh, we're the Elric brothers, and this is Lissa. She's our friend and research assistant." Ed stuffed his hands into his pockets, probably to smother the sound of his automail moving. He was usually pretty conscious not to show it too easily.

The girl smiled back at them. "My name's Rose." She looked at Lissa and Ed curiously, singling them out for some reason. "You two seem very young to be traveling alone… And are you not…a bit uncomfortable, being the only girl, Miss Lissa? It seems like that could get very lonely and—and scary, too."

"We aren't that young," Ed muttered.

Lissa just grinned. "These two are basically my family at this point. I can't imagine being anywhere else. Besides, I trust them with my life, I know they'd never hurt me. We've all been together…what, three years now?"

"That's sweet, to have something like that," Rose told her honestly. The girl switched emotions so fast, it was hard to keep track. "I'm glad."

"What about you, Rose?" Al asked curiously. "Do you have any family here in Liore?"

Rose's face fell. "Oh, I… N-no, I don't. Not anymore, at least."

Al winced immediately, seeming ashamed of himself. "I'm so sorry, I had no idea. I didn't mean to pry like that."

"It's all right," she told him, shaking her head. "I found my God, and that's enough for me."

Lissa exchanged a pointed look with Ed that told her they were thinking the same exact thing—there was no way a girl who'd lost her whole family thought her God was enough, not when she was so close with a priest who claimed to be able to bring the dead back to life. That sounded an awful lot like somebody with a really serious motivation for performing human transmutation.

Rose had them wait in a sort of antechamber for a few minutes, while she went off to talk to someone and put in their request for an audience. They didn't dare speak their minds, but Lissa knew the boys well enough to see how wary they were. And there was that dark, almost hungry look in Ed's eye that she just didn't like at all. Searching for the stone absorbed his entire being sometimes, and though she and Al tried, he could get lost in it with alarming ease.

Soon enough, though, a man in dark robes walked back in, Rose at his heels. "So you must be the Elrics, and their young research assistant. Welcome." He inclined his head. "I am Brother Cray. This way, please."

Brother Cray led them through a few hallways, down the stairs, and finally to a large set of double doors set into the wall. "Father Cornello is a busy man," he told them, as he pushed one of the doors open to allow them through, "as you can imagine. But you're in luck. He's decided to spare a moment for you."

Ed grinned and followed him right inside. "Yeah, thanks. We understand. We won't take too much of his time, don't worry."

"Good. Then it's agreed." Brother Cray strode further into the chamber, and Lissa noticed for the first time that they weren't alone—indeed, several armed guards had peeled off their posts to come and join the little group. So it was a setup. "We'll make this quick."

The doors slammed shut behind them. A pair of disciples stabbed spears into the ground right in front of Edward and Lissa, holding them back, while Cray himself withdrew a pistol from inside his robes and aimed it straight at Al's head. Lissa stopped immediately, and glanced sideways at Ed, seeing his gaze fixated on Al. If this asshole of a fraud so much as touched Alphonse…he'd be in for one hell of a surprise.

Rose jolted to a stop, looking around herself in fear and confusion. "Brother Cray, what is this?" she gasped. "What do you think you're doing?"

Cray eyed her. "Rose, these heathens have come to ensnare and discredit the Father. They're evil, emissaries of sin and lies. This is God's will!"

Evil, Lissa thought derisively. He has no idea.

The girl took a step back, pressing both hands to her chest. "Brother Cray…"

Ed's eyes darted side to side for a moment, assessing—then he looked at Lissa and inclined his head, ever so slightly. She understood immediately. "Well, like you said. Let's make this quick!"

Lissa reacted as Edward did, reaching her fingers into the air around her and slamming a wall of compressed air behind her as she ducked, dodging the spears that had been blocking her and sending her two guards flying into the far wall. Beside her, Ed was dealing with his own, a more hands-on approach but no less effective. At the same time, Al simply rammed his fist into Cray's face, knocking the man flat on his back, his pistol skidding away.

One of the guards picked himself up and made as if to run away, but Ed was on him in a heartbeat, tossing one of the fallen spears and tripping him with it. "Oh yeah!" he cheered, grinning. "Strike!"

Lissa laughed and set her hands on her hips. "Nice shot."

"What's this commotion?"

Oh, this can't be good.

Lissa turned, grimacing, to see Father Cornello himself had stepped out onto a sort of observation deck above them with stairs leading down to their level, smiling benignly and looking for all the world like a cat that caught a mouse.

Ed would kill me for that one, wouldn't he?

"Ah, the Fullmetal Alchemist!" Cornello called down, with that stupid grin still plastered on his face. "Welcome to the home of our sacred order." Lissa noted he'd changed robes—these were black, a more fitting color, she felt.

Rose looked up at him with those doe-eyes again. "Father Cornello!"

As if he still had control, Cornello spread his arms wide and told them, "I must apologize for my disciples' behavior. It would seem they've been…misguided in their actions."

Ed scoffed at him. "Okay. Let's say I believe you weren't the one guiding them. What next?"

"Ah." Cornello's smile turned almost…predatory. "So have you come to learn the ways of Leto, child?"

"Well, there's a few things I'm curious about," Ed told him sharply. "Like how you've been using second-rate alchemy to deceive your followers."

But the priest didn't give in. "My dear boy, I don't know what you mean. What your doubting eyes see as alchemy are in fact the miracles of the Sun God Leto." He pressed his hands together, and immediately red energy shot out from within his grasp, the very air humming with that same energy, the same feeling Lissa had gotten outside the church. And when he pulled his hands apart, a foot-tall statute of Leto himself materialized from what seemed like thin air.

The stone! It feels like…copper and iron…heavy on my shoulders, like sludge…like…like blood… But why would it feel so terrible? But it definitely is alchemy… I'd know that feeling anywhere, like static all across my skin.

"Look again," Cornello insisted, holding the statue aloft. "Could mere alchemy create something out of nothing in this way?"

Ed glanced sideways at Lissa for confirmation, and she nodded once. At least he trusted her judgement and the strange things she could sense.

"Yeah, that's what I didn't get at first. How you can perform transmutations that ignore the Law of Equivalent Exchange." Edward rubbed at his head, mussing his hair as he considered the far-reaching possibilities of what was going on here.

Cornello slammed the statue down on the railing before him. "As I said, because it isn't alchemy!"

"But then I started thinking about it," Ed continued, like he'd never spoken. "If you'd somehow managed to acquire a certain object to amplify your alchemy… One that is said to make the impossible possible… That would explain everything."

That made Cornello's eyebrows furrow, his posture changing. "What…how could you…"

"I'm talking about the Philosopher's Stone!" Ed called up sharply. "Your ring. That's it, isn't it?" He began to slowly walk forward, approaching Cornello like he might take it by force. Lissa knew he would, undoubtedly, Edward would rip it right off his finger if he got the chance. "I've been looking for that."

"The ring is just a ring," Cornello dismissed, though there was a faint tremor in his voice. "I am God's humble servant." And that beatific smile was back in place. Damn. He thought he was in control. "It is from He alone that I derive my power."

But Ed was stalking forward now, grinning, his quarry in sight. "Still tryin' to sell that line, huh?" he drawled. "All right, if that's the way you wanna play it, I guess I'll have to come up there and beat some truth out of you!"

Lissa sighed and rolled her shoulders. So it was going to be a fight. Well… It always was, with Ed. She really should be used to it by now.

"My, you really are quite the incorrigible heathen, aren't you," Cornello observed irritably. He cast his gaze around for a moment—then alighted on Rose and focused on her immediately. "Rose, dear."

The woman looked up at him uncertainly. "Yes, Father?"

"That gun there beside you. Pick it up," he ordered.

Still too trusting, Rose agreed, "Oh… Okay…" and picked the gun up, holding it in an unpracticed grip, her fingers over the trigger guard.

"Now, child… I want you to shoot the Fullmetal Alchemist."

Lissa recoiled, looking to the boys in surprise. Involving an innocent—if deluded—girl was not in the plan. She gritted her teeth and sank back onto her right foot, just a minute shift of her weight as she prepared to move. If this girl did try to shoot Ed, Lissa had his back. She wouldn't let anything happen to him. She'd made a promise, after all.

Rose looked horrified. "No, I—Father, I can't do that!" she gasped.

Cornello smiled down at her. "I am the Sun God's chosen emissary. My word is the word of Leto himself! Shoot him, Rose. It is God's will."

Lissa swallowed past a dry throat as Rose, trembling all over, lifted the gun and put her finger behind the trigger guard, though she didn't aim it yet. Like a wet blanket all over her shoulders, Lissa could feel her fear, ocean-thick salt clogging up the air. That young woman… Did she have it in her to pull the trigger, under all that fear?

"Why hesitate?" Cornello asked loudly, seeing the same thing. "When you lost your fiancé to that tragic accident last year…who was it that saved you from the very depths of despair? Have you forgotten?"

So that really was why she believed so strongly. Loss. Loss brought out the worst in people.

Shivering hard, nearly sobbing now, Rose whispered, "I-it was you, Father…"

Cornello grinned then, his benign façade dropping entirely. He looked unsettlingly pleased with himself, too much for comfort. "That's right. It was I who took your hand and led you into God's light. And do you recall what it was I promised you then?"

"You said if I had faith, you'd bring him back to life!" Rose sobbed, nearly losing her grip on the gun. For a moment, Lissa hoped she might actually drop it completely, which would give her a chance to act. But then Rose caught it, tightened her fingers around the handle—and raised it in both hands to point straight at Alphonse.

Al flinched and held up both hands. "No, wait!" he yelped. "It's not me, honest!"

Raging now, Ed stomped his foot into the ground and waved his hands at her. "Dammit! I'm the Fullmetal Alchemist! It's me, not him! Why does everybody always think it's him?!"

Even Cornell recoiled. "It's the short one?!" Then he shook his head fiercely and pointed down at Edward. "No matter. Shoot him then, Rose! Your God commands it!"

Rose, trembling all over, shifted her aim and pointed the gun at Edward instead. "I'm sorry," she whispered, "but I have to do this. I don't have any choice."

"Yes, you do!" Lissa told her fiercely. "He's been lying to you, Rose, Father Cornello is a fraud. He can't do what you're asking, no matter what he says!" She would've said more, but Rose clicked the hammer back on the gun and Lissa caught herself, falling silent for fear of setting her off.

"You're wrong!" the girl shouted back. "I've seen his miracles! Father Cornello will bring him back to life. I have faith!"

Ed was glaring at her now, apparently unafraid in the face of that gun pointed at his head. "Fine. Then shoot!" he challenged her.

"Ed, no-" Lissa tried.

But Rose reared back, gasped in a shuddering breath—and fired.

Al cried out, more in shock than anything else, as the round impacted on his helmet and knocked it clean off his body.

"Al!" Ed went to check on him, anxious for his wellbeing, but Lissa was distracted by something else. She lunged and caught Al's helmet before it rolled away, snagging it by the ribbon at the top. Almost out of reflex, she dusted it off once she had it off the ground, always trying to look after the boys. Nearby, Rose was screaming like she'd killed him, horrorstruck by what she'd done, and Lissa just ignored her. Good. Let her realize how stupid she's being.

"Good," Cornello told her, ignoring the girl's anguish. "God Leto is pleased. You have done well, my child. Now, pick the gun back up and shoot the others as well."

"Haven't you made her do enough already?" Al swung up to a sitting position with a heave of his legs, startling both Rose and Cornello, who couldn't know that a gunshot to the head just wouldn't kill him.

Rose stared at him like she'd seen a ghost. "B-but… Your head! I thought you were…"

As the boys got to their feet, Lissa rejoined them with Al's helmet safely under one arm. "I wouldn't worry about it," she told the other girl with a shrug.

Ed nodded. "Yeah, he's pretty solid." He emphasized his point by giving a couple taps to Al's chest, which echoed hollowly.

"Yeah, see?" Al bent down to show the empty interior of his armor. "No harm done."

Lissa ignored the girl's revulsion and passed Al his helmet back, standing on her toes to flick his little ribbon-hair over his shoulder so it wouldn't get tangled on his shoulder-spikes. She'd long since passed any lingering strange feelings about Al's predicament.

"An empty suit of armor that walks and speaks?!" Cornello seized the moment immediately. "Do you still doubt it, Rose? This unholy thing is an abomination! Evil of this kind must be purged!" As he yelled the stupid, offensive word down, he backed away from the edge of his vantage point, nearly out of sight—but the three could see clearly when he grabbed a handle protruding from the wall behind him and yanked it down, hard.

A door at the far end of the chamber slid up. With the clicking of claws on stone, a creature with glowing red eyes emerged—a lion at the head and forelegs, with the hind legs and tail of something more avian or reptilian. All over it was covered with transmutation marks, a clear sign of its origins, which meant it had to be…

"And I believe my chimera should be up to the task!"

Lissa recoiled in shock. A chimera. Just like…like Mr. Tucker's experiments, all those years ago. Like Nina, but without the human component—just an animal made to attack.

"So this is the sort of thing a man like you does with the Philosopher's Stone. That's just twisted," Ed snarled, regarding the chimera with something like pain in his eyes. So he was thinking of the same thing too. But he shook it off quicker than Lissa could, turning and staring up at Cornello for a moment, considering it. "Looks like I'll need a weapon."

In a motion that was nothing but familiar now, Ed clapped his hands together and pressed them to the stone floor. Blue light flickered, sparking from where his hands touched down—and as he got to his feet again, a long spear pulled free of the stone and rose right into his outstretched left hand.

Cornello jerked back in surprise. "No transmutation circle! So the state alchemist title isn't just for show. You truly are gifted. However…"

The chimera lunged, and Ed danced back, dodging a second too late to avoid the thing swiping its claws through his spear. The weapon shattered, and he looked down in surprise as his trouser leg shredded too. Lissa didn't think he'd been expecting the thing to be so fast.

"…your little spear is no match for chimera claws that tear through iron!"

But Ed just grinned up at him. "Hah! You shredded my pants. Lissa's gonna kill me for ruining another pair."

"You're damn right I am," Lissa grumbled.

The chimera staggered back, lifting a front paw in apparent shock as its claws shattered clear off. Ed didn't waste any time. He thrust upward with his left leg—his automail leg—and kicked the creature back harshly. "But I guess those claws don't do so good against steel!" he shouted as the chimera landed.

"Bite him, you stupid beast!" Cornello screamed, spit flying from his mouth in his rage.

The chimera came at Ed again, but this time he was ready. He brought his right arm up to catch the thing, letting it bite down on his forearm and holding it back with a snarl on his face. "You like that, kitty?" he hissed. "Go on, get a good taste!"

He swung his right leg up this time and caught the chimera under its jaw, knocking it back yet again.

But the chimera hadn't let go before he kicked it. As it was jerked away, its teeth raked clean through his cloak, ripping the fabric away to reveal the automail he'd been hiding still.

"Your arm," Cornello breathed. "A brother trapped in armor…" A fierce grin overtook his face. "I see. It's all becoming clear now… You did it, didn't you? The one thing even the most novice alchemist knows is strictly forbidden!"

Ed fisted his hand into the red cloak and yanked it off, pulling it aside in one fluid motion. "Why don't you come down here and try me?" he challenged. "I'll show you real quick who the novice is!"

Cornello wasn't interested in a fight, though. He still had a different target. "Rose… This is the price of their sin," he intoned, grasping the root of the issue without worrying about any of the details around it. "These fools attempted human transmutation. The greatest taboo for any alchemist! In their arrogance, they tried to bring someone dead back to life!"

Rose was staring at Edward in shock, at his automail, with so much revulsion it made Lissa feel sick just to see it. "Oh no…"

"This is what happens when you try to play God, or whatever you want to call it," Ed told her lowly, drowning in self-hatred. To Lissa it felt rough, soul-sick, like the whole world shifted for a moment to feel the depth of his self-loathing. "Take a good look, Rose. Is this what you want? Is this the price you're willing to pay?"

"So this is the great Fullmetal Alchemist, Edward Elric. Not even half a man—hell, not even half a boy!" Cornello laughed.

Lissa felt an air current whip around her as her anger coalesced. "Shut up!" she snarled. "And what the hell do you know, huh? Parading around like a god with your damned Philosopher's Stone! If this is the best you can do even with the stone, you're a bigger fraud than we thought!"

"And what about you, little girl? Running around with these heathens like you belong?" he asked of her, smirking. "How deluded you are."

Ed took a menacing step forward. "Leave her out of this!"

"Father, we just want you to hand over the stone before you get hurt," Al cut in, his voice far more even and calm than anyone else's.

"Don't be absurd!" Cornello snapped. "Why? So you can use it for yourself?! Please. If you fools are so eager to play god, then perhaps I should send you to meet him instead!" He lifted his cane and swung the lower end into his hand, his Philosopher's Stone lighting up as he transmuted the simple cane into an enormous fucking machine gun. With a wild grin, he raised it and began to fire.

Lissa shot her hands out to the side and compressed a burst of air, knocking her own body sideways just as Ed raised a shield from the stone floor, managing to land in a crouch at his feet just as the goddamned rain of bullets reached them. She caught herself on his automail, wrapping her arm around his lower leg and sharing a brief grimace with him. "So, he's gonna be like that, huh?" she grumbled, as Ed pulled her to her feet beside him. "Fun."

"Never say we don't take you anywhere exciting," he muttered, flashing a roguish grin her way.

The firing stopped, and as the dust cleared, Ed called up, "Nah, I don't think so. Me and God…we don't get along too well. Even if I went, he'd probably just send me right back here."

There was a click, and Cornello began firing again—not at Ed and Lissa but at Rose. Al acted quickly enough, though, racing forward and grabbing her up before she could get hit. He ran fearlessly through the barrage, though Lissa knew he could technically be harmed by those bullets.

"We need an exit!" she told Ed fiercely.

He nodded. "Right. This way! Liss, we could use some cover!"

"On it!" Lissa pressed her back to the wall he'd created and summoned up all the tiny dust particles she could find, stretching out with the air currents brushing over her exposed fingertips—then she drew it all together in one thick cloud of dust, sparking blue right between them and Father Cornello.

At the same time, Ed darted to the nearest wall and pressed his hands to it, creating a brand-new doorway out.

Lissa ducked away from her cover and sprinted after him, bursting out through the door with Ed and Al, who was still carrying Rose for her own protection. The disciples they startled with their sudden exit didn't move, too stunned by the sudden appearance of a giant damned door, not to mention the suit of armor and two teenagers that came through, giving them enough time to put some distance between them and Cornello before he caught up.

At the end of the hall, a handful of disciples waited, all various degrees of armed. One of them smirked as he leveled a staff over his shoulder. "That's far enough," he ordered.

Another disciple, this one holding a small pistol, laughed and asked, "What are you gonna do, kids? You're unarmed and outnumbered."

"Look, just come quietly, okay?" a third one asked. He sounded amused too. "We don't wanna have to rough you little kids up too bad."

Lissa smirked at Ed as they kept running. "You got this?"

"Oh yeah." He grinned, brought his hands together—and transmuted his automail arm into an enormous, fearsome curved blade.

She spun aside with a burst of air, Al using the same gust to shift out of the way too, while Ed raced forward to deal with the others. They were so unprepared for him—and his wrath at being called a little kid. These idiots never stood a chance.

Around the next bend, they encountered another group, which Al simply barreled through. Lissa spun around, running backwards for a moment, and sent a huge gust of compressed air down the hall behind them. "Gotta clean up our own messes, right?" she laughed, spinning back around and chasing after the boys. Fighting petty adversaries like those disciples could almost be fun, sometimes, as long as they had the upper hand. Besides…being labeled a kid had its advantages.

"So, you do have a plan, right?" Lissa clarified, as they emerged into an alley behind the church, just shy of sunset.

Ed turned to her and smirked. "How'd you know I have a plan?"

"You have that look in your eye," she told him, shrugging. "Like you're going to do something devious and you're enjoying yourself, maybe too much."

"Well, you're not wrong." He squinted up at the church's façade thoughtfully. "I hope you're ready for a fight, though. I doubt this guy is gonna just roll over and take what's coming to him. And he's got that stone, too."

Lissa rolled her eyes. "He's still not very powerful, even with the stone he's all stupid tricks, smoke and mirrors."

"Exactly. But he'll fight to keep his control anyway, you know?" Ed sighed and leaned into the building behind him. "We have to unseat this asshole. And I've got a plan, yeah, but it's not gonna be pretty."

"We're with you, brother," Al told him firmly.

Ed smiled just a bit, one corner of his lips quirking up. "Thanks, Al." He stretched his arms over his head and nodded. "Okay. Here's what we're gonna do."