Author's Note: Wow, I can't believe it took me FOUR YEARS to write something for Final Fantasy VI of all things! I mean, I wrote Dissidia and things like that, but I never made an entry for VI; or even focus solely on it. Well, time to change that! As always, I'd rather have the first chapter speak for itself, I'll talk to you guys after it all.

Of Dogs and Dolls

Chapter 1

Dog of the Military, Doll of the Empire

The Northern Winds of Amestris were renowned for their ferocity by even ones born and raised on their cusp. Snowstorms that lasted weeks were not uncommon, avalanches often becoming the grave of many men, native and traveler alike. As a result, not many were the people willing to establish their lives in this unforgiving environment.

It was in this field of eternal white, on the center of a storm of diamond dust, that a very unusual sight was taking place. Three long trails of large, circular footprints confused the native animals as to what kind of beast had walked into their land. Some of these animals had seen a trio of deep black, bipedal monsters, taking flight for their lives. Some others were, admittedly more curious. And as they approached it, they saw what looked to be three draconian metal beasts carrying three humanoid figures, two cloaked and one obscured by the snow.

As the snowstorm began to flutter, the entities climbed upon a nearby hill, the smaller of the trio slowly removing his hood, turning to the large one of the trio, and speaking:

"Can you see Narshe from here, Al?" the smallest of the trio asked as he removed the hood on his red winter jacket. The person was an, admittedly pretty short, teen blessed with a pair of golden eyes and matching braided ponytail. As he asked this, the larger of the trio seemed to point northwest, immediately following it up with:

"We strayed a bit from the path big brother, but we can probably get there before noon if we hurry," surprisingly enough, from the large body came the voice of a teen not unlike his short companion. Nevertheless, this answer seemed to satisfy his brother, if only for a moment, as right after he was caught staring at the third and last figure, the one with no cloak.

The young woman he was staring at appeared to be at least a few years older than him, however, it was a mystery how her small and frail-looking body had weathered the blizzard better than anyone else there. She was also far from muscled, being dry of muscle and fat, which, while giving anyone who looked at her quite a sight, only furthered the suspicion Al's brother held for the girl. Her skin was beautifully pale, further contributing to her fragile beauty looks and her hair followed the same vein, being of a pale blonde, its wavy threads being enwrapped into a ribbon to form a ponytail while small bangs fell over the small silver circle on her forehead unto the girl's cold, deadpan face. She was wearing a very unconventional sleeveless red dress with floral patterns drawn into it followed by two matching long red gloves that covered most of her arms, several different sashes around her waist, and a whitish cape, also patterned over flowers. Her legs were covered by patterned white tights, and red and gold high-heeled boots. Finally, she had two silver earrings with red gems inside them and a violet, teardrop-shaped hanging near her breasts, a single blue gem resting at the center. However, what caught the eyes of and chilled the spines of the brothers was her cold, emotionless violet eyes which didn't seem to acknowledge them as being there.

"Still worrying about her?" 'Al' asked his brother, his voice not betraying his own contempt for the girl too. His brother seemed frustrated at best when he answered it.

"I know orders are orders, but damn Kimblee, why did he stick us with whatever this thing is?!" the boy exclaimed, kicking some snow down the hill in frustrations. It only made it worse how the girl reacted to nothing he had said, even after he had essentially called her a thing.

"Brother not in front of her!" Al exclaimed, positioning his mount between his brother and the girl.

"Alphonse, take a hint. Whatever it is, it's not human. She hasn't reacted a single time to anything we've spoken or done to her, she's basically immune to the harshest of temperatures and, as much as I don't trust anyone with a smile as smug as Kimblee, I think he called this a doll for a reason," pointed out the brother.

"Brother… what are you implying?" Alphonse questioned, looking back to see that the girl's eyes seemed as completely aloof as ever, like she didn't even acknowledge she was the topic of the conversation.

"She acts just like… just like a Homunculus would," he replied, his voice lowered as he checked to see if anyone was eavesdropping, no matter how unlikely that was.

"Homunculus? Those things are just theories. You can't transmute a human… you know that better than anyone else," Al admonished his brother, a subject long since tabooed having been recalled during the conversation.

"I know, I know Al. But that's just the thing. She can't be a Homunculus," the brother explained, reflexively examining the girl once more. "She doesn't have the mark."

"Mark?" Al asked before reflecting upon on it. "Oh right! The Ouroboros mark! Wait… how do you know that brother?!" Alphonse more so accused than asked, the reddening of his brother's cheeks and the sudden drops of sweat replying for themselves. "Stupid brother! When Winry knows about this she'll-"

"I did it for science! I'm not some pervert!" the brother tried to defend weakly, his rage being drowned in his embarrassment.

"I'm so sorry for my brother! I hope you can forgive him… huuuuh," Alphonse shouted, lowering his head in order to bow to the considerably smaller girl in front of him. It was only then that he realized something crucial. "Oh right, what is your name? They never told us and you don't exactly tal-"

"Name?" the girl questioned, staring at the hulking person groveling in front of her. "That command is unknown to me;"

One would hardly imagine the climate could seem colder than it actually was, but the girl had done it.

"We shouldn't waste any more time. We gotta get to Narshe before this storm gets any worse," the shorter of the brothers said, putting his hood back on and twerking around with the commands to his ride, causing the draconic vehicle's engine the howl as it was ordered to move forward. Nodding back at their defacto leader, Alphonse took his commands, only to find the girl already matching pace with his brother. With a sigh, the larger teen drove after them, the snow colliding with his unfeeling body.

As the three figures traversed the whirling sea of white, a feeling they could not shake off had taken over them. A feeling that they were being watched. Not by someone, but by the world itself.

*Cue: "Melissa" FMA 2003 OST*

Narshe, one of the northernmost residential establishment in Amestris, not two days away from the frontier of Briggs, something that was reflected both in its structure and its people. The houses were wooden and small, providing just enough shelter for a family for the cheapest price. Most of the city was heavily loaded with machinery the streets could be narrow. But that didn't dim the spirits of any of the people inside. Although a blizzard had just occurred a few hours ago, by the time the brothers and the girl arrived at the city, it was already bustling with activity, streets filled with rugged but happy people as they moved to make use of the rest of the day after having been locked into their houses for so long.

In any case, our intrepid dwarf-sized leader was everything but fascinated by the strength and disposition of the people here. He was hungry. And his hunger had to be sated. Luckily, there was a small, outdoors restaurant ready for just that. The owner seemed more than happy to have clients the moment he opened shop once again, cooking up a generous stew in minutes. So generous in fact, that he couldn't bear to not ask:

"Aren't you two eating?" the restaurant owner questioned, seeing as Alphonse and the girl hadn't even taken a seat on the counter.

"W-we already ate! Brother gave us his rations on the way here, isn't that right?" Alphonse asked his female companion. Staring back at him with empty eyes, she simply answered:

"That is untrue," leaving Al to slump to the ground in defeat while the older brother nearly chocked on his stew.

"Now you talk!" the brother shouted in frustration. Still, he wasn't without a heart. While a part of him swore this would bite him in the ass, he went on and asked: "You hungry?"

"Some of my energy storages are empty-"

"Stop with that convoluted talking! Mister, get her as much as she can eat!" if only the small teenager had any idea of the monster he had just unleashed.

"You didn't have to ask me. I was going to feed her wether you liked it or not. No girl this pretty should starve! Rosé, another Narshean Combo, on the double!" he exclaimed to the back of the kitchen, where a teenage girl of dark brown hair worked.

"Was already on it!" the girl said, turning to reveal a pair of pink bangs that only highlighted why she was called Rosé.

"Sit down," the brother semi-roughly told the girl, leaving his seat with his half-finished stew and motioning her to get in. "As you said, I already ate rations coming here. You can have the rest of mine too. Can't let you fall flat on the ground, the Colonel would never let me hear the end of it…" much to his frustration, the girl complied with his request. Only to continue staring at him with the very same blank expression. "What are you waiting for?! Eat before I change my mind!"

"Brother, she's probably just shy!" Alphonse shouted in defense of the girl he was sure his brother was harassing.

"She's not minding is she?" the brother pointed out. Alphonse taking note how the girl had taken the boy's advice and began chowing down on the stew. "She was hungry though… should have told us, you weird girl." he off-handedly commented, some of his suspicions lifting. The girl, for all her strange behaviors, was proving human enough.

"If I may step in, you two are travelers, right?" the girl called Rosé asked, delivering her stew and leaning on the counter. The brothers nodded nearly instantly. "Well, have you heard news of a State Alchemist traveling north? Word is that the pair of Alchemists called the Elric Brothers is heading here, the kids won't stop talking about it," Alphonse stopped for a moment at that comment. Why would the army release such information up to the public? Weren't they supposed to only survey the Church of the Goddess? His brother… not so much.

"You are looking right at 'em! The Elric brothers, Alphonse Elric and the Fullmetal Alchemist himself… Edward Elric!" the brother finally exclaimed, his name being heard by pretty much everyone on the street. With his booming announcement came an overblown removal of his winter coat to reveal his nigh unicolor clothing consisting of sleeveless black shirt with a black jacket trimmed in silver, black matching trousers and boots that clearly were compensating for his height. However, the real eye-catcher was his bright red hooded cloak that covered everything from his shoulders up to his calves, one that covered both his arms until his sleeves, where he continue to hide his skin with a pair of white gloves. Said cloak was emblazoned in black with a mystical alchemic seal, the Flamel, a depiction of a cross with a snake or serpent draped about it, as well as detached wings and a crown above it. However, for all his flamboyance, he soon found that the center of his attention was, indeed, his brother.

"Wow! You are really tall Mr. Fullmetal!" As a kid mistakenly told this to Al, a vein nearly popped on Edward's head. The cloaked large teen frantically shook his head and arms, trying his best to get the attention of the crowd, however, the one able to prove them all wrong still had a piece of meat in her mouth as she said:

"The State Alchemist named Edward Elric is that man," the dollish girl said, pointing at Ed. At first, not many heard it, but, as soon as the owner of the restaurant shouted:

"That pipsqueak is a State Alchemist?!" all hell broke loose. Whatever vein nearly pooped committed seppuku and called for friends as Edward flew into a blind rage:

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING A PIPSKEAK YOU PEABRAINED OLD MAN?!" Edward absolutely blared, jumping on the counter and nearly taking it to the elder man if Al didn't restrict him. Not all was alright though, as Edward had clearly thrown off a pretty expensive looking radio right off the table, causing it to be completely smashed when it hit the ground, which caused the commotion to die with it.

"We're so sorry, my brother just doesn't take his height kindly!" Al explained, again having to restrain his brother as soon as someone commented that Edward "had a reason to". In any case, Edward's rage was quelled once he saw the results of his rampage, the broken radio on the ground.

"Well, I have no problem with your outburst, but I am going to have to ask you to pay for that," the elder said, apparently more upset about the radio than the verbal aggression. This brought a sneaky smile to Edward's face.

"We'll handle that!" he exclaimed, patting the back of his brother. "Al, you can have this one, gotta practice your alchemy, don't you?" he questioned, a sharper look, as fast as lightning, being exchanged by the two brothers. It didn't take much to tell Alphonse that Edward didn't want to reveal his alchemy just yet.

And so, with a simple piece of chalk and a pair of swift hands, the brother drew a runed circle on the ground, placing the radio in its center. Crossing his hands, he willed the transmutation array to activate, visualizing the object, its transformation and its final form. Moments later, after a short burst of electricity and light, the radio stood there, in better shape than it had ever been, even going as far as to transmit its usual programming.

Needless to say, this gained boundless praise and shock from the people around the brothers, only girl looking on, impassive. However, there was someone else that didn't react as one would expect. Edward's golden eyes saw Rosé's momentary cringe at the sight of the transmutation, something he would not forget so soon.

With all that being said, a pretty interesting sound took Edward's ear. The radio was transmitting what seemed to be a sermon, which provided the perfect icebreaker for his next question.

"Rosé, they say Narshe's pride is its chapel to the Goddess. I suppose you wouldn't know where it is, would you?" he asked of the girl, who snapped from her trance after a few moments. Taking a good look at Edward, her expression returned to her kind and peppy smile as she nodded back to him.

"Father Banon should be in the middle of his delayed public sermon, if we move now, we'll probably be there in time to enter the church in peace, I'll take you there myself if you don't mind," Rosé explained, greatly satisfying Edward. Not only did she know it, she was gonna lead them to it?

"Great, let's go!" Edward exclaimed, grabbing Rosé's wrist, only to be stopped by the owner of the restaurant.

"Kid, you still need to pay… for her," he explained, pointing towards how their girly companion had now gone through around five stews.

"Whaaaaaaaaaaa-"Edward cried, him and his wallet crying tears of blood.

Even after paying, Rosé had informed them that she had to at least finish attending the lunch clients before leaving, which meant Ed and Al still had a good half an hour before leaving. While most of it was spent in idle banter with the townsfolk, soon came a time where only them and the girl that had been tasked unto them were left, just as Rosé was cleaning up the dishes on the inside of the store. It was at that point that Al questioned Ed:

"Why were you so fast in announcing who we were? Even you are more careful than that Brother," Al questioned, half-reprimanding half-curious. He wouldn't put it past his brother to do this purely for the fame and praise he'd get, but he felt like there had been something else to it.

"Why do you think I asked you to perform the alchemic procedures Al?" Edward asked whilst he idly fidgeted with his right arm and left leg for some reason. At the silence that encompassed them, Edward decided to grace the unanswered question with the response it needed. "When I announced it, there were a lot of people excited yes, but, in the middle of the crowd, there were more than a handful of people that were analyzing us, from top to bottom. And no, they weren't fans, those were the eyes of someone looking for any chink in our armor that they could exploit,"

"But wait, that means…" Alphonse gasped, understanding the true reason why they had just sent a pair of Alchemists, one of them an Imperial one, to basically watch over a priest.

"There's something fishy in this town. And I'd bet that something is related to Banon. Kimblee either only knew of this suspicious activity or just wanted to make life hard for us, the bastard," the impassive eyes of the girl watched over Ed as he made his revelation, silently nodding, as if she understood what this meant for her mission. "In any case, we gotta talk to this priest, he's either gonna help us or Kimblee's lead is as bad as it usually is,"

"Ready! Shall we?" Rosé asked as she skipped to the side of the Elrics. With a nod, they were off.

Edward and company had arrived just in time to watch the closing of the public sermon in the small plaza just in front of the quite richly constructed church. At first, the grandness of this church in such a humble mining town like Narshe had warranted some suspicion from the Elric brothers, at least more than they already had for the priest, however, these doubts were put to doubts of their own once they listened to the tail end of the priest's sermon.

"And for that, Brothers, Sisters, I urge you to lay down your grudges and entrust your destiny unto the goddess' caring hands. If we keep our faith strong, no human souls will waste away in the flames of war," The priest, Banon, an elder man in the twilight of his life, had unkempt blonde hair and facial hair and dressed quite humbly for a priest, taking barely anything more than a white robe and a staff into a public meeting like this. That, combined with his speech, for the entire religious cheap talk it seemed to entail, made Edward start to question his first assumption about why the priest was suspected upon by the Empire.

Still, he was not about to give this guy a free pass just for a couple of lines. He waited along with Rosé and the others for the crowd to disperse and the way to the church to be open, leaving them alone at the gateway to the church. It was then that Rosé revealed something:

"I actually happen to volunteer at the church, I'll go inside and see if I can get Father Banon to see you. Don't wander too much on your own!" she exclaimed, opening the doors and waltzing in by herself, leaving our trio behind. Alphonse noticed the pensive look on his brother's face and questioned him as the girl looked on.

"Something the matter brother?" he asked Edward as he prepared to enter the church. "You noticed, didn't you? The crowd was not exactly fond of us," Edward explained, Alphonse taking a look around before nodding.

"Yeah, they tried to hide it, but more than a few of them saw us as targets. It was hard to hide that I was onto them," Alphonse explained, both of them turning towards the girl, which for once had something to say.

"I recall their facial features, shall I hunt them down?" she questioned, surprising Alphonse with her bluntness, yet Ed seemed quite indifferent.

"If I had wanted to, I could have done that, but we're not here to cause a commotion. No one trusts the military that much around the frontier areas, attacking them and questioning them just because they looked at us the wrong way would lead us nowhere," Edward explained, Al and the girl surrendering to his sound logic. "That's why we need to cover our bases, maybe Banon will know more about the situation. We need to know if they just hate the Empire or if they are planning to capitalize on that…"

"What are you implying brother?" Alphonse questioned, Ed shrugging his arms and sighing.

"I'm implying we may be bait for the big catch, not that we have any word against it, we'll just have to trust Rosé that the Priest is to be trusted," he explained, not entirely convinced that Kimblee had sent them on a wild duck search.

"He seemed alright," Alphonse pointed but, continuing with: "If the priest was trying to stage something or even brainwash his followers, then he'd most likely trying to appeal to the masses with slightly twisted truths and tie them to his religion. From what we heard, he's inspiring everything but rebellious behavior,"

"That was one speech Al. And the latter half of it. You're a culprit until proven otherwise in my eyes," Ed dismissed, walking into the church, his brother following him exasperatedly.

Again, in a conflicting way, the church itself was grand on the inside, with stained glass windows permeating the sides, golden embroideries in the exquisite tapestry and carpets, and a massive master piece of a statue as the forefront of the altar, depicting a beautiful woman covered only in a single long cloth that covered all that it needed to, long flowing hair appearing to fly to the wind, right hand raised to the skies whilst the second one held an orb that no doubt held some deep significance. Strangely enough, such an angelic figure, which even possessed a halo behind her back, was standing on a gigantic head of a horned and demonic looking giantess.

"So THAT'S Goddess Sophia huh? Gotta say, the statue could do without her lower half, it hardly inspires 'wisdom and peace'," Ed joked whilst poking one of the horns of the giant head.

"Edward! You just committed three cardinal sins in ten seconds!" Rosé blared, storming from a door to the side of the altar and bonking Edward in the head really hard. "I understand that you may not be aware of our customs or even agree with them, but please, while in Her house, try not to insult them,"

"I… did?" Ed asked, trying to gain time to nurse his weakened scalp.

"None but the Priests may address the Goddess by Her name, we are not worthy of it. To touch the statue is also a sign of arrogance and disrespect towards this sacred place. And finally, to even imply that our Goddess is the same as the foul demon She conquered and is not presiding above is insulting and a punishable act by excommunication," Rosé rapid-fired with an intense fervor and dedication that the boy had not seen from the girl before. He was slightly impressed.

"Well, good thing I'm an atheist then!" Ed joked, Alphonse's sense's widening as, for a mere moment, he felt some intense hatred boil in the air. Before he could piece in who or what was to blame, Rosé spoke, dissipating the reaction:

"Well, that won't do. To believe in and worship God, and live with gratitude and hope... It's such a marvelous thing," for every word she spoke, one could tell Rosé truly believed in what she said, she even felt angelic with the rainbow light of the multicolored stained glass windows lit her visage. "If you believe, I'm sure you will grow taller!" she exclaimed with stars in her eyes.

"WHAT DID YOU TELL ME YOU UNDERDEVELOPED-"Edward roared, forcing his brother and the girl both to cover his mouth before he said something that would get him killed.

"Sorry for my brother Rosé, his height is just a very touchy subject for him…" Al explained, Rosé nodding back, still sweating from the display.

"But I am serious Edward. If you lay down your life for the Goddess, she will reward you and your loved ones. Nothing is beyond the blessing of the Goddess, she can save you and your loved ones, grant you happiness and prosperity, if you try hard enough, she may even bring back the ones you hold dear…" distinct sadness and nostalgia had taken over Rosé at this point, causing Ed's comedic personality to severely tone down.

"Bringing back the dead. Don't tell me you think that's possible," Ed dismissed, sitting down on a nearby bench whilst searching for something his coat.

"I know it is. Nothing is beyond the scope of the Goddess' Magic!" Rosé defended, just to be interrupted before she could make her point.

"Water, 35 liters; carbon, 20 kilograms; ammonia, 4 liters; lime, 1.5 kilograms; phosphorus, 800 grams; salt, 250 grams; saltpeter, 100 grams, and various other stuff," Edward dictated, the calculations he had done years ago never having left his mind. Looking into Rosé's disoriented eyes, explained: "That's the material makeup of a human body, calculated for one adult, female to be exact. With our science now, we know that much, but there has never been one reported case of a successful human transmutation actually taking place. Are you telling me that what can't be done by science can be done through prayer? Even though we have clearly deciphered the entirety of the human body?"

"Alchemy and science are tools we humans have created to try and break away from our Goddess' grasp. She does not hate Her children for trying to forge their own path, yet, we can never presume to achieve the Her power," Rosé replied, taking a deep breath and looking up into her beloved deity's eyes. "Alchemy is but a pale shadow of Magic,"

"Magic… Alchemy through the use of Magicite," Alphonse commented, yet again threading into taboo.

"And a pagan act!" Rosé nearly exploded at the word magicite, leaving Ed and Al to simply stare at the ceiling and ground respectively. "A person who that dares to emulate The Goddess will surely be punished for their hubris. Magicite is a sacred relic that should be cherished and worshiped, not used like a tool!"

"Hubris? That reminds me of a story…" Edward said, his normal brashness and confidence being replaced by a strange mixture of nostalgia and contemplation. "Icarus, thinking himself equal to the gods, flew too close to the sun, his wax wings melting and dropping him into the raging sea below. I wonder… is what we Alchemists are destined to become?"

"Brother, don't…" Alphonse meekly said, memories he did not want to relieve becoming ever clearer.

"Rosé, be honest, you think someone like me could ever be accepted by the Goddess?" Edward asked in a turn of events that both confused and surprised Alphonse.

"Of course. As long as there is belief there is forgiveness," she explained, nodding back at Edward and company before pointing towards the door. "Father Banon will see you now,"

For all of Rosé's smiling reassurance and aura of calm and kindness, Edward did not enjoy where he was being taken at all. It was no surprise that the church extended into the mountains behind it, it seemed like the perfect place for an undercroft, but the more they walked through the darkening halls, the less they looked to be a church's and the more they resembled a rough mining structure.

"Where are we going Rosé?" Alphonse questioned, his worries mirroring his brother's.

"We are meeting Father Banon, he went to bless people in the mine for good fortune, he said he'd take a while so it'd be faster for us to follow him rather than wait," she explained, her voice not faltering one bit. That would be enough for most people, but Edward was still suspicious. In all her time with them, Rosé never had talked without any emotion behind her speech. Was this just an odd one out?

They finally arrived at a large doorway, taking little time to cross it, they came upon a large room of dark brown tiles. The room was empty outside of the pillars that sustained the mountain above and a balcony-like elevation on the other end of the room and the sides of it, coupled with yet another doorway on the other side of it. It almost looked like…

"Is this an arena?" Alphonse deduced, being greeted by sheer silence. The moment they had taken to survey the room was enough to have Rosé vanish from their sights, their eyes only managing to locate her just before she arrived at the other doorway in a display of speed that challenged the mind. "Rosé, what's happening?" Al cried, the loud sounds of a banging door turning him back, where he saw that his brother had been unable to even scratch the now locked doorway behind them. It was then that a known voice welcomed them in.

"While I'd have hoped we had met on different circumstances, I still welcome you to Narshe, Fullmetal Alchemist, Edward Elric, and even you, the ever illusive Alphonse Elric!" Banon greeted from the top of the centermost balcony. His order, however, was slightly off when it came to the ones he had addressed.

"I'M the Fullmetal Alchemist!" Edward blared as he noticed that Banon's arm had pointed towards him when he called for Alphonse.

"Really? A child like you?!" This was a genuine surprise for Banon, and it was that combined with the current situation that stopped the ever present outburst of Ed. He, instead, took it seriously and went straight to the point.

"Mr. Priest, I'll be direct. Are you part of a faction that is discontent with Vector?" Ed was not one to play cat and mouse, much less when a situation of this nature presented itself. Surprisingly, the answer was equally simple.

"You knew this before even entering the church, did you not? Perceptive boy," Banon replied, an honest show of respect coming from the elder man. This was more than enough to put Alphonse on a battle stance, yet Ed simply stood there.

"Kimblee was right, huh? Well, I guessed that they wouldn't have been specific in mentioning the priest unless he was either an undercover agent or a part of the problem," Ed explained, stretching his right arm and then his left one. "So, what now? Are you going to try and beat us to submission?"

"That is something I would wholeheartedly try to prevent," Banon said, inciting a snap reaction from the small teen.

"Stop with this holier-than-thou attitude! This church is just a cover-up for some rebel organization, isn't it?!" Edward exclaimed, his outburst echoing through the room before letting it fall in silence.

"The Church of the Goddess joined the Returners willingly. Father Banon came to us, we did not come to him," Rosé suddenly said, leaving the brothers in a shock. Not only had all their guesses failed horribly, not only was Rosé a part of a rebel organization and not the sweet girl they had thought her to be, but an actual religious group had reached out to these people?

"That is indeed what happened," Banon confirmed, picking up his staff.

"But the Church of the Goddess preached peace over all! You swore to change the world without wasting a single soul!" Alphonse shouted, anger starting to boil on the young man.

"And that is why we have stayed silent for the past decades! Nay, centuries! The Empire was founded in blood and flames, built on bodies and betrayal! Ishval was only the most recent of tragedies! Yet, not once did the Church inspire people to rebel. To truly change mankind, you must change their nature, not destroy those who are lead astray!" Banon's voice was stern and determined, the hatred this man had for the Empire was palpable, yet, it did not seem to take him. This man had a reason, that the Elric brothers were sure.

"Then… why?" Al asked, the staff of the man swiftly answering his question as it pointed past him and his brother, directly unto the girl behind them.

"It is because of abominations like her," Edward and Alphonse looked at the girl in shock and then back to Banon. "For as many sins that the use of Alchemy brought, it is still a power that flows into the principles of the universe. Yet, the never-ending avarice of the Empire bred something far worse. Inhumane beasts that mock the human shape and bend the Realm of God to their will through the use of Magic! The girl that was tasked upon you is only one of those dolls. She was not the first, nor will she be the last. In front of this heresy, we had no choice but to take action and join those that would destroy this corrupt system before it was too late,"

Silence took the room for the proceeding moments as all parties took in all the information and processed it. The first to take action was Rosé, who moved towards the center of the room, staring at the brothers, no ill will plaguing her blue eyes.

"Knowing all of this, will you still follow the Empire?" she questioned, her real intentions being as clear as water. Alphonse did not know how to reply, he was begging that the girl behind him would say something, anything, that she would even try to deny that she was nothing but a doll, something created by humans. But she did not. Yet again, it was like no soul resided in those cold, violet eyes. Interrupting his trance was the least expected of sounds. Laughter.

"You can't be serious!" Edward exclaimed, shaking his head as he doubled over in laughter. "You come to us with a flowered up speech making you look like the absolute best people in the world, present us no evidence that your claims are true or that you guys are even better than them, and you expect us to waddle over to your side? Imperial Alchemists may be the dogs of the military, but we're faithful ones at least, not just any stray!" the older teen exclaimed, regaining his composure and clapping his hands together. "Unless you have anything else to say, we'll just skip to the part where we beat you up and drag you all the way back to Vector!"

"I told you your sympathy was misplaced Father," Rosé sighed, turning her back at the brothers and slowly walking into the back of the room. "An Empire that would murder someone like Cain for no reason other than him wanting to live a normal life, even going as far as to brand it an alchemic accident will poison every soul it gets its claws on," she said, opening the gates as Banon grimaced and nodded in agreement. "Goodbye Edward Elric, I hoped you to be different," Rosé said, leaving the room as the side balconies were filled with armed inhabitants of Narshe, most likely rebels.

As if that was not enough a strange screeching noise came from the entrance from which Rosé had just left from, along with the sound of sludge falling and splattering on the floor. Over the course of a slow, tense few moments, the Elric brothers saw what they would never imagine to be possible to encounter in a town like Narshe. Sliding through the gate was a gigantic snail-like beast, easily thrice the size of Edward, its yellow gooey body trudging along an even larger purple spiked shell.

"A Chimera?!" Alphonse cried, Banon's look showing shame.

"You can only fight monsters with monsters… Ymir, destroy the doll!" he commanded with his staff held high, a burst of red light filling the room. Like it was responding to it, the snake-like monster roared, spitting a large quantity of yellow ooze towards the brothers, forcing them to dodge, Edward went beneath it, the girl to the right and Al to the left.

"Awaiting orders," the girl told Edward, who did not even hesitate in shouting:

"Take the right balcony out! Al, take the guys at the left out! I'll take the chimera!" he exclaimed, hitting the floor with both his hands, the stone in the floor receding inward as from the ground arose a large spear with a brown hilt and bronze tip, which incited shock from the room.

"Alchemy without a transmutation circle?! You cannot have-"Banon exclaimed, as shocked as the rebels, yet he was interrupted as a sea of fire flooded one of the balconies by his side, burning all of the Returners inside alive.

"Brother, she just-"Alphonse shouted from the side as he had finished drawing an alchemic circle of his own.

"I know Al…" Edward stated, his eyes fixated in the flaming wreckage and morgue, unable to draw his eyes away from the tragedy that had just occurred. If only he had expected it… but he didn't. And there was nothing he could do about that. "Damnit, there's no use dwelling on that now! We'll figure out what is happening by ourselves once we're out of here! I'm still not trusting these guys!" Ed blared as he lunged towards the Chimera. With those words ringing in his mind, Alphonse agreed, hitting the circle and transmuting the land around him to put him at the height of the balcony, where he was greeted by a hail of bullets.

On Edward's side, he was not much better off. For a snail, Ymir's head moved at a lighting fast pace, making it hard for the alchemist to even approach the chimera. He parried and dodged as best as he could, but for any progress he made by weaving through the blows of the head, once he was forced to parry he'd just go back to where he had left off. The strength of the chimera was far too much for a human to match.

"Do you require aid?" the girl suddenly said as she appeared by his side. Edward grimaced as he saw the molten leftovers of the balcony. He could not blame Banon for calling this… person a monster. However, he had seen too much to take anything at face value. For now, he was trusting the one that didn't put him between the sword and the wall.

"Just keep him busy, I'll lop off its head once I manage to get to a good spot," Edward pointed out. Acknowledging this, the girl waved its hand from one side to the other, materializing icicle spears out of nothingness that she commanded to spread towards the Chimera. Paying no mind as to how she had done it, Edward renewed his assault. The shock and pain from the icicles carving into it's the snail's skin giving him enough time to slip by its defenses and nearing the base of its shell, where he planned to lop off its accursed head.

At the same time, Alphonse ran through the hail of bullets as it shredded its clothes, shocking the soldiers for enough time for his large, iron knuckles to knock them out of order. It was only when his head was struck clean by a sniper rifle that he slowed down, the constant gunfire hailing him once again, leaving him for dead. By the time most of the firing had stopped, all that was left of Alphonse was a large, hulking gray metal armor, complete with a horned helmet, out of which two red eyes shone through, a large strand of hair-like ribbon sweeping to the wind coming from the commotion. Just like his brother's cape, his shoulder had been engraved with the Flamel.

However, there was a problem. His helmet was not on its head, but on its hands, having left the head portion completely empty for a few moments as Alphonse adjusted the helmet back into position.

"No way! What is he?! A new model of Magitek Armor?!" one of the rebels exclaimed, Alphonse not answering. At this point, he knew words would never be enough. And so, trusting his brother he continued his assault. Banon however, was all too aware of that meant.

Back with Edward, just as his spear flew towards the Chimera's neck, Ymir noticed the danger, swiftly retreating its whole body into his shell, leaving only one dark, damp hole behind. Cursing the speed of the monster, Edward thought about what he should do. Not knowing the structure of the shell it was dangerous for him to just thrust his spear inside.

"Stand aside!" the girl exclaimed, a sizzling flare floating on her right hand. In a moment, Edward saw sparks leap out of the shell. In that same moment, the girl had lunged even past him, intent on throwing the fire inside the shell no doubt. He would not let her.

"You idiot!" Edward roared, tackling the girl and putting his own body between her and the snail, just as the static electricity that he had noticed erupted from the Chimera, burning off his cape and sleeve and electrocuting the Fullmetal Alchemist, yet doing next to no damage to the girl.

"Brother!" Alphonse cried out as he jumped off the balcony during the burst of energy. By the time he arrived to his brother's side, he was on his knees, his right side burned in several places, as well as his right arm being now on full disclosure. Instead of flesh and bone, there were only steel and cogs. Attached to a heavily scared right side of the torso was an automail arm, a prosthetic arm made with the latest technological advancements of the Empire. This would be the final piece on the puzzle for Banon.

"Your arm…a brother who is just armor… the ability to transmute without a circle. It all makes sense now. Fullmetal Alchemist, you invaded upon the Realm of God, didn't you?!" Banon accused, all of the hatred he had for the Empire seemingly transferring over towards Edward. "You have performed human transmutation, the greatest taboo for any alchemist! To walk upon the domain of the Goddess and to try and bring back the dead!"

"You know your stuff old man…" Edward coughed, slowly standing himself back up. "So, what now? Did I upset your neatly goddess? Because let me tell you something! Whatever I saw in there looked nothing like what you worship! So whatever this Sophia is, she is anything but a 'God',"

"To think that you would still mock the Goddess after she mercifully let you return! Ymir, send them to the Goddess so that they may repent!" Banon ordered, the red light from his staff making the snail's carapace light up with static once more. "I'll pray for your souls myself,"

"Not so fast!" Edward exclaimed, rushing towards the snail, clapping his hands and touching the ground directly beneath the shell, creating a giant fist of stone that hurled it straight towards the balcony where Banon was, much to his terror. Ymir collided with the balcony and erupted in lightning, leaving Banon's fate unsure. "Al, let's go!" Edward exclaimed before collapsing back on his left knee, the adrenaline unable to mask the injuries for much longer.

"I'll take you brother!" Alphonse stated, throwing Edward into a piggyback ride, much to his chagrin. "Let's go!" he told the girl, running off as she followed obediently.

They should have never expected a clean way out. The door from whence they came had suddenly burst open with rebels, stranding them in the mines and forcing Alphonse and the others into tunnels they knew nothing about. For all intents and purposes, it wasn't all bad. Alphonse, being just armor, had it easy as fatigue was something that was foreign to him, while the girl didn't seem to get tired either, meaning they had started to gain distance on their pursuers as soon as their bodies began to tire after a few minutes. While they were still lost, the only way that they saw they would get caught was if they found themselves on a dead end.

Which, like Murphy's law would have it, was just what happened.

"Damn it, a dead end!" Edward cursed when they entered a large chamber that apparently had no other tunnels connecting to it.

"We can't turn back!" Alphonse exclaimed as the sounds of hounds and boots lurked ever closer.

"We'll just have to… where are you going?" Edward asked the girl. While him and Alphonse were getting ready to battle, the girl's eyes had completely glazed over, setting her in an even stranger state of trance than usual. She was staring deeper into the cave, into something the Elric brothers, in all their haste, had ignored. On the center of the large cave room was the light source of the room. It was no torch, it was no lamp. No, instead it was a large ice block easily as large as Ymir. And inside it…"Is that another Chimera?" Edward questioned. Inside the ice was a large bird of multiple colors, one that seemed to share a body with that of a snake's and possessed twice as many talons as he should have, his head glittering gold with its crown-like skull.

While the brothers were distracted by it, the girl had started to slowly take steps towards the beast, just as the rebel soldiers caught up.

"Freeze and surrender! We'll spare you if you hand us the doll!" the captain of the assault squad promised them, a fake promise if a smile ever betrayed it.

"Stop ogling that bird and give us a hand!" Edward demanded, clapping his hands and preparing to transmute. It was then that the unexplainable happened.

"Vali…garmanda…" the doll whispered, touching the ice with her small delicate hand. Just as she did, the floor for the entire room was immediately replaced by a gigantic, unblinking gray eye.

"No way…" Edward gasped as black, tendril-like hands arose from the eye, the walls, the ceiling, even from the ice block itself. They wiggled and twisted, bringing back memories long past on the brothers. "This can't be! Why is the Gate opening?! What do you want with us?!"

The room soon became a place of terror and chaos as the hands shot towards Edward and Alphonse, only to ignore them and blitz right past and, in some cases, right through them. The brothers looked in horror as the hands grabbed onto the soldiers, severing the molecular connections between their limbs and body.

"No! Not again!" Edward blared out loud, his hands grasping at the tendrils of darkness. A powerful electrical shock came with every tendril he grabbed, but Edward was a man on a mission. Taking every tendril he could, he tried his best to restrict them, give the soldiers the time they needed to escape. "Why are you doing this, you bastard?! Tell me what the hell is going on!" the words of the teen fell into the world's cold, uncaring ears as the tendrils began to slowly overpower Ed, slowly taking the soldiers into the monstrous eye below while they screamed for help and mercy before exploding into their physical components and being absorbed by the eye. It was then that, inside his mind, heard what could only be described as his own voice resonate, taunting him:

"Just taking my toll, you should be used to it already!" In less than a minute, the Elric brothers were alone. Behind them, the girl fell to the ground, her tiara obliterated by an unknown force, and with it, the eyes of the world closed.

The room fell into a deafening silence.

"Brother… what do we do now?" Alphonse questioned, trying to keep his head calm. They still needed to escape.

"We take her and run…" Edward said, looking into his brother's eyes and answering the unasked question. "We take her. We need answers,"

"Alright, but, run… where?" Al asked, pointing out how they had no idea how to direct themselves through the winding tunnels.

"Over here!" a squeaky voice exclaimed. The sound of screeching rocks took the chamber's dead silence. On the north end of the room, a secret passage had been opened. In it was a furry, round creature with bat wings and closed eyes that the world knew as a Moogle, its pom-pom hopping around as the creature signaled Edward to follow them. "Quick, more are coming!"

There was no time for doubts. Edward and Alphonse took what they could and sprinted towards the moogle, Alphonse taking the girl and Edward trying his best to ignore the pain of his burns. The white fur ball was surprisingly fast and adept at navigating through the cave tunnels, taking them through a half an hour run through the complex maze, blessed they were with no encounters with the returners. They did not speak until they arrived at what seemed like another dead end.

"Let me just move this…" the moogle said, turning a stone around to open yet another secret passage. The blinding light of sunset took Edward's eyes, nearly blinding him after almost two hours in total darkness. That being set, the bet seemed to have played off, as they appeared to leave on the mountainside just beside the Narshean mines, on just an isolated enough location for them to be able to rush to their Magitek Armors without much of an issue.

"Thank you, but-" Al began, hoping to know the reason for this rescue.

"Don't ask why. It's in my best interests to help you," the moogle said, looking around and back at Edward. "Now go, before they find you!"

"Alright, thank you…" Alphonse thanked, again stopping himself as he did not know the creature's name.

"Mog!" the moogle said as he waved back at them. "Now hurry!" And so they did.

"They vanished? Along with every single one of our vanguard?!" Rosé exclaimed at the report of one of the scouts. Her and Banon had taken refuge back in the Narshean nursery, Banon's burned skin and bone being treated as best as it could by the medics of the returners.

"Y-yes… we were tagging the vanguard, but the tunnels suddenly were filled with screams. We went as fast as we could, but soon as we got to the frozen Esper, there was no one there… not even the Esper," the scout explained, shocking Rosé even more.

"This can't be… what could they have possibly done?!" she screamed, throwing down a vase out of desperation and anger. They had lost far more than just a chance of hurting the empire.

"I may have the answer to that," a jovial voice came from the door. Two figures standing side by side in it.

"And you would be?" Rosé asked, the closer of the figures walking inside the room revealing a man in his twenties with a bandana who said:

"Locke Cole, adventurer extraordinaire, and that's my associate Shadow,"

"You managed to get them out safely?" a voice from the other side of a telephone line asked Mog. The moogle stood inside a seemingly normal Narshean abode, if not for the blood painted walls and carpet.

"Yeah, and I even threw in a small scale massacre to blame on the Returners!" Mog said with a sick glee, observing his "hard work". A family of three children, one of which being nothing more than a baby, all bloodied and lifeless across the bedroom, where one of the still breathing parents laid against the wall, broken, pleading for death.

"This is why we hate sending you on covert missions," the voice from the other side of the line said in exasperation.

"Oh c'mon, don't act like that, wanting to be in my place doesn't suit you. Envy is my sin!" the "Moogle" said as it's body and form slowly transformed, leaving in its place what looked to be a teenager with long, black hair.

*Cue: "Kesenai Tsumi" FMA 2003 OST*

The teenager then moved towards the window of the house, smiling he watched as a pair of Magitek Armors find their way into the sea of white. "Besides, our little doggie and dolly combo seems to be working just fine!"

"Who am I? One name you might have for me is the world, or you might call me the universe, or perhaps God, or perhaps the Truth. I am All, and I am One. So, of course, this also would mean that I am you… pity you are nothing."

"We give you a doll for a week and you come back with her broken? Pitiful display Edward Elric!"

"What makes you think a weapon needs a name?"

Next Time: A Monster Without a Name

Post-Chapter Note: Alright, now we may talk. First, you may be asking, why create a FMA/FFVI crossover? Well, they are more alike than you may think. As you could probably guess from this chapter, they are very easily meshed in terms of themes and characters, they have a similar setting in a steampunk influenced world, the authoress for FMA is a major fan of VI, the list goes on and on. And that's why this fic didn't leave my head once I rewatched Brotherhood. The worlds just meshed too well, the plot too, it really is the perfect balance of "similar but diferent" in my opinion.

Okay, that was my excuse for starting yet another fic. I'll keep the first 2-3 chapters on a semi-regular basis, aiming for two weeks each, to get the story rolling, after that I will most likely follow FMA's release Schedule of one per month, with exceptions being made for major climaxes and such.

With all that said, what did you think of the chapter? What did you like, dislike, would like to see in the story, anything really! Comment bellow, let me know!