To put it mildly, it was a time of conflict. In the times of past leaders, there may have been peace, but there were no past leaders. King Bradley the Wrathful had ruled for many, many lifetimes, his dictatorial reign spanning at least half a millennium; in other words, he had been- and still was- the ruler of Amestris. Until now.
***
"Sir! I would like to request a meeting with Lady Olivier!" A childish, out-of-breath voice demanded.
Sir Stallion sighed dramatically. "What is it now, kid?" he asked blearily. Being someone as important as a Wizard came with great power. It also came with great responsibilities, enjoyable or not. Dealing with loudmouthed subordinates such as the one standing a good foot shorter that he was one of them.
"Just-got back-from-espionage-mission," the young apprentice panted. "Almost got caught by guards-had to run like heck-have bad news."
Another theatrical sigh. "Oh, all right. Would you like me to open the door?" he taunted. "I'm afraid that you might not be able to reach it." Although their location was in a peaceful, hidden grove, there were still cottages that the rebel group had built to serve as offices and such.
"What…did you just…YOU TAKE THAT BACK RIGHT NOW! AND WHO'RE YOU CALLING SHORT ENOUGH TO BE MISTAKEN FOR A MUSHROOM?!" the boy shot back angrily.
"You know full well that I didn't say that. Just go inside," Sir Stallion said, shoving the fuming apprentice inside the main cottage.
Inside, Major General Lady Mira of the Roses, who preferred to be called Lady Olivier, was going over attack tactics with Master Sniper Lady Riza of the Hawk when the young boy appeared. "Oh, here you are, Edward," she said. Please tell me the results of your latest mission."
"Well," he began, all anger gone, "King Bradley seemed to be making a sort of alliance with the land of Drachma up north. He was also talking about strategies of some kind with his head Wizard, the Crimson Wizard. What's with that guy? And why the high and mighty title?"
"Oh yes, Sir Kimblee," Lady Olivier remarked thoughtfully. "He was always a crazy one, even in the days of our military training. Apparently Kimblee became a Wizard after he finished his training, Ed," she added, answering his question. "You see, some people are recognized for having magical abilities. These…'magicians' can enlist in the army if they choose to do so, and after completing the standard training course for everyone in the army, they can study advanced magic and be certified as the Kingdom's Wizards. These Wizards are given research grants and magical rings to enhance their powers, among other benefits. In return, one has to use his (or her) skills on the battlefield when the time arises."
"Is that why Al and I are here?"
"Yes, Edward. You and your brother Alphonse have extraordinary talents for ones as young as you are. By becoming Wizards, your future is financially secured. Any other pair of orphaned kids would be left on the streets, so consider yourselves lucky," Lady Olivier responded sympathetically to the 15-year-old, while glancing at the prosthetic arm and leg that brought back painful memories of the accident that had taken the lives of his parents, and nearly destroyed those of him and his brother. "Of course, becoming a Wizard, let alone a proper Knight would be impossible at this point, seeing as we are going against the government at the present," she chuckled. "Any other news?"
Ed paused for a moment; his face turned pale. "Lady Rockbell, the mechanic who made my arm and leg, has been kidnapped. She is currently being held captive in their Prison #4."
"Ah, yes, Miss Winry," Lady Riza remarked with a grin on her face. "We all know how special she is to you."
"Wait…what?! Y-You don't understand…she's just a childhood friend!" Ed's face was as red as the legendary Philosopher's Stone.
"Well, that surely throws a wrench in our plans," Lady Olivier concluded. "This definitely means that King Bradley is going to wage war against us. Our great Mage, Von Hohenheim, has already tried to negotiate a compromise for a better government with their Mage, but the meeting ended in vain. On top of that, they've captured an important asset to our group –Lady Rockbell- to try and weaken us. I guess we have no choice. We'll have to tell all of our men about this. The enemies are asking for a fight, so let's give them the fight of a lifetime!"
Although their cause was serious, the people in this group weren't always so. Cracking jokes while breaking bread together, the good-natured group, consisting mostly of deserter Knights and Wizards, as well as a few civilians, seemed to always be at ease. Of course, appearances were deceiving; these rebels were some of the strongest people in Amestris. On the other hand, King Bradley's forces led by strength in numbers. Seemingly courteous, his bloodthirsty Knights and Wizards, along with their ruthless leaders, were clearly eager for a fight, and were more than happy to wage war on the rebels. While King Bradley met with his generals and Drachmian allies to discuss attacking plans, Lady Olivier and her forces carefully schemed up stealth tactics. The growing tension was as sharp as a knife; everyone knew that the following days would be the ones to shape history.
Several days later, screams pierced the air. Just two weeks into battle, Edward and Alphonse could hardly see anything on the smoke-covered field they were fighting on. Their team, led by one Sir Stallion, was in charge of eliminating the Kingdom's Wizards, who were led by the Crimson Wizard. Even though they were rebels, they preferred not to kill people, so they had planned to take care of the Wizards by destroying the magic rings that held most of their power. Unfortunately, the Wizards had somehow managed to create an undead army to use as their shields, so it was difficult for the rebels to get within striking range of their opponents. Amidst the fire and flames, the battle-weary Ed and Al were fighting a losing battle against an ambush of undead Knights, when, one by one, they started falling over, finally defeated. When the two boys looked up to see who helped them out, their jaws dropped wide open in shock.
"Winry, is that you?!"
Lady Rockbell grinned at them mischievously. "Of course it is, dummies," she laughed. "Who else would I be? Lady Olivier?"
"B-But I thought you were stuck in a prison cell…" Al stammered.
"It was easy to break out of," she casually replied, pulling a handful of assorted screwdrivers, pliers, and hammers out of nowhere while whacking even more undead Knights on their heads with her infamous wrench. "Mechanics are always prepared for anything."
Suddenly, a huge flame tore across the sky, followed by a thundering explosion. The force of the blows wiped out least one hundred members of the undead forces, but the shrieks of their own men were heard everywhere as more and more bodies fell into the stream. One of these voices sounded very familiar; a certain sniper was screaming, "No, Roy, NO! You can't die yet!"
After a few moments of stunned silence, the threesome turned their attention to the person sprinting towards them. "What is it, Sir Brosh?" Ed asked.
Trying very hard not to cry, the Knight responded, "Sir Stallion and the Crimson Wizard were fighting…Crimson was burned to death, but Sir Mustang…h-he…he was blown up!"
Ed, Al, and Winry froze in shock again. The great and mighty Sir Stallion, the Flame Wizard with the firepower of a phoenix, dead? That was impossible! Almost immediately, a cloaked figure suddenly appeared out of nowhere and placed a comforting hand on Sir Brosh's shoulder. "Don't worry," she reassured them. I just visited the area where they were fighting. Sir Stallion is definitely injured, but there's a really good chance that he'll live. Lady Riza is tending to him at the present.
While this was going on, Lady Olivier and the other Knights, as well as allies from the neighboring country of Xing, were eliminating King Bradley's other Knights through a mixture of hand-to-hand combat, manipulation of the enemy forces, and portable explosives such as hand grenades and flash bombs. However, they were highly outnumbered, and were only able to defeat two of the enemy's teams (the Lust and Gluttony Teams) in a month of fighting. After three months of endless fighting, both sides seemed ready to collapse from exhaustion. One day, the Great Mage Von Hohenheim returned from another meeting with King Bradley's Great Mage. Even though both side had vowed to fight to the death if needed, both the rebels' forces and the King's forces were significantly weakened. So the Mages, who were the 'elders' of each side, were sent to discuss the ruling issues that had helped spark the war in the first place. Usually, the meetings didn't accomplish much, but at least the King knew what the rebels wanted, and vice versa. This time, though, the results of the latest meeting were different.
"Men and women, the King has made a proposal for us," Von Hohenheim announced to the Knights and Wizards whose once-blue uniforms were now stained a brownish violet from all of the bloodshed they had seen. "Apparently, he challenges one of our men to an armorless joust next week, and if we win, then the war is won in our favor. We can finally overthrow Bradley and form the better government that we've been fighting for. However, if we lose, every single one of us will be killed by his army. What do you make of it?" he asked Lady Olivier.
"I say we go for it," she immediately answered, and everyone agreed with her. "But who can we send to fight against the King? Most of our strongest Knights are incapacitated," she questioned, thinking about her own fractured ribs and looking at the beds where Sir Stallion and many other brave knights were still recovering. The people started frantically wondering who would be the best-suited to fight, and after a while, a young voice spoke out, "I'll do it."
"But Brother, it's too dangerous! Alphonse protested. "What of you get even more hurt than you are now? And what…what if you…" he trailed off, refusing to think of the possibility that his older brother would get killed in battle.
"I'm perfectly fine now, Al," Ed replied, ignoring the numerous scars scattered all along himself. "And don't worry. If I die, you'll just have to take care of everyone when I'm gone," he added, glancing at Winry.
"B-But…fine then. Do what you want. Just make sure you come back alive!"
Several days later, King Bradley silently wondered who the rebels would pit against him on that day. Crossing the bridge that lead to the crimson field where the joust would be, he was surprised to see who his opponent would be. Were they really that desperate? "Well, who do we have here?" he smiled.
"I'm Ed-" the boy began.
"This, King Bradley, is one of our newest Wizards," interrupted Lady Olivier, who had come to watch the match. "He has come to fight against you for the right to change the government. Call him…Sir Elric, the Fullmetal Wizard."
Lady Olivier watched the battle of sorts unfold. Edward, with his gleaming gold eyes and hair reminded her of the light, while King Bradley was like the dark, dressed in black with a menacing eyepatch to match. This age-old clash between good and evil, or sun and shadow, was slightly changed this time; Edward had magically transformed his prosthetic metal arm into a blade sprouting from his arm and the King seemed to be wielding five swords at once. As the match dragged on, none of the fighters were giving up, even though both of them were coated in their own blood, wounds widely opened like fish gasping for air. This was no longer a mere joust; it was quickly turning into a desperate fight to the death.
The jousters prepared themselves for another joust. Starting off their horses slowly, they quickly progressed into a trot, then into an all-out gallop. As they ran into each other, Edward's prosthetic arm was dislocated by a few well-placed swords, but right before it snapped off completely, he was able to shove its blade into the king's heart. King Bradley let out an involuntary shudder; blood shot out of him like some grotesque gushing fountain, staining the already-crimson field an even deeper shade of red. All signs of in his already dead-looking eye vanished. As the King fell, so did his corrupted government.
***
"Sir! I would like to request a meeting with Queen Olivier!" A somewhat-childish voice demanded.
"You really don't know anything, do you, Fullmetal? Well, I guess it can't be helped, with you living out in the country and all," Sir Stallion replied smugly. "A few months ago, our beloved Ice Queen decided to retire. She said something about building a fort in the Briggs Mountain Range to the north so she could keep an eye on Drachma to make sure that it doesn't attack us. So she chose me as her successor. You can call me King Stallion now."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Edward cut him off before he could fit a 'short joke' into his monologue. "Just tell her I said hi, and that Winry's found a way to make prosthetics that function especially well in colder climates, like where she's living. Oh, and if you're King What's-his-face now, then Lady Riza would be Queen Riza now, right?"
"That's true. Even though she's technically not a Knight anymore, she still manages to make home seem like training camp all over again."
"Something tells me that she'd make a better ruler than you would."
"I'm sorry, what did you say? I couldn't hear your wee little voice."
"HEY! WHO'RE YOU CALLING SO SMALL THAT HE COULD BE CONSIDERED A MUNCHKIN! I'LL MAKE YOU PAY FOR THAT!"
--
Okay, I know, I pretty much failed here. Or won. Actually, one of my friends called it a 'WailFin' (fail/win). This was for English homework, so there were weird words that had to be used in the story (it explains all the medievalness)…try to find them. If you do, you can help yourself to my cookie jar. (The chocolate chip ones are good!)
wizard
grave
stallion
stream
roses
bread
smoke
bridge
sword
field
courteous
shield
ring
compromise
joust
violet
crimson
gold
hawk
phoenix