A note before I continue: Though this takes place during the epilogue of FMA, there have been a couple of changes, which will continue to be seen throughout this fanfic.
And before I forget, I do not own FMA, though I dearly wish I did...
The sun was at it's peak on an unusually humid day in Xing. Usually, most would not be outside on a day like this, but there was a spectacle on the outskirts of the desert border. Many Xingese merchants and citizens crowded around together, speaking amongst themselves as they stood above three unconscious bodies.
Their voices were blurred to the boy on the ground as he began to wipe his eyes with his hands, able to hear gasps of shock from the people. He looked at them with his golden eyes and tried to stand up. A shock of pain spread through his body as he eventually gave in to just sitting. Maybe if he hadn't been travelling through the desert for three months, this would not be such a painful ordeal.
He looked at his two companions, both still noticeably fatigued as they slept like logs on the open street. By this time, most of the people had left, some because they had lives, and others because they were scared that the golden-eyed boy was a zombie. This he was not.
He nudged both of his companions, trying to arouse them from their slumber, eventually able to get the two to awake.
"Alphonse, isn't it a bit early to be waking us up like that?" Zampano asked. He still looked the same since the war. His glasses covered the tiredness in his eyes as he tried to stand up.
Next to him, another man let out a big yawn as he looked blankly at the two. He looked at his surroundings, but was too tired to show shock at his current location. "Why are we in the middle of the street?"
"Don't ask me. When I woke up, there was a giant load of Xingese people crowding around us. It'd be an educated guess to believe that they thought we were dead," Alphonse answered. His voice had lowered during their journey, but not too noticeably. He had gotten slightly tanner from his desert journey and seemed to have grown a couple inches in height.
"Man, I wonder what these Xingese people are made of, being able to cross the desert like it's nothing," Jerso asked as the three were now standing up. Like Zampano, his appearance was still much similar to that before the desert journey.
"Don't worry. We won't be here long. All we're doing is going to greet Ling, congratulate him on become Emperor, and staying with Mei for a few days. After that, we'll head back," Al summarized.
"Wait, we're going back so soon? I don't want to go back in there ever again! I was running for my life from the sandstorms we encountered," Zapano exclaimed in fear.
"I'm sorry, but I promised Winry that I'd come home soon. Brother also made his way west for a bit and he'll be back home soon. Anyways, let's get something to eat. Otherwise, I think my stomach will start to eat itself! After that, let's try to find Mei," Al suggested, beginning to walk before his companions realized it. Though he didn't want to admit it out loud, he really wanted to see her. It was great to be with his brother and all in his new body, but he was still missing a warm feeling inside him, and he knew where he could find it.
Once they realized the golden-haired boy begin to walk, they scurried towards him and walked at his sides. "Are you sure we should be trying to find her? This is a big country. What are the odds of us finding her?" Jerso asked as they continued to walk.
"Don't worry. We'll find her," he smiled smugly as they arrived at a certain Amestrian restaurant. "Hey, let's eat here."
He stood in his room, looking through his closet of clothing. Though he didn't have many different sets of clothes, he felt the need to at least dress reasonably decent.
To say he was extremely nervous was a HUGE understatement.
To be personally asked to be seen by the Emperor of Xing was one of the biggest honors for any Xingese citizen, even for family. His head was spinning, wondering how he was going to speak to the Emperor, the man he had always aspired to be.
He was tired of looking at the same pair of clothes for the past 3 hours and decided to lay on his bed. He looked up towards the ceiling, losing his thoughts in the blandness of the white paint.
"Young Master, it is time to depart," his servant said, kneeling behind the door to his room.
"You can come in, Lan Fan," he said, sounding like he wasn't even going to get out.
"But Young Master, it is would be very unfitting for a lowly servant like me to-"
"Come in, Lan Fan!" a faint hint of impatience lingering in his voice. His servant looked to the left and right before cautiously opening the door to her master's room.
White walls surrounded the room. There wasn't too much inside his room except for swords hung on the wall and a futon on the ground with a closet to the side. There were a couple of plants on a table along with a picture surrounded with a golden frame.
It was a picture of him, his sister, his mom and herself years ago, before she was even eligible to be a servant for the clan. This made her slightly blush, but Ling didn't seem to notice.
"You should get dressed, Young Master. It is already time to depart," she suggested. But he just continued to lay on his bed, staring upward. Though she would never say it out loud, this slightly irritated her as she silently pouted to herself.
Eventually, he got up and began walking towards the door, motioning his servant to come follow him. Confused, she just decided to tag along. They walked through the house past all the intricate rooms and valuable antiques until they made it to the exit, where they were greeted by Ling's mother and sister.
"Ling, you call that getting dressed up? You're not going to eat a noodle shack down the street. You're going to see the Emperor of Xing! THE EMPEROR OF XING!" she yelled in his face. He was wearing the outfit he used when he had assimilated with Greed and he had grown accustomed to it.
But he knew she was right. He needed to dress more properly, especially since it was to go see the Emperor of Xing. But he was too lazy to go back and change, plus the fact that he didn't have good clothes because of his absence. So he just found it reasonable to just stick to his current outfit.
"Also, the guard is waiting at the gate. And don't worry, we'll take care of the Chang girl for you," Sayaka smiled cheerfully. Ling gave her a wave as the two walked towards the entrance. He took a look back towards his mother, who was looking away gloomily. He couldn't see her face due to his angle, but he quickly turned his head away, guilt filling his mind.
They eventually made their way to the gate, where a man clad in black with a black-striped mask of a dragon awaited them. The symbol of the Royal Guard, the Peony Flower, was visible on the man's shoulders and on a black bandanna above his mask. He bowed before the prince, who would signal him to stand. To Ling's surprise, the servant was even taller than he thought, but didn't show his apparent shock.
"Lead the way," Ling said, the two speedily making their way away from the Yao Clan premises.
The restaurant was filled with the sounds of two voracious chimeras chomping down on whatever was remaining of what they had ordered (three orders of everything). Alphonse was sitting behind them, nervously smiling as the two continued to eat to their hearts content. Luckily, his brother had lent him a credit card linking to his bank account, so he didn't have to worry about the cost of it all.
By now, the few customers who were even eating at the place watched in slight awe and disgust at the two men as they showed little to no etiquette, slovenly stuffing food in their mouths.
"Ah, I'm stuffed!" Zampano yelled, getting up and beginning to walk.
"Where do you think you're going?" he heard a loud, cranky voice yell at him from across the room. He looked over to see a stout man with gray hair and glasses glaring at him.
"Sheesh, I'm just going to the toilet," walking away, feeling slightly irritated at the stoutly man staring at him.
Alphonse looked over at the man questioningly. He turned to his right to talk to a passing customer and asked, "Hey, do you know why that man is so irritated?"
"Oh, I heard that yesterday, there were three travelers who came by. They ordered three orders of everything on the menu, and sneaked out before the owner noticed. He was extremely upset about it and was about to go on a fit. But he calmed down slightly when he saw a business card and a note, which said, 'Send the bill to this guy'," the man answered.
I feel sorry for the poor sap who has to pay for those guys... Al thought to himself. He looked over to see Zampano out of the bathroom and Jerzo still standing at the table.
"Alright, time to head out!" Al exclaimed, heading towards the door.
"AHEM!"
"Not without paying," he added, making his way to the cash register at the front. "Make this out to Edward Elric, former State Alchemist..."
"And here's the estate," the guard said, showing them a large, tan building with a sparkling ruby rooftop. Even for Ling, this was quite the building as he couldn't help but express his awe for the building.
"Wow, this is the palace?"
When the guard looked towards where they were looking, he blinked his eyes and looked one more time and said, "Oh, my apologies. I pointed you in the wrong direction. This is the guard's quarters," Ling's jaw immediately dropping to the floor. "Here, let me show you to the palace. But a bit of a warning: it is quite humongous."
Saying it was humongous was a HUGE understatement.
Off in the distance behind to the side of the guard's quarters was a palace surrounded with a large garden. The garden alone was larger than the guard's quarters. From what they could see, there were many different flower species all gathered together in large, bouquet-like patches. There was a wooden bridge across a large koi pond, though there weren't too many koi fish.
The palace itself was built with what looked like solid gold and even the foundation and pillars were built with fancy marble and rubies respectively.
As Ling was slowly taking in the surroundings, he didn't notice that both the guard and Lan Fan were already up the vast stairway towards the palace entrance.
Not surprisingly, the inside of the palace was as, if not more, magnificent than outside. Intricate, decorative patterns of symbols and characters filled the rugs and wallpaper. Many of the world's rarest pieces of art, a quantity that would take years to find, was laid upon pillars of white marble.
Each room flowed with another and made the palace seem like one giant room with doorways, though that was what a house was.
Ling was looking around in awe, until his attention was caught by the guard. "Hey," turning towards the prince. "What's your name?"
"My name is of no importance to a Prince of Xing. I am but a lowly servant," the guard answered, a hint of sorrow hidden in his words. Ling looked towards him, and then to his own servant. She was currently masked as well, it being a custom for servants to always be masked inside the Royal Palace. He didn't reply.
They eventually made it to the door leading towards the palace. The door was decorated with golden crests of dragons and lions. Rubies glowed from the door. The guard slowly backed away from the door. The sound of a mask dropping could be heard by the two, giving them a glance at the left side of his face.
Burns scarred his face to the point that they could not be healed. But they couldn't get a closer look as his mask was picked up from the ground and put back on his face before making his way out of the waiting hall.
As Ling was thinking about the mysterious servant, he almost didn't notice the opening of the throne room. But Lan Fan quickly grabbed his attention and pulled him down to bow.
Sitting on the throne was a plump old man dressed in regal clothing. There was an aura around him that could be felt from the end of the room. But to Lan Fan, the aura seemed ominous, yet strangely, and horrifyingly familiar.
"Come forward," the Emperor called loudly in a deep, authoritative tone, the two making their way closer to the throne until the were only a few feet away from him. "From what I have heard, you have gotten your hands on something relating to immortality?"
"Yes, Your Excellency. During our time in Amestris, we have got our hands on a Philosopher's Stone, an stone that gave birth to immortal creatures called hommunculi."
"Hmm, sounds interesting. Show me this "stone"," Ling pulling it out from under his shirt. The red stone glistened in the artificial light of the throne room, and the Emperor's eyes grew large with excitement... and desire.
"Good work, Prince of Yao. I will now award you with what you want: the throne," he announced, shocking the two tremendously.
"Wait, Your Excellency. Isn't it too soon for me to inherit the throne?"
"Nonsense, young prince. Being emperor is too much work, and I'd like to pass it on to someone who seems like they can pull off the job, and I think that's you, Prince of Yao," he announced, holding out a sapphire scepter. "Lan Fan, if you don't mind, please step away."
Lan Fan looked suspiciously at the emperor. From what she had heard from her grandfather, the emperor was extremely strict and would never give away his throne to anyone in his lifetime. So why was he giving it to Ling without any hesitance? And most of all, how in the world did the emperor know her name? She slowly stepped away, but made sure she was close enough to react to any trouble.
Ling, on the other hand, immediately became ecstatic. His heart started pounding excitingly. All the pains, all the sufferings, all the sacrifices and all the mourning finally becoming worthwhile. His goal was imminent. There was nothing that could his glory away from him. The chance to become emperor was just a grasp away. All he had to do was grab the scepter, and...
But he never grabbed it.
He looked down to see a blade thrust into his chest, blood slowly dripping from the wound and seething into the carpet. He looked at the emperor with a look of disbelief. The emperor was grinning. But it wasn't any grin. It was that grin. The grin he had loathed his entire life, and knew he shouldn't have seen it ever again. But here he was, looking straight at the emperor, tricked into letting his guard down and stabbed by a sword, and faced with a grin that made his blood boil with hatred.
And in a voice all too familiar to them, he said in a creaky, deep and sinister tone, "It's been a long time, Squinty Eyes."
Ling stared at the throne of his country, shocked see the man he despised most sitting where he belonged. "...you! You were supposed to be executed by our father!" but he saw blood gush from his gut and soon fell to the ground.
I'm very grateful to those of you who have read this fanfic, and especially to a writer of fics, yourlifeinwords, and aki-child for reviewing! A big thanks also to the others who favorited and subscribed! Hope to see more of those as the story progresses! :D
