We Were the Cost Chapter 13

Chapter 13

(SARAH)

Guns fired at us from all angles. Alphonse used alchemy to make a barrier to shield us, but eventually they brought out heavier artillery. One of the scientists was shot and killed. I screamed in terror.
"We have to get out of here!" Uncle shouted over the gunshots. He went over to the wall and transmuted a hole in it. "This way!"
Everyone followed him through the hole, which led to another hallway. Alphonse sealed the wall behind us and continued to lead us forward. He was struggling to keep running, but his will power was stronger than his fatigue.
Kain ran up in front of Al. "...I'll lead," Kain said. Alphonse nodded and made his way over to Theo and I.
"You okay?" Theo asked him.
"Yeah," Al panted. "Haven't run in a while."
We followed Kain as he led us through the labyrinth of hallways, destroying walls as he went.
Maes was carrying Clint on her back by that point. He looked positively awful. If he died too...

As we ran, we weren't being pursued. I found it odd that no one was coming after us, considering they had seemed so eager to kill us a few minutes ago. In all actuality, the corridors we were going through we're barren. No people, or anything at all. The only noise in the hallway was from our footsteps and panting. I wondered where we were even going, if we were close to escaping.
"Kain," I called out to him, panting. "Do you know where we're going?"
"Yes," he replied. There was something in his voice that I couldn't identify.
"You'd better!" Theo shouted. He took Clint from Maes and put him on his back. "You looked tired," he said to Maes.
"Thanks," she said, smiling sadly.
"He'll be okay, Maes."
She nodded, but didn't seem too sure.
I caught up with Kain. "Are you sure you know where you're going?"
He remained silent and sped ahead of me, then stopped as he reached a wall. He placed his right hand on it and destroyed the wall, walking into the room the hole led to.
Everyone followed him into to huge dark room, wondering why he would lead us in there.
"Alright!" he shouted into the darkness. "I did what you wanted! We had a deal!"
I ran up to Kain and grabbed his arm. "What are you talking about?" I asked curiously, a bit scared.
Kain yanked his arm away and walked forward. "Felicity!"
A dark laugh resounded in the room, followed by a black-haired woman emerging from the shadows. "Very good, Kain," she purred, walking towards him. "It seems I underestimated you. Thank you for not letting the Elrics escape."
"I didn't do it for you," Kain said through clenched teeth.
The woman--Felicity--caressed Kain's face with her hand, grinning. "Oh, I know, I know," she laughed. "We did have a deal. Believe me, I will come through on my end of the bargain."
Theo stomped over to Kain and grabbed him by the front of his shirt. "What does she mean that you have a deal!?" Theo shouted.
"Well--"
"Don't, Felicity," Kain boomed.
"Our dear little Ishvalan friend made a deal with me," Felicity said to Theo. "All I asked him to do is help me to round up the Elrics."
"What...?" I whispered.
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(THEO)
"What?" Sarah whispered again. I'd seen so many emotions in my sister. I'd watched her smile when Mom and Dad were actually smiling and getting along. I'd seen her melt when Travis tipped back her chin. I'd seen her pure grief when he was stabbed, as he crumpled up in pain. I'd seen her defensive, protective, and motherly. I'd seen her reserved. I'd seen her love. I'd seen her hate.
But the betrayl in her eyes, I'd never seen. Mainly because no one coul ever double-cross Sarah. She was too easy to love. But now...with Kain, even, who I'd thought had held feelings for her, and after Sarah had tried so hard to protect him...he'd betrayed her. I felt sick.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk, Kain. Should you tell them, or should I?"
Kain didn't say a word as the woman called Felicity ran her hands gingerly over the boy, flipping back a piece of his white hair. Kain stared, eyes ready to kill.
"You promised me. I want them back now!" he roared. Felicity threw her head back, cackling with laughter.
"Them?" Alphonse asked, voice shaking.
Sarah was on the verge of tears, looking at no one but Kain, who wouldn't meet her eyes. Look at her, you bastard, I growled in my head.
"Alphonse...Elric...." the woman drew out Alphonse's name, and soon, she had her hands in his hair, running her fingers down his lips, all over his body. Alphonse sputtered back, gasping. "What I wouldn't give," The woman groaned in the most seductive voice, her face just inches from his,"to kill you right now...but I need you alive," she mumbled, then ran her tongue down his jaw. Alphonse's breath hitched, and he pushed the woman away. Her eyes darkened.
"How dare you touch me!" the woman spat. "After all the pain you've caused me! How dare you!"
"What do you mean?"
I glanced at Clint, whose face was drooping, eyes lips low and purple. He was feverish in my arms, and I fogotten I was holding him.
"Clint Mustang...the Fuhrer's boy...how adorable," she said, reaching out to stroke his hair, but I flew back, and I heard a clap, and blue lightning surrounded us. Felicity was suddenly in a cage. She giggled for a moment to herself, before she ran her heel into the dirt, drawing a circle, and freeing herself. I swore. She, too, was an alchemist.
"Why don't I clear everything up, before we get into this whole final battle thing, okay?" her voice droned, like this was just another boring passtime, and she was going to be late for her lunch date. I hissed under my breath, but Clint's little hands gripped my shirt. He shouldn't be this lightweight...
"My name, is Felicity," she clarified. She looked between us, as if looking for some recognition in our eyes. Nothing. She cleared her throat. "Perhaps you didn't understand me," she tried. "My name is Felicity. Felicity Kimblee."
Clint stiffened in my arms, and I heard Alphonse gasp.
"What is it?" I whispered to the boy so the woman couldn't hear.
"Kimblee was a state alchemist in the Extermination of Ishval," he whispered. "He got a little worked up, you could say, killing people not on the approved kill list."
I swallowed. "Women and children."
Clint's head twitched, and I accepted it as a nod.
I groaned "Sadists really shouldn't reproduce..."
"After the death of my father, Solf J. Kimblee, the Crimson Lotus Alchemist, my mother never was the same," she sighed, examining her nails. "She killed herself when I was just twelve years old, leaving me to fend for myself. Of course, I got right to the good stuff--revenge. Nine years later, I've gotten what I wanted," she smiled. "Alphonse...Elric...had you not engaged my father in battle, there was a good chance he'd still be alive!" she snarled, and almost threating to bite of Uncle's nose.
"How is Kain involved?" Sarah cried. It didn't shock me this was the main thing that concerned her. She and Kain had this bond from the very beginning. If it had been Maes up there, I wouldn't have been able to focus on anything else.
"Kain...oh, what a wonderful little pawn he is!" Kimblee said, pinching Kain cheek. He hit her, pushing her away. She pouted as she fell on the floor.
"Ooo..." she mumbled quietly. "Kain needed something, just like I needed something...we both wanted revenge, but Kain was more at peace with something I wasn't quite ready for."
Kain stared. "You promised-!"
"You'll get it! Hush!" She growled, slapping the boy. "Kain here wanted Mommy and Daddy dearest back to wipe his snot nose," she said, making baby noises. Kain sneered at her. "So, he brought me you."
Sarah shook her head. "That's...that's impossible...I found him on the street corner. It was accident. He was Ishvalan and I...we just needed..."
"Did you think it was fate, little Elric?" Felicity asked teasingly. Sarah didn't say anything, but stared at the side of Kain's head, who wouldn't look at her. I growled.
"Kain was such a good actor," Felicity, wrapping her arms around him. "And little Sarah, oh, your little kind heart made everything so easy! Tell me, dear girl, did you really think this dirty Ishvalan could have feelings for you?" Felicity laughed, like it was the most rediculous thought that Kain could feel, that anyone could love Sarah. I was boiling, waiting for my top to blow. Maes noticed this, and took Clint from my arms.
"Kain, you did quite an amazing job. Tell me, dear, how did you ever make this stupid girl fall in love with a monster like you?"
Kain tensed. "She's not in love with me. And I don't love her. Just give me my-"
"Look at her!" Felicity and Kain both turned to me, eyes wide. "Look at her, you bastard! Can't you see she's trying to look at you?! If you're going to hurt her, have the gall to look in her in the eye! You bastard! Look at her!"
Kain stared at the ground, hard, as if it might fall out from underneath him.
Sarah's voice quivered, but even I felt it's gravity as she spoke. "Look at me," she commanded, voice light and broken. Kain took a moment, but turned on his heel to face her. His expression was hard, but then he saw those blue eyes. I knew what those blue eyes could do, the wimpering the begging the pleading had all gone on in my childhood. Sarah got everything from using them. But she wasn't doing anything but feeling now, and the raw emotion in them was gut-wrenching. Kain stared, face failing, and I noticed the red rims around his eyes. That bastard had no right to cry over this. If he wanted to feel remorse, he should've told us long ago what was going on.
"I want my payment," Kain said.
Felicity smiled. "Of course," she said. It took her several moments, but soon enough, the stage was set, the circle made, and enough ingridents in the middle for two bodies.
"...Well?" Kain asked, gesturing for her to do it.
Felicity laughed. "Stupid boy, I'm not going to do it, you are!"
He stared daggars. "To hell I am! I couldn't do this myself, that's why I came here! You'll do this and you'll do it now!" he screamed, gripping her lapels. Again, she giggled.
"I'm certainly not going to lose my life," she said,"but we do have a veteran here, and I can't think of a more ironic and degrading way to die for you. Come, Alphonse Elric, you've got more souls to bring back from the truth..." She smiled. Alphonse stared, face distored in horror. I didn't need to ask, to know what he was thinking.
He was remembering the night when two 9 and 10 year old boys put their hands down on a transmutation circle, and neither of them would ever be the same afterward.
To hell I was going to let that happen again. But I couldn't do anything. All of a sudden, it didn't feel like my fight anymore.
Alphonse...you can't do this...


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(SARAH)

"Kain..." Alphonse said solemnly. "It won't work. I'm sorry, but it's not possible. Nothing good comes out of human transmutation."
Kain crossed his arms, looking at the ground. "I..."
"Kain," Theo said, pure rage and dripping from his voice. "It's not possible. Just forget it."
"You don't understand, Theo," Kain mumbled.
"Think what you will, Kain," Alphonse said. "But I will not attempt this."
"Oh, you will," Felicity purred. She pulled a knife out of her black boot and grabbed me by my hair, pulling me away from the rest of the group. "Do it, Alphonse--" she held me tight with one arm and pressed the knife to my neck with the other--"or she dies." Felicity looked over at Kain. "Or you could just call it all off and be on your way. Granted, I would keep the Elrics."
Given the options from Felicity, there was no way to get out of here alive. I tensed in her grasp, but I didn't struggle. There was no point. "Choose whatever you want to, Kain," I said softly to him. "Have Alphonse do your dirty work or leave us for dead. Those are your options. Pick one."
Kain slowly looked up at me. "Sarah..."
"And by the way, Kain," I hissed. "How does it feel to have Travis's blood on your hands?"
The words hung in the air for a moment.
"Was everything you ever said a lie?" I asked, my voice breaking unintentionally.
"No...I--"
"And once you walk out of here, guess what? You will have gained nothing from this! Your parents aren't coming back!"
"I know!!" Kain shouted, dropping to his knees, covering his ears. "I know that now! I knew it all along!"
"Then why did you make a deal with her?! Why did you think you could just throw our lives around however you wanted?! Why--"
"Because! Because the only reason the anti-Ishvalan group even exists is because of the Elrics! When I made the deal, that was all I could think!"
"But you never gave it up. You led us on even after you had become friends with us. Or was that a lie too?" I was fighting tears as hard as I could, afraid that if I cried I would just seem weak, even though Kain looked as fragile as could be. "Why am I even asking?" I laughed. "Of course that was a lie! All of it was! And all so you could make a pointless deal with the whore who directly killed your family--" Felicity sliced my neck with the knife.
"SARAH!!" Theo and Alphonse shouted. They knew that if they came near me, though, it would only make matters worse.
The would wasn't fatal, but that was just her warning.
Felicity grinned and licked the blood off of her knife. "Hmhmhm. How very unfortunate. It seems as though my hand just took on a mind of its own."
"Don't hurt her!" Kain commanded.
Felicity burst into a fit of laughter. "After all of the things you've done to her, you're telling ME not to hurt her? Hahahahaha! And I thought you said you didn't love her."
Kain was silent, staring daggers at Felicity.
"No good response to that, is there? Hahaha!" Felicity giggled. "You know what? Let's see if I can settle your confusion." She released me and gripped her knife in her hand. I ran over to Theo as soon as I was free from her grip.
Before I knew what was happening, she was throwing the knife and Kain had run in front of me and thrown his arms around me, shouting my name.
The knife stuck itself into Kain's back.
"Kain!" I shrieked. He held tight to me, refusing to let go.
"Sarah..." he whispered. "I'm so sorry..."
"What's this? I believe you do love her!" Felicity gasped in faux surprise. "Although I had planned on you confessing your love as she was dying, this works out wonderfully as well."
Kain trembled, then reached behind him and pulled the knife out of his back. He turned around and threw it as hard as he could at Felicity, missing.
She laughed. "Pathetic. I expected more from the son of Scar."
Kain took a shaky breath, stepping towards Felicity. "You won't...hurt the Elrics..." he panted.
Felicity smirked and took something out of her mouth. She held the object out in front of her. It was small, round, and blood-red. I recognized it as a Philosopher's Stone, something I read about in the alchemy book. It had said that Philosopher's Stones could amplify alchemy. "This will be all too fun," she laughed. She put it back in her mouth and clapped her hands together, then held them out towards us. Small explosions went off all around us, making some of the ceiling crumble on top of us. Alphonse transmuted a barrier above us to block it. He then transmuted spikes that flew towards Filicity. She dodged and leaped, avoiding all but one spike, which skimmed across her arm.
Kain ran towards her, in hopes of using his own alchemy on her, but was blown backwards by an explosion from Felicity. He landed beside me and struggled to stand up. As he did, I noticed the back of his shirt was already soaked with blood. Would I lose Kain as well? Did I care? He betrayed us...but then he saved my life...
Theo sat Clint down on the floor by Maes and dashed towards Felicity. He was blown back in the same manner as Kain had been, though he was relatively unharmed.
Felicity's laugh grew louder and more menacing by the second. "I know you're capable of more, Alphonse!" she shouted over the sound of her explosives. I really wished that Maes still had the gloves that enabled her to use flame alchemy.
Alphonse clapped his hands and pressed them to the ground, making a pillar rise out of the floor and knock Felicity off her feet. She stood back up, infuriated, and sent a steady stream of explosives at Alphonse, who transmuted a wall in front of him. She kept up the brutal attack on Alphonse, hitting him repeatedly. "You know, I kidnapped you in attempt to lure Edward here. That's the only reason I kept you alive. But now that I have other bargaining pieces, you're expendable!" she shouted, then turned toward Maes, Clint and the scientists. "As for all of you, I could just kill you right now! But I'll do that as soon as I take care of this thorn in my side." She sent more attacks at Alphonse.
"Stop!!" I screamed.
"Don't think that you're not expendable as well, little girl," Felicity growled, directing a stream of explosives at me.
There was no way I could've drawn out a transmutation circle in time, but Alphonse took care of creating a wall to shield me, right as Kain was doing so with his own body, running in front of me, and the wall.
I didn't see what happened from behind the wall. There was just a flash of light and the sound of Kain screaming. Then Felicity screaming.
I ran around the wall and over to Kain. He had gotten close enough to Felicity beforehand that he was able to use his alchemy on her. She lay lifeless on the floor, Kain falling to the ground a few feet away from her.
"Kain!" I screeched, dropping to my knees beside him. Everyone else followed behind me. "Kain!"
"S-Sarah..." he whispered. There was a gash running diagonally across his face, bleeding profusely. "I'm...sorry... I...never meant to...hurt you..."
I grabbed his hand. "Shh... It's...it's okay... Everything will be okay..." I said, my voice shaking. I couldn't do this again. I couldn't have someone die trying to protect me again. "It'll be okay Kain..."
He shook his head, his white hair getting drenched in blood. "No... I... If dying here would...atone for...the things I've done... I don't mind..."
I squeezed his hand tighter. "No..! I..."
"I never wanted this to happen... But I didn't know what to do... I was foolish... Everything is my fault... And... I always...did...love..." His eyes closed and his muscles relaxed. He was still breathing, though. He was just unconscious.
I swallowed, trying not to cry. "We have to do something...!"
"Sarah...there's no way we could get back to Amestris in time," Theo said solemnly.
"But we have to do something!" I cried. I looked up at Alphonse. "We have to..."
He shook his head. "If he doesn't get proper medical attention soon he won't make it. It would take us at least two days to get back on foot."
Clint whispered something into Maes's ear.
"Oh," she exclaimed. "They have cars around here somewhere, don't they? It wouldn't be too hard to steal one now that their leader is dead."
Well, that was an option.

A/N: I realized that this chapter ending was a little anti climatic, and I apologize, but otherwise it would've been awkward. There are about two chapters left after this, and Demy and I are so sad this is ending. We've been working on a few one-shots revolving around this cast, some going into the future and others are scenes from this story that didn't quite make it in. I will let everyone know when those come out by posting them in a memo here, so don't fret. Thanks again to all the loving reviews we get every week. We love you all so much! Please r and r. I promise a better chapter will be up next week. (And Demy does the epilogue, and she's always amazing, and didn't disappoint.)
By the way, guys, Demy and I were thinking of emailing this fanfiction to Vic Mignogna, Edward Elric's voice actor. She's done a few drawings for this story too (maybe I'll get a link for them if she ever posts some?) and we thought it would be cool to send to his fan address.

Wow, that was a long authors note.

Well guys, hope you all have a safe and happy week, I know this has been the longest week of 2013 yet! Ugh!
See you all soon.
(Another note, sorry) Demy and I have been working on two stories together that are FMA, but we keep getting distracted. One is focused around the time Ed and Al are still on the hunt for their bodies and here's what we've come up with basically:
Emma and Scout Leavey are two sisters, searching for their father who abandoned them after their mother's death. The two young alchemists run into the famous Elric brothers. They each have something the other needs, and the group decides to band together. Scout, being ill-tempered and condescending, while younger sister Emma is sweet, forgiving, yet tough, seem to find a family in the Elric brothers.
Meanwhile, Emma and Scout are harboring a dark secret. Emma has dreams of a beautiful woman, whispering sweet words to her, while Scout hears voices, teasing her with darkness. What is wrong with these girls? And what was wrong with their mother?

Another story we're working on is going along the lines of this:
Meg Giry is a young girl, striving to make it in the hub of Central city. Taking the state alchemist's exam, she finds herself being the first female state alchemist at the age of fifteen. However, her best friend, Demy Nom isn't exactly allowed in the office...Demytra Nom is an alchemist, as well as something that shoudn't exist: and Ishvalan. While everything around them seems to be slipping away, the two girls have to hold onto to one another and solve what's happening: who is attacking Major Giry and the Ishvalan Nom?

This story takes place a few years after Ed and Al get their bodies back. I got the idea for this story after (finally) watching the original series, and wondering what my amestrian counterpart would be like...I think this is more of a brotherhood story, whereas the one with Emma and Scout is more original series with our own rules. We haven't finished either of them, but if you like where one of them is going, leave a comment and I'll get it up here! We aim to please, guys!

Longest. Authors Note. Ever.

Disclaimer: We do not own Fullmetal Alchemist.