Soul Calibur: Darkness Across Time Chapter II
"Edward... your request has been denied" said a small man, his eyes cold and without emotion. At the end of a large conference table, a blond haired boy slammed his fist into the large Cherry Wood table, causing it to chip. The man sat motionless, his chin resting on folded hands. The teenage boy that sat at the opposite end of the table clenched his teeth tightly, as the metallic sound of gears grinding emitted from his arm and leg. Standing up and slamming both hands onto the table, his yellow eyes met with the dark colored eyes of the man at the other end.
"What do you mean, denied! Don't you understand, damn it! If we lose this lead, we could lose track of the remaining homunculi, Mustang!" the boy retorted. Sitting still, the man spoke again.
"Edward... sending you out of Central may not be good for you. Yes, the Furor is on the loose, and yes, you have your own personal grudges, but I cannot allow you to go off on your own! Not without backup.." Mustang said, interrupted by Edward's outburst.
"I don't need any backup! I'll go on my own! Al and I can..." Edward tried to continue, before being cut off and silenced by Mustang.
"Get obliterated by the remaining homunculi. Edward, if you lose your brother Al, what will you do? How will you return him to his normal body when he is DEAD, Edward!" Mustang snapped. Edward sat in the large oak chair in silence, his eyes looking towards the floor. Clutching his right arm, he felt the grooves of the bolts that held it together. Edward felt the rage of not being able to extract revenge coming over him. Standing slowly, he mumbled just loudly enough for Mustang to hear.
"I'm going... I have to do this." Stepping towards the large wooden doors, and placing his hand on the silver colored doorknob, he looked at Mustang once, and opened the large door with a creak. Placing his left foot out of the doorway, an echoing sound caused him to stop in his tracks. Turning slowly, he looked at Mustang- who stood with his right arm outstretched, his fingers in a snapping position. The blue jacket that Mustang wore stood in contrast to the velvet and blood red colored room, as he looked unnerving at Edward.
"You wouldn't..." Edward called. Mustang's face never changed.
"You don't think that I will? Edward... if you're going to go, you might as well be prepared for what's to come." With a snap of his gloved hand, a large explosion pushed the doors off of their hinges, and knocked Edward into the white painted walls outside of the room. Several other State Alchemists stood and stared in awe. Edward struggled to hold his head up, as he looked at Mustang, standing over him with his hand directly on Edward's forehead. Sweating, Edward looked up to Mustang.
"Please... I have to go..." he whispered. Mustang, usually cold, gave a warm smile.
"If you're going to go, go then." he smiled. As did Edward. Standing and running out of the main building, Edward ran to meet his brother Al.
Edward Elric used to be a State Alchemist who lived by the rules of Equivalent Exchange- 'To obtain something, something of equal value must be lost; thus is the law of Equivalent Exchange.'. But events that led up to now caused him to think and act differently- he left his State Alchemist position behind to follow his own destiny and settle he and his brother's business. Edward lost his left leg and right arm in horrifying experience- and his younger brother Al, lost his entire body, forced to have his soul encased within a large steel suit of armor. At a young age, Ed and Al's mother died of sickness- and being aspiring alchemists, they sought to resurrect her. To resurrect someone is forbidden- yet the boys tried. On a dark night, they drew their transmutation circle, and began the process. At first, all seemed to be well, but something went wrong- instead of their mother, a strange, deformed beast sat in a puddle in the middle of the circle, as his arm and leg, along with his brother's body, melted away. Thus is the law of Equivalent Exchange.
Standing outside of the train station, on his way home, Edward fumbled with a piece of paper in his pocket. It was nothing more than a game of tic-tac-toe that he and his brother had played a while back. Suddenly, a noise caused Edward to place his hands on the ground, and with a blue flash, a large spike of ground rushed behind large trees that stood in the distance.
"Who's there! Who's spying on me!" he yelled. No one answered... but in return, a large man bearing a strange looking scythe stepped from the shadows. The man looked to be of African American descent- with a piercing golden eye. His clothes were strange- a hood, similar to the grim reapers, but in a totally different color- a pale beige. Edward looked at the man with a mean glare.
"Are you Edward Elric, the Full Metal Alchemist?" the cloaked man asked. Edward, reluctant to answer, chose to respond.
"And if I was? Who wants to know?" he responded. Smiling, the man shifted his bodily position to that of a fighting stance. His scythe shimmered in the setting sunlight, as the train rushed pass.
"I wanted to know..." he answered. Edward turned his head to the right, seeing the train roll by. Turning back towards the large man with the scythe, Edward quickly transmuted his auto mail arm into the form of a sword, in just enough time to defend against the large man's silent attack. The scraping sound of steel caused Edward to flinch, as he leapt backward and clapped his hands. Slamming his hands onto the ground, the steel from the railroad tracks began to twist and wind, and was sent coiling like a snake towards the man. Leaping with a twisting motion, the man landed on one knee, his scythe still in arms, as large chunks of steel landed on the ground. Going to clap again, Edward's motions were cut off by a hot stinging sensation across his face- the man was so swift- and made a large cut going down the right side of his face. Holding his face, Edward stepped back a few steps, as the man with the scythe stood slowly.
"What do you want..." Edward questioned. The man with the scythe gave himself a proper introduction.
"My name is Zasalamel... and I have come here for you, Edward. I have information on something that you have quested for..." he told. Edward was slightly untrusting, yet intrigued by the man's gestures.
"What is it that you know about?" Edward asked. The man's answer caused Edward's interests to peak.
"The Philosopher's Stone." Zasalamel responded. "You were in search of that item not too long ago, and it was rumored that your brother was turned into the stone. All I can say is, you were wrong... your brother is simply a small piece of Nightmare's energy."
"Who is Nightmare, and how do you know all of these things about my brother and I?" Edward questioned. Zasalamel continued on.
"Nightmare is the most powerful being in existence right now. I know all of these things because I am cursed to live forever- therefore, I learn all things through time." he said.
"What does this Nightmare person have to do with the Philosopher's Stone? We gave up looking for that a long time ago. It was made from the countless sacrifices of innocent human lives. Though it could be used for power, it was unstable. My brother and I vanquished it from existence." Edward commented.
"What you vanquished was nothing but a pseudo-edge." Zasalamel laughed. Edward was far from warm on his laughter.
"Pseudo-Edge?" Edward asked.
"Yes. A false piece of Soul Edge, the weapon beared by Nightmare." he said, the wind blowing his cloak into the western direction.
"Nightmare... the Azure Knight, Nightmare? I thought he was nothing more than a myth...there are small tidbits of information on him in the library in Central, but they are so old and outdated, I thought nothing of it. Strange deaths were reported in the thousands, but..." Edward proclaimed. Shaking his head, Zasalamel interrupted.
"Nightmare lives. And to be honest, he is weakened. Those books that you read in the library were the ones that I've written over time. Outdated, they are not. They are simply old predictions of the future that I've published. Over time, Nightmare's will power was weakened by his human side, and his Soul Edge was shattered into several fragments. Though he has restored many of them, several pieces still lay scattered across the land. Soul Edge has the power to destroy anything in it's path, and though the cause may be worthy, everything still ends in chaos and discord. What you've been searching for is actually a steel fragment of Soul Edge... meaning that Nightmare's weakened shard is..."
"The Philosopher's Stone..." Edward finished Zasalamel's sentence. "I have a question. If the fragments of Soul Edge are as powerful as they are, how much stronger is the completed Soul Edge?" Zasalamel could sense that Edward wanted to seek out Soul Edge's power, so he pulled him in deeper.
"Much more powerful than you could ever imagine, Edward. It could even...resurrect your mother..." Zasalamel whispered. Taking his hand out of a pocket, he revealed a small fragment of pulsating steel. A fragment of Soul Edge? Placing it on Edward's mechanical arm, the fragment melded with its steel components. The power surged through him, as his eyes pulsated red once, then back to yellow. Edward looked towards Zasalamel, lost in his Golden Eye. Forgetting about his brother, choosing to leave him behind to stay out of danger, Edward asked another question.
"Where do I have to go to find Soul Edge?"
Smiling, Zasalamel had accomplished his job.
"Allow me to fill you in..."