Part one, "The arrogance of fools"

Chapter One

Rose, the young woman who invited them to stay in the church for the night, was lovely. She had a beautiful, oval-shaped face, a kind, gentle voice and a nice smile. But Ed knew, with the certainty of personal experience, that the only people who never stopped smiling were those who never stopped wanting to cry. So when he looked at her, he saw the rough, worn skin of her hands, the simple dress, the old sandals. He noticed that the only time her smile would reach her eyes was when she decided to tease him.

About his height, of course. Sigh.

Acting all flustered in response to the short jokes had long become a habit to Ed. In truth, he stopped caring about being short the same day he almost lost Al. When it all happened, his brother was so quiet, for weeks! At first, Ed was too traumatized, in too much pain, but as his wounds started to heal, he realized that Al had to be out of his mind with worry, or even guilt.

Granny Pinaco, desensitized to people's suffering by her long years of working with automail and dealing with cripples, had started teasing him again from the moment he woke up. After a few aggravating jokes at his expense, Ed realized that, even though his face couldn't move, even though he couldn't smile, Al could still laugh. It was quiet and half-hearted, but the laughter still made Al's shoulders shake. Ed couldn't make Al talk to him more, or make him forgive himself, so he did the only thing he could to reconnect with his brother – continued to behave like a three-year-old.

The jokes had gotten so old, though. He has heard them all by now.

Rose led them to a small, simple guest room and left. Walking through the desert with automail had just about cooked his shoulder, and Al, worried for him (as usual), ran out to the town, hoping to find him some burn cream. Ed had some pain meds on him, of course, like every other automail wearing amputee, sometimes it was necessary to get through the day, but Ed never took the strong ones because he needed his mind to be clear at all times, and the weaker pills took a few hours to kick in. Unable to sleep for the moment, Ed limped out of their room and decided to find Rose, if only to get a better feel of the place. He found her in the cathedral. Obviously, the girl was working long hours.

"Hey, Rose! Why don't you sit down for a while? You look about ready to drop."

The girl startled, then turned to look at him. Her face betrayed the level of tiredness that couldn't be purely physical. Knowing what he now knew about her, Ed wasn't surprised.

"I really have to finish cleaning tonight…"

"You work for the church to show dedication to your God, right? Do you really think he'd begrudge you a ten-minute break once in a while? Come on, sit down, let's talk for a bit, I could use the distraction. You can even try to convert me to your faith, if that's how you wanna think about it."

She hesitated for a moment, but sighed, put the cleaning rag away and sat down on the bench to his right.

"What do you need distracting from? Is there something I can do to help?" she asked, and the genuine concern on her face made Ed smile back.

"It's nothing so bad, Rose. Just need to kill some time while my pain meds kick in."

"You're in pain? Why? Are you ill?" she asked more insistently. Ed realized that he'd said too much, and now she won't let it go without an explanation. He sighed and took off his right glove. Rose gasped.

"It's just that automail and deserts don't go together very well. Al and I had to walk for a few hours before we got here, so…"

"Oh… I see," Rose murmured, and visibly tried not to stare.

"Have you never met someone with automail before? It's ok if you're curious. I don't mind."

Ed offered her his hand, and she took it, so delicately as if she thought her touch would break it.

"So, It's not just your palm? Is it the whole wrist?"

"Actually, it's the whole hand. And the whole left leg, too."

"That… That must have been so horrible! And you're so young! What happened? If you don't mind me asking…" Rose looked so sad for him that Ed instantly regretted starting that conversation. Still, there was a reason he wanted to talk to her, and that was more important than his pride.

"I don't want your pity, Rose, nor do I deserve it. What happened to me was the result of my own actions. But that's not what I wanted to talk to you about."

"Huh?"

"You see, my brother and I, we are looking for something, and I think you might be able to clarify something for me. I heard that father Cornello can do miracles, right? What do they look like?"

"Oh, yes, he can! Actually, he shows them at the main square every morning, you can come with me and watch him, too!"

"That would be nice, thanks."

"But, I thought you said you're not interested in religion? Did you change your mind?" she asked, suddenly hopeful.

"No, sorry. I can't believe in the existence of something no one can prove."

"But father Cornello's miracles are the proof! How would he be able to do what he does without God's blessing?"

"I have my suspicions about it. I think he has something very valuable, something he doesn't want people to know about, especially military dogs like me."

"What do you mean military? What do you have to do with it?"

Ed paused. It had suddenly occurred to him that there must not be any good alchemists in Liore, otherwise Cornello would never have been able to get away with his bullshit for as long as he had.

"I'm a state alchemist. That means I work for the military. All state alchemist have the rank equivalent to that of a major."

"Wow, that's incredible. You must be a very good alchemist, then, if the state hired you…"

"I'm nothing special; I just have a bit of an unfair advantage. You could say alchemy runs in the family. Al and I started learning from our father's books. He left a ton of them, and we were curious."

Rose, familiar with the pain of losing one's family, pointedly didn't ask what he meant. Ed felt absurdly grateful. This conversation had become way too personal already.

"I see… so, how long did you have to study it?"

"Let me think. I was about five, closer to six when we started, so, for ten years now. I'm still not done learning. You're never done learning if you're an alchemist, though I think I know enough to have the right to wear the flamel."

Rose made a confused face at him, so he turned a little to point out the back of his coat.

"See this symbol, here? That's a flamel. Only accomplished alchemists who dedicated their lives to using alchemy to help people wear it. My teacher has a tattoo of it, but I think my body is mutilated enough as it is, so I wear it on my clothes. Next time you see someone with this symbol, you can safely assume that's an alchemist."

When Ed turned back, he saw that Rose had a thoughtful expression on her face.

"You said father Cornello has something the military wants? What do you think it is? What kind of object would allow someone to perform miraculous acts?"

"Are you sure you want to know that?" asked Ed, looking her in the eyes. Rose frowned. "You are very loyal to him and his religion, are you not? If I tell you, can you really even believe me? Are you strong enough to give up your faith to know the truth? The truth can be a cruel mistress, much more cruel then your Sun God."

"I'm not sure what you mean by that, but I don't think it's as terrible as you think. I believe in father Cornello. I believe in him because he has done so much for Liore… and for me. I don't think whatever you tell me can really make me lose that faith."

"Alright, then. But before I explain, I have one more question for you. It's a little personal, so I'll make you a deal. You'll think long and hard about it, and when you answer, you can ask me any question about myself, and I'll tell you the truth too."

There were many questions behind those dark eyes of hers, so Ed thought it a safe bet she will not refuse.

"Alright, deal. What do you want to know?"

"Do you really believe in the Sun God and Cornello's bullshit promises to resurrect your fiancé, or are you just too scared to face life without him?"

The sound of flesh meeting flesh echoed loudly in the empty cathedral. Breathing heavily, Rose lowered her palm that just met with his cheek, got up and ran from the room. The large doors slammed deafeningly in her wake.

Ed ignored the burning pain in his face. Asking that kind of question, he'd expected something of the sort. It was just sad, that the only way he could repay her for her kindness was by hurting her.

Rose still had a long road ahead of her, a road full of grieving, self-loathing, loneliness and despair. However, standing on the other side of it, Edward knew: to get off it, you need to have the courage to walk it first.