Chapter VII

It was done. Ed finished paying for Amestris. Now it was time for the trade.

The inside of the Gate was still dark, painful, and stifling, but at least Ed no longer had to experience the pains and sorrows of his country. He pushed his hands out through the sludge until they made contact with the giant stone Gate and pushed it open.

The crown prince took a step forward and the tar-like stuff inside the Gate turned into thin black hands pulling him back. "You like trades, right? I'm offering you one last one."

When the prince made his offer – Father and his seven advisers for his freedom – most of the black hands let him go. Eight still remained, returning to their tar form and wrapping themselves around him. One attached itself to Ed's chest, directly over his heart. Two wrapped around his hands, two around his wrists, two by his feet, and one around his side.

"Insurance, right?" Ed asked. "If I don't hold up my end of the bargain, you'll drag me back."

The Gate didn't answer, but it didn't really have a voice to speak for itself. Ed smirked at it. "You won't be seeing me again."

He turned his face away from the Gate and saw two creatures standing with him in the white void between worlds. "Looks like the first two installments of that payment are already here."

Al met up with Mustang in Dublith, the last stop before they returned to Central Castle to confront Father. A little better on a horse now, he trotted into the familiar streets on his brother's white steed.

He reported to Mustang how things had gone in Risembool and a few other villages that he and Armstrong had stopped by before the muscular knight had led the recruits back toward the castle.

Mustang had a few updates of his own – he and Basque Grand had not found Father, but they did manage to stop two of his advisers: Lust and Gluttony. Although they'd searched the castle before they'd left and found nothing, the knight suspected that at least one of Father's otherworldly creatures was still at Central.

Mustang and Al had a crate brought to the town center as a makeshift stage. The snow had melted away since Ed's coming-of-age festival in the winter, but the surrounding buildings were the same as ever, if a little less white.

Al stood on the crate in front of the town's towering community center, Dublith Royal. He saw the Curtises and Cornello in the crowd. He didn't think he could ever forget the proud look his foster parents were giving at him, holding each other and beaming at him, but he couldn't forget the look Cornello was giving him either. The man, dressed in a fine black cloak, had his teeth bared and his eyebrows pulled down almost into his eyes.

Still, Al got up on the crate and told his village all that had happened to him since he'd left for the castle. His story was met there with lots of laughter and scorn, even when Mustang and the Curtises backed him up.

"I know they're rich, but how could Sig Curtis' brat be important enough for Prince Edward to rescue?"

Another villager, a wavy-haired woman named Rose, shook her head. "Didn't Cornello tell us of Prince Edward's evil when he came through here, claiming his magic had always been fake? Cornello said King Van took the prince's magic away as punishment for rebellion."

The villagers listened to Rose and Cornello. They came forward in a wave and seized Al and called for his neck at the gallows.

Al could not remember ever seeing anyone executed in Dublith, but the villagers were cheering as if they were excited to watch him die. He searched out his parents and Mustang among the mob.

Sig was muscling his way through the crowd, and Izumi was threatening anyone who dared to hurt her baby, landing some fists in the other villagers' faces.

The young prince saw Mustang standing away from the crowd, holding his hand up as though posed to snap, and the disturbing image that Al had seen shortly after moving to the castle came back. Shou Tucker had burned for his use of magic….

Then Al saw flames outside his mind. Just ahead of the crowd burned the largest bonfire Al had ever seen, with no apparent fuel either. Suspended at about the height of a fist, the fire's base burned close to white. The flames shot up to a typical adult's chest-level.

Goosebumps rose up on Al's arms despite the heat.

"Release him!" Mustang stood confidently away from the crowd. He held his right hand up, elbow bent at a near right angle. His fingers were posed to snap again.

Cornello was calling out his own commands. "He's a blasphemer. Throw him in the fire. Kill them all."

Al was jostled through the crowd and thrown at the giant fireball. He closed his eyes, waiting for the end. He thought he could feel it burn him before he even reached it.

He hit the ground. The cobblestones underneath him were warmed by the flames, but Al himself felt just fine. Looking up, the young prince saw that the flames were still burning and he was lying in the middle of them. But they were doing him no harm.

If anything, the flames were warm, but they felt safe, much like his brother's magic. The young prince tried to see through the crowd to Mustang, but all he could see was the fire and an assortment of pants and skirts.

For a moment, a memory rose in Al's mind – he was sitting in the kitchens with his brother after Tucker's execution, and Ed promised him that Mustang wouldn't burn Al. His eyes wandered in Mustang's direction, mind wondering if this was what Ed meant, and that's when he saw Cornello making his way through the crowd.

The government worker got to the front, hand reaching toward Al. "It's just an illusion."

Al crab-crawled away from Cornello's hand, only to stop and stare, eyes wide as the man yelped and pulled his hands away from the flames.

"I told you to let him go!" Mustang parted the sea of people just by walking toward them. He led the Curtis couple behind him, first through the crowd and then the flames. Several Dublith residents trailed behind them but stopped short in front of the fire.

Mustang turned around to face Dublith over the blaze. "Anyone willing to join us in regaining Amestris, step forward – the flames won't hurt you."

A couple more people came forward. Al recognized Riza Hawkeye and Kain Fuery, stepping through the flames without even having their clothes singed.

"Now on to Central. We'll get you weapons at camp."

Three days after he'd gone to the Gate, Ed landed on the hard stone floor of his chambers, mouth dry, lips chapped. Six of the eight Gate portions followed him into Amestris, the two that had wrapped themselves around his hands now gone.

Because he knew the battle hadn't started yet, Ed would get himself some food and water. He needed it after the time he'd spent without it at the Gate, so he pushed himself up and slipped down to the kitchens.

A kitchen boy looked over as Ed pushed open the wooden door. "Your Highness?"

Ed set the servant at getting some bread and water. He drained the water in one go and started munching on the bread with one hand, holding his cup up for a refill. "Is everyone alright here?"

"We're just spooked is all, what with that army gathering out there. We don't know when they're going to attack."

Ed smiled. Outside was the army come to help take down Father – he'd lived through enough people being called to Central. "It's alright. They're here to deal with the one impersonating me. But you and the others might want to find some cover – I'm expecting an earthquake."

The prince hastily finished his meal and was off. He'd made a bargain with the Gate, and he had to hold up his end of it, especially with everyone who'd be pulled back to the Gate with him if he failed. Everyone he'd payed for was still on the line.

He descended the winding stairs down to the dungeons, keeping an eye and an ear out for any sort of presence. The castle was quiet – only a few servants running around. While Ed knew that Father had left to spread lies about him and his family throughout Amestris, he couldn't see Father bringing his entire entourage with him – someone had to stay behind to hold the castle.

The prince got all the way to his father's cell without running into anyone affiliated with his enemies, holding a small fire in one hand, much like Mustang had on their previous trips down there. He saw his skeletal father, chained to the ground. "Dad, I've been to the Gate, seen the magic realm. I know how to unseal you now. It might cause a lot of damage though."

"The stand-still's broken then?"

"Yeah." Ed let the fire in his hand go out and bent down to place his palms on the cold, gritty floor instead. The earth itself shook. The prince couldn't see what was going on, but he felt the tremors and heard the rocks and earth and metal groaning and creaking as he kept the quake up. Light trickled in from above as the castle's foundation tore itself open, taking some of the wall with it. Dirt and pebbles fell on top of him, but Ed kept his magic going until there was a bright flash in front of him, signaling that the seal had broken.

He sat back, pale, but not as pale as his father, whose cell had broken open during the quake. His bonds too were opened, lying on the floor, cleanly cut from Ed's magic.

King Van shakily got to his feet and wobbled over to his son. He put a hand on Ed's shoulder. "The last few days have taken a lot out of you, haven't they? Not just here, but trading yourself for Al at the Gate too."

Ed met his father's sunken eyes. "How…?"

"Mustang told me." The king held up one of Ed's hands and found the Gate's tar on his wrist. "You're not quite free yet either."

Ed lowered his head, leaning further into the dungeon wall. "I didn't know what else to do."

"You've done more than anyone has done before. Come – we have troops waiting outside. We can rest there." King Van looped his arm under Ed's shoulder, and Ed forced himself to his feet. They stumbled forward.

They hadn't gone far before they found out who had been left behind to guard the castle.

"Pride." Ed spat out the word. "It figures they'd leave the strongest to keep this place."

The camp felt the earthquake too. Camp had been set up on a grassy hill with a good view of the castle and surrounding area. Its trees had been cut down long ago, but the quake still frightened horses and knocked down tents and hitching posts, setting some of the animals loose to run off their own way.

"It came from the castle," Mustang said, looking at the building that had cracked from its foundation.

Al grabbed his sword. "Has Amestris ever felt something like that before?"

"Not in centuries. I don't think it was a normal earthquake either." The knight made his way around to all the fighters gathered there. "Pick up your weapons. We're heading to the castle!" He looked at Armstrong. "You lead the way with me."

When the nearly two hundred troops had been gathered, Mustang and Armstrong led the way to the castle. They didn't go through the gates but through a tunnel whose entrance had been hidden under a large rock. Armstrong jumped down first and Mustang followed close behind him, lighting the way with a fire in his hand.

Before long, they came to a place where the tunnel had been blocked off by fallen earth and Al discovered why Armstrong had been chosen to lead the troops into the castle with Mustang – the muscular knight went straight up to the cave-in and sent his fist at it. Slowly, the tunnel started reshaping itself to the way it must have looked before the earthquake.

Al walked up close to Mustang. "I didn't know we had a secret tunnel."

"I used it to sneak you out past Father and his allies when you were a baby. Never told your brother about it – couldn't have him sneaking off to Risembool on me. But either Armstrong or I were always here to get your brother out if we needed to."

The tunnel was cleared shortly and the troops continued on their way, stopping only another time or two to clear up earthquake damage. When they emerged, they found themselves coming out from inside the wall surrounding the castle itself. They were on the same field where Al had gone with Armstrong to apply for his servant job.

Al took a look behind them to see what the exit was, but all he saw there was a regular guard wall. "I've still got a lot to learn about magic, don't I?"

"Just keep at the ready." Mustang had his sword in his hand and was looking around the empty grounds. His eyes caught on the castle's shadow, in which darker tendrils of shadow were pooling. A red eye popped open and stared right at their army.

Al's breath caught in his throat. The last time he'd fought that thing, he hadn't stood a chance!

He mentally chastised himself as he remembered his brother's protective charm hanging around his neck. Al gripped his sword and looked to see where the shadows were coming from.

"Let me see your sword."

When Al looked at Mustang, he saw that the knight's own sword was now dancing with flames like the knight had used to light the tunnels. He quietly handed it over and got it back, blade covered with the same flames.

The young prince ran to the doors, but when he tried them they were barred. Then an arrow embedded itself into the wood, only an inch from his head.

When he turned around, he saw the troops in battle. What looked like his brother stood on the castle walls, watching as knights, large animals, and some seemingly-human creatures attacked their side.

Al gave up on the doors and ran to fight a wolf that was calling out orders in human speech instead. When he next glimpsed the window, the shadows had disappeared. Why had Selim left them alone?

King Van let go of Ed, giving him a weak shove toward the fissure in the castle. "Get out of here."

Ed was knocked back onto the ground, but he got right back up with more energy than he'd displayed after breaking his father's seal. "You'll get sealed up again. Or worse."

He tried to run forward as dozens of shadows rushed at his father, but his foot caught in the crack and he tripped. The king clapped his hands together and dozens of beings appeared in a lake of clouds, each carrying a flaming sword.

"My body's weak, but my magic's still strong. You get out of here. Go command the troops."

Ed pulled himself up. "Fine, but you'd better be okay when I see you again, you stupid old man!" He started climbing the crack in the ground. By the time he got out, he heard the sounds of battle. Swords were singing a bloody song of metal against metal and people were bellowing.

He took a look and saw a bunch of commoners, armed with swords and pikes, fighting alongside the knights on his side. They'd been joined by many creatures from the magical realm, hovering slightly above the grass as they scored blows on Father's hosts. "Did Dad do that?"

Ed spotted his younger brother in the middle of the fighting, using his flaming sword against the speedy attacks of giant man he knew as Sloth. "Al!"

The prince ran forward, but Al had the adviser handled by the time he got there. Al held his sword sideways and bent down to hold it at just the right level to trip Sloth. The giant went down, making a small crater in the grassy ground. Al put his sword to the small of the giant's back.

Ed dodged a few combatants locked in battle as he made his way to Al and the fallen adviser. He grabbed Sloth's leg and a piece of the Gate unwrapped itself from around his wrist and vanished along with Sloth in a flurry of black hands.

"Brother, you're back!"

He managed a weak smile toward his younger brother. "Yeah, Al. Good job just now." Ed's body was reacting, filling with energy, to being on an active battlefield, but it was still weak from channeling all that magic through it the last several days and from freeing his father. His legs were shaking and his arms were trembling.

Al noticed. "You're not okay, are you?"

"I think I need a sword or something." Ed was tired, but as long as his family and his country were still in danger, he intended to keep fighting. "I still have to get Father and the rest of his advisers."

"Look out!" Al pulled Ed down to the ground, just as an ugly giant bird came swooping at him, one of Father's talking animals. Chest flat against the grass, Al brought his hands together. "I look to you."

Ed saw a being with a golden braid and what looked like the princely red coat he sometimes wore materialize. "Is that me?"

Al grabbed Ed's elbow. "Let's get you out of here." The crown prince was pulled toward the castle wall and then inside it, where there was a hollowed-out niche with stairs leading up from an underground tunnel, obvious now that they were inside it.

Sunlight still streamed inside the tunnel entrance, but no one outside so much as looked their way. It was as though they were invisible, and since Ed hadn't been able to see the tunnel from outside, they probably were magically concealed. Ed briefly wondered how long the tunnel had been there and how Al had known about it before he had, but he brushed those questions off for a more important one. "What are you doing?"

"You're in no shape to fight right now. You'll only get yourself killed, and then where would we be?" Al met his brother's eyes, his own still a golden brown from the disguise his brother had given him. "You can challenge them directly when you're up for it, but for now, leave it to us."

Unlike the day that Ed had first seen his brother, his brother showed no signs of shyness or nervousness around him. If Al wasn't standing as tall as he could, it was only because he was fresh from the battlefield. Ed knew that some of it had to do with Al fighting for his life, but he was glad his brother was more confident at the moment – Al needed the confidence.

Still, Ed crossed his arms. "You expect me to stay here and rest while my people are just outside, getting killed?"

"If you want to save anyone, you'll have to." Al mimicked his brother's body language and engaged in a staring contest.

As the unspoken moments dragged on between the two, Al's eyes remained locked on his brother's until Ed finally gave in. "Just a quick break."

Al gently punched Ed in the shoulder and smiled. "I know you can do it."

Ed did have a few last words to his brother before Al rejoined the battle. "Tell Mustang that Dad's in the dungeons and needs help."

Al's eyes widened. "With Selim?"

Ed nodded. "Yeah. Please tell him."

"I will."

"And Al? Be safe."

"You too, Brother." Al looked around for Mustang and ran out toward the knight.