I'm still here! The past two weeks got a little hectic with doctor's appointments - and now I have another one next week, seriously, it never ends - but I am here and I've got a brand-new chapter for you all! My readers over on AO3 can see a neat little detail, too…that we only have a few chapters left, holy crap! Chapter 54 will round this out with an epilogue. We are almost at the end, and I cannot believe it! However, I do have a surprise for you all… I started working on a bonus story, all my own plot and creation, which I am so effing excited about! I'm not calling it a "oneshot" because as you know, I am dreadfully long-winded and there's no way I can restrict it to just one chapter. So it should be at least a few. As soon as I have more information on that, I'll let you all in on whatever non-spoiler details I can, but for now…just know that it's coming! And without me rambling any further, I'll let you go to read the next chapter!
Lissa landed in a burst of alchemy, Mei beside her, and rose upright immediately, her senses stretching out, reaching for anything familiar—but she didn't have to look far. She whipped her head to the left, her heart catching in her chest as she her gaze found wide, panicked golden eyes staring at her in shock.
Her feet moved on their own, quicker than her mind could catch up, and Lissa stumbled into Ed's outstretched arms, clinging to him with all her strength. "You're okay," she breathed, gripping his cloak tightly. "You're really okay, oh, Ed…"
"For now," he muttered, smoothing a hand down the back of her head a bit unsteadily.
Lissa pulled back far enough to turn towards the awful presence looming nearby, twisting outward with her arm still wrapped around Ed's back. He was here, he was alive, and she wasn't going to fucking let go of him for anything. Not after…watching him…
"Huh? Mei Chang?" Ed looked down at the Xingese girl in confusion.
Mei gritted her teeth, too focused on the…thing standing at the center of the chamber next to Pride's smaller form. Lissa had expected to find Father, white-robed and identical to Hohenheim, but this thing… It reeked of the same feeling, that familiar soul-deep fear, but…it didn't look a damn thing like Hohenheim. It was like a bloated, humanoid version of Pride's shadows, eyes glinting out of a body of pure darkness. What the hell was going on?
"There he is," Mei hissed, glaring at him.
That's Father?!
Father stared up at the destroyed ceiling almost exasperatedly. "And now my lovely home has a gaping hole in it," he complained, turning to glare at Lissa and Mei. "How dare you."
Mei narrowed her eyes. "He may look different now, but there's no mistaking it—he's the one who's behind all of this!"
Lissa tightened her fingers on Ed's cloak, trying to move past her own relief, her own focus on him and remember what else was at stake here—when all she wanted was to drag him out of there and never look back. "Ed, what happened down here, where's-"
"Oh, Alphonse, what happened to you?!"
She was cut off by Mei's panicked gasp, and turned to see the girl collapsing on her knees beside…Al's armor body. But…there was no glow from his eyes, only the faintest sense coming from his soul… Like when he'd been unconscious before. But how? Wasn't he supposed to be here as a sacrifice? Had something gone wrong?
"I don't know," Ed admitted shakily. "I can't get him to wake up."
Mei looked back at him in distress. "Oh, no," she breathed. Then she turned and pressed her hands against Al's armor and begged, "Please wake up, Alphonse! Come on, you have to! Say something! Come on, Alphonse, get up!"
Lissa shut her eyes for a moment, struggling to stay composed. "We have to get out of here," she told Ed through gritted teeth.
"Lissa?"
Oh, no.
She turned, dragging Ed halfway around with her, to see Izumi kneeling beside Mustang's crumpled form—he lifted his head towards her, his gaze strangely…empty. It took her a moment to realize, to put the pieces together in her mind… But…the grey film over his eyes, the odd angle of his head…
"No," Lissa gasped, staggering towards him and collapsing to her knees. "Colonel, no… Your eyesight?! That thing took your vision?!"
He made a grab for her shoulder and missed, and Lissa caught his hand, careful of the wound still bleeding sluggishly at the center. "Seems like it," Mustang muttered, his shoulders slumping. "Some kind of equivalency… The gate's form of justice."
"This isn't justice," she hissed, furious. "You didn't ask for this!"
Mustang bowed his head, but said nothing.
A hand pressed into Lissa's back—she knew without looking that it was Ed, offering comfort and his own support, his agreement that she was right… This wasn't justice. This wasn't the fair price Mustang had to pay for going through the portal. He'd never performed the damn transmutation, he didn't ask for something, knowledge or the return of a loved one, nothing… He'd been forced. And yet the toll had been taken all the same.
I knew it. I knew it! This isn't Equivalent Exchange!
That faint sense of ink and parchment surged, and Lissa spun, sucking in a breath as Al's body jerked and he rushed back to himself all at once.
"Al!" Ed shouted, leaping up and running to his side.
Lissa followed despite the pull to remain with Mustang, her anxiety over her little brother winning out over anything. She joined Ed and Mei at Al's side as he knelt there, gasping like he couldn't breathe, his body trembling faintly.
Ed stared down at him worriedly. "Al, are you all right?"
Mei bounced on her toes, anxious, caught between joy that he'd come back and fear for him. "Alphonse!"
Even Izumi joined them, gasping Al's name, all four absolutely frantic for him.
Al finally lifted his head and turned to them, seeming stunned to see who was there. "Teacher… Brother… Lissa… Mei… Then we're…" He suddenly jolted to his feet, spotting Father's disgusting form watching them with a broad grin.
Lissa grabbed onto Ed's hand, his left in her right, a sudden rush of fear overwhelming her.
"And now…all five are here," Father announced, seeming to swell right before their eyes, like he'd already won.
"What about Hohenheim?" Lissa whispered to Ed, pressing in closer to him. One of them was conspicuously absent.
Ed grimaced. "He's…inside that…thing."
Oh. How…awful, holy shit.
"What's going on?" Al asked, glancing between everyone.
"The sacrifices have been gathered," Izumi told him lowly. "All five of us…committed human transmutation. Well…" Her eyes drifted to Mustang, still collapsed on the floor behind them. "Not…exactly, I suppose."
Al turned to look down at Mustang, baffled. "The Colonel? But he…"
"The homunculi forced him," Lissa explained softly. "Wrath pinned him down and Pride…" She cut a glare at the child-formed homunculus. "He created a circle, absorbed the knowledge he needed…and forced the transmutation. The Colonel and I agreed we wouldn't do it, no matter what… No matter who they threatened. But it didn't matter."
"But…" Al stared down at her in shock. "It still counts even if they forced a transmutation?"
Ed's face contorted with anger. "Apparently. That thing, the Truth…it took the Colonel's eyesight too. Some kind of twisted justice." He clenched down on Lissa's hand tightly, furious. "It's not right. Not a damn bit of it."
"So," Father drawled, sounding amused, "you mean to tell me that you reject the truth?"
"Yeah, exactly!" Ed shot back. "And listen here—don't go thinking you've won just cuz you got us here. We aren't just gonna sit back and let you sacrifice us!"
But the homunculus wasn't affected. "Your words will do nothing to alter your fate."
"Let's get out of here," Izumi whispered to Mustang, keeping her voice low. "Can you stand?"
"No, none of you will be leaving," Father told her loudly. So he could hear anything they said. Damn! "Escaping is futile. You're already deep within my stomach."
Deep within…
So they were trapped. Fine. This was where they needed to be to take this asshole down, anyway! But…they did have Pride to deal with as well, and that homunculus was a terror all on his own… Not to mention Father had shut off alchemy the last time they'd gone up against him… Okay, maybe not such a good thing. Still. We'll handle it together.
At least…she thought that, until Mei Chang stepped past all of them and faced down Father, glaring at the creature with more ferocity than her stature suggested.
The hell is she thinking?!
"Mei!" Al gasped.
"What are you doing?" Ed asked of her, anxious.
Mei clenched her fists at her sides. "I've come a long way to talk to him…" She jutted her chin out. "Envy told me that you're immortal!" Silence. Father merely gazed back at her, impassive. "So you're not denying it? That's all I need. I'll handle this one, Alphonse."
Al recoiled in shock. "Wha—not on your own! He's too powerful!"
"It's fine," Mei asserted sharply. "He can't control my alkahestry."
"Even if he binds our alchemy, you shouldn't fight him on your own!" Al retorted, sounding truly afraid for her. "We can help!"
But Mei shook her head. "I'll be all right! Just keep the smaller homunculus out of my way!"
Pride. She wants us to handle Pride and let her take on Father alone?
"She makes it sound like he's the easy one to fight," Ed muttered, gritting his teeth. They all knew how tough Pride was… And yet…the homunculus still hadn't made his move, he was just…standing there, holding a hand to a spot on his face, glaring but…not doing…anything. That was very unlike him, from what she'd seen.
"None of this makes sense," Lissa mumbled to herself, trying to understand it. "Ed, Pride pinned me upstairs—I couldn't do anything, I couldn't even transmute… He had me pinned and Mustang, at the same time, and that doctor… He was strong enough to do all that, so why didn't he do it before?"
Ed frowned deeply. "You're right… We've known for ages you were a potential sacrifice, so why didn't they just force your hand earlier? If he can strong-arm us through the gate…why hasn't he done it before? And not just that…but how? What sort of ability is that, to force somebody through their gateway?"
"Fullmetal…" Mustang was on his feet now, supported by Izumi, with his hand in front of his face almost protectively. "Shortly before I was deconstructed…Selim said…it was their last resort, and they didn't have any other choice. Remember, Starlight?"
Lissa swallowed hard. "Yeah. He said…he said they'd run out of time."
"Which can only mean that it must carry some kind of risk for them," Ed realized, his eyes flashing.
"Most likely," Mustang agreed softly.
Ed turned to face Pride, his jaw set. "Then we might have a shot." He squeezed Lissa's hand—and then released her. "Liss, you up for this? I know you've been stuck fighting up there, and with what's been going on…"
She nudged his side with two fingers. He could be right, but it didn't matter now. "Don't baby me. I'm completely fine."
As they watched, Pride lowered his hand, only to have a couple shreds of skin deconstruct from his face and dissipate into the air. He screwed up his face angrily and pressed his hand back to the spot. So…he was falling apart. Forcing the transmutation must have really taken a toll on him, drained from his Philosopher's Stone, perhaps… Ed was right, they might stand a chance of beating him.
But…
Lissa looked anxiously over at the tiny girl still facing down Father. "Mei… I could help you," she offered quietly.
Mei shot her a sharp look. "Don't. You'd only be distracted worrying about Edward. I'm fine."
Ouch. She's probably right, but…ouch.
Shaking it off, Lissa stretched her fingers in front of her, seeking out the ambient air currents, the loose particles, anything she could use to her advantage. It didn't matter that she was exhausted from fighting before, that her vision was spotting in and out at the worst moments—nothing mattered except taking Father down, and to do that, they had to focus on Pride first. Well…at least she'd get to satisfy her little grudge on the homunculus, from back in Kanama. He was the one who'd nearly killed Ed, who'd forced Al to stay trapped in that dome…
In front of her, the boys clapped their hands and both pressed their palms to the ground—and immediately, blue transmutation energy leapt up as the ground rushed upward, streaking towards Pride.
"Well, look at that! We can use our alchemy!" Ed's triumphant voice rang out.
The homunculus stared at the oncoming wall of stone, and then turned and sprinted to the side, ducking out of the way.
"He ran!" Al gasped, darting forward alongside Ed. "He didn't even try to use his shadows!"
Lissa followed the boys at an angle, careful, focusing on Pride's energy. If he was running…she'd have to make sure he didn't get out of range, then.
"That's definitely a good sign!" Ed pointed out.
Twisting her hands and shoving her right one forward, Lissa transmuted the air behind Pride, gathering it, creating resistance he couldn't just bypass—and the homunculus skidded to an ungainly stop, spinning round and glaring at the three approaching alchemists. She wasn't sure about fighting him outright at the moment, as she was still regaining her strength from all the earlier battles, not to mention the lingering feeling that she might faint at any moment… But she could hold him in place, force him to go up against the boys.
But then, there was an awful blast of red alchemic energy from the other side of the chamber… And Mei Chang went flying through the air, streaming blood from a myriad of wounds, only to roll along the ground and land in a heap.
"Mei!" Al shouted, spinning to face her.
Lissa met Ed's eyes, and nodded firmly. There was really only one choice here.
"Hey, Al," Ed called out. "Get over there and help Mei."
Al turned to him in shock. "What about Pride?"
Ed just grinned, moving to block Pride from going after Al, Lissa shifting to the right, covering his move. "Don't even worry about him. Liss and I can handle him ourselves!" Trusting that Lissa had his back, Ed rushed forward, and she moved in behind him, throwing everything she'd thought earlier out the window. With Al gone, she had to back up Ed—and that meant fighting.
Lissa brought her hands up, transmuting the air between Ed and Pride, altering the resistance to make it harder for the homunculus to get to her boyfriend. Ed was wicked fast with his northern automail anyway, and Pride didn't seem to be fighting much…but she wasn't taking any chances.
Keeping a close watch on the disturbances in the air, and with her transmutation at the center forcing Pride to quite literally tap her senses every time he moved, Lissa felt the shadow tendril curling higher, arcing above Ed while he was distracted by all the tendrils rushing directly at him. She released her transmutation for a moment and rushed forward, air currents parting around her, as she slid in on her knees underneath Ed as he leapt up, only to boost herself upward with a burst of alchemy the moment she cleared him, yanking metals from the ground with her left hand—and met Pride's attack midair, with her left forearm reinforced.
The attack knocked her down to the ground again, but Lissa rolled with it, jumping back to her feet and lifting her arm in time to deflect the next attack. He's not trying to kill either of us! So they're afraid something might happen and they'll need to use me—he's gonna regret that!
"What's the matter, Pride?" Ed jeered, when Pride retracted his shadows for a moment, composing himself. "Your attacks are a little more half-assed than usual!" As he spoke, he glanced sideways at Lissa, his gaze poignant, asking her understanding.
Got it.
Pride glowered at him. "Try not to get too confident. You haven't fulfilled your purpose yet so I wouldn't-"
"So that means you still can't kill us, right?" Ed rushed forward, and Lissa flung her right arm towards him, creating a corridor he could move through unimpeded—straight towards the homunculus. "Then I've still got time to beat you into a lifeless shadow!" With that, he leapt up and lashed out with his transmuted automail, aiming for a slice clean through Pride's neck.
But the homunculus dodged, moving out of the way effortlessly. "Really? Is that your plan?" He smirked, his tongue flicking out across his lips. "Your stature has led you to prove your worth by always fighting those who are larger than you. So then…you don't exactly have much experience in fighting those who are smaller than you!"
As Ed's feet landed on the ground, catching his fall, Pride's shadows reared up to trap him—and blood sprayed up into the air.
Yet in the exact same moment, Lissa cushioned the air beneath Ed, both hands outstretched, giving him a boost to leap into the air, free of the shadows. He spun once, righting himself, and landed solidly in front of Pride, only bleeding from a small cut on his face. "Damn brat!" Ed snarled, grabbing the stunned homunculus by the shoulders. "You overlooked the simple fact that since I've always been small, and I did the fighting-" He slammed his forehead into Pride's, and the homunculus cried out in surprised pain, part of his face deconstructing from the impact. "-I know exactly how a runt is gonna try to win!"
Pride staggered, most of his right eye and the side of his face gone, fading away in the air.
Lissa slipped between currents to join Ed, her left arm out in front of her, borrowed metal gleaming against the leather of her jacket. "C'mon, let's finish this creep!" she snarled.
Ed grinned savagely. "It's about time!" He lunged forward, allowing Lissa to boost his attack, and swung his right arm back to deal what would be a debilitating blow to the homunculus. She kept her arm out, poised, ready to add the extra force he'd need to completely ruin this creepy little creature's existence.
But something shot through the air above her.
"Ed, look out!" Lissa shrieked, releasing her alchemy and grabbing for him. She caught his sleeve between her fingers, but he was ripped away from her as part of Father wrapped around his middle and yanked him back across the chamber.
Pride smirked at her. "Seems like it's time."
Lissa flung him back with a burst of alchemy and took off running, sprinting across the room with starlight in her wake, only to stumble to a halt when she saw what was happening. Father stood with fleshy arms of shadow stretching out from his misshapen body, having snatched up Ed, Al, Izumi, and Mustang. The four sacrifices were suspended high in the air for a moment—then Father slammed them to the ground, still pinned, like four points of an array.
An array… No!
"Let them go!" Lissa screamed, taking a step forward to run in—she'd attack Father herself, however she had to!
But a wave of red energy pushed her back, rolling her end over end. Lissa shoved to her knees, panting, and wiped blood from the side of her face where it had scraped along the ground. Across the room she could see Mei Chang, lying on the ground weakly, face screwed up in pain, unable to fight. Was she…the only one left?!
"Dammit, stop this!" Ignoring her own pain, Lissa jumped to her feet and ran forward again, dodging side to side, wreathed in alchemical energy, one singular goal in mind—stopping Father.
She choked back a scream as she was flung backwards again, landing hard on her stomach, her gloves shredding as she tried to halt her own momentum. Lissa felt dizzy as she forced herself onto her knees this time, bleeding down her face, the reinforcement on her left arm shattered from the impact. But…I can't let him, I can't let him do this!
"I'm done with indulging your frivolity," Father intoned. "It's time to put you to work, my sacrifices. It's finally time!"
Lissa staggered to her feet again, her breath coming unsteadily, vision clouded with darkness—but she couldn't just sit there, she had to do something, she had to fight… Ed and Al were about to be… Half the fucking people she cared about were about to…
"Liss, stop!"
Ed's voice rang out rough and pained, loud enough to echo in her ears.
She shook her head fiercely. "No, I can't—I have to stop this!" Lissa denied, wrapping her left arm around her abdomen and taking a step forward, her right arm out to transmute the air between her and Father. She would do this, she had to…
Another wave of energy sent her to her knees, her head burning with pain, and Lissa stayed there, panting, just struggling to breathe…
"This planet of ours," Father began, lifting his arms up towards the ceiling. "Have you ever considered the possibility that it might, in fact, be a life form?" A life form? "Actually… It would be more accurate to refer to it as a vast nervous system. One that's retained its every memory since its inception, and has witnessed the universe unfold. Just think of the massive quantity of information that such a system would hold."
What's he talking about? What the hell is this?
"But an even better question: how much power could one gain if they opened that system's gateway? Have you ever considered that?" Father looked down from the ceiling, his one-eyed gaze fixating on Ed for a moment. "Think about it."
Does he mean…no!
"And now that I have you gathered…I shall use you as sacrifices to open the planet's gateway!"
Lissa had just a moment, a split second to sense the odd tangle of homunculus and familiar—before Greed leapt from the shadows and sprang at Father. "That is a pretty good plan, pops!" he taunted.
Pride jolted in shock. "Where'd he come from?!"
Greed sliced through Father with his Ultimate Shield claws, grinning savagely as he announced, "Hope you don't mind me using it for myself! This world…will finally belong to me!"
"He got him," Ed breathed, stunned.
But Lissa didn't think so—she could still sense Father's presence, his energy, even as that unyielding blackness pooled beneath Greed's feet. He wasn't gone…he was just…shifted, altered somehow.
"I was expecting you to make an appearance," Father spoke up lowly. "I know you too well, my son." Eyes flicked open all around Greed, along with that single, horrible gaping smile. "Have you forgotten that you were born from my extracted avarice? Anything that you might happen to desire…I can assure you that I desired it first."
Lissa raised slowly to her feet, horrified, as tendrils of Father's shadowy flesh lifted from the ground. Then the entire flattened form of him began to move, slipping along the ground past her, dragging the sacrifices along with him.
She heard Greed—or maybe Ling—scream Ed's name as he went by, but she didn't have enough breath to do the same. Lissa could only force herself to go after them, not even transmuting, just running with all the energy she had left. If she could get one of them away, just one sacrifice, that could make the difference…maybe… I have to do something!
But as she got too close, that same awful energy lashed out, and Lissa tumbled with the hit, rolling a few feet before skidding to a stop.
No! Dammit, no!
When she lifted her head, Father had reformed himself—and all five sacrifices were out now, even Hohenheim, all held firmly at the five points of the transmutation circle. Father had settled into the stone chair at the middle, where all the pipes led down, like a damned king on his throne.
Hohenheim let loose a burst of red alchemy, the transmutation streaking towards the creature—but when the resultant explosion cleared, Father was unharmed.
Lissa wiped blood off her mouth and rose to her feet, arms up, prepared. She'd do this. Somehow, she would do this, she wouldn't just sit here and watch the people she loved die! How the hell was she supposed to-
"Don't!"
She froze in place, stunned.
Ed was staring at her, his face contorted with anguish. "Liss, please, for once you have to listen to me," he begged. "Don't step in. Just once, for me, don't do it—don't die for me, Lissa. I know what we said, but I need this, I need you to stay alive… Please…"
"But—Ed-"
Father rose from his chair and stepped up to the table beside him, one hand looming over the surface. "The very center of this world…is right here!" He slammed his palm atop the table, atop a sheet of paper resting there—and red energy burst forth, crackling through the air, the very room turning a sickly red.
Lissa staggered a step forward.
"Dammit, Lissa, you have to survive! For me!" Ed's voice was wrecked, breaking, yet his gaze was steady as he met her eyes, gold searing into her own blue. "Please, Liss. Just this once, don't do it. Just this one time!"
She sank to her knees, trembling all over. For you… Don't ask me that, don't ask it that way… But he had… He'd asked this of her, in the one way she couldn't deny, something she couldn't fight against… For me, he'd said. Don't die for me. She would—she'd do anything for him, any damned thing, even give up her own life…but…could she do this for him? Could she survive for Ed?
"I love you," he told her, his tone ringing and steady, carrying over the transmutation with a sudden wave of ferocity. "You understand me? I love you. So survive, Liss. For me!"
There was nothing she could do.
"I love you too," Lissa managed to tell him, wrapping her arms around her middle, a dry sob aching behind her throat, every part of her heart rebelling against it, hating her—but what could she do? This…was what he'd asked of her… What he'd begged her… I can't…I can't make him watch me…die…
The air simmered sulfuric around her—and as Lissa watched, on each of the sacrifices, right at their centers…an eye opened.
As the transmutation grew, the reaction stronger and stronger every moment, Lissa kept her gaze fixed on Ed, aware she was crying, silent tears dripping down her cheeks…but she didn't move. She couldn't. The energy pressing into her was too great, and she'd…she'd agreed…
Black hands burst forth from those horrific eyes, reaching out towards Father across the expanse between them, and the sacrifices screamed, the agony cutting hard through Lissa's soul as she sensed it, as the feeling slammed into her, not just her neck and shoulders like before but everywhere, pins and needles of anguish ripping all throughout her body. She didn't have the strength to mute it. She couldn't do anything against this.
An explosion of power rocketed outward, and Lissa dug her fingers into the ground, holding tight against the blast. Through the waves of energy, she became aware, dimly, of a high, thin scream nearby. Peeling her eyes open, she saw Mei Chang just a few feet away, screaming and desperately trying to keep from flying away.
With every bit of strength left in her body, Lissa crawled to her, dragging the girl beneath her and protecting her against the explosion with her own self, the only thing she had left.
Grinning madly at the center of it all, Father cried, "Fight for me! Let your gateways fight for my soul! Shed your energy for me!" He let out a wild, unhinged burst of laughter. "What truly magnificent energy! Its immensity is indescribable! I can barely contain it!"
Lissa bowed her head and pulled Mei in tighter, gritting her teeth against the pain raking across her skin. Survive… Ed begged you to survive, so you have to!
"Now that I've obtained enough power… I will open up this planet's gateway!" Father declared.
Even through the waves of agony rushing through her senses, Lissa felt it—the energy streaking outward, the nationwide transmutation circle activating all around them. What would happen? Would they die here, deep beneath the ground? Would everyone above truly be killed? And what would opening the planet's own gateway accomplish?!
The light grew blinding, and Lissa bowed her head, clenching her eyes shut against it, her senses screaming as it began above her… Mass death, all above their heads, blood-slick and heavy, lead pressing her into the ground. The very world felt like it was being rent in two, shredded apart, deconstructed somehow… Amid the suffering, the pain ripping through her mind, she could feel the fabric of existence shifting all around them.
Is this…it? Are we…going to die here?
—
It stopped all at once. The sudden absence of pain, of anguish burning through her mind almost felt empty for a moment—then Lissa shot upright, freeing Mei, staggering to her feet in a daze. I'm alive… How the hell… Why did it… What did he do?!
The emptiness made sense a moment later. Death… So much death… Everyone…everyone in Amestris is…gone. Lissa fought against the wave of sorrow, of grief, trying to focus on what was closer, more tangible. They weren't alone in this room. She could feel it, brushing against her ragged senses, more than Mei still lying beside her…
Someone coughed.
Lissa jerked her head up, and saw…Izumi, rising from the floor, coughing deeply.
If…if Izumi's alive, then…
"ED!"
Lissa stumbled across the floor, her legs scarcely able to support herself, crossing the circle and flinging herself against Ed before he had a chance to do more than push up on his hands and knees. He tumbled backwards and sat down hard as she clung to him—but his arms folded around her immediately, pulling her against his chest. She could feel him shiver faintly against her, feel the unsteadiness of his breath rushing past her ear… But he was alive…still alive…
"I thought I'd lost you," she breathed, her voice muffled in his shoulder.
Ed let out a shuddering breath and pressed his lips into her hair. "Yeah… Me too," he admitted softly.
Still anxious, her hands shaking, Lissa tilted back from him and cast her gaze around, seeing all five sacrifices were…still alive, somehow. She exchanged a look with Al, who had gotten to his feet and was touching his own chestplate in confusion, where the eye had been. What had happened? The hell had Father done?
Lissa got to her feet and drew Ed up beside her, twining her arm around his tightly. She was never fucking letting him go again, never.
"Is everyone all right?" Mustang asked, having gotten up as well. "What happened?"
"You have done well…my faithful sacrifices."
I know that voice…
They all turned, following the sound, to see…someone sitting in that throne-like chair, head in his hand, long blond hair stringing down around his face.
"You mean you actually did it?!" Hohenheim demanded.
Lissa recoiled in horror as she began to recognize the features on his face…the cheekbones, the angle of the eyes, the shape of his face…the golden color of his irises…
"Yes," Father intoned. Watching him talk made her stomach turn. "I have done what I set out to do… Acquire God."
But…he looks like… He looks like Ed…
"Acquire God?!" Ed snarled. "That isn't possible!"
"Unfortunately…it is," Hohenheim told him, his voice low and dark. "Given a great enough amount of energy."
Ed tensed against Lissa. "Wait, what energy?" His head snapped around towards Father. "The Philosopher's Stone?!"
"But…it can't be," Al breathed. "Does this mean everyone was turned into a Philosopher's Stone?!"
Mei, on her feet now, staggered forward. "How many lives were sacrificed for this?"
"Amestris is a large country… At least fifty million people," Mustang ground out, his voice shaking with rage.
Fifty million people… All dead… But more than that…
Fifty million souls powering a Philosopher's Stone. Powering Father. The strength he must have now…the abilities… Lissa could barely suppress a shudder of fear. How strong would he be? What could they possibly do against him? Even with all of them, their combined strength…it would be nothing against what he could bring against them.
"Bastard!"
Lissa stumbled as Ed pulled away, clapped his hands together, and rammed them to the ground, trying to attack—but Father tapped one finger, just one, on the arm of his throne. A familiar ripple of energy rushed through the room, and she knew in a heartbeat he'd shut off alchemy again.
Ed glared at up at him. "Damn you!"
"Your alchemy will do you no good," Father told him, a certain sense of…victory lurking in his tone. "Farewell."
Farewell?!
Father stretched out his right hand, and Lissa shielded her eyes as fiery orange light bloomed above his palm. She recoiled in surprise, pulling Ed a step back with her as he stood up, inherently terrified of the glowing flame in his hand.
"What are you—what's that?" Hohenheim demanded, reeling as well.
Looking nearly bored with it, Father told him, "The power of God is now in my control. With that I can do anything: for instance, I can create a sun right in the palm of my hand."
"A sun?" Lissa whispered, horrified.
Hohenheim sucked in a harsh breath. "Nuclear fusion?!"
"Shall I turn its flame loose in here?" Father asked lowly, not even a threat anymore—merely a truth, a fact of what he could do. "What do you think?"
He could kill us all…with just one move, he could eradicate us completely…
A wave of…something pulsed through him, and Lissa saw his eyes go wide, panic seeping into his previously-calm gaze as he looked down at himself. It made her sick to see how much he looked like Edward in that moment, like her golden boy, when that second of fear overtook him—but there wasn't space to dwell on it.
"Your plan for binding God to this world was a flawed one," Hohenheim snapped, in the ringing silence that followed. "We've plotted against you since the moment you set it in motion."
Another tremor shook Father's youthful body, a thrum of power Lissa felt in her veins.
Something's wrong…what's happening? What's this energy I'm feeling?
"Over the many long years, I have performed calculation after calculation. I have arranged my own Philosopher's Stones—the friends who long resided within me—in preparation for this very day!" Hohenheim's voice gained strength now, an undercurrent of…victory, somehow. So this was his contingency plan, his backup in case Father managed to pull this off… He was enacting it right then and now!
Yet another wave of energy roiled through Father.
"So you've planted your Philosopher's Stones!" he snarled, leaning forward and glowering at them all. "What of it? They are merely points. They will not activate without a circle. That's a basic rule of alchemy."
But that didn't stumble Hohenheim. "We do have a circle. It's one of enormous power. And it can be self-activated—even if something should happen to incapacitate me!" He nearly grinned, triumphant in his victory. "The moon's shadow, cast on the world by the eclipse!"
The shadow… A perfect circle, beset with Philosopher's Stones… A failsafe no matter what happened here!
Before their eyes, Father's body writhed, contorted, like he was losing control of his very muscles. "Even now, you still think you can stop me?" he snarled, furious. "You're a fool, Hohenheim!"
"That's the very reason I came back. It's time you remembered your place, Dwarf in the Flask!" Hohenheim roared in return.
A sudden burst of red energy covered Father's body, and he cried out in pain, trembling all over, his very skin contorting, muscles and veins bulging as the souls within him struggled for release. Lissa could feel it—the circle activating above their heads, the raw power of Philosopher's Stones being activated and consumed… But willingly, conscious souls giving themselves for this moment, this chance to defeat this homunculus… And in this, it didn't feel oily and disgusting, it felt…like freedom, like those souls were finally free.
In his suffering, Father squashed the tiny sun he'd made in his palm. For a moment, the red energy around him stilled, reduced to a few small crackles of power. Then, with an agonized scream, a wave of energy rolled out of him—and souls burst forth from his chest, spiraling up and out the center of the chamber.
Lissa shielded her eyes with an outstretched hand as they went, the Dragon's Pulse alive in her veins. The people of Amestris…were returning to their bodies! Winry, Pinako, Alex… All their friends, the people they'd met along the way…were safe.
When the torrent ended, the last soul ripping free, Father was left smoking and twitching in pain, curling in half over his own body.
"Did it work?" Ed asked urgently, his hand tightening around Lissa's.
"Yes," Hohenheim confirmed, squaring his shoulders. "The people of Amestris have had their souls returned to their own bodies. And with nothing more than the souls of the Xerxesians he already had, I doubt he can continue to control that which he calls God."
With a sudden clench of his left fist, Father shattered clean through the arm of his throne, a terrifying display of strength. "I can always create another stone," he rasped, his body heaving. "I am not through!" He jerked his head up, body contorting at a terrible angle, eyes wild with some kind of…loss of control. "There are more! A billion humans I can draw energy from!" He jerked his head upright—and a burst of energy roiled forth out his forehead, first a bloom of purple-blackness, stinging at Lissa's skin like knives… Then it shot forward, directly at all eight of them where they'd gathered, all in one place.
Hohenheim caught the blast in his outstretched hands, grunting with the effort of keeping it at bay—and then he shifted it upward, sending it flying up and out through the hole in the ceiling.
Enraged, Father let out a roar and sent a horrible burst of red energy crashing towards them, ripping through the floor as it went. Lissa felt Ed wrap his arms around her, twisting so he was between her and the oncoming attack…
But a wave of energy surged up all around them, and the hit never landed.
Lissa ripped her eyes open to see Mei on her hands and knees, having flung kunai out to protect them in a circle bigger than she'd ever seen the girl use before. Blue energy crackled all around them as her transmutation held, that tiny little Xingese girl actually holding back against Father.
"Mei!" Al cried, turning to her in shock.
"Detecting and using the power that flows within the ground is what we alkahestrists do!" she yelled back over the chaos, blood dripping down her face even as power roiled around her. "What's more, the greater the power the other side has, the greater the power that I can use becomes!"
Lissa pulled free of Edward in surprise, unable to tear her eyes from this tiny girl who had just saved all their lives.
"Look out! Behind you!" Mei shrieked suddenly.
Hohenheim spun, flinging his arms up just barely in time to deflect another attack from Father, another burst of horrific energy. But this one didn't fade like the others—Father kept it up, rushing more and more at Hohenheim, trying to wipe him away entirely.
"Damn!" Hohenheim growled. "I don't have what it takes to fight his energy!"
At the edges of the circle, Mei's kunai began to wobble, nearly ripping free of the ground. "Try as hard as you can, sir!" she begged of him. "I can't hold on much longer!"
Lissa watched, horrified, as the blast from Father began to eat away at Hohenheim's flesh, revealing muscles and tendons beneath the skin, even as his body trembled, shook with the sheer effort of just trying to hold against him. She could see it all falling apart, right there—he didn't have enough energy left from his own Philosopher's Stone to fight this, even with Father diminished as he was. The homunculus simply had more souls, more power to send at them.
"It's no use!" Hohenheim panted, his feet beginning to slide backwards.
But then Ed and Al lunged forward, both pressing into his back and holding him in place with their own physical strength—alchemy was shut off, but…but they were still doing what they could. "Come on, dad!" Al begged, sounding genuinely terrified. "Hang on!"
"Can't you even do this?!" Ed demanded. "Just stay focused!"
Stunned, Hohenheim looked back at them… Then he grinned almost savagely and leaned back into his defense. "I can only do so much, boys… I'm just a decrepit old man… But I'll give it everything these old bones can do!"
Lissa reeled back a step as he pushed forward again, fighting back against Father with everything he had. She just…felt so damned helpless, without her alchemy, without any way to possibly help anybody… Was this it? She just had to fucking sit here and take it? Like a useless kid? Was this really the end of her ability?
"Lissa!" Mei's high voice cut through the roar of Father's attack. "Y-your energy…you have alkahestric energy in you! I know it! You might not be able to control it but—but if you lend me your energy, I can keep us protected from below!"
Lend…my energy?
She flung herself down beside Mei in a heartbeat, knees cracking onto the concrete, and demanded, "Tell me what to do. What do you need, Mei?"
"Just…" She cut herself off as she struggled against another wave of the attack, gritting her teeth and forcibly holding her transmutation. "Just put your hands on the array and open your energy like you're going to use alchemy or feel the Dragon's Pulse! I'll do the rest!"
"Got it!" Lissa sucked in a deep breath—then pressed her hands down beside Mei's. Immediately, she felt energy tearing loose from her chest, dragged out in a way that felt almost unnatural… But she didn't fight it. She let go of it, fed everything she possibly could out through that path—like feeling the Dragon's Pulse, but stronger, closer to how it felt to perform the biggest, toughest transmutations with alchemy…
So…I really do have Xingese ancestry… I really have this…strange thing inside me that lets me perform all of this! I understand now!
But dammit if this wasn't so, so much energy… Lissa had never felt a transmutation like this, the ebb and flow of true alkahestry—her own was similar, now that she could feel what alkahestry was… No wonder Fu had been so adamant about it, all that time ago in Xerxes. But why? Even in the midst of it all, she wondered why this had happened to her? Was it really just ancestry? Could that account for all of-
I feel it!
Lissa jerked her head up, keeping her palms firmly on the ground. "Ed! Al! It's starting, I can feel it!" she yelled. "Just a bit longer!"
"Yeah? How much longer?" Ed called back. "That bastard better-"
"It's coming!" Hohenheim interrupted loudly, cutting off Ed's frustration at Scar.
With almost a battle cry, Ed released Hohenheim and clapped his hands together, Al only half a second behind him as alchemy rushed back to life with a slam into Lissa's senses. The boys pressed their hands to the ground immediately, sending cascades of long, stretched spikes shooting across at Pride and Father, forcing them to retreat.
Mei released her transmutation, and Lissa sagged beside her, both panting hard. "Remind me…never to get on your bad side," she breathed, grinning at the girl.
"Same for me," Mei told her with a smirk.
Lissa got to her feet, readying herself even though she was exhausted, and moved up behind the boys—her boys to support them.
"How do you like that?" Ed sneered, glaring across at the two homunculi. "Your little throne has been reduced to rubble!" He yanked off his cloak and tossed it aside, likely aware it would just hinder him, and squared his shoulders in preparation. "Now I think it's time someone put an end to all your damn posturing! So I am gonna take you down, and the Truth along with you!"
Alchemy was back on…Father was struggling just to hold his form… It was dangerous to get too close to him still but they didn't have to be close…to kick his ass.
Lissa grinned across at Ed and rushed forward alongside him. Time to end this asshole!
(Lissa has really got to stop trying to die, heh.)
