Ok we left off with Kerissa taking Al's helmet off and Ed in a fierce battle with Mayor Radford. Okay? Story start now!
Ed's point of view Ed dodged the incoming red blast from Radford's right hand. One after another he relentlessly threw them at him. Edward didn't even have time to attack. Just wait for an opening he thought to himself One will come up just wait for it. Ed dodged a few more red blasts. Moving from side to side. Until...one caught him. His right leg was hit sharply. Ed fell to the ground and heard a blood curtling 'crack'. Radford stop for a second to observe the damage he had just caused. This is it! Ed thought to himself. And despite the pain, he got up and clapped his hands together sending a huge array of small stone spikes at Radford. His hand quickly shot up producing a stone wall that protected him. The spikes bounces off harmlessly. Then he laughed. A terrible overwhelming laugh that filled the entire colosseum. "Pitiful alchemist!" he said his voice echoing through out the room , "Is that your best?". He made Ed's blood boil. He wanted to hit him. Send some of his teeth flying across the room. But Ed couldn't he was to far away and protecting himself well. "Why do you insist on running?" he asked "You will only make your death more painful". "Why do you hide from a fight like a coward!" Ed retorted back. With this, Ed clapped his hands together again and sent a huge spike directly for his head (he had put down his stone wall between). It almost hit, but then...something broke into it. The spike shattered as a creature stopped it with it's own body. The creature skidded on the ground and stood facing Ed, it's teeth bared. It looked to be lion ,but no, it couldn't be, it was made of stone. "What the hell?" Ed asked himself staring at the thing waiting for it to make it's move. "Ah. I see you've met my secret weapon." Radford said with a wicked smile. "What...is...it?" Ed asked transmuting his right arm into a blade. "It is but merely a statue forged from stone that has been given life". "So it's alive?" Ed asked getting ready to fight as the thing drew nearer. "To an extent." Radford said. Ed was going to ask him what that meant but it was to late, the stoned lion jumped, it's teeth blaring right for Edward. Ed hit it with his arm blade and it's front right leg went skidding across the floor. "That was it?" Ed asked looking at the thing lay limply on it's side. "That was your secret weapon?" Ed asked almost laughing. "Dear child. Do you really believe that I only have one?" he asked. Ed looked around. In every direction, Ed could see a stone creature rise up from the ground. "Give up now alchemist and maybe you wont meet the same fate as your friend!" Radford said. Friend? "What did you do!" Ed yelled at him. He smiled "I had my maid send an axe through the armored one's shoulder. Tough armor but not tough enough for my medieval axe, he should be bleeding to death by now.". Ed sat there for a second. The beasts remained motionless , waiting for their master's command. Then he smiled. "What are you smiling for?" asked Radford. "What you did. Or more , what you think", Ed looked up at him ,"See. My brother doesn't go down that easily.". Radford stared and then said "So he's your brother? That changes everything". "It changes what?" Ed asked him stalling him as he plotted his next attack. "You see. Now I don't have to hold back" ,he said in a strange way that reminded Ed of the serial killer that once tried to cut up Winrey , "You see. I have no compassion for brothers...in fact I killed mine...I believe his name was David". The name sounded familiar, then it clicked. Could his brother have been ,David Calncy ,the previous mayor of Icara ? But they had different last names..."David Clancy?" Ed asked. Radford nodded 'yes'. "But your names. They're.." "Different?" Radford said cutting him off. "Yeah." Ed said. "Stupid boy. Don't you think people would have gotten suspicious if his own brother took over after his death? Especially if they knew my history...as Clarince Clany the Living Stone Alchemist." Radford asked. So he was a state alchemist? That explains the beasts...but how could he? Ed thought. Ed stood in silence for a second. "But how...how could you?...He...was ...your brother" he asked him. "He had to be removed." ,said Radford showing no compassion for his late brother ,"If he had stayed, I wouldn't have gotten to pursue my ambition...to find the Philosopher's Stone". Ed was shocked. He wanted to ask him 'why' but Radford motioned his hand and three beasts charged straight forward. Ed tried to fight them of but it was difficult seeing as he had been caught off guard. One of them got the better of him. It had it's paws digging into his torso, through the pain Ed managed to clap his hands together and blast the beast into pieces. Another lunged in it's place. Radford had plenty in his reserve seeing as he could forge them from stone and the entire mansion was made of it. I have to crush that stone of his! Ed thought to himself. He waited for another opening...which was harder this time due to the addition of the beasts. Soon though after much running , dodging and retaliating, Ed saw one. He shot one long spike at Radford. It hit the necklace spot on making the red jewel break into pieces. "Ha! Can't do much with out that can, you?" Ed yelled at him. He looked at him with shock at first but then his mouth curled into a smile. He reached into his pocket and produced a large handful of similar jewels. Damn! I'll never be able to smash all of those! Ed thought. Radford motioned for another beast to strike , he fended it off. Several more came at him. And then one very fast beast got past him and struck...perfect hit.
Al's point of view Al sat alone for what seemed like a very long time. All through his metal skull questions raced..and so did unhappy answers. Where..where did she go? Was she scared?...of course she was..your a bodyless suit of armor..who wouldn't be? What will I do? Where's Ed? Did she go to find him? What if she left forever? And she seemed to really like me to...no girl ever has..not like that. These questions and more filled his mind so much he almost forgot to place his head back on his shoulders. She had dropped it. When she saw...she had dropped it and ran..he didn't see the look on her face because his eyes were down at floor level ,looking at her feet racing away. I'm...I'm a freak he thought to himself I wish Ed were here... I wish Kerissa was here...so that I could...explain?. Al didn't even know if it was possible to explain...explain what he...how he...why he's like this. Al sadly placed his head on his shoulders with his left arm...his right one had been to badly damaged to move. A few seconds after returning his head to it's rightful place, he saw something. A faint blue glow was emitting from his right shoulder."Huh?" Al said as he looked over. He saw Kerissa, she had her hands on his shoulder, over a transmutation circle...she was mending you. "Kerissa! You came back...you came back? Why?" Al asked puzzled. "To help you", she said looking at you smiling, "I couldn't just leave you here like this!". "But I thought...weren't you" "Scared?" she said finishing his sentence. "Yeah" he said. "Well, I was a bit at first...and kinda disappointed..but then I saw your seal". "My seal?" Al asked. She nodded yes. "So you know..what it means?" he asked her. "Yes." she answered. "But how? How could you know..it's not in any books you could get...it" "Shhh" she cut him off placing her finger over his mouth or what was supposed to be his mouth. "Al. That's not important right now...what is, is finding out were your brother is and helping him." she said getting up. "Right.", Al said getting up, "Um where do we go?". She looked at him like this 00. "Um...I don't know." she said nervously. "Uh..." he said into the silence. But it wasn't silent for long. Suddenly the mansion shook violently and several books came off their shelves. It was like an earthquake, just it seemed to be coming from above them ."What was that?" Kerissa asked. "I don't know but I bet it's my brother." Al said. "Ok. That's a start.", she said , "Lets try to figure out where that came from!". She dashed out of the room , Al followed her , she was very fast. "Wait, Kerissa! I have to ask you one more question before we find Ed." Al said to her making her stop. "What is it?" she asked. "You never told me why..what made you want to come back really."Al said to her. She gave him a sad gaze for a second but then her eyes softened. "Al, I like you...I really do...that's why." she said. Al was surprised by her answer and a little happy. Al was right about her liking him. "Um, ok." ,he said breaking an awkward silence , "Let's go find Ed.". And the two of them took off down the dark hallway.
Two years ago - Icara "Brother, what's wrong?" asked a tall balding man standing in a door way to a man sitting in an armchair. The one in the chair looked younger than the one asking the question and still had all his hair. But his eyes were so wrinkled with worry that his age could have been mistaken for many more years than it really was. "I was just thinking, Clarince" he replied in a serious but kind way. "You seem to be doing a lot of heavy thinking lately." said Clarince walking over to him and sitting down in an armchair next to him. The man was sitting looking out through a large glass window that surveyed the town below. They were in a dark musty room that was completely royal red. A lone desk sat behind them and a door was at the far end. "Yes. I have been doing a lot of thinking" ,the man admitted , " but I don't know if I have been thinking the right things.". "Your talking about Ishbal aren't you, brother?" asked Clarince. "Yes." the man said resting his chin on his laced fingers. "David..." began Clarince but the man apparently named David cut him off. "Do you remember when we were kids? Wasn't it all so much simpler then?" he asked. "I suppose." Clarince said eyeing his brother. "What I wouldn't give to go back to that.", said David, "Escape all this pain and difficulty..I should have refused the draft...I should have let them call me what they wanted.". "It's too late for that now, brother" said Clarince. "I know.", said David, "Clarince , don't make the same mistake I did...I know your in the military but whatever you do don't go into politics..it's not worth it.". "Oh. But it is..." said Clarince rising from his chair. "What?" asked David surprised. "I've been thinking about it for years..planning almost, I will go into politics and be better than you." said Clarince a dark look in his eyes. "What are you talking about?" asked David. He had become uneasy and was shifting in his chair. "For too long I have lived in your shadow but.." ,Clarince looked at a clock on the wall and smiled, "no longer will I have to.". "Clarince, brother, what are you saying?" asked David frightened. Then a scream from the town below and a loud blasting noise filled the air. The glass window shattered. Clarince protected himself well from the shattered glass. But David couldn't, a bullet had hit him right in the heart and with his final breaths he turned to his brother for help. But all he heard Clarince say was "Goodbye, little brother".
(Ok well to all of those completely clueless out there that was Radford's last conversation with his little brother before he had him assassinated for political power.)
Back to Kerissa's point of view Kerissa and Al walked along for a little while hearing booms and crashes from above. They became louder as they decended the hallway. "We must be getting close." Kerissa said as a particularly loud crash sounded above them. "I hope he's ok." said Al . "Yeah me, too." Kerissa said looking worried. She had never really liked Ed that much but she didn't want him to get killed...how would he get her to Central then? Also somewhere deep with in her, she had...feelings..feelings that say "Ed...dying...not good...make Kerissa sad". "Kerissa, what's that?" asked Al pointing to a dark room to their left. The door to the room was open and they could see a small glare from inside that glinted with the candle that was in a holder next to the door. "I don't...I don't know." she said . She was suddenly drawn into this room , forgetting about Ed, she walked in with the candle . Al followed as she lit a torch in the room (the entire lower mansion is several hundreds of years old. So old in fact that putting in electric lights in was impossible so you still need candles and torches to see down there.) that filled the room with light. They looked around to see what had produced that glare. It was nothing more but a simple wind-up clock..but next to it..next to it was something very interesting. It was a book titled "The Book of the Blind". Kerissa picked it up and read through bits of it. The book featured pages on something called the Philosopher's Stone and sick ways to imitate it. Strangely enough, the pages that were on how to make these imitations were ripped out. Kerissa tucked the book into her handbag she had brought with them when she came back to help Al. "What is it, Kerissa?" he asked. "Nothing." she lied as another and much more earth shattering noise came from above. Kerissa looked up. "Al?", she asked, "Can you lift me up?". "What?" he asked. "To reach the ceiling...I have an idea" she answered.(That was short!)
Ed's point of view Ed ducked behind one of the several stone pillars as the beasts tore through the colosseum. Apparently they had no sense of smell (duh) and were purely going were Radford sent them. He hadn't seen him but it wouldn't take long for him to spot him. Ed leaned against the wall gasping for air. His leg was bleeding severely now, he kept trying to stop the bleeding but it was hopeless. He didn't have much in the way of a good tourniquet. I can't take much more of this he thought Where's Kerissa and Al? . He looked back out , it seemed Radford had figured out where he went because several of the beasts were drawing closer to his hiding place. Dammit...I'll never hold them off... he thought. Then, Ed saw something..strange emerge from behind them. It looked like a stone periscope. Radford seemed as surprised as he was to see it. "Edward!" a familiar voice boomed out of it , it was Kerissa , "Are you in this room! We've checked everywhere ,Ed!". Ed smiled. Radford was still confused...he hadn't seen Kerissa, so he didn't understand who it was. Ed ran out into the middle of the colosseum. "Kerissa! I'm here!" he yelled as loud as he could "Radford is at the far end of the room to the East! Hurry!" . Ed had to quickly dart out of the way of an incoming stone beast as Radford tried to stop him from telling his position. His leg cracked again and he screamed. Ed knew Kerissa had heard this right away because she yelled again through the periscope (Of which since there's no glass it's used as more of a megaphone). "Ed? Are you ok! We'll be right on it! Just hang in there!" she screamed. Ed knew now that for them to attack, he had to distract Radford. Ed gave it all he got. Sending huge swarms of spikes at him over and over as he dodged incoming beasts. Hurry up Kerissa my leg won't last much longer he thought as he sent a huge array of spikes at Radford , who had been caught rather off guard at this sudden array of attacks. Then it happened. A blue glow surrounded Radford and giant stone bars shot out of the ground in a cage formation. Then they all sealed at a roof on top of the bars. Radford was trapped. Ed looked ,watching Radford freak out. Then, Ed dropped to the ground. It was getting too hard to stand.Finally it's over he thought. But, it wasn't over. Ed heard from the platform Radford send out his terrible laugh once more.
Edward looked up at Radford who was laughing. "Shut up!" , he said annoyed , "I caught you so just sit there and stop laughing". "Caught me?" , he asked , "Dear child. Do you not remember my previous profession?". The bars that surrounded him began to shake and quiver. The roof to the cage turned into a bird that flew away and the bars into snakes that slithered back into the ground. "I control stone and you are surrounded by it." , said Radford. He laughed. Ed sat there for a second in dispar but he suddenly got an idea. Ed clapped his hands together and made a periscope downwards into the room he thought Kerissa and Al were in. "Kerissa? Al? Can you hear me?" he asked. Nothing...at first. But then he heard the rushing of footsteps and Kerissa's voice "Ed is that you? Did it work?" she asked. "No. But I think I know what will. Al take Kerissa outside and draw a transmutation circle on the wall for transmuting earth. Wait ten seconds and then activate it, ok?". "Right" he heard Al say and he could hear both of them run off to an exit. Ed was about to stand up when one of the beasts caught him. He had almost forgotten about them...not a good thing to do. It pinned him to the ground ripping at every inch of him. Several others were also beginning to take part in it's fun. Ed laid there taking the pain and waiting. He counted in his head. 1 ,2 3, 4, 5, 6 , 7 ,8 , 9 ,...10!. Ed clapped his hands together and placed them on the ground. His timing was perfect just then Al and Kerissa had activated their transmutation circle. The entire building glowed blue and large blue cracks began to form on the walls and floor. "W-What are you doing!" Radford screamed. "You need stone to transmute right? Well I'm taking it away from you!" Ed screamed over the shaking and crumbling of the mansion. He began to see it change..from stone to dirt...after all it was only granite to begin with. The building started to fall into pieces and then the entire building collapsed on top of him. And from Kerissa and Al's point of view it was gone.