The Price of Life [Fullmetal Alchemist]

Chapter Fifty Eight

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With Major Armstrong's alchemy the group ascends to the front of the Command Center, where all hell has come loose by Father's hand.

"What's happening, Roy?" Sonia asks quietly to her older brother, holding onto the torn sleeve of his navy military jacket. When he looks down at her, he can't keep the wave of pity for her at bay. Her injuries look even worse in the daylight's sun. Her tattered clothes blow in the wind. Fingerprint bruises line the inside of her elbows, and the cuts through both of her palms from the Fuhrer's swords are still fresh and tender. Blood covers random parts of her body and face, and he absentmindedly wonders if it's others' or her own. He looks into her eyes, but all he receives back is a blank stare.

She tugs on the jacket like an impatient child. "Please, tell me. I want to know."

He looks to the fighting ground, but the scene is suddenly covered by kicked up dust. He coughs and covers his mouth. Sonia and Hawkeye involuntarily do the same. The lieutenant is looking towards the source of the smoke, but Mustang sets his eyesight to what's left. He looks up, then gasps in disbelief.

"Central Command...! Half of it's been blown away."

"What's going on?!" Sonia repeats.

"The smoke won't clear!"

But a scream can be heard from the thick dust in the air, and suddenly Hohenheim is sent skidding on the pavement. He stops at the three's feet, having just been blown away by one of Father's powerful blasts. The two adults go to his aid immediately to get him back up on his feet, but Sonia is preoccupied with the sound of Ed's voice when he yells for the man.

"Hohenheim!"

Without thinking, she runs towards the sound of him. She knows his qi like the back of her bloodied hand and follows him, yelling, "Ed! Where are you?!" She coughs once more as the dust gets in her lungs, but she can feel it dying down in the air around her. She can also feel Father a few feet away from Edward, so she yells his name again, but is cut off with a halt. The smoke is settling back down, and the view of Father is clear again. The homunculus has his arm in front of him with a closing fist.

Fullmetal feels his throat clenching tight until he's unable to get any air out of his lungs. Looking from left to right he sees Teacher and Sonia fighting for breath just the same, their hands wrapped around their own necks, trying to tear away hands that aren't there. Father laughs, his whole hand tight in a grip.

Sonia can feel herself losing herself in this breathless struggle. She's drifting farther away from everything... She's about to let go... Then a shot rings out in the distance. Moments later, she doubles over, suddenly able to suck in air. She hears Father gasp and stumble over in surprise by the bullet that hit him, but she's too focused on breathing to get up and run.

Military men give out orders to their subordinates, and more shots are fired towards Father. The girl is scrambling to get away in case of a misfire or deflection, and she finds a raised bed of shrubs to hide behind. Edward quickly runs towards her once he's caught his own breath and hoists her up with his metal and flesh hands.

"Hey! Let's get you out of here!" he directs, slinging one of her arms around his shoulder. She takes hold of the space between his neck and his shoulder, right where his flesh and metal meet. He's not wearing his coat anymore she notices, and wonders how bad his injuries are. She knows no one has yet to be spared of pain in this fight but is worried for his physical state in particular.

It's almost as if Edward reads her mind because he pulls her closer as they run. He whispers a few words to her, but Sonia can't hear them clearly over the roaring bullets and cannons and shouts coming from the battlefield they're running away from. Ed looks back at the scene to see Father deflecting the attacks with some sort of red alchemic shield encompassed around his body. Some Briggs men come to Hohenheim and Izumi's aid, which he's grateful for.