Hello everyone! How's it goin'! I'm just a sittin' here on my bedroom floor typin' up some chapters and listening to Country music! W00t! …yes…I like Country music, though not all of it…most of it I like, 'Boondox' by Little Big Town is one of the ones I like! Ok this has nothing to do with anything…I'm rambling…which I do a lot…
Chapter Nine: The Verdict (Part two)
The trial was coming to an end, what those priests put Edward through just to get to this point was an ordeal in itself. They asked him questions, then questioned his answers making him second guess himself. His darker half was starting to get frustrated and rather irked. When they where done questioning him they moved on to 'examining' the murder weapon.
Priest Seto untied Eds' right arm and held it up for the Pharaoh to see. Ed, the dark half, took this opportunity to take advantage of this sudden 'freedom' and goaded Ed into trying to pull his arm away. This only resulted in Priest Seto pulling back on his arm just as forcefully and dislocating it.
"You see my Lord! He's prone to violence and he killed two men with this monstrosity of an arm." Priest Seto announced.
--
Alphonse and Winry, who had managed to move closer, watched anxiously. Winry noticed that the way Priest Seto was holding Eds' arm and how Ed was kneeling on the ground didn't match up right. She frowned and said to Al,
"That guy dislocated Eds' arm, there's no way his auto-mail should be in that position. That jerk…"
"We can't really do anything now you know…remember, brother said we shouldn't interfere. Besides, he said he had a plain." Al answered.
"True…but I wish I could do something."
"Me too Winry, but all we can do now is wait."
--
Priest Seto let go of Eds' arm, which fell useless at his side, seeing this Ed snapped,
"You dislocated my shoulder!" his expression changed from shocked to very angry "You just love to get on my nerves don't you priest! You're lucky I can't use my right arm now or I'd take that damn 'Millennium' rod of yours and shove it…"
Ed interrupted himself "Shut up! You're making it worse!"
The Pharaoh held up his hand to get everybody's attention, he then stood and asked,
"What about his Ka? Is there a possibility that it had an influence on his actions?"
Priest Seto smirked, sense he was already aware that Ed had a demon Ka this would definitely work in his favor. He pointed to one of the other priests, one with a tattoo on his forehead. The tattooed priest walked forward and took out a gold key, Edward frowned. Ed could tell that key was another one of these Millennium Items, and from his last 'few' encounters with them he's always the one to get the short end.
"With the Millennium Key, I look into this boy's heart." The priest said holding up the key, Eds' eyes widened slightly. It felt like someone was trying to see into his mind, see his thoughts.
"What do you see Priest Shada?" Priest Seto asked, he already knew the answer. Priest Shada glared at Ed for a moment then replied,
"I see a shadow of evil…an evil Ka dwells in this boy's heart."
"Heh, in that case," Priest Seto turned to the Pharaoh "Great Pharaoh! I ask that we move straight to the judgement, it is quite clear that this…boy…has a demon Ka and should be dealt with accordingly."
The Pharaoh sighed a slightly disappointed sigh and nodded saying,
"So be it…"
Priest Seto smirked again, he then motioned to some guards to lift up something from the ground. It was a large stone slab, at least seven or eight feet tall. He then turned and faced another one of the priests, this one had a fake eye made of gold, another Millennium Item.
"Priest Akhenaden, this is where you step in." Priest Seto said. Priest Akhenaden nodded and said,
"I will use the Millennium Eye to reveal the true form of this boy's Ka." His eye flashed slightly. This time Ed doubled over, it felt like something was constricting him, squeezing the life out of him.
"Aarg!"
Marie the Fallen One suddenly appeared, she flapped her feathered, ash colored wings hovering just above the ground, she was looking down at Ed with a worried expression.
Al and Winry saw this, Winry was a bit confused but Al had a shocked look on his face,
"That's her! The one from the Gate!" he gasped.
"What?" Winry turned and looked at him questioningly.
"When we where going through the Gate, remember, that one monster thing attacked brother and she appeared. She was fighting off the other monster so that we all could get away." Al answered.
"Oh…I missed that." Winry frowned.
"I get it! She shows up whenever Ed's in trouble! So if she's here that means she's going to help brother escape! That must have been his plan." Al smiled. That's when Priest Seto held up the Millennium Rod and said,
"Evil Ka! Dark spirit of chaos! Begone—and enter the holy stone!" the Millennium Rod flashed and Marie the Fallen One started to disappear. It was like she was fading away piece by piece and was reappearing on the stone slab. Ed turned slightly so that he could see what was happening, it made his chest hurt and a rather unpleasant chill was running up and down his spine. He gasped slightly when he saw that last bit of her fade away and reappear on the stone slab.
"W…what the…" Ed was trembling now, he wasn't sure why but he suddenly felt very cold. The Red Water marks that had started moving up his back had finally engulfed the Ouroboros and turned it a jet black.
"Why did you do that?" he then asked.
"Consider yourself lucky that's all we did…for now," Priest Akhenaden said, "You will be sentenced to four years of hard labor." He then added. Ed glared, he then looked at the stone slab that now had an etching of Marie the Fallen One on it and said,
"Don't think this changes anything…you may have trapped one 'evil' soul…but now you have to deal with me."
"Is that so? Hmph, Edward…such a strange name…" Priest Seto sneered.
"Edward? No…no, no, no…I'm not Edward…"
"Tch, then who are you?" Seto scoffed, he'd seen prisoners lose their sanity before but this was when they'd spent long periods of time in hard labor and the dungeon.
"As the old saying goes… 'Pride…goith before destruction.' Heh…heh…heheheheh…ha, ha, ha!" Ed just laughed, a disturbingly sadistic laugh, as the guards got him to his feet and led him back to his cell. He'd be kept there until they found a job for him.
--
Alphonses' knees had buckled and he was sitting on the ground his hands resting on the ground in front of him. He was staring blankly at the, now empty, spot where his brother was. Winry knelt down next to him and said,
"Al...I've got a bad feeling about this."
"I…but…h…how?" Al could hardly speak, he was still trying to process what just happened.
"Did you see it too? The Ouroboros had turned jet black…it was much darker and more visible then normal." Winry muttered.
"That's…that's because now… 'He's' in control." Al said sadly.
"The darker Ed huh? Well, he did seem not as cruel last time…I mean from when you two had described him to me last time."
"That's because he has all his memories, but that still doesn't mean he isn't capable of doing the same thing in this state. I remember that laugh…that look…it's not something anyone can forget. Besides, he just had something very important taken away from him, his arm was busted, he was forced to second guess himself, not to mention last night…I'm sure every bit of his pride and in some cases dignity was taken away." Al groaned and slumped forward so his forehead was pressed to the sand, he put his hands over his head and was muttering something that Winry couldn't hear.
"What is it Al? What's the matter?" she asked. He sat up for a moment, brushing the sand of his forehead and saying,
"This is kind of like what happened…back in feudal Japan…my brothers' darker half is out for revenge. You see Winry, even though technically they are the same person, my brother and his darker half are also opposites. So even though he's upset no doubt Ed would probably not seek revenge…just…a way to get back at the person that hurt him. Now his darker half would kill that person on the spot without hesitation."
"Hey! You guys! That didn't go so well for your brother I see." Mana came running up to them with a smile on her face. Al was still sitting on the ground but Winry stood up and said,
"Hello Mana…"
"Hey, hard labor isn't as bad as it sounds…it's better then execution." Mana said trying to cheer them up, but she failed.
"Things are getting more and more complicated." Al muttered.
"Hey! Why don't you two stay with me and my master!" Mana suddenly said "Will that make things less complicated?"
"Master? You're not a slave are you?" Winry asked.
"No, I'm going to be a powerful magician one day, just like my teacher!" Mana smiled proudly "He's High Priest Mahaado, barer of the Millennium Ring. He's really nice and I'm sure he'd be willing to give you two a room in the palace."
Alphonse stood up and said,
"Thank you Mana, that would be very nice." Winry looked at him, he had a very blank look on his face, she may not have been there in feudal Japan when Eds' darker half first appeared and Al had to deal with him. But just by the look he had when he saw the darker half laugh was proof enough to say that it was no easy task dealing with him.
"Great!" Mana smiled and she led them up some stares that lead to the Priests living area. Alphonse was thinking the whole way, he figured the only way to understand these Millennium Items was to talk to a person who dealt with them. He had a feeling they where somehow linked to darker Ed losing it.
-To Be Continued-
Mwahahahahaha! Yup! Still listening to Country! Anywhozles, I hope you all liked this chapter! Dun, dun, dun! What will happen next? Who knows! Dark Ed has mentally flown the coop, regular Ed hasn't the slightest clue what just happened, Alphonse is so darn adorable! (Ga! Randomness!). Review! Tell me what you think! Oh and a few of the things the priests say, I got from the manga and altered slightly so those aren't mine! Just wanted ta say that!