A/N: Three things. 1) When the SOPA scare came around I actually thought it would be pointless to update because was at risk of being taken down. 2) My personal/college life has interfered with my want/drive to update, hence the lack of one for so long now. Finally 3) I have NO idea how to spell Brother Craig's real name, so I changed it up a bit. He wasn't listed as a character on the official Wikia site for FMA and I'll be honest I was too lazy to dig deeper and find out beyond that. Plus he's such a minor character so I didn't think it was a big deal.
"God's children, who live upon this land, pray in faith and ye shall be saved. Those that have lost their way, the Sun god Leto shall shine…"
"This guy sounds like a tool," Dean scoffed as he and his brother walked through the streets of Lior, where "God's message" was being blasted from every corner, every window, and store that was open. Father Cornello, the man behind the declarations with his booming voice, was supposedly a representative of the Sun God named Leto, the object of praise among the people of Lior as well as their "salvation". Sam was only paying attention to about half of what the priest was saying, his focus directed more on scanning the crowds searching for a suit of armor and his brother who had arrived in Lior a few hours before the trio did. The train ride had taken an entire night's worth of travel and some of this morning, and that was after they'd spent some quality time (and cash) trying to get on the next available train out from Central to Lior.
"I keep getting flashbacks of that preacher guy we ran into…what was it seven years ago now?" Dean asked Sam.
"You mean when you had the heart-attack and he healed you?" Sam replied, still searching the crowds.
"He didn't heal me Sam, he had his reaper bitch to do it….and that wasn't even a healing, someone lost their life so that I could live remember?"
"Right," Sam was taken aback by a flash of red coat…but it turned out to be a construction worker wearing a maroon jacket. "What about it?"
"I'm just saying that ever since that incident…I don't have any faith in preachers or priests, or anyone that calls themselves a 'servant of God'."
"You trusted Cas and he used to be a 'servant of God'."
"Yeah and look where that got us…..here," he waved his hand across the scene in front of them.
"So what's your point? You think this Cornello guy is a phony?"
Dean shrugged, "Could be in it for the cash, the fame, maybe both. I've heard of some of these "servants" getting some ass on the side, some chicks dig that holy-man vibe. But what I do know…is that I'm starving. That train ride wore my ass down, the least they could've done was given us snacks or something."
Sam sighed and nodded towards the intersection just ahead, "Looks like there's a small diner up that way."
"You mean the one with an assorted crowd standing in front of it like some kind of spectacle was going on?" Dean inquired cynically.
There was indeed a large crowd in front of the small diner, and it wasn't even a traditional diner, more or less it was one of those street-side food-court types of "restaurants" with bar stools. But it was open, and that's all that mattered to Dean….that and the food better be good.
The crowd formed in front of the diner was in the shape of a circle, but it was hard to tell what was in the middle of it. But after a flash of blue light and a familiar somewhat squeaky voice, the boys instantly knew.
"Aw crap," Dean muttered under his breath.
"There see? How's that?" Sam heard Ed ask.
"It's a miracle! You've been touched by the Sun God, just like Father Cornello!" the second voice turned out to be the man behind the bar at the diner. He seemed middle-aged, with dark hair and a long mustache to match, the dark hair being covered by a dark green beanie. He wore a blue shirt covered by an apron, which was a beacon of the fact that he either owned or simply worked at the diner Sam and Dean had been aiming for…..until now.
"Touched by who now?" Ed responded, quickly followed by a comment from yet another familiar voice.
"It's not a miracle, it's Alchemy," Sam heard Al reply in his usual innocent-yet-mature-sounding way.
"Damn it all to Hell," Dean swore maliciously, "I was hoping to get a good meal in before we had to deal with those two mooks."
"Its what we're here for isn't it? To track them?" Sam shot back irritably, "Besides they haven't even seen us yet so until they do you can go ahead and eat some damn food. We're only tailing them for now."
"Speaking of tailing, d'you think Bobby will be able to find anything on those two kids?" Dean glanced behind them absent-mindedly as though expecting the older man to suddenly show up. Bobby had gone off to the nearest library in the hopes that some record of the Eric's could be found. It wasn't much of an effort but the more they knew about those two the better. Sam didn't like dealing with things he knew next to nothing about, and the library was their only option at this point. Lack of internet access was proving to be more and more of a problem than he'd originally anticipated.
"Oh so you two are alchemists, right I've heard of them," one spectator commented.
As the Winchesters got closer Sam could see Ed and Al more clearly, Al especially so given that he was so tall and stood out like a sore thumb. Edward had his arms crossed wearing a smug grin as he replied, "Then maybe you've heard of us, we're the Elric brothers."
"The Elric brothers you say?" the diner-man responded with a puzzled look.
"Oh wait I do know that name!" Another spectator exclaimed.
"The Fullmetal Alchemist Edward Elric is that right?" yet another spectator replied.
Whispered murmuring turned into loud exclamations of recognition of the famous Fullmetal Alchemist…except the exclamations were being directed at the wrong Elric. Alphonse was surrounded by awed spectators who fired questions and comments left and right until the younger brother finally cut them off with, "No uh…it's not me."
"Huh?" the crowed responded in unison, then one lowly civilian replied bluntly so that everyone turned and stared skeptically at Ed, "What? You mean it's the little guy there?"
Immediately the crowd was awarded with one of the famous Edward Elric short rants, in which they quickly backed off from the hot-headed shrimp and his fullmetal-but-not-THE-Fullmetal younger brother.
"Let's go somewhere else before they see us," Sam urged Dean.
"I thought you said it was no big deal? Let's get some food already."
"Yeah but that was before I found out those two were already eating here," Sam nodded at the food still sitting atop the wooden counter at the diner. "We won't be able to grab anything without being spotted."
"Find, fine" Dean sighed heavily, his hopes of eating sooner than later evaporated.
Sam was about to lead the way towards another location to eat when one spectator's comment about Father Cornello stopped him.
"He can even resurrect the dead. His miracles are proof that what he says is true."
Now that was something new.
"So this guy is claiming he can bring the dead back to life?" Ed replied in a skeptical tone. "Now that's something I gotta see."
Sam couldn't agree more. "Let's go," he muttered to Dean before making a move to follow the Eric's towards what he believed was Cornello's current location.
"Seriously?" Dean practically growled after his brother, swearing under his breath as he went to catch up with Sam.
Pink flower petals sailed across the massive group of people standing before a large temple building that Sam guessed was the official church of Lior. It was huge, with white pillars and narrow towers that reached for the sky, one in particular that stretched the furthest and housed the official church bell. The main doors to the church were large and wooden, with a carving of what Sam could only guess was the sun considering the Sun God was their deity. An enormous statue of a man in robs with a long beard and scepter stood in front of the church, the scepter also had the sun on it, and the man itself wore a crown that resembled the shape of the sun's rays.
And standing in front of the statue was none other than Father Cornello himself, flanked by two guards on either side of him, all wearing white while their holy leader sported the traditional black outfit with a white collar. He seemed older, in his early fifties at the very least, with a bald head and creases along his slightly rounded face. Cornello caught one of the pink flowers in his massive hands, closed his fingers around it, a burst of red light and suddenly a large jeweled flower appeared behind him, as well as one on a sash that suddenly materialized around Cornello's waist.
"That's a nice trick," Sam replied, arms folded across his chest as he leaned against the wall of an alley facing the congregation.
"There they are," Dean pointed at a particular spot in the crowd where Al stood next to his brother who needed the boost of suitcase in order to see above the large throng of people. Sam leaned forward to get a better view of the Elric's but was jerked back by Dean's hand on his shoulder.
"Don't stick your neck out like a giraffe!" He scolded him, craning his neck to check and see if they'd been spotted. "Knowing our luck your ginormous frame is going to get us caught, I'm not up for another throw-down with those two just yet. I'm running low on fuel as it is."
Sam shifted his position so that he leaned away from the end of the alley. "So what do you think?" he nodded toward the priest.
"It's that Alchemy stuff isn't it?" Dean replied, frowning. "But how is he doing that? Turning a flower into a large jewel? That thing looks to have more karats than Bill Gates could afford."
"Yeah that's what doesn't make any sense," Sam commented, doing some frowning of his own. "By law of Equivalent Exchange he shouldn't be able to do what he's doing."
"Probably just some cheap magic trick," Dean pointed out, "but he's got to be having some kind of help right? To perform magic like that there's got to be some kind of talisman or spell book."
"Might be worth looking into," Sam replied.
"Yeah sure Sam," Dean retorted, "Just keep piling on more shit for us to deal with why don't you?"
"I'm just saying something's not right here and we should probably check it out," Sam reasoned.
"Why?" Dean's voice rose an octave, "why should we give a crap about some shady priest and his swindled followers?" He turned to look Sam in the eye, giving him that bewildered expression he sometimes got when Sam contradicted him on something, "We're not from here Sam, these people don't matter. What matters is getting back to our dimension, or have you lost track of that?"
"I haven't lost track of anything Dean," Sam argued, "but if we're going to get back to our own world we need a way to get there."
"Oh right I forgot, you're Alchemy obsession," Dean waved his hands about in a mocking gesture, "tell me something how do you plan on getting those yahoos to teach us Alchemy if in actuality they want nothing more than to clobber us with their metal fists of fury?"
"Only Ed is against the idea of helping us, Al's not."
"And you're sure of that because?"
Sam just stared at him for a moment, thinking that Dean must've noticed the similarities by now, how their lives and the Elric's weren't that different, but apparently that bit of epiphany had bypassed him. "Because he's like me Dean…he's reasonable."
Dean looked at Sam cautiously for a moment, muttered "whatever", then turned back to facing the crowd as it ooh'd and ahh'd at the speech Cornello was now giving. Neither of the two said a word for quite some time, both lost in their own thoughts. Sam wondering if attempting to learn Alchemy, particularly from the Elric's, was as much of a bad idea as it seemed. Okay so it was an outright bad idea, but his gut was telling him to trust those boys, as much as he hated the idea of being affiliated with them anymore than they already were, but his gut was usually never wrong.
"You boys sulking again?"
The duo turned to face Bobby Singer approaching them from behind, that familiar paternal yet scolding look on his face when he realized the boys were being difficult once again, acting out like children with their heads up their asses. Sam never got tired of that expression, it was a subtle reminder that while they may not be what Hallmark would consider a perfect family, they were in fact still family. And they had Bobby to thank for that. For everything really.
"Sam's still of the idea that the Elric's will cave," Dean jerked his head in Sam's direction, "and I'm still calling bogus on it."
"Find anything on them?" Sam asked in an attempt to cut Dean short on his rant.
"Not much of a library here, and definitely no info on those boys. Had to rely on friendly gossip," Bobby moved to stand directly in front of them. "The only thing I could find out was that Edward is the youngest to ever take the State Alchemy exam, pass it, and become a certified State Alchemist. But that's about the end of his fame, other than that he's just a regular ol' kid from some town nobody knows nothin' about."
"Which leads us to….absolutely nothing," Dean remarked irritably.
"Right," Bobby replied nonchalant, "Well if you're done having a bitch fit come with me. There's something the both of you need to look at."
"What is it?" Sam asked.
"See for yourself," Bobby told him, doing a full one-eighty and heading back in the direction he'd come. The two boys followed him instantly, a thousand ideas running through their heads as they continued onward down the alley. Bobby lead them further in, stopping in front of an old dumpster.
"What'd you find?" Dean inquired, eyes scanning over the hunk of metal for a clue.
"This" Bobby motioned with his hand before reaching over to lift up the lid high enough so the boys could see in. A sudden rush of decay-laced odor filled their nostrils, Sam's eyes began to water a bit as he leaned over to peer inside…and he felt his insides churn.
The dumpster was completely empty, save for the bundle of bloodstained clothes lying at the bottom, accompanied by a couple of bones here and there. It was hard to tell the gender since the bones weren't specific in identifying the sex, but the clothing marked as this corpse definitely being that of a human's.
"What the hell happened to this poor bastard?" Dean attempted to wave the smell away from his face, but the stench was still strong regardless.
"Don't know," Bobby answered him. "I happened to notice the stench on my way to meet you, decided to take a back alley to avoid those Elric boys."
"Hence the reason why no one has noticed this yet," Sam took a step back to attempt some fresher air, "doesn't look like this dumpster gets used much so it's more than likely abandoned."
"And we're the only ones shady enough to frequent back alleys," Dean replied in his usual smartass manner.
"Not sure if it's entirely abandoned," Bobby pointed out, nodding towards the corpse. "This hunk of dead-guy looks pretty fresh so it must've just happened within the last couple of hours or so."
"So a hoodoo priest and a possible cannibal all in the same day," Dean shook his head. "Well this just keeps getting better and better huh?"
"Hoodoo priest eh?" Bobby replied.
"He pulled some witchy juju trick with turning a flower into a large jewel," Dean told him, "We think he might have some dealings on the side helping out with that."
"And as far as your 'cannibal' comment, I wouldn't rule this as a Jeepers Creepers incident so quickly…but," Bobby glanced at the corpse once again, eyeing it more carefully, "no monster I know picks the meat clean off the bone for any other reason than to eat it."
"Or use certain parts in doing spell work," Sam remarked, the wheels in his brain turning as he tried to connect the dots.
"So you think Cornello and Jeepers are connected?" Dean questioned, glancing from one hunter to the other.
"Could be," Bobby confirmed, "but we wont know unless we look into it more efficiently. You know how it is, two different supernatural occurrences in the same location ain't a coincidence, ever….And with no computer or internet service I suggest you boys need to hit the books."
Dean glanced back at his brother, "Congratulations Sammy…..we now have a case to work."
"This way please," one of Cornello's guards motioned for Ed and Al to follow, with Rose, having recently joined their group, tagging along right behind them. She had pale skin, with dark hair and reddish bangs, sporting a light colored dress that was borderline white, two blue bracelets on her left wrist, and a pair of black sandals. After an exchange of a few coarse words with an attempt at spiritual conversion for the Elric's on Rose's part, she instantly became part of the tour de Church of Leto. "Father Cornello is a busy man as you can imagine. But you're in luck, he's decided to spare a moment for you."
They had arrived to a room that was roughly the same size as the sanctuary Ed and Al had visited earlier, only except for large quantities of pews this room was more or less empty. In the very front was a stairway split into two, each side leading to a separate door on the left and right side of the room. Large red banners dangled vertically on the walls, flagged by torches that gave the room the slightly orange glow to which they could see by. On either side of them were large stone columns that held up the vast ceiling that curved to a point high above their heads, the room was so enormous it was almost scary.
"Yeah thanks we understand!" Edward responded enthusiastically, his chipper mood covering the fact that this was more or less an attempt to dig deeper into finding the Philosopher's Stone rather than an actual need to convert to Letoism. "We wont take too much of his time."
"Good than it's agreed….We'll make this quick," just as they were entering the aforementioned room where Cornello was supposedly waiting for them, their darkly-clothed leader spun around bearing a gun pointed at Ed right when the two guards who had been tailing them the whole time brought down their spears to prevent Ed from moving forward. Al and Rose were caught in between, Rose uncertain of what to make of the sudden turn of events.
"Brother Craig what is this? What do you think you are doing?" Rose demanded of the gun holder, Brother Craig, whose eyes were focused on Edward just as the gun was focused on him.
"Rose these heathens have come to ensnare and discredit the Father," Brother Craig replied with dertimination, "They're evil. This is God's will!"
"Brother Craig…." Rose began.
"Well like you said…let's make this quick."
Craig turned around at the sound of this new voice just in time for Sam's fist to slam into his face, followed by his knee in the minion's solar plexus and another fist into the other side of his face, forcing him to double over with a grunt and fall to the floor. Just as he was falling, the gun slipped from his hand and slid across to Sam who immediately picked it up an aimed it at the other two guardsmen.
Instantly realizing what was happening, Ed quickly elbowed one guard to the ground before grabbing the other and forcing him to the floor as well with his arm. When the other guardsman began to rise from where Ed had knocked him down he was met with the sudden appearance of Al's fist into his face, knocking him out.
Sam, Dean and Bobby had taken to scoping out the church for clues, but only Sam had actually gone inside. He'd managed to sneak past a few guards, infiltrating the building to begin the traditional hunter way of snooping, before he heard the sound of Ed's voice as he spoke with one of Cornello's minions. Curious to see what the Elric's were up to in a place like this, Sam had followed them for a bit before heading off in another direction once he realized where they were headed. Knowing the building would've made it easier for him to find the right room, but when he noticed the various guards posted around one particular room, he guessed he'd found the right spot after all. It had only been a matter of knocking out a few to get inside without alerting the other guards.
And he'd arrived in time to see the Elrics, and this new girl he'd never met but was apparently called Rose, held at gunpoint by one of Cornello's more loyal servants. Sam was beginning to wonder if his timing was somehow predestined so that he automatically showed up wherever the Elric's were. They seemed to be trouble-magnets that was for sure.
Rose, frightened by the sudden violence, trembled slightly as she stared at Sam, "Who….who are you?"
"You again!" Ed pointed at Sam with an accusing finger, "Don't you dumbasses know when someone says to leave them alone they literally mean LEAVE THEM ALONE!"
"Not now brother!" Al reminded him, but Ed wasn't listening.
"I ought to pulverize you AND your brother, who I'm guessing isn't far behind!"
"What's this commotion?"
The group turned to face Father Cornello, who had emerged from the shadows, with a cane in hand and a sly grin on his face. Sam was intriguingly reminded of a snake coiled and ready to strike, tongue flicking in anticipation of a kill. "Ah the Fullmetal Alchemist…..and some of his friends I presume…..welcome to the home of our sacred order."
Rose gasped in relief, "Father Cornello!"
"I must apologize for my disciple's behavior," Cornello continued as though Rose hadn't said a word. "It would seem they've been misguided."
"Okay let's say I believe you weren't the one guiding them," Ed ignored the "friends" comment and got straight to the point of their presence there. "What next?"
"Have you come to learn the ways of Leto?" Cornello asked.
"Well there are a few things I'm curious about," Ed replied in an openly suspicious tone, "Like how you've been using second-rate alchemy to deceive your followers."
Rose gasped upon hearing this bit of declaration but said nothing in response.
"My dear boy I don't know what you mean," Cornello answered him calmly, "What you're doubting, I see is Alchemy, are the miracles of the Sun god Leto." He clasped his hands together in a similar manner that Ed did when performing alchemy, a burst of red light, and upon separating his hands revealed a small statue similar to the one standing just outside the church. It was the Sun God Leto, only in miniature form, "Look again, could mere alchemy create something from nothing in this way?"
"Yeah that's what I didn't get at first," Ed retorted, nonchalantly scratching his head, "How can you perform transmutations that ignore the law of Equivalent Exchange?"
"As I said!" Cornello countered in an agitated voice, "Because it isn't Alchemy!"
"But then I started thinking about it," Ed went on, ignoring the priest. "If you'd somehow managed to acquire a certain object to amplify your Alchemy…..one that's said to make the impossible possible…..that would explain everything."
Cornello glared at him, "What?"
Ed looked up at him, his eyes ablaze with a fire that burned an angry gold. "I'm talking about the Philosopher's Stone…Your ring…..That's it isn't it?"
Father Cornello didn't even glance at the jewel in question, a small ring on his left middle finger, made of gold with a small red stone adorning it. The Philosopher's Stone? Could it be?
"I've been looking for that," Ed replied with vehement determination.
"The ring is just a ring," the calm yet sly grin had crept back onto Cornello's old and worn face. "I am God's humble servant, it is from He alone that I derive my power!"
"Still trying to sell that line huh?" Ed replied cynically, walking towards the Father with his gloved hands curled into fists. "If that's the way you want to play it I guess I'll have to come up there and beat some truth out of you!"
Even to Sam that sounded cocky beyond belief…..this kid really was like Dean.
The grin faded from Cornello's face, replaced with a look of indifference, "My you really are quite the incorrigible heathen aren't you?" In the next second Cornello placed a hand to the stone railing, red light shot through his fingertips and surged through the stairs and straight to the floor, where it shot right for Sam, the stone beneath his feet uprooting and knocking him down, the gun flying out of his hand as he fell. Ed, Al and Rose could only stand and watch as Sam landed hard on the stone floor and the gun skidded to a stop at Rose's feet.
"Rose dear," Father Cornello finally acknowledged her presence.
"Yes Father?" she responded in a weak voice, her purple eyes wide with fear.
"That gun there beside you," the sly grin returned, "pick it up."
"Uh…..okay," she reached down for what Sam knew to be an early 1900's edition of a .38 revolver, a small handgun but still deadly when used correctly.
"Now child," Cornello continued to guide her in her actions, "I want you to shoot the Fullmetal Alchemist."
Ed and Al gasped in unison, Sam shot immediately to his feet.
"No…I..," Rose stammered, "Father I can't do that!"
"I am the Sun God's chosen emissary," Cornello reminded her, "My word is the word of Leto himself…Shoot him Rose, it's God's will."
"I think you're idea of 'God's will' may be a tad bit misguided Cornello," Sam pointed out, but Cornello was too focused on Rose to pay him any attention.
She lifted the gun at chest level, cradling it in her hands, tears spilling out down her cheeks as she trembled under the weight of what Cornello was asking her to do.
"Why hesitate?" Cornello taunted her, "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?"
"I-it…was you…Father," Rose replied shakily.
"That's right! It was I that took your hand and lead you into God's light!" he boomed triumphantly. "And do you recall what it was I promised you then?"
"You said if I had faith you'd bring him back to life!" she raised the gun and pointed it directly at Alphonse.
"No wait!" Al threw up his hands in defense, "It's not me, honest!"
Rose hesitated, lowering the gun slightly as her mind processed his words, then she turned to face Edward.
"Dammit I'm the Fullmetal Alchemist! It's not him, it's me!" Ed shouted at her, his arms flailing in petulant anger.
"Are you trying to get yourself shot?" Sam bellowed at him.
"This isn't your concern so BUT OUT!" Ed countered in equal volume.
"It's the short one!" Cornello shouted, appearing taken aback at that bit of news. "You're kidding!"
Rose refocused her aim, only this time the gun was pointed at Edward, "I'm sorry but I….I have to do this! I don't have any choice."
Edward, fists still clenched, stared at her in disgruntlement. "He's been lying to you Rose!"
"You're wrong! I've seen his miracles! Father Cornello will bring him back to life, I have faith!"
"Fine then shoot," Ed challenged her with a growl, his impatience with Rose's naivety overpowering his sensitivity for her plight as a swindled follower.
Rose's eyes, already wide from the ordeal with which she'd been dealt, grew impossibly wider at his words. Her aim faltered and she appeared on the verge of giving up on Cornello's order, but a suddenly rumbling sound frightened her and she pulled the trigger in reflex. The bullet hit Alphonse directly in the head, knocking his helmet off. He yelled in response, more out of surprise than fear, before falling backward to land flat on the floor.
"Al!" Ed shouted, just as Al's helmet landed on the floor next to his metal body, rolling over a couple of times before coming to a stop.
Rose, her shock and fear getting the best of her, dropped the .38 and covered in face as she cried out at the site of Al's limp form.
"Good, God Leto is pleased, you have done well my child," Cornello reassured her. "Now pick up the gun and shoot the others as well."
"Haven't you made her do enough already?" The headless-Alphonse sat up to ask that question.
Cornello's eyes widened at the sight of Al rising from the floor without so much as a sign that he'd been hurt. Sam was becoming used to seeing Al without his head, but it was such a unique experience watching someone else see it for the first time, kind of like an inside joke without the humor.
"But….your head," Rose gasped, "I thought you were…"
"Don't worry about it, he's pretty solid," Ed assured her, tapping his fist against Al's midsection in emphasis to his words, Al's helmet in his other hand having just picked it up off the floor.
"Yeah see?" Al leaned forward and pointed to the hollow space inside his armor, "No harm done."
Rose hands shot to cover her mouth in shock, Sam wouldn't be surprised if the girl fainted at some point, this was just too much for her.
"Nice going," Sam retorted, "keep this up and we'll have to carry her out of her once she loses consciousness from all the shock." Ed glared at him for his comment but was cut off from replying when Cornello cut in to make a comment of his own.
"An empty suit of armor that walks and speaks?" He'd regained some of his composure after the initial shock of seeing Al headless. "Do you still doubt it Rose? This unholy thing is an abomination! Evil of this kind must be purged!" He reached towards the wall behind him and pulled down on a lever that Sam only just noticed was there.
Al replaced the helmet on his head just as Cornello was gearing up for some attack, and the moment he pulled the lever down the expected "attack" came in the form of a red-eyed monster emerging from some secret room, the door having been hidden in shadow the whole time.
When the creature came into the light Sam could see that something about it wasn't right. For starters, its front end was that of a large male lion, with a full mane and large claws, a hideous snarl revealing a set of large and pointy teeth. However its back end was composed of what appeared to be that of a large bird, with reddish feet and talons about as long as the blade of a pocket knife. The tail was harder to place, but to Sam it appeared to be the kind of reptilian tail you'd find in sketches of a dinosaur, it swept across the space behind it in a threatening manner, seemingly strong enough to knock them all around like rag dolls.
"And I believe my chimera should be up to the task," Cornello replied viciously, a smug smile on his face as he watched his precious chimera advance upon the four of them.
Chimera huh? Sam had heard of them before in passing, but had never actually seen one, not even during a hunt. From what he remembered they were monsters created by man that were a composition of multiple organisms, but supposedly they were creations of the mind only hence the reason one had never been spotted in their own world. But here stood one, alive and breathing, nostrils flaring and eyes glowing in anticipation of the hunt.
Dean was going to enjoy hearing about this one.
"So this is the sort of thing you do with the Philosophers Stone, that's just twisted," Ed replied casually, his voice calm as though he saw chimera's like this every day. "Anyway," he clapped his hands together in preparation for a transmutation, "looks like I'll need a weapon."
He slapped his hands to the floor, igniting a burst of blue light and transmuting a machete from the stone, which he then tossed over to Sam who caught it in mid-air.
"You'll need it," Ed answered Sam's silent question of "what the hell?" before clapping his hands together again and transmuting a second weapon, a spear, from the floor as well.
Father Cornello had watched this whole process in disbelief, "No Transmutation Circle! So the State Alchemist title isn't just for show, you truly are gifted…However…."
The chimera became instantly riled, roaring at Ed who backed away, swiping the spear in its direction as he went. But the blade was no match for the monster's claws which tore through it easily, cutting the weapon into pieces, shredding left pant leg in the process.
"Your little spear is no match for chimera claws that tear through iron!" Cornello roared in triumph.
Ed laughed, his expression smug as he focused on the monster, "You shredded my pants."
In that same moment the claws the chimera had torn the spear with crumbled and broke off its paw, just before Ed used his left leg to send the monster flying across the room. "I guess those claws don't do so good against steel," the young Alchemist replied victoriously.
"Bite him you stupid beast!" Cornello shouted at the chimera, the monster having gotten back on its feet and making a beeline straight for Ed. It leapt through the air, jaws gaping wide and landed on Ed's right arm, chomping down on it but doing nothing more than tearing the sleeve.
"You like that kitty?" Ed asked it in a mocking tone, "go ahead get a good taste!" He slammed his right foot directly into the creature's lower jaw, sending it reeling backward to land on the stone floor, where it remained unconsciously useless.
Father Cornello gasped at the sudden loss of his monster weapon, remarking on Ed's limbs in bewilderment, "Your arm…..a brother trapped in armor…I see…..it's all becoming clear now."
Ed reached his left hand up to his right shoulder in order to fling his overcoat off in one fluid movement. It was the first time Sam could see Ed's arm in all its metallic glory, all metal just as his name metaphorically implied, even parts of his shoulder was metal so that the arm itself could have an anchor on his body. To Sam the arm looked to be painful, there were even a couple of old scars that showed signs of just how painful the automail must've been at some point. But Ed carried on as though it didn't bother him, as though he'd been dealing with metal limbs for years and he was used to how they affected him and managed to pull through just fine. But that's exactly what Ed had been doing since their mom passed away; managing his life as best he could while trying to take care of his younger brother.
Sam's respect for the kid grew a little in that moment.
Cornello continued to bluntly reference Ed and Al's situation, a huge grin spread across his face, like a cat that swallowed a canary. "You did it didn't you? The one thing even the most novice Alchemist knows is strictly forbidden!"
Edward held out his metal hand towards the Father, almost reminiscent of Neo in The Matrix with the way his composure challenged the Father, "Why don't you come down here and try me? I'll show you real quick who the novice is!"
"Rose this is the price of their sin," Cornello switched back to his former tactic of swaying her to side with him. "These fools attempted Human Transmutation, the greatest taboo for any Alchemist. In their arrogance they tried to bring someone dead back to life."
Rose took in a shaky breath, staring incredulously at Father, "Oh no…."
"This is what happens when you try to play God or whatever you want to call it," Ed explained to her, his eyes glazed over with some painful memory as he surveyed his metallic arm. "Take a good look Rose…is this what you want?"
Cornello laughed sinisterly, "So this is the great Fullmetal Alchemist Edward Elric? Not even half a man, hell not even half a boy!"
"And what are you?" Ed demanded of the older man, "You're just a phony that can't do anything without a Philosopher's Stone!"
"Father," Alphonse tried to reason with Cornello, holding out one massive hand, "we just want you to hand over the Stone before you get hurt."
"I'd listen to them if I were you," Sam pointed out in warning.
"Don't be absurd," Cornello replied, "Why? So you can use it for yourself? Please! If you fools are really so eager to play God, then perhaps I should send you to meet him instead!" He raised the cane he held with his right hand, touched his left to the wooden stem of it, and transmuted it into a rotating machine gun that rested on his right shoulder. It was similar in shape to a 1907 Kynoch Machine Gun, only it was more of a "hand held" edition, without the "station" for it to sit on and the barrel wasn't as smoothly shaped.
One pull of the trigger and Cornello was raining bullets on them in a nanosecond, each whizzing at them at hyper speed. Sam shot over to Rose, placing himself between the bullets and her in an attempt to prevent her getting shot. In that same moment Ed transmuted a large stone wall between themselves and Cornello's aim, some of the bullets hitting the stone and leaving huge craters.
"Nah, me and God we don't along too well," Ed replied cynically. "Even if I went, he'd probably just send me right back here."
"Get her out of here!" Sam pushed Rose in Al's direction, who immediately gathered the girl in his arms and ran with her towards the nearest exit. Cornello spotted their attempted retreat and opened fire instantly, not caring that one of his followers could get killed in the process. Al wasn't affected by the bullets, they simply ricocheted off his back with little *ping* sounds.
"This way!" Ed yelled after them, clapping his hands together and running towards the closest wall, nodding at Sam to follow him. The four of them reached the wall together and Ed transmuted large double-doors that opened instantly, allowing them passage into a hallway….and the line of sight of a group of Cornello's "disciples". Cornello was right on their tails, Sam heard him shouting at his men to go after them, to which they immediately got moving.
Breathless and panting the four of them came closer to the end of the hallway that branched off at a T-section, where a line of guards stood waiting for them, weapons at the ready.
"That's far enough!" one guard pointed out to them.
"What are you going to do boy?" another guard also inquired of Ed, "You're unarmed and outnumbered."
"Look just come quietly," yet another guard replied calmly, "we don't want to have to rough you up."
Sam glanced at Ed, who simply grinned at him before transmuting a large blade out of his right arm and brandishing it in the direction of the guards. Sam imitated his attempt to scare them and held out the machete to show they were ready to fight if necessary. The guards, noticing the two of them weren't playing around, began screaming at the sight of the weapons just as Ed and Sam pummeled their way through, making sure not to cut any of them. Ed laughed as the four of them made their way out of reach and were gone.
They waited. It was the most unnerving kind of waiting, right after a large rush of adrenaline during a fight, and then you had to instantly become calm and remain stationary.
Sam felt like moving, felt like fighting, hell he wanted to sink his fist into someone's face, anything but standing there in Cornello's office waiting for the old geezer to show. Sam stood just out of eyesight of the doorframe and Ed sat casually on Cornello's desk.
"Calm down or he'll catch you," Ed reminded him, his even tone had Sam wondering if he still regretted his decision to let the younger Winchester assist him.
"You still haven't told me why you agreed to let me do this," Sam pointed out in a whisper.
"You still haven't told me the truth about how someone who's dead can come back to life," Ed whispered back skeptically.
Sam scoffed, "Trust me you don't want to know the cost for something like that. After everything you've already lost you want to risk more?"
"So why'd you bring it up in the first place if you don't want me knowing about it?"
Sam sighed heavily, "I needed to get your attention. You were being stubborn and refused to listen to me."
"Right, because you had so much to offer," Ed replied sarcastically. "Do we need to have that conversation yet again about how useless your information is to me?"
Sam was silent for a moment, listening intently for the sound of approaching footsteps, but it was still quiet outside in the hallway. "Look Ed….there are things about us that could have been useful to you…if we still had access to them here."
"Meaning what exactly?"
"People…..can come back to life…..but only if they're chosen…or have the right stuff."
Ed nodded as though he understood, but Sam was sure he was doing it to mock him. "So basically you're saying only special people get a free ticket out of the afterlife?"
"Basically."
"Which translates to 'this is the only convincing argument I can come up with' right?" Ed retorted. "You're going to have to work harder, or just give it up already because I'm not buying it."
"If you really don't buy it…." Sam pointed out, "then you wouldn't have brought it up….which means that you're holding onto some hope that I'm telling the truth."
Ed shook his head, "That's not it. I'm just curious about what other crap you can come up with in an attempt to persuade me you're telling me anything of value."
"Is that the same attitude you had when you attempted to bring your mom back?" Sam risked commenting, "that it's all bullshit but you're still curious enough to stick your nose in?"
Ed made a snarling sound and clenched his fist, "Don't act like you know what it was like…what we went through…..you weren't there."
"But you did didn't you? You doubted it was going to work even before you tried it, maybe not enough to make you second-guess your plans but it was definitely there."
Ed was silent in response to Sam's words, his only visible reaction was the glare he was giving him.
"That's the funny thing about people," Sam went on, "they wont believe in anything that's out of the ordinary until it's staring them right in the face…..or they lose someone….At that point they'd do anything to get their loved one back….even if it means performing a certain task that can backfire and take more than they were expecting to give."
Ed arched an eyebrow, "You're referring to Human Transmutation?"
Sam shook his head, "No….other things…..stuff you don't know about."
Ed continued to stare at him for a moment before replying with, "You can't help me….no one can…no one but us…so just let it go okay?"
Sam watched him cautiously, "Ed…if I make you a promise…will you make me one in return?...Equivalent Exchange and all that?"
Ed frowned at him, "I've already told you, you don't have anything I want."
"Maybe not here," Sam replied, "but where we're from we have ways of getting things done…ways that aren't available in your world….at least as far as we can tell."
"I told you already…I don't believe your little tales about being from some alternate dimension."
"You saw my phone didn't you?" Sam reminded him.
"You mean that piece of plastic mixed with metal that any Alchemist could've thrown together on a whim?" Ed replied in a snarky tone, "Is that what you're referring to?"
"What's it going to take for you to believe in someone outside of your little co-dependent relationship with your brother?"
"What do you know about being co-dependent?" Edward asked in an accusing tone.
"I have a brother," Sam replied in a firm voice.
Ed fell silent again, only remaining so when the two of them heard footsteps down the hall.
Sam turned to Ed in order to mouth, "Is Al ready by now?"
Ed merely nodded, saying nothing as the footsteps came closer, and from the rapid beat of them Sam could tell the person was running. He couldn't risk leaning forward to catch a glimpse of whoever it was, but he needn't wait too long for Father Cornello himself popped into the doorway, walking cane restored to normal and clutched once again in his right hand. He was out of breath and his age seemed to have finally preyed on his physical exertion after the adrenaline wore off, but he still managed to attempt an intimidating demeanor as he looked accusingly at Ed.
"There you are you infernal brat!"