Authoress' Note: Here we are with the next chapter. Thanks for sticking with me so far! :)

I feel like I should apologize for this chapter's ending… Oh, well. Enjoy!

Disclaimer:Fullmetal Alchemist is copyrighted property of Hiromu Arakawa.

Chapter 9 'The Last Ingredient'

Soon after capturing Dorothea, Mustang's team crossed the plaza without much effort. For unknown reasons, all the chimeras they were battling had retreated as soon as the first rays of sunlight had appeared.

Without wasting more time, Mustang ordered his team to reassume their original task, sending Breda, Falman, and Fuery to call for backup. He was just going to give the next orders to the rest of the team, when the second explosion resounded near the dormitories.

"Explain!" Mustang barked at Dorothea, who flinched at his cold tone before sending him a harsh glare.

"It doesn't matter how much you try to contain the queen's ghouls. She will still find ways to set them free," she ambiguously explained. "Are you sure you should be here relaxing, instead of protecting your dear students?"

Mustang frowned at her, already dreading the meaning of the explosions. "Havoc, Major, go and investigate what that explosion was about," he ordered without a hitch. "Any trouble you find let me know, and help as many students as you can to evacuate."

"Sir!"

"Yes, sir!"

As the two of them went on their way, the rest of the Colonel's group found refuge on one of the classrooms of the building standing next to the library.

With gun loaded and in the ready, Risa stood guard just outside said room, while her superior and Hughes interrogated their recently captured criminal.

It hadn't even been ten minutes when a voice alerted Hawkeye of new company. "She won't talk so easily." Benik seemed unconcerned by the gun pointed at her chest as she continued. "You are all part of the military, are you not?"

"State your business," Hawkeye went straight to the point without lowering her guard.

"Dorothea will only try to stall you while the Lady's plan is completed," Benik explained. "It's better that you know the information I'm willing to provide as soon as possible. Otherwise, the number of casualties will increment."

Hawkeye looked straight at her eyes, searching for some clue of dishonesty, but finding none, she nodded.

.o:O:o.

Al couldn't believe his eyes; one moment, his Brother was standing there just a few meters away, and the next he was swallowed by the ground beneath him, along all the students in the cafeteria. Al ran forward, ready to jump after them, when Winry's firm grasp on his arm made him stop.

"Al, wait! We can't just jump in like that without even knowing what's down there!"

"But what about Brother and he others?!"

"Didn't Ed say something about the Colonel being around here somewhere? Let's ask for his help," Winry suggested.

Al didn't seem sure of what to do, but before he could reach a conclusion, a third person showed up right beside them.

"I didn't find the keys, I guess we'll have to look for another exi- What the hell happened here!?"

Al recognized him as the Klein person they had encountered earlier. Figuring the Colonel's team had to be right where the chaos was biggest; which most likely was the underground entrance at the library; he addressed the teen in hopes of some direction.

"Excuse me; do you happen to know where the library is at?"

Klein finally noticed their presence and immediately jumped back at seeing the huge man in armor addressing him.

"H-Huh?"

"We need to find someone that we believe will be at the Library. Can you tell us where it is?" Al asked again, managing to sound polite despite his hurry.

"Y-Yeah, it's at the other side of campus" Klein pointed behind him.

"Could you show us the way?" Winry asked him with a very serious expression.

Klein looked like he wanted to reject the request, but still relented. "S-Sure. It's this way..."

Unable to take the plaza's route, they walked at a fast pace through the halls in relative silence, until Al noticed Winry's down demeanor.

"Winry?" he asked tentatively.

"He's going to be fine… he's gotta be," she murmured more to herself before forcing a smile towards him. "Right, Al?"

"R-Right!" he answered almost on instinct, but he was fast to regain his confidence. "Don't worry, Winry! Brother always pulls through. He's strong despite his size!"

Winry laughed. "Don't let him hear you saying that."

Hearing their conversation, Klein seemed to relax a little.

"You said your name was Winry?" A flash of sudden recognition shone on Klein's eyes. "Hold on, could it be you're Blecher's mechanic?"

"Huh?"

"So Brother has been talking about Winry," Al commented looking quite amused for someone with no facial expressions.

"Y-You are… brothers?"

"Uh-huh," Al nodded in affirmation. "I'm Alphonse, his younger brother."

"Younger? You're kidding right?"

At Klein's disbelieving tone, Al couldn't help but let out a nervous laugh.

"Al was feeling a bit anxious so we kind of sneaked in," Winry explained with a smile.

"I-I w-wasn't anxious!" Al protested in a voice that sounded like he was pouting. "I mean, I was j-just worried. You know how Brother tents to attract trouble like a magnet! Just look at what just happened back there!"

Winry could only look at him with a small unimpressed smile.

As they turned a corner they were met with the barrel of a gun to their faces, making them all freeze in place.

"Al? Winry? What are you kids doing here?" Hawkeye asked showing to be truly surprised at see them.

They both flinched looking for all the world like a deer in headlights. Klein, on his part, had paled considerably.

Hawkeye sighed and shook her head. "Never mind. Go and take cover. The building has been overrun by undead puppets."

"Overrun?!" exclaimed Alphonse.

"Undead… puppets?" Winry just looked confused.

"We are trying to evacuate the place, but it has proven to be more difficult since we have to make sure that none of the inhuman beings leave," Hawkeye informed them. "They just keep showing out of nowhere."

"Could it be they are coming from underground?" Winry asked in thought.

"That's correct," Hawkeye affirmed her, sounding impressed by the guess. "How did you figure that?"

"Ed did mention something about there being more than one entrance to some underground tunnels," Winry commented causing Hawkeye to show slight surprise.

"That might explain it…"

"That's right! Lieutenant, Brother needs help!"

"Edward? What happened? I haven't seen him since an hour ago."

.o:O:o.

Just behind the door Hawkeye was guarding, Roy and Hughes were in the middle of their interrogation.

"Let me get this right. The students of the old institute were used as guinea pigs in order to create strong humans with animal attributes, but it took your so called queen at least fifty attempts before getting a chimera remotely conscious of who she once was."

"I was the result of the first success," admitted Benik.

"How could you betray the queen like this, Benik!?" Dorothea's indignation was ignored.

"What I don't understand is, why no one noticed anything until now," Hughes commented in a severe tone.

"Our Lady comes from a very influential family," Benik explained. "Even if there were some suspicions, she was never touched."

"Talking about a corrupted society..."

"Since she was very young, our Lady was very interested in the legends of eternal youth, and the alchemy which supposedly make that possible," Benik continued. "It soon turned into an unhealthy obsession to the point where she committed her first attempt at creating the elixir of life; which was based on mercury as her principal ingredient. She then gave it to her younger cousin for testing purposes, but she just ended up poisoning her and getting charged for attempted murder. She was able to avoid arrest by pretending to be diagnosed with mental instability, so instead she was sent to the asylum that used to operate here for observation."

"And she started to experiment with the other patients then?" Hughes guessed.

Benik nodded. "She needed help though, so she asked her father to be allowed to keep a few of her servants alongside her while in here, so she chose us."

"She confided in us, Benik! She trusted you!" Dorothea cried. "I knew you were the weakest."

"That explains it. No matter how influential you are, it wouldn't be allowed for any of the interns to have servants with them, so you entered as asylum employees."

"That's when she started experimenting directly with humans," Benik continued. "The patients started talking about a vampire woman as the culprit of the first disappearances, so she took advantage of that."

"How did she manage to get released and found her own Institute?" Mustang inquired.

"Her history of good behavior along the Asylum's charges of mistreating their patients was enough to let her out," Benik explained. "As I said before, her family is very influential, so the fact that she was ever diagnosed with mental illness was a well kept secret."

"I see, so she used that same influence to found a school for young girls in hopes to keep her experiments running, am I right?"

"And the foundation of this other Institute is a clear display of history repeating itself," Mustang commented, already figuring out why she must had chosen this particular location to build the school.

"Seeing that chimeras were not the answer to avoid mercury poisoning, she went back to her original research and methods," Benik said. "Still, she trained the first chimeras into obeying her and used them to kidnap young students that had specific attributes; again using the rumors of a countess to her advantage."

"That is, until our little excursion to the underground tunnels disrupted her plans," Mustang commented. "What is she trying to accomplish by setting her experiments free?"

"A distraction," Benik answered shortly before elaborating. "She believes she has found just the right candidate for her formula to work. That's why I said you must hurry," Benik's tone was showing more urgency now. "She's hoping to distract everyone just enough to get him falling into her hands."

That made Dorothea laugh. "Quite the literal description, Benik," she sounded amused. "But it's too late now. Haven't you see that the explosions had ceased? The queen must have succeeded on finding him."

"Who is she targeting?" Mustang asked Dorothea with a fierce glare.

"As if I would tell you anything," she spat.

"She has found an interest on the new student," Benik answered instead. "He's a child with golden hair and eyes."

Mustang sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose at the answer. "Of course… why am I not surprised?"

A knock on the door interrupted their conversation. As Mustang gave permission to enter, Hawkeye opened the door, allowing them to see Al, Winry, and one of the students just behind her.

"Sir, there's an emergency," Hawkeye reported. "It's Edward and a few other students."

"Let me guess, it has to do with one of those explosions," Mustang commented.

"That's right!" Al confirmed. "How did you-?"

"Sir! We need assistance!" Havocs voice sounded from the end of the hall.

"Explain the situation, Havoc," Mustang ordered.

"The amount of soulless bodies entering the dormitories' building is increasing," Havoc said as he reached them. "I left the Major stalling them, but there are too many. We need backup."

"Any news of Breda's group?" Mustang asked.

"None yet, Boss."

Mustang cursed in frustration before forming a new plan of action.

"Where is the Major located?"

"First floor of the south wing," Havoc answered.

"Alphonse?"

"Brother was at the cafeteria."

"This two places are not anywhere near each other," Mustang observed with frustration

"Not quite. But there's a shortcut if you travel underground," Benik informed.

"That will have to do. Havoc show us the way," Mustang finally decided, before turning to the teenagers. "You three-"

"I can help!" Al almost implored.

Hughes took charged then. "Al, I need help evacuating. Do you think you three can help me find any students that might have not abandon the building yet and escort them to safety?"

Al instantly deflated, but he nodded in understanding.

"Let's go then," Mustang said.

"There's one last thing you haven't told us, yet," Hughes said as they made to move. "Who is this queen lady you keep talking about?"

"Why, it's Lady Van Thorndike."

.o:O:o.

Ed found himself lying down on his stomach, feeling dizzy and half-conscious. The dust was just starting to clear by the time he pushed his face off the concrete he was lying on, but the sound of the students groaning and moving at his sides was enough to make him feel slightly relieve.

"Is everyone okay?" he asked tentatively in between coughs.

"It depends on your definition of 'okay'…" Fiedler was the one to answer first.

"I think I broke something," Lambert whined not too far from him.

"What just happened?" another asked in a daze.

"It was an explosion, wasn't it?"

"Where are we anyway?"

A silent chatter was starting to rise among the group as they found and help each other to their feet. Ed himself tried to follow their lead only to find his left leg trapped under a piece of concrete. He cursed under his breath as he tried to push it away, but his position and the weight of it was making it a hard task.

"I-I think we are all at least alive," Thomas voice informed.

"That's great news," Ed grunted. "Now, would you mind giving me a hand?"

"Oh, dang! Hold on we got it!"

"Don't panic, you'll be fine."

The students that were nearest immediately recognized the problem and made a collective effort to push the heavy piece of debris off of him. The moment Ed was freed from it, he sit up testing the joints.

"Still working at least…"

"Are you sure you are okay?" Thomas asked him in concern. "That piece of concrete was really heavy."

"Yeah, it took a few of us to move it," Fiedler agreed.

"I'm fine, don't worry, it will take more than that to dent this thing," Ed assured knocking his metal knuckles on his knee. Seeing the confused and unsure glances he finally understood why they were so insistent. "Oh… I never told you right? It's automail," he explained as he rolled his pants up to show the metal limp.

"Oh, wow! Cool!"

"That's a lucky break then!"

"What's so lucky about losing a limb?"

"I think he means that if it had been a flesh leg Ed might have broken it."

"Yeah, you have no idea how many times I've been save by it," Ed commented feeling like he couldn't agree more on the lucky comment. If it had been his other leg, he wasn't sure he would be able to walk for a while.

"Well, if you put it that way…"

"Oh, crap! I can't believe I didn't see it before!" Fiedler's face showed dawned realization. "It's you, isn't it?"

"Huh?"

"That's why, what you said at the library… that makes total sense!" Fiedler's eyes were positively shining with stars. "And when Klein explained about how you two escaped from the crazy vampire lady… and your arm and leg…"

"U-Um…" Ed just smiled nervously, not quite knowing how to answer that.

"Ren… calm down and breathe. This is not the time and place," Thomas the ever pacifist, made an effort to take him off Ed's back.

"What is he talking about anyway?" Lambert asked, looking quite irritated of being off the loop.

Thankfully, Fiedler never got to elaborate, though Ed wasn't sure if that was exactly a good thing...

"Oh, how nice of you to finally drop by."

The new voice made everyone tensed and turned towards it; most of them gasping when seeing who it was talking to them.

"So it was you after all, Van Thorndike," Ed commented calmly. He rose from the ground and proceeded to dispose of his torn jacket, all while not taking his eyes off of her. "I should have known you would be here hiding while your mindless pawns ran rampage up there."

"Oh, do not misunderstand my actions, boy. I was merely making preparations for your arrival," she explained in total casualness as a few of her humanoid chimeras and ghouls surrounded the group.

"What do you mean?"

"Have you ever heard the stories about the beginnings of alkahestry in Xing?" she asked in a mild conversation kind of tone. "They all talk about an immortal Sage coming from west, who supposedly passed all his knowledge about this science to the people of that country."

Ed continued to glare at her, while still keeping his guard up, alerted of his surroundings.

"This Sage had a variety of names," Van Thorndike went on walking steadily around them. "One particular name came to my attention... 'The Golden Sage'," she glanced at Ed meaningfully. "Do you know why he was called that?"

"Why should I?" he spat.

"For someone so brilliant you sure are ignorant," she mocked. "It was because of his particular physiognomic attributes. Golden hair and eyes."

Ed raised an eyebrow in reaction, not sure where she was getting at.

"I've been trying to find the right formula for the Elixir of Life to work," she went on. "But no matter who I used nor how young they were, all experiments ended up in failure. Not that my little ghouls aren't helpful, mind you."

That last statement not only got a reaction from Ed, but also on the rest of the teenagers with him. They all look either shocked or outraged by the implications; the fear of being attack by said ghouls being the only thing keeping them from expressing their disapproval.

"That's what made me think that maybe the Sage's immortality comes from his genetic composition," she explained. "So in order for the elixir to succeed, I need someone with similar genes than those of the Sage himself. You see where I'm going with that?"

"You're basing your theory on physiognomic attributes? Really? There could be a hundred people with these same traits out there. That means nothing, you crazy bat."

"You say that, but I have yet to cross paths with someone remotely close to having golden eye color such as your own," she retorted undisturbed by the insult. "The probabilities are too high to let the opportunity pass. Your appearance at this institute must not be coincidence!" she pronounced with delight.

Ed actually gave a double take, not able to find any trace of sanity on her crazed gaze.

"Sorry to disappoint you, lady. But I'm as mortal as they come," he said in a level tone.

"Well, we'll see about that now, won't we?" she asked as she started approaching. Ed immediately got into a defensive position, without taking his eyes off her.

"Ed, behind you!"

He turned around at Thomas warning just in time to dodge a ghoul that launched itself at him. Without missing a beat, he spun on his place, raising his automail leg high before letting it down on the ghoul's back; the force of the kick making the ghoul fall flat on the ground.

He had no time for relaxing though, since as soon as he took care of one, another came running at him from the side. Ed barely blocked the attack with his metal arm.

"Go take cover!" he yelled at the students, simultaneously sliding one foot right under the ghoul's legs causing it to lose balance. As the ghoul began falling backwards, Ed pressed both hands on its shoulders, and leaped over its head without releasing his hold. While still head down, he spun his legs to get momentum and jumped out of the way just in time to avoid a pair of ghouls that crashed against each other right where he had been.

"So far, you've supported my theory," Van Thorndike's voice sounded from another corner of the room.

"It's called training! Don't you know the difference?" Ed shouted at her, right before hitting a ghoul on the face so hard it was sent flying to another.

"Well, aren't your fighting skills too good for someone who aspires to be a sedentary scholar?"

And another ghoul was sent to the floor.

"Now that just plain rude, lady," Ed said in irritation. "Not all scholars spend the rest of their life behind a desk."

"Yeah! You tell her, Ed!"

"Fiedler, don't distract him!" Thomas reprimanded him as the group of students pressed themselves against one of the walls.

"Wow, he called you Fiedler, he must be mad."

A few more martial moves later, all the ghouls in the room have been taken care of, leaving only the living standing. Van Thorndike snorted in amusement.

"The more I know about you, the more intriguing you become," she commented. "Now, I will have to ask you to please come quietly."

"As if," Ed raised his arms going back to a defensive stand.

"Don't try my patience, Edward," the principal warned him. "I still have a few other ways to persuade you to cooperate," she raised her hand to the side to show what she meant. Ed froze in dread seeing a bunch of chimeras surrounding the group of teenagers and snarling threateningly at them. "If you continue to rebel, that thin patience of mine might break…"

Ed growled in frustration, starting to analyze his possibilities. Doing a quick mental calculus of the distance between the teenagers and the chimeras, he sighed in apparent defeat and clapped his hands together.

"Are you going to plead for mercy now?" she mocked.

"Don't you dare harm anybody else," he commanded while kneeling on one leg.

"You know? Common pleading manners come with a 'Please' or an 'I beg you' before or after making the request," she said, sounding condescending.

"Who said that was a request?" Ed retorted, finally placing his hands on the ground and allowing the alchemic energy to travel through the ground all the way to the students' position.

"Wha-?" before she could react, a few protective walls had risen right in front of the group of teenager, dividing them from the chimeras around them; soon after, the transmuted shields advanced towards the menaces, trapping them against the other walls of the room. "How did you-?"

"Should I have mentioned it earlier?" Ed asked in mock confusion. He stood up with a determine smirk. "I'm an alchemist."

She stood in shock, completely baffled by the new turn of events.

"I knew it!"

"Way to go, Ed!"

"Thanks for the safe!"

"Wow, that was pretty close…"

"Not bad for a shrimp!" That got a vein to pop, but he never got to retaliate.

The cheers from the students behind Ed seemed to get Van Thorndike out of her frozen state and she started shaking in restrained chuckles until she exploded into a maniac laughter. The students cut their chatter short almost immediately, and Ed tensed in uneasiness with a frowned of suspicion.

"Aren't you full of surprises?" she finally said when her laughter ceased. She produced something from her jacket, staring at him with eyes full of devilish anticipation. "There is no way I'll let you go after such a magnificent display of your worth."

Ed's eyes opened wide in shock as he recognized the symbol written on the palm of her now gloved hand. Before he could even move, Van Thorndike half-bended her fingers and pressed her other thumb on the circle. Blue sparks surrounded the whole room and seconds later, an explosion on the ceiling caused the earth to tremble as the structure started falling apart.

"How did she do that from that distance?!" Ed asked to himself watching the raining debris filled the place. "Damn it!" he clapped his hands together and pressed them against the ground once more, barely able to finish creating a doorway on the shield of concrete he had created earlier, before a falling chunk of ceiling made him jump back. "This place is falling apart! You gotta get out of here!" he called the other students.

As they started running for the exit, Thomas turned to him.

"Come on, Ed! Let's go!"

Ed stare at the pieces of rubble now blocking his way out, before looking around and noticing that the principal was backing towards a far wall.

"I'll find a way around! You make sure to get everyone out!"

"... Okay. Be careful."

And with that, he was left alone with her.

"You must be crazier than I thought if your alternative plan for when thing don't go your way, includes killing everyone alongside you," Ed commented.

"I'm not that desperate," Van Thorndike answered before making the wall explode behind her, giving her an escape route.

Ed ran after the principal, stopping in his track as he crossed the broken wall. The new room was completely covered in blinding darkness. He strained his hearing, trying to pinpoint her location through the sound of her steps. But instead, her laughter echoed on the walls.

"Thank you for your cooperation, golden child," she sneered. "You are standing right where I needed you."

By the time he knew what was going on, it was too late. Blue energy light illuminated the place, revealing the transmutation circle Ed was standing right in the middle of. His eyes opened wide in horrifying realization as he felt the energy starting to surround him.

"The elixir of life, will finally be completed," Van Thorndike said with a wicked smile.