鋼の錬金術師 (FullMetal Alchemist)
Chapter 2 The Empire's Font
Ling walked them to the palace. He and Ran Fan wer hugged all the time, pretty much like Ed and Winry.
Once they reached the gates, Ling knocked twice.
"Who is there?". A voice shouted from the other side.
"You're fired for not gazing through the little hole we put up last week, now open this gate and leave!". Ling shouted.
The giant gate cracked open, and started moving back. A soldier, with a magnificent Jade suit of armor came out, and saluted Ling. He took the armor off, let it on the floor, and ran away from the palace.
"How do you do that! I wanna learn!" Envy said, enthusiastically.
"Oh, you just have to be born a prince, that's all!". Ran Fan said, lauhging.
"Yeah, yeah… It's your fault, Hohen!". Envy yelled at him.
Ling made them walk into the palace.
It was as beautiful in the inside as it was in the outside, and even more. The floors were made of shining wood. The main walls were very thick, and looked resistant. There were many weapons haniging.
The ceiling was high up. Some big paper lamps shined softly over their heads. There were many paper walls, that divided the place into lot's of tiny rooms, and became a gigantic paper labrynth.
Ling took them through the place, opening and closing many doors. Gluttony was about to eat his way through, but Lust stopped him.
"It'll be impossible to digest all of this paper". She said.
After ten minutes walking, they arrived at another door. It was also guarded, and it looked just like the entrance.
"Are we going out already!". Winry said, dissappointed.
"Aw, come on! That was just the entrance hall!". Ling answered.
He pushed the door open, and they entered a giant garden. There were many smaller houses and manors in it. It was full with bamboo canes, and other plants from other countries.
"This is where the sevirtude leaves. The Imperial Town. The bigger houses are for the high ranked workers".
"This is so beautiful!". Al said.
"Yeah, watch your step. It's not only filled with plants. There are some animals in there". Ran Fan told him.
They descended a long stair, and walked through a stone road that crossed the garden. The garden was divided in four by this road, wich was shaped like a cross.
They reached the center, where Ling stopped to talk to them. Envy couldn't believe his eyes, and neither could Ed.
"This is the Imperial Font (everything in here is imperial). The dragon that surrounds it was shaped to show that it was eating its own tail, symbol of eternal life, for the Yao Dinasty. The font was transmuted in Amestris many years before it was even called that". Ling explained.
"This… This is…". Edward said, as he jumped over the dragon, and looked at the floor. He walked up to the font, and started checking the magnificent tower. It had some markings… Just like those Scar had in his arm. Ed looked at the bottom of the font, under the water, and saw many markings and symbols.
"It's a transmutation cirlce".
He went past the dragon again.
"A transmutation circle? Like the one Kimbley used?".
"Not just like that one… Different… I'm not pretty sure what it is for".
"That dragon… It's me…" Envy said, lowering his head.
His eyes darkened, and he walked towards the statue. He passed his hand over the craved scales, and surrounded the dragon, until he reached the place where the tail and the mouth were joined.
Everyone was in silence.
"Let's move on". He said darkly.
o0o
The passed the garden, and entered into the palace through another door. This room was a lot like the other one, only it had no paper walls. There were only some decorations, a giant table in the center, another gate to the left, and and one more ghate to the right. In front of them, as Ling said, was the last door. He called it the main door.
They went to the door of the left. After crossing the room, Ling opened the door, and showed them in.
This was a taller room than the others. It was one of the towers they had seen from the outside. The ceiling couldn't be seen due to the highness of it. Inside the room, covering the walls, were many symbols. Giant symbols with different meanings.
Ed and Al's attention was drawn to a giant Flamel's cross, which was the symbol they had drawn in their coats
Gluttony, Lust and Envy walked up to a gigantic Ouroboros.
Ed kept looking at the different symbols, and found something that terrified him.
The Svastica used by Hitler.
"Ling! Are you conscious of what this means?".
"As a matter of fact, it's an ancient good luck symbol. That Hitler guy adopted it because he believed in magic and stuff".
"Yeah, he used Hohenheim and me to try to invade this place!". Envy said.
"He was a rotten man". Hohenheim said.
The symbols were made of wood. They were hanged to the walls with ropes, and could be moved by a series of mechanisms that turned them around, and even made them lay on the floor.
They walked out of this room, and went to the one opposite to it.
"Now… This…". He said, pusshing the door open.
"…Is my bedroom".
o0o
It was as tall as the Symbol room, and had a giant bed to the left, and one to the right. There was someone in this bed, and Ling jumped onto it, and walked up to the little person.
"Wake up, Mei Yang, I brought someone".
The little girl opened her eyes. A tiny panda that was lying by her side did the exact same thing.
"They came! They are here! I told you, Xiao Mei!". She yelled at the panda, as she stood up and ran through the bed to hug the Elric brothers. They both greete her, and smiled at her. The, she hugged Winry and Hohenheim. She stopped before Envy.
She looked at him doubtful. Envy looked back, seeing she was worried of his former self. He ducked, and looked at her in the eye, smiling widely.
"I promise to behave if you promise not to use alchemy on me!". He said, trying to make an easy deal for the little girl to understand.
Xiao Mei bit his hand.
Envy didn't shout. As a matter of fact, he looked at Xiao, and lifted him a bit. He was hanging from Envy's finger. Envy started scratching Xiao Mei's belly, and the little panda lost his bite's strength. He fell, and Envy caught him with the other hand.
Xiao Mei was smiling widely, as Envy kept scratching his belly.
"Who's a nice little panda?".
Everyone looked at Envy, other than surprised, worried.
"We lost him when we crossed the gate". Hope said.
Mei Yang took Xiao, and looked at Envy. Then, she hugged him too. After this, she hugged Lust. She didn't dare to hug Gluttony (since he tried to eat her) and cowardly hugged Pynako (she was SO old).
Half of the room belonged to Ling. He had many big paintings, and collections of weapons and books from other countries.
Mei's side was filled with toys and teddy bears. She didn't usually play witht hem, since doing alchemy with Xiao was so fun.
She joined them in the trip, although there wasn't much left to see.
They went to the Imperial Throne Room.
o0o
It was bigger than the other rooms. Tens of columns, engraved with dragons, filled the place, ascending to the dark ceiling.
"There aren't two equal drawings. Each one is unique". Ran Fan said.
After holding it back for a long time, Ling kissed her. No one was surprised by this. What was surprising was that they had waited for so long to do it. Only Mei Yang looked bothered. She hid behind Al, who was carrying her in his back.
"And that is the Throne". Ling said, pointing at a magnificent chair.
The center of it was red. The wood of which it was made of covered the wall behind it, with more dragons, and some symbols. Ling looked at the throne greedily.
A man came walking from the left of the room. He had a long, green gown. His black beard reached the floor, as did his hair. He had a sword tied to his waist.
"And that old man is The Emperor".
o0o
"Respect me, Ling. I have already agreed to you being in love with someone who isn't a princess. You should stop pushing my patience".
"I told you many times. It's not about being a prince. It's about being a human. And she is the human I love". Ran hugged him a bit harder. "Besides, I don't mind. I can let Mei Yang be the Empress. I just don't care".
"You are my first son. You must care".
"Aw, shut it. This are my friends, I told you about them".
"Yes… I still don't understand how you made friends if you haven't left the castle until some weeks ago, for the first time".
"I'll tell you some other time".
o0o
"I'm Edward Elric. I'm the Full Metal Alchemist. I became an alchemist when I was twelve, and I'm the youngest State Alchemist there has ever been".
"I'm Edward. I'm the Soul Alchemist. I lost my body when we tried to revive pour mother, and my soul was attached to a suit of armor. Ed did the best he could to bring my body back, and since then, my soul in this body has been easily dettachable".
"I'm Winry Rockbell. I'm an auto mail mechanic, and I built Ed's arm and leg, which were lost when they tried human transmutation. I'm also Ed's lover!". They both blushed.
"I'm Pynako Rockbell. Winry's my grand daughter, and I'we taught her all I know about auto mail".
"I'm Envy. I'm a Homunculus, which means I'm immortal. I was this guy's son, but I died due to an illness, and he tried to bring me back. Then, I became an Homunculus".
The Emperor looked at him surprised.
"You're a he?". Envy's glance twitched.
"I'm Lust. I'm also an Homunclus. I was tried to be revived by my lover, and then I became an Homunculus. I wanted to find him again, but he died during the Ishbal war".
"I'm Gluttony… I eat!".
"I'm Hope. I used to be Alphonse Heidrich. I was a Rocket Scientist, and I wanted to reach the space with my science. I was killed, and revived by Envy".
"I'm Hohenheim Elric". The Emperor's look changed. He looked at Hohenheim very seriously. "I am a very powerful alchemist, who has been transmitting his soul for over five hundred years. Immortality isn't possible, so I gave up, and remained in this body. I made many mistakes in my life, and now I'm trying to patch things up with my sons". He said, as he hugged Ed, Al and Envy.
"Master Hohenheim…". The Emperor said, darkly. He clapped his hands, and a man, dresses in a black gown came to him.
"Lead them to the rooms. I want them to join me in dinner. I really feel an urge to talk to Hohenheim".
"Yes sir". The young man said. His face was strong. He was tall, and his hair was tied in a knott, simmilar to the one the emperor used. His gown, instead of being green, was red.
"And, Yeng… I fully trust you, my friend".
"Thanks, Emperor". He said with a smile. "Please, visitors. Follow me".
Ling, Ran and Mei went with them.
As they walked, Hohenheim came closer to the Xingian, and talked to him.
"This isn't you".
"I see you can tell".
"Perhaps my son also has noticed. That is the smell of a rotting soul".
"You say we share this smell?".
"You have sent your soul over time. I know how to recognize the signs. You are a Soul Transmuter".
"This is my last body. Two hundred years of serving the Yao dinasty are enough. I've decided to let go, and die".
"So… We have a thing in common , other than the fact that these aren't our original bodies".
"What would it be?".
"We let go easily".