Ed came falling out of the blue portal, landing face-down in a forest clearing surrounded by small cliffs. He groaned, standing up and dusting himself off, then checked that he still had Mei's pendant.
Just as he was getting his bearings he heard a high-pitched voice yell: "A human! Let's get him!"
Ed whipped around. Three strange creatures came out of the nearby woods and took up positions around him. They were humanoid, and small, only about waist-high with Ed, with blue skin, huge bald heads, and pointy ears. They were wearing clothes, but didn't seem to have any weapons on them.
"Hey, wait a minute, I didn't do anything!" Ed said.
The strange imps ignored him, though, as one of them ran up and tried to kick him. It was easy enough to dodge; Ed had been sparring with his brother for years.
"Well, if that's how it's gonna be..." Ed said, returning the kick with one of his own and sending the imp flying.
It quickly got to its feet, and one of the others attacked at the same time. Ed dodged it, clapped his hands together, and touched the ground, using alchemy to pull the earth beneath the imps up, launching them back into the forest. Craters were left around the raised portions, where the material had been moved from.
"Magic? From a human?!" one of them said.
"Let's get out of here!" said another.
They all scrambled back into the woods.
"What the... Magic? Alchemy's not magic," Ed said. "Oh well, I'd better get going.
A nearby path took him to a small canyon with a river at the bottom. There was a rope bridge spanning a particularly narrow part, and on the other side were two more blue imps, kicking a large green ball back and forth. A moment later, Ed realized that it wasn't a ball, but another creature, as it had eyes and pointed ears.
"Weird..." he said. He crossed the bridge and walked around the creatures, which ignored him to continue their game.
When he came out of the forest, he saw a town in the distance. Oddly enough, while it was smaller, it looked a lot like Truce, the town where he'd appeared. Even the coastline was roughly the same shape. There was no fair, however, and though he was quite far away, Ed thought that the people seemed a lot less jovial in general than they had on the other side of the portal.
When he reached the town, he intercepted a passing townsman. "Hey, where is this?" he asked.
"Huh? You lost or something?" the man asked.
"Yeah, something like that," Ed said.
"Well, this is Truce, it's in the kingdom of Guardia," said the man. "You need anything else?"
"I'm looking for a little girl. She's got a strange-looking pet and a weird hairstyle."
"I haven't heard anything about that, but I'd check the inn if I were you. Tons of gossip goes through there." He pointed toward the center of town. "It's down that way. Can't miss it."
"Thanks," Ed said.
He went in the direction the man had pointed and soon found a large building with a sign hanging over the door that read "Truce Inn." He entered.
Inside, there was a counter with a woman behind it, as well as a bar with a man behind it. A fireplace was burning, but there was another fire behind the bar with a large cauldron full of soup on top, which seemed redundant to Ed. A staircase near the counter led up to—presumably—the beds. Along with two other men, one older and one younger, there were three soldiers dressed in metal half-plate armor. In general, everything seemed a lot more archaic than it had before, where there had been refrigerators and running water.
Ed approached one of the soldiers, who was standing by the fireplace. "Excuse me, but is this really Truce?" he asked.
"Of course it is! What kind of half-witted question is that?" the soldier responded.
"Alright, sorry, geez," Ed said. "But what about the fair?"
"Fair? Have you gone mad?" said the older man at the bar. "This is no time for mirth and mummery!"
"That's right," said the soldier. "Our kingdom wages war with the fiendlord's army day and night, fighting to restore the realm's peace. Why on Earth would we be holding a fair?"
"For the thousandth anniversary of the kingdom's founding?" Ed said, confused.
"A thousand years?" said the other man. "Now I'm really sure you're mad. The year is 600!"
"I- Alright, sorry to bother you," Ed said. The whole inn was staring at him by this point. He was about to leave, when he heard another voice.
"You an outsider too?" said a man who was just entering the bar. He had a rough, dirty look, with brown hair and a mustache, an orange vest, and a green headband. "Hey, I'm an explorer. The name's Toma," he said, stepping towards Ed. "Were the patrons giving you a hard time?"
"I guess," said Ed. "I'm Edward, by the way, but I go by Ed."
"Nice to meet you, Ed. Have a seat with me."
"Alright..." Ed said. They sat at the end of the bar.
"A round for me, please!" Toma said to the bartender. After his drink was delivered, he turned to Ed. "So, what's troubling you, kid?"
"I'm looking for a little girl, actually," Ed said. "I think she might have come this way."
"Well, I might know something about that, if you're willing to buy the next round," Toma said.
"Uh, I don't have any money," Ed said.
Before Toma could reply, the soldier sitting beside Ed interjected. "Hey, don't let him trick you into that. They found a little girl in Truce Canyon not long ago while looking for the queen."
"The queen?" Ed asked.
The soldier gave him a look of amusement. "You really are new here, huh? The queen's been missing for some time now. It's all the king can think about. He's dispatched soldiers to the four corners of the world to search for her, but to no avail. Anyways, I'm fairly certain your little girl is at the castle right now."
"Thanks," said Ed.
"You know, I could tell you something about the queen, too," Toma said, now addressing the soldier. "If you'll buy a round, that is?"
The soldier looked baffled. "You know something about where the queen might be, and you thought to come here, rather than tell the king himself?"
Toma's eyes widened. "You're right! I bet I could get far more than one round if I did that!" He bolted up out of his chair and raced out the door.
Ed and the rest of the inn watched him go in silence.
"Well, I guess he really does have a hunch about the queen if he thinks he'll be rewarded," said the soldier. "Maybe this can all be over soon."
Ed stood up. "I'd better get going too," he said.
"Right," said the soldier. "Good luck finding that girl."
Ed caught up to Toma on the way to the castle. When they entered, there were two guards flanking a staircase, while a hallway extended to the right and left.
"Halt! Who goes there?" said the one to their left.
"I'm an explorer," Toma said. "I think I have a lead on where the queen might be. I need to see the king immediately!"
"Really?" said the guard. He looked to the other guard, who nodded. "Alright, come with me." He turned around and led Toma up the stairs and through a door, presumably to the throne room.
"What about you?" the other guard asked Ed. "You with him?"
"No, I'm looking for a little girl," Ed answered. "I heard from a soldier in Truce that she's here.
"Ah, yes, she said someone might be coming for her," the guard said. He pointed down the hall to the left. "Go down the stairs at the end of that hallway, she should be there."
"Thanks," said Ed.
Mei had been placed in a spare bed in the knights' quarters of Guardia Castle after she was found. She didn't understand why they were suddenly taking care of her, when before they had tried to catch her, nor did she understand why everything looked so much more primitive. She'd been fed and cared for, but she still didn't quite trust the soldiers, who always seemed to be so on edge. So, when one of them came into the quarters and said "Mei Chang, is that you?" she nervously backed away from him. Xiao Mei started growling.
"How do you know my full name?" Mei asked as he approached.
"Oh, right. Sorry," the soldier said. He took off his helmet.
"Ling Yao!?" Mei shouted, jumping to her feet, drawing one of her kunai, and brandishing it defensively.
The man stepped back, putting his hands up. Ling Yao, one of the Xingese emperor's sons, and 12th in line, was from a rival clan to Mei's. He had black hair worn in a low ponytail and wore a short, wide, curved sword, but was dressed the same as the other soldiers. "Hey, we're not even close to Xing, you think I want to hurt you at a time like this?" he said. "I was just glad to find someone in the same situation as me."
"And why is a prince serving as a soldier in another nation's army?" Mei asked, still skeptical.
"Isn't it obvious?" Ling said. "I show up in a completely foreign country, all alone, with no knowledge of how to get back. Under the circumstances, I'd take employment over my pride any day."
"I guess so..." Mei said, relaxing somewhat.
Just then, Ed walked through the door. "Mei! I found you!"
"Edward!" Mei said.
"Huh? Who's this?" Ling asked.
Ed waved as he approached. "I guess you could say I'm a friend of Mei's. I've been looking for her."
"Edward, what happened? Why is everything suddenly so different?"
"Well, I don't have everything figured out yet, but for some reason, that pendant you had reacted strangely to your alkahestry, and my alchemy too, which opened that blue gateway. When we went through, it took us 400 years into the past."
"What?" Ling interjected.
Ed looked him over. "Don't worry about it, you probably wouldn't understand anyways."
"Wait," said Mei. "This is Ling Yao, he's from Xing too."
"Yeah, I'm only in the army until I can figure out how to get home," said Ling.
"Oh, really?" Ed said. "Well, I'm Edward Elric. I'm a state alchemist from Amestris."
"Nice to meet you, Edward," Ling said. "So, you're an alchemist, huh? Do you know anything about the philosopher's stone?"
"As a matter of fact, I've been looking into it for quite some time, but the damn thing's so elusive I'm starting to think it doesn't even exist," Ed answered. "You trying to impress the emperor too?"
Ling briefly looked at Mei, who glared at him. "Yeah, that's exactly it. Say, you guys sound like you know at least a little bit about what's going on, do you think—"
A man in gold armor burst into the room. "Ling, we've got a new lead on the queen! We're going to Manolia Cathedral, come on!"
"You got it, boss!" Ling said, suddenly more cheerful. He turned back to Ed and Mei. "Would you two mind waiting for me? We can continue this conversation later."
"Actually, I need to meet back up with someone, but I can come back as soon as possible," Ed said.
Ling frowned. "Well, alright, then. I'll be waiting," he said, then turned to meet with the gold-armored man.
"You're lucky you fight so well, Ling, otherwise we wouldn't put up with you," Ed heard the man say as they left.
"Well, that's that, I guess," Ed said. "Let's go find the colonel, Mei."
"Okay," Mei said, finally putting her knife away.
Manolia Cathedral was a large, ornate building. There were rows of pews on either side of a central walkway, where three nuns dressed in blue and white were sitting in prayer. At the end of the room, there was an altar in front of a stained glass window, and an organ beside it, with another nun playing a somber tune on it.
Ling and the other soldiers followed the commander inside. "Alright, men, spread out and look for anything strange. I'll talk to the nuns," the commander said.
While the other soldiers started inspecting furniture and walls, Ling took a more relaxed approach, scanning the room as he strolled down the pews.
"What's the matter, good sir?" he heard one of the nuns saying to the commander.
"We're looking for the queen. Have you noticed anything amiss here?" the commander said.
"Not at all, sir. All of us here are devout in our prayers." The nun giggled, which struck Ling as odd.
"Well, I hope you don't mind our looking around."
"Of course not, sir."
Ling reached the end of the room, before the altar. He took in the art and architecture for a moment, then he noticed something on the steps surrounding the altar. Curious, he knelt and picked it up. It was a hairpin, and it seemed to be made of coral. On one side, the royal crest of Guardia was carved.
The commander approached. "I guess that Toma guy was wrong after all," he said.
Without even looking at him, Ling handed over the hairpin.
"Oh, you found—this is her majesty's hairpin!" said the commander.
Just at that moment, one of the soldiers behind them screamed. They turned to see the soldier dead with his throat slashed. One of the nuns was standing over his dead body in the form of a monstrous-looking woman with the bottom half of a snake. A magical blue light surrounded the other three as they revealed themselves to be the same.
"Damn it! Form up, men!" the commander said.
The remaining three soldiers drew their weapons as they rushed to where Ling and the commander were standing. Together, the five of them formed a circle, leaving their backs protected.
The four monsters slithered over, surrounding the men. They seemed ravenous and bloodthirsty, hissing as their long tongues stuck out, and their hair was pink, bound high ponytails that seemed to defy gravity.
For a little bit, the battle was balanced. Occasionally, one of the monsters would lash out with her claws, but the soldiers would drive them off with their weapons. However, when one of them looked into the eyes of one of the soldiers, flitting her tongue and moving in a hypnotic way, the man started moving lethargically.
"Hey, Elias! What are you doing?" the commander shouted.
"Sir, I can't—" the man started to say, but another of the monsters moved forward and scratched at him. He tried to raise his blade, but was too slow, as she slit his throat. He fell to the ground, dead.
"Don't look into their eyes!" Ling yelled. When one of the monsters attacked him, he lunged forward and cut her in half across her torso. The others hissed. "More where that came from," Ling said.
"Yah!" the commander bellowed, rushing forward and swinging his golden mace into the head of another, knocking her to the ground. He leapt back as one of the others tried to seize the opening.
"Two more," Ling said.
Ling and the commander crept forward, backed up by the other two soldiers. The monster in front of Ling tried to hypnotize him, but he averted his eyes, blindly rushing forward and impaling her on his sword. At his side, the commander finished the last one off.
"To think they'd infiltrated us so deeply," said the commander. "We've got to find the queen quickly."
Suddenly, a blue light flashed behind him, and another snake-woman appeared.
"Look out!" Ling shouted as she lunged forward, claws out. Just before she reached the commander, he zipped past, cutting both her arms off in one swing. He then turned around and decapitated her.
"I sure am glad we found you, Ling," the commander said. "Anyway, as I was saying, we need to hurry and find the queen. There must be a secret passage somewhere."
The soldiers split up again, and it didn't take long for one of them to smash the stained-glass window at the back of the room, revealing a hallway beyond. The hidden section of the building was much larger, and as the soldiers explored, they had to fight through more fiends, though now that their guard was up, there were no more casualties.
Soon, they found a door which was surrounded by spikes jutting up from the floor. A skull-shaped button on the wall nearby caused them to retract. They opened the door into a small room with an altar and two soldiers of Guardia.
"Y-you're humans?" One of the soldiers asked.
"The army! We're saved!" said the other.
"What happened to you?" the commander asked.
"We were captured when we came to pray," said the first. "They've hidden the queen in the back. You have to save her!"
"Leave it to us, soldier," said the commander. "Just get yourselves to safety."
"Thank you, sir," the soldiers said, rushing out the door.
They navigated through the rest of the cathedral until they reached a room where a raised walkway met a lone door on the opposite wall. There were two snake-women and four burly, yellow-skinned fiends in blue helmets and tunics guarding the walkway. After defeating them, the soldiers burst through the door, finding a room much like the chapel, but with no pews or organ. Two chests sat on either side of the altar. Queen Leene was standing in front of the altar, still wearing her white dress, with her blonde hair in a large, fancy knot behind her head. Behind the altar sat the chancellor, a short old man with a long white beard, who wore a red headdress and robes, and carried a short staff with a red stone on the end.
"Prepare yourself, Queen Leene. It is time you bid farewell to this world," the Chancellor said.
"Stop right there, traitor!" The commander shouted, sprinting toward the queen. Ling and the other two soldiers followed.
"You!" the chancellor said. "How did you get in here?"
"Commander!" Leene said.
"Stand back, your highness. We'll deal with him," the commander said.
Leene ran behind the men. "Be careful!" she said, before moving to the other side of the room.
The chancellor stood up from his chair. "There's no use in fighting!" he said, laughing. "None of you will leave this place alive!"
"We'll see about that," Ling said, brandishing his blade.
The chancellor stepped around the altar into the middle of the room. "Enough of this chancellor charade," he said. A blue light surrounded him as he changed shape into a massive monster. It was scaly and yellow, with a round back, which had two circular holes in it, and four sets of three claws each, but with no legs to speak of. Its face was humanoid, but with large, pointed teeth and horns. It was standing up straight, but when it got down to the ground the claws on each side of its body lined up, and it used them to crawl around like an insect.
"Yakra! I should have known we weren't rid of you!" the commander said.
"Gah ha ha!" Yakra laughed. "Come to your deaths, puny humans!"
Before the soldiers could even approach, the holes on Yakra's back extended, and two giant needles shot out at one of them. The man dove aside, but then Yakra scuttled forward and bit him in his sword arm. The man screamed as Yakra shook his head back and forth, trying to tear the arm off. Before he could, though, the other soldier came to his rescue, aiming at Yakra's eye with a hard thrust. Yakra let go and jumped back. The soldier swung at him, but his sword didn't cut through Yakra's scales.
"If we can't cut him, I'll smash him!" the commander shouted. He raised his mace and ran forward, intending to swing it into Yakra's face, but Yakra opened his mouth and spat an iron ball out at him like a cannon, striking him square in the chest, bending his armor, and knocking him across the room.
"Damn!" Ling shouted. Yakra rushed him next, and he leapt away from a bite, swinging, but with no effect. He quickly placed his back to the other soldier. "We'll either have to stab him against the flow of his scales, or otherwise hit him together with enough force to pierce them," he said. "You've got a straighter blade. Think you can get him if I distract him?"
The soldier nodded.
"Alright, good. Go!" Ling said. He dashed straight at Yakra, swinging and dodging wildly, while the other man flaked him. Just when Yakra noticed the other soldier behind him, the man thrust his blade into his side, sinking it almost to the hilt.
Yakra screeched, spinning around to face the man, who let go of his sword, leaving it in the monster's side. Ling used the opening to thrust his own sword into the other side, though it didn't go in as far due to its shape.
Yakra retreated a short distance, screeching again and preparing to launch more needles. Ling bolted around him, grabbing hold of the other man's sword and yanking it free, tearing a huge gash in Yakra's side. When Yakra spun to face him, roaring in anger, he plunged the sword into the roof of his mouth, straight through his brain. Yakra tried to jump forward and tackle him, but Ling dodged, and Yakra went limp.
Both men stood before the corpse panting for a moment, before Ling rushed to the side of the man who'd been bitten. "Check on the commander!" he told the other soldier, who nodded and ran to where he was lying.
The injured man had lost a lot of blood, and Ling didn't know if he'd survive. He cut a strip of cloth from the man's pants and bound the wound as tightly as he could.
"The commander should be alright, his armor absorbed most of the attack," the other man said, approaching. "That was incredible, Ling. I've never seen anyone fight like that."
"Thanks," Ling said, finishing the knot on the strip of cloth. "We'd better get back to the castle quickly.
The queen approached. "Thank you men for rescuing me," she said. "But, where's Frog? I was sure he would come."