Hey, welcome back~! Sorry about the wait, it was midterm week and I didn't have much time to write. But it's here now, so enjoy~!

Alphonse's voice took Deliylah by surprise. She had almost forgotten that he was behind her. She jumped a bit, taking a step forward in Ed's direction. "We never had any doubts about doing it. Our mother was so kind, the kindest person in the world. All we wanted to just to see our mother's smile again. Even if it meant breaking the laws of alchemy. That was the only reason we were studying it, after all. But the resurrection failed. When it failed, my brother lost his left leg, and I had my whole body taken. I lost consciousness for a while. The next thing I saw when I opened my eyes was this armor body and a sea of blood." Deliylah swallowed to stop herself from retching at the thought. "Even after the horrible injury if losing his left leg, my older brother exchanged his right arm for my soul, putting it in this suit of armor."

Then Ed spoke. "Heh, the two of us tried to resurrect one person, and this is what happened. This is what it takes to raise the dead, Rose. Are you ready to make that sacrifice!?

"Keh, so this is the great Fullmetal Alchemist. Not even half a man. Hell, not even half a boy!"

The statement enraged Ed. "And what are you?! Just a phony who can't do anything without a Philosophers Stone!"

"Please, Father, we just want you to hand over the Stone before anybody else gets hurt."

"Don't be absurd! Why, so you can use it for yourselves? Please, if you fools are really so eager to play God, then perhaps I should send you to meet him, instead!" He brought the lower half of his his cane up and gripped it tightly as if somebody was about to take it away from him.

Then bright red light sparked from his ring and the cane turned into a very large and very deadly looking machine gun. He aimed at Edward and opened fire. Unfortunately for her, Deliylah happened to be standing directly behind him.

Edward glanced back at her sharply and then quickly crouched to the ground. With bullets incoming, she did the same, and a moment later found herself in the shadow of a wall that Ed had transmuted in front of them. "Nah, you see, me and God don't get along too well. Even if I went, he'd probably just send me right back here~" His voice was dripping with both sarcasm and amusement.

Next, Cornello turned his eyes to Alphonse, who had picked up Rose was was starting to make his way to the exit. Cornello let loose a shower of bullets, which either missed or ricocheted off Al's armor back. Even though she was protected, Rose let out a scream and curled up in Al's arms.

"This way," Ed hollered to the three of them.

"The doors rigged, only Cornello can open it!"

"Oh really? Well, as I always say, if you can't find a door, make one instead!" A moment and a transmutation later a large, ornate door made with rather bad taste swung open. Deliylah raced behind Ed and Al as fast as her skirt would let her. Behind them she could hear Cornello ordering the Brothers to chase them, and she ran a little faster.

Down the way they were going, however, was just as bad as the way back. A group of Brothers stood at the end of the hall, each of them trained in basic martial arts and each of them brandishing staffs. The men smirked when they saw how tiny Ed was.

"That's far enough~" One said.

"What are you gonna do, little runt, you're unarmed an outnumbered." Another one said.

"Look, just come quietly, we don't want to rough you up, kid."

That didn't phase Edward. He simply performed a transmutation on his arm and turned it into a very sharp blade. The next moment the men were scrambling over each other to get out of the way. Alphonse, still carrying Rose in his arms rushed past, apologizing after kicking a man dead in the face.

With the Brothers behind them, Ed, Al, Rose, and Deliylah all raced down the hall and out of the church. When passing one room, Ed stopped and backtracked. "Huh? What's this?"

Al finally put Rose down, and after readjusting her skirt, she answered him. "The broadcasting room. This is where Father Cornello delivers his sermons over the radio."

"Oh really~?" Ed smirked, putting a hand to his chin. Deliylah could almost see gears turning in his head. Al sighed. "Al, I have an idea~ If I can lure "His Phoniness" in here, I might be able to get him to talk. If you transmute the big bell from the tower into a broadcaster, we can reveal it all to the whole town."

"But we already know, can't we just tell them? Like you said, they won't listen to you, but Rose is a member of the church and I'm pretty well known in the community," Deliylah piped up. However, Edward shook his head.

"I don't think one misguided follower and an Ishvalan who scrubs the altar are gonna do much. But if Cornello himself says so, then they'll have no choice but to believe," Ed explained.

Deliylah nodded in agreement. "That makes sense. Is there anything I can do?"

"If you go with Al, you and Rose can lead him up to the belltower."

"Alright," she said, surprising herself with her own confidence. Perhaps she had been wanting to expose his falsehood for longer than she had thought. She led the armor through a largely unused staircase and up to the ledge under where the bell was. He leapt up, snatching the bell from its hanging place and jumping back down just before the six o'clock bell ringer reached the last step into the tower. Even from down on the ledge, Deliylah could hear the man's gasp of astonishment.

While setting down the bell on the ground and drawing the transmutation circle, Alphonse explained what he was doing. "I'm changing the radio into a loudspeaker, since they have similar components and are roughly the same size. Do you know what this bell's made of?"

"Last time I checked, it was iron," Deliylah answered.

"Why do you need to know that," Rose asked.

"Well, alchemy is the basis of understanding, deconstruction, and then reconstruction. If I don't know what the bell is made of, then I can't deconstruct it or reconstruct it into what I need. I also can't make a small object into something big enough to broadcast Ed and Cornello's voices to the whole town. Alchemy is also based on the principle of equivalent exchange." Al explained. Deliylah understood the basics of what he was saying, but Rose seemed confused.

"I can't believe you have to do all that just to perform alchemy…"

"I told you, the foundation of alchemy is the equivalent exchange. 'To obtain, something of equal value must be lost.' People call my brother a genius, but the reason he's so good at alchemy is because he paid the price… and worked so hard."

Rose gave a halfhearted, breathy laugh. "But because you sacrificed so much, you must have been able to bring your mother back…"

If Alphonse had a face, it would have darkened. Despite the fact that he only had a steel helmet for a head, Deliylah could almost see the melancholy, as if he were remembering a horrible old memory. His hands stopped attaching a wire to the now

"The thing we brought back wasn't even human anymore."

Deliylah and Rose gasped. "But that… that's not fair..." Deliylah whispered.

"Life and death are a part of the flow of the world. We've given up on transmuting humans, but my brother still wants to get me my original body. I'd like to make my brother's body the way it was, too. But like I said before, the risks are high. We might even get killed along the way. That's just how it is." He stood up and looked Rose directly in the eyes. "Rose, that's why you can't choose this path."

Both were silent for a moment. Then all three jumped when static came from what was now a speaker. "Yo, Al, if you can hear me, I can hear his footsteps. Get ready."

"Showtime, I guess." He hauled the speaker onto his shoulder as the sound of approaching footsteps came from it.

"You little runt, you're not getting away!" Cornello had obviously been running for some time. He sounded out of breath and flustered.

"Just give up, will you? New of your trickery will spread throughout the the town in no time anyway." Edward sounded almost bored.

"Shut up! Everyone within the church in under my direct control! They'd never believe a stupid follower if she contradicted me, and that Ishvalan brat Deliylah isn't even in the order!" Deliylah gasped in horror, her hands flying to her mouth.

"He just… the microphone's on… he just told the whole town that I'm Ishvalan! I know people who hate Ishvalans, I'll be run out of town for sure!" She collapsed to the ground, her realization running laps in her head.

She thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Cornello laughing madly. "Did you think you could stop my plans so easily!? You underestimated the power or blind faith!"

At these words, Edward started laughing as well. "What? What's so funny?" Cornello obviously had no idea that he was on air.

"This is why I keep saying you're third rate, baldy. Know what this is?"

And then he did.

"You… you couldn't have….. YOU LITTLE RAT!" Deliylah flinched as Cornello screamed into the microphone. By now the entire town was silent, listening to what they had just hear Cornello himself say over the radio. "Ho-How long?! How long has that been on?!"

"The whole time~ You just exposed your entire plan to the entire town. All of your 'mindless fanatics.' So much for blind faith~" He almost seemed to be enjoying tearing Cornello apart.

Suddenly, transmission cut out after loud crashes and something about Cornello wanting to kill Edward were heard before static, saying that either the off button had been pushed, or the wire connecting the speaker had been cut. Sure enough, Alphonse tugged the wire, feeling slack and eventually pulling up a ragged end.

Rose turned to Deliylah. "Are you… are you alright?" She was trembling, and a look of loss adorned her face.

"I don't know… the town will drive me out for sure… somebody will call the military… I can't stay here…."

Her words were cut off by what felt like an earthquake. "What is that?" A shadow fell over them, and Deliylah's question was answered by a huge statue of Leto breaking through the ceiling. She could faintly hear Edward scream "FEEL THE IRON BLOW OF GOD'S WRATH" before another loud crash shook the ground at their feet again.

"We should see if he's alright…" Al commented softly.

When the three got through what was left of the doors, they were greeted with the sight of a large stone fist having apparently punted Cornello to the ground, where he still lay in shock. Where his arm had been before, a twisted form of flesh and metal now came from his shoulder; Deliylah could barely make out fingers from wires.

Sitting off the the side, a rather exasperated looking Edward waved to them with a glum expression on his face.

"Did you get the Stone?"

Ed hung his head. "No… I'm sorry, Alphonse. It shattered as soon as it hit the ground." His voice was sewn with defeat.

"It was a fake?" Alphonse inquired.

Edward nodded. "Yeah, just like him. It was all a waste of time. Just when I thought we were about to get your old body back…"

Alphonse gave a half hearted chuckle. "We need to worry about you first. Automail has a lot of problems."

Edward sighed and stood up. "Well, I guess we'll have to look somewhere else, then. Back on the road…"

His attention was caught by Rose's knees hitting the floor. "But… there must be some mistake, I mean… they told me he would come back to life… they promised me… they said he would come back…" Deliylah crouched by her, placing a hand on her trembling back. "What do I do now? What am I supposed to believe in? Are you going to tell me?" She looked up at Edward. Tears were streaming down her face, dripping from her chin onto the broken stone floor. "Well?! Are you?!," she scream her question, hysteria creeping into her voice.

"You need to figure that on your own." Deliylah glanced up at Edward as he walked by. "Stand up and walk. Keep moving forward. You have two strong legs, so use them."

Deliylah contemplated her options. She could either stay and face ridicule from the town and possibly the military, or she could run, go somewhere else and start a new life with people who either didn't know who she was or didn't care. Her best chance at her second option was walking away. She had a split second decision to make.

And she made it. She stood up and ran towards the boy's retreating forms. "Edward, Alphonse, wait!" They stopped and turned around. She stopped just before them and took a deep breath. "I… I know this isn't really appropriate of me to ask… but is it alright if I traveled with you?" She explained herself when Edward raised an eyebrow. "I don't have anywhere else to go. My lodgings and source of income were provided by the Church. Now that it's been torn apart, I don't have anything. Besides... I'd like to help you complete your goal."

Edward stared at the girl for a moment, wondering whether or not to let her come along. Glancing at his brother, who nodded, he shrugged. "The more the merrier, right? Go get your things and meet us at the train station. We're leaving for Youswell tonight."

Deliylah smiled. "Thank you so much~" She raced off to where what remained of her room was in the broken Church, throwing what she had, her clothes, makeup, and one book, into a suitcase. After thoroughly checking that she had everything she needed, she left a note on her pillow for Rose, telling her where she was. Then she headed out the door for one last time before meeting the brothers at the station.

"You ready? You know you won't be coming back here."

She nodded. "Yes, I've got everything."

He smiled softly. "Alright, lets go, the train's here."

"Ok!"

Meanwhile, in the dark meeting room, a two women, one beautiful and curvy and one thin and wiry, and a rather large man munching on what remained of a chimera waited for one other.

"Do you think he'll be here, Lust?"

"He won't have anywhere else to go but here. Don't worry about it."

"What if he turns his back on us?"

"Then we will have to eliminate him."

"If you say so…"

Lust chuckled softly. "You say that a lot, don't you?"

"Every damn day. You and Envy make all the plans, all I do is worry about them and help carry them out."
At that moment, and older and injured man staggered into the room, muttering. A sinister smile played on Lusts full lips.

"I can't believe that runt ruined my plans... I wont allow it… I've invested too much in this to let it fall apart..."

"Really, you were so close, and now everything's ruined." The older man flinched and looked up when Lust spoke.

"Long time no see. Wish it was longer," the second woman jeered.

"You've caused a lot of trouble, Your Holiness."

Cornellos face contorted with anger. Sweat dripped from his chin. "Wh-What is the meaning of this? The Stone you gave me broke into pieces! How dare you give me a fake?!"

Lust scoffed. "Please, like we would give the real thing to someone like you."

"You… You said I could take over the country with the Stone."

"Hm, I did say something like that, didn't I? All we wanted for you was to cause a little trouble in this region. Thats all." She snickered. "What? You look surprised!"

The second woman scoffed. "Did you really think a third-rate despot like you could become ruler of a country? You really are too much!"

The larger man sitting on the ground threw away the chimera leg he was munching on. "Lust, can I eat the old man? He's big and fat!"

"Not this one, Gluttony, we don't want to give you indigestion. If you eat this third-rate… no, this fourth-rate fool…"

Cornello finally had enough and cried out in fury, lunging at the women. "Now you, too? Everybody's mocking me! I won't stand for it, I-"

His sentence was cut off with a spurt of blood. Lusts finger extended into a deadly spear, piercing his forehead and erupting out the other side. "You are no longer of any use~" His eyes rolled back into his head, his entire body twitching oddly.

Lust pulled away, her finger retracting from his skull trailing blood and brain matter. A loud thud echoed in the room as he collapsed to the floor, his face smacking the stone. Lust turned her back, uncaring about the fact that she had just murdered somebody. She then sighed, as if somebody had splashed mud on her boots. "Aww, and things were starting to go so well. Father will be furious. So what should our next plan be?"

The second woman shrugged. "I can call in a favor from our favorite shapeshifter? Nobody saw you kill third-rate here, we can just replace him."

"Whatever you say, Jealousy- Hey, I thought I told you not to eat that."

Thanks for reading! I hope I can update faster next time since midterms are over now.
Also, new homunculus! I have to admit, I may have made both Jealousy and Deliylah (Dafne at the time) when I was 12, but I recently revamped them. I didn't really have the heart to change Jealousy's name since it really fit her new personality and new history, so I kept it. I also wrote how she became a homunculus, should I post it?