Chapter 5: Sun God Leto

(So... I realized Lior is Liore, so... so sorry about that, lol. Anyway, warnings of violence in this chapter. And this time It will so so so definitely going to happen. Also this is going to be quite a big chapter, ha-ha.)

After some time inside the town, the four Alchemists reached a church, after having heard rumors almost everywhere about these so called "miracles" of some "Father Cornello" that could make anything happen. Even bring the dead back to life, which, Edward, Alphonse, and Marcoh definitely knew it was Impossible, based off of their experiences. Not sure about Eiriene, though.

When entering the somewhat large yet small church, they witnessed a young woman who was in there, praying in front of a large statue who they supposed it was the "Sun God Leto". They walked across the small aisle. Edward was the first to sit down and look up at the statue, then the ceiling, with a sigh. Alphonse stood beside him, metal clinking with the slightest movement. Marcoh sat from across him, with a sharp exhale like she is angry or... rather too much worked up these days. And finally, Eiriene just stood there, next to Alphonse, who was staring up at the statue.

It was a long silence before the girl, Rose, spoke:

"Are you new here? Believers of The Sun God?" She asked, her voice filled with sparks of hopefulness.

"Actually, we heard about that, uh, Father Cornello of yours, we wanted to see what he could really do with our own eyes." A voice said from next to Marcoh, sounding a bit close.

"W-We aren't actually believers.." Marcoh said, turning her head and locking her gaze on Rose.

Ugh, why did I stutter? Am I sick or something? Is it something that I ate, perhaps allergies? Climate change? Or maybe the many people in the room, yes, many... Actually not, we aren't too many.

She sighs, then continues talking, her face serious. "Do you believe that this so called 'Father Cornello' of yours can bring the dead back to life?"

"Why, yes, I do, definitely!" Rose began "I was promised he would bring back my fiancé, and I believe him." Said Rose.

Then, as If on cue, Edward starts speaking again, his words make Marcoh turn and look at him. He is holding a small notebook as he speaks. "9.2 gallons of water, 44lbs of carbon, 8lbs of Ammonia, 3.3 lbs of lime, 1.7 lbs of phosphorus, and 0.5lbs of salt. 3.5 Oz of Saltpeter, 2.8 Oz of sulfur, 0.25 Oz of fluorine, 0.18 Oz of Iron, 0.5 Oz of silicon, and trace amounts of 15 other elements."

Marcoh's eyes widen in recognition of the elements and the items Edward proceeded to say, watching, observing. She raises an eyebrow at what he is saying, and continues to stare at him as he talks again.

Rose just looks at Edward in confusion, eyebrows raised and lips parted.

"That's the chemical composition of an average human adult." Edward says, "We already know that much thanks to modern science, but no one has ever been successful in human transmutation."

The last two words make Marcoh's eyes widen a bit further, as she yanks Edward by the shoulder and whispers in his ear "What the actual fuck are you saying? Human transmutation? You know that is strictly forbidden!" with a glare, as she turns both of them to lock gazes on each other, "And that is a mention of what we did, what if she asks? Have you thought that over, smartass?" She pulls back slightly, her gaze lingering on him.

Edward puts his hands on both of her shoulders, pushing her backwards a bit more, as he lifts one of his arms, metal clacking, and gesturing as he whispers. "Relax, relax, I know what I am doing, I know what I said."

Marcoh leans forward in protest, one hand on his forearm, the other gesturing on the air, metal clacking, her gaze half full of worry. "Yeah, but do you know, Ed?!"

As Edward is about to whisper back about what Marcoh had said, a voice pops up from behind them. Not Alphonse, not Rose, but Eiriene.

"What are you guys talking about...?" She says in a soft low tone, almost secretive. Her grin spread wide, probably an inch away from her ears.

Marcoh gets a slight jump scare, yelping and falling backwards on the bench they are sitting on. Her eyes wide and with raised eyebrows, but it quickly turns into a frown and a half glare, eyes turning to Eiriene. "Eiri- I-it is none of your business!" Marcoh just murmurs, sitting up and crossing her arms.

"Awww, why not?" Eiriene says, twirling a lock of her hair as she raises her tone. "Is it something romant-"

But her voice is being cut off by a hand on her mouth, and a glare from Marcoh, "Shhh, hush!" She says, as she turns around, looking beyond the statue as a man speaks up.

He is... kind of bald, seeming old, a slight grin on plastered on his face, not quite reaching his eyes and.. Eye bags (OUT OF CHARACTER: I hate the guy, not going to lie). "Well this is a surprise."

Edward catches a glimpse of the ring the man is wearing. It has a red stone on it, his gaze locking on the old man. as he thinks:

Is that... the philosopher stone? What I have been looking for, it was that easy?

Then he talks once more over to Rose, grinning. "Hey, I'm starting to feel interested in your religion! I'd like to speak to your priest, do you think you could introduce us to him?"

Rose smiles gently, clasping her hands together and her eyes filled with warmth. "Oh my! You finally changed your mind!"

Marcoh realizes what Edward is up to, and along with Eiriene, they both nod efficiently.

"And who might you be?" The man says, raising an eyebrow, looking at the four.

"o, I am Eiriene Veißrig! This is Marcoh Quelmelric! And these two are the Elric Brothers!"

"Quelmelric, you say? And the Elric Brothers? Well, what are you waiting here for, you are welcome to my office!"

So? They started towards the guy's office, but on the way...

In a dark room with no windows and only the dim light from some torches on the wall, the four were stopped. Rose stuck behind, Marcoh had two guards blocking her path with two swords in front of her, Eiriene wasn't any different either. Edward and Alphonse were stopped by guards too, swords in front of both Edward and Alphonse.

Marcoh starts speaking up, raising her hands in surrender and slightly gesturing with her hands. A rabbit she can't stop, unfortunately. "Woah woah woah woah woah, WOAH, hey there, uh, what is this?" She accidentally takes a step forward, which makes a guard stick his long sword in Marcoh's left boot, which thankfully was not her real leg. "Wow, now my boot is destroyed and pierced because of you." She says in a deadpan face to the guard, eyes half-lidded, crossing her arms.

"Is everything okay, Father Cornello?" Rose said, her expression etched with something familiar to worry, her hands clutched together in front of her.

"Everything is okay, Rose," The old man said, the tone in his voice stern, watching the four. "...Let's just make it quick, shall we?"

Right on cue, one of the guards next to Alphonse pull out a gun and point it on Alphonse’s helmet eyehole. With a finger on the trigger, the guard pulls it and shoots.

******BANG******!!

And just like that, Alphonse’s head falls off the rest of the armor embodiment with a sharp clacking sound on the floor, followed by the rest of the armor crashing down. Edward's eyes widen, and he grits his teeth, while Rose stands there, hands over her mouth, too shocked to speak. She stares in disbelief, thinking about the possible dead body. Edward tries to lunge himself forward, but the guards hold him down. Marcoh is about to say something, but guards pull her harshly towards the wall behind her, trapping her in between. Meanwhile, Eiriene just stares in shock, stunned by what her eyes just seem to have witnessed.

Rose yells at the guard: "Wh-What are you doing?!"

And the guard simply responds with: "Rose, these people are evil heretics trying to harm his holiness. He has given me permission. His holiness' words are the words of our God." And turns his arm to point a gun at Edward with a clack, When...

"Well..." A familiar voice says "Well, you seem to serve a nasty God".

Everyone turns to look at the source of the voice. The armor standing in front of them, hollow as ever, a blood seal resting inside for what seems like a lot of time. Alphonse grabs the weapon, and the guard screams in panic and in fear.

With an opportunity taken by the stunned audience, Edward grabs one of the guards next to him and throws him to the ground, while the other steps back. Edward's turns his head and notices Marcoh and Eiriene. He starts to Marcoh first, his steps kind of quick. The guard having pierced Marcoh's left boot seems distracted, but also keeping a strong grip on the sword, pinning her back with the other guard. Edward notices and with a firm enough grip, he takes the long sword and throws it across the room. The guard on Marcoh's right, however, tries to protest, pinning Marcoh harder by the torso.

Marcoh tries to protest, pushing the man away, or at least his arm, but the grip is strong, and he stays in position. The movement makes the pinning a bit harder, the sword tearing through the fabric of her green coat and the black shirt inside, reaching her skin underneath, scraping a large scratch on her abdomen. The wound bleeds and stains her shirt, reaching out on the coat. She grunts as it stings, her teeth gritted, her fingers twitching.

Edward takes notice of the blood that seeps out on the coat, and as he is about to do something about that, Alphonse appears, helping the two out by punching the guard. Edward speaks as Marcoh has been released, looking straight at her "Are you okay?"

Marcoh stops for a moment, about to go to Eiriene, when she turns around, and with a forced smile she nods, turning back to Eiriene, not even giving a single glance to the man that shot Alphonse, who was dropped to the floor.

As they approached Eiriene, surprisingly enough, she had already taken them down.

Marcoh smiles more to Eiriene than to herself, kind of mischievously. "Hell yeah!" She says "Turns out the new girl isn't even a bit bad, huh?"

Eiriene smiles softly and gently, yet also flattered. "Thank you, Marcoh! You flatter me!.."

Then, they all turn to Cornello, all of them 'gently' having the same glare..

-- hihihihi

So,

I know I said it would be a long Chapter, I was wishing for like 2000 words but ended up just writing 1800-1900 this time. My bad. But hey! MARCOH IS FINALLY HURT 🥹🤞 .... 👉👈 Please don't kill me, I was waiting to write that scene for a while, okay? Been busy with Easter and stuff.

Also: !!SPOILER ALERT!!

it will be a deep wound :D

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